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C2 Ep. 38 Shifting Tales Chapter One
261 Plays4 years ago
The party’s role in the clan is beginning to grow, but with that growth comes bigger jobs. But this time the party is joined by a new face. Will this new ally be a help or a hindrance?
This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Darrin Katzska, Irene Viorritto, Ryan Royce, Darrell DeLaney, Jessica Smith, Charles Compton, Danielle Bramhall-Smith, Nastasia Raulerson, The Kamm Family, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Andy Dossett, Rebekah Gowman, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Eric Witman, and Shelby Johnson.
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Transcript
Introduction and Patron Acknowledgement
00:00:00
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by the generous donations of Laura Pickron, Darryl Delaney, Darren Katska, Deavius Poptart, Irene Villarito, Ryan Royce, Andy Dossett, Danielle Bramhall-Smith, Elizabeth Clark, Eric Whitman, Jessica Smith, Charles Compton, Natasha Rallerson, Richard Cree, The Cam Family, David Scrams, Dustin Troop, Edvard Arnoff, Michael Clark,
00:00:25
Speaker
Rebecca Gowman, and Shelby Johnson, as well as all of our generous patrons.
Recap of Previous Episode's Adventure
00:01:15
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to Ever Under Nude, an actual play podcast set in the Eberron campaign setting. I'm your game master, Eric. I'm Philip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. And welcome to another episode. Gentlemen, what happened last time?
00:01:31
Speaker
We got in a fight. We killed some barghasts in a meat packing facility. A slaughterhouse? Yeah. In the abattoir. In a tastefully decorated warehouse with large sides of beef hanging from the ceiling. Yes. Very tasty.
00:01:59
Speaker
Um, we had a dumb fight where we all tried to do the silliest thing possible and it worked and it was wonderful. So yeah. Um, but coming out of the last arc, obviously, uh, some, some bigger things happened prior to last session. So, um, that moving forward will be interesting.
Post-Adventure Reflections and Plans
00:02:20
Speaker
Um, so we're going to be picking up a few days after the meat processing plant incident.
00:02:27
Speaker
about a full week after the meeting with House Deneth.
00:02:32
Speaker
So, I guess in the interim, what have you all been doing? Drinking. I mean, Cobb has been kind of laying low while he tries to figure out exactly how he's going to besmirch the name of one of the leaders of a powerful house.
00:02:59
Speaker
And then, yeah, I guess at some point, we'll, yeah, we'll meet the Minotaur. I'm really looking forward to Hob walking up to a, uh, a Knoll and pitching this as a reason not to work for House Tharashk. And the Knoll goes, well, I, well, I worship a demon Lord. So, um, I don't know what you're weird. Kind of weird to throw stones in the situation.
00:03:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I think I was far enough to know where that would be a dicey proposition where he should be like, look, here's, here's 20 gold. Will you please just go work for these guys instead?
House Deneth Meeting Aftermath
00:03:34
Speaker
Milo Raynard. Well, Raynard said he's been drinking Milo. What have you been up to? I would say Milo's probably been keeping to himself more than usual.
00:03:48
Speaker
definitely studying that ledger trying to figure out you know if like who it's about you know what what information he can glean from that and essentially just you know wondering constantly about Kylie and you know what was he just a pawn in all this
00:04:15
Speaker
was but it sure felt real to him so you know he's got a lot of confusion going on in his head was he just there so she could do her deal so you know he's he's dealing with a lot in his head right now good thing you've surrounded yourself with uh with very supportive friends who are there for you and willing to talk things out um milo's also trying to decide if he
00:04:45
Speaker
wants to go. Make an attempt to find. The Dark Lantern that they ran into that apparently was her contact. Mm hmm. Cold War. Cold War. You know where he is. He's with House Thrash or not Thrash. Tarkanan. Yeah, so.
00:05:12
Speaker
You know, that has crossed his mind. Questionable how amenable he would be to talking, but... Yes, yes. But, you know, that thought has entered Milo's head.
Gathering at Four Sales
00:05:24
Speaker
What kind of information would this guy give him, if anything? Yeah. Have you been doing anything other than drinking, Reynard?
00:05:46
Speaker
To be fair, just
Vigo's New Task Announcement
00:05:47
Speaker
because it's your obligation doesn't mean the arc is all about you. The first time Hob's obligation triggered, it was just that one fight in a larger arc. That makes me feel a lot better. Sounds like this sounds like a lot of talking for me and that never goes well. Give Trevor a script, please. We're going to go real left if it's up to me.
00:06:04
Speaker
Well, Trevor's been trying to mentally repair out this arc being all about Raynard.
00:06:22
Speaker
Cath has been pretty visibly shaken by the incident with House Deneth and, yeah, and as is Sana, like they're both a little bit more on edge, not towards you all, but just clearly their carefree demeanor has been diminished a little bit. Sigil, after their night of fun and games,
00:06:43
Speaker
So yeah, that's what we've been up to.
Meeting with Satan: New Role and Pay Increase
00:06:51
Speaker
has gone back into their work, but there are some days where they aren't in their booth, like, pouring over their papers. You don't really know what they're up to, but some of you might call that progress, that at one time they were in there every day, all day, so they clearly have something else going on, which...
00:07:16
Speaker
Might be better or worse. Probably fine. Um, so yeah. Um, you all are in the four sales as, as we are want to begin these things. Um, so what are you all, what are y'all doing?
00:07:39
Speaker
Raynard, we just, we know what time of day is it? Um, this is going to be, um, kind of around that, that, uh, 10 30 to 11 window, like just before lunch, but still morning. Harris is probably just returned from work. Okay. Uh,
00:08:07
Speaker
Milo, are you setting the ledger or what are you doing? Yeah, I'm at the bar next to Raynard with the ledger and having a nice cup of coffee. Okay. Hob is just, he's reading again. Um, he's brushing up on his orchish. Um,
00:08:34
Speaker
Sigil is not in their booth. Sigil has not come into the four sales today. And Cath is there kind of helping Ulfin with some odd tasks around the restaurant. And Sana was there earlier but left to go do a food pickup for Ulfin. So that's the lay of the land with the NPCs.
00:09:04
Speaker
Um, so as you all are hanging out, uh, you hear the door swing open and, uh, you hear the pitter patter of feet. Uh, as you all see, um, you all see Vigo has walked in. It's like Milo, as soon as Milo hears somebody come in, he puts the ledger away. Okay. Um, he kind of smiles and says,
00:09:31
Speaker
Well, well done. First off on the, uh,
Lunch Meeting: New Mission Discussion
00:09:35
Speaker
the meat packing incident, uh, nothing but rave reviews. Um, but we, we have more work. Uh, but go ahead. Give it to us. You know, we'll, we're ready to go as usual. Oh, well, this one, this one actually comes from the top. So, uh,
00:10:01
Speaker
I've been sent to collect you so Satan could discuss the matter in a more private and secure location. His office. Nothing weird. So we need to go meet Satan. He'll have lunch ready for us when we get there.
Introducing Faroo, the Gatekeeper
00:10:22
Speaker
All right. Milo hops up to follow Vigo.
00:10:31
Speaker
Um, sure. I think Hob, Hob says, uh, well, uh, would you mind, uh, Eris, if you don't mind as well, uh, can we take our own vehicle just in case we need to depart from there quickly or, or, or maybe even in different directions when we find out what we need to do. Uh, I suppose that's fine. Right. Eris, do you mind if we take Tasha up?
00:11:02
Speaker
Nice one. And she stalks out of the door. And Viggo seems chipper. Like we should throw him in the wood chipper. High spirits, I suppose. We should throw him from a high altitude.
00:11:29
Speaker
Didn't turn him into a spirit. I'm just sad that, uh, that Raynor didn't perk up on high spirits, but, um, I didn't know what kind of drugs we're allowed to talk about on this podcast. So, um, do all of you pile into Tasha? Are you all traveling together or is anybody going in Vigo's boat? I mean, I'm going to get into Tasha. Yeah.
00:12:00
Speaker
Yeah, I would go with the guys. OK. Yeah. I don't not like there, but like I don't like him. It's not like my friend. I'm not going to ride with them. You know, it's all started so excited about it. It's cool. I just just confirms Eris's feelings in the moment. Kath also pals in Natasha with you all. Where's Sana? Sana's on a food run. That's right. Yep.
00:12:30
Speaker
So conveniently at the start of the quest, Sonez is not present. So yeah, you all pile in Viggo hops in his own boat and you all arrive at the HQ at the same time and walk inside. Viggo leads you right past Ruth at the front desk.
00:12:52
Speaker
And you walk into Satan's office and it's much smaller than you recall. Like the area that Satan was doing the butchering the first time you came in is blocked off by what you would guess now are modular walls that can be
00:13:14
Speaker
uh, slid and moved around as he needs. Um, and there's a, a small table set up, uh, with, uh, nice, uh, nice steak, some, some root veg, things like that on a plate, um, and some glasses of wine pre-poured next to, uh, next to each plate. And Satan is sitting at the head of the table. He's like, Oh, welcome, please have a seat.
00:13:44
Speaker
Bob sits down. Eris sits down as far from... If it's possible to be as far from Satan and Viggo as possible, that's excellent. Unless Viggo sits at the opposite end of the table. Viggo... You noticed that Viggo, as soon as you walk in, makes a very speedy B-line to sit at Satan's right hand at the table. Cool. Eris sits as far down the table on the left side as she can.
00:14:14
Speaker
Um, okay. Hob is not marginally surprised by that. Vigo did that. I don't know if that's, um, Satan's coming. Yeah. You all come and take your seats. Um,
00:14:29
Speaker
And Satan waits for you all to be seated. Uh, we know that Eris is trying to get as far away from, from the, the two halflings as possible. I assume there are
Travel to North Market with Faroo
00:14:39
Speaker
the finite number of seats for the amount of people that we have here. So Eris just takes whichever one happens to be farthest from them. Yeah. Is anybody else seeking a specific seat or are you just kind of grabbing what's available?
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, just wherever. Okay. Yeah. I almost like, I almost said something akin to Hobbes sits between Eris and Viggo as like a symbolic thing, but that's the only option because he's as far away as possible. I am a bookend. So it falls flat. All of you will sit between me and Viggo.
00:15:15
Speaker
And the table. Yes. Um, okay. So yeah, you all have a very nice plate of food in front of you. Um, and Satan, uh, welcomes you all. Hello. And, uh, thank you for, for coming to this meeting, uh, having lunch with me. Um, I have some, some good news for all of you, um, here.
00:15:43
Speaker
In that, it has been brought to my attention that we may have been underutilizing the talents of the Black Lamps as a branch of this organization. And while thus far you all have been primarily resigned to odd criminal activity,
00:16:10
Speaker
we've realized, and he kind of looks to Vigo, and Vigo has a very happy demeanor sitting up straight, that the black lamps could be used for more, as more of a fixer style branch that goes in and assists other sub-organizations within the clan. Question.
00:16:37
Speaker
aren't we our own gang that's like a vassal gang to Boromar? Like, isn't that what the situation is? That's what I thought. When did we shift into actually being a part of the Boromar clan? No. So, so basically you are correct in your assessment, but that like,
00:17:04
Speaker
Like Viggo handles all of the, the, the gangs that are of that, that ilk, uh, within Boromar. So you all do have more autonomy than let's say, um, the, the scavengers down in the cogs or the, the goals.
Kath's Relationship with Faroo
00:17:22
Speaker
Um, but the type of activity that is brought to you all from the clan fit within a certain box. And that Satan's basically saying that's about to expand kind of thing.
00:17:34
Speaker
So, no, you are not a proper part of the organization, but you are still in the flowchart of the organization, regarded as part of a branch of the organization, if that makes sense. Okay. Vigo suggested that you all operate more as fixes, like I said, helping other branches of the organization. And in fact, the
00:18:00
Speaker
The job that he sent you all on, I, it's my understanding that you successfully recovered a ledger that, uh, was potentially damaging to the organization. Um, that was kind of his proof of concept of you all being capable of, of doing something more than just go steal a manifest of a Kenneth shipment. Is that what it was? Yes. Yes. You're welcome. Vigo says, um,
00:18:29
Speaker
So because the nature of these jobs will be changing, there will be some different monetary compensation coming your way. Obviously the exact amount will fluctuate based on the nature of the job, but you can anticipate a fairly significant 20 to 25% increase in income. And yeah, so
00:18:58
Speaker
That is the good news of the situation. Do any of you all have any questions? And please, while I'm talking, please, please eat. I don't know if anybody had started eating while he was talking, but... Eris continues to not eat. Milo's definitely eating. Yeah, Hob's going to eat. Raynard's going to eat, answering. Yeah.
00:19:26
Speaker
Uh, and Kath is also eating. You know, uh, Satan, uh, first thank you for recognizing, um,
00:19:39
Speaker
our potential, I suppose. We've always tried our very best to be non-lethal dogs notwithstanding. Is that going to be what? We just killed a bunch of dogs. We killed a bunch of bar guests. Bar guests. I know. Quadrupedal zombie things. Hob saw what he saw. No.
00:20:09
Speaker
Is that something you're expecting us to change in order to go on these new directives? Because I have to be honest, I don't love the idea. You're not going to be sent on hit jobs if that's your question. Yeah, essentially that was my question, yes. There may be a situation where the goals are in over their heads because Dask is
00:20:34
Speaker
uh, starting up things in one of our districts in need your assistance and how you choose to deal with them, uh, in a fight is ultimately up to you as long as the, uh, the threat is quelled as it were. But, um, but no, my intention is not to start giving you all hit contracts because, uh, Bormont doesn't do that kind of thing. We don't, we don't assassinate people. So.
00:20:59
Speaker
I can't imagine that's true, but he doesn't say anything. Eris mutters, right? Of course not under her breath. But I. I did want to speak to you all because as you all have proven to be a very capable bunch, we have a. A particularly dire situation that. Need some assistance.
00:21:28
Speaker
the Ravens are gambling branch of the of the clan has had a situation beginning to develop in North edge lower North edge in the the North market where
00:21:47
Speaker
a group of shifters, not like a collective group at one time, but over time, shifters have started going missing that are in my cousin, Lissa, who runs the Ravens in her employ. And, you know, they've just been going missing over the course of the past few weeks. They've been trying to solve the problem, but have come up empty.
00:22:16
Speaker
And now, as of yesterday, one of her shifters has turned up dead. So she does not have the skill sets within her organization or the means to deal with this situation. So I'm calling you all in because you all seem capable.
00:22:38
Speaker
And if, since we have a murder on our hands, um, if things get dicey, you all seem rather capable and he kind of, his look lingers on Hob for a second of handing yourselves if something comes after you. Um, that's, uh, that's all the information I have for you. Although there is somebody here that, um,
00:23:08
Speaker
Once the murder got out, Lissa found them skulking about North Edge as well. And he has come also. He's been waiting just so we could have a talk about organizational stuff before I brought him in, because he's not a member of the Klan. He's not even from Sean, who can be of assistance to you. He insisted as such in investigating this situation. And Vigo gets up and leaves the room.
00:23:37
Speaker
While he's gone, do you all have any questions before? He's a half-orc from some, there were too many syllables and not enough vowels it seemed like.
00:24:00
Speaker
I don't think Hob has any
Information from Lissa About Shifters
00:24:01
Speaker
questions. Hob's honestly like so relieved that the first job is something that Hob would be on board with helping out with anyway. Like people are missing and someone was murdered. He's so generally relieved that he might actually be a little caught off guard. Missing something that a question he would normally have asked. Yeah. All I can think of is there's been a murder in Savannah.
00:24:30
Speaker
I think that might be our strongest record if someone says that every time someone uses the word murder. Okay. If there's no questions, then after, um, after around a minute, uh, Vigo comes back through the door and behind him, you see, um, a half orc wearing, um, deep red robes, like the color of dried blood is kind of the color.
00:24:55
Speaker
trimmed in deer skin and rabbit fur, like a very, um, like orcish clan kind of garb. And on their back is a great axe, um, slung over their back. And they have, uh, long dreadlocked hair coming down past their shoulders and a very long beard with, um, like the beard is massive and down the center is a giant braid. Um,
00:25:23
Speaker
and over half of his face is a stylized dragon's head tattoo. Does anybody, who has knowledge lore? Milo does, right? I think Milo does, let's see. Don't think I can. Do, Hob does not.
00:25:54
Speaker
Um, yes, I do. Definitely. Yeah. What are all the knowledge skills that we were using? I know knowledge, society, knowledge, underworld, knowledge, lore, knowledge, knowledge, nature. Is that all of them? Well, geography. I think Nate, we, we incorporated nature into that. How many purple? Three. One success, one threat. Um, okay.
00:26:20
Speaker
Um, Eris, take a point of strain. Um, you two know, seeing this, this half-orc walk-in, uh, by his garb and his face tattoo, you have heard about people matching his description. Uh, he is a gatekeeper. So there, these legendary orcs that go around claiming to be protecting the world from the most horrible things imaginable, um,
00:26:48
Speaker
Neither of you have ever met one. This is the first time you've seen one in the flesh. But yeah, so that's what you know, is that this half-orc is a gatekeeper, which makes him kind of a big deal in terms of imports.
00:27:12
Speaker
But the gatekeepers don't hold any political power or anything like that. They rather intentionally don't even have a political structure within their organization. They just seek to protect the world from outside threats. So that's all you know about this guy. So Satan gestures as he walks in and says, ah, yes, this is Faroo Dalok.
00:27:43
Speaker
F-A-R-U apostrophe D-L-O-C-K. He's from Klan and you hear Kath interrupt and say, Maruk Ghashkala. Hi, Faroo. And he kind of looks across the room at Kath and just gives a curt nod like, Oh,
00:28:08
Speaker
Okay. Did not realize the introductions were not necessary. Um, and, uh, Faroo kind of looks over you all. Are you all the ones here to help me with the, uh, the incidences? That would be us. Excellent.
00:28:38
Speaker
Well, then we best be on our way. And saying like, well, sounds like you all know where to go. Alyssa will have more information for you. That's I've given you literally all I know about the situation in North Market in Lower North Edge. So.
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, go, go down there. Um, Lissa, uh, she said that she would meet you near, um, or Lissa's, Lissa's headquarters. Uh, I can mark it on your map for you. Um, where she's located in, in North market. Um, it's a big market. It won't be hard to find her. Um, but yeah, just go meet with her and she'll be able to fill you in with the details of what happened.
00:29:32
Speaker
Right. Well, shall we go? Milo stands up. Thank you for this wonderful lunch. Satan tastes tasty as always. Of course, my pleasure. And Milo, we still need to talk about rebuilding efforts.
00:29:56
Speaker
We need to get, get the ball rolling is what I'm saying. I know we need to get a plane in place. So if you, if you can come up with like a, uh, an action plan, uh, I can get my resources together to get the project actually started. Thank you. I would definitely like that very much. Eris scowls at that as we walk out the room. Okay.
00:30:24
Speaker
So, you all head to Tasha, presumably. Faroo is with you all, just walking very silently with a purpose. Does not seem to be making an effort to do introductions, so.
00:30:42
Speaker
Okay. Um, so we're, we are at Tasha now. Yeah, sure. And Kath, as you all were walking, Kath, uh, Faroo was, was near the front of the group and Kath was kind of bringing up the rear as it were, keeping some distance. And she seems annoyed. You know, we've hung such a lantern on the fact that nobody's asked
00:31:10
Speaker
Eris about this bird that there's no good way to do it now. Yep. But it's time to do it. Because I'm ready to move on. So I think Hobb says, Eris, I hope you can forgive my mind being elsewhere for the last few days.
00:31:35
Speaker
What is this new friend of yours, this containment for Tasha? What did you do? This is pretty amazing. Yeah, I know. It's a bird. I built a bird. It works. Unless Tasha come out of the boat.
00:32:04
Speaker
Well, that went great anyway. Um. Wait, was Jeff really under the impression that that's all that it is? She's just no. Oh, OK, OK, OK. No, no, Hob Hob doesn't go more than halfway to somebody. No, I know I'm so. Uh. So I guess. If we all pile in, I mean, the first thing Hob wants to know from Faroo is like,
00:32:34
Speaker
So what are we thinking is going on down there? Well, my clan is charged with protecting a section of the border of the demon waste to ensure that no fiendish elements escape. And we have reason to believe that something may have slipped past our sight and
00:33:03
Speaker
Uh, I have been tracking and it led me to this place. Um, and, uh, it fiendish activity, uh, often involves sacrifices, kidnappings, murders, things like that. So while this city has an abundance of those types of, uh, incidences, I
00:33:33
Speaker
This struck me as abnormal, the amount of concern that was being given over it. So. So Eris grew up listening to goblin mythology, which involves the gatekeepers quite heavily, actually. And so she says, I thought the gatekeepers were about aberrations and Delkir and that sort of thing. Most of them are. Most of our rank.
00:34:02
Speaker
do their best to deal with with aberrations. We do have a clan dedicated to protecting the demon wastes for um unique uniquely skilled members of the organization um and Kath kind of gives a you you anybody sitting near kath would have heard a like uh under her breath um so yes you are you are correct
00:34:32
Speaker
that the gatekeepers primarily deal with with aberrance, but we really want to protect protect this world from any outside influence. Any evil outside influence, you know, the fae are neither here nor there are radar. I'll be careful. There's aberrations here. There's some people here who take aberrance rather seriously. Oh, really? Yeah, one of them tried to kill us, so I'm pretending to be a cop.
00:35:04
Speaker
Okay. Noted. Thank you. Anything else I should know about the city as I navigate
Meeting Detective Spade at the Precinct
00:35:18
Speaker
it? I've never been in a place with more than 20 people before. Oh yeah. It's about 80% that whoever you're working with is actually trying to kill you. It's especially true with who you're working with right now. So I just, you know, keep an eye on Satan and Vigo.
00:35:35
Speaker
Uh, when he says right now, he doesn't mean in the boat. None of us have any interest in killing you. Sorry, she, I, I apologize. Uh, when she says right now, she doesn't mean right now in the boat. Uh, none of us are going to try to kill you. Uh, and then Hob goes on to say all of the things that Hob knows, but Jeff doesn't, that would be important for him to know about Sharn. Cause Hob knows a lot and Jeff knows not a lot.
00:36:00
Speaker
It's got towers. It's prettier as you go up. Colder too. Richer. Anyway, the dumb jokes are done. So why would anybody live here? That's a fair question.
00:36:27
Speaker
Well, you know, it has its charms. There's a great restaurant. Go check out. I'm sure. Most people, in my experience, don't choose to live where they are by circumstance and whatever decisions made of on their own or on behalf of them. And then you are where you are.
00:36:56
Speaker
That is fair. And often I have found that those who choose where they live are often abandoning something in their wake.
00:37:07
Speaker
So... Okay, so Eris and Hob are, I'm gonna say, engaging with Faroo. So, Reynard and Milo, give me perception checks. Since you all wouldn't be, like, engaged with Faroo, this is regarding Cath. So give me, it's just a one purple difficulty. Reynard, three successes. I did it.
00:37:35
Speaker
I know it all. You know all of this one thing and Milo three successes. So you both equally notice the when Faroo said the when people choose where they live, they're often abandoning something in their wake.
00:37:58
Speaker
like turned red with, uh, with fury. Like she's, she's clearly trying to hold something in. Um, so anyway, you all are getting close to lower North edge, um, getting near the market. Um, so any other questions or things that you want to share with for you? Well, no Milo looks at Eris.
00:38:24
Speaker
Says Eris, I would like to apologize. Please forgive me for being distant, but I just would like to say that the bird, Fritasha, is magnificent. I know it's a little late, but it is a fine piece of work.
00:38:54
Speaker
And see, and I feel she should probably be madder at Milo because Milo is very skilled in artifice. So he should have been like the first to say something. So he's offering a weak apology now. Milo is skilled in artifice? Yes. Magic. Because you don't have the artifice skill, Randy. I thought I did.
00:39:23
Speaker
Arcana is what your skill is. Well, yeah, but I mean, but I have ranks in Artifice. You do? Yes. Why? They just, they're there for my character.
Episode Conclusion and Community Invitation
00:39:35
Speaker
It's not a career skill for you, so you shouldn't be taking skills in value shifts. You can, they're just more expensive. But I don't think I've taken any. My Artifice is four green.
00:39:48
Speaker
So yeah, that's not right. That's not right. So yes, in theory, if you were to make an art, but also, I mean, yeah, you are a practitioner of magic. You're right. You should appreciate this. Should have appreciated this. Yes. And right now it's lost in his own little world. Right now it says, oh, thank God you all can see the bird too.
00:40:15
Speaker
Okay. Okay. True. Looking around. Should I send that? I can't see the boat. Eris snorts at that. Um, okay. So you all, uh, doc in the North market, Kath is the first to hop out of the boat.
00:40:37
Speaker
As you all unload and you all have a map marker on the Have a marking on your on your earn address or whatever, you know where to go. Yeah an address Yeah, you all have an address and
00:41:01
Speaker
Uh, to go, uh, it's, it's essentially a stall that the Ravens have set up here. It, this is not their permanent HQ, uh, locale. So as you all are walking through, um, the district through the market, um, through stops and looks at this giant shrine and kind of what is, what is that? And, um, I don't know.
00:41:31
Speaker
Yeah, the plaque. Well, it's called it's called cloud gate, but local will just call it the Bean. You all, um, hobby hobby, you would definitely know about this. You would have heard about this. Okay. Um, being, um, having knowledge, can't handle it right now for some reason. Um, being, being a,
00:41:58
Speaker
an immigrant into Sharn from one of the monstrous areas of Sharn with heavy air quotes. Right. This is the shrine of Phaen the Martyr, who was a crusading priest of the Silver Flame, who uncovered a group of wererats in Sharn. And Phaen was killed by the wererats that he exposed. And in his honor, the Church of the Silver Flame put this shrine up in this district of the city.
00:42:27
Speaker
to commemorate him and it's it's like there's literally an entrance into the shrine that's dedicated to him and it's said that any lycanthrope that enters the shrine will be forced into its true form and pilgrims come from all over. The reason why it's notable and why you know about this lower north edge is the shifter district of the city where most of the shifters live and shifters were towards the tail end of the silver purge
00:42:58
Speaker
unfairly targeted by the Church of the Silver Flame due to zealous nature of some bad actors.
00:43:08
Speaker
You know, yes, this is a... You could argue that the lycanthropes were also unfairly targeted by the... Well, no, I mean, the lycanthropes are actually going to destroy the world. Yeah, you know, I know. I'm joking. I'm bringing in old feelings. So... Sounds like you might be a lycanthrope. While... Take Hob into the shrine. While yes... No, please don't stop. See, I'm fine. Can we walk out?
00:43:37
Speaker
Well, yes, this martyr probably deserves veneration by the Church of the Silver Flame. Putting the shrine dedicated to him in this district, the city, is kind of a jerk move. It's kind of that cool thing to do. I mean, question, did that event happen here? Like, is this built on the spot where he was killed? Because that's just a bad coincidence. I think it's near, yeah. Okay, so it's not like,
00:44:07
Speaker
It's not like giving the finger to everyone who lives here. Like it's not done here to offend people. It's just bad coincidence. It purely depends on who you talk to because like this is a massive shrine like taking up a section like
00:44:21
Speaker
something could say this isn't it was overdone is probably what some shifters in this district would say or or it's an unnecessary monument altogether and the fact they chose to build such an opulent one is definitely a message um and i mean the the more the the bigger annoyance for the shifter population is all of the pilgrims of the silver flame that come and you know the silver flame isn't in and of itself a a bad or evil organization but there's
00:44:47
Speaker
Like, amongst some members of the church, there's some prejudice against shifters that they would clutch their pearls as they walked by and stuff. So yeah. So Hob, that's, that's what, you know, as through asks about this massive thing, um, in this otherwise lower, that's the other thing that sticks out like a sore throat. Cause this is a very poor district of the city with this very opulent shrine erected. So yeah.
00:45:12
Speaker
yep so uh so in conclusion that's the shrine of faith in the martyr funny story they've started calling them the martyr at 10 years old can you imagine growing up
00:45:31
Speaker
Um, so anyway, um, you all continue, uh, to, to the spot and Milo's gonna hang back. I'm assuming calf is still.
00:45:49
Speaker
back away from Faroo? She's just doing whatever she has to do to keep some distance. Okay, well Milo wants to walk by her and can he have a conversation before we get to wherever? Yeah.
00:46:02
Speaker
I mean, we, we just presumably Hobbs explanation, uh, took about as long as mine did of the shrines. So you at least have that amount of time. Okay. So, so this is fine. I was going to say. Eris is probably walking back there because Kath is not talking. And so she's joining her in a sulk. Okay. Yeah. But that does not interfere with. Yes. Milo looks up. Um, Kath is, yes.
00:46:30
Speaker
You seem a bit troubled. Is everything okay? For Ru seems to be, for some reason, putting you off your game a little bit. He's my half-brother. My dad had him back in the Shadow Marches before he came to Sharn.
00:47:00
Speaker
I see half brothers are the worst. My dad is hurt by him. He thinks that my dad shirked his duty to chase after some fanciful notion of love to a big city. So. Oh, they're all going to think it. It's fine. I knew when I was writing the story, but
00:47:31
Speaker
So I don't know a whole lot about him other than he said some things to my dad when he was leaving that my dad will never forget. And I will never forgive, so. I see, well.
00:48:01
Speaker
I guess we'll just do the best we can in this situation, and I'm here for you. Thank you, Milo. Sooner we can get him back on his way to the demon waste, the better. Okay. So you all arrive at a stall that has a couple of shifters
00:48:32
Speaker
in it, and also a female halfling that is dark haired, very fair skinned, and has very angular features, like cheekbones you could cut a diamond with.
00:48:53
Speaker
Aris's theoretical actual job is repairing slot machines and gambling apparatus. Does Aris know these people? You would probably have heard about them. Uh, they were at the party. You all just never talked to them, but they, they run the illegal gambling circles all over the city and bring in a percentage of the cuts to the family to help with. Oh, they basically fund a lot of the clans, other operations through their gambling operations.
00:49:21
Speaker
So they don't run the casinos, they run other gambling operations? Yes. One other thing, Eris, because this branch would have been of interest to you, up until recently it was run by Satan's uncle, Rorik Boromar, but he died recently.
00:49:42
Speaker
Um, so yeah, um, he, uh, he fell from a tower and was found down in the lower districts of the city. Um, and so ever since that point, um, his daughter, Lissa, Satan's cousin has taken over operations of the Ravens. So, um, and, uh,
00:50:06
Speaker
Yeah, so presumably it's Lissa that you see in the stall. And because she sees a collected group of two half-orcs, a Goliath, a human, an elf, and a halfling walking over towards her, she kind of regards you all, assuming that you are here for her.
00:50:27
Speaker
Um, so we just started singing. Um, you, I, you all approach and she, so are you all here to assist me? Well, maybe I think we're here to assist him. Uh, so it's just, it's become rather unclear. Who are you? I am for you.
00:50:52
Speaker
Great. Good talk. Did my cousin send you to help with the shift to incidents? I'm guessing based on the fact that you are not shifters in this district. Yes, that's why we're here. Great. He thinks it's a demon. I do.
00:51:18
Speaker
Just a cavalcade of facts. Just at least a fiendish element. I feel like saying it's a demon is a bit reductive. Where you do a cyst and find it out. It's relevant. Yeah. Well, I'm just saying we're all speaking in these little clipped factual phrases. Well, it sounds like you all are already on a hot a hot trail, as it were. But if you all would like some
00:51:48
Speaker
some details of the incident that occurred and what's been going on. So what I believe has been happening or what has been going on is we have shifters that run a game in North Market. And they've gone missing while running the game Dragon Above Dragon Below is the name of the game. And
00:52:17
Speaker
We don't know what's been going on. There hasn't really been a whole lot of evidence about, like there's not been a crime scene where they've gone missing. It's just their stall is empty when, when we come to check in on them. Um, and then this most recent time, uh, his name was DAG D E G. Uh, his body was found in an alley near where the dragon above dragon below stall is normally set up.
00:52:46
Speaker
He's a good kid, a swift strider. But local authorities have already cleaned up the site. You can go take a look at it. I can point you in the direction. But also, I have a detective on the take. If you want to go talk to him, he'll be more than willing to talk to you all. He's just located at the local precinct. But if you ask for him, he'll be available. Do you know how he was killed?
00:53:17
Speaker
The only word that I heard described was brutal. Um, from the detective, it, it was, it was a pretty grizzly, uh, site. So there's still, when I say they cleaned up the site, they got the body out of there, but the, the blood staining and all that kind of stuff, I mean, it happened yesterday. So, uh, no rain has come to wash anything away. So all that's still there. Just the, the actual body itself isn't, isn't there anymore. So.
00:53:45
Speaker
What's the name of this detective? Detective Spade. Nice. Hell yeah. Run me the name of the victim. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. DEG. D
00:54:10
Speaker
And she's from Sarlona, is that what it sounds like? Yes, yes. One of those Sarlona halflings. And Detective Spade is with the watch. She's with the charm watch.
00:54:21
Speaker
I said he, I assumed because you said Spade. Yeah, we all went to... It is a he. But yeah, basically the same position that Verla is essentially. Sure. Yeah. And how many, did she say, how many have gone missing? I know that one has turned up dead. Five went missing before you dead. Oh gosh. So five plus dead. Yeah. But over the course of how much time? The past two months.
00:54:53
Speaker
which, you know, sometimes people just decide that this life ain't for them and they, they take off. And so, you know, we, we had, I mean, after the, the fourth one, we thought that maybe something fishy was going on, but, um, it takes a bit to notice the pattern. And you just, um, you just let them, let them go when, when they just run off. I mean, I don't have the resources to track them down. And while I.
00:55:22
Speaker
I love all the, the shifters that, that work for me. Um, I, I'm not going to go chasing every single one of them down. If they decide that they don't want to work with me no more. All right. And they don't, I mean, they don't, they are on the periphery. They don't know enough to be of any real concern to the clan. So, and all six of them.
00:55:48
Speaker
where less known whereabouts was by these dragon above dragon below stalls. Well, they were running this stall. Yeah. So like they did a shift disappear. Yeah. Just a street game racket. Get some, get some gold off, off some rubes. You know, speaking of the dragon below, I heard the strangest thing.
00:56:13
Speaker
Oh, I thought you were really gonna do it. I thought this was Hobb. This is Hobb's method. I'm just kidding. No, he's not gonna say it to Lissa. He's gonna say it to all the shifters. Lissa talks to a lot of shifters, apparently. I'm curious to hear. Is Lissa's crew mostly shifters for some reason? Or is it just that because this is a shifter neighborhood, her crew here is mostly shifters? Yes. You know that she runs illegal gambling rings all over the city. So this is just for this district, her crew.
00:56:43
Speaker
It seems like that would compete with their legitimate gambling businesses. I mean, different clientele. That's their kind of thought process. You're targeting people just walking around shopping this way as opposed to people walking into a casino. So. Yeah, dragging above, dragging below is not for your real thrill seekers. Your whales don't play three card Monty. You know what they should do is they should attach some shopping to the casinos.
00:57:12
Speaker
Like a gift shop. Not bad. Like a whole mall with Caesars. Anyway, you could go to the crime scene, but Detective Spade's gonna have all the details about what he saw before the cleanup. So that's where I would recommend you start, but you can go wherever.
00:57:38
Speaker
And she gives you the location of the alley and the location of the precinct. Um, so yeah. So where are you all going to go first to the alley or to talk to the tech detective? Obviously we should start with the detective so that, you know, Reynard can have some insulting banter with him. Uh, and that'll, that'll get us a good lead.
00:58:07
Speaker
Well, we can't be guaranteed the insulting banner because, as established, he's not a woman. That's kind of Raynard's M.O. I don't have a problem with every detective. Okay, so I think, I think, I think, yes, I think we're gonna go see the detective. I have a feeling Baloo, uh, sorry, not Baloo, Faloo. Faroo. Huh? Faroo. I haven't written that as an L and I don't know why.
00:58:36
Speaker
It looked like B-A-L-U when I first looked at it. I write fast, small, and sloppy. Faroo will probably want to see the alley. Honestly, if going to the alley could disabuse Faroo of some of his demon notions, if there's something he sees or senses, that might not be terrible. I'm not ruling out that it might be demons or something from that world. But to be fair, based on your interaction with Alyssa, Faroo is content to just
00:59:01
Speaker
take in, it's not like he's going to interrupt your discussion with the detective and be like, but what about the demons? Sure, sure, sure. Um, so I figure a description, uh, I mean, the alley will probably have some clues, but I figured the most pertinent thing here is a description of what happened to Dag. Okay. Yes, I agree. Yes. So I am, I am not a crime scene analyst. Uh, so you all head to the precinct. It looks very much like the one in lower Memphis.
00:59:31
Speaker
that Verler works at. And you walk in, there's a front desk with a shifter working behind it. Another swift strider, more feline looking, and he looks up at you all and says, oh, can I help you? Yes, we're here to see Detective Spade, please. Okay, give me just one second. And he reaches down to a little sending stone and
00:59:59
Speaker
Hey, Tech Despade, we have some people here to see you. Are you available? Okay, great. All right, yeah, just through that door, third door on the left. And you all walk in. It's no wonder there's so much crime in this town. The Techs are always just sitting at their desks. They're not beat cops, Jeff. But you all walk in and you see an elf
01:00:29
Speaker
sitting behind a desk with his feet up, kind of anticipating your entrance. And as he's about to talk, he kind of catches something in his throat. And Raynard, you kind of stop for a moment as behind this desk in like, detective-y, like similar garb that Verla would wear, you see Basil sitting behind the desk, your cousin. It's like, Drania. What?
01:01:00
Speaker
And a dream year to you as well. Just to win in Rome. End of episode. Where's that? Where's Rome? Is that in Rome? Thank you all very much for listening to all of this.
01:01:14
Speaker
If you want to be part of the conversation surrounding this episode, head on over to our Discord. The link is on our website, geekpantheon.com or at all of our socials. We are also on Twitter and Instagram at the Geek Pantheon, and we have a Facebook group, the Geek Pantheon. We also have a YouTube channel with another actual play show from the Geek Pantheon called Kyber Shards that Philip Dms and I play in.
01:01:37
Speaker
as well as a bunch of other videos that I do over there. And I stream on Twitch every Sunday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. Central and Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. I think that's everything. So thank you all so much for listening. I'm Eric. I'm Phillip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. We will see you next time.
01:02:00
Speaker
you