Sangfielle 38: Just Returns Pt. 2
Transcriber: robotchangeling
Austin: So, I think everybody wakes up, and all of the doors to like outside the Jade Moon are already locked. And when you first wake up here, the boat seems to be still. You're at a dock. What do y'all do? In this, these early hours of the “stay inside, please” day, or days.
Janine: I have an important question.
Austin: Yes.
Janine: Is there room service?
[Music begins: “Sangfielle” by Jack de Quidt]
Ali: Marn is doing all of this research, trying to like translate this journal, trying to like get Cursed items and work on them, so that they can then sacrifice this D8 Null stuff—
Austin: Mm.
Ali: —to someone who works with the Telluricists, to be like—
Austin: Ah.
Ali: “This is all of the research that I have done.”
Austin: Right.
Jack: Oh.
Ali: “I would love to speak to you about this, ‘cause it is very worrying.” [laughs softly]
Jack: Is there anything particularly standout other than this very strange forest that I see as we're passing down the river?
Austin: What do you want to see?
Jack: I think something that might give Pickman— Pickman is wondering, “Why did they tell us all to stay inside?”
Austin: Mm-hmm. I think the branches takes on a shape of some sort as you look out at it.
Austin (as Alekest): This is the curse of the place, isn't it? Eh…to see it is haunting in beauty. The first time I saw it, it was all I could think of for a week. I stopped attending classes. My family thought I'd grown seriously ill, and in a way I had. And all other things seemed paler next to it. That's a curse, not a blessing. And I have not yet figured out what I will do if I make it there, except, I suspect, stay. And hope that proximity removes the sheen.
Jack (as Pickman): What were you hoping in coming here? For me to look at what you did in Sapodilla and go, “Oh, good.”
Art (as Duvall): Well—
Jack (as Pickman): All I've learned is that Lyke is as stupid as you are.
Art (as Duvall): Well, I think I also wanted you to learn that I did not hurt Lyke on purpose, nor would I ever.
Jack (as Pickman): Okay, fine. You've made your point.
Art (as Duvall): And, I mean, I think we need to have a productive coworker relationship from here on out. And I was gonna float the idea of maybe you help me cheat at this card tournament.
Jack (as Pickman): What? [Austin and Jack laugh]
Janine: I was gonna say we weren't very Kramery anymore, but then we came back around. [laughs softly]
Austin: Uh huh.
[song ends]
Jack: Blank confusion on Pickman’s face. [Ali laughs] Like, cracks a small smile. Um…
Jack (as Pickman): No. Make it morth— worth—
Jack: [laughs softly] Morth. [Austin laughs]
Jack (as Pickman): No. Make it worth my while.
Art (as Duvall): I'll split the pot with you.
Jack (as Pickman): Like, how?
Art (as Duvall): What? [Austin laughs]
Jack (as Pickman): How? What amount?
Art (as Duvall): I’ll take what they give me, and I'll give you half of it.
Jack (as Pickman): Uh, yeah, okay. [Austin, Ali, and Jack laugh]
Austin: Ahh. All right, so how are you getting help from Pickman? You’re…you weren’t rolling Discern last time? You had to be rolling Discern. Were you just rolling nothing? What were you rolling, Duvall?
Art: I was rolling Discern Occult, to reflect the random nature of playing.
Austin: Was that true?
Art: Yes.
Austin: [uncertain] Mm…
Art: We had a conversation about this. You were like, “Clever idea, Art.”
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: Okay. I believe you. We have not recorded this show in quite a bit. [Ali laughs] I just want to reiterate that for the listener. Sure. Okay, yeah.
Ali: That is what hap— Art was like, “I have this great idea,” and you were like, “Wow, okay,” to the point that you were like, “Everybody else, you can decide what you want to roll.”
Austin: Ah.
Ali: “You have to give me an explanation for it.”
Austin: Okay.
Ali: I think Keith did Discern and Sickman did some sort of…
Austin: Did you say Signet?
Jack: Sickman. Sickman is sick Pickman. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Ah. Right.
Janine: It’s Pickman on a skateboard.
Ali: I was thinking about how Pickman was sick, and I said Sickman, I think. [laughs]
Austin: You said Sickman. Right, yeah. Okay. [Janine laughs] Um, then yeah, sure. Uh huh. Actually, you rolled Delve Occult apparently. Or you suggested Delve Occult.
Art: That’s a mistake.
Austin: Yeah, you should have meant Discern. Discern makes more sense.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: You have it, so yeah. So then, how are you— how is Pickman cheating with you? Is this like, uh…what's your ploy? [laughs softly]
Art: Maybe just like, bump the table. Just like…
Austin: To be like, eh, they got a…they got a 12.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Pickman, does this work for you? Is this a good plan?
Jack: Yeah, I…I have…I'm only doing this because I was amused by this asshole’s…
Austin: Yeah. Uh huh.
Jack: Be like…yeah, so I'm just doing it the most truculently and, you know.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Jack: Yeah, I'll do that.
Austin: Okay, so take that plus one, Duvall. We got to get some wins.
Art: I really do.
Austin: So this is Discern Occult, plus one. And that is…
Art: Plus one.
Austin: That's as many dice as we normally get there.
Art: Oh my god. [Jack sighs] I just don't…I don't feel good about this.
Austin: You know?
Art: ‘Cause you don't want to get caught cheating at cards.
Austin: You don't. You don’t. You don’t. [Ali laughs]
Jack: I'm 35 feet tall. It's fine.
Art: 35 feet tall? Wow. [Austin laughs quietly] I just haven’t been keeping track.
Austin: All right. That's a success at a cost.
Jack: Yeah. Okay.
Austin: Let's roll some…let's roll some cost. All right, both of you take— or, no, you roll separately, right? That's Duvall. Pickman, that's— okay. [Jack laughs] Duvall, take two Mind Stress. Pickman, take six— or does it make more sense to go to Fortune here? Because you’re…is it the Stress of I'm cheating or is it don't fucking cheat at card games, Fortune will bite you in the ass? I think it's kind of the latter.
Jack: Okay.
Austin: Yeah, two Fortune and six Fortune, Duvall and Pickman. Give me your Fallout tests. No Fallout for Duvall. Unbelievable roll from Pickman. Pickman had nine— has nine Fortune Stress, rolled a 10, dodging the Fallout.
Jack: Ah.
Austin: One more— so, yes. You make it through this first— the losers bracket. No one had money on you, ‘cause obviously people are betting on who's gonna win at this point. Everyone was like, Duvall is terrible at this game, miserable. [Jack laughs] And you sweep. You win every game. Huh, I wonder why. I mean, actually, it looks like you didn't necessarily need Pickman's help. You did roll two sevens here, so you would have succeeded even without the cheating. [Ali laughs] But it's a good safety measure. All right, one more time. Or, let’s pause.
Ali: Wow.
Austin: What's the vibe? What's the vibe before you roll this, in the room, during the finals? At this point, you've pulled away from that first of the departure stops. You're just kind of…the sun is setting in the distance. Es, what sort of luxury have you decided to indulge in today? [Art laughs] During the finals.
Janine: Hmm…
Austin: Do you have someone telling you the results of the finals?
Janine: I was just going to say, [Austin laughs softly] do I have someone who's running me…who's running me the results every few minutes. They’re like zigzagging back and forth.
Austin: Uh huh.
Art: What about like a 1920s ticker tape? Like a… [Ali laughs]
Austin: That’s very funny. Ahh.
Janine: If I couldn't get a clawfoot tub, I don't think I can get that.
Austin: Yeah. Probably not that. [Jack laughs softly] Are they using some sort of basic like, you know, two cans plus a string style, or just like interior communication tube that they normally only use for emergencies, but they're reading you out plays as if it's like a chess game, you know? I think the person running with notes is funnier, but...
Janine: Yeah, I like the idea of them like running down the hall and like slipping a piece of paper under the door.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh.
Janine: That just has like these like hastily scribbled, like, “This card got played, and then this card got played—”
Austin: [laughs softly] Uh huh.
Janine: “And then this card got played, and then this card got played.” [laughs]
Austin: Ahh. And you're—
Janine: Maybe there’s two of them, ‘cause they have to alternate.
Austin: To alternate.
Janine: When one of them runs, the other one still has to be taking notes.
Austin: And there’s a third person in the room who's playing— [Ali and Jack laugh] who's repeating the plays so that you can see just the cards. [laughs softly] Ah.
Janine: Ah, it’s fun.
Jack: This really is what it would be like if bugs tried to invent a boat from scratch.
Austin: [laughs] Uh huh. [Ali laughs] All right. Anyone else have any moments?
Jack: The, uh…
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: The quartet is playing.
Austin: Uh huh.
Jack: They’re playing, uh…I just went on the like, the roud, R-O-U-D, folk song index of English folk tunes—
Austin: Mm, mm-hmm.
Jack: —to see if there was some songs about gambling. And they're playing a four part song, the full title of which is “The Bold Gambling Boy,” slash “The Little Black Horse,” slash “The Penny Wager,” slash “One Penny.”
Ali: Mm-hmm. [Jack laughs]
Austin: Love it.
Ali: Banger.
Austin: The banger. Yeah, everyone loves it.
Jack: Such a banger. [Ali laughs]
Austin: All right. Give me this roll, Art.
Art: All right.
Austin: You know, wait, don't roll yet.
Art: Okay.
Austin: I want them one at a time.
Art: You want me to roll four dice one at a time?
Austin: I want you to roll four D10 one at a time. Yeah.
Ali: Wow.
Austin: And maybe you win right away, and it's fine. But I, you know, then that paints a different picture.
Art: Sure.
Austin: Well, that's an eight, so we know you at least are going to succeed.
[0:10:01]
Jack: Oh, shit. [laughs softly]
Janine: This was a good call.
Austin: That’s a seven. That's seven. That's an eight!
Jack: Yes! [Janine and Jack laugh]
Ali: Ah.
Austin: That’s just complete dominance. Duvall.
Jack: [laughing] ‘Cause we’re cheating.
Austin: ‘Cause you're cheating. Well, I mean, it doesn't matter. You got the eight. You got the eight first and last. The cheating just really like settles it. And it's a full success, so there's no…there's no Stress. Eight is enough to not take Stress on this. So neither of you are getting more Stress, which does just mean that, Pickman, you're going forward with the most Fortune Fallout. [Austin and Jack laugh] Er, Fortune Stress possible. Um, the, uh…yeah. I think it comes down to you…ah, and you're in Lyke’s spot. You're literally sitting in the seat that Lyke had earned, and you're up against, uh…god. Who— what type of person are you up against? It's really hard…no one's heard this yet. There's a character coming up in a Bluff City episode, whose— [loud, exuberant, and heavily emphasized] whose voice is big and like this. [starting to laugh] And it's very hard not to play this character.
Ali: Yeah.
Jack: You got three strange people beside him.
Austin: Yes, uh huh. [Ali laughs] So. You just— for people— for real ones, you hold that in your head for when you get to that character in an upcoming Bluff episode.
Ali: Yeah. Yeah.
Austin: Mm-hmm. And I think stands up and gives you a big handshake, Duvall. And says:
Austin (as gambler): [in the same voice] May I have the name of the person who defeated me in honorable card combat? [Ali and Jack laugh faintly]
Art (as Duvall): Uh, Duvall.
Austin (as gambler): Duvall. A name of a true and honorable, uh, duelist of the deck.
Art (as Duvall): Mm-hmm.
Austin (as gambler): A deck duelist. In two ways, because we were both dueling with cards, a deck of cards, and on the deck of a boat.
Art (as Duvall): Oh, that's clever.
Austin (as gambler): It's a pun.
Art (as Duvall): I got it.
Austin (as gambler): Well, I'm gonna go get some of that continental breakfast.
Art (as Duvall): [confused] It's late. [Austin laughs softly]
Austin (as gambler): Breakfast is for any time, Duvall. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Art (as Duvall): [acquiescing sound]
Ali: Mm.
Art (as Duvall): I'm just worried it's gonna be stale. [Austin laughs softly]
Austin (as gambler): Stale food is for any time, Duvall. You just have to grin and bear it, like a bad hand of—
Art (as Duvall): What are you doing later? [Austin, Ali, and Jack laugh loudly]
Austin: I actually know who this is. I figured out who this actually is, Duvall. This is the person who wrote the book, uh, pop-arcana book about humanity's ability to ascend to godhood and how you can do it. [Jack gasps]
Art: I have that book!
Austin: You do have that book. [Ali gasps]
Jack: [laughing] Oh, shit.
Ali: What [unclear ??? 12:45].
Art: Oh!
Jack: You can get it inscribed!
Austin: You can get it inscribed.
Art: I’m gonna get it inscribed.
Austin: Uh huh.
Janine: This is a real Pokémon plot twist. [Ali and Austin laugh] Just like, you’re the— you’re Dr. Pine?
Austin: That's it, yeah. You're Dr. Pine. This is Dr. Pine, a hundred percent. Yeah. We could just have that one. They would— they have Professor Pine. We have Dr. Pine. It's different.
Ali: Mm. [Janine laughs]
Austin: Yeah, and I think slips you— hands you a handmade business card that says “Dr. Pine, expert, arcana, books, godhood, and bootstrapping.” [Jack laughs]
Art (as Duvall): You know if you— when you're done with breakfast, I'd love to buy you a drink.
Austin (as Dr. Pine): Well, it’s a…time to drink any time of the day is what I always say, so absolutely. [Jack laughs softly] Uh, you go ahead— I'll give you my drink order, and that way by the time I'm done breakfast, it'll be ready.
Janine: Must be a big drink.
Art (as Duvall): [taken aback but accepting it] Great. Weird, but great.
Austin: [laughs] And gives you the drink order.
Art: Yeah, I've never had before— that's never happened to me before.
Austin: [laughs] There are seven ingredients.
Art: He gave me a recipe?
Austin: Yeah, yes, a hundred percent— it’s on the back of the card. [laughs] It’s the Dr. Pine original.
Art: I’m not making the drink! I’m gonna order it from a...
Austin: Well, you better give the bartender the card with the drink recipe on it.
Art: Oh my god.
Austin: Oh my god.
Art: Some people just order drinks that people know. [Ali laughs]
Jack: This character, so powerful as to transcend one game into another. [Jack and Ali laugh]
Austin: This is a different person, Jack.
Jack: Okay, yeah. This is Dr. Pine.
Austin: I did find a drink with 71 ingredients.
Ali: Geez.
Jack: Shit.
Art: Coca Cola.
Austin: It's called the Commonwealth, which, yikes.
Jack: Oh, great.
Janine: Ah.
Art: Ahh.
Austin: Yeah. Uh huh. Well, this has less than that, let's say. But it does— in my mind, there's two things, are you have to bring something to boil, and you have to leave some amount of cream out long enough for it to just barely start to sour.
Ali: Ew.
Art: So, what, I'm gonna have this drink tomorrow afternoon?
Austin: Yeah, it's gonna be a little while.
Art: All right. I guess I get to a bartender quick.
Austin: Uh huh. Yes. [laughs]
Ali: What are y'all doing?
Austin: I don't know. Weirdos. Weirdos are doing all sorts of shit. [Ali laughs] I did go to a random name generator for the first name here, and the first name it suggested was Achilles. And I think Achilles Pine is just a killer name. It's just…
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Janine: Yeah.
Jack: Excellent.
Austin: I wouldn't have arrived at it. You know I don’t— you know how I feel about random name generators, which is like, you know, they're a tool, but you can't rely on them. Achilles Pine. You go ahead and add Achilles Pine— uh, I'm just gonna add it here, “by Dr. Achilles Pine,” to your Notes section here. Yeah, you made a contact here. That's fun.
Jack: And if Art does this right, he won't just win the card tournament. He'll win the heart of Achilles Pine.
Austin: Exactly.
Ali: Mm.
Janine: I also— I want to mention that a little note—
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Janine: —comes out for Duvall.
Austin: Aww.
Janine: On like…someone delivers a note on a tray, and it says like, “Congratulations!” And then like maybe there's like a box of candy or something—
Jack: [laughs softly] More candy.
Austin: Aw.
Janine: —that Es had sent. She bid it be sent to the winner. [Janine and Jack laugh]
Austin: To the winner. Yeah. Are all the candies in there, or have they been like vultured already? [Janine laughs]
Art: Seven candies in an eight…
Janine: Actually, I think…
Austin: Is there like a particular one that's missing ‘cause it's Es’s favorite?
Janine: I think the box is in, like…so, the box is full.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Janine: All the candies are in there.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Janine: Most of them have like some sort of quality to them where it’s like, you can tell like, oh, this one has an almond sliver on it, so it's probably some sort of like nougaty whatever. I don't know. There's like almond paste in it or whatever. But there are a few that are just like generic looking chocolates, and those ones have been squished ever so slightly. [Janine, Ali, Jack, and Austin laugh] They're still— they still look okay.
Austin: You could still eat them. Yeah.
Janine: They're just a little bit cracked, because she—
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: —was like, “Oh, this one has cherry cream, and I don’t want that.
Austin: Yeah,
Ali: Does Es just have like an open tab at the gift shop? [Ali and Jack laugh]
Austin: Yeah, this is very…you’re gonna get a bill at the end of all this. [Janine and Ali laugh]
Ali: Fetch me another one of those boxes, and switch the bad flavors out. [Austin, Janine, and Jack laugh]
Austin: The prize for this was—
Janine: Reckless abandon. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Was a— yes, uh huh. It was a D12, um, false war tournament prize is what I'd written or what I'd said during the first of this. It's winner takes all, and everyone had to buy in. So there is like a, you know, you’ve…you got all the stakes, basically. Stakes as in the money people have staked, not like…
Art: Not…
Janine: D12 steak.
Austin: Right.
Art: Not like a bunch of Porterhouses.
Austin: Right. That's very funny, though. The idea that they would be like, “All right, here's some frozen meat.”
Art: Here’s all the steaks.
Austin: [laughing] Here’s all the steaks.
Art: Come into the kitchen with a cart.
Austin: [laughs] Yep. But no, I do think that it is, um…it is…it's D12 of whatever other people…it's, you know, I think it's not money. I think it is literally a collection of various resources in the way that your supplies system works here. You know? Like, oh, if I needed a blank with me, or if I needed some rope, I could just take some supplies damage to have a rope. Or the way like gear used to work in The Sprawl or in, you know, Beam Saber or whatever, where you could just be like, “Oh, I'm gonna do a flashback to get blank.” This is D12 like assorted resources. And I would say that they are probably…it's, let's say Haven on the tag or on the domain, because it's probably mostly stuff like a handful of gems. And, you know, a bunch of, you know, some golden coins or nuggets or whatever. Or, you know, a nice wristwatch or whatever.
Art: All right, remind me how you break up a D12? What does a D12 break into?
Austin: No one knows. No one knows how to do this, actually. So it's a D6… [Jack laughs]
Ali: It's a D8 and a D6, right?
Austin: I think that’s—
Ali: Or, no, it’s a D10 and a D8.
Austin: No— is it? I don't think that's true. I think that that's what we thought was true at the time, and it’s wrong.
Ali: Okay, then it's a D8 and a D6?
Austin: I’m gonna just— I’m gonna read…
Art: All right, I'm gonna…going to page 90 on the rule book. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Yes. Thank you, yes. Is that where it is? Did you find it, Art?
Art: That's just where the Table of Contents says Resources is.
Austin: That’s where resources. Yeah, that is where it says. But I actually think it might be in the breaking down equipment subsection, which…or Resources section. How is this not just under Resources? Here we go.
Ali: Oh, I think I found it.
Austin: Okay, where?
Ali: This is page 130, under the explanation for Haunts.
Austin: Haunts, that makes sense. Sure.
Ali: [reading] “If your resources are a higher rank than the Haunt you are accessing—”
Austin: Yes.
Ali: “—and it makes narrative sense to do so, you can downgrade them an equivalent number of steps instead of trading them entirely. For example, if you have a sack of mushrooms D8, and you want the Doktor’s surgery—”
[0:20:05]
Austin: Wait, it says D10 in my book. Does it say D8 to you?
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: Mine says D10. [Ali laughs]
Art: Oh my god.
Austin: Well, what’s your— finish your thing.
Ali: “And you want to access the Doktor’s surgery, instead of removing the resource entirely to access a D6 refresh—”
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali: “—it is downgraded by two steps, a D6, leaving it as a handful of mushrooms, a D4.”
Austin: So mine says, “For example, if you have a— you have a sack of mushrooms D10, and want to access the Doktor’s surgery…” So we’re at D10 mushrooms. “Instead of removing the resource entirely to access the D8 refresh, it's downgraded three steps, a D8, leaving you with a handful of shrooms, D4.” So, I think that means that a D12 resource…so, D4 resource is a one, D6 is a two, D8 is a three, D10 is a four, D12 is a five. So you could split that into a three and a two, for instance. You cannot split it into a two and a…into a two and a half and a two and a half. But—
Art: So, an eight and a six.
Austin: And eight and a six. Yes.
Art: All right, so I will give…
Austin: I guess you could then split the eight further, right?
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: You could—
Art: Uh, I'm giving Pickman the D6. I'm taking the D8. [Ali laughs]
Austin: You said 50/50.
Art: It doesn't work1
Austin: Uh huh. I mean, it’s— yeah. Sure.
Art: The extra bit is my championship bracelet, like the World Series of— [Ali laughs]
Austin: Or it’s the actual trophy. Let's say it's the actual trophy.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah. Is it a bracelet? A bracelet’s very fun. Is that like a poker thing?
Art: Yeah, like the World Se— yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: The World Series of Poker does bracelets.
Austin: Yeah. Okay.
Art: They’re gaudy and horrible.
Austin: Yeah. So then, let's say it's—
Art: And I want this to look exactly the same.
Austin: Let's say it's D6— it's two different D6, like, various winnings, Haven. And then it's a D4 championship bracelet, as your— that's your little added bit, Art.
Art: All right.
Austin: All right.
Art: So it’s a D6 of just like, junk?
Austin: You know, like I said, I think it's gems, it's…or it's, yeah, uh huh. Old jewelry. It's the sort of stuff people would have paid to get into this. And I don't remember what y'all paid to get into this, but it was probably shit like that. Trinkets.
Art: Uh, what’s the domain on the bracelet?
Austin: I think it's Haven. I think this is all just Haven stuff. I don't think any of this is like…you know, I would say maybe the…let's put, on the random shit, a mix of Haven and Religion. I feel like people— there are definitely people who would have been like, “Oh yeah, I have this little carving of a god,” you know? So, yeah. There you go. And that's for both you and Pickman. All right. So, everyone is celebrating the great finale of the tournament. And I'm curious, has anyone…Marn, what are you doing during all this? You're unaccounted for right now.
Ali: Probably just still finishing up the stuff I have to do, right?
Austin: Yeah, okay. You're finishing up your watch research.
Ali: Yeah. Getting off the boat is like the deadline for this.
Austin: Yes, yes.
Ali: ‘Cause I have to like meet somebody after this. [laughs]
Austin: Right.
Ali: So like, if I am not done by the time…yeah.
Austin: So, from your…you know, you have come out from under the influence of the Course, the moon-touched woods, the Course, the Course-touched woods. And so you're a little bit more certain in your feelings now. And I think in a— there's a moment where you're like, “Huh, I wonder if being in the woods did that to me.” And so you go to look outside the window, in the way that, you know, you’re like, huh, I’m gonna look outside—
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Because outside was influencing you before. And as you look at your porthole, you see in the distance, coming up from the ground in an inversion of the way it normally looks, a bolt of—or, you know, many intertwined bolts—of red lightning. And it's just holding there, the way it was when you were in the Hymn of the Mother-Beast.
Jack: Hmm.
Ali: Uh oh.
Jack: [laughs softly] Uh oh!
Ali: [laughs] Now, that doesn’t look too good.
Jack: What, when we killed the…the Magistrate?
Austin: Yeah. Remember that?
Ali: Oh, yeah, true.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Hmm.
Austin: And it's coming from, I would say, your like west-southwest, Blackwick way.
Ali: Don't love that.
Austin: And the— you know, the boat pulls up to a stop soon after. And again, you have this moment of choice, which is like, do I want to get off here and try to go by land? Or do I want to ride this into the end of the trip tomorrow and come down from the south? Basically, you're like, either coming over this kind of area northeast of Blackwick, where there's the big open plain, where… [laughs softly] Where the group that went to Bell Metal encountered those skeletons. Or do you want to come in from the north, where Dayward YVE's manor is and like the hills and all of that?
Ali: That might be up to Es. [laughs]
Austin: Yeah, fair. Es is the one who—
Ali: Oh, wait, no, it's not Dayward YVE…
Austin: Yeah. Dayward YVE.
Ali: Is it Dayward YVE? Okay.
Austin: Yeah, Dayward YVE lived in that manor to the north, Roseroot Hall.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: Also, to give you an image here of what lightning, upside down lightning looks like. It does happen every now and then, and it's fucking weird. It's like it's sprouting up. Like, it's hard to conceptualize, because we don't think about it this way. But it's like a fountain of lightning going upward.
Jack: Huh.
Ali: Oh, sure.
Austin: I really like this image that I’m about to send. This is from a blog post entitled “Rare Upside Down Lightning Viewed over Puget Sound.” And it's like a triangle almost of lightning coming upwards with a single clear bolt and then all of the kind of feelers, all of the other kind of tendrils of lightning. And it's coming up over Blackwick. Or drilling down over Blackwick? Who could say?
Ali: I was getting Dayward YVE mixed up with Dyer Ode.
Austin: Yes. No. Dyre Ode is in the wind right now.
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: Uh, going west, is what you last heard. Over the mountains. And yeah, so.
Jack: I don't think I would like to get off the boat. I think I'm interested in seeing what this is…you know, what's gonna happen at the end of this journey.
Austin: Sure.
Jack: And I also want to conserve my energy.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: And I think staying on the boat is probably for the best.
Austin: All right. Then we can move kind of rapidly here. The rest of the trip is uneventful. There's that sort of end of trip warmth of like, even if you maybe didn't get along with everybody, you've come to the end of the trip, and you've had a good time, more or less. There weren't any catastrophes, except for the way that you maybe lost two to three friends. [Jack and Ali laugh] Doesn't seem to upset anybody. Everyone kind of feels like maybe it's gonna be okay. And I mean, at this point—
Art: That’s that we're on a show.
Austin: Uh huh.
Art: And that we're gonna figure out something. [laughs softly]
Austin: Yeah. Uh huh. Um, you definitely, at this point, have all seen this lightning over Blackwick, which is not great. And the…there is a sort of attitude about it from the crew of the ship that is like, “Well, it ain’t our problem, I guess.” [Ali laughs softly] Like, it's not…they're not…I think that they give an advisory. They say, you know, “Strange atmospheric phenomenon found above Blackwick. For those of our passengers who are headed that direction, please move with caution. We can't protect you once you're off the ship.” There is a little bit of a…there's a moment here that I'm gonna say out loud but is not— I'm not gonna turn it into a whole thing. But for a little bit, you go under a tunnel. You go underground in the boat. No one tells you this is coming, and then for like two hours, you're underground in an underground river in the hills, basically. And then finally, you come to a stop in a kind of a little…a smaller lake, you know? Not even big enough to even read as a lake on the map from this view, this like far out view. But, you know, there's a little glen, and it's kind of peaceful, and there are birds chirping and stuff, and you know, everything is cast red by the strange lightning miles to the south. But it's— which is a weird juxtaposition, right? ‘Cause like, up here, everything is fine. It's just a day. But like, the day is blood red from this strange permanent lightning. And, you know, you get off the boat, and the boat is— or the dock has a little shrine on it, a little, uh…why am I blanking on the name of the group of gods? The Boundless Conclave. Has like a little Boundless Conclave shrine made up of just like stones piled on top of each other and a little statue of a god I don't think anybody here knows. Which is not me being coy. It's just like, there are a bunch of gods in the Boundless Conclave. [Ali laughs softly] I generated it the other day, and it's a fucking wild one, so I'm gonna read it. I miss doing Boundless Conclave gods, because Keith got the thing that made it so that that ability doesn't do it anymore.
Ali: Oh, yeah, yeah. Man.
Austin: But it is…I'm gonna read it, because it's so good. Um, ahem. This courageous goddess of culture takes the form of a crone. She is inhumanly tall, and has a leggy build.
Ali: Mm.
[0:30:00]
Austin: She has straight tangerine-colored hair worn in an uncomplicated style. Her eyes— her wide eyes are tangerine colored. Her body is covered in beige fur. She's usually portrayed as wearing an impractical uniform, [Austin and Jack laughs softly] made from the skin of a dead god. She carries a mirror. She can impart wisdom and intelligence to anyone.
Jack: Wow!
Austin: So she's hanging out here, in the…she's not actually hanging out here. She's, you know, there's a statue of her amongst some rocks, some stacked rocks at the edge of this…this little lake, this little port. There's someone in a…there's a woman in a wheelchair doing some fishing, and she also has like a stand of like goodies to buy, so if you needed like Supply Stress, she's like a kind of a…she’s not a great Supplies Haunt, but she's a Supplies Haunt. And it's worth saying before we continue, that this…this…what do you call it? This shrine is also a Fortune Haunt. So, for instance, if Pickman, you have a billion Fortune Stress right now, [Jack laughs] that is a thing that is available here. It is, uh…it's not a great altar. It’s only a D6 altar, but it's better than nothing. And the Supplies is also a D6. She's got a little bit of this, a little bit of that. And she's busy fishing, so you see some people like trying to buy stuff from her as they disembark, and then she's like:
Austin (as fisher): Whoa, one second. I got something on the line.
Austin: And, you know, pulls some stuff up. I say pulls some stuff up, and it's like straight up, she pulls up like a hammer from the water and then immediately dries it off and just puts it on the table with other goods to sell.
Jack: Ha!
Austin: And you start to realize like, oh, she gets some of this stuff— this is like runoff from the haunted mines in some ways. And also sometimes it's fish, but you know. She has a grill on. She's grilling some fish she caught today, selling it to people getting off the boat. And, you know, you all get off the boat. You have all your stuff. Does anyone say— does anyone have any final boat moments they want before we— before this boat gets scuttled?
Ali: You were a real one, the Jade Moon.
Austin: Mm.
Ali: Thanks for the ride.
Austin: Mm-hmm. The…Teak, the Usher and kind of first mate of the ship, is up on the kind of top deck outside of the captain's…the kind of pilot seat area, the pilot’s cabin. And there is a horn blast. The boat, you know, kind of gives its big final farewell. And the doors of the captain's, you know, cabin open, and innumerable bugs fly out of it up into the sky in a swarm, a massive swarm and begin to head west up over the mountains. And it takes you a second, but the…the stream of bugs doesn't stop coming. It gets thinner for a moment, and then, the way a loose thread on a sweater can get caught, it catches the very top of the boat. And beginning with the cloth covering the boat and then the boat itself, you know, bit by bit, a huge swarm of insects. [laughs softly] The whole thing lifts into the air. And while the bugs of the captain were this melange of a dozen different things, as we talked about when Duvall first met the captain, here they are these— the same sorts of butterflies that we saw lead you here, this kind of greenish, light green moth. And it's beautiful. Like, they are…it is a flock of these, of these green, these Jade Moon butterflies. And they very softly begin to flutter up and away over the hills, cast by this red light. You were a real one, the Jade Moon. [Ali and Art laugh]
Jack: May we one day all, at the end of our long lives going up and down the Ojan, turn into a load of butterflies.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Love to see it.
Jack: Did they leave anything behind? I'm just, I'm channeling Lyke.
Austin: Nothing. Yeah, nothing. [Ali laughs] You had opportunities to try to rob that place, but…
Jack: Oh, I wouldn't go as far as robbing. I just cheat at cards and [Austin laughs] threaten to kill skeletons.
Austin: Yes.
Janine: I feel a little better at how much trash I left in my room now.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh. Well, you know. It's fine. Don’t worry about it. It’ll get fished out. So yeah, there you go. Uh, we could wrap here. If anyone wants to heal before we continue, you can do that.
Jack: Yeah, I would like to get rid of some of this Fortune Stress that I got. [laughs]
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Jack: I just— I don't want to expend my winnings on it, ‘cause that would feel like an absolute waste. [Ali laughs]
Austin: It’s very funny though, but yes. That's the real end of a Seinfeld episode, though, actually. [laughs softly] Is you go through all this trouble to get these winnings, then you immediately have to like pay off a dent in your car or whatever, you know?
Jack: Ugh, god.
Ali: Have I entered a Haven domain, by the way? Is this a Haven domain, or…?
Austin: This is not a domain, no.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: Sorry.
Ali: Yeah.
Jack: Yeah, I guess...ugh. I should probably…in order to get the D6 of healing, I have to give a D6 of resources, right?
Austin: You could give two D4s, but yes.
Jack: Yeah. I think this tournament token that's on my sheet is a placeholder.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: I don't think that's real.
Austin: Uh huh.
Jack: Like, I don't— I think I put that down to mark that I had a D4 of something. Oh, I can roll an extra D4 because of my training from Hazard.
Austin: Oh, that’s what it was.
Jack: RIP.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh. [Austin, Ali, and Jack laugh]
Jack: So I'll just…I’ll delete that. Um…
Austin: Okay.
Jack: Yeah, I'm gonna…I'm gonna turn over these false— this false war prize, to get healed. [laughs]
Austin: It's so funny. She's really excited, ‘cause like, this is exactly the sort of shit she loves to sell, this fisher.
Jack: Just fucking garbage.
Austin: Yep, mm-hmm.
Jack: Ahh.
Austin: So, give me a roll— roll a D6, and take that much healing, Fortune healing.
Jack: It's gonna be like one. Let’s see.
Austin: That’s how it goes sometimes.
[pause, then laughter]
Janine: Aww.
Art: Aww.
Jack: [laughing] It’s a one!
Austin: So, what's happened here is you’ve just been talked down big time.
Ali: [laughs] Aw.
Austin: She’s just like:
Austin (as fisher): Aw, well, this isn't worth much of anything, is it, buddy?
Austin: Oh, I'm sorry. You know what?
Jack (as Pickman): Don’t call me buddy.
Austin: Yeah, well, yeah. [laughs]
Austin (as fisher): All right, pal.
Austin: [laughs softly] So yeah, that's a shame. But, you know, eight is better than nine, right?
Jack: Yeah. Uh huh.
Austin: Ohh.
Ali: Mm.
Austin: That's heartbreaking.
Ali: Mm.
Austin: You hate to see it, folks.
Jack: Well…wait, hang on. [laughs softly] Yeah, uh huh. And it should actually have been eight originally, because I got six Fallout—
Austin: You're right.
Jack: —and I have one Fortune Protection.
Austin: You're right.
Jack: So it actually goes down to seven.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh. You're right.
Art: Barely anything.
Jack: I’m not owned. [laughs] Yeah.
Austin: [laughs] I’m not owned. All right. Um, Marn?
Ali: I have a…I have dock plans, I think.
Austin: Oh, okay.
Ali: ‘Cause I would rather just get out of the session—
Austin: Yes.
Ali: —sacrificing this [laughing, unintelligible ??? 37:21].
Austin: Oh, sure. Uh huh.
Ali: I think I got on the boat and I sent a letter to someone at the Telluricists and was like, I gotta talk to you about some shit.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: There's this cult that's trying to find paradise, and it's really bad.
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali: Come meet me here, day whatever, at…
Austin: At whatever, right.
Ali: Where this was getting off, yada yada.
Austin: Uh huh. You… [amused sound] It's very interesting. [Ali laughs] There's someone here for you. This is Dr. Kerr Kern, who is a Telluricist, another Carpana. She is about, you know, your size. I think her coloring is primarily white with like some black, like a little black blotch over her left eye. And she…she got sent here, because she was sup— uh, she doesn't say. You don't know this. She's here.
Ali: [laughs] Yeah.
Austin: Do you know her? Have you— is this somebody you've met before?
Ali: Um…
Austin: She's not Keen, but she's a Telluricist. She's working on her Keen like thesis currently.
Ali: Oh, okay.
Austin: So maybe she's like in—
Ali: Then maybe I…
Austin: Go ahead.
Ali: I don't know her like super well.
Austin: Yeah, maybe it’s like—
Ali: But I like know…yeah.
Austin: She was like a freshman when you were a senior type of situation.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Do you know what I mean?
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: And she's like:
Austin (as Kerr): Marn Ancura.
Ali (as Marn): Yeah, hi.
Austin (as Kerr): [stammers for a moment] So there's a boat here, huh?
Ali (as Marn): Oh, yeah, there was. I was…I was on the boat for a bit. It was great. Yeah.
Austin (as Kerr): I hope your trip went well. [stammers] What's the, um…what's the situation? I had a note that I was supposed to take some time here, and I…this isn't anything against you, but I have to do some other busy work right now, so. And I wasn't really briefed on what it is that I…
Ali (as Marn): Oh, yeah, nothing against you, but I'm surprised that they sent a, um…you know, they didn't send someone like above me even, but…
Austin (as Kerr): Well, I'm in the area, and I'm supposed to go back to, you know, the mountain after.
Ali (as Marn): Oh, sure. Well, then, if you could take all of this with you.
Ali: And Marn pulls a— [laughs] Actually, I think Marn’s like an organized person.
Austin: Yes.
Ali: Who takes care of their things.
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali: So, like pulls out like a canvas, like, it looks like it's a manila envelope, but it's made out of like canvas fabric.
Austin: Sure. Sure.
Ali: [laughs softly] And it's like, the…it's the Hollowfield notebook that Marn translated.
Austin: Right. Yes.
Ali: The Notes on a Paradise Medicine, which is…
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali: Bad enough on its own.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Ali: The untranslated…half-translated…amateur translated medical journal from Zevunzolia library. [laughs softly]
[0:40:05]
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: The Null stuff, and then just like another—
Austin: This is a lot of shit.
Ali: Yeah, just another notebook of all of the like notes that Marn has like personally taken.
Jack: God.
Austin: You’re— this is a lot. You don't need to give all this for this Beat, but it—
Ali: I sure don’t, but like… [laughs]
Austin: It's…yeah, uh huh.
Jack: Alekest is talking to the wrong person. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Uh huh. A hundred percent.
Jack: Pickman would gain—
Janine: There’s also a degree of this that’s just like shaming them for not sending someone a little bit higher up, right? Of just like…
Austin: Well…yeah.
Janine: Intentionally or otherwise, just like, okay, well, you sent this person, but like, I've got like a thesis worth of shit here.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: [laughs] Well, yeah, and I guess that's like…it's right to the situation that Marn is like, I've encountered these people who I feel are incredibly dangerous and have had like two personal accounts—
Austin: Right.
Ali: —from my, like, coworkers of how dangerous and like mean they are?
Austin: And you’ve written all of that down. You have it all ready to go. Yeah.
Ali: Yeah. [laughs]
Austin: This is like priority one shit.
Ali: Uh huh. But they're like, “Oh, Marn said they found something about this group in Sapodilla? I don't know what…” You know.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: [laughs] We’ll send somebody.
Austin: Well, Kerr is like:
Austin (as Kerr): [surprised] Oh, this is kind of a lot, Marn.
Ali (as Marn): Um, yeah, I…I’m really concerned about this.
Austin (as Kerr): Uh…
Ali (as Marn): There are some people who've been trying to achieve something, trying to…to find another world. And the things that they're capable of now are extremely worrying.
Austin (as Kerr): It's funny you say that, because, I mean, I have…I'm dealing with a situation right now.
Austin: How was the stuff when you handed it over? What— oh, was it in— you said it was in a big like canvas manila envelope, right?
Ali: Yes. [laughs]
Austin: So like holding this big heavy envelope. I think they slip it into a satchel or something, at this point. And she says, she says:
Austin (as Kerr): I'm dealing with a situation right now about another world, and I don't know how to crack it, and I don't think it's… [frustrated breath]
Ali (as Marn): Oh, do you want to talk about it? What's…what's…
Austin (as Kerr): Which way are you headin’?
Ali (as Marn): Um, I think we're headed back towards Blackwick? We're definitely headed back towards Blackwick.
Austin (as Kerr): Oh, you were in Blackwick. You’re go— what are you doing in Blackwick?
Ali (as Marn): Oh, I've been set up there with, um…the town had this whole curse thing, but then they cured it because this egg hatched, question mark? So I've been in the area sort of researching that.
Austin: She is squinting at you, and like… [Ali laughs] There is…not just like you're being confusing, like a second layer of this. There is a— you are being confusing, but also like… [thoughtful sigh] it's like there's something she wants to say but doesn't know how to say it.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: Maybe. So I’m gonna need a Compel or a Discern or something here.
Ali: [laughs] Sure. Yeah, I would love to.
Austin: It’s dealing with a person. I'm gonna say this is Haven. This is another Telluricist.
Ali: Okay. I think I'm gonna roll Discern here.
Austin: Yeah, okay.
Ali: Discern Haven.
Austin: Sure.
Ali: Just to be like, what is…what's the…
Austin: Yeah, and you can determine your response to that, maybe.
Ali: The disconnect in this.
Austin: Yes, totally.
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: That's a critical success.
Jack: Mm!
Ali: That’s another ten.
Austin: Let's go.
Jack: Fucking pro.
Austin: You can see that there…the thing that happens here is her face falls a little bit when you say that you're from— or that you were dealing with stuff from Blackwick. And it's not that— she puts on the confused face to hide a knowing face, and is like…I mean, what becomes very clear for you is that, in this moment, she has realized that you are a threat to her and to whatever she has been working on. [Ali laughs softly] And is partially scared but also partially, like, confused about what to do.
Ali: Oh, that’s too bad.
Austin: Because she is involved in something in a way that seems like [Ali laughs softly] it puts her at odds against you and is hiding nervousness.
Ali: Um, sure. How would Marn play this? Um…I think there’s something about Marn, and like, this is intentional, but of doing the thing of like noticing that there's this, like, there's been this shift in the energy or whatever.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: But doing the thing of like:
Ali (as Marn): Oh, you know, I've been on that boat for a little bit. Is there like something going on?
Austin (as Kerr): [nervous] Um…
Austin: And just like looking at you without blinking, right?
Austin (as Kerr): Yeah, you could say that. I, uh…look, Marn. [hesitates] Do you know— [sighs] I've been up in the Magistratum for the last few years on loan, while I do the thesis thing.
Ali (as Marn): Mm.
Austin (as Kerr): Researching some of their stuff. And, um…you know, I was kind of given to them as like a trade type of thing, you know? Some of the Magistrates came to study with Telluricists; I went there. And they had a thing where they had to send some Magistrates to Sangfielle, and they needed a guide. And I was almost done my work, so I felt like that was a fine…I could go with them and help guide them. And…are you part of the Blackwick Group?
Austin: Oh, this is a lie. Sorry, I'm wrong. [Ali laughs loudly] Because I just remembered something.
Ali: Big time (??? 45:34).
Austin: No, no, no. No, no, no. I— this is a lie from her. She knows you're part of the Blackwick Group, because…because Pickman wrote a note, and Pickman’s note said, “Marn and co., comma, gone to Last Rest, comma, looking for Grand Cormorant, comma, Pickman.” [Ali laughs] So, she actually knows that.
Jack: There’s nothing about the Blackwick Group there.
Austin: It was on the door of the Blackwick Group, you wrote it. [laughs softly]
Jack: Well…
Ali: When did this happen?
Austin: This is what Jack wrote on…right before going on the Bell Metal Station, the Bell Metal Station arc.
Ali: We gotta stop writing notes to each other. [laughs]
Austin: Y‘all gotta stop writing notes. You gotta stop telling cops about Bucho. Y'all gotta— it’s Shut The Fuck Up Friday. [Ali continues laughing]
Jack: Shut The Fuck Up Friday!
Austin: So yeah, I think she says:
Austin (as Kerr): I didn't want to believe it. I thought maybe it was a coincidence. You're part of the Blackwick Group. Did you kill that Magistrate?
Austin: And like steps back from you a step.
Jack: [laughing softly] Shit.
Ali (as Marn): Oh, boy.
Austin (as Kerr): You killed that Magistrate. They're here for the killer who killed…the Patriarch? You don't know anything about this. And they’re here for you. I gotta go. [Ali laughs]
Austin: And begins to back away from you. [Ali laughs]
Ali (as Marn): Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm not dangerous. You don't have to— we can just talk for a second.
Austin (as Kerr): You killed a Magistrate?
Ali (as Marn): I didn’t—
Austin (as Kerr): I’ve been working with them.
Ali (as Marn): Okay.
Austin (as Kerr): You're not gonna like— oh, you shouldn't come back to Blackwick. [Ali laughs]
Austin: And like, there are things clearly coming into her head about…there's a different calculus being played now in her head. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Oh, uh?
Austin: Which is: oh my god, if you find out what's happened in Blackwick, you're going to kill me next.
Austin (as Kerr): Actually, you should…I'm just gonna go.
Ali: Austin, why did you have me hand like D24 resources to this person? [laughs]
Austin: I don't know, why’d— because this is the person who was here.
Ali: I was like, hey—
Jack: Can you take them back?
Ali: —can I get the deed to come through for…
Austin: Uh huh, no. Uh-uh. It all lined up.
Ali: Oh, that’s too bad.
Austin: This person was gonna be here anyway.
Ali: That’s too bad. [laughs]
Ali (as Marn): I didn't…
Austin: Maybe you could— go ahead.
Ali (as Marn): What happened with the Magistrate was self defense. And whatever's happening between the Magistrate and me, I’m not gonna hurt you.
Austin (as Kerr): Well…hmm. It might become self defense again, if you come back to Blackwick, is what I'll say.
Ali (as Marn): Okay. Well, I appreciate the heads up, in that case.
Austin (as Kerr): I'm gonna make sure this stuff gets back to, you know, everybody in the Telluricists, but you shouldn't come to Blackwick. This is me as your…friend, I guess, acquaintance. As a Telluricist, one on one: you should get the fuck out of here.
Ali (as Marn): Okay, thanks.
Austin (as Kerr): All right.
Austin: And like, walking away from you facing you, does not want to turn her back to you [Ali scoffs] until she gets some distance, and then she turns and begins to head back down that way. And like pulls her little cowboy hat—not cowboy, I think it's like a bowler—over her head a little bit closer to like cover her eyes a little bit and begins to walk towards the lightning bolt.
Ali: Wow.
Austin: I have an out here for the end of the episode, and I’m… [Ali laughs] But it depends on what you do next as a group, I guess.
Ali: Yeah, I guess I…you know, I gotta go back to the party and be like, “Hey, by the way.”
Austin: Everyone just shopping at this…this, uh, table of stuff.
Ali (as Marn): Something weird just happened, everybody.
Austin: What do you say? Yeah. [Ali laughs]
Ali (as Marn): Hey, can I talk to everybody for a second? I got something going on.
Art (as Duvall): Sure.
Jack (as Pickman): Yeah, what?
Ali (as Marn): Um…
Austin: Alekest and Bucho are here too, just as a reminder.
Ali: Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: Just two big guys.
Ali: They should be a part of this, yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Sorry, I'm just replacing my thingies. Um…
Ali (as Marn): Okay, so, I…I was saying that I was gonna go meet somebody and it was kind of important. And according to her, the Magistrates are currently in Blackwick, and, uh, we shouldn't go there, ‘cause they want to kill us.
Jack (as Pickman): Hmm.
Ali (as Marn): Yeah, they found out about the, uh…you know, what we did. [Ali laughs softly] I guess is what I’ll say.
[0:50:00]
Art (as Duvall): You're gonna need to be more specific.
Austin (as Alekest): What exactly did you all do?
Austin: Asks Alekest.
Ali (as Marn): Uh, me, Pickman, and, Chine, I guess killed one of them?
Austin (as Bucho): [dismayed] Oh.
Austin: Says Bucho.
Austin (as Bucho): You killed a Magistrate. [exasperated sigh]
Ali (as Marn): It was in self defense.
Austin (as Bucho): Eeh. I'm not mad at you, I just…they don’t—
Ali (as Marn): You should be mad at Pickman! This was all Pickman!
Jack (as Pickman): What? What? [Ali laughs softly]
Janine: Mm…
Art: Now who's the dumb one? [others laugh loudly]
Austin: Me reaping. [Ali and Art laugh] And sowing. Ahh.
Austin (as Bucho): I just think that they have, uh…a penchant and a interest and a…a bit of a, if I'm honest, a fetish for violence and revenge.
Jack (as Pickman): Mm. We knew the risks when we fought the Magistrate. This is bad news, but I don't think that it's anything we can't deal with.
Austin (as Alekest): How many of ‘em are there?
Ali (as Marn): A lot, I bet.
Ali: She said a few, right? She said a few?
Austin: She said a few, yeah.
Ali: Yeah.
Ali (as Marn): I would say four or five. I can't say that for sure.
Jack (as Pickman): [grim laughter]
Austin: That’s about right. That’s about right.
Ali (as Marn): But—
Janine (as Es): Like, people like that tend to send fewer than they really should, because they're a little too confident in what they think they can do.
Ali (as Marn): Well, it seems like a high alert situation. That person thought that I was gonna kill her, and we're like…she's like, I could tutor her. She should be asking me questions about stuff.
Jack (as Pickman): Shit. Shit.
Ali (as Marn): Yeah.
Jack (as Pickman): [sighs] Es, we killed Magistrate Semm, and, uh, I'm sure that we could kill another Magistrate again, but it was a fucking trial. Five Magistrates?
Janine (as Es): Yeah. [sighs] I mean—
Jack (as Pickman): We have—
Janine (as Es): What's the alternative? Just never ever think of Blackwick ever again? I don't know how China's gonna feel about that. Doesn't Chine have that little…that little mouth baby to take back?
Jack (as Pickman): Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Janine (as Es): Mm-hmm.
Jack (as Pickman): I don't think that's on the table.
Janine (as Es): Well.
Jack (as Pickman): Also, I think the Magistrates would find us. They knew we were the—
Ali (as Marn): Can’t we just…we can't like talk to them? We can't just, you know, go with our hands up with a white flag or whatever?
Janine (as Es): No. [laughs]
Jack (as Pickman): They are—
Art (as Duvall): I think we should go with our fists up. [Ali laughs]
Janine (as Es): And a black flag, down.
Jack (as Pickman): They worship the goddess of immediate justice.
Janine (as Es): Yeah.
Ali (as Marn): Well, that's what we were doing!
Jack (as Pickman): Yes. [Janine laughs] I'm not…I am not…listen, I'm not going back on the decisions we made in killing the Magistrate. That was something we decided to do as a group. It had to be done.
Janine: [laughs softly] I just…mm. I just had the thought— I was just about to say, “We should go somewhere close by where we have a lot of friends and get them to help us.”
Austin: Well. [Janine and Ali laugh]
Janine: And then I realized a lot of the places that are close by we do not have a lot of friends, actually.
Austin: Well, I’ll give you…here’s what I’m gonna…I'm gonna introduce one, and we can wrap up here and figure out what you're doing next time. Like, can we say you're having this conversation on the road back or on the, you know, the walk back to the hills?
Art: Yeah.
Jack: Yeah, but I think we're doing it, uh…
Janine: Yeah, yeah.
Jack: Like PUBG-style, where we're taking an extremely weird route.
Austin: Oh, a hundred percent. Yes. [Ali laughs] I’ve actually written this in this— oh, I have a note here that says, “If they don't walk PUBG-style, blank happens to them,” so.
Jack: Wait, did you really?
Ali: Wow.
Austin: No, but basically. [Janine laughs] But I do basically have a sentence that is about depending on whether or not you take a great deal of care or not, so I think that that's… [Ali laughs] I think that that's, you've done— you know, take the W. Do you know what I mean? [Ali laughs]
Jack: Yeah, no.
Austin: So, the…but at this point, your quiet talking is broken with a voice. It's a woman's voice coming from the west, a little bit up the hills. And it is someone who says:
Austin (as woman): That is you, Meyer!
Austin: And I think Bucho—
Art: Uh oh.
Austin: [laughs] Yeah, uh huh. Bucho and, uh…I mean, you know, the two other characters with you, Bucho and Alekest are like, “Who the fuck is Meyer?” and like begin looking around like, “I guess one of you is Meyer.”
Art: Uh, Duvall…you know when you sort of like look around but also don't look around?
Austin: Yeah, uh huh.
Ali: Mm.
Art: Like, looking around and also sort of like slinking down into your collar.
Austin: Mm, mm-hmm. [Ali and Janine laugh] Yeah. Does that happen to you in this moment?
Art: Yeah, uh huh.
Austin (as woman): Meyer, I'm up here.
Art: Up?
Austin: And you look up, and it's Roseroot Hall. Which I think you…you're like, I swear it was tilted the other direction, last time we were here. And now the right side of it is the one that's up a level in a way that it shouldn't be, instead of the left hand side. You don't know why the fuck that happened. But standing on the sort of balcony that looks down from it is your cousin, who you have not seen in quite some time. The last time you were in Aldomina.
Art: Yeah.
Janine: It (??? 55:24) now, which is great.
Art (as Duvall): [confused] Hi. How are you? What are you…what are you doing here?
Austin (as cousin): Would you come up here? Bring your friends up here.
Art (as Duvall): [quiet] Okay.
Austin (as cousin): And be quiet about it. You're making too much noise.
Austin: She yells.
Art: Oh my god.
Austin: This is your younger cousin, uh, Teresa. Teresa, who I bet maybe you just called Terry or…I was gonna say Es, but we already have an Es it turns out, so not Es in fact. [laughs softly]
Jack: Reese?
Austin: Yeah, Reese. Maybe you call her Reese.
Janine: Oh, that's cute.
Austin: Reese is good. I like Reese a lot.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Is like your annoying younger cousin. She's like three or four years younger than you, you know what I mean?
Art: Sure. Like, a different that means a lot when you're a kid and not when you’re an adult.
Austin: And nothing now that you're adults. Yeah, exactly.
Art: Yeah, mm-hmm.
Austin: You're in the same generation, effectively. And she is…she is…unlike you, she's half devil, or partially devil. She's— her— she's from part of your line that ended up marrying into some fancy devil house at some point.
Art: Great.
Austin: She is kind of, like a light pinkish hue to her skin, dark black hair that's in a braid. Kind of a light peach colored blouse with a black dress kind of up to her, like, a high waist. And like a golden lace kind of veil, not over her face, but over her like hair that she's kind of clasping with her hands. I kind of think about…there's a there's a portrait of Doña Isabel de Porcel that I will link to you that is by de Goya, by Goya, that I think is sort of the vibe here.
Art: Okay.
Austin: Here we go. I've linked it.
Jack: Oh, that's a great picture.
Austin: That's a great picture.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: There's this period of time in Spain where the Spanish rich people hated the French rich people so much that instead of dressing “fancy,” quote, unquote, they tried to dress down.
Jack: What? [laughs]
Austin: Like lower class urban folks and like artists and such, and so that is the type of wear she is in, effectively.
Art: Europe is hilarious.
Austin: Europe is very funny. [Ali laughs] Europe is very funny.
Jack: Mm-hmm.
Austin: There was a whole word for what…for, like, don't dress like a French person, basically. [Jack laughs] Afranc— afrance— afrancesados. You didn't want to look like an afrancesado because, you know, you were a fucking French jerk, basically. Anyway. There she is, and she's calling you up for tea. And…
Art: Great. Just like a quick, just like kind of like, under the breath:
Art (as Duvall): This is my cousin, Reese. Um…I don't know, just try to be nice. [Austin and Jack laugh softly]
Ali (as Marn): Got it.
Art (as Duvall): Don't give her anything.
Austin: Geez!
Janine (as Es): What?
Art (as Duvall): Emotionally, not physically. [Austin and Janine laugh]
Austin: And you're brought inside, where, you know, two of you have been to this house before, right?
Art: Yeah.
Austin: And it's much the same as it was then. You are very quick— and as a reminder, Dayward— so, Dayward YVE is here. Dayward YVE moved out of this house when…after the situation with with Aterika’Kaal but seems to have moved back in along with Mr. Kenson, the butler, the Caprak butler. Um…god, what was the name of his maid?
Jack: Uh, Ana Berylia.
Austin: Ana, Ana Berylia. Ana Berylia.
Janine: Right.
Austin: Yes. Uh huh. And they're all here again, once again. And Dayward makes a big gesture to welcome you in and to say, you know:
Austin (as Dayward): Welcome back. I see you have new friends.
Austin: And very quietly, as you come in, to Ana:
Austin (as Dayward): [hushed] Ana, lock the door.
Janine: [concerned] Uh… [laughs softly]
Art: Ooh boy.
Austin (as Dayward): Your coats, please, everyone, your coats. Mr. Kenson will take them and see that they're taken care of. And I believe Ana will get you anything you'd like to drink. A pleasure, a pleasure.
Austin: [same tone] Shaking hands, shaking hands, and all of that.
Art (as Duvall): Yeah.
Austin (as Dayward): Oh, your cousin, Duvall. What a— what a— or did I— Meyer. Meyer? Is this…is this the name of familiarity I should use?
Art (as Duvall): Um, I mean, it's whatever you want, really. Most people call me Duvall these days.
[1:00:02]
Austin (as Dayward): Meyer Duvall. Ah, I see, yes. I'll stick with—
Art (as Duvall): No one calls me that.
Austin (as Dayward): Meyer Duvall?
Art (as Duvall): No.
Austin (as Dayward): Perhaps I could be the first. [chuckles]
Art (as Duvall): …I suppose. [Ali laughs]
Austin (as Dayward): Is that— that's your full name, Meyer Duvall.
Art (as Duvall): Meyer…uh, sure. People back home—
Jack: Shut The Fuck Up Friday! [Austin laughs and claps]
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Go ahead.
Art: No, it's fine. [Austin and Ali laugh]
Austin: [laughing] The voice of Pickman in your brain. [Ali and Jack laugh]
Austin (as Dayward): [stammers] Anyway, it's good to see you all safe and sound. It's…strange days, yes?
Art (as Duvall): Yeah. We just saw a boat get destroyed.
Austin (as Dayward): [sighs] They’re going after our boats now. These people.
Ali (as Marn): Mm?
Art (as Duvall): No.
Austin (as Dayward): No?
Jack (as Pickman): What people?
Art (as Duvall): These people?
Austin (as Dayward): These…Caprak folk, the Magistrates. They’re not all Caprak, but most of them.
Art (as Duvall): Mm.
Ali (as Marn): Oh, are y'all tied up with the Magistrates too?
Austin (as Dayward): [overwhelmed sound] I fled town just as soon as I could.
Ali (as Marn): What's the situation like down there?
Austin (as Dayward): Uh, not polite conversation, exactly, is it?
Ali (as Marn): Oh.
Art (as Duvall): Why, what’s…? [Ali laughs]
Austin (as Dayward): [uncomfortable] Oh, well…
Ali (as Marn): We were both living there. We should be able to talk about this, and…
Austin (as Dayward): That's fair. Yeah, that’s…
Ali (as Marn): Do you want to move to a different room, or…?
Austin (as Dayward): We should go to the…we should go to the sitting room, yes.
Ali (as Marn): Okay, sorry. I’m… [laughs softly] This is a beautiful house.
Austin (as Dayward): I appreciate it. It was my family's. We had it moved here. [awkwardly] Some of you already know this story, of course, already. Ha. [Janine laughs]
Ali (as Marn): Huh. You don’t say?
Austin (as Dayward): Let's take a seat, and… [Ali and Jack laugh]
Ali: Marn just having never been around wealth, and like… (??? 1:01:54) [laughs]
Austin: Yeah, a hundred…
Janine: I just…as soon as Marn’s like, “Oh, it's a beautiful house,” I just picture Es like kind of looking at her and just like shaking her head. [Austin, Ali, and Jack laugh]
Janine (as Es): Don’t.
Art: That's good. You can do that. I think— I feel like I’m under too much scrutiny right now.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh. [Ali and Janine laugh]
Austin (as Dayward): Well, now that we have more proper— again, I’m Dayward, Dayward yon V—
Austin: Ooh, wow. What’s his full name?
Austin (as Dayward): Dayward yon Vanzton-Estonbergh. For those of you who don't know of the Aldominan yon Vanzton-Estonberghs, of course. And well, it is hard to get into this…no Magistrates among you, of course. I have you on your word, and you don't even need to say. Obviously, the work that you've done with the Blackwick Group, for me, obviously already establishes your reputation. Though there are more Shape Knights among you than I've ever seen before. Three of them. Actually, maybe this helps our chances. I think about it now: three Shape Knights, five Magistrates. Four Magistrates plus the Telluricist they have, but one of the Magistrates is, of course, a priest… [deep breath]
Ali (as Marn): Coming back to us, man? What's going on?
Austin (as Dayward): There are lots of people dead in Blackwick.
Ali (as Marn): [quiet, horrified noise]
Austin (as Dayward): A few dozen, and…
Ali (as Marn): [shocked] Dozen?
Austin (as Dayward): A few dozen.
Jack (as Pickman): A few dozen?
Art (as Duvall): A few dozen.
Austin (as Dayward): And, of course, many more who've left the town. I suspect I’ve backed the wrong horse with this town.
Ali (as Marn): Is this just looking for us or…?
Austin (as Dayward): There was some sort of a…I don't know, an assassin or something, a hired killer. It seemed political to me, which is not really my favorite sort of business, you understand. Gets messy.
Jack (as Pickman): An assassin when?
Austin (as Dayward): I don't know. [sighs] From…well— so, I met with the Magistrates when they first came to town, of course.
Jack (as Pickman): [deadpan but disdainful] Of course you did.
Austin (as Dayward): Well, they are…they have authority, and I’m someone who wants to make sure that we follow the rules, and et cetera. There was a Kay’Van, I believe, I believe they said.
Jack (as Pickman): Oh, shit.
Austin (as Dayward): Yes?
Jack (as Pickman): Keep talking.
Austin (as Dayward): Do you know the agent that they speak of?
Jack (as Pickman): [forcefully] Keep talking.
Austin (as Dayward): Well, he killed someone important in the north, in the Magistratum, and fled here. And they sent someone to find him, and that person never went back, never came back, and so they were inquiring about his presence. Some information got out about the abbey, and when they investigated it, things went sour. I believe part of the problem here, of course, is emotion. As it often is, as it often is.
Ali (as Marn): Mm.
Austin (as Dayward): This new group of Magistrates is led by a woman, Rebek Semm, who seems—
Jack (as Pickman): Shit.
Austin (as Dayward): —to be the sister of the previous Magistrate who never returned, and good blood turns to bad blood in bad times, as they say. Anyway, there have been some problems. And, of course, some of the people in the Triadic Pyre who have a connection to Fulmina found them to be perhaps more adequate to operate and administer the town until justice was brought. And not all of them, I should say, of course. Proctor Wolff was loyal to the town as it was to his last.
Jack (as Pickman): [deep sigh]
Austin (as Dayward): [deep breath] In any case, I don't advise you going there, until they find this person that they're looking.
Jack (as Pickman): They haven't found them?
Austin (as Dayward): I…well, I am here, so I suspect not.
Austin: Peeks outside of the curtains to see the red lightning again.
Austin (as Dayward): I suspect not.
Jack (as Pickman): And the lightning, what's that?
Austin (as Dayward): Well, after the initial attempt to find the killer inside of the abbey, they were somehow ejected from it? And can't seem to find a way back in. That's my understanding, again, from loose conversation and some information that Ana brings me from when she goes to town for some supplies. And, uh, it seems like they're trying to force their way back in.
Ali (as Marn): Who’s they?
Austin (as Dayward): The Magistrates.
Ali (as Marn): Ah.
Austin (as Dayward): I don't know, it’s ritual magic, ah…again, politics and magic are not good conversation, I would say. And this is both, so, beyond me. I would just like things to go back to normal. We haven't had a market day in over three weeks now. In fact, they arrived on a market day, which was a mess.
Ali (as Marn): We can’t just let these people keep dying in there.
Art (as Duvall): [less enthusiastic] No, we can't.
Jack (as Pickman): No.
Art (as Duvall): Well, once they find this killer, I'm sure they’ll leave. Do you know where he is? They said his name, um…Polyte.
Ali (as Marn): Uh. Um… [pause]
Austin: Out of character, you don't know where he is, to be clear. Like, you know where he lived in town, presumably, but like, is he still there? Who could say?
Ali: Yeah, half in character, I'm just ready to like give them some false information.
Austin: Mm.
Ali: Let's just have a whole arc about [Austin laughs softly] finding someone to lie to the Magistrates for us. [Austin sighs]
Jack: Yeah, I mean—
Ali: And then that person’s gonna be fine. [laughs] ‘Cause they’re gonna be, you know, up north a little bit, and—
Austin: Mm, mm-hmm.
Ali: It will be a problem for [laughing, unclear ??? 1:08:15] you know.
Jack: [sighs] Ah, dear.
Art: Well, I don't have any of those skills, so. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Right.
Art: Good luck to you.
Austin: I think it—
Ali: I’m saying if it's a whole arc about this process, then we could probably have some successes implied.
Austin: Along the way. Yeah. Uh huh. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Yeah, we just…yeah, we High Noon, we High Noon Blackwick.
Austin: Uh huh.
Jack: And then we also figure out how to…I think Pickman glances at Bucho and then almost as second nature glances at Alekest as well.
Austin: Uh huh.
Jack: And turns to Dayward and is like:
Jack (as Pickman): And the station. Has anything happened with the train?
Austin (as Dayward): You know, it's funny. They stopped coming.
Austin: That's not his voice. That was just me being… [Ali laughs softly] Let’s say that was Ana.
Jack: Some sort of mysterious man.
Austin: Let’s say that was actually Ana, who just speaks up in this moment.
Austin (as Ana): [high, nervous voice] They stopped coming. I've been down to town three or four times now, and every time, people tell me they haven't arrived.
Austin (as Dayward): It's funny, we might think the trains know better. Hehe. Anyway, um…
Jack (as Pickman): Mmmm.
Austin (as Dayward): You're welcome to stay for as long as you need. It's a coincidence that your cousin was here in town during the market and was able to find solace here, was asking about you, and of course, I knew you.
Art (as Duvall): Incredible coinc— oh, there you go, okay. I was gonna say it's an incredible coincidence, but…
Austin (as Dayward): Well, and also comes from a good family. So, you take care of your own. Hmm?
Ali (as Marn): Mm.
Art (as Duvall): That doesn't explain why you would happen to run into her. That's still an incredible coincidence.
[1:10:03]
Austin (as Teresa): No, but it does—
Austin: She says:
Austin (as Teresa): It does explain why he might take a meeting with me, doesn't it, cousin? [Jack laughs softly] Can I speak with you for a moment?
Art (as Duvall): Sure, of course.
Austin: Just pulls you to the side.
Austin (as Teresa): [concerned] Meyer, you’re in over your head. Let's get you out of here.
Art (as Duvall): I… [laughs hoarsely]
Austin (as Teresa): You okay?
Art (as Duvall): First of all…
Art: [coughs] Sorry. [Austin laughs, Ali makes sympathetic sound] I have to go cough for a second.
Austin: Aw, okay. [Jack laughs]
Austin (as Teresa): I'll be right here.
Jack: [laughing sympathetically] Oh, Art.
Janine: Don’t wanna go to this wedding. [Austin laughs softly] The Dayward YVE…
Austin: Uh huh. Oh my god, yeah.
Jack: Oh my god. Move the house to a new fucking province.
Austin: Mm-hmm. [Ali laughs]
Art (as Duvall): Everything's fine. I'm fine. We're doing just great work here. [voice cracks hoarsely]
Art: Oh my god. [clears throat]
Austin: This is all in character.
Art: Yeah. [Austin and Art laugh]
Austin (as Teresa): You don't look or sound great.
Ali: Just bugs and wax coming off.
Austin: Yeah.
Austin (as Teresa): I have to say, I don't know about the boat you were just on, but are you sure about the quality of food they'd been serving you? And you look—
Art (as Duvall): You wouldn't believe the breakfast service. [Austin and Ali laugh]
Austin (as Teresa): Well, there's…there's Leo.
Austin: She smirks.
Austin (as Teresa): Ah…you've been here for quite some time, and I'll be honest, your parents have been worried about you and frankly worried about the family's future without you to help guide it. Whatever you've been doing here, I'm not saying it's not important. I'm not saying that it was a waste of time, but I…I look at you, and I think about what you could be in Aldomina. Even with these experiences, people there…I've only been here a matter of weeks, and I feel like it's made me, um…let's say, more agile in my perception, mm? So I have to imagine its honed you even more.
Art (as Duvall): They don't need me back there. I…I won't be the…I won't be the Duvall in the manor. I don't have any prospects there. This…out here, looking for these things with these people, this is my life now.
Austin (as Teresa): Looking for things with people? Duvall, we can find you prospects.
Austin: Not Duvall, again. She would say Meyer or Leo.
Austin (as Teresa): Meyer, we can find you prospects. We can keep you safe, and…in truth, I think they perhaps simply want to see their son. It's been years.
Art (as Duvall): I would love to come back on a visit in just as soon as we get things settled down here.
Austin (as Teresa): Settled down? You weren't there when these marshals came. Um…
Art (as Duvall): No, but I can…I can handle myself with Marshalls. That's…they're…they're nothing.
Austin (as Teresa): They are much more than nothing. I saw—
Art (as Duvall): Not to…not to me. Not anymore.
Austin: Like, kind of pulls back from you a little bit.
Austin (as Teresa): Not anymore? [brief pause] I hope you haven't… [concerned scoff] You were always a fine fencer, but I don't think of you as someone who hurts people, not like these people do.
Art (as Duvall): Well, I'm really only okay at— um, uh! [Austin and Jack laugh]
Art: Easily fourth or fifth best at…
Austin: Uh huh.
Art (as Duvall): No, I'm not— I'm not here to— I don't— I'm not here to hurt people, but I'm here to get through things in other ways. I'm…I'm capable of fixing things. I need to fix things. I need to get myself fixed a little bit, and then…and then I can come home for a little bit, and then, and then, you know, come back. This is…this is good, honest work. Kind of.
Austin: She laughs at you.
Austin (as Teresa): I think if you came home, your chances of fixing yourself might be a little better. Not that you can't do it here, just…it's like… [sighs] It's like needing to take care of a cat and fill a tub at the same time.
Art (as Duvall): I don't think anyone back home can…can fix what's wrong with me right now.
Austin: She puts a hand to your— like, the back of her hand to your forehead to like take your temperature.
Art: Oh, that's gonna feel weird.
Austin: It feels weird, and she pulls away.
Austin (as Teresa): You really are ill. We should get you rest, and we can talk about this more tomorrow.
Art (as Duvall): Okay, I'd love that. I mean, there's just…there's just some things you don't need to…there's some things you don't need to worry about, and…and I promise this will all be better soon.
Austin: She puts a hand on your like sleeve of your jacket and like to turn you a little bit towards the door, as if to like usher you to a bedroom. And like looks at Ana to be like, get my cousin some rest. And I don't know if you go that way, but does come back over to the group at that point and retake her seat.
Art: I think Duvall thinks the path of least resistance at this point is to—
Austin: Right.
Art: —at least go to a room.
Austin: Yeah, for a little bit. Yeah. [Ali laughs] You have those paintings to deal with anyway. You still haven’t figured out how to put them together or what consulting them will do for you. Which, you know, maybe better to do that in privacy of an actual bedroom and not just a little cabin in a boat, anyway.
Art: Sure.
Austin: And, and yeah, the rest—
Art: She didn’t mention what she does. Is she an art historian by any chance? [Jack laughs]
Austin: I mean, that's totally possible, right? [Ali laughs] That's not off the table.
Art: Yeah, rich people have weird jobs.
Austin: Yeah, that’s true, a hundred percent. Um, we'll come back to that next time, maybe. Any other final things here? As the tea is served, and there's a little cookies, and…
Jack: Oh.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Can I, um…can I get a view down into— presumably it's like getting dark.
Austin: It is.
Jack: Can I get a view down into Blackwick through some binoculars or something? Like an image of Pickman up in an attic room.
Austin: Yeah, do you ask…do you ask Dayward to— if there's a spot for you to do this?
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: He says, like:
Austin (as Dayward): Come with me. There's a vantage point a little bit away. It's about a 10 minute walk, but if we’re quiet, I think it'll be fine.
Jack (as Pickman): Okay.
Austin: And, you know, takes you out the door quietly and leads you up a back like walking path through the hills to a little…a little outcropping that looks down into the valley, towards Blackwick. And he actually has a telescope set up, so that he can—
Jack: Hmm!
Austin: —administer from a distance, he always says. And directs you to take a peek and see what you— see what you see. What are you looking for? Give me a Dis— this is a Discern check, I think.
Jack: Sure.
Austin: It’s—
Jack: You know, I’m…
Austin: Go ahead.
Jack: Oh, sorry, go on.
Austin: No, I was gonna say it's Discern and either Haven or wild, probably.
Jack: Hmm. Okay.
Austin: Which I don't think you have either, currently. [laughs]
Jack: I don't have Haven or wild, but I do have Discern.
Austin: Uh huh. That's good.
Jack: Um…
Austin: Anyway, what were you gonna say, before you roll?
Jack: I'm looking for just to try and get a sense of—
Austin: Yep.
Jack: —how people are moving in the village.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Jack: What the spread of the either the Magistrates or their lackeys is.
Austin: Yep. Yep.
Jack: If there are any bodies or, um…
Austin: Yep. Give me a roll.
Jack: If there are hostages.
Austin: Sure.
Jack: Okay, so. This is…
Austin: One base die plus your Discern. That's two D10.
Jack: Um…
Austin: I don't think you— you don't have, like, you don't have your own special binoculars or anything that I'm forgetting, right?
Jack: No, but I can power up my armor.
Austin: That's true.
Jack: Which would waste a resource, and I wouldn't be able to have that domain for the rest, but I feel like getting a good look at—
Austin: Hmm. That ain’t a bad thing.
Jack: —Blackwick under siege is a really good idea.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Jack: So what I'm going to do is I'm going to burn the fractal teeth and blackstone claws, a D8. It's a piece of equipment.
Austin: You’re gonna burn that instead of this signet ring that's cheaper? I guess Wild is…
Jack: It needs to be a D8.
Austin: Oh, I see. I see, I see, I see. Yeah, gotcha. Here's what I'm gonna say is this is the end of the— this is the very end of the session. Let's let this roll forward into your next session.
Jack: Okay, cool. And you said it was a Haven or a…Warren?
[1:20:00]
Austin: Haven or Wild.
Jack: Okay. I'll take Haven.
Austin: Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.
Jack: I'll just put in the Knacks thing.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah, please.
Jack: From armor and cross it off.
Austin: Yep.
Jack: This is three D6.
Austin: So you feed this into your armor. Dayward YVE is very confused by this. Uh, yeah. Three D10. It's three dice. It's—
Jack: Oh my god. Every single fucking time.
Austin: I know.
Jack: I'm so sorry. [laughs softly]
Austin: It's fine. Don't worry about it.
Jack: Roll three D10.
Austin: Just set it to Discern Haven.
Jack: Discern, Haven, and click away.
Austin: You really need one of these Marn tens. Yeah. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Yeah, I know.
Ali: Do you want an assist? Wait.
Austin: Uh huh, yeah?
Jack: Oh, shit. Yeah, that might be fun, actually.
Austin: Marn comes up with, and…
Ali: Yeah, yeah.
Austin: And peeking through maybe in binoculars also. Why not?
Jack: Yeah.
Ali: Oh, this is great. I was about to say a really rude thing instead, so I’m glad that (??? 1:20:49).
Austin: Oh, what were you gonna say?
Ali: [laughs] With that conversation ending being like, “Well, we have to protect our own.”
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali: I imagined Duvall like stepping away and Marn being like, “So if I came here and asked you for a room…” but like…
Austin: Uh huh. [Austin, Jack and Ali laugh]
Ali: With the two other— the three to four other people in the room, I would hope that at least Marn, Pickman— wait.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Es, Pickman, or Bucho would be like, [hushing] “Marn, Marn, Marn.” Like. [laughs]
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That absolutely would have happened.
Ali: Hand on the shoulder, like, “Let’s go outside.”
Austin: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes, that’s…
Janine: I have my own rude thing I want to Dayward YVE, to be fair with you— [Ali laughs]
Austin: Okay, well, let’s finish this—
Janine: —so I don't know that I would get involved.
Austin: Yeah, fair.
Jack: Yeah, does Dayward lead us up to the vantage and then head back down?
Austin: And then head back down, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jack: So we can get some rudeness.
Austin: Yes, totally. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Yeah. So I'm rolling Discern, Haven, plus one.
Austin: You got it.
Jack: This is Risky?
Austin: This is Standard.
Jack: Or Standard. They can’t see us.
Austin: Standard. You've been careful. Yeah.
Jack: Yeah. And I'm clicking away multiple times. [Ali laughs softly]
Art: It's about getting (??? 1:21:42).
Austin: Unbelievable!
Jack: Oh, come on!
Jack: Wowee!
Austin: You love to see it.
Art: Oh my goodness! It’s a straight, though. Is that worth anything?
Austin: No. [Ali laughs] It is two, three, four, five. But unfortunately, that's four failures in a row.
Jack: Yeah, Austin, is that worth anything?
Austin: I mean…
Art: In Yahtzee, that’s worth something.
Austin: It is. Let's— I'm gonna— [laughs softly] I'm gonna give you the answer to this in a moment. Let's get the…let's get these…that's a good ending.
Jack: I’m sorry, Marn. [Ali laughs softly]
Austin: Yeah! Give me the, um, the conver— what do you, what's your rude thing, Es? As Dayward YVE comes back in by himself alone. You have a moment to catch him in the hallway and say something rude if you'd like to.
Janine: Uh, I mean, I think— so, I think that thing happens…Es is emboldened. Es has had a good series of days.
Austin: That's true.
Ali: True.
Janine: She’s…
Jack: Es has had a great time.
Janine: Yeah, she's been deeply indulgent in a way that like, you know, she had some traumatic stuff happen, and I think that that obviously is not washed away.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Janine: But she, you know, recharged her batteries a little bit.
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Janine: And I think there was something that was said earlier that she let slide, but when she has a moment in herself—
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: Or to herself in that parlor, like sipping tea and eating snacks and all of that, I think she…when she hears Dayward coming back, she sort of stands up and ends up sort of waiting for him with her arms crossed. And I think the somewhat rude thing that I want to say is:
Janine (as Es): Do you think, if you feel it necessary to lock your doors the second someone comes in all the way up here, [Jack chuckles] that it is wise to send Ana into town to run errands alone?
Austin (as Dayward): [taken aback] Oh, uh, well…
Ali: Got him. [laughs softly]
Austin (as Dayward): [uncomfortable] I…she's very good at what she does and doesn't hardly get noticed ever.
Janine (as Es): But that doesn't particularly matter. If she was that good, then you would feel secure with her up here with you.
Austin (as Dayward): Well…
Janine (as Es): You still lock your doors up here, which means you don't feel safe.
Austin: I think he squints at you and says—
Janine (as Es): Do you think she feels safe?
Austin (as Dayward): If she didn't go get us food, what would we eat?
Janine (as Es): I'm not saying you shouldn't get food. I'm just saying you should maybe be smart about it and not depend on her doing it alone, because she's not going to voice a complaint.
Austin (as Dayward): Well, what would happen if I sent Kenson as well? They could both be killed. And then where would we be? [scoffs]
Janine (as Es): So you think it's acceptable to increase the risk of them being killed by sending only one, versus risking both of them but decreasing the risk in general because they would be able to take care of each other.
Austin (as Dayward): [quickly] Well, this is a judgment call, and I think we could go in circles about this sort of decision all day. [Jack laughs softly]
Janine (as Es): [feigning naivete] Why don't you run your errands, Dayward?
Austin (as Dayward): Because I pay other people to do it for me.
Janine (as Es): Then you could pay them less.
Austin (as Dayward): If I paid them less, they'd probably be worse at it. I pay them well.
Janine (as Es): So you pay them extra to run into town.
Austin (as Dayward): I pay them well!
Janine (as Es): You just pay— do you pay them the same rate you paid them before, when they didn't have to run into town and they were risking death?
Austin (as Dayward): They're salaried.
Janine (as Es): And they didn't get a raise. They're still— there's no hazard pay involved here, is there?
Austin (as Dayward): Uh, it's something I would consider if either of them would raise it.
Janine (as Es): You know they won't.
Austin (as Dayward): Mm…
Janine (as Es): You keep them around because they won't, I would even say.
Austin (as Dayward): That’s not true. They’re both—
Janine (as Es): If they were the kind of people who would, I don't know that they'd still be here! Would they, Dayward?
Austin (as Dayward): They've both learned to advocate for themselves over the years, in, in ways. [Ali snorts]
Janine (as Es): [sighs] Which ways?
Austin (as Dayward): Kenson is very religious, for instance. And so on the holy day, he has nearly nothing to do at all.
Janine (as Es): Okay. [laughs softly] How does that describe him advocating for himself?
Austin (as Dayward): When he was first hired, he had no such day. And he made the case, and I, of course said yes, you can have a half day rest to worship.
Janine (as Es): [sarcastic] Oh, a half day.
Austin (as Dayward): It's what he asked for, and I gave it to him. This is my house. This is my family's house, and I run it the way we've always run it. In fact, I run it better than we've run it in the past. So—
Janine (as Es): I would hope so.
Austin (as Dayward): So long as you want to consider—
Janine (as Es): Because you and I both know that you do not approve of how it was run in the past. Do better!
Austin (as Dayward): And I am. I hope you’ll continue to observe my hospitality in allowing you and your friends a safe stay here, something my family certainly would not have done, [judgemental] the bunch you are.
Jack: [laughing quietly] Oh, shit! Okay. [Ali laughs quietly]
Janine (as Es): Dayward, I would like you to know it is the fact that I think you're capable of better that leads me to mention it at all. If I did not think you were capable of treating Ana well, or treating those that work for you well, I would never bother even mentioning it. I would just eat your food and drink your tea and sleep in the bed that you offer and never say a word.
Austin (as Dayward): [with an edge] Well, I appreciate the compliment and hope you have a nice night.
Austin: And walks away. I'm gonna roll some dice for what happens up top here. This is for Pickman. This is for Marn. Okay. It's a four and a five. Let me explain what happens here. You get an okay judge of the land, or lay of the land. You don't get particulars. You don't know how many lackeys there are, but you become pretty— it becomes pretty clear that there are…you count four kind of areas of control, so to speak. You know, there are a bunch of people moving around patrolling the town, and it's clear that they're organized around four places, which gives you the impression that there must be four of these Magistrates or four leaders of this crew or whatever. And you actually spot— I'm gonna give you what they look like, basically. One of them is very clearly Ezek Semm’s sister, just the way that she moves and carries herself. She has like some sort of shotgun, like a lever action shotgun over her shoulder, and she is kind of at the kind of trading center of town. And, you know, not always outside, to be clear, right? You know, is kind of moving between places, as you catch a glimpse of her. You know, sturdy looking Caprak woman, ordering people around, seems to be in charge of the whole thing. In the kind of miners’ quarters, there is a big motherfucker in what looks like medieval armor leaning on a giant like ax, like a giant ax. And people keep coming up to that figure and like saying stuff and then just walking away. You don't know if they're being responded— you don't— you can't tell from this. You're really far away. You happen to have the tools you need to look, but you can't get closeups on these people, right? The third person you see, down in the kind of local quarter, is Dr. Kerr— Dr., uh, Kerr, K-E-R-R, the Telluricist, the Carpana Telluricist we met earlier. Who is seemingly…seems to maybe be in charge of like handing out supplies and rationing food and managing the people, in the “I'm making sure no more people die, but also I'm still 100 percent part of this collection of people who has decided to occupy this town.”
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: The fourth person that you see is up near where the lightning is striking. The lightning is striking the…it's striking where the chapel is, the underground chapel, right? It's going into the ground there. It's hard to look at. And there is surrounded by people of…from the Triadic Pyre who seem to have betrayed the town. There is a priest in— or a priestess, actually, in sort of blue, white, and red colors with a little miter crown on, kind of a low one, lower than what you think of as like what a bishop or a cardinal wears, like, but still a weird religious crown. Not a weird religious crown, but a…let's say a pretty Baroque one in terms of its decoration and stuff. And seems to be operating or participating in the ritual to work this lightning bolt that seems to be trying to drill into the Hymn. Um, and I'd say again, there's a bunch of lackeys all over the place. It's hard to— it's hard to do a count of them. Worse, you do see the gallows where Ekashi Wolff was hung, along with—and you don't know this particularly, but—the people that he tried to lead in a sort of uprising against this group of Magistrates. And that doesn't count the many other people who were, you were told, were killed directly.
[1:31:00]
Jack: Right.
Austin: This seems to be a failed revolt, you know, a failed little uprising being put to show. All of that's bad. And I truly didn't have to give you any of that, ‘cause you failed, but I think it's worth setting that up.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: And it's worth the way that I went on and dragged on in this description, because you dragged on in looking, and someone saw the glint of the lenses of your telescope and your binoculars. And for a brief moment, you see a flash of light, before the telescope explodes as a bullet strikes you in the shoulder, Pickman. And then, before you can even respond, a second one slams into you, Marn. Take four and five Blood each, as the fifth Magistrate, the sniper, makes herself known.
Jack: Shit. Well, the good news is that none of that hits me because of my Blood Protection.
Austin: Mm. You have five Blood Protection? Or four Blood Protection?
Jack: I have four, yeah, I have four Blood Protection.
Ali: Oh, I have one.
Austin: Oh, sorry, sorry. This is just not— it's simply not true. I'm sorry, it isn't, because this is a Piercing shot.
Jack: [laughs] It goes straight through my Protection.
Austin: This gun is extremely good. Yeah, it's a…it's a…if you could get this gun, it would be one of the best get weapons in the game. Yes. Uh, let me double check if Piercing pierces all armor or just pierces one armor. Let's see. The Piercing tag. You cannot reduce Stress inflicted by this equipment by using Blood Protection.
Jack: Shit.
Austin: And adversaries do not benefit from their Protection value. Yep.
Jack: Yeah, in fact, I think there's a moment where Pickman sees the glint—
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Jack: —and is like, “Okay, brace yourself for a shot,” and instead it just hits her in the shoulder.
Austin: Yep.
Jack: Okay.
Austin: So give me your— and also, I need you to write down in your Notes section that you have been debilitated.
Jack: What— oh.
Austin: It doesn't actually hurt you in a particular way, because this is really a tag for using this against enemies, but once per situation, when you inflict Stress with this item on one or more targets, the next attack made against them is rolled with Mastery. I don't roll dice. [Jack laughs] But it's nice to know that that's a thing here. I guess maybe that'll be just part of the way we think about your Blood Fallout. So, give me your…give me your Fallout tests, and we'll end on this.
Ali: Okay, I have to—
Austin: Uh huh?
Ali: —be annoying for a second.
Austin: Mm.
Ali: And ask if I am on a Haven domain?
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Ooh.
Austin: Let's say yeah— mm. Is this— yeah, I think Roseroot Hall was Haven. Yes.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: Haven, Wild.
Ali: Homecoming: when you enter a location in the Haven domain after a Delve—
Austin: Uh huh.
Ali: —refresh Stress according to the size and importance of the location.
Austin: Yes.
Ali: Three shacks with a campfire is D4. The big city that's named in the Heart book is D12, Derelictus?
Austin: Derelictus, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: This was a…I’d say this is a D6. You shouldn't have any Echo Stress, because you took that Minor Fallout.
Ali: Oh, okay, okay.
Austin: I cleared that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: Okay. [laughs softly]
Austin: Yeah. You're good.
Ali: I was like, where’d that go? Okay.
Austin: Which makes this— so yes, you could have already done that to clear your Fortune and Supplies Stress, right?
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: When— as soon as you came home. So you should do that now, before you roll Fallout on this.
Ali: So I'm rolling a D…what’s this?
Austin: I think this is a D6, this manor is probably a D6. It's one place, it's not a whole big thing. So hey, there you go. You got rid of that Fortune and Supplies, at least.
Ali: Oh, thank god. Okay.
Austin: That makes this a much easier roll.
Ali: So I'm going from what would have been an eight, because I had a two Supplies and a one Fortune.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: I refreshed that when I crossed the threshold, and now I am taking this five Blood.
Austin: Only a five. Yeah. Uh huh.
Ali: To roll five on this Fallout test and not…
Austin: Yeah. I mean, that's the difference between being open for Major Fallout. You would have gotten Major Fallout.
Ali: Uh huh.
Austin: If you hadn't done that, you would have gotten Major Fallout. [Ali laughs] So instead, this bullet moves clean through you. You're hurt, but you're not dead. You got winged by it, let's say.
Ali: Phew.
Austin: Not that you'd be dead, but you're not— no Fallout.
Ali: I’m a little guy with a big bullet.
Austin: With a big bullet. Pickman. Now, there's Minor Blood Fallout. That's what you— that's what you see. You don’t love to see it, but that's what you see. And I think— I think this is Limping. I think that that maps nicely to Debilitating. “Foes target you. You get places last. Speed and stealth are Risky.” [Jack sighs] We see the sniper, whose name is Ennib Lee, the Wildcat—because she makes wildcat ammo, she makes her own ammo—who's a human. She, you know, reloads her gun and continues to scan the horizon to see if there are any more potential spies looking down. Presumably, you roll to safety at this point. In the house, you hear the sound of gunfire echoing across the valley. I should note, this gun is also, quote, “Extreme Range,” so it’s beyond what a Ranged gun can do.
Jack: We gotta get this gun.
Austin: It’s a good gun. [Ali laughs] It’s a good gun. All right. Any final images here? How’s that rest going, Duvall?
Art: Duvall stirring from a nap, yeah.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah, the… [Ali laughs] The sound of gunfire across the sunset sky lifts Duvall out of bed.
Art: Yeah. And like the sort of like putting on his coat and rushing to the door, I mean…
Austin: Yeah. Uh, when you get to the door, here is the final shot of this. You put on your coat, and you go— you like, you immediately begin to rush to get out of the door, and before you like…on the door is a mirror, and it’s like the first time you've really gotten a look at yourself since forever. What do you see when you look at yourself?
Art: God. Um…I think it’s really like, this is the first time Duvall has looked…like, Duvall looks in the mirror and doesn’t see anything that he doesn’t expect.
Austin: Mm.
Art: Like, Duvall looks and like sees himself looking back, for the first time in a while.
[Music plays: “Sangfielle”]