Parellas After Dark | Spring Fling One-Shot Part 5

Hi everyone, welcome back to the now third ish session of our one shot, which will probably be like what four episodes at this point because one of them was really heckin' long. Um well can I say we're really productive in our session. It's my first one shot and I and I overdid it. So I'm not your normal uh GM, uh, but I am Rianth and I'm going to be leading this group today and uh let everyone else introduce themselves and the character they're playing because it's a little different than our usual um crew of suspects. Hi, I'm Michael. Uh I go by revealing too much online, and I am playing Bestette, a Katari Wizard. Hey, um I'm Eris, I use she the pronouns, and I'm using the assassin, the seductory assassin, Circeta Thornfound Hi, I'm Jen and I am playing Rowan Komp, a wildborn halfling guardian, uh, with a tendency to f fling herself into uh matters that may not pertain to her Don't we all? Um and I'm Mick. I use say them pronouns and I'm playing Violo Arlac, who also uses say them pronouns. Um they are an underborn dwarf brawler martial artist. And they talk like this. I love the the uh expression in that. This this okay. Wow, it's been a little bit It's true. Can we start with uh what you all remember from last time and I'll follow up maybe? I can let somebody else do it since I did it last time. I think you probably have the most notes, but yeah, I've um I got nothing. Uh we went out. Hold on, let me let me see how much I can get here. So we Uh exited the tavern, we went off into the woods, we found a clearing with a bunch of bed rolls. Well, bunch of impressions of bed rolls, essentially. Uh we found a path that led us to a body pit. We explored the body pit for a while. Uh we went back to the bedroll path. From the bedroll path, we went a different direction. We found the jagged knife camp. I startled a a uh a sentry in a tree, or best that did, I guess. Um uh Eris snucker. Sir K murdered someone. Yeah, murder murdered murdered a guy that has not been hopefully discovered. Um And Robin Robin snuck into the the center of the camp and just basically became a part of the Jagged Knife. And then we were on the way back to town to tell everybody the plans. That the oh god, what's the name of the house? Martin. Oh. Um jump Yeah. Anjon? I don't know. The the the house of Anjon was uh was planning to what was it, compromise the the harvest to keep the the The people reliant on them, basically. Right? I think Go to the sharecropper's houses, steal the seed, burn it, and Jagged Knife would get blamed. Right, right, right. Because the I guess the sharecroppers were almost free. Um, so in order to keep them, I guess, buying or renting the land from the the Jean family Uh, they were gonna steal their seeds. So we were gonna warn the farmers, right? But I think we were heading to the town because all the sharecroppers were at the festival. And then as we headed to the town, somebody decided to stab Martin in the back. Or Martin, I don't remember. Um But those of you keeping county, that is second body. Yeah. If you don't count the mushroom that she uh the fungi is The fungi wasn't dead though. The fungi just got dead. I didn't kill the fungi. He he lived. Time kills us all, so we don't know. Not a mushroom. All right. Okay. So that that that aligns with with where I was remembering we were at. Um let me try to catch up or summarize a little bit of everything altogether. Um You all have been brought to the sleepy-ish town of Piraeus. It's kind of a large village, uh small town depending on how you look at it. And you're here for the basically the spring festival. And are here to investigate the rumors of the Jagged Knife being here. You've spent a lot of time in the town. interviewing people, poking those places they didn't belong, making friends and enemies, and confirmed that the Jagged Knife is around and found out that They are say, at least, they aren't here to disrupt the festival, but to actually keep the nobility in check who had some evil, horrible things planned. um while the festival was going on. So you all have been off into the woods from near the town, coming back towards the town. Um Leaving a very fresh dead cor ro uh noble corpse um in a clearing. And uh we're heading back the way you came last I thought We talked, I think. Um, do you have anything you want to discuss while you're doing that? Uh talk about your approach, how you guys are um reacting to uh the Not the stabbing, because that was a little bit ago, but you dragged this body around, or the wounded person around, who is now a body that you left on the side of the road. Or trail, it's not really around. In a clearing. Clearing. In a clearing. And I put a leaf over its head. You did cover them respectfully. You know, the animals will find them still, but that's okay. Um I did what I could. You're a little gnome, you can't dig big big uh trenches very quickly. Dwarf, but essentially the same, yes. Sorry, sorry. No, you're fine. Bass that would would like to, you know, note that there are plenty of animals. But like an animal left the body there, she's an animal, so you know, just doesn't want that doesn't like the the remark of animals will find the body. Well there's there's wild animals and there's people animals, right? I was just I was just joking. I'm with ya Alright. So uh yeah, you want to just pick up wandering through the forest and uh we can go from there. Sure. Why did you have to kill him? I he was of no use to me. He couldn't give me couldn't give me what I wanted. Are you gonna kill us whenever we're done and we're not of use to you anymore? No, no, no, no, no. Okay. You are too handsome to kill. She is too pretty. And this one, uh I feel like it would be I feel like I might get smote if I killed that one. Looking at Roin. Roan. Just do remember that. So noted. Serkea only kills ugly people. Thank you. I mean, Mart Martin was bruised and battered, but uh was he ugly? What generation nobility was he? Because I think that was a little bit inbred. He was more he was he was one of the distant cousins of of the enjamps, so you know Probably uh didn't have as much inbreeding. Let's put it that way. All right, doing some outbreeding. Got it. Yeah, there you go. I think they call those size. Outsourcing. Okay. Okay. Uh we we certainly didn't need a the didn't need him alive. No one I can do this. Just give me two seconds. And Serkea casts uncanny disguise on herself. Ooh. In the form of the battered nobility. Oh wow. You're still Serkeo, right? Who's to know? Right? And I I I drop it after. I thought you brought him back to life. Oh, I'm sorry I I may be a medical worker, but I can't bring can't bring back the dead. Well that's unfortunate. Well kind of make my own. I just wanna say I don't think we have to kill everybody that isn't of use to us. I mean, maybe we didn't need him, but he could have just gone back to his family. Did he deserve to? I think everybody deserves a second chance. This man was about to incite a very dangerous Inside very uh inside acts that do not sit well with me. Turning the villagers against each other against I mean, I don't like the dragon knife s uh I don't like the d the dragon knife myself, but Do they deserve to be famed for something they had no part in? No, absolutely not. I think we should stop these people. I just don't know if killing them is always the first way. I mean, I've only been on the above world for what, a few days now? A day? So maybe you know more about these things than I do. It's It's just not how we settle to speeds down in the under underground. The underground sounds pleasant pleasant. It is. It's kinda dark, but I like it Anyways, should we keep going? So Lead the way, Princess, as I look at Bastette. She's still kinda got a bit of a scowl on her face. Um and she kinda levels her her gaze at you, Sir Keya, and just says, So the plan then is to put you up as this nobility? You could. Is there A reason the townspeople wouldn't kill you? Uh they probably want to. I'm I'm proficient at getting in and out of tight spots. I think Fastet would raise her eyebrows suggestively. Yes, yes. Um I mean if there's any I d is anyone with a good chance as me, I I would like to see them. She shrugs and Well, I guess all we can do is try. Yeah, I think she would shrug and get back to to leading the way. I'll follow behind. Right. As you will. I think as we go, I'm gonna try to step in Bastet's shadow and just like every time she moves forward, just try to like jump into her shadow. Just as a fun little game to amuse myself. Practicing sneaking by jumping into the shadows behind them noisily. Mm-hmm. Okay. Fair enough. Um so as you guys have been wandering about, like you didn't have a lot of challenges getting out and about. You had a map, you were um pretty successful with. just getting to where you were going. Um but time has passed, right? So when you left it was early afternoon. Now it's getting to be um definitely in the evening and the sun is starting to go down. um raising the shadows in the forest. And at this point you're headed straight back to the village. And you should make it there before the actual ceremony is scheduled to begin, which is actually at sundown. So it's getting darker, but it's still in the afternoon, early evening. And where in the village do you want to go now that you're You can kind of see the smokestacks and the or not the smokestacks, the uh smoke rising from chimneys in the distance. I think as we get close, best I would turn to Sirkay again and say. Perhaps it is time for you to don your disguise if This is the plan we intend to go with? Well, I was thinking about that, actually. Why waste time down here when we could go straight to the top? I have his face. What would we accomplish by going to Anjamp? Then we wouldn't be able to warn the villagers. Why warn the villagers when it's known to issue the command? You're saying we take out the the head? I am. I guess if we can guarantee that she'll be there. She is having her party that she invited you to, right? Indeed. Didn't we get a token to go to the party? That's right. And best I would pull it out of like a little Coin purse. Actually, you know what? It would actually you would see a little creature kind of crawl down her arm and place it in her in her hand and then fall back under the robe. Oh that's an interesting uh flare. It's uh Did we see what kind of creature? Yeah, it looks like a little mouse. Looks like a little mouse. Viola's instantly enthralled by it because uh they are used to the underground where there's lots of mice and they love them. He's so cute. So you're used to playing cat and mouse? If I were a cat, then yes. Okay. Well best that is. All right. Um so yeah, you do you do have a little token and on it is a little um uh tree um and it's a little metal metal um token for the uh exclusive tavern so members only uh that you were invited to uh Before you set off out on your uh excursion to the woods. So best that would hold that out and say, so we should Just walk through the front door? Are we worried that the the raider parties are already en route and that If we stop the the leader that it's too late to stop her minions. Are we worried about that? Yeah, I'm slightly worried about that as well. Hmm. I will follow your lead, Serkea, but we do need to consider that We do not stop the crops and the seeds from burning that we haven't accomplished our goal here Hmm, would it be possible to stop at the temple along the way and alert the priestess that hired us for to to look into what was going on with regards to reports about interference. At the festival? I think we could try. I mean, it didn't sound like she was part of the conspiracy with Lady Enjamb. I think Because it sounded like Lady Aunt Trump didn't really want us to investigate. Right. Yeah. So I agree. Yeah. Maybe she might know what what best at least she could pass the word on to the uh sharecroppers, I guess. whose um valuable resources are in jeopardy. Yeah, I agree. Sounds like a plan. Um actually, so you um yeah the the Temple of the Mother is on the edge between the poorer side of town and the uh the nobles area. So you're coming in on the from the poorer side, but it's a not very far out of your way to be able to go into the uh go to the temple and and see if you can uh contact the priestess. And then maybe by the time we do that, um it'd be close to sundown and and we can wear our masks and kind of blend in a little bit with the with the crowd I don't remember getting a mask. I think we got I did not. Yeah, I think I got a little sidetracked on that one. I I think you're correct that Jen was uh Jen Rowan was the only one who actually picked up a mask from the vendor. Um the rest of you were a little distracted by the uh fungrel and the ensuing chaos as you chased everybody around. Uh And as you walk, as you get to the outskirts of the village, you notice that there are some people that do have masks on already. Those ones seem to be moving towards the town square. where the large bonfire was set up as uh Bastet came into the and parked their carriage right next to there. You kind of know where that was at, although um it's not visible. from where you're standing, uh you know that direction. And uh that's basically straight ahead from where you're going, but a bit down and the temple uh is going to be off to your right Also not quite visible from where you're at. There's buildings in the way and some trees and things like that. But you're definitely on the outskirts of the village and can decide which way you would like to go. I think as we walk, um Viol Violo is just gonna take their rope from their pack and cut a like a little strand of it and wrap it around their face, but like leave like openings for their mouth and their eyes um to kind of make a makeshift mask that goes all the way around their head, basically. Um it's just rope. And then ties it at the end. So they're they're a little rope head right now. Okay. All right. I think you as as Bastet sees that, um, Bastet would you you would see the mouse once again. Uh, by the way, just I brought this mouse up in the first session, and then I for completely forgot about it in the second session. So we're back. We're back. I remembered by session three. Uh just wanted to be clear. It did come up in the first one. I just completely forgot and then we ended last time and I was like, oh I didn't bring that up once. Uh so you see a little mouse like climb up uh Basta's shoulder and you hear like a ps And it's like a little whispering. And Bastette's eyes light up and she mutters something to herself And I'm gonna use adjust appearance to look exactly the same, but Bastette will have a mask of her own face on her face. So it's it's like basically she she realizes that Like the face is the moneymaker. She's not gonna like actually change that much. It's just gonna be like a slightly different color of exactly what she looks like. So Amazing. But but is it obvious that it's a mask still? Is that what you're trying to do? It would look like a mask, but it would be like it would be like as if a mask was was carved like over months. To look exactly like her. Okay. So is it and it would actually it would move with with her facial expressions and stuff as well. A really heckin fancy looking mask. We're talking like Jim Carries the mask. Right. Like like far far better than anyone any mask anyone else is wearing in the village so far. Right. I really need Serkea to also put on a mask of Bestet's face. I feel like that would really come like full circle. Fuck it. You also have the magic. As Sir Kaya sees this, she's like, hmm. I guess I need a mask too. Too recognizable these days. She uses uncanny disguise to look like Bastette. Just the mask or the fool? Are you a cat now? I'm a cat now. Amazing. No notes. Legends were told of how this uh m noble cat figure somehow managed to seem to appear in two places at one time. Nobody could ever explain. And in this case, those two places were right next to each other. It's a double cake. Oh walking around with a double cake, maybe. Oh, hey oh Oh noor. Noor though, that was funny. It was But I think an or nor is often is is often a good response to that kind of a of humor. Um so everyone now has some sort of a mask. I'm gonna I'm gonna s assume that um oh no Is it me? Rowan. You lost your character sheets. No. I remember Rowan. The little dwarf. Veo. VO. VO. VO. Violo. Yeah. Violo. Um Like is gonna have a hard time like they're gonna have to keep adjusting it and making sure it's still over their face instead of sliding around their neck, you know Um, but I think at least at the moment, Rowan seems to be fitting in better than everyone else with the masks as far as the the matching and the the of of the styles that are there. Whereas the rest of you may stand out a little bit, but you're at least, you know, festive part of the group, that kind of thing. thing. I feel very festive wearing a cat's face and body. You're feeling good. Ew So many So you're heading over towards the the the temple of the mother, right? Mm-hmm. And uh the first thing you notice is that Um, there are a lot of people going out of the temple, like carrying things um towards the the main uh uh town square so to speak and um they all seem to be in a bit of a hurry because the actual festival is supposed to be kicking off here shortly and they have armloads of Some have armloads of wood. Um, some have some what may be offerings of some sort or or papers um that they're actually taking in that same direction. But they all have similar clothing to what um Glesia was wearing. Um so they're official looking people. Rowan, perhaps um I think I think you were perhaps the most adept at communicating with our uh patron in this case. Would you be able to Find out where she might be and take the take the lead here. I uh I'm afraid I just don't necessarily always do well with talking to religious types. Certainly, certainly. Uh but but um Rowan's pulling on her mask. Sorry, the dog's barking. Uh Rowan's pulling on her mask and situating it, making sure she's all ready to go. Double checks her her notepad. Her her little book of all the things that that she's learned so far. Um and then, you know, squares or shoulders and m marches into the the crowd to start asking if anybody has seen the priestess who knows where she might be found. Uh so just to be clear, are you uh just grabbing a random person or are you going into the temple Well, I guess into the temple just Just I'm just sort of, you know. Okay. If anybody makes eye contact, I'm gonna s ask where where the priestess is. Okay. So uh um as you go into the temple you you see the the standard like the same things you did before with the nice arching ceiling. and the, you know, um clay floor. Um everything's with the glowing um the glow glow lamps kind of attached to the giant pillars that are holding up the ceiling. Um, but what you didn't see before um and are there now are um groups of children um ranging from you know small preschoolers to um, you know, pre-teens kind of huddled in groups playing games, um, visiting quietly, being told stories in different areas there. And there's people that are um priests that are kind of in charge there um with each little group. And so you approach one of them uh interrupting the story um unbeknownst to you 'Cause you weren't really paying attention to what was going on with with what they were saying. And the priestess kind of looks up at you and is like, oh, are you dropping some off? And looks at Vio. Do the do the kids boo or anything at the interrupting to the story? I just want to get some No, actually they they apparently weren't that into it. They were kind of bored looking and like, oh we're we're we're stuck here. Get kind of an idea. Um can I do actually one more quick thing before this moves on? Sure. I'd like to check to see if it looks like Cirkeya is planning to kill these children due to their lack of use. What? I'm just They're cute though, maybe. I don't know. Some of 'em? She'll catch Bastet looking and she'll like, what? And uh Bastet would raise just one eyebrow and kind of shake her head a little bit. Hey, I like kids. They're always funny. Okay. I was expecting to have to roll to see if you can stab me. Um, to be fair, kids by their very nature aren't not not useful yet. They have time to become unuseful. They have time to become useful or not. I'm gonna make a knowledge check to see if I understand what you just said. Rowan got it. They aren't not not useful. Is that what it was? Aren't not not. Okay, got it I still don't get it. Too many double negatives. They haven't proven themselves to not be of use. They could grow up and become not useful. Every parent's. Or grow up and become useful. Every parent's worst nightmare was their kid their kids will grow up and be not useful. Well let's be clear, not useful to circa, which might be a kid for something. Oh, sorry, I took us down a really big path here. Maybe we should maybe we should get back to the topic on hand. Okay, so yeah. I'm not a kid. Oh, the priestess. Looks looks startled. Oh, I'm sorry. You just I passed my ex my martial arts exam. I'm officially an adult. I know I'm short, but I think we're about the same size. That's that's a like the the priestess kind of glances over at Rowan going, that's not the problem, it's the mass. And she kind of points to the bastard that you have on going this looks like without saying it, like that looks like something a little kid would do to try to, you know, make them ask like their parents. She's um I'm sorry, they are trying new things. Exactly. I thought I was creative. It is. Very creative. Very creative. The the priestess agrees. You know. Thank you. Can I use press and press the digitation for a second just to make uh VLO's mask incredibly scary for just a moment? Just like Absolutely terrifying. And you thought why not? Off of the uh ropes there are flames and out of the flames there's like eyes staring at the priestess. All the ropes become like snake heads and there's just yeah. Yeah. I I was I was thinking snakes myself, so I'm glad I'm glad we're on the same page. Yeah, snakes. Snakes is good, yeah. Yeah. So in the in the non-flickering glow globe light, there's still like still a a brightness-darkness around uh Vio's face as the ropes completely look like moving snakes wrapping around her head for a minute. And the priestess like startles and kind of holds Holds her arms back to like not let the kids see as if you know that's gonna help. Does Vio see it as well? Because I feel like that would scare Vio as well. You know, I don't know that you would actually see it because But you're like they're I'm close enough. No, like like you might see the the edges of ropes, but you kept them off your eyes, right? Yeah. So when you like put your hand up to your face and you see like you see fingers, you just you'd see that the ropes were still there. And maybe you would see a little bit of motion kind of like from that, but I don't think you'd realize quite the snake effect. Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. But the kids who are bored of the kids who were bored of a story like loved this, right? They were like fucking They're like some of them clap and some of them scream and some of them like you know point at Vio. And me? Yeah. And then I I do a little flare and a bow, not knowing what they're clapping at me for. But just, you know. It's just me. They just like me. They just they just like dwarves. Who knew? Mm-hmm. See this the village isn't evil after all. Um the the the priestess kind of swallows visibly and like isn't sure what's going on because the dwarf doesn't seem to to notice or care. The person who walked up to them you know, Rowan doesn't have any sign of anything going on. So she just kind of swallows and shakes her head, you know, like. I I didn't really see that. Um sorry, sorry, sorry. Um how can how can I help you then? Uh Rowan kind of blinks slowly processing. And then Sh she's uh yes, uh but you may not recognize me because of the mask and all, but we spoke earlier today about certain matters pertaining to disruptions to the festival. Would it be possible to speak in private about those? Um the the the priestess actually looks at you a little oddly and then realizes, oh wait, and and takes off her mask and you see she's not actually a goblin. the she's not the high priestess, she's just an underling you were the that you uh got introduced to earlier with um Kind of on your on your entrance in. Um, but she is a uh uh gnome with kind of pale palory skin. So She understands your confusion. Oh, are you looking for the mother then? The the priestess, high priestess, then Yes. Yes, terribly sorry Oh, oh, oh, she's already uh she's already at the the town center. At the very center. The the the Well, the the town square, you know. It's not really the center. It's off center. It's kind of over on the dis on the side a bit, but it's the center of everything that really matters. So, you know, it's fine. Is she in the center of the square? Well She'll be helping preside over the opening ceremonies here shortly. I mean, yeah, I guess. Then we must head that way. Thanks for your help. Okay. Um charges out again. The the priestess seems genuinely confused. But you know, pleasant and kind of just waves and turns back to the kids and and's like, okay, who wants to hear a story about snakes? And And the kids get all excited again as you uh as you leave. Bastet would follow for sure. Mm-hmm. Same for Leo. Bastet would also follow for sure. No nobody has even blinked at them. Best at two. Oh no yet. Okay, so we're making our way now to the not center town center. Making our way downtown. Thank you, Pio. I totally went there. Yeah. So you're you're making your way to the town square with the you know the the large um uh ceremonial hall and the bonfire was outside of it. So yeah, you can make your way that way. There's a lot of people going in that direction. Um, a lot of the visitors, the folks wearing um bot masks are running around there. The um Locals masks, although they're really um festive, are more clearly handmade. They're more clearly um designed by folks that aren't necessarily artisans. Uh So uh you can kind of gather that all of the folks are coming to this main area, uh at least to start off with. Although there are a few as you pass down through the through the lanes of the village that you can see there are spots for other places for bonfires to to be uh lit. So the whole town will have uh Instead of like streetlights or torches, they'll very maybe have bonfires set up at kind of regular spaces. I'm hearing lots of places to burn things. You know, I thought you'd appreciate that. Will we be able to identify the mother amongst the crowd? She like holding court somewhere? Court Maybe not the right word, but um You know, because we did such a good job just for trying to identify her before. Um yeah. If you're actually looking for her, yeah, you should I would think you'd be able to see her once she c once she's visible. Yeah. As you approach though, the the main a community hall. Um there's like a large group of people around the bonfire that isn't lit yet, so it's just wood. They're everyone around is in their shabbiest clothes. Um like part of the ceremony is that you you dress down so people can't tell who you are. Um But with all of the masks and the various things there. Um you also see near off side off to the side of the Fire pit community hall area, there are several barrels of what look to be marked as with ale ready to be tapped as part of the celebration. Um, and there's a few strong looking brewers getting getting antsy over by the side as they're kind of waiting for something to actually happen. Um, and at the moment you don't see anybody uh important official there. Um, but everyone's star staring at the doors to the community hall, uh kind of expectantly waiting for this thing to get kicked off. It seems like we are running low on time, so we should make haste. I mean everyone's staring right there, so maybe if we go stand there, we can just shout and warn everybody. Right? They won't listen. They're too wrapped up in festivities I mean would you want to listen to How will we convince them? If the alternative was that mm all of my crops would burn down, I think I would listen. Maybe we could I mean, I hate to do this, but maybe we could say it's the jagged knife doing it, and then they'd be more likely to believe that and go home and save their crops. Are the sharecroppers equipped to fight armed guards that would be storming their houses Hmm. You're right. Let's talk to the priestess first and see what we can figure out from there, but we must Move quick because I fear the time is nearly upon us. Okay, let's go. I'll scurry over to the priestess. Tug on her pant leg. You you approach the doors to the hall, right? Because the everyone's just waiting for them to come out of the hall. So you guys want to try to go in? That's where we're before people come out, or are you waiting for them to come out? Inside. That's your assumption since everyone's kind of waiting, waiting, looking at the doors. Yeah, that's your assumption. You could be wrong. Seems like a good assumption. No, I'm gonna go up and knock on the door. Yeah. Um a uh shoot. Dracona face kind of peers out through the crack in the door. Um, he's kind of got coppery scales and he has like the bearest suggestion of a mask. It's really just uh kind of like two bands. Ironically, it kind of looks like the rope thing that Vio did, but it's just like a black band on the top and above and below his eyes. Um he looks really disappointed when he sees you knocking on the door. What what is it? Sorry, sorry to trouble you. I must speak to the the mother, the priestess. Is she is she available? Hmm. Yeah. And he kind of looks past you like expecting you to see somebody else coming. And when he doesn't, he kind of rolls his eye and like waves you in quickly. And uh assuming you all go in. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Bast it, bastard, and um VO. Bastard, Bastet, you. He steps back. Yeah. Bast it, fast it. And and he kind of does a double take as the two Katari come by. Um Huh. Uh. And uh you see Bassett winks at the guard Of course she does. He he humps her rumps indignantly uh as he steps back and you see um yeah he's a he's a a copper dracona um with immaculately oiled uh scales um and instead of like a robe um he's wearing a harness of leather straps across his chest but each buckle on it is a shining golden symbol of core Um and uh he has large golden bands on his wrists and bicep that have the s the symbol of core on it as well. And he's wearing a wrap skirt of white with a blue loincloth over it. Um, he looks way upscale, doesn't have a weapon on him, and is really offended uh at at you just winking at him like that. Um, but he's spared from responding as Glazia kind of comes up and taps his taps his arm, you know, pats his arm like It it it's fine. I I know these. And he kind of glances at her, glances at you dubiously, going, We don't have time for this. Off. And he actually like thomps outside. He's like mad about it. Mad about something. Not about you. But he doesn't want to be any part of whatever this is and walks out the door. And the crowd hushes outside and he does nothing. Right? You don't hear anything else. It's just this hush. And then there's murmurs of uh like disappointment or confusion as he just stands there with you guys inside the inside the hall with the priestess. Well, well, what what is it? What'd you find? Can I uh just say that I give her a quick summary of the situation so far rather than going back through all of it. Yeah, you can do that. A missing or n or including the murders. Uh Probably probably just uh those aren't key details at the moment, right? We'll just we'll just gloss over that part. The the conspiracy and danger to the residents is the the the important part. Um okay. So She's she looks really doubtful at first and and kind of squints at the three the the the four of you. Um noting the two cats and Giving the one that doesn't have the nice, really, really nice mask on, but has, you know, a simulation of it, I assume, um, kind of a second-third look. Hmm. What what what what proof you have of all this then? Any any anything I can take to the others? Best site would look directly at Serkea with that question. Well there was a witness. Oh I should Oh why didn't you mention that? What was a witness then? Turkeya, could you perhaps Step outside and send the witness in? Oh yes, of course. Beautiful. And she she wanders off to to find a find a door she can go behind or pillar and she will drop this unkind in kind of disguise and best as she can, bruised battered battered and all, um, take the form of The cousin. I think his name is Martin, is that right? Martin, yes, Martin, Mr. Martin. And she's gonna wander back in. So so to be clear, did you leave? With kind of a limp. Did you leave the hall for this or did you just go deeper into the hall? Yeah, she she went sh Okay. Well she yeah. Yeah sh she she found a door slash pillar Tie blind, just out of eyesight. Okay, so my my question is did you leave them did you leave the hall? Not completely, no. Not completely, okay. Okay. So you basically tried to get uh um Glesia a kind of to pay attention somewhere else while you move towards the door And then while her vision was blocked, change your thing, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So let's go ahead and get a presence roll on that. Oh hell yeah. Um where are my dice? There they are. And I'm gonna have to look at I'm gonna have to call up uh someone's staff on this one because I'm I'm not sure how that What what what we'll do with what what what we can do with that, but we'll find out. Everybody gains a hope at the beginning of the session. Correct. Oh, thank you for the reminder. Is there anything everyone gets a hope? Is there anything else people are like, hey, we need to be able to uh do at the beginning of our of our stuff? Nope. I don't think so. Okay. Okay. Session. Beginning of our session. Thank you. Uh so what do what did you get, Eris, um, on your presence roll? I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. Okay, okay. Can I make a presence role to uh try to keep the mother's attention like v very um i insistent uh performance, uh maybe like, you know, guiding her to look at all the the notes that I've jotted down about what we discovered. Oh no, you're gonna t oh no, okay. Now now she remembers you for sure, but you know. And you see her eyes kind of widen a little bit. Uh so if you want to try to do a presence role for that too, sure. Okay. Let's do that. And I can spend a hope to add my strength to the roll. Ooh. Oh, is that bold presence? Bold. Yes. Very bold of you. Okay, so um what was your role? It was um eighteen with fear 18 with fear. Okay. You actually like you managed to kind of uh get her attention um despite the fact of your you like your scribbled down notes and arcane uh like shorthand that you do maybe doesn't make sense to her. She you have her attention as you're pointing to all of the different things that you're trying to outline and um convinced that no this is for real. Air Eris, what was your role? It was um it was a seven with fear Seven with beer. Can I can I get some is that gonna fail? Are we gonna fail here? Glasia looks up as as uh I forgot your name. Actually, are is Cirkea still within close range? Because I could use my support tank ability if she's in close range. No. She she would have wandered off far enough to be, you know, out of earshot. Now she's getting a little closer, right? Um as Glazia kinda eyes narrow suspiciously. Uh something, so yeah, you get the impression that if you do not intervene, she may see through this. Uh Best Dad is gonna say I am so sorry about this. And put a hand on Ecclesia's shoulder and cast recant. So you need to make a reaction roll and Potentially forget the last minute of this conversation. We're gonna try again. I've always wanted to use that. I haven't had a good chance to yet. Thank you for bringing it out. Um that's amazing. So I make a reaction roll. You do, yes. I'm spending a hope. So um this is an NPC. So um my reaction roll is still a D20, right? Correct. Um my reaction role is a 14. Okay, the DC was 15. So uh Bestet says, I am so sorry, place places a hand on her shoulder. And then like sees kind of the look in her in her eyes change and says, that's that's a good question. We do actually have a witness to confirm that this whole thing is happening. And best that would point to Cirkeya in disguise. Well played Masterful. I've been looking that at that ability for so long. That was like perfect use of that. Absolutely. Yeah, no, that would that that was great. Um, so I think you're still trying to to do a deception, right? Right, you're still trying to to to convince her that you are Martan who who who she may have met. Once or twice, you don't really know. Um so let's go ahead and do a new role for that presence as you can. But now she's within range. Because Vio and I scurrying closer in case we need to be supporting. And and and now you you you've set it up differently. So that that initial setup now isn't, oh, let me go get somebody. It's, oh, here is somebody, right? So can I can I use my voice of reason as I do that? um to give uh cirkea technically it's supposed to give me advantage on action roles to convince someone to follow my lead, but Could I use that as a method to give Serkea advantage? You're welcome to say no. I'm just trying to. I don't Yeah, because it's meant to be for you. Okay. Um If they were if they were still looking like you, I might do it. Okay. Because because then it would kind of like be a fun look they're like you and they're doing it. Um I would say if you wanted to do some kind of a um assisting role in convincing um I would la I would say that would be a way to go. We could add Yeah I think best I would say as you probably know this is a member of the Anjon family and well, I'll let him tell you everything that he told us And so I'd spend a hope to give the help action to give advantage? Is that yeah there we go. Yep, that's what I was thinking. Okay. Yeah. So uh Eris, you I'm sorry. Not a good case. That's not the rule was The present roll was great. Oh, okay. Okay. I was I was just gonna recant again. So you could if you if it had been bad, we're you're just we're gonna absolutely destroy this person's mind eventually. You're now asking Soke to speak in her disguised form. Uh-huh. Which will be Sokia's voice coming out of the form because it's just the image. And she's met him before. Well, we're all going to look at the image like this is completely normal voice. I'm gonna say Vio realizes this and will say, actually he got punched in the throat whenever they were beating him up And I think it might have affected his ability to speak, but he can do signs and and and and stuff and we can interpret for him We should probably not move on entirely until we find out what the present's role was as an aside. Yeah. It was it was twenty-two th uh hope. Wow Oh, very nice. Okay, yeah. You said it was pretty good. I assumed you were pretty confident in it. But yeah, um like her her eyes still narrow uh as you approach and then they widen like, oh wait, I know this person. And and she looks at the all of the bruises and and batterment of of of what the that Martanne has gone through and and reaches out. to lay hands on Martin to try to heal him. Excellent. So he's gonna shrink back from Martin. Like he doesn't so he'd pretend that he doesn't want to be touched again after being like abused like that. by the uh the dragon knife to kind of shrink into himself. And uh believe it or not, Gleisia actually like snorts and like rolls her eyes at that. It's like, oh typical. Can't be touched by likes of me, eh? Okay, fine. Just gonna never mind then. What what so You're vouching for these this this tail just nod just nod So so K uh she nods Kind of she nods shyly. She's like, mm-hmm mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh she starts pacing back and forth like trying to figure out what to do herself now. Like she's Well well that m she's not here yet. She's supposed to be here. She's not here. Well could she she could be out there? I don't know. This is this is horrible. It and she looks she looks to you all like, well well, what do you do now? Uh we were kind of hoping that you would know. But you don't you don't know where Lady Enjamp is? She's supposed to be here. She's not. She's lying. Do you know where she was gonna be before this? Um does she know that? I don't think she does. Let me let me See here, hold on. Uh no normally she leads the ceremony. She'd be here by now. Um they I assume she was at the that club of hers at some point, but it it That that should have been done hours ago. Is there any way to stop this if it is already in motion? How do we warn the sheercroppers that their livelihoods are in danger, do you They don't know me. I don't know that they will listen to me. Would they listen to you if you told them? But they must protect their homes if we deal with the lady. You want me to disrupt the festival already? She's she's clearly torn by you know the idea of disrupting the sacred ceremony versus uh the bad things that could happen here. I think things will get a lot worse if In days to come, if we do not do something to stop this. And I'm afraid we might be too late to go to each individual house and stop whatever thugs are being sent there on our own. We need someone to spread the word that Something should happen. I best at kind of size and are there guards of your own you could send? Are there we we can Seek out the lady, but if the plan is already in motion, I don't know that that will save the crops in time. Oh, oh, I've got an idea. What if you pray to your God that they would uh shower down some rain and so much rain that that they can't start fires So they can't burn anything if it's all it's all wet, right? Could you do that? The priestess kind of looks at you like, are you serious right now? Like, um And she's she patiently tries to explain that that the mother is the mother is the goddess of the earth, not the sky, not the clouds, earth! Hmm. And I suppose moisture can't come up from the earth? Well that would be a miracle now, wouldn't it? Hmm. W but where? Uh everywhere? Here? Like flooding? That'd be horrible. Uh I mean I guess that would probably wouldn't be very good for the seeds either. I don't know how seeds work. I I lived over underground for most of my life. Sounds like a lot of things. But I do know that underground seeds work. I mean, I was very far underground. Um Well, yeah, I guess that's not a good idea. Shoot. She she pats your head a little bit, you know, like it was a nice try. Yeah, yeah. Trying to be nice to you, but um And as she starts to talk, she's like, you you hear some noises from outside. Um, and what what you assume is the uh the priest talking in a very oratory manner towards the crowd. You can't quite hear the words, but you hear the tone. And it seems clear that he's decided to go ahead and start the ceremony on time, even though a couple of the major players aren't there. And she she kind of glares at the door like he's not supposed to be doing that and he's messing it up. Um but She turns to you all and says, Okay. Well, you can either um panic these people and get them to go out and take care of their own things. You can help them go at the at least the the nearby ones, or you can uh try to track down the lady and see see what we what she can stop. Um there there was a rumor that she was going to be meeting up with the miller. Um you might check there, but sh that wasn't supposed to be for hours, you know, once the party's in full swing, so to speak. Can I do a possibly really silly thing that the other party members might be agitated that I do. I I agitating the other party members doesn't seem to be a problem with with some of the people here. So I think it'd be like I don't know what you're talking about. About dollar team. Okay. So upon hearing all this, Vio feels like it is on them to stop this and they wanted to warn the people this whole time. They've just like been bottling it up, like this outburst that they really want to like share this news with everybody. So they're gonna use their deft maneuvers ability to sprint out of the community hall. I assume that's gonna, you know, be some distance. So I'm just gonna use that so I don't have to mark an agility roll to sprint outside, tackle the priest who is addressing the crowd. and do a little like swoosh with their cape and like put it in front of their face kind of like they're like Dracula talking over it. and um they're gonna say, The skyward path is above ground once more and we are going to attack all of your lands, all of your farms, while you are here partying. What do you think about that in this like really like deep voice? Um, trying to Persuade the crowd, it's not the dragon knife, it's not Lady Yanjamp, it's this lost civilization that's like under the ground that's come up to attack their lands. I kind of love it. This is this is yet another example of well didn't see that coming. Um I love it. Foiling your secret mission. I love it. Okay. This is a good plan. What could go wrong? That's a that's a very shoulder towards the door. Yeah, you guys are just now realizing I'm gone. She's run out of support tank. Yep. Yep, definitely, definitely have. So you get out there just in time for like this this priest who's got his arms raised up and he's literally saying celebrate and be blessed And you just barrel into him. Like you're not you're not trying to hurt him, you're just trying to interrupt his speech, right? So you see you managed to interrupt his speech by bodily knocking. Very boldly. Um Now, now you're very small. He's very large, right? So you you're not able to knock him down. Um, but you can, you know, kind of uh nudge by him, get by him and and you're doing this this thing with If I can't knock him down, I'm gonna climb on his shoulders. Perfect. You're gonna scramble up his back on his tail, well through his tail. He's got really good handholds because his his outfit is all strapped. right? Perfect. It's like a jungle gym. It's like a jungle gym. So you just climb right up there and and He's look you he's wearing you like a hat, basically. Kind of looking at what in the world is going on here? He's totally confused. And you say this thing. And um give me a give me uh what are you trying to convince? Presence, maybe? Yeah, I was thinking I would use presence and I'm gonna use my bold presence ability. So I'm gonna spend a hope to add my strength to my role. So that'll add an additional plus two. Excellent. Um and I don't know if I can use my one of my experiences. Because don't worry, I've trained for this is like I've trained my whole life to be a spy, but now I'm like doing the exact opposite I don't know. You you are, but you're also doing things that you think a spy would do, right? Like like covering your face and being all ha ha ha ha. Like that's your idea of a spy. It's not really what you've trained for necessarily, but it's how you've trained. Yes. Okay. So we'll we'll do that. I will use that hope and uh do the don't worry I've trained for this. So that's a 12 plus 3, so 15 plus 3, 18, and then plus 2 for my experience um 20 with fear. So there there's a number of things that happen in the crowd all at once. Like that uh celebrate and be blessed was actually the symbol for the barrel keepers to pop the the that taps into the ale barrels and be like starting to serve free beer. Um and your interruption of that, like First of all, it catches everyone off guard and and gets everyone's attention. Yes. Um and you see kind of different kinds of reactions out over the crowd. Um the visitors just look at you really blankly. Like they don't know what's going on. Is this part of the ceremony? Are they supposed to clap and cheer now? They're they're very like confused. And some of the locals like look even more confused. Like they're not sure what the skyward path is. They're not Like they're not the part of the people that would be impacted by your announcement, so to speak, right? And they just look really confused. You see a few people kind of pale at the announcement. And and look longingly towards the beer and then start to break away. Like they better go check this out. They can always come back. you know, they'll miss out on some of the party, but they gotta check this out. Meanwhile, the uh person whose head you're standing on Right. Has this deep growl in their throat. And and they like try to grab you. Um skyward path, you say. And he he like tries to grab you by the scruff, basically. He seems to be the only one of here who may have heard of something about this. Okay. Assuming that all of us kind of ran after Vio, can Best at use Levitation to just lift VO out of This uh this this guy's range, just lift it lift VOM. That's a good question. Um What if my legs are wrapped around him and so I just levitate him? Didn't know it was that kind of party. All right. Just tighten, tighten your tighten. I was picturing my arms and legs are wrapped around him like a mask. So now he has a folding. I see. In that case, I mean it's in that case I I don't I don't need to do that. That's fun. It's fine. No, I I like your idea. I was just trying to add fun flair. Alrighty then. So I'm floating. Do I need to have to roll for that? Am I am I okay to make that roll, GM? So um so remind me remind me on on on the levitation. It's you lift an object. Make a spellcast roll to temporarily lift a target you can see up into the air and move them within close range. A target. Okay. So yeah, you can you can make a spellcast roll for that. And then whether or not it succeeds, we can let um uh VO react to what that feels like and how it is. Am I comparing this to Vio. Is this against VO's evasion? Is that what I'm aiming for with this role? I don't know that I'm trying to I'm just looking for a spellcast role, honestly. Gotcha. I got a it's a 13 with hope. A 13 with hope. Okay. Yeah. And you and uh so yeah, uh Vio, you feel yourself starting to get tugged like before he like as he's reaching to to grab you by the scruff. You feel a tug. Like before his hand is there. And uh you have an option at this point. You can cling tightly, you can let go, you can try to jump. with it. Um what what's your reaction to this invisible force starting to lift against you? I think I see this guy's arms coming towards me. And so I assume that the force that's lifting me up is a a benevolent one and I I'm just gonna, you know, go wee as I go in the air. And maybe like push my legs off of his shoulders to like give myself a little more air and aid the force that is levitating me. Um so yeah. If I can take his mask, I would too, but I don't know if that's worth it. Wow. Wow. Um, yeah, so his mask, um Like it's it's two pieces and the part that just is towards the top is it you can't see me. I'd rather stay in my camera on, but I'm gesturing here. The the part over by his forehead where the uh sun symbol is, you can literally grab that sun symbol and it'll pull the top part of that mask off. Yeah. Leaving him exposed. Of course everyone knew who he was because he didn't bother dressing down. He's wearing his his his uh priestly garments And I'll say, talk to the priestess. Or talk to the priestess. She'll tell you what's going on. And he he sputters and looks up and around, going, what in the world is going on here? It's a skyward path and I'm in the sky. And as that's happening best, I would just since I can move things that I'm that I'm levitating would just kinda like move Vio kinda off into the distance and maybe and maybe like place him like behind something so it looks like he just kinda like went off into the distance and disappeared. So the the the easiest thing to do that with would be behind the uh ale barrel area, right? Yeah. So I was picturing a barrel, so that's perfect. The bonfire has now been lit, so you you want to avoid that, um, but you can get around get view around that and over behind the behind the barrels, um basically, with people kind of staring at this levitating dwarf flying through the air um after giving this dire pronouncement that they're, you know, taking over and doing bad things. And the visitors kind of start clap awkwardly, like Like this is part of the show, they've never been here before. And the few of the people that have been here before, they're like, this is new and it's kind of over the top, and they're just here for the free beer. And is that open yet? Utrecht like turns back around towards the towards uh where you all are like now out just outside the halls like this is this is ridiculous. This is not how this is supposed to go at all. And he kind of stomps back towards uh the where the priestess is supposedly you know coming behind you. Um Looking demanding looking for answers. When he steps away from his his spot where he was addressing the crowd, Bastette would step up and she would kind of mime taking her mask off. and would like remove the adjust appearance that had the mask on. And she would say, I am best at of the Royal High Court of Skyland. And what That floating creature told you is true. Your homes are in danger. Your livelihoods are in danger. And we are attempting to stop. The criminals responsible, but you may need to protect your homes this night. And then she would just walk walk off towards uh where we think uh the lady enjampe would be Vio's gonna scamper and try to meet up with you guys without being seen. Without being seen. All right. Do I need to make a roll for anything for my little speech there, by the way? I mean you're trying to convince other people, maybe some people that are still hanging out, right? So if you wanted to do a presence roll for that to see if more people were convinced. I don't know if you've heard, but I do speak with an unmatched power and authority, and I have advantage on action roles to convince someone to follow my lead. So I have heard of it. Okay. Okay. Cool. And I think it applies. Yeah, alright, alright, alright. So caze. Well that doesn't matter because that was two sixes. That's a crit. I can roll my advantage if you would like, but I feel like I was pretty much. Let's throw a little more on top. Like, yeah, yeah. If I get a six on my crit, can it be a double crit? Sure. Alright. I got a three on my advantage die, so it didn't matter. I was hoping for a third six. That would have been fantastic. That would have been amazing. Yeah, so um you're used to being obeyed. You like people find themselves moving before they even realize that they've been convinced. Um Everyone, like at least anyone who looked torn before about needing to go and check out things, um, seems to have have melted into the crowd, at least for the people that were at this main bonfire. Um and it it's noticeably smaller now. Um and uh yeah so that that seems to have worked. Uh in the meantime, uh around you the visitors and some of the locals who didn't have steak in in they don't have a a place to go outside of the village, they've decided to just go ahead and continue partying. They're going and getting the free ale. Um you see uh some of them deciding to uh dance around the bonfires and party and there's runners now, uh you notice with people taking torches. um from the main bonfire out to other parts of the village. So those distant ones are beginning to light up as you go around as as you stand there basically they're people running running around doing things and we always gonna kind of try to cast their voice into like an echo so they can't tell where it's coming from but say, you know you could help your neighbors And maybe party tomorrow. So you uh all right. Um yeah, you wanna you wanna presence that? Sure. Um that's 11 and 9. So that's 20 with hope. And I'm gonna add my plus one presence since I'm not using my strength anymore. So that's 21 with hope. 21. Yeah, actually, you know, a few people kind of look guilty. Yes. Like like there's a couple people that are like, oh man. And it Like there's a couple people putting a shirt back on and like, oh man, I'm gonna have to uh and you know trudging off in the direction that some of the other people went. went to basically. Good. I've guilted people into helping. You you were their little uh jimney cricket conscience for them. Yeah, uh best that would be so we said we thought Lady Enjamp was maybe meeting with the Miller. So I think she'd be walking confidently, even though she's not totally sure where she's going, and she's hoping Serkea catches up and helps and Serkea knows the town a bit more There's a confidence though, because she just convinced a bunch of people of things. So she was she's feeling good. I'm guessing the the priestess went to the door, right? to see what was happening. Yeah, the priestesses at the door are trying to calm down the uh Okay, wh while Priestess's back was turned, Suke just drops the facade and Scarfers. She just Squeezes out past but behind princess and s uh princess, priestess. Wrong one. Just like I sorry sorry I'm just coming past. Tries following the bastard. You you hear you hear a little snatch of their conversation as you go by and she's like, wait, where were you? And the Utrecht is like Forget them. What what's this this celebration is ruined. I can't believe this. And pulls her back into the conversation and complaining bitterly the whole time about how how his his festival is ruined, even though it's yeah. know per deal. So you guys didn't actually make it over to the mill before, but Serkeo would know because they've been here a while that the mill is actually over towards the river. No, yes, of course. It's a water mill, makes sense, right? Could have been a windmill to be fair, but uh that's fair. That is fair, but there you haven't seen any windmills you know here's a don't see one of the water mill yes it is a it is a water mill as I mentioned um and something and it's not there That would be fun. All right. So as you approach the mill, you see that it's dark. There's nobody there. Um visible. It's Got a it's a large brick building. It's very sturdy. Um and uh there's a front and a back uh space on it. The back side seems to be more of a residence, it's where the like a door, you know, windows kind of things are. And the front is um a covered porch area that then has a double doors into the actual mill itself where after the harvest things would be ground up and uh Put through here. Um, and there are some wooden uh wheelbarrows and things out front. It seems to be very much in order and nicely stacked around. the the whoever's in charge of the space, you know, take takes good care of it. Um but it there's no lights or fire on the inside. There's no um Bonfire outside or any indication that anyone's inside. How would you like to approach Is there a bonfire like built, just not lit, or there's nothing indicating that Like people were around here. Yeah, the bonfires are more for groups of of celebrants, right? And this is kind of it's on the main path. So I won't say it's off the beaten path. It's literally on the main road into town. But nobody was really thinking this is a fun spot to party, basically. So there's no there's no bonfire setup over here. So if we walk around like the back, is there lights in the windows at all? No, there's no lights. Or do we see curtains closed? No lights from either side. Um Uh and the the if you're on the back side, you're on the resident side, that door does seem to be locked. Not for long. Do you have pick locking or lock picking? Pick locking. Pick and pull, yes. So Kay's gonna go for the lock door. Did we try the other door first? Before we think this long, should we see if the other doors open? We can try the other doors. I will try this door. Okay. VO will. They'll go around the other side and they'll try try to open that door. On the front. GM, d Tsuke's gonna use pick and pull try open this door. I'm okay to roll for that Oh whoops, I was muted. Sorry. Oh. I was wondering. Here I'm talking like okay, yep, that'll work. Okay, yep Um uh yeah, go ahead and try to roll for unlocking the back door and view. Uh you're just going through the front door, right? What would I be rolling for unlocking stuff? That's I would say would be a finesse roll, right? Control or tinker. Oh tink yeah, tinker. Yeah. Tinker? I hardly know her. Tinker. Tinker. Nice, nice. Um, it's a f fifteen with hope. Take a hope? I don't mind if I do. You realize as you're as you're messing with this lock. This is quite possibly the best lock you've seen so far in town. Like this is one of the more rich people. Um, and he's apparently very concerned about his wealth. And you feel something kind of start to give and it slips. as you as you try to unlock it. Basically, you weren't quite able to unlock it. Damn. Uh VO, however. So So K just kind of size and frustration. I mean, you're not used to the skill of locks in this town. This town for the most part has had really cheap, like, not very concerned about security things. Vio, you find actually as you approach the the uh double doors, you notice that they're actually like um these doors aren't designed to swing open, they slide open on rails above the uh above the doorframe and they're slightly ajar. Hmm. Can I peek in? Uh it's very dark inside, but I have uh dark vision. What is it? Low light living. When you're in area with low light or heavy shadow, you have advantage. on roles to hide, investigate, or perceive details within that area. Well then let's give me a roll and see what you can see. Yes. This is my first time being able to use it. Eleven and wait, I just rolled the exact same thing that I rolled on the last one. Eleven and a nine. Uh so that's twenty plus instinct. is twenty-three plus advantage, which is a three. So twenty-six with hope. You're muted again, I think. No, I'm pondering. Whoops. Okay. So um as you peek in, it's really dark. And but you get a really good idea of the layout. This is a large open space. There's empty bags on one side, there's full bags on the other, things being stored and stacked. You see all of the gears and cranks and um columns that basically help this mill work. And you can see that although the wheel outside is turning, it's not actually connected to anything. None of the gears and things on the inside are moving. It's very quiet. But you do hear a moan from the far side of the room. So K it wasn't in there yet. It can't be kind of been her. I was gonna say, can we get a clarification of an an agony moan or a pleasureful moan? Yeah, it it's someone someone who's been in pain over there In in that space. Well, Vio, when they hear that, they're just gonna um not try to sneak. They're just gonna throw the doors open and run in to where they in the direction of the moan. Okay, so as Via runs in and Serke is back on the back door still, question mark, where are the rest of you? I think Bestet was just kind of watching from behind Vio and would still be standing there just kind of doing her classic raised eyebrow like I wonder what's gonna happen here. Look. Because you probably just saw Vio just like throw open the doors and run. Yeah. Like their little chaotic gremlin self. Okay. Rowan, are uh which which group are you hanging out with here? Um I'm the at the front following via with the better vision. Okay. Backdoors a one person only party. I'm sorry. Yes, fair enough. Okay. Um Vio, you run in, um, and they're they're on the far side of the official of the thing. You see um someone lying on the floor um tied up. I'm gonna immediately try to untie them. I don't know if it's difficult knots. Uh give me give me a finesse roll I guess. And everyone else is just waiting outside while VO runs around in the dark. I think Rowan went in, right? Best that is just kinda not sure what's happening and she's just kind of standing outside. So so Rowan's following. Um And you said finesse. And we're all like, I don't know where Serkeo went. Serkeya's gone. It's a 14 with hope. A 14 with hope. Yeah, you actually uh get the get the ropes untied pretty easily. And uh It's only then that you realize that who this is that you're untying. It's not the miller. It's uh our noble lady friend. Not Bastet, I assume. No, no, this is uh John. Bastet's Lady Enjant? Lady Enjump, who uh is moaning but not entirely not terribly conscious. Hmm. Well I think um Vio tries to see the good in people, but he's also going to he wants answers and so If she's not perfectly conscious, he probably is going to grab her shoulders and like shake her a little bit to try to like get her to wake up so she can answer some questions. Or if he ha if she still doesn't wake up from that, he's probably going to take like a little flask of water out of his pack and like pour it on her face to try to wake her up. Okay. So you're shaking her, splashing water on her face, trying to wake her up, trying to get some answers, huh? Mm-hmm. Okay. What in the nine hells? Oh my oh my head. I untied you. What? I untied you. You had some ropes around you. Why were you all tied up? They left me here. Um Who's they? The the the knife people. The jagged knife? What else? What time did they do this? What the what the what time It matters, trust me. She looks she looks past you to the door, like where it's now, you know, past sunset and dark, and and she kind of shrugs. Like You know, she doesn't have a watch. She can't see a clock here. She's like, I it it it it was let out. I don't I don't know. I uh the ceremonies. Oh no She she she like tries to stand and kind of stumbles a little bit. No, no, you shouldn't try to to walk just yet. We'll help you get where you're going. We just we have a few questions. I mean Seeing somebody all tied up like this and obviously beaten, I I we have to know what's going on to see how to help you. So can you tell us a little bit more about your attackers? What did they look like? I did not see them. How do you know it's a jacket knife then? Who who else would be hitting me on the head and putting me here? I mean Are you a popular lady in in the in your town? Or do people generally like you? She looks incredibly offended at the suggestion that she could be anything but popular. He has always been popular her entire life. Okay. She demanded that. Basically, yeah. Vio not really understanding decorum and manners um is unaware of her um being offended. He just tells it like it is, or they just tell it like it is Um she she holds her head. Oh no, it's it's true, it's all true. Um you have to stop them. Did they tell you where they were going? I I have no idea. Uh They they are not looting the village. We didn't see anybody. She she shakes her head. Then they must be. In the fields somewhere. Um why why? I do not understand. Can we tell by the looks of her bruising, like the stages of the bruising, if it's fresh or if it's been there for at least a couple hours? 'Cause usually you can see like is the blood still like Is it dried on and you know cracking or is it like fresh blood? Uh you want to give me a uh instinct roll on that? Or wait, uh I don't know, is that a knowledge roll? Are you trying to analyze it or are you trying to look? Um I think if we're trying to analyze it, I'm gonna say it's a knowledge role Okay, then I'm gonna try to use the don't worry I've trained for this because I'm aware of what um how bruises and things work since Y'all have way too much hope for your for your skills, huh? Oh, that was almost a crit. 11 and a 12. 11 and a 12. Um. Yeah. So 23, right? Did I do that math right? 23 minus one for my knowledge. So that's 22 plus the two for the experience is 24. And that's with fear. With fear. Okay. Uh yeah. So it looks like it like the bruise, the the but it aligns with what her story says. Right. That the a couple maybe a couple hours ago, not even that long necessarily. So I guess what I'm trying to ascertain here is did this happen at the same time we were speaking to Blackmain? Or is it possible they could have come here? Uh this this would this this is really pretty fresh. Like it was still light out, meaning uh, you know, within the last hour like while you were either coming into town or uh talking with the priestess and doing all of those kinds of things over there. So they could have potentially come from their camp encampment and done all this. In theory, yeah. I mean they were moving pretty quickly. They had different you made it back here in Less let about that time and you pause to deal with the body. So yeah, they could have been through here. Well, I think at this point I'm going to Kind of narrow my eyes at her and be like, I know you're not telling me the full truth. It's okay, it's gonna walk back around to the front of the Fo front of the um mill at this point. Okay. The the lady kind of puts her hands on her hips and is glaring down at Vio now. Right. Um even though she's kind of seated, she's like looking very haughty, like this floor is her her her noble throne, basically. And then she changes her mind. All right. What do you wish to know? I owe you that much for saving me. Why did you do this to yourself? What? Ugh, you fool. No How would they hit myself on the back of the head? I mean you asked somebody else to do it, but why? She she kind of glares at you and admits grudgingly I I had a note from someone I was planning on meeting here later to come early before the ceremony. Why were you planning to meet the miller here? She she glances at Anybody else in this room. Could you please explain to her hit that how people do things? I think you're doing a pretty good job of it. Thank you. Suke says with like so gay like directs like a glare at The uh li Lady Sean. I think Bastette would just kinda shrug. She'd be like a I don't know what you're talking about. What are you what what do you expect from me? I I expect you could I've heard you're doing terrible things in this town. For one, I don't know who wouldn't want to beat you up for the things that you're doing. So it could be anyone. I you immediately blame the jagged knife. How do you know it's the jagged knife? And then second of all, you're lying to me. So how how do you expect me to behave? Oh Vio, I don't believe she knows about um a little visit. A little um meeting we had earlier. I believe wasn't his wasn't the young man's name um Martin Mar um Martin, of course, such lovely eyes. Oh yeah. Very to very And man, those lips can tell some stories. Very talkative. Very you should have seen him. Once he started, he just couldn't stop. What do you have to say about that lady on jump? She she kind of glances at Bastet once Bastet spoke up, like she can't see very well in the dark. She's human. But when Bastet speaks, she realizes, oh, that's the the real the real leader is here. I need to address what's going on. Um She sighs and like rubs her head. I was here to meet uh the Miller for celebrations. Um She shakes her head. But you found you found Martin. I sent him in the forest for well, some time to to smoke out this jagged knife. Um we had heard rumors. He found them, he took care of them But no. You y they they still made it here. I think best that would kind of step a little more into the doorway, into the darkness a little bit, and she's She's got dark fur. Um, and the only thing really you'd be able to see in the dark would be her eyes. And her teeth and her claws would come out. Oh nice. As she as she's in like it those things just kind of reflect the light better than her fur does. So You just kinda uh Lady Enchamp would just see those in the dark. And she would say Martin told us that Your house was. Martin told us your house were the ones attempting to ruin this festival. And burn the crops and the seeds for the sharecroppers. If you're confused about what my compatriots are talking about, then let my words be clear. We believe it was you. Doing all of this. Like those of you that can see in the dark would see her pale visibly at these words. And her voice shakes a little bit No, no. Martin is weak. He would say any sing. When if they torture him. L let me t let me see him. He he will he will back up my stories. You want to see him? It's okay it steps backwards. Like into more shadow. And she just pulls up our uncanny disguise as Martin again. Poor corpse. And she'll say, has anyone got a light? As she s she steps back in front of uh Lady John and says close to her face, Oh, he was a screamer. You should have heard him. With Martins like bruised eyes, battered face, bruised neck. I don't think fear I don't think this kind of fear lies Tell me, Lady Sean, are you familiar with it? At first, Lady Jean shrinks back from you and as you as you imply at least that that um he's dead she actually straightens a little bit and and glares at you like she's mad um that's weird So you have uh never had that reaction before. I know, right? Like, hey wait, you're used to people Yeah, this is the first person who's actually like like stood up to your your psychological slash physical culture. Um you know like She's she doesn't seem to be cowed by you at this point at the moment. Um as as they like can see a little bit better in the light, do they like read anything off of her expression? Like, do they trust that what she's saying is true because they're still trying to figure out who to believe like once she said like that Martin would say or Martin would say anything under torture. Now Vio has started to question themselves. So again, he's still they're trying. Again, still Yeah. Porfio. Uh yeah, why don't you go ahead and give me an instinct roll for anyone who was trying to determine, you know, uh hey, is she lying her ass off? Um, do we believe her? What What's the deal with that? Yeah. Oh, so all of us could anybody who wants to roll for that one? Anyone who wants. Anyone who wants to. Can we do is it like a group role? Um yeah, we can make it a group role if we want. Okay. Um yeah. And I'll I'll need so uh that was a 17 plus three to my instinct is 20 plus um I get advantage because it's low light. And that's a two. What did I say that was before? Twenty? Twenty. Yeah, so twenty-two. Yeah, twenty-two. Okay. With fear. 20 with fear, okay. I got two fours. Two fours. Holy crap. Um for group action roles, it doesn't matter if we rolled with Hoper Feel, is that right? That is correct. Okay, I got a 20. Yeah. I got an 11. That wasn't very helpful. 11. All right. There's the role that's a little bit more than a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit Did that just cancel it out? Okay. Yeah. Um, okay. Yeah, uh Vio, you believe she's lying her ass off. Okay. Like there's a s there's a bit of sweat trickling down her brow that maybe no one else sees, right? But but um Uh behind like you get the sense that behind her uh offended front uh she is trying to deceive you for sure. Okay. And and she she actually glares at um cirkea and and still doesn't talk to Zerkea, just talks to Bastette. Um going. We need to stop them and get to the rest of the village. We we need to rally them against the Jaggered Knife. Were you under the impression that we believe you? No, genuinely. I'm I'm asking because I thought we were pretty clear. Trying to get into my voice and that was wow. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like I like you see Michael take this big deep breath, like okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna suit like ease into this. And out comes Leo, just all over it. It's perfect. Perfect. I loved it. Bastette actually I think maybe this is one of the first times you've seen Bastet smile at like Like she kind of came into this whole thing like a little bit above it and she just kind of like you see a smile Um and to you all, I think it maybe looks friendly. And to the lady, I think maybe she sees a lot more teeth than she saw. And uh best set is a w a creature of means and uh her teeth are perfectly white and very sharp and as she smiles she just says You heard them. I mean, we will definitely do everything in our power to take out those that have wronged this town. You understand me? Do you understand where I come from? And do you understand But if I ask you could be gone tomorrow? Sir Key pulls out a knife and please from the sky. I was gonna say and then and kinda licks a blade. And then Basset looks at Sir Kay and says Tomorrow might be generous. Complete eye contact, licking her blade, dropping the facade on off the cousin. It's true. For the first time, John actually looks scared. And and it's not actually like in it's not from Serkea's uh uh display but the idea that her her her title might be in danger at this point scares her way more than than her physical life. Her title Yeah, yeah. That means more to her than than than her own than her own, you know, her legacy is everything, right? If she dies to the hands of brigands, that's bad, but you know, at least the name will continue. But what Bastet just threatened was. way deeper, way darker to her. Um and she starts kind of groveling. Um I I I throw myself at your mercy. I I I just do not, please, uh leave my family. It's pretty easy, just call off your minions and then you can go back to doing whatever thing you normally do as the Lady of this region, just stop hurting people. That's pretty easy. Mm pastad kind of like looks down her nose at at the lady. You disgrace yourself. You disgrace your house. Get off your knees. Get on your feet. And call this off now. She actually uh like does this a very exaggerated motion with her hands, like she's trying to, you know, uh I'm gonna reach in to to do something. Don't kill me. Right? Um, and she reaches up to um a clasp on her cloak. And takes takes it off and it's a you'll notice inside there is a ascending stone basically. Um and so she whispers into it. And you don't hear the reply at first. So what did she wish for? Did we hear what she whispered? Oh yeah, you can hear her, you can hear her following Bastet's instructions entirely. Uh-huh. Never mind, never mind. Come come back to the village. Come back to the village. See, was that so hard? And then and then she she adjusts it like she does something with it and then repeats it again. Was she changing like radio channels to get to get to somebody else? Nice. Yeah, we should have to do that. Some sanding stones like she she does that twice more. Breaker breaker. And and and on the last on the last one, you you actually hear the response on the last one, and it's it's a a familiar booming voice. Too late. We've taken care of these. It's Black Mean? Yeah. And and then she she she like offers the sending stone to you all. You know, like she's she's given up resistance. She's she's done. He's just used to like anything new just immediately goes in his mouth. He has a toddler. Okay. I'm not sure whether that's where it goes, honey. I think it's no good to me. Do you want it, Zerkea? Of course. Take ascending stone. Hey, hey, Princess, Yonus has it to Bastet. I don't think Basta would even take it after it was in VO's mouth. She wouldn't get she wouldn't get covered in the hands. Yeah, she wouldn't get that on her hands. Yeah, no. Definitely. And Bastette is going to Lean down next. I assume uh Lady Enjamp is still on the floor because she seems to be very grovelly currently. Or did she stay okay Yeah? She has not moved like Try to run away or get up aside from that initial Bastat is going to kind of lean down next to her and just say The eyes of Skyland will be on you and your house. If I get even a whiff of you trying anything remotely like this again. We will take your name and your title and your house and your family And no one will hear of you again. No history books will tell of you. Vio is gonna like kind of tug on the pant leg of Bastette, like asking her to like bend her ear down so that uh Vio can whisper in it That's that would do it. While you're asking them for things, can you maybe ask them to let my society come back and and up and maybe put be part of Piraeus? Please. Thank you. And she would would turn to to like Zirkea and Rowan and be like. Any other requests while I while I have this moment VO nudges Sir Keya and says, Your sibling, right? Uh actually best that will just like as you all are doing this, best that will just kind of like sigh a little bit and go, you know what, why don't you take Whatever they ask for as a command from me directly. And then she would stand back up and she would kind of like brush her cloak off. And her little mouse would like kind of like climb up to a shoulder and brush it off a little bit too. Um and then she would just walk out of the mill. She would just turn around and walk out. Wow, power move. She doesn't she doesn't ask twice. Tirkea, did you want to ask? Of course. Brave of you to let Serkeya go first. You might want to turn your back for this. Knowing how she responds when people don't ask questions. Yeah, Cirkea. And she'll tug on Serkea's pant leg and ask for them to bend their sounds. Hi. Um, can you not kill this person? I mean, even if they're not useful to you I think they might be useful to me. They've already proved useful. They they have. Okay, okay. Thank you. Bye. We have them on our little finger. So, dear Lady Wa lady Juan uh On Cham On Sham. Yeah. Um Have you t have you heard of any wearwood wizards traveling through? Any from the Ashen Academy? Hmm? Anything? Surely you would have heard something. She kind of glares at you, then glances towards where Bastet left and like rolls her eyes. To be clear, Bastette's still kind of in the doorway, just like like her silhouette is still there, just to just just as a reminder. Like she's still within earshot. She's just left the door. I I I don't know if I don't know if Jean can see that from there, but she's she's assuming, you know, you're still within your shot able to s able to able to verify whatever happens back here. And she's he kind of shrugs to you. Zer was we chased her away. You chased her away. We did not want her. And you can see Serkea getting agitated. Why would you chase her away? We did not want her kind here. Her kind! Housing problem. Oh maybe I should have gotten my request in first. Do you want to rephrase that? Why did you chase her? What did she do? It was not what she did, it was what she was. She was a danger. Are you gonna chase yourself out of town then? I am not a wizard. Hmm. I promise I wouldn't kill you. I promise I wouldn't kill you. Where did you chase her to? You're just a lady who would kill people by taking their livelihoods. Sorry. Keep going, Zerkea. Where did you chase her to? Be very careful in your next answer. I said I wouldn't kill you, but oh, there's plenty of ways to meme. We excite her to the west. She left. This was days and days ago. Um Fortnite perhaps? Damn it. Vio, you ask yours I need to go think. Okay. Well, I know you don't like wizards. How do you feel about dwarfs? She looks at you. And I stand proudly. Mostly armless. Not terribly usual. Well, the first part is true, but the second part We are extremely useful. We have an a whole society that we've built and we don't even have sunlight. So I guess my question, or no, my demand, and Vio puts their little hands on their hips, is that you let my people come back up and live in Piraeus. She she kind of glances toward again, towards Vastat left. Uh say would um Abide by our rules? They would be in your government. They would help make the rules. She kind of looks at you like Maybe this doesn't mean the same thing down where you're from. Um you want uh Zitonza Council? Yes. As many representatives from my society as are representatives from the original Piraeus Which might I add is not the original Piraeus because we were the original Piraeus. So you want to expense the console? I suppose that would work. With uh um that this can be arranged, sure, sure. Thank you. Um Provided, of course. And maybe actually, while I'm at it, stop being so bigoted against wizards. Wizards or dwarfs or poor people. Actually, you know, while I'm at it, stop being so bigoted against anybody. Yeah. She looks at you like she doesn't understand what you're saying. Clear my throat. An order from Bastet. I don't know how to teach you how to care about other people. You you want me to care about uh disease? And and she kind of nods her head towards uh Cerca and Rowan. Yes, and everybody. Anyway. Hmm. I think that's all I have, unless you can control world peace, but Yeah. The world has been at peace until people disturb things. Yeah, and did you have a part in that No, that's that was Yep. Say your things, but I know the truth. I I took advantage, but I did not. Starts of fire, so to speak. Is starting it as bad as stoking it? I'll let you I'll let you think about that. She shrugs. Never waste a good emergency. You are very problematic. Suki's gonna lean to bust it. And say, how long do you need her for? I want to kill her so bad. Unfortunately. And this may be one of the few times I agree with you she does deserve it, but. Killing a noble in a town such as this will cause so many problems. I think you may need to stay your blade. You look you're beautiful. I am, yes. I love how how Basta's just like, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. She knows it works. Tell me more. Yes, yes. She does. My ears my ears Need it. Rowan, did you did did you have a demand to make No. No, I just came for the job. Yeah. You came for the job. No. Oh. You're like, uh, this is all nice and good, but when when do I get the money? Yeah, yeah. I think that um uh gen should foot the bill. You know, because it was the the people of the village that were putting out the money because they were concerned something was gonna happen at their festival. And it was her all along. I'ma let I'ma let the mother know to to see you for reparations. Best I would hear uh Rowan say that. And just kind of say from outside the door, I think you will find that the Enjamb family is going to be very, very generous. to the people of this town in the coming years. In fact, they might be so generous that Maybe that's what they'll write when they write the history of this family instead of what they could write. Uh Sean moans almost in pain as you say that. Um you know that's not been their their legacy so far, and she was not looking forward to explaining any of this to anybody. Um, but since you're not gonna let it go. Um, she she just nods and waves to Rowan. Um, how much were you promised? I don't remember An astronomical sum for our professional services. How much do you have? That much. She she she waves she waves a hand, like, you know. Um If you are staying in in in the the village, I will uh I I will arrange for bags of gold to be uh delivered. I finally should ask. Is the womp is the I believe I used to see your brother there quite often. It was the um it was the radiant goblin. Just have it delivered to just just Deltob and b buy and bar. It's from a friend. She she like fails and like makes a face at that bar named like okay she's not gonna deliver that there but okay uh y the the consumer piece are um um tomorrow by midday Good. Good dog. We we are we are done here now, yes? And and she's she actually starts to try to stand up, like holding the s holding the wall. First I would say You have a party to get to, I believe. Yes, yes, yes. Party. Oh. She starts to try to go by everybody out the front door. Best that would just put a hand on Serkea's hand that I'm sure is holding a knife and just kind of make sure it stays down. Make sure it stays down. Just in case. Stay. Stay. You've not seen the second knife that I have hidden. I've got another knife. Via will hold your hand in a very innocent manner. While all of Sir Kay's hands are being held, Rowan would turn turn to say, So you're looking for a sister? I happen to possess exceptional skill in in detective work. That's handy. Do we all want to go look for her together? I just gotta tell my people that that uh that they can come live in the town now and they're proud of the council, but after that I'm free as a bird Which I've recently learned what that is. Nice. It's like a bat, but in the open air. Yeah. What do you say, Sukaya? I think I think having companions will be nice. I think so too. Especially if this beautiful one's coming. She looks at Bastet. I don't think Bastet would answer, but let's see the corner of her mouth turn up a little bit. Which is the best you're gonna get from Best At. I'll take it. Can I come see your your your your home? before we leave. Yeah. Absolutely. You guys could all come. I bet you my uh friend Arlo would love to meet you. It's a friend of yours, then Come come. It's this way. I'm sure I'm sure we'll get on wonderfully. And I assume we start heading that direction. So now at this point you all can Um enjoy the festivities. You can enjoy the festivities. You've managed to to fend off the disaster that was incoming. You think you've solved what's going on with with Lady Enjamb, though you might have to double check with her later, uh or double check on her later to make sure she follows through. But um at least everything you everything you believe indicates that she's n definitely not gonna cross Bastet and the people that Bastet represents. in in uh Skyland. So yeah, thank you. Um unless there's something else y'all wanted to do, you can go melt into the party, go dance and get drunk and then, you know, go down to uh VOS people later uh off camera so to speak. Yeah. That's that's the part of our story that's like the and tiny Tim Who did not die? I'm such a he did not murder again. Today. Today. Today. And Vio, who did not become a spy. Yes. So Via who did not become a spy, but actually may have either gained her people what they wanted or sold them all out. I'm not entirely sure how they're gonna respond to that. Yeah, bring them all about right after she announced. Exactly. Oh, they announced. I'm sorry. So the Skyward Path, actually I've wrote out this background. The Skyward Path is an organization which trains young spies in the ways of martial arts and espionage with the hopes of one day recovering our home above ground. So um they used to do like missions to go above ground and try to figure out, you know, how can we infiltrate, basically, um, because we were pretty much like kicked out of our home. And so this gets us, you know, on the council, which helps, you know, rule the city basically. And then also we get homes. So I think it's what the the mission of the skyward path We we got what we wanted in a roundabout way. I I assume at s at some point during the party VO like stumbles drunk up to the podium and it's like I was just kidding about the skyward path thing by the way. If you happen to see them around, they weren't trying to burn down your farm. Bye. With with between the the priestess and everybody else that you've got going on here, I think I think they'll be able to clear up who was responsible for what. at some point. And as long as the dwarves don't call themselves the skyward path. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah. That was a secret society. Unfortunately they still have to share with the uh invaders. Right, instead of getting it back for themselves. So it might not be very harmonious or entirely harmonious as it goes. Well that was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun. Yeah, I had so much fun. I'm glad. I've been really enjoying I've been really enjoying at like each session. I I'm actually glad it went on for as long as it did. I just got to saying intimidating things and then step away. I did it so many times. It was great. And then that and then let the lackeys take care of it. It was pretty cool. I also just love being a little bit stupid. Like it's very freeing to not have to feel like I have to be smart in this character. It's like whatever I do. It's probably stupid anyway, and I can pull it off because I'm a I'm a silly Is it that ignorance is bliss things. Exactly. I'm a silly little character. I really think it is, yeah Yeah, that was a silly little fella. Yeah. As it turns out, when Reanth, you know, puts us as characters up against Rich people who are making life worse for a bunch of uh less rich people. We all have a lot to say. That's crazy. Isn't that weird? Yeah, I wonder if that's in the thing. No. No. No, no. Maybe not all. Maybe. Thanks everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you. Bye.