Hello and welcome back. I'm Baron Battlebred, your guide through the streets and whispers of reggae Gather round. You lost folks as we spiral back to the Timebreakers, trying to rewrite history and change their fates.
Speaker 2:Timebreakers. Timebreakers.
Speaker 1:When we last left off, the Timebreakers had managed to escape the castle fairly simply, in fact, most of them made it out of the window unscathed. One of them well, they're not very athletic as they crossed the city and made it back to thaddeus's house, one of the furthest points in the city, away from their destination. They decided to take a long rest and, most of them, nothing happened. One of them saw some suspicious looking guards nearby and then, right at the end, Sarah, two faces in the window staring at you at the end of your shift. What are you going to do?
Speaker 1:I pull both of my rapiers yeah okay, the faces are still in the window. I stare. They're staring Roll for staring contest.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm going to do. Can I be intimidation? Yeah, you know what? Yeah, go ahead, go ahead and give me intimidation. I'm going to change the color of my eyes to red to try to intimidate them.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm. As we all know, red eyes on a robot means evil automatically, no matter what.
Speaker 1:Clearly evil it does. But what was that roll Nine? Nine, well, with a base 15 and a base 19,. They're not intimidated. They're staring at you. They haven't moved, sarah.
Speaker 3:I'm staring at them, I'm not moving.
Speaker 1:They're staring at you. They're not moving. In fact, they haven't even blinked.
Speaker 5:I don't think Sarah has blinked either, that's true.
Speaker 1:I have not, While Sarah hasn't blinked. Sarah generally finds that the people they're staring at usually blink At some point. They're still staring, Sarah. They haven't moved. What would you like to do?
Speaker 3:I'm thinking who's the closest person to me?
Speaker 1:Elise.
Speaker 3:I'm going to kick Elise.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:Without breaking eye contact with the people, got it.
Speaker 5:Like a gentle tap.
Speaker 3:A less gentle but not damaging kick. Basically, I'm going to shove them out of their chair, Got it?
Speaker 1:So we've come to the end of the long rest. You've all got your long rest. Elise, you are woken up by a kick from Sarah. There is currently, after your long rest, about 130 hours until the sacrifice happens, and Sarah has jostled you awake. What are you up to?
Speaker 2:what is the meaning of?
Speaker 3:this. Why? What are you doing? I'm still staring out the window. I say, look well also, I have two rapiers in my hands.
Speaker 1:Sarah's weapons are drawn yeah, sarah's weapons are drawn. She is looking as intimidating as she can and she's gesturing for you to look out the window, never breaking eye contact with the window. Elise, go ahead and roll me a perception check.
Speaker 4:Natural one for six total. But I was going to say Elise is using detect thoughts.
Speaker 1:Whose thoughts are you trying to detect the faces in the window? You're staring at the faces in the window. You are shocked to see two faces in the window and you're even more shocked that you're getting nothing from your detect thoughts.
Speaker 4:they still haven't moved elise will approach the window for a better look. What are these, you know? Figure out what these faces look like. Are they humanoid? Are they, you know, some kind of maybe they're? They're puppets for a show or something, and somebody placed them right there.
Speaker 1:Hey, why don't you go ahead and give me an investigation check 22. Nice, elise, you make it to the window and you give these faces a throw once over, and now that you've rubbed the sleep out of your eyes and you can see clearly, these are in fact two masks set on sticks facing the house Robots they are just masks.
Speaker 2:As you can see here, masks placed on sticks facing the house Robots. They are just masks. As you can see here, masks placed on sticks.
Speaker 1:Okay, roll your investigation. Seven, sarah. You're entirely unconvinced. So you do your lap around the house Elise, carvatash, thaddeus and then you step outside to investigate more Thaddeus. Around this point you do wake up.
Speaker 6:As Thaddeus wakes up and he walks out and he sees this, would it be possible if I could roll a history check to see if I remember something like this happening before, because it is my house? Do you want to roll a history check to see if it triggers any memories of anything that happened before, when I was uh at home the uh first time through?
Speaker 1:oh, um, yes, yes, go ahead. Uh, roll me your history check with advantage, as this is your house 25. This does in fact ring a bell thaddeus. As you recall, these masks on sticks are going to line the streets to make way for a parade route.
Speaker 6:So in my mind Thaddeus would wake up. He'd be kind of startled, but then it would trigger that memory that this is part of it. And he would turn to Elise and he'd be like, oh, this happened the first time. It's masks for a parade.
Speaker 2:That makes sense. I didn't partake too much in the festival the first time around, but masks do seem appropriate.
Speaker 6:Neither did I, but for some reason they put these masks lining my entire street. Honestly, I wish they would have just had the parade route somewhere else.
Speaker 1:I don't blame you, they're a bit noisy. Wish they would have just had the parade route somewhere else. I don't blame you, they're a bit noisy, normally they would have. But, thaddeus, you live right next to one of the main roads, oh no.
Speaker 6:Sarah, as you step outside, how else am I going to get my heavy equipment in and out of my house?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's true, you need the big road for the big carts. Yeah, sarah, you step outside and you see masks on sticks all up and down the street. You're not sure when they were put here, because you're pretty sure they were not there when you started your shift, but they're definitely here now. The stars are out and the streets of the eastern village have quieted. You look around the outside of the house and you don't see anybody at all. So it is now evening. You guys have had your long rest. What would you like to do?
Speaker 3:Well, Sarah's going to put her weapons away and rejoin the rest of them, and then, since everybody else is awake while they're figuring out what they want, I'm going to work on trying to figure out a mouthpiece for myself still.
Speaker 5:Well, when Sarah comes back in Shimmer is somehow back in existence.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, this is normal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Shimmer pops back in at the end of eight hours. So easy enough.
Speaker 5:No one questions it, of course, because they're used to it. Maybe Corvitash no.
Speaker 1:Corvitash understands, magical items exist outside of his knowledge. So, now that we've all rested, what's the plan?
Speaker 5:Well, you and I need to get to Lady Seraphina's house explain the situation. Hide you there.
Speaker 1:Go visit my fiancée. Will it just be the two of us or are we taking the whole team?
Speaker 5:I think it'd be too suspicious if we brought everyone.
Speaker 1:Oh, so just you and me.
Speaker 5:I think that would probably be best. Unfortunately Less firepower, but we can move quicker and more stealthily that way Draw less attention.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Stealth is my middle name.
Speaker 2:Quite a strange middle name, I must say.
Speaker 1:It is. My parents were strange people Lauren Hendred, stealth Corvatash Kind of a weird name if you think about it.
Speaker 2:Agreed. And while you are out, we'll get to the bottom of this letter. Figure out where these assassins plan to meet. Good plan. It's a good plan.
Speaker 1:All right, so Shimmer and Corvatash are going to traverse the city to get to Lady Seraphina's house. At least Thaddeus and Sarah are going to work on the plan to figure out where the assassin was going to go. Is that?
Speaker 6:the goal and get something to eat.
Speaker 1:And get something to eat.
Speaker 5:Okay, I assume we were going to eat before we left. Just at Thaddeus' house we have fire, like he probably has food in the house.
Speaker 6:The only thing I've got that's still in the house is leftovers from last night or earlier.
Speaker 5:Okay, so I guess Never mind then.
Speaker 6:Thaddeus does not actually cook that much in his own home. He more or less goes out to eat.
Speaker 5:He doesn't even have snacks. No, he does this intentionally because he can get lost in his own home.
Speaker 6:He more or less goes out to eat. He doesn't even have snacks. No, he does this intentionally because he can get lost in his work so easily. Hunger is kind of the only thing that sort of pulls him out of it long enough, so that way he can be like okay, I got to go take a break. So then he just walks somewhere.
Speaker 1:Forces him out of the house. Yeah, interesting, okay. Well, shimmer, you know that you have to go pass through the bazaar anyway in order to get to the bridges that will take you to Upper West Regate, so that you can get to Lady make here, because from the Eastern Village you can either pass through the Upper Ward, where Lord Corvatash is likely to be recognized through his disguise, absolutely not you can pass through Watcher's Row where, while Corvatash may not be immediately recognized, he does strike a a say, a recognizable silhouette he's still in the 31 or whatever.
Speaker 1:It was disguise, yes while he is absolutely in disguise. Um, it is current evening time and passing through watcher's row means you pass through where most of the guards hang out, so anyone who would say recognize him from his silhouette rather than his face might be in there. Or you can pass through the Adventurer's Guild area, up through Helm's Hollow and down into the bazaar, but that would be the longest and most roundabout way.
Speaker 5:But it would also be the safest and we want safe right now.
Speaker 1:That is why we are doing all this, so we're taking the long way okay, if you are taking the long way and I assume you are being safe and stealthy about it all. Right then, if that is the goal from thaddeus's house. Uh, getting to lady seraphina's house is going to take you about an hour and a half, but I will only require one roll from you, so go ahead and roll me a stealth check 20.
Speaker 5:30, 20.
Speaker 1:Oh good, Because 100 stealth Corvitash got a 5.
Speaker 6:Yeah, that stealth is coming in handy.
Speaker 3:Stealth his middle name is now. It is now official canon change because I'm kind of deaf right, so I'm not 100 sure what you were saying, but it sounded like you're saying stealth corvintash yeah, hundred, stealth corvintash.
Speaker 1:He told you stealth was his middle name. With the, I would say, the average of this. Obviously shimmer you more than make up for the fact that lord corvitash is not known for his stealthy nature. He's very used to openly and brazenly walking the streets with no concerns of you know being attacked in such a manner. So it takes, takes a little bit. You show him the ropes, your hour and a half turns into about two hours as you have to keep pulling him into alleys or moving him behind a cart. When he sees somebody he knows, he goes to wave and say hello and you're like no, you idiot, we're sneaking, we're sneaking.
Speaker 5:That is the exact opposite of what we need right now. You are in this gut. They aren't supposed to know you.
Speaker 1:You do manage to make it through the city, even stopping to get dinner right without incident, despite his unfortunate attempts to ruin the whole situation. Nobody recognizes him and nothing comes of it. You make it to Lady Seraphina's house. You can see that there are lights on in several of the windows, candles burning, maybe fires burning in fireplaces. Somebody is most likely home, corvitash just goes up and walks inside. He doesn't stop to knock, he just opens the door and goes in. This is his house too.
Speaker 5:Yeah, Shimmer will follow him Excellent.
Speaker 3:So I really love to rain on some stuff here. Lord Corvitash is supposed to be completely unrecognizable to anybody. That.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I was just about to point that out to him in character.
Speaker 3:Lord Corvatash's royalty Lord Corvatash should have guards in their house to stop random intruders from just waltzing in. He should yep Okay, so we're all on the same page.
Speaker 5:We are all on the same page. Once we walk in, I'm like you do remember you're in disguise and no one can recognize you right now, right what?
Speaker 1:What do you mean? This is my house. I have a right to be in here.
Speaker 5:Yes, but we're going to have to explain the fact that you're you to your fiancé when we see her, because she will not recognize you Because, again, you are in disguise, and she also will not recognize me because, again, I am also in disguise.
Speaker 1:Okay, you managed to say this. He does not have an intelligence modifier, so he rolled a total of a seven and he just goes. Oh well, we haven't been noticed yet, so maybe we step out and we knock.
Speaker 5:Yes, and we will do that. Is there a servant's entrance? Would we be able to just go through the servant's entrance or something? Would they recognize us?
Speaker 4:They wouldn't recognize us.
Speaker 1:We're in disguise.
Speaker 5:Yeah, true, it means we will have to introduce ourselves as new servants to any other servants or any servants, and we need to get to Lady Seraphina. She is right now the only one I trust, so the only one who I would like to know my identity, your identity, at least.
Speaker 1:So I'm hidden from my own servants.
Speaker 5:Unfortunately right now, until we can discuss this with Lady Seraphina.
Speaker 1:yes, oh, because they might be bad.
Speaker 5:Yes, you already said, your own guards at the castle turned on you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the guards did, the servants didn't.
Speaker 5:Yes, but we don't know who we can trust and who we can't. So Lady Seraphina is the only one we can trust, who we know we can trust right now. So we want to discuss this with her before we go any further. So she's the only one who could know who you are.
Speaker 1:Got it Okay. So I think going through a servant's entrance is probably a bad idea, because if they see us, they're going to wonder who we are and why we're there. We're just going to have to explain a lot of things, whereas maybe if we knock on the front, it is late.
Speaker 5:Would you accept guests at this time normally?
Speaker 1:Then let's do that.
Speaker 5:Yes, I'll do that. I will be the one doing the talking as well.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, you'll be the one doing the talking, gotcha.
Speaker 5:I am the one with the massive persuasive charisma.
Speaker 1:That is true. Okay, then let's. Do you want to knock on the door or do you want him to knock on the door?
Speaker 5:Yes, I'm going to be the one to knock on the door.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're even knocking on the door, gotcha, so he's just going to stand behind you and let you do the talking. Yes, roll me a persuasion check or a deception check. I don't know how you want to play this.
Speaker 5:A 23.
Speaker 1:Wow, are you telling the truth or are you trying to lie your way in?
Speaker 5:Actually, I want to lie my way in, so I rolled persuasion I want to lie, so that would be a 24. Persuasion I want to lie, so that would be a 24.
Speaker 1:Okay, Easy enough. While you knock on the door, one of the servants answers. You start sweet talking your way in and we are going to take a moment. We are going to jump back to Elise, Thaddeus and Sarah. Elise and Thaddeus and Sarah you guys were trying to figure some things out. Thaddeus and Sarah you guys were trying to figure some things out. Sarah was working on how to make a hinged jaw for themselves. Yes, Sarah, have you come up with any new plans for such things?
Speaker 3:How do you want to handle that? I did spend a little while investigating that dead assassin.
Speaker 1:You did indeed, and what would you like to do with that knowledge? Dassen, you did indeed, and what would you like to do with that knowledge?
Speaker 3:Um, was that enough learning done to uh for me to figure out that you know a hinged up and down motion with some form of a seal at the, at the meat point, would probably be enough why don't you go ahead and roll me?
Speaker 1:Uh, let's, let's make this fun. You can roll me a flat intelligence check, or you can roll me a medicine check, or you can roll me a nature check medicine six you take it, you take a few minutes and you draw out a rough um a. You draw a rough sketch on what you think a jaw for you would work. You know a nutcracker yeah.
Speaker 3:Somewhere around what I'm thinking.
Speaker 1:So in your head, nutcracker the way a nutcracker makes sense. But you've put a rubber seal on the front of it where lips would be considered, and so you're not quite sure how you're going to get the leverage to open it yet. But you know that that rubber seal, once it opens, is just going to snap shut, so you're sure that that's going to help.
Speaker 3:So it's not a rubber seal. It's like a band that's going to retract in on itself. That's what you're saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, like a rubber band.
Speaker 3:It's still going to make a loud like sound when my teeth get together.
Speaker 1:Like you're not quite sure. You seem to have gotten it a little bit backwards, in the sense that the mouse that you have designed here will open very slowly but will shut very fast. Elise Thaddeus, you guys are trying to figure out how to get the gold that this assassin, who was going to kill Lord Corvitash, was going to get.
Speaker 4:Yes, and also more importantly for the whole group, but less importantly for Elise is figuring out who put out the hit and having that as a lead.
Speaker 1:That is a good point. Let's see Elise and Thaddeus. Both of you have lived in this city for a while Probably most of your lives, if not all of your lives and both of you have dealings with shady individuals of varying degrees. So how you know that the assassins know all it really said was meet in the usual spot and, based on your previous dealings with shady individuals, you would know that there are a couple of spots around the city where the general public goes to handle their business. How would you go about figuring out which one this assassin might have been headed towards?
Speaker 6:Thaddeus would not actually know this, because he arrived in the city technically a year before the events of the festival.
Speaker 1:While you have arrived in the city, you have lived in the city for however long you have, obtaining the items that you use to do your tinkering with and the materials that you work with, and obtaining them at a price that you, personally, would pay for them. I would say that you still have some experience in dealing with, say, potentially stolen items.
Speaker 6:I don't know what you're talking about bread, they fell off the back of a cart yeah, you, you have dealt with some shady characters.
Speaker 1:I assume Elise has a deeper understanding of it, yours is.
Speaker 6:You know that they exist and where you have gone, I know they exist, but I wouldn't know exactly where they would be at this point in time, because the only time Thaddeus really started doing any of the shady side dealings to afford cheaper stuff was after Raygate fell into limbo.
Speaker 4:Well, the knowledge of the future helps you in this case.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the knowledge of the future would help you in this case. You know, criminal organizations are people of habit. Once they find a spot that works for drop-offs and collections, they tend to stick with it, Not until it gets raided or something On that note let's start with Elise.
Speaker 1:Elise. Alright, elise, based to stick with it until it gets rated or something. Uh, on that note, let's start with elise. Then, elise, all right, uh, at least, based on your background, you have handled, uh, shady dealings of many different kinds, not necessarily for yourself, but for others. Why don't you roll me a history check, uh, with advantage, because you'll be bouncing ideas off of thaddeus and let's see if you can figure out where an assassin might be making a collection. 23, nice, 23, pretty good. Let me open up the map here, right, um, with a 23, uh, it becomes pretty, pretty simple. In a matter of deduction, you would know that the most likely area for an assassin to make collections would probably be in at the edge of the Eastern Village and the Adventurers Guild area. You could find them in the Zealous Horse Tavern, which I believe is down in the Sea Ward, or they would make references to one of the abandoned down in the sea ward, or they would make references to one of the abandoned houses in the graves.
Speaker 2:A few spots. One is near the Adventurer's Guild, one is the Zealous Horse Tavern and another is an abandoned house in the graves. Those are the ones that immediately come to mind when I'm thinking of an assassin's truck point.
Speaker 6:I don't know about an assassin, but typically when uh get stuff that falls off the back of a cart, I usually meet up at the tavern and that, uh, that would bring you to, uh, your second half of the three-part plan.
Speaker 1:Uh, if I, if my memory serves me. Uh, because, one, you needed to figure out location. Two, one of you is going to have to dress up like the assassin. And three, you're going to need some kind of proof that Corvatash is dead in order to collect.
Speaker 3:We did say we took his ear right, we took the assassin's ear, yeah.
Speaker 1:I believe you did, yes, so you have an ear that you hope will be sufficient enough to lay claim to the assassins. Bit, bit, bid, bid. You know what I mean? Yeah, so Elise, thaddeus, sarah, if you're going with them, where would you like to go first?
Speaker 6:I'm down for following you, elise, but my only lead that I can think of is the tavern itself.
Speaker 4:Elise is going to, not at the moment, but when the time comes, she's going to cast Disguise Self to make herself look like the assassin.
Speaker 1:That's an illusion spell, correct, correct. So I would have to roll to see through it, potentially.
Speaker 4:They have to use an action to inspect her appearance and succeed on an intelligence investigation check.
Speaker 1:Oh, I have to do an investigation check. Yes, with an action specifically Got it, so you would have to do something silly. But if you're using that when the time comes, I will make use of this. So why don't you roll me a deception check now, and I will use that as my basis, that's really good Nice.
Speaker 6:Thaddeus doesn't realize that it's a deception and a technic no.
Speaker 1:This doesn't affect the life.
Speaker 2:How did you get here?
Speaker 3:When do you come back? Fool's weapon, sarah, are you going?
Speaker 1:with them? Yeah, we're not. It is pushing into the late evening. Now it is definitely night time and you guys make your way from Thaddeus' house Into the sea ward To find the zealous horse tavern.
Speaker 6:I know the way I've been there quite a few times, especially in the last recent year. Well, the last recent year in the future, all right.
Speaker 3:Especially in two years from now.
Speaker 1:All right, as you guys make your way to the Zealous Horse Tavern, we're going to jump back over to Shimmer, who has successfully talked the servant at the door into getting Lady Serafina Artman, the door into getting lady seraphina art. Uh, she comes down like uh, in a fancy robe, kind of like a, a dressing gown kind of thing, uh, and she's like yes, hello, um, it is very late in the evening. What can I do for you?
Speaker 5:yes, my apologies, my lady. It is quite urgent maybe, uh, and she's gonna try and make get her to talk to them without the servants nearby uh, okay, how do you want to do that? Uh, maybe I can get her to send the servants away to do something and you can just simply ask may we speak privately? Yeah, oh yeah, may we uh speak privately? This is a private matter.
Speaker 1:You're not there, Sarah.
Speaker 5:That is actually a much better plan and more along the lines of what I was thinking originally. But then my brain farted.
Speaker 1:That's all good. Go ahead and roll me a persuasion check, because you are not somebody that she knows 23. Yeah, that's better than my 4. So she stares at you and then she looks back at the rather large individual behind you. She says If it is disurgent, then yes, I suppose, do come in, have a seat. I will send someone to make tea. Something light, I suppose. Yes, okay, we have a few minutes while they are making things. What is going on?
Speaker 5:Okay, so this is a disguise. That is your fiancé.
Speaker 2:What.
Speaker 5:I am Shimmer. That is your fiancé.
Speaker 6:To the point.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 5:I am waiting for a story, whispering, by the way, when I say this Okay, let's suppose for a moment that I believe you.
Speaker 1:Why?
Speaker 5:Assassins tried to kill him.
Speaker 1:My fiancé is fairly capable of handling himself. Surely an assassin would be no match for such a man.
Speaker 5:Yes, but they still nearly got him. It is not safe I see we do not know who we can trust. You are the only one whom we trust this is, uh, quite a claim.
Speaker 1:If you would permit me um. If I will, I will confirm his um person myself in just a moment, but I do have to ask. If he is targeted by assassins, you, you bring him home we don't know. You are the only person we can trust, we both yes, but surely assassins would know where he lives he would not have been safer to come get me and drag me to wherever he was hiding they would recognize you.
Speaker 5:I was able to disguise him better.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Well, let me just, I guess, confirm your story here for a moment. She's going to turn towards him and she's going to say you are my fiancé. Yes, do tell what is my middle name, you don't have one. Yeah, he never remembers. That is good enough. He did not even attempt to make up a lie. Yeah, so, lord Covetash, you look ridiculous. Well, she said it was the only way to get here safely. And she's going to turn back towards you and she's going to say so, who are you exactly? How do I know that you are not an assassin sent to just take us both out at the same time?
Speaker 5:I am Shimmer Lady, shimmer Whitmer. I came to warn, you remember, of the cultists.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I seem to recall I met you very recently.
Speaker 5:I do believe this may be connected to that, which is why, once again, you are the person I, the only person I trust.
Speaker 1:The circumstances of your arrival, and now the circumstances of your arrival with my fiancé, are suspicious. I am deeply sorry that I am deeply sorry about all that.
Speaker 5:I do understand. I am deeply sorry.
Speaker 1:You come to me to warn me about cultists, and then you come to me to warn me that my soon-to-be husband is being attacked.
Speaker 5:I just want him to be safe. I do not want him hurt. He was dying when I found him.
Speaker 1:Most people would not put such Interests in people they just met.
Speaker 5:It is a long story Truly Roll me.
Speaker 1:Roll me persuasion or performance, depending on how you feel like you're handling this 23 persuasion.
Speaker 5:I'm not trying to perform, I'm trying to persuade.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is good enough, and she says okay. So so far, you have earned my good graces, having forewarned me about the terrible activity within the city, and now you have rescued my fiancé From your own story. You have saved his life and you are attempting to continue to do so, so you seem like a woman with a plan. What do we do?
Speaker 5:We need to stop the cult. That is our only option. But right now I don't know who to trust other than well again, the two of you and my group.
Speaker 1:Well, if I remember correctly, there was you, there was me, there was Corvatacea, there was Luis. We also went and we spoke to Prince Vernior.
Speaker 5:They attacked the lizard as well. We don't know where he went. He might have gone. Have gone with them willingly. He might have been captured.
Speaker 1:We're not sure yeah, he hid me behind a wall and then just kind of disappeared. Oh, this is uh. This is disturbing news indeed. I feel like this should have been part of the original story well, yes, indeed, I was more focused on lord corvintash. I thank you.
Speaker 5:I, uh, the. I'm going to actually explain the whole story of everything that happened at the uh castle tour. Okay, with uh, to my knowledge, got it. And have Corvatash explain his what happened with him, got it.
Speaker 1:Got it. As you two sit down, tea comes. You wait for. You know you get your tea, you get a snack. The servants leave the room again and you share as much of the story as you know. At this point, while this conversation is going on, we jump back to Elise, Thaddeus and Sarah standing outside the Zealous Horse Tavern.
Speaker 6:Looks particularly seedy, doesn't it? Well, it certainly looks in better condition than it was three years from now.
Speaker 4:That's messed up. I'll need to. So we discussed the plan about disguise self. Yes, are we assuming that Elise has already done the disguise self spell or she's going to retreat somewhere out of sight and then disguise herself in an alleyway so nobody can witness?
Speaker 1:Well, I feel like, as the game master here, you have a couple of options that can work. You guys can go into the tavern as yourselves first, see if you can figure out who might be waiting for an assassin to show up, or you can disguise yourself now and go in and hope that you can find them before the spell wears off.
Speaker 4:So however you think you would handle that, Kind of both at the same time, at least we'll figure out what you're going to do.
Speaker 6:I'm walking in, I'm getting something to eat.
Speaker 1:So the disguise self spell only lasts for about an hour, right, correct? So if you cast it prematurely and you go in and say you can't find the guy, or the guy shows up late, then you only have a very small amount of time to handle your business before the spell wears off and something potentially goes wrong, whereas if you wait for somebody who you think it might be first, then you can leave, cast the spell, come back and interact with them immediately. It's all about how you want to manage your time here.
Speaker 4:The thing I'm thinking of is like they're going to see somebody they don't recognize, paying an awful lot of attention to them, assuming we even guess right in the first place that this is the person who hired an assassin, and it's not like I can only cast this spell once. Oh, how many times can you cast this spell? Uh, six times. I use all my spell slots. Wow, that's a lot. Yeah, we can go in and look around Before anything else happens. We can go in and look around, okay.
Speaker 1:So you all walk in. Yeah, sarah, do you walk in as well? Yeah, all right, easy enough, everybody walks in.
Speaker 6:Well, thaddeus was already in getting something to eat.
Speaker 1:Got it. Thaddeus goes. Do you find a table? Do you find a bar? Do you go straight to the bar? How do you want to handle that Thaddeus?
Speaker 6:Thaddeus has a usual spot that he sits at the bar Got it. At least it's a usual spot three years from now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you see that there aren't, uh, there aren't too many patrons uh in the building tonight. Uh, there's uh like a party group over at one of the long tables taking up all the spots there. There's maybe two or three people at the bar itself, um, a couple of people sitting in the the comfy chairs by the fire just drinking drinks and telling stories. So you saddle up to the saddle up, you saddle up to the bar and sit down in what it's a theme restaurant.
Speaker 6:It's got saddles for stools.
Speaker 1:The zealous horse has saddles for stools.
Speaker 6:Don't do that to me so yeah the saddle stools that they have there, because it's themed.
Speaker 1:They do now, I guess. You go up and you sit on one of the saddle stools and there's a dwarf behind the bar, big, stocky individual. Just what do you wanty individual, just what you want, uncle.
Speaker 6:Thomas, what do you want? My usual? Wait, hang on. I got to tell you what my usual is before it becomes my usual, so Thaddeus will order, in fact, like an ale, and also a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich.
Speaker 1:The dwarf is going to stare at you just a little bit weird. Well, it's not really a sandwich.
Speaker 6:It's more like a mutton lettuce and tomato with some bread which he does kind of stick together Bread, meat, bread. After learning about you know how to? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:Like sandwiches didn't exist until bread meat bread came in, right.
Speaker 6:Which is funny because he never actually ate at bread, meat bread. He normally would just order something like that and he'd stick it together intuitively.
Speaker 1:But that's Okay. He's going to come back with your plate of ingredients and your ale and he's going to say four silver.
Speaker 6:Okay.
Speaker 1:I'll let. You need a refill.
Speaker 2:And he's going to go back to doing his stuff.
Speaker 1:Just remember, this is Thaddeus and this is my usual beard, you know, still not the weirdest patron that he's had in this bar. No, so, Elise and Sarah, you guys also walk in. You see Thaddeus at the bar sitting on a saddle stool, straddling a saddle stool, I guess would be the case.
Speaker 3:What would you like to do? Straddling it? Huh, that's what they do. Fuck you for making saddle stools.
Speaker 4:Elise will grab her own saddle stool at the bar.
Speaker 1:Oh man, okay, yeah, okay. Elise jumps up on the remaining saddle stool. And what would you like to do?
Speaker 4:Just order a mug of ale. So she doesn't stand out, but she's not going to drink it very quickly, if at all. Okay, two silver. She slides the two silver along the bar, thanks, All right, elise, you're here, you're drinking.
Speaker 1:Well, you're holding onto your ale to look like a normal bar patron. What's?
Speaker 4:your goal. We're looking for somebody who might have hired an assassin. We're on a reconnaissance mission.
Speaker 1:All right, go ahead and give me a look around with perception 22. That's not bad. You look around, uh, the space here and the first thing that you notice is that, uh, everyone here that you can see is part of a group. Like there's no, uh, there's no shady character, you know, sitting off by themselves in a dark corner. There's no one that gives you those seedy. I hired somebody to kill somebody important vibes. But as you look around, you do see that there is a room kind of off to the side where you presume a more, you know, like a place, like a place Like a VIP kind of area, a person, with me A space that is more privatized, as it is, Like you know, behind a closed door.
Speaker 1:there is a large room on the other side.
Speaker 4:At least we'll pay attention to the comings and goings of that room. Yeah, okay With your perception.
Speaker 1:Roll you, stare at it, elise will pay attention to the comings and goings of that room. Yeah, okay With your perception. Roll you, stare at it. You can see that there are shadows moving under the door through the light of whatever is spaced on the inside of it. But let's say you're here for half an hour, maybe an hour. Nobody's gone in or out While Elise is staring at this door. Sarah, you're, you're in a bar, you know what?
Speaker 3:I'm getting fancy, ale how much do I have I want? I want not fancy, ale fancy like fucking liquor you want the fancy liquor?
Speaker 1:yeah, okay, uh, let me go out this book here one second. The fancy liquor they have, um, let's see the fanciest liquor they have. Let's see the fanciest liquor that they have. Let's see They've got ales, punch, cider, stouts, meads. Evermead is the most expensive thing it's 12 gold for a glass. They've got rum, claret, zar, sherry and brandy, and then several different wines, fruit liqueurs Would you like a fruit liqueur?
Speaker 3:Brandy.
Speaker 1:You're a fine girl. Almond brandies, would you like the moonshade or the mintarn, surprise me. Well, weirdly enough, they cost the same for a bottle, but they different amounts of cups.
Speaker 2:What.
Speaker 1:It's different prices for cups, but they cost the same per bottle, so would you just like a bottle? It's one silver piece, excellent. You now have a bottle of Moonshade Almond Brandy. It's very nice. So, elise, you've been watching this door. Nice so, elise, you've been watching this door. Thaddeus, you've been eating dinner and Sarah has been. Are you drinking this bottle? Are you Like? What are you doing with this bottle of brandy, sarah?
Speaker 3:So I'm going to hold it for a while and then, on our way out, I'm going to shove it in my chest compartment. Got it?
Speaker 1:So you out, I'm going to shove it in my chest compartment Got it, so you are, I guess, playing with a bottle of brandy.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Cool. After about an hour and a half, I would say, of sitting there, elise, the shadows in that room have stopped crossing the doorway and you're, I would say, getting kind of annoyed at the fact that you haven't seen anybody and you've been here for so long. When suddenly hang on, let me roll a dice here. See what happens. Wow, a lone figure walks in through the main door and steps into the room and shuts the door behind With your previous perception roll. Why don't you roll me an insight check, I will give you advantage. That is 18. That's pretty good. All right With an 18. This is most likely the kind of character who you're looking for. They're dressed similarly to the assassin previously. So whether they did the hit or they were part of a team who did the hit, you're not sure. But since they are headed into well I guess the VIP room, there's a good chance that the person you're waiting to meet is in there.
Speaker 4:Elise will give a nod to Thaddeus. Head for a private room where there's nobody, cast your disguised self while not being observed, and then head for that room, excellent.
Speaker 1:You have disguised yourself as the assassin whom you killed and you are headed towards the VIP room. You're standing outside the doorway.
Speaker 6:Yes, that seems way more sus, because you're walking into a room and then the assassin walks out of there at least.
Speaker 1:Would you like to roll me a stealth check, at least, uh, initially, yeah, yeah, okay yeah, making sure that you can clark kent that 30, oh yeah yeah, nobody sees you go into the room and nobody sees the assassin come out of the room.
Speaker 1:Like, as far as anyone else is concerned, that room hasn't been touched all night. Nice, nice, you find yourself standing in front of the doorway, uh, to the vip room. You are dressed as the assassin. Thaddeus is staring at you. Thaddeus, what? Uh, you saw you. You know that elise is doing this. What are you? I know elise is doing this.
Speaker 6:What are you up to Thaddeus. No, I know Elise is doing this. I'm not paying any attention, I'm just there for backup. So in the meantime I'm just, you know, basically eating and straddling my stool.
Speaker 1:Thaddeus stays at the bar, sarah is still playing with their bottle of brandy and Elise is headed to the VIP room by herself.
Speaker 4:Telepathically she's going's gonna say all right, I'm going in, I'll let you know if anything happens.
Speaker 1:And as you push your way, you open the door to step into the vip room and as you do, that is where we're going to cut the episode today um anger, cliff, cliff, anger I will stab you all anyway.
Speaker 1:Uh, that's all for now, but when we return next episode, I'm sure the time breakers will continue to impress us. Is shimmer going to uh to blow up her relationship with lady seraphina, just to get her point across? And will elise manage to step in and handle this by herself, since, uh, thaddeus is getting drunk at bar and sarah has a new intrigue with a bottle of brandy? I don't know, but we'll find out next time. You can come join the discord link is in the description and help us build the city from the inside. Uh, the zealous horse tavern was built by an individual who came and joined us. Uh, the way it looks to the people inside of it. It's all pretty interesting. You can leave a rating, leave a review and tell us how you really feel. Thanks for listening bye, thank you.