Tyrant of the Dark Star 2.04 - Playing Bait

[00:00:43] Speaker A: Wake me now from this sleep I've been dreaming Docks along I cannot find meaning hold my hand let me stay by your side oh, there's never ending night I can feel it now it holds me all the Demonstrate in this red light because me he is reaching out consuming. [00:01:29] Speaker B: Hello everybody, and welcome back to Tyrant of the Dark Star. I'm Aubrey, your gm. I'll introduce my players, who they are, who they're playing, and we'll get into things. [00:01:39] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Maki. My friends are she her and I play Gravewing, the Nagaji sylph vigilante monk slash air kineticist who also uses she her pronouns, and she is the party mom slash strategist of the rebellion. [00:01:56] Speaker D: Hello, hello, I'm Alyssa. My pronouns are they, them, and I play Lay, the DRC iv, the matricidal dampier, dandy, rogue and spy master who uses she any pronouns. [00:02:10] Speaker E: Hello, I am Dusty. I use they, he pronouns, and I'm playing Eurodo. Just Eurodo. Still, they are our nephilim cursed boy of a problem. They are going to be the party and his rebellion's firebrand, and they also use they he pronouns. [00:02:30] Speaker F: Hello, I am Ferris, I use she, her pronouns, and I am playing Alouette Velaire, a totally normal nephilim thaumaturge bard, having a very normal and good I'm learning all about her way more cursed family. She also uses she her pronouns and is the anathema partisan. [00:02:48] Speaker G: Hello, I am Sparlock, and both me and my character use he him pronouns. I'm going by Alistair Whiskerfield, wizard detective extraordinaire, as heir to the fine, distinguished family of wizard mice, Ratzards, I swear I was always aware of it. I keep my whiskers to the ground to uncover the truth of the powers that be who subjugate us, by which I mean I'm our recruiter and hello. [00:03:20] Speaker H: To round off the group. I am Tick, I have he, she, they pronouns. And today I'll be playing Niall, a flesh warp sorcerer who is just a totally ordinary cook and quartermaster for the group and definitely not a cannibal. Parentheses, he's a cannibal, but it's a dietary restriction, so don't be too mean to him. [00:03:37] Speaker B: Okay, players, so who wants to tell me what happened last time? [00:03:41] Speaker H: I dubbed this onto Faris. [00:03:42] Speaker F: Specifically, I will be your backup lore dropper. [00:03:46] Speaker H: Thanks. [00:03:48] Speaker F: Last time on this game that we play, we had a conversation with the Mother of the Bloody Blades, who Gravewing happens to know has the first name of Florali. Interesting. Interesting information There. That Gravewing is on first name basis with the Mother of the Bloody Blades, who tells us that she would love to help us out, except for her forger went missing. Weird. Actually, a lot of people have been going missing. Weirder still, they're all dhampir, which Lorelai is aware of because she is a dhampir and she keeps a close eye on her community. There's a little hand touch between graveling and Lorelai Laythe does witness this. Anyway, so the missing forger's name is Gavin. We're trying to find him. It's a problem. Nothing in the alleyway. The party splits up. The Nobles go to a local bar called the Crow and Hammer in order to talk to an acquaintance of Yuri. Nope. Psych. It's an ex. Unfortunately, the ex doesn't have a ton of information, except for that an old rumor, slash ghost story has raised its head again about a screaming woman. Maybe that's related, maybe that's not. Who knows? Also, point of interest, you already know this, but we're gonna re mention it here. We do have a damp here in the party. Probably not gonna become a problem. I think it's gonna be fine. Yeah, and that's where we left off. [00:05:19] Speaker G: I mean, did you mention we split the party and left the. And left the damp here with the party that can't contact people. [00:05:29] Speaker F: We're in a public place. There's like four other dhampir here. We were told by Oscar. I think we're gonna be fine. [00:05:35] Speaker E: Yeah, we have the person that turns into eldritch horror. [00:05:41] Speaker F: Exactly. [00:05:41] Speaker E: And their cousin. [00:05:43] Speaker F: Exactly. [00:05:44] Speaker B: Definitely doesn't turn into an eldritch horror. [00:05:47] Speaker E: Allegedly. [00:05:49] Speaker F: I don't know what you're talking about. [00:05:51] Speaker B: I was saying you don't turn into an ultrasource. [00:05:54] Speaker C: My favorite part is the last time we left those two to do anything, they failed. [00:06:01] Speaker B: Oh, you didn't leave them at the time. [00:06:04] Speaker C: Oh, but the universe did. And they failed. They just failed. They went to jail. [00:06:09] Speaker B: Yeah, okay, but everyone went to jail. [00:06:15] Speaker C: But. But it's. You failed to. [00:06:17] Speaker E: Specifically, you failed too. [00:06:18] Speaker C: No, I didn't. Because my bitch is alive and actually came to us. I got shot afterwards after running. [00:06:25] Speaker F: Ours was dead before we got there. So you failed your job. [00:06:32] Speaker E: Was discovering. [00:06:33] Speaker F: Exactly. It was a murder mystery and we did find out what was killing it. We just, you know, got one shotted by the boss fight that we were doing. [00:06:41] Speaker E: Yeah, I got one shot. It did 36 health at level one. [00:06:46] Speaker F: I want to see you fight the boogeyman at level one. [00:06:48] Speaker E: Anyways, it's not us. [00:06:51] Speaker C: Aubrey had to up how many times she shot me at level one, so, I mean. [00:06:57] Speaker F: Yeah, but that was like Elias Gore. [00:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, the other three of you are being taken by Lorelai to Gavin's room. As she said, he sort of lives above the Silver Fox, a sort of nearby house of pleasure. They rent out some rooms to people. And, you know, as you approach, it is a little subdued tonight. Usually graybing you've passed by places like this, there are people outside, you know, trying to get people interested in coming in, having some fun, you know, indulging in pleasure. And, you know, you're led in. No one's questioning any of you because you are with Lorelai, and she is pretty much in charge of the district and, you know, led through this area and up to some of the rooms above and eventually to Gavin's room. The door opens into what is barely more than a bedroom with a small wash basin. [00:08:16] Speaker C: Okay, we're gonna, I guess, start. I was gonna say don't mess with too many things because that would be rude, but. But you just said there is, like a bed and a wash basin here. [00:08:28] Speaker B: So I don't think, like, there's a bed. There's a small desk and a wash basin. [00:08:33] Speaker C: This is. [00:08:33] Speaker B: This is. This is literally, like, you pay by the week for a place like this for, like, it's like a silver piece a week to stay here. [00:08:45] Speaker C: So, yeah, just gonna start looking around, I guess. I'll let. I will let Alistair actually, like, take lead with this because you're the investigating type. I am mostly just going to make sure that if you like, for example, flip the table, the table goes back to. [00:09:01] Speaker H: Please. [00:09:04] Speaker G: I could pull out a. A knife and like, slice the bed. No, no, don't need to do that. But. So are there any drawers, storage space, like the. This desk? Does it have any drawers, or is it just like a table with a chair in front of it? [00:09:23] Speaker B: It is literally just a table with a chair in front of it. On the desk, there seems to be the. What, like a forger's kit, essentially what Gavin uses to work with. [00:09:36] Speaker G: Yep. The Any. I will look around. So why I'm specifically looking for is any correspondence or, like, things that will imply that he was meeting with people or going places that are different and will look on or around the desk as well as underneath the bed. If it's not flat and like, got. [00:10:15] Speaker B: That much room off the ground, it's like a little elevated, like six inches or so. [00:10:20] Speaker G: Like all the places that you might store money effectively in what he has. This is a sad existence for the. This forger. You would think that you'd get a better house working for the local mob, honestly. [00:10:38] Speaker B: Unfortunately, the district itself doesn't have a lot of options. District has more people living in it than they have places for people to live. But yeah, you. There are not really letters. There are. There's like on the table, there's the forger. There's like a. Like a logbook of essentially finances and keeping track of documents that have been forged. Like who have they were forged for and what they were of. Sort of where the bed meets the frame. If you lift it up, there's like a small little sack of money, sort of like Gavin's savings under the bed. There are some small boxes that when you pull out, they're pretty much full of clothes. It looks like it honestly maybe had like three to four outfits of clothes kind of rotated through. There's not a lot here. Certainly you don't see any kind of correspondence with anybody sort of saying he was going to meet up with anyone. [00:11:53] Speaker G: Yep. Okay, so that answers a couple of questions. Again, like as a elementary, my dear Watson wizard investigator mouse. But so we know that elementary, my dear cannibal. I'm not going to steal his money. He did not return to gather clothes like so he did just poof. Like there's nothing different about the couple of days before versus like I'll just go back in his books like a week or two to see like just was regular. Everything looks the same. [00:12:38] Speaker B: Yeah, for the most part it's. There's nothing. I mean you're looking at the logbook of a forger, so I don't know how Alastor feels about that. But you know, for the most part it just seems to be, you know, a note for this, you know, forged identification papers. There's a couple of deeds of property that were forged. There was a birth certificate that was forged. [00:13:10] Speaker G: All right. I. Yeah, I think that. Yep. Words. Anybody else think of anything else we should search? I think we might have to go to the tavern and see what they found there. [00:13:27] Speaker C: Just double checking. Not nothing. Nothing on like secret compartments and stuff like that? Yeah. [00:13:35] Speaker B: None that you can find and certainly nothing that like trips Alistair's. That's odd. There's also a chance that they didn't keep anything that was too personal here because it was a room they were renting. [00:13:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. If there's no log books that could. Or diaries or journals that could potentially indicate what they were doing that day. Maybe. But yeah, otherwise I not really don't got anything. Except for maybe asking the people downstairs if they what. What they saw him doing last. [00:14:11] Speaker G: I will hand the logbook to our employer. And because, you know, the forgers kit is. Is just like, stuff to make seals and like, things to draw. Not too incriminating. But she may want to hold on to that logbook just in case. [00:14:35] Speaker B: Yeah, Lorelai will slide it in her pocket and yeah, if anybody wants to talk with the people, the people of the bar of the house, you know, give me a diplomacy role. [00:14:52] Speaker C: Actually, I have Streetwise. So I can use society instead. [00:14:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, go for it. [00:14:57] Speaker G: Has it been 10 minutes? I can help you out as well. [00:15:01] Speaker B: Yes, yes, it has. I imagine you're coming through the room close to like 30, 40 minutes. [00:15:08] Speaker H: You said diplomacy, right? [00:15:10] Speaker B: You can do diplomacy. Or that. [00:15:13] Speaker H: Or that. Okay, I don't want to talk to people, but I'm pretty good at it, so I'll give it an attempt, I guess. Maybe we'll see how fucking pathetic I am and take pity on me. Give me a that. That was copped between an 8 and a 20. And I'm mad because I can't just take the 20. I'm too ethical of an individual. After we roll it. Fuck me. I'm using a hero point. [00:15:36] Speaker C: I should have just taken. [00:15:36] Speaker G: That's when you just sneeze really hard in the direction of your dice. [00:15:41] Speaker H: It was in. It was almost on the 20 side. I was like, I can't every rolled out at 4. I'm like, I'm using a hero point. I don't care. That's mean. Okay, that's acceptable. Kind of. That's a 21, I guess. Man, I should have just taken a nat 20. I should have just been like, it's close enough. But no, fuck my ethic. [00:15:58] Speaker B: And Gravewing. What was the total? You got a nat 20, but what was the total? Total is 27. 27. Yeah. You get from the people working that the last time anyone saw Gavin was the morning before he went missing. And, you know, you came downstairs, grabbed a cup of coffee and then went to work. He mostly kept to himself. Spent most of his days at the place the Bloody Blades call their, you know, their home base, for lack of a better term. And then would come home and sleep and do work occasionally when he couldn't sleep. Didn't really, you know, take part in any of the activities this place offered and just kind of kept to himself. [00:16:55] Speaker C: Gavin doesn't fuck. [00:17:00] Speaker H: Gavin's ace. Write that down. [00:17:04] Speaker C: Okay, I think 1. I think gravewing is just very surprisingly good at with. With people. Specifically people that she immediately doesn't want to showcase animosity towards. So not rich people. And honestly, very genuinely, I think she's just very respectful. And I don't know, maybe the clothes she's wearing is a little tight. So it's like, oh, look at that. That's a lot of arm. You know, just things. Things like that happen. And Graham's like, what? You guys are being a little. Okay, cool, cool. Okay. And we're like too nice. Nice enough. Doesn't matter. That's the information we get. Gravy will relay that to the people that are here. Just be like, I guess. [00:17:59] Speaker H: Oh thank goodness. I hate talking to people. We have so little to go on. [00:18:06] Speaker C: We do. Worst case scenario, just get me on a roof and I'll listen. That's it. That's. That's literally how I started doing crime related shit. [00:18:20] Speaker H: I think our best bet at this point is to lay a trap because we clearly can't find them. So maybe they can find us. [00:18:28] Speaker C: Here's the thing. We would have to use one of the damn fear that we have. And even then we'd have to trust everyone to stay out of sight. And I don't think that's going to be as easy as you think. We'd also all would have to be here for it to be safe. Splitting up when there's hardly a front line is difficult. We can talk more. Let's just hope that the others got more information than we did. [00:19:07] Speaker H: Yeah, I'm a little stumped on this. It's not my. It's not really what I do. We could wait to see when they strike next, but that could be so unpredictable. Keeping track of every damp air that's in the city would be a nightmare. [00:19:23] Speaker C: Well, the blades are here for that. We just need to be in the city in this part of the city while it happens and hopefully we can get to it. [00:19:33] Speaker H: Has there been a pattern of locations for these attacks that we can try to anticipate the next one. Like is it a line? [00:19:40] Speaker C: The next attack should happen tonight. Where though is the issue. [00:19:44] Speaker H: Yeah, there's no pattern for where but a pattern for when. [00:19:49] Speaker B: You've sort of learned that this person seems to be an opportunity based killer or like attacker. [00:19:56] Speaker H: This person. Okay, so it's an individual. [00:20:00] Speaker C: Okay, so it's very situation saying monsters can't be individuals. Chick. [00:20:05] Speaker H: Yeah, you. No, I'm kidding. [00:20:07] Speaker C: Schism in your head is like this. This is hurtful. Is this what a toxic relationship is? [00:20:13] Speaker B: I Can't believe you've done this. [00:20:16] Speaker C: Don't worry. Please don't worry. Schism. We're. We're gonna find a way out for you slash body to crash in. [00:20:27] Speaker H: This is toxic yowie, isn't it? [00:20:30] Speaker B: I desire the freedom. [00:20:32] Speaker C: The freedom. Damn. Niall. You. You. You're fucking diabolical, aren't you? Hmm? I did do it. [00:20:39] Speaker H: I feed this guy three meals a day. I care for him so much. [00:20:45] Speaker F: You're killing three people a day. You're eating three people a day, Kyle. [00:20:51] Speaker H: You think I can't the whole body in one sitting? Do you eat three whole turkeys a day? [00:20:56] Speaker F: I have seen glimpses of schism, and I assumed the appetite is boundless. [00:21:02] Speaker H: How many bodies have to do? How many bodies does it meet in a day? [00:21:06] Speaker F: The last time you ate a bite did not come back, and that was in like two minutes. [00:21:11] Speaker B: So the three of you eventually make your way to the Crow and Hammer. And it takes you a minute you gotta push into the rather packed tavern, but you'll see a table near the bar with your other three companions and a bartender that's kind of glowering at Yuri. [00:21:33] Speaker G: What did you do this time, Yuri? [00:21:37] Speaker E: What's happening? [00:21:38] Speaker G: Death glare. Even I can tell. And I'm a rat. [00:21:47] Speaker E: It's fine. Truly, it's fine. I got some information if you want to sit down and ignore the bartender. [00:21:56] Speaker F: Oh, that is not very nice, Yuri. Ignoring them is how you got in this mess. [00:22:03] Speaker E: Here we go. Like, like, like pinches the bridge of their nose and just. Did you find out any information? Looking specifically at Gravewing to. [00:22:15] Speaker C: Well, would appear that Gavin takes his job seriously. Doesn't do much, doesn't go out anywhere much, and doesn't. Then I looked at Lorelai and be like, oh, sorry. [00:22:33] Speaker B: Fine. I was there when you asked the questions. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Oh, you're right. Well, yeah. [00:22:43] Speaker E: Hey, talked to Oscar bartender. So they haven't noticed anyone too strange. No holy bug or anything is showing their face around here. Obviously they know about, like, what's happening. He pointed out a couple of d here. I paid to make sure that they're given plenty of food and drinks so they don't have to leave anytime soon. The only chatter that's been a little strange is that there's been a resurfacing of talks about a wailing ghost. The spirit of someone over at one of the dilapidated mansions around here. Lorelei Slash the mother of blades is here, right? I already would face to her. It's like, do you know about this? I was here a couple years Back when surfaced but couldn't pin down or find anything. [00:23:45] Speaker B: One of those ghost stories of the district. There was a. Was a doctor years ago. Wife, children, all of that. The house burned down in a tragic fire. Then a little while later, people started saying, you know, stories of the wife yelling for crying and yelling for her husband and children. [00:24:12] Speaker E: Yeah, that's the only thing. No, I believe so. We could. Maybe the mansion would be an idea. We could also try a bait and switch situation. You will need to have a dampier. But with all of us, we could definitely protect them. [00:24:36] Speaker B: Or says I can volunteer if I can take care of myself. And if you give me time, whoever it is won't recognize me. [00:24:54] Speaker C: You're going to need to make sure that the rest of your group knows so they can at least keep up the appearance that you're here. [00:25:04] Speaker B: And sort of off of the distance, you can still see Lorelai's persistent shadow of Clover. [00:25:16] Speaker F: It may not be useful. It may be useful, but I can. I think I can trade visages for a brief time if that helps with this scenario. [00:25:36] Speaker B: Then you would not necessarily need yourself fight. [00:25:42] Speaker F: Yeah, vaguely. I have not died yet. [00:25:47] Speaker C: It's not impressive. [00:25:50] Speaker E: Are you sure that is the best course of action? [00:25:56] Speaker B: I can handle myself in a fight. And I trust that at least Gravewing to be able to follow me without arousing too much suspicion. I'm going to. People don't see me without my mask, so they don't know what my face looks like. [00:26:20] Speaker F: Would it be best to set up an ambush as opposed to just wandering around? I mean, then you can have more backup. [00:26:37] Speaker B: My thing is I don't. Don't know what this person has planned. [00:26:45] Speaker F: Well, we know they will be invisible. And if I am paying attention, I can at least know if some invisibility magic is in the area. [00:26:58] Speaker C: The idea is that we still need to find the missing people. Yeah, and there's no guarantee that interrogation is gonna work. You can beat someone until they give you information, but at that point, they'll just take it. [00:27:15] Speaker B: She snaps her fingers and you watch as Clover approaches and she whispers something to Clover. And you watch as Clover sort of pushes up her sleeve and pulls grabs this bracelet around her wrist and sets it on the table and says, these bracelets are attuned to each other, not full. At least if I am taken, we'll give you the direction that I've been taken in. [00:27:45] Speaker C: Well, that works. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Clover, let's. We're going to have to exchange clothes. [00:27:54] Speaker G: So we could have. Because I think Gravewing is You're pretty stealthy, right? [00:28:00] Speaker C: I need you to know that my I. It's because my dex is so high. I'm not trained in stealth. I'm just lucky. I'm so lucky. My modifier to stealth is five. I'm lucky I'm not trained in stealth. I don't get much training in stuff. [00:28:22] Speaker H: Yeah, it's just the dice, huh? [00:28:23] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. That's why, if anything, I would keep saying I would prefer to be on the rooftops, where parkour makes more sense than stealth and that. And then I have everything to use at my advantage. [00:28:36] Speaker H: You see, as an ambush hunter, stealth is very important to me. I don't say this out loud. I say this, like, to us, as a joke. [00:28:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm trying. Like, next time we do our proper level up, I am thinking of taking stealth. But, like, I. Yeah, no, like, I'm not trained in stealth. I'm just lucky. I go pure long luck for stealth thrills and also hero points. [00:28:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:28:58] Speaker E: I mean, if I. I could be on rooftops as well. I mean, with the new tool you gave me, I could keep overwatch. [00:29:08] Speaker B: Yeah, you watch as Lorelai and Clover get up from the table and walk upstairs. [00:29:20] Speaker C: Lorelai has implied that she's gonna take her mask off, Right? Okay, cool. I'm gonna look to the rest of the group and be like, you don't say shit about her face. You don't speak of it, and you definitely don't use anything with this information. You are also breakable. Don't give me a workout I didn't ask for. Got it. [00:29:40] Speaker E: I didn't need to say anything. [00:29:42] Speaker F: Good. [00:29:43] Speaker G: Did you say you are. Did you say you are also, like also or all so like you? [00:29:54] Speaker C: All of you. This is a threat. I am threatening your lives so I. [00:29:59] Speaker H: Can mentally prepare myself. Does she look just as weird as my face or less weird or more weird? You'll see that doesn't help me prepare for a reaction. [00:30:11] Speaker C: There is no way to prepare for it. [00:30:14] Speaker H: Is she hot? [00:30:16] Speaker C: I think she's hot. [00:30:18] Speaker E: Oh, I think. [00:30:21] Speaker C: Are you guys mom's league that you don't know? We are not. [00:30:27] Speaker H: No. [00:30:29] Speaker B: Who's taking the bracelet? [00:30:31] Speaker C: Me. Respectfully, no disrespectfully. Like, I assumed it was given to me. [00:30:41] Speaker B: It was placed on the table, but it would have been placed on the table in front of you. [00:30:46] Speaker C: Moth mom has a lot of bracelets on right now. [00:30:52] Speaker B: It's just a bracelet where you spend one action and you know in what direction the other person with the corresponding bracelet is. [00:31:05] Speaker C: Okay, wait. We should also figure out our plan because we have bait. We have a bait and switch going on. We have two people on a roof. Laith is good at stealthing and I feel like Laith can be placed anywhere. The rest of you three are. I don't know what you plan to do. I know that Niall can climb walls, so in theory Niall can be anywhere. But that leaves the two of you, Alistair and Lou, on what you would like to do. And ideally we need to be quiet. You can also probably just stay here. But at the same time it didn't. I would rather have the whole group together just in case because you can spam detect magic and Alistair can follow. Like if we lose the trail, Alistair can follow the fastest. [00:31:57] Speaker F: If I stay near Lorelei, then at least I will know if someone is approaching and we will know it is time if they approach in the same way, which is to say magic. [00:32:17] Speaker G: If we could trying to think of how much distance we would need to like not be obviously following her, but if we could set Gravewing up like say 60ft to the north and us 60ft to the south or you know, whatever that is with like a square root of two or whatever because of trigonometry. But if we could stay on either side within 120ft, we one of two things would happen. Either they would head towards gravewing or away from Gravewing or sideways. But we would be able to communicate with message to coordinate the chase in either way. Just a thought. Or like have you follow from the roof and we'll follow like you know, 120ft behind, but we should definitely be nearby. [00:33:25] Speaker C: Ideally we would be forming a circle, but not a kill circle. We're not attempting to jump them just yet. It's more like a way enough to follow in any direction, but also hidden. So that way we can follow. [00:33:46] Speaker G: How long is a block? [00:33:50] Speaker B: I am not a city planner. [00:33:53] Speaker F: It is. And two typically 300ft. [00:33:57] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah. So we will typically. So the most we could do is like half a block away. Although you have the. You have the ability to cast message even further, right? [00:34:09] Speaker C: A mile. Yeah. [00:34:11] Speaker G: Does it require line of sight? [00:34:13] Speaker C: Not for me, no. It requires open air and I kind of just say what I need to say. If I say someone's name specifically, that's how the message travels to the exact intended target. But it is the message spell. So in order for the target to reply back, they have to see me. We have to be in lineslide. So in theory, if like, if like Yuri and I are on two separate like rooftops many feet apart. I can send a message and Yuri can send one back because you can see me. Same thing with y'all. If you know where. If you can see me from the rooftop and you're on the floor, that would work. [00:34:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:58] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:59] Speaker B: It's about this time. As you're figuring out this part of the plan, the two figures come down. You can see that now they have switched clothes. Clover has pulled a hood up over her head to hide the fact that her hair is now her. She has blonde hair, whereas Lorelai has black hair. So sort of to hide that fact. But yeah, as. As Lorelai starts making her way towards the table, you. You notice sort of like a practiced way in which she walks sort of the way she's doing it. Sort of like kept her shoulders slightly hunched forward. She's practiced in making people not notice her, sort of letting her hair fall on her face. The best way to put it is if you've seen the, like, the 2022 Batman the way that Bruce Wayne is and versus way Batman is, it's just so vastly different. But you can tell this is sort of something that she's putting on as she sort of slides into the table across from you and you get a good look at her face. Her skin has the pallor of Adam fear. It's a little darker, but still with kind of that same lack of life, is the best way to put it. The one thing that your eyes will all be drawn to is her mouth. She has what we would all call a Glasgow smile. This. These scars that go from the corners of her lips towards her ears as it looks like a very strange grin at all times. And she looks up at all of you and says, okay, what's the plan? [00:37:09] Speaker C: Basically, just relay what we talked about. [00:37:16] Speaker H: I think if we're dealing with an illusionist. I know Aloet mentioned sensing some spell casting. Hypothetically, I can pick something up that might help to stun them at least a little bit. If that works. [00:37:31] Speaker C: I think if things go bad, then, yeah, stun them. The idea is we are following. [00:37:37] Speaker H: Mm. Just if they notice us and start to cast spells and make it more difficult, it might be. [00:37:41] Speaker C: Exactly. That's. That's when. That's when we're just gonna jump them if they start fighting us. But ideally, plan A, we're not seen. [00:37:51] Speaker H: Mm. I'm not sure if I have anything to help us hide, but I've like, Mal's been checking, like, a little book this entire time, probably because I have been looking at all of the spells I can pick up with the mental trait because of my occult thing. And I've just been like, oh, what might be useful here? [00:38:06] Speaker B: And I'm like, what occult thing? [00:38:10] Speaker H: It's the. Basically, you can spend one minute to learn any occult spell for, like, until you do your daily preparations with a mental trait. Okay, I didn't mention it in the chat. I'm sorry I asked. [00:38:21] Speaker B: You did, but you were just very unspecific, so I was like. I wanted to make sure I knew what it was. [00:38:27] Speaker H: Well, have you considered reading my mind directly? [00:38:31] Speaker B: Unfortunately, that is not a skill I possess. [00:38:33] Speaker C: And even then, you're you and your furry little fucking brain. I don't want to know what's going up in there. [00:38:39] Speaker H: I don't think Ahri would want to know what's going on in here. It's not very good. [00:38:42] Speaker C: If this were, like, inside out, all. All your. All your emotions are whack. [00:38:47] Speaker H: Yeah, it only takes a minute. I'll wait and, like, pick. [00:38:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Lorelai gives sort of a small grin and just says, the first time I've been kidnapped, hopefully this time will not be as bad as the last. [00:39:08] Speaker C: This line of work, getting kidnapped is once every two years. I want to estimate give attack. Yeah. [00:39:18] Speaker B: The last time it were people thinking that by taking me, they could get back at my mother. The joke's on them. She doesn't care about me. [00:39:29] Speaker C: You have a surprising amount more amount of mommy issues than I thought. Or then I than I realized. [00:39:37] Speaker B: Stick around. We are burning moonlight. I will take a route towards what I will pretend is my helm, and we'll see what happens. [00:40:00] Speaker C: All else fails, just aim for the silver fox. I guess that makes the most sense. [00:40:05] Speaker B: That's true. And you watch as she sort of, like, goes through her pockets and sort of makes sure that she has everything she needs. [00:40:21] Speaker C: She's not going completely defenseless. Right? Like, she can hide a knife. [00:40:24] Speaker B: She's got a knife. She's hiding a set of lock picks just in case. [00:40:30] Speaker C: That's good. [00:40:31] Speaker B: You know, there's kind of the idea of, you know, if she kind of wants to be kidnapped, so you could at least figure out where this person is operating out of. But at least, you know, once that happens, she can get herself out. [00:40:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:51] Speaker F: I'm gonna give her one of the tarot cards. [00:40:55] Speaker B: Okay. [00:40:57] Speaker F: It is sharp. You can throw it or cut things. But it looks very innocuous, so it might be helpful. [00:41:10] Speaker B: Do you want to roll on that D100 table real quick? [00:41:13] Speaker F: I'm curious what it is. Always. I always want to know what it is. Triple 0 is 100. [00:41:20] Speaker B: 000 is 100. [00:41:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Wow. [00:41:26] Speaker B: It's the lyre. It is a chaotic, evil card of charisma. It represents destructive, treacherous love. The lamia signals obsession, Star crossed lovers or unrequited desire. [00:41:44] Speaker F: Lou files that information away for later to consult her little tarot book and find out if it means anything. If you just draw it randomly or feel like you have to be doing something or did she learn something about Gravewing and Lorelei? Maybe not. Who knows? [00:42:05] Speaker C: Whatever we have going on is way more healthier than whatever the fuck you and Late have going on. [00:42:10] Speaker H: Thank you. [00:42:11] Speaker C: True. [00:42:14] Speaker B: So you all pay your tab and, well, Yuri already paid the tab. So you finish up your drinks and head out into the city. Lorelei sort of waits for all of you to get into position. So I'm going to either need stealth acrobatics or athletic or. No, we'll do society. Stealth, athletics or society? [00:42:45] Speaker H: Society. Society calls me gay. My society is actually the best. I'm going to use that in the. [00:42:51] Speaker E: EU Society since I. Acrobatics. [00:42:53] Speaker B: History of acrobatics. Yeah, Acrobatics, athletics. [00:42:57] Speaker C: You know, I give her athletics. Okay. I'm doing athletics. [00:42:59] Speaker B: Yeah, if you want to use athletics. Because athletics can also be used to climb. [00:43:02] Speaker E: Yeah, I'll take that. [00:43:04] Speaker H: I swear to fucking God. I got the Nat 20 again. Like 29. It was like. [00:43:12] Speaker B: Yeah, hold on. [00:43:13] Speaker H: I'm sorry. I feel bad about that tilted dice that you completely botched. Here you go. Here's a nat 20. Legally this time. [00:43:20] Speaker E: Paris, what'd you get? [00:43:23] Speaker F: 17. [00:43:24] Speaker E: Okay, you look way more confused. [00:43:26] Speaker G: Gonna use a hero point on that three. [00:43:30] Speaker B: You do have a hero. [00:43:31] Speaker F: It's because the seven looked like a one for a hot minute. And I had a double check. [00:43:36] Speaker E: I got a 26 for athletics to be 17. [00:43:41] Speaker G: So far, I've rolled a 1, 2, a 3, and a 7:30. [00:43:50] Speaker D: Stealth for lace. [00:43:52] Speaker F: What society BT does society. [00:43:54] Speaker B: Okay, so we've got Gravewing and Yuri on top of buildings. We have Laith stealthing and Laith and Alistair stealthing. And we have Niall and Alouette using society to navigate the streets. And we have Lorelai using deception as Lorelai continues her facade of a normal person, you know, this kind of downtrodden person in the district. And he watches, you know, the way she walks and the way she carries herself. She starts off at a point across the district. When you're near the crow and hammer, there's plenty of people still walking the streets. But after a few blocks, it Starts getting less and less, and It's a good 20 minutes before something happens. Lorelei takes a shortcut through an alley, and that's when Laith, the person on the ground, you see it happen. You watch as this person in these. Honestly, what looks little better than rags that if they've wrapped around themselves, you can't see them truly. But they come. They. You know, they're not there one second, and then they are. And you watch as they bring this SAP just, like, right across the back of Lorelei's head. And you don't know how much of it is Lorelai acting and how much of it is maybe getting hit. But you watch as with deadly efficiency, this person works and moves as they knock Lorelei out and sort of with also one motion from that knocking them out and then moving to swing them over their shoulder and head off in a direction. [00:46:21] Speaker D: Yeah, I imagine I'm sticking decently behind. And I think that Laith will assume that everyone else also saw this. Or we'll see Laith as she follows. [00:46:34] Speaker B: Yeah, you'll see. It's a little harder for the people on the roof to see, but you will see. Both of you will see the person who comes out of the alleyway with Lorelai over her shoulder. [00:46:50] Speaker C: I will keep a. I am keeping. I'm gonna keep up the pace, but I'm keeping my eye a little bit mostly on the bracelet as well, to kind of see how this thing works, just in case. [00:47:05] Speaker B: Yeah. If you ever, like, spend that thought to activate it, it's almost like the bracelet itself is pulling you in a direction. You feel like the faint tug. Like, each of these bracelets has a magnet on it that are constantly attracted to the other. [00:47:22] Speaker C: Okay, that works. [00:47:24] Speaker H: That's so gay. [00:47:27] Speaker C: Yeah. And I didn't have it originally. Remember that? [00:47:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, you two now. And as you do this, I'm going to ask for another roll from everyone to see how you stay hidden or keep up. [00:47:48] Speaker H: Come on, Alouette. We got this. We're the society bros. Come on, Alouette. We're good at society. [00:47:55] Speaker F: We'd have hero point. [00:47:56] Speaker H: Yeah, that's not encouraging. [00:48:01] Speaker F: So. [00:48:03] Speaker H: I would like to say, for the sake of my dice being really apologetic, it toggled on the edge to a one and then flipped to the 13. [00:48:11] Speaker G: And I was like, oh, thank fucking Christ. [00:48:15] Speaker F: 22 for Alastair using a hero point, it's 29. [00:48:20] Speaker D: Using two hero points, it's 28. [00:48:23] Speaker C: Oh, jeez. Using no hero points is 26. I'm just taking a 22 I think that's good. [00:48:30] Speaker H: I was just the tilt to the one really got me like no, no, no, no. And I just put the light on 13. I was like, you know what? [00:48:35] Speaker E: All right. I also got a 22 in athletics. [00:48:39] Speaker C: Oh, I. I swapped to acrobatics because I think it makes a little bit more sense if I'm trying to keep up. However, I do have things like frickin. Oh God. What's the feats name? Powerful leap and stuff. So I don't gotta worry about them jumpings. I do have to worry about if I fall, actually. No, I don't. I have something for that too. [00:49:07] Speaker H: Yeah. [00:49:07] Speaker B: We aren't using the chase rules for this time. So you're all managing to. This person is moving quickly. So you all manage to with your role, sort of keep pace with them at your respective distances. There are a few times where some of you have to stop as this person looks around to try and see if anyone is following them. And then eventually you are brought to this charred remains of a manor. And you watch as this person goes not through the front door or anything, they go around the alley behind and then vanish. [00:49:52] Speaker E: You're the mostly to themselves. Just like fucking manners. [00:49:59] Speaker C: Nothing good ever comes from rich people. Where's the bracelet? [00:50:04] Speaker B: Like doing it is pulling you towards the manor. It's essentially this manor is kind of like edged up against the wall of the district. So you kind of can't go beyond it. So you're kind of all on these buildings and alleyway sort of looking at this mansion as you watch this person sort of go behind it. And then as far as you can tell, somewhere in the mansion, under the mansion, something like that. Certainly not in the mansion itself. It's. You can kind of see through that. [00:50:34] Speaker C: Yeah. No. And they went behind the alleyway too, like as well and then just disappeared. So yeah, I think the alleyway was probably the way we're gonna have to go in. [00:50:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:45] Speaker C: Yeah. But probably when we're all like met up. [00:50:51] Speaker H: Is this just an abandoned ass manor or does this like. Is there like any sort of thing we can do to like what's the deal with this manor? [00:50:58] Speaker B: You know this manor. Manor for the story. [00:51:04] Speaker C: It's deeply haunted. [00:51:06] Speaker H: Oh, okay. [00:51:08] Speaker D: Yuri tried to investigate it but failed because they couldn't and find the alleyway. [00:51:13] Speaker E: Excuse me, I was looking for the ghost, not the Dampier kidnapper. [00:51:19] Speaker B: Ooh, here. [00:51:20] Speaker D: He's racist against Dampiers. Didn't want to look for their kidnapper. [00:51:25] Speaker E: Going to fight you. [00:51:27] Speaker H: You can silence witch person. [00:51:31] Speaker C: Well, letting A kidnapper get away is a little on point for these cousins. [00:51:39] Speaker E: Yuri has jumped off the building to meet up with everyone but you. [00:51:48] Speaker H: What's the plan? [00:51:50] Speaker C: Keep going. Ah, I'm just trying to make sure that we're all together before we dive in. [00:52:01] Speaker F: I will detect magic just to see if that helps point out the entrance. Slash, if the person is maybe still there, but invisible. [00:52:12] Speaker C: And I'm gonna use. I'm gonna use Whisper on the Wind or Lacy. Right, Lacy. Is it Lacy? [00:52:20] Speaker B: Yeah, Lacy. [00:52:21] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. [00:52:21] Speaker B: Clover. [00:52:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I need her name. Not just her name. Yeah, I need her name. So my thing will just be to tell her where we are, where Lorelai was taken. So just in case, you know, if she wants to show up later with the entire guild and jump this place. That'd be hilarious. Or find us when we die, things like that. [00:52:46] Speaker B: 100%. Yeah. You send that message off, letting Lacy know where you are. As Lou, as far as you can tell, there's no illusion, magic. It's kind of. They disappeared because they got out of sight. [00:53:05] Speaker F: Oh, okay. [00:53:05] Speaker B: And they kind of cross behind where the building is. [00:53:09] Speaker F: Is there an entrance back here? [00:53:12] Speaker B: Are you going around the building? [00:53:14] Speaker F: I thought we were. As a collective group. [00:53:17] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes. There what appears to be entrance to what was probably a cellar. [00:53:23] Speaker D: Does the cellar entrance seem trapped in any way? [00:53:27] Speaker B: Yeah, give me a perception check. [00:53:30] Speaker D: 21. [00:53:31] Speaker B: 21. Yeah. You do notice that there is, like, a simple. It's not the door itself, but, like the entryway, because it kind of like goes down steps. At the top of the steps, there's a tripwire there that's set to ring a bell. [00:53:51] Speaker D: Yeah, I would like to disarm that, please. [00:53:55] Speaker B: Yeah, give me a theory roll. This one's a very simple trap, so it's going to be a very low DC. [00:54:02] Speaker D: Good. 22. [00:54:04] Speaker B: 22 is more than enough to disable the bell trap. [00:54:10] Speaker C: Do you. Oh, sorry, sorry. Go ahead. [00:54:13] Speaker D: Oh, I should say, as we sort of congregate around the doorway, Laith will point out the bell trap, sort of as she's disarming it, and say, keep an eye out as we go. [00:54:23] Speaker B: And the door itself does appear to be locked. [00:54:28] Speaker D: Can I attempt to unlock it? [00:54:31] Speaker B: Yes, you can get the Euros. [00:54:34] Speaker D: No, I'm out of hero points. Wait, what time is it? [00:54:40] Speaker F: 10:45. [00:54:41] Speaker E: Okay. [00:54:41] Speaker D: Technically, it's been three hours, so do I have one more? [00:54:44] Speaker B: There's a. Technically, yes. Yeah. [00:54:47] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. Okay. 26. [00:54:52] Speaker B: 26. Yeah. You managed to unlock the door. [00:54:58] Speaker C: Oh, good girl. And I'm going to go in. [00:55:04] Speaker D: LA visibly reacts. [00:55:09] Speaker H: I just don't want to be first or last. I want. If there's anything scary, I don't want to deal with it. [00:55:16] Speaker C: I'm first. I'm willingly being first. [00:55:18] Speaker H: I got my frying pan out in case I need it. [00:55:21] Speaker E: You're okay. [00:55:22] Speaker B: Rapunzel. [00:55:25] Speaker H: Rapunzel. Rapunzel. Let down your hair and just the skizminners come out anyways. [00:55:31] Speaker C: That's terrifying. [00:55:36] Speaker F: That's a nightmare. [00:55:37] Speaker B: Yes, it is. So Grapewing, you were the first through the door. As you open the door, it itself. There are no lights in here. You see, with Darkvision and kind of the gray scale, the smell that immediately hits you is the coppery scent of blood. The smell of rotting flesh and death. Something is not right here. And that's a question that we'll have to answer next time you take us. [00:56:12] Speaker F: To all the nicest places. [00:56:13] Speaker H: Aubry, there's a lot of. How rotten are these bodies? Are they still edible? [00:56:19] Speaker E: That's the next time question. [00:56:20] Speaker C: This is the next time question to. [00:56:23] Speaker G: The cannibal, actual cannibal. [00:56:28] Speaker B: You don't see any bodies. You only smell dead, rotting flesh. [00:56:33] Speaker H: Well, it's okay. We'll find them later. You know, someone's got to do body disposal around here anyways. Aubrey, may I take us out? [00:56:39] Speaker B: Yes. [00:56:41] Speaker H: Thank you for listening to another wonderful episode of Goblets and Gaze. If you like what we do here, feel free to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Patreon. Please, please, please, please, please. Obligate. We have all sorts of amazing content. Do you want to hear me talk about absolutely unhinged things for like five minutes straight while no one stops you before the game starts? You can get that bonus content on our Patreon. We have like an almost two hour reel of bonus content. That's just shitposts because I can't keep my mouth shut about feed pics. So honestly, check it out. It's definitely worth it. But remember, stay safe and only eat people that are not rotting. [00:57:29] Speaker A: Meaning hold my hand let me stay by your side oh, this never ending night I can feel it now it holds me all these demons in this red light it calls me he is reaching out Consuming.