Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hey Al Hey Barry, why
Speaker 1 00:00:02 Did the oath breaker palette and need to buy a life
Speaker 0 00:00:05 Alert? Why?
Speaker 1 00:00:08 Because she's fallen and she can't get up.
Speaker 2 00:00:10 It's time for compelled dual
Speaker 3 00:00:12 <inaudible>. Hello
Speaker 4 00:00:26 Everybody. And welcome back to Pell dual I'm
Speaker 5 00:00:28 Barry and I'm Al
Speaker 4 00:00:31 And a single-player Cody EMD, D and D. <inaudible>. Sure we'll play podcast
Speaker 5 00:00:37 Per obviously on compelled dual. He coughs up a good bit of blood.
Speaker 1 00:00:45 You want me to add last? You'll have to try a little harder than that,
Speaker 0 00:00:49 Sweetie. I'm just getting warmed up the grabs, the captain and thunder steps them up on top of the main mast. I had her on the ropes. You didn't shut up and sit down.
Speaker 1 00:01:05 I've got an idea. I need cover fire and crowd control. Get everybody to the front of the ship.
Speaker 0 00:01:11 Can do. I'm going to cast a storm sphere over the entire bag. Calf. The ship
Speaker 1 00:01:18 Leo runs up and throws up an anti-life shell to keep anyone else from escaping down off the upper deck. You're all out of your fucking minds. And you think you're the saddest. One of all, believe you me. When the chips are down, when it really matters, the storm is not going to help you. Just like she didn't help me. Will you please do something about this man before I killed him? What parts would you like to start with? The part where you knowingly go into a relationship with two people who've been trying to kill each other for the last 15 years or the parts where we both care about you so much that we actually stopped trying to kill each
Speaker 0 00:02:08 Other. I would like to focus on the fact that you both love me. It's kind of a new feeling. I'm getting used to it. You and me both. I made a promise to love Sabine with my whole heart, but the thing is with this, with all of us, I think
Speaker 1 00:02:27 The whole heart's big enough that it's going to take two people to carry it. I think it's about time. We all got this sorted out properly
Speaker 0 00:02:34 Well, past time, but better, late than never. And then feet walks off defensively.
Speaker 4 00:02:51 The banshee it's way out of the Zephyr Isles, making its way through nasty stormy weather for about half of your journey towards Kim
Speaker 6 00:03:00 Tara. The further you get from
Speaker 4 00:03:03 The aisles, the weather clears up. You pass through the dragons ma predictably on accosted. Since you are on the ship that was doing most of the accosting to people fee you and the captain and Sabine have been spending most of your time, that you are not actively helping to sail the ship,
Speaker 6 00:03:21 Uh, getting your shit together as a throttle, as it were, the captain and Sabine have definitely
Speaker 4 00:03:29 Changed their respective tunes toward one another. They're being like married and stuff. Now, sometimes they kiss. It's weird.
Speaker 6 00:03:38 Weird is not
Speaker 5 00:03:39 The word one miss for a Val sign would
Speaker 6 00:03:42 You know, but it
Speaker 4 00:03:44 Is the word that one Mr. Layer El Val sign would use and does at length. You've been at sea for a couple of weeks at this point. And I think our camera zooms in on you below
Speaker 6 00:03:56 Decks, actually sitting with
Speaker 4 00:03:59 Laurel Iesha, chrono, who is very, animatedly showing you a moth that she caught in the hold and explaining its entire lifecycle to you in depth.
Speaker 6 00:04:09 She's been
Speaker 4 00:04:10 A little bummed out since all of you left the rest of the fleet and she had to say goodbye to glasses. So this is the most animated you've seen her
Speaker 6 00:04:18 In a while. You're indulging her quite a bit. And
Speaker 4 00:04:22 Actually do you know why it was able to survive in the hold for so long? It's because most species of adult MOTS actually don't eat. They just kind of emerge from their Chrysalis, fly around mate,
Speaker 6 00:04:31 Lay eggs, and then die. This species actually doesn't even have a mouth. That is fascinating. Why did I need to
Speaker 5 00:04:40 Know about the moth? I'm glad that you're telling me about the mouth. I always, I love to hear you talk about maths.
Speaker 6 00:04:45 Why did I need to know about the mouth? She looks a little bummed out for a second. Well, it's just
Speaker 4 00:04:52 That I'd gotten used to talking entomology shop with glasses and he's not around anymore. And I kind of miss him. He was really teaching me a lot about explosives as well. Did you know that gunpowder only has three ingredients and all of them are very easy to source.
Speaker 5 00:05:07 I'm not sure. I like it. That you know that. How easy this nevermind. Talk about it later. Thank you. And then feel like pokes them off with a finger for the moth facts.
Speaker 4 00:05:21 Oh, I'd say, yeah. Welcome. But we're actually just getting started. Did you know that miles are one of the most important pollinators, especially on the Australian continent at that point, Leo opens the door to the room where you two are and kind of looks back and forth between you.
Speaker 5 00:05:36 Hey girls, what are we up to? Laura lie holds
Speaker 4 00:05:40 Up her a little jar excitedly and goes highly. Oh, do you want to see my mom? You can visibly see Leo's war flashbacks to, oh, Skyah going across his eyes. And he fully takes a step back from the doorway.
Speaker 5 00:05:57 I love
Speaker 4 00:05:57 You so much, Lorelei. Absolutely not. Fi can you come help me with something for a second? Laura light? You should Def stay down here with your
Speaker 5 00:06:06 Mom. All right. I go with them. Haley
Speaker 4 00:06:11 Leads you out into the hallway and back up to the deck. At which point he bends down and picks up something with a clatter of metal.
Speaker 5 00:06:20 You look down
Speaker 4 00:06:21 And see that he has a pair of iron shackles
Speaker 5 00:06:23 In his hands. He goes,
Speaker 4 00:06:26 Hey. So I tried to get these on by myself, but it was really tricky. I think I'm going to need your help.
Speaker 5 00:06:32 Hmm. Okay. Why the fuck? Well, see, I kind of had this idea. Well,
Speaker 4 00:06:39 Technically it was Sabine's idea. Technically it was both of our ideas. We were working on it together. She wanted to make the whole bum rushing the blockade idea that we had to be the performance.
Speaker 5 00:06:51 Of course she did. And of course he went along with it. I'm shaping up
Speaker 4 00:06:55 To be such good friends with your girlfriend. I'm very happy about this for all, all of us.
Speaker 5 00:07:00 It chills me to my core, but I'm yeah.
Speaker 4 00:07:07 Anyway, we're talking and Sabine was all like, oh, we should make this really convincing. And I was like, yeah, that sounds like a great idea. You know, defiance threatened to hang my head off the bowel sprit. And I'd appreciate if you didn't do that. And then Sabine was like, okay, well, what if we just put you in chains? And I was like, that's a great
Speaker 5 00:07:21 Idea. So I found the chains. Can't get them on. And
Speaker 4 00:07:29 We're good. Close to the blockade. At least according to the captain up
Speaker 5 00:07:31 In the crow's nest. No. Yeah. This whole tracks. You found those chains in the brig? No, actually we found them in defiance as quarters. Huh? Cool, disgusting. And then I'm going to chain my brother up
Speaker 4 00:07:49 Leo clapped in irons. And he leads you up to the bow of the ship where Sabine is standing up next to the bow sprit squinting at the horizon
Speaker 5 00:07:59 Fi is gonna raise her eyebrows at Savannah and go so dear for this plan of marriage, that should I be in shackles as well or Sabine raises
Speaker 4 00:08:10 Both eyebrows at you and go,
Speaker 5 00:08:13 Hmm that's bait. That's bait. Savine would I ever bait you? Yes. With Gusto acknowledged moving on from behind
Speaker 4 00:08:26 You, there is the sound of a weight rapidly, descending
Speaker 5 00:08:30 Down a rope, and then boots on the floorboards of the deck. And the captain
Speaker 4 00:08:35 Comes stomping up the stairs to join the rest of you.
Speaker 5 00:08:39 Stop repelling down. Things are going to break your ribs again. He smirks and trucks at you high. And if I do, that's why we've got Leo over here. And then he looks
Speaker 4 00:08:50 Down at Leo who is in the shackles and his eyes go wide and unbridled
Speaker 5 00:08:55 Horror.
Speaker 4 00:08:57 What the fuck were you doing in defiance? His dresser, Leo blinks looks down at the shackles and goes,
Speaker 5 00:09:06 Oh you okay? Let's wrap this conversation up. Before I get overcome with the urge to throw myself overboard, the captain is too
Speaker 4 00:09:15 Busy, pulling his hair up into a high, messy bun on top of his head to come at you with a comeback. He jams his hat down over his hair, and you can tell that he has done this so that the light won't catch the Opalescence in it. As you sail onwards,
Speaker 5 00:09:33 He turns around and leans
Speaker 4 00:09:34 Over the railing down onto the main deck and yells at all of the deck hands.
Speaker 5 00:09:40 All right, everyone make yourself scarce. If you can keep your heads down, if you can't and all, all
Speaker 4 00:09:48 Of the rest of the crew started doing this either like pulling their hair up under hats or just fully going below decks, Sabine looks like she wants to make a Whittier, but then her eyes widen
Speaker 1 00:10:01 As she looks out off the bow of the ship. Well, I'll be damned. There it is. You follow her gaze. And in the rapidly closing distance, you see a line of Australian ships, fully outfitted, Australian Naval ships. There are enough of them that you figure it would be impossible for so much as a rowboat to make it off of the distant shores of Vogle door that you see shooting up through the mist, beyond them. It isn't in comprehensible show of force that you just instinctively know. You would never make it through. If you didn't have this plan to ride on the captain, reaches out and squeezes your shoulder with one hand and Sabines with the other and then turns on his heel and runs back towards the helm. Sabine sucks her teeth a little bit nods and goes all right. Time for the show, everybody. She does this complicated little dance move where she stomps her feet in quick succession and spins around. You see her skirt flare out around her knees and then narrow into a pair of leather breaches and tall boots. And within a couple seconds, the spitting image of vice Admiral defiance is standing in between you and Leo on the deck. But then she opens her mouth and Sabine's voice comes out. Okay? Let's hope this works.
Speaker 0 00:11:59 Should we try to get the voice down? It's a lot more condescending,
Speaker 1 00:12:03 Sheila. He looks back over at you with an expression that clearly says, who the fuck do you think I am? And in, and here really good imitation of defiance goes, sweetheart. I've known her for a way longer than you have. Trust me. I've got it down. Yeah, nightmare fuel. Okay. She gives you a sympathetic look and then in her own voice says, okay, Leo, up to the front fi you better come up there as well. Just stand there and look defeated. I guess I think I could do that from behind. And you, you hear the sound of a rope being pulled over a pulley and see an Austrian flag being run up the mast. The closer you get to this blockade, one of the ships turns and starts to sail out to meet you.
Speaker 1 00:13:02 They're keeping up far enough distance. The ship is easily recognizable as the banshee to them, but as they close the distance, you see a uniformed Australian Naval officer with a spy glass pointed at the three of you from over the railing of his own ship. And he shouts across the distance between the two vessels vice Admiral successful. I see. And Sabine shifts are right back into defiance, as posture and voice and yelling. Don't act so surprised. I got what I came for. And then she rattles Leo a little too hard next to her by the back of his neck, even cleaned up a little bit of vermin in the process down below where the line of sight from the sky Spyglass is Leo kicks at her ankle a little bit and through gritted teeth goes, okay, tone it down Sabine. And she rattles him a little harder. So here's, what's going to happen. All three of you are going to roll performance and I am going to average it as a group check against the DCI have set. Sabine is going to roll with advantage because of her disguise self spell human Leo are rolling straight. So let me roll for Sabine really quick.
Speaker 1 00:14:28 That is a 31 to performance from Sabine. Leo gets on Nat 20 Leo puts on the most fucking convincing performance of his life. That's a 22 and fi go ahead and roll performance for me. You get a plus five 14. Okay. So that's a group average of a 22 to performance. The DC was 15. You all put on a very convincing show fee. You put on the most defeated expression you can muster. Leo looks terrified for his own life. And Sabine is just playing defiance for almost. She is worth this Naval officer puts a Spyglass away solutes and shouts back. We'll send word to the Archduke. I'm sure your payday on this is going to be extremely good and Sabine as defiance with a faltering fragile smiles says, that's what I'm counting on as you were, and you are allowed to sail through this blockade.
Speaker 4 00:15:49 The captain waits until you are out of the line of sight of the blockade and way closer to the shore. Before he orders the crew to strike the colors, take the flag down and takes his hat back off, lets his hair back down.
Speaker 5 00:16:04 He comes running
Speaker 4 00:16:05 Up to the lot of you at the bow of the ship.
Speaker 5 00:16:09 Right? Good show everyone. What next? Well, I mean, for starters, what's going to happen when defiance turns up dead Sabine. Winces a little bit, I
Speaker 4 00:16:23 Know I specified that we should take her alive if possible, but she did jump off her own ship. There wasn't a lot I could do about that. And
Speaker 5 00:16:32 I am nothing if not adaptable. So
Speaker 4 00:16:36 I think we should just ride our immunity for whatever it's worth and Reva wait, when the situation changes
Speaker 5 00:16:45 By all means. And then he's going to turn to Leo and say any leads on friends we could stay with in the city. A
Speaker 4 00:16:55 Very complicated expression crosses Leo's face.
Speaker 5 00:17:00 Yeah. Just give me a minute on that. I'll get back to you and he
Speaker 4 00:17:06 Fully walks off and goes below decks.
Speaker 5 00:17:11 Leo, you go below decks. You pass Lorelei. Who's sitting on her bunk fidgeting with one over her earplugs while the other one is in her ear. And she looks up as you pass and goes, Leo, are you sure you don't want to see if I'm off? I'm so sorry,
Speaker 4 00:17:25 Constantly. Sure that I don't want to see your mouth Laura lie, but you can tell me all about it in like two hours. Okay?
Speaker 5 00:17:33 Okay. You go past her. What are you doing?
Speaker 4 00:17:38 Finding a private place for me to take the mental ass whipping. I'm about to get with at least some semblance.
Speaker 5 00:17:45 Oh, so you're going to go message. Colossae cool. What would you like to, um, I'm actually
Speaker 4 00:17:50 Going to send, to sending spells. They're going to have the same content, but one I am sending to Colossae and one I am sending to ravine,
Speaker 5 00:18:00 So yeah,
Speaker 4 00:18:00 Let's just, Ooh, let's get the bad part over first. He sends his first one to Colossae
Speaker 5 00:18:06 The message says, Hey, it's Leo. I'm sorry. We're
Speaker 4 00:18:15 Both with a live past the blockade
Speaker 2 00:18:18 And headed into GIM tar. I'm looking
Speaker 4 00:18:21 For somewhere to hang out. Plan
Speaker 5 00:18:25 You available. There is a long terrifying pause and then frost dilly coalescer applies. I'm not in GIM Tara. And that's the end of the sending. She does not say anything else to you. Leo cringes super hard and goes, oh, okay, Hey,
Speaker 4 00:18:52 I'm going to send the exact same sending spelled or
Speaker 5 00:18:55 A vein ravine replies almost instantly. What the fuck it's been a year. Why didn't you get in touch with me sooner? What is your damage? And then a couple of street names, Leo fully cringes again, and goes, oh,
Speaker 4 00:19:15 He's going to go back up on deck and try to find fee and update her on the situation.
Speaker 5 00:19:20 He is not hard to find. She is next to the mast with Sabine and what appears to be a very private conversation.
Speaker 4 00:19:31 Great. Anyway, Calissa is not a GIM Tara. That's the only information I was able to glean on that
Speaker 5 00:19:38 Sabine, extricate herself from fee's arm and raises both eyebrows and goes, oh well I could have told you that she and fan and what's the shitty one. Oh, Mia. They left the city pretty quickly after everything happened. Cool.
Speaker 4 00:19:58 Would have been great to know that before I wasted
Speaker 5 00:20:00 Magic on it. Anyway,
Speaker 4 00:20:02 There's a glimmer of hope. My friend ravine is still in the city and he has a house. I can only assume after having been given an address. Did you know that to
Speaker 5 00:20:11 Sabine? No, but thank you for the defensive tone. Lorelei and I got out of GIM, Tara. I'm very quickly after everything went down, I know ravine. He offered us a place to stay down on the Tor Dan and diarrhea border. But no, I didn't know. He had found an apartment good for him. Okay.
Speaker 4 00:20:36 Well it looks like we're headed to his place as far as finding somewhere to regroup and figure out what we're doing
Speaker 5 00:20:41 Next. So can't
Speaker 4 00:20:45 Wait to do this whole hymn Tara thing. I remember it being very unpleasant. Last time
Speaker 5 00:20:51 As the banshee starts to sail, close to the dam that surrounds him. Targum Leo Romy perception, 26. The first thing you notice is that you remember the wall of this dam in front of <inaudible> and it peaking up over the water. What you don't remember from your last visit are the giant iron cannons lining the entire dam pointed outward. Well, that doesn't look fun. No, no it doesn't. As you sail closer, the cannons all start to swivel to point towards the banshee. Oh, oh. And with the 26, you see a little ferry boat zooming out from the dam and it draws up alongside the banshee. A guy in the ferry, boat outs up names, origins, and raisins to visit him,
Speaker 4 00:21:58 Buddy, you got a couple hours,
Speaker 5 00:22:00 The sump on your foot. The captain walks up to this guy and give them just a dazzling smile. And the pirate king of those Fri ELLs. Uh, this is ed. He pauses for a second, my crew and relatives. And we were hoping to, uh, shouldn't have said I was a fire. And then Sabine from behind him says, okay, that's enough. And she said to her, and she's going to cast modify memory. So I'm going to make a Wednesday for this guy. It's a three on the diet. That's not going to do it. Uh, so, so in the smiles, oh, so sweetly at this guy in the ferry boat and says, you didn't hear any of what my dumb ass husband just said. We are a relief effort from Pearl port tasked with bringing provisions up as a gesture of Goodwill from the conclave of the Zephyr Isles. And we managed to get around the blockade using a fair amount of magical talent, which is why I, and my Assurion associates are here. Leo looks over
Speaker 4 00:23:13 At fie and Maltz associates
Speaker 5 00:23:16 Feelings over and says, would you have preferred girlfriend and girlfriends annoying older brother? You didn't have to add the annoying in there when you're piping up during the process of her saving our asses to complain about her wording. Yes, I did this guy on the ferry boat nods, and he says here I relief effort sent from peril port. Got it. And the ferry boat rose away. So be it turns around from the railing, put their hands together and OSA sweetly to the captain says, dear, shut the fuck up just all the time forever. When we're in sensitive situations, shut the fuck up until someone asks you to come up with a lie, please. You're not very good at it. And the caption just shoots back. I'm fine. It loitering. I don't want to hear that shit from the woman who is convinced for what was it? 15 years that I was some sort of brilliant dastardly mastermind that was floating against her for our entire marriage and to be and says, oh, you're never going to let that one go. Huh? Leo shifts uncomfortably and goes, I love our
Speaker 4 00:24:27 Team of heroes or a big happy family where everything super functional
Speaker 5 00:24:35 Fee beside you times. And could you to not do this again? Like we already covered this. Everybody simmered down Sabina, the captain both cross their arms over their chests. And the captain says I'm in a lot of pain. Is that from the broken ribs or your shattered dignity pal to be in reaches out and gently ever. So lovingly puts a hand on either side of the captain's face and says, I'm going to try to be really constructive about this right now. I think that sometimes when we have plans, you decide, Hmm, I think you open your mouth before consulting with anyone else. And the things that come out of your mouth are not helpful to the plan and they're going to get us all killed. So I think that perhaps you should ask for direction or at least have a good lie prepared before you start saying things and I love you a lot. And then she leans in, kisses him on the forehead and says, I'm going to leave this conversation now. And then she walks away. Leo looks
Speaker 4 00:25:51 Over at the captain with a shit eating, grin and goes, Hey, how come your wife is so much cooler
Speaker 5 00:25:57 Than you? The captain glares at you and then looks at fie and says, is this what that open and honest communication thing looks like? And he says, unfortunately, yes. And the captain says, right, I don't care for it. And the bed she continues sailing forward until the locks of guitar. Um,
Speaker 0 00:26:22 There is a shuttering, a rumble as the first lock goes and gets you further down into the city. And the captain says, or this don't care for this at all. Never been to Kim Tara before I was on a lot of pain medication, I was essentially comatose for most of the visit, had a couple of things I needed to get off my chest. Anyway. Ooh, that's, that's a lot of rock that is above our heads right now. This is not going to be a fun trip for me. And he says, oh shit, are you claustrophobic? And the caption says, I'll put it this way. I don't like to be on the ground for long periods of time, much less underage. This is, this is Ooh, okay, I'm going to go get drunk. And then he walks away after Sabina.
Speaker 1 00:27:19 Hey fi Hafey your love. Life is a fucking mess buddy.
Speaker 0 00:27:24 To be fair. They were trying to kill each other a couple of weeks ago. This is a huge step up and also not to get too vulgar about it, but I'm having a lot of fun when they're not doing this. And we're all really working on the open and honest communication thing too, since all of us are so extremely bad at it.
Speaker 1 00:27:43 Well, in the case of the ladder, good for you in the case of the former
Speaker 0 00:27:47 Gross, let's
Speaker 1 00:27:50 Just get today over with please.
Speaker 0 00:27:55 You continue going down the locks into come, Tara, roll me a perception, check,
Speaker 1 00:28:01 Killing it with these perception checks today, 25,
Speaker 0 00:28:05 As you move down into the city, the first thing you notice is that the flurry of activity at the docks that was going on the last time you were here is completely absent. There are a couple of people milling around, but like there aren't any of the weird street vendors calling out there aren't any of the people bumping into each other. There isn't the huge bustle of activity that there was, there are just kind of like dock workers milling about. And it seems like doing patrols and maintenance on ships. The second thing you notice is that the city is much darker than it was the last time you were here. And with that 25, it's not everywhere, but there are a few of the businesses you can see as you get down like into the Harbor, to the actual docks that are just boarded up. It seems like boards across the windows, big closed signs. There's one that has a big condemned written across it. Things are not going well. And <inaudible>, it seems
Speaker 1 00:29:20 As they're walking past all of the boarded up buildings and empty streets, Leo kind of cuts his eyes sideways over at fi okay. Yeah. This has got to fucking stop.
Speaker 0 00:29:32 Yeah, this is, this is worse than we thought it was.
Speaker 1 00:29:39 I'm going to try to find our way to the address that romaine gave
Speaker 0 00:29:45 Me, do me a solid and just for all survival,
Speaker 1 00:29:51 22, my dicer hot today.
Speaker 0 00:29:55 All right. You find your way to the cross streets that were vain mentioned without hassle. There are like a couple of apartment buildings near the streets that he mentioned. He couldn't give you a precise address because he was too busy yelling. So you knock on a few strangers doors, but eventually you find yourself at the door of about fourth apartment that you've tried and you knock on it and you hear from inside, oh, just a second. The door swings open and you see a shabby young and fertile elf woman, blue skin, spiraling horns, Verity standing at the door looks past you at feet and yells Ferrara you're here and just sprints fast you.
Speaker 1 00:30:49 I do. I feel like my reception is not going to be half as enthusiastic
Speaker 0 00:30:54 From inside the apartment. A voice says, yeah, obviously not. I thought you were dead for a year. And ravine is standing in a doorway inside the apartment, wearing an apron that says kiss the cook on it and holding a bowl of something with his long fluted ears, twitching, irritably. All right. Get in. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:31:26 Leo with his head hung very low walks into the apartment.
Speaker 4 00:31:34 Fi your brother disappears into this apartment and you find yourself unable to follow because you have an extremely enthusiastic Verity clutched in a vice grip around your body. Just babbling as fast as she can
Speaker 5 00:31:52 Go. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 4 00:31:54 I missed you so much. We have so much to catch up on. I am so excited that you're here. Please come inside. I will make you feel while we're vain. We'll make you food. Cause I tried to make food a couple of times and then I started burning things and then he told me I wasn't allowed to make food
Speaker 5 00:32:05 Anymore. But anyway, welcome home Verity. Yes. Slow down. Oh, okay. She
Speaker 4 00:32:18 Gives you one last, really tight squeeze and then untangles herself from around
Speaker 5 00:32:23 You and takes a few steps back at that
Speaker 4 00:32:27 Point, Sabine swoops in and gives her a really big hug and then gets two hands on her. Shoulders pulls her back, gives her the once-over to make sure she's okay. And then darts and kisses her on cheeks. Hi sweetie. How are you doing?
Speaker 5 00:32:44 She brightens up all over again. Oh, I'm really good. We're having a
Speaker 4 00:32:48 Really great time. I mean, we're not having a great time, you know, there's a war on and everything. And also people are being really mean to Australians right now. And Sabina goes,
Speaker 5 00:32:59 Verity says, yeah, Sabine says slow down. Oh, okay. The background
Speaker 4 00:33:10 Of all of this, the captain is swaying slowly on his feet. Extremely.
Speaker 5 00:33:18 He raises one wobbling hand. Top of the board is a loss. I'm the captain. Uh, I'm Sabine's husband and Faye's boyfriend. Apparently it's all a little, uh, up in the air right now. Verity doesn't even blink. She just
Speaker 4 00:33:38 Looks back and forth between the three of you nods enthusiastic.
Speaker 5 00:33:43 Oh, that's great. Please come in. Yeah. And we go, uh, I am telling the captain along by the elbow, he is
Speaker 4 00:33:52 Not very steady on his feet. You can't tell how much of it is sea legs versus how much of it is that he is just so hammered,
Speaker 5 00:34:02 But you
Speaker 4 00:34:02 All do make your way into this. Very nice, pretty modest living room of this little apartment. As soon as you're inside Verity rounds on the captain and does a very stilted and clearly unpracticed Australia in greeting bow.
Speaker 5 00:34:21 Hi, I'm Verity. When's your birthday. Oh no. The captain
Speaker 4 00:34:27 Has told her his birthday before you can stop him
Speaker 5 00:34:31 Verity, frowns and goes, okay. And you are the captain wobbles a little bit more. 160.
Speaker 4 00:34:40 Oh shite. 161. It's yeah, the time times and illusion
Speaker 5 00:34:46 Her eyes even
Speaker 4 00:34:47 Wider. And she starts doing the mental math that you've seen her do before.
Speaker 5 00:34:53 Oh my
Speaker 4 00:34:54 Goodness. You really put a lot of effort into this whole devil may care attitude thing. But the fact of the matter is that you care so much about what everyone thinks of you all the time. Don't you?
Speaker 5 00:35:09 Okay? Hey, where's <inaudible> haven't seen her in a while. The
Speaker 4 00:35:14 Captain next to staggering steps back towards the door points at
Speaker 5 00:35:19 And goes. I don't like this one. Sabina
Speaker 4 00:35:23 Reaches out and gets him by the back of the neck, like a mama cat with a kitten and hisses. You be nice.
Speaker 5 00:35:32 We're having a great time. Everything's great Verity. Uh let's one-on-one you and me let's have a conversation. What's been up with you. Okay? Regret, regret, instant regret.
Speaker 4 00:35:50 She just gets you by the front of your outfit and I've been awesome. I have a boyfriend now and I help pay her rent on an apartment. My mom told me I could never make it in the outside world, but look at me now I have a job.
Speaker 5 00:36:08 What, what do you, what is your job? Verity? I'm fascinated. I'm a waitress at a tea shop with your mom. Actually my oh, oh, good. How fi reaches up to touch the base for throat and then puts both hands behind her back and clenches their fists really hard. Great. How, how has alert? How is she doing everything good? Well, I mean, not great.
Speaker 4 00:36:43 The teashop did close down because of the trade
Speaker 5 00:36:47 Embargo, but we're getting great on unemployment benefits. This conversation has been way less cheerful than I expected it to be. Wow. Seriously. Have you seen Arivale? Oh yeah. I
Speaker 4 00:37:02 Mean Arivale with us. So she's probably out back taking care of Phineas right now.
Speaker 5 00:37:07 Great. Fresh air. Let's we should go outside. I think it would be great if we went outside and Verdi come outside with me. Okay.
Speaker 4 00:37:16 Verde gets you by the hand and pulls you through this cozy little kitchen out through a back door, into what looks like it should be a courtyard, but is mostly just an open patch of
Speaker 5 00:37:27 Land with a big
Speaker 4 00:37:29 Mound of earth in the background. He slams the door behind her with her foot and starts tugging you across this
Speaker 5 00:37:37 Yard. So the thing
Speaker 4 00:37:40 Was, according to everybody else in the building, the courtyard was supposed to be redone like six years ago, but the landlord just didn't do it. So I had a mold earth spell and made Phineas a little house. And uh, we just told the landscaping guys when they came by that they didn't have to come anymore because he's kind of our
Speaker 5 00:37:58 Lawn mower now. And nobody's
Speaker 4 00:38:01 Asking any questions. So yeah, it's all working
Speaker 5 00:38:04 Out. Okay. Arivale should probably be over here. Come on. Great, great houses for Phineas. I love all of this. Uh, and then I'm going to hurry over to the amount of earth. Clarity talks
Speaker 4 00:38:16 You around one side of this big, pretty clearly artificially constructed mountain.
Speaker 5 00:38:22 And behind it, you see a young Austrian Elvin woman, dark skin,
Speaker 4 00:38:30 Dark eyes, long silver hair done up in several small, in a high pony tail. On top of her head tending to
Speaker 5 00:38:41 Feed.
Speaker 4 00:38:41 The last time you saw Phineas, he was a baby deer and he was very, very big. He was about the size of a quarter horse.
Speaker 5 00:38:51 You were now looking at a full
Speaker 4 00:38:53 Grown elk with a big rack of antlers. That is the size of a goddamn elephant
Speaker 5 00:39:02 Phineas
Speaker 4 00:39:03 Sees you before Arivale does. And he bolts past her and crashes down to his knees in front of you licks your face. It is disgusting. You are dripping with deers.
Speaker 5 00:39:19 Yeah. Hi Phineas. Who's a good boy. I'm going to grab as much of his face as I can get in my hands. At that point point
Speaker 4 00:39:29 Arivale turns around CSU lifts her big steam punk type goggles up off of her eyes and onto her forehead
Speaker 5 00:39:38 And goes well, I'll be damned. Hypothesis
Speaker 4 00:39:41 Was wrong. And IO ravine 50 gold. You're alive.
Speaker 5 00:39:48 Not sure how I feel about my friend betting money against my survival, but it's good to see you too. I mean, you're
Speaker 4 00:39:56 Peered into an unstable portal and we didn't hear from you again for a year Phineas get over here and she snaps
Speaker 5 00:40:03 At him. He puts his head down
Speaker 4 00:40:05 And trots back over behind this big mound of earth and starts munching it. Some girls.
Speaker 5 00:40:11 But at any rate, I don't
Speaker 4 00:40:12 Want to ask much more about what you've been up to because I don't want to overview more money, but I take it that everything's going well. No,
Speaker 5 00:40:25 Getting along with my brother now, which is something and I have a new boyfriend and also a girlfriend. So that's nice, but otherwise the world is a massive garbage fire and I'm just shoveling more shit onto it. It seems every single day
Speaker 4 00:40:48 Raises both eyebrows at you from behind her goggles and then goes right back to situating. Phineas is food and mess. Understandable. I have also been trying to figure out my way through the world and irreparable garbage fire. And it hasn't been ending up super well for me, but you know, at least I've got the garden handled.
Speaker 5 00:41:14 I missed you so much. She grins and goes Mr. U2 and pulls you into a big tight hug. Whoa, physical contact. Okay. Yeah. Garibay, look over at Verity and say no offense. And then turn back to Arivale and say, but I need the short sweet and understandable answer to this next question. What the fuck is going on with that in class? Because I know they're not in good term. Oh yeah. About that.
Speaker 4 00:41:48 Sure. Everything went down on the mountain top. I was consulted for my professional opinion
Speaker 5 00:41:54 As the resident portal expert. And I provide, I did my
Speaker 4 00:41:58 Professional opinion, which was that you were both dead and Calissa panicked. And as soon as we were down the mountain, she got in touch with her father.
Speaker 5 00:42:10 Oh no, exactly. After
Speaker 4 00:42:12 Which she was summoned to the Australian consulate in Boulder proper. And we haven't heard from her or Fen in several months.
Speaker 5 00:42:25 You haven't heard from either of them in months and you're not worried.
Speaker 4 00:42:32 Not really Colossae can undoubtedly handle herself. And Fenn is almost assuredly under Cola.
Speaker 5 00:42:40 Sure. Why not? I'll figure out how to get in touch with them. I'm very stubborn. Colossae Kanick normie forever. Right? Cool. Glad we're caught up on that. Uh, any other wild changes to the status quo that I should know about? Ah, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:42:56 If you haven't figured out, there is a massive Australia and Naval blockade set up all along the coast
Speaker 5 00:43:02 Of VOD folder. Thank you. Arivale Leo ravine stares at Verity, very fondly as she rapid fire tries to catch me up on everything. And then as soon as she is out of his eyeline, he snaps one finger to point at you and you go sit in the kitchen. Now I'm going
Speaker 4 00:43:31 To go wherever he tells me to. I feel like I'm in
Speaker 5 00:43:33 Trouble. You walk into this little kitchen. There's not a lot of space to move around. There's like a enough space for one and a half people to walk in between sets of counters. And on the far side of it, there is a little card table with a couple of folding chairs or ravine points at the table and says, sit down, I sit down. There is an awkward pause. And then you hear a scratching scrabbling sound of like nails on wood. And you hear from further into the apartment, silicone voice go, all right. All right. You can go out there. A door opens and there is the sound of something clicking across the floor and into the kitchen runs this big skeletal Wolf. He does not have a tongue, but if he did, it would be lolling out of his Dexter runs right up to where you're sitting and his horrible, horrible little bone feet go up and land on your legs.
Speaker 2 00:44:42 Texture. Hey buddy, how are you? I missed you too. Leo, fully
Speaker 4 00:44:49 Bursts into tears and does his best to pull Dexter up into his lap. He's like crying over the bone dog and scratching him. Bind is non-existent.
Speaker 5 00:45:01 Dexter does not give you kisses because he does not have a tongue, but there is the awful, awful feeling of bone against the skin on your face as he nuzzles against your cheek. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:45:13 He's a good boy. You're a good boy. You've been waiting for me all this time.
Speaker 5 00:45:19 Leo stops,
Speaker 4 00:45:20 Blinks and looks over at ravine. Wait, have you been keeping him okay. Animated because he's brought up from an animate
Speaker 5 00:45:28 Debts. Ravine stops. What he's doing. Turns around at the stove and says, yes, I've been keeping the dog animated. He's a good boy. He used a good boy. Aren't you?
Speaker 4 00:45:41 Dexter rattles his fingers along Dexter's ribs. Yeah.
Speaker 5 00:45:48 Dexter gives a ghostly little bark. It echoes very strangely from the same door that he came in through Selica swings around the doorframe. She was very clearly going to bed. She is wearing a bathrobe and a bonnet. She is like two steps away from just going under her comforter for the night. She looks at ravine, her ears also Twitch a little bit. And she says, what's going. And then she sees you frowns and says, right. Hi, Celica. I regret to inform you that I'm back. Good to see you're alive. And she looks back at ravine who is again, visibly annoyed as he's stirring something on the stove she grimaces. And she goes, don't, NVU this conversation. Thanks for the input
Speaker 4 00:46:45 Allendra around for me to make re-introductions or would she just prefer to talk
Speaker 5 00:46:50 To me? You watch her stance kind of shift in the very familiar way. And till Andrea says, oh, you're not interested in hearing what I have to say. And also having this conversation with her vein, she nods back at ravine and she says, we're going to bed. Good luck with this. Sweetie killed a whole
Speaker 4 00:47:12 Lot of story and pirates thought of you while I was doing it. Goodnight.
Speaker 5 00:47:16 She gives you kind of a mocking two finger salute and then swans back off ravine stops. What he's doing turns around goes right first off, let's start with the fact that I thought you were dead for a year and you did reach out to me.
Speaker 4 00:47:35 Well, first of all, we got adapt halfway across the world. We ended up in oh, sky. Not sure if you're familiar with
Speaker 5 00:47:41 The area almost
Speaker 4 00:47:43 Immediately. After that, I had a pretty dramatic falling out with my God that resulted in my magical powers. Something I couldn't access for quite a while. A lot of shit it happened. I almost died twice. Got very, very, extremely sick with something called swamp fever, which was highly unpleasant and then got on the bad side of a crag cat. But you can see that. And Leo kind of waves that where he has the big scar.
Speaker 5 00:48:15 Yeah. You look like shit. I feel like shit. Thanks for noticing the haircut was, uh, a choice. It
Speaker 4 00:48:26 Really wasn't. Everything from the shoulders down was soaked in pond scum. I don't have time to catch you up on all
Speaker 5 00:48:31 Of that. But at any
Speaker 4 00:48:33 Rate before my magic got turned off for several months, I sent a sending spell to set to tell him I was alive. Did he not tell
Speaker 5 00:48:42 You? Uh, after we all came to the conclusion that you were probably dead Zed ghosted me for a few hours and then broke into my room at the end, looking like he had fist fought a liquor store and said something about you being alive. But I honestly just thought he was drunk. He was drunk and I was alive ravine. What happened with said, uh, you're asking the wrong person. I've been trying to keep in touch with him. He hasn't gotten back to me in months. That doesn't sound like him. Maybe not to you.
Speaker 4 00:49:30 After we landed in oh sky, I used the last magic that I had available to fire off a sending spell and tell him that I was sorry, and to wait up. And then he told me to fuck off, which honestly I probably did. So I would prefer to not talk about me anymore. How have you been, what's been going on,
Speaker 5 00:49:56 He kind of puts the wooden spoon in his hand, down on the counter and just leans up backwards against the stove and goes, uh, we got this place a couple months after we thought you died there. It he's been staying with me. So his era of a, um, oh, you don't know Verdi or Arivale your sister's friends? I got a job at the university library and that's been good. It's been paying the rent. I've never had to pay rent before. Uh, the city is a nightmare. No one should live here. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 00:50:32 And congratulations.
Speaker 5 00:50:35 It's fine. Verdi was also working at a tea shop for a while and then that fell through because of the trade embargoes. And so it's mostly just been the library job, uh, and also Celica. And he like does exaggerated air quotes is part of a tennis club where she goes out for drinks with some of the older ladies there and they pay her to go for drinks with them. I haven't asked too many questions about the arrangement. Ravines
Speaker 4 00:51:11 Can very confidently as someone who has had a sugar daddy before I know exactly what the arrangement
Speaker 5 00:51:17 Is. Yeah. But if I don't ask questions that I can just delude myself into thinking that it's innocent, which is the more comfortable option for me because she is basically my mom. And I can understand and appreciate that. So back
Speaker 4 00:51:33 To the situation at hand, I realize just how hard I am imposing right now. I did bring the pirate king of the Zephyr Isles into your home. I forgot to mention that he's the very loud drunk redhead in the
Speaker 5 00:51:46 Living room. From the living room. You hear belligerently drunk. The captain says I'm not drunk. That's
Speaker 4 00:51:54 The captain here. He's a very dear friend. I want to kill him on a daily basis.
Speaker 5 00:52:01 You met Sabine on a combat level. That's his
Speaker 4 00:52:05 Wife and FI's girlfriend. It's complicated. All of this is complicated, frankly, ravine. I have been on a boat getting violently seasick for most of the last year of my life. Now that I am back on solid ground and still figuring out my next steps, I would love to get a drink. Is there anywhere I could get a drink around?
Speaker 5 00:52:31 Yeah. A drink, a drink would be. And then he stops, puts his head in his hands and says, oh, I was just making dinner. It was supposed to be a normal night. Why does this always happen? Why are my friends like this? It would seem that you chose to be friends with the wrong people. I missed you. I missed you too. It's not that I'm not glad you're back. I'm just really annoyed. Can
Speaker 4 00:53:00 We just, can we hook it out for a second? I really need this.
Speaker 5 00:53:06 Yeah. He gives you a big hug,
Speaker 4 00:53:10 Hugs and back super hard and kind of bats Dexter away when he tries to get into. Yeah, sure.
Speaker 5 00:53:16 So
Speaker 4 00:53:18 What's the situation with the blockade. We're trying to stop that. That's the whole purpose of us being back.
Speaker 5 00:53:25 Uh, half the town shut down for lack of supply. There are a couple of hole in the walls we could probably go to, I mean, if you're okay. Drinking Boulder and moonshine, I've been drinking
Speaker 4 00:53:36 Zephyr Isles rum for the past six months. I can drink anything.
Speaker 5 00:53:41 Yeah. Let's let's go. Aye. Oh, dinner's going to be fucked. Um, we'll get, take out, take out. It's good. Got to support local businesses. All right, let's go get the girls Dexter, go to bed, go lay down. Dexter wines, pitifully, and then starts trotting off down the hallway. Thank you for keeping them up for me by the way. I missed him too. Yeah. Well, I'm a big softie. Let's go
Speaker 4 00:54:14 Fi you're standing out in this back corner of the yard with Verity and Arivale and Phineas. When your brother and someone you've met before, but not been introduced to come walking out across the yard. Leo leads the charge over to the three of you followed by this very stocky, almost Elvish looking dude, dark kind of dappled skin, very dark eyes, long deer, like ears. They both walk over and Leo goes, all right. So we're all going to a bar because that's what we all do.
Speaker 5 00:54:59 Uh, I don't know if all of us need that. The captain's already pretty plastered or he in Sabine. Did you talk to them? We'll bring
Speaker 4 00:55:07 Them with us. I'll take on babysitting duty. I just need to not be here where people are. I
Speaker 5 00:55:16 Feel goes to say something mean and then soften yourself. Right? Bar bar. Sounds good. Let's do that. You guys
Speaker 4 00:55:24 Go back through the apartment, collects the captain and Sabine. The captain seems very enthusiastic about going to a bar and Sabine seems
Speaker 5 00:55:34 Tired. I'm gonna hold Sabine's hand on the walk to the bar.
Speaker 4 00:55:42 As Leo is walking, he kind of reaches out and grabs you by your sleeve.
Speaker 5 00:55:48 All right. So
Speaker 4 00:55:49 Not sure how much, you know, I know that Calissa and Fen are Mia. They're not in <inaudible>, but apparently alive.
Speaker 5 00:56:00 Uh they're in Boulder, according to Arivale great. So we have
Speaker 4 00:56:06 A, another stop on our travel itinerary.
Speaker 5 00:56:12 What else do we need to do here? The only other thing I can think to do is visit my mother and I'm not going to do that. I
Speaker 4 00:56:21 Found everybody I need to. I say, we pack up anybody willing to go with us and make for the
Speaker 5 00:56:27 Capital. And then we round up Fenn and Clarissa and we figure out how to stop all this. I guess sounds like a good plan. Also sounds like
Speaker 4 00:56:38 A plan. I am super not willing to discuss right now.
Speaker 5 00:56:42 Fair enough. Fi loops her elbow through his and says to the bar, to the fucking bar and from
Speaker 4 00:56:53 A few paces behind you, you hear the captain very enthusiastically, go
Speaker 5 00:56:57 To the bar and then Sabine goes, fi points at him over her shoulder and says you are not drinking anymore tonight. The rest of us, however, let's go. So you all find yourself at a pretty rundown Voltaren bar. There aren't a lot of places open in GIM terim anymore. You remember it being kind of a party city the last time you were here and it is no longer that, but you managed to find a bar. That's open you sit down with a couple of drinks. Arivale and Verity are both chatting away to fie Sabine. And the captain are canoodling in a booth. When you hear the distinct sound of a body smashing through a table and a very familiar, boisterous, slightly unhinged laugh.
Speaker 5 00:58:03 All right, boys, do you turn around? Yes. Against my better judgment in the year, since you've last, seen him, Zed has grown out his undercut a bit. It looks still pretty bad and gotten a new eyebrow piercing and he is cracking his knuckles, standing over a guy that he just suplex into a table. It seems like fellas, if you wanted to party, you could have just said, so I'm going to go ahead and roll initiative for Zed and the friends of the guy that he had a suplex into the table. What are you doing? That's
Speaker 4 00:58:51 Going to depend on how high set rolls on initiative.
Speaker 5 00:58:55 Fair enough, uh, zero to not 20, which means that he gets a surprise round as he straightens up from where he just suplex this guy that's going to do what Zed does best and just really punch this dude. He's going to make three attacks with Floria blows. So the lowest of those was a 20. So those are all certainly going to hit. So that's damaged die on his unarmed strikes is a D eight now. So 3d eight plus five, each is 15. So that's 16 plus 15. That's going to be 31 damage on one of these guys. And that was just a surprise round from rolling in at 20. So he's gonna swing on the other guy.
Speaker 5 00:59:51 The lowest of those was a 16. So that also is certainly going to hit as he lashes out at the other guy. That's coming up on him, not as good that time. Uh, that's 19 damage on the other guy. Zed is just laughing. As he swings at these guys, he beats this one, guy's face into hamburger and then turns out the other one, strains his shoulders. Cause I'd say this doesn't have to get ugly pal, but uh, well I'm looking at you. And then he goes in for three more attacks, uh, and that is going to be both of his turns to start the initiative off. So we go to the guy whose face, he just pounded the shit out of who is going to make two seminar attacks. Uh, do you want to go ahead and roll on a shift for me, bud? What are you doing? No,
Speaker 4 01:00:48 He said he didn't want me. I'm just going to watch
Speaker 5 01:00:57 One of these guys swings a seminar twice at Zed misses both times, and then it's the next guy has turned. And then the first guy is also going to make a dagger attack because he gets to do that. But that one's a 24 and that is going to hit. So this guy swing to seminar Zed twice misses both times Zed laughs hauntingly and goes, come on, at least try and make it fun. And then this guy pulls a dagger out of seemingly nowhere and stabs him for seven damage. And then it's the other guy's turn. And he is going to do the same thing, two Symitar attacks and one dagger attack. And none
Speaker 0 01:01:45 Of those are going to hit. The second guy swings blindly three times misses every single time, Zed just kind
Speaker 5 01:01:52 Of Dodges out of the way of these blades. They're swinging at him one hand going to where this other guy just slashed him across the arm. He goes
Speaker 0 01:02:03 And you watch him crack his knack again and roll insight for me that 20. So that's a 28. You watch as lifts one hand to touch this gash on his arm and then brings away shake some of the blood off of his fingers. His hand is trembling a little bit, but his smile is ferocious and unhinged and fear Prius. Well, if we're playing like that, and then he is going to swing on the guy that slashed him, that's three attacks and only one of them is going to hit. He steps up on this guy. He stumbles a little bit swings once Mrs. Swings again, misses swings a third time and just barely hits the six damage. And then all three of these guys are going to go. They're all going to roll to Symitar tax and a dagger attack. So the first one, one of those is going to hit. That's going to be a seminar attack, five damage for Zed. Second guy Wolf, sit on all three dead Dodgers out of the way of both of these seminar swings. And as the guy goes in with the dagger, he ducks and uses one of his new features called tipsy sway to make that dagger attack hit the other guy that is behind him for seven damage. And that
Speaker 5 01:03:42 It is the third guy's turn. He has not gone yet because he rolled that not wandering initiative.
Speaker 0 01:03:47 He stands up from this broken table that said,
Speaker 5 01:03:50 Suplex Tim onto, and he's going to roll three attacks.
Speaker 0 01:03:56 This guy stands up from the table. That's facing away from him, engaged with the other guys. And he swings twice with the seminar. Once with the bagger, the first seminar hit, he just opens up a huge gash across its back for a whopping 14 damage Zed whips around just in time to catch the seminar's back swing right across the arm for another six damage. And then this guy goes in with the dagger for another seven damage. So that is a total of 27 damages that in that round, can I roll initiative now? Yes, you can. 23. So I'm right under said,
Speaker 6 01:04:43 Shut up,
Speaker 0 01:04:45 Shut up, shut up. You still riding that Nat 20 insight check. Watch the levity drain out as Ed's face, as he sets his jaw and turns around to face this guy that he threw into the table that just did 27 damage to him. And
Speaker 5 01:05:04 He's going to go ahead and use another key point for flurry of blows and punch this guy a whole lot.
Speaker 0 01:05:14 He also wrote in that 20, only two of those are going to hit, but he is still gonna roll
Speaker 5 01:05:18 3d eight for his damage.
Speaker 0 01:05:23 So that's 10 plus 10 because he hit twice. So 20 damage, his first swing goes
Speaker 5 01:05:29 Wide, the guy ducks under it,
Speaker 0 01:05:31 And he just delivers the most ferocious uppercut you've ever seen right to the jaw since the guy stumbling and then goes after him and clocks him across the face the second time. And then it is your turn.
Speaker 1 01:05:47 I don't know if anyone else in our group has picked up on what's going on by now, but if they have, I'm going to stand up from the table, brush my clothes off very demurely and look around at all of them and say, please just let me handle this.
Speaker 0 01:06:02 I don't think any of them turned at the noise that was going on. Cause I think they just kind of wrote it off as a regular bar fight. But as you say that everybody turns you watch for veins, eyes go very wide and he just looks into his drank, like it has the answers to the universe and he says, yep, go ahead. I'm on a stepping in on this one feed, it looks over. It goes, Ooh. And then it says, do what you need to do. That's fine. And you do what you need to do. Which one
Speaker 1 01:06:36 Of these guys is looking the most injured.
Speaker 0 01:06:39 The first one in the initiative who is on the left, I'm going to throw
Speaker 1 01:06:45 My knife at him. I'd like to try to immobilize him. I don't want to do lethal damage.
Speaker 0 01:06:52 Okay. Roll a range pack. That's a natural honey. Yeah, dude.
Speaker 1 01:07:13 I'm going to try to just pin him to the wall behind Zed. And I guess I'm going to be rolling 2d six plus five damage. So that's 12 damage. Leo stands up brushes off the front of his armor, throws Kim rolls blade across the room and pins. This guy's hand to the wall behind his head and then uses his bonus action to zap the knife back into his hand, over the sound of this bar fight. He swallows the lump in his throat and goes a bar fight Mr. Stone, bloom you and I really have to stop meeting like this.
Speaker 5 01:08:12 I'm going to roll a with, say for Zed to see if he takes this next turn. That's a seven. Your knife goes through the air pin. This guy's hand to the wall. He screams very loudly blood curdling lane, and then looks at the knife, looks back at you as you start talking and you watch him stumble and blink a couple of times, there is no trace of humor in his face. Yeah, there was no trace of humor in mine. Either this first guy, his action is going to be to respond to the fact that you just threw a knife through his hand and run up on ya and make three attacks on you.
Speaker 5 01:09:01 Oh, why they're going to hit, one's an ad Tawny. I'm going to be extremely kind to Leo and said that 20 was his dagger attack. So he lashes out with the seminar messes and then lashes out again with the seminar hits. And while you're kind of stumbling back from that and he goes in with a dagger and does it total of four damage for the seminar and 10 for the dagger. And now it's the second guy who is still up on Zed, three attacks. One of those is going to hit. So does for damaged has ed, which is good. Um, Zed does not use his reaction on either the hits that mist. And then it's the third guy. Who's also still up on Zed. And it's also going to make three attacks. One of those is going to hit just barely. Does that take some there for damage? And again does not use his reaction on either the hitch that mess. He is staring at you from across the bar, looking haunted and it's back up to him. And because he rode that seven, he is not going to do anything. So it's my turn then, right? Yup. I have a DM question for you. Yes, yes. I have a spell
Speaker 4 01:10:35 Called insight greed. That calls materially for a gem worth, at least 50 gold pieces. I only have one diamond to use for a revivify spell. And I don't want to use that because I'm planning to leave
Speaker 5 01:10:50 It behind. If I could
Speaker 4 01:10:52 Produce something by virtue of its rarity and quality, that is worth 50 gold. Can
Speaker 5 01:10:58 I use that instead? I don't see why not.
Speaker 4 01:11:07 I pull out one of the bars of soap that I got from this one back in oh, sky. And I hold it out in my hand using my free hand that has Kim rolls blade in it to cast insight greed.
Speaker 5 01:11:26 Hey, Hey fellows, I get
Speaker 4 01:11:29 That. This is a fraught situation. You're probably in dire straits financially.
Speaker 5 01:11:35 I just have one question for you.
Speaker 4 01:11:39 Have you ever wanted to be your own boss? It's going to be a DC. 16 was saved for all of them. So let's see.
Speaker 5 01:11:57 Uh, one of them succeeded. He wrote an at 20, the other two wrote a 15 and a nine. So they fail. Okay.
Speaker 4 01:12:04 So the ones that failed, all they can do is move towards the bar of soap, which I sit down on the nearest table.
Speaker 5 01:12:12 And then I'm
Speaker 4 01:12:12 Going to use my bonus action to make a short sword attack on the one that succeeded.
Speaker 5 01:12:21 Yeah. That's going to be the guy right in front of you. Go ahead. 21. That's absolutely going to hit you. Go ahead. Seven. This guy is on the goddamn edge, but he is still up and it's his turn next. So he's going to make three attacks on you. First Symitar attack hits. Second one does not hit dagger attack was a Nat 20 again. Damn aye. What's the opposite of, of, of punishing my dice for bad roles. How do I punish my dice for good roles? Um, okay, so that's going to be a total of 16 damage and both of this guy's buddies have to burn their term, trying to save out of your insight grade smell. That's a four. That's not going to do it. And at the seven, that's also not going to do it. It's Zed. He shakes his head, straightens up and darts across the room to make some attacks on the guy in front of you. So first one, not going to hit Larry blows. Second one is going to hit and he can't mechanically roll low enough that he's not going to knock this guy out. This guy is raising his seminar to make another attack at you and Zedd clocks them in the back of the head. He goes down like a sack of bricks. His buddies are admiring your soap. Actually, you know, when you use my
Speaker 4 01:14:05 Referral code for this new franchising opportunity that I'm pioneering, you're going to get a percentage off of your first shipment of inventory, which is really going to help you in the long run. I reach up and grabs it by the back of the vest and haul him out the front door of the bar.
Speaker 5 01:14:22 Are you saying anything to your friends as you hold that out of the bar?
Speaker 4 01:14:27 No. I only have one minutes concentration on that insight grade spell. I'm just getting him out of the situation as fast as
Speaker 5 01:14:34 I can. That allows himself to be towed out of the bar. I'm going
Speaker 4 01:14:40 To hit him with a cure wounds at fifth level. So that's 39 hit points that Zed gets back. Leo reaches up hand shaking and presses his Palm to the side of his face. You really got to learn how to pick your battles.
Speaker 0 01:15:08 I wouldn't count on that app unless
Speaker 1 01:15:14 Leo pulls his hand away. It's still shaking. I don't know why I bother. Um, but
Speaker 4 01:15:22 I guess neither of us are that great at listening.
Speaker 1 01:15:25 I know you told me to fuck off, but
Speaker 0 01:15:27 He interrupts you. He goes, I say a lot of stupid shit. It's kinda like I go on for me. He's going to try and kiss you.
Speaker 1 01:15:38 Oh yeah. Leo kisses him back. No question. He does a lot of talking about wanting to go home, but I don't think he's ever really honestly felt what coming home feels like until now. He has been stomping down an absolute breakdown for the last year because he hasn't felt safe enough
Speaker 0 01:16:01 To have it.
Speaker 1 01:16:03 And as soon as he pulls back from Zed, he just starts breaking. I thought you didn't want me. I was thousands of my whole soul way. And I was trying so hard just to get back and I thought you didn't want me and I almost died so many times he actually did die and the world's fucking going to shit. And I'm the one that has to fix it. And I thought you didn't want me. He's got his hands fisted up in his hair. And his just curled into Zed, chest looking for something stable to keep him upright.
Speaker 0 01:16:44 Hey, whoa. He reaches out and grabs your shoulders and kind of pushes you back a little bit. Sorry. I just, I need, I need a second to thank them. I'm go ahead and roll insight for me. 26. You, as he like pushes back from you, Zed looks off, he wavers a little bit. As he's pushing you back chewing on his lower lip for a second, very uncertain. He pulls his hands off of your shoulders. And does that nervous gesture that you noticed from right before you went to visit his mom or he just like scratches at the inside of his arm. He notices you noticing that and meets eyes with you for a second. And his people are just blown. Zed is fucked up right now.
Speaker 1 01:17:57 All do anything I have to do. I'll roll a whiz save or whatever you want. I need to stop this panic attack down and put it.
Speaker 0 01:18:06 Yeah. Romeo save 14. That'll do it. Leo's
Speaker 4 01:18:13 In the grip of this absolutely awful panic attack and realizes what's going on. And that Zed is fucking high right now. And just shoves it down as hard as he can. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't mean to,
Speaker 5 01:18:39 Oh God. Oh, sad, honey. I'm good. I'm just give me a second.
Speaker 4 01:18:51 Yeah. Leo is on her Razor's edge psychologically right now, but it's his turn to be the strong one. He's just going to keep it together as best he can.
Speaker 5 01:19:02 No, I don't think you are good.
Speaker 4 01:19:06 Let's get you home. Okay. Can you show me how to get you home?
Speaker 5 01:19:13 He makes a frustrated noise and just brings one hand up to rake back through his hair. Nods to himself. Yeah. Yeah. I can do that. And he just starts walking off.
Speaker 4 01:19:28 I'm going to follow him. I'm firing off a sending message to fie as I go.
Speaker 5 01:19:34 The message says, I
Speaker 4 01:19:36 Talked to said, things are worse than I thought. Get us a room. I won't be back tonight. I'll explain more in the morning.
Speaker 5 01:19:46 Fi sends a message back that says we'll do stay safe. Shoot me a sending in the morning so I know you're okay. Okay. And then I'm going to try to get said back to wherever he's staying. He leads you to the streets easily got the feeling that the walk to and from this bar is one that he takes a lot, a few streets down to a kind of rundown looking apartment, building up the stairs to a door, kind of fumbles with his keys in the lock for a second, makes another one of those deep frustrated noises, shoulder checks the door open.
Speaker 5 01:20:30 It's a very sparsely furnished apartment, which tracks with the way that Zed kind of deals with spaces that he's in. He doesn't like to have shit like lying around. He keeps things pretty compact. He walks in immediately kicks a piece of furniture by accident, goes shit, and then turns around to you and says, all right, keep it down. My roommate's sleeping. And then navigates around the room to a door, a little hallway. You see a couple things around, you see like a sword as shield leaning up against a wall. You see somebody's changed shirts long over at share things that you would assume belong to the roommate. In question, the shoulder checks is had the door open and leads you into. And if possible, even more sparsely furnished room, the contents of this room are just a bed and said's duffle bag. And he just more falls onto the bed than sits on it and just puts his head in his hands for a second.
Speaker 1 01:21:46 Leo still looking and feeling very fragile, goes and sits down on the edge of the bed.
Speaker 0 01:21:55 As you sit down, Zed takes a deep breath, straightens up and then plat on a very fake, crooked smile reaches out for you and says here, come here.
Speaker 1 01:22:10 Leo's just going to put his head on, said shoulder and try to keep his breathing under control and reach down and grab his hand. That's going to try and kiss you again before that can happen. Leo just inclines his head forward so that instead their foreheads are pressed together. Very tightly.
Speaker 0 01:22:34 Not like this. We'll talk about
Speaker 1 01:22:38 It in the morning. Okay. I promise I'm going to be here in the morning
Speaker 0 01:22:45 Again, just that big fake smile. I'm good. I can,
Speaker 1 01:22:56 What you don't want me said, if you are fucked up enough right now to be throwing my own words back my face. Number one, you don't need to be pursuing this course of action. And number two, I'll play that game with you. You don't want to do something stupid right now. Go to bed.
Speaker 5 01:23:17 He reels back. Like you have punched him in the face.
Speaker 0 01:23:22 He just reaches one hand up, scrubs it over his mouth goes. Yeah, yeah. Right, right. I'm going to, and he very carefully lays down back to you.
Speaker 1 01:23:43 Leo gets off the bed, sits down on the floor at
Speaker 4 01:23:46 The head of the bed. Where's that is laying down and
Speaker 1 01:23:49 Tugs over the duffel bag to use as a pillow. I guess he's gonna wait until Zedd passes out. I don't know what I'd have to roll to figure out if he's asleep perception or perception, natural fucking one, but it's a nine.
Speaker 0 01:24:12 You think that passes out pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 01:24:17 I'd like to cast silence on the bedroom. Leo zaps, Kim rose blade back out of his holster, throws up this silent spell in the room and then zaps it back in. He's still trying really hard to just breathe and keep himself. And just to test the spell kind of shake Ligos.
Speaker 0 01:24:43 He said, you cannot hear yourself.
Speaker 1 01:24:56 And he just cries until he is unconscious fully lets that panic attack back out and just cries himself into his trance.
Speaker 0 01:25:08 As you are about to pass out, you feel a hand bump against your back in a way that almost reads is accidental and you're out.
Speaker 5 01:25:28 That's where we're going to end this week. I take
Speaker 4 01:25:31 Back everything that I have said in our conversations about missing Zed and wanting Zed back. This was awful.
Speaker 0 01:25:38 Hey, said's back.
Speaker 1 01:25:40 This is my super villain origin story, which we will see more of next time
Speaker 3 01:25:46 On compelled door. <inaudible>
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