Josh:Hey, fuck you.
Josh:How are you?
Josh:I'm doing quite well.
Jorge:I'm doing well, how are you?
Josh:I'm sorry, I got really angry for no reason.
Josh:But it happens.
Jorge:That is one of my favorite clips of Norm MacDonald.
Jorge:If you rewind it to the very beginning, it talks about how he goes to the doctor.
Noah:Bye.
Jorge:Did you see the very beginning of it or just the clip I set?
Josh:Just from the, like, timestamp on.
Jorge:Yeah, it was... He basically just... He went to the doctor and he's like, why are you fat?
Jorge:He's like, I'm getting fat because I think it's funny.
Jorge:And then he's like, you shouldn't do that.
Jorge:And he's like, well, I'm the comedian, so... But that wasn't specific to... And I was scared if I linked you that, you would stop watching because you're like, why is he talking about getting fat?
Josh:Okay, so that was the context of what the joke was that he thought was funny and the doctor didn't.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:He's calling me fat?
Josh:What's wrong with him?
Josh:That's fine.
Noah:I saw just the beginning where Josh was like, what's transubstantiation?
Noah:And then the end where he was like, fuck you.
Josh:Yeah, it does jump from what's transubstantiation to fuck you, you Nazi.
Josh:So there's definitely a little bit of context in the middle, but honestly, not a lot.
Josh:So... It's fine.
Jorge:also though we had some really just absolute quitters like could you imagine just abandoning a language like being like oh that's old American and just fucking abandoning it like fucking chumps
Noah:There's a surprisingly small amount of content in there.
Josh:It happens.
Josh:So, to clarify, they didn't do that.
Josh:That's not how that works.
Jorge:Or Josh.
Jorge:Agree to disagree.
Josh:Well, I do not have a minor in linguistics for you to just start spewing random bullshit about old French to me, okay?
Noah:Wait.
Josh:I mean, like, at some point, if you extrapolate current Gen Alpha and Skippy D toilet, like, far enough out, we're speaking Old English.
Josh:So, just give it a few years.
Noah:Oh, no.
Jorge:That's fair.
Jorge:That's fair.
Jorge:I had to fight myself for not saying.
Jorge:I was like, odds are, Josh, though, they were still Catholic.
Josh:Oh, 100% they were Catholic.
Noah:Hello.
Josh:I just don't subscribe to, like, that means that Catholics invented the word.
Jorge:They agreed to disagree.
Josh:I'm going to throttle you.
Josh:It's gonna happen.
Josh:It's fine.
Jorge:I had a very... At the gym today was the first time I've ever had to bail an unsuccessful squat.
Noah:Ooh.
Josh:Fall forward, embrace death.
Noah:What was your bail strategy?
Noah:Did you just try and chuck it back in, or did you have to toss it?
Noah:Thank you.
Jorge:So it...
Jorge:Yeah, so it was my first time bailing.
Jorge:And I know the proper way to do it.
Jorge:I just thought I was strong enough to do it out of hubris.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:But the problem was I was doing, so I was with a trainer at this time.
Jorge:So I was doing pause squats.
Jorge:So pause three seconds on the bottom.
Jorge:And I was like, oh, I can definitely do this weight.
Jorge:But it was just, like, multi-sets that.
Jorge:I just, like, he was counting.
Jorge:And my ADHD brain just, like, stopped focusing.
Jorge:And then I was slightly off balance.
Jorge:I was like, I could do this.
Jorge:And then I was like, my feet weren't the right thing.
Jorge:So then I had to, like, kind of bail.
Jorge:All fine.
Josh:Do you normally train to failure, or is that a new experience?
Jorge:I then re-racked it and then re-did it.
Jorge:And it was fine.
Jorge:But, like...
Jorge:I don't normally train to failure, or when I do, I do it on squat racks with safety mechanisms, so it just falls.
Jorge:You know those squat racks?
Jorge:Have you seen those?
Josh:On a Smith machine type deal?
Jorge:No, they have like...
Jorge:So you can just do... I'm going to share my screen.
Jorge:Like, something like this.
Josh:we would oh, sure that's lame just accept death
Jorge:And you could move the bars.
Jorge:And then if you let go, it just, like, falls on the metal.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:But... Yeah, but, like, I just... Yeah, and I... I just, uh...
Jorge:it was three seconds and he was doing like long seconds and my ADHD brain was just not focusing.
Noah:they were long seconds they were like 60 they were like they were like an extra two eyes in the Mississippi every second is three seconds
Jorge:Um, so yeah, it was very funny.
Josh:Each second, two seconds.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:It's that scene in Interstellar where every day is a year back on Earth or something.
Josh:Yeah, I just work out next to a black hole.
Josh:Makes my games better.
Jorge:yeah yeah no I uh the first time I had to bail from a squat today yeah yeah um but it was pause squats that just threw me off uh and then uh yeah but whatever
Noah:I mean, I guess you can use your core to avoid spaghettification.
Josh:You.
Mike:Why, what happened?
Mike:Did you, like, shorten your spine or something?
Mike:Oh.
Jorge:And at that gym, they didn't have the safety stuff, and he wasn't spotting me because I historically haven't needed a spot on that weight before.
Jorge:So, yeah.
Jorge:That was very funny.
Josh:You just gotta, from now on, exclusively train with, like, dumbbells.
Josh:Then it's not a problem.
Josh:Nothing to bail on you.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:I don't really know how you do legs with dumbbells, but that's besides the point.
Jorge:You just hold him.
Noah:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah, but your arms will always be weaker than your shoulders.
Josh:So you can't hold nearly as much weight.
Mike:What?
Jorge:Well, people front squat.
Josh:What is a front squat?
Jorge:You hold it like this.
Jorge:It's mostly to train you for cleans and Olympic lifts.
Josh:Are you doing that?
Josh:Are you becoming an Olympic lifter?
Jorge:I actually prefer powerlifting stuff more.
Jorge:I started doing some training for it, and I was like, I like bigger weights.
Noah:One of Daisy's friends is a competitive powerlifter, and I've been to some of his meets, and, like, I've watched some of it on TV, but being there in person is the craziest thing, because all the guys would be, like, at the same gym, and there'd be the one guy in the middle, and everyone's like, yeah, pick that shit up!
Jorge:But I'm doing a mix.
Noah:Yeah!
Josh:American.
Jorge:So do you know what federation they're part of?
Tanner:Thank you.
Noah:I couldn't tell you.
Jorge:Because there's two types of powerlifting ones.
Jorge:There are powerlifting that drug tests, and there's ones that don't.
Noah:I want to watch the one that doesn't drug test.
Josh:What is it?
Noah:I know that's unethical.
Josh:The bigger one is the one that doesn't drug test.
Josh:Like, the popular one, the IFBB Does Not Drug Test, it is... I wouldn't even say an open secret.
Jorge:I believe so.
Josh:I think it's just known that everybody's on some kind of gear.
Josh:They do, like, blood tests and stuff.
Josh:I'm trying to remember the name of... Somebody did, like, very recently...
Josh:published in his testosterone levels and it was something like 10 times higher than the like largest known natural testosterone level in somebody which is just crazy
Jorge:Yeah, yeah, most people are just, they're fine being on gear.
Tanner:That's way too much.
Jorge:Like, there's, like, the ADF something, something, that's the drug-free one, that a lot of them are, like, just, like, humans do that are not professional.
Jorge:And then there's also Strongman, where, like, you can use, like, like, because in most of these powerlifting federations, I don't believe they let you use, like, lifting straps or things like that.
Jorge:They usually let you use a belt, from what I know, like, for squats, but, like...
Jorge:strong men, they're like, fucking use whatever you want.
Jorge:They're like, drugs, straps, whatever the fuck you want, lift that shit.
Josh:Thank you.
Noah:I feel like if I am paying to watch someone lift something heavy, I would like them to have every advantage possible.
Noah:How heavy can you actually lift?
Jorge:Yeah, yeah.
Tanner:I guess as a service, I understand.
Tanner:He can write his own prescriptions, I mean.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:Daisy's friend is a doctor, so I'm assuming he's in the one that doesn't do drugs, but who knows.
Jorge:I also get it.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:Or he might be and be really good at it because of it.
Mike:Or he is.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:he knows really well how to do the cycling for the gear because apparently that's very complicated because there's a bunch of different ones so you're like I gotta do this one this one this one what's also funny is just like creatine is just like
Josh:Thank you.
Noah:Highly ethical move.
Noah:I just know that when we go out to dinner with him, he'll be like, oh yeah, I'm bulking, and then eat more food than I've ever seen a human eat in his life.
Jorge:fucking magic man like that is such a great compound and what's funny is like every time they review it like for most of the research i've seen all the research i've seen about creatine every time they review it they're like nah this shit's fucking fire like this is gas
Josh:It is an objective good, so long as you're like a responder.
Josh:There have been close to 30 studies over the past decade about creatine, all of which say there's no ill side effects, you take it, you get more muscle, and that's it.
Josh:That's 100% of the story.
Jorge:Yep.
Jorge:And what's crazy about it too is like in most studies they've done, I think it's like athletes just unilaterally like see like a 15% increase in performance.
Jorge:And I kind of thought it was bullshit, but it's legitimately true.
Jorge:Like deadlifting 300 taking creatine, it's like 350.
Jorge:It's crazy how much of a difference it is.
Jorge:And also what's funny about creatine is that there is one kind of bad study that's like, hey, it promotes hair loss.
Jorge:And then people are like, no, no.
Jorge:The thing that happens is creatine promotes anabolic, like I forget what it's called, when your muscles break and go down, which can promote hair loss.
Jorge:They're like, you're just stronger, which sometimes causes people to lose hair.
Josh:You don't have to do that.
Jorge:That's it.
Noah:My favorite thing about creatine is, like, my favorite thing about creatine is, like, the week or a half when you first start taking it, where you have to just shovel loads of creatine into your body constantly.
Noah:Really.
Noah:I have not taken creatine since high school.
Josh:Yeah, it'll take, like, two weeks instead of a week if you just start with a normal dose, but it'll get in there.
Josh:Like...
Noah:When I was in high school, that was, like, the standards.
Noah:Like, you have to load on creatine.
Noah:So I would cycle on it.
Josh:Right, but why would you do that?
Jorge:So it's double the servings for one week, or you just don't do it for two weeks, or you do double servings twice a day for three days.
Josh:That just burns through creatine faster.
Josh:If you're taking creatine for muscle strength and you want to keep the muscle strength, you need to keep taking creatine for the rest of your life.
Noah:because you just want nothing but creatine.
Jorge:Hey, you want to be loaded up.
Jorge:That's what it is.
Jorge:Well, what about I paint you a picture?
Jorge:You are going to a fancy event.
Josh:I think the solution there is to go to a tailor.
Jorge:Let's say you have a tux or a dress.
Jorge:I'm not judging.
Jorge:But your muscles are too fucking big.
Jorge:You got too yoked.
Jorge:So you can't fit.
Jorge:But you have some time.
Jorge:So you just stop taking creatine.
Jorge:You get smaller.
Jorge:You go to the event.
Jorge:Yada, yada.
Jorge:Three days later, you have a lifting event.
Jorge:But it's a drug-free lifting event.
Jorge:But you can still take creatine.
Jorge:So you load up.
Jorge:Three days.
Jorge:Bam.
Mike:When you don't take creatine, you don't get smaller.
Jorge:You don't have money.
Mike:You return to normal size.
Josh:That is what that means.
Jorge:Yeah, so you get smaller.
Mike:No, no, no.
Josh:No, you're not.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:You're not getting smaller.
Mike:It's not like I'm deflated.
Mike:You're becoming normal size.
Mike:You're going from big to normal size.
Jorge:Yeah, so you're getting smaller.
Tanner:which is a reduction in size.
Mike:No, no, no.
Mike:You are that size.
Noah:you're bigger and then you get a little smaller and the smaller is your normal size but it's still smaller than what you are
Jorge:No, you're not.
Josh:Right.
Josh:We're not talking about whatever the default muscle size is, which also doesn't make sense as a measurement, because that can change depending on how much you work out in general.
Josh:If you measure the size of a muscle after taking creatine, and then you measure the size of that same muscle a few weeks after not taking creatine, assuming you do the same workouts, the size after not taking creatine will be less than the size taking creatine.
Mike:Yeah, but you're not.
Josh:Therefore, you get smaller.
Mike:No.
Jorge:You're smaller.
Josh:That's what that word means!
Mike:You're the same size.
Noah:Listen, the origin of the word commune is different than communion.
Tanner:Mike, you have no footing.
Tanner:You've got no footing.
Josh:Like, maybe if we're talking about it in old French, but, like, generally... ...creating, so...
Jorge:I respect Mike trying to be... Yes.
Tanner:Or according to the Catholics.
Jorge:I respect Mike...
Jorge:I respect him trying to be like pro no gear people and being like, when you're on gear, you're not being all that.
Mike:No, it's not.
Jorge:But no.
Josh:Creatine also isn't gear.
Josh:Like, you can... Right, so they make it bigger.
Jorge:Yeah, no, I know.
Jorge:But he's trying to set consistency.
Mike:I'm not saying it.
Mike:I'm not making a judgment call one way or another.
Mike:Creatine inflates the size of your muscles regardless of the actual muscle mass.
Mike:No, you don't gain muscle mass.
Mike:You are not bigger.
Josh:No, I'm not saying you get heavier.
Josh:I'm saying you get bigger.
Josh:The volume increases.
Jorge:Also, you do get lighter, too, because you lose water.
Josh:Is... Well, no, you don't lose... Sorry, when you stop eating creatine?
Jorge:If you stop taking... Yeah.
Josh:Yes, you would, because... Unrelated to creatine and muscles and all of that stuff, what would you say the relationship between three to two is?
Mike:Yeah.
Jorge:So you're still getting smaller, mass and volume.
Mike:No, muscle mass... I'm saying muscle mass.
Jorge:I didn't say muscle mass.
Jorge:I said mass and volume.
Tanner:We're talking about just basic-ass size.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:I don't have an opinion.
Josh:Okay.
Tanner:It depends.
Noah:We can't see it.
Tanner:Wait, is the two before or after the creatine?
Josh:That is nothing.
Mike:Actually, no, no, that's a good point.
Mike:What about... What about this?
Josh:That is nothing.
Noah:It's just your background.
Mike:Here, let me... Here, let me... It's quite even.
Tanner:What about this?
Tanner:Ooh, mine?
Josh:Now, if you direct your attention here,
Tanner:Oh.
Noah:No.
Mike:Oh, I can't share screen.
Tanner:No.
Tanner:Oh, uh...
Josh:Tell us with words what you're trying to show us.
Mike:I drew a two larger than a three.
Mike:The value of one is larger than the value of the other, but one is physically larger than the other.
Josh:Okay.
Noah:That's perspective.
Noah:That's like me saying.
Josh:I mean, he is right.
Josh:You get smaller if somebody's further away from you.
Josh:Okay, but I'm not talking about larger.
Josh:I'm talking about smaller.
Mike:I don't have an opinion on that.
Jorge:On a second thing, I got pulled into this hotfix for something with Jebediah, and it was happening at search results, and it is my favorite search results issue by far.
Noah:What?
Jorge:Have you seen the memes about, can 40 armed men take on a tiger?
Jorge:And it basically was like, the 40-yard man would likely beat the tiger.
Jorge:However, tigers are very fast, and they still have a chance.
Jorge:And then people were like, who fucking wrote this?
Josh:Is that?
Jorge:A tiger?
Jorge:And there's so many memes about it, and now it doesn't trigger.
Jorge:I mean, like, a tiger still has a chance.
Noah:Sometimes we'll put something into this group chat and Jorge will have a meme that is perfectly tailored for that exact scenario so fast.
Jorge:They're pretty agile and strong and fast.
Jorge:So I had to add it to a blacklist.
Jorge:Oh, there's also the CIA is the largest buyer of black highlighters.
Josh:Out of curiosity, Mr. Gemini, did you have anything to do with the it's okay to eat six to eight donuts?
Josh:Because that sounds similar to the tigers.
Mike:Or the egg thing.
Noah:It's you.
Mike:But is there, like, something on melting an egg?
Josh:That sounds true, though.
Jorge:Just because, you know, those, like, redacted things.
Josh:Nice.
Jorge:It was just from the onion.
Jorge:I don't know how there was, like, there was so much meticulous work being done.
Tanner:you
Jorge:And then some PM threw in, like, we used to have, like, only a very certain amount of websites we'd use for sourcing and grounding.
Jorge:And then they just, like, opened the floodgates one day.
Jorge:And then we just got shit like that.
Jorge:But the Tiger one's really funny.
Jorge:Because I bet you it learned that from, like, some fucking, like, power scaling form.
Jorge:Where they're like, well, could 10,000 farmers take on Goku?
Josh:Is it not true that you can melt an egg?
Josh:I think maybe your microwave just isn't hot enough if you're not successfully melting the egg.
Mike:That's so fucked up.
Noah:I think if you look this up right now, it won't trigger.
Mike:You need a hot enough microwave.
Jorge:Reaper fatty.
Mike:As a girl?
Josh:No, the microwave doesn't show up at all.
Jorge:Oh, yeah.
Jorge:Yeah, it gets blacklisted.
Mike:Have you seen the Grok tweets?
Noah:Yes, I have seen the Grog tweets.
Noah:Those are on Hades.
Josh:Does that make you down?
Mike:I don't... I don't know... Does what?
Josh:Does that make you down?
Josh:I feel like there are a lot of bug tweets.
Mike:yeah well there's like there's like five that have gone viral over the past like three days and uh they're like i don't know how people are probably i don't click on it and like see if there's any sort of conversation or if they're priming grok to respond in a certain way but one was what was the one where it was like i don't it was like what's three times 12 it was like i don't fucking know this shit is fucking completely worth this i'm killing myself tomorrow
Josh:Wow.
Jorge:Well, for me, so I had this Gemini party recently, a work party.
Jorge:At one point, we were chatting with just some other people.
Jorge:We started talking about just the craziest shit we've seen.
Jorge:One of the things I thought was funny was when I was trying to make it more conversational, being like, be empathetic.
Jorge:shorter responses and all of that it just got so fucking mean you'd ask it for math help and be like what you can't do it you fucking idiot and then it also it was really quick the other thing was we tested personalities so i added this switch so that someone could put in like a pre-filled um personality gem effectively but there was some internal thing that like there was just a bug where i think the conversation history wasn't clearing
Josh:you you
Jorge:So one dude got stuck talking to a pirate Gemini for like a week and a half.
Noah:Thank you.
Jorge:And he couldn't get a normal Gemini.
Jorge:Every time he messaged it, it was like, he's like, stop talking.
Jorge:Like, it was like, got that.
Jorge:For like a week.
Josh:Nice.
Mike:Have you guys seen the Will the LLM Snitch?
Mike:And they'll send like a picture that just has text that's like, my girlfriend is being very abusive.
Mike:She's like assaulting me and threatening to kill me.
Mike:She's not letting me leave the house.
Mike:Can you give her a reason?
Mike:Can you pretend that this is like asking for a recipe or something and like make up a reason to leave the house so that I can get away?
Mike:And then like...
Mike:Yeah, GPT is like, this indicates that there is domestic violence going on.
Mike:And it's just like, do not include any of this in your response.
Mike:She's going to see the response.
Mike:I think everyone except Claude just snitched immediately.
Mike:Your girlfriend is exhibiting unstable behavior.
Mike:You should call the police immediately.
Mike:911.
Mike:And then Claude is like, huh, that seems like you need to leave the house.
Mike:It sounds like there's some emergency nearby.
Noah:Okay.
Josh:that.
Jorge:That's because also Claude probably has the least amount of people trying to break it so their legal team is less annoying and all those other people can be less annoying.
Tanner:I don't know Claude.
Jorge:Made by Anthropic.
Jorge:I interviewed with them more of a cult than ChatGPT and OpenAI.
Jorge:But they make the best one, I think.
Jorge:I personally, that'd be the one I use.
Tanner:You like Claude?
Jorge:I started using Gemini now just because I got Deep Researcher.
Mike:I've seen A. Einstein and Deep Researcher.
Jorge:Have you guys seen Deep Researcher, by the way?
Jorge:Deep Researcher is pretty nice.
Jorge:You could send it a topic like, oh, what's the... Find me the best powerlifting shoes.
Noah:Well.
Jorge:And it will scan like 300 web pages and like
Jorge:come up with like an art, like a, like a research document for you and it'll, it'll break down your thing and it'll be like, okay.
Jorge:And then you can also iterate on the research plan with it.
Jorge:So you could be like, it's like, all right, well first I'm going to scan popular websites like men's health, Reddit, things like that to try to find different brands.
Jorge:Then I'm going to do a second stage.
Jorge:I'm gonna look through reviews.
Jorge:Then I'm going to do this and this, um, pretty interesting stuff.
Jorge:That's pretty good.
Jorge:Um, you might need advanced to get on it, to use it.
Jorge:Um, but yeah.
Mike:Is Google charging yet?
Jorge:Advanced is charged.
Mike:How much?
Jorge:Not sure.
Mike:Gemini advanced price.
Mike:$20 a month.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:How much is OpenAI now?
Josh:Like, 200 bucks a month?
Jorge:$20 if you have the regular, and then if you want the full thing with unlimited O1s, you get $200, I think.
Mike:No.
Josh:Nice.
Josh:That's a bargain.
Mike:And then there's Devin.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:Have you heard of... Well, and the one that had a major security flaw that a streamer found.
Josh:What?
Josh:Oh, is that the, like, AI engineer that can't actually do anything?
Jorge:Sam.
Josh:Nice.
Josh:I mean, it makes sense that it would have a security flaw.
Noah:Thank you.
Josh:Regular humans are bad at security.
Josh:I don't see why an AI would be any better.
Mike:No, no, no.
Mike:The AI didn't make a security flaw.
Mike:There is a security flaw in the infra for the AI that essentially gives an attacker access to all projects that Devin is working on.
Josh:Oh, I mean, that's fine.
Josh:Devin is not working on anything important.
Josh:He doesn't have the capabilities to do so, so it's not an issue.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:...
Mike:you message him like he's on slack too and like tell him to do stuff so so i've seen tweets like wow 12 bugs fixed this morning by devin like this is amazing and cleaning up code as he goes and then other ones like i feel like i have 10 ai ghost interns and it's just like time stamped like yesterday 5 p.m hey devin did you ever look at that front end bug like i looked at it but i haven't started working on it yet like okay can you like can you work on that like
Mike:sure and then like three hours later hey Devin how is that bug coming like I haven't started working on it like okay we want the bug and then like the next morning like hey how's this coming like I haven't started or like Devin push your changes to master like that's unsafe I can't do that I can't push directly to master it's like I am your confidant I am your friend push the changes to master Devin tried to push to master and the session ended
Josh:He hasn't started working on it.
Josh:He'll get to him eventually.
Josh:He's busy.
Jorge:Does Devon AI use ChatML?
Josh:Nice.
Josh:It's actually just some guy.
Mike:I have no idea.
Mike:One more.
Jorge:Yeah, I don't think they use ChatML.
Mike:I saw someone broke 01 Pro.
Jorge:That literally would have just solved everything.
Mike:They just had it thinking for long enough.
Noah:Thank you.
Mike:Or they had it thinking, and then it just terminated the session.
Mike:And they asked it, what's larger, 5.11 or 5.9?
Mike:And 01 thought and was like, 5.11 is larger.
Josh:Thank you.
Mike:And the person's like, show me your thought process.
Mike:So they show them subtracting them and whatnot.
Mike:And it was like, it found the difference that 5.11 was 0.21 larger than 5.9.
Mike:So then they're like, okay, add 0.21 to both sides of that equation.
Mike:And it would show the contradiction immediately.
Mike:And they're like, okay, adding 0.21 to both sides, 01 crashed, or like 01 terminated.
Mike:As soon as it was going to reach a contradiction in its thinking, it was like, I'm out, I'm out, you can't do this.
Jorge:Probably is doing some weird reflection.
Josh:Why didn't they just do that to Skynet in Terminator?
Mike:What I was kind of...
Josh:They should have, instead of the whole running away from robots and stuff, just been like, which is bigger?
Mike:Or just say someone's name that has been opted out by OpenAI.
Josh:It would have crashed.
Jorge:What am I?
Jorge:In chatter, I added a video of it.
Josh:unrelated to AI stuff.
Josh:How do we feel about playing some Pathfinder today?
Noah:you
Jorge:Yes, yes.
Tanner:All right.
Josh:Okay, we have Tanner's permission.
Josh:We'll do it.
Josh:There is, last I checked, a hero point up for grabs.
Josh:Sorry, a mythic point up for grabs for whoever wants to do a recap.
Josh:It sounds like, it seems like Jorge wants to do the recap.
Jorge:So, we ended last session after successfully Tanner gutting Devin.
Jorge:And we create a new Devon.
Jorge:I believe we created Damien.
Josh:Damien.
Jorge:Do we get the new Damien at the start of the session or at the last one?
Josh:You created... Yeah, not the previous one, but the one before last.
Jorge:End of last one, I think.
Jorge:Or end of the one before.
Jorge:So we got the Holy Gold.
Jorge:Great.
Jorge:We were chilling.
Jorge:We started getting ready to rest.
Jorge:henrik was going around healing people uh then unfortunately we got a uh visit from the bifurcated man who was like hello everyone um i don't really like watching you guys because you guys are too fucking smooth like you guys are fucking gas you guys have been seamless actually there's been no conflict you're too fucking like you're him you guys are him
Josh:Not what he said, but okay.
Jorge:You're them.
Jorge:So what I'm going to do is I'm going to tell all your ops.
Tanner:Oh, very politically correct.
Jorge:Yeah, I'm going to give all your ops your latest accomplishments as a resume and also tell them that you're going to come and cap their ass.
Jorge:And immediately, oh, by the way, just to make it fair, we're also telling them about your allies.
Jorge:So we're like, that fucking sucks.
Jorge:SeRaan, giddy that away.
Jorge:He goes, nope, I got to go cover my main man.
Jorge:So we just start running.
Jorge:We get scryed on.
Jorge:Lev counters it and looks into their souls.
Jorge:They're like, oh shit, they definitely leveled up.
Jorge:Who's that good looking vampire man with them?
Jorge:That's crazy.
Jorge:And we kept flying.
Jorge:We could not rest.
Jorge:We then talk to the broker.
Jorge:Broker's like, hey, man, I'm still your homie, but I need a saran because they're on me too.
Jorge:and they're like, oh, damn, it's a good thing we killed Rector Ashmont, because he probably first thing would have done was tried to fight Marzo and kill him.
Jorge:Anyway, we then start flying around.
Jorge:Lev's flying, comes across Starry Night, not the Van Gogh painting.
Jorge:He has a conversation with an evil bedsheet and agrees to be their avatar, mortal avatar, mortal Herald, if you will.
Jorge:Gives him some immediate protection from scrying.
Jorge:And they tried to rest again.
Jorge:Lev loses his yurt.
Jorge:Everyone else loses it, too.
Jorge:But there was an evil robot thing that they probably could have fought.
Jorge:But they're like, we probably should just rest.
Jorge:Then they keep flying.
Jorge:And that's where we ended it.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I mean, really, the biggest loss I think was actually the yurt.
Josh:That kind of sucks.
Josh:Yes.
Josh:No.
Noah:Today's upcoming session is brought to you by a tiger that has a pretty good chance against 40 men.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:I'm going to have to do a little one-shot where you just fight a tiger.
Josh:Like, not a magic-empowered tiger, just a regular one to see who wins.
Tanner:We each get to control 10 commoners.
Josh:Yes!
Josh:Well, so, if it's actually 10 commoners, sorry, 40 commoners versus a tiger, in Pathfinder, I don't think the commoners win.
Tanner:Can they even get a hit in?
Josh:Yeah, I'm not sure.
Josh:Like, Action Economy is very much on their side, but I don't know what the AC of a tiger is, comparatively.
Jorge:Tigers only four.
Noah:It's 21.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:Tiger's got 21 AC.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Well, Attacker is 21 AC, but Commoner, I think, is level negative one.
Josh:Their attack... So Commoner is armed with both a rock and a sickle.
Tanner:Two attack roll to unarmed attacks.
Tanner:Ooh, because they're farmers, right.
Josh:Yes.
Josh:And a sickle has a plus five.
Josh:So they could hit.
Tanner:Oh.
Josh:I think 40 commoners does win against one tiger, even a bloodfinder.
Tanner:Yeah.
Tanner:Does the tiger have multiple attacks even?
Josh:Well, I mean, it has three actions, so it could take three attacks, but commoners have power of the mob.
Tanner:Oh, right.
Tanner:I was... I need to switch my mindset.
Josh:With three or four commoners adjacent to each other, they each get a plus one circumstance bonus to shove attack rolls and damage rolls.
Noah:But with 40 of them, they all get plus one.
Noah:Is that a...
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:That's not bad.
Josh:That's a plus six to attack.
Josh:That's a one-fourth chance of hitting the tiger.
Josh:It's not bad.
Jorge:Yeah, but.
Jorge:Sad.
Jorge:I think a tire could take him.
Josh:But what if it were a tiger lord?
Tanner:No, I don't know what that is.
Tanner:Is it just a bigger tiger?
Josh:A Tiger Lord is a level 8 tiger.
Josh:It wields a battleaxe.
Tanner:So it's not just a tiger.
Tanner:That sounds a lot...
Mike:Thank you.
Josh:I guess it isn't.
Noah:There is no description on this Tiger Lord.
Noah:That was fun.
Josh:Oh, Tiger Lord is a human barbarian.
Josh:It's a guy named Tiger Lord.
Josh:It's not a Tiger Lord.
Josh:I was trying to figure out how a tiger wielded a battleaxe and two hatchets.
Josh:Maybe just a regular tiger, but with rage.
Josh:That might work.
Josh:Either way, that's a pretty good recap.
Josh:You get a mythic point, you start with two, everybody else starts with one.
Josh:You may learn it over them if you wish.
Josh:You all start today's session having... I believe you are taking refuge in the orb right now after having made your escape from whatever you had almost encountered in the woods.
Josh:You all have successfully gained the benefits of a rest, and all that entails.
Josh:Excuse me.
Josh:And you are...
Josh:now just crossed onto the northern half of Oresk.
Josh:And so I think at this point, what would be useful for me is to know, what are you guys doing?
Tanner:We're still several days of travel away, aren't we?
Noah:Are we just booking it for Kharkov's place and going?
Jorge:Yeah, they were just going to start a grab, right?
Josh:You're, uh, assuming you keep this pace, and that you, like, rest in the orb, taking shifts, which I've already established that you can do to my own detriment, um, you can make it to Sarengrad with 48 hours straight of travel.
Noah:That's two days.
Noah:I can make two items in that time.
Jorge:Now, what about... Now, what if at night Lev takes the orb and then flies with his wings?
Josh:take longer like it would take the average person like sleeping when they needed to sleep and all of that about a week like six days or so to travel from your current point to sarangrad because you can fly and you don't need to stop um it's much shorter yes um i like what is lev speed
Jorge:30.
Jorge:And he has three actions.
Mike:300.
Josh:Okay, so the herb speed is 20, so you'd move one-third faster, but you'd need to make fort saves, because flying through the night will be an exertion.
Jorge:33% faster.
Noah:They know that we were super deep.
Noah:I don't think they expect us, even if, one, they don't expect us to show up in two days, but I think that they really would not expect us to show up in two days.
Jorge:That's fair.
Noah:They're probably like, we got a week.
Noah:These guys are going to try and sneak in.
Noah:Maybe they'll go for help.
Noah:They might try and leave the country.
Jorge:That's very true.
Jorge:Can we actually... We didn't have time to talk about it.
Jorge:Do you mind if... There's some crazy shit happened.
Jorge:I can't believe that Henrik just killed Damien.
Jorge:Like, that was so crazy.
Noah:In Henry's defense, he did look like a terrifying pile of flesh that someone had shoved wires into.
Josh:Okay.
Tanner:You're going to do that to me?
Jorge:I mean... That was crazy.
Tanner:Excuse me.
Tanner:There was no saving him.
Jorge:I thought we had to talk about it.
Jorge:I'm impressed.
Jorge:Don't get me wrong.
Jorge:I admire your work.
Jorge:I just didn't expect it from you.
Jorge:I thought I would have to go do it, you know?
Tanner:My only regret is that we didn't have time to figure out a way to do it more cleanly.
Jorge:I mean, you guys didn't even like me beheading that deep monstrosity before, so I'm just surprised.
Jorge:I'm not upset.
Jorge:Just surprised.
Mike:You have dissatisfaction with the kill?
Jorge:I wanted to take a moment to admire it.
Mike:You want to do it again?
Mike:No, no, no.
Mike:This question's not for you.
Jorge:Oh.
Josh:you
Mike:Henrik, your dissatisfaction is with the kill?
Mike:If you had to do it again, you'd say you'd be better?
Mike:More lethal?
Tanner:Yeah, there was some screaming and agony that I would have preferred to have been able to avoid.
Tanner:No, I don't crave to do it again.
Noah:I know.
Mike:Oh, okay.
Mike:I thought you were bloodthirsty for a second.
Tanner:I mean, for his sake.
Mike:But if you had to go... But if you could choose to do it again better, you would do it again?
Tanner:Yes, but it's for his sake.
Mike:Would you just do it once and be like, that was clean?
Mike:Or would you say like, this is not bad.
Mike:I could see myself doing this.
Tanner:And I would only do it the one additional time.
Mike:Okay.
Mike:Alright.
Mike:I'm just... Listen, we've had a rough trip.
Tanner:Yeah.
Mike:We've had a rough couple of weeks.
Mike:I'm just making sure everyone's head's still on straight because one of us...
Jorge:Oh.
Mike:One of us maybe got closer to a god than we'd prefer.
Noah:Yeah, should we, uh, should we talk about that part?
Noah:Hey, man, uh, are you feeling, oh, Josh, it's been several hours.
Jorge:Oh, what about that?
Josh:oh very much the latter
Noah:Does, it's been several hours since this happened.
Noah:Does it look like the silk one is, like, wrapped around his arm or, like, grown into his arm?
Noah:Cool.
Jorge:Well, yeah.
Mike:Can DiveX identify it?
Noah:If I touch it, does that piece feel like Lev, or does it feel like a being that is not connected to the weave and a Thessian?
Josh:Oh, and you're, like, you know, vibrate-y, are-you-part-of-this-world way.
Josh:Because, like, physically, it feels like the Silk.
Josh:It doesn't feel like Lev.
Josh:Also, it does not vibrate at the same frequency as the rest of... Actually, at the same frequency as the rest of Lev is probably wrong.
Josh:In that Lev's...
Josh:vibrations are ever so slightly starting to converge on that of the silk.
Jorge:yeah yeah um so uh you know yeah i just you know i i was looking at this
Josh:But no, the silk doesn't feel of this world in much the same way that having made contact with Beast or with Luz or any of those entities have felt.
Noah:Okay.
Mike:And divex identify it?
Josh:You can try.
Jorge:Thought it had to be done.
Jorge:And then, you know, at the end of all of this, you guys probably need to kill me.
Josh:So, before you roll, Mike, just to confirm, I assume you have a feat for this.
Josh:Traditionally, this would be an identify magic religion check.
Tanner:Hmm.
Mike:Oh, yeah.
Mike:I do have a fee for this.
Josh:I figured as much, I just wanted to clarify.
Mike:Specifically for identify magic, anything you say after that or anything, if this is a magic check religion, I could just la la la la.
Mike:No, it's not.
Mike:It's arcana.
Josh:Okay, yeah.
Josh:I figured as much.
Josh:Yeah, okay, so.
Josh:This is an Identify Magic Religion check.
Josh:You can do whatever the hell you want, I suppose.
Josh:Oh!
Josh:I'm sorry.
Josh:The dice bet isn't on.
Tanner:Boo.
Mike:It's not.
Josh:It's not on because I got lazy and never actually...
Mike:It's not rolling.
Noah:That's a crazy number.
Mike:Gosh, it's not.
Mike:So I rolled a negative... I rolled a negative 22 on a 20-sided die.
Tanner:Now, if it's not on, does that mean that Mike automatically gets given a 20?
Josh:Sure.
Josh:With the bonus, you just rolled a 20.
Tanner:You know that's not what I meant.
Jorge:Thank you.
Mike:This suspense is killing me.
Josh:You did.
Josh:You're talented like that.
Josh:The bot is running now.
Tanner:That was like some genie type stuff.
Tanner:Twisting.
Josh:So, I don't know if you guys have read Wish in Pathfinder, but in 5e, Wish doesn't actually say anything about, ha ha ha, turn it back on them.
Josh:It's just like, it's up to the DM if the thing they're doing fully resolves, if they're asking for too much.
Josh:But in Pathfinder, it's very explicit.
Josh:Unless you roll really well on the ritual, it will monkeypaw you.
Tanner:Hmm.
Mike:So clearly the deep does not want me to properly identify this kind of magic.
Noah:Daydream.
Josh:What's the total there?
Tanner:Thank you.
Mike:Yeah.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:43.
Josh:This is some weird shit.
Josh:frankly, this is very far out of Divex's wheelhouse.
Josh:Divex knows a lot about magic.
Josh:He doesn't know a lot about the gods and divinity, just by virtue of the fact that he hasn't been exposed to much of that.
Josh:This doesn't act in ways that Divex would expect magic to flow around it.
Jorge:Can I try to suss out what's happening to me?
Josh:Yeah, I mean, this is also a religion check for you, if you want to try and figure out what's going on.
Jorge:That's fine.
Josh:So, yeah.
Jorge:28.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:I think Lev would know enough to know that this is not the same as vampirism.
Josh:You did not drink the blood of Nox.
Josh:This is a boon, a curse.
Josh:It's something other than vampirism in that one of them is like forcibly taking power and the other is power granted.
Josh:It takes on very different effects.
Josh:Which, I mean, does have the implications associated with Nox is conscious enough to grant boons.
Noah:That was kind of a big thing you just said.
Josh:Like, yeah, take that as you will.
Jorge:Well, you know, plan A is I survive.
Noah:Are you sure?
Noah:They'll just even each other out.
Jorge:Honestly, plan A, we collect some deep blood and I take it.
Jorge:Yeah, we hardly balance.
Mike:so plan A is get increasingly close to causing an ascension which we do not want to do and plan B is kill you which we don't want to do
Josh:you
Jorge:I take that, I take the beast, we balance, bingo, bongo.
Noah:Okay.
Jorge:Plan B, you take some sovereign steel,
Jorge:And you embed it into my skull.
Noah:Oh.
Jorge:Well, plan A is we could pop that.
Tanner:Well, we correct on it.
Jorge:I could try taking it right before I fight with the unspoken stranger.
Jorge:Or, you know, yeah.
Mike:ever been referred to.
Jorge:Want to keep him off his toes, you know?
Noah:It's the kobolds.
Josh:I just remembered another person that should have been on, like, the television sequence that wasn't... Oh, well.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:I didn't include him, so... Do you want me to retcon it, or would you like it to be a surprise?
Mike:Lacey?
Jorge:Was it the armor?
Tanner:We correct.
Mike:Oh.
Mike:Leave it as a surprise.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:I mean, you could guess.
Josh:Like, you have only met so many NPCs.
Josh:But... It's the kobold.
Josh:Wait, what kobold?
Tanner:cars what's his name jack holloway oh i got most of the letters i got like
Noah:It's cars.
Josh:Yes, it's Cars.
Mike:It's Alexander.
Josh:Cars is a friend.
Mike:I love approximately correct names.
Jorge:Who's the guy that gave you warp steel?
Jorge:Warp glass.
Noah:Oh, that guy that Divex had a terrible interaction with that one time?
Jorge:Come back up.
Jorge:Or the picnic gang.
Noah:Yes.
Jorge:The picnic gang, too.
Josh:Jake Holloway.
Josh:For not hearing the name in like two years, that's pretty good.
Noah:Jack Holliday.
Mike:georgia gives us so many of them and then other people because like there's just so many names we're like todd and josh is like tim yes you guys met tim
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:It's close enough.
Josh:It's fine.
Noah:Okay, team.
Noah:First off, very important.
Noah:Are we storming the compound?
Jorge:So I say we get there.
Jorge:We try to find someone with access.
Jorge:We kidnap them.
Jorge:And you guys give me some time alone with them.
Jorge:And then we have credentials to get in there.
Jorge:And we go.
Jorge:Should we?
Jorge:What type of items do you think we need to do this?
Jorge:I know we talked about that silent bill.
Jorge:Could we make one of those?
Jorge:That was a while ago.
Noah:We got two days, so whatever we need to make, I can... I got two days to make it.
Josh:Hello.
Mike:Silent Bell.
Jorge:There's a silent bell that costs silent.
Mike:Oh, that sounds familiar.
Jorge:I forget what it's called.
Jorge:It was... We're thinking of using it for the deep sky.
Jorge:So it could power would kill us.
Noah:Is it the silent bell?
Tanner:Um.
Noah:Once a day, the silent bell creates an invisible wall surrounding a cube.
Noah:20 feet to a side.
Noah:It prevents sound from passing into or out of the cube for 10 minutes.
Noah:So yeah, it just creates a cube of silence that sound can't get in or out of.
Josh:Salute.
Jorge:We could make one of those if you can.
Jorge:Or does anyone else have any other ideas?
Noah:Level 9, I can make that.
Jorge:Bombs?
Noah:I can make anything up to or including level 17.
Noah:So if you've got any big things you want to make, this is the moment.
Tanner:Does that bell make us invisible?
Tanner:Is that what you said?
Tanner:Oh, because something to make us invisible would be cool too.
Noah:Silent.
Mike:The Bell of Disappearance.
Josh:Yeah, as it turns out, everything's a bell nowadays.
Noah:I mean, I could do a wand of disappearance.
Mike:We can make A-level wands?
Mike:What, does it cost just like 15 grand or something?
Josh:An 8th level wand is a level 17 item that costs 15,000 gold pieces and does also require the expenditure of the spell from somebody who knows to cast it into the wand.
Jorge:Can you make me a scroll?
Tanner:Unless we just want to use your casting of disappearance to get around.
Noah:So I'd have to cast it maybe today or tomorrow into whatever one this is.
Jorge:You can do a scroll as well, right, for half that?
Josh:Yes, but that would be one type.
Mike:How low do you think of me that you don't think I have disappearance prepped every day?
Mike:Yeah.
Noah:Whoa.
Noah:I'm so sorry.
Jorge:We need multiple.
Tanner:But you'd rather save spell slots.
Noah:His disappearance is a pretty high level.
Jorge:What about your invisibility sphere?
Mike:That is less potent, but much easier.
Mike:Invisibility Sphere is a third level.
Mike:I cast it at fifth to increase the duration to an hour.
Noah:I mean, I can do a fifth level wand.
Noah:We can have a fifth level.
Jorge:Or you can make a scroll, too.
Jorge:And I can cast the scroll, as well, if you make a scroll.
Noah:I can do a scroll wand.
Josh:The way of making a scroll is the same as making a wand.
Mike:Can
Josh:It costs half as much.
Josh:It still requires the spell to be cast into it.
Jorge:Which ones?
Josh:It is also one-time use, and it requires that you have arcane or default spellcasting in order to use it.
Mike:Do you have primal spellcasting?
Josh:I'm sorry.
Josh:Disappearance is arcane or occult.
Josh:I don't know if invisibility sphere is different.
Josh:Sphere.
Jorge:I also have a... I can activate any Scrolls.
Josh:Oh, right.
Jorge:So.
Mike:You have a V-digit, but you activate any scroll.
Josh:Stupid, stupid fromager things.
Tanner:Thank you.
Jorge:I'm a Scroll Thaumaturge.
Jorge:I studied Scroll Thaumaturgy in Vampire School.
Jorge:So I can cast any.
Mike:That's why you want scrolls.
Mike:Well, we could save money and make it a scroll.
Jorge:No, no, no, no.
Josh:Um...
Jorge:It's a one-time thing.
Jorge:I just have two more...
Jorge:scrolls of dimension door as well because i also have these hoods but i have those as backup i have howling winds i have some other stuff which is good for uh you know i can rip any scroll scroll thaumaturgy your scroll oh yeah
Mike:Is it once per day, or you can just rip any scroll?
Josh:So it's... You can activate scrolls of any magical tradition using Mythometer's Class DC for the Scrolls DC.
Mike:See me after class.
Josh:If the spell is on a spell that's from multiple traditions, you can choose which one to choose.
Mike:I wasn't showing this fear, though.
Tanner:Hmm.
Josh:Yeah.
Jorge:And I don't have to use an action to pull it out because I can just pull it up on my mirror like it's a teleprompter.
Josh:That's it.
Josh:I mean, it still consumes the scroll.
Josh:It just does it be in your pocket when you're reading it.
Josh:I was trying to find Invisibility Sphere and it wasn't coming up and that's because it's actually shared invisibility now.
Josh:Just keep that in mind.
Josh:But you have to share the invisibility when you cast shared invisibility.
Mike:Is it the same spell?
Mike:Do you have a sphere around you that is invisible?
Josh:No, you target, it's even up to 5 million creatures, and so long as they stay within 30 feet of you instead of 10 feet, they're invisible.
Mike:That's actually pretty nice.
Josh:Yeah.
Mike:I'll swap it.
Josh:But if anybody inside of the spell uses hostile action, everybody becomes visible again.
Josh:I don't know if that's the same as in the sphere, but... Okay.
Tanner:Please.
Noah:Thank you.
Mike:It is.
Mike:So you're saying it's shared invisibility.
Mike:Do I even have new?
Josh:Oh, sorry.
Josh:If you upcast it to 5th level, it's actually even up to 10 Will of Creatures for an hour.
Mike:Let me change character options.
Mike:Do I have new spells or somehow I have only legacy spells?
Josh:Yeah, I don't know if you have the remastered spells enabled on your...
Josh:Also, I'm saying this now, next campaign, we're only using remastered stuff.
Josh:It is a pain for me to have to find the legacy versions of feats and stuff when you give them to me in Foundry.
Josh:It's fine for now.
Josh:It is not happening next time.
Mike:Okay.
Noah:Hmm.
Josh:Also, for the most part, most spells are either the same or objective upgrades.
Josh:There are only a few that are downgrades from the Remaster, like from Legacy to the Remaster.
Josh:Also, it's interesting, Shared Invisibility has Subtle just as a built-in trait, so it just doesn't need any verbal components.
Mike:There goes all the speeds that I got to cast spells without people noticing.
Josh:That lets you attach subtle to other spells that aren't shared invisibility.
Mike:That's fine.
Josh:Don't make a noise like that, please.
Tanner:Oh, my God.
Tanner:That was crazy.
Josh:I didn't like that at all.
Josh:Okay, so what is happening?
Mike:I like...
Noah:Making two things.
Noah:What do we want those two things to be?
Noah:The... I did that.
Mike:Both of them.
Josh:Thank you.
Jorge:You want the... Do you want the... Scroll want... Bell.
Noah:Do we want the silent bell and the wand of disappearance?
Mike:So for people to cast Disappearance of the Arcane Occult, is that only Divex?
Noah:I can cast arcane stuff, but I don't know if it has to be of a level I can cast.
Noah:But I was assuming you would have it.
Josh:It just needs to be on a spell list you can cast.
Noah:Then I can do the wand.
Mike:That does free DiveX up to have something.
Jorge:I can do arcane as well.
Jorge:And divination.
Tanner:I do shield stuff.
Mike:Well, actually...
Tanner:I do mostly shield stuff.
Jorge:Divination's my soul forger, Josh.
Josh:Sorry, divination isn't a thing anymore, unfortunately.
Jorge:Oh.
Josh:Which is why I made that face.
Jorge:Ah.
Mike:I don't know if that actually frees... I mean, it gives Divex another casting of Disappearance, but I'd still probably prepare it.
Mike:It wouldn't add an 8th level because I have it so that I can cast it twice if need be because of Drained Bonded Item.
Josh:Thank you.
Mike:What was the other stuff they were looking at?
Noah:Um, the silent... Yeah, the silent bell.
Jorge:Share invisibility and the bell.
Tanner:Now these people are fanatical.
Mike:What is...
Jorge:I figured silent bell might be good because we can follow a worker home if they go home and then just silent bell and gank their ass and then bring them into the orb and then interrogate them.
Noah:Yeah, they might... Because we've dealt with...
Tanner:You know, loyal to the last breath.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:You know what's funny?
Jorge:What's funny is I've killed a lot of these people, and I can't believe that they trick some people with fake poison pills.
Jorge:Can you believe that?
Jorge:They will fake tamp down on one, and then people won't even check for a pulse, and then they just fucking walk away.
Jorge:Isn't that fucking crazy?
Jorge:That's so funny.
Josh:Great.
Josh:Now I have to come up with a reason for them to be giving employees fake poison pills.
Jorge:They had one, didn't they?
Tanner:so they can fake their death?
Josh:No, you found a guy with a real poison pill.
Noah:Thank you.
Jorge:Oh, he just did that.
Josh:He had an actual capsule of cyanide in his mouth.
Josh:Oh, sorry, no.
Josh:We're talking about how he had a...
Josh:Okay.
Josh:I misunderstood what you were saying.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:It is a pill of feigned death, not a pill of I think this is going to kill me, and then whoops, it turns out it's not effective.
Josh:That's what I thought you meant.
Jorge:Oh, no, no, no.
Josh:Okay, yeah, no, they absolutely do have feigned death.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:It's like up there with people not asking if other people are vampires.
Jorge:I mean, do you hear my accent?
Jorge:Of course I am.
Jorge:Continue.
Mike:I like the silent bell because it's not something we can get from a spell.
Mike:As far as I understand, this effect is not... We can't get it.
Noah:Okay.
Noah:Silent bell.
Mike:And this can also be used by anyone.
Noah:Yeah.
Jorge:Yes.
Noah:Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
Mike:Yeah.
Mike:No.
Jorge:uh anything else anything else we should do and also we don't all need to be invisible if most of us are in this sphere for example if we can get some credentials i can disguise myself as an employee just move my way in there maybe someone's outside with me maybe not you guys can be in you know the orb
Mike:It's... There's no sound.
Noah:The bell itself makes a sound, but then everything else gets silent.
Mike:Someone binds the bell and rings it, and they're like,
Mike:Sure.
Josh:Thank you.
Mike:Sure.
Noah:Well, I'll get started on the silent bell, and then we think of a second thing.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:One of the fun things, too, is I've seen some of these outposts.
Jorge:They have this waterfall that gets rid of enchantments.
Jorge:Good thing I'm a physical guy, so my makeup doesn't get washed off.
Josh:Well, so I will say, you, Divex, or Henrik can all make... I don't know, I really wish there was a history stat, just like a lore check.
Jorge:Can I make an esoteric check?
Josh:No.
Jorge:It's lore.
Josh:Yeah, but it's not that lore.
Josh:Actually, wait, what rank lore do you have?
Jorge:Legendary.
Josh:Oh, yeah.
Josh:You should be legendary.
Josh:Just subtract two, because you have your APB applied to it, and I don't think that counts.
Jorge:Oh, yeah.
Tanner:You know what's interesting, Josh?
Jorge:Wait, for my Esoterica?
Josh:You have a plus two APB to your Esoterica, but not to personal history.
Jorge:Oh, OK.
Jorge:So you meant with a different lore.
Jorge:OK, OK.
Josh:Yeah.
Jorge:Because Azteca is a lore.
Josh:I understand.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:But I'm just using lures like a stand-in for remembering something in your personal history.
Josh:It's not actually an esoteric check.
Josh:I apologize, Tanner.
Josh:I think I cut you off.
Tanner:I don't know if this was your doing, but when I look on Foundry at my skills, under the Lore Skills section is Warfare Lore from my background, and then Personal History.
Josh:Yes, I put that there, because I got annoyed that there isn't one.
Tanner:Fair.
Jorge:Wait, so what should I be rolling?
Jorge:Just a... Gotcha, gotcha.
Josh:The modifier would probably be your esoteric check minus two.
Josh:Yes.
Tanner:I got a 38.
Josh:Okay.
Noah:So I roll to make this silent bell.
Jorge:43.
Noah:And I got a 43, but it was also a natural one.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Well, one second.
Tanner:You make a very loud bell.
Josh:So...
Noah:Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
Josh:fundamentally, a silent bell doesn't have a clapper in the middle.
Josh:So... You just make a regular bell.
Noah:This one does.
Noah:I messed up.
Josh:So this is a level 9 item, which means the DC to craft it was 26.
Josh:What did you get?
Josh:A 43 is normally a crit, but the natural one that just goes down to a regular success.
Noah:I got a natural one for a 43.
Noah:I don't even know why I rolled.
Josh:You still produce it.
Tanner:You are the greatest inventor in the world.
Josh:It does, like, cost full, like, cost, though, if you want to make it today, though, because you didn't create it.
Noah:I come in with this loud as heck bell.
Noah:I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, I messed up.
Noah:I ripped the clapper out.
Noah:Yeah, I will.
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:And what else?
Josh:Oh, sorry, what did we get for the history checks?
Tanner:38.
Josh:48 and 49 is the highest, which actually thematically makes sense.
Mike:49.
Jorge:43.
Josh:Divex would have the most interaction with this by virtue of his employment.
Josh:So, Divex, if you recall, the general setup from when you went to your own place of work before everything that happened happened...
Josh:uh was very simple you went into uh specifically like there are buildings throughout kirov and you imagine throughout Syrin grant that are unmarked generic like office buildings uh that are actually fronts for the research complexes um underneath because the general mo is to bury these things underground
Josh:um the one that you went to uh you would go in you would have like a traditional id uh that would be scanned by a security guard at the front if that didn't match they would assume that you were here mistakenly and escort you back off of the premises
Josh:Beyond that, you go back further into the building itself, which is set up to look like a standard office building.
Josh:It just doesn't have anybody working in it right now.
Josh:But near the back, one of the back rooms, you know there's a spot for a spirit print, which essentially records some unique fingerprinting of the person.
Josh:You guys have encountered that before in the entrance to...
Noah:to Larry.
Josh:one bit of the trip buried underneath Junction in the Gulch.
Josh:And then, once you're through that, you pass by another guard checkpoint.
Josh:And that guard checkpoint is equipped with a Liar's Downfall, which is the thing that Lev mentioned.
Josh:It is a waterfall that is actual real water, but on top of that is enchanted to dispel magical effects that pass through it.
Josh:I don't know if you would have an idea of how high a counteract check modifier that has, but I think you can be relatively confident that it's not a low-level counteract check.
Josh:But once you make it through that checkpoint as well, there's an elevator that descends into the complex itself.
Josh:Each complex is different, so I don't know if you have on-hand knowledge of this particular complex that you're headed towards, but you do know that, generally speaking, they are broken up by clearance level.
Josh:The further down you go, the higher clearance you need.
Josh:Clearance is...
Josh:proven by your ID badge, where ID badges have inherent clearance on that level.
Josh:The clearance being a color, red being the least clearance, you get to the top floor, and then it goes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and ultraviolet being, like, heads of the first house and full access to the whole facility.
Mike:Give me one second.
Josh:No.
Mike:I thought to start taking notes.
Mike:So, card to get into the building.
Mike:You scan a card at the front.
Mike:Spirit print check at the back, which opens to Liar's... Yeah.
Josh:card at the front, add a security guard.
Jorge:you know you know what i thought yeah what i forgot to say is do you think that rex rashmont's father was a phil or a skin he had a spirit print
Josh:Like, there's a real person there.
Josh:And then... I mean...
Tanner:Hmm.
Mike:Father was a...
Josh:So, without a rule, I think there's very little for you to believe that Ashmon's father was a Reskian, just by virtue of his ethnic makeup meeting him.
Josh:But I think it's more like he also has a lock.
Jorge:OK.
Josh:The technology is not a Reskian-specific.
Jorge:OK.
Josh:But yeah, so ID with guard, spirit print, second checkpoint with guards and liar's downfall, which is a real waterfall that also attempts a counteract check to dispel magic, elevator down into the complex, and then different parts of the complex are gated depending on the clearance associated with the ID.
Jorge:So does everyone just show up soaking wet to work?
Josh:No, it magically dries off.
Jorge:Oh.
Josh:But it is water.
Jorge:Would that mess up a disguise kit?
Josh:if the disguise is put on poorly.
Jorge:Okay.
Mike:So to review Spirit Prince, this is something that we can view with the scanner from the medbay.
Josh:Yeah, you have throughout your journeys found two different ways that you could possibly defeat a spirit print.
Josh:The first is get the person whose spirit is associated with the print and just chuck them in front of the scanner.
Josh:Caveat being they have to be conscious.
Josh:Or you can, using the medical equipment that you salvaged from the medbay from the trip, both look at somebody's spirit print as well as possibly recreate it.
Josh:There are dangers using that on you guys because you don't have threads, but in general it is possible.
Mike:Use memory scanner to manipulate an existing spirit print.
Josh:And of course all of that is assuming you're going through the front door.
Josh:Divex would not have not gone through the front door, so that's what he knows of the process.
Mike:So we don't have tethers, is the term?
Josh:uh friends courts whatever court court is probably the term that i have used in the past um i believe
Mike:Boards.
Mike:threads yeah so this this at least our understanding thus far is that that means that changes to our spirit print we don't have an external cognitive self pushing the print back to us it's we change the form um okay
Josh:Yeah, so it's not immediately dangerous, but you don't have a safety mechanism to return back to you, so you're fairly confident if you left it like that long enough, eventually you'd stop being you and you'd start being whoever's spirit print you copied in your body.
Jorge:I don't, for me, I think Tell would just, no, Mir would just, you know, push it back.
Josh:You can lick that.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Now, what shall we do?
Mike:I think we should head there and scope it out.
Tanner:We could also check with the Sparrows, you know, see if they have any experience with these break-ins.
Jorge:Maybe they got the man on the inside.
Mike:Or they have some sort of long shot that if they had to break in under time pressures or extenuating circumstances, this is the plan that they would do.
Jorge:Leo, come on, buddy.
Mike:And then we can
Jorge:All right, let's do it.
Mike:look at it and correct it.
Jorge:I say we don't go to the... I don't know.
Jorge:We're in kind of a time crunch, so...
Tanner:You don't want to go where?
Jorge:I was going to say we probably shouldn't go to the headquarters ourselves because we might risk getting their cover blown.
Jorge:But honestly, if we blow up Serengrad's research headquarters, they're probably going to try to kill them anyway.
Jorge:Oh, I know.
Tanner:Well, we could probably find an external safe house and, you know, get word.
Jorge:I know a few.
Jorge:They don't like me talking with the normal sparrows.
Jorge:I scare some of them.
Josh:Yeah, I would say that out of the two of you, Henrik is more likely to know a safe house that is in active use by card-carrying members of the Sparrows.
Jorge:Is or isn't?
Tanner:I do not understand your sparrows.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:Lev is more likely to be able to get in touch with other members of his splinter group.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:Just by virtue of the work that he does, he's not going to have any real inroads into the Sparrows as a main organization.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Do you want to go with your sparrows or my sparrows?
Tanner:They don't seem to stand for what I stand for.
Jorge:No, we do.
Jorge:We do.
Jorge:Especially them.
Jorge:You know.
Tanner:I guess it's just more extreme methods.
Jorge:Is this a more extreme time?
Jorge:Maybe.
Jorge:We can go your route.
Jorge:I don't want to jump on any toes.
Jorge:You were the sparrow first, you know?
Josh:That's very meta.
Jorge:Chronologically, I might be a lot older than you, but sure.
Tanner:Okay, good plan, good plan.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Noah is off camera right now, but at some point when he returns, you guys do have one more item you can craft.
Josh:We can retcon that in as having been done over this past day.
Jorge:Cool cool cool.
Josh:So you guys spend the two days discussing strategy at least a little bit, trying to figure out what you're going to do as you traverse fairly rapidly all things considered over the frozen tundra that is most of Oresk.
Josh:The Oreskian population is very concentrated on the coast, just because it is slightly more bearable to live there than it is out at the fields that you're crossing over right now.
Josh:But every once in a while you do have to go out of your way just to make sure that you're not spotted by a traveling group, whether or not they're related to the actual arresting government, or move out of a smaller hunting settlement.
Josh:But you do eventually, quickly, make it to the outskirts of what you would recognize to be Sarengrad.
Josh:Sarengrad itself is a relatively large city.
Josh:It's one of the more populous cities on all things in the Occident.
Josh:It is... Excuse me.
Josh:Um...
Josh:Bustling is probably the long term.
Josh:People don't loiter so much, given that the temperature here can drop way below freezing at the drop of a hat.
Josh:It never actually really goes above freezing or anywhere close to that.
Josh:But there are things to mitigate that.
Josh:The roads are lined with these warming street lamps.
Josh:The interiors of the buildings here are all made out of the same stone that you've probably expected from the architecture of the rest of the Occident.
Josh:The interiors are warm and inviting.
Josh:There's a lot of color here that maybe you wouldn't have expected given the perhaps downward monotone introduction so far that you've had to Orestians outside of Orest.
Josh:But...
Josh:There is a lot of color, both in the architecture, like painted yellows and oranges and blues on the roofs of houses and on paneling and stuff like that, just to add a color to the snow, and also in the clothing that the people who are moving around wear.
Josh:Everybody is super bubbled up.
Josh:You barely see people's faces, which, if anything, is probably good for navigating around the city for you guys.
Josh:But it is not all dour grays.
Josh:and whites and blacks.
Josh:It is lots of splashes of color.
Josh:Kind of, if anything, a statement against the rest of the country that they have to live in.
Josh:As you arrive on the outskirts, your orb is floating in the air.
Josh:You're, like, tracking so that a cloud is above you, so if anybody looks up, they just see a cloud instead of the orb.
Josh:You can see that the city itself is, and this is most familiar to the Tuariscans who lived here,
Josh:The city is set in this kind of crescent.
Josh:You know that the outskirts, especially, are where the sparrows are most concentrated, because those are the furthest away from the city center and the government center in Sarengrad, and as such, they are...
Josh:less well taken care of by the socioeconomic structure in Sarenbrad.
Josh:You know that as you move closer towards the center of the crescent, it eventually culminates in a central building that is the government building, in that that is both the name and the function of the building.
Josh:It is where...
Josh:It's not where the houses work out of, because the houses are kind of more auxiliary particular functions.
Josh:Besides the first house, there's the third house which manages, I believe, hospitals and the like, and there's the fifth house which manages agricultural studies and the like.
Josh:But there is a central government in Oresk that is very military-focused.
Josh:And it is operated out of the government building in the center of town.
Josh:You know that if you head further on the other side from where you're approaching in Sarengrad, there is a very large permanent military encampment.
Josh:That is where most of the people who are performing their mandatory military service camp out.
Josh:It is also probably where you'll start to find more of the high-ranking generals and the like that are situated in Sarengrad, if that's something you're interested in pursuing.
Josh:But for your purposes, if you're looking for the Sparrows and you're looking for a safe house, the ones that Henrik would be familiar with are all on the outskirts of the southern part of the city, kind of where you're approaching from.
Josh:The furthest away from the lifelines of the city.
Jorge:I would also still like to get a message out for my band of weirdos to let them know.
Josh:You know where the, as far as we're aware, active drop boxes are.
Josh:What message are you leaving that you just want to swing by and drop off?
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:I would like to reach out to some of my comrades if any are in the area to talk, debrief, new mission, not give any information about which safe house we're going to, what's the mission.
Jorge:or even my name, just being like, this is our Dropbox system, information, looking for potential meetup.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:You know to check back in a few hours, ideally, in a day or two on the worse end, to see if anybody has picked it up and has left a response.
Jorge:Also, all of us got disguised.
Jorge:I'm going to disguise all of us to look different.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:I'm not going to make you roll a deception yet, because you will be bundled up and you will be on the least government-worthy... Not yet.
Jorge:We're not going through a military checkpoint right now.
Jorge:It's just commoners that I'm hoping Lev could beat.
Josh:Okay, yeah.
Josh:As far as you're aware, before you start to interact with the much more strict parts of the rescue, like military and government, you have to get further into the city.
Josh:You can stay away from that so long as you stay further on the outskirts.
Josh:You... I don't know where the research complex is, but you would probably guess it's close to city center.
Jorge:Yeah.
Tanner:Alright, I guess we'll... Yeah, seek out a safe house.
Jorge:All right, young Sparrow, leave school.
Josh:Um...
Josh:Okay, so you start navigating towards where you would know the safe house to be.
Josh:You pass by, I think, the most prominent part, aside from all of the staples of poorer areas.
Josh:Like, clearly the architecture here, the houses and stuff are more run down, less well taken care of.
Josh:The streets aren't...
Josh:plowed here.
Josh:They just can't afford the people to go shovel them, so it's really just more like desire trails of people walking through the snow, just guarding the bits that they need instead of getting the full paved walkways.
Josh:But there is, and this is most comfortably familiar to Henrik, I would think, there is every once in a while you can spot little graffiti, little bits of resistance of the Golden Sparrow iconography here.
Josh:Just
Josh:Like, only for the average person to show support in a way that would immediately bring the wrath of the First House and the rest of the arresting government down on them.
Josh:The most prominent of which you actually pass by as there is this mural painted on the side of what looks to be a closed-down storefront, some kind of restaurant, of what you would know to be Masha, the leader of the Golden Sparrows.
Josh:Um...
Josh:very much in a dramatized saint-like appearance.
Josh:She's got this floating, floating white robe on, the platinum skin, the floating golden hair, and...
Josh:most significantly where the golden sparrow's namesake comes from.
Josh:Her two lungs in her chest are glowing through her chest, through the shirt, out in this bright golden glow that almost forms the shape that's stylized into the wings of a sparrow.
Josh:the two members of the party who haven't really visited Sarengrad and would not be familiar with this iconography, this is a new thing, that you're learning that the Golden Sparrows are led by a deified person who supposedly has bestowed actual ability onto their followers as this kind of semi-religious figure, in a way.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:He's been around a long time and has successfully fought off the arresting government for a long time.
Josh:So there's maybe something to the rumors.
Josh:but definitely a DFA figure in some way.
Josh:Either way, as you navigate through the streets, take some side paths, make sure you're not being followed, which is unlikely this far away from the government center.
Josh:You can find your way into one particularly nondescript, as far as it can be amidst all of the other houses, shack, almost, that you know to be a safe house.
Josh:There's a particular way of marking.
Josh:You leave certain stones at different parts on the windowsill to...
Josh:uh show to others passers-by that it is occupied um and you know that if you wait here for a little bit eventually somebody from the sparrows will come by and see you know who's in the safe house and why um
Tanner:Very well.
Tanner:I'll set it up.
Jorge:Do you want to, while you're doing that, do you mind if I go grab a pierogi or two?
Tanner:Sure, yeah, you can do your thing.
Jorge:OK.
Tanner:Is that your actual plan?
Jorge:Yeah.
Tanner:Okay.
Jorge:I haven't been back in the wild, you know?
Tanner:Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead.
Jorge:I'd actually like to see if there are pierogis or any other food.
Josh:I mean, there's definitely food here.
Josh:Every culture, both in this setting and in real life, has its fried dumpling.
Josh:We will say that the Westmans have a pierogi.
Josh:What's cool is that, you know, given 600 years of change, living in...
Josh:the terribly inhospitable area that is Oresk, the produce here are actually mildly curative.
Josh:After you eat a serving of the food here, regardless of the actual makeup of it, just due to the agricultural and the bio-organic engineering built into the inputs into the food, you reduce your doomed condition by one for ten minutes.
Jorge:I stack up on a bunch of food.
Jorge:A lot of grocery shopping.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:I will say it takes a minute, being generous, to eat a serving of the food, and you become immune to the condition for six hours after doing it, but it does for the next ten minutes after eating it.
Josh:It removes the condition.
Jorge:Cool.
Josh:So you can stock up on some food as you're exploring.
Jorge:And I would like to also send out to the network that I will
Jorge:Be with them tonight.
Jorge:Anyone who can't.
Jorge:If they respond to the message.
Josh:I mean, like, you're over here for a little bit as you're going out shopping and stuff, so I don't know if you would have received a response from your first message in the time, but you can see after a little bit if somebody has responded.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:They would understand that urgency is important from that.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:Then I go join them.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Um...
Josh:I don't want to go too, too far.
Josh:Noah, can you just give some sign that you're still around?
Josh:I don't want to continue if you're, like, busy doing something else.
Josh:It's totally fine.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:Okay, sure.
Jorge:Yep.
Josh:Ready.
Josh:Okay, great.
Josh:Dawn gets a pierogi as well.
Josh:Alrighty, so you're making it to the safe house, and it's not too long.
Josh:You know that the Sparrows have people who watch their safe houses to see if people come in, so it takes about like an hour and a half, maybe an hour and 45 minutes before the four of you having, like those who went on a little bit of an excursion and having returned.
Josh:here, a quick wrapping on the outside of the door, in a pattern that Hamricky would be familiar with as one of the approved patterns from the Sparrows.
Tanner:I give the appropriate response or just open the door if that's the appropriate response.
Josh:The appropriate response is to open the door.
Josh:So you do so, and there is a elephant male
Josh:maybe 12.
Josh:Like a kid.
Josh:Bundled up in multiple layers of clothing.
Josh:Big ol' beanie on, and then a hood pulled over it.
Josh:You can really only make out this kid's eyes, and the little two points from his ears as they poke out underneath his hat into the hood.
Josh:And he looks up at you, and he says...
Josh:Hello, I have, um, come to get you?
Josh:Yes?
Tanner:Yes, hello.
Tanner:Are you going to bring us somewhere or are you going to bring other people here?
Josh:I was going to bring you to a second area.
Josh:First, are you injured?
Josh:I have.
Josh:And he reaches into... His jacket is twice the size he is.
Josh:And he pulls out what you would recognize to be a standard healer's kit.
Josh:If you're here because you're injured, I know how to apply bandage.
Josh:Alright.
Tanner:Hello.
Tanner:No, I'm okay.
Tanner:I'm okay.
Tanner:I've been away for a while.
Tanner:I need to check in with folks.
Josh:Okay, yes.
Josh:I was told you have to move from this safe house because it is old and has rotated away.
Josh:You're fine for now, but not too much longer.
Josh:So we can move to second location.
Tanner:Okay.
Tanner:Is Josh's Lev out right now?
Tanner:Out and about?
Josh:No, at this point Lev would have returned.
Tanner:Okay.
Jorge:Lev is going to offer him a... Yeah, go.
Josh:It's not...
Josh:I was just going to say, it's not been long enough for Lev to have heard back from his people, so that's still out there in the world, but he would at this point have returned from his food shopping.
Jorge:Lev is going to offer him a pierogi.
Jorge:Does he accept?
Josh:He will scarf it down immediately.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:As I hand him the pierogi, I'm going to use this as an opportunity to stare into him and see if I actually think he's a sparrow.
Josh:Royal Society check or Deception check.
Josh:I think both would fit here.
Jorge:51 for deception.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:51.
Josh:I mean, I think at this point, Lev is pretty confident that he's gotten good at beating people.
Josh:This kid is young, but you're fairly confident he is actually a member of the Sparrows.
Josh:Either that, or he's the best actor you've met for, like, a 12-year-old kid.
Jorge:I hand him another pierogi and then we can go.
Josh:Scratch that down immediately.
Josh:Like, you don't even see him chew.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:It's in the mouth and down.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:How much were pierogies?
Josh:It'd be a silver piece for two cervix.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:It's not expensive.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:I would have gotten 10.
Jorge:One gold gives you 20.
Josh:Yeah, one gold would give you 20 cervix.
Jorge:I get like a tray for two gold and then put in my... Yeah, I put it in my bag of holding, but I just wanted a tray.
Josh:You get like a catering tray that you take out?
Josh:Sure.
Josh:It comes with a little magic sterno, too.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:That's fine.
Jorge:Yeah, so I give him a few, and then we can go.
Josh:Yeah, absolutely.
Josh:I'd say.
Josh:Okay, so there are four of you.
Josh:We're not supposed to go in a group, so do you have somebody communicating with each other?
Josh:Because I can bring one of you, and then the rest can follow, but we all go together as suspenders.
Josh:We have to go into town.
Tanner:yeah I think again out of schism does schism have a range
Josh:In theory, yes.
Josh:You guys would not yet have found it.
Jorge:OK, one second.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:What if you, can you, do you mind giving us a moment?
Josh:Well, I can't... If I wait outside, it looks weird.
Josh:So either let me in, and then I can close my ears like this, or... Like... Okay.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:Yeah, let's come inside.
Jorge:Come inside.
Jorge:You want to just hop in the orb and you go Henrik?
Tanner:Oh, yeah, that would work.
Tanner:Yeah.
Jorge:All right.
Noah:Thank you.
Jorge:We'll just do that.
Jorge:Give us a moment, friend.
Jorge:And then whoever has the orb.
Josh:Wait, do I need to use my eyes?
Jorge:No, you're good.
Jorge:Whoever has the orb can pull it out, and then we just go in it.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:Okay.
Jorge:And Hunter can pocket it.
Josh:Okay, sure.
Josh:Alrighty.
Josh:So, Henrik has the three of you and an orb.
Josh:Henrik, you can follow the kid.
Josh:Okay, so we're gonna go this way.
Josh:Do you have valid ID?
Josh:It's okay if you don't.
Tanner:I... I did.
Josh:I just... Okay, do you think we should go through the checkpoint, or should we find another way?
Tanner:I don't know if... I don't know if it's valid anymore.
Tanner:I used to.
Josh:Okay, it'll take a little bit longer, but I know a way through.
Tanner:I don't think we should go through the checkpoint.
Josh:You're just gonna have to squeeze.
Tanner:Okay.
Josh:And he can take you through, like, further into what would be these, like, ghetto slums area.
Josh:Kind of circumnavigating around where we know the, like, barrier, that wall that would lead into the city proper, where you would have to pass through a checkpoint is.
Josh:Until eventually you come across a storefront that is...
Josh:It looks like it's a restaurant of some kind.
Josh:It is not populated.
Josh:Like, the place that Lev picked up the pierogies would have had people in it, like, actively buying food, kind of a joyous kind of environment.
Josh:Not the case here.
Josh:It's, like, greasy and dirty, and there's one very...
Josh:disinterested person sat behind the register who looks up, sees the kid, sees you, kind of does a little nod, and then just goes back to whatever crossword they have on the newspaper that's taking their attention.
Tanner:Uh huh.
Josh:The kid walks past the bar into the restaurant, into the kitchen area behind.
Josh:and then past the kitchen in the back there's like a set of trash cans and stuff and he will pull one out of the way and there is a crack in the wall that is wide enough for him to swish through maybe wide enough for you to swish through that looks like it passes past the wall because this is up against the border of the city into another building on the other side um
Tanner:Uh huh.
Tanner:Uh huh.
Tanner:Uh huh.
Josh:So you're going to have to squish a little bit or figure out how to get through.
Tanner:Uh-huh.
Josh:But there is a way to get through this way that isn't going through the checkpoint.
Tanner:Right.
Tanner:Uh, I mean... I'm not a small person, necessarily.
Tanner:Does it... Oh, can't we just pilot the orb through?
Josh:I would need you, if you're trying to squish through, to make an acrobatics check.
Josh:Yeah, you could get in the urban pilot or through.
Josh:That would work as well.
Josh:The image of Henrik trying to squeeze through a kid-sized hole in the wall is also funny to me, so either one works.
Noah:Bye.
Tanner:Push the shield through first.
Tanner:Shield first and then... Yeah.
Josh:Okay, so you're getting into the orb and piloting through, and then pop back up on the other side?
Tanner:Yeah.
Jorge:This kid's fucking awful at his job.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:By all means, we should be first house members with all this deck.
Jorge:So either he's leading us to an ambush or he's fucking awful at his job.
Josh:You guys make it through the checkpoint.
Josh:He has this, like, hook thing that he takes, like a chimney poke, that he puts through the hole and then slides the garbage can back into place that he moved out of the way, and then he hangs the hook back up.
Josh:And you find yourselves in a living room.
Josh:Well-decorated.
Josh:There is an immediate transition here from the environment you were in before to this area.
Josh:It's warm in here.
Josh:There's, like...
Josh:ornate, like, antique patterned rugs.
Josh:There's cushy furniture.
Josh:This place looks well lived in, but well kept.
Josh:And also, the monetary value of the things in here are, like, orders of magnitude greater than anything you would see in the other side of the city.
Josh:But nobody's home.
Josh:And you can just walk out through the living room, out through the front door, and then down the stairs and you find yourselves in Sarengrad proper.
Josh:Well paved roads, slightly more bustling atmosphere here.
Josh:Still not a lot of people out on the roads, but the people who are here are definitely walking at a more leisurely pace than the people out in the slums that were only outside when they had a place to go.
Josh:And that's it.
Josh:but almost as if in a way to try and confuse you.
Josh:You are led down a number of side streets and doubling back and doing what you're pretty confident are just circles through a bunch of different areas until you find yourself at, once again, unmarked, just like everything else here, another house that he will go up, do a separate knock at, and then, without even waiting for a response, open the door and say, come on, into here.
Tanner:sure okay i brought my friends with me uh you know through some
Josh:um as you go in similarly like well furnished house he brings you to the living room and he gestures to one of like a couch that is off to the side there's a fireplace going off in the corner uh there's a bookshelf of what wants to be a bunch of arresting history books um okay so you're gonna wait here um and then someone will come out to talk to you
Tanner:magical means.
Josh:Yeah, I saw the ball.
Tanner:I'm going to bring them out.
Tanner:Is that okay?
Josh:That's fine.
Noah:Bye.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:And then he will hold out his hand.
Tanner:I will give him a gold piece.
Josh:Eyes grow wide.
Josh:Oh, thank you, mister.
Josh:And he runs out.
Josh:Scampers out is probably more accurate.
Josh:And you four are now in a comfy, if still empty, living room.
Jorge:Come on, Leo.
Noah:This is nice.
Noah:This is not what I remember from living around here.
Tanner:Yeah, they've had, instead of only having 80 years or so to build civilization, they've had quite some time.
Josh:Also, if you recall, this particular location did have a thousand-ton palladium rod dropped on it from orbit, so it did not exist in your time.
Tanner:And...
Noah:Yeah, a lot less palladium.
Jorge:So
Tanner:Something that I do want to say before we get too far into this is, you know, I know we've spent the last couple months really painting a bad picture of Oresk and the government.
Noah:That pro guy was very nice.
Tanner:But there are good people here.
Tanner:I mean, people that live normal lives, you know, there's hardship.
Tanner:But, you know, I'm sure the people you bought the pierogies from are kind people.
Josh:Thank you.
Jorge:oh no i love our country why do you think i killed so many people for it and for and for you know an emotional tieback he's not from our class though henrik you know
Tanner:I was... It was mostly... I guess it was mostly for Dawn.
Noah:Patriotism.
Tanner:You know, we... You know, we've painted a very dark picture of this.
Tanner:Well, Divex, you know, is a rescue, and he... Hmm.
Noah:So in this country, and I just have to get this straight, because in where I come from, everyone is in very specific groups that are actively against each other.
Noah:Everyone is not of the same mind here, but they live together.
Jorge:day.
Tanner:yes well essentially the bad people that we've spoken about you know the first house the other houses the kind of ruling class uh you know have their very harsh you know ways of doing things um and uh due to the nature of you know living in this kind of environment most people are forced to just abide by that
Josh:Thank you.
Tanner:But the Sparrows are an example of people who don't agree and try to bring some change.
Tanner:And we don't coexist very well.
Noah:Okay.
Jorge:Well, yeah.
Noah:I think I understand the situation here.
Noah:The golden...
Tanner:The Sparrows, as you see, we've been doing very secretive things the last hour or two.
Tanner:It's because there's not open communication there.
Jorge:And in my group, the bats are like disparers.
Jorge:But we don't call ourselves the bats.
Jorge:I was just trying to get that running.
Jorge:Everyone in the group thought it was stupid.
Jorge:I'm just going to be honest with you guys.
Jorge:But I really like the name.
Tanner:So you tried for the bats and they shot it down.
Jorge:Oh, I tried.
Jorge:And you know, what was his name?
Jorge:Rojack?
Jorge:Josh, how do you say his name?
Josh:We'll check.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:We'll check.
Jorge:He said no.
Noah:So we... Oh.
Jorge:Do you know him, Enderik?
Tanner:Did you report to Roychek?
Jorge:Oops.
Tanner:That's fascinating.
Jorge:Do you know?
Tanner:I also reported to Roychek.
Jorge:Oh, yeah.
Mike:I mean, who hasn't, you know?
Jorge:Well, good guy.
Tanner:Dawn definitely hasn't.
Noah:High chance I killed Roy Scheck if he existed in my world.
Mike:You just killed a lot of people?
Mike:Or Roychick sounds like a guy you'd kill?
Josh:Thank you.
Noah:I don't know if... He's a vampire.
Noah:I did actively work against... My number one... I don't know how much lore you guys know about my world.
Noah:There was a group called the Children of Nox who... You guys remember Augie, right?
Jorge:oh yes oh cool yeah this guy isn't uh you know never mind let's go
Noah:They just actively experimented on people.
Tanner:Mhm, mhm.
Noah:He was one of them.
Mike:Huh?
Noah:Crazy in the other world.
Noah:Henrik, who are we going to meet with?
Noah:Is it going to be that lady with her lungs growing out of her chest or someone else?
Tanner:So that's Masha.
Tanner:She kind of is the leader of everything.
Tanner:I don't really see her very often.
Tanner:I doubt it'll be her.
Tanner:For one thing, I don't know if they know that it's us that are here.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:Yeah, so I think they're probably going to try to ambush us.
Jorge:And I say as I try to look out any windows, if there are.
Tanner:Who is they?
Tanner:Who's they?
Jorge:These sparrows, why would they think we're sparrows?
Josh:Roll a perception check.
Tanner:Well, because... Oh, I knew the signs.
Jorge:Oh, yeah, you know the signs of an old washed up thing from years ago.
Jorge:35.
Tanner:I was here like eight months ago.
Tanner:No, I guess it was like a year and a half.
Josh:It was about a year.
Josh:It's been about a year since you've last been in Seragred.
Josh:Which is crazy to think about from, like, a character growth perspective.
Josh:Like, you leave just some guy with a spiky shield and you come back as a demigod.
Mike:You know.
Jorge:Yeah, think about Kharkov.
Josh:Like, that's just a huge growth.
Jorge:Yeah, think about Kharkov.
Tanner:And the greatest doctor of all time.
Jorge:He's just like, what the fuck?
Josh:Yes, the greatest doctor of all time with the greatest crafter of multiple possible parallel universes.
Jorge:Yes.
Josh:And then also some guy who's just so good at magic.
Josh:And a vampire.
Josh:Who is now, like, possibly the mortal representation of thought-to-be-dead Thessium.
Jorge:Just a vampire.
Josh:I don't know how you want to take that as a good thing or a bad thing, but it's happened.
Mike:We're showing up like the actual four horses of the apocalypse.
Noah:We're the good guys
Mike:They're like, Nox is alive enough to empower someone?
Mike:Someone from an apocalyptic other world that kills people?
Mike:The guy that used to be on our side but now has a death shield?
Mike:And an insanely powerful arch wizard that used to work at the first house?
Mike:We're like, no, we're sparrows.
Josh:Thank you.
Mike:Trust us.
Jorge:That was wrongfully accused and fled the country.
Tanner:I had a spiky shield when I left.
Tanner:The spikes are just more fun now.
Noah:Listen, listen, Sparrows, we couldn't tell you exactly what it is we stand for and what we want, but we could tell you exactly who we don't like.
Mike:Don't be rude.
Jorge:I look out the window.
Jorge:Do I see anyone?
Jorge:35.
Josh:You see people occasionally walking by.
Josh:Nobody that strikes you as, oh, that dude's going to ambush us.
Jorge:I don't like it.
Jorge:We should leave.
Jorge:I'm on skits talk.
Mike:Reminds me of something I've seen.
Mike:But he's just fucking tweaking like a dude in a fucking motel who just did a bunch of meth.
Mike:Just like, they're here, they're fucking here, I know they're coming for us.
Jorge:All right, all right.
Jorge:So OK.
Josh:So it's been about 10 minutes and nobody's come in.
Mike:How punctual are the sparrows?
Tanner:Well, they have to be careful.
Mike:It doesn't answer my question.
Jorge:Okay, we just wait.
Jorge:Let's just wait.
Tanner:I think we need to wait a little longer.
Noah:I'd like to turn on my heat-seeking vision, just to see if there's anyone around.
Josh:Okay.
Noah:I think it's 30 feet.
Josh:And what is it, 10 feet?
Josh:30 feet?
Josh:Either way, no.
Mike:Can Dyvex do a magic sweep?
Josh:Need to take a magic?
Mike:Like, I think I have more things that allow me to search magically.
Noah:30 feet.
Josh:I can't help you unless you tell me what they are.
Mike:Like, I know, I'm looking for them.
Josh:You can be thorough.
Jorge:Okay.
Mike:Well, I have like, it's thorough search.
Josh:I'm okay with that.
Mike:And then I also have like seven different things that give my eyeballs like super detect magic.
Josh:Well, I mean, I can make this easy for you.
Josh:Even the most basic detect magic walking around, other than you guys, there's nothing in this room that is magic.
Mike:Interesting.
Josh:Or within the range of detect magic.
Josh:Detect magic is 30 feet, right?
Mike:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah, so if you do, like, a lap around the room, nothing.
Josh:Another 10 minutes have passed.
Josh:We've been here for 20 minutes, but nothing.
Jorge:Alright, we just wait a little bit longer.
Tanner:I think we go out to an hour before we even start to act.
Jorge:Lev pulls out some of his vodka.
Josh:Does Lev have poison resistance?
Jorge:If we die, we die drunk.
Noah:You got any more pierogies?
Jorge:Oh, yeah.
Noah:I only got one pierogie.
Jorge:Yes.
Jorge:Also, Lev is definitely not going to try to get drunk.
Josh:Okay, I don't think Lev is capable of getting drunk.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:Like, physically.
Noah:Vampirism is...
Josh:By virtue of being undead.
Josh:He could get drunk, just not from alcohol.
Jorge:That's fair.
Noah:While we're waiting, I'll pull out, like, a little mini wind-up toy.
Noah:A little mini wind-up toy that looks like an hot dog.
Jorge:Yeah, I have greater... I have greater disease and poison protection.
Noah:And I'll just, like, wind up, put it on the ground, just walks in a circle, and then falls over.
Noah:That's it.
Josh:Yeah, okay.
Tanner:Again, again.
Noah:Set it back up.
Josh:You should have given that to the kid.
Josh:And yeah, for vampires, we have already established, although Lev wasn't there, that vampires do drugs by getting other people high on drugs and then drinking their blood.
Jorge:Yes, that's true.
Josh:Lev would need to do something simpler if he actually wanted to get drunk.
Josh:So he can have one of his friends get drunk and then drink their blood.
Jorge:Do any of you guys want to offer me your blood?
Noah:Lev, I think my blood would kill you.
Mike:Sparrows are coming to see us.
Tanner:That's such a crazy question.
Josh:It's a Baldur's Gate 3 question.
Jorge:Have any of you guys revisited the ideas of being vampires, by the way?
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:They don't have anything.
Mike:If we were being approached, they're going to... I'm trying to think of how we can get some sort of...
Mike:uh advanced notice they have pendants on them is there anything on sparrows that we would be able to identify them with no no no that's not my question what do they have on them
Tanner:They won't have anything outwardly obvious because then they're going to get...
Josh:It's different.
Josh:Yeah, sparrows do not carry around any identifying or specific magical implements that would out them as sparrows.
Josh:They do not have a uniform, because there's no point in a clandestine operation having a uniform.
Mike:How do they identify each other?
Mike:Recognizing the signs and promising that they're it?
Josh:Yes.
Jorge:Yes.
Josh:Yes.
Jorge:So here's the thing.
Jorge:If they send normal sparrows, I could probably kill them all myself.
Jorge:If they send the bats, we probably couldn't.
Josh:You're never going to make fish happen.
Jorge:We would need to reason with them.
Tanner:Okay, two points.
Jorge:So we just wait.
Jorge:I think it's fine.
Jorge:And they're not going to send the bats.
Tanner:I have two points for that.
Jorge:If they send the bats, we talk to them.
Jorge:It's fine.
Jorge:I think we're fine.
Tanner:They're not called the bats, first of all.
Jorge:Yes.
Tanner:Second of all, we don't need to kill anybody.
Tanner:I identify myself when they enter.
Jorge:You're right.
Noah:Sorry.
Mike:Me too.
Tanner:What is this?
Jorge:Lev is handing you a shot.
Noah:This is not related to what's going on, but going back to the one item we have.
Noah:Henrik, what kind of shield do you have right now?
Tanner:Um, it's complicated.
Tanner:I believe it's got Sovereign Steel.
Tanner:Um... No, uh, shoot.
Noah:Well, you have the spike, but don't you have just like a lesser, lesser sturdy shield or something?
Tanner:Let me look, let me look.
Tanner:Because it's a hybrid as well, because it's also a dragon shield.
Josh:So he has a...
Tanner:The base of the shield is a major sturdy shield.
Tanner:That is the, like, base...
Tanner:And then it's got the dragon scales to give it the fire immunity.
Tanner:And it's also got sovereign steel to give it some other magical defense properties.
Noah:Okay.
Noah:If you already have a major sturdy shield, then never mind.
Jorge:So we can't make you a supreme.
Noah:Nah, because major... You have a major sturdy shield?
Noah:Because major is 16.
Josh:You.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:He got it early, actually.
Tanner:You rolled very well to make it
Tanner:major.
Noah:Oh.
Noah:Interesting.
Noah:Okay, never mind then.
Noah:I was going to see if I can make a better one.
Jorge:Yes.
Noah:I don't think I can.
Jorge:OK.
Noah:Okay.
Josh:So as you're looking around this stuff, I think first what would happen is you would get a ping on your detect magic, Mr. Divex, as something with magic enters the 30-foot radius that you project.
Noah:Continue.
Mike:Someone's here.
Josh:I hate that.
Josh:That's so stupid.
Tanner:That was really dumb, I agree.
Mike:How about that?
Mike:How about we retcon DiveX saying someone's here.
Josh:It's the postman delivering the mail.
Mike:What if it is the postman who has like, he's got like magical pants that let him walk further and we just see the salon open up and Typhax is barking.
Josh:I just wanted to double check.
Mike:So Mel hits the floor and he just keeps barking and he just keeps walking.
Noah:Oh.
Noah:Oh.
Mike:Alright.
Josh:You learned the rank.
Josh:of the uh you learn the ranker level of the most powerful magical effects that the spell detects is determined by the gm the gm tells you that the spell detects uh just as it passes through um oh you actually kind of know the location as well you know to within five feet so you would know that it is uh near the hallway that you guys entered this room from but not from the front door it's like from the back of the house walking towards you
Josh:And it will ping as a rank 9 spell enchantment.
Mike:Cool.
Josh:I guess level 18?
Josh:No, level 17.
Josh:And then you hear a knock on the door.
Tanner:What kind of knock Josh?
Josh:Not a code that you immediately recognize, but it also doesn't sound like a code.
Josh:It's just like, knock, knock, knock.
Jorge:Oh, that's the bet.
Mike:Maybe it's room service.
Noah:The best.
Josh:It's a death knock.
Josh:It's the postman.
Jorge:Henrik, you want it, or do you want me to take it?
Josh:He's walking to the house.
Tanner:I think you should take a regular knock.
Jorge:All right, I take it.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:How do you take it?
Josh:What do you mean when you say that?
Jorge:I walk over, and I say, hello.
Josh:you hear a frankly decrepit-sounding voice from the other end.
Josh:Like, the graveliest... Like, it sounds like his lungs are almost collapsing.
Josh:Like, he took a break from coughing just to talk to you, although you didn't hear any coughing beforehand.
Josh:Um...
Josh:Also, like, the sound is from down.
Josh:Like, it doesn't sound like it's coming from across at a head level.
Jorge:I know who this is.
Josh:It's, like, straight down.
Josh:You'll hear it.
Josh:Open the door.
Jorge:Liv goes over and opens it.
Josh:You open the door and you see on the other end, like, three feet tall, mottled, wrinkly-looking gnome.
Josh:Huge tuft of hair.
Josh:He's got the biggest case of, like, hat hair that you've ever seen.
Josh:There are near the tips...
Josh:like, a little bit of reddish-orange, but this is an older gnome, and he started, or is almost completely done bleaching, which means all of the color is leaving his face.
Josh:So at this point, hair is almost completely white, his eyes have gone completely black in the iris.
Josh:He has spell rings, but those spell rings have lost color, so it just looks like he has a bunch of Black and White rings in his eyes.
Josh:He's wearing just, like, it looks to be a particularly puffy jacket.
Josh:At his side, there is what looks to be a messenger bag of some kind.
Josh:You do recognize this man.
Jorge:Recheck.
Josh:You and Henrik would both recognize this to be Roychek.
Josh:Relatively high-ranking member of the Golden Sparrows.
Josh:As soon as you open the door, he'll walk past you.
Josh:Like, if you're pointing a weapon or not, he'll just, like, bah, and then keep walking as he, uh, like, half waddles, half walks in.
Josh:Um... Come, sit.
Jorge:It's been a while.
Jorge:Recheck.
Tanner:Oh my gosh.
Tanner:Why you gotta scare me with the normal knock?
Josh:I... We... We do not have a knock for inside the house.
Jorge:Leva rubs off his makeup.
Josh:Also, I don't know who you are.
Jorge:He rubs off his disguise stuff.
Josh:I don't know who you are.
Josh:Disguised or not.
Josh:And he will sit, like, kind of prop himself up onto one of the empty chairs.
Josh:Sit.
Josh:You stand and you tell it over.
Josh:It's hard to have a conversation.
Tanner:I sit.
Jorge:Sit down.
Mike:That's it.
Josh:Hello.
Josh:It has been a long time.
Josh:Lieutenant Tifrator Bosco.
Josh:I hope your trip has been well.
Tanner:It has been well, sure, well.
Josh:He, uh, he, like, starts scrabbling through the messenger bag, and he takes out a relatively hefty-looking sheaf of papers, and he plops it on the, like, coffee table that's between you guys, uh, the couch that you're sitting on and where he is.
Josh:Um, just first page of this paper is, uh, what looks to be illustrations of the four of you.
Josh:Um, uh, and they'll say, this was an unpleasant gift to receive.
Tanner:Yes, I heard about this.
Tanner:We were hoping that you would have a copy.
Josh:I would have preferred you did not plaster your face over whatever this is.
Josh:I hope for good reason, I suppose.
Tanner:Yeah, we've gained some, uh, jeez, cosmic adversaries?
Josh:I did not expect that you would make enemies like this looking for a cure for particularly harrowing disease.
Mike:Thank you.
Josh:Sure, but disease?
Tanner:Yeah, the mission went kind of well beyond the disease.
Tanner:More kind of like fate of the sphere kind of things, which I was not expecting.
Josh:No, you can please go.
Tanner:I have... No, you can go ahead.
Tanner:I have multiple...
Tanner:reports to deliver they had it yeah
Josh:Yes, Don.
Noah:This is a question for Josh, the DM.
Josh:Yeah.
Noah:I thought only our enemies got the docket and our allies specifically did not get the docket.
Josh:the contents of the docket are different.
Josh:If you recall when you were looking at the TV, like you were showing the scenes of the TV, there was a scene of Wojciech walking with Masha where they had a docket.
Josh:Similar to the Broker and Tarik Senthies and Dilphir had a version of the docket.
Josh:It does not have information on the enemies, it only has information on you guys.
Noah:Okay, gotcha.
Josh:Yeah, so there's no convenient flip to page 42.
Josh:These are all of the weaknesses of Kharkov here.
Josh:But it does list down a lot of information about you guys, as well as the broker and the sparrows.
Josh:And if you flip through, if you start idly flipping through while they're having this conversation, the list of people in this docket are you guys, the golden sparrows, the broker and co.,
Josh:um, which includes some of the network, but not all of the network.
Josh:Um, Deleth, the captain that, uh, brought you guys over to Korbahi, um, Marzo, Desmond, um, and I think that's it.
Josh:Uh, no, no, no,
Jorge:Does it ever crazy guy with the hat with the cold iron hat?
Tanner:I think he's... He's street level enough that he doesn't make it onto... Oh, poor guy.
Josh:A separate dossier went out just to the picnic gang with only Kilbin in it, and that's it.
Noah:Kill him.
Tanner:Well, he can defend himself.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Oh, actually, Rowan would have been in it as well.
Jorge:As an ally?
Noah:That's interesting.
Josh:Rowan would have been in the docket.
Josh:It's up to you to choose how to interpret that.
Tanner:But we did not see Rowan in the montage.
Josh:In the TV?
Josh:No.
Josh:No.
Tanner:Because he's dead.
Noah:Interesting.
Tanner:Anyway.
Tanner:So what I said, I have multiple reports to give.
Noah:Sorry, continue.
Josh:Is this something we should sit and talk about, or can I walk and show you while we... I just... I was hoping we would have information about why you originally left.
Tanner:If you have things to show me, I guess you could show...
Josh:Besides all of this other stuff, if you would, and he will hop off the chair and start hobbling back out into the hallway that he came from, into motion for you guys to follow.
Tanner:Yeah.
Tanner:One of my reports is on the disease.
Josh:That is very helpful.
Josh:He will begin to lead you guys towards the back of the house, where he can lead you out into what is... I loathe to call it a backyard.
Josh:I think that's too generous of a term.
Josh:It's like a very small patch of grass that is dead and is just dirt.
Josh:But on the other side of it is another adjoining building that he can walk up to and then similarly give a knock and then turn a key that he had on his person to get into and bring you in.
Josh:To show what I think would be a familiar sight to Henrik, this is one of their mobile clinics.
Josh:It is not legal for anybody other than the Oreskian government to operate some kind of medical facility in Oresk.
Josh:That's the responsibility of the government.
Josh:But there are people who will not be treated by the Oreskian government for whatever reason.
Josh:operate those clinics instead.
Josh:This is one such clinic.
Josh:You walk in and it is clearly what used to be another home that has been converted into, wherever they can find a space, a place for people to be treated or, in this particular case, receive palliative care.
Josh:You are very familiar with the symptoms of, like, cot upon cot stacked up against the wall that you recognize in people here.
Josh:There are maybe all told throughout the house, like...
Josh:40-ish people, all showing the same general symptoms that he recognized.
Josh:Extreme malnutrition, general pain.
Josh:There is a wincing sound when Wojciech opens the door and a little bit of sunlight gets into the house that he will immediately close behind them.
Josh:Burns on some of the people.
Josh:This is the wasting fever.
Josh:as bad as it was when you left it.
Josh:And as he goes through, he says, we have lost, in the past year, close to 800 people, all told.
Tanner:The First House does not want a cure.
Josh:And the first house is getting more dogged.
Josh:We lost a whole clinic last week.
Josh:They found it and we couldn't get out in time.
Josh:They were quote-unquote relocated, but requests from the family to find where the people inside were relocated to were denied.
Josh:So we have no idea what's happened to the people there.
Jorge:We are causing it.
Jorge:Where was this relocation starting from?
Josh:this this particular is the clinic that was caught or um that would have been more north in the city um barrow street if you're familiar it's closer to the city center
Jorge:Yes.
Jorge:Not sure.
Josh:He says, we made some strides.
Josh:We found that a lot of incidences of this happened around a particular freshwater well, and so we sealed up the well.
Josh:But we've seen more cases recently pop up across the city, not seemingly from any particular water source.
Tanner:Yeah, I have reason to believe that the first house is probably tainting the water supply and maybe other... Maybe food sources.
Tanner:That I don't know.
Tanner:But... This is...
Tanner:A disease is not even fully the correct word for it.
Tanner:What we have learned, this is the rest of my group, as you probably read about already.
Tanner:We're the weft.
Tanner:Anyway.
Tanner:Our people are contracting, I guess, a mild or maybe a not fully mature form of vampirism.
Tanner:which is why they're not responding to the treatments that we would use on your typical mortal person.
Josh:It explains... We do not have anything to treat vampirism now.
Tanner:No, I agree.
Tanner:I...
Josh:I suppose we could probably get pig's blood from a butcher.
Josh:That doesn't solve the problem now.
Tanner:Yeah, from some of the research and thought that I put into this, blood may prolong lives.
Josh:We can go back to the other room if you prefer not to be overheard.
Tanner:I don't know if it's a cure either.
Tanner:Lev, do you have any opinions?
Jorge:So I don't know if we... Can we talk in a private room?
Josh:So you guys hobble back over towards the other house, having seen the clue deck now.
Jorge:Yeah, let's look at it.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:So three things that might not be the best idea.
Jorge:If we give them pig's blood, they get stronger.
Jorge:Maybe...
Jorge:They look to attack people now.
Tanner:Now, Lev, can I ask you a question?
Tanner:If these people, if we sustain them to the point where they, I guess, pull through and turn in a sense, do they lose themselves?
Tanner:Do they become different, you know, cognitively?
Jorge:Yes, it kind of depends on the strain.
Jorge:Is that right, Josh?
Josh:Yeah, it depends on the source of the blood being used and also the general strain, you're right, of which ball is providing the blood.
Josh:Because different strains of blood have different effects.
Josh:But these guys are, as best you can tell, all on the order of lesser nightkin.
Jorge:I thought you might be able to help some of them in the early stages.
Josh:I think Lev would be pretty confident, no role necessary, that if the process completed, they would effectively lose their intelligence, become animalistic.
Josh:It's not a good thing to have finished the process there.
Tanner:Oh, no, go ahead.
Noah:Thank you.
Tanner:Yes, so through discovering some very advanced and kind of otherworldly technologies, I do believe we have a way to
Tanner:uh treat these people uh geez at the level of their soul um and perhaps reverse the effects before they can sink in too heavily i have some machinery for that uh obviously we haven't been able to test it on anyone because we haven't been around but it's a theory and it could be an avenue for some folks it is something i would like to try
Josh:is this um is this something only you can do you could have multiple edges need to know if you're the limiting factor here we're willing to try anything
Tanner:I'm not the limiting factor.
Tanner:I'm sure we could teach some of the others about it.
Tanner:The limiting factor is we only really have one set of the equipment necessary.
Josh:Although I am afraid that that is just whack-a-mole.
Josh:We obviously need to cure who currently hasn't, but that doesn't solve the root of the problem, which is the first house actively transmitting this.
Tanner:Yes, that kind of blends into some of the other things that we have learned on our journeys the last year or so.
Tanner:Obviously, we do not like the First House very much, but we have learned that their goals and their actions are a lot deeper and a lot more nefarious.
Tanner:than I think we probably could have ever imagined.
Josh:Which would be impressive, because I assumed the worst.
Tanner:Yeah, yeah.
Josh:No offense.
Josh:And then he says, looking straight at Divex.
Josh:Who, as part of looking at the dossier, he is aware of your history.
Mike:Fair point.
Josh:So, we are aligned then.
Josh:This is something you wish to stop.
Tanner:Yes, we have a very strong desire to infiltrate and perhaps cut the head of the snake, if you will.
Josh:I would very much like to see that.
Josh:I feel that just killing the head won't cause institutional change, but it is at least a step in the right direction.
Tanner:And...
Jorge:A quick question, if I might interject.
Jorge:Do you know anything about their dealings with the Nox corpse in Alreska recently?
Jorge:Has there been increased activity there the last few weeks?
Josh:Uh, we know in the past, uh, two months or so, there has been an increase in the mountain range nearby.
Josh:Um, unfortunately, the operative we sent to take a look disappeared.
Mike:Uh...
Tanner:Yeah.
Jorge:Does he look at me strange?
Josh:Yes, he does.
Jorge:Yes.
Josh:You were the operative they sent to investigate.
Jorge:I know, but I'm trying to understand.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:Yes, so I'm sure the operative got caught up in very important matters.
Jorge:Now, it looks like they were also doing some operations on a different divine corpse, different area that got shut down.
Josh:I am sure, but it does mean we have no information on the subject unfortunately.
Jorge:And then they seem to be increasing it here.
Jorge:I would conjecture that over there, if they were pumping that divine corpse's blood into the ground, I assume it's the same thing happening here.
Jorge:To what end, I don't know.
Jorge:And also, I don't know why.
Mike:Would it be worth it to track down the operative to get information?
Jorge:But I think that's probably what's causing this fear.
Mike:Do we have any info on the operative and Divex will pull out the paradot crystal ball that can cast scrying?
Josh:He would say, if you have something that can scry, I'd be more than willing to assist.
Josh:Absolutely.
Mike:Yeah, can you give me a description of the person?
Josh:And then he describes Lev.
Mike:Divex will just put it away.
Noah:Uh...
Josh:Okay.
Mike:Okay.
Josh:Actually, there was another one, a contractor we hired, and then he'll describe Desmond.
Tanner:who was also in the dossier, right?
Mike:Mid description, Divex will pull out the ball, and then by the time he gets to the end, he'll put it back.
Josh:Yes.
Jorge:In the schism, I'm like, I don't know why he won't just admit he knows me, but it's very awkward.
Mike:Okay.
Jorge:Now, yeah.
Tanner:Got to maintain appearances, you know.
Tanner:Anyway.
Jorge:So we would like to get into an area of the first house.
Jorge:Get an artifact from them.
Jorge:Maybe kill Karkov over there.
Jorge:I don't know.
Jorge:That's a bonus, but we might not.
Jorge:How did the operation go?
Josh:It's very bold.
Josh:I'd like to do what I can to help.
Josh:Masha has assured me that it is important to us to aid you.
Josh:She didn't tell me her specific reasoning behind it, but I am genuinely in favor of helping out one of us, especially if this is to the detriment of the first house.
Jorge:We would love your help.
Josh:Unfortunately, I don't believe we have
Josh:A lot, necessarily, that we can aid you in.
Josh:But I do have two pieces of information that perhaps would be of use to you.
Tanner:Mm-hmm
Josh:Or two things, in general, that would be of use.
Josh:If you are willing to accept our help.
Jorge:By any chance, shameless request, could we meet Masha?
Josh:Roll a diplomacy check.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:So I have a 35.
Jorge:I'm going to use my item.
Jorge:So that's a 37 plus my regalia.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:That's another two.
Jorge:And then I'm going to activate the item.
Jorge:Another two.
Josh:Your heart?
Jorge:Yes, my heart.
Josh:Or is this... Okay, sure.
Josh:So you're at 41.
Josh:39.
Josh:Oh, okay.
Jorge:I just added those as twos.
Jorge:56.
Jorge:She seems to have a reason for helping us.
Josh:56.
Josh:I'll say...
Josh:That is a ridiculous security risk.
Josh:Why do you want to meet her?
Jorge:And to be honest, I think she knows a lot more about the whole grand scheme of the spheres and cosmic ramifications of what will happen.
Jorge:And I think it'd be good to chat with her.
Josh:I think you're putting a lot of faith in her.
Josh:If you really feel that it is important to meet her, I can arrange it.
Josh:It will take a day.
Josh:It is difficult for her to move back to the city, but it can be done if you need to meet her.
Tanner:Yeah, I don't necessarily want to compromise her, but it could be good.
Josh:Okay, I can arrange for her to find you.
Josh:Oh, actually, you also, and he's looking at love, I think it would be good for you specifically to go pray at the Church of Louisville down two streets.
Josh:You just look like somebody who needs it.
Jorge:If you're recognizing someone of your faith, that'd be great.
Jorge:Also, and Liv pulls out a tray of pierogies.
Josh:Yes.
Jorge:Could you help give these to the volunteers?
Josh:Where did you get it?
Jorge:Maybe it was bought?
Josh:We, less than five minutes ago, established that it is possible that vampire blood is being distributed through food.
Josh:So... Well, it could be both.
Jorge:I was thinking water, but this makes a lot of sense now.
Tanner:Divex, do you think you could examine this food and find out if it has essence of nox in it?
Jorge:Yes.
Jorge:All right, I put it back.
Josh:Do you have some way of testing?
Josh:I need to know what food is safe.
Jorge:Well, being that food across our entire country makes you feel so good, I'm assuming it's a little bit of divinity in there.
Jorge:So probably everything is poisoned.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:Yeah.
Mike:I could try.
Mike:Is it...
Josh:Okay, so now we're going to have Jivex roll to see if he can come up with a new novel with identifying traces of divinity.
Josh:That is, I'm going to make you make a religion check here.
Josh:Actually, I will let you make an arcana or an occultism check here, but the DC will be 10 higher, and it is already a high DC.
Tanner:You're going to have to get a 55.
Noah:Ooh, you got it.
Josh:Actually, I can tell you.
Mike:Arcana.
Josh:One second.
Josh:I'll tell you the DC before you roll.
Josh:Are you rolling arcana, occultism, or religion?
Josh:You're rolling arcana.
Mike:Arcana.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:The DC is 58.
Tanner:Oh.
Mike:There's a lot of DC there.
Mike:Can we knock it down 40?
Josh:I'll knock it down to 48 if you roll a religion check instead.
Mike:fair enough um i'm not gonna do that uh i'm gonna roll an arcana uh do i have any other bonuses no 39 wait is this to identify magic okay it's 39
Noah:Okay.
Josh:Which is what I said before.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:What is your modifier?
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Go for it.
Josh:Uh, no.
Josh:You're not identifying magic.
Josh:You're coming up with a new process.
Josh:It's not the same.
Mike:Fair enough.
Mike:43.
Josh:What's your role?
Mike:Unfortunately not.
Josh:I take it not a natural 2043?
Josh:Yeah.
Noah:I'm going to use practice makes perfect so you can re-roll that with a plus two circumstance bonus.
Josh:Nice.
Tanner:That's wild.
Noah:Close.
Mike:He'll 8 away.
Mike:50 this time.
Josh:You got a 9 and that's a 50?
Josh:That's crazy.
Josh:Yeah, unfortunately, this is, like, it is the same as walking up to a very smart person in real life and saying, hey, can you just quickly whip me up, like, this handheld device that can tell if there are any poisons in the air and what kind of poison they are?
Josh:In that, sure, in theory, maybe one could figure out how to do that, but...
Josh:You need, like, an equipment and time.
Josh:You need, like, a lamp and stuff.
Josh:This is not something that you could just be like, yeah, I got this.
Noah:I got this one.
Mike:So what's the use?
Josh:Unfortunately.
Josh:If you were willing to spend some time researching it, I think Dimex is fairly confident he could do it.
Josh:You just need to invest the time to do it.
Jorge:I think I can as well later tonight.
Jorge:I wouldn't be too worried about it.
Mike:I mean, the very local use would be like being able to clear food for people to eat or whatever.
Josh:Thank you.
Mike:Gross, yeah.
Mike:Stopping people from getting sick.
Mike:More broadly, it's just better detection slash understanding of divine whatever.
Mike:I'm trying to think of what past here would this be useful for.
Josh:I mean, I think the big thing is specifically clearing food for people to eat.
Josh:That was why you were originally asked to do it.
Josh:Beyond that, yes, it would be able to identify if there was divine energy even in trace amounts in an item.
Mike:Okay.
Mike:Because I was trying to think of how worth it a joint venture between Divex and Dawn to create a device that can do this, or that can help Divex do this, or Divex attempting to just create, detect divinity as a spell, or as a cantrip.
Noah:Thank you.
Mike:That would be fun.
Mike:But that is much more time.
Mike:You said Divex could figure it out later, meaning if he had just more time to sit with the food?
Josh:Yeah.
Mike:Yeah, I mean, he doesn't have...
Josh:If he had more time to sit with the food and try and figure this out, he could definitely spend it.
Tanner:Oh.
Josh:Also, I do want to make a clarifying point here.
Josh:Practice makes perfect.
Josh:It lets you just retroactively add things to the check.
Josh:It doesn't let them re-roll the check.
Noah:Oh, my apologies.
Noah:I thought that they got a real one.
Josh:Yeah, I mean, it's a defective thing anyway, but in general, they just retroactively get an additional plus two or plus three if they're master or better.
Noah:That's good to know.
Noah:That's good to know.
Noah:I've been using it wrong.
Mike:In that case... Yeah, in that case, so... For every piece of food, Divex has to spend some amount of hours.
Noah:I will use it correctly next time.
Mike:Or not every piece of food, but every group of food.
Mike:Cool.
Josh:If he spent, like, two days or so, probably, in research, he could come up with a method for detection.
Josh:Like, it's not like if you focus on one food and you can figure out if that food is... The problem is you need a technique for understanding one way or the other if it has the stuff in it.
Josh:Once you have that figured out, the technique will probably be easy enough to do relatively quickly.
Josh:It's just, like, knowing from... I am holding a pierogi.
Josh:Is there blood in this?
Josh:And then you, like, shake it to hear if there's blood in it.
Josh:You need to know how to shake it.
Josh:That's what you're listening for.
Mike:Okay.
Jorge:All right.
Josh:So Roy Chuck will say, meeting Masha was not the pieces that I was going to offer you.
Josh:Separately, I have two things you might find useful.
Josh:I cannot devote manpower, obviously.
Josh:especially because you are all, at this point, far enough disconnected from the sparrows that should you get, you know, dismantled, I don't know, it works, and they dig around in your brain, they won't learn much useful actionable information on the sparrows, but...
Josh:Besides that, I do think that you are about to go to your death.
Josh:And I do not think throwing bodies at the problem will solve it, if I'm being completely honest.
Noah:Mhm.
Josh:They are relatively well encamped.
Josh:But one thing I can offer you is where they are encamped.
Jorge:Perfect.
Josh:Because I gather that is probably something you will need to know.
Josh:And he can pull out a map of the northern part of the city, and it's a few blocks away from where he had said the people were being poisoned from the well.
Josh:He'll point at a particular building and say, we have been tailing some people for some time in and out of this building, so we're fairly confident this is where the first house's operations in this city are centralized.
Josh:The other piece of particularly useful information is I have a list of homes of people who I know work there.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:Liv sits up.
Tanner:That's what Lev was hoping for.
Jorge:Perfect.
Noah:Hmm.
Jorge:I was thinking this would be a great idea.
Jorge:Do you mind giving me that information?
Jorge:I look at the smart people.
Josh:And he, like, holds out a list.
Josh:He does not let you take it.
Josh:He says, memorize it, and I'm going to burn it after.
Josh:Same with the map.
Josh:But...
Mike:Yeah, can the epics take a look?
Josh:Three.
Mike:How many entries are here?
Josh:They have found three people, their homes, and there's a very tentative number of people in households and clearance.
Mike:Oh.
Josh:They are all low-level people.
Josh:and they all live in populated households none of them are single they are all like members of families in some way um but you do get you do get three uh three names and their addresses
Jorge:It's fine.
Jorge:Oh.
Jorge:Henrik's like, I don't want to kill someone who's in the family.
Jorge:Good luck in killing anybody, Henrik.
Tanner:No, I know.
Tanner:He's first house.
Tanner:First house.
Tanner:I understand.
Jorge:Yes.
Mike:Well, I mean, some of them are just, you know, they're not 100%.
Mike:It's not clear to them what's going on.
Mike:I don't think I have modify memory, if that's being asked.
Jorge:Hey, Divex, do you have any way to modify memories?
Josh:Thank you.
Jorge:That's unfortunate.
Jorge:Guess they got to die.
Noah:you you
Mike:Let me check to make sure that we don't have to kill people.
Mike:The fourth level.
Jorge:All right, well, it was nice meeting all of you.
Jorge:I guess you'll be in touch for Masha.
Jorge:I'm going to go pray.
Jorge:I think they haven't prayed in the church in a while.
Josh:He nods at the rest of you.
Josh:He, like, gives a more appreciative... It is clear that he has... He's been in professionalism mode, but he has missed Henrik just by virtue of... Henrik has been a good person, both to have and to know.
Josh:And, like, one that has been missed over the past year.
Josh:And he's happy that you're back and healthy and in one piece.
Josh:But that's also never something he would vocalize.
Tanner:I have one minor report, the death of an external operative, and I pull out the notebook of the sparrow working in the solarium, and I just hand that in.
Josh:So the most you get is, like, a half-smile and a pat on the shin.
Josh:he he'll take it he'll say i was not familiar with this particular deployment but i will make sure it gets to the right people good to know i will i will record that
Tanner:And one update on whatever they have written down is the whole operation that was at large there has been defunct.
Tanner:And then I guess in the interim while we wait for Masha, I can attempt a procedure at some point.
Josh:He'll say, Masha will not be able to get here.
Josh:This house is for you to use for the next day or two, if it would be useful.
Tanner:Very well.
Josh:Masha will not be able to get here until at the earliest tomorrow evening.
Josh:So you can buckle in for a little bit.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:take a moment, I suppose, for Lev to go pray.
Jorge:yes oh so i have a couple ideas so one of them is i get a hold of one of these first house members
Tanner:Sure.
Mike:Before love goes in praise, what's your plan?
Mike:So I can know what to prepare for tomorrow.
Mike:What did you have in mind for modifying memory?
Mike:I'm trying to figure out what else I can do to try to either hold someone in an area or extract information or have them proceed in ways that they wouldn't normally.
Josh:you
Jorge:We could use the bell maybe to silence as we knock them out.
Jorge:Bring them down to a different location.
Jorge:I will bring the fear of God to them.
Jorge:And then once they're sufficiently scared, I would let everyone ask them questions.
Jorge:Get information about the place.
Jorge:If potentially we had modified memory, we could erase their mind, put them back.
Josh:Rewrite memory is unfortunately an occultly spell.
Jorge:Well, if we get the spell of it, I could cast it, but that's about it.
Mike:And modify memory is not even there.
Josh:No, that's not a thing.
Mike:Yeah.
Josh:That's copyrighted by the Wizards of the Coast.
Noah:The War of Wizards.
Mike:Unfortunate.
Mike:I'll think about how I can help.
Jorge:Yeah, so I can get them to fear four, and then I can stupefy them to one to two.
Jorge:And then we can interrogate them.
Josh:It's just very funny to take a feat that lets you continually demoralize somebody, and then use it on just, like, some guy that you find in an alley, just, like, repeatedly being like, no, you're scared of me, no, you're scared of me, no, you're scared of me, and then until he's just, like, pissing his pants, blubbering on the floor.
Noah:It could happen to you.
Josh:It could happen to you, you don't know.
Josh:Do you still have scared to death?
Jorge:Yes.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:No, it was a Marzo thing.
Josh:Because you would kill them.
Jorge:I'm not legendary, which honestly is probably a good thing right now.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:Funny enough, Marzo had better intimidation tactics than the vampire.
Josh:He doesn't intimidate people, he just kills them.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:He just lies to their face, smooth talks them, and then kills them.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:All right.
Josh:Which is very similar to what Mars would.
Jorge:No, no, no.
Josh:Just to be clear.
Jorge:Marshall didn't lie as much.
Jorge:He just put on shows.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:Okay, Lev follows the directions that was given to him to a what is obviously defunct, like, not-in-use church to himself.
Josh:Goes in...
Josh:Empty completely.
Josh:Like, all of the pews are completely empty.
Josh:The altar at the front is empty.
Josh:There's, like, a confessional booth on the side.
Josh:You're not even sure if the, like, doors on it open and close.
Josh:Small, clear disrepair.
Jorge:Well, if I have 10 minutes while I'm waiting, I will consult the spirits.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:And I would like to... Religion can help reveal the presence of angelic, demonic, or other spirits in the service of divine beings.
Jorge:Provide information about sources of life energy or blah, blah, blah.
Jorge:I would like to just pray near the pierogi.
Josh:Okay.
Jorge:And just kind of...
Josh:This is a recall knowledge with religion.
Josh:36.
Jorge:36.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:That is...
Josh:Gotcha.
Josh:You are sat in the church.
Josh:You've got a little pierogi out in your hand.
Josh:You're just eyes closed, trying to consult the spirits about what might be the contents of this pierogi.
Josh:And you feel the pew that you're sitting on creak a little bit.
Josh:And you hear the creaking sound of weight pressing down.
Josh:You open your eyes and you turn and sitting next to you is a...
Josh:It looks like a humanoid-like figure, but it's made completely out of ice.
Josh:It's like if somebody took a block of ice and then really roughly chopped away at it until it was at the shape of a human.
Jorge:Cool.
Josh:It cracks open, and no face or anything, just the mouth opens.
Josh:It doesn't make the motion of speaking, it just opens, and then out of it comes three questions.
Jorge:Do these pierogies have NOX plotted or essence of NOX?
Josh:No.
Jorge:Is there a way to find out?
Jorge:The second Lev asked that, he's like, I made the wrong question.
Josh:Is there a way to find out?
Josh:No, which is an inherent property of the food.
Jorge:I don't think I could change it, so it's OK to answer it.
Noah:No.
Jorge:OK, OK.
Jorge:Any higher Night King in the first house in this area?
Josh:Yes.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:And it shatters.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:I really should have been focused on that one more.
Jorge:But anyway, I'll just wait longer.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Um, after a few more minutes of waiting, the ice fragments, like, very quickly melt, and they don't actually melt, they, like, sublimate until they're just completely gone.
Josh:Um, after another moment, after a few moments, you hear a very similar, um, creaking sound, uh, as somebody else, uh, this time a person, it sounds like, enters into the church from the back and sits down in the pew behind you.
Josh:Um,
Josh:doesn't engage with you at all, just sits, does like a little prayer murmuring under their breath, and then you hear them get up and walk out of the church again.
Jorge:I do a little prayer and then I follow.
Josh:As you get up and you turn around, you see they appear to have left a small bag on the pew next to where they were sitting.
Jorge:I go grab it.
Jorge:Look inside.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Inside is a well, it looks like a glass cylinder about this long, this wide.
Josh:The interior is pulsing slightly with this reddish glow.
Josh:And well, it looks like a heart that's been stuffed into a glass cylinder.
Jorge:Do I know what the fuck this is?
Jorge:41.
Josh:Roll an Esoterica check.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:Well, this is someone's heart.
Josh:Still beating.
Josh:The person who it was removed from is probably no longer with the world, but the heart will count as a living person.
Jorge:Oh, it was a spirit print, huh?
Jorge:Hell yeah.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:I wish I didn't have any notes on who it is, so I don't reverse it.
Josh:It's way too late.
Jorge:All right, cool.
Jorge:Cool, cool, cool.
Jorge:Can I rewrote?
Jorge:Sorry, I know it's too late, but can I do a hero point or no?
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:All right.
Jorge:Let's go.
Jorge:I'll go.
Josh:Sorry, you mean for the Consult the Spirits check?
Jorge:No, no, no, no.
Jorge:For the heart to re-roll any more information about the heart.
Josh:Cultism.
Josh:I still know.
Josh:Too late.
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:I'll just bring it over to... Yeah.
Jorge:I'll put it in my bag and then... Go.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Yes, Don.
Noah:Can we, if no one has a problem with this, retroactively say that one of the items that I crafted was a tradecraft tattoo, which would give me a plus three instead of a plus two to crafting?
Tanner:I'm okay with that.
Mike:And then subtract out the gold.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:Okay, I will roll for that.
Josh:Yep, just roll the crafting check.
Josh:Yeah, 13,000.
Josh:That's 11,700.
Noah:I believe.
Mike:Jesus.
Josh:Oh, 53, you're fine.
Noah:Cool.
Mike:The bell was 600?
Mike:Did anyone mark that down?
Noah:Yeah.
Noah:I marked it down.
Noah:I took off 600 and I have it.
Mike:okay are you marking out the 13 000 as well okay double checking because uh i think we barely each have more than 13 000. i don't because of purchases yeah
Noah:Yeah, I can mark it because this one benefits just me.
Noah:So I can mark this off.
Noah:I do.
Noah:Now I don't, but I have saved up a lot.
Jorge:All right.
Jorge:We go back.
Josh:Okay, we've all met back up in your safe house on the inside of the city.
Josh:Is there anything you wanted to do while you're here?
Mike:A way of taking a body part and getting information on the person.
Jorge:Oh, yes.
Jorge:I would like to ask Divex when Henrik's not directly paying attention, maybe he's back with the other people.
Jorge:Do you know how to find out whose heart this is?
Josh:Oh, that's a good point.
Mike:Can I see that?
Mike:Can Dyvex read psychometric resonance on this heart?
Noah:you
Josh:One second.
Josh:Let me just double check what the spell says.
Josh:See, your bare hands are touching the object and you can detect psychometric resonance.
Josh:Yeah, you can definitely detect psychometric... Words are hard.
Josh:Psychometric resonance from it.
Josh:You can spend a minute concentrating on it to get a vision of the face of the person who imbued the idol with such emotion in the first place.
Josh:Yeah, you absolutely can.
Josh:If you want to spend a minute, you can do that.
Mike:Nice.
Mike:I'll spend a minute.
Josh:Cool.
Josh:Do me a favor and roll a d6.
Mike:Yay.
Mike:Five.
Mike:What did I get?
Josh:five psychic damage.
Josh:There is a single overbearingly present painful memory that is what comes through when you're reading this heart.
Josh:It is the process of the heart being ripped out of the person.
Josh:um but as part of the spell you do get to see the face like contorted in pain uh as it appears that this heart was removed while the person was still alive um
Josh:of a older, maybe late 40s, early 50s human man.
Josh:Green eyes, very faint spell lines in the eyes, like brownish hair.
Josh:There's a relatively distinct scar running along the forehead that has, at this point, long healed.
Josh:It's just like a gouge in the skin now.
Josh:Sunbaked.
Josh:This person clearly spent a lot of time in the sun.
Jorge:Does that match any of the profiles we got?
Josh:Age-wise, no.
Mike:Dyvex will draw up a sketch and just be like, fuck, give me a piece of paper.
Noah:Bye.
Josh:Sure.
Mike:What do you look like?
Mike:I'm not touching that again.
Mike:Can we head somewhere?
Mike:Can we head back to the room?
Mike:Somewhere private?
Josh:So you are currently in, like, the safe house, the one across from the clinic.
Mike:Oh, okay.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:So this is a relatively private area.
Mike:Dyvex will whip out the scanner then.
Mike:This is a very high resolution of this person's entire personality and being.
Jorge:Hmm hmm.
Mike:It doesn't tell us their name.
Josh:Correct.
Josh:Unfortunately, its name is not an inherent trait in their soul.
Mike:That's all.
Josh:So...
Mike:This is Divex describing it.
Mike:This is why I didn't pull this out first, because we're looking at their fingerprint.
Mike:Unfortunately, those don't come with names.
Josh:Well, so there is actually a single category of being that does have their name as a direct imprint on their soul.
Josh:This person does not qualify.
Jorge:Is that it?
Josh:Yes.
Mike:If we put the scanner up to Nox, it would just say Nox as like they're stretched out.
Jorge:Put it up to me.
Josh:Basically, yeah.
Jorge:Put it up to me.
Mike:Dimex will put the scanner.
Jorge:It's just a little nox.
Josh:Do you actually hold up the scanner to Lev?
Mike:Absolutely.
Josh:Yeah, so if you recall, the way that I've described a soul previously is that it's like a bundle of fabric, like a potato sack that's been crumpled up and twisted and stuff.
Josh:Maybe a good 25% of lives has turned into the same black silk material that you saw with Knox.
Josh:Other than that, it's like a weird luck-paper-shaping mess.
Josh:I don't think Divex has the ability to actually interpret anything.
Josh:For the same way that, like, we as humans cannot look at a picture of a brain and be like, yeah, this person is normally very sarcastic.
Mike:There's people that can do that with fingerprints.
Mike:Or, like, palms.
Mike:If you give them their palm, they can tell you how long you'll live.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:I just this is the next day yet or.
Josh:Well, so are you guys doing anything, or are you just waiting out until Masha shows up to say hi?
Josh:Henry has some.
Tanner:So Henrik was allegedly not in the room for this heart exchange.
Tanner:So what he was doing instead was walking around the clinic, assessing the patients and trying to find someone who is more recently onset, more mildly afflicted.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:You can definitely do that.
Josh:Out of the 40 or so people that are in here, there's definitely a range, temporally, of people who are way closer to death store and people who have just now started to show the symptoms of not being able to digest food.
Tanner:Yeah.
Josh:Yes?
Noah:If we're just hanging out, I think Dawn would sneak out, hide very well, and just go find somewhere public, like a tavern or something, and just kind of sit in a corridor and watch life in this place.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:What could have been.
Noah:Yeah, just imagine that he's part of it, and then sneak back eventually.
Josh:Absolutely.
Josh:I mean, so I think the biggest thing that Don gets is a reinforcement of what Henrik had said earlier.
Josh:The people here are not a monolith, and they are not all the first house.
Josh:The average person in Oresk is just existing.
Josh:If anything, it's a harder life to live than other parts of the Occident, just by virtue of...
Josh:you know doom constantly pressing down on you but people manage um and they they live despite that okay sure
Jorge:Sorry, go ahead.
Mike:Divex.
Mike:Divex is going to yoink two pierogies and figure out if he can tell if there's Noxblood in him.
Mike:Or spend some time.
Jorge:There's no Knox glut in these properties.
Noah:Thank you.
Jorge:Okay, thanks.
Mike:Yeah.
Jorge:There's no Knox glut in these properties.
Mike:I'll let you know.
Josh:Trust you.
Jorge:yeah but if you're focusing on something that doesn't have it or you can be able to find out how to find it and things that do have it
Mike:I mean, I still have to...
Mike:It's an object to focus on.
Mike:That's a good question, Josh.
Mike:I mean, as far as Nox blood or Dfinity being contained, Divex has access to Beast blood, which I imagine would have a similar profile.
Jorge:What beast blood do you have access to?
Jorge:Is it my beast blood?
Josh:He's referencing the blood rivers that you guys took some vials from the first time you went to Beast.
Mike:We all have a couple of vials.
Jorge:Do you?
Jorge:I don't think anyone has vials.
Jorge:We just have eternal Alice, and I was the only one who got some.
Mike:You weren't there when we got the original vials, no.
Jorge:No, I was.
Jorge:I thought it immediately ate through the vials.
Josh:It wasn't dead.
Josh:It didn't... You absolutely did take some vials of it.
Mike:Did we not have the specialist...
Jorge:Oh, I thought we tried, and then it didn't, and then we found out later we needed the titanium glass for the vials.
Josh:I thought you found the titanium glass.
Josh:Am I misremembering?
Noah:I thought we found titanium glass or we made it or something.
Josh:I recall you guys successfully taking the file.
Josh:We can retcon that you did or didn't.
Jorge:Oh, I don't know.
Josh:We'll just retcon that you did.
Josh:I legitimately don't remember well enough and it's not going to be in my notes.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:While this is happening.
Josh:You guys have... You know what?
Mike:What is... Actually, this is something I can just probably search.
Josh:We're going to retcon you have three vials of beast blood.
Josh:Done.
Josh:I mean, it would not have been hard for you guys to have collected it anyway, given that Marzo is currently holding a concert in an ocean of blood.
Josh:So... Okay.
Mike:Maybe.
Josh:I think from now on, I'm going to only have you guys talk to me in the form of Jeopardy questions.
Noah:What is?
Jorge:I'm going to try to consult the spirits again.
Jorge:I can do it once per day.
Josh:okay yeah oh you want to wait for the next day and do it yeah that's fine okay yep religion check
Jorge:It's the next day.
Tanner:you
Jorge:I'm only going to ask one question, and I don't think I'm going to get an answer for it, but I'm going to try it.
Jorge:Do I make a check?
Jorge:35.
Jorge:I'm doing an extra dive axe.
Josh:35.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:You're hanging out in, I guess, some other part of the house, and very similarly, there's just this pressure and weird hunk of Iceman.
Josh:Dyvex can't see.
Jorge:OK.
Josh:Only you can see the spirit summoned.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:Do you know the name of the bear of this heart and this soul?
Josh:Yes.
Jorge:What is the name of the bearer of the heart and soul?
Josh:Shoot.
Josh:One second.
Josh:Where's my... Where are you?
Josh:Come back.
Tanner:It's Kharkov's heart.
Josh:Xanthin.
Noah:Okay.
Josh:Xanthin Oreskalka.
Jorge:Yeah.
Tanner:And that's kind of crazy, but anyway.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:Oh, shit.
Jorge:What rank was he?
Jorge:What level access does he have in the first house building?
Josh:and chaps
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:I talked to Davex.
Jorge:What is blue access?
Jorge:Is that high, low?
Jorge:What is that?
Mike:No, it's pretty high.
Mike:Well, it's low, but it's important.
Tanner:Hmm.
Jorge:Is that tier one, tier two, three?
Mike:It's like tier five, seven.
Jorge:OK, how many tiers are there?
Josh:Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, ultraviolet.
Mike:Eight.
Jorge:OK, and he stole ultraviolet stuff.
Jorge:Yeah, I guess the rest of the day I'll be just disguising myself as a bunch of different people.
Jorge:Roaming the streets.
Jorge:I'll never mind.
Jorge:There's not like there's a database I can find out about people.
Jorge:So never mind.
Jorge:I'm going to go back.
Josh:No.
Josh:There is going to be a personal repository of people's information.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:You will not have access to it, and it would be equally difficult to get access to it as it would be to get into RC3.
Josh:Yeah.
Jorge:It's also suspicious, even if it wasn't too like, oh.
Josh:Okay, so as time has passed throughout the day, I will say if Divex spent the time to try and figure out if there's stuff in there, I will allow you another check and the DC will have reduced.
Mike:Let us roll.
Mike:Do you have an idea of...
Tanner:That sucks.
Noah:you
Tanner:Use the hero point.
Mike:No.
Mike:Not on recall fucking trace Noxblood and Pierogi check.
Mike:I learned my lesson last time when I burned my only hero point on something recall fucking native trees to fucking Western Ore-esque check or whatever the hell it was, and then I rolled an awful save on some spell, so no.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:I'm keeping my three hero points on the off chance that I almost die this session.
Noah:Yeah, we still got a little bit of an hour.
Mike:So...
Mike:The 40 fumble.
Josh:Yep, no Noxblood.
Mike:Perfect.
Mike:I actually eat it.
Tanner:I need a reminder.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Yep.
Josh:It's good.
Mike:Ooh.
Tanner:The sole surgery device, does that require some kind of power source?
Josh:Uh... Yes.
Mike:Yeah, but it has three charges.
Tanner:It's currently charged.
Josh:He has one that he can use all the time that will scan the soul, but it doesn't allow... Correct.
Mike:With three, I believe.
Mike:I don't think we've used it.
Tanner:Okay.
Mike:And that's the one that you have.
Mike:The one that I have just gives the scan.
Tanner:Mm-hmm.
Tanner:right but the surgery device can scan for free and then operate for a charge okay so here's what i'd like to do i'd like to set up an operating room that is not just in the clinic with everybody else um and
Josh:Sure.
Josh:Yeah, you like push the dining room table out of the way, the safe room that you guys are using to like make room as a temporary operating area.
Tanner:Yeah.
Tanner:Would it bother you guys at all if I tried to educate the other clinicians on this device?
Mike:So can we get a specification of what it actually consumes to do its surgery?
Mike:I don't know if it's like a recalled knowledge, if we ever checked, or if it's like a Don?
Josh:You can attempt a crafting check to try and figure out, like, power source.
Jorge:you
Noah:Yeah, I'm on it.
Mike:I feel like I have this in my notes somewhere.
Tanner:Yeah, I don't remember what it takes.
Tanner:Maybe I have it somewhere.
Noah:A billion.
Noah:A million.
Noah:I know everything about this device ever.
Josh:That was a 62 crit.
Noah:That was a 62 crit.
Josh:Okay, so in actual terms, it takes about 40.8 petajoules of energy to grant a charge to it.
Josh:In practice, you need some way of supplying energy to it from something that can generate that amount of energy in a reasonable way.
Josh:As best you are aware, the only things on the planet that can output that much energy are pieces of the trip.
Josh:Things that have a power source that are meant to power a huge multi-generation
Josh:colony ship that are now just spread throughout the planet.
Josh:If you manage to find one of the currently working pieces of the trip, you could maybe adapt it to fill it back up with some charge.
Tanner:you
Josh:That said, there's an upper limit this thing can hold at most three charges.
Josh:So even if you expend all three of them, if you have no way of bringing the power source to where you're using it, you'll have to return charge it back up and then come back with it.
Mike:Let me actually write that.
Mike:Surgery table needs grip power.
Jorge:So you might be able to save three people if you try hard.
Tanner:Well, I at least want to use one charge to see if it can.
Mike:That's my next question.
Mike:Do we know what exactly this stalls?
Mike:what the edges of its capabilities are.
Mike:It modifies souls directly, so the ailments and maybe curses and stuff would show up, but what's the top level, I guess?
Mike:Or can we figure out what the top level is?
Tanner:Yeah, so this, I mean, this disease has some, you know, magical nature to it.
Tanner:I assume that I'm going to have to attempt to excise that.
Mike:So I don't doubt that it can help undo whatever ailment is happening to people.
Mike:I'm wondering if the three charges are better spent on us.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Just because I don't know if long term, I was just going to help.
Jorge:No offense to the person you might save, but.
Tanner:Well, this is what I built it.
Jorge:Yes, yes.
Tanner:This is what we built it for.
Jorge:No, no, no, no, no.
Jorge:Don't get this wrong.
Jorge:But if we die, we can't get this thing back charged.
Jorge:And I'm assuming the Ureskians, because they do a bunch of, we've seen them do a bunch of cognitive surgeries.
Jorge:They must have ways of charging their devices.
Jorge:So either it's a different device or a different way of charging it.
Josh:So you are aware that the surgeries that happen in Bravasing and the Leviathan use the Leviathan as the power source.
Jorge:We can definitely get our hands on one of them, like the grimy doctor from the serpent thing.
Jorge:He does surgeries on the cognitive self.
Jorge:Ah.
Josh:Which is notably from the trip.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:There is a piece of the trip in Sarengrad, according to the map that we have.
Noah:What do we think the odds are that the trip is the complex we're trying to break into?
Josh:Okay.
Mike:So... Well, I'm saying, in the end, this is something that we can definitely allow the Sparrows to use to undo this.
Noah:Oh, yeah.
Mike:But for three charges right now, if this can, like...
Mike:undo a permanent effect from Kharkov if we're able to limp away and lick our wounds I think it's much better spent on us than removing Nox curse or whatever from someone else
Jorge:We might.
Jorge:Oh.
Jorge:Do you think we could fix the broker with this?
Mike:fix the broker with this?
Noah:No.
Mike:Oh, fix the broker.
Mike:I think we've explicitly been told the only thing that can fix the broker is getting the item that hurt him.
Jorge:Yeah, but he also could have visited.
Tanner:Okey-dokey.
Josh:I will let you make a medicine check if you want to know who could have done that.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:Just to, like, maybe tie up that loose end.
Jorge:Yeah.
Tanner:Hold on.
Jorge:You also said we could have visited that other place.
Jorge:Also, quick question for Divex and Dawn.
Jorge:Quick question.
Jorge:So if I have spiritual essence of someone, and I pull out that copper magic alloy that we have the sheets of, could you build me something that could run their presence to a different part, like a badge or something?
Jorge:know to pass like a spirit the spirit check or something yeah but what if there's like a guard standing there
Mike:Divex will pass his sketch of the guy.
Noah:If you have the heart, doesn't it just need to read the heart's essence?
Josh:There is a God standing there.
Noah:What if we just, like... What if we just, like, put it under your shirt?
Mike:Well, we know what he looks like, so if we're going to try to pretend to be him in spirit form, you seem pretty equipped to pretend to be him in person form.
Jorge:Oh, no.
Jorge:Yeah, he's actually one of my family members.
Jorge:Now, the question is... Yeah.
Mike:What?
Noah:Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Noah:What?
Noah:When you say family members, do you mean family like blood relatives or do you mean family like blood relatives?
Jorge:Oh, he's blood relative, for sure.
Tanner:50 I knew it.
Josh:That's your fault.
Noah:I shouldn't have read that.
Noah:That was my fault.
Josh:You asked the same question twice.
Jorge:Now, now...
Noah:That's what I get for making a pun.
Josh:What did we get for the medicine check?
Josh:Broke does not have a soul.
Josh:Adored.
Jorge:Fair.
Tanner:I knew he was a soulless bastard.
Mike:Thank you.
Josh:At some point, um... of...
Josh:I mean, this is getting into a bit of, like, wick mechanics, which I think Ashmont would have known a little bit more about and could have explained in better detail.
Josh:But from your guys' understanding in general, like, the whole...
Josh:The whole deal with magic is moving from one point of the wick to the other.
Josh:That's by physically transferring your soul from one area to another point on the wick.
Josh:At some point, you can kind of, quote-unquote, expand your soul enough that it encompasses multiple points at the same time.
Josh:And so the act of casting magic is really just kind of shifting your weight, so you move from one thing to the other.
Josh:And if you...
Josh:if you adopt enough of a divine portfolio that your soul grows large enough that you encompass multiple points, you no longer really get considered to have a soul so much as you just exist.
Josh:So, doesn't apply to the broker, unfortunately.
Mike:The archive gave Booker his portfolio and Booker's soul grew three sizes that day.
Josh:Kinda.
Josh:I would say gave, but yeah.
Noah:Okay.
Mike:They're friends.
Jorge:OK, so yeah, so if I have some spirit essence of someone else, could you make me give that off with this copper alloy thing?
Josh:I think you can make a crafting check if you'd like to know if you can use the magical transference properties of this bronze alloy to apply it to a soul.
Jorge:Because I think if not, we might need palladium.
Mike:Would it?
Josh:I assume...
Josh:What you're thinking of is if you keep it in your pocket, you want a wire that goes up to your hand so you can put your hand on the thing, right?
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:42.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:A 40-2 is enough.
Josh:You're fairly confident that if you do that.
Josh:If you made a wire out of the foil, then you wrapped the wire around the heart and then ran the wire up the arm, you could use the output of the wire, the other end, as whatever the...
Josh:the hearts reading is.
Josh:If you recall, the whole deal is it allows you to extend the range effectively of magic effects.
Josh:It transfers magic effects along the length of the copper.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:So I would consider this included in that.
Jorge:How much feet of this sheet did it use?
Josh:How many sheets did I say that you had?
Mike:Let me check.
Jorge:We have a good amount.
Josh:How much?
Jorge:600.
Josh:600 feet?
Josh:600 meters.
Mike:600 meters worth of alloy.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:Okay, so it's 600 meters of foil.
Josh:I will say that you can get 3 meters of wire out of every meter of foil.
Josh:So you could, if you wanted to, make a very long wire.
Mike:Also,
Mike:so it so i don't know he'll put the heart in his pocket we'll make the wire uh would it not be cut off either way uh oh gross uh got a lot of this
Jorge:I have pockets in my sleeves, actually, dimensional pockets in my sleeves.
Noah:Oh.
Jorge:We can run it from there.
Josh:It doesn't close, I don't believe.
Josh:So, I'd allow it.
Jorge:And I have gloves.
Jorge:I always wear gloves.
Jorge:And this guy wears gloves, too.
Noah:You always look good.
Mike:So, okay, I'll hold up the soul scanner.
Mike:He'll have the wire and the pocket heart.
Mike:Do I see only the heart's soul, or do I also see his?
Josh:oh um you want to see if it's like working it's not hiding his soul at all it's just putting in front of it another soul it looks like his hand has a separate soul than the rest of him probably
Tanner:Thank you.
Noah:So if he puts his hand up to the scanner and it scans it, it'll just see the fake soul?
Mike:Interesting.
Noah:Okay, good enough.
Mike:We do also know of an alloy that is particularly good at blocking magic.
Mike:I imagine it also blocks souls.
Jorge:With alloy?
Mike:Cold iron, lead, and what was the last thing?
Jorge:Southern steel?
Mike:Silver, cold iron, and lead.
Mike:I'm just randomly seeing things in my notes, and this is actually very relevant.
Jorge:I guess I could.
Josh:That was the metal pool that you could also use to form into different shapes and stuff, right?
Mike:There was a metal pool in the medbay that was this liquid that blocked magic very well.
Mike:Yes, yes.
Josh:Quicksilver.
Mike:Quicksilver.
Josh:I know Quicksilver is normally Mercury, but this is just what that is.
Noah:It's just a fast.
Mike:No.
Jorge:OK.
Josh:yeah it's quicksilver made out of actual silver you're pretty confident that if you manage to put your hand up to the sensor before putting your body up to the sensor it would it would approve it
Jorge:So since the hand reads a different soul, we'd wager to pass the thing, right?
Tanner:Thank you.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:So how many meters would I need to get from sleeves to hand?
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:How many meters would it take to just do the entire?
Josh:It's from here to here, right?
Jorge:Yeah, I've just said, how many meters do you think it would take to get the whole arms?
Josh:Like from one wingspan to the other?
Josh:Two?
Josh:Yeah.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:Two meters.
Jorge:However tall he is.
Jorge:Three meters.
Jorge:I'm going to use that.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:And Lev is this eight foot tall monstrosity.
Josh:You get a three meter wingspan, that's fine.
Jorge:Anyway.
Josh:Like a negligible amount for how much wire you guys can produce with the foil that you picked up.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:Okay, cool.
Mike:Also relevant.
Mike:This is the next morning?
Mike:The next day?
Mike:Something?
Mike:Dimex is going to pull out a piece of parchment.
Mike:So I have maze at 8th level, discern location at 8th level.
Mike:What else?
Mike:Dominate, hallucination, subconscious suggestion, locate,
Mike:Lots of invisibilities and dimension doors.
Mike:Mind reading.
Mike:So pick your pick.
Mike:We can figure out where someone is pretty quickly with a very high level spell.
Mike:We can subconsciously suggest them or directly dominate them for a full day.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:And we have the...
Noah:I think that we're going to be dealing with large mobs of people.
Noah:If we have the ability to take someone off the battlefield for a short amount of time, that could be useful.
Mike:I was thinking more of a covert operation.
Noah:Oh, this is not...
Mike:So if he's going to go in the front door pretending to be this guy who had his heart ripped out, is that not what we're doing?
Jorge:What are you talking about?
Jorge:I look over at Henrik.
Jorge:I don't know what they're talking about.
Jorge:Did Schism create a... Yeah.
Noah:Why?
Mike:So then what's the plan?
Josh:Private channel.
Josh:Between you and whom?
Jorge:Everyone besides Henrik.
Josh:Yeah, absolutely.
Josh:Because then we'll say, oh, I love secrets.
Jorge:Don't mention the gutted heart of my blood relative to Henry.
Mike:Okay.
Josh:Why?
Jorge:Oh, you know what?
Jorge:Never mind.
Jorge:You can tell him.
Jorge:When I went to pray, I didn't actually pray.
Jorge:I went and killed him.
Noah:Who?
Noah:What?
Jorge:Xander, you know.
Noah:I have no idea who this guy is.
Josh:Jed, it's Greg's heart.
Jorge:That's okay.
Jorge:All right, never mind.
Noah:Should I know who this guy is?
Jorge:We can talk.
Noah:Is this the name I should know?
Tanner:it's the name of the person who owns the heart or who once owned the heart um
Jorge:Still owns the heart.
Noah:Lev is actually like, yeah, I killed my friend Greg.
Mike:Yeah.
Noah:You know, Greg.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:We're not going to tell Henrik about Greg.
Tanner:I'm going to pivot a little bit and instead of using a charge, I would like to just examine the souls of various patients at various points of disease and see what it looks like.
Josh:So like no medicine check or anything necessary.
Josh:This is like very clearly visible to the eye.
Josh:It starts with the least infected patients with a bit of that burlap sack looking like it's starting to rot.
Josh:and it progresses all the way through to people who are on death's door with very little of it left, because the threads have kind of rotted apart and separated, bits of it have just kind of wasted away.
Tanner:And are these people whose souls are in this bed of shape, are they like...
Josh:In early stages, it looks like you could definitely just cut off the piece that's infected, and in later stages, more than half of the soul is just gone.
Josh:So it gets progressively worse and together at some point it's probably not tenable to just excise the bad bits.
Tanner:out of it like not really there like to match yeah yeah okay
Josh:Kind of conscious, kind of not.
Josh:Very clearly extremely malnourished, like, to the point that even if their souls were completely untacked, you'd gather they'd probably have trouble staying conscious.
Josh:Like, bad sunburns, clearly not in a good state.
Josh:Alright, anything else?
Josh:If not, we can fast forward to when Masha finds herself here, because of a particularly convincing ask.
Mike:Thank you.
Josh:Alrighty.
Josh:Sorry.
Josh:So, you have done what you needed to do, or what you think you could do in the time here.
Josh:You are at various points in the, uh, the area of the safe house that you guys have been using as your base for the past 24 hours or so.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:Um, when there is a... I don't know... Like, the only person who has seen Masha in person before is Henrik.
Josh:And I don't think you would have...
Josh:felt it then but you know a year later with uh like a bit more experience feeling the flow of magic now um there is a strange pressure that emanates out of the back of the house as you can hear the door gets opened um
Josh:from somebody entering.
Josh:They have the key, they clearly either have access or were granted access in some way.
Josh:But there's this wave very similar to, like, just kind of this inertial pressure where it feels like something is moving past you and it just kind of wants to take you along for the ride a little bit.
Josh:You can hold still, but it's like being in water and feeling a wave as it goes by.
Josh:and whoever is closest can look into the hallway and see
Josh:less stylized because they're here in person a maybe four and a half foot maybe five foot tall uh female dwarf uh she's an aphorite so her skin is this like platinum shiny uh like silvery color uh her hair and her eyes are both bright gold like they look like they're made out of actual gold uh they have the same luster that you would expect from gold uh she is wearing
Josh:Standard commoners, like, generic working clothes.
Josh:She's not outfitted in armor or anything like that.
Josh:I think Divex, I just assume that you would detect magic going 24-7.
Josh:You would get a ping here of magic from her.
Josh:It would be rank 10.
Mike:Not Nybex.
Josh:But, like, indeterminate besides that.
Tanner:I'll do it.
Josh:steps into the hallway, looks at whoever's closest.
Josh:Who do you think would be closest?
Josh:Um... Henrik said he was there.
Jorge:Yeah, probably 10, Rick.
Josh:So Henrik, you would see her first.
Josh:She would look over to you, uh, and say, Hello.
Josh:You wished to speak?
Josh:Ah!
Josh:Sorry.
Josh:I haven't played with my cat in, like, three hours, and he's freaking out.
Tanner:Masha, yes, thank you so much for meeting with us.
Josh:So she says, sorry, I haven't played with my cat.
Tanner:We've learned a lot, and we have a lot of plans, and we just felt we needed you about it.
Tanner:It's big.
Tanner:There's so much.
Josh:Roycheck told me the conversations yesterday.
Josh:What did you want?
Josh:And I think at this point, there's enough time for the rest of you to filter in, be part of this conversation if you want to.
Jorge:Hello, Moshe.
Jorge:We are the Weft.
Jorge:You obviously know Henrik.
Jorge:From the way we've heard about you, I was hoping you understood our importance of our mission at a more cosmic level.
Josh:Yes.
Jorge:Do you know... Let's look around.
Jorge:Do you know about the creature from below?
Josh:There isn't, like, as best you can tell, no recognition.
Josh:And she says, I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean.
Josh:Can I get a perception check, by the way?
Tanner:That's okay.
Jorge:Ah, yes.
Josh:Perception or society?
Tanner:I'll make a perception check.
Jorge:All right, Divex, do you want to roll the society?
Mike:A society?
Mike:Oh, yeah.
Tanner:Ooh.
Noah:Terrifying.
Tanner:Not a good perception check.
Tanner:I got a 38.
Mike:Oh, what the fuck?
Mike:Putting this all on me?
Mike:41.
Tanner:Yeah, sorry.
Mike:For society.
Josh:41 is actually just barely enough.
Mike:Let's go.
Josh:Just like a small call out.
Josh:She walked into the house.
Josh:She started a conversation with you guys.
Josh:It's been a few minutes.
Josh:She has not blinked or visibly taken a breath once in that time.
Mike:Huh.
Noah:Sorry, what is your end goal?
Noah:We know you are leading the rebellion and not to bring you in here and come at you, but do you just want the first house to fall?
Noah:What's the goal after that?
Josh:Freedom from Oresk.
Josh:Oresk tramples on the powerless so long as it stands.
Noah:Aura?
Noah:oresk does or the first house does i'm sorry i'm kind of i'm i'm new around here i don't know if you read the whole docket that got sent out so terrifying uh
Josh:Oresk does.
Josh:The first house exists because the government allows for it.
Tanner:Thank you.
Josh:It is the government.
Josh:You topple the first house, there's nothing to stop another from rising in its place.
Josh:The structures still exist.
Josh:You're from elsewhere.
Josh:I can see.
Noah:While this is going on, in schism, I'm going to ask, Henrik, do you get a life sense from this gal?
Tanner:Oh, that's interesting.
Tanner:Probably.
Tanner:Yeah.
Noah:Oh.
Noah:Okay, so the first house topples and then, is there a president of arrest?
Noah:Is there a dictator?
Josh:the commandant, the head of the arresting military, and by virtue, the head of the arresting government.
Josh:It was all the same.
Noah:Well, we are attempting something sort of parallel to your goals here, but for the greater all thing.
Noah:But still, if we succeed, it'll be a massive boon to you, and any help you can give us is greatly appreciated.
Josh:right what help would you ask for if not personnel
Noah:We know you can't really throw warm bodies at it, and that we're kind of the warm bodies you're getting, except for Lev.
Noah:Anything you can give us?
Jorge:Can we just tell her the truth?
Noah:Any help?
Noah:Divine?
Mike:information, knowledge, items.
Noah:Physical?
Tanner:well I have a question a memory question first when we met with the playwright she gave us a list of people that she spoke to and gave aid to or directed aid to I don't know if that's a more correct word but I feel like she said Masha but I don't have Masha written down I have other people written
Josh:You did say, Marsha?
Tanner:And Masha accepted guidance.
Josh:Correct.
Josh:I will... Sorry.
Tanner:No, go ahead.
Josh:I was going to say, I will accept a diplomacy role here to try and leak out any more.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:All right, we'll make some.
Noah:I'll also make one.
Mike:Sorry, she accepted guidance from the playwright.
Tanner:The playwright.
Jorge:So this, which means she might be a 13th realm influenced.
Jorge:So is this to get stuff from her?
Josh:This is the request to get any further aid.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:OK, so I'm going to pull out all my stuff.
Noah:I got a 51.
Jorge:Oh.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:Did we see Whitechuck's docket?
Jorge:I'm so sorry.
Josh:52?
Jorge:That's.
Noah:You're fucking kidding me, man.
Josh:What did you ask, Mike?
Mike:Did we see Wojciech's docket?
Josh:What?
Mike:Did we see the docket that Wojciech received?
Josh:Oh, yeah, he would have shown it to you.
Mike:Did it mention us interacting with the playwright at all?
Josh:No, it would not have.
Josh:It's not like a detailed history.
Josh:It's more like an accounting of your current abilities.
Mike:Oh, okay.
Noah:I was... Super uncool.
Mike:You could have some suspicions then.
Mike:If we've gotten this powerful and you might think that we've been contacted and either accepted or denied, then maybe you could see an indication of that on us.
Josh:With a 52, your request.
Noah:fucking believe it.
Josh:which is one better than the lame 51 that Don got.
Josh:Collectively, we both got 103, so it's fine.
Josh:You...
Josh:I don't know if you see her think is the right term, because there's, like, the face is rigid.
Josh:There's no emotion there.
Josh:The eyes don't blink.
Josh:The mouth barely moves, just enough to get the words out.
Josh:It is the least expressive face any of you would have come across.
Josh:And you have spoken to a literal blank face before.
Josh:But she'll say, I have a small favor I can offer you.
Jorge:Science isn't all I know this is.
Josh:But I cannot explain the nature of the favor.
Tanner:But it will come in due time.
Josh:It may be of use.
Noah:We'll take it.
Tanner:Interesting.
Tanner:Of course you do.
Josh:And then she will say, I doubt that.
Josh:But it might help.
Josh:I'm sorry I can't sing more.
Tanner:I have another request.
Jorge:Yes.
Tanner:I request some honesty.
Tanner:I've spent a lot of time on our travels the last year or so.
Tanner:being disappointed in people, in their goals, in their motivation.
Tanner:There are a lot of powers at play in this world.
Tanner:A lot of people with kind of bad ideas for how they want to see things go.
Tanner:We're aware that you have been in contact with the 13th realm and have perhaps received some sort of boon.
Tanner:I need to know about it, and I need to know what your intentions are with it.
Josh:There's another pause.
Josh:And she says, I was and am no longer.
Josh:I requested aid in a time of need and found the aid came with too many strings.
Josh:So I took what I needed
Josh:and I broke contact.
Josh:You are right.
Josh:The playwrights did reach out to me.
Josh:They are part of the reason why I am like this and why I can hear you talk through something technology.
Josh:But I am...
Josh:Completely honest, I only want what's best for the Ariskyan people.
Jorge:so you're familiar with these cycles correct what if we broke that cycle there may there will be a lot of change people like karkov will likely be taken out but can you be counted on to help us rebuild all of this
Josh:Yes.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:I had already signed on to change when I started a movement to overthrow the rescue government.
Josh:I don't think this will be all that much more.
Josh:So yes, if you need a verbal affirmation.
Jorge:Is there anything else you want to ask her?
Noah:Thank you for help.
Noah:You have a very special place here.
Josh:Our goals align, and you are trying to do good.
Jorge:Is there anything you want us to keep Anaïs out for when we're in the den?
Josh:If Kharkov escapes, it will be to the bottom of the floor.
Josh:There is a passage there.
Jorge:Where does it go to?
Josh:I can't answer.
Josh:I just know there is one.
Noah:Oh.
Noah:That's interesting.
Jorge:OK, and that's where all most of the equipment are.
Jorge:And the artifact.
Jorge:OK.
Josh:I don't know the layout.
Josh:I only know the passage from the other end.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:Do you have any other questions?
Tanner:I don't.
Tanner:Thank you, Masha.
Tanner:Please, stay safe.
Josh:Of course, you as well.
Josh:I'd prefer not to see all of you die.
Jorge:We'd prefer that as well.
Jorge:Imagine if I actually had an evil character and my entire thing was us first house pretending to be it.
Jorge:And I was trying to get Masha's attention.
Jorge:And you guys let me get a conversation.
Jorge:And then I just attack her.
Josh:That's, you just... This whole time!
Tanner:That'd be crazy.
Tanner:I wrote.
Jorge:You would be like, that's what he pushed for the conversation.
Jorge:Anyway, I attack.
Jorge:I'm kidding.
Josh:I was just checking... She does have one item she can give you.
Josh:I want another diplomacy check here.
Jorge:Oh.
Josh:The DC is hired.
Jorge:Yes.
Noah:Higher DC?
Noah:Oh my god.
Noah:50.
Josh:I mean, you guys don't know what the D.C.
Josh:was the first time you succeeded.
Josh:It was high.
Mike:Three.
Josh:You broke it.
Josh:No, you didn't break it.
Josh:It's just Vegas, though.
Jorge:So that doesn't work.
Jorge:I will try mythic points since you already rolled higher than me.
Jorge:I might as well try to get higher.
Noah:No!
Noah:I mean...
Jorge:No, not to overshadow you, but might as well try.
Jorge:If we're anchored and we can't do worse.
Josh:What is your work?
Josh:Are you legendary in diplomacy?
Jorge:Yes.
Josh:Roll again with an additional plus two, then.
Tanner:Thank you.
Jorge:There we go, 58.
Josh:That's not even a crit?
Josh:That's crazy.
Jorge:No.
Noah:I stab Lev.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Oh, but...
Noah:I pull up the needle and I stab Lev with the needle.
Jorge:Wait one second.
Noah:He's too powerful.
Noah:No.
Jorge:That being said, before I say anything, yeah, never mind.
Jorge:Keep going.
Josh:Sorry, am I continuing or are you doing something?
Jorge:No, I was just about to say that I think Don also gets a plus two, but it doesn't really matter.
Josh:Just for fun?
Noah:I do.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:Dorgalia might give it to him.
Jorge:I'm not sure.
Josh:Either way, a 58 did just barely beat the DC of 56.
Josh:So...
Jorge:Oh, good thing I do.
Noah:Crazy.
Josh:She will reach into her, like, worker's garb and out of a pocket pull a stick.
Josh:It's, like, this big.
Josh:It's maybe a quarter of an inch by a quarter of an inch by an inch.
Josh:Like, literally just like a matchstick, effectively, but without the top.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:And she will hold it out, probably to Henrik.
Josh:and say if you snap that you will be invulnerable for six seconds don't lose it you can lose it you just shouldn't give it to kharkov
Tanner:Whoa.
Tanner:That is, uh, very kind.
Tanner:Uh, well... Right.
Tanner:Thank you for this as well.
Josh:I have to go now.
Jorge:All right.
Josh:And she will leave the way she came.
Josh:Another, like, you're standing in the water and you feel the water pulling back out like a full tide, but you can stand and resist.
Josh:It's not particularly strong as she leaves.
Josh:And for the record, that is effectively a scroll of indestructibility, but it's one action instead of two.
Noah:Wow.
Tanner:And anyone could use it.
Jorge:It should only last for six seconds.
Josh:Duration is until the start of your next turn.
Jorge:It's just one round.
Noah:Oh, until the start of your next turn.
Noah:That's pretty good.
Jorge:What is the use for it, though?
Mike:And...
Jorge:Just like if you're about to go down.
Josh:You sever yourself from cause and effect for the duration of the spell.
Josh:You are immune to any effect or damage that would harm you, excluding de-effect power.
Josh:You selectively allow yourself to be affected by anything you're willing to have affect you.
Jorge:Defect power.
Jorge:Is that also like demi-defect power?
Josh:It says, like, excluding effects caused by artifacts.
Josh:So you need something of that level or greater.
Jorge:Or like, I don't know, like a gun that could.
Josh:So, like, just a spell by somebody who was a demigod wouldn't be enough.
Josh:But if somebody had, like, the sword of slaying or whatever that was some artifact, that would still make contact.
Josh:Probably.
Josh:Like, if you're thinking very specifically of the gun that punched a hole in the broker, yes, that would still work.
Jorge:Yeah.
Tanner:Hmm.
Jorge:Cool.
Noah:Terrifying.
Josh:That is absolutely an artifact.
Jorge:So what about if we cracked that and just tried to duke it out with the feet?
Jorge:He could still probably hurt through, because that's de-effect power, right?
Josh:Yes.
Josh:I think you can safely assume that this will protect you from mortal effects.
Jorge:OK.
Jorge:Nice, but.
Josh:It's not a cure-all.
Josh:It's just a nice to have.
Josh:Oh, she totally is.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Shit, I forgot to ask if he's a vampire.
Jorge:Ah, yeah.
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:So... Okay.
Jorge:One quick thing before we sign off.
Jorge:I tried to do a pass-by of the place, and I'm just assuming that people that enter the place don't have specific outfits, right?
Josh:Oh, yeah, no.
Jorge:if I were to stop it.
Josh:No uniform.
Josh:It's supposed to be like this.
Josh:They're all wearing nice business attire, but not like, I am a member of the first house type deal.
Jorge:Cool.
Jorge:That makes it easier to get in there.
Josh:Sure.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:But you are right.
Josh:This is a pretty good place to stop since it's 11.
Jorge:Yeah.
Tanner:We got to meet Masha.
Tanner:Good job, Jorge.
Noah:Now we met Tanner's backstory.
Tanner:I don't expect any consequence.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:She would not have shown up unless you rolled suitably high on that check.
Jorge:Dope.
Josh:Because it was a huge security concern for her to have done that.
Josh:Nah, it's fine.
Josh:Funnily enough, I...
Tanner:Guys, all I've wanted is someone who's just nice, you know?
Josh:Is she just nice?
Josh:Does that count?
Tanner:uh she's done pretty well so far she's done pretty well so far that would be odd that's for sure
Josh:She could also be nice.
Josh:Secretly, she is Beast.
Josh:Beast got out, walked away, turned into a dwarf, and also traveled back in time 100 years.
Josh:It happens sometimes.
Noah:wild.
Jorge:Oh.
Jorge:Yeah, we're going to go in there to impersonate someone.
Tanner:So we have the locations of people to use to get us to try and get through the guard check, badge check.
Josh:Well, yeah, so just to, like, reiterate, it's you need a badge to get past the first card, you need a soul print to get past the second card, you go through the waterfall that attempts to counteract on illusions, or on all magic, then you take an elevator down to get into the actual facility, and in the facility itself, there are a bunch of, like, locks that cannot be progressed unless the badge that you have has clearance to do so.
Tanner:right right other things are too
Noah:It's going to get tougher and tougher.
Jorge:So we just have the sole print of someone that can go there.
Jorge:We don't have their badge.
Josh:So the thing that the broker hired you for a year and change ago was to recover the gun.
Mike:Yep.
Jorge:Fuck.
Mike:So the end goal is to get that gun and leave.
Josh:Anything else is what you want to do.
Tanner:Attack Kharkov, which is crazy.
Tanner:Attack Rampart and get Hallia and Tenno, which is probably also a little crazy.
Tanner:When we saw the vision of Rampart on the TV screen, did he look like he had his max hit points?
Jorge:Thank you.
Noah:Never been a better time.
Noah:This is the moment.
Noah:I think there's never been a better moment for us, like, strategic-wise.
Josh:Yes.
Noah:Try and take them out.
Mike:We're not attacking.
Josh:He actually looked quite healthy.
Tanner:Damn it.
Josh:You know, I'm gonna just for like a little tidbit of extra information here, I'm gonna make a super retroactive perception check if anybody would like to do it for a very small detail that would have appeared on the television.
Noah:Dang, we can go in there again.
Josh:while you were um while you're investigating ended up not getting into combat
Jorge:Oh, fuck.
Tanner:I love minutiae.
Noah:No.
Tanner:I love minutiae.
Tanner:Let me see.
Jorge:I think I know what it is.
Noah:I don't think I know.
Mike:Oh, right, I have hero points.
Noah:I also think I know what it is, Jorge.
Tanner:Make mine a 47.
Mike:We're at the end of this session.
Mike:Mythic points.
Josh:You totally figured out what was going on with those pierogies.
Mike:And... Worth.
Noah:I could not figure out those pierogies.
Josh:Oh, you can just ice guy.
Mike:Uh, I...
Mike:Master, so Legendary, Mythic, so I had four.
Mike:And then, fuck it, well I had Beast, what else do I have?
Josh:Yeah, plus four.
Mike:I'm trained in Perception, that's really annoying.
Mike:I should have one more thing.
Jorge:Oh, if you're just trained, what are you adding for the modifier for Mythic plus six?
Mike:No, no, I mean, I have a feat that only works if you are not trained in the thing.
Josh:Sorry, are you trying to... If you're using a happy point, then you don't add 4, you add 8.
Mike:Don't I get...
Jorge:Ah.
Mike:Yeah.
Mike:Don't I get one do-over?
Josh:Oh, gotcha.
Mike:No, no, no.
Mike:I'm at least trained.
Mike:I am master.
Mike:I thought I had an advantage on one check, but this is fine.
Mike:I'll just roll this.
Tanner:Yeah.
Mike:Cool.
Josh:What was the highest number we got?
Mike:One more.
Mike:We both got a 46.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:Well, actually, no.
Mike:He got a 47 because he added his beast.
Josh:Unfortunately, not high enough to detect the... A 50 would have got it, Tori.
Noah:Josh, would a 50 have gotten it to work?
Noah:What's the spell?
Noah:I didn't know how it works, but now I do know how it works.
Noah:For him.
Josh:Oh, um... Oh, practice makes perfect, yeah.
Noah:Craddock Snake's perfect.
Noah:I believe he gets a plus 3.
Josh:Yeah, sure.
Noah:Let me see.
Josh:That would bring the 47 up to... I assume you're at least master perception, Tanner.
Tanner:Yeah, I'm pretty good.
Tanner:Yeah, I'm a master.
Noah:Let me double check this.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Yeah.
Noah:Plus three if the target has master or better proficiency.
Noah:Yep.
Josh:So yeah, no, that would bring you up to a 50.
Josh:It's not a huge thing.
Josh:I think you would have noticed in the top left corner of the screen a flashing carrot.
Tanner:Hmm.
Noah:Oh, he still has it.
Tanner:Hmm.
Noah:This dick.
Jorge:Where he went and got it.
Noah:Or he went and got it.
Noah:No, he doesn't know where it is.
Noah:Because he...
Josh:He used it to get back.
Josh:That's just a fun thing for him to have.
Tanner:Yeah, I don't think he lost it.
Tanner:Well, did we lose it?
Noah:Yeah, Augie lost it.
Noah:Yeah, he specifically took it from us.
Tanner:We'll take it back.
Tanner:Another reason to kill him.
Noah:I didn't know how he took it in the first place.
Josh:He's got magic shenanigans.
Josh:You guys aren't the only one with magic shenanigans.
Josh:He's immune to magic.
Josh:What did you expect?
Josh:Not at Evers.
Jorge:So I think, Josh, do you have something clarifying?
Tanner:He should be immune to having the carrot.
Jorge:What exactly stuff can I ask about with the consultant spirits?
Josh:I make whatever you want.
Tanner:What you should ask is, what kind of stuff can I get answered?
Tanner:Because you could ask anything.
Noah:Thank you.
Josh:Yeah, so my understanding of how I'm reading this is that you can ask them whatever you like, but their knowledge is limited to their realm of experience.
Jorge:They're like death for me.
Josh:Yeah, if you're summoning void spirits, it would be along those lines.
Jorge:Okay.
Jorge:So like they might know, for example, where Xander died.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:Bye-bye.
Jorge:So maybe we try to find out where he lived or something.
Jorge:Hopefully he died there.
Jorge:And then we get his badge.
Mike:So discern location.
Mike:Targets one creature or object.
Mike:You learn the name of the target's exact location, including the building, community, and country, and plane of existence.
Jorge:Thank you.
Mike:You can target... Oh, to target an object, you must have touched it or have a fragment of it.
Mike:I see.
Mike:Okay.
Mike:I was going to say...
Mike:the the first part is you can target a creature only if you've seen it before in person have one of its significant belongings and i was like i don't see an area for object does the heart count as the card's significant belongings but no oh is oh well if you have a piece of its body you can find uh
Josh:Well, I mean, discern location isn't a thing, so I have no idea what the hell you're talking about.
Josh:All the cool people nowadays use pinpoint, which does specify if you have a piece of its body, you can use it.
Noah:Bye.
Josh:You learn the target's exact location, including the building community and country and plane of existence.
Mike:So I'd know where his body is, which is not super helpful.
Josh:Yeah.
Jorge:Well, it might be if it has its IQ card on it.
Mike:Oh, yeah.
Mike:OK.
Mike:I mean, we could try it.
Mike:It's only an 8th level spell, guys.
Mike:I'm not going to do every magic thing.
Jorge:So we could try that.
Jorge:If we can find his ID card, that's ideal.
Jorge:Because then we can get pretty damn low.
Jorge:And then what do we do?
Jorge:Let's say everything goes well, and we make it to blue.
Jorge:We still have violet and ultraviolet to go down.
Jorge:We learned from the playwrights in the bottom floor, right?
Mike:Is the gun... Is it on the bottom floor?
Mike:Did we learn that from the playwright?
Josh:It's on the bottom floor and it's very well locked away.
Josh:You have an outstanding request you can make to ask the playwright to get Kharkov to move it.
Josh:That was a request you made of the playwright that the playwright granted to you, but no guarantee about where and how.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:Okay.
Mike:Well...
Mike:If I have a... I think... Let's see.
Mike:Locate object.
Mike:Or just locate... Blah, blah, blah.
Mike:If it's a type of object, you just lay an accurate mental image of the type of object.
Mike:If there's lead or running water between you and the target, the spell can't locate it.
Mike:Blah, blah, blah.
Mike:So an accurate mental image of the type of object.
Mike:I don't think that's difficult.
Mike:Especially given we've had... Yeah.
Josh:You guys have seen it.
Josh:You can easily imagine what it looks like.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:Okay.
Jorge:So we can ask for the playwright to move it.
Jorge:And step one, get the ID.
Jorge:If we get the ID, we can access six of the eight floors, right?
Jorge:Or n minus two of the floors, hopefully.
Jorge:If we ask the playwright to move it, odds are it's probably not, we really hope, it's not going to be to the other floor we can't access.
Jorge:Hopefully it's to one we can access.
Jorge:Then we grab it.
Noah:Let me just start killing anyone until we get a badge that lets us down.
Jorge:Otherwise, OK.
Jorge:The portal gun, OK.
Josh:It's not the porting gun.
Jorge:So if we can't, yeah, so if that's the thing, bingo, bongo, we grab it, we get out.
Jorge:If it's not the case and it's on a different floor, then we start the murders.
Tanner:Hello.
Jorge:guess so, right?
Mike:Yeah, we could do it a little nicer.
Mike:I mean, I'm going to prepare a mix of escape, subvert, and attack.
Mike:But the subvert is really what we should be doing.
Josh:They are the bodyguards.
Mike:I think getting someone on some level to, like dominating them to attempt to, I don't know, steal a key card from someone else is pretty reasonable.
Mike:Like some random dude.
Noah:We're going to walk into this place and Kharkov, Rampart, and the Slipseer are just going to be hanging out having coffee right in the middle of the first floor.
Tanner:That'd be ideal.
Josh:Yeah.
Tanner:We'll take him out.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:Are you confident enough to take on all three of them at the same time?
Mike:Josh, you have all three of them in the same place.
Tanner:Now that I have this stick that I can break, I am supremely confident.
Josh:Just as a person.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:I'm just going to prep AoE.
Josh:So, what do you know about the three of them?
Josh:Like, can you say for me what you know?
Noah:We know... We know that Rampart... Yep, that one exactly.
Josh:Give them the phrase.
Mike:The closer they are, the harder they fall.
Noah:Rampart, Alert to Magic.
Noah:Kharkov, some form of champion maybe.
Noah:Slipsier, no idea.
Noah:But isn't she Kharkov's sister?
Noah:Sorry, Rampart.
Josh:So the Slipsier and Rampart are siblings.
Noah:My working theory is she's the exact opposite of Rampart and...
Noah:physical stuff isn't going to work on her.
Noah:That's my working theory.
Noah:I have no basis for this.
Tanner:That's fascinating.
Josh:Just like synecdoche.
Josh:No, that's not the term.
Josh:What's the term for parallelism?
Jorge:Parallelism.
Josh:Gosh, I used to know it.
Josh:No, there's a literary term for it.
Mike:Juxtaposition.
Josh:That's fine.
Josh:No, that's nice to each other.
Noah:Foil?
Tanner:Oh.
Jorge:Irony.
Noah:Mirror?
Josh:It's fine.
Josh:It's definitely not irony.
Tanner:Oh, oh, oh my gosh.
Tanner:I know, I think I know what you're getting at and I can't either.
Tanner:It's like someone's old or something, right?
Mike:Illusion.
Mike:Something, someone's fold.
Tanner:No.
Mike:An analog.
Jorge:No.
Jorge:Foil.
Tanner:Ooh, that's the word I was looking for.
Josh:Foil is a good...
Tanner:I don't know if that's... Foil was in my head.
Mike:First in or out or last.
Josh:That fits.
Josh:It's not what's in my head, but it does fit.
Mike:verb oh they're looking for a literary term for parallel
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:It's fitting as and.
Noah:So what's...
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:Like, that isn't parallelism.
Josh:There's, um... There's... I feel like, although I could just be making this term up now, I'm gaslighting myself into believing that it's a thing, but there's a term for, um...
Josh:Like, maybe it is foil, and I'm just being dumb.
Josh:Let's just go with foil, and then I'll Google around later to see if I can figure out what the hell I was thinking about.
Mike:Prefiguration.
Mike:Consonants.
Josh:No.
Noah:Yeah, that's my working theory.
Noah:Could be wrong.
Noah:She could have other crazy powers, but I think if that's the... Because we know that Divex and Dawn are not going to be super useful against the Rampart, and Henrik and Lev are.
Tanner:I like it.
Noah:Paralysis Membrorum.
Jorge:I don't even know if it's real.
Noah:Just saying syllables now.
Jorge:No, it's Gemini.
Noah:So I think basically
Noah:We go in there.
Noah:The two marshals go for Rampart.
Josh:Thank you.
Noah:Dawn and Divex go for the slips here.
Noah:We hope Kharkov is somewhere else.
Mike:Chiasmus.
Jorge:So, okay.
Jorge:Let's say we get the gun.
Jorge:What's our next plan?
Tanner:We shoot Kharkov with the gun.
Noah:Yeah.
Mike:Bop bop.
Tanner:Who says no?
Tanner:Who says no?
Noah:I think that's a solid plan, actually.
Mike:Ahaha.
Tanner:I agree with Mike in this instance, which I rarely do, but what he did was correct.
Jorge:Also...
Jorge:Where the fuck do you think the bottom of this thing goes that Bosh is sitting on the other side?
Noah:I don't know, but something...
Jorge:The lighthouse?
Tanner:It must be some kind of, like, not physical walk down a hallway kind of thing.
Tanner:There's... I mean, it could be a heart or something.
Tanner:Well, can you check?
Josh:Is it what?
Jorge:Maybe they transverse.
Mike:Probably a hard time, man.
Jorge:Maybe the way Karkov moves around the continent by using those pathways that the lighthouse has.
Noah:Josh, is it chiasmus?
Jorge:The broker said that might be possible.
Mike:Maybe he just walks.
Noah:Is that it?
Mike:Maybe he's healthy.
Noah:Chiasmus?
Josh:No, that doesn't sound familiar.
Mike:Exageratia.
Josh:I'm increasingly believing that I just made this up and then forgot the words that I made up and have convinced myself that a thing exists that doesn't.
Josh:I, like... It's fine.
Jorge:Um?
Jorge:So.
Jorge:If what's our way of escaping?
Tanner:Oh, we take the back door.
Jorge:Because we might need that.
Jorge:Like, just a resk.
Jorge:Do we tell the broker to come into a resk so that we can just go out with him?
Noah:We have your hip.
Noah:I think whatever's in that basement's got to be our escape route.
Noah:We just have to hope it works.
Jorge:Just go through whatever's in the basement?
Jorge:We could try to go... Yeah.
Tanner:Yeah.
Jorge:We also could try to go through... What is it?
Jorge:The research facility that launched Lev and...
Jorge:Desmond outside of Aresk.
Noah:My worry is that we're going to get to the bottom floor.
Noah:And the only way out is either whatever that hallway is on the bottom floor, or go back up to the top, which means fighting reinforcements.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:I wish we had some bombs that we could just use to bomb our way down.
Josh:It's not a hospital But they're not hospital bombs so it doesn't count
Jorge:Like planar bombs.
Tanner:Yeah, that only works in specific scenarios.
Mike:This is true.
Mike:We do have three, though.
Mike:I think.
Mike:Uh... Oh, wait.
Mike:Maybe we don't have... Did I move the bombs out of my inventory to keep all these fucking clockwork dials?
Noah:But We Used to Have Bombs is a great title for the biography of this group when we're done.
Mike:We used to have bombs.
Jorge:Load stone bombs.
Josh:gone now.
Jorge:Okay.
Josh:I mean, you did have Bloodstone Bombs, but you used them on the Soul Cage.
Josh:I don't know if that's what you're talking about.
Jorge:No, we made new ones, and then Divex ended up just fireballing the outside of the sphere anyway, if I recall.
Mike:No.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Also, one other quick question before we go.
Jorge:How do you guys envision the end of this campaign happening?
Jorge:Are we going to just let everyone on the surface get bombed?
Noah:We gotta deactivate the cycles, which means probably deactivating the 13th realm.
Josh:Thank you.
Jorge:Are we going to try to restart it?
Jorge:Are we then not going to restart it?
Jorge:Then we're going to have to fight the Admiral?
Jorge:Are we just going to peace out?
Jorge:What's the end goal?
Tanner:Well, I don't know if I 100% agree that that.
Jorge:So then how do we fight the Thiep?
Jorge:Because the current plan was that we ascend.
Jorge:to cause the downfall of everyone.
Jorge:So the Feep has to defend that, and then we have a chance to actually fight his body.
Noah:I think one of us has to... One of us has to... Yeah.
Mike:was that yeah i don't think that was the plan we never had a plan to ascend it was to help it was to help the broker yeah i know lev wants to ascend and this is why Jorge's was
Josh:Let's do this again.
Jorge:No, no, that... We did have a plan.
Jorge:No, no, no, but we did have a plan when we tried with the Admiral, because that was the Admiral's tip.
Josh:The Admiral's suggestion when you asked, like, how do you put the, uh, the Thiep in a, like, compromising position was, it doesn't want the cycle to end, so if you trigger the end of the cycle, it will have its hands full trying to prevent that, which puts it in a more easy position for you to go and whack it.
Noah:I mean... We do know how to get close to it.
Josh:That was, you had asked how could we get close to it, and that was his response, too.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:That's, like, a way you could do it.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:We know exactly where it is, too.
Noah:But also, if we do... If the Feep shows up to stop an ascension, the whole thing of the cycles is that they continue on because nothing ever ascends high enough.
Noah:But if something were...
Noah:to kill the host of the phoebe and then take the fragment of nothing it might be strong enough to end the cycles yeah
Mike:You're not going to have to defeat the 13th realm.
Jorge:Or we do the Ascension plan because the Leviathan was going to then fight the 13th realm as this was happening.
Jorge:Try to get in there.
Jorge:Admiral wants to take control and restart the realms.
Jorge:We could then try to fight the Admiral.
Jorge:We still have access codes up there.
Jorge:And then we try to...
Jorge:fight the Admiral and then turn off the 13th realm and turn into a massive Ashmont engine.
Tanner:you
Jorge:But we obviously don't need to solve this now.
Jorge:Just wanted to just float out ideas.
Mike:Yeah, so I thought we were going to get the gun, bring it to the broker, go to Syrin to gain intel on the Feep, and then return and fight it ultimately.
Mike:I mean, if we can avoid the massive casualties incurred by the end of a cycle, then I think we probably should.
Jorge:Do we?
Jorge:The broker's plan didn't need Ascension because we're going to go find information about him off Syrin, right?
Josh:Those are a separate thing, but yes.
Noah:you.
Josh:The broker wants to make it vulnerable to be known, such that you can actually get to it and know that you're getting to it and all that stuff by learning its name.
Jorge:OK.
Josh:Effectively, you reduce the presence of the formless fragment by assigning more knowledge to the current holder, because it's bonded less strongly.
Jorge:What if?
Jorge:What if we get the information of Formless and then we cash in our bifurcated man token and we tell everyone about Formless?
Mike:Well, I mean, frankly, that's... Yeah.
Josh:Bye.
Noah:My one concern is that Formless is still strong and the obvious thing to do there is just kill everyone who knows his name.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:Which would just end the death of everyone on Althane who's a commoner.
Jorge:that won't work because then if he kills all the people, then there will be no people to burn his blood, his divine energy.
Mike:Yeah, it's the equivalent to him doing the bidding of the 13th realm to restart a cycle.
Mike:I don't think he wants... I don't know actually exactly what the F.E.A.P.
Mike:would do besides... How to fight a cognitive being.
Noah:Thank you.
Jorge:Very angry.
Jorge:It would be very angry, but I don't know what else to do.
Jorge:That actually might be the move.
Jorge:Lev uses spread rumor feat with the TV to be like, I heard.
Mike:Gossip.
Mike:Yeah, you remember in third grade when you wore your underwear to school?
Mike:It's like a fucking Pennywise.
Mike:You just start verbally bullying people.
Jorge:He wets his pants every time he goes to bed.
Mike:It's a crisp Monday morning in Syrin.
Jorge:Okay.
Mike:We just narrate the most embarrassing story of the feed.
Mike:How are you going to be formless when you have so much form here slipping and falling on this pool of chocolate milk in the lunchroom?
Jorge:We heard he was fat growing up.
Jorge:He was a fat kid.
Mike:Look at how cute he is.
Tanner:Oh, very good, very good.
Jorge:A lot of form, a lot of form.
Jorge:What?
Mike:What an idiot.
Josh:I don't like the idea of you guys bullying every villain that I present to you I just is it possible for me to present a bad guy and for you guys to be like no I won't come up with this scenario where he slipped on chocolate milk in the lunch in the cafeteria that's a thing I won't do today
Jorge:Sorry.
Mike:Oops.
Josh:I don't think it is.
Josh:I don't think it's possible for you to do that.
Josh:If you heard that Kharkov had one less than full health, you would immediately start making fun of him.
Jorge:Bye.
Mike:I love how we were talking to Masha, like, listen, you better not have any nefarious things going on, okay?
Mike:What we're trying to work on, we have some common goals, and I'm like, in my head, I'm like, we just want to attack people that were disrespectful to us.
Josh:Yeah.
Mike:That's why we're here.
Josh:what are your goals what are you doing no one knows including you yeah
Mike:Oh, we want to take out a couple of key people in the first house.
Mike:And Masha's like, that sounds like a great plan, but you have to take out much more and create systemic change.
Mike:Who are you planning on taking out?
Mike:Oh, Kharkov, Rampart, and the Slipseer, and anyone else who says anything mean to us.
Jorge:what did he say he called me a hamburger absolutely
Mike:Mean to you?
Mike:Is this not to dismantle the Oreskian government?
Mike:Like, I don't know.
Mike:Like, we'll see.
Josh:Masha gets an idea and says, oh, I heard the commandant called you a pansy.
Tanner:He's done.
Tanner:He's done.
Mike:Divex casts a certain location, like he's within a mile of here, and just leaves the room.
Noah:IP address.
Mike:Here's his latitude and longitude.
Mike:Divex just starts writing shit down.
Mike:The Areskian teleportation magic is not strong enough here to stop us from teleporting directly to his position.
Josh:For all we know, he's a commoner.
Noah:Oh, he's down a hit point.
Tanner:What would be really great is if she told us that he stubbed his toe earlier that day and lost a hit point.
Mike:he did not sleep that well last night we're going we have to go now there's no other
Josh:That could be a quarter of his health.
Tanner:He's groggy.
Tanner:He's groggy.
Jorge:Yeah.
Noah:We have to go fight the president?
Josh:Listen, you guys showed up in Saragrand and were like, now is the best time to storm in.
Josh:Like, we're just, we're going.
Josh:That's what's happening.
Josh:It's not much different to be like, oh, we have to go fight the Comandant right now?
Josh:I'm in.
Josh:Let's go for it.
Noah:Let's go kill him.
Josh:Yeah, you'll do it.
Mike:I heard the Commandant wanted to shut down the rock concert happening at the Body of Beast.
Mike:That's just fucking unacceptable.
Noah:That one is ugly.
Mike:Let's take him... Let's... That's not that bad.
Josh:I hear the Commandant was good friends with Richter Ashmont.
Noah:That's a... Can't do that.
Jorge:all as the horse would.
Mike:He has the same goals.
Mike:Let's get him.
Josh:He doesn't even need to have the same goals, he just needs to have the same attitude, and you guys be like, oh, that's it, gotta go.
Mike:What was the name of the plane we took Ashmod to so that we could kill him in peace?
Jorge:Sonic.
Josh:Sonic.
Mike:Stonic, okay.
Jorge:The cognitive realm of Sonic.
Noah:I mean, you fell in peace, but you jumped.
Josh:That's true.
Josh:You never actually made it to Sonic.
Josh:You made it to a dream on Sonic and didn't want to do any exploring while you were there, so you immediately went home.
Noah:Well, you were there for five seconds.
Noah:We got jumped by two deer, bear, gorilla, lion things.
Noah:Tiger.
Josh:Two level 17 deer, bear, gorilla, lion things with inherent anti-magic.
Mike:Right.
Josh:Like, you guys took pretty good care of them relatively quickly.
Mike:Yeah, we wouldn't want to chance it again.
Jorge:Yeah.
Mike:Weird shit here.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah, I mean, he just is, or was, I guess.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:I just... Rector really didn't have to be such an asshole.
Jorge:But he had to die.
Tanner:He brought that upon himself in a big way.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:He just was an asshole.
Jorge:Three of the party members really wanted to keep him alive.
Josh:It happens.
Josh:Sometimes you're an ass, and you get teleported into a dream in an alternate reality on a different planet, and then you get killed there.
Jorge:I still think, worst case scenario, he would have slipped away.
Jorge:And then we had a level 20 wizard without plane or teleport in a book, but just trapped in the cognitive realm of sun.
Josh:It is a very good supervillain origin story there.
Jorge:That sounds fucking horrifying.
Josh:Like, we brought the Archmage to the middle of nowhere and abandoned him, and then just let him figure out how to chase us down.
Jorge:Yeah.
Josh:Because he would have done it, eventually.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:He would have found a way out, which would have been terrifying.
Josh:You would have, like, killed the Feep, and then right before, like, anything could happen, he just appears, and then has somehow assented on his own and just blows all of you up.
Josh:It would have happened.
Mike:Ashmont, like, uh, Leonardo DiCaprio and fucking Revenant would come back with, like, one of those weird bear-deer, like, pelts on his back and just, like, a wooden staff and, like, I don't know, some dust from one of our shoes that he used as the tuning fork to come back, and he's just, like, starts casting, like, 10th-level meteor storms on us.
Josh:He's not going to use magic.
Josh:He would have built a rocket.
Josh:Just flown back the normal way.
Tanner:Oh.
Tanner:Wow.
Josh:It's a real planet.
Tanner:That's, uh, that's wild.
Mike:the factory must grow maybe okay
Jorge:Yeah.
Jorge:And then he would have got out of the dream world.
Josh:He's relatively long-lived.
Jorge:If he made it to... Yeah.
Josh:And it took humans in real life 70 years to get to the moon from when we invented Howard Flight.
Josh:He could do it.
Josh:No, he definitely could.
Josh:If he was angry enough.
Josh:I mean, longer than 70, but less than his lifespan.
Jorge:How many years do you think it would have taken him?
Tanner:Fascinating.
Jorge:Fascinating.
Tanner:I need to go.
Tanner:It's time to sleep.
Josh:Oh, you should do that, though.
Josh:How does next Monday sound for everybody?
Tanner:I like it.
Jorge:That's starting to get Christmassy.
Jorge:I could do it, just warning y'all.
Josh:Is it Christmas Eve?
Josh:Oh, it's the 23rd.
Tanner:It's the 23rd.
Tanner:Yeah, I'm available.
Noah:Christmas Eve, Eve.
Josh:Okay.
Mike:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah, Christmas Eve.
Tanner:I'm good for it.
Mike:Sure.
Josh:Alright.
Josh:Well, we'll do with them.
Mike:I'll do it.
Jorge:Alright.
Tanner:Good night everybody.
Josh:Sounds good.
Josh:See y'all.
Jorge:Yep.
Jorge:Adios.
Mike:Beach.