Cloudfall | 3 - Falling, Apart
Last time on Cloudfall. The party found Diver within the Blight headquarters, but it turned out they bit off a little more than they could chew. In less than a minute, Diver tried to kill Doran, decapitated Guy, crushed Journey's fairy friend, and made off with most of the bismite. And it's not over. Guy and Doran haven't even hit the ground yet.
John / Doran:So, yeah. When when can we introduce our new characters?
Tim / GM:Yeah. We can probably start with that right away. What the
Speaker 3:fuck? Yeah. What?
Tim / GM:And so, John, you are playing
John / Doran:It's a Aarakocra, which Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:It's the bird people.
Speaker 5:This is jokes. This is jokes. Sorry.
Speaker 6:Please don't be an Aarakocra.
John / Doran:Named Tony Hawk.
Tim / GM:Yep. I like
Speaker 5:that. 10. Is that skateboard or is that surfing? That's surfing. It's surfing, but
Tim / GM:Dorn and Guy are falling. Ah. But no time for that. We are with Journey and Poppy. The 2 of you are still kneeling in the hallway sobbing over the recent death of Journeys Faye Budd and the impending death of Guy.
Tim / GM:Aaron is nowhere to be seen to the 2 of you. What are you doing right now aside from sobbing?
Speaker 3:Attorney, I think we failed.
Speaker 5:No. No. There has to be more that we can do. There's there has to be.
Speaker 3:I I'm just a baker. I don't I didn't ask for this.
Speaker 5:No. No. You have magic. We we we have to do more. Let's go let's go find them.
Speaker 5:We gotta find
Tim / GM:them. Behind you, you see Tic is looking at the hole in the ground that he just caused. He looks at the 2 of you and goes, I'm I'm sorry. I I had to act.
Speaker 5:I'm going to smack him with my bow.
Tim / GM:Okay. Just with the stick of it? Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Tim / GM:Okay. Go ahead and make him attack.
Speaker 5:8.
Tim / GM:He kind of, like, backs away from it and flinches, sees you, staring at him angrily. He says, I deserve that. At least, I'm gonna leave.
Speaker 3:No. No. No. You fixed this mess. Our friends are falling.
Speaker 3:They're gonna just
Speaker 6:go splat on the ground, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 5:What what do you have over here for healing?
Tim / GM:And he shakes his head and goes, I'm I'm done. I'm done with this. I'm I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:You're just gonna you're just gonna explode our friends and then run? You coward.
Speaker 5:If you help with this, you can go. But until these people are safe, you don't go fucking anywhere.
Tim / GM:Well, I I guess I'm gonna have to run.
Speaker 5:I wanna grab him.
Tim / GM:Okay. Go ahead. Make a grapple attempt on.
Speaker 5:18.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. He gets, like, a 10. So he, like, announces he's gonna run, and you catch him by the shirt collar.
Speaker 5:Yeah. I grab him by the scruff of the neck and, cart him to the workshop. Like, I know our friends have already fallen.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 5:So in Journey's mind, it's about damage control.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 5:Show me where the healing is.
Tim / GM:He stares at you incredulously for a while, but he realizes he's trapped. So he goes over to, a little shelf, pulls out a drawer, and he starts kind of, like, looking underneath some papers in there to see if he can find anything. Out of the corner of your eye, you also see the shadow of Aaron, moving across a window outside. Tig is kinda mumbling to himself, and he says, I thought I had something. Right?
Tim / GM:He pulls up, like, a tiny vial of this, like, dark cola colored liquid. I think this has still got a little bit of potency.
Speaker 5:Yeah. I grab it and then I, like, shove him just to, like, go away.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. He's kind of wide eyed staring at you again, and he clinks up against a bunch of cupboards and shelves and a couple, like, half completed little bomb capsules fall off of it. You can kinda tell the look on his face. He wants your permission to leave.
Speaker 5:Get out of here.
Tim / GM:He turns and runs. Erin, you are climbing through the window.
Hannah / Eryn:Did Erin see Guy and Doran fall?
Tim / GM:From your perspective, you did. I mean, you saw the debris, and then you saw them, like, underneath the building falling down.
Hannah / Eryn:Can I see them now at all?
Tim / GM:You can see 2 holes in a tin roof.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, no. Aaron's going to try to just take a mental kind of image of where that location is Okay. So they can try to find them later, before ducking through the window, into Tic's workshop.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. Tic is, like, in the threshold of the door about to leave this place, and for one second, he stops back and looks at you, Aaron, but he doesn't say anything.
Hannah / Eryn:You leaving?
Tim / GM:You leaving?
Hannah / Eryn:I already left a tick. There's nothing for us here anymore.
Tim / GM:Thanks for busting me out. What was this?
Hannah / Eryn:It wasn't for you. I can't tell you that much. But you're welcome nonetheless. Watch out for the dead bodies on your way out.
Tim / GM:He just gives you, like, one sharp nod, then he turns and starts sprinting out the door.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron looks after him as he leaves.
Tim / GM:As you do, like, you kind of, like, lean to look out that door, and you see another figure charging into the room, a heavy, broad shouldered, bare chested man.
Hannah / Eryn:Do I know who it is? No. Is it a policeman?
Tim / GM:Perhaps.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, fuck. Without clothes on?
Tim / GM:Journey, you also see him the next moment. He has light powdery blue skin, and he is moving through this room with kind of almost silent footsteps,
Speaker 5:Journey puts an arrow to her bow and pulls the string back just a little but doesn't, like, do a full aim. Yeah. It's just kinda the equivalent of, like, cocking a gun. Yeah. Who are you?
Tim / GM:He looks you straight in the eye, puts a hand to his chest, and kinda bows his head a little bit, and he says, my name is Roland Thunder. I'm here to help. I I promise.
John / Doran:You have to kill him. That's
Speaker 6:Roland Thunder.
Speaker 5:You're here to help? I I don't understand. Where did you come from?
Tim / GM:He looks past you, and he just says, oh my god. And he, like, kind of brushes you out of the way very gently, but is trying to move past you. Do you let him?
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Tim / GM:He steps past you and moves towards Poppy. He gets to the end of the hallway and kind of, like, looks out over the giant empty expanse, the big hole in the ground here. He looks down at you, Poppy, and he says, what what happened here?
Speaker 3:How am I supposed to know? One one second, I was not taking anything that didn't belong to me, and the next minute, there was a hole in the floor.
Tim / GM:He kneels down close and he says, oh, no. He points at 2 holes in a tin roof.
Speaker 3:Yeah. One of those is my friend.
Tim / GM:I'm sorry. We'll we'll get somebody down there to check on him.
Speaker 5:Thank you. Sir, if you're really here to help, you can follow us right now. We're going to them.
Tim / GM:Absolutely. Let me make it easy. He points up at each of you, and you can see this little wisp of smoke move towards you, this little puffy cloud. When it hits you, you feel this sudden weightlessness. Your body has become light.
Tim / GM:You recognize now, as he stepped out into the brighter light of this city, he's an Air Genasi, much lighter than he looks, able to, fall great distances without feeling much pain. He levitates the both of you so that you can loft yourselves to the ground.
Speaker 3:I don't think I like this.
Speaker 5:I grab I scoop up Poppy and I jump off the hallway and head down.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's so high up.
Hannah / Eryn:Did he cast it on Aaron too?
Tim / GM:No. But you can still see him. Do you react to his presence?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Aaron will walk over and say, I need to get down there too.
Tim / GM:He, kinda, like, shakes out his hands a little bit and nods at you, and he says, you're with them. Right? And, he casts a cloud at you as well. As it impacts, you feel a sudden weightlessness take over your body.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron jumps off the edge.
Tim / GM:Without answering?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Okay.
Tim / GM:Yeah. He nods and follows you all down. So Crunch. Guy and Doran, Impact number 1. Number 1.
Speaker 3:Can we
John / Doran:get 2 of these?
Tim / GM:Yes. Is the roof of the workshop, made of thin tin sheeting. This is a metal shop. As you crash through, you only take a bit of damage. Love it.
Tim / GM:It does hurt, but you're heavy enough to crash through it, so it doesn't stop you and crush you. You're going to take damage as if you fell 50 feet.
Speaker 7:Okay. Remember, he's got the pronto.
Tim / GM:With the pronto puff, you will take 20 reduced falling damage total.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, no.
Speaker 6:Which way is it? Oh, no.
Tim / GM:The bad kind.
Hannah / Eryn:Like, you're gonna kill him.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You don't kill him.
Tim / GM:It's 27 bludgeoning damage. I suppose both of you hit this tin roof and crash through.
Speaker 7:No problem.
Hannah / Eryn:Alright. Wow.
John / Doran:So I'm it just tick 7. Okay.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I
John / Doran:could do this every day. Wow.
Tim / GM:After crashing through the tin roof, the next thing you notice is wet.
Speaker 7:That's good.
Hannah / Eryn:I don't know why, but that was really funny.
Tim / GM:There's a sudden storm of shouting and steam and just absolute chaos. You also see something dark and writhing land next to you with a great splash. After a quick second, probably both of you recognize that you are in the middle of a metal shop. In fact, you are in a quenching pool where they dip hot metal to cool it off. There's water sloshing everywhere that hitting red hot metal.
Tim / GM:There's dozens of working mages in dark overalls and long protective sleeves that crowd around you. You can see there is this pipe, maybe 12, 15 feet long, a foot in diameter, weighing 100 of pounds red hot blazing over this quenching pool, and there is one lone wizard that is standing there holding concentration, keeping this pipe from falling into the pool. It dips a little bit and you feel the water start to boil near that pipe, and it heats up immensely.
John / Doran:So we're in this giant quenching pool
Tim / GM:right now? Yep. You're in the pool. You can stand up in here. It's about 5 feet deep.
Speaker 7:Okay. So no more no more damage unless that thing falls on us?
Hannah / Eryn:Mhmm.
John / Doran:Guy, maybe we should not be swimming right now or anything. Let's get out of this pool. Are we alive? I mean, I know for sure I am. You still don't have a head.
John / Doran:So question mark there.
Speaker 7:He put he adjusts his head onto his neck.
Tim / GM:Yeah. When you landed, it was, like, in the pool next to you kind of thing. There are people who are, like, shouting and gasping and then when you put the head on, it just gets louder and louder. There is a flurry of spells going off around all of you. It takes the kind of coordination that can only come from months of repetitive working shifts together, but you see the power of the industrious Magic users here.
Tim / GM:The metal roof that you crash through, it just shrieks and all that metal bends back and it seals the seam where you guys crash through. All the wooden posts that you guys broke through on your way down, they all start to mend themselves as well. It looks like when they're done, there was no damage whatsoever.
John / Doran:Maybe if we just get out and act calm, nobody will ask or anything. They seem pretty busy.
Tim / GM:At that, you feel yourself being levitated. Doran and Guy, you are under the crush of telekinesis being lifted up into the air out of the pool.
Speaker 7:Oh, we're here for our regular roofing check.
John / Doran:Good one. Yes. Uh-huh.
Speaker 7:Looks like you passed, so we can be on our way.
Tim / GM:You you feel yourself being set onto the ground, like, upright, and, a gust blows over you and prestidigitation cleans your clothes and dries you. It's it's it's a lot that happens in about 30 seconds here, but you're no worse for the wear when you come out of it. At the end, there is a very angry gnome standing right in front of you. Everybody else is kind of crowded around in a big circle. It's just you and this gnome.
Tim / GM:He's staring at you with giant furrowed brows.
Speaker 7:Yes. Hello. May we pass, please?
John / Doran:Who's gonna pay for this?
Speaker 7:Well, this isn't my roof, so
John / Doran:I can't have people breaking in all the time.
Tim / GM:And he, like, points straight up at the seam in the roof where the damage used to be. He goes, what
John / Doran:am I supposed to do about that? It looks great now. Well, they already spent all their magic on it. Who's gonna replace that? They had work to do, and they wasted it on repairs.
Speaker 7:I'm afraid my spouse lots are all spent as well.
John / Doran:Well, we'll take the front door next time. Hey. You know, we are really sorry and, just a little disoriented. You know, it's a holiday too. So perhaps, we'll stop by later this week or something.
Tim / GM:You see some sympathetic groans when you mentioned that it's a holiday and the people who are here working in the metal shop are just kinda like, yeah. Like, it is a holiday.
Speaker 7:Yes. Happy break, everybody.
Tim / GM:Happy break. Happy break.
John / Doran:How about this? We'll just mention to a few people that, you know, we had a bit of a tumble and your business had excellent hospitality and got us out of the water before we got burnt. And so I do need to call the police If you want to. I mean, we haven't decided are we pressing charges at all?
Tim / GM:No. I'm calling the police. He kinda walks away. A a, very frail looking human man walks up to you and he says, are are you okay?
Speaker 7:Oh, thank you for asking. I I seem to be okay.
John / Doran:I was better after falling than I am right now.
Tim / GM:Oh, I understand. He kind of watches the angry gnome walk away. If you needed any healing, I I could help with that. Well, I'm not a wizard like they are, but I'm a man of, a deity I could tell you about if you needed to know.
Speaker 7:Oh, wonderful. If you could top us off, little lad, that would be much appreciated.
Tim / GM:Absolutely. Yeah. So, 9 and then 6 for Doran. And I is this well, maybe an awkward question, but is that your dog? And he points up to the other thing that fell with you still being held by telekinesis out of fear and nothing else, but this shadow dog, this wolf like thing that came from the fey bud is being held upside down by the magic users here.
Tim / GM:They're kind of looking at you for what to do with it.
John / Doran:We should put that one down. It's it's not ours. Partially, why we fell is that, and I gestured towards it.
Tim / GM:A lot of them kinda, like, look across at each other and nod. They lift out a couple of steel rods out of a barrel, and they just send them piercing through this thing. You actually see it kind of rip apart as soon as the iron touches it. Nice work. It seems like it's all business to them, whether it's metal or a living creature.
Tim / GM:Jeez.
Speaker 7:Well, Doran, we better be off before we gather any more unwanted attention.
John / Doran:I don't think so. Why do you think you can just walk away from this?
Speaker 7:Seems like the thing to do.
John / Doran:I, would love to get some fresh air. I'm a little dizzy. Wouldn't wanna get hurt further in here. What I'm trying to do with the gnome is make him nervous about me, us hurting ourselves further in the shop.
Tim / GM:Oh, like an insurance claim kind of thing.
Speaker 3:Right?
John / Doran:Yeah. So I'm going to faint like a little dizziness and kind of like fall towards something that looks a little sharp. Look, I really don't want to get hurt in here. It looks pretty dangerous, hurt further that is. I don't think we want any of that paperwork.
John / Doran:I can put a good in word in on how courteous you were, keeping us safe, and that could turn into a few customers.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Give me a, Yeah. Give me a persuasion check.
John / Doran:K. So 18.
Tim / GM:He, his he he watched his expression go from, like, pissed to starting to think of the other side of this, And his eyebrows kind of, like, go up the other direction. And he says, well, listen. We don't
John / Doran:need to go reporting things and No. No. If we I can stay here. Gosh. It's so hot.
John / Doran:And I I'm gonna wobble a little bit on my feet. He looks up and goes, quench that damn thing. Let's get the heat out of here. Come on. Alright.
John / Doran:Guy, where are you? And I'm gonna feel around. My vision's a little blurry. I haven't moved, Doren. Oh.
John / Doran:He goes, listen. I I can't uncall the police. You better just get out of here. Okay.
Speaker 7:We better just get out of here.
Tim / GM:On the rooftop. On your way down, you saw the roof kind of, like, heal itself over. Erin lands a little bit after the other 2. What are you guys doing up here?
Speaker 6:I would like to take my apron off and pinch and kind of put them over the bismite. Okay. So it looks like I'm proving bread in a basket instead of smuggling bismite that
Hannah / Eryn:I stole. K. Aaron runs to the edge of the roof and tries to hop down into the street below Okay. Trying to find an entrance in.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You kind of come down in the alleyway pretty hidden and secure. And when you're rounding that corner, you see, one person in very, like, official looking marshals garb. Like, they've got a bunch of, like, badges, along their chest. And they are followed by 2 columns of 12.
Tim / GM:Like, a ton of people officers are coming into this.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron hides again back in the alley.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You guys saw, Aaron, dip down into that alleyway.
Speaker 5:Journey lands on the roof in the, like, 3 point hero crouch. I would like to try and track Doran because he's human. Yeah. And he's one of my favorite enemies.
Speaker 3:Okay. Not him specifically. Not him as part of your
Tim / GM:favorite enemy.
Speaker 5:Enemy. His entire race in general.
John / Doran:That's that's so sweet. Yeah.
Speaker 5:So I have advantage on survival checks to track.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. Let's do it.
Speaker 5:Oh, 24. Okay.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You know he's in there and probably trying to leave and hopefully alive.
Speaker 5:Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna go over to the side of the roof that Erin went down Mhmm. And try to see if I can spot her Yeah.
Tim / GM:In them. Yeah. You stop kind of, like, right at the edge and see that Erin you know, she was quick to decide to go out there, but she stops. She's not going any
Speaker 5:further. Erin.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin gestures at Journey, to be quiet with a hand wave.
Speaker 3:Guard's coming. Okay.
Speaker 5:Journey nods and walks back from the edge of the roof, crouched down, and then starts to gesture at Poppy to crouch and then remembers how tiny she is. And she's just like, just don't move.
Speaker 6:Yeah. I also, I want to pat around from my apron pocket, pull out the ammonite.
Speaker 3:Guy. Guy. If you are still alive and you can hear me
Speaker 7:Oh, it's Poppy.
Speaker 3:On the roof.
Speaker 7:Poppy, we lived.
Speaker 3:Good. Oh, oh my gosh. That's so good. I think, we're on the roof and I think there are, guards coming.
Speaker 7:Yeah. On the yes. The man said he would be calling the guards.
Speaker 3:Oh, there's a lot of them. They might wanna get out.
Speaker 7:You're here already?
John / Doran:Yeah. Blast. Hey, Guy. Trying to think of ideas here. Should we just pretend we're drunk?
John / Doran:Or, do you wanna stick with that roof inspection thing?
Speaker 7:If we have no way to avoid the guards. I am a soldier of Lotem. Perhaps my station holds some station here.
John / Doran:Right. Load them. Yes. You're responsible looking after me, the drunk friend.
Speaker 7:Perfect. It is break. People drink.
John / Doran:Right. Yes. See, how what the shape of this lute is, and I pull it out. It's probably full of water, so that doesn't
Speaker 5:Oh, man.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Okay. It like you pull out your loot and it's heavy, much heavier than usual.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:It is full of water.
John / Doran:I'm gonna,
Tim / GM:but it's intact.
Speaker 3:All
John / Doran:right. I'm going to dump it out. And as we start making our way towards the exit, I'm gonna be just strumming it, kinda like humming a tune badly.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Right. As you come to the entrance, you come face to face with the marshal.
John / Doran:Happy break. What's it there, friend? So is that where we fell from? Oh, man.
Speaker 7:There was no falling, was there?
John / Doran:I I said I could do the handstand and I did. And I did it longer than you.
Speaker 7:The handstand. Yes.
John / Doran:Do you think we can get back up there?
Speaker 7:I don't see why not. Excuse me.
John / Doran:I'm going to try to, like, walk past them. Sure.
Tim / GM:Doran, after your little spiel looking up at this marshal, the first thing you notice about this guy stylish.
Speaker 5:Who?
Tim / GM:He He looks at you and he says, that was quite a performance.
John / Doran:Thank you.
Speaker 7:You saw the handstand, sir?
Tim / GM:Missed the handstand. Saw the rest of it. That was a nasty fall. Are you alright? Both of you?
John / Doran:Great. It's it's break. And I pat him on the shoulder. I hope you're getting time and a half.
Tim / GM:He narrows his eyes at you, Doran. He says, been drinking a lot tonight.
John / Doran:More than usual. Yeah. But it's a holiday.
Tim / GM:Next one's on me. He, reaches into his pouch and he flips you a gold coin.
John / Doran:I pretend to or I fail to catch it on purpose and Okay. And then kinda, like, stumble a bit as I go to pick it up.
Tim / GM:Make a performance check. With pleasure. I didn't ask for that. Okay. Well,
John / Doran:performance, actually not grade 9.
Tim / GM:He goes, great performance indeed.
Speaker 7:Officer, my friend here has been hitting the brake ales pretty hard, but I'm here to make sure he makes it home safe.
Tim / GM:Awful courteous of you. Do either of you need medical attention?
Speaker 7:No. I'm feeling healthy as a fiddle.
Tim / GM:He looks down at Doran's, like, soaking, partially damaged loot. About that healthy,
John / Doran:We're doing great. Where are we getting this other ale?
Tim / GM:From the top of the roof, Roland has now landed. Poppy and Journey notice him first. He walks to the kind of peak, kind of right over where Guy and Doran are, and he calls down. He says, everybody's okay that was involved. He looks around real quick and says, far as I can tell, maybe not the other guy, but I didn't ask questions yet.
Speaker 7:Who's that guy?
Tim / GM:That's our good friend, Roland. Nice guy. You should get to know him.
John / Doran:Look, mister Marshall. I know a great place. I think a celebrity is gonna be there tonight too. Maybe we'll catch a glimpse of phenom. I think I know where it is.
Tim / GM:Well, here's the deal, friends. He kind of, like, walks into you a little bit. He says, I wasn't supposed to let you leave without an interrogation. It's not that you're under arrest. I just need to know what happened here.
Tim / GM:Does that make sense?
John / Doran:Are you guys all getting time and a half? I peeked my head around at the 24 guys.
Tim / GM:They all nod at exactly the same time.
John / Doran:That's unexpected. That's great.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Alright.
Tim / GM:Maybe you could take me to this bar, and we could all hang out together, do some talking.
Speaker 7:Great. And you said we are not under arrest.
Tim / GM:Not officially. No. We're just talking.
Speaker 7:I suppose this will do.
Tim / GM:He looks up again and says, how many? Roland says, 5 altogether.
Speaker 7:Again, who's this guy?
John / Doran:It's mister Marshall, I think.
Speaker 7:No. The blue guy. Oh.
Tim / GM:That's Roland. Roland. Right. He's a nice man. I am Marshall Mathers.
Tim / GM:You may call me
John / Doran:Oh, no.
Speaker 3:Mathers. No. You can't.
Speaker 7:Sorry. Your name is?
Tim / GM:Marshall Mathis.
John / Doran:What? 24 behind him. They all look just like him. Okay.
Tim / GM:They all raise their head when you say Mathers and they go, yes.
John / Doran:Do I just do and get the sense he's not buying the drunk thing? Yes. Doing is going to save face and wait until the other 24 are gone before
Tim / GM:breaking that. Okay.
Speaker 5:Journey is looking at Roland with quite a bit of distrust. Poppy art. I feel like I'm I'm missing something here. Can you should we trust this person? I
Speaker 3:I think I think we've been made.
Speaker 5:I I don't understand the
Speaker 3:oh, sorry. I think they know what we were up to. I think we're in trouble. Oh my god. My mom's gonna kill me.
Speaker 5:Do I I'm unsure of how to respond to this. Do I and I start reaching for my bow.
Tim / GM:Erin, around the corner, you can hear kind of what's going on up there. You can see what's going on out here on the floor. You're the only one who's kind of unaccounted for right now. What do you do?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Aaron is going to shift. Again, you see the same thing you saw earlier this evening when they shifted into lob. You see smoke come over Aaron's skin. It basically, it's like you guys know how, like, you can see a crystal ball and there's, like, smoke within a crystal ball that's against the glass.
Hannah / Eryn:It's like trapped smoke, I guess, is the image I want you guys to
Speaker 7:get. Yeah.
Tim / GM:I like that.
Hannah / Eryn:And so, Aaron, after the shift, stays kinda the same height, but, gets a little bit stouter, a little more busty, and transforms into, a human woman who has long red hair done up in elaborate braids, very fair skin, blue eyes, and a very rich dress with a cloak looking very wealthy. This is Tryndle, who is a noblewoman's daughter in the city of Farewell. Tryndle steps out behind the row of guards and says, Dora and Darlene.
John / Doran:Oh, I'm sorry. We might have to do this interrogation tomorrow.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, oh, thank you so much. Good sirs. And she gestures to the marshal and says, you found my fiance. I've been looking everywhere for you, Doran.
John / Doran:I love when you call me that.
Tim / GM:The marshal's eyes are just huge.
John / Doran:It's been 3 weeks. I can't believe it.
Tim / GM:3 weeks since you've seen your beloved?
John / Doran:Since we've been engaged.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh. And a giant emerald ring is shown on Tryndle's finger, and she gestures it broadly to everyone present.
Tim / GM:Long whistle.
Speaker 7:Guy leans over to Doran and goes, nice.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, my sweet. I'm so glad to have found you. You ran off with your guard and, the rest of your band of merry, gentle people. Where are they? Did you lose them?
Speaker 3:Oh, I got away.
Hannah / Eryn:Pinches Doran's cheek a little. Oh my god. And then she, puts her arm through Doran's and says, now come along. We have many parties to get to. Oh oh, my father will, come back in the morning and take care of all this business, she says to the gnome.
Tim / GM:Yeah. He's, like, standing in the threshold of this place with his arms crossed, like, trying to get these people to leave, and, he kinda looks up at you and he says,
John / Doran:yeah. I'll believe it when I hear of it.
Hannah / Eryn:Of course.
John / Doran:What's your family name?
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, Tryndle Breath.
Tim / GM:Mhmm. Breath.
John / Doran:Yeah. I'll find your dad alright.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, of course. Lord, breath. You know, up in the
Speaker 3:what's the part
Speaker 6:of the city that's
Speaker 5:the rich people?
John / Doran:Upper ledges, I bet.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. From the upper ledges.
Tim / GM:I knew it.
Hannah / Eryn:Alright then. Well, that's settled. Thank you again.
John / Doran:Very settled. Yes.
Hannah / Eryn:We'll have to find our friends later, but maybe we'll run into them.
Speaker 7:I'm here.
Hannah / Eryn:And then Aaron, as Trindle pulls Doran just dragging him by the arm out of the
John / Doran:Bye, mister mister Mathers.
Tim / GM:Roland on the rooftop looks out at Journey and Poppy and kinda raises an eyebrow. He says, do you know this woman?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, that's Doran's fiance.
Speaker 5:We're with them.
Tim / GM:Okay. Give me deception. Well.
Speaker 5:Well?
Tim / GM:Give me performance out of Poppy, at least. Oh, boy. And give me persuasion out of journey.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Speaker 6:Oh. 19, bitch. Whoo. Sorry. You're not a bitch.
Speaker 5:11, which is It's how Journey is feeling right now.
Tim / GM:Alright. Yeah. Poppy sells it, and Journey is kinda lagging behind and kind of like crosses over Poppy's, like, statement of reason and he gets a little confused. You can't tell if he buys it or not.
Speaker 3:Oh, Journey's a new friend. Hasn't met Trendle yet.
Tim / GM:He's like, I can tell she's new. Yeah.
Speaker 5:Yeah. I haven't met Trendle. I do know Doran.
Speaker 7:I too am Doran's fiance.
Hannah / Eryn:When Erin hears, Journey and Poppy talking on the roof, Erin looks up on their as they're walking out and says, oh, there you are. I have just the plans for the evening. I've selected entertainment and points to Journey.
Speaker 5:Journey stands to her full height and pushes her bow further behind her back.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 5:It's like hooked to her and she's like just kinda trying to hide it a little bit. Like
Tim / GM:Yeah. I wasn't just holding a gun.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, Journey here
Speaker 3:is the best shot in in the 3 cities.
Hannah / Eryn:Yes. There we go.
Tim / GM:There's 4
Speaker 3:of them?
Speaker 5:Cities.
John / Doran:The forest city has really good choices.
Speaker 6:I wasn't counting the one we're in.
Tim / GM:That's great.
Hannah / Eryn:Now, get down from that roof and let's go.
Tim / GM:Marshall Mathers is stifling a laugh. He looks up at you, Doran, and he says, alright. Let's get the night started. What did you say the name of the first place was?
John / Doran:The first place we're going now?
Tim / GM:Yeah. All of us together.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, I'm so sorry, Marshall. It's exclusive invitation only. However, I have heard of, the COW's udder bars. Really, really good.
Tim / GM:He kind of, like, claps you on the back and he says, you wouldn't be denying a marshal a night out, would you?
Hannah / Eryn:I mean, not me. No. Never. And she, touches him on, his chest a little bit and just, like, very gently, and flirts with him a little bit. That's her that's her eyelashes.
Hannah / Eryn:Mhmm.
John / Doran:Can I ask Doran role, insight to try to get a better read? Like, I've jumped through a couple of different roles here, and, I do know a bit about how the police force works and stuff. So trying to get a read on, you know, how I should react to his invitation.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Let's do it.
John / Doran:That's, 26 or no. Sorry. 25. Sorry.
Tim / GM:Wow. Okay. Woof. You do know the way that the officials operates in Farewell, and they are usually not this patient. They're not this accommodating.
Tim / GM:They're not evil or hostile, but they don't have a lot of time to mess around with stuff like this. He is, like, entertaining you guys.
John / Doran:Darling. And I look at,
Speaker 3:Yes.
John / Doran:I look at Erin. Why don't we check out that quaint place, Clara, I think her name is? It'll be nice and quiet.
Hannah / Eryn:It is the local dive, I suppose.
John / Doran:I look over at the marshall and yeah, give a nod. I think so. I think it is break after all. Let's entertain.
Hannah / Eryn:Alright. One quick stop, and then we have to go to Cecilia's. Right.
Tim / GM:I appreciate your cooperation.
Hannah / Eryn:Alright. Onward we go. And Aaron's still pulling him, but gives Doren a little elbow to the side to try to get him to lead the way. Aaron sort of remembers, but Yeah.
Tim / GM:Roland on the roof of this place, looks at Journey and Poppy again and says, I can't make you do anything. You'd be doing me a favor to come with us. We really just wanna ask you a few questions wherever you're comfortable, and then that's it.
Speaker 3:A about what?
Tim / GM:About what happened up there. About who you faced in there.
Speaker 3:So we're not in trouble?
Tim / GM:No. We thought we'd be cleaning up bodies tonight.
Speaker 3:Oh my god. I definitely thought I was going to jail for, reasons I don't know. No.
Tim / GM:No risk of you going to jail. He looks up at Journey and says, don't worry. We're not gonna put you in prison.
Speaker 5:I wasn't worried about prison.
Tim / GM:Never stopped me before.
Speaker 5:Journey jumps down from the roof, completely disregarding Roland. As she lands, I'm gonna cast Primeval Awareness. K. I want to sense for Aberrations, Celestials, Dragons, Elementals, Fae, Fiends, or undead. Bingo.
Tim / GM:Yes. There are Fae. Yes. There are undead. Close to both.
Speaker 6:I wonder in your party.
Speaker 5:Because I already knew about those in my party Mhmm. Do I have a sense that there's additional Faye?
Tim / GM:Yes.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Tim / GM:Have you all been revealed now? You've all, aside from Poppy, have hopped down. Am I right?
Speaker 3:Don't mind me. I'll just find my own way down off of this roof.
Speaker 5:Oh, I I turn around and I put my arms out to catch you.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Poppy just kinda lofts down into Journey's arms.
Speaker 5:I interrupt a guy. Oh,
Speaker 3:boy, am I glad you're here. A baby.
Speaker 7:Me as well, Poppy. Is the payload secure?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I got I got the dough.
Speaker 7:Hell, yeah.
Speaker 6:And I lift up the apron and show pinch is, like, lumpy and covering all of it in the basket.
Speaker 7:Great work, Pinch.
Speaker 6:And a tiny doughy thumb just, like, sticks. Yep.
Speaker 3:Is there a way we can drop it off?
Speaker 7:I'm not sure. These people seem to be have a heavy eye on us. In fact, they're probably paying attention to us talking to each other quietly right now.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, I'm I was gonna make, like, a really big French loaf. I think Doran likes French loaf, and then I was gonna surprise, Trendle with a cupcake.
Tim / GM:Doran, the marshal is leaning over to you, and he goes, what do you think they're talking about?
John / Doran:How bad I am at pretending to be drunk?
Tim / GM:It could be. I don't blame you, though. It's a good tact.
John / Doran:It's worth a shot. I wasn't sure why you were coming with an small army.
Tim / GM:Oh, right. I apologize for that. You guys have, made a little bit of distance from the workshop, kind of walking with all of you at the front followed by that column of 24. You guys are between this row of shops and bars and houses. The marshal looks behind him, and he says, boys, you can take 5.
Tim / GM:And you see a bunch of them turn off into different alleyways and grab, like, door handles and stuff. Just whatever building they're nearest to. They all just grab a door handle and walk into that room, into that building.
John / Doran:That's weird.
Tim / GM:I need a perception check from each of you.
Speaker 3:Did they look humanoid?
Hannah / Eryn:Like, could did they have faces?
Tim / GM:Yep. Yep. They all had faces.
Speaker 5:They all had different faces?
Tim / GM:An important question.
Speaker 3:19,
Hannah / Eryn:18, 17. 10. 6.
Speaker 5:Oh, come on, y'all. It was me.
Tim / GM:So Guy and Doran, being at the front of this and deepest in the conversation with the people involved, you probably had the least time to make observations. Everyone else noticed the more you walked that these people, heavy air quotes, looked almost identical to each other. They moved almost perfectly in tow with each other. And Poppy, when one of them opened the door to walk into, it looks like a embroidery shop, They disappeared the instant that they closed the door.
Speaker 3:Woah. What what? I I don't think they were real.
Tim / GM:You're coming up on Clara's bar again, the drip sipper, in giant golden letters. The marshal opens the door for you and says, first round's on me.
John / Doran:That's great. I put my arm on him. Claire's had a rough night, so it'll be nice. She might, get a little talkative, but she she means well.
Tim / GM:Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
John / Doran:It's alright.
Tim / GM:He, ushers you in, ushers the rest of you in, and it's just him and Roland now. There are no extra guards with you. There are a couple extra patrons in here. You can see Clara is sitting behind her bar. She seems to lighten up when she sees all of you.
Tim / GM:She kind of perks up and goes, oh, hey, hey, welcome back.
Hannah / Eryn:Tryndle, saunters up to the bar with, Doran still on her arm and says, hello. My fiancee Doran here said this was one of his favorite establishments and insisted we start our night here. Wow.
Tim / GM:She takes one look at Tryndle, looks back at you, Doran, and goes, wow, Doran. You traded up. Glad you got rid of that cold stick in the mud. She was awful.
Hannah / Eryn:Wow.
Speaker 3:I
Tim / GM:mean, she did help with the shelf and everything, but still, it's like she made me so uncomfortable.
John / Doran:Okay. Well
Tim / GM:A wicked person.
John / Doran:I don't know who you're talking about at all.
Speaker 7:The arid one. She's talking about the arid one.
Hannah / Eryn:On second thought, I don't know about this place, Doran.
Tim / GM:No. No. It is good. I promise.
Hannah / Eryn:I just I mean, to talk about your customers in that way just seems, I don't know, shady.
Tim / GM:Well, she only ordered water. She didn't really buy anything, so I'm not a customer.
John / Doran:Well, you know what? We're all customers here and, we have the Marshall with us, so let's get things Marshall. Don't don't don't stress out, Jared.
Tim / GM:Are free. I'm an honored to have you in my bar.
John / Doran:We need to work on this business. It seems like some really basic things are not quite
Tim / GM:it's free. It's all free.
Speaker 3:No. No. Don't worry. I got this. You and I are gonna sit down and talk business one of these days.
Speaker 3:Okay?
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 3:I will help.
Speaker 5:As, Poppy is schooling miss Clara on an entrepreneurial ship, Journey elbows Guy a little bit and tries to, like, get him to move back from the group.
Speaker 7:Guy complies.
Speaker 5:Guy, I think there's there's something there's something Faye happening here. I don't know all of it. I think as the muscle, so to speak, maybe we should be keeping an eye out.
Speaker 7:So you mean more than the incident we saw up in, Diver's Room?
Speaker 5:Yeah. More than that. And it's still happening.
Speaker 7:There may be fae among us?
Speaker 5:Yeah. More than the expected amount.
Speaker 7:Right.
Speaker 5:Right. One of my fae buds, like, peeks out really quickly and, like, goes back in to my hair.
Speaker 7:I will keep my eyes out, Journey.
Speaker 5:Good. Good. I don't know if Journey's super enthused by that, but keep
Speaker 3:your eyes in your head. Oh, yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Don't take them out, guys. I'll have a glass of your finest red, Trindle says to Clara.
Tim / GM:She's already walking towards you with a bottle of red and she kinda looks down on it, looks back at the shelf, and just continues walking towards you with a bottle of bread. She begins pouring out a glass for you and, you can tell she's nervous around you, Tryndle. Correct? Mhmm.
Speaker 3:You can
Tim / GM:tell she's nervous around you, Tryndle. It seems the the kind of demeanor you're taking on has an effect on her.
Hannah / Eryn:That's right. Gravel. No. Just kidding.
Tim / GM:When you sit down, the marshal says, just around Avail, and, we'll need some space, if that's okay? And Claire goes, yeah. Yeah. Sure. I'll write on it.
Tim / GM:And she kind of, like, double takes it you, Doreen, like, is everything okay? And and turns away.
John / Doran:I I give her a genuine smile.
Tim / GM:Okay. So, everyone, my name is what did I say? Mathers. My name is Marshall Mathers. I am an officer for the city.
Tim / GM:This is my associate, Roland. We just wanted to ask you a few questions for our investigation. Let's start with the obvious. What happened? How did a hole get blown in the upper ledges?
Hannah / Eryn:Well, why don't we start with a question for you? How did you show up on the scene so quickly? I mean, I barely knew where my fiance was, but luckily I found him.
Tim / GM:Oh, somebody sent for the police, a, a forecaster at the metal shop, a, a gnome, a mister Timothy Cream. Why?
Speaker 3:Are you
John / Doran:sure you wrote that down correctly?
Tim / GM:Mhmm. Tim Cream.
Hannah / Eryn:What the fuck?
Tim / GM:Says here, cream.
John / Doran:And he doesn't make donuts?
Speaker 3:No. Okay. I do.
Tim / GM:Metal. Pipes.
John / Doran:As my fiance is saying, I think, let's get to know each other a little bit more, and then we can talk about all of those details.
Tim / GM:Mhmm. Sure. What would you like to know?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. What, what command of the force do you work for? You know, my father knows everyone in the city.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. I'm, I'm a marshal, so I work with the other marshals, and all of us do police business.
Hannah / Eryn:Insight check? Yeah. 17.
Tim / GM:Yeah. He he is floundering for, like, jargon. He doesn't know, like, what to say about this.
Hannah / Eryn:Do, we get the sense that they are not telling the truth about being part of any city related
Tim / GM:Yeah. And and the more you force. The more you're here, the more unofficial this feels.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 5:As he's talking, Journey is walking up behind him and kind of looking at
Speaker 3:him Mhmm.
Speaker 5:And is not a 100% aware of how weird she's being and getting, like, into other people's personal space. Like, she's she's, like, hovering and, like, lurking, like, aggressively lurking.
John / Doran:Mhmm. During his journey an encouraging look.
Speaker 7:Mister Mathers, if I may. Now I highly respect the work that you and your officers do to keep the peace around town. Yes. But, surely, you know of a scourge, a blight, if you will, in the criminal underworld of Farewell. We're we're well aware.
Tim / GM:And Roland kind of butts in here. He's carrying a bunch of mugs of ale back to the table so Clara doesn't have to get close again. He sets him down and he says, Yeah. I mean, that's that's what this is all about. I've been on the blight for a couple of months now.
Tim / GM:And there's been a lot of strange things happening there. A lot of weird developments around a man named Diver, who that's who you fought. Is that right?
Speaker 7:Strange things. You don't know the half of it.
Hannah / Eryn:Doran, you feel Trindle. Just stiffen next to you just slightly because we're still sitting pretty close.
John / Doran:Put my hand on Arryn's hand and kind of just like a calming way.
Hannah / Eryn:Arryn fights a reaction to remove it, but
Tim / GM:You can't twitch.
Hannah / Eryn:But Erin, as Trendle leaves it. Keep it together.
Speaker 3:Keep it together.
Hannah / Eryn:Bardic inspiration? I'm just kidding.
John / Doran:Yep. Sure. Sure.
Hannah / Eryn:Just kidding.
John / Doran:I got
Speaker 7:a lot to dish out. So,
John / Doran:Wait.
Hannah / Eryn:Are you for real? Yeah.
Speaker 3:I have
Tim / GM:to be a bargain inspiration. Yeah.
John / Doran:Yeah.
Tim / GM:A reassuring touch from a lover.
Hannah / Eryn:How much is a bardic inspiration right now from you? D 6?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Cool. Thank
Speaker 7:you. Now if you agree, as I do, that this criminal element must be eliminated from the city, Perhaps you will be lenient on this group in our efforts to rid the city of them.
Tim / GM:Listen, we're we're not the body that would punish you. We have a mind to reward you, actually. It wasn't the timing we hoped for, but a lot of people's lives are gonna get better now.
Speaker 3:What kind of reward? Sorry. I was listening.
John / Doran:We didn't kill him.
Tim / GM:Oh,
John / Doran:we
Tim / GM:He looks at the marshal across the table. The marshal nods. He says, that's that's fine. I mean, killing is never all that great anyway. Right?
Speaker 7:I wouldn't have minded it.
John / Doran:I think we would have helped more if we succeeded.
Tim / GM:Probably. He's a bastard.
Speaker 7:There is another as well in Arryn who helped us into the compound.
Tim / GM:Right. That's the, the changeling. Right?
John / Doran:Changeling. I don't see how this is relevant. And I do want to mention, we've shared a lot about ourselves. And you said the gnome called the police, and somehow you arrived.
Tim / GM:He looks up at Roland nervously, and you all catch that.
John / Doran:Forgive me for being a little frank, but, you don't seem to wear the badge as others might.
Tim / GM:Well, little Frank, I'll be real with you. Okay? Yes. We we're not the police. We're not officers.
John / Doran:This is not a bodyguard either. Well, actually, that's Kai, do you consider yourself a bodyguard? Or
Speaker 7:I accept the title.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Tim / GM:I mean, he looks the part. Right?
John / Doran:Right.
Tim / GM:We are friends of, Libera Nimbus. Maybe you know her. The, leader of the free city.
John / Doran:The name is familiar?
Tim / GM:We are supposed to keep tabs on certain interests of hers. I'm I'm no Marshall. In fact, I'm actually, I'm an entertainer. My name is Phenom Green.
John / Doran:Doran looks over at, Clara. Mhmm. What was your name again?
Tim / GM:It's, Phenom Green.
Speaker 7:Guy begins a slow clap.
Speaker 3:I taught him that. Yeah. Wow. You guys
Speaker 7:It's gonna be stunning. Whoo.
Tim / GM:You hear a shattering behind the bar as Clara drops what she was holding.
John / Doran:And you just hear,
Speaker 3:damn it. Not again. Here oh,
Speaker 6:just move over. I'll do it. And I kinda take over the bar.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You take over the bar and start cleaning up after her mess. She begins walking out towards the table, kind of wringing her hands, and she says, Phenom Green, I thank you for answering my letter. Letters. My 100 letters.
Tim / GM:And actually showing up to my bar. I can't believe it. Phenom, I I had this you see her face kind of screw up into this, like, she's about to start sobbing and, like, the whole night is coming back to where she goes, I had Pink Meridian wine
Speaker 3:and and she broke it.
Tim / GM:She just starts kind of nodding.
John / Doran:On the bright side, the, bar top smells like Pink Meridian, which is uncanny
Tim / GM:and You see, Phenom just kind of it actually does. It smells fantastic in here. What'd you say your name was? Clara? She kind of, like, nods emphatically, unable to speak still.
Tim / GM:I might recommend this place. It's the only bar I'm comfortable in.
Speaker 5:As he's smelling the air, I'm standing behind him, and I'm smelling him.
Tim / GM:What the fuck? Cool.
Speaker 5:For any reason or I'm trying to, I'm trying to figure out if he is Fae or recognizably something more from the natural world. Sure.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I mean, circumstances provided and that he's kind of pinned down by the group while you're examining him. I'll have you take advantage on that. Give me an insight check.
Speaker 5:Insight. Okay. 18.
Tim / GM:Okay. You smell that familiar, like, ether static. It's almost like a like lightning strike kind of thing. There's something about Fey people that always has this, like, ozone freshness to it, and you're getting that real strong off of Phenom.
John / Doran:Say, Journey, have you had this before? And I hold up the wine.
Tim / GM:Phenom looks at you and goes, thank you.
Speaker 5:Journey gets the impression that she has done something weird. So she goes and sits down at the end of the table.
John / Doran:This flavor, at least, I I don't know if you've had it yet.
Speaker 5:I drink it.
Tim / GM:It's cheap one.
Speaker 5:Tastes like bad grapes.
Tim / GM:Phenom kind of laughs to himself, raises his own wine glass and goes, they're all bad grapes, aren't they? And just kind of sips it to himself.
Speaker 7:Perhaps we should have a toast to Doran's recent engagement.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, yes.
John / Doran:I love it.
Hannah / Eryn:Tryndle holds up a glass that's almost empty.
Tim / GM:Phenom holds up his cup and he says, and to Clara and the drip sipper.
Hannah / Eryn:Sure.
Speaker 3:That'll do Clara.
John / Doran:Cheers.
Tim / GM:A half hearted kind of clinking of glasses as you all like doggedly chase each other down to clink glasses and then like 2 of you sit back down go, oh, I guess we did clink our house
Speaker 6:clean every time
Tim / GM:that kind of resolves and, Phenom and Roland are kind of eager to get down to business here Phenom comes back in and says, we know Diver had an aircraft that was unique. What can you tell us about that? Did anyone see him use it?
Speaker 3:He kinda just took off with it. He grabbed a bunch of bismite. He destroyed a a fave thing. I don't know. And then he left.
Speaker 3:He he flew, and it was smooth and quiet, and it's gone now.
Tim / GM:Destroyed a faith thing. Let's let's come back to that. But what do you mean? Is
Speaker 5:the wrong word for that. Desecrate?
Speaker 3:Journey ripped it apart.
Speaker 5:Journey is shaking her head and looking down and, like, self soothing by touching her hair and letting the little fae buds, like, wind through her fingers and
Speaker 3:Shoot. I'm sorry. It was not good.
Tim / GM:What happened? What fae thing?
Speaker 5:That person, he did something, drained the magic out of and turned turned them into something dark.
Tim / GM:Something dark. He looks up at Roland. Roland says, when we, intercepted when we heard about the call for the police, they mentioned something dark, a wolf that they had captured as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That, it was like a big scary dog, like a dark shadow dog.
John / Doran:It was powerful that survived the fall as well.
Speaker 5:Barely a wolf.
Tim / GM:They both kinda looked back to each other, and you can see them giving, like, really tiny nods to each other.
Speaker 7:It tried to bite my leg.
Tim / GM:Yeah. So you said the ship just kind of moved. How many engines did it have?
Speaker 3:Well, how am I supposed I'm I'm a baker with a small cart. I don't have an engine. I don't know. I'm not an engineer or a engineer. Oven's kind of like an engineer.
Tim / GM:Okay. Okay. Okay. How many how many little jets of flame did you see coming out of it?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm not stupid either.
Speaker 5:But I don't remember. There was there was no flame. There was no flame at all. He he he connected to the crystal.
Tim / GM:He kind of just stares at you blankly.
Speaker 5:I've seen them. I saw the the airships that during the ceremony, the celebration.
Tim / GM:Right. Yeah.
Speaker 5:They were burning.
Speaker 7:Very loud.
Speaker 3:Big and loud. Yeah. And
Speaker 5:it was 30.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 3:This one felt like it shouldn't exist. I've never seen anything like it.
Tim / GM:We can work with that. We can bring that back. He's nodding at Phenom. Phenom says, you're all in kind of a situation now. You'd more or less kicked a hornet's nest, a big one.
Tim / GM:The people you fought there, that's not all of them. That's not half of them. A lot of them were down at the celebrations. Come tomorrow morning, a lot of you are going to be public enemy number 1 in the eyes of the blight. We have a solution for that if you're willing to hear us out.
John / Doran:Might as well.
Tim / GM:There are 3 ships headed out tomorrow morning to start their voyages. We can offer you passage on one of them to get out of town for a little while. And I'm not saying you have to, but if I were you, I would take it.
Speaker 3:To to go where?
John / Doran:I need a little more information from you. Who who owns these ships?
Tim / GM:They're privately owned by the different guilds. The one we would have you on is the one we trust the most. The Tack, they're from Dawn's Edge. They're going to the Isle of Lohr. It's not very far away, and they'll be back in 2 weeks to pick you up.
Tim / GM:We just we'd hate to see you get killed.
John / Doran:Well, why be concerned about us at all?
Tim / GM:There's going to be retaliation from the Blight. We know that much. They're going to be looking for you, and we don't need that here.
John / Doran:That's still the plan for me. I wanna be looking for them. Do you know where Diver would have went?
Tim / GM:Phenom says, the clouds? I don't know. If he's got his own airship, he's out there somewhere.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, it it seems a little dangerous to, head off into the clouds right after, this, a a diver man, person.
John / Doran:I'm inclined to agree with my fiance.
Speaker 5:Journey's openly confused staring at Trendle. From Journey's perspective, we've all kind of come clean, and I'm confused as to why you're still doing a hidey bit.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin's always gonna hide.
Speaker 3:That's right. Okay. So, so you want us to get on a ship with people we don't know and go to a place we've never been out in into the the sky and and just stay there and, like, and survive? Or is there, like, is there, like, civilization? Can I sell cookies?
Speaker 3:Can I bring my shop?
Tim / GM:They look up at each other and they kind of do, like, big eyebrows, and they're like, it's civilized. Yes.
John / Doran:Could you say more about the cookie economy? That's pretty important for
Tim / GM:us. They would appreciate something like a new cookie business in town. There's plenty of room on the ship for a cart. I'm sure they could fit it.
Speaker 3:Okay. I'm in.
Tim / GM:Great.
Speaker 3:I wanna get out of this place anyway.
Tim / GM:Can we count on the rest of you?
Speaker 7:Marshall Roland, may we have a moment to talk amongst ourselves, please?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Of course. Please. Again, we're not forcing anything. I just I would ask that if you're so dead set on taking out this diver guy that, you know, you take it outside, there's a lot going on in Farewell.
Speaker 7:It will only be a moment.
Tim / GM:He nods. And the 2 of them, step out of the bar outside.
Speaker 7:Doran, may I speak freely in front of your fiance?
John / Doran:Is that alright with you, darling?
Hannah / Eryn:Sure. So kind of you to ask.
Speaker 7:And you're not gonna tell me?
John / Doran:It's fine.
Hannah / Eryn:There's other people in this bar. Aaron won't just change in the middle of nowhere.
Tim / GM:Like,
John / Doran:I'm going to grab a guy on the arm and just pull him in and be like,
Speaker 7:that's actually Aaron. Is anyone here who they seem?
Hannah / Eryn:I am. I mean, I would say most people aren't who they seem.
John / Doran:Some truth to that.
Speaker 3:That seems a little glass half empty if you ask me.
Tim / GM:The 2 other people that were in here dump a couple coins onto their table abruptly and kind of get up and leave. You hear phenom calling out, have a great night, and as they walk away.
Speaker 7:Well, anyway, that probably leads well into what I have to say. Now up in that office, you have all seen my true nature. He gestures to his head.
Speaker 6:Poppy pats him on the arm.
Speaker 7:Now, of course, I realize this means we must part ways, but ask that out of the spirit of partnership of this job we have just pulled that you give me a head start to leave town before you begin the hunt.
Speaker 5:The hunt? What are we hunting?
Speaker 3:Oh, guy, you can't not everybody's gonna wanna kill you.
John / Doran:Is that's not even in my top ten things I wanna do right now.
Speaker 7:You do not wish to hunt me down? Slay the
Speaker 5:monster? Monster?
John / Doran:Are you talking about the doughboy?
Speaker 6:Poppy pulls up, like, one edge of her dress and, like, dabs at her eyes.
Speaker 3:Guys lived a hard life, I think.
Speaker 7:Oh, oh, very well. Well, I will just say that not everyone has been as receptive to this news. So
John / Doran:That was definitely not the most shocking thing we saw today. I must admit, guy, it was frightening and thank you. Not a compliment, but, it seemed like you were in control the whole time besides being in control of your head, which Poppy had. But I I think we're we're in a good place. To be honest, I well, I was willing to die for this, and diver got away, and I don't see any sense in all of us risking ourselves staying here.
John / Doran:They're probably right. There's a lot more eyes on us now.
Speaker 5:Why are why are we trusting these people? We don't know anything about them. They'd they'd lied to us about who they were. What do they get out of us going to who knows where?
John / Doran:I know a bit about who they work for, so I have reason to trust them.
Speaker 7:It seems you and Diver had a bit of a history as well.
John / Doran:We can get into that once we're in a safer place maybe.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, they weren't wrong about one thing. We saw some of the blight abandon each other tonight, but that's not the case for everyone. They're right. The rest of the guild is gonna come after us. There are people that are loyal to Diver.
Hannah / Eryn:It's gonna be dangerous in
Speaker 3:the city for a while. I personally didn't sign up for this, but I am desperate to leave. We've been here too long and it's not profitable anymore. So I'm okay leaving.
Speaker 7:Well, as long as all of you are okay with it, I go where Poppy goes.
Hannah / Eryn:The only thing I worry about is running into him out there. I feel like we'll always be looking over our shoulder.
Speaker 7:We had him on the ropes, though. We can take him.
Hannah / Eryn:Tryndle shakes her head back and forth. No. You have no idea. That was just that was just the tip of the iceberg.
John / Doran:Chryndal, it's true. This isn't over with Diver, but I do think this is probably one of our best chances. I don't think Diver would expect for us to have a way out like this. Plus, he's not going to try to run up against an airship right now.
Hannah / Eryn:All I'm saying is we have to keep an eye out and be careful who we trust out there in the clouds.
Speaker 3:I feel like we're gonna die either way. So, you
Hannah / Eryn:know, well, we're all gonna die someday.
Tim / GM:Did somebody say die someday? Have we reached a consensus?
John / Doran:Weird way to enter back into the conversation.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Were you listening the whole time?
Tim / GM:Just to the end. Right.
John / Doran:Couple of questions. You said that they probably won't be after us until tomorrow. Any particular reason why?
Hannah / Eryn:Because they're drunk and Trendle finishes off the wine.
Speaker 7:Because it's break, baby.
Tim / GM:Phenom just kinda throws a thumb towards Trendle.
John / Doran:We time this really well. Other question, and I glance at Clara. I do have some friends in the city here. What circumstances are we leaving them in? Do you think anyone saw us come here?
Tim / GM:I don't think anyone followed us back here or knows that we're here. I'd say from now on, though, we need to go incognito, if that makes sense to you.
John / Doran:Right.
Speaker 3:How?
Tim / GM:Oh, kind of my specialty, actually. He points at you, Poppy, and you become a goblin.
Speaker 3:Excuse me.
Speaker 6:That's not a
Tim / GM:comment on your personality. I'm just showing how different I can make you. Oh.
John / Doran:Poppy, are you still there?
Speaker 3:Guy, it's just me.
Tim / GM:This grotesque, like, half naked goblin
Speaker 5:that, like,
Speaker 3:looks up at you. Yeah.
Speaker 7:I do not like all this trickery.
Tim / GM:Sorry. That's kind of my whole game.
Speaker 3:Just goblins?
Tim / GM:No. Trickery in general.
Speaker 3:Oh, can I not be?
Tim / GM:Sure. He snaps his finger and you turn into a very large rabbit. He snaps his fingers again and you're a chicken and then you're a couch and then you're a puppy.
Speaker 6:Anything with more, limbs?
Tim / GM:He turns you into a 4 armed halfling. Perfect.
Speaker 6:No one will ever suspect I put my 4 arms on my hip.
John / Doran:Poppy, I think this actually could work to your advantage, baking.
Speaker 6:Can I actually use them or are they like No?
Tim / GM:They're completely illusionary.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I don't think so.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Well, how are you going to give us these disguises? Are you coming with us, Phenom?
Tim / GM:Yes. At least while you're out in town, I'll be with you. And, Roland's going to be with us too.
Hannah / Eryn:But when we're on the ships, we're fine being ourselves.
Tim / GM:Yes. Once you're on the ship, I've got no worries. We know who's there and who's
Hannah / Eryn:not. Trindell looks mistrustful of that. Journey
Speaker 5:Journey tilts her head and looks at Phenom. I think you should be very concerned, you in particular, about what happened to the fake creature tonight.
Tim / GM:His expression changes to something you haven't seen yet, and it is completely sobered concern. He looks at me and says, I
John / Doran:know. I'm not familiar with the bismite or any of that, but it did seem like whatever energy was there in the living creature, it went into the the ore.
Tim / GM:As you're saying that, he's, like, bowing his head. That doesn't leave this room. Do you understand me?
Speaker 3:What doesn't, the biz light? Do you know about the biz light?
Tim / GM:He kinda keeps giving you a more, like, quizzical expression. He says, no. What Doran just said, the fake creature, the the killing of it, the bismite charging.
Speaker 3:Yes. That's what I meant.
John / Doran:It doesn't leave this room, but I want to know more.
Tim / GM:I understand. I've I feel like I've been fair so far. The rest of this is going to have to come from Nimbus. You understand?
John / Doran:Not yet. Nimbus?
Tim / GM:Libera.
John / Doran:Right. She goes by Nimbus now?
Speaker 7:K. Fair enough. I believe we are in agreement then.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Mhmm.
Tim / GM:Excellent. Let's see here. I can give you all the disguises. You can go back to your respective homes tonight. We can regroup in the morning.
Tim / GM:I can come collect each of you individually. I'll also offer you can come with us back to the Wing Inspire. We have a diplomat suite that you could take for the night. It's a luxurious accommodation, not a bad place to be. Depends how secure you feel in your own homes tonight.
Speaker 3:My home is a shop.
Tim / GM:Roland says what shop?
Speaker 3:The rolling pin. And I'm pretty sure
John / Doran:Around Lake Orthia?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Tim / GM:You may he looks up at phenom and he says,
John / Doran:it's the cookie girl.
Tim / GM:Phenom kinda, like, looks down at you and says, you're the rolling pin.
Hannah / Eryn:That's me at your service.
Tim / GM:Phenomenal. I am going to stop by. No. Okay. Tomorrow.
Tim / GM:When we get supplies tomorrow, incognito, and he gestures at each of you, we're going to get some cookies as well. Is that okay? Do you have time? I can have cookie.
Speaker 3:You can have cookies. I feel like there's not a lot of in disguise I can be if I'm the cookie girl.
Tim / GM:He looks at Roland with the utmost disappointment.
Hannah / Eryn:You can disguise the whole
Speaker 3:shop. Yeah. Can you change the shop?
Tim / GM:Yes. I can. So what's it gonna be? You all going home, or are you all coming with
Speaker 5:us? I don't have anywhere to stay.
John / Doran:Have you all been in a diplomatic suite before?
Tim / GM:Roland gives you a big thumbs up like, it's sweet.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. It's a sweet.
John / Doran:It's much better hot tub.
Speaker 5:I usually find a tree to sleep in.
John / Doran:I don't know if they have trees in these ones. Guy sleeps on
Speaker 7:top of the shop, Snoopy style.
Hannah / Eryn:I love that. He does.
Tim / GM:I will remove that note about having 2 bunks.
Speaker 6:No. No. There are 2 bunks.
Tim / GM:Oh, perfect. He doesn't
Speaker 3:use any of them.
Tim / GM:Yeah. One's for Pinch.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Pinch.
Speaker 5:It's a little bit. Bit.
Speaker 6:It's a, Pinch actually sleeps in a bread pan with a
Tim / GM:he proves overnight.
Speaker 6:Yeah. You cover him with a little, like, dish towel and
Speaker 5:then Damp flour towel.
John / Doran:He just sits in a little bit of oil.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Oh, gosh.
Hannah / Eryn:No. That's his bath time.
John / Doran:Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:The lore on pinch is so deep.
John / Doran:I will clear up my room. Okay. I think this is a good plan. Yeah.
Tim / GM:So crossing town, what's everybody's disguise is gonna be? Just real quick, Poppy.
Speaker 7:Oh.
Speaker 6:Poppy looks almost the exact same, but her complexion is a little tanner.
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Speaker 5:Her hair
Speaker 6:is a little longer and blonder. Okay. But, otherwise, the exact same.
John / Doran:Doran's an elf.
Tim / GM:Your ears just grow 2 inches, and that's the only thing. And they're just like, that's not him.
John / Doran:Mustache too.
Speaker 7:Yeah. I guess, guy would be an orc. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Half orc, maybe.
Tim / GM:Nice fit for your body type, I think. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 5:Journey uses disguised self. Oh, okay. She has access to Disguised Self. Yeah. And she becomes a dark skinned human woman.
Speaker 5:Same, like, gear
John / Doran:Mhmm.
Speaker 5:But more human stuff, regular leathers.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Not found furs?
Speaker 5:Yeah. Not found furs, but just looks like a human version of herself.
Tim / GM:And Erin, however do you disguise your
Hannah / Eryn:I think Erin changes into a a little girl and, that looks after seeing Journey, that looks like Journey a little bit and then holds Journey's hand as they walk through the streets.
Tim / GM:Oh, awesome. Okay. Fake mustache.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Just a fake mustache on Trindle, the noble the noblewoman.
Speaker 6:I love that.
Tim / GM:On a 12 year old girl. Yeah. Alright. So Roland and Phenom lead all of you across town. He assumes his martial look again.
Tim / GM:He never really dropped it. He just kind of dropped the affect of it all or the pathetic attempt he was making at being an officer. They lead you across town. The streets are just covered in, like, debris and, like, confetti and there's still drunken revelers everywhere and this kind of haze of humid alcohol and like fireworks smoke that's still kind of wafting everywhere. You're able to pass relatively unnoticed back to the Wing and Spire.
Hannah / Eryn:Mommy, I want a candy apple.
Speaker 5:Yeah. We can get you a candy apple.
Hannah / Eryn:One, please.
Speaker 5:Yeah. Of course. And Journey hands over, like, way too much gold for this candy apple, like, 10 pieces of gold. Yeah. One candy apple, please.
Speaker 5:And
Tim / GM:Yeah. They kinda fall out of your fingers under the counter there. The person was actually closing up their shop, and they're looking to, like, trash most of what they had left. And they kind of, like, pull one from the bin and they're, like, here you go.
Speaker 5:Oh, thank you. Have a have a good break. And I hand the candy apple to
Tim / GM:As you're walking away, you hear, some lady just gave us 10 fucking gold.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin Hungarly eats the candied apple. She probably hasn't eaten in, like, 2 or 3 days. So
Tim / GM:Wow. You get to the Wing and Spire and it's just like staircase after staircase after staircase after there's a door at the end of them and, when you move into this diplomatic suite, it looks like it's very seldom used, but it is beautiful. Half of this room is just a giant bay window that looks out onto the clouds, which are thoroughly darkened at this hour of night. But behind you is this, very well armored, very well accommodated unit. It looks like whoever is here is very, very safe.
Tim / GM:The door has like 6 different locks on it of different styles they assure you that Roland is gonna be outside all night long. If you guys need anything, you are free to come and go as you please, but not to leave the tower if you can help it. There's only 2 beds.
John / Doran:Is there any greenery?
Tim / GM:Yes. They've got a good, smattering of, dangling, viny plants against that bay window.
Speaker 5:Is there a balcony?
Tim / GM:I think for fear of people being pushed from the ledge, there is no balcony here.
Speaker 5:Does the bay window open?
Tim / GM:Yes.
Speaker 5:Journey opens the window and then kinda dangles a leg and an arm out of it and then sleeps in the bay window.
Speaker 6:Okay. A sloth. Like, you're on a branch.
Tim / GM:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 5:Awesome. Like, face down. Like this is so when she camps in the woods, quote unquote camps, she climbs up a tree and then lays the front of her torso against the tree branch and then dangles all her limbs down.
Speaker 3:K. And
Speaker 6:that's what she's told. Bear necessities. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I would like a bed, maybe.
John / Doran:1 of the 2 poppy?
Speaker 3:I mean, I'm small, so someone could share, I guess. But I'm not used to sleeping on the floor.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin has found a washroom to change back into their normal form and clean up a little bit. As they come out, they hear Poppy asking for a bed and they say, that's fine. This floor is much nicer than my regular sleeping quarters, so I'm good here with a blanket.
Speaker 7:The floor will be fine with me, puppy.
John / Doran:I didn't think I'd just get a bed for free. This is I feel weird just taking it. Are you sure you're okay there, Journey? Okay.
Tim / GM:Already asleep.
John / Doran:Say, Erin, you didn't have to come back. You know? But thank you.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm not really sure why I did, actually.
Speaker 3:Because you like us.
Hannah / Eryn:That's not even the name is Nordia. Erin just smiles a little bit and says, maybe. And she, kinda curls up on the floor with her little blankets and tries to get some sleep.
Speaker 6:Poppy pulls the covers up like very stereotypical, like, child sleeping in a Christmas illustration or something.
Hannah / Eryn:Do you
Speaker 6:know what I'm talking
Tim / GM:about? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, right up to her neck.
Speaker 3:Sugar Plum Fairies.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Just imagining tiny Poppy in the middle of a huge bed while the rest of us sleep
Speaker 3:on the floor.
Speaker 6:I did offer to share.
Tim / GM:A dot in a sea of linens.
John / Doran:I'll I'll also go over to a guy and sit down on the floor next to a guy. Yeah. Can I I'm these are gonna weigh on me pretty heavily unless I ask them, so I have a few questions if that's
Speaker 7:alright? Go ahead, Doran.
John / Doran:Do you do you sleep?
Speaker 7:I can sleep. Yes. But if needed, I can go many days without sleep.
John / Doran:Very cool. And, the eating thing, that's that's normal too? Or?
Speaker 7:It is normal. I can eat just like you or anybody else. I don't get how it works either. But, again, I don't require food necessarily. I can go a long time without food, and I have.
John / Doran:Right. We were serious, though. I mean, we're not here to hunt you. I want to put that at ease. I'm not sure what the history was there, but, well, the
Speaker 7:you see, before I met Poppy, I traveled with a group of travelers, and one thing led to another. They saw the head and, well, they wanted nothing to do with me except for one who swore to hunt me down.
John / Doran:Well, we should be safe here, and, maybe we'll talk about it further another time, if you want. This person that's hunting you, though, when's the last time they you saw them?
Speaker 7:Oh, it was well over a year, I believe. And I wouldn't worry about them too much.
John / Doran:Not tonight, at least. Right?
Tim / GM:I, like, wrote that down, and I was like, delete, I guess?
Speaker 7:You keep it.
John / Doran:Seems like another ambush opportunity.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Love those.
John / Doran:I look around. Is anyone else still people still awake? Or It's
Tim / GM:up to them.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin's still awake, but has their eyes shut trying to sleep.
John / Doran:Okay. Can I awkwardly go up into the bed?
Tim / GM:Doren's that sleepover friend that's just like, hey.
John / Doran:Are you still awake? Should should we put her hand in a glass of water? Yes. No. Yeah.
John / Doran:Doren will just climb on top of the covers and just, hang down too.
Tim / GM:Doren, I think you kind of spend the night thinking of, like, what to do next, and you drift off in that way and wake up to a bright, beautiful diplomatic suite with the morning sun just pouring in through that giant bay window laying on top of the covers never having pulled them over
Speaker 3:Long rest?
Tim / GM:Long rest.
John / Doran:Like, his fingers hovering over the computer shaking.
Speaker 6:What were you at, hip point wise, after that fall?
Speaker 7:7. Oh, god. Which was my, exact number of temporary hit points. So, actually, I would have Wow.
Speaker 5:Yeah. He has 27 hit points, and you did 27 fall damage.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Perfect. Doren, as you're, rousing, who else is already up?
Speaker 6:Poppy would be. Definitely. Because she is raring to get those cookies made.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. Journey wakes up with the sun. Okay. Also makes sense.
Speaker 7:I think Guy can be up too because he might not have been sleeping, I guess.
Tim / GM:Sure. Eren, were you able to sleep at all?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I think restlessly, but Aaron will wake up with everyone, but they are not a
Speaker 6:morning person. Okay.
Speaker 7:I'm doing some really deep role playing here by being a character who is awake or Yeah.
Speaker 6:Guy and Poppy regularly get up at, like, 4 in the morning.
Tim / GM:That makes sense. The guy would get up with you. Yeah. So, Doran, chances are you're actually the last one awake. K.
Tim / GM:As soon as you're up, you hear the door open, and people are still kind of groggling moving about. Poppy is, you know, been baking for a while now, and you're not sure how she's doing it in this, like, diplomatic suite, but you do smell fresh baked cookies nonetheless. The door is kicked open. Phenom comes in, rolling not far behind him. He says, who's ready to go shopping?
Hannah / Eryn:Thanks for listening Kenmore.
Speaker 5:I'm Tara and I play Journey.
John / Doran:Hey, I'm John and I play Doran.
Tim / GM:And I'm Tim, your GM and all the other people. See you in the next one.
