Curseborne - Stealing the Show, Episode 2 • Sponsored by Onyx Path Publishing

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello friends, and welcome to another single serving tabletop adventure from Queenscore games. You might have noticed by the thumbnail that this is episode two of what we are tentatively calling stealing the show, an original scenario for Curseborn, an upcoming horror folksy, wonderful game by Onyx Path Publishing. If all of this sounds very strange to you, it is. Because you have not watched the first episode and you've been around this channel long enough. You should know better by now. So I'm going to assign you the task of going to watch that right now. We'll play this. It's fine. You got YouTube, you got don't use twitch vods. Nope. You got YouTube or the various podcasts that we have available. You can catch up when you're back on your feet, friend. No need to struggle through episode two without knowing what's going on. All of that said, I will introduce a few familiar phases just once again. First and foremost, oh, I hope you're doing okay without the vampire blow. Watching another person play a vampire must be incredibly tough for our friend Blake Sweeney velak hi everybody. [00:01:05] Speaker B: It is, but I'm trying my best. [00:01:08] Speaker A: A task made all the more difficult because the person playing that vampire is not doing in a way that I feel like would bring me much satisfaction in a vampire. The Masquerade podcast. But I love it all the same. He is here from transplanter Lucas Somerset. It is Kai. [00:01:27] Speaker C: Ready, folks. [00:01:29] Speaker A: And then continuing in left to right order from my visual plane as subra making me sad stern, it's Clara. [00:01:42] Speaker D: Hi. [00:01:45] Speaker A: You can find all their social media by clicking exclamation point. Don't click type at first exclamation point cast in chat. You can find more about curseborn by putting exclamation point game in chat. You can find more about the content warning by putting exclamation point safety in chat. In fact, if I'm doing my job, all of that information is being posted right now by me in the future. But that is enough about that. We got game to get to. Y'all are so curious and conspiratorial and just desperate to know what's happening. And I want you to find out cause I'm gonna feel real smug when you start making faces about when you see what's happening happened. So if everybody is ready to go back to the scene of the crime and figure out what clues can be found. No? Alrighty then. Let us continue our story. Well, this isn't your traditional vampire story. We don't have to wait for the sun to go back down so you can all creep out of your coffins and your beds full of grave dirt to re enter the night. The only thing that we have to worry about is the way we will interact with the human world that makes the decision to return to the scene of the crime to interrogate various almost said victims by definitely mean witnesses. A curious thing to do to accomplish at this time of night. Lucas, full up on residual anger. Blake giving the body back to the morgue. Subra. Just having a minute. So it is all the same to you. I believe we should probably wait until the morning, a reasonable hour of the morning, before we continue. [00:03:39] Speaker B: I think so, yeah. [00:03:41] Speaker A: And let's call it 10:00 a.m. we'll give you all the benefit of being in contact with another. You've exchanged phone numbers. If not, you can find Lucas's contact information from the live stream, assuming they haven't taken it down for terms of service and get in touch with each other. Thus, that's going to be a pretty interesting group text, I imagine. [00:04:06] Speaker C: I believe everyone is greeted with a very early morning text that just says good morning, sleuths. [00:04:17] Speaker B: Good morning period. [00:04:22] Speaker D: Text. Mashed buttons so riddled with autocorrect in class. Get you later. And then followed by at about 09:00 a.m. a. Good morning. [00:04:35] Speaker C: Watch you later. Hmm, fascinating. [00:04:38] Speaker A: Good question. Subra, how was Zumba this morning? [00:04:42] Speaker D: Everyone looked great. It's mostly older folk this morning. Primarily. You know, the older you get, the earlier you rise, it turns out. Which is why I wake up at four. [00:04:57] Speaker A: Shower afterwards, don't want to show up in front of the other cursedborn looking unkempt. Yeah, we know that Lucas is going to show up immaculate. You might as well match the mood, Lucas, setting aside the 20 or 30 minutes I presume it takes for you to find the exact wrong patterns to wear together. [00:05:17] Speaker C: It is a science, you see. It took almost no time, but it is so glaringly bad. The mix of plaid and stripe colors that do not go together. Not plaid. Excuse me, Argyle and stripe that do not go together at all. In fact, they're wrong for the season even. But he is immaculate as he drives towards wherever we're headed in his monstrous hum. [00:05:48] Speaker A: The old h two. What else do you do in the morning as a vampire? [00:05:55] Speaker C: Well, I had a leisurely morning drinking tea, watching people walk down the street, doing a little bit of recreational doom scrolling. Posted a few troll kind of messages here and there. Spent a lot of time on Facebook, talking to grandmothers. And then once my morning constitutional was done, I got up. Went and took a bottle of dog urine down to my neighbor's front porch and then left. [00:06:24] Speaker A: I have so many questions that we don't have time for. I'm going to write them down here in my GM notes, and we'll perhaps come back to them later. Blake Sweeney. Based on my research, which consists entirely of a very specific canon of Michael Jackson and panic at the disco music videos, I don't think the dead have very much to do overnight, but I'm welcome to being proven wrong. [00:06:53] Speaker B: I mean, I was busy. I ran a marathon. But, you know, afterwards. No, you know, just went home and looked up music man, because I'm not a musical person. So I ended up just trying to find, like, copies that anybody has on the Internet of music, man. I found, like, one bootleg copy of, like, some dude holding, like, a, you know, camcorder or, like, recording on his phone or whatever. It's. It's not great, and I don't see what all the hype is about, but I watched it. [00:07:33] Speaker A: You have a favorite song? Not a best song. Or I could frame it. A song you hate the least from the show? [00:07:42] Speaker B: No, unfortunately, no, I don't. It's not really my jam. Yeah, I'm sure Subra has opinions, and I. I could just ask them, and I'll go with whatever she says. [00:08:04] Speaker A: That's a tried and true tactic. [00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:07] Speaker A: Oh, I know. Well, I mean, you tell me yours first. Cause I don't want my pinpoint to be colored by what. Yeah, been there. [00:08:13] Speaker B: Mm hmm. Exactly. Yeah. [00:08:16] Speaker A: Well, you'll have your opportunity shortly. Two main lines of inquiry that we had coming out of it. One was just going straight back to the theater, seeing what's what. The other was sniffing around for cast members who might have loitered a little longer, seen something that our star's mother had not on the night of which of those two seems like the more productive start. [00:08:42] Speaker D: We can meet at the theater no matter what and then break from there. As much as I think Lucas is trying, I don't know that he should be meeting anyone in an interview, one on one, where he'll be talking to other humans format. [00:09:06] Speaker B: No, if anybody, it should be me, given that's my job, literally. But, yeah, definitely not Lucas. [00:09:17] Speaker D: I have some familiarity with the. Wow. I can't speak English either. I have some familiarity with the theater and can probably look around. [00:09:28] Speaker C: I'm happy to look around as well. I'm not offended at all that I shouldn't speak to the victims or loiterers or anyone. It's fine. I'll go interface with some theater. [00:09:46] Speaker A: Lucas, not the behind the scenes kind of person. You don't really care how the pulleys and the levers work. You're just here for the drama. [00:09:53] Speaker C: Absolutely. Which is why when he rolls up, he's playing. Pick a little, talk a little as loud as he possibly can. [00:10:03] Speaker A: Oh, that's traumatic. Well, approaching the theater, two things will become immediately apparent. One, they are closed. There is no one working here on account of it's not an active crime scene in the sense that, like, there are still police around sniffing for clues and whatnot. But on the back end of someone being kidnapped, they are not eager to return to the stage. There is a single patrol car in the parking lot. So that might be the detectives who are snooping around. That might be just some people who are here to make sure no one kicks anything around until forensics has had their way from it. But it will require at least some very enthusiastic, fast talking to convince these officers of the law why it is you should be allowed to be inside. Or we can avoid them entirely. We can solidify our metal gears and find another way into the building. Happy to take your suggestions. [00:11:07] Speaker C: I'm never afraid to get my way in a conversation. Then look at me. I'm the picture of the kind of person these people want to listen to. [00:11:18] Speaker D: Well, if not, I think I might be able to acquire something to get in around the back. But I want to let Lucas try. [00:11:30] Speaker A: I'm. Would you care to explain the motivation behind that? Desiree? [00:11:39] Speaker D: Genuinely, I think that you could do it. [00:11:45] Speaker A: I didn't know if it was, like, a morbid curiosity, a sense of the macabre. [00:11:50] Speaker D: No, I just have a backup plan. [00:11:53] Speaker A: Very well. Well, Lucas, you have been given the opportunity to demonstrate that which makes you. You. You'll say it's a. It's a small college town, right? So the. They have not yet bought the newest patrol car. We definitely have, like, the single light on top of an aging crown vic situation going on. And the two gentlemen inside. One has not passed his police fitness test in, you would guess, 15 to 20 years. A very John candy is the vibe that comes to mind. Sort of gentleman sitting in the driver's seat, immediately adjacent him two white styrofoam cups, still steaming with whatever liquid is inside. One presumes coffee and then a six pack of unbranded donuts until such a time as we are sponsored by a donut company. Then immediately to the right of that, in the passenger seat, we have another young gentleman, probably 25 or 30 based on the lack of situational awareness. The. There's a phrase we use in the military that I'm not going to repeat on air, an unkempt uniformity, not dirty, not, but has not been put together in a way that would satisfy someone looking for accuracy. In police costuming, one would assume this is someone's cousin who's on the force and kept around the two of them chatting back and forth. The windows are down just enough for you to hear a baseball game going over the radio. [00:13:53] Speaker C: On the approach, he's made a point to pull out a briefcase, old, worn, very well loved looking, leather, brown, somewhat nice, but not too nice, believably belonging to, I don't know, say, a university professor. And there is a haphazard amount of papers in a comedic amount of filing folders. None of them are actually important in one hand, the briefcase in the other, and there's papers kind of falling out. And he is trying to put on the most clownish performance from an infomercial of a professor bumbling towards these police in their vehicle and going, officer. But starting actually significantly quieter than a yellow, intending to, like, make it seem like he's been yelling for a moment. As he gets closer and starts to actually yell. Officers. [00:14:49] Speaker A: There'S a small moment where you're not sure you're gonna be able to make it over the latest play. I don't know enough about baseball to tell you how exciting it is, but it's. It's a doubleheader in the bottom of the 9th and the bases are loaded and the count that they are into it. Local sports team has a chance to do something they haven't done in decades, and they're not gonna let a little thing like crime prevention get in the way of that. But eventually our younger deputy catches you out of the corner of his eye, turns over, then sees the mouth moving very hurriedly, reaching over to turn down the radio. And all of a sudden, now it's police work. Now stiffened up, not like leaping out of the car in an aggressive way, but there's a citizen in need and he is happy to find his feet and ask what the matter is, officers. [00:15:36] Speaker C: And I think once he finally gets there, instead of, like, going for a door or anything, he puts the briefcase down on the dash of. On the. On the hood of the police car. And there's like, buckles and, like, metal feet on the bottom of this. So it's like, probably scratching the decal that's on there. Officers, I'm so glad you're here. I believe I left my students term papers in the audience yesterday. I was all over this theater. So if you wouldn't mind, I do need to get in. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Immediately into the boilerplate. You know, the chief told them this morning at the brief, no one's getting in here, no matter what they say. Oh, I'm so sorry. There's. I'm terribly sorry, and I'm sure the university will understand, but there's still evidence in there, and we can't have people, you know, leaving fingerprints where they don't belong or footprints where they don't belong. [00:16:30] Speaker C: Well, this is so difficult. The dean is extremely eager to get all of the paperwork in early this. This quarter, and, well, you see, I went out on a limb thinking that yesterday would be just delightful, and unfortunately, in the hurry to get out. I didn't have time to grab everything. And if I can't get in there, well, I'm going to have to file a complaint with the department because it is impeding my ability to do my job, and I was nothing to do with this crime. [00:17:07] Speaker A: Persuasion and manipulation, we will call it. [00:17:11] Speaker C: Hell. Yeah. [00:17:14] Speaker D: That's why I said you should do it. [00:17:16] Speaker C: Yep. Jesus fucking. Well, I got one hit. [00:17:25] Speaker A: One's all it takes. Yeah, we'll say there's a complication here because we haven't used them so far. We have to demonstrate the game mechanics. Officers more than happy to let you in, but will need to take your name in case something goes wrong or they have to make a report later. They don't want to let a stranger go in. So do you mind showing some id. [00:17:50] Speaker C: Horse? Officer, I'm so sorry. [00:17:53] Speaker D: I'm gonna interject here. To hold one curse I'm going to use. I have an ability to help you on this. You lent me your bag earlier, so I have your id. And I will use useful tool and summon an id of someone else. Summit, a tool or useful object that could fit in the pocket for the duration of a scene, and you can lend it to someone else. It includes wrenches, padlocks, or ids such as this one. It can't be a weapon. [00:18:33] Speaker A: Subra comes. I don't want to say galloping, but there is an amount of speed and urgency that I want to that comes out of this as you, the backseat of the hummer, backpack in tow, to deliver unto Lucas the backpack. And, yeah, if you're willing to hand that over, then they are more than happy to go. [00:18:57] Speaker C: Done and done. [00:18:59] Speaker A: All right, well, you've got. You've got, like, no. 510 minutes, tops. And you don't need her help. Your girlfriend can stay in the cardinal. [00:19:09] Speaker C: My girlfriend? Excuse me. She's my teaching assistant. [00:19:14] Speaker A: Yeah, all the same, it doesn't take two to find a briefcase. [00:19:18] Speaker C: It could be anywhere in that theater, officer. [00:19:22] Speaker A: They are not eager to budge. [00:19:26] Speaker C: Fine, fine. Be a dear and I'll meet you after. And he kind of turns his head to sue Brae. And in a like, very casual, Catty way, he winks at her before turning. [00:19:43] Speaker D: I guess I'll wait in the car. [00:19:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it's already bending a branch quite a ways for them to let you in. And the idea that. Okay, we'll let one person in for a little bit, but more than that, and the chief's gonna. We're never gonna hear the end of it. [00:20:02] Speaker D: I can wait till they get enraptured in their football. What sports ball are they doing? [00:20:08] Speaker A: I was aiming for baseball. [00:20:09] Speaker D: There it is. I can wait until they're enraptured in their baseball again and sneak around the back. [00:20:21] Speaker A: Yeah, the sneaking skill here is larceny. Take larceny and dexterity, perhaps. Larceny and cunning. If you were just going to wait until they were sufficiently irritated by an umpire's call. [00:20:38] Speaker D: Lucky for me, that's the same die pool. Which is bad. [00:20:49] Speaker A: One hit, all right. One is all it takes. That's enough to sneak your way in. And like a giddy little fan outside the original cast performance of rent, you're in the alleyway behind the stage door waiting for Anthony Rapp. And then you just. Boop. Sneak right on in into the theater. [00:21:16] Speaker C: I think by the time you get in there, Lucas has busied himself with digging through. Just like the props in the wings and things like that. I don't think he's doing anything actually. Productive. [00:21:29] Speaker D: Don't touch that. That's on the prop table. You don't touch the prop table. [00:21:34] Speaker C: I was just making sure that there was nothing suspicious here. And this pipe cleaner contraption is odd. [00:21:43] Speaker D: That's because it was made by the kindergartners who are helping with the production. [00:21:48] Speaker C: Oh, it isn't some ancient fae curse or something like that? You're sure? [00:21:53] Speaker D: It's got googly eyes. [00:21:56] Speaker C: That never stopped them before. [00:21:59] Speaker A: Doesn't rule it out. [00:22:01] Speaker D: Doesn't rule it out. [00:22:03] Speaker A: In point of fact, it is difficult to find something that stands out amongst the various costumes and props and other items because the entire thing is a mishmash, hodgepodge. Like ordinarily you would say the fake prop. Newsie newspapers, probably a clue. But this is something they injected into the play. So there's a. An awkward moment where you are forced to do two things at once. You have to play I spy, but in order to know what you're looking for, you have to remember details from the terrible, terrible play. Culture is the skill here. I will take cunning. There's a Reagan for intellect. [00:22:47] Speaker C: May I delve into my vast photographic memory? Intellect. [00:22:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Say whether you memorized the things that were happening because Lucas was going to write the perfect excoriating critique, or whether Subra just knows this department super well. I know seven year old Jimmy. I know his craft work. This isn't it. Etcetera, etcetera. [00:23:13] Speaker D: One hit, and then what do we call it when it's better? When it's a ten. [00:23:18] Speaker A: So a ten is worth two hits in this game. [00:23:20] Speaker D: Oh, wonderful. Then it's three hits, but not a microsteye. [00:23:23] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:23:26] Speaker C: I also got just a two hit ten. [00:23:31] Speaker A: So when you're doing investigative roles, the tricks are a little different. You have the opportunity to buy an extra clue as you are going in a procedural scene, you can also dump it into momentum. So you have four right now. You'd be stocking it up a bit. I will let you do that math real quick. Yeah. [00:23:55] Speaker C: Keep two for momentum. So it'll be at three. Momentum. [00:23:58] Speaker D: Mm hmm. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Plenty piling up there. And then a series of clues. So what stands out? It requires a little bit of backwards deduction. Right. The costumes are on the rack in a certain order. The props are on the rack in a certain order, or the table. You don't store props in racks. And when it's time, maybe you do. I don't know. But you have to orient the thinking. What was necessary for the part of the play you were allowed to see before things started to go wrong. And then what? Among that doesn't make sense. So the first thing that's going to stand out is a very large plume you've seen, almost like a. Like a feather duster, but packed much tighter. Shorter feathers, not so fluffy, with a plastic rod going through the middle. But it's a. It's flat. And then the bottom bit. It's a bit like a ruler. Lucas, you're shaking your head. [00:25:14] Speaker C: It's me, Kai, shaking my head. I see you. [00:25:20] Speaker A: Oh. Feel free to volunteer. You got the success. So you know what it is? [00:25:27] Speaker C: I think that marching bands are right in the wheelhouse of things that Lucas finds perpetually annoying and so has spent a lot of time around them and especially, like, I don't know, meddling with their instruments. So that one particular trombone doesn't quite play correctly. Maybe putting some sort of bead or something in a trumpethe just to be a nightmare person. And so what I'm assuming is the plume from, say, like a shanko cap or something like that, or something in that world. [00:26:03] Speaker A: And a fancy one. This is a drum major's plume. [00:26:07] Speaker C: Ooh. I think he picks it up and immediately puts it on the top of his head like a bird's crest and starts to just march around the back. And I think because he has no filter from brain to mouth, I think he also starts humming 76 trombones. [00:26:29] Speaker A: That's going to make the interaction all the more awkward for Subaru, because Lucas starts doing that. You obviously need to get out of the way if you're too close. One, he might try to rope you into it, and two, if he's making noise, you don't want to be seen when someone bursts into the room. And it is for that reason that you very, very, very nearly trip over underneath a table. Hidden underneath. It looks like one of the people, as they were leaving, they just threw the costumes and kind of into a pile without caring what was under it. And that is why this medium sized brass instrument, smaller than a baritone, bigger than a trumpet, mellophone is the word we're looking for, is just sitting there. There's no mouthpiece. [00:27:15] Speaker D: Mellophone, no mouthpiece. I assume I didn't kick it anywhere. [00:27:19] Speaker A: No, but there was a very dexterous almost kicked. It took a really big step and then had to catch your momentum on the other side. [00:27:30] Speaker D: Well, that doesn't go there, and I'll take it at least. [00:27:36] Speaker C: Oh, you are joining. [00:27:38] Speaker A: Ha ha. [00:27:43] Speaker D: I want to encourage your freedom of expression, but maybe not in the space that we're in right now. [00:27:51] Speaker C: Right. We're here doing something very serious. Well, this I did not see in the show. The shake, and he kind of wiggles it at your. Your nose. [00:28:00] Speaker D: Um, I assume. Well, no. For all of their creative liberties, the lieutenant of Innishmoor did not feature a marching band. [00:28:18] Speaker C: True. [00:28:18] Speaker A: Not in the first act. [00:28:19] Speaker C: This does go into a hat, one assumes. [00:28:24] Speaker D: And there's no receiving hat in the stuff? [00:28:30] Speaker A: No. [00:28:32] Speaker D: Hmm. [00:28:34] Speaker C: A phantom drum major, perhaps, recruiting a drum line, maybe a whole marching band. Maybe they need 76 of them. [00:28:46] Speaker D: Hmm. Having spoken with my student who was choreographing, I don't recall her bringing up a marching bandaid 100%. No, I feel like she would have brought that up. [00:29:02] Speaker C: Fascinating. Well, we'll, uh. Hmm. And he's gonna take a long, like, awkward sniff of it. [00:29:11] Speaker B: Hmm. [00:29:12] Speaker D: You don't know where that's been. [00:29:14] Speaker A: Well, you might, based on. On some things. Why not call this one? Oh, this is a trixie. One of my favorite things as a GM in dice pool games is to come up with creative ways to use skills that don't normally go together. In this case, let's take, um. Let's call it survival and intellect. [00:29:40] Speaker C: Odd. [00:29:41] Speaker D: Oh, fuck. [00:29:42] Speaker C: Okay. Okay. I can take that. We're good. We're good. [00:29:46] Speaker D: While you do that, I will take a picture of it, of what we found, and send it to the group chat so Blake knows what's happening. [00:29:56] Speaker C: That is three hits. [00:30:00] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Splendid. I don't know what your horticulture skills are like or why you would know this. Feel free to elaborate upon finding out the news. It smells like Virginia bluebells. [00:30:16] Speaker C: Hmm. I think I courted someone who bought me blue bells and various local flora and fauna over the years. It didn't work out. [00:30:26] Speaker A: Pinch of, like, dry clay dust. Virginia bluebells, slightly humid. Hmm. [00:30:38] Speaker C: Someone's been keeping this. Perhaps in their greenhouse where they grow. Hmm. Those sweet Virginia bluebells. Do you know anyone who has a greenhouse around here? [00:30:56] Speaker D: Do I? Is that a thing I can look. [00:30:59] Speaker A: Up just out of your memory? I mean, if there's someone in your contacts pool, you could know. Aside from that. [00:31:08] Speaker D: Not off of the top of my head. I could ask, but anyone who would have information probably wants that a price. [00:31:16] Speaker C: And because why would you keep feathers in a damp climate? [00:31:21] Speaker A: Well, because you, uh. Because, you know, uh, you got enough hits on this. I don't know how Lucas has this information, or someone else can bring it up. Uh, but this is a flower. I'll let you guess. Famously associated with what midwestern state? [00:31:41] Speaker D: It's called Virginia. Hold on. [00:31:44] Speaker A: I do not make the flower rules. [00:31:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I think he's kind of a magpie for information. It's part of the way he does his shtick. So I would imagine that, like, he probably needled this poor man into hating him through. Just, like, hyper analyzing every gift that he was ever given, including the bluebells, just starts going off about, oh, well, it's so funny that these are virginia blue bells when they're actually from. And just starts filling poor subra with more information than she ever deserved. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Blake, I know that uv. Know why it's humid? [00:32:34] Speaker B: I sure do. [00:32:35] Speaker A: If you can think of a creative reason for blake to have this information and share it via text message, I am happy to let you show off your expertise. [00:32:44] Speaker B: Um. Ooh, that's a good question. Uh, I mean, I may have inhabited the body of a wonderful corn farmer at some point in my time, as we all know, as Blake would have known from her time spent as a corn farmer. Corn makes everything awful. Very, very humid. The corn sweat. We hate it. We hate it. So when this information comes in, it's kind of weird, actually, because Blake just very excitedly goes, corn exclamation mark. [00:33:20] Speaker C: Ed gets back, like, corn emoji question mark. [00:33:26] Speaker B: Yeah. And I'll kind of just start going off about all of the ins and outs of corn farming and the best time to plant them and when you have to harvest them, and then all the fun facts that come with corn, such as corn sweat. And then kind of get into the differences between corn grown in Europe versus corn grown in the US. And, like, the height differences and, like, GMO corn versus non GMO corn, you. [00:33:51] Speaker A: Get a text message that. It's a really long. Read more. You actually have to. When you send a message on discord and it says, here's a text file you can download instead of a DM. That's the life that Lucas and Subra are living in the group chat right now. [00:34:06] Speaker C: This is eating this. [00:34:11] Speaker B: And then I think, like, after the. The text comes through, there's also a voice line that then comes through where Blake just kind of continues talking, but ultimately ends with. But, yes, Midwest corn. Lots of corn, very humid. [00:34:31] Speaker C: Corn. [00:34:33] Speaker D: Pornhood. A very enthusiastic music man fan is my assumption. [00:34:47] Speaker A: I mean, extremely specific. [00:34:51] Speaker D: How enthusiastic would you have to be to. I don't seem to understand the connection between what happened last night and the music man, beyond the fact that. That they seem to have a theme. [00:35:08] Speaker C: Perhaps someone's trying to get a pool in town. Pool hall? [00:35:15] Speaker A: Yes. [00:35:15] Speaker C: Wait a minute. [00:35:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Curiously specific. [00:35:22] Speaker D: Hmm. I assume maybe Blake has a lead with the fan. With withdeze. Someone who knows, one would hope. [00:35:34] Speaker C: I, um. Hmm. Fascinating endeavor, the whole thing. What do you think? That wasn't in the show either, was it? [00:35:44] Speaker A: Hmm? [00:35:47] Speaker C: Your instrument. [00:35:49] Speaker D: The mellophone? No. Uh, no, the, um. They. With budget cuts, they can't even afford these for the bandaid, so they are, actually. [00:35:58] Speaker C: Well, then how did that one get here? [00:36:02] Speaker D: Uh, that's actually. [00:36:04] Speaker C: And who would put it underneath all of this dirty clothing. [00:36:08] Speaker D: I have? Hmm. There may be someone who knows, and I can maybe reach out to someone else in the league if anyone's made any sort of deals, to see if they could start an impromptu underground, I guess, guerrilla production of the music man, we would know, right? [00:36:33] Speaker C: Or a marching band or perhaps a theater club. That isn't this one. At any rate, you would probably be the one to know these things, correct, madam dance teacher? [00:36:47] Speaker D: That is true. I would at least know someone who knew someone. There aren't that many in this area. [00:36:56] Speaker C: That's very promising. [00:37:02] Speaker D: I think we have exhausted what we can. Unless we're really missing something, I'm not sure how else to proceed. [00:37:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I think Lucas is just gonna kick around and be annoying until. Until the time feels like it is been wasted. [00:37:19] Speaker A: So seven days later. Blake Sweeney. Yeah, there's, of course, the backstage is overflowing with stuff, and the real puzzle is sorting out the stuff that belongs from the stuff that doesn't. What is a normal amount of weird considering this theater and its way of presenting art versus what is uniquely strange? Unfortunately for this scene, having gotten as many hits as you both did in the beginning, there wasn't a lot of extra there. There you have this plume from a drum major's hat laden with the scent of a specific flower in a specific time of year. And a mellophone, which does not belong here. [00:38:09] Speaker C: I think on the way out, instead of even, like, dealing with the cops before, like, I think Lucas goes to just walk out the same way he came in. Somewhere very obvious that the police would see, but the moment they would catch his eye, he's just going to exhale on them, and I'm going to use tabula Rasa on whichever one of them sees us so that they forget that we were ever here. I'm just gonna believe one of my curse dice to do that. [00:38:40] Speaker A: An excellent skill with an excellent use case. I really feel bad for the gentleman, though, because he's not gonna remember the game happening either. And at some point, he's going to be asked to perform masculinity by recalling the sports, and he's not going to be able to do it. Sometimes the consequences of an interacting with the curseborn are grand and life changing. Sometimes it's just a tiny tweak to the course of the stream. Need to ask, are you bringing the Shaco hat? Are you bringing the mellophone? [00:39:17] Speaker D: I am taking it. [00:39:19] Speaker C: This was why specifically, it was just like to walk out with the things and be not bothered. [00:39:27] Speaker A: And then, so it shall be. You arrive. Blake, you are sitting in the car. You've made the choice to not go into the theater, had your enthusiastic corn text message, and now you get to see what the big deal is, because Lucas is holding something that looks like a well worn swiffer. And I super found a mellophone. [00:39:59] Speaker C: Why. [00:39:59] Speaker B: Are you guys taking random items? I don't understand. [00:40:06] Speaker C: Thorn and Lucas just shows them the plume. [00:40:13] Speaker D: They don't belong here. [00:40:18] Speaker B: An instrument in the orchestra? I don't. [00:40:23] Speaker D: No, no, no. This is a brass. That's not even any more explanationary. [00:40:29] Speaker A: It was not in the pit. You found it in the costume department. [00:40:33] Speaker D: This is a mystery melophone. It's from. Not here. [00:40:38] Speaker C: A mystery melophone. [00:40:42] Speaker D: It wasn't in the orchestra. It's not really part of this production. Mm mm. I don't think. It smells like corn. [00:40:50] Speaker C: And she wouldn't even play it. [00:40:52] Speaker A: I can't. [00:40:53] Speaker D: There's no mouth. There's no mouthpiece. [00:40:57] Speaker A: What? [00:40:58] Speaker D: I also don't have the embouchure, but that's different. You need a mouthpiece to play an instrument or to play a brass instrument like this. It's about, like, you need to buzz and then the. [00:41:11] Speaker C: Oh, that explains a lot. Dated a trumpet once. [00:41:16] Speaker D: Oh. Oh. [00:41:22] Speaker A: Lake's getting so much information all at once. [00:41:24] Speaker B: Yeah, there's. There's a lot that I'm trying to take in right now because very little was shared over text. And it's weird because there's just, like, a huge line of text messages from me about corn and not much else. [00:41:38] Speaker A: So I showed you my corn facts. Please respond. [00:41:43] Speaker D: Well, I don't have a mouthpiece, unfortunately. It's. These are the pieces, but they're not from this show. That's all I really got. If there was going to be a marching band, we would know. Right? If there was going to be a marching band, we would know. Statement? [00:42:04] Speaker C: Yes. And this is a secret. [00:42:08] Speaker A: You would expect if there was a marching band in the show, it would be more than one drum major with a melophone, right? [00:42:13] Speaker D: Yes. [00:42:14] Speaker A: That's less of a marching band than more a man with a mellophone in a uniform. [00:42:21] Speaker D: Later scene. Lucas Somerset. [00:42:26] Speaker A: Correct. It's helpful, but obviously not the entirety of the picture you've centered in on the musical. There's somebody or something that has ritualized this musical. And now you found physical evidence of that thing happening in the place where the child went missing, which is enough to kind of anchor some suspicions. But there is still so much to determine. [00:43:03] Speaker D: Does something happen in the music band that one would want to make happen in real life? [00:43:09] Speaker C: Falling in love or a marching band? That's sort of the entire story. And barbershop. I do love barbershop. [00:43:21] Speaker D: Hmm. [00:43:24] Speaker B: At this point, we're just kind of going around in circles, and I just kind of, like, throw up my hands and I'm just like, it's a fucking mellophone. Like, I don't. I don't understand what any of this has to do with anything. And, like, you know, I tried finding, like, a copy of the music man, but I was staring at the back of some dude's head. I don't know what the fuck is going on. So what. What does this have to do with anything that you guys are talking about right now? [00:43:52] Speaker C: Whoa. Well, you see, the music man's about a door to door salesman who's a con man who falls in love with a librarian who wants to start a marching band, but kind of only as a cover, and the whole town is against the youths having things to do. [00:44:14] Speaker B: That sounds like a really dumb idea for a play. I'm just throwing that out there. [00:44:20] Speaker C: I enjoy it. It's also very loud, and as I said before, there's a lot of barbershop in it. [00:44:28] Speaker D: There's this really lovely moment where the main character and the librarian fall in love, and there's this tilde. There was. He was one of the nicest, one of the more classic romantic pieces in theater history. [00:44:49] Speaker B: So one of the most romantic plays in theater history is about a con man who wants to start a marching band? [00:44:55] Speaker D: It is, yeah. [00:44:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Life was different in the mid 19 hundreds. [00:45:02] Speaker B: I guess it must have been, uh. [00:45:07] Speaker A: They didn't have TikTok. They had to make do with other. Other things. [00:45:11] Speaker B: They had cocaine, though, so you think it'd be more interesting? [00:45:16] Speaker A: Maybe that's how they got to the music man. Oh, yeah. [00:45:18] Speaker D: It was medicinal. [00:45:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:22] Speaker A: But the puzzle persists. So Lucas and Subra have found this. These devices, and I say devices because we are talking about ritual magic. Still. What do these props tell us about a ritual? And it's fine if you don't know the answer to that question right now. I'm just putting it in your heads so you can think about it as we proceed through our mystery. But, Blake, you gave them the benefit of the doubt. You said, fine, we can try it, or we can go to the theater. Maybe there's clues there. And now that there isn't, I am sure, certain Blake wise of their years, has the next thing. Now that we tried it your way, let's try it my way. What is my way? By which I mean your way? [00:46:17] Speaker B: I mean, at the end of the day, there's no way that somebody came in and did all of this without somebody saying something or letting somebody in or just being aware, right? Like, we're not at that point in late stage capitalism that, like, everybody is so unaware. So I would like to try and find somebody who was working last night either, like a backstage crew person, stagehand usher who might know something. Just. Just try and find, reach out to people who were working last night and just pick their brains because somebody had to have seen something here. [00:46:57] Speaker A: It's not too difficult to find. Through postings on the theater website, you find the audition, the open call. Then you can find a call sheet that should be hidden but is actually just a link that if you know it, you can type it right into the point where you type in www.nameofthistheater.org fallshowcall sheet and it pops up and that gets you the information that you need to know. It raises a follow up question, which is how you're going to approach the matter, because I don't believe unsolicited call to total stranger about ongoing investigation is what leaps immediately to blake sweeney's mind. [00:47:43] Speaker B: No. Well, you know, I am a therapist by trade, and, you know, everything that's going on is, it's really hard on a community. And I have no problem pretending to be somebody who is, who was, who was hired for that purpose. So kind of acting as a grief counselor of sorts, because, again, that is what I do. That is a thing that I am good at. And reaching out to folks and asking if they have anything that they want to get off their chest. [00:48:23] Speaker A: Yeah, that's going to be a long set of phone calls to make, at least one by one. First of all, it's the new modern era, so you have to find someone who's willing to answer a call from an unknown number. Then that person has to hear the beginning of the voice, like, hello. Yes, it's Blake Sweeney. I'm calling on behalf of name of my. And then not get hung up on. And then that person has to actually have need of your services, by which I mean it's going to be difficult, more difficult than. Than most things. So you are an empathetic person, and you are certainly a manipulative person. Let us see if we can put those two things together to solve this problem. We'll put the difficulty at three and then two complications independent of one another. [00:49:18] Speaker B: Okay. [00:49:19] Speaker A: One, this person talks. They say, oh, my God. It's so glad that you reached out. I'm going to give you my friends. You were number two, if that's okay, because you're a professional and you're doing this for free like a good person. The second piece is. Yeah, you're calling me like, you know, from, from a random number and I'm totally willing to believe you are. But, like, can you give, like a website? Like, I just want to make sure you're licensed because I can look you up. You're going to get either, like PTA mom who is making absolutely sure that all of her bases are covered. Like it's her day off from Hoa home inspecting. So now it is time to direct that energy here or you're going to get very kind old man who was like, you're doing such a good thing for the community. Let me get you everyone's number and then they can all call. So let's see how it goes. [00:50:15] Speaker B: All right. That is four successes. I got two tens, so I will buy off the. I need to look you up. There is a reason I took anonymity as a skill, so, or as an edge, so, yeah, I guess the nice old man can give my number to everybody and I'll just have to deal with that later. [00:50:45] Speaker A: Keep this in my pocket because it has to be a consequence. It's minor, but we'll say one of two things happens. One, either you have to at some point go and actually help a human being as not to bully recover, or you're going to get a phone call at an inconvenient time. [00:51:02] Speaker D: Oh, God. [00:51:04] Speaker A: And because it's a consequence, this isn't the kind of thing that we can just turn our phones off for the rest of the adventure. I will find a way to make this happen. [00:51:13] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:51:13] Speaker A: You're fine with that? We can go. But also recall you've got enough momentum if you want to buy another success to get the last edge gone. That is what this is for, right? [00:51:24] Speaker B: Yes. I think I will spend the momentum to buy that off. [00:51:30] Speaker A: One momentum for one hit complication free, taking us to two momentum. And there's a good news bad news situation going on because the bad news is that you don't have anybody here who has seen something. It is all the same kind of fuzziness. And Subra saw a bit of this when she was interrogating very quickly the soccer mom. But it's a suspicious kind of lack of knowing that if you took the time to diagram out the entire scene and you build a whole set and look at where everyone's pointing, they're all missing that one frame from the same spot. Yeah, there's just like a hole in the zeitgeist that moves through the building to the point where we notice the child is missing and then leaves. [00:52:28] Speaker B: So a little tabula rasa, much more a lot. Tabula Rasa. [00:52:34] Speaker A: Don't tell Lucas to his face. But this is well beyond the last few minutes. This is someone who is much more adept at remaining unseen. Okay, but that does tell you something, because there are only certain kind of curseborn who could even attempt to do that. And it would be sorceress in nature that the hungry can mess with memory, but not to this degree. The dead don't have this power. You might be able to make someone forget an emotion, but you certainly wouldn't be able to. To go this far. And the outcast are. They're more conspicuous. Right. So we know that somewhere there is a sorcerer, which is information you can play with. But the second piece that will come out of it is as you're pulling away, looking for your next thing you do get a phone call from an unknown number. It's a local area code. Don't worry about it. [00:53:47] Speaker B: I'm gonna answer it. Pick it up. Hello? [00:53:52] Speaker A: So if this, uh. If this were a. A lower budget horror movie, this is where we blew our budget on Tony Todd. Cause that is the voice that comes through. Not ancient, but 55 to 60 year old african american male speaking into the phone with the voice of the harbingers, the horror movie villain, our character that we are calling to mind. He says, this is Blake Sweeney. [00:54:24] Speaker B: Yes. Who is asking? [00:54:26] Speaker A: Oh, I wouldn't worry about that too much. I've heard you've been asking around about some things that happened. [00:54:34] Speaker B: Doing my job as a concerned citizen. [00:54:37] Speaker A: Yeah, well, let me tell you, as someone who's seen this before, you don't need to be concerned with what happened now, because this is. This is older than you think it is. [00:54:51] Speaker B: Sorry. And who is this? [00:54:56] Speaker A: It's not. It's not important. I'm not the one you're looking for, and you don't need to know who I am. [00:55:04] Speaker B: Okay, uh, what else can you tell me then? [00:55:08] Speaker A: Mystery man, 1970. [00:55:11] Speaker B: 219 72. [00:55:16] Speaker A: Mm hmm. You start looking in 1972 for people missing, like your kidney, you'll be on the right track. [00:55:33] Speaker B: Okay. Any other information that you have that you want to share with me? [00:55:42] Speaker A: Unfortunately, no. That is the end of the conversation. He gives you the year and then is happy to hang up. [00:55:49] Speaker B: Then I will hang up the phone and just look at the group who has seen this play out. Obviously, this phone call has gone very differently than the other phone calls that I've been taking. And also, I got the call as opposed to me making the call. And I just say, apparently we should be looking in 1972. Who was that? I wish I could tell you somebody who apparently knows more about this than we do, but wouldn't tell me any more than that. 1972. That's all I got. [00:56:25] Speaker C: Neither of you time travel? [00:56:29] Speaker B: No. Lucas. [00:56:32] Speaker C: I'm just curious. [00:56:36] Speaker D: Hold on. Um. [00:56:39] Speaker A: Who. [00:56:41] Speaker D: They didn't give you their name? They just offered you that information for free? [00:56:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:48] Speaker C: Nothing is for free. [00:56:51] Speaker D: Nothing worth having is free. Well, that. Oof. That came out bad. [00:57:00] Speaker B: I. Look, we can be skeptical about this all we want, or we can start looking into 1972 because at this point, we don't have any information other than it's a sorcerer. And, you know, it's. It's somebody who has better abilities than Lucas does when it comes to rewriting memories. And 1972 at this point is our only lead because otherwise we have fuck all. [00:57:27] Speaker C: Did enjoy the seventies. Sadly, it's not the release date of the film or anything of that note about the music man. So now we're back to zero on that. [00:57:38] Speaker B: But look, all they said was that if we look in 1972 for missing people that disappeared in the same way as our missing small human, then we have more information to go on. That was it. That's all I got. [00:57:55] Speaker C: Let's just start with the good old Internet. [00:57:58] Speaker B: Yeah. This person could be somebody who was impacted by whatever is going on back in 1972, right. And wants help and knows that were poking around. [00:58:09] Speaker C: I don't know, a sick revenge plot. I love that. [00:58:12] Speaker B: Yeah, see, there you go. Lucas is behind it. [00:58:17] Speaker C: And he's already on his phone searching, like local databases for missing people from 1972. [00:58:24] Speaker A: Not that hard to find. The details are sparse on account of privacy being mildly more valuable in the seventies than now. But also, that's 50 years ago. So you have to go to an actual library if you want to see the microfilm. But what has been scanned or what has made it into genealogy.com or whatever website you use, is that a young performer. Misses Sarah Miller, age 29, disappeared from a local theater repertory performance where she was expected to take the stage as Mary Poppins. [00:59:09] Speaker D: So close. [00:59:11] Speaker B: Okay, so what does Mary Poppins have to do with the music man? [00:59:18] Speaker D: They're musicals. [00:59:22] Speaker C: They're a bit of a kindred spirits. [00:59:26] Speaker A: The yearbook page will say that you can find if you search this name says that young Sarah is a promising talent with an excellent voice and confident tap dancing skills. [00:59:43] Speaker C: Interesting. [00:59:44] Speaker A: Lucas or Subra would know. But first question, who is the lead female role in the music Mandev? [00:59:52] Speaker D: Marion. [00:59:53] Speaker C: Marion. [00:59:53] Speaker A: And what does someone performing Marion need? [00:59:57] Speaker C: The soprano voice and tap dancing. [01:00:06] Speaker D: A tap dancer? Is someone making an eldritch music man that seems insane. I see. [01:00:17] Speaker C: I would do it. [01:00:18] Speaker D: Of course you would do. Of course you would do it. [01:00:25] Speaker C: I'd watch it. Am I rooting for this? Oh, no. [01:00:31] Speaker D: Oh. Um. What would a sorcerer have to gain from making the music man? But, uh, worse. Scary. [01:00:45] Speaker B: What. What skills did Lucy have? [01:00:51] Speaker D: She was a pleasure to have in class. Very creative. Hmm. [01:01:00] Speaker A: Well, as it comes to teen roles in the play, or, sorry, children's roles in the play, the usual ask is for slightly older, taller, slightly bratty, sings and dances. There are four roles for children. There's Winthrop Peru, who can be capable of a lisp. This is a young male between eight and twelve years old, singing and dancing a plus. Amaryllis is Winthrop size, despite being cast younger, slightly bratty. There's Gracie, who's ten. And then there's an ensemble of children, town's children, who are just. They're just there to participate. [01:01:48] Speaker D: Did Lucy play piano? [01:01:51] Speaker A: Don't know. [01:01:55] Speaker D: Deciding how I would find out. [01:01:59] Speaker C: So what you're suggesting here is that we have a sorcerer playing phantom of the opera? [01:02:06] Speaker D: Well, it's the music man, but yes. [01:02:10] Speaker C: Stealing beautiful voiced performers is in line with other things. [01:02:16] Speaker B: Thank you. I was too busy having sex and doing anything interesting to watch musicals in school. I'm sorry, none of this is making sense, but yeah, my thought is ultimately that, you know, this sorcerer is perhaps performing some kind of ritual to steal preferred talents from actors, actresses, etcetera, to empower themselves. Perhaps. Perhaps it's less of building up their own play and more about improving themselves as a performer. [01:03:01] Speaker D: Take this chance to text my contact, which is another league member. If nothing else, I feel like he would know at least more of the accursed community, including maybe sorcerers in the area. [01:03:19] Speaker A: What's your question? [01:03:21] Speaker D: Uh, just that. Do you know of any sorcerers who spent time in this area? Probably older. [01:03:33] Speaker A: Let's wait to see how that comes back until after our break. For lack of a better reason. It's just I like the tension of a question unanswered going into a moment of possible need. Plus, I imagine the audience needs to discuss their theories. And likewise you will as well. When we return, we will find out who is this mystery man, or perhaps woman, or perhaps non binary villain? Are they stealing talented souls for themselves or for a performance? And even if all that is true, what are you all going to do about it? Plenty of things to talk about when we come back. Don't go anywhere. If I get back in ten minutes and you're not here, I am going to feel so just like, I don't know if I can take it. [01:04:25] Speaker C: Wow. [01:04:26] Speaker D: You won't be mad. You'll be disappointed. [01:04:28] Speaker A: I'll be hurt. Like, personally, I will feel like I, as a storyteller, have let them down. [01:04:32] Speaker B: Big QCG. Dad energy right there. [01:04:35] Speaker A: Well, on that note, we'll be back soon. She said, dad, cut it, cut it, cut it. We return, and wouldn't you know, normally we'd do the break and we spend the time, we go get drinks, and then we stretched and whatnot. And this was just all the questions, like, oh, my God, is this right? And I'm so excited to take all the things, all the ideas and put them where you can see them. As we return to our New England college town. Subra, you asked, can I phone a friend? And unlike millionaire, this is a very long distance phone call through the network of outcasts, contracts made and lies told into your past. So let us start with that question. Who is this person? How do you know them? Why are they still keeping Dutch. [01:05:30] Speaker D: Live? Densmore is kind of my supervisor. I landed, for lack of a better phrase, here. And after, as Lucas would put it, striking out badly. It turns out you cannot be a person from not here in a time when everyone has a Social Security number or birth certificate, an identification of any kind. So Clive was the person who gave me a job and kind of set me up as a real person. [01:06:25] Speaker A: For my explicit clarity. Clive is another outcast who knows the ropes. [01:06:30] Speaker D: Clive is not only another outcast, Clive is another member of the league of the hidden crossroads. [01:06:35] Speaker A: Oh, so you had to sign paperwork for this help? [01:06:38] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:06:39] Speaker A: Has that debt been paid, or is it still checks in the mail? [01:06:44] Speaker D: Well, to my, it's an MLM. I'm his downstream contact. [01:06:55] Speaker A: All right, well, then, uh. Okay. [01:06:59] Speaker D: I think as long as the birth certificate says Subra, I work for them. [01:07:04] Speaker A: Awesome. I won't twist that knife, but it does help set up the terms of the relationship. Let us pause on that, though, because I imagine this is a meme that Subra wants to take alone. You don't introduce your friends to your supervisor, especially not when the relationship is this complicated. Well, let me rephrase. Subra would not want to introduce Lucas to her supervisor. [01:07:30] Speaker D: Um, I wouldn't prefer it, but I'm also not in charge of what Lucas wants to do. [01:07:38] Speaker A: That is fair. Well, then I can ask, uh, Blake and Lucas whether or not you have the knowledge that Subra has said out loud. I'm going to call my best friend. I feel like Subra wouldn't make that mistake. In this hummer, are there other angles that you might want to pursue if Subra decides they need to go off and, uh, make a phone call? [01:08:02] Speaker C: Well, Lucas is never gonna pass up an opportunity to go look at laserfiche. So I believe the library is calling. [01:08:14] Speaker A: Like, are you willing to assist in that matter? [01:08:17] Speaker B: Yes, of course. Especially if we. If the intent is to fill out a cast list of missing people, I think there's a lot of information to pour over. [01:08:26] Speaker A: So get out your little notebook and your pen, hold out your detective pocket, and away to the library you go. We'll say these things happen separately, that Subra makes an excuse to depart. And then Lucas is like, okay, cool. Pick you up. Use these in the group chat, or however that would go. Which means my first question then is, super. How do you get in contact with your friend? [01:08:56] Speaker D: In the grand tradition of calling people on the phone, there is a star, and then another star, and then a pound sign, then a series of numbers, and you know, you know who to. It's not so much about the numbers on the phone. It is about the pattern one makes when they call. [01:09:17] Speaker A: The Eldritch public switched telephone network. [01:09:20] Speaker D: Yes. I'm not making a deal, so I don't need to go anywhere specific. [01:09:28] Speaker A: Well, describe for both the audience and for me, who is going to pick up this phone call. [01:09:36] Speaker D: Clive Dunsmore, when I met him in person, gives the impression of someone who should be probably about 7ft tall, but is sort of question mark shaped. Now, if you've ever seen Coraline, the way her father looks hunched over a computer, it really has sort of encapsulated this man's spine. [01:10:11] Speaker A: I can do this. Yeah. So first thing, we're gonna bring the glasses down. Cause we're. [01:10:15] Speaker D: There you go. [01:10:17] Speaker A: Yep. Well, I can't see the face you're making. Cause I'm looking straight ahead and I don't have that great vision. But we'll go from here. [01:10:26] Speaker D: You've committed. I'm proud of you. [01:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Is he a cell phone person? [01:10:30] Speaker D: Uh, yes, but it is in. When I've seen it, it is a brick that is attached to a belt on his pant in a holder. [01:10:40] Speaker A: So then you get in the shoulder then, right? Yeah. Pick up the phone. You can hear the typing, you can hear the sheet, the spreadsheet being filled out as he answers the phone. [01:10:51] Speaker D: How are you always in a call center? [01:10:55] Speaker A: Work never ceases. You know that. What's the matter? [01:11:02] Speaker D: Um, I. We've encountered something unexplainable in a way that I think we can explain. Does that make sense? [01:11:14] Speaker A: Exciting. Finally decided to give it the zumba, start hanging out with the rest of us for once. [01:11:21] Speaker D: I can do both. You could come do zoom. I. Never mind. I'm not going to invite you to do that. [01:11:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't see how. Zumba, you know, keeps the. Keeps the papers flowing, keeps the interest flowing. [01:11:36] Speaker D: Well, no, that. It's fun. It's fun. It's good to move your body. [01:11:45] Speaker A: You can see the face he's making, like. No, no, moving. And moving isn't fun. Contracts, that's fun. Helping people find their way through life, that's. That's fun. Dancing with a yoga ball, that's. All right, all right, all right. No, fine. That's fine. Tell me your problem. I'll let you know how I can help and what it'll cost you. [01:12:12] Speaker D: Does it have to? [01:12:15] Speaker A: Then it's our nature. [01:12:16] Speaker D: Right, but this is. People are missing. People are. Children are missing. People could get really hurt. [01:12:23] Speaker A: Oh, children even more valuable. People are willing to make all kinds of sacrifices when children are on the table. Not your children. [01:12:30] Speaker D: No, no. Kind of. They're students. [01:12:37] Speaker A: Hmm. No. Really good these days. Yeah. Missing student, child. I'm actually not going to get into the political zeitgeist right now, but Clive is the kind of person who would. [01:12:50] Speaker D: All right, well, something sorceress. I just need to know who else is in the area. I don't expect there to be a phone book. [01:13:01] Speaker A: You said the s word. [01:13:06] Speaker D: Sorcerer. [01:13:07] Speaker A: You read one of us? I thought it might have been an outcast, someone who, you know, we see at the family picnic, as it were. But if it's a sorcerer, that could be. That could be all kinds of things. Well, tell me what you know, and I'll see if I can. You can hear him tabbing onto a new spreadsheet. He's opened a new document. [01:13:23] Speaker D: I'm so flattered. All right. They're a big fan of the music man. Been active at least since the seventies. And I'll text the group as well, like as they're doing their research to see if they've gotten anything earlier, but they've picked up at least two. [01:13:49] Speaker A: Hmm. [01:13:52] Speaker C: I'm not sure. [01:13:52] Speaker A: You say. What do the two victims have in common? [01:13:57] Speaker D: Musical theater kids. One is pretty primed for, I guess, the lead actress role in the show. And cute kid can tap dance pretty good for, you know, an amaryllis. [01:14:14] Speaker A: Any sign of struggle? Any residue. [01:14:20] Speaker D: Instruments? Well, music man paraphernalia and the. The smell of Iowa. Indiana. [01:14:33] Speaker A: You can hear the typing. Stop. When you're like, the smell of Iowa and you can't hear it over the phone, but you can, you know, the face, like. [01:14:44] Speaker D: I don't know what Iowa smells like either, but I'll make a point next time I get the chance. [01:14:51] Speaker A: Well, you have two problems here. [01:14:55] Speaker D: Oh, and memory holes. [01:14:59] Speaker A: Nah, well, diamond doesn't even memory hole. That's just the cost of doing business. Right? [01:15:03] Speaker D: All right, well, like I said, you. [01:15:05] Speaker A: Have two problems here. One, you're dealing with some kind of ritual magic, and that could mean anything, right? You say musical theater, kids missing, I start to hear hungry, right? Someone who has a very specific feeding preference. But, nah, they don't really keep them that long, right? Cause the juice is only the first. That's like olive oil, right? First pressing, extra virgin soup. Super great. Third person can't even sell it, right? [01:15:33] Speaker D: Yeah. No, continue. [01:15:34] Speaker A: Means we're dealing with something else now. Sorcerer? Could be. They have all kinds of wacky packs they make with the God knows who. [01:15:43] Speaker D: Not us. [01:15:46] Speaker A: Hmm. Depends. But no, there's no one of that particular persuasion in your area who I know at least. The only one definitely wouldn't be musical theater. You find me a missing burlesque club, then I can point you to somebody. This is different. Second problem. What's your angle here? What are you hoping to fix? Change do steal? [01:16:15] Speaker D: You mean from, like, people are missing and they should be found. [01:16:26] Speaker A: Okay. Some suspicious typing on a different spreadsheet. [01:16:34] Speaker D: I don't know why. I can hear you, tab, but I can hear you, tab, and it's stressing me out. [01:16:41] Speaker A: Well, not knowing what he wants, that's. That's tricky. Bit sorcerer is not my kind of thing. Don't like him. The whole. Sacrifice myself for power so I can sacrifice myself for power. It's. It's reductive, it's circular. There's no. There's no there there. It's not exciting. But you found two items, which I will tell you right now. Those are keys. Something to do with how he's taking these people, where he's going. Right. Grab a source. [01:17:08] Speaker D: I'm going somewhere. [01:17:10] Speaker A: Well, yeah. You think he's not eating them on the spot? You would have seen something. You would have heard the screams. You would have felt something when he got there. Right, and he's not keeping him in his basement where God knows who could stumble in. We're professionals. What's the point of having all this power if you're being a sorcerer? And you're just gonna, what, like an amateur? Like a true crime? Podcast? Certainly not. So he's putting them somewhere for something. My guess, a ritual. My guess, a ritual he doesn't want our jailers to see and doesn't want other Chris born sneaking in on. [01:17:45] Speaker D: So we need to find where he's putting them. I. Mm. [01:17:51] Speaker A: No, no, you're good. Keep thinking. You're almost there. [01:17:54] Speaker D: Well, sorcerers don't have access. Sorcerers don't have access to a battleground like us, do they? [01:18:00] Speaker A: Not without a specific kind of effort. That's not to say that the right person with the right tools couldn't find their way. [01:18:10] Speaker D: Well, this has been enlightening. [01:18:13] Speaker A: You need to find yourself a liminal space that matches the mo. [01:18:19] Speaker D: Wonderful. Like a green room. [01:18:21] Speaker A: Mm hmm. I don't know how you're gonna open the door, but I'm sure. Well, whatever. I don't know. Close your eyes and think of Iowa. [01:18:32] Speaker D: Well, thank you. [01:18:34] Speaker A: I know. Thank you. When can I expect your next payment? You come and do. [01:18:47] Speaker D: Imminently. [01:18:50] Speaker A: Oh, Subra, you are lucky you are reliable if not timely. [01:18:57] Speaker D: Yeah, that I am. Thank you. I will see you. You'll hear from me. [01:19:06] Speaker A: Always a pleasure. And you can hear the volume of that descending as he takes the phone and is like, saying it as he is hanging up. So, yeah, you know, the outcasts are the most familiar with these battleground spaces, the parts where the human world touches the outside world. But those aren't the only ways beyond the little curtain of our reality into the darkest corners. And you do know this as an outcast, I'm sure that Lucas has a sense of it and that Blake has a sense of it as well. That human liminal spaces, the one that feel weird and empty and have strange dimensions, there's a really easy explanation for why they feel that way. And because those are the back rooms through which you enter into these other places. So he would have a secret one that he is stuffing these people in, or she, or they. We do not know the gender of our mysterious villain. [01:20:03] Speaker D: Awful. I'll message the others and say I'll catch a bus over. I'll meet them at the library. [01:20:12] Speaker A: I almost say these things are happening simultaneously, such that one, Lucas and Blake don't have their phone go off in a library. Rude. And two, sub. [01:20:23] Speaker C: How you think that? I'm not rude. [01:20:25] Speaker A: Right. So Lucas is wood, and perhaps that is why Subra doesn't in any case, into the microfiche. And, yeah, you can't just type missing persons into a database. So this is the kind of thing where you have to go into the actual like card catalog of the local town register to find that information. It is quite a bit of back and forth, but your suspicions are fairly correct. Over the last 50 or so years, a number of people have gone missing with skills, looks and talents, as best you can tell, that match the main cast roles for the music Mandev. [01:21:12] Speaker C: One of my edges is not quite in play just because we haven't rolled, but I have an edge called logical leap. It is one of the only ways that Lucas continues to be relevant is that, despite himself, he actually is quite astute at picking up the right thing at the right moment. Your mind leaps to correct conclusions even before you finish reviewing all the data. While making a research based investigation action, you may spend a momentum to gain a lead rather than evidence as a result of a successful action. The goal here being to root around for more than just surface information about missing people. [01:22:00] Speaker A: The lead is fairly easy, if only because you are a moment too late. You put the cast members in order and there's only one person missing in the puzzle. Someone who perhaps could slot into the role of the younger Winthrop sibling. So he's finished. Your sorceress friend has. Has the last bit they need. Terrifying. Terrifying. But we know that this is a ritual of power, right? Which means if we know that they're hiding somewhere in the aether and we're looking for a liminal space where things are leaking out, it's like walking past a house where there's a really big party on. You should be able to hear that. The baseline thumping, right? Or walking past a neighbor's house. They're cooking. You should be able to smell. Ah. That is fresh cut apple. That is apple pie. I'm in the right neighborhood. I think that is the leap that Lucas would go to. Not just that the literal is finished, but that that is a tool you can use to find the right place to open the door. [01:23:11] Speaker C: Um, obnoxiously, like testing the wind. But we're in a library, so we are completely indoors. I don't even think there's good ac in this building. He licks his finger and puts it up. Blake. I'm listening. Smelling, feeling. I'm not the most, um, experienced in the more magical world. I mostly just eat and mind my own business. But I think I'm offended. I hardly do anything other than lift people's burdens. [01:24:00] Speaker B: Okay, we'll call it that. Continue. [01:24:04] Speaker C: I'm wondering if. Well, if you have any other abilities to, I don't know, sniff out of powerful magic. So should we wait until supra takes the bus. [01:24:21] Speaker B: The bus. Unfortunately, I'm not super magically inclined. That the closest I can get is, you know, leaving. Leaving my body behind and becoming. I don't know, I guess people would call it a soul, but, you know, it's just like, going incorporeal. That's. That's kind of the. That's it, really. [01:24:55] Speaker C: Do you think that's a neat trick? Well, we'll have to wait for our starlet friend. [01:25:01] Speaker A: Yeah, why don't. [01:25:03] Speaker B: Kind of her her genre. [01:25:08] Speaker A: Blake, why don't you roll cunning and esoterica? [01:25:16] Speaker B: Okay. I can do that. That is no hits. [01:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Not entirely clear what Lucas is up to. On the cusp of something. [01:25:38] Speaker D: I will have passed along the information that I got just to make that easier. [01:25:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it doesn't quite help with this particular instance. An absence, spending momentum. There's no mechanism for me to be like, well, you didn't pass, but here you go. Hmm. [01:25:56] Speaker C: I wonder if it's like finding a neighborhood barbecue. You know, if someone's cooking outside, everyone can smell it, and thus everyone starts talking about it. I wonder if there's something on Facebook. [01:26:10] Speaker A: Cannot wait to know what you are searching on your phone when you finally do make contact with Subrah. The missing persons does give you a slight. Shrinks the radius a bit. You know, this is someone who is operating locally, which is helpful because that means it's only in, you know, the 20 miles or so around the. Excuse me. Around the theater. And based on what Subra has told you, you're looking for an awkward, ephemeral space somehow, probably tied symbolically to this particular string of kidnappings. The big plan, as best you understand it. [01:26:56] Speaker C: You know, I was joking before, but I'm wondering if there's a pool hall in town that I've just not noticed. [01:27:02] Speaker A: How funny you should ask. But there's another question that we have to answer first, which is, how do we open the door? They're not going to let you on stage if you're not in costume, Clara. [01:27:19] Speaker D: I'm getting there. Fuck it. I'm here now. [01:27:22] Speaker A: Oh, no. I assume that you texted and that Subra is continuing to text the conversation as they come in the library and walk down the stairs. [01:27:30] Speaker D: Yeah. There we are. The song. [01:27:37] Speaker C: Mmm. Yes. [01:27:38] Speaker D: He sort of. Mm hmm. We heard it. [01:27:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. That was from the music man. [01:27:47] Speaker D: 76 trombones. Although I assume you only need the amount of one melophone that was English, which is in your car. [01:27:58] Speaker C: Yes. [01:27:59] Speaker B: With no mouthpiece? [01:28:01] Speaker D: Well, a mouthpiece can be acquired also. [01:28:04] Speaker C: Can'T you just hum into it or something? I can just put it to my mouth and make the noises. [01:28:13] Speaker D: Yes. Uh, shaco at bloom. You'll have to get dressed. [01:28:24] Speaker C: I am dressed. Look at me. [01:28:26] Speaker D: More dressed. I think you just have to do the number. [01:28:32] Speaker C: Oh, well, then I think I hear the spotlight calling me. [01:28:40] Speaker D: Why does it sound scary when you say it? [01:28:43] Speaker A: One question, and I expect, Blake, I will assign you the responsibility of bringing this skepticism to the room if only one of you performs the ritual. How many of you think do you think end up on the other side of the portal? [01:29:00] Speaker D: You're gonna make us all do it? Well. [01:29:06] Speaker B: I I think I have this thought out loud, and at the same time, I'm also arguing with myself about it, because the thought is. Okay, well, if only one of us performs it, then theoretically, only one of us should end up on the other side of the portal. But if our sorcerer friend was taking people, then it stands to reason that there's some element that we're missing that would allow multiple people to go through, right? Theoretically. So there's something that we're missing. [01:29:43] Speaker C: So you all need to be in the show. Subra, we could just borrow a book or two. Make you a librarian. [01:29:53] Speaker D: Uh, sure. A librarian. Uh, well, the cast is already fit. It doesn't matter. I I have no better way of guessing this, so. Sure. [01:30:05] Speaker C: Unless you'd like to be the con man, and then I'll be the librarian. [01:30:09] Speaker D: I don't know that I can play a conman very well, if my last employee evaluation has anything to say about it. [01:30:21] Speaker C: And, Blake, what of the various denizens of river city? Would you like to play the ever constant barbershop quartet, the neighborhood watch? Or the. The neighborhood ladies? Or perhaps the children, the rabble rousers, the ruffians? [01:30:49] Speaker B: You pick. [01:30:52] Speaker D: Do you have g above middle c? [01:30:57] Speaker B: No, you. [01:30:58] Speaker D: You can play the mayor. [01:31:01] Speaker B: Great. [01:31:02] Speaker C: Oh, the mayor. That's brilliant. [01:31:04] Speaker A: Mm hmm. Now, like it or not, Blake has actually gotten a very good look at how the casting for the actual plays in that theater go. Well, Blake wants to be in it, but doesn't have the singing voice or can't tap dance. Um. [01:31:21] Speaker D: Uh, yet most of the casting often functions around who ran the slowest. [01:31:31] Speaker A: So that. So that lets. That's the bones of it, right? It shouldn't make sense, but it does. Blake might be on to something about being able to pull someone through, but that is also the rules that the person who made this place gets to follow. And you don't want to take any chances when it comes to Lucas and Subra end up God knows where. And Blake is still in the parking lot dressed like a mare from the mid 19 hundreds, which means we have a sense of how to open it. Now, here is the thing. Do you have a 1950s mayor costume handy. [01:32:16] Speaker C: Or just a 1950s mayor? Well, I might have it in my repertoire. My armoire is not quite suited for tasteful costuming, per se, but I'm sure I have something in there. Otherwise, you could always take a mare out for a spin. I'm not the one to tell you what to do. [01:32:40] Speaker D: We can't just make a sash that's his mare. [01:32:44] Speaker C: Oh, it's so much simpler. [01:32:46] Speaker D: I think that's how they do it most of the shows. [01:32:51] Speaker C: I do have a smart fedora. All right, to my place then. Let's go. [01:33:01] Speaker D: Oh, dress up. [01:33:04] Speaker A: It's very interesting to see, I will tell you. And this is coming from the clues that you've gotten. The more accurately you perform the ritual, the better things go for you when you are inside. So happy to let everyone closet cosplay or closet costume the music man. But if you are willing to put the time and energy into a higher production quality for your ritual, there are benefits to that. [01:33:31] Speaker D: I can. As we start driving to Lucas's, I will actually pull over. I work at a dance studio. There are costumes there. [01:33:45] Speaker C: Wonderful dance lessons. [01:33:49] Speaker B: You also have access to the theater, which theoretically has a costume department that has a bunch of costumes in it. At the very least. [01:34:00] Speaker D: The theater itself doesn't contain the costume. It doesn't have a wardrobe in the same way we do keep some in the studio, because you always have, you know, the nutcracker, which you could use a nutcracker costume to approximate a marching band, shako and all. And. [01:34:21] Speaker A: I will frame it. I will frame it. Thus, we'll give each person an idea, a thing they want to chase. And then collectively, as those ideas succeed, we can use those to buy down complications on the roll. We can use that to lower the difficulty as such. So any idea you have that reasonably could make your ritual better, which Subra is, unfortunately for you, all correct. The more accurately you perform the number in costume, choreography, and song, the better off your infiltration of this extra space will be. I'm not going to make you sing. I'm not going to make you dance, but I am going to make you think about how your particular skillset, your particular accursed abilities, would help you achieve that goal. [01:35:24] Speaker B: Well, unfortunately, the only thing that's coming to mind right now is to inhabit some sort of instrument like a tenor saxophone or something and use my abilities there. But I fear that, unfortunately, it would take the tenor saxophone through because obviously, the instrument and the costumes were left behind, which means that I would be wherever we're going as a tenor saxophone, and that doesn't feel overly useful. So if anybody has any suggestions, as somebody who is not equipped for, you know, plays, I'm more than happy to take information, advice, etcetera. [01:36:11] Speaker D: There's always a role for someone who really wants to embrace the theater. You can memorize some lines, right? [01:36:23] Speaker B: Uh, yeah. Yep, I can do that. [01:36:26] Speaker D: Alright. [01:36:27] Speaker C: Um, about delving into your deep well of empathy. You talk to people all the time. What if you try to understand the mirror better? Get inside his head. Do the actor thing. [01:36:41] Speaker B: Is that a thing? [01:36:43] Speaker A: Yes. [01:36:44] Speaker B: A thing people do. [01:36:45] Speaker C: Absolutely. [01:36:48] Speaker A: Lucas is trying to sell blake on method acting. [01:36:53] Speaker B: Okay, sure. Why not? I'll try and understand the mayor's point of view while I'm memorizing lines. [01:37:04] Speaker C: Fantastic. [01:37:08] Speaker A: You'll have an amount of time because we still have to locate the location, the best place to do this. And I assume that blake, not knowing what method acting is to begin with, will google it. And that is how you're going to find the Heath ledger articles from e exclamation point online or the Jared leto threads on Reddit, both of which are going to give you a fairly tortured understanding of method acting. Let's call this empathy. One, understanding of others. Two, manipulation as you, without their consent, rope people in to your abusive creative practices. [01:37:58] Speaker B: Well, that is three successes. [01:38:01] Speaker A: Very well done. As I mentioned before, we're gonna pocket these and then use them later. So keep the one success, and then in a separate little pool, we're gonna keep the prevent bad things from happening pile of dice which you have added to this is separate from momentum. Just because I don't want to get them messed up, I don't have anything else to call it, but put two there, pray tell. Describe for me as Blake Sweeney discovers. [01:38:39] Speaker B: So, so here's the thing, right? Like, to really understand a character, it's really important to actually understand the socioeconomic situation at the time in the location that was taken like that. The scene was happening that the character was existing in, and doing a little bit of a deep dive and trying to figure out, okay, well, what would a man who was this age at this time, how would he have grown up? What are the things that he would have experienced, and how would that have colored my opinions at the time? And, you know, there's a lot that goes into this with somebody who has the beliefs of a man of that age in the early 19 hundreds. There's a lot to unpack. I mean, this is before the Great Depression. This is before all of these things happened. So life was a little different. But in a small town, it's very different than living in a large city. So it's actually a lot of research, first and foremost, and trying to. A lot of reading, figuring out the mindset of this man in that time. [01:39:44] Speaker A: You described an arc that essentially leads you to, what does a conservative, rich man in the 1890s think? And you've actually stumbled into modern masculinity, podcasting. But, like, from the back and now, part of being method is engaging in this. So what you're describing to me is, like, Blake spending an afternoon as a gender swapped tradwife in this college town, getting in touch with that. That toxic, wealthy masculinity. [01:40:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. 100%. You know, it's really, really important that the men are the breadwinners, that the women are there to birth their children, take care of their home, keep themselves looking really pretty. Everybody knows that men are better than sorry. This hurts my heart to say. Everybody knows that men are the better gender. Obviously, women just, you know, they just. They can't keep up. It's nothing. It's not. It's not a bad thing. It's just, like, a fact, right? Like, everybody knows that it is just a fact. [01:40:57] Speaker A: Let me see. I'm gonna give you a final exam real quick, right? [01:41:00] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [01:41:00] Speaker A: I have a petition in my hand. Hey, excuse me, miss. I'm collecting signatures to build low income housing for the homeless in our city. [01:41:07] Speaker B: Oh, no, I'm sorry. I don't think that would. All that would do is. Is affect our home prices, and I think that they should go elsewhere, not here. But they do need housing. But not here. [01:41:19] Speaker A: I think she's ready, Lucas. [01:41:24] Speaker C: The masterpiece. [01:41:27] Speaker A: Well, while Blake gets in touch with her inner Joe Rogan, what are the other two of you up to so far as our performance goes? [01:41:41] Speaker C: I think. Well, unfortunately, Lucas is pretty aware that the main thing he has going on is that he is a masterful bullshitter, and thus he finds a lot of affinity with Professor Harold Hill, who isn't even a professor, nor is he really many things. And so he was going to bring an authenticity to the role as a connoisseur of, well, being a con man. [01:42:16] Speaker A: And sometimes acting is about finding. Inhabiting a new person and internalizing it. Sometimes acting is about reaching inside yourself and finding the things you have in common with that character. In this case, we're manipulative assholes. [01:42:35] Speaker C: Professor Hill also has a shocking amount of charisma for someone who comes into town, lies to everyone, and then sweeps the starlet right off of her feet. So his full intention is to embrace the fact that he is, well, a being of hunger and really delve into an otherworldly allure as well. [01:43:05] Speaker A: For the rank and file edge of it, let's call that larceny and presence. That sounds like a con man role, eh? [01:43:13] Speaker C: I do have persuasion, but I'll also take larceny. Larceny, good. [01:43:19] Speaker A: Persuasion feels more honest. Right. Larceny is the. [01:43:21] Speaker C: That's Monty, the street hustle and manipulation. I can do that. And then presence. [01:43:28] Speaker A: Right. It's all bluster. [01:43:31] Speaker C: Yes, it is raw bluster. And then on top of it, I do have the allure edge, which, I don't know, there's nothing really resisting it, but. [01:43:44] Speaker A: Well, keep that in your pocket. It will come in handy later in the game. [01:43:48] Speaker C: Wonderful. All right. Oh, we are doing so good. [01:43:56] Speaker A: That is five hits, my lord. Oh, that's what I get for asking for the big pile, I think. I don't remember, but there's that seven in the pool for you on that pool. Yeah, that's a big one. Well, same rules apply. So one to accomplish the thing, and then put the rest of them. Blake, you're going to have to get another bag, because, uh. [01:44:22] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's fair. [01:44:23] Speaker A: And set the remainder, uh, the remaining four in there, and then we turn to subra. And if this isn't choreography, I'm gonna be disappointed. [01:44:39] Speaker D: I it's a challenge because Lake isn't really a dancer, and neither is, I don't know, the capabilities of lucas. I actually do believe he knows how to tap dance of the dance styles that exist. That or modern contemporary interpretive might be the only other options for him. So I'm gonna spend some time putting together something that the three of us can do in a way that is going to feel earnest without being too difficult. [01:45:15] Speaker A: I believe that would be artistry and intellect or artistry and cunning, considering that the hard part here is making it something that looks fancy. But also, Blake and Lucas can do. [01:45:25] Speaker D: A lot of box steps. [01:45:32] Speaker A: Very square dance adjacent. That time in history, so doesn't have to get too complimented. You went to high school in the United States. You had to learn how to. [01:45:42] Speaker D: I have weird results, and I don't know how to explain this. [01:45:46] Speaker A: Okay. [01:45:49] Speaker D: I have one cursed. I held. So that is three. That is two hits. [01:45:56] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [01:45:57] Speaker D: On my curse, die. [01:45:59] Speaker A: And nothing else. [01:46:01] Speaker D: Nope. [01:46:02] Speaker A: One success. [01:46:02] Speaker C: Wicked success. [01:46:04] Speaker A: Yeah, a wicked success, which means it works well, but not well. So same rules. You have one die to accomplish the thing. There's another one die, and it gets a little asterisk next to it on the page here, and we'll talk about that later. [01:46:24] Speaker D: I don't like those. [01:46:29] Speaker A: Not to delay the impact, but you're not going to know the effect of the ritual until you do it. And it will make sense as you perform when that's going to happen and how. What does that look like? I would not think that Blake is learning to method act in the same place that Lucas is giving himself the wolf of Wall street speech in the mirror. And Subra has the dance doing the little step chart. So I think this happens separately as you prepare, but distinct from having to solve the problem of the place. Lucas was already there. This is normally the kind of thing they had to roll for. But, like, if there's one thing we know about our villain, it's they are on the fucking nose. And there is, in fact, pool hall here in your town. A cursory Google will show that there is only one because it's 2024. And, of course, there's only one pool hall in this town. So all we have to do is get ourselves there, perform our little act, and then see what happens. [01:47:46] Speaker D: And who says improv everywhere is dead? [01:47:50] Speaker A: Well, to be clear, you don't have to walk in in the middle of the day when everyone is. [01:47:54] Speaker D: I don't intend on it. I'm sad, but I have dignity. [01:48:02] Speaker C: I think. Lucas Foley goes home, stares at his beautiful self in the mirror, gets dressed in his most obnoxious three piece suit with an offset waistcoat, obviously puts on a bowtie, and just hypes himself in the mirror in the most obnoxious way possible, where he's just like, you're gorgeous. Look at you. How could the entire town turn down your brilliant ideas? [01:48:37] Speaker A: I like that Lucas is coming around, right? The ego, like, no, I could do this. And then fast forward to next year. Ooh. No more sitting in the seats for Lucas. [01:48:50] Speaker B: Luke's gonna be on stage. Gonna be. [01:48:59] Speaker A: I also should probably clarify that there's no time limit on this, right? I mean, there sort of is, in the sense that someone is doing a weird sorcery. But do not take it to mean that you have to leave the library and go to the pool hall to leap inside. If there are other preparations you feel like making or the questions you want to ask before you head in, plenty of time for that. [01:49:22] Speaker B: I mean, I'm definitely doing as much as I can to try and be as accurate as possible to the outfit of the mayor. This includes going into one of the local antique shops and looking for the large red, white and blue ribbon that he has on his coat jacket. Because I feel like that's kind of like an iconic thing. Even if I can't find the exact same pattern on a vest, having that very iconic ribbon feels correct. [01:49:54] Speaker A: Hear me out. 0% chance in my mind that Blake Sweeney, at one point in her life, was not a horse girl. Which means you have a rosette somewhere in your belongings. [01:50:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, yes, I definitely was a horse girl at one point, but not western english show jumping and things like that, because western. So very, very different energies in those sports. But no, I'm looking through all of my old boxes of things. I do, in fact, have a large red, white and blue rosette. The bands are a little different than the ones that I can find stills of, but, you know, I think it's a very, very close approximation. [01:50:44] Speaker A: At least it should work at this theater. And if it works at this theater, we know it opens the door, right? [01:50:49] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [01:50:54] Speaker A: Are we concerned about what's going to. [01:50:56] Speaker C: Be on the other side during the grand number of 76 trombones? Of course. While he's hyping himself up in the mirror, Lucas is also listening to the original Broadway recording, the film recording, the more recent film recording with Hugh Jackmande, the many variations of the music man. And while doing so, he paints a picture in his head of professor Harold Hill leading the marching band. But of course, you can't lead the marching band without some sort of triumphant rod or sword. And he goes, ah, yes, that's right. I should really pull that out of storage. He doesn't really have, like, a proper bandleader baton or sword, but he does have a fencing rapier. [01:51:45] Speaker A: I think it counts. I'm honestly surprised that Lucas doesn't have a drum major's mace. But. [01:51:56] Speaker C: He did many bad things when he was interacting with marching bands. But theft is awfully petty, even for him. It isn't as fun. [01:52:05] Speaker A: Ah, fair, fair. Then, yes, a fencing rapier, that is the most Lucas sport assigned from crew. And you're not going to bring a coxswain and a boat with you into the tunnel or into the. [01:52:16] Speaker C: Yeah, cricket does exist, but fencing is a. Is a close second. [01:52:24] Speaker A: And our dear friend Subra, you've actually. You're the only one in this group who's been to the outside. Both passed down from. But this is what you do in Sabra's apartment. [01:52:39] Speaker D: I'll head to the freezer. And putting aside, you know, lean cuisine, tv dinners, and frozen vegetables that are very, very old, there is a cube of ice that has a key frozen and in the middle of it. And so a lot of the time that I've been. I'm going to use the rest of the time to choreograph while I wait for that to melt. And once it's melted, I can use that to open a safe that is sitting under my bed. When you leave the outside, sometimes you get to take things that go with you or were requisite materials for when you were whatever you were. And in this case, one of the most common weapons that you would see in a constellation. There's a crossbow. Well, a bow. There's a crossbow sitting in the. In the safe that I don't care to use anymore. But it's better than nothing. [01:53:58] Speaker A: Better than nothing, indeed. It occurs me too late, that I've created a situation where we are actually emulating the musical episode of Buffy. I'm fine with that. I just didn't see it coming and I should have. [01:54:11] Speaker D: You wrote this. [01:54:12] Speaker A: I know, and I'm fine with it. Well, there's only so much preparation one can do. And once you have all the equipment in front of you, then it starts to get. The anxiety builds right, the need to go while we're just waiting. And thankfully, we've spent most of the day figuring out the. What we know where, and all we have to do is wait for the normal crowds to clear out. That, of course, is going to wait to pool hall in the college town. So we're talking four or five in the morning, that once everyone gets pushed out, whenever last call happens, then an hour for the staff to finish their bit, and then we have to get together and go. Happy to let Lucas Somerset roll up. Although I will say champagne colored Hummer h two at four in the morning is probably on the more conspicuous side of the scale. On the bright side, the town is perfectly walkable. And yes, the small sacrifices that we make, which puts us in position to conduct our ritual. Unfortunately, the time that our little cabal has is not time that we as performers have, because we have come right up to the end of our hour. You should know better by now. Vy. This is like, the 40th time we've done this. [01:55:43] Speaker B: Yeah, but I was so excited. I was, like, amped. I was like, ready. [01:55:48] Speaker A: Well, save that energy and put it in your pocket. When? Next week. But 2 hours ago, we return to Curseborn. If you want to know what we're up to, if you want to make your own character, if you're like, I would love to erase brains for like a three to five minute window. If you're like, I would love to have a Portland father dad contact. How do I make one? If you're like, I want to possess things and I want a GM who will let me possess things. All of these secrets and more can be yours in the Curseborn PDF, which will be live next week based on the time it will release. But you can go sign up for a preview thing. You can get the notification on the Kickstarter. They'll send you an email being like, hey, you can give us your money now. You can make all of that happen. Else if you are in need of something to do, and I assume that you are, because having seen what this builds up to, you are like, ah. There is no other AP on the planet where a cast of the music man is about to kick down an inter dimensional door and find themselves a wizard. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is not going to find that anywhere else. The good news is there are places you can find the people in this game bringing the same amount of creative energy and talent to the things that they are doing. I forgot the order that I introduced people in, but I do know I have to put v last. So we will begin with Subra Stern, Clara Allison, you've brought a certain kind of famineous energy to this game. What other games are out there? Where can people find them? [01:57:16] Speaker D: Well, you can find me all over the Internet as clearly golden, unless you're into mermaids, in which case I have a very defunct Instagram. I am here with Queen's court playing games, doing the thing that we advertise we do. Specifically, you can catch me on the all night society playing Maya, my Lasombra problem. Think Lucas, but worse. [01:57:42] Speaker B: That's not wrong. [01:57:44] Speaker A: It's like if you took Lucas and remove all the whimsy, you kind of. [01:57:47] Speaker D: Get to Maya, which is weird, because I find myself very whimsical. But yes. Otherwise, follow me on Twitter or on that hell site, frankly. Or Instagram is probably the best way to find out what I'm up to, because I'm up to a lot, but usually only find out that I'm up to it about 24 hours before I'm. [01:58:05] Speaker A: Doing it, as is the way. Well, not for some of us, because I do happen to know that our next performer is the only person in this room who puts up a schedule in advance of the places they will be so their many fans can find them as Lucas Summer set it has been Kai. Kai. Direct them to where they can find your calendar. [01:58:25] Speaker C: Oh my goodness. Well, first of all, you can find me causing no problems ever as a Stellavin ladders on most social media platforms where you will find my weekly schedule of all of the many places that I just keep popping up. I'm like a whack a mole. I'm a groundhog. I just keep appearing in fun places like QCG, wherever I love to be. You can find me on Monday over on Happy Jack the rpg, playing starscape in outrunners, where I play another kind of horrible, foppish person. He's a nightmare person just like this one, but a lot nicer. And then you can find me on every other Thursday on sun and chains over on Badhouse RPG, which is a tales of the valiant game where I'm playing another extremely horrible man named Hoshiro. It's a good time. It's with the COBOL creates program, and it is a east asian inspired postcolonial fantasy world where we are showing the broad breadth of what all AApi table can do with fantasy. And then you can find me on Sundays being yet another. There's a theme here, everyone. I love playing horrible men over on taino tales in the Doomsayers, where I play Marek, also known as patrons Apocalypse of ancient Greece in a city of mist game set in the 1980s, where he is a horrible, maybe also vampire, and we are solving a mystery of a dead God. It's a good time. So stop on by for any of those and then find me here a week from now and 2 hours ago, as Aaron would say, follow up question. [02:00:10] Speaker A: Have you ever not played a horrible man in a TTRPG? [02:00:14] Speaker C: I have, actually. I have played a few femmes, a very short list of them. And I very often play chaotic, non binary people. [02:00:25] Speaker A: Chaotic envy is one of my favorite genres. [02:00:28] Speaker B: Who did you play in Mysteries of Ravenswood? [02:00:32] Speaker C: Well, I played another. I played a non binary mask, kind of horrible young man. [02:00:38] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah, I tried. [02:00:41] Speaker A: Yeah, you tried. And now a second challenge arises because I promised you last week that I would be continuing to begin our interview series. So as Blake Sweeney, it's v. Locke. V. Describe the largest cat you've ever seen. [02:01:02] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Here's the thing. When you say the largest cat I've ever seen, like, obviously the inclination is house cat, but you have not specified house cat, which means that, uh, it could be a lion. It could be a tiger. Or more likely. And also the correct answer, a liger. And if you haven't seen a liger, they're fucking awesome as shit. Literally. Lion, tiger bred together. They cannot have offspring. Um, because, you know, that's. That's how it do. But they are massive. They are like. Like, okay, here's the thing. You know how, like, when humans breed, and it's like, oh, well, the mom is, like, this tall, and the dad is this tall, and, like, sometimes your kid will be, like, a little bit taller. Wait, wait, wait. Yeah, I know. It's actually kind of a weird thing. Some humans do it, not me, but some. Some do. Could not be me. But, like, you know, generally, like, you expect them to get, like, a little bit taller. A little bit taller. Like, or, you know, be, like, roughly the same height of. That's not the case with the liger. Like, you mix the lion and the tiger together, and they're like, oh, multiply, like, exponentially. Because a liger is huge. Like. Like, this is a cat. That will be more like. If this cat steps on you, it's not great. Like, you could ride the back of this cat. Like, it is an enormous cat. Its head is huge. I mean, your head could fit inside its mouth. The liger is a yemenite huge, massive creature. And it's not fake, which is so much cooler. So ligers. That's my answer. [02:02:34] Speaker A: Never seen. You've seen one in person? Like, with your. Okay. [02:02:37] Speaker B: Uh huh. Yeah. Yes. [02:02:39] Speaker A: There's, like. [02:02:40] Speaker B: There's, like, a couple. Like. But, like, they're. They're. They're all huge. Yeah. [02:02:44] Speaker A: I didn't specify in the question, but I did mean physically, with your own eyes. I'm glad we got there together. [02:02:48] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [02:02:49] Speaker A: Yeah, the. [02:02:49] Speaker B: Like, it's great. [02:02:51] Speaker A: Exclamation point. Subscribe for more libra fat liger facts. Where do I go? [02:02:57] Speaker B: You can subscribe for more lycrafacts anywhere on the Internet at versus for vampire because my name is vy and I like vampires. You can also go on to the QCG discord and ask for lyographs there. My list will probably run out if people start asking for a ton, but I will definitely do the adhd hyper fixation thing and deep dive into more liger facts just to keep the content mill flowing. Yes, you can find me as Ivy Larue on the Illinois society, who does not care nearly as much about liger facts as I do flamingos short, not ligers. And then you can also see me as Megan Heather, you may have actually watched me play Megan. Heather over on critic chronicles the other day. There's a few more episodes coming out in the coming weeks. We're doing a if you haven't seen it, it's haunting of Hill House, but played with kids on bikes essentially. It's kind of cool, but it's fun. It's Hill house inspired. So like, not like the same story, but that kind of vibe. It's rad as hell. We have a great cast, so go check that out. That is. That's pretty much it. You can find all that information again at B's four vampire, and we'll be posting about it over on the QCD discord. But Aaron, if people want to see more about what you do and the stories that you tell and the games that you're running and the things that you're in, where can they do that? [02:04:24] Speaker A: Well, you could go to Aaron and words on Twitter, but the problem is I don't ever post there. You can probably go to Aaron and words on Bluesky, but the problem is I don't post either because I don't understand how social media works. And this is why I will die lonely with no brand. That said, if I'm running a game, it is probably here on Queen's court games. Except for the 30 October I will be doing a guest appearance on the rpgeeks. They actually do post on social media. So go to rpgeeksdnd to find out the details as we return to viewscreen for our annual now Holly or our annual Halloween view scream game. Aside from that, the only way you're going to find out that I'm doing something is that V will have reminded Laura to post about the thing that I am doing. That's court rpg on Twitter. As we said, that is court games everywhere else. Or you can go to YouTube, for example, or you can search for one shots of another mischief on your favorite podcast app and find all the content there. We make it easy for you to find us and share these kind of times together. We will share more time together as we have all repeated. It's kind of one of my favorite catch crazy things. And I'm so glad it's catching on. 2 hours, 2 hours ago, a week from now, I fucked it up. I got too excited and I did. [02:05:38] Speaker D: Yep, yep. [02:05:39] Speaker B: You want to try it again? [02:05:40] Speaker A: No, I'm gonna live with a shame. It's just like I got like a. Like a dog and you're like, do you want a treat? And he starts like swinging the back end, then, like, knocks a glass off the table. That's. That's the. [02:05:53] Speaker D: Buddy. [02:05:54] Speaker B: Well, while Aaron, we're going to go record some extra bonus content for Patreon. So if y'all have really enjoyed this, which you should have, because it's amazing, and you want to hear what all of us think and all of our weird thoughts and. And, you know, all of the things inside the brain space, definitely. Go check us out on Patreon. You can sub for as little as $5 a month, and it really helps us out. And you get all this behind the scenes stuff, which is really, really cool. So that's gonna go up as soon as this ends. Like, it might already be up right now. So go check it out. Link is gonna be down below, and I think that's all I have to plug. Right? [02:06:32] Speaker A: I think that's it. You sure? [02:06:37] Speaker B: I think so. Unless there's anything else. [02:06:41] Speaker A: No, I think that covers it. [02:06:43] Speaker B: Great. [02:06:43] Speaker A: We're gonna go away. That means you have to go away, too. But not, like, in a bad way. It just means we're gonna see each other later. Bye for now.