Harlem Unbound - Harlem Hellfighters Never Die, Episode 2

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, friends, and welcome to another single serving tabletop adventure from Queen's court games. I am Laura Tutu, and today we are diving into hellfighters never die, a scenario from Chris Spivey's Harlem unbound for Call of Cthulhu, 7th edition. We'll get the ball rolling shortly, but first, we do have a couple of housekeeping items. If you are interested in purchasing this game for yourself, go right ahead and throw exclamation point scenario in the chat. Also, Harlem Hellfighters never die contains certain themes that some viewers may find disturbing or distasteful, including violence, the occult, PTSD, corruption, and gaslighting. As a cast, we have discussed our lines and veils in advance of session Zero and have agreed on a code of conduct to ensure a safe and respectful play environment. But we want everybody who is watching at home to be safe as well. And now I would like to introduce our lovely table. First up, it's the new kid with a noggin of know how, Jess. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Hello. [00:01:02] Speaker A: As our jive talking jazz hound, it is Robert Madison II. [00:01:07] Speaker C: Hello. [00:01:09] Speaker A: Learning that a little party might actually kill somebody. It's Christian. [00:01:14] Speaker B: Hello. [00:01:16] Speaker A: And I am your shitposter in chief. And you know who I am. I'm Laura. Hi. Lastly, but certainly not leastly, it is our dashing keeper, the one and only noir enigma. [00:01:28] Speaker B: I was here the whole time. [00:01:32] Speaker D: I think that's trademarks. [00:01:35] Speaker E: Just copied Sam Cooper. [00:01:37] Speaker B: People's phrase, oh Lord. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Links to everyone's assorted social media accounts can be found by sending exclamations cast to the chat. So we've introduced ourselves. Our lines and veils are settled. Noir, the anticipation is killing me yet again. Won't you please tell us a story? [00:03:37] Speaker B: Well, our story begins on December 21, the day after the rent party at Celestine and Ralph's house. Our adventures, our investigators, rather, were invited to a rib party. And through different, let's say, degrees of coaxing, all ended up going to the party and having, well, not a boring tie. There were rival musicians. There were stories of the war. There was commingling. There were wallflowers. And then there was the unexplainable two of the veterans that were telling the war stories, Javier and Javier and Jane Smithson, were seen leaving the party, going out into the cold, blistering winter without coats. The investigators noticed this and followed them out to get them their coats. Upon going outside, the sounds of pipe music could be heard. Weird apparitions appeared in the distance, and then the unrelenting sounds of gunfire. Unfortunately, all of our investigators were hit by this gunfire. After some time, the police came and the aberrations vanished and the investigators were detained by the cops for a moment. Javier and James were put in the back of a paddy wagon and sent off to a precinct. And through some clever listening from the investigators, they were able to decipher that even though it was the 30th, it was the 30th precinct that came and stopped the party. Javier and James were taken to the 32nd Precinct. Even stranger still, they examined themselves and did not find any bullet holes or wounds where they were shot. But the pain remained. The team gathered together, dropping Ruby off to her home and then calling it a night, agreeing to meet at 11:00 a.m. in the morning. And that's where we're gonna pick up. Now, it is early morning, let's say we're starting at eight and the camera is going to zoom in. Um, JB Williams. JB, how are you starting your day off today? [00:06:51] Speaker C: I am still asleep at 08:00 a.m. um, sprawled out on my bed, uh, and I sort of wake up probably about, let's say, 30 minutes later as I look and go, it's morning. Okay. Okay. [00:07:20] Speaker B: Okay. [00:07:21] Speaker C: And I sort of quickly remember everything that happened. And I sort of pat myself and it still feels tender where I thought I got hit, but it wasn't. That couldn't have been real. That couldn't have been real. Hurts. I gotta clear my head to get ready for the day, so I'm gonna grab my horn and I'll sort of COVID the end with my plunger mute play a little bit, just to keep myself. Get myself back into my normal rhythm. [00:08:12] Speaker B: As soon as you play the first note, your door opens. And before you can do or say anything, there are arms around you, hugging you. [00:08:25] Speaker C: Oh. [00:08:28] Speaker D: Hi. [00:08:31] Speaker B: Morning. I just. I saw the paper and I've heard words around town and I'm just. I'm just glad you're okay. [00:08:41] Speaker C: Yep. No, no, that's, that's. Yeah, no, it was. [00:08:48] Speaker B: It was. [00:08:49] Speaker C: It was a night, but they. Yes. I'm okay. I'm okay, cuz. Is okay. Uh, everybody. Most of us. All right. Uh, scary though. [00:09:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I know, I know. I just glad you made it out. Um, the paper said a few people, few folks got locked up, and I'm just. I knew you made it in. I heard you when you got in. I didn't wanna want to trouble you, but it's good to see you whole. [00:09:29] Speaker C: It's good to see me whole too. Now I sort of look down at the spot. I know it's not there. It's not there, cuz I heard some stuff and that's how I was. I was safe. I was safe, though. [00:09:45] Speaker B: All right, well, there's, uh, there's. There's breakfast down there waiting for you. A couple of us around town are getting together, trying to get some kind of fundraising up to get the boys out of the. Out of the hole. [00:10:02] Speaker C: Thanks, mom. [00:10:02] Speaker A: That. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I saw them take them away. I was. They weren't even doing nothing wrong. [00:10:10] Speaker B: They, you know, I know how it is. Yeah. That's why we got to stick together as a community. I'm gonna see about getting everybody together. You got a few folks talking about baking something metal. I don't get something happening. Maybe we could have you come by and play some music or something, you know? [00:10:35] Speaker C: Well, yeah, I can do that. Um, first, uh, gotta stop by cousin shop. I'm gonna tell the cats I'm not gonna be at practice, cuz I told my wonderful cousin that I will be helping them open the shop today. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Well, I'm glad to see you two getting along. So how you boys come up with a name for your band yet? [00:11:05] Speaker C: Okay, so I'm thinking, and I just want to reach over and grab my bow tie because I have bow ties. I always like one, but I do have like, a set of them. And I'm like, ah, I grabbed my favorite black one and I just sort of put it around my neck, the ties, you know, because we're tied together. We're always together. [00:11:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:30] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:11:33] Speaker B: If you like it, I love you. [00:11:34] Speaker C: That is the incorrect response. [00:11:36] Speaker B: No, no, baby, baby. A band's gotta have a name, sweetie. [00:11:41] Speaker C: You got. You gotta be more. I was hoping you were gonna be. [00:11:44] Speaker B: Like, yes, I am. Yes. But it's always a different name. Like, you just gotta settle on something funny. [00:11:54] Speaker C: I'm good with the ties. The rest of the guys go, okay, everybody but Manny is good with the ties. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Well, I see. But that's the thing, though. I talk. I talked to Manny's nana, and she said that he went and bought a drum head and said the black stripes. [00:12:12] Speaker C: Yeah, and we don't know why he did that. He also wants to sing. And, ma, you heard him sing. You heard. [00:12:18] Speaker B: You heard the boy say he can't be behind the drum and singing said. [00:12:22] Speaker C: So, like, how can you that we get it? You're the drummer. But you can't just tell us what the name is. We all do the same. We know what our band is. [00:12:31] Speaker B: Well, he can't. Can he get that money back? Cuz he spent money on that drum head. [00:12:36] Speaker C: I don't know. Nobody told him to do that. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Well, I told him y'all gotta be a baby. You, the ties tight. So what? [00:12:44] Speaker C: We will try to help him get his money back. Okay, I gotta stop by there and tell them I'm not gonna beat her away, so. [00:12:54] Speaker B: All right, well, you stay safe and you let me get back home when you can. [00:12:58] Speaker C: I will make sure we're all safe. [00:13:02] Speaker B: She gives you another hug and goes, and don't leave here without your breakfast. [00:13:07] Speaker C: Oh, what did you make? [00:13:11] Speaker B: French toast, scrambled eggs and cheese. [00:13:14] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:13:15] Speaker C: And I. [00:13:19] Speaker B: Yeah, you can see, like, this is a worried mom busy herself to deal with the worry kind of breakfast. Like, I don't know if you ever did some irresponsible stuff, cooked a lot to get through it, but that's what this is. And it is, poof. [00:13:40] Speaker C: I have left. My ma is probably coming from my room towards where the table is. So I'm probably. I'm like, at the table. [00:13:48] Speaker E: Oh, wow, wow, wow. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Okay, I'll see you, mom. [00:13:53] Speaker B: Thank you. He goes, mm hmm. Don't have me worry sick again. And you see, she's getting ready to go out the door to help with this fundraising. [00:14:05] Speaker C: You be safe too, Ma. [00:14:07] Speaker B: Ain't nobody gonna hurt me. [00:14:11] Speaker C: That is that. Yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm gonna eat. Let me just go back to eating. [00:14:17] Speaker B: And with that, we just see her leave and you eating your breakfast, and the camera zooms out, and we zoom back to. Mister Bishop. Dwayne? Yes. What are you up to? What's your morning looking like? [00:14:37] Speaker E: I think with the events of last night and just. I couldn't sleep as well as I usually could. The flashes of the events, some about them just really stuck with me in the wrong way. So I think I wake up not out of my usual routine, but just because I can't sleep properly. So I'm up much earlier, and usually my mom comes to check it on me to make sure I'm okay or make sure I'm. Does the. Does the routine check, like, you have everything, you got this, you got that, and it's just a routine of, yes, I have that. Yes, I have this, I do. I just don't think. I don't get ready for work because I decided to take off today. So when they come. Bye. I think they just see me putting on different clothes. Not work clothes, much cleaner shirt, tie, suspenders, khakis. My work stuff is on the side. [00:15:56] Speaker B: It'S your brother that kind of knocks on your door this morning. I just. I just wanted to see what it looked like when you don't get up for work in the morning. Seriously, though. You okay, man? [00:16:16] Speaker E: I don't know. Honestly kind of shook. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Yesterday was fucked up. [00:16:22] Speaker E: It's fucked up, and it's kind of. It's. I would have the I told you so kind of mentality, but it. It just wouldn't be worth it. [00:16:39] Speaker B: Well, I appreciate you not saying it, but I can feel you thinking it. [00:16:44] Speaker E: At least there's that. [00:16:45] Speaker B: I'll take. [00:16:45] Speaker E: I'll take that. You know. [00:16:49] Speaker B: Mom hasn't planned out your day today, so you got that going for you. [00:16:53] Speaker E: That's good. Apparently, she controls more than I thought she did. [00:16:57] Speaker B: So you know they be talking, apparently. [00:17:03] Speaker E: Do we have a secret phone I don't know about? [00:17:05] Speaker B: Listen, I woke up and, like, apparently, they have already organized a fundraiser at Celestine's apartment. So we just gonna be selling cookies, whatnot, lemonade, or hot cocoa rabbit. I was gonna say lemonade. Hey, listen, that's why I don't organize things, man. They organize it. So, listen, we just tried to get people to give whatever they can. Javier and James, they're good people, and we know the cops go try squeeze them out every doll they can to get them out, so. [00:17:48] Speaker E: That's true? I don't. I mean, I. I have never heard of people. We. Us go into the 132nd precinct. [00:17:57] Speaker B: Wait, what? [00:18:00] Speaker E: Well, last night, they were being booked to those two soldiers and a couple. [00:18:13] Speaker B: A couple of cops came in the apartment during the party. They broke it up. It was 30th. [00:18:23] Speaker E: Those cops came by. But then some other cops came by, took those boys. [00:18:30] Speaker A: Damn. [00:18:31] Speaker E: So just in case. I don't want. I don't. If this is being organized somewhere, I want them to have the right information. [00:18:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll tell them. I'll tell them. Yeah, you sure, though? Like, why would they get a whole nother precinct? Who's this? You the one that's always missed the rules and ordered shit like. [00:19:00] Speaker E: Well, yeah, well, that's what I'm saying. This one doesn't seem to be following the rules. [00:19:03] Speaker B: So it's the police. Do they ever follow the rules? This. [00:19:09] Speaker E: This feels extra weird. Not racist weird, just weird weird. [00:19:14] Speaker B: No, I feel racist weird. [00:19:16] Speaker E: Yeah, it feels racist weird. But it's also on top of that weird weird. Yeah. So I just. Just keep an eye out. [00:19:23] Speaker B: Yeah, no, you right. You right. Let's. Let's. I'm gonna let them know because we gotta. We gotta move quick. If they do us some weird stuff. [00:19:33] Speaker C: You know. [00:19:36] Speaker E: We want our people in front of the right built in. [00:19:38] Speaker B: That's also. I mean, we go. We just go meet up at the apartment. I think. I think Ralph in cell stay. That'll be the ones trying to put it all together. I don't know. Hey, if you got time, stop by like, you were. You were close. Maybe you got some more information they could use or something. [00:19:59] Speaker E: Well, I'm just set to add ease, make sure that they're good. The whole shopping. Make sure they're good. [00:20:07] Speaker B: Hey, did something happen over at Addie's? [00:20:10] Speaker E: No, no, nothing happened at Addie's, but they were there with. With me when shit went down, so I just want to make sure that they're okay. [00:20:18] Speaker B: Okay. Hey, tell Eddie I said hey. [00:20:24] Speaker E: You want me to tell you? Say hey. [00:20:26] Speaker B: Yeah, just. Just say. I say, hey, man, like, what are you making it weird for? [00:20:36] Speaker E: Come here. [00:20:38] Speaker B: Like, he says close, like, give him a hug. He like, man, get off. And he gets, like. He's saying, get off. He. But he gives you a hug, then he, like, shoves you off. [00:20:50] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:20:50] Speaker B: All right, well, I'm a. I'm a go. Just in case anybody tries to razz any of the old ladies putting this together. [00:20:57] Speaker E: Hey, we already have one son getting in trouble with the police. I don't need it. We don't need another one. All right. [00:21:03] Speaker B: Hey, honestly. Honestly, my money was on. My money was on me getting cuffed up. So, like, you making me look good. [00:21:10] Speaker E: Oh, that's great. That's so good. [00:21:13] Speaker B: I'm the responsible son now. It's great. [00:21:16] Speaker E: You responsible? Do you really know I spell responsible man? [00:21:19] Speaker A: Fuck you. [00:21:28] Speaker B: But he leaves you there, and there's just kind of this, like, before he closes the door, there is this moment where he looks back at you and you can see that he is grateful that y'all are both okay. Then he just leaves and, like, gives you the finger. [00:21:47] Speaker E: I'll give him the finger back, of course. The fuck? [00:21:53] Speaker B: And then the camera zooms out and we zoom inside the household of. Ruby. Ruby, what's good? What's your morning looking like? Oh, man. [00:22:05] Speaker D: Well, I also had a hard time sleeping. I tossed and turned all night, and I think I got up in the middle of the night and worked on some of the pictures that I have sorting them because I got, like, two, three different projects going on now at once. So I got to get on top of that, especially if I'm going to be meeting the others. So I'm going to do that for a few hours, and then I probably crash at about like six. And I get like another couple of hours before I'm up again, like nine. [00:22:40] Speaker B: Can I have you roll me a listen check? [00:22:43] Speaker D: Okay, sure. Oh, I had to do that in real time, actually. [00:22:51] Speaker B: It's going to be at hard difficulty. Why? [00:22:55] Speaker E: Starting out strong. [00:22:58] Speaker D: Okay, listen, listen, listen. Oh, I guess that's in. Oh, it's been a minute. Hold up. [00:23:04] Speaker B: You know, just roll it at regular. [00:23:07] Speaker D: Really? [00:23:07] Speaker B: That's just a story beat. Yeah, go ahead. [00:23:09] Speaker D: Okay. Okay. [00:23:10] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:14] Speaker B: So you get to choose how you react to this, but you have just gotten to sleep. And you hear your door creak open as if somebody is opening it slowly, trying not to wake you up. And then there are footsteps close to your side of the bed of. And you hear as a chair is pulled to your side of the bed. And you hear somebody sit. What would you like to do? [00:23:47] Speaker D: I'm like frozen. I'm very, very, you know, fight, flight. [00:23:51] Speaker B: Freeze. [00:23:52] Speaker D: I'm very freeze right now. So I'm pretending to be asleep. And if something hurts me, I'm gonna run, all right? [00:24:02] Speaker B: And so you pretend to be asleep. You just hear. I think I'm almost glad you're asleep. And you recognize the voice of Raymond. Hey, kid, I got a. I gotta go for a little bit, but I'll be back, all right? I promise. I promise I'll be back. It's just some things followed us home, kid, and. And I can't. I can't be where you are right now. So, hey, we gonna take care of it. And then I'm gonna be back. I'll be back. But before you even know, I'm gone. All right, kid. And pushes the chair back. And you hear just the kiss of the fingers and just pats you on the head. And then the door closes. [00:25:19] Speaker D: I sat up and I looked to the door and I just. I got this troubled expression on my. [00:25:27] Speaker A: Face because I. [00:25:29] Speaker D: Never heard him speak like that. And it scares me. [00:25:39] Speaker B: You're in this moment. Oh, no worries. You're in this moment for a while, just letting it all. And if you're okay with it, you slowly, with some difficulty, make it back to sleep. And then the morning comes. [00:26:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:03] Speaker B: What would you like to do? [00:26:05] Speaker D: Um, I probably slept a little bit longer than I meant to, so, um, I gotta run, uh, and get to work and drop off, um, drop off my photos and, um. And then I got to make it to Addie. So, uh, I will. I'll. I'll start running out the door. I'm. I'm trying not to be too, too obvious about it. And I'm hoping that I avoided, um, waking up my dad, um, because even though he's deaf, he's got an uncanny sense of, like, where I am at all times. So, yeah, I will, I will rush out the door with my stuff. [00:26:47] Speaker B: Just before you're able to make it out the door, you hear a loud and thundering snap. And, you know, that's how he gets your attention. He does it. His back is to you as he's in the kitchen. And he just points to the table and you can see, see a biscuit with butter and jam, orange juice, and an envelope. [00:27:16] Speaker D: Okay. I will come around to where he can see me and say, good morning. [00:27:24] Speaker B: He smiles, says, good morning. And you got further than usual. Good job. [00:27:31] Speaker D: Thanks. I will sit down at the table, and I will reluctantly start eating very quickly, as quick as I possibly can. I do eye the envelope, though. Is it addressed to me? Is there? [00:27:49] Speaker B: It is addressed to you in Raymond's writing. [00:27:53] Speaker D: In Raymond's writing, I think. I see. And my mood immediately drops again. I remember what happened earlier this morning, so I. I look at my dad to make sure that he's not really watching me, is he? [00:28:08] Speaker B: He is purposely keeping his back team. As if like, giving you this. [00:28:15] Speaker D: Okay, okay, I will, I'll open up the envelope then. [00:28:19] Speaker B: It is just a bracelet. And there is a slip of paper that says, for a couple of the birthdays I missed while I was overseas. [00:28:30] Speaker D: Aw. [00:28:31] Speaker B: And it is a bracelet of a snake biting the tail of a snake. [00:28:38] Speaker D: Ah, very ouroboros. That's creepy. Okay. Um, I mean, it's from Raymond, though. So I will smile as I clasp it over my wrist, and I will hold it up to the light, kind of admiring it. [00:28:56] Speaker B: I would say if you would like to do an appraise. [00:29:02] Speaker D: Appraise? Oh, man. [00:29:04] Speaker B: You can. Or if you would like to do an occult, you can on this bracelet. [00:29:13] Speaker D: Let me see. Let me see if I have either of those things. They are the same. So I'm going to do appraise, because I know Jack all about a cold, so. [00:29:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:29:27] Speaker D: I have to get under a five. [00:29:39] Speaker B: It really is pretty, but yeah. That's all? That's all you got on it? So you have this, and your morning is all set. What would you like to do now? [00:29:51] Speaker D: I am going to, I'm going to finish my breakfast. Even the orange juice, even though it's not my favorite juice. And I will kiss my dad on the cheek goodbye. And I will rush out the door with my camera and my bag, and I will run to my job first, the Harlem Hauler. Um, I gotta drop off my photos. And then I know that, um, my. Oh, what's his name? Um, was it, like, Phil or something like that? What was his name? I can't remember. He told me that I had. I should be. [00:30:27] Speaker B: It's Phil now because apparently I forgot to write it down too. [00:30:31] Speaker D: Nice. Great. Thanks, Phil. He told me since I was there at the incident last night, to look into what actually went down. So I'm going to use that as an excuse to go hit up my friends. [00:30:48] Speaker B: My new friends just gives you not left. Yeah, hit whatever you can. They printed the story earlier than I thought. So we've got to get everything we can for our rebuttal. Get out of here. [00:31:00] Speaker D: Yeah. Okay. I'll be back. [00:31:03] Speaker B: All right. And so you're heading over to Adelaide shop. And so the camera zooms over to you. Adelaide, you know, it is. It's early morning for you. You get to start your day however you want. And you do know that you have a couple of friends coming a bit later in the morning. So what would you like to do? [00:31:29] Speaker A: Well, unfortunately, I also had a bit of trouble sleeping, so I probably got a bit of a later start than I usually like. Very least get down to the shop, get it opened for a little bit before essentially having to close down in the afternoon. Because I don't know what we've got on our plates, but something tells me that it's not just going to be a quick little two bit meeting. We might be out for a while. Yeah. So I get an extra cup of coffee for sure. And when I go into the shop, I don't flip the sign to open right away. But just out of habit, I sit down at my table and do a quick tarot spread. Just curiosity, maybe. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Okay. Go ahead and roll me in a cult. All right. [00:32:53] Speaker A: 45. [00:32:55] Speaker B: You lay the cards out, and they tell you that there is a difficult choice. A malevolent force and waning hope. And as you go to flip the next cardinal, a five dollar bill slips out of the deck and lands on the table. [00:33:31] Speaker A: Fucking ofe. And pick up the five dollar bill. Cause I'm not stupid enough to leave $5 sitting. When I walked in, was there anything different? Was the. Like. Everything was as I left it, right? [00:33:57] Speaker B: Rule me a spot hidden. [00:34:04] Speaker A: That's a failure. [00:34:06] Speaker B: Not that you can note I. Everything looks about how you left it. [00:34:13] Speaker A: Man. Like, weird. Weird is to be expected, given what I have decided to make my living on. But there is a level of weird. [00:34:29] Speaker B: That. [00:34:32] Speaker A: I have trouble reconciling with. Last night was definitely that. The not bullet wound still hurt? [00:34:45] Speaker B: Yes, but not as intensely. [00:34:51] Speaker A: Shit. [00:34:54] Speaker B: You could attempt a medicine rule to treat it. [00:35:00] Speaker A: I think that's gonna happen. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Oh, actually, a first aid check. Cheating. All right. [00:35:11] Speaker A: That's a success. [00:35:13] Speaker B: And so you take some ice to it, you come up with a concoction that's. That's from muscle pain. And you add a little. You add a little bit of, you know, some occult spice to it, and you gain back three hit points. [00:35:47] Speaker A: I am not mad about that. I'm gonna look at the cards again and do one more poll. [00:35:57] Speaker B: Okay. Row me. Another occult. [00:36:05] Speaker A: Hard success. [00:36:06] Speaker B: A difficult choice. A malevolent force. Waning hope. But you pull one more cardinal. This tie, it is the knight. What's interesting is that this card does not belong in this deck. [00:36:49] Speaker A: It's fairy tales and holcomb. Oh, my God. You're losing your mind, Addie. You are losing your ever loving mind. [00:37:00] Speaker E: Fuck. [00:37:03] Speaker A: I'm gonna put the damn cards away. Cause that's spiral. I will spiral if I keep poking and digging and poking and digging. So I'm gonna put the fucking cards away, and I'm gonna peddle gri gri and tinctures. And when the time comes, I'll flip the sign back to closed and wait for my new friends, I guess. [00:37:25] Speaker C: Shit. [00:37:29] Speaker B: And the first to make it is jbtaindeh. You hear the bell? Cause JB walks in. Hey, cups. [00:37:42] Speaker C: Oh. Oh. Why did you choose to use the. Oh, it smells horrible. [00:37:49] Speaker A: Sandalwood, you philistine. [00:37:53] Speaker C: One hurtful. Two. [00:37:55] Speaker E: Gross. [00:37:58] Speaker A: Fine. Okay, fine, fine. What would you prefer? [00:38:01] Speaker D: Jv. [00:38:02] Speaker A: That won't offend your delicate sensibilities. [00:38:05] Speaker C: Oh, thank you. Uh, lavender. [00:38:14] Speaker A: Fair enough. Given what we've all been through, I think we might need it. I will go through the steps of tamp out the. The old incense and put a new charcoal briquette down, and I sprinkle the dried lavender and light that up. [00:38:30] Speaker B: Oh, you got those good incense. [00:38:34] Speaker C: Aw, see, I knew you had the good stuff for when. When family came around. [00:38:39] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:38:40] Speaker A: Yeah. You talked to auntie? She okay? [00:38:45] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, they're. They're gonna start a sale, I guess. They're baking some stuff and then start a. Sell them, get a collection going. Gotta get the guys out. [00:38:58] Speaker A: Yeah, get those boys out. Um, they didn't. They hadn't heard anything else, had they? [00:39:06] Speaker C: Not I know of. [00:39:09] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:12] Speaker C: How you feeling? [00:39:15] Speaker A: Uh, I I didn't sleep, so great. But I guess that's to be expected, considering. [00:39:26] Speaker C: Yup. I look fresh. [00:39:32] Speaker A: Yeah. JB, your cousin has dark circles. And her skin is decidedly wan, which is impressive considering the cosmetics that she usually goes for. [00:39:49] Speaker C: And I think in this moment, you see JB looking at you and noticeably not saying anything. What? [00:40:03] Speaker A: What? What? I got lipstick on my teeth. What? [00:40:06] Speaker C: Nah. What? You need a nap? But after all that, it's been a. It was a night. It was a night. [00:40:17] Speaker A: It was a night. [00:40:20] Speaker C: Okay, I'm done making fun of you for, like, the next five minutes. I'm gonna hug you now, and I give you a big hug. Don't make that face. Do not make the face. Do not make that face. [00:40:29] Speaker D: What do you think about this? [00:40:32] Speaker A: There's. There's the face. There's the face. But then eventually, I will return the hug. And it's like one of those biggest, like, around shoulders, around waist. Like shit on shoulder. Like the good family hug. [00:40:45] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's when you hear the storefront bell chime again. And Dwayne and Ruby arrive pretty much at the same time. [00:40:58] Speaker E: Oh, it must be real bad. [00:41:02] Speaker D: I, like, have my camera up. [00:41:10] Speaker C: Hurtful. Really? Really. I. Hi, guys. How's it going? [00:41:17] Speaker E: It's fine as well as it can go, I suppose, for what we went through last night. [00:41:24] Speaker A: Shit. We, like, we're all. We're all, like. We actually saw that, right? [00:41:32] Speaker D: I think we established yesterday that we did. Yes. [00:41:34] Speaker A: Cool. I just. I just want to. You know. Light of a new day and all that shit. [00:41:44] Speaker E: I think Adelaide can see, like, almost a mirror of the same condition that they're in. Dwayne's in. They can see, like, it's like. It's like. Like they look tight. Like they look tired or I look tired or bags under my eyes. Even though. Even though I'm not a chipper guy, I'm still kind of worse than that now. [00:42:16] Speaker D: Wayne looks exactly the same. [00:42:21] Speaker E: I don't. My makeup is looking awful. It just. It's just like he sees you. I see you, Jesus. I see you across the room, and I'm like, I'm just gonna take a shot in the dark here. Didn't any of you guys have a weird dream last night? [00:42:44] Speaker A: I freeze a lot. [00:42:46] Speaker D: I have a dream. But my brother came. Bye. And he said something weird. [00:42:54] Speaker A: Kind of weird. [00:42:55] Speaker D: I mean, he's always kind of weird, but. I don't know. He came into my room and he thought I was sleeping. And he said that he has to go away for a while. Which is, you know, that's concerning in and of itself. But what he said, like, the reason why he said that is because. Because he said that. He said we brought something home or something followed us home, and he can't be around me. [00:43:29] Speaker A: Brought something home from where? [00:43:32] Speaker D: I can only assume from the war. That's only the place he's been. Otherwise, he's been here. Unless you're talking about, you know, San Francisco. But that's, you know, that was before that we were all from there. I don't really know what he's talking about. And he gave me this, which is really nice, but, you know, it's kind of creepy. [00:43:54] Speaker B: If anyone would like to do an appraisal or a cultural, they can. Please. [00:44:00] Speaker D: I know nothing about this. [00:44:05] Speaker B: Oh, that's a 99 failure. [00:44:10] Speaker A: Can I use a luck worse than that? [00:44:14] Speaker C: Get to 75, bro. [00:44:16] Speaker A: Shit. [00:44:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:22] Speaker A: No, you're right. You're right. No, I got this. [00:44:26] Speaker D: Do you? [00:44:33] Speaker C: I knew I didn't have this, folks. [00:44:36] Speaker E: I mean, for sure. [00:44:37] Speaker A: Please. [00:44:37] Speaker D: That is 93 versus 593. [00:44:41] Speaker E: If we're shooting the win and we're getting in the nineties. [00:44:44] Speaker B: Let's see. [00:44:44] Speaker E: Let's do it. [00:44:45] Speaker B: Let's do it. [00:44:45] Speaker E: Let's do it. [00:44:45] Speaker B: You might as well. [00:44:46] Speaker A: Might as well. Damn. [00:44:48] Speaker D: That's not bad. [00:44:49] Speaker E: That's not as bad. That's not as bad. [00:44:54] Speaker D: It's real nice for clueless Negroes. It's fine. [00:45:00] Speaker B: Listening to our new podcast. [00:45:02] Speaker A: No, listen, I'm tired. I don't think I've seen anything quite like that before. It's not quite my wheelhouse. [00:45:13] Speaker D: I mean, it's. You know, I wasn't sure if it, like, meant anything. It's really nice, but, you know, I'm more concerned about the fact that he just dipped out of nowhere. [00:45:24] Speaker E: No sign of where he might have gone. [00:45:26] Speaker D: I have no idea. I don't even know what time that was. I mean, must been like, I don't know, like five or six in the morning. [00:45:37] Speaker E: Um. I, uh. I mean, just to get back to the weird dreams thing, uh, this. I think I heard the. The sound that you guys were hearing last night. Plus, I was hearing footfalls. Soldiers. [00:45:59] Speaker D: Like in your dreams? [00:46:00] Speaker E: Yeah. Like. Well, every time I tried to get some real sleep, it. It would kind of get closer. I don't know how to describe it. [00:46:11] Speaker C: Oh, no, those pipes. [00:46:18] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that sounds. That sounds familiar. [00:46:21] Speaker D: Dwayne, you too? Oh, I look at JB. [00:46:31] Speaker B: Hey, JB, you've got a. You got music as a skill, don't you? [00:46:35] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [00:46:36] Speaker B: Roll me a music. Roll me a music. Check. [00:46:39] Speaker E: That's right. [00:46:40] Speaker A: Okay. [00:46:44] Speaker E: Never mind. You can spend five points. [00:46:49] Speaker D: That's pretty close. [00:46:50] Speaker E: Get a success. [00:46:50] Speaker B: That's right. [00:46:51] Speaker E: There. [00:46:54] Speaker C: You know what? I will. I will spend the five luck points to help. I think it may help. All right, go down to 64. [00:47:05] Speaker B: Luck. So you are a musician. You play with. You play in a band. This is your life. And in the heat of the moment, you didn't really have time to, like, sit and think. Like, what is this that I'm hearing? But now with the music being brought up, you're certain. Yeah, those were bagpipes. That you were hearing bagpipe music and honestly not played very well. [00:47:43] Speaker C: I think that's why I sort of blocked it out. Like, if you're gonna play something, I'm gonna play it in cheat. [00:47:50] Speaker A: Like. [00:47:50] Speaker C: You just play it in the right key. So you, um. [00:47:54] Speaker B: Uh. [00:47:55] Speaker C: Cuz I. We all heard the pipe. It was bagpipes. Okay. I don't know if y'all have heard bagpipes. [00:48:02] Speaker D: Bagpipes. I don't know if I've ever heard a bagpipe. [00:48:06] Speaker B: No. [00:48:06] Speaker A: The fucking St. Patty's Day parade every. [00:48:09] Speaker C: Yeah, they. Okay, so the bag and blow into. [00:48:11] Speaker A: The thing and you'll get. [00:48:16] Speaker E: You'll hear as many, many, many times. [00:48:19] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:48:19] Speaker A: You can hear it all the way into Harlem. [00:48:22] Speaker B: It's. [00:48:22] Speaker A: It's. [00:48:23] Speaker B: It's. [00:48:23] Speaker C: It carries. That's not like. Hence why it was something we. But it was off key. It was. It was not played well, but I. It was like just that tone. Right. Because you can hear. You know, when you play bath pipes, you can hear the. And it sort of be the drone. [00:48:43] Speaker D: That was really good. [00:48:45] Speaker C: Oh, thank you. I do my best. You know, I've always played a horn, but, you know, I know sound. Sound is what I do most of the time. [00:48:56] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. [00:48:58] Speaker C: It didn't feel right. Clap. That was why I came out. I heard it. I didn't even. Barely saw those guys leave, but I heard that sound. [00:49:09] Speaker D: Yeah, I heard it, too. [00:49:13] Speaker A: Unless somebody from the band decided to take a walk with a set of pipes. That doesn't make a whole lick of sense. [00:49:21] Speaker E: Even a little soldiers go into battle with bagged pipes. [00:49:27] Speaker D: Yeah. That doesn't seem. Well, I mean, I don't know. I've never been to war before. I guess this is something. We can look into it. [00:49:38] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it might be time to start in on our research. Got a lot of questions and nothing that even remotely resembles an answer. [00:49:48] Speaker E: Any of your cards give you answers? I hated that. [00:49:56] Speaker B: That was. [00:49:57] Speaker E: Right. That was a. [00:50:01] Speaker C: I've heard that one. [00:50:02] Speaker E: Before. I hate that even more. [00:50:04] Speaker A: I. [00:50:07] Speaker D: You. [00:50:08] Speaker A: I do this to appease the. The ofe that come down from uptown and wanted. You know, it's the. The mysteries of Louisiana and all that shit. And it gave me the same pole twice. That never happens. [00:50:29] Speaker D: Well, what does that mean when you pull something twice? [00:50:32] Speaker C: You told me that even when you make this stuff up, that does you. I asked you that years ago. You, like, you can't pull the same thing twice. It's not possible. [00:50:42] Speaker D: Yeah, statistically, that's just not possible. [00:50:44] Speaker A: It was the same thing. [00:50:48] Speaker C: Come on, now. [00:50:49] Speaker D: Well, what was it? What did you pull? [00:50:56] Speaker A: I will. And, keeper, I will explain what. What I was given. [00:51:02] Speaker B: So what you pulled was a malevolent force. A decision and waning hope. And the second time, you pulled a knight from a deck that was not part of the deck that you were pulling from? [00:51:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:51:21] Speaker E: Oh, I hate that. [00:51:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Um, the fucking tower card will get you every time. [00:51:31] Speaker E: Anything else you pull that shouldn't be pulled from a deck of cards? [00:51:40] Speaker D: Well, the first thing. The first thing we should do in an investigation. Investigation is come up with, like, a list of what we know and what we need to know, right? So. So. And I will flip out, like, a little notebook, and I'll get out my pen. I'll be like, okay, so. So what do we know for sure? [00:52:00] Speaker C: Not much. [00:52:01] Speaker D: Well, that's true, but, I mean, what do we know? [00:52:04] Speaker C: Oh, yes. [00:52:06] Speaker D: Yes. [00:52:09] Speaker A: As far as you're aware, our Hellfighter boys brought something home. [00:52:18] Speaker D: Yeah. What? I guess that makes sense. We saw a bunch of soldiers, and the ones who were, you know, lured outside, I guess it kind of seemed like they were in a bit of a trance, right? Yeah, yeah, they were soldiers. [00:52:35] Speaker E: Whatever shot at us were soldiers. [00:52:39] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:52:39] Speaker E: Dead ones. [00:52:41] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:52:44] Speaker D: They were like zombies, and I don't like that. [00:52:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:47] Speaker C: Yeah. That was weird. [00:52:47] Speaker E: Did we reckon we recognize where. But what kind of soldiers was just. They're just random soldiers to be like. [00:52:56] Speaker B: I do believe one of you was able to successfully identify them as chairman soldiers. [00:53:01] Speaker D: That's right. [00:53:03] Speaker E: So german soldiers firing at our boys and inadvertently us german. Oh, yeah. [00:53:11] Speaker D: It doesn't. Germans. Not. They're not the ones with the bagpipes, right? [00:53:15] Speaker C: No. [00:53:16] Speaker A: No. [00:53:17] Speaker D: Okay. [00:53:18] Speaker E: My knowledge. But some german dead during soldiers shoot at our boys with ghost bullets. They were dead. And do we have any other german connections that we might. No, I don't know any Germans. Well, there might be some at the docks, but none. [00:53:41] Speaker A: Eddie, Eddie, I am actively making that face. [00:53:45] Speaker E: Addie, please. [00:53:48] Speaker D: Uh uh. [00:53:52] Speaker A: First of all, Dwayne, stop looking at me like that. [00:53:54] Speaker E: I will. Not until you tell me what you know. [00:53:59] Speaker A: You remember that thing that my cousin wasn't supposed to tell you the other night, right? [00:54:03] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:54:04] Speaker C: I was supposed to tell them. [00:54:06] Speaker A: I was like you said, and somehow. And yet. And yet I didn't know. [00:54:13] Speaker B: I didn't, though. [00:54:15] Speaker A: Focus. [00:54:16] Speaker D: Is this about the. Is this about the white guy you were and maybe you're maybe not bringing into the party? [00:54:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that fucking. The. Mister German Charlie. [00:54:31] Speaker E: Okay. [00:54:31] Speaker D: German Charlie. [00:54:32] Speaker E: Okay, okay, okay. So you invited a mysterious german man to the rent party. He didn't show, and in his stead, ghost german soldiers that shot at us showed up. [00:54:48] Speaker A: Do you have any idea how batshit that sounds? [00:54:51] Speaker D: That sounds incredibly suspicious. [00:54:52] Speaker B: Actually. [00:54:53] Speaker A: That sounds bat shit. [00:54:55] Speaker D: I mean, it sounds batshit, but it. [00:54:56] Speaker E: Also sounds we got shot with ghost bullets last night. Well, it happened. It's. [00:55:07] Speaker D: Or so, you know. So. Okay, so suspension of disbelief aside, we have a weird, suspicious german character who visited you. And did he say what? Did he want to go to this party specifically? You didn't volunteer it, did you? [00:55:31] Speaker A: He was specifically looking to discuss. He wanted to meet some of our boys. He didn't like how underrepresented they had been. [00:55:52] Speaker D: Okay, that's. [00:55:55] Speaker A: You know, they came. They came back and they got nothing. [00:55:59] Speaker D: I mean, I know that. [00:56:02] Speaker A: First time I'd ever heard somebody not acknowledge it. [00:56:14] Speaker D: Well, it kind of sounds like maybe his intentions were not so benevolent? [00:56:20] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I'm picking that up. [00:56:23] Speaker D: Okay, so maybe this German Charlie is our number one suspect then. [00:56:32] Speaker C: Uh, did. What did he look like? I don't know. Did you? Tell me. I don't remember. [00:56:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:40] Speaker C: Oh. [00:56:41] Speaker A: Big. Uh huh. Messed up face. [00:56:44] Speaker C: Oh. Creepy dude. Gotcha. [00:56:47] Speaker A: Weirdly skeletal, but, like, the rest of him was big. Like, muscled. [00:56:58] Speaker C: Great, great. [00:57:02] Speaker E: Any iconography? Any symbols? [00:57:05] Speaker A: Uh, I don't know. Keeper. Were there any. I couldn't. Iconography or symbols? [00:57:09] Speaker B: Nope. [00:57:12] Speaker A: Just clean press suit. [00:57:16] Speaker E: German and eager. Gotcha. Well, to start. [00:57:25] Speaker D: Okay, that's something to start with. [00:57:28] Speaker E: There's also the fact of what precinct that our soldiers were taken to being. Not the usual one. [00:57:37] Speaker A: Being not the one that showed up to bust the party. [00:57:45] Speaker E: Yeah, I had to. I had to tell my brother that they were going to go to the wrong location. Wrong precinct. They thought they were going to be going to the 30th, not 32nd. [00:58:00] Speaker A: Listen, I'm sure we all know that any manner of questioning that we do is going to get either less than zero results or more violence. So we're gonna have to play that one careful if we want any information about those damn pekka woods. [00:58:25] Speaker E: Anything else? Any. Any. Anything else, Addie? Any. Anything? [00:58:34] Speaker A: No, no. [00:58:42] Speaker B: No. [00:58:42] Speaker A: Sorry. What do I. [00:58:44] Speaker E: No, it's just I'm trying to piece together a puzzle that I don't have all the pieces for yet. So this is what happens when I. [00:58:51] Speaker B: Don'T go to work. [00:58:55] Speaker D: So these are all the things that we know then. So we should come up with a list of things that we should try to find out. So I think the first thing that we should try to find out is we need to learn more about german soldiers, specifically. And also maybe something about bagpipes. Yeah, and zombies. It's zombies and dead soldiers. Yeah. [00:59:31] Speaker B: It's at this point that the storefront bell chimes and you see Fredrico, open the door. Hey. [00:59:47] Speaker D: I duck behind Dwayne. [00:59:49] Speaker A: Freddie. Freddie. Did you see the fucking sign on my door? [00:59:52] Speaker B: I know, I know. Don't yell at me. Um, Celestina and Ralph just, um. They've been asking about y'all. They wanted to talk to y'all. Uh, so say what? [01:00:11] Speaker E: About what? [01:00:12] Speaker A: What happened? Is everybody okay? [01:00:14] Speaker E: Oh, no. [01:00:14] Speaker B: Every. Everything's good. They just trying to piece everything together, and everybody. Everybody knows that y'all are the closest to what went down. So I told them. I let y'all know. [01:00:33] Speaker A: They are. They back it. They back at their place? [01:00:36] Speaker B: Yeah, they're at the apartment. They're getting this. They're getting everything set up for the bake sale. [01:00:45] Speaker E: Are they having the big. Where they having the bake sale at. [01:00:48] Speaker B: From the apartment? [01:00:49] Speaker C: Okay. [01:00:52] Speaker E: Okay. [01:00:54] Speaker B: Yeah. But it's. It's just messed up, man. Like, Javier was good people, you know? I know. We gonna get them out. I'm just. I'm worried, you know? Sure. [01:01:11] Speaker E: I mean, whatever the 30th precinct does, I'm sure the 32nd precinct does, too. [01:01:20] Speaker B: There's. There's different precincts. [01:01:24] Speaker E: Apparently, that's where the voice got to. [01:01:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:01:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Y'all. Y'all should probably talk to ralph yourself. Steven. People talking all sorts of. Whatever, whatever. [01:01:36] Speaker E: Do me a favor. [01:01:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:38] Speaker E: You got the best. You cannot keep your fucking mouth shut for the life of you. [01:01:44] Speaker B: What the fuck, man? [01:01:45] Speaker E: Tell everybody. [01:01:46] Speaker D: Is he wrong? [01:01:47] Speaker E: Am I wrong, mister, ive have pools on if im going to a party or not. [01:01:53] Speaker B: Everybody had a pool on you. [01:01:55] Speaker E: That was whatever. Just make sure that they know what precinct those boys got took to. The right one. [01:02:01] Speaker B: All right, you say 32nd. I'll let everybody know. It's 30 seconds. [01:02:06] Speaker E: Thank you. [01:02:09] Speaker B: All right. Um. Yeah. Okay, well, we'll be. [01:02:13] Speaker A: We'll be down. We'll be down. Freddie. [01:02:16] Speaker B: All right. Hey, Ruby. [01:02:21] Speaker D: Hi, Fredrico. [01:02:23] Speaker B: All right, I'll talk to you later. [01:02:25] Speaker A: Get out. [01:02:31] Speaker C: Why'd you say hi? [01:02:33] Speaker D: Because, you know, I just feel bad. [01:02:36] Speaker C: He'S not gonna leave you alone now. [01:02:38] Speaker D: I mean, he's not the worst. [01:02:42] Speaker A: He is actively the worst. [01:02:45] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah, he kind of is, sweet pea. It's okay. You know, it's nice. It's nice. I didn't get a lot of that back home, so, you know, if you. [01:02:54] Speaker B: Look out the window, he is skipping. [01:02:58] Speaker A: My man. You gave. You gave him hope. You gave. [01:03:01] Speaker C: You did this. [01:03:02] Speaker D: You gave him hope. [01:03:03] Speaker B: I hope. [01:03:04] Speaker E: I hope. It looks so beautiful. [01:03:05] Speaker B: Old people. [01:03:07] Speaker E: Even a glimmer of it, I guess. [01:03:11] Speaker C: That you brought happiness to people. [01:03:14] Speaker E: Hey, he'll move faster that way. [01:03:16] Speaker D: That's fair. You know that if the cops find out that we told people that it's the 32nd precinct, they're gonna know we overheard then. Cause we were the closest. [01:03:29] Speaker A: Yeah, but safety numbers. As long as we're not, you know, wandering off by ourselves. So don't wander off by yourself. [01:03:36] Speaker E: Sticking together is the right way to go. [01:03:37] Speaker D: Okay. Okay. Yeah. [01:03:43] Speaker C: Speaking of which, do you have any books here about, like, zombies? I gotta ask, because you got. [01:03:52] Speaker A: I. Yes, I have a plethora of various weird woo woo things, so I'm not sure if it's going to be that detailed, but. Yeah. Keeper from my own stores and the various books and my knowledge of the occult, what would be able. What would we be able to find here? [01:04:16] Speaker B: Romy? Luck. [01:04:20] Speaker A: Boy, oh, boy. Where's my fucking. Where's my goddamn luck? [01:04:26] Speaker B: There you go. I can actually. You've got a. You got a lot of folklore about, you know, you got, like, haitian zombies, you know, rule of zombies. Just. Just a bunch of different folklore. So if you want to learn about how different cultures perceive zombies, you've got that. [01:04:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Cause I don't think this is gonna be quite what we need. Oh, like, my collection is decent. It is not library sized. Gotcha. [01:05:08] Speaker D: I'm pretty good at the library, so I could probably. Could probably check it out on my way. Do you want to help then? You said safety in numbers, right? [01:05:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I could help. I could. I'm not bad at libraries. [01:05:24] Speaker D: Okay, so in terms of what we need to know, we should find out about zombies and the bagpipes. And I guess we should also maybe look at, like, things that can affect dreams. That seems to be a shared dream. Kind of sounds intense. So. [01:05:51] Speaker A: We should probably also see if the 32nd has any connection to. Well, outside of, you know, the general idea of the bastards coming down here and locking our boys up. Any kind of connection they might have had to the war outside of their own soldiers. [01:06:17] Speaker D: Not sure that's something that's going to be found in the library. Is that. [01:06:24] Speaker A: Figure out who was there? [01:06:25] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly. Finding out the cops who took. Took our boys might help, but I doubt we'll be able to find that easy. But first, I think we should head to this, uh, to celestine. [01:06:42] Speaker A: Yeah, we should talk to Celestine and the others real quick. [01:06:45] Speaker C: Yeah, let's do that. And then we'll make. [01:06:48] Speaker E: Explain that. [01:06:50] Speaker D: Maybe know where my brother went. Maybe because he was. He was with them last night. He said he was going to stay the night with them and make sure they were okay. So maybe they have an idea. I don't know. I'm not sure. I'm a bit worried about it, so I don't know if it's related. It might be, but just in case it is, we should make sure. [01:07:13] Speaker E: Yeah. Only one way to find out. [01:07:15] Speaker C: I have a question, y'all. Are we gonna be explaining the fact that we saw zombie ghosts? [01:07:29] Speaker D: That's a. That's another thing. Um, so the Harlem holler wants to write a rebuttal to. To the, uh, to the paper. Um, because they. They printed out something, and it's. It's. It's full of crap, honestly. So they really want to write a rebuttal? Everybody knows that we were there. So what should I. What should I tell them? [01:07:53] Speaker E: We can go with the story that they were going with. Those two were going with, and someone was trying to rob a car and they stopped them, and in the commotion. [01:08:05] Speaker D: That's good. That'll give them credibility, too. [01:08:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:13] Speaker E: We should tell the. [01:08:18] Speaker A: I think we should probably see what they have heard before we divulge anything, too. [01:08:25] Speaker E: I agree with that one. [01:08:28] Speaker D: I really. If we're gonna be asking questions around town, too, it. Word gets around fast around here, so I feel like we should keep that on the down low, you know? [01:08:38] Speaker A: Yeah, no, especially. [01:08:40] Speaker D: It'll discredit us. Yeah. So, yeah, I really don't mind my dad finding out that I'm running around. I almost said Scooby doing. [01:08:52] Speaker A: That was before that time gum shooing. [01:08:56] Speaker D: Yeah, just, you know, just like, you know, detecting or, you know, supernatural detecting. That's not really something I think you would approve of. [01:09:05] Speaker A: No, we just. We just. We're. We are doing our best to make sure our boys aren't further slandered by those uptown bastards. Yeah, we're just trying to show the big apple that they are not what those papers print. That's all. [01:09:33] Speaker D: Okay, so me and JB will go to the library. [01:09:36] Speaker B: Then. [01:09:36] Speaker D: What are you. What are you two going to do? [01:09:38] Speaker A: Well, let's. Let's go talk to Celestine first, and then we can. [01:09:43] Speaker D: Oh, well, yes, that's right. [01:09:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:46] Speaker B: So you're all making your way to Celestina and Ralph. [01:09:49] Speaker D: Making my way, yes. [01:09:51] Speaker B: All right. You noticed that the hustling, bustling streets of Harlem are of really quiet until you get close to the apartment. And you can see that this is where everyone is. Um, the investigators. As you all make it here, Ralph and Celestine are actually driving around. And as you make it to their apartment, they pull over, uh, out of a battered model t and immediately hop out and go. We were. We were looking all over for you. We sent Franchio to look for you. Did. Did he find you? [01:10:38] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's. That's why we're here. [01:10:40] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:10:43] Speaker B: You just see Celestina is just taking a breath of relief, and Ralph has a hand on her shoulder, and he pulls her in, and he just goes, hey, we saw those. We saw those pounders all over y'all like rug cutters. It was. It was a messy. I'm just glad that y'all got out of there. I felt bad for y'all. You know, y'all was. You out there helping. You almost got pinched. So, you know, I'm. I called him a couple of favors to try and get Javier out, and it's a. Nothing's taken right now. And, uh. And, uh, you see Celestina go. Have. Have you. You all heard anything about Javier and James? [01:11:35] Speaker E: Well, first off, what precinct are you looking in? [01:11:41] Speaker B: They look at each other, confused. The 30th. [01:11:48] Speaker C: Wrong. [01:11:49] Speaker E: 32Nd. [01:11:51] Speaker A: Just don't. If you have any subtle ways of getting that information through, use those. I don't think we are supposed to know what precinct they ended up at. [01:12:11] Speaker B: They tense up and look at each other. It's Ralph that steps up. He's usually pretty quiet, but he's taking the lead on this one, and he goes, look, y'all. Me and Celestina, we want to get married. And we have an agent, but Javier is against it. You know, at first, he was saying that we were too young. He was right. He was right. And then the war came, and everything kind of got all mixed up. Javier went to go fight in the war, and I stayed here. Celestina and Javier haven't really thinks I'm a lay about because I didn't go to war. I stayed because I was just trying to make some money. Look, the reason I'm saying all this is, like, I'm doing everything that I can to get Javier out, but it's like nothing's working, you know? And I really want to marry Celestina. We want Javier's blessing, right? And if we don't. If we don't, I don't. I don't think that we could stay in harlem. You know, we just kind of start. Start in Chicago. So start somewhere new. But, like, if y'all are able to help us out and get Javier, James outd and Celestina, go and tell him that Ralph sent you. Like, maybe he could get some good out of this, you know? I don't want to ask, but we saw y'all kind of get in the middle of this, and we. You know, we here around town. Y'all are all good people. If we could just get Javier and his friend out of jail and save them, then he would know, like, that I'm not what he thinks I am. So I guess I'm saying all that to say, like, can we ask y'all to help us out? [01:15:16] Speaker C: Yeah, of course. Yeah. [01:15:18] Speaker E: Community first. [01:15:22] Speaker B: Ah, thank you. Thank you. Um. [01:15:28] Speaker C: I'm not leaving. Right? You're gonna stay. Y'all gotta stay, though. [01:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah, we want to stay. I just. We can't stay up. Javier doesn't say it's okay, so we gotta. We're trying to win them over, you know? [01:15:48] Speaker A: Get him out of the clink first. [01:15:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Raymond stayed with us last night. He thinks he's got some. He's got some old army buddies that he's reaching out to. He said he might know a lawyer. [01:16:07] Speaker D: Did he say who they were or where he. Where he was going? [01:16:13] Speaker B: Uh, yeah, he said he was, um. He was heading to the Unia. The, uh, universal negro Improvement association. [01:16:24] Speaker D: Okay. [01:16:27] Speaker B: Yeah, he's trying to put some stuff together. He called an old friend last night and kind of bugged out. [01:16:40] Speaker D: Who did he call, do you know? [01:16:44] Speaker B: He didn't tell us. He said it was one of his old army friends. When they didn't pick up, he said he was just gonna drop. Bye. And we haven't seen him since. [01:16:56] Speaker D: Yeah, he said he had stuff to do, so he said he'll be back. You know, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. [01:17:10] Speaker E: You said he was acting weird, funny, anti nervous. Nervous how? [01:17:22] Speaker B: He was just talking about, uh, reaching out to some of his old army buddies, and he called. He called a couple of them and didn't hear back, start to get frustrated. Went off the go, see one of them. He told us that he's going to the unil after. So. [01:17:44] Speaker C: How many? Do you know how many he called? [01:17:48] Speaker B: I think three. [01:17:50] Speaker D: None of them picked up? [01:17:54] Speaker B: No. [01:17:55] Speaker D: Well, it was late. Maybe that's why. [01:17:58] Speaker B: That's what we thought. [01:18:01] Speaker A: Do you remember names at all? Did he. Did he tell you? [01:18:07] Speaker B: Um, there was. There was one name. Well, it wasn't a name. It was said something about Phoenix squad. I don't know. Um, anyone can attempt a history role if they, uh. If they, like. Uh, Ruby, I'll give you a bonus. Die for your role. [01:18:38] Speaker D: What does that do? [01:18:39] Speaker B: So what you're gonna do is you're gonna roll it, and then under that, you see where it says bonus penalty. You'll hit that after you roll. [01:18:46] Speaker A: Oh, boy. [01:18:47] Speaker D: Why do I have nothing in history? That seems like something that would be smart for me to have. [01:18:54] Speaker B: I'll give you history or natural world. [01:18:57] Speaker D: Oh, boy. [01:18:58] Speaker A: Is that any better? [01:19:00] Speaker D: Oh, it is better. [01:19:01] Speaker B: Awesome. [01:19:03] Speaker D: Amazing. All right. [01:19:05] Speaker A: Nope, nope. [01:19:07] Speaker B: Oh, but go ahead, hit bonus. Anyway. [01:19:11] Speaker D: No, I don't know what that means. Zero. [01:19:14] Speaker B: So you can replace either the four or the two with whatever you rolled on the bonus. [01:19:20] Speaker D: Wait, really? [01:19:21] Speaker B: Uh huh. [01:19:22] Speaker D: Oh, I suppose that's bonkers. Okay, I suppose I'll replace the four then. That would make it a two, right? [01:19:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is a 60. Success. [01:19:34] Speaker E: That's super awesome. That's super cool. [01:19:37] Speaker D: I like this game. [01:19:41] Speaker E: Just replace a number. [01:19:42] Speaker C: Oh, my God. [01:19:44] Speaker B: That's how I like renegade. It swings things. So you do some faking and you're trying to remember. And you remember him talking about making some friends overseas. And you recall that the Phoenix squad was a french squad that worked alongside the Harlem Hellfighters. [01:20:20] Speaker D: Oh, I know. I think that rings a bella. The Phoenix squad, they're like a. They were like a french squad that kind of. They, like, worked with the. With the hellfighters. So I post. I suppose that's something that we could put on our. Put on our itinerary. You could check out where there might be french. French soldiers settled here. [01:20:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, if we can track down Raymond's friends, maybe they'll be able to help. [01:20:59] Speaker D: Yeah. At the very least, they can tell us about. More about what happened over there. [01:21:07] Speaker E: What's the name of the thing? The na. [01:21:09] Speaker B: What? The Umia. [01:21:12] Speaker E: U n I a m. Hmm. Did you say a location for that or am I crazy? [01:21:18] Speaker B: Uh, it is pre. It's pretty well known for Harlemites, so you wouldn't know where it is. [01:21:24] Speaker E: Yeah, you can also check out the unia, see if any information came that way. [01:21:32] Speaker A: Yeah, we might as well. [01:21:35] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm not, I'm not sure where that is. I'm sorry. [01:21:38] Speaker E: I got you. [01:21:39] Speaker A: It's fine. I. Yeah, Dwayne and I can handle that. [01:21:43] Speaker D: Okay. All right, sounds good. [01:21:48] Speaker B: And like in browsers, if, if it is the 32nd and y'all decide to drop by just to make sure that's where they are, just be careful. [01:22:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I have you. I know the 30th. They're usually the ones that are dogging us. Have you heard anything about the 32nd? [01:22:18] Speaker B: No. [01:22:24] Speaker E: Would you know anyone who has? [01:22:27] Speaker B: Roll me a psychology check. [01:22:29] Speaker E: Oh, not good. [01:22:31] Speaker A: Can I help with that in any way, shape or form? [01:22:33] Speaker B: You can also attempt to psychology. Yeah, if you like. [01:22:36] Speaker E: Can I assist them? Because I know. [01:22:39] Speaker A: Could, could I, could I posit psychoanalysis? Because if he is a lion, there's a chance that I would be able to parse that out. [01:22:51] Speaker B: I'll give that psychoanalysis. I'll give it to you. [01:22:54] Speaker A: That's what I do. I read people help with psychology. Oh, for Pete's sake. [01:23:06] Speaker C: Not help with psychology. [01:23:07] Speaker B: We're just pitching this whole thing, just. [01:23:11] Speaker E: Throwing it, just throwing. [01:23:13] Speaker D: We are not going to make it through this campaign. [01:23:17] Speaker E: We're not going to hit any of the steps. We need to go. Just go to the big show. [01:23:23] Speaker D: Let's just not pay attention. [01:23:25] Speaker A: I got like $2. [01:23:30] Speaker E: Break these boys out of jail. Oh, God, how the hell get these boys out of jail if we like this? [01:23:38] Speaker B: Oh, hope, hope. [01:23:41] Speaker E: Gotta get that Fredriko. Gotta get that hope back. [01:23:43] Speaker B: When you ask him, do you know anybody that would know? He stops for a second, he goes, no, I can't think of nobody. [01:23:56] Speaker D: Wait, I'm so sorry. Can I, can I roll psychoanalysis? I just realized that that might be something I might be good at. [01:24:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I will, I will give it to you. [01:24:05] Speaker D: I don't know anybody. I don't know anybody in this town necessarily, but I do know. Nope, never mind. Let's not roll psychoanalysis. No, I'm so sorry. I could roll psychology, though. [01:24:16] Speaker B: Sure, go for it. [01:24:17] Speaker A: Go for it. [01:24:18] Speaker B: What, what, what's, what's, what's the worst that can happen? [01:24:22] Speaker E: What's the worst? [01:24:22] Speaker D: I'm 99. [01:24:23] Speaker E: A hundred, a hundred. [01:24:34] Speaker A: Star. [01:24:35] Speaker B: She sings to us tonight. [01:24:39] Speaker E: Corner. [01:24:39] Speaker C: And threw that back at you. [01:24:41] Speaker A: Follow the drinking gourd. Oh my God. [01:24:45] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. [01:24:47] Speaker A: Okay, so you know what's funny though. [01:24:48] Speaker D: Is my psychoanalysis won. [01:24:52] Speaker E: Okay. [01:24:53] Speaker B: So wild. Oh my gosh, I love it. [01:24:57] Speaker E: Oh, this game's so good. [01:24:59] Speaker B: So. So Ralph goes. There's no one I could think of. And he plays it straight when looking at everyone except you, Ruby. He cracks when you two lock eyes. [01:25:19] Speaker D: Are you sure? Cause you don't really seem sure. [01:25:34] Speaker A: If we're gonna help you, we need the whole story. [01:25:46] Speaker B: Raymond seems really on edge. I think. I think he's privy to some things that maybe we don't all know. [01:26:04] Speaker C: And. [01:26:04] Speaker B: I can't say more than that. I'm sorry. [01:26:08] Speaker D: Why not? Do you know what's wrong with him? [01:26:13] Speaker B: He doesn't want. Doesn't want you getting involved. [01:26:17] Speaker D: Well, too bad. I've been involved. If there's something going on with him, I need to know. [01:26:31] Speaker B: He won't. He speaking in broken sentences and faking it around and making calls. He tossed out a couple of names. The ones we told you in, uh, Sam. Samuel Wright over at the armory. That's. That's it. [01:27:13] Speaker D: That's. [01:27:13] Speaker B: That's all. [01:27:15] Speaker D: That's it. Are you sure? You're sure? [01:27:17] Speaker B: That's it? I promise. [01:27:20] Speaker D: Okay. Thank you. I will grasp Ralph's hand and just kind of squeeze it. Thank you. [01:27:33] Speaker B: We got to take care of each other, and he's doing a lot for us. I just. I just want everybody to be all right, you know? [01:27:49] Speaker D: Yeah. Okay. Um. Is there. Is there. Is there anything else? I'm looking at everybody else. Is there anything else we need to. We need to ask or need to know. [01:28:04] Speaker E: Much? I guess going to the precinct itself and seeing what it's like go over. [01:28:11] Speaker A: Well. [01:28:12] Speaker E: Yeah, I'm sure if we go to. [01:28:14] Speaker C: The break, if we go to any precinct, can we all go together? [01:28:17] Speaker E: I don't blame. I go on a precinct alone. [01:28:20] Speaker C: I don't mean alone. I just mean, like, all four of us. [01:28:25] Speaker A: Oh, no, I think that's part of town on my own. That's. No, absolutely. [01:28:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:28:32] Speaker B: If y'all are going to the precede, I could give you. I could give y'all a ride. It's the least I can do. [01:28:38] Speaker A: Might as well just do a swing by. [01:28:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:28:43] Speaker A: We stop and look like we're poking around. I think that's only gonna make things worse for us. [01:28:49] Speaker D: Yeah. They weren't too. Too close to us, though, the 32nd. I mean, they were really only there for. For Javi and James, so, you know, maybe we could get away with it, but it would just. It would have to be quick. [01:29:07] Speaker B: All right, then. Uh, yeah, let's go. [01:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:29:12] Speaker B: And with that, you all hop inside the model T Ford, which you're gonna have to squeeze all through. [01:29:22] Speaker D: I'm tiny. I'm very small. [01:29:27] Speaker B: But you head in the direction of the 32nd precinct, and that's where we'll take our first break. [01:29:37] Speaker A: Thank you, friends. It's gonna be about a ten minute break. Don't go anywhere, but make sure you get up, make sure you stretch, make sure you get some water. And we will be back with the next installment. And we are back with Queen's court games and Harlem Hellfighters never die. Noir, would you like to take us on the next half of our adventure? [01:30:05] Speaker B: Yes, I would. Our story picks back up with a model t Ford chugging along to the 32nd precinct in Harlem, New York. And you all shuffle out of the car. And just a really quick story break before a content warning. This is going to involve police and, um, and a little bit of violence. And I just wanted to give you a chance to prepare for that. All right, back to it. So and so you all get out of the model t and you see the 32nd precinct. You walk in to see a white sergeant behind the desk working on paperwork, and he does not acknowledge that you have entered. What would you like to do? [01:31:02] Speaker E: I think I look at my fellow investigators, and I'm like, who wants to join me in talking with them? [01:31:13] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. But before we get too far in, I'm going to straighten the collar of my nice coat and make sure that my lipstick is straightened. Like, listen, keeper, I'm going to be straight with you. I'm going to dip into the charm. So I would like this to go well. [01:31:37] Speaker B: Okay. We will see how this goes. [01:31:40] Speaker C: I will also like to help and be charming. [01:31:44] Speaker E: Just. [01:31:44] Speaker D: Just don't do that. Just don't do that. [01:31:47] Speaker E: Like that. As I'm brushing, I'm brushing, like, their coat off, making it straight for them to walk in. And I'm gonna be right behind you. [01:31:56] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm gonna smile and look about. I'm gonna look like the most non threatening colored person that this white man has ever seen. [01:32:08] Speaker B: How can I help you? [01:32:13] Speaker A: Morning, officer. I hate to bother you, sir, but we're looking for a couple of friends of ours. We just want to make sure that they're okay. There was a bit of a tussle down in Harlem last night. We just. All we want to know is we want to make sure that they're doing okay. [01:32:30] Speaker B: The boys down from Harlem, you said? [01:32:33] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [01:32:36] Speaker B: They've been moved to another precinct. I don't know which one, so. [01:32:42] Speaker A: Oh, would you check that motherfucker? [01:32:46] Speaker B: Would you like to do a psychology check? Sure. [01:32:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:32:51] Speaker A: I'm gonna push for psychoanalysis again, because that's what I know how to do. [01:32:58] Speaker E: I'll assist. I'll assist somebody. [01:33:02] Speaker B: All right, so who's taking the lead on this? [01:33:06] Speaker D: What if I just call bullshit? What if I just am like. That sounds fake, but okay. [01:33:11] Speaker B: Would you like to. [01:33:12] Speaker A: No. [01:33:13] Speaker B: Okay. [01:33:14] Speaker A: Not verbally. [01:33:15] Speaker D: Just in my own mind. [01:33:18] Speaker B: All right, let's get that roll. [01:33:21] Speaker A: Um. Okay. Okay. [01:33:25] Speaker E: Hey. [01:33:28] Speaker B: Mmm. He is lying. He is lying. And on top of that, you can see that he's lying because it seems he's under duress. He's not. He's not saying this because he wants to. He's saying this because he has to. [01:33:49] Speaker D: Oh, okay. [01:33:53] Speaker A: Um, keeper, I'm gonna. I'm gonna keep my hands where the nice officer can see them, but I am going to lean a little bit on his reception desk. And as I am talking, a little bit of my mother's Louisiana drawl comes out, and it is sweet and soft and amenable. And I would just like to impart to this poor man how I understand how difficult this job must be. And it's got. It just must be so stressful. And I'm so sorry to potentially be adding to the stress, but if he could just give us any sort of indication as to how we might follow the trail of our friends. They're veterans, after all. So if at all possible, I would like to charm this motherfucker into feeling bad. [01:34:41] Speaker B: Go ahead and roam me a charm. Check. [01:34:43] Speaker A: Feel bad, white man? Come on. Come on. 37 over 75, baby. [01:34:55] Speaker C: Get them hard successes. [01:34:57] Speaker E: Get it? [01:34:58] Speaker B: Puts his pin down, takes a deep breath. You know, I'm on my 4th, 18th, 18 hours shift. I am exhausted. [01:35:13] Speaker A: Oh, you poor thing. [01:35:16] Speaker C: Sorry to hear that, sir. [01:35:18] Speaker B: Look. Damn it. All right, look, I'll take you to see them boys, okay? But y'all gotta go quick. We're about to do a shift change. And if y'all get caught down there, there's nothing I can do for you. Is that understood? [01:35:45] Speaker E: Yes, sir. [01:35:46] Speaker C: Yes, sir. [01:35:46] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [01:35:51] Speaker B: You're coming, man. [01:35:53] Speaker A: Following. [01:35:56] Speaker D: As we. As we do, though, I'm more paying attention to, like, what's in the precinct itself. I know that we're going to go see our boys, but I want to know, like, what's so special about this precinct, specifically that they came here? [01:36:15] Speaker B: I will let you roll an intelligence check or a law check. Ugh. I don't know if I got anything at law. Understand law. They will both be hard rules. [01:36:28] Speaker D: That is a negative. My intelligence is okay, though, so I'm going to do that. You said it's hard. [01:36:33] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [01:36:34] Speaker D: Okay, let's see. [01:36:38] Speaker A: Oh. [01:36:42] Speaker D: My goodness. [01:36:48] Speaker B: They continue. I'll say. Okay, so go ahead and give me. What are you. What are you looking for exactly here? [01:36:55] Speaker D: Okay, so, um, I know that they said that the weird ones come here to 32nd, so I'm looking for what weirdness is. Um, would, like, indicate why this would be the place to go. And then I would also. I mean, like, if there's just anything secrets that I can pry out from here, I would like to do that, too. I'm very nosy, and I'm very snoopy, and I'm very unnoticeable. [01:37:22] Speaker B: Okay, well, hmm. I will give you your answer later. Okay. But you will. You will have an answer here. [01:37:33] Speaker D: Okay. So I trust you. [01:37:35] Speaker C: Keeper. [01:37:35] Speaker B: He guides you down. Uh, he guides you down a long, dark hallway that's filled with cells. It extends about 50 yards. And all of the cells are empty except for the ones that hold Jordan and Smithson. You see them in this dark, cold cell, and they're just sitting in the corner. And the sergeant looks at all of you and goes, I've done what I can. You got to get out. You got to get out before the shift change. [01:38:20] Speaker A: How much time? [01:38:22] Speaker D: When is that? [01:38:23] Speaker B: You got maybe twelve minutes. [01:38:28] Speaker D: Of course. [01:38:29] Speaker A: Yes. [01:38:29] Speaker D: Thank you so much, sir. [01:38:31] Speaker C: Thank you. [01:38:32] Speaker B: Don't ever mention it. And he just walks off. [01:38:36] Speaker D: Can I clock his name? [01:38:38] Speaker B: Uh, you do clock that. His name is, uh. You got John Grissie. G I r s o n. Grissom. [01:38:52] Speaker A: Immediately. Like to the bars. Javi. Javi. [01:38:59] Speaker B: You remember Javi at the party was very lively, recounting and retelling the stories. He just lifts his head and looks at you, and you could tell that he's been through it, and he goes, uh, y'all shouldn't be here. [01:39:23] Speaker E: Well, we're here, so. [01:39:28] Speaker A: What? How they. What? We're working on it. We're. We've got bail coming. We'll get you guys out. Promise. [01:39:44] Speaker B: Y'all gotta get out of here. [01:39:46] Speaker D: Well, we got about ten minutes. Give it. Given us some. Some space. So maybe you could tell us, you know, what you couldn't say before about what happened. [01:39:58] Speaker A: We know something's going on. Something weird. Why else would they put up, try and pull a bait and switch, pull you here instead of taking you to the 30th? What's going on? [01:40:09] Speaker B: Get out of here. I'm going to need a fast talk or persuade roll from someone. He's more focused on making sure y'all don't get in trouble. They try to solve this. [01:40:27] Speaker D: I can do. I can do either. I'm pretty good at either. [01:40:30] Speaker B: I can do. [01:40:31] Speaker D: I can do persuade. [01:40:33] Speaker A: I'm pretty good at fast talk. [01:40:35] Speaker B: All right, so, yeah, we'll do one of. But you will need to tell me what you say. [01:40:42] Speaker D: Yeah, okay. I am. I'm going to say, listen, I know we don't know each other very well, but I know you know my brother Raymond, right? I just. I have a feeling that he's in trouble, and I really. I need to help. [01:40:58] Speaker B: Also. You're San Francisco sister? [01:41:01] Speaker D: Yeah, that's me. [01:41:05] Speaker B: What did you roll? [01:41:06] Speaker D: Oh, I haven't rolled yet. [01:41:08] Speaker B: Let's see. Let's see. [01:41:10] Speaker D: Is it. Is it regular? [01:41:13] Speaker B: It is regular. All right, and let's get your fast talk out late. And what do you say, avi? [01:41:25] Speaker A: I can't say I understand, because I've never had to sit in a cell like this, but you know that we're community. We're all family down at the neighborhood, we help each other. And I can't help you unless you tell me what the hell's going on down here. [01:41:44] Speaker B: All right, let's see what you roll. [01:41:48] Speaker A: Let's go. [01:41:53] Speaker B: All right. The sand fans probably out doing something stupid anyway, so that's pretty typical of him. Listen, when we were outside. I don't know, it's like bullets started flying, and we ducked for cover. Me and James. And James is just nodding, and then we started shooting back. But what's crazy is that I know I got one of them in. Like, I brained one. I got him, right? But he just kept coming, and, like, they weren't ducking. They just kept moving forward. [01:42:44] Speaker D: What were y'all doing out there in the first place? [01:42:54] Speaker B: I don't know. I just remember hearing this music, and, you know, the wild thing is, I could still hear the weird music when all the shooting was popping off. Like, it was like. You know, it was like. Like. Right? Yeah. Yeah, it was. [01:43:19] Speaker A: Javi, can you. Can you hum it for us? [01:43:24] Speaker B: Um, no. [01:43:28] Speaker E: James. [01:43:28] Speaker B: James, you don't. You play the harmonica? You like. What was it like? Like, classical something. Yo, you know who would know more about it? Uh, Thomas Moore's kid plays, like, that instrument. I think he might know something about the music. [01:44:02] Speaker C: Got it. One people do. I know one of them. [01:44:10] Speaker B: Um, yeah, you see them in rehearsal? Rehearsal halls, uh, every now and then. Um, but after the. After, they're like, yeah, Thomas Gamora's kid probably knows. Hey, did anybody see anybody see becks at the party last night? Did we? [01:44:37] Speaker C: Uh. [01:44:38] Speaker B: You did not. [01:44:41] Speaker A: Beck snow? No. [01:44:44] Speaker B: In fact, let. I will. Let me see here. You know, it's not a real. Yeah, you're all familiar with becks. He's another vet, and he was not there. [01:45:03] Speaker D: Starting to see a pattern here. [01:45:10] Speaker B: Damn. I'm surprised he didn't make you. [01:45:14] Speaker D: You say he was coming? [01:45:17] Speaker B: I mean, if there's a party, Bex is at it. [01:45:21] Speaker E: So. Not this one. [01:45:24] Speaker A: Okay. Um, keeper, how much time do we have left? [01:45:29] Speaker B: You've got about, I'd want to say seven, eight more minutes left. [01:45:36] Speaker A: Okay. Um, I want to give us, like, a five minute leeway to get the fuck out, so. Yeah. [01:45:43] Speaker E: Uh, would there be a reason why people were shooting at you? Soldiers shooting at you? [01:45:55] Speaker B: I mean, probably better about what happened over the piece that bitter we was dogging them. If you want to hear more, like, if you want to hear, like, how in the shit we got. You guys should go see Samuel Wright over at the armory. [01:46:17] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. [01:46:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it's where a bunch of vets hang out. [01:46:23] Speaker D: Yeah, that's good. That's good to know. [01:46:27] Speaker A: Okay, um, did you. The. The guys that were shooting at us, did you see anything on their uniforms that would give us a narrow down idea of who they ran with besides, you know, a symbol, a squad number, anything? [01:46:59] Speaker B: No, I was too busy shooting. [01:47:02] Speaker A: Okay. Okay, fine. [01:47:05] Speaker B: I need everybody to make me a listen. Check. [01:47:08] Speaker D: Oh, no, I don't like that. [01:47:13] Speaker C: Got you. [01:47:14] Speaker D: Oh, thank God. [01:47:15] Speaker E: Oh, thank God. [01:47:17] Speaker B: Whoa. [01:47:18] Speaker E: Let's go. [01:47:20] Speaker D: This is going to be extremely embarrassing if I fail. [01:47:24] Speaker B: All of our ears. [01:47:25] Speaker E: All of our ears. [01:47:26] Speaker B: Perk the fuck up. [01:47:27] Speaker A: We are. [01:47:37] Speaker E: The most dangerous area. [01:47:39] Speaker A: We literally could not be in more danger right now. [01:47:42] Speaker B: I just watch y'all melody beat up. Real tweet. All right, so you hear heavy footsteps, footfalls as you hear two officers making their way down. How do you. [01:48:02] Speaker A: James, we'll get you out of here, okay? We gotta go now. Grab my cousin. Yeet. [01:48:10] Speaker E: Turn to. Turn to. Get out of there. Take Ruby. Get. [01:48:13] Speaker B: And they. You immediately hear. Now, where are y'all going? You know, it's past visiting hours. [01:48:27] Speaker A: We, uh, lost track of time, officer. [01:48:31] Speaker B: Sorry, sir. [01:48:33] Speaker E: Worried about our friends. [01:48:35] Speaker B: Yes, you are. Yes, you are. Um, would anyone like to make a spy? Well. Oh, no. No need. Hey, Ruby, remember I told you I would answer your question later? [01:48:50] Speaker D: I don't like the sound of that. [01:48:53] Speaker B: As he gives you the gesture to leave, you recognize a symbol tattooed on his wrist as being, um. Let's just say he doesn't like you. [01:49:14] Speaker D: Great. Uh, okay, scuttle one out of there. [01:49:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes, yes. [01:49:24] Speaker A: Quick and polite and. Yeah, uh, yeah, quickly, nicely, and politely. [01:49:32] Speaker B: Now, if y'all could do me a favor and make sure everybody knows that, uh, listen, hours are always over. [01:49:43] Speaker D: Yes, sir. [01:49:44] Speaker C: Sir. [01:49:44] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [01:49:50] Speaker B: Tells y'all go wherever. What would you like to do next? Team decompress. Yes. [01:50:01] Speaker A: We also need to tell. [01:50:02] Speaker B: Wait. [01:50:02] Speaker E: As we're leaving, as we're leaving, like, are they. Are they saying anything? Looking at a certain way. As we're leaving, are they, like, roll me another listen. [01:50:11] Speaker C: Check. [01:50:12] Speaker B: Yeah, listen so good. Ooh. [01:50:15] Speaker D: Damn. [01:50:16] Speaker A: Whoa, Dale. [01:50:17] Speaker E: Whoa. Wow. [01:50:21] Speaker B: Damn. [01:50:22] Speaker A: It had to happen. It had to happen. [01:50:23] Speaker E: It had to happen. Had to happen. [01:50:25] Speaker D: You only missed by one. [01:50:27] Speaker A: You know what? [01:50:27] Speaker E: I'll spend one. [01:50:28] Speaker A: Fuck it. Let's do it. [01:50:30] Speaker B: I'll spend a luck. Fuck it. [01:50:33] Speaker D: It is a famous last words right there. [01:50:35] Speaker B: It is an ilk. [01:50:36] Speaker A: Fuck it. [01:50:38] Speaker B: Jv. You hear everything clear as a. I love. Like, that's become your thing. Oh, you hear the conversation clear as a bill. And you hear the two having a conversation, and you pick out the names Osterfer, Officer Oster. Tag, and Captain Burton. B u r t o n. [01:51:03] Speaker C: Captain Burton. [01:51:04] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [01:51:06] Speaker A: An officer ostrateg. [01:51:08] Speaker B: Mm hmm. You hear. You hear the words ritual. You hear set an example. And you know that whatever they're planning to do involving Javier and James, it is going to take place in 48 hours. [01:51:42] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [01:51:46] Speaker C: Gosh. [01:51:52] Speaker A: I've got, like, I've got my cousin by, like, the arm and my nails just dig. [01:51:59] Speaker C: You can feel like, jbtain. I'm pretty wiry, like I'm built like a runner, but as you're. [01:52:10] Speaker B: You can. [01:52:11] Speaker C: I can feel your nails digging in as you're, like, pulling me out. You can feel me flex and feel like I'm walking with you, but I'm actively listening and getting matter as I go. But I I do not say anything until we are outside and out of shot. Until we are. At least until we are outside. [01:52:41] Speaker A: We need, no, we need to keep walking. We do not need to be loitering in this part of the. [01:52:45] Speaker E: Keep walking. [01:52:45] Speaker A: Correct. Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep your mouth shut. JB. [01:52:53] Speaker B: And where would you all like to walk, too? You have a few different options. [01:53:07] Speaker D: Yeah, it really did. [01:53:08] Speaker B: Oh. [01:53:09] Speaker D: Oh, man. [01:53:09] Speaker E: We want to head back to the neighborhood. Do you want to head back to. [01:53:12] Speaker A: We should go. We should go to the, no, we should go to the armory. [01:53:15] Speaker D: Yeah, we should. At least. We do not have a lot of time. We got to hit all of these places. [01:53:20] Speaker A: Um, JB? [01:53:22] Speaker C: Yeah? Um, okay. Uh, we're. Hold on. I sort of look around. Are there any cops nearby? [01:53:34] Speaker A: Like, are we being followed? [01:53:36] Speaker C: Being followed? [01:53:37] Speaker B: Oh, you know, spot hidden. Give it to me. Sure. [01:53:40] Speaker E: Oh, no. Scariest check in the game. [01:53:49] Speaker D: Oh, my God. I should not be rolling this good today. This is freaking me out. [01:53:54] Speaker A: Shit. I'll hear you. [01:53:55] Speaker E: I did that hard. [01:53:56] Speaker D: I'm sorry. [01:53:57] Speaker A: Roll 20. [01:53:57] Speaker D: Please be kind to me. [01:53:59] Speaker B: Okay, so as you're walking away from the police, pretty soon, you check behind you to make sure no one's following you. And, Adelaide, you're the one that sees it. No one's following you. But you do notice someone walking into the precinct, a familiar individual who visited your shop not more than one day ago. [01:54:26] Speaker A: This bitch, JB. JB? Yes, JB, that's him. Don't be weird, rubber neck and motherfucker. [01:54:46] Speaker C: Now that we're not safe yet. That really shit. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. [01:54:52] Speaker B: Yes. [01:54:55] Speaker C: Now let's continue walking. And then I. I heard some things. [01:55:00] Speaker D: Yeah, me, too. [01:55:01] Speaker A: Let's keep moving. I. I would like to boot scoot. Boogie out of this unsavory part of town, please and thank you to where folks of our complexion are going to be decidedly safer. [01:55:16] Speaker D: Thanks. [01:55:16] Speaker B: Okay, so you. You all said you. You're heading towards the armory, right? All right, that's the one that. That's the one that I was hoping we'd get to. [01:55:30] Speaker A: Okay, that's good, but also makes me nervous. [01:55:33] Speaker D: I'm scared. [01:55:36] Speaker B: So you all make it to the 369th Regimental Armory, which occupies half a block bound by West 142nd street and West 143rd street, just off of the Harlem river. You make it in and you see a. You see Lieutenant Lawrence Lance is in charge of the armory, and he's just sitting there pretty much welcoming individuals in as they come in. And he sees you. Hey, folks, just someone lounge around. Know anybody here? Let's go. What's going on? [01:56:15] Speaker A: How you doing, LT? [01:56:18] Speaker B: Another day. [01:56:23] Speaker A: You know, we. [01:56:26] Speaker B: Were. [01:56:27] Speaker A: We were hoping that Sam was in. Have you seen him? [01:56:34] Speaker B: No, he's not. He's not in right now. [01:56:39] Speaker E: Know where you can find him? [01:56:43] Speaker B: You know, I'm not usually in the business of giving other grown men's life location, folks. Uh, you can all attempt a charm or persuade. [01:56:56] Speaker D: I'm also looking for my brother, just in case, or like any of his army buddies, I might recognize. [01:57:05] Speaker B: I'm sorry, one more time. [01:57:07] Speaker D: It said, I'm looking for my brother, or possibly any of. Oh, my gosh, any of his. His friends, or also these french folks. What is it called? [01:57:19] Speaker A: Phoenix Squad. [01:57:21] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm more. I'll be honest with you, I'm less persuading this guy, and I'm more looking for them. [01:57:27] Speaker B: As soon as you say the Phoenix squad, his head kind of goes down. Yeah, that's a no. It's. We're losing some folks over on the Phoenix squad. [01:57:50] Speaker D: What do you mean? [01:57:52] Speaker B: He goes to the wall and he pulls off. He pulls down a newspaper and. [01:58:02] Speaker A: Oh. [01:58:05] Speaker C: What? [01:58:06] Speaker D: Oh, well. [01:58:07] Speaker E: Oh, no, that's not good at all. [01:58:11] Speaker B: Would anyone like to read? [01:58:12] Speaker D: I can't read this. I don't know. I have my real glasses on. [01:58:15] Speaker A: I will. [01:58:16] Speaker D: Some tiny ass print. [01:58:18] Speaker A: Le Petit Great war officers killed and desecrated from the desk of Coralie Descotot. It is with great sorrow we report that a national hero, retired Lieutenant Vassau Maconde, was found murdered in his home yesterday. Lieutenant Devasau Macon was a decorated french citizen who served honorably in the Great War as commander of the United States Forces of the 369th Infantry Regiment, a regiment which played a vital role in the liberation of Belleau Wood. While police have kept the state of the body undisclosed from witnesses interviewed by this reporter, it was believed to be mutilated in some fashion. It has come to our attention that another officer, Jean Wolfe, who served with Lieutenant Macon, unfortunately passed a year ago and whose grave was dug up and the body was desecrated. The police are keeping the details to themselves, but this is truly a sad day. [01:59:30] Speaker B: And it's at that moment Raymond runs in, slams the door closed, and you just hear him go, fuck. Shit, man. And Lance goes over to him. And Ruby, I assume that you do as well. [01:59:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:59:54] Speaker B: And you see that he is covered in blood. His hands are covered in blood. [02:00:01] Speaker A: Oh, God. [02:00:02] Speaker B: And there is a defeated look in his eyes as he looks to Lance and says, they got another one. [02:00:17] Speaker D: Ray, are you hurt? What is this? Are you okay? [02:00:25] Speaker B: He just taps his chest at a ghost. It's not my. [02:00:37] Speaker A: Lt. Can we. Can we get some water? [02:00:41] Speaker D: Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit. [02:00:42] Speaker E: To cleanest boy with. [02:00:47] Speaker B: He looks. He goes, uh. I went to Tommy Moore's shop. Um, Tommy. Tommy and me, we all served. Everybody in, uh, everybody in the house. They, uh. [02:01:19] Speaker D: Everybody. [02:01:20] Speaker A: No, no, no, no. Ray. [02:01:29] Speaker D: Oh, my goodness. [02:01:32] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [02:01:35] Speaker B: Um. Uh, yeah, I I need to go. Um. [02:01:45] Speaker D: No, please stay, stay. Where are you going? [02:01:51] Speaker B: I just, um. I got a. I got a. I gotta go talk to Sam. [02:01:58] Speaker D: Well, let me come. Let me come with you. We should all. We should all go. We should go, right? [02:02:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Let's get you. Let's get you a new shirt. Clean up your hands. [02:02:09] Speaker A: Come on now, Ray. Ray, honey, we're not. I ain't letting you wander off by yourself, not after what we saw, especially. [02:02:21] Speaker D: Not looking like that. [02:02:22] Speaker A: No. [02:02:24] Speaker B: Has anybody seen becks? Mandy. [02:02:29] Speaker E: Wasn'T at the party, so. No. [02:02:37] Speaker D: Is this. [02:02:39] Speaker B: Lance puts a hand on. On Raymond's shoulder and he goes, sit down, brother. Take a breath. Ain't over there, so you can take a breath. And Raymond is just calming down. [02:03:02] Speaker D: Raymond? [02:03:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:03:06] Speaker D: Is. Is someone picking off hellfighters? [02:03:15] Speaker B: Lance immediately looks to Raymond and Raymond looks to Lance. Raimi just goes, we gotta find backs. [02:03:36] Speaker D: We'll go with you. [02:03:40] Speaker B: All right. And so you all join Raymond as he looks for his friend Bex. And I believe that is where we're going to call it for today. [02:04:04] Speaker A: Okay? [02:04:07] Speaker D: Why did I make my brother got this bloody negro hellfighter? [02:04:12] Speaker A: I am nothing. No, we're gonna. No, we're gonna get. We're gonna get this boy cleaned up first. We ain't gonna let him go wander around Harlan. A blank shirt. [02:04:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. No, that's not. That's not a good look. [02:04:22] Speaker A: That ain't kosher. [02:04:23] Speaker E: That's not the good look. [02:04:25] Speaker A: Friends, foes, and fiends, thank you for joining us here at Queen's Court games for our second installment of Harlem Hellfighters never die, a scenario from Chris Spivey's Harlem unbound for Call of Cthulhu, 7th edition. [02:04:50] Speaker B: I think that's a good sign. [02:04:52] Speaker D: It's a sign. [02:04:54] Speaker A: That's a sign. All right. Thank you for bearing with us as we trump through this world, written by a man who would have hated the fact that each and every one of us is getting his. Our grubby little hands on his imaginary world. And that's why we're here, to be perfectly honest, I would like to go around and have each and every one of us tell you a little bit about ourselves, what we're working on, where you can find us. So, Rob, whatcha doing? Where can we find you? [02:05:27] Speaker C: Hello, Robert Madison the second, also known as Mad Doctor Rob on the everywhere. As I've been playing Johnny JB Williams, you can find me, generally speaking, with obsidian bruise. We are a group of black tabletop creators, and we are all over the place this summer, which is fantastic. Hoping to get more people of color and black people of color into tabletop and playing games and telling your story stories. We will be depending on where, when you see us, we will be at multiple Con. So if you happen to be at blurred Con, we'll be there. If you happen to be at Gen Con, we'll be there. If you happen to be at Dragon Con, we'll be there. We are streaming every so often. You can catch us on our YouTube page where you can see maps and some other some of our live streams. If you would like to see me personally yet again, mad Doctor Rob on the everywheres. I make maps in my spare time and if you would like to just see my maps, feel free to check me out on Instagram at MDR Map emporium where you can see just my maps and you can also see me here with all these wonderful people and it's awesome. Love it. I love it. [02:06:51] Speaker A: Thank you, Rob. Christian, where can people find you if they want to see more of you? [02:06:55] Speaker E: Hey, when I'm not running from black drama, you can find me. You can find me all over the Internet as a fluffy Goomba on all the socials, mainly on TikTok and Twitch where I play games with my friends several days, several games. It's a random assortment of entertainment. You can also find me on Thursdays on roll. For Dylan, that's r oll, the number four d y l a n for vampire, the masquerades darkness over New Orleans, and you can find me as a recording. I am currently on the initiative. Order on Saturdays with their Aroot TTRPG show, midnight in the marshes. And of course, every Sunday you can find me on total party kiss for tragedy, theologian, greek myth inspired five e campaign. I have been Dwayne Bishop, a handyman who wishes he went to work. And that's me. [02:07:57] Speaker A: Thank you, Christian. Jazz where could people find you if they want to see more of you? [02:08:02] Speaker B: What up? [02:08:03] Speaker D: I'm Jaz, also known as Cinderskoria on Twitter and also discord. I just finalized that. Yeah, I know, right? I didn't have to put any numbers or anything. I'm so proud of myself. Anyway, yeah, you can find me here. Queen's court games. I'm usually hanging around, just lurking in general, but I'm also picking up multiple projects, some that cannot be announced yet, some that might have been announced by the time this comes out. We'll see. You can see me on Twitter. That's where I drop all of my news and stuff like that. So that is primarily my social media for now. You can also find me on other Sider studios playing Mo Jackson in our the arcane corps, our monster of the week game. We are heading into season three. If you have not caught up though. Thank you. [02:08:51] Speaker B: Thank you. [02:08:52] Speaker D: If you're not caught up, though, you can look on YouTube for all of the vods for arcane. Arcane Corps one and two. And you can see mo go from, like, really confident to, like, really traumatized, like, practically overnight. Yeah, I know, right? Isn't it bonkers? I have been Ruby. Almost called a rose. Ruby Sampson, a photographer who's in over her head. [02:09:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:09:23] Speaker D: Oh, boy. [02:09:24] Speaker A: Oh, Boyden. And of course, our wonderful keeper. Nor, if people want to see more of your wonderful work, where can they find you? [02:09:33] Speaker B: Gen Con TV every Friday, critical misses every Saturday morning, and queue times every Monday evening. But that is me. This has been a blast. Thank you all and pass it all to you. [02:09:50] Speaker A: And I am Laura. Or Tutu. Or Laura Tutu usually find me on various social medias as some iteration of Laura underscore tutu. You might just have to throw another underscore at the beginning and the end of that. I run social media here at Queen's court games. You could probably call me the headship poster in chief. As I like to always say, if you've seen anything ridiculous on the Twitter or the Instagram or the Facebook, it was probably my fault. Sorry. No, I'm not. If you want to see me perform, you can listen to me on the all night society with Queen's court games as calamity Madden, the gangrel werewolf hunter. We've got a lot of fabulous things coming down the pipeline that I don't think I could talk about yet, but it's going to be fabulous. Make sure you come hang out with us at Queen's court games. You can find us most everywhere at Queen's court games, except for on Twitter, where we have to be Queen's court rpg due to character limit. And we'll also drop a link for our discord so you can come hang out and talk to this fabulous cast about the trauma that we are enduring. But thank you all for sticking with us. Thank you all for witnessing this wonderful story. And we will see you on the flip side. [02:11:11] Speaker C: Good night.