Vaesen - This Too is a Gift, Episode 2

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hello, friends, and welcome to another single serving tabletop adventure from Queen's court games. I am Aaron. If you paid any attention at all last week, you know I'm not your GM today because we have a very special guest who is taking us to the frozen north of Scandinavia to get shot at on a choo choo train. That is a spoiler for episode one of this too is a gift. Which means if you are totally confused by that, if you are angry that it's been spoiled for you, pause the stream, go back to YouTube podcast. We've had this conversation before, and honestly, it's like an oppositional, defiant thing that you're doing. I don't know if it's for the attention or whatever, but we need talk about it. Probably not in chat, probably not here on stream, but shoot me a DM and we'll work through this regardless. We are nothing but kind and patient people. So if you are one of the folks who has no idea what's going on, doesn't get any of these jokes, go to one shot of the mischief, our podcast. Go to Queen's Court games, our YouTube channel. Watch episode one. It's really good. Like, I promise you'll like this one more if you watch that one, and we will be here when you get back. That is sufficient time to watch a previous three hour episode. We are here. Like I said, we are playing this two as a gift, an original scenario for Vezin written by our very special guest GM, who I will be introducing in just a moment. But I am a creature of habit, which means putting bleak scissors into the end and talking about the rest of our cast first. You know who I am, or at least I presume you do. And if not, like again, go back to the DM thing, because there are several things I need to catch you up on about this whole channel before we go any further. That said, another name that you are probably familiar with, who I will introduce anyway. She's our social media menace. Outdoor occultist Elizabeth Jensen. It is Laura Tutu. [00:01:49] Speaker B: Hi. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Next up, part time producer and full time fiend playing the dashing detective who will soon have to dodge Alex Rollin. It is Katoace. I'm starting to wonder about this person's professional bona fides because their entire identity is Latinos against spooky shit. And yet Doctor Drago Markovich seems to be full of it. But they are here nevertheless. Jonathan. [00:02:18] Speaker C: Hola buena stardes. [00:02:20] Speaker A: And lastly, but not leastly, I already said his name. And if you're like, oh my God, I forgot. That is good news because I'm about to remind you, it is bleak season. Joining us from the frozen north, the shores of the Great Lakes in between. I don't know, what do people get into in Canada? Like, what's a, what's a good, like, canadian pastime? Curling. [00:02:39] Speaker D: In between Tim Hortons in. [00:02:41] Speaker A: Yeah, in between curling and chugging down Timmy Hortons. Bleak season is here to be our special guest. [00:02:47] Speaker D: Hey. [00:02:50] Speaker A: You can find links to all of their sorted social media accounts by putting exclamation point cast in chat. You should probably also hit enter, that is how you send it, and activate the bot that will provide those links. If you have no idea what Vezin is and you're like, kind of like to play it or perhaps buy it, you can use exclamation point scenario. Same rules. If you're watching on YouTube or looking in the show notes on a podcast, feel free to just scroll on down. Don't type shit, man. Live your best lazy life just right there. You can probably click it from the app you're using. It's going to be really, really easy. Not so easy, though, this scenario for people who find certain themes objectionable or uncomfortable because this game, in addition to occultism, can include insects, self harm and violence, both of the throne table and the firearms variety. There's a full list of content warnings in chat. Again, exclamation Point Safety Show Notes podcast, YouTube give those a look before we get started. Just make sure everything's on the up and up for you, and take your time. Be careful. We want you to enjoy our being haunted as much as possible. Now, with all of that said, it is once again my forever GM honor to hand the reins over to someone else for once. Bleak season will you continue our story. [00:05:10] Speaker D: My friends? We are playing Vasen, a game of supernatural folk horror investigation set in Scandinavia in the 18 hundreds. In this particular case, our four intrepid investigators here have been tasked by a lawyer in Uppsala by the name of Bertolt Gerhard to travel to Stavanger, where they are to investigate the eruption of some sort of strange disease in a shipyard owned by a company called Loch Spindler. This lockspinler company is a known antagonist of the group that these players represent, and so they are tasked with not only solving the mystery at the heart of it, but also performing a little investigation on site, seeing if there's anything to be gleaned. On the trip to Stavanger, the four investigators found themselves in a rather supernatural pickle, perhaps as the train they were riding on. First of all, had a few other people that they knew that they met, including a detective and a strange occultist woman. As the discussions progressed, as the evening the ride, the train ride progressed, they found themselves beset by what appears to be a vasin, some sort of creature who has taken to taunting a good doctor by tapping on the glass window behind him, but also a masked man who has appeared out of nowhere, perhaps to take a shot at Thea, the occultist that I mentioned a moment ago. And so, as we begin this particular episode, the heroes are. The colonel and Elizabeth are in one of the train wagons with Thea who has just been shot, and the masked gunman who is attempting to flee the scene of the crime. In another wagon nearby we have the detective Rollin and the good doctor who have just made a strange discovery about the good doctor and the multitudes he contains and may now have to face off themselves with a gunman. Before we begin, a few words to discover our true self among a litany of possibilities. To discover that which we did not even know was hidden. To discover the horrors hidden within us that we might better learn to tame them. To discover that the gift of guilt can be the most precious gift of all. To drink a full measure from the well of darkness and still find light at the bottom of the cup. This too is a gift, my friends. Shall we then? I am very happy to give the colonel his action that I interrupted so rudely last time before we move to an initiative. You are on the train. It is dark, apparently empty, or at least everyone has gone to bed. The scenery outside moves by very sluggishly, as if the train was moving in slow motion. Perhaps, though on the train everything seems to be moving at sort of the regular pace. The gunman has entered the wagon in which the colonel and Elizabeth are and from all the way across the wagon with an expert shot as taken down Thea Carlson, a strange, giant, golden skinned, trollish creature, has manifested out of nowhere to try and protect Elizabeth, wrapping her up in his arms and putting his own body in the way of any future shots. And before we go to initiative, the colonel was just about to say. [00:09:30] Speaker A: Well, this not being a gas station or a fast food restaurant in Texas, the colonel is not open carrying for no reason. So I assume his weapons are back in his sleeping container or compartment. In his sleeping compartment? [00:09:44] Speaker D: You mean his coffin? Yes. [00:09:46] Speaker A: Yes, we're all ghosts. No, sorry. Back in. So I'm going to reach for the nearest thing that is not pinned down, uh, and see if I can hurl it at this person if nothing else, to. To distract them from further shooting. Knock them down. They're trying to get away or. Or something like. [00:10:04] Speaker D: Well, they are fairly far away. And I would say, actually, you had mentioned a table, but I would think the table in a train would very likely be bolted down or very heavy. However, I will say that you can certainly find something at hand to throw. They would likely be a number of things. Decorations, things of that nature. So I will say that you may certainly make an attempt to grab something, even if it's just a stool, perhaps to fling at them. [00:10:32] Speaker A: A bar stool. Sounds fantastic. [00:10:34] Speaker D: Perfect. Go ahead. And you will make an accuracy roll. So you will roll your. Sorry, is it accuracy or precision? I forget the exact wording. [00:10:49] Speaker A: Precision and ranged combat. [00:10:50] Speaker D: Yeah, precision and ranged combat. [00:10:54] Speaker A: I have many, many, many dice. Let's hope it works out. [00:10:58] Speaker D: You are looking for at least one six. [00:11:00] Speaker A: Yeah. There are two there. Yes, two. Two sixes. [00:11:06] Speaker D: That is an absolutely excellent roll. You pick up this stool and with strength, perhaps that is not readily apparent in your older body, you fling it with unherring precision and it flies across the wagon. And as the gunman is turning to flee, it hits him in the back. He staggers. And then something strange happens where he seems to sort of glitch for a moment. And you see him, rather than being his back turned to you and staggering from the stool that you've just thrown at him. You see him standing as he was a split second ago, facing you with his gun up and moving to the side. And the stool somehow having gone back in time, and now moving harmlessly since he now knows that it's coming. And it hits the wall next to him just as he turns and jumps over it and heads through the door into the next wagon. My friends, I will say. I will say this. Whatever damage you did do, did happen. There's no rewinding the damage. So the hit was successful. He's just managed to move things around a little bit. We'll do initiative here, just to get an idea of who does what and when. Initiative in basin is handled by cards. You can't see my cards now. You can. I'll draw a card from each of you. Some of you might have a talent that would allow you to affect the initiative. So you may wish to take a look at that. Another interesting aspect of Vasen is that you may choose, on your action, to switch initiative with a ally. I will draw them in the order that I see you on my screen. The colonel will be going at five. [00:13:09] Speaker A: Not to be the first one to mess it up. But I have. Battle hardened is my talent, which allows. [00:13:14] Speaker D: Your choices between five and one. [00:13:16] Speaker A: Is one good or bad? Well, one goes first, then I'll take one. [00:13:21] Speaker D: Very well. Balhardon is a talent that allows you to get two cards for initiative and choose between them and not now. The thing about basin initiative is that sometimes it's good to go later in the game, because then you can save your fast action to dodge or parry. But anywhere goes. Doctor will go at eight, this bit will go at six. Oh, roll. I'll go at ten. And our friend, let's draw a couple. All right, add one. Doctor. Sorry, Colonel. [00:14:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I didn't go to four years of military school. It'd be called doctor. [00:14:16] Speaker D: Called doctor. Yes, absolutely. [00:14:19] Speaker A: So the second by second play, I suppose, is you see the doctor reach for the table and it's stuck, and then that doesn't work. So grabbing the bar stool and like grandpa strength, as bleak season said, like overhand, hurling it down with the precision of a throwing axe. Right. Just square down and before it even impacts, the battle hardened tactic says, I need to close the distance, because whether it hits or not, I need to be on top of this adversary so I can. I'm not armed, so it's going to be fisticuffs. So just charging in before that immediate strike. Lesson number 117 at the Swedish Military Academy is that you never waste the violence of action. And if the person's on the back foot, you have to charge in. That is what the colonel is doing. So in terms of movement, I think, then is it a combined action to rush and try to tackle this person. [00:15:10] Speaker D: Or are there range kinds of things in the basin system, you get to do one slow and one fast action or two fast actions. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Okay. [00:15:19] Speaker D: A typical slow action. If you look at the tab on the spreadsheet, the basic rules tab will tell you what typical slow actions are and what typical fast actions are to do a chase, which is probably a fast action. So you could conceivably attempt to chase, and then if it's successful, you would be in a position to then attempt to tackle with your slow action. [00:15:42] Speaker A: That sounds like. I would like to do that. [00:15:44] Speaker D: So you will do an agility roll. So basically, in order to do a chase, we do opposed agility rolls. Just agility, no other skill. We do opposed agility roll. Whoever has more successes wins the chase. [00:15:59] Speaker A: Wish I would have known that before I decided what we're going to do. Because of all the things that the colonel is, he is not agile. [00:16:06] Speaker D: But would you like to change your action? [00:16:07] Speaker A: No, I'm a man of my word. And the colonel doesn't care that he's not good at it. That's part of being a 55 year old white mandehead. Scandinavia. So away he goes with a two. So zero successes as he starts charging off into the direction of our friend. [00:16:25] Speaker D: Well, all that that means is that you do manage to get all the way to the end of this hall and now you get to make a decision. He has basically beaten you, so he has jumped into the next wagon. You can use another fast action to change zones, which means that you would get into the next wagon also. [00:16:43] Speaker A: But the fast action was my chase. I only have a slow. [00:16:45] Speaker D: Yeah, so you can either do a slow and a fast or too fast. [00:16:48] Speaker A: Oh, well, this is cool then. I think so. Agility being what it is, there is the spry leap into the moment, run in charge, and then immediately remembering that he's 54 years old. So I don't want to say it's comical and that there's a stitch in the cap or something like that, but there's definitely an immediate recognition of like, oh, okay. This person is way, way faster than I am. However, with all the people watching, I think he's going to keep running anyway and see if he can't close that distance. If nothing else, based on my understanding of the train map, we are running towards where the doctors. Where the doctor and the colonel's cabins are. [00:17:33] Speaker D: Right. [00:17:33] Speaker A: So he wants to be in that direction. Anyway. Let's keep sprinting. [00:17:37] Speaker D: Very well. So you will jump across, come around the corner, and you will see him sort of dashing down the corridor. But he hasn't had his action yet, so we'll see to that when we get there. Excellent. At five. It is his action at five. And so he will take a fast action to move through this zone and another one to move through here, at which point we go back to the moment when the doctor and the detective saw dismasted armed gunmen come around the corner, see them and raise his weapon. At six, Elizabeth. [00:18:19] Speaker A: I would like to add that the thundering sound of his footsteps lets you know just how much of the colonel there is. He is a big man. [00:18:28] Speaker B: Um. Oh, okay. So I'm on the ground and my, my troll friend is protecting me. Game master, has he become corporeal in this? [00:18:41] Speaker D: Yes. [00:18:41] Speaker B: Okay. In that case, I am going to say something to the effect of bergamot. Please get up. And should he allow me to. I'm going to scramble over to Tia. [00:18:56] Speaker D: He is going to close his eyes and sort of feel around for a little bit, and he'll say, I think it's safe. And he will move himself. And as he does, he will stand here and look down the hallway in the direction that the shot in the colonel took off from and allow you to move so you can do your action. What would you like to do? [00:19:19] Speaker B: Well, part of what I have on my gear is medical equipment. I imagine there might be a larger satchel in my quarters. I'm not as well trained as the doctor, but, you know, field medicine, it'd probably be the closest thing. So if I have access to a small portion of that, I would like to see what I could do to stabilize thea. [00:19:46] Speaker D: Right. So theia has sustained critical condition, which I will roll right now. Ooh, a dirty wound. Um, give me a medicine check. So that will be your, um, your precision in medicine. [00:20:29] Speaker B: That is two successes, two sixes. [00:20:32] Speaker D: All right, so you know that with a dirty wound, there's a very strong chance of infection, of sepsis, and it could be very dangerous and could lead to her death in a matter of days. And so you will attempt to. You can't heal the condition per se, but you can stabilize her. So one success allows you to stabilize another. One will heal one condition so that she's able to sort of stand up and move. She's no longer broken, but she does have this wound that will require hospitalization or further medical care. But you have managed, with your training, to at least staunch the worst of the bleeding and make sure that she's not going to die on you. Sort of. Right now, she is hacking and coughing and seems to be in a lot of pain. You wish you had something to give to her, but unfortunately, you do not right now. So that is your. While you are in the bar. Carla said that is your slow action. So would you like to take a fast action? [00:21:38] Speaker B: Ha ha. Fast action. Um, this is a bad idea, but I'm gonna chase after the colonel. [00:21:48] Speaker D: Um, as you go to chase after the colonel, Bergamot will put a hand out there and go. I don't think you should go. [00:21:55] Speaker B: I. I can't just. I can't just leave them to their own devices. What if they need me? [00:22:04] Speaker C: She needs you. [00:22:10] Speaker B: Game master, can I grab a bottle of spirits from the bar? [00:22:14] Speaker D: Yep, you absolutely can. [00:22:15] Speaker B: Okay. [00:22:17] Speaker D: For yourself or for the patient? [00:22:19] Speaker B: For the patient. I will stay to triage. [00:22:23] Speaker D: All right. Um, at eight, doctor, you were just having an argument or a strong discussion with your good friend the detective when you heard a gunshot. You had also just made a rather strange discovery about yourself. But to be honest, you only have Roland's word for that. You yourself haven't seen the situation. So you, I believe Roland headed out first. So Roland is ahead of you. You come out and you see just coming around the corner, dismast individual. What would you like to do if. [00:23:10] Speaker C: Rowland is agreeable to it? I'd like to give them my initiative and take theirs. [00:23:18] Speaker D: Absolutely. If Alan wants to switch initiative with you. [00:23:23] Speaker E: Sure. [00:23:24] Speaker C: Because I think it makes more sense for you to be upfront. [00:23:26] Speaker D: And so at eight, what would you like to do? [00:23:32] Speaker E: Uh, I will be drawing my rapier as I am a fencer and I am going to run. Uh, I think that as a fencer I also don't have, I don't lose, have a penalty to draw the weapon. I think that was one for you. [00:23:51] Speaker D: To tell me that. Say again? No. As fencer you get use precision in close combat. [00:23:59] Speaker E: Mmm. Okay. [00:24:01] Speaker D: That is what it gives you. So you draw your weapon, which is a fast action, then you can move in to engage, which is another fast action. But you will not get to actually. [00:24:07] Speaker E: Engage then, yes, that would be what I would do. I would get as close as possible. [00:24:12] Speaker D: All right, so you close the distance with this masked man, a nine, because he has an ability to give some two actions. At nine, he decides to teach you that bringing a sword to a gunfight is not necessarily always the best thing to do. And I will say that you noticed this as you were approaching. He has the gun up and point at you. And then as you approach, his eyes shift a little bit and as you get closer, his aim shifts down and he shoots lower than he was aiming originally. All right, I have two successes. So the shot rings out. The shot rings out and you feel this searing pain. One of the success is going to go towards hitting a part of the body other than just the chest. You feel the searing pain as basically your kneecap shatters. Under this shot, you take two wounds. So two physical conditions. The pain rips all the way through your leg, all the way inside of you. And it's not just the pain, but in some ways it's also, it's kind of insulting. You drew your sword and you ran for this guy and he just very kind of nonchalantly shot you. And what's even more insulting, I think, is the fact that you are now on the ground, unable to move a few feet away from him and are an excessively easy target. [00:26:11] Speaker E: Can I have a very small flavor free action? [00:26:17] Speaker D: Sure. [00:26:18] Speaker E: Presuming with a shattered kneecap that I downed onto my knees. And I raise my head and I look directly at him and I go, big mistake. [00:26:36] Speaker D: And all those prophetic words. Doctor. [00:26:41] Speaker C: Drago. Normally, the doctor would be fleeing because. Doctor. Right. Pero a pun intended. A spirit swells within him as he rushes headfirst into the fray, but tends to Rowlin. So I want to go over to Rowlin. I want to have my back turned to this individual. Partially as a show of respect, but also kind of to show that I'm not trying to have a front confrontation with them. I'm gonna rush over and. Rowland, dear boy, I've told you a hundred times, you cannot bring a saber to a gunfight. And I'm gonna go ahead and bandage them. Kind of looking over my shoulder every now and again and referring to this individual being like, you've made your point. I'm not sure what your point is, other than shooting people. But I think we can find a hopeful resolution to these bombs and quarrels that we have. As I do a medicine check on my dear friend. There's a lot of dice I have to roll. Good God. [00:28:14] Speaker D: Sorry I was muted, Jonathan, but unfortunately, as for your system, you cannot actually. The only thing you can treat in the middle of an action is critical injury, which Roland did not get yet. [00:28:29] Speaker C: Shattered knee. Sounds like a critical injury to me. [00:28:32] Speaker D: Yes, but it's. The shattered knee is for flavor at this particular point because didn't actually get three. Okay, I'm reading now the injuries to heal physical conditions. Otherwise you have to be in a safe location. You are not in a safe location. So you can't just. It's not like, you know, it's not. [00:28:52] Speaker C: Like taking a health. Like giving somebody a health potion. Got it. [00:28:56] Speaker D: So you could do something like grab Ron and try to pull them away. For example. [00:29:01] Speaker C: I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm gonna under hook and start dragging them backwards. While still having set that to set assailant as I try to pull them back into the safety of the room. [00:29:13] Speaker D: Excellent. You hear? [00:29:17] Speaker E: I'm trying not to resist very much. Kind of like fighting only slightly. [00:29:22] Speaker C: Yeah, Rowland, it's fine to you, boy. I understand. We will. We'll get him on the next one. Shut the fuck up, Rowland. Come on. [00:29:29] Speaker E: Clapping your arm on my back like. [00:29:33] Speaker D: You'Re here. I got the good stuff behind this character. And we go back to the very beginning with, in fact, the colonel, who you have just heard another shot go off, colonel. So you can spend a first fast action to move and I will say that it will take you all the way into the next. Into the next wagon if you want it. [00:30:00] Speaker A: I am currently in the wagon that has my room in it. Right? [00:30:04] Speaker D: Yes. [00:30:04] Speaker A: So would it be a fast and a fast. Well, it would be a fast action to go into my room and then another fast action to retrieve my rifle. [00:30:13] Speaker D: I will say that you can go in your room, retrieve your rifle and move to the door, but not be in the next wagon. [00:30:18] Speaker A: Okay, let's take that then, because I. [00:30:20] Speaker D: Is that fine? [00:30:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:21] Speaker D: I will assume your rifle is somewhere easily accessible and. Oh, yeah, you know, I don't think that it's, you know, dismantled and put away in a safe case under lock and key under the bed. [00:30:33] Speaker A: Oh, I don't know. [00:30:33] Speaker D: It's not that kind of error. [00:30:35] Speaker A: I don't think you could disassemble these rifles back then they were the whole solid. [00:30:40] Speaker D: You could, but it was rather final. So, yes, I will say you can dodge into your room, grab the rifle. You know, it is probably already loaded. You just need to. [00:30:52] Speaker A: It's very, very cinematic. If he's fumbling cartridges in, as he's charging forward towards the. [00:30:59] Speaker D: And sorting all that out. Excellent. At six, Elizabeth, is there anything you would like to do? [00:31:11] Speaker B: Well, I will have poured tia a small thimbleful of what I miss. What's it? Aquavit. I think that's the spirit. Known spirit in Scandinavia. But, yeah, I. I'm. I'm doing. I'm doing triage, and as I'm handing her this small thimbleful, I'm just. What? Do you know them? [00:31:43] Speaker D: Um, before I answer that question, I just want to point out you have an item called Bergamot's satchel. [00:31:51] Speaker B: I do. [00:31:53] Speaker D: There may be something useful in there that you could you find to. If you wish to use it. You don't have to. I'm just pointing it out as an option. You might be able to find something in there that would actually allow you to do a bit more for her in this particular instance. I'm totally up to you. [00:32:09] Speaker B: You know what? Yeah, let's do that. Need a d six. [00:32:15] Speaker D: Yeah. So you have a troll bag. So tell us what this troll bag does. [00:32:19] Speaker B: So, my friend Bergamot gifted me with a troll bag. It contains a multitude of items. Some of them are more useful than others, and once per session, I am able to reach into the bag and attempt to pull out something useful. Rolling a d six two through five is random, but potentially useful. Six is the exact item that I need. [00:32:48] Speaker D: What is the exact item that you would like to get. [00:32:54] Speaker B: We said that the, the wound is such that she's, she's going to need a hospital or she could potentially succumb to infection. [00:33:02] Speaker D: Yes, yes. [00:33:07] Speaker B: Penicillin. [00:33:09] Speaker D: Was penicillin invented even back, back in 18? When was penicillin invented? [00:33:14] Speaker B: No, when it was invented. [00:33:16] Speaker D: But, like, you could just like some herbal remedy that would help with infection. [00:33:20] Speaker B: Sure, that'll do. Yeah. A specific herbal remedy that I remember used to battle serious infection. Apparently we're a bit off. [00:33:31] Speaker D: Okay, literally a hundred years too early for penicillin, but you're sitting there on the train thinking someone should invent this. [00:33:38] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:33:39] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's only a four. [00:33:42] Speaker D: Okay, well, so at a four, you get something random but possibly useful. So what I will say is give me another d. Six. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Three. [00:34:00] Speaker D: Okay, I will say that you. Okay, so I will say that you pull out some random piece of medical equipment. We don't need to get into exactly what it is, but what I will allow you to do with this running piece of medical equipment is I will allow you to make another medicine roll. And if this medicine roll is successful, I will allow you to, rather than it working automatically as a six, would have to fix it. If your role is successful, it will do what you want it to do. That would be your medicine plus your precision. [00:34:49] Speaker A: Yes. [00:34:51] Speaker B: Well, I did get one six. [00:34:53] Speaker D: All right, so that's good. Yeah. So you find, you know, rubbing alcohol or something, or the equivalent thereof or something, and you manage to clean the wound. So that is no longer a dirty wound and so there is no more fear of sepsis. [00:35:08] Speaker B: Okay, I will accept that. Uh, still asking the, the question. Um, what, what was that? What did you, what do you know? Who do you know? Do you know them? [00:35:22] Speaker D: Um, she will say. What will she say? Um, through gritted teeth, obviously in pain. I I don't know them. No one can know them. But I know what he is. He's, he's a merkle far. And that look is you remembering that. I sent you notes about that. So I'll let you go and find that. Meanwhile, back in the other train, our friend gets to go. He watches you pull your friend to safety. A little bit further back, he hears the good colonel coming up behind him. He takes a few steps forward, looks over to the side with the hand with the gun, breaks the window. The curtains of fly out dragged out by the thing of the air. You now realize the train is moving at its normal speed. And he looks at the two of you, stares at you very intently. For a moment and then hoists himself up on the side of the window and rolls out. Now, as he does this, the darkness that had pervaded the train is broken by the moonlight outside that starts to filter in through this broken window. Rollin, I would need you to make me a logic roll at a disadvantage, and it is a difficult role. [00:37:17] Speaker E: At a disadvantage, meaning I have two dice. Minus two dice. I also have the mental condition of hopeless because we did not clear conditions. [00:37:28] Speaker D: So minus three dice. [00:37:30] Speaker E: Minus three dice. Just straight logic roll. [00:37:33] Speaker C: Hey, we got those advantages. You can dip into. [00:37:40] Speaker E: Zero successes, and I'm not taking that advantageous something deep. [00:37:49] Speaker D: Inside of you stairs. There's the pain, there's all the built up well, grief and sorrow and anything else that's been lying dormant inside of you. And something's happening to you, doctor. As you are pulling your friend to safety, your friend suddenly feels way heavier than he was a moment ago. When you look down at your friend, what does the doctor see? [00:38:28] Speaker E: He sees a form easily twice as large as what he knows Rollin to be. Rollin being a tall, willowy figure, he's holding a mass of muscle coming up through the shoulders into the forearms. The biceps are as big around as a regular man's thighs, and beneath his clothing has started to kind of stretch tight across his forearms. And as he looks further down, the hands, they're covered in dark blackish gray fur that ends with very long claws that dig into the rug as it kind of braces itself. [00:39:15] Speaker D: Neat. [00:39:18] Speaker C: Terrifying. [00:39:20] Speaker D: Doctor, would you make a fear check, please? Oh, God. [00:39:24] Speaker C: What is that? [00:39:25] Speaker D: It's either logic or empathy. Dealer's choice, straight up. If you have any, any sort of talent that gives you an advantage on. [00:39:42] Speaker C: It's one success, two successes. [00:39:45] Speaker D: I like two successes. Gig is, that's what you need. So you feel a sudden surge of panic and fear, as in front of you standing a monster of legend, a creature that you might not even have dreamed actually existed. Though you've read about them, you've heard about them stories, it was looking quite pissed off. It's wound is healing on the leg, but there is a ferocity and an anger that appears so deep seated in the eyes of this creature that you can literally watch the humanity and the logic, the logical part of its brain receding away. It's going further away. You know that if that disappears, you're probably gonna be fucked. Not gonna lie to you. [00:40:50] Speaker C: I appreciate the candor. I think there's a point where the doctor, right as the transformation is happening, he's doing that whole head back pulling thing, and notices he gets stuck before realizing the true visceral monstrosity standing before him. And again, there's that fight or flight that kicks in. But there's a third option. Diplomacy. There's always talking your way out of things. And by God, one of these spirits better be frickin good at it because we're gonna try it now. I think. I think he goes from tugging, you know, under hook, under the armpits tugging, to just kind of padding what is would now be, I guess, the lower back and shoulders and being like, rowdye, my boy, my good boy does a little script. [00:41:46] Speaker D: No? [00:41:46] Speaker C: All right. This is Rowland. This. You've gotten big. Listen, remember the times that you've brought me biscuits from the old baker down the road? Those were good times. Roland, you're, uh. You're a stout. [00:42:04] Speaker D: Yep. [00:42:04] Speaker C: My God, you're big. Elizabeth. I'm gonna shout for Elizabeth as well and be like, Rowland, you are better than this. You. Dare I say, I've never told you this. Rowland, you are the best detective in town, albeit possibly the only detective in town. But that does not take away from your skills or from the fact that you are the only one that I know that is willing to deal with me because I do shady things. Just kind of patting. Walking in front of him, kind of patting his chest. Just like. God, man, that is impressive. [00:42:42] Speaker D: Sort of around the werewolf under his arm. You see the colonel come around the corner with a rifle in his arm, in his hands. Colonel, you turn the corner to see some gigantic furry beast standing in front of the doctor. The doctor apparently attempting to sweet talk it down. I would need the colonel to give me a fear check to begin with. I do believe you have some sort of advantage against fear check. [00:43:12] Speaker A: Uh, no. [00:43:14] Speaker D: Don't you have, uh, notes? I am. Okay. [00:43:16] Speaker A: I don't believe I do. I know I have tactician, but I don't think that applies to this. That only applies, um, to. If I have a. I can ignore conditions, I believe. [00:43:24] Speaker D: Okay. Um. All right, cool. No, I thought you had. There's, um. There's a talent that gives you, however, the doctor is there, so you get an extra dice because you have a friend in the zone. [00:43:38] Speaker C: You got a friend anyway. [00:43:40] Speaker A: I was. [00:43:41] Speaker D: Logic or empathy. Plus one die. Plus if you want to use others. [00:43:45] Speaker A: From other situations, logic or empathy to surprise no one. The colonel is not an empathetic man, but he is a logical man. I have one success. Is that enough? [00:43:57] Speaker D: Well, so with the one success, you're not going to run away. But you are rooted in place for one turn, one action. As you try to process what you're seeing and kind of what's happening, there's. [00:44:09] Speaker A: Definitely stopping in place and lowering the weapon, but it's not like rising up to the shoulder. It's kind of just shaking a little bit. Kind of unclear what's going on. It's very nearly on the. In a movie when there's the. The evil twin and the good twin, and you're not sure what's going on, kind of pause, but wrapped up in the, like, oh, this thing. And I think you can free action talk during these. [00:44:39] Speaker D: Yes, absolutely. Okay, so we're kind of out of initiative. I did want to say, Elizabeth, we're going to just stay with the scene for a moment, and I'll come in and see you again. But, yeah, you can definitely say something. And after that, I will let Cato get an action then. [00:44:55] Speaker A: I don't know any swedish curse words, but Colonel Briglund does and lets one out in that low, like, son of a bit, but a bit more. [00:45:05] Speaker D: Saitan is the word you're looking for. Devil's cock is apparently a very. [00:45:14] Speaker A: So Drago just hears what in the devil's cock and then as the gun is kind of pointing back and forth between the two of you. [00:45:23] Speaker C: On hearing that, drago does not turn, but he does the, as much as I hate to reference it, the Chris Pratt Jurassic park. Just kind of calming everybody down. Just be like, Colonel, it's quite all right. We are trying to get our friend to calm down here. You understand that, right, Colonel? [00:45:42] Speaker A: So let's our friend. [00:45:45] Speaker E: I turn very slowly, and the full, like wolf head is just the outline, the profile of it. But as I turn, you see that there is the big gash down the left side of the face with the one white eye and the one deep dark brown, borderline black eye. [00:46:09] Speaker A: Is it fair to say, gm, that I can put one and one together? [00:46:14] Speaker D: Yeah. And I would think there would be remnants of clothing. [00:46:18] Speaker A: I don't know what escalates from, but now it's what in the devil's cock and balls? [00:46:26] Speaker C: You just keep adding anatomical features. [00:46:29] Speaker D: Wow. [00:46:30] Speaker E: What in the devil's cock and balls and taint. [00:46:34] Speaker D: So I want to sneeze and toe. I want to know what's going through Roland's mind and what Ron's doing. So you are losing. You're losing your ability to stay in control. It's slowly receding. The doctor's talking to you, and I will give the doctor an empathy check. In a moment here to see if he can actually help you. But in this moment, what is going through your mind and how are you reacting? [00:47:02] Speaker E: My first reaction is to turn and look at the colonel and then turn to the window and make an attempt to lean over the edge to see if I can see what shot me outside of the train. Upon clearly not being able to see it. Presumably. [00:47:25] Speaker D: You see something, you see an owl flying away. [00:47:32] Speaker E: I clock it very slowly, presuming that it kind of. Is it going off into the distance? Is it kind of passing by the train? [00:47:43] Speaker D: It kind of dipped and it's kind of coming back up and it looks like it's going to go over the train. It's one of those, like, we're looking barn owl things with a very flat face in the. [00:47:54] Speaker E: Sure. [00:47:55] Speaker D: It sort of flies up over the train. [00:47:58] Speaker E: I clock it and I watch it as it goes over. Once it. Once I can't see it any further, I snap my head back to the colonel, who has a gun pointed at me. And I just on all fours, just start moving slowly towards him, teeth bared, the sickly yellow, very, very sharp looking teeth with just a low guttural growl. [00:48:25] Speaker A: Rago. [00:48:28] Speaker C: But I'm gonna get in between the colonel and Rowland, like, now. Now, colonel, I don't think we point our weapons at colleagues. [00:48:41] Speaker A: Colleagues. [00:48:42] Speaker C: My Rowland, Rowdyn, my boy. I'm gonna. I'm gonna do that thing that you do with you. Fun fact. This is gonna be for the audience. Don't do this. You're. You're not actually supposed to put your hand out for the dog to smell it. You don't know what these dogs are about. Like, ask the owners if they're friendly. Don't be fucking. [00:48:58] Speaker D: Oh, they're just friendly. [00:49:00] Speaker C: Oh, you spill my dogs anyways, so I'm gonna get down, I'm gonna do the complete opposite and put my hand out. [00:49:05] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:49:06] Speaker C: Rowland, it's. It's me. It's. It's. It's your. It's your pal drago. I'm gonna. I'm gonna put my bag down, like off to the side. So, like, there's nothing that can be misconstrued like a weapon. It's all right. Right, Ryland, we're gonna. We're gonna get your help. You're not sick, you're enhanced. We will say, Roland, but you, you're better than this. You can control it. You are a man of will, determination, and damn it, a lot of spite sometimes too. [00:49:38] Speaker E: I just. I know his hand with my snout and just get a good like. And I'm smelling scones, just so many scones. And it's that thing of, like, a very large animal that is, like, bordering on, like, almost chomping you a little bit. [00:49:58] Speaker C: Like, the playful bite that leads into that. [00:50:01] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a little bit of a like. And then I just kind of back off of him and I still start advancing towards the colonel. [00:50:10] Speaker D: I will say two things. One, Jonathan, I will let you make an empathy and manipulation role. I will also say that as Rollin's friend, you know that Rollin has something that is meaningful to them. A, I believe it is a pocket watch. No, you know that. You know that Roland has something that is very important to them, a lock of hair that they keep on them and that you've caught them once in a while toying with. [00:50:45] Speaker C: Devil's luck, baby. Let's fucking go. [00:50:52] Speaker D: I want to know, do you try to mention or find this lock of error? Do you just ignore it for now? [00:51:01] Speaker C: I am going to upon, upon the nuzzle and the small, like, licking and tender chomp at my scone hand. I'm going to reach into my pocket and pull out a couple biscuits that I carry with me, and I'm going to try to distract and just open palm feed while I go through the pocket to find the pocket watch. [00:51:23] Speaker D: Sorry, not a pocket watch. [00:51:24] Speaker C: The lock of hair or the locket. Sorry, locket or the lock of hair. Either. [00:51:28] Speaker A: Or. [00:51:28] Speaker D: So, with the three successes on your empathy and manipulation, you, um, kato, recognize him. You recognize him as a friend. There's a part of you now that tells you not to hurt him. [00:51:45] Speaker C: Not. [00:51:45] Speaker D: There's something strange when you smell him, because you smell like three different people. You also have in your nose the unmistakable smell of the vasin that just jumped out the window. And you know, you could find him anywhere. It's just in there now. You can smell a little bit of fear and gunpowder, probably a bit of sweat off of the kernel, perhaps some gin or whatever he'd been drinking. There's a part of you now that recognizes that at least the person directly in front of you is a friend and the other person is not being a threat. [00:52:24] Speaker E: I pull back just slightly, and I let drago go through pockets until he finds the inner breast pocket. There's a lock of sort of mid length silvery hair that is tied very delicately with a black velvet. [00:52:45] Speaker A: Bowen. [00:52:51] Speaker C: I think after finding that, I will. I will, as gently as possible, present it to you. Open hand. Open palm. Rowland, remember, this meant a lot to you. It means a lot to you. This is. This is echoes of your humanity, Rowland. You are not a beast. You are Rowling Axel Rowland. [00:53:25] Speaker E: Press my snout into his hand again and my head is massive. [00:53:30] Speaker B: Massive. [00:53:31] Speaker E: It is horrifying at any point to interact with him, but I take a deep inhale and there's just this very low guttural growl and then just the slightest whimper as I sit back onto haunches and proffer my claws out to receive the lock. [00:53:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:56] Speaker C: Gently put it back into your. I stand back to give you your. [00:54:00] Speaker E: Space and I kind of curl my claw around it and back up a little bit into the hall. [00:54:09] Speaker D: Colonel, what are you doing? [00:54:12] Speaker A: I. I can understand with my eyes that Axel is Axel, but all of this is just, you know, like when your computer, something breaks, so you restart it, but then it just keeps crashing back to desktop every time it boots up. That's where the kernel's brain in right now. There's a ram stick loose in his brain. From seeing this up until very, very recently, his experience with Vezin was, we're going to go out into the woods and we're going to hunt and find and track things. And that was in quite a bit for me to even accept that. And now within the span of, like, 12 hours, the, you know, just. It's daytime, the curtains are, like, totally closed. He opens up and peeks a little bit and he's like, whoa, that's really cool world out there. And then Drago and Elizabeth and Rowland are like, uh uh. And then just rip the shit open. So I'm standing there and the look is the confusion. It's not fear, but then it's fear again. And then, just like the rifle kind of is slumping down towards the wooden floor of the, of the train as I realized just how totally unprepared I am for whatever I have signed up for. And there's like a speechlessness to it. It's just I'm having a. I'm having a lot. I'm having a lot of. A lot. [00:55:48] Speaker D: As you're seeing and taking in all this, Ron, you feel a deep, deep sense of loss and sadness. And for a moment that the void that that kind of creates inside of you sort of absorb some of the rage. You know, that you remain dangerous. You know that there's no returning from this until the moon itself is gone. What would you like to do? [00:56:21] Speaker E: Presuming I have enough faculties to understand which quarters are mine, I retreat down the hall back into my room, close the door, and you can hear the sound of a lock. And then the sound of heavy furniture being moved in front of the door. [00:56:45] Speaker A: Did you know? [00:56:50] Speaker C: Not a clue. I, um. Rowland and I were having a conversation about. Can't even quite recall it this time. She had some questions about things and we had the gunshot and then all this happened. So. No, if I had known, I would have at least encouraged them to have told us, but. And I am. [00:57:13] Speaker A: And you. [00:57:17] Speaker C: I'm not a werewolf. I have not been afflicted with lycanthropy. [00:57:22] Speaker A: Is that what. Is that what they are? [00:57:26] Speaker C: I mean, one can ascertain, you know that. Yes. Based on some of the books that I've read. The as. What I will say is this. One thing I did know that I did not disclose because we just found out within the last 12 hours. Washington. The attack that Rowland suffered that caused the thing with the eye seemed to have been by a werewolf. So I had not yet came to them, come to them without information, just out of respect for their privacy. But I see now that. [00:58:10] Speaker A: We'Ve lost the gesturing to the window, lost the assailant and gained another one in its place. [00:58:20] Speaker C: I don't think we traded an assailant for an assailant. I mean, the assailant was the assailant. And this is Rowland. There. [00:58:25] Speaker A: Isn't Israel in there? [00:58:30] Speaker C: Are you alive? [00:58:35] Speaker A: Me? [00:58:36] Speaker C: Yeah, you're alive right now. Do you still draw? Breathe? [00:58:40] Speaker A: Yes. [00:58:41] Speaker C: Then there is a bit of rowling in there or else we would both be dead. [00:58:49] Speaker A: Lord, give me the hope of the. [00:58:53] Speaker C: Younger generation, this straboomer thing to say. [00:58:58] Speaker D: And as you say that, the two of you here, coming from the next window down further, ting, ting, ting. [00:59:08] Speaker C: We both hear that. [00:59:09] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm wheeling around. I'm loaded. I'm on edge. I'm a 55 year old white man who is afraid. I'm pointing this gun at the very first thing that makes a noise. [00:59:19] Speaker D: The curtains are drawn so you don't see anything. [00:59:24] Speaker C: I've been hearing that since earlier. You remember when you were with the people talking to you at the table and you were recanting war stories and whatnot? [00:59:37] Speaker A: Yes. As I take a creeping step forward to use the tip of the rifle to peel the curtain aside, well, I. [00:59:46] Speaker C: Heard that as I was sitting reading the newspaper and it was right behind me. Dink, Tink, Tink. And I thought, you know what? Maybe I'm tired. Maybe I'm going crazy. And so I promptly folded my newspaper and left. [00:59:58] Speaker D: As you pull aside the curtain, you see only the darkness outside and the countryside going by at a normal speed. And from even further down, the next set of window, you hear, ting, ting, ting. [01:00:10] Speaker C: So it's leading us down. [01:00:12] Speaker D: Meanwhile, back in the other wagon, you have helped up Thea. She is sitting up. Your friend Bergamot has faded from view, but you know that he's still there. You help her sit up. She's had a couple shots of Akavit. She seems to be feeling less pain. Your emergency troll bag action seems to have worked. And she says, very interesting friend you have. [01:00:57] Speaker B: Um, he's, uh. He's. He comes in handy. I I'm sorry. You said you're sure? [01:01:14] Speaker D: She grabs you and pulls you close and says, there are things happening that I can't explain to you, but there. [01:01:33] Speaker A: Are. [01:01:35] Speaker D: Shadows moving around you and your friends there. People know who you are and what you're doing, and they are trying to use you to their own ends. Be very careful. [01:02:03] Speaker B: We're supposed to. We're supposed to be investigating the disease that's broken out around the fisheries and the logging company. [01:02:29] Speaker D: It's much bigger than that now. You are. And she kind of looks around. I can't really say much more, but you're caught in a much bigger web. You need to be very discerning, and you need to. You need to be very. You need to be ready to. To face. To face yourselves. I can't say more, and I regret. I regret my part in it, but. [01:03:19] Speaker B: What part in it? You were a bystander. [01:03:26] Speaker D: In some ways. [01:03:33] Speaker B: Who are you working for? [01:03:35] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm not working for anybody. I'm. I'm just. Just trying to survive and get my life back. [01:03:49] Speaker B: Jim, is she lying to me? [01:03:52] Speaker D: I don't know. Is she lying to you? Make a. You can make a vigilance. Logic and vigilance, actually. Empathy and observation. [01:04:15] Speaker B: Your successes. [01:04:19] Speaker D: Uh, no, she's not lying to you. Um, and she'll say, on top of that, she'll say, when you get to Stavanger, you won't find what you're looking for. [01:04:34] Speaker B: Do you know what we will find? [01:04:41] Speaker D: Nothing. [01:04:52] Speaker B: The creature. The miracle fall. The last time I saw one, it was. I didn't realize that they could. They could be put to use like that. [01:05:16] Speaker D: Some of them. Some of them have chosen to work for the powers behind Locke Spindler. He is one of them. She looks into empty space for a second where you know your friend is. I hesitate to say this, but your friend may know a bit more about them. [01:05:45] Speaker B: Um, I. I need to, um. To check on my companions, or will you be all right? [01:05:55] Speaker D: I I will you. You've. You've done good here. And she reached into her bag, and she pulls out a little sprig of blue flowers that are bound together. You wouldn't know them as forget me nots. There's. And again, she kind of looks over shoulder. There's someone missing in your life. Someone you don't know is missing. When you're ready to find them, burn this in a copper bowl with some alcohol and a bit of your hair. Inhale and follow the dream to find them. But. But beware. What is lost should not always be found. Know that this will cause harm to one of your relationships. She presses the flowers in your hand. [01:06:57] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:07:01] Speaker D: I will be okay. I'll wait here for you. [01:07:07] Speaker B: You should get back to your quarters. Do you have any cold iron with you? They don't like iron. [01:07:19] Speaker D: She reaches under her thing and pulls out a very long hairpin. I'll be fine. [01:07:32] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:07:34] Speaker D: Thank you. You saved my life. [01:07:39] Speaker B: Think nothing of it. And I will get up and hurry towards the sleeping quarters where the others are. [01:07:49] Speaker D: When you come running into the other sleeping quarters, the other wagon, you find the doctor and the colonel staring out the window. [01:08:06] Speaker B: Well, there's. There's two of you. [01:08:12] Speaker C: Yeah. I whip around to look at you. Damn it, woman. [01:08:17] Speaker B: There's, um. There's blood on my hands, up my arms a little bit. [01:08:25] Speaker D: On my. [01:08:26] Speaker C: Immediately looking you over, grabbing hands. Be like, where you hut. Where are you bleeding? Lifting arms, checking on. [01:08:32] Speaker B: It's not mine. It's not mine. [01:08:34] Speaker A: As he's doing that. You started the Jurassic park reference, so now I'm doing Robert Muldoon, who's looking to the side over the rifle, and then seize the blood and asking yours or somebody else's before the excitement happens. And that's when drago charges in. [01:08:47] Speaker C: Nice. [01:08:51] Speaker B: There was a young woman in the club car. She was shot. I did what I could. I think she'll be okay. But, doctor, if you get a moment, she might need your assistance. I don't know what you can provide. I know. It's mortuary science. Is that it? [01:09:15] Speaker C: Yes. I can help, though. I didn't fail my medical exam for nothing as I grabbed my little bag. And I. I'm gonna head over to, I imagine, the only person that's gonna be in the room. In the dining area. Yep. [01:09:35] Speaker D: We'll be with the doctor momentarily. What do you do after floor? And the colonel, since you're there, also. [01:09:44] Speaker A: The colonel steen and the bodies. And Drago is well ahead. So we had the window. The noise happened I opened the curtain and if I lean my head out the window, or at least as far as one should on a train track. Never ridden a train at that speed. Is there any sight to go along with the knocking sound? [01:10:00] Speaker D: No. [01:10:02] Speaker A: So then close the window and say something. This train is going to be the death of me. And then, with an exasperated sigh, letting it out. Are. Are you okay? [01:10:23] Speaker B: That's the question. [01:10:25] Speaker A: First time? Well, if it's any consolation, in a walk up and just a grandpa, hand on the shoulder, it only gets easier from here. You saved that woman. [01:10:51] Speaker B: In the village. There was a little boy who. He fell out of a tree and he shattered his leg very badly. And I remember bone had pushed through and it was somehow. The bullet wound was worse. [01:11:11] Speaker A: Nasty things. But, um. Oh, God. [01:11:17] Speaker B: There'S you and the doctor. And where's, um. Where's Rowland? I saw. I heard. I heard another gunshot. [01:11:26] Speaker A: Yeah, one doing the shooting. And he'll cock his thumb. To cock my thumb towards the broken window seems to have escaped and the one he shot. And can we hear anything coming from the room that rollin's in? [01:11:51] Speaker E: If you were to press your ear close up against the wood, you would hear just kind of like heavy animal breathing, but nothing else. [01:12:05] Speaker A: So then, um, as for the one who was shot and then looking towards Rollin's door before kind of cocking him. Wait, you're. You're the one who knows about these things? Do you speak werewolf? [01:12:25] Speaker B: What? [01:12:26] Speaker A: Is that how it works? [01:12:37] Speaker B: There's a lot. [01:12:37] Speaker D: There's a. Oh, on that bombshell, doctor, you arrive in the wagon, you find the lady Thea sitting at one desk, just knocking back the aquavit. [01:12:54] Speaker C: Did. Elizabeth did not give me the name of this individual. Just said that there was somebody shot, correct? [01:13:00] Speaker D: I believe so, yeah. [01:13:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Given that there's only one person bleeding, I will kneel next to them, be like, well, hello. [01:13:11] Speaker D: A little bit, like three sheets to do in. [01:13:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Be like, well, hi there. My name is Doctor Drago Markovich. [01:13:22] Speaker D: You a friend of Elizabeth? [01:13:25] Speaker C: Yes, I am. Yes, I am. And I'm sorry, she did not give me your name. [01:13:29] Speaker D: My name is Thea. [01:13:31] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm opening up my bag and just making my conversation. We'll be like, well, are you some sort of doctor? I am a doctor. Taking out gauze, taking out syringes. Be like, before I help. [01:13:41] Speaker D: Are you lying? I. [01:13:48] Speaker C: Did not technically know. [01:13:51] Speaker D: Good enough. [01:13:54] Speaker C: Like, I am a doctor. This is a doctor. We're working through a lot of things here today, Thea. [01:14:01] Speaker D: Your thoughts are very jumbled. You have difficulty, don't you, sorting through the memories? Feel like she reaches out and touches your face with her hands. And I feel like there are many where only one should be. [01:14:23] Speaker C: Grab her hand and just gently bring it, you know, back down. Be like you are bleeding out, and that can cause some confusion. So let's fix that. [01:14:33] Speaker D: I am, um. Elizabeth took care of that. She, um, put something on it. She said to prevent infection. She was very good. She's very gentle, and she was very concerned and very kind. [01:14:50] Speaker C: Elizabeth is very kind. I've yet to spend too much time with her, but she seems lovely in company. And I'm glad that she treated you well, but I hope that I can do more. [01:15:07] Speaker D: Well, doctor, do your worst. [01:15:11] Speaker C: I certainly hope not. [01:15:16] Speaker D: So now that you have time and you are in a relatively safe space, you can go ahead and give me your medicine. Roll. [01:15:27] Speaker C: Awesome. It's a lot of dice after all, just medicine, right? [01:15:32] Speaker D: Oh, well, medicine and precision. I think you have an advantage thing also. You have chief physician or something. What does that give you? [01:15:43] Speaker C: Oh, I have to look that up again. [01:15:44] Speaker D: You also have medical equipment, which gives you plus two extra dice. [01:15:47] Speaker C: Yep, I got another two. I know that one for sure. And then physician. I gotta open that up. Wait, I'm a talent. Physician. Physician. [01:16:01] Speaker A: When you use medicine to treat the other player characters, they can heal a total of four conditions instead of three. The same applies to extra successes. [01:16:11] Speaker D: Pretty good. [01:16:12] Speaker C: Thank you. And then I have herbalist, which means that I can use wilder herbs in case we're out on the snake problem. But, yeah, it's not gonna mean this shoe. Sweet. It's gonna be devil's luck. Three sixes. [01:16:34] Speaker D: Wow. Yeah. So the devil is on your side, and you do better than your worst. And you do manage to bind her wounds. Give her something for the pain, give her something for the infection, hopefully. [01:16:53] Speaker C: Dig the bullet out. [01:16:54] Speaker D: Yep. Yeah, absolutely. You dig the bullet out. When you dig the bullet out, you pull it out and you can see that it's, it's very strange. It's not something you've ever seen before. It's kind of like a black metal that's got, like, these silver veins through it. [01:17:11] Speaker C: Mmm. It's not your typical smooth boar. [01:17:19] Speaker D: Did you call me a boar? No, sorry. I'm just a little, I think Elizabeth's medicine is making me a little drowsy. [01:17:27] Speaker C: It can do that sometimes. Here, let me, let me get some water for you, help you out a little bit. [01:17:32] Speaker D: Thank you. [01:17:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:34] Speaker D: You're very kind. Also, let me give you something and she kind of rummages through a bag. [01:17:40] Speaker C: Oh, no, this is. You don't have to pay me anything. This is. You're fine. [01:17:43] Speaker D: Please. [01:17:44] Speaker C: I was joking about the insurance earlier. I'm not going to make you go through that. It's a nightmare. Nowadays, only one guy. [01:17:49] Speaker D: This will help you like you help me. And she presses a book in your hand. It's like a leather bound book. There's, like, a closed eye on the COVID and it's, like, very nicely tooled leather. And she presses it into your hand and says, this will help you. You should read this. If you read it before bed, when you're done, your thoughts will be clear as day. But you should be warned. Clear thoughts may bring about more questions than answers. And whatever happens, you should know that at the end, there is a choice to be made. [01:18:32] Speaker C: I. Okay. All right. Okay. I will read this. Thank you. [01:18:39] Speaker D: You're welcome. And you're welcome. You're welcome. [01:18:44] Speaker C: He's gonna put it away in his little medicine bag. Okay. Um. Do you need help? Getting on the ground is probably not the best. [01:18:55] Speaker D: Would you help me to my room? [01:18:56] Speaker C: Of course. Yeah. And I'll sling her. [01:19:00] Speaker D: Beds are terrible in this thing. And it shakes and rattles something fierce. But, um, I think at this point, I could probably sleep like the dead. [01:19:08] Speaker C: I would. I'm. I'm gonna bring a bottle of, uh, of some of the good stuff for you to have it, uh, next to your bed, just in case you need it. [01:19:15] Speaker D: Oh, I never touched the stuff. [01:19:18] Speaker C: I'm gonna put it in my bag in case I need it. [01:19:22] Speaker D: Do you? [01:19:23] Speaker C: And I'm gonna. [01:19:23] Speaker D: Do you know something? [01:19:26] Speaker C: I. [01:19:27] Speaker D: You have. You have crumbs in your bearden. [01:19:33] Speaker C: I. I haven't had a scone in a while. How do they keep coming? Thank you. I pocketed a scone on my way past the bar. [01:19:44] Speaker D: You will take her to her room. Um, I will say that time passes a little bit as two of you are wondering what to do about a werewolf. And one of you is, uh, handling, uh, forced witch who's. You know, I hadn't had a drink in a while. Inside the room where Rollin is. What's the scene? What's happening. [01:20:16] Speaker E: Rollin, at this point, having kind of sat up against, like, back up against the bed. And just having, like, stripped the sleeves off of his shirt in just pained agony as he just curls up onto the floor. And if a werewolf could heave a sigh of sorrow deep, deep from the depths of. Of his heart, that's the sound that he makes as he curls up. And in my hand, in my clawed hand, I have this lock of hair. And I smell it. And I remember distinctly a time when we had traveled to Bordeaux together, a small vacation, and we slept in late, later than expected, embarrassingly so. And it was around this time of year, very distinctly, as we slept, with the windows open and the breeze cut through in the room with these vaulted ceilings, and we were just wrapped around each other. I remember waking and pressing my nose into the nape of his neck, taking a deep breath and remembering I had never felt happier in my entire life. [01:22:15] Speaker D: And in time, the sunrise peeks around the corner of the mountains, lets in light into your room, and as the sun hits your face, you feel it hit flesh rather than fur. [01:22:39] Speaker E: I roused myself. I didn't even make it into the bed. But I'm laying in a similar position as I would have laid that morning in Bordeaux, with the lock of hair in my hand. And I kind of. God damn it, and sit up, I'm assuming, what is this state of my knee at this point? [01:23:10] Speaker D: Completely healed. [01:23:14] Speaker E: I straighten and flex my leg a little bit, make sure it feels right. As I kind of pry myself off the floor. And I look down and I'm just in tatters, and I open my hand, and there's the lock of hair. And I close it, and I just gently spin the gold ring on my finger, and I look to the door. It's like that feeling of like a drunk night where you don't remember where you put things, and suddenly you wake up and see the wreckage the next day. And I just shoulder the heavy piece of furniture out of the way as best I can. And I tuck the lock of hair into my jacket pocket, and I open the door, and I peer down the carriage, see if anyone else is up. [01:24:18] Speaker D: And as you put that lock of air away in your pocket and you put your hand on the handle, you remember one final detail from that morning in Bordeaux, at that moment when you had basically nuzzled the nape of his neck and breathe it in deep. You remember that was the first time he had called you his little wolfenhe. [01:24:49] Speaker E: Close the door. [01:24:55] Speaker D: I think it's a good time to take a break. Thanks so much for joining us. Hopefully you had a good break. We had a good break. We, um, went for a little bit of bowling, some appetizers, and, you know, oysters. Because nothing but class over at Queen's Garden. Gaming. Yeah. [01:25:21] Speaker C: If y'all could just venmo me the $2,500 for the oysters, that'd be great would be. [01:25:28] Speaker D: Just before we went on break, we saw what happened in Roland's room. The last few memories of Rollin and then the transformation back into Rollins from the werewolf. But before that, there are a few hours left of nighttime to go. And while Rollin is stuck in his room going over the past, I would assume that the colonel and Elizabeth and the good doctor might want to reconvene. And so would the colonel and Elizabeth like to go and find the doctor. What would you like to do? [01:26:10] Speaker B: Um, assuming with my knowledge, I would know there's not a lot that can be done for Rowland until the sun rises. [01:26:18] Speaker D: Well, let's see what your knowledge of werewolves are. Do you want to spend some of those advantages you got on research earlier? [01:26:25] Speaker B: I feel like we should save those just then. [01:26:29] Speaker A: It ends up. It ends up like health potions in an rpg. And you finish the game with 17 elixirs. Like, go for it. [01:26:34] Speaker B: That's true. All right, you know what? Let me. [01:26:36] Speaker D: I'll make a learning check and you can use two dice from that pool. [01:26:41] Speaker E: Take a shot. [01:26:52] Speaker B: It's one success. [01:26:53] Speaker D: Okay, so you know some good information. There's some basic information about one. You know that it's generally a curse that there are several ways of getting that curse, but it's generally a curse that some worlds are able to retain some form of sentience and some control over what they do. But it's very rare that they need the light of the moon to transform, regardless of whether or not they can control it. They can only do it when the light renders the moon out. And that usually when it's the full moon, they can't control it. They. They will fight either way, but on other nights, sometimes they can. Sometimes they can't control it. A lot of it has to do with emotional reactions and things of that nature. And basically, they can range from pure, primal, feral monsters to someone with still, you know, a semblance of humanity in them. But, yeah, there's little to be done. Now that Roland is transformed, there's little to be done until the sun comes up. [01:28:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:28:03] Speaker B: And I will. I will relay this information to the colonel, specifically noting the fact that, you know, at the very least, he seems to be able to retain some of his faculties given the fact that you are, well, not in four pieces. [01:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. So until the morning. And you say it'll be fine in the morning. [01:28:32] Speaker B: The light of the sun dispels most curses. [01:28:40] Speaker A: Which means until between now and the colonel reach into his jacket and pull out a pocket watch. A very expensive looking pocket watch. Flip it open. And a number of hours from now, that I don't know as a player, because we didn't establish what time was happening. Closing the pocket watch. He's in there, and he's still dangerous. [01:29:05] Speaker B: Yes, it can depend on emotional state and a number of other factors, but as long as he still has fangs and claws, he is a potential danger to himself and others. [01:29:25] Speaker A: We should at least catch up with the doctor and see what's going on. But I think it'd be a good idea for all of us if I kept watch until the morning. [01:29:39] Speaker B: As you said, colonel. [01:29:44] Speaker A: So then, uh, I said until point was leaning up against the. The outside wall of the train car. Kind of just eyes towards the door, but at that point, taking the rifle and shouldering it, uh, as we'll walk back towards the bar car, or at least in that direction, the doctor couldn't have gotten too far. [01:30:06] Speaker D: What is the doctor up to? [01:30:08] Speaker C: The doctor is currently on the other side of the bar fixing up a drink. Just a nice little, say, a Manhattan. Just picking himself up a nice little thing. So you just hear, as you're approaching, you hear the clinking of glass and bottles and ice being put into the nice crystal that they offer on the train. Cork. [01:30:42] Speaker D: The two of you will arrive in the club car to find the doctor. Thus. [01:30:52] Speaker B: Um. Is she all right, the young lady? Um, thea? [01:30:58] Speaker C: Yes. No, she. She's. She's gonna be just fine. Um, you did a wonderful job with the herbs. Um, yeah, I've practiced a bit myself in case I ever find myself stuck out in the woods and need medical assistance. But youre a abilities are far beyond my own. But, no, you did wonderful. She will live to see another day. [01:31:21] Speaker B: Good. [01:31:23] Speaker C: I pour out a drink for you, and I slide it over, and I'm like, if you don't like anything with spirits in it, you've got a water, a seltzer, a liquid that. I'm not sure what it is. [01:31:39] Speaker B: Is there just a vodka back there? [01:31:42] Speaker C: Straight vodka? [01:31:43] Speaker B: Yes. Just. [01:31:48] Speaker C: Guess nobody likes vodka. Pour it round, and I leave the bottle on for you. [01:31:54] Speaker B: Just gonna slam that back. [01:32:00] Speaker C: Wow. First time seeing blood. [01:32:05] Speaker B: Um. First time being shot at. [01:32:08] Speaker C: Mmm. You've never owed anybody. Ah, the colonel. Yes. Fixed you a scotch, neat. Boy, what a night. What a night we've had that is deleted very quickly. [01:32:27] Speaker A: Secrets abound on this train. [01:32:33] Speaker C: Yes, well, colonel, there's a very real possibility that they themselves may not have known of their condition, which I'm assuming you've let Miss Elizabeth know about, in. [01:32:44] Speaker A: A matter of speaking. [01:32:46] Speaker C: Hmm. [01:32:47] Speaker A: Yes, but it's not just Axel, is it? [01:32:54] Speaker B: No. [01:32:56] Speaker A: I mean, I. Pardon if I'm being presumptuous. This is my first time on this kind of adventure. But the shifting in space gunman, not. Not normal. The time. The word he's looking for is like dilation, but there's no way he knows that word. Right? [01:33:17] Speaker C: I was gonna say skipping the time, stopping. Slowing. Yeah, the time. The time thingy. [01:33:27] Speaker A: Time thingy. We'll go with time thingy. [01:33:29] Speaker C: It's easier to remember. Yeah. So, Elizabeth, do you know whom or what that was? [01:33:41] Speaker B: Um. That particular creature is called a meerkauf. They are cruel, bloodthirsty creatures. [01:34:05] Speaker A: Don't suppose you know what it's doing on this train. [01:34:11] Speaker B: The last time I saw one, it. It was ripping out my sister's throat. [01:34:20] Speaker C: I. So sorry for your loss. [01:34:25] Speaker B: It was some time ago, but when I. When I tell you that I have. I've had the sight for some time. That was the catalyst for it. Um, the one that I encountered in my youth was. Feral is the only word that I can think of for it. I've never known them to walk around with firearms. [01:35:05] Speaker C: Hmm. [01:35:09] Speaker B: Colonel, this bears, for your information, that they can be killed with supernatural means or magic, or with the natural weapons and attacks of a supernatural being. They also don't like cold ironization. So. [01:35:33] Speaker C: That reminds me. I've dug this out of our friend Thea. The small round that. That she was shot with. Colonel, have you ever seen anything of this nature? [01:35:49] Speaker D: I'm sorry? When you pull it out, whatever you added in, I guess you put in a little baggie, maybe or something, or in a handkerchief. [01:35:56] Speaker C: I put it. [01:35:57] Speaker D: When you open the handkerchief, there's just liquid left. It's like this splotch of dark, oily liquid with silver veins, and it's kind of like mercury, where the silver veins are kind of moving around in the black liquid. [01:36:15] Speaker C: Well, you see, this was perfectly solid a minute ago. [01:36:21] Speaker A: Doctor, I can say with quite confidence. No, I. [01:36:27] Speaker C: Had a. Soon as I. Yep, yep. Uh, elizabeth, any supernatural idea? [01:36:35] Speaker D: Game master make a magical. [01:36:39] Speaker C: I believe in you. I believe in you so hard right. [01:36:43] Speaker D: Now because you can do magic. [01:36:46] Speaker B: Fucking dice. [01:36:46] Speaker D: For this, you can have anything that you desire. Magic. Don't you know you're the one who can put out the fire? [01:36:57] Speaker C: Devil's luck. Let's go. [01:37:00] Speaker D: The devil is on your side. You have never heard of this being made into a bullet or weapon or anything of the sort, but the liquid itself and then the silver in it. This remind you of something that you've been taught about by whoever taught you, you know, your ways of. It is basically sentient. Whatever it is, that thing. It is a type of sentient creature that is not found on this world. Normally, it is something that comes from stories about elves and trolls and things of that nature, but of being from another. Another part of the world and being a type of creature that's found in the wild and that is very dangerous. And they're usually kind of bigger masses of them, and they just basically grow. They appear somewhere and they just start growing and they just kind of take over sort of everything, unless. Unless they're stopped. You've never seen it in this kind of form before. [01:38:17] Speaker B: Would I be able to determine whether or not it is currently inert or does it need to be destroyed? [01:38:22] Speaker D: Well, it's moving. [01:38:25] Speaker C: Oh, I've got a little, like a little. [01:38:30] Speaker B: Doctor, doctor, doctor, please put that down. [01:38:34] Speaker C: Which one? I'm holding two things, dear. [01:38:36] Speaker A: The, I presume the haunted one. [01:38:41] Speaker B: Like pointing to handkerchief of goo. [01:38:45] Speaker C: There's still a second of hesitation. When you say the haunted one. I'm like, right, the goo. Okay, I'm just gonna. Do we need. Is it gonna kill? Do we destroy it? [01:38:59] Speaker B: Yes. [01:39:00] Speaker C: I'm gonna take a glass out. I'm gonna fill it with vodka. I'm gonna just kind of. Just scootch. Just stuff it in there. [01:39:09] Speaker D: You do it, and it sticks to the side, and it just kind of stays there, you know? You know, it's fire that is needed to destroy this. [01:39:19] Speaker B: Matches, lighter, something. Please. [01:39:23] Speaker C: I have a box of matches in my thing because I wouldn't have to sometimes heat up metal and sanitize equipment that way. So I hand you the matches. [01:39:34] Speaker B: Gonna take, like, half the matches and throw it in the glass of vodka. [01:39:39] Speaker D: As soon as it hits the fumes, the flames shoot out, the glass shatters, and you feel like maybe you heard something scream, but it really wasn't clear in any case. Like, the thing just evaporates completely as the glass shatters. And the fumes just. [01:40:04] Speaker B: If it is allowed to take root and grow, it will overtake, well, just about anything it touches. You did a good turn on making sure that that did not remain in Thea's shoulder. [01:40:19] Speaker C: Well, good. Yeah, well, I mean, you never want to really leave a musket round in anybody. It's, you know, which I guess you wouldn't know as a doctor. What I'm telling you is you never want to leave. There's. Pull out a little anatomical chart, start going through a lesson, not it. [01:40:38] Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah, thank you. [01:40:40] Speaker A: Do we have to worry on account of our friend here having kept that in, I presume, his pocket. The same pocket. Pocket with the scones. [01:40:49] Speaker C: Different pocket. I have a scone pocket on this side. Damn it, man. You think I'm some sort of monster? [01:40:59] Speaker A: Be that you did punch it, yeah. [01:41:02] Speaker B: Would I suppose with. I don't know if that role would do it gm, but would I be able to sense any of it clinging to the dear doctor? [01:41:11] Speaker D: Yeah. So you don't think it is whatever magic was used to keep it in, like, a controlled form, like in the bullet form, really greatly reduced its. Its abilities. Once inside the body, it would probably have caused a lot of damage. [01:41:29] Speaker A: Okay. [01:41:30] Speaker D: But as it was, you feel a doctor is probably. Probably safe. But what are you doing exactly? Are you inspecting the doctor, or are you just sort of trying to rely on your knowledge of it, or what is it that you were doing? [01:41:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I would reach out with my sense of the otherworldly and see if I can feel any. [01:41:57] Speaker D: Fantastic. Give me a magical. [01:42:00] Speaker C: I don't like that at all. [01:42:03] Speaker B: Fun times. Oh. Oh, no. Oh, I'm sorry, buddy. [01:42:09] Speaker A: We're about to encounter what statisticians call a false positive, where it is right, but not for the right reason. [01:42:17] Speaker B: One success. [01:42:19] Speaker D: So the strangest thing about it is that as you extend your, you know, ability to see and reach out and are kind of focusing on the doctor's hand and the pocket area, you don't feel anything there but you. The strangest thing happens is that as you look at the doctor, you see what you normally see when you look at a vasin with your abilities, there is a sort of shifting hue around him, a color of his aura that is seen only in the basin. There is a regular aura there, but there is something else. And the closest thing, I guess, would be when you've seen situations of possession where there is an actual aura, and then there's another one that. That's kind of either overlapping it or kind of attached to it, but there's also another one in this one. So there's kind of this weird mismatch in the three kind of shift position. Consistently. [01:43:48] Speaker B: Doctor? Um, uh, no. [01:43:55] Speaker C: Are you also. Are you hurt? [01:43:57] Speaker A: He's infected. Colonel's reaching for his knife. [01:44:00] Speaker B: No, no. Put that away. [01:44:03] Speaker C: Am I infected? [01:44:05] Speaker B: No. Well, no. [01:44:07] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:44:08] Speaker B: No, no, you. [01:44:10] Speaker C: My blood pressure isn't it. [01:44:12] Speaker B: I'm gonna look. I'm gonna look at the. The colonel, and there's a lot's gone on tonight, so I'm going to say something that's going to sound very strange to you, but considering that you just encountered a werewolf, I'm going to need you to take it on. A bit of faith, doctor. Are you possessed? [01:44:37] Speaker C: How does one lie in this game? [01:44:42] Speaker D: How does one work? [01:44:43] Speaker C: Fib. [01:44:44] Speaker D: Well, you would roll your empathy and manipulation. [01:44:50] Speaker C: I wish to do so. [01:44:53] Speaker D: And anybody that you're trying to do it against would roll their empathy and observation or actually logic and vigilance, to be honest. [01:45:01] Speaker C: Now, if I really wanted to be a jerk, I'd just use all our advantages. [01:45:08] Speaker D: Well, you couldn't, because those advantages are strictly earmarked for research and things of that nature. But you could use your own. [01:45:14] Speaker C: I would like to research how to be a fibber. There you go. [01:45:21] Speaker D: The book of lies. [01:45:22] Speaker C: The book of lies doubles cock. I got one success. [01:45:27] Speaker D: I also got one success with either of you. Like to push? [01:45:32] Speaker A: Well, if it matters at all, I am listening to this conversation. Enrolled. Two successes. [01:45:36] Speaker C: You son of a bitch. [01:45:38] Speaker D: Well, as it stands, you notice the doctor's reaction, and it's the same kind of reaction that you've seen countless soldiers have when you've caught them red handed doing something they shouldn't have done. And you see that the wheels are turning as they're trying to find a way to kind of explain away why they're coming in, you know, after. After the curfew has been. Has already been. Has gone by. I don't know what I'm trying to say, but you know what I'm trying to say. [01:46:09] Speaker A: I have the knife out from. I was about to cut the haunted truffle out of drago. It's not necessary for that anymore. But when Elizabeth asks, and it takes more than three, like, more than a third of a second for drago to say no, at that point, the colonel's just, like, the eyes just into your soul. I can see the true measure of you as a man. [01:46:34] Speaker B: Teacher stare. [01:46:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:46:36] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:46:37] Speaker A: And then I think, like, one or 2 seconds, and then the knife just, like, into. Not overly aggressive, but, like, knife point down into the bar top. Well, but it's the question that you already know. I know the answer, and I just want to know if you have the stones to lie to my face, even though I know you're lying. [01:46:58] Speaker D: And just so that you know what's happening with. With Elizabeth, you have started to lie, and Elizabeth is not caught on yet. [01:47:10] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [01:47:12] Speaker D: Like, but since you both tied, like, it's kind of like she's waiting to hear more or just right, it's a. [01:47:21] Speaker C: They don't believe me, but they're not convinced either. [01:47:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going to give you the benefit of. Benefit of the doubt. [01:47:26] Speaker A: In total fairness, not the first time the colonel threatened to kill someone who fits the chance, right? You could be overreacting. [01:47:35] Speaker C: I'm gonna gamble this. [01:47:37] Speaker A: See how shot rollin just like an hour ago. [01:47:40] Speaker C: Okay, first of all, I'd like to say no to Elizabeth. And secondly, colonel, it has been a high strung evening. You saw somebody get shot, immediately chased an assailant, tried to then shoot said assailant, and got encountered with a wolf. I think we're all just a little tense. [01:48:06] Speaker A: Minus the bit about a wolf. I used to call that a good day at work. Are you going to answer the question? [01:48:14] Speaker C: I am not possessed by a demon, if that's what we're asking. [01:48:22] Speaker A: No, I don't think that was what Elizabeth was asking. [01:48:27] Speaker D: This. This Elizabeth, like, this has gone a little bit more hardcore than you expect. Like you were, you know, having this conversation, and he was saying things, and you were like. But now the captain's like, the colonel's like stabbing tables and shit. [01:48:42] Speaker B: Doctor, if we are, all of us, to work together, I feel that there should be a modicum of trust. And there are things that I should make you both aware of as well. So I'm going to ask you again. Are you possessed? [01:49:15] Speaker C: Hold on. You have secrets as well? I'm not brushing by my thing. But, colonel, do you have a secret as well? [01:49:24] Speaker B: You first. [01:49:26] Speaker C: Well, it seems like I am at an impasse. And I have been. Rowland and I were talking about the possibility that there might be something wrong with me. And I am trying to figure out the definition of that might be. [01:49:53] Speaker B: Would you like me to explain what it is that I see? [01:49:59] Speaker C: Yes. If only to confirm. Not that I don't trust my dear Robin, my sweet boy, but only to confirm what they may have seen. Because I thought I knew a thing. And then I found out more things. So what do you see? [01:50:12] Speaker B: Elizabeth, the reason I asked if you were possessed is because it. It presents in that way. It. [01:50:24] Speaker A: It's. [01:50:25] Speaker B: It's like something has latched itself onto your aura. The. The thing that makes you part of who you are. Except for it's not just one thing. There are. I'm gonna kind of, like, lean over the bar and, like, squint at your face. Three. Oh, hells. [01:50:57] Speaker C: Roblin. He was writing. [01:50:58] Speaker A: Okay, I'm sorry. For those of us who are just simple artillery officers. Are you telling me that our friend here is full of ghosts? [01:51:11] Speaker C: Well, one would say fill spirits as I finish my drink. [01:51:18] Speaker B: That actually gets a good laugh out of me. And it's the. It's the kind of laughter that, like, comes after a harrowing experience. [01:51:26] Speaker C: That shock laugh. [01:51:27] Speaker B: Yeah, the shock laugh. I'm sorry. [01:51:32] Speaker C: She gets it. Type five I've been working on. [01:51:41] Speaker B: Yes. Except for I've never seen more than one spirit cling to a person before, so this is new, even for me. [01:51:52] Speaker C: Yeah, we're not. Listen, we're not, my dear. We're not really sure how this happened. I'm not sure. The doctor's not sure how it happened. There's a lot happening, and I'm. [01:52:06] Speaker B: Yes, yes, there's a lot. [01:52:08] Speaker C: Yeah. But the good news is I'm still a doctor, and I have the memories to prove it. That's what matters. [01:52:23] Speaker D: Are. [01:52:23] Speaker A: Are you the doctor? And I made doctor inside the doctor, or are you one of the ghosts and youre a in a doctor shaped vessel? [01:52:37] Speaker C: Well, in war, is a man his platoon, or is the platoon the man? I'm praying. I'm praying that it somehow made sense enough to the colonel to appease him. But in my heart goes, drago knows, dude, I'm totally fucking just shooting from the hip on that one. [01:53:03] Speaker A: I know. It's definitely like the I. Yeah, like a plus for effort. I now is not the time to correct that misconception, but that you've communicated your message, and in that case, the colonel, at this point, feeling of exasperated. Okay, so we have a werewolf, and we have ghost cavalry riding a doctor shaped platoon. [01:53:32] Speaker C: I knew some of those words. [01:53:34] Speaker A: Miss Jensen. [01:53:38] Speaker C: Yeah, Miss Jensen as pouring another drink. And now I'm in, like, dad mode. [01:53:42] Speaker A: Like, I don't mean to presume that face. [01:53:46] Speaker B: Making that face. [01:53:49] Speaker C: I'm wrapping an invisible robe around myself. Do you know what time it is, young lady? [01:53:56] Speaker B: Um, well, colonel, you witnessed firsthand when the first shot was fired. Bergabot. [01:54:14] Speaker C: What'd you call me? [01:54:16] Speaker B: Hold, please. [01:54:18] Speaker D: Are you sure? [01:54:22] Speaker B: Yes. I made a request for trust, and it's only fair. And you don't hear this other voice. It's just me talking. [01:54:33] Speaker C: So we do hear you talking this time. [01:54:35] Speaker B: Yep, I'm saying it out loud. [01:54:38] Speaker D: This is not gonna end well. [01:54:40] Speaker C: She's lost in. [01:54:42] Speaker B: Well, if you are both going to see something moderately alarming, I will ask you to both keep your heads, please. [01:54:54] Speaker A: I'm not sure what he's worried about. He sees ghosts all the time. [01:54:58] Speaker C: I don't see ghosts all the time. And you're the one with the knife. Yeah. Thank you. Very much, very well. [01:55:05] Speaker D: And next to Elizabeth, very slowly, as he's, you know, trying not to startle anyone. And in his regular height, so that he doesn't startle anyone, you see this short but fairly strange looking fellow start to appear with golden skin, horns on the top of his head that curve back into reddish points. A broad, flat face with a little nose that's kind of tucked in a little bit. And, you know, the first word that comes to mind is troll. Um, as bergamot, the troll materializes just behind Elizabeth's shoulder. [01:55:52] Speaker C: How tall is he? [01:55:54] Speaker D: How tall did you say, Elizabeth? [01:55:57] Speaker B: He said, what, like four. [01:55:58] Speaker C: Four foot little guy. [01:56:02] Speaker D: But I used to roll fear. You still get to roll fear. Rolls you into doctor. [01:56:07] Speaker C: Love that for me. [01:56:09] Speaker D: So it's empathy or logic. Now, you have friends in the room, so you have two friends who get to add two dice. [01:56:17] Speaker C: Love that for me. [01:56:25] Speaker B: Not a single. Oh, buddy. [01:56:27] Speaker D: You can choose to push. [01:56:30] Speaker A: Um, yeah, I'll do that. I just throw all six again. [01:56:37] Speaker D: Yeah. You get to reroll all that were failures. [01:56:44] Speaker A: For the viewers. Aaron. I've rolled twelve dice and gotten zero sixes on any of them. [01:56:48] Speaker C: Wow, buddy. [01:56:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:56:51] Speaker C: So two successes, by the way. [01:56:54] Speaker D: It's, it's, it's the appearance, but it's also how this thing appeared. Now, you've seen a lot of shit tonight. Um, so I'm gonna say you don't run away screaming or anything like that. Like, this is kind of like that last drop. You know, that that's. This is the bridge too far, I think, you know, I think this is the. [01:57:18] Speaker C: This is the fuck this. I'm going to bed. [01:57:19] Speaker A: No, I think that. I think the. The condition that I'll take mental is angry because the. The gravity of the secrets that are being withheld and just the normalcy with which you presented the audacity of going into a dangerous situation, knowing all of these things are happening. And I'm just thinking like, it's some goofball private waving the rifle around, not caring who it points at. It's powder stored right next to lamps. It's the worst kind of irresponsible, unprofessional. How fucking and right are you saying all these things? Um, I'm probably using more expletives. Um, so when this thing pops up, uh, there's just like, a blank moment of realization and then going to pick up the drink and. And trying to hold it, and then they're just like, no, fuck it. Throwing it on the ground and looking back and saying, I cannot believe that I have survived the Germans and the French and the British and the Russians. To have my life suddenly threatened by the likes of you. A haunted doctor, a troll fearing witch woman and whatever the fuck Rollin is. Werewolf. Jesus, that was one nice little tea. I asked for a hike, and they gave me this. They gave me secrets and violence, things that would. Look, I have a friend who I promised this to, but I have done far worse to people who have disappointed me far less. And with that, I will. I would say now I will throw the glass onto the floor and then just storm off. [01:59:10] Speaker D: I do want to say, as this performance by the colonel was going on, Jonathan, you started getting a feeling of deja vu. You recall a very similar situation out in a parade square. It was snowing. One of the. One of the newbies had screwed up the marching order. And you remember standing there, watching, trying not to laugh, as the colonel dressed the hell down. This soldier who had just had the misfortune of falling out of step. Um. And this memory hits you with that full force of. You recall it in exquisite detail. The steam coming out of the colonel's mouth. It wasn't a colonel at that I point. It was probably like a captain or. [02:00:08] Speaker C: Something, but this very colonel, just. [02:00:11] Speaker D: Yes, demoted. [02:00:12] Speaker A: And if I cannot trust you to do the small things, how can I trust you to do the big things? I need you to know you're left from your right. So when I tell you to move the cannon, the right people die. And if you cannot do that, why are you here? [02:00:32] Speaker D: Clear as day. Of all the memories you have and have messed with, this is the first one that you know is yours. [02:00:40] Speaker C: Can I quickly pin who I am in that memory? [02:00:50] Speaker D: Give me a logic. Logic and learning. [02:00:59] Speaker C: Math is hard. [02:01:00] Speaker B: Hold on. [02:01:01] Speaker A: I don't care if you're tired. The enemy isn't tired. There is no time for tired. You will get yourself killed. But more importantly, you will get me killed. And half of those things will make me very angry. [02:01:15] Speaker C: It's too successive. [02:01:19] Speaker D: The name on your ring is your name. [02:01:26] Speaker C: Okay. Okay. Oh, I'm seeing dots connecting now. Okay, Boyden, I'm looking at the glass shattered on the ground. It was an 18 year old scotch. [02:02:04] Speaker B: Doctor. This is. This is Bergamot. [02:02:07] Speaker C: Bolgerman gazoon type. [02:02:11] Speaker B: Bergamot. [02:02:11] Speaker C: Bergamot per. [02:02:18] Speaker B: Yes. [02:02:21] Speaker D: May I help you? [02:02:25] Speaker C: Do you drink? No. Can you drink? No. Interesting. [02:02:40] Speaker B: He's, um. [02:02:42] Speaker D: I've been dead a long while. [02:02:46] Speaker C: I feel that. I know. Oh, you get used to it. Oof. [02:02:56] Speaker D: She's gotta have something to hang on to. [02:02:59] Speaker B: Which would be me. [02:03:01] Speaker C: So he's attached. So you're attached to. So you guys are. Is this like a leech thing? [02:03:09] Speaker B: No, he's, um. [02:03:12] Speaker C: Is it a lover thing? No, I'm not judging. [02:03:19] Speaker B: He. [02:03:20] Speaker C: I've taken care of Elizabeth since she was very, very little. So it's like a parent thing interest. Have you all. Has she always been able to see you? [02:03:37] Speaker D: Yes. Especially when I was alive. [02:03:41] Speaker B: Well, he's. He's a troll doctor. [02:03:44] Speaker C: A troll doctor. It's incredible. I'm also a doctor. [02:03:54] Speaker D: This one is not the smartest one. [02:03:55] Speaker C: Of the bunch is. Hedgesthem. [02:03:57] Speaker B: I think. I think he's a little shell shocked. There's been a lot going on tonight. [02:04:01] Speaker C: Yeah. And I finished most of this. I've minished. I've finished most of this by myself. [02:04:13] Speaker B: Bergamot grew up in the forest near my home. [02:04:18] Speaker C: Okay. [02:04:20] Speaker B: He, as he said, he watched out for me. [02:04:24] Speaker C: So you knew, girl, so you knew when he was alive and now he's not? [02:04:30] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [02:04:31] Speaker C: Have you been dead long? [02:04:33] Speaker D: Some years. [02:04:34] Speaker C: It's hard to keep down. That is exquisite. Thank you. [02:04:43] Speaker B: I think. I think I just turned 17. [02:04:49] Speaker C: Try to put my hand through you. [02:04:51] Speaker D: It passes through. Don't do that. [02:04:54] Speaker C: Sorry. Does that hurt? Sorry. Sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry. That's. I just. I needed to make sure. I'm pouring, like, my 7th drink at this point. [02:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna just. I'm gonna take that. I'm just gonna. [02:05:10] Speaker D: Igama will just pat you on the shoulder, Elizabeth. Goodnight. And he'll fade away. [02:05:20] Speaker B: Good night, Pergamot. [02:05:22] Speaker C: Did I insult him? Is he mad at me? [02:05:26] Speaker B: You did just sort of reach out and poke your hand through his chest. How would you like it if I just reached out and poked you in the belly without warning? [02:05:38] Speaker C: That's fair. I get that. That tracks. That's. Hits a cord close to home. I was like, got it, yeah. [02:05:46] Speaker D: As this discussion carries on. Oh, I'm sorry. Actually, I was gonna move us on, but, Elizabeth, you were going to say something, so I would like to give you the opportunity to continue your thought, if you. If you would like. [02:06:00] Speaker B: I just. I will explain to the doctor that Bergamot has been with me for a very long time. And when he passed, his. His spirit remained. And he's still here. He's just not ready to go yet. [02:06:19] Speaker C: How you get him to go. Not that I'm saying that you should, but, like, is there a step? Is there a process? Do you. [02:06:29] Speaker B: Whenever he feels like he has completed his mission, completed the last of what he needs to do on this plane. I can't force that, and I would not do that to him. [02:06:45] Speaker C: With that being said, the doctor sobers up a little bit as he kind of leans over the bar. He's like, so a soul needs to finish its mission to move on. Fascinating. How do they know their mission? [02:07:21] Speaker B: I have, I have folks that I know who do things like seances. Simple. It can be as simple as speaking to the spirits directly, asking them what they want. They don't always answer in direct terms. Some of them are ornery, to say the least, but once they're done, they'll move along. [02:07:56] Speaker C: I think I'm gonna need your help. [02:08:02] Speaker B: Gladly. [02:08:05] Speaker D: And on that note, I think the morning has come. The sun has filtered into Roland's room. Rollin, as gone to step outside the room, had a final thought that stopped him for a moment. [02:08:30] Speaker E: I pause and look down at my state of completely distressed clothing and close the door again and find a change of clothing, and then open the door out into the hallway and kind of straighten my shirt with the sleeves rolled up and kind of looking fine, but looking kind of ready to work. And I just made my way to the club car. [02:09:05] Speaker D: As you open the door, you see Colonel, what does Rollin say when he. [02:09:12] Speaker A: Opens the door that morning? I will say that after storming off, the colonel went and retrieved the rest of the rifle kit. So it's very much approaching that kind of full metal jacket. Spent the entire evening taking it apart, putting it back together. But you don't take those apart. So it's just cleaning out the individual pieces, making sure the bore is perfectly. Like, it's, it's shiny in chrome all the way down. So I don't know on my head whether it's more interesting for the colonel to have fallen asleep or not. So, like, I can just make a vigilance roll just for the narrative flavor of seeing what had happened. [02:09:56] Speaker E: And I might try to make a stealthy roll to try and slip by with, because, like, it's like a, I see him and I'm like, ooh, he's gonna be so mad. [02:10:06] Speaker D: So let's do it then. Let's do this then. The colonel is at least kind of somnolent. I will let you make a logic and vigilance roll, and I will let you make a precision stealth roll. And if in opening the door and. [02:10:21] Speaker A: Moving by, I have only earned one success. [02:10:28] Speaker E: I have also earned one success. [02:10:31] Speaker D: All right? So I will say that you open the door, you stop. You see the colonel. It's not too clear, because he's kind of looking at you, but he's got that far away look of someone who was maybe like, you know, gone somewhere a little bit. And as you're about to try and tiptoe, pass the door next to your room opens and a woman says, dear God, is that a man with a gun? I dis you. Wake up, colonel. [02:11:07] Speaker A: Just like, barrel. There's a bayonet on this fucking thing and it's a rice, it's like 4ft long. These are like, civil. [02:11:14] Speaker D: Someone get the conductor. Closes the door. [02:11:18] Speaker E: I imagine that rallied would have, like, whipped around and like, pressed the gun up into the colonel's shoulder and was like, keep calm, man. [02:11:25] Speaker A: You're. By the way, hold on. [02:11:31] Speaker E: Flip both sides around. [02:11:34] Speaker A: And, like, you can see, like, the read receipt, like a CV's receipt going through his brain of all the things that happened last night and then trying to put it together, he's like, well, then, I mean, I just needed to make sure you stayed in. Oh, I'm sorry, it's been. [02:11:54] Speaker E: Colonel, did you sleep out here all night? [02:11:56] Speaker A: I didn't sleep. [02:11:58] Speaker E: Ah. Didn't sleep. [02:12:00] Speaker C: Right. [02:12:01] Speaker E: Um. Come then, gather your things. I think it's time for a spot of breakfast. Perhaps a coffee, tea? [02:12:12] Speaker A: Did you know doctors possessed? [02:12:16] Speaker E: Um. Well, uh, yes, I did. Uh, only insofar as I found out just before the shots rang out last night. [02:12:30] Speaker A: Did you know that Elizabeth has a pet troll. [02:12:35] Speaker E: That was. Is new? Well, good. [02:12:39] Speaker A: Not just me. [02:12:41] Speaker E: And at this moment, I would like to kind of, as casually as I may, just activate my eye, as if I'm like, scratching my head and just look at the kernel with my spectral eye. Just because things are going a little sideways now. [02:12:59] Speaker D: Well, I thought you never would have. Go ahead and give me a logic and vigilance role. [02:13:14] Speaker C: That's nice. [02:13:20] Speaker E: I would like to push. [02:13:23] Speaker D: Go for it. [02:13:29] Speaker E: I got one success. [02:13:30] Speaker D: One is all you need. You look at the kernel with your enhanced senses and what you see really disappoints you because there's nothing. He's perfectly, completely human. Mortal. [02:13:52] Speaker A: 55 year old man. He's a. [02:13:59] Speaker E: Erin, I'm putting you under house arrest for that one. That was horrible. And I just kind of like, run my hand through my hair and go. Colonel, we're about to be in a spot of bother if you continue waving this gun around. So I'm going to ask you very kindly, can I help you to put some of these things away? And can. Can we please get some breakfast? I will explain everything. [02:14:25] Speaker A: It's not loaded I'll point it away and pull the trigger, because it's not. [02:14:30] Speaker E: I have a moment of, like, looking around, seeing if anybody else saw that. [02:14:38] Speaker D: No, but you can hear that, you know, in the rooms and serving the train. The train's kind of coming to life, and people are starting to. To move about, having missed all of the interesting happenings of the evening. People are very, you know, blithely and unaware, just getting up, yawning, scratching, making their ablutions, and getting ready for breakfast. [02:15:03] Speaker A: We should leave before someone. Nothing else blames the broken window on us. [02:15:09] Speaker D: There is a broken window in? [02:15:10] Speaker C: Exactly. [02:15:12] Speaker A: Well, werewolves first. [02:15:17] Speaker E: Easy. And I just walk ahead of him. [02:15:24] Speaker A: I will deposit my firearm in my room before continuing to breakfast. [02:15:27] Speaker E: Okay, good. [02:15:29] Speaker D: Does anyone want to do anything before heading to the, um, the club car for some breakfast? I'll say, doctor, you might have heard this discussion going on outside if you want, but it depends on if you think the doctor's sleeping went off or. [02:15:46] Speaker C: The doctor stayed up most of the night with that book that he received. Kind of thinking about reading it, but decided not to. So upon hearing his fellows being roused and heading off, he will. He will follow shortly after, kind of give him a little bit of breath. [02:16:07] Speaker D: And Elizabeth? [02:16:10] Speaker A: Um. [02:16:11] Speaker B: Well, they're going to have to pass by my room in order to get to the club car, so I'll do the same. When I hear the. The commotion of familiar footsteps and familiar voices, I will appear. There's a sprig of blue flower pinned to the collar of my shirt, and anyone who looks close enough will see that I'm tucking what looks like a nail, like a large iron nail, railroad spike almost into my pocket. [02:16:56] Speaker D: You know that you're only a couple hours away from Stavanger now, so you will be arriving at your destination shortly after you've had your breakfast and gone back to your rooms and collected your things. Here's my question for you. Would you like to have a discussion with the four of you at the bread table, or would you sort of just have your breakfast, pretend nothing's wrong, and wait till you get to Sivangar to. Up to you. Entirely up to you. [02:17:34] Speaker E: I feel like this is the equivalent of, like, we all had, like, kind of a weird. Maybe a little bit of a kinky night, and we need to debrief about it. [02:17:44] Speaker D: Walk of shame. [02:17:46] Speaker C: No. No shame in this one, though. [02:17:48] Speaker E: No shame in this game. But a little bit like, would it. [02:17:51] Speaker A: Make sense saying that the colonel stayed up all night to swap that condition from angry to exhausted? [02:17:56] Speaker D: Sure. Absolutely. [02:17:57] Speaker A: I don't know. It's in the rules, but, like, he's no longer pissed, but he is tired. [02:18:01] Speaker D: The rules are a suggestion. [02:18:06] Speaker A: Yes. In that case, schluffing forward. And it's. It's obvious that, like, like, when you have that, like, road hypnosis feeling and it's not actually sleep, that's kind of how he's passed his entire night. So, like, he's there, but, like, half. [02:18:22] Speaker B: Lights are on. No one's home. [02:18:24] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:18:24] Speaker D: So you will, you will have breakfast and perhaps in slightly uncomfortable silence. And that's what I take it, that you would rather leave it be for now and revisit once you've arrived. Is that what I understand? [02:18:45] Speaker B: I feel like, oh, go ahead. No, I think this is potentially something that we should have a talk about. And I will let people get some breakfast, to get some coffee, but then I will sort of lean forward onto the table and say, just very quietly, I suggest that we find a less public venue. But I think we all have some things to discuss. [02:19:20] Speaker E: My thoughts exactly. And you look down at my plate and it's just only me. [02:19:27] Speaker D: That's all it is. [02:19:30] Speaker B: Sausage. [02:19:31] Speaker A: I'm not making eye contact with anyone, but you will notice that the. The dishes are exactly in line, regimented. Like, you could take a ruler from the top of the saucer to the top of the plate, and it would be lined up. And then in the plate, the sausages are all exactly like, linked up, right? Like a little ribbon rack. [02:19:50] Speaker D: And I will say that as you sit to breakfast, doctor, you can almost predict what the colonel is going to eat, in what order. You know, exactly how many times he's going to run his spoon around the teacup, how he's going to pick it up, take one drink of it, smack his lips, then put it down and not touch it again until he's eaten all of his toast. You can predict each and every little step as if you've seen him do this dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of times. [02:20:29] Speaker C: Okay, I clock that, and I. [02:20:36] Speaker D: Try. [02:20:36] Speaker C: Not to stare at him, but I definitely do catch glances of him as I know what's next. I look over just to see if, in my mind, the step that he should be on is the one that he's doing. And once enough of those times, I'm like, okay, shit, figure that one out. [02:20:51] Speaker D: And he does this thing where he eats everything, then finishes his tea, then he's got one bite of sausage left, which he kind of takes in savers. [02:20:59] Speaker A: You have to keep some of the troops in reserve, where they're fresh. And then when the pitched battle has met and the enemy is exhausted, you send your fresh troops in. And for the purposes of this metaphor, the sausage is our reserve sausage. [02:21:14] Speaker C: Yep. [02:21:16] Speaker E: I'm just eating the meat with my hands. [02:21:21] Speaker A: I would say that even. Even, like, when you cut it with a knife and fork, like, they are exactly. [02:21:32] Speaker D: Insane. That is why the colonel is not married. As you are finishing your. Your meals and return to your rooms to get your things, Roland will be a knock at your door. [02:21:56] Speaker E: I kind of quickly straighten up all my bags kind of together, and I go and open the door. And I go. [02:22:02] Speaker D: Yes, you see Thea? The. Actually, you never saw Thea, to be perfectly honest. There's a woman there who is dressed in a very rural sort of way, a little kerchief over her head. She looks a little bit drawn, like she had a bit of a rough night. And she'll say, I'm very sorry to disturb you. You are friends with Elizabeth, right? [02:22:36] Speaker E: Yes, I would say so. Or at least colleagues. [02:22:39] Speaker D: I. I saw you when you got on the train together. Um. Maybe Elizabeth has mentioned me. Thea, who we met last night on the train. [02:22:51] Speaker E: I, um. I I'll admit I had a bit of an early turn in last night, so I don't recall her mentioning it. But it's a pleasure to meet you. And extend my hand to her. [02:23:04] Speaker D: She'll take your hand and she'll say, I also met a doctor, though I don't think I got his name. [02:23:15] Speaker E: Oh, yes, Doctor Markovich. [02:23:18] Speaker D: Yes. I was wounded last night, and he. Well, he helped me. He took care of me. He also got me a little bit drunk, but I don't think he meant to do that. [02:23:32] Speaker E: Oh, I'm sorry about the drunkenness, but I'm glad he was able to help you. How are you feeling? [02:23:43] Speaker D: I don't know how much you know, what happened last night, but there was an attack. I was attacked. Your friends were involved in the situation. They helped me. They saved me. Elizabeth saved my life. I was taught all my life that one should not let important debts go unrepaid. And so I wanted to give you this. And she pulls out of her pocket a pocket watch, which is where I got earlier that. I thought you had a pocket watch. And she offers it to you. I saw you with Elizabeth earlier. I can tell that there's a. A very deep pain inside of you. And this pain is a conduit for rage and anger. I wanted to say that if you give in to it, it will consume you. But if you accept it, if you take this pain as a gift that can help you grow and learn about yourself, you can turn it into strengthen. But doing so, it's good to have help. And I want you to take this. I want you to have this. It'll help you if you spiral too deeply into the anger, if you find yourself close to losing yourself, it will buy you some time. [02:25:34] Speaker E: Thank you. [02:25:37] Speaker D: Can you do something for me? [02:25:40] Speaker E: Yes. Yes, of course. [02:25:43] Speaker D: I want you to remember something. Can you repeat these words? Loss and sadness are wisps of smoke in the blowing wind of time. [02:25:59] Speaker E: Loss and sadness are wisps of smoke and the blowing winds of time. [02:26:07] Speaker D: And when you say that, you hear the watch start ticking. If you click it open, it's functioning now. The seconds arm is moving around. If you find yourself in need of time, you just need to stop the watch. You should know, when someone leaves us, our story doesn't end just their part in it. Take care of Elizabeth. [02:26:49] Speaker E: Of course. Thank you. [02:26:56] Speaker D: Thank you. [02:26:59] Speaker E: I'll tuck the watch into my waistcoat and flip it across. [02:27:05] Speaker D: Colonel, there's a knock at your door. [02:27:10] Speaker A: I don't mean this to be a euphemism, but the colonel stops polishing his saber and sets it on the bed, and then stands up to. And doesn't open. Open the door. Just open like this. Much to see who it is. Before anything further. [02:27:26] Speaker D: The train lurches to a stop and you are impaled on your own saber. You see, thea, the woman that Elizabeth was talking to last night, she's like you're. I'm sorry, are you. Are you the captain? [02:27:42] Speaker A: Colonel. Colonel Johann Berglund. [02:27:45] Speaker D: I'm very. I'm very sorry. I'm very sorry. I meant no disrespect. I wanted to thank you for last night. I know after that man attacked me, that you ran off after him. I'm not too sure exactly what happened after, but I thought it was extremely brave and extremely selfless of you to do something like this for someone you didn't even know, to put yourself in danger like that. And I. I wanted to thank you. I could tell, looking at you yesterday, even when you were surrounded by people who fawned upon you and who, well, hung on your every word and seemed to worship you, almost ate. Your heart is very heavy. You should carry this with you. And she hands you a little necklace that's got, like, a leather thong around it, that's wrapped around it. Carry it with you, and very soon it will offer you a way to make peace. With the turmoil that's inside of you. [02:28:58] Speaker A: I think once the colonel realized that it wasn't drago, Elisabet or Alexol who was knocking on his door, he would have been able to open it a little bit more. [02:29:06] Speaker D: Okay. [02:29:07] Speaker A: And been partaking of this conversation with, you know, face to face, as opposed to, like, through the chain on the hotel door or whatever. Gotcha. Looking down at the gift, does it. Do I recognize any. Anything of it? [02:29:21] Speaker D: It's literally just, like, an orange stone with, like, some metal wiring. It looks very primitive, almost some metal wiring around it, and then attached to a leather, leather cord. [02:29:33] Speaker A: I just want to make sure that was because it was expensive. He'd be like, oh, no, I couldn't possibly write. [02:29:37] Speaker D: But if it's no, it looks like handmade, basically. [02:29:39] Speaker A: Like, in that case, I take it in my hands, and I am cradling it as if it were a fragment of the true cross. Right. Just. You've made this thing for me of your own heart, and that is the sweetest thing anyone could possibly do. So it's there, and then, like, taking the. You can't see my hands, so that's very unhelpful. Taking the, like, the thong part and hanging it out. So it's just the gem that's in the center of my palm and looking at it and then back up to her. Well, that's incredibly kind of you, Mandev. [02:30:16] Speaker D: Your actions were kind. Um, I'm sorry, I must go. Please take care of Elizabeth with you. And then say thank you to the doctor for me. [02:30:27] Speaker A: I shall endeavor to do my very best on both accounts. [02:30:31] Speaker D: Can you give me an empathy and observation? [02:30:34] Speaker A: I can do that. Empathy. Uh oh. Aside from when they're lying, the colonel is very much a take people at their words kind of guy. The empathy part. Now, who has time for that? Very facts oriented. So on three dice, zero successes. [02:30:57] Speaker D: Okay, so she thanks and she walks away, and as she goes, you could have sworn you heard her say under her breath, I'm sorry. [02:31:08] Speaker A: Oh, wait. I would assume that she was just apologizing for having put us in the position of having to take care of her. That's the thing you notice about people who are rescued. [02:31:19] Speaker D: In time. The whistle blows on the train, and the conductor walks through saying, end of the line, stavanger. End of the line. Please collect all your things. Try not to leave anything behind. Exit the train in an orderly fashion. As he goes through, you find yourselves on the landing platform of a very small train station in a very small town of Stavanger. It is on the coast. The wind that blows and carries, that smell of the ocean and that cold that comes with it, even though it is, I believe it said it was in May. There's still that coal coming in from the north northern ocean that just chills you right to the bone. It's a nice town. Looks definitely smaller than Uppsala, but, you know, rustic, but not without its charm. It looks a little bit subdued and quiet. Nothing much kind of going on. Most people get off the train here, as it is the terminus. The train leaves again in a number of hours. I can tell you exactly how long that is. I can't tell you. Just like this. I'll have to find it. But it leaves early tomorrow morning, basically, and then it'll be back 24 hours after that. So either you leave tomorrow morning early, or you leave 24 hours later. As you arrive, you see a coach with a man holding a sign that says Helstrom on it. [02:33:24] Speaker A: You might think the colonel's one of the first off the train just to count to being a punctual and regimented man. So, taking that first step. Of course, he's also very easy to pack when you keep all of your clothing folded up and ready to move. So taking that first step off the train and enjoying, finally, the ability to take that big, wide step. Enjoying the. Yes, the breeze is bracing, but the space is plentiful. And he's no longer confined in the sound and scent and sight of the train. Taking a few bold steps out and nodding to the chauffeur, but not walking over quite yet on the off chance the others are right on his heels. [02:34:12] Speaker D: The rest of you? [02:34:15] Speaker B: Uh, yes. Um. I think I probably would have come out a little bit after the colonel. We are in the same. We were in the same, um, quarterblock, as it were. I will step out and take a look around. And even though, keeping in mind that he has told us that we would find nothing, I still want to reach out with my magic and see if I can get even a sense of something first. Stepping into the town is your check in, sir? [02:34:54] Speaker D: The town in general? [02:34:55] Speaker B: Yeah, just reaching out and seeing what I can sense in the immediate vicinity. [02:35:00] Speaker D: Okay. Um. Go ahead and give me a magic roll. Anybody else doing anything? Doctor, what are you doing? [02:35:11] Speaker C: I. [02:35:14] Speaker E: Was gonna say I would be. [02:35:17] Speaker D: Jinx. [02:35:17] Speaker E: I was gonna say that I. I would probably fall in step with the doctor and kind of clap him on the shoulder and say, um. Sorry about last night. [02:35:34] Speaker C: You know. Roland, sweet boy. It's all right. Odd to say, not the worst that I've seen you at. [02:35:47] Speaker E: Uh. You're right. [02:35:51] Speaker C: I kind of just pat your pet, your hand, and it's like, well, we don't need to talk about it until you want to. Although I'm sure there's a lot we need to talk about. Due time. Right. [02:36:05] Speaker E: My thoughts exactly. Let's press on, shall we? [02:36:08] Speaker C: Very well. [02:36:10] Speaker D: Elizabeth. What did you get? [02:36:13] Speaker B: Two successes. [02:36:19] Speaker D: Reach out. Trying to get a feel for the atmosphere of the town. You get the sense of a deep fear that is abating. You feel a very strong sense of a powerful darkness at the center of it, but it, too, is kind of fading away, but in a way that suggests that it will never probably be completely gone. Or at least it will take a very long time. There is not so much a strong sense of magic here as a strong sense of corruption, of something unnatural wrong. But as I said, fading. [02:37:22] Speaker B: There is still something here. It might. It might be on its way out. [02:37:40] Speaker C: You mean to say our jobs have done. [02:37:44] Speaker E: As in on the move? [02:37:46] Speaker B: No. Um, fading. [02:37:51] Speaker C: Dying. [02:37:59] Speaker B: Not dying so much as perhaps losing its grip. [02:38:09] Speaker A: Hmm. [02:38:13] Speaker B: The young woman that we. We rescued last night, DEA. She. She issued a warning. I'm not certain how accurate it was because, well, she'd lost a lot of blood. And in lieu of anything else, I gave her a little bit of aquavit so I could heal what I could. But she seemed to think that we. We were being used. [02:39:02] Speaker A: Used by whom? [02:39:08] Speaker B: She didn't say. [02:39:11] Speaker C: Oil? [02:39:20] Speaker B: I don't. I don't know. I could have asked better questions. But a lot happened, Elizabeth. [02:39:29] Speaker C: There was a lot happening. Yes. It's nobody's fault. You asked what you could. You did great. You both did. [02:39:44] Speaker B: She seemed to think that we would find nothing here. [02:39:51] Speaker E: Interesting. Did she say it was a trap? [02:39:59] Speaker B: No. But she said that we needed to be on our guard, which I imagined we were going to do anyway. [02:40:09] Speaker E: This group. [02:40:10] Speaker A: Yeah, well, failing any immediate evidence to the contrary, perhaps we can follow, and that will gesture towards the person holding up the sign for us. We can proceed to our accommodations and see what we make of the place. [02:40:30] Speaker B: Just so. [02:40:32] Speaker E: Sounds good. [02:40:37] Speaker D: So you approach the carriage driver, who's kind of scanning the crowd, and then seeing a group approach him, goes. Mister Helstrom? [02:40:50] Speaker A: I'm afraid not. Colonel Johann Berglin. I'm Mister Hellstrom's representative. [02:40:55] Speaker D: Ah, very well. My name is Lars. Please, I'm to take you wherever you wish to go. Um, please, let me help you with your bags, uh, ma'am. And he comes over and he takes, um, Elizabeth's bags, and, you know, and then he'll come and get the rest of. He'll come over. Open the door, please. Make yourselves comfortable. It won't take but a moment to get these sorted out. [02:41:17] Speaker A: We were led to believe that accommodations already been arranged. Is that not the case? [02:41:21] Speaker D: I have been told to, uh, to take you wherever you want. Be that the shipyard or the wicken tallow inner. [02:41:29] Speaker A: Ah, very, very well. I will survey the rest of the group. Do we intend to get straight to work, or shall we drop off our things? Traveling lightly, I think traveling lightly is. [02:41:41] Speaker B: The best bet here. [02:41:45] Speaker E: Pick what you need. [02:41:47] Speaker C: I still think there's a conversation to be had amongst our party before traveling in to work. [02:41:57] Speaker A: Probably not in front of our driver or the dozens of other passersby. [02:42:01] Speaker C: No, no, no. That's what I'm saying. Once we get to our accommodations. [02:42:06] Speaker A: I will communicate as such to the driver. [02:42:08] Speaker D: Very well. It won't take very long, about 15 minutes. And so he will take you through the city. You. The sense you get as you drive through this city and look around is that it's. It's a. That's a quaint, nice little, you know, provincial city. You get the feeling of a place after some sort of disaster has struck. And people have kind of begun picking up the pieces. But things aren't quite what they were before. They're still kind of, you know, it's still kind of a little quiet. The laughters and the jokes when they're kind of muted. And, you know, there's not a lot of people in the outdoor cafes and things of that nature. You get the feeling of a place that is just circle. Now, it could be because, you know, it is spring going into summer. But you do get the feeling that there is, you know, that these are survivors of some sort of tragedy in some way. You are taken to an inn that's at the center of town. There's a little courtyard. You go through a porte cochere, and you enter this nice little courtyard with a well in the middle. And it looks like an inn that's like, you know, probably from medieval times, but it's been spiffied up a bit here and there. And there's like, kind of the main building. And then there are smaller little buildings sort of on. On the sides of them which all look like little mini, mini rooms, you know, for people. The coachman will drive you to the front. There's not a lot of people. It's kind of quiet. The innkeeper will come out and we'll say, who's this then? And Lars will say, party of four. Mister Helstrom, I believe they have reservations. He says, yes, absolutely. They're in the cottages over on the west side there. If you want to drive over in rooms. Cottages one through and 4123 and four. Very well. Until drive on. And you kind of go down a little path and then eventually arrives at another little courtyard and there's like a bunch of cottages, I mean, like six cottages. And he will stop in front of some of them and he'll come out, he's like, there you are, ladies and gentlemen. Um, any preference, or shall I just take the, uh, uh, the baggages in whichever room? [02:44:31] Speaker B: And. [02:44:32] Speaker E: It was fun. We would just like to have a. A meeting before we go to the shipyard. I believe so. [02:44:39] Speaker D: Please. I'm at your disposal. Anything you need, I'm your man. And so he'll start moving your things into the cottages. You'll open the doors and the windows to kind of air them out a little bit. Inside this kind of mini courtyard, there's like some stone benches and whatnot. You could go there if you want and sort of have a little sit and have a little discussion if you want. While he's taking your things into the rooms and airing them out. [02:45:10] Speaker E: While we're settling into this area where we're going to be sitting, I'd like to just like take a scan to see if there's anything in the area. Both good eye and magic eye. I guess they're both good eyes. [02:45:27] Speaker D: The Rollins going like this? [02:45:30] Speaker E: Yeah, just changing. [02:45:33] Speaker D: Inventing a new dance. [02:45:34] Speaker C: What a strange dance. Yeah, I was about to say, she. [02:45:37] Speaker A: Always has a headache. Like, oh, my one temple is just the worst. [02:45:41] Speaker D: Rolls like this. [02:45:44] Speaker E: I got a one one success on that. [02:45:48] Speaker C: Love that for us. [02:45:50] Speaker D: You do not feel anything untowards. There's no one watching you. You don't detect anyone paying undue attention. The hair is on the back of your neck because right now they're not all over your body. Um, don't stand up. You feel reasonably safe. [02:46:09] Speaker E: Looks like the area is clear, but. Elizabeth, you'd like to take a scan? I think we're all right. [02:46:17] Speaker B: Yes, one moment, game master. I would like to reach into the satchel and take a handful of dust. [02:46:35] Speaker D: Of the troll variety. Yes, go for it. [02:46:40] Speaker C: Oh, the colored. [02:46:43] Speaker B: As I sort of walk the perimeter of our little area, I'll just hold it into my hand and blow it across my field of vision. [02:46:57] Speaker D: Well, some of your friends are glowing kind of brightly, but you already knew that. You don't detect anything? There's nothing really I'm just trying to figure out if there would be something. And my hesitation was not would she notice this, it was more of would there be something? And there. There wouldn't be anything. It wouldn't make sense. So, as you're going around, you also feel reasonably secure that you are not being spied on. Orlando. Imminent danger. I would also say that you can each erase one condition of your choice, if you have any. Having had some rest and everything at. [02:47:44] Speaker B: This point, nothing of the magical variety either. [02:47:56] Speaker C: Great. Well, suppose it's time we have ourselves a chat. [02:48:03] Speaker E: I suppose so. [02:48:06] Speaker A: The colonel is doing that thing that your dad has done where he is just silently waiting for you to admit the thing that you've done wrong. Uh, yeah, so, sitting, um, he's. I'm sitting in a. In a chair, uh, high backed away from the table a little bit. So, like, there's a good, say, like eight or twelve inches between, like, chest and enter table with just arms crossed, leaned back and just kind of silent. Maybe one hand is kind of like idly clapping with the. The waiting case cadence. [02:48:37] Speaker D: You've seen this before, John, Jonathan, you've seen this before. And if you stay silent long enough, he's going to start tapping his ring on the arm of the chair. [02:48:49] Speaker C: I will be the first to start in this little share circle of ours. My name is Doctor Drago Markovich. My name is also possible dramatic effect. Because I gotta find it. Because I remember one of them. Johannes Braun. And my name is also a little fuzzy. Ask Jacob. Yeah, Jacob ask. [02:49:28] Speaker A: Who told you that name? [02:49:34] Speaker C: Nobody. Which is why we're here. Well, which is why I'm here, to be exact. Because I. We. He. This is recent. Which is why, like, I like colonel. Especially you, sir. I don't want you to think that this is something that he kept. We've kept hidden. I mean, Roaldin didn't even know. And really, part of the reason why I'm on this expedition is to help. But also to help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help. Yes. [02:50:14] Speaker A: So what's unfortunate for you, doctor, is I happen to know Johannes Brown quite well. I buried him. I gave a folded flag to his widow. [02:50:27] Speaker C: Well, I am not pretending to be alive, man. I am indeed a dead man. He is indeed a dead man. They are dead. We are dead. [02:50:45] Speaker A: Is he. He in there now then? Is that how this works? Are you sharing? Is it like a telegraph? Where only one of you can be on the wire at a time? [02:50:53] Speaker C: It's like we're all there, but we're not. There. But he is here, so it's. It's. [02:51:01] Speaker A: Will you put Johannes on the phone for me? I know phones aren't a thing, but I have no other frame of reference for that line. [02:51:07] Speaker C: It's. It's. It's the equivalent of. Have you ever, like, colonel, been told a story by one of your buddies so long ago that sometimes you retell that story and you can't remember if you heard it or if you lived. [02:51:21] Speaker D: It. [02:51:25] Speaker A: For the purposes of this? Yes, sure. [02:51:28] Speaker C: You know, I know a man of your stature would never lie about their military experience or anything like that, so it's more of a. It's almost like a game of telephone where some memories are mine, but I also don't think they're mine, but they might have been or somebody told me them. And it feels like I'm trying to sift through that at any given time. So it's not like, hi, I'm us, and he's them. It's. We just all. And I'm trying. I'm trying to figure it all out. [02:51:59] Speaker E: You said this was recent. [02:52:02] Speaker C: Yes. Right. So, Roland, you know, I help you with. With things. There was a body and there was. There was a moment where they had a ring, and I. I touched said ring, and then I. And mixed memories. And now I. [02:52:26] Speaker E: You touched said ring or you stole said ring? [02:52:37] Speaker C: It's subjective. [02:52:41] Speaker A: I know that I said I buried this man, but that was just me doing it for flavor. If I find out drago fucking grave robbed my friend and stole his ring and is now haunted by the ghost of I'm gonna fucking. Like, this game's gonna get real short for you. [02:52:55] Speaker D: As far. As far. Like, honestly, my intention was as far as you knew, Johannes, you know, that he died, but the timeframe basically is that this was fairly recent. Um, not like days or something like that, but, like, in the last year, he died or was found dead in his apartment. Um, and do you want more direct detail or are you gonna kind of skip over the details? Jonathan, about the timeline. [02:53:35] Speaker C: Um, I. [02:53:38] Speaker D: The body that you had on the table was not Johannes Brown body. [02:53:42] Speaker C: Right. Which is what I was gonna get into. Was. Yeah. [02:53:45] Speaker D: Cool. I just wanted to make sure that it was clear. [02:53:47] Speaker C: No, yeah, I did an autopsy. Right. The. The military academy nearby asked me to do an autopsy on somebody, and that's. That's where it happened. That's where they happen. But there's. There's. But no, some of these memories are old, older than a lot of these other things, not within days or weeks or months. I mean, spanning back years. So, you know, if you buried him. I don't know how I got jumped by two of us. Of them. If there was only one body that I was touching. Not touching. [02:54:32] Speaker A: I guess I didn't know about the. The ring part. So I guess to make it work out, we can retcon and say that I didn't bury him, and we'll just hit the anger, because I wrote a very. [02:54:38] Speaker D: No, but it's perfectly fine. It's perfectly fine. If you had buried him, um, one of the things that I would have told you if asked specifically about it was that, um, when he was found, although it looked like he had taken his own life, it looked like his place had been burglarized. There were things missing, including. [02:54:59] Speaker A: Right, the ring. [02:55:03] Speaker C: So. So I'm not a thief or robber or a grave robber. [02:55:09] Speaker A: Then how did you get that? [02:55:18] Speaker C: That's a great question. I. Again, the. The. [02:55:23] Speaker D: You want me to fill in some. Some stuff for. [02:55:26] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Aside from, like I said, there was a man trying to bring into the barracks, and they asked me to do an autopsy. [02:55:32] Speaker D: And this man that you did the autopsy on was Jacob ask. And he had the ring. [02:55:40] Speaker C: Yeah. So. So I did an autopsy. He had the ring. I took the ring. And now. I mean, the doctor. [02:55:55] Speaker A: Elizabeth. [02:55:58] Speaker B: Yes. [02:55:59] Speaker A: I apologize gratefully for losing my temper last night. That said, is any of what he is saying possible? [02:56:13] Speaker B: Is it game master? [02:56:15] Speaker D: Yeah. So it is possible for a spirit to stay attached to an item. I would say that you would think that whatever the situation was, if this ring belongs to Jan is brawn, that when he died, his spirit would have stayed attached to the ring. It was then taken by this Jacob ask character, and then whatever it is that happened at the moment at the operating table, at the autopsy table with the dog doctor, something would have triggered that, would have taken what was when he took the ring. So, basically, once Jacob asked, died, his spirit was also stuck to the ring. And then when the doctor took the rings, that's where it becomes unclear for you, because the doctor took the ring, theoretically, should still be the doctor. He might be haunted, or he might have someone like. You have someone. I mean, your character knows about death, right? So, look, I'll tell you what. Give me a logic and learning. [02:57:27] Speaker E: Is he the russian nesting doll of ghosts? [02:57:30] Speaker D: That's basically, yeah. [02:57:33] Speaker C: I'm a ghost inside of a ghost. [02:57:37] Speaker E: The turducken of ghosts. [02:57:39] Speaker C: The turducken. I'm a ghost pretending to be a ghost inside of another ghost. [02:57:43] Speaker A: That's better. [02:57:44] Speaker B: I'm gonna. That's zero successes. But I'm gonna push. Cuz this is. This is the thread that needs to be untangled. [02:57:52] Speaker D: You do have an advantage, and the game's almost over. [02:57:56] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I'll take an advantage. [02:57:58] Speaker C: Can I give them my advantage? No, I'm not gonna use it. [02:58:06] Speaker B: That's one success. [02:58:09] Speaker D: The question that's on your lips is, did the doctor die at any point? [02:58:20] Speaker B: Doctor Markovich, this is. I was going to say this is strange, but everything about this is strange. Did you die at some point? [02:58:35] Speaker C: Well, God, what a question. Um. Oh God, man. [02:58:43] Speaker B: Oh, so that's a yes. [02:58:48] Speaker C: Yeah. It's hard to stay alive when you have so many souls inside of you. Um. [02:58:56] Speaker D: Your explanation is that at the moment, if he died, at the moment where he was in possession of the ring, it created a vacuum and one of the souls of the ring got sucked in. But because the ring keeps the souls, they're all clinging. [02:59:12] Speaker B: Okay, so you. You had the ring in your possession on my thumb to be at your time of death? [02:59:24] Speaker C: Yes, both their times of death. Because technically one. The one on the slab was also. [02:59:30] Speaker B: Oh. Oh, that. Well, that explains it. [02:59:35] Speaker C: See, but I still have the doctor's memories and I've dreamt of him, so I think he's in there. I. I'm in there. [02:59:42] Speaker B: He's in there. That spirits can attach themselves to things like jewelry. Still, remarkable that it happened twice by two nickels. Even more remarkable that then the doctor died and created an empty vessel for those souls to propagate. And that makes him sound like a house plant. [03:00:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [03:00:14] Speaker B: Marco, are you dead? [03:00:16] Speaker E: Have you been dead the whole time, known you? [03:00:19] Speaker C: No. [03:00:21] Speaker A: Great. [03:00:21] Speaker C: Not the whole time. And still, like, what makes a person, you know, is memory. [03:00:31] Speaker E: I'm not getting into the philosophical debate. Not this time. [03:00:35] Speaker A: I have to say, if this meeting was supposed to make me feel better about working with the three of you, it has not served that purpose. [03:00:43] Speaker B: Well, at the very least, I can tell you that my situation is far less complicated. Rowland, you missed the excitement. When I was very young, there was a troll that lived in the forest outside of my village. For the most part, I understand that we all believe vasen to be horrible spirits of malice, but that is not always the case. Bergamot was. Is a friend to me. And when he passed, he determined that he was not ready to leave yet. So he. His spirit has endured. [03:01:39] Speaker E: I'd like to just activate my eye and see if I can see him nearby. Her? [03:01:45] Speaker D: Yeah, he's a little bit further away, picking flowers. He's whistling to himself, and he's making a little bouquet of flowers. [03:01:55] Speaker E: Smile to myself and say, he's lovely. [03:02:06] Speaker B: Colonel, I owe you an apology as well. Given the general consensus on Mason, I am hesitant to let people know of Bergamot's existence. [03:02:29] Speaker A: I understand entirely, Miss Jensen, and if we're all being open, you have the least to fear from me. Of this group and excluding myself, at least you are controlled only by your own desires and not those of a beast or the dead. [03:02:50] Speaker D: As you say that, doctor, you feel a sharp pain right here. And that fleshy part between your thumb and your forefinger, very sharp pain that keeps going. [03:03:06] Speaker A: Do you mean the doctor? You mean me? [03:03:08] Speaker D: Sorry, the colonel. [03:03:11] Speaker C: Why am I getting hurt? [03:03:12] Speaker D: Sorry, the colonel. [03:03:15] Speaker A: So it goes from a moment where there's a. There's the stern giving military orders. Look. And then, just like a son of. [03:03:21] Speaker D: A colonel, when you look down there is what could best be described as a sort of cross between some vile, devilish looking insect and a shrimp or something. There's a black carapace that curls around. There are a couple little antennas, and then with its very sharp beak and very, very intent eyes, it is eating into your flesh and it's burrowing inside your hand. It is about Ylang. [03:03:59] Speaker A: Can I do that thing you're not supposed to with ticks and just try to pull it out? [03:04:03] Speaker D: When you pull it out, you feel a sharp pain and you see blood that trails out of it. And then you're holding it between your fingers, and it's like, kind of just looking at you and moving its little legs. [03:04:17] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [03:04:20] Speaker E: That'S not good. [03:04:24] Speaker C: The doctor's gonna pull out a little vial from his medicine from his chemistry station kit. Oh, good to put him in. We're just gonna cork him. [03:04:38] Speaker A: Oh, and I'm just shaking blood down, reaching for the handkerchief, like in my. [03:04:43] Speaker B: Let me see, let me see. [03:04:45] Speaker C: Have her cure it and I can stitch it. [03:04:48] Speaker A: I will hold out. [03:04:52] Speaker B: First and foremost, I want to make sure there isn't any lingering woo woo nonsense. Is he about to get fucking possessed by a demon bug? [03:05:00] Speaker A: Out of character. Very worried about the other half of the thing that I just pulled out of my hand because I miss some got left. [03:05:08] Speaker B: That's why I'm looking. Um, and I'm. You know what? I'm gonna sprinkle some troll dust on it. [03:05:13] Speaker D: Okay? [03:05:14] Speaker C: What is troll dust? Are you sprinkling your dead friend's body on people? [03:05:23] Speaker B: No. [03:05:24] Speaker C: Good. That makes me feel a little better. [03:05:27] Speaker A: Don't worry about it. [03:05:30] Speaker D: Two successes, two successes. So you're looking at the wound or at the insect looking at the wound. You check out the wound, and you can definitely tell that there's things that have been left behind. And these things look like they're trying to burrow in. [03:05:46] Speaker B: Oh, shit. Shit. Doctor? [03:05:50] Speaker C: Yes? As I'm shaking. [03:05:53] Speaker B: Tweezers, please. Tweezers, quickly, please. [03:05:57] Speaker C: I open the bag, second pocket to the left, next to the matches. [03:06:02] Speaker A: Give me this. [03:06:02] Speaker E: And I look at the bottle. [03:06:05] Speaker B: I am so sorry, Colonel. And I'm gonna yank that shit out of his hand. [03:06:10] Speaker D: No problem. You managed to clean it out, like, get all the little. Little things left behind. They look like little white worms. [03:06:16] Speaker B: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. [03:06:19] Speaker C: It's quite painful, but we're gonna have to cauterize. [03:06:24] Speaker A: Would you say we? And that, by the nature of grammar, includes you. You will stay where I can see you until I know who is inside you. I can handle this. [03:06:42] Speaker E: I would like to. [03:06:43] Speaker C: If you need my supplies, though, they are. [03:06:46] Speaker E: Can I scan the bug o? [03:06:48] Speaker D: Yep. You can look in the chat. Also, I. In the discord chat, I put a picture of the thing down. [03:06:53] Speaker C: Rose. [03:06:56] Speaker A: Oh, I hate that. [03:06:57] Speaker C: Oh, my. [03:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't like it. [03:07:02] Speaker D: And it's got a human face. You absolutely see that this thing is supernatural. Nietzsche. The looks of it alone did not sell that. [03:07:20] Speaker E: Elizabeth, we got a live one. [03:07:23] Speaker B: Good. Give me a moment, please. [03:07:26] Speaker E: Hmm? [03:07:30] Speaker A: While I am wincing in pain and, I'm assuming, preparing to heat something up so I can jam it into my own flesh, are there more of these things around? [03:07:41] Speaker D: No. But as you're checking around, checking yourself, making sure you pull out the gift that you received earlier, and you realize that on the letter thong, the piece of amber that was there, part of it has broken away and is empty now. [03:08:04] Speaker A: So I would say then, once the wound is. Has been cleaned up and we're sure that the pieces are out, then I'm going through pockets looking for it, and I pull that out, and I was, like, going to swing it, and then seeing that, like only half of it has come, we'll return to our fit the devil's cock and balls again. That witch. [03:08:25] Speaker B: What? [03:08:26] Speaker A: The woman. The. The thea, the one you saved. She gave me this. She gave me this before we left the train. And I'll hand over to you. [03:08:36] Speaker B: Does it. Sorry, I keep. I keep wanting to call you storyteller. [03:08:41] Speaker D: Game master bleak is fine. You can go ahead and give me a magic roll. [03:08:48] Speaker B: Shit. Does it just. Just on observation, does it look like a. Something that something inside chomped out and. [03:08:58] Speaker D: No, it just looked like it itself took a bite out of crime. It looks very happy and content with itself, by the way. [03:09:08] Speaker B: Oh, no, I'm talking about the amber. Like the piece of amber. [03:09:11] Speaker D: Oh, the amber. No, no, the. The amber looks like something was inside, but it's. It's gone. [03:09:15] Speaker B: Okay, yeah, that's. That's what I'm. That's, uh, mother truck. That's one success. [03:09:20] Speaker C: The bug looks smug. [03:09:22] Speaker B: Fucker. [03:09:23] Speaker D: The spiritus is a magical being, often appearing in the form of a shiny black bug or a small white snake or worm. It is said to be in league with the devil. The spiritus needs to be fed every day with human spit. If the owner forgets to feed it, its vengeance will be terrible. Sooner or later, the creature will take control of its owner, unless it is sold or given away. But it can only be passed on twice. The third person to accept the creature will never be rid of it, and the spirtus will, in time, assume control of its owner. [03:10:11] Speaker B: That bitch. [03:10:14] Speaker E: Oh, no, wait. Who did you get this from? [03:10:19] Speaker A: The witch. The one who was shot. The one who Elizabeth saved. [03:10:25] Speaker E: Oh, no. And I pull the pocket watch off of me, and I, like, huck it across the table. She also gave me this. I don't know what's wrong with it. I don't trust her. [03:10:36] Speaker C: I take the book out of my medicine bag, and I also check, and I'm like, well, she also got a book to read. [03:10:41] Speaker B: I throw down the sprig of forget me. [03:10:43] Speaker A: Not all of us. [03:10:46] Speaker E: All of us marked. [03:10:50] Speaker C: I'm gonna turn to the colonel, be like, well, well, well, colonel. Looks like you're part of the crew now. [03:10:58] Speaker A: It's never too old to 55 was my first time. [03:11:07] Speaker D: And on that bombshell. On that bombshell, I think there's a good point to stop for this particular session. [03:11:18] Speaker B: Damn it. [03:11:19] Speaker D: With the doctor finally learning the secret handshake and being admitted into the treehouse. [03:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll say thank you, first of all, to bleak season for running us through this, including the part where they invested me with a satan shrimp. Lots of interesting character developments happening. I will be the first to point out that in chat, Jonathan was so disappointed that I was normal. They were ready for the big reveal to come back and be like, and he's a ghost. Didn't happen. [03:11:55] Speaker D: No. [03:11:56] Speaker C: Haven't been that disappointed. Haven't been that disappointed. It was. It was the smug face. But the last time I was that disappointed, my dad went out for milk and never came back. [03:12:08] Speaker A: Well, uh, unlike, uh, Jonathan's, father. We'll be back next week, same time, but 3 hours ago. [03:12:18] Speaker C: Incredible. So good. [03:12:23] Speaker E: I feel so bad. [03:12:25] Speaker C: I need to keep that. [03:12:29] Speaker D: It's a safe space here, people. [03:12:30] Speaker C: It's a safe space. I laugh so I don't cry. [03:12:33] Speaker A: Well, he sets them up. I knock them down. They are Latinos against spooky shit. Playing Doctor Drago Markovich here, one of three characters inside a doctor. If people would like, if they're enjoying the sense of humor happening here and they want to see more of it, not in the scandinavian wilderness. Where can they go? [03:12:54] Speaker C: You can find me as Latinos against spooky shit on all my platforms except Twitter, where it's against spooky. And of course, you can also find me in the future at tabletop Tempest, bringing you some more wonderful stories. [03:13:09] Speaker A: I'll be sure to promote your stuff as it comes out. All TTRPG stories with all immigrant and all immigrant cast. So looking on children of immigrant. [03:13:18] Speaker C: Yes, sir. [03:13:20] Speaker A: Alongside Drago, I'm doing you in reverse order of terrible secrets. In case you were curious, kato ac as Axel totally a good boy. Rollin best. [03:13:34] Speaker E: Such a good boy. [03:13:35] Speaker A: If people want to scratch you behind the ears or pet you on the top of the head, where can they do so? [03:13:39] Speaker E: Yeah, they can't. But they can find me on social media. I am on Instagram, heelina handbasket. I am on Twitter and TikTok at onlyhandbasket because there are so many people just vying for that name. But guess what? It's like Highlander. I'm the only one. [03:13:58] Speaker A: I regret deeply of reacting poorly to Brighamont cause I was ready for the colonel to be like, oh, okay, well, hook, sure. But sometimes the dice make us tell a different story. If people want to hear the other stories that you are telling Laura Tutu, where can they go? [03:14:15] Speaker B: I mean, Aaron, you know that because you pay me to hang out here and tell stories with the court. But if they want to see me do other shit, when you see it. [03:14:26] Speaker A: Like that, it sounds very, you pay me to hang out here. Sounds very, very sinister. [03:14:31] Speaker D: Sounds very needy is what it sounds like. [03:14:34] Speaker B: But if you want to find me on my socials, you can find me as Laura, 22. On most social medias, you might just have to throw an underscore at the beginning and the end of that, because obviously I can't just keep everything the same across platforms. Nine times out of ten, though, I will be here with the court, hanging out at the discords and making sure that people see our shit when it comes out. But I'm not here. I am hanging out with the crew at Obsidian Brews, the all black tabletop collective telling of TTRPG stories through the culture. And that's about it for me. [03:15:17] Speaker A: And lastly, but not leastly, it's important for all of you to know that this isn't a. This isn't a pre written scenario that has been bought. This is all directly from bleak season, Ted. So if you think it's fucked up, let that tell you something about his upbringing. Things are weird in Canada. Like, nights are longer, it gets crazy, but miss Chip leaks season. If people would like to see more of your excellent storytelling brain at work, where can they go? [03:15:40] Speaker D: Well, they can find me pretty much everywhere at either bleak season or the bleak season, because, you know, I run into the same problems that everybody else runs into with social networks. You can also find me streaming my games on folk and myth on Twitch. And I would like to say that you went in reverse order of how terrible the secrets were. You put Laura last. But we still don't really know exactly, because, yeah, Bergamot, ain't it? [03:16:13] Speaker B: I don't even know. I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you. So that's gonna be a big surprise for everybody. [03:16:19] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, I saved the juicy stuff for last. [03:16:24] Speaker B: Sorry. [03:16:24] Speaker D: Like the colonel and his sausage. Excuse me? [03:16:29] Speaker E: I don't want to think about the sausage. [03:16:37] Speaker B: But, Aaron, let's not forget about you, though. Yeah? [03:16:39] Speaker E: What about the Aaron one? [03:16:41] Speaker D: What about the entire cardinal? [03:16:43] Speaker C: I mean, come on, Aaron, air it out. [03:16:45] Speaker A: Who am I? Well, so I'll tell you what. I am Aaron in words. I am Aaron in words everywhere, because that is not a username that gets fought over. You can find me on blue sky and on Twitter. Those are the two places that I use asterisk for social media. I have someone who does social media because I'm bad at it. However, there will be times when I occasionally post something funny or entertaining or occasionally, like, just some good thinking about actual play stuff. But you are probably not interested in me. You are probably interested in Queen's Court RPG on Twitter or Queen's court games literally everywhere else. Because that is where you will find the most recent updates on shows that we are putting out, things that we're highlighting from other folks, neat little projects coming in, the work, the occasional merchandise, all those fun, fun things. While you're there, swing by Queensport games on the Internet, see the website, pop over to one shots and other mischief. Our podcast, where shows like this appear, or if you for some reason have not heard of it, yet. You might try to check out audio fiction World cup number one ranked actual play, the all night society on its own podcast or on YouTube, where those things are served. If you have enjoyed this and you're like, holy shit, I wish I could give someone money so they could keep doing things like this. Oh man, do I have good news for you, because you can head to Patreon and do exactly that. We of course, appreciate your donations and your bets and your subs here, but the ratio on Patreon is so much better. Plus, you get bonus arts audio, you get bonus games. There's all kinds of stuff exclusive for patrons over there. Aside from that, that's the end of the pitch. Amazing cast. Like I said, we'll be here next week, but about 3 hours ago. Until then, bye for now. [03:18:36] Speaker B: Sadeena. Sadeena.