Hey, guys. What are you guys doing on the weekend
of May 12th? May 10th through 12th. What are
you guys doing on those days? I know what I'm
doing. I'm going to be sick. Unfortunately, so,
so ill. Because I'm coming down with the case
of Mountain Mania. Mountain Mania. Burke Mountain
Resort in Vermont. 10th through 12th May. Be
there or be square. Because we're going to be
there. We're not going to be square. We're going
to be round. And we're going to... We're going
to run a live show. It's going to be awesome.
There's going to be magic. There's going to be
D &D. I might run a table. I don't know. I'm
thinking about it. It's going to be a good time.
Be there and hang out with us. And say hi. Seriously.
Say hi to Siobhan. She's putting it all together.
Right? She's awesome. Anyway, see you there.
I hope. In the city of Zinder. So, as per yearly
custom, the Kings of Khorne and their heirs have
all traveled to the home of Grand Master Amos
Nia for a celebration and meeting on the first
day of the March of Vice. We have heard some
troubling news that makes Massimo Ain and their
heir have yet to show. They've been traveling
off -world before the event and never made it
back to the city, which is certainly troubling.
Hopefully more on that later, though. Or maybe
even more troubling, that the entire Nier household
seems to have gone on full lockdown. The silent
burrs have been seen locking down all gates and
covering all exits of the palace. No word has
come from the household, but there is a rumor,
just a rumor, that Sturgeman has been called
in to investigate. Was there a threat from the
blood of the revolutionaries? Perhaps infighting
amongst the kings of coin? We simply do not know
at this time. A point worth noting, though, is
exactly who is in attendance. Jules LaRoche,
Jean -Frédéric Montelio, and Blanche Trudeau
are all in the manor. And, well, let's just say
when those folks go, trouble always, always seems
to follow. What a dick. I mean, you guys have
a, I don't know, I think you're gaining kind
of a reputation at this point. You should open
a world. Everyone's having a good time. There's
some kind of party every time. And then fucking
shit goes down. Governments are overthrown. Almost
like we're the main characters. Yeah, exactly.
You all know Jean's the main character. We've
all seen superhero movies. We know how this goes.
Man, we are again in the midst of a murder mystery.
You investigated pretty well. You went into the
room. You dug through. You smelled some breath.
You looked down a window. Got some information.
This is exciting. This is cool stuff. Yes. Got
a couple things to act on. Couple things to act
on. And man, oh man, if only I'd been thinking
of buttons last time, you might have earned a
couple. But I always think about how cool this
murder mystery is instead. So no buttons for
you. Par for the course. I think I should get
the buttons for putting together this cool mystery.
I don't know. I'm excited. I'm so excited. We
need another physical reminder for David. I put
three buttons on my computer. Here we go. Look
at that. They're right under my notes. He's not
going to remember those. It's something I want
to do sometime for social media is to create
our stat sheets because I joke about this all
the time. My wisdom stat is unbelievably low.
I have a wisdom of like... negative, of Zebulon's
wisdom, what, negative three? Negative two? Just
garbage. I, my poor wife will spend the whole
day, I'll leave and she'll surprise me, you know,
and just because she wants to, she'll paint one
whole room in the house and just paint it a whole
different color, it looks beautiful, whatever,
gets it all set up again. I walk in the house
after work and immediately just, so what do you
think? Sorry, so what do you think? It's Gabby's
voice. And I just look around, I give her a blank
stare every time and she's like, I painted the
whole bathroom. I'm literally like pissing in
the bathroom at the moment. I'm like, oh. Oh,
wow. Look at that. Yeah, you did. I don't notice
anything around me. You could put a button. You
could tape it to my eyeball and I wouldn't notice
it was there. Yeah. Yeah. That's my perception.
We've discovered that. Yeah. What's your worst
stat, gentlemen? Mine's perception. What's your
worst? What's your best? I like to think charisma
is my highest, but I'm kind of cringy, so I don't
know. Moving on. Steven, what you got? Well,
I guess intelligence is tied to memory, so. Oh,
yeah. Mine's probably pretty low. Oh, when it
comes to hops, when it comes to beer. I've always
said nature, though. Nature is your jam. This
guy will sense chaga in trees to go after. Well,
right. That's the thing. It's a little bit of
a juxtaposition because, you know, my intelligence
may be high for something like nature, but then
when you're talking about, I mean, memory is
not a... What's wisdom? I think nature's wisdom.
No, nature's intelligence. Is it really? Yeah.
I'm a goofball. I pulled it up specifically when
you started talking about this so I could look
through. Oh, hell yeah. To be determined. Your
nature is amazing. You'll walk with Steven. His
perception is ridiculous because he'll be walking
down the woods with him and he'll just like turn
and sniff the air and look about a half mile
up the hill and be like, my God, is that a red
gooseberry? Well, like the other day we were
on that walk and there was like, we were walking
through like. It was a brush covered trail. All
of a sudden he's like, look at that caterpillar.
We have to like move brush out of the way to
see it. It was a really cool caterpillar. It
looked just like, it looked like a tail fell
off a squirrel. I've never seen one like that.
I just don't know how you saw it. Dude, a week
before, we were going around on a pond of cherry,
one of the trails we have nearby, and he just,
out of nowhere, glanced aside and goes, ooh,
frog eggs, and just dives his hand deep into
a pond and pulls out. It's like, there's a murky
pond. You saw those at the bottom of it? What
is going on? What is happening with this guy?
I love frogs. I used to catch frogs all the time
when I was a kid. So quite familiar with frog
eggs. So bad memory, thus the lens of memory
projection that your character now has. That
was definitely a Steven Boone. You didn't get
any buttons, but I give you that. But a fantastic
sort of perception nature, kind of the opposite
of me in that way. Mr. Jeremy Wolf. We know your
performance skill is out of the fucking universe.
I've never thought about this before. Constitution.
Really? Because I can be hard -headed and stubborn
as fuck. Fuck. Anybody who knows me really well
knows this. Don't say anything, guys. Shut up.
So you say that's your highest stat? Probably.
Actually, I love this because charisma is what
we tied like to like, so if someone's trying
to do like mental effects and dominate you or
whatever, charisma is the one that usually used
to break up those and not knock controlled. It
also is tied to like performance and shit. So
I feel like Jeremy Wolf's got this high ass charisma
stat that cannot be stopped. Charisma isn't just
like your, because charisma is like also your
self drive. It's like your personal, like if
you're hard headed and stubborn, that's charisma.
Yeah. I'm also a lot more humble than Jules is.
I will not acknowledge that. Jeremy is painfully
humble. You want to give him a compliment, you
have to like chase him down, knock him to the
ground. My constitution gets in the way. Break
your fist on his ass. Damn it, Jeremy, take the
stupid compliment. My abs, okay. Thanks. Thanks.
We should do that someday. We should do a point
by for ourselves or something. I thought you
were going to say an ad punching competition.
Yeah, that's what we should do someday. We should
just punch Jeremy in the gut. Wouldn't that be
fun? Yeah, man, let's get the sheets. I want
to see our sheets. I want to see the feats we
get. Oh, my God. I like to think I get the actor
feet, voices and whatnot, but probably not. I
love that. No, I think so. I award you the actor
feet, sir. Oh, my goodness. Wow, thank you, sir.
I mean, you can't give yourself a feed, can you?
That's how the game works. I know. You got me.
Oh, hell. You guys want to do a murder mystery
again? Let's go to the kitchen. Let's go to the
kitchen. We're going to the kitchen. Okay. Let's
go to the kitchen. We're going to the kitchen.
So first things first, let me roll 20 you over
to the first floor of Urshel's absolutely beautiful
map as you move down the hallway from Melonara's
room. Meloara. I don't know why you say Nara.
You. move down the stairs into the great hall,
uh, turning and moving, uh, actually towards
the, the, the, uh, actually, this is actually
a staircase closer. Nevermind. You move down
the stairs immediately to the kitchen. You're
right there. Uh, you see the stairs keep going
down lower to the basement. You know, that's
where old John Franklin's being held. You probably
hear like a, yeah, yeah. Quiet sound. As you
turn the corner, the main, uh, sort of entrance
to the kitchen kind of loops around the sort
of, uh, north end of the west wing of the...
I'm having such a hard time with these. Damn.
Damn. North end of the west wing of the palace,
first floor. As you're kind of turning, I think
you actually hear a voice emanating as well from
sort of down the hall towards the great hall
there, where everything sort of opens up towards
the entrance of the palace. You can hear like
a, no, yeah, no shit. Seriously. Teleport. I
can do it. Yeah, it's like fey shit. I don't
know. Yum. I'll believe that when I see it. Well,
if I do it now, I lose it for the day. It's a
whole thing. It's a whole thing. Hey, Jules,
Jules. Chester is kind of talking to a couple
of duergar who seem amused by him. Tell him I
can teleport, huh? Tell him. Yeah. See, yeah.
Jules got my back. We're best friends, me and
this guy. Just don't use it right now because
you don't have... I know once a day I get it.
You got to save that slot, buddy. I got to save
the slot. Yep. Don't prove it. As we say... Don't
prove it. He can do invisible, though. You guys
can. I've been invisible. He made me invisible.
Yeah, we're not going to prove that, either.
We're not going to prove it, though. All right,
now. I saved the slot. We got limited slots.
I don't believe a thing you're saying. Damn it.
Can we please? Deal with it. Deal with it, Chester.
All right. Well, thanks, guys. Thanks. Get back
to work. And he kind of, like, saunters on over.
So, hopefully, you guys. All right. So, I've
been doing my thing, Chester. You know, making
some friends. I know a few things that might
be helpful. So, hey, bad news first. Sturgeman,
he's coming. So, miss has been sent. I don't
know if you know this, but Amos Neer kind of
hires him. He's like the, you know, he's sponsored
by Jellywine. So, yeah, he's dropping it all
and coming here. He'll be here by morning. And
I'm just thinking maybe a little bit of Jean
still in the deep water place when Sturgeman
gets here. That bad blood we got with Rune will
be bad blood for Jean, too. He might be in trouble.
So, Sky Prison, you know, let's solve this thing.
Get our buddy out of here, right? We'll take
it one step at a time. We got till morning. One
step at a time. One step at a time. Yeah. Also,
don't forget I have the ring of mind shielding.
So whenever that bitch gets here. Oh, that's
right. Ooh. Don't forget that. I won't forget.
That's awesome. Keep that. Yeah. Keep that in
mind. That's really cool. Oh, that's like the
ultimate Sturgeman shutdown. Yeah. Yeah. Um,
just goes on like, all right, well, that's one
thing, but another one that's kind of interesting.
God, gosh, he's doing. So right after I went
down, right? Whenever I was going to their rooms,
one bloke here. Through a fit, right? Through
a big fit. Wanted to get out real bad. Kind of
acting real suspicious -like. The guards are
a little concerned about it. You know that cook,
Fyodor Popov? Mm -hmm. Seemed he really wanted
out. So he had to get ingredients real bad for
dinner. But, I mean, no one believed him. Obvious
lying. So, might be worth looking into. Interesting
you should say that, because that's where we're
headed. Hey, no shit. That's crazy. Yeah, no
shit. Whoa! Maybe he'll cook us a boyd. Steven,
save us. What's so funny over here? I was busy
taking notes. Hey, that's a good fellow right
there. Taking notes. All right, I'm going to
go Chester over there some more because, hey,
I don't need to be here for this episode. Go
Chester. See you later. All right. Thank you,
Chester. I won't do the slots. He leaves. Probably.
You better not. I might. You better not. I'll
know if you do. Jerry Markov misses up off Chester's.
Could you imagine? Could you imagine? Blanche
kicks down the kitchen door. Holy shit. Whoa.
Do you actually? Where were you on May 10th?
Melted Mania, of course. That checks out. Who
wouldn't it be? I am not crazy stupid fool. Yep,
this arc is going to be longer than Sansatiana.
Yep. For those who don't know, this is our second
recording in a night. Every time we do a second
recording in a night, this is what happens. Every
time. Without fail. Okay. You go to the kitchen.
Harlan will lead you there. He doesn't really
need to go. He's kind of like let you take lead.
He's sort of holding back. If you go in, he'll
stand at the door and let you do your thing.
He's... good at locking things down. He's good
at being a police enforcer. He's not good at
this. And he sees that you're just infinitely
better than he is. He's happy to let you take
the reins. I kind of want to use a slot. Oh,
shit. I kind of want to use one of my slots for
my first detect thoughts on this guy. If I don't
use it, when am I going to? Right, for sure.
I mean, this is going to be, there's a lot to
this mystery. And there's also, like, there's
a killer. in this house. Right. You don't know
what they're capable of. You have to assume at
some point things are going to get violent. That's
why I love this. Because you've got slots for
investigating and you've got slots for fighting.
And you've got slots for impressing the Dwarven
Guard and showing them you can teleport. So...
Slots to burn. Slots to burn. Timing your use
of these spells is the biggest thing. I know.
And I'm not saying anything. I'm not saying you
shouldn't. I'm just... I want everyone to know
that every time you use a slot, it's a big deal.
Because it's... Exciting. I'm also not saying
you should or shouldn't, but I have an interesting
question to pose. Okay. If you're going to do
detect thoughts, do you think you'll try to do
it before Theodore notices us? Before. Or after?
Yeah, before. Cool. That's kind of what I wanted
to do. How long does it last for? Let's see.
It lasts for concentration up to one minute.
Okay. So I'm going to be a little hard on this.
When you use it, I'm going to, like, cut it off
after a certain point. Okay. So that's why timing
is going to be a big deal. It works for surface
thoughts immediately. Yes. And then you can roll
a wisdom save so I can probe deeper. And once
you do that, you are noted. Yes. So it'll be
like good cop, mind reader cop. I bought my microphone
when you said that so I couldn't laugh. Do I
want to do this so early on? That's the question.
That is the question. I mean, Chester did just,
I mean, that's choices, choices. You can always
walk away. You know what? No. Yeah. Because all
that shit came from the kitchen, but I don't
know. I'm a little skeptical that all that evidence
isn't, you know, designed to throw us off. A
red pickled herring. Yes. Yes. No, I'm not going
to use it. Okay. So you, the door is pushed open.
Uh, there's a guard at the door that steps to
the side and you move in. Harlan, as I say, stands
at the back of the room and close the door behind
him. And you step in to see Fyodor Popov is sort
of, um, at work. I think he's, he's got like,
you know, a sort of balding head as well. A lot
of people here are bald. He's sort of rubbing
at it as he's sort of, uh, you know, reaching
out for a knife, cutting up, working on, maybe
like he has this large, like sort of fish that
he's, it's kind of a beautiful, almost rainbow
scaled fish, super long, almost eel, uh, eel
like. He's sort of chopping it down, deboning
it. His movements with the knife are perfectly
just beautiful. So fast. So precise. This is
a master at work, you can say. And it takes him
a minute, like he's locked in on this, and he's
sort of muttering stuff to himself. No words,
just kind of, I don't understand. Huh? Oh. Hello.
You are... Jules LaRoche, yes. And master of
defense for turtles, yes? Blanche Tudor? Yes,
that's right. It's a pleasure to meet you. I
am afraid there is no lunch for a bit, it seems.
But I can make snack if you are hungry. I don't
know how you are out and about. I am locked in.
We came to give you some reprieve and see what
you know about... The events leading up to the
murder? No, nothing. I was in here. You can ask
anyone. I was doing the cooking all day. This
is all terrible, tragic. What a mystery it is.
How strange that you were doing the cooking all
day, but there is no lunch, you say? Well, it
is all made. And then, of course, this all happens.
I mean, it was basically done. I had to move
it to the side, put it in the fridge for... We
can all have. And actually, when he opens the
fridge, you see there's actually a number of
sandwich, various things like that. He has a
huge industrial -sized magic fridge. It's like
cold spells cast on the walls. Did anybody call
for a fruit plate and some wine? Yes, yes. Larissa
came in saying there was a request for a fruit
plate. I believe she went to get wine downstairs.
He gestures, and out the back door you came in,
there's a stairway going down. And it looks like
maybe that's the way that he gestures towards
the wine cellar. Did you say what that was for?
Uh, no. No, I do not know who. Do you know who?
Nope. Fjodor wants nothing to know of any of
this. I am simple cook. I forgot Larissa. Can
you spell that? L -A -R -I -S -A. R -I -N. Oh,
A. Farina. Sorry. Lizarina, I believe. So head
of service. Very, very loyal to the Grand Messer.
Is staying in the Grand Messers. room with him
surprisingly rather than going separating she
demanded to be like locked up with him um and
seemingly was the one that brought the fruit
plate and wine glasses and the murder weapon
incidentally to the room of mellow ara now i'll
tell you one thing your passive insight is it
higher is it 10 or higher uh my passive insight
is 14 but then you said i get plus five while
i'm wearing no that's just for for one foot investigation
oh insight i'm sorry i'm sorry insight is 13
damn damn mine's only 11 okay both of you have
enough to know um fjord is definitely hiding
something he's not good at hiding it he's it's
like he looks super flustered when he talks about
the crime and like it's a mystery i have no idea
what's going on he knows something he must he's
acting very suspicious I'm not going to do that
with everybody, but this guy, that's just his
character. He's just this big chef, very flustered,
sweating deeply into his mutton chops. Soaked
with sweat. It's gross. What are you not telling
us? You know, we could keep you safe. Roll persuasion.
Can I give the help action? We can only help
you if you help us. Yeah, roll persuasion. 28.
Holy shit. There's something like, you see his
shoulders set just a little bit, sink, and a
huge sort of big, big, burly breath leaves him,
just like hits you with it. Like he's been storing
up this breath, this energy. And I think his
eyes flash to Harlan. Back to you. If you will
keep me safe, can you have him out? Little hips.
Please. Harlan just looks up. Oh, I don't think
that's going to happen, mate. It's my show. Jules
turns around. Can you give us a second? Just
humor him. Perhaps just on the outside of the
door, Harlan. Fine. All right. Yeah, you proved
yourself so far. Yeah, I'm rolling with that
28. You get to him as well. All right. Thank
you. He nods, opens the door, steps out, closes
it. And you see Fyodor's sort of expression changes.
This sort of deep sorrow comes over him. He actually
starts to, like, shake a little bit. You see
his eyes start to well up, like, It is not okay.
It is not okay. Oh. Oh. What do you know? How
have you found me? How did you figure out? Why
don't you tell us everything, Fyodor, and then
we'll fill you in. All right. Yes, yes, you got
me. I am Bloodletter. I am Bloodletter informant
in -house. Yes, you figured it out. Damn you
and your cleverness. Insight? Yeah, real insight.
Because I at least don't believe you. Yeah. 16.
He seems to be telling the truth. He seems like
he wears his heart on his sleeve, and this is
like he's breaking down. You came in and spit
him a crime. He's admitting to the crime. Not
the crime you expected, though. Huh. I know,
I know, it is wrong, it is bad. The Grand Master
is so good to me, his family good to me, but
they are not good to everyone. I simply want
to see all bellies fed. You, Chulzar Ocean, Blanche,
you were there on San Satyan with everything
that happened. You are hero to us, Bloodletter,
because you help people who need help. The people
in this city, they need help. These kings of
coin, they are monsters, like those in San Satyan,
like those on Tithos. And so rule, it is, it
is bad. And so I give information, nothing big,
just small things. Little bits they can use to
spread word, bad word of the Kings of Coin, fire
people up. It is not, I did not think they would
kill someone. Blanche looks over her shoulder
towards the door where Harlan is, turns back
around to Fyodor and says in hushed tones, it's
all right, Fyodor. We can help you and maybe
the other bloodletters. Are you the only one
in the castle? I thought I was. It was not to
be someone else, but I have heard them say no
one else could have escaped. But someone else
was here. They were... He kind of gestures upwards.
Assassin in the house. I know it. It must be
bloodletter. It must be. For they sent me a message.
They wanted me to be part of this carnage, but
Mello Ara has hurt nobody. He's nothing like
Amos Nier. He's a sweet boy. I wouldn't do this.
You knew that Mello would be murdered? No, no,
no, no. I didn't. It was... Let me... Okay. Okay,
so... My job is simple. I go to kitchen window
every day at certain times. 12 .50 is one of
times. And bloodletter person will come. They
will use message, cantrip, magic on me. I will
give them information. They ask questions, I
answer questions. Little things, like I say.
Just information about Grand Messer, but nothing
dangerous. I did not think. Today, I came a little
early to window. I was waiting. And waiting.
And there was no message. But... So the guy I
saw standing outside... You... You see him, then?
What was he there for? He was to ask a question.
If he is the one over here, he kind of gestures
out the window, and you see that spot he was
standing, exact line of sight to this kitchen
window, which is also incidentally open. Yeah,
that's him. He was here to ask a question. He
must have come a little late. I missed him, I
guess. What are the other times? One time is
seven o 'clock. Usually just the two each day,
but... 7 a .m. or p .m.? 7 p .m., yes, but it
is not always. Only sometimes, when they have
questions to ask, they send one guy. I stand
by window, I am working anyway. At 7 p .m. I
am doing dishes, you know, so it is easy to me
to come to window and answer questions. When
was the last time they asked you some questions?
It was two days ago, but it was nothing, nothing
but this. What did they ask you? They simply
asked me what the Grand Master was having for
dinner this night. You know, they want to see
how opulent it is so they can tell all the people
and rally them up, fire everybody up. But there
was a message to them, not the same kind, but
something different. Bad. Unusual. Blanche is
going to give Jules that look that says, which
I'm now just going to say to Jeremy. This is
my way of being like, so we have to watch dinner
now. Yeah. I don't have any purify food or drink
spells. Oh, yeah. Has anybody been in this kitchen
but you? The Grandmaster has come by. Azura's
in and out, grabbing snack and running around,
doing whatever Azura does. And, of course, Norisa,
she is coming here and there, grab the fruit
plate and the wine, you say. Only them. Only
them. Did you see her after she delivered the
wine plate, the fruit plate and wine? Yes, she
was in the dining room out there getting ready
afterwards. There is more. There's one thing.
I tell you, there was a message, not a message
message. You understand? I was waiting by window,
waiting for contact to come to gate. I did not.
Instead, something fall from upstairs. landing
on shrub right before me. Blanche rushes to the
window. No, no, it is not. They are not. You
look out and I think you see like maybe there's
bits of like blood just touching the tops of
the brush. Very hard to make out from upstairs,
but down here as you look, you can just pass
if you can look down and see it. It was blood
matter mask and apron. Black mask, black apron.
It is their uniform for dark work. And they are
giving to me. Because they want me to kill as
well. I know this. I won't do it. I won't. I
tried to leave so I could find my contact on
the outside and ask. I would not do this. I will
give you mask. I will give you apron. I do not
want it. By the ever winds of Arnikek, I do not
want anything to do with it. Set it down by the
window. Just inside. What? I missed that. The...
The mask and the apron? Yes. Retrieve them. Yes.
And set them on the floor. by the window. Oh,
okay. I shall do this. He sort of moves over
to the pantry. So he opens it up. He sort of
starts moving. Maybe move some like flour, you
know, sacks, a few of them. And then kind of
down at the bottom, like very, very well hidden
at the back is some black cloth sort of folded
up that he picks up and just very sorrowfully
carries to you. I am sorry. This is not. This
is not me. This is not what I wish. Please, please
find this blood letter assassin. They are not
of us. They are not speaking for us. They are
bad and we are not... That rally, that murder
of the other prince. This is different. This
is not blood letter. You will see shortly that
I will not betray your secret. I will call Harlan
into this room to show him what was dropped from
the window and you will not be... accused of
being a blood letter informant. Thank you. I
thank you. I thank you. If I earn your trust.
Yes. Will you stand by the window at seven o
'clock and receive the message still? Yes, I
will. I will do. I will help you in any way I
can. I want to find this killer. I just had such
a better idea. All right. I can't talk about
it though. It's too late to have a better idea
now. Before we invite Harlan back in, is there
anything else that you can tell us? This is all.
I am just waiting. And then this drops for me.
And I run upstairs. I see the scene. I come down.
I try to escape. They won't let me. And I am
locked in here. This is my day. This is all.
I know nothing else. I swear it. And also with
your passives, you think he's telling the truth.
He's been very, like, he doesn't seem like he
can lie very well. He drops the folded sort of
cloth down on the floor. And sort of around the
counter wherever it was and Starr steps away
from it. Almost like his hands reach away like
a bird and he just doesn't want to touch it.
These hands are made for making food and good
things. It is not made for murder. I should have
cast deafness on Harlan. You got anything? Harlan
definitely would have been like, why the fuck
am I deaf? All right, Blanche will go to the
door. Harlan, we found something out the window.
What? You serious? Come see. Pushes in, walks
over and sees that like, what the hell was that?
I think right now all you're seeing is a bundle
of cloth. We were told is a mask and an apron.
Yeah, she will pick it apart. It looked to me
like a bloodletta mask and apron. As you go to
pick it apart, something strange hits you. There's
a phenomenon. People will generally see what
they expect to see. And Fyodor was expecting
some blood letter. He was looking for blood letters
where he saw a blood letter mask and apron. God,
I was going to like, I was going to do the eyes
of minute seeing and investigate it. But I was
like, it's so plainly. I just like took it for
granted. It's just a bundle of cloth at that
point. So you're just taking his word for it.
But as you look down, you realize this isn't
stupid. This isn't what you thought it was or
what he thought it was. The apron he speaks of,
the black apron that's, you know, they were jelly
stained black aprons. Looks like some kind of.
Almost like a dress. Some loose black dress.
But there is a mask. There is a black mask, just
as spoken. You pick it up and look at it. And
with your past investigation, as you look at
this mask, you see what Fjordur did not see.
Oh, I should say there's also gloves. There's
some black gloves with that too. Blood covered,
obviously. But you see what Fjordur did not see
on the mask. Stitching. Sort of outward stitching.
Because this mask is reversed. You're looking
at the inside of it, not the outside. This black
mask, the sign of the blood letters, is not necessarily
a black mask. Not something so simple. Wait,
wait, what do you mean the mask is reversed?
It's inside out. Oh, it's inside out. As if someone
pulled it off. Oh, oh, oh. And it was the inside
of the mask that is staring out of the black
stitched up inside. Well, I mean, Harlan's holding
it. Is Harlan going to flip it inside out? No.
Or right side? No, he doesn't notice it. He's
stupid. Holland. What's that mask? I'm taking
it away. It's gone. No, the evidence is gone
now. See you later. Wait, what? I'm putting it
away. No, it's inside out. Flip it. Oh, shit.
Here, you do it, because it's more dramatic if
I'm not involved. Here you go. Oh, my God. He's
flustered. He looks at the mask. He's just like,
what do you mean inside? Hey, show me. He kind
of gets it to you. He's going to, like, cast
a spell on me or something. All right. I guess
Blanche is going to. Hold on. Am I thinking about...
Am I trying to... I'm trying not to overthink
it, but I didn't overthink it and got wrong on
the whole cloth bundle. Uh -huh. What do you
think, Jeremy? Flip that shit. Flip that shit.
All right, flip that shit. You reach into the
mask from the top, flip it right side in, whatever,
and you see a very different looking mask. It's
still black, but there is a symbol on it. There
is a design. And once again, Jules feels cold
when he sees the skull symbol adorned in the
front of the mask. This is clearly at least a
replica, a very well -made replica of the mask
of Dance Macabre. Your girlfriend. What's she
doing here? What's her mask doing here? She's
not here, you asshole. It's so funny because
on the Discord, Andrew actually said, it won't
be Dance Macabre. No, no. He said something like,
I hope it's not dance because Jules couldn't
take it or something like that. Story's over.
I saw that. I just started giggling so hard when
I saw that. You see Dance Macabre's mask flecked
with blood. The dress, now that you look at it,
looks like maybe a sort of rough but not very
well -designed copy of her Folklorico dress.
that she usually wears as part of her sort of
wrestling outfit. This is her outfit. But it's
very clearly fake. It's very clearly, just like
the jewels upstairs. It's like a costume. It's
like a costume. And you know what? These are
probably things that are made generally around.
So it's not even like someone's trying to make
a convincing fake. It's just like someone went
to the store and bought a Superman costume. Kind
of, yeah. So what the hell, gentlemen? Just kinks
in the chain. It's Ramin. He's back for vengeance.
So wild when you went here first. Huh. Okay.
It's Dance Macabre. The mask, at least. All right.
Fjordor's just looking at it like, this is not
bloodletting? I mean, oops. Harlan, what are
you talking about? It was my mistake. You can't
incriminate yourself. Come on, man. It was an
assumption. We're leading this investigation.
After seeing the blood letter symbol on the wall,
I just assumed I... I'm sorry, Harlan. I made
a mistake. No, it's all right. I've had the same
thought, honestly. So... All of this stuff has
to do with me so far. What's that have to do
with you? Shit. Shit? The cloak? Well, it just
seems like trouble. The cloak, but what's the
mask? This skull, is that your thing? You like
dead stuff? I don't really know. No, it's a friend
of mine. Oh. Friend slash alter ego, whatever
you want to call your nighttime BDSM alter ego,
George LaRoche. Good save, Steven. No, you don't
want to say no more? I don't want to hear anymore.
It's fine. I'm out. Have you ever heard of...
Everybody's got their kinks, okay? He's plugging
his ears. Have you ever heard of the Midnight
Prince? What? I can't hear nothing you're saying.
Oh, my God. I'm just saying. How dare you? It's
another place to start. Yeah, geez. Oh my goodness.
Okay, I feel like that's good information, obviously.
I don't think it's really actionable right now.
So we file that away. Okay. Can I go back to
cooking now? Yes, perhaps you could show me around.
And Blanche wants to investigate these rooms
here. The kitchen, pantry. Hell yeah. Butler's
pantry. Yeah, let's do it. 19. As you dig around,
look around the pantry, you find that nothing
really seems to look out of place. You notice
that outside the dining room, the table looks
like it's mostly set, and the butler's pantry
has a lot of the stacks where the plates were
taken missing. Kind of corroborates the idea
that Larissa Reno was here working before whatever
happened happened. She was interrupted by it.
You mentioned dinner earlier. What will be served?
What will the Grand Messer have for dinner tonight?
Also curious. All right, I canonically said I
know, didn't I? You did. Canonically. Very well.
It is, uh, it is... We are having... Omelets.
For dinner? The Grandmaster is a man of partying.
He does not stick to the usual custom when it's...
This night, it's always omelet. Always omelet
and pancakes. Very good stuff. French style,
or is there a filling, at least? Well, there's
no French, but it's Arnikek style, eh? You see?
I getcha. And we're all having omelets? Yes,
everyone has omelets. Huge breakfast spread.
It's a really good breakfast spread. This fish
I'm cutting is for nothing. I don't know why
I'm cutting this fish. Do you like omelets, Jules?
I love food. I love food. If the Grandmaster
has his way, we'll be having it while watching
you and your show, actually. I don't get to eat?
Afterwards, of course, it'll be extra. There'll
be fish. We have big fish. Well, perhaps bagels
and lox? Yes, sure. To accompany the omelet?
All right, we're pausing this. We're going to
go make some food right now. We'll be back, folks.
Okay, so I gather that what's for dinner isn't
exactly important anymore. What's for dinner?
How do you know? Maybe the right question is,
who's for dinner? Who's for dinner? Okay, I'm
wrapping up questions here for this guy. I guess
I really just want to know. So the fruit plate
was brought up. Was there any other food brought
to any other rooms that you're aware of? This
is only one. It was actually quite weird to have
a request. That normally does not happen. I mean,
everyone knows lunch is coming. I should be preparing
for lunch and meeting. We are just talk, you
know, they are going to talk finances, all this
stuff I do not understand. But it is weird. I
think Larissa may have said something about written
request, which is odd. Written request. Is there
a record of this written request? If there is,
it is in our hands. Very well. Thank you. We
shall see Larissa later. Jules, have you anything
else? Get held. I think I got what we came here
for. Thank you. Yes. It looks at you as deep
in the eye, kind of like, again, sort of really
not looking towards Harlan, who's sort of almost
looking at you like, something's going on here.
He says, thank you. Very much, thank you. I should
get to work. I must beat eggs. So many eggs.
Most important meal of the day, it's a callback.
Harlan, perhaps we could see Jean? Yeah, I thought
you might ask. Sure. My guys are sour saying
he's causing a ruckus down there. Very loud one.
Let's see if we can calm him down for you. Please,
please do. All right, let's go. He leads you
out. There's a stairway moving down just outside
the, you know, you leave the kitchen to the northern
door, enter the dining room, the table half set.
As you reach the western side of that, there
is a doorway into just a staircase going down
into the basement. New map. Oh, my goodness.
Dude, it is unreal how much work Michelle put
into this. So I don't know if this is just overstepping
the information that is presented on the map,
but it says holding prisoners, plural. Oh, it
just means in general if there's a prisoner.
Okay. Yeah. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. So you come
down, you look into this, you look into the basement,
a smaller, thinner floor. Oh, my goodness. You
see like the sort of support beams above you
leading to like whatever rooms. You can hear
maybe like some people stepping around in the
kitchen above. Here Fyodor sort of strutting
about as you move down. There's some doorways
leading into the wine cellar beside you. And
as you push into like the sort of main servants
hall to the south, you see that down hall sort
of right in the center of the sort of building
the structure. There is a storage room that looks
like the door's kind of left open. And you can
hear Jean -Francois like, this is ridiculous.
I should at least be comfortable. I mean, honestly,
I didn't do nothing. Anything. Damn it. Damn
it. That's not proper grammar, Jean. I know,
sir. Sir, sir, please. Help me. Keep your voice
down. We're here to help. Fine. All right. You
guys move down the hallway, push into the room.
You see there's like maybe, I think there's probably
two duergar guarding this sort of like cell.
It's kind of like a rough sort of cell. They
just have like a sort of barred door that is
down here. You know, maybe in case someone gets
rowdy at one of these parties, they bring them
down into this storage room. Kind of a weird
thing to have in a palace, but it is a palace,
so eh, kings of coin do what they will. Jaune's
sort of sitting against the back wall, maybe
on a couple sacks of who knows what, just looking
really kind of sad and angry. Pounding against
the sort of stone around him. It's damnable LeDoux.
I know it's him. That damnable LeDoux. Sir, you
saw it, right? The knife was right there. It
wasn't me, all right? But that damnable ass LeDoux.
How do you know it was LeDoux? Well, he wants
to be the only banner of the baron. Now that
he's got my title, he wants to get rid of me.
Do you see his banner? It's weak. It's nothing.
It's small. My banner's much greater. He's got
this little dinsy thing on a stick. He doesn't
even have a spear. I have a spear, sir. A spear?
What am I saying? This is murder. Murder happened.
Prince was murdered. And they think I did it.
Seth, they think I did it. Well, tell me about
the events that led up to you being discovered
in the bathroom. Perhaps we can use those to
prove your innocence. Well, um... Kel looks at
the guards. Perhaps there is some other reasons
I was poking around. My own reasons. Perhaps
I saw an opportunity to potentially investigate
the Grand Messer's bedroom, where perhaps there'll
be some evidence of some wrongdoings that I might
have some interest in looking into. Wink, wink,
wink, wink, wink. He realized he was investigating
the murder he's looking into, which is why he
ended up on that second floor, on that side of
the floor, far from his own room, because the
Grand Messer was a... from what I guess you've
heard was out and about during the time. Maybe
the guards mentioned that in passing. If you
are snooping around, how did you end up in the
bathroom? All right, so let me tell you the whole
story. So once I got here, I went to my room,
went to Father's room, and he gave me a bit of
a talking to about my behavior of late, my unsettled
nature, all that. He reamed me out, I should
say. Fine, whatever. When he was done, finally
done, and went back to his own room, stormed
away, I snuck downstairs. Because I realized
I had a chance to look into the Grandmaster's
own bedroom. So I didn't see anybody else was
out and about, so I went up to the door. And
then... I heard Amos near, shuffling around inside.
I realized, oh shit, he's here. So I was worried
he was going to come to the door immediately
and find me, and I would have to explain myself.
So I made to flee up the stairs, but then somebody
was coming up the stairs from down below and
would see me. So I moved down the hall, and I
panicked, and I locked myself in the bathroom
in front of Mello's room. Now I was waiting.
I heard the footsteps from downstairs approach,
and they knocked on Mellonara's door. He said
something, maybe thank you, I don't remember.
And the door closed and the steps retreated.
I was going to leave then, but then the grandmaster's
door opened and I heard him moving from there
as well. Down the stairs, down the hall, I don't
really remember. All these close calls, they
freaked me out. So I waited for a bit. Waited
and waited and then... And then Mello's door
opened. I could hear it squeak open. Someone
ran to my door, the bathroom door, and passed
it, but I heard something metal sliding beneath
the doorway. I was too busy shitting myself worried
to notice at the time because I thought I was
caught. Then those steps vanished, so I took
in what had slid beneath the door. It was a knife,
blood covered. I stared in shock, not understanding,
and then I was going to move out to check on
the situation, see if someone was hurt, but then
I heard one final set of footprints come upon
the door. And I heard Captain Harlan Burnshadow,
no doubt, checking up on the young lord, calling
out and screaming for guards. And I realized
how bad my situation would look with a knife
and locked in the room right here by this apparent
murder. So I waited and I hoped I would avoid
notice. And then I was, well, caught with the
pants down, as they say. So you have to help
me. I didn't do anything. Okay, so, Jeremy, it
sounds to me... Oh, Detective Blanche! It sounds
to me like Larissa was heard arriving at Mello's
room with the fruit plate. Jaune heard Mello
say thank you. Then Jaune heard the door close
and footsteps retreat. So it sounds like Larissa
left. Kind of sounds like Larissa was in the
clear. But Jaune places King of... What's his
face? Uh, Azra? No, that's the son. Amos. Amos.
Where is Amos? Why is he? Oh, he's right there.
Amos. Amos was in his rooms at the time on the
same floor. Jaune heard Amos coming out of his
room after he heard the footsteps of Larissa
retreating. Right. Hmm. One of the duergar speaks
up. He's lying, you know. Amos Neal was never,
not even near his room. He was down here the
whole time. Down where? Well, down in the kitchen
area, I mean. He was overseeing Luis Arena and
Fyodor. He was never up there. Not until a murder
was discovered. So, yeah, he's full of shit.
Sorry. No, but no, there was someone in the room.
I know it. Someone was in there. Okay, so someone
was in there. And by the way, take a button.
Thank you. Yes. For what? For just realizing,
yeah, that was Luis Arena that came to the door.
You know, from the sound cues, you're like, yep,
that's what that happened. You kind of cleared
it up. Cool shit. Also, I owe you some buttons
for last time. I am going to put a, I don't know,
I guess a checkmark next to Larissa. I think
she's probably eliminated as a suspect, at least
for now. That's fair. Yeah. Huh. Well, we could
go back to Fyodor and confirm. that Amos was
down there because he never said anything. He
never said anything about Amos, did he? He's
a bad liar. No, he didn't. Okay. No, I never
did. That's great. Okay. Excellent. Excellent.
Can I roll insight on the duergar? Go ahead.
21. He looked like he was telling the truth.
They must have corroborated with others that
Amos Nair was downstairs at the time. And Fyodor
might not have mentioned it because it might
not have been important. It's like Larissa Arena
was out and about doing work. Perhaps the Grandmaster
was doing the same, just kind of checking in,
then going out there, helping set the dining
room, going to the main sort of ballroom chamber
to get that set up. Okay, what else can we ask,
John? Did you ever make it to the Grandmaster's
quarters, John? Not inside, no. Like I said,
someone was in there. If it wasn't the Grand
Master, somebody else beat me to it. But who?
But who? Perhaps the killer was hiding in there
before they came upon the room? I don't know.
That is sort of what it sounds like. Soldier,
how do you know that Amos was in the kitchen?
I heard corroborations from Marisa Rina and Fyodor
Popov. Mostly Larissa. She keeps a close eye
on him. So both Larissa and Fyodor. Do you have
anything else for Jean? I don't think so. It
kind of seems like we've got everything we can
out of him, at least as far as the events go.
Yeah. There might be some more political stuff
regarding his father and whatnot, but yeah. I
don't think that's anything that he's going to
end up going into detail with, with other people
around. When Jean was telling the story, did
he, I kind of forget a little bit. When did he
leave? He was, so he went to his room first and
his father reamed him out for a bit. Right. His
father left his room when he went back to his
own room. Then Jean felt safe to go and leave.
Okay, so. It was a little time after he got there.
So someone would have time to get there first.
Right, his father left Jean's room. Yep. Jean
assumes that he went back to his own room. He
did assume that. Okay. And, Jean, on your way
from your room to the messer's room, the Grand
Messer's room, did you see anybody else out and
about? No, no. Hear anything? Nothing, no. It
was dead quiet, mostly. I mean, everyone was
in their rooms, I thought, getting ready, so
I thought, here's my time to make a move. All
right. Sir, is it true what they say? Are they
bringing in Stajman? Rune hates me, and he almost
told you I'm working for Rune. Yeah, he's working
for Rune, you know. Turn to the guards like,
ah, shut up, shut up. God. If he's here, he's
going to pin it on me. You know he will. If he
says it, it'll be law, and I'll be in the sky
prison cell with Pigman. I don't, I don't want
to. Please. He'll be here in the morning. We're
going to solve this before then. Stay strong.
Absorb any information you can. All right. I
will do what I can. Stay strong, as it were.
Yes. All right. John, you got this. We got this.
Kev smiles a little bit and nods vigorously.
Yes, yes, we have got this. Yes. Quiet. You see
he's still, like, terrified, nervous. I mean,
this has all gone so wrong so fast. He just wanted
to do his own investigating, and now suddenly
he's the suspect of a different murder. Do...
Do we want to go back up to the kitchen real
fast? Yeah. We'll just say it to you. You get
to the kitchen. Theodore is cracking some eggs.
He's got a gigantic scale. Oh, hey, what do you
want on your own? Oh, it's not time yet. Never
mind. What is it? Theodore, when you... She looks
over her shoulder, sort of like pointing her
eyes at Harlan. Looking out the window for birds,
yes. Watching birds out the window. That is good,
yes. Was anybody else here in the kitchen with
you? Well, sometimes Grandmaster comes in, at
least Arena as well. They are working in dining
room mostly, but they are coming through, and
Grandmaster is overseeing preparations, making
sure I have all the ingredients, making sure
it all is perfect. He is very perfectionist with
parties, always very perfectionist. It's why
I know, despite all this, he will still have
performance, he will still have dinner, because
never stop the festivities, never. They both
were here? They were here, yes. No, they were,
yeah, the whole time. Where was the Grand Messer
when Larissa went to deliver the fruit platter?
I heard him still in the dining room, fussing
over glasses or something. It is unusual stuff.
And he didn't finish setting up the dining room.
It's only half set. Well, there was murder, and
they take very long time to set table. Everything
is ruler measured. It is craziness. So he might
have an alibi. Yeah. I'm going to put a question
mark next to the Jelly King, Amos Nier. Okay.
Where are we going now, Jules? You guys want
a little help? I can give you what hooks you
sort of might have. Well, we have the Amos Nier
and what's her face? Larissa. I'd like to learn
about the written request. And we can maybe tie
a bow on their whole tie up one loose end. Harlan,
will you take us to the Grand Mesa suite? All
right. Yeah, let's go. I will say, player to
player, I'm getting increasingly more uncomfortable
that Harlan is following us everywhere. I know
that he's investigating, too. Investigating quotes.
So far, we haven't been given a reason not to
trust him. I'm just throwing it out there. Right.
And we also don't really have... That's next
episode. We don't have any way to ditch him.
So it's kind of like we got to go along with
it for now. Yep. All right. You guys move up
the stairs. And the stairs right up there. The
bottom of the hallway here. Staircase moves up
to the second floor, west wing. Right in front
of the Grandmaster's doorway. Staircase that
Jaune was hopefully going to try to go up before.
And then he heard someone coming up, which you
now know is Lyris Arena, with the delivery. So
he fled north into the bathroom in front of Melanara's
room. It's all piecing together, the whole sequence
of events. Now you stand before the Grandmaster's
door, where Jaune thought he heard Amos near
inside, but he wasn't inside, is what you hear.
So who was? Who did Jaune hear? Harlan sort of
knocks on the door. announces himself, and as
it opens, the Grandmaster's like, Finally, it's
all over then. We can get back to our festivities,
yes? You see this bald, shining head, sort of
immaculately waxed, this sort of very, very over
-the -top man, robe just like spilling out, this
golden robe. Yes? What? And who are these? Oh,
right, performer Jules LaRoche and the turtle.
What are you doing? What is this? Grandmaster,
we're here to ask you some questions. I guess
they are. They're sort of looking into things
for me. You're fucking kidding me. In my own
home, these vagabonds are going to come in and
speak to me? In my chambers? I don't think so.
You know damn well everybody's a suspect. Grandmaster,
everything you know, everything you've seen,
everything you've heard is a vital resource that
I am particularly good at turning into results.
We're not here necessarily to question you as
a suspect. We're here to gather the undoubtedly
invaluable information that you have collected.
Take a button. Hell yeah. That's pretty good.
Take a button and also take this. He hears that.
And it kind of like perks up a little bit. Feeding
his ego seems like the way to go with this guy.
And he's, oh, well, yes, I suppose that is only
wise. And he kind of looks down at Harlan. The
dark dwarf stays outside. Is it a problem? I
can at least have my bedroom privacy, can't I?
Shut away the rest of my entire palace. All right,
fine, yeah, yeah, or whatever you want. He's
yours to deal with. Just be kind, please. Fuck.
That's fine. Jules and I are excellent in the
bedroom. Okay. Second session, baby. He, Harlan,
sort of storms down the hall, kind of moving
away. Sort of gives you a little distance and
kind of nods back. Like, I'll check on everyone
else. Check with the guard. I'll come back and
meet you guys. Just be wary. He sort of turns
around. Grandmaster's just like watching him
go, kind of smiling. Ah, these dark dwarves think
they can control us. Well, come tomorrow, he'll
have a hard lesson to learn about Amos Nier,
the Grand Messer. Don't mess with the Messer.
Ha! I like it. What will you do to him? Well,
he'll be fired, sent back to his own world, which
he must have been exiled from or something. I
mean, dog dwarves and the tropicals of Noari.
Came to us begging for a job long ago and...
Here he is now, thinks he owns my own house.
Come in, come in, let us speak in privacy. And
he sort of steps back, moves back into the room.
You see Larissa Arena is standing, you see this
very, very, very opulent, opulent bedroom, just
gold -lined on everything, gold streamers, big
canopy bed. Gold sheets, white gold everywhere.
He is immaculately clean. I think there's going
to be a spot in the window that Larissa Arena
is sort of working on right now. Kind of turns
to look at you guys. She's got this very cold,
frosted look in her eyes that you've never seen
her move. She seems like she's just the sort
of person that doesn't show the opposite of Fjodor.
Shows no emotion whatsoever. Her eyes sort of
taking you in as you... move into the room. The
Grand Master sort of steps ahead through a jester's
wide leg. While you're here anyway, you might
as well see my opulent chambers, my room. This
is the best room money can buy. Don't get a sight
like this every day, do you? And he's just, yeah,
so, so full of himself, so arrogant. His bald
head gleaming in this sort of magical sort of
chandelier light fixture that's shining down
from above him. You take this in. Your eyes kind
of scan a little bit. I think you deal with something
with that passive investigation of yours, that
very high passive investigation of yours. Because
as you kind of look in this room, your eyes fall
down by your feet. This room was mostly immaculate,
but it seems like something might have been right,
you know, sort of in the nook of the doorway.
Not yet noticed, but kind of standing out to
you. Red on the white carpet. It's a piece of
fabric. Maybe something had been caught in the
door and torn off. had sort of fallen here, just
a small piece of fabric. I think now it's Blanche's
turn to get a little surprised. Make it that
same sort of shock of, I guess, confusion, fear,
a strange mix of emotions as you see this red.
Because this red stands out to you. This color
is a color you've seen so much time and time
again. This is Montelio Red, Golden Bay. Red,
you know it. Instinctively, you know it. This
is from a banner of the Montolio family. Your
mind slips back to downstairs, Jean Franklin
talking about his own banner. Perhaps you remember
glancing towards it and seeing it was unmarred.
So where did this come from, Blanche? Blanche
sticks her head out the door. Is Harlan gone?
Harlan! He's... Doesn't answer. He's gone. Do
you want to be there? Is it better if he's there?
Yeah, it's definitely better if he's there. Oh,
I was running down the hall. What's up? I'm here
now. You're pretty athletic. You got back quick.
Yeah. Le do, le moi. Bring him to the cells.
And we'll call it there.