Okay. Last time, we found the four of you on
a train heading towards the town of Calamity
on the edge of the City of Glass. After getting
situated and stealing a part of the conductor
who was sewn into the train itself, the train
stopped, having run into what appeared to be
an ocean in the middle of the train track. After
a number of the military staff got off of the
train, the train started moving again and then
plunged into the sea. The cabin filled with this
foul -smelling black water, and then it began
falling. And that is where we resume. You are
all in a falling train. What the fuck? Is this
good? Chat, is this normal? I feel like... Ledger
grabs his hat, his top hat, just like pressing
it down onto his head with one hand and then
tries to like hold onto the seat in front of
him. And he's yelling. Yeah, Booker grabs on
the nearest thing. Bailey's putting like his
foot against the table. The other one like all
braced on the floor and he's like putting his
hand behind him on the chair and just trying
to like box himself in as hard as he can. You
feel the fall. It's very alarming. There is a
very loud crashing noise. And then a jolt, a
lot of people fall over, some luggage probably
falls out of the overhead compartments, which
of course there are. And the train stops. And
the thick black liquid kind of drains out of
the train as quickly as it came in. And it is
replaced with a gentle pitter -patter of rainfall
outside. And there's a thick black film from
this liquid sticking to the windows of the train,
giving very little view of the outside world.
What about on us? Like, are we drenched in the
black liquid, too? Yeah, it's, like, up to your
waist. Probably, like, splashed with it, too.
It smells bad. It smells like old oil. Ugh. I
feel like Ledger, despite the fact that both
of these pants are, like, completely shredded
in the knees, is like, aw, son of a bitch, these
was my good pants. Screw your pants! What the
hell was that? I don't know. He kind of stands
up unsteadily, totters a little bit. And is the
attendant here? Like, is she like laying on the
ground? Is she like grasping a seat? She is grasping
onto a seat. She's like shaking. She looks she
is robbed of words. She has no comforting words
for you. The other passengers are panicking,
are like yelling, talking amongst each other.
It's chaotic. I think Ledger stands up and he's
not, he kind of just projects his voice a little
bit, but he, um, he draws the really big revolver
out of its shoulder, out of its like, sorry,
his little harness holster and puts it at like
half cock. And then he's like, uh, if you don't
mind, ma 'am, I'm going to disembarkate for a
moment and, uh, see what the situation is. She
kind of just looks at you with white eyes and
is just like, you should stay, stay inside. He
just kind of smiles and tips his hat and then
looks at his companions and gestures with his
head and starts walking to the door. Bailey flips
out his broken blunderbuss and then he's like,
that's not what we do, ma 'am. And then he walks
away. I told you, it works. It works, it works,
it works. Ledger's going to the door that would
lead, the door they went out before that's like,
not the side door, but the door that leads to
where the locomotive is. Yeah. You go outside.
You find yourself in what could be described
as kind of like a burnt -down frontier town.
There's remnants of a number of charred wooden
buildings all spread sparsely around you. Directly
next to the train is the remains of a train station
with a sooty, non -functioning clock stuck just
above the station platform. Around you, there
is the occasional wet sounds of globs of thick
liquid hitting the ground, and looking up, you
see that the entire sky is a roiling black sea,
suspended impossibly in the air. Light filters
through it, casting gray, twisting caustics across
the landscape, like you were at the bottom of
a pool. The town seems to stretch as far as you
can see, burnt down buildings one after another
onto the horizon. The air here smells of ash
and rancid oil, and just ahead of you, in the
train station, you hear the gritty shifting of
charred rubble as something moves. I don't recognize
this place, do I? Like, I think I can assume
that we are probably in the city of glass now,
in a manner of speaking, but I don't recognize
this place specifically, do I? No. Okay. Halo
goes towards the rubble. What's the source of
the, like, can we see any signs to what the source
of the noise is? No, it's behind, like, a burnt
down wall. Why is it not burnt down? It's just
charred. Booker's gonna follow Halo. Easy, guys,
easy. He's not hiding his pistol anymore. Uh,
you turn the corner to find a little counter,
also quite burned. Behind it is a greasy, pale
man covered in soot who's pulling himself up
from behind the remnants of a ticket counter.
He is completely nude, save for a satchel strapped
across his chest. He reaches into a satchel and
puts on a little bowler hat, and he says, Hi.
Hello. My name's Halo. What's yours? I don't
have a name. Okay. I think Ledger wanders around
the wall as well. And seeing that there's not
some horrible monstrosity here, he probably tucks
his revolver back away. And he says, you some
kind of... I don't know. What would you call
this? Like a porter? A ticket taker? A station
operator? Well, whatever you want to call him.
Are you the proprietor of this train station?
He points to his hat. Oh, that's pretty conclusive.
What was the name of the place we were headed
to? Calamity. Was it called Calamity? Calamity.
Our locomotive seems to have become waylaid on
its way to Calamity. Don't suppose you might
know how we might get there? Well, we're going
to have to pick up passengers, I presume. Or
drop some off. That's what trains do. I suppose
so. Halo looks around. Are there any people?
There are no people except this person. He rummages
around in his satchel, or maybe behind the counter,
and he pulls out a little notebook. He says,
let's see, let's see. Yep, I got one going out.
Okay, uh... I hope I did not misrepresent myself.
This isn't my train. I'm just riding on it. What's
the difference? That's a good question. No, it
isn't. There's a... We got a first class ticket
here for a F man. He's not here. Probably got
caught up in the theater or something. But you
have the... I love your accent. I find myself
slipping into it. Yeah, it is infectious. Wasn't
the one I was born with. Just this time. That's
too bad. Or maybe it's good, I don't know. Yeah,
you know, help yourself to the amenities. And
what's that? Just so I understand, we aren't
going anywhere until this F -man shows up? That's
up to your train. But that's what trains do.
Yeah, I guess. See, here's the thing. My impression
was that the train did not expect to come here.
Did you ask it? I guess Ledger looks to Halo
and he's like, I don't know. Did you ask it?
Not yet. I could. He looks back towards the train.
But then he looks back towards the proprietor
and says, excuse me, what is a theater? Well,
it's like a place where people pretend. And you
watch. You laugh and you cry. And you pretend
to have an accent that's not yours, like I'm
doing right now. Not bad. Impressive. And this
person we need. Is there? The train might need
him. I don't know. Well, we need to be on the
train moving. Yeah. Yeah, maybe we can if...
This is... So, I think... And Colin, you can
correct me if I'm wrong, but the impression that
I get from what I know about the city is that
this kind of like... weird, skewed unreality
logic probably isn't that unusual there, or at
least maybe Ledger assumes that it's not? Would
that be an unreasonable thing to assume? Is it
a thing that happens? I would say, like, it depends
how deep you've gone, really. Yeah, I don't think
he's gone that deep pointedly because he's trying
to kill. It shouldn't be this weird here. yes
i am aware yeah because we're like so far away
from where the weirdness is supposed to be this
is like uh people who've gone very deep would
tell you a story about this you'd be like that's
crazy i don't even know if that's real but like
you can believe it because you've seen some weird
shit okay so halo says well what the train needs
we need how far away is the theater oh it's just
um it's just it's in town it's just in town It's
a big town, friend. Could you perhaps be more
specific? Oh, it's, um... Well, it's theater
word, you know? It's like in the direction of
the theater. Theater word. Could you take us
there? Oh, no, I'm on the clock. I'm sorry. Well,
I suppose I'm beneath the clock. And he points
up. Okay, you're pointing, so why don't you point
towards the theater? And he points at you, Bailey.
I'm what? Is this I'm an actor? Oh, you get it
already. This is great. This is going to go great
for you. This is going to go great for you. I
think I think I really do think it's that way.
And he points past Bailey. Can I make him crave
showing us there? You want to use an ability.
Yeah, I do. Read me your ability's description.
That is just quantified want. You cut out the
middleman. Roll compel plus haven to cast the
spell on an NPC you're speaking to. On a success,
you can instill a desire for something in them.
If the thing they want is unusual, casting the
spell is unusual for them to want. Casting the
spell is risky. On a success, they now fiercely
want whatever it is you specified until the end
of the current situation. What are you trying
to instill in him? A desire to be helpful? I
want him to, a desire to just take us there.
I'm viewing it as, he views it as his job not
to, you know, because he's on the clock, but
I think he actually wants to. So I want him to
do it. Your domain right now is Desolate Haven.
So you have Haven and Compel. So roll it and
see what you get. That would be, I assume, risky
because it goes against his job. I think it's...
I'm not going to give you risky. I think he's
just being esoteric. You don't be risky with
this guy. This is scary. This works, then. Wow,
you failed. Three dice failure. Wow. Great. What
stress is this? I think this is probably... This
is the end. Take Fortune Fallout. I'm going to
give you 1d4. Will you take 1 Fortune Fallout?
If you have any armor, remember it rejects it.
Alright. And then Fallout test? Yep. Jesus. That
should not be true. You shouldn't have 5. It's
the cumulative total. Oh, it's total! Yeah, it's
tough. It's tough out here. Okay. Gonna give
you a minor fortune fallout because you rolled
a four versus five. Okay. I'm gonna give you
this one. I need to think of something real quick.
Give me one minute. While this is happening,
Halo brings his hands up and watches the light
play on his fingers. He turns to Ledger and he
says, I... remember something. I know what this
place is. What? How do you remember anything?
You was born, what, a couple of weeks ago? I
think this place is what they call beautiful.
He just looks around. I think it looks like a
bit of a shithole, if I'm being honest, but to
each his own. Bailey rolls his eyes. What is
a shithole? You wanna see? No. Well, it's a...
The proprietor turns around to see that. It's
not very nice. Not pleasant. Nowhere to get a
drink. No friendly faces. Maybe mean things lurking
around in the dark. Confusing things. And he
points towards the guy. Um... For a moment, this
place is like lit up like it's daytime, Booker.
But for a moment, it's dark. It's like very dark.
And you find yourself looking up at the night
sky. And it's like you're back on the surface
again. But there's no ground. It's just empty.
And the stars above you are dark and silent.
And you feel like something really awful is going
to come to pass. in your future, you gain the
foreboding fallout, which is a minor fortune
fallout, which is that something bad is about
to happen. The GM will hint at it. This can be
upgraded to crisis. Ooh, that's scary. You can
remove your stress, though, right? Yes, you can
remove his stress from fortune. Okay. Which is
just one. You're welcome. You're welcome. Wow,
thanks. But not mine. I can't remove the mind
one. No, not yet. If you take a major fallout,
you clear all stress. Yeah, the guy just kind
of points back in the direction he said. I think
it's that direction. I can't leave him telling
you. What does it look like when Booker tries
to do this thing? Does it look unusual, or is
he just asking a question? I guess in my head,
it looks normal. But, I don't know, Colin, would
anyone with, like, demony connections be able
to pick up on what's going on? That's up to you.
Well, I just mean, like, does he, like, do anything?
I almost view it as, like, a forced mind trick.
Where it's not very obvious. Like, waving your
hand a little bit? Doing the Benny Jesser voice
stuff? Yeah, Benny Jesser voice. It's like that.
It's not a very obvious ability. Okay, cool.
Kind of subtle. Yeah, I reckon we can probably
find it. I guess, thank you for the information.
And Ledger kind of spins on his heel and goes
to walk out unless somebody stops him. Let's
go. As we walk outside of the train station,
I think Ledger's probably like, Cheer up, Booker.
You look like someone just walked over your grave.
And he grins. Maybe he has a gold tooth. Yeah,
he does. He has a gold tooth, definitely. I think
he does. Before we leave the proprietor, I want
to do a test. I want to say, hold on, Bailey.
Stand over there. And I point to, I don't know,
a space that's like... six feet off to the left
from where he was before. No. I walk up to him
and I start pushing him gently. What are you,
why? What's the matter? Halo is, like, a little
bit stronger than you would imagine, so if he
wasn't prepared for being pushed, he's going
there. Probably not. After Bailey's repositioned,
I turn back to the guy and I say, which way is
the theater now? To see if he's still pointing
at Bailey or not. He's still pointing a few feet
behind Bailey's shoulder. Hmm. Okay. This gives
me some info. Some info as the player. I'm not
sure if Halo quite grasps it yet. Bailey probably
runs around Halo. That's actually kind of smart.
Good idea. I think we can figure it out. And
I think as the group kind of wanders on Ledger's
leg, I do not mean... to alarm you all, but I
believe that we may have somehow entered the
periphery of the city already, which, as you
might know, is impossible. Shouldn't be this
close. No. Now, they say it's been getting bigger.
I believe this to be true, but this is unprecedented.
And what that means is that, uh, well, you...
We can no longer trust what you believe to be
cause and effect, the simple evidence of your
own eyes. Be careful. And he smiles again. And
I feel like maybe as he does, there's just like
a... Anybody who's looking at his face, there's
like a flicker of like... Maybe his true self
shows just for a moment that of a gaunt skeletal
face draped with scraps of long since rotted
flesh. Just for a second. Hmm. Just when he smiles.
Yucky? Booker is not doing good. Yeah. I think
Bailey pats your back and is like, I know. I
have a thing. It must be leaking in places. It
must not be all together. I wonder if it seeps
out in little spots. You're thinking the same
thing, too, right? What are you talking about?
This. And he points all around him. The city
of glass is leaking. Why the fuck am I here?
What's the matter with you? Are you all right?
Let's go. I have a question, actually. When we
left the back of the locomotive, was the guy
who was sitting in his chair still there, and
was his chair still there? He was gone, and his
chair was gone. Not his chair. His chair was
not bolted down. Yeah, he's probably fucking
dead. I think Ledger's like, well, the way I
see it, we got two choices. We can go and try
and find this mystery passenger, or we can go...
Try and speak with our good friend the locomotive,
seeing as he is now unguarded. Doubt he has much
to say to us. Devil we know. Halo has his finger
up to where his mouth would be. He's rubbing
it thoughtfully. Doesn't say anything, though.
He's just walking with the group. Well, I'd like
to be active if we could find this and solve
it. Find whoever's at the theater. That would
be nice. But if you have any more questions for...
The train. We can go back there, too. Nah, we
can ask him when we get back. I've been sitting
for so long, I admit I would love to go for a
stroll. I think he draws his revolver again,
and he's like, Y 'all keep your head on a swivel,
eyes peeled. We'll go up ahead. And he just,
he's not really going up ahead, he just means
like a few paces maybe ahead of everybody else.
And he kind of starts walking ahead of the group,
just a couple paces, and you maybe hear him say,
like, all right, baby, you watch left, I'll keep
right, and we will find this theater. Okay. I
think this would be a delve desolate. Wow! I
love to delve desolately. That's what you do.
That's what I do, bro. Ledger is in his element.
Yeah. He was in his. Now he's shaking, as you
thought. Shaking like a leaf! Alright, so, uh,
is this a, um... Standard. Is this risky? Standard.
I love to be standard. Let's see what happens.
Tip to be squared. Failure! Wait, five is a failure?
Five is a failure. Five is the highest failure
state there is. It is true. Five, three, two.
Okay. uh well i'm gonna give you i'm gonna give
you stress i guess i guess i'm gonna do that
yeah i guess uh yeah you know um to i'm gonna
assist just a d4 just a d4 minus stress oh it's
just it's just four months stress for me before
i'm going to use my special ability collateral
once per session allocate stress for an ally
instead of me and yeah i'm gonna give it to booker
jesus i want the crisis to happen uh oh my god
what does this look like how do you how does
how do you uh are you allocating it to him instead
i think maybe like i mean this precise setup
can look however you want to but i think he like
notices something's a little off and he's like
uh hey yo what does that look like to you And
he kind of, like, tries to get him over here
to, like, look at what it is and then maybe takes
a half step back. Hey, can I do that back at
him? Oh. Oh. We both have the same ability. That
would be really funny. I don't think it says
you can't, right? There's no... That's true.
Once per session, I don't have the exact wording,
but I think... Yeah, no, I have the wording.
I pasted it. Here it is. Because you're both
forced. Okay, no, it says to the nearest friendly
target instead of marking yourself. So I don't
think I actually get to necessarily choose. I
mean, anyone you want can be nearest to you at
this point. Yeah. But since we already did it
for Booker, you get it right back. Look, if Booker
realizes that Ledger's like trying to get him
to do, I guess because this is exactly. So what
does he do? You said do it yourself. Well, that
was rude. And then I think he's going to go take
a look. Should I make my Fallout test now? You
should. Add that. No Fallout. How did I get an
11? It's a D12. Oh, okay. That's not right. But
it's still no Fallout because my total is 8,
not 4. I forgot to click out before I rolled
it. Okay, that's fine. No Fallout. Yeah, no Fallout.
A lot of mind stress. The town seems to stretch
on forever. You'd think it'd be easy finding
what seems to be an intact building, but it's
like you can't say what is in any direction.
The buildings seem to create a sort of visual
static, which is making it hard to see past them.
And as you kind of look on, at certain points,
all of the burnt -down buildings seem to line
up together, just being like a wall of black,
which is constantly shifting. It's uncomfortable.
I think since you failed, I can't give you the
theater. I'm sorry. Colin, can I use an ability?
What's that? Lost it all. Once per session, ask
the GM where the nearest source of wealth is,
and he'll tell me. The train. That's a good question.
I think it would be the theater. I think... Roll
again, whoever wants to, and you will gain mastery
because now you have a bearing on it because
of your wealth sense. You feel there's something
very valuable in there. Well, Ledger can roll
it if he wants, or you can also roll it. It's
a Delve Desolate. You want to do it, Ledger?
I don't got Delve. Sure, I mean, yeah, I'm the
best. I just know that it's kind of core form
to just roll the same thing. When you fail, but
these are different circumstances. Yeah. So yeah,
if you don't object, I would. I do not object,
but does Colin? I don't object. I think it's
perfectly... How do you communicate that you
know where this wealth is? What does it feel
like? What does it look like? Now, it looks like...
Could it be a rat scurrying in a direction? I'm
imagining this is tied to that. That'd be cool.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. He just notices some rats and
he gets a feeling like that's where we need to
be. Follow the rats? What, you think they're
going to go see a play? Just trust me on this
one. I don't like it either. Let me see. So now,
Ledger is following his own guide, the rat. And
let me tell you, that's a critical success. Double
10s! Excellent. Now that we're past this shenanigans,
there you go. Following the rats, it is very
easy to get where you're trying to go. You reach
the theater quite immediately. It's just right
around the bend. All you have to do is walk forward,
man. The theater is a tall wooden building. You
are not sure how you did not see it because it
is taller than any of the burnt down things around
you. It is seemingly untouched by whatever conditions
burn down this town. There is a placard on the
front of the theater reading very simply theater
in block letters. And underneath it, it says
now showing a final craving italicized in front
of the theater is a small box office. And in
between two sets of double doors sitting at it
is another nude man wearing a wide brimmed flat
cap on his head, which he dons as he sees you
with a bored expression. So he's not nude. Not
except the hat, no. Yeah. I think Ledger probably
swaggers up. I think Bailey's going to stop the
group for a second. It's like, everybody wait.
Wait, don't move. Don't move. Listen, my gun's
broken. Okay? He holds up the blunderbuss. All
right, looks fine to me. What is your point?
I hope you were not planning to shoot this man.
I was about to have a conversation with him.
Colin, I want to use nobility. Called Mark of
the Weaver. Once per session, you can fix someone
or something in a matter of seconds, even if
it would usually take hours of careful work.
Can I do this? Am I allowed to? Your gun. Yeah.
Presumably. Yes. That's funny because I think
it's not actually broken. Yeah. So how does this
work? Specifically, you can't. You specifically
cannot fix your gun. Because no matter what you
do, you can't find out what's wrong with it.
But you know it's broken. Alright. I like this
mind worm. This is good. Just so you guys know,
I have a broken gun. I put the gun away. That
won't consume the use of your ability. Just so
you know. All right. Well, I will keep that in
mind. I will take it under advisement. Yeah,
I think I'll go up to the man and be like, you
wouldn't happen to be F man, would you? No, no.
What? No, no. Is he inside? There's plenty of
people inside. There's a show going on. So you
don't know him by name. That name does not mean
anything to you, particularly. Are you talking
about God? When you say him? F -Man is his name.
I don't know what the F stands for. Maybe it's
like, maybe his name is F, like it's a word spelled
out phonetically. I mean, when I sell tickets,
I don't really take down the names. Sorry. It's
a matinee today, though, so it's free. So you
don't worry about that. Oh, well, isn't that
nice? Well, I suppose we'll just have to... He's
got a train to catch, you see. Oh, the train
guy. Yeah, I mean, possibly. Maybe. Yeah, I think
he might be in the green room. Okay, what, uh...
Stage fright. Oh, I see. He's got a performance
today. And so do you. I do? Uh, method acting.
Got it. Never mind. Alright, maybe you better
just point us towards the green room. Oh, so
that's staff only. But I'm an actor. You just
said. You're confusing me now. Okay, why don't
you just go in? Why don't you just go in? Okay.
It worked. Yeah, I think Legend just walks in.
The theater lobby. Go ahead, Booker. We're with
him. Yeah. The theater lobby is plain and largely
unremarkable. Some uncomfortable wooden benches
dot the interior. Ahead of you, right ahead,
are a pair of open doors leading into the theater
proper. You hear voices coming from inside of
it. Farther off to the side is a wooden door
which reads employees and performers only. I
can't read, so this sign won't stop me. Is there
anybody in here? In where? In the theater? In
the lobby. No, no. But you do hear people in
the theater. Or at least the performance. You're
not really sure what it is. Well, uh... He looks
back to the group and he's like, I suspect we
might find our man in the green room, which is...
I guess, I don't know what a... Ledger doesn't
know what a green room is. He said the man had
stage fright, so maybe he's where the performers
are? Possibly, or maybe... Well, you're probably
right. I do kind of want to know what's going
on in there. He points down to the theater. Yeah,
Halo peeks through the... auditorium door. It
doesn't go in, but just wants to see how big
the crowd is. The... I'm going to describe some
sensory information to you. The auditorium is
dimly lit. The air smells rich here, like an
old mixture of varnish and smoked meat. The ceiling
of the room is unusually high. So high that you
can't see the ceiling at all. The light does
not reach it. Ahead of you... are rows of geometric
wooden seats, which encircle the stage ahead
of you. The seats don't really seem to be separate
from the floor itself, as if they were carved
out of this bone -white flooring of the ground.
At the other side of the room is the stage, where
three stage lights illuminate the four actors
on the stage itself. Off to either side of the
stage are a pile of bodies, which sit around
the centerpiece. which is a scale model of a
building, angular and imposing, wholly exotic.
It is a tall structure, more spire and spike
than a functional space. By your closest approximation,
it seems to be made of bone. It stands no more
than 10 feet tall. It has no doors from what
you can tell. There are recesses carved into
it that must represent windows, and you get the
distinct impression that it is breathing. And
this halo is the cathedral. Oh. Okay. And Ledger,
there's something about this structure that is
vaguely familiar to you, unsettlingly so, because
when you first met Halo, you briefly had a vision
that you were inside of a similar imposing alien
structure, its walls breathing and a burning
light trying to scorch its way out of your chest.
And to make matters worse, in front of the cathedral
are four actors, spitting images of yourselves,
even Halo. A shimmering, iridescent being is
depicted on stage, providing his own light source
without the help of the stage lights, and they
seem to be in the midst of a performance, despite
the lack of attendees. It looks like there's
no one in the seats. You said there was a pile
of bodies, right? On either side. Yeah, okay.
I think, so, like, do I... Halo goes and, like,
looks in this door, and we, like, kind of see
this over his shoulder, right? Is that... Yeah,
sure. ...what I am to understand? Because I feel
like... As soon as Halo sees the cathedral and
he spends a couple seconds registering the people,
he just walks right in. Yeah, I'm gonna follow
Halo. Yeah. Hey, but this is not the time! Ledger
follows everybody in, but he's clearly not happy
about it. The... Are you sitting or are you just
standing at the back? Halo approaches the stage
just down the center of the rows and gets...
pretty close to it, and stares up and watches.
As you walk down the center aisle, you're almost
transfixed on the play itself. I feel like it's
taking too long to walk down, as if you're not
making any progress. The actor portraying Halo
speaks as he walks around the outside of the
cathedral. This is the place Mother has been
trying to bring me. She must be inside. We have
to find a way in. Bailey looks around, first
at the cathedral, then seemingly at the theater.
No, this isn't right. This isn't how it was described
at all. Booker examines his shoulder, then his
hand. He moves it up and down as if testing its
weight. I fear that this is just another rehearsal.
Halo claws at the cathedral walls as if trying
to tear his way in. Mother has closed herself.
We must find a way into the womb. We are so close.
Ledger breaks his silence. No, it is not for
us to be surgeons. We would risk a stillbirth.
They must emerge on their own. Bailey looks out
into the audience, a glassy, confused expression
on his face. They cannot even see from the amniotic
sac. They do not taste what the umbilical cord
feeds them. It strangles them. Booker, looking
bored. Muses to himself. Another price to pay.
Truly we are no different. Perhaps this rebirth
will be more fortunate. Ledger suddenly points
at Booker, his anger barely concealed. My destiny
is in death, not rebirth. I will not take any
substitute. Halo sits on the ground, slouched
and defeated. These ones are going off script.
Maybe this time, it'll be less sad. Bailey interjects.
I am not going to be humiliated again. There
must be another way. What about the teeth? What
about the narrator? What was his role? He didn't
do anything. Ledger, calming, looked uncomfortably
out into the audience. The narrator is irrelevant.
He is a failure who will take any role he can
get to be remembered. He is not who he was. One
of the stage lights goes out with a loud kachunk
noise. Ledger disappears from view. Booker sits
on the edge of the stage and looks out into the
theater. For all the pain it's been, I truly
hope this one is a flop. Another light goes out,
taking Booker with it. Bailey, looking crazed,
stands in the last remaining beam of light, looking
up into it. Damn you! You set me up! The script
was against me from the start. The final stage
light goes out, leaving the glowing Halo in the
center of the stage alone, sitting right in front
of the cathedral. He seems to be about to say
something, but then suddenly looks off to the
right of the stage, and then, without warning,
Halo seems to vanish into blackness, plunging
the entire theater into the dark. After a few
seconds, the lights come back on. And the stage
is as it was when you first arrived, with the
cathedral, the two piles of bodies on either
side, and the collapsed figures of Booker, Ledger,
and Bailey. Halo is nowhere to be seen. The character.
Yes, Halo the character is nowhere to be seen.
I'm going to have to ask you all to make me an
Endura Cursed roll. Please? I love to Endura
Cursed. Even me, who has disappeared. You are
still there. Your actor is gone. Okay. Is this
risky or standard? Uh, risky. Okay, I think I'm
rolling with zero dice. Same, let's go. It's
pretty cursed. Let's do it. That sucks. Zero
effective dice. I think we just automatically
fail. Oof. Mine's a critical failure. Could be
worse. Mine too. We're all in this together.
Good job, team. Go dust plates. Who? I don't
know. It was a memory. You are all going to take
three echo stress. Remember to use armor if you
have it. Does anybody have armor? I don't think
I do. I don't think anybody has. My stress total
is now 14, so I think I'm going to take major
fallout no matter what. Jesus. That's big. It's
because of that fucking mind stress. This would
be a good time to use my collateral ability if
I hadn't already blown it. Doesn't that suck?
All of you, roll me up your fallout tests, please.
Yeah. I love taking major fallout. Good, good,
good. Come on, Booker. Don't get fallout. I'm
not ready. Oh, that's major. Major fallout. Okay,
so Ledger and Booker both take major fallout.
And Halo and Bailey did not. We're going to explode.
Major Echo Fallout is not actually really what
you want to get. No, I would say probably not.
Doesn't give you a cool scar. Do we clear all
stress as well? Yes, if you got your Major Fallout,
you clear all of your stress. Oh, it's not too
bad. There we go, we're back to normal. Thanks,
Colin. Major Echo Fallout was really bad. No,
it's okay. It's not good. We'll be fine. Well,
me and Halo will be fine. But you guys, I don't
know. Okay, I'm going to give both of you the
same fallout because it's easier that way. You're
both going to get dark cravings. Oh, baby. Which
is you crave unusual taboo things rather than
good, honest meat and drink. Next time you visit
a haunt, which is what you use to remove fallout,
you must seek out this weird thing and indulge
it. Otherwise, you will be unable to regain any
stress. And what you're craving is teeth. Ew.
Oh. Um. Is it specified it has to be human? Nothing
is specified. Okay, thanks. Okay, here's the
thing. I actually have a bag of teeth. That's
weird. That's my reason that I have is a bag
of interesting teeth. There you go. They sound
great right now. Guys, I'm gonna pop this in
my mouth real quick. Pop them like tic -tacs.
Alright, I can live with that. I don't know.
I feel like he becomes aware of the weight of
the bag of teeth in one of his many pouches or
belts. Running under his coat. You also get the,
looking around again, the chairs here, they look
like teeth. And we specifically want to eat teeth,
right? That's the... Yeah, I mean, the chairs
are made of wood. They look like teeth. You were
craving teeth, like capital T, teeth. Yeah, yeah.
How do you all feel about what just happened?
Booker's tummy rumbles. I think Bailey spits
on the floor. We're trying to get in our heads,
alright? Keep it cool. Halo climbs onto the stage
and is attempting to walk in the direction that
Halo the actor last looked before disappearing.
Uh, there's a wall. It looks like there used
to be a door here. Like, you know, kind of like
a stage door. Stage right. It touches the edges
of the door. Trying to claw his way in. It's
very warm. Is the cathedral still there? Cathedral's
still there. Bailey's going to go up and kind
of inspect it. Bailey, as you walk up, you see
on one of the seats near the front row, there's
a piece of paper. Hmm. I'm going to walk over
and check it out. The piece of paper, it's a
script. It seems that someone has been chewing
on the script, their teeth marks on it, and...
Saliva, you presume, has caused some of the ink
to run, making most of it illegible. However,
there's a single cluster of line which remains
mostly intact, and that line reads, Bailey looks
at the script in his hands. His lips tremble.
Bailey, colon. It's not a machine. It's not even
magic. It's the play. Even if illegible, we never
stood a chance. I think Bailey starts shaking
a little bit. But not out of fear, out of anger.
You'd say his lip trembles? Yeah, I would say
his lip trembles. And he clenches his teeth and
he kind of like balls up the piece of paper as
hard as he can and he starts ripping it up into
pieces. You could probably even hear him go...
And he kind of just like... But he does not drop
the pieces on the ground. He stuffs them into
his pocket. You were going to say mouth. I don't
know why. And then he swallows. calories. In
answer to Ledger's question, Halo says, I don't
know. It's here, but it's not here. He goes and
touches the cathedral. Your hand goes through
it. It's cheap paper mache. So much less realistic
than it looked from a distance. I think Bailey
rushes the stage now, and he kind of, like, points.
He's like, see? It's fake. They're just trying
to get in our goddamn heads, okay? It's fine.
It was all just a lie. Are our stage actors still
here on the stage laying down on the floor? Yes,
they are. You stepped over them to get to the
cathedral. I'm going to kick mine in the stomach.
Yeah, I'm going to kneel down beside, not myself,
I'm going to kneel down beside Booker and I'm
going to see if he seems to be alive. Getting
close to the bodies, you notice that they're
carved out of wood. With such incredible detail
that it looks like skin at first, even with the
way the light plays off the surface like oily
skin. The mouth of Booker, the actor's mouth,
is the only thing that seems to be unrealistic.
It has no teeth, but there are inexplicably indentations
in the mouth where teeth would go, as if it has
synthetic wooden gums. Damn, because you know
Ledger was... Going down there to get those delicious
wooden teeth out of his head. Are they wearing
costumes? They're wearing your clothes. Like
exactly the same? Exactly the same. Any equipment
you have is prop equipment and is not worth anything.
Fucking damn it. I think Bailey picks up the
blunderbuss in the thing and realizes it's fake
and throws it on the ground. Booker takes the
prop gun. He wants it. You have a prop gun. I
think Ledger checks if his double has boots that
are nicer than his own boots in terms of like
what quality they are. And if they seem like
even slightly less worn, he's going to take them
and just put them on right there on the stage.
Sure. I mean, they seem similar enough. Well,
you have new shoes. They fit really well. Yeah,
I expected you. I think Ledger looks to the everybody
else and he's like, well, I wish. that I could
tell you all the things were going to get better
as we go along, but I think you probably can
intuit that they are, in fact, going to get worse
instead. I mean, that wasn't too bad. No one
got hurt physically, all right? We can still
walk. Yeah, sometimes, you know, the worst wounds
are ones that you can't see. And he smiles. Just
don't let it get in your head, then. It's that
simple. Oh, my head is an ironclad fortress.
Mine too. Okay. Glad we understand each other.
Now let's try and find what we came here for
and put this out of your mind. And he looks at
Halo when he says that and kind of pats him on
the shoulder as he walks past towards the stage
door. Yeah, I'm following close. Yep, we're going.
You're going back out to the employee door? No,
isn't there a door stage right? There is a...
A place where a door should be, and there's only
an outline of it, as if it's been bricked up.
But it's quite warm. So warm. Well, I suppose
we gotta go back to the other employee door,
then. Let's go find that green room. Right. You
go out, you go to the employee door, and beyond
it is a dark, completely unlit hallway. I think
Ledger kind of just walks in, whistling to himself.
Are you going to spark up a light source? Are
you going to walk into the darkness? I think
we should spark up... Can Halo glow or something?
Or is he just kind of like very dim light? Dim
level 4, Halo. Not really. Not right now, anyways.
Okay, yeah. He can glow, but he's not. Is there
like specific mechanics for this kind of thing?
Like do we have to make like a fortune roll to
spark a torch or something? Sometimes you have
to take supply stress. I think is how it goes,
but I'm not going to make you take that right
now. You're going to have a torch. Yeah, yeah.
I think can. Can you have a lantern actually
instead of a torch? Sure, why not? Yeah, he rummages
in his thing in his pouch, one of his his satchel,
and he pulls out kind of an old oil lantern that
kind of it's got like a like a metal ring that
he like holds it by and it squeaks as it kind
of rocks back and forth. And he strikes a little
match and lights it up and turns a little dial
and holds it up in his left hand. And I think
maybe as he does that, there's like anybody who's
looking at him sees the impression of something
kind of gliding over his shoulder over behind
his behind him on his left just for a second.
And he kind of glances in that direction and
smiles and gives a little nod. And he's like,
all right, now let's be careful. You never know
what kind of nasty things can be around. And
he's got his revolver, I think, in his right
hand. Bailey holds up his broken blunderbuss
and aims it down the hallway. Like the main theater,
the light illuminates the wooden hallway around
you. It is fairly... The light illuminates the
wooden hallway around you. It is fairly plain
with the exception of two things. The first is
that the ceiling stretches up endlessly and you
cannot see where it ends above you and it disappears
into darkness. And the second is that every 20
or so feet, There's a door painted on the wall,
and the door is different every time. Does it
have words? Do the fake doors have words above
them? No. Are they warm? Yes. Which one is the
warmest? They're all the same warmth. I think
maybe after walking past two or three of these
doors, a ledger stops for a second and knocks
on it. Knocks on, like, that painting of a door
to see if anything happens. As you knock on the
door, you hear your knock kind of echo a little
bit back, and then you hear the sound of something
scuttling above you. I think when he hears that,
he looks up, revolver up, lantern up, but I mean,
obviously, if the ceiling's so far away, he probably
can't see anything. And the sound stops. Well,
I didn't even care for that. Ahead of you, now
that you've kind of looked up, you notice that
there's a junction. Like a T? A T junction. Or
an X junction, I guess. No visible doors in either
direction? No, but on the ground, in the middle
of the junction, it's marked. It's hard, I don't
even know how I would describe it. It's like...
Bailey, you would describe this as mathematical.
As something scholarly here. It's like a grid
with dots interspersed on it. It's trying to
communicate something to you, but it's not immediately
understandable. Hmm. I crouch down and kind of
like look it over. We're kind of like rubbing
it. I'm not getting anything from this. Oh, but
you could, but it would take a roll. You know
what, guys? Hold on. I got some dice here. Just
give me a second. This is a discern. Discern
cursed roll. Let's try it. Honestly, Colin, let's
try it. What do you think? That's a great idea.
I do have a discern. I don't have anything in
cursed. Better than anybody else. I'm just going
to do standard. Success. Take no stress. Four
and eight. Okay. It doesn't really mean anything
to you immediately. You think there's something
here, but it's kind of just nothing. You move
forward again, and you actually find yourself
with the employee entrance where you entered.
It's now ahead of you, which is impossible since
you only really headed straight. Somehow the
place has turned you around. And exploring a
little more, this happens to you a couple more
times. At one point, you find a second junction
with another pattern on it, and then it clicks
for you. which is that this grid that someone
has left here in this like chalk, it seems to
be a very bizarre way of indicating how to traverse
these junctions. It specifies different directions
depending on which loop you're in. And provided
that this is correct, you may be actually able
to go somewhere. Okay. I think I would tell this
to my comrades. And then I kind of end with saying
nothing magical about it. It's all just math.
All right. Well, then I think Ledger goes to
hand over the lantern and he's like, I suppose
you should lead the way. Follow me. And I start
going at the best of my ability, following whatever
I learned before. You keep going on this strange
route. I'm occasionally getting looped back to
the main entrance, but every time it seems you're
going to different junctions. You're making progress.
And every now and then there's that scuttling
sound above you. And whenever you stop to listen
to it, it stops again. After a few minutes of
exploring the looping halls, you see something
new. Ahead of you at the next juncture is a figure,
a woman who has keeled over a broken puppet.
And she seems to be crying, her body heaving
as if from heavy sobs. But she is silent. I think
I tap everyone's shoulders and kind of point
down the road. Another illusion. Are you sure?
We don't know that for sure. Well, you can go
find out. I think Ledger maybe takes a step forward
and he's like, excuse me, ma 'am. The woman screams
upon seeing you, and then she seems to lift up
off the ground and float very rapidly down the
hall. leaving her broken puppet behind. Ooh.
Not creepy. What's the puppet look like? Yeah.
It's a colorfully dressed performer, and in the
puppet's hand is another smaller puppet, dressed
like the woman you just saw. Does that one have
an even smaller puppet, or are we too far away
to see? It does not. Damn. I'm going to pick
up this smaller puppet, if no one has any other
problems. I think that we have to deal with the
ghost that is running at us really fast. Oh,
I thought it was coming towards us. Okay. This
is what I wanted to test is I pick up the doll
and I kind of like move it away and far, like
closer and farther from my body. Kind of extending
my hand with it in my, or sending my arm with
it in my hand to see like, is anything changing
in the environment when I do this? Do I see that
lady coming at me again? No, you don't. But you
can take the doll. It's a D4 cursed weird puppet.
It's a resource. I think I'll hold it. And I'll
even announce. Let's hold on to this. You never
know. Never liked puppets very much. Don't worry.
I'll hold on to it. Was that lady okay? She seemed
sad. She's gone now. I think that was a lady.
Hmm. Just something to get in our heads. Let's
keep moving. Around the next junction, or actually
probably a few more junctions, you see two figures
in the darkness. They're dressed in plain black
jumpsuits with a sturdy, like, what would be
like an old -timey thing that like a theater
attendant would have that's not like a flashlight?
I guess lanterns, right? Yeah, maybe like a hooded
lantern? Yeah, they each have like a hooded lantern.
And then blazoned across the back of their uniforms,
because they're facing away from you, is the
word staff. Ooh, I think I nudge Ledger. I'm
like, all right, charmer, you want to make your
entrance? I, uh... I suppose I shall. Excuse
me, gentlemen. They turn around and face you.
Do they have faces? Yeah, they have faces. Do
those faces have teeth in their mouths? I mean,
their mouths aren't open. I gotta get him to
talk first then, eh? Gotta get him to smile,
man. They seem to stare at you with a certain
intensity. Since you work here, I was hoping
you could point me in the correct direction.
I'm looking for an associate of mine, one F man.
One of these staff members kind of like jerks
his head to the side, looking at you. And he...
Opens his mouth to talk. He does have teeth.
And he says, Staff only. Yeah, I am staff. I'm
a performer. He grins. He starts walking towards
you. Is there a hint? The normal coming at us?
Yeah, he's just walking towards you. Okay. I
think I'm going to aim my blunderbuss kind of
not like hold it up, but I'm just going to have
it pointed at the guy. You see, he's got a he's
going to miss his train if he does not hurry.
And I would hate for that to happen. The guy
gets up close to your face. He ignores the blunderbuss
and he starts looking you over and see you start
running a hand on your shoulder and down your
arm. And he says, you're no performer. I resent
that accusation, sir. I was told. He grabs your
jaw. I think I want to raise my revolver and
try and shoot him in the gut. Now we're doing
it. I'm shoving my barrel at him, too. We're
going loud. I think as soon as he touches my
face, maybe because I assume he's coming for
my teeth. I'm gonna try and just put one through
his guts. It's the death blow. You never go for
a man's teeth. Kill cursed, I believe. Few rules
in life. Cool, let's kill cursed. Never take
a man's teeth. Let's see what happens. Wait,
what? Failure. You rolled risky. It's not risky.
Oh, was it risky? It's not risky. Oh, okay, cool.
Then that's a critical success. A critical success.
You can roll your damage if you'd like. I think
critical increases the dice step by one. Oh,
so that would be a D10 instead of a D8? Yes,
that's right. With your expensive revolver. Yes,
and I think that means that if I roll max, then
I have to take fortune stress, right? I think
that's what expensive does. Boom! That's a six.
Six. You shoot him through the chest. There's
the sound of cracking wood, and he just collapses.
Collapses just instantly to the ground. The other
staff member back there drops his lantern and
is yanked up into the ceiling. Shit. Oh. Taken
by their strings. Notice that? I get it. The
clacking above you gets louder. I think Ledger,
he pulls back the hammer on his revolver, the
cylinder click -clicks as it cycles one, and
then he looks back at his companions and is like,
we need to move a little more quickly, I think.
Agreed. Dale looks up at the ceiling and follows.
I even start jogging, so people jog around me.
As you run forward and you turn a corner, Halo
grabs you by the shoulders, Bailey, and says,
Stop! What? Who's in the back of the party? I
imagine it's either Halo or Booker. Yeah. I think
Booker. Alright, Booker it is. Booker, you hear
Halo's voice up ahead. It sounds wrong because
Halo's actually right next to you. And then there
is a swooshing sound and something big falls
down behind you. Booker turns to look at it.
It is a twist of wooden limbs erupting from a
vaguely human core. Six jointed arms, nine legs,
moving in an almost centipedal coordination.
Its bulk seems almost too large for the hallway.
Its limbs press against the walls and floor uncomfortably.
It is clad in a colorful performer's outfit.
Red, green, and blues burst with white fur at
the collars and ankle. It wears a hooked red
hat, beneath which is a burst of graying hair
spilling out, covering the features of its face.
Strung across its back are a cluster of smaller
marionette bodies, tied in a limp bundle. One
of its arms reaches out for you, trying to snatch
you out of the group. With its big wooden hands.
What do you do? Uh... He's gonna yell for help
and try to get the fuck away from that thing.
Sounds like an evade. Yeah, I think so. Evade
cursed. Risky, because you are surprised. Oh,
no. Evade religion. Goodbye, my friends. Oh,
hey. Take stress. Success at a cost with a 10?
Oh, because you have, since it's risky and you
only have one die, I think it takes you down
by one success level. Okay. At least that's what
I assume, because that's what the Roll20 is telling
me, and I'm not going to question that. Good
shit. Okay. Take stress. Yeah, zero effective
dice. You're right. I'm pretty sure that's what
that means. So do I take... What stress is this?
I think he'll tell you. You might even roll it.
Uh -oh. Why would he do that? Oh, that's a lot
of stress. 1d8, you get a 7. You get 7 blood
stress. My blood's boiling. Let's find out what
that means once you add it and then take your
fallout test. Blood stress is like, this is effectively
your health. This thing has hurt you or is trying
to. It's not literally that you have lost 7 units
of blood. I lost seven blood today. Take a sip.
Juice it up. Where's your blood, boy? All right,
let's see that fallout test. One over seven.
Take minor fallouts. We're falling out. We're
falling out. You can clear your blood stress.
All right. You managed, you try to evade. And
you do. Just barely. Avoiding its stretched out
hand. In doing so, the tip of its finger just
snags your leg, barely, and you hear a crack
from your leg as something fractures. You're
gaining the limping minor blood fallout, which
is if someone or something attacks your party,
they will attack you first. If there's any question
over who arrives last, it's you. All checks involving
rapid or stealthy movement become risky. Ouch.
Got it. Okay. Well, Booker screams in pain as
this happens. Halo. Yeah, I'm now closest to
this. You are. What is the thing doing? It just
swiped at your friend who managed to kind of
stumble back after getting his leg fractured.
It, judging by its body language, you're guessing
it's trying to fucking get you. Bro, what? Halo,
with a very calm stance, raises up a hand, the
fingers now slightly clawed, and a bit of light
gathering through his arm, veins converging into
the palm to a small burst, and he says the word,
extinguish. And I'm using my ability, which is
a modified Exsanguinate, where I suck all the
light out of something, draining its life force.
This is a kill D6. Okay. You have to make a kill
attack, I'm assuming. Kill cursed. Kill cursed.
Can anyone help me? I don't think so. Yeah, no,
Ledger can. He will also be subjected to... the
fallout, so I'm wondering if it's a good idea.
But yeah, I think he would. I think that he is
currently his priority is dealing with this situation,
so I think he will. Okay. Standard. This is a
standard effect, especially since you're working
together. Can I maybe take a step forward and
try and put another, put a round through it?
Alright, hello? Roll me a kill curse, plus one
die. Oh, critical success? Success! Roll me a
d8 instead of a d6. Nice. Are there any other
tags on this? Nope. Ranged. I also ignore piercing.
Our armor, I assume? Yeah. It is piercing? Or
yes, I gain piercing. Two. You do two damage
to it. It's a little unfortunate. Okay. But it
is something. The light seems to come from this
thing inexplicably. Even though you're not sure
if it is alive? But it has less light in it.
It flows into you. Do you have a sensation when
you absorb things light? It feels warm. It feels
warm. This thing feels cold. Cold light. Ooh.
Yuck. That's probably not good. Like, in an IV
drip. Like the stars. Thank you. I mean, uh,
oh, Bailey. Bailey. What are you doing? What's
going on with me? Halo touched my shoulder. Uh,
fake Halo grabbed you. You heard something behind
you. And then, looking back, Halo is gone. Because
Halo's behind you. Duh. And I see what's going
on. You see what's going on from the shaky light
of your lantern. Is the monster taken care of
or what's going on? No, definitely not. It's
trying to fucking get you, man. Bailey's going
to flip his blunderbuss around. He's gripping
it by the barrel. He's going to wield it like
a bat. I'm going to run at this thing screaming
and I'm going to try to swing and hit it. Excellent.
Maniac. That's a kill cursed, sire. A kill cursed.
A kill cursed standard? Standard. Now, before
I roll, I'd like to use an ability called unorthodox
methods. Once per session, before you roll dice
to resolve an action, instead state that your
result is a six. You succeed, but take stress.
Oh, okay. Probably wise choice. Okay, you're
going to be able to hit this. Roll me a d4. That's
what the unarmed damage is. Slash r1 d4. That's
a 4. Not bad. Oh, shit. You... Honestly, Adam,
what I think happens is that you hit it, you
hit it again, and at some point, your blunderbuss
goes off. And you deal damage to it, even though
it's broken? Somehow it shot it. Well, here's
what makes me laugh is I'm holding it so the
barrel is at the floor. So I'm imagining it goes
off and it shoots inside the thing. Like it propels
into the center of this thing. Yeah, yeah, that's
good, that's good. And I think as he's doing
this, Bailey's like, you think I need bullets?
And as he says bullets, it shoots. How weird
is that? Okay, you make, you clobber it pretty
good. There's a cracking noise as you start breaking
through it, but it is still up. It's kind of
like scrambling above you. And I think it's going
to do some damage to you. Unfortunately. Another
seven. Another seven blood stress. That's a lot.
Four, five, six, seven. And now I'm doing a fallout
test? You are doing a fallout test. Gentlemen,
this is gonna be really bad. Take major fallout.
Oh, man. Oh, boy. Welcome to the club, buddy.
I think what happens... is that the thing touches
you, Bailey. Like, it's swinging at you very
violently, but then so gently, it just, like,
strokes your arm with a finger, and you feel
your arm stiffen and get yanked up into the air,
like something is pulling it up. Uh -oh. Uh -oh.
And fighting it, you feel your arm, like, straining
against this invisible force which is pulling
you up into the ceiling. and your arm cracks
with a sickening noise, you can't use your arm
until it heals, which will make some tasks risky
or dangerous and others impossible. Can I use
another ability now? What's that? Could I use
my Mark of the Weaver now? You can fix something
in a matter of seconds, even if it would usually
take hours of careful work. I think once the
fight is over, we could try this. You can try
it. There are separate rules for removing fallouts.
I would need to look it up to see what it is,
but keep that in mind. Sure. Okay. Ledger. I
think what Ledger is going to do is he's going
to... He levels his revolver at the thing, and
he... Um, he probably says something like, uh,
all right, baby, let's get this son of a bitch.
And maybe if anybody is looking at him or seeing
him in their, seeing him in their peripheral
vision, maybe like a ghostly hand kind of strokes
along the side of his gun and it starts glowing
with this like kind of whitish bluish light that
seems to be like coming from inside of the chamber
and pouring out all the cracks. And, um, I'm
going to use my ability, um, invidious specter.
All weapons gain the conduit tag. Mark D for
mind stress to roll attacks with mastery for
the rest of the scene. And I have a coupled ability
that means when I use this, the weapon also gains
the piercing tag. So I gain mastery with attacks
and piercing for the rest of this scene. Do it.
And I'm going to take some mind... Should we
do a fallout test for this self -inflicted four
mind stress first? Or after? Let's do it after.
Okay, so this is a kill curse, this time with
mastery. That's a ten. Critical success! Yeah!
Ooh, baby. Um, so that makes this a ten. Seven.
Piercing damage. And when he fires, there's like
a blast of this whitish light that kind of shoots
out the barrel of the gun. Fuck yeah. The thing
reels from your blow. Its torso cracks open with
this ghostly light, and it seems to almost be
collapsing in on itself a little bit. And then
out from the hole in its chest begins to spill
a stream of teeth, just collapsing onto the ground
like entrails. There's this sound of straining
wires as this thing starts to get pulled upwards,
but it claws at the wall like it doesn't want
to go with many arms and legs. But eventually
the strain is just too much. Some of its arms
are like yanked out of their sockets, still embedded
in the walls, and it's pulled violently up into
the dark ceiling above. And then it is quiet.
And you're left in a hallway with teeth scattered
on the floor, as well as a couple of these strange
puppet arms. Booker pockets and teeth. I think
Ledger immediately falls to the ground and starts
trying to grab a whole bunch of the teeth. Yeah,
now Booker. These fellas love their teeth. What
the fuck are you guys doing? Are you hungry?
No, it's teeth. Wait, I could leave them all
behind. Leave teeth? Just grab the damn teeth.
We got pressing matters, okay? Let's keep going.
You really are crazy, old man. Your arm looks
in bad shape. Yeah, it's kind of broken right
now. Can I use my med skill? Is this going to
use my ability or no? Let me look it up real
quick. There are restrictions on removing fallout.
While this is all going on, I think after he's
satisfied with some of the teeth, I think maybe
he tries to casually pop one in his mouth. I
mean, it's a tooth. I think maybe he doesn't
even chew it. He just swallows it. Yeah, Booker
Dry swallows it like a pill. Does he feel like
his... Is his craving sated at all? Oh, no, man.
You've had one potato chip. You want more now.
You want more. That hits the spot. Alright, we're
getting a whole bag ready. He's gonna manage
to keep it in check for now, but he looks, I
think, between his companions, and he's like,
well, short one leg, one arm. Halo, are you alright?
Yeah. I feel fine. Are we eating teeth now? No,
we're not eating anything. We're moving. Well,
let's not be hasty. I mean, yes, we'll talk about
this at another time. Let's move on. Can you
walk, Booker? I'll get along fine. Can I use
my Physiker's Bag to mend blood on Booker? Uh,
yes. It might take some time, though. Do we really
want to do that here? Yeah, maybe we should just
keep going. Didn't Booker clear all his blood
stress anyways? Yeah, but isn't it the like a
fallout, the limping? Yeah, but fallouts aren't
healed through mending. Only stress is typically
healed through mending because Adam specifically
has a special ability, Mark of the Weaver. I
will say, okay, I'm just going to say instead
of some tasks being impossible, I will keep it,
you can splint yourself so that it'll only be
risky at most. I'll give you that, Adam. Okay.
Change the fallout to splinted broken arm or
something. How about I take one of the puppet
arms and I use that to splint myself? Sure. For
those of you taking teeth, you guys can get two
bags of D6 cursed teeth. Let's go. Cursed puppet
teeth or whatever. And then the arms also kind
of look... Somewhat valuable. I'm using mine
as a splint. Yeah, we'll say you use yours as
a splint. But if someone else wants that other
arm, you can have it. Is that Blood Miner, by
the way? That's my major blood stress. I'll take
Puppet Arms. It's a D6 Haven Puppet Arm. Nice.
Okay, we got teeth, we got arms. I think Ledger's
like, you know, you never know. Anything can
be valuable to anybody in the right circumstance.
I never waste anything. That's my secret. And
he taps the side of his nose. Smart guy. Great.
You guys are crazy. As you head forward, you
eventually come to a door. Through the door is
a somewhat normal space. The ceiling no longer
stretches infinitely up into the darkness. It
is lit by a number of gas lamps on the wall.
Just ahead of you, there is a door labeled Green
Room. and laying against the door, dressed in
fine red robes and wearing a paper mask, is a
corpse. The body itself looks extremely old,
yet amazingly, the clothes, as well as the silver
staff beside it, are in immaculate condition.
So he looks like he's been dead for a long time?
Yes. Okay, I have a question, and I have a question
because I don't know if this ability is allowed
to be used this way. I can touch the brow of
a recently dead corpse to ask them one final
question. Does anything happen when I touch his
brow? He's not recently dead. Okay. Yeah, I know
he doesn't seem recently dead, but that's kind
of my question is, like, can I see if, like,
that's, like, an illusion or if, like, he was,
like... Anyways, it doesn't matter. I think maybe...
Yeah, Ledger probably kneels down next to him
and, like, says, like, he grabs one of the little
necklace chains around his neck. And maybe mutters
a low prayer. And then I think he starts going
through his pockets. Sure. Here's what you find.
You can split up these things between all of
you, because these resources will come in handy
for removing Fallout. The first is Sealer's Staff
is a D8 religion item. The second is Sealer's
Uniform, which is a D6 religion item, if you
want to strip him naked. The other one is ceiling
supplies, which is a D6 occult. And then the
final is iridescent beetle, which is a weird
shining beetle, which is a D6 occult niche as
a tag item. It's a passenger. This is literally
like when you find that guy. in Dark Souls, the
first one. The red robe sealer guy, and you pick
up all of his clothes and all of his shit. So
I got the staff and the supplies down. Does somebody
else want to write down the other stuff? It's
getting a little crowded in here. I want the
beetle. Okay, it's a D6 occult niche beetle.
And then the uniform, if you want to strip move
his uniform. It is nice, but you know what you're
doing. It's a D6 religion. I think I'm not going
to take the uniform. Somebody else can. Not me.
I'm going to take the mask off of him, actually,
and just see what his face looks like, or if
it's just like puckered mummy face. I can take
the uniform. What's the stats again? D6 religion.
His face is... There are bite marks all over
it. How big are the bite marks? Since you took
off his robes as well, his entire body is covered
with innumerable bite marks. Are from about just
every type of mouth you could ever guess. From
animal to human to bug bites to... Actually,
no, bugs don't have teeth, so it's not bug bites.
To, you know, things you can't even comprehend
or imagine. And as you strip him, you notice
that he has a crumpled piece of paper in his
hand. Yeah, what's it say? It is a bitten and
drool -stained piece of paper. Many of the lines
are, you know, smudged, except for at the very
bottom. Very, very bottom. of this ripped piece
of paper. It says, But he did not notice the
sealer's trick. And so, following the script
to its conclusion, the friendly man, and friendly
man is in quotes, now blind to his power, closed
the green room door behind himself. He could
never open that door and would be trapped there
beneath the impossible sea for all eternities.
The end. Beneath the sea. Guys, you should look
at this. I think Ledger's like, do you make a
habit of stripping the dead naked when you find
them? I thought you said you don't waste. Well,
the sanctity of the corpse is a different matter.
Of course, he's not going to need his items,
but it's a matter of dignity. And I think he
rips up the paper and reads it. And he's like,
maybe our man's trapped in there. I'm going to
open this door. And I think he kind of, after
what he just said, he shoves the corpse out of
the way. I guess maybe it's already shoved out
of the way. But he's like, nobody go through
this door just in case. We don't want to be trapped
for all eternity, you know. And I think he's
going to try turning the handle. The door opens.
Behind it is a extremely friendly looking man
with a gray and red scarf cinched around his
neck. What is it about him that looks so friendly?
Each of you choose one thing. Round eyes. He's
kind of just like a jolly. He's jolly. He's round
and jolly. He's got a nice smile. He's wearing
glasses. He's wearing a nice smile. Ooh, yeah,
a little particular. Coca -Cola advertisement,
Santa Claus. What kind of glasses is he wearing?
Small little academic spectacles. Something that
I would have seen at the academy. Yeah, maybe
something one of your early teachers that you
liked a lot had. Yeah. And then you said eyes,
Brian? Yeah, he has like really big puppy eyes.
It's like they couldn't hurt anyone. He looks
extremely friendly. And he kind of looks at you
all with a look of surprise and he says, oh,
hello. What's your name, sir? I'm the friendly
man. You can call me friendly if it's easier.
Ah, the friendly man. Ledger looks back at his
companions as if like, there you go. Yeah, F
man. You got a train to catch, don't you? You
know, I think I do. I got a feeling that we're
going to be good friends. I like the cut of your
jib, Mr. Man. Why don't we get out of here? Yeah,
let's get out of here. I think I've been here
for too long. Much too long. Yeah, I think we're
gonna start to leave. All right, where do we
go? I got some bad news, friendly man. Just behind
you, as you turn around, you see a doorway. And
it says stage on it. What do you know? Bailey
goes to open it. I suppose this is the quickest
way. You enter. Stage right. There's a door where
there was just the outline before. Is everything
the same way that we found it? Or that we left
it? Yeah, everything's the same. As far as you
can tell. So, like, Ledger's, like, discarded
boots are still there, and the bootless himself
puppet is there? No. You know what? I changed
my mind. I think your bodies are gone. Okay.
The cathedral? Cathedral's still there. Does
it still have the hole in it from when Halo put
his hand through? No, it's been hastily mended.
Okay. Well, Mr. Mann, now why is it that a sealer
would want to seal you away? I read it on a piece
of paper. I don't know if it's real. I just don't
know. I try not to get on anyone's bad side.
At least I think I don't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't
do anything bad. Maybe it was a misunderstanding.
Maybe. You didn't bite him, did you? He had quite
a few bite marks on him. I didn't bite him. The
only thing I use my teeth for is smiling. And
enjoying some sweet tea. Any wings at you? What
a nice guy. I just like the implication that
he chews his sweet tea. You gotta eat the tea
pulp. Yeah, when you're done after it's been
soaking in those juices. Uh, yeah, I think, um,
I think, yeah, Pleasure's just gonna lead the
way out. Be like, we, uh... You see, we were
on a train on its way to a little town called
Calamity, and we kind of wound up here, so...
Come here. Porter told us that they had a ticket
for an F -Man, and that might be why our locomotive
wound up here in the first place. What? I am
very sorry. I do not want to cause any sort of
problems. I see you folks are in tough sorts.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, giant puppet shattered his arm.
Got my leg. I'm so sorry. You gotta pat his...
What is he wearing? Some very friendly clothes.
Friendly coat. Overalls. Jolly coat. Vest that
is nice. A bow tie. He's got a bow tie. Oh, shit.
He is wearing that scarf. Oh, fuck. The scarf
is tied in a bow. It's a very nice scarf. Yeah,
maybe it's tied in a bow. His tie is nice. It's
a silken scarf. Yes, it is. He's like a present.
He's like a present. He's like a present for
you. He is. What a lovely man. He taps himself
down. He's like, I wish I had some currency on
me or some treats to give you. Got any tea? Only
these ones. And he grins at you. It is honestly.
Honest to God, it isn't the most beautiful spiral
you've ever seen in your life. Those look delicious,
but I would hate to leave you of them. And he
leads you, I mean, I see you guys go back. Yeah,
we lead him back to the train station. He's following
us, obviously. Yeah, he finds a great novelty
in this town. He's kind of confused. He's been
friendly about it. I think as we walk, Ledger's
like talking to him about like... Well, you know,
the city's influence is not supposed to sprout
this far, but things seem a little out of sorts.
What was that word you used? Is it leaking? He
said it was leaking. I think I believe him. It
seems like it's leaking. City? It's awful. Black
ochre. Yeah, city of glass. You know how it is.
I'm sorry, friend. I don't know what that is.
Oh. I mean. How long were you in that room anyways?
The man who put you there seemed like he maybe
died a couple hundred years ago. I don't know.
If I'm being honest with you, I don't remember
getting in that room. I just remember being there.
Hmm. I'm sorry. I don't want to make the moment
about me or anything. I just find that to be
unpleasant. I'm genuinely quite confused right
now. Well. I keep speaking in your voice. It's
a nice voice. I need to get an ability somehow
that makes his accent infectious. I think while
you guys are walking, Bailey's going to like
saddle up next to Booker. He's like, you know
what? I think F man stands for fake man. This
thing isn't real. It's going to stab us in the
back. Okay. Don't trust anything that comes out
of its mouth. What are you talking about? He's
right there. He's gonna. He's going to kill us,
okay? He's going to try to kill us. Just put
him on the train, and we forget about him. Yeah,
first your shotgun's broken. Now the friendly
man isn't friendly. Bailey, why don't you just...
You keep an eye on him, then. Okay, maybe I will.
And if you get stabbed in the back, I told you
so. So you told me so. I'm walking away. You
arrive at the train. The friendly man... kind
of reaches into his vest pocket on his overalls?
And he finds a ticket, which he seems surprised
to be there. Yeah, I told you you had a ticket.
He gives it to the attendant, who's also very
confused by this friendly man, but she's taken
in by his friendliness, and he's led aboard.
And just about as soon as you're all aboard,
the train turns back on. I think as the train
turns on and we start going, I think... Ledger
wants to go poke his head into the locomotive
if the door is not locked. I think the door is
locked. I think it was locked behind him. Okay,
that's fine. As much as I would like to say that
you can just go in. They do lock that door. Yeah.
I think he tries the door and then he maybe just
like kind of shouts like, y 'all better not be
making any more stops. We got an appointment
to keep. Then he walks back into the first class
cabin. As you walk back into the first class
cabin, there is a creaking of metal and then
a thunking noise. And then you are forced into
the ground as the train seems to go straight
up into the air. There is a loud splash, another
influx of that stinky goo. And then you emerge
on the other side of the wandering sea, slamming
back onto a railroad track. The stewards look
extremely unnerved yet again, kind of look out
the windows and talk amongst themselves for a
little bit. And they say, well, folks, it seems
like the train is back on schedule. We should
be arriving within, well, two hours, I guess.
And we're going to double back and grab anyone
else left on the other side of the sea once we
drop you all off in calamity. Please have a pleasant
rest of your trip. I think Bailey shouts when
that finishes. He's like, yeah, you're welcome,
everyone! And he just, like, looks at his arm
in his chair. I imagine that once we're, like,
back on, like, regular train tracks, Ledger grabs,
like, a smashed bottle of beer that was, like,
rolling around on the floor from, like, because,
like, we were having dinner when all that shit
kind of went down. And I think he picks it up
and there's, like, a little bit of alcohol in
the bottom and he kind of, like, Tips the jagged,
broken bottle above his mouth into his open maw.
Yum. And then sits back in his chair and just
like, you know, I'll just replace these damn
boots. I think, am I sitting across from Ledger?
You can be. I think we can, I think the seating
arrangements are probably all fucked up now anyways.
Yeah, I think I'm, I just kind of like lean towards
you as you're drinking. And I'm like. You don't
trust him, right, F -Man? Ledger shrugs. Is F
-Man here in the car somewhere? Yeah, he's talking
to one of the attendants. Chatting him up. Yeah,
chatting him up, just having a good old time.
Ledger shrugs and he says, Look, we can infer
a couple of things. Something, that piece of
paper. speaks the truth F man was sealed away
by way of some devious trick possibly because
he's some great and terrible danger possibly
for reasons that died along with the man who
sealed him there who knows how long ago I like
to keep it simple and look at the facts we had
one way to get this locomotive rolling to get
ourselves unstuck and we took that path and That
is the sum of my feelings about Mr. F -Man. If
he tries to, you know, do something untowards,
perhaps we will cross that bridge when we reach
it. But for now, I'll just have my baby keeping
half an eye on him, and I think I'm going to
try and catch me a little sleep. Listen, I'm
happy. We succeeded. That's great. And we're
moving forward. By all accounts, we did a good
thing. But I'm just saying, we got eyes on us
now. Okay? We're being watched. By who? Something.
Something knows what we did, and now it's with
us. And he kind of, like, nudges with his head
towards F -Man. Well, I suppose you might be
right. I don't know how much comfort I can provide
you in these matters. Why don't you take the
comfort? I'll watch him. That's my account of
you. Yeah, no problem. He leans back in his chair.
And I think maybe he ledger finally, he hadn't
done this before, but he like takes his revolver
and he kind of spins the chamber and he has a
test. It's like an old style cap and ball. So
he has to like manually put like poor powder
from a powder horn in and then place a bullet
on and then use a little lever to press it down.
He reloads the chambers on his gun and then.
Leans back and maybe pulls his little top hat
down above his eyes and tries to catch a little
nap. I think Bailey watches you do all this.
And then as you put your hat down, he kind of
like mimics you and then leans back and puts
his hat down. Friendly man. Keeps chatting. Comforting
voice that helps you fall asleep despite your
suspicions. And we will finish on a shot out
the window of the train as it clears the fog
and revealing the snowy mountain pass. And in
the distance, there's a town where the train
line ends and the city of glass is supposed to
begin. And we will end there. Beautiful. Yay.
Yeah. Thanks for listening, everyone.