Hello and welcome to Roll Bravely, a live play
Pathfinder second edition podcast where five
friends bravely roll dice, battle imaginary monsters,
and solve pretend problems. I am your game master,
Charles Reno. Before we get started, let's introduce
the table. Hey everybody, my name's Kenny. I
play Amaris, a Nephilim ranger. Hey everybody,
my name's Zach. I play Taldir, a Nephilim. Champion
Liberator. What's up? I'm Sammy. I play Taz,
who is a goblin alchemist. Hi, my name is Michelle.
I play Wesley Nixon. She's an elf damn fear investigator.
No fun facts this week. I forgot. That's something
we should do. We don't need more things. Make
Michelle come up with fun facts while the rest
of us just listen and don't have our own. It's
an entire bit just for Wesley. We get to know
her a little bit more every week. Fun fact, she
is starting to dress with a little bit more color.
She's wearing light gray now instead of just
all black. Oh, shit. Nice. She's coming out of
her shell. I feel like if we did every one of
Charles. Charles's bit ideas would become like
a sketch comedy show instead of like a Pathfinder
podcast. That's one too. One bit into the next
bit into the next bit into the next bit. If we
were up to Charles we would be running tabletop
games are. Yeah. If we were up to Charles we'd
be running 19 different podcasts already and
this is what episode four. All at the same time
though it's all from one recording. It's turned
into a roast of me. All right. Just like every
other week. Just like every day of my life. So,
kind of pick up where we left off last time.
You all were in the house of Governor Victoria
Crew, who had tasked you with helping her in
her investigation of some incidents, which she
believed might be related to your own experience
with the... For lack of a better term, transforming
dwarf. You had just left. Taz had canonically
shit in the corner. And so now it's kind of up
to you guys how you want to proceed, where you
want to go next, what you want to do. She had
mentioned, you know, Dr. Burton Arnold's involvement.
She had also mentioned that she had heard rumors
of events at a Ember mine site. and had pointed
you in the direction of Ember headquarters. She
had also mentioned that there was a similar,
perhaps related event that had occurred at a
bathhouse run by the Arcanum. But I'll let the
table kind of pick up from there. Is it like
right after we leave her? So Taz is still drunk?
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Taz is always drunk.
You're kind of like... I assume there's a carriage
transporting you back to the inn, so if there's
anything you'd like to do along the way, feel
free, but if not... What time is it? I thought
it was nighttime at this point. Is there a nightlife
going on? Very late. I would say by the time
you actually meet with Victoria Crew, they're
probably... Where you're at is likely completely
dead. The government quarter is relatively sparsely
populated and obviously well -maintained and
patrolled thoroughly. As you descend into the
city and move back into Tarrytown, there's probably
lingering social activity, but I'm guessing you're
well after midnight at this point. Okay. So,
really, I think it is just a rest angle. Yeah,
I'm gonna get Taz up to... Somewhere to sleep.
Throw him in bed. And try to turn in for the
night. Yeah. So when you return to the blushing
goldfinch, see, there's still some activity.
There are a few guards remaining. But mostly
the mess, the events have been cleaned up. None
of the patrons are downstairs. And when you enter,
you're kind of approached by this youngish dwarf
woman. Deep red hair. Kind of the color of, like,
baked cherries, like when you cut into a cherry
pie. And she's going to tell you apologies and
thanks for what you did earlier. Apologies for
the Kenwick boys. They're troublemakers, but
don't think they mean any real harm. And thanks
for dealing with whatever that creature was when
I saw it begin to move. I panicked. I barely
have a memory of the thing. The sheriff. believes
it was some kind of were -creature, but I've
never seen anything like that myself. Anyway,
this is for your trouble. And she's going to
hand over two lesser healing potions. Okay. Thank
you. What's your name? Miss Dwarf. Is that a
family name? Yes. Gwen Um. Gwen Um is from the
Um clan. We... Atypical dwarving name structure,
but it is what it is, you know. Gwen Um? Gwen
Um, yes. First name Gwen, last name Um. Call
me Miss Um if you'd like. People are always running
around here. Enchante. Enchante. Unless anyone
has any objections, I will take one of the healing
potions. Question, will a healing potion fix
Taz, or just a night's rest? No, just rest. I'll
hold on to the other one. And maybe some, like,
Advil. Probably. Oh, Gwen, can I actually have,
like, a pitcher of water and some bread? Yes,
Miss Shantae. Please, somebody fetch a pitcher
of water and a loaf of bread. Miss Ashante needs
it for something. Thank you. Oh, uh, Mr. Amorous.
Yes. I, uh, your cousin was by. Let him into
your room upstairs. He mentioned you were waiting
for him. My cousin? Right. Yes, short fellow.
Right. Thank you. Absolutely. Amaris just looks
confused as hell. But he's going with it because
maybe somebody here knows something I don't.
Our room, does it have a window? Oh, yes, yes.
All of my rooms have mini windows. Oh, here,
here. Your water, Miss Shantae. The loaf of bread.
Send it directly to the room. Thank you. This
is for Taz, so I'll just keep it with me. And
then once he lays down, I'll just like... I'll
just leave it next to his bed. I want to pick
up on the way that Amorous seemed really uncomfortable
not knowing who that person was. So, Amorous,
do you want me to go to the window? Good luck,
man. My face is like a stone wall. You can't
see nothing. Yeah, go for it. I'm an investigator.
Can I investigate him? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What
do I roll for? Go ahead and... Probably perception.
You're a detective? Detect. Detect. Rats. Eight
plus seven. 15. 15? Damn. Check out the fast
math. What's here? Don't start being good at
stuff. Our whole shtick is we're terrible at
this. What? So what is your... I believe it's
a check against the perception DC, right? So
that would be 10 plus whatever your perception
bonus is. My perception is 18. Okay. Yeah, that's
how it works. Better luck next time. I want to
get really close up to him. Like, face to face.
And I'm like, okay. Checks out. Just, yeah, that
like... Okay. Alright. So, we didn't really discuss
it, but what are the sleeping arrangements? Who's
got rooms? I assume Taz and Amaris are probably
bunked and everybody else has their own room,
but that's kind of up to you. I don't mind if
we all share a room, to be honest. I'm used to
sitting on floors and in corners and whatnot.
Yeah, I don't think Taldeer would be like, I'm
not going to share a room with people. Well,
he's so spoiled from his life as a slave. Yeah.
I can't sleep with the common folk. Common? Yeah,
that's true. This party is fucking anything but
common. So you guys are just going up to your
room then? Yeah. Yeah, I'll take the first watch.
Okay. It should be safe in here, though, right?
Actually, oh, shit. Let's go up to the room.
See who the fuck is in there. Forgot about my
cousin. So you guys ascend the stairs, head to
your room, and when you open the door, there
are two beds, a cot, a desk, probably an armoire
of some kind, and Up against the far wall, a
window. Kind of leaning against the window is
a young boy, maybe close in age to Amherst, maybe
a year younger. Sort of pale with kind of shaggy
blonde hair. He kind of looks like a newsboy
almost. He's got kind of like a wool coat and
like a little wool hat. And he's just going to
be like... I was waiting for you guys to get
back. Hey, long time no see. Who are you? I don't
think we've ever met. My name is Chaucer. I work
for the governor. I'm her... I don't have an
official title, but you could maybe call me her
master of spies. She wanted me to help you a
little bit. See if you needed some information.
Thought now would be the best time to talk to
you while everything was fresh. Yeah, I mean,
we can always use information. Can I roll perception
and make sure that she is who she is? She's not
here to spy on us. Yeah, go ahead and roll a
perception check. That's a really good idea.
I'm going to get in on that, too. 17. I'm going
to retire this dice. I think while they're wondering
whether to trust him, I'm still wondering, like,
do I know this guy? Are they my cousin? I'm like,
okay, I get that he's working for the governor,
but do I know this guy? Am I related to him?
I'm going to roll to see if I recognize him.
Okay. Yeah. Do they look anything alike? I mean,
13 total. Not really. I imagine, yeah, you look
at him and it's just like, I don't know, like,
is that my cousin? Did we take a cooking class
together at the Y once? I can't. Putting you
somewhere. Yeah, so you get 17 on your perception
check? Oh, yes, I did. Okay, and then I think,
Zach, you were going to roll one as well? Yeah,
I don't notice anything. Back in action. He's
back, baby. And I assume Taz is just continuing
to perceive his own drunkenness. I'm snoring.
I'm snoring, leaning against Amaris. Little goblet
fart pops out. I was standing right next to him
when I feel like he's like hunched or he's like
thrown over his shoulder. I'm just standing right
there. Why does it smell like old lamb? Where
did he get old lamb? Yeah. So he's going to just
Amaris. Gotta notice you sizing her up and be
like, don't worry. I just went with an easy story
to get in. Miss Um's great, but she's not bright.
I know that. Oh, good for you. Anyway. Now, if
you have some idea of how you think you're going
to approach this. I'll try to help you, however
I think I might be able to. Why don't you just
give us all the information you have on all of
the things the governor wants us to do, and then
based on that information, we'll make a decision
on how to best proceed. Yeah. Well, I didn't
make a career giving things away, but it does
sound like a reasonable solution, so we can start
with... The location of the mine, I haven't been
able to ascertain it, though I have tried. Ember
jealously guards the secrets of their mine zoning.
In fact, if you do decide to infiltrate their
facility and gather that information, I could
offer you a reward to bring copies of it back
with you. Undoubtedly, they'll recode everything,
but... I can learn a lot in a short amount of
time with that kind of information. And as for
the bathhouse, well, I sort of have the... I
guess you could call him the night janitor. I
guess you could call it on my payroll. So you
won't have trouble getting in there, although
I don't know how much useful information you'll
get. The Arcanum is... very quiet, and does a
respectable job of containing their own secrets.
So would it be best for us to get in with the
Arcanum? Well, I guess it's really up to you
and your own skill set, but I mean, one is easier
than the other, and one is likely more productive
than the other. Who is Ember? You said you don't
know the location of the mine. And that it's
a close -guarded secret, but how would we go
about finding it? Do you have any leads on who
might know where the location of the mine is?
Where would we infiltrate to find said mine?
I forget. You're new in town. As for who Ember
is, it's a dwarven company run by the Runethanes.
It stands for... Excavation, mining, something,
something, something. I can't keep all the details
in my head, but I'm sure someone will be able
to give them to you. I'm going to just smack
Taz even though he's passed out and be like,
see, I told you. I'm going to go back to sleep.
As for how you can find that information, well,
I'm sure there are a number of ways, but the
most direct would simply be to... Break into
their corporate headquarters and abscond with
the documentation. Or at least make some kind
of copy. Do you have any idea about, like, weaknesses
in their headquarters? Like, I assume you've
done your research and reconnaissance on them
at this point, considering how interested you
seem to be in the location of their mines. Yeah.
I've been a few times. I can help get you in
the building, but I don't have a lot from there.
Alright. Well, let us confer amongst ourselves
and how can we contact you tomorrow? How about
I meet you for breakfast? That works for us.
Great. Good night, everyone. I hope you can sleep
after the events. We're going to like wave all
heavily. Okay, I guess I'll just leave. I'll
go to shake. Is it a dude? Yeah. Okay, I'll go
to shake his hand, but I want my eyes to be black
and my fangs out. He's going to take your hand
and he's going to look at your eyes and he's
going to smile and say, So it's true. When you
talk to your mother, tell her that the scythe
of the night says hello. And then he's going
to kind of like walk from the room. As he's walking
past Aldira, I try to trip him. I push him over
his foot. He turns into a giant demon. Wait,
did he say the scythe of the night? Scythe of
the night. Scythe of the Night. That's creepy.
That's a tight -ass nickname. That is. I'm going
to kill him and steal it. I want that nickname.
So, with that said, does anybody have any preference
on what we do? We've got Dr. Bertanano, or we
can just fucking big dick swang and hit this
Ember headquarters. Or presumably we can go to
the bathhouse, but it may not be particularly
useful information at the bathhouse. I feel like
Dr. B might get us, could give us some information.
Also, I kind of, well, like talking out of game,
I kind of have to go to him because I have to
give him money. Yeah, that's what I was going
to say is, I was just going to speak up for Taz
and say like, you know, well, I know Taz had
to see Dr. B. And, uh, I mean, we have to go
see him to take care of business. And then we
can do, uh, whatever else. Yeah. So, I'm just
guessing here, also, uh, meta. But I'm guessing
that Dr. Bernadol is just gonna have... like
another like more information from us that's
not gonna like it's just gonna be like go talk
to him get some more info or whatever um so i
mean i guess we could wait until after we have
that information to decide if we want to do ember
or arcanum but assuming it is just like more
information do we have a preference for ember
or uh bathhouse just because i'm thinking if
we're gonna see chaucer tomorrow morning at breakfast,
we should tell him, like, oh, meet us at Ember
tonight, and then we can, like, go see Dr. Brenton
Arnold during the day, go to Ember at night or
something like that. I vote for the bathhouse.
I think the bathhouse might be easier. It's just
more fun. Alright, bathhouse it is. I was thinking
mine, but alright. Yeah, I feel like that. We
don't know where the mine is, though. That's
the thing. Yeah, but we know where the headquarters
is. So in order to find the mine, we have to
go to the headquarters is what it sounds like
and infiltrate the headquarters. And so, I mean,
at least my perspective, it feels like the headquarters
and the mine is like the actual important meat
and potatoes of the adventure. And the bathhouse
is like a little side quest. If we're going to
infiltrate, Side quest XP. But if we're going
to infiltrate, we need way more prep and info
than to just go immediately. Yeah, but that's
Chaucer. That's his... He can potentially give
us more information or whatever. But also, I
just want to say, for a master of spies, the
two biggest seemingly biggest entities that you
would want to spy on in his city, and he knows...
Nothing about them. That should make us shake
in our boots. I don't really know about the Ember
Corporation. With his finger on his lip? I don't
know anything. I guess I could get you in, maybe,
but I never really scouted it. I'm just the scythe
of the night. What a fucking useless... Well,
you only know what he told you, and nobody did
a perception check or anything on Ambrose's information,
so... Everyone was just worried about if it was
actually Ambrose's cousin. Look... I did a perception...
That's true. Just to see, yeah, but... No, I
think you got what you got. He seems... You got
what you got. Yeah, he seems untrustworthy, but...
By any metric, he's a bad master of spies because
either he doesn't know anything or the governor
for whom he works was like, hey, go give these
guys information. They're here to help us. And
he said, I don't think I will, actually. I think
I'm just going to play my cards close to the
vest, even though my best told me not to. Yeah,
I mean, you're making it really hard not to share.
There's kind of a lot going on. Yeah, keep it
to yourself. Yeah. We'll figure it out. Fuck
you, Zach. He's the spymaster. He does what he
does. He's the spymaster and he came here to
say, fuck you, do it yourself. They're saying
the bar's not very high. You think the CIA bats
a thousand? Alright, so yeah, we'll sleep. Okay.
Oh. Well, I will, just for four hours, but later.
Oh, okay. Yeah, I would say for purposes of keeping
it moving, there's nothing that's going to happen.
Unless you want to do something while the others
are asleep, everybody's able to accomplish a
night's rest. Do I have a pen in my hand? Or
do I have a pen that I can draw on Taz? Yeah,
what are you going to draw? A quill. Yeah, just
ink and quill over his body. Um, never mind.
I changed my mind. As she backs away because
she sees Amorous fucking with darting eyes in
the dark. Just slowly get back. First, first,
I love the image of all of you weirdos sharing
one room. And then the six foot two elf. giggling
to herself while everyone else was asleep. Getting
like the quill and ink and like, am I gonna do
it? Am I gonna do it? No, I'm not gonna do it.
Ah, I'm gonna do it. No. And then ultimately
checking out. I like the idea that she was drawing
on him with a quill and ink, which is basically
just giving him like a stick and poke tattoo
of a fucking penis on his forehead. That changed
her mind about it. Yeah. Right. But if nothing
else is going to happen, then we can pick it
up in the morning. The sun is out. The morning
is bright. The birds are chirping. What few birds
are around. And unless you'd like to do something
before you descend, when you arrive in the main
room, you do see Chaucer sitting at a seat or
in a seat at a large table. Just. Like mounds
of food all around him, like sausages, a assortment
of like baked goods. There's like a cactus stew,
just a bunch of stuff. And he's kind of like
going at it like very casually. Is he human?
Roll up, I guess, perception, maybe society.
There's a society that makes sense here. I mean,
I can perception it. Yeah. Taz is already, like,
when you guys come down, he's already at the
table, like, eating with the guy. Just scarfing
everything down. Which is fantastic, because
Taz doesn't even know you're meeting him. Yeah,
I was just eating, seeing the food. As I come
down the stairs, I'm just kind of shooting Taz
a little bit, like, what the fuck? Couldn't even
wake me up. And then as I approach the table,
he'll be like, What the hell? You couldn't wake
me up? You guys are sleeping so soundly, I didn't
want to wake you guys up. Wesley's wearing a
new gray shirt, so when she sits down at the
table, she makes it kind of apparent for somebody
to comment on her new shirt. She's done very
awkwardly to show it off. Every time she talks,
she's like kind of bringing more attention to
her shirt. Are you okay? I'm definitely going
to look over and kind of like, I'm going to see
the shirt, but I'm going to be like, why the
fuck is she acting so weird? Without actually
saying anything, but a whole lot was said with
my face. I'm just going to be like, do you need
some more breakfast? No. Just imagining her like
reaching across the table and being like, oh
my God, my shirt sleeves almost got in the food.
That's crazy. Did you pass that actually? Brand
new. I don't want to get a stain on it. I don't
know anything about Trouser, by the way. Natural
one. I was waiting for it. Yeah, he just looks
like a human teenager. When I see the group...
When I see the group, I'll be like, it's free
food. This guy just has free food here. Eating.
See, they kind of look up and just be like, I
see your goblin friends a lot more lively in
the morning. We've introduced ourselves. He's
hungry. He just kind of like takes some eggs.
He's watching Taz eat. And as he like lifts the
spoon to his mouth, he's just like, and puts
it back down. I'll shoot Chauncey a good morning
and then proceed to serve myself and start eating.
And Talde will give him a nod and then also get
himself some food. And then he'll tell him, we
need to go see Dr. Bert and Arnold first. The
governor mentioned he might also have some information
for us. But after that... We'd like to pursue
the bathhouse. Unless you've done your job overnight
and have any additional information to share
with regards to the Ember Corporation as the
master of spies. Well, I wouldn't want to show
my whole hand, but yes, I do have some information
for you that I think can be useful in your investigation.
You know, in return, I would like you... To get
some information from me. That can be arranged.
Wait, you guys met this guy last night? Yeah,
yeah, yeah. He's master of spies, supposedly.
Yeah, that's my cousin Chaucer. You didn't tell
me you had a cousin? I didn't know. Distant family.
That makes sense. We're brothers. Oh. I can see
the family resemblance. Meh. Anyway, so the Ember
Corporation, its headquarters is here in Hope's
Embrace. It's a relatively modest building, belying
their inscrutable presence. I can show you a
map if you'd like, or we can wait till you're
done at the bathhouse and discuss it then. It's
really up to you. Yeah, let's just take care
of the bathhouse first, and then we can meet
up after. And if you can, through all your prowess,
gather even a single shred of information on
the Ember Corporation over the next day or so,
that would be useful. Can we just have the map
now? Like, if you're going to give it to us,
like, eventually, like, you can just hand it,
and Taz will put his hand out with, like, Your
saucy hands. You can just give me the map now.
Like a child covered in syrup just touching shit
with your sticky hands. I'm not eating with utensils.
I'm just eating with my hands. You can just give
me the map. It's fine. Jesus Christ. How do kids
always end up with syrup just on their hands
if it's part of the meal at all? Insane. Anyways,
continue. I didn't even put syrup on my... My
plate? I don't know. There's literally nothing
sticky at breakfast, and somehow... It's like,
everything here is dry. Yeah, you see him, like,
when you say that, he kind of goes for his satchel
and, like, pulls out what looks to be, like,
a rolled -up map, and as he's looking at you,
he's like... Tell them they will reach out and
take the map. Yeah, he'll hand it over to you
and just be like, it's a, again, a difficult
organization to infiltrate. If you'd like any
sort of information about it, I may be able to
help you on that front. But in terms of what
security measures or obstacles you might face
inside once you've infiltrated it, I unfortunately
do not have a lot. are relatively unsuccessful
in inserting spies into their ranks. It's something
of a family organization. Surely you've tried,
though. You've tried to infiltrate it. What have
you learned from your failed attempts that makes
the governor think we have a better chance at
it? Well, I wouldn't say I've tried, but... A
fair number of headless dwarves have. And let
me tell you, spying works a lot better when your
head is still on your shoulders. That is something
I have learned. I'm going to lean over and whisper
to Taz, why does he keep sending guys without
heads? Stupid. That seems like a terrible plan.
Have you tried sending a dwarf with a head? Well,
I thought I did, but when they come back, it's
no longer there. Um, but I think the reason that,
yeah, go ahead. Uh, well, um, do you have any
information or could you get information about
like weak walls? Maybe, you know, certainly they
have to like file plans with the city. Yeah.
Is there like a zoning permit? Is there a sewage
system? You know, maybe we can like, If you're
looking for general information about Ember,
they are a large mining company that the Queen,
in her esteemable wisdom, has charged with chartering
and managing the various mines located around
Hope's Embrace. They are the central hub for
that activity. Their wealth is perhaps greater
than the cities itself, making them a difficult
organization to manage from a political perspective.
They are owned by the Rune Things, but run locally
by the Rune Shields, a branch of the family.
In terms of their perception among the community,
It isn't great. They've been blamed for some
ill fortune that have befell others. But I don't
know how that broadly will help. However, why
the governor believes you may succeed where others
have failed is I'm not attempting to insert you
into their ranks. I'm merely trying to get you
in and out of the building. preferably in one
piece and definitely in one night. As for a sewage
system, there must be something, but Ember runs
on an independent charter granted to them by
the Queen, so unfortunately their entire district
is operated and run by members of the family.
If you can imagine... A map of the city, which
surely we have in here. Why is there no map of
the city in here? They have a kind of small section
of it cut out for themselves in the northeast
corner that they kind of run and operate as a
quasi -independent community. Of course, everyone
from the city is welcome, ostensibly, but in
practice, very few people unrelated to the corporation
spend Very much time there. I do know. Sorry,
go ahead. When you say family, is it because
they, are they all like one race? Do you know
what race that is? There are outside members
who are brought in from time to time, but predominantly
it is run by a clan of dwarves. What was the
family's name? The rune thanes are the ones who
own the Ember Corporation. The rune shields are
the local branch who run, like, the headquarters.
Exactly. Very unlikely you'll encounter a rune
thane in your business with them, but they are
the top level ownership. So if your goal is to
just get us in and out, not insert us, do you
have... Any idea at all of any path into the
building? Certainly. So, the headquarters itself
is surrounded by a 15 -foot wall with razor -sharp
spikes installed on the top in an effort to keep
the pigeons away. There is one entrance. Hang
on. This is the second time we've spoken about
birds. What's with the birds around here? Um...
I just like birds. I actually do really like
birds, so I may bring it up too often. Well,
no, you said... So you're saying this is to keep
the birds out, and earlier you said, like, what
little birds are maybe around? Like, are they
getting exterminated? Or do people fucking hate
birds around here? Uh, roll a perception check.
I kind of assumed it was, like, tongue -in -cheek
like the razor is to keep pigeons away quote
-unquote but in reality it's like a defense yeah
that's really it 23 oh yeah 23 yeah it's a little
uh little tongue -in -cheek like you know to
keep the pigeons away as he says that and does
the quotation fingers amherst is still looking
at him like waiting for the information he doesn't
get the fuck he meant at all But just kind of
like, okay. Did you just roll a perception check
for Kenny Whittington? Let's move it along here.
That's fantastic. 15 foot walls. Two guards on
the outside. I have arranged for them to be preoccupied.
whenever you should decide to approach the building.
Beyond that, there are a few dogs that patrol
the interior of the wall. Avoiding them would
be best, as they can be quite noisy, and I can't
guarantee my distraction will hold up. I hate
dogs. Well, you are not in luck, because they
are mean and rather large. Do you have any information
on their patrol schedule or their rotation? The
dogs are union, so they have to take 15 minutes.
Is it feasible that we could squeeze past? Like
there's a gap where we would be able to move
quickly and get past them without directly encountering
them? As long as you're quick. Okay. There are,
as far as I can tell, three methods to enter
the facility. And at this point, he is just going
to lay out the map. Because you finally found
it? Still didn't find the one I was looking for,
but I did find this one. Hey, Taz. With the dogs,
we could... I'm thinking we can handle them like
we did either in Ben's Creek or maybe even like
in Marador. Yeah, let's do Ben's Creek. Yeah.
Yeah, I like that better, too. Yeah. We'll have
dinner. So, once you're over the wall or through
it some way... You can see here at the front
is the only entrance to the building. It is rather
tightly locked. However, there are no external
guards that we were able to locate. We're fairly
confident in our assessment. There are also windows
on the first floor only. Three on each side of
the building to the north, south, east, and west.
They will be... relatively simple to get into
if you can remove the steel bars that are blocking
them. The front door, the key to it is proven
impossible to maintain. The Overmaster keeps
the only key that I know of, and I just haven't
been successful in getting it off of him. In
addition, although you can't necessarily see
it here, there is an underground artisanal smithy
where they produce sort of limited run gift shop
items. Yeah, just small trinkets, snow globes
mostly. Personalized license plates. Just a lot
of stuff like that. No, what am I? prototypes,
prototype materials to show to potential customers.
As far as I've been able to tell, the smokestack
is clear at night. I can't guarantee there's
no fire at the bottom, but it does not produce
smoke. So any of those three methods would theoretically
work, should you be able to... Undo the lock
on the front door or remove the bars from the
windows or shimmy your relatively live cells
down the smokestack. That was pretty funny. There's
three windows on every side, which relatively
easy to get into as long as you can get past
the steel bars blocking them easily. Oh, that
is pretty easy, though. But Taldeer wants to
ask him the Overmaster. You said you haven't
had luck getting the key off of him yet. Does
he leave the compound? Like, is there somewhere
he hangs out that maybe we could try our luck
in convincing him to part with it? A brothel?
A brothel, perhaps? Well, you could try breaking
into the Overmaster's home directly. He's not
keen on public events or spending much time outside
of his residence. He's a tenaciously paranoid
man, much to my detriment. Caused no small amount
of frustration with his carefulness. I hear he
only eats at McDonald's because they're the only
ones who can guarantee his safety. I assume that's
a reference to something. Fuck, I had a question
about the Overmaster. Yeah, well, it'd be nice
to know where his residence is at the very least.
Certainly. And he's going to kind of give you,
like, shorthand directions. Hard to miss. You
just take a ride at the Metal Horse, and then
there's a bar with this weird alligator out front.
It's got a hat on, and you go past that. Did
you just describe gators? Not on purpose, but
I guess I did. I'm not sure if it has a hat,
but I feel like it does. Zach remembered the
question. How... What's the... Like, are we supposed
to be... stealthy here or can we make some noise
like what's the expectation from the governor's
perspective well i think the governor would like
you to keep it as quiet as possible but the mission
success is the critical component your two primary
objectives are to obtain the information and
to prevent the governor's name from being wound
up in whatever fallout inevitably results If
we get caught, do we die? Or do we go get arrested?
Well, I think that's up to you. Although, getting
caught breaking into Ember, I don't know that
there's much difference. So we break in, we don't
scream the governor's name? Preferably not. Okay.
I'll be a little tough to do, you know, but...
That would be her ideal. I'm just always screaming
the governor's name. Yeah, I'm always screaming
the governor's name just like, in the name of
crew. And then, you know, ever since I got into
this city. By order of Victoria Crew. Yeah. Wait,
is she the governor or a member of the Peaky
Blinders? Now I can't. I don't know. Cool. Well,
thank you for being useful this morning. You're
welcome. If there's anything else I can help
you with, I'm glad to. You have but to ask me
a question. Oh, how much are we going to get
paid for this? Somebody finally asked the important
question. The governor has authorized me to provide
five gold pieces each in... general compensation.
In addition to that, of course, I would pay for
any information or intel you could provide on
the Ember Corporation itself. This is out of
character, but five gold pieces to infiltrate
a fucking death trap that no one has been able
to infiltrate to this point. Make a counteroffer,
sir. Fucking a lot more than that. Taz is going
to be like, that sounds fucking great. That's
a lot of money. Dude, that's like three times
what we made in the other place. Dude, that would
be the most money I've ever held. How much are
you going to pay? It depends on what information
you can provide. I'm a fair man. When people
prove themselves useful, I like to return the
favor. Ten silver pieces for this information
that I have not been able to get my hands on
for years. I say five titanium. The platinum.
What is the... It's platinum. Platinum. Five
platinum pieces. I have two Werther's Originals.
One in the wrapper still. I've got some pocket
lint. That is a steep price and perhaps beyond
my budget, but roll diplomacy. Who's rolling
diplomacy? Well, Wesley gave the counter offer.
I'll try and aid. I'm not going to be able to
aid. I'm gonna try it anyways. I don't aim. 14
plus... Diplomacy, 6. 14 plus 6, 20? Hey! 20
with no aid. Yeah, he's gonna tell you... Well,
that is steep, but I can sweeten the pot. 10
gold each, and... If you're successful on all
fronts, I can find a bonus, I'm sure. Okay, I
want to look around it. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
He's just going to say, it may not be coin, perhaps,
but it will be useful to you. I'm just going
to be looking like Taz and I are just going to
be all giddy, like fucking grabbing each other's
shoulders. dude okay I turn back to Taldeer that's
almost too much money yeah Taldeer will nod I
mean he's not really in this for the money like
so that's why the it was insane to me that it
was five gold pieces yeah that's why it was out
of character but like it's still insane to me
that it's five gold pieces per person to fucking
infiltrate what amounts to like an unassailable
compound that our master of spies hasn't been
able to get into for years. What level, bro?
And I think like sensing this a little bit, I
think he's going to be kind of like, I don't
want to over or under sell this. In terms of
our infiltration efforts, Ember's been largely
cooperative. And while I have attempted to put
people in their ranks, And this has not worked
out. The corporate headquarters is largely a
showpiece. The vaults and the mines themselves
are where the real value is held. Ember won't
be protecting this with the same, let's say,
flair that they might if we were attempting to
infiltrate their central vault, for instance.
This is a quick job. In and out. It'll be challenging,
but if I didn't think you could manage it, I
wouldn't let the governor send you. Hmm. Well,
thank you for that vote of confidence. Yeah,
you look tough. He's gonna kind of just, like,
punch you on the shoulder a little bit. Like,
go get him, slugger. Taldeer punches him back,
but just, like, a little too hard. Like, gives
him a dead arm. Nope, I saw that coming. That,
yep. Okay, fair, fair enough. Anyway, if there's
nothing further, I will leave you to it. Last
night was fun, guys. It was a real calm night.
You know, we made some friends, we drank, and
then we all went to sleep. It was really, I had
a good time with you guys last night. All right,
I guess no one's going to acknowledge that, so
I'll just leave. And he just stands up and walks
away from the table. I'm going to not acknowledge
that he said that either. He's like, yeah, you
know what? That was a good time. Yeah, I feel
like it was just, you know, he drank and went
right to sleep. That guy's awesome. He's going
to pay us way more than Dr. Burt. Yeah, man.
That shit's crazy. Taldeus is going to look at
them like they're fucking insane. Like they're
not... I mean, if he wants to pay us five gold,
he must really believe in us. You know? Yeah.
Yeah. I think Taldeer's looking at him, like,
incredulously, like, just baffled by, like, the
naivete of it all. But, like, he also doesn't
want to, like, ruin their fun, you know? Like,
he doesn't want to, like, say anything, but he's
just, like, floored by this. In my head, it's
great, because it's like, we've got, we've got,
uh... Amaris and Taz, who probably have never
seen this amount of money in their entire lives,
and are just so pumped about it. And then Wesley,
who's probably just like, I don't know, what
does that buy you? Like an apple? Some milk?
Is that like a nice dinner out? I'm not sure.
It's a banana, Michael. How much could it cost?
Ten dollars? And then Taldeer just watching it
all around him. So yeah, Chaucer finally leaves
after being roundly ignored for several moments.
Where are you guys headed next? Dr. Burton Arnold.
Yeah. Okay. I want to turn back to where Chaucer
was to ask him a question. Oh, did he leave?
Wait, where'd he go? Some time ago. That's pretty
rude. He just left. Nah, man. He's just sneaking
in. That's probably his thing. Oh, yeah. He's
a spy. Yeah. A master of spies, even. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah. The scythe of the night. He's like
Batman. God, that's so quiet. He's like Batman.
There's just a sight in the sky when they aim
to do nothing. Just leaning against a tree in
the field. Somebody left the fucking tools out
again. Oh, shit. Just cut to him in a carriage
and then somebody's like... You didn't fucking
tell them you were the scythe of the night again.
That doesn't make you sound cool. It makes you
sound like an asshole. All right. So we're going
to go see my boss. Let's go. All right. So as
the party gathers themselves, you head out into
the street and you can see that it is already
alive. The town kind of is most active in the
morning and the evenings. People are out making
purchases. You hear people bartering, things
like that. You see, as you walk down the roads,
there are wagons being pulled through. A new
retinue of settlers already arriving, already
filling the city. And along the main drag, again,
you see kind of a stretch of people who are kind
of shouting their own goods or political messages
or religious messages. extolling the virtues
of their god or decrying the corruption of a
city gone mad with money, you eventually are
able to make your way to Old Town, which is kind
of a segment that exists around the original
oasis near kind of the southwestern corner of
the city, right in the shadow of the main gate.
Dr. Bertinano's shop is a... Small but handsome
home that doubles as his kind of place of practice.
You go in through the back and you see kind of
a relatively stone, like a stone floor, bare
walls. There are two tables. One has a body on
it. That's kind of like cut open with... What
do they call them? Those things that hold a chest
cavity open? It's called the chest cavity hold
open tool. It's one of those. I just blanked
on the name. Reverse clamp? Right? Because a
clamp doesn't clamp it. Yeah, you're like a...
I want to say extractor, but... You work in medicine
or you're a drug dealer or something? forceps
um oh is it forceps that sounds like big tweezers
or whatever that's so he's got these big tweezers
that are like turned upside down yeah no i just
i just keep wanting to say speculum but i'm pretty
sure that's the gyno but it accomplishes the
same thing just on a smaller scale i think it's
called a spreader Yeah, the shredder. A rib cracker.
We're back on the chest thing. That's good. When
we walk in, do we see the doctor? Do we see Doc?
Yeah, he's kind of over at a sink. He's got a
pail of water. He's sort of dipping his hands
in and rubbing them together and splashing them
off, wiping them down. And when he hears the
door open, he kind of looks over. Tall, middle
-aged man, like a very sharply trimmed, grayish
-brown beard, neatly combed hair, and he's going
to kind of be like, ah, Taz, good to see you.
Dr. B. Hey, how you doing, Dr. Burt? Taldir's
going to look around and be like, what's that
tool that you're using to hold open that man's
chest called? Oh, yes. It's a chest holder opener.
It's the medical name. This is Taldir, a friend
we made. And this is Wesley. I believe the original
Latin is chesticus openus. But I prefer the more
informal name. Ah, learned man, I see. Yes. I
speak a dead language on another world. That's
how educated I am. But yes, sorry, I don't believe
we've met. I am Dr. Berton Arnold. Taldir, and
he'll hold out his hand. Taldir, nice to meet
you. Taz goes up to the table and just like goes
up, just starts looking inside the chest cavity.
Taz? Careful. Wesley, nice to meet you. I see
you've made the acquaintance of my associates.
I bet you could fit a bomb in there. I was just
thinking that. Please. Please do not. Please.
I'm going to touch the rib spreader and it's
going to like fucking close. It's not a booby
trap. It's a medical device. I thought we could
use that. It's just... I'm going to look to see
if there's an extra one on the wall or something.
Can I look around the room for just anything
cool? Yeah, go ahead. Roll Perception. Doc, we
need to break into a place that's unbreakable.
No, it's unbreakable. It's unbreakable. Yeah.
You got 20. Not natural. Oh, and I'll hand him
his silver. I tell him that. He's looking around.
I just hand him his money. Thank you. Yes. Falk
brought by the supplies this morning. So I appreciate
your efforts. I trust no one else with it. Wesley,
as you're looking around, it seems to be a fairly
standard lab. There's a lot of interesting things
you see, like vials and beakers filled with,
you know, odd colored liquids, some clean, some
not. You see like a human what appears to be
a human heart in a jar. Other organs that have
been collected, harvested on just shelves that
line the wall. There's a variety of medical tools.
They all seem to be placed correctly. It's not
haphazard, but it is busy. There are things in
all of the spaces are dedicated to very specific
tasks. And much of it is probably. Beyond even
your education, which would be fairly substantial,
I imagine. Yes, I am smart. Yeah. What's that,
intelligence? Just as a little thing, is he,
the doctor, like very, not OCD? Well, yeah, I
guess OCD, like is everything kind of like almost
like perfectly aligned? Yeah, he's almost the
opposite of Taz in that way, where he's very,
again, not necessarily OCD, but very careful.
Everything has a place. Every space has a function.
Every tool is, if not in use, clean. Hold on,
hold on, hold on. Kenny did something. You stopped
recording? No, I'm sorry. No, no, no, no, no,
no, no. I just thought of it. I really want a
pair of these rib spreaders now. I didn't mean
to interrupt. I was waiting. Oh, sorry. Like
in real life? No. I mean... No. I got very nervous
about who I was playing this game with. You might
be. You could hold a man's ribs like way open.
Yeah, you could. Imagine what you could do to
their jaw. Oh, man. I'm going to try Snagas.
I'm going to try Snagas. Okay. But yeah, so if
he's very well organized like Taz, like as I'm
walking through, I'm just going to kind of like
move things just like randomly, not like everything,
like make a mess, just like random things, like
turn a jar, you know, move one of his little
scalpels, like just like, you know, just tilt
it just slightly. Wesley's going to pick up on
this and just go and correct everything. As they're
fucking with everything, I'm going to try to
make my move. it's like it's not even a big crowded
room so Taz is just like walking around touching
stuff and he's like watching you go around the
room he's like following behind and he's just
like you can at least wait till I leave this
time Taz nat 20 to what to try to steal a fucking
pair of rib spreaders nat 20 you know what I'm
going to give it to you. While he's following
Taz and Wesley around the room, you know where
things are. You work here on occasion, helping
out. Tal is also just watching. He's going to
just be like, please stop. I need a report. What
did you see? I've heard conflicting things. Some
I can hardly believe, but despite your, and he's
going to like, As you kind of, like, shift a
thing on his, like, counter, he's going to, like,
come by and just, like, grab it and correct it
and be like, please, Taz. Despite these pranks,
we'll call them, I trust your intellect. What
did you see? Oh, I mean, on the trip, we saw
a bunch of stuff, a lot of sand. Last night,
specifically last night. Last night? Oh, last
night, nothing was uneventful. We made some friends,
we drank, and then we just, we went to sleep.
Then nothing really happened. You see, he's going
to be kind of like disappointed, but not surprised
in that way that like everyone who's had children
is comfortable looking. He's just going to, as
I'm like stuffing that into my bag and be like,
oh, would you tell him about that weird chick?
Weird chick? There was no weird chick. Kenwick?
There was a guy named Kenwick. He was a buddy.
I'll step in. I don't think Taz really remembers
that whole part. He was pretty drunk. But we
did. We actually fought this lady. She walked
in normal and then she just morphed into this
really weird creature. Oh, so that wasn't a dream?
No. I don't know. I think it's great content.
We should keep talking in circles about it. He's
going to just be like, yes, that is very specifically
what I'm talking about. I was informed by the
sheriff that the governor would like me to provide
some assistance, but I need to know your experience.
What do you mean she transformed? If I remember
correctly, she drank something, right? I don't
know. Her bones like... Cracked and popped and
she got longer. And then we fucking shot her.
And like her teeth and stuff were... She just
looked weird. I do remember her ribs came out
of her mouth. Right? Or was that just me hallucinating?
I think her teeth just got big. Oh. I'm going
to look over at Taldeer like... Right? Did she
drink something? Taldeer's going to be like,
Taz was right. Her ribs came out of her face.
Ha! Fascinating. Maybe I was the one dreaming.
Wait, but did she drink something? I don't remember.
Or did she just walk in and just transform? Did
she drink what we were drinking? We were all
drinking. No, some people came up to our table,
asked if we were looking for Vale. Specifically,
if I was looking for Vale. I was. And then he
said, well, she can tell you all about him. And
then she transformed. Did she tell you anything
after she transformed? No, she just made a lot
of sounds of pain. Oh. So she took a, it looked
like a rather large silvery pill that she ate
and then transformed. So very similar, yeah.
She did ingest something. He's going to say it's
very distressing. Look. come over here. The body,
you were just for lack of a better term, playing
with Taz. Yeah. He's going to kind of point to
it and you can see inside the organs are like
shredded and just almost like strands of mucus
spread around inside the body cavity. And he's
going to say this transformative effect is similar
but more mild than what you're describing. This
was recovered from a woman or a man who survived
the initial experience at the bathhouse, but
succumbed to whatever this is rather quickly.
It appears to be heavily based in void energy,
but is not exactly arcane. Miss Nixon, I am vaguely
aware of your lineage from the governor. Would
you mind donating a vial of blood so that I may
use it to compare the properties found in the
corpse with the energy that exists in your own
cells? You feel a prick, and I'm already like...
Pulling blood? No, I grab his hand and I stop
him. And I get my other hand and I throw him
back. Get the fuck out of here. I'll allow you
to take a little bit, but then after you're done
examining it, I'm going to destroy everything.
But I'm going to watch you examine it, so you
have to do it right here, right now. Okay, of
course. And he's going to... kind of take just
a vial, draw a small amount of blood, and you
guys spend a little bit of time as he does this
examination. And at the end of it, he hands over
just like a little wooden cigar box kind of thing
filled with the slides and petri dishes and whatever
remains in the vial and just says, Thank you,
Ms. Nixon. I believe... What I found should be
very helpful. If, I mean, if you feel the need
to destroy it, please do. But I could perhaps
use it to derive even more information. Of course,
it is your blood, so here you are. And he's going
to hand you the box back. Thanks. Of course.
Now. If you stumble upon any more of these transformed
creatures, please collect a sample for me and
bring it back with you. I can use it to enhance
my analysis. You've been incredibly helpful already.
I really believe that this may be the breakthrough
that we've been waiting for. Wait, do I just
put it together? That he's calling me a monster?
Well, I think he... So he knows, and you can
decide how you interpret this, that damn fears
have that same... They switched it up, so it's
no longer... What was it originally? The dark
energy? Negative energy. There's no... Pathfinder
2nd edition in the remaster got rid of negative
and positive energy and went to void and... Spirit,
maybe? Spirit, I think so. So he would know that
you have a lineage which is naturally infused
with void energy as a damn fear. Okay. Then I
won't be insulted. You mentioned that it was
very insightful. What did you learn? You weren't
watching, Taldear? We didn't learn anything from...
I'm not a scientist. Damn it, Jim! I can't be
entirely certain, but looking at Miss Nixon's
cells, there is a level of stability, of evenness,
like you would expect to find in human blood
or dwarven blood or any other... Natural creatures.
Blood. It is different than my own, but stable
and distinct across all of the samples and specimens
I took. When I examine the blood of what remains
of the blood of this poor individual, it is wildly
indistinct. There is some stabilizing element
that prevents the void. that is natural within
Ms. Nixon's soul from similarly destroying the
organic matter that it helps to fuel. What that
exact mechanism is, unfortunately, I was not
able to ascertain, but it's still one step in
figuring out how these creatures are, or these
people are being transformed into creatures.
Do you know who the people are who have changed?
Because, I mean, they're taking a pill or taking
a tablet, so they have to... Are they willingly
giving themselves up? Do you know that? Yes,
I do not yet, but that is an interesting wrinkle.
It is not something that we have heard from the
victims at the bathhouse, so... I mean, if we
were able to find evidence of this pill, then
I would be one step closer to discovering the
mechanism by which this transformation is delivered.
What exactly happened at the bathhouse? We keep
hearing that. I thought it was just an isolated
attack similar to what we experienced at the
tavern, but now it sounds like there were many
casualties, potentially? Yes, unfortunately there
were. The bathhouse is run as a public service
by the Arcanum. Several days ago, the clientele
fell violently ill, many of them dying immediately.
Those that fled did not make it far. A few survived
a handful of days. This person on my table here
now Is the last survivor to finally pass, succumb
to the transformations occurring within his body?
I like to go up to the person who's lying on
the table and smell inside his mouth. And if
like his throat is open, just to see if I could
smell like any kind of chemical or any kind of
something that's familiar to me. All right, go
ahead and roll a perception check. I'm going
to ask the doc, hey doc, so what did all these
people turn into? Well, that's the curious part.
The individual that you encountered seems to
have transformed significantly. The victims at
the bathhouse, some of them developed shriveled
limbs or claws. A few of them grew pustules or
developed strange... eyes, fangs, but most of
them simply withered and their corpses became
husks, much like this one. Devoid of all life.
Do you think someone put something in the water?
Well, it is a possibility that should be explored.
You can say whatever you want, Tez. You still
gotta drink your water. I tell you all the time,
you can't only drink alcohol. Never touch the
stuff. I can't say no. If you offer me a drink,
I can't be rude. Okay? How'd that go, Wesley?
Sixteen. Sixteen, yeah. You kind of like, spurred
by your curiosity, approach this body. You see
the mouth. somewhat open and you kind of like
lean in and it just smells like rotten pork.
Like nothing you recognize in any positive way.
It's just a rapidly decaying human body. Just
as I suspected. It is literally rotten food to
you. Ew, gross. This is for poor vampires. She
strikes again. Well. We appreciate your time,
Doctor. Is there any other relevant information
you can think to give us? Or a job. I don't think
so, but I do think that we should continue this
next time. Please join us next week as we roll
bravely on. Thank you, everybody, for listening.
Appreciate you. Good night. Good night, everybody.
See ya. Adios. Good morning. Or good morning.
Good night. Good salutation. Salutation. So long.
Farewell. International. Roll Bravely is a fan
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