Welcome to Momento Talis, where the dice decide
and moments are made. I'm Liv, your lightkeeper,
your friend, your adversary, and everyone in
between as Game Master. And these are my friends.
I'm Israel, and I'm playing Manny Quinteros,
a magician bartender. Hi everyone, I'm Samantha.
I'm playing Maude Florali, who is a medium and
also an embalmer at her family funeral home.
What's up? I'm Rachel and I play Arden Barlow,
an investigative journalist. And this is The
Circle, a fragmented glass. We're playing Candela
Obscura, a game made by Darrington Press. If
you'd also like to join the investigation, you
can buy the game at darringtonpress .com. Now
let's roll some dice. Previously, in the last
assignment, you guys were told to pick up some
dog tags that were causing some bit of issues
at the museum. You guys got to the museum, you
met the curators, and it turned to be a lot more
hassle than you expected. Mod experienced some
flashbacks and felt a little closer to her brother.
In fact, her shadow looks a little bit different
right now. You guys followed the trail of the
dog tags after they went missing. to an apothecary
that actually serves as a front for the red hand
in which case you guys got captured put into
a cage and the escape was interesting which resulted
in Arden taking the scar however you returned
back to your chapter house you're safe now you're
recovering it has been a day and you guys have
been hanging out around the bar when Maeve has
come up to you guys and said that she has something
to show you and has brought you into the chapter
house secret meeting room where you find tied
to a chair is Clyde from Owen's Apothecary. Hey
guys, it's uh, it's been a bit nice, nice place.
Is this your, is this your place? It's great.
Your, your light keeper was it? She brought me
here, but you know, it'd be really great if I
could have my medicine. What? He's tied to the
chair so he can't move. He's sitting there kind
of giving you guys a weird little smile. And
you see Maeve kind of looming over him. Candela
sent a team into the path of Carrie, and this
was the only one we were able to capture. We
run back here for questioning. So let's figure
out what he knows. OK, not how I saw my afternoon
going. I'll go over it guys. I really will. I
just I could really really use my medicine and
at that point Maeve kind of kicked some with
her cane Clyde First of all What is your medicine?
I you got to be real clear with me on this because
you We shot you. Yeah, and you were still very
very nice to us Well, let's just say this stuff
just keeps me together a little bit. It just
keeps me together. And as he says that, you know,
it's like there's a little reddening of his skin.
He is covered in lost scars, and a lot of the
scars seem bright red at this moment. Could I
make a read roll on what caused those scars?
Sure. It's a six on the gilded and a four on
regular, so I'll take the gilded. Yeah, these
scars look like they were gunshots like you guys
did. They look like knife scars. Look like various
injuries he has gotten from probably working
for the Red Hand, mostly the mundane kind of
weapons. OK. Well, I feel really bad for everything
that, yeah, could have gone better. And I'll
I'm going to walk over to wherever we, you know,
the cabinet where we stored some of the stuff
that we grabbed, including his medicine. You
guys did not grab his medicine in the last assignment.
You guys grabbed other things. However, Maeve
is holding his medicine in her hand and she is,
she's holding it away from him. He doesn't get
his medicine until he tells us what he knows.
Fair enough. Fair enough. Okay, so talk. Listen
guys, I'm just I was just a storekeeper just
for the front. It was just the red hand Yeah,
they they come in they they have meetings down
there and I don't really get a part of those
meetings I don't know that much. You don't get
marks like that just from being a shopkeeper
But you'd be surprised how many times people
come and try to rob the place. He's got a point
So do you know what they were up to? They were
just talking about working with some other organization.
That's all I could overhear. Something about
a demi -mond? I have no idea. They never talked
about this shit to me. I'm just a storekeeper.
Just a storekeeper. Now, really, I could use
my medicine. Is he telling the truth? You can
always read him. Uh, my highest was a three.
Hard to tell. Hard to tell. Yeah, we're gonna
need more than that, Clyde. Give us names. I
mean, there was Owen, of course. That's pretty
obvious. You met him. Of course, you know, the
blood guards. You met those guys. I never got
the name of the guy who visited. He wore a bowler's
hat. He wore a trench coat. I think he had a
mustache. It was really hard to tell. He would
come through. Sometimes he would buy some ointment.
I think he had a rash. Yeah, mostly. That's all
I really know, guys. Who's Brax? He's one of
our renters. He picks up things. He goes and
search artifacts for us so that we can trade
them. Many glances at Arden as he says this and
I'm gonna do a read on Arden because I've known
her a long time and this is That instance was
the first time he's ever heard that name before
apparently threes are number this game because
I've rolled two threes Oh boy Yeah, no you get
nothing from her she is focused on the sky she
seems pissed that's about it What kind of artifacts?
He picks up some like old fair stuff I mean I
know old fair didn't really get up here into
this area, but there's still some old stuff around
here like those damn tags I think you guys were
after that's that's handsome now, please please
please I really could use my medicine What's
the right hand plan on doing with these artifacts
as far as I know? I think they were selling them
again. I wasn't lent into this means I was a
shopkeeper That's what the Red Hand does. We
sell stuff. Where else is the Red Hand in Cascadia?
I don't know. I really don't know. I think we
have a warehouse. Again, the organization keeps
things pretty quiet, so things like things don't
happen. I can't tell. No, no worries, man. I
understand completely. You know, you're just
in a state right now. You're kind of cracking
up at the seams, it looks like. So do me a favor.
Maeve is my friend, and... If you want your medicine,
which I know you do, I'm going to need you to
tell me where that warehouse is. And tell me
quickly, please. And I'm gonna roll sway. That's
a six on the gilded. It's funny you say cracking
at the seams. Because right at that moment, and
this was decided before you rolled that six,
he starts to unwind. His skin starts to open
up. Those scars that were getting red had turned
redder and just... start to open up, his skin
just kind of falls apart and he is just pieces
at this point. He unwound and Clyde is no more.
I know, I know I've done some tricks in my time,
but I didn't actually mean for him to crack.
At the seams. There's a lot of blood. Skin, blood,
muscles, bones. There's kind of a pile on that
chair. What the fuck? What the fuck just happened?
The sad carpet. Mod. I'll get you a new carpet,
Mod. It was so vintage, though. Maeve goes over
and kind of kicks the pile with her foot. Well,
that was... Unexpected. I suppose we should clean
this up. Is there any spiritual residue in the
spot where he exploded? Any, like, soul matter
or debris spiritually? You know what? Let's have
you do a sense roll for that. And it was less
of an explosion. It was more of just, like, unraveling.
I got a five. I'm gonna go take a shot and get
something to clean this up. What the fuck is
this day? Maeve, can I take a look at his medicine?
She nods and she hands it over to you. Mod, you
- you do kind of sense like his soul is there,
but it's very fleeting. Like it is about to leave
to go wherever souls go after this. It was -
it was very sudden and of course he didn't expect
it either. I'm gonna inspect - what is - What
kind of medicine does he have? Is it like a pill
bottle? It's a vial, and in this vial is like
this purple liquid, purple clear liquid. Any
labeling, any indication of what it is? Nope,
nothing. I'm gonna pass the vial of medicine
over to Maud. Can you get anything from this?
She'll go ahead and put on her gloves, her work
gloves, super quick. She learned her lesson from
touching things that have bleed in them last
time. And she goes ahead and takes it and cracks
open the top and holds it away from her, but
still sees if she can get a distinct smell. If
it's anything she's... This is probably not something
she would have encountered at the mortuary, but
if there are similar ingredients, I guess that's
what she would be looking for if she notices
any of that. I will say, because you guys have
experienced something like this before a little
bit, you do get the sense of bleed coming from
it. Just a little bit. It's like it was concentrated
in such a way though. It's like there was a concentration
of bleed both diluted with some other substance
as well. And that's as far as you can tell without
actually like testing this liquid and seeing
what it's made of. I'm gonna shake out a little
drop over the pile of Clyde. Uh, it sizzles and
hisses, but nothing happens. Alright. Well, let's
put this on the trinket shelf and she'll bottle
it back up and hand it back to Arden. Yeah, I'll
put it on the trinket shelf and then move closer
to the remnants of Clyde. Amidst all the blood
and bones and organs and body matter, does it
seem like there was anything left behind that
might have been on his person before he unraveled?
Like maybe in his pockets or... He was pretty
pit clean. However, Maeve does hand you his jacket
He was wearing a jacket at one point. It looks
like a little duster kind of thing He hands it
to you as you start looking through his stuff.
She says here's his stuff I was going to return
them to Candela, but it seems like that's not
necessary anymore Manny walks back in with a
shovel and a bag. I don't even know. Yeah, maybe
you still might wanna bring these remains to
Candela. He was obviously on something that literally
held them together. Yeah. I need another shot.
Maeve agrees. Yes, I think that's probably for
the best. Technically, I shouldn't have taken
him, but we needed answers. It's been a bit of
a blur the last couple of days, so yeah, I'll
pack this up for you and we can get some of the
other guys out here to pick it up. Hey, Arden.
Yeah. You know, while we're here, and I'm doing
this, Brax Barlow mean anything to you? Because
from inside that cell, it seemed like it might
have. I've seen your faces before. You made a
lot of them in our time. That one didn't look
like you wanted to talk about it ever. But given
the nature of our work now. Normally I'd let
this leave, it's your business. But, uh, we do
and get into things now that, uh, you and I are
much more in the line of fire than we normally
are. You know, just hunting for tips, you know,
private eyeing it a little bit. If it's nothing,
tell me it's nothing and I move on. But... Yeah,
I don't know. Brax Barlow. Some rugged -y old
creep who works for the Red Hand shares my last
name. It's... I don't like the idea of being
potentially associated or tied back to these
guys. Manny nods his head. Okay. You and I both
know that's bullshit, but I love you, and I'm
gonna leave it alone. For now. But we're gonna
have to have this talk, hun. There ain't no way.
And Manny's gonna silently continue to do what
he was doing, which is scooping up the remains
of a human into a container. Manny, as you do
that, you spot one of his eyeballs, his beautiful
blue eyes, and it twitches just on the floor.
And with that, we will turn to now the time gap
between that and the next assignment, which will
be about three months. Between that, weird day.
and our next assignment. You guys are left to
your own devices to do what you want, to recover
the way you want, to try to live a life that's
somewhat normal despite your occupation. Let's
start with Arden. Since the interrogation with
Clyde, Arden's been holed up. None of you have
seen her for the past three months. She's declined
visits to her home. She doesn't... if she does
go out, you're not aware of it. You've never
seen her out on the streets or in the normal
spots. It's odd even that she hasn't shown up
to the bar a single night. Within the walls of
her house, it's been... it's been pretty quiet.
She spent a lot of time journaling, writing furiously.
pouring through probably years and years of old
files and clippings that she brought with her
from her previous job. Just any - all her notes,
all her leads from previous assignments as an
investigative journalist, trying to find connections,
looking specifically for any mention of the Red
Hand that she may have somehow missed in the
past. Not much else. What is Maud doing? I think
Maud's been checking in probably about every
week to see if Maeve or Manny has any updates
for new leads for where the dog tags of her brother
might be. To no luck. So I think in between checking
in she's still going to work at Dorothy's, Daisy's
of the Wind. And I think she gets Dorothy to
do a donation to the memorial that the dog tags
were in. I know Maude's brother is still lost,
but the souls that Manny set free that day, I
think they deserve flowers in a resting place
that they didn't choose. So she coordinates that
big donation. Yeah, and Dorothy is so happy to
do it. In fact, she needs all the help she can
get. She is working on preparing for an exposition
that's coming to town. and so she's getting flowers
for that, but she has enough that she's able
to put together for the memorial. As for when
you check in, Maeve seems extremely distracted.
There seems to be something with Maeve, but she's
not gonna really tell you what's going on. You
only get pieces of it. She'll mumble to herself.
She's very just, she's there but not there. Do
I know what Dorothy's exhibition coming up is?
Yeah, there's been flyers all over town for this
exposition that is coming to town. It started
new fare, but it's a yearly thing where inventors
and people who make things in the city of Cascadia
come. It's like a maker's market kind of thing.
They come together and show off their wares and
show off what they can create. Dorothy seems
really excited. She's been doing this for 50
years. I love that. I love you, Dorothy. Manny,
what you been doing? With Manny's newfound focus,
he's been communicating with Dr. Griffin in order
to coordinate any members and teams that are
going back and forth from New Fair and trying
to suss out where those dog tags are going, where
they went, who has them. He's given up names.
Manny's been super focused on that. Over the
last three months, when he's not working at the
bar, when he is working at At the bar, he's collecting
stories from the locals. He's, you know, reading
and watching everyone that comes in and out of
that bar. He knows his regulars. He knows new
people like anyone who comes in and out of that
bar during his shifts. He is catching a beat
on real fast, real quick and watching and studying
people like he always has. Charming, entertaining
as always. The shadow that he carried over the
last, you know, few months before. Diminishing
over time like he's forgetting some of it or
hiding some of it or burying it deep down No
one knows cuz Manny just smiles For the first
few nights that Arden isn't seen Manny doesn't
question it but after the first few nights Manny
made several attempts over the first week day
to day to check in on Arden and then when He
realized she wasn't gonna speak to him each night
or morning after his shift. He would go and sit
outside her door and Talk for about two hours
Telling her all the stories from the people that
he's been seeing and talking to sharing information
from the other circle and this is this is daily
because there wasn't many days that went by where
Arden wasn't there to talk to and even if she's
Not talking back. He's not about to let that
go away. So that's That's a big piece of what
he's doing and in that time as well. He does
one other thing he Charters a small boat to go
up and down the river within the city and he's
looking for the entrance to the tunnels to that
cavern to where it lets in and where it lets
out and Yeah, I don't know if he ever found it
but He is looking for how a naval ship could
go unseen or unchecked up and down the waterways
in and out of the city. He doesn't go far. He's
not going into the mountains, but he is back
and forth, you know, so far out one day on the
north side, so far out one day on the south side.
And it's something that he tries to make at least
once a week. He's slowly but surely going further
out north and south on the river. But that's
what Manny's doing. Manny doesn't find it. At
least he doesn't think he finds the entrance
to that - that cove. Wherever the entrance may
be, who knows. As we reach our three month mark,
in the past couple days Manny, you have not seen
hair or hide of Maeve. And actually at one point
Duncan comes up to you. It's a slow night. It's
pretty quiet. He says, Manny? Yeah ma 'am? I
think it's time I tell you something. Maeve gave
me instructions and I think I think we need you
guys all here and all right can I Do you have
something? Am I? Just what Maeve has gone missing
all right That's explains a lot. Okay. Um, okay.
So she told you to come and tell us some things
and gather us in the Off chance. She doesn't
show up and check in with you. Yeah Yes. All
right. Great. Great. Great. Fuck me. Cool. Cool.
Mandy turns around, grabs a bottle of tequila,
pours a shot, downs it really fast, plops it
on the bar. OK, so I'm going to. All right. Cool.
What else do you got for me? Is that it? Well,
I think it's better if all of you guys are here.
She left to me a note to give to you guys in
this case. Got it. Cool. Mandy's going to open
and read the note if he gave it to him. he did
okay cool and the note says if you're reading
this it means i'm either dead or captured i've
instructed duncan to give you this letter three
days after my departure many i found the man
who destroyed the lives of my circle my fiance
and myself i've gone back to where it happened
where it started i did not ask you to come after
me where i've done what no light keeper should
ever do abandon her circle I do not deserve to
be saved and do not endanger yourselves to save
me. Signed, Maeve. Fuck that. He folds it up,
puts it in his jacket. Duncan, you're closing.
And he walks out the door in a huff. Immediately
goes to Maud's at the flower shop or wherever
she may be at this time of day. We'll say it's
midday for timekeeping. Hey, Maud. Hello, young
man. Flower lady. Maud, uh, can I talk to you?
Yeah, for sure. What's up, Manny? She turns around
and has, like, dirt smeared on her cheek, um,
and sheers in her hand. Sheers down. Sheers down.
I'm just kidding. She gives you a side -eye,
but slowly puts them down. Yeah, no, seriously,
uh... You know what? Here. I'm gonna let this
talk for me. And he hands you the letter. I think...
It's bullshit. I'm... We're doing this. And we're
going to go find Maeve, but well, I'm going to.
I don't know about you, but yeah, so apparently
Duncan has more he wants to share with us in
this regard or there's there's something else
to do. I don't know. But yeah, I don't know.
I'm freaking out right now if you can't tell.
She goes ahead and puts a hand on your shoulder.
It's OK, Manny. I'll get my shoes and we'll go.
It's okay. Alright. She's still alive. She's
the strongest of all of us. It'll be okay. Yeah,
she is. Maud goes ahead and pins a boutonniere
to your lapel for good luck in finding Maeve.
I don't know what I'd do without you, Flower.
Let's go get our recluse. Yeah, let's go see
what she's up to. Brought her tea biscuits, but
they're still outside her apartment when I checked
again, so I can't believe she let those go to
waste because they are expensive. Maybe she doesn't
like biscuits. Maybe she is wrong. Alright, let's
go. You guys make your way over to Arjun's apartment.
Rain is starting to sprinkle now in this rainy
afternoon in Cascadia. Uh, real quick, GM. In
the three months of... scouring for information
about the Red Hand and any connected or associated
peoples. Has Arden's attempts at research amounted
to anything? Very little. The Red Hand is extremely
careful in the information that they let out.
The fact that Clyde was talking to you was clearly
a slip on his part, but I suppose they really
weren't afraid of what he would say. You've seen
mention of racks maybe once before, but there
is very little to go on. All you know is what,
you know, Clyde told you. They find artifacts
and they sell it to the highest bidder. Though
there have been whispers that they have been
organizing for something else. No one knows for
sure. Got it. Um, for Manny's knowledge moving
forward super quick, um... On your boutonniere
is a purple zinnia, so thoughts of an absent
friend. And also you'll get plus one dice on
move rolls against phenomena for the remainder
of the time you're wearing it. Alright. That's
good, because I suck at move. I just walk right
into things. Yeah, we are not fast movers in
this group. May's missing. Time to go to work.
You coming or not? There's a loud crash from
inside the house. Following the loud crash, shit
falls and you hear the quick pattering feet nearing
the door. Door swings open and a very disheveled
and somewhat gaunt looking Arden is standing
in the doorway. She looks a mess. Her hair is
not tied. brushed or styled in any way shape
or form. She doesn't look like she's slept or
eaten for an indiscernible amount of time, which
is a big contrast to how she normally appears.
Very presentable and professional and ready for
workout in the field. Many walks by her and says,
is that a new shirt? And starts cleaning up stuff
and like Picking up the basically picking up
her mess and like helping her not touching any
of her papers or organized stuff but like Any
dishes any clothes anything that she's just ignored
because she does that he's walked by her and
is now cleaning those things Artem glances down
at her now freshly coffee stained tank top kind
of growls in frustration Excuse the mess. I've
been it's Yeah Just... Anyway, Maeve's missing?
Yeah, Duncan walked up to me earlier today and
handed me a note. And he pulled it over his shoulder
as he's got a bundle of your stuff. I take the
note. Read it over. Fuck. So we're going after
her, right? That's what this is? Whenever you're
ready. Well, I... And she kind of looks around
at her mess of a home. There's papers everywhere.
Manny's... currently sweeping up a shattered
coffee pot. There's coffee on the floor, probably
staining the wood. It seems very lived -in and
in all the wrong ways. I mean, I got it. I have
to get changed. She kind of turns around and
just like looking around the apartment and does
not seem to have her head on her shoulders at
all. Rushes to her closet and slides the door
open. You notice that Her signature red scarf
is hanging over the bar inside the closet. It
looks a little more faded than the previous time
you saw her wearing it. The ends look a bit more
frayed and it just... It's stained, it's dirty,
but what it looks like is that she attempted
to clean it and... was a bit too aggressive with
it, and it messed up the knitting. Yeah, I was
trying to clean out the blood, but I didn't mean
to... Sorry, Manny. You got nothing to be sorry
about, dude. Ever. You know that. Clean yourself
up. Let's get to work. And with that, she's gonna
quickly grab some clothes off hooks, rush into
the bathroom. get changed, pop back out looking
much more refreshed, if not a bit frazzled from
the suddenness of everything going on. Yeah,
let's get to it. And her metal thermos is a freshly
brewed cup of coffee for her to travel with.
You're the best. No, you. You heard that story
from Barbara, right? Like, what about that shit?
And then he starts talking about random shit
on the way to the bar. And that's where we'll
take our break! Thank you for listening to Momento
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