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Scandals and Scavengers. A post -apocalyptic
Regency romance. Episode 4. Visitors and Visions.
Or Six Months? Last time on Scandals and Scavengers.
With Lord Rhinelander convalescing, Ruby was
surprised by a visit from her father's business
manager, Mr. Rubel. Not to be outdone, Edgewater
became the unexpected visitor when she tagged
along on her brother's date with Miss Nigella
Razorstorm in a vain attempt to chat with her
sister, Elena, about a rumor she had heard at
the garden party. But perhaps the most shocking
visit came from a Mr. Barney Rubble-Roy, agent
of the Crown, who stopped by the Drake estate
to collect the marriage certificate that should
have reached him through the mail months ago.
Meanwhile, Salt and Lefroy gathered some meaningful
flora to bring to Fiona Blightwind as she and
Lefroy seemed to have hit it off during their
stolen dance at the garden party. However, despite
Lefroy's heroics, saving Fiona from falling into
a bed of toxic plants, Beadere revealed to Salt
that Lefroy would not be her first choice for
suitor for Fiona. Mary spent a productive morning
sending out marketing cards for her side hustle
and alter ego, Madame Belladonna, spiritual medium.
And the productivity continued when Ruby asked
her guests Edgewater and Samuel to help her break
into a mysterious room in Rhinelander Estate.
Samuel easily smashed the door down, revealing
a dusty old nursery with two identical cribs
and shelves of matching porcelain dolls. As Ruby
entered the room, a loud gasp was heard from
down the hall, and we return to her now. Okay,
so we just had a little kerfuffle at the Rhinelander
house. Let's pick right back up there. I believe
we had just heard Richard gasp dramatically from
his bedroom. I think so. Oh, I need to go check
on my daddy. Of course. Hold up the door like
it's still there. You two stay in the room. I'm
going out. In the room? Yes. The two of us with
the door closed? Edgewater. I need you to do
this for me. All right, Ruby. Pick up the door,
hold it up. Daddy, I'm coming! Incredible. I'm
sweating. The door to his chamber is closed.
I will knock on the door and I will say, Daddy,
are you all right? No response. Daddy? Daddy.
I go in and I go to him. Make me a medicine check.
Oh, no. I'm really good at this, you guys. Yeah,
it seems like it. That's a two. No. He is still.
He is covered, like, he is streaming sweat. He
looks so much older. He just looks like everything
has sort of sunk. He looks terrible, and his
breath is undetectable. Daddy! Daddy, are you
there? I'm gonna, like, start to hit him in the
face to see if I can get any sort of reaction
out of him. Uh, you give him a couple smacks,
and he does not respond. On the plus side, in
smacking him around, you do see a little twitch
in the eyes. Think of rapid eye movement for
a dream state. Yeah. You see the slightest little
flicker of that. And as you get closer to see
that, you can barely feel his breath. It is so
shallow. Oh. All right, I'm going to I'm going
to go and I'm going to leave them in the room
and I'm going to go send out for a doctor. How
long are they going to wait? I'm going to go
send a letter for the doctor and then I will
come. You send you send one of the one of the
servants and they do not carry a letter. They
go run. Right. Yeah. Great. So after that happens,
I will go and knock on the door that Samuel's
holding up. I think while Ruby is gone. Lord
Drake, I must insist that you don't mention this
particular situation to anyone in the ton. This
sort of... I understand that you are... from
a different land. But this sort of situation
where two unmarried peoples are together alone
in a room... Miss Clarence? Yes? Sorry to cut
you off like that. Really focusing on holding
up this door and not shaking. You're so strong....Why would I mention...
Why would you shake-I mean... What? Why would I mention kicking down
a door and then having to hide inside of a secret
room? Good point. Anyone? All right. Great. I
feel so safe with you. Perfect. Thank you. Oh,
wow. Oh, my. I'm glad. Maybe we should not speak
for a bit. No one should be in this room. Of
course. All of a sudden, you hear a knock at
the door. Dear God. Also, guys, it is dusty as fuck in here
to the point where the dolls have almost a coating
of fuzz. Nothing in here has been disturbed in
years. It means the dolls don't move, which I'm
going to count as a win. That's true. At least
they don't move normally. But I will knock and
I will go, Lord Drake and Miss Clarence, please
put down the door. I'll back up the door. Ruby,
is everything all right? No, my daddy is very
shallow of breath and I don't know what happened.
I don't know if this is... connected, or anything
like that. Samuel, he's not trained in this,
but the instinct is to help someone in need.
So quick, with your leave, and he's going to
go to the bedroom, and he's seen people perform
this. He hasn't really been trained himself and
just tries to do CPR, so like chest compressions,
just to make sure the breathing stays strong.
And we'll follow. Okay, I would like you to roll
a medicine check. 17. That's a 19 minus 2. Okay.
You also notice that his face is very sunken.
His breathing is very shallow. It's shallow,
but it's constant. Okay. Okay. Then cancel the CPR.
Likewise, feeling around for a pulse, it's there,
but extremely weak. He is... He is balanced,
but the wrong thing, you think, could tip him.
I'm not sure that a strange man in his bedroom
with his daughter and her friend is the best
thing to wake up to. Perhaps we should back out.
All right. All right. I did send for a doctor,
but... They probably won't be here for a bit.
I will stay with you. Thank you. I appreciate
it. And, Lord Drake, I appreciate you knocking
down that door. How about that's the last we
speak of this? I do owe you a favor. Not like
that. I didn't mean it like... I'm sorry. I didn't
mean it like that. If you need something done,
let me know. For now, the best favor you can
do for me is to take care of you and yours. All
right. Well, I appreciate it, and I apologize
for the creepy dolls in that room. They look
at you, and I feel like they know everything
about me. All the way to my soul. You know? Just
the way their eyes look. Glassy eyes. Miss Rhinelander,
this might not be the best time, and you probably
have a lot to focus on. To me, it rings strange
that there are porcelain dolls in that room,
and last night you showed me a bit of your magic
that was a porcelain hand. I didn't even... He's
right, Ruby. Am I a doll? No, no, no, no. You're
not a doll. It's fine. You're not a doll. All
right, I'm not a doll. I'm not a doll. Oh, man.
We gotta... That's a good point. I didn't even
realize that. You know, now that you say it,
my dad started getting sick about six months
ago. Six months? When your husband passed away
tragically and you gained powers. It all must
be connected. All of it. I have to roll a wisdom save right now. Henry
was a porcelain doll. Right now, I... All right.
Just a reminder for the audience, Ruby is rocking
a four in wisdom. Oh, you're right. Maybe it's
all connected. I don't know. But I appreciate
you helping me and I will be in contact. But
please, I don't want to drag you down. I understand
calling hours are almost up and I would not want
to wreck your evening schedule. If it would be
all right with the lady. I will remain downstairs.
You take care of your father. Let me know if
anything changes, and I can be up to assist.
In the meantime, I will look to see when the
doctor is approaching. I appreciate it. So gallant.
Edgewater, do you mind waiting downstairs as
well, just for the time being, while I get some
things prepped up here? Of course. Right downstairs.
Thank you both. And I am going to go and just
start doing some stuff upstairs to get the room
prepped for the doctor. And also, I'll just focus
on that for a bit. Miss Clarence, if it would
make you more comfortable, I can wait outside
if you'd like to sit in the sitting room. No,
it's fine. We can both. I'll show you where the
sitting room is. I know. I've been here before.
Multiple times, actually. Ruby's my best friend.
I don't know if you knew that. It's just through
this door over here. No, not that one. The other
one on the right. Yes, that one there. I know
a lot's happening. We don't need a second heart
attack. Breathe. It's going to be okay. I know
you're worried about your friend's father. It's
going to be okay. Okay. Thank you. Knock, knock,
knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. I will get
the door. We closed the door? Oh, God! The front
door. The front door to the house. This is a
really big day for Edgewater. Really big. This
is like an awakening. Yeah, truly. Samuel will
open the front door. If there's a physician there,
let them in immediately. Direct them upstairs.
And if this delivery person knew anything about
medicine, he would definitely try to help. But
he's just delivering a package. It is just a
small paper -wrapped bundle, it looks like. Literally,
someone found an old newspaper vending machine
and wrapped up something inside. And it just
has a note to Miss Rhinelander. I will make sure
the lady of the house receives this. Thank you.
And off he goes. I guess I'll go back into the
sitting room. I'll give it to you, Edgewater.
A gift for Ruby? Now? How inappropriate. I don't
believe the giver would know the situation. Yeah,
that's very true. Okay, well, I'll bring it to
her. Perhaps it's useful in some way. Or perhaps
it will just cheer her up. All right. I'll stay
down here. Maybe it's a tiny little arcane defibrillator.
Yeah. That would be helpful. Run upstairs with
it. Ruby, this just came for you. Oh, uh, what?
I don't know. I didn't open it. All right. Interesting.
I guess I'll open it. I don't know what it could
be. Maybe it's a letter from the doctor or something.
That would be fast, right? In a package form?
Weirdly packaged. I don't know. Do doctors send
packages? Maybe it's medicine. Oh. I open the
package or the small envelope. It is a small
wooden box. There could be medicine inside. A
small wooden box. I'm going to open the small
wooden box. There's a smaller wooden box inside.
Inside, there are finely painted playing cards.
And a note. All right, I read the note. 10 p
.m. And an address. Oh, all right. Yeah, I will, uh...
Oh, you know, it's not medicine. No? No, but
you don't need to worry about anything. It's
not something you should concern yourself about.
What do you mean? It's just a gift is all. Oh,
from your aunt? Yeah. Wonderful. It's not even
near your birthday yet, though. It's not, but
I think it's near my half -birthday. Oh, good.
Which is six months from the birthday. Well,
I will deliver the news to Lord Drake then, downstairs.
All right. Thank you, Edgewater. Lord Drake,
no worries. It was just a half birthday present
from Ruby's aunt. Are those customary here? Oh.
Well, not typically, but Ruby is quite wealthy.
Perhaps really wealthy people give out gifts
twice a year. I wouldn't know. Me either. Look
at that. What a coincidence. There's a dying
man upstairs and this is the most awkward flirting
I've ever seen. I don't even have words for what
is going on here. But luckily, no wait, I do.
Oh, someone sent for me? Right upstairs. Oh,
fantastic. What are we looking at? Oh, thank
you for coming so quickly. My daddy, he's short
of breath. He's in a state. Oh, well, let me
look at him. Oh, yeah, this is something. Okay.
Give me some space. I have to work. All right.
If it's pertinent, Doctor, he also had an episode
last night. He collapsed. Collapsed, you say?
Any discernible cause? No. I mean, he's been
deteriorating in health, I guess, for the past
six months. Well, he should have called a doctor.
I told him that, but he said no. He said he was
fine. Well, he was wrong, apparently, but that's
beside the point. All right, let's... And the
doctor begins to basically take vitals, check
his pupils for response. It seems your father
has slipped into a coma. Oh, okay. I didn't expect
that. Do we know what... Coma's famously unexpected.
I guess that's right. But do we know what the
cause would be? Hard to say. You say he had an
episode last night. Did he come into contact
with anything? I mean, we were at a garden party.
Right. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was a
terrible punch, but that's normal. Did he eat
anything strange? Come into contact with any
strange insects? Just... And when did you notice
this spell begin? I mean, about six months ago
is when he started to get sick and have a cough,
but it got worse. It's been getting worse over
the past few weeks, particularly yesterday was
bad. We were in the cart going to the party,
and he was coughing. Almost constantly. And then
we hit a bump and he seemed concerned about it.
I'm asking more about when did you notice he
was unresponsive and in a coma? Oh, that's a
good question. Like half an hour or 45 minutes
ago. We were just me and my friends here were,
you know, exploring the house a little bit. We
went in and as soon as we like we dropped something
and made some noise and then we heard a big gasp
from him after we did that. Yes, we dropped something,
and there was a noise. Heard it the first time.
Okay. Thank you, miss. Well, I suppose a sudden
shock could have this sort of a reaction, but
highly, highly unlikely. It's far, far too long
for sort of any kind of a toxin to be after the
fact if you already responded to it last night.
Well, I'll take some blood and do some tests,
but the best thing we can do right now is keep
him comfortable and see if he comes out on his
own. All right, well, I appreciate your help,
Doctor. Let me know if you need anything. Just
take some blood and be on my way. All right,
thank you. Again, sentences I didn't think I'd
ever say. Yeah, and I'll wait until he heads
out, and then I will turn to Lord Drake and Edgewater,
and I'll just say, thank you both. And I do think
I need some time alone. Ruby, I can ask Gladstone
to come over and the two of us can stay in the
sitting room tonight in case you need anything.
Yeah, that might be good. All right. I'll send
for him. Thank you. Lord Drake, thank you so
much for your assistance today. We really do
appreciate it. It was my pleasure. I wish you
all the best. I curtsy. I bow to both ladies.
If you need anything, please just send for me.
Of course. And I will get away from the scene
of the crime. You don't know if it was connected.
Can you imagine? This was your first time. calling
on someone in town. And someone died. It's a
coma. Relax. He's not dead. Going back home. Mary
Smith, do not come over. It's not a good day.
All right. At this point, I believe, unless anyone
has anything else to do for calling hours. I
think that'll do it. All right, we're going to
advance into promenade. It is golden hour right
around the Grand Reservoir in the Great Park
in the center of Neo -Britannia. Everyone who
is anyone is there strolling. Where? Why? Who
the hell knows? They're strolling to stroll.
So does anyone have anything they want to do
during this time? So Mary is going to... She
normally, I don't know, sometimes frequents the
promenade. Sometimes she stays home. But often
when she goes out, she goes out slightly in disguise.
She's not going out as Miss Crawford necessarily.
So tonight she's going out as just Sari Myth.
No, it's a joke. It was really funny. because
you can tell from everyone laughing. She's just
going to go out with slightly different... She's
going to have blonde hair, slightly lighter eyes,
darker brows, and she's going to go out and just
listen to people's conversations, basically.
Okay. In particular, I think that I'm looking
to eavesdrop on... I can't remember if his name
was Carlson or Carlton. Oh, Carlton. Carlton.
Wait, the father or the son? The son. The son.
The son is Carlton. Yes. I want to listen, or
the ward. Was he a ward or a son? He's an adopted
son. Okay, yeah. So he's kind of in the same
boat as me, but a little bit better off. He is
the official heir. Okay. Must be nice. He was
adopted and named official heir. to the, to the
Carson's. Yeah. Um, so I will go and I'll be
kind of wrapped up in like a, a kind of like
a burlap scarf. Oh, wow. You're really embracing
the potato. I felt that too. Um, just to kind
of slightly cover her face. Um, and maybe a little
hat or something, parasol. And she's going to
walk about and just kind of try to look like
she's going to catch up with somebody or she's
on her way to go meet somebody and trying to
see if there's anyone around who she needs to
be listening to. So Carlton, any servants that
are about accompanying their people, anybody
like that. Okay, so... Are you looking to follow
Carlton? Are you trying to suss out rumors? What
are you trying to accomplish? I think I'm trying
to get a little bit more information on Carlton
and his family, Connor in particular. And I think
that following Carlton might be a slightly lower
risk way of figuring out maybe what's going on
with Connor to start. Okay. If Connor's there,
I'll follow him too. If I have to pick, I'll
go for Carlton. Okay. Because I know that he
doesn't feel very, you know, comfortable with
his adoptive father. At least one of them. Yeah.
All right, cool. So I would say you're going
to need a perception check to find them because
this is like finding, it's basically the equivalent
of finding someone in Central Park. It's only
a 10. There are a lot of people out. Yeah. Okay.
it's going to be hard. Okay. Um, but, uh, is
there anything else you want to try to do while
you're out looking? Um, I will keep an eye out
for, um, uh, servants. So people like Mr. Salt,
um, Sweet, uh, Sweetie, Sweet, Sweetly, Sweetly.
Um, anyone who is kind of like has a, a close
relationship with, uh, a very high ranking title
to family. Who might be talking at the end of
the day. So particularly those two. Those two
are easy to find because they are accompanying
their charges. It would have to be someone who
has that level of access. And it is also not
a common thing to have someone like that. So
you wouldn't find a lot of servants out during
the promenade. But they are sort of weird special
cases. So they're... I mean, again, make a perception
check. But luckily with his stature, it is going
to be a much easier thing to do. A 16. Oh, yes,
you actually do pick him out. The sort of big
man, little man tag team that they've got going,
it's an easy silhouette to distinguish. So yeah,
you can definitely track him down. So at this
point, I am partially because it helps my business.
My side hustle, if you will. And also because
at this point I am interested in learning any
and sundry various secrets of titled families,
of things that they, you know, the servants guess
at. Like I'm just kind of like keeping an ear
out. So that's why I'm following servants right
now. So whatever kind of. Hot goss, you're discussing
with your young lord. Did you hear? Okay. Yeah.
So you're going to be pretty close, though, to
be able to overhear a conversation. I might also
walk close in front of them so they're not necessarily
seeing my face. Ah, gotcha. I see, I see. Cool,
cool. Samuel, are you taking some air after this
morning's... Excitement? Yes. Air is definitely
needed. However, unfortunately, I can't rest
just yet. I know it's going to be hard, but there
are now two people I'm interested in looking
for. The primary target would be my brother -in
-law, who I've not spoken yet to. If anybody
who is anybody is out here, I would like to see
if he is among them. The other one, interestingly
enough, would be either of... The Bloods. Agatha
or Constance. Okay. Cool. Cool. Make a perception
check. Funny thing about perception. Yeah. I
mean, the rough side of the table. Yeah. Nine.
Honestly, you're looking for this man based off
of a painting that was hanging, that you only
really saw for a couple... Yeah. It's... It's
a tall order. Absolutely. The Bloods. That will
be interesting. Make another check on them. Did
you hex him? Daniel just hexed me to a zero.
Oh my god! I'm so unlucky. That's a two reduced
to zero. They don't exist anymore. You erased
my NPC. They died six months ago. Oh, my God.
Actually, I would love a dexterity saving throw
from you. Uh -oh. Twelve. Okay, you almost lose
your footing and take a tumble, but you save
yourself. It's not graceful. but you don't eat
shit in front of everyone. So that's, I mean,
that's a good thing. Yeah. After that tumble,
I think I might just, I might realize I'm a little
more tired than I thought I was and find a bench
or something similar to just... Yes, that is not
hard to do. Okay, cool. Ruby? I'm left here in
a decision where I'm finally in the room I've
wanted to be in for so long. And I have a calling
card for basically a poker game that I want to
go to. I'm not going out. I have to stay inside.
And I think with Edgewater downstairs, I think
I'm going to spend time in the room. Not even
with your father. The doctor's grabbing blood.
That is like a five minute process. He's gone.
Yeah. I don't know what else I can do with him.
I'm going to go into the room. I'm sorry. This
room has been, I didn't notice it for the first
20 years of my life. So 21, whatever. All right.
So things that are fairly obvious. This place
has been heavily curtained over. There's not
a lot of light. No way to see inside from outside.
Looking at the door frame. you do notice some
strange burn marks in the wood, but not like
blast marks, more like pyrography, where you
do artistic wood burning, like with a hot metal
implement. Does it spell out anything, or is
it just artistic? It is not in any language you
know. I think what I'm going to do is I'm going
to open the curtains and I'm going to let some
light into this room for the first time in what
I can only assume to be a very long time. Oh,
so very long. Yeah. As you throw the curtains
open, just like and it's it's dust and deteriorating
fabric. Just it's, it is, It is gross in here.
So, are you looking for anything in particular?
What is your method for... I think what I would
like to do is I just want to look... Everything
seems undisturbed. I know I just threw open the
curtains, but everything seems undisturbed. But
what I'd like to do is I'd like to look to see
if there's anything that looks less undisturbed
than other things, I guess, if that makes sense.
So, like, is there... Like, I know the dolls
have a lot of dust on them, but is there anything
that particularly stands out? So I guess if it's
okay, I'd like to make an investigation check
of some sort. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Ruby,
baby, you got to roll better. That's a nine.
There is, I mean, here's the thing. It's not
that you're bad at looking. It's just the room
seems to have been sealed at some point. It's
not like, oh, well, there's a bookcase that has
been moved and it will send me to a secret. It's
just all dusty. It has almost been removed from
time. It is just left here. In terms of like
basic things you see around you, there are two
cribs. Each of them have an ornate carving RG.
Okay, with that, and knowing what Lord Drake
had said, I'm also going to go and I'm going
to pick up these dolls that are in the room.
I'm going to pick them right up. Don't. Ew. And
I'm going to look at them, and I'm going to inspect
them a little bit just to see what's going on,
because I didn't put together that my magic looks
like that. It takes a little time, but you...
I actually find one doll on the far side of the
room that seems to have one of the arms was repaired.
Because you ripped it off to use it for your
mage hand. Get out of here, Bo. All right. It's
actually about magic. It's like one of those
sticky slime hands. With that. I will spend the
rest of the time during the promenade to start
to clean the room. Huh. It is going to take a
certain amount of time. Passing secret notes.
I thought that was a DM's job. Yeah, it is. I
don't really have anything. Yeah, so you said
about cleaning, which manual labor, not your...
Strong suit. Not my thing, but I do think I'm
cleaning over here while my mage hand is cleaning
across the room. Can that happen? It's not autonomous.
You can't just be like, it's not unseen servant.
If you have an unseen servant, good on you. But
mage hand, you have to direct. I think I'm going
to direct it because I think I haven't cleaned
anything in my entire life. It's gross. Yeah,
so I'm going to use it from a distance to start
to clean. Throw me a charisma save. Oh, I'm scared
of my dice because all of them are rolling so
poorly. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be terrible,
but that is a 15. Excellent. As you manifest
your mage hand to start, you know, stacking things
and dusting. You hear a smash. And there is a
small mirror over one of the two dressing tables
that breaks. Oh, I go right over to the broken
mirror and I look right in it. Oh, no. Make a
perception check. At advantage. Thank you. And
are you proficient? I am not. Add proficiency.
That is a 13. That's straight. All right. So
here's what I'm going to need right now. I'm
going to need all y 'all to wander away just
for a hot second while I have a quick word with
Ruby. Oh, no. Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. So we're
going to let everyone wander away. It's going
to be great. Nothing bad could possibly happen
here. You made that backup character, right?
Yeah. Oh, man. All right. So as you are looking
into the mirror, you're looking into a shattered
mirror. And so you see multiple images of yourself
sitting there looking. Right back at you. And
with your hand on your shoulder right behind
you. I turn actually over my shoulder to see
where it's touching me. Like over my right shoulder
to see if I see anything but my mage hand. No,
there's nothing. But the mage hand did drift
over to your shoulder. Yeah. I go, hello? There's
nothing. There's nothing here. And you look back
into the mirror and it's gone. Maybe it was just
a trick of the reflection. Maybe it's the stress
of the day. I take out some paper or parchment
that I think I would have on me. And I'm going
to use a pact point to cast illusory script.
Okay. And I'm going to cast and just say... meant
for something or somebody in this room, I'm going
to say, hello, are you there? If so, can you
please respond to this? There's a flash of like
pearlescent white light while I do that. You
look down at what you just wrote. Hello? Am I
here? Can I please respond to this? Hello, am
I here? Oh, man. Alright. I will, um... I guess
go and I will look at, um... I will go and look
at the mirror that's not broken at this point.
Just look back at my own reflection. And I'm
gonna take a deep breath in and I'm gonna try
and feel that feeling again that I felt last
night. tingling sensation when I cast my magic.
I kind of want to harness that. I'm just going
to stay here for a minute and just try and feel
that while being in this room. Okay, it manifests
as soon as you manifest your mage hand. So until
you dismiss your mage hand, you still have that
tingle to you. So you're definitely still feeling
it. Yeah. There's something about this place.
I'll look at the doll. Does the doll look like
me? the doll that has the repaired hand yeah
um no no it doesn't i mean there's an exact opposite
there's there's one on the other shelf yeah i'm
gonna go look at that other one too. Each of these
dolls are identical right so like you can literally
stand in the middle of the room, point at one
doll and point at its opposite across the room point
at one doll point at its like it's identical
like replicant right across the room so you're
you're they're matched sets yeah all right I'm
just going to say in this room, I'm going to
say, I don't know what's going on in here. I
don't know why this room was locked away. But
I'm going to figure it out. And I think I am
going to, at that point, I am going to start
cleaning. Not with my mage hand. I'm not going
to dismiss it. But I think I get down in my...
current outfit and I start cleaning and getting
rid of the dust in this room by myself. Okay.
That will take you the rest of Promenade. Yeah.
That's okay. And I'm going to beckon everybody
else back in so it's going to get loud in a second.
Great. So Daniel, who are you playing now? I'm
fine. It's all good. Yeah, Evan, you didn't tell
us to prepare backup characters. Didn't I? you
told me. I feel like I said it was highly unlikely
you'd lose your character. Ah, yes. Daniel just
continues to go down the wrong path. That's all
good. He's fine. Ruby is still good. Mm -hmm.
Yep. Yep. Unphased. Yeah, you look the same as
when we walked out of the room. Yeah, there's
a kind of faraway look in your eyes now that
wasn't there before. So can you still help me
out with Edgewater or no? You want help? What
do you mean by help? I don't know if you need
help, but yes. Would Beetlejuice make a good
wingman? Anyone have any other fun promenade
stuff? Yeah, I think if we're back in the park,
for what I can only assume is some significant
tonal whiplash. I mean, it's not an unfounded
assumption. Is there like a kind of socially
respectable... um sport or game that the like
younger folk on uh on the mart would play is
there like a badminton or uh yeah they have pall-mall
which is a croquet uh sort of thing and there
are a number of uh games going because this is
such a large park it's it's easy to get multiple
games happening at the same time gotcha i think
there was probably like um when Lefroy was younger
there was a group of him and his friends who
would um would play together and they would like
They would often like Salt to join them, being
the Goliath and something of an athlete. He would
play at the park with them. Now that they're
of age, they have their own games they can play.
So I think Lefroy is out enjoying his game with
some of his friends. And if it works out, I think
Salt maybe finds a bench to watch him at, which
might be the bench that Samuel has rested on,
or near enough to it that he would go and say
hello. Okay, fantastic. I'm just going to do
a quick luck check to see if you're in the same
neck of the woods. Oh, no, not even close. In
that case, he's just watching his young ward
and just keeping an eye on him. Excellent. Throw
me a perception check real quick. Sweet. See
if anyone wrapped in burlap is watching you.
That's a nat 20. Oh, boy. You actually, you see
two things. One, way down the ways, way down
the way, you see three things. Way down the ways,
you see Samuel. resting on a bench probably like
a good 100 yards from you okay um it's really
just the uh the fading sun on his scales that
are really being like oh reflecting off a little
bit okay shiny blue dragonborn excellent um uh
there is a mysterious uh figure in a burlap
scarf lurking like not not like suspiciously
but just like huh Never seen them before. In
a lurky way. Do I get the sense they've been
near me for a while? I mean, roll me a quick
stealth check. Although, you're going to have
to hit a nat 20 for him not to. It's a 14. Plus
8. I mean... But it's not a nat 20. Yeah, you're...
You caught sight of them a few times. Do I see
that the burlap covers everything but the ear
facing me? Do I get a sense that there's maybe...
I mean, draw whatever conclusions you'd like.
But you also see Miss Beadere. Okay. Yes, Beadere
really is strolling a respectable distance behind
young Miss Fiona and a burly green hobgoblin.
Okay. And they are talking pleasantly, and Fiona
seems to be laughing a bit. And they turn, so
they're kind of cutting across your field of
view. Okay. And Beadere gives you a quick side
-eye and taps her wrist and keeps walking. Can
I roll perhaps a... perception to notice it or
luck to make it happen um what is Lefroy doing
in the game as they pass by uh he's taking a
swing he's taking a swing can i roll for him
yeah but you're gonna have to use his stats that's
fine uh so you're gonna do a plus three to whatever
you roll plus three come on what are we trying
to accomplish um i would like for him to be uh
doing something impressive or at least succeeding
at the game, and then I'm going to loudly call
attention to it. All right, fantastic. Not inappropriately,
not in a way that seems something that I may
call attention to, you know, cheer or support
him anyway, but that may draw a passerby's look
if they were nearby when the noise was made.
Ah, excellent. That's a 10, so that's a 13. Okay,
he takes a good shot. He comes very close to
the wicket. Okay. But, I mean, it's nothing spectacular.
I mean, it's on the upper side of average for
him. Gotcha. So he's having a good day. Then
I'm still going to, yeah, I'm going to kind of
jump up and pump my fist a little bit and go,
that's my boy! And try to goose it for a way
that if you didn't know the sport... you might
think that he did what he was attempting to do.
Okay. All right. I am calculating a lot of things
right now. Okay. We're going to roll a performance.
Okay. And we're going to do just sort of two
general sort of awarenesses, like insights for
the passerbys. Nine to ten. Seventeen. Okay.
People are like, oh, what's happening? Including
Fiona and Beadere and Oscar. Now, the other
thing, there was a valet saying, that's my boy,
which gets some very raised eyebrows. And including
Beadere just gives you a look of, oh, really?
There's some new rumors going around about Pilar
Seltzer now. He maybe shrinks down a little bit.
He shrinks down a little bit, maybe standing
or holding a posture to imply a stature that
might squash some of those rumors. That would
make those rumors seem increasingly unlikely.
Bravo. real real so you were you were trying
to you're trying to help uh lefroy flex and now
you're flexing yes excellent um okay so uh we
do an intimidation roll oh cool don't wiggle
your fingers you hex people that's a nat 20 oh
fantastic uh yeah you you see people go Never
mind. The exuberance of the game. Yes, we all
get caught up in excitement with mallets and
balls and wickets and whatnot. Lovely weather.
So you successfully stop that before it starts.
He maybe glances over at Beadere and instead
of a snide look, looks at his watch as if he
has not run late. Like, close call. Only barely
taking her eyes off. Looks at his wrist where
a watch would be. Only barely taking her eyes
off of Fiona and Oscar. She just shoots you a
scarred thumbs up, mouthing, smooth. And returns
her attention to her charge. I don't know if that
was a net positive or not. That was... Let her
ride. I liked it. I liked it. Big swings are
happening. I'm really glad I was there watching
it all while it happened. Oh, my lord. Okay.
So, that all occurred. Does anyone else want
to do anything? Hear a rumor, chase rumor, anything
like that? All right. So I believe at this point
we can move on to the night phase. You've sent
word that Gladstone is required over at the Rhinelander
residence. He will show up. Ruby, what's a...
Ruby's father is ill. He's slipped into a coma.
And I would like to stay here this evening to
support her. So if you would please stay with
us, that would be more respectable, of course.
Absolutely. No problem. I know you both go way
back. Is there anything that we can do to help
out? At the time being, I don't think so. She's
been upstairs for quite a while. I think she's
sitting with her father. It's a very trying time
for her. At that moment, I come down the stairs,
and I am covered in dust, in what was a very
fashionable outfit, just fully covered in dust.
And it looks like just my hands are dirty, and
it looks like, particularly in my dress, I have
been on my hands and knees, what looks to be
like cleaning. Are you okay? What happened in
your... Father's room. Oh, I wasn't. I checked
in on him, of course. I've been cleaning a little
bit. Just, you know, a little room. Thank you
so much for coming, by the way, Gladstone. I
appreciate it. Miss Rhinelander, is there anything
that we can get you? Any assistance that you
need rendered? I actually would love, I'm going
to need some help. Just cleaning tonight. I need
some help cleaning. I would like to clean a room
upstairs. What about servants? Oh, that's right.
I forgot I had those. It seems like she's done taken
a fairly bad shock. Is this something that's actually...
Not that I mean to question you, Ms. Rhinelander,
but is this something that can't wait till tomorrow?
You seem to be in a bit of a state, if you don't
mind me saying. Yeah, I am. I don't know. There's
just a lot going on. You know, I finally got
to talk to somebody last night who I thought
I was interested in, and he invited me out tonight,
and now I can't go because my dad is upstairs.
Wait, what? Who? Well, that's a lot. His name's
Ruben. Oh, right. He held the door open to the
carriage. Right, Ruben. Oh, I'm sorry. Again,
a mistake. Are you feeling all right? Mr. Ruben.
Mr. Ruben, yes. Weller. But I don't know. I don't
think it's right for me to go tonight. So I think
I need to send him a message saying I can't go.
Some things have come up with my daddy. And I
would like to stay here. I don't know. I've got
to clean this room. I just feel like I've got
to clean this room. But, okay. You don't have
to. I'm not going to make you both clean the
room. I'm going to. If you can show me how, I
can certainly try. Yeah, I think I've been doing
it right. I'm not sure you have. Have you seen
yourself? I'm going to get somebody to just send
a message to the Weller residence just to...
for Mr. Rubin just to say, so sorry, can't make
it. My daddy's not doing well. Rain check, question
mark? Winky face. All right, so you dispatch
that? I do. Okay, fantastic. And I go back up
and I'm gonna start cleaning and if y 'all wanna
have... Start helping me clean a little bit.
I can also get the servants to help. You just
pulled the blanket off that bed and now you're
rubbing it on that doll's face. Is that... I
don't know. Maybe I thought... I should probably
use a clean blank... Towel, you're right. Yes,
I'll grab one from the other room. A clean blanket.
I gotta ask. What in tarnation happened to this
door? A freak accident! Yeah, we, um... We were
leaning on it, and it just fell in. It just fell
in. Old, shoddy wood. And we haven't been in
here in a few years, so, you know. Very dusty.
Dusty musty. Okay, so I'm going to say Edgewater
will be leading that deception check with help
from Ruby. Six. Now. I know that I'm not exactly
the sharpest tool in the shed, but I mean, the
two of you combined are maybe a hundred pounds.
If you ran at that door, if you ran at that door,
I doubt you'd probably break it down. Now, what
happened? I haven't been able to get in. for
a few months and I asked for some help and we
got it down. We knocked it down with a big tool.
Did y 'all hit your heads? What is going on?
I just needed to get in and I needed to get in
and so we asked for some help to get through.
I'm starting to get the feeling that the less
I know about this, the better. Now, I'll give
you whatever assistance you can, and I'll stay
here so you stay all respectable, although I
find it very odd what you are determining to
be the benchmarks of respectability with kicking
in doors and whatnot. But I'll do what I can
to help. Urgent need for cleaning. Yeah, I just,
you know, we got to get the dust out, and I open
the window. Right. And I let some air in. And...
Oh, the dolls come to life. No. And as I open,
I turn to Gladstone and I say, don't mind the
dolls on the shelf. Oh, you've moved them to
the shelf. Wait, the dolls on... Holy hell! God,
they're all looking at me. I hate... Oh, I don't
like this. Oh, I don't like this. Something that
I do think Edgewater would notice is one of the
mirrors is cracked that wasn't cracked before.
Oh, what happened to this mirror? Oh, it cracked
while I was in here. Cracked does not begin to
describe it. It has a radial shatter. Yeah, it's
cracked. What do you mean "while you were in
here"? Did you drop something on it? No, I was
just standing here and it happened. Oh, maybe
you dropped the mirror? Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Clean,
clean, clean. This is how we clean. There's a
song. All right. Clean, clean, clean. All right.
I'm going to go talk to some of the staff and
get us maybe some brooms or something. Because
this is going to. Yes, that seems good. This
is going to take us all night if we are just.
Rubbing things with our hands and singing atonally.
Blankets. We do have blankets. Blankets are not...
You are the smart one in our family. I've never
had to clean anything. Okay, well, actually,
Alistair, but... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hey, I'm calling it like I see it. No. We'll
talk about this later. You want to talk about
all of this later? No, just the Alistair part.
Ah, I see. Mm -hmm. All right. And a cleaning
party occurs. All right. Super normal, relaxed.
Totally chill. Usual, typical cleaning party.
Yeah, the dolls don't move at all. Oh, good.
I'm so happy to hear it. It's fine. Do they provide
the chorus for the cleaning song? I assume. Nighttime
activities on this side of the table. Any big
yens? Anything we want to do? There aren't any
social activities tonight, so feel free to spend
your time however. You could go try to find other
forms of entertainment. You could see if other
folks were in a receiving mood, though that might
be, depending on your relation with them, might
be a bit far -fetched. I immediately was like,
I want to lurk around a warehouse. rummage you
know and then i was like no that seems like a
big jump you know you know i want to lurk around
well because specifically because of the uh the
architecture warehouse blah blah theme. the firm?
the firm yeah but that seems like not a lot to
go on. Do you need to go to your office? I could
go to my office yeah um i don't know if i have
anything like um scheduled There isn't anything
on the books, but you haven't been able to get
in touch with Nicodemus today. Oh, okay. Yeah,
I guess I will go in my burlap. The most uncomfortable
material possible. Go to my office and see if
Nicodemus is there, see if there's any correspondence
there. All right, so you... Kind of wend your
way out to the outskirts of New Britannia. And
you're in not a bad area, but an area where the
folks who actually do the work for all of these
firms live and take their entertainment. And
it is a little more practical, a little louder,
a little dirtier. And you have a small... second
floor walk up in you know half of a building
um the other half kind of fell over but you know
your office is still enclosed so it's mostly
weatherproof so it's fine and uh you walk in
and uh Nicodemus is there uh he seems to sleep
here. He has a hammock yeah just sort of set up
in a corner. It's fine it collapses easily when
we have you know actual bookings and stuff yeah
and he's he's just sort of snoring away yeah
i'm gonna take the side of the hammock and flip
it over. Thumps down on the ground. Ow. I wrote
to you earlier. Do you not write back anymore?
I was getting there. Oh my god. I have a lot
going on, okay? And you're... Okay, sorry. I'm
in a mood. There's been a lot going on the last
couple days. Clearly. How are you? Awake and
not happy about it. God, I love that. Um, any
updates? Any mail? Oh, yeah. You got
a request. Oh, for me? Uh, a lady, uh, what the
hell? I had it written down here somewhere. A
lady? Oh my god. I had it written down here somewhere.
Ah, uh, Ged Geed. Wow, my handwriting's terrible.
Uh, Ged Wallow. What? Lady Gadwallow wants to
contract Madame Belladonna as part of the entertainment
for an upcoming ball. Two days from now, looks
like. Two days. In two days. Did she say how
many people would be participating in the seance?
It was sort of open -ended. Okay. Super helpful.
It depends on how many guests are interested.
Okay. Do people not realize that to plan one
of these things, it matters if there's like four
people or 40 people or, you know. Anyway. It's
not your fault. It's not your fault. Wasn't going
to say it was. Not your fault. Don't worry about
it. Don't stress. Don't stress about it. Believe
me. Not gonna. Okay. I was worried about it
because you seemed kind of up in arms today.
I walked in here and you started yelling at me.
Out of nowhere. You know, you're being real difficult
today. I know, I'm sorry. Are you? No. Yeah,
I didn't think so. I look around my office and
I feel like Nicodemus has seen me in many manner
of appearances. And so I'm not terribly worried
about, you know. him seeing me in a in my full
Belladonna look or whatever but I, I look around
and there's every it's like the lowest couches
you can imagine where you're gonna sink so way
too deep into them um there's a lot of drapery
and there's a couple sort of whatever whatever
we have that's closest to mirrors around you
know so uh sort of semi -reflective surfaces
and a couple spheres that are sort of crystal ball
adjacent and they're kind of just like really
polished bowling balls or like whatever like
random shit that's salvage gumball machines yeah
exactly yeah there yeah there's a empty empty
gumball machines that i peer into in a mystical
fashion um and I'll uh I think I'll spend one
of my uh wealth uh points to have him like Make
sure that we have all the supplies that we'll
need for the upcoming booking and to make sure
that I have a fresh outfit and that kind of stuff.
And I'll ask him if there's anything else that
he needs or anything he's seen around the area
of the neighborhood that I need to know about.
Things have been pretty quiet around here, but
I'll definitely restock everything. How hard
are we going on this? Are we going low -key,
get a few oohs and ahhs, or are we going to try
to pull out something special? I feel like this
one, I want the juice, you know, Nick? You know?
I am familiar with the juice, yes. I want the
juice on this one. You know? All right. All right.
You seem sleepy. I wonder fucking why. Yeah,
okay. Relax, Nick, but okay. I was trying to.
Somebody flip my hammock. Yeah, I actually kind
of want a hammock in my room. Looks really comfortable.
Yes, I think for this one, we want to make sure
that we need a room that has a fireplace. We
need a room with a lot of wobbly statues. We
need a lot of curtains that can blow mysteriously
in the wind. Make sure that whatever room they
book for it is appropriate in that way. Fantastic.
So I'm going to be busy. Yes. And that's why
it would have been so helpful if you had, you
know. you know written me a letter back um but
you were sleeping and I, I do get that um so you
go back to doing that and then tomorrow you can
start working you know you know there's stuff
i'm trying to do here you know and you're coming
with me. You and me. You and me, Nick. yeah and uh
Share the profits. Sharing the profits. Yep.
Okay. And that's why I put up with you. Yeah,
you love me. Do I? Yeah. Do I? No, I don't know.
I don't care. Listen, I got my mouse. I got your
mouse. I'm not sure what that's a euphemism for,
but you know, you do you. Yeah, someday you'll
learn. Once you've earned it, you can meet the
mouse. You're still on the probationary period.
I'm kidding. Not really sure what that's an euphemism
for. The mouse skitters out of my pocket. I'm
like, oh, there he is. His name's Gus, I decided.
Fantastic. Now I've met the mouse, so I guess
I'm out of the probationary period. Skitters
up Nick's arm. Don't hate it. You don't hate
it? Okay. That's good to know because there are
mice in the building as well. I've had weird
things skitter on me while I'm asleep. Oh, geez.
But that's a story for another time. I'm going
to take this mouse back and leave. Fantastic.
I'm going to see you so soon. I'll make a list
of what we've got to work with. Yep. Send it
to me in the mail. Maybe? I'll drop off some
more seeds for your little friend. Thank you.
Yeah, by the way, this is what the seeds are
for, is the mouse. I don't know if I explained
that before. You did. Oh, I did. At length, multiple
times. Oh, you know, I forget. I'm juggling a
lot these days. Understandable. Yeah. And make
sure you give it to Trudy. Don't drop it off
in the front, because they get so weird. Of course
not. It's so weird when people drop off mouse
seeds. The old lady seems just weird enough to
be perfectly fine with this. I'll get on that.
Glad you're not dead. I'll see you in a couple
days. Were you afraid I was going to break my
neck falling out of the hammock? You didn't respond
to my mail. How was I supposed to know, Nick?
You do realize it takes time to get correspondence
back and forth, right? Yeah. Listen, the last
few days, it's felt like a lifetime. Okay, you
go back to sleep. I'll see you in a few days.
I'm gonna. Okay. All right. Anything else? All
right, nighttime shenanigans for everyone? Mr.
Salt? I think he'll make sure Lord Lefroy is
all set if he needs anything before bed. And
then he will check in with, he's going to check
in with Pierre and Pilar if there's anything
else needed around the house. I think he's going
to kind of preemptively apologize to the parents.
And just in case you're thinking, I've got, I
mistakenly was a little too informal today at
the park and I wanted to apologize in advance.
I've been a little extra proud of your son of
late and I let that slip, but it won't happen
again. I'm so sorry. Pierre just goes, hmm. Understandable.
And Pilar is, oh, well, you know, he's growing
up. He's growing up. He spoke to so many young
ladies the other night, and it's... Such a good
job. He was crushing it. Crushing it. So happy.
And he's speaking a lot about this Fiona. I think
there's something there. Ooh. Ooh. Could we get
first time out lucky? That would be wonderful.
All fingers crossed, my lady. Fantastic. Okay,
well, we have things to do tomorrow, and so I
believe my husband and I shall be retiring. Don't
worry about it. You know we love you. So, yes,
everything's fine. Everything's good. If you
need me, do not hesitate to call, and he'll retire
for the evening. Fantastic. Pierre, come on.
Come along. Where does Salt... Does he have a
room in the house? He does. Okay. Cool. Then,
yeah, he'll... I think he'll retire. He'll take
off his workman's gloves. He'll retire to his
pajama coveralls that he has. It's really a flannel
onesie. Yeah, yeah. It's another pair. It's just
exact coveralls with a different oil stain. Yeah,
he'll put his gloves away. He'll put his boots
away. And I think, yeah, why not? He'll kind
of sit at, he doesn't quite have a desk, but
I think he has a table. Yeah, he's got like a
chair with a small end table to it. that he has
a drawer with some of the like the goings on
of like bills that need to be paid or if there
are orders that need to be done, people need
to check in on. He just kind of fingers through
and he kind of lingers for a second on a letter
that he's had in there holding the nondescript
but identifiable seal of a member of the New
Britannia military that's just been sitting there
and closes the door behind him. Yeah. All right.
And, you know, I think we're going to close and
pick up. again anew with the next episode. Everyone
will have a little bit of time to prepare as
invitations flood in for the ball hosted by Lavinia
Gadwallow. And with that, we will see you next
week. Enjoy! What is the mysterious sealed letter
that Salt holds? Will Mary and Nicodemus have
enough juice to make a splash at the seance?
Will Samuel's involvement in breaking down the
door come back to bite him? Who or what are these
dolls and will Ruby and Edgewater ever learn
how to clean? The answers are just around the
corner on the next episode of Scandals and Scavengers.
Thank you for listening to Scandals and Scavengers,
a Post-apocalyptic Regency Romance with Daniel
Begin as Ruby Grace Rhinelander, MattstheLast
as Lord Samuel Drake, Johnny McEIearney as Second
Lieutenant Immortan Salt, Emily Carmen Weldon
as Mary Smith, Bo Powell as Edgewater Clarence,
and Evan Kelly as the Game Master. Produced by
Evan Kelly, Trope Warden Bo Powell. Hey, this
is Daniel. Thanks for listening. If you're enjoying
what you're hearing, consider supporting us on
Patreon where we release episodes early and you'll
get access to our post-show cast discussions,
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