MIKE: “Alright, let’s go over the facts of the case again.”
[MUSIC FADES IN]
DARIUS: So, his name is Sylvester Coopersmith, he is a former soccer player, but then he got injured. “You wouldn’t happen to know of any places where drug addicts or meth labs would be?”
GWEN: Rosetta Kamen is a young woman. She grew up in a not so great situation. Her dad was involved with some shady stuff.
MIKE: “Okay I understand, but do you have any form of ID on you whatsoever? Credit card, even?”
GWEN: And I hand him my library card.
MIKE: That’ll work.
GWEN: It’s got a fake name on it.
MIKE: Okay, what is the fake name?
GWEN: The fake name is Rochelle Stone. “We were coming from Sandra’s house,” and I point to Desdemona.
CHRISTINE: Sometimes Jack helps me, no that’s bad. We don’t know exactly what Jack is.
MIKE: You are finally able to get a better look at this thing. It’s not humanoid. The details you particularly make out, some of these limbs seem to be wrapped directly around Desdemona, as if choking her. “You’re bleeding?”
THOM: “Shit, am I?”
MIKE: Their nose is also bleeding.
THOM: “You okay, Cagney?”
MIKE: “Are you?”
[INTRO MUSIC]
MIKE: Hey, by the way, gross.
THOM: So, where did we leave off?
MIKE: So, where we left off was you were in Four Corners of the Earth, and you had gotten a text from your counselor, the one you got special arrangement with Sylvester—through Sylvester, rather, saying “Emergency sesh 3:00 PM?” and Sylvester had gotten a work email from the psychology dean suggesting that that student in their department they know was acting erratically. Before we get into the scenes at the college, I wanted to bring up something that I think Ro can be doing and spending some time working on.
GWEN: Okay.
MIKE: Ro, now that you know the problem is meth wendigos—I had to think and make sure I said it right. Now that you know that you have a problem with that, you might think that this could be something related to, well obviously drug running and criminal activity, which you do happen to know that your father’s criminal stuff was involved in drug running in the northeast. So, you don’t know if there’s any relation to your father or his activities, but that is something that you could spend some time trying to determine.
GWEN: So, that’s part of the reason I asked if there was any identifiable kind of things found, I want to—at least I was thinking I get a list of people who have gone missing and maybe related, and investigate more into that, but also I was hoping as Ro I could maybe come up with a way to talk to the families and put their mind at ease for their missing relative, but I was definitely thinking of “Okay, where is this leading, longer term with the drug thing?”
MIKE: So, okay. What I’m going to do is I think mildly homebrew the way Contacts work. So, if you want to do some investigating with people that you can still talk to, you can roll a Contacts roll, and I’m going to be doing this sort of like Thaumaturgy, I think. It’s not totally like Thaumaturgy, it doesn’t map one-to-one, but I’ll give you a difficulty, and I’ll give you a time that it’s going to take for you to get the information that you need, and if you match, it’s going to just take that time, and if you go below that number, that many time increments more is necessary.
GWEN: Okay.
MIKE: So, I’m going to start it at An Afternoon, which would basically take you out of any scenes for the rest of the day, so I think giving people stuff to do for the rest of the day is probably good because we can get through that and get to the next day as well, but since it’s going to be base An Afternoon, if you are off by one, it’s going to bump to A Day. If you’re off by two it’s going to bump to A Few Days, and then A Week, A Few Weeks, and so on, so.
GWEN: Okay.
MIKE: Alright, I’m going to say that the information you need, because you’re trying to figure out who is moving what drugs in this region, that’s going to be kind of not easy information to come by, so I’m going to say that that is a difficulty of four, and you’re going to roll against that with Contacts.
GWEN: Okay.
MIKE: Okay, so it looks like the information you need is going to take a week.
GWEN: So, yeah, I’m going to use the Not My Father’s Son Aspect and hope that because I’m not my father’s son, but I’ve experienced a lot of the ways he does things, I can kind of find an easier way to get the information I need. Does that work?
MIKE: Okay, I will accept this as a justification for bumping your zero up to a plus two.
GWEN: Heck yeah!
MIKE: So, that’s a three on your Contacts, which means it’s going to—you’re not going to get the best info. You will get the info you are trying to get, but it’s inelegant and it’s going to take you an entire day’s worth of effort.
GWEN: I’ll take it.
MIKE: Okay. Everyone, don’t forget that there was a Refresh there because we did take a break for between sessions, so I think the level of conflict and drama of trying to resolve certain things and getting information and answers, I’ll say that that necessitates a little Minor Refresh as well. So, yeah, more Fate Points for you. Enjoy.
GWEN: So, to clarify with the Refresh real quick, is it the Adjusted Refresh plus whatever was left over from last session?
MIKE: Yes, whatever you haven’t used for Fate Points just stays in your pool.
GWEN: Sweet.
MIKE: So, yeah, that’s part of the whole using the Trouble is I’m offering to buff up your pool of available—not hit points, Fate Points, for later when you might need them more. Oh no, I’m sorry. Okay, I’m not going to do that right now. I just had a terrible, awful, evil idea, and note the Grinch mouth curl happening.
GWEN: No.
MIKE: Yeah. So, that’s an idea that we can deal with later. Desdemona—Christine, rather. Desdemona doesn’t know that it’s going to take Ro a day to do what she needs to do, but in the intervening scenes, do you have anything you really are going to be doing or working on?
CHRISTINE: Nothing other than what I already had planned for the day, I suppose.
MIKE: Alright, and remind me what you were planning on doing today.
CHRISTINE: I was planning on taking in any walk-in clients and stress cleaning the house and possibly thinking about ways to improve the wards on the house.
MIKE: Okay, cool. That makes sense. Cool, I think we should move into the sort of ‘happening at the same time’ scenes between Albion and Sylvester and the people they’re meeting at the university. Are you going to drive over together?
DARIUS: I mean, might as well.
THOM: Makes sense.
MIKE: Alright. So, you arrive at the medical school at the University of Vermont. You’re both heading to the same area, but to different rooms, obviously. Albion.
THOM: Yep.
MIKE: You arrive to meet Cagney at the office space that they’ve sort of co-opted for these sort of makeshift counseling sessions, and I assume you knock and are let in and Cagney seems to be definitely a little on edge, but like a person who's trying to keep calm and control of themselves, but you can tell that they’re a little tense and on edge about something.
THOM: “Hey there Cag, wasn’t expecting another appointment so soon. How’s it going?”
MIKE: “Yeah, yeah we don’t usually have them back to back, it’s been sparse over the past few months, but only whenever we have time. Thank your buddy Dr. Coopersmith there for getting this to even happen at all, but yeah, normally we don’t have two back to back, but I did have to ask, is there anything that you should tell me about that you haven’t yet?”
THOM: “Hey Cagney, yeah we should talk.”
MIKE: You see them just sort of idly fidgeting with a Newton’s Cradle on the desk. “Well, that is what we’re here for. So, what would you like to talk about, Albion?”
THOM: “Why don’t I let you ask the questions? You seem to have something specific in mind.”
MIKE: “Well, I try not to—I try to let the person that I am working with lead the session, and I can guide as necessary. I feel like it’s so much easier for you to open up if it’s you directing it.”
THOM: “Alright.”
MIKE: They sort of set the Newton’s Cradle to stop.
THOM: “So, this ain’t actual sessions, so I don’t know how much doctor-patient confidentiality applies here.”
MIKE: “Oh, it would be unethical for me to do anything other than proper doctor-patient confidentiality.”
THOM: “Alright, and honestly, I have a feeling that you might know where this conversation is headed based on some observations I made, so—“
MIKE: “That’s interesting. I’d actually like to ask you, where do you think this conversation is heading?”
THOM: “Well, let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”
MIKE: “No, actually I think I’d like to cross that bridge right now.”
THOM: “You know that these dreams I’ve been having ain’t just dreams, don’t you?”
MIKE: “Okay, well what are they then? And please don’t lie to me this time.”
THOM: “In that case, I’m going to have to ask you to be 100% honest with me as well, Cagney, because I—”
MIKE: “Well, that’s where the difficulty of this comes in. I have been nothing but honest with you. However, from day one, you haven’t been honest with me.”
THOM: “Cagney, here’s the thing. You’ve been honest with me, because I haven’t had to ask you the questions that are probably going to come up from this conversation. Here’s the thing. Believe it or not, even given what I’m about to suggest, I trust you, because I have reason to. Cag, I think you might not exactly be totally in the dark on this either. I think you might know as well as I do that a lot of what I’ve been talking about is just the way the world is.”
MIKE: They stop you. “You—I don’t know what you’re afraid of right now, but it shouldn’t be me.”
THOM: “I’m nervous about a lot of things, Cagney. I’m nervous that I’m wrong and you’re just going to think I’m crazy, I’m nervous I might just be fucking crazy, but I saw your eyes when things were wrapping up last time. I’ve seen that very rarely in other cases, what I saw. Cagney, I’m a monster hunter. There’s things that go bump in the night. I make sure they don’t bump twice. A lot of these dreams I’ve been having where I fight these things, that’s stuff that has left very real, very physical scars on me. Fuck, I can show you.”
MIKE: “I don’t think that will be necessary, because you’re finally telling the truth.”
THOM: “Cag, you’re one of them, aren’t you?”
MIKE: They look a little confused. “Wait, one of what?”
THOM: “You’re not totally human, I suspect.”
MIKE: “No, I am.”
THOM: “Then what happened with your eyes?”
MIKE: “Alright, you’re an intelligent person.”
THOM: “Don’t give me too much credit, I’m from fucking Oklahoma.”
MIKE: “And so are a lot of wonderfully intelligent people. Don’t be so down on yourself. You’re using humor as a deflection from tension, I know. Look, I want you to think very carefully about some things, and try to come to a conclusion on this on your own. This is literally what counseling is about, and right now I’m—this is kind of weird, but put the pieces together.” You remember that they just called you out for having never been honest with them from day one.
THOM: Yeah.
MIKE: You recall that when you had a nosebleed and your eyes were dilated, so were theirs, in very much the same manner.
THOM: Yeah.
MIKE: And you’re starting to recollect now that they have accused you of never being honest, times when you have said things and their posture has shifted in ways that were very subtle, but now you’re starting to remember that they seemed to be reacting to things that you weren’t saying. Like when you were describing things that were genuinely terrifying, they—you start realizing that without noticing it, they were tensing up.
THOM: Alright, I’m going to make a Lore roll.
MIKE: Go for it. This is going to be a difficulty four.
THOM: That is a six.
MIKE: Okay, fantastic.
THOM: I got all fours.
MIKE: Wow! Okay.
THOM: All plusses, rather.
MIKE: Yeah, you rolled four plusses. So, before I reveal what the result of that is, we’re going to the scene that is happening simultaneously.
THOM: Oh, you bastard, racking up the tension!
MIKE: Sylvester, you have arrived at the office of the dean of psychology, Dr. Nguyen, N-G-U-Y-E-N. You, I assume, knock and she ushers you in. “Ah, Sylvester, it’s so good to see you.”
DARIUS: “Hey Dr. Nguyen, how’s things?”
MIKE: “Oh, things are I guess a little confusing at the moment, maybe a little stressed out. You know, end of winter break, ramping up for a new semester, ships start surfacing in the lake, who knows?”
DARIUS: “Yeah, weird stuff.”
MIKE: “Yeah, I suppose a little more odd and stressful than a normal start to a semester. So, I wondered if any of that was affecting our friend Cagney.”
DARIUS: “What would make you suggest that?”
MIKE: “Well, I know that you and Cagney have a bit of a friendship, definitely understand that you two are familiar with each other and rather friendly. I think that they had a class with you at one point and you got on pretty well, but Cagney has been behaving a little unusually. I’ve had some of the other folks around campus happen to have mentioned that they happen to speak to them or see them and noticed that they were behaving a little differently than normal. For the past couple months there’s been a bit of agitation that their professors have noticed. It’s been getting a little more and more significant, to the point that it’s starting to affect their classwork. So, yes, especially in the last month or so. I’ve been trying to talk to various people. We care about our students here and their wellbeing and when someone is behaving a little anomalously, I figured I might as well interview a few people.”
DARIUS: “Makes sense.”
MIKE: “Yeah. Most recently, it seems to have come to a bit of a head yesterday and earlier today. Somebody noticed them sort of moving quickly down one of the hallways, sort of preoccupied. It seemed like they may have been wiping away blood from their face, not totally sure.”
DARIUS: “Theirs or someone else’s?”
MIKE: “Well, we don’t know for sure if they were, but that’s—the faculty that saw them said that they looked like they were wiping blood away from their nose.”
DARIUS: “So, a nosebleed. Is that what happened?”
MIKE: “Yes, potentially, but moving sort of rather rapidly away as if to suggest that they were in some sort of distress, and the professor tried to stop them, but they were—they just continued unimpeded.”
DARIUS: “I mean, is there any other reason? Because it sounds like they just had a nosebleed and they were trying to run to the bathroom, man. Obviously they wouldn’t stop for anybody if you were bleeding blood all over the place. You’ve got to stuff tissues up that. So, I guess my question would be, Dr. Nguyen, do you have anything that has a little more weight to it, or I don’t know, is there some kind of security tape footage that matches some of this weird stuff? Something more I can work with, I suppose. It’s a little weird, but I’m just saying it sounds a little thin.”
MIKE: “Well, yes. There have been other faculty that have mentioned sort of seeing them sort of pacing nervously, talking to themselves, or other somewhat erratic behavior, but I suppose we can cut past some of that. They also noticed an individual who doesn’t seem to be a student having left the campus. Apparently, the same faculty person saw this individual sort of—I don’t know who they were, in fact, leaving shortly before Cagney, and they also seemed to be in distress.
DARIUS: “Hm.”
MIKE: “Now I did a little asking and it seems like somebody has actually seen you and that person together before, because when a different faculty member that I asked about Cagney mentioned them, they mentioned having seen you and them in the same place before.”
DARIUS: “I think I know where this is going.”
MIKE: “I don’t know where this is going. I’m asking you, where is this going?”
DARIUS: “Yeah, so the thing is, I have a friend who’s been through a lot of stuff. He’s a veteran, he was deployed overseas, he came back with a lot of PTSD and the like, so I know that he can’t afford insurance just because of the VA being the VA, and so I figured I would try to do him a solid and have I guess Cagney help him with some of his baggage, because I figured it would be good for the two of them, since I know who he is, I know he’s not going to pull any crazy shit, pardon my French—“
MIKE: “Pardoned.”
2”—and I know who they are and I know that they could use the experience and they’re good at what they do, even if they’re green. So, yeah. I think the person in question you’re talking about is my friend, but I don’t think he did anything to them if that’s what you’re implying about the nose—about the blood. Is that what you’re implying?”
MIKE: I’m going to have you roll Deceit, because there is some lie in there.
DARIUS: Yeah.
MIKE: But because you’re definitely couching a lot of that in the truth, I’m going to say that there is a tag on the scene that you are Mostly Telling the Truth, and that you are using it to conveniently cover that lie.
DARIUS: Shit, I have no Deceit.
MIKE: Well, I’m going to take the tag as mostly they trust you. They have a healthy respect and rapport with you.
DARIUS: Okay.
MIKE: So, they’re rolling at a minus two, pretty much.
THOM: Tag an Aspect, please. I don’t need to go to jail.
MIKE: Well, what was your total there, Sylvester?
DARIUS: I guess negative one.
MIKE: Okay.
DARIUS: But they trust me, so it’s a minus two, so isn’t that a pass anyway?
MIKE: I have rolled for them, and they have rolled minus two on the dice, minus two more.
DARIUS: Okay, great.
MIKE: Unfortunately, that still means they beat you by one.
THOM: Note, Darius added a minus two to his roll.
MIKE: They are literally the dean of the psychology department, they have a good Empathy.
DARIUS: Shit balls. I only have a one Empathy.
MIKE: So, if you want to, you can—
THOM: No, but Michael, hold on. Darius—oh no, never mind, I was reading it wrong.
MIKE: So, if you want to, you can definitely throw a Fate Point.
DARIUS: Yeah.
MIKE: Yeah. What Aspect are you going to tag to sell a lie that is mostly the truth, but there is a particularly bold lie in it?
DARIUS: Three Legged Horse.
MIKE: Alright, justify.
DARIUS: Shit, I forgot what the Three Legged Horse is.
MIKE: Honestly, you can use the name of it as a springboard for pretty much whatever.
DARIUS: Okay.
MIKE: The way that this mechanic works is you have a bunch of Aspects with names, and you can use those as a springboard into bullshitting me.
DARIUS: “Okay, so I’ve been through some traumatic injury junk, and I got better at it. You probably know the story already, Dr. Nguyen. You know, former major league soccer player—almost major league soccer player, probably might have made World Cup, got injured, became a doctor instead, here we are. So, my friend has been down a similar path, both of them, and well I figured I was trying to do my two friends a solid, because I really didn’t want them to go through, well, the depressing heartache that I’ve been through. So, I mean, if something bad happened, from them, that’s really what it is.”
MIKE: “Okay, Dr. Coopersmith, I do trust your judgement, and I respect your decision. I think that what you’re doing is very kind and that you are definitely operating with the best intent at heart. In fact, this might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard of you doing.”
DARIUS: “Sorry, go on.”
MIKE: “But I feel as though you should have consulted with me first.”
DARIUS: “You’re right, and I apologize for that.”
MIKE: “Yep, we just want to make sure that we are holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards possible, and yes, I don’t begrudge you, and I’m not going to make any sort of big deal out of this, but in the future, just make sure that you consult with me first, alright?”
DARIUS: “I will.”
MIKE: “Okay, because Cagney is my student, after all.”
DARIUS: “Yes.”
MIKE: “Very well. Well, I believe we’ve gotten to the heart of the matter, so I thank you for your time, and I will be interviewing Cagney about this as well, and I will say that it is entirely possible that this could result in no more future visits from your veteran friend unless I am thoroughly convinced by Cagney to continue letting them gather real world experience. If they’re able to convince me of that, then fine, but it seems likely that perhaps no more visits with this particular individual, and any further work study, I suppose should be approved through me.”
DARIUS: “Understood.”
MIKE: And we cut back to Cagney.
THOM: And the result of my roll.
MIKE: “I’ve always been able to feel, what other people feel.” You think that Cagney has a Minor Talent. You think that they’re an empath.
THOM: “Holy shit, I misread this situation entirely.”
MIKE: “Oh. I can feel the relief.”
THOM: “Okay, so, alright. Holy shit. I thought you might be a White Court vampire, I don’t know if you know what that is, but holy shit, this is way easier to swallow.”
MIKE: They look at you confused. “A what?”
THOM: “Ah shit, okay. So, vampires are real, first of all. Got to drop that bomb on you. Second of all, some of them feed on emotion, and that makes them have an empathic nature naturally, so I thought that that was what was going on there. It somehow did not occur to me that you might just be an empath.”
MIKE: Cagney just sort of stares at you for a moment, blinking, mouth slightly agape.
THOM: “I told you, I hunt monsters, and there are a lot of different kinds of monster.”
MIKE: “Well, I definitely know that you think you’re telling the truth, at the very least.”
THOM: “Like I said, I got the scars to show for it.”
MIKE: “Okay, perhaps we should pick this up another time. I feel like there’s a lot to unpack from—“
THOM: “Before we do that, it is my responsibility now that I know, I have to ask you a couple things, Cag. Do you know anyone else that has talents like yours in the area? Because there are others, and you don’t have to go through this alone. I can give you a phone number, I can get you in touch. There’s a whole lot of people out there actually who might be able to help you make more sense of some of this, who might be able to help guide you and help you kind of figure things out a little bit with your place in the wider world of this kind of thing.”
MIKE: “I just had to find out by growing up that other people didn’t feel what other people felt the same way. You’re suggesting something very outside of my scope of understanding there, Albion.”
THOM: “I will give you a choice on that. I’m going to pull a Matrix on you. I can either leave it at this, where you kind of limit your window on this and stay, hopefully, blissfully unaware, or I can help you open your door to the wider world of this kind of thing.”
MIKE: “How about we discuss this. I have some time to think about the things you are suggesting very very honestly to me, and I have a little bit of time to sort of digest what you are saying and suggesting, and we just set another—how about a week from today? Oh, hold on. They get out their phone to look at their calendar, and they notice that they have an email, and they sort of look up at you and say “Yeah, next week. I’ll get you a better idea of time, but I actually have to go.”
THOM: I just hold out Desdemona’s business card.
MIKE: “Thanks.”
THOM: “Now, I know you might be wondering ‘Now why is he handing you the business card for a psychic?’ Wider world. She’s good people, she’ll understand.”
MIKE: They put it away in a pocket and say “I have to go meet with the dean, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
THOM: “You watch out for yourself, alright?”
MIKE: “Yeah, you do too.”
THOM: And Albion just kind of gives them a nod and then leaves.
MIKE: Alright.
THOM: Shoots Des a text saying “Okay, was wrong. Not vampire, just empath.”
[MUSIC; EPISODE BREAK]
MIKE: Hi everybody, it’s Michael, your game master. I’m bad with words this week, so nothing else special. Yep, bad with words. Thank you so much for listening to the fifth episode of our podcast. That’s so many episodes! I almost have to use two hands. Has anyone ever had more episodes of a podcast than that before? Oh wait, no, I just checked. Our friends over at the Rule of Cool Podcast, a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons actual play podcast that is occasionally inappropriate and frequently distracted. No, they have 68 episodes. 59 of those are main series episodes which leaves—hold on, I’m bad at math and words today—nine episodes of side scenarios. So, yeah, they’ve put in the work. They’re very fun, I enjoy them quite a bit. Our friend Jay, who tweeted about the show previously, plays a character called Vaan, a half-elf sorcerer with a secret identity of Thomas Atwell Urgy, which is just a fantastic D&D pun, I love it. You can go follow them on Twitter @RuleOfCoolCast, and speaking of, we have a Twitter, obviously, GMMCast, but now we have a Facebook page, and it’s over 100 people that like it already, which, I mean, that kind of blows my mind actually a little bit, because we’re just doing this to have fun, and the fact that anybody listens is wonderful, so again, huge thanks, I cannot say enough. We also have a Discord server now, and all of these links can be found in the episode description. So, come on join the fun! Talk to us, we’re actually active in the Discord, we’ll chat at you and share memes and whatever. As always, a huge thanks to the Pocket Podcast Network for hosting our humble show. There are so many wonderful programs on there, like Avocado Toast, and Home Viewing, and I started listening to Sorted recently, which is just—I just love this concept of ‘let’s take media properties and sort them into Hogwarts houses,’ it’s very good. Obviously, Dipper from Gravity Falls is a Ravenclaw, and Mabel is—I mean, she’s such a Slytherin. So, go check them out. I’ll probably put the ad for them right here.
[MUSIC; AD FOR SORTED]
JD: Hey Alex, you love Harry Potter, right?
ALEX: Yeah!
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ALEX: No.
JD: Oh.
ALEX: But Sorted is not a Harry Potter podcast, but instead a podcast about everything else, viewed through the lens of Harry Potter.
JD: What does that mean?
ALEX: It means we’re going to sort things!
JD: Ash Ketchum’s a Syltherin!
ALEX: Drax is a Gryffindor!
JD: Your dog is a Hufflepuff.
ALEX: And all Ravenclaws are robots.
JD: Come check out Sorted, not a Harry Potter podcast.
ALEX: On the Pocket Podcast Network.
[END OF BREAK]
MIKE: Ro.
GWEN: Yes.
MIKE: So, I am going to offer you a Fate Point.
GWEN: Okay.
MIKE: Because I think there is a natural complication of the thing that you are attempting to do. You are attempting to reach out to criminal contacts in and around the area, and I think that at some point in the evening, you are trying to meet with somebody to get some information, and this could go swimmingly if you throw a Fate Point my way, or I can give you a Fate Point for you to have an encounter with Detective Sergeant Ditko, the fellow that you met on the docks.
GWEN: Yeah, he thinks my name is Rochelle Stone. Okay, I will take it.
MIKE: You’re going to take the Fate Point? So, we’re going to have a scene now with you and the detective, correct?
GWEN: Correct.
MIKE: Okay. You are heading to meet someone down at a crepery down at the waterfront. Yes, this is a real place.
THOM: The Skinny Pancake.
MIKE: The Skinny Pancake, it’s a real place.
THOM: That name is so on the nose, and I need to eat there next time we’re in Burlington.
MIKE: Absolutely. If we go back there, we’ll visit Quarterstaff Games and get a crepe.
THOM: I mean, Joey is coming up in January.
MIKE: Alright, but so as you are approaching the waterfront, you see a familiar face, and as that familiar face sees your familiar face, and before you can properly duck into the crepery and out of their sight, you hear, “Ms. Stone, if I could borrow you for a minute.”
GWEN: “Hey detective, long time no see. What’s the haps?”
MIKE: “Yeah. I just figured I might have some follow up questions from yesterday morning. Do you have any follow up questions for me, before we start?”
THOM: “Yeah, how have you been? How’s the family?”
MIKE: “Okay, definitely meant related to the case, so that’s nice. Glad that you care about that, but let’s focus on—“ and he sort of waves behind him “—the time that you were at the waterfront yesterday morning as a ship was apparently being summoned from the depths.”
GWEN: “Yeah, did you ever figure out what that was? Was it like college kids, or like a group of dads or stepdads trying to impress their kids?”
MIKE: “You got a real fun sarcastic streak, don’t you? That’s going to make this whole thing so much more entertaining.”
GWEN: “No, what’s up? What can I help you with?”
MIKE: “Currently, people think weather anomaly, but we noticed that there were—still not quite sure what you were actually doing there, and still not 100% certain why any of you four were at the scene of a rather bizarre weather anomaly, apparently. Can’t quite fathom what was going on there, and I definitely noticed one of you interacting with some sort of object, that I believe you took from the scene. So, just figured I might follow up on what that was.”
GWEN: “I honestly can’t say I know what you’re talking about. I know that I went home immediately afterwards and hung out with my cat, so unless what someone took was a cat toy, I can’t really help you there, bud.”
MIKE: You’re going to have to roll a Deceit for that.
GWEN: Yeah, I figured.
THOM: It’s okay, you’re good at that.
GWEN: That’s a four.
MIKE: And you got a what? What’s your total?
GWEN: That’s a four.
MIKE: Okay, wow. Good job tying. “So, now I don’t understand—I know that it wasn’t you who picked up the item, and I appreciate your willingness to try to cover for one of your friends. I believe that you went right home. However, I don’t know about your friend, who took whatever that item was. Do you happen to know what the item in question was?”
GWEN: “I can’t say I do. I only know my one associate, Sandra. As you heard, her house is being renovated. The other folks I kind of just met. They’re friends of hers, so I don’t really know them or their situations or what they may or may not have taken from a crime scene?”
MIKE: You actually happen to know exactly what they took, so Deceit please. Okay.
GWEN: Another four.
MIKE: Well, another four. Well, you have beaten them by more than one, so “Okay, alright. Okay. I understand. That’s unfortunate that you don’t happen to know what was taken. I don’t think I should be asking a civilian to issue a warrant, but is it possible that we could get in touch with your friend?”
GWEN: “I mean, I can’t make any promises, but next time I see her, I can ask her about it. What was taken?”
MIKE: “That’s literally what I am trying to find out from you.”
GWEN: “Oh, so we’re both on the same page of not being involved, got it.”
MIKE: “Oh, you are a fun one. Yes, I remember. You’re the one that asked for my badge number. Well then, look, I don’t know too much. I clearly don’t know you, and I don’t know who you are, but Ms. Stone,” he seems to say the name with a little doubt.
GWEN: “Yes, sir.”
MIKE: “You know where your friend lives, correct?”
GWEN: “I know a general area. I typically don’t pay attention. I’m a little directionally challenged.”
MIKE: “But you’ve been there before, correct?”
GWEN: “I’m afraid I couldn’t give you directions though.”
MIKE: “But you’d recognize it if you were, say, in the back of a patrol car.”
GWEN: Crap. “I mean, maybe. I guess so, but I’ve actually got to pick up some food, then I’m off to a doctor’s appointment, so I really don’t have time right now.”
MIKE: “That’s okay, we can grab food on the way if you need.”
GWEN: “I have a very important doctor’s appointment. It’s a follow up. I kind of can’t miss it.”
MIKE: “They can reschedule.”
GWEN: Oh no.
MIKE: “I’m curious as to what the follow up is for.”
GWEN: “I had a hospital visit not too long ago and have what’s—it’s just a genetic condition in my family, to make sure that my personal private information—that I’m taken care of. I don’t really feel like disclosing that, because it’s again personal and private.”
MIKE: Give me a big old Deceit roll. Wow, you keep rolling flat zeroes, huh?
GWEN: Fours across the board.
MIKE: “Okay, alright. Well, let’s say that I do in fact believe that you have to go do these things. Could I see your license again?”
GWEN: “Oh yeah, still don’t have a license. It’s my library card.”
THOM: Jesus fricking Christ.
MIKE: “Alright, so nothing with your address on it?”
GWEN: “Oh no, library card should have my address.” My fake address.
DARIUS: We’re going to have to pay your bail, aren’t we?
MIKE: “Could I get your address, ma’am?”
GWEN: “Yep, it’s 56 North Shore Road, Burlington, Vermont, the greatest town in the world.”
MIKE: Alright, you’re going to have to roll a deception or a Deceit on that. Great, I am so mad. The detective sergeant rolled a minus three on their dice, and you rolled a plus one on your dice.
GWEN: Yeah.
MIKE: That is unfathomable. Unfathomable. Now I have to justify that this is a thing that they believe.
THOM: It’s un-fucking-imaginable.
GWEN: All I did was give them my address.
MIKE: Did you give me a real—?
GWEN: It’s a real place. No, it’s not the real address.
MIKE: Okay.
THOM: Can we just say it’s the address to a fricking 7-Eleven?
MIKE: “So, when I have an officer show up there later tonight for some follow up questions, you know just a simple follow up checkup—“
DARIUS: P.O. box.
MIKE: “-- they’ll find you there, correct?”
GWEN: “I mean, provided I’m home. I might have to work, but I don’t know.”
MIKE: “You don’t know if you’re going to have to work?”
GWEN: “I’m on call tonight.”
THOM: [laughter] Ro, you are such a shit.
GWEN: You’re welcome.
MIKE: And you have actually opened the door for this follow up question.
GWEN: No!
DARIUS: Womp womp.
THOM: Where do you work?
MIKE: “Yes, and what is your place of employment, Ms. Stone? We may need to follow up with you there.”
THOM: Oh my god, I am so tempted to throw a Fate Point to have Albion show up and be like “Well howdy, can I interrupt and distract you?”
GWEN: “I work at a soup shop towards the center of town. It’s a newer bistro.”
MIKE: “I see. And the name of this soup shop, this bistro?”
THOM: Should I throw a Fate point to show up?
GWEN: “It’s called Zabby’s Elf & Stone.”
MIKE: “I’m sorry, say that again?”
GWEN: “Zabby’s Elf & Stone.”
MIKE: Oh my god, that real place.
GWEN: Yep.
MIKE: [laughter] roll Deceit.
THOM: Oh god, where’s the rolls.
MIKE: Oh no, the rolls aren’t showing up.
GWEN: Oh no!
MIKE: Dice roller bot.
GWEN: Can I just say it’s a 20?
MIKE: I don’t think that’s how that works.
GWEN: Oh, oh no.
MIKE: Oh, interesting. So, you got a plus one, and he got a plus three.
GWEN: Oh no.
MIKE: Okay. “Well, I’m glad I have to busy two different officers with their time tonight, so if they don’t find you at that address, I’m sure that they can just find you at your place of employment for some follow up questions.”
GWEN: “That should be correct.” Also, sidenote guys, tonight’s the night to commit crimes, because all the cops are busy looking for me.
DARIUS: What are you talking about? Tonight is the perfect time to cook meth.
GWEN: I can keep going if you want, how many cops do you got?
THOM: I also might be at the gym. That’s here. I also might feel like going to a movie. Here’s the address of the movie theater. Maybe I’ll just need to take a poop. Here’s the address of my favorite public bathroom.
MIKE: Oh man, you realize that—
THOM: 12 officers are just like “She’s not here.” “She’s not here either!” “I thought it was her, but it was just some homeless person in the bathroom. This is her favorite public restroom? It’s a mess.”
MIKE: I love the fact that you’re interacting with a person who can’t necessarily ask you about certain things unless they have suspicion to do so, and then you keep giving it to them.
GWEN: But none of it’s correct.
MIKE: Yeah, so you are definitely heading to get arrested at some point.
GWEN: On what charges though? Because I’ll just keep confusing them.
MIKE: You are currently lying to the police.
THOM: So, that’s obstruction.
GWEN: That’s not a crime.
MIKE: It is literally a crime, obstruction of justice.
DARIUS: Yeah, it is.
GWEN: I beg to differ, officer.
MIKE: This is not him talking, this is me, your dang game master.
GWEN: I know.
MIKE: Talking to you, Gwen, about the fact that Ro is currently committing a lot of obstruction of justice and is really likely going to get caught on it.
GWEN: You cannot be arrested for being an idiot, it’s fine.
MIKE: Well however, this absolutely—
THOM: Albion begs to differ.
MIKE: This 100% plays into the fact that we are going off of your Trouble Aspect You Have No Power Over Me for this Fate Point that you’re earning.
GWEN: Yeah.
THOM: Honestly, I really want to spend a Fate Point to show up, but I also don’t want to step on your toes.
MIKE: Alright, I mean, we can just deal with the ramifications of this now. Not now, but I’m okay with that.
GWEN: I have to move out of Vermont, ASAP.
THOM: Ro, the words “Am I being detained?” Those are the words you use.
GWEN: Actually, now that I think about it, did we ever get his badge number?
THOM: We did. I have it.
GWEN: Because I think I have it somewhere, I just don’t know where the paper is.
MIKE: Oh, I didn’t give you the real badge number in—you got the badge number in universe, I didn’t actually make one up.
GWEN: Ah. Well, you might have to do that soon.
MIKE: Oh my god, why?
GWEN: No, I’m kidding, it’s fine. “So, officer sergeant chief of police deputy Ditko, hey, I got to jet, man, but I would love to have this chat again if you ever want to catch up, but I like have to go now.”
MIKE: “Well then, I look forward to seeing you tonight.”
GWEN: “I’ll see you around, bud.”
MIKE: He returns to what he was doing, and you are able to meet your contact in the crepery. Now Ro, how are you going to avoid the police? You know what, we can deal with the fallout of that a little bit later.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
I guess out of game question is, Desdemona is there any significant thing that you plan on doing today?
CHRISTINE: I didn’t have any significant plans, no.
MIKE: Okay, because this episode has completely lacked you.
CHRISTINE: It’s okay.
MIKE: I mean, I’d prefer it didn’t.
THOM: I mean, Albion can talk to her about Jack.
GWEN: I can help Des get arrested.
MIKE: Oh my god. Well—
CHRISTINE: [laughter] Do you need an alibi, Ro?
GWEN: Actually, I might. Thanks.
MIKE: I feel like, yes, let’s go to Albion and Desdemona, and does Sylvester want to be there? Because you did take the same car.
DARIUS: Yeah, sure, why not?
MIKE: Alright.
THOM: Alright, so.
DARIUS: She could just say she was an intern.
MIKE: I know, right? As the door shuts on the crepery, the door opens on Desdemona’s house, and Albion and Sylvester come in and reconvene.
THOM: “Hey, Des.”
CHRISTINE: “Well hello!”
THOM: “So, I’m sure you got my text. Good news, my therapist is not a vampire, they’re just an empath. I also gave them your number, because they did not realize that they’re magic and that there’s a whole lot of other magic people.”
CHRISTINE: “Oh, hun.”
THOM: “Yeah. I hope you don’t mind me offering your services like that.”
CHRISTINE: “You know I never do.”
THOM: “Alright, good, because I figured if any of us are qualified for that, it is definitely you.”
CHRISTINE: “Well thank you.”
THOM: “Alright, well I’m going to grab myself a bottle of pop before I start this next conversation.”
CHRISTINE: “Oh well, you probably have your own drawer by now of your own pop in my fridge, so go for it.”
THOM: He pulls out another Boylan’s because he just—when he saw they had that, he just bought the entire shelf out of the Four Corners and was just like “I’m taking all of this, bye! Here’s money.”
CHRISTINE: Albion’s private reserve.
THOM: He also has a bunch of Ale-8 in there.
MIKE: Ladislav is not one to turn down that kind of cash.
DARIUS: It’s like Kong’s banana horde.
MIKE: I am however going to need Albion to make a Resources roll for that right now.
THOM: [laughter] Okay, I have a Resources of one, so that’s a two.
MIKE: Okay, yep. This is your once per session that you can get something outside of your normal budget.
CHRISTINE: And you spent it on pop.
THOM: Ale-8 is outside of my budget.
MIKE: Yeah, Ale-8 is outside of your budget, and so is Boylans.
THOM: Yeah, so Albion just cracks open an Ale-8, because he needs the caffeine.
MIKE: It’s Ale-8-One, by the way.
THOM: Ale-8-One, because he’s like “Wait, Cracker Barrel has this? Shit.” and he’s like “So, Des, Sylvester, y’all remember that time we were under a bridge talking to a troll, and I sort of freaked out and vomited after looking at Des?”
DARIUS: “Yeah.”
CHRISTINE: “Yes, it was disturbing.”
MIKE: “Finally some things cleared up on that, when I was talking to Cagney. I mean, I still don’t know quite what it is I saw, but Des, you got something with you, and it is not something good, so.”
CHRISTINE: “What do you mean?”
THOM: “I remember you were talking to yourself, muttering something like you were having a conversation with someone else, so I don’t know why I had a hunch, but I opened up my--” he taps the middle of his forehead “—opened up my Sight and just—I saw what was looming over you, and it was--” He shivers and just flinches, and just takes several more glugs.
CHRISTINE: “Albion, what did you see?”
THOM: “Well, I don’t really know what shape it was. It had limbs, and it was just holding onto you and some of them were around your neck, and its face was like it was some sort of mouth whispering in your ear, I think. I don’t know what it was, but it has had me undeniably fucked up for a while now, because I cannot wipe that image out of my head.” He taps his forehead again “Because you don’t get that privilege with the Sight. You see something, it is stuck in there forever. So, that is bouncing around with the first person I ever watched die, so that’s fun.”
CHRISTINE: Desdemona stops actively cleaning and just sits down and just kind of stares away.
THOM: “So, Des, and I want you to be completely honest with me, who were you talking to?”
CHRISTINE: “I only know him as Jack.”
THOM: “Alright. Who is he?”
CHRISTINE: “I don’t actually know. He sort of appeared one day when I was in a crisis and helped me out of a jam, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed with the wards I keep around the house, and I usually kind of keep to myself for the most part, but I can’t get rid of him, and I’ve tried, Albion. I’ve tried so hard for a long time now, but I don’t know what he is.”
THOM: “Well whatever he is, he is a whole hell of a lot of powerful. Just looking at him I—you saw, and it’s taken me this long to have a clear mental picture of that. So, what he is, I can’t even begin to guess. Funny thing is, I know exactly who I would ask, and he ain’t taking calls.”
CHRISTINE: “I’m not strong enough, Albion. And he knows it. He uses that against me. He actually helps me sometimes.”
THOM: “That kind of help don’t come free.”
CHRISTINE: “I mean, I’m alive because of Jack, but it’s not always a good thing.”
THOM: “And I got a feeling that kind of help don’t always come free.”
CHRISTINE: “I don’t even know what he wants.”
THOM: Albion goes to the fridge and slides Sylvester an Ale-8-One as well.
MIKE: In case you’re not familiar, Darius, that is caffeinated ginger ale with a bit of citrus to it.
THOM: It’s real good, actually. I really want some now.
MIKE: It is my actual favorite soda.
THOM: “Look, Des, you’re plenty strong on your own, I’ve seen it. I don’t know what the hell this thing is, but I know that this ain’t a bridge you’re going to have to cross alone when we get to it. You got us.” He gestures a hand to Sylvester.
DARIUS: “Yep.”
THOM: “I mean, need I remind you, Sylvester here kicked a hag to death, so he is a scary motherfucker.”
DARIUS: “Yeah, yeah.”
CHRISTINE: “Thank you. Thanks Albion. Thank you Sylvester.”
DARIUS: “Of course.”
THOM: “And I have yet to meet a problem I cannot solve by shooting it, so—“
CHRISTINE: “Please don’t shoot at my head, don’t kick my head either, please.”
DARIUS: “No, no, no, we’ll get him out and then we’ll shoot him.”
THOM: “Yeah, we’re going to beat him up and take his fucking lunch money.”
DARIUS: “That too.”
CHRISTINE: “I hope for your sake that he did not hear you say that.”
DARIUS: “Probably only has $1.30.”
THOM: “I mean, while I’m here, you’ve got your wards and Odin protects, so I’d say if he is listening,” he just raises his middle finger.
MIKE: Albion. I’m going to let you make a Lore roll. Your target number is eight.
THOM: Oh my god, all fours, baby.
MIKE: What’s your base Lore?
THOM: Two. I need to tag an Aspect so I can get a success here, but I have six right now.
MIKE: Okay.
THOM: Oh god, this could not have been a better time for four plusses.
MIKE: How many Fate Points do you have?
THOM: I haven’t used any yet, so I have like five right now.
MIKE: Okay.
THOM: And that’s from the last two sessions we had, so.
MIKE: Okay. I am going to say that since you are dealing with something that you still have a moderate mental consequence, I’m going to tag that against you, and that’s going to be a four shift against you.
THOM: So, I’m going to have to tag three Aspects to overcome that.
MIKE: Yeah.
THOM: Alright.
MIKE: If you want the answer to that right now, it is going to cost you three Fate Points.
THOM: Alright, I’m going to tag Protective Streak a Mile Long, because this is Des and I always want to have her back, I Saw What Was Behind the Curtain, Now I Hunt It, I have seen a lot of monsters, I have researched a lot of monsters, and I kill those monsters, this is no exception, and finally, Hard Traveling, Magic Dabbling Gunslinging Monster Hunter. This is what I do for a fucking living.
MIKE: Okay, if you tag those, the session ends right now.
THOM: Do I get my answer?
MIKE: You will get your answer. So, you’re willing to pay that? You’re willing to pay all those three Fate Points and have this particular piece of knowledge.
THOM: Yes.
MIKE: Okay. So, the answer, since you are matching the challenge exactly, you don’t have any additional information. If you were able to have a more notable success, then you would be able to maybe know a little more, but—
THOM: I can tag one more.
MIKE: If you are willing to give me another Fate Point and you can justify something that you think can go on top of what you’ve got.
THOM: Lone Wolfing It Ain’t Always Feasible. I have had to talk to people and had to kind of build a group around me to even get close to confronting this memory, let alone make sense of it, so I think kind of bolstering myself by having two of my closest friends with me and sort of having a goal of watching out for one of them is going to be my justification for that.
MIKE: Okay, give me four Fate Points.
THOM: Alright, I have one left.
MIKE: Okay. You, in your relatively short time as an active monster hunter working with other monster hunters around the globe, and working with various liaisons, attachés, and sometimes friends, have learned a lot about all different kinds of creatures that inhabit the world. Things that are native to our world, things that come from the Nevernever, all of them, and you finally work through what you saw
[MUSIC FADES IN]
and you are able to clearly look at the picture of it, and you are running sort of a mental checklist of things that could possibly match what it is that you saw, and those columns keep dropping away. It doesn’t seem to match with anything that you have ever encountered from the start of your career where you saw a Black Court vampire and survived to help kill it, to the bridge troll, the hags, the nixie, the Wild Hunt even. It doesn’t even match anything that you remember seeing during your harrowing encounter surviving the Wild Hunt. Nothing from the Nevernever that you’ve encountered even remotely lines up with the thing that you are now staring at and able to confront in your own head. You don’t think that this is from our reality.
THOM: Albion squeezes the bottle suddenly and it just shatters in his hand. “Oh fuck. I figured it out.”
[MUSIC] Pocket Podcast Network. Quality programming, right to your pocket.
Transcribed by Nicholas Johnson (https://draconick.com/)
Twitter: @DraconickGaming