[INTRO MUSIC]
MIKE: You guys have definitely gotten a Minor Milestone off of last session.
DARIUS: Yay!
MIKE: Not a Significant, because that would be too close together.
CHRISTINE: So, stresses go away and you get your Fate Point and all that stuff?
MIKE: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Oh good, because I am every manner of stressed.
MIKE: I mean, yeah. You had taken mental stress and physical stress.
DARIUS: Yeah, you kind of got yeeted.
MIKE: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, I got so—I’m not going to forget that anytime soon. I’m more devastated by what I saw than, you know, the yeeting.
MIKE: Yes, then the fact that you were yote.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, but I’m like I’m the only person who saw that, except for the audience.
MIKE: I don’t know if that’s true.
DARIUS: I mean, we saw you get yeeted.
CHRISTINE: Well yeah, but did they see the wendigo get swallowed whole?
MIKE: I will remind you that you were in the foyer, and you know that there was another White Court FBI dude there that—
CHRISTINE: Oh, okay. I thought you meant for our group.
MIKE: Oh, well I mean you were right by the door, so.
THOM: We’re going to have to make Alertness checks.
CHRISTINE: Am I still banged up as a consequence?
MIKE: Did you take a mild or a medium?
CHRISTINE: I took a mild consequence, banged up.
MIKE: Okay, with that, that can be cleared when there’s a scene transition as long as you can justify it being cleared, then you’re good, and Sylvester’s presence is enough to justify that particular consequence going away.
DARIUS: Do you need the healing? Oh, don’t be such a baby. Your ribs grow back. No, they don’t.
MIKE: No they don’t.
CHRISTINE: The gods have granted me a spare. No, just the two eyes.
DARIUS: You see this rib and this rib, you don’t need those.
CHRISTINE: Sort of true.
THOM: Alrighty, so.
MIKE: Alright. Yeah, so to recap, just to make sure we’re all on the same page. Hey, Champ versus Mechachamp, that was pretty rad. Then some FBI dudes that are also White Court vampires, and you decided to go with them to the ski lodge. You went out there, and the FBI dude, Agent Pyburn, I believe, was grilling Ro about your dad’s business, because apparently y’all didn’t know that the drug running coming into Burlington that was tied to the wendigos had to do with her dad.
GWEN: Boo my dad.
MIKE: Is that a fair assessment?
DARIUS: Seems legit.
THOM: Yeah, that’s a fair assessment.
MIKE: Yeah. So, you did get a real good clue, and if I hadn’t just given you a Significant Milestone, this would have been the session to get one, because A, big clue, and B, big action set piece where I gave everyone so many opportunities to just use the chaos to leave, and then they were all like, ‘no we’re going to be good people,’ it was great.
THOM: Well, we’re heroes, Mike.
MIKE: Yeah, I know, but can’t you be heroes that are a little bit more selfish or something? I don’t know.
THOM: What do you think this is, The Adventure Zone: Balance?
MIKE: Hey! Oh man, Slicer of T'pire Weir Isles. Beautiful.
GWEN: I just listened to that episode, my heart, I love that—it’s such a great move on Justin’s part.
MIKE: It’s brilliant. So, I’ll find it later. I don’t need to worry about what the name of the location is. All that we need to know is that Mr. Jack did definitely throw you out of the place and right next to a car, and then Albion—or I think Ro was in the driver’s seat at that moment.
GWEN: Yeah, Ro was driving.
THOM: Yeah, Ro was driving because Albion was shooting.
MIKE: Yes. So, Ro was driving the hell out of there at high speed to get wendigos to chase, which you did. So, okay, the question is, where do we want to actually pick back up?
THOM: Probably pretty close to the aftermath of that.
MIKE: Because we could end day three I think? Was this day three or day four?
GWEN: I think day four, because the day prior I know that’s when I spent the full day getting the information.
MIKE: Okay, because yeah, the first day was the whole first day, and a bunch of shit happened. Second day ended with Albion figuring out what Mr. Jack is, and then day 3, I think, was like supplies and stuff. So, yeah. I guess today was January fourth. Alright. I will double check that in the recording. So, we could just basically end the day, because that was wild and a bunch of stuff happened.
THOM: I feel like we should still do the aftermath of what happened so we can roll checks to see if any of us actually saw what happened up there to Des, because I feel like there’s a lot for us to unpack as we’re leaving.
DARIUS: Yeah.
MIKE: Okay. What I will say then is we can start with everyone making Alertness rolls to see if they saw what happened there, and if nobody managed to get the appropriate Alertness roll, then we just move on, and I think we can basically just end that day and move on to whatever your plans are for the next morning, or we can have a scene. So, I’m going to say that the Alertness target because of all of the chaos going on, that should add a scene tag that’s a two difficulty, so I’m going to go with... it’s a target four.
THOM: Okay, I’m not going to make that. I rolled a neutral.
GWEN: I got a four.
MIKE: Hot damn.
DARIUS: What’s this for again?
MIKE: This is Alertness.
DARIUS: I have a three.
MIKE: You have a three total?
DARIUS: Yeah. Okay, you could drop a Fate Point in order to make the target number, but that’s up to you.
DARIUS: Yeah, sure, why not?
MIKE: Alright, what Aspect are you going to be tagging to have spotted a thing? I will say that you’re currently fighting against a scene tag of just chaos all around.
DARIUS: Life is Just a Ride, I guess.
MIKE: That seems like that might be the most appropriate, sort of justifying like—sort of looking past the immediate threat and trying to sort of go with the flow of the situation and assess for different threats, and Des hadn’t reached the car yet, so there you go. Okay, it looks like two people that have managed to actually spot the thing that had happened. So, yeah. [laughter] I wasn’t expecting to describe what this looked like to somebody NOT Desdemona. Okay, so after you’ve started the car, you look back to see if Desdemona’s behind you and realize to your horror that she is not. Same with you, Sylvester. After hopping in the vehicle and hoping to get the hell out of there, you thought that Des was just one step behind you, but she hasn’t left the threshold of the actual resort yet, and it is with further horror that you realize that there is a wendigo that is just right on top of her. Not physically, but it is clear that it is preventing her from moving safely to exit, but before you can even take an action to try to go back to help her, Desdemona is swallowed up by darkness entirely, and in just a fraction of a second, that darkness swirls like a cyclone around her and coalesces into a form, and it moves so fast that you can’t piece together everything about what you’re looking at, but you definitely recognize somehow like just from the reflection off of it or how it’s moving, it’s solid. It’s a solid mass of just limbs, and it’s impossible to really put together in your brain the way that this thing is fitting together. The only thing you can understand is it’s physical, and it just ate the entire wendigo in front of Desdemona, and then it grabbed her and threw her at your car, and I assume that Sylvester just sort of helps Desdemona get into the car as Ro guns it.
DARIUS: Naturally.
MIKE: Alright, you can see that she’s got bumps and bruises and abrasions from being thrown, but fortunately the little bit of snow that was there did cushion it a little bit, but just the force of it still kind of stunned Desdemona for at least a moment, because just—your wind is gone, for one thing, and for another thing, you just channeled something through you. I think that you’re kind of out of it for a moment.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
MIKE: So, describe for me what this looks like as the car is loudly speeding away as the howls and shrieks of these chap-lipped, thin-skinned monstrosities start to fade into the background.
THOM: Mostly, it’s Albion leaning out the roof of the car, keeping his eyes down the sights of his shotgun, just kind of sweeping back and forth, and then once he’s sure they’re clear, he’s going to get back in, “That got kind of hairy, didn’t it? Ha ha, shit, that went bad.”
DARIUS: “Yeah, that was fucked up.”
THOM: “Y’all alright?”
CHRISTINE: Desdemona is not responding. She is physically shaking from head to toe, and she’s feeling nothing but adrenaline coursing through her. She’s not even hearing anything at this point.
THOM: “Jesus Christ, what the fuck happened?”
DARIUS: “Something ate the wendigo, and then it threw her at the car.”
THOM: “Something? You mind elaborating?”
DARIUS: “Like a black mass of shadow energy bullshit.”
THOM: “Oh. Oh shit. Ah shit. Alright, that’s bad. That’s probably her friend there.”
DARIUS: “Oh. That friend.”
THOM: “Yep, that’s the one. Motherfucker. Des? Des?” Albion’s going to climb into the back, he’s just going to kind of grab her shoulders “Des, I need you to look at me and breathe, alright?”
CHRISTINE: She starts to scream.
THOM: “Alright.”
CHRISTINE: She is catatonic and she is screaming.
THOM: Albion is just still holding her at this point. He just kind of puts his arms around her and just kind of keeps her still, all while constantly quietly saying to her, “Des, I need you to focus, I need you to breathe, okay?”
CHRISTINE: She takes a few deep breaths and she’s got tears streaming down her face, and she starts just kind of very quickly saying, “I shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have done that, I—“
THOM: “It’s okay. Hey hey hey. We don’t need to talk right now, you just need to breathe, okay? Just breathe. We’ll worry about everything else later. Right now, I just need you to get your head clear, okay? Stay with me.”
CHRISTINE: She’s just sort of shaking and she shakes her head too that she hears you, but she can’t engage.
THOM: Albion just kind of breaks the embrace and just kind of keeps his hands on her shoulders. “I just need you to focus on where we are right now, focus on this moment, and breathe, okay? Let that moment be behind you for right now. We need you to focus, alright?”
CHRISTINE: “I’ll try. I’m trying.”
THOM: “Alright.” And then Albion’s just going to kind of give her shoulders a little squeeze and try to stay physically present near her without sort of crowding her or anything.
MIKE: How big is the back of the cab of your car, exactly?
THOM: It's a Hyundai Sonata, I don’t know.
DARIUS: So, a four seater?
THOM: Yeah, it’s a four seater. Five seater if someone’s comfy.
MIKE: Okay, so despite your best efforts, it’s cramped.
DARIUS: Yeah, I’m going to move to where Albion was sitting.
MIKE: Okay. Ro, I will tell you that this is kind of—this would be more frustrating if you weren’t sort of terror focused on driving very fast and not crashing.
GWEN: Yeah, I think Ro learned how to drive in the city, so she’s pretty good with distractions. What does freak her out though is both Albion and Sylvester switching back and forth between seats, because she doesn’t want to get kicked in the head on top of everything else that’s happening.
MIKE: “And to top it all off, I got kicked!”
GWEN: That would make this day the worst day of her life, if she got kicked in the head.
CHRISTINE: That’s the one. She looks back, on her deathbed, “That day I got kicked, worst day.”
MIKE: That’s the one flashpoint in this entire situation, just someone moving up to the front seat—bonk, “That’s it, I quit!”
DARIUS: This day has just been the pits.
GWEN: That would either be the turning point where Ro is just the villain of the whole story, or she just drives the car off the road.
MIKE: “Y’all can do the hunt without me! This the way you’re gonna treat your friends!? I’m out!”
CHRISTINE: “Go make your meth, I’m done.”
MIKE: Okay, so you do manage to make it back to Burlington, I presume, without incident.
THOM: “We should hole up at Des’s place tonight, all of us. The wards there are going to be stronger.
MIKE: the other thing that does strike you is that Des’s place is just kind of in the heart of residential Burlington, and so far you haven’t seen any evidence that wendigoes have actually ventured into heavily populated areas, other than the ski resort that you were just at, and that’s not exactly city limits.
DARIUS: Yeah, it’s sort of remote.
MIKE: Alright, excuse me. Desdemona—
CHRISTINE: Yep.
MIKE: Do you have an answering machine?
CHRISTINE: Definitely. There’s a very old phone that also has an old tape recorder answering machine.
MIKE: Okay, I had to assume that you did.
CHRISTINE: I have a business to run.
MIKE: Yeah, exactly. I’m going to imagine that you’re not in a state to be checking that right now.
CHRISTINE: No, she’s probably going to be put to bed, because I don’t know if she can actually get herself to bed, but she might not sleep either.
MIKE: I will tell you that mechanically this is not necessary because you did not take any lasting consequences from it, but dramatically, I am loving it.
CHRISTINE: I mean, I’m not talking about physical banged up, I’m talking about mentally from what she saw.
MIKE: Oh. Yeah, I didn’t force you to take mental damage from that either. This is all straight up roleplay.
CHRISTINE: Yep.
MIKE: So, yeah. Alright. Excuse me. Do we have any sort of interaction between Albion, Sylvester, and Ro before the morning of any consequence, or do we sort of skip to the next morning?
GWEN: I think that we just skip to the next morning, because I don’t think that there’d be anything I could comprehend so soon after the events.
MIKE: I will ask one question. Is tomorrow the day you go and blow up the shed?
THOM: It’s supposed to be.
MIKE: Okay.
GWEN: What does our resident chef say?
DARIUS: Sure, why not?
MIKE: Just wanted to be absolutely sure before I gave a little bit of narration.
DARIUS: Did we get all of the materials?
MIKE: I have to assume that you did, because you did take at least one, maybe two, full days of shopping to get the things, so I’m going to say that yeah, you pick up the last bits of things that you need the next morning.
DARIUS: Okay, cool.
MIKE: Okay. Yeah. Before I continue, because we will be doing some time jumping, would Ro, Des, Albion, and Sylvester—would all of them be up to doing the thing tomorrow?
THOM: Oh yeah. Albion is ready.
GWEN: Yes, I am ready. I do want to buy a gun. I want to do that as soon as possible.
MIKE: Okay. You know that Albion has literally given you weapons before.
DARIUS: Yeah, just take one of his guns.
GWEN: Oh yeah, so maybe I just steal and keep a gun of Albion’s then, because I want a weapon—
DARIUS: You could just ask him.
GWEN: Yeah, true, because I have—I need a gun. One gun please.
DARIUS: Albion, give me your glock.
CHRISTINE: Asking’s for ladies.
GWEN: Exactly.
THOM: “I mean, yeah, I can manage that.”
DARIUS: “Cool.”
THOM: “I got a trunk full of bullshit.”
DARIUS: “Yes, you do.”
THOM: “Something’s got to stick, that’s one of my Aspects.”
DARIUS: “What the fuck’s an Aspect?”
MIKE: Alright. Hey! Before this gets too much more meta, Des?
CHRISTINE: Yeah?
MIKE: How do you sleep?
CHRISTINE: She probably didn’t sleep for a few hours, but she did get to do some sleep in the morning, but she’s still up to at least try to make some coffee and breakfast for everybody in the morning.
MIKE: Okay. A real trooper.
CHRISTINE: She probably has dark circles under her eyes, but that’s more stress related than anything.
MIKE: Okay. Alright, the night passes and the morning comes, and with it, perhaps not renewed hope with the damning of a new day, but renewed determination at the very least. Des, you very kindly wake up first and do make everybody breakfast and coffee. Your sort of provider nature still kicks in despite how much stress you’ve been under and how much emotional trauma you did just suffer. You’re still there for everyone. Sylvester has found himself going off and picking up the last bits of supplies that he needs so that they can do the damn thing in the afternoon. Albion, I’m sure, is checking weapons and making sure that everyone is going to be properly armed and equipped for when the time comes to actually get engaged with these monsters, and possibly even finish them off once and for all, and Ro, what does Ro do this morning?
GWEN: I think I want to go back to my apartment, get anything that I think I’m going to need, I’m going to put out food for the cat that just kind of hangs around my place, and then I’m going to go back and try to learn how to use a gun properly with Albion.
MIKE: Okay. That seems like good activities to take up some of your time while other things are being tended to. Perfect. Des, I will tell you that once again, the house is eerily quiet.
CHRISTINE: Now should I be checking my voice messages?
MIKE: That’s totally up to you if that’s a thing that you want to think about and actually pay any attention to at all.
CHRISTINE: Well, it’s a new day, I probably do want to check and see if I have any voicemails, because I definitely don’t want any walk-in clients today. In fact, I probably have a little sign out there saying, “Closed for a private party today.”
MIKE: Perfect.
THOM: You do parties?
CHRISTINE: “I hate October.” She hates October so much. It’s a college town.
MIKE: [laughter] Oh, I love that. That’s beautiful.
CHRISTINE: I’ve decided she hates October.
MIKE: And I have also decided that. Yep, so you do have a couple of phone calls that you’re going to have to follow up on. People that were hoping to make appointments for either today or tomorrow and I need you to actually make me an Alertness roll with a target of two.
CHRISTINE: That’s a negative one.
MIKE: Okay, cool, because normally this would be the sort of thing that would be Alertness zero, because this is the sort of thing that anybody would notice it, but I’m going to say that with your distraction that’ll put that two point tag on there that you’re just sort of taking notes and calling people back to declare that you’re sort of unavailable for appointments, is that fair?
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
DARIUS: Yep.
MIKE: Okay. So, obviously you’re calling people, rescheduling things, and then there is a surprising call for a number that you don’t—it doesn’t seem like a local number, and you’re not sure who it is, but you didn’t really think too much, and when you—how would you basically start your phone call with this person to sort of explain your situation.
CHRISTINE: So, the only thing that’s strange about it is that it’s a long distance number, or?
MIKE: Yeah, pretty much. That’s the only thing that you can really notice that’s out of the ordinary on it.
CHRISTINE: Did they leave a name or anything?
MIKE: That’s actually what you were going to have ascertained. They did, but—August.
CHRISTINE: “Hi, have I reached August?”
JOHN: “Yeah, you’ve got August’s phone here, yeah.”
CHRISTINE: “Hi there August, this is Desdemona Brown returning your voicemail.”
JOHN: “Oh Ms. Brown, oh perfect. You got my warning then, yeah? You’re not going to go through with whatever plans you got for today, yeah?”
CHRISTINE: “I’m sorry, what?”
JOHN: “Oh. Oh no. How could you have overlooked that?”
CHRISTINE: “I’ve had a bit of a month, August, I apologize if I misunderstood anything, but I thought that you were calling for my services, am I mistaken?”
JOHN: “Mistaken is a damned hair of an understatement, don’t you think?”
CHRISTINE: “There’s no need to get upset, sir. Have I—“
JOHN: “You don’t even know why I called you, do you?”
CHRISTINE: “Well, how can I help you?”
JOHN: “Do not go to that shack today.”
CHRISTINE: “And if I knew what you were talking about, why not?”
JOHN: “Because I don’t want to see you all killed out there.”
CHRISTINE: “I’m sorry, August, right?”
JOHN: “That’s correct.”
CHRISTINE: “Do I know you? Have we met before?”
MIKE: The voice is completely unfamiliar, even over the phone, you can hear their French Canadian accent, and you can hear just how old this person sounds. This does not seem like any person that you’ve ever encountered in your life, at least none that you remember. They would have left an indelible impression had you met them.
CHRISTINE: Okay. “I’m sorry, it’s possible we got off on the wrong foot, I apologize again. That doesn’t excuse anything, but why don’t you start from the beginning, sir, and just explain, please. Clarify for me.”
JOHN: “I don’t really think to have this talk on public lines, but let me say to you this: don’t do this.”
CHRISTINE: “Are you in town currently, Mr. August? Is it possible—I mean, I’m not taking any clients today, but it’s possible I can try to squeeze you in between private parties today.
JOHN: “Fine. If I can’t dissuade you, I guess I’ll be seeing you.”
MIKE: And he hangs up.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
CHRISTINE: Okay, well I guess I’ll put a kettle on.
[MUSIC]
MIKE: Are you going to be doing anything with the results of this phone call, Des, or are you just going to continue your day?
CHRISTINE: I’m not sure what else I could do, so I’m probably going to continue with my day.
MIKE: Okay, well time has come. Everybody hops in, I assume, Albion’s car?
THOM: Yep.
DARIUS: Yep.
MIKE: And makes their way out to the mandragora garden once again. It’s still not a pleasant place to be.
THOM: I mean, unless Desdemona told us about the phone call.
MIKE: That’s totally up to her.
CHRISTINE: “So, I got the strangest phone call today.”
THOM: “Yeah, what was it about? Was it about someone wanting to speak to their grandma or some shit?”
CHRISTINE: “No. Somebody was warning me, and it sounded—call me crazy, but it kind of sounded like he was talking about our little shed go boom plan.”
THOM: “I’m sorry?”
CHRISTINE: “He said don’t do it. Yeah, he was telling me that whatever I was going to do today with the shed to not do it. Now, I expected that he was going to make an appearance to explain this to me in person, but he didn’t show up.”
GWEN: “Do you know this guy?”
CHRISTINE: “I do not.”
THOM: “Do you have a number I can reach him at?”
CHRISTINE: I don’t think I would have any phones that would have the technology to do that, actually. No wait, he would have left one on the voicemail.
MIKE: That’s how you called him back.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, you are right, you are right. Christine is a dunce.
MIKE: No hold on, I like this that you have an 80’s phone and you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to *69.”
CHRISTINE: *69 to Canada baby!
MIKE: So many people listening right now won’t know what those words mean.
CHRISTINE: Are we having this conversation in the car or in the house?
MIKE: That is totally up to you when you want to spring that on people.
CHRISTINE: Well, Albion, are we in the house or in the car, because if we’re in the house—
THOM: I would say we’re about to head out when you start talking about this.
CHRISTINE: Okay, so then I would probably have the phone message still written down. “Yeah, it’s this number here and it’s a far off line.”
THOM: Albion’s going to call that number.
MIKE: Okay. You’re going to incur some long distance charges, have fun! It’s not that big a deal.
THOM: I got a Resources of one.
CHRISTINE: Calling Canada.
MIKE: Alright, okay. You call—oh yeah, yours is just a burner phone that probably doesn’t even have an area code for Vermont, does it?
THOM: Nope.
MIKE: Okay, so you get no response.
THOM: “Huh. Can I call him on your house phone?”
CHRISTINE: “You’re welcome to try.”
THOM: I’m going to call on Des’s house phone.
CHRISTINE: “I mean, I invited him over here, it’s possible that he’s on his way from God knows where.”
MIKE: Okay, alright. You call from the house phone?
THOM: Yep.
MIKE: Okay. When you call from the house phone, you unfortunately get the same thing that you did when you called on your cell phone, which is: no response. It rings, but then it goes to voicemail.
THOM: Alright. What’s the voicemail say? Is it just one of those automated messages, or is it actually his personalized voicemail?
MIKE: Well, it’s in French, so I don’t know if you speak French.
THOM: Nope.
MIKE: Okay.
THOM: Not going to be able to justify that.
CHRISTINE: Got a trunk full of bullshit.
THOM: I got a trunk full of bullshit, and one of them’s a French-to-English dictionary.
CHRISTINE: I’ve got a trunk full of bullshit, pardon my French. [laughter]
MIKE: Hey! That’s the best justification I’ve ever heard. Podcasts... can’t get better than that, thank you, goodnight! Roll me an Alertness there, Albion. Target is two.
THOM: Alright, I just hit two. Rolling like crap tonight.
MIKE: Okay. Yep, this was to determine whether or not you could pick out what was probably a name from the French, and it seems like just given the cadence and what you maybe remember from taking French in high school briefly, it seems like where the name should be, you get August Défago.
THOM: “August Défago. I’m probably saying that wrong.”
MIKE: I’m actually going to have you make a Scholarship roll, target four.
THOM: I don’t have a Scholarship check, so this is going to be funny.
MIKE: Yeah, I know.
THOM: [laughter] Four pluses.
MIKE: No! No way!
GWEN: Hell yeah!
MIKE: No way.
THOM: That’s the only good roll I’m going to get tonight too.
MIKE: Okay. Amazing. Okay. Part of why you were able to pick that out as a name is because it struck something in your mind. It hit a bit of a chord. You remember from many years ago in grade school, reading a short story by Algernon Blackwood called The Wendigo, and one of the characters in that story was a French Canadian named Défago.
THOM: “Huh. Well, that’s a hefty fucking coincidence that is probably not actually a coincidence. Alright Des, we might want to hold off on the shack burning.”
CHRISTINE: “You think so?”
THOM: “I think this guy might be an expert.”
CHRISTINE: “Oh, an expert on wendigos?”
THOM: “Shockingly enough, yeah. This is going to sound kind of crazy, but when I was a kid, there was a story I read, and one of the characters in it was named this guy’s surname, Défago. I’m probably saying that wrong. Y’know, a lot of these stories are couched in the truth, like for example, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written as an example of how to kill the Black Court guide, so...”
CHRISTINE: “Alright, so it’s your professional opinion that we should wait for this guy to show up and help us with this?”
THOM: “I mean, that’s the hope, yeah.”
CHRISTINE: “I mean, if you’re okay with that, I’m definitely okay with that.”
THOM: “Guys, Ro, Sylvester, you mind holding off on burning down some public property? Or private property, rather.”
DARIUS: “I’m never going to blow up this fucking shed, am I?”
MIKE: I’m actually going to offer you a Fate Point, Sylvester.
DARIUS: Why?
MIKE: Because you have a Trouble Aspect called Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown. This is your plan, and some random French Canadian asshole has called and said, “Don’t do it,” and because of the weirdest, most tenuous logic you think you’ve ever heard in your life, suddenly Albion is against it. The monster hunter is against it based on this? If you wish to refuse this compel, you give me a Fate Point. If you accept the compel, you get a Fate Point.
DARIUS: Hmm... I refuse.
MIKE: Okay, you are going to give me a Fate Point.
DARIUS: Yep.
MIKE: Alright.
THOM: Because you trust me, yay.
GWEN: Friendship!
DARIUS: Yeah, this isn’t some random asshole, this is Albion.
MIKE: Okay. So, what is your new plan for the day?
DARIUS: I guess talk to this guy and find out what the fuck he knows, because if it’s enough to make Albion basically change the plan, it’s got to be something weird.
THOM: “I mean, if it’s going to be a plan that is less likely to have my friends dying in my arms, it’s a plan I’m all for, and who knows, we might still get to blow up some property. We did buy things to blow shit up, and I aim to blow shit up.”
CHRISTINE: “I have an idea.”
DARIUS: “Thank you.”
CHRISTINE: “I have a couple of contacts on the Paranet, maybe we can do some research and see if we can find out what else anyone might know about this August person, and see if there’s anything else we should know about him before he just comes here.”
THOM: “Yeah, that might not be a bad idea. I’m just going to kind of keep my eyes on the windows, make sure nothing’s coming.”
CHRISTINE: “I appreciate that.”
MIKE: Alright, if you’re going to be using your contacts in the Paranet, I’m going to do the same kind of Contacts roll that I had Desdemona—I’m sorry, not Desdemona—that I had Ro do for information from her criminal associates about the drug stuff. So, I’m going to say that the target difficulty on this one is a Contacts roll of three to get a result of An Afternoon.
CHRISTINE: Okay. Alright, so I’ve got no actual Contacts in my skills, but I have an Aspect I can tag if I need to. That’s a two, and if I tag Welcome To The Paranet, my Aspect, that would make it a four.
MIKE: Alright, that’s actually going to cut the time down by one based on the way that we ran that previously. So, that changes it to A Few Hours. So, you’ll still have a little bit of time left in the day instead of—you’ll actually have the evening hours available to you completely. Okay. So, you contact Phillippa, the person that Marcus put you in touch with all those months ago. Excuse me. And she asks around, she finds the time to just sort of utilize the phone tree, as it were, and you get a call back from her after just a couple hours. I assume everyone is kind of in Desdemona’s place just sort of working on whatever they feel like working on during the time. Is that accurate?
THOM: Yeah, Albion’s actually doing something specific.
MIKE: What is that?
THOM: And he’s going to have gotten Desdemona’s permission to do this first. He’s going to construct a small altar of Odin in her attic.
CHRISTINE: Oh.
THOM: Is that okay? Would she be okay with that?
CHRISTINE: I suppose that’s not a problem.
THOM: Alright, so he kind of takes a—he’s kind of brought some of the material from his house. He takes a small stone, sort of altar thing, drapes a blue cloth over it, sets out an evergreen branch, and sets out these sort of stone, carved runes in little concentric circles, and then he pours a horn of mead and sets that on there as well. He strips down to the waist, sort of wears his symbols naked on his chest and paints his face a little bit, gives an offering, and does a brief chant in old Norse, and then sort of, “Allfather. Listen, I know—”
MIKE: Who art in heaven.
THOM: Fuck off.
MIKE: I’m sorry. [laughter] I’m so sorry!
[MUSIC FADES IN]
THOM: “Listen, I know that I’ve communed with you before, and less often since I was granted your gift that I still am struggling to feel that I deserve. I call you now because I require the aid not for me, but for another. You see, there is a shadow at the periphery of my friend’s life. There was something clawing at her, and it is something I don’t understand. Something monstrous, something that does not belong here, something that I don’t want touching my friend, and so I ask you, I beseech you, as your blade, as your warrior, as your hunter, make the message clear this house is spoken for, she is spoken for. She’s the only friend I have really, the closest thing I have to an actual—everyone else in my life right now, they’re my friends, but Des has been here the longest. I need to be able to protect her, and I request the spear and the watchful eye of the Allfather to assist in that. You name the task, I will do it. You name the offering, I will give it. You name the target, I will hunt it until the ends of the earth, or I die first, but I need her safe,” and then he’s going to go and do some quiet prayer in old Norse.
[MUSIC; EPISODE BREAK]
MIKE: Hey everybody, it’s Michael, your game master and working from home boy, because I guess most of us are right now, except retail and service workers, because they can’t, so be extra nice to them right now, because they’re helping you out providing vital services. Just be nice to them anyway, because they’re people. Be nice to people. I know that right now is a bit of a time in the world, but we are not going to stop doing what we’re doing. We have no plans to slow down our recording or release schedule. We all record remotely, so this shouldn’t affect us in any way, and we definitely want to just keep sharing this podcast with everybody, because art and entertainment and distraction and laughs and stuff, it matters. People are going to be stuck in their homes for a while, so hey, listen to us be goobers. Or listen to our friends at the podcast of A Fool’s Quest, which is a hilarious 5th edition D&D podcast. I mean, imagine playing D&D with the cast of a Mel Brooks movie, and then give it the epic music and the goofery and sound effects and puns galore to match. That’s what they’re like. They launched the same day that we did, so if you like what we do, but wish it was somehow even sillier, go find them on Apple and Spotify and anywhere else that you find podcasts. They’re really great dudes, and we’re happy to be friends with them. Thanks again to William Blake for assistance with editing the episode this week, and oh boy, thanks to my friend John Goyetche for voicing August, who you will hear more of next episode. So, look forward to that. Thanks again to the Pocket Podcast Network for hosting our show. There’s all sorts of wonderful shows you can listen to, like No Dice and Steampunks and Home Viewing. Go check those out. They’re just all good times and lots of fun, and if you want to support our network, you can get a Pocket Note. Make one of the hosts of a show, like this one, say words or sing songs or anything that you want. Just got to pocketpodcatnetwork.com/pocketnotes to find out more. Hey, so we don’t pay to advertise. I mean, we’ll take your money to sing songs or whatever, but we don’t spend money on advertising. We totally rely on word of mouth. That’s the best form of advertising. So, check us out on Twitter and Facebook @GMMCast. If you’re going to tweet about the show, please use the GMMCast hashtag, see if we can’t get that trending—[laughter] we don’t have enough followers for that, but if you want to actually interact with us directly, you can go to our Discord, where we have weekly—or in response to current events, more than weekly—Jackbox streams where we play party games together and just laugh and have a good time. I think that’s going to do it for me. Let’s get back to the adventure.
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[MUSIC; END OF BREAK]
MIKE: So, while we’re getting results for Desdemona, Ro and Sylvester, do you have any particular plans for the next couple of hours?
DARIUS: I’m probably just going to be going over the chemistry stuff and making sure that I’ve got the measurements right.
MIKE: That makes a lot of sense. In fact, I think I’m going to say that if you are doing this, you can be working on something to give yourself a tag later of like Prepared or Double, Triple Checked so that when you actually need to do your Scholarship roll to do it right, it will be easier because you are more confident in your work.
DARIUS: Cool.
MIKE: Alright. So, that’ll occupy you for that duration, we’ve got Albion doing what he’s doing; Ro, you did get that information from Agent Pyburn that was unexpected, and if you wanted to follow up on that, well, there’s some time.
GWEN: Yeah, I think I want to make a phone call or two and see kind of who I can talk to that can give me information about what’s going on with my dad without alerting him that I’m in the area or asking questions.
MIKE: Okay. As you are preparing to do that, I need you to make an Alertness roll, target one.
GWEN: Okay. That’s a two!
MIKE: Okay. You just feel your cell phone vibrate in your pocket, which is weird, because yesterday your cell phone melted.
GWEN: I reach in my pocket and pick up my melted phone.
MIKE: Well, I assume you aren’t still carrying it, but that’s the first thought that came to mind, because that’s what that feeling felt like, but no, it’s your wallet that felt like it was buzzing, per se.
GWEN: Okay, I take that out of my pocket and open it.
MIKE: Okay, the first thing that you see is your library card, still put back in the front because of your dealings with Detective Sergeant Ditko.
GWEN: Okay, I’m going to take that out and kind of look at it and see what’s going on there, because now I’m probably a little freaked out, because wallets and cards aren’t supposed to do that.
MIKE: Indeed they’re not. Currently, it’s just some laminated plastic. It’s not actually doing anything at the moment.
GWEN: Okay, and there’s nothing else going on in there? There’s not, like, a bomb?
MIKE: Nope. You’re just looking at your library card for the Fletcher Free Library, which has a depiction of the beautiful stained glass window in the children’s room on it.
GWEN: Okay, so if I have some time, I’m going to make my way to the library then.
MIKE: Okay. What are you doing at the library?
GWEN: Given that I’ve only been able to do it once and it was with Des, I’m going to try to go back to that place with the Librarian. But not the librarian librarian, the other one.
MIKE: Okay. I’m going to say yes. While everyone else is occupied with other tasks, Sylvester with preparing, Albion with invocations and prayer, and Desdemona with sort of scouring for information and waiting for a call back, you make your way to the Fletcher Free Public Library, and it’s a place that you’re somewhat familiar with now, you live right next to it, and basically you’ve been in and out of it a few times trying to follow up on that curious incident that occurred with you and Desdemona. You flash back actually to the memory of when you and she first visited there, and sort of guided by a supernatural force that you didn’t totally understand, found your way into the children’s room, and in the light of that stained glass window, sort of walked up a nonexistent staircase into another world, and you remember the deal that you struck with the entity there for information and knowledge, and how you were not willing to pay the price of knowledge that it was asking for, and you are burdened with the incomplete knowledge that your fiancé is still alive, but you do not know where.
GWEN: Okay. So, I’m going to go into—kind of stand right in front of where the stained glass is and take out my library card and kind of look at it for a second, see if anything happens.
MIKE: Okay. Nothing actually happens with the library card other than you can identify that yep, that’s the stained glass window that they put on the card, just in reverse because the card is depicting it from the outside. You notice that there are people in the public library, and that that young—actually, she wasn’t that young, but that woman that was there at the information counter in the children’s area is there again, and there aren’t that many kids in there right now. You remember from last time you did that thing where you just kind of hid, just felt like you didn’t want to be seen.
GWEN: Okay. So, I’m going to go in back behind some of the stacks and cast a veil on myself without bothering people and being seen.
MIKE: Alright. Mechanically, how powerful of a veil are you attempting to conjure?
GWEN: I’m going to go with a three.
MIKE: Okay. Make me a Deceit roll.
GWEN: Alright, that’s a four.
MIKE: Could you repeat that?
GWEN: That’s a four.
MIKE: Okay, excellent!
GWEN: I did it.
MIKE: Dice, I need them.
GWEN: Real dice are the shit, man. They’re great.
MIKE: Yeah. Where are they? Womp womp womp. There we go. Okay, as you are making your way back into view, you, I assume to test this, walk pretty much right into her field of vision, and she does not react to you at all. So, you think that perhaps you’re just really well hidden again, and before you is that sort of staircase made out of light again, leading up into the stained glass window that once again, for some reason, it doesn’t seem like anybody but you is able to notice that it’s there.
GWEN: Okay.
MIKE: I am going to need you to make me a Discipline roll, target one, because this is the first time that you’ve really invoked this power in a setting that you weren’t around your friends, and weren’t acting mostly under stress. This is one of the first times you’re doing this not super under duress, and this is a thing about Changelings—it’s called the Choice. Since you have half human nature and half Fae nature, eventually you have to pick one or the other. The more that you lean into your Fae nature, the harder and harder it’s going to be to resist that choice. So, as you see the path before you into the Nevernever, I need to make a roll against that choice, Discipline target one.
GWEN: Okay. That’s a one.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
MIKE: Okay. You are not compelled to make the choice right now. So, you enter the Nevernever and leave the Fletcher Free Library, and enter the grounds of—the Library is just as fascinating as the last time you visited it a few months back. Actually, several months back. There is a copse of trees in the middle of a verdant but otherwise bare patch of—well, earth is not quite the right word, but ground—and this copse of trees is surrounded by a thick wall almost of undergrowth, with only one real accessible point being an actual literal gate made from wood that just is not like any wood that you’ve seen on Earth. It’s a bizarre and beautiful texture and grain to it, and you know that behind there is the figure that you’ve only ever known as The Librarian, and as you walk in, it still takes you aback, and even though you’ve seen this effect a couple of times, it’s still very difficult for you mind to wrap around the fact that the dense tree coverage of this particular small copse of trees seems to stretch endlessly before you once you find yourself inside in the actual bounds of the undergrowth. It’s very much like the Tardis: bigger on the inside. Only, in this case, much, much, much bigger, and you recall that on these trees are swirling letters and words in a language that you couldn’t possibly hope to read, and in front of you there stands a being about seven feet tall, just broad shouldered and thickly built, and they look down at you, and they cock their head curiously.
GWEN: Is this the Librarian that I’ve dealt with before?
MIKE: Yes.
GWEN: Alright, so I take a very deep and just over dramatic bow, and I say, “I have returned, dear friend.”
MIKE: “This knowledge be free: that is not wholly necessary.”
GWEN: “Okay, you’re right, sorry, that was a bit much. Hi. I think you called me.”
MIKE: “You have knowledge that you seek.”
GWEN: “Yeah, there’s a few things I’ve been wondering about, and I think you might be the only person—being that might be able to help me.”
MIKE: “You understand the way that this process works. I seek knowledge from you that is equal to the knowledge you seek from me.”
GWEN: “Yeah, I don’t know that I can give you as important information as what I need, but I can try.”
MIKE: “This does depend quite greatly upon what it is that you require. Therefore, I ask, what may the Librarian do for you?”
GWEN: “I mean, can I ask you any question ever and you’ll tell me, or is this more a I ask you a yes or no answered question? Because I’ve got a lot going on in my brain, buddy.”
MIKE: “Rosetta, we have had this discussion previously. I understand that it was some time ago, but you may request any knowledge whatsoever, so long as you are able to pay for that knowledge.”
GWEN: “Okay, so is my father in Burlington, Vermont right now?”
MIKE: “Very well.” Excuse me. I need to think of what actual tradeable knowledge would be of appropriate caliber for that. Okay. “I can get this information for you very easily, I simply ask for the—I simply need you to correctly and fully articulate your true first name.”
GWEN: “My name is Rosetta. Originally, it was Rosalie.”
MIKE: “Acceptable, and now the trade concludes. Your father is not currently in Burlington, Vermont.”
GWEN: “Is there, aside from the threat of the wendigos—wendigeese? I don’t know, Albion knows the plural, is there a bigger threat to myself and my friends than what we believe to be the situation?”
MIKE: The Librarian just sort of looks down for a moment at the ground beneath their feet, and they think long and hard for what just seems like both a moment and an hour. “For this, I must ask this in return. I must know the very first words you spoke to your fiancé when you knew that it was love.”
GWEN: “Oh boy. I said, ‘Wow, I didn’t know you like them too. I really like this band. I didn’t know that about you.’ That’s the first thing I said when I knew that I was in love.”
MIKE: The Librarian takes this information in and thinks on it for a moment. “This is curious. I had weighted this information perhaps incorrectly. A rare mistake, and for this I apologize. I will require her response.”
GWEN: “Okay. She said, ‘Of course, I knew it was your favorite band, so I started listening to them too so we would have something more to connect on the deeper level,’ and then she hugged me and I started crying. Is that what you want, Librarian?”
MIKE: “You must understand something. What you ask is a question of a story writ large. I find much value in large things writ small. There is a balance to this, and therefore, I grant you the answer of: yes.”
GWEN: “Okay. That’s good to know, and I think we’re thoroughly screwed then. Alright. I want to ask you one more thing before I go that’s less about the current things going on, and more just for my own knowledge. Is she safe?”
MIKE: The Librarian does take a surprising pause and a deep breath, and holds it there much longer than anybody should hold a breath in. “Very well. For this, I must ask a different question.” I actually have to think of one, god damn, because—
GWEN: I have stumped you!
MIKE: --that’s kind of a big question that you’re asking. That’s a really interesting piece of information you’re asking for, and I need to find something with an answer that can be either broad or nuanced.
GWEN: “I’ll tell you my favorite color.”
MIKE: The Librarian sort of chuckles at this, and says, “I’m afraid I already know that, sorry. I collect information, you see, but that one is relatively obvious.”
GWEN: “Well damn, bud.”
MIKE: “Very well. The answer to this very carefully depends on the manner in which you answer this particular question: what is your single greatest regret?”
GWEN: “I regret leaving the way I did. I impulsively just ran and didn’t follow up, didn't look back. I just wanted an escape, so I took it.”
MIKE: “May I ask why?”
GWEN: “I was afraid of the truth. The real answer of why and what happened.”
MIKE: “She is safe in the short term.”
GWEN: “Okay.”
MIKE: “However, she is not safe in the long term.”
GWEN: “Alright. Well, better than dead right now I guess, huh?”
MIKE: “I suppose.”
GWEN: “Okay, well I think that’s what I came here for, so thank you. Thanks for that.”
MIKE: “May I suggest a reversed position in which I ask for a piece of information from you, and then return information to you based upon the answer that I receive?”
GWEN: “Okay.”
MIKE: “Rosetta, Rosalina, do you right now wish to cry?”
GWEN: “So, I ask you something, and then tell you my answer, is that how this works? I’m not usually in the Librarian position.”
MIKE: “No.”
GWEN: “No?”
MIKE: “In this case, I have asked for information from you, and I will trade back information dependent upon your answer.”
GWEN: “Kind of. I want to happy cry knowing that my fiancé, my ex, is alive and safe for now, but I want to cry because my family and loved ones—found family, whatever—are potentially in long term danger, and I also don’t because I think that I’m starting to feel more sure of myself and my choices, so yes and no, I guess.”
MIKE: The Librarian nods solemnly. “I appreciate the information that you have given me, and now Rosalina, I fulfil my end of the bargain and tell you. Search for Shadrach.”
GWEN: “Okay, is there a last name?”
MIKE: “That is all the name that you need.” The way back to the real world opens up directly beneath your feet.
GWEN: Oh shit, I didn’t even get to bow goodbye, wow.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
MIKE: Des.
CHRISTINE: Yes?
MIKE: You get your call back from—oh shit, what’s her name?—Phillippa. You get your call back from Phillippa. She tells you nobody in the Paranet knows about this individual. This doesn’t seem to remind them of anybody.
CHRISTINE: Okay. I did think of one other person I could check to see if this person was on their radar.
MIKE: Who’s that?
CHRISTINE: Warden Beaumont.
MIKE: You’re going to call the Warden?
CHRISTINE: I’ll consult with the group first, I think.
MIKE: Sure.
THOM: Albion’s coming downstairs, wiping paint off his face.
CHRISTINE: “Where’d you get paint?”
THOM: “I brought it from home.”
CHRISTINE: “Okay, because if you went in my makeup bag, that’s not cool.”
THOM: “Des, first of all, I do not have the face to pull off your makeup, honestly. Second of all—“
DARIUS: “Not with that attitude.”
THOM: “Sylvester, I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
DARIUS: “You’re welcome.”
THOM: “Alright, no, I was just doing my whole religiosity thing.”
CHRISTINE: “Yes, I hope it went well.”
THOM: “Well, we’ll see. Yeah, what’s up?”
CHRISTINE: “So, I heard from my contact at the Paranet and they have no information for me. The only other thing that I could come up with is: do you think it’s possible that this guy—that Warden Beaumont might maybe have heard of him?”
THOM: “I feel like maybe leaving the Warden out of this would make the Warden happy.”
CHRISTINE: “I feel like that’s probably the right call too. I think he has enough on his plate.”
GWEN: “He did say that he—”
THOM: “I feel like us going, ‘Hey, I know we said we were going to blow up property and also that we were going to make drugs and kill wendigo all on your watch, but do you happen to know who this guy is? Thank you.’ I feel like that would just be a little more than necessary.”
MIKE: Sylvester, your phone rings.
DARIUS: “Hello?”
MIKE: “Hey, I thought that you said you were going to blow up some property, make some drugs, and kill some wendigos, and I’m just standing around here talking to a French Canadian guy.”
DARIUS: “I’m sorry, who is this?”
MIKE: “WARDEN BEAUMONT, YOU ASSHOLE!”
DARIUS: “I’m sorry, please hold, just one second.”
CHRISTINE: Oh man.
GWEN: Oh my god.
[OUTRO MUSIC]
MIKE: Hello.
THOM: Hey guys, I’m back, sorry about that.
MIKE: Hey, restrooms happen.
GWEN: ‘Restrooms happen,’ put it on a T-shirt, folks.
THOM: Why do I feel so uncomfortable? I was like, why do I feel so uncomfortable right now, and then it hit me.
MIKE: Oh, my bladder!
[MUSIC] Pocket Podcast Network. Quality programming, right to your pocket.
Transcribed by Nicholas Johnson (https://draconick.com/)
Twitter: @DraconickGaming