Transcript:The Cold Embrace

Pre-show
TALIESIN: Knowledge of what lies beyond The Flare continues to be elusive. Glimmers of understanding lead us down branching paths with no discernible end. The mark of a strong investigator is to always question the status quo. An extraordinary investigator is one who's not afraid to question the nature that lies within them. The phenomenon which occurred in Newfaire at The Steel was the catalyst needed to test such a theory. Lightkeeper O'Neill had her concerns that the newly found circle in question could benefit from further training. But, then again, there is no sufficient preparation for the horrors that bleed into our world. Thus begins the trials of the circle known as The Vassal and the Veil. Assignment 436: The Cold Embrace. (dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music continues)

(dramatic music fades)

MATT: Welcome to Newfaire, a vibrant, expanding metropolis of industry and culture nestled along the west coast of the verdant, fertile Fairelands Valley within the northern country of Hale. The year is 1907 here in this world, not too unlike our own in a similar time. However, a decade-long cold snap known as The Shiver left many outsiders envious of the region's resources, leading to the last great war with the foreign invading forces Halens refer to as Otherwhere. It was with the invention of electrical technology and the armaments it inspired that the Fairelands were able to end the six-year conflict in victory, though, at a great cost. Three years have now passed, and the city of Newfaire is bustling with a booming economy, expanding industry, and a populace that is trying to distract themselves from the trauma of war, whether it be through new spirituality, raucous debauchery, or a renewed focus on climbing this divided, often classist society. The citizens of Newfaire straddle the line between the promises of innovation and the myths of superstition, for it is within the subterranean ruins of Oldfaire beneath the city, the terrifying mysteries of a long buried civilization seep into this world in nightmarish ways. This is where our story begins. Now, a storm has settled overhead this evening leading a dark gray sky to encompass the horizon, the rain falling in sheets across the smokestack-lined skyline of The Steel, the industrial district of Newfaire. Factories tower over the waterlogged streets billowing black columns of soot rising into the clouds above. While the dull glow of street lamps glitter across the puddles that splash, as the numerous blue collar workers finish their shifts and rapidly disperse toward their evening rest or revelry. As the factory lights dim and the chill of night settles in, we see a figure carrying a satchel avoiding the rain, darting from overhang to overhang among the cluttered impoverished homesteads that dot the outskirts of The Steel. Auggie James, would you like to describe yourself?

ASHLEY: Hey, that's me.

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: My name is August James, but call me Auggie for short. I'm 19 years old. I was an orphan, dropped off at McMannigan's-- Saint Mannigan's Lodging House for Children, and been there my whole life, working the streets. Yeah, you need something, you call me.

MATT: Great, and what do you look like here darting from the rain in the middle of the storm?

ASHLEY: Just a little scrappy, you know, clothes that don't really fit, messy hair, hat, dirty, freckles.

MATT: Great. As you trek through here, ending your days bit of work, the odd jobs and tasks that you've been taken since you were a youth among these streets, you're finishing the last of your long-run paper route amongst your other jobs.

ASHLEY: Get your papes!

MATT: (laughs) Finishing up with your last often stop here on the outskirts of The Steel, the apartment of Donald Kinzel. He's an old retired foreman and an elderly gentleman who you've taken kinship to, as not many other people seem to be paying him much mind. As the years go on, you like to stop in and see how he's doing, give him his paper and spend a bit of time, understanding he's probably not too long for the Halen cityscape. But as you comb your way through the streets, eventually seeing the ramshackle apartment complex where he resides, you climb up the side of the exterior stairs trying to stay under the overhangs letting the gathered droplets of rain pass between the bars of the iron fire escape until eventually you get to the third floor where he sits. Stepping into the hallway where you see the peeling wallpaper, and the dark somewhat moldy wood that lines the sides of the hall. You see the various doors to your right and left of you until you come to the third on the right. There you see it partially ajar, the apartment of Donald.

ASHLEY: (knocks) Hey, Donald?

MATT: "Hey, come in, come in." (creaks) You enter the room and inside you can see the very familiar, very modest apartment of Donald Kinzel. You see a small kitchenette on the side, mostly just a basin for washing his 10 or so cups, dishes in total. You see a few stools that are set off to the side of the chamber, long hardwood floor that has mostly begun to curve and warp from the moisture in the air through the rainy seasons of the city. Across the way, there's a couple of paintings that are affixed to the wall and the low slung lanterns, two of which that hang from different iron hooks in the walls, faintly giving some bit of light to the interior. In the far corner, you see the iron furnace the centered bit of warmth that he keeps and sets himself around. He's over there with a big shawl over his shoulders and a blanket over that. He's in his mid 70s, spent most of his life working in these factories, and you can see it's taking a toll on himself as he coughs a bit. Looks over towards you. "Hey, hey, it's nice for you to come by, Auggie."

ASHLEY: Got a good thick one for you today.

MATT: "Oh, thank you."

ASHLEY: Lots of stories, lots of good shit.

MATT: "I appreciate that. You want to sit down for a second?"

ASHLEY: Yeah, would love to.

MATT: Sets the paper down and puts it within the basket. "You had a good route today?"

ASHLEY: I had a pretty good route. I had a pretty good route. Made a little bit extra.

MATT: "Oh, that's fantastic." He goes and grabs a chunk of charcoal wood. He has a bundle of kindling and other bits of fuel. He starts shoveling into his little furnace--

ASHLEY: Let me get that, let me get that, I'll help you out.

MATT: "Oh, thank you kindly. A lot of people out here don't really pay much mind or respect to those of us who used to work hard before the war, you know?"

ASHLEY: Boy, they sure don't, you know? That's why I like to show up and, you know, help you out. I know how it is to be a hard worker, you know?

MATT: "That you are. Let me tell you, you remind me of those of us who built this city, you know?"

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: "Those who had respect for a hard day's work and for earning your keep here."

ASHLEY: Yeah. Yeah.

MATT: "That's a good kind of pride. None of these scum suckers and the varnish and the eaves hold their noses high above the rest of us hard working folk."

ASHLEY: The worst!

MATT: "(coughs)"

ASHLEY: They don't know how hard it is.

MATT: He grabs a chunk of charcoal and throws it into the furnace again. Starts poking around as it begins to light a little bit, a bit of warmth beginning to emerge as the firelight begins to crackle and resting arms against it. He sits there for a second and starts taking a poker and poking at it. "You, uh-- You got aspirations there, Auggie? You're going to be running the paper rest of your life?"

ASHLEY: Maybe, maybe running the paper maybe. Maybe be the mayor of the town.

MATT: "Ah, see that, I like that ambition."

ASHLEY: Yeah, I think I'd be good at it.

MATT: "I bet you would, too. You got a clever mind. You got bright eyes. You speak from the heart. These are things that, well, things that we need in the political circles of this city."

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: Reaches over and grabs some more kindling and throws it in.

ASHLEY: How you been feeling?

MATT: "Ah, you know this, this recent rainy weather's starting to really cough it up a bit in the lungs, you know, but I'll be all right. Got a sister of mine is coming in town on the trains in the next month or so."

ASHLEY: Oh.

MATT: "Going to bring some teas from the northern sides--"

ASHLEY: Ooh.

MATT: "-- the Fairelands and hopefully that'll help clear me out a little bit, you know?"

ASHLEY: Oh, that's going to be fun. I didn't know you had a sister

MATT: "Indeed, haven't talked to her in a long time." She's younger. (laughs)

ASHLEY: Oh, all right, all right.

MATT: Grabs a big old chunk of weird looking charcoal and throws it into the furnace. "And that's what I've been wanting--" (explosion booms) Suddenly, there is a massive explosion in the chamber as the chunk of odd, almost obsidian-like charcoal that he thrusts into this detonates and this blast of bright blue energy (explosion booms). As it explodes outward. You feel this impact, this force blast into your body and chest and you feel yourself thrown back out of your body. You suddenly see the back of you, your head as you begin to tumble backward, your hat tumbling off, your eyes vacant as you see your body somewhat translucent, faintly blue, (whooshes) and you begin to shunt back into it. Just as you glance over at where the detonation occurred you see ice (ice shatters) begin to crash around the room and ceiling, freezing it instantly. As well as Donald thrust backward as well. His weird, translucent, glowing echo pushed from his form. As the dizziness begins to take you, and your consciousness begins to fade, you see a shadow (whooshes) begin to escape from the twisted remains of the furnace. Now... Across the city, in the region known as Briar Green, within the halls of the Briar Bank College, the esteemed marble walkways, the numerous auditoriums and libraries and research facilities here in the later evening when most of the students have gone to their homesteads and studies for the evening, beyond the halls. Staying behind in his office to his own business, we have Dr. Howard Margrove. If you please describe yourself and what you are doing.

ROBBIE: Sure. Well, as per usual, Howard is buried in books and papers. He has a grim look on his face, consternation, working through whatever puzzle's in front of him. Even though it's late in the evening he's dressed as if it's the first thing in the morning. Astutely appointed, tall hat (laughs), and he's leafing through papers, really trying to work out what's in front of him. Yeah, he's an older gentleman. He's 52 years old. He wears spectacles, but it's hard to tell whether or not they're for reading or far away. And yeah, he's a professor at this college and this is his office, that's not only filled with books, but some oddities and it's very pristine inside, yeah.

MATT: About this time, you hear the door behind you creak open a little bit. (creaks) "Howard." You turn around and see Professor Errol Dennings, who is a younger professor who you've, I wouldn't call it a friendship as much as it is a space-sharing rivalry within these halls. Steps in for a bit and glances, not quite over your shoulder, but definitely in your direction. "Don't mean to disturb you, Professor, but are you planning to sleep in your office?"

ROBBIE: Where I sleep has no bearing on your work, Dennings. What can I do for you?

MATT: "I'm just expressing concern. You, you should really get out more. I mean..."

ROBBIE: I have office hours. I get out on my own accord. What's this meeting about, Dennings, what can I help you with?

MATT: "Me and a few of the other professors here have discussed just, oh, we're concerned for you. You should come out with us drinking tonight. It would do you well to be social a bit, you know, maybe engage with the rest of the university body. You could use the, could use the relationship building experience of being part of a faculty."

ROBBIE: Well, I have many rich and diverse relationships in my life, and if you would care for me to expand upon them into the professional circle, I would be delighted. Let's go have a brandy sometime, I suppose. Is that all? You just invited me out for a drink?

MATT: "(chuckles) As I expected. Well, should you ever decide to take us up on such and offer, please do."

ROBBIE: All right, thank you, I suppose. (chuckles)

MATT: He turns to leave, at which point, another figure is in the door and goes, "Excuse me. Don't stay up too late, Professor," and wanders off through the door. Behind them you see a squat gentleman rounded of shoulders in a navy thick jacket. Gloves on, a fedora that they're wearing at the front that has a bit of a blue feather on the side. Stepping in, takes the hat off a bit and shakes the rain off at the step as you glance up you see a completely bald head, a pair of small round glasses that seem almost pushed into their eye sockets to the point their eyes are so further sunken in. You don't recognize this figure, but the the figure, as they step forward, goes, (raspy, weathered) "Ah, Dr. Margrove. My apologies for intruding this evening." Reaches over and hands you a small envelope.

ROBBIE: (sighs) All right.

MATT: "Candela requests your assistance. There has been a phenomenon."

ROBBIE: Immediately, Howard snaps out of what he's doing, puts everything to the side. All right. Where are we meeting?

MATT: "I believe she wishes to meet at the diner."

ROBBIE: She?

MATT: "Your Lightkeeper for the evening."

ROBBIE: Oh.

MATT: We pull away from that moment. Instead now, Arlo Black, whereabouts are you this evening?

LAURA: Oh, I'm sitting in my bedroom, actually.

MATT: Please describe the scene where you sit and what we see as we come into your personal space.

LAURA: I'm sitting in my bedroom in front of a vanity. She's been dressed for the day and staring into the mirror, completely silent. Every once in a while, her eyes will drift to the side and bring it back and stare at herself again. Not saying anything.

MATT: (knocking)

LAURA: Come in.

MATT: The door lurches.

LAURA: She turns around.

MATT: It's locked.

LAURA: Right. I get up and unlock the door.

MATT: Okay. The door opens and immediately you see the pouring rain outside. You see a hunched figure, dark blue navy coat, fedora. He pulls it off there, bald, bespeckled face looks up at you with a wide, pleasant, if slightly jarring, grin. (raspy, weathered) "Miss Arlo Black, my apologies for disturbing you this evening. Candela requests your assistance. There has been a phenomenon."

LAURA: Wonderful. Thank you.

MATT: "We are to meet at the diner at your earliest convenience. The night is still young enough and time is of the essence."

LAURA: Mr. Tellbrook, tell Mother I'll be going out for the evening.

MATT: (laughs) From the other doors, you watch us this tall, lithe, old gentleman goes, (proper) "Oh, very well. I'll notify her. Not to worry. Will you be safe? Do you need assistance? Do you need an escort?"

LAURA: As I tug on my glove. No escort will be necessary, thank you.

MATT: "Very well. Your mother will be unhappy, but I will deal with it." He turns, continues back as you begin to gather your things and prepare yourself for an unexpected evening out. Now, here on the outskirts of Red Lamp, the somewhat debaucherous region of the city of Newfaire, where the middle to lower class comes and spends their evenings in all sorts of alcoholic revelry, music, dancing, and occasionally, in a scarlet-based speakeasy. It is here, not too far from where the more affluent members enjoy similar mirrored merriments in The Varnish, that instead they come here, on this side of Red Lamp, to the Sight Unseen Bar and Club. Here, in the evening hours, amongst the bustle and fun and joyous, musical, playful, human, animal experience that this club tends to bring into itself, patrons are stepping through and clinking glasses and laughing and cheering and very much escaping for a few hours from the reality that day-to-day life brings. Here you are perusing amongst your various patrons, the individual responsible for and keeping watch over this establishment. If you wouldn't mind, Charlotte Eaves, what are you doing and what do you look like?

ANJALI: I am standing in the doorway between my back office and the front of the bar. I'm watching my right-hand man, Stinson, watching him as he tends to the bar. I'm surveying all manner of humanity in the room. Some who perhaps it's their first time in the Red Lamp, and some who are using this place as an alibi because they know that I have a particular reputation that somehow smooths over certain transgressions. I'm watching carefully, making sure there isn't anyone that I have to deal with, and fondly looking back occasionally at a small cot with a rumpled blanket and a pillow. That's about it.

MATT: All right. As you look at that pillow, time seems to almost slow. Color seems to fade in the periphery. For a second, time seems to stretch or stop, lost in a memory, before you feel a hand touch your shoulder and shake you out of your sudden consciousness as you see Stinton, arm on your shoulder, go, "Um, excuse me, Miss, are you feeling all right? You looked a bit distracted and focused for a minute. Make sure you're okay."

ANJALI: I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me. There's no need. I simply was falling into a reverie, remembering good times.

MATT: "Of course, of course. Just, you know, you've been stressing yourself out here a lot recently and I want to make sure you're taking care of yourself. You take care of the rest of us enough as it is. If there's any trouble coming and you're getting yourself into, you know you got friends."

ANJALI: (chuckles) I do. Trust me, I'm not involved in anything I can't get myself out of.

MATT: "(laughs) I understand that. I understand that." Scratches his beard. "Okay, well, if you're feeling you want a drink or anything, You know where to find me."

ANJALI: Thank you.

MATT: He wanders back behind the bar. You watch as a somewhat affluent couple who are slumming it here in the Red Lamp get into a brief, not an argument, but a disagreement with the doorman as another figure pushes past them. You can see a squat gentleman in a blue coat, fedora, step in past. The doorman turns to look towards him and sees your hand as he pulls the hat off, looks over towards you. "Miss Charlotte Eaves, my apologies for the intrusion. Candela requests your assistance. There has been a--"

ANJALI: Oh, not here. I invite him into my back office.

MATT: "Hm. Well, no need for formalities. Just read upon. Your Lightkeeper will await you the diner."

ANJALI: Thank you.

MATT: Puts the hat back on and darts back out into the cold, rainy night. Auggie.

ASHLEY: Holy shit!

(laughter)

MATT: You dart up out of consciousness, not knowing how much time has passed, and yell, "Holy shit" into the area. Your vision's blurred and fuzzy, and you immediately watch as six people turn around and face you.

ASHLEY: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

MATT: You can see two of them begin to talk amongst themselves. You can hear the whispers of them discussing amongst themselves, your head swimming with an odd series of sounds, unsure to really grasp and pull in what's being said, what's being done, before a hand grabs your shoulder and lifts you onto your feet. Your vision begins to clear a bit and you can see you're still standing within Donald's apartment, but now there are multiple figures all dressed in long, dark peacoats and business attire. Some of them have hats, many of them are taking notes. They walk with an authority like The Periphery, the police that look over, for some, the city of Newfaire, but not quite dressed with that authoritative presentation. As they lift you up--

ASHLEY: Hey, hey, hey, get your hands off me.

MATT: Pulls back. This middle-aged gentleman goes, "That's all right, that's all right. Aaron? He's awake." You see this one tall, thin gentleman in one of the same matching long peacoats sits amongst the rest of the crowd that are in the process of now investigating the interior of this room. They're taking samples and putting them into boxes. They're turning over furniture and looking about what's transpired here. You can see, in this moment, the ice that has been thrust across this room like it was flash frozen, all emanating from the center of where this now broken and twisted furnace is.

ASHLEY: Donald?

MATT: You see no sign of Donald anywhere. That tall gentleman turns to you, his cheeks sunken and sallow, stretched features, very, very short, dark hair, graying on the sides. He looks back in your direction, starts walking towards you.

ASHLEY: (stammering) Whoa, whoa. Where's my friend?

MATT: (authoritatively) "What's your name?"

ASHLEY: What do you need to know my name for?

MATT: "You were present for a violent event."

ASHLEY: I didn't do it. I didn't do anything.

MATT: "I did not say you did anything, but you are the only witness to this and we need--"

ASHLEY: I wasn't the only witness! My friend Donald was here, now he's gone.

MATT: "Your friend Donald is not here for now."

ASHLEY: Is he okay?

MATT: "Your friend Donald is no longer with us. You are the only witness. So I need you to be completely honest with me." He gets down on one knee. You now realize, you're 19, you're not a short fellow, but this guy is probably about 6'6" at full height and has to get down to eye level with you. The closer he is to you, you can see his--

ASHLEY: All right, you don't have to be insulting. (laughter)

MATT: You see his pale, gray-blue eyes, the whites are a bit yellowed, strained, like this man hasn't slept in days, that looks to you. "Please, you can trust us. I am Field Officer Aaron Weimer. I'm of the Office of Unexplained Phenomenon. I need your help to find out what happened to your friend Donald. What did you see?"

ASHLEY: What? This is... I don't even know what's going on right now. I came in here to give Donald his paper. Then we were sitting here at the furnace. He was loading it up. He was putting in the charcoals, and then he put one in, and there was a blue flash. Then I came out of my body, and I'm seeing my body from far away, right? Then I go back in and then things are like ice. Then I look over here-- I don't even know what the fuck.

MATT: "Understood." He gives you a very long look into one eye, then the other, reading your facial micro expressions before standing back up.

ASHLEY: Wait, wait, wait, wait. You said you're from the where?

MATT: "We are a subsect of The Periphery, just ensuring that the peace is kept when strange events happen. I'm sorry for your friend and we will see to it that when we discover the purpose of this tragedy has been brought to justice, any next of kin will be awarded in his stead."

ASHLEY: His sister's coming into town.

MATT: Puts a hand up and somebody takes a note of it. "Very well. Regardless, it appears here there was some sort of fungal infection within the neighborhood that's been causing hallucinations."

ASHLEY: Ugh!

MATT: "So I would give yourself some time to rest, perhaps flush it from your system. What you saw tonight was indeed unique."

ASHLEY: Am I going to explode any minute?

MATT: "I certainly hope not. Just drink some water and rest for a few days. This was an unfortunate use of improper fuel within his furnace, which caused his death. You are lucky to be alive. But it was just a mundane accident. Now, if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to escort you to your home and off the premises to a place safe while we finish our investigation."

ASHLEY: I don't need an escort. I can go myself. Where did you take him?

MATT: "He has been taken to the morgue for processing. I'm sorry." Looks over to somebody else, then somebody grabs your shoulder and starts pushing you out of the room.

ASHLEY: Yeah, okay, okay.

MATT: "Take the furnace, anything else of interest." The door closes behind you as you're pushed back out into the hallway that leads outside of the apartment complex.

ASHLEY: (sighs) Okay. I don't know where else to go. I go to see Charlotte.

MATT: Okay. You step down the fire escape again, exiting the back side of the apartment complex into the alley. No more than maybe two minutes into this walk, a familiar sense comes over you. You're being followed. You glance over your shoulder and you see one figure that's stepping about 20, 25 feet behind you, hands in a long jacket's pockets, and just keeping pace.

ASHLEY: All right. I'm going to pick up my pace a little more.

MATT: Okay.

ASHLEY: And try to go parts of the street that I know are very bright.

MATT: Okay. So you keep to a bright portion of the street where others here can be watchful of where you are. As you step out into the various-- There are gas lamps and some electric lamps that have been brought in in recent years as well to give a unique scattering of color and glows to the streets here. You step into one of the nearby gas lamps to give a little bit of light, looking about. At this point in the evening, there's really not a lot of people in The Steel working. There are a handful of folks walking and they look like they would pay no interest to a young pauper wandering in the middle of the rain. It's about this moment that the figure steps out of the nearby alley here. You see now it's a female figure who begins to step towards you. The voice that comes out from their shadow as the gas lamp begins to light their features, "I saw you talking to them, and I think it's good if we have a conversation."

ASHLEY: Why? What? Who are you?

MATT: She steps closer and you--

ASHLEY: A thousand people are coming at me right now that I don't even know and you're all telling me to-- Who are you?

MATT: She steps into the gas light. You can see a woman in her mid-fifties or so, brown skin, hair up in thick locks that are pulled to the top that drift past the shoulders with gray streaks that run through. She looks intensely towards you. One of her eyes, her right eye, is clouded white. What you can see is these heavy scars that streak down the face and through the eye that look like lightning bolts that carve through past the cheek. Leans in. "My name's Alexandra. What's your name?"

ASHLEY: Um, Auggie?

MATT: "Auggie."

ASHLEY: Nice to meet you?

MATT: She sees your hand out there, shakes it. "Don't trust the OUP. They're not looking out for you or your friend, whatever the hell happened up there. (sighs) Look, I'm sorry for your friend you lost. I have to ask you, do you trust them?"

ASHLEY: I don't know who to trust right now. I don't even know who you are.

MATT: "Good."

ASHLEY: You're telling me not to trust them. How am I supposed to know I'm supposed to trust you?

MATT: "Good. That's what kept me alive this long. Hold on to that. Eventually you have to trust someone, but definitely be careful. I'm--" You see she turns, the light catches her eye, and for a second, the pupil flashes gold in the reflection like an animal through the middle of the woods. She looks back over that space. "Let's at least step out of the light for a moment, just so they don't see us talking."

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: She steps off into the nearby alley before turning once so that you're both in sufficient shadow.

ASHLEY: I'm going to keep my space.

MATT: Of course. "I want to find out what happened up there. I want to find out what happened with your friend. Because, unless I'm incorrect, it's not normal."

ASHLEY: No.

MATT: "I specialize in things that aren't normal. Me and a number of my compatriots have for a very long time."

ASHLEY: Like stuff that happened up there? You've seen it? You deal with weird shit? Because what I saw was... I've never seen anything like that before.

MATT: "Well, now that you have, there's a good chance it won't be the last time you see some strange shit again. I want to offer you an opportunity to work with me to figure out what happened to your friend, and if we can, stop it from happening to other people."

ASHLEY: What's in it for me?

MATT: "Well, maybe a sense of being a good Samaritan, maybe some answers, maybe a bit of rest for your friend. Who knows? Maybe there's a bit of change in it for you, too. You don't look like a stranger to doing the odd job here and there, huh?"

ASHLEY: I make do.

MATT: "Are you a curious one?"

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: "Good. Us, too. I'll tell you what, I want you to meet a few friends of mine. If you like the energy they bring, if you like what I'm talking about, and you feel we can work together, then we will, and we'll get to the bottom of this. If you don't, leave immediately. Never see us again."

ASHLEY: Yeah, okay.

MATT: "Okay. Your experiences in this could be of value to our investigation, so I hope this can come through. Let's head to the Blue Derby Diner in South Soffit."

ASHLEY: Oh, that place is delicious.

MATT: You go ahead and follow this Alexandra. Passing through the bustling nightlife of the Red Lamp and briefly hopping atop the screaming trolley car that streaks down the street, watching the sparks shoot off of it as it scoots down the road, off the way the (ding, ding) bell as it goes by. Stomping through the muddied streets and winding alleys that live in the shadow of the affluent Topside District of The Eaves, you now enter South Soffit, or The Soffit, as it's referred to as the common denizens of the city of Newfaire. The high-stacked buildings and apartments look top heavy in places, built into the exposed ruins of Oldfaire, the ancient city long buried below, and just barely rise from these forgotten catacombs of history, their ancient steps climbing up towards the elite neighborhood above, that block-- of a neighborhood above that prevents most of the daylight from reaching The Soffit when the sun is in the sky. You pass more of the dimming gas lamps, the occasional ramshackle electric cable that's been run down from the above portions of the city, giving some bits of odd glow. Electricity, being a newer technology to these recent times, has begun to spread like wildfire, and even finding its way down here to South Soffit is a unique change, though it does make for rising living prices for those who already had a hard time affording a place within the city. Following Alexandra's step, you head towards the exterior of the rundown diner, of weathered blue paint, and slightly yellowed, dingy windows. Once you are inside, you're hit with the familiar smell of cooking grease and mildewed towels that greet you as you walk past the booths and tables, past the kitchen and into the hallway in the back. Turning left, following Alexandra, a single door lies somewhat open within a darkened interior chamber, a single, hanging electric bulb gently swinging to alight the interior, where you see a round table beneath it and three other figures that sit within in a semicircle booth around it. The rest of you, who have been waiting patiently within the interior of this chamber, watch as Alexandra steps within, kicking some of the mud off her boots. "Hello, good evening. Thank you all for coming. I'm glad you all have some sense and aren't too busy."

LAURA: Never.

MATT: "I know it's been a it of time for some of you. Well, thank you for joining. Auggie. Auggie here was present during this evening's phenomenon, and from a little bit of hearsay, seems to be a bit knowledgeable in the ways of the city and getting about. A clever one. May be very, very useful to the investigation ahead. Auggie--"

ANJALI: Pleased to make your acquaintance, Auggie. My name is Charlotte.

ASHLEY: Oh, Ma'am, pleased to meet your acquaintance as well. I am Auggie. Who are you?

ROBBIE: So Candela's recruiting fetuses now, are we?

ASHLEY: I--

MATT: "(laughs)"

ASHLEY: Listen--

LAURA: Arlo Black.

ASHLEY: Hello, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you.

LAURA: Pleasure.

ROBBIE: Dr. Margrove. Howard Margrove.

ASHLEY: Oh, wow. All right. Okay.

MATT: "I am Lightkeeper Alexandra Elise O'Neill. Well, welcome. I want to... This is always the very interesting part. What you saw tonight, Auggie, was very real. Whatever they told you at the OUP, you're not the first to encounter such strange phenomenon. But what you saw tonight is only a glimpse of the terrible truths that lie beyond most mundane understanding. This realm, our realm, is but one of many in existence, and there is a boundary that keeps us separate from these other realms, one that we've known and called for some time, The Flare. Now, there are places between these worlds where this Flare becomes weak. We call those thinnings. It's at these places that dangerous metaphysical energy leaks through from these other realms into ours. Some refer to it as magick, if we want to be a bit colloquial with it. But when it comes into our realm, it leaves an impact. You see, it can alter things in our world, objects, places, people, irrevocably changing them in strange, horrible ways." She points to her eye on her face. "I'm one of the lucky ones, comparatively. Now, such magical incursions leave behind a corruptive force called bleed. This bleed, it emanates from supernatural phenomenon, and if left unchecked, can build to the point of taking one's will, one's health, even eventually, one's life. What you witnessed tonight was one such incursion, a moment of a thinning where something bled through and took the life of your friend, and, very luckily, did not take yours." They pull this strange device out from inside their coat. You see it has these whirring, almost mechanical, clock-like interfaces on two different sides. As they twist one, you see it begin to spark and whir, this humming sound. (mechanical whirring) As it does, this glow suddenly fills the room. As they hold it out, this energy begins to crackle. You didn't notice until now, but there is this faint vibration on the front of your coat. Glancing down, you can see this black, oily substance, but it's translucent. It's present, but not at the same time. It's hard to--

ASHLEY: What's this? What-- What is this?

MATT: "That is bleed residue. Could somebody go ahead and help Auggie and contain..."

ANJALI: I'll help the young man. I'll pull out a, sort of a mechanical containment vial type thing that you spin open, so it seems like a certain combination of spinning parts. I click it open, and I just begin to roll it up and around. As I do, the bleed starts to almost pull itself into the vial.

LAURA: Can I just walk up to Auggie? Do you mind?

ASHLEY: Anytime.

LAURA: I'm just going to touch right here on their shoulder. Does it seem familiar, this substance?

MATT: If you would like to make a Sense test to see if you can ascertain the nature of this odd, corruptive bleed.

LAURA: Great. I don't sense anything.

(laughter)

MATT: So you rolled?

LAURA: Two threes and a one, baby!

MATT: Oh, great. So you reach out and go to sense it. As you come in contact with the echo of this bleed signature, the residue of some sort of catastrophic Flare crossing event, you feel it, just like it would collect itself into Charlotte's jar, this almost jumps to your hand and that cold sensation hits you, and the corruption briefly touches your very essence. I need you to go ahead and mark one bleed on your character sheet.

LAURA: Already?

MATT: How does this bleed affect you?

LAURA: Fucking hell.

MATT: How how does it cross into your consciousness?

LAURA: Well, I touched it with my gloved hand, but it wasn't enough, and I feel it almost in the hand that had already felt cold. It travels up my arm and hits my chest for a moment. (trembling sigh) I look up and all of the things that have been on the periphery sort of drift into focus really fast. I'll close my eyes and see if I can push it back.

MATT: It takes a moment, and you feel your hand shaking with the cold. The rest of you, the room is temperate, but yet, you watch as Arlo exhales with a shivering quiver to the voice and the breath itself is visible, like they're in the middle of a frozen cold snap, though a temperature none of you experience. At which point, Alexandra reaches out and grabs your jar and quickly collects the rest of the bleed from the front of your coat before latching it and putting it within their pocket, handing you a new, unutilized container.

ROBBIE: A little slow, Charlotte.

ANJALI: I didn't see you jumping to help, Howard.

ROBBIE: Fair point.

MATT: (electronic powering down) The device shuts down as the Lightkeeper, Alexandra, puts it inside another unforeseen pocket, a number of pockets within her long coat. She looks back up to you. "You've had a wild night and I know it's a lot. I think it's best that now we tell you why we're here. We are part of an organization called Candela Obscura. This organization is older than the city we stand in, possibly older than the city below, as well. We are sworn protectors of the people, seekers of truth, and vanguards against these terrifying powers that threaten to corrupt and destroy all we hold dear, the same powers that long ago ruined Oldfaire itself. We are investigators who wish to prevent history from repeating itself by securing and studying these incursions. These three have worked with me and other Lightkeepers for some time. Given your experience tonight, you are free to answer how you wish. Will you join us?"

ASHLEY: (scoffs) I-- I-- Yeah. Yes.

MATT: "Hm. Very well. I thought I saw curiosity brimming in there. I think tonight will show how much of a bright future you have." Tosses you a small pin emblem. "Now, the four of you will become a circle, a circle of Candela Obscura, and this will be your first investigation as this circle. Lest anyone else wish to exit before we complete the pact? Very well." At which point, you see now she takes her coat off and sets it down, and she has this thick vest, white, billowing blouse sleeves that are rolled up to the elbows. You can see other scars and ink tattoos across parts of her forearms as she begins to reach into a small pouch within the other side of her coat and begins to draw a symbol across the table in the center of this half circle booth. Upon marking this odd, glyph-like emblem in the middle, about two feet across on each side, finishes up, sets it down. "Hands?"

LAURA: (laughs)

(laughter)

MATT: Imagination. (laughs)

MATT: "It is within my esteem and authority of Candela Obscura to forge this circle, the circle of--" What are you naming your circle? What have you decided previously? (laughs)

ANJALI: The Circle of the Vassal and the Veil.

MATT: "The Circle of the Vassal and the Veil." At this point, you watch as she reaches into a small, metallic compact almost, pulls it open and takes this iron filing type material, and tosses it out in the air. As it does, it ignites in a blue flame and the symbol in the center of the table glows for a moment. For a brief instant, not an unfamiliar experience for the three of you, but for you, Auggie, there is a shared lasso of warmth that goes through the arms. You feel almost like you're holding every hand in this circle.

ASHLEY: Whoa.

MATT: For but a moment, it tingles. You feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up, and then it's gone. "Well."

ANJALI: You'll get used to it.

MATT: "The evening is still relatively young. I think the more time that goes by, the less chance we have of gathering all the necessary information. Who knows if the OUP will have left with everything or return for more answers. So I recommend you do what you will to prepare. Get out there before it's too late. It's a pleasure to have you among us, Auggie. Do us proud."

ASHLEY: Okay.

MATT: "And stay safe. We need no heroes."

ASHLEY: Oh, okay.

MATT: Puts her coat back on, pulls out a thick cigar, and lights it and kind of-- "Let me know what you find when you're done." Gives you a nod and she leaves out of the chamber, leaving the four of you to (laughs) catch up a bit, if you'd like.

ANJALI: (sighs)

ASHLEY: H-H-How do you all know each other?

ANJALI: We've all worked at various points with the Candela Obscura. And you, I wish you weren't here.

LAURA: Well, that's not very kind, Charlie.

ANJALI: I have to be frank with both of you, and I hope you will... I hope you will not judge me for this decision, but I know this young man. I didn't want Alexandra to know because I wasn't sure how the organization would feel about working with someone that I have a connection to. However, if he is going to be with any circle, I would rather he be with mine.

ROBBIE: Secrets at the outset? I like it.

ANJALI: Mm.

LAURA: Did you work at the Sight Unseen?

ASHLEY: Yeah. Yeah, I've been-- W-W-We met--

ANJALI: In a manner of speaking.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: Yes.

ASHLEY: I've known Charlie since I was about 10.

LAURA: Wow.

ANJALI: So.

ASHLEY: So what do you do? You go out and then you--

LAURA: Oh, yes.

ASHLEY: How does this even work?

LAURA: So this happened at his apartment? That's what the envelope said?

ASHLEY: Yeah, so, I went in to go see Donald. He's at the end of my route. I go in there and he's sitting by his furnace, and we're filling it up to get warm, and then he puts in a piece of charcoal and then it just explodes and everything's blue and there's ice, and--

ROBBIE: Did you say blue?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Everything as in...?

ASHLEY: It had a hue.

ROBBIE: An energy?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ROBBIE: That was blue.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

LAURA: I don't think that was charcoal.

ASHLEY: I don't think it was, either. I was like, was it some other piece? I don't know. Then everything blew up. I was outside of my body and I saw my body and then, and then I woke up, and all those people were there and Donald was gone.

ROBBIE: Hmm.

LAURA: So they were still there when you left?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: (sighs) We might be too late.

ASHLEY: It was a guy named Aaron. Aaron, Aaron something or other. Aaron--

ROBBIE: We're familiar.

ANJALI: Yes.

ASHLEY: Okay, okay. No good?

ROBBIE: Mm.

ANJALI: Depends on who you work for and work with. In our case, not good. Did Donald have any other friends, relations, people that you knew of? To ask the obvious question, any enemies?

ASHLEY: Not that I can think of, I mean, he was just a normal guy, and his sister was coming to town.

LAURA: When?

ASHLEY: I don't know, I just, that she was coming soon.

LAURA: And he lived in The Steel, correct?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

LAURA: Do you know where he did his shopping?

ASHLEY: Oh, yeah, yeah, because sometimes I would help him out.

MATT: You do know that Donald, he, because of his failing health, and late onset black lung, working as a foreman in his particular factory, would pay for some of the local scavengers to bring materials to him. That's the extent that you know of. He'd occasionally go shopping, and there's different marketplaces around here, fairly simple, but anything specifically, he had friends that used to work in the industry, or adjacent to it that would just find what he needed for a good price.

ASHLEY: I mean, he didn't really shop at any one place. I think it was just whenever he was out, which was not a lot. Different people helping him out, bringing some things when he needed it. I was one of them.

ANJALI: And you've never met any of them?

MATT: Not really.

ASHLEY: Not well enough.

LAURA: Well, I don't think we're going to solve this. We should probably go home.

ANJALI: (laughs) I saw you dive to check, by yourself to check on this particular material we found on the young man.

LAURA: Yes.

ANJALI: I suspect this is not your first circle working with, right?

LAURA: Oh no, actually, professor and I have worked together before.

ANJALI: Oh, wonderful.

ROBBIE: That is true. Yes, former student, diligent studier. Yeah, truly you are--

LAURA: You're so kind.

ROBBIE: -- astute and keen to parse out the details of a person. Something that I'm not quite so good at, myself. But yes, we've had some experience in this department.

ANJALI: In that case, I don't need to warn you not to do that again, do I?

LAURA: Thank you, Charlie.

ROBBIE: Yes, yes, we all care for each other very deeply. Young man, do you have any education, by any chance? Did you go to school?

ASHLEY: I mean, yeah, I have, I had education on, oh, on the street.

ROBBIE: Oh, sure.

ANJALI: Oh, your education goes far beyond book smarts.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ROBBIE: That's true, that's true. Are you familiar with the term, a hypothesis? Do you know it?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Great, I'll help you, but obviously you know, and it's like a educated guess.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Before you have all of the information.

ASHLEY: Did you also need some help pulling that stick out of your ass?

LAURA: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Oh!

(laughs)

ASHLEY: Because I actually know what a hypothesis is.

ROBBIE: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult your intelligence, or knowledge.

ANJALI: (skeptical noise)

ROBBIE: Apologies. So, if you had one for this particular scenario that you experienced tonight, what do you think happened? Was it the charcoal?

ASHLEY: (scoffs) I don't know, I don't--

ANJALI: Auggie, you are a particularly good, mm... You see things. I know you do. You have a keen eye for differences. The things that have changed, the things in the the picture that aren't as they seem. Do you remember anything that wasn't as it should be when you were there at that moment with Donald?

MATT: If you would like to make a Survey roll to either immediately, actually, no, this would be Focus, because this would be recalling things in the past. So make a Focus test for me.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: How's your Focus?

ASHLEY: I got one, so that means I roll how many again?

MATT: One dice.

ASHLEY: One dice, shit.

LAURA: You know what? I'm going to give you some help.

ASHLEY: I also have a Resistance, so I can use that.

MATT: If need be. You have drives. You can use two to add more dice if you want to, you just--

ASHLEY: You know what? I'll do another drive.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Okay. So one drive from you, or?

LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: We need this, this is super helpful.

ASHLEY: Urgh.

MATT: Three, one, three. (laughs)

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Damn.

ASHLEY: There was--

LAURA: So I get it back.

ASHLEY: It was--

ANJALI: (laughs)

MATT: That's true. You did choose a circle ability.

(laughter)

MATT: So, the circle ability you chose for this was?

LAURA: We chose Trauma Bonding.

MATT: Trauma Bonding, which means that if you help somebody and they fail, you both get your drives back, if I recall?

LAURA: Yes, so you get your drive back as well.

ASHLEY: Yes! Okay.

ROBBIE: So, their drives were what--

ASHLEY: God, that's cool.

ROBBIE: -- gave her the extra dice roll, right?

LAURA: Yes.

ROBBIE: Oh, okay, great.

ASHLEY: Okay, okay. I just, I wasn't paying enough attention. It was just like every night.

ANJALI: Right.

ASHLEY: You know? I was just sitting there, and then--

MATT: In recalling and trying to focus on this, all the moments that transpired, of feeling your spirit leave your body, it seems, almost for a moment, the being surrounded by strangers, being immediately interrogated, while pressing them, you find that stress begins to build up within you. The sweat begins to build on your brow, and you all watch as this 19-year-old begins to almost fall into the onset of a panic attack. You need to take a brain mark for me.

LAURA: Oh no.

ASHLEY and ROBBIE: Oh no.

ROBBIE: I'm sorry. I was just to--

LAURA: We are so ready.

ROBBIE: -- get you to use your--

MATT: But I will say, as you do know as investigators, that often the first place to begin an investigation is the scene.

LAURA: Yes.

ANJALI: Yeah.

LAURA: We should try it out anyway, see if the--

ANJALI: August.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: You breathe.

ASHLEY: Okay.

ANJALI: Breathe.

ASHLEY: (labored exhale)

ROBBIE: I'm sorry, Auggie, forget the hypothesis. Let's skip straight to observation, shall we?

ASHLEY: Okay, okay, okay.

ANJALI: Let's start.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: Are you comfortable returning?

ASHLEY: With you guys, yeah.

ROBBIE: Oh.

ANJALI: Then I suspect we should go.

ASHLEY: All right. Yeah, well, I'll take you guys there. I know where to go.

MATT: All right. So, you gather your supplies. Do you have any particular equipment you wish to bring on this investigation that you will have marked, or you can mark as we go, should something be of interest to you? But following Auggie's lead, you step out once more into the night air of the ever later growing eve here in Newfaire, the distant rumble of thunder crackling as the storm pulls overhead. You leave the Red Lamp.

LAURA: That's for you to hold for me.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: Ah.

LAURA: Thank you.

MATT: And head back to the exterior of the Steel. Back to the apartment complex where the evening's events first kicked off. There, you find the outside of the alley that leads to the fire escape. You see no immediate signs of anybody bustling about.

ANJALI: Can we see, is there a way to look in the front of the building to see if there's anyone stationed out there, or anything?

MATT: The other side of the building? You move around to the front, and stake it out. You do see a couple leave the front of it, and duck underneath an overhang, and begin to make their way, avoiding the storm itself. But no sign of anybody currently staking the exterior of it either.

LAURA: Do you know how to get up?

ASHLEY: Yeah, you want, I mean, up the fire escape, is that okay?

LAURA: Let's do it.

ASHLEY: Is that okay for you, sir?

ROBBIE: Oh.

ASHLEY: Are you're going to, you know, mess up your clothes a little bit?

ROBBIE: Mm, maybe, but I've got others.

ASHLEY: All right, after you.

ROBBIE: Why thank you, what a young gentleman.

MATT: All right, as you ascend the metal steps up to the third floor of this complex, you reenter the hallway within the apartment complex proper. The floor creaks a bit with your first footstep. As you, light on your feet as you are, glance off to the where the hall is, you do see a chair that is placed on the outside of the door that leads to the apartment. There is one gentleman sitting in the chair, wearing the same dark long coat as the OUP officers that you had spoken with. The person is just sitting stationed there.

ANJALI: Have they seen us yet?

MATT: They do not appear to be aware of your presence yet.

ANJALI: Are we in full view, are we all in full view? If they--

MATT: You all are stepping into the alley-- or sorry, the hallway, and then it divides left and right. On the left is where that is, so you're out of sight, and just looking this way--

LAURA: On the T?

MATT: To see where they are beyond the T.

ROBBIE: He's the only one we can see in front of the door?

MATT: At the moment, yeah.

LAURA: Is he, what is he doing? Is he just sitting there? Does he seem distracted, does he?

MATT: He's just sitting there, twiddling his thumbs, lost in thought.

ANJALI: All right, then. Seems we'll need a distraction. I'll go. I swish around the corner. Excuse me, sir, I'm so terribly sorry. I'm here to see a friend, and I'm supposed to find the address, and I can't figure out which room she's in. Is it possible that you could help me? You look like you've been here before.

MATT: The gentleman, who looks over at you, he's one of those figures where the neck is just wide enough that the head just becomes one solid shape into the shoulders.

(laughter)

ANJALI: Mm.

MATT: Has a bit of a bulbous chin and a round button nose, a rosy complexion in the cold weather of the evening. He sniffles a bit and looks up. "Oh, I'm supposed to be keeping watch here. I don't know this apartment well."

ANJALI: Please, I'm so terribly sorry, but I really need to find her. She's unwell, you see, and I just need to make sure that I can knock on her door, and make sure that she's okay.

MATT: Go ahead and make a--

ANJALI: I guess it's a Sway.

MATT: It should be a Sway roll, yeah.

ANJALI: It's to convince, command, or consort.

MATT: Indeed. So, make a Sway test for me, if you don't mind.

ANJALI: And I have a gilded die.

LAURA: Ooh-hoo.

ASHLEY: Ooh!

MATT: All right.

ANJALI: So, if I'm right, I have two Sway, plus a gilded, plus a gilded die, so three dice.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: Well, two Sway, and one of them is gilded, so it's two dice--

ANJALI: Two dice.

MATT: -- one of which is gilded.

ANJALI: Delightful.

ASHLEY: I see.

LAURA: I see.

ASHLEY: I thought-- Okay.

ANJALI: Six.

MATT: A six. Great.

(whoops)

ROBBIE: Shit.

MATT: That is a success.

LAURA: On the gilded, or on the regular?

ANJALI: On the regular.

LAURA: Okay.

ANJALI: But I haven't spent any, so I don't need--

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: So you're fine. So, the gentleman scratches his chin and goes, "Uh, yeah." Looks around, looks in the door a bit. "Yeah, okay, miss. I mean, what apartment you looking for?"

ANJALI: (stammers)

MATT: "I can help you out here."

ANJALI: I'm looking for number... Just come with me. I believe it's on the first floor, but I'm not entirely sure. It's in the rain, this piece of paper has gotten soggy and wet. Oh please, you could help me.

MATT: He reaches for the paper a bit.

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: Takes it.

ANJALI: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you can't. You can't possibly.

MATT: "Well, I got you. Yeah, just take me in, I guess, ugh." Kind of walks along with you. "Are you sure you got the right address?"

ANJALI: Oh, absolutely, I'm perfectly positive. As we walk by them in the hallway to the stairs, I just say: I'll see you in a minute. And keep going with him.

MATT: All right.

LAURA: We block Auggie a little bit. I'll, shit, turn towards me, and we'll talk, and--

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LAURA: Yes, so they can't.

MATT: (laughs) Okay. Distracted enough by your conversation, and his flummoxed experience with your, help me but not really, but please help, but not really (laughter) tug of war.

LAURA: No, you can't, sir, please, no!

ANJALI: Men like you make me so nervous. You're so big and strong and manly!

MATT: He's, "Oh no, oh no, don't worry. We'll get you sorted, hmm? (laughs)" Begins to lead you, or begins to walk with you down the staircase while the rest of you--

LAURA: We immediately duck around them.

MATT: Duck around, and head over to the stairs, or start heading to the doorway, which is partially ajar.

LAURA: Peek in. Is there anybody inside the apartment?

MATT: It is not, it is empty.

LAURA: Wonderful.

ROBBIE: Hmm. Walk, walk, go, let's go in.

LAURA: Yes, yes, we move in.

ASHLEY: Yeah, let's go in.

MATT: When you step within the interior of the apartment, in glancing around, the air itself is chilled, and you see your breath in the air with each exhale. You can see there are some elements of water where some of the ice that sit at the very outside of whatever that blast was has begun to melt. But looking within, what little bit of light is visible from the now only singular working oil lantern that's over by the kitchenette, that's a light in the middle of the room, you can see the glittering exterior of the light dancing across the ice, like thousands of just little pinpricks of white. As you go over and take the lantern, and hold it up front of you for the visual perspective, you can indeed see all the furniture frozen over. You can see a lot of it's been shifted and moved. You can see many footprints in the frost left behind. Indeed, the furnace is gone, there's just that small crater in the ground, in the wood floor where it once sat. What would you like to do?

ROBBIE: (uncertain noise)

LAURA: I'm going to pull out--

ROBBIE and MATT: Yeah?

LAURA: I'm going to unhook my watch, and I'm going to hold it towards where the furnace was, and I'm going use my bleed detector to see if I can--

(interested oohing)

MATT: (energy buzzing) As the energy begins to emanate from it, it causes this odd buzzing sensation across your arm as it begins to activate, and you hold it out, just instinctually away from your face, as the energy, shh, shh, shh, begins to crackle around it. You can see now as this chamber, looks like there are faint signs of bleed residue that has been collected, meaning the OUP has certainly been through here, and gathered what they could. You can see some of the furniture has the scrape marks, and you can see there are, it looks like a lot of this has been turned over. But you can see there is definitely was at one point a heavy amount of bleed throughout this chamber.

LAURA: Is there anything, an area that it seems heavy, but is farther away from the furnace?

MATT: You can make a Sense test if you'd like to.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: See if you can sense any currently lingering strong emanations.

LAURA: A four.

MATT: A four, okay. You, with the detector out and about, you feel still, closing your eyes, you've had an experience in your past that tethers you to The Flare, and that sensation of powers beyond what we understand. As you close your eyes, and focus, one arm out, revealing some senses of the bleed within the space, the other arm becoming a divining rod almost. You feel this tug towards where the furnace last stood, and you begin to step in that direction, approaching it. There, you can see where the frost is thickest, where the ice seems to be shot outward, and locked in frozen spikes, like someone had flash frozen a fiery explosion, and there, it was laid in this eternal frozen winter moment. There, you can see there is a broken part of the wood floor that sinks about six, seven or so inches before it would break into the apartment below, but it just barely stopped before that.

LAURA: Can I get down and inspect that closer, the area that's sunken in?

MATT: Yeah, you look down inside. If you would like to make a, we'll call this a Survey test.

LAURA: Ooh.

ASHLEY: Can, no, can I give her drive?

LAURA: Oh, does any-- yes, I am very bad at this.

ASHLEY: Give you drive.

ANJALI: I'd love to help, but I'm off flirting.

LAURA and MATT: (laugh)

LAURA: Sure, you're helping me?

ASHLEY: Yeah, I'll--

LAURA: Okay, so if I have none, then I would get a one.

MATT: Correct.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: It's a low stakes roll on this one.

LAURA: Okay, okay--

MATT: Presently--

ASHLEY: You know what? I'm going to use, I saw this coming, because three times per assignment, I can assist a member of the crew without spending a drive--

ANJALI: (clicks tongue)

ASHLEY: -- by saying how I'm going to do it.

MATT: All right.

LAURA: Okay.

ASHLEY: Because I was here.

LAURA: Right?

ASHLEY: Because I saw this shit, I want to help you out, and feel out in this area, it's right here.

LAURA: Oh, okay. This is where he kept his charcoal?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

LAURA: Potentially?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

LAURA: (nervous laughs)

ASHLEY: Wait, can you roll an extra one? Because I was--

LAURA: No. Because I was going to roll none, I would roll two, and get the disadvantage on it.

ASHLEY: I understand.

LAURA: Yes, this--

ASHLEY: Because you had none.

LAURA: I had none, and I still failed. I'm not very good at seeing things that are here.

ASHLEY: It's more.

MATT: So, glancing down, you can just see that pocket there, but you do sense there is a strong, there was a--

LAURA: This is wood.

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah.

LAURA: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Yes, Arlo, it seems as though this is the center, or the epicenter of the explosion, so.

MATT: And--

ASHLEY: What a genius.

MATT: -- it's about this moment the temperature begins to drop.

LAURA: Uh-oh.

MATT: Even lower.

ROBBIE: Oh.

LAURA: Oh.

ROBBIE: Oh, it's basically--

MATT: And colder.

LAURA: I didn't-- We didn't cause that, did we?

MATT: As you begin to look at each other, and this faint pale blue light begins to glow behind where Arlo stands--

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: Here, as you see a humanoid figure just begin to drift into the air about a foot and a half off the ground, emanating this pale blue light. As it drifts, it comes into sharp focus. You can see the elderly image of Donald Kinzel drifting in the air, head to one side, eyes black, sunken and vacant, the jaw slack and open. A void of darkness. The arms stretched out, extended as it begins to inhale. "(gravelly gasps)"

ASHLEY: Donald?

MATT: "(groans)"

ASHLEY: Are you okay?

MATT: (spectral whisper) "What happened?"

ASHLEY: Where are you?

MATT: "Where am I?"

ASHLEY: What, what, what?

MATT: "Why is it so cold?"

LAURA: What do you see, sir?

MATT: Turns towards you, and you can see those black sockets, the emptiness behind them, they almost seem to widen when they meet your direction. "You're so warm."

ANJALI: Pull back, Arlo. I'm in the doorway suddenly.

MATT: What have you done in this time, by the way?

ANJALI: Yes, exactly what I've done.

(laughter)

ANJALI: Let me tell you. So I got the address wrong. I'm so sorry, the water, it just messed it up. You've been so delightful, though. Can I please buy you a drink at some point? Maybe even tonight?

MATT: "Oh, I mean, sure, yeah, we can maybe, I've got business, too. Supposed to stay for the night. Maybe tomorrow night we can do something."

ANJALI: Oh, no, no, no--

MATT: "Have a good night now--"

ANJALI: But it must be tonight. Please, please, oh, please, you've been such a dear. I'll meet you, I'll meet you at the, The Sight Unseen.

MATT: "Very well, I'll meet you there when I finish my shift."

ANJALI: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. (laughs) Why don't you head over there now?

MATT: (laughs) Make a Sway roll.

ANJALI: Oh god!

ASHLEY: Come on!

MATT: This is a high stakes roll.

ANJALI: Hardcore, this is a high stakes roll, so I am going to--

MATT: He's starting to--

ANJALI: I'm going to use--

MATT: -- feel a little weird about this encounter.

ANJALI: -- a resistance, so that I can have three dice with one gilded.

MATT: Oh, is that one of your abilities?

ANJALI: Yes, it's got a diamond and two things.

MATT: Okay, now, so--

ANJALI: I'm going to use--

MATT: So, that means you have two dice, and one of which is gilded.

ANJALI: Right, but then I'm going to use a Resistance--

LAURA: Oh, you mean a drive, you mean a drive, not a--

ANJALI: Oh, I'm sorry, I'm going to us a drive--

MATT: Yeah, a drive.

ANJALI: Not a resistance. I knew that, a drive.

MATT: You got it.

ANJALI: I'm using a drive!

MATT: Three dice.

ROBBIE: Theoretically, because she's by herself, we can't help her, right?

LAURA: Can't help at all.

MATT: Correct.

ROBBIE: Yeah, okay.

ANJALI: It's fine, it's fine.

LAURA: Come on, Charlie!

ANJALI: It's fine, it's fine!

LAURA: I mean--

ROBBIE: Roll them bones!

LAURA: (gently) Come on, Charlie.

ROBBIE: Come on.

LAURA: You can do it.

ANJALI: Five.

LAURA: (claps)

ASHLEY and ROBBIE: Yeah!

ANJALI: I did, so I get that bad boy back.

MATT: Yep, so you get the drive back from the gilded die. So, he goes, "(sighs) I mean, they probably finished their investigation, they haven't been on for a bit. It wouldn't hurt to take a couple hours off, I guess."

MATT and ANJALI: (laugh)

MATT: "Don't tell anyone."

ANJALI: I'm going to stop by my house, and freshen up a little bit. This rain has gotten me so soggy and wet, and I'd like to look good for you.

MATT: "Yeah, yeah, okay, okay, now go for it. What's the name?"

ANJALI: Alice.

LAURA, ASHLEY, and ROBBIE: (laugh)

MATT: "That's sweet. I know your name's Charlotte. I've seen you around. (laughs) Believe me, I've been eyeing you for a while, this is--"

ANJALI: Aha!

MATT: " -- this kind of a surprise."

ANJALI: Oh, darling, okay, well, fine, and since I'm so happy that I don't have to get that act on, listen, I really do want to offer you a drink.

MATT: "Oh no, I'll meet you there in a bit. I know your place."

ANJALI: (laughs) I've had my eye on you for a while as well.

MATT: "Oh."

ANJALI: (laughs) I'm going to see you there.

MATT: "All right, don't keep me waiting." He heads out the apartment complex.

ANJALI: I just roll my eyes at myself. Jesus, right. You're losing your edge!

(laughter)

ANJALI: Go running up the stairs. Actually, yes, I go running up the stairs.

MATT: Running up the stairs and enter the chamber just as you see this spectral entity reaching out towards Arlo.

ROBBIE: I'll instinctively step in front of Arlo, and put my safety belt hand, but I know it's pointless, but it's just an instinct.

MATT: You put your hand out and--

ROBBIE: But in front of her to shield her, and it is an instinct.

MATT: Right.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: The ghostly entity of Donald "(gasps)" turns towards you. "Oh, warm, warm--"

LAURA: Back away, back away.

MATT: And is reaching out, grasping. As he does, you watch his arms stretch and extend, exaggerating--

LAURA: Oh jesus, what do we do?

MATT: -- the fingers spreading out like spider legs, these spectral claws that reach for you. "(gasps)"

ANJALI: Donald!

LAURA: Ah, ah.

MATT: Still reaching, what do you say?

LAURA: I trip over my dress, and fall down on the ground, and start backing away.

ANJALI: I instinctively called his name to pull him away, but I obviously can't flirt with the spirit, so I don't know what to do.

ASHLEY: Donald!

ANJALI: Donald, we can get you out of there.

ASHLEY: It's me, it's me.

ANJALI: We can save you.

ASHLEY: You remember me?

MATT: As soon as you start speaking, the spirit "(gasps)" the jaw begins to subside, the form, the imagery, the features begin to return to a more human, less ghastly appearance.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: "(gasps)"

ASHLEY: You know me, and your sister's coming to visit soon.

MATT: "Auggie?"

ASHLEY: Bringing your paper?

MATT: "My paper. What happened?"

ASHLEY: I don't know. Well, what did you put in the fire?

MATT: "I buy fuel from the scavengers."

ASHLEY: Which ones?

MATT: "Mainly Layla."

ASHLEY: Fucking Layla. Yeah, okay.

MATT: "It's supposed to keep me warm. I'm so cold."

LAURA: No, no, move away--

ASHLEY: Donald, Donald, Donald.

MATT: He begins to reach towards you.

LAURA: No.

MATT: "(gasps)"

ASHLEY: I am going to... I'm going to-- Eh, I'm going to hide.

(laughter)

ANJALI: Behind one of us? I don't know.

MATT: Okay.

ASHLEY: I'm going to hide, I'm going to--

MATT: How are you hiding?

ASHLEY: Get behind one of, a chair, a sofa, or something, I don't know.

LAURA: I'm instantly sad I didn't take this. I want to take that ability now.

MATT: All right, there is some scattered furniture on the side of the walls here, so you could try, and flee, and hide from the spirit.

ASHLEY: All right, I'm going to spend a drive. Okay.

ANJALI: One, two, plus gilded, you can--

ASHLEY: All right, so, two. Plus a gilded. Okay. Oh no.

ANJALI: Oh no, no, it's mixed success.

ASHLEY: Four.

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: Mixed success. All right. So, you dart away, and jump behind one of the nearby pieces of furniture, darting behind, and pulling it, scraping over in front to try, and put something between you and the spirit. As you do, you end up landing on the side where one of the chunks of frozen ice--

ASHLEY: Ah!

MATT: -- is currently jutting out--

LAURA: Oh no.

MATT: It sticks into your side. You take a body.

ASHLEY: Ow!

LAURA: Oh no.

ASHLEY: Ow!

LAURA: I have a question. So, one of my abilities is Let Them In.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

LAURA: But that's if I've taken a bleed in relation to that phenomenon.

MATT: Correct.

LAURA: Which I did earlier because of Auggie's coat.

MATT: Yes, yes, you did.

LAURA: Is it possible to quickly remove my glove that I had, and feel my hand of where the bleed had hit it earlier?

MATT: In this instant, I'll allow it, yeah.

LAURA: All right.

ROBBIE: Mm.

LAURA: All right, then with this ability, whenever I take one or more bleed marks, I also gain additional information about the phenomenon that harmed you.

ASHLEY: Oh!

MATT: All right. So, first, I want you to describe what everyone sees when you take your glove off.

LAURA: When I remove my glove, you'll see that my hand is not what you would expect. It is gray in color. My nails have turned black. The skin is cracked along the hand, and along my forearm, you'll see just scratch marks. Deep gashes that look old, but not healed.

MATT: As you focus on that, you also watch as her eyes go white for a moment. You feel this wave of emotion, and a buzzing of energy cascading in intensity until it bursts, and it's not connected to this spirit. It's connected to something else, freed. For a split second, you see something dark, and smooth with carvings in it, like an art piece or a capsule, before this release, and something shadow-like that is gone.

ASHLEY: Does Donald seem to have any of the markings of that shadow that I saw? Does he look connected to it in any way?

MATT: You would guess that whatever may have caused this detonation is responsible for his death, so there's a connection somewhere.

LAURA: We have to go. We have to get out of here.

ROBBIE: Did you get what you need?

MATT: "(gasps)"

LAURA: Yes.

ROBBIE: What floor is this on?

LAURA: Leave him.

MATT: Third floor.

ROBBIE: Is Donald between us and the door, or is it--?

MATT: Donald right now is between you and the door, and parallel to the rest of you.

ASHLEY: Want to go out the fire escape?

ANJALI: Does it go straight into his apartment?

LAURA: Do you have a lighter on you?

ROBBIE: Oh man, I believe so. I actually would have a lighter on me, yeah--

LAURA: I look around Donald's apartment, is there a bowl? Is there anything metal?

MATT: Yeah, there is a tin cup that's over by the kitchen.

LAURA: I'm going to run, and grab the cup, and rip one of his books, and crumble up a piece of paper, and will you light it? I'll set it in the ground, so that there's warmth there.

MATT: Okay, as you're doing this, you can see the spirit is still moving in your direction. It's, "Auggie, help me."

ASHLEY: I don't know what--

ANJALI: August.

LAURA: Warmth.

MATT: "(gasps)" As the flame flickers within, "(gasps)" the spirit goes, and seems to dart towards this tin cup, and surround it. As it does, the flame that's burning immediately begins to flicker out.

ANJALI: August, run, come!

MATT: All right.

ASHLEY: Take off.

MATT: All of you dart out of the room just as you hear the "(gasps)" that weird baleful voice of the spirit of your friend bound to this space, locked and left behind  as you close the door to the apartment, and step back out into the hallway.

ANJALI: Are you all right?

ASHLEY: Yeah, I'm fine. Wha-- I don't understand.

LAURA: Your friend is connected to some darker entity. Something was released when the explosion happened.

ASHLEY: That was already in him?

LAURA: I don't think so. I think, I think the entity killed him, and now he's attached to it. I believe that if we can do something to control that entity, maybe your friend will be released. It's just a guess.

ANJALI: But a very educated one.

ROBBIE: The energy of the departed tend to tether themselves to things in this world. Places, people, events. Your friend seems to be anchored to that spot, or something that happened there. Perhaps we can help him, perhaps not, but this new information does change things a bit.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: Regardless, we should tell Alexandra that there is danger in this apartment, maybe somebody can guard it.

ANJALI: And we should find Layla.

ROBBIE: I've already pulled out a small notepad and I'm writing down a series of notes. Is there some kind of messaging system to reach Candela, like a post, or?

MATT: Yeah, there's missives you can send, and you know, short range telegrams that can be--

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: -- dropped across the town.

ROBBIE: Okay, cool.

MATT: Various code names for utilization.

ROBBIE: I'll take this note that basically is a quick sum up about what we just experienced, and I'll--

LAURA: Attach it to a little pigeon.

ROBBIE: To a little bird.

MATT: (laughs)

LAURA: And send it into the sky.

ROBBIE: Go, fly to the lighthouse, little bird. But save it for a moment when I can deliver it for sure.

MATT: Okay. Layla, you know is Layla Orens, is... You knew them because they were, while not of the same orphanage you were, they were another one of those kids of the street that was about four years older than you, and was kind of a bully. She definitely was one of those, one of those kids who was either going to eventually become the head of a criminal organization, or wind up in prison at some point.

ANJALI: Mm.

MATT: But they're a forceful personality and you haven't really heard that name in a little bit. You do know that-- Actually, no. You would know likely that they probably have been seen not wanting to live in this particular place specifically, because of some of the business that they're involved with. They spend a lot of their time in The Clara House back in South Soffit, which is a shelter and soup kitchen for the various abodeless individuals of the city.

ASHLEY: I know where she could be. I mean, if that's the next plan of attack here. But I can take us.

ANJALI: How well do you know her?

ASHLEY: I mean, I haven't seen her in a while. But she's-- She's tough. She's older than me, and she runs a lot of shit.

ANJALI: Hm. Well. That's someone I can get behind. The two of you at least are on good-to-neutral terms?

ASHLEY: Eh.

ANJALI: Yes. Well, I don't suppose we have any other leads at this moment.

ROBBIE: It won't be the first time we've convinced someone to give us some information.

ANJALI: Mm.

LAURA: Let's go.

ANJALI: Arlo.

LAURA: Yes?

ANJALI: Are you quite all right?

LAURA: Wonderful.

ANJALI: Mm.

ASHLEY: Ah-- Ma'am, I don't know if this is rude. what happened to your hand?

ROBBIE: Oh yes, that's very rude.

LAURA: (laughs)

ASHLEY: It is rude. It's just you took off the glove, and-- Does it hurt?

LAURA: It's quite numb now, actually. I had a bit of a run in with-- It's numb, it doesn't hurt very much. I'll touch the cameo that's on my neck. We should go.

ASHLEY: Okay. Okay. This way.

MATT: All right. Heading back out into the evening rain here, now pushing close to midnight here in Newfaire, you trudge back to South Soffit, to The Clara House, to pursue this next possible lead as to what has happened to your friend and whatever this entity that you saw in your vision might be. And that's where we'll go ahead and take a break.

<!-- BREAK BEGINS

LAURA: Ooh!

ROBBIE: Oh!

ASHLEY: Ooh!

ROBBIE: ♪ New part of town ♪

LAURA: ♪ Dee-dee-dee-dee ♪

ANJALI: ♪ Whee whee whoyo ♪ All righty!

MATT: All right, so we'll

ASHLEY: Oh boy! pick up from here in a minute, and see where this mystery takes us. Yeah. Hang back for a few minutes. We'll see you here shortly.

ASHLEY: Ooh!

ROBBIE: Yes!

LAURA: Well, all right!

(dramatic string and marimba music)

SPENSER: Hey friends, my name is Spenser Starke. I'm one of the designers of "Candela Obscura," a brand new horror role playing game that follows a century's old secret society on their quest to protect humanity from the terrors of the unknown. It's set in a fictional world filled with turn of the century technology. "Candela Obscura" is powered by the Illuminated Worlds system a game engine we've created to facilitate fast, easy to pick up, cinematic style play. I'm not going to cover all the rules here so make sure you go download the Quickstart guide if you want more details, but by the end of this video you should have enough to follow along with the show. To play, you only need six-sided dice or d6s. The game uses a dice pool system, which means you'll be rolling a number of these dice and usually taking the highest result. A six represents a full success. A four or five is a mixed success. You get what you want, but it comes at a cost. And a three or below is a miss. In order to know how many dice are in your dice pool we'll need to talk a little bit about character creation. Each player will choose both a role and a specialty inside of that role. Think of these kind of like a class and a subclass. The five roles are Face, Muscle, Scholar, Slink, and Weird. Each role contains two specialties. The Face has Journalist and Magician. The Muscle has Soldier and Explorer. The Scholar has Professor and Doctor. The Slink has Criminal and Detective, and the Weird has Medium and Occultist. When you choose a specialty, you'll then take its custom character sheet. At the top, you'll find space for your character's name, pronouns, and style, as well as your Circle, Catalyst, and Question. Under Circle, you'll write the name of the Candela Obscura group your character is a part of. The Catalyst is the moment in your character's life that led them to search out the secret society, and the Question is what your character is seeking answers to now that they're within the society. These are jumping off points to help you build out your character's backstory.

(dramatic piano music)

SPENSER: On the left side of the character sheet, you'll find actions, drives, and resistances. These are the core of the Illuminated Worlds system. Each action has a rating between zero and three that determines how many dice you roll when performing that action. Those actions each fall underneath one of three drives: Nerve, Cunning, and Intuition. Nerve includes physical maneuvers like Move, Strike, and Control. Cunning pertains to your interactions with people, like Sway, Read, and Hide, and Intuition is your mental and metaphysical aptitude, like Survey, Focus, and Sense. Whenever you make a roll, you may also spend points from the drive that action falls under to add additional dice to your roll. For example, if you're trying to convince someone to let you into a place you don't belong, the GM may ask you for a Sway roll. You would take a number of dice equal to the action rating you have in sway, which in this case would be one, and then you could also spend any of your Cunning to add additional dice. I have six available. I'm going to spend two to get a total of three dice in my pool. Drive points are a liquid currency, so once they're spent, they must be refreshed before they can be used again. Under normal circumstances, there is only one way to refresh drives during an assignment, and this is done through gilded actions represented by a diamond on the left side of that action. Anytime you make a roll using that action, you'll replace one of the standard dice with a gilded die instead. If you choose to take the gilded die's result, you refresh one point in the drive that encompasses that action. For example, my Sway is gilded, so if I took the gilded result on the roll I would refresh one Cunning. Sometimes this might mean you choose to take a lower dice result in an effort to earn back your drive. If you have zero points in an action, you can still roll that action. You can either spend drive points to roll that many dice, or if you don't want to spend drive, you roll two dice and you take the lower result. Lastly, we have resistances. You'll have a number of these at the start of an assignment and can spend them to reroll dice when you want to push back on the consequences of a bad roll.

(folksy accordion and autoharp music)

SPENSER: Okay, moving to the center of your character sheet you'll find your character's abilities. These vary from role to role and specialty to specialty, but you'll choose one ability from the top section and one from the bottom during character creation. For example, if you choose to play the Journalist, you might take an ability that gives you more context in the city, or lets you tell when people are lying, or gains you insider access to important people or places. Below that, you'll find your Illumination Keys. These represent how you earn experience within the game by offering playable goals to work towards during each assignment.

(intense string music)

SPENSER: On the right side of your character sheet are marks and scars. Marks are how you take damage. There are three types of marks: body, brain, and bleed. Body represents physical injury. Brain represents mental stress and fatigue, and bleed represents damage taken from dangerous magick. Each of these categories has three available slots, and if you're ever inflicted with a mark, but cannot take it because the slots are already full, you'll drop incapacitated in the scene, clear the marks to zero in that section, and take a scar. You'll come up with what your scar is, then shift a point from one of your actions to another. This reflects how your character has changed because of the scar that they've taken. If you should ever need to take a scar and all three scar slots are already full your character is permanently incapacitated or dead. Below that is a section for relationships. This is to write down the names of the other characters you're playing with and the kinds of connections you share with them. You'll also answer prompts based on those relationships that help you flesh out the details. Finally, let's talk about gear. On each sheet, there's a list of gear that is unique to that specialty. You don't need to choose your gear ahead of time. In "Candela Obscura," you select your gear only when you need it. You may mark up to three gear slots during the assignment declaring you brought the item with you, and in this way, your character is prepared for any situation they encounter during their investigation. There is plenty more to learn about the Illuminated Worlds system as well as the world of the Fairelands. So go grab the Quickstart Guide and follow along as we embark upon the strange adventures of "Candela Obscura." (dramatic orchestral music)

(dramatic orchestral music)

BREAK ENDS -->

Part II
MATT: And welcome back. So, Auggie, you lead the rest of your circle away from the climactic, if dangerous circumstance in which the apartment of Donald was left behind. Heading towards The Clara House in South Soffit, you said?

ASHLEY: Yes.

MATT: All right. Returning to the subterranean regions of the city, pushing through the rain. On this side of The Soffit, you pass by a number of the buildings themselves that emerge, protrude, or look like they are about to slip out of the extremely stark, brutalist, angular structures left behind of the Oldfairen ruins that emerge from the ground at odd angles. Many of which has been, in some way, shape or form, been carved and retaken and built upon others that have crumbled with the time through wear and tear and the weather. But it makes for a very unique, slightly subterranean journey beneath The Eaves. At this late in the evening, within The Soffit, it's a little more busy than it is in The Steel. There's several people wandering the streets, some heading towards their way to the Red Lamp, others that are getting ready to cross the bridges over the Stentorian River. There are some that are taking an odd peek at you as you pass by. But as you approach the exterior of The Clara House, you can see it's a modest shelter that is further back than it is wide. It looks like a homestead that has been expanded to three times the length of a normal home. The windows are simple, looks like there are some batched curtains that close the entry window way and the front door is closed. There's no interior light. Here at midnight, it looks like The Clara House is, for the moment, not welcoming.

LAURA: Are they open all the time?

ASHLEY: Should I knock? I mean, you can go in. I mean, if you need a place to stay, you know. It is pretty late, but should I knock?

ANJALI: Is it a place that people are used to receiving visitors this late?

ASHLEY: Well--

MATT: You've never been here that late, necessarily, but from what you know of Clara, she's never really turned anyone down.

ASHLEY: Let me just go in and see. I'm going to give a knock on the door.

MATT: Okay. There's a pause for a bit before the door unlatches and opens up ever so faintly. You see this vibrant red hair that is knotted up into a tight bun atop a head, and a somewhat tired-looking woman who peeks through a chain that's locked on the inside of the door and goes, (softly) "Right, right."

ASHLEY: Clara?

MATT: "This is Clara."

ASHLEY: Yeah, you might not remember me, Auggie, sometimes I've been here before.

MATT: "I remember your face. It's been some time, hasn't it?"

ASHLEY: It's been some time.

MATT: "You're a bit older than I remember."

ASHLEY: Well, you know, that's what happens. Is Layla here? Layla Orens.

MATT: "Layla, I think is resting. Aye, she's staying for the night."

ASHLEY: Would you do me a big favor and go wake her up? I really need to talk to her. It's real important.

MATT: "Sure, sure. I'll let her know you're here waiting outside. Just a moment."

ASHLEY: Thanks.

MATT: "Oh, hello." Kind of glances back. "You all look like you have places to stay, right?"

LAURA: Thank you, ma'am, yes.

MATT: "If need be, there's always soup in the kitchen." Closes the door.

ASHLEY: She's the best.

MATT: Steps away a bit.

ANJALI: That was quite possibly the kindest person I've met in weeks.

ASHLEY: She's a wonderful woman.

LAURA: How many people usually stay here?

ASHLEY: It depends. I mean, they got about--

MATT: A few dozen at any given point in time.

LAURA: Wow.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: And is there a particular age where they let the birds leave the nest?

ASHLEY: Anyone. I mean, if somebody needs a bed, Clara will take them in.

ANJALI: Incredible.

LAURA: Mm.

MATT: A few minutes go by before you hear some heavy footfalls like (thudding) come to the door and the door tries to slam open a little bit, but the chain catches it and "Motherfuck--" Chain unhinges and opens up a bit and you see this woman in probably her mid to late 20s. This messy mane of auburn-brown hair that just falls past the shoulders. She's wearing a vest that goes past her waist and a thick flannel-like jacket underneath the vest as well as a thick scarf that's hanging over the shoulders. She looks a bit dirty in the cheeks, and you can see has dried, cracked lips a bit, but has already a look upon your troop as she looks at you with complete mistrust and frustration and goes, "What the fuck, Auggie, you're waking me up this time of night for what? To introduce me to all your well-dressed friends here? Is this a birthday? Is it my birthday? Is it my fucking birthday? Happy birthday to me, what the fuck?"

ASHLEY: No, it's not your fucking birthday. I needed to ask you a question.

MATT: "Ask me a fucking question so I can go back to bed. What is this shit? I haven't seen you in years."

ASHLEY: I know. But I-- You know Donald?

MATT: "Yeah, I know Donald. Why?"

ASHLEY: You were selling him some fuel.

MATT: "Yeah. Yeah, you know, just making a little scratch on the side. Yeah, why?"

ASHLEY: What kind was it?

MATT: "It was, you know. Stuff we had left over."

ASHLEY: Leftover from where?

MATT: "From work. Why are you asking these questions?"

ASHLEY: I just-- Something happened.

ANJALI: Can I read her while this is happening?

MATT: If you'd like to, yeah. Make a Read test under your Cunning, if you don't mind.

ANJALI: Four.

MATT: A four. All right, she is definitely being dodgy and her walls are starting to quickly come up through the questions and the nature of these three well-dressed strangers that are looking upon her as these questions are being asked. So you gather that dodgy atmosphere very quick. "Okay. Yeah, no, I got them from work, that's--"

ASHLEY: Where? Refresh my memory. Where you been working lately?

MATT: "All over the place. Look, I'm tired and I need to get to bed."

LAURA: Layla, I apologize for the interruption in your evening. Can I pull out a couple of coins?

MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: Thank you so much for your time. Can I help at all?

MATT: "Is she for real?"

ASHLEY: Yeah, I mean, she's also going to pay me for my time later. So she's paying up.

MATT: "So you hiring? What's this deal?"

LAURA: I am, actually. I need information on the fuel.

MATT: Make a Sway roll with the coin in front of you.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Because you are offering coin, I'll add a die to it.

LAURA: Okay.

ANJALI: How's your Sway?

LAURA: My Sway is not very good.

ANJALI: Okay, I'll give you resistance for it.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: A drive you mean?

ANJALI: A drive. I knew that, a drive. It says resistance--

MATT: I understand. So it would be adding a Cunning drive to that, yeah.

ANJALI: Yes, I'm adding a Cunning drive.

LAURA: I'm going to try to help myself out more and take one as well.

MATT: You got it.

LAURA: So I'm rolling four.

ROBBIE: Oh, shoot.

ANJALI: Drive, Drive, Drive.

LAURA: Two successes.

MATT: Two successes?

LAURA: Well, okay. Fives, successes with--

MATT: Two fives. All right, so that's a mixed success.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: So she goes, "Yeah, no. I've just been doing some work for a little bit for some folks. Been traveling on the outskirts of the city, gathering things, selling them off and we had some extras, I sell them off to the foundry and I got some couple of things I sold to some other folks on the outskirts of The Steel. We need to keep ourselves warm here in the weather."

ASHLEY: Yeah, definitely keeps you warm. Maybe a little too warm.

MATT: "What, are you fucking eating or hugging the charcoal or something? Y'all are crazy. Look--"

LAURA: Where on the outskirts, Layla?

MATT: "(laughs) All right, this is an interrogation."

LAURA and ASHLEY: No, no, no.

MATT: "I've been in this before. I've been in this shit before." Takes the coin from your hand and goes, "I've answered your question. I think this might be a setup. I say this respectfully, you might have gotten had, friend."

ASHLEY: This is not a setup.

ANJALI: I'm putting my foot in the door before she closes it.

MATT: It slams onto your boot and you catch-- "The fuck is--"

ANJALI: Layla, I don't know if you're familiar with me.

MATT: You can see other figures, other younger teenagers and Clara start appearing in the distance hearing some of the scuffle in the front.

ANJALI: I don't know if you've heard of me before, My name is Charlotte, Charlotte Eaves. I work at an establishment called the Sight Unseen. We are indeed looking for new sources of materials and fuel for my establishment, this is true. We simply, because of certain regulations in the city, we simply have to look for other sources, you see. Now, I feel that we have mutual interests. You are interested in coin and I am interested in discretion. This is why we're here. I trust as a friend of Auggie's who I trust with my life, that I might be able to trust you. I'm going to pull out some coin as well.

MATT: You make a Sway roll.

ANJALI: ♪ You bet I will, and I'll shoot a resistance ♪

MATT: A drive?

ANJALI: That one is gilded. A drive, a drive!

(laughter)

MATT: I'm going to keep pushing 'til you get it.

ANJALI: I'm going to cross this word out right here.

MATT: There you go.

ANJALI: Drive. I knew that, if you want to help out, I will be happy.

ASHLEY: Yeah, I'm going to do Saw This Coming, and--

LAURA: Oh nice.

ASHLEY: -- add an extra--

ANJALI: Thanks, sister-- brother.

ASHLEY: Listen, I've been working for Charlie here for about nine years now and she pays well. She's fair, she pays well for loyalty and this is someone you want to have on your side.

MATT: Go ahead and roll.

ANJALI: Six on the gilded dice. So I'll take that.

MATT: Fantastic, so you get your drive back. That's awesome.

LAURA: Does Auggie get his drive back too?

ANJALI: Only if I--

LAURA: Oh right, because you did the Saw It Coming, so you didn't actually use your drive, got it.

MATT: Yep. "All right, all right. I'm always down for more business opportunities in this city. I got myself my own network of individuals. Little birdies that can scatter around. We got a troop of people who are good at finding some interesting, weird shit, so you let me know what you're looking for. Appreciate the recommendation, Auggie. Who the fuck are you?"

ANJALI: They're associates of mine.

ROBBIE: Doctor. Not medical.

MATT: "Shame, could always use a medical doctor. Doctor of?"

ROBBIE: "Of philosophy, actually."

MATT: "(laughs)"

ASHLEY: I didn't know that.

MATT: "That's pretty funny."

ASHLEY: That's pretty good. That's pretty funny.

MATT: "That's pretty funny. (laughs)"

ROBBIE: What's so funny about it?

MATT: "I don't know, usually doctors, they're helpful. Anyway--"

(laughter)

MATT: "Sorry, they're your associates and as a possible former employer, I don't mean to offend your friends, but this is fucking funny."

ANJALI: I appreciate someone who calls it as they see it.

MATT: "Regardless, no. Okay, come out of the rain for a second. Clara, I got some friends here for a second, if you don't mind." Clara's like, "Oh right, no, I'll get some soup ready." Wanders off. Some of the other kids that have also woken up from the whispers and you can see them watching and listening and Layla goes, "Go to bed, I got this." They all scatter a bit. You get the sense already that she runs the place underneath or alongside Clara, at least some of her network also stays here. So grabs one of the stools and parks it up and Rikers over it and sits down at the tables.

ASHLEY: Yes.

LAURA: Nice.

(laughter)

MATT: "So yeah, I mean what kind of work you need? What kind of business are we talking?"

ANJALI: Well, I'm interested in finding new sources for materials and I understand that you are exceptionally good at, I hate the word scavenging, but I'm afraid that's the word I'm looking for. Exceptionally good at finding goods in places where others might not find them.

MATT: "Yeah, you could say that. We got a few secret paths here in The Soffit where we can find where the stairs go lower, if you know what I mean."

ANJALI: What we're really interested in is a particular kind of charcoal that you sold to Donald, you see. It's a very special kind and it looks a little bit different, I believe, than normal charcoal. Might you have found that somewhere, or seen it?

MATT: "I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, no, here's the thing. We occasionally take these jobs from this woman at the Alizarin Gallery, I think, in The Varnish, kind of intense lady, but she pays well, bring her back any sort of weird shit we find when we're on our excursions. While I'm down there, anything else we find we get to keep. So we made a deal with the Evanoch Foundry over in The Steel, that if we found anything they can use for their bellows, their factory fuels, anything that's burnable that can keep the forges burning hot, essentially, they give us a real good price, because usually they got to either import that shit or a pay premium price for their mines outside of town. So yeah. We found a couple of these great stores down there. I'm not going to tell you where, because that's where our business cuts from, but we've gone back and forth a few times and found some of the shit runs really, really well. So yeah, we've had a good thing going on with the foundry for a while and we sell the most of it, and then every now and then we take whatever's left over or keep some to the side to give to some of the people we like in The Steel and some of them here as well. Especially during the cold weather fronts."

ROBBIE: Have you ever burned any yourself?

MATT: "No, I don't need to. We stay here with Clara. She's got plenty of wood."

ROBBIE: Have you ever seen one of your clients burn this fuel before?

MATT: "Yeah, we've been doing it for weeks now. They all seem to be--"

LAURA: The most recent delivery, though, to Donald. Did you notice anything strange about it? Was it located anywhere different than usual?

MATT: "It had some-- Yeah, you know what, there was some strange, looked like sculptures, some boxes or something. It all gets made of the same material. We assumed it would burn as well. So we just said it was a better fuel and sold it for a little bit extra coin."

LAURA: And that was next to what you gave to Donald or that is what you gave to Donald?

MATT: "I think we gave one to Donald and we gave one to the foundry originally."

ROBBIE: Was it intended for the foundry?

MATT: "Well, I mean the foundry's the one that usually pays for the majority of the fuel."

LAURA: How recent was that?

MATT: "That was yesterday."

LAURA: We should get to the foundry.

ANJALI: We should. Last question, from me at least. The Alizarin Gallery, the gentlewoman that you mentioned. Do you know her name?

MATT: "She doesn't give me a name. She does wear a pair of gloves, pair of brown gloves, short black hair, kind of a very intense woman. One of them hoity-toity artist types."

LAURA: Have I ever been to the gallery before?

MATT: You may have actually been to the gallery in passing. It's a beautiful art gallery in The Varnish. They have a number of themed displays that happen on cycling schedules. They have some galas that are thrown there by friends of the gallery. It tends to be a social hosting spot.

ANJALI: I don't know if I can ask this of my GM or if I can ask of her, but would it be a place where they would show artifacts or relics or mostly paintings and sculptures and such?

MATT: I guess the question is how often have you been there? Do you think you would be a purveyor of this gallery often or was?

ANJALI: I think I would find it to be an excellent meeting place to do business with people who--

MATT: Okay, as far as you can tell, most of it's sculptures and paintings, but they do have, a lot of them are historical paintings. A lot of them are imported from even beyond the Vastchasm and are from creators and artists from Otherwhere and foreign spaces. Especially in the post-war era, it's considered taboo to display such things. So those tend to be a little more secretive and a little more invite-only. They do have themes that deal with Oldfaire sculptures and artistic expression, but there are a lot of places here that also study and talk of the lost history of Oldfaire.

ANJALI: To the Foundry?

LAURA: Yes.

ANJALI: You, Layla, have been of excellent help. I pull out a card. If you ever find yourself, I hope you don't at this age, but if you ever find yourself near The Sight Unseen, drop in and hand this to a man named Stinson.

MATT: "All right. Thank you. Pleasure doing business." Puts a hand out for the coin that you offer.

ANJALI: Oh, yeah. No, absolutely. One, two, and one extra. For your time.

MATT: "All right, all right. Well, perfect. Yeah, we'll be in contact soon. I guess best to merge our network, see what kind of good come out of it. Sorry about the whole laughing at you thing."

ROBBIE: Oh, it's quite all right. You don't know any better.

ANJALI: We laugh at him all the time. It's fine.

MATT: "Yeah. Maybe you don't start with that."

ROBBIE: Sure, I won't.

MATT: "Look where we live."

ROBBIE: (laughs)

MATT: "Anyway. Nice meeting some of you. Good to see you, Auggie. You grew up right. I like it. You filled out."

ASHLEY: Thanks. So did you. (laughs) Sorry.

MATT: "Yeah. Fucking weirdo. Get out of here. Get out of here."

ASHLEY: All right, all right, all right.

MATT: She pushes you all out the door. Clara goes, "Oh, I just brought the soup," and the door closes.

ASHLEY: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

ANJALI: Take it to go!

ROBBIE: As we're leaving, I just pull my little journal out. I just take it and just write her first name in my journal. Just put it back in my pocket. That's all.

MATT: Okay.

ANJALI: Do we know where this foundry is? Do we have a sense of where it is? Or could we have a map?

MATT: You know it's in The Steel.

ANJALI: Okay. Right. So it's after midnight right now, right?

MATT: It is.

ANJALI: How comfortable are we going to The Steel at this hour?

LAURA: Quite.

ASHLEY: I think we're all right. Yeah, I think we'll be okay.

ANJALI: All right. Why don't you show them some of the backstreets, Auggie?

ASHLEY: You ready? You ready to see this? I start.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Parkouring!

(laughter)

ANJALI: Parkour! Parkour!

(laughter)

LAURA: I just walk. We all walk.

ASHLEY: Unnecessarily parkour.

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Yep, yep.

ANJALI: It just makes him so happy; I had to let him do it.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Wee!

MATT: Brilliant. Through the slickened streets rising up through The Soffit once more, you begin to climb towards the more surfaced region of the city of Newfaire, heading back towards The Steel where you had encountered the spirit of Donald before.

LAURA: Back and forth, back and forth.

MATT: Yep.

LAURA: We should really think about taking a carriage.

MATT: You could take a trolley, if you'd like.

LAURA: Yes.

ROBBIE: Trolley?

ASHLEY: Yeah, we can take a trolley.

LAURA: It's a long walk.

ANJALI: Might as well.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: All right. You wait for a little bit, walk along the street before you begin to hear the familiar distant sound of static crackling, electricity popping, until eventually around the corner you see the massive cable car, one of a handful that run throughout the city of Newfaire. As it begins to approach, it slows down towards one of its various onboarding locations along the side of the street. It doesn't fully come to a stop. It just comes to a slow rest and you have to leap on and grab the side. As you do, it begins to pick up and sparks above begin to spray out from where you are as it takes off and continues down the street. The bell, ding, ding, ding, ding! Everyone holding on and you eventually get a little used to the sparks it leaves behind, the blue hueness, the smell of ozone that drifts behind as it begins to cruise through the city, the rain pouring off the sides of its somewhat extended roof and the oddball crew of people that are currently sitting aboard it. You see in the back, there's a very old gentleman with a big thick cane that's just hunched over it with a long pointed nose and he's just falling asleep on it and rocking as it goes by. There is a middle-aged woman who is currently holding an infant in her arms and she has like a hood up, a bonnet-like hood that ties under the chin, a very full-cheeked smile that looks up at the rest of you and gives you big grin. You see the conductor of the trolley in the back just holding on and keeping an eye out and changing and shifting from which cable car track it's shifting through the city, until eventually it brings you past the bridge back over to where The Steel is. Actually, you wouldn't have crossed the bridge. You would be right here. No, you would cross the bridge from South Soffit. Yes, you would. So past the bridge, passing over the river at night, you can see the sheets of rain falling through the sky, the occasional crack of distant thunder that rolls through the evening storm, until you come back into the city streets once more, the rain splashing past people and faces just darting by until eventually you can see the large smoke stack columns that break the skyline as you return to the familiar site of The Steel.

LAURA: Where do you live, Auggie?

ASHLEY: I live in The Shriveline.

LAURA: Oh.

ASHLEY: Well, I used to, but now I kind of-- I sleep wherever I can find a spot. But sometimes--

LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: Sometimes I take care of him.

ASHLEY: She's got an extra spot in a back room and when it gets real cold, I'll sleep in there. Thank you.

ANJALI: Always.

MATT: As you step off the trolley stop here at The Steel, you can see there are two cars with red lights about two blocks down the way, cycling. It looks like a small crowd is gathered alongside another set of buildings, not but three blocks away from the apartment complex where you had previously come from.

ANJALI: Auggie, do you know that building?

LAURA: That's Donald's building.

ANJALI: Where the crowd is?

MATT: The crowd is a little ways further down from that.

ANJALI: Yeah.

LAURA: Oh.

ASHLEY: Oh.

ROBBIE: Oh.

ASHLEY: I mean, I've seen it. I don't know what it is. Do I know what it is?

MATT: I mean, you haven't had much of a reason to stop by that particular home. It looks like it's still in the small clumps of residential housing--

ASHLEY: Mm-hmm.

MATT: -- that is dotted throughout the industrial district. A lot of people that work at these factories, or if they aren't going to the other districts, there are some places with relatively cheap housing, basically because of the proximity of the factories make them not the healthiest place to live.

LAURA: Is it on the way to the foundry if we walk from that way?

MATT: It's not away from it. It's more like an adjacent journey.

LAURA: Okay. Let's walk by the crowd just to make sure.

ANJALI: I'll hop off and check it out.

MATT: Okay. As you begin to approach the outside of this cluster of apartments, you can see now the two vehicles that are present here, these two carriages with these red torch lights on top that burn. You can see the electrical-- When I say torchlight, I mean flashlight. I should specify. This electrical red light that spins signifies The Periphery, the police force is present and in the process of investigating. There are people looking around. As you begin to approach, you can see they are currently carrying two sheet-covered bodies towards one of these carriages.

ANJALI: Do I happen to recognize any of these gentlemen as people who may be on my, for lack of a better term, payroll?

MATT: Make a Survey test for me, if you don't mind, under Intuition.

ANJALI: Six.

MATT: Six? Success.

ASHLEY: Yes.

ROBBIE: Nice.

ANJALI: Not on the gilded die.

MATT: You see most of them you do not recognize and The Periphery-- The police force of the city, while they do hold the rule of law, they also inherited a lot of the militaristic technology that won the war a number of years ago and have been enjoying a seat of progressed power within the city ever since. So you've been careful with not crossing anybody in that space necessarily, because you're not sure which ones are more or less keen to allow the business that you are purveying.

ANJALI: Yep.

MATT: But you do recognize one. You see one gentleman named Simon, who is in his early 40s, receding orange-brown hair. He has a bit of a bushy chin strap beard and a nose that is very like W.C. Fields, wide in the middle of his face. He has his cap on signifying his position amongst The Periphery, probably one of the local captains. He's wearing his long coat as well and is currently giving orders to a few of the men as they're gathering the bodies and beginning to place them within the back of these carriages. He doesn't see you there, but you just see him going about his business.

ANJALI: Do I know him as in a friend or foe? Or neither?

MATT: You have briefly encountered him a few times at the Sight Unseen, which means you know that at least he enjoys the nightlife. You may have had a brief conversation with him once or twice, but you don't know him extremely well.

ANJALI: I mean, I could ask what's happened, but I'm wondering if we can glean it from where we are.

ROBBIE: Are there any, from where we can see among the hubbub and personnel, are there any OUP mixed in with The Periphery?

MATT: At a glance around, you do not see anyone wearing OUP signifying clothing or gear. This looks to be just Periphery based.

LAURA: They're coming from a house? The bodies were taken from a house?

MATT: You don't know if they're coming from a house or if they're coming from the street, you just see them moving these two bodies on carts and they're wheeling them towards the back of their wagon-like cars.

ASHLEY: I'm going to run up to the crowd, run up to just somebody who was close.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

ASHLEY: Hey, what happened?

MATT: You run up to this this one dude who's in his late 20s or so. He's waterlogged from the rain. He's holding his cap in his hand. He's got a rain slicker on that looks a bit tattered. He turns and goes, "Oh, apparently they found two people dead in the street."

ASHLEY: Just right out in the road?

MATT: "Yeah, yeah. I don't know them. Do you know them? Do you know who it was?"

ASHLEY: No. You didn't see?

MATT: "No, no. I just got here."

ASHLEY: All right.

MATT: "I just haven't seen a dead body before. I was kind of curious."

ASHLEY: How you feeling?

MATT: "I don't know. I don't know him, yet."

ASHLEY: It's weird seeing a dead body.

MATT: "I haven't really seen them yet. They've had a sheet on them."

ASHLEY: All right. Have a good night.

MATT: "Yeah, you too." You seem him trying to catch a glance over the front row of the crowd.

LAURA: Me too.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: They just found the bodies in the street. They were just in the road.

LAURA: Oh, I hope Donald didn't get them.

ASHLEY: Huh.

ANJALI: Is Simon anywhere where I might be able to-- He's very much in the fray, right? He's not anywhere-

MATT: He's in the fray, but he's about 15 feet from the outer edge of the crowd that's gathered and keeping a non-intrusive distance.

ANJALI: Can I just slide up to the edge of the crowd and try to make eye contact with him?

MATT: Sure, sure. I'd say make a Sway test on this to see if you can give him enough of a reason to step away from the midst of his business right now. Because he is in the thick of it.

ANJALI: ♪ We'll find out ♪ Six on the gilded dice.

ASHLEY: Nice!

LAURA and MATT: Nice!

ANJALI: This is a good die.

MATT: There you go.

ANJALI: You're doing good. Good job.

MATT: (Irish) "All right. Get it inside the cart. Move it along. Move it along. Pardon me, just keep it going." Walks over, tugs his cap a little bit. "Miss?"

ANJALI: Sir, what's happened here?

MATT: "We found a few folks here wondering at night. They were taken down the street. It looks like they were slain, killed. We're trying to investigate the moment. Thought it might be the weather. It's not quite cold enough to put them in the state they were found in."

ANJALI: Frozen, you mean?

MATT: "Aye. How'd you know that?"

ANJALI: Well, you just said not quite cold enough to put them in the--

MATT: "Oh, right."

ANJALI: -- state of this weather.

MATT: "You're astute. I suppose."

ANJALI: When did you find them?

MATT: "Oh, we were called down here about 20 minutes ago by the-- by folks."

ANJALI: By folks.

LAURA: It's not anything we need to be worried about, is it?

MATT: "I'd say, recommend stay indoors. It's a bit late. You shouldn't be up this late anyway, miss. Dressed as you are, liable to be gathering the attention of folks that would be doing such terrible things to folks like this. So you know, best be safe."

ANJALI: Right. Thank you.

MATT: "Of course. Of course."

ASHLEY: Who was it? Do you know who they were?

MATT: "We don't know. We just got here and found the bodies."

ASHLEY: I understand. Okay.

MATT: "Based upon the dress, we could say they were probably either individuals that were working around here or living around here, not wearing threads quite as nice as the rest of you."

LAURA: We should get back then.

ANJALI: Yes.

MATT: "Right." At this point, another officer of The Periphery comes up and goes, "Captain, Captain, they found another one about two blocks up this way." He says, "Oh, great. It looks like we have a late night ahead of us."

LAURA: Which direction was the--

MATT: You saw him pointing further in, in the direction where you were traveling towards the foundry.

LAURA: Oh great.

ANJALI: Where did the dead bodies go?

MATT: They're being loaded up into the wagon. You can see one of them under the sheet, the hand is exposed and it is blue, and you can see ice drifting off of it locked in place, slowly dripping with the rain.

LAURA: Oh no.

ANJALI: If we go that way, I'm sure we will find more proof.

LAURA: Did we ever send that message?

ANJALI: Oh, yes.

LAURA: To Alexandra?

MATT: I assumed you have.

LAURA: Okay, good.

ROBBIE: Probably on the way.

LAURA: All right.

ROBBIE: We tied it to a pigeon, remember?

LAURA: Okay, then it's probably not Donald. It's probably the shadowy terrible figure that I saw in my vision.

ANJALI: We don't yet know what to do about that, do we?

LAURA: We go to the foundry.

ASHLEY: Yeah, go to the foundry. Let's go to the foundry.

ANJALI: Let's go to the foundry.

MATT: All right. (laughs) Okay.

ANJALI: I had a thought and then I didn't.

MATT: Not a worry. All right. So you continue past this chaos and you can see as other Periphery officers are heading in the direction of where this other body seems to be, you walk in parallel with them and then pass by. Indeed, you can glance over and see a scene of a woman in her late 30s, it looks like almost, who is on the ground arms out, aghast, but herself frozen solid--

LAURA: (gasps)

MATT: -- like her entire body has been cast in ice.

ANJALI: As we're walking--

LAURA: Oh, that's awful.

ANJALI: -- if I can walk next to Howard and slightly away from the others. Howard, I hesitate to bring this up, but I must.

ROBBIE: I'm an open book.

ANJALI: Is this, by any chance, similar to the experience you had?

ROBBIE: Glance back to make sure they're out of earshot. Hmm. Somewhat. A bit more malevolent, if I were to classify it. Seems to be some sort of freewheeling spirit, less interested in torment and more interested in murder. I feel like that's fairly obvious. I just don't want to frighten the children.

ANJALI: Yes. No, of course. The reason I'm asking is, was there anything in particular that you were able to do to stop that from happening?

ROBBIE: Oh, certainly. Appeal to the being's logic, quell its emotions. Though, if I'm being quite honest, this feels somewhat different.

ANJALI: Yes. I doubt that this creature is particularly persuaded, particularly easily persuaded.

ROBBIE: I'm not particularly easily frightened, but the one thing that does make me uncomfortable is not knowing. I have very little knowledge about what's happening this evening, but it seems now we have a time issue.

ANJALI: Yes. On we go.

ROBBIE: On we go.

LAURA: Is it possible to use one of our gear? We can use it multiple times as long as it's on us, right?

MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: As we get closer to the body and pass by it, can I look at my detector and see if there was a trail from the other bodies to this one?

MATT: Sure.

LAURA: And beyond?

MATT: You turn on your bleed detector. As you cruise by, the energy crackles a bit and you can see across the frozen corpse and in the space around it, a smattering of bleed residue. You can see as one of the officers comes forward and begins to inspect the body, they touch one of those areas of bleed--

LAURA: (whispers) Oh no.

MATT: -- and watch as they "(quick, short breaths)" begin to have a momentary emotional freak out. One of the other officers begins to try and console them and they look a bit spooked. The other officer takes them and sets them down, not fully understanding the scope of what's happening. As you remove your detector and see that there is indeed a continuous thread of corruption with bleed corruption being left in the wake of whatever this is.

LAURA: Does it go beyond the body of this woman?

MATT: Best you can tell, as it strikes past the body, it seems to dissipate.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: If you'd like to try and make a Sense test to see if you could gather where that residual bleed energy might be leading you.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: You could attempt that.

LAURA: I'm going to use some drive. A five.

MATT: A five. Okay. As you continue moving along, you focus in, thinking of your hand, thinking of that sensation from earlier when you had touched the lapel of Auggie here upon first meeting them, of that memory of that dark, shadowed entity that you recall watching freed from within that furnace. You sense that endless cold, that need for warmth, that need for heat. As you begin to blink your eyes back into focus, you can see that you have lost a few blocks and the rest of you are now approaching the outskirts of the Evanoch Foundry. The massive smokestacks, some of many throughout this district, but the black columns of billowing foundry smoke now replaced with gray-white smoke and steam.

LAURA: Oh, so the foundry?

ANJALI: Yes.

ROBBIE: In our journeys throughout the evening, has Arlo shared their experiences at the apartment with us? Do we know what you know at this point?

LAURA: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

ROBBIE: Yeah. Okay.

LAURA: Definitely. Did you say it almost had jewels on it, the figure? Jeweled?

MATT: No, not jeweled.

LAURA: I feel like I remember some weird words, but that could have been a different--

ASHLEY: Smooth like an art piece?

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Did you say smooth like art?

LAURA: Something.

MATT: Oh, the--

ANJALI: The--

MATT: The box, you mean? Yes.

ASHLEY: Oh, never mind.

MATT: It wasn't jeweled. It was smooth and looked like it was intentionally sculpted.

LAURA: Oh, okay.

MATT: With grooves dug into it that looked like some sort of intentional design.

ANJALI: Right.

LAURA: Okay, okay. So, at least we have a visual of what that kind of looked like.

ANJALI: We might be looking for.

MATT: You do, yes.

LAURA: Okay, yes.

ANJALI: Is there any kind of-- I don't know how. I've never been to a foundry. Is there anything like an office or guards or anyone there? Because it's steaming 24/7, it seems.

MATT: Indeed. It looks like there are office entrances on the left-hand side. You can see some smaller windows and an outcropping from this massive, concrete-like foundry structure with a massive double central front door that leads to the interior that is currently closed. There are a number of doors on the side, and it is dark from what you can tell from the inside. You do, however, see that two of the doors are open--

LAURA: Shit.

MATT: -- and steam is billowing out from them. You see two figures, two people come screaming out, just-- "(screaming frantically)" They come running out into the night on two different sides.

ASHLEY: Hey, hey!

ANJALI: What's happened? What have you--

MATT: One of them has wild, blond hair, and you can his skin looks like it's been flash burned, probably from hot steam or something. His face is just red. He's like, "(gasping) There's something in there!"

LAURA: What happened?

MATT: "Whole place is filled with smoke! Oh god!"

ANJALI: Use your bleed detector. Do we see it on him?

ASHLEY: Help him, doctor! Help him!

MATT: "You're a doctor? Help me! Help me!"

ROBBIE: No, PhD, not MD.

LAURA: Is he burned? You're burned?

MATT: Yeah. They're not serious burns, but there is some low-level burns on his body.

ROBBIE: But my specialty is in medical ethics and I've met many doctors. I have a master's degree in chemistry. You don't care about any of this. As he's mumbling to himself, I'm going to pull out my safety equipment that I have and I'm going to see if there's any sort of chemical that I would know that would neutralize a chemical burn.

MATT: I'd say yes. You would know that you have salves specifically for your own use, because you do deal with dangerous chemicals, and you want to make sure that you can treat your own injuries in this process. So you do have a few salves that can help, and it looks like only maybe his forearms and his face have been affected, because the rest of him is still wearing foundry clothing. So it looks like this will be of help to him.

ROBBIE: I'm just listening to him scream into my face.

MATT: Yeah, he's like, "Help me, help me!"

ROBBIE: I'm not good with feelings, but I'm rubbing lotion on his arms and anywhere that looks burned.

ASHLEY: (laughs)

MATT: "(trembling relief)"

ASHLEY: Oh, all right, all right.

MATT: "Thank you, thank you."

ANJALI: It'll be all right.

MATT: "Oh."

ROBBIE: Is anyone else still in there?

MATT: You hear a gunshot on the inside.

LAURA: How many people?

MATT: "It was the late shift. We only go for another hour or so. It was eight of us in there at night, just keeping the furnaces going, and then it just started going dark. All the lights started going out and then this place filled with steam and then I heard screams and I had to run."

LAURA: Keep running.

MATT: "Huh?"

LAURA: To the hospital.

MATT: "Okay. Okay." He goes running off.

LAURA: We should go in.

ROBBIE: All right. I've got my cowl on. I'm going to pop my hood on. I'm going to put my safety goggles on from my safety kit, wrap a thing around my face. I'm going to walk into the steam.

LAURA: Oh.

ASHLEY: We're going to walk in? We're going to walk into where people are running out of there?

ANJALI: We're going to let the doctor lead.

LAURA: Can you try to find a safe path?

ROBBIE: Sure.

LAURA: Thank you.

ROBBIE: Muffled.

LAURA: I duck to try to duck below any smoke and follow in after.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: Okay. Upon getting closer and closer to the building, you hear two more gunshots and that ever-present (hissing steam), that odd sound of just massive moisture being turned to mist and steam--

LAURA: It might explode in here.

MATT: -- emerging from the inside.

LAURA: Maybe we shouldn't enter the building.

ROBBIE: Are we already in or have we been walking towards it?

MATT: You're just on the outskirts of it. You hear another scream on the inside.

LAURA: Oh.

ROBBIE: There's people inside.

MATT: Yeah.

ANJALI: There's people inside and they're shooting at something. I don't--

LAURA: As long as they don't shoot at us when we go in.

ANJALI: (trembling sigh)

LAURA: Okay.

ROBBIE: This is one of those moments where we decide who we are.

ANJALI: Indeed.

ROBBIE: In or out?

ANJALI: Auggie, I want you to stay behind.

ASHLEY: No, you're not going in there! No, no, you're not going in there alone.

ANJALI: Then stay behind--

ASHLEY: I run in.

ANJALI: Oh shit. I wrap my scarf around my face and I run in right after him.

MATT: Great. Okay.

ROBBIE: I don't like the way you said "great."

LAURA: Yeah. (laughs)

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Great.

LAURA: This was a dumb choice.

ANJALI: ♪ Great for the story ♪

MATT: All right.

ANJALI: Stories are fun!

MATT: So have all of you charged into the foundry at this point?

ANJALI: Goddamn it. Did you detect bleed on him? We never asked.

LAURA: I'm detecting bleed.

ASHLEY: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

ANJALI: We never asked. On him.

MATT: Sorry, on the gentleman who ran out?

ANJALI: Yeah, ran out.

MATT: All right, so you turn on the bleed detector. None on him.

LAURA: Oh. He had nothing. Is there another entrance?

MATT: You can look for one.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: All right. For that, I would like you to make a Survey test for me--

LAURA: Oh, I'm very bad at this.

MATT: -- under Intuition.

LAURA: Goddamn it. I'm going to try-- Ah, I'm going to--

ANJALI: Can I look for her?

LAURA: Get another-- You don't know. I don't succeed.

(laughter)

MATT: What did you roll?

LAURA: I rolled a three.

MATT: A three, okay.

LAURA: Three.

MATT: So you begin to wander--

LAURA: I rolled a three.

MATT: -- the outskirts of the structure, looking for another entryway. What are you doing at this time?

ROBBIE: I was going--

MATT: So you've already gone into the steam?

ROBBIE: I've gone in. I'm trying to fold into the smoke already.

MATT: All right, so the three of you--

ROBBIE: Stealthily.

MATT: The three of you enter the building through the steam, keeping low, because it is rising up high and it stings your eyes a bit, but if you keep low enough, it's just hot. As you press in further and further, it gets colder and colder as the steam seems to be subsiding. The inherent mass of heat that was once the foundry's bellows and furnaces is slowly being snuffed as you begin to step within. You search on the outside.

LAURA: I wander home.

(laughter)

LAURA: Where am I?

MATT: You watch as one of the smokestacks stops putting off steam.

ANJALI: Howard, do you still have your lighter?

MATT: You swear you can see a bit of frost appear on the outside of it.

LAURA: Oh no. I'll turn around and run back into the foundry.

MATT: Okay, you run back, and the door they entered is currently closed and frosted over.

ROBBIE: (gasps)

LAURA: Oh no!

ROBBIE: Oh no! Split the party.

LAURA: Oh no.

ANJALI: Howard, do you still have your lighter?

ROBBIE: Oh, certainly. Do with it as you wish.

ANJALI: I'm going to take the scarf off my hand and keep the lighter in front of me, just in case. If we see anything that requires us to, like a decoy, a heat decoy, I'm going to light that on fire and throw it.

MATT: Okay. As you begin to step beyond the offices of the entry where you came through, you push past desks and paperwork scattered about and chairs that got knocked over as the people within the foundry immediately fled outside of it. You step into the main chamber of the central foundry itself, steam rising up in plumes all around. You can see there are these massive grooves in the ground, these deep pits of concrete where you can see molten metal had been poured and set to build beams for construction and other means of building throughout the city. You can see there are massive pours, these cauldron-like machines that are affixed by numerous thick chains above, and there are ladders that rise up to catwalks that go all across a second and third level up above. The entire height of this building is roughly 25 or so feet to 30 feet up from where the floor of it sits, but you can only see it in parts because of these columns of steam that are rising. From where you can see, the furnaces and bellows are all now these cooled, low cinders, and ice has gathered around chunks of these structures, around parts of the ladders, along parts of the catwalk, and you can see about five bodies all frozen in places. You can see two on the catwalk above. There is one towards the center of the foundry. There's one towards the front of the massive double doors that open the front of the foundry itself for larger hauls to be brought in or taken out, and there is one that is to the left of where you are by the office. As you glance over and look at the one to your left that's closest to you, you see the faintest bit of blue light begin to appear about three feet above where the frozen body stands that slowly begins to take the shape of a humanoid form.

ANJALI: (groans) This is the same. This is the same that had happened in the apartment, yes?

ASHLEY: Well, I didn't see that thing before, but everything turned to ice like this.

ANJALI: Arlo! Oh, damn. Where is she?

ROBBIE: Oh.

MATT: Arlo, what are you doing?

LAURA: Pushing on the door. Anything?

MATT: Uh, (laughs) If you'd like to make a Strike test--

LAURA: Yeah, right.

MATT: -- to see if you can somehow break the ice that encases the doorway and force it open.

LAURA: Oh!

ANJALI: Ooh!

LAURA: Oh, I take the lower. It's a fail.

ANJALI: Ah, damn. Damn!

MATT: (laughs) You're desperately pushing and pushing, and you slam into it once more, not realizing that some of the ice that had gathered on the side has a bit of a jagged edge to it, and you end up taking your gray hand and, (whoosh), impaling it slightly on the piece of ice. It doesn't hurt, but as you pull away, you can see there is now a gash in it that, where it's open, you can see what would be exposed flesh instead looks like just a vacuous void of nothing beyond the torn skin. I do want you to take a body.

ASHLEY: Ooh.

LAURA: Okay. Change of tactic. Are there any vehicles on the street?

MATT: When you look around, there is a large, it looks like a hauling wagon with wheels for carrying massive amounts of materials, and you can see there is piles of ingots, like melted metal, ready for crafting, and utilized in all sorts of metallic construction, as well as stone, chains, and tools and such that are pushed upon it, but it's a massive truck-like vehicle.

LAURA: Can I go see if it's open?

MATT: Yeah, you go to the side of it and it is open.

LAURA: I'm going to try to turn it on.

MATT: (laughs) Okay, now, these sort of vehicles are relatively new to Newfaire.

LAURA: Yes, but our family does have an electric carriage--

MATT: Indeed.

LAURA: -- so I'm used to driving.

MATT: I would like you to-- let's make a Focus test, if you don't mind.

LAURA: See if I can remember how to drive it.

MATT: See if you can remember how to drive.

LAURA: It says Control is in charge of driving as well.

MATT: That's true, actually.

LAURA: Either way, it's the same roll.

MATT: I'll say you can choose. Either Control or Focus is your--

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Because this is less about controlling the actual vehicle. It's more about knowing how to operate something that is very different from what you're used to, but trying to allocate that knowledge from one to the other.

LAURA: Oh, that's dumb, Laura. What? Which one was which?

ANJALI: (laughs)

LAURA: I wasn't looking.

ANJALI: That one, I saw was a five.

LAURA: This one?

ANJALI: But I don't know what the rest of them were because I couldn't see where they went.

LAURA: This one was a five. That one was a five. They're all mixed in.

ROBBIE: I think that five was one of your rolls, on the right side there, yeah.

LAURA: Okay, okay, okay, okay. Then five.

MATT: Five, okay. That's a mixed success.

ROBBIE and ANJALI: (laugh)

LAURA: I don't see any major full successes, so we're safe.

MATT: No worries. So you head to the front of the vehicle, and you see where the crank is and you start going, ugh, cranking it. (engine sputters) Eventually, it picks up.

(engine sputters to life)

LAURA: Sure.

ANJALI: Oh!

MATT: You get back in the vehicle and it's heavy. It's got this in intense vibration to it, and then even as you begin to try and shift it a bit, change the gears a bit, you can feel some of the stuff in the back of it that's not currently tied down shift.

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: It's not ready for hauling.

LAURA: That's okay. I'm going to drive forward and try to drive it into the doors.

ANJALI: That's my girl!

MATT: Now I'd like you to make a drive test.

ASHLEY: Yes.

ANJALI: That's my girl! ♪ Control ♪

ASHLEY: Come on, come on, come on.

ROBBIE: There's airbags, right? We've got airbags?

(laughter)

MATT: She is the airbag.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ANJALI: She's going to drive!

ASHLEY: (laughs)

LAURA: Okay, okay, okay. I'm going to use my last drive.

ANJALI: You got it. You got it.

ROBBIE: Yes.

ANJALI: Drive, drive!

ROBBIE: Show them what a strong, independent, turn-of-the-century woman can do!

ANJALI: Drive, drive, drive, baby!

LAURA: Okay.

ANJALI: Yeah, exactly.

LAURA: No!

(laughter)

ANJALI: Ooh! (laughs)

LAURA: Three fails!

ROBBIE: Oh, every one of them. One, two, three.

ANJALI: Oh no!

LAURA: Oh no!

ANJALI: Oh no. Such a brave, beautiful woman.

LAURA: Oh! No, fuck that! Oh, I don't have any Nerve. I only have resistance and Cunning and Intuition.

ROBBIE: No!

LAURA: I can't even reroll it.

ROBBIE: No, my sweet student!

ASHLEY: No!

LAURA: Oh no!

MATT: So, you manage to, essentially, you don't know how to turn it around. It's too big and too wide, so you back up as hard as you can into the entryway to this foundry. You just, (engine roars). It's about a 30, 40-foot strip of space between the two, and you slam into it as hard as you can. Boom, it hits, and the door cracks a bit open. However, as soon as the vehicle stops moving, some of the poles--

LAURA: Oh no.

MATT: -- that are resting in the back of this, "Final Destination" style, come rocketing through the back from where you're currently sitting, and, thankfully, you are an intuitive entity who has attuned yourself to the dangers of the world, and there's something, something here, that tells you to duck desperately. Not fast enough to not take a heavy knock to the head, (crack), as two of the poles go shooting through the front and one hits you. You take a body mark.

ASHLEY: Oh.

LAURA: (sad whistle)

MATT: The door is partially damaged, but not fully open.

ASHLEY: I can't get out!

MATT: While that's happening, while that's happening--

LAURA: I trapped everybody in.

MATT: -- you all are inside right now, and you can see now from the various frozen bodies, the steam rising to the center of this foundry, and, indeed, that slowly apparating bit of ghostly blue.

ANJALI: Do we see any of the others?

MATT: No. Just the one that's right next to you.

LAURA: (laughs)

ANJALI: Oh, stop laughing. It is funny, but oh goodness.

ASHLEY: What do you do in these situations?

ANJALI: I'm going to tear up the scarf and start with one. Light it on fire and put it in front of us and back up.

MATT: Okay. You all back away from the scarf there. The spirit apparates and you can see it takes on the humanoid limbs of the frozen body below it, and you watch its jaw descend and stretch, the vacuous dark eyes like Donald's. It becomes this ghastly, horrifying nightmare being that reaches for the heat and embraces it, and the flames immediately snuff as it does. There's a brief glimmer of nightmare-ish euphoria on its face, and as you all have backed away about 15 or so feet from where it is, you can see it look around, confused, and then slowly pull back, and become this faint, glowing blue orb above the body, just resting.

ANJALI: Keep going. Go further away. Go further in. Go.

ASHLEY: Do you capture these things? What do you do?

ANJALI: I don't know.

ROBBIE: When you first mentioned that Arlo was not there, the first time I clocked it so there's no way I'm going to-- I'm not going to leave her behind. Yeah.

MATT: (explosion) At which moment, you immediately hear this--

LAURA: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: -- heavy boom! This impact that echoes throughout the interior. The whole foundry shakes.

LAURA: Oh!

MATT: You can see bits of ice fall from different places within the interior of the foundry. It echoes, as it is a loud bang. It's going to get a lot of attention.

ANJALI: Oh shit.

ROBBIE: I'm going to take off back toward where we came from. The door where we came in.

MATT: Okay, you go back to the door and indeed, it's closed and--

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: -- kind of, currently, I will say, the impact on the foundry from this seems to have cracked a bit of the ice. If you were to attempt--

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: -- to kick it open or something, you could certainly try that.

ANJALI: I'm going to drag Auggie back. This is too dangerous to have him in here. Let's go. Drag him back to him.

ROBBIE: Yeah, I'll kick--

MATT: As you're doing this--

ROBBIE: Oh, sorry.

MATT: Sorry, you both do what you're doing.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: We'll come back to you.

ROBBIE: Oh, yeah, I'll kick a piece of rebar from off the ground into my hand and try to jam into the door and see if I can just muscle and pry it open.

MATT: Yeah, make a Strike--

ROBBIE: Strike?

MATT: -- Test for me, if you don't mind.

ROBBIE: (vocalizes) I'm going to spend a drive.

MATT: Go for it.

ROBBIE: ♪ I would like our ghost person to be here with ghosts ♪ Fuck, all fails.

LAURA: (laughs)

ASHLEY and ANJALI: No!

MATT: Do you have resistance you want to spend or--

LAURA: Oh!

ROBBIE: Yes, I-- ♪ Should be good at this ♪

LAURA and ANJALI: (laugh)

ROBBIE: ♪ It's the one thing-- ♪

MATT: You can roll two on there then.

ROBBIE: That's right. I don't get to use my drive. But it's not the worst. It's not a disadvantage, right?

MATT: No.

ROBBIE: Okay.

MATT: You still have two on there.

LAURA: Oh my god!

ROBBIE: Snake eyes.

MATT: No shit?

ASHLEY: No!

ANJALI: Oh god.

ROBBIE: Wow!

LAURA: This dice gods do want me to enter the building.

ROBBIE: Wow, they do not want you in, girl.

MATT: Apparently. You are striking. Trying to break off the ice, trying to break off the handle, trying to do whatever you can to get through this. It's barring you from getting through. That noise and the impact of that, as both of you are deciding to back up, you watch as something just darts through the mist. Through the steam, some sort of shape, just (flutters) like a bird. Like the shadow of a bird. Almost winged, but they're not wings. Just something (flutters) disappears through the steam, through the mist.

ANJALI: I grab Auggie's hand and I keep moving backwards with eyes in that direction, keep moving towards that door. Keep moving towards him.

MATT: (whooshes) Out of the nearby mist, you almost see it begin to roll and spin, like a breeze is blowing through the steam. As it does, you see a face made of shadow begin to push through, invisible to the eye, if not for the middle of this steam bath that's been created. You see its form for a second. Its eyes glowing a faint, angry orange. A mouth opens up, "(growls)" As it darts towards you.

LAURA: (gasps)

MATT: You instinctually duck out of the way as it darts into the chamber as you're trying to smash this door. Instead, it strikes right into your body from behind. You feel--

ASHLEY, LAURA, and ANJALI: No!

MATT: -- your entire form begin to seize up in pain. You take a bleed, my friend. You immediately turn around and try and pull away from this striking pain. How does this bleed affect you? How does it strike its way into your perception?

ROBBIE: The strangest part is it's familiar. It hearkens back to a memory from a year ago and it fills me with guilt and revulsion and shame. And-- It affects my mind, which is one of the most-- The highest guarded place of me. And it's the worst experience.

MATT: You hear a voice ring through your mind, "You fool!" That memory strikes and you take a Brain as well.

LAURA and ASHLEY: (gasp)

ROBBIE: Uh--

LAURA: Oh, no! You did it to yourself!

ROBBIE: You all, going, "Snake eyes, snake eyes!"

MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: No!

MATT: But as you wrestle yourself away from this frozen form, you do manage to (slams) force the door barely open before you stumble and tumble onto the ground. You, turning around and seeing this shadow creature (whooshes) turn up and then vanish into the secondary floor, spectrally disappearing through the solid matter and return somewhere within the foundry.

ANJALI: I run to him and-- Howard, Howard!

ROBBIE: Yes?

ANJALI: I won't even bother to ask if you're all right. Can we go? Let's go.

MATT: It's about this time that Arlo stumbles out of the vehicle, blood pouring down one side of her face.

ANJALI: Oh lord.

LAURA: (painful gasp)

ROBBIE: I'm kind of half out the door.

ANJALI: Yeah, yeah.

ROBBIE: I sort of wave.

LAURA: Howard!

ROBBIE: Hello.

LAURA: Did it work?

ROBBIE: No.

LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: Yeah, Auggie, go help her. I'll grab him and put his arm around my shoulder. Unless you have another idea? Go for it. You're a man with a mind of your own.

ASHLEY: We're just going to leave?

LAURA: Did we find it? Did we find the beast?

ANJALI: Well, we found it, but-- We still don't know how to defeat it, and we still don't know how to stop it. We still don't know how to capture it. We don't know yet, Auggie.

LAURA: Maybe we can find one of those--

ANJALI: Okay.

LAURA: -- fuel things and capture it back inside of it.

ANJALI: That's exactly--

LAURA: So we should find it within the foundry, right?

ANJALI: Was it within the foundry or was it someone around the foundry?

LAURA: Isn't that what--

MATT: Layla did mention that one of them they gave to the foundry as part of their usual drop off and then one was given to Donald.

LAURA: To Donald and that would've been taken by the OUP. So we have to find--

ANJALI: I want to find the source of the cold.

ASHLEY: Because I know what it looks like...

ANJALI: Mm-hmm?

ASHLEY: Is there anywhere I can do a-- Check out if I can see it?

MATT: You can if you--

ASHLEY: If I'm still inside?

LAURA: Go back in?

MATT: -- if you go back in, you can try that, if you want to.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: Is the door open enough that I can come in?

MATT: Oh, yeah, he bashed through the door.

LAURA: Okay.

ASHLEY: I'm just going to take a peeksies.

LAURA: Are we good to go in or should we leave?

ROBBIE: I have a theory if you're willing to hear it.

LAURA: I would love to.

ROBBIE: I'm not certain this is the source of our woes, but just, perhaps, the food of our woes. Are you familiar with the law of thermodynamics? Entropy?

ASHLEY: (sarcastically) Oh, yeah, of course!

ROBBIE: The long and short of it is, I believe we unleashed something and it has a hunger for heat and we've simply stumbled upon its dining space. This may not be the place to trap it or hurt it or defeat it. I believe we've just wandered into its feeding grounds, but I could be incorrect. It's a highly unsubstantiated theory at this point.

ASHLEY: So it's just a hungry ghost?

LAURA: But if my theory doesn't hold and we can't trap it within the rock again--

ROBBIE: We may.

LAURA: -- then maybe if they put enough heat on the other rock, then we'll create two of these shadow beasts. By accident. So we should probably find it, regardless. Right?

ASHLEY: All right, I'm going to take a peeksies. I'm really good at hiding. I'm just going to go in there and I'm going to just look real quick. It's okay. All right, I'm going to go in. I'm going to try to just--

MATT: Sneaky throughout?

ASHLEY: Sneaky peekies, maybe take a quick-- Did you say that there was a little office area that--

MATT: There's an office area where you all first entered through.

ASHLEY: Okay.

MATT: Then the back door of that opens into the foundry proper.

ASHLEY: Okay, I'll check in the office.

LAURA: All the bodies are in the foundry proper.

MATT: All the bodies are in the foundry, correct.

ANJALI: Okay, let's search the office.

ASHLEY: Yeah, we'll check the office.

ANJALI: I can't let him go in there by himself.

MATT: Okay. Go ahead and make a Survey test under Intuition for me, if you don't mind.

ANJALI: Can we both do it or only one?

MATT: Hm?

ANJALI: Can we both do it or only one?

MATT: Well, if one of you wants to do it, the other can help.

ASHLEY: Your Survey is better than mine.

ANJALI: Yeah, you know what? Just help me.

ASHLEY: Do it. Yeah.

ANJALI: ♪ Help ♪

ASHLEY: Let me-- I'm going to do the Saw This Coming again. So you get-- (mutters rules) Okay. Okay, I'm going to assist you by looking around and telling you what I saw, what it looks like, I know what we're--

ANJALI: You're so much younger. You have such better vision.

ASHLEY: I have really good eyes. Eagle Eyes, they call me.

ANJALI: Four.

MATT: Four, okay. That's a mixed success. So you go into the office and you start scouring the space as quickly as you can. Everything in here looks like it is formal paperwork. It looks like it is ledgers, it looks like it is documentation of contracts they've signed with the different guilds and figures around the city to keep things going. You're starting to get frustrated.

LAURA: We're so fucked.

MATT: Then as you're glancing by the doorway that leads into the foundry, you also see large containers, metallic containers that hold all sorts of coal and fuel that are often shoveled into the various furnaces to run the foundry.

ANJALI: Grab one, just grab one.

LAURA: No, what if we find the-- The whole container? You're just grabbing the whole container?

ANJALI: How big is it? It's like a barrel?

MATT: It looks like there's three or four of them that are about six and a half feet tall and about four feet wide each. They're all filled with--

ASHLEY: I'm going to just--

MATT: -- combustible material.

LAURA: Can we dump them on the ground?

MATT: They're inside the foundry.

ANJALI: Oh, they're inside the foundry.

MATT: They're inside the foundry.

LAURA: See, that's where it's going to be.

ANJALI: All right.

ASHLEY: All right, what if I just do a sneaky? I'm really good at being sneaky. Just a-- (rapid footsteps). Quickie.

ANJALI: I can't tell you what to do.

ASHLEY: Okay, I'm going to--

LAURA: Keep an eye out, Auggie. If you see a shadowy beast coming towards you, don't--

ASHLEY: Get the fuck out?

LAURA: Yeah, don't go towards it.

ROBBIE: She may have just been in an automobile accident, but this is sound advice.

ASHLEY: Yeah, you're bleeding out of your head and you look a mess.

ROBBIE: Thank you.

ASHLEY: Okay. Okay, I'll be two seconds, two seconds. All right.

(sneaky footsteps)

MATT: All right, you're going to sneak in there? All right, roll--

(laughter)

MATT: -- Hide under Cunning for me, if you don't mind. Go ahead and test that.

ASHLEY: Hide under Cunning, okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

LAURA: Oh, there's a Hide. We could have taken skills in Hide.

MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: I should've done that. Or really anything else.

ASHLEY: I have two of these. You know what? I'm also going to spend a drive. Oh, wait. I already did that.

ANJALI: So you have--

ROBBIE: It's okay.

ASHLEY: Oh, wait. I didn't do that one. Okay. So.

ROBBIE: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

ANJALI: Come on, baby.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! We need this!

ANJALI: All right, all right, all right, six!

ASHLEY: Okay, we got a six. We got a six.

LAURA: Whoo!

MATT: You got a six, that's a success.

ROBBIE: Finally!

ASHLEY: Okay.

MATT: So as you're sneaking through--

ASHLEY: Bob and weave, bob and weaves.

MATT: -- the steam still rising around here, you can see the shape darting through, occasionally hearing (withering growls). As it moves through, it looks like it's searching, seeking new sources of heat, and is avoiding the space where you are. You go near one of the ice bodies and you see that-- As you get closer, you can see there's a faint blue orb that begins to apparate at your proximity and you move away and it dissipates. You begin to pick up the sense that these spirits that are locked in place are drawn to the proximity of heat. So you feel safe at about a 15-foot distance from them.

LAURA: Oh, good.

MATT: As you begin to move through and around, you begin to eventually move past the dying orange glow of the nearest foundry divot where that thick molten, steel and the burning materials have now grown cold. You head over towards these massive containers with large small bricks and briquettes of fresh coal and other burnable materials.

ASHLEY: Those are bigger than I thought they'd be. Okay. I'm going to quietly try to start searching.

MATT: All right. I would like-- I'd like you to make a Survey test to try and--

ASHLEY: Okay. I'm going to use a drive.

ROBBIE: How big is this container of coal?

MATT: There's four of them and they are six and a half feet by four-foot.

ROBBIE: Oh, okay, okay.

LAURA: Is this foundry-- I would imagine it's mostly made of metal, not wood.

MATT: Concrete metal.

ANJALI: Am I close enough that I could help him or no?

MATT: You can try and sneak in to help, if you'd like.

ANJALI: My Hide is shit.

LAURA: Are there furnaces around that we can see?

MATT: There are two furnaces in the middle of the chamber, two massive ones, but they're both-- There's a very faint warm glow of light in them. They're almost out.

ASHLEY: They're all ones.

LAURA: Oh!

ASHLEY: They're all ones.

ROBBIE: All ones?

ASHLEY: They're all ones.

MATT: All ones.

ASHLEY: That's right. Not going to touch those again.

ANJALI: Can I see him?

MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: Can you use a resistance? Can you roll again?

ASHLEY: Yes, I can, yes, I can. Yes, I can!

ANJALI: Yes! Oh, yes!

ASHLEY: This is like--

ANJALI: I keep forgetting those.

ASHLEY: This reminds me--

LAURA: We can't help! We can't give advantage on this.

MATT: Nope.

ASHLEY: This is like in "Maverick" at the end when he doesn't look at the cards.

ANJALI: Spoiler alert!

MATT: Yep, here's the thing. How many points do you have in that?

(laughter)

MATT: On Survey.

ASHLEY: One.

MATT: So you get one dice to roll on this, to re-roll.

ASHLEY: Okay.

MATT: Unless you want to spend more drives.

LAURA: Not "Top Gun: Maverick."

ANJALI: Oh!

LAURA: Old "Maverick."

ANJALI: The ye olde time-y "Maverick"?

MATT: Yeah, Mel Gibson, cards--

ANJALI: Not a spoiler, watch the movie.

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Or you can just leave it up to fate.

ASHLEY: I'm going to leave it up to fate.

MATT: I love it.

ASHLEY: No, I'm not that stupid.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: Do it, Auggie, do it! Let's go!

ANJALI: That's my boy! Ah, that rolled over other dice.

ASHLEY: It did, it did, it did. It's a one.

ANJALI: That doesn't seem fair.

MATT: It's a one.

ANJALI: It literally rolled over other dice.

ASHLEY: I know, it really did.

ANJALI: That's not allowed.

ASHLEY: It was a wonky--

MATT: It was worth a shot.

ANJALI: Okay.

MATT: So as you're looking through, you're peering through, moving it around, some of them falling and making a little bit of noise. You're like, "Shit, shit." You're moving through. What you don't notice is what you see. Across the way is, suddenly, after the thing has been flying around, you don't notice it moving anymore. Then out of the floor right behind Auggie, the dark shadow emerges.

(groans)

ANJALI: I scream: Here! I light my scarf on fire and I throw it on the floor. Here!

MATT: You got it. You scream this at the same time that the creature runs its long shadow claws up through Auggie's body.

ANJALI: No!

MATT: You feel like all of your internal organs instantaneously spot freeze within you. You feel all the muscles seize up. For a brief moment, you remember what it was like once again to have your spirit jettisoned from your body from that detonation. You take a bleed and a body, and I need you to explain to me how you are affected by this bleed corruption.

ASHLEY: Okay. I feel like-- It tastes a little bit like iron and it feels like a micro current. It's like electricity moving all around, and it hurts. I think I'm just really scared.

MATT: Okay. As that sensation leaves you and you fall to your knees, you cough and you can see black liquid just (thick liquid squelching) onto the ground, which then spot freezes (ice cracking) onto the ground. It almost cracks. The shadow entity flickers up. You, screaming out--

(growls)

ANJALI: Is it possible? I would like to attempt to dive behind something to hide, dive and as I'm getting closer to him, some godforsaken way, parkour my way out of this.

MATT: The burning flame does seem to have caught its attention.

ANJALI: Mm-hmm.

MATT: Now you could make a Hide test to see how well you can use it to distract enough to get you past it.

ANJALI: Excellent.

LAURA: Can we do the same? I want to try to just run. Once the thing is on fire, I'm going to just try to run towards Auggie. I'm not even hiding. I'm just trying to run towards Auggie and the fuel sources.

MATT: Yeah. Okay. And you are?

ROBBIE: Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, if that's the most immediate threat to the group, for sure.

ANJALI: Yeah.

ROBBIE: I'll go for Auggie.

ANJALI: That's what we're all trying to do. I'm just trying to parkour, parkour! Sorry.

MATT: You got it.

ANJALI: I'm going to use two Cunning drive! Not resistance. I used the right word this time.

MATT: You did.

ANJALI: One, two. So I get one die and then I used two. This is a high stakes roll, correct?

MATT: Oh, yeah.

ANJALI: Okay. No, because I'm checking what I can actually do. Six.

ASHLEY and LAURA: Yes!

MATT: Nice. So as you ignite the scarf and throw it, the scarf lands. As it hits the ground, it looks like some of the scattered charcoal materials nearby actually catch as well and it becomes a brief bonfire about two feet wide.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: Begins to ignite. The creature sweeps into it. It hits it, and the flame flickers out but then begins to re-catch, resisting the immediate flash of cold that's thrust upon it. You can see crystals emerge around it. Parts of the outside of the briquette freeze over, but the flame emerges and begins to melt it. In this instant, you run and dart around the side. The other two of you running across the way until you all meet up with Auggie.

LAURA: Charlie, Howard, do either of you carry a flask?

ROBBIE: Never been a drinking man, I'm sorry.

ANJALI: Of course I do!

LAURA: Save that. Next fuel source.

ANJALI: Yes.

LAURA: I'm going to use the bleed detector on the fuel sources and see if I can sense where that stone might be.

ASHLEY: Good call.

MATT: As you engage the bleed detector, looking in this space, in this brief intense moment, you glance around and I would need you to make a Survey roll.

LAURA: A Survey.

MATT: Or somebody make one, but--

ANJALI: I got it.

LAURA: Or a Sense?

ANJALI: Can I?

LAURA: Maybe a Sense roll?

MATT: Actually, you can make a Sense as well because--

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: -- that is where you are definitively--

LAURA: Okay.

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: This is opposed to looking for it, more like using this to amplify your ability to feel its presence and guide you like a beacon.

LAURA: Okay, so I'm adding two dice. I get a gilded as well on this. Anybody helping? Just in casies? We're good?

ASHLEY: I can't. Mine are all out.

LAURA: Okay.

ANJALI: Okay, okay, okay.

LAURA: Okay, I got a mixed success.

MATT: Mixed success, you got it.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: As you focus your eyes, even behind your eyelids, extending this, you can feel your gray hand.

LAURA: The glove is off.

MATT: Yeah, it's drawn in a direction, like it's pulling you again. As you let it do so, your hand pushes through this pile of fuel, of coal rocks and you push past, eyes still closed until you grab something and pull back. It tumbles out, making noise as you do. You pull free a cylindrical-like structure, about this big that is made up of smoothed obsidian with caps on the end, but it is intricately carved with all manner of glyphs or runes or language that you do not recognize. It is pure black and cold to the touch. As you look at this and realize what you hold in your hand, you know this is old. This is ancient. It's at this moment, as you all are looking at this with surprise, the shadowed hand emerges from the center of your chest, from behind, the shadowed claw of this ghostly entity pushing through your sternum, your eyes go white and you feel as the bleed begins to strike from within and spread outward. You take another bleed.

LAURA: Does it come close to my necklace?

MATT: It does.

LAURA: Then I'm going to say that hits my bleed ward. My ward soak, rather.

MATT: Oh yeah.

LAURA: So it soaks one of the bleed.

MATT: So as the arm goes through, your necklace flashes with a bright burst of like a localized sunlight. As it does, the hand withdraws and the creature pulls away and darts away, like it was burned by the proximity of this relic you have.

LAURA: What do we do with it? How do we open it?

ROBBIE: May I?

ANJALI: Don't open it.

ROBBIE: I'm going to take it and I'd like to look over it for any discerning marks, even from Oldfaire, anything that I would possibly know.

MATT: I'd like a Focus test from you to see if you can ascertain the nature of what this is.

LAURA: Oh, I wish I could help you! I don't have any more drive.

ROBBIE: ♪ Should be good at it, but maybe I'm not. ♪ Let's find out.

ROBBIE: A four on the gilded.

MATT: Four on the gilded. So you get a drive back.

LAURA: (claps) Great.

MATT: And that is a mixed success.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: Okay, you, looking it over, notice that in the scaffolding above you and to the left of you, two of the bodies that are frozen, you've moved a little bit close to, and the glowing blue orbs of spirits that hang are beginning to form into their spiritual bodies and slowly drift in your direction. You've drawn the attention of some of these other spirits. By glancing at it, you can see these carvings in here. You don't understand the language at all, but it looks like they are grooves for something to be placed against them. It looks like something is meant to activate it. Something is meant to fill these grooves.

ANJALI: Do we see those things? Do I see those things?

MATT: You do also, yeah. As you all are glancing and you see this--

ANJALI: I'm going to immediately open the flask and pour a little bit of alcohol out and light it and...

LAURA: Back up?

ANJALI: -- let's get the fuck back out of here.

MATT: The two spirits immediately begin to convene towards the alcohol fire that you've left behind.

LAURA: I'm going to think about... Do you say that out loud, that you know something's supposed to be going in those runes?

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, sure.

LAURA: Yes?

ROBBIE: Yeah, absolutely.

LAURA: I don't know if this is going to work, but I'm going to think back to Eddie and I'm going to... I'm going to bite my hand as hard as I can and try to put some blood in those grooves and see if it does anything.

MATT: Okay, you bite your hand, your left hand.

LAURA: Oh, why did I do that? I have fucking shitty blood all over my face. I'll wipe and do that instead.

(laughter)

LAURA: That's stupid!

ASHLEY: (gushing water)

LAURA: Hey!

MATT: Okay.

ANJALI: Oh no.

MATT: You do have plenty of blood on your face. As you wipe it free, you place your hand onto this device. As you do, it begins to get warmer to the touch, and you watch as the red coloration of your exposed blood begins to seep and fill the grooves along the exterior of this device. Just parts of it, not quite enough blood to completely encompass all of the markings that are drawn across it, but it seems to be almost absorbing what you rubbed across it.

LAURA: It's warmer?

ROBBIE: It feels hot to the touch. I want to look around at the apparitions and see if they're reacting to this at all.

MATT: The apparitions, the only two that are the natural spirits that were left behind are currently absorbing and quenching the flame that you ignited while you're all backing out towards the entrance. You just now, after seeing that, the shadow entity flee for a moment, you can see it's now rising back up in the center of the foundry. Now you get a closer look at it in the midst of this steam. You can now see it has a humanoid form. Its feet, its legs drift into a long shadow tail but you can almost see shoulders and a head, like armor you don't recognize. A warrior headdress that is multiple metallic-like quills that almost run off the back of its head. It looks like it is adorned in some sort of ceremonial battle gear that you've never seen before. Its glowing eyes fit within the center of that shadow structure. You see it rise up from the center. Its jaw extends, its eyes go black, and the shadowed form becomes almost immaterial as it begins to dive through the mist in your direction.

ANJALI: I immediately go like this and you see, there's a little bit of wax in my hand and as I pull forward, you see a hidden jackknife appear into my hand from my sleeve. I flip it open, I cut my hand open, and I put it on the...

MATT: Okay, mark a body.

ANJALI: Yes.

MATT: As you wound yourself and place your hand on the opposite side of what you're holding. Howard, as you're clutching it, you watch as the rest of the blood that's pulled from Charlotte's body begins to seep into the rest of the grooves until each one of them is filled with that deep red coloration. The minute it is, the red begins to brightly glow into a reddish-orange color.

ROBBIE: I certainly hope we're correct about this theory.

MATT: As you hold it in your hand, the shadowed entity comes shrieking towards you angrily, its arms out in front.

LAURA: Put it down in front of you.

ROBBIE: Oh, I don't want to do any of this.

(laughter)

MATT: As you set it down, it (clatters) onto the ground and the shadow creature swoops up and seems to take in the sight of what you've just set before it. It spins to go as the runes glow brightly and you watch as these red tethers whip out, like dozens of tentacles that wrap around it before pulling it back into this chunk of ancient obsidian before it just goes quiet.

LAURA: I can't believe that worked.

ROBBIE: Neither can I.

ANJALI: Are there still blue spirits around us, little orbs?

MATT: You look around you at the other bodies and you see all the orbs indeed have formed into the spiritual bodies of the humans that lie frozen on the floor beneath them. As they all stand there floating in the air, you swear you can hear voices. (ghostly) "Thank you, thank you, thank you." As they all drift away into nothing, passing to where other boundaries await them beyond The Flare.

LAURA: We shouldn't touch that. Maybe wrap it in our coats. I'm going to take off my jacket and wrap it around it.

MATT: Okay, you go and pick it up. It's still heavy to the touch, but you're not directly contacting it with your skin.

LAURA: We should get out of here before...

ANJALI: We need to get this to Alex. Taking whatever little remnants remain of my scarf and wrap it around my hand. I don't even look at you and I just take your hand and go.

LAURA: Is there a way to get out of here quickly?

MATT: Indeed, as you're heading towards the exit of the foundry, you can see a number of unmarked electric carriages begin to approach from the outside, that you recognize to be commonly used by the OUP.

ANJALI: We should go in a different direction.

LAURA: Is there another exit?

ANJALI: Is there any other exit that we know from?

MATT: There are back exits to the foundry.

LAURA: Let's do that.

ANJALI: Let's go that way.

MATT: Okay, so you push out through the rear portion of this, and as you do, the temperature is notably warmed within this foundry and you can hear the drips of rapidly melting ice, no longer held by whatever dark spiritual presence that turned this place into a massive freezer. You shove off into now the dark early hour morning, sifting through the alleys of The Steel. You are currently heading to?

ANJALI: Is there a Candela safe house type thing that we know about?

MATT: There are a few spots in the city where you know contacts can lead you into some hidden rooms back. You head to this small like an eclectic bookstore that sits on the outskirts of The Varnish that's called The Gilded Rainbow. It's a small, little, looks like a family-owned place. You step inside and you can see the man who runs it is this rather handsome- in-his-older-age gentleman with Reed Richards- looking hair, bit of a scruffy beard, glasses, and a long pipe. It comes down to here. He's just currently poring over a book in front, these late hours, and you know no bookstore in its right mind would be open for business at this hour, but this is definitely not your normal bookstore. As you enter, Reggie, as you know him by, glances over the rest of you and goes, "It's rather late for arrivals. You look a bit worse for wear. I assume your assignment has been taking its toll?"

LAURA: Completed, I believe, for the most part.

ROBBIE: We were part of an industrial accident.

MATT: "Understood, well, who's your Lightkeeper?"

LAURA: Alex O'Neill.

MATT: "I'll reach out to Alexandra and you may clean up in the back room."

LAURA: Thank you.

MATT: Closes his book, takes a puff off his pipe and goes and closes and locks the front door.

ANJALI: As we're cleaning up, I haven't looked at Auggie for some time. Then finally when I do... I came to Candela because of something that happened to me when I was your age. Something nobody should have had to see at your age or at mine. I came here to make sure it didn't happen to any other child, to try to do my best to keep that from happening. Now I have seen plenty of things in this universe that are terrifying, truly terrifying. I don't need you to create them for me, I need you to stay safe. Do you understand?

ASHLEY: I understand.

ANJALI: I'm also very proud of you.

ASHLEY: Thanks. That was probably the craziest night I've ever had.

ANJALI: You haven't spent any nights in the red light district then, have you?

ASHLEY: Well...

ANJALI: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Is everyone okay?

ANJALI: And you?

LAURA: (laughs) I crashed a truck into a building.

ANJALI: (laughs)

ROBBIE: I saw.

LAURA: It didn't work.

ROBBIE: It did not.

LAURA: I'll have to send payment to them, I believe.

ROBBIE: May I see the object?

LAURA: Oh, of course.

ROBBIE: Thank you, thank you. I'm going to--

LAURA: It's still wrapped in my coat.

MATT: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Yeah. I'm going to look around for-- what was his name? The older gentleman from the bookstore.

MATT: Reggie.

ROBBIE: For Reggie. He's still in the back? I'm going to pull a larger tome off one of the shelves and lay it on a desk and take the object out and set it on the tome and roll it into the page so that it makes an imprint of it.

ASHLEY: Fucking smart.

ROBBIE: Then fold the book back up and give it back to her. Thank you, Arlo.

ANJALI: Aren't you a clever man.

LAURA: Brilliant. There's a reason he's a professor.

ROBBIE: Thank you.

ASHLEY: That was actually pretty cool.

MATT: A short time later, you hear the front door open and coming in from the now softening rain of the evening weather, Lightkeeper Alexandra steps in. "Well, you all certainly look like shit. But Reggie tells me that you had quite the night out and word around town is there's been quite a scuffle, and a very pissed off OUP on the outside of a foundry. So you're alive and successful."

ROBBIE: Don't set it on fire.

ANJALI: Yes, yes.

LAURA: Oh, yes.

MATT: "Good to know. Do you know the nature of what did this?"

LAURA: He seemed like a warrior. A warrior spirit.

ANJALI: Ancient.

LAURA: Yes, definitely from Oldfaire.

MATT: "Hmm." "I wonder if this was either a burial rite or it was a punishment."

LAURA: He seemed like he did not want to go back in.

MATT: "Well, poor boy. Hasn't been your night, has it? (laughs) We'll get it to our researchers and see if we can ascertain the historical connections to who this individual may be, as well as the incantation that binds it and if there are more to be discovered, so we can keep them from creating more mischief and losses in the future."

LAURA: Alexandra.

MATT: "Yes?"

LAURA: Can you let Candela know that I would like some of my donations to be rerouted to The Clara House?

MATT: "Certainly."

LAURA: Thank you.

MATT: "I can have that done. Well, you've done well. Not bad for a freshly-forged circle, I'd say. And a freshly-inducted member of Candela Obscura."

ASHLEY: I don't know if I want to be a member of this club because this was a bit much.

LAURA: Oh, but Auggie, you were so wonderful.

ASHLEY: I was?

LAURA: Truly, you were very brave, and I've never seen anyone hide as well as you did.

ANJALI: I would say if you're going to learn about terrifying things, I'd rather you do it next to me.

MATT: Alexandra grabs a chair and scoots up and sits right directly in front of you, eye to eye, and goes, "Look, Auggie, you don't have to do this. You can walk out of here and never see us again for the rest of your life. That's entirely up to you. Unfortunately, like the rest of us, you know what you've seen and you know what's out there. That'll never leave you. What you've done tonight, whether or not you believe it, has saved the lives of innumerable people. What you could do in the future can save many more. But that choice is yours when the time comes. There's no pressure here. We don't do this-- Most of us don't do it because we like it. It's because if we don't, who will? There's far worse people out there than the OUP. They're at least just incompetent. There are others that have more malevolent interests with the sort of things you've seen. So, you do what you will and know that we respect that. Even just your time tonight is appreciated."

ASHLEY: Okay. Okay, yeah. Yeah. I'll think on it.

MATT: "Think on it. Regardless, on behalf of Candela, thank you all very much. I think it's time you all got some rest. The sun should be rising in the next few hours. I think you can probably take some time off maybe."

LAURA: Oh, but you have a gentleman waiting for you, don't you?

(laughter)

ANJALI: Oh, lord. Can't keep him waiting.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: He did have a nice frame.

ANJALI: Mm. (groans) Different tastes for different people. But he did help us.

MATT: "And hey, Reggie." (Reggie) "Yes, Lightkeeper?" (Alexandra) "You've got a guest room back here, aye?" (Reggie) "Yes, I do. But I mean, hasn't really found anyone to take up the rent here as of late, why?" (Alexandra) "Well, if you need a place to stay, the very least, Candela's happy to give you all the books you can read, nice bed to sleep in. Reggie's not the worst company."

ASHLEY: Well, what's the rent going to cost?

MATT: "No rent. I think you've paid it tonight."

ASHLEY: Yeah, all right. Thank you.

MATT: "With that, I've got business to attend to. My night is not over. 'Til we meet again. Hopefully, long from now." She pulls her coat up, puffs once more off her cigar--

ASHLEY: She's so cool.

MATT: -- and exits off into the night.

ANJALI: Well. It's a step up from a cot in an office.

ASHLEY: Hey, anything's a step up from a hard street.

ANJALI: Hmm.

LAURA: What's the name of this bookstore again?

MATT: It's The Gilded Rainbow.

LAURA: The Gilded Rainbow.

ASHLEY: That's pretty.

ANJALI: I think she's right. I think it's time we all found some rest.

LAURA: Of course.

ANJALI: You'll be okay, yes?

ASHLEY: Yeah. I'll be fine.

ANJALI: You always know where I am.

ASHLEY: I do.

LAURA: Do you believe you'll be staying here, Auggie?

ASHLEY: (sighs) I think so. I think so. I think this is the nicest place I've ever stayed in. Yeah, I'm going to stay. So if you ever need to find me, I'm just going to be right here.

LAURA: I do like to find a good book every now and then. I believe we'll be visiting.

ASHLEY: I bet he's probably going to-- There's lots of books for you here, doctor.

ROBBIE: Certainly. And by the way, for the record, tonight, I would give your performance a C minus, but--

ASHLEY: All right.

ROBBIE: There is room for improvement.

ANJALI: Trust me. From him, that's a compliment.

ASHLEY: Thank you, professor.

MATT: As you all begin to scatter off to your evening's rest, to find your daily activities and recovery from the events from the previous evening, We'll conclude this venture here, the first outing as the Circle of the Vassal and the Veil. under Candela Obscura, in the city of Newfaire.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: That being the case, let's take your Candela Circle sheet and mark your progress here.

ANJALI: Oh!

LAURA: Okay, okay, okay.

ANJALI: Yes, yes, yes!

MATT: So, going through the Illumination questions.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you in charge? You're in charge.

LAURA: I'm in charge.

ANJALI: Yes, yes, yes.

LAURA: I'll do it.

ROBBIE: You're in charge.

ANJALI: You're in charge.

LAURA: I'll be bookkeeper.

MATT: Perfect. At the end of a session, we have some questions to get through. Did you contain or destroy a source of bleed?

LAURA: Yes!

MATT: Yes, you did. That's one point. Did you provide comfort or support for those affected?

LAURA: Yeah, yes.

ASHLEY: Yes.

ROBBIE: Yes.

MATT: You rubbed a salve on a man.

ANJALI: Someone rubbed Vaseline all over--

ROBBIE: I slathered a nice man up.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: You did, you did. Greased him well.

ANJALI: Delicious.

MATT: Straight to the elbow.

ANJALI: Nice.

(laughter)

MATT: Did you bring something of importance back for Candela Obscura to study?

LAURA: Yes, we did!

MATT: Yes, you did. That's three points there.

ANJALI: It's covered in blood, but--

MATT: You have at the bottom of your sheet XP triggers. As long as each of you hit one-- Raise your hand if you hit one of your XP triggers.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: Great. Awesome. Well, just so everyone knows, we'll go around here. What was your XP trigger?

ASHLEY: Making a Deal.

MATT: Making a Deal. Awesome.

ANJALI: Deceive.

MATT: Great.

LAURA: I Acted Bizarre.

MATT: Yeah. Great.

ANJALI: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Mentored an Allie. Ally, not an Allie.

ANJALI: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Hello, young Allie!

(laughter)

ROBBIE: Come under my wing.

MATT: Perfect.

LAURA: That's one for each person.

MATT: One for each person. That's four additional points in the Illumination chart.

LAURA: Ooh, we're going to get a bold circle next!

MATT: Great.

ANJALI: Where's that?

LAURA: Yeah. Our next circle that we fill in is bold. I don't know what that means, but it's--

MATT: It's a milestone, which can affect some of the abilities in the circle.

ROBBIE: Nice.

LAURA and ANJALI: Ooh!

MATT: Now, that being the case--

LAURA: Okay, okay, okay.

MATT: We also have Candela Obscura resources to spend.

ANJALI: Okay.

MATT: There should be five in each: stitch, refresh, and train. Now, these resources do not refresh until you complete the Illumination track. So, these have to last you through the end of the track's going, which means--

LAURA: Oh, for our next couple games.

MATT: Exactly.

LAURA: Got it.

MATT: So these have to last you through the rest of the next two sessions. So, the first ones, the stitches, a person can spend one to clear all of the marks they've taken. Now, remember, three marks, you're still okay. Once you get a fourth mark, you get a scar. It doesn't mean you're dead. It just means you get a scar, which you have to basically change one of the action points to another place that kind of describes the scar's change to you, but a stitch does clear your marks on your body, brain, and bleed. Refresh gives all your drives back and your resistances. Then, train, you can spend them to give yourself a dice that you can use on any roll during your next assignment. So you got five of each to last you basically through your three-episode arc.

LAURA: Ooh.

MATT: So how do you want to divide these?

ROBBIE: How many of each? Five?

MATT: Five of each.

ROBBIE: Five of each.

ANJALI: For the whole time.

LAURA: So, if we think of it, let's think of it mathematically. We shouldn't do that. I would say each of us would get three of these things to use as we want over the next few games, but if somebody has a--

ANJALI: Yeah, if someone has more.

ROBBIE: But it's one slot. But it's one slot per die per person.

LAURA: Exactly.

ROBBIE: So we could pick half of us to have it for the next game and then have three, have a little more for--

LAURA: The next, going into the third?

ROBBIE: The third game, because maybe that's when we would need it.

LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ANJALI: Yeah, I like that.

ROBBIE: Or just give one out this time, and load up for the--

LAURA: The next one? I feel like I definitely did not think smartly and I used all of my drives.

ANJALI: Yeah, you got to refresh.

LAURA: So I've got to refresh or else I won't--

ANJALI: Refresh!

LAURA: Did anybody else make the same stupid mistake as me?

ANJALI: I did not use all of them, but I certainly used--

ASHLEY: I used three.

ANJALI: -- some that I could really use back.

ROBBIE: We have three refreshes.

LAURA: And then we have four refresh left. I will definitely be smarter with my usage in the next game, so.

ANJALI: Yeah.

ROBBIE: I'm pretty okay. I'm a little bummed I used one of my resistances, because we would get that back with a refresh.

MATT: Correct.

ROBBIE: But I only have a brain and a bleed, and I feel like that's not areas that maybe I would typically take damage. So, maybe I'll chill and maybe just take a dice for this round.

LAURA: Oh, yeah. Take a train.

ROBBIE: Maybe I'll take a train.

LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MATT: Yeah, so mark that on your character sheet somewhere that you have a train dice somewhere.

ROBBIE: And when we're playing, I could set it out to remind myself.

MATT: Correct.

LAURA: If the next session goes as poorly as this one did, as far as body goes, then I will definitely be losing a limb or something in the next game, so maybe I should stitch myself up in this one.

ANJALI: I support that decision. I don't need a stitch. I mean, I just cut my hand open. No big deal. You took some serious body damage.

ANJALI: You went, yeah.

ASHLEY: I have two Body, but I mean--

ANJALI: And one bleed.

ASHLEY: And one bleed and one brain.

LAURA: You should probably-- Oh, you've got four marks?

ROBBIE: You've got four marks?

LAURA: Auggie, take a stitch!

ROBBIE: You take a stitch.

ANJALI: Yeah, can we fix up the baby?

LAURA: Yeah, take a stitch.

ASHLEY: And that gets rid of everything?

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Yep. So, stitch and a stitch and a refresh?

ASHLEY: Okay.

ANJALI: I'll take a refresh.

LAURA: You'll take a refresh. Okay.

MATT: So, a stitch and a stitch and a refresh and a refresh. All right, so--

ASHLEY: All right.

MATT: Arlo Black, how do you get stitched up and how do you refresh yourself after this venture?

LAURA: Oh gosh. Well, I go home.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

LAURA: I avoid my mother and father, but I do find Mr. Tellbrook and Ms. Thomas.

MATT: (Tellbrook) "Yes, of course, dear."

LAURA: Ms. Thomas, would you mind drawing a bath?

MATT: "Of course. I'd be happy to."

LAURA: Thank you.

MATT: "My, you look a bit worse for wear, miss."

LAURA: Yeah. Do either of you have any medical knowledge?

MATT: (Tellbrook) "I can stitch you up on my own."

LAURA: Thank you.

MATT: "I was a field doctor in the war."

LAURA: Of course you were, Mr. Tellbrook. I knew that.

MATT: "Aged out, I thought, but they needed help, so."

LAURA: Sunny told me about that. Would you mind terribly?

MATT: "Of course. I'd be happy to."

LAURA: I'll sit while he works on my head, and I'll tell them all about everything that happened, and don't tell anyone.

MATT: "Of course."

LAURA: Oh, I do think we should send something over to The Clara House. Now, I already told Candela to do that, but I think we should send more, and if anybody comes knocking from The Steel, I may have damaged the foundry over there. Direct them my way before sending them to Father, please.

MATT: They both look at each other. (Tellbrook) "Of course. An eventful evening."

LAURA: It was quite an exciting adventure.

MATT: They look like they are happy to dive into the frivolities you speak of, and it's wonderful you have an active imagination, but you shouldn't hurt yourself anymore.

LAURA: After I take a long bath, where I'm completely shriveled like a raisin, I will crawl into bed and sleep for the entire day, and just lounge about the house, doing nothing but staring at the ceilings.

MATT: That is my favorite way to refresh.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: I haven't done that in eight years.

LAURA: Yeah, right?

MATT: (laughs) All right, and so, after that, we have, Auggie, you got stitched up. How do you go about getting yourself stitched up here in Newfaire?

ASHLEY: Boy. Gosh. Who would I go to? Yeah. Okay, I think... I was thinking, I love this new place that I have, but I'm feeling like, tonight, I want to feel a little bit of comfort of what feels like home for me, and that's my cot at The Sight Unseen in Ms. Charlie's office, so I'm going to go back there. I'm going to cuddle up, hold my pillow, and try to get warm and sleep.

MATT: Okay.

ANJALI: Knowing that he's come back, I would like to speak to Stinson and have him bring over the doctor, the one who occasionally helps some of my coworkers stitch themselves up after fights.

MATT: "Don't worry. I'll go ahead and fetch him."

ANJALI: Thank you.

ASHLEY: Thank you.

MATT: He wanders off before the doctor returns. This, you know, Stonewall, you know, or thick, side beard, mustache combination. Frizzled out hair on the sides, hunched at the center of his back. Kind of looks like Brad Dourif from "Deadwood," essentially.

LAURA: Yes, yes.

MATT: And wanders in and goes--

ANJALI: Hopefully a better doctor.

MATT: "All right. You need to be stitching up anyone? Let's see what you got."

ANJALI: Yes, yes. Discretion, as always, but--

MATT: "Always. It's how I operate. Yeah."

ANJALI: For this time, a bit of gentleness as well.

MATT: "I'm as gentle as wool is soft. (murmurs) Okay."

ANJALI: Shh. I open the door and he's asleep.

MATT: "Oh."

ANJALI: Yeah. Can you take care of him as best you can and give him something to rest?

MATT: "Yeah, yeah. If you want me to clean his wounds and stuff, he's going to wake up."

ANJALI: That's fine, but then if you could give him something to rest.

MATT: "Fair enough." He goes and opens up his doctor's bag as you close the door and--

ASHLEY: Hey, what are you doing?

MATT: "I was just trying to help you!"

ASHLEY: Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay.

MATT: "Take a sip of this and then relax a bit. I'm going to make sure you're all taken care of."

ASHLEY: Oh, that's delicious-- (slurs speech).

ANJALI: (laughs) Exactly.

MATT: "Don't worry. I'm just going to stitch. This isn't going to hurt you much."

ASHLEY: (snores)

ANJALI: Exactly.

MATT: You wake up about 12 hours later, sore, but your scrapes, your gashes have all been stitched up and cleaned. The area in your chest where there's almost the beginning of frostbite had kicked in from where you were clawed through by the entity has been treated with salve and is recovering, though it's kind of red and raw. You feel pretty well recovered from the endeavor.

ASHLEY: I'm going to get up right before the sun comes up, go pick up my papes, and get back to work.

MATT: Hell yeah.

ANJALI: Papes.

MATT: And you, Charlotte, how do you refresh yourself?

ANJALI: Yes. I do go back to The Sight Unseen, but I tell Stinson I'm going to take a few days away, if you don't mind, if you can watch over the... everything.

MATT: "Not a worry, ma'am. I got you covered. We'll take care of it."

LAURA: The... All of it.

ANJALI: There's so many things. It's so difficult being a businesswoman, a proprietress in this day and age.

ROBBIE: Watch your mouth.

ANJALI: So many companies. So many dealings. So much to do.

MATT: "Can't even begin to try and understand it, but we got you covered."

ANJALI: Thank you.

MATT: "No worries."

ANJALI: She makes her way up to a very nice home in The Eaves, and she opens the door, doesn't knock. She opens the door, and there is an elderly gentleman there. Sherman.

MATT: "Yes, my dear?"

ANJALI: How is she today? Is she clear?

MATT: "Clear as usual. She seems to be in high spirits. If you'd like to give her a visit, I think she'd appreciate it."

ANJALI: I would. I'm going to be staying for a little while. Not too long, perhaps.

MATT: "Of course. Rooms are ever-prepared, just in case."

ANJALI: Thank you. I go up the very grand staircase to a bedroom, where there is an elderly woman sitting at her desk with a lot of papers and books, but looking off into space and not at them. I knock.

MATT: "Yes?"

ANJALI: Gertrude, I have a story for you.

MATT: "Tell me a story. That sounds nice."

ANJALI: Mm. I pull up a chair and I start to tell her all about everything that happened. I change the details just a little bit, so there's very much of a happy fairytale ending. I'll be here for a few days with you and perhaps I'll have some more stories for you, yes?

MATT: "Please. I like your stories."

ANJALI: Just seeing her is such a... It transports me back to a very simpler time, a much simpler time when I didn't remember what I had seen. I had seen it, but I did not remember. It gives me some peace for a few days.

MATT: Wonderful. I believe that's all the resources we've spent between sessions here. And with that, we close this first episode of Candela Obscura.

ASHLEY: Ooh!

(laughter)

MATT: Thank you so much, my wonderful players. Robbie Daymond. Laura Bailey. Anjali Bhimani. Ashley Johnson. I'm your game master, Matthew Mercer. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you soon for the next episode of Candela Obscura.