Transcript:The Fancy and the Fooled

List of Transcripts

The following is an unofficial transcript that does not include the pre-show or break, and may contain errors and missing dialogue. It will be replaced with the official transcript when it becomes available.

C2E97 - Episode 97 - The Fancy and the Fooled - Temporary

MATT: So, last we left off, the Mighty Nein had made their way down to the Whitedawn Lagoon in search of the whereabouts of Caduceus Clay’s family, who had long one-by-one vanished over time, in search of this familial task that was put upon them by their patron deity, the Wildmother. Upon discovering the family and many others turned to stone by some sort of a Mistkath mutation of a gorgon, you managed to save most of the people who were necessary, and then through a clever use of magic and some really high medicine rolls, did save the one who got shattered in the middle of the battle, completed what seemed to be the final leg of this vision quest, and send the now-safe family of Caduceus Clay back to their home at the Blooming Grove. You guys then made your way to Nicodranas, to figure out how to prepare yourselves for the coming negotiation between the Kryn Dynasty and the Dwendalian Empire during the ceasefire, which you were told you don’t need to be there, but you insisted regardless. And as such, you’ve Teleported, without forewarning, into the Tidepeak Tower of Yussa in Nicodranas. And that’s where we left off last. So, as you guys all arrive into the darkened chamber, the inside of Yussa’s tower, what would you like to do? SAM: Ahhh! Here we are! MARISHA: I’m assuming the butler’s going to come in about three... two... SAM: Oh, shit. MARISHA: ...one. LAURA: Yep. (Footsteps) TRAVIS: So close. You were so close. MATT: (as Wensforth) “Hello? What’s going on?” LAURA: Oh, hi! MARISHA: Sorry. ASHLEY: Hello. MATT: “Well, I figured it was that much. Need to be let out?” LAURA: Yes, please. MATT: “All right. Come on downstairs.” And the goblin rushes off and leads you guys down the spiral staircase. LAURA: See? We don’t need to let them know. He expects this now. MATT: All right. You make your way down to the base of the tower. The door opens on its own as you approach, and you can see the sunlight now pouring through from the exterior of the mid-day, bright, coastal city of Nicodranas. The smell of sea spray and various coastal breezes pouring through. You can hear the sound of gulls off in the distance. And the day is yours. What would you like to do? TALIESIN: I suppose we should go check on the ship unless– or, I suppose you want to go say hi to your mom. LAURA: Well, yes, but... yes, we should check on the ship, too. LIAM: Yeah, why don’t we start at the ship? See what we are doing, when we can depart, and then finish up any business we have here in town. LAURA: Yeah. LIAM: Okay. TRAVIS: Should we start at the ship, and then head to your mother’s? LAURA: Sure. TRAVIS: All right. LAURA: (to SAM) That way you can see your family. SAM: Yes, I– yes. We should. LIAM: Oddly comforting to be back here. MARISHA: You okay, Nott? SAM: I mean, I’m okay. Yeah. We’re near the water, so that...That’s real fun. MARISHA: I was– I thought it was way deeper. I’m sorry. SAM: No, no, you’re not wrong. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I sort of promised Yeza that the next time I saw him, it wouldn’t be like this, so... LAURA: Oh. Do you want to do the spell before we go see your family? LIAM: Yeah, you set the timetable on that. We could do it on the ship. SAM: I’ve been doing some meditating, you know. TALIESIN: Wow. SAM: I mean, it’s not that surprising, but sure. TALIESIN: I just assumed you meant drinking by that, but either way I’m okay. SAM: No, I’ve just been thinking about it, and most of the time when I meditate I just fall asleep. It’s really just napping. MARISHA: Kind of. SAM: But I like napping a great deal. MARISHA: You can find a lucid state where you’re just letting your mind wander– SAM: I’ll take your word for it. But in some of my naps, I’ve had good dreams, and in the last one, I had a really nice dream about Luc and Yeza and I was with them and it was just nice, so... LAURA: You were with them as Veth? SAM: Yeah. So I’m thinking– I had a nap-vision, and it’s time. TRAVIS: Can you remind the rest of the group– not me, but the rest of the group, what the components are again that you need? SAM: Well, we needed, you know. ASHLEY: Lots of clay. TALIESIN: Clay. LAURA: And gem dust. MARISHA: Like a fuck ton of clay. LIAM: Yeah. SAM: So we have any gem– TRAVIS: Wasn’t it 50 pounds or something like that? SAM: It was 50 pounds of clay. MATT: One pound per pound of the actual person’s body. MARISHA: And how many gems? LAURA: Like it was like 300? SAM: 300 gold worth of gem dust? MARISHA: That’s not so bad.. LAURA: Yeah. TRAVIS: I’m sure there are gems around here that we could purchase, so that– MATT: He’s the one who has the spell, so you’ll have to ask him. LIAM: I am looking it up in my shit... It’s 150 gold worth of crushed gem dust. LAURA: Oh, even better. LIAM: Yeah. SAM: It’s cheap, really. LAURA: That’s next to nothing. We could all change our bodies if we wanted to. SAM: I could do it like every Thursday or something. Like maybe, Oh, this week I’ll be a minotaur or something. LAURA: Ooh. MATT: Technically once the spell’s been cast on you, it can’t be cast on you for another year. LIAM: Yeah. Yeah. SAM: It was worth trying. LIAM: Also, Nott, you have a little something right here. (His leprechaun beard) SAM: Right here? Did I get it? LIAM: Mostly. SAM: Okay. LAURA: Yeah, it’s fine. TRAVIS: I mean, if you did want to become a minotaur, you could always go back up to Xhorhas for, I don’t know, a year, and just have a fling with old Captain Thunderballs. SAM: That sounds amazing! I mean... LAURA: We would cover for you. SAM: He was– he was a bull in all the right places. Whoo! As tempting as that sounds, I need to listen to my napvision, and I think it’s time. But again, we can go check out the Balleater first and then, I guess, go a-digging. LAURA: Maybe we can get some gem dust on the way to the Balleater. SAM: All right. Sure. LAURA: Because we’re passing by some ships, I’m assuming. MATT: You know this town very well, and there are jewelers and sellers of all sorts of beautiful gems, both cut and uncut. So yeah, that can definitely be done while you’re perusing the town. TALIESIN: Are there rivers that lead into the ocean? I’m sure there’s clay there that we can find. That shouldn’t be too hard. MATT: For this particular coastal area, there isn’t a river nearby that opens into the ocean. LAURA: Sorry. MATT: So you might have to buy it. TALIESIN: I’d rather have that kind of pottery thing where you make you own pot, then bake it. Those are always– MARISHA: Right, pottery. It’s called pottery. TALIESIN: Yeah. LAURA: Yeah, but this place you can like color it– TALIESIN: Make your own, and then you color it. LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. SAM: They give you paints and stuff. It’s really cute. MARISHA: Ye–yeah. LAURA: You can make a picture frame for your mom. You can do all sorts of things. TRAVIS: You’ve all done this pottery thing? TALIESIN: I haven’t– LAURA: Yeah. SAM: Pretty standard. TALIESIN: I’ve heard about it. ASHLEY: I haven’t done it. TRAVIS: Okay. SAM: I made a piggy bank once. TRAVIS: We’re green horns, you and me. ASHLEY: Yeah, okay. MARISHA: That would actually be a fun afternoon. SAM: Just painting piggy banks? ASHLEY: Making pottery? MARISHA: Get a little day drunk. It’s nice. TRAVIS: So, to the Balleater, and we’ll keep an eye out for jewelers on the way. LAURA: Yeah. TRAVIS: All right. MATT: All right. TRAVIS: Jester. MATT: As you make your way towards the southern coastline, and the meeting of the Open Quay, and... (to the audience) It’s Kway now! Take it! And the Restless Wharf, you can already see– LIAM: It’s actually pronounced “Quinoa”. TRAVIS: No, no, don’t, too early! Too early! MATT: That’s metal. That would have hurt. You do notice, in the inlet in the harbor, numerous ships. You can see an organized array of naval ships bearing the Dwendalian crest across their crimson flags arranged within this harbor, flanked by the protective armada of the Concord itself. These ships are beginning their loading, it seems like, in preparation for a journey to come, and you, knowing the size of these ships, and taking a quick look past, they’re not immediately ready to go. They’s probably a number of days off. And if you want to ask a few questions around the harbor, it seems like everyone’s looking to leave within about four or five days. TRAVIS: Right. I suppose I could try to find a harbormaster and see if there’s any sort of news of urgency or anything that we’ve missed while we’ve been away. LAURA: Sure. TRAVIS: Can I try and locate a harbormaster? MATT: You can, actually. Wharfmaster Ignus you’ve briefly had conversation with before. Right before you stole a ship. TRAVIS: [JENGA] so well. MATT: But you find the older dwarven wharfmaster, who’s right now you can see in his eyes, he’s both frenetic with the amount of processing and organization he’s having to tend to, but he’s also stoic and showing exactly why he’s been the wharfmaster as long as he has been, and he’s like, “Okay, go that way. Make sure that ship is being done.” TRAVIS: Excuse me, I’m sorry. It seems you’re quite busy at the moment– MATT: “Yes, I quite am, actually. What do you require from me?” TRAVIS: I noticed that there’s more Empire ships here than there normally are. Is there any news on this potential meeting between the Dynasty and the Empire? MATT: “They are currently presenting a large swathe of ships to make their way eastward for this meeting between them and the Dynasty. That is all that I know, and that’s all that I’m being paid for. Excuse me. TRAVIS: Oh. Yes. MATT: (yelling in what sounds foreign) TRAVIS: I just meant to ask, is there any particular vendor that we should be paying attention to that the Empire might be using? Is there a particular shop that’s getting a lot of traffic these days? MATT: “That is not my job.” And he just walks away. TRAVIS: Right. Yep. They’re real busy. It’s super-busy times. He said the Balleater has a place of pride here in the harbor, which is good. It’s real good, yeah. The Balleater. LAURA: You’re such a smooth talker, Fjord. TRAVIS: Yeah. MATT: You do notice, perusing the docks, and maybe during your conversations as you walk through the city here, the presence of the Zhelezo and the Shorewardens, in particular, which are more of the front military, are much stronger as everyone’s preparing for this coming journey, mingling with Righteous Brand soldiers that are coming on and off ships. You can see them coming in and out of the various taverns themselves and enjoying the brief vacation before they go to what is a very tense political gathering. You do see the largest of the ships in the harbor right now that’s being loaded up with materials, alongside, the name is “Blue Heaven”. And it carries the Dwendalian crests on it, but in doing so, the crests are the most decorated, and it has the most military around it. LAURA: That’s where the important people are. TRAVIS: I know. I should have asked the Wharfmaster what that ship is for. LAURA: Yeah. MATT: Caleb. LIAM: Yeah. MATT: Not far from the “Blue Heaven”, there is a smaller redwood sailing ship, that is visibly very different in make and style to the other ships around it, and carries the Cerberus Assembly flag across the top of it. LIAM: How distant is it from us at the moment? MATT: From where you are now, it’s probably like four or five hundred feet. LIAM: And do I see anyone that I recognize on it? MATT: Make a perception check. TRAVIS: Fireball that ship. SAM: First roll of the night. First roll of the night. (Liam holds up one finger) LAURA: No! MARISHA: TravelerCon3000! TALIESIN: We’re waiting, what did you roll? MATT: No, you do not. You see nobody of interest or memory. You got distracted looking towards the ship and instead, found like a cute little puppy that looks lost on the side of the road. TRAVIS: Strange place for a dog. LIAM: Oh, you are a good boy. I will call you Henry. ASHLEY: Oh! The goodest boys. MARISHA: Are there any Dwendalian ships? MATT: Numerous, actually. MARISHA: I’m sorry. Not Dwendalian. Xhorhasian ships? MATT: No. MARISHA: Okay. MATT: There are none. LAURA: That would be super bad. SAM: Henry looks like a nice lunch. LIAM: I thought we were past that months ago. SAM: I just– it’s my last day, so... I just want that sweet, sweet dog flesh– ASHLEY: I actually know very good dog recipes, if that is– SAM: Is it grilled? LAURA: No, no! SAM: Or fried, or–? TRAVIS: No, we don’t eat dogs in the Mighty Nein. ASHLEY: Well, everything is a meal if you prepare it correctly. TRAVIS: Wow. TALIESIN: That’s not entirely untrue. MARISHA: I’d try it. LIAM: It is better than babies, though, I suppose. ASHLEY: Babies are very tender. SAM: What the fuck–! TRAVIS: I quickly walk over to one of the closest Zhelezo and say, “Excuse me, if I might trouble you?” MATT: “Yes, yes, what do you want?” TRAVIS: That large ship over there, “Blue Heaven” I see– whose vessel is that? MATT: “Oh, that’ll be Captain Deremi. I think the emissary from the Empire is on that one.” TRAVIS: Captain Deremi? MATT: “Yes, Deremi.” TRAVIS: Deremi. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. MATT: “You’re welcome.” And he goes back to work. TRAVIS: Can I see the Balleater? MATT: You can, actually. It’s actually quite a ways away. It’s tucked off to the far eastern side of the docks. It looks like it’s been there for a little while. TRAVIS: Keeping a low profile. SAM: You got to tuck that Balleater, yeah. MATT: But nevertheless, it is there and available for you to find. TRAVIS: Shall we make our way over to it? See how– LAURA: Sure, sure. Do I see any gem dust on the way there? SAM: Do I see 50 pounds of clay? LIAM: Right there. LAURA: Did we pass a jeweler? TALIESIN: I’m keeping an eye out. MATT: Not on the docks, unfortunately. You guys would have to go more into town to the more– LAURA: I will do that later then. MATT: Okay. So later when you want to go do the market region of Nicodranas, we can go ahead and do that. LAURA: Okay. MATT: All right. So you make your way towards the Balleater. (Sighs) TRAVIS: The Balleater. MATT: Yes. The Balleater. TRAVIS: The Balleater. MATT: Yes. Yes. The custom ship I worked really hard to have custom made, and present to your guys with a cool opportunity to name your one fantasy ship– LIAM: Hey, guys, what’s that boat called again? AUDIENCE: The Balleater! LIAM: That’s the one. TRAVIS: Holy fuck. Yeah, yeah. Never had 3000 people shout that at you before. MATT: That’s a new one. As you approach, though, you can see it’s probably been docked for the better part of a week or so, and on the deck, sitting back in a chair and eating a sausage of some kind is Marius LePual, the half-elven figure with his blonde flop. He looks like he’s growing a bit of a stubbly beard now, and he looks up at you guys, and it’s not like a beard as much as an elf could really manage with weeks and weeks and weeks at sea, it’s like a (pathetic sound). But looks up and gives a wave and goes, “Oy! (Laughs)” TRAVIS: Look alive. Look at you! You look very seaworthy. Rugged even.” MATT: “Oh, thank you, thank you. It’s been a journey. I’ve learned a lot.” TRAVIS: Have you killed anyone in the time we’ve been away? MATT: “No. Was I supposed to?” TRAVIS: Yasha, I need you to speak to him later. MATT: “I didn’t– what did I do? I’m sorry– I didn’t–“ ASHLEY: Well, it’s not a journey if people were not killed along the way. That’s just how I view things, but maybe I– MARISHA: No, I thought it was it’s not a journey unless you’re chilled along the way. Right? SAM: Chilled? MARISHA: Yeah, like, you know– never mind. LAURA: What do his clothes look like? Are they fancy still? Or are they rugged? MATT: It looks like his sense of style hasn’t waned, though he’s now wearing them a little tattered. He’s going for that, “I was once nobility, but now, the world is my oyster” kind of look. LAURA: Yes. MATT: And you know, as you get a closer look as you guys approach up on the gangplank and get up onto the actual deck of the ship, it all looks to be intentionally tattered. Like it’s not actually weathered from being at sea. Like he sat there at night and just rubbed it really hard. LAURA: It’s like those fancy jeans you buy. LIAM: Yeah, stress washed jeans. MATT: Yeah. Yeah. Very much his theme. “But welcome, welcome. As far as we’re gathering, we have a little ways before the armada is leaving. Do we need to leave early? Do they know we’re coming? Like what’s the deal here? Should I go get the captain? Oh, you’re the captain now.” TRAVIS: I am. It’s quite fluid, actually. Is the boat prepared to leave? Do you need rations, or--? MATT: “No, no, we’ve loaded everything up.” He gives a very loud finger-whistle, and then a short time later, you hear (heavy footsteps) looming up to the deck of the ship-- TRAVIS: Bring it. MATT: Orly’s shell crests over. “Well, real happy to see you all coming back around. Ship has been prepared for our journey.” LAURA: I run up and hug Orly. MATT: “M-m-mighty fine to see you all.” LAURA: You too. SAM: So great to see you, Orly. MATT: “You as well.” TRAVIS: Thank you for taking such excellent care of the ship. Marius looks quite weathered. MATT: “Yeah, we’re working on him. I figure about maybe three more years.” TRAVIS: That’s quite a bit of time. MARISHA: Yeah, he’s not going to make it, Orly. MATT: “I’ve broken in lesser men before. Watch me.” LIAM: And how is our seafaring vessel? We’re ready to go at the drop of a hat. MATT: “All right here. We’ve supplied up and we’re able to go to sea whenever.” LAURA: Great. I guess we’ll just wait for everyone else to go and then we’ll go, and then we’ll just sail along with them and then we’ll watch them... MATT: “I recommend maybe letting them know you’re coming.” TALIESIN: Oh, well, yeah, I was thinking the same thing. That’s good. LAURA: That’s really smart. MATT: “Otherwise, we’re liable to get– you know, blown out of the water.” TRAVIS: Right. LAURA: Good call. I should send a message to the Bright Queen and let her know to let them know. MATT: “What?” TRAVIS: No, I don’t know if we need-- MARISHA: Is that right? TRAVIS: That seems like a step too many. Maybe we just send a message to this Captain Deremi and tell them that we’re seeking an audience? LAURA: Oh, yeah. And then we just tell him we know the Bright Queen, she’s [JENGA], and then we show our things. TRAVIS: Well, that we also know King Dwendal, and– what was your– LAURA: Oh, shit! That’s right! We’re not– that would be really bad. I didn’t think about that part. MATT: “I highly recommend you get all that straight.” TRAVIS: I thought there was a reason, but there wasn’t. MARISHA: Ludinus. TRAVIS: Yeah, Ludinus Da’leth. LIAM: Correct. LAURA: Ew. MARISHA: He’s probably the one we should really check in with? LAURA: Yeah. I’ll send a message to Ludinus, and then he can let the captain know that we’re coming. TRAVIS: That would be excellent. LIAM: We could also just walk over to the boat. Look, it’s right over there. And I was thinking perhaps one of the things on our to-do list today is to have a face-to-face there, hm? SAM: Sure, yeah. LAURA: Okay. SAM: Now’s as good a time as any. ASHLEY: We’re here. TRAVIS: Yeah, we can try. If they turn us away, then we can do the message. LAURA: Okay. TRAVIS: Thank you for keeping the ship in such excellent shape. We have a few more things to tie up, and then we’ll be back. MATT: “Well, Captain, [JENGA] back to your navigator. Welcome, Tusktooth. The ship is yours.” And he slowly stomps back underdeck. TRAVIS: Tusktooth. LAURA: He lives! TRAVIS: Yes, he does. LAURA: Do you think Ludinus would allow me to tattoo him? LIAM: I do not. LAURA: I’m going to ask. You just never know. TRAVIS: Ummmm... LAURA: It’s okay. TRAVIS: Okay. Shall we make our way over, then? SAM: Let’s go. TALIESIN: Yeah. TRAVIS: We will make our way across the docks towards the Blue Heaven. MATT: The Blue Heaven? Or the– LIAM: No, the redwood ship, the smaller one, is where the Cerberus Assembly... TRAVIS: Oh, that’s where you want to go. LIAM: Yes. Yeah. LAURA: Yeah. TRAVIS: Okay. MATT: All right. You make your way a little ways down the wharf to the redwood ship. As you approach, you now can see the title of it is the Wind of Aeons. (Marisha laughs derisively) TRAVIS: What is it, Beau? I just heard you make a... MARISHA: It’s just “Wind of Aeons”. Fucking how up your own ass can you be? TRAVIS: Right. It’s just the name of a ship, so– SAM: Yeah, but she’s right. I mean. The Balleater is like, you know what it is. It’s classy. It sticks with you. The Balleater makes an impression. LAURA: That’s right. LIAM: Bad aftertaste, though. SAM: It’s that sea salt, you know? LAURA: Stop it with the mouth. Stop it. No! Stop it! Don’t. SAM: Are we getting banned on Twitch right now? MATT: Stop, Sam! TRAVIS: Oh, for the love of god! LIAM: I’m having the weirdest Planet of the Apes fantasy right now. TRAVIS: Right, to the Winds of Eons! MATT: As you continue walking along the dock to the front of the ship, the first thing that greets you is about a half dozen Righteous Brand soldiers that immediately begin to flank up at the front of the gangplank leading onto the ship as you approach. TRAVIS: I will reach into one of my satchels and pull out the symbol of the Bright Queen– LAURA: No! MARISHA: Nope. TRAVIS: But will keep it close-- LAURA: Not the Bright Queen-- TRAVIS: --to the middle of my chest, flanked by both of my arms and just keep it in front. MATT: Okay. TRAVIS: And say, We request an audience. MATT: All right. SAM: Didn’t we have a symbol from the Empire? MARISHA: From... LAURA: We have a symbol from... from the– TRAVIS: I’m sorry. I said the Bright Queen. MARISHA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. LAURA: You did it too! You fucking did it too! TRAVIS: It’s my fault. It’s contagious. MATT: So would you like to correct the symbol you’ve prepared? TRAVIS: Yes, retcon. (Rewinding noises) MATT: There you go. Okay. LIAM: Yeah, we would like to request a meeting with Martinet Da’leth and Master Ikithon, if they are present. MATT: They kind of look at each other. The one who looks a little more decorated, the other one steps forth and goes, “And who might you be, if I could ask please?” MARISHA: We’re the Mighty Nein. LIAM: They are expecting us. MARISHA: We’re here as liaisons to the meeting. MATT: “I’ll return momentarily. Do not move or make any sort of aggressive actions, please.” LAURA: What about going just like dancing? Can we dance? If our hands are down at our sides the whole time? MATT: They all check in with eye contact once more. “I think that would be allowed, yeah.” LAURA: All right, we’ll be here waiting. MATT: “Commence.” And turns around and walks onto the ship. TRAVIS: We’re going to die. MATT: You watch as the five other Righteous Brand soldiers stand there staring awkwardly, and one of them starts to get the groove, too, before the others notice and slap his arm, and he’s like (straightens quickly) back into place. SAM: That’s why they call them Righteous! MATT: Eventually, the one returns and goes, “You may step aboard.” Steps aside and you guys are able to step onto the gangplank onto the Wind of Eons. There, the ship deck is mostly clear. Beautifully made, the inlay along the edge of the deck itself and the handles have a– whether it’s gold leaf or at least painted to look gold, it’s garish in the way that you would expect from the Cerberus Assembly’s singular ship that is so rarely used that they have to make an impression when they do go to sea. MARISHA: Gross. MATT: Which to a certain extent, is probably a step down from those who can jump from place to place in the world without issue. So if they’re going to do it, they have to do it in style. But there on the deck, you see three figures in the middle of a conversation. You see Ludinus Da’leth, the older elven figure there, in the middle of a conversation with two other individuals. You see a human male in his late 40's or so, in this long black robe with silver and blue detailing on it. He has salt and pepper hair that’s a little long, and it’s got this curl to it, pushed to one side. You can see he’s very much a mage who wants to put together a good impression in a social space. Can we get a history check, both Beauregard and Caleb, for me? LIAM: 16. MARISHA: 19. MATT: Okay. Caleb, you know this from your studies, and you as well would know from reading about it, especially this individual. This is Lord Athesius Uludan, who is the Archmage of Diplomatic Union. It is the member of the Cerberus Assembly that largely goes out as the ambassador of the Assembly to foreign powers and foreign interests and noble circles that are beyond the Empire– even within the Empire that need some smoothing over. You can already see in the way that he’s talking to the Martinet, there’s a half-cocked grin to his expression, and very much a practiced, very smooth, tailored persona to a social, charismatic, and persuasive interaction. The third individual you see is another male elf, though younger, pale skin, and silver and teal robes. The hair is a faint dirty blond and very short, coming to a point in the front. Neither of you recognize this figure. But this figure seems to be engaged in conversation as they’re all talking. The Martinet notices you as you step aboard and goes, “Oh, hello. So glad you could make it.” LIAM: You were expecting us to be here, were you not? MATT: “Well, we discussed the possibility of joining, so, welcome. I’m sorry, my manners. This is Lord Athesius Uludan–“ who bows and goes, “It is a pleasure to meet all of you. What is your name?” SAM: We’re the Mighty Nein. MATT: “The Mighty Nein.” SAM: We’re a band of heroes who has set out to save the world and we’re darn-tootin’ nearly done. MATT: “Well, that is mighty impressive. I am extremely humbled. by your presence.” SAM: I think we’ve heard of you, actually. MATT: “Really? I did not know my name got around in goblin circles. This is very exciting.” SAM: Yeah, we talk. MATT: “Well, whoever cares, tell them that I say Hello.” LIAM: We are less familiar with your friend over here. MATT: “Oh, this is Lord Dezran Thain.” He points over and the other figure, the elven figure goes, “My apologies for not introducing myself. I am just one of the lords of here, Nicodranas, and I am meeting with some friends in preparation for the journey ahead.” LAURA: Would I recognize him, then? MATT: Make a history check. TRAVIS: (singing) Has he been to your mom’s house? LAURA: (singing) Has he done a lot of fucking? Just five. MATT: You do not recognize this person at all. LAURA: It’s been a couple of years, you know? Has it been? I don’t know how long it’s been. TRAVIS: It’s been years. LIAM: (singing) It’s been– MATT: Don’t. Caduceus and Caleb. This elven figure does seem a bit nervous in your presence. LIAM: Is he bullshitting us? MATT: You don’t know. Just the person immediately seems like... Like when you approach, the expression was like, “What the...?” “But nevertheless, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mighty Nein. I apologize. I must be off.” TALIESIN: Are you going to be joining us for the voyage? MATT: “No, I will be staying here at my home in Nicodranas, but I wish you all luck on the journey. Have a good day, and–“ ASHLEY: How do you get your hair so pointy? MATT: And he casts Prestidigitation, you watch the hair continue to (swirls) find a majestic spire, seemingly almost pointing southward. MARISHA: While Yasha does that and he’s distracted, can I case him a little bit? Can I do like a once-over? MATT: What are you trying to discern? MARISHA: I wanna discern... LAURA: How firm his buttocks are? MARISHA: I want to see if he’s hiding anything on his belt, if he looks like he has any papers or anything. A weapon, or something like that. MATT: Go ahead and make a perception check for me. LAURA: I’m going to look at his butt while she’s doing that. MATT: Make a perception check for me. MARISHA: Balls. Balls. Eater. Eight. MATT: Eight. LAURA: Eight! MATT: Oh. MARISHA: Eight. MATT: You both find the butt. MARISHA: I just kind of look at Jester. MATT: It’s not a bad butt. But that’s about all you discern. The Martinet goes, “Of course, Dezran, we will see you tomorrow. When is the actual event happening, if you don’t mind me requesting?” And Lord Athesius goes, “Oh, yes, actually, if you’re interested in coming at all, there is an event, a party, that is to happen... this is in two nights from now. Before we head out. If you’re interested. We’d love to have such esteemed individuals who are saving the world around here, and the Martinet has spoken of you, I believe, previously.” So if you’d like to come, the actual information regarding this is at the Marquis Zhafe’s Desmesne. Which you know. That’s the Marquis of Nicodranas. His Demesne is this small palace in the Opal Archways. LAURA: Yeah, yeah, that’s like a really fancy house. MATT: It’s not far from where your mother works. It’s super fancy. And it’s where largely all the major diplomatic events and parties happen within Nicodranas, and where a lot of the political business between the Empire and the Concord tend to happen at Zhafe’s home. LAURA: I think Mama got asked to perform there one time, at a party, but she didn’t end up accepting. TRAVIS: Why not? LAURA: She didn’t want to– MATT: “Who is your mother then?” LAURA: The Ruby of the Sea? TALIESIN: Insight check. What was that look? MATT: Make an insight check. TALIESIN: 23. MATT: That is a look of immediate recognition, and then a person falling into an immediate series of fond memories. TALIESIN: Okay. SAM: Oooh. LAURA: Oh. MATT: “I am quite familiar with your mother. She is a brilliant performer, and I am– she was never, I believe, denied an invitation– LAURA: Oh, no, no, she was asked to go. She just was unable to attend. MATT: “Well, I apologize that our personage does not meet her standards.” LAURA: Not at all, no, she– MATT: “Beyond myself, of course.” LAURA: –was very ill, and so she wasn’t able to leave at that time. MATT: “Well, if she would like to come and perform, perhaps for this event my cousin is holding, that would be wonderful.” MARISHA: No, Jester’s just being nice. It’s about the standards. LAURA: No, it’s not! No. It’s really not. My mama is– MATT: “Oh, I’m not offended. My cousin is a dead dog, but I mean, I’ve been by the Chateau myself a number of times. She’s a wonderful woman. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He gives you a kiss on the fingers. LIAM: How far are we from the docks, where we are? MATT: Oh, you guys are out on the wharf docks themselves, and you’re on the ship as it sits there in the harbor. LIAM: Close-ish from where we are to the docks? MATT: You’re, I’d say, walking on the docks, you’re probably a good 80 or so to 100 feet away from the shore itself. LIAM: Away from the shore. But are we on board the boat? Or are we– MATT: You’re on the deck of the– LIAM: Okay, would I be able to summon Frumpkin the monkey on the docks, not on the boat? Maybe behind some schmutz there? MATT: Sure. As you begin– I assume there’s somatic components to this as well— LIAM: Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, summoning him for the first time, but I don’t know about bringing him in and out. MATT: Just an action? LIAM: Yeah. MATT: Yeah, cause you just bamf him out I’d say– I’d say you’re fine. LIAM: Okay. MATT: So yeah, you can definitely do that. LIAM: Okay, so he is sitting behind a crate or some other sort of shipping stuff on the dock. MATT: Okay. All right. Ludinus looks toward Dezran and goes, “Actually, Dezran, if we could have a conversation before you leave, that would be wonderful. And if you will attend, I think that would be a glorious event to introduce you to some of the more important figures that are going to be part of this negotiation, as well as the local society here in Nicodranas. LIAM: That is an excellent idea. We want to become more familiar with each other before we set out. MATT: “Of course.” LIAM: We are going to be working together. It is going to be wonderful. MATT: “What is your means of transportation? I apologize, there is not room for more passengers–“ LAURA: Oh, we’ve got our own ship. It’s really, really fancy. Don’t you worry about us. MATT: “All right. If I might have the name of the ship to ensure that there is approval by the wharfmaster– SAM: We travel by ball. LAURA: Captain, you can introduce your ship. I know it’s a place of great pride for you. MATT: “The captain of a ship? So you travel the Lucidian Ocean quite a bit, I see. Impressive. LAURA: Yeah, yeah. TRAVIS: Yeah. Grand vessel by the name of “The Ball--”(mumble). MATT: All three of them look at each other. “I’m terribly sorry, I did not catch that. What was that name again? TRAVIS: Sorry, it was the Ball--(mumble). MATT: “I’m afraid you’re sneezing mid-sentence, I’m not catching–“ TRAVIS: The Ball-Eater! MATT: The silence hangs, as a gentle ocean wind blows through. TALIESIN: The Wind of Aeons, maybe? LIAM: Martinet, there is no man alive who knows more about the sea and ships, specifically, than this man before you. ASHLEY: You should quiz him. The sailing terms that he knows is really spectacular. TRAVIS: You know what? I think I ate something that disagreed with me. I’m going to just– If you don’t– Pardon me. And I walk off the ship. MATT: Lord Athesius follows you and goes, “Do not worry, friend. But please, do come. It would be a pleasure to have you and to introduce you to the delights of Nicodranas.” LAURA: I would love to go to a party. MATT: “Wonderful.” SAM: Two nights from now, then? MATT: “Yes. Tomorrow night.” SAM: Oh, tomorrow. LAURA: Tomorrow night!? Oh, man. MATT: Two nights. SAM: Oh, like tonight, tomorrow. MARISHA: Oh, okay. LAURA: Doesn’t make sense. Do we just show up or are we on the list? Do we need to bring an invite? Or what? How does this–? MATT: “I’ll go ahead and insure that the doorman is aware of your arrival and what to look for. LAURA: Okay. MATT: “Dress nicely, please.” LIAM: Now is probably a good time to state that the Bright Queen, who we are here on behalf of, has requested that we inspect the artifact in question, before setting sail, to make sure that it is intact. MATT: “That can certainly be arranged.” Caduceus, you notice that Dezran’s eyes kind of dart back and forth a bit. “Certainly. Immediately. Before the end of the voyage, I’d be happy to allow you a moment to inspect the artifact.” LIAM: I was hoping to look at it maybe before the party. MATT: “Perhaps tomorrow, midday, then.” LIAM: Very well. LAURA: Why can’t we look at it now? MATT: “It’s not currently on the ship and it’s in the process of being prepared for the journey.” TALIESIN: Before we set sail, at the very least. MATT: “Not a worry. It will be provided. I promise.” TALIESIN: All right. MATT: All right. Well, good luck, enjoy your preparation, and safe voyage to all of you.” LAURA: Can I insight check him based on what he said about preparing it and not being on the ship and all that shit? MATT: Sure. Go ahead and make an insight check. SAM: Come on, come in. LIAM: Get it, girl. LAURA: Oh, that’s five, okay. Tw– 13. Hm. MATT: 13. TRAVIS: 20-13. LAURA: 2013. MATT: A much better year. Umm... I long for the simpler days. So yes, he seems upfront and honest as best you can tell. He’s hard to read in general, but there’s no signs of any sort of deviousness or deception. LAURA: Okay. MATT: “But enjoy, and if you require anything, I believe you can just let me know.” And looks toward you, Jester. SAM: Toodles. TALIESIN: Most gracious. MATT: “Dezran.” And the two of them leave below deck. What would you like to do? LIAM: Where did Thain go? MATT: Thain went below deck with the Martinet. LIAM: All right. While we’re standing there, I telepathically tell Frumpkin to keep an eye on the boat and keep an eye out for Thain and to follow Thain around town. MARISHA: Does this boat have porthole windows or anything like that? MATT: It looks like there are a few wooden window elements for a gun deck, though you’re unsure if it’s outfitted. They are currently closed, but they are designed to be opened. MARISHA: I don’t want to be in earshot, so as we step away– I don’t want to be by guards. MATT: Okay. So you move a bit past the guards and you’re now back onto the dock, probably a good 40-50 feet from where they were standing. MARISHA: Caleb. LIAM: Yeah? MARISHA: I want to know that conversation. I want to know what’s being said. Think you can get Frumpkin in there? Or at least over in these cannon docks over there? You see what I’m– here, look at my eyeline. Look down. You see that? You see how there might be like a little opening that maybe Frumpkin can get in? LIAM: Ja, my cat could probably climb over there and open it up with his little cat monkey paws. MARISHA: He’s got little monkey hands? Yeah. I want to know what’s being said, man! TRAVIS: Is it a cat or a monkey? LIAM: It’s a cat. LAURA: He’s just in the shape of a monkey. MARISHA: He’s a Frump-key. LAURA: Yeah. LIAM: All right. Well, let’s get away from the boat, ja? MARISHA: All right. LAURA: Hey, Caleb! I step away from the rest of the group and whisper to Caleb. You know what you could do? LIAM: What? LAURA: You could let Nott eat Frumpkin tonight. LIAM: That’s a lot to process. LAURA: Just because, you know, you can bring him back really easy, and Nott would really appreciate getting to eat a monkey. LIAM: I mean, and just from a flavor and culinary angle, I am not sure he tastes the way Nott is accustomed to cat tasting. LAURA: Well, I remember you saying that Nott used to try to eat Frumpkin all the time. LIAM: Yeah, but she was never satisfied. LAURA: Oh. TRAVIS: And also, there’s not much to eat, right? I mean, Frumpkin doesn’t have that much health. You just take a bite and it’s like (poof!). LAURA: That’s true. That’s a good point, Fjord. LIAM: My cat is as healthy as any fucking cat in the Empire or Nicodranas or anywhere. MARISHA: You want to test that? LIAM: Well, he’s not a tarrasque, but for cats, he’s pretty good. MARISHA: Can you get your monkey cat into the cannon? LIAM: He’s already going. MARISHA: Okay. LIAM: So I have told Frumpkin to try to monkey along underneath the gangplank and try to find his way over to the portholes. TRAVIS: Can we be walking away at the same time as these shenanigans? LAURA: So we’re not like staring at the boat as it’s happening? MATT: You’re completely inconspicuously slow walking away. LIAM: Yeah, Jester, tie your shoe about 90 feet away from the side of the boat. LAURA: Okay. LIAM: Okay. LAURA: Tell me when. Is this 90– LIAM: Now. LAURA: Now. Okay. TALIESIN: Is anybody watching us or following us or are we being– MATT: No. I mean, the guards are watching you leave, but they’re not intensely casing you. TALIESIN: Anybody following us? I want to keep an eye out for a tail in the next hour. MATT: Okay, keeping an eye out. No worries. If you could, go ahead and roll a stealth check for Frumpkin as a monkey. LAURA:: Come on. MARISHA: Come on. LIAM: Frumpkin always fucks it up. Oooh! Good! Okay, I’ve got a baboon prepped for Fumpkin– MATT: The stealthiest of creatures. LIAM: 18. MATT: That’s good. Very good. TALIESIN: Eyy! That’s okay! LAURA: He’s actually a baboon? I thought he was a teeny tiny spider monkey. LIAM: I just searched 5e monkey on Google. That’s what they taught me at Soltryce Academy. LAURA: That’s huge, Caleb. A baboon is really big. MATT: Well, he’s using the stats block. LIAM: Well, I rolled 16, and baboon says plus 2, so just go with it, okay? MATT: The Righteous Brand, unaware. You can sense Frumpkin complete the journey beneath the gangplank, onto the edge of the ship, and then grasping onto the rougher edges of the outside of the actual ship hull itself, make his way to the edge of one of the gun portholes, slowly open it, and slip, barely, inside. LIAM: I put my arm on Beauregard’s shoulder and say, Just look at the ocean. It is so beautiful. MARISHA: What a beautiful sight to behold. TALIESIN: Yeah. MARISHA: So gorgeous. TALIESIN: Wow. LIAM: So blue. MARISHA: Take it all in. What’s he saying? Can he hear anything? MATT: Okay, so as– LIAM: Don’t forget that I cannot hear anything so if you try to talk to me I can’t hear you. MATT: This will be interesting. MARISHA: Oh, fuck. MATT: Focusing through Frumpkin’s eyes, you look into the interior of this darkened gun deck of the ship. There are two cannons within there. It looks like it was built for multiple, multiple cannons, but there’s only two in there of a very beautiful make. And immediately just at a glance, you can see these are not standard cannonball-based cannons. These are arcane in nature, and who knows what they’re capable of when fired. LIAM: Scheisse. MATT: It is very dark, and you watch two figures waltz in with haste. You hear one voice, Ludinus, say, “I couldn’t help but gauge your discomfort with the situation,” And the other figure goes “Well, I just wasn’t expecting to see them.” And Ludinus goes, “Shh! Hold on.” Does some hand motions, and as he releases what looks to be a simple spell, there’s a small shock wave that dissipates within a radius of them. Uncertain what it does, though you gather in the moment that it’s probably some sort of a radial dispel to lock down or destroy any localized magic. However, the illusion around Lord Dezran Thain vanishes. LAURA: (gasps) MATT: And there, standing in his place, is a gently floating male drow– SAM: Ooh! MATT: –with short hair– MARISHA: No. LAURA: (loud, long gasp) MARISHA: The traitor? LAURA: He’s the–!? MARISHA: He’s a tool?! TRAVIS: Sh! Sh! Sh! SAM: So blue. So beautiful. Look at it, the waves are so beautiful. MATT: To which, the revealed Essek responds– (more gasps, audience screams) LAURA: [JENGA - maybe But we told–] MATT: “Of course I am uncomfortable with this. I did not know they were going to be coming directly here.” And you can see this conflict in his eyes. And Ludinus goes, “I understand, but it’s extremely important how we enforce and oversee the control and the exchange of the prisoners and the delivery of the beacon.” Essek kind of thinks for a second. “I agree.” Ludinus goes, “We each have what we want, and when this business is behind us, we need not interact ever again. The Assembly will share its research, per the deal, and beyond, and we never have to speak. And Essek sits and thinks for a second. He goes, “I look forward to never seeing your face again. But we’re too far in at this point. It’s taken a lot of effort to ensure the tracks have been covered, and no one undeserving was hurt. But I want no further part in this once this is done. Ludinus steps forward and goes, “I’m surprised to see such affection from such a previously cold individual.” And Essek kind of turns his glance away and goes, “Well, I’m surprised myself. Maybe you should try friends sometime.” SAM: It’s going to be real bad when we kill him. MATT: Ludinus goes, “Hold it together for the time being. We’re not having any mysterious disappearing with that poor attempt at hiding your discomfort earlier. Do your part. All right?” Essek nods. “I hate parties.” And turns around. You see the illusion take over once more as his feet touch the ground, and heads back out to the deck of the ship. MARISHA: Man, look at the seagulls. Just a pinnacle of beauty they are. TRAVIS: You know, what you’re saying is actually worse than if you were just commenting on the ocean. You’re making it more suspicious. MARISHA: These are genuine comments. LIAM: So if Frumpkin peeks back out of the porthole that he crawled into, is this friend of ours leaving the ship? MATT: Yes. LIAM: I send Frumpkin to follow him, at a distance. MATT: As you guys are walking away from the docks, you hear the footfalls quickly approaching of the Lord Dezran Thain, who gives a nod. “Hello.” TALIESIN: Hey. LAURA: Oh, hi again. MATT: “Have a good day, and–“ LAURA: See you at the party! TRAVIS: See you tomorrow night. MATT: “Yes, indeed, see you then.” LIAM: Pleasure meeting you. MATT: “You as well.” And continues on past you with a hurried pace. LAURA: (shouting) If you feel like visiting the Lavish Chateau, you can go there and see my mama perform. MATT: No response. TRAVIS: Well? TALIESIN: Are we walking now? Definitely away from– MARISHA: No, let’s walk and talk. TALIESIN: I don’t normally say this, but man, I have not seen such an untrustworthy group of people in all my– as far as I can remember. There was some shifty people on that– TRAVIS: Oh, god, I thought you were talking about us for one second. TALIESIN: I mean, normally that’d be fair, but yeah, everybody was very nervous. LIAM: You know, perhaps it would be a good time to stop back at the Balleater. MARISHA: All right. TRAVIS: Back to the ship now? LIAM: Yeah. MARISHA: Did you get something? LIAM: I just have a hankering to examine the ship top to bottom. Make sure that it's in working order. MARISHA: All right. SAM: Sure. TRAVIS: All right, let's go inspect the ship again. We'll head back to the Balleater. MATT: All right, you guys make your way back to the Balleater. And you can see Marius LePual is there in the process of tying one of the sails back up onto the main mast. Looks over and goes, “Oh, back so soon.” TRAVIS: Have you killed anyone yet? MATT: He grudgingly begins to pull his short sword. TRAVIS: Speak to Yasha. She's very disappointed. We'll be below decks if you need us. LIAM: Yeah. The captain would like to inspect his quarters. MATT: “Of course. Of course. I was just kidding about the short sword. You’re kidding about the killing part, right?” TRAVIS: Do I look like I'm kidding? ASHLEY: You had like 20 whole minutes. MATT: “Aye aye, captain.” LIAM: Better get ready for the week. Marius. MATT: “Hhuh.. Okay. Mighty Nein’s back. TRAVIS: And Marius? MATT: “Yes?” TRAVIS: Don't get caught. MATT: “You’re hazing me, right? You’re not serious.” TRAVIS: Of course not. (Marius breathes in relief) Yeah, we’re serious. MATT: “I’m going to get a drink.” And he heads right into the Restless Wharf. TALIESIN: Oh, man. TRAVIS: Below decks? LAURA: Mmm. MARISHA: Yeah. MATT: All right. You find you guys way– you head down to the gun deck or there is the cargo hold below, which is where a lot of the bedrooms are as well. There’s bedrooms on both ends. TRAVIS: Looks like everything’s in order. What did you want to inspect? LIAM: Shut the door, please? TRAVIS: I shut the door. LAURA: Should we check and make sure nobody’s– MARISHA: I want to make sure no one’s following us. LAURA: Hey, Fjord, maybe you can do your, like, thing where you can see if there’s little orbs following us. TRAVIS: Oh, yes, good point. I’ll summon the Star Razor and I will cast See Invisibility. MATT: You got it. All right. TRAVIS: Do I see anything? MATT: Glancing around the interior of the chamber right now, you do not see any sort of a scrying bauble or glowing orb that would lead you to believe you’re being scryed upon. TRAVIS: God, there are orbs everywhere! We’re in terrible danger– no, I’m kidding you. We’re fine. LIAM: Caleb starts putting his necklace back under his shirt. LAURA: What did you hear? What’d you see? LIAM: Dezran Thain is actually our good friend Essek Thelyss. TRAVIS: What do you mean, “is”? TALIESIN: He’s working for... LIAM: It is a disguise. LAURA: But he was walking. TALIESIN: It’s kind of a brilliant disguise if you think about it. Always looking at the guy’s feet, never really... TRAVIS: Are you sure? LIAM: I elaborate and recount everything that– LAURA: Holy shit!! MARISHA: I mean, it oddly makes a lot of sense. LAURA: Does he– MARISHA: When you look back at everything. LAURA: And he said we were friends. LIAM: Hard to read. Hard to read. SAM: But to what end? What is he trying to gain out of this? LIAM: Research was mentioned. I don’t entirely understand the context. TRAVIS: He mentioned an exchange. It sounded like the beacon for– did you say prisoners? LIAM: Ja. SAM: Well, we know there’s a prisoner exchange. That was part of the deal always. TRAVIS: Sure. SAM: But it seems like the beacon is either not what it appears to be, or it’s going into Essek’s hands, instead of into the hands of the Queen. LAURA: No, but Essek is probably the one who delivered it. He’s the guy that leaked the beacons in the first place. LIAM: All the bells are ringing. Every fear we had seems to be coming true. This is some sort of ploy. LAURA: We just need to ask him. SAM: Uhhh. LAURA: I mean, why not? He really likes us. He would probably tell us the truth once we know. TALIESIN: This is going to be a very weird party. TRAVIS: Caleb, how do you feel? LIAM: I feel like a fool. TRAVIS: Why? Because he didn’t loop us in? LIAM: No. I worried about him for ages, thinking that perhaps he was the mole we were worried about, and when I finally did away with that fear, I had it confirmed. He seemed somewhat conflicted, but not enough to slow his pursuit. Maybe sense could be talked to him, but I worry that if we confront him, they’ll stop whatever they’re doing– LAURA: Oh my god, you know what we could do? I have the perfect plan. Let’s go to the party, and while we’re there and he’s kind of around, we can talk about Essek. And we’ll just, you know, we’ll just be talking about, Oh, my gosh, I wish he was here, Essek, I love him so much. I’m so glad that we’re such good friends with him. I never knew that anyone could be so wonderful, you know? SAM: And then after a few moments, he’ll say, “It’s me! I’m Essek! I can’t take it anymore!” LAURA: Either one, he’ll feel really guilty, or two, he’ll want to take credit for it all cause he’s so [JENGA]. LIAM: Mmmmaybe. MARISHA: Yeah.... LAURA: I think it’s a really good idea. SAM: Well, we definitely need to go to this party and see what else we can find. LAURA: Yeah. SAM: Tail him, or investigate him, or knock him out or something. Do we have any poison? Can we poison him and– LIAM: Well, if we remove him from the equation– MARISHA: None of this happens. LIAM: None of this happens, yeah. MARISHA: He’s integral to this entire thing. LAURA: But he said he wasn’t even coming. I mean, he was another guy, but– SAM: Fjord could disguise himself as Dezran Thain. TRAVIS: Whoa, uh– LAURA: Yeah! SAM: And then we’d have a mole on the ship. LAURA: Yeah! Oh my god, that’s really good. SAM: We take Essek and we replace him with one of us. LAURA: Yeah! And Martinet already knows there’s an illusion so he would be like, “Oh, I see that it’s an illusion.” SAM: He would let it go, yep. LAURA: And he wouldn’t realize it’s another person in the illusion. TALIESIN: Except that the other person would be in the same room. Then he would definitely know it was an illusion. If I’m doing my math right, there’s– SAM: No, we’ll take out Essek. We’re going to knock him out with some form of poison. LAURA: Yeah, he wouldn’t be there. TALIESIN: Essek isn’t at the meeting, then? LAURA: What? TALIESIN: Who’s at the-- SAM: Fjord is. MARISHA: Well, Fjord would be Essek as Deylas Thain. TALIESIN: Wow. ASHLEY: This is complicated. MARISHA: But as not bad of a plan as that is– wait, wait, wait– TRAVIS: What!? MARISHA: We do not have near enough information for any of that to be pulled off smoothly. LAURA: Good point. LIAM: That is true. And we are also dealing with the most intelligent, ruthless, and cunning practitioners of the arcane in all of the Empire. LAURA: Uhh! SAM: I don’t think he’s talking about us. LAURA: No, I know. I forgot to ask the Martinet if he wanted a tattoo. SAM: That is unfortunate. LIAM: That sounds like party chitchat to me. TRAVIS: Okay, so, tomorrow night, before we weigh doing any of this crazy bullshit, we have a night to prepare. Nott, do you still want to go forward with your– SAM: I mean, I’m a little distracted now that we’ve been betrayed. Also, Essek is the one who gave us this– who helped unlock the secret of this spell. LAURA: I mean– SAM: Is it a bad thing? LAURA: I’ve got a really good idea. TRAVIS: Oh, no. Does it involve tattoos? LAURA: No. Oh my god! While we’re around Dezran Thain, I’m going to send a message to Essek!’ MARISHA: That’s so “Cheaters” of you. TRAVIS: That’s pretty good. SAM: That’s amazing. MARISHA: It’s not bad. ASHLEY: That actually is a very good idea. MARISHA: Hey, Jester. LAURA: Yes. MARISHA: Your tattoos. LAURA: Yeah. MARISHA: How much did Orly teach you about making like enchanted tattoos? LAURA: Oh. Well. He started to, and then I think I remember noticing how many wrinkles were on his neck, and I couldn’t tell like where it goes when his head goes in there, does it come– I don’t know. I just got– I remember not hearing what he was saying. LIAM: What did he say, Nott? TALIESIN: Huh, huh, huh. LAURA: That was good. SAM: Good one. TRAVIS: Wait, I’m confused. We’re betrayed because Essek is going to take the beacon back to the Dynasty. TALIESIN: We don’t know enough. LAURA: No. TRAVIS: And the Empire is going to get their prisoners? LAURA: No, he– Oh. TRAVIS: Right? MARISHA: He said he wanted the research. TRAVIS: And the beacon. MARISHA: Remember when he came over and we pressured him into getting into the hot tub? LAURA: Yeah. MARISHA: And we like, bonded? LAURA: Yeah. MARISHA: He was talking about his pursuits, and about how badly he wants to see how far he can take dunamancy. LAURA: Yeah. MARISHA: And how far he could reach beyond what is sanctioned or structured within the Empire– within the Dynasty, I mean. LIAM: Yeah, and we know the Empire has been monkeying around with it, yeah? MARISHA: Yeah. LIAM: So perhaps Essek is trying to learn more about their own artifact from the Empire and what the Empire has twisted it into. TALIESIN: Maybe– oh, man, maybe– in theory there’s a second beacon. Maybe he knows. And do we know for sure if those prisoners were executed back when we were... LAURA: Like his friends? TALIESIN: Yeah. I mean, we don’t really know. There could be a second deal. MARISHA: Well, if they’re exchanging the prisoners, the prisoners are high-ranking members of the Assembly and the Empire. TALIESIN: Maybe this is just another deal. MARISHA: It is another deal. That’s exactly what it is. But if you put it under the guise of a prisoner exchange, it becomes acceptable. TRAVIS: But we trust Essek. We have to at least give him the opportunity to fail, right? I mean, he might be altruistic. He might be doing this for good reasons. TALIESIN: Or at least give him the opportunity to explain himself, and then maybe give us the opportunity to– ASHLEY: Kill him. What? TALIESIN: Or cover and try to help make sure everything goes well for everybody. ASHLEY: That’s what I meant. I said it in a different way. TALIESIN: I respect the initiative. SAM: I see it as a choice between are we going to confront Essek before this journey, or just tag along on the journey and hope to learn more? LAURA: But he said he wasn’t coming. I mean, he said Lord Thain wasn’t coming on the journey. SAM: He’s clearly coming. MARISHA: He’s coming. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t coming. TALIESIN: He’ll be on the other boat, I imagine. LIAM: But maybe disguised as someone else. MARISHA: Absolutely. LIAM: All we know is that there is a lot we do not know. TRAVIS: And we can’t endanger him at this party. That’s not the opportunity to confront him. It should be some other time. We don’t want to put him in danger if his intentions are good. LAURA: He did say we were friends. MARISHA: If his intentions are good, why is he hiding it? LIAM: It’s possible he is playing your own country. LAURA: It’s also possible, you know, he thinks we’re sort of fuck ups and we might ruin his plan if we knew about it. LIAM: I just worry if we confront him or take him out of the picture, all of this deal will fall on its face. MARISHA: No, we have to let him go. TALIESIN: And intentions and actions are rarely connected. They’re distant cousins. I mean, it’s true. Think about everybody here. This is a whole group of people with– I mean, I’ll just say it. We have some issues. SAM: All right. We’re going to this party. We can learn more there, possibly. In the meantime, let’s go see your mom. LAURA: Yeah. MARISHA: Okay. TALIESIN: Eye out for gems, eye out for clay. SAM: What? TALIESIN: Eye out for gems, eye out for clay. Keep your eyes open. SAM: All right, all right. TALIESIN: We should do this. LAURA: Oh my gosh. TALIESIN: This is important. LAURA: I’m a sapphire. You’re Caduceus Clay. We already found it. SAM: So I just have to grind you guys up and lie down in you? TALIESIN: That’ll work. SAM: Cool. MATT: That’s wonderfully poetic and not intentional at all. I love that. All right. So you guys head back into the Opal Archways. You pass through the market on the way. It’s easy enough for you to gather numerous gems, or you can get a single gem worth the cost of 150 or a little higher than that. And with your jewelers kit you can crush it down. LAURA: Okay. LIAM: So we need to purchase–? MATT: You do. LIAM: We don’t have it? MATT: Unless you have a gem that you want to try and crush down that’s worth 150. LAURA: No, I want to keep the gems that I have. LIAM: I would prefer to buy these gems. LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ll make them really colorful. SAM: Sure. Yeah. LAURA: Just a bunch of little ones, all different colors. Like glitter, like on Beau right now. MATT: Okay. And there are a number of individuals who work in pottery and various clay-based decor, so you can acquire relatively cheaply the 50 pounds of clay that you require, just the equal amount of physical body weight to roughly what Nott is. TALIESIN: How much will that run? MATT: For 50 pounds of clay, I’d put it at a gold and a half. ASHLEY: I can carry it. TRAVIS: So can I. No big deal. MARISHA: Yeah, me too. Fuck. Now it’s only like 15 pounds each. That’s not cool. You have it. TRAVIS: I don’t– oh! (Sags) No bigs. ASHLEY: Fjord, I can carry it if it’s too heavy. TRAVIS: No, no, I’ve got it. Not a problem. ASHLEY: You look like you’ve gotten shorter because of the weight. TRAVIS: No, it’s my casual way of walking. This means I don’t care. MARISHA: Yeah, that’s pretty good, actually. ASHLEY: It’s working. It’s working. TRAVIS: Is it? ASHLEY: Yep. TRAVIS: I feel like I have to fart. MARISHA: On that, I run up to Jester. Hey, that tattoo thing. I’m just curious. I have a weird question. LAURA: Okay. I like weird questions. MARISHA: Sometimes when you go to these fancy upper-echelon parties, there’s a tattoo artist there, giving out free tattoos. And after like a few drinks, people are like, “I think I DO want a tattoo.” If you tattoo someone, can you then scry on that tattoo? Is that like, since it’s using ink and stuff... LAURA: I mean, I would have intimate knowledge of something on their body, so yeah, I probably could scry pretty easy. LIAM: What if we just pick up some henna? LAURA: I think it works better if it’s like permanent. ASHLEY: Wait, what do you mean, you’ll have intimate knowledge of their body? Did I– sorry, am I misunderstanding what you said? LAURA: Oh, I’m not saying I sleep with people when I tattoo them. I’m saying– ASHLEY: Like you tattoo them and then you see everything? LAURA: No, I just– like if I tattooed your bicep, Yasha, I would have intimate knowledge of your bicep. ASHLEY: Ohh. That’s a cool trick. I’m going to keep carrying this clay. MATT: All right, are you guys making your way to the Lavish Chateau then? LAURA: Yes. MATT: Okay, okay. You make your way through then entrance to the Archways. The streets are beautiful. The multicolored stonework that lays across the stonework ahead of you are matched by the large multi-colored banners that stretch across the different squares and the large, tall buildings where all the nobles either own establishments to stay in, or there are rentable establishments for those who are traveling through Nicodranas, since it is kind of a hub of travel along the coast and to the Empire. It’s as beautiful in the daylight as it is in the night, though a different type of colorful esthetic. And there you see the Lavish Chateau, the welcoming architecture of the multi-tiered beautiful home to Marion, the mother of Jester. As you enter the interior of it, it’s early enough in the day-- I mean, you’re pushing afternoon-ish now I’d say– it’s early enough in the day where there isn’t a lot of patronage yet. You see Carlos Remedi, who’s the keeper of the bar down below, looks over towards you with his thicker mustache and his combed-over hair. He’s like, “Hi, welcome, it’s good to see you, Jester. It’s been a while. And your friends as well.” SAM: (singing) It’s been– LAURA: No. MATT: “Does your mother know you’re coming?” LAURA: My who? MATT: “Your mother.” LAURA: No. MATT: “Oh, you’re surprising her.” LAURA: Yeah. MATT: “Very nice, very nice. Well, she’s probably upstairs if you want her.” At which point you hear (footsteps) and you see running down the stairs, lighter footfalls, and coming down, you see halfling feet. SAM: (panicking) I go invisible! MATT: Okay. And down the stairs, you see, holding a wooden sword you see Luc running down and kind of like (slashing) “Oh. Hi.” TRAVIS: Hello, little fellow. LAURA: Hi, Luc. ASHLEY: Hello. LIAM: Long time no see. MATT: “Yeah. Where’s Mom? Is Mom with you guys?” LAURA: She is on her way. LIAM: She’ll be here very soon. LAURA: Yeah. She wanted to get super-pretty to see you. MATT: “Okay.” And he hits the bannister and dents it, and you can see Carlos like, “Hey! Hey! What are you doing!?” LAURA: Oh, my gosh, Luc– MATT: “I punish that! This kid is driving me crazy.” LAURA: I’m gonna– Luc, Luc, Luc, c’mere. I take him by the hand. MATT: “Yeah?” LAURA: I want to show you my paint stash that I left here. You can make additions all over the Chateau! MATT: “Okay.” LAURA: I’ll bring him– Oh, I guess I’ll wait until we get into the room. It’s hiding in my room. MATT: Okay. As you head upstairs, you can see Carlos looking as he goes up the stairs. He kind of looks back at him and goes (sticks out tongue). And he kind of looks up at him (sticks out tongue). You make your way up. You see Bluud there, who is in the process of smoking a pipe, his immense minotaur form leaning against the door, and “Oh, Jester.” LAURA: Bluud. MATT: He stands up and opens the door to your mom’s chambers. LAURA: Thank you! Is she, um... MATT: “She’s available.” LAURA: Okay. MATT: And as you walk inside, you can see the balcony doors open, the breeze is blowing through, the silk curtains are slowly swaying with each gust. She’s set up on her bed with a book open, and she immediately looks up and closes it and sets it aside. “Jester.” LAURA: Hey, Mama. MATT: “Oh, my sweet Sapphire.” And she jumps off the bed and runs up and just gives you a big hug, and lifts you up and spins you a bit. LAURA: Mama. MATT: “Yes?” LAURA: I got a tattoo. MATT: There’s a brief look of like, “Oh?” And then a look of like, “Show me!” LAURA: It’s really big. MATT: “That is beautiful, my Sapphire. I love it.” LAURA: See? It sparkles. MATT: “It does. Bring it here, bring it here. And she pulls you over towards the-- where the light is coming in from the window, and you see it glittering. “See? You are the gem you were always meant to be.” LAURA: My friends. MATT: “It’s a pleasure to see you all again.” ASHLEY: Hello. MARISHA: Hi. LIAM: Nice to see you again. LAURA: I kneel down, and I say, Luc, go in my room. Look behind the bookshelf. There’s a loose plank on the wall. If you open it, you’ll find a treat. MATT: And he runs off. MARISHA: That’s not a pastry you left here like four years ago– LAURA: No, no, it’s a box of paint! It’s a box of paint! MARISHA: Okay, okay. LAURA: I don’t– should I tell him not to eat it? SAM: No, he’s not an idiot. LAURA: Oh, hi, Nott. TALIESIN: Wow. SAM: Sorry, I’m here. I’m here too. Ruby, of the Sea, Mrs. MATT: “Where is this sound coming from?” SAM: Sorry. Hi. I’m over here. I pick up a pillow and just wave it around. MATT: “Oh! All right, the small girl, yes.. It’s good to see you again.” SAM: Do you have a bathtub? MATT: “I have quite a nice bathtub, actually.” SAM: Could we fill it with clay? MATT: Her expression darts throughout the group and then back to Jester. LAURA: We’ll cover it with fabric before we do. It won’t get stained. MATT: “Very well. As long as you promise not to harm the bathtub, then, you know, I’m not one to kink shame. Just make sure you clean up when you’re done.” LAURA: It’s not like that, but, thank you. MATT: “No judgment.” SAM: Thank you. The pillow just nods. MATT: “That is a bit expensive, however.” And she takes the pillow. TRAVIS: You’ll be happy to know your daughter has been quite the adventurer. She’s accomplished quite a bit. MATT: “Really? I knew she would. What have you done?” LAURA: Oh, well, you remember the Traveler? MATT: “I remember you talking quite a bit about him, since you were very little, yes.” LAURA: Turns out he’s not a god. MATT: “Every child comes to a point in their life where fleets of fancy and imagination from their childhood–“ LAURA: I mean, he’s real, Mama, he’s still real. MATT: “Of course.” TRAVIS: No-- LIAM: Sorry to interject, but– not a god. But we have all in fact met this individual. TRAVIS: It’s true. MARISHA: Mm-hmm. TALIESIN: Yep. MATT: (to Travis) “Who is it? Is she safe?” MARISHA: You know... MATT: “I told you to take care of her.” TRAVIS: No, I did, we’ve taken that very seriously. She is quite safe– MARISHA: It’s a little predatory, though, let’s be honest. TRAVIS: No, that’s– no. MARISHA: A grown man was sneaking into a young girl’s bedroom, all the time! I mean, it turned out okay. Like it’s fine. But... TRAVIS: She’s actually in more control than you might imagine. She actually is dictating quite a bit of what happens in this relationship. MARISHA: Yeah, if anything, she’s the god. MATT: “That’s my girl. Good on you.” LIAM: No, but seriously, he is an ancient fey being. It’s complicated. MARISHA: Kind of like Frumpkin. But like a man. LAURA: And like really old and has lots of power. But looks young. Super handsome. MATT: “Oh, I know all about that.” LAURA: Wait a minute, Mama. Did you ever– okay. You remember how I told you he had no face?Llike I couldn’t see his face? MATT: “Right.” LAURA: I know what he looks like now. MATT: “Oh.” LAURA: Did you ever meet a man who had fiery red hair, super fluffy, and he had very handsome, vibrant green eyes, and really large eyebrows, but in a good way. MATT: “I have seen such a man occasionally downstairs in the Chateau, but not as a client.” LAURA: That’s him! That is him! MATT: “I don’t know if this makes it less weird, but it’s good to have a face to the name, I suppose. Are you okay?” LAURA: Well, I’m kind of glad that he wasn’t ever a client. MATT: “In hindsight, me as well.” LAURA: Hey, you’re invited to a party. Do you want to come? SAM: There’s a party tomorrow at the Marquis’s Demesne. LAURA: Yeah! They said you could come perform if you wanted to. MATT: “I uh... that’s a few blocks.” LAURA: I know. MATT: “Are you going to this?” LAURA: Yeah. I would go with you, if you want to. MATT: “And you’re all going?” ASHLEY: Yeah. MARISHA: We can keep you safe. TALIESIN: Uh, that’s a... LAURA: What’s wrong, Caduceus? TALIESIN: I thought we had all agreed that this was a little tricky, going into this party. Are we sure we want to just treat it like a party, or were we going to be... LIAM: Yeah, I think everyone who is attending this event wants it to go smoothly, for it to be a lovely evening, and Jester, your mother is very talented and beautiful, and everyone in this town obviously is fascinated with her and she would be an excellent... MATT: “Don’t let me stop you.” TALIESIN: I feel so much better. Yasha just kept mentioning killing people, so I just assumed things were going to just go. LIAM: Well, my point is– ASHLEY: That’s just my go-to, I don’t know. LIAM: My point being, who could take their eyes off of the Ruby of the Sea at a party like this? LAURA: Very true. MARISHA: Plus going to a party with your mom is a pretty great cover. LAURA: Oh, I should have asked if Lord Sharpe was going to be there. MATT: “There’s probably a good chance of him being there, being as how he is one of the more powerful nobles in Nicodranas. And if it is a party that is in the Opal Archways, there’s a good chance he’ll be there, so maybe–“ TRAVIS: We certainly don’t want to make you uncomfortable. Your daughter has helped broker peace between nations– MATT: “Oh, Sharpe I can handle. Don’t worry. I handle men like him all the time. And they are very easy to handle. Just be careful, if you don’t mind.” LAURA: Okay. MATT: “If you’re all going to be there, and you, my Sapphire, are going to be there... (sighs)” and she reaches out and takes your hand and kind of squeezes it. “Then I can be there.” MARISHA: Yeah! LAURA: I give her a big hug. MARISHA: This party’s going to be dope. LAURA: I’m so proud of you, Mama. I’m so proud of you! MATT: “Well, we’re not there yet. [JENGA] but I’m going to work on it. I’ve been working on my excursions a bit, so...” At this point you can hear from the steps coming up, “I couldn’t find any bread that was as fresh as we hoped for,” and you hear Yeza as he’s coming up the stairs. (Sam mimes hiding against a wall) TRAVIS: What about that pillow? MATT: “Oh. Oh, wow, you’re– you’re all Veth’s friends. Hi.” LIAM: Yeza, hello, it is so good to see you. TRAVIS: So good to see you again. MATT: “Caleb, Beauregard, Fjord, Yasha, Caduceus, Jester, of course. It’s so good to see you guys. Where’s my wife?” LIAM: Soon. Following on our heels. She will be here soon. LAURA: Yeah. MATT: “Wonderful. I got to go put these groceries away. Marion, got it all taken care of. I’ll just give you the bill, and I’ll be back in a little bit. Bye.” And you see him now heads back downstairs, a little spring in his step. LAURA: Ohh! I bet he’s going to go wash his junk off! SAM: What do you mean? Oh! Because he knows that I’m coming. LAURA: Yeah. SAM: Okay. Like a little prep. LAURA: Yeah. SAM: I’d better do the same. LAURA: Yeah, well, we’re going to a bathroom. LIAM: Just a little bit of revivification. TRAVIS: Oh, my god. MATT: “Well, I was not performing tonight. I was planning to perform at the Chateau tomorrow, but I can cancel that easy and get ready for this party.” LAURA: Are you sure? MATT: “Of course. I run this place. Are you kidding me? Well, thank you for keeping her safe. And I look forward to this event tomorrow night. And Jester, it’s so good to see you.” LAURA: You too, Mama. MATT: “All right. Well, I should... Well, at least I want to finish my book, if you don’t mind?” LAURA: Of course, we’ll go to the bathroom. MATT: “Oh, right.” TRAVIS: Together. LAURA: Okay. MATT: “Have fun!” She goes and lays back in her bed and pulls up her book. SAM: We should turn on a fan or something, to... LIAM: This bathroom is enormous. LAURA: Yes, it’s pretty wonderful. ASHLEY: Should I put this in the tub? LAURA: Hold on, hold on, let me– I’m just going to lay one of the green cloaks in the tub, just to keep the tub from getting stained with the clay. MATT: Okay. You lay the cloak down within the tub. And it’s a beautiful tub. It’s one of those classic, long, claw-footed bathtubs, a silver rim on the edge. You can see this was probably a gift to Marion. It’s beautiful. MARISHA: We’re about to demolish this tub. LAURA: No, no, no! No. MATT: You set the cloak within, (boof) put the clay in there, situate a small pocket of it where Nott can kind of lay into. And it is a very very tiny element that– it’s almost like a tub within a tub, and Nott, you can get into there fairly easily. SAM: Sure. Yeah. I’ll break Invisibility and go in. LIAM: This is going to take a while. And I pull out a bit of red ribbon and tie it in a bow on the knob of the door and close it. MARISHA: Smart. TRAVIS: What’s that for? MARISHA: They’ll know. LIAM: We need about an hour of privacy. LAURA: They won’t come in. MATT: All right. Nott, as you settle into the clay, you find this thin pocket. It bends around you because it’s not terribly thick, but enough where you can at least feel like you’re cradled within. LAURA: Caleb, what do I do with all this glitter? LIAM: Hold on a moment. And I hold out my hand to Nott. Are you sure you are ready? SAM: No. But I’m going to do it anyway. And I’m not sure what will happen afterwards, but no matter what, you guys will help me get through it. And if for some reason I don’t come back, or come back different, or leave, or something, you know how much you all mean to me. And Jester, I hope we have more adventures together. LAURA: Me too. I give Nott a kiss on the nose. SAM: Caduceus, thank you for being honest and showing us that you can be scared too, and that’s okay. Yasha, I’m like 60% sure you’re not evil now. ASHLEY: That should be a lower percentage. Would you like a sip of your wine? SAM: No, thanks. Fjord, I’m sorry that I always call you weak. But I only do that because I know you’re strong enough to take it. Beau, thank you for taking care of Mr Caleb. And Caleb, you know, I love you, and you’re the second love of my life. Thank you for being with me. LIAM: I... love you too, Veth the Brave. SAM: Well, we’ll see. All right, glitter me, Jester! LAURA: Can I? Can I? Can I? Glitter bomb! LIAM: That was more of an antiquing than I was anticipating. But it will do the job. All right, everybody have a seat. This is going to take a while. LAURA: Okay. MATT: As you all situate into this now somewhat cramped bathroom, you go ahead and begin to set up the necessary ritual components, making the appropriate sigils on the floor, setting up the candles, having Beau aid you in burning the proper incense to begin to get the energy itself centered and focused on this particular tub. As you initiate the first rites of this ritual, you can see some of these symbols begin to glow with that same faint color you saw in Essek’s tower, and as they begin to glow brighter and brighter, you can see the clay start to form on its own around Nott’s body. It is at that moment as the clay creates this thin barrier around the entirety of Nott’s form, eventually covering the face and the eyes, you, Caleb, can feel yourself connecting on a very mental, psychic, emotional level, as part of this, with Nott. And in that connection, you urge Nott to think of her true form, who she always was, and hopefully always will be. As you both sit there and concentrate, pushing into the next level of glyphs on the ground glowing brighter and brighter, the clay begins to harden and warm up, and you can feel the clay getting hot on your body, to a point where it’s alarming but not too much to take. And it’s extended for minutes and minutes and minutes. This heat is there, but you hold tight to the trust as part of this, and all of you quietly just watch on as Caleb mutters the incantations under his breath, his eyes in a trance. Eventually the clay begins to glow orange hot. It doesn’t burn you, but it begins to just brighten and brighten, and brighten. The outside light of the small glass windows in the chamber begin to slightly darken, the chamber itself becoming fainter and fainter. As the shadow swells around it, the glowing clay form of Nott’s goblin body begins to emit this bright orange light. You push into the next wave of incantations, growing louder and louder. The windows themselves seem to blacken out at this point. There is no daylight making its way in. The only light source you see are the glowing glyphs steadily circling the base of this tub, and the slightly lifting clay form of Nott. As you finish the final rites, you finish the incantation with a shout. The clay shatters across the room. All of you are pushed back from the impact of this arcane shock wave. You feel the wood beneath your feet growl and moan. The bathtub shatters. LAURA: Aww! Fuck! MATT: But that same orange glow is maintained. While the clay is gone, there is still an orange form, healthier, and more halfling. As the light begins to fade, and the body drifts down into the numerous pieces of shattered porcelain, there laying before you is Veth Brenatto. LIAM: You are not the goblin I first met. SAM: (sexy voice) Did it work? (Gasps) SAM: (coughs- back to Nott’s voice) Sorry, sorry! There was some clay in my throat there. It’s dry. Did it work? MARISHA: I pick up one of the mirrors from Marion’s... LAURA: Bathroom. MARISHA: Bathroom counter, cabinet. Just hold it up. LIAM: It is good to meet you again. LAURA: Hi. ASHLEY: Hey. SAM: Hi. TALIESIN: Hey. MARISHA: ‘Sup? SAM: I do a little curtsey and just sort of twist my hair a bit, and just sort of– just hug Caleb. LIAM: I am so proud of you. SAM: I’m so proud of you. You can do anything. Well, I love you all, but I really want to go see my family now, so... I’m sorry about your mom’s bathtub. LAURA: It’s okay. It’s worth it. SAM: I really don’t think it is okay, but... (knocking) Oh, shit! MATT: (as Yeza) “Is everyone okay in there? I heard commotion!” MARISHA: Hang on, we’re getting dressed. SAM: I’ll swing open the door. MATT: You see there, a look of panic in his eyes, your husband, who immediately goes from like a (anxious look fades to surprise, then happiness) SAM: Hi. MATT: “Hi.” SAM: I’ll just grab him and tilt him back and kiss him! MATT: “Wait.” After he breaks apart. “Wait,” SAM: It felt different, right? MATT: “There’s not that much teeth.” SAM: No, no. There’s like a regular amount of teeth. MATT: He just grabs you and kisses you again. SAM: I’m me again. I’m back. MATT: “I’m so happy to have you back.” And you can see tears coming down his face. SAM: Let’s go find Luc. MATT: You immediately get hit in the forehead with a wooden crossbow bolt. SAM: You’ve been learning, huh? MATT: “I’ve been practicing!” SAM: Yeah, you have! That was good! That was good. I’ll teach you about how to keep below the neck for indoor shots. MATT: “Oh, okay.” SAM: Hey! C’mere! MATT: And he runs up and gives you a big hug. He’s just holding you. You can see your husband is just looking back at you with a smile, then looks briefly at all of you and goes, “I– thank you. Thank you.” TRAVIS: Thank you for sharing her with us as long as you have. She’s been amazing. LAURA: The bravest halfling we’ve ever met. MATT: “That’s the truth.” SAM: I do feel a little bit braver. Little bit weaker, too. I might need to lie down. MATT: “Yeah, no, of course.” Which by the way, both of you guys do have a point of exhaustion from the completion of the spell. SAM: Great. MATT: “Of course, right this way.” And leads you to the side bedchambers where– LAURA: Have fun! ASHLEY: I’ll go pick up some dog to celebrate. LIAM: I have imagined this moment a hundred times, and in none of those times were you dressed like a leprechaun. TALIESIN: I’ve been thinking that. SAM: Toity toity toity toity. MATT: After she’s helped to lie down for a second, you watch as he comes back in and looks to you and says, “I hate to correct you, but I haven’t lent her to you guys. She’s not mine. She’s done far more than I ever could. I mean, heck, I kind of really mucked things up. So, I mean, if anything, I’m just glad she’s there to clean up my messes. And you guys, too.” SAM: (shouting) I’m ready, Yeza! TRAVIS: You know, you should go. MATT: “Could you guys watch Luc for a little bit?” TRAVIS: Yeah, I’m going to get some...I’m sure it’s been a while. I’ll go get some ice for your ball eater. SAM: (singing) It’s been a while. MATT: All right, as they adjourn, you help Luc downstairs and we’ll go to our break. TRAVIS: Oh, shit, you’re a halfling! SAM: I’ve got less hit points, and I’m slower, and I have less constitution. LAURA: But you can reroll your ones. LIAM: You’re impervious to ones– almost. SAM: Fuck that. MARISHA: Did you lose Fury of the Small too? MATT: Yes. SAM: Oh, I lose Fury of the Small? MATT: You do, yeah, that’s a goblin ability, man. TRAVIS: Change back! Change back! MATT: But you can now hide behind your party members. SAM: That’s pretty cool. That’s pretty cool. LIAM: Can you lead us to a pot of gold? MATT: We’ll find out when we come back after this break. We’ll see you guys here in just a little bit.

[BREAK]

MATT: And welcome back. All righty. So, is there anything you guys wish to accomplish as you leave Veth Brenatto at the Chateau for a while. SAM: I just want to quickly say that whoever’s sitting in seat G52 way up in the Gallery should look under their seat for a little gift. That’s all. TRAVIS: Is it a pair of underwear or something? SAM: It’s Veth’s used underwear. MATT: Now if it was Yussa’s... LAURA: I’m going to just quickly tell Mama what happened with the bathtub. MARISHA: Yeah, and I’m going to start cleaning it up. MATT: She is understanding. ASHLEY: Is there any way you can try to Mend it or something, Jester? LAURA: I will do that. I’m going to mend two pieces together, and give it to her. MATT: “That is extremely kind.” LAURA: You’re welcome. It ended up being very useful, though. MATT: “Okay.” LAURA: Did you see Nott is not Nott anymore? MATT: “You’re mildly confusing me, but I’ll go along with–“ LAURA: The goblin isn’t a goblin anymore. She’s a halfling. MATT: “Oh.” LAURA: Because of your bathtub! MARISHA: It’s a genre of kink. MATT: “Well, then, it was a worthy sacrifice.” LAURA: I’ll replace it. MATT: “Okay.” LAURA: How much was it? MATT: “I don’t know. It was a gift.” LAURA: I’m going to find somebody else to give you one. MATT: “Fair enough.” So you guys have– and you can include yourself in this, as well– you guys have an evening and another day to handle any other business you would like, here in Nicodranas. Is there anything else you would like to do, while you’re here, before the party? LIAM: Are we going to fast-track through a little to-do list? MATT: If you’d like to, yeah. LIAM: The next day, I would like to ask Jester if she could lead me to a shop with magical wares. Do you know of any here? LAURA: Of course I do, yeah, yeah, yeah. I lead him to one. LIAM: Okay. That’s better than rolling dice. MATT: Let’s see. As far as magical wares go, here in Nicodranas, that you would know... LAURA: There is... MATT: The Meandering Treasure. LAURA: The Meandering Treasure. There is... MATT: That’s in the Restless Wharf. LAURA: In the Restless Wharf. MATT: You would know of the Seafloor’s Bounty, which you’ve been to before. LAURA: Mm, the Seafloor’s Bounty, that’s a good one. MATT: Which is more of a pawn shop, but sometimes has weird and intricate things. LIAM: I’m looking more for spells for sale. LAURA: Spells for sale. Like scrolls and stuff? LIAM: Yes, scrolls and any fine quality paper and ink as well. LAURA: Oh, you want paper. LIAM: Well, that as well, but I’m looking for something... new. LAURA: Ooh, what? LIAM: Protection. LAURA: From...? LIAM: Death. LAURA: Okay. Yeah, that’s important. TRAVIS: You can find that in a store? LIAM: In the right store, yeah. ASHLEY: I mean, we all die at some point. LIAM: Yeah, but I don’t want it to be tomorrow, so... I’m just looking for something to push that back a few days. LAURA: Do I know of one with scrolls? MATT: There isn’t like a magic shop here in Nicodranas, per se. Most of what comes through here would probably be traded in one of the venues that I mentioned earlier. There isn’t a heavy magic-based establishment akin to Pumat’s or anything in this city. It’s kind of whatever gets picked up by the other eclectic odds and ends stores, and they’re kept as some of their favorite special items to sell to passers through. LAURA: Well, we can try the pawn shop. Maybe we can ask Yussa. Maybe he has a spell he would sell you. LIAM: Ja, we could do that. That’s a good idea. You think that is more likely than the shops here in town. LAURA: Well, it’s hard to find something specific, you know, at a pawn shop. You just have to deal with what they have. LIAM: All right. LAURA: Should we go to Yussa? LIAM: Let’s talk to Yussa and maybe he can help me, and if not, perhaps he can point us somewhere and maybe it’s a lost cause. Let’s give it a shot. Lot to get done. We’ll swing by. MATT: Okay. Anybody else going with them to the Tidepeak Tower, or just the two of them? TRAVIS: Oh, yeah, I’ll go. Yes. Of course. MATT: All rightie. LIAM: There’s that fish place you like right across from the tower. MATT: That’s true. All right. You make your way to Tidepeak. After going through Wensforth once more, eventually Yussa greets you down in the familiar gathering chamber down in the base of the tower, as he descends in his elegant and somewhat aloof way. He looks towards you, Caleb. “So it would seem that you have come requesting something from me, yes?” LIAM: It seems like a bit of a stretch. I was hoping to find somewhere in town to do a bit of shopping, but I’m used to Rexxentrum, which is very thick with, you know... LAURA: Magic. LIAM: Rare magic. But you know, in all my noodling about, I have heard of a way of shielding yourself specifically from fairly powerful magic, creating a bit of a– not really a shield, but like a sphere of protection, a globe, if you will. I don’t know if that rings any bells for you, but I do have coin, or I could trade in favor. I do have a few things, and maybe it is presumptuous of me to ask, but here I am. MATT: I am looking up the specific spell in question, here... TRAVIS: Is that a Globe of No Death? MATT: Which spell specifically? LIAM: Globe of Invulnerability is what I’m looking for. MATT: Oh, gotcha. LAURA: Like you want to be like a superhuman? Like, really? LIAM: No, I’m very human. I’m your basic garden-variety human, but humans like to kill each other and the ones we are dealing with are very powerful magically, so I’m looking for specific protection against that. Against my old friends. LAURA: Right. MATT: “It would indeed be difficult to locate this sort of magic in the streets of the city. Most trade passes through to other destinations.” LAURA: But.... MATT: “I do have such a spell. But powerful magics are guarded intentionally. I will trade you. I will allow you to copy this spell. I will supply the materials. But I keep the golem. He has been extremely useful to me in this time since you left last, and Wensforth is limited by being just one individual. Having two, especially one that does not occasionally talk back, would be wonderful.” LIAM: You have yourself a deal. MATT: “Then follow me. LIAM: Okay. MATT: And with that, Yussa leads you up into the familiar research chamber where you previously had a discussion, and presents to you the spell and the parchment and such to copy the spell. But does require you to inscribe your crafted golem from the Halls of Halas onto him as the master as opposed to yourself. LIAM: Yeah. Is that time-consuming? MATT: Copying the spell will take a little bit– LIAM: That will take the day, I think, but handing over Willi? MATT: I’d say spitballing here, about an hour or so to complete the process of transitioning the ownership. LIAM: Okay. And the party’s tonight? LAURA: No, the party is tomorrow. LIAM: Excellent suggestion. I think I’m going to be here for the day. And I don’t want to stop you, you know, you– maybe you want to spend more time with your mother, or– LAURA: Yeah, totally. Fjord, do you want to go to the fish market, or... TRAVIS: I mean, are you hungry? LAURA: I dunno. Maybe. TALIESIN: Are we going to need something to wear for tomorrow? LAURA: (gasps) We need dresses! Oh my god, Caduceus! TALIESIN: I need a new hat. I don’t know about anything beyond that. LAURA: Caleb, you’re occupied. I will get you something very nice to wear. Don’t worry. LIAM: I give her five platinum. Why don’t you choose something for me? MARISHA: Going to the Met gala? LIAM: Tasteful, dignified, because you know, we are hobnobbing with elite people. LAURA: Yes. LIAM: So not flashy, but, you know, understated, but– you know what to do. LAURA: I fully know exactly what you’re talking about. LIAM: Okay. Fjord, enjoy the fish. TRAVIS: One time. I went there one time. LIAM: Yeah, man, I had two cloaks. Get used to it. That shit happens. MATT: All right. TALIESIN: You go to one fish market. MATT: So you guys can go ahead, and if you’re looking to spend the rest of the evening finding clothing for yourselves and perhaps the rest of your compatriots for tomorrow night’s party event, you’re welcome to do so. TRAVIS: I actually don’t think I need it. I’ll just make something else appear while I’m there. ASHLEY: I feel like I’m dressed okay. LAURA: But won’t people know that it’s an illusion? There’s a lot of magic people. Don’t you want to have actual clothes? TRAVIS: No, why would I care if they know it’s an illusion? LAURA: Well, if it’s fancy clothes for real, you can have fancy clothes for real. TALIESIN: And then if it gets dispelled, you just look terrible. LAURA: Well, you don’t look terrible, Fjord, you just look– TRAVIS: Caduceus, do you think I look terrible? TALIESIN: No, I think you look great, but there’s something to be said about– when in Vasselheim, you got to dress for where you are. That’s what they say, right? That’s what I wanted, right there, thank you. MATT: They do now. TALIESIN: Canon. LIAM: Canon. TRAVIS: Sure, all right. I certainly don’t want to look terrible. TALIESIN: We want to look like we want to talk to people. We want people to talk to us, to approach us. You want to be approachable. LAURA: You could get like a really nice pirate-y looking captain’s coat– TRAVIS: No, I don’t think so. LAURA: But like a captain’s coat. TRAVIS: No, you now, I– MARISHA: Big feather. Like real big feather. TALIESIN: I’ll get you something [JENGA] ASHLEY: They do say the bigger the feather... MARISHA: The closer to Uk’otoa. Makes no sense, really, when you think about it. TRAVIS: Right. I would want no feather. MARISHA: I didn’t make up the saying. TRAVIS: Jester, since you’re already so gung ho about shopping... LAURA: Yeah. TRAVIS: Why don’t you just pick something out for me as well? TALIESIN: I’ll try and keep her reeled in. (Looks at her) I won’t. MARISHA: Okay. LAURA: You got it, Fjord. MARISHA: I don’t know what to wear to look approachable, so please dress me too. TRAVIS: Holy shit. ASHLEY: Why are you looking at me? I look very approachable. TALIESIN: You look like you’re approaching, like all the time. One night. ASHLEY: Okay, pick me out something. I don’t like shopping. You do it. LAURA: Oh, this is going to be so much fun! TALIESIN: I’m so excited for this. LAURA: We’ll get something for Veth, too, since she’s occupied. TALIESIN: Yes, very. Yeah. ASHLEY: Wait, we’re not going to get to the fish market? (Sam begins miming rocking back and forth) (laughter) LIAM: (Irish accent) He’s always after me lucky charms. LAURA: Oh, my god. TRAVIS: Oh, my god. MATT: All rightie, so, spending the rest of the evening gathering outfits for the rest of your party. How much are you willing to spend, total. LAURA: It’s only money... TALIESIN: Kill things and make more. LAURA: Well, we’ve got the five platinum from Caleb. If I put another ten platinum in... MATT: You can buy some nice outfits. LAURA: Only if it’s necessary. I don’t want to throw it away. MATT: Depends. It’s up to you, like I said. SAM: Do it, do it, do it. LAURA: Do it! MATT: All right. TALIESIN: I’ll put some in too. LAURA: All right. MATT: Are you purchasing them all at an even price, or are you putting more into Caleb’s because he put more money in, or...? LIAM: Get ready to be trapped in the character creation menu for hours. MATT: Yeah. TALIESIN: How much are you putting in? LAURA: I put in ten. TALIESIN: I’ll just put in another ten and then we got it going. LAURA: Oh, my god. TALIESIN: Caduceus doesn’t spend his money. It just piles up. MARISHA: You buy me a Lady Gaga meat dress or do not come home. LAURA: Oh my god. MATT: So what’s the platinum total on this, then? LAURA: That would be 25 platinum. MATT: Okay. That’s 250 gold. All rightie. You can buy some nice outfits up to pretty much whatever your mind can muster. TALIESIN: We’ll be back. LAURA: And because we’re giving so much money, we can get it super speedy. MATT: It’ll be ready by tomorrow. LAURA: That’s enough time. TALIESIN: That’s all we need. LAURA: That’s great. MATT: As it is already largely completed outfits that you are now choosing and then having them tailored overnight to the specific requirements and measurements to those you think you can recall. LAURA: Okay. MATT: Caleb, you spend the rest of your evening researching and taking down the spell. Is there anything else anybody wants to accomplish before the evening’s done, or do you want to move onto the next day, the day of the party? MARISHA: Hey, Fjord. Fish Market? ASHLEY: It is my Favored Terrain. TRAVIS: Maybe I should just excuse myself. ASHLEY: No, no, let’s go. I love– MARISHA: Yeah, let’s go, girl. TRAVIS: All right. MARISHA: Yeah. TRAVIS: We go to the fish market. MATT: You do. You get some nice fish. It’s very good here in Nicodranas, the coastal city. They pride themselves. The fishermen here do a fine job. It is fresh, it is well prepared– MARISHA: Great lobster taco. ASHLEY: I like shellfish a lot. But it’s really like hard to crack. I’m talking about shellfish! MARISHA: Uh huh. Fjord, do you have a favorite fish dish? TRAVIS: Oh, am I here? I just checked the fuck out, like deep stare. Deep stare. MARISHA: Will you pass me the butter? Thank you. TRAVIS: Well. Best turn in. ASHLEY: Yeah, I guess it’s time. I really wonder what they’re going to come back with for our clothes. Hopefully it’s nothing colorful for me. MARISHA: I wouldn’t put that out into the universe. ASHLEY: Yeah. TRAVIS: You don’t like bright colors? ASHLEY: I just like to wear simple– I don’t know, nothing flashy. MARISHA: You like flowers. So you like color. ASHLEY: But those are beautiful. MARISHA: I mean, you are too. TRAVIS: Oh, jesus. MARISHA: You’re gorgeous too, Fjord. ASHLEY: Fjord, you’re great. You’re both very beautiful. You’re both very beautiful, very gorgeous. Beau, you’re so beautiful. MARISHA: Mm-hmm. TRAVIS: Did they put alcohol in your fish? Shall we head back now? ASHLEY: Yeah, we can head back, we can head back. MARISHA: Yeah, it’s late. MATT: After a raucous night at the fish market, you return to find your rooms prepared at the Lavish Chateau. LIAM: Is this the year we reclaim our dignity? MARISHA: Never. MATT: There’s never going to be a year. So as you all gather for the night, your orders are in, the clothing of your preferred request and acquisitions will be ready tomorrow mid-day in time for the party. SAM: Let’s go to the party! MATT: All right. TRAVIS: It’s tomorrow. SAM: Yeah, fast forward to that. TRAVIS: Okay. MATT: All right. You rest for the evening, comfortably for the first time in a while, not in the open– (Sam starts rocking again) Jesus christ. I regret everything. Okay. LIAM: Get it, Doctor Zaius. SAM: It’s the Forbidden Zone! MATT: The next day, it looks like more and more of the armada in the harbor is getting prepared. The days are growing quickly to the exit from Nicodranas to the east, to meet towards this negotiation. After you have a fine morning meal, and the day is yours. Jester and Caduceus return with outfits prepared for the night’s events. If you’d like to let them know, and show off what you’ve purchased. LAURA: Yes. We pull out for Caleb a long, black fitted coat that goes almost to the floor, à la Snape, I think that kind of a look, with silver embroidery on it, but it’s lined with a red and gold damask. A silky lining. LIAM: You have done well. I will fit in. LAURA: You look really nice, Caleb. LIAM: Thank you, both of you. LAURA: For Beau, we got her a very tailored, fitted men’s suit. MARISHA: I’m listening. LAURA: In slate gray, and cobalt blue ascot. MARISHA: I just give them both a big hug. LAURA: Oh, and fitted boots that go up to the knee. Yeah, it’s going to look fucking sick. For Fjord– MATT: I’m going to have to buy her this for Christmas now, you realize. TRAVIS: There’s a physical reaction happening over here. MARISHA: I’m so happy. LAURA: For Fjord– TRAVIS: Yes. LAURA: We got you, number one, some fitted pants to look very nice on your butt. And then we got you a navy suit coat, very captain-esque, with leather trim on it, double-breasted, square shoulders to show off your frame. TALIESIN: Very nice boots. LAURA: Very nice shiny black boots. Super super shiny. TRAVIS: Thank you. TALIESIN: Biggest pirate hat they could make. MATT: This hat puts Avantika to shame. LAURA: You don’t have to wear it, Fjord. It was more just for fun. TRAVIS: I wear it with fucking pride. LIAM: Do us a favor and walk through that doorway. Can you make it through that doorway with that hat on? TRAVIS: Oh, shit. LAURA: Just tilt your head. Tilt your head. LIAM: Just be careful of any strong gust of wind and you’ll be fine. TRAVIS: Right. LAURA: For Yasha, we got you a beautiful long black velvet fitted evening dress. ASHLEY: Ooh. TALIESIN: Sharp silver lining that runs the whole... LAURA: The cut goes across your chest like this, so your shoulders are out, and it’s got long sleeves that open up. ASHLEY: It’s my favorite color, too. Thank you for that. LAURA: For Veth– SAM: Hello. LAURA: We got you a yellow evening gown– SAM: Wonderful. LAURA: Almost with a princess cut, double breasted, and it’s got silver buttons. SAM: Ohh, that’s so nice! LAURA: Lots of buttons. TALIESIN: Extra buttons. SAM: Thank you. I love it. LAURA: Caduceus? TALIESIN: I’ve got a mint green frock coat, with nice pants and boots and a nice little vest. I feel pretty– LAURA: You look very nice. TALIESIN: Thank you. LAURA: I got a long pink evening gown, that’s very fitted through the bodice and then it flares out in very floaty chiffon all the way to the ground. MATT: It looks like the Mighty Nein’s ready for a formal occasion. All rightie. Is there anything else you guys wish to accomplish? Or do you want to move on to the evening’s party. TRAVIS: Let’s do it. LAURA: Let’s do it. MATT: All rightie. You guys make your way to the Marquis Demesne. So here, in the Opal Archways, not too far from the Lavish Chateau, you come upon the gated estate– LAURA: Wait, wait, wait. MATT: Oh, oh, oh. LAURA: What’s Mama wearing? MATT: Oh. Good call. She has a number of dresses at her disposal. LAURA: [JENGA] MATT: She picks out one to contrast but also mirror the design that you had purchased and brought along, except for it’s in a deep purple velvet, and where yours flares out in chiffon, hers hugs her legs like an upside down wineglass. Kind of Jessica Rabbit-esque, I guess you could say, with the arm gloves there, beautiful jewelry right around the neck and shoulder area– I’m not as great at explaining dresswear– LAURA: No, that’s fabulous, that’s beautiful– MATT: –as you are, but– LAURA: She looks really nice. MATT: She looks amazing. You guys help her as she takes your hand and you help her pass the threshold of the Chateau, and you step into the cold night air of Nicodranas, and with each few steps, she takes a deep breath, another deep breath, until eventually you find yourselves outside of the Marquis Demesne LAURA: I’m holding her hand very tight. MATT: She is holding your hand very tight, too. You see what is essentially a small palace, draped in white silks with candlelit lanterns that hang from all around the premises, numerous somewhat gaudy fountains that sit in the entryway, which is arched like the Opal Archway, but almost in a competitive sense with more color and detailed decoration. As you guys are brought to the front, the guards there at the event seem to be expecting you, as upon your arrival they don’t question, they just step aside and open the gate for you to enter. You can already see there’s probably about three dozen or so figures that are all lounging in the main courtyard area. There are servants coming around with drinks, there are food plates set out on small tables that are being lifted around, there’s gentle music playing in the air, sourceless at the moment, but as you begin to walk in, a number of figures, many of which you do not recognize, glance over and take a look. A few of them seem caught off guard and wondering who you are. A handful see Marion and are surprised and delighted, and a handful of individuals are like, “Marion Lavorre! I had no idea you were going to be here tonight! This is incredible! Did you hear the Ruby of the Sea’s going to be performing tonight.” The whispers start going out throughout the chamber. Making your way partway in, you can see there as part of the event, you see Lord Dezran Thain not too far from the Martinet Ludinus himself. You can see there is a stout, kind of gravelly looking dwarf with a shock of grey hair, like almost silver hair, he has ruddy skin. He looks like he’s dressed really well and he just hates the party there. And he’s just not talking to anybody. You can see as part of that arrangement there– let me get some of my notes out of the way cause they get in my way very easily– You see Lord Athesius Uludan as well, who in the middle of a conversation sees you and makes an acknowledgment that you’re here, but is finishing his current conversation. The party is yours to peruse. It mostly seems conversation-based. There’s no real events happening at the moment. And in a short time Marion excuses herself, saying, “Pardon me, I need to go and prepare for my performance. Thank you.” Gives a wink to Jester and is led into the main building itself, the palace, which the main courtyard itself immerses itself part way into the building and there is this beautiful glass ceiling above everybody where you can see the stars and where more of these lanterns hang and the silks cross over each other in this intentionally unbalanced way that seems very artistic and avant garde. Some conversations are kept quiet muttering, some of them you can hear loosely are about who the hell these strange figures are that entered the party. Some other folks actually pick up and are like, “Are these those Mighty Nein individuals. I’ve heard the description of them. They did something in Rexxentrum recently. Word’s gotten around.” You do see greeting, with a kiss on the hand to Marion as she wanders by, being escorted by the servants on the premises to get ready, Lord Robert Sharpe with his thin creepy mustache, his receding hairline, this man in his late 50's who looks like he’s desperately trying to cling to an element of his youth, and in doing so ends up looking far older than he would if he just embraced it. Well-dressed, kisses Marion’s hand and as she walks by, turns toward your troupe. Kind of gives a glance over– LAURA: I hide behind Fjord. I hide behind Fjord. MATT: Roll a stealth check for me. LAURA: Okay. Okay. 14. MATT: Okay, you hide behind Fjord as best as you think so. Lord Sharpe seems to glance over the group and notices Yasha, and walks over, and as he approaches– LAURA: Fuck. MATT: “My apologies. It seems we have not been introduced. I am Robert Sharpe, one of the many figureheads here of what business goes about successfully within Nicodranas. You look like you are not from around here. What is your name, you gorgeous creature?” And he puts his hand out. ASHLEY: Oh, my name is Yasha. MATT: “Well, the pleasure is mine.” He takes your hand and pulls it in abruptly, and does a full-on kiss. “Where do you hail from, Yasha?” ASHLEY: I hail from Xhorhas. (He laughs) Where are you from? MATT: “I’ve been here my entire life. But no, seriously, where are you from?” He is ignoring all of you. The rest of the group does not exist. Kind of a benefit to you at the moment, Jester. LAURA: Yep. ASHLEY: I look over at Jester. LAURA: Don’t look at me! MATT: You don’t know where Jester is. MARISHA: Yasha! (Mimes stabbing herself, strangling herself, while Caleb is miming “Not so much”. She mimes stabbing someone else repeatedly, then clubbing him over the head) MATT: “I’m sorry, are you shy?” ASHLEY: Uh... yes. MATT: “You don’t have to.” (Caleb is miming “bring it down a bit”) ASHLEY: Oh, well, I think my friends are... getting smaller? That’s not what I meant to say. They’re over there and I think I need to go over to there... MATT: “Well, let me escort you.” And he scoops his arm into yours. LAURA: That’s it. I step out from behind Fjord. MATT: Okay. LAURA: Leave her alone, creep! MATT: Pulls his hand out from your arm and goes, “Interesting.” LAURA: Yup. I’m here. What are you going to do about it? MATT: “You’ll find out soon enough.” And he walks away. LAURA: I cast Charm Person. MATT: I think a six is a failure, so... He walks away and kind of like, “I am terribly sorry. That was rude of me.” LAURA: No, it’s fine, it’s fine. MATT: “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot a long time ago.” LAURA: We did, we really did. And you know what you should do, is just apologize to everyone you’ve ever met. MATT: “You are a funny one, still, to this day. Would you like a drink?” LAURA: Nope. MATT: “Anything else I could get you?” LAURA: No, you know what you could do, though? MATT: “Hmm?” LAURA: I left my gloves— I’ve got no gloves on– I left my gloves out on the balcony. I was wondering if you could go fetch them for me. MATT: “What? Upstairs?” LAURA: Yes. MATT: “Which balcony? There are several.” LAURA: You see that one over there? MATT: “That one.” LAURA: I was– I was standing outside earlier and I left them there. It would mean so much if you could get them for me. MATT: “I am a fan of burying such hatchets. I'll be back.” LAURA: Okay. MATT: “Could I get you anything?” ASHLEY: Uh, you could just go away. MATT: And he exits to go search for your gloves. SAM: What’s the play here, Jester? Are we going to go up there on the balcony and kill him? LAURA: No, I’m going to watch when he goes up there... MARISHA: Uh huh. MATT: It takes about six or seven minutes or so, but eventually you see him wander out onto the balcony after opening the sliding door that leads out. LAURA: I go up there really fast and I shut the door and I lock it. MATT: You back away just in time as you see the door kind of slides over and latches. He kind of (trying the door) “Oh, no.” SAM: I’ll come up next to her and say, “Let me jimmy the lock.” LAURA: No, no, no– SAM: And I’ll stick the dagger in. MATT: Could you please explain what the dagger does for those who aren’t aware? SAM: The Dagger of Denial. I can place the point of the blade into any keyhole and seal it shut. A keyhole sealed in this way cannot be unlocked until the dagger is placed into the keyhole once more. It’s locked forever. MATT: Or until you use the dagger again. But you feel the (thud). “Just enjoying some air, don’t worry!” LAURA: He’s going to be SO pissed, you guys. So pissed. ASHLEY: I’m never wearing this dress again. LAURA: No, you look really good, Yasha. ASHLEY: I’ve never had that happen to me before and that was– uhn. MARISHA: I give her [JENGA] LAURA: Next time it happens feel free to just punch the guy. SAM: Yeah. LAURA: Punch him. ASHLEY: So if a guy comes up to you and says nice things– LAURA: No, if he compliments you, it’s fine, but if he’s smarmy about it and if he’s grabbing you, fuck it, punch him. ASHLEY: Yeah. TALIESIN: I don’t think the dress enters into it really. LAURA: Yeah. There’s no excuse. TALIESIN: I’m very proud of this right now. ASHLEY: No, it's beautiful. It's great. It's great. MARISHA: We could still kill him. I'm kind of with Yahsha's idea here. TRAVIS: I think we have more pressing concerns. SAM: That’s right. What’s our play here? TALIESIN: Weird aside, by the way. Did I have time yesterday to just go buy like 20 to 50 GP worth of magic stuff to cast spells? MATT: Components? TALIESIN: Components. MATT: Sure, if you want to. TALIESIN: Cool. Thank you. MARISHA: We’ve got to find– TRAVIS: Dezran Thain. LAURA: Oh, do we see him? MATT: Yes, you’ve seen him at the party, as well as Athesius, as well as Marinet Ludinus. They are present– LIAM: Are there any Vollstrecker here? MATT: You do not notice any Vollstrecker. You do not notice Trent Ikithon. You do see the emissary Lord Zeddan Graf, who is a member of the Dwendalian Empire and acts as an emissary similar to what Athesius does for the Cerberus Assembly, Zeddan Graf does for the Dwendalian Empire. So there are two different social representatives here. But Athesius Uludan is the one who is related to the person who’s running this party and owns this place, which is... MARISHA: The Marquis? MATT: Yeah, the Marquis of Nicodranas. MARISHA: Do we see him? MATT: You do, yeah. The Marquis is currently holding court amongst a number of other nobles as more people filter in and he goes to greet them as they enter, eventually noticing your group and as he approaches, you can see he’s a stout but strong-looking man, probably in his mid-fifties, dark hair that is greased back on top and then falls down to almost his mid-back below, and he wears this soft white cloth hat on top that raises up to a point with a beautiful gem emblazoned on the front of it. He has a mustache that is kept– almost becomes a full Stonewall type mustache, but it’s carved in the center there, so it’s just this really awful floppy mustache. But as he approaches and extends his hand to you all. “Well, I do not know these people necessarily before me, but I have been told of your arrival as friends of the Assembly. Which makes you friends of the Marquis. So. Who are you?” TRAVIS: It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are known as the Mighty Nein. MATT: “Well, Mighty Nein, enjoy of the delights we have placed before you. Have a wonderful night. Do not break anything.” LAURA: Never. TALIESIN: Probably not. MATT: “Thank you.” And he goes and immediately shrugs you off. He’s lost his interest in a conversation with you almost as fast as you’ve made your introductions. MARISHA: Any interesting pairings? Anyone having hushed side conversations? Any weird looks? MATT: You do notice within a short time that Lord Dezran Thain notices your arrival, and about maybe 20 or so, 40 or so minutes into your stay you notice him keeping entirely on the opposite side of the party to you guys. Every time you shift somewhere, he shifts to keep elsewhere. There is definitely an intentional dance to avoid you all. LAURA: Lord Thain! TALIESIN: That’s one way to do it. LAURA: Hi! (He waves back) Good to see you again! Come here! Come on, come on, come on. MATT: He gets a drink off one of the platters. SAM: Jester, Jester, maybe we should play it a little cooler, all right? Maybe when your mom is performing, we can go over and Zone of Truth him. Or Charm him. Or do one of your tricks. You have lots of great tricks. LAURA: Yeah, I could do that. TALIESIN: Oh... LAURA: Sure. SAM: I mean, otherwise, are we just going to eavesdrop? MARISHA: Yes. SAM: Okay. MARISHA: Yeah, I’m real fucking good at it, actually. SAM: Do you want me to go invisible? Do you want me to sneak around and listen to some convos? LAURA: Ooh, that’s smart. MARISHA: I think we should all split up and mingle, is what I think we should do. LAURA: Ooh, good idea. SAM: Let’s do it. TALIESIN: Beau? When you’re ready, I can do a pretty neat trick, but it’ll only last an hour, so I want to save it. SAM: What does it do? MARISHA: How will I know when I’m ready? TALIESIN: I don’t know, but– MARISHA: That’s– no. What is it? TALIESIN: How would you like an hour of being your best self? SAM: That sounds like meth. TRAVIS: That seems like... TALIESIN: So– MARISHA: I don’t know if I’m ready to see that much of me. TALIESIN: Just come with me to a balcony– not that balcony, one of the other– not that one. MARISHA: You realize this is how– you sound like the last thing people hear sometimes. TALIESIN: We often are the last thing people hear sometimes. That’s– I think that’s kind of what we sound like. MARISHA: That’s fair. Okay, yeah. TRAVIS: If we’re going to split up and mingle, just because we don’t seem to know much about these people, can I cast Divine Sense and see if there are any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of this room. MATT: Okay, yeah. You focus and close your eyes and feel the light fade from your vision, as your intent expands out around you. No. Nobody of that essence catches your attention. Which is comforting. Did you guys scatter a bit? LAURA: Yes. MARISHA: I go with Caduceus. TALIESIN: You’ll like it. SAM: I’m going to go find a little vestibule and go invisible. MATT: Okay. SAM: And then wander close around to where Thain is. Just sort of see if I can pick up some convos. MATT: Okay. LAURA: I’m going to cast Enhance Ability on myself and cast Owl’s Wisdom to increase me perception. MATT: All rightie. You go ahead and take Beau around one of the nooks of this interior courtyard, to where most anybody would be able to see, TALIESIN: I cast Tongues. LAURA: And just make out with her. TALIESIN: Yeah, no, it’s not that kind of– And then-- MARISHA: I see what you mean by my best self now. Yeah. Yeah. You’re fucking insightful, Caduceus. TALIESIN: I take this little mushroom ball out of my stash, and I squeeze just a little bit of juice from it, and I flick it into your eyes. MARISHA: Aaa! Ow! TALIESIN: And I cast True Seeing. So for the next hour, you can understand every language. If you speak, you’re also understood, so be careful. Also, for an hour, you have True Sight, you can see secret doors that are hidden by magic and you can see into the Ethereal Plane for up to 120 feet. MATT: So Beauregard, he flicks it in your eyes, you go Ow! And as you open them there is a sea of strange purplish-blue color around you. You see– MARISHA: Aaaa! SAM: Yep, it’s meth. It’s meth. MATT: Odd shapes of a few smattering sky-floating ethereal creatures, like elongated ghost fish– MARISHA: [JENGA] TALIESIN: I cast Calm Emotions. You’re cool. MARISHA: Yeah. Let’s do this. TALIESIN: Get out there and do your thing. MARISHA: All right. MATT: Oh, wow. All right. So the party is your oyster. The main individuals talking about you, can see, 1) you can Lord Dezran Thain-- very clearly Essek. The illusion is bypassed entirely. MARISHA: I have a hard time not staring at him in a weird way. MATT: Fair enough. MARISHA: And then I try to break. MATT: You do glance over and see about four of the individuals here are using glamour illusion magic to make themselves look about 30 pounds lighter, and their clothing much shinier, and much more expensive-looking. MARISHA: I immediately point all of them out to Jester. LAURA: Really!?’ MARISHA: Yeah. LAURA: What?! MARISHA: Shhh. MATT: You see one figure that’s in the middle of a conversation that the illusion that’s put over them is that of a very debonair-looking Dwendalian noble individual, but it is an illusion, and behind that you see instead a black-scaled dragonborn with a long tail. MARISHA: Xhorhasian? MATT: Make a history check. The clothing is actually what they’re wearing but the form is different. MARISHA: (holds up one finger) I’m too high. MATT: Apparently. But yeah, it’s unique. Looking at this event, there is a lot of falsehoods being presented– MARISHA: I point out the dragonborn disguised to Fjord. Dragonborn, not Dwendalian. TRAVIS: Okay. LAURA: What’s his tail doing? What’s his tail doing? MARISHA: What’s his tail doing? LAURA: How are people not tripping on it? MARISHA: Does he have a tail? MATT: He does, and it’s like curled around one side to not cause that problem. MARISHA: He’s tucking. TALIESIN: That’s everything I wanted. MATT: But yeah, you get the sense– MARISHA: What else? Secret doors? Secret passages? MATT: In this immediate courtyard, you don’t see any secret doors or secret passages, no. MARISHA: Inside? MATT: Do you want to go explore the house? MARISHA: Yeah. TALIESIN: You’ve got an hour. LAURA: What? MARISHA: Can I get inside? TRAVIS: Oh, god. MATT: You can certainly try. LAURA; Wait, Beau, we’re not here to explore– TRAVIS: Stick to the plan! LAURA: Stick to the plan. MARISHA: Okay. TALIESIN: Next time. MARISHA: Twenty more minutes. TRAVIS: Are there a lot of people in military garb? Anyone that might be denoted as a captain maybe of the Blue Heaven, per se? MATT: Actually you do see, talking to the intense-looking dwarf that was unhappy there, another dwarf is talking to him, who is dressed in a very familiar captain attire of the Empire. TRAVIS: Oh, shit. Can I make my way over to that dwarf? MATT: Sure. As you approach you can see it’s a male dwarf, kind of salt and pepper hair, it’s smooth on top, kind of a smooth beard that comes to a little golden ring at the bottom that has a little tuft at the end of it. He has a number of decorations on the front of his lapel. It’s buttoned over and they’re both sitting there next to each other. You can see the one with the silver hair that’s really, really grumpy is slamming wine flute after wine flute and is starting to get rowdy, and the other one’s like, “Hold it back, hold it back, don’t worry, don’t worry.” TRAVIS: The captain-looking fellow, does he have a huge hat as well? MATT: No. TRAVIS: Fuck. Captain Deremi, I presume. (In this conversation, I think both dwarves participate, but I couldn’t tell them apart) MATT: “And who’s asking?” TRAVIS: Oh, Captain Tusktooth. MATT: “That’s a fine hat you got there, Captain Tusktooth” TRAVIS: Yes, where is yours? MATT: “I left it with my mum when I was fourteen.” The other dwarf goes like, “Oh, don’t bother [JENGA] he’s fine. It’s a nice hat. I like it,” TRAVIS: Thank you. It was a gift. I’ve just been admiring the Blue Heaven out in the docks. Absolutely magnificent vessel. MATT: “Why thank you.” TRAVIS: I’m sure you’ve seen our truly impressive ship out there as well, the Balleater. I’m sure you’ve noticed it. MATT: “I can’t say I have. A curious name nonetheless.” TRAVIS: Oh. Well– MATT: “(chuckling) Balleater. [JENGA} actually. That’s unique. To name your ship something funny, asshole.” TRAVIS: Yes, it’s funny. I was just wondering if you expected any resistance or challenges as you make your way out in a few days. MATT: “I certainly hope not. We’ve come prepared. The cannons are ready and loaded. We’ve got numerous ships at our sides. The waters are ours, so woe be unto those who try and step in front.” TRAVIS: That’s very impressive. Is your duty to safeguard the item, or are you just providing firepower? MATT: Make a persuasion check. TRAVIS: Fourteen. LAURA: That’s not bad, that’s not bad. MATT: One eye kind of twitches a little bit. He goes, “That’s a curious question.” TRAVIS: I’m sorry to speak so frankly. It’s just we’ve been tasked with a very important responsibility ourselves, and I was just curious where we should turn in times of unexpected peril. MATT: “Just stay behind the gunships, and I think you’ll be okay. We’re bringing along important individuals.” TRAVIS: I see. MATT: “Those are helming the negotiation.” TRAVIS: Ah, very well. Well, if we can be of any service before we disembark, please, don’t hesitate to ask. I know our vessel is unassuming, but we’re quite capable.” MATT: “I appreciate the offer. Should things turn sour, we’ll gladly send up the flag to summon the Balleater.” (Snickers) TRAVIS: The Balleater is at your disposal, sir. MATT: “Then I’m guessing we’d best be getting hungry.” “Shut up, you’re such an asshole! Don’t worry about it. He’s a fuckin’ prat.” TRAVIS: Oh, he’s earned it. His reputation is sterling. I’ll take my leave now. Thank you. (Takes off hat) Shit! MATT: “No wonder you don’t have any friends!” And they argue a bit as you move away. TRAVIS: I just hold my hat for the rest of the party. MATT: (sympathetically) Ohh. LIAM: Is the Martinet floating about? MATT: Yes. LIAM: I am going to go over and chat him up. MATT: All right. As you approach. “Ah, Mr Widogast. Good to see you.” LIAM: Good evening. Good evening. MATT: “The performance should be beginning shortly.” LIAM: Well, I’ll be brief. We are about the embark on quite an historic undertaking. MATT: “Right.” LIAM: I am wondering,. We are within reach of a possible end to this conflict. Cheers. MATT: “Cheers to that.” LIAM: It will be good to finish this war. MATT: “Indeed it will be.” LIAM: I commend you on seeing the reason in cooperation and negotiation. MATT: “I believe it is important to stem the tide of lives lost and to instead focus on the livelihood of those within the Empire, and for us to pursue more important things than base conflict and disagreements.” LIAM: I couldn’t agree more. The Empire. We all love the Empire. MATT: “To an extent.” And he gives you a keen look. LIAM: How much have you spoke to my master about me, I wonder? MATT: “I assume you’re referring to Master Ikithon?” LIAM: Of course. MATT: “Well, a little bit. He briefed me on your history, and I must say, it is rather impressive to see someone who has gone through, escaped, and chopped the chains of the Vollstrecker, and returned as you have with your friends.” LIAM: Well, I am a disappointment to my teacher, I am sure, as well as many of my peers. MATT: “Your teacher is a disappointment to many others. He has his uses, but... people are complicated, are they not?” LIAM: That they are. How much do you know about his teaching methods I wonder? MATT: “Quite a bit. He put forth his desires, and they were approved by the Assembly when they first began developing the program for the Vollstrecker, though the extent of these things were not entirely part of the initial presentation. I understand that sometimes desperate requirements might call for unsavory methods.” LIAM: You are fully aware of these methods now, is that what you are telling me? MATT: “I believe so.” LIAM: The program goes on. MATT: “The program has changed many times.” LIAM: Are you alone on the ship? Trent is not accompanying, nor his proteges? MATT: “No. He thankfully has no interest in such political endeavors, and he would be...” He looks around the party. “Let’s just say a terrible guest, in the social environment.” LIAM: I don’t think he would agree with me, but I am a patriot, sir, for this country, and I dearly hope for a true end to this conflict. MATT: “Well, you’re on the right path.” LIAM: Do you think we could say goodbye to this hardship in the next weeks? MATT: “I think we can.” LIAM: Insight check. MATT: Make an insight check. LIAM: Nn-nnn. Twelve. MATT: He is a stoic individual and chooses his words carefully, eloquently, and in doing so, manages to maintain a barrier that you cannot read past. Nothing about it seems insincere, but, who knows? You’ve been around people like this before. LIAM: My father and mother died for this country. Ours. Many have. Many more will. I hope your intentions are true. That’s very much why my friends and I are here. MATT: “Well, then. Best of luck in the travel ahead.” LIAM: I am looking forward to the journey together. Enjoy the party. MATT: “You as well.” While this is happening, you are under the table. Dezran is saying nothing. Dezran is backed up against the table you’re hiding under, invisible, and is barely even drinking the drink he has and is just looking about, nervously. LAURA: I’m going to go up to Dezran. MATT: “Ah. You are one of the...” LAURA: Mighty Nein. I met you yesterday! MATT: “Mighty Nein, yes, introduced yesterday--” LAURA: You’re a lord here? MATT: “What, what, what?” LAURA: You’re a lord here in town? MATT: “Yes, I am.” LAURA: Where do you live? MATT: “Around.” LAURA: Around here? MATT: “Yes.” LAURA: The Marquis? MATT: “Well, not the Marquis specifically, but I... I move, after I travel. It gets boring. I am so sorry. I’m not feeling well. I should probably get going.” LAURA: Oh, do you have stomach issues? MATT: “Oh, terribly, yes.” LAURA: Oh, no. But you can’t leave. MATT: “Ah, but I must.” LAURA: But my mama’s about to perform. Have you ever been to the Lavish Chateau? MATT: “No.” LAURA: She is one of the most famous performers ever. You know, I can help heal you if you have stomach issues. I’m a cleric. That way you don’t have to go anywhere, you know? MATT: “I will happily stay for the performance.” LAURA: Oh, wonderful. I link my arm in his. Does it feel like his clothes feel different than what I’m touching? MATT: It’s hard to tell. It’s material. You know. It’s not so much he’s wearing a whole different dimension of an outfit. It’s just the coloration is mostly different and what dimensions would be slightly different don’t really show through the illusion. It’s meant to be close to what he’s actually presenting. LAURA: Okay. I think she’s performing over here. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you live here and you’ve never come to see her. She’s amazing. MATT: “I am what you would refer to as an introvert.” LAURA: She is, too. It’s surprising, I know, because she’s so outgoing and everything, but she likes to stay at home. Do you? MATT: “...Yes.” And begins to drink the wine. At which point, as you’re following, listening in, there is an announcement. Everyone gives a round of claps, and the music begins as some of the performers, their violins begin to kick in, and Marion descends the curved stairway that spirals around the interior– SAM: As she approaches and focus is pulled, I’m going to very subtly and stealthily drop a vial of liquid into Essek’s drink. Many months ago we recovered a vial of paralysis from a monster. I don’t remember what the monster was, but we got some paralyzing stuff. MATT: Make a sleight of hand check with advantage. SAM: 30. MATT: All this shit coming back to bite me in the ass. All right. Okay. Marion’s voice begins to carry beautifully throughout the night air, singing entirely a song in Zemnian. Although she doesn’t know the language, she has learned this song as a way to present and bring in all the different dignitaries of the Dwendalian Empire that are here visiting before they set out to sea. It is gorgeous. And you’ve seen her perform a number of times. Each time is a fresh, entrancing experience. As her voice seems to carry with this clarity and this sense of almost magical melody behind it, that you know why she has once again established herself as one of the foremost performers in the Menagerie Coast. The people are entranced and watching. Essek drinks of his drink. LAURA: Lord Thain, do you speak Zemnian? MATT: “I do not myself, as I have not visited the Empire.” LAURA: Wait, what? You’ve never been to the Empire? MATT: “No.” LAURA: But we always travel to the Empire. I mean, it’s so common. MATT: “I don’t go out very often.” LAURA: Oh, right. MATT: What’s the DC on it? SAM: Oh, boy, I didn’t write that down. MATT: Okay, we’ll say... SAM: I forget what monster it was. MATT: We’ll say it’s a 12 constitution save. SAM: Great. LAURA: What did you roll? MATT: That’s a six. LAURA: You really should get out more. I mean, I know it’s hard a lot of times... MATT: “Mmm” LAURA: Lord Thain? Are you okay? MATT: “Uuu” LAURA: What’s going on? Lord Thain? Is it your stomach? Did I see Nott– MATT: No, no, Nott’s invisible and rolled a 30. Nobody could have seen Nott! Beyond the eyes of the gods behind the Divine Gate. They’re watching now, going, “Oh, shit. How’d that happen?” LAURA: Oh, god, are you okay? ASHLEY: I’m going to float near there just to keep an eye on Jester. LAURA: I’m going to rub his belly. Is it your stomach? Is it your stomach? MATT: Other people are kind of looking over. LAURA: I mean, I’m going to keep it down. I’m going to– Pay attention to the song, she’s performing! Stop looking at me. I’m going to try to pull him out of the room. MATT: Okay. Weirdly enough, he just kind of glides. It’s like when you’re playing an MMO, and suddenly you get a lag spike and your character just kind of moves across the floor. TALIESIN: I’m going to trail them. ASHLEY: Yeah, I’m going to trail as well. MATT: All right. The music is being louder and people are enthralled, and as you guys are keeping an eye on this, you can see Jester slowly dragging a very mannequin-still Dezran. LAURA: I don’t know what happened! ASHLEY: What’s going on? LIAM: I’m going to follow out. MARISHA: I’m staying in. SAM: I’m going to go with Jester behind her. MATT: Okay. Who else is going with Jester? All right, so everybody but you two stay behind. TRAVIS: Fuck yeah. MATT: All rightie. LIAM: What are we doing here? This is not exactly the plan that we talked about. LAURA: I don’t know, I don’t know. LIAM: What did you do to him? LAURA: I didn’t do anything, I was just talking to him. SAM: Hi, hi. LAURA: Oh, hi. LIAM: Ah hah. SAM: He can hear us– LAURA: I know, it’s just Lord Thain all of a sudden turned– ASHLEY: Are you okay? MATT: (Makes a noise like the rusty Tin Man) TALIESIN: That’s very weird. SAM: This gentleman has had some sort of a seizure of some sort. ASHLEY and LAURA: Oh. LAURA: Should I cast like Greater Restoration on him? SAM: Well, maybe. But let's try some other things first. MATT: As you guys are dragging him out of the party, his body-- LIAM: Why is he floating? MATT: The muscles now come loose once more as the paralysis-- LAURA: Are you okay? Oh my gosh. You had me so worried. MATT: "I have to go." Just kind of pulls his arm out. ASHLEY: Hold on a minute. LIAM: I don't think so. Click, I put the Manacles of Stasis FROM 2x30 on his wrists. 6th level. MATT: Go ahead and make an athletics check for me, if you don't mind. SAM: Oh, boy. LIAM: This should go well. 15? MATT: It's a natural five. (sighs) They clack onto his wrists and immediately, "What are you doing? What are you doing?" LIAM: Do I need to roll to see if he falls asleep? LAURA: He falls asleep? LIAM: That's what the Manacles of Stasis from back in Lorenzo's basement do. LAURA: They make you fall-- MATT: Oh, these aren't the-- LIAM: Manacles of Stasis. MATT: That's right. LIAM Sixth level, which means 15d8 against his HP. MATT: So yes you do. You have to roll? 15d8. LIAM: Okay. TALIESIN: What is happening? MATT: I have to go look up his HP now. Hold on a second. TRAVIS: What happened-- what happened to just messaging Essek and fucking prank calling him? MATT: Welcome to the Mighty Nein, Travis! LAURA: I was just talking to him! I didn't do anything! TRAVIS: Something happened in that bedroom, didn't it, Veth? Something became unhinged. SAM: Everything feels different. TRAVIS: That's a lot of numbers. LIAM: That's it. That's 73. ASHLEY: Jeepers. MATT: That's not enough. TRAVIS: Okay. MATT: Sorry. SAM: Do they still hold his wrists? MATT: Yeah, the manacles clap onto his wrists and you watch him almost stumble for a second, the eyes kind of lulling before he rights himself. LAURA: Caleb, what are you doing? LIAM: What are you doing? LAURA: What are you talking about? I was just talking to Lord Thain here. MATT: He vanishes from the handcuffs and appears 30 feet away on the outside of the gate of the establishment. TALIESIN: 30 feet away? MATT: Yes. TALIESIN: I'm just going to say "Stop." I'm going to try Command. LAURA: Stop, stop. SAM: Oh, my god. It's a party now. MATT: You say-- Guards are there and as you say, "Stop, stop," they turn towards you as you shout and point. TALIESIN: Stop. MATT: All right. Wisdom saving throw. TALIESIN: 17. MATT: 15. TALIESIN: Cool. SAM: So it worked? TALIESIN: Yeah. LAURA: It worked. TALIESIN: So it doesn't work for a long time. MATT: No, it will last for a round. So when it comes back to his next turn, he's just going to not do anything. TALIESIN: Yeah. So I'm going to head on over there. MATT: All right. The guards look confused. Are you guys following Caduceus? ASHLEY: Sure. LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. TALIESIN: It's fine. We just have to finish a conversation. LIAM: Sorry, out friend's had too much to drink. TALIESIN: Just having a quick conversation. MATT: All right. Make a deception check. SAM: Oh, Jesus.. TALIESIN: I mean, I'm not-- MATT: Make a deception check. LIAM: 16 for me. LAURA: All the while my mother is singing. TALIESIN: 20. I'm not lying. MATT: It's less about the lying and more the intent of what's going on, trying to keep it from sounding like there's conflict going on, which you seem to do as the guards just kind of nod and open the gate for you as you step by. As Lord Dezran's just standing there going-- TALIESIN: You really do want to talk to us. I think it's very important. You do. LIAM: A lot at stake here. TALIESIN: A lot. MATT: Fine, then show me where. TALIESIN: Let's find a place to talk that's quiet. MATT: While this is happening, what are you two doing? TRAVIS: Watching the Ruby of the Sea. Incredible. MARISHA: She's so good, dude. TRAVIS: I'm telling you. MARISHA: God. Fuck. TRAVIS: Just the sheer strength to hold that position that long. MARISHA: And how long did it take her to do her makeup? TRAVIS: I don't know. MATT: What's wild, too, is her voice is so powerful that it's having an effect on those strange ethereal fish creatures as they're now circling her in this beautiful kind of Ariel from The Little Mermaid type dance, but only you can see it. MARISHA: You don't understand, man. She's like one with the sea. When they say she's the Ruby of the Sea, they were like fucking literal. MATT: It's very from beyond right now. MARISHA: Wait, wait, wait. My horniness is so distracting. The dragonborn, the dragonborn. TRAVIS: Oh yes. MARISHA: Dwendalian guy. TRAVIS: Where is he? MARISHA: He's got to be a mole, right? TRAVIS: I don't know. Maybe we should check it out, press him for answers. Should we act like we're part of a security detail? MARISHA: Yeah, I think it's like, man, this job's fucking... you gotta like be sober while everyone else is drunk. Like, sucks man. Right? TRAVIS: Are you okay? MARISHA: I don't know what Caduceus did to me, dude. Caduceus like took me in an alleyway and then told me that he was going to make me my best self. TALIESIN: I assumed you could hold your shit. I'm so sorry. Amateur. TRAVIS: I mean I just want to talk to this fellow. You think you can manage? MARISHA: Yeah, I can manage. TRAVIS: Maybe I'll do the talking? MARISHA: Yeah. I'll be your first mate, I'll be like your yes man. I'll just hype you. You know? TRAVIS: We'll make our way over to the gentleman-- MARISHA: I can just like see if he's like not pure of heart and if he's not connected, so I'll just be there as like a bullshit meter. You know? TRAVIS: Maybe you should stay here. MARISHA: No. TRAVIS: All right, let's go. MARISHA: You need me? TRAVIS: All right. MARISHA: Let's go. MATT: Okay. TRAVIS: We find the person-- MARISHA: Yeah, he's over there. TRAVIS: All right. Don't point. Don't point. MATT: You see him shuttling an hor d'oeuvre into his mouth and is not in the middle of a conversation at the moment but is watching the performance. TRAVIS: This is him? MARISHA: Yeah. TRAVIS: Okay. MATT: Tall gentlemen. TRAVIS: Hello. Greetings. MATT: "Ah, hello to you." TRAVIS: Captain Tusktooth. Nice to meet you. MATT: "I'm watching the performance, if you do not mind. TRAVIS: Oh, no, sorry. She's amazing, is she not? MATT: "She's very incredible." MARISHA: So good. TRAVIS: So how did you get an invite to this party? MATT: "Shhhh!" TRAVIS: You're sure--? Okay. I'm sorry, sir, you're going to need to come with us. MARISHA: What? MATT: "What?" TRAVIS: We're part of a security detail at the Marquis. I need you to come with me right now. MATT: Make a deception check. TRAVIS: 20. Face! MATT: [JENGA] goes like-- TRAVIS: We're in disguise. Don't mind the fucking hat. MARISHA: You're in disguise too. Sorry. I know. MATT: Immediately the expression drops on his face. He puts the half eaten, what looks like a small tart, down, and goes, "I don't understand the problem, but--" MARISHA: We're cool, man. MATT: "--of course." TRAVIS: Just shut up. He's coming. MARISHA: Okay. TRAVIS: Come with us. Go out to an hallway. MATT: All right. You guys are in the main courtyard area, which is partially open with the glass ceiling that leads out into where the fountains are in the open grass. You can lead him out there. You can lead him inside the house if you want to. It's up to you. There are guards posted. TRAVIS: My friend here, bro, she can see everything about you and through you, so be very honest. Why are you pretending, my friend? MATT: Make a persuasion check. Or intimidation, this would be intimidation. This would be intimidation. MARISHA: With advantage? Right? Because I'm here. TRAVIS: 28. Natural 19. It's the hat. LIAM: Peacockin' it. MATT: Look, I mean, there's no issues-- I mean, nothing-- I am a hiding previous member of the Draconian nobility. I am just-- I want to be left alone and not be discovered or found. TRAVIS: Are you living here in Nicodranas? MATT: Yes. Yes I am. TRAVIS: Have you come to many of these parties before? MATT: "No, it's only been a few recently. I've-- it's difficult to work your way into such events." TRAVIS: Insight check, please. MATT: Make an insight check. TRAVIS: Natural one. MATT: Seems pretty honest. TRAVIS: I believe you. So, you're in hiding. MATT: Well, I'm just not wanting to call too much attention to me. TRAVIS: Strange place to go if you're not trying to gather attention. MATT: Well, not gather attention, but also live it up a little? TRAVIS: Going to confer with Roe, my all seeing... MATT: "Of course. Of course." TRAVIS: That do you think? Oh shit. Do you need some water? Orange juice? MARISHA: Cotton mouth. TRAVIS: Your jaw is going crazy right now. MARISHA: I mean, he's clearly hiding something. Why would he be here? Why would he be in hiding? He's gotta be like-- push harder. Why are you in hiding? TRAVIS: No, here, you do it. Let's go. MARISHA: Hey, why are you in hiding? MATT: He's gone. MARISHA: Fuck! He got away! TRAVIS: I was looking at you! MARISHA: I was looking at you! TRAVIS: I got turned to look at you! You're supposed to look behind me when I look at you! MARISHA: What?! Where is he? MATT: He rolled really high on a stealth check. TRAVIS: Is he invisible? MATT: No, but one of the guards is looking at you flailing the air and is like-- TRAVIS: (dancing) (singing) The Ruby of the Sea. (Marisha is dancing along) She's the one for me. You know, you want her too. Don't lie. What the fuck?! MARISHA: We're going to find this guy. Is he a spy or is he just [JENGA] TRAVIS: No, he's gone is what he is. MARISHA: God dammit. MATT: One of the little fishes kind of comes by your face kind of just barely moves past your nose. TRAVIS: What aren't you doing?! MARISHA: This performance man. It's like artistic expression in a way that I didn't know I could discover. TRAVIS: We're not even in the room of the performance. What is wrong with you? Let's go back in so people don't think you're tripping balls. Let's go! We go. I push her. MATT: All right. LIAM: I speak through a wire towards Beauregard and say, "Are you frosty? We are going to the Balleater. Come now." MARISHA: Man, Marion Lavorre is so good. TRAVIS: What? MARISHA: She like talked to me just now and she sounded like Caleb. I don't know if it's part of the performance-- LIAM: Did Caleb hear the first part of that? MATT: Yeah. LIAM: Oh shit. She's high again. Fjord. We are going to the Balleater. Bring Beauregard, quickly. TRAVIS: (stares blankly) Did you start by hearing voices or seeing things? LIAM: Fjord, this is Caleb. I heard that. I am speaking to you. I am Caleb. You may reply to this message. MARISHA: I think it's cause like temporary things connected-- TRAVIS: 10-4. No. Caleb. Shut up! We're coming. Where are you? Can you-- Oh shit. No one sends me messages. MARISHA: You can-- TRAVIS: It's Caleb, we're supposed to go. MARISHA: What? TRAVIS: Yeah. They're not here. MARISHA: Shit. Where are they? (Travis looks blank) LIAM: It's good. I told Fjord and they're coming. SAM: You told him a couple times. He got the message. TRAVIS: I'm pretty sure if we just wait one second, we'll get one more of them. MARISHA: Okay. Okay. Maybe they'll know. SAM: All right, let's go. MATT: About 15 minutes pass without any response from Caleb. TRAVIS: I feel like I missed something in the message. Maybe we should just-- MARISHA: Just go. TRAVIS: Let's just go. MARISHA: Okay, let's go. TRAVIS: Do you want to go-- MATT: Where are you guys going? MARISHA: Ummmmm. TRAVIS: They were dragging that guy that looks like Essek out-- MARISHA: Where would they--? Okay. Let's think like we were them. TRAVIS: Oh, right. Jester took the guy up to the balcony. So let's go up. MARISHA: Let's go to the balcony! TRAVIS: Okay. MATT: All right. You head to the balcony where--? All right. You head upstairs and the balcony door doesn't open and you hear someone on the other side go like, "Hey! Please! Can you help me?" TRAVIS: Caleb? MATT: "Yes." MARISHA: Can I see through the wall? MATT: Huh? MARISHA: With Truesight? Can I see through the wall? MATT: Truesight doesn't let you see through walls. It's not like super x-ray, I can see everything vision, but you can see true forms. You can see into the ethereal plane. TALIESIN: It's probably wearing off. TRAVIS: I don't think that's Caleb. I think we're in the wrong place. MATT: The voice is definitely not Caleb. TRAVIS: Fuck! We should just leave. MARISHA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. LAURA: Caleb, where are they? You said they were coming. LIAM: He did, Fjord said they were coming. MARISHA: Let's go to the street. TRAVIS: The street. All right. LIAM: They're too far away. LAURA: To send them a message? I'll send them a message. LIAM: Yeah, you. LAURA: I'm going to send Fjord a message. Fjord. TRAVIS: We just go-- Oh, wait! LAURA: What's taking you guys so long? We're going to the Balleater. Sheesh. Doodoo, dadoodoo, doo doo doo. TRAVIS: It is so much weirder when you're in receipt of one of those messages. I honestly thought she was going to ask if I was pooping. Did she hear all that? LAURA: Oh, my... MARISHA: I keep forgetting that they can hear us. TRAVIS: They're at the Balleater. Let's go! MATT: All right. LAURA: Stupid... TALIESIN: Best sixth level spell I've ever... So good! MATT: The rest of you, as you carefully escort Lord Dezran Thain across the Restless Wharf, eventually cross the gangplank to the deck and below the deck of the Balleater. You find your way to a comfortable space away from prying eyes, and as the figure-- shoulders slumped-- turns around, the illusion fades. LIAM: Yasha, please guard the door. LAURA: Oh my gosh, it's Essek. What the what? ASHLEY: It's like I said, never trust floaty hot boys. LAURA: What are you doing? LIAM: Yes, friend, what are you doing? MATT: "I'm sorry you all weren't part of the plan." LIAM: Well, you know we have a limited amount of time, and I would love for you to see the sunrise. So if there is a reasonable explanation, we would love to hear it. MATT: "It's complicated to express." LAURA: We figured that much. Do you want to sit down? MATT: "For this, yes." LIAM: We have all night. MATT: "It may take as much." And he moves his hand this way, and one of the crates scoots and he sits upon it. LAURA: Still cool. Still fucking cool. MATT: "(sighs) I-- I have a lot I want to accomplish, and only one person who understood and believed in that idea, and that's me. I have done terrible things in my life, as I know many of you have as well. Things you regret. Things you think you're doing for the right reasons. I cannot say I regret what I've done. I just regret how things have changed since I made that decision. You weren't part of the plan." LAURA: Well, number one, what did you want to accomplish? Number two, just fucking explain the plan cause we've been guessing and it's-- I don't know if we're right. It's-- TALIESIN: He doesn't want to say it out loud. LAURA: You want to write it down? You want to draw it? You want-- TALIESIN: No. LAURA: You want to play charades? TALIESIN: No, he-- LAURA: First word, world domination? TALIESIN: If he says it out loud, then he's going to have to hear what it is and he's not going to like who he is when he hears it. I know you're a good man. You're-- MATT: (snorts) LAURA: You are. We know you, Essek. TALIESIN: And-- MATT: "I am but a humble, selfish creature." TALIESIN: But avarice and fear can often disguise themselves in a good man as strength and righteousness, until he's forced to unveil them in front of people that he trusts. Just say it. We're here. MATT: "I'm sorry, sorry that you've all been pulled into this web of lies. When I first saw you arrive with the beacon, one of the two that I gave, I knew I had to be near you to protect what we had done. I had to make sure that you did not get too close to the truth." LAURA: Backfired. MATT: "If I could control the direction of your meanderings near this endeavor, perhaps it would have been safer, but what I didn't account for was-- liking you all. And there is nothing worse than betraying those you come to care about before you even came to care about them. At least not in my experience. Regret is a very new sensation. The pain is somewhat comforting because I am my own punishment." LAURA: Do you still want what you started out wanting? MATT: "I've spent my life working towards it. I think things got a little out of hand." LAURA: What do you want?!" MATT: "I've already told you-- there are so many mysteries around these beacons, around dunamis, what it's capable of. My entire life I've been propped up to be perhaps worthy of being one to break those boundaries, to find applications for it that could change everything, and if I don't do it, the first person who does, I don't trust them." LIAM: I drop down to my knees in front of him and turn his face to mine. You listen to me. I know what you are talking about. I know. And the difference between you and I is thinner than a razor. I know what it means to have other people complicate your desires and wishes. And I was like you. Was. I know what a fool I have been for years, and I'm looking at him as if I am looking in a mirror. You didn't account for us. Good. That is life. Shit hits you sideways in life and no one is prepared. No one is ready. These people changed me. These people can change you. You were not born with venom in your veins. You learned it. You learned it. You have a rare opportunity here, Thelyss. One chance to save yourself, and we are offering it. And I am -- I place a hand on his shoulder -- pleading with you to find your better self. He is still there. MATT: "There is no path to redemption for me. If what has been done comes to light, if what you are seemingly looking to correct is known, then I am a dead man." LIAM: I lean in and kiss him right here and say, "Maybe you and I are both damned, but we can choose to do something, and leave it better than it was before.” MATT: "You weren't part of the plan and now you're all in terrible danger for the things that you know." LIAM: So be it. MATT: "I have not cared for anyone but myself for over the century I've been alive." LAURA: I hold his hand. TALIESIN: Who are you today? Not then. Right now. That's all that matters. LIAM: It can be disorienting, having friends get under your skin. MATT: "(inhales) I cannot be here." TALIESIN: We have to know what's coming. We have to-- we need to know what you paid, what you've set in motion. We're going to have to take care of it. MATT: "If I tell you, will let me go?" TALIESIN: I don't know, but-- ASHLEY: I won't let you leave until you do. You can certainly try. MATT: "We are returning the right beacon, the one that I gave, and they are keeping the one that they found. Their research is to continue and we are to correspond as the research progresses. There is intent to end this war. It has run its purpose. They have what they want. I'll have what I want, and everyone out there will have what they want: an end to this conflict.” LAURA: So what's the bad stuff? MATT: "The bad stuff is if you tell anyone, or try to stop it--" TRAVIS: This beacon, it goes back to the Bright Queen. LAURA: And it's totally fine? It's unchanged--? MATT: So you guys have come back now? LIAM: Quietly crept in behind at the tail end. MARISHA: Essek! What?! Whoa! Too much? MATT: "There is no great plan. There is no espionage. There is no anything. We're just putting all the pieces back and hope that nobody notices." LAURA: Then why is it bad? Why would we tell anyone? You're stopping the war. You're getting what you want. MATT: "Then you won't." LIAM: I can't say I have a lot of faith in the Empire's intentions in this situation. LAURA: Can I insight check Essek to see if he looks like he was-- MATT: Yes, you may. SAM: Easy roll. Easy roll. LAURA: Can I-- Ooh, do I still have percep--? Ooh, do I still have Endurance, the thingy? MATT: I would say it's on the cusp of probably fading at this point. Sure. Why not? In the final moments. LAURA: Ooh, good. That's a 22. MATT: Okay. He seems to be baring it all. LAURA: Okay. TALIESIN: I mean, this doesn't really change our plans. It doesn't change what we really-- what we knew before. LAURA: We just, you know, want to make sure that the beacon that's going back isn't going to try to explode everyone. MATT: "You don't need to worry about that. We were coming along to ensure that outside interests that may wish to see the war continue are kept at bay." TRAVIS: Who all knows of your plans? MATT: "Oh, myself and a few select members of the Assembly." LIAM: The Martinet. MATT: "The Martinet." LAURA: What about Icky? MATT: "I believe Trent is also--" LAURA: That guy's a fuckhole. MATT: "You're not wrong." MARISHA: And what do you want with the prisoners? What's with the prisoner exchange? LAURA: Who are all the prisoners? Is it the ones we know of? Or are there secret prisoners? MATT: "There are only two prisoners as part of this agreement that would be passed over. TALIESIN: You didn't kill them, did you? MATT: "No, part of the agreement was to not have our prisoner killed, and not theirs. So Vence is being passed over to us." LAURA: Yeah. MATT: "And the prisoner, which we've already spoken to, is to be passed over to the Empire." TRAVIS: You said we were in danger because of what we know. Who knows what we know? Just you, right? MATT: "Just myself, the Martinet, and Trent. Well, there was one more, though I have not met her." TRAVIS: Met her? LAURA: Astrid? Was her name Astrid? MATT: "No, she's another member of the Assembly." LAURA: Vess... LIAM: DaRogna? MATT: "DaRogna. That's the name. She was commanding a period of experimentation with it. As far as I know, those are the only ones. But we hold a tense, mutually assured self-destruction." SAM: So you lot started this war and now you're going to finish it. MATT: "Yes." SAM: And we're just supposed to turn the other way and pretend like you're not all a bunch of traitors. MATT: "Yes." SAM: I mean I like you, but the other ones, we're just gonna let them get away with it? MATT: "They always have." MARISHA: Thousands have died, Essek. Thousands of innocents. LIAM: And I know for a fact that one of the people you have been negotiating with would throw you, me, any one of us, any member of the country he helps govern into the fire. Anyone. I think your intentions are good, but I think perhaps your vision has been clouded. MATT: "My intentions were never good. They were important." LAURA: You're gonna have to make a lot of babies. TALIESIN: I'm not sure that's... LAURA: So many. LIAM: So let's talk about what we are going to do next. Obviously this plan needs to move forward. TALIESIN: Yes. MATT: "Optimally, yes." LIAM: Yeah. LAURA: You're not going to be tray us again, Essek. You're not going to like leave here and tell everyone that we know and then get us killed. MATT: "Well that depends. You show me a kindness." LAURA: We've done nothing but show you kindness. MATT: "You're not wrong." TALIESIN: We're going to need a certain amount of honesty going forward. Rebuild some trust. Otherwise-- Well, Yasha, I mean she's better at that part. I'm not going to-- LIAM: But you have been spilling secrets to people on the Assembly. Now you can spill secrets to us. And we will move forward with this plan. And I am telling you there is a very high likelihood that the people that you are dancing with mean to cut your throat and leave you in the dust with many others. MATT: "Then perhaps it is best that I surround myself with friends to protect me, for the enemy of my friend is my enemy indeed, yes? TRAVIS: Is this charade at sea what it really appears to be? No tricks, no double crosses, no twists or turns? LIAM: No tampering with the artifact. MATT: "Not from us. We have nothing to gain by it going awry." LIAM: Well, you have a plan in place and you think that will end this conflict. I don't know that we agree. However, we move forward. Can we count on you when the deal sours? MATT: "I have far more allegiance to you than I do any empire or dynasty, for I have not had any for either." SAM: You are a broken person who had ill intentions and wandered aimlessly into a path that you had no intention or no idea how to complete. And yet somehow along the way, you found a heart. You sound like all of us. (Applause) Welcome to the Mighty Nein. MATT: And we're going to go ahead and end it there. LIAM: Yeah! TALIESIN: What the fuck! MATT: Oh, man, this shit's getting complicated. LIAM: Oh, my god, you guys, it's almost two in the morning. Thank you for hanging out with us! MATT: Thank you all so much for joining us late at home on the internet, late here in Chicago. Don't forget guys, we love you all very much. And... is it Thursday yet? Goodnight.