Episode 9 – Two Lone Wolves

Gather round friends, let me tell you a tale of three heroes noble and bold A brute, a druid, and a thief who is but nine years old You know them by name, you know them by deed, their quests are famously daring So here I sit, singing to you an adventure that is worth sharing Tuck is the brute, he knows not his home, he loves to sing and fight Fingers have health, he shifts his shape, and wields a spear with great might Peely's a thief, his tiny size does mask the largest heart Best and brightest they may not be, but their friendship outweighs their smarts So gather round friends, and listen close For the tale's about to start Hello everybody and welcome to Spoutlord!

I'm your Game Master Sean O'Hara, joining me as always Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz Hello everybody Ving the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers Hi, how you doing?

And Fat Billy the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai Hi everyone When last we left our heroes, they were taking refuge in Hither and Yon Hidden away on a street in Black Glass's Steamhaven district To prepare themselves for the next step of their plan In releasing Hither and Yon from the influence Of Callum Blackhammer And the icon of tyranny Miers, humble barkeep, good friend Offered his services in the fight to release his beloved bar And we did a little training montage bringing Miers well and truly into the game As the party's first, seven years in, official hireling Wow Miers now has mechanics, he's a fighter He's got some skills, he's a warrior He's loyal That's what we know about Miers Oh and he is also good at helping you heal When you make camp This does seem like a thing that Miers would do Yeah, this is all Miers Yeah, Miers Following the Mulan-style Be a Man montage We headed out onto the streets of Black Glass And found a city Silent, foggy, terrifying Figures clad in finery From some sort of wedding celebration in Black Glass Leather masquerade masks Shuffled among the streets Dragging people out of their homes Taking them, against their will To the Black Glass Palace Really creepy It had Nope vibes Yeah, totally Nope vibes?

Yeah, it's a horror movie Oh Are you thinking Us?

Nope is the alien one Oh, it had Jordan Peterson Ditch Jordan Peel Jordan Peel vibes Yeah, and Jordan Peterson Also Jordan Peterson Jordan Peterson was there He had his throat slit We walked by him, he had his throat slit Yeah, they were like, we don't want the throat slit Yeah, they were like, we don't want this one I don't know why somebody cut that guy's dick off Yeah Whoa, he looks so sick from just eating meat I think you will find That it is actually a sign of weakness To attack me, a much more alpha male Oh, he's trying to sound smart Kill him Kill Nah, he'll die Kill him Being dragged towards Blackhammer Hall The party followed quietly, watching Trying to join the flow towards the palace Before being spotted by a black-haired man The black-haired man was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared He was a little bit scared Started by one of the masked masquerade zombies Mmm And attempting to flee into a nearby bakery Things got bad from there Yeah A fire started A bit of a tussle began The party escaped onto the rooftops Attempting to parkour across an alleyway Kind of succeeding, mostly failing A human chain connecting Tacoma Dome the Barbarian To the rooftop Saving him from the three-story drop below Yeah, but the jump is cool though, right guys?

Yeah, the jump looked cool. At first. Midway through. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe the landing. Honestly, it could have been cool, but. It was cool though, right? And while hanging from the roof, the party drew the attention of clattering legs of brass and wood, bone white stringed instruments playing terrifying staccato tunes, the mechanical clockwork orchestra crawling along the rooftops. That is where we find our heroes now. You can just hear the strings. You can't see it so far.

All you see is rooftops around you, steam pouring up out of chimneys, smoke from the burning building across the way. You're slowly, you know, winching Tuck up. Arm over arm, the music getting louder and louder. Tuck, you flop over onto the rooftop. They look cool, right guys? They look really cool. Okay, cool. What do you do? You just hear music. I want to discern realities. All right. 2d6 plus wisdom. I got a 13. Good Lord. What here is useful or valuable to us?

You can hear the music's kind of echoing all over strings reverberating through pipes and off buildings. It's hard to figure out where it's coming from. Exactly. It does not know where we are still, right? It, the sound of you clattering a bunch of roof shingles onto the street and also the bright beacon of purple light that you decided surrounded you has alerted it to your general direction. Okay. The light made you look really cool. Yeah. Yeah. I forgot about the light. That does look good.

It's very bright. Yeah. Beacon. If you will. Everyone else in town thought you looked cool. A bunch of, it's a thing where it's like everyone on the streets looked up. Wow. We hear from Victoria La Blanche. Oh wow. Wow. Actually. Pretty, pretty key. Everybody saw it. Yeah. Yeah. Because you decided to surround it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You decided to surround yourself with a bright purple beam of light. Okay. So what would your plan be here? Are you fleeing?

Are you laying in wait, attempting to ambush it? Are you just hiding and waiting for it to go by? It is coming here though, right? It is coming. Okay. I would, I want to move fast and try to, yeah, get out of it's like line of sight. Yeah. If we book it and try and find somewhere to hide, because it knows where we are right now because this building is on fire, Texas and points behind. There's a ton of smoke. There's a ton of smoke. There's a ton of smoke. There's a ton of smoke.

There's a ton of smoke.

It is quite large in the streets especially in steve have steam haven are quite narrow yeah so it might be difficult for it to maneuver on the street level what should I be on the lookout for you see you're like looking over the side of the building and it's everything is pretty dark although brighter now because there's a building on fire right next to you and you see like um a little bit further down the road at street level you see a bridge like over um like a canal kind of a small canal and you see like a barred portal which you would assume is into some sort of sewer system like old london yeah all right let's head for that okay so we're going down the street level all right uh then you're is this with speed are you going are you just finding a door to another building and going down or how would you get down speedily speedily shimmy down the outside yeah yeah the fastest way would be go down the side fire ladder or one of the pipes oh yeah okay yeah I'll shimmy down a pipe this sounds like whatever we're doing so all right mirrors is right behind you come on seven seven seven oh okay three sevens whoa number of the angel okay beautiful number of the angel beautiful chris angel the mind the most beautiful of all the number of the mind freak and so you uh hustle down to a different building a little bit further away from the conflagration across the way and uh find you know you either find a pipe or a fire escape whatever you need to find and with a seven to nine as you are uh easing yourself over the edges of these quite high narrow buildings you hear um a crescendo building on the other side of the uh of the street and crawling up over the side wooden brass legs yuck instruments pulling themselves over the edge uh you see the dais that it was connected to in the concert hall and the the courtyard has been like broken and snapped in places creating this sort of angular jagged wooden thorax and it seems like the music kind of as it sees you like that maybe all the horn the horn section is like and it pulls it so it starts clattering across the rooftops in your direction shit what here's not what it appears to be the buildings that you're climbing down in this area of town this one seems old and almost abandoned it looks like a building that would potentially collapse you!

Under a significant amount of weight like a giant mechanical orchestra so if you wanted to slow this thing down you could potentially lure it to a rickety building oh I could use what are you waiting for yeah okay and collapse it into this building and then it won't see where we go yeah as long as you survive we'll be okay yeah yeah you guys get going I'll try and what are you waiting for perfect when you grind a challenge to your enemies roll plus con on a 10 plus they treat you like the most obvious threat to be dealt with here we go plus constitution uh 11 okay so on the 10 plus they treat you as the most obvious threat yes and you get a plus two to the damage on yes okay yeah billy ving and mirrors are like climbing over the edge lowering yourselves down yes and tuck stays up at the top and to call it in your direction yes how do you get its attention I wait until these guys get down to the to street level and then I take the axe off my back and I go I am the night spider and I I activate the the crystal on the back of the axe yeah yeah so how do you get its attention with the crystal yes okay I make it so bright you cry out a threat by whispering to yourself you call it by its name yeah uh I am the night you take its power yeah so it sees the crystal light up well it doesn't really have eyes but it's like it's like it's like but you notice it kind of like everything that could be perceptive tilts in your direction as the crystal activates probably senses by vibration yeah oh it feels the vibration of the crystal in the air oh yeah strings yes yeah and it starts uh charging across this thing is 20 feet wide like it's very large yeah and it is uh dragging itself across the rooftops knocking clay chimneys over in the process as soon as tuck sees it go for him he turns and starts running uh so that he can jump to the top of the roof and he can jump to the top of the roof and he can jump to the top of the roof to the other roof as it lands on this one cool yeah yeah great 2d6 plus strength it's 10 okay awesome your mighty shanks bulge yeah as the muscles carry you across the way it looks so sick and just at that exact moment the the orchestra's limbs tense and release as it shoots itself over to the building yeah and its massive weight like punches through the old uh rooftop wood splintering and crashing yeah as its legs like flail looking for purchase but it disappears in a cloud of dust and plaster sorry I'm not a fan of classical music great and then he goes to the door on the roof and he tries to get it it's locked okay back down on the street level guys uh billy and ving mirrors touches down on the cobbles behind you you hear a huge crash window shattering on the top level orchestra falling down the stairs exactly oh yeah that's fucking loud as hell yeah it's every instrument oh my god you you climb down into the canal there's like muddy banks of river that your feet are splashing around in and there's a locked gate into the sewer system I would like to pick it sounds great huge oh 12 holy shit yeah you pick this lock no problem sick this lock is is as like as old as the city is it basically crumbles as you're trying to yeah I I am holding it and it breaks nice perfect I did it another perfectly picked lock before we go in can I use trap expert absolutely right 2d6 plus dexterity uh 13 cheese louise yeah yeah okay um is there a trap here uh there is a trap here what activates it so you hear um splashing like deep in the the tunnel kind of echoing through the the tunnels and you hear someone humming like a orchestral orchestral waltz okay what what does the trap do you would assume that members of the masquerade have made their way into the sewers but probably not as many this is a harder place most of them even in their tyranny adult state wouldn't think to come down here but there's probably a few stragglers okay uh what else is hidden in here oh what else is hidden in here um you see a uh thief's mark carved into the stones just inside the tunnel and you see a thief's mark carved into the stones just inside the tunnel and you see a entrance and the thief's mark denotes like a safe house so you would think that somewhere in this tunnel system fairly nearby if you were to follow these marks you would find like some sort of hide out tuck yes uh that you've smashed through the door at the top of this building he's going down the stairs he has the door in his hand he's running with a full-size door under his arm I smashed the door out of the building and I grabbed that one too and as you're running down the street with the door under your arm the camera above sees through the second level wooden brass arms smashing through the exterior of the building pulling itself onto the street the legs clattering after you can I run even harder you can certainly try it's right behind you okay okay okay I don't want to drive them towards you I'm going to try to drive them towards you I'm going to try to drive them towards my friends okay so what was I really close uh so yeah I guess strength okay that's eight okay so that's an eight that's pretty good uh does it see me yeah 100 you're making so much noise your axe is literally a beacon of light shit I forgot to turn it off you're smashing everything that you touch okay so billy and you're carrying two doors with you billy and ving you're like looking in the tunnel like okay I think this might go and you hear me mirrors go uh guys and he directs your attention to tuck sprinting down the street with two arms the orchestra clattering after him smashing like grabbing the sides of buildings pulling itself along it looks like it's getting kind of caught because it's not wide enough here for it to sort of maneuver fully but tuck is on his way uh I've if I notice that it's behind me I probably won't run straight for these guys sure just a heads up yeah yeah I see the doors to block its way oh yeah I hide behind it and then I shimmy over and it goes it goes like a looney tuna little spider arms like knock knock knock yeah yeah and then waits it's like tapping its foot I'm doing it yeah checking the watch okay fingernails on the desk totally but they're all violin bows uh you would get you would think that the narrowness of the chamber as well though big enough to admit all of you if you were to like getting in this door the orchestra would not be able to follow you but tuck it is behind you what do you do or billy and ving if you can think of a way to aid tuck in his escape I mean I was thinking of using call of nature it's been a long time to gather stones and send a rock horse its way hell yeah that's cool middle of the orchestra that's really cool okay roll plus con get to seven okay great so you have two requests which means whatever roll you do is plus seven and you're in the middle of the orchestra that's really cool okay roll plus two so what is the what is the spiritual body that you summon I want to gather up stones from the bridge you kind of like sends the bridge forward and it falls into like a giant clydesdale cool oh sick trample forward tuck coming at you yeah and right heads up horse up as tucks running he does a thing where he like he runs at the horse and then slides underneath between it's legs yeah sick and you see him like from tucks perspective that's like yeah yeah and then tuck goes why do you give it all a dick all right 2d6 plus two for the favor I got nine okay so it is a partial success and you I believe lose one favor yes I lose one favor one request yeah uh so this yeah this horse forms out of the cobbles and stones of the bridge incredibly heavy hooves slamming into the street pounding down the road leaping over the bridge and then he's like oh my god I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck!

Stuck stuck tunnels right yeah splash splash clang door behind yeah door sealed and now we're in the darkness yes oh quiet splash splash I guess I guess something to for us to talk about what was why did we come to the sewers this gives us a way to kind of move around the city yeah and potentially get to the palace yeah without going through the very dangerous streets great or the incredibly dangerous rooftops yes because it's where our goal is still to sever callum from tyranny yeah so that we can release hither and yon that's what we need and also doing that takes him off the board for the gibbous man totally which is what and we keep our promise to colm and also he doesn't marry my wife yeah that is a that is another thing that happens if he's dead it's a fourfold bolt yeah yeah okay I guess what I want to do is vibe with the shadows of the night sense out I mean this is just um um!!

Um! Stepping through like ankle deep water. Yeah. Which is a little bit, it's more like knee or thigh deep for Billy. It's pretty deep, but I'm matching the pace of like the, the creepy people coming to us. Can I aid and just pull thing? Just wants to pull back the water a little bit. Oh, cool. Nope. I failed. I got five. That's okay. The water rises. Oh yeah. Billy's bobbing around. Yeah. Swimming. It's okay. I'm, I'm still very capable even when bobbing around. Yeah. Yeah.

So that is the, yeah. Ving tries to pull the water back, but you feel water from the river side, like come down the pipe and the water level starts to rise a little bit. And we're like being pulled away. He has to reach out and grab you so you don't float away. I don't think I understand fluid dynamics as much as I thought I did. But in the darkness ahead of you, you hear splashing and humming.

They haven't spotted you yet, but mirrors has gotten you close enough that you could potentially do something about this. All right. Strike. Well, the iron's hot. It's hot or whatever they say. Whatever you say in the kitchen. That's what they say. That's all right. Yeah. You said it. Nice. High five. Clang. And then I lean over to Ving. I'm like, everyone's saying such cool stuff this episode. Hey, you know some cool stuff last episode. I said, everybody's been saying such cool stuff.

You know some really good one about an orchestra or something? Yeah. It was really cool. It was pretty good. I said I didn't like classical music. Yeah, that's what it was. I like that. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. We're just. We're all just like, it was pretty good. It was pretty good. It was pretty good. I have some alts. I have some alts. We can punch it up a little. No. I mean, no, you can't. No. I think we can. I think that was really the best it could have been.

I think you're right. It was good. It was good. I think it was good. Okay, Billy, you are, what is the striking you choose to do while the iron is hot? I'm at like knee level, so get them in the knees. Okay. Yeah. I'm going to do the knees. Mears is going to do the face. Okay. So Mears is like, so are these like, evil people or just people? They're just, I don't know. I mean, they're people, but. All right. But they are kind of evil. Okay. I'm going to leave the sword on my back for this one.

Sure, sure. We'll just knock them out. Give them a good sleep. They might sleep it off, actually. Great. Yeah. Okay, cool. All right, Billy, roll your hack and slash. Sure. And this will, Mears' warrior man-at-arms thing will increase the damage you do. Whoa, that's sick. That's intense. Man, by how much? By four. That's his, that's his warrior. Holy. Holy shit. Amount. Three. Plus strength. Is three. You know what? I'm going to use my last fairy child. I'm going to turn that to a seven to nine.

Okay, great. Yeah. So that means you're going to take some damage as well. That's fine. I think we're looking at a D6 here. Okay. But then you roll your damage. Two. So you're taking two damage here and now roll yours. Six. Okay. Much higher. So that's a plus four. So that's a 10. Okay. Two damage. Holy shit. So yeah, you don't have to worry too much. Like they're just kind of scattered throughout the sewers. My knees. My knees. My face. That's absolutely devastating. Yeah.

You, uh, so you sneak up and like hit this person in the knees. Yeah. I just, I just use the blunt part of the knife to tap his knees or whatever. Wait, is that bad? No, you cap his knees. Yeah, you're hitting his knees. You're not like shattering his kneecaps or anything. You're shattering them? No. No, he's just getting knocked down. I bop him in the knees pretty hard. There you go.

He gets bopped in the knees and there's like a, and he turns and just like claws at you and kind of, scratches your face a little bit and you lose two, damn it. Or you lose two health. And then mirrors comes in with his metal fist and just clang and splash into the water. Knocked out. That was awesome. Oh, that was so cool. That was so cool. All right, let's keep it up. Let's go. Yeah. We should be. All right. And he just reaches down and flips the person over.

So their face is facing out of the water. All right. And he pats them on the cheek. You'll be okay. They start drifting down. I'm straight floating down into the sewers. He's facing up. He'll be okay. He's being in touch. Okay. So you, the way forward is clear for now. Are we trying to orient ourselves towards the palace? Are we looking for the safe house? What do we think? Safe house. Oh, for the castle, the brass castle. Yeah. The thieves mark that was leading to a safe house. Yes. Yeah.

I think that is a good idea. It was a good, just to like explore. Yes. And also to get information on what the fuck happened after we left the wedding. Okay. Yeah. So I'm going to set, I'm going to make a little, uh, below the whisk. Oh, perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

So, uh, the little, the way the little jingling bell sound, uh, rings is the, the cat pops into view, padding along the surface of the water, little light ripples forming as it walks, uh, illuminating the slick walls of this like ancient sewer system. And you can, as long as you take your time, you can probably very quietly walk your way, following the marks to the safe house. You find a, an old, wooden door set into the side of this sewer chamber.

There's a little lock on it, but there's a thief's mark next to it. Billy. I will use tricks of the trade to try to open the lock. 2d6 plus dexterity. Nine. Okay. Yes. Perfect. The door is kind of high up. I like thinking it's like above. Oh yeah. On ground level. Totally. Yeah. Lift them up on the platform. Yep. Great. Okay. That makes it a 10 plus. Yeah. There's like that sort of Mason outline of like where there used to be a staircase that has since been like smashed away.

And Ving lifts you up onto that thing so you can actually pick the lock. Yeah. And click. The door creeps open and there is darkness beyond in a pretty smallish chain or like a medium sized like storeroom. It seems like. Yeah. And drink. Bill of the wisp jumps up into the storehouse with you, illuminating crates, barrels, sacks in various stacks and piles along with tables, chairs, that kind of thing. Yeah. I pushed the two doors. I've been carrying it to the room.

And everyone hops up into the chamber. Now there's three doors here. I know. Super secure. One's getting through. In case we lose this door. I know. Yeah. Yeah. There's this is a, it looks like this might be a place where a gang, you would presume the brass castle gang. This is where they have stored some of their illicit materials, smuggled goods and whatnot. And then there's a door that opens up and there's a door that opens up and there's a can we have a look around? Oh, absolutely.

Discern realities. Okay. 2d six plus wisdom six. Uh, okay. A lantern in the back of the chamber between some rows of barrels flares to life. And you hear like, well, well, well, and there is a squat older man, maybe in his fifties or sixties, uh, dressed in a mode, very similar to the brass castle gang members that you've already dealt with. He's got like gray stubble and a bowler hat standing in the back, smoking a cigarette. Oh, a finery beast. His hideous mask. Get him. Now hold on.

Holds up a hand. Oh, oh wait, he's talking like a normal person. You're all talking like normal people as well. Well, there's a lot of not normal people wandering around out there. Oh, oh no. How'd you find your way in my old hidey hole here? Whoa. He's really talking so normally. Well, you left, you left a bunch of notes all over the way here. You know how to read the signs. I do. Yeah. I mean, I know how to spot a fellow thief. You'd think you'd be able to spot one as well.

Mears is like, yeah, why don't you close that door back there and we can have ourselves a little meeting to close the door and then puts two other doors on top of it. And he walks over with his lantern, plops it on the table, pulls up a chair, and he's like, I'm going to go and get my own lantern. And he's like, why don't you? I joined him. All right. So use the ones that I had me boys hired. Not really. Sorry. Use the ones that were hired by me boys. That's right.

They sort of informed me before they ran off to the palace. What have you heard from me boys? That's just the trouble. Young man. I ain't heard nothing from me boys. Oh, shit. Oh, yeah. I don't say. Oh, yeah. I don't say. You haven't heard anything. I fucking lost it. He's like, shit, I fucking lost it. He lost it. I think I might have done Chinese by accident. I accidentally did. Don't do Chinese. I know. I know. You're fitting, skating on very thin fucking ice. I know. Don't do Chinese.

I fucking, I know, dude. I know. Yeah. We, it's really hard to not do Chinese though. Billy says, it's so hard. It's so hard. Sometimes Canada day. You buy one of those hats from China. I can't say a word. He takes another drag off his cigarette ashes. It just on the ground. You hear anything from Artie or Rookin? No, that's just the trouble. They said they was breaking into the black hammer hole with a few freelancers. Yeah, we got them in. We didn't see them on our way out.

They came in, but they didn't leave. So you're telling me my boys is missing, presumed dead. And you three was supposed to have their backs. Whoa, no, that's not how it worked out, man. We were doing them a favor by getting them in. Yeah, we promised them that we would get them in. And if we needed them, they would have our backs. Yeah, plus it was all we could do to get out ourselves.

Billy, because of your shoot first in your danger sense, there are several more individuals in the shadows in this room hidden away. Why don't you tell your boys to come out? I ain't scared. And he takes a long drag off. You can't do Chinese, Billy. What? I thought it was too British accent. And he takes a long drag off his cigarette as Billy says that. And he goes, very good, my boy. All right, boys, you can come out now.

And a bunch of suited three piece tweed suit individuals emerge cartwheeling. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Swinging golf clubs. Yeah. So you was in the parasite and you escaped just barely. So maybe you can tell me what the fuck is going on up there to something in the air. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. It's got a hold on people's minds. I don't know if you've noticed. Have you been up to the street level? Oh, yeah. Barely escaped. Yeah. Made our way down here.

It's even worse than the palace. He takes a nervous drag off the cigarette, which is now down to the stub, flicks it over his shoulder. Can we get to the palace from here? Yeah. Underground? Oh, yeah. Can you take us? No. Huh? What one might say sort of a management type. So a coward? I know, boy.

You don't know what I'm saying I spit on the ground I was part of the Cog street walls I'll have you know That means nothing to me He pulls open his shirt he's covered in scars underneath I rip open my shirt And I've got the big wounds fresh From Callum's knife Oh shit we were supposed to be changing those dresses Oh my god There's so much sand in his wounds Oh shit Oh my god Why it is happening to me I'm sitting there like Come on you think I'm not a hard ass too Roll I'm not allowed to say that 2d6 plus charisma 8 8 yeah pretty good Alright you've seen a tussle or two I've seen a tussle or two Smells like almonds It's so bad And Billy starts going Sorry I just Oh I think I had a fever or something I wouldn't worry about it Good god Fuck Ving you were supposed to change his fucking dress I know I'm so stupid Alright well if You are the three He points at Tuck, Ving and Muse Or half as tough as this one I think we might be able to help you And Tuck goes tough And then he picks up one of the doors he tries to break Okay You don't have to roll the break in an inanimate door That's not attached to anything Is it an ironwood door?

The door splinters easily under your hands You're a very strong man So yeah Ving puts the door back together Using his Elemental They meld back into one piece Oh that impresses him And Mears rolls up a sleeve And flexes his bicep Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep? Is that a bicep?

There's so much stuff in his cuts We gotta clean out those wounds Mears using his new Mechanical ability to perform first aid Begins changing Billy's bandages While I'm talking You cut my crass man You're welcome to do this These are just gross I can smell them from here There's gummy worms in them Those are for later You can't eat those Billy we've told you so many times Wounds aren't pockets You can't eat those The old man pulls out another cigarette Puts it in his mouth One of the boys leans in with a lighter Lights it for him Before he lights it I grab the guy's wrist And I go What are you smoking?

Cigarette How are you resisting the effects of the smog? What do you mean? The air out there is full of some bad shit That's making everyone These weirdo fucking zombies That just fucking follow Callum's instructions And you guys are somehow resistant to it Yeah Discern realities Seven Alright Great One question What here is useful or valuable to me?

I grab the cigarette And I smell it So And then I take the lighter And smell the fire Alright So all these people watch you do this ridiculous shit That's so rude And unnecessary You just start taking stuff out of people's hands And you smell the unmistakable scent of saffron Mixed with tobacco Oh It's these cigarettes He gestures to Tuck to give his fucking cigarette back There you go He takes it Lights it So you would assume That smoking these cigarettes has inoculated him in some way To the smog I guess they're all smoking it Him and his guys Or they're at least like getting second hand smoke from this dude Hot boxing this man Yeah totally And yeah whatever he has It's kind of like a Seems like a Macallan tobacco mixture Do you know?

Do I know what? Do you know about the smog? Is that why you're smoking that? No I smoked these because I started smoking when I was nine years old Oh The smog Has made this city nigh unbearable Got people on edge But you're a little bit less on edge I'd say I'm making heaps of cash friend People stressed out They look for places to relax Have a drink Play a game or two And I've been making good money What's your name? Me?

Mm-hmm Samuel Deering Maybe you've heard of me And if I remember correctly Deering I believe is the last name of the man already said is the leader of the Brass Castle Oh okay Call me Deering Yes dear He kind of laughs He laughs loudly at that actually Ha!

Haven't heard that in quite some time Ever since me missus walked out on me For the sixteenth time But she's gonna see She's gonna see reason She'll be back And one of the guys goes She'll be back boss Don't you worry You'll be off me couch in no time sir Looks like we have something in common friend Oh yeah what's that? My old lady stepped out on me too Oh yeah? Yeah You ever heard of a lady named Victoria LeBlanc? Knives Come out You married a Victoria LeBlanc?

Yeah And she's absolutely cucking the shit out of me right now Oh I see Knives back under coats That's right Oh that's a shame Victoria LeBlanc you know I've had somewhat of an antagonistic relationship for the last several years In fact and he points to one of the scars On his still red shirt Ripped open shirt You see kind of like Chubby old man Man boobs With some like grey chest hair And he points to a scar Under his collarbone She gave me this And then Tuck Uh Opens his duster And he points at the The stab wound that she gave him on their wedding day Yeah It's like A wedding gift Huh Were you married to her as well?

No And then Tuck You hear all of his knuckles crack No Only one woman's got my eye Me too Mildred Dearing Lover my life She gave me my first cigarette Sounds like a beautiful lady Oh she is Calves as thick as the day is long Built like a motor carriage Built like a motor carriage She is She carried me across the threshold On our wedding day And she made me see stars my boy I watched her Punch a police horse Straight in the face Killed it on the spot And then he goes It was a racist horse She roasted that horse for our wedding And ate the whole fucking thing Just roast Rotating it on a spit I can still see her there You boys like a strong woman eh?

Or man Or person whatever Yeah Oh yeah Yeah Oh yeah He's now looking kinda into the darkness Dude Do you still hold her in high regard in your heart, my boy? No. I just got a weird possessive thing about her. Okay. It's truly maybe the most toxic part of my personality. All right. Very well. Then allow me to make you a bit of a proposition, eh? What do you say? We'll hear it. You're trying to get into the palace, I understand. Yeah. You save me boys. Make it worth your while. Okay.

I'll make it even more worth your while if you kill Victoria LeBlanc for me. That's not the sort of guarantee that we make. But we can save the boys. We might be able to get you an audience with LeBlanc. Yeah. An audience? What if we deliver LeBlanc to you? So you're saying you won't kill her, but you'll deliver her to me to be killed? I feel like yes. I'm checking my internal morality. I feel like that. That is actually kind of okay. I mean, that's kind of between you and her at that point.

Yeah. Right? Yeah. I agree. So you save me boys. 200 coin. Oh. That's the most coins we've ever had. That's not true. We've had way more than that. You bring Victoria LeBlanc to me. Her grip on this city's illicit goods falls to me. 1,000 coins. That would be the most. That's the most coins. That would be the most we've ever had. What do you say? Puts his hand out. Spits in it. We all spit on his hand. Yes, I spit. You're not from around here, are you? Wipes his hand on his jacket. All right.

Very well. Do you need any support in terms of manpower? We need everyone you can give us. All right. And a few of the smokes. Mm-hmm. All right. He pulls out a hat of three. I'm not giving a boy a cigarette. Mears? He's 18. He can smoke. The little one. Oh. I smoke all the time. Yeah. I smoked when I was your age, and let me tell you. You don't want these, boy? Yeah, I do. All right. Fine. Billy, this is the only time we will ever let you smoke. Don't smoke. It's bad.

But what if it's really fun? Well, it's not. Is it really fun? It's really fun. No. And also, all right, it's not fun, but it makes you look really cool. He's not kidding about that. He's not. He takes a drag, and he looks so cool. Billy's just contemplating what it'd be like to be cool. Billy, this is the only time you can ever smoke. Uh-huh. Fine. Billy. Stop projecting into the future, you smoking. You can't tell me what to do. How about future, Billy? In the future, I'll be grown. All right.

All right. So he is willing to give you… So there were four other Brass Castle boys hiding in the shadows. Yeah. You can take three. He wants one to stay behind with him. Okay. Yeah. Do you need to know our names, or are we going to be kind of like window dressing for you? We'll just call you one, two, three. Yeah. One, two, three is perfect. Those are our names. I'm one. That's two. And the third one is going to blow your mind. That's three. Hello. Boy. Boy. I'm number three.

And you're welcome to stay here and rest up if you choose, Sir Samuel. Oh, should we try and heal up for a minute? We should try to heal up. Yeah. It is. Yeah. You can definitely… You can heal up to half your hit points if you choose to chill here and have a bite to eat, rest up for several hours. Yeah. I think we need to. Oh, actually, you know what? Let me just make sure that we understand the stakes here. You can absolutely make camp and rest.

While that happens, what is going on up top will continue. Yeah. That's fine. Okay. Cool. So there are people being dragged to the palace and who knows what's happening. Yeah. We don't care. That's going to take a while. Great. There's a lot of people in the city. Yeah. What's he going to do? The whole city in a couple hours? Nah. Yeah. Can't save everybody. Yeah. You don't even… You shouldn't even try, honestly. Most of these people are racist. Yeah. It's true. And that party can't…

It's mostly masterlies. In all honesty, I feel like the city is mostly masterlies. Yeah. I feel like things are just evening out up there. Yeah. Yeah. Capitalism is just being dismantled. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like the party can't kick off without us. No. So… These are just appetizers. Yeah. The mousse bouche, if you will. Yeah. Great. And you are… You wake up a few hours later, groggy in the dark. Samuel is leaned back in the chair.

He's got his booted feet up on the table and he is snoring like a sawhorse. Oh my God. Just… He's clearly got some sort of apnea situation. You guys should be familiar with this sound. Yeah. You're all familiar with everyone's snoring patterns. Because of Francis. Yeah. Not anyone else. No. Yeah. There's a point where Tuck and Samuel's snoring harmonizes. And it starts… He shakes the tunnel. Dust starts falling from the ceiling. Oh my God. Rats are scuttling.

When you wake up, one of the Brass Castle boys, dead. Oh my God. No. Just give him a stroke. Just killed from the sound waves alone. His eyes are bleeding. He's been liquefied. But you are awake and the boy… One, two, and three are ready to go. Oh. Should we just… Debrief on the plan? Mm-hmm. Because we are making the final approach now. Yeah. So the cigarettes, Tuck says, and he tucks it behind his ear. Because he thinks it looks cool. Billy's already lighting it up. No, Billy.

Billy didn't put that out. Put that out. Not yet. Not inside. Not yet. I feel like let's light up when we get into the castle. Because then they'll last longer. It'll be weird for him. It'll be intimidating and strange. Right. We'll look so casual. Right. Because we'll look really cool. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. How are you guys going to hold your cigarettes? I'll probably… Like… Like… The normal way. The classic way like this? I don't know. Unless maybe I do it a different way like this.

Tuck's going to do it… Tuck's like, I'm going to do it like this. I feel like I've seen a lot of cool guys. Cool. So… Real hard boys. I do whatever you do. I'm going to smoke mine out of this. So we're talking like kind of pinched finger. Yeah. But like inside the hand. Yeah. Like a World War I vet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Things gutted between his pinky and his ring finger. I like it. I'm going to smoke it like the Penusians do. Yeah. Cool. Cool. Yeah.

One, two, and three are standing around watching you do this and they're just kind of nodding to themselves. What do you guys think? Is this cool? Yeah. Yeah. It's really cool. Is this the most intimidating way we can smoke this? We're all pretending to smoke a cigarette. Can you drop it so I can see it? This is the most intimidating way to have a cigarette. Okay. And he pulls a cigarette out and he eats it right in front of you. Whoa. Yeah. Pretty scary, right? Does it work still? No.

It's really bad. It tastes so bad. It's in his teeth. Yeah. It's all over his face. It's like brown saliva dripping down his mouth. Don't do it like that. Don't do it like that. Okay. Yucky. Donald Puff. Can we have a different tune? Mom, number two. I'm ready to go. Just close your mouth. So we got the approach. We're going to smoke these cigarettes. They're going to try and grab Ving or us to do whatever the fuck they need to do to chain the Gibbous Man to Callum and Victoria. Yeah.

What do we do? Two. Two. Other than just flat out fighting them. Do we have a plan? You don't have any more fairy child? No. But we slept. Is it the next day? Yeah. When is morning? Um, it might be day. I'm going to roll what the bones know. Oh, I got a five. Holy shit. Yes. Nice. Plus charisma. Oh, a 12. Oh, shit. So I get five hold. God damn. I'm ready. Ready to go. Loaded up. Loaded. So we might. What about a convincing Ving illusion? Oh, yeah, we could do that. Right. Send fake Ving in.

But if they grab your illusions, do they feel real? No. No. No. They are convincing to see and hear. But if they were to touch them, they would be illusory. Okay. That still might work. It might. It buys time. Yes. Time. To sneak around and sneak up on them, maybe. Wait, what about your new fairy child move? Can that sever connections too? Could that sever his connection to the icon? I can't. Trap him in a ring? My fairy trap? Your fairy trap. Maybe. Maybe.

I feel like we got to use your fairy trap. Yeah. So fairy trap is basically the same as fairy ring, except it's only passable to those I choose. So it would hold an enemy within the trap overnight. Could you potentially trap the Gibbous Man? Because he can't get into your fairy rings. Potentially. Stands to reason. Okay. This might be a wild swing. But do we let them summon the Gibbous Man and then trap him in your ring? Could. I'd have to make a ring before. Yeah. They can't see me do it. Yeah.

We could use the distraction while I'm giving myself over. Oh, yeah. You can make the ring. I'd make the ring. While I'm readying myself. That could work. What would, they wouldn't believe that I would just give myself up. No. What if we give Tuckover as a, like, he allows himself to get caught. Hmm. And then I step in there and like, no, no, no, wait. Don't hurt him. Oh, yeah. That's a good idea. Yeah. So we're thinking that. I get caught. You come in to, quote unquote, save me.

And then you sneak in with the Brass Castle gang and Mears set up that fairy circle. Okay. I have a thing also that I can add to this. Oh. So ever since the fight at the Anvil, I think I can actually control the Demon of Servitude. What? Yeah. Whoa. The demon that's in the corner of my chest, I think I can actually control it. And I have a new move for it. I say. I have a new move. Yeah. The Demon of Servitude. It's basically TLC, but with the Demon.

Roll plus charisma to gain a boon from your Demon. On a seven to nine, the Demon offers the boon, but causes mental anguish. On a fail, you lose control. So it risks the Demon taking control of me, but I might be able to, like, you remember how, like, I looked fucked up and crazy when it had taken over me before? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To make me look like it again. Mm-hmm. So it's like, oh, the influence of Callum activated the Demon in me.

Like, potentially convince Servitude to make it seem like, in the metaphysical perception of Callum, that you have been possessed? Yeah. Interesting. So then my eyes would go white, and then the coins in my chest would all turn into eyes. Yeah. And I would look really fucked up and crazy, like you guys said. I looked at that place. Bing shudders. To do that though, would you be unable to smoke the cigarette? Oh yeah. Yeah, if you smoke the cigarette, it might not let servitude through. Yeah.

So you'd have to go smokeless. I'd have to go without the cigarette. Mears says, wait, so if you are using servitude to make it look like you're possessed by servitude, how do we know if it works or not? You don't. That's the thing. Okay. If I get possessed by servitude, it will look exactly the same. Except he'll come at us with his axe. Yeah. So you'll try to kill us if it doesn't work. Yeah, we'll know then. Okay. Okay, great.

Or you guys, I'll just, there's an, I don't think servitude hears everything that I know. So I'll just say something that only I know. Like, oh, like that cool line that I said on top of the building. Kiss me quick? No. What? From several episodes ago? No. The thing I said about how I prefer, I don't like classical music. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. All right. Guys, remember that really cool line? We all remember. What the fuck? What? You said it, you thought it was cool.

You said you thought it was cool. And then we all went, oh yeah. Yeah. I did think it was cool. I just have some alts. We were also all on the ground. You were on the top of the building. We actually had nothing to do with that. Yeah. I told you about it afterwards though. I won't take your word for it. But this is also the thing that I am wondering. Because we have an opportunity to fuck up Callum. And Victoria's plan. Yes. But is that what we should go for?

Or should we try to let them win and capture the Gibbous Man so that we can trap him? I can't imagine that he is such a passive part of this plan. You think he's in on it? Or something. I feel like it's them operating independently. They want, they're trying to fuck him over. He feels like a… He feels like a little finger. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I think if this is your plan, you're going in without all the pieces. Okay. For sure. My instinct is to not allow the God of the Sky into the room. Yeah.

Because then we go, our enemies go from two to three. Yeah. So we got to just stop it. Whatever it is, whatever opportunity we're giving up here to like trap or influence the Gibbous Man. It's worth it to not be in their thrall. I think that makes sense. Okay. So stop. Stop the plan. However you can. What if you, as the agent of servitude, hand me over to them? Oh, that's smart. Fucking smart. No. I thought we were in love. Yeah. We made a vow. We made a vow.

And then Tuck goes, no, I only love Victoria LeBlanc. She's my wife. Wink. Wink, blink. But I did the dishes, Vink will say. Yeah. Both nights in a row. In sickness and in health. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tuck goes, have you seen her tits? They're amazing. What about my tits? So is it going to be you or is it going to be the illusion that Billy makes? Yeah, I think it's the illusion. I think it's the illusion. Okay. So I'll go in with the illusion.

Pretend I've captured him. So it doesn't matter that I'm the one holding him. And then you guys- I will life symphony as they approach to stall and woo them when they're about to destroy the illusion. Yes. And then that'll give you time. That'll give me time to make the ring. The fairy ring. Yeah. And trap them in it. Okay. And cut them off from like whatever the fuck they're doing. Yeah. And then, yeah. Life symphony and your fairy ring work in tandem. Yeah. I think so. Interesting. Okay.

All right. So step one is get through the sewers. I think with the Brass Castle Gang and four skilled, experienced adventurers, creeping through the sewers is not a problem. And you make your way to a section of the sewers that is filled with sewer water and I think just goes straight up and then manhole cover. And one, two, and three stand around it in a triangle shape and point up and in unison say, it's up there. The castle? That close? Yeah. This is the palace. All right.

We've been walking for quite a while. Sorry. I think I just blacked out a little bit. Just thinking about smoking that cigarette. Yeah. That cigarette. It's just. It's like. It's like a siren whispering in my ear. You're going to be so cool, Billy. You're going to be so cool when you smoke me. You're going to be a real boy now. We zoom into Billy's brain and there's like an image of him smoking like with a cowboy hat and spurs. Yeah. Pretty cool. Arabian music for some reason.

Can't imagine the things I'd be seeing. All the places I'm going. All the places I've been. Wow. This character is wild. I've been traveling. Fortnite. Fortnite in a day. Watching the sunset every night. A lone wolf. Me and my lone wolf. Two lone wolves. Two lone wolves. How do you party? Billy comes to in a sewer. And one, two, and three have formed a sort of human ladder. Mm-hmm. Up to the sewer entrance above you. All right. This is the way. Now it's time for stealth. Shh. Okay.

Should you guys light up so that Callum can't find you? It's time. Yeah. Okay. Mears pops a cigarette in his mouth as well. I don't know if I'm ready to do this. Mears is freaking out. It'll be okay. Okay. Don't inhale. Wait, no. Do inhale. Do not inhale. Yeah. Inhale. Inhale. He puts it in his mouth. Woof. You gotta hold it in, Mears. Yeah. It's so loud. There's so much coughing and we're in such a smile. Guys. Guys. Be. That's fucking dank. It tastes like a petting zoo. Oh, my God.

Everybody smoke more. Smoke more. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. Don't waste the smoke. Oh, my God. Blow it in my face. I know. Blow it in my face. Blow it in your face. Oh, God. Oh, my God. It smells like spaghetti. Keep smoking. Okay. Okay. It smells like the taste of last night's spaghetti. Oh, God. Oh, my God. I feel like I'll never get an erection again. Oh, my God. It smells like spaghetti, but if the spaghetti was just herbs. Okay. All right. Okay. I'm just not gonna. I'm gonna put it in.

I'm gonna hold it in my mouth, but I'm not gonna smoke it. It's like a whole mouth. It's like my whole mouth is a chimney. It's like a chimney. It's just like a bunch of ovens in my mouth. Are my teeth orange? I feel like my teeth are orange. I think they might be orange. I feel shorter. Does that make sense? It's getting you guys a little bit high. I feel taller. How tall am I? Did I grow? Oh, my God. Bill, you're huge now. He's standing on Mears' shoulders. Oh, my God. You're taller than me.

Oh, my God. Several minutes later. Yeah. Everyone's calmed down a little bit, and camera cuts to a lower, lower level room. Manhole cover pops up, squeak, turns, slides over to the side, quietly grinding on the stone floor. Billow is of smoke. Yes. Saffron scented smoke curls up from the manhole cover. And who goes first? I will do a trap expert. Ah, very smart. Yes. 2d6 plus dexterity. I suck in a bit of that air, the smoky air. Plus dexterity. Eight. Great. One question. Okay.

Well, is there a trap here? There is. Okay. What? I mean, what activates it? You hear a bunch of shuffling and scrabbling in the room above you. You haven't completely peeked your head out, but you look up and filling this chamber, like the floor is just covered in fat, dark gray rats. Oh, gross. How big are these rats? Like, uh, like the size of… Like, half the size of a cat. A muskrat. Holy shit. But there's like dozens of them. What the fuck? Yeah. Are we in like a cellar?

You're in a cellar. Absolutely. You see like there's maybe like, like burlap sacks and stuff that have been long since chewed through. But there are just rats wall to wall in this room. Friends! Rodents! Countrymen! Whoa, yeah, do it! Lend me your ears! All the rats start poking their heads up. Hark! What voice calls from the darkness? It's a rat. It is I, the Rat King from below. All right, roll a TD6 plus charisma, I guess. Hell yeah! Oh no! Seven… Eight? Eight? Oh! No, I said six!

No, no, you gotta say it. I was like, what the… This is gonna be awesome. I'm using this five to talk to the rats. It's a four to a five. Worth it. Again. Show yourself, so-called king. I come up. I bring the, um, my, um, gray furs up. I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, what the fuck?

There's a widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz widz Will you rise to his call? Lend me your tales tonight. We call no man king, but any that speaks the rattish tongue may be our ally. I parlay with thee. Parlay. He speaks parlay. Parlay. Parlay. He speaks of parlay. And all the rats separate and one aged rat walks forward. Whoa. Wow. What parlay offer you, man? He's old.

He's grizzled around his muzzle is light gray fur. Finn takes a knee, bows his head. I am the patriarch of this rat horde. And I take you on parlay. Yes. What offer you the rattish hordes? Shit. I offer thee a bounty outside even your wildest wants. Ask of it and it shall be thine. There's only one thing we seek. Yes. The return of our kingdom. This palace has been the home of rats for generations. Generation after generation. Easily 12, 13 years. Have we slept in these halls?

Eating of these grains? The darkness that infects these halls has forced us into the lowest levels. We've seen the light. And we will not be forced back into the sewers. Help us spread amongst these halls. Reclaim our grains. Reclaim our holds. You shall feast on cheese. Yes. You speak of cheese. You speak of cheeses, eh? I am no spring rat. I have known a parlay or two. How can we take your assurances? Mmm. Perhaps a taste of cheese? Perhaps a taste of cheese? Oh, Billy. Switcheroo.

Oh, I can switcheroo. Yeah, I'll crawl out. I have my raccoon thing over my head. And I bow to the paper. Raccoon! They all scatter. Wait. No, no, no. He is a friend. Wait, wait. Competitors. That's no raccoon. That's a boy. Show yourself, boycoon. He merely smells and looks like a raccoon. He takes his hood down. Boy raccoon. Boy raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon.

The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon.

The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon. The evil raccoon.

The grain sack the rats uh give way creating a a path to the sack and billy shields the view until he steps back and it appears like crumbles of cheese coming out of the bag ving wafts the cheese smell forward like vape from a smoker's mouth circles of cheese fill the room guys I can smell cheese is there cheese up there tug is still in the sewer ving gives a thumb up down the sewer that is a smell that my nose hath not lain on in many moons ving hands him a large chunk he reaches forward with his little ratty paws picks it up my assurance is your liege wrath kind feast upon the cheeses that wait us in the future and they all descend on this bag and they eat all this grain that looks like crumbles of cheese it goes down their gullets so smooth you there's a bunch of squeaking and then soon the whole sack is gone they ate the cloth and everything oh my god and they all uh are kissing their little paws very well you have given us assurances that the cheeses will be ours you can ask one favor of the rats and we shall deliver oh when we make the call you run rat havoc this we can do on your signal we shall unleash the rats of war now be gone from my chambers be gone yeah we're going we just gotta go be gone yeah be gone as everyone comes out of the one by one that he goes doing through we're going we're going okay close the door and I turned to ving and I'm like should we have maybe asked them to like steal the ink or the knife or anything I probably should have done a lot more than just just yeah I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm okay and you closed the door on that storeroom the sort of like offshoot a little closet that clearly was just kind of like a garbage room and you are now in what you would assume are the lower levels of blackhammer hall okay should we discern realities oh yeah yes okay 12 okay three questions what here's useful or valuable yeah you you brought along the brass castle boys specifically because they're like guiding and helping Okay.

Yeah. So the brat two leads you down the hallway. He's like, be quiet now. Be very quiet. Yes. And he's creeping through the halls and he leads you to a section that he leads you to a staircase, like a door beyond here. Awesome stairs that leads you to the main level of the hall. If you're trying to get to the courtyard, this is the way to go. So that's how I'm going. That's where you go. I have to go the obvious way. And then three leads you a little bit further down. And he goes, all right.

So this behind this part of the wall, this part, we never really, we didn't finish in time. But if you go through here, you get to the old castle and there's a big room underneath the courtyard. But apparently, according to one of the servants, they said that they've been messing around under there. Callum's been messing around? Or his people, you know, building stuff down there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We should be looking at that first, maybe. Yeah. Before I go. Okay. Who's really in control here?

You think that whatever is going on in the palace at large, what you saw in the courtyard, that is the focal point. The glass orchard that they made, the glass trees and the tapestries and the lanterns that made that reflection. That is the focal point. So down here, you think that unless you were to really fuck something up, you are probably safe to operate quietly down here. Cool. Yeah. Well, here's not what it appears to be. Um. Yeah. Well. What would be not what it appears to be here?

Oh, maybe in the big where the big old ballroom used to be. Maybe the floor above, like the new floor. Like maybe that's glass, too. Hmm. Oh, so like you can move about quietly underneath, but you can still see what's going on above. Yeah. Maybe. Unless there's something cooler. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Or like there's like the like Rian's castle was built like on the lake or whatever. Mm hmm. Like maybe there are underground tunnels. There's an aquifer underneath the castle. Oh, yeah.

Oh, and maybe there's a piece of the moon down there. Sure. There's a piece of the moon down there. Oh, my God. Please, Sean. Yeah, Sean, please. There can't be a piece of the moon everywhere. Sean, there's a. Sean, this is Rian's house. This isn't Rian's house. This is not Rian's house. Oh, never mind. This is the Blackhammer. This is the Blackhammer Hall. This is the Blackhammer. You didn't think this was Rian's house, did you? I did. Okay. Okay. But I still think it's cool.

I think it is cool. I also think. This is Rian's house. I also think. I think that it's cool that Ving puts his hand up on a wall and is like, wait. And he hears water running under the castle, through the walls, to the point where there has to be some sort of old aquifer that connects right through a section of the castle. Yeah. Okay, cool. But it would be like, based on what you've seen of the city, it's long since blocked off.

It's running through sealed off chambers, which might mean, especially the nature of water, that using that water might be a good way to get water. It's a good way to propagate Billy's fairy circle. Like, maybe it kind of runs in a way that you can use that to create the circuit. You turn the waterways into a fairy circle. Oh, yeah. And then the water, like the current of the water will keep it going. That would be sick. That would be sick. Yeah. So that's what you know.

There is a chamber that is like bricked over, but you can hear water on the other side of it somewhere. And you think that you can operate down here pretty well, but there is a staircase nearby that will lead you up. To the main courtyard. Okay. Sounds good. Okay. So I think one, two, and three, they got you here. Yeah. They're like, we got to go look for our boys. Yeah. Go look for them. Okay. You go find Artie and Rookin. All right. We're going to split. We're going to split up.

And if they seem like they're like weird pod people, just get them to smoke a bunch. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good. And if they were not going to smoke, then you smoke and blow it in their mouth. Okay. Sounds weird, but it works. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Yeah. All right, boys. Let's practice. And they just start blowing into each other's mouths. We watch it. And then they start having a bunch of sexual tension between each other. Their eyes are like meeting really hard. All right.

We got to go. Get out of here. We got to go. And they're just blowing into each other's faces. Ving's lingering. All right. So remind me of your plan. Tuck is going up with an illusion of Ving. Yes. Pretending to be Ving. Pretending to be possessed by servitude. Yes. The next step of the plan is Tuck tries to make a deal with servitude. That would be the next thing. Do we do it in like, do we do this in the big ballroom underground? Yeah. Oh, sure. Yeah. Okay.

So that would mean we're breaking through first through this like fake wall because you need to break through the wall to get to the fake, the old ballroom. Sure. Yeah. Let's do it. Okay. Okay. So who's, how are we breaking this wall down? Do you want me to do it? I have TLC. Oh yeah. That's true. I can just push them against it. Here we go. Uh, nine. Oh, eight. All right. I'm catching bricks as they fall out. Beautiful. Yep. Seven. Seven. So that makes that a 10.

So Tuck's just kind of like building a wall beside it, like popping sections out. He's just like putting the blade against it and because they can smash any stone, he just like pushes them into the wall. Yeah. Cool. Like Jenga. Yeah. He's Jenga-ing the wall.

And as you're like pushing into these old stone, you're looking at these solidly looking, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, these, solid looking walls all around you. Yeah. This section of wall comes down piece by piece revealing like a darkened corridor on the other side of much older stone worn dusty.

There's like a layer of dust on the ground. And we can smell like musty water running. Yeah. You can hear it rushing. Yeah. It's rushing like right through here. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Just, just on the other side of this passage is where the waterways begin. The sound of water. Yeah. So you see light filtering above from the courtyard. Yeah. Like the, the myriad. The myriad lanterns that they'd lit for the wedding illuminating old archways and like buttressed channels.

And you see the water running through. It looks like maybe this was part of the castle's waste system once upon a time used to just like shuttle shit from like privies and bath chambers to just like out into the ocean. Well, yeah, we're in the steam district. We're near it. Yeah. Oh yeah. So there's probably like steam, old steam pipes that are connected to this that have been used to like cool stuff or suck water up to different boilers. Yeah.

And the water's filtering down and you see like the shadows, the moving shadows of like feet on the glass shuffling and then like kicking, pounding heels as someone's dragged into the, into the courtyard. Oh, and then they always like still. Yeah. And then they join the kind of like shuffling. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, can we hear any music from. Yeah. You hear music moving around the corridor and you hear like clattering above on the tiles. You assume the orchestra must be up there. Okay.

But this does seem to be the section that you would need to be under to perform your fairy trap move. And you see kind of further in like near where the center of the courtyard would be what you assume the brass castle boys were talking about. There's new mechanical construction directly under the center, like gears and cogs and pistons that you assume that was where the orchestra rested. So they built it there. Yeah. And then through whatever means it kind of became something else.

Like a giant, like kind of like the inside of a music box. Yeah. Sort of. Exactly. But like giant and built underground. Yeah. So that's further in. But, but regardless, it seems like now that it is whatever it is now, it has not been maintained since. Okay. So you're still kind of alone down here. Okay. What that does suggest is that there are entrances and exits to this area you are unaware of. Okay. Can we see the altar? You can see what you assume are that ring of chairs. Right.

And then like a larger shadow. That must be the altar. All right. So you definitely didn't want to catch the fairy ring around that. Okay. I can't put this off any longer. Okay. Okay. It's time to go. Good luck. Inside. If I come out and I don't say that thing about how I don't like classical music. Okay. Then you guys have to fight me and put me down. Mears reaches up and puts his hand on the hilt of the sword. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Knock me out with that thing. Yeah.

I'll knock you out. Okay. Yeah. All right. Here we go. Here we go. Good luck, Tuck. Thank you. You can do this. And Tuck closes his eyes and then opens him and he's in the pizza hut in his mind. So you close your eyes. You prepare for the void. Yeah. The void that you have spent every night in since. Yeah. And you hear ding, ding. You're in the doorway of a pizza hut. Yeah. Full of Tucks. Yeah. Just for one. Yeah. And there's a new server at the front. What? What? Does not look like Tuck. Whoa.

What does he look like? It's the old man. Yeah. The old man. The old man. Oh. Habibi. Yeah. Habibi Maraghani. Yeah. And Tuck, he has like full body goosebumps because he's only seen this guy twice. Yeah. Once it was like its first memory. Yeah. And the other time was he killed him. Yeah. In his mind. In his mind. Yeah. Yeah. Just for one? For two, please. And he turns around and he goes, hey, boss. I'm taking my 15. And then the Tuck behind the counter goes. Good thing.

And he comes and he sits at a booth with you. There is a long, long table full of pizzas. Oh, sick. All you can eat. Oh, it's an all you can eat lunch buffet? Yeah, man. And there are several versions of you going to town. Okay. He goes, wait here. I'll be right back. And he goes quick because he knows everyone's waiting. Outside of his brain. It's your brain. Take your time. Here we go. And then I call from the buffet. Do you want anything? No, I'm, you know, I'm okay. Okay.

I bring back a little pasta salad for him. Here you go. Thank you. I actually do like this. I like the, it's got bits of ham in it. Yeah, it's great. What can I do for you? Let's let's drop the pretext. Very well. How may I serve? Um, I need your help. He nods. I need you to make it look like I'm possessed. Oh, I actually know a way. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. I can do that quite easily. Oh, really fucking funny. Really fucking funny. Oh, I didn't see that coming. Can't blame.

Really fucking funny. Can't blame a demon for trying. Look, man, you're stuck in here with me and I got your fucking number now. So you either play a ball or you never get let out of the box. He shivers a little bit. Fuck you. So what do you need? I need you to make it look like I am possessed. You know, to make this happen, you gotta let me through just a little. A little bit. I know. Just a little tiny touch. I know. You're okay with that? Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right.

So you're rolling 2d6 plus charisma here. Yeah. Oh, your charisma is quite high. I'll keep it secret. Okay. So here's what we're going to do. What? Okay. Don't, you're not going to tell me. Okay. We cut back to the chamber underneath the courtyard. Hmm. Tuck's eyes open. All the eyes on his chest open. He looks at the three of you. He looks at the three of you. Tuck. Tuck. Tuck. And that's where we're going to end it for this week. I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara.

Joining me, as always, Tacoma Dome, the Barbarian, Abdulaziz. So long. Ving, the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers. Goosebumps. And Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. What's going to happen? Thank you to all of our supporters around the world. If you want us to support the show and get access to bonus content, like the up-to-date Mall Brats feed, gift boxes, merchandise, and a whole lot of other stuff, you can check us out at patreon.com slash speltlore or speltlore.com slash money, please.

Thank you also to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music, which you can find anywhere online, including all of the music produced for the show and Aaron's original music, which is incredible, at aaronreed.bandcamp.com. Thank you finally, and most of all, to all of you for listening. We'll see you next time. And so ends the tale of Adventures 3.

Who tried the best they can Though dumb and scared and lost they be For time's abreast in revelry And though our journey may be like a conclusion We will not leave you without a resolution Return next week To hear some more Whilst you commute Or do your chores And for you I'd gladly Spout Lore