C1 | The Sewer Runs Through It | S1E4

Intro Music, heavy guitar and drums, fade in

Kurt: Hey, everybody, welcome back to Tales by Daggerlight. We're here recording session four of us friends, sitting around a table playing Daggerheart. Speaking of friends, let's go around and introduce ourselves.

Kai: Hello, I'm Kai, and I'm playing Severian.

John: If you need a royal blood test, come on down to Basagar.

Jenn: Hey, I'm Jenn, and I'm playing Seraphina.

Kevin: Wait, what do you mean royal blood test? I'm Kevin, I'm playing Zeph.

John: We'll get there.

Geoff: Also confused; Geoff, playing Kua.

Luke: Luke, playing Ciaran.

Kurt: Sweet. And I am your humble GM, Kurt Wild, here to facilitate the chaos you guys are about to ensue. Start out with four fear crossed over from last time, make sure you guy cross over…. I see what you guys did.

Players laugh

Kurt: I see what you guys did.

Kevin: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

John: Kurt stepped away for just a small moment and we were like, ‘Change something. Change something on his screen!’ And we moved one fear over.

Kevin: Yeah, one fear, and he sees it.

Kurt: Yeah. That's the benefit of having it on my GM screen that was just like right front and center.

Kevin: Fair

Kurt: Before we get into today’s game, I know we’re all anxious to get into it, but we have somebody special here to talk about one of our sponsors, Luck Factory Games.

Intro Music Fades

Upbeat Pop Music picks up

Prince Manny (Kurt, high pitched tight voice): Uh, hi! So, umm, I was told that I should tell you that Tales by Daggerlight was founded at a tavern- or wait, this says a café? Yes! A board game café called Luck Factory Games. Apparently it’s like, really big, and fun! Oh, and they have snacks! SNAKCS! Well, I don’t know about the rest of us, but I’m gonna go find out what kind of cool people are there. Maybe I’ll see you, too? Anyways, yes, your call to adventure awaits at luckfactorygames.com.

Sponsor music fades

Dramatic rock style orchestral

Kurt: In every city, every kingdom, there's a story that never sees the light. The one that falls through the cracks, bleeds through the floorboards, and smiles when the sun finally goes down. Where heroic promises, broken oaths, bad decisions, and desperate prayers all sit at the same table. Six heroes emerge out of the edge of the shadows. Ciaran;

Ciaran (Luke): No matter what, there will be consequences.

Kurt: Zeph;

Zeph (Kevin): That asshole needed to die.

Kurt: Pi N’kuwa;

Pi N’kuwa (Geoff): You said we were talking, but you're not saying a lot.

Kurt: Seraphina;

Seraphina (Jenn): Look, I have the voice of an angel, we all know it.

Kurt: Severian;

Severian (Kai): It's not a murder… if… he’s food.

Kurt: and Basagar;

Basagar (John): We need to get to the castle.

Kurt: Together, they walk the line between mercy and ruin, rolling bones against hope and fear in a world that wants them obedient, or worse, dead. So lace your boots, check your blades, and hold your breath. Meet us at The Blade's Edge. Once this story starts, it doesn't let you go. This is Tales by Daggerlight.

Music Fades

Light pensive music slowly fades in.

Kurt: The Fun Aunts surged into Gutterrun, Fungal curse-born things that didn’t butcher crowds, they inspected them. One person wasn’t so lucky. On that crushed body, a Virel signet ring and a name that hit like a knife in the ribs, Prince Wilhelm Virel, son of Prince Rhydian.

You dragged the situation into an uneasy sanctuary of St. Kevarin’s Hollow, where Father Ulrich Vane tried to keep the peace. But the hollow had its own rot. Issava Khelt of The Guild made it plain. Zeph's face was circulating, and there's a contract on his head he can pay off with two chests or two favors. (Light and high tone pings)

Then Basagar and Severian found out that Wilhelm wasn’t dead, just broken. He jolted upright clawing for breath and grabbed Basagar with terror in his eyes.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): They’re after the first blood. You’re all gonna die!

Kurt: He babbled about visions. Blood running down the steps of Ashrelm, building falling, the dead rising, and root ripping through Lowthorn.

Father Ulrich focused all the Lumora that he could muster into keeping Wilhelm alive, and afterward, went white as ash as the Lumora was gone.

Outside, the city snapped as they found out that the Virelian guards drew first blood inside St. Kevarin's Hollow. Guards moved in, panic spread, and the weapons were seized, including Elyndra, Zeph's sword, until you forced it back into your hands and fled to the Grates of the Gutterrun, hiding in a sewer-side safe house. Down there, you found Prince Manny. A tiny, noble fairy desperate to reach the castle to speak with the King about a missing person from the Fey Realm. You used the safe house to hide and seek from some of the guard, and you overheard the conversation about a hit on Prince Rhydian and that it might go down tonight (light and high tone pings). The guard discovered the hatch to your hiding spot, and Zeph pulled him down into the depths of the Grates, and Basagar ended the threat with one brutal stomp. You bought silence with gore. On the body, a tracking chit with ‘M - Zeph Virel, typically seen in the Gutterrun’, signed only with the initials E.D.

You tied up Issava for good measure and asked him a few questions, and he spat the next poison. The raid wasn't just about Wilhelm. They were asking for Caelan, another of King

Alric's sons.

And then Severian tasted Zeph's blood, and the world cracked open. A shared vision seized Severian and Basagar in a field of briars, and two lovers spoke in secret. Alric and a pregnant woman named Linessa, promising to hide their child, promising he was Alric's son. And when the vision snapped shut, the room went dead quiet, because Zeph swallowed hard and said words that turned the safe house colder than the sewer wind.

Zeph (Kevin): Linessa's my mother's name.

Kurt: You guys are in the bottom of the Gutterrun, literally in the sewer safe house.

Kevin: Literally the bottom of the gutter.

Repetative four note suspenseful music begins

Kurt: Literally the bottom of the Gutterrun.

John: We've had rock bottom.

Kurt chuckles

Luke: Can't go much lower, right?

John: Hopefully.

Others laugh and agree

Kurt: Hopefully, yeah. Only way is up.

Others laugh and agree

John: So we’re out of- Severian and I are out of the visions?

Drum thumping gets added to the four notes

Kurt: Mmhmm, yes

John: I'm assuming we're like conscious and like-?

Kurt: Yeah yeah yeah, you don't take anything. There's nothing that is holding you back and that you are fully aware of where you are and what you just did.

John: I peel, I retract my hand away from Zeph's face and I look at you for a moment, and I look to Severian.

Basagar (John): Did you see, did you see that as well?

Kai: Severian's still behind you, Zeph, tongue hanging out of his mouth, just like wide-eyed.

Severian (Kai): Uh huh.

John: We- just for clarity's sake, would Basagar know the king's name?

Jenn: Oh.

Kurt: I would say no.

Kai: Great.

Chuckles

Kurt: If you want to roll a knowledge, I mean… the king's name would be widely spread across the Ternion Gorge.

Deep ominous music begins, mixed with the four notes

John: For Basagar's sake, and you can let me know if you'd want me to still roll. I think there would be no… Basagar does not know of this royal lineage or anything of that sort. Or how the system works in this city. All he knows is whatever’s in the castle is important, that’s it.

Kurt: Then if you think Basagar wouldn’t know it, then there’s no need to roll.

John: I don’t think he would actively seek it out.

Four notes begin to slow

Kurt: Then yeah.

John: I think Bagagar looks…. pauses at first and looks at Sevarian and he goes;

Notes fade completely

Basagar (John): What does this mean? What- he has the blood?

Severian (Kai): Tasted like it. And we saw him as a baby, or-

Ominous dark music begins to fade in.

Basagar (John): Yes, in the-

Severian (Kai): In the womb.

Basagar (John): Yes. We saw a memory. A memory of yours, or a memory of your parents… or at least the mother who bore you. Linessa I believe is her name.

Severian (Kai): Mmhmm.

Zeph (Kevin): Bullshit.

Basagar (John): No, and she was with Alric.

Zeph (Kevin): Woah woah woah. Wh-?

Ciaran (Luke): Repeat that please.

Basagar (John): I-

Severian (Kai): They said they couldn't be together. It's very sad.

Basagar (John): Yes they were… it was a solemn moment. They were both off in a field somewhere. And you were in the womb. We would have no… I've never… this has never happened in my experience

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): You said you saw this person?

Basagar (John): Yes.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): I need you to describe what this Alric looked like, please.

Basagar (John): Brown haired, just normal, common clothes, trying not to look out of place, I think, in this moment. Probably wearied? I don't know, Severian, what do you think?

Severian (Kai): He didn't look very tasty, moderately. She looked lot tastier.

Basagar (John): No-

Severian (Kai): Especially with the two for one deal.

Basagar (John): Um….okay.

Laughter from players.

Basagar (John): That's not… brown haired and...

Zeph (Kevin): Well, obviously, I mean, obviously this wouldn't be the king. The king wouldn't be dressed as just a commoner, right? Right?

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): No, he absolutely would have.

Zeph (Kevin): You're not helping.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): He's describing the king, Alric the Wise, who was well known for going into town in common clothing to speak with the people.

Ciaran (Luke): That is common practice for royalty to do so.

Zeph (Kevin): Well. But-

Seraphina (Jenn): Sounds like he was going more than talking.

Zeph (Kevin): This is… you don’t base an entire system of government on random visions that you get out no where, right? That seems extreme.

Basagar (John): This is the first that I've come across something like this before.

Zeph (Kevin): There, see? See, there you go.

Severian (Kai): But this isn't the first time I've tasted this.

Zeph (Kevin): I beg to diff- oh, oh, oh.

Basagar (John): He's talking about the blood of The First in you.

Zeph (Kevin): That's just great.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): So no relation?

Zeph (Kevin): Maybe some relation.

Jenn: Could Seraphina, because she's sitting on a crate next to Prince Wilhelm, could she look between he and Zeph a few times and see if she sees a family resemblance?

Kurt: Yeah, they might have the same body build, maybe the eyes and the nose? But-

Jenn: Okay.

Kurt: -it's not alarming. You know, like you wouldn't look at both of them.

Jenn: Yeah, they don't look exactly like each other. But like, you know how cousins oftentimes-

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: - you can tell.

Kurt: Right.

Jenn: There’s gotta be a family resemblence.

Kurt: Mmhmm.

Jenn: Okay.

Kevin: Zeph just slumps against one of the walls and slowly slides down. And sits on the ground.

Zeph (Kevin): So, that’s something new. Look, regardless of whether this is actually true or just some random fever dream or something else, we have got a load of shit outside this place right now. This entire area is going to be on a razor's edge. And then on top of it, we have an entire fucking city that apparently wants, well;

Kevin: And he looks at Beta Prince Wilhelm.

Zeph (Kevin): -the two of us dead, your father dead, and most likely everyone else in this room, including these two;

Kevin: And he gestures toward Manny and the half -orc.

Zeph (Kevin): -dead for what we know. So…

Kurt: As you are saying this, you look over and you can see Beta Prince Wilhelm sitting, staring at you, wide eyed, absorbing everything you guys are saying after coming out of whatever unconsciousness that he was in, he goes,

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt, softer voice): Are we sure that what we heard can be trusted? They're just guards, right?

Zeph (Kevin): Can we afford to ignore it?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): So what do we do?

Zeph (Kevin): Chuckles. That’s the question.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I’ve never been down here. Is it possible to get back up? I can get us back up.

Seraphina (Jenn): Sweetheart, they wanna kill you. I don’t think that that's safe.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I don't think it's safe staying down here. Like, if Zeph is right, if there's going to be a rebellion against the crown because of what happened with Father Ulrich, then I don't want to be down here. I don't think any of us do.

Seraphina (Jenn): No.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): Well, you may also not want to be up there.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): If they're going to kill the crown, they're not going to be looking for you here.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I can't believe it was Elowen Daris. I can't…. like… she was a friend.

Ciaran (Luke): Was she?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): She was close. She was… I would say that she befriended my father and mother. Unless that was all-

Seraphina (Jenn): Unfortunately, Prince, you keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That’s how these people work. And, when people want more power, the easiest way to do that is to take somebody else's.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Sometimes I wish I could just throw my title away and come down here.

Zeph (Kevin): You don't want that kid. But I understand what you're saying. Look, we need to try at least. Find your father. And then we need to get the fuck out of this town. This entire city is after us at this point. That's basically how we gotta look at this.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Does anybody know anyone named Angelica? It’s who I came down here for. I was gonna buy her something from the market. And if we can get to her, maybe we would bring her down here or she has connections, she can get us out of the city.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): Where would we find her? We should explore all of our options as dangerous as they are. Sitting still is just as dangerous as going forward.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): She bartends, or she's a maiden at the Brine and Barrel. It's an ale house over right off the Veill Water

River. It's a dockside ale house and a sea shanty kind of place.

Jenn: Okay. Like dive bar kind of sailor situation?

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: Alright.

Kurt: You especially would know it. You probably played there several times.

Jenn: Okay.

Seraphina (Jenn): I do love a nice sea shanty. Hey, cousin Bas?

Basagar (John): Yeah.

Seraphina (Jenn): So you came here to find out about what's going on at

home. You needed to find out of this corruption that's happening that seems, well, it seems like it's spreading here somehow. (Light and high tone pings) What was your plan? Were you just coming for information? Or did you want to bring a member of the blood back with you?

Basagar (John): I honestly, I thought the answers would be at the castle. I thought, knowing that this king is sick and that he had some power or some relevancy, I guess, in this city, it led me to believe that maybe he has the answers. I never thought of bringing someone else with the First Blood back, but it's an option.

Seraphina (Jenn): I mean, you got two right here.

Zeph (Kevin): One.

Ciaran (Luke): I believe it is two, Lord Zeph.

Zeph (Kevin): Damn it.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): Don't sold Manny like that.

Laughter

Kurt: You hear the sound of footsteps in what sounds like (synchronous group of foot steps) a marching order. Almost like a squad of heavy footsteps being just a reminder of that there's still a lot going on up there, even though it may be quiet down here for the time being with the rats and the insects, the vermin of the Gutterrun. It is a completely different scene up top.

Zeph (Kevin): Is there a way to get from where we are over to this bar through the sewers?

Kurt: The Brine and Barrel is on the other side of the river from where you are. So you'd have to go to where the sewer empties out into the river and then either ford the river, swim across, or try to find a way over.

Zeph (Kevin): Prince, there are not a lot of very good options for trying to get to your friend.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Okay.

Zeph (Kevin): What is she to you?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Everything.

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, shit. Yeah, I had a feeling you were.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I'm sorry, I'm a hopeless romantic. I can't help it.

Ser: Well, it seems like it runs in your family.

John laughs.

Zeph groans.

Zeph (Kevin): Okay.

John: John is laughing. Basagar has no clue.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I will have to say this, I guess this means we are family.

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, don't start that.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): It's so interesting how human relationships work. I mean, cousin and cousin, and then cousin and then cousin and cousin, there's so many cousins.

Basagar (John): I agree.

Keph (Kevin): Zeph pulls his flask out of his jacket pocket. But his hands are shaking to a point he can’t get it open. And finally he just gives up-

John: Basagar helps you open it. He’s seen you a couple times drinking it, so.

Zeph (Kevin): Thank you.

Kevin: And he takes a big long swig and manages to put it away.

Issava Khelt (Kurt, gruff): What’s wrong Zeph? Got your nerves shaking ay?

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, I wouldn't be too chipper if I were you, buddy. You've got a death warrant on your head, too.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Look, look. I know you guys want my head. I can't blame you.

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, not us. You don't have us to worry about. But you know too much for whoever it is that put a price on my head and is looking for his head.

Kevin: And he points to Beta Prince.

Zeph (Kevin): You got powerful folks up there who aren't going to be very happy with loose end, you realize. You’re a liability brother.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): I get it. Ay, ay.

Zeph (Kevin): Alright, just so you’re aware.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): If you need protection I can get you out of here. I know the way, I know who to talk to, I know the avenues. You know that.

Zeph (Kevin): Uh huh.

Basagar (John): So you intent to leave the city?

John: Just looks at the rest of the group.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Sounds like that's the only move you got. Unless you want to brave the echelon and brave the Rings. Sounds like you don't have too many more friends.

Ciaran (Luke): Well, I respect the desire to get out of the city. We are witnessing an upheaval of society in this kingdom. And clearly this, the ring Lady Elowen Daris, is trying to seize greater power and has already infiltrated or corrupted much of the guard. Can we truly afford to leave the kingdom in its current state and simply flee like cowards?

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah, that's assuming that she's working on her own. There could be multiple people. Usually a power grab like this takes some serious orchestration.

Ciaran (Luke): Even further reason to stay.

Seraphina (Jenn): Who do the guard listen to?

Ciaran (Luke): The guard is segmented based on the level of the city and who's in charge of each respective Guard. Many of the ring lords and ladies have their own.

Basagar (John): Well, you also have the Fun Aunts to consider.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): I think we may well have as many friends as allies, but we don't know until they're attempting to stab us in the back.

Zeph (Kevin): Look, I’m not thrilled about leaving Virelia. This is the only home I’ve ever known. But, what I’m saying is things are about to get very heated. And it might be a good idea to let things calm down a little before we go poking our noses into a hornet's nest.

Ciaran (Luke): You think they will calm? You think this rot will simply cease to exist if we leave long enough? You think the flames will die down and leave us with much to come back to?

Issava Khelt (Kurt): You talk funny. Where are you from?

Ciaran (Luke): A little higher in the city. (Light and high tone pings)

Issava Khelt (Kurt): I don't think I caught your name.

Ciaran (Luke): I didn't give it. Regardless.

John: I think Basagar is about to like say something and he looks direct- Ciaran looks directly at him and then I think he just puts his hand down.

Laughter

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): Ciaran, I'm not as well versed in the politics of this city but it seems like you may be the only one that knows where we might watch this unfold versus being caught up in it.

Geoff: And yeah, absolute no clue that he just fucked us.

Laughter

Ciaran (Luke): Anyways…

Zeph (Kevin): Look I’m just saying, if we stay maybe we can help the city but maybe we end up dead. And if we’re dead then we’re not going to be able to help the city at all.

Ciaran (Luke): That may be true.

Zeph (Kevin): No that's definitely true, if we're dead we are not going to be able to help the city.

Ciaran (Luke): That fact yes that is very true.

Zeph (Kevin): Okay, cool.

Ciaran (Luke): However if we're not here we cannot help the city either.

Repetitive 4 note music begins again

Ciaran (Luke): Do you propose we would flee with our friend Wilhelm here?

Zeph (Kevin): Yes. And Manny-

Basagar (John): They already tried to kill him once

Zeph (Kevin): -and his father if we can find him before the guards get to him. Look we've got an entire city pointed at us with bull's eyes on our backs right now.

Ciaran (Luke): Then let's take it one step at a time.

Zeph (Kevin): Alright.

Ciaran (Luke): Let's meet with Prince Rhydian and go from there.

Zeph (Kevin): All right fine. I agree that's the first thing we need to do regardless.

Ciaran (Luke): Is that amenable, Wilhelm?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Yeah, if we can go talk to Papa and he can at least let us know what to do next.

Ciaran (Luke): Yes.

Zeph (Kevin, said with mocking tone): Alright, where's Papa?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Why do you say it like that?

Giggles

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, fuck's sake. Where's your dad?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): He's probably in his house right now, probably… when there's a lockdown, most of the Ashen Rings are, either go to the castle and be there and be ready to give the royal presentation to the King or consort with him. But, if he’s not in the castle he’d be at home. Probably heavily guarded.

Zeph (Kevin): Oh I’m sure.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): If we can get up there.

Zeph (Kevin): I think I can get us up at least into the district, but then I'm useless. I think that's when you take over.

Ciaran (Luke): I can guide us through the upper districts.

Basagar (John): Do you think it's safer for all of us to travel? It was quite difficult getting here.

Zeph (Kevin): We won't be on the streets.

Ciaran (Luke): It being safe would be a stretch of the imagination.

Zeph (Kevin): Also true.

Ciaran (Luke): It is entirely possible for us to get there without having undo confrontations.

Seraphina (Jenn): I have a question, Prince Wilhelm. When was the last time you saw your uncle, the king?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Oh, um, well… I’m not really allowed in his chambers.

Seraphina (Jenn): Hmmm.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): It’s usually for direct family, or those close to him or his advisors.

Music shifts to higher octave.

Seraphina (Jenn): And you're not direct family? He's your uncle, right?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I see no reason to be in there with his sickness. I don't really want to be.

Seraphina (Jenn): When was the last time your father saw him?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I think he talks with him pretty regularly.

Seraphina (Jenn): So as far as you know, the king is ill but still alive.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Oh, yes, (light and high tone pings) yes. We would know if he was gone.

Ciaran (Luke): Fortunately we do have one of his children with us right here, so….

Basagar (John): Yes, that is true.

Kevin: Zeph just bangs his head against the wall a couple of time.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): I don’t know if bringing that to light would be the best case scenario right now.

Zeph (Kevin): Please, no.

Ciaran (Luke): Not to the public, certainly.

Zeph (Kevin): Sighs. So much for this all blowing over in a couple days. Fuck me.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Well, so how do we get up to Ashrelm?

Ciaran (Luke): Follow me.

Seraphina (Jenn): And what do we do with uh..?

Jenn: And she gestures at the half orc.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Listen, your secret's safe with me. All of your secrets. It sounds like you got a handful of them.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): I have much doubt.

Ser: Can you be trusted?

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, he can't be trusted.

Seraphina (Jenn): But can you be paid?

Issava Khelt (Kurt): I can be paid.

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, he could definitely be paid. But think about it this way. These secrets really aren't secrets. Like the ones who know already have fucking targets on my back. So who's he going to tell? Somebody who's going to look at him as a loose end and run a shiv through his back.

Seraphina (Jenn): No, I get that. I was just thinking if he knows back ways to get places, maybe he could make his way over to a certain bar that's right near the river and talk to a waitress and just double check and make sure she's okay.

Zeph (Kevin): Now, that's clever.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): I know the bar will. I can't say I know this… what did you say her name was?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Angelica.

Seraphina (Jenn): Willie, can you describe her so he can figure out who she is?

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Yeah. Man, where do I start?

Zeph (Kevin): Oh, god.

Laughter

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): With her appearance.

John (sings): Angelica!

Laughter

Music shifts to light and soft

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Well, she is tall for a waitress, taller than me. Long, curly, brunette hair, beautiful brown eyes. Very kind of pale, alabaster skin, but she shows off really well. She usually wears some type of barmaids, you know, dress. She sings, man, she can sing. She has this really good song that we wrote together. I'm sorry, that's probably not important.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): Another time, perhaps.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Maybe. You'll know her when you see her. She's the brightest star in the sky whenever you look.

Record scratches, cuts off music.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): So, Issava, tall, brunette, brown eyes.

Chuckles

Seraphina (Jenn): So is she...

Issava Khelt (Kurt): You're describing every dame down here.

Seraphina (Jenn): Willie, is she human? Or is she more like Basagar?

Record scratches again, light soft music picks back up

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Oh, I guess sorry, I didn't think about ancestry. No, she is, she's an elf.

Seraphina (Jenn): Okay. All right.

Jenn: So she looks to the half orc as she kind of roots down into a pouch at her side and pulls out two handfuls of gold.

Luke: Now, is that Seraphina handfuls or like?

Laughter

Kevin: Fair question.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah, so there's like three coins in each. And looks at the orc, drops them in his palm and goes;

Seraphina (Jenn): If you could be a dear and go make sure she's safe, have a couple beers on us and just hang out there and keep an eye on it for us.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): You bought my time for now.

Zeph (Kevin): That's two you owe me Issava. One for saving the Hasp, don't forget. And two for not slitting your throat and letting you go.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): I got yous, I got yous.

Zeph (Kevin): Alright.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): I’ll keep that in mind the next time I see yous names come across my table.

Zeph (Kevin): I'd appreciate it. Don't say there's no honor among thieves again, that hurt.

Geoff: As they wrap up, conclude, I want to cut his rope off but I want to try and target just a little bit of like finger tip or something.

Music becomes tense.

Geoff: Just a scratch, just enough to deal some damage to him while actively cutting his ropes.

Kurt: I feel like yeah, that should be easy enough to do. He see’s you come over with the blade, and he’s like;

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Woah woah woah, woah, woah. Hey. I thought we were cool?

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): I’m trying to get the ropes off. Just hold still don’t move.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Alright.

Geoff: Slice directly at him

Sound of rope splitting.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Ah! Motherfucker.

Geoff: Would you like me to roll an attack because I want to use an ability is why.

Kurt: Okay yeah if it's tied to an ability go ahead yeah let's do it proper.

Geoff: 15 with fear.

Kurt: Yeah that'll hit. (Kurt repeats the noise of cutting rope and Issava’s reaction)

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Ow, motherfucker!

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): I told you don't move!

Laughter

Kurt: Alright what's the ability?

Geoff: So I'm going to use my Ranger’s Focus. So I'm going to spend a hope and upon making an attack on a target, on a success I deal normal damage and temporarily make the target my focus. Until the feature ends or I make a different creature my focus I gain the following benefits against them: I know precisely which direction their in.

Kurt: Nice.

Geoff: Which is why I wanted to do this.

Kurt: Beautiful.

Kevin: Dope.

Geoff: And then if I deal damage they mark a stress, and if I fail an attack against them I can end the focus and attack again.

Kevin: Right.

Geoff: But primarily I now know where he is.

Jenn: Nice.

Geoff: Now I’ll roll my damage. It is a full 8, so he moved a lot.

Others laugh or make sympathy sounds

Geoff: That’s on him.

Laughter.

Luke: Hit an artery.

Kurt: Yeah, that wasn’t his major threshold, but he definitely lost a hit point for sure.

Geoff: He should have held still.

Jenn: You nicked one of the arties in his wrist.

Oofs and Ouches

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): He flinched, he flinched! You all saw it.

Kurt: Just out of instinct, because you rolled with fear (thunder claps) he;

Issava Khelt (Kurt, muttering): God-Motherfucking-

Kurt: He kicks you right in the chest. (ch-oomph)

Geoff: Ok.

Kurt: You go flying flying back (Sounds of things scraping, creaking, and breaking) hit up against boxes, you make a racket. He goes;

Issava Khelt (Kurt): God!

P (Whispering) : Shhh, shhh, quiet! You shouldn’t have moved.

Kurt: And he's like actively dripping blood at this moment, he's like;

Issava Khelt (Kurt, muttering and hissing): God, motherf-ergh.

Kurt: You hear muffled;

Verlian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Do you hear something?

Verlian Guard #2 (Kurt, muffled): Oh maybe, over here!

Geoff: Just holding finger to lips.

Issava Khelt (Kurt): Agh.

Kurt: And you hear the sound of footsteps, heavy footsteps, armored footsteps. Ch ch ch ch ch. (muffled footsteps above).

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt): Oh yeah I heard something. Sounds like it came from over here.

Virelian Guard #2 (Kurt): Okay go check it out. I’ll walk the streets.

Geoff: Are we still close to the tunnel entrance?

Kurt: Yeah.

Geoff: I’m gonna start ushering and walking everybody back.

Kurt: You hear the door erwher like, open (sqeaking, then knocking) You hear light footsteps guhdun guhdun above (footsteps continue).

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): I know you're in here. I can smell ya’s.

Kevin: As Zeph was about to head out, is the last one, he catches himself. Just curses under his breath and goes over and goes;

Zeph (Kevin): (Whispering): Manny… Manny!

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Hey I think I got something over here guys!

Virelian Guard #2 (Kurt, muffled): Yeah?

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Yeah.

Kevin: Zeph grabs Manny-

Kurt: You hear;

Manny (Kurt): Smothered sounds of Manny surprised by Zeph.

Kevin: -and heads out.

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled but louder): I heard that. They're down below. Find stairs, there’s something here.

Virelian Guard #2 (Kurt, muffled): Yeah, yeah, alright ahahaha, I think we might actually find them. Think we’ll get them first?

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Yeah, we’ll get the reward. (Shouts) I know you’re here! Where you at?

Kurt: As they start woomph woomph woomph they start stomping around. (Scraping) You hear furniture getting thrashed around, they’re ransacking the place. And then you start to see their movement. As you guys are leaving, they go over to where the trap door is, or the hatch it. You hear;

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Well, holy shit. Hey, hey, hey, hey, sh, sh, sh, sh. I think they're down here. All right, come on, come on, come on.

Kurt: He goes;

Virelian Guard #2 (Kurt, muffled): Hey man, why are you telling me to be quiet? You've been yelling the whole fucking time.

Laughter

Kurt: He goes;

Virelian Guard #2 (Kurt, muffled): Eh, true. Alright, uh, are you- Ay I need, I need two more guys! I think we're on to something. Jenn: And we're just booking it.

Kurt: Okay.

Kevin: Zeph pushes his way to the front to lead the way.

Jenn: As you pass, I'll grab Manny from you.

Kurt: Yep, yep.

Manny (Kurt): Ah-woah!

Luke: Is there any sort of like handle or anything on the bottom of the trap door?

Kurt: Yeah. There would be two, one to like kind of pull it closed.

Jenn: Mmhmm

Luke: I'm going to jam just whatever I can find into that to try to keep it like wedged shut.

Kurt: Yeah, okay. There's broom handles, there's, you know, there's all kinds of staff, sticks, whatever. As you go you're like;

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Alright.

Kurt: You hear as you climb the steps and go to pull it in. You go Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): One, two-

Kurt: Shunk, you put the, the bar in.

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): -three! Chacunk What the fuck?

Chuckles

Kurt: Chacunk,Chacunk (jingles and thumping of stuck trap door) As they start pulling on it.

Ciaran (Luke): And by that point, I'm already following everyone else out the door.

Kurt: Yeah as you guys go into the sewers, it’s not long until you hear what sounds like a breaking of wood (kaboom of trap door getting forces open), scattering of things.

Jenn: Was there something from the tunnel that went into that room, what there some kind of door or stuff that went in front of that?

Kurt: Yeah, the entrance going from the sewer to the safe house was hidden by boxes and crates and barrels and things. Those are all still there. There's not necessarily like a door that you'd have to put stuff in front of the hole.

Geoff: We'll have a little time, but they'll find it eventually.

Jenn: Oh, yeah.

Kurt: It is a maze down here. You've traveled the sewer several times, Zeph, so you're very familiar with this. What is your destination?

Deep humming and sounds of liquids dripping begin.

Kevin: I would like to follow some of the old paths that I used to use in order to get up into the Ashward part of town.

Kurt: Okay, sewers down here that’s going towards the Ashward is going to be labyrinth of tunnels.

Kevin: Oh yeah.

Kurt: A lot of climbing as the Ashward is way higher than where the Gutterrun is, so-

Kevin: All the better to lose some asshole guards that are on our tail.

Kurt: Yeah, I'm going to start a countdown.

Kevin: I had a feeling.

Kurt: I just put a countdown of d4 on my tracker. We're going to make some rolls here.

Geoff: What are the odds that you, either one of you, Zeph or Ciaran, have something of some significance, you know not a tissue, but something from Ashward. Something that has been in or near the location where we’re going?

Kevin: Zeph, none. But Ciaran?

Luke: Probably not the exact location that Zeph is taking us but certainly places like places throughout Ashrelm and Ashward.

Geoff: Okay, because if you have any, I'm kind of ruling this on myself so that it's not so cheap, but something significant like belongs somewhere specifically I could use my Path Forward, which if I’m carrying an object that has been at the location

before I can find the shortest path.

Kurt: Okay

John: Nice

Kurt: So what is this item that you?

Geoff: Whatever Ciaran gives me.

Laughter

Luke: I think actually specifically my cloak and my garments. I mean, we're heading towards kind of the mercantile and the artisan district. So it's not exactly finery, but my fairly well-made cloak and jacket would absolutely be from up there.

Jenn: Actually, Seraphina, when she got into town, traded stuff and bought, like, her gear is from the nicer part of town. She also has a pendant necklace that she's wearing that she traded really gaudy jewels for so Seraphina could actually take her necklace off and let you hold that.

Geoff: I'm holding Ciaran's cloak and your necklace.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff, whispering): Let's go!

Laughter

Kurt: Yeah okay, alright who is leading the charge? Is that going to be our boy Zeph over there?

Geoff: Yeah I think Zeph lead the charge all try and assist Prince Zeph.

Jenn chuckles

Kurt: Yep, so go ahead and roll an instinct and I will let N'kuwa, if you want to roll your advantage die and give him a help.

Kevin: And I'm also going to spend a hope to use my Smuggler experience.

Kurt: Okay.

Kevin: Because that's where Zeph used these tunnels and why he knows them at all.

Kurt: Right. Yep.

Kevin: Gross.

Geoff: Yeah.

Jenn: I have I have luck bender.

Kevin: Okay so hold on. That would be a 12 with fear. If that's a-

Geoff: So a thirteen.

Kevin: Well I mean I'm counting your one. If that's a failure as a human I can spend a stress to reroll because I use an experience.

Kurt: Okay that would be a failure.

Kevin: Then I'm going to spend a stress.

Jenn: And if that doesn't work, once per session I can spend three hope to let you reroll, Luck Bender.

Kevin: Does he re roll as well or does his role stand?

Kurt: Sure I'll let you reroll, It's a new roll so go ahead.

Kevin: Nice! A little bit better.

Geoff: Also a little bit better, got a three.

Kevin: So a 16 with hope.

Kurt: That'll pass!

Kevin: That's much better. And I need to get a hope.

Kurt: So the first scent of the of the journey, it's It's like an old hat, it's, you know the sewers in and out around here. This is your home. You know exactly where to go.

Zeph (Kevin): No, this way!

Chuckles

Kurt: But what you do see with that, especially with that role, you notice that you are not alone down here. You know that. People use the sewers, the smugglers, everybody. But it's not the smugglers that you see. You come across footprints that looks like garrison style footwear. You hear what sounds like voices off in the distance.

Kevin: I take a moment and gesture everyone to to come in close, and I'm not going to whisper so that everyone can actually hear me, but whispers.

Zeph (Kevin, whispering): Look, it looks like the guards are down here too. So, be quiet, be on the look out.

Seraphina (Jenn): Hey Ciaran, can you um, pfft up there and see how many there are and how much further up they are? You’ve very sneaky.

Ciaran (Luke): I can.

Seraphina (Jenn): I mean not to put you out.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): They should be easy to hear, should they? I mean they rattle everywhere they go.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh for sure.

Zeph (Kevin): I mean, we'll hear them if we're being quiet.

Seraphina (Jenn): Well, I just didn't want to walk around the corner, and there was like 12 of them standing right there.

Zeph (Kevin): Got it. Don't go around corners blind.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah.

Kurt: You walk forward, you go for quite a ways, taking lefts, taking rights, all following the uphill turn of the sewers to make sure you're always going the right direction. There's an odd sound, you hear the sound of squeaking, rolling, like carts being ridden. Like it's, you notice that you're not very deep under the cities. You can you can hear the guards walking above you. It’s not like your thirty feet below the surface.

Jenn: Mmhmm. I have a question. I meant to ask this earlier but I forgot. So the sewers. Are they like what everyone pictures as those standard medieval sewers where there’s a gully in the middle and two higher levels on both sides and it merges different? And it’s half arcing?

Kurt: Well what do y’all think it would look like?

Jenn: We’re not trudging through the liquid?

Kurt: I think there are definitely parts where you have to trudge through the sludge.

Jenn: I mean, not me I fly.

Laughter

Kurt: You’re just looking out for your fellow party members. There are, especially down here, there are makeshift planks going across different platforms that you can walk across.

Jenn: And there’s smaller ones that branch off that are too small to fit through?

Kurt: Right, yeah. The main sewer line, it’s not like Ninja Turtle style where you can skateboard down. But it’s a, especially for your size, but the biggest one among you, Basagar, might would be ducking down-

John: Oh for sure.

Kurt: - walking around. But there is one path that goes around and sometimes it’s broken down and you’ll have to walk through some stuff.

Jenn: Okay.

Kurt: But big enough to walk through, at least single file.

Kurt: Zeph will turn around and look at everyone and say;

Zeph (Kevin): Well, unless some of you are able to breathe underwater, I'd suggest we hurry.

Basagar (John): Do we need to do that?

Zeph (Kevin): Hurry? Or breathe underwater?

Basagar (John): Breath underwater.

Zeph (Kevin): We might. Can you handle that?

Basagar (John): Oh, yes, yes, I can.

Zeph (Kevin): For everybody?

Basagar (John): Oh, no, just myself.

Zeph (Kevin): Then let's hurry.

Laughter

Kurt: The farther you go, the less familiar you are.

Geoff: I'll continue to kind of try and chime in and share.

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): No, no, no, no, this way, this way, this way.

Kevin: I think Zeph would probably have known a few ways to get Ashward. I think Lowthorn would have been a whole lot more difficult. And so it's not someplace he typically would, he would not blend in.

Kurt: Right.

Kevin: Like, even less successful. So I think for him, his natural inclination is, if we're getting out, I got to run. Let's head to the Ashward because we might stand a chance of being able to hide out or blend in there.

Kurt: Okay, yeah.

Kai: Severian is very quiet coming for an underborn society, and he’s also very used to moving stealthily with a pack.

Kurt: Mmhmm.

Kai: So he tries to guide you stealthily. Is anybody helping?

Kurt: So we’ll do a group roll, your reaction roll. So before you roll Kai we'll start over here with Ciaran.

Luke: That will be a 15 on the dot.

Kurt: It's a success.

Geoff: 18.

Kurt: All right. Yeah, plus two.

Kevin: That is the dirtiest of dirty 20s.

Kurt: Oh, plus three.

Jenn: I got the hiccups, so that's a six.

Kurt: All right, down to plus two.

John: Do we add any of our abilities to this?

Kurt: You're finesse.

John: Oh, finesse again. So, yeah, that's a whopping eight.

Kurt: Eight, all right. You get a plus one from the group.

Kai: Good thing I have advantage.

Kurt: Yeah.

Kai: Oh wow.

John: Oh we’re cooked.

Kai: Twelve with fear.

Kai: Twelve with fear. As your moving along, you get to a point where you do have to try to maneuver past certain things and trudge in the filth a little bit. And you can see where the main line that goes out to the river is. So if you could just get through this spot, you can get through it. You do hear what sounds like some voices behind you.

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): Alright. We haven't checked this part yet.

Virelian Guard #2 (Kurt, muffled): Oh, all right. When are we going to get out of here? This place stinks.

Kurt: So there are guards coming up quickly from behind you. You guys want to move forward or do take on the guards?

Geoff: I say we try and hurry ahead, keep pushing forward as quick as we can. Still try to stay a little bit quiet, but seeing as they’re coming this direction already, speed would be a little bit more important.

Kevin: Yeah, I’m afraid if a fight breaks out that could make a lot of noise, and that could bring the guards.

Geoff: I don’t want to be surrounded down here.

Luke: Especially with the rain potentially flooding the sewer lines.

Kevin: Yeah.

Geoff: So I think with that kind of switching towards we want to aim for speed, I think Kua would step forward and start pointing towards the fastest, most direct path.

Luke: Feeling like kind of through the shadows, can I sense an open space up forward, along this line? Does it widen out further up?

Kurt: It does. Yeah.

Luke: Okay. Then what I can do is I can shadow step and then use my grappling hook and kind of throw it down and start helping everyone like pull them up and through this spot so it's faster and easier so you don't have- like you're not trying to slip and move forward.

Kevin: And Zeph will help by boosting people. If it's up he'll boost them up if, it's along then he'll he'll kind of help grab and move them along.

Kurt: Just for the sake of brevity, well, everybody kind of gets through this tight little spot here. You are not clean by any means at the end of this. But once you get down to the end of this line as you're using Ciaran's grappler to help pull you along, you hear what sounds like yelling above (crowd noises begin). You can hear it from the line that connects out to the river as you're hearing the sounds of the city in turmoil. You hear sounds of, it's hard to make out what is being said, but you hear this loud chant, not even a chant, but this roar of people. Almost like a battle cry. You hear the like a loud, a yell of multiple, multiple people. And you hear what sounds louder;

Virelian Commander (Kurt, muffled): Hold men, hold.

Kurt: As a, what sounds like a commander of a guard is yelling towards a squadron. You see, you hear him say;

Virelian Commander (Kurt, muffled): Just wait till they get closer and lay them down.

Kurt: You hear do dosh do dosh dosh, the sound of running, running, running. Sound just people rushing what sounds like a flank of guards. Then you hear the loosing of arrows. Do do do do duh duh do do do do. Of strings being released followed by the impact of some of these arrows. (Backgroud pfft of arrows being shot). You hear though the yelling gets a little less but you still hear it all of a sudden you start to hear swords clanking of metal on metal. This is a an all-out attack on the main thoroughfare of the Gutterrun. This is going to- this is absolute chaos above you. But it is loud. The rain is picking up a crack of thunder ka-chow. It kind of breaks the silence a little bit. You start to see the rain, the water that is now draining into the sewers from the start of the rainfall is kind of pooling up.

You know you have to cross the river. You have to go out in the open to get into the next sewer line that goes up to Ashward. If that direction you're still wanting to go, we can, we can tackle that, or you can go to the direction that leads to Lowthorn.

Kevin: I glance at Ciaran with all the cacophony and go;

Zeph (Kevin): Powder keg got lit.

Luke: Important clarification question, listening to these sounds like the din of battle, did it sound like the arrows were puncturing metal, like armor?

Kurt: No.

Luke: Okay

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: So, yeah, Seraphina is going to glance at you guys and be like;

Seraphina (Jenn): I mean, the guards are a little distracted right now. I hate to think of what they're distracted by, but maybe that gives us a chance to cross the river.

Ciaran (Luke): Or we just go through Lowthorn.

Seraphina (Jenn): Or that.

Zeph (Kevin): You know the upper area is better than I do, Ciaran.

Seraphina (Jenn): We're a little dirty. We might stick out.

Ciaran (Luke): There are a few places we can get cleaned up.

Seraphina (Jenn): Okay.

Ciaran (Luke): They may or may not be open at this time, but I can get in regardless.

Seraphina (Jenn): All right.

Kurt: You hear what sounds like a dog barking. Aroooo arf arf (dog barking echoing down tunnel)

Zeph (Kevin): The stairs are going to be locked down.

Kurt: Aroooo arf arf. It sounds like it's coming from behind you.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah we gotta go guys.

Kurt: You hear;

Virelian Guard #1 (Kurt, muffled): I think he's on to something! He's got a scent.

Zeph (Kevin): Shit, into the water, break the scent.

Seraphina (Jenn): Ewww

John: I've been helping prince along with us this whole time.

Kurt: Yeah and he's like;

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Oh god, oh-

Kurt: The whole time is just like;

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Ew ew ew.

Jenn: Ew ew ew

Zeph (Kevin): Time for time for bath your highness.

Kevin: And Zeph gets down into the water.

Kurt: Okay.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): No, no, no. I'm not going in there.

Zeph (Kevin): Your funeral.

John: I lift him up and I just bring him out.

Geoff: Bath time!

Chuckles

Ciaran (Luke): Just hold your breath. Keep your mouth closed.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): Dry Heaves Too late.

Zeph (Kevin): Shush.

Geoff: Kua will kind of jump in and try and clear a little bit of the nasty.

Kurt: Create a wake by wading through.

Geoff: Kind of just dive a little bit up river.

Kurt: All right So you're going towards where?

Jenn: Lowthorn

Geoff: Can we get to Lowthorn from the river?

Luke: Well we're already on the proper side

Geoff: So we just don't cross over, and then we can get in.

Jenn: Yeah we just kind of go up a little bit and then cut back in.

Kurt: Mmhmm.

Dogs barking echos

Kurt: You hear the dogs are getting closer. You are being tailed. They have caught a scent of something. Not sure what it could be, could be anything, but they are getting closer. You hear the sounds of battle even more. But you turn left, the direction towards Lowthorn and start heading that way.

Barking fades, dripping and battle sounds picks back up

Kurt: It's this wider tunnel or sewer is a little more walkable but you guys are choosing to stay in the the water so to speak along with other things.

Kevin: To try and lose the scent trail.

Kurt: Ok

Geoff: Mask our scent as much as we can.

Kurt: Nice, yeah so you make your way there pretty quick. Avoiding a lot of dead end turns saved you guys some time. All the while you're looking back, listening you hear you heard the dog for a while, all the sudden it stopped. You don’t hear the hound anymore chasing you guys. But, you come down to what looks like a large tunnel that goes into what would be a dead end, but there is a makeshift ladder that goes up. And you look up and it goes up for a long time, maybe one hundred, maybe one hundred fifty feet that your climbing straight up. But as soon as you climb to the top of this ladder, you will be in Lowthorn. You have crossed into another district.

John: How sturdy does the ladder look?

Kurt: It’s been in the sewer for a long time. It looks like there are parts of it that might be a little weak, you’re not quite sure.

Basagar (John): I may have something to help with this if-

Severian (Kai): I can definitely help.

Seraphina (Jenn): So, I can fly up if you use the grapple and the rope, I can hook it up on top and hang it down for you guys. So that way-

Basagar (John): That works

Ciaran (Luke): I feel like that’s cheating with the grappling hook, but if that’s-

Laughter

Kurt: Severian you see that there are vines that are growing on the side of the tunnel coming down. A lot of them look like bramble, thorny, looks very… maybe it reminds of home a little bit. It just may get a dark feeling by looking at these vines.

Kai: Nothing that reminds me of the Fun Aunts, right?

Kurt: Nothing that reminds you of the Fun Aunts, no.

Zeph (Kevin): So, Ciaran, I would say probably you know this area best, so you first?

Geoff: Is it a pretty wide hole? Like, would rain be able to make its way down?

Kurt: Rain?

Geoff: Rain yeah, is it wide enough hole that rain would be making it in?

Kurt: No, so, it's not a wide open. It's not open to the air.

Geoff: Okay.

Kurt: You are still in still inside of the sewer, yeah. So it looks like this would be a like a gutter. Like literally the gutter of a sewer to drop down whatever was going down in from Lowthorn into the Gutterrun.

Jenn: You said it was roughly like a hundred feet the ladder?

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: Alright, so if you have a grapple it has a rope on it, right?

Luke: Yeah.

Jenn: So I have another fifty feet of rope so I’ll tie that on and I’ll take Manny and we’ll fly up to the top. And hook it preferably not into the top of the ladder, but like-

Kurt: Mmhmm

Jenn: -rock crevice or something up at the top. Like, when she flies up and peaks over the lip what does she see?

Kurt: You see the bramble, like the vines get thicker and thicker as it goes up. They’re kind of crawling, almost like growing around the walls, piecing through the walls of the sewer itself. You peek up, it’s a sewer. You see this weird greenish substance that is just like clinging to the bramble a little bit. If could just be algae, it looks kind of odd.

Jenn: Can I do a roll to see if I can figure out that the green stuff is or see what the deal is with the vines. Do they look like they’re, you know, like, you know we the Fun Aunts and stuff, like, where they just kind of broke out of the ground and started moving. Like, did they just look like they're sitting there motionless? Or could she get, like, a little bit closer to one just to kind of check it out?

Kurt: You know, you can go over and touch it if I want to.

Jenn: I don't know if I want to touch it.

Kai: I want to climb it.

Kurt: You want to climb the ladder?

Kai: It goes all the way up, right?

Kurt: Yeah, it goes all the way up.

Kai: Or the brambles.

Kurt: Oh, the brambles go all the way up.

Kai: Yeah, I want to climb the brambles.

Kurt: Yeah, not hard to do. You're going through.

Kai: Just like home

Kurt: I'll say you mark a hit point just from climbing the brambles themselves.

Kai: Fairly normal experiences

Jenn: But yeah I’ll wedge the-

Kurt: Yeah Chuckles

Jenn: I’ll wedge the grapple and them chuck the rope down that way, just in case if the ladder’s rickety they at least have an extra bit of something.

Kai: Sure

Kurt: You get closer to this green sludge. The closer you get to it, you notice like it's undulating and kind of waving in the water. Whenever you get too close, you lean in to look at it, it's like- you see like a little bloop, like something pops up out of it. And then it like pfft kind of releases itself from the brambles and starts floating down the water and is now like trying, like you see it's reaching out for you almost like a little pseudopod kind of comes out like out of this little ball of green ooze

Jenn: Is this tunnel up here, is it one of the bigger ones?

Kurt: It is, yeah.

Jenn: Okay so she's going to like fly up higher. I still have Manny with me, so Seraphina is going to turn to Manny and be like;

Seraphina (Jenn): Manny, have you ever seen anything like that before?

Manny (Kurt): Oh, we see this all the time, but now in the Fay. You don't want to get too close

to it. Don't let it touch you. It kind of burns a little bit.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh, that sounds terrible.

Jenn: So, Seraphina is just going to call quietly down the ladder.

Seraphina (Jenn, whisper yelling): Don't touch the green stuff!

Kurt: Severian, as you are climbing up the brambles you hear Seraphina whisper that down to you. You look up to see what she's talking about and you see this almost like green slime go over the side and now it's falling straight down. It's kind of flails out and it reaches you. I'm going to spend a fear to make an attack roll. Does …what is its plus? Not much, does a 15 hit your evasion? Kai: Yep.

Kurt: So it's going to make a standard attack against you as it kind of falls down grabs onto you and envelops you. You need to mark two stress, and then you take an additional stress every time you make an action roll.

Kevin: Turn off the power to the trash compactor. Turn off the power to the trash compactor!

Kurt: Laughs. Yeah. As you see, Seraphina, as you watch this first one let loose, you look down the tunnel and you see about, maybe 10 more of these blobs that are floating down the river.

Jenn: Okay. So when she sees that, she'll kind of fly back down toward them and be like,

Seraphina (Jenn): You guys, there's green, oh, it got Severian. There's green goopy stuff that's kind of grabby. It's heading this way. So just letting you know. Manny said he's seen it in the Fey Wild. He said, don't touch it.

Kurt: You see a blob, you know, splash down. And it picks itself up and starts, like moving towards you guys as you hear another shooop pshop, shoooop pshup. These blobs are landing.

Zeph (Kevin): Climb or fight. Climb or fight? Climb or fight!

Seraphina (Jenn): Both?

John: I kind of… so you're kind of hovering.

Jenn: Flying, yeah.

John: You're trapped up above right?

Kai: Am I actually grappled or am I just-?

Kurt: You're not grappled.

Kai: Is it on me?

Kurt: It is on you.

Kai: It is like on me.

Kurt: So it is, yeah. So it doesn't grapple you.

Kai: I'm not trapped.

John: But you're further up.

Kurt: You are- it is just like covered on you and it is like it is burning and tingling a little

bit.

Seraphina (Jenn): You got the goo on you?

Geoff: Does it seem like they're just keep coming.

Kai: The goo

Kurt: Oh, and you need to, passive. I forgot it's passive. When a ooze makes a successful

attack, you must mark an armor slot without receiving its benefits.

Jenn: Ugh!

Kevin: Yuck!

Jenn: Oh, gross.

John: I see all of this kind of come around and I just kind of gently push the prince to the side, Prince Wilhelm.

Basagar: Give me just a moment.

John: And you just see Basagar just start sprouting, like legs out of his sides and as he just drops to the ground he starts (sounds of legs shooting out) shifting and transforming into a very big spider. Still the same kind of body type, he looks the same as he normally does and his abdomen is where looks like the same color scheme of his mushroom cap. And he kind of peers back and motions for Wilhelm.

Basagar (John): Come sit. Get on top of me and I'll help you.

John: And I just start climbing up the wall.

Kurt: Okay as you as you start climbing up the wall, more of these blobs, because you have to walk past these blobs to get to the ladder. These oozes, let's call it what it is. These oozes go to make attack against you, as you go to to climb out. As one kind of like lands by you.

John: Cool.

Kurt: Oh, that is a natural 20, which-

Jenn: Doesn't hit, right?

Laughter

Kurt: Nat 20. Woohoo. Yay! Go GM.

Others boo and blow raspberries

Kurt: Everybody's all excited when you guys do it.

Laughter

Kevin: Well, yeah! We're the heroes.

Kurt: All right. So it attacks you for six plus three. So nine points of acid, magic damage.

Kevin: Is he close enough for me to I Am Your Shield?

Kurt: I'd say so, yeah.

Kevin: All right, I Am Your Shield.

Kurt: Okay, so that, you don't mark that six. Zeph, you mark that six.

Kevin: Yep, that is a minor wound. So I'll mark an armor.

Kurt: Okay, sweet. You guys start climbing the ladders.

Jenn: Yeah.

Kurt: With Wilhelm kind of on your side.

Jenn: Piggyback.

Kurt: You have Manny with you.

Jenn: Yeah, Manny's, I figure he's probably small enough to sit on my shoulder.

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: But as these blobs are kind of going for my boys, she's going to pull her whip that she has kind of coiled up and hooked on her side. She's going to fly closer to the blobs that are rushing toward the guys, and do a whip attack, marking a stress, and basically I can crack the whip and it forces anything that’s within melee back to close.

Kurt: Okay.

Jenn: So I can push the blobs back.

Kurt: Nice.

Jenn: Okay, so I'm going to try. So to hit that's 19.

Kurt: 19? Oh yeah. Whip cracks. Oh yeah

Kevin: With?

Kurt: Yeah with..?

Jenn: With hope.

Kurt: Oh yeah.

Jenn: And I actually like twelved on it, so.

Kurt: Nice

Jenn: Twelved on it?

John: Twelved on it

Kurt: Twelved on it!

Geoff: You twelved on a hoe.

Kevin (singing): You got twelve on it.

Kurt: Yeah.

Laughter

Jenn: That's totally a thing, right?

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: It actually did six points of damage to any of the ones that were like rushing towards them. And then it would have shoved them all back.

Kurt: Yeah, that is major damage.

Kevin: Woo!

Kurt: Not very strong. I’ll say that there’s four around them, and it does major damage to all four of them.

Kevin: Seeing an opening, Zeph’s going to head to the ladder and start making his way up.

Kurt: Okay, yeah. As you start climbing the later, you look up. You see Basagar is climbing. You see Severian that looks like he is climbing up the brambles of the vines. And there’s shoomp schuff these falling oozes as you climb up. Let’s see if one attacks you… I don’t think it’s going to hit. Eleven against your evasion?

Kevin: Me?

Kurt: Yep.

Kevin: Yeah it’s a hit.

Kurt: Oh, that’s a hit! So instead of making it’s attack, it will use it’s envelop. It’ll mark two stress, and you mark additional stress as well. And you need to mark an armor slot. And whenever you make an action roll, you mark an additional stress.

Kevin: Okay.

Zeph (Kevin): It slimed me!

Kurt: But you are able to- you are not grappled or restrained by any means to any movement. It is just slimed on you, yeah.

Zeph: Ewyeahhh.

Kai: Can I try to get this thing off of me?

Kurt: You can, yeah.

Kai: I want to try to kill it.

Kurt: Do it.

Laughter

Kai: I would like to murder.

Luke: How edible does this look, though?

Kai: Huh?

Luke: How edible does this look?

Kai: No.

Laughter

Geoff: It's not meat, so not appealing.

Kai: It hurts my outsides. It’ll hurt my insides.

Geoff: Yeah, really.

Luke: It’s synthetic meat.

Jenn: It’s like the worst smoothie.

Laughter

Kai: Yeah so I just pull my sword and try to slash it apart as much as possible. Twelve to hit? With fear?

Kurt: Twelve hits!

Kai: Oh okay.

Kurt: So go ahead and and mark that, roll your damage. See if you can get above to do severe damage here and you’ll free yourself.

Kai: I’m going to use my bardic thingy-

Kurt: Nice, your rally die?

Kai: -as well, yeah. Fourteen damage.

Kurt: That'll do it. As you take your sword, slash it. It just peels off and what you notice is it doesn't necessarily die, but it slices. You slice it off of it and it as you as it marks it’s severe hit points, it splits into two. So you see two smaller little oozes fall down capsh capsh at the bottom. Whoever’s still at the bottom, you see two small oozes that look like they are a perfect replica of the bigger ones, just half the size.

Kai: Can I then try to make an agility check to get up there as quickly as possible?

Kurt: Yeah.

Kai: While avoiding these things?

Kurt: Yep.

Kai: 16 with hope.

Kurt: 16 with hope. You gain that hope back. And you do climb the rest of the way with the bramble and avoid the falling green oozes as you're moving around, pushing yourself into the bramble as one tries to reach out and grab you. As it reaches out it kind of parachutes itself, starts slowing down a little bit, but then balls itself back up as it misses kppft (water splashing) in the water below.

Geoff: Seeing no end to these falling, I think I’m going to start following everybody. So I'm going to try using my Caprine Leap, try, just jump ledge to ledge to the railing and just kind of watching for them to fall.

Kurt: Mmhmm.

Geoff: And try to jump to the opposite side of where they're falling to at least make it more difficult for them to reach me for an attack if possible.

Kurt: Yeah. Yeah, let's see. Go ahead and make an agility check as you do that. I think you have advantage with your stuff, right?

Geoff: I do have advantage with my Ridgeborn. 23 with fear.

Kurt: Ooh, 23 with fear. With the fear, they are going to still try to attack you, but it's going to be a disadvantage. That is a eight against your evasion.

Geoff: I dodge out of the way as it reaches at me. Just kind of press myself up against the wall. Like I'm hiding, but it works better this time.

Laughter

Kurt: Yep. You make your way all the way up to the top without getting hit. Beautiful. You see more as you, as all of you are at the top, you do see that there is, it does seem like an endless supply of these green oozes. I think, Ciaran, you are the last one down.

Luke: About how high did you say this ladder was?

Kurt: About 150 feet.

Luke: Okay. I'm just going to step back into the shadow of the tunnel. Ponder to myself how weird these last 24 hours have been, having just seen Basagar turn into like this half fungral drider thing. Very concerning.

John: No, fully spider, no drider.

Luke: You said waist down was your abdomen.

John His abdomen does look like his mushroom cap in the same color but it's not it's not a mushroom cap.

Luke: Regardless it's still pretty fucking weird

John: Oh it's horrific.

Luke: I'm just going to spend two stress to shadow step all the way up.

Kurt: Yeah.

(Bamfing noises of Shadowstepping)

Geoff: Nice

Kurt: Yes, yep. You shadow step all the way up the top and you guys can easily see that there is brambles that are that kind of cover this. But you do see that there is what looks like a makeshift

ladder that does go up, that stops that you can see some daylight coming out of the top of this little offshoot. But there is a-

Kevin: Zeph still has an ooze on him. And he's like;

Zeph (Kevin): Get it off, get it off, get it off! I got some in my mouth. It's horrible.

John: I'll try to attack it.

Kurt: Yeah, go for it.

John: I have advantage on attacks.

The rest of you guys see a looking down at the tunnel. You see the source of

where these green oozes are coming from. It is what looks like a massive blob that

covers the entirety of the tunnel itself is slowly just undulating and moving

its way to you. Little blobs of itself is like coming off of it and like getting

sent down the river.

Kevin: Must go faster .

Geoff: And you said there was a ladder out of here?

Kurt: There is a ladder out of there, yes.

John: 16 with hope.

Kurt: 16 with hope hits. Nice.

John: Cool that's going to be six physical damage as I bite this slime thing as I'm a still a spider. This target becomes temporarily poisoned it takes a d10 damage each time they act.

Kurt: Okay. It was not enough to to get rid of him, did not take severe damage. But it will act now

John: Cool.

Kurt: Well so as it acts go ahead and roll that d10 for me, but it does start to corrode as Zeph, you take one d6 plus one. So that is four points of magic damage.

John: And you only take one poison damage, one magic, or physical damage sorry.

Kurt: As it does its action to corrode, you see it almost shiver and lock up, then it falls down onto the ground chrshh and then splits into two and starts like wep wep wep wep wep wep trying to come.

Kevin: Zeph’ll mark an armor to soak that hit and look down at the two and I would be;

Zeph (Kevin): Fuck that shit.

Kevin: And he's going to head for that ladder to go up.

John: I think I will wait for everyone.

Basagar (John): I have a potential plan to at least slow these things down. I'll follow you all up.

Geoff: Kua is going to jump up the ladder.

Luke: And I will just wait for them from the shadow of the closest building.

Kurt: Mmhmm. Yeah

Laughter

John: As I… I guess everyone kind of funnels up forward. I look down with the prince

still on me. And I'm still holding him with one or two of my arm legs.

Jenn: Arm legs.

Prince Wilhelm (Kurt): This is weird. They'll never believe me.

John: As I web, I'll just basically block off the path by webbing it all up.

Kurt: Okay.

John: And then go up.

Kurt: Yeah.

John: Climb back up the ladder.

Kurt: So you create a web down there, great!

John: And I come out of the sewers.

Kurt: Nice. Who's going to be the first one to poke their head up?

Luke: I mean, I'm already-

Kurt: You're already up there.

Jenn: Yeah.

Kai: I was right behind him.

Kevin: I think Zeph would be the first one to get up after.

Jenn: Yeah, I would have been right behind him. I would have been very eager to get out of the sewer.

Kurt: Okay.

Geoff: I think we all follow in pretty short order.

Kurt: Ciaran, as you see, there are battalions of guards duhduhduhduhduh kind of moving around (armor clunking together). It looks like they are running to the gates of, or the stairs that are descending down into the Gutterrun. It is…they are focused and they don't seem to notice you at all.

Luke: I'm also hidden purposes of anything

Crowd and fighting noises

Kurt: Right, yeah, so the the sewer entrance itself you can see is on the side of one of the main thoroughfares. You see hand that come up. You see Severian, you can see his face poking through. Give me a perceive, let’s see if you can time this right as guards are running by.

Luke: That will be a 19 with hope.

Kurt: 19 with hope. You can see that the guards are heavily distracted. Most of the guards are carrying extra arrows, extra ammunition, swords. There’s reinforcements coming through. You can see on the battlements that guard the walls of Lowthorn from Gutterrun there are guards and Virelia crown guard here are loosing arrows shhdnk shhdnk shhsnk from the top. They are indeed preoccupied.

(Sounds of battle, swords clashing, people running, etc)

Luke: Yeah I’ll wave Severian over and just one by one get everyone into the shadow behind the buildings as best as we can. And as soon as everyone in comfortably past, I will finally move and follow after them, trying to guide them to, well, somewhere else.

Kurt: Okay.

John: I don’t think I drop out of spider form unless someone says anything.

Kurt (Laughing): You’re just a giant spider that is crawling out of this sewer.

Geoff: I’ll kind of catch up to Ciaran;

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): Well now what?

Luke: He’ll take a glimpse and wave you further behind the buildings. Wait until everyone's up.

Kurt: For those of you that haven't been in Lowthorn yet, Lowthorn lies in the shadow of Virelia's spire. The district is cramped, full of alleys, leaning tenements and what looks like stalls that are housed by artisans and guild members. (Fighting fades, rain, thunder, and pensive music picks up)There's artwork and architecture in here that looks very… completely different from what you saw down in the Gutterrun.

Smoke and damp air- smoke and the damp cling in the air, the streets hum with tension as the guards are preoccupied with the civil unrest down in the Gutterrun. You see the laborers and guildsmen are leaving. They left their stalls aside. You see that the council guard rarely takes notice of you as you as they are running beside alleyways. They have a mission, and the mission is not you at the moment. You are hiding in plain sight.

There are some familiar buildings here. There's familiar places that you've seen before, especially Seraphina. You notice that…. well let me find it…. you see The Rusted Piper. The Rusted Piper is a, looks like it is a tavern that you’ve played in before, a music hall. It’s got an auditorium that you’ve been on stage with before.

Jenn: What is the name of it again?

Kurt: It is The Rusted Piper. Yep. But, Zeph, you've heard of this place. Some of your friends might have always wanted to come to this place. Ciaran, you might know of it as well. It is known for its fight pit. It is known to have a local gambling ring that you bet and trade on the fights that go in.

But this is the domicile that you are currently next to.

Zeph (Kevin): I’ll be damned. Chuckles. I didn’t think it would be under these circumstances, but I always wanted to go here.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh yeah, it’s actually not to bad.

Jenn: Do I remember the name of the owner?

Kurt: Yeah, the owner is Korga the Horn (light and high tone pings).

Jenn: Corga like corgi?

Kurt: K -o -r -g -a. Korga the Horn, half orc.

Jenn: Okay.

Seraphina (Jenn): I mean, do you guys want to duck in here real quick? At least clean ourselves up? I avoided the majority of it, but you guys look really dirty.

Luke: Why don't you go in the back and see if they can get us at least a wash basin or something.

Seraphina (Jenn): Okay.

Jenn: And yeah, she'll flit around the back. I'm sure there's probably a staff or performers door or whatever.

Kurt: Yeah.

Jenn: And she'll just tap and be like;

Seraphina (Jenn): Korga, hello!

Kurt: A slide opens up shnnk in the door. They kind of look around and then kind of like peer down a little bit.

Jenn: Well, she would be flying up.

Kurt: You're flying. Okay. So, you see, this isn't the eyes of Korga. You see what looks like human eyes that staring back at you.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh, hi.

Sill (Kurt): Seraphina.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah, hi!

Sill (Kurt): Is that you?

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah. Things are kind of crazy. I was just wondering, is Korga up?

Sill (Kurt): Yeah, he's up. He's… he's getting ready for the next show.

Seraphina (Jenn): I just have, like, a few friends, and we kind of were, like, you know, you know the guards are getting all kinds of crazy. So we would just wonder and, like, is it cool if we just come and sit for a sec?

Kurt: He glances around to your companions and your group.

Sill (Kurt): What the fuck is that?

Kurt: Looking at the big ass spider behind you.

John: Okay to clarify, has Wilhelm even like asked to get off yet?

Kurt: Oh yeah. Yeah as soon as, like the first time just riding a spider down the street. Yeah no the first as soon as he got out of the gutter he was probably like shaking himself off.

Geoff: Kua’s is like shaking like a dog next to him.

Kevin: Zeph nudges one of Bas's, like, claw with a foot.

Jenn: I'd like to spend a hope to use my ability Deft Deceiver and be like;

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh, these guys! Yeah, I'm working with the new band. It's kind of a look. We're trying some different stuff out.

John: And I drop to Basagar.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah. It's just, it's performance! Performance art, it's getting real big up higher, so we thought we would try it out. It's no big deal.

John: I'm her cousin.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah, this is my cousin Bas!

Sill (Kurt): I'm not even going to ask any questions. Are you here for the battle ballad?

Seraphina (Jenn): I mean, we'd love to do a little gambling.

Sill (Kurt): Oh, I thought you were going to perform.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh, I mean.

Sill (Kurt): You said you were a band.

Seraphina (Jenn): Absolutely. If you guys need entertainment sweetheart, you know, I got you.

Sill (Kurt): Well, yes, just so happens to be that the current band that was scheduled didn't show. They were doing something down in Gutterrun today and they haven't been back.

Geoff: As Kua catches this, his ears just kind of flip backwards.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah, literally, there is shit hitting the fan in Gutterrun right now.

Sill (Kurt): That's what I've heard.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah.

Sill (Kurt): I wouldn't want to be those morsels down there.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah. You and me both.

Sill (Kurt): All right. Well, yeah.

Kurt: He shuts the slide door. He opens the door in. He goes;

Sill (Kurt): I'm glad. Korga's going to be happy. We were going to have to make some shit up. I think he was going to get on stage to perform. But I'm sure he's going to be glad you're here. A good old face to bring back some some good, some good times.

Seraphina (Jenn): You mean a young face! Stop it you.

Sill (Kurt): Uh, yes. Chuckles.

Seraphina (Jenn): These are my boys. This is my band.

Sill (Kurt): Hey guys, welcome. Welcome to the Rusted Piper. I'm, uh, I'm Sill. I used to be one of the fighters here (light and high tone pings). I'm long retired, but I'm in training now.

Zeph (Kevin): Pleasure, Sill.

Sill (Kurt): I don't see… I don't see any instruments. What, uh, a cappella?

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah, they're kind of more backup dances. Like I said, like interpretive art. It'll be fun. You guys will enjoy it.

Thunder booms.

Sill (Kurt): Oh, good, good. Well, come on in. Get yourselves cleaned up. You all smell like shit.

Seraphina (Jenn): Yeah.

Zeph: Much appreciate it.

Kurt: And you guys walk in. You hear the cacophony of what sounds like drinks being slung. You hear people chittering and chattering.

(People cheering, talking, and drinking)

It looks like that this is a room, or building at The Rusted Piper. These folks may be none the wiser on the chaos that's going outside. But, the crown jewel in The Rusted Piper is the gladiator pit itself. A sunken fighting pit about 50 feet wide by, you know, about 60 feet long, a rectangle. But on the very end is going to be your stage. A stage that overlooks the pit. It's acoustically sound for everything to just baffle over the pit and everybody is gearing up for what looks like is some type of an event.

Kurt: Sill goes;

Sill (Kurt): Yeah, I'll go get Korga for you.

Seraphina (Jenn): Thanks.

Sill (Kurt): You know the drill.

Seraphina (Jenn): Absolutely. We’re professionals, we’ll make sure.

Sill (Kurt): Yeah, just go to the green room. Please clean yourselves up first. But, welcome to The Rusted Piper. What's your name?

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh, it's Seraphina and the Warriors. (Light and high tone pings)

Sill (Kurt): The Roiders?

Seraphina (Jenn): The Warriors.

Sill (Kurt): Ah, the Warriors, got ya.

Seraphina (Jenn): You know, because it fits the theme, right, with the fighting. Yeah. It's good, isn't it?

Sill (Kurt): Yeah. All right. Well, we'll announce you whenever you're ready.

Seraphina (Jenn): Okay. Thanks, sweetheart.

Jenn: And we'll go clean ourselves up.

Kurt: As dread falls over everybody in the party-

Kevin: Oh, wait.

Kurt: Ope.

Kevin: Real quick.

Kurt: Yep.

Kevin: Who's low on hope?

John: No, we're good.

Jenn: I’m pretty good, I’m only down one.

Kurt: That was a-

Luke: I need to spend some. Laughs.

Geoff: I mean, I can use some… three hope.

Kurt: Yeah, prayer dice. Yeah, that was a low rolling episode there, y’all.

Kevin: And I'm going to use my rally die to clear stress.

Kurt: Nice. Yeah.

Kevin: I’m gonna fricken use this.

Jenn: Don't forget.

Luke: I will do the same thing.

John: Okay, yeah, I guess I will.

Kevin: And I'm at least cleared of all stress.

Geoff: Sweet. Let's go.

Kurt: Okay.

Geoff: Are we in a position with cleaning up, getting prepped and ready, to get a short rest?

Kurt: Yeah, I could see how that would work.

Geoff: After we take a minute to just, I look as Seraphina and go;

Pi N'kuwa (Geoff): What the fuck!?

Laughter

Zeph (Kevin): What are we going to do?!

Ciaran (Luke): I’m never letting a thespian talk ever again.

Laughter

Seraphina (Jenn): Look-

Basagar (John): I’m confused are we fighting?

Seraphina (Jenn): No we’re not we’re performing. But, this is better than on the street. The guards aren’t going to come in here and fuck with us because Korga runs a tight ship.

Zeph (Kevin): Until they throw us on our ear!

Seraphina (Jenn): Sweetheart, I’m gonna sing, there not throwing us out.

Ciaran (Luke): When we look them all of their business they’re not going to be so appreciative of us.

Seraphina (Jenn): You guys haven’t heard me sing yet. Don’t worry, we got this.

Zeph: Better be really good.

Ciaran (Luke): There is no ‘we’.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh yeah, there’s gonna be a we.

Ciaran (Luke): Because you made it a we!

Seraphina (Jenn): Well I had to come up with a reason for you guys to be here. Look, I-

Ciaran (Luke): You could have said literally anything else.

Zeph: Literally!

Seraphina (Jenn): What would you have suggested? What would you have done in my place?

Ciaran (Luke): You could have said, even just guards! Escorting you from the Gutterrun.

Zeph (Kevin): That’s good.

Ciaran (Luke): We literally just crawled through shit to get you here.

Seraphina (Jenn): I mean you have a point. Alright Ciaran, I see that that would probably have been an option. But I just wasn’t thinking about that. Don’t worry!

Ciaran (Luke): I hope they can provide instruments at least.

Seraphina (Jenn): Oh you guys don’t need to play instruments. You’ll just kind of be behind me and just sort of, I don't know, follow my lead. It'll be fine.

Ciaran (Luke): So we're a band without instruments?

Seraphina (Jenn): No, you're my backup dancers.

Ciaran (Luke): That were described as a band.

Seraphina (Jenn): Well, I mean, you could clap?

Basagar claps three times.

Seraphina (Jenn): See, there you go. See, Bas has got it!

Kurt: Okay. All right. As we take a short rest, getting ready for your performance. We'll end it there. Find out what happens next episode. See if this performance is going to be a smash or trash.

Laugher and groans

Kevin: Oh boy

Geoff: You already know the answer. You already know.

Luke: Throwing us right into the fire

Kurt: Yeah. So that one could have went several different ways, different directions. Somehow I am thoroughly happy you guys ended up here.

Outro music of rock begins

Kurt: Absolutely amazing.

Jenn: Oh my god we still have the fucking prince with us!

Kurt: Yep. You got the prince, you got two princes… you got three princes! Chuckles.

Sighs from party members

Kurt: Yeah.

Geoff: Issava didn't come with us, right? He split off to go find…?

Jenn: We sent him off.

Kurt: No no no, he was looking for Angelica.

Jenn: Yeah.

Kurt: But we will end it there like we said. Make sure you tune in next time. Find out how well this band does. Seraphina and the Warriors, let's go!

Thanks for listening to Tales by Daggerlight. Again I'm your GM, Kurt Wild. This has been… an interesting episode. Thanks y’all!

Byes from party members

Luke: The fucking Cunderthats!

Kurt: I know! As soon as you said that I was like ‘No way! No way.’

John: I’m never letting the bard.

Jenn: That’s crazy, we weren’t even there.

Kai: No, I know!

Kevin (sing): I got twelve on it!