Ep. 8 - Shear Lines

The drifters pay a visit to Rook’s mentor, and confront the first major obstacle to their fact-finding mission: a door. Orion causes a commotion, Valentine gets a gift, and Rook hears some bad news.

Content Warnings

• This episode contains a GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF DRUG ABUSE (character is high on mixed substances, no portrayal of actual dosing), consumption of alcohol-coded substance, smoking, depiction of grief, discussion of breaking and entering, discussion of murder (past), violence (physical), and depiction of a firearm.

For full The Drifting City content warnings, please reference the Show Notes & Disclaimers linked at the bottom of the episode description.

A Dungeons & Dragons Actual Play Podcast. The Drifting City is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

Cast & Credits
Chrys: Lily Bell
Morin Wreaver: Aspen Langford
Orion Amaros: Porter Hurst
Rook Aarden: Victor Thorne
Valentine Bellana: Marilyn David
The Narrator: Ray Hamilton

Class & Subclass
Chrys: Coven of the Green Witch (find the class at: Worlds Beyond Number Patreon)
Morin Wreaver: Floater Ranger (Homebrew)
Orion Amaros: Echo Knight Fighter (find the subclass in Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)
Rook Aarden: College of Spirits Bard (find the subclass in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft)
Valentine Bellana: College of Hard Knocks Bard (Homebrew)

Editing, sound design, episode titles and descriptions by everyone at The Rolling Waves.

Intro & Outro Theme
“The Drifting City (Theme)”
Composed by Porter Hurst.
Performed by Porter Hurst, Victor Thorne, and the friends and family of The Rolling Waves.

S1E8 Music Credits:
Paris in the Rain by Martin Landstrom 
Rise in Light by Daniel Fridell
The Calling Card by Martin Landstrom
Finding Peace by Ritchie Everett
Once Upon a Road by Bladverk Band
The Nightingale is Singing Our Song by Martin Landstrom

All courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

S1E8 Sound Effect and Ambience Credits:
All courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

Show Notes and Disclaimers

Socials and More!
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Transcript

SPEAKER_12 0:52

Corner of the lower decks that meets the city proper deep city that used to be risen before the world ended. Apocalypse may have been temporary. But this rock made its choice. Haven decks themselves stretch out behind the uprooted mountain like a comet's tail, a mismash of pieced together scrap metal and molded stone. But there's a solidness here in Border Town, the neighborhood with official pathways into deep city and its better, safer neighborhoods. Border Town has a reputation as being the place for those who tried and failed to pretend they were better than the rest. But in reality, it's just another lower deck slum with one wall bordered by rock rather than void. The group meets at the gondola and makes their way here to Border Town. And it's there that you find the office of one Rexham Relaine, mercenary detective. His office is on the third floor of a squat office building only four floors tall. The iron door has Rexham's name entitled painted on it in a long since faded golden script. You can barely make it out as you approach. The door to the office is closed. What do you do?

SPEAKER_15 2:25

I'll knock on the door. Are we all here?

SPEAKER_12 2:29

Mm-hmm. There's no response.

SPEAKER_15 2:34

I'll look at Rook.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

I'm also gonna knock on the door.

SPEAKER_12 2:42

The silence inside persists. Okay, I'll try to open it.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Before before that, was he ever cagey about opening doors?

SPEAKER_12 2:56

Go ahead and do a history check.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

I'll take it. Oh, you don't have like a secret handshake with the guy? Hey, look, man, I don't know. I got a 16.

SPEAKER_12 3:07

No more or less than anybody should here in the lower decks. Is what you recall. But Valentine, you go and you try the door and it is locked.

SPEAKER_14 3:20

Y'all want me to pick it or?

SPEAKER_01 3:23

No. Uh no no.

SPEAKER_14 3:27

Moran immediately puts away the lockpicking tool she'd taken out of her pocket.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

You do realize we're here for the person and not like the interior of the office, right?

SPEAKER_14 3:39

No, I have no idea what we're doing. I just assumed it'd be safer if we were here together.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, fair enough, actually.

SPEAKER_12 3:50

And I will say, Enix is here as well. He trailed behind you. He's a little quiet. He's cradling his broken arm, but he's just sort of observing. Yeah, about that. When I noticed that. Oh yeah, I mean, everybody sees Enix there.

SPEAKER_07 4:05

Actually, I would, if it's alright, I would love kind of like a description of what Enix looks like.

SPEAKER_14 4:12

Warren? Enix is he's an astral elf, and so he has this just kind of really gorgeous mid-tone purple skin. He's 19 approximately. Astral elf years are a little different, but he's young adult. He has this light in his eyes that tells you that he's really excited to be there. He has white hair kind of like Morin, but where hers kind of floats out gracefully, his kind of sticks out as though he didn't have any thought in the morning other than to like run a hand through it and decide it was good. Um he has a lot of contained energy, so even though he is acting a little reserved and shy, you can tell that he's kind of waiting for any moment to be involved. And Moran did not introduce him, she just kind of showed up with him. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Um hello. I see that your arm is injured. Oh I yeah. Uh yeah. Would you mind if I fixed it for you?

SPEAKER_12 5:29

Uh and then Annex looks at you, Moran, like what? Doesn't know what to do with that.

SPEAKER_14 5:40

Um She's good at that kind of thing. She I was stabbed a couple days ago and she fixed me up. So she's gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

She was unconscious outside of my house.

SPEAKER_12 5:52

Oh. Morin didn't give me those details. I I just I knew you were stabbed, Morin, but I assumed you just kind of figured it out. Forgot about that part. Um I mean it's you. Of course you were gonna figure it out. I wasn't worried. I just I they didn't know it was uh the oh, the no. The person, yeah. Normal looking n human person. This is Chris.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

I do not know if I am human or not.

SPEAKER_12 6:29

I was taking a stab in the dark. Hello, I am Chris. Yes. Uh Enix. Hello. Sure, you wanna fix my arm?

SPEAKER_13 6:45

Uh, Chris casts. Let's see. What what how bad's he looking?

SPEAKER_12 6:49

I mean he looks beat up. He has a broken arm, but like, he's not on death's door or anything.

SPEAKER_13 6:54

Okay, I'll cast first level cure wounds.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

And let me do the dice roll for that. Okay, let's see. Okay. That's 18. I rolled really high.

SPEAKER_12 7:07

More hit points than Enix has.

SPEAKER_05 7:11

Wow. I am so concerned now. That scares me.

SPEAKER_12 7:17

Oh guys, he's gonna be fine. Enix isn't even level three, hasn't taken the creed.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

There you go. I hope that feels better.

SPEAKER_12 7:28

Whoa! Yeah, that's great. Uh oh goodness, my like I feel like my f my face looked good. Did they put it back right? Am I as handsome as I was? Looking at Moran for affirmation.

SPEAKER_14 7:47

Yes, you you look fantastic. You look like you're ready to get two more black eyes. Please don't.

SPEAKER_12 7:56

You know, you gotta make room. But anyway, I know that this guy said he didn't do you want me to pick the lock? I could use the practice.

SPEAKER_15 8:04

It's true. I'll I'll try one more time to get in touch with him before we break into his home. That's not a great first impression. I'm gonna cast message that says to point to a creature within range. So I'm gonna point at through the door and say Mr. Rolane. Mr. Rolane, an old friend and some potential clients are here to see you. If you can answer the door, please.

unknown 8:38

Mr. Rolane.

SPEAKER_12 8:39

Okay. You kind of have to do a wide aim. Maybe you can cast it a couple different times at different points in front of you to kind of get the cone. But on one of the times you cast it, you you can almost feel when a message actually reaches a target versus just sort of gets launched into the nothing. And on one of the times it hits a target, but then there is no response.

SPEAKER_15 9:09

Either your friend is not a chatty kind rook or something's wrong. My spell may contact, but there's no response.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

It doesn't look like there's any sort of signs of, you know, a break-in or any struggle or anything like that by the room, right?

SPEAKER_12 9:31

Do an investigation check for me.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Boy, can I?

SPEAKER_12 9:35

Or you could just say no.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

That is gonna be rolled an eleven, so that is going to be a nineteen.

SPEAKER_12 9:45

You don't see any signs of forced entry.

SPEAKER_14 9:49

It.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Crazy.

SPEAKER_12 9:55

With a nineteen, you see more in his hand slowly inching towards the door.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

Um, we we just had a long rest, right? Yes. Chris is going to raise uh their hand. Um I can do a thing that um reads for people's minds if that is good.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

You Valentine, you said your spell landed there?

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

I can't exactly do that. Where were you pointing where it l when it landed?

SPEAKER_15 10:37

Great question. Straight ahead. Yeah, straight ahead.

SPEAKER_12 10:42

That's where you remember his desk being.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Cool. I'm just gonna knock and just go Rexum. It's Rook. Nothing fishy going on. Here to talk.

SPEAKER_12 10:55

There is no sound or movement inside.

SPEAKER_15 10:59

Okay, Morin, do you wanna open the door?

unknown 11:03

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_15 11:05

Permission from Rook.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Has he ever pulled anything like this, or is this really out of character?

SPEAKER_12 11:13

You as you're standing here are getting the sinking feeling that this might be the kind of situation you've impacted before. You get the feeling that it might not be that something untoward has happened, but he might not be in a state to come answer the door right now.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Okay, um, oh he like kind of shouts through the door, just I'll be back later. Just yeah, I'll come back another time.

SPEAKER_14 11:54

It's just so we're not breaking in? Yeah, is that a yes or a no on the breaking in?

SPEAKER_07 12:00

There is a no on the breaking in. We're right here.

SPEAKER_15 12:05

So we don't need this information? Our lives aren't on the line.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Look. This guy's old. I'm not gonna break into it. He's clearly in his office and he clearly simply cannot get to the door. At the same time, there's not that big of a target to where we can't saunter around and wait for just like a couple hours.

SPEAKER_14 12:29

He could be bleeding out in there. Is he old enough to not be able to get to the door and have that be a regular thing?

SPEAKER_07 12:37

Sorry, is he old enough to not be able to get to the door and also not respond via yelling?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Three No, trust me, this This man's got some pipes on him.

SPEAKER_14 12:52

So we should be concerned about the state he's in, then, yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

I don't think anything's wrong, but at the same time, I don't want to open the door that is clearly locked with the man inside at his desk that feels like he's simply just not able to get to the door right now. Because either he is asleep, or he is occupied with something, or possibly a combination of the two.

SPEAKER_15 13:26

I don't know how you pull that off, but Or he's dead on the floor and his murderer's sitting at his desk.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Well then your message wouldn't have gone through to him, that would have.

SPEAKER_13 13:36

But it would have gone through to someone. Because it just pointed.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Hmm.

SPEAKER_07 13:47

Can we always break in and then just back out.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

No, just to convince. Oh, that's a bad sign there.

SPEAKER_03 14:02

Let's not do that. That's a bad idea.

SPEAKER_12 14:04

As as you look, you see having failed his stealth check, Enix slowly inching his lockpicking tools towards the door.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Oh, no.

SPEAKER_12 14:15

Roll the four on the die. It's not sneaky enough.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Rook is just going to shoot him a very harsh glare.

SPEAKER_06 14:24

Oh, thank you for following up with that statement.

SPEAKER_12 14:28

Oh my god. And it's just looks at Rook and it's like, hey, hey. Alright. I just thought I'd get this thing moving. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Okay. But just to confirm that I have what you said right, narrator, before I break into the office of my mentor.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Side note, I wanted to clarify that when Chris was explaining that, they can cast detect thoughts.

SPEAKER_13 14:55

That's what I was trying to say. Yeah, I guess. Okay. Because Chris doesn't know what that is, but they can do it.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Yeah. This feels like something that has happened before, slash, does not raise that many alarm bells in my mind, despite my mind being very prone to alarm bells, yes.

SPEAKER_12 15:14

Towards the end of your tumultuous relationship with Rex and Rolane, you knew him to be one who self-medicated.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Hmm. I see. Cool.

SPEAKER_12 15:31

So it became less and less uncommon to have him not answer the door.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Great. I'm just gonna say look, he It's definitely him in there. You were pointing at his desk. There's I already checked. No sign of a struggle at the door. He's at the desk. He's not able to come right now. Couple hours. Hour, maybe two, should be fine. He looks over at Mr. Lockpick again.

SPEAKER_12 16:14

Just like trying to be casual.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Sto um.

SPEAKER_07 16:23

Alright, well, you you know the man more than we do. But if we come back in a couple hours and we get the same response, um I thought we break in.

SPEAKER_15 16:38

Seconded.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Sure, I'll third that as well. Because at that point something is wrong. But usually this has happened before. And usually my main way of dealing with it is just giving it a little bit of a wait.

SPEAKER_12 16:58

So we we so y'all are just gonna take a couple laps around the building. Um get some fried provisions on the corner, sit on a stoop.

SPEAKER_13 17:11

Acts like we are not a strange group of people to just be hanging out nonchalantly together. My god.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

While we are waiting, Chris is going to get Orion's attention. Um I uh I made this for you. Um, thank you for letting me stay at your house. And they're going to hold out the token that they made.

SPEAKER_07 17:37

Oh. Oh. Thank you, Chris.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

It can um I put a spell in it. Um, it can heal you once.

SPEAKER_07 17:51

Once once. Ah, yes, as in the number count. That is really handy. I I I don't know what to say.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Um You were all in a lot of danger last time, apparently, so I wanted to make sure that maybe you'd be in less danger slightly if that happened again.

SPEAKER_07 18:13

Thank you, Chris. Um, I really do want to make sure that, you know, you're able to go home soon. So, you know, while while you're here, right, since you're stuck with us, it looks like for the time being. I just I guess want you to feel at least a little safer, you know, with a group of people that can watch your back anywhere.

SPEAKER_05 18:39

Um like he he makes it a point to like look at Chantarelle while he's saying that.

SPEAKER_12 18:46

Chanterelle is just like little little little nubbin fist and little nubbin cupped hand.

SPEAKER_07 18:53

I've got my eyes on you. Uh but yeah, and Orion tucks it away into one of his pants pockets and just sincerely thanks Chris. I think in in this moment, Orion wasn't really expecting anything. I he like he knows that Chris kind of has a habit of being like, oh, like you did something for me, so here's something in return. But I feel like genuinely yesterday, or a shift ago when they were sleeping, he just felt so like the the just the defeated look that everybody had, the general vibe that everything was happening. Just a bare corner to sit in didn't feel like something that should warrant something of this caliber. He's very thankful for it, but it also feels a little undeserved. So he pockets it and kind of does like an awkward handshake type thing with Chris. Because I'm sure Chris doesn't know how to do a handshake and it's too late to take it back, so they just kind of do like an awkward grasp at each other.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Is this also a thing people do?

SPEAKER_07 20:06

Uh yeah. I should have prefaced this. It's like a you just put your hand and a fist, and you Yep, like that.

unknown 20:19

Cool.

SPEAKER_13 20:26

Yeah, close enough. It's like the awkward thing that like character that doesn't know how to do a handshake, like, is just kind of swinging it, but it's like way too long.

SPEAKER_11 20:35

Beautiful. How long do you all kill time?

SPEAKER_15 20:44

I feel like Valentine would start kind of making a stink after like an hour.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

I was gonna say, I don't know how long he's already been like that, but probably like hourly.

SPEAKER_12 20:59

Hourly going to check. After an hour, you go and knock on the door and there's still no response.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Well, like me to time to shine. Would you like me to do the thing before that?

SPEAKER_01 21:15

You know, actually, yes. Yes, I would. Just to confirm that it is not, in fact, his murderer sitting in his chair as he lies dead on the floor, as someone so eloquently put it.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

I try to. Uh, okay. Um, alright, I'm gonna cast detect thoughts.

SPEAKER_12 21:33

Detect thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 21:36

I thought that was the thoughts for so I can it is a wisdom saving, though, correct?

SPEAKER_02 21:41

It's a wisdom save if I'm probing deeper, but I can sense thoughts, which means I can sense the presence of thoughts within 30 feet of myself that belong to a creature that knows languages. And then also I can read the thoughts of anyone that I can see within 30 feet, or anyone that I've detected with the sense thoughts option.

SPEAKER_11 22:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

And it lasts for a minute.

SPEAKER_12 22:05

Okay. So since you can sense the presence of a creature within 30 feet of yourself, you cannot read the thoughts. But you know that the thinking creature is present. You know that a thinking creature is present on the other side of this door. Within 30 feet, in fact, you would estimate that it's about 20 feet in front of the door. There is a thinking creature. Um, you only detect one thinking creature. Uh, and you can't read the thoughts, but you you do know it's there. There is a thinking creature there.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

I can't like block say no the thinking creature's there. I can't use detect thoughts to detect the thoughts.

SPEAKER_12 22:46

Well, you would need to probe deeper.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

No, I it's just the surface level thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

You automatically get surface level thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Yeah, you often you automatically get surface level thoughts.

SPEAKER_12 22:55

Uh okay. So thir surface level thoughts. I'm going to have you do a wisdom saving throw for me. Oh, good. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

What that's great. Uh that's a 16.

SPEAKER_12 23:16

Okay. That is a failure.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Oh, okay. That's fine.

SPEAKER_12 23:21

You are warm. You're warm all over, and your soul is at peace. You're sitting at your desk, your feet are up, a cold glass of rads are in your hand. You have a case file open in your lap, and you're reading over horrible, grisly murder, but it's the kind of thing that makes you feel alive when you finally solve it. And you look across the desk and you see just a halo of a woman. Her features are blacked out under the light of some ribbon that flows loosely around her face, effervescent light that blocks out the intricacies of her features. As she leans forward and pulls the file from your lap and looks it over. Rexon, you're missing all the right clues. They're right there. He grabs the file back. Darlin, just give me a minute. I'm reading. Takes me time. Alright, well. We all know how you like taking your time. Alright. Just wait a minute. We can go out on the prowl later. Whatever you say. Just don't keep me waiting. Wouldn't dream of it, angel. Wouldn't dream of it. And in a moment you're blinking back to yourself.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Um that was weird. That's not usually what happens. Is it a murderer? I do not believe so. I didn't usually I just hear the thought of the person, but I I saw like a vision or something. I was in his place having a conversation with somebody. Very bright. Kind of like.

SPEAKER_07 25:57

Well, at least that means he's not dead.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

I don't know if that was a thought or not. Do I know what just happened or no?

SPEAKER_12 26:07

No, this is completely new to you.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Would I know anything about how they're describing it?

SPEAKER_12 26:13

Give me an arcana check.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

I'll take it.

SPEAKER_12 26:17

Or medicine.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Or medicine.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

I kinda just yeah, I I I explained what happened. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Um Arcana, it is.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

There was a pile of things on my lap and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

It's a 12 for a total of 17.

SPEAKER_12 26:33

17? Given what you already know about Rexum, there are a variety of substances that could give someone visions, put them in a trance. You knew Rexum to prefer Rads to most anything else, but it's been years since you talked to him last.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Cool.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Am I like still able to read circus thoughts? Because it lasts for a minute.

SPEAKER_12 27:08

Um, I'll say like that vision was a minute. Like you were sucked into a minute vision of oh, okay. Yeah. It might not have expired in a minute real time, but like there there was moments of silence and just it was a very peaceful, like the entire time you felt deep in your soul that all was right.

SPEAKER_15 27:30

So maybe he is gonna be nice.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Nope, he is stoned out of his mind.

SPEAKER_15 27:36

So should we go in or are we taking another lap?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

He'll come out of it in a bit. He ain't dead, that's for sure. I think he's too stubborn and cantankerous to die, but anyway.

SPEAKER_15 27:55

I'm on the same page. Surely it can't be more invasive to break into his house than it was to read his thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

That's that's okay.

SPEAKER_15 28:10

You didn't do anything wrong, Chris.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

No, that's I regain again. I requested that. That's fine.

SPEAKER_15 28:15

Um must be right if Rook requested it.

SPEAKER_12 28:21

I'll see. Rook, your passive perception is 16, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 28:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

I could not agree more. What does that mean? Thank you for coming to that point.

SPEAKER_12 28:32

You guys hear a little as Enix unlocks the door having uh while you guys were talking and having it took him a little while uh while Chris was having the vision and we're all watching Chris, but he managed to finally get it open. And the thing that alerts you that it opened more so than the click is just the little.

SPEAKER_06 28:55

Can I dap him up?

SPEAKER_12 28:57

Oh, yeah, you know, he gets it right there. And he goes, Oh my god. Sorry, there was all this talking, and I just, you know, I need the practice. I can lock it again if you want. I just, you know. No, the door's open now.

SPEAKER_15 29:09

We may as well check it out. I'm just gonna swan in there. Yeah, oh my god.

SPEAKER_07 29:15

If if it would it if it would ease your mind, you and Valentine can go in there, and we will stay here until we hear screams of the damned, and then we'll come get you. Otherwise, you're welcome to go in there and take a look at how far out in the void he is, and come right back and we can do another loop.

SPEAKER_15 29:38

Yeah, I'm already inside. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

Uh I think if you were about we're gonna die. If you were about to slip in. This is all a lot of just nonsense that just happened in a very short succession. Yeah, cool. Okay. Um Rook's gonna shoot over to Moore and just be like, could you get your friend under control?

SPEAKER_14 30:02

I thought that he did a great job. You didn't even hear him.

SPEAKER_12 30:08

Annex leans over to Mora and he's like, Yeah, it was like real sneaky. I did it, like, nobody saw me. It was great.

SPEAKER_14 30:14

I'm talking to you later. But you can keep your attitude away from him.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

He's like You're lucky that you're a friend of an acquaintance and not a random person who just broke into this office. That's all I'll say.

SPEAKER_14 30:34

Get in there. Valentine's already in there. I thought you knew this day.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

Yeah, whatever. And it's gonna be exactly what a let me handle. He just goes in as well. So, how's your day been going, guys?

SPEAKER_12 30:47

We cut to inside. This can only go badly. Yeah. No. Valentine, as you enter the office, you have a few beats to yourself before uh Rook comes in behind you. The first sense you experience as you enter Rex Simmerlane's office is a fierce smell of rads and dust. The walls are stained a mottled yellow from what has probably been decades of indoor wispweed smoke. The light in here is dim. The room is mostly in shadow. And I'm gonna have you do a perception check for me. With advantage, because you know roughly where you're looking.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Um you said that was what rules again?

SPEAKER_12 31:37

Perception.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Cool.

SPEAKER_12 31:38

Oof. A 16.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Perception with advantage? Yes. Cool.

SPEAKER_12 31:44

And we'll have Brooke do it too.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Great. That is going to be um a dirty 20.

SPEAKER_12 31:52

Alright. So as you approach, as you enter the room, you see an outline of a large desk in front of you. But the thing that really catches your eye is the figure that slumped over it. You can barely make out the figure of a masculine form with curved horns and ruddy red skin. It's the color of clay, you think, from the pictures you've seen of upper deck gardens and the news parchment. There is evidence of rad drinking. There are empty rad bottles and a partially full glass of rads, a deep, deep red on the desk. And as you're looking at the desk itself, both of you do a nature check for me.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Interesting, okay.

unknown 32:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

14. 15.

SPEAKER_12 32:55

I mean, both of you have not seen it a whole lot, but have seen it before. You see the offcuts of still stock fungus. Um, and as you are sort of looking, you see that Rexum, when you get closer, you're able to flick on a lamp that's on the desk, and uh his skin is that clay red, but it has tinges of blue at the tips of his pointed ears and at the edges of his horns. It sort of curved down around his face in a loop near his eye, and there's sort of blue at the tips of the horns as well. He's laying on his side, the horns kind of causing his neck to be at what looks like a horribly uncomfortable angle as he lays on his desk. His eyes are wide open but completely glazed over with a weird white film, and he has what appears to be the remnants of shimmer on his skin, of the shine that you get from drinking too many rads, but it seems to have, and with those nature checks, you know that people who eat a lot of still stock fungus tend to secrete a mucus through their skins, and it looks like the mucus has combined with the shimmer to form almost a hard face mask over his whole body of this like hardened, like he's been laying here for so long that the secreted shimmer and mucus has congealed on his skin. Um, and that's what you see as it is just this crust over his body as he's laying there, and it takes a minute, but as you get closer, you do see his back just ever so slightly rising and falling with breathing.

SPEAKER_08 34:57

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

Well, thank you for the break-in advice. In mod defense, this is worse than I'd ever seen it.

SPEAKER_12 35:04

So if you want, you can do a medicine check for me. Yeah, both of you.

SPEAKER_01 35:13

Yeah, I would love to, as I am going to grab the remaining still stock and tossing it halfway across the room. Like I grab it and I chuck it hard against the opposite wall.

SPEAKER_15 35:25

That fixed it. That was a 12.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

We get oh, not great. And that's a five.

SPEAKER_12 35:33

Okay. I'll say with a 12, Valentine, you know that mixing substances tends to have strange effects when people do so. But you've heard the term that relates to what happens when you take both still stock fungus and drink a lot of rads, and the term is wrapped. He's wrapped right now. Um, you get the sense that he's probably in a deep, peaceful vision, but with a 12, you don't quite know the correct or like a safe way to bring someone back to being sober. It kind of is uh from what you are aware of, a waiting game.

SPEAKER_15 36:20

Gosh. Do I think it would like I know that I don't know a safe way to bring him out of it, but like, would it kill him if I dumped water on him or something?

SPEAKER_12 36:31

You don't know these as being like terribly lethal uh drugs, but you do know that people who frequently abuse either rads or still stock fungus can have severe mental repercussions. It can do bad things to your psyche. So abusing them together is kind of like, okay, this he could but like it's the abuse of them that causes this mental damage. You don't know what would happen if you try to like pull someone out of one of these trances. But you do know consistent abuse of these items can cause severe psychiatric issues.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Would I be familiar at all as far as pulling someone out of a still stock trance?

SPEAKER_12 37:19

I would say that would be something yeah, I'll have actually I'll have you have rolled your medicine check from before with advantage. I should have given you advantage on that from your experience.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

The advantage did help. Nice. Thank you. Um that so this one is actually gonna be at 22.

SPEAKER_12 37:41

Okay. That's a significant difference. So the so yeah, the the experience is ish is revealing itself. You have more experience with just still stock abuse, but you have less experience when combined with rads. Because that's when you're getting into like neither one is doing enough for you anymore. It takes a lot of abuse before people sort of get to this point, and you haven't dealt with that as much. But you do know that when someone is deep in a still stock trance, or even if you abuse rads, that can cause hallucinations as well. You typically know that anything that removes the poisoned condition, like mechanically, would be able to assist with this. Or if someone is able to do some sort of medicine check, spending an hour of a certain DC, then they can slowly work. It's like basically how you have to lead a sleeping a sleepwalking person back to bed and then allow them to wake naturally, but you can kind of speed up the process. That's essentially what you can do with a high enough medicine check.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

Alright, well, um, I guess we're just gonna have the whole merry band show up now. Alright, everyone, you can come in. This is just pathetic. Um cool. Chris?

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Is he alright?

SPEAKER_01 39:14

No, he's stupid. Um you you you you can do like healing type stuff, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:21

Um yes. Is this uh Can I let do I know what's going on? Oh Chris, you have no idea. There would be no frame of reference to the other. What's wrong with him? He poisoned himself. I'll know. I yeah, I can help with that if that's the problem. Would you like me to help with that?

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Or yeah, that would be appreciated. Otherwise, we're gonna be here for a good while longer.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Okay. Chris is going to cast lesser restoration.

SPEAKER_12 40:04

What does it look like when Chris casts that spell?

SPEAKER_02 40:09

So think of it like you know how like some plants or mushrooms can like soak up stuff like that. Some like mushrooms grow out of his hair or whatever he has up there, and basically some like glow, like some mushrooms that have glowing patterns, and they start to suck up the rats and stuff with all the poison.

SPEAKER_12 40:35

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 40:36

Magically, of course.

SPEAKER_12 40:38

Yeah, sort of further describe him. He does have hair, he has close cropped, um, but what appears to have been long before styled with some gel that has kind of managed to hold it in place, though it's starting to fall. Salt and pepper, more salt than pepper these days, hair on his head around the horns, and these mushrooms grow and then you know, sort of fall off of his body, having soaked up the effects of everything. And by casting it this way and describing it that way, it seems like it's a while, I'm sure it's a touch-based spell, but it seems to have taken slightly longer to do it this way, a little bit more of a gradual transition. So in this moment, he sort of blinks his eyes, and you see that it's painful to do so. They were completely dried out, and as he does, the white film slowly begins to disappear, and you see that almost snake-like orange-yellow eyes are behind the white film as he blinks, and you see the crust sort of flake away at the corners of his eyes where he's starting to blink, and then as he sort of shifts and moves and starts to sit up, all of the crust that was on his skin cracks and starts flaking off of his face and off of his hands as he moves his fingers. And you can tell from the way he sort of shifts uncomfortably. There is a dark black leather uh trench coat over what appears to be a linen black vest, a black undershirt with a black tie that is loose around his neck, and what appears to be linen uh black breeches, just all black, this guy, head to toe. But as he sort of shifts, you get the sense that this flaking is happening all over his body as he's sitting up. His clothes, even though they're black, you see, they seem like stained through with this weird rad mucus as he sits up and he looks around at all of you, and he is immediately going to do a wisdom saving throw. Uh, rolls a natural four, and as soon as his eyes hit Valentine, he begins screaming. And for the sake of my neighbors, I won't scream, but he goes, No, no, I didn't I didn't know. I didn't I couldn't have known that it would and and he begins to hyperventilate and he backs away from Valentine to the wall and holds his hand to his head and begins just like open-eyed weeping as he stares at you.

SPEAKER_15 43:38

Well, that isn't the first impression I like to make.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

Let me let me handle this one. Rex him and I'm just gonna like direct him towards me. Just hey, look at me.

SPEAKER_11 43:54

The g rook, the ghosts are walking. They're everywhere. There.

SPEAKER_12 44:03

I can't I gotta where's my and he begins sort of looking around.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Hey, breathe. Breathe. You need to take a sec. How heavy have you been using lately?

SPEAKER_12 44:18

Uh go ahead and do a persuasion check for me.

SPEAKER_01 44:21

That I will do no problem.

SPEAKER_12 44:24

Because you're trying to like calm him and and bring him back.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

Ooh, don't mind if I do. That's a 17 plus six for a 23.

SPEAKER_12 44:33

Woo! As you start talking to him and like reaching out to sort of direct him to you, his hand immediately grabs at your forearm from where it was reaching out to him, and it seems like he's using it like he's gripping you, like if he doesn't hold on to you, he will fly away. Um and in fact, like the black talon-like claws at the end of his hands, not on purpose, but kind of dig uncomfortably into the clothes of your arm. And you get the sense that like if he grabbed any harder, like the claws would tear into the your clothing. But he's managing not to do that. And he looks into your eyes and he's like, I just wait. Yeah, rook, rook.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Oh Yeah, me. You've you've been you've clearly been using. You've been getting worse.

SPEAKER_12 45:40

Yeah, what's it to you? It doesn't matter. Um he starts to kind of pull away from you a little bit. I'm fine, I'm fine. It's all good. There's it's none of your business what I'm up to. Uh whatever it takes to get a man through the day, okay?

SPEAKER_01 46:02

I couldn't agree more, but um what are you talking about with the ghosts walking around?

SPEAKER_12 46:08

It just and he looks back up at you, Valentine. He's gonna roll something. Uh oh no.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Oh god.

SPEAKER_12 46:20

He looks at you, and uh, you can do an insight check if you want in that time. I would love to. Come on.

SPEAKER_15 46:33

I'm cursed again. That is an eleven.

SPEAKER_12 46:38

His expression's really hard to read, but he looks at you and basically immediately seems like he's pulling himself back together. And he looks at Rook and he goes. I was coming out of what I was coming out of. It's fine. We're all good. Uh why you here, Rook? You haven't been here in years. What do you need from me?

SPEAKER_01 47:06

Well, couple things. Figured I should drop by, say hi. You know, as one does every so often when the busyness doesn't overwhelm him. Um, secondly.

SPEAKER_12 47:20

You know what, Rook, I don't know that. You haven't been here in what four years? Five? More? I don't know you to have stopped by. You seem to have thought you were too good for me. Why are you here now?

SPEAKER_01 47:41

Look, I I need advice and I need help, and yet I It's been it it's it's been a time, okay? And clearly that goes across the board. Plain and simple, I just had a murder case that I was on, and the uh victim was walking around afterwards and threatened my life. The victim who I saw dead in the first place.

SPEAKER_12 48:09

Rexon's eye one eyebrow. I can't cock one eyebrow, one eyebrow cocks.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

I have no real explanation for this. Um body was there, crime scene was investigated, I had a lead, followed up on it. That became a whole bag of worms. Long story short, the person who I was supposed to be investigating the murder of then appears at several other people who threatened both my life and the life of my acquaintances here. Introductions will be made after I make my case. Um and uh I'm not quite sure what to do with that because one, I don't know what to tell the client remotely. And two, I've never seen a murder victim get up, start walking around, and then start tailing the person who's supposed to be investigating their own murder.

SPEAKER_09 49:12

Can't say that's Khan.

SPEAKER_01 49:15

But I figure you've been in the game a bit longer than me, so maybe you might have seen a thing or two.

SPEAKER_09 49:23

Yeah. Seen a thing or two. Her the other s hangers on.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

These would be my newfound acquaintances. I will let them share their names at their discretion. However, the one you were promptly freaking out about is the one who next has priority to speak to you. So I'm gonna let her do her piece.

SPEAKER_15 49:47

My name's Valentine. I do favors for people around town, and I heard that you're the man to see if you want to get in with Uncle Epder.

SPEAKER_12 50:09

Do another inside check.

SPEAKER_15 50:11

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_12 50:13

I love the plot.

SPEAKER_15 50:15

Let's see if it's a new die because I need to roll a good number. Okay. No, no, no. That's an eight.

SPEAKER_12 50:30

He's still really playing. Yeah, he's still really hard to read. You say that and he looks at you. Who told you? Atari. He seems to think for a minute he's gonna roll.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Could I also be really scrutinizing his expressions throughout this whole process?

SPEAKER_12 50:56

Yeah, sure. Go ahead and roll an insight check. Oh, I would love you to make an insight check.

SPEAKER_07 51:00

Yeah, Marilyn, I'm starting to suspect that your your house is just tilted. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 51:08

Every single roll that Marilyn makes is just cocked because I don't under Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 51:14

Oh no, I was just gonna say it's not that much better, but I got a 15.

SPEAKER_12 51:18

Okay. I'll say with a 15, because I'll I'll say this kind of goes towards Valentine starting talking uh to now, because that's when uh you sort of started really scrutinizing versus sort of making sure he was not absolutely losing his mind. When uh Valentine mentions Uncle Ebder, um his face, it's a 15, so it's not that deep, but there is more so a tension in his body that you know from your years when you did work with him is his immediate like tell of like fight or flight. He immediately like gets a spark of oh okay, like let's let's you know, fight or flight response to that name. But there is something else there that you just can't quite put your finger on that he had in response to that question. The most obvious thing is what you were able to see is that he had that fight or flight response to that name. And he rolled, and then he goes, I don't know that I know a Nataria insight check?

SPEAKER_15 52:38

Can I move for it? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

I'm also gonna second that.

SPEAKER_15 52:46

We are all inside. What's a 10?

SPEAKER_01 52:50

Got a 17.

SPEAKER_12 52:52

Nice. Uh ten still hard to read. Um, but you don't detect dishonesty with a ten. And with a seventeen, you don't detect dishonesty either. What you detect is confusion. Um because it that that name is not it does not immediately spark anything in his mind, and he's confused about that.

SPEAKER_15 53:19

She's blonde, an elf, very mysterious.

SPEAKER_12 53:24

Why don't you describe every single woman in this city? Well, I guess a good portion of the population at least. Not a lot of pretty answers. Unfortunately, that's what I have for you on that front.

SPEAKER_15 53:45

I can pay anything you want.

SPEAKER_09 53:49

I don't need money.

SPEAKER_15 53:54

Anything you want. You want a favor?

SPEAKER_09 53:59

I don't want anything from you.

SPEAKER_01 54:04

Sorry to interject again. Um Rexum, you said have you been hearing things? Seeing like some real spooky stuff. Um trouble sleeping, maybe? And not just the normal trouble sleeping from the job. I mean like some weird, weird trouble sleeping.

SPEAKER_12 54:32

You know the answer to that question, Rook. What I teach you about redundant questions.

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Yeah, yeah. They waste time. I know it I knew the answer, obviously, but I wanted to confirm, because hitting a little close to home. So I suppose I more mean to say, what have you been seeing? Because stuff has felt a little restless on my end too. Part of the reason for my absence.

SPEAKER_12 55:08

So other than your Vic walking around the streets, what prompted this little visit rook? If you want my help, you need to give me context. I can't draw assumptions based on inadequate information.

SPEAKER_01 55:25

I um, okay. For starters, one, I want your help, and two, genuinely, I I I did want to just visit, but I haven't had the opportunity, and you know, things get pushed back. And that's not an excuse, but I digress. Um the context, I mean, they were keeping the body intact. She was cult of the crew, so they were following that from the victim. And imagine my surprise when me and one of my acquaintances here are at my apartment. We get cornered by several folks who had chased us earlier that evening. Involving this Ateria character that Valentine mentioned. Um and the person who was seemingly at the head of the pack obscured themselves. They had a they had a cloak, they had a hood, just spoke real ominous, and then at the end of it that I saw the faintest glimpse of a face and a cult of the crew mark on the wrist. But she had like a weird I want to say like a weird pallor too where she it was her, but it it it really did look like it was in fact the corpse that was moving around. She didn't look like how you'd expect you know someone totally alive to be looking, but it was her. Um Phyllis was her name.

SPEAKER_15 57:06

They work for the cousins.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

The yeah.

SPEAKER_12 57:13

She probably knew her on the scene than most.

SPEAKER_09 57:17

I don't know her.

SPEAKER_01 57:19

But uh They also had uh a few others who worked for the cousins. There was one um I wanna say uh Bluefingers, Truncheon, Squeak, and uh Breakin or something. I wanna say they're cousins. Or associated.

SPEAKER_12 57:51

Guess we're doing this. Rexham stands up, and before you can act, he swipes the glass of Rads off the desk and downs it and walks back to a drape that is hanging over the back wall. It's the same sort of ugly yellow color. You think maybe it once had been a beige or cream drape, but it's now this like stained yellow. And he pulls it across the room, revealing the back wall of his office is just floor to ceiling. Pieces of paper, like literally black marker on the wall and red string, as he goes and he goes. I haven't been paying too much attention to the uh lower down rungs of the cousins. I don't know much about it. I've been tracking those at the top. I've been trying to draw connections and figure out a way to pull down the guy, Uncle Ebder. Haven't made much progress in a while. But uh as you can see, done a lot, and it hasn't really come to much.

SPEAKER_15 59:18

And I do some kind of check to just like scan, just looking for all kinds of mentions and information about Epdur on the board.

SPEAKER_12 59:33

Yeah, I'll say in order to get just like a lay of the land, you would catch sort of major names and whatnot. It would be perception, but if you wanted to take a minute and really sort of analyze, it would be investigation, but you'd get more information.

SPEAKER_15 59:51

I'm gonna do perception because I'm better at it, but there's with the way I'm rolling.

SPEAKER_07 59:58

I'm channeling no.

SPEAKER_15 1:00:00

Okay, the 10.

SPEAKER_12 1:00:02

Okay. I'll say the thing that sticks out most to you is that there is a sketched uh like photograph, uh hand-drawn of Uncle Ebder. It is uh he looks older than your memory, and his features are creased and worn with the added ears, and vividly depicted in this sketch is a hand-shaped scar on the side of his face. Uh, the tip of the middle finger and the bottom of the ring, sort of on either side of his left eye, with the pinky finger going up and over his lips, and the index finger and the middle and sorry, the thumb sort of on his neck and by his ear, uh sort of stretched out all over the left side of his face. And below it, uh in a sort of wildly scrawled charcoal marking, it just says uh the pale hand. And then there are lines from that leaning to sketches of different people. Okay. Cut things off at the source, but uh uh Rexham starts sort of swiping um you you cleansed his system, but he has had a smaller amount of rads than most people would be able to consume before getting shine. But he's already starting to have a little bit of shine sort of link from his hairline as he sort of wipes it away uh from the little drink that he had, and he goes, but um haven't been making a lot of progress. I got a few names, a few faces, but uh don't have a lot of uh detail in the operation or uh much more about it, but um I don't uh don't encourage anyone else getting deep in this. Only leads to trouble.

SPEAKER_15 1:02:25

I've heard that before.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:26

We're kind of already deep in this.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:30

Yeah. Or it feels like it's kinda already there.

SPEAKER_12 1:02:35

I don't know most of you. If I don't know you, you're not in too deep. You can get out.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:40

Well, this did happen literally last night, so well.

SPEAKER_12 1:02:46

I don't know about any of the people you mentioned, so they must not be too deep in it either.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

Oh. It's also just the extremely disconcerting part of someone who was working for the cousins, seemingly being what I can only describe as a corpse that decided not to be a corpse anymore.

SPEAKER_12 1:03:10

I don't know that that's that strange. I don't know if you've been hearing about some of the proposals um from the first council. There's been talk about the labor shortages uh after the wilt outbreak. Um of the Colton of crew have been volunteering, and there's been some talk about getting, you know, those who got gone back up on their feet and working the engines. It's not too crazy. Do you not pay attention to the to the wires?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:48

I've been a little out of the loop lately, yeah.

SPEAKER_12 1:03:52

Alright, well. There's uh there's a charter on the voting block in a few weeks. Would uh extend some funding for that sort of thing. Only volunteers, they say.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:18

Have you um have you been down near the engines at all recently?

SPEAKER_12 1:04:26

I don't get that way too often.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_12 1:04:33

But uh I don't know. What you're describing doesn't seem necessarily like what the first council's thinking about. But I don't know. Are you sure? Uh I know you said it was a while. Um corpse on the floor, probably not something.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:54

I mean it it wasn't slightly dead, it was her her throat was torn out, her neck was in awful condition. It was this was a violent, not exactly a subtle death.

SPEAKER_12 1:05:11

There's some people that can work with that. They're expensive, but it's possible. Just gotta think through all the options. If not that, then what? Um What do you want from me?

SPEAKER_15 1:05:37

I'm not gonna give it to you. Why not?

SPEAKER_12 1:05:45

I'm done seeing pretty angels die in this city.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:54

I look, I just I'm not Complete loss. I've gotten into situations with work before. This feels a little different. This feels a lot more organized, and it feels like it might be deeper than it's belying at the moment. And so really the only person with the wherewithal and the experience here and the knowledge in terms of relevant persons was you. I'm kind of just as much an open water here too, but what I can also say is what you've been hearing that's not just a you thing. Things feel things feel restless. It feels I don't know. Probably only way I can describe it in conjunction with how you looked when you just woke up and now you're talking about it as tormented. Have you been getting that too?

SPEAKER_12 1:07:14

Risen's dead don't leave. Their bodies might get taken by the storm, but not their souls.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:27

Not anymore.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:31

Now what what the hell is that supposed to mean?

SPEAKER_11 1:07:36

You tell me.

SPEAKER_12 1:07:38

I don't know, but I felt it. Something's off, something's wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:45

You can say that again.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:47

That's why we're here.

SPEAKER_11 1:07:49

Who are you?

SPEAKER_07 1:07:52

Just the passenger tagging along. What do you mean by souls that they don't leave anymore? I mean, that's not. What do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_12 1:08:03

I don't talk to people I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:08

Well, if you're happy to sit in your little room and stay wrapped forever, then that's uh that's your choice. Clearly. Um you know, yeah, and you're you're right. We don't know you. Good company is.

SPEAKER_11 1:08:26

Ryan, what's your armor class?

SPEAKER_05 1:08:32

16.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:33

Bro, bro hit a nerve.

SPEAKER_12 1:08:36

Alright. Go ahead and roll an athletics check for me.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:41

I have never been so happy that I specked into athletics. I knew this was going to happen.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:49

Bro's getting a whole desk thrown at his head.

SPEAKER_14 1:08:52

At least throwing a desk is less critical.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:54

Hedge getting my edge 20.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:59

Porter, please tell me it was the latter. I I am not even joking. I am not even joking. I have I have proficiency in athletics. I have a plus six. I nat 20.

SPEAKER_12 1:09:15

Ooh. Ooh. Nice.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:22

What happens to me?

SPEAKER_12 1:09:24

Um, well, first of all, you are hit by a solid right hook across the face. What he was going to do was punch you, and then for his second attack, do a shove attack to shove you into the wall. You resist with that Nat 20 strength, but you do get punched across the face. And let me actually roll that damage. Okay, just two points of damage from that punch across the face, and we're not pushed into the wall, but Rexum still like grabs onto the lapels of your, you know, vest or shirt or or whatever you're wearing. And he gets real close up into your eyes, and you can smell the rads and the remnants of the still stock fungus on his breath as he looks at you and he goes, You don't have any right to tell me anything about how to handle my pain. You don't have any right to tell me anything about how to do anything. I don't know you, and you come in here and you're criticizing me. I've seen more than what you in your little life could have ever seen.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:47

Don't you dare his gaze dead on. He's shaken by the the lashing out, but he stares him in the eyes and says, You're right. You know, like you said, we're just we're all strangers here. You're right, and I I probably don't have the right to criticize you, but you are far, far from the first person or the last person to be hurting. You are far from the first person that has seen things, and I'm not claiming, okay? This is there's no competition. I am not claiming or trying to claim that I have it worse off than you or any of us. But on this matter, Rook and I guess the rest of us, I mean, we we're just trying to figure things out as much as you are. And if you're going to dash that opportunity, then be it. Do what you like. But all I know is that the more we fight amongst each other, while there are things out there that pick us off slowly one by one. And this is the hill you choose to die on. That's sad. That makes you a sad man.

SPEAKER_12 1:12:18

I'll say. I don't know which charisma check would be best. I'm gonna say intimidation, but like I know that the goal is not like to terrify him, but so we'll like we'll flavor this intimidation a little bit, but I uh but I think that calls for something.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:36

Uh roll for intervention.

SPEAKER_15 1:12:39

Yeah. Valentine has backed herself fully into a corner and is just frozen.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:46

Okay, this intimidation is a little worse for the wear. Where does a 13 get me?

SPEAKER_12 1:12:51

I mean, uh what you said gives you advantage. I'll give you advantage for sure. I'm not just, you know, I I feel like what you said, Warren said.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:58

Alright, red, black, or white.

SPEAKER_12 1:13:01

Red.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:02

Yeah. Red. Alright. Um, also, seeing the uh the the tension start to escalate and knowing that Chris is very unfamiliar to a lot of hostility, Rook is gonna like just like hold his hand up.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:14

Yeah, Chris Chris's eyes are glowing red.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:19

Chris's eyes are not red, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:20

Yeah. Sixteen. Rook just holds his hand up and like.

SPEAKER_12 1:13:26

I'm gonna roll for Rexum. Sixteen.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:30

Oh boy. Okay. Yes, who's getting another right hook?

SPEAKER_12 1:13:34

Well, no, I'm just seeing how how he would react.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:38

Right hook?

SPEAKER_15 1:13:40

Could be a left hook.

SPEAKER_13 1:13:41

Oh like, yeah, that you don't know what the red eyes mean. You just know that Chris was consistent was like for a second was thinking about doing something. Probably very bad.

SPEAKER_12 1:13:54

Was Brooke going to do something? Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:56

No, just making a joke that I'm holding the hand up to Chris.

SPEAKER_12 1:13:59

Just like, no, no, no, no. Rexum looks at you and he lets you go, but it doesn't seem like what you said has really sunken in. He goes back to his desk, opens it, there's another bottle in there, and he pours himself another drink. But at least he's sipping it this time. He doesn't throw it back. He's taking a slow sip and he sets it down on his desk. And you see, he looks around and he sees the far corner of the room where there's like sc like broken bits of fungus, but he doesn't go pick it up. He just looks at it and notices it. And then he looks back at all of you. I don't got it in me. There's not much of me left. I uh I don't know if what I hear is reality or if or if it's all the other. I don't. Rick, I'll give you my files. Uh you'll have to scrape them off my wall. But um I haven't actually made progress in a long time. Some of it might be a little outdated.

SPEAKER_09 1:15:24

I uh I just don't have it anymore. I can't do what needs to be done. Not anymore.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:45

You always know me. More than happy to pick up a case.

SPEAKER_12 1:15:50

I don't know that you can do what needs to be done either, Rook.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:55

What do you think needs to be done here?

SPEAKER_12 1:16:03

Justice died about 20 years ago, Rook.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:09

I knew her. And she's gone. The only thing that's left are the chains in the wake. Abder needs to be tied up by his ankles and left to rot.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:31

With the right info and the right leads, maybe that can happen. And as far as what you just said goes, I mean clearly the dead haven't been too happy lately, so maybe that goes for justice too. But could I ask a favor? Whatever what little ground I do have to say that.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:58

You can ask.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:01

If you're gonna do something, don't do stills. Just don't do stills. I get that you're haunted, I get that it's tough, I get that you can't anymore. But that garbage will take you and reduce you to even less than you can be. From just the wear and tear of your job in your life. It will reduce you to less than nothing. Please. I don't care what elf I don't care what else you get into. I don't care how many rads you do. I don't care if it's wisweed, I don't pick your poison. But for your own decency and for your own dignity as a man that I knew and hold in high esteem. Just not stills.

SPEAKER_12 1:18:00

Roll a persuasion check with disadvantage.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:03

Oh man. Disadvantage.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:09

Can I do a guidance?

SPEAKER_12 1:18:12

I'll say you could if you wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:18

Okay, I got the same thing twice. That seems to be a running theme this this time around. That same thing was not bad. That is a 16 plus six for a 22. Ah! Wow.

SPEAKER_12 1:18:33

Alright. He looks at you.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:43

It matters a lot that you care, Rook. That matters a lot to me. I um I'm not the man that mentored you. Not anymore.

SPEAKER_12 1:19:05

And um he sort of looks at the audience around. I uh I uh it beats me up inside that I uh couldn't be the man you wanted me to be.

SPEAKER_09 1:19:27

I wish I could. But I uh I miss her too much. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_15 1:19:42

Sorry, Rudy miss.

SPEAKER_12 1:19:51

He looks at you.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:54

If I may uh would I would I know who he's talking about?

SPEAKER_12 1:19:59

You know that he was in love with someone who died. That's what you know. You know no further details than that. He would not have told you. That's what you have gathered from context clues, and you can guess from the fixation on Ebder that he was involved. But that's pretty much the extent of what you know. And when you ask who, Valentine, he looks at you, and I'll give you one last chance for an insight check with advantage this time.

SPEAKER_13 1:20:35

I'm gonna do a guidance this time.

SPEAKER_12 1:20:38

Okay, go for it. You can add a d4. Who's it? Two?

SPEAKER_15 1:20:44

MS17.

SPEAKER_12 1:20:46

Nice, and add the D4. And I'm giving you advantage, not just out of pity, but I think he's being very raw and emotional. He's a bit easier to read right now.

SPEAKER_15 1:20:56

19 plus 524.

SPEAKER_12 1:20:59

Nice. He looks at you and suddenly everything gets pieced together, especially the timeline and the way he reacted to you, and how Chris described the vision and the board and everything else, and you know exactly who he's talking about. And suddenly it makes a whole lot more sense why he doesn't want you involved.

SPEAKER_15 1:21:31

I think for once she's kind of lost for words and just kind of backs off and tries to fade into the background of this conversation.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:48

Look, just take your rest. You've more than earned that at this point. You just focus on you. Do what you can. But if you'd like, and if you allow, I'm more than happy to pick up this case where you left off because clearly something bad about this case seems to be picking me up too.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:20

You can take the file. Whatever you can uh get of it.

SPEAKER_12 1:22:27

It's all up there. Um I wish I could rest, Rook. And I'll wish this on you. But if you wanna, you can have a There's no rest for the wicked in this city, Rook, but they're the only ones who ever seem to be able to get any sleep.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:53

So it would seem. But as far as the um intrusive the voices of those who are no longer with us. Sometimes it seems that they just want a little company. So it might feel redundant, it might feel strange, but if that sort of a thing keeps happening. Just sometimes trying to address it a little delicately can make the situation better. It used to be a lot worse for me. But I think it's just a lot of a lot of folk that want to be listened to that can't be listened to by most.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:48

I'm sorry that this is the point that we had to meet on, but you might not be the same man, but you are you are still a man. And I just I just know that everybody in the city deserves dignity, whatever form that might be, wherever they can find it.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:16

Not everybody, kid. Not everybody. Sweet sentiment though.

SPEAKER_12 1:24:24

Thanks. Take a right hook real good.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:30

Thanks. I practice.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:35

Anything else or can I get back to existing?

SPEAKER_02 1:24:44

Ryan, are you okay?

SPEAKER_07 1:24:47

Oh yeah, yeah, I'm I'm good. Most of my face is still here. It's a win in my book.

SPEAKER_15 1:24:58

Valentine's gonna lead the way out.

SPEAKER_12 1:25:03

Who would be the last person in the uh in the office?

SPEAKER_01 1:25:09

I think Rook's gonna linger a sec.

SPEAKER_12 1:25:13

As everybody else goes, Rexham's gonna wait till it's just him and Rook. And sort of wait for the others to walk just a second down the hallway, but not necessarily trying to like keep it too secret, but just having a moment to themselves. I take it like you're gathering all the stuff off the wall, all the different pieces of paper. At least he's trying to kind of put them in piles that kind of make sense, but it's meant to be displayed vertically. And as he hands everything to you, he he looks at you and he goes, Take it you haven't learned the lesson yet.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:01

Well, there's always a new lesson, but I think you mean probably something specific there.

SPEAKER_12 1:26:12

You've always had a code, Rook. But codes don't solve mysteries. They don't stop bad guys, and they don't create good men. They're just a code. And yours is gonna get you killed.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:36

Well, that may be. But I think I'll be burning that bridge when I get to it. I can be, you know, somewhat adaptable when I need to be. But at the very least, if you don't stick to a code, if you don't stick to something, what do you have that anchors you to being anything? I gotta keep one thing consistent at the very least. If I can do that, then I can still have a semblance of stability.

SPEAKER_09 1:27:19

If you're a good enough man, you can have a person. But I wasn't. So I don't. But um I don't think that girl's gonna heed my advice.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:37

Definitely not. She's not very good at that. Um actually, there is one thing now that I have just your ear. You said you've been kinda out of the game for a little while now. Um do you hear anything at all from Some of the the the Briggs into things.

SPEAKER_09 1:28:06

From time to time. I've got a couple of contacts.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:10

Okay. Um You haven't heard anything about Korea, would you?

SPEAKER_09 1:28:22

I always keep my ear out, good. Haven't heard much.

SPEAKER_12 1:28:28

But um the trail's gone long cold. That means that there's no more bodies. We think whoever did it's done. For now at least.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:46

So there's th that there's nothing? There there hasn't been anything that this whole time.

SPEAKER_09 1:28:53

It's been gosh. Nine, ten years.

SPEAKER_12 1:29:00

No more bodies. We think the Reaper of Risen is done. I know we never found her. But uh the MO matches. I know that you never really liked that connection, but we think that, you know, if it was him, then he retired.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:29

Never got caught either, did he?

SPEAKER_09 1:29:31

No. Not a loose end.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:37

Why is everything in this city gotta be floating loose end? So not a single body on the case for nine years. No one's there hasn't been anything since she first vanished. Nothing?

SPEAKER_09 1:30:00

No, we never found her, never.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:02

For God's sakes, I'm laying in No.

SPEAKER_12 1:30:06

I mean, I know we last time we spoke it had been cold for a while. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:14

No, I I know it's been cold for a while, but I I I I don't know. I was just I I've been I've been thinking more. The um The wrestlers are getting more restless, and they're particularly loud in my ear about it. I was in the engines the other day.

SPEAKER_09 1:30:38

Makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:40

I almost couldn't walk because of how loud the wailing was. I just you know I know. Three years. Completely out of commission, unable to move. Hardly able to eat, hardly able to anything, and I get out and she's gone. And and and there's and there's nothing. I wake up and I'm I'm this and and then I can't find her at all, and nothing. And it's been that same nothing for this whole time. There hasn't even been a single a single spark of a trail, a single maybe, a single allegedly nothing. Just nothing.

SPEAKER_09 1:31:34

At least you had an excuse. There's nothing. Sorry, Brooke. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:48

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:07

With every other voice that's in my ear every single night and every single day, anytime I pass any of these blasted pipes. I know she's somewhere. I know she would have found me to say something by now.

SPEAKER_09 1:32:29

I don't know, Rook. I never heard mine either. She was just gone.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:37

Yeah. Well, I guess we'll see. Anyway. Thanks for everything. And I'm um I'm I'm really sorry for never dropping by.

SPEAKER_09 1:32:53

That's okay. I'm not necessarily the type of guy you want to be around. I have a habit of uh breaking the things that matter to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:11

Well I think something else got there first in terms of all the break-ins, so I think you're good on that front as far as where I'm standing. But you know, now that I'm not really by my own choice, but now that I'm a bit more mobilized. Oh I'll try to buy one when I can, if that's alright with you.

SPEAKER_09 1:33:35

Okay. But uh you ain't broken, Rook. Not yet.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:43

Sh well. Oh no, sure look it. But that's neither here nor there.

SPEAKER_09 1:33:54

Sure.

SPEAKER_12 1:33:55

And um I've been weighing this, but um if that if that girl's gonna be getting into trouble, give her this. And he reaches into a drawer and he pulls out a wooden box. So immediately it is very expensive. And he gives it to you. And uh with whatever respect you um have left for me, just uh let that be uh a gift just for her, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:34:41

Good. We'll do. Her eyes only, you know, no word. But you don't gotta worry. I don't I don't have any less respect for you, it's just you know how I feel when it comes to stills.

SPEAKER_09 1:35:00

Yeah. Maybe I'll learn a lesson from you sometime.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:09

Wouldn't that be a change of pace? Just try your best to take care of yourself.

SPEAKER_09 1:35:20

No promises. Take care.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:28

You too. Just puts his hat back on, leaves the room.

SPEAKER_12 1:35:35

As you begin to shut the door behind you, you see that Rexham finishes the glass of Rats on his desk, and as you go to close the door, you you can't help but watch for an extra minute, but there's hesitation. He sits at his desk, and it is with a look of pure anguish on his face that after about 30 seconds he goes over to where all of the broken up bits of mushroom are on the ground, and he begins to collect them. And that's when you shut the door.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:28

Is everything okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:36:31

Yeah. Things are handled. Uh Valentine got something for you actually.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:38

For me?

SPEAKER_01 1:36:40

You specifically. Courtesy Rexum in there.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:46

She holds out her hands.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:49

Just hands you the wooden box.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:55

I before you ask, I have no clue what's in it. I didn't ask, he said it was specifically for you. And I quote If you're gonna keep going into this.

SPEAKER_15 1:37:09

Thank you. See, but have you seen him like that before? Violent like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:22

I mean Yeah. It's a belligerence, but that was a particularly sore nerve. Um, it's just it hit a nerve. He's not usually terribly violent, but he's just you reach a breaking point after a while. And he's been well past that.

SPEAKER_15 1:37:53

Sure. Orion, are you alright?

SPEAKER_07 1:38:00

Oh yeah, no, I'm- I'm okay. Honestly, it looks worse than it feels. Um like I said, I've had practice. But I mean, uh it's for what it's worth, I didn't mean to know that the nerve was that sore. But you know, we've all gotta figure out a way to make it somehow on this floating hunk of rock. It's not easy. And I feel like that part he would look at Chris because that like Orion knows that this entire spectacle has just been spectacularly uncomfortable for Chris. It's just it sucks to constantly feel like you're floating, to not have anywhere secure to come back to and know that everything could just be gone, you know? But that's just how it is. And we don't choose our walks of life. But I'll be damned if I'm just gonna if me or you or anybody can be doing something about that. And they just don't. Cause I get it. I mean, I can't say that I have it worse or that I've experienced what he's experienced, but gods dammit, you cannot be so wrapped up in yourself that we're just all trying to get by. And no one has the right to be so wrapped up in themselves that they're willing to withhold something that might help others. Otherwise, we'd just all be dragging each other down. Ain't that what this all is?

SPEAKER_15 1:39:57

You don't know what you're talking about. I was a dead man in there. He gave us what we what he could. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:08

He seemed very like like me like me. He seemed alive to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:20

Hmm. Only alive in the sense that his heart's still beating. I agree. Let's get out of here. Gotta figure out something to do.

SPEAKER_15 1:40:35

At the first opportunity that I can take to duck behind a corner or even just like make a little tent with my hands, I'm gonna look in the box.

SPEAKER_12 1:40:47

Also, you can find a a place to sort of privately look um as you crack open the wooden box. Um there appears to be velvet cloth inside, and immediately you're hit by a strange smell, and you see on top of what appears to be a closed envelope with a wax seal are small green tubes almost like needles, and it's attached to a like wooden stick. It's very small, and it smells earthen but crisp, and it's pleasant but unusual, as you for the first time smell pine as you you immediately sniff the inside. They're very, very old and dry. Like the smell is very faint, but you do smell it distinctly as you open it. This this little bit of of wood and greenery that's now mostly brown, but the but the scent still remains. And there is an envelope that you would have to like, it would probably be a bigger deal to open it and read the letter. But as you sort of lift the envelope to see what's below it, you see a brilliantly shining steel pistol.

SPEAKER_07 1:42:25

Oh so somebody did get a glock today.

SPEAKER_15 1:42:33

Nice. She's going to fix her face and slowly close the lid and uh tuck it in her bag and go back to the group.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:50

Chris is very nerve. It still looks very have their hands to their chest, and they're doing like this oh repetitive gesture with one of their hands.

SPEAKER_15 1:43:07

What's the matter?

SPEAKER_02 1:43:10

Where is it the matter?

SPEAKER_15 1:43:13

Fair question. Where do we go from here?

SPEAKER_01 1:43:20

Fair question.

SPEAKER_07 1:43:23

I suppose we get to look in as to all the documents.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:28

Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna sift through a lot of these, see what I can find. Um wanna maybe Valentine, you wanna give me a hand with some of the documents? Other people, maybe see if we can find a place to stay. Anything like that.

SPEAKER_15 1:43:54

Well, if you're bringing the documents, you all can stay with me. I'm a wonderful hostess.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:04

I'd expect nothing less.

SPEAKER_12 1:44:08

What the podcasting audience could not see is the immediate look of strange distrust on Rogue's face.

SPEAKER_15 1:44:17

Alright.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:22

Seems like a good direction. But I suppose.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:30

Uh Chris, you still with us? You still with us?

SPEAKER_02 1:44:37

I don't think I have gone anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:41

It's a figure of speech.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:44

I just um there there's there's a lot on your mind.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:51

I that man was very angry and sad, and he hit Orion, and that made me angry, and I'm still up here, and I want to go home.

SPEAKER_07 1:45:08

Well kind of deserved. He got a good punch in. Gotta give him credit for that one.

SPEAKER_15 1:45:13

We don't.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:18

I wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:23

Well, sometimes you say something and you get punched for it. He gets punched. Especially in this line of work.

SPEAKER_15 1:45:30

So you didn't have the right.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:40

It's not about right. Just the mind does what the mind does. And clever as people may be with their professions.

SPEAKER_07 1:45:56

But like I'm back in the garden district.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:07

Well, let's see. Without any further ado, we want to keep moving.

SPEAKER_15 1:46:12

Let's go.

SPEAKER_12 1:46:14

Can you head back to Valentine's apartment?

SPEAKER_01 1:46:18

Certainly seems like it.

SPEAKER_12 1:46:20

Alright. And you're able to do so, making your way back to the edge of Border Town and then into the lower deck proper. Take the gondola down a couple more levels until you get deeper um nearly to the hold itself and then march along to, you know, the area around the fading light. And Valentine's uh pretty small apartment here in the lower decks. But as you are moving through, so you sort of fall behind a little bit, and Sean Terrell tugs at the corner of your cloak and looks up at you and goes. This is kind of taking a while.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:06

Yes, I know. Perhaps I am hoping that the things that we got there will fix it. And then we can go home.

SPEAKER_10 1:47:25

Right, bud. It's like what I told you before, we don't need them. We've never needed anybody. I want to go home.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:39

I want to go home as well. Very badly.

SPEAKER_10 1:47:51

Whatever you choose.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:53

Perhaps after this, if it does not fix it, we will just ask to go home.

SPEAKER_10 1:48:05

How many times do we need to let them try to fix it? How many more chances?

SPEAKER_02 1:48:12

Well, we went there to get the thing to fix it. So I think that is what we are doing. I hope we are almost done.

SPEAKER_10 1:48:30

Okay. Whatever you say.

SPEAKER_12 1:48:34

And Sean Toreau grabs your leg and scrambles on and then begins doing like the soft sloth chewing on the gnarled part of your wristbone. And just beaming cutely. A little shoe string from an abandoned boot tied around their little fungal waist with the little sharpened day chip hanging off the end of the little gift from Moran as you guys make your way all the way back to Valentine's apartment and start spreading out papers and getting ready to do your investigation. And as the scene starts to set, I'm going to ask Valentine do you slip away to read the letter?

SPEAKER_15 1:49:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_12 1:49:19

You open up this crisp letter. It's very clear from just everything about it that it is new. It was folded and put in the envelope once and never opened, never sent. This gift has remained undisturbed since the moment it was packed. And as you read the letter, it says, Darling, I promised you a taste of my home. I used to come from a place with more trees than you can ever imagine. The trees have needles, but they don't hurt. I'll show you sometime. But in the meantime, I want you to take care. The other gift in here is meant to keep you safe. If you let me be so bold as to care about your safety. I know we've danced around this thing for a while, but I want there to be more here. I want there to be something. And I'm too scared to tell you to your face. But this is me telling you. I know this isn't romantic, but the most romantic thing I can think to do for you is to tell you to save yourself. To protect yourself. To live even when this god's forsaken place tells you to just go numb and let what happens happen. You deserve that, angel. You and the kid. Let me be the better man for you. Signed Rex.

SPEAKER_04 1:51:13

The Drifting City is a production of the Rolling Waves, a group of friends who wanted to make a creative project together. Your drifters are Lily Bell as Chris, Aspen Langford as Moran, Porter Hearst as Ryan, Victor Thorne as Rook, Marilyn David as Valentine, and Ray Hamilton as the narrator. Editing and sound design by every one of the rolling waves. Episode titles and descriptions by every one of the rolling waves. Music, sound effect, class, subclass, and other credits can be found in the episode description. Thank you for listening to our story.

SPEAKER_12 1:51:49

And that's where we'll end this episode.

SPEAKER_04 1:51:53

I'm so sick.

SPEAKER_12 1:51:56

Yeah, I think we know the kid.