User:RABNerd VP/Notes

Season 1
MONUMENT

Sypha asks what happens now, and Alucard says that he needs their help to defeat Dracula. Trevor asks why, and Alucard says that it’s what his mother would have wanted. They are the only ones who can do it.

Zemnian Nights

 * Jester and Beau decide to ask Molly about Yasha.

Jester and Beau tell Molly that Yasha left after starring at the storm. Beau asks if Yasha sleeps, which Molly says she does. Beau thinks it's creepy, but also hot. Jester feels like she's protected and safe, which Beau kinda agrees with. Molly says that she does. Beua says that she's mysterious, but Molly assures her that she's good, just going through some personal stuff. Caleb says that it's hard to get a read on her, but Molly assures him that she's worth it; just give it time.

Arrival at Kraghammer

 * Keyleth suggests that Grog bring Balgus a drink.
 * Grog realizes that he's not gonna be able to convince Balgus, and throws Vex and Keyleth at him.
 * Keyleth runs down after Grog.

Into the Grayspire Mines

 * Grog asks if Keyleth wants plant stuff or potion stuff.
 * Keyleth is disgusted by Grog throwing the food at random people.
 * Keyleth tells Grog that she'll take a healing potion.
 * Grog is excited to see Keyleth turn to Minxie.
 * Keyleth attempts to go heal Grog.

Curious Beginnings

 * Nott checks to see if Molly is using sleight of hand.
 * Molly overhears Nott and Caleb's conversation.

A Show of Scrutiny
Beau asks Nott about the mask, but Molly interrupts to get a drink if he's gonna listen to people's life stories.

Jester tells Nott and Molly that she was checking to make sure that Beau wasn't going to be a zombie, which Molly sees as fair.

Curious Beginnings

 * Yasha notices Nott trying to hide her weapon and tells her to hand it over.
 * Nott tells Yasha that they were recommended the front row.
 * Nott thinks that Yasha is going to kill the guard.

Curious Beginnings

 * Caleb asks Yasha where their weapons go when they hand them over.
 * Caleb gives Yasha his dagger as she promises to give it back.
 * Yasha gives Caleb a pat down to see if there are more weapons on him.

Zemnian Nights

 * Caleb says that he really can't get a read on Yasha.

Curious Beginning

 * Jester leaves Beau and Fjord to check out Nott and Caleb.
 * Beau and Jester notice that Nott isn't exactly a Halfling.
 * Caleb accidentally tells Beau and Jester that Nott is a goblin.
 * Jester and Beau ask Nott about the guys in cloaks.
 * Beau grapples Nott as she tries to attack Jester.
 * Beau and Jester warn Nott and Caleb to stay away from the Baumbauch's.
 * Jester and Beau encourage Nott and Caleb to join them at the Carnival.
 * Nott, Jester and Beau try and get Yasha to let them be bouncers.

Curious Beginnings

 * Beau says hi to Nott and offers to buy her coffee.
 * Beau notices Caleb and Nott whispering.
 * Beau notices that Nott isn't exactly a Halfling.
 * Caleb accidentally tells Beau that Nott is a goblin.
 * Beau grapples Nott as she tries to attack Jester.
 * Beau asks Nott if she made her mask.
 * Beau and Jester warn Nott and Caleb to stay away from the Baumbauch's.
 * Jester and Beau encourage Nott and Caleb to join them at the Carnival.
 * Beau tells Nott that she should stop saying that she's a "little girl".

A Show of Scrutiny
Caleb and Nott head down and join the others. Nott says that they somehow got separated, but Beau knows that she's lying. She's says that the two of them left fast, and Caleb tells her that they didn't come to Trostenwald to get arrested. Beau asks Nott about the mask, but Molly interrupts to get a drink if he's gonna listen to people's life stories.

Beau brings her attention back to Nott and asks about the traveling and the mask. Fjord clarrifies that it's because they find themselves in a predicament. Nott says that they're just passing through, but Beau doesn't believe her. Caleb points out that they would move because Nott is a goblin, but Beau says that people who move around a lot tend to be doing it for a reason. Caleb says that she wears the mask to hide that she's a goblin, but Beau is more focused on the travel thing. Nott explains that they've had bad luck, and she also sometimes gets the urge to steal things. She asks if they've seen anything he's done and Fjord says that he hasn't but would like to. Nott does feel bad though, since they never stay in places long enough to clean up well. Fjord calls it a moving story as he and Beau double check to see if Nott took any of their stuff.

Fjord asks if the more someone wants something if Nott would desire it more, but Nott says that she doesn't care. She just likes pretty things. Beau asks if it's the taking or the gifts themselves she likes more, but Nott says that its the collecting. Fjord asks if she's good at not getting caught, prompting Nott to ask if they want a demonstration.

Beau tries to see if there's something suspicious about Nott as she takes Jester's money. After finishing the demonstation of the money pot, Nott tells Beau that she has questions for her. Like, how Beau knows halfling. Beau explains that her parents worked in the wine business, and halflings really like wine. Nott says that everyone likes wine, which Beau agrees with. She says that she worked the books and it kinda forced her to learn halfing since she was around it a lot. Nott asks what town that is, and Beau says it's a bit further and it's called Kamordah. Nott says that she's never heard of it, and Beau says that it's no big deal since it's a small farming town. Nott says that there's nothing shady about Beau then, and Beau says that she's just a traveler like everyone else.

Beau tells Nott and Caleb not to break anything.

Caleb asks if they don't know each other that well, and Beau says that they've known each other a day or two longer, and both she and Fjord agree it's not that deep. Nott asks where they came from, and Fjord says that he's from Port Damali.

Molly says that Beau is right, and will most likely get blamed for what happened, along with Jester. Beau says that Nott is also as likely to get blamed.

Nott says that they've learned nothing, but Beau points out that he was a good target, and wouldn't have been missed.

Curious Beginnings

 * Caleb accidentally tells Beau that Nott is a goblin.
 * Beau suggests that Caleb and Nott join them at the Carnival.
 * Beau asks the name of Caleb's cat, Frumpkin.
 * Beau asks Caleb more about the magic cat.
 * Beau and Jester warn Nott and Caleb to stay away from the Baumbauch's.
 * Caleb and Beau ask Molly about not allowing the sick in the circus.
 * Caleb and Beau both believe that the zombie and the singing weren't a coincidence.

A Show of Scrutiny
Caleb and Nott head down and join the others. Nott says that they somehow got separated, but Beau knows that she's lying. She's says that the two of them left fast, and Caleb tells her that they didn't come to Trostenwald to get arrested.

Beau brings her attention back to Nott and asks about the traveling and the mask. Fjord clarrifies that it's because they find themselves in a predicament. Nott says that they're just passing through, but Beau doesn't believe her. Caleb points out that they would move because Nott is a goblin, but Beau says that people who move around a lot tend to be doing it for a reason. Caleb says that she wears the mask to hide that she's a goblin, but Beau is more focused on the travel thing. Nott explains that they've had bad luck, and she also sometimes gets the urge to steal things.

Beau tells Nott and Caleb not to break anything.

Caleb asks if they don't know each other that well, and Beau says that they've known each other a day or two longer, and both she and Fjord agree it's not that deep. Nott asks where they came from, and Fjord says that he's from Port Damali.

Curious Beginnings

 * Caleb accidentally tells Beau that Nott is a goblin.
 * Beau suggests that Caleb and Nott join them at the Carnival.
 * Beau and Jester warn Nott and Caleb to stay away from the Baumbauch's.
 * Beau and Caleb talk to Nott about her trying to sneak her weapon in.

A Show of Scrutiny
Beau brings her attention back to Nott and asks about the traveling and the mask. Fjord clarrifies that it's because they find themselves in a predicament. Nott says that they're just passing through, but Beau doesn't believe her. Caleb points out that they would move because Nott is a goblin, but Beau says that people who move around a lot tend to be doing it for a reason. Caleb says that she wears the mask to hide that she's a goblin, but Beau is more focused on the travel thing. Nott explains that they've had bad luck, and she also sometimes gets the urge to steal things. She tells them that Caleb understands her, and calls him a brilliant magician.

Beau tells Nott and Caleb not to break anything.

A Show of Scrutiny
MATT: Yeah we did! Most of them. As you guys make your way across the streets of the Lochward, you find yourself to the docks, which are about five or six main dock structures that protrude anywhere from ten to 30 or so feet into the loch itself. There are no major ships. The biggest river that exits the loch heads towards the mountains, so there is no direct path to the inlet. All the boats in here are small fishermen's boats; they're designed specifically for the lake, for freshwater fishing and whatever needs to be transferred from bank to bank. As you approach, you can see a good amount of the boats are still out on the water. You can look out and see the outline of them against the horizon. You see a couple of small landmasses in the center of the loch, that are barely out of view. You approach, and the first couple of fishermen that walk past you both look to be hardened in their years. Their skin is very battered by the sun, it's wrinkled and dark from constant beating of the sky upon them. They glance over at this unique-looking troupe as they approach. They stop and don't say anything, they just look at you like "What are you doing here?"

LAURA: Do we still have Disguise Self up?

MATT: You have it for maybe ten more minutes.

MARISHA: Oh shit.

TRAVIS: Do we see any King's Guard? Crownsguard?

MATT: Crownsguard? Make a perception check.

LAURA: 11.

TRAVIS: 11, same.

MATT: Glancing about, you don't see any crownsguard in the immediate vicinity of the Lochward. You've seen them, they patrol the town and walk through, ward to ward, but you don't see any at the moment, no.

LAURA: Looks like we're ahead of them in the investigation.

MARISHA: Hey, Jester. Do you happen to remember the name of that guy whose daughter we saved from the snake?

LAURA: Oh shit.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: Let's see if I wrote it down in my sketchbook.

MARISHA: Yeah, because I didn't write it down.

LAURA: King Bertrand?

TRAVIS: No.

LAURA: Okay. What about-- no, I know that guy. Nope, I didn't.

MARISHA: Damn it.

MATT: You remember where he lives, mostly, because you were there.

MARISHA: That's true.

LAURA: We could go by there.

MARISHA: We could go by. He seems to like us.

LAURA: He worked out there, right?

MARISHA and LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: You guys make your way along the edge of the loch to the outside of the fisherman's house. The house is currently being repaired. You can see in the main doorway, the door is off the hinges, and there's a large pile of ruined furniture and cabinets that have been shifted out of the building. You can also see a *long* serpentine body that is currently being skinned by a younger man, probably 14 or 15. He's in the process of carving the skin off of it. This thing is about 20 to 25 feet long.

MARISHA: That's the snake I punched.

LIAM: That's your work? That's impressive. You took it all by yourself?

MARISHA: Well, no. They helped me. I'm not an egomaniac. They fucking helped me.

LIAM: But I saw your guns last night. You probably took the lead.

MARISHA: Give credit to the whole damn group, move on.

TRAVIS: Flattery got you nowhere.

TALIESIN: I'm comparing the snake to the snake that's tattooed on my hand to try and get the heads to be the exact same size.

LIAM: We have been in the woods for too long. I've forgotten how to talk to people.

SAM: Your game is really suffering.

MARISHA: Thanks for the damn compliment.

MATT: As you approach, the young man with this large, sharpened knife-- it looks like it may have been a heavy butchering knife that he's using to fillet and pull the skin off the snake. Looks back at you guys and doesn't know what's going on. You hear a voice go, "Hey!" You look up and you see the fisherman that you saw before, the one who came to you guys in the tavern. He's up on top of the roof, and he's currently boarding some portions of it. It looks like a part of the roof had been damaged in the fray. He goes, "Hold on," gets up, and comes down the ladder on the side and approaches. You can see he's sweating. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were coming. What can I do for you?"

MARISHA: Sorry for dropping in.

LAURA: Do we look like ourselves yet?

MATT: No, actually. This is an interesting point.

TRAVIS: Damn it.

SAM: Wait. None of you look the same.

MATT: That's right, no, thank you for reminding me. He comes out and he goes, "How can I help you?"

(laughter)

LAURA: It's us!

MARISHA: Yeah, it's me. I pull the hat off and pull my hair up. It's Beauregard. We killed your snake?

LAURA: (in normal voice) Pretend that I don't talk-- (in human accent) Pretend that I don't talk like this.

TRAVIS: I drop Disguise Self.

MATT: He goes,"Ah!"

TRAVIS: I'm sorry to deceive you.

MATT: I'm very confused.

MARISHA: Oh no. Don't worry about it. What was your name, friend?

MATT: "Rinaldo."

MARISHA: Rinaldo! That's what it was. I knew it was an R! Okay, Rinaldo.

TRAVIS: Rinaldo, this snake that was in your house is not the only strange occurrence that's been happening. We're trying to find out the cause of it. Have you seen anything else like this in the time that's passed?

MATT: "No, we've been doing repairs on the house and getting everything underway. This is the first thing that's come on this side. Most of them live toward the center of the lake and stay underwater. It's been two in the last few months that have come up. It's a bit of a nuisance."

LAURA: Have you seen any zombies coming out of the lake?

MATT: "Zombies? What are you talking about?"

TRAVIS: We're asking after a man that helped down at the docks, named Enon. Have you heard of him?

MATT: "Enon?"

TRAVIS: Enon.

MATT: "Yeah, I worked with him a couple times. He comes through, looking for work, asking to see what's available."

LIAM: You obviously have not heard the news from the traveling circus in town. From last night.

MATT: "No. That's the big blue tent, right?"

LIAM: That's correct.

MATT: "No, what's going on?"

LAURA: (whispering) Enon turned into a zombie.

SAM: What?

LAURA: (louder) Enon turned into a zombie! (whispering) And was killed.

SAM: What?

MATT: "I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. Wow, that's really terrible. I'm sorry."

TRAVIS: We were trying to see if he might have worked with people that might have known what he was doing that day, earlier.

MATT: "I haven't seen him at the docks in a while. Not for a week, at least."

TRAVIS and LAURA: Really?

LIAM: Is there anything out of the ordinary from the past week or two that comes to mind? Anything off about the run-of-the-mill stuff?

MATT: "Other than a giant fucking snake ruining my house, but not that comes to mind, no. Circus coming into town, that's a little weird."

TRAVIS: I see you're skinning the beast. Can I ask why?

MATT: "I'm not going to let it go to waste. That's some good meat. Some good skin."

MARISHA: You mentioned the circus coming to town as weird. Why?

MATT: "Because there's a circus in town."

LIAM: He just means out of the ordinary, yeah?

MATT: "Yeah. We don't get many shows and traveling folk. Last time this was here, a year ago, it came and went in a week."

SAM: You said you hadn't seen this-- hi. You said you hadn't seen this person in a week? Was that unusual?

MATT: "No. I didn't keep up with him. He came through every now and then. I had a little cash and needed some help hauling things around. I asked for his assistance. He was an old fella, and it was less that he was helpful and more that we wanted to help when we could."

TRAVIS: If we went down to the docks where he worked, is there anyone that we should ask for, to speak to, who might have known him better?

MATT: "Your guess is as good as mine. To be fair, although we're a community, we're also relatively competitive. You understand."

TRAVIS: I do.

TALIESIN: You think anyone would have wanted him marked or harmed in some way?

MATT: "I don't think so. He's an old man. I haven't seen or heard anyone-- his disposition seemed positive enough, if a little sad and lonely."

TRAVIS: If you think of anything, or if you hear anyone speak about him, you can find us at the Nestled Nook Inn. We'd appreciate anything, if it happens to reach your ears.

MATT: "Of course. Let me finish up here with the roof and I'll ask around, see if anything comes up."

TRAVIS: Much obliged.

MARISHA: How's your little girl doing? Sorry, I cover my beard.

MATT: "It just wasn't expected."

MARISHA: Sorry.

MATT: "No, she's doing great. She's been a little spooked, but she slept well last night. She's doing fine. Thank you again for what you guys did for me."

LAURA: You're welcome.

SAM: What? For what?

LAURA: We saved a little girl!

SAM: Oh yes, that's right.

LAURA: If you see any zombies, please let us know.

MATT: "I will. You were so kind to help me when I saw a snake, I figure if I see a zombie, you'd also be helpful."

LAURA: We would, definitely. We already killed a zombie too!

TALIESIN: This is just a snake. This is a big, weird snake I'm looking at?

MATT: You can inspect it if you want.

TALIESIN: No, I've been looking at the snake this entire time.

LAURA: Oh, we have one of its fangs. I pulled it out.

MATT: Make a nature check.

SAM: Ooh, don't do those much either.

MARISHA: I have a fang too, right?

TALIESIN: Nine.

MATT: Nine? You don't know much about snake biology. It's hard to tell if it's out of the ordinary. It's just a big snake.

TALIESIN: Looks like mine.

LAURA: Only bigger.

TALIESIN: Much bigger.

TRAVIS: Shall we?

LAURA: Fuck. Sure.

SAM: We are the best detectives ever.

LAURA: I feel like we are really doing bad at this detective thing.

TRAVIS: We should probably wrap up whatever we're doing. I imagine they're going to come by the inn soon and try and speak with us. Not you two.

SAM: We didn’t leave any sort of Ferris Bueller-y thing?

TRAVIS: Nope. No stuffed beds, no recordings on the old VHS.

MATT: What are you guys doing? Where are you going?

SAM: Is there anywhere else that we need to inspect? The carnival or more docks stuff?

LAURA: I feel like going back to the carnival is probably a bad idea.

TALIESIN: I'd say the docks are his home, if we could figure out where he lived.

SAM: Where he was last seen.

TALIESIN: He was last seen at the circus!

LAURA: Rinaldo!

MATT: "Yeah?"

LAURA: Do you know where Enon lives?

MATT: "I can't say I do. I'm sorry. My apologies. Wish I could be of more help."

LAURA: It's okay.

TALIESIN: You don't happen to know what happened to his son, by any chance?

MATT: "I didn't even know he had a son."

LAURA: See? We're better investigators than this guy.

SAM: But he's not trying to investigate!

TALIESIN: I take the compliment. I'm putting it my pocket. I'm keeping it for later.

MATT: He climbs back up the ladder to the roof.

MARISHA: I'm starting to think that following Enon's story isn't necessarily going to lead us here. He seems like a random victim.

LAURA: Hey, 14 year old kid!

MATT: He has this puffy red 'fro going on. He looks pale, fresh to this, scrawny. He's stopped drawing his blade across the snake. "Yeah?"

LAURA: Do you live here?

MATT: "No, I live about three houses up."

LAURA: Did you go to the carnival?

MATT: "Last night? Yeah, I was there."

LAURA: Okay, where were you at the carnival?

MATT: "I actually snuck in under the tent after it had started.”

LAURA: Right, that's a good thing. Were you close to Enon? In the show. Were you on that side or the other side? Did you see the zombie?

MATT: "I saw him a little bit. He was in the front and I had people in front of me, but I think I saw some of it. It was pretty cool."

LAURA: It was kind of crazy, right? Have you heard any ghost stories around town lately? About scary things happening?

MATT: "My grandma told me a ghost story years ago about these giant badger creatures that live on the hills of the Ashkeeper that can stand up on their hind legs, and they come down and they eat kids that don't go to bed in time.

LAURA: Oh shit. Those guys are scary, I've heard of them. You should be really careful. Have you heard anything about zombies?

MATT: "No, not since that."

LIAM: What's up?

LAURA: Caleb has seen some shit.

MATT: "I have to finish the--"

LAURA: Hey, listen, if you hear any other ghost stories, you come and find us, okay?

MATT: “Okay.”

LAURA: All right.

(laughter)

MARISHA: Are we just going from person to person in town telling them to come find us?

SAM: We are really terrible at this!

TALIESIN: Well, she's making friends with everybody. I don't see any of you making friends.

TRAVIS: I'm a little concerned that we've been gone for a while.

MARISHA: Yeah, maybe we should get back.

TRAVIS: Maybe let these two, that aren’t under house arrest--

SAM: Continue the investigation? Or go back?

TRAVIS: No, continue. I mean, if you're up for it.

SAM: Yeah, yeah, We'll be a regular--

LIAM: Yeah, we've done nothing wrong. We're not sweating it. I’m not sweating--

LAURA: Yeah, I believe you completely. That was very believable. I'm going to give you another blessing before you leave, okay?

LIAM: What are you talking about? None of us did anything. None of us! We protected the people of this town!

LAURA: It's true.

LIAM: It is true.

LAURA: I know.

LIAM: That's easy. Let's go solve a mystery, Nott.

SAM: All right.

TALIESIN: Were you being sarcastic-- oh, no you weren't, okay. Catching up on that.

MARISHA: So, kids don't know anything about this, old people don't know anything about this--

TRAVIS: Tavern-keeper doesn't know anything about this.

TALIESIN: Only the pure of heart make their answer out of riddles. Back to the tavern.

MARISHA: But pure of heart! Still going back to the guards thing! Back to the tavern, let's go.

SAM: Were we just on the docks?

MATT: Yeah, you guys were at the docks.

LIAM: We came up with bupkus.

LAURA: We didn't ask anybody, we went straight to the house.

SAM: Okay, we'll walk around the docks and look for--

TRAVIS: We'll see you back at the inn.

SAM: All right.

LAURA: Should we run back, or should we saunter back?

TALIESIN: You're going to probably, you know, poof.

MARISHA: Yeah, how much time does she have?

LIAM: About a minute?

MATT: Yeah, it's about to fade.

LAURA: Yeah, I figured it had already happened probably midway talking to the kid.

MATT: Probably.

MARISHA: Maybe super stealthily back?

LAURA: All right. I put my hood up.

TALIESIN: I can maybe put a rope through the window.

MARISHA: Yeah, that's a good idea.

LAURA: Is it a two-story?

MATT: It's a two-story. You guys are up in the second story.

TALIESIN: I got rope.

LAURA: Let's do that, yeah. We'll sneak around the back of the inn, and try to climb up the upstairs window.

TRAVIS: I can keep them busy at the front door.

TALIESIN: I'll go through the front like a proper person.

MATT: All right, so you guys are setting up a rope to climb up the back? You go in, on your own, up to the top, you put a rope through--

MARISHA: Fjord's distracting.

LAURA: In the front. Then we're going to try to sneak--

TALIESIN: Right, and then I'm going to drop some of the rope out the back window for them.

MATT: Easy enough to do, so those of you who want to wait and can take the rope up, you wait for a moment where nobody's watching and climb your way up into the inn safely and get to your rooms. You two, what are you doing?

TALIESIN: (singing) 50 feet of hemp rope, it’s a standard!

LIAM: Hey kiddo, do you want a piggy-back?

SAM: Sure, that sounds like a good idea.

LIAM: Scramble up, let's go talk to some people.

SAM: All right, I'll jump on Caleb's back.

MATT: All right.

LIAM: I'll wander down to where people are working. Where people are moving crates around.

MARISHA: He’s on Caleb’s back!

MATT: Okay, that would be probably closer to the Northward.

LIAM: Okay, so that's the plan, is to look for people moving crap around, the same way that Enon is said to have. So that's what we'll do.

MATT: Okay, make an investigation check.

LIAM: All right.

SAM: Shall I help, or no?

MATT: If you want to.

LIAM: Not that great.

MATT: You aiding him would give him an advantage in the roll.

LIAM: Oh! That didn't help. 12 for me.

MATT: You take a couple hours wandering through the Northward, asking questions, and most of the information you get is, they have no idea who that is, or like, "Ah, he died? It's about time."

LIAM: And there's no point even asking questions because we've asked them all for two hours, yeah?

MATT: I'd say yeah, based on that roll.

LIAM: Okay, well that's a big zero. You want to go book shopping with me?

SAM: Sure!

LIAM: Okay. I believe that gentleman said that the Burnished Bibliots was in the Northward, correct?

MATT: I believe you are correct. Yeah, it's in the southern portion of the Northward by where it borders the Lochward.

LIAM: Okay, so I'll start asking questions to get us there.

MATT: Easily enough. You eventually are led to it, and you come to a closet that's affixed to another building. The wood used are almost driftwood and heavily weathered, and the front door is closed as you approach. It looks like a glorified storage shed that has been bolted and put up against another structure.

LIAM: All right, well I will walk up to the door and knock on it.

MATT: Okay. (knocks) No response.

LIAM: Is there any breaks in the door or the building or cracks that Frumpkin could fit into?

MATT: Visual glance, there look like there's the space underneath the door. Probably not big enough for a cat to slip into.

LIAM: Are there any windows or anything or is it all a big, dirty, dingy mess?

MATT: There are windows, but if you look at the back of the windows all you see is scraps of material, stacks of books, piles of boxes and crates, it's literally blocked out with things stacked up against it from the interior.

LIAM: How busy is the front of this place?

MATT: Not busy at all, it's just the two of you, right now, standing at the front door.

LIAM: No one's around us, though?

MATT: It's not on the main street, it's a little pushed back, recessed about ten or 15 feet from the main road so there's no one immediately around you. But there are people walking back and forth on the road behind but you're out in the open, per se.

SAM: And no one's coming to the door?

MATT: No one's come to the door yet, no.

SAM: Want me to break in?

LIAM: Yes. No.

MATT: Okay. A moment passes and you hear, "Hold on!" The door opens. It was open. There's the sound of heavy sacks go tumbling down to the interior of it and you glance around and you hear a voice go, "Can I help you?"

LIAM: Hello?

MATT: You look down, and there's this crotchety-looking scrawny old gnome who's sitting there in the doorway. He's got this vibrant puff, like a cotton ball, of hair around his head. But it's this perfect “U” of bald on top. No glasses, eyes are very small and beady, and he has this bulbous, round nose at the front with this little bit of a tuft of chin white hair that matches the cotton ball tuft on the sides. He's sitting there clutching the top of the knob on the inside which is actually affixed shorter on the door and he goes, "Well come in."

LIAM: Yes please, you're open for business I take it.

MATT: "Always open, come on in."

LIAM: All right.

MATT: Turns around and musters his way inside. As soon as you step in the door and look around, this place looks like an episode of Hoarders. It is just floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, stacks of anything and everything: knick-knacks, small stuffed animals, toys, books, glasses, and goblets. It is the biggest, crammed flea-market into a small shed-like space you've seen.

SAM: I start unscrewing my flask.

(laughing)

LIAM: Frumpkin climbs back up onto Nott's shoulder and nestles in.

MATT: (meowing)

LIAM: I am scouting the city for books, I am starved for books.

MATT: "Well we've got books here."

LIAM: Yes sir, I'm sorry what is your name?

MATT: "Oglen. Oglen Hornsblower."

LIAM: Oglen Hornsblower.

MATT: "And welcome to my collection. You want to buy something, let me know."

LIAM: Well I see you sell a great many things in here, books included. This is just things you've collected throughout your lifetime?

MATT: "Right. Boughten, traded for, found."

LIAM: I don't know what you just said, but I am interested in books. Particularly in the arcane realm, but any kind of book. Do you have anything that you just outright know is out of the ordinary?

MATT: "I'm sure we've got a few. Look around! See what you find. It's half the fun, half the journey."

LIAM: All right, friend, let's-- It's like Winter's Crest morning for me and I'm scanning the shelves.

MATT: Make an investigation check.

SAM: Can you give me something to look for? To distract me and give me a mission to go on, please?

LIAM: Yes. You want to find some sort of tool that helps you do what you do best.

SAM: All right.

LIAM: Investigation check, that is a 21.

MATT: 21?

SAM: I rolled a 21 investigation check.

MATT: All right.

SAM: I'm just looking for baubles to steal.

(laughter)

MATT: All right. In thumbing through, there are plenty of books that, within a first glance this is not interesting to you. You have to move things out of the way and push things aside. The smell in there is dusty and moldy and you do find there is some subtle water damage and some mildew growing in one far corner and you're like ugh, put that back. However, you rolled really high. Two things catch your eye. One, there appears to be the remnants of some sort of notebook, a sketchbook that is written in a language you do not understand-- What languages do you know?

LIAM: Well, off the bat, I don't know where that is in D&D Beyond yet. But if I open up my binder I bet I have a paper version that I can verify with. I speak Sylvan, Common, and Celestial and I also can Comprehend Languages as a ritual spell but I think that takes some time.

MATT: It does take ten minutes.

LIAM: Ten minutes.

MATT: But you glance through the book, and while you cannot read the text you do recognize that there are elements at the back of the book that have a hint of arcane nature. That's one of two books you find with that roll.

SAM: It's like the adult section for him.

MATT: I know. The second book you find is written in Zemnian, which you can read.

LIAM: That's correct.

MATT: The title translates to Fiends of Folklore.

LIAM: I'm so happy. You have quite a shop here.

MATT: "I know I do!"

LIAM: You have some real treasures. I'm particularly interested in both of these books.

MATT: "Good choices."

LIAM: I don't know though, I don't think that-- I mean I'm rather tight on coin at the moment so--

MATT: "That's too bad."

LIAM: Maybe my eyes are too big for my stomach.

MATT: He's pulling the books away from you.

LIAM: How much would you part with these for?

MATT: (sniffs) He holds of the Fiends of Folklore book, "Three gold pieces. This one, (sniffs) ten gold pieces."

LIAM: Which one is which?

MATT: The Fiends of Folklore is the three, the other tome.

LIAM: The arcane, weird one.

MATT: You're not quite sure what's in it.

LIAM: Okay. Would you have any interest in a magic cat?

MATT: "I'm sorry?"

LIAM: Frumpkin disappears from on Nott's shoulder. Reappears next to the little man.

MATT: (yelps) He like throws the books and grabs nearby this large sack and starts angrily beating the cat.

LIAM: I'll take that as a no!

MATT: He does hit Frumpkin. Frumpkin takes one point of bludgeoning damage.

LIAM: That might be it, I don't really know. I didn't think that this would happen so quickly.

LAURA: Frumpkin point two.

MARISHA: Yeah, he updates overnight as long as he's plugged in, right?

LIAM: Hold on, I have to see if Frumpkin is still here.

TRAVIS: Must be plugged in and connected to Wifi.

MARISHA: Type in your passcode if you agree to the terms.

LIAM: One hit point of damage?

MATT: Yes.

LIAM: He's still here.

MATT: There you go. Frumpkin immediately darts off jumps on your shoulder, turns around and (hisses).

LIAM: So you don't like cats, I understand that.

MATT: "Sorry, it caught me off-guard."

LIAM: Well I was trying to sample the merchandise for you. Because if it was just a cat it was just a cat, but this one-- changes to my other shoulder-- he's a magic cat.

MATT: "Okay."

LIAM: You can roll him in mud, he comes back clean. He disappears, he reappears, he brings you things.

MATT: "Can you make him go away?"

LIAM: Gone.

MATT: "Thank you. Now we can continue to talk money."

LIAM: Here’s what I propose. I do not have ten gold at the moment. But it doesn’t feel like you get a lot of thoroughfare here, so I’m going to come back to purchase this later. That’s it. That’s the end of my spiel; that’s all I’ve got. I’m interested, and thank you for giving me the time.

MATT: “Of course. Sorry about your cat, friend.”

LIAM: It’s okay. Nott?

SAM: Have I heard all of this conversation?

MATT: You’ve been hearing all of it, but you’ve also found, amongst the chaos, a brass baby bottle that’s fairly dented, but it’s very shiny and polished, you can already see on the inside. You find a new flask, actually. It’s very tarnished, but you spit and rub it a little bit. It looks to be of very fine metallic material. You’re not entirely sure, you’d have to clean it, but it looks like very nice quality material.

SAM: All right. I’ll try to trade my flask with that flask.

MATT: Make a sleight of hand check.

SAM: 22!

TALIESIN: How?!

SAM: Wait. More. No, that’s right. 22.

MATT: Now, your flask, which still has liquor in it, is left behind for the empty flask you receive. However, without an instance of anyone even paying attention. It is yours. You can write in your inventory you are now the owner of a platinum flask.

ALL: Ooh!

SAM: Shit! Okay! It’s a baby bottle, or maybe a rattle? What’d you say?

MATT: Baby bottle. Looks like it was used as a bottle for a very upper-class family.

TALIESIN: You’re already so ahead, though!

SAM: I know. But I can’t resist. I’ll try to take one more look and pocket that as well.

MATT: Make another sleight of hand check, please.

SAM: 20.

MATT: It just vanishes into your cloak! It’s the craziest thing! It was there and it’s gone!

TRAVIS: Yes!

SAM: Are we going to leave now? Should we leave? I think we should leave. Maybe we should go. Do you need some money? I could lend you some money, if you want.

LIAM: Maybe we’ll come back tomorrow.

SAM: All right. Lovely place you got here!

LIAM: Piggyback?

SAM: Yes, please!

MATT: “I’ll hold these books for you! Come back when you can!”

LIAM: Within the week, I promise.

MATT: “All right. Have a good day, little girl!”

SAM: I will!

MATT: You guys exit the building.

SAM: I’m sorry! I did it again, I couldn’t help it. I took some things. Do you think he noticed? Do you think we’re in trouble? Maybe we should hurry back.

LIAM: I don’t think he saw.

SAM: All right. Are you cross with me?

LIAM: No. Just wait one moment, okay? Wait for me here?

SAM: Okay. I heard you talking about money, by the way, I could lend you some, if you’d like.

LIAM: Wait right here. I cast Detect Magic just before I walk back into the store. I look all around. What are your hours, here? As I look to see if there is anything besides that book, anything.

MATT: You glance throughout the interior, and you don’t sense anything magical, unfortunately, within the piles of rubble.

LIAM: Besides the book he put down?

MATT: The book’s not radiating any magical aura. But he answers. “Oh! All hours! I don’t really close. I don’t really sleep.”

LIAM: Middle of the night, even?

MATT: “Sure!”

LIAM: All right. Business is business. Thank you!

MATT: “No worries. See you then!”

LIAM: Bis später.

MATT: “Bee shimter!”

LIAM: That guy does not speak Zemnian!

MATT: No, he does not.

LIAM: Let’s go back to the hotel, shall we?

SAM: Let’s do it.

MATT: While they’re away, you guys wait there for a bit, getting stir crazy in the process of waiting in your room. Jester and Beauregard, there’s a knock at your door.

LAURA: Hello?

MATT: “Please open, it’s Crownsguard.”

LAURA: Hold on, I’m naked! Yeah, I don’t know. Do you want to put clothes on? Should we take our clothes off?

MARISHA: Did you say that because you wanted to tell me something?

LAURA: No, I just wanted to make them wait. Okay, I’m dressed now!

MARISHA: I like that. We’re giving them-- authority. Got the upper hand. Okay.

LAURA: It’s a power play.

MARISHA: Do we invite them in or are we going to--? You open the door. I’m going to sit, unassuming, on the bed.

LAURA: Sit! Come in, please.

MARISHA: Oh!

MATT: The door opens, and there are two crownsguards there, standing, shields to the side.

LAURA: Oh hello, I wasn’t expecting you.

MARISHA: Oh, yeah, hi.

MATT: “We’re here to notify you that the investigation is ongoing. You will not be needed today. Please remain in your premises. Be back tomorrow.”

TRAVIS: Jury summon.

MARISHA: Bullshit! Jury duty shit! Goddamn it!

TALIESIN: We are at D&D Jury Duty.

MATT: Yes you are.

MARISHA: Seven dollars a day? What is this shit?

LAURA: Can I ask you a question before you leave?

MATT: “Yes, what is your question?”

LAURA: Are you guys going to be the same people coming back tomorrow?

MATT: “Possibly.”

LAURA: What is your names?

MATT: They look at each other, look back at you. “I am Jonas.” The other guy pipes up, he’s a little younger, he goes, “I am Lucas.”

LAURA: Jonas and Lucas, very good names.

MARISHA: You guys should start a band. Like a boy band or something.

LAURA: Yeah, that’d be good. Girls would go crazy. If you guys want to play some games tomorrow, we’ll just be here!

MATT: “Very well! Have a good day.” They look at each other like, “What?” and close the door.

LAURA: I shouldn’t have offered the game. What if we want to leave and then they want to take us up on the game thing?

MARISHA: I thought you enjoyed games.

LAURA: No, I love games!

MARISHA: Sure.

LAURA: But what if we leave and then they want to *play* games?

MARISHA: Okay.

MATT: Onto Fjord’s door.

TALIESIN: I’m sitting playing with the cards.

TRAVIS: I open it.

MATT: Same two guards there. Lucas and Jonas. Jonas and Lucas. “Hello. The investigation is ongoing. You’ll not be needed for today. We will return tomorrow.”

TRAVIS: I shut the door.

TALIESIN: Any progress?

MATT: There’s a pause and then you here the subtle shifting of greaves against the wooden floor as they slowly walk away.

TRAVIS: Go take that game in the other room, why don’t you?

TALIESIN: That was a power move right there.

TRAVIS: Thank you.

MATT: You guys return to the inn.

SAM: I guess we do.

MATT: Yes you do.

SAM: Well. That was terrible. No one found out anything. It was a waste of a day. We’re all terrible at this. Goodnight?

LAURA: What time is it?

MARISHA: That’s not true! I still say that some of the best information that you can get can be in the information that you don’t find.

SAM: That is nonsense.

MARISHA: I’m just saying! Sometimes the lack of information can be a process of elimination.

TRAVIS: Sure.

MARISHA: It’s super broad!

TALIESIN: No, you know what? I’m going to take it.

MARISHA: I’m trying to be fucking silver lining, so I don’t feel like a piece of shit for waste a day, and you guys are shitting on that, but it’s fine.

TRAVIS: You found nothing at the docks, zip, zero?

LIAM: We spent hours there, no one knew anything about the old man.

MARISHA: See? No one knew anything about him. That means, prime candidate, someone’s little experiment. Little Frankenstein. I’m telling you.

LIAM: I don’t really understand what she’s saying.

LAURA: I don’t either. I’m going to run up and down the stairs for a while.

MATT: (quick footsteps)

TALIESIN: How long have you known this one?

MARISHA: Who are you talking to?

TALIESIN: Anybody who’s watching this happen.

MARISHA: About 24 hours longer than you have.

TALIESIN: That explains a lot.

MATT: At one point, Adelaine the barmaid comes up. “I’m sorry, can you *please* stop?”

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: “Thank you!”

SAM: Hey, Dungeon Master?

MATT: Yes?

SAM: The other night, when Nott was out carousing a bit while Caleb was asleep. He saw some figures in cloaks dash by. Was there any distinctive anything about these three figures that dashed by?

MATT: Not that you noticed, unfortunately.

SAM: Damn it. Okay, I will share that information with the group. I saw some weirdos running around.

LAURA: When?

SAM: The other night, when he was asleep.

TRAVIS: How late?

SAM: Two in the morning?

LIAM: You were out that late?

SAM: Sorry.

LAURA: Maybe we should go out at two o’clock in the morning and see if we can find them.

MARISHA: Ooh, that’s a good idea.

LAURA: Follow them.

MARISHA: You guys notice that it's weird that no one's actually really talking about this? This is a small town. I come from a small town. Small town people gossip.

TALIESIN: I feel like there should be some more gossip then there is, that's very true.

MARISHA: Someone is talking about this, we just haven't found them yet. 2:00AM field trip!

LAURA: We can always leave through the window this time.

MARISHA: Mm-hmm, I like that.

TRAVIS: I can be down for that.

TALIESIN: I leave the rope tied in here. Can we use your cat? Reel it back up in so that there's no trace of us until we need to get back there.

LIAM: Are you asking for my cat to haul up our rope?

TALIESIN: No, I'm telling you that your cat is going to haul up a rope.

LAURA: How is a cat going to lift up a rope?

TALIESIN: It's not that heavy of a rope, it’s just hemp.

MATT: Hemp rope can be pretty heavy.

TALIESIN: Well, if I throw it back up there then I imagine you cat can knock it back down at the very least.

LAURA: There, that would work, maybe.

MARISHA: Oh, is he like an asshole cat?

TALIESIN: I assume he's an asshole cat. Aren't all cats asshole cats?

MATT: This is true.

LAURA: It might be down before we come back, is the thing.

TALIESIN: I assume he's going to-- that's fair.

TRAVIS: Where were you when you saw these cloaked figures?

SAM: I had gone out to do some window shopping.

TRAVIS: At 2:00AM?

SAM: Yes, I wasn't very successful. I had walked by the general store--

LAURA: Oh, we went there.

MARISHA: Yeah, we did.

SAM: I passed by a place called Natural Remedies, herbs and medicinal things. I went by a spot named Jackalwere, it’s a smithy.

LAURA: Okay, but where did you see the cloaked guys?

SAM: It was between-- I don't remember.

MATT: It was one block north of the Natural Remedies.

MARISHA: Natural Remedies. What was the other one? Jackalwere?

SAM: I think that was what it was called.

MATT: Yeah, Jackalwere Smiths.

SAM: We could do a little stakeout!

TRAVIS: We could.

MARISHA: That's true. How do people send messages in this town? Have we figured that out?

SAM: Probably by foot or by horse, right?

TALIESIN: Not that big of a town.

TRAVIS: Should someone stay up? Well, I was thinking someone should keep a lookout on the roof of the inn in case someone comes for us while everyone else is out.

LAURA: How would we let anybody know?

TRAVIS: I don't know. Can you conjure those golden orbs up into the air as like a signal?

LIAM: It's pretty limited. They don't go that far.

TRAVIS: Maybe we just risk it.

SAM: Yeah!

LAURA: Let's risk it.

TRAVIS: It's 2:00AM, I'm sure everybody will be asleep. Let's risk it.

MARISHA: Before we leave-- is there a window in the hall? Or are there only windows in our bedrooms?

MATT: There is no window in the hall, only in the rooms.

MARISHA: Okay, that's fine. On our side of the room--

MATT: You have three rooms between you.

TALIESIN: There's three rooms and they all have windows.

MATT: Correct.

MARISHA: On our side of the door, I'm going to take out my healer's kit. Do I have any bandages or medical tape or anything like that?

MATT: Not medical tape, but there are clean strips of cloth and some adhesive bandages, basic general--

MARISHA: I'm going to tie a bandage ever so lightly around one side of the handle onto something on to the other side of the door. If there's something like a lamp or some kind of pipe or something I can tie it to.

LAURA: So that we'll know if someone tried to come in the room?

MARISHA: Correct.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: You can pull one bandage out and affix to one of the chair legs nearby. You could do that.

TALIESIN: Oh for god's sake. I pull out a big thing of string.

MARISHA: Okay, yeah. I'll take some string and just some twine and--

LAURA: What are we going to do? Leave through our window?

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: To their window?

MARISHA: Well, I figured we're all in the same room at this point.

LIAM: What are you trying to do?

MARISHA: I'm trying to make sure that if someone tries to come in our room we'll know if they come in.

LIAM: I can take care of that.

TALIESIN: Oh, well then, I'm taking my string back.

MARISHA: What can you do?

LIAM: I have some magic for that.

SAM: Yeah, he has a magical spell that alerts you when someone tries to break in your room.

LIAM: That is correct. Yeah. I will take a moment to do that and it will let me know.

SAM: Best part is, it doesn't alert him when I sneak in or out.

LIAM: That you know of.

SAM: Wait. What?

LIAM: One mile of the warded area.

SAM: Ooh!

MARISHA: That's better! Let's do that.

LIAM: I just need ten minutes. And I pull out a little spool of silvered thread and stretch it out. Where did you want this? Over the window?

MARISHA: Well, I was going to say in the door, but if there's maybe a place in the hall.

LIAM: Well, I can do the entire room really, I can go doorknob to-- The funny thing about this thread, there's no end to it. So I start looping it all the way around the room and tie it off, and take out one of my books from the holster, the one on the left side, and I open it up. You guys watch as I spend ten minutes referring to the book and tracing symbols on the floor. Along, underneath the thread, and about ten minutes of time, nothing happens, but that's taken care of.

LAURA: Nice.

SAM: See, he's really good.

LAURA: Yeah..

TRAVIS: Didn't really look like much.

LIAM: Yeah, either that or I'm really bullshitting you and nothing happened.

LAURA: Either way, I liked it. Let's sneak out.

TALIESIN: I'm going to do one last thing before we leave, which is just tussle the room a bit so it looks like it's been robbed. Just in case they do come in.

MATT: Okay, so you toss the room a bit, muddle up the space, and you guys, one by one, climb out the back of the window, down the rope, and into the alley behind the inn. Looking about, you're waiting until about post-midnight, you said?

TRAVIS: Yeah.

MATT: Okay, so it's dark. The various lanterns that dangle on the hook poles at different intersections of the street are lit. Other than that, you have a faint bit of moonlight that's coming through the sky. There are some clouds, but they're a bit broken up, so every now and then the moon cover can vanish and then return, but for now you have moonlight in the city. Where are you guys going?

LAURA: Towards the north end.

TRAVIS: I ought to be leading the way, I reckon.

SAM: Yeah, I'll go to where I saw the three cloaked figures.

MATT: A little ways north of Natural Remedies? Okay. I would like everybody to make a stealth check, please.

SAM: Stealth check. Do I still have the blessing? No, I don't.

LAURA: No, you don't. But I can do it to everybody, one by one, if we get to an open area.

SAM: 21.

TRAVIS: 15.

MARISHA: 19.

TALIESIN: 17.

LAURA: 21.

LIAM: 40. 12.

SAM: 42.

MATT: You guys, following Nott, dodge between alleys, there are a few patrols of the crownsguard that you see passing by, and you wait for them to just cross paths, and then move on. Eventually finding your way to Natural Remedies, seemingly unseen. It's quiet, you can hear the sound of crickets in the distance. The cold night air is causing your breath to show every time you exhale, you all bundle your cloaks as you move on. The moonlight fades a bit, things get darker, but you follow Nott's lead, travel from place to place. You finally get to the outskirts of Natural Remedies, and to the northern alleyway where you'd originally seen those figures pass. You're there.

SAM: Should we fan out a bit? Cover a couple corners, so we can still see each other?

TRAVIS: Good idea.

LAURA: Yeah. I'm going to go with Fjord.

SAM: Are you two like an item?

LAURA: What?

SAM: You and Fjord, are you like a thing?

LAURA: Why, are you interested in him?

SAM: No, ugh, no!

LAURA: No?

SAM: You travel together.

LAURA: Well yeah, he's a good friend. He watches out for me, I watch out for him, you know. We're a good team. Like you and Caleb.

SAM: Not at all like that, but yes, all right.

MATT: As you guys fan out a little bit, everyone make a perception check.

LAURA: Natural one.

SAM: 19.

LAURA: I don't see shit.

MARISHA: Perception?

TALIESIN: 12.

TRAVIS: Nine.

MARISHA: 18.

LIAM: Ten.

MATT: Okay, so all of you, except for Jester, manage to get a clear view of your vicinity. Jester, you somehow get an eyelash caught in your eye and spend the next hour trying to get it out, but it's in the eyelid.

LAURA: Can you see it?

TRAVIS: Look up. Yeah.

MARISHA: To the left.

TRAVIS: Let me get it--

LAURA: No, no, no. Okay, okay, okay.

MATT: Occasionally, you can hear the crownsguard approaching, and they carry their torches with them. You can see the light crawling forward, so you all duck out of the way and let them pass. About an hour passes. Two hours pass. Around the third hour, you get the sensation that whatever you saw the other night is not arriving on a clockwork time or not arriving at all. It’s about three in the morning, in the center of the city by yourself. What do you wish to do?

MARISHA: Three in the morning?

MATT: Yeah.

MARISHA: I turn to Caleb. Any tingling from your alarm system?

LIAM: No, I wouldn’t have brought it up if something had happened.

MARISHA: That’s a good point.

TALIESIN: I’m just going to try to meditate on the strange death and see if I can feel anything.

MATT: Okay. Make an intelligence check.

TALIESIN: All right. 17.

MATT: Pouring over the details of what has transpired and what you guys have done so far to find information, there are still things to inquire about. There are still things to wonder and discover and there are a few places you haven’t been to. A few places you haven’t returned to. A few people you haven’t even inquired about closer to the investigation.

LAURA: Oh, we should talk to the girl.

SAM: Toya?

LAURA: Yeah.

SAM: Let’s go wake her ass up.

MARISHA: Is she under arrest? We don’t know.

TALIESIN: Maybe we have to go back to the circus.

LAURA: Maybe it was Yasha.

TALIESIN: It’s early enough maybe we should just--

TRAVIS: We have a few more hours and the cover of darkness.

SAM: Yeah, go wake her ass up.

MARISHA: Maybe we should go back to the circus. Scene of the crime? That whole thing?

TALIESIN: I hate to admit it, but maybe-- it’s not us.

TRAVIS: Who’s *real* stealthy?

MARISHA: I’m all right.

TRAVIS: Maybe we don’t *all* need to go. Maybe just a few, and the others will hang back.

SAM: Hang back close by though, right? If something goes bad--

MARISHA: Or if you see something. How far are we from the inn?

MATT: From the inn? About a 15 minute jog.

SAM: So we can go to the circus?

TRAVIS: An hour and a half.

LAURA: While we’re still trying to figure this out, I’m going to pull out my painter’s kit and draw like a little piece of poop on the side of the building that we’re next to SAM: Tagging? That’s good.

MARISHA: A little tagger.

TRAVIS: Is it like a mound of poop or like a single--?

LAURA: No it’s like a mound of poop.

TALIESIN: It’s like an emoji.

MATT: Make a performance check.

LAURA: Oh I rolled really low on this one. Four!

MATT: It takes a little convincing to have them see the poop in the drawing. You can see it, but you’ve seen better.

TRAVIS: Is it a worm? It’s a snake.

LIAM: That’s an *oval*.

LAURA: I should have drawn a *pile* of poop. I draw a pile of poop next to it.

MATT: It helps, but--

LIAM: That’s a triangle.

TRAVIS: Yeah, I thought it was like chocolate frozen yogurt.

TALIESIN: Is math or something?

LAURA: It’s dark okay?! I can usually paint much better than this. It’s really dark and my hand feels a little numb.

SAM: Let’s move then.

MATT: Who’s going where? What are you guys doing?

ALL: We’re all going to the circus.

TRAVIS: *Stealthily* to the circus.

MATT: All right, I would like for all of you to roll a stealth check.

MARISHA: Is no one staying behind or--?

LAURA: Fuck it!

SAM: Some are staying *away* from the tent.

TRAVIS: Yeah, going in danger close.

SAM: 13.

TRAVIS: Nine.

MARISHA: Oh not great. Nine!

TALIESIN: Seven.

LAURA: 19.

LIAM: 15.

SAM: 13.

MATT: Okay, you guys make your way through most of the Docksward on your way to the large blue tent that still stands ominously in the distance. Thankfully, the moon has come out and cast this rimlight against the structure, so it’s easy to see. As you guys are making your way outside of the Lochward, you immediately see the approaching torchlight of crownsguard. One of them you just faintly hear 40 or 50 feet ahead of you, “Who goes there?”

LAURA: Oh shit.

SAM: Is there only one guard?

MATT: It’s two guards, side by side. They watch as they patrol in pairs.

MARISHA: Are we in like an alleyway, or in the street?

MATT: You guys are keeping off to the side. You’re all on the outskirts of the lake and almost made your way out of the city towards where the--

LAURA: Go in the lake. Quick, go into the lake!

TRAVIS: I cast Disguise Self, and I turn myself into a crownsguard.

LIAM: Disguise Self and follow suit.

MATT: You do as well?

LIAM: Yeah.

MATT: All right. So you both become crownsguard. You’ve all of a sudden are adorned in the goldish brass and red armor.

TALIESIN: I’m in my black hood. I’ve got my hood up now.

SAM: Anywhere to hide?

MATT: There are some small alcoves, but you guys are out in the open, now. They’ve seen you.

MARISHA: *All* of us?

MATT: You don’t know. They’ve seen *you*. They’ve called *to* you, and then both of you guys disguised yourselves. What are you doing?

LAURA: I walk into the lake and crouch down?

MATT: Jester walks up and wades in about six inches of water and just-- gives her best duck impression.

SAM: I will take off my mask and start attacking Caleb in a convincing fashion. Not to draw blood but-- yeah.

MATT: Make a deception check.

SAM: Deception check?

MATT: Yes.

SAM: Oh.

LIAM: Can I start going (groans) Oh get off, you little beast! To help with the illusion?

SAM: (snarling noises)

MATT: Sure, make a deception check.

SAM: Oh, my deception check was a three minus three.

LIAM: But roll with advantage.

SAM: At advantage?

LIAM: I’m helping you, you little--

SAM: Seven minus three!

LIAM: Oh no!

MATT: Okay so as soon as these two crownsguard see this, they go “Shit!” They pull their blades and they start charging you, Nott to try and protect their other crownsguard--

LIAM: I take Nott and slam her into a wall as hard as I can and say: Down you beast!

MATT: All right, as you rush up in a jog, blades drawn, one of them is going to go ahead and attempt to strike.

SAM: Oh god! Sure.

MATT: That is going to be a 14 to hit.

SAM: Miss!

MATT: So you manage to (squeaks) and narrowly dodge the blade as it strikes through the back of your cloak and pins it to the side of a wooden pole that is on the outside of an overhang where some of the fish are being left out to dry and turn into fish jerky. It holds you in place as you’re snarling and looking scared. The other one pulls out his blade and says “Where did this thing come from!?”

LIAM: I have it! And I punch Nott right in the face.

SAM: Oh!

MATT: All right, you take one point of bludgeoning damage, Nott, and blood just (flowing noise) from the nose.

LIAM: I have this we’re taking these people across to jail.

TRAVIS: (Regal voice) Indeed, stay our blade, please, obviously he can handle this.

LIAM: Don’t you fucking move you little green piece of filth.

SAM: (spits)

TRAVIS: Right in your face! Haha, incredible.

LIAM: This one is mine, thank you. Beat her within an inch of her life.

MATT: I need you to make a deception check on that one.

TALIESIN: We are just the worst. This is just terrible.

MARISHA: Oh man.

LIAM: Natural 20.

(cheering)

SAM: We’ve practiced this before. We got this routine down.

MATT: You see a look of disappointment come across the two crownsguards’ faces in their inability to help you skewer this small, feral creature. They both put their blades away. “All right if you see anything else, give a shout. (spits)”

SAM: Ugh.

MATT: They both continue their walk past the rest of you.

LIAM: The rest of you lot fall in line. I drag the little one off.

SAM: (snivels)

MATT: They look over at the tiefling-- partially crouched in the water.

SAM: She’s taking a shit.

LAURA: I really had to pee!

MATT: “Hey! Not in the Ustaloch!”

(laughter)

LAURA: Okay. Oh okay. I get out. I stand up and slowly dredge out of the water.

MATT: Your legs are soaked from thigh to foot, and they both eye you warily and slowly walk past.

LAURA: (sigh of relief)

MARISHA: It’s real cold out.

LIAM: Have they cleared the way?

MATT: Eventually, they pass beyond a point where you feel absolute dread of their presence.

TRAVIS: Is that a natural thing for you guys to just attack each other in moments of stress?

LIAM: Are you all right? I am so very sorry, I’m so sorry--

SAM: No, I’m fine that was good acting. You were perfect. I panicked, I didn’t know what to do. I was trying to create some sort of distraction.

LIAM: Let me see your teeth. Okay. You look all right.

SAM: They’re all over the place.

(laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh, I can’t tell if that got worse or better.

MARISHA: You fixed them a bit!

LIAM: Okay. Who wants to go to the circus?

MARISHA: Yay.

MATT: All right, you guys are make the rest of the path to the outskirts of the circus. You see at the very front flap of it you see a crownsguard who’s like (yawn) sitting there, his arms crossed to the front keeping an eye out, he is doing late-shift. You do see the faint distant flickering glow of firelight from the back side of the circus.

MARISHA: What is that? Do you guys have like a nightlight?

TALIESIN: It’s where we camp.

MATT: Yeah, you saw it earlier, you saw the campfire.

MARISHA: Oh sure.

TRAVIS: If you want to make your ways around, I could distract them for a moment, have a conversation with them.

MARISHA: Do they still look like crownsguard?

MATT: Yes.

TRAVIS: For an hour.

MARISHA: Okay, yeah.

LIAM: You you want to go with them? I’ll go with Fjord.

SAM: Sure, but will you be watching me or no? You don’t have to.

LIAM: Frumpkin will.

SAM: All right. I’ll go with you and-- who else is going? Are you stealthy?

LAURA: We’ll take care of you. Don’t worry!

TALIESIN: They’re not going to talk to you without *me*, so I’m coming, too.

LIAM: I’m a little jittery, do you want to be a front man for a little while?

TRAVIS: Sure I got it, yeah.

LIAM: Okay.

MATT: All right, so what are the groups here?

SAM: The girls and the boys.

TRAVIS: Caleb and me--

LAURA: And Molly.

SAM: And whatever Molly is.

(laughter)

TALIESIN: I’m fabulous.

MATT: Molly, who are you going with?

TALIESIN: I’m going with the girls, because the circus kids won’t talk to them without me.

MATT: All right, so the three of you are going forward. What are you doing? I guess I should ask.

TRAVIS: I walk up to the guard (regal voice) It’s a late night, not much action this evening. See anything unusual?

MATT: “Eh, nothing yet. Mostly I hate this. Ugh, I just wish this whole fucking circus would just go. I need to sleep. Regular hours.”

TRAVIS: Yeah I heard, how long are they supposed to be here?

MATT: “Until they finish this fucking investigation. They keep bugging people for information, but they’re all just clammed up and not saying shit.”

TRAVIS: At least you’re by the tent, they’ve had us walking the perimeter of the lake the entire time.

MATT: “It’s bullshit. I wish they would just go ahead and execute them. That carnival master or whatever and get it over with.”

TRAVIS: Did they find anything inside, today? Tell me, *something* interesting, please.

MATT: “They investigated the corpses and found nothing yet. Still in there if you want to take a look at it.”

TRAVIS: Would you mind if we popped in?

MATT: “I mean I suppose so.” Make a deception check.

MARISHA: Something good?

TALIESIN: No.

LAURA: Oh Jesus.

TRAVIS: Oh! 13.

MATT: Okay. He thinks a second on it. “Oh I suppose so.”

TRAVIS: We’ll be quick, super fast.

MATT: “Please, get it over with.” He stops you. “If there’s any way to expedite this, if you can pin it on any of them, we can just kill them and take care of them. Let me know.”

TRAVIS: Let’s go. (as Grog) That worked way better than I thought. Like we should-- I mean-- (as Fjord) should we look around for stuff or what?

(laughter)

LIAM: You are very good with voices.

TRAVIS: Well you know, I do a little mimicry here and there. We should look, come on. Check the grounds. Maybe we can see where the bodies are laying.

LIAM: Yeah, let’s have a look around.

MATT: You guys look inside, the tent is dark. There’s no light inside.

LIAM: I take a rag out of my side satchel and I cast-- what the hell is it called because I’ve only been a wizard for a short time-- one Dancing Light underneath the rags so it’s only dim.

MATT: All right, so you have this self-made hooded lantern with the hood you have over it.

LIAM: Yeah.

MATT: Okay.

MARISHA: That’s dope.

LIAM: What the fuck are we looking for in here?

MATT: And Nott, you’re going with them? SAM: I’m with the girls.

MATT: Oh sorry, you’re right.

TRAVS: Where did the bodies fall? Over there, didn’t they?

LIAM: That’s right, yeah.

TRAVIS: Well let’s search the grounds.

MATT: You make your way inside, the smell is pretty bad. You can smell the flesh beginning to decay.

TRAVIS: Have they moved the bodies or are the bodies still there?

MATT: With a bit of looking, the bodies are still there where they left them. They have not moved, you can see a couple of remnants of notes and sheets that have been crumpled, but the bodies have been left where they are.

TRAVIS: Can we check the bodies for anything?

LIAM: Is there anything arcane? From all my studies, does anything here ring any bells? I have a photographic memory.

MATT: Go and make a religion check.

LIAM: All right. That is a ten.

MATT: Unfortunately, you don’t have a lot of research on the undead, or whatever might be the essence of this creature's creation, and the more you look at it, you're like, “This is not my specialty.”

LIAM: Okay. What about the perimeters of here, where all the people were? There was a swarm of people. I spend five minutes seeing anything was dropped of interest.

MATT: Make an investigation check, both of you.

TRAVIS: That's better.

LIAM: I miss the twins.

TRAVIS: 16.

LIAM: Big ten.

MATT: Glancing about, you can see the track marks of everyone fleeing. You can see the spatters of blood. You can see the place where the transformation occurred. There is a horrible shedding of certain layers of flesh. You can see previously existing layers of flesh and muscle that were shed as whatever this undead thing was fell to the ground. Once again, you make a religion check as well.

TRAVIS: Okay. Roll high. I did not. Ten.

MATT: Yeah. This is not your specialty. You have little experience with the undead and this type of magic.

TRAVIS: We can't spend that long in here. Maybe we just take a bit of it with us. Do you have a pocket?

LIAM: I have many pockets, of course I have pockets.

TRAVIS: Like a jar? I have no pockets!

SAM: You designed a character with no pockets?! Why would you do that?

TRAVIS: There’s no pockets! All right, but I'll check.

LIAM: He's just in the Blue Man Group unitard and that's it.

MARISHA: I'm sure Rob Liefeld just got a nosebleed and he doesn't know why.

LIAM: So this dead thing is here in front of me?

MATT: Two of them. There's the main one, the ground zero one, which is where you were putting all your attention, and then there's the woman, who was transformed as part of the first.

LIAM: I will take my dagger, and I will slice a little bit off of the woman, and it's going to get dark in here and I will snuff out the light and use the rag to roll it up and I'll put the little piece in my pack.

MATT: With a squishy sound you place it within your pack.

LIAM: Let's get out of here, I'm going to be sick.

TRAVIS: Agreed.

MATT: All right. The four of you, I need you to roll stealth checks, please.

MARISHA: Not that one. I don't feel good about it. Oh not bad! 21.

TALIESIN: 17.

LAURA: 18.

SAM: 25.

MATT: Without issue, you guys quickly dart around the side of the tent and make your way right towards the central area where the multitude of tents to this back encampment is placed. There is a single campfire. The embers are burning out. It has not been kept up. You do see two crownsguard who are currently keeping watch. One of them is slumped in a chair across from the fire and is nodding off. The other is doing a basic patrol and looking around. Other than that, you don't hear any sounds, you don't see anybody else. Just the two crownsguard.

TALIESIN: Which of the tents is currently occupied?

MATT: There are four main tents. There are two very large ones, one of which generally contains Toya and Kylre, the devil toad. That's on the south side. There's the north largest tent, this one contains the Knot sisters and Ornna. Then there's a very small tent to the south side that would be Bo the Breaker's tent, but he's not here. Then there's a medium sized tent on the north side. Who would be in that one?

TALIESIN: Toya and Kylre share a tent, that's right. It would be Desmond.

MATT: Desmond would be the other one. It would be Gustav staying there as well, but Gustav changes between the tent and the cart.

MARISHA: The cart?

TALIESIN: We have a wagon.

LAURA: Molly, I have a question. What made you guys set up your tent here?

TALIESIN: We were told to set it up here, if I recall.

LAURA: In this specific area?

TALIESIN: That sounds right. If I recall, we were specifically told to set up tent right here.

MARISHA: And it's by the lake, right?

MATT: Maybe 150-200 feet away from it.

MARISHA: That's pretty close to a lake.

LAURA: What if they set up their tent on a cursed land or something?

MARISHA: It's the lake, it’s common?

TALIESIN: What's the easiest tent to get to without--

MATT: Do you want to go to the north side or the south side of the main tent?

TALIESIN: I want to go with whatever's furthest away from the guards.

SAM: Shouldn't we just go to the Toya tent?

MATT: The Toya tent's on the south side, that’s the opposite side, you guys would have probably come in from the north end.

TALIESIN: What’s the easiest to get to without--

MATT: That would be the one that contains Ornna and the Knot sisters.

TALIESIN: I'm going to go back there and do our traditional (bird call)

MATT: Okay. There's actually no response.

LAURA: (bird call)

MARISHA: I had Mona and Lena, but maybe it’s Lolie.

TALIESIN: Yuli. It’s Mona and Yuli. I'm going to try one of the other tents. Am I getting the sense that any of them are in?

SAM: Look over here!

TALIESIN: Over here!

MATT: The other tent you get to and you make the same sound? This would be the one that Desmond usually is in, too. There's a pause, and then you hear a very faint (bird call).

TALIESIN: I'm going to very gently lift the back of the tent up and not go in through the front. And just--

MATT: Okay. You glance inside and you can see, leaning up from a bedroll, Desmond who is half-awake, and glances over and sees you. He's out of outfit, out of makeup, and he gives a nod.

TALIESIN: (whispering) Do you know what's going on? (switches to normal volume) Assume we're whispering, because this is bullshit.

MATT: Yeah.

TALIESIN: How is it? What's happened?

MATT: "They've come around asking a few questions, we're trying to figure it out ourselves. Are you okay?"

TALIESIN: I could be worse.

MATT: "How's Gustav? And Bosun?"

TALIESIN: They couldn't be worse. And then Yasha Yasha'd. I don't know. Did Toya see anything? Did she say anything?

MATT: "We're still trying to figure this out ourselves. Are you alone?"

TALIESIN: No, I've picked up a few scragglers. They're idiots, but they're helping.

MATT: "Well bring them in."

SAM: We come in.

MATT: You guys all enter the tent and you see Desmond. Previously you saw him in these very colorful outfit with the frilled neck piece and the full facial makeup. Now you see a man in his late 30s with a very scarred left side of his face. It looks like it was shredded at one point in his youth, that the makeup hid during the performance. As soon as you enter, even upon greeting him, he has a very sad presence to him. Even though you're all under the cover of night and having this conspiratorial conversation, he has this melancholy about him that permeates the space inside the tent. He says, "So you’re all the ones that helped earlier. Thank you. It would have been far worse if you hadn't."

LAURA: No problem.

TALIESIN: What do they think happened? What are they asking?

MATT: "They're thinking something about the show. They're thinking Gustav made this happen. I don't think it's Gustav, he's a good man. He makes poor choices and it's plagued him his whole life, you can see it in his brow. But good intentions have grave consequences. No one that good comes out of Shady Creek Run without some mistakes behind them, but I don't see him doing this."

TALIESIN: What would be the point?

LAURA: Has it ever happened like this before?

MATT: "No."

LAURA: Anything weird ever happened before?

MATT: "Weird things? All the time. We're a bunch of weird folk, work with a lot of weird people. Bunch of strange freaks gathered at this show."

MARISHA: Was there anyone new here recently that you haven't worked with a lot?

MATT: "Yeah, she apparently ran off."

TALIESIN: Yasha's the newest, but she can be flighty.

MARISHA: What about Mona and Yuli?

MATT: "The sisters are bitter, but it's no fault of theirs."

MARISHA: Why are they bitter?

MATT: "Because the world is cruel."

TALIESIN: You've never met it-- Well, nevermind.

MATT: "I wish I could help them, but it--"

MARISHA: (stutters) What happened to them?

LAURA: Are you drunk? What's going on?

MARISHA: No, I'm trying to hear and whisper at the same time.

LAURA: You can talk at a normal volume.

MATT: Magical whisper. Cone of Whisper.

MARISHA: Matt Cone of Whisper!

TALIESIN: Oh God, that's a new thing now.

MARISHA: What did they say? Why do they think that? Why is the world shitty?

MATT: "Have you been around? Have you travelled to see anything?"

MARISHA: Yeah. Listen. The world has its own brand of shitty depending on whose eyes are looking at it, right? So what is their brand of shitty?

TALIESIN: Circus shitty.

MATT: "I don't know. Ask them."

MARISHA: Where are they?

TALIESIN: In a tent over there.

MATT: "They don't seem to take much of a liking to me anyway, so I can't really tell you myself. I’m sorry."

SAM: They don't like you? Why?

MATT: "There's a lot of people that don't like me."

LAURA: I like you, Desmond. I think you're great.

SAM: Why? What did you do?

MATT: He looks at you and goes, "Same reason folks probably don't like you; you're different."

SAM: Hmm.

TALIESIN: Is everybody still here? They've not taken anyone away other than--

MATT: "Other than those two, everyone else is here. We're just keeping under watch until their investigation is complete."

MARISHA: Molly, why did you laugh when I asked about the sisters?

TALIESIN: We're carnival people, we've all got our issues. You don't end up here unless you're a little weird.

LAURA: Can I try something? I want to try to cast Detect Good and Evil.

MATT: Okay.

LIAM: Cleric shit!

LAURA: Right?

SAM: On?

LAURA: On the area. It lasts up to ten minutes, so it's within 30 feet of me.

TRAVIS: You ever cast this before?

LAURA: No.

TRAVIS, TALIESIN, and MARISHA: First cast!

TRAVIS and TALIESIN: First blood!

MATT: So you cast it. You concentrate. You reach down and grasp the bottom of your symbol that hangs around your belt, and there's a faint rush of divine force given to your consciousness. You don't sense within 30 feet of you any fiendish, or celestial, or fey, or undead, or aberration.

LAURA: Nothing that's been desecrated?

MATT: Nothing from this tent or within 30 feet.

SAM: Does it follow her?

LAURA: Yeah, it follows me.

MATT: It's like a radial thing.

SAM: That's pretty cool, let's keep going then. Maybe we'll see something?

LAURA: Yeah. Am I close to the edge of the main tent?

MATT: There are two tents to the north. There's a bigger one, and a medium one. The one that you're in right now is the larger one to the north, and as such contains-- Actually no. The one that you guys are in right now is the medium one. The one that contains Desmond. The larger one contains both of the sisters and Ornna.

LAURA: Okay. And they're closer to the big tent? Where is the big tent?

MATT: Correct. The big tent is about ten to 15 feet from the one you're in right now.

LAURA: Okay, cool. Yeah, let's leave. I'll get up to the edge of the big tent, and I want to see if I can feel anything weird in that area.

MATT: Okay. Is everyone else staying inside or are you going with her?

SAM: We're going with, but before we leave I'll ask Desmond: From one outcast to another, are there any questions that are bugging you about all this?

MATT: He thinks for a second. "I don't want this all to fall on Gustav. He's done a lot of good for all of us, and the way they're talking about the investigation, they're looking to make a scapegoat of this."

SAM: Well, thank you.

MATT: "Thank you."

SAM: (mimics bird call poorly) That's how they talk to each other. That's how carnival folk talk to each other.

TALIESIN: Oh, for fuck’s sake. I'm going to do my best.

MATT: "Thank you."

TALIESIN: I'm going to quietly sneak out the back of the tent again and sneak into the--

MATT: Another stealth check, my friends.

TALIESIN: Oh god, I hate all of this.

LAURA: I'm going to give Molly Blessing, so you get advantage.

SAM: 21.

MARISHA: 13. Not great.

TALIESIN: 13.

MATT: With advantage?

TALIESIN: With advantage.

LAURA: 12.

MATT: Okay. You guys make your way up to the edge of the tent.

TALIESIN: I'm not going to make the noise I'm just going to--

MATT: Right. As you make your way over to the edge of the tent where the sisters and Ornna are, you focus and concentrate. Nothing, from the radial thing. One of the guards, who's standing up and making a patrol, looks over right as you duck behind and you hear a "Huh?"

SAM: Uh oh.

LAURA: Quick, go in the tent.

TALIESIN: We're going to go in the tent.

LAURA: We all duck under the tent go and act like I'm sleeping.

MATT: You guys all dodge under the tent just as the guard begins to pass around. You hear the footsteps around. As you step in you watch as the two Knot sisters--

TALIESIN: (shushes)

MATT: They both curl into a ball and stay really quiet. All of the sudden Ornna comes to consciousness and the footsteps finish the circle and then go back towards where the fire is.

LAURA: That was close.

MATT: Ornna leans in, goes like, "Okay, what is going on."

TALIESIN: That's what I'm trying to figure out, what the fuck is going on. They're with me, it's been complicated. Gustav's in deep. Bosun's in deep.

LAURA: Tell us you know something.

MATT: "What do you want to know?"

TALIESIN: What did you see? I don't know.

SAM: Who did this? What was it?

MATT: "I don't know. I looked and I saw what you saw."

TALIESIN: This is Ornna I assume.

MATT: This is Ornna, yeah.

TALIESIN: Ornna is the fire dancer.

MARISHA: Right, okay.

TALIESIN: For fuck's sake, they're going to kill every last fucking one of us unless we figure this out.

MATT: She's like, "Right."

TALIESIN: What do you think?

MATT: "Well the sister's over here think it's a hit job, but this isn’t a hit job with zombies? Are you fucking kidding me?

TALIESIN: I don't know. I think that they're trying to cover something.

MATT: "That's not surprising."

MARISHA: Can I insight check the sisters? What are they doing right now?

MATT: They're both just quietly curled up and watching you guys talk.

MARISHA: They're not saying anything, though?

MATT: Not yet. If you want to ask them something you can.

MARISHA: Do they look nervous or are they just being shifty?

MATT: Make an insight check to find out.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: While she's doing that I'm going to try and sneak out the underside of the tent to go to the big tent.

SAM: I'll go with her.

MATT: This is a bit of a leap. This goes about 25, 30 feet south of where you are around the campfire that's open.

SAM: No problem.

MATT: Go ahead and make your stealth checks, guys.

TALIESIN: Oh god. I miss Pass Without a Trace so much.

SAM: 23.

TALIESIN: That's a number.

LAURA: Nine.

MATT: Okay. What was your insight check?

MARISHA: 15.

MATT: 15. They both look nervous, but just untrusting of the scenario. You can't read anything deeper than that. There is definitely a, hmm, but you can't quite get a full beat on them. You guys, as you curl around the outside, there's the one guard that's sitting in the chair by the fire that goes like (snores) and opens his eyes a little bit and looks over in your direction, Jester, and there's a brief moment where he's just looking right at you. Do you do anything?

LAURA: I freeze.

SAM: Oh god.

MATT: Stands up.

LAURA: Can I use-- oh shit. I'm going shitballs, shit.

SAM: I'm just tucking around, getting ready.

MATT: You're around, you don't see anything.

SAM: I don't see this?

MATT: Sorry, he doesn't see you.

LAURA: I'm going to cast Charm Person on the guard that sees me.

MATT: Okay. As he stands up, he goes toward you and he goes for his blade and he has to make a saving throw.

SAM: Oh boy.

MATT: Which he does not make. I don't think so, it's like a six.

SAM: No, it's like 13 or something.

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: So he goes like--

LAURA: Hi, I'm not here.

MATT: "Okay."

LAURA: Okay. Sit down. Go to sleep, this is a dream.

MATT: Make a persuasion check.

TALIESIN: That's so good.

LAURA: (That's so close. This is so bad. Five.

MATT: He doesn't seem to buy the dream thing, but he's like--

LAURA: You want it to be a dream.

MATT: He doesn't go to sleep but he knows you're there and he's keeping an eye, but he's not doing anything.

LAURA: Okay, well it's good enough, I guess.

MATT: But he's definitely aware that you're there.

LAURA: I'm going to go towards the big tent just so I can see if I can sense any evil.

MATT: Okay. Really quickly, just to check because it’s-- That's right, Charm Person is not--

LAURA: It's not, yes.

MATT: Okay. It's at this point that you turn your attention to the tent and focus. There is a hefty, radiating warm fiendish source from the inside of that large tent.

SAM: We found something!

LAURA: I can sense something. Let’s go in the tent.

SAM: Go in? But if it’s bad, that’s bad.

LAURA: What if it’s just a dead thing?

SAM: Oh god, will we have to fight a dead thing? Should we get some help? I turn to Caleb’s cat and I say go! Go get Caleb! Shoo! (hiss) Go away! (hiss) I can’t speak Cat! Go away!

MATT: The cat goes, (angry meow).

SAM: Go away! Go tell Caleb we’re here!

MATT: (hiss)

LIAM: Yes!

MATT: Turns around and sprays you and then keep walking.

SAM: Okay, I’ve sent for help.

LAURA: Okay. Let’s go under the tent.

SAM: All right, let’s go.

MATT: You guys carefully maneuver under the tent. As soon as you curl into the interior of the tent you hear a very heavy (snoring).

LAURA: This the big tent that you guys were just in?

SAM: No.

MATT: No, it’s the one on the south side of it.

SAM: It’s a different one.

LAURA: Oh!

MARISHA: Toad guy.

MATT: You see the slowly expanding and contracting form of Kylre from the back side. You see this giant, scaly, somewhat oily exterior of the body.

SAM: That’s why you detected him, because he’s a fiend.

LAURA: Maybe he’s a good fiend, can fiends be good?

SAM: I don’t know, you detected--

LAURA: Is he still sleeping?

MATT: (snoring)

LAURA: He’s still sleeping.

SAM: We can wake him up and ask?

LAURA: And ask if he’s good or bad?

SAM: Yeah?

LAURA and SAM: Eh.

SAM: Is anyone else in the tent?

MATT: You glance and see a faint bit of a whitish material from the crook of the arm. You take a few steps forward and glance from the side and you can see asleep, cradled in his large, lizardman arms, Toya, dwarf girl is curled up and asleep peacefully.

SAM: We should talk to her, but if we wake her up he’s going to be mad. I guess we have no choice, we should talk to her. She’s a dwarf? Do you speak Dwarvish?

LAURA: No, I don’t.

SAM: Maybe she speaks Common. We’ll be fine. She’s a circus person.

LIAM: I have that ability, it lets you know exactly which thing is the fiend. Which of those things is the fiend?

LAURA: Which of the things is the fiend?

MATT: It’s the large source.

LAURA: It’s definitely the large fiend.

LIAM: It could have easily been the little girl.

MATT: It could have been, yeah.

LAURA: It’s the big guy.

SAM: Let’s wake her up!

MATT: The radiance is around the large creature.

LAURA: And her name is Toya?

SAM: Toya. Singing dwarf.

LAURA: Let’s sit down on the ground and look non-threatening. So we sit down cross-legged. Just casual. Like we’re having a tea party.

SAM: Lift up my hair.

LAURA: And then we go: Toya! Toya wake up!

SAM: Wakey wakey!

MATT: The breathing stops and there’s this stillness in the interior of the tent.

SAM: We should light a light or something? Otherwise we’re just in the dark.

MATT: You hear this faint sound of squeaking as lubricated folds of lizardman flesh twist over each other as the devil toad’s head kind of curls back to look at you quietly, the mouth slightly ajar. You can see rows of teeth and this bit of drool down the edge of the chin onto the ground. “What. you. want?”

LAURA: We’re here to talk to Toya.

MATT: At which point the little girl (yawn) begins (grunt) (thumping) and rotates in his space. He takes up almost the entirety of this tent. And slowly rotates around inside. Surprisingly quiet for his size. And still clutching Toya, Toya sits up and is like “What’s happening? (yawn)”

LAURA: Hi!

MATT: “Hi!”

SAM: Sorry to disturb your slumber.

LAURA: Oh hey! What’s going on.

MATT: “ Well?”

SAM: Do you recognize us from the other night? Last night?

LAURA: Last night.

SAM: Last night?

MATT: “I don’t remember, I got scared.”

LAURA: It was scary. You have a really pretty voice.

MATT: “Thank you.”

LAURA: Did you notice how when you sang that a dude turned into a zombie?

MATT: She begins to chuckle. And the big toad (laughter). “I did. It was really scary! I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t do that, did I?”

LAURA: Probably not.

SAM: Has it happened before, or was that--

MATT: “No. The guards are saying I probably did that, they’re saying I might have done that.” It’s interesting, you notice now listening to her, she has this beautiful voice but her speaking voice is very crackly. It sounds almost damaged.

LAURA: Do you sing all the time, Toya?

MATT: “I sing a lot. It’s what keeps me alive, it’s what gets me money.”

LAURA: Right. I understand that.

SAM: Was that the same song you always sing?

MATT: “Yeah. It’s the one song I know.”

SAM: Did it feel the same coming out of you or was it different?

MATT: “It felt the same.”

LAURA: What language is it?

MATT: “It’s an old dwarven tune. My mother taught it to me before she passed.”

LAURA: What does it mean?

MATT: “It’s a tale of the angels and how they came from the realms beyond of the gods. They granted each to us our sparks of life.”

LAURA: Granted sparks of life. Does that sound like a familiar story that I’ve heard before?

MATT: It sounds vaguely religious, but--

SAM: When you were singing, did you hear any other sounds or words that someone else was saying?

MATT: “No, not beyond the ordinary. Then I saw that poor man just start tearing through people. I got scared and Kylre helped me.” She puts her arm up and pats and (grunt).

LAURA: How did you and Kylre meet?

MATT: “They brought me into the circus. I was up in a city north of here, far north of the Marrow Valley and I was just on the streets singing. And this carnival came by and I met Gustav and he invited me to join and that’s how I met Kylre and I met all these wonderful people.”

SAM: Has anyone new come around and talked to you?

MATT: “No.”

SAM: Asked you to do anything? It’s so strange.

LAURA: Man, we suck at this.

SAM: No, we’re really good.

MATT: “The newest people we’ve had are Mollymauk and Yasha.”

LAURA: They’re new?

MATT: “Comparatively. Mollymauk’s been here almost two years now.”

LAURA: Oh. Okay.

MATT: “He came after I did. We both found our voice together. I was very scared and he wasn’t talking and together we helped each other learn to have fun again.”

SAM: And yesterday before the show you didn’t notice anything weird, anyone creeping around the carnival, setting up anything?

MATT: “No.”

SAM: Snooping around?

LAURA: Anybody in weird cloaks?

SAM: Cloaks, cloaks!

MATT: “I didn’t see anything.”

LAURA: Okay.

LIAM: DM, on a minor note, I put my hand on Fjord’s shoulder and say I’m going to be blind for a second, give me a little slap if anything goes wrong. And I turn into Frumpkin who should still be--

MATT: At this point in time you notice (laughter) Nott going “Shoo! Cah! Go find help!” and you hear a (hiss) (grumpy meow). Yeah.

LIAM: And then Frumpkin takes off?

MATT: Frumpkin starts heading back around towards you.

LIAM: So I’m looking at myself after a moment.

MATT: Briefly, as you keep concentrating, Frumpkin finds his way under the tent and comes up to you.

SAM: Is there anyone you think would want to destroy the carnival or hurt Gustav? Does Gustav have any enemies?

MATT: "I hope not. I know him and Ornna argue a lot, but--"

SAM: Him and Ornna? It's Ornna! Ornna's the one. Thanks very much, we're out of here.

(laughter)

SAM: Hot lead!

LAURA: Let's go! We've got it, we've solved the case!

TALIESIN: I'm going to have a tiny bit of conversation with her.

MATT: Yeah. So while they're gone, the two of you are in the other tent with the sisters and Ornna.

MARISHA: I would like to talk with the sisters while that is going on.

MATT: They're both sitting there, knees tucked to their chest.

MARISHA: I go and sit down next to them, putting my knees up, too. This whole thing is really messed up, right?

MATT: "Yeah, you're telling us."

MARISHA: Yeah. Man. Like, why would we do anything like that? I feel like we're all being needlessly persecuted.

MATT: "I'm sorry, who are you?"

MARISHA: Oh, sorry. I'm Beau. The other Bo, but I helped fight the zombies the other night. I'm under house arrest. We're under the same situation, just separately. Not really. I don't want to compare myself to you, because that would be rude.

MATT: The two halfling twins look at each other, and back at you.

TALIESIN: Her name's Beau. She's helping, she's awful, you have a lot in common.

MATT: "Okay, well, I mean, whatever you want to know."

MARISHA: He's such a dick. Why is he such a dick?

MATT: "Molly's great, why are you such a dick?"

TRAVIS: Reversal!

MARISHA: Oh, sorry, he's been talking shit about you this whole time, I don't know, I just--

MATT: Make a deception check on that.

TALIESIN: I'm going to walk by the two twins, because I'm circling the tent, trying to get a look, and be like, I've absolutely been talking shit. You're both terrible. I give them both a kiss on the head and keep walking.

MATT: Okay. They both, "All right, so what are you trying to do?"

MARISHA: What am I trying to do? I'm trying to figure out who's behind all this so that we can keep moving on with our lives.

MATT: "All right, well, get it over with. Soon as this is done, we're out."

TALIESIN: They may not let us leave. They may be killing us all.

MATT: "They're not going to kill us all!" The other goes, "They're not going to kill us all."

TALIESIN:They're weird out there. They're very weird out there.

MATT: (sighs)

MARISHA: Your guys’ performance was amazing, by the way.

MATT: "Thanks."

MARISHA: I loved it.

SAM: We're stealthing over to that tent, by the way.

LAURA: I thought we were stealthing over to the main tent.

SAM: The one with Ornna in it.

TALIESIN: Ornna's in the tent with us.

MATT: Oh, you guys are going to the main tent.

LAURA: I wanted to get to the main tent to see if I could sense any evil in the big, main tent.

SAM: Oh, you want to swoop by the main tent?

LAURA: But if it's really far away.

MATT: Not too far away from where you were, because you're backing out the side of it. So you can go ahead and stealth around. Make a stealth check.

LAURA: Oh, god. Please no one, please no whammies.

TALIESIN and LAURA: Big money.

SAM: I'm fine.

LAURA: Natural 20!

MATT: Nice, and what did you get?

SAM: 22.

MATT: The two of you, without issue, make your way around towards the large tent without being seen.

SAM: Any evil?

LAURA: I'm sensing it.

MATT: Nothing.

SAM: Goddamn it.

LAURA: No fucking evil!

SAM: It's Ornna! We know who it is! We know who the killer is!

TALIESIN: While you're talking to the twins, I'll be talking to Ornna. Oh, for fuck's sake.

MATT: "To be honest, if it's any easier, it's probably Gustav."

TALIESIN: It's not fucking Gustav.

MATT: "It probably is, you shut up. He's a prick, he doesn't know what he's doing, he's going to run this whole carnival into the ground. I don't want to take the fall for it, we all get away on this.”

MARISHA: No!

TRAVIS: Little feet.

LIAM: (snarling noises)

TRAVIS: Eats and shoots the same way. (snarls)

MARISHA: So wait, it's probably Gustav? What makes you say that?

MATT: "Because he's in prison, he's the leader, he's fucked this whole thing by letting this happen."

MARISHA: Oh. Wow. You have interesting perspectives. Hey, weird question, how do you guys come up with your acts? Is that something that you guys create yourselves, or do you guys workshop it?

TALIESIN: It's like she's never experienced boredom. It's very weird.

MATT: "Yeah. It's impressive."

TALIESIN: Hey, Ornna?

MATT: Ornna goes, "Yes?"

TALIESIN: (sighs) I mean, I know your feelings on all this. What do you think?

MATT: (sighs) "I'd say Bosun's a stand up guy, if a bit of a self-absorbed dick at times. And we all knew Gustav was going to shit the bed sooner or later, I mean, this is his karma. I just don't know how, or why, but I can guarantee you, if this was my carnival, this shit wouldn't have happened."

TALIESIN: Really?

MATT: "Mm-hmm."

TALIESIN: What exactly would you have done?

MATT: "Well, first off, I would have made sure that we had better support from the guard before this ever happened so nobody else got killed."

TALIESIN: They were useless.

MATT: "Secondly, I would have made sure that there weren't any old folks that made it in to fucking turn into shit."

TALIESIN: Well, that's on me and-- That's on me.

MATT: "I don't know."

MARISHA: You feel the same way, Knot sisters? Feel like this is karma on Gustav?

TALIESIN: They would.

MATT: At which point, the flap of the tent opens up and it's Jester.

LAURA: It's Ornna!

SAM: Ornna, you have a lot of explaining to do!

MARISHA: Shut up!

SAM: We've talked to Toya. She knows it's you who did this!

LAURA: We know you guys are in a fight all the time.

SAM: You're the one behind the whole plot! You did it!

LAURA: You!

MATT: The two Knot sisters immediately go, "Ornna? Is it you? Did you kill that guy?" Ornna's like, "I don't know what you're talking about. What the fuck is this? Who the fuck are you!"

LAURA: Why did you turn that guy into a zombie?

SAM: Who do you work for!

TALIESIN: Ornna, Ornna.

MARISHA: Insight check on the Knot sisters!

SAM: Start talking, or this gnome-- nope! Goblin! Starts biting.

MATT: Ornna goes, "To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what's going on. Y'all just came in here, started throwing accusations at me. Gustav got arrested. Boson got arrested. *Molly* got arrested, I'm glad you got off that. But to be perfectly honest, this whole thing's a shit show. And the circus is probably not going to be the same after this."

LAURA: Insight check on the--

MATT: Insight check on Ornna.

LIAM: My cat is on patrol because we've been standing with out dicks in our hands for a long time.

MATT: Yeah, I'm sorry.

LIAM: No! I'm not complaining, but I would have sent the cat out.

LAURA: Seven.

MATT: Kind of hard to read. She seems genuinely frustrated and caught off guard by this.

LAURA: I think she's telling the truth.

TALIESIN: Ornna, you might as well come clean, this is classic you.

MATT: She looks at you. "Molly."

TALIESIN: I'm just trying to--

MATT: "Fuck you."

TALIESIN: Oh, fuck you, too. It's no secret that Ornna and Gustav have their differences, but this ridiculous. I mean, she knows damn well that half the circus would leave if he got fucking arrested and died.

MATT: "You're for real worried about this? You really think who it could be? Let's play. Gustav: he's an idiot. But he's not a murderer. Bosun: bit of a dick. But he's a stand up fella. Toya: absolute doll. Couldn't hurt a fly. Mona and Yuli: They're cunts. But they're not going to kill anyone. Desmond's a weird fellow. There's something dark in his past; you can see it in his melancholy.

TALIESIN: But this is not his style.

SAM: It's Desmond. Let's go to his tent!

TALIESIN: I just grab--

MATT: "There's some untrustworthy intelligence in those lizard eyes of that devil."

LAURA: I did get a very evil kind of vibe off him.

TALIESIN: What do you mean evil kind of vibe?

LAURA: Well, I mean, he's a fiend.

TALIESIN: He's what?

LAURA: The devil toad guy. He's a fiend.

TALIESIN: That's just a name. It's not actually, like real thing. That just--

LAURA: You guys know he’s a fiend, right?

MATT: There’s this moment of silence, like, “He’s supposed to be lizardfolk.”

TALIESIN: What do you--

SAM: It’s the lizard man!

TALIESIN: I grab and push you down into the ground and hold you. (shushing sounds) Not yet.

MATT: You guys, what are you doing?

LIAM: I mean, just because we’re standing here so long, I would have been nervous and again held on to this guy’s big bicep and sent the cat out.

TRAVIS: Why are you going all catatonic on me?

MATT: (laughs) Nice. As the cat darts under the tent and makes its way through, you glance over to the fire and sees a large dark shape step out from one of the tents and you watch as one of the guards who’s sitting in the chair stands up and crumples onto the ground without a sound. You see the other guard look over, go over to around him and start to check around. You guys hear a voice in the back start saying, “Damon?”

LIAM: Fjord, something bad is happening.

MATT: You watch as the dark figure spins and two flashes of red in the shadow nearby and you watch as the other guard suddenly grabs his head and grasps for his chest and falls on his back as his legs curl up.

MARISHA: What the fuck!

LIAM: Do I know where in relation to Fjord and I this is?

MATT: It is to the east of you, about 150 feet.

TRAVIS: Can you talk to me when you’re looking through the cat?

LIAM: I can talk, but I can’t hear anything when I’m doing this.

MATT: Correct. You watch as the shadow bounce like a giant frog--

LIAM: The frog is on the move. Frog is on the move.

MATT: --northward.

LIAM: Away from us? But I don’t know where the eyes are.

MATT: You guys hear the name calling, and then silence once more.

LAURA: (whispers) Can we peek outside of the tent and see what’s going on?

MATT: You guys go ahead and you look just as the guard on the ground is like (gurgling) and just stops moving. You see all the veins bulging.

MARISHA: I run up to the guard and check his pulse. Is he still alive or is he paralyzed?

MATT: As you come out of the tent, you watch as the flesh on his neck and throat splits and a very familiar transformation begins to take place as both of the guards begin to (growling).

LAURA: Oh no. We have to fight them.

MARISHA: Yeah, but get under the tent! We can get the drop!

LIAM: I come out of it and I: Zombies. I start running towards the tent that I saw Jester peek out from under.

MATT: As you guys rush underneath the big blue tent, you watch as the two that are quickly bulging and mutating, bits of their flesh dislodging from their body and falling. You watch now, up close, similar to the last time, but now that you are looking intently for this, you can see where there should be blood, it’s almost like dust and sand begin to spill from the wounds. Something you had noticed a little bit in the body of the old man before, but you didn’t know if it was decomposition or just general dirt.

TALIESIN: Girls, we’re not supposed to be here. Can you help us handle this?

MATT: You watch as the two halflings were like, “Fuck no!”

TALIESIN: (sighs) We’ll do what we can. If something goes wrong, nudity usually works.

MATT: The two mutated guards now, their armor bulging and broken in places, turn to the noises in the tent where you guys are.

SAM: Are we in the same tent or are we in two different tents?

MATT: You guys are all in one tent with the other girls. You are all jammed into the space. The two of you make your way outside of the large tent as you watch these two bulging, zombified creatures making their way towards the tent.