The game is afoot! The group tracks down a kidnapper.
Aoife leads the group to where Benny was kidnapped and gives what little information she can of the perpetrator before heading back home. During their investigation, Florence is eager to learn the basics of investigating. With the return of Inspector Nine, the group instructs the Jerboamin on how to look for clues.
As they continue to follow clues, they stumble upon droplets of blood and clumps of fur, which worries little Florence. Eight manages to encourage her and the group carries on. They eventually stumble on the remains of the campsite, Rou’s sense of smell confirming they’re on the right track.
When they find the kidnapper, they learn a little intimidation can go a long way.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Kappa @TheKappaChris, Wren @ThornyDryad, and Shadow @ShadowBookCat
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends[00:28]
Gentle piano music fades in [00:29]
Dax: Welcome back! Our adventurers have met a Jerboamin, a city Jerboamin, in the town of Ravenspire, named Florence, wearing a outfit of blue suede. Florence was nice enough to give them a tour, a little tour of the town. Ha-ha, little tour?
Wren: Rude.
Dax: Little tour of the town in exchange… don’t interrupt me while I’m doing my recap. In exchange, for some assistance carrying some packages. When Florence and Eight and Rou and Arthas arrived at Tails and Tufts, Florence’s family’s store, to drop off the packages, they found out that one of Florence’s cousins, Benny, had been kidnapped. The group now heads out to find the person who stole Benny, in the hopes that today’s celebrations will not be ruined.
Eight, Rou, Arthas, and Florence. You have followed Aoife to the edges of Ravenspire. Aoife halts and turns to the four of you.
Dax (as Aoife): [high-pitched voice] Florence, I don’t want to go any further. I’m really scared that that person’s out there, looking for more of us. Do you mind if I go back to the shop and just focus on decorating? You seem to have things well in hand.
Shadow: I draw Aoife in for a hug.
Shadow (as Florence): [high-pitched voice] Yes, Aoife, it is okay. Go set up for the party, but remember it’s a surprise! So don’t set up obviously. We’ll take it from here.
Dax: Aoife nods her head, gives all three of the taller individuals a quick furtive glance, and then bounds off back to the shop. She quickly runs back.
Dax (as Aoife): I almost forgot. I didn’t see much of them, all I saw was that they had a black mop of hair.
Wren (as Eight): A black mop for hair. Got it.
Kappa (as Rou): This is very useful, not a very common occurrence.
Shadow (as Florence): How many feets were they? Did you, did you have an estimate of feets?
Dax: Aoife points to Eight and Rou and goes back and forth with her little finger.
Dax (as Aoife): Between those two.
Wren: Eight, I believe, is six feet, ish? No, wait. How tall was Rou?
Kappa (as Rou): 6’2”.
Wren: Right. Eight’s, Eight’s like 5’10ish.
Dax (as Aoife): They ran off too quickly before I could get a better look at them.
Dax: Aoife draws you, Florence, into another nervous hug and then bounds off for good this time.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh that’s not so bad. For, for us. For you, maybe terrifying. We will go get this, this Benny.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas and I have apprehended much taller assailants as well.
Shadow (as Florence): Okay. I, I, I’ve never done the adventuring thing before so, I, I might need some pointers. But I, but I’ll leave it to the experts.
Wren: I put my thumb and pointer finger under my chin, in a thinking gesture. I turn quickly to look at Rou and I turn and look up at Arthas in turn and I say,
Wren (as Eight): My friends, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Perhaps it is time for us to draw upon our investigation abilities?
Neil (as Arthas): I’m way ahead of you.
Music shifts to a jazzy tune [04:32]
Neil: And I pull my little stone pipe out and immediately start sucking air through it.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh. Oh yes, Florence, this is a treat. You will get to meet the Inspector.
Wren (as Eight): Perfect! This is exactly what we need. This is the scene of a crime, we must find clues.
Wren: And I will also pull out the, the little pipe that I have and stick it in my mouth. It hangs loosely from my jaw.
Wren (as Eight): [inhales] Inspector Nine is on the case, and there’s not a single thing that will escape my prodigious capabilities of noticing things.
Shadow: I’m gonna look around, not having a pipe, but I’m going to look for like a piece of straw or a piece of grass. And, and, and I’m gonna pluck it and put it in my mouth, like like it’s a pipe. And I too am going to mimic Inspector Nine’s pose of my finger and my thumb on my chin.
Shadow (as Florence): Hmm, yes! Clues, you might say.
Dax: Shadow, I can’t, I can’t with this character. [laughs]
Kappa (as Rou): Yes, perfect. Perfect! Yes, yes, follow your instinct. That’s really all that we do here. Just follow your instincts, follow your gut. Whatever feels right. I’m going to, my gut is telling me this direction.
Kappa: I’m going to take a few steps towards, towards where Aoife indicated when they ran and I’m going to start sniffing.
[Kappa makes loud sniffing noises]
Kappa: I’m trying to catch a scent.
Dax: Okay. Go ahead and give me Survival at, let’s say, Medium difficulty please.
[dice rolls]
Kappa: One, one Success. Oh no. Three Success and two Threat.
Dax: Okay. Do you want to take Strain or do you want to -
Kappa: Yeah, sure, pull a muscle in my nose.
Dax: Oh my god.
Wren: Inhale a little bit of dust.
[Kappa and Wren laugh]
Kappa (as Rou): [sniff, sneeze] Oh!
Shadow (as Florence): Oh that, that, do you need a handkerchief? We make those.
Kappa (as Rou): Maybe later, but [sighs] despite the, the unfortunate, [sniffles] sneeze, I believe I’ve, I’ve caught something in the air.
Dax: At first, you get a whole bunch of smells. You get the dirt, you get the grass, you get pollen, you get the smells of the city. Some pleasant, some not so pleasant. And then something hits you, almost like an acrid tang of maybe somebody who hasn’t bathed in a while. And it almost gives you this clear trail to follow off into the woods that are outside this town.
Kappa (as Rou): Alright, I’m catching something very strong, very… needs a bath. This direction. It’s very recent, I mean, very being assumptuous here. That direction.
Kappa: I’ll point in the direction.
Kappa (as Rou): Come my, my pipe-toting friends.
Wren: As Rou is sniffing, GM, I would like to be extra for this scene. I’d like to use a Story Point and make a fresh trail of footprints that lead towards the exact direction that Rou is pointing to. So like, literally doesn’t add anything to the scene, other than there are footprints. And while Rou is doing the sniffing dealy, Inspector Nine is looking around with the pipe, notices the footprints.
Wren (as Inspector Nine): Ah! Inspector Arthas, do you see what I see? And Inspector Florence, come here, look. A fresh clue. Behold!
Wren: And I will gesture to the footprints on the ground.
Wren (as Eight): I may be mistaken, but these footprints do not appear to be that of a Jerboamin. They must be of the abductor!
Shadow (as Florence): Are, are all clues shaped like feet?
Neil (as Arthas): No, but these ones are.
Kappa (as Rou): You’d be surprised how many foot-based clues there are.
Shadow (as Florence): Excellent.
Wren (as Inspector Nine): It’s true. In the few instances we have served as Inspectors, we have followed at least two trails that were left by feet. So, it leads me to believe that one of the common threads of a good investigation is a criminal’s failure to prevent themselves from walking.
Shadow (as Florence): Ah, and so the more feets that you have, obviously the better the Inspector you are and, and that reasoning. So, you know, so, so, Inspector Arthas is probably a superior Inspector? Because of the feets?
Neil (as Arthas): Truly, I am moving up in the investigative world.
Wren (as Inspector Nine): Inspector Arthas did discover our most important clue for our previous investigation. And the one prior to it. Inspector Arthas, you really are a dynamite investigator.
Kappa (as Rou): Especially at chasing things, chasing the assailants down, yes.
Wren (as Inspector Nine): Soon you will be famous enough to open your own detective agency. But enough of this minor quibling. We should pursue the clue that Inspector Rou has found as well as these footprints.
Dax: Arthas, that brings up a good point. So, Rou is investigating the scent. Eight has located some footprints. Is there anything in particular you are doing or that you would like to do as part of this investigation?
Neil: I think I would more or less just be trying to look for more Jerboa that are out of place, or anyone that’s looking extremely suspicious.
Dax: Okay, okay. Why don’t you go ahead and give me a Perception check, and I’m going to have you give it to me at Hard difficulty please. And I think you’re close enough to Eight you get a Boost die.
Wren: That is correct. If you are within short range of your friend Eight, you gain a Boost die. If you are in Engaged range with your friend Eight, you get two!
Kappa: I don’t know what you’re talking about there, but walk and talk.
[dice rolls]
Neil: I have a Triumph and two Threats.
Dax: Okay, okay. So, what do you think illustrates those Threat?
Neil: Now that I have been talked up as a master class detective in front of the funny little creature, I have to play the part and that’s maybe a little stressful.
Dax: I think that’s fair. Alright, go ahead and take the Strain for those. With your Triumph, you notice an, I’ll say this first part and then you can tell me how you want to embellish onto it with your Triumph. Because Triumph is really your decision how you want to deal with this. You don’t necessarily find Jerboa, but as the group of you are following these tracks, you do happen to notice that there appears to be a spot on the ground where there might have been what looks to be a struggle. You can see little claw marks in the mud, you can see that there are some branches that have clearly been torn off of a bush, maybe by something small trying to grasp on and get some leverage. What would you like to add on to that to illustrate the Triumph?
Neil: Maybe, it bit the guy and there is like a drop of blood at every like, 20ish feet you can see another drop?
Dax: Sure. Yeah, yeah. I, yeah, excellent. Excellent idea. My next question is, do you point this out to the group? This appearing struggle.
Neil: I’ll probably think on it for a second, and then point.
Neil (as Arthas): Blood.
Shadow: Ah, I will scamper over to the droplet of blood.
Neil (as Arthas): Someone got bit.
Shadow (as Florence): Um, uh, it doesn’t look like Jerboa blood, so that’s a good thing, right guys? Inspectors?
Dax: Florence, do me a favor. Give me a Vigilance check at Medium difficulty please, so two purple.
[dice rolls]
Shadow: That is one Success and two Threats.
Dax: Okay. Go ahead and take two Strain for the Threats, and narratively what does that look like for you?
Shadow: As I am inspecting this droplet of blood, I start to, to tremble. I am to become a bit more fearful and, and I start pacing very frantically and hopping from one set of feet to the other set of feet in very nervous fashion.
Dax: What you notice with your Success is a small patch of Jerboa fur, caught in the bushes. As well as in the back of the bush, you see the bright purple flesh of the fruit that Benny was sent to get.
Shadow: I dive into the bush and I, I fish out the, the tuft and the fruits. I reappear, brandishing the tuft.
Shadow (as Florence): [stammers] This was most certainly Benny. Ah this is the fruit and, and this is the tuft, and and oh my!
Wren: I will clomp up behind, my feet scattering the dirt and the dust as I come up behind Inspector Florence. I will simply say,
Wren (as Inspector Nine): Inspector Florence, I know this is very troubling and very trying for you. However, if we are to rescue Benny, we must all maintain our composure, follow the clues, and not lose focus.
Shadow: I’m gonna tuck away the, the tuft of fur inside my vest. I’m going to look up at Inspector Nine.
Shadow (as Florence): [sighs] Okay. Oh, man. First time adventuring can be hard. Oh. But I guess we, we need to carry on and, and hope for the best.
Wren (as Inspector Nine): We will make the best resolution through our actions.
Shadow (as Florence): I like the way you think, Inspector Nine.
Shadow: And I’m going to hold up my, my tiny fist to Inspector Nine as if I was asking for a fist bump.
Wren: Looking at you, holding out your fist, I, I tilt my head.
Wren (as Eight): What, what is this? What are you doing? I’m not familiar with this gesture.
Shadow (as Florence): Oh! Uh, my family uses it as, as a, as a gesture of success. You’re, you’re supposed to touch, touch my fist with your fist. With a, a small amount of force in celebration.
Wren (as Eight): I see. Like, a controlled punch?
Shadow: I put my finger and my thumb on my chin.
Shadow (as Florence): You know, I didn’t think of it that way but I guess in a way it is punching. It’s a punch of success!
Wren (as Eight): That seems delightful. However, I believe this is derailing our current course of action. We should probably continue to move forward following the clues.
Shadow (as Florence): Ah, yes. A being of business, I like it.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh, yes, yes. Keeping, keeping Benny safe is of the utmost importance and with that, good thing that he’s not at least, on assumption, not injured. At the moment. We should hurry.
Dax: Right. So whichever of you is at the front of the group, I would like that character to give me a Survival check at Medium difficulty as you are following the clues. So let me know who’s in front, and go ahead and make your roll.
Kappa: I will point out, I’m very surprised that Arthas has, has not taken off running in the direction of the footprints. That being said, I think I would be in front.
Wren: Why are you tempting fate, Kappa?
Dax: I know, right? [chuckles] Arthas is staying with the group, and now you’re just, you’re just. Kappa, go ahead and give me that Survival check please.
Kappa: Okay. [dice rolls] One Advantage.
Dax: Would you like to recover a Strain?
Kappa: Yeah.
Dax: Okay.
Kappa: I’m getting better at reading these.
Dax: The group of you are following these tracks, and let’s say it takes you a little while longer than you anticipated it might take. They are weaving through bushes and rougher terrain. At one point, you do cross a little stream and you almost lose the tracks entirely. Until Arthas basically steps over the entire stream in one footstep and notices that the tracks continue on the other side. You do eventually come to the next clue.
What you find is the remains of, what looks to be a construction area. And by construction area, I mean like campsite construction areas. You see the remains of a fire, you see stakes in the ground from where a tent probably was. You see bits and pieces of wood and a nail. You see an old container of paint. I’d like each of you to tell me what you’re looking for and how you think might, you might best go about looking for that. We’ll take it one by one.
Kappa (as Rou): Okay. Okay, so another crime scene. This might seem, you know, dire but this is actually quite fortunate. I think. We can find more information here.
Kappa: I mean, my nose has been quite useful, so I’m going to continue using it.
Dax: That’s fair. Go ahead and reroll your dice. I believe I said that was a Survival check.
[dice rolls]
Kappa: Oh! I think this is good. I think this is… one Success.
Dax: The smell is heavily concentrated here. You can definitely confirm that this was the campsite of the individual that appears to have stolen Benny.
Kappa: But does it, does it lead anywhere?
Dax: It does eventually. You do find yourself kind of circling the campsite a little bit as you go over to the left behind a tree. You come over here by the stream. You can tell it by the concentration that this individual spent a good deal of time here, potentially before the kidnapping occurred. But it does eventually lead beyond and further into the woods. Florence?
Shadow: I am hopping around the perimeter of the campsite, looking for tufts of hair and/or spots of blood.
Dax: I will say without rolling, that you don’t find either here at the campsite. But if you would like to give me a Perception check at Easy difficulty, so one purple…
[dice rolls]
Shadow: That is one Success and two Advantages.
Dax: So I will say with the two Advantages, you can recover two Strain because I think you lost two Strain in your last roll. Or, you could use those two Advantages to notice a thing. Since I had you roll Perception, I’ll share what your Success is and then you can decide what you want to do with those Advantages. As you’re looking for the tufts of fur, you’re looking for the blood, while you don’t see either of those, you do notice a small scrap of green cloth. So small that it actually almost got buried under the leaves that have fallen off of this tree. Now what would you like to use your two Advantages for?
Shadow: So it was recover Strain or notice a thing?
Dax: Yep, and then notice a thing would be something you can tell me that you notice. If it’s reasonable, I’ll say yea or nay.
Shadow: If I could notice a thing, upon looking at the green scrap of cloth closer, cause my family are tailors, perhaps I can tell where that material came from? Or the type of traveler that would be wearing that type of material?
Dax: Excellent. Yeah, I’ll say that’s reasonable. The cloth itself, almost on one side has a very oily backing. So you can tell this is something that would be worn by somebody who does spend a lot of time outdoors. It would be part of a garment that would protect from the elements, most particularly the rain. You also know that the cloth itself on the other side, that nice soft green cloth, only comes from the next town over. So either this individual came from the next town over, or they passed through and bought the piece of clothing there. So it’s probably safe to say, given Aoife’s limited description and this piece of cloth, that the individual that took Benny is not somebody that is from Ravenspire. Eight or Arthas?
Neil: What color is the paint?
Dax: A metallic gold.
Neil: I’m gonna pick that up. Is it dried out? Does the can look like it’s been opened recently so it’s still, like, usable?
Dax: There are a few swipes of paint that still remains, but for the most part, it looks like it’s been used up. A lot of the outer edges are pretty dry. So it’s been out for probably, out and open for about a day.
Neil: Okay. I guess I’ll see if there’s any gold marks around the trees or anywhere else.
Dax: Give me a Perception check at Easy difficulty.
[dice rolls]
Neil: One Success and two Threats.
Dax: You notice, off in the bushes beyond where Florence found the fruit and the fur, that there appear to be a couple leaves with some of this paint on it. Almost as if they had been used to smear the paint on something. You can see the remnants on one side of these leaves, what looks to be fingerprints in gold. For the Threats, how do you feel about taking some Strain and we can say at this point that it’s mid afternoon, you haven’t eaten since breakfast. You’re getting a little hungry.
Neil: Sounds good.
Dax: Okay. Eight?
Wren: Well, we are tracking by land and I have my fellow investigators thoroughly conducting a search of this area using sight and smell. What I think I would like to do is summon an ally to take to the sky to search for figures pushing through the forest ahead of us. I know I can summon a chicken, so it’s only a simple matter of extending that magical power to summon some sort of flying companion. Because chickens don’t fly. Unless I can make some sort of flying recon-a-chicken… chick-onaissence?
Dax: No chick-onaissence.
Wren: Chick-onaissence creature. [laughs]
Dax: I let the Rhodes thing go, for that’s chick-onaissence is gonna push it for me. [laughs]
Wren: Gotcha. So, while everyone’s investigating, I will pull out my spoon. And I will basically crouch down at the ground and I will select a small tuft of undergrowth with a whole bunch of leaves and twigs and branches and such. I’ll just take the spoon and I’ll kind of circle around it and I’ll start muttering,
Wren (as Eight): Element of nature, we are in need of your assistance. Grant us your wisdom, grant us your eyes, and grant us your ears and your expertise so that we may track someone who would threaten other creatures of your purvey.
Wren: And I would attempt to summon essentially a leaf nature critter, and look for the magic to take wing. This black haired, paint wielding, green jerkin… jerk.
Dax: Okay, that description. Eight, go ahead and make your Conjuration check. Go ahead and make it the standard difficulty for spells. You’re not making a giant rock, you’re making a chicken sized-ish or less creature, right? So I don’t think it’s going to have any increased difficulty. So go ahead and do that, and take your two Strain please.
Wren: I would like to make it an Ally though, because otherwise it would just kind of… fuck off. So, that would make it Medium difficulty?
Dax: Yeah, yeah. That’s right, you did say Ally.
[dice rolls]
Wren: I have one Failure, two Advantage, and the effects of a Triumph.
Dax: Okay. You fail with style and something cool happens. Tell me what this looks like.
Music shifts to a mystical guitar [27:31]
Wren: So, as I’m swirling the spoon over this clump of foliage, the twigs and the sticks and the leaves all kind of start to wiggle and bob as if they’re in some sort of little windstorm. They push together and the twigs kind of wrap around to form a little body and a pair of wings on its back are made with two of the larger leaves that I had been fiddling with. I’ll say that from the interwoven part of the twigs, a little tendril sprouts forward where the head might be, and fueled by magic, it makes a little bud and then this bud opens up with a brilliant pink flower bud which instantly turns into a full grown flower. In the center, is a little magical arcane eye that kind of is sitting there. It takes off and it kind of swirls around, flapping the leaves as wings. I imagine that the instructions to look for a black haired mop of a person with these characteristics was imprinted on it when I summoned it. And it just kind of flies up in the air, and I’m like,
Wren (as Eight): Ah, you did good Inspector Nine.
Wren: And it just kind of streaks off and looking out in the clearing from below I see it. I’m like,
Wren (as Eight): Okay, it’s heading off in this direction. That’s great. We have a bearing to go off of.
Wren: And then I just see it kind of careen straight down, like a meteor. And it, it just crashes into the forest floor. Probably a good three hundred yards ahead of us. So, who’s to say if it was actually going where it needed to, but it sure as heck was kind of cool. Maybe it startles, maybe the effect of the Triumph is that it crashing startles someone else out in the forest there. And might give us the ability to find them by listening for, for you know, a sudden yelp or a startled noise or something.
Music returns to the jazzy tune [29:43]
Dax: Yeah, I think that’s excellent. My first question before we learn if that is the case or not, or how much of the case that is, do all of you share what you’ve found with each other?
Kappa: Yeah, of course. It’s a team effort.
Dax: Okay.
Neil: Yes, or at least I do.
Dax: Okay.
Shadow: I, I brandish the cloth to everybody.
Dax: Okay. So everybody shares this information. Eight creates this creature, which you all immediately hear a loud thud. I mean it kind of echoes through the forest. You hear birds cawing as they’re taking flight in fear, you hear things rustling in the underbrush trying to get away from this magical meteor that just kind of landed in the middle of the forest out of nowhere. And suddenly you hear,
Dax (as a stranger): [cockney, slightly masc tone] Holy shit! What the fuck was that?!
Wren: [laughs] I instantly turn towards the direction of that Cockney voice and say,
Wren (as Eight): My friends, we have located our suspect. I say we make haste and apprehend them.
Dax: And I will say, Rou, it does come from the direction where the scent was leading you.
Wren: Aaaand, there we go. [chuckles]
Kappa (as Rou): Yes, the sound is coming from the direction of the smell. Let’s go.
Neil: I take off running.
Kappa (as Rou): Fall in!
Wren (as Eight): The game is afoot!
Wren: As we have heard someone say once before.
Kappa (as Rou): Florence, would you like a ride?
Shadow (as Florence): That, yeah, yeah, that could be helpful. I only have small feets in this foot game.
Kappa: If you will allow, I will pick you up and put you on my shoulder.
Shadow: I allow it.
Kappa (as Rou): Hold on.
Music shifts to a mysterious tune [31:33]
Dax: Alright, so the group of you take off. I would like each of you, and since you’re all making the same check, I’m going to forgo the group check rules for reasons. I would like the three of you to give me an Athletics check as you are racing through the trees. You’re trying to dodge underbrush and jump over fallen logs and so on and so forth. Give it to me at Medium difficulty.
Wren: I’m not winded or anything, but as with all chases we’ve experienced, Eight naturally gravitates towards the back of the line of people running. I just yell,
Wren (as Eight): Fellow Inspectors, keep going without me! I will arrive at the destination eventually!
[dice rolls]
Neil: Three Advantage for me.
[dice rolls]
Wren: I have two Advantage and two Success.
[dice rolls]
Kappa: One Failure.
Wren: I’d like to use those two to recover my Strain, if that is acceptable?
Dax: Okay.
Wren: Slow and steady wins the race.
Dax: Alright, so I know Arthas took off running. So I would, I’m gonna make the assumption that Arthas is first. Who went next?
Wren: I would assume I probably started out as second place, because Rou would probably take a moment to scoop up Florence and then start running. So, even though I probably quote “started” second, I like instantly fell into third place.
Dax: Okay, so my assumptions were correct, and I never like to assume what my players are doing. So Eight started, so alright. So in that case, Arthas, you take off running. And, honestly, it doesn’t matter if there are branches in the way. You’re just plowing through them. It does not matter at all. People are hearing the crack of these thick branches as you’re slamming into them. Just crack and fall down onto the floor below. And your, your steps are so large, you don’t have to worry about tripping on any logs or anything on the ground, you know. You, no problem. If you want, you can use those Advantages to heal any outstanding Strain?
Neil: Can do!
Dax: Eight, you start out really strong. And then you eventually pull back, but again, you’re able to duck and dodge. It’s almost as if you’re able to see the hazards ahead of you before they get too close and you’re able to adjust yourself no problem. Rou, I would like you to describe this failure for me.
Kappa: One of the branches that Arthas has plowed through doesn’t quite detach until I am right before, right before it. And it snaps, I don’t see it but it’s very, [coughs as if struck by something in the gut]. And if Florence, Florence might go flying forward, because there are no seatbelts on this ride.
Dax: Florence, could you give me an Athletics check? Since you are a very slick and dexterous individual, give me your Athletics check at, we’ll say Medium difficulty again. Because you are being flung unwillingly from Rou.
Shadow: Does my Knack For It ability come in, come into play here? Or no, not yet?
Dax: Yes. Yeah, I am taking away the Setbacks. So I am already applying your Knack For It.
[dice rolls]
Shadow: Two Advantages and one Failure.
Dax: Alright. So you fail with style. So go ahead and give me a description of what happens when you are flung from Rou.
Shadow: As I go flying through the air in, in a somewhat aerodynamic fashion, I am trying to control my fall by, by grabbing onto, you know, branches or leaves as I go rolling and flying past them. I do manage to, to right myself and land on my back two feets, but but I do land up against a tree. It is a controlled landing, but I am, am a little bit dazed even though I am relatively unharmed.
Dax: Alright. Sounds good. Rou and Florence, Eight is able to catch up with the two of you at this point, considering you are pausing. We’ll start with Arthas, while the two of you collect yourselves. Arthas, you are rushing through the forest and pushing aside trees and branches and bushes. You come upon a clearing, where you see there is, first of all a crater.
A small crater, where this creature that Eight had conjured has landed. You see a man with a dark mop of hair and a mule, covered in packs and things, strapped over with a oil cloth tarp. The man is walking and leading this mule around the crater, kind of inspecting it. When he hears you coming through the underbrush, turns and looks.
Dax (as the dark haired man): [in a cockney accent] Oi, did you see this thing come out of the sky?
Neil: I’m trying to think of what to say because I’ve got something either really stupid or it just might work. I squint at the man. Does he look like he would know what a Jerboa is or is he just going to call it like a squirrel?
Dax: It’s hard to say.
Neil (as Arthas): I smell Jerboa blood.
Neil: And I’m just going to advance at the man.
Dax: How are you advancing? Are you just taking steps? Are you -
Neil: Menacingly.
Dax: But are you like doing the power walking thing? Are you running?
Neil: I’m going to do a trick I learned called lumbering.
Wren: Like Bigfoot through the wilderness?
Neil: Exactly.
Kappa: Exactly my thoughts.
Wren: Can I, can I ask to clarify. You weren’t going to go ‘Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell Jerboamin blood’, were you?
Neil: I might have been thinking that.
Wren: Okay, I just wanted to make sure.
Neil: Might have been rattling that around in the head.
Dax: I’m not going to lie, one of these days Arthas, you have to go through with the, like lean into that trope. Because everybody seems to make those assumptions about the Giant-Kin. [chuckles]
Neil: That’s advancing a negative stereotype.
Dax: That’s fair.
Neil: [laughs] Nah, I probably will.
Dax: Alright, so you advance on this man. Eight, you arrive at a dazed Florence and a coughing Rou.
Wren: I will stoop down and put my hand on Rou’s shoulder.
Wren (as Eight): My friend, are you okay?
Kappa (as Rou): [coughing] It came out of nowhere. Go, go check on Florence. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. It’s mostly the pride.
Wren (as Eight): Very well.
Wren: And I’ll clomp forward to Florence.
Wren (as Eight): Inspector Florence, are you okay?
Shadow (as Florence): Oooohhhhh. Ooohhhhh.
Shadow: And you see me kind of swaying a little bit, unsteady. Shaking my head.
Shadow (as Florence): Man, I, I think so. Man, adventuring is a lot of work and, and it hurts sometimes.
Wren (as Eight): So I’ve been told. However, when you live the adventuring life, you come to expect these types of things. Come!
Wren: And I gesture broadly towards Arthas’ direction.
Wren (as Eight): Inspector Arthas undoubtedly is engaging our foe to rescue your cousin.
Shadow (as Florence): Uh, uh, most excellent!
Shadow: I dust off my vest and take off on all four legs, scampering.
Wren: I draw my spoon and continue trundling in that direction.
Kappa: And I will get up and brush myself off and follow. This time keeping aware of stray branches.
Music shifts to a strange, ethereal tune [39:10]
Dax: The three of you arrive at the edge of the clearing just as Arthas is coming upon this man. You see this crater, you see this individual, you see the mule carrying packs. Arthas, you have said “I smell Jerboamin blood”. And you started advancing on this man. This man is now taking a second to actually look at you and realizes how tall you are. You watch as his eyes get very large.
Dax (as the dark haired man): I’m sorry, were you talking to me?
Neil: And I would like to try and rush up and grab him by the collar.
Dax: Yeah, sure. No problem. I mean, it doesn’t take too much for you to take a step and get into engaged - yeah sure.
Dax (as the dark haired man): Oi! Oi! What’s, what’s this then?!
Neil (as Arthas): I’m going to grind your bones into dust and drink your marrow before I eat that Jerboa!
Dax (as the dark haired man): [scared] Wait, wait wait!
Dax: Give me an Intimidation check, which would be Coercion in this system [laughs]. Go ahead and give it to me at Medium difficulty, upgrade it once.
[dice rolls]
Neil: I end up with an Advantage.
Dax: He is shaking, he’s got his hands are clawing at yours as if trying to, trying to pry your fingers loose.
Dax (as the dark haired man): I don’t know about any Jerboamin! What’s this then? Why are you comin’ up here and accostin’ me?
Neil: Is my, am I close enough to the cart where I can push that tarp off with a free hand?
Dax: It is tied and strapped around this mule, so you would need to take some time to open it up. It’s not like you can just lift it off.
Neil: Gotcha.
Dax: What do the three of you do upon seeing this and hearing this? Because it certainly isn’t said quietly. [laughs]
Shadow: Just a clarification, the mule and then is there a cart behind the mule? Or is everything on top of the mule?
Dax: Everything’s on top of the mule and this tarp is covering the packs that are strapped to this mule.
Shadow: Okay. Is there a small opening, that I can see upon rushing the mule?
Dax: If you were to rush up closer to the mule, I mean you could find a couple of spots that are a little more open and you can climb up there, yeah. Yeah, if you wanna climb up and try to squeeze into one of those.
Shadow: Yeah, yeah that’s what I would do. I would run up, I would climb up the side of the mule and try to start rifling in the belongings.
Dax: Give me an Athletics check, give it to me at Medium difficulty.
[dice rolls]
Shadow: Four Advantages and one Failure.
Dax: You really fail with style. What does this look like?
Shadow: I, I scamper up the side of the mule. I start diving into the small crevices that I can wiggle myself into and I start dislodging some stuff, you know. I think some stuff is starting to fall out of the wrapping. But that creates, as much as it creates more space for me to dig around inside, it also creates this instability and, so very quickly I, I become trapped inside the packages on top of this mule.
Dax: Okay. Rou and Eight?
Kappa: I was going to say, you get there before I do so.
Wren: Okay, fair. Seeing the gentleman apprehended and that Florence has started burrowing into this cart, I will offer assistance to Inspector Florence as she is fidgeting her way under the canvas and upon seeing that essentially gotten herself stuck, I’m just going to untie whatever’s holding it down and lift up the tarp to basically say ‘hey, what’s in here?’ and reveal the contents of this man’s adventuring cart.
Dax: Alright, so you’re undoing the knots that tie this tarp down. How do you feel about Survival? Knowing how to tie knots, unless you have a better idea for a check?
Wren: I mean, yeah that’s fine. If Survival doesn’t work, then I’ll probably either cut it or I’ll just use my strength to rip the rope, but you know, whatever.
Dax: If you want to give me just a straight Brawn check, that’s fine too. That’s your choice. I’m giving you the option because I’m not really sure which one would fit best.
Wren: What difficulty do you want it to be?
Dax: Easy difficulty.
Wren: Yeah, I’ll just do a Survival check. Because of Lohr’s Blessing, I get that wonderful, wonderful Boost die. [dice rolls] Oooh baby! That’s a Triumph, a Success, and two Threat. So what I’m thinking is, I’m able to undo the knots and yank it up and at the same time as I do that, maybe, maybe the flourish with which the tarp is removed from the top distracts Arthas a little bit because maybe he wants to see what else was hidden under there as well. I don’t mean to narrate for Arthas, but I’m suggesting perhaps a way for a Setback for him or an Advantage for the, for the NPC if he were to take any action next turn.
Dax: And does that include your Triumph?
Wren: It did not, but perhaps Triumph is, upon removing the tarp, Florence is freed and maybe he has… stolen goods? I don’t know. Something, something Florence’s family has been looking for. I don’t know, like a rare cloth or something, I don’t, I’m not sure.
Dax: Alright. Rou?
Rou: Coming upon the scene, I see this person being lifted by Arthas in some sort of interrogation. I’m going to aid in this interrogation.
Kappa (as Rou): You know, he’s quite serious you know. You are very unfortunate to have been found by my friend here and not me.
Dax: Okay. Give me Coercion, give it to me at Medium difficulty. So it’s going to be upgraded once, so it’s the two plus one red. Go ahead and give yourself a Boost.
Rou: Okay. [dice rolls] Oh! Okay, okay. This is good, this is two Success, and Advantage.
Dax: Okay. So you do this. This individual is still clawing at Arthas’s hands, kind of looks down and over at you. You can see his eyes are now very wide.
Dax (as the dark haired man): I don’t know what this is about, he just came into the clearin’, just chased after me ‘n’ Bessie and decided he was going to pick me up out of the air. What is going on?
Kappa (as Rou): You see, we’re looking for a friend, a friend of ours with a, you might recognize them to be Jerboan.
Kappa: Jerboamin? Is that how you say it? Okay, cool.
Kappa (as Rou): We’re looking for a friend. Jerboa -
Kappa: I can’t say it. [laughs]
Dax: Jerboamin. [laughs]
Shadow: I just say from the stack of packages,
Shadow (as Florence): Jerboamin!
Kappa (as Rou): Yes, that. All of our investigations have pointed to you.
Dax: Real quick, Rou. What is your…what is your Vigilance? Arthas, what is your Vigilance?
Neil: One!
Kappa: Four.
Dax: Okay. He looks at the two of you and I’m going to give him that Boost die from Eight’s roll.
Dax (as the dark haired man): Well I’m just a simple traveler! I’ve got nothing of any import. I’m just carrying on, going from Ravenspire to the… Dim’s Hollow. It’s not a problem, not a problem at all! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Jerboamin. Are they, what are they? They’re like, two feet tall and got tails, right? I mean, that’s what I’ve ‘eard.
Kappa: Do I, do I sense, do I sense that this person is actually this ignorant?
Dax: He’s blowing wind up your arse, what do you think? [laughs]
Kappa: Do you, do you [laughs]
Dax: Sorry, yes Kappa. I mean, I failed pretty hard on his roll so, yeah, you… [chuckles]
Kappa: Cool. I was going to say, do I roll Streetwise or something for this?
Dax: You don’t have to, I did an opposed with him to try and lie to you, and he, he failed. So you’re good.
Kappa: Okay. Okay.
Kappa (as Rou): Well, then. If that’s the case, all the same either way. Arthas, you have full permission to do whatever you were going to do. No sweat off my back.
Dax: So, Florence and Eight, you are digging through the packages on this mule. Eight, you have revealed a yard of very expensive silk that Florence, you know is very hard to come by. As you are tearing these packages off of this mule, you start to hear, and Arthas, you can even hear from your vantage point, very soft crying sounds of a small creature. Upon removing this yard of silk, Arthas you can see Eight and Florence reveal a gold painted wooden box. And inside it is a Jerboamin.
Music shifts to a hopeful piano [48:55]
Neil: So to start, I’m going to shake this man vigorously.
[Dax stammers as if the man is being shaken vigorously]
Neil (as Arthas): That’s what it’s like being picked up by someone much bigger than you. I could steal you and then grind you up. But this is a teaching moment.
Neil: And I’m going to set him down, very gently.
Neil (as Arthas): If I hear you do this again, I will grind your bones to make my bread.
Dax: The man is a little rattled. All of you can see him shaking his head, and he’s kind of putting one hand on his head as if he’s trying to contain the brain that has now been shaken inside his skull. He looks up at you, Arthas.
Dax (as the dark haired man): Right! Right! I meant no ‘arm, I, um, I was just told to fetch a pretty price, and - it’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll never, never take a Jerboamin ever again. Other small creatures should be fine though, yes? Like rabbits and squirrels and the like?
Neil (as Arthas): If they’re sapient, no.
Wren: While Arthas is chiding this man, I will turn to Florence and ask, my hands are crossed in front of my chest.
Wren (as Eight): What does Ravenspire do with respect to criminals? Is there a justice force of some sort? Militia? A sheriff? Or is it left upon the populace to mete out justice to those that break the conventional rules of polite society?
Shadow (as Florence): It being a town that, that’s mostly just visited by travelers, you, we don’t have like, like a, like a sheriff or, or militia. But generally speaking, they are paraded through town while people jeer and boo at them. Um, and then they are given a stern lecture and then sometimes individuals are banned from, from coming back to town but you know, that’s just kind of an honorary system.
Wren (as Eight): I see. Well, I believe that this instance would merit such behavior on behalf of your society as well. It seems that our friend Arthas is already giving this man a good tongue-lashing. I suppose the humiliation of being paraded through town, jeered, and hit with rotten foods would be in order at this point. Rou, do you agree?
Kappa (as Rou): No. This person smells bad enough. Just, we might, we might just leave the rotten food out of it.
Wren (as Eight): Oh! But the parading through town and being jeered at is still acceptable?
Kappa (as Rou): Sure.
Wren (as Eight): Perfect.
Dax (as the dark haired man): Look, look, I, I’m not going back to Ravenspire ever. I will, I will leave, you will never see me again. I swear on my mother’s grave, it’s, it’s fine. It’s fine! I, I will, just, I’m goin’ to take Bessie and my goods, minus the Jerboamin. It’s fine. And we’ll just, we’ll just go. You have my word!
Dax: And he holds up his right hand in kind of like a some sort of symbol of goodwill.
Wren: I turn and look at Arthas and say,
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, would you please apprehend this gentleman again?
Dax (as the dark haired man): No, no I swear, it’s not necessary, I swear.
Neil: I pick him up by said collar.
Dax (as the dark haired man): Oh, um.
Wren (as Eight): You would have to excuse me for my skepticism, sir. But you would have kidnapped and sold a sentient being simply to make a profit. As such, I have no faith that you would honor the memory of your mother as you claim to. So, in my opinion, and I’m sure in the opinion of those of my companions, it is for your own good and for the good of civilized society, that you be appropriately punished for your transgressions and made to see the error of your ways. And if that does not work, well, I suppose losing all that you hold dear and perhaps meeting an untimely end would be a great way for you to think about what you have done.
Dax (as the dark haired man): But I’ve seen the error of my ways, I swear! See I, I, I’m never gonna steal a Jerboamin again or any other sapient creature. Is there nothing I can do to convince you?
Dax: And, and from the, the cage, you hear this whimpering kind of die down and you hear,
Dax (as Benny): [high-pitched voice] Florence?
Shadow (as Florence): Benny are you, are you okay?
Dax (as Benny): I think I wet myself, but yeah I’m okay.
Shadow (as Florence): Well, well that’s okay. I mean, we, that’s better than not being okay. We, we, we can get you out of there.
Dax (as Benny): Okay. We haven’t missed the party yet, right?
Shadow (as Florence): I don’t believe so. I, I mean, it’s a surprise, so it can happen at any point in time really.
Dax (as Benny): Did you get the fruit? I dropped it.
Shadow (as Florence): I don’t think so, but, but I think, I think our parents will understand.
Dax (as Benny): Okay. Let’s go home.
Shadow (as Florence): [stammers] Quick question Mr. Evil Kidnapping Man, are all of these goods stolen?
Dax: He opens his mouth and his face originally looks like he’s about ready to contest that assumption. And then you watch as his hand drops and his shoulders kind of drooping, just nods his head ‘yes’ very sadly.
Shadow (as Florence): Including the, the mule?
Dax (as the dark haired man): No, Bessie’s mine. I bought her fair and square three towns away.
Shadow (as Florence): Well, I think I could make an exception of not parading you through town if you give us all of your goods that aren’t technically yours anyway.
Dax (as the dark haired man): How am I s’posed to eat?
Shadow (as Florence): I don’t know, maybe pick some fruit like Benny was doing when you took him!
Dax (as the dark haired man): Well, that’s fair. That’s fair. Could you at least put me down?
Neil: I set him down.
Dax: The individual walks over to his mule, Bessie. He opens up the cage so that Benny can get out. He starts unpacking the mule. Once the last package is placed on the ground in front of the group of you, he very slowly begins to walk away with Bessie. Every once in a while, looks over his shoulder at the group of you.
Kappa (as Rou): And take a shower, soon!
Dax: At that, he looks very upset as he glances over his shoulder at you, Rou. Just kind of walks off. Is there anything the four of you would like to accomplish? Otherwise we will call this session ended.
Wren: Attend the party? I mean in the, not narratively, but I, I demand to experience a Jerboamin party. For the, for the cultural research.
Kappa: And the, at the very least, I’d like to get my, my clothes washed.
Dax: Research. Well, I’ll leave that up to Florence.
Shadow (as Florence): Oh yes, well since you adventurers were, were so helpful and successful in, in reuniting me with Benny, you know, everyone’s invited to the surprise anniversary party for my family. There’ll be cake and refreshments and all sorts of celebrations and, and anyone will get a complimentary hat, including the mechanical donkey and we will of course do a complimentary cleaning.
Kappa (as Rou): This is lovely. I’m so glad we stopped in Ravenspire.
Shadow (as Florence): I’m so glad that I got to be an adventurer and, and an inspector. It was, it was quite thrilling.
Wren (as Eight): Being an adventurer can be a whole experience and a half. Though it is quite dangerous. I am glad that we were here to help facilitate your first excursion as an adventurer, so that it could be pleasant.
Kappa (as Rou): Florence, you are of stout heart and a keen mind. I think you’d make a great adventurer if this is something you don’t want to be doing anymore, but also at the same time. Adventuring is quite dangerous. So, keep that in mind.
Shadow (as Florence): Yes, the future is once again full of different options outside of sewing and tailoring. You know, it’s something, something to contemplate perhaps. But now onwards! Let us celebrate such excellent success today and for future days to come.
Kappa (as Rou): Hear, hear.
Dax: Arthas, do you have any final words?
Neil (as Arthas): Party time.
[Kappa laughs]
Dax: Alright. With that, we will call this session ended.
Music fades out [58:10]
Dax: Thanks for listening! We hope you’ll join us next time but in the interim, follow us on Twitter @RoadsUncharted.
The “Roads Uncharted” podcast is GMed and produced by Dax, who you can find on Twitter @GM_Dax. We use the Genesys RPG system published by Fantasy Flight Games, and music licensed by Epidemic Sound.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme. Follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.
Rou is played by Kappa, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheKappaChris.
Arthas, Champion of Offam, is played by Neil.
And Florence is played by our guest, Shadow. You can follow her on Twitter @shadowbookcat and on Twitch @shadowsilvia.