Arthas is being held hostage to incentivize the other three into finding the thieves that robbed them. However, the group has no idea where to look. Can they devise a way to locate people they don't know in a city they're unfamiliar with?
Jokul, Rialla and Eight head out into the city of Kadiba to start looking for the thieves. Their dear friend, Arthas, is now being held by the guards as incentive to complete their task. If they can't find the real thieves in twenty-four hours then all four of them forfeit their freedom.
They decide the best way to locate them is to draw pictures to show the citizens. Rialla locates some thieves' cant hidden on one of the buildings and Jokul is able to find a pathway that the thieves might use to wander the city safely. Deciding to follow the pathway, Jokul and Rialla take to the rooftops while Eight wanders the streets with the thieves' cant key Rialla gave them. Eight is the first to locate someone, but are they what the warforged was looking for?
Follow Cole @ColeMorreale and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by Raven
Upbeat piano intro music ends [00:28]
Dramatic background music fades in [00:31]
Dax: Welcome to Roads Uncharted. Where we last left our party, they had managed to make it out of the desert into the small city at its edge named Kadiba. And this small city made of similar stone that what they’d found in Isha; the buildings instead of being built into a canyon had domed roofs made of shining metals and the closer to the center of the city that you got, the shinier and more expensive looking those metals, the more ostentatious the buildings looked.
Our party managed to find a tavern with a very cranky bartender. They were able to get some water and some food. But unfortunately, the little bird that they had been left by their..their visitors turned out to be a bird that had gone missing from someone in the city, and the bartender had notified the guards that were also in the tavern. And now the party is on a time constraint. They need to find the real thieves in twenty-four hours.
As you finish your soup and your water, the guards usher Arthas out of the tavern. They are taking him into holding as further incentive for you to complete your task. You’re all-
Cole (as Rialla): Is-
Dax: Sitting at the table in the tavern, what are you talking about?
Cole (As Rialla): Is that necessary?
Dax (as the guard): I think it’s quite necessary.
Cole (as Rialla): That sort of puts us at a disadvantage if there’s less of us, isn’t there?
Dax (as the guard): I see there’s three of you, you can figure it out.
Dax: And with that the guards leave. Arthas just waves a little bit to you and has this big, broad smile on his face
Dramatic music fades out [2:17]
Mysterious music fades in [2:23]
Cole (as Rialla): This is absolutely ridiculous!
Wren (as Eight): I hope they have a room large enough to accommodate him. Otherwise that will be very uncomfortable for him.
James: Jokul kinda smiles at that.
[Cole sighs]
Wren (as Eight): Well we have a day to find a bird napper. And...we have no leads, no bird, no Arthas, and no time for a shower, or bath. But at least we have food and water.
Cole (as Rialla): I’m glad one of us can see the upside of things. I just think, ugh, this whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. Okay, um, well we know what they look like.
Wren (as Eight): Oh yes, that’s true! We do know what they look like. Uhm, perhaps we could sketch an image of them and ask around for anyone who's seen them?
Cole (as Rialla): We could certainly try that, but uhm, I’m not much of an artist myself.
Wren (as Eight): Uh..I could perhaps try? But I haven’t really done any portraits in my time. It’s usually still life paintings, or sketches of wildlife, or landscapes.
Cole (as Rialla): I suppose that uhm..I could try as well.
Dax: Alright so whoever would like to try and make a sketch, I would like you to make a medium coordination. I feel like you should be able to coordinate your nerves from your brain to your fingers.
Cole: Uhh...a success, an advantage, and a th-oh the advantage cancels out ‘cause of the threat, so I have one success.
Wren: Oh wonderful GM, I would love to utilize my latent scholar-
Dax: Okay.
Wren: Of hidden expertise. Uh, I can take an action to utilize this power as I probe the depths of my mind, and when I do so a hidden library of subconscious knowledge is flung open as strange and new knowledge and abilities flood my mind. I may upgrade all knowledge checks or skill checks utilizing tools or supplies for a specialized craft, like painting or drawing, regardless of the character’s familiarity with said tools. Can be used a number of times equal to my intellect characteristic per day.
Dax: Sure, go ahead.
Wren: Excellent, now I just need to remember how many dice I should be rolling. Ah coordination, oh zero! Oh hey, I get one yellow dice. Well, uh, I have two threat.
Dax: So Eight and Rialla, you take out pieces of parchment and you both start to scribble and draw on the paper and Rialla you look over and you can see Eight every once in a while like finding a way to remove the-the ink from the parchment, or just tearing up the page and going on to the next one.
Rialla you are successful in making a very rough sketch of what you remember the three individuals to look like. Most of your detail was on the leader, the one you spent the most time talking to but you are able to get fair images of the other two.
Eight on the other hand went through three sheets of parchment paper and in the end result the images were very blocky, very reminiscent of Picasso. It’s not very recognizable as any human might look.
Wren (as Eight): I don’t know, I think the resemblance is fairly uncanny. You’ve done an excellent job capturing their shifty sideways glances, in your portrait Rialla. Jokul…
Wren: I hold up my painting.
Wren (as Eight): How does it look?
James (as Jokul): I am by no means an artist. But I think you’re missing some details there.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, is it because I painted too many eyes on them?
Cole (as Rialla): That might have done it. It doesn’t look bad though, as an artwork it’s very nice.
Wren (as Eight): Well, perhaps I can leave it as a tip for the bartender. I don’t think it will be very useful for our search.
Cole (as Rialla): That’s okay, I think it’s a lovely tip though. Frame it and hang it up.
Wren (as Eight): Hopefully. But I have a feeling that this bartender will probably just burn it.
Cole (as Rialla): That’s, yeah.
Wren (as Eight): So we have images, but we still have no leads. Where do you think that rapscallions would normally hang out in a city like this, before committing crimes?
Cole (as Rialla): Somewhere hidden.
Wren (as Eight): I have no knowledge of criminal activity. So I’m afraid that I’ll be fairly useless in this aspect of our search.
Cole (as Rialla): Jokul and I should actually be quite useful, we’ve had dealings with this sort before.
Wren: Upon hearing that my eyes go bright. I lean in.
Wren (whispers as Eight): You’re criminals?
Cole (as Rialla): Well no, but we’ve dealt with many criminals, unfortunately.
Wren (whispers as Eight): Oh you’re criminal adjacent?
Cole: Rialla gives kind of a confused look and like quirks an eyebrow.
Cole (as Rialla): Um, I guess so? I guess that’s what we’re going with.
Wren: I’m not really sure what to do with this knowledge. But I will tuck it away for later. In the meantime I gather up our plates and stuff, and cradle it in my-my giant robot arms and wander over towards the bartop, and just kinda drop it off there. And say to the bartender,
Wren (as Eight): Thank you for all the food, and for the life giving water, and for telling on us with the guards for no reason. But when we’re hungry, we’ll be sure to come back.
Dax: The bartender stops mid-wipe on the glass she is working on and doesn’t look at you full on, but she does raise her right eyebrow and kind of look up at you. Sets down her glass, grabs the bowls, and just walks away. And you start to hear her kind of muttering to herself, but you can’t tell what she’s saying.
Wren (muttering as Eight): She’s so polite and friendly, I just can’t get over it.
Wren: I turn and look to my friends and give a..a little wave.
Cole: Yeah, I guess uh I will stand up, and kinda give everyone..oh is Eight waiting on something?
Wren: For my friends.
Cole: Okay yeah then, we’ll get up and go outside.
Mysterious music fades out [8:22]
Inquisitive themed music fades in [8:38]
Dax: When you get outside, it is shining bright. The sun overhead is just past its zenith and the sky is still relatively clear. Other than the fact that it is quite hot being on the edge of the desert, it is a gorgeous day. People in the streets are milling about in their, for the most part, brightly colored robes. People carry baskets with food, and flowers, and other assortments. You see people carrying bolts of fabric and milling about. Everyone looks quite distracted and pays no mind to you.
Wren (as Eight): Rialla, engage your criminal element. Where are we going?
Cole (as Rialla): Thinking.
Wren (as Eight): Do you have an idea? She’s thinking a lot.
James (as Jokul): That’s why I leave the thinking to her, most of the time. She’s good at it.
Wren (as Eight): That’s fair. The more you think, the better you are at it. Okay, I will wait.
Dax: I would like both of you to make a medium difficulty perception check for me. And you may make it at advantage, with a single boost.
Cole: So I have two successes, a triumph, and a threat.
Dax: Jokul?
James: One success and one advantage.
Dax: Jokul, Rialla, as you stand there with Eight just outside the tavern and you’re..Rialla you’re scratching your head and you’re rubbing your chin, and you’re just looking around. Anybody looking at you would think that you-you just have no idea what you’re doing. But you are pulling memories from your past. And as you’re looking around and scanning you notice some Thieves’ Cant graffitied on the side of the wall down the alley ahead of you.
Jokul as you’re pausing and letting Rialla do her own version of thinking, you start drawing on your own experiences, and you start to look up to the tops of buildings and the domed roofs. And you notice, there seems to be odd shingles jutting out of those domed roofs and the more you look at them the more you realize, they’re not just odd shingles; they are footholds. And they lead around all the buildings. As you scan the rooftops, you notice that there is a pathway above the city.
James: Jokul just kinda like follows the-the path with his eyes and he’s like,
James (as Jokul): Oh those sneaky devils.
Wren (as Eight): What do you see Jokul? I don’t see anything.
Dax: Rialla do you move closer? It is across-
Cole: Yeah I go take a peak.
Wren: Ooh I go with you.
Dax: Rialla, you weave in and amongst the crowd as you walk towards-
Wren (as Eight): Excuse me. Sorry.
Dax: The alley and then therefore down the little street-
Cole (as Rialla): Pardon me.
Dax: And you see, as you get farther into the alley, that little bit of Thieves’ Cant you saw? You start to see other markings that are very similar and the first one is something about meeting at noon. And the farther you go down, you start to see questions like, “Where’s the bird?” and “Don’t go to the Citadel, they’re watching.” So you actually find three different markings.
Cole: I point all of these out to Eight.
Cole (as Rialla): Meeting at noon. Where’s the bird? Don’t go to the Citadel, they’re watching.
Wren (as Eight): The bird? Do you think they’re talking about the Miras’pan?
Cole (as Rialla): Oh probably.
Wren (as Eight): Are you telling me that these strange scrawlings on the wall represent actual language?
Cole (as Rialla): Mhm.
Wren: I lean in as close as I can towards it.
Wren (whispering as Eight): Ooh, okay this must..maybe that’s bird? Hmm.
Cole: I start like pointing things out to Eight like,
Cole (as Rialla): Oh, this-this little section here is what says bird. And then this here, this says noon.
Cole: And sort of like, showing him.
Wren (as Eight): Okay, I see, they’re more like approximations of thoughts rather than actual words.
Cole (as Rialla): Mhm.
Wren (as Eight): Mm. And to be able to-hmm. Okay, this is very complicated. You’ll have to show me more of this if we come across it.
Cole (as Rialla): I think it would be useful for you to know as well. So I can definitely show you some things later.
Wren (as Eight): It’s fortunate that you and your significant friend are criminals.
Cole: I pat Eight’s shoulder.
Cole (as Rialla): Come on.
Cole: Find our way back to Jokul.
Wren: Shoulder my way through the crowd.
James: Jokul’s standing where you left him just on the other side of the street.
Wren (as Eight): Jokul! We found words on a wall! And they say things.
Cole (as Rialla): It seems that they’re meeting at noon. Do we know what time-
Cole: Uh, gracious DM, we would know what time it is, since it's only been..ya know ten minutes since the last in-game..
Dax: It is past noon today.
Cole: Past noon. Fuck!
Wren: Oh we missed the past noon! I-I hold up my-my wrist and pretend that there’s a sundial on my wrist.
Dax: Yes, as the only character in-in this game that would know what a sundial is, yes.
Cole (as Rialla): Okay so we missed the meeting.
Wren: How-how late past noon is it?
Dax: It’s getting close to one o’clock.
Wren (as Eight): Now, we might have missed the initial meeting time but, Rialla I must ask, how punctual are thieves?
Cole (as Rialla): Depends on the thief, I guess.
Wren (as Eight): If we showed up late, they might still be waiting.
Cole (as Rialla): We could certainly still poke around.
James (as Jokul): No need to do any poking, we have a path.
James: And uh-
Cole (as Rialla): Would you look at that!
James: Jokul will point out the-the hand and foot holds.
Wren: I look up at them and see that they mean scaling a building and crawling around up there, and you see my face just go visibly uncomfortable. The jaw just kinda drops a little bit and my eyes get a little dim and,
Wren (as Eight): Oh, uhm, I do not believe I was built for parkour. However, I could tail you on the street side?
James (as Jokul): I-I think that would be a good idea. We don’t know if the roof can support your weight jumping around on them.
Wren (as Eight): Excuse me, are you assuming I weigh a lot? Because I weigh the perfectly normal amount for a person of my size.
Cole (as Rialla): I have an idea. Jokul and I can um, go scale this pathway. You’ve seen what the markings on the wall look like. Do you want to kind of scan the area and see if you can find anything else in Thieves’ Cant?
Wren (as Eight): Is that what you call that?
Cole (as Rialla): Yes.
Wren (as Eight): I will see if I can find anything else while the two of you go about your-
Wren: Looking up the wall,
Wren (as Eight): Uh, vertical escapade. And if you have need of me, for anything, send me a message and I will come running as quickly as I can.
Cole: I’m going to reach in my pouch and pull out a little scrap of paper and I’m just gonna jot down some like other words that might come up. And then I’ll-
Dax: Sure.
Cole: Give that to Eight.
Cole (as Rialla): Here’s some..some other things you might see.
Wren (as Eight): It’s a key! I love it!
Wren: I take it.
Cole (as Rialla): We’ll be right back. Okay?
Wren (as Eight): Okay, do be careful. I would hate to have to pick up your broken bodies off of the ground.
Cole (as Rialla): Will you stop assuming that we’re going to die everytime? You’re always saying “I’ll have to bury you.” or you’ll have to pick up our “broken bodies”. Have a little bit of faith, we’re a little bit hardier than that.
Wren (as Eight): I suppose Jokul does look fairly sturdy. Despite-
James (as Jokul): I’ve fallen-
Wren (as Eight): His long limbs.
James (as Jokul): I’ve fallen off taller buildings.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, well that asuages some of my worry, I suppose.
Wren: And I’ll just go about leaving the two of them to do what they’re doing.
Dax: Alright, so we’ll start with Rialla and Jokul. Now the first question I have for you, are the two of you trying to be stealthy as you get up to the rooftops or are you just gonna ya know make it obvious to everyone?
Cole: Uh, would definitely try to be sneaky. Don’t want to go gettin’ caught.
James: Yeah, be sneaky about it. But it’s also one in the afternoon and we’re crawling around on the roof, so...
Dax: If you want to look for another way up, go ahead and make an easy perception check. For whoever wants to do it.
James: I me-I mean, getting up from like a back alley or something is believable but once we get onto the roofs and start prowling around I think that’s where it becomes harder to be stealthy.
Cole: Easy perception. Two successes and one advantage.
Dax: You go back towards the alley and you start looking for some way to get up on the roof and you do notice that there is a, what is essentially, a fire escape towards the very back of the building. And luckily it is already down at the ground level. It is not stored up higher, like it would normally be.
James: Jokul just looks at the fire escape like “It’s too easy.”
Cole: Yeah I guess I’ll kind of take Jokul’s hand and walk that way.
James: S-sneak off down the alley, uhm, Jokul will give you a boost onto the fire escape if it’s still out of reach. Do fire escapes touch ground-
Dax: It’s down to the ground, so it-
James: Okay.
Dax: Yeah. Yeah it-it’s actually down to the ground as if it maybe has been used recently?
James: Makes sense.
Cole: If I wanted to use like a glamour spell. Something just to make us a little bit like, I’m not making myself invisible...but people like, tend to turn a blind eye? Like, easy..easily looked over?
Wren: Like a barrier-
Dax: Pretty much.
Wren: Like a barrier spell. And hey look divine can cast that. Need probably an additional target modifier so it would make the difficulty a little higher. ‘Cause you’re trying to do it for you and ze Jokul.
Dax: Yeah so if you want to do that, I would say make that a hard difficulty.
Cole: Okay
Dax: Uhm, but I will also say give yourself a boost, because this is something you probably would have done several times in the past. Just trying to make yourself less noticeable as you wandered the city of Vendalla.
Cole: Uh, I have a success and a threat.
Dax: I like it. Alright so Rialla, why don’t you tell us when you are casting this barrier first of all what the barrier looks like? And what you’re thinking the result is, especially given your threat.
Cole: I’ve cast this with another person in mind, but it kind of takes a little bit more energy. Uhm, and I have to draw more than I usually would and since we were kinda dehydrated, I kind of haven’t fully recovered. So it’s not as strong as I would have liked, but hopefully it’s enough.
Uhm and what that looks like, before we go on the fire escape um I’m gonna take Jokul’s hand, and I’m gonna take my other hand and hold my uh, holy symbol. And I start muttering under my breath, and the holy symbol kind of begins to pulse with this darker light and when I open my eyes, they’re totally white. Jokul and I will see this kind of, sort of a shimmer come up from the ground, and it’s sort of ashy-dusty looking shroud that comes up and then dissipates as the spell is complete.
Dax: I like it. The only thing I will say is uh, why don’t you take one strain as you are putting forth all this extra effort into making this shroud, first of all, look as if nothing’s there. But also because you are so dehydrated and you haven’t really gotten a chance to rest yet. You are now encapsulated by this..this shroud.
You go up the fire escape, and it doesn’t take you long for the two of you to get up to the rooftops. This particular building is one of the ones with a flatter roof. So it’s easy for you to get up there and-and get your bearings straight as you look out over the cityscape. You do see that nearest you is one of the domed roof buildings with said footholds that Jokul had found and you do notice that there are a couple. You could either head towards the north, to the south, or to the east, and there are footholds that lead in those three directions.
James: Is there any wear or tear that might hint where other people have recently stepped?
Dax: Go ahead and make a perception check and make it easy.
Cole: Uhh..three successes and two threat.
James: I have one success and two advantages.
Dax: Jokul you do notice that towards the south, the sand and dust that covers the rooftops is disturbed. The north and the east, they look like they haven’t been used in at least a few days. What would you like to use your advantages for?
James: I would like to use my advantages to make sure we can follow in those footsteps. So basically, do the whole walk in somebody else’s footprints so they don’t know that they’ve been followed.
Dax: I’ll say that as you start heading towards the south, you are able to mock up where your hand holds and your footholds are as you cross the first roof. Rialla for you, you notice that the same spots have been disturbed and when you see Jokul headed towards the south you-you know that, okay good, that he was..”he saw the same thing I did”. And as you start to go I will say that you actually lose your footing at first, and a little bit of shingle falls. But thankfully it falls towards the alley and as you look down, you notice nobody has realized.
As you make your way from the first roof onto the next, I would like both of you to make..I will allow you your choice. Your, uh stealth check, because you are trying to be sneaky about this, or you can make an athletics check. And either way I would like it to be made medium difficulty.
Cole: I have three boosts and two failures.
Dax: Okay three advantage and two failures. Alright and then uh, it looks like Jokul got two success so okay.
James: I’ll-I’ll take the jump first and use my success for possibly catching her before she falls.
Dax: So you make it from one roof to the next. The next roof thankfully is flat and you’re able to leap across and-and catch your footing and you-you stand there and you’re..waiting for Rialla to make her leap. Now, Rialla I will say that as you make your jump over the rooftop gap, you do make it to the other side. Albeit you make it by catching the edge of the roof. You can feel your feet are scraping against the side of the building. And as Jokul leans..leans forward to help you up, I-I will say that your-your advantages, you have three of them, part of them are spent giving yourself enough leverage to-to get yourself back onto the rooftop. And if you want to spend that third advantage to take back that strain you lost, you can do that, or if you’ve got something else you’d like to use it for?
Cole: Yeah I’m gonna take back that strain ‘cause clearly it’s uh..wearing on me. I am cursing in Thevenoudian and Jokul has heard all of these words before.
James: You don’t need to be fluent in the language to know they’re cursing and swearing.
Cole: What do we see next? I guess.
Dax: I will say that you don’t need to make a check for this next piece. You do see that there are footprints leading across the rooftop, and-and leading further south. And as you look ahead, you do notice that there is a pretty straight path over the roofs where you can see that where the domed roofs are there are footholds, and then there are flat roofs. Oddly enough the architecture of this city seems to be pretty on and off again with the domed roofs. Almost alternating in a way. The thieves seem to have made it to their advantage.
James: Do we see Eight from our elevated perspective?
Dax: If you look down, you can still see Eight standing where you left them. Kinda checking out what everybody is walking by and what’s in their baskets.
James: Jokul’s gonna grab like a pebble or something and just kind of like, aim it at Eight and just to like, see if he can get his direction. Make sure Eight knows they’re headed south so he doesn’t wander off the wrong direction.
Dax: Make an athletics-uh, a straight athletics check for me. To see if you can get it close enough to Eight to get their attention.
James: Two success, one advantage.
Dax: Yeah, you actually manage to get this pebble right in between Eight’s feet and-and Eight we’ll-we’ll say that advantage, the pebble was loud enough to draw Eight’s attention straight downward.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, this pebble appears to have been thrown directly in front of me. How peculiar. If I follow the trajectory from which it seems to have been thrown… Oh it’s Jokul and Rialla. Hi Jokul!
[James chuckles]
James: Just quickly duck down when he yells. Just like..whoop!
Wren (whispering as Eight): Oh right! They’re probably trying to be stealthy. Because they are thieves.
Wren (as Eight): Sorry Jokul!
Cole: Everything is terrible.
Wren: I will take note of the direction they seem to be heading, or at least keep looking to see if I can just watch them to see the direction they’re heading for a little bit. As I just kind of keep looking at the little symbols and words that have been scrawled on this page by Rialla for me.
Dax: I will say you probably didn’t actually see them because of Rialla’s spell. But I guess that’s a question for Rialla. Is this a..you said this wasn’t really an invisible spell, it would just be one that people were less likely to notice you, but if they know where you are and they’re looking at you, would the person see you?
Cole: If they were looking for us specifically they would see us.
Dax: Good to know that if Eight or anybody friendly to you potentially, uh, was looking for you and looking right at you, that they would see you. So okay, so then Eight...Eight did see you. Eight now knows where you are headed.
As Jokul and Rialla head south, we are gonna shift and we’re going to see what Eight is doing now that Eight knows where you are headed. So you have had the pebble at your feet, you saw that Jokul and Rialla are headed south, and you stand there in the middle of the street with your..your Thieves’ Cant key.
Wren: Hmm. Alright, so..I have this little pebble that was thrown at me and uh, I would like to...I guess the real question is: How far away are my friends from me?
Dax: Your friends are, at the moment, two buildings away. But after you make eye contact with Jokul, and almost have your embarrassing moment of giving away their position, you see them darting south and they are out of view.
Wren: I have my key, and I have an idea of what direction they’re heading. And uhm, I was going to ask if I have Rialla’s portrait that she painted.
Dax: Let’s just uh, retcon that and say that you did. Rialla gave you the key and the portrait.
Wren: Because if they’re climbing on the roof, she’s not going to be able to ask for people for anything. I have the portrait, and I just kind of poke around. And I-I’m pushing through the throng of people dipping and diving, and ducking and dodging, and also dodging out of the way of people. And as I’m like, brushing past, I’m holding out the picture and as I hold it out in front of my face, I raise my eyebrows super high and I look as friendly as possible and I say,
Wren (as Eight): Hello, I am Eight, and my friends and I are on the hunt for criminals. Does this person look familiar to you? We are looking for them because they are a thief.
Dax: Eight, you’ve been wandering the city for a good twenty minutes now. Nobody that you’ve stopped on the street seems to have any reaction to the portraits that you’ve shown them.
Wren (as Eight): Shame, no one seems to recognize this deviant’s face. Hmm...
Wren: I would like to take a different approach and I would like to..I’m still heading towards the direction that I think Rialla and Jokul are heading. I’m-I’m looking at the Thieves’ Cant key that I have and I’m looking to see if I can find any symbols or scrawlings that might indicate a black market dealer or shady contact. And see if it might indicate a kiosk or specific place where I might be able to find someone as I’m wandering around.
Dax: Okay, so since you are not as familiar with Thieves’ Cant as Jokul and Rialla are, I will say that I would like you to make a streetwise check. Make it a hard difficulty, but give yourself a boost because you have a key, so you at least have some point of reference.
Wren: Three purple, a blue, and a green, because I have the cunning of a rock. I have two failure and a threat. Perhaps I garner unwanted attention?
Dax: So Eight, you are trying your best to keep an eye out for scribbles along the wall and every person you see you show them the portrait and as soon as that person walks by you’re looking back at your key and you’re looking around. You’re not really seeing any scribbles no matter how many dark alleys you pass by.
And while you think that you’re on the right route to follow Jokul and Rialla, you somehow manage to take a few blocks too far and the buildings around you, the streets are nearly vacant, and there’s garbage on the streets. And you can hear a cat crying in the distance. It’s..unsettling. This feeling that you’re getting.
Wren (as Eight): This is very unsettling.
Dax: You look around and you see that there is a man sitting on the ground. His back against the wall, he’s huddled in blankets which is unusual considering how warm it still is outside.
Wren: I have a very bad feeling about this. However this man apparently is freezing, and is in need of assistance, despite the hot weather. Or at least I would assume it’s hot weather, because you know it’s sunny, I’m in a desert. Extrapolating, it makes sense.
Dax: You’ve read about how hot the desert can get, yeah. So, it’s a good, safe assumption on your part.
Wren: I can’t say I really care for the garbage decor or the-the creepy wailing cat ambiance, but if I was going to meet anyone shady, it would be here. So maybe, just maybe, I’m better at being a thief than I thought I was. And I approach the man.
Wren (as Eight): Hello.
Wren: I wave, just a small shake of the hand at the wrist and I lean in, kinda tentatively looking around, to get in the front of the man’s view and I continue,
Wren (as Eight): I am..
Wren (as Eight in a deeper voice): I am Seven, and I am looking for someone who might be selling a bird.
Dax: Make a deception check for me, please and make it a medium difficulty deception.
[Dax giggles]
Wren: I have one failure.
Dax: The man looks up at you. Has a very grumpy demeanor, he has this long black beard that’s gnarled and filled-it almost looks like um, a rat’s nest, honestly. It is very tangled, it’s very greasy, uhm, there’s chunks of food and dirt and other things that are lodged in there. His hair is matted against his face and his-his face is very grimy and oily. He looks up at you and he has this big scowl across his face.
Dax (as the man): Seven huh? Well get out of my home, I don’t care if you’re looking for a bird.
Wren (as Eight in a deeper voice): Hmm, you must not entertain much. I, Seven, am looking for this person!
Wren: And I hold up the portrait.
Wren (as Eight): Tell me if you’ve seen them! Please.
Dax (as the man): Look buddy, I don’t care what you’re looking for. Get out of my home.
Wren: Obviously a jerk, but, I have ways of making even the jerkiest of people compliant. And..I would like to use my ability, where is it, I have an ability for this. I would like to Mind Shape this gentleman, and uh, have them make an opposed discipline versus vigilance check. What is the gentleman’s uh, vigilance check? That’ll be my equivalent difficulty dice.
Dax: That would be two yellow, one green.
Wren: Two yellow, and a green?! Holy crap. What the hell is this guy doing hanging out in a dirty alley?
Dax: I would also like you to upgrade one of your difficulty.
Wren: Oh no! Alright well, I have a fail-I have...this is interesting. Let’s roll this red one again and see what happens.
[Sound of dice hitting a tray]
Wren: Oh god bless it. Well, I have..have a single failure. But I also rolled a despair, and a triumph. So uhm, because I failed…
Dax: And remember you failed to deceive this man.
Wren: They realize that I was trying to manipulate them. So-
Dax: Yeah.
Wren: As I hold up the-the picture in front of him, I raise my other hand and I put it to the temple of my head and my eyes turn violet. And I’m like, probing the depths of this greasy disgusting man’s mind, and I’m trying to make him feel like I’m his best friend. And of course I’m Seven, because who else would I be? I am his good friend Seven, and he wants to help me, and he wants to tell me everything he knows about the man that is in this picture. Or, ya know, whether or not he knows anything about the man in this picture. And that’s what I’m doing as I think really, really, really, really hard at this gross man’s face.
Dax: So you-you do this, but as you feel the magic almost like tendral fingers creeping into his brain, you feel your magic forced out. And you feel it smack into you and push you back a little bit. And that’s a first. And..as that force pushes you back, you hear,
Dax (as the man): You gotta get better at lyin’ Eight.
Dax: And with that, we will find out next episode if Eight, Rialla, and Jokul find the thieves.
Music fades out [34:33]
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. We use the Genesys Roleplaying System published by Fantasy Flight Games.
Jokul Genhorn is played by James, and Arthas, Champion of Offam is played by Neil.
Rialla Lenoir is played by Cole, follow them on Twitter @ColeMorreale and check out their art.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme, follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.