Speaker 1: You are listening to The Nicks Archive, the official Relict
RPG actual play podcast. You can play Relict absolutely free
right now by going to relictrpg dot com. Hello, and
welcome back to the Knicks Archive. I, as always, am
your host and game aster C. D.
Speaker 2: Corrigan. How we doing.
Speaker 1: I am joined, as per usual by the lovely Miss
Marissa Montero Hello, and my lovely wife, Miss Matty Hammett.
Speaker 3: Hello.
Speaker 1: But we are not alone this time around. We are
in fact joined by two newcomers to the archive, in
no particular order. Here any meanie, miney Moe. Let's talk
to mister Mica Mick. Let's talk to mister Mika McIntosh.
Speaker 4: Himika.
Speaker 1: I do think Mika does so many things, and we're
going to tell you all about them a little bit
later in the episode. But he's not alone. Also joining
us for the first time is John Hello.
Speaker 5: I also do a lot of things.
Speaker 1: John also does several many things that we will tell
you about as events proceed. Also sidebar, I'm just going
with the names that appear on Zoom. Sometimes people don't
want their whole thing out there.
Speaker 2: I don't it.
Speaker 1: Cool, so we have. But the last season followed the
mad cap adventures of our lovely heroes Farah and Skink,
as they have adventured further and further into the frozen
undra north of Osk, and the many mysteries that that entails.
Speaker 2: But today we lead them to their own devices.
Speaker 1: Instead, we are going to zoom out from the mountain,
the Bulwark Mountains north of Osk, across the tundra, passed
the twinkling light in the twinkling lights of the town
in the permanent Arctic twilight, down south, south and west,
over yet more mountains and great vast acreages of pine
forests and evergreens and snow and ice, to warmer climbs,
Flying further and further down rivers and estuaries towards the
cimmarine Ocean, we stop at a shady, mid sized city
named Rakshore.
Speaker 2: We zoom in.
Speaker 1: Down through moldering city walls, refuse strewn alley ways into
the stink and musk and grime of a docks district
in which good business is very rarely undertaken, and we
find ourselves in the back room of a warehouse. No
one can quite tell you who does business here? What
is this room? We don't really know but among all
the boxes of unmarked coded goods in a back room
out five figures punched over a table, staring at a map.
Orc looks, all right, thank y'all for coming here tonight.
My name is Roland. Kind of limpse around the table.
You see, he has got a cane card from some
wood that you can't quite identify, some lacquered dark material
that clicks off the floorboards as he strides around. Appreciate
y'all answering the call tonight. I don't know what y'all's
personal histories are, but as the notice entailed, as the
notice indicated, this could be a very lucrative opportunity for
a group that can get on it fast enough. Roland
stalks around the table and looks to all of you
gathered here into this crowded space, and we will establish
whether or not you all know each other or if
you came together in response to the summons in just
a moment. But he looks to all of you, he says,
all right, this is a clean job, no must, no fuss.
We just need someone to go down and check something
out for us and bring back whatever you find there
across the water, here is a little place called Breakbow.
I don't know if you've been there before. Weird city,
kind of a nice place. My employer is a lady psy,
very wealthy, noble woman from up north, has her hands
and a lot of pies and a strong interest in
archaeological finds. So naturally, whenever a new ruin or place
of interest is uncovered that is relatively unspoilt, especially those
of a magical variety, we try to dispatch someone to
go check it out just as soon as we possibly can.
A few days ago I received notice from contact of
ours over a Breakbaw. I don't know if you've been
there before, and if you've been on that side of
town or at that side of the water, but Breakdown
is a weird place. It's a giant tree. It's a tree,
you know. They built a whole city around it, the
whole thing beneath it. The roots on something like that
are quite massive. They're always growing, they're always shifting, the
living creature, living thing suppose plants, I don't know. It's
also next to the ocean, a lot of tidal activity,
water churning, erosion, etc. New chambers open up there pretty frequently,
and sometimes you can find some interesting things growing on
a giant magical entity like that. My contact tells me
it's something much more interesting opened up exploring down there,
rooting around for al chemical supplies and that sort of thing,
rare stuff that only grows way down there in the dark,
and the roots they found a structure can be hard
to get to, because I'm going to give you a
contact to reach out to when you get to the city,
can point you in the right direction. But as far
as we know, no one's made it inside yet. There's
some creepy crawleys down there doing some nasty stuff. So
my little alchemy scout type person, they're not delving in
that deep and eat someone with some firepower. Now, a
thing like this word gets out pretty quick. No matter
how to to lead you keep on it. I don't
know who else is gunning for. So ship's leaving in
two hours. I'm gonna go across the water head straight
to break bawt from here. Payment as agreed be two
thousand gold apiece, let's say ten thousand gold pot. If
you guys bring back anything of interest under there, do
not look at me. And as he kind of like
leans on his cane, you see there is a bandolier
of pistols just hanging off this guy's chest. He goes,
do not try and screw us on this and fence
whatever you find to whoever else is gonna give you
a payday. We will pay more. And if you screw me,
I will find you and I will kill you. Claire Lovely,
you got to give the hard ass speech every time.
He seemed like a good group. What's your name? Who
would like to go first?
Speaker 5: I will Standing on the other end of the table,
seemingly unperturbed by the threat at all and borderline looking
confused as to why he's here, is a very aging cobald.
He's got a very long like white mustache like hair
that is covered up. But that's not the most distinguishing
feature he has. He is wearing what looks like the
remnants of a tattered chef's outfit, something of a long
forgotten cast, and he just looks and he goes, Oh, well,
I'm biscuit. I gave up my dream years ago in
order to save well my pocket book, so I'm here
to help you in whatever you need. I'm not I'm
not with which she would call spry, but I'm quick
despite what you see in front of you. And as
he does that, he's holding a staff and he's just
walking very slowly to the table, like it's almost impossible
for him to even be an adventure at this point.
And he goes. But you should all know that by now,
and whether this is true or not up to you.
You've all been to one of my various birthday parties.
I've seen all of you. I've met all of you,
and obviously you Sasha, you, Graham and Steven.
Speaker 1: Anyone who would like to and make a We're gonna
call this a cleverness check, shooting for a target of six.
Speaker 6: Okay, throwing it in the plot.
Speaker 5: Nine.
Speaker 6: My cleverness is high, so that's going to be a fourteenth.
Speaker 1: Okay, nine and fourteen? Okay, both of you Klawuck Roland
is first of all, clearly giving a spiel that he
gives to a lot of different groups, like he has
the aura of going through a sales pitch that he's
had to give a thousand different times. He is looking
at Biscuit with this combined sense of both I don't
understand a thing about this man, also but looking at
him with this sense of like he was extremely highly
recommended and I cannot, for the life of me figure
out why. Let's head over to our other guest here, Mika,
would you like to describe your character's roland kind of
looks to you like you have you worked with mister
Biscuit before.
Speaker 4: I have it turned out well enough, I wouldn't worry
too much. This is a lemon whisker who is a wilder,
specifically a mousekin. He is like three and a half
four feet tall. He's got a cloak, a nice like
green earthy cloak around him, some light shoulder padding, some
arrows around his chest, and you see he is leaning
on have holding on to leaning on a warhammer, which
seems to dwarf him. But if you look closely enough,
this mouse is surprisingly jacked.
Speaker 2: I want that on an official T shirt.
Speaker 3: This mouse is surprisingly.
Speaker 1: Whisker and biscuit tearing up Rubica. All right, yeah, you
two weirdly enough, I've heard of you two. I'm confused
by that fact, but we're gonna move on, missus. And
you see standing behind the diminutive cobald and the I
assume taller but still relatively small jacked mouseman looming behind you.
We're gonna start with the smaller of the two larger
women in the room, which would be the eight legged
skittering spider woman. Marissa. Would you like to introduce your character?
Speaker 6: Laura Lai has been sort of stress crocheting her silk
this whole time, sitting very upright, very real, like immaculate posture,
and just like the only thing that's moving is her
hands as she weaves the silk with her crochet hook
into some long garment. Her clothes are obviously very high
quality fabric. This is something she prizes very deeply, and
as she continues to move, just those two id say,
like she probably crochetes with her human hands, not the
eight legs. I mean, she's also wilder kids, so she's
got like a few human bits, a few spider bits,
and the rest of her is like stockstill as only
her hands do this, and she like casts her gaze
onto Biscuit and just sort of drawls. I assume you
must be one of my ex lover's friends. I don't
personally recall you, but you must give me my memory.
Speaker 1: Horrifying Roland just sort of increasing in confusion, like, I mean, hell,
they signed the contract, everyone got their waivers in Yeah,
all right, good it's a.
Speaker 2: Triple hid and lemon whisker.
Speaker 1: You've seen just a little point of like respect, like
that actually makes my job a little bit easier, right,
just not like an organized man.
Speaker 4: He's he's a very wary mouse. You know, he's got
some some gray in his already dark for you know,
he's he's seen things. He knows to always be prepared.
Speaker 1: Roland turns to who I believe is both mechanically speaking,
the youngest and largest creature in the room, standing off
to the side of Laura Lai, who is what some
would call the spider Centaur. Is a centaur Centaur madda,
would you like to introduce your character?
Speaker 7: Yes, hello everyone, I'm Victoria. I've worked a lot of jobs,
so my voice described I'm sorry, excuse me. I've worked
our jobs, so it makes sense. Biscuit, I don't really
remember you. I'm kind of bad with faces and really
sat but yeah, so I've actually been a break boat
before I did a job there with the Academy. I
was up in the moves and stuff, and I'm not
familiar with these like little alcohol things you've talked about.
But I'm really you know, I just like I like
doing jobs. And I like doing good stuff, and I
like people. I'm excited to be here. What you see
in front of you is actually a centaur with pretty
heavy armor.
Speaker 3: Outfitted uh with.
Speaker 4: A war bo.
Speaker 3: And a club.
Speaker 7: She's imposing she might be standing a little too close
to you, all. I don't I get the impression, you
would get the impression that she doesn't have a great
sense of her size.
Speaker 1: Roland kind of leans in and goes, all right, I
gotta I gotta talk to Save about some stuff. It
doesn't worry, it don't matter, it doesn't it doesn't affect
you all. So anyway, what you guys are gonna do.
You're gonna hop on the boat here. The GM's gonna
cut to the next day. You're gonna hop on the
boat here. Head to the Stump Top District, hard to miss.
It'll be the part on top of the stump right.
You're gonna look for a place called Tenpenny Trauma. There's
a guy and fella there. I'm a Briggs Shaw. He
is going to be your contact and your handler while
you're in the city. If you need anything, you go
to him. Also happens to help that he's a pretty
decent apothecary and medic can patch you up if you
ever need it. Plenty of stuff in the city if
you need to find your way around, talk to some people,
gather some supplies. Briggs is going to be the guy
who gets you down to where you need to go
to start with, and cuts you loose once you're kind
of in the thicket. So any final questions before I
cut you guys off here?
Speaker 4: Do have any benefits like travel insurance?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, hold on.
Speaker 1: He reaches down into this big like duffelback he's got
and he pulls out a scroll and he hands it over.
He goes, all right, there's the reimbursement plan. We can
sign you up for a per diem if you need it,
if this mission takes longer than two standard business weeks.
We do offer no travel insurance, but we can reimburse
you if any of your belongings are damage or misplaced
through negligence. I'm part of our organization or any of
our affiliates. And then he just kind of rattles off
like a whole series of like a basic like freelancer,
but like decent benefits package. Yeah, like you don't work
for us, like technically this has worked for hire, but
also like we want to take care of you, and
like there's an incentive. There's like a seniority program, like
the more missions you take on you can get more
of a steak. Like yeah, like it's yeah, it turns out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've missed working with you. This is better than
the last three jobs. Honestly, there always reminder you.
Speaker 1: Were on that job down aheading to the Beacon Enclave
not too long ago, right.
Speaker 4: I was that was a bit of a sad spot
to go to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was a fucking meat grinder for
a while too. I don't know what you guys killed
down in those ruins, but we lost. I didn't tell
you this before we lost like six groups more we
we found you, So, I mean, good job, that's great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wanted to stop Porter's Peak, but I've got
some friends up there, but something happened. We had to
go around. Yeah, I hope after this, But when after
this I can go back and visit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Roland kind of reaches in and he goes horse Peak.
They got yeah, down the bitter road. That's been.
Speaker 2: Rough. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I haven't got the whole story around that one. I
got someone going down to check it out. But all right,
that's you hear something. Let me know, all right, cool, cool, Well,
I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this, but I
think you guys seem like you've got your stuff squared away,
keep your eyes sharp. Hopefully this is in in and out,
no must, no fuss situation. But always possible things go
sideways when you get down into the weird nitty gritty.
So all right, well, see you guys later. Biscuit seems
to have dissociated. I seem we someone.
Speaker 5: Like as the conversation has been going on, when everyone's
focused on lemon whisker or whatever, there's like just random
notes of him just randomly popping up in other areas
of the room and waiting for people to blink. In
the moment they do, he just disappears, and then by
the end of the conversation he's just back in his
normal spot, kind of just like staring blankly at whoever's talking.
Speaker 1: There's one moment where Biscuit like reaperates somewhere and rolling's
like a right, all right, folks, you got a boat
to catch, I gotta fly to catch. I'll see you later.
Report back. To Briggs when you're done success or failure,
and he'll get you head off to your next spot.
Speaker 6: Okay, Loura Elija just lifts one of the spider legs
in there, just goes farewell and turns around, doesn't look back.
Speaker 1: That's a creepy woman, but I appreciate.
Speaker 5: And see, I gotta find out which one of my
friends was her lovers.
Speaker 7: Victoria is gonna like with too much enthusiasm, be like
by Roland, good to see you, a.
Speaker 2: Good good, good to meet you, Miss Victoria. I'm a whisker.
If they don't get you the forms, just send them
back to me, all right.
Speaker 1: And he kinda leaning on this cane, and you can
see that he's got like a like below the bandoliers
and the like leather armor. There's like a whole bunch
of bandaging around him as he kind of limps back
towards the back of this warehouse. Anyone who would like
to who's like the last two or three people in
the let's let's say last two people in the room.
Speaker 2: You guys, tell me.
Speaker 5: I will I will definitely be the last person in
the room.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you and Laura. I make a precision check for me.
Speaker 5: All right, a straight precision that is six one D
twelve plus precision. Yep, yeah, one D six never mind
no one D twelve plus yes, then yes, I'm good.
Speaker 1: You got a six. I got fourteen fourteen Laura Lai. Yeah,
that tracks the assassin. Okay, Yeah, So as Roland walks away,
you hear him muttering under his breath and you realize
that he's like speaking to someone who is not here.
And I think you can see, well, fourteen's really high.
You can see him like kind of speaking into his
lapel a little bit, like there's maybe some enchantment or
something there. He's like, yeah, I'm ready whenever you are now.
Of course, I hate lying in this weather this time
a year, you know that.
Speaker 2: All right, I'll meet you there.
Speaker 1: And he kind of heads out towards the back.
Speaker 6: And I'd say that Laura Lai doesn't make any physical
gesture of acknowledgment except that like four of her eyes,
because she has eight eyes, but like four of them,
just like squint a little.
Speaker 3: Bit, please, quint, you have eight eyes on a human faith?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, tonight.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Larela is truly horrific, kind.
Speaker 2: Of delightful and horrible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, that's the motto that is, well, you're going
to jump forward, you guys, you can tell me where
you spend your time on the passenger ship that Roland
is chartered for you. But we rejoin you as breakback
comes into view. It was a short ride. You're going
kind of across like a strait. It's not a huge
leap in a jump from rackshore. But coming over the
horizon you see first mountaintops behind in the distance, but
very quickly they are subsumed by the sight of an
enormous stump, tree stump, but a tree stump the size
of cities miles across. At the base of this thing,
many stories rising up into the air, where it looks
like it has been broken off by the swing of
the greatest woodsman's axe that has ever possibly existed, and
the trunk behind it is leaning down away from the
water out of view. The base around it still splintered
in places, although it looks as you get grow closer,
worn and weathered with time and exposure to the elements
of many, many, many years, and you see that the
trunk is still in fact connected to the stump of
this tree, if only by what would be a thread
if this was a small, normal sized tree, but is
in fact an enormous causeway of wood, bent living wood
that is connecting the trunk of this tree from this
incomplete felling, the tree itself lies down into the distance
where its mass of branches and these willowy, wispy tendrils
of leaves and would fall into the pine forest beyond it.
Beyond it, the forest is actually growing up into and
around and onto this tree. It is a strange site.
And only as you grow even closer and the docks
of Breakbow come into view, and you see ships, and
you begin to see buildings, and you get a sense
of scale, do you see that there is in fact
a city etched into the circumforts of this thing. There
are neighborhoods between the rise and arches of the roots.
There are roadways. There is what appears to be a
spiraling causeway going all the way up the stump of
this tree. And you see the crenelations of buildings and
warehouses and shops and businesses and smoke stacks.
Speaker 2: All down both below.
Speaker 1: And on the surface of the fallen trunk. I will
say that you guys come in right around dawn, and
you still see like the glowing telltale lights of windows
that are in fact set into the skin and the
bark of this tree, let alone the more traditional buildings
that are scattered around in its various neighborhoods and districts
spiling around it. You pull into the dock and disembark.
You aren't a wide boulevarded causeway. It looks almost as
if a one hundred foot wide section of road was
cleared from like a slope down into the water, up
the docks, through the neighborhoods, as just this one giant
cleared causeway, almost like an emperor's triumvial marchway like parade route,
all the way not towards the stump itself, but through
an arch in the roots and through the neighborhoods and
wrapping around towards the back under the shade of the tree.
You are arrived in Breakbow.
Speaker 5: Oh. I think I know why they call it Breakbow.
Speaker 6: Now isn't it beautiful?
Speaker 3: I love this? It's so pretty.
Speaker 6: I don't think that Laura, I would be on the
like the outside, is this how big is this ship?
Because like, is there a cabin that would.
Speaker 1: Be Yeah, there would have been a small like hold
that's kind of partitioned with like curtains.
Speaker 6: I mean, like she definitely still has some spider tendency.
Like she's just in a dark corner. She's not coming
out until the bar, until the boat is like fully docked,
and that there is somewhere to like skit her off to.
So she's just in a dark corner until the boat
stops moving. She's not on the dock at all. Yeah. Yeah,
the I can't think of the word for the deck there.
It is the.
Speaker 1: Deck as the crew are lashing the boat to the
dock itself. Will say, Lorala skitters absolutely horrifying some poor semen.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Miss, So as a level six pelonin, I can take
two credo minors. Yes, and I would like to take
the creedive judgment and use it on Laura Line.
Speaker 1: Describe the creedive judgment for us into the microphone, Darling, Sorry,
it's very sensitive.
Speaker 7: Once for rest, you can weigh how another creature's soul
is balanced against its deeds. You know, whether the outcome
is favorable, unfavorable, or balanced. Which one is favorable depends
on your belief and outlook.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I'm going to ask both of you a
question right now and that shuld determine the answer?
Speaker 2: Oh my God.
Speaker 1: First of all, I want to say for everyone else,
the creedo of judgment, the Credo of balance is actually
another guest's creation that was created by youngman George and
ten Silver's Bent, the first relic show we ever ran?
Who played a paladin in that show? The Lovely Mister Child,
So fun? Love that, Laura Victoria, this is a subjective predo.
It is you are not getting like a cosmic good
and evil. You are getting the notions that are relative
to you as a person and what you value as
a paladin. What would Victoria view as like terrible and
in need of rectifying versus like the ideal? Like paragon
of virtue? Is that prime and punishment?
Speaker 2: Is that? Goodwill towards man? Is that? Have you ever
killed someone? Like?
Speaker 1: What is kind of the vibe there? Eight minutes and
we're going philosophical.
Speaker 5: The vibe is.
Speaker 7: Goodwill towards creatures of all kinds. And I would say a.
Speaker 3: Like ope is a core part of the vibe.
Speaker 7: And a overall desire to do what is right?
Speaker 1: And Okay, Marissa, what's her whole history like in terms.
Speaker 6: Of like, so, I mean she kills for money, this
is a job, and she does a job well, like
she values doing a job like cleanly, efficiently, timely. So
if she has been asked to kill someone, she doesn't
really think of that as wrong. She is thinking of
like performing a service and performing it well. So I
don't know how that really Standstia. But I will also
say that Loura Lai has killed and consumed every creature
that she has ever copulated with. So I got so
dark so fast.
Speaker 5: My friend went, oh my god, Okay, I need a break.
Speaker 6: So Victoria might not find that very like safety of life,
but I will, but like I'm using all your resources
that yeah, it's just how I made.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Wow, that was such a crazy addendum to that
whole statement.
Speaker 6: I was waiting for this to come up.
Speaker 7: Yeah youah, that one, locked and loaded.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, So Victoria, I think at first you have
a you get a sense back of like this is
this is not someone who like really aligns with your values.
Speaker 2: This is.
Speaker 1: I think one of the things you definitely sense through
your that Credo's invocation is that this is someone who
is operating on a coat. This is not an agent
of chaos, who is sewing mayhem and destruction throughout the world.
This is someone who like there is a procedure, and
if you know what that procedure is, the results are predictable.
Having said that, I think you immediately get the sense
of like, it is the idea of like, I know
what a great white shark will do if it is hungry,
and it is not necessarily It's this very almost pure
like sense of like, I don't think it's right to
call a shark evil for eating I do think it
is appropriate to be like, I want to make sure
I'm not the meat in that situation. Whether or not
your friends become that is up for debate. And that's
what Victoria pings off of there.
Speaker 7: Oh God, would we so dark that I would call
that balanced? Right, So, like, not favorable, but balanced.
Speaker 1: I think, balanced with the adding sprinkling of yeah, balanced
with the sprinkling of like, oh, this person is in
alignment with their values, Yeah they are maybe not mine?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Victoria also eats centaurs. I don't know, Like it's.
Speaker 3: Let's hope not.
Speaker 7: I will say, despite how emotive Victoria normally is, she
doesn't there's there's no reaction here.
Speaker 1: Oh cool, Okay, you guys are released into the dock
side district of Breakbow. You've been told to seek a
good old Briggshaw in the stump top district, which I
think you are able to quickly determine is the top
of the giant stump. But how would you like? Would
you like to head there directly? Would you like to
poke around the city? Are you looking for anything particular?
I got a whole book of stuff here, man, let's party.
Speaker 4: I think after seeing like all the guns on that
strap lemon whist, her kinda wants to get himself a
little pistol.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, all right, love that.
Speaker 5: Whether anyone's paying attention or not, I think it's probably
good to note that Biscuit does not seem to have
gotten off the boat with them or is walking next
to them. If they turn around, he's actually on top
of the mast, just kind of looking around with his staff.
Oh and then if they like, it's it's just a
matter of waiting, like he's he's kind of half looking
around but looking at them and just waiting for the blink,
and then he'll pop up behind them like in front
of them, effectively on the other side, of the boat,
being like, well, if it's time to go shopping.
Speaker 3: Being a centaur part horse, this I can be a
little easily startled.
Speaker 7: So we'll see Victoria jump a little like and like
trample a little not like trample like stomper feet a
little bit because she gets pooped.
Speaker 2: It's very frustrated. Okay, okay oooh.
Speaker 3: Biscuit, you're quick on your feet.
Speaker 5: Start slowly walking up the hill.
Speaker 4: What do you mean, well, let's work we speak, of course,
I just seem dangerous. Are you sure you should be
doing that your age?
Speaker 5: Oh it's okay, Sarah. We've got this.
Speaker 4: Mar if you say so.
Speaker 6: So are we all going with lemon whisk to the gunshop?
Are we all going to late.
Speaker 1: Up to you guys? Do you have anything else you
want to run?
Speaker 5: I mean I'll pack a pistol too. You can never
be too prepared for things. Jumping out of nowhere said
that he like opens one eye much larger, that's looking
directly at them.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Okay, you guys set off into the mosswood. Docs doesn't
take for the sake of timing, doesn't take a whole
lot of Q and A to be directed towards what
you would see as a giant sign with a little
wisp of enchanted like almost holographic smoke coming out of
a barrel that is painted onto the sign, and then
it says Flashpowder Foundry. And as you approach you see
that this is a huge building, a lot of it
dedicated to what looks to be like the smelting, production
and maintenance of ship caliber weaponry. So there are like
these giant brass and iron barrels that are being bored
out or you know, fixed up, having like fuses installed
and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2: All of that happening.
Speaker 1: A lot of it like out of doors under like
open like pergola style awnings and coverings in the like
fenced yard behind this place. But a smaller shop in
the front does display in a big window that is
crossed with iron bars set into the stone masonry. Racks
of pistols and rifles and muskets, all flint lock can
we lock style like wooden heavy metal banded barrels type
of weapon. And you walk in and we're gonna say,
you see, I'm gonna pull my randomizer sheet.
Speaker 4: This place up to code.
Speaker 2: Roll a knowledge check excellent.
Speaker 4: I just feel like this is something a lemon Whisker
would care about.
Speaker 1: Shoot for an eight? Uh what role knowledge?
Speaker 4: Knowledge? Woh with my plus one, that's an eight seven
on the dice.
Speaker 1: This place, this is immaculate. This is a just you
walk in and they're like, oh, these guys have got
it locked down. Everything is gleaming, all of the mechanisms
in the leg You see that there are like not
only was consideration put into like the display and explanation
of things, because this is still like a relatively new
technology to a lot of people in the world. Here
is these very is like we locks and flint locks
and that kind of thing, like relatively new like cutting
edge stuff. So there's like explanations and everything, but also
security measures in place all over the place. And I
think you get the senses you walk in here that
it's not so much about being up to code in
a foundry like this so much as it is these
are sensible people who are creating the code that others
should follow because there's not that many boundaries.
Speaker 4: Let me, Whisker is in love. He's like he's got
one eye just on everything, like just a little gasp,
and then the other eye trying to keep track of
biscuit to make sure that he isn't like I was
gonna tell importing where he shouldn't be. I guess, as.
Speaker 1: You guys are walking through of the Masua docks, biscuit
is not keeping up with you. He keeps kind of
falling behind, and then you'll turn a corner and he'll
be like walking right.
Speaker 2: Next to you once again slowly.
Speaker 1: This has just sort of become a pervasive trend. As
you walk into the foundry, you see two figures kind
of standing behind a display case welcome in, how can
we help you? One of them is enormous. He is
almost to the same height as Victoria as a biped
This is an ersen, another type of wilderkin. This is
a bear person. He looks like he has built like
a Kodiak bear.
Speaker 2: Just enormous. How we're doing?
Speaker 1: He is missing fully an ear and like a huge
chunk of fur on one half of his face, looks
like something exploded or burned him and sitting casually on
his shoulder leaning against the good ear just kind of
with one arm up. Is what you would clock as
a fay pixie, a little butterfly winged two foot tall
Faye person.
Speaker 2: How we doing?
Speaker 8: Hello, Ahadi's great. Yeah, interest you guys some firepower today? Yes,
play stick all right, an old boomstick?
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, I will put probably a smaller one. I
don't know if you've noticed, but he's short. I'm sat
so much space. I can carry things.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Well I can sell you like I got acquire bust
back here, and you see that the pixie reaches down
and grabs a rifle that is three times longer than
the pixie is from the back of the ersen and
draws it up like it's his. He's like, well, you
get your something like this, or just stick that back
in there if you're looking for something a little more discreete.
We got a case of Deringer's over there, and a
couple of flint lock pistols. And you see lemon whisker
that a flint lock pistol in these times, at this
level of technology is about as long as like your forearm.
Like these are not small objects, but a Derringer is
about this big and something you could probably pump.
Speaker 4: I think he what about the wheel lock handgun?
Speaker 2: Uh, wheel ock handgun?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we got a couple back here, hold on, give
me a second. And he kind of just like base
jumps off the back of the Ersen and he goes
as he jumps and kind of scatters off into the
back and you hear him rooting around back there. The
Ersen leans and he goes, all right, I need to
talk to you guys abouts of firearm safety. All right,
have you ever fired a weapon like this before?
Speaker 4: No mind in his mind, I have to.
Speaker 1: All right, absolutely flabbergasted for a second. He's got like
fully hard reset just like I don't know what that means.
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, I don't lie. That felt like the
thing to say. All right, now I have I have fired.
Speaker 2: Once, just once. All right, come over here.
Speaker 1: I'm going to walk you through the initiation course and
a little whisker he kind of leads you off to
the side and you see that you come around the
corner into what is like the testing area at the DMV.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's got a.
Speaker 1: Series of scrolls that are on like a wind up mechanism,
so like one continuous scroll is going by, and he's
treating it like a slide show, and he's walking you
through like safety procedures and like how to load black
powder and how to store it on your person and
why you shouldn't get it wet, hyper focused. Yeah, just
hyper rolling through and like every like three rotations. He's
got a little quiz question that he gives you go
ahead and make if you would like, I will give
you either cleverness or knowledge on this.
Speaker 2: Make three rolls.
Speaker 4: Oh, and they bring up my stats cleverness or what else?
Speaker 2: Knowledge. I'll let you use whichever one.
Speaker 5: Oh, cleverness, Yeah, to take the gun safety two. Since
I'm trying to get myself an arringer, all right, you.
Speaker 1: Can make the same roles in that case.
Speaker 4: All right, excellent. For that's a ten of fourteen and
an eight No, sorry, and eleven.
Speaker 1: I'm be fourteen and eleven. He gets to the end,
he goes any questions.
Speaker 5: None, I've gotten eleven seven in it.
Speaker 1: Twelve all right for lemon whisker. You see, well we'll
start with we'll start with biscuit. I am impressed. All right,
I can give you go ahead. And he pulls out
from on on his belt. He's got a little it
looks like a dog tag or like a key fob almost,
but you see that it's got the emblem of the
foundry like stamped into it. It is silver, and he
hands it over. He goes, If you ever need to
present that to the city guard, the town watch, or
anything like that, that holds that you have completed our
course and you have passed it an acceptable degree, Go
that and show that to my associate. You should have
no problem shopping for whatever you would like. Lemon whisker.
He pulls you aside. He pulls out another one, but
yours is actually gold, and he goes. Or I don't
know how to tell you this, but you scored the
highest on that test of anyone that I've ever had
in here. If you are ever interested in becoming an
instructor at our foundry here, I would love to talk
to you more about the job opportunities presenting themselves in
the black powder industry as we expand, I would be honored, fantastic.
Speaker 2: We do want to send clients.
Speaker 4: Officer, all right, I'm enamored with these weapons. I'm enamored
with this city.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 4: I will be back, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Please do, please do.
Speaker 6: I'd love to talk to you more in the meantime.
So Victoria and I have just been standing there right
because Victoria didn't go in for the lesson, I think Laura,
I looks over at you and asks, will you be
hiring anything?
Speaker 3: No, these are really cool. I don't I don't. I
don't like firearms. They they're really loud. I don't mind
when my associates use them. That's fine. That's I've had
plenty of people, work with plenty of people that use them.
Speaker 7: You know, it's fine. And she's like, she's been looking
around and she's not always great with awareness of her size,
so she's definitely bumped into a few display cases. Right now,
she's trying to hold very still so that she does
not knock anything down.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean Westker has never had that problem.
Speaker 1: No, fantastic, Okay, Laura I and Victoria I need you
both to make a precision check for me.
Speaker 2: For different reasons, but both same checked.
Speaker 6: Eight plus four is twelve.
Speaker 2: That is okay.
Speaker 1: Ten, Laura Lai, you've kind of bumped into things, but
you've managed to not actually knock a firearm out of
its display whatsoever. No incidents on that front, Laura l I.
You clock as you're discussing this with Victoria that the
Pixie Fellow is standing directly underneath you and is eyeballing
all the legs around him and is just like I
could fit you out with like eight guns at once,
if you're interested.
Speaker 3: Oh, I will you?
Speaker 5: Will you be?
Speaker 1: Will you be using them?
Speaker 3: I mean the noise, it's really fine for me.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that I could, I could like That
wasn't his voice. I'm just saying that I could, Like
if I rig up like a string system, like a
little pulley or something that you can hold in your hands,
you could pull them all at once and just you
might even like take off.
Speaker 6: Why, thank you for your compliments. So, but I find
firearms to be excessive.
Speaker 4: Oh, excessively awesome.
Speaker 2: Looks.
Speaker 1: He looks a little dejected and just sort of like
skitters away.
Speaker 7: Is Lemon Whisker back in the area.
Speaker 1: Yes, Lemon Whisker and Biscuit, Well, Biscuit is back in
the shop area. Lemon Whisker walks back into the shop area.
Speaker 7: So Victoria is gonna say, Lemon Whisker, if you would like,
I have the ability to carry large items obviously if
you want.
Speaker 3: I know, you said you have a lot of space.
I don't.
Speaker 7: I don't use firearms myself, but I do. I have
actually been in a situation where they've been really useful.
So you know, just offering them.
Speaker 1: As you guys are sort of having this discussion. The
Pixie and the arthen have laid out too like oil
cloths on the counter. One of them has a collection
of darringers in different like finishes and materials.
Speaker 2: The other one has a.
Speaker 1: Pair of wheelock pistols on it, and they're both like
and they're gathering up like a flask of black powder
and like a satchel of bullets to go with each
and just sort of waiting for you guys to like
come over and check them out.
Speaker 5: I'll wait for them to blink, and I'll just pop
up right in front of the right in front of
the actual counter, all right.
Speaker 1: When you pop over and the fee actually like reaches
for his gun.
Speaker 2: And then stops. What's all that?
Speaker 1: And I'm sorry you guys were having a discussion.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, actually that would be lovely. Since I'm not
very familiar with it, I don't need it on my
hand at all times. I don't know if I'll be
using it in a skirmish or not, So that would
be lovely.
Speaker 3: Excellent, Just let me know what you needed.
Speaker 2: To get, all right, excuse me?
Speaker 1: All right, folks, Well we've got as you can see
a lovely selection to fit any sort of budget or
price range, as long as your budget is fifteen gold
for a derringer and thirty gold for a wheel lock,
if that's what you're interested in. But they do come
in two different colors.
Speaker 5: What it pulls out is like a little satchel of money.
He's like, oh, I forgot the conversion rates again, Sarahkon.
Speaker 2: The person kind of leans over us, Sir, I can
I can help you with that. I'm actually kind of
a math math.
Speaker 1: Whiz, and he starts helping you count how many deringers
are you buying?
Speaker 5: I would probably only be able to afford one based
off of my setup.
Speaker 1: So okay, okay, beautiful. And then Mika, were you purchasing anything.
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 4: Just oh yeah, the just the gun, yeah, the wheel
lock and gun.
Speaker 1: All right, go ahead and add one darager and one
wheelock to your inventories, respectively. And they kind of lean
over the go oh actually sorry, Miko, hold off one second, okay, biscuit.
He is all right, that's fifteen gold for a darringer.
He hands it over, and he hands you fifteen bullets
in an appropriate amount of black powder to go with that.
He was first batches included with the purchase a firearm today.
Be sure not to discharge this within the city limits
unless you're physical imminent physical threat is present or the
guards get pretty upset and we don't want that coming
back on us, Mika, He goes, Gold Tier member, you
actually get a slight discount, so it is twenty five
gold for a wheel locked pistol. He gives you thirty
bullets to go with that. Bigger firearms. More bullets included
purchase fantastic if you guys are ever interested. We do
have a new set of muskets and equeribus coming in
right now. And you see that they've got one of
each kind of put up on the wall behind them.
He goes, this is actually a new line. We haven't
introduced these yet to the wider public. Gold Dear members
are the first that are available to place a pre
order if you want to come back and check them
out sometime. I also have no idea how to say
the word of queribus, but I'm.
Speaker 2: Gonna try it. It's like awkward berbers.
Speaker 5: I don't know, it's just confused by the term Gold membership.
What oh okay, I guess I'm gonna have to up
my my game, I guess.
Speaker 1: Beautiful. Okay. Anything else you guys would like to do
in town socially or merchant wise or otherwise before heading
off to your content?
Speaker 5: Probably? Oh no, go ahead.
Speaker 6: I was just gonna ask, are there apothecaries?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 1: So answer to that is yes. But also the contact
you were intended to meet is an apothecary.
Speaker 6: Oh super that I don't need to make a special
stop anywhere, great woman whisker.
Speaker 4: Am I carrying anything for chance? A good question? Yes,
just stuff I cool, the various things.
Speaker 3: Am I carrying a firearm for you?
Speaker 4: Yeah, but that'd be bad, I guess, all right, since
you don't have the license. There's my bow and arrow.
If you could get hold those for me, that'd be great.
All right, all right, Yes, my hammer, I've got it's
I'll let you in. And a little secret r I
cast grabby magic and like the cost to activate and
maintain the ability to unshackle this and make it weigh
twenty five pounds less is nothing, So I'm jack, but
I've got a little help, you know. I'm I'm getting
up there in age.
Speaker 6: Okay, as we're walking. If Biscuit keeps doing this like
lag thing and app is that's still happening. So the
next time you start to lag lourle, I is going
to blank and appear directly next to you, like unsettlingly
close to you, and look at you, you know, with
all eight eyes still straight out there, and say, so, biscuit,
is this what you do? Also?
Speaker 5: Oh? I do lots of things.
Speaker 6: What are you doing this on purpose?
Speaker 5: Just doing what on purpose? This is how I move around.
I'm like one of those weeping angels.
Speaker 6: At this, all a eyes like squint like I beg
your pardon. So but you must please explain, Oh we
will angels?
Speaker 5: Oh yes, absolutely well if you blink, they'll nts. Don't
blink right, And as he says that, like one of
his eyes just gets real big, like he's just like
very concerned with what he's saying.
Speaker 6: I think Lorelai is still confused and has not become
enlightened at all this situation. But but it feels like
maybe maybe this is something she doesn't want to find out.
Speaker 5: What was his name? You'll trying to figure out which
one of my friends you ate?
Speaker 6: Oh well, I suppose it could have been Carlos or
Tweezle or rumble, and she goes on and names like
seven more names, and like you can start to tell
that like this is not even an exhaustive list. I
don't know if and let's say that you recognize none
of them.
Speaker 5: It's totally fine. He's like, no, I guess he disappeared
someplace else. The memory these days, it goes and it
comes and then and then well you know what's that?
Speaker 2: Hmm hmm.
Speaker 6: I think Laurlai is gonna put like her human hand
on you, as if to like like anchor, like like
maybe this creature is just lost in space, it just
has a hard time, just having a hard time being
in one spot, just like puts one hand on you
to sort of feel like this is this is this
creature really like tethered to the same reality as the
rest of us. It's as we walk for a little.
Speaker 5: Bit, he's he's really not. I mean, he honestly believes
everything he's saying.
Speaker 1: Oh God, oh dear you guys, make your way through
the town, I assume heading to the Stump Top district.
Stop me if you want to do or run another
scene or head anywhere else.
Speaker 5: I was wanting to see if I could pick up
some light armor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we'll say that you can find a armor
blacksmith on your way up to what's called the Arborway.
It's a the spiraling road that leads up the stump.
And you do see that there are a number of
Winch operated elevators and like switch backstairs to like make shortcuts.
Even though like the causeway kind of goes all the
way around, you can climb or pay a pay a
small fee to go up a little bit. You see
kind of two levels up. There's a sign form a
place called the Forge and Fulcrum. And as you will say,
skip forward a little bit. As we step into the
Forge and Fulcrum, you see a Dwarvish man, grizzled beard
tied to his beard, wrapped around his back and tied
back to the front.
Speaker 2: Again. Okay, I do you for?
Speaker 5: I would like some armor, young man, all right, something
something light and flexible, allow me to keep my limbs slimber.
Speaker 1: You look around and see most of the stuff this
guy makes is like thick dwarven plate. Yes, all right,
a little little cobolt guy, come here, I'm gonna size
you up a little bit. And he does that like
tailor thing where he's got the like tape measure, and
he's kind of like lifting your arm and lifting your
other arm and like checking your snout.
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, he's like, I'm like, hey, buy my dinner first.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, you never heard that one before.
Speaker 5: Really it seems pretty comming, all right, all right, all.
Speaker 1: Right, he ain't bad, I think listen. Uh, not really
my usual clientele, but I think I might have something
in the kids section for you, and give me one second.
He kind of heads off into the back and comes
out with, are you looking for like leather or like
a jazz rent or.
Speaker 2: Something like that.
Speaker 5: Just just a leather armor will be fine.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: He comes back with what looks to be I think
you would recognize as a leather pattern like cutting sew
version of like another suit of adult sized armor that
is definitely on the wall right next to it. Listen,
this is I'm not gonna lie to you. This was
my kid's Halloween cast. Now Halloween doesn't exist. He's not
gonna lie to you. This was my kid's festival costume
last year.
Speaker 2: But I don't know.
Speaker 1: It looks to be about your size, a little thicker
than your own hide there. It should work for you
and he kind of like holds it up and like
helps you get into the different bits of it, and
he's like, all right, hold on, let me let me
just like like kind of pulling on the winchet, the
straps and stuff on the back and like help them
fit it to you. I didn't dwarf, don't have tails.
Give me one second. He takes like a big pair
of shears and just cuts a hole in the back.
How's that fit you?
Speaker 5: Perfect?
Speaker 4: Perfect?
Speaker 2: Love that?
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's let's get you wrung up here used
used leather armor.
Speaker 2: I'll give you a discount.
Speaker 1: Usually three gold, call it fifteen silvery.
Speaker 5: All right, you give them exactly fifteen silver, and says
keep the change.
Speaker 2: That was not up for debate.
Speaker 1: Okay, why do I find you endearing?
Speaker 2: All right? You come back?
Speaker 1: Okay, anybody else anything on your way up? Okay, just
for the sake of time, I'm gonna push us up
to getting to the tenpenny trauma. You guys emerge onto
the Stump Top District, having kind of wound your way
around and checked out the city a little bit onto
It's a very strange place because everywhere where you would
normally find dirt or grass or foliage. You're instead finding wood,
You're finding moss and lichen that is growing in the
cracks and crevices of this enormous like stump. The tree
rings here actually have geography to them where they're like
normally you would just see a flat cut of tree
rings here, like each one has got a little bit
of like a change in density, a change in rise
and fall. And you see there are places where like
the grooves are so deep that people have built over
that with cobblestones and mortar and brick and mud and
dirt over time. That's clearly been brought up very strange
neighborhood to find yourselves in. A lot of the buildings
here are in fact made of like wood and timber
and plaster and what you would find down on the
ground if someone was creating a building. Some of them
are kind of carved into the top of the stump
so as to use the natural material there. And still
others are stranger still, such as tenpenny Trauma, which does
in fact appear to be an enormous tilted piece of
shelf mushroom like it is a series of like the
funguy that grow on rotting logs and stuff at kind
of a jaunty angle, but several of them that have
grown to enormous like house sized proportions and then been
hollowed out by somebody later with a little sign hanging
on the front, little placard out that says tenpenny trauma
and apocthecary. The apothecary was clearly added afterwards, maybe by
a different hand. And a door very mundane like wooden
door and frame that has been set into a carved
jagged ish hole of in the wall of the mushroom
itself that opens into a large semi vaulted ceiling type
of room, lined with shelves.
Speaker 2: Very dark.
Speaker 1: There are a couple of flickering lights set on tiny
chandeliers hung from the darkness in the in the not
even rafters just in my Sillia connections above, but little
flickering low mage light embers, and just tons and tons
of shelves full of unlabeled glass vials, some of them
holding clear liquids, some of them recognizable, some of them
holding ingredients or raw extracts or seeds or spices or
various different chemical reagents. I think that would take some
checks to recognize a lot of them, and you hear
as the door opens and closes with barely a whisper,
well oiled hinges, no bell, no nothing, a voice from
in the gloom in the back, behind the shelves.
Speaker 2: I'll be right with you.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, is there anything around me?
Speaker 1: A bunch of glass, bunch of potion bottle shelves?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 7: Are there any like displays on the the like on
the floor, you know, like stuff in the middle of
the room.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Am I having to walk around stuff?
Speaker 2: Okay? Oh yeah, yeah, you want to make a precision check?
Speaker 3: I did, and that's an eleven.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, uh rat a rat around? Careful, careful of there, please,
and it's.
Speaker 3: Sorry. You just kind of spooky.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Olin said, you spook easy and you see coming
out from the back. Guyons are a people that have
appeared on the Nick Archive a number of times, mostly
from the frost and mountain regions of the world. In
Relict and in the world of Rubica, there are humanoid creatures.
We have different kind of affinities to the great powers
of the cosmos. Whereas a fermolite is someone with celestial
blood or some affinity for the heavens, Fiendling has got
some touch of the hells or the infernal in them,
and is more demon askue in their appearance. And humans
are maybe more towards like the kingdom king and wilderkin
and centaurs and whatever are towards like the animal kingdom.
Guyans are more of the world itself. They are flesh
and blood creatures that are also several steps closer to
the land, like the physical geography and topography of a
place where they are from and born. That can come
in many forms. We've seen on the show Frost guyans
in particular Gallio, our lovely friend and shopkeeper, who is
both flesh and blood and ice and stone. As a person,
he almost looks like a carving in a statue. What
emerges from the back? Now, anyone who would like to
can make a knowledge fifteen check for me, this is
a rare thing to see in the world.
Speaker 5: A knowledge can't even remotely touch that.
Speaker 6: I rolled it to My knowledge is zero. I don't
know anything.
Speaker 1: Nothing emerging from the back is a guy in unlike
any that you have seen. There are in fact many
guyan in break Bow, mostly of forest and wood varietals,
and Guyans of like urbanization and people who like look
to be made of cobblestone and brick and mortar, walking
around almost like these gollumns of like urban living in life.
This person seems like he might have been a forest
or a wood guy in at one point that has
rotted and desiccated to the point of like petrified wood
and crevices that cut through his whole being and just
like hollowness and dryness and emptiness to him steps out.
Speaker 2: As hey brickshaw rolling down. Told me to be on
the look out for a particular group cobot, mouse, skin centaur,
a little spooked and a little spooky spider lady.
Speaker 6: And Laura Lai extends her hand and goes charmed.
Speaker 1: You see he takes your hand and he goes in
for a kiss. It is how much man do you have?
Speaker 6: I got a lot, I get My capacity is ten?
Speaker 1: Right for a moment, Assie, Yes, you dropped down to
five and then it slowly comes back. You just have
this moment of like like pins and needles like shoot
up your arm and like down into your body a
little bit.
Speaker 2: Wow, does lemon whisker notice this?
Speaker 1: We'll say that. Yeah, you can see a reaction. There's
not like a great visual thing.
Speaker 6: Yeah maybe like maybe like a shudder.
Speaker 4: Like, yeah, I walk a little closer. Uh, my hand's
kind of ripping on the war hammer. Like what kind
of shenanigans are going on here?
Speaker 2: Sorry? Involuntary lady. I haven't met a blake guy in before.
I guy it. Yeah, you know what a planke is.
It's a place where magic dies. H.
Speaker 6: I think I think everyone probably takes like a step back.
Speaker 5: It walks right to him, Like what does that mean?
Speaker 2: He goes you like to jump around? Don't you shake
my hand?
Speaker 1: Okay, he grabs your hands here you feel all of
your magic leave your body.
Speaker 5: Oh, I haven't felt this empty since last spring.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't really want to unpack that. We've got this
stuff for incontinence in the back if you need.
Speaker 7: Anything, Oh my god.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not a whole lot of me walking around out there.
But makes antling some really uh spicy ingredients a little
bit safer. So you guys are head down into the underways.
Speaker 3: Huh that's what we've been told.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, come with me. Can't get you anything
from the shelves here, Roland send your care package, but
happy hell?
Speaker 6: I mean Loralai is always interested in poison, not interested
in the out firearms, very interested in the silent, but deadly.
So she's been feeling very at home and has all
eyes all over the place.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are you in particular with your poison crafting
and everything. You see many things here that you recognize
as base ingredients for various potions and chemical formula and whatever.
Speaker 2: You see what.
Speaker 1: You clearly recognize as a rack of potions of like
elemental resistance and immunity, kind of up by the main
counter there you also clock, Laura I, and I'm giving
this to you no check, simply because of your class choices.
You clock there are enormous numbers of things in here
that an assassin would know of as things that make poisons,
assassins poisons specifically that are completely innocuous and explainable, as
other things you would have for completely abundant reasons. And
as he kind of steps to the bag.
Speaker 2: He is missa Yah Roland sent me a message. As
you guys around the ship, and I've got something for you.
Speaker 1: And he hands over a leather wrapped bottle with what
looks to be some flashcord on it, so you would
know this is something that you pull it and it
starts to burn like a fuse and pops, and we'll say,
if you would like to make a check. It seems
like he's going to explain it. But if you'd like
to make a check and just get ahead of him,
you're welcome to it. This would be cleverness.
Speaker 6: Sure, it's gonna be a six.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a six. Okay, you don't quite catch
what this is, and he is, I don't.
Speaker 2: Know if you've come across this before. That's a little
something we call mate's gasp.
Speaker 6: He has given I'm guessing she's heard of it, so
her eyes widen a little bit, like, oh you have this?
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is not something. So this is an assassin
thing for those listening along at home. Assassins can learn
various poisons and recipes to concoct different effects in the world.
He's not given you the recipe for it, but he
has given you one dose of Mage's gasp.
Speaker 6: Ah. Wow, you tell Roland that we are deeply grateful
for this gift.
Speaker 2: What do you mean we I got something for the
rest of you too.
Speaker 1: Here he takes you into like the back and on
one of the shelves there that looks to be set
up against like this myceelium wall. He kind of just
slides it on these hidden casters to the side, and
you see as he puts his hand into this like
fibrous wall structure, the fibers all kind of recoil from
him and it opens up into a for a lemon
whisker and biscuit, a door for Laura l I in
particularly Victoria, a squeeze leading into a back room. But
he leads you guys through, and the mycelia as he
walks away kind of like quickly regrow and kind of
reform that wall, and you hear the shelf sort of
slide itself back into place up front.
Speaker 3: That's like being brushed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it takes a little getting used to. Honey, you
have any allergies, right, not that I know of, don't
worry about it.
Speaker 5: I can't make it.
Speaker 1: Uh So he takes you into the back. This room
is lined with more like casks earns vio, like huge
containers of like smells very acidic, like walking into the
Jander's closet, like there's a lot of like that that'll
burn you. Like there's there's just a lot of material
in here, raw mass ingredients. And he has I don't
know what you can find down there, but here, and
he grabs actually from like a side table. He kind
of pulls out a drawer and he goes.
Speaker 2: From miss iven Roland.
Speaker 1: And he hands over two potions. They look like small
like test tube beakers with a orangish like lowing liquid
in there that like swirls around and as you whoever
reaches out to grab it, it is almost too hot
to touch, like a a t mug that has just
had boiling water poured into it, been sitting there for
a minute, like it hot but not fully burning you.
Speaker 2: He guess, I don't know what you're gonna run into
down there, but uh fires, fire is real rough. You
go down into, you know, a tree, don't get burned.
Speaker 1: And you guys can decide amongst yourselves. But these are
going to be two oceans of elemental resistance of unusual
quality for fire.
Speaker 2: In particular for burning.
Speaker 1: These are I will send the link to the chat.
Speaker 6: Here poop, So these potions protect us from burning.
Speaker 1: So potion of elemental resistance. Potion comes in various varietals,
burning freeze and checking your acidic. These are the burning ones.
When you drink this potion. If you would take any
damage that matches burning damage, it is reduced by the
amount listed below. This duration and the duration of the
The duration of this effect depends on the rarity. See
these are unusual. They are the lowest tier, so they
if you would take burning damage, well under this effect,
you reduce that amount by one d twelve could be one,
could be twelve, somewhere in between. And it lasts for
three rounds once you drink it. So eighteen seconds. Not
a lot, but good to have on hand. You have
two of them amongst your party. Okay, And the last
thing he pulls out, this is this is special, This
is what I'm mine, and he puts in the dead
center of the table. It looks like an hour glass,
except the pinch in the middle is actually sealed. The
two halves are not mixing. One half has a glowing white,
phosphorescent fluid in it. It's giving off like a small
amount of light, but it's not casting a lot of
light into the room because the other side has a
pool of pure darkness in it that is actively making
the area around it darker.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 2: Wow, you're not gonna find a whole lot of these
out there. I gotta know how to make it. This
is a null point. If you need it, break it
sixty feet around you no magic for about six seconds.
Absolutely cuts the ether out of the world. An affect
you just as much as anything else. And by get
you buy something the hut, something down you never know,
expensive as hell, but you only get one ey that's
all Saide can afford.
Speaker 4: This is much appreciated.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is I think you would mechanically clock.
This is something you could either break as an action
or like throw like a grenade. Creates a sixty foot bubble.
Absolutely no magic, no man, I know, nothing can happen
with it. That bubble for one round.
Speaker 5: Horrifying.
Speaker 6: Yeah yeah, real bad, real bad.
Speaker 3: I think VI are real big right now.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm gonna say that Laura l I will reach
to pick this up to carry it for the party,
feeling like this is absolutely the most dangerous thing that
she has ever put into her like uh, into her
sack of potions or poisons, like killing somebody, fine whatever,
People do this all the time, killing magic. That feels
like invasive and you know, like next level. So uh yeah, yeah,
I think that as much as Laura la I was
taken aback by that initial touch. She like, this whole
tour has really landed Briggs. Is it brig or Briggs?
Speaker 2: I believe it's briggs Shaw because.
Speaker 6: It's oh, it's all one word. It's not I g
g okay Briggshaw Briggshaw. So Brigshaw has risen several miles
in her esteem.
Speaker 1: Listen, y'all know si she works with some interesting people.
Speaker 6: M hm hm mm hmm.
Speaker 2: All right, you guys ready set off. Oh all right,
all right if you follow me right back here? Oh
one other thing? Who can't see in the dark?
Speaker 6: Wait, who can't?
Speaker 2: Can't?
Speaker 3: I can't?
Speaker 5: All right? Yes?
Speaker 2: And to or not pretty common. He uh.
Speaker 1: Reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a little
necklace and he hands it to you. Gus, I want
that back, And he's gonna give you an amulet of light,
which is a magic item. That's a very simple one,
very simple little thing. This one happens to be red
in color.
Speaker 2: Yes, I want that back, but worred the wise you're
going down into a giant tree. Don't like torches?
Speaker 7: Right right, Victoria is going to vary carefully without like
trying not to touch him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you get a little like frizzle of like oh,
that hurt right in the manna. But he's yeah, right, emmy,
and he leads you back into the room. Oh, he
leads you toward the back wall of the room. But
he does that thing again where he reaches out and
all the mycilia fibers kind of like wither away from him.
Speaker 2: And you see a.
Speaker 1: Very natural looking, a regular spiraling tunnel leading down. Oh, apips,
there's the cat rude. You see a very irregular tunnel
leading down into the darkness below the surface. He begins
to walk some time later. Anyone who would like to
can attempt to make a could call this either a
precision or cleverness check.
Speaker 4: I'll do a precision check.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I will do a cleverness check.
Speaker 2: Or okay, eighteen teen.
Speaker 6: I did cleverness, but I only got.
Speaker 2: Eighteen What did you say, Mika, fifteen eighteen? Okay? Great?
Speaker 1: You two, Laura, I you're distracted, but you two clock
just a general sense of like how deep you've gone,
because you started like a stump top and you spiraled
down and spiraled down and spiraled down, and you're like,
this is like dozens of stories. You're like, we've got
to be at like the base, like ground level of
the tree. By this point, like that's how long you've
walked for. And you see with the cleverness check, you
see that the spiral is not regular. So whereas like
a spiral staircase would be like a very consistent radius,
this very subtly a number of times like changes like
loosens or titans how far out it's spiraling, and then
comes back in. And I think you realize, so we'll say,
with the knowledge check, you figure out when he stops
you are a couple hundred feet below ground level of
the like surface city, not stump top of like the ground.
With theverness check, you realize this was carved deliberately, one
to disorientate, to disorient anyone from like determining where precisely
they are, but two, you think, possibly to avoid other
rooms or things that are in this stump somewhere. So
like this thing is very deliberately carved, even though it
seems kind of like a natural meandering thing. He leads
you to a wall at the bottom of this dark, ramped,
fiberous wooden tunnel.
Speaker 2: All right, are we part ways. I'm gonna let you
into a what are the university's archive vaults? Advice. Don't
go up you're looking for. It's the wall on the back,
eats down all of that.
Speaker 1: And he kind of hands over like he's roughly sketched
out a very rudimentary map.
Speaker 2: This is what the alchemy scout contact of mine alchemy
Scout's nothing. That's a nonsense thing. The Jim just said.
This is what the alchemist contact of mine works at
the university sketched out for me as the route Structurrey found.
I don't know if Roland mentioned this kid turned up
dead yesterday.
Speaker 3: He didn't know how.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, stabbed right in the neck.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it wasn't subtle anyway, Probably wasn't. Whatever creatures living
the stump down there did that to him. All this
path get in and out whatever in that room that
ended that building at the end, there's nothing there. Scouted out.
Report back. You see something shining your magic, grab it.
I'm back. Yeah, I'll be waiting for you.
Speaker 1: And he parts the wall and you see that like
there is a stone room, a carved like stone room.
Someone has brought in flagstones and like masonry and built
a wall. You see it looks like you are actually
like truly on the inside of a vault. There is
like a bank door set into one wall, not going
that way, and then he points to there is a
some of the stone work has crumbled and like eroded
or like faulted or shifted as like the tree is
kind of maybe shifted around it, and there is a
narrow gap down into the into the roots and.
Speaker 2: Tree beyond it. I guess ran down.
Speaker 1: And then he kind of, you know, parts the mycilium.
And as you step in, you see that this will
it looks like maybe like part of the wood of
the tree. This is actually more like fibrous my celial
like fungal growth that has made its way into this
room over probably a very long time. And then he
kind of parts it, lets you guys in, and as
you leave him, Yes, as he steps away, not only
does the wall begin to close, but like the entire
portion of the tunnel beyond it begins to like re
row behind him.
Speaker 2: See kind of what makes his way back up the spiral.
Speaker 5: Damn, I got to learn how to do that one.
Speaker 7: I'm not sure how we're getting out of here now,
but that's okay.
Speaker 1: And thus ends episode one of Nick's archive. Amber and
Ash as our new intrepid heroes find their way down
into the depths of break Paw. Be sure to tune
in next time to see where his adventure leads, and
prepare yourself for consequences that will be felt as far
away as Osk and beyond