Episode 11 - Extraction

[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the All Night Society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queens Court Games. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Alright, gang. Well, we got a bunch of problems. [00:00:40] Speaker A: To solve, don't we? Each of you individually and then also collectively have yourself a whole big pile. [00:00:46] Speaker B: Of second inquisition drama to deal with. Maya, we left you in a dark room with three strangers, one shoe, whole bunch of shadows. Rebecca, you're making very efficient work of the three second inquisition agents, unfortunate enough to be closest to you, schmendric you're up to a little bit of electronic and rat mischief. And Ivy, you find yourself victim of the Tremere compulsion. While all of this is going on, the world outside yet moves. And in those moments in between gunshots, in between the sounds of Rebecca affecting violence, in between the whispers of Schmendrick giving her rat orders and the muttered swears of Ivy as another blood needle goes ricocheting off some armor, you can hear things outside moving. There's a net. You're inside it and it's closing. Maya, you've probably met some people in the Sabat who think this is the. [00:01:44] Speaker A: Perfect opportunity to go down in a. [00:01:45] Speaker B: Blaze of glory, to use your vampiric power to show mastery over as many humans as the engine of mortal military might can send at you. But you are not that Sabat agent. I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe it's the case that the other three of you have a very sophisticated survival instinct. [00:02:04] Speaker A: Yes? [00:02:05] Speaker C: I don't really want to die today. [00:02:08] Speaker D: So yes, I mean, I have no intention of dying. Ever. I didn't die to the Si before, I don't intend on doing it now in a warehouse in Chicago. [00:02:21] Speaker B: Yeah, no, all powerful motivations. So let's see how you get yourself out of this mess. We'll start by playing a small game I like to call which of you is Unlucky? So will you each roll one D one hundred in chat for me. [00:02:34] Speaker D: I don't like this game. [00:02:37] Speaker B: Dice hate me though. [00:02:40] Speaker D: Oh, 61. That's good. That's like squarely in the middle. [00:02:44] Speaker E: 75. Not looking forward to see where this goes. [00:02:48] Speaker C: Not looking great with that. [00:02:49] Speaker B: 27 comes to Maya. [00:02:54] Speaker E: That's so upsetting. [00:02:55] Speaker B: This is the first time I've ever rolled so well. [00:02:58] Speaker C: Oh my God. This is the game where the highest roll loses, right? [00:03:06] Speaker E: Oh, no. [00:03:08] Speaker B: So, Maya, for whatever reason, be it tactical communication plane bad luck, maybe this side of the building was always the one that they had most of their operations targeted towards. Maybe this is the place they expect you to flee. But regardless, for whatever reason, this is the side of the building where things are going to get worse. First, you manage to escape the main open floor of the factory complex, ducking between a door into an area far outside. The powerful lights that are being shone through the window shone from the ceiling. You are in your element, but conditions are changing and instinctively that predator inside of you that only wants to fight and survive. It knows something is coming. You can feel that tension in the base of your vampiric bones. You have three adversaries now. You need to deal with them before there are more. What's your plan? [00:04:01] Speaker F: I feel like I'm being discouraged from enacting what I want to do. There are two doors, correct? [00:04:10] Speaker B: Yes. On the we'll call it the west side of the room. There's the door that you entered into. It goes back to the main factory floor, and on the north side, there's a solid metal fire escape kind of door that leads back out into the parking lot. [00:04:23] Speaker F: It's still brightest day outside, as far. [00:04:26] Speaker B: As you can tell. It's dark in here, but so far, you don't have any reason to believe that the situation outside has changed. [00:04:33] Speaker F: All right, I need to get out of the room and maybe incapacitate some of these guys. [00:04:38] Speaker B: You're lasambra. You're a magister. You have the fullness of vampiric power, to say nothing of your own wit. [00:04:44] Speaker F: To rely on, and they're currently missing some helmets. [00:04:48] Speaker B: Yes, indeed. You did a fine enough job of disrupting their communications. Most of them have ripped off their helmets. The ones who haven't are still clutching their ears, having fallen to the ground. [00:05:00] Speaker F: Fighting this creature while they're incapacitated slightly, I'm going to use Touch of Oblivion and remind them why they're afraid of the dark. [00:05:11] Speaker B: I'm assuming the first person to experience this power is going to be the gentleman whose helmet you tore off in the first place. [00:05:18] Speaker F: Heck, yes. [00:05:19] Speaker B: It's going to be a hideously gruesome affair. To activate Touch of Oblivion, you just need to make a rouse check. [00:05:26] Speaker F: I am at four hunger now. [00:05:28] Speaker B: Well, here's the thing about being at four hunger. At that point, the rational vampire brain is you've passed that middle point where self control allows you to look the beast in the eyes and say, like. [00:05:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I get it, you're a little. [00:05:44] Speaker B: Peckish, but just wait, it'll be fine. When you hit four hunger, it's a lot less like negotiating with your partner about, well, do you want to eat an hour in half an hour? It's a lot more like dealing with a toddler. A hungry, angry toddler who also, by virtue of a horrible curse, can force you into actions you maybe don't want to take. [00:06:10] Speaker E: Cool. [00:06:11] Speaker F: This is fine. [00:06:12] Speaker B: The good news is that you don't actually have to face that threat of hunger frenzy until you can see or smell or taste blood. You have to be provoked. The bad news in your case is touch of Oblivion has a way of making people bleed a lot. A whole lot. You're channeling the raw force of supernatural darkness into living flesh. All the sombre powers involve flirting around the, umbra, the darkness, that dimension of death that exists beyond the veil of the mortal realm. When you press your hands to this person, where do you touch them? [00:06:56] Speaker F: Well, their face is exposed. Just going to wrap my hands around their eyes. [00:07:03] Speaker B: Have you seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? [00:07:05] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. [00:07:07] Speaker B: So I don't need to tell you what happens here. [00:07:09] Speaker F: I mean, if you'd like to. [00:07:12] Speaker B: I will say that the stress of this moment is going to make it difficult to remember in the future. You're going to remember the scream, you're going to remember how it winnowed into Frothy Burbling lungs trying to breathe through a syrup of melty flesh and blood. You're going to remember how dark it was and probably be a little grateful for that because, yeah, you have the gift of Lasombra sight, but it's going to stop you from being able to remember this in full cinematic playback vision. It's really better for everyone that you don't see exactly what happens with regard to your hunger, though. You can smell it. And as close as you are to him, you know, with just the teensiest bit of effort, you can also taste it. I mean, the man is writhing in pain. Were it not for the fact that you fused his windpipe shut, he would be screaming. Do you have enough willpower? Do you have enough sense of self and control to keep the Beast in check? And to answer that, I'm going to need you to make a frenzy check. [00:08:24] Speaker F: Three successes. [00:08:26] Speaker B: Three successes. You can only smell it. There are more severe stimuli at this moment. The scent of it alone is not enough to bring the Beast into control. [00:08:38] Speaker F: A little inside baseball. If I rouse again and gain another hunger, I will not be able to stop myself. Correct. [00:08:46] Speaker B: When your hunger hits five, you'll provoke another frenzy check every time you see, smell or taste blood, and also anytime you fail a rouse check when activating one of your kindred powers. [00:08:58] Speaker F: Cool, I might solve both problems at once then. [00:09:02] Speaker B: We'll hold that thought. We'll see what comes of the next few moments. We'll see what Maya's situation looks like once everyone else has dealt with their specific threats. On that topic, rebecca, how are you doing? [00:09:16] Speaker E: I would say better, but in my case, I can't say I take as much glee in committing this much violence. [00:09:25] Speaker B: I don't know. You haven't sounded gleeful to me about it yet. [00:09:30] Speaker E: Perhaps, but I can consider that after we're out of this. And at the moment, there's a threat staring you in the face. [00:09:39] Speaker B: And we all know what happens to threats that get in Rebecca's face. [00:09:44] Speaker E: It doesn't end well, as he should have seen with his other two comrades. [00:09:48] Speaker B: What are you going to do to this guy? [00:09:51] Speaker E: I think I'll send him the way of his fellows. Pitiful feral weapon. [00:09:57] Speaker B: All right, well, you know the rules there strength plus brawl. [00:10:01] Speaker E: Five successes. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Well, you are in a protracted melee with this man, and while the first one you caught by surprise, and the second one was a victim of vampiric prowess. The third is not yet inclined to submit to your designs on his life. And as you square up against your opponent claws at the ready this isn't so easy as leaping out of the darkness to drive them through someone's chest. And as you swing and slash, he parries with his weapon. He ducks correctly in the right way. This man is ready for the fight you're bringing to him. He'll only take one damage out of the attack. You've drawn first blood, but there is a ways yet to go. As you make that lethal dance, he's trying the entire time to get the barrel of his weapon pointed in your direction. He knows that he's not going to win a fistfight. The only option he has is to gun you down at close range. The angle isn't perfect, but it's good enough. As he pulls that trigger rolling. Two successes. Can you dodge? [00:11:03] Speaker E: I'll see if my centuries of reflexes can help me avoid this particular issue. That would be three successes on my part. [00:11:11] Speaker B: He's fast. You're faster. It's not the first time. You've had 200 years of practice with white men with guns trying to bring them down on you. Those skills you learned out in Arizona, still fine over 200 years. [00:11:25] Speaker E: It's like they say, it's not broken, don't fix it. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Indeed. And speaking of things that are broken, Ivy, how are you doing? [00:11:37] Speaker D: Wow. Well, I'm behind a pillar. Very upset that my last blood needle didn't hit. Kind of wrapped up in all of that right now. [00:11:51] Speaker B: I understand that sounds pretty frustrating. What are you going to do about it? [00:11:56] Speaker D: I mean, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Haven't had to do that in a very long time because I usually succeed the first time around. So I'm going to send another blood needle shooting at this guy. [00:12:12] Speaker B: I'm ready for that. I have an honest question. Does Ivy actually know that phrase, like, if at first you don't succeed, yeah. [00:12:21] Speaker D: Don't come home? I'm pretty sure that was how it was adjusted when I was little. At first you don't succeed, don't bother coming home. [00:12:32] Speaker B: Well, compulsions are compulsions. At the end of the day, our parents damage us all in their own unique ways, and vampire blood is no different. So summon up that urge to rouse again. We'll see what comes of it. [00:12:45] Speaker D: Rousing success. [00:12:47] Speaker B: Not hungry, just angry, which is fair. Well, the same trouble exists that it did before, in that the men have ripped their helmets off, but that leaves not a whole lot of skin and face to aim for. [00:13:03] Speaker D: So it would be an additional minus. [00:13:05] Speaker B: Two, then called shot towards the head is minus three. [00:13:10] Speaker D: Well, I have a lot stacked against me, so I'm going to rouse the powers of my blood to try and offset this little predicament I find myself in. [00:13:20] Speaker B: By all means. It's your power. Use it. What's the worst that could happen. Don't ask Maya. [00:13:26] Speaker D: Another rousing success. [00:13:28] Speaker B: The beast understands it's a tramir beast inside a Tremere body. He's like, yeah, no, let's fucking do this. You don't lose dice for the called shot on the attempt that subtracts successes after the fact. So go ahead and roll your normal pool minus two. [00:13:44] Speaker D: Oh, great. That is a critical hit with four. [00:13:49] Speaker B: Successes on a critical. I won't make you suffer the penalty from the called shot. [00:13:56] Speaker C: Yay. [00:13:57] Speaker B: That's quintessentially. Ivy, right? You are faced with a challenge. You do not succeed. That is infuriating. And as I understand your character, the only thing capable of motivating her to this level is spite, right? [00:14:13] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely. [00:14:15] Speaker B: So narrate that for me. Describe Ivy's emotional state, her internal monologue, her flow of consciousness as she draws up behind the pillar, spins around the corner of it, and lets loose her. Thermoturgical theory, really. [00:14:30] Speaker D: It all started downstairs. The surprise, the si, being here and being ready to come at us. There was no universe in which I saw that this was a possibility. And I regret that a lot because I should have expected it. But I didn't. So now I find myself trapped behind a pillar with these humans, these mortals who seek to do nothing but ruin my life, who knew way more about me than I ever wanted any human to know, ever. Who know about me as of kindred, surviving in these nights. And they have the audacity. The audacity to shoot at me behind a car, to bring a Predator drone. You do not back me into a corner and hope that things are going to go well for you. [00:15:31] Speaker B: I appreciate you attempting to make a teachable moment out of the situation. I don't know that your target is going to learn the lesson in a useful way. If for no other reason, then the center of comprehension exists. What, like in the in the base of the brain? Is that where it is? And at the moment, he has a piece of crystallized blood roughly the size of a railroad spike traveling at a few hundred miles an hour through that part of his brain. The effect is spectacular. There's something a little Jackson Pollock about the way the back of his brain explodes open shards of skull gray matter, blood spattering the wall behind him. You haven't resolved the danger entirely. He still has two friends, and there are innumerable goons running the building around. But you've achieved this moment. You've shown the superiority of the Tremere, critically, in fact. And that, at the very least, is enough to resolve the compulsion. [00:16:26] Speaker D: Fantastic. [00:16:29] Speaker B: That power is not, unfortunately, enough to stop bullets. And in the moment that you exit cover to draw a beat on your target, the folks opposite the room are doing the same. That's incoming fire. Chaos of battle has taken a toll on our adversaries, it seems. Are you nimble enough to make it back behind the pillar before you take further wounds. [00:16:55] Speaker D: So I got three successes on my first dodge roll and a b steel failure on my second. [00:17:10] Speaker B: You're not having a very good day, Henby? [00:17:12] Speaker D: Nope. It's rough. [00:17:16] Speaker B: Is everything okay? I mean, like, in your personal life? Because you're exhibiting some signs right now of not being able to cope with stress, and I'm just wondering, is that coming from somewhere else? Do you need to spend a moment to talk about it before the beast takes control? [00:17:32] Speaker D: You know, it just a lot of old feelings have come up today and things that I had shoved way deep down, so it's impacting a lot of what I do today. [00:17:54] Speaker B: Clouding your judgment. [00:17:56] Speaker D: Yeah. For what it's worth, I'm incredibly unhappy about this. [00:18:03] Speaker B: Of course, I understand that you have regrets about the way that you are about to behave. Remind me, you encountered some agents of the second inquisition in Nevada, right? [00:18:17] Speaker D: Yes, quite a few. [00:18:19] Speaker B: But I mean, you encountered a few outside of a barn, if I recall. [00:18:25] Speaker D: Yes, that is correct. [00:18:27] Speaker B: And if you'll remind me, how did you resolve that situation? [00:18:31] Speaker D: By using the powers of my blood to affect them. Scorpions touch specifically. [00:18:40] Speaker B: So up close, personal. Something that allowed you to look into their eyes as they succumbed to your predatorial majesty? [00:18:48] Speaker D: Yes, the tendrils of blood dripping from my fingers definitely did a number on them to start and then it just went from there. [00:18:59] Speaker B: It's brightly lit in here, but also I don't think you're going to be able to see that from where you are. Right. You're pretty far away. You should probably get closer. [00:19:09] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. [00:19:11] Speaker B: Like a lot closer. [00:19:12] Speaker D: Like a lot closer. [00:19:14] Speaker B: Yeah. So why don't you rouse for me as you blood surge and then make a dex and athletics check for me. [00:19:19] Speaker D: Sure. That is a hunger gain. Think the beast is ready for this? And four successes on my athletics check. [00:19:29] Speaker B: Okay, so that first shot that comes in wings you. It's enough for one superficial damage. You get a bullet through the outside of your arm, you won't even register that damage in your brain until later. The second one, that gets a bit more center mass, you can feel the impact again, you're dead. It's not like you needed that lung anyway. Blood goes through it. Whatever. You'll fix that later. It hurts enough for two superficial damage. That pain has nothing against the outrage. The pain of being insulted, the pain of being forced to remember the last time you had to flee. The only time in your entire vampiric own life that you felt threatened. You're back there now. And then the car, you had it under control. And when you were in here it was now you've done it the nice way. You've played your cards right. You tried to be tactical. Maya gave you a gift in taking the helmets off. And you know what? You thought that was going to be enough. But at this point, this close, this dangerous, in a situation that resembles the last time so closely, well, it's not really a moment for the rational mind, is it? [00:20:44] Speaker D: No, sir. [00:20:45] Speaker B: So, with your athletics roll, using the full grace of vampiric power, forcing the blood to make your legs move faster than they should, to give you balance beyond what humans should have, you go tearing across the catwalk. What kind of shoes are you wearing? [00:20:59] Speaker D: I'm wearing boots. Just Doc Martens is to thee. [00:21:03] Speaker B: The clang of your boots slamming against this rusted, not dangerous, but metallic rumble of you screaming across the second story catwalk and launching yourself into these two men. I'm so excited to see what happens next before we get there. shmendrick. How are you doing? [00:21:23] Speaker C: Well, while the others are inflicting massive amounts of carnage onto the soldiers, shall we say, I am making my own mark on all of the electronics around here. With the help of Aristotle, he is sending me his thoughts about this cable, looks like this. And I go, no, leave that one alone. Then you'll tell me about a different one and I say, yes, that one is filled with cheese, or something to that degree. And once he kind of sets everything up for me, I am ready to make all of the lights in this building blow out spectacularly. [00:22:03] Speaker B: So, for me, you are having Aristotle prepare things so that you can make the final push. Right. You're not asking Aristotle to chew the wires if the power goes out, you're telling him to make some mess that will then enable you to do the next thing, right? [00:22:21] Speaker C: Exactly. Yes. [00:22:24] Speaker B: All right. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but I think when you go over this moment again in the future and Ivy is talking about being shot and going mentally crazy and Maya is talking about making people's faces melt off, and Rebecca is talking about ripping people's throats out. You should come up with something better than I was talking to Aristotle about cheese. [00:22:49] Speaker C: No, I think it's perfect. It is so me in so many different ways. [00:22:54] Speaker B: I don't think they're going to like it. [00:22:57] Speaker C: Well, at a party, what's going to be more interesting? Oh, yeah, I killed all of these second inquisition agents. Oh, yeah. Well, I thought about cheese the whole. [00:23:05] Speaker A: Time on brand for schmendric. [00:23:08] Speaker B: I'll give you points for that. I guess we're not going to know the outcome until you make your next move. What is stage two of Schmendrik's grand plan? [00:23:17] Speaker C: So stage two is I would like to send a power surge into the lighting and make it just explode rather than simply turn them off, because, hey, you can't fix a light that has exploded, but you can just turn a light on that hasn't turned off. So I want to cripple these things rather than inconvenience. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Of course, situations like this require permanent solutions. These aren't digital lights. It's mechanical. So let's go with dexterity and technology. [00:23:51] Speaker C: Only two successes I'm considering. Willpower rolling that well. [00:23:57] Speaker B: Let me give you this information. That is not enough to get it done in one turn. It doesn't mean you failed. It does mean the people up here will notice what you're up to before the lights go off. [00:24:07] Speaker C: Yeah, that's not acceptable. Time is kind of of the essence. So willpower reroll zero successes. It's not my day. [00:24:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that's Schmendrick luck, isn't it? [00:24:19] Speaker C: This is fine. Yet another obstacle for me to overcome while doing what I need to do. [00:24:25] Speaker B: You open it up, but this isn't a well kept electrical box on it. Right. They hauled its equipment out of some garage. It's already been patched a couple of times. So it's not as simple as the cables are all cleanly, organized, and I just got to yoink this one. It's a mess. The three successes was the target. So you're getting close enough and if you had just, like, ten more seconds, you'd be able to do it. So then the choice I'll give you is you can spend those extra 10 seconds, but at that point, you will not be able to obfuscate your way out of it or you have to give up and get out of there. [00:24:59] Speaker C: She's pretty stubborn. So I am probably going to try and spend the extra 10 seconds. Got to take risks sometimes. [00:25:07] Speaker B: All right? Yeah. So you succeed at cost. You didn't get enough out of your role or your willpower to pull it off. Easy peasy. But schmendric is selfless. From time to time, you recognize that making this decision is probably going to hurt. But having the lights off is going to make things better for everyone else in here, right? [00:25:30] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:25:31] Speaker B: Yeah. You're meddling around in the cabinet, long little clawed fingers, trying to find the right cables. There's an impulse in your techno brain to handle this by removing the correct wire. At a certain point when you realize that's not working, pull all the wires. Fuck it. Everybody, save for Maya, already in an amount of darkness, sees the room plunge into native ambient night. There are still bright beams shining into the windows, but now they cast long shadows over equipment. Save for those singular beams of light piercing through openings in the wall, the rest of the place is as dark as it should be. That's good news for you, Schmendrick, in that it's going to make what comes next more difficult for the Inquisition agents. It is bad news in that you are a rat caught out of your hole. So, schmendric, you have turned out the lights, but also attracted attention. There are a half a dozen second Inquisition agents up here. That's bad. Half of them are armed for very long range combat. [00:26:37] Speaker A: That's good. [00:26:38] Speaker B: In the amount of time they have to realize something has gone wrong with the lights. Figure out that it's you and draw their weapons. That requires a reaction speed that not all of them have. So you're not going to get a full broad side of siled right now, but two of them are going to make their attacks. [00:26:58] Speaker C: All right. I'm hoping that the door or something of this big storage unit is protecting me, at least somewhat, but I'm not holding on to hope. [00:27:10] Speaker B: Well, their numbers aren't that good. Why don't you see Dexterity and athletics? Can you peel some of that damage away? [00:27:17] Speaker C: First roll was two successes, and second is a miss. [00:27:23] Speaker B: You find yourself in a little bit of an Ivy position, the first one wings you. It's enough to get your attention. Ivy handled rage a little differently when her clothing was ruined. We'll see if schmendric has the same kind of attitude about her wardrobe. The second one hurts. Not literally, but psychosomatically. You still have enough of a human brain to think getting shot should be painful. And you end up taking two superficial damage. [00:27:49] Speaker C: Not looking so healthy right now. Well, I mean, I wasn't healthy to. [00:27:52] Speaker B: Begin with, but you're Nosferatu. How do we know exactly? [00:27:56] Speaker C: I assume the chunks missing out or no, wait, that doesn't matter either. [00:28:02] Speaker D: Literally impossible to tell. [00:28:04] Speaker B: Are you just going to sit here and take this? schmendric. My God. Stand up for Nosferatu. [00:28:08] Speaker C: Well, my vampire mommy thinks I'm beautiful, so we're just going to they can say what they want. I'm beautiful. Missing chunks and all. [00:28:16] Speaker B: Well, the lights are off in the entire building now. Like I said, there are still horizontal columns of light, like spears shining through the windows, through open doors. Maya, you've got a different kind of darkness game going on, both in the literal sense that your room is much, well, less illuminated, and in the metaphorical sense where your impending hunger is going to turn your thoughts into darkness. What's the plan? [00:28:44] Speaker F: I'm going to rouse one more time and see if I can neutralize one of these other Si agents. [00:28:52] Speaker B: You're going to risk, huh? [00:28:54] Speaker F: Yeah, because once the hunger takes me, I can just ride it. [00:28:58] Speaker B: I'm sure plenty of kindred have said that before. [00:29:02] Speaker F: I'm trying to kill three Si with. [00:29:04] Speaker B: 1 st. Well, again, it's dark, so they are not going to be as agile and defensive as usual. But they know you are in there, so the free grabbing people out of the dark phase of this combat is over. You're going to have to get physical. So first things first, if you want to wrap your void, death dealing fingers around this gentleman. [00:29:27] Speaker F: Who said anything about using my hands? I'll activate arms. Baherman. [00:29:32] Speaker B: Ah, yes, lasambra specific problem solving. So you make a rouse check. [00:29:39] Speaker F: Oh, God. [00:29:40] Speaker B: Is something the matter? [00:29:43] Speaker F: That's a hunger game. We have hit five hunger. I'm not going to have time. I'm not going to have time for anything fancy. [00:29:50] Speaker B: Well, the power activates whether or not you gain hunger out of it. This will just change the way, maybe, that you decide to take advantage of the situation first. Let's roll wits and oblivion and see how much tentacley power you can manifest. [00:30:06] Speaker F: That's a critical hit with six successes. [00:30:10] Speaker B: You know these people had the chance to not get involved, right? They didn't know that there was going to be a Lasombra here. They don't even know anything about vampires. But all the same, once they'd seen Rebecca going at things, once they'd heard the screams of their friends through the audio equipment, they should have known better, right? And the fact that these immortals, despite all of that, whether it's ignorance or hubris, they decided to stay, and that kind of insolence offends you to your la sombra core. Terrible things live on the other side of the umbra. It's a place of unimaginable darkness, of cold, of void. You reach in, you pull out the shapes that can't be seen. These things that slither in two dimensions across surfaces, refusing to obey the rules of our universe. Now, I want you to take a moment. Imagine that I am this youthful, highly trained second inquisition agent. And in the little flashes of light that manage to make it through the windows, or when a gunshot rings off and the muzzle flash provides just a hint of illumination, what do I see as Maya and these shadow tentacles approach? [00:31:33] Speaker F: Do you remember being really little and being just terrified of the monster in your closet? The dark? But there's that really primal fear of the unknown. And being alone, especially with predators. In the darkness of this room that I've drawn them into, all of these poor soldiers who felt so strong and so safe in their armor with their weapons, find themselves in a place that all of humanity has feared for their entire species existence. And in the flashes of the muzzle fire and the glimpses they can get through streaks of light from outside, just pure horrifying blackness cutting across their vision, grabbing them across limbs and faces and arms, whatever they can get their hands on. And then screaming. Just horrible, unfortunate screams. [00:32:36] Speaker B: We have two victims and tentacles. Enough with a critical success that it's going to require divine intervention for them. [00:32:44] Speaker A: To escape your wrath. [00:32:47] Speaker B: What are you going to do with these people? You're at five hunger. You could end all of that by availing yourself of a morsel. It's not that big a deal. You planned on killing both of them anyway, right? [00:32:59] Speaker F: Exactly. [00:33:00] Speaker C: It's the circle of life. [00:33:03] Speaker B: Well, then let me ask a different question, because with the tentacles again, you can move them to whatever position you want. You can bend their bodies to your will. Are you intent enough on punishing them to make the second one watch? I don't judge people. [00:33:22] Speaker F: I don't need them to watch. I think it's better if they can imagine it. [00:33:26] Speaker B: Nothing more cruel than the human mind. Left unattended. [00:33:29] Speaker F: The lasambra compulsion is ruthlessness. I don't know that I'm thinking straight enough to let them suffer in that way. They may get torn apart. [00:33:40] Speaker B: You have the best of both worlds right now. You have two needs that require fulfillment hunger and ruthlessness, and two vessels on which to project those needs. There's a businesslike efficiency in it. The first man is there, held rigid by darkness from beyond the realm of human comprehension. An inky black that reaches up over his neck and shoves his head to the right, exposing from beneath that armored collar the pale white flesh of his throat. You have the opportunity I can't make you. The choice is yours. How much of this man's life you'll take? [00:34:20] Speaker F: A girl has needs. And it's not personal. It's just business. I'm going to feed until I'm done. [00:34:28] Speaker B: Until you are done, and until he's done. Rebecca it's eerily quiet on Maya's side of the building, but that's not something you can direct your full attention to. At the moment, this man is still in your face, daring to defy you. You gonna put an end to that. [00:34:48] Speaker E: Of course, others might consider it playing with their food. But I can't look at this man as food as so much as worthy opponent. There's no honor in continuing it. It's time to end up, strengthen. Bro five successes. [00:35:05] Speaker B: It will bring you some consolation to know that this gentleman is a capable fighter. He is defending himself admirably, at least so far as humans are capable to. But you're faster, you're stronger. You are driven by forces he cannot understand. And there's simply no amount of human effort that can resist the assault of your claws as they rain down upon him. Rebecca bashes this man to the floor. It would take a bit of time or energy to check if he's dead, if he's unconscious, or if he's merely writhing in silence on the floor, incapacitated but still alive. Do you care enough to find out? Or do you have other things you want to deal with? [00:35:52] Speaker E: The rational part of me wants to go and check, make sure you never leave wounded on the battlefield. That's how you end up with spies and people knowing all your movements. But we came here for a reason, and I haven't seen head nor hair of that bastard since we walked in here. And I'm not leaving without him. [00:36:12] Speaker B: I understand the urgency. I'll also say it'd be a trivial thing, for as you walked off to use a stray claw to seal the. [00:36:21] Speaker E: Deal like a bird crushing his throat till it stops breathing. [00:36:27] Speaker B: You probably wouldn't even have to bend over. Just make sure to step in the right place. [00:36:32] Speaker E: There's no dignity in that. He fought wrong. I should at least give him the honor of looking him in the eyes when I cut his throat. [00:36:38] Speaker B: You dispatched this man with the coup de gras, and then it is on to ostensibly charles Dawson. Yes. [00:36:46] Speaker E: Yes, there was someone in the middle of the room. Right, but has to be him. Unless he's hiding in the shadows somewhere. But considering that they were able to sniff out schmendric, I doubt he's managed the same. [00:36:58] Speaker B: No. Whoever the figure is who has been hooded and chained in the center of the room remains there. You'll be able to cross the room and deal with him in no time at all. [00:37:08] Speaker E: I do want to see who's under best. There's always the possibility that who knows, perhaps it's just a dummy they put under there. So before I shape my claws, I'm going to very carefully rip through the hood on the figure's head and reveal their face. [00:37:25] Speaker B: You sure you want to know who it is? [00:37:27] Speaker E: I do. If it's they okay. If it's Charles, he has to know a way out of this. Or at the very least, if there's more coming. [00:37:37] Speaker B: So you cross the battlefield hunched slightly, coiled like a spring, making your way to the center. Once this part of the building was the center focus of so many lights, darkness now covers the area. You reach forward with your claws, sneaking one underneath the lip of the hood, pulling it upward. Ivy Miss Le Roux filled in this moment with rage against these petulant creatures. That in of itself would be dangerous. But this particular emotional cocktail also has more than a little hint of latent fear of repressed. Dangerous memories. [00:38:24] Speaker D: Yes, it's a really unfortunate mix. [00:38:30] Speaker A: Unfortunate for who? [00:38:32] Speaker D: For me. For these humans. For everybody involved, really. [00:38:39] Speaker A: I think they're just humans. Why do you give a shit? [00:38:41] Speaker D: I mean, at the end of the day, I guess I don't. Because they're trying to kill me. So, really, that's on them. Bad move. But also, I don't like this look on me. I'm not a fan. [00:38:55] Speaker B: Got to say, no one's watching. [00:38:58] Speaker D: Thank God for that. [00:39:00] Speaker B: I won't tell anyone. You won't tell anyone? [00:39:04] Speaker D: No, that's true. Definitely won't tell anybody. I'll just have it sitting in my brain, shoved way, way deep down along with everything else. [00:39:14] Speaker B: Well, I leave it up to you. How are you going to handle the situation? Two gunmen, no helmets, still armored, a bit dazed, as their brains try to reconcile the speed with which you have crossed the factory. You have the upper hand. [00:39:32] Speaker D: I have the upper hand, and I have the ability to scorpionate my blood, so I think that's two points to me. [00:39:43] Speaker B: The poison will knock them unconscious. Is that enough for you? [00:39:48] Speaker D: No, but if they're unconscious, then I don't have to grapple them as I eat them. [00:39:54] Speaker B: All right? Well, how much of your blood are you going to transmute into a toxic, poisonous icker? [00:40:04] Speaker D: At least enough for both of them. [00:40:06] Speaker B: Well, it's only fair, right? You wouldn't want one to have to go without. It's only fair if you bring enough gum, you have to have some for everyone in the class, else you can't chew it. [00:40:17] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:40:19] Speaker B: That's two rouse checks, then. [00:40:21] Speaker D: Yes, sir. Rousing success. And that's a hunger game. [00:40:27] Speaker B: What are you sitting at now? [00:40:29] Speaker D: Four. [00:40:30] Speaker B: Well, you already had this problem solved. [00:40:31] Speaker A: It's no big deal. [00:40:34] Speaker D: So the only problem, the only small, itty bitty little problem, is that scorpion's touch requires strength. And I'm not super strong. I'm thinking that I need to rouse the powers of my blood to give me a better shot at knocking both of these guys out. Because then the hunger won't be a problem. Right. [00:40:58] Speaker B: So you would like to rouse to increase the intensity of your poison? [00:41:03] Speaker D: Indeed. [00:41:04] Speaker B: Hey, I'm not here to tell you how to live your life. Do what you want to do. [00:41:09] Speaker D: Oh, that is a rousing success. [00:41:12] Speaker B: Let's see how toxic and ickery your toxic icker is. [00:41:18] Speaker D: Are you joking? One success. Absolutely not. I'm going to reroll with Willpower. [00:41:26] Speaker B: As you like. [00:41:27] Speaker D: Three successes. [00:41:28] Speaker B: That's better. Yeah, not great, but that's half of the equation. You have equipped yourself with a poison still requires an application. What's your plan there? [00:41:41] Speaker D: I mean, I have to touch them. I assume it's a strength and brawl because I don't really have an option. [00:41:49] Speaker B: Well, you can apply it through other means. I wouldn't call them dignified. [00:41:55] Speaker D: I assume my dignity left when I was in a pile next to the bullet hole ridden car. [00:42:02] Speaker B: Well, then, who cares? They can't see. Spit at them, then. [00:42:06] Speaker D: Spit I shall we'll say that you've. [00:42:09] Speaker B: Taken the effort to transmute this blood as you cross the catwalk? So it's dexterity and athletics to, we'll say, project your venom. There are two gentlemen. Which of them is fortunate enough to be the first victim? No, there's a younger one, probably 2021. A bit baby faced, but the kind of youthful features that have been hardened by exercise, by tension. He's a trained soldier, that much is clear. You don't see the emotion in his eyes. There's no fear. It's reflex at this point, just hard ground training beaving through his veins. It's enough to make him appear capable, adult, responsible. But on the other hand, it's the kind of face that is blindly following orders. Did he really know what he was getting himself into? Did he volunteer for this? And even if he did, two years ago, he was 16. Does he have the emotional maturity to make the kind of decisions that got him into this position? I don't know. The other one is older, put him in his early 30s. He has a qualified leadership aura about him, probably a sergeant. You've already killed one of his men. That is enough to pierce that facade of professionalism. He's furious and he's channeling that rage away from a place of pain into a place of violence. [00:43:40] Speaker D: Oh, well, it's clear who needs to be the first one to go down, then. As soon as I get within spitting range, I take quick stock of both of these men, the one younger, baby faced one, the one who's older and clearly very upset at me for my actions thus far. I need to teach this one a lesson and show to the young one just the true power. Even something as simple as a little spit. Just let's really drive this point home. So when I get close enough, I square my shoulders up, give a little bit of a smirk and then attack. That is three successes. [00:44:26] Speaker A: Three is enough, yes. [00:44:28] Speaker B: He fails his dodge. It's not the kind of thing you would discuss in polite company. The visual of a vampire reaching into themselves, summoning up this fluid, projecting it. There's something vaguely snakelike about it. Ultimately, though, the details are trivial. The results are what you're interested in. There's a microsecond of shock. If you had a slow motion camera, you could see the emotional process on this man's face as he sees you stop, wonders why that is, realizes what you're doing, tracks that projectile as it crosses towards him, and then has a fleeting questioning look on his face as it makes contact with his shoulder splattering up. There are questions still on his face as the poison takes hold and he lapses into unconsciousness. There are questions on the young man's face. Chief among them, what the fuck just happened? He's not able to verbalize those in this moment. And whether or not he ever comes to understand what has happened, he knows he's not going to go down without a fight. He shoulders his weapon, squeezes the trigger. A burst of gunfire. Are you fast enough? [00:45:41] Speaker D: With four successes, I believe I am. [00:45:44] Speaker B: We'll see how you handle this young gentleman in a moment. In the meantime, schmendrick. [00:45:50] Speaker E: Yes? [00:45:51] Speaker B: You're being shot at. [00:45:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm not a massive fan of them. [00:45:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't expect that to be the case. This isn't quite like the first person shooters, is it? [00:46:03] Speaker C: Well, if you're not very good at the game, then, yeah, you're going to get shot a lot. The key is knowing where to glitch into the walls and stuff, so you can just avoid most damage, but still inflict a lot of damage onto others. This is not, however, one of those circumstances, and I'm considering just taking a leap off the balcony. [00:46:29] Speaker B: I mean, that is its own form of real life cheat code, right? That's not something a normal player in this game should be able to do. [00:46:36] Speaker C: It's true. So with that in mind, I was never a very athletic person. If I'm going to jump from the third story down, I think I would like to blood surge first. [00:46:51] Speaker B: Just one little last hurrah to give you the athletic oomph to avoid the hail of incoming fire. Yeah, there's wisdom in that. [00:47:00] Speaker C: So there is arousing success on my blood search. [00:47:04] Speaker B: The beast demands no cost. [00:47:06] Speaker C: If there's anything my beast knows how to do, it's to run away. [00:47:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Survival is one of the only three things a beast knows how to do. Well, go ahead and add that bonus and we will see how you fare. [00:47:20] Speaker C: Two successes on my dexterity and athletics role. [00:47:25] Speaker B: Well, I regret to say that's not going to be enough to get the job done. So you go skittering less than running, giving your athletics towards the railing, vaulting over it with all the courage you can muster. There's something a little bizarre about the urge. You, of the entire codery, are, I think, closest to an actual human experience. And as you lift your legs making that jump, ready to vault over the railing and fall, there's a small part of you that has to ask, what the fuck am I doing? [00:47:57] Speaker C: To which my brain immediately responds with trying to avoid bullets. [00:48:03] Speaker B: Powerful motivator, right? [00:48:05] Speaker C: It's a leap of faith, in a way. Again, I'm well aware of my athletic capabilities. This was a potential outcome to this decision. [00:48:14] Speaker B: But that is the beautiful thing about being kindred, isn't it? That you don't have to worry about the weaknesses you had when you were human. The blood can make you faster. The blood can make you stronger. The blood can make you more nimble. The blood can let you survive a three story fall to the center of a warehouse. Before you make that final choice to fire the neurons to throw yourself off of this balcony, though, I'll ask you, it's a pretty long way down. You sure you don't want to maybe try to mend some wounds before you take the plunge? [00:48:49] Speaker C: Considering how many times I've been shot, that's probably a good idea. So let's make a rouse check to mint some of my bullet holes. Okay, I've gained a hunger from that. [00:49:04] Speaker B: You still managed to stitch a bit of yourself back together. The fall down is about 7 meters. That's going to be seven superficial damage. [00:49:16] Speaker C: So after I've taken this leap, which in hindsight, I may have been better off just getting shot or captured, but once I hit the ground, I am left with one superficial damage left. Everything else is aggravated. [00:49:35] Speaker B: So you're not dead yet and you will have the opportunity to continue rousing to mend yourself. It's also honestly better that you be this close to death down here instead. [00:49:48] Speaker A: Of this close to death up there. [00:49:51] Speaker B: Rebecca's already proven a willingness to rescue her comrades and Schmendrick doesn't know it, but Maya and Ivy are both solving problems in their own way. So escape is imminent. [00:50:03] Speaker C: That was my thought. You know, if I had actually been able to succeed in my jump, I would have plunged into darkness where they could no longer shoot at me. [00:50:13] Speaker B: You are correct. There being this far away, the enemies that were on the ground floor are either dead or wishing they were dead in Maya's neck of the woods. Ones on the second floor have more important things to worry about. And the ones all the way up there can only blindfire down into the darkness below. [00:50:33] Speaker C: I still think the cheese story is going to be way more exciting than the I fell off the balcony and almost went into torpor story. [00:50:41] Speaker B: Fell is not giving yourself the correct amount of agency. You hurled yourself off the balcony. [00:50:48] Speaker C: I did. [00:50:49] Speaker B: Rebecca, will you do me a solid and roll one D ten, please? [00:50:53] Speaker E: Sure thing. A six. [00:50:57] Speaker B: I'll just keep that in your pocket. [00:50:59] Speaker E: Well, don't like that statement. [00:51:02] Speaker B: So all of these things have been happening simultaneously, right? It's not. Maya does a thing and then Rebecca does a thing. Each of you are taking these actions all in one moment. So Maya is seizing this person up in her tentacles to feast in the same moment that Rebecca is crossing the room to Charles. You're lifting up the veil when out of the corner of your eye behind Charles, as you're looking forward, there's a streak of mottled gray and then a heavy smack, like a bag of flour being dropped on the floor. A very big bag of flour from a very tall height onto a very hard floor. But the gist is there. You've never seen a flying nosferatu before? Does what you see change what you're going to do, Rebecca? [00:51:54] Speaker E: Well, this captive certainly isn't moving. And coterie comes first. [00:51:58] Speaker F: Chase. [00:51:59] Speaker E: Regard. So I'm going to check that out. Removing my claw from that veil and making sure that this airborne nosferatu is. [00:52:07] Speaker F: Still in one piece. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Cannot imagine a universe where Schmendik does not have something clever to say to Rebecca as she looks up from the floor. [00:52:16] Speaker C: How's my landing? [00:52:18] Speaker D: Ow. [00:52:20] Speaker E: Don't worry. Yucca had those kind of landings when she was a Fletchling. But I'll give her a hand and help her get to her feet. [00:52:29] Speaker B: Well, levity aside, Rebecca, you recognize that things are very slowly turning pear shaped. You can see the shadows of new strike teams stacking up against the doors, getting ready to breach. Maya, you can hear the commands coming through the helmet cast aside orders being counted down, people reporting that they're in position. Ivy from the second floor, if you make even one look out the window, you can see that those armored vehicles have now closed in from the perimeter, the tops opening up to reveal turrets. This was a trap. You were in the net. There was a snare. It's starting to close. And it's probably a good idea to not be here when it does. Fuck. Indeed. So that said, Maya, you finished your meal. You got a little bit just there in the corner of your mouth if you want to catch that. [00:53:33] Speaker F: I assume it's not just the corner. [00:53:37] Speaker B: I was being polite. [00:53:38] Speaker F: Thank you. I can't check myself as soon as I'm finished. I'm going to go check out this not Charles situation. [00:53:46] Speaker B: You have a second gentleman yet in your clutches? No need or desire at this moment to eat him, but also we don't know if you want to leave him alive. [00:53:56] Speaker F: In that case, how far can I throw him? [00:53:59] Speaker B: The room isn't that big. So I can answer your question in this way. If you're going for distance, you're not going to set any records here. If you're looking to solve your problem, those walls look sturdy enough. [00:54:16] Speaker F: I mean, if I can open the door that leads out and toss that man outside, I'm going to do it just to scare them. [00:54:25] Speaker B: The arms of Rahiman are capable. It takes only the force of will to motivate one across the ground up to the door, shoving it open, and then just another thought. Take that man, fling him out the door. [00:54:42] Speaker F: In that case, yes, I throw open the door and throw the man out. [00:54:48] Speaker B: Must be nice to be able to affect that kind of physical violence without having to worry about breaking a nail. [00:54:54] Speaker F: It really is. And with that, I'll stroll back into the main area, where I can check out this Charles thing. [00:55:02] Speaker B: I love this image of Maya, her face covered in blood, but nevertheless walking out. Just a beacon of dignity and composure, as if nothing has gone on. All right, well, time to see what the peasants are up. [00:55:19] Speaker F: Oh, that's blood on my nail. [00:55:21] Speaker C: Weird. [00:55:23] Speaker A: We'll get to that in a second. [00:55:24] Speaker B: Ivy, you are possessed of all the same information. You saw Schmendrick make the jump? [00:55:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I did. The problem is, seeing what I've seen and knowing that there's still one more dude in front of me, I don't exactly have time to eat. I'm guessing it's not advised. [00:55:46] Speaker B: Don't know that you do. [00:55:48] Speaker D: Cool. [00:55:49] Speaker B: That's not all bad news, though. Don't know if you've considered the thought, but if you were going to make that jump, that kid would probably do a good job of breaking some of your fall. [00:56:03] Speaker D: Yeah, I did think about that, too. The poor, poor child. See, if I knew that this was coming, I probably would have landed on the old dude, because he is going to wake up eventually and be fine, but this kid is probably not going to do great. [00:56:21] Speaker B: You also don't have to. You can just go on your own. [00:56:26] Speaker D: The problem is, it's not that low a fall, a jump, and on the off chance that I don't make it, it's going to be a rough night to get through the rest of this. So I would like to give myself. [00:56:41] Speaker A: The best possible chance here for all he's only human. [00:56:47] Speaker D: Exactly. A human who's shooting at me and actively trying to murder me and my codery mates. [00:56:52] Speaker B: I understand that you could escape. There's something a little evil about taking him with you. Well, you know, I won't use the word evil. There's something a little monstrous about taking a human flying carpet along for the ride. [00:57:07] Speaker D: Well, because here's the thing. If he survives, which he could, it's only a two story fall at that point, he might break a thing, but then we have somebody to take with us, somebody to ask questions to. Right? [00:57:23] Speaker B: You're going to pack a lunch? [00:57:25] Speaker C: Sure. [00:57:27] Speaker D: Yeah. That's a very nice way of putting it, but also, genuinely, it's a good source of potential information. [00:57:37] Speaker B: All right, something well, if you want to take him with you, you can do it in one of two ways. You can take him with you and use his body to cushion yours as you put on a live physics demonstration. Or you can take him with you and then use your body to shield him in a way ensuring he will survive the fall, but you won't gain any damage mitigation out of that. Okay, the fall is about 4 meters, so at the very worst, you're looking at four superficial damage. If you make a dexterity and athletics. [00:58:12] Speaker A: Check difficulty four, you'll take half that. [00:58:19] Speaker D: I would really, really like to know just okay, ultimately, as much as I would love to just use this guy to keep myself safe, I can entertain the idea, but I'm not that far gone yet. And as much as I'd like to, I just cannot bring myself to do it. The chance to take him with us and potentially learn something is better than leaving without having any information at all, right? [00:58:55] Speaker B: That choice isn't mine to make. [00:59:01] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm going to try and take him with us, I guess. [00:59:06] Speaker B: All right. Be a strength plus brawl check to convince him to go along with your plan. [00:59:16] Speaker D: Okay? [00:59:16] Speaker B: I know. Silly humans and their desire to not be thrown off of balconies. [00:59:21] Speaker D: I don't understand. Where do they go? I mean, even if I even if I shield him, he's not interested. Okay, do you want to take the. [00:59:29] Speaker B: Time to communicate that to him? Like, explain, negotiate? [00:59:32] Speaker D: No, I'm going to risk a rouse check. Yeah, I'm going to risk a blood surge. I am not strong. I do not have brawl abilities. [00:59:42] Speaker B: I suppose there's another option. You still have one tank, right? You could make this guy pass out, too. [00:59:49] Speaker D: I could. That's true. I forgot that I prepped, too. [00:59:53] Speaker B: So he'll be Dexing athletics. If you want to projectile subdue this young man, and that will negate the need for a brawl check to throw him along with you. [01:00:06] Speaker D: Two successes. [01:00:10] Speaker B: He rolls a one for his dodge, which means that your poison connects. It's got to feel different this close, just watching poison sink into his pores, and there's nothing biological or chemical about it. It's entirely mystical. One moment he is conscious, and then in the next, he isn't. But there's no slow eyes rolling back into the head. There's none of that lazy dead weight that comes with someone who's near passing out or stumbling. Someone just reaches behind this kid and. [01:00:51] Speaker A: Pulls the plug out. [01:00:52] Speaker B: The body unnaturally slumps to the floor. [01:00:56] Speaker A: What's your strength, Ivy One? [01:01:00] Speaker B: You think that's enough to haul this man all armored up? [01:01:05] Speaker D: No, but if I rouse the blood, there's a chance that with three I. [01:01:12] Speaker B: Could you've also got a pretty strong gang girlfriend. Rebecca can do it for sure. You'd be taking a chance no matter what. It's costing you time, and it's up to you to decide if it's worth the risk. [01:01:24] Speaker D: I cannot let this source of information, this potential source of information, slip through my fingers. It goes against everything that I am as a person. It goes against everything that I am as a Tremere. If there's even a chance that we can get something from this, it's worth the risk, even with the imminent danger. So I just yell, knowing that Rebecca's downstairs and hoping that her ears will hear. Rebecca, I need your strength up here. [01:01:56] Speaker B: Rebecca. You hear two things. You hear Ivy yelling for your help and from the helmets scattered across the room from outside. Charlie one in position. [01:02:04] Speaker A: Ready. [01:02:05] Speaker B: Charlie two in position. Ready. Charlie three in position. Ready. [01:02:11] Speaker E: Ivy's stubborn. I'm not going to take her from this. Nothing is going to take her from this, but I'm not letting the rest of my coterie go down. I take a look at schmendric and Maya and the captive in the room. I say to the, just take him. [01:02:25] Speaker C: Go. [01:02:26] Speaker E: I'll handle Ivy. [01:02:27] Speaker F: Just go. [01:02:28] Speaker E: Run. And I head up the stairs as. [01:02:30] Speaker B: Quickly as I can. Tremendrik maya, you've been given a command by your Gangal ally. She says run. She did not specify where to. How the fuck are you getting out of here? [01:02:43] Speaker F: One tentacle on the captive, one tentacle on Schmendrick. Is there a sewer grate nearby? [01:02:51] Speaker B: That's an excellent question. That is a question that wits and awareness can answer for you. [01:02:55] Speaker A: Have you seen one since you've been. [01:02:57] Speaker C: Running around this place? [01:02:58] Speaker E: Let's find out. [01:03:01] Speaker B: I mean, there has to be some. [01:03:02] Speaker C: Sort of warehouse drainage system. [01:03:06] Speaker F: That'll be two successes. [01:03:08] Speaker B: I guess the question is, are you willing to spend willpower to live? [01:03:14] Speaker F: Yes. That's two more successes. [01:03:18] Speaker B: Four will do it. On the south side of the building, there's a large hulk of abandoned machinery, like an old steam machine, mill, something like that. That's the machine you ducked behind when. [01:03:29] Speaker A: You were trying to avoid fire en route to your little side room there. And yeah, you remember a great there. [01:03:34] Speaker B: It led to some kind of maintenance. [01:03:36] Speaker A: Tunnel or industrial drainage thing. [01:03:38] Speaker F: I hate everything about this, but I will grab Schmendrick, I will grab Charles, and we're headed to the sewer. [01:03:47] Speaker B: Well, Schmendrick, Rebecca has a plan. Maya seems to have a direction. You gonna go along with this? [01:03:53] Speaker C: Yeah, that was kind of where I was thinking of going after all this was said and done, was escaping into the sewers until the second inquisition wanders off to do other things, I suppose. I'm pretty banged up, though. So the fact that Maya is a guiding hand in all of this, I. [01:04:10] Speaker F: Am extremely thankful for a guiding tentacle. [01:04:14] Speaker C: That's a little weird trying not to think about that. [01:04:18] Speaker B: World works in mysterious ways. [01:04:20] Speaker C: I also I don't know if it's going down this way, but I like to imagine us dragging Charles still in his chair across the floor. [01:04:28] Speaker B: Sure. Who has time to undo his chains to figure out what the lock is? Fuck it. Omaya and shmendik. They make their way to the great. There might be some personal hesitation on your part as you look down and you see the sludge that's caked into the drainage ditch. Oh, God. This place was operating long before the EPA cared what you put in Lake Michigan. [01:04:54] Speaker C: The sledge is perfect because you can push the Charles chair boggin down easier. [01:05:02] Speaker B: Silver lining in every cloud, right? So for the time being, we'll say. [01:05:06] Speaker A: Maya Schmendrick, you've escaped. [01:05:08] Speaker B: Jump down in there. This ditch leads two directions. One of them, based on your orientation, the building you know is going to lead towards Lake Michigan. That's where it drains out to. The other one heads in the opposite direction. You don't need a degree in abandoned building ology to figure that this place probably opens up in several other locations in the area. [01:05:29] Speaker F: As long as Ivy and Rebecca remember to close the grate behind them, we should be okay. [01:05:34] Speaker B: Well, that's the last question I'm going to ask the two of you for a little bit, is do you wait for them? [01:05:41] Speaker F: I would like to, but I'm concerned about being with the very broken nosferatu and what is effectively deadweight. [01:05:50] Speaker B: Is that an opinion you share, Schmindrick? [01:05:53] Speaker C: Sort of. I was going to keep going ahead, but not so far as they'll never catch up to us. I noticed that doesn't give us a whole lot of distance, but at the same time, I'd rather not completely abandon them. A thought of mine, too, as we're leaving. Is Eric's Doddle's still in there? I will inform him of where I went and for him to keep low. If he doesn't see the others arrive, he is to follow me. And if he does see the others, he's going to lead them to where I am. [01:06:26] Speaker B: Good old Eric Stottle seeing eye rat. I'm eager for the scene where Schmendrick tries to convince the barista at the store that he is a service rat and that they cannot remove him from the building. [01:06:40] Speaker C: Not far from the truth, there are service rats, but that's another story. [01:06:45] Speaker F: For what it's worth, as soon as the others join us in the sewer, I can probably check on them. If we go a little farther ahead. [01:06:54] Speaker A: You'Ll see what comes of it. About half of the coterie has made. [01:06:57] Speaker B: It more or less to safety. You will be able to tell if it's a vampire or an agent that drops down. That great. [01:07:06] Speaker A: Next. [01:07:07] Speaker B: And I mean, all things considered, no one saw you jump into it. Are they going to be looking there? Nah, probably. [01:07:12] Speaker A: Not. You guys are in the clear. [01:07:14] Speaker B: The same might not be the case for the other two. Rebecca, Ivy has roared out for your help. Selfless friend that you are, you go charging up the stairs, not oblivious to the danger, the ticking clock, this militarized sort of demochlees dangling over your head. But Ivy thinks it's important. You know, she's stubborn. There's only one way out of this, and that's to either help her or leave her behind. And you're not the kind of person that leaves people behind, are you? [01:07:48] Speaker E: Not in over two centuries have I left a comrade behind. [01:07:52] Speaker B: So you go scrambling across the catwalk. Ivy's waiting there. We still have the same question to ask. How y'all getting down? It would be safer for everyone to carry him. That might not be time. You have what's the plan? [01:08:07] Speaker D: I mean, I don't want to carry him. [01:08:10] Speaker E: I'll pick up, admittedly, a lot less tenderly than I did Ivy earlier, being soldier and hook a leg over the railing. Give Ivy a look and get ready to jump. [01:08:23] Speaker B: No special role needed to hurl yourself off of a balcony. Ivy, you jumping. [01:08:29] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to not hurl myself, though I'd actually like to jump. [01:08:33] Speaker B: So I'm gonna say that, Ivy, because you are not burdened with the weight of an adult human being, you can make a dexterity and athletics check. Four successes, just enough so you'll take two damage superficial. Rebecca, on the other hand, there is no way for you to roll or tumble or brace. You just jump. And those old bones aren't just carrying your weight as you hit the ground. You got a whole demon on top of you. Pretty battered, aren't we? [01:09:06] Speaker E: Not looking good. [01:09:08] Speaker A: You land. You hit the ground. [01:09:09] Speaker B: I have you take a little bit of a tumble. That makes things easier. Rebecca, you know the feeling of fractured bones, of strained muscle. You are intimately familiar after all these years, to say nothing of the condition of your embrace, what it's like when the body is forced into a natural movement. It should not be able to do this based on the injuries you have. You are moving and motivated in this moment only by the grace of the damnation that lives inside your bones. But whatever that means for you, in a cosmic sense, you can reconcile later. At the moment, you are both capable of recognizing the urgency of the moment. Fleeing for the sewer grate, I take it? [01:09:53] Speaker C: Of course. [01:09:54] Speaker D: Yes. [01:09:55] Speaker B: Ivy and Rebecca know. Charles in tow, a captive on your. [01:09:59] Speaker A: Shoulders, running across the bare, cracked concrete. [01:10:03] Speaker B: Each of your boots thundering across the. [01:10:06] Speaker A: Floor of the factory, past the grass. [01:10:08] Speaker B: That raises up between them. [01:10:09] Speaker A: Your figures cutting shadows between the columns. [01:10:12] Speaker B: Of light still blast through the windows. [01:10:14] Speaker A: Knowing what's coming, being able to hear it. [01:10:16] Speaker B: The crackle of activity on the radio is growing louder and louder and louder. [01:10:20] Speaker A: It's coming. [01:10:21] Speaker B: You go sprinting as fast as your legs will carry you to the Great, throwing it open is it graceful? The way you slide yourself down into the abyss? Probably not. [01:10:30] Speaker A: But who has time? [01:10:32] Speaker B: And just as Rebecca's hands go up to pull the Great shut, you hear that 180 decibel blast of a flashbang. [01:10:44] Speaker A: Another. [01:10:46] Speaker B: Another, as every opening on this first floor of the building becomes you. Through which more armed agents of the Inquisition can come swarming through. They find no targets only by the grace of speed, of choices, of sacrifices made. But relieving as that may be, they're. [01:11:08] Speaker A: Not going to be fooled for long. You have a second, maybe two, to. [01:11:15] Speaker B: Appreciate the fact that you have survived this ambush. But the night isn't over yet. [01:11:23] Speaker A: You've managed to escape. For now. That has to be a tremendous relief. [01:11:29] Speaker B: That, as I said, it's only a. [01:11:30] Speaker A: Matter of time before the agents who you've only narrowly avoided start looking for where you could be. Where did you get off to? Where's the bait? You've also got a certain solar problem to worry about. It was already pretty late in the. [01:11:45] Speaker B: Evening before you made it to this. [01:11:46] Speaker A: Refinery, this abandoned building. You've burned a lot of time dealing with this trap. Maya's car is riddled with bullets. To say nothing with the fact that it's swarming with agents. So that's not a way to get home. And if you're walking through werewolf territory this hungry, I gotta say, if you make that decision, I can't be held responsible for what happens to you. So you have three problems you need to solve in this moment. One, you have your maybe Charles captive. Two, you have your human agent captive, both of whom you need to get to a safe place to interrogate and find a way to keep them secure through the day until you wake up again. Third problem comes in two parts. You got to find a safe place to sleep. [01:12:38] Speaker B: You don't want to be out here. [01:12:40] Speaker A: In a rail car with the Si looking for people during the day. That is entirely too dangerous. And second to that, you know that. [01:12:49] Speaker B: Your body is going to try to. [01:12:50] Speaker A: Mend itself while you sleep. And if you don't have enough vita. [01:12:57] Speaker B: Sloshing around your gut to make that. [01:12:58] Speaker A: Happen, you're not going to wake up the following night. So given those conflicting priorities, I understand that's a tough decision. You are between a rock and several different hard places. But nevertheless, the four of you have made it this far. What's the next move? [01:13:21] Speaker F: Ivy and Rebecca have joined us now. [01:13:25] Speaker A: Yes. [01:13:26] Speaker B: If you'd like, I can narrate the. [01:13:28] Speaker A: Several hundred yards of sludge filled disgusting. [01:13:34] Speaker F: I want to the Si agent with them. I want to remove any pieces that might be electronic and radioing back to anyone. [01:13:46] Speaker E: Right. Tracking. [01:13:49] Speaker D: Well, I would like to keep anything that could potentially not necessarily be tracked, but maybe give us more information on their movements just so we can kind of keep an ear open, right. [01:14:02] Speaker A: Every receiver is also a transmitter. You're probably safe for the time being because, you're know, several yards of earth and concrete. [01:14:10] Speaker F: But I can scout ahead, so I'm not worried about being surprised by anyone. [01:14:17] Speaker A: Shmenjik. You're a bit battered. But to Ivy's point, if you wanted. [01:14:21] Speaker B: To see if you could disable any. [01:14:23] Speaker A: Tracking equipment based on what he has. [01:14:25] Speaker C: Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I also wanted to thoroughly check the captive for any kind of explosives or tracking device. I assume if there was a bomb on him, he would have gone boom by now. [01:14:37] Speaker A: That would be a horrible storyteller trick. [01:14:39] Speaker B: For me to say that he does have a bomb on him. [01:14:41] Speaker A: And the only thing stopping and exploding. [01:14:43] Speaker B: Right now is the fact that you're. [01:14:44] Speaker A: Underneath the concrete, and then when you leave out into the open area, then the mechanism triggers. That would be monstrous. I wish I'd thought of that. Well, then what's first? Kushmenjit can't be in two places at once. [01:14:58] Speaker C: I feel like the person sitting in the chair was bait for us. Obviously, I want to make sure that that person is safe first. And I guess we could lift his hood off as well. [01:15:12] Speaker A: So Rebecca sloughs off her cargo, leaving this man propped up against the rounded concrete edge of your drainage tunnel, and the four kindred turn their attention to the captive. Rebecca, you were so close to figuring out who it was last time. Now you have that opportunity. [01:15:28] Speaker E: I'm going to lift that mask without any hesitation. Want to see who this is? Who's left here for us? [01:15:37] Speaker A: I don't know what you were expecting. Charles called you to this place. You lift the hood up, charles is staring back at you, eyes wide with fear. He's been through a lot. You recognize that confusion, that delirium, that fog of the senses that comes when so many strange things have happened to you in a short period of time, to say nothing about what the Si might have been up to before you got here. He's not speaking. He's just looking between each of you. Draw a little slack. [01:16:16] Speaker C: Charles, without something witty to say, can't be him. [01:16:20] Speaker E: Usmandrick says it couldn't be him. I reach out tentatively with two fingers, just to touch his face. I'm not sure if it has any magical properties, but it just isn't him to be silent and slackjawed. [01:16:39] Speaker A: It's a real face. It's a dead face. It's Charles's face. [01:16:44] Speaker D: I would like to activate sense the unseen. If this is actually Charles or the not Charles that we caught on camera, maybe there's something that my eyes would actually be able to tell with him right in front of us. [01:17:04] Speaker A: I bet you're super grateful right now that since the unseen doesn't require a. [01:17:07] Speaker D: Rouse check, incredibly, yes. [01:17:11] Speaker A: Wits and auspecs is the role you're looking for. [01:17:14] Speaker D: Two successes. [01:17:17] Speaker A: Don'T tell you that's Charles. [01:17:22] Speaker D: I can reroll one dice, because that's the only one that's not a hunger dice right now. I'm gonna do that, actually. I'm gonna see maybe one more success is gonna help if I can get it. Oh, one more success. So three successes total. [01:17:40] Speaker A: It's Charles beat the shit, not himself. But that's Charles. [01:17:47] Speaker F: Is there something that only Charles would know that we can ask him? [01:17:53] Speaker D: Charles doesn't react at all as he sees any of us. [01:17:57] Speaker A: His lack of reaction is tied to his mental state. Like, it's shell shock. It's traumatic stress. [01:18:04] Speaker B: It's processing an event. Like I said, he was captured by the Si. [01:18:07] Speaker A: God knows what they did to him. The fact that he is acting this way is suspicious, but not by itself motive for you to believe that it's not him. In the same way that if someone captured Ivy, did unspeakable things, torturing answers. [01:18:24] Speaker B: Out of her, and then left her. [01:18:25] Speaker A: Starving as bait in a trap, she would also not be herself. [01:18:29] Speaker D: Sure. [01:18:32] Speaker E: He'S in shock. He's not going to give us anything. We need to keep moving. [01:18:39] Speaker F: Schmendrick. You know sewers. [01:18:42] Speaker C: Not these ones. [01:18:44] Speaker D: Surely if you've seen one sewer, you've seen them all. [01:18:47] Speaker C: I guess that's kind of akin to seeing a labyrinth. [01:18:51] Speaker E: All right, sure, I might not know this tour, but I've got a sense for mean. Really? What's the difference between this and a cave system? Can one of you pick him up and I'll jerk a hand towards the fellow I put down earlier? [01:19:08] Speaker A: All right, so who's dragging Charles, and. [01:19:11] Speaker B: Who'S carrying Sergeant So and So? [01:19:14] Speaker F: I'm just going to grab the passed out agent by the leg and start dragging them. [01:19:19] Speaker C: Seeing this, I actually look into Charles's eyes and say, I can either continue to push you on the sewage sled, or you can get up and walk with us. Does he respond at all to this? [01:19:35] Speaker A: Yeah, he's kicking forward with his legs. The rattle of the chain struggling against the bonds. I mean, what do you think? [01:19:46] Speaker C: I can fix that. And I'll start unlocking the chains around his legs and hands. [01:19:52] Speaker A: That will be Dexterity and Larceny. [01:19:56] Speaker C: So that is four successes. [01:19:58] Speaker A: Wonderfully nimble. He was secured well enough for his purpose, but this isn't a houdini mess. Few minutes of schmendric magic, and his bonds are released. Charles is dazed but capable of his own locomotion, stands and nods. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, I can follow you. [01:20:18] Speaker C: I give him a pat on the back, kind of like sympathy, because that was a hell of a thing, and I can only imagine what he's been involved in. Start following behind. [01:20:29] Speaker A: Rebecca, will you roll wits and awareness for me? shmendrick. [01:20:35] Speaker C: I have three successes. [01:20:37] Speaker A: Schmendrick, I'm gonna let you on a little secret. [01:20:41] Speaker C: Secrets worry me a little bit, but I'm also under the compulsion to figure them out. So let's hear it. [01:20:48] Speaker A: Shmendrick. You remember when Edith was teaching you the small details? The intricate nuanced approach to high level obfuscate. She made it clear that the physical appearance was something that you could handle magically. That was something you could trick the. [01:21:06] Speaker B: Human brain into believing. [01:21:07] Speaker A: But the real tricky part of manifesting as somebody else would be the performance of their demeanor and their voice. [01:21:18] Speaker C: Right? Is there something fishy about Charles? [01:21:25] Speaker A: That's not what Charles sounds like. You know, it's subtle. You understand immediately why no one else would miss it. It's that little small thing that's not Charles's voice. [01:21:44] Speaker C: Knowing this little tidbit of information, is he making any move to attack us? [01:21:50] Speaker A: According to the instructions you've given him, he's cooperating fully. [01:21:55] Speaker C: So who are you? [01:22:01] Speaker A: I was talking about wait, why? Obviously you're not Charles. [01:22:08] Speaker C: I know Charles. There's just something off. [01:22:15] Speaker B: There'S. [01:22:16] Speaker A: A sigh, a pause, and then a female voice. Yeah, okay, great. I'm not. [01:22:29] Speaker B: What do you want to do about it? [01:22:30] Speaker A: You want to have this conversation right now? [01:22:32] Speaker C: Not particularly. But I do want to know if we can trust you enough to get a good night's sleep. [01:22:39] Speaker A: Yeah, you didn't let me die to those fucking monsters up there and there's four of you and one of me. I got asleep too, like whatever. This is not what I signed up for. This is way beyond what the fuck. [01:22:51] Speaker B: I thought I was getting involved with. So you know what? You saved my life, that's fine and. [01:22:55] Speaker A: Let'S just get the fuck out of here. Talk to your questions somewhere else. [01:22:59] Speaker C: Sounds fine to me. [01:23:01] Speaker D: Does it really? [01:23:05] Speaker C: Do you want to get into an argument with her right now about? [01:23:08] Speaker A: I'm standing right here. Guys. [01:23:10] Speaker B: Like you can address me like a human being. [01:23:12] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you have a problem. [01:23:21] Speaker D: Were you the one who called us here? [01:23:24] Speaker A: I don't the fuck you're talking about. I don't know why I'm here. I don't know why you're here. I know two things. [01:23:29] Speaker B: One, I don't want to be dead. [01:23:30] Speaker A: And two, the sun's coming up soon. [01:23:32] Speaker D: What's your name? [01:23:34] Speaker A: Michaela. [01:23:35] Speaker D: Michaela. [01:23:37] Speaker F: Are you from around here? [01:23:41] Speaker A: I'm from Gary. [01:23:42] Speaker F: Then you know a place we can hold? [01:23:45] Speaker B: Mean yeah. [01:23:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess I know where I normally but like I don't think you understand. Like we can't go there. [01:23:54] Speaker C: Is that where they picked you up? [01:23:58] Speaker A: You don't know, do you? [01:23:59] Speaker C: No. [01:24:02] Speaker D: Don't know what? [01:24:04] Speaker A: Fuck me. [01:24:05] Speaker E: Enlighten us. [01:24:06] Speaker A: No, there's no time. I'm not going to sit here and do a grand conspiracy narration info dump for you when the fucking si is above me looking for us right now. And also the sun's coming up. [01:24:17] Speaker B: So like I said, you get us. [01:24:18] Speaker A: Somewhere safe and I'll be happy to answer your questions. But if you don't want to do. [01:24:21] Speaker B: That, then I'm going to find my own fucking way out of here and. [01:24:23] Speaker A: The four of you can rot in this fucking sewer. [01:24:26] Speaker F: I fucking swear. [01:24:26] Speaker D: Well, luckily I'm sure you are capable enough to walk and talk at the same time. So while she does her thing, maybe you can tell us a little bit more. [01:24:35] Speaker A: Sure. Roll charisma and intimidate. [01:24:40] Speaker F: Can I help her? [01:24:42] Speaker A: No, she started this. [01:24:47] Speaker D: One. Success. [01:24:49] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't recognize that I'd been rescued by royalty. No, I think these are your options. We can either get out of here and get to somewhere safe, and maybe I'll answer your questions. She gestures to everyone who is not Ivy, or I'm gonna leave, and you can either fucking kill me or deal with it. However, you know, whatever. [01:25:23] Speaker F: I am barefoot in a sewer, I have a hole in my hip, and I just tore apart two Si agents. I do not want to be fucked with, and I do not want to burn up in the sun. Can we pick a direction and go? [01:25:36] Speaker C: Still following Rebecca here. You guys are welcome to join us. [01:25:40] Speaker A: You want to hit me with that wits and survival role? Rebecca will do. Oh, Jesus. [01:25:52] Speaker B: Love it. [01:25:53] Speaker E: Oh, no. That would be six successes. A messy critical. [01:26:01] Speaker A: There's too much tension here. It's a simple question of survival. Why are these people having a petty argument about who knows what and who will say things when very survival is on the line? It's shameful. The beast is not going to be cowed by the desire for information. Not when the sun is on the horizon, not when you are starving. At the very suggestion of escape, rebecca calls upon those powers. You start making the map in your head of where you are and counting your paces. And the more that you think about it, the more you realize how much distance you would have to cover to be safe. You've moved a couple hundred yards down the sewer. At this point, the Si has Predator drones, helicopters, night vision. There's dozens of soldiers in the building. God knows how many more were around. And in this moment, your beast knows two things. One, you are not going to be hunted down and cornered like an animal. And two, you have no patience for the squabbles of people behind you. They don't understand survival. Apparently not the way you do. So, yeah, Rebecca knows the way out. And if the rest of you can make a dexterity and athletics check, maybe you can keep up, because she's not waiting. [01:27:33] Speaker C: That is a complete miss. So I'm hobbling down the sewers with one success. [01:27:42] Speaker D: That is a messy critical with six successes, Ivy. [01:27:48] Speaker A: Yeah, you keep up just fine. Maybe it's seeing Rebecca crack that finally puts your beast into action. Beast cares a lot if you survive. Beast doesn't give a shit if you. [01:28:00] Speaker B: Bring any of your friends with you. [01:28:01] Speaker A: To include your captives. So Ivy and Rebecca, in just animalistic beautiful fury. One moment, just a hint away from scrambling like an animal on all fours. You're sprinting down these corridors, tearing know, dragging your claws against the concrete to give you that nice swing of momentum around the corner. You're not stopping for anything. The two of you will find the sky. [01:28:29] Speaker C: Great. [01:28:31] Speaker A: Maya. Schmendrick. You never stood a chance. [01:28:36] Speaker C: How does Michaela fare? [01:28:38] Speaker A: It's a good question. Not great. [01:28:42] Speaker C: Well, she can join us in the back of the Congoline, I guess. [01:28:48] Speaker A: So that is an interesting predicament. The good news, Rebecca and Ivy, is that you've escaped. [01:28:55] Speaker B: The bad news is that it is. [01:28:56] Speaker A: A flurry of beast driven activity. You could not work your way back through those tunnels if you tried. Those memories are locked away inside the. [01:29:04] Speaker B: Primordial DNA of your beast. [01:29:05] Speaker A: They do not belong to your rational mind. Damn it, Schmendrick. Maya, you might have to find another way out. The clock, as ever, is ticking. Rebecca's beast was not wrong when it recognized the threats that the coterie faces in its quest for safety. I have every expectation that the four of you will do everything in your power to make sure that everyone makes it home safe, sound fed. The beast wouldn't have it any other way. Unfortunately, that's not a question we get to answer right now. There is a story to be told here of who survives and who doesn't. But that's a story for another night. You've been listening to the All Night Society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queen's Court Games. [01:30:08] Speaker B: If you enjoyed your stay, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app. [01:30:13] Speaker A: For more content, including exclusive art and audio, follow us on Facebook or Instagram at Queenscorp games or on Twitter at queenscorprpg.