Probability of Demise

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Language: en-US

Welcome, adventurers, to Probability of 
Demise, the podcast where critical fumbles  

meet critical facepalms. Join us as we delve into 
the darkest dungeons, slay the stupidest gremlins,  

and roll enough ones to make a beholder weep. 
Forget epic storylines and heroic deeds,  

here we celebrate the chaotic beauty 
of bad rolls, questionable decisions,  

and characters with more charisma than sense.
We'll be your dungeon masters of disappointment.  

Guiding you through campaigns where the only 
guaranteed treasure is a mountain of laughter,  

and maybe some psychic scarring. So grab your 
Nat 1 dice, strap on your anxiety helmets,  

and prepare to witness the glorious 
trainwreck that is our D& D journey. 

Because In the end, even if your character 
dies face first into a pile of pudding,  

at least you'll have the Dice God's 
permission to laugh your ass off.

Welcome to Probability of Demise, episode 
two, and we're sticking to format. 

Jess, what is the word of the day? That's me! All 
right, friends and families and travelers alike,  

let us see what the word of the 
day has in store for us today.  

That rhymed. Look at me. Excuse me one moment.
The number is a 26. Today's word of the day is  

ubiquitous, which means, where's my list? 
There's my list. Okay. Present, appearing,  

or found somewhere. So used in a sentence,
technology has become ubiquitous  

in our daily lives,
influencing every aspect. 

Thank you. Thank you. And that my friends is, uh, 
the word of the day. You've learned something new.  

And I don't think we used the word of the day 
last time. At least I didn't catch it. So maybe  

we'll be ubiquitous in our use of the word of 
the day from here on out. So that takes us to  

our recap. And last time you were introduced 
to the glittering yet seedy underbelly of the  

Skyway Strip in Overton, our rumpled Kenku P.I.
Stickybeak brought the three of you together  

with a desperate plea for help. The famed 
soprano Celeste Nightingale was killed on  

stage clutching a half-eaten fortune cookie. 
With the Ascended Council up to something,  

and the Hollow Council up to something, Stickybeak 
threw the dice and asked you, an unlikely trio of  

strangers, to unravel the murderous melody.
Intrigued by the whispers of blackmail and  

secrets, you plunged into the Skylark's backstage 
world. Each troop member Possibly has veiled  

motives and reasons. A jealous rival with a hunger 
for the spotlight. A debt ridden costume designer  

with a talent for poisoned embroidery and a ledger 
hinting at financial shadows within the theater. 

The suspects were many, the truth elusive, but 
you have centered your sights on the missing  

stage manager. And amidst it all, you, Serafina, 
gesund und schniffel. And Ulua, Ulua, are meeting  

for the first time, navigating a chorus of ratty 
lies and sharp clues to find the killer, before  

the final curtain falls on artistic freedom.
As we dive back in, we are just outside the  

theater. I'm gonna move us forward in 
time a little bit. Trying to figure  

out where this stage manager has gone.
What are the three of you up to? Are  

you going to try to find clues to track him? 
Are you going to ask people if they've seen  

this individual or are you have your own ways of 
discovering the whereabouts? Snitches and other  

such shenanigans. I mean, um, I have an address. 
Or at least a building. Uh, I, don't have any. 

Inquisitor's house, I think was the, that was 
not the full name of it. I got it, hang on. To,  

um, Did we, did we want to go there? Uh, 
I did know, uh, Stickybeak did ask, uh,  

for us to meet him at my brother's office, uh, all 
of us, if, if, uh, we wanted to just go ahead and  

update them or we could, you know, do that after.
I think we could certainly check in. Um,  

Stickybeak may be able to provide some 
insights, maybe, I don't know, um, 

employ some other means to assist 
us in finding this Grundon. 

Perhaps we should, uh, check and 
see if he is home and then go from  

there this evening. Oh, yes. Yeah.
All right. Um, in terms of approach,  

uh, you have to knock first. Yes, of course. 
I understand. I simply mean, it may be if he  

if he is involved somehow, uh, of the three of 
us, it may look the least It's just intimidating  

for me to approach the door at first 
and, and inquire rather than, um,  

one of our City Watch's, uh, retirees, I believe.
I, your, your name is familiar, but we've never  

met in person. Yeah, you look super familiar, 
but not either. I, I do, or he does. Yeah,  

he does. Sorry. Sorry. Uh, no, it's okay. I 
was a homicide investigator for many years.  

Homicide investigator. With the, with the, with 
the shitty watch. With the sh With the City Watch. 

Ah, thank you. City Watch. Well, well. Yes, it, 
uh, Vestigator. I mean, I'm, I'm certainly, this  

is certainly my first foray into, um, this type of 
situation. I, I must admit I'm a little out of my  

depth. This isn't, isn't my usual, uh... 
Assignment. Were you, like, famous? Yes. Yes. I  

believe she's caught up, sort of, but like a while 
ago, I gained some renown for my career for I 

think, I think you're the guy that my brother 
really liked, like really liked you, you know,  

he became a detective because I think, because 
I think because of you think, Oh, well, that's,  

that's nice to hear, I suppose it's going to 
be really awkward if it's not you. But I think,  

I think it's you. I don't remember 
the name of the investigator. 

I didn't really care that much, but he, he loved 
you. Well, I was probably a younger gnome then.  

Yeah. He has this picture of you, but young,
not one for tax. Maybe are you, Oh, for what? Oh,  

it's, it's no secret that I'm no spring chicken 
anymore. Yes. But, Oh, cause I'm calling them  

old. I mean, you're not old. You're just, 
you know, older. Oldish. Well, you look  

great. I think you look just well. Thank you.
Uh, so wait, uh, I actually, did I know your  

names yet? I don't know if I know your names yet. 
Uh, my name. I know you're famous. My name is,  

but I should know your name. The gun didn't 
gun, didn't call me. Gus. Gus Guss. Okay,  

good. Guss. That, that I can say Guss, uh, and.
Yes. Lady y uh, your name? Oh, I'm Ulua 

What? Lua. Ulua ua. Ooh, ulua. So good. Name 
the X, the accents on the lu. So Ulua like  

a melody. Hulu. Yes. Well done. Nice, nice. 
Okay, cool. And Lula? Yes. Mine? Mine? Yes.  

Your name. Right. Didn't tell you that. Works 
both ways. Uh, Seraphina. What a lovely name. 

Yes. Fits a lovely creature like yourself.
She's like trying to get all her hair out of her  

horns, you know, try to appear presentable, like, 
yeah, yeah. I'm very attractive. Extra, extra,  

read all about it. Skylark Theater, shutting 
down. Extra, extra, read all about it. That  

didn't take long. Shutting down? Like permanently? 
Rick, is this like a, like a newspaper salesman? 

It's a newsie. Newsie? Okay. I'm gonna go over 
to the newsie and buy a paper. You buy a paper,  

um, it's a couple of silver coins. 
Uh, he, he kind of like first tries  

to haggle with you for a moment, then kind 
of looks you up and down and goes, Locals, 

um, you see printed on the headline that the 
Skylark Theater has, um, met its match and is  

going under the financial woes are too great. And 
as you're reading through it, you're reading all  

sorts of things about how the, um, the theater 
was never doing well financially anyways, that  

there were problems with it, uh, that there were.
poor management practices going on. And what's  

interesting, if you would like, you can roll 
a, um, investigation check as you're reading  

some of this information. I'm a crappy detective. 
Eight. Or are you? It's surprising that they could  

actually print something this quickly.
Suspiciously. That's why I bought one,  

because it's
Um, do you share it with the  

others? Yeah, I'll bring it over and hand it to 
or hold it up to the both of them if one of them  

wants to take it. That's very sudden. I
want to take it and read the article.  

I assumeshe's a very quick read unlike I am. 
So she like gives it in like two seconds and  

then she starts reading all the other things. Um, 
yeah, you read, you start reading it and this is,  

um, especially as you're reading the other things 
on it, you realize that these other articles are,  

um, stories that seem a little 
spectacular, a little outlandish. 

I'm going to, um, approach the Newsy and ask, by 
chance, can you tell me about how long ago these,  

these papers were, were delivered to you? 
Ma'am? What, what, what, what do you want  

to know? Just how long they've been in your 
possession. I'm, I'm, I'm curious as to how,  

how fresh the news is. Oh, well, yeah, uh, 
we pick these up, uh, every hour on the hour. 

Um, and, um, you know, this is, it's not that 
great. How do you mean? You're really pretty. Oh,  

thank you. You're quite handsome. Well, you know, 
like stories like, you know, three headed goat on  

stilts. Exactly. Incredible, right? Oh, well, 
everybody loves, I'm an entertainer myself,  

and everybody loves a form of entertainment, 
whether it be in written form or, you know. 

Oh, maybe you want to buy a paper. There's a 
great article here about the Singing Mountain.  

It's like a bard with a voice like gravel is 
climbing a summit and just started singing.  

And then the village got hiccups. I don't 
actually follow some of these articles.  

They don't make a lot of sense. That's all right.
Uh, I would love one. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Here  

you go. Uh, And who One silver for the pretty 
lady. Oh, that's very sweet of you. I, I'll be  

back again to make up for it. Uh oh. Not my forte!
Definitely not my forte. Six. Um, you don't notice  

it now, but later on, sometime during the evening, 
you'll realize that your purse was just a little  

bit heavier earlier. That little shit. He grabbed 
two gold coins. Oh, rude. Total little shit. Well.  

Or his partner in crime was a total little 
shit. And, and who, who was your printer? 

Uh, well, I think, uh, old Benji down the 
street. They're the printer and then, um,  

I think they work for go to his guild and I think 
they work for the menagerie scale. And I think  

that they work for, uh, the businessman, um, 1 
of those types down South in the Alchemist alley.  

And then I think that they work for somebody 
else, but maybe that was one of these articles. 

You know, there's an article about the 
teacup alchemist Mildred. She's a tea  

maker. She discovered that her teaspoons 
possess the power to transmute water into  

any beverage imaginable. And sorry, I'm realizing 
I'm rambling here. That's all right. It's your,  

it's your, you know, it's in your nature. 
That's why you're so very good at your job. 

Oh yeah, I am. I'm really good. Okay. I'm really 
good. I should go in too. So you said Ben Benji  

down the street? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Can you 
just just point me in the right direction,  

please? Okay. Well, it's right over the end. 
They gesture and they gesture over towards the,  

um, uh, Outside, like an alley that 
leads outside of the strip, and there's  

a little shop right there on the corner.
Um, fairly dark except for a single lantern  

lit within one of the windows on the, uh, ground 
level. Perfect. Thank you for all your help, for  

the very helpful information, and for the deal. 
Oh, no problem at all. Rejoin my yeah, my group  

here off in the distance as he starts shouting 
out again extra extra pretty lady touch my hand  

I'll hand you a paper if you hand me a coin
Quite the opportunist gotta make a buck gotta  

make a living and we're outside the theater now, 
right? You're in the street. Can I just quickly  

as she was maybe talking to the boy? I'd love to 
Look around for any other maybe tracks or blood  

splats of like someone leaving, you know, because 
they obviously didn't have the dagger anymore. 

Roll a perception check. Perception. Perception. 
Oh, only plus one. Okay. Got to roll good. 

Eep. That's going to be 12. Uh, 
yeah, you look around and. Um,  

it's difficult to find things on these streets 
that these are well traveled streets. This this,  

uh, being right in front of here. A lot of 
people were leaving out of here. You know,  

there were a lot of things going on and so it's 
difficult. Um, what is your passive perception? 

It's a good question. Um, that 
would be passive perception. 

Passive and perception 13. Okay. Yeah. So 
yeah, you just see that there's a lot of,  

um, than anything I've rolled today. That's what 
we just started. Okay. Other than a single digit  

on a perception check, that would be awesome.
So yeah, I was just going to look while she  

talked to the boy and then when she was done, I'd 
walk back over. So the three of, you're there, Gus 

are you all headed towards the And My rat. The 
rat. I always end up with a rat. Gus the rat Lu  

Seina. Where are you headed to? The, uh, house of, 
uh, inquiries? Um. But as we, as we walk there,  

I'm going to pick up on what I was saying before 
us and, um, so I, what I was trying to say  

earlier is, um, it might be less conspicuous if I 
approach the building, um, and at least, you know,  

um, inquire whether or not Grunden is there.
Um, if, if, especially you. And she gestures  

to Gus, if, if you come to the door, that 
might be a little, um, might tip him off. Oh,  

cause you're famous. Famous detective. That would 
scare him. Yeah. Yes. So, um, so why don't I,  

uh, attempt to ascertain whether or not, uh, 
Grundon is in fact in the building and If that  

is the case, then I will try to get us entry, 
or at least maybe get him to come to the door. 

Yeah, yeah, you take the lead. Woo! Support you 
from over here. Is that alright with you? Yes,  

that works fine for me. In fact, I'm 
going to put a hand on my chest and  

cast invisibility on myself. Like, before 
we go up to the door. Alright. Did you see  

him leave? Still here. Is he gonna murder 
someone? He has the, he has the dagger. 

No, no, I'm, I have a spell for invisibility. 
I'll be quiet. He's, he's, I'm sorry, just like,  

reaching out, trying to find him. Maybe we, maybe 
we just assume But of course, like, way above him. 

Tacked, tacked, tacked. Alright, stay here, I'll 
be right back. Uh, and I go to approach the door.  

Okay, you go and approach the door. Uh, there is 
a person stationed outside in a bit of heraldry,  

uh, a fairly large, uh, staff as there usually is 
in residences of this sort that are on the surface  

of Overton. They, they need, um, or they presumed 
to need some sort of foot person at the door, uh,  

protecting the interests of a household and, uh, 
they see you approach and step forward into the,  

out of the shadow of the eve 
of the building, uh, ma'am. 

Yes. Alua. Ma'am Alua. Um, I, uh, I don't 
know if you've heard of me, but I am, I am,  

I am Kumshere. Uh, and I am currently seeking 
Did someone seek your services tonight? I don't  

have an appointment. No, I'm actually seeking 
new clients. And I, uh, recently was visiting  

an old performance space of mine. And I'd heard 
that Uh, one of the members there might possibly  

be interested in my service, and so I came to 
possibly have a discussion about whether or not  

he would be interested in my companionship.
Uh, your card, please, ma'am. Of course,  

and I take out Standard business card, um, 
scented faintly, uh, with a citrus, but, um,  

also like warm flavor, scent, flavor. He 
turns and, and, and withdraws within the  

building and you can hear a lock click, and uh,
takes a bit before he returns. But in that time,  

I would like Those who are standing 
back to roll perception checks. 

Um, can I possibly, um, cast, uh, I, do I need 
to touch someone for bardic inspiration? No,  

I can just cast it from. Okay. Um, I'm just going 
to glance over my shoulder at Serafina because  

I can see her, um, and let me double check. I 
want to see. Oh, my God. What do you do to me?  

She casts death. No, I just, I'm interested to see 
how she casts bardic inspiration from a distance. 

Um, I just, I look and I just can't remember, is 
it just, is it just verbal or is it verbal and  

semantic? Uh, I don't remember, but I think 
there needs to be like a song or you play  

an instrument. Like there has to be some kind of 
sound. Right. I just mean, is there also, so I'm  

just wondering if there's a hand gesture or not.
I just think it's just the audio. Um, I mean,  

you can add a hand gesture. Yes. Oh, I'm going to, 
um, yeah, it's just, uh, I, I just, you know, I,  

I peek a quick glance and I go best of luck 
to you. And I just kind of blow a kiss, uh,  

to Serafina, uh, just goes, oh, thank
She can't necessarily hear it, but, um,  

she sees the, it like comes on the wind. I know. 
I mean, it's like you, you project your voice in  

such a way that it gets to her. Yeah. It's kind of 
like a whisper on the wind. Kind of, uh, volume.  

And what is this? A plus what? Six. D6. Whoa! For 
your, for your perception. Gus, what did you get? 

Uh, 15. 15? Okay.
24! 24. Um. Thanks to that six,  

I rolled a six. Both of you here and see just 
because of where you're at, at the angle of  

where the roof line is, it's 6 stories up, but you 
see at that 6th floor where it becomes shingles,  

there's a couple of windows and you see one of 
those, because the sound draws your attention up  

there, you see one of those Close a little harder 
than maybe was intended by the person who was,  

uh, slipping out because Serafina, you can 
make out that there is, um, three figures  

crawling out of a window and, uh, Gus, you 
can see that the window did open and close. 

You can't quite figure out 
what is going on up there. Um,  

but you can tell that somebody has slipped out.
Could I move to, like, follow them around to see,  

like, where they go? Definitely. I assume, like, 
on the outside of the fence, or whatever? Yeah,  

um, and, and are you just trying to, like, shadow 
them? Yeah, I just want to see, like, where the  

people that came out the window are going. Or, 
I guess if I can get eyes on them, if I didn't,  

like, like, specifically see how many there were.
Yeah, you, you can kind of follow the shadows  

and everything and, and kind of track 
them that way. Why don't you just go  

ahead and roll with or a survival check 
to see how successful you are at that 

13. Awesome. You're able to track them pretty 
well. You're, you're doing pretty well at seeing  

where they're going. They keep making noises 
as they're doing it. Um, but you can tell that  

if they get too much further, you're gonna have 
to actually leave Sarafina and Lua to continue  

tracking them. I am going to point my finger 
at Serafina and send a message that says follow  

these people that came out the window.
I'll meet up with you in a minute and  

then I'm going to continue to follow them.
Uh, telepathic. I can send something back,  

right? Uh, for message, I don't think so, no. 
Just kidding. Got it. Oh, here's the message  

and can reply in a whisper. Okay, yeah. I go, 
who is this? Oh, Gus. Oh, limited words. Right.  

I know how to do this. No, not the message. Not 
sending. Oh, just kidding. I have unlimited words. 

Okay, go. Okay, I'll go. All right. Come back 
here, though. Gus, Santra's off following them,  

trying to keep, split the range here. Um, it 
takes a while before the door is going to be  

opened. Do you continue waiting? Mm hmm. Um, 
what's the weather like outside? It's grim,  

but it's, it's been threatening rain 
all day, but it hasn't yet rained. 

And the, the temperature, is it chilly or is it? 
It's, we're, we're moving from the cool seasons  

into the spring. So it's, you know, your cloak and 
your clothing, they keep you fairly well. Uh, but  

they've left you out here. Longer than you would 
have expected for this type of call, they either  

would have gotten rid of you fairly quickly, 
or they would have, um, invited you inside. 

So, this delay here is suspicious. Okay, 
um, I'm just going to take a quick look  

around. Is there any sort of,
like, tavern, coffee shop,  

anything nearby that I can, or anywhere with 
outdoor seating that I can possibly just go and  

Rest. Go ahead and roll a perception check. Ugh.
Six. Nothing that you can see that you could  

surveil the location you're at now. You 
can hear and you can see light off around  

an alleyway and that might be a decent place 
to go, but, um, not right here. I'm going to,  

um, just knock back on the door, um, 
and just say, sorry, is there, is there  

somewhere I can maybe perhaps sit while I wait?
I, I, either inside or nearby, I'm, my, uh, it,  

it's, it's not common to leave a kom, kom shah 
standing this way. You don't hear anything from  

within. How rude. And there's no response.
Well. They're certainly not interested  

in my services. I guess.
I wish I could take my card back.  

Very rude. Um, uh, I am going to make my way back 
to Serafina Serafina. You're standing there. Um,  

Gus has been gone for a little bit now. 
Um, I'm I'm going to speak to her. And Gus,  

because I wouldn't know that he had left and I'll 
say, okay, um, I don't know where are you still? 

Where do you last were Gus? Yeah. Right. Oh, Gus, 
Gus. Oh, Gus not here. I don't think he's here.  

And I start going like this. Can we can we just 
maybe be a little less conspicuous about that?  

Just in case anyone's watching us. Um, Right. Uh, 
he, he said there were three guys came out of the  

top and I like points where they came out of.
Again, three guys came out of that. Just,  

just use your eyes to show. Okay. Okay. Okay. 
Perfect. Perfect. Oh, no, no, no. That was very  

well done. Um, just he, he, anyone's watching 
again. Right. Right. Right. Right. I swear I've  

done this before. I believe you. I just, um, 
because we're right in front of the place where  

we're trying to get into it, there may be people 
watching, so just something to keep in mind. 

Right. Uh, and I, like, put my hands, like, 
very, in, like, a pocket of my pants and,  

like, keep them there and just, like, stand 
still and, like, a weird whisper, just like,  

Gus went to go look for three men. I told him to 
come back here. I don't know if he has returned.  

I'm sure he would probably tell us. Um, all right.
Well, um, I guess that makes sense as to why they  

left me literally standing out. Can I put 
my hands in my pocket? I'm holding a rat.  

I pulled the rat tighter. Oh, oh, um, is he okay? 
He, his eyes are bulging a little. Well, I'm just  

holding the cage. I took the cage with me. Sorry. 
I thought you were like just squeezing this rat. 

Having like the cage. Homeward bound moment at 
like, ugh, I can't breathe. Yes. Do you know of  

anywhere nearby that maybe we could just wait? 
It seems, it's just, it's, it's a chillier day  

that it, and it, It looks like it's going to rain 
at any minute, so I would rather not get caught  

outside. Uh, I mean, yeah, I definitely know of 
some places, but I told Gus to come back here. 

How will he know to go somewhere else? Um, maybe 
we could somehow leave him a message or a note. 

First, Rurik, uh, do I actually know of any 
places nearby? I would assume I'm fairly  

familiar with the area just from, like, 
walking around. Just outside of your area,  

because this is north of, uh, 
The strip and north of, I mean,  

the whispering bazaar is south of the strip. So 
this is actually not exactly a familiar area. 

You're kind of on the borderlands between the 
strip and, um, those more expensive houses,  

including this one that are just up there. Um, 
but go ahead and roll a perception check to see  

if you can spot a place to hang out. So, are 
we technically in the Crystal Cliffs? Is that  

where we are? Where are we? No, um, you are in 
the, uh, so if you look at where the Strip is,  

and then between the Strip and the Hollow Council, 
you're in the area right around that zone. 

Ah, okay, okay, okay. Oh, I fell. Oh, and that's 
a worse roll. I mean, anywhere that, you know,  

maybe this place is still within eyesight, and 
that way if he pops up, seemingly out of thin air,  

as it were, then we can, you know, run out 
and flag him down. I'm doing perception. No,  

I'm doing history. What am I doing?
Perception. Perception. So that's a  

whole nine. Okay. Um, it takes the two of 
you quite a bit to find a cozy spot that's  

still within a recent decent, um, range of 
this building, you end up actually having to  

go down a little bit of an alley that has 
an oblique angle on the space where, um,  

that this building is, but it still works out.
You still are able to get to a good spot, um,  

and you're able to kind of figure things out. 
Cozy, outdoor, a little bit of a magical heat  

lamp over the top, self cleaning plates. It's a 
nicer area of town, um, but not that nice that  

they actually hand wash these dishes, you know. 
There's a difference between cheap, shoddy cutlery  

and high end cutlery, and this is the mid range.
But nicer midrange. Um, Gus, you have been tailing  

these three individuals. Um, they first, you 
kind of, you see them slipping along the roof  

lines for a while, and you have a choice. You 
could try to blend in with the shadows below,  

or you could make your way up to the rooftops 
as well. Which would you choose to do? 

I'll probably stay below.
Okay, can you go ahead and roll a stealth  

check with advantage because you are invisible?
Well, awesome. Um, with a 12,  

you're able to make out some, um,
you're able to make out some of the, uh, Locations  

that they're hopping from to and from. Um, and 
you, uh, get the sense that they're kind of making  

their way around the square to a location where 
they can surveil those who are outside of the,  

um, the building itself. Um, as you make your way 
over there, go ahead and roll a perception check. 

A little bit nine. Um, continuing to follow 
them around, it's, it's a little confusing  

that they're still circling and, uh, they make 
their way around and then you see them kind of  

like settle in for a moment and then they start 
coming back your way. They still seem to have  

their eyes on someone and they're tracking 
them, but they're coming back towards you. 

What do you do? Okay. Is it possible for 
me to like, get up to where they are,  

uh, to climb up to the rooftop? Yeah. Uh, go 
ahead and roll, uh, uh, some sort of dexterity  

based method of getting up there or strength 
based. If you're just muscling your way up,  

I'm going to say acrobatics because of My small 
statue, I probably have to, like, jump and, like,  

grab a lot of things, and, like, Oh, yeah.
You're an agile climber. You've scaled,  

uh, walls and fences and other things while 
chasing down suspects in the past. So, yeah,  

go ahead and use an acrobatics check. Ooh, 
30 20. Awesome. You're able to slip up there  

really quickly, and Okay. Uh, this gives you 
an even better view of what they're looking at  

and what they're trying to check out.
Um, you have a better sense of what  

they're, they, they don't seem to see you. 
Um, but go ahead and roll another perception  

check or actually I think this time insight check.
Ooh, another dirty 20. Keeping that dice out. Uh,  

you. Oh, good. Because now they've triangulated 
for you by their gaze and how they've moved and  

you've been able to slip around behind them, 
uh, or, or alongside them at some points,  

you realize that where they're looking and 
they're looking over at this outdoor space  

for this cafe and you recognize and see 
Ulua and Serafina sitting at that spot. 

I want to point at. Ulua. Invisible finger. Oh, 
shit! 120 feet. You're within range. Does that  

count as casting a spell? Yes. It's a cantrip, 
so I don't know. Um, that means I technically  

would have become un invisible. Yeah, but you are 
stealthing very well. Okay, so I guess I'm just  

hiding now. I'm not invisible anymore because 
I don't have spells to re invisible myself. 

So I will cast a pointer finger at, um, Ulua and 
just be like, They're watching you. From the top  

of the, whatever building we're on. Zulu, you hear 
this whisper in your head. And I need to be able  

to see him to whisper back? No. Okay. Noted. Um,
Mmm, I, They seem to have left me out in the  

cold. Shall we reconvene at Sticky Beaks?
Or do you want to keep following them? Um,  

Sticky Beaks? No, uh, oh, we're supposed to meet 
at her brother's office, right? Yeah. That's what  

I meant, sorry. Okay, um, point my finger again, 
but like, where's the, where's her brother's  

office? Serafina, darling, where's your brother's 
office? Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, it's, um, uh,  

it's in the place called, uh, Cobblestone Commons.
Um, it's, I proceed to explain the cross streets  

and I proceed to relay the cross streets, take a 
look at the blue house. Yes, there's a blue house  

and across from a deli it's right next to the 
cobbler. But if you go to the tailor, you've gone  

too far, uh, As that is being shared with you, 
Gus, you overhear something because you're close  

enough to them now to overhear their conversation.
Um, you overhear, follow them, kill them. 

I'm going to point at Alou and be like, oh, 
they're going to try to kill you. Interesting.  

Well, a lady is always prepared. Um, and 
I say, uh, you stay on them. Let's give  

them the long way to her. Shall we see if we 
can't trip them up as it were. Stay in touch. 

As Alua and Serafina go around a corner, two 
of the figures up on the rooftop continue to  

follow them, and one It starts to slip 
down a different direction down the,  

down the rooftops towards a back alley. Uh, 
Gus, do you follow the lone individual or  

the two that are following Ulua and Serafina? 
Uh, I feel like I don't know them well enough  

to know if they can like handle themselves yet.
So I'm just going to like, in case they need help,  

I'm going to go with follow the two, I guess. 
Okay. Uh, as you head down following them,  

the other individuals slips off into the 
alleyways. As you continue following, you take  

note of the figures a little bit more, especially 
as you continue this, this, uh, search and, and. 

One appears to be feminine and the other appears 
to be masculine in their presentation. Um,  

both are intent and you can see them as, uh, 
Alua and Serafina turn into a darker alleyway,  

taking the long way, so to speak. You 
see them both pull out small crossbows. 

I will point at her again and be like, They 
have crossbows? Be careful. What's, where  

are they? I will tell her again, like, what our 
location is. Okay, just to help things out here,  

I am going to share something, so give me a hot 
second. As you're doing that, I'm just going to,  

um, I'm going to take Serafina's arm in mine 
and kind of do like a, like a scoop and like  

a hand over her arm and just, you know, uh, 
lean in as if I'm putting my head on her  

shoulder and say, um, do you have any sort of.
protection for yourself, or, uh, it seems we're  

about to get in a bit of a scuffle. I am not 
great in fights, but I have things to protect  

myself. Okay, well, uh, when I, when I, let's 
see, um, when I stop, uh, and turn to face you,  

find a hiding place, all right? Um, I'll do my 
best to Distract them both. No, no, no, no, no. 

I don't, I don't need to like hide. I could, 
I could fight. I'm just, you know, I mean,  

I can protect you. You, you don't need to 
protect me. I can definitely protect you. Well,  

we just, you know, they have crossbows. 
So. Oh, I have a crossbow. Okay. Well,  

don't take it out now. Just. Right. You ready? So 
you have turned into this shadow area right here. 

Gus, you're standing on this, on this side of the 
pinnacle here of this parapet. And just to the  

other side of it is the two crossbow wielders. 
So the two snackers walked from this cafe,  

Down this way and then down this alleyway. So you 
see the pathway that they've taken and you've been  

kind of like tailing these 2 as they come up over 
here and you're just right behind them and they're  

both stationed on either side here taking aim 
at the 2 and waiting until they come into sight. 

And as soon as they come into sight, 
they've aimed and they pull the trigger. 

Uh, they think that they are getting a sneak 
attack, but you are aware of what is going on  

with the communication that you have with Gus and 
everything else like that. So what I would like to  

do as they shoot is I would like the two of you 
to roll two prepare to dexterity saving throws.  

Okay. One for each of us or two each?
One for each of you. Sorry. Okay. And 

then everybody will roll initiative
deck save deck save. Okay. Uh,  

16 for me. Okay. 18. Okay. Gus, you watch as 
the two. Nope. Nope. And fire. And you see the  

quarrels were targeted correctly. But Seraphina 
and Ulaea just seem to, through your support and  

guidance as well, know how to move in such a way 
as to dodge both quarrels before they even hit,  

and they, you just hear the skittering of 
the crossbow bolts hitting the cobbles below. 

And in that moment, they both cuss a lot. Quietly 
to each other and seek to re-arm their crossbows.  

I would like everybody to roll initiative. Woo.
Oh no. 18. 18. Awesome. 14. 

One. I said 14. Oh, I, oh no. Crossbo, jingly, 
jangle. I go and pick up the cross bows for myself  

and I put 'em in my pocket. . I'm like, 
oh, I have a crossbo. I can't use these. 

Uh, yeah, picking up the damaged 
corals is what distracts you for  

this. Uh, so, Jason, you're first.
I would, um, like to point my finger  

like this at the closest, or whichever one 
of them is closest to the edge. That would be  

the feminine figure. That I would like to say. 
Boom. And then I'm going to Eldritch Blaster.  

Nice. Jesus. Go ahead and roll that attack.
A heck of a wake up call. Good morning. Maybe.  

It's an 11. Uh, that includes your hit 
DC and everything? Yeah. Total. Um,  

an 11 misses. And what does your Eldritch Blast 
look like? Oh, things I've not thought about. Um, 

I think it looks Let's see,
given my patron, I'm going to say it looks like 

a rainbow. Okay, so there's a rainbow fires from 
your finger gun and it misses and there to anyone  

in the world knowing that it was just about 
to rain, it was getting gloomy and dark. It  

looks like a rainbow has just. Shown up and 
then it quickly fades away. Um, a momentary  

rainbow. Uh, anything, wait, wait a section.
Wait, any chance I have advantage as a surprise  

attack since they didn't know I was here. You 
know, yeah. Yeah. You're sneaky. Let's try again.  

Go with advantage. You don't get the rogues. 
Same thing. Nevermind. Okay. Yeah. I'm going  

to hex the closest one to me. Oh. Okay. This 
is a creature that you can see within range. 

Choose one ability when you cast a spell. 
The target has disadvantage on ability  

checks made with the chosen ability. So does 
the crossbow count as an ability or no? Uh,  

what powers it does, but this would be for 
ability checks. So that would be. You know,  

things like, uh, intimidation, 
wisdom, uh, religion, sleight of hand. 

I will disable a stealth or give them disadvantage 
on stealth. So for stealth, that would be,  

you're going to disadvantage their dexterity. 
Okay. So any dexterity checks they make will now  

be with disadvantage for dexterity. Awesome. Um, 
and at the end of your turn, are you yep. That's  

all I got. Actually, I'm going to move back as 
far as I can away from them because I probably  

too squishy to, like, stand here and fight them.
Yeah, you can only really move at half speed  

on these rooftops just because of how precarious 
they are. So you're able to get to, like, kind of,  

uh, point of being able to jump over to the next 
build. Okay. Uh, yeah. That takes us to Larissa,  

uh, Ulua. Um. You've just been shot at. You saw a 
rainbow fly over the top of that, the roof line. 

Um, I am also going to, uh, look at the, uh, 
feminine creature that's closest to the edge  

of the roof. Um, I'm going to use my bonus action 
and, uh, cast Unsettling Words. Uh, which means,  

um, oh, I need to roll. I need to roll Bardic 
Inspiration die. Uh, and they must subtract  

three from the next saving throw that they make.
Okay. Uh, and then I am going to cast, uh, wait,  

no, no. Yes. I'm going to cast mockery. Right? 
Okay. Because I cast a spell is a cantrip and then  

I can cast a bonus action spell. Was the other 
one a bonus action spell? Yes. Yes. And then you,  

yes, you can basically, it's like the 
negative version of bardic inspiration,  

which is a bonus action as well.
Yeah. Um, and I'm going to say, uh,  

I'm going to cast vicious mockery and say, 
uh, or I'm going to sing rather, let's see,  

uh, this is not prepared because I 
was going to cast a different spell  

that I remembered. It had to be a cantrip. Um,
let's see. Your aim is as lovely as your face. Um,  

and that will be maybe some sort of psychic 
damage, uh, two points of psychic damage. You see,  

see them kind of like they have to grip their 
head as that. Uh, and Gus, you can't see them  

anymore because you're down the peak of the 
roof, so you can't see that figure, but,  

uh, they definitely have the, um, huge headache 
that comes with being mocked by a talented bard. 

Yeah, huge headache. Two points. Um, and then for 
my movement, uh, remind me which roof they're on.  

They're on the purple, uh, parapet that's 
up higher. And we are in the shadow area,  

right? Uh, I would like to just duck, uh, 
Into like a doorway doorframe somewhere  

that is out of line of sight for the crossbows.
Yeah, there's 2 barrels here. There's a bench. You  

could run closer to them and get hidden behind 
the roof line of this building here. Or yeah,  

I'll do the I'll do the roof or the corner there. 
The green, so you dart over into that corner,  

you will have full cover because you 
can make it all the way over there. 

Basically, they can't shoot you. Uh, Seeing 
reaction, I'm going to say, come out and play, 

uh, seeing that their, their compatriot has, that 
is reeling from whatever is just hit them between  

the hex and the, um, and the, uh, the, the psychic 
damage there, that, that feminine individual is  

reeling a little bit. The other person shouts 
at them, RELOAD! RELOAD! As they take aim again,  

but this time they're taking aim at Serafina 
because she's the only one visible to them. 

And they are going to Does 
Serafina does That sucks. 

Does a 10 hit. No! Wah!
Awesome. Uh, so you see  

another bolt. skitter across the cobbles and 
seeing their partner engage in this way. The  

other person who's kind of been wobbly 
a little bit, uh, races up the roof line  

to try to find who shot the rainbow. Um, just 
trying to figure out where that came from. Uh,  

and they kind of scan around and look, um, 
Should my verbal component be, you've stolen  

my lucky charms and I didn't bring them.
They do not see Gus in the shadows, in the  

darkness. So Gus, while you're not technically 
stealthed, they rolled a 20. Terrible perception  

check, standing at the peak of this roof line, and 
they turn back away, assuming that it was just a  

fluke of something, and they shoot back towards 
you again, Serafina. Ah, this is much better. 

That's a 20 hit. Yes. Okay. You are going to take 
five points of piercing damage. Five. Uh oh. Uh 

oh. Uh, the action has been pretty quick and 
intense. Serafina, you've been scrabbling around  

picking up these two crossbow bolts, and then you 
get hit by this crossbow bolt, and it's, uh, and  

you look up and it's your turn. You have a 
crossbow coral sticking out of your body. And  

two in your hands, and your own crossbow.
What are you going to do? Um,  

I want to, do do do do.
It doesn't take an action to pull out my,  

like, crossbow and stuff. No, I assume from the 
conversation that you were, like, surreptitiously  

getting it ready. Yeah, okay, perfect. Um, 
so I'm going to drop the two crossbows that  

I just grabbed and fire at the closest one. 
Whether that be the more masculine or feminine. 

Perfect. Go ahead and roll the attack. 
Alright, plus 5. Okay, uh, 14, 15, 16, 17,  

18, 19. Oh, why didn't I just know that? 
19. The hit. That hits. Roll the damage,  

please. Okay. I gotta remember which one's an 
8. Are you an 8? I think you're 8. Yeah! Plus 3. 

Nice. Nine. Uh, you hit them with this crossbow 
bolt. They bend over. How do you want this to end  

for them? Um, uh, they're on the pointy house. 
They're not near us. They're on this purple roof  

right here. Uh, just to maybe collapse over. 
Nothing too crazy. But then I want to whisper,  

yell over to them. Alua. And be like, I got one!
Stay where you are, I will protect you! Uh,  

they hit and tumble and then because of the 
pitch of the roof, they slide off the edge of  

the roof and onto the roof of the other building 
across and you hear a k funk and then nothing. 

Uh, Gus! It's your turn. What are you doing? 
So the one that's left is the one that I hexed,  

right? Yes. Okay. They are hexed. They are 
psychically damaged. So now I'm going to  

Eldritch Blast them again. Okay, roll the attack. 
Am I still sneaky? Do I still get advantage? Uh,  

yeah, they didn't spot you. So you still have
fuck sake. Are you kidding me? I missed again 

with advantage for twice. I missed that's 
ridiculous. Can you roll an intimidation check? 

Oh yeah. Uh, 15. All right. With that brightly 
colored rainbow, you see them sway uncertainly on  

their feet a little bit and. Regain their balance, 
but it was 10 years at best. They are on the peak  

of this rooftop. You have your bonus action and 
your movement. What are you going to do? Uh, 

I will move back, hopefully into cover. 
So they still don't see me. I guess. Okay.  

Yeah. You can move, um, up along or just 
move to the building next door to you and  

just be below the eve of the building that 
they're on. So they can't see you. Yeah.  

I'm gonna like hide underneath the. Okay. Yeah. 
So you're tucked away a bit, um, harder to see. 

They still know vaguely where you are because 
of the rainbows, but you are currently tucked  

away. And then Alua, you are currently tucked 
around the corner. You just heard that, uh,  

Serafina got one, whatever that means. And 
you heard a thud, you can't see the enemies  

right now from where you are, but I would love.
To peek back around the corner, uh, and do my best  

to, um, try to spot the other one, um, and then 
I would like to cast, uh, dissonant whispers at  

the first level. Okay, can I first have you roll 
a perception check to see if you're able to figure  

out where they are? It is not a very high DC, 
but you did not have eyes on them in the interim. 

Yep, that's fair. That's cocked. Oh, look at 
that. Double digits. All right. Uh, 15. Yes,  

you step back and you're able to see them. You 
have to move yourself just towards where the  

cobbles start getting rough. But once you get 
there, you see them very clearly. Okay. And I'm  

going to, uh, cast Dissonant Whispers.
It's a, uh, wisdom saving throw,  

I believe. Okay. Yeah. Uh, 13. Okay. 
They got a 10 total. Woo. Okay. 

They take, uh, nine points of psychic damage. 
They're clutching their head. Tell me,  

what does this look like as their brief time in 
Overton comes to an end? Uh, essentially, uh,  

like you said, they're clutching their head and 
then they just kind of do one of those, like their  

eyes roll back and they just kind of crumple.
Uh, uh, maybe a little, uh, trickle of blood  

comes out of their nose and their, uh, 
eardrums, uh, As they start to fall,  

they crumple and can you just roll a d6
one, they crumple and fall falling to the  

southern end of the pinnacle landing with a 
thump on the same rooftop, but just below,  

not too far from Gus splayed out and because of 
the fact that they fell in that direction, they're  

stuck up there. They didn't slide any further. 
And with that, combat, our first combat, is over. 

Ba ba ba ba. Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee.
I'm gonna go over to the um, one that fell by  

me. And, like, look through their pockets or 
whatever, just to see if they have anything  

that identifies them, or who they are, or 
Uh, roll an investigation check. He invest, 

you're fired. Dice. Let's see. Um, I guess not 13. 
That's so bad. Uh, could have been voice. But the  

13, you find a couple of interesting items in 
their pockets. Uh, they are, um, they must be  

working for a casino because they have. Uh, a 
lot of, uh, chips and, and, but it's not like  

they just have the chips that they would have.
They have those that others would have, uh,  

uh, they have dice, um, and you, as you kind of 
heft them, you, you definitely think that they're  

probably weighted dice, like very obviously 
weighted. These are not sneaky. This is definitely  

a casino that's illicitly doing things. Um, and 
they also have a few, um, Coins in their pockets. 

So you, you pick up about 12 gold coins and they 
also have a, um, a little sketch of the Skylark  

cafe or the Skylark theater.
I'm going to drag them like. 

It's somewhere like try to just sort of hide 
the body so that they're just missing for an  

unforeseeable amount of time Like being where they 
are right now given how? Protected they can't be  

seen from the ground at least They you're in a 
good spot right where they are. Okay. That was a  

very lucky role that Larissa made to get that one 
And then like being a former homicide detective,  

I guess I will like try to like obfuscate Any 
investigation that eventually happens, like clean  

up after myself, like maybe misdirect if I can.
Yeah. Go ahead and just roll. This is kind of  

like a, um, a survival check, but also kind of 
like a slight of hand check. Should I like just  

mess things up? But it's more of a wisdom 
thing. So let's go with the survival check. 

Eight. God, you're dumb. You're fired, Dice.
I pulled out all new dice sets to roll and none  

of them are treating me very well. All right. 
It's cause you haven't rolled them yet. I don't  

actually believe in any of that. Gotta feed them. 
Give them kisses. The Karen feeding of dice. Uh, 

you're all here. Are you getting together? Gus? 
Gus? Yeah, I will work my way down. Actually,  

I'll probably go check the other body too. As 
long as I'm up on the roofs already. Yeah. As you,  

uh, kind of clamber up and over, uh, 
Lula and Serafina, you see another  

shadow up on the rooftops briefly
and then it disappears from sight. 

Um, okay. Uh, Kios, can I have you roll a, um, 
I think this is going to be going back to the  

same thing. It's, it's a bit of a, like you're 
looking for the trail of blood and such of,  

of the person who fell. Um, although there 
wasn't blood at the first hit, but you're  

just trying to track down where their body did.
So I think we can call this another wisdom check.  

Um, you choose what you think it would be for 
you. I guess the survival count for knowing  

where a dead body falls. Yeah, sure. I'm really 
just looking for like your perceptive skills as  

applied to knowing how you're trying to figure out 
how they've pachinkoed down the 16 on survival. 

Okay. Uh, you make your way down and you find 
the them crumpled in the alley. They've actually  

bounced a bit and they're crumpled up 
in the alley. Just another body lying  

there. There's nobody currently looking 
down here. Um, they felt quite a ways,  

so they're a bit more mangled than they were 
when they were just hit with the crossbow bolt. 

But you can see the broken 
crossbow bolt in their chest. 

I am going to go through the pockets again, and 
I will also take the crossbow bolt with me. Um,  

similar to the, to the other one, they have a 
lot of gambling paraphernalia on them. And they  

also have some, uh, some just things on their 
person of various sorts, another ten gold, uh, 

There's a note and it looks like it's written 
in a language. I don't know. Do you speak  

under common? I do. Oh, so you start reading 
through it. It's like an encoded under common,  

and what you pick up from it is Stop 
the revolution. Take out Celeste. Oh, 

protect the council.
Okay, and then I will go back over to them. 

Uh, do you share any of your findings with them? I 
will, um, share all of my findings with them. Uh,  

Allua, when you read through that particular 
Undercommon note, uh, do you speak Undercommon?  

I do not. Well, when you get Gus's interpretation 
of what it says, it rings a bell. And you  

know there's a certain council member who is 
famed for paying people off to keep secrets. 

It's one of those contracts that's been 
offered your way before, but due to your 

choices in life, you've never 
partaken of that particular bribe. 

We should, we should probably regroup. 
We've obtained a lot of information  

and it may be best To, take a look 
at. Oh we can go peek Squeaky Peek. 

No, no. Did you just say Squeaky Peek? I 
wasn't sure if that was in character or  

not! I couldn't tell either, I was like, 
Squeaky Peek, Squeaky Peek. Yes, totally,  

totally in character. Um, that was so 
it character, um, uh, I was so confident  

to, uh, he didn't used to be my informant. 
So he does, he does have a squeaky beak. 

I don't know. Oh, so good. Um, I didn't send him 
a note, have him meet us. I can walk us to the,  

to the, my office, my brother's office. We 
should get off the streets before. The watch  

finds one of these bodies. Uh, Oh, here you go. 
I'm going to hand her back her crossbow bolt  

that was in his chest. Oh, thank you.
Wipe it off. Leave that in the body. 

Noted. Okay. Y'all making your way to 
the cobblestone commons. I would have  

quickly wrote a note, folded it into a bird, 
chucked it. Oh, whispered to who it goes to,  

chuck it. Okay. What does the note say? 
Okay. It says, lots of information, 

I want to tell you all about it, we'll meet 
you at the office, comma, my brother's office,  

the one that I'm using right now. And 
some other, some other Kenku named  

Squeaky Beak gets his weird note from nowhere.
Uh, so yeah, you all make your way over the,  

to the office. It takes quite a while because 
it is crossing a lot of the city. Um, you're  

all familiar with the various public transit, 
various public transit options. There's Quick  

flights that are fairly expensive. There's the 
cart boards down below, just sub level of Overton. 

And there are a variety of, you know, slower 
magic tech carts that can make their way along  

the street or just simply walking. Um, 
how do you choose to make this journey? 

How much is there one? And go ahead. Oh, how 
much are the flights? Like the quick flights,  

flights generally go for two to three gold 
and it can go up and down depending on, uh,  

availability and rush. Okay, so this is like a 
cab. Yeah. Okay. Would there be a particular way  

like me and my brother would have traveled?
I think that's related to you and your  

brother and the costs you would have put in. 
I think early on in his career he definitely  

would have walked a ton, but also taken the 
carpool services. As they're more affordable,  

um, but it does mean going into the enders,
it gets stinky down there and it's hot. I would,  

I'll suggest that to the group, um, just because 
that would be what I was used to. I would be like,  

I'll pay for, uh, quick flight, courtesy 
of our most recent friends back there. 

Oh. Sweet. I just hold up like a handful of gold 
coins. Uh, summoning a, uh, a flying vehicle is  

fairly ubiquitous. Um, everybody does it their 
own special way. Quick whistle, a hand raise,  

whatever it is. Uh, they have the magic sensory 
equipment to find a fare. And it's happens to be  

a night of very little traffic right now.
Um, I actually just used an app. As far  

as you know, the, uh, the, the Grands Brand 
Gala must be in full swing because there's  

a lot of free flying vehicles available, 
usually the purview of those with wealth,  

but they're all at one location having a great 
old time, as far as you know, and you are quickly  

able to summon one and make your way to it.
To the cobblestone commons. It is maybe not  

the most robust of machineries, but it is quick. 
It is efficient. And the skyways are often the  

most direct ways, uh, upon arrival, it lands in 
an open square area in the cobblestone commons,  

a little loud, a little ostentatious, the, the 
Omnitheumter makes a ton of noise as it gets  

over there, but you eventually arrive and.
Serafina, you're able to take the other two  

to your brother's office. How much 
does that cost? A second total? Uh,  

that one costs you three gold without tip. 
Okay. I would do five gold. Big spender.  

That's money. I just took it off my head body.
Uh, yeah, you are able to make that happen. Um,  

Serafina, can you describe the entryway to 
this office? Um. Yeah, so, uh, you walk in,  

and it's a, not a huge entry, like, way, um, but 
still spacious enough that no one feels cramped by  

any means. Um, there's like a, like a receptionist 
desk that's, you know, Currently empty, um,  

you know, some pictures on the wall of, like, 
news articles of things that he had solved, uh,  

and then there's like a door off to the right, 
and if you go inside the door, that's where the  

mess is, just books upon books upon files upon.
And somewhere in this place there's a painting.  

There is. So, when you walk into 
the actual office, behind the desk,  

the only clean, well kept thing in the space 
is a huge wall sized portrait of young Gus  

from a poster that was released in his prime.
And I walk in, totally forgetting about that,  

and I sit right in the desk, just like, Alright, 
this is my brother's office. We're here. Welcome. 

What are you looking at? And I like, turn around. 
I go, Oh yeah! I told you he liked you. It's you,  

right? Yes, that's, that's me. He likes you. 
Big fan. I, I see that. Where, where is your  

brother? Ah, very good question. Don't know.
Yeah, I don't know. Is he missing or? Yeah.  

Run away? Yeah. Nope. I, well, I hope he didn't 
run away. Uh, he went out on a case, uh, and has  

not come back. There's no info. Um, so I'm, I'm 
running the agency now. Yay. Um, yeah, And looking  

for him when I can, but, uh, it's not going 
great. Yeah, I, uh, about, you know, not too long, 

12, 13 months.
Yeah, it, at first it was fine because you know,  

he, he would go away for a while. So for like, I 
don't know, four or five months, none of us really  

thought much of it. Cause you know, he would go 
away for things. Yeah. Yeah. And then it like,  

you know. Seven months, we started questioning. By 
month eighth, I, yeah, I'm not the best detective. 

I'm really good at like people telling me what 
to do in that sense of like investigationing,  

like he would take me with him on a lot of 
the cases. Cause I'm, I'm really good at like,  

you know, like I, like I create things. I pull 
out my little box that I was working on, like,  

like this, like I'm working, I'm building this.
I'm almost done with this. It's gonna do, um,  

things. There's a spring that doesn't work right 
now. But, uh, yeah, so, just looking for him.  

Not the best where was I? Oh, right, uh, not the 
best, uh, investigator. So, I'm losing out on a  

lot of his cases. You don't give yourself enough 
credit. I would agree, you did very well today. 

the rat. Oh yeah, that's true. Well, I talk to a 
lot of the rats in the basement that I do stuff  

in. I can get bored down there sometimes.
Do they, 

this is going to sound uninformed, because it is. 
Do they, is there a social system? Oh yeah, yeah,  

yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean, I only 
know about it within the basement. I don't  

know much about, you know, the outside of the 
basement hierarchy. I also only have, you know,  

very limited time that I can talk to them until 
like, I have to like, you know, I basically have  

to go to sleep and I can talk to them again.
But then by then, you know, the kids come down  

and I hang out with them, so. See if they're 
kids or rats. The kids? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Did I miss something? No, not my kids. My brother 
struck a deal with the guy who owns the shop. I  

use his basement. He has like a thousand kids. 
No, it's like, I don't know, five kids, I think.  

They come down a lot and bug me. Gotcha. Okay. I 
understand. I thought maybe we were talking about  

the rat's children. I just wanted to make sure.
You know, I bet they have kids. I just assume  

they're a new rat. Oh, I'm sure they do. They're 
usually quite big. They're usually quite, um, 

They procreate a lot. Yes. They have a high 
propensity for procreation. Um, anyways, um,  

well, now that we're here, Oh, are you thirsty? 
While we wait, I could, I could, I could make a  

drink. Well, do we, do either of you have a way 
to get in touch with Sticky Beak? Oh, I already  

did it. I sent a letter when we were walking.
Oh, um, I got paper and I pull out one of the  

two that I've left and I'm like, yeah, Ah, ah, 
I see. Yes, you're well prepared. Perfect. Um,  

oh, well, he gave it to me. He told me to send 
it to him. Oh, the, the letter that you got, it  

probably came as a bird. Yeah. That, that's this. 
Yes, at one leg of its journey, yes, certainly. 

Um, so, uh, yes, as long as we're waiting, I 
would love a refreshment. Um, perhaps Perfect,  

I know what you will like. I know.
Gus, big man, I point up to the picture.  

What do you want? Sure, sure. Whatever you have 
is fine. Got it. And I was like, don't worry. I  

got a great selection. I know exactly what to make 
you. And I go to a closet and open up the closet. 

Inside check. Is she lying or is it bravado? Or 
is she truly believing that's an at one? Never  

mind. Oh, you totally believe everything she 
says. You are captivated. As she goes to the  

big closet and. And I open it up and there's 
one bottle of like the brown liquid with cups, 

pour it out, give it to him. It's like higher 
end, you know, liquor, but it's still just  

the one. It's her brother's one celebratory 
drink when he closes the case and she's just,  

she never opened it. It's his desk bottle. 
Yeah. Exactly. Uh, Gus, as she moves over  

in that direction, you make out another, uh, 
object on the wall, something more recent. 

Somebody has kept up with your work. There's 
an atrocious picture of a paint of a maybe a  

tree or a bush. You don't remember what 
you're painting that day, but you know,  

you painted that. So, so your brother's 
the one. The one what? The one. I mean,  

he's the one brother. I only have one brother. 
One person who ever bought one of my paintings. 

He bought one of your paintings? Come 
back and I look. Oh, that thing. Yeah,  

it's a seal, right? Seal? Yes. That's, that's, 
well done. That's exactly what it is. I'm just  

gonna sit down with my little drink. He told me 
it was a tree. I think it's a seal. Tree seal.  

Very rare. Oh, okay. Nice. You know, if you 
wanna paint some more, I'll bet he'd buy it. 

Um. I mean, I gotta find him first. But then 
he'd buy it. No, I'm not what you would call  

a professional artist. It's more of a hobby. 
Maybe. Maybe. But he, you got money for it.  

Doesn't that make you professional? He'd 
give you more money for it too. Actually,  

didn't get money for it. I gave it to 
someone who sold it to your brother. 

It was a gift. Ooh, awkward. Yeah, that's okay. 
Ernesto, the bartender sold it to him. Ernesto. 

I'm going to say that. Gus probably just 
never tries to sell his paintings because  

he's fully aware they're not good. Like, he 
just enjoys doing it. Like, it's a hobby of  

joy for him. Well, if you ever decide to pursue 
a commission on your paintings, my friend Celia,  

Her tavern is essentially a gallery and she only 
takes a small commission on any, any sale, every,  

everything in, in the tavern is artwork of 
some form, whether it be, uh, carpentry or  

the glassware, or it's, it's all local artisans.
And so I'm sure she would be happy to feature some  

of your work. Um, there's also a collective 
of artists who meet there on occasion to, um,  

to share their work and speak about their work 
and, um, to talk about, um, uh, you know, various  

artists and techniques. Um, you might enjoy it. 
Um, but I certainly wouldn't pressure anyone, but. 

I'm happy to connect you should you feel inclined. 
I appreciate that. I will let you know to do that. 

He's very uncomfortable. This is like 
his private ish hobby that he just  

like paints in the woods by himself.
I take a sip of the liquid and I go,  

It's a little harsh. Mine's already gone. 
For my tastes, but quite warming. So thank  

you. It's definitely working to keep away 
the chill of the day. Mm. I will pass your  

notes on to my brother when he comes back. He's
back! He's arrived! Uh, your office chimes ring. I  

was going to try to knock, but uh, you hear a loud 
doorbell as you are knocked on the door. Charmed  

by the door. That's canon. Now that's Oh, 
he's here. He's here. I'm going to run  

in. You open the door and there's a very 
tall figure. Um, feminine in appearance. 

Uh, is this the offices of, uh, I think I'm 
looking for you. Uh, Serafita. Yes. Yes, indeed.  

That is who I'm looking for. Uh, I have a problem 
that could use your intervention. Oh, um, uh, 

uh, come on in, come on in, come in from the cold. 
Oh, thank you very much. They begin taking off  

their cloak and their overcoat and then the scarf 
and then a hat. They reveal a very beautiful, uh,  

but older aristocratic looking woman, a little 
worn, uh, with care, crow's feet, uh, Slight point  

to her ears. Um, so, uh, you'd be Serafina.
Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's me. And  

you've recently picked up some associate.
I, I have. Uh, well, if my information is true,  

you have. I, uh, surprised to see you, but it's 
splendid. I'm glad you're well. Uh, associate,  

associate. I mean, I used to work with my brother 
and I over here, um, I don't think you can hear  

from the back to the front in this type of space 
with her volume. Um, you just know that she went  

over to, to invite somebody at this point.
I think, so I think this is a little bit of a,  

if you want to, you can roll up a set perception 
check. Like if you're like here to the door,  

I would have actually come out of the space 
that we were in. And. And I would have left  

the door open. Okay. Yeah, just because I 
would have been thinking it was sticky beard. 

Beard. Oh my God. Beak. Oh, I see that you're both 
here. That's absolutely all that I needed to know. 

And as she says, all I needed to know. Uh, 
I'm going to cast Hold Person. Mist rises  

up. What? I'm going to cast Hold Person. Uh, 
what are you, how are you doing this? Uh, as,  

as the mist starts to rise up, I'm going 
to go, uh. You're not going anywhere. 

Uh, and I just, I just, I do one of these. Um,
succeed on a wisdom saving throw, uh,  

wisdom save of 13. Wisdom save of 13.
The mist continues to rise, even as  

your taunting finger is in front of them. Oh 
no. And as it reaches the top of their head,  

they say, Ugh, better luck next time. And the 
mist starts swirling away, and in her place,  

is a large, fanged monstrosity. Ahh! I need 
you all to roll initiative. I let in a monster! 

That's five. Seventeen. I
rolled poorly. Well, these new dice also suck.  

I'm going away. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, Jason, you 
got a five? Yup. Larissa, Jess? 17. Jess got a 17. 

And Larissa? Are those 
listening at home? One. Whee. 

Oh. Ooty. Yep. Yep. Yep. Uh 
huh. Uh, okay. I love that. 

So, um, okay. That's awesome. And let me 
just really quickly roll this one. Oh, 

even better. Okay. Yeah. Did 
the monster roll a nat 20? 

No,
not much different from that, but, 

uh, okay. So,
this. Okay. Okay. This is, it's,  

it's good. This is fine. It's all fine. Um,
in your surprise, 

you, uh, and I think this like contributes 
to, uh, Lua's momentary befuddlement,  

maybe that's the way to describe this. Um, a 
large amount of Uh, dust and rust, red dust  

rises up out of this creature and you can see 
that it's mostly composed of ferrous metals and  

it's got this body covered in just thick, lumpy 
armor and a tail that ends in a bony protrusion. 

With two little featherly, feathery looking 
antennae sprouting from an insectile head.  

It doesn't belong up here. You've heard 
about these down in the Underton area,  

making raids and, and taking materials from 
smithies and other places. And it sniffs. 

And it is going to reach out and try to attack 
Ulua, who has just come through. 20. It's its  

first attack. Yeah, that hits us. It zips 
up with its tail, pokes into you briefly,  

and pulls back out. You're going to 
take 5 points of piercing damage. And it 

Okay. It's, you see its antenna shake at the 
same time, and, uh, next to you, Serafina,  

one of your brother's, uh, discarded older 
metal utensils corrodes in front of your eyes 

as the antenna kind of points in that direction, 
and you can see the rust flow towards its maw. 

Uh, Jess, it's your turn.
Alright, um, 

I am going to,
uh, run up and hit  

it with my sickle. Okay. So it's gonna be actions
and, okay. So plus four. Oh, okay. 19. To hit that  

hits, roll the damage and plus two.
Nice. Four, five, six. 

Okay. Yeah. Great. Six points of damage. 
You see part of its armor gets a little  

dented from your hit. And I need you to roll a 
dexterity saving throw. Dexterity saving throw. 

Dexterity saving throw. Okay. Nine. You are, 
you swing, you hit, and you have caused damage.  

You can see that the, um, rust mark monster has a 
bit of a dent, but as you pull back your sickle,  

you can see that the blade of your sickle is 
rusted and beginning to dissolve, and it has taken  

a minus one to its, uh, damage capabilities.
Gosh. Uh, bonus actions or anything else  

like that? Um, bonus action. Oh, I 
think I actually have bonus actions. 

I guess I don't. Can't I use a, no, cause wait, a 
cantrip. Oh no, a cantrip is only a bonus action  

if it says bonus action. So no, I don't. That's, 
that's all I do. Awesome. Uh, Jason. Awesome.  

Hello. What does Gus do back in the back room, 
but hearing the monstrous noises happening and  

seeing the clouds of rust floating through 
the air, uh, as a member of the deeper darks  

beneath Overton and Underton, you've probably 
heard about, if not encountered these things. 

Given that Gus grew up in the Underdark, maybe 
he would know like what that sound is. Yes. Okay.  

Very likely. So, I'm going to Do you want to roll 
a history check to get more information, or are  

you good? Sure. Let's do it. That is Ooh! 21. 
Oh yeah, you know actually quite a bit, and you  

know that your people would rather fight a squad 
of other monsters than confront a single one of  

these creatures, which are called Rust Monsters.
They are normally left to their own devices,  

fairly low key and docile. Uh, just They 
just destroy metals and they gobble up  

things that they eat, but upset or noticing 
creatures that have such metals as they like,  

they become very aggressive, especially to 
those with steel weapons and armor. They can  

smell that food at a distance and just go for it, 
corrode and consume every object of that sort. 

They don't care if the rust is from a 
spike or a sword, they're just after metal. 

Um,
I'm gonna run to the open door,  

and then I'm gonna cast
Chill Touch. 

Okay. Does a My attack rolls! Oh my 
god! Does a five No, does a ten hit? No,  

a ten does not hit. Um Alright, everybody have 
a nice day, I'm done. Your chill touch goes  

out and it just disperses a bit. The rust 
has interfered with your spell in some way  

and caused it to not fizzle, but just not be 
able to hit the rust monster in this moment. 

Um,
that's pretty much all I can do. 

You watch Seraphina as the, um, small chair 
near you that was one of the few metal chairs  

in the space begins to dissolve a bit as it 
goes to Alua's turn. Um, as a pre action,  

I'm going to say, boy, are you ugly. And, 
um, I'm gonna, uh, reach out, uh, and, uh,  

And just wiggle my fingers again, uh, and cast, 
uh, Dissonant Whispers, uh, at the first level. 

Uh, it's a wisdom save of 13. I don't even 
know. Does this creature even have wisdom? Oh,  

it does. That's a decent one. Uh, it got 
a 13. Dammit. Means it beats it. Is that  

half damage? Yeah. Um, and doesn't have to 
move. Uh, four. I rolled an eight total,  

so four points of psychic damage. Thank you. Uh, 
yeah, that there's a bit of a shiver across its  

scales as it takes that four points of damage.
And, um, you can see that it's relatively  

undisturbed still. It's still an intent on 
gathering the metals, but you can see that  

there has been that one gash in its armor. And 
now that like, whatever that shiver meant for  

the life of this creature. Um, and then I'm 
going to use my last, uh, bardic inspiration. 

Um, Uh, to cast on, uh, Gus and be like, 
good luck to you and missing everything, 

the hit that you did to its dammit to its armor, 
Seraphine is what stood out to it most so far. So  

it's the tension has centered to you. Also it got 
a delicious taste of your scythe and it reaches up  

again towards you. It's two antenna furling and 
it is going to attack you. And it's also going  

to add another negative to your scythe.
That just happens automatically, um,  

if you can't make this deck saving throw. So why 
don't you go ahead and roll a deck saving throw? 

Threw the dice back into their bin. How did I 
do that? It's like the best. Plus three, right?  

Twenty two. You keep your weapon out of its reach 
just in time, and it goes in for the bite. Uh,  

does a twelve hit? No. Ayy! Distracted by your 
quick shifting of your scythe out of the way, it  

misses its lunge at you, and you both protect your 
weapon and manage to not be hit in this moment. 

Uh, that takes us to Jason, Gus.
You're muted, maybe, or something,  

I don't know. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay, I'm going to 
try another Eldritch Blast and we'll see if I can  

hit anything eight feet away from me. Merrick 
Inspiration. Probably going to need it. Uh, 

does a 12 hit with the inspiration I got 
all the way to 12. It does not hit a,  

another rainbow blasts out. And now that 
you all know the source of the rainbows, um,  

but you see that it's just ricochets, Around and 
creates a bit of light and color, but fades out 

show out of practice. I love that. This is 
like Gus's coming out of retirement space.  

And just like, I feel like he probably has not 
used his fighting magic at all in like 10 years  

or something. Maybe it makes a little sense. 
Like RP wise, why he keeps missing everything. 

Okay. So where his patrons like, Oh, you're still 
alive. It's like, Oh, Oh, I got it. Start paying  

attention to that creature. Is that it? Uh, 
yeah, I don't have much for bonus actions. So,  

yep. Okay, that takes us to Larissa. Uh, I'm 
going to, uh, cast Dissonant Whispers again. DC 

13 save.
It only made an 11. Hey,  

alright. So, that means, uh, it takes, uh, Seven 
points of psychic damage and, uh, where is it? Um,  

must immediately use its reaction if available to 
move as far as its speed allows away from me. Uh,  

it doesn't move into obviously dangerous ground. 
Um, it skitters backwards and hits the door,  

but can't get any further than that in this space.
Okay. Uh, that takes us to It's turned it's  

skittered back against the the door trying 
to adjust and figure out where it's supposed  

to be going It's unsure of why it Did that 
move and you can see that there's a bit of  

confusion and it centers its target on, 
it's going to be between the two of you  

because you two most messing with it.
It is going to go for you, Lua. And so  

it's racing. Not me, who's the largest threat. 
Yeah. Um, you're just a happy rainbow factory  

right now. Worst things to be. Uh, and as it, 
as it skitters towards you, uh, let's see, 

that's a natural 20. So that's a 
total of 10 points of piercing damage. 

All right.
Okay. Uh, Jess. Me? Yes. Okay. I'm going to 

This might be a very bad idea, but I'm gonna 
Essentially I have to touch this creature. So I'm  

gonna essentially punch him and try to inflict 
wounds Okay, roll the attack. I think yeah 16 

that hits. Oh, this is why I wanted to do this 
because I can't 3 T10s! Get em! 20 points! 20  

points of damage? Yeah. Describe the end of 
this creature. 9 plus 6 plus 5? Yes, ma'am! 

Describe the end of this creature in your 
office. I just yelled, Don't mess up my  

brother's office! And I punched it in the gut. And 
then I imbue pain that shimmers out from my punch,  

makes him rust. This creature of rust, 
punched by you, cracks all over its armor as 

a rusty creature rusts itself and corrodes 
away. And Then there's a shimmer, and the  

shimmer collapses and coalesces, and the creature 
collapses on itself, and then it disappears. 

Left behind are a few trinkets 
that drop to the ground, 

and in that moment you hear another 
knock. Which, now that we're making  

it canon Sounds a lot like some chimes.
Do you Don't answer that door! Yeah,  

I'm like, I'm essentially like I've got a gash 
across my chest and I'm like, do you uh happen  

to have maybe like a peephole next time you can 
check and see who's outside before you just let  

anybody in? I think there's a peephole. Yeah, let 
me go look. Uh, quickly, what are the trinkets? 

Before I go peek, I, you see that there's a 
pile of uncorroded metals of various sorts,  

and they all have a sheen to them, whatever was 
previously covering them, having been rusted away,  

but these are metals that are not rustable. 
They're not of the steel family. They were  

part of other things. And it seems that this 
creature, um, um, Although its disappearance  

was a little strange, it still had the refined 
metals from its corroding, rusting thing. 

I just quickly go, I assume y'all don't want any 
metal. You don't need any of metals. And I just  

collect all of it, put it in one of my pockets. 
I'm like, metal. They're like fancy high end  

metals that are great for smithing ore, in your 
case. Your tinkerings. Yeah, and then I'll go. Um,  

I don't know. Does the door have a peep hole?
Yes, it does. And as you're going up to it,  

you just kind of hear in the back of 
your head Make sure you always check  

before answering the door. Shit. It's a voice. 
It's a familiar voice. Where were you earlier? 

Yeah, peeking through the hole you can 
see sticky beak patiently waiting outside 

I want to say, through the door, If you 
are who you are, how do you know me? 

Uh, Serafina? You know me? Uh, your
brother was my protege. I'm trying to  

help you out. Okay, okay, okay. Boost up your 
Open the door. Hey, just had to make sure. Is  

everything okay? And he looks around and sees Uh, 
I see me bleeding over in the corner. Oh, oh, oh,  

oh, oh. And he reaches into a pouch at his side 
and pulls out a healing potion. Here, drink this. 

Thanks. Are you okay? I'm okay. You have a, 
you're here. It hands you another healing pot  

in Sarafina. What? Where? Where's Gus Is Gus. 
Okay. Um, my pride is very injured. . He looks  

in his pouch. It's a rough life and I don't 
have a tincture for that. That's okay. No,  

you just missed, um. I just look up at the 
giant photo of young me on the wall and I'm  

like, I wouldn't like to look back at this.
I mean, it's sad, but it's also super funny. 

You just missed a fun little, uh, this, 
uh, assassination attempt. So that was fun. 

Uh, who tried to assassinate you? I described 
the lady I saw before she went up and missed. 

Um, maybe these cases aren't that dissimilar. 
I don't know. I'm fairly certain she was at the  

gala, based on your description. He describes 
back to you the same individual. She left in a  

rush. Well, a lot of people are left in a rush. 
Things didn't go quite as I shouldn't have been  

there in the first place.
And I was there, well,  

neither here nor there. Did you find out who
or what or why? We're trying to find the stage  

manager. We suspect he's at least involved in 
some way. And at that point, now that we are in a,  

at least enclosed area amongst friends, I'm going 
to open the ledger and start leafing through it  

to see if there's any personal information. It's 
actually the Necronomicon and now you're dead. 

Uh, opening up the ledger, you, uh, read 
through and it is. Truly astounding the  

information that's in here. Uh, it helps 
you put some of the pieces together. The,  

the two individuals who followed you up 
on the rooftop were definitely mob stars,  

card sharks of a bit of a sort. And this 
ledger details out the debts owed and the, um,  

questionable spending expenditures of a lot of.
Tangential to the Hollow Council and tangential  

to some of the Ascendants, a lot of corruption 
and foul dealings, and it's all collected in kind  

of a financial ledger, but also a blackmail 
list. And it is clear Who just leaves this  

laying around? Well, it was hidden. You 
did investigate and find it tucked away,  

but I would not leave this at my place of work.
It does detail that there, beneath the stage,  

is a hidden casino, a gambling space. 
Where all of these activities go down 

and the stage manager just merely keeps the 
Skylark at the front. As you thumb through it,  

a scrap of paper slips out.
I grab it and read it. It's,  

it, it much more clearly illuminates. Celeste 
knows too much. She stumbled into too many  

moments where she shouldn't have been there. 
She needs to be taken care of and quickly. 

Is there Is the note from anyone or is 
it just anonymous? It's a, it's clearly  

written in a finer stationery, um, the type of 
stationery that those in the hollow council,  

not, it's not ascendant levels, unless 
they're being a little bit less, um,  

obvious in their things and trying to be a little 
bit more sneaky, which isn't really an ascendant. 

Tendency, anyways, it's, this is definitely 
a much more hollow council sort of dealing,  

but reading through it and putting it together, 
the pieces, um, there is this underground casino  

with some very high stakes, both in terms 
of blackmail and in funds being laid out. 

And there is also other things at play here. 
hints that Celeste may have been connected to  

some rebellious group that was pushing against the 
counselor or the ascendant. And the stage hand may  

be in play as a pawn to these other groups 
to frame the troop, get rid of Celeste.  

You just like looking through this, the more 
damning it is, the more you look through it. 

It could easily be used to either 
blackmail those in power, Or to frame  

and vilify the members of the Skylark troop.
Just depends on how it was used. And I think  

the three of you have a choice. You could expose 
the council through this. You could play both  

sides to your own advantage using this. Or you 
could continue to try to resolve this. Well, 

we could expose the council, but I'm not 
confident that anything would really be done. 

There's, there's too much nuance at work within 
the council. There's, I'm sure people have 

mechanisms for this type of slander when 
it arises. Um, however, you have no idea  

how correct you are. I might have more of an 
inkling than you think presumptuous of you. Uh,  

however, um, we may be able to take instances 
described here. And use them to our advantage  

to perhaps create situations that, um, may be 
used against certain people or organizations. 

Um, I, uh, I am more of a procurer of information, 
um, but I do, you know, uh, once other people, uh,  

such as, Our good friend sticky be here 
as well as my, uh, personal contact. Um,  

they, they tend to analyze and, uh, facilitate. 
Those types of situations. So I am happy, um,  

allowing them to take the lead as it were on that.
Um, and I turned to Stickybeak and I say,  

we aren't sure that the stage manager is the 
murderer, but all signs definitely. Indicate  

he was involved. Um, do you have any resources 
that could help us perhaps locate him? Um,  

and maybe once we've rested a bit and recuperated, 
we could seek him out and perhaps garnish it. 

Uh, garnish. Might be right. Uh, not word. 
Not right word. Um, Garner, a confession. 

Sleep. Ah, I don't know. I like garnish a 
confession. You know what? Uh, and that was,  

that was, uh, Serafina be like, I like that 
way. No, no, she's more eloquent than that,  

she would not make that mistake. She's literally 
from the college of eloquence. There's no way that  

Alua would make that mistake. Not canon.
Nope. If you're gonna make it canon,  

then I'm gonna, I'm gonna cast Gift of Gab.
That's how Alua has made it through so far. She  

just Gift of Gab'd her way through everything. 
Let me look that up first. Uh, Gift of Gab. 

Uh, well, I can say that any individual 
caught out in this way, knowing that Well,  

whatever they tried to do here was unsuccessful. 
They're not going to be easy to spot. They're  

going to go into hiding, and that's going to be 
a hunt we'll have to take quite seriously. But,  

they're not going to return to the Skylark, 
and we can reassure the Skylark troop now  

that at least one issue is out of the way.
And I'm sure if you go and visit them,  

they'll want to reward you handsomely, but this 
just happens. Do we have the funds to do that?  

Let's just say that there's a benefactor in 
their lives that would have left quite a bit 

or laid quite a bit by for a certain songbird 
and that benefactor will not let this go  

easy and knows that she would not want the 
troupe to end their performances this early. 

So they will be successful. It is certain. But 
for you, I owe you each a favor, and I need to  

ask that perhaps you step a little deeper into 
the mire, because the woman you've described,  

it's a certain situation that has come a 
brewing. But first, rest, give yourselves a  

couple of weeks, and we'll gather together again.
I mean, well, um, in the meantime, um As I said,  

this, this ledger is yours. You know how to find 
me. Um, I give Serafina and, uh, Gus each, uh,  

one of my cards, uh, and I say, uh, if either of 
you feel so inclined, you're more than welcome  

to visit me, um, and, and stay in touch. 
Um, or I might catch you at, uh, Celia's. 

And, uh. As you head out, Sticky 
Beak hands you a small pouch, 

each of you, uh, but I'm going 
to wait for Gus to share Gus's,  

how Gus is going to end and then Serafina.
Well, it seems that the ubiquitous nature of  

corruption in the council is, uh,
going to cause us ongoing issues.  

They may want us dead, so everyone be careful.
I think we can use the information in this book to  

our benefit, maybe to open some doors if we need 
to. But for now, I, we should keep our ears to  

the ground and meet again in a couple of weeks. 
And you have some of the most tragic history  

with this type of machination. I appreciate 
you coming out, old friend, and thank you. 

And he hands you a pouch.
Uh, Serafina, my dear, uh,  

this isn't how I expected to help 
get the agency on its feet again,  

but thank you. He hands you a pouch 
and heads out into the early twilight. 

Thank you.
All right. Thank you  

all for joining us. This was our first arc with 
Stickybeak. Ulua, Gesundin Schniffel and Serafina  

on our new campaign. Check in next week for even 
more ridiculousness and fun. Thank you so much  

for joining us. We hope you find your pod. Thank 
you and goodbye. If you're watching, make sure to  

click like and subscribe and if you're listening, 
also subscribe and we have a bunch of old episodes  

that you can listen to from campaign one.
Yeah. Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye. Byeeeeeeeeeee.