Original subtitles

TALIESIN: Obsession is a corruption

that shrouds the mind.

Its tendrils grow beyond the influence of bleed,

as if natural to the soul.

Though, the unique skill set a circle of investigators

bring forth to each assignment

stand guard against this vice.

Relying upon the strengths of your allies

is the key to survival,

for deep within the rubble of a city long forgotten,

the Red Hand roots itself within the fathomless,

unleashing a faceless behemoth of smoldering greed.

The Circle of the Vassal and the Veil:

"Assignment #447: The Collectors"

(ominous music)

(ominous music)

(ominous music)

(ominous music)

(ominous music)

MATT: Hello and welcome to Candela Obscura.

LAURA: Oh. ROBBIE: Already?

ANJALI: Oh god. LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Somewhere in a lightless expanse,

the sound of dripping water echoes endlessly

into a cavernous space.

A faint orange glimmer begins to grow.

A light in the cracked stone floor, the climbing pillars

and harsh angles of the ancient architecture

that rises beyond the radius of the now visible lanterns.

A half dozen figures enter behind these lanterns,

stumbling through the craggy rock and ruins.

A man in his late fifties walks confidently

within his fine emerald suit,

his salt and pepper hair well slicked

above his well groomed goatee.

Now, this group ascends a mass of stone steps

before stopping at a risen pedestal where an oval arch

of dark marble stands about 10 feet tall, nearly unbroken

but for a foot gap on the upper right of the ring.

An older man steps forward along with them, sheepishly,

his liver spotted head

and missing nose showing one who has delved

in darker arts and has paid for it.

(weary voice) "This is one of the viable gates, Lycus,

"as you've requested.

"It is untested, but as far as we know,

"we are the only ones who are aware of it."

The well-dressed gentleman nods and smiles.

(French accent) "Good.

"I myself am eager to see if there is merit in my investment.

"Dorna, assist Ogden.

"Help clean your mess."

We now watch as a woman steps out

from the rest of the group behind.

Long, dark purple dress,

lengthy, drags across the floor.

She walks with a cane, and you get glimpses of some sort

of mangled tip

of where her feet would be

as she lurches forward to join the older gentleman.

The two procure and open a withered tome before them,

casting handfuls of ground materials

into the area around the archway.

As they read in unison from this book,

a dull, purple glow begins to fill the oval space.

(airy wisps)

It expands and encompasses the void,

splitting like a curtain of purple fireflies,

revealing a shadowed realm beyond.

Ogden, the elderly man, and Dorna exchange nervous glances,

close the tome and read from a secondary book,

a smaller, more damaged, leather-bound collection

of ancient tattered parchment.

They continue to read and the dangling lanterns held

by these subterranean explorers

begin to slowly dim,

the flickering oil light beginning to lessen

and wither itself.

Seems to be losing the battle from some unseen,

oppressive, dark force choking it.

It's in this dying light

something steps from the gateway,

tall and thin

and shadow, like a spider crawling from a keyhole.

It steps up out of view as Lycus immediately pulls

an amulet from the inside of his breast pocket

and holds it aloft towards this entity.

"(speaking ritualistic Latin)"

Lycus looks behind him to the other figure standing by.

Two of them, heavier looking muscle-like figures nod

and grab a third and push them towards the gate.

The third figure suddenly screams and stumbles forward,

falling onto their knees

as they glance up "(screams)"

and scream loudly as something thrusts out from the shadow.

You watch as a long extended limb, something looking

like it's twisted from a massive hair or root

wraps around the head of this fallen goon,

long wisps of the hairlike shadow

dangling and drifting from it.

They struggle but for a moment

before the limb lets loose and pulls away,

revealing the smooth, featureless skin surface

of the now faceless head--

LAURA: Ugh.

MATT:-- unmoving.

A warm light suddenly fills the space of the onlookers,

uncertain where it comes from, but they all pull back

as this glow wreaths them in reflection.

Lycus, the only one smiling.

(Lycus) "Good, there is much work to be done."

Now, we come back

to a morning about a week past the events

of the last investigation.

LAURA: Oh. ROBBIE: Aw, a week.

ASHLEY: A whole week. MATT: You've had a brief bit

to breathe, to process, some more than others,

some maybe none at all. But you've been wound down

from the experiences and trying to find some semblance

of a return to your day-to-day life in the interim.

We begin now in this foggy, midday air.

As I stop the cave sound, as it's no longer necessary

in this sequence. (chuckling)

Gentle wind blowing through.

LAURA: We've got to do something about that leak.

MATT: I know it's been a problem around here.

ASHLEY: We're outside, where's that even coming from?

(laughter)

MATT: It is once again, following Auggie as you return from--

ASHLEY: Eyy. MATT: (laughs)

MATT:-- the morning route that you keep up, if anything,

out of being a creature of habits and a means to connect

with a number of the people that you've found friendship with

over the years of growing up in this city.

ASHLEY: Still got to make some dough.

MATT: Exactly.

You return to The Gilded Rainbow,

return to your quarters, well dressed and finding yourself

a much more respectable member of Newfaire.

It isn't too long into the morning before the door opens

and you hear the familiar jingle of the bell,

(bell jingles) as it closes.

Hear Reggie go, "Oh, morning, Edmund.

"Are you here for a particular reason?"

You glance out of your chambers

and you see an unfamiliar gentleman,

Uncle Fester in appearance,

rounded shoulders, bald, smooth head,

a long, deep navy, dark pea coat,

and a fedora that he pulls off

and puts onto the rack.

MATT: (raspy) "Ah, no worries.

"I'm actually here on behest of Alexandra.

"Is young August available?"

ASHLEY: Hey, I heard the bell. Come in.

Good morning, Reggie.

MATT: (Reggie) "Good morning.

"Should I skedaddle, make myself scarce?"

(Edmund) "Oh, no, it's quite fine for you to be around

"as a periphery member

"of the Candela Obscura Organization.

"Auggie."

ASHLEY: What'd you say your name was? Edmund?

MATT: "Edmund Hornsby."

ASHLEY: Edmund Hornsby, all right.

MATT: "Yes."

ASHLEY: Pleasure. MATT: "I'm an associate

"of Candela and a longtime friend

"of Alexandra, who is currently focused on another endeavor.

"Would your circle be interested

"in some information regarding the previous investigation

"that's come to light?"

ASHLEY: Yes, of course.

MATT: "Very well.

"Would you like me to retrieve them?"

ASHLEY: Yes, I mean, I can help you to save time.

MATT: "That would be greatly appreciated.

"Yes, yes, come." ASHLEY: All right.

MATT: "Perhaps, perhaps we could learn more

"about each other on the way."

ASHLEY: Excellent, excellent.

MATT: Takes his hat, puts it back on.

It's a little bit too big

and rests just over his eyes,

casting a shadow. Makes him somehow even creepier.

But there is a warmth to him that contrasts

the somewhat staggering intensity

of his presence.

"After you."

ASHLEY: Oh, thank you very much.

We're pretty close to Ms. Charlie.

We can pick her up first.

MATT: "Very well."

ASHLEY: All right.

MATT: Doesn't take too terribly long before each

of you are visited by these two compatriots to gather you.

Should there be any particular challenges

to the morning's call, please do speak

and we can take it from there.

But.

ANJALI: I actually think that perhaps when you come

to The Sight Unseen,

you discover that Charlie is not there and

Stinson would have informed you

that she would've been at a particular address

in The Eaves.

MATT: "My apologies.

"She hasn't been around for a few days.

"She's--"

ASHLEY: She all right?

MATT: "She's visiting family."

ASHLEY: Oh, she has family here?

MATT: "More or less, yeah.

"In the Eaves, here, I'll..."

Pulls a napkin from the side of the bar

and begins sketching out directions

across the district, goes,

"That's about where you'll find her. Good luck."

ASHLEY: Yeah, all right, thank you.

I won't give this to anybody, obviously. Mum's the word.

MATT: "She trusts you, I trust you."

ASHLEY: All right. MATT: All right.

So, you follow over to this beautiful,

beautiful homestead in The Eaves.

Brought inside by an elder servant.

From what you can grasp, at least, well dressed

and happy to guide you upstairs, talking to you, says,

"I was informed that should you ever come

"by to immediately bring you to Charlotte.

"This way, please."

ASHLEY: Oh, all right.

MATT: And whereabouts are you in the abode?

ANJALI: I am in the library where I have been on

and off for the entire time that I have been here.

You would find Charlotte

in a corner, hunched-- like her posture, way more hunched over

than you would ever have seen her,

very intensely taking notes and leafing through books

and a strange fervor

in her studies that you're noticing.

You'll also notice that she is slightly less put together

as she normally is.

Everything's just a little bit looser as if

she hurriedly did everything to put herself together

and then went straight to the library today.

MATT: "Miss Eaves, you have visitors."

ASHLEY: Hey.

ANJALI: Auggie.

ASHLEY and ANJALI: Hi.

ASHLEY: How are you doing?

How's your hand?

ANJALI: It is, uh...

It is as it was.

I've tried over the last week to retain

some kind of function in it,

but it seems unwilling to compromise with me.

So for now, we let it rest, hmm?

ASHLEY: What a-- what a home you have.

ANJALI: Ah. ASHLEY: This is amazing.

ANJALI: Well, my dear, this is actually not my home.

ASHLEY: Oh.

ANJALI: I suppose it's time, isn't it?

This is the home of my mentor, my friend.

Her name is Gertrude.

She is the one who brought me

to Candela after a particular incident

when I was about your age that I mentioned

to you years and years ago.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: I found myself without family and she took me in.

ASHLEY: Who, what?

How did you find yourself without family?

What do you mean?

ANJALI: Well.

She flips through a few pages,

absent-mindedly.

You heard our dear Arlo talking

about what happened to her betrothed, yes?

ASHLEY: Yes.

ANJALI: Something very similar happened to me at a young age.

I had just met Gertrude and she was fascinating

and everything I thought a grand human should be.

She was kind and generous, and I wanted to spend more time

with her than with my own family.

See, my family, little more of the kind of people

that you and I are used to spending time with,

except not as clever as you, or as me.

They made do with what they could.

I found it frustrating to watch them,

to watch them be fine with scraps and bits

that were thrown in the town,

every time they sent me to go find something.

I was resentful.

Resentful that was all that they aspired to.

I was young and as young people often do

I found myself saying awful things in my head to them.

Imagining arguments, imagining how I would stand up to them

if I could someday.

I remember walking home one day,

ready to have it out with them,

to tell them how awful they were,

how they'd taken such terrible care of me,

how I aspired to be so much more

than what they could be and that what they could make me.

As I crossed the field

toward the small house where we lived,

a crack began to form in the sky

as if the sky above us was a snow globe

that had suddenly been punched and shattered.

Through that crack, a wind came,

pulling, pulling harder.

I found myself drawn towards it

and I hung onto a tree nearby.

But that little house,

that little house began to move.

The whole thing gradually crumbling

like a house made of papier mâché sucked through a straw.

The whole home sucked through the crack

and then it disappeared as if nothing had happened.

ASHLEY: Oh my god.

ANJALI: I don't remember how I got there,

but I went back to Gertrude's

and I told her that my parents had abandoned me

and she took me in.

ASHLEY: Did you ever tell her what you saw?

ANJALI: I did, but not of my own volition.

One day, I walked into this library

and I saw her poring over a book in candlelight,

and she--

She had some strange device that I'd never seen before.

In that device, there was a crack that looked awfully

like the sky that night when I had come home.

Immediately, the memory of it came back.

I had pushed it down.

I had forgotten everything that had happened

or at least tried to

and everything came out like a tumble.

She shut off the machine and she told me,

if you could survive that without losing your mind

then I think it's time I show you something.

Then she brought me to Candela.

I thought when I found you that my goal was to protect you

from ever having to have an experience

like that before, ever in your life.

But now I see that you are flourishing

and that to me means that my mission now

is to remind you how important you are.

How important it is

for you to stay strong for those who cannot.

MATT: (Edmund) "Indeed.

"Great sacrifices are made

"by all of us to ensure that

"what we've experienced befalls few to come.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

ANJALI: And I am happy for my gain.

MATT: "Hm.

"Well, Ms. Eaves."

ANJALI: Yes.

MATT: "We have some news to share with your circle,

"if you would come with us for but a minute."

ANJALI: Ah, well then,

we should go.

She closes the book, but she takes her notebook.

Lead on. MATT: "Very well. This way."

Within a short walk later you find yourself outside

of the Black Estate where Arlo resides, beautiful homestead.

After a brief conversation

with the servants of that abode,

eventually you, Arlo, find your door opening

(creaking)

and the familiar sight of compatriots coming to join you.

LAURA: Hi.

How are you all?

ANJALI: Ah, well.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

ANJALI: I appreciate the-- ASHLEY: My new suit.

ANJALI:-- the goodness that you've shown young Auggie.

LAURA: Of course.

You look wonderful.

ASHLEY: Thank you.

I even took a bath and I stayed in there

until I was like a prune. (laughter)

LAURA: We've taken a few days to clean the tub out.

ANJALI: Mm. ASHLEY: It was pretty foul.

You know, you go years without a bath,

that's going to be real interesting.

ANJALI and LAURA: (laugh)

MATT: "Regardless, Ms. Black, hello.

"Sorry to bother you this afternoon.

"We have some news to share with your circle,

"if you were to come with us.

"We have to yet retrieve the doctor.

"Do you have a few moments?"

LAURA: Of course. Nothing but time.

MATT: "Wondrous.

"Grab yourself a coat.

"It's still a bit of a chilly afternoon with the fog.

"We'll be along shortly."

LAURA: All right.

Grab a little hat.

MATT: All righty.

Leads you beyond.

Now heading over to the Briarbank College,

I believe, if that's where you're currently residing

in this midday.

ROBBIE: Yeah. Yeah.

His home is right next door.

Campus housing. (laughs) MATT: Campus housing.

It's a beautiful thing.

ROBBIE: More or less. (laughs)

MATT: Okay, so you're not in the office,

you're at your home.

We'll say this is maybe a weekend morning.

ROBBIE: Okay. MATT: All right.

Within a short time, you hear a rap at the door.

ROBBIE: Oh.

I snap to myself, look around.

House is somewhat disheveled,

more than it usually is,

and I've just been sitting in the dark,

staring at a candle wick,

just a single candle,

trying as hard as I can

to make the candle move the way I want it to,

and failing miserably. But still.

Oh, sorry.

I (blows out candle) turn the lights on.

Oh. MATT: "Good afternoon, Doctor."

ROBBIE: Afternoon?

Oh, hello everyone.

ASHLEY: Hello. MATT: "If--"

ROBBIE: Oh, come in. Yes, yes. I'm so sorry, so sorry.

MATT: Now what does the inside of your abode look like?

ROBBIE: Normally very like a bachelor,

like a 50-year-old bachelor lives there.

MATT: (laughs)

ROBBIE: But now there's

scraps and food and some clothing.

It's a little bit messy, and Howard's embarrassed.

But it's a well-appointed place

covered with books and oddities, looks nice.

It looks like someone who has disposable income.

There are plenty of places to sit,

and as I sweep away the week's worth of messiness...

Oh, come, come in.

Sorry, apologies.

Move away, put stuff away.

ASHLEY: Wow.

MATT: "Well--" LAURA: What were you doing, Howard?

ROBBIE: Ah, experiments. (chuckles)

Nothing intense, just-- I hope to show you sometime.

I think I've almost got it cracked. (laughs)

Cracked, right? LAURA: (laughs weakly)

LAURA: No, yes, don't actually bang.

I think you might do some more damage.

ROBBIE: Oh, okay.

LAURA: Have you had it looked at?

ROBBIE: I've looked at it.

LAURA: Wonderful.

MATT: "Fantastic.

"Appreciate your kindness

"in allowing us into your home unexpected.

"So I'm here on behalf of Alexandra,

"who is currently indisposed on another assignment.

"But I wanted to inform you

"that we have managed to clean up

"and cover for the chaos of the previous week.

"Should anyone inquire, there was a sickly bear that escaped

"from the Stone Grove Zoo in The Sidle.

"(chuckles) ANJALI: Hm.

MATT: "But Candela has since kept an eye out,

"since you were all recovering.

"It seems a number of our suspected

"Red Hand movers and shakers

"have gone rather quiet this past week."

LAURA: Was Dorna ever discovered?

MATT: "The Alizarin Gallery has been closed this past week

"since the incident.

"Dorna, you reported as possibly slain,

"but was sighted recently leaving the gallery.

"So we do know that she is still amongst us.

"So we do know that she is still amongst us."

ROBBIE: Oh.

MATT: "However, based on your reports,

"what you would find very interesting,

"and the one lead we do have, should you be interested

"in perhaps following this thread a bit further,

"Kara Belmon has not returned home

"since the events of last week.

"But this morning, we received word

"from her band-mate, Theodore,

"that she reached out yesterday.

"She has been staying with her uncle

"in his cabin by the train tracks

"right before they pass through the Scarlet Woods.

"He apparently keeps a small orchard there on the outskirts.

"I, on behalf of your formal Lightkeeper,

"invite you for both good and closure

"to find Kara,

"and persuade in whatever safe means you can

"any info regarding her ties to the Red Hand

"and perhaps where its leadership may reside within Newfaire."

ANJALI: Do we know this uncle's name?

MATT: "I believe the uncle is--"

and he pulls out a small slip of paper and reads through.

"Maynard Van Helter.

"Sorry, wrong note here."

He pulls the page over. (laughter)

MATT: Different sheet. "Vincent Belmon."

ANJALI: Excellent.

LAURA: (laughs)

ANJALI: What does he do for a living, ostensibly?

MATT: "As far as I know, he keeps an orchard."

ANJALI: An orchard, yes, yes.

MATT: "Mostly providing for locals

"and ships some out to Newfaire on occasion.

"That's as much as we have.

"He's an outlier within the city's records.

"But that should be enough.

"Maybe contacting individuals in transit

"or at your destination could guide you further."

ASHLEY: You had a little flavor when you said cabin.

Is it just the way you said it

or is it kind of a weird thing?

MATT: "Oh, not weird.

"There's not many cabins here in the city,

"and I have been told on more than one occasion

"that I have an off-putting presentational quality

"to my speech." ASHLEY: Just a tad.

MATT: "My apologies." ASHLEY: It's all right.

MATT: "It's just how I am."

ROBBIE: I run an excellent

summer seminar on public speaking,

if you'd ever care to come by.

MATT: "Do you have a pamphlet?"

ROBBIE: I most certainly do. MATT: "Oh, wondrous. Thank you."

ROBBIE: Here you are. MATT: "Oh, hm. Oh.

"That's not inexpensive."

ROBBIE: Oh, for you, you may certainly audit.

MATT: "How very kind, Doctor. (chuckles) Appreciate it."

Folds it and puts it into his coat.

"But nevertheless, your time is yours.

"Should you wish not to look into this,

"notify a member of Candela and we'll send another team.

"But Alexandra insisted that you had first opportunity,

"given the rather personal nature

"of your previous encounters."

LAURA: Is Alexandra all right?

MATT: "Alexandra's fine.

"There's just other phenomenon being looked into,

"unrelated, with another circle."

LAURA: All right.

Can I Read him to see if it is definitely unrelated?

MATT: Yes, you may.

ROBBIE: Oh. (laughs)

MATT: Go ahead and roll Read for me. ROBBIE: You're going to Read the boss?

LAURA: Five on the gilded.

(gasps) Oh! I get a Drive back!

MATT: If you have an empty space,

you get a Drive back in that area.

ANJALI: Yay. ROBBIE: Oh!

LAURA: Look at that. ROBBIE: Oh, what a strat.

Roll the hell out of those gilded.

ANJALI: Yeah. ROBBIE: Oh!

MATT: That's how you refill the Drive, if you need to.

ANJALI: Good to know.

MATT: All right, so mixed success.

LAURA: Yes.

He doesn't seem to be hiding anything.

LAURA: Okay. MATT: Yeah, this is more of a formal,

the boss is busy, so I have to be here.

You know, they wish they could be here,

but I'm here on their behalf. LAURA: Got it.

MATT: Doesn't seem to be worried

or of a divided mind over anything.

LAURA: Okay. ANJALI: Do we know

where the Scarlet Woods is?

Or is that--

MATT: You do. They are to the north, northeast of the city.

I mean, the roads are pretty extensive

and there's a river crossing there,

but the train does travel from the city of Newfaire

to and through the Scarlet Wood.

You do know that there is a number of stops

along the way.

There is one stop at the base of the Scarlet Wood as well.

ANJALI: Right.

LAURA: How long of a ride is it on the train?

MATT: "Oh, from here, maybe no more than a few hours.

"It's not too terribly far." LAURA: All right.

ANJALI: Is it particularly populated

or would it be particularly obvious

if someone were to get off a train there

that they might be coming

to this particular cabin, particularly?

Can I say particularly any more times?

MATT: Particular-- Particularly. ANJALI: Particularly.

MATT: Particularly. ANJALI: Particularly.

MATT: Piccadilly. We are talking about trains. ANJALI: Piccadilly.

Particularly (gibberish) MATT: There it is.

"I don't think so.

"There's a vibrant rural community

"around the the stop-off point, the station there,

"as well as many outlying farmers and cultivators

"of the land and the Scarlet Wood itself.

"So I don't think it would be odd at all.

"But, you know,

"always keep a glance over your shoulder."

ANJALI: Of course. MATT: "(laughs)

"Anyway."

ANJALI: Hmm, right.

Well, thank you.

MATT: "Best of luck."

LAURA: We'll head out immediately,

maybe. MATT: "Very well.

"So we can count on you to investigate?"

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: "Wondrous, I'll let Alexandra know next I see her.

"Should you require

"any specific monetary aid from Candela,

"just let us know."

LAURA: All right ANJALI: Thank you.

ASHLEY: What's the usual--

You know, so I know since I'm new here.

What's the usual? What, are you just giving money out,

or if you need it? I'm just asking.

MATT: "Oh, they might devise a list of,

"a list of the various requirements and things

"that you are looking to possibly require

"as part of this endeavor.

"We could go through an approval process

"with our internal auditors,

"and with everything properly stamped formally,

"we can provide you with the necessary funds."

ASHLEY: I see, I see. Never mind.

ANJALI: I appreciate the hustle.

ASHLEY: You know, just checking.

MATT: "Of course.

"Thank you for your kindness, allowing us into your home.

"Should you need us for anything,

"feel free to find the nearest telegraph station

"or send a letter via page.

"Good day, everyone."

ANJALI: Good day, Edmund.

MATT: Takes his hat off the coat and turns around.

LAURA: I love him.

ANJALI: I know. (laughter)

MATT: Wanders off into the afternoon air.

ANJALI: (baby talk) A little walk. ROBBIE: Potato man.

ANJALI: Yeah. MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: Well, it seems that this situation

that we thought was over is not particularly,

particularly, why am I saying particularly so much?

This one is not over. LAURA: Are you all right?

ANJALI: I don't know if I'm all right.

After the last time, I'm a bit rattled

since our last endeavor, apparently.

LAURA: Is it all right that I said we would head out

and look into it?

ASHLEY: Yeah. ROBBIE: Oh, certainly.

LAURA: All right. ASHLEY: I got nothing else to do.

ROBBIE: I enjoy farms. (chuckles)

I grew up on a farm, actually.

ASHLEY: Oh. LAURA: Oh, you did?

ROBBIE: I certainly did.

We didn't have an orchard, but a few small crabapple trees.

I'd love to go back.

LAURA: Did you have chickens?

ROBBIE: We did have chickens.

LAURA: I've always wanted to see a chicken.

ROBBIE: They're very enjoyable. Very easy to kill.

You just grab their necks,

a little twist and you have dinner.

LAURA: Oh. ASHLEY: Wow.

LAURA: Wonderful.

ROBBIE: That said, I'd be willing to go.

The city's a bit stuffy these days.

ANJALI: It is.

I'm trying to think if there's anything else,

any other information we might be able to glean

from the town.

We know Kara was playing with Theodore,

who was her band-mate.

I don't know if speaking to him is necessary or

if we just should-- LAURA: I think we have that information.

ANJALI: Think we should just head on out?

LAURA: Hop on the train and go.

LAURA: I mean, we just are going to talk to her.

ANJALI: Hmm? LAURA: We're just going to talk to her

to see if she can lead to anything new, right?

ASHLEY: Yeah. ANJALI: Yes,

and I don't suppose she knows our involvement

in the previous endeavor.

LAURA: I mean, not any more than us showing up

at the investigation.

ANJALI: Hmm.

ROBBIE: Would Howard know-- MATT: She did watch you punch out the--

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah. (laughs) ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT:-- Chief of the Periphery there.

ANJALI: There was that. MATT and ROBBIE: (laugh)

ANJALI: Ah, yes. I'd blocked that out.

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Is she going to accept us?

You know, if she sees us she'll be like, no, no no,

you were the ones that--

ROBBIE: It's quite hard to run away

in an open field, if it's just a cabin,

perhaps. ASHLEY: That's true.

ROBBIE: Our nearest neighbors were miles away.

Not to say that she would be screaming

for any reason as if we were trying to get information

out of them, or frightening her,

only that--

I think we should be okay.

LAURA: Just keep the brass knuckles

in your pocket for this one, I think.

ROBBIE: Certainly.

ASHLEY: How's your head?

ROBBIE: Ah, it is just fine, I think.

LAURA: Can we see it?

ROBBIE: My head?

LAURA: Or is your hat attached to it now?

ROBBIE: (laughs) Ah...

It's rather private, actually.

LAURA: Oh? ROBBIE: Would you mind

if I keep it on?

I didn't have time to comb my hair this morning.

(laughter)

LAURA: Sure. ROBBIE: Thank you.

ANJALI: Well, then, I suppose off we go.

ASHLEY: All right. LAURA: Yep.

MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: Unless there's any-- LAURA: It bad that we're not

preparing anything? ASHLEY: I know.

ANJALI: I know, I'm trying to think, I'm like,

"I know that they need to." ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LAURA: I mean, you don't think she's summoning anything

at the cabin, do you?

We're not going to walk in

and she'll have brought a demon forth

in the cabin, or whatever creature.

ANJALI: Well, from our previous discoveries,

it seems like she was more of a tool for Dorna

than necessarily someone who conjured herself.

Am I correct? LAURA: What if she's the leader

of everything?

ANJALI: Well, then, we will have tripped upon

quite a find, won't we?

LAURA: Maybe she's hiding out from the Red Hand as well.

ANJALI: Now that is very possible.

ASHLEY: What if she is the Red Hand?

I don't know how that would make any sense.

ANJALI: If Dorna has been seen,

I wonder how conscious she was

of our presence at that final battle.

LAURA: Probably very. ROBBIE: Very.

LAURA: She was screaming directly at us,

(as Dorna) "Help me!"

ANJALI: There was that. LAURA: "Pull me from him!

"I'm being eaten!"

ANJALI: We did have her box

and Red Hand gloves and obsidian.

ROBBIE: I think the long and short of it

is we won't be incognito with pretty much anyone

on this particular assignment for the time being.

ANJALI: Then, as Edmund said,

best to keep our wits about us and walk in proudly.

LAURA: Mm-hm.

Let's go. MATT: Very well.

Are there any particular items--

LAURA: To The Steel!

No, to The Steam!

MATT: To The Steam. ROBBIE: To The Steam.

(laughter) ASHLEY: To The Steam.

MATT: All righty. ANJALI: I think I have my standard

bleed containment vial with me and I--

MATT: Select any items you want to bring that, you know,

you can choose up to three, but you may leave one,

you may leave a few open,

if you'd like to choose in the moment what makes sense.

LAURA: Oh right, because we don't need the same ones

that we got last time,

but I like my-- MATT: If you like your spread,

stick with it. LAURA: I like my spread.

MATT: All right. ASHLEY: I still have

the captain's gun,

or do you think I probably gave that back?

ANJALI: The gun? MATT: Where would you have given--

Would you have given the captain's gun back?

ASHLEY: No! MATT: Then you still have it.

ASHLEY: All right. ANJALI: Dude, that's pretty--

ASHLEY: All right.

MATT: You still have a Periphery handgun.

ASHLEY: I'm strapped!

MATT: (laughs) ROBBIE: An illegal police off--

a Periphery officer's gun.

ASHLEY: A Periphery officer's gun. MATT: And badge.

ASHLEY: And badge. ROBBIE: And badge!

MATT: (laughs)

LAURA: Get rid of it?

ASHLEY: Well, we could probably use it.

ROBBIE: Wha-- ASHLEY: Just,

you know, you see someone with a badge,

and you instantly listen to them.

ROBBIE: I'm all for it. LAURA: It's true.

ROBBIE: The more firepower the better, am I right?

ASHLEY: It's true. ANJALI: Mm.

ASHLEY: I'll keep it hidden. I'll keep us safe.

MATT: All righty.

Gathering your things, you begin the trek to The Steam.

This beautiful way station district of Newfaire

has a number of small scattered neighborhoods,

as well as a few outskirt industrial buildings,

but primarily here, this is the crossroads

of land-based interaction within the city.

There is the massive train station itself,

the steam train station that sits here

on the far eastern side of Newfaire.

As you approach, you can see the small crowds gathering,

it doesn't look like it's going to be a full load of people

making their way northward up on the tracks.

But within a short conversation,

and some quick tickets purchased,

you are led on by the conductor

onto one of the numerous passenger carrying carts

into the comfortable deep maroon velvet seats

that are set in.

It is a nice way to travel,

and I'd say probably for you, Auggie,

it is maybe the first time you've been on the steam train.

ASHLEY: Oh yeah. LAURA: Ooh.

ANJALI: Ooh-whee!

ASHLEY: (laughs)

MATT: A brief kickoff of heavy (steam releasing)

(train wheels turning) (clicking)

Begins to pick up steam, literally.

Within a short time, the train takes off,

and you find yourselves traveling on,

and away from the city of Newfaire.

You can see the glistening tall buildings,

and the daytime somewhat fog-obscured skyline,

though now as the fog begins to burn off,

you can see the glittering tops of the multi glass

and metallic top spires that mark--

ASHLEY: Hey, look at the spires! MATT:-- the beautiful city.

MATT and LAURA: (laugh)

MATT: I love you. ANJALI: I love it so much.

MATT: (laughs) ANJALI: I love it so much!

Yeah.

MATT: Carrying onward, it's a beautiful journey,

and rocking a bit as it goes, eventually

the final bits of the outskirt districts

begin to vanish on the horizon as you begin

to approach the rolling hills, and beautiful grass,

and grain fields that mark the northern side

of the Halens here around the city.

Eventually, the bridge comes up,

and you traverse over the river,

coming to across the way into another wide hilly valley.

There, you can see beyond the Bridleborne Mountains

that rise up to the north, the climbing crags themselves

a brown red in their own color.

There, clustered around their base,

all the round where they meet the landscape,

you can see the vibrant crimson color of the Scarlet Woods.

Home to numerous natural creatures that create

the semblance of nature that still holds this side

of the Halen countryside,

as well as a number of people that live on the outskirts

and throughout, as well as a handful of illegal stills

that extract the sap from the trees to make the scarlet,

the hallucinogenic substance that

has long been outlawed within the city.

Not that it stops the flow of it in the evening hours.

But while you have this time in the journey,

if there's anything you wish to discuss, clarify,

curiously bring up or not, you may.

Otherwise, we will bring you to the next stop.

ANJALI: I think, at some point,

Charlotte is looking out over the field,

and she catches a reflection of herself, and she just

touches her hair where a shock of gray has appeared

over the course of the week.

Then she shakes it off, and looks at

Auggie's delight. ASHLEY: You look cool.

ANJALI: Ah.

ASHLEY: You look smart.

ANJALI: (laughs)

LAURA: She does. It looks quite lovely.

ANJALI: Thank you.

It wasn't intentional, but there it is.

LAURA: It's very distinguished.

ANJALI: It's everything a woman wants to be, distinguished.

LAURA: Why wouldn't she want to be distinguished?

ANJALI: You're right, Arlo, I suppose I've been used

to using other assets to my advantage.

Why not that?

MATT: Not but a few hours of travel later,

the city is a distant blip

as the Scarlet Woods grow closer and closer.

But the afternoon also begins to draw to a close,

as you can see the sunset begins to kick in

at about the time you approach the station here

on the southern side of the Scarlet Woods.

A number of passengers, as well as you,

as it slowly (steam hisses) (brakes squeal)

screeches to a slow halt.

As the train comes to a rolling stop at the edge,

the doors open.

People begin to shuffle off of it, just a handful.

You get your first breath of the fresh countryside here.

ASHLEY: (sniffs)

Whoa.

ANJALI and ROBBIE: (laugh)

LAURA: It's clean, isn't it?

ASHLEY: It smells so different.

There's no smell! There's no shit smell.

It's clean, and fresh, and wow.

ANJALI: Do we want to disembark here or further in?

LAURA: Is this the last stop before the?

MATT: This is the last stop

before it goes straight through the forest.

ANJALI: Oh yes, then. LAURA: The cabin

is on the edge, so, yeah. ANJALI: Yes, yes.

Off we go, although we didn't exactly

plan to spend the night here, did we?

LAURA: Mm-mm.

ANJALI: Right, just clocking the time.

MATT: The conductor is just finishing up,

checking out his pocket watch as you guys are leaving,

if you have any questions.

LAURA: When is the last train back?

MATT: "Oh, last train here tonight, it's about, (clicks)

"about three hours from now."

LAURA: Oh. MATT: "We've got two more coming

"through in the next hour,

"a few shipments. It's mainly

"a shipment-based train heading southward.

"But the last one, there should be a few more spots,

"if you're only staying for a bit."

LAURA: I should buy four tickets now for the train back.

MATT: "Oh, very well."

ASHLEY: What are the shipments that are going south?

Do you know what they are?

They're just a bunch of shipments.

MATT: "Oh, well, we have the Tristan Lumberyard

"up on the north side of the woods there.

"We're taking in a whole series of shipments

"for new construction out there in the city."

ASHLEY: Oh.

MATT: "As well as a number of other imports

"coming from the north side of Hale.

"So, that's about all I'm aware of,

"I don't really hold the deep ledgers.

"I'm not responsible for that.

"I'm mostly for the passengers here."

ANJALI: Would I have an awareness

of where my sources come from

in terms of shipments?

MATT: You would know that there are two farmsteads

deep within the woods that themselves

primarily work in lumber.

But there is one of the younger family members,

a young cousin named Reginald, who,

he's-- LAURA: (silly voice) Reginald.

MATT: (silly voice) Reginald.

ASHLEY: (silly voice) Reginald? ANJALI: Reggie.

(laughter)

MATT: (gravelly) He's actually more a Reginald.

ANJALI: Yeah. (laughter)

MATT: You've not met him in person, but you just,

you've seen the name used,

and he's the one contact that you originated with,

and then he went dark for about a year,

because there was a bust in one of the stills.

But he's up and running again,

and you've been eager to have the returning

flow of scarlet into your establishment.

ANJALI: Mm.

ANJALI: Right. ROBBIE: Yeah,

can I contribute a few extra dollars

for the tickets?

Perhaps so we'll take young August

on business class on the way back.

LAURA: Oh, what a wonderful idea.

ROBBIE: That way it'll be special.

ASHLEY: Sir, I did have a question-- MATT: "Yeah, yeah?"

ASHLEY: Someone in, you said, the ledger book and all that,

that's somebody else that takes care of that?

Who takes care of that?

Just to know.

MATT: "(laughs)"

ASHLEY: I flash my Periphery badge. ROBBIE: Mm!

MATT: (laughs)

Go ahead and make a Sway

test for me, please. ROBBIE: Yeah! Impersonating

a Periphery officer, let's go. ANJALI: Come on, my boy, oh.

♪ Do I help you? ♪

♪ Yes, I do. ♪

ASHLEY: I got a six.

ANJALI and ROBBIE: Yeah! MATT: You got a six.

All right. ANJALI: So, I didn't need to help you.

ROBBIE: Star of the academy.

ASHLEY: Save it, save it. LAURA and MATT: (laugh)

ANJALI: Go, Auggie. MATT: "Oh--"

ANJALI: That's the chief's friend. ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LAURA: Yeah, yeah, get back here.

MATT: "My apologies, officer, I wasn't aware that you were.

"Yeah, now, that'd be

"Tory Linz." ASHLEY: It's fine.

MATT: "Tory Linz was the one who'll be running

"the evening ledgers passing through here."

ASHLEY: Tory Linz. MATT: "If you're--

"We been doing our best to try

"and make sure there's nothing illegal passes through here.

"We do have a rather extensive inspection process

"before it makes its way into the city,

"but you're more than welcome to

"give a once or twice over, if you're feeling,

"you and your Periphery compatriots here want to."

ASHLEY: Sure, we may, thank you so much.

MATT: "Course, course, don't--" ASHLEY: You're a wonderful

citizen of our city.

MATT: "Hey, want nothing but the best for our folk here,

"and you know, I don't hate the idea that

"people are breaking the good laws of our township, so--"

ASHLEY: Me, too. ANJALI: Indeed.

LAURA: If we, while we were in town, I wanted to visit

an old family friend.

His name is Vincent Belmon?

I know he lives around here,

but I'm not sure which direction. MATT: "I don't know Vincent,

but I do know there's the Belmon and Schpell Orchard.

LAURA: Oh, yes!

MATT: "Follow the main street here in

"the town just beyond here,

"there's maybe about six or so blocks

"before the town comes to an end,

"there's two roads that lead out.

"Follow the northern road,

"it'll lead into the Scarlet Wood,

"and kind of hard to miss the orchard,

"it's a patch of green in the midst of the red.

"But unless they moved it or something happened,

"that's where you'll find it."

LAURA: Thank you very much. ROBBIE: Thank you.

MATT: "Yeah, no worries.

"Safe travels, officers.

"(softer) Sorry, safe travels--"

ASHLEY: Yeah, shh, we're undercover.

MATT: "Absolutely normal citizens

"of the environment.

"Whatever you're doing,

"I hope it goes well and is legal."

ASHLEY: (clicks tongue)

MATT: "Anyway, we're about to shove off here in a minute."

ASHLEY: We'll probably see you a little later.

MATT: All right, gets back up into the steam train.

ROBBIE: That guy is moving so much drugs!

(laughter)

LAURA: What happened?

ROBBIE: Oh man, so much. ASHLEY: Yeah. So much.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: Mm. ANJALI: Amateur!

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: Amateur!

ASHLEY: It's so cool to see,

I mean, to see the woods in person.

All the stuff that we, you know,

move throughout the city, hmm?

To see the real where it comes from.

ANJALI: Huh, the source, as it were.

ASHLEY: Yes.

LAURA: Can I make a confession?

ASHLEY: Yes. LAURA: As we walk.

I've never tried scarlet.

ASHLEY: (gasping)

ANJALI: Ah.

ASHLEY: Have any of you ever tried-- LAURA: I wanted to,

I wanted to, but Eddie said I shouldn't.

But I know he spent a lot of time

over in the Red Lamp district.

ANJALI: Ah, did he?

ASHLEY: Wait, have you ever tried it?

Oh, right. Have you ever tried it?

Probably not, you're too--

ROBBIE: Huh, what was that?

ASHLEY: Have you ever tried scarlet?

ROBBIE: Scarlet, why, of course not.

Of course.

LAURA: (laughs) I'm going to Read.

ANJALI: Yeah, I was, Read, all of us Read.

Every single one of us Reads.

ROBBIE: Ah. ANJALI: We all--

LAURA: A mixed success on the gilded!

Okay, I have a question.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

LAURA: If I take the gilded,

do I have to take a drive back in that--

in Cunning? MATT: Yes, yes.

LAURA: Aw, man.

MATT: It has to be of that section.

LAURA: All right.

MATT: So a mixed success?

LAURA: Mixed success, mixed success.

MATT: Mixed success, okay.

Definitely a low-stakes roll.

LAURA: With a four.

MATT: You glean a little bit of truth

from the good doctor here.

So what does she?

ROBBIE: Oh, every chemical compound

has its purposes in this world.

After all, we are just all born of the primordial soup.

If you choose to partake of what nature

provides for you, you can have myriad experiences

throughout this world, and scarlet is simply one of those.

So if you choose to partake, it is a personal choice, but--

LAURA: So you have.

ROBBIE: Yes, absolutely. I enjoy it quite a bit.

MATT: A voice over your shoulder goes,

"You best not be bringing that in our town now!"

ROBBIE: Excuse me?

MATT: "I heard y'all talking about scarlet.

"Don't you be trying to bring that shit in here.

"We got too many kids!"

You see, turn around, and you see this older woman,

this motherly looking figure, a bit of a hood cap on,

and a simple dress, and you see she's holding a small child

in her arm that's just, "Meh-meh," mewling.

ROBBIE: Yes, ma'am, we do not recommend scarlet

for infant children.

MATT: "Now I see y'all dressed well,

"all you've been running in business throwing

"the stills out here. We don't want them coming

"into our houses, taking--" ASHLEY: No, ma'am, ma'am.

Ma'am.

We're doing a little undercover work.

MATT: "Well, you may be doing a little more,

"because y'all don't seem to be stopping nothing.

"There's been violence and shit going on there,

"been hearing my people been firing,

"and getting in gun fights, and stuff up north!"

ASHLEY: Ma'am, ma'am ma'am, ma'am--

MATT: "I have a cousin who recently got hit on the head

"by somebody who was trying to sell that around here.

"You don't bring that up in here around kids!"

ANJALI: Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am--

What's your name? LAURA: Just shut up.

ANJALI: What's your name? (laughter)

MATT: You see it's, old people nearby in the street

are walking by. ANJALI: Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am,

tell me, what's your name?

I reach over, and I take her hand in between mine.

MATT: "Virginia."

ANJALI: Virginia. MATT: "Yeah?"

ANJALI: My name is Charlotte.

I understand caring so much about the environment,

particularly when you're raising a little one like this.

But do believe me when I say we are doing everything

in our power to make sure that none of the scarlet

goes into the wrong hands, or the wrong bodies,

including those of your families.

MATT: "Sure, whatever, you city folk do what you do

"whenever you come through here (scoffs)." Walks off.

"APAB."

And wanders off further into the town.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: Come on. ANJALI: What is that?

ASHLEY: All Periphery Are Bastards.

That's hilarious. (laughter)

ASHLEY: Hey, well, I have--

MATT: But you have made a little bit of a scene

here in the middle of the street.

LAURA: We made a little bit of a scene?

MATT: Well, I mean, you were

accessory to a bit of a scene.

LAURA: Ugh! ROBBIE: I think, perhaps,

it's time for a nice walk in the woods.

ANJALI: Shall we? ROBBIE: Shall we?

ANJALI: Yes, let's go, let's go.

LAURA: I really didn't like that woman.

ASHLEY: She was a bit intense.

I don't know why she was screaming.

ANJALI: As we're walking away, can I Survey the scene,

and see--

MATT: What are you looking for?

ANJALI: I'm looking for anyone oddly paying attention to us.

We know there was a scene,

but I want to make sure that there's no--

I'm looking for anyone following us,

or any nefarious something-somethings.

MATT: Sure, make a Survey test for me.

ANJALI: Mixed success with a five.

MATT: Mixed success, okay.

Glancing around, as you're now coming to the end

of the main street that divides into the two rows

in the far end-- LAURA: Scarlet.

MATT: I mean, most of the folk here are a little more,

I'll say a little less dressed up as your band.

So by the nature of your presence,

both being this far into the town,

and wandering in the direction of just

open Scarlet Woods right on the cusp of night,

there are a few odd glances,

and a few individuals that watch as you go,

and you can see that

that look of judgment, that rise of the lower lid.

ANJALI: Hmm.

MATT: You definitely don't feel necessarily welcome by some,

though others seem to pay no mind as you pass through.

As you head at the edge of the town, you can see

one gentleman who has bit of a newsie's cap on the front,

a pair of suspenders over a billowing white shirt,

the sleeves rolled up past, where the shoulders are,

dirt covered hands, big overalls over that,

and is in the process of digging with a shovel.

He looks to be turning over

either fresh-tilled dirt or freshly buried grave,

you're uncertain.

But as you all pass by,

sticks the shovel in the ground, and looks over,

and watches you as you all

continue walking beyond the town.

ANJALI: Can I Read him to see what that look means?

MATT: You may, make a Read.

LAURA: We didn't Read people enough, we have that skill.

Now we're going

to Read everyone. ANJALI: I only have one,

so I don't really have it.

LAURA: Read him.

ANJALI: Four.

MATT: Four, mixed success.

He's taken note.

ANJALI: Hmm.

MATT: You don't see him pursuing, but you certainly,

you haven't kept yourself below the radar.

ANJALI: No.

MATT: But he seemed to be simple town folk. LAURA: I'm going to stare at him back

as we walk by.

MATT: (shoveling)

Just goes back to work.

LAURA: (sighs)

ANJALI: Right, the faster we move, I think, the better.

MATT: Okay.

ASHLEY: Heading out, going to see grandma!

MATT: (laughs)

MATT: Only about 30 or so minutes later,

and the sun has begun to set.

The dark of night begins to creep in,

but the sky still holds a fair pink coloration.

You still have another 30 or so minutes

before full sunset really kicks in, and night begins.

But as you enter the secondary northern road,

it curves into the exterior of the Scarlet Woods.

Within a short time,

you are stepping into the far darker interior

of the canopy of the forest.

It is beautiful.

It is serene, and you can see there's that gentle blanket

of fallen leaves, of multicolored ferns

that gather around chunks of moss,

and rock that emerge from these massive scarlet trees.

Their thick trunks of deep brown burgundy wood,

and these extremely deep red and orange leaves.

These plumes that rise up, and gather against each other

to create this beautiful canopy,

like a reverse blanket that sits above you,

with small sections where shafts of light

begins to break through.

It's beautiful, and it also becomes a little more ominous,

the darker it gets as you travel.

You begin to hear the change in the sound,

the wind begins to fade,

and the nocturnal beings that live here begin to emerge.

You hear the crickets first,

and then the owls that, hoo-hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo.

You hear the occasional (chittering) (clicking)

various critters coming out to hunt for the night.

LAURA: Did anybody bring a lantern?

ASHLEY: I mean, I could--

(laughter)

LAURA: Uh-huh. (laughs)

LAURA: Do we need-- I mean, it's getting pretty dark?

MATT: It's going to be dark in the next,

let's say 15 minutes from where you are now.

LAURA: Well, maybe there will be a lantern at the cabin

we could get quickly. ASHLEY: We could borrow?

ROBBIE: If you don't expose your eyes to unnatural light sources,

your vision will slowly adapt to the dark.

If you spend a lot of time in the dark.

LAURA: I'm going to hold on to Howard's arm

as I close my eyes and walk. ANJALI: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Well, not-- LAURA: Just so my eyes adjust.

ROBBIE: All right, well okay. Do your best.

MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: Do we see anything remotely--

LAURA: No.

(laughter)

ANJALI: So good, so good.

Eroded where we're looking for this patch?

MATT: Yeah, as you follow the path through,

it isn't too long before you begin to,

with the light that still remains,

see the shift

to where a number of trees begin to fall away

into a grove that's been carved here

near the outskirts of the Scarlet Woods.

Within this space you can see planted in rows,

beautiful, beautiful apple trees,

tall and grand in their presentation.

They're well-kept, and a number of fallen apples

sit amongst the base of the trees

that may have either been a little too past

after they fell, and they've been left

to become part of the earth

and sustenance for the trees themselves.

But nevertheless, the orchard is here.

You can see a little ways in from there,

the warm light from the interior,

the windows of a cabin.

ANJALI: The last time we saw Kara,

I believe you were outside of the room

for the most part, yes?

LAURA: Yes, I was.

ANJALI: So then--

LAURA: Wait, no, you were.

ANJALI: We were inside, and you had got a--

LAURA: Yes.

ANJALI: With the gentleman who was getting you water.

LAURA: Yes, I walked in right as Howard

punched off the Periphery officer.

ANJALI: I was hoping that she might not recognize

at least one of us.

ANJALI: Oh, no. I definitely saw her.

ANJALI: Right.

ASHLEY: Well, maybe we'll be a nice face to see.

I don't know why. I don't know what that means.

I don't know why we would be.

ANJALI: Well, perhaps we can convince her we are allies.

I just don't know how, knowing not--

I'm assuming that she's somehow in league with Dorna,

but I don't know how.

ROBBIE: She could be, most certainly.

She could also be, as we mentioned,

perhaps running from her as well.

It's one or the other. I suppose it's a coin toss.

LAURA: She did seem genuinely frightened when she

was in the hotel room. ANJALI: This is true.

LAURA: I wonder if it was an act or if...

ROBBIE: Well, if we can find her-- ASHLEY: Maybe she lied.

LAURA: Sure, but she might have realized

she was responsible for murder.

ROBBIE: Yes.

ASHLEY: Good point, good point. ANJALI: Well,

we've almost lost all daylight.

I suppose we should at least get on

and head towards the cabin.

ROBBIE: If she's hiding and we found her this easily,

someone else might be able to find her as well.

ANJALI: Very true. ROBBIE: So--

MATT: (roughly) "Hey! Who goes there?"

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: "Orchard's closed, it's night."

ANJALI: Hello, good sir.

MATT: You see a gentleman who's stepping away

from some of the trees with a large basket by his side.

This, probably man in his mid to early 50s or so.

Big curly plume of reddish-brown hair.

Big, bushy beard that encompasses

the entirety of his clavicle in the space under his chin.

He's wearing work clothes with the sleeves up,

some work gloves on top of that.

Looks to be a bit sweaty and is finishing a day of work

and approaches with his thick boots

pushing through the soft earth.

Sets the basket down.

"Come back tomorrow when it's light."

LAURA: Mr. Belmon?

MATT: "Aye."

LAURA: Is your niece here?

MATT: "Why?"

LAURA: Oh, couldn't we talk to her?

MATT: Make a Sway test.

(groaning)

ASHLEY: I'm going to give you a drive.

LAURA: Oh, I'm going to give myself a drive, too.

So I should have waited for you.

ANJALI: That's all right. It's all right.

How many does that give you

with hers and yours? LAURA: That gives me two.

ROBBIE: I'll give you one as well.

ANJALI: All right, all right. LAURA: Four!

MATT: Four, okay.

"Aye, she's here, aye.

"She's just taking a few days to visit her old uncle.

"Why? What's your business with her?

"How do you know her?" ANJALI: Well,

not to be indiscreet,

but her friend Theodore was concerned for her safety.

He asked us to check in on her.

MATT: "I mean, be my guest.

"She's just kept to herself.

"To be honest, been estranged for a while.

"It was a bit of a surprise to have her suddenly show up.

"So, still family, still blood,

"so you help where you can, but you know.

"She's more of one of them city politics folk.

"It's funny how they come crawling back

"to the rural family when they need a little help, aye?"

ANJALI: Mm-hmm.

ASHLEY: When was the last time you'd seen her before this time?

MATT: "That'd be yesterday, last night."

ASHLEY: Before she came here. Couple of years?

MATT: "Oh, five, six years."

ASHLEY: Oh! LAURA: Oh, wow. Wow.

ROBBIE: Did she seem sad or frightened?

MATT: "I don't know. She just came in

"and told me she was staying for a bit.

"Didn't give me much of a chance to rebut.

"You friends of hers?"

ANJALI: In a manner of speaking.

We're friends of Theodore's, and Theodore's a friend of hers.

MATT: "All right. I mean, yeah."

ROBBIE: Thank you. ANJALI: Thank you.

MATT: "But don't stay too long.

"I've only got the one guest room and she's already in it.

"I don't have room for the rest of you." ANJALI: That's all right. We are--

LAURA: We ought to be out in the next couple hours.

We need to catch the train back.

MATT: "All right, all right. Well, I'll finish up my business.

"When you see her, tell her dinner will be down for an hour.

"I picked up another book for her

"while I was in town, so."

LAURA: Does she like to read?

MATT: "She does, as do I.

"I'm a reader. I know it might be a surprise

to some of you more elegant folk. ANJALI: No, no, no. What are you reading right--

No, not at all.

I'm always intrigued by what people--

MATT: "What the lesser folk read?"

ANJALI: No, no, sir. I am an eager learner.

I'm always intrigued by what fascinating people are reading,

particularly people who may not come

from the same upbringing as I have.

I didn't always live in the city myself.

Would you tell me what you're reading?

MATT: Make a Sway test.

(laughs) ASHLEY: Yes!

MATT: He's very much like (reserved grumbles).

ANJALI: Mixed success, and I will take the gilded die,

so that's a four.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: Oh wait,

do I need the gilded die?

No, I don't. Mixed success. I will take a five.

MATT: Okay.

A four and five are the same, but it's fine.

ANJALI: No, I know, but isn't it a little bit better?

MATT: It does feel a little nicer.

LAURA: It is the exact same. Oh, you don't--

ANJALI: They're both mixed successes, but-- LAURA: They're exactly the same.

MATT: Yeah. ANJALI: I don't think I--

MATT: But still, five just feels better.

ANJALI: It does! MATT: Yeah, it's a higher number.

(laughter) ANJALI: It's just a little bit

less mixed than the four. ASHLEY: It's better for sure.

MATT: There you go. (laughter)

MATT: "Are you fan of fiction?"

ANJALI: I am.

MATT: "There is this author named T.C. Vellum."

ROBBIE: (laughs)

MATT: "You know of him?"

ROBBIE: Oh, no, go on.

MATT: "He writes these very fascinating stories

"about these young college boys solving mysteries."

ANJALI: Ah.

MATT: "Aye, it's all scrappy young folks who worked their way

"into a fine education and start unraveling

"the secrets around society."

ANJALI: I love those stories.

MATT: "Spooky stories, little ghost things,

"you know, that fun stuff."

ANJALI: I absolutely know.

I myself am a fan of a particular author

who does the same with young ladies.

One young lady in particular, she has red hair,

it's just a wonderful story,

and it makes me feel like anyone from any background,

from any place can be someone to solve the problem.

MATT: "Couldn't have said it better myself.

"All right, I misjudged you, you're well-read.

"I may have an extra copy of 'The Variety Boys' in there,

"if you want me to grab it for you."

ANJALI: I would love it. ROBBIE: (laughs)

MATT: "Certainly.

"All right, I've got to finish my work, you go--"

ANJALI: Should we take her book in to her when we see her?

MATT: "What was that?"

ANJALI: You said you bought another book for her, should we--?

MATT: "No, I have an extra, if you want to read it.

"I can send you away with it." ANJALI: Oh, right, right, right.

MATT: "But yeah, I guess, feel free to go inside,

"and just don't stay too long."

LAURA: Thank you. MATT: "You're welcome."

He goes off and grabs his basket

and starts finishing up his work.

ANJALI: Right, shall we?

LAURA: Walk right in.

ANJALI: When we see the cabin,

the lights are on, I mean lanterns.

What does it look inside? MATT: Yeah, it's warmly lit

on the inside, both bottom and top floors.

It's a two-story cabin, made from the same scarlet woods.

Stripped wood material in itself.

It's dark coloration, beautiful, simple,

but elegant in that kind of--

ROBBIE: There's drugs in the walls.

(laughter)

ANJALI: Clearly, this isn't my first rodeo.

LAURA: Snozzberries taste like snozzberries.

(laughter)

ANJALI: I don't want to startle her,

just in case she's behind this front door,

and so I gently knock before going in.

MATT: Okay.

Nobody downstairs it seems at this time.

Opens up, look inside.

Warmly lit, welcoming hearth.

You can see there's a small fire,

it's more of a crackle in the fireplace.

Like it was probably set in advance

of the evening to keep the house warmed up

a number of hours ago, and it's now starting to trickle out.

There's a small dining room table

to the right with a few chairs around it.

You can see a stove in the corner

with a stove pipe heading out the side of the cabin.

There is one set of switchback stairs

that heads to a secondary floor.

ANJALI: Do we see anything that might be a portable light source?

MATT: You don't have to make a Survey roll.

Yeah, there are two oil lanterns.

ANJALI: Are they large or are they?

MATT: They're about that tall.

ANJALI: Okay, so someone wouldn't notice us

walking out with them?

There's nothing smaller?

MATT: Yeah. ANJALI: All right.

ROBBIE: Roll for a lamp.

So we knocked on the first floor, nobody there.

MATT: Correct. LAURA: We'll head on upstairs.

ANJALI: Yeah, I want to Survey the room

and see if there's anything else out of order that we see.

MATT: Sure, go ahead.

ANJALI: Particularly anything that looks like

Kara might have left it.

MATT: You got it.

ANJALI: I just love this Survey--

Apparently, I just love these Survey rolls.

One, two, three.

Six. MATT: Ooh, great, okay.

You see there are dishes set aside

from an earlier meal.

Looking at the mantle, you think they may be

actually a little older, like they're not from this morning,

they're probably from a day ago.

It looks like some of the tools

have been set aside for a day's work.

There's some tracks of mud and dirt

at the front way entrance to the cabin itself,

but nothing seems necessarily out of place or odd.

Nothing's catching you strange about the floor.

LAURA: Can I Sense anything magically out of tune?

Is there any bleed?

MATT: Make a Sense test for me.

LAURA: Okay.

Oh, that was-- it's a fail.

MATT: That's a failure.

LAURA: Should have used my bleed detector.

MATT: As you close your eyes

and try and find that one tugging thread

of the flare that is now burned on the inside of your body

from crossing, partially crossing that threshold

not too long ago.

You feel that ping within you.

Not evoked from your surroundings,

but the flashing of memory, of losing your fiancé,

of nearly losing your friends

and the cold buzzing sensation

of that gray corruption crawling its way

further up your arm and body.

You take a brain

from the stress of recalling this.

LAURA: Fudge.

ANJALI: (whispers) That's pretty bad.

Are you all right?

LAURA: Of course.

ROBBIE: When no one answers the door,

and after they've done their quick scan,

and she says, "Don't startle her,"

I go: All right, don't startle her.

Then I'm going to slip out the front door

and throw my overcoat hood on

and creep around the outside of the house.

I don't want to be all together.

ANJALI: Yeah, no.

ROBBIE: I don't want to be a big target.

We're always a big four-person target.

ANJALI: Also, especially since you're the one

who knocked out the police officer,

it's probably best for you not to be

the first face she sees.

ROBBIE: Good point, bye-bye.

Into the dark. ASHLEY: What are we doing? Sorry, I was

holding that

before we left the city. MATT: No need to--

ASHLEY: I had to pee so bad. MATT: Hide at the moment,

since there's nobody in the immediate proximity

that you're testing against.

But should you enter a scene at some point,

then we'll take it from there.

ROBBIE: Okay.

ANJALI: Howard is going to stay out. ASHLEY: I'm going to go

pee in that bush. ANJALI: It's quite all right.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: There's no bathrooms on trains,

I've been holding that in,

I had to go butter my ghost toast.

(laughter)

If you know what I mean.

All right. ANJALI: I don't know

if you want to share that with the rest of us.

Bathroom activities.

Howard is going to stay out of sight for the time being.

So he doesn't startle the young lady.

Perhaps you and I should go.

LAURA: Sure.

Where's Howard? ASHLEY: You guys are gentle.

ANJALI: He slipped out, so as not to be--

Not to startle Kara.

LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: Shall we?

ASHLEY: I'll stay out here?

I'll just stand by the door.

If you need something, you can tell me.

ANJALI: Be close.

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah, be close.

MATT: So the two of you are ascending the stairs

and you're staying back on the first floor?

ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: Okay.

LAURA: Oh, I should put these back on

before we go upstairs, that would be smart.

MATT: The two of you climb the stairs to the secondary floor.

It's a smaller floor.

There's a little arrival 10 by 10-foot area there,

which has a little table with a vase

with some flowers that look like

they're starting to wither a bit, not well kept.

There are two doors here to two different rooms.

LAURA: We both open at the same time.

ANJALI: (uncertain noises)

LAURA: No knock?

ANJALI: Well, no.

I don't know why I'm terribly suspicious of this young lady.

I'm sure she's fine, I'm sure she's running.

But do you have your bleed detector handy?

Can we use it?

LAURA: (beeping and booping)

MATT: The detector begins to slightly glow

across the interior of this waiting space

here on the second floor.

No sign of bleed.

ANJALI: All right. MATT: Pretty solid.

ANJALI: Perhaps we knock?

LAURA: Sure, we'll both knock on each door at the same time.

Ready? One, two, three.

ANJALI: Oh goodness. (knocks) LAURA: (knocks)

MATT: You both knock, no response.

LAURA: Maybe she's peeing.

ANJALI: Kara? Oh.

MATT: Okay, you open one door and it leads to a bedroom here.

Simple, rustic-looking twin bed

with what looks like a bear fur

that's put over for the blanket there.

You can see there's some paintings on the walls

that look like older family portraits.

It looks like there's a shotgun

leaned up against the side of the bed.

This is likely Vincent's bedroom, but it is empty.

LAURA: I think this is Vincent's bedroom.

ANJALI: I'll peek in and spy the shotgun. It's good to know.

Well--

Kara?

Kara, your uncle sent us with a book from the city.

May I come in?

MATT: No response.

LAURA: We should just go in.

ANJALI: I open the door, but I stay on the threshold.

MATT: It's locked.

LAURA: We should push the door open.

ANJALI: It's locked.

Fuck.

I don't have any Strikes, so I'm not the person.

Auggie?

ASHLEY: Yep? ANJALI: Auggie?

Come, come.

ASHLEY: What? MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: This door, it's locked,

and we're not hearing from her.

LAURA: I'm going to go into Vincent's room.

Keep talking.

MATT: Okay, you go into Vincent's room.

ASHLEY: It's locked?

ANJALI: Do you have any skill to?

ASHLEY: I have burglary equipment.

ROBBIE: Whoa! ANJALI: Pick that--

LAURA: You have what?

ASHLEY: I have burglary equipment.

ANJALI: This young man has a particular set of skills.

Why do you think I took him in?

ASHLEY: Yeah. LAURA: Fabulous.

ANJALI: Yes. ASHLEY: I can get into places

where you need to be-- Shh.

MATT: All right. So ahead and make a Hide test for me

or Control, your choice. ASHLEY: All right. So,

I also have Born in the Shadows.

So "when attempting to avoid security or detection,

"you gild an extra Hide die."

MATT: Okay, okay. So you'd want to roll Hide on this

and you get an extra gilded die on this.

ASHLEY: So I got one, two. ROBBIE: An extra gild?

ANJALI: Mm-hmm. ROBBIE: That's pretty good.

MATT: It doesn't mean an extra dice,

it just means one of the dies-- It says it's plus one die

or does it say an additional die is gilded?

ASHLEY: Additional die is gilded.

MATT: Okay, so it's whatever your Hide is--

ASHLEY: Gild an extra Hide die.

So I think it's not gilded, wait.

MATT: Gild an extra Hide die, which means--

ASHLEY: Gild an extra Hide die. MATT: Which means,

how many points do you have in it?

ASHLEY: So in Hide, I have two and one gilded.

MATT: Right, so both of those would be gilded.

So it's two dice and they're both gilded.

But you could use drives if you wanted to add more.

LAURA: (whispering) I'll be right back. ASHLEY: I'm slowly catching on.

MATT: That's okay, it's a new system.

ASHLEY: Yes. Let me use a drive.

MATT: Okay. So that's two gilded and one die.

LAURA: Yes.

ROBBIE: Do it.

ASHLEY: Oh, it's getting caught on my--

all right, a five.

ROBBIE: Yeah! MATT: A five?

That's great. You take that. Is that on the gilded?

ASHLEY: It's not on the gilded.

MATT: Okay, so you still lose the drive.

But (clicking) (hinges creak)

the door opens up and within

you see there's the gentle, warm light

of a low oil lantern that's on the cusp of burning out.

Just a very, very faint bit of light.

As you enter, you can see the bed to the right

and across the room in a chair,

you see a woman sitting, facing away from you.

ANJALI: Kara?

You're in the other room?

LAURA: I was going to go in and see

if Howard had any drawers I could open

to see if there were keys or anything.

ANJALI: Vincent, Vincent, yes.

LAURA: Yes, Vincent, sorry. ANJALI: Yes.

LAURA: Vincent. ANJALI: Good.

MATT: You start going through the drawers?

LAURA: Yeah, just to look for a shiny key.

MATT: Okay.

Go ahead and make a Survey.

LAURA: This is at disadvantage, so I'm rolling two

and taking the shit one. MATT: Okay.

LAURA: They're both equally shit.

ROBBIE: (laughs) MATT: Fair enough.

LAURA: Threes. MATT: Okay.

You do

start pulling some of the drawers

and within them is clothes, tools,

no sign of any keys.

As you slam one of the drawers closed,

what you don't realize is the shotgun

tumbles from the side of the wall and you back away

just as it hits the ground and-- (gunfire).

ANJALI: Oh no. MATT:-- fires off.

All of you hear collectively the sound of a shotgun

blast from the top floor of the house.

LAURA: Sorry!

ANJALI: I run around to see if she's okay.

ASHLEY: I'm watching Kara.

LAURA: No response? MATT: Doesn't move.

LAURA: Oh. That was very loud.

ANJALI: I need your bleed detector now.

LAURA: I come out of the room.

I can't hear anything.

ANJALI: Don't go in, just reach out.

ASHLEY: I'm going to go over to the light source

and I'm going to try to turn it up a little bit.

Turn the little knobby, so the little--

MATT: You realize it's turned up, it's just

almost completely out of oil. LAURA: Almost out of oil?

ASHLEY: All right, I'm going to peek around

toward the front of her to the side,

so I can get a little profile.

MATT: You come around to the side where she's sitting,

facing away from the door where you came from

as you begin to enter with your bleed detector.

As you come in,

you see the interior of this chamber

is suffused

in bleed.

ASHLEY: Uh-oh. MATT: There is scattering smatters

of magic corruption across the interior of this room,

just as you cross the threshold of view

to see Kara sitting within the chair.

Above her chin, just a flat--

LAURA: (gasps)

MATT:-- blank,

faceless

wall of skin,

bereft of any features.

ANJALI: Auggie. Auggie, come back. Come back!

What?

I just don't want you in the bleed. You're on it.

LAURA: Is she aware?

ASHLEY: She doesn't,

part of her face is gone.

Part of her face is gone.

Her fucking nose is gone, her fucking everything is gone.

LAURA: Is she bleeding? MATT: You heard the shotgun go off

and at which point, you immediately see

Vincent is like, "What the hell was that?

"What are doing?"

He starts running back to the house.

ASHLEY: Oh, he's going to think it's us.

ROBBIE: Oh, Vincent.

(laughs)

ANJALI: Don't do it. Don't do it.

ROBBIE: I am absolutely going to.

ANJALI: Oh gosh. (laughter)

ROBBIE: I did leave my brass knuckles at home.

But as Vincent runs toward the house,

I pop out from behind one of the trees in the grove,

fully clothed and I pull out from my pocket,

I have a little blackjack with me.

ANJALI: (groans) MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: As he runs toward the house,

I pop out and I say: Sorry.

I'm going to try to bonk him on jaw with the blackjack.

MATT: All right, roll a Strike.

LAURA: What's a blackjack?

Because I literally picture a little--

ROBBIE: Non-lethal, it's a little--

LAURA: A club? ANJALI: Like a smack.

ROBBIE: It's a little-- MATT: Yeah.

ROBBIE:-- smacky club to make you go to sleepy time.

MATT: Yep.

ROBBIE: Not overly horrible. MATT: No.

ROBBIE: Not overly horrible.

MATT: A comfortably carry-able bludgeoning instrument.

ANJALI: Right. ROBBIE: I'll spend a drive.

ANJALI: Fits excellently in a corset. MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: That's a full six.

ANJALI: Yes. ASHLEY: Yes!

MATT: "What's going on?

"I thought you were--" (thuds)

He slumps right-- Hits the wood hard

and is this unconscious pile of man.

You can can hear that sound, that (stifled snores),

that horrible breathing sound.

ROBBIE: He went to sleepy time immediately?

MATT: Yeah. ROBBIE: Aw man.

MATT: Onto his face where

the air passage right now is a little obscured.

ROBBIE: I'll tilt his head back and put his neck back

into alignment, so he stops snoring and lay him out.

Oh my.

Then I'll run up the stairs

toward where I heard the shotgun sound.

MATT: All right.

In the interim, what are you doing?

LAURA: Is she breathing?

ASHLEY: How am I supposed to tell

when there's no face? LAURA: Is she alive?

I'm going to walk up to her and put my hand

on her chest to see if there's a rise and fall.

ASHLEY: Oh. ANJALI: Oh.

MATT: She's warm.

But there's no breath,

there's no nostrils, there's no mouth.

It's just a blank.

ASHLEY: Like the skin's been-- LAURA: What just happened?

ASHLEY:-- pulled off and everything's...?

LAURA: It's just skin?

ANJALI: It's just skin. MATT: It's just skin.

Like someone erased the features.

LAURA: But-- (gags)

ROBBIE: Don't, don't, don't-- LAURA: Is there,

where the nose bone was where

it's raised or is it just smooth?

MATT: No, it's just smooth.

There's no eye sockets.

LAURA: Awful. MATT: There's no cheekbones.

It's just a blank.

ANJALI: In my studies, would I have heard of anything

of this in my library studies in Gertrude's library?

Would I have heard of...?

MATT: Nah.

You've heard of all manner of odd things but this one,

this one's new.

ROBBIE: (footsteps)

Oh, you found her? (chuckles)

ANJALI: Stay back, stay back.

LAURA: She's warm.

ROBBIE: Oh.

LAURA: It was recent.

They must be--

ANJALI: Near?

LAURA: It was recent.

ROBBIE: I'll try to take her pulse.

ANJALI: Oh no. MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: On her carotid.

MATT: There's a heartbeat.

ROBBIE: (gasps)

Oh.

She is alive.

LAURA: How? ROBBIE: In a manner of speaking.

Her heart is beating and she is most certainly warm.

LAURA: How is she breathing?

ROBBIE: I do not know.

ASHLEY: Should we cut it off?

LAURA: No. ASHLEY: I don't know.

I'm throwing some stuff-- ANJALI: I want to look

around the room and see-- ROBBIE: We can certainly try,

I don't see why not.

ANJALI:-- if there's anything in the room that looks like

glyphs or a cult or anything that seems not--

MATT: Sure, make a Survey test for me,

if you don't mind. LAURA: Her body isn't responding

when we touch it or anything?

MATT: No. LAURA: She's not turning

her shoulders or anything? MATT: Nope.

ANJALI: That is a-- Do I want to take--

I'll take a six.

MATT: Okay, so you take a six and a success.

Glancing around the chamber,

you can see there's two of her bags unpacked.

You can see there's a pile of clothes.

It looks like she's settled in here in recent days.

You can see...

You do notice that there is a somewhat,

I don't want to say crumpled, but a weathered envelope

that sits on the side of the bed

that's tucked in the drawer

in a small bedside table

with no label on it.

ANJALI: Sorry, I didn't mean to knock that over.

I'm so loud. ROBBIE: (laughs)

ASHLEY: My bad. ANJALI: That's quite all right.

If there's anything like a letter opener or anything,

anything that I can pull that out with.

MATT: Yeah, the envelope's open.

ANJALI: Okay. I'd like to see what's inside it.

ANJALI: (gasps) Oh my.

MATT: It is blank. ROBBIE: Ooh.

LAURA: It's a blank-- ROBBIE: Oh, it's a blank--

MATT: It is a blank sheet of paper.

LAURA: There's no way. ROBBIE: Poops.

LAURA: It's been jinxed.

ANJALI: Do you still have your lighter?

ROBBIE: Oh.

Sure.

ANJALI: I take this and check if,

you know how invisible ink does the thing if you--

MATT: Right, right.

ANJALI: I want to try to do that.

MATT: Okay.

It doesn't seem to be having an immediate effect.

I will say, if you want to,

make a Control test for me to try

and hold the flame to the paper without igniting it.

ANJALI: You sure you don't want to make a different roll?

ROBBIE: (laughs) ANJALI: Like a Survey roll

since I'm searching for things? ASHLEY: I'll give you--

MATT: Nope. Nope, that's--

ANJALI: (laughs) ASHLEY: I'll give you a drive.

MATT: That's specifically what this needs. ANJALI: That's fine. That's fine.

That's fine. ASHLEY: I'll give you a drive.

ANJALI: Yep, yep, yep.

Six. LAURA: Yes.

MATT: A six, okay.

LAURA: Great.

MATT: You do not manage to ignite the letter.

You do darken it in places, but you do not see any text.

ASHLEY: What about the bleed?

What about the bleed detector?

You think there's-- LAURA: That's a wonderful idea.

ASHLEY:-- hidden writing or something? I don't know.

MATT: Okay. You ignite the bleed detector.

(gasps)

(excited clamoring) ASHLEY: Whoa!

ROBBIE: Yeah! ANJALI: (excited yelling)

MATT: Indeed, some text begins to arise, which gives you--

ASHLEY: Whoa, that looks so cool.

MATT:-- an interesting

perspective, as this would be ink mixed with bleed.

ANJALI: (gasps)

MATT: Intentionally so.

ANJALI: "Kara, the Pharos is on us.

"These recent missteps have cost us and myself greatly.

"Your ignorance cannot be left a weakness.

"Give it six weeks, then find me at the Brinewash 7.

"I will appeal for your forgiveness.

"Dorna."

ASHLEY: So she-- You were right.

You were right, she's working with her?

ANJALI: She's working with her but--

LAURA: Do you think Dorna did this?

ANJALI: I think one way or another, she was involved.

LAURA: Oh no!

MATT: I'll put it back for you. LAURA: (laughs)

ANJALI: (laughs)

ASHLEY: That's so cool.

LAURA: Six weeks, "give it six weeks and then find me."

ANJALI: "At the Brinewash 7." LAURA: We've got to go to the Brinewash 7.

ASHLEY: Did she bring her instrument?

ANJALI: Ah, yes.

ROBBIE: The Pharos.

LAURA: "...appeal..." ANJALI: Pharos.

LAURA: "...forgiveness."

We need to remember how to write Dorna's name.

ROBBIE: We don't know when this-- ANJALI: Yes.

ROBBIE:-- letter was from. ANJALI: That's a good idea.

LAURA: Pharos, who's The Pharos?

ANJALI: Would I-- ASHLEY: Wait. Can I give it a look-see?

MATT: You would know. ANJALI: I would know The Pharos,

right? MATT: Indeed.

Fourth Pharos is the term and the title

of the base of operations for Candela Obscura.

ANJALI: They know we're on to them.

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: It's about this time-- ANJALI: Oh?

MATT:-- that the last bit of that oil lantern--

LAURA: Oh no. MATT:-- flickers out.

LAURA: Oh, it's dark in here.

MATT: In that shadow-- LAURA: Oh no.

MATT:-- you hear

(chittering clicks).

ANJALI: Back.

Back.

Back. Down. LAURA: Yeah, back away. Back away.

Get out of the room, out of the room, out of the room, out of the room.

MATT: You go to exit towards the room and the door (thuds)

closes right as you were about to get to it

as you see this long, thin,

stretched hand

that now currently reaches down from above.

As you follow it up the outstretched arm,

the thousands and thousands of strange, wispy,

hair-like roots that all encompass this extended limb

like a massive shadow beard that just

fills the entirety of its body,

you follow it up to this massive, hunched creature

that currently stands at an angle, defying gravity

against the arched ceiling of this guest room.

From beneath, this long veil

of scraggly black root,

this dull, orange glow just barely

pushes from within, a singular source of light.

(disjointed, creaking gurgles)

ANJALI: Howard, Howard, the door.

Howard, the door! LAURA: The window.

ROBBIE: It's closed. LAURA: The window.

ROBBIE: (panicked pulling of locked door)

ANJALI: Break it down. LAURA: Go to the window.

There's a window in the room.

MATT: There is a window. ANJALI: There's a window in the room,

but is it opposite her or is it--

MATT: She's facing towards

the window currently. ANJALI: She's facing the window

and this thing--

MATT: This creature is just above.

It just closed the door and it's standing and just--

ASHLEY and LAURA: In front of the door?

MATT: It's in front of the door, that exit.

It slammed the door. LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: It's in front of the door and we're between.

LAURA: Then go to the window. MATT: It's in the room above you

and it just slammed the door above you. ANJALI: Window, window.

All right, backwards.

Back to the window, back to the window.

LAURA: I am going to--

MATT: It (heavy stomps) steps down from the ceiling,

like it descends and as it rises up,

it stands 12, 13 feet tall.

ROBBIE: Whoa. ANJALI: Hello!

MATT: Hunched against the ceiling itself,

pushed and curved and as you begin to step,

it seems to quickly approach and loom over you.

It seems as quick as you could be in this small space.

It, in a very pointed bit of interest,

just follows and looms.

(disjointed, chittering gurgles)

ASHLEY: It's not doing anything? It's not doing anything?

LAURA: Get to the window. ANJALI: Get to the window.

Get to the window, backwards.

LAURA: I'm going to use an ability.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

LAURA: I'm going to

try to make eye contact with the creature

and I'm going to Play the Bait.

MATT: Mm. ROBBIE: Oh yeah.

LAURA: So I'm going to,

"you know how to draw phenomena

"out of hiding or get them to reveal themselves."

I just have to play the bait.

I can roll a Sense to bring nearby phenomena toward me.

MATT: Yes, roll a Sense test for me,

as the creature's arms--

ASHLEY: I'll give you a drive. MATT:-- both hang at the sides,

scratching the ground-- LAURA: Thank you.

MATT:-- with their length as it inspects you all.

ANJALI: Likewise, I'll give you a drive, too. MATT: You look towards that glow

in its face, that weird orange light

that seems to be buried beneath the cluster

of hanging roots that drip off of it

like a weeping willow tree.

LAURA: Yes.

I'm going to take the full success--

MATT: Full success? LAURA:-- on that.

MATT: Okay. LAURA: Yeah. Instead of the mixed success

because I don't want to risk this right now.

MATT: (deep croaks)

Immediately, it looks towards you and that glow brightens.

LAURA: Get out of the way. MATT: You all watch

as Arlo seems to have caught its attention

and as it brightens, that orange glow

lights the room ever so faintly

in the direction of its facing, centered on Arlo.

LAURA: I'm going to pull my glove off--

MATT: (gurgling creaks) LAURA:-- and hold my hand out.

Go!

ASHLEY: I'm going to try to open the window.

Try to foot through the window, trying to get it open.

MATT: Okay.

The window (stuck thuds).

ANJALI: Just break it.

MATT: (shifting creaks) Lifts up. (thud)

You feel the colder night air began to rush in.

LAURA: Go.

I'll start backing towards the window, too.

You guys get out.

ANJALI: I want to be right behind her.

MATT: You begin to back towards the window?

It interposes.

As you step, it steps

and as you step again, it steps.

It's not focused on your friends,

but is focused entirely on you.

ANJALI: Both of you-- MATT: (creaking gurgles)

ANJALI: Both of you, get out the window.

Auggie, Howard, get out the window.

ASHLEY: I don't want to leave you guys in here alone.

ANJALI: Go! Go, go, go! ROBBIE: I'll go first.

ANJALI: I'm going to start-- ROBBIE: I'm down and out first

because I'll try to catch them when they come.

We're second story, right? MATT: You are second story.

ROBBIE: I'm down and out first.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: I'm going to also--

ROBBIE: I'm trying to. ANJALI:-- not flank her,

but move a little bit,

since it's coming at her directly,

move slightly over to the right

and reach down and pull out my

new and improved knife.

It's a little bit longer than it was

and it has a set of strange markings on it.

MATT: Okay.

As you are doing this and you are attempting

to then leap beyond this window,

I'd like you to make a Move test for me.

ROBBIE: Howard's strong, but he ain't exactly nimble.

LAURA: Oh no. ROBBIE: Bad knees.

LAURA: Oh no!

ROBBIE: This is important. I'm going to use my train,

my extra train die, and I'm going to spend a drive.

ANJALI: I forgot those.

ROBBIE: Going to spend my extra drive to have two.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: That is a full success, that's a six.

MATT: Full success. ROBBIE: Six and a five.

MATT: The creature doesn't take notice of you

as you quickly leap out the side.

You catch the windowsill as you fall over the side

and as you're hanging on, give yourself just enough

of a buffer to drop and catch hard onto your feet.

You tumble onto your back,

but you don't break or injure anything other than

a bit of a sprain that you may feel in the morning.

LAURA: A little bit of brain leaks out.

(laughter)

LAURA: Oops.

MATT: (creaking groans)

ASHLEY: I'm going to hop out.

You okay, you okay?

LAURA: Everything's fine. ASHLEY: All right.

You better come out this window.

ROBBIE: I'm underneath to catch or help down, yeah.

MATT: Okay, so make a Move test for me.

ASHLEY: So I have nothing.

MATT: Right, so that would be roll twice, take the lowest.

ANJALI: Or use a drive.

You know what, I'm going to use my train.

MATT: Okay, go for it. ASHLEY: My extra train die.

I still take the lowest?

MATT: No, with the train, you just roll one dice.

ASHLEY: So I'm just rolling one dice?

MATT: Yeah, so normally you would roll twice

and take the lowest, now it's just roll a single dice.

ROBBIE: Don't worry, you're going to roll a six.

ASHLEY: I'm going to roll a six.

I'm going to roll a two.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Catch me! Catch me!

(laughter)

ROBBIE: I got you!

MATT: (crashing)

About a foot off.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Ow!

ANJALI: That's some Looney Tunes big stuff right there.

ROBBIE: I suppose my eyes did not adjust as well

as I thought they would.

ASHLEY: You were not even close to where I was jumping!

ROBBIE: It's foggy in here.

MATT: You do mark a body from the impact.

ASHLEY: Oh sure. ROBBIE: Fuck.

MATT: Now back to the two of you in the room.

It's slowly approaching you and looming over you.

You find yourself glancing up at it.

Charlotte, you look over and can see that orange glow

across Arlo's face getting brighter and brighter

as it begins to close.

Its long arms dragging on the ground.

The arms slowly--

LAURA: Are you the one that steals the features?

ANJALI: Arlo, out the window, go! LAURA: Are you the one that takes faces?

ANJALI: Go! Go! LAURA: I'm going to back,

fall out of the window.

ANJALI: As she does, I am going to

say a series of words that no one has ever heard before

and my knife is going to glow with orange symbols on it

and my ghost blade is going to come out

and I'm going to strike at the creature.

ROBBIE: Ghost blade. MATT: Okay,

so you mark a body from taking,

initiating that ability.

Simultaneously, I want you to test for Move

to try and dodge from this creature

that is focused entirely on you.

This isn't even trying to land properly.

This is trying to land properly

and trying to keep this creature,

which is on the verge of closing in on you.

LAURA: Okay, I'm-- MATT: This is a

high-stakes roll. LAURA: I'm taking my drive.

ASHLEY: Can we assist and try to make a basket catch?

MATT: Sure. ROBBIE: Got to get away

from the baddie first, right?

ASHLEY: She's falling out the window. LAURA: Got to get away from

the baddie before I fall out the window.

ANJALI: You've got I Saw It Coming.

LAURA: I'm using my train die on this to--

MATT: Sure.

ASHLEY: So you'll get an extra drive.

LAURA: Oh, I will? ASHLEY: Or an extra--

MATT: This is try trying to dodge the creature

and will encompass the landing.

LAURA: Okay. ASHLEY: I can't help you, never mind.

LAURA: Five.

MATT: Five, it's a mixed success.

Okay.

So you pull back and leap out the side

just as the creature's arm (growling)

reaches out.

LAURA: I grab a hold of Kara's body

to grab something and end up throwing her over me

as I go out the window.

MATT: So she ends up out the window with you.

ROBBIE: Double bodies! MATT: As you go flinging overhead,

the creature reaches and strikes out towards you,

but catches nothing but air as you tumble backwards.

While you tried to catch her,

the sudden, the arrival of two bodies being flung

from the window here in the low light of the night,

you're uncertain who you're supposed to catch

and you end up catching Kara's body,

and you, while you escape the clutches of this creature,

impact hard on the packed dirt of the farmstead,

taking a body mark as you do.

The wind is knocked out of you and for a brief moment,

you make that sucking sound, trying to catch it.

ALL: (struggling)

MATT: Ow, ow, ow, ow!

LAURA: Ow, ow, ow, ow! MATT: Yes, just like that.

(laughter)

MATT: You. ANJALI: Yes.

MATT: Can roll to Strike.

ANJALI: ♪ God, help me, it's my worst skill ♪

All right, I'm going to use some--

ASHLEY: Can I help? Can I give her a drive?

MATT: You are outside and downstairs, you cannot.

ANJALI: This is a high stakes roll.

MATT: This is very much a high stakes roll.

ANJALI: I'm very Cool Under Pressure

and on any high stakes roll, I may always spend Cunning

instead of the drive the roll would normally use--

ROBBIE: Whoa, that's a good one! ANJALI: So, I will use

two Cunning to give me one, two, two die.

MATT: You got it.

ANJALI: I will use my train.

I will pray to the great gods that this works.

LAURA: You got this, you got this.

ANJALI: Five.

MATT: Got a five, okay, that's a mixed success.

You do manage to strike into this creature

and as you swipe with your blade and push past

the heavy coat of tangled, dry, swamp-like vines

that wrap its long sinewy body,

you strike within and feel that burning runic power

begin to singe on the inside

and the creature immediately (sucking)

gives this horrible sucking sound

and reaches back and grabs your arm

and pulls you from it.

You can see now this cinder-like flame

now currently burns deep within like the embers

deep on the inside of a mostly burned chunk of wood

and that gives that continuous pained-sucking sound.

(sucking)

ANJALI: I'm out the window.

MATT: But it has grabbed you. ANJALI: Oh, neat.

MATT: As it does, you feel this sense

of darkness beginning to come over your eyes

as one of his arms

wraps around your face. LAURA: Oh, no, no, no.

ROBBIE: No! MATT: Encompasses your head.

LAURA: No, no, no. MATT: You take a bleed.

But it has now held you,

your vision is now dark and you feel

like you are being slowly smothered

by the forest floor. ANJALI: I still have my knife, yes?

MATT: You do.

ANJALI: I start prying,

trying to pry whatever is around my face.

MATT: Okay, you can make a--

You can make a Strike or a Control test on this.

You all hear that horrible (sucking) sound.

It is deep and vibrating the very wood

of this entire house.

LAURA: Have we woken up yet?

Have I like-- MATT: Oh yeah.

You're starting to catch your breath here,

but all of you are looking to see

where Charlotte's going to come.

ASHLEY: Pointed up to the window.

MATT: Indeed, and all you see is shadow

within the interior of this window.

ASHLEY: Charlie! MATT: Hear the sound.

LAURA: Can I get up and start running back into the house?

MATT: All right, so you go darting back into the house.

You are-- ANJALI: Can I be pulling towards,

even if it's got hold on me,

can I be struggling towards the window?

MATT: You can struggle towards it,

but this creature-- You weigh--

ANJALI: Whatever I weigh. MATT: Whatever you weigh.

This is a massive entity from beyond The Flare,

so you get the sense

you probably don't have the advantage of weight on this,

but you do have that dagger still.

You can roll Strike or Control,

your choice, to try and see if you can maneuver the blade

in a way to carve yourself free from its grasp.

ANJALI: I'm going to do ♪ Control ♪

and I am going to use a,

I'm going to use two drive which gives me three dice.

Four.

MATT: Four, okay.

So you manage to (grunting) cut yourself free,

but in order to do so,

because it's clasped around your face,

your blade cuts up your own cheek and you feel the blood

begin to run, but it's just enough to find where that

inhuman knuckle that currently grasps

the center of your head sits and as you carve it free.

The voice, once again (gurgling).

It finds itself being pulled slightly free

and you yank from its grasp.

You do mark a body from cutting yourself free.

LAURA: Oh man. MATT: But you then run and leap

from the window.

ANJALI: Hope we have enough, okay.

Right, okay.

MATT: So now I would like you to make a Move test.

ANJALI: Of course you would and I'm going to spend my--

MATT: I will give you an extra die on this because you now

have two friends below that are waiting for you

and have been patiently expecting your drop.

ANJALI: Then I am also going to take a drive,

which is t-two-o-o.

She says convincingly.

Let me make sure that this is nothing.

Yeah, there's nothing I can do.

I'm going to use a resistance.

ASHLEY: Ooh. ROBBIE: No.

LAURA: You can do this, you can do this.

ROBBIE: Oh, come on.

ANJALI: Five. LAURA: Yes!

MATT: Five, okay.

You hit the ground.

Both of you catch her and you don't mark your body.

You catch it, your foot sprains a little bit,

but you catch yourself and you hear her impact from behind.

Just as you enter the house and turn around,

you see her drop just beyond that window.

ANJALI: Run!

LAURA: Charlie!

I'll grab one of the lanterns that was next to the door

inside the cabin and come running out.

MATT: Okay.

You come darting out to gather the rest of you.

You all catch her and right as you look up,

you can see (thudding)

the arms of this creature.

This tiny window.

It's like watching a full nightmare Jack Skellington

emerge from the outside of this window,

its limbs almost 10 feet long on their own,

and you're uncertain if it's limited to just two.

It's this massive twisted beard of black roots,

and that one glowing source of orange light

in its face that's flashing with intensity

as it crawls out onto the roof,

staring down at you. (growling)

ANJALI: Run, run! LAURA: Kill it with fire.

ASHLEY: Is he coming after us or just staring?

MATT: What are you doing?

ROBBIE: I want to search the back of the farm

quickly as I'm running, of course,

to see if they keep animals and if they might have

a surrey or horses by any chance

is specifically what I'm looking for.

MATT: Make a Survey test for me, if you don't mind.

ASHLEY: Kara's body's out here, too, right?

LAURA: Yeah, everything's out.

ROBBIE: Yeah, we got two bodies,

one in front, one and back.

I'm going to see if they got horsies and a surrey.

I'll spend a drive.

For three. MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: Mad fail.

Was one, one, three.

MATT: Oof.

ANJALI: Do you have a resistance?

ROBBIE: I don't. ANJALI: I guess you don't need it.

Okay. ROBBIE: No, I don't have one.

MATT: You glance around off the side,

looking around and you,

you know for orchards, they often have

some beasts of burden to help both with carrying

or people that want to come through and tour the orchard

and such, but it's too dark at this point,

and you're too frazzled and as you're glancing over,

(thudding)

cutting off your vision,

the entity drops down this small cluster.

It seems to widen out under the ground

like a batch of dried swamp land that spills out

and then rises once more.

Its face turning back towards you.

(growling)

ASHLEY: Do I shoot it? Do you want me to shoot it,

or we running?

LAURA: I'm going to take the lantern

and throw it at its feet, try to catch it on fire.

ASHLEY: Yes! MATT: All right.

For this, I will say you can roll Strike or Control,

depending on you're going for it.

LAURA: I will definitely use a Control.

ASHLEY: I will-- ROBBIE: Throw.

ASHLEY: I will help.

MATT: How are you helping?

ASHLEY: I'm helping.

I'm helping by--

It's right there!

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Don't you see it? It's right there!

(laughter)

ANJALI: That's amazing.

ASHLEY: I had my gun trained on him.

You know. MATT: Yeah.

ASHLEY: I'm helping out in case.

LAURA: Five. ASHLEY: There we go.

ROBBIE: Good. MATT: Five, okay.

As you put back the lantern and throw it in the air,

(whooshing)

arcing forward, Howard, you begin to back away

as the creature, from the inside of its mattled mass

of a torso.

Its arm reaches out and grabs you in the face

and begins to wrap around.

You take immediately a bleed.

ROBBIE: Immediate bleed.

LAURA: That's right in the face!

MATT: As it gets wrapped around. ASHLEY: May I--

Maybe in helping shooting the lantern

so it maybe tries to get

a bit bigger. MATT: Yes, you may.

As it grasps you, the lantern in the middle of the air,

you take aim here and a little bit of the moonlight

that hits you, (exhales) you breathe out.

(gun fires) Fire.

The heavy sound of the gunshot (echoing)

eliminates the silence that surrounds this chaos

here in the center of the field,

and you watch the lantern suddenly bursts and

(exploding) the oil ignites

as it spills onto this entity.

The flames begin to whip around it

and immediately you hear (screeching).

It withdraws and pulls its hand away from Howard

and immediately darts off and crawls away behind the farm,

this fire beginning to catch on the outskirts of it.

What are you doing?

LAURA: We have to get away. ASHLEY: We got to go.

ANJALI: Run, LAURA: Fire.

ANJALI: Are there any more lanterns that we can grab

on our way out?

MATT: You can go back in the house

and grab some, if you want. LAURA: Yeah, we should.

Going to go and grab all the fire, candles,

anything we can find.

ANJALI: Any light, any fire sources.

MATT: Okay, you all rush in and

there are two more oil lanterns in there.

There's the two that you saw when you first walked in

and there's one that's over by the fireplace

that feels like it's a lot more empty,

but there's some in there.

ASHLEY: It's something. ANJALI: Just grab it all.

MATT: All right, you grab it.

That's three oil lanterns at your disposal

and you have two bodies,

one that's unconscious and one that's not responding.

What do you do?

LAURA: Is it possible to try to drag them with us?

God, that sounds hard.

ROBBIE: I'll run around the front.

Vincent's a big boy?

MATT: Vincent's a pretty--

ROBBIE: He's a farm lad? MATT: He's a solid 200.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Howard's going to do a dead man's carry,

dip his arm in, put his arm over arm

and put this guy on his back.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: Out of guilt and necessity.

As I do, I'm mumbling to myself.

Well, certainly I would think that if that orchard

of this size would have some sort of beast of burden.

I'll use Well-Read from my previous roll that says,

I'm "highly educated and retain knowledge better than most.

"When I use an Intuition to make a roll,

"if I fail the roll," which I did miserably, I get

"any Intuition I used back."

So I get my drive back. MATT: Get your drive back, yeah.

LAURA: Oh, that's great. MATT: That's great.

ANJALI: That's fantastic.

ASHLEY: I grab Kara, same.

MATT: Okay, Kara's on your back.

ROBBIE: Slow.

MATT: You all begin to trek in the direction where you came.

ROBBIE: How far was this from the train depot to the house?

MATT: It was about a 20, 25 minute walk.

LAURA: Okay.

ROBBIE: That's a mile, mile and a half. All right.

LAURA: I am going to,

I'm assuming we're on an orchard,

there will be sticks to grab.

MATT: Oh yeah, easy to grab.

LAURA: Then I'm going to grab a couple sticks

and light them on fire, try to make a--

ANJALI: Torch. LAURA: A torch.

MATT: Okay, it's going to be a little challenging to do

on the go, but you are carrying two bodies,

which is about the pace to be able to do it,

so I'll allow it, yeah.

LAURA: Okay, so now we have an extra light source.

I'm going to hold the torch out behind us as we're walking,

just in case it is trying to follow.

MATT: Okay.

You all continue forward, trudging

through back the Scarlet Woods beyond the orchard,

this darkened space, exhausted,

some of you feeling the, amidst the bleed.

Now as you've come into this moment,

that remnants the bleed begins to really seep in.

I believe the two that really took it were you two, correct?

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: I would like you both to explain how the bleed

begins to affect you now that you've had a moment

to think on the experience.

ANJALI: I immediately start seeing again

that crack in the sky and

I can't tell what's happening now and

what was happening then, but I'm seeing the same kind of,

I'm seeing, reliving the house being sucked through,

but this particular creature, with its hairlike tendrils

being the one grabbing the house

and crumpling it in its hands.

MATT: All righty, Howard.

MATT: If you've known Howard,

you would've always thought that he had a twitch

in his left eye, but he doesn't until now

and occasionally he's blinking something out.

Not pervasive, not all the time blinking

something out of his eye

and it's this little phosphorescent blue glow

that he can't seem to get out of the field

of his vision and it's really irritating.

MATT: Got it.

ROBBIE: But it's not there all the time, but it's annoying.

MATT: You have roughly, at the pace you're going,

about 10 or so minutes before you exit

the Scarlet Woods themselves.

Now with the entirety of the daylight gone,

the once-beautiful red wood is imposing and frightening.

You can hear the sound of the crickets now amplified

in the middle of this tension.

Other creatures and birds of prey occasionally talking,

speaking to each other,

the hunters of the night communicating.

While that's stressful enough,

nothing prepares you

for when they all go quiet.

LAURA: Hmm.

MATT: (creature deep growling)

ANJALI: Run. Run.

LAURA: Where's it coming from?

In front of us or behind us?

ANJALI: Take another one of the lanterns.

MATT: You are uncertain the direction

of where it comes from.

It seems to be emanating from the nearby trees.

LAURA: Can we pick up our pace?

ASHLEY: Yep, yep, yep, yep.

MATT: Okay, who's leading?

LAURA: Who's got good Survey? ANJALI: I would.

I will, I'm leading.

ASHLEY: It ain't me. ANJALI: I'm assuming.

LAURA: I'm in the back. ROBBIE: We're slow.

MATT: You're leading? ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: Okay.

Are you trying to keep everyone running quickly,

or are you trying to keep an eye out for any danger?

ANJALI: Oh fuck.

Trying to keep an eye out for any danger

and also making sure we're going in the right direction.

MATT: Okay, make a Survey test, if you don't mind.

ANJALI: Five.

MATT: Five, okay.

Glancing around, you can see,

now especially at this time of night,

the path is less visible without the colors

to really help you here.

Beyond the firelight you have,

the various pops of vibrant reds and browns

all become a dull gray with an orange hue.

At times, you fear

in the midst of this stressful journey

you almost lose the path a few times,

but you make sure you get back onto it.

You also can hear

the breaking of sticks and branches

to the left of where you stand,

and out of the corner of your eye,

you see the faintest bit of that orange glow

as suddenly something (swooshes)

strikes out from the side of the wood, try to grasp you.

You see it just in time to dodge out of the way,

but you feel something claw at your shoulder

and you almost tumble to the ground

as you take a mark to your body.

ANJALI: Dude, guys, that's three.

LAURA: That's three? ROBBIE: Three for you? Three body?

ANJALI: Oh, one more, one more and I'm down.

As that happens, I grab one of the lanterns.

LAURA: You would have

one in your hand because there's three lanterns.

ANJALI: I lash out at it with the--

as if to break the fire.

MATT: So you're just, are you--

ANJALI: I'll throw it, yeah.

MATT: Throwing it in that direction towards a tree?

Towards the creature? ANJALI: Towards whatever

lashed out at me, the creature.

MATT: Okay. So you're like (groans),

swing it back and throw it in their direction.

I need you to make a Control test for me.

ANJALI: Of course you do.

High stakes, yes?

MATT: Oh yeah.

ANJALI: I will use my--

MATT: Only you can create forest fires.

LAURA: Can I assist?

Oh, no, I don't have any fucking drive to give her.

ROBBIE: Smokey the Stakes Bear.

ASHLEY: Wait, wait. Let me give you a drive.

ANJALI: Did you See This Coming?

ASHLEY: Let me give you a drive. LAURA: Did you See This Coming?

ASHLEY: I did! I saw it! I see it!

(laughter)

MATT: So you can keep that drive.

ROBBIE: "He's right there!"

MATT: You did indeed See It Coming.

ANJALI: Oh god. MATT: All righty.

ANJALI: Six. (cheering)

MATT: Great. You fling it,

and it explodes, not on the creature,

but on the tree right beside it's like (flames whoosh).

Immediately, flames ignite along the tree,

some of it getting on the creature who withdraws

and for a brief moment you get a better look of this entity,

this massive, terrifying nightmare ent of a being.

You can see two, maybe three long legs.

It's like a daddy longlegs

covered in these clustered mass

of hair-like roots that dangle for multiple feet

and there's a large cluster that drips

over its head and hangs like a knotted beard

from a sourceless face, that orange glow.

For a split second, as it pulls back,

you swear you see eyes within the deep sets

of its roots of its body before it

(creature growling)

pulls back into the woods

and for a moment, you see it recoiling from the flames

and trying to brush it off of its body

as it vanishes into the shadows below the cinders

on its form beginning to dissipate for the moment.

LAURA: How many arms does it have?

MATT: You've seen anywhere from two to three.

You haven't got a good look at it.

It seems to be this mass

that shifts and changes at times.

ASHLEY: Run, run, run, run!

ROBBIE: How much further do we have to go?

MATT: You can see the edge of the forest

maybe about 300 feet in front of you.

ROBBIE: 300 feet?

LAURA: Run. ROBBIE: Let's go.

ANJALI: Yeah, yeah, yeah. MATT: All right.

You go charging, running, running.

LAURA: Running sideways because I'm trying to walk backwards

as we're leaving.

MATT: Okay.

That shot definitely gave you a bit of a breath,

and for the time being, it is not bearing down on you.

As you're approaching the edge of the forest,

you hear that terrible

echoing, guttural sound once more.

(growling)

Glancing over your shoulder,

you see that orange glow shifting between the trees,

it's darting with an impossible speed.

leaving a trail as it shifts.

It's getting closer and closer.

ANJALI: We have to stop it before it gets,

I don't know if it's going to stop at the woods.

ROBBIE: I've set Vincent down and I'm hiding.

He's sitting upright like "Weekend at Bernie's"

and you guys don't see him.

I'm hiding behind him, frantically doing shit.

LAURA: I'm going to try to play the bait again

to draw it towards me.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: We need you.

I'm trying give Howard a second.

ROBBIE: Give me a minute! Give me a moment!

LAURA: Then I'm going to try to play the bait again

and step forward towards the creature.

MATT: Okay, roll with Sense.

LAURA: Okay. ANJALI: Ugh.

ASHLEY: I give you a drive.

LAURA: Okay, thank you.

MATT: (growling)

LAURA: I'm going to take a yes on the gilded.

That's a mixed success on the gilded.

MATT: Mixed success on the gilded.

Okay, you watch as it (shifting)

and then focuses

and from the nearby cluster of trees you see

as it darts out and goes lurching towards you.

It goes from a humanoid run into almost a bestial leap.

LAURA: I'm going to try to run away from--

MATT: The sight of it emerging

and coming at you at that speed

does strike you with a sudden sense of nerve and anxiety.

You do take a brain.

LAURA: Oh god, okay.

ROBBIE: So she's running away?

MATT: She's charging-- LAURA: I'm trying to give it space

from you to give you time to do what you're going to do.

MATT: As you're doing that, it runs towards you

and lashes out towards you and you duck out of the way

and go behind some of the trees. LAURA: I take my torch

and I'm swinging it wide to try to keep it back for me.

MATT: (growling)

With each flash of it, you get more view of its body,

and the more you see, the less sense it makes.

LAURA: I've got a torch in one and a lantern in the other.

MATT: Yep.

ROBBIE: Done.

I pop up from Vincent. Ha!

I've got this little vial, almost like beaker,

like a half a liter of this really strange orangish liquid

and I'm going to run up to,

I'm going to run up to Arlo and--

MATT: Just so you know, right now, Arlo is in the middle

of the lion's cage with the whip and the chair.

This creature (growling).

LAURA: (grunts) MATT: (growls)

This orange glow brightening and then darkening.

LAURA: Fencing stance.

ROBBIE: I'm going to grab her backward fencing hand

and I'm going to be like: Good luck.

I'm going to put the vial into her hand.

LAURA: Replace the-- take my lantern and give me the vial.

ROBBIE: Yep, and I'm going to spin her around

almost like a dance move

and thrust her back out to the creature

and I hope you know what to do with it.

LAURA: I'm supposed to throw it at it?

ROBBIE: I can't throw for shit.

LAURA: Oh, okay, I'm going to try to--

Would this be a Control?

MATT: This would be a Control.

LAURA: Okay. Then I'm going to, as I spin,

I'm going to try to throw it directly

at the center of the creature.

MATT: Using the momentum from the doctor

handing it into your arm,

and then as you both do-si-do,

whip it out as you spin on the outside of it.

Go ahead and make a finesse test for me.

LAURA: Okay.

ROBBIE: Hopefully, my flingage will add some extra oomph

for your throw.

I'll help you. LAURA: Oh, thank you.

ROBBIE: What was that one on, though?

LAURA: That's on Nerve. ROBBIE: Control?

LAURA: Yes, Control.

ROBBIE: There's an extra. All right.

ASHLEY: Spend wisely. ANJALI: I only have one left.

ROBBIE: No fucking way.

LAURA: I failed.

ANJALI: Do you have a resistance?

LAURA: I don't have a resistance!

ROBBIE: No way!

MATT: What did you craft?

LAURA: Oh, fuck off.

ROBBIE: I used my special ability

and I brought my-- LAURA: I'm so sorry I failed!

ROBBIE: I brought my lab equipment out

and I made a highly flammable chemical concoction.

LAURA: Man. MATT: All right.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah. MATT: You fling it

and the creature now very aware of the flames you carry

and the spin gets extremely low.

It's so tall and

so impressively encompassing of the space

and it seems to shrink down and stretch out its body

and as you lob it, it goes overhead

and then shatters in the ground, spraying over Auggie.

(gasping) MATT: Now--

LAURA: Auggie! MATT: It hasn't caught flame,

but you are currently doused in a highly flammable chemical.

ROBBIE: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Do not put any fire near me whatsoever!

ROBBIE: I'm still holding her do-si-do hand.

ANJALI: She has the torch.

She has the torch in her hand. MATT: The creature stretched out

(swooshing)

suddenly rises up to this almost 15-foot height.

The face burns with a bright angry red orange.

LAURA: (concerned noises)

MATT: What do you do?

ROBBIE: The best-laid plans.

LAURA: Scream.

ROBBIE and LAURA: (scream)

(laughter)

ANJALI: I guess we run.

I've used up everything. ROBBIE: That was it.

That was my Kamehameha and we shot it into--

ASHLEY: Since I'm doused-- ROBBIE: I'm out of ideas.

ASHLEY: I'm going to take off my jacket.

ROBBIE: Yeah, Auggie! ANJALI and LAURA: (cheering)

ASHLEY: And--

ROBBIE: Give him a new coat, baby.

ANJALI: You've got to do the torch, the torch.

ASHLEY: I'm going to try the--

LAURA: He's got a lantern, I've got a torch.

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Try to concoct something.

Put the jacket around the lantern

and I'm going to chuck it. ANJALI: I still have his lighter.

LAURA: I thought you were going to put the lantern,

the coat on the guy.

MATT: Now here's the thing, your coat is drenched.

Other parts of you are also a little bit flammable,

so you can do this.

It is a very high stakes roll.

ROBBIE: Ooh.

ASHLEY: Why not?

MATT: Love it.

Drive it like you stole it.

ASHLEY: So this is Control?

MATT: This would be Control.

ASHLEY: Okay, I'm going to spend drive.

ROBBIE: What are you doing? Are you throwing it,

or what are you going to do?

ANJALI: Light the-- ROBBIE: I need to know.

LAURA: Are you lighting the coat

or are you throwing the coat at the creature?

ASHLEY: I'm going to try to throw the coat

at the creature because I'm behind?

MATT: You are, it is currently still focused on you.

ASHLEY: Wait, so if I'm doused, is Kara doused?

MATT: Mm? If you're carrying Kara, then yeah.

ROBBIE: Oh.

LAURA: Do what you would do, Auggie.

ASHLEY: What would Auggie do?

Because what I would do--

(laughter)

ASHLEY: Auggie's a good person.

All right, I'm going to take off the jacket.

I'm going to throw it near the creature and then

tell them to throw the lantern at the--

ROBBIE: Two-part attack, we just failed the last one.

Let's do it.

Redemption, right? LAURA: Yeah, as soon as,

I have the torch, so if you do it,

then I would give the torch to Howard

and tell him to strike it.

ROBBIE: I think you've got a lantern and I've got a torch.

LAURA: Yes, you can lunge for a strike,

and I can throw with the lantern.

ROBBIE: Sure.

MATT: Okay.

So as you're preparing for this,

and as soon as you hand the torch over,

one of its limbs reaches out from the roots

and grabs around your head and you take a bleed.

LAURA: Ooh, I'm going to Let It In, baby.

MATT: Okay.

So explain how the bleed affects you,

as you are currently getting your jacket ready.

ASHLEY: Crumpling it up.

LAURA: It's like the hole on my hand.

Suddenly, I see that void that's in my hand in my mind

and it's like a blackness fills everything

in my brain until almost like an eye opening.

It's a flash of bright orange.

His eye is directly in my mind.

MATT: As that's there, as you let the source

of this magical corruption into your body,

you feel yourself beyond The Flare.

You feel yourself in the realm, lightless,

and ever growing, ever expanding,

ever seeking self and presence,

creatures flying, crawling,

digging, breaching.

For a brief second, you see gray flesh in your mind.

You pulled away and all you hear is the screams

of numerous voices unfamiliar, all in unison.

You glean this creature, this entity from beyond The Flare.

You get that its will is not entirely its own.

LAURA: Okay.

Can I ask you a question?

MATT: Yeah, sure.

LAURA: Do I sense that it is at all tethered

to the portal that it came out of or is it free to roam?

MATT: Yes.

ROBBIE: (laughs)

LAURA: All right.

MATT: Auggie, you're going to chuck this jacket.

ASHLEY: So I'm doing this.

MATT: It's a high stakes roll.

ASHLEY: All right, so I'm spending two drives.

MATT: This represents because your proximity

as it's currently holding you and you're right there,

you grab the torch, the creature is now focused on you

and it's about to turn its attention over in your direction.

Its head (growling)

looking over as you go to toss this,

so roll finesse for me, Auggie.

ROBBIE: Let's go.

LAURA: I am going to die. ANJALI: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

ASHLEY: All right, a four. LAURA: Okay, yeah.

ROBBIE: Sure, sure. LAURA: That's better than--

ASHLEY: A four. ROBBIE: Sure, sure, sure.

ANJALI: (laughs)

MATT: Okay.

As it turns towards you, its face brightens.

The orange intensity, like the center,

the heart of a forest fire focused entirely on your eyes.

The heat seems to emanate from it as it goes

(growling)

LAURA: Oh man.

ANJALI: I don't know he does that, but I don't like it.

MATT: The fear crashes into your very essence

and you take a brain as you feel the shadow

of the forest completely fill your periphery,

all you see is this glow

and the doom that sits before you.

As you throw this (splattering)

splattering on its back,

and sticking in with a bunch of its tangled roots,

the oils of this concoction, while reduced,

nevertheless, now mingling with its form.

You pull away from this as you suddenly shake yourself

from this intense stare, see Auggie throw this,

and the impact in the back of the creature.

It has not even taken notice.

You hold the torch in your hand.

ROBBIE: Disconcerting.

Still bound by the natural realm.

I'm going to take and try to push my torch

into the sticky goo.

MATT: Easy enough to do as part of your success there.

ROBBIE: Oh, good.

MATT: Because you're up close and it's currently grappled.

You take the torch and you push it in between

some of its exposed remnants,

It looks like there is a body in there,

but when you push the torch in,

it's like pushing through the hanging vines

of a dangling tree.

As you come through the other side,

(explosion)

flames engulf from the impact.

As the fire begins to crawl up the back of it,

this bright orange, at times almost blue flame

from your concoction,

the creature immediately throws you to the ground

(screeching)

and begins to screech

as it tears off back into the middle of the Scarlet Wood.

ASHLEY: Pick up Kara, start running again.

ANJALI: Grab her hand and pull her up and get running.

MATT: Stunned, battered, but moving,

you emerge from the Scarlet Woods.

You can hear the distant sound

(creature squealing)

echoing through the forest.

It isn't until you begin to see the low lantern light

of the village that encompasses the train station,

do you begin to feel a sense of calm come over you.

And that's where we're going to take a break.

LAURA: Oh my god. (groaning)

ANJALI: All right, so, you know.

Only used up that much, you know.

LAURA: Destroyed that.

Did all of us just almost die?

ANJALI: Yeah, it could've happened, could've happened,

but team effort.

LAURA: Go team! ANJALI: Proud of our team effort.

ROBBIE: Good effort team.

ANJALI: Strong collaboration. LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MATT: Legitimately, could've been a lot worse.

(laughter)

LAURA: One of us could be faceless.

ANJALI: Yeah, entirely. ROBBIE: It's true.

ASHLEY: I mean. ANJALI: Entirely.

I did not need a facelift today.

I was not interested in it.

ASHLEY: Another day, another day.

ROBBIE: All right. MATT: All righty.

We'll be back here in a few minutes.

We'll see you then.

ASHLEY: Woo!

MATT: And welcome back.

So, as the Circle of the Vassal and the Veil,

you crawl back into the village on the outskirts

of the train station,

carrying an unconscious orchard owner

and his faceless--

LAURA: Oh jeez. MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: This is not good.

MATT:-- niece. So what would you like to do?

ANJALI: We obviously have to--

I don't know that we can bring her with us.

LAURA: I think we should bring her back to Candela.

ANJALI: How are we going to hide her?

ROBBIE: (grunts) I'll set Vincent down and I'll take off my cloak,

which is a modified doctoral's cloak

and it's got a little hood on it and I'll--

Bring her to me.

I'll try to put her and I'll try to see

if I can drape that hood over her face as much as I can.

ANJALI: Oh, are we going to "Weekend at Bernie's" her?

LAURA: Mm-hmm. ROBBIE: Maybe.

ANJALI: We straight up are.

ASHLEY: We got to.

ROBBIE: Yeah. Five tickets, please.

We already bought, you already bought.

LAURA: I bought four.

ROBBIE: In business class. ANJALI: What about Vincent?

ROBBIE: We'll make her ride coach.

LAURA: Yes.

ASHLEY: What do we do about Vincent? ANJALI: What about Vincent?

ASHLEY: Do we leave him?

LAURA: Maybe you tell the conductor

that Vincent needs to go to-- ANJALI: Needs medical attention?

LAURA: Yeah. ASHLEY: That they need medical attention.

LAURA: Yeah, say--

ANJALI: We went to visit and he was...

He was out on the porch

and we saw him and wanted to carry him to safety.

Maybe?

Anyone? Bueller?

LAURA: Sure. ROBBIE: Sure.

It's as plausible as anything else.

ASHLEY: Should I still hold her like this

or should I try to do like-- LAURA: No, no, no.

ANJALI: You'll have to make her--

She's going to have to look like, if she's in a coat--

LAURA: She's very sick.

We need to take her to a hospital.

ASHLEY: Hold her like this. ROBBIE: Perhaps it would be

best if we--

I'm going to set Vincent on one of the benches

at the train station and go: He'll figure it out.

ANJALI: Don't you think he will come to

and name us as the people who...?

ROBBIE: We should be quite far away by then.

LAURA: Yes, but things come back to haunt you, Howard.

You can't just attack everyone

and expect that your family will never hear of it.

ROBBIE: It's worked all right for me so far.

I'll do whatever you'd like, though.

ASHLEY: I mean, we didn't tell him our names, right?

ANJALI: We were pretty obvious.

I mean, I feel like our descriptions

would be rather incriminating.

ROBBIE: Should we try to explain to him what happened?

ANJALI: (speaking out of corner of mouth) No.

I suppose we could try to convince him

that something else happened if we woke him up.

ROBBIE: Again, I defer to you when it comes to matters of people.

ANJALI: I am spent.

ASHLEY: I am an officer of the Periphery.

We could just say this is-- Don't ask questions.

This is a police matter.

ANJALI: I support that.

ROBBIE: Okay. I'm going to tilt his head back

and start smacking him in the face.

MATT: "(groaning)"

ROBBIE: Hello.

Hello.

ANJALI: You all right, Vincent?

MATT: "What? What are you doing?" ANJALI: Are you all right?

ANJALI: Are you all right?

MATT: "(gasping)

"(wincing)

"(wincing)"

ROBBIE: You slipped on an apple and hit your head on the steps.

ANJALI: We came downstairs and you were out like a light.

We brought you here to the train station.

MATT: One of you two make a...

(laughs)

make a fucking Sway roll.

ROBBIE: I will look pleadingly at Charlie.

LAURA: I will-- ANJALI: While I do this,

I'm like, how many fingers am I holding up?

Doing the whole thing.

LAURA: Are you good on Sway?

ANJALI: And it's gilded.

I have two.

LAURA: Sure, I'll give you one of my Cunning drives.

ANJALI: Okay, good.

I need to save mine.

Actually, I need to get another one back really badly.

♪ Come on, baby ♪ LAURA: I accidentally raised

one for the episode.

ANJALI: Okay.

It is a six, but a five on the gilded,

so I think I'm going to take the five on the gilded

because I don't know that I--

MATT: Okay, so you take a drive back-- LAURA: Because you need it back.

ANJALI: I need the drive back. MATT:-- but that is a mixed success.

ANJALI: Yes.

MATT: Okay, he goes,

"I-- All right.

"I took a fall.

"I'm so confused."

ANJALI: So were we when we found you.

Are you quite all right? Can you--

How many of me are there?

There's just one.

How many fingers? MATT: "I just see one,

"and your fingers, there are two."

LAURA: Is there a hospital in town

or do you need to come back with us?

MATT: "There's a local doctor."

ROBBIE: You may very well be concussed.

LAURA: I think you should stay overnight.

Don't go home, not until it's light.

MATT: "Okay.

"What about your friend?"

He points to (laughs) the wrapped Kara.

ROBBIE: Oh.

ANJALI: Oh. LAURA: Kara.

MATT: "What was that?"

ROBBIE: It's your niece.

She wasn't-- Ah, help.

MATT: "What happened to Kara?

"What'd you do to Kara?"

LAURA: We didn't do anything to Kara.

ANJALI: She hadn't been feeling well.

We ran upstairs. I told you,

we were concerned about her safety. MATT: "Kara. Kara."

He gets up, reaches over and grabs and starts--

ROBBIE: Don't make me do it-- LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: I'm going to try to Sway again. LAURA: No, don't, don't.

ANJALI: I'm going to try to Sway again.

LAURA: Please.

MATT: What are you trying to say?

ANJALI: Please, please let her be. We told you.

Show him your-- MATT: He pulls back the cloth--

ANJALI: Show him your-- MATT:-- and sees her face.

ROBBIE: Oh god dang it! LAURA: (groans)

MATT: Mixed successes.

He believes you,

but he definitely sees what happened to his niece.

He goes, "What?"

"What in all the hell--"

LAURA: We don't know. MATT: "Kara, what--"

ANJALI: Vincent, Vincent, listen to me. MATT: "Is she--"

ANJALI: We don't know what did it.

We are trying to take her back to people

who know more about this than we do.

ASHLEY: We're going to figure it out.

We're going to figure it out. LAURA: Vincent, don't go home.

ANJALI: Don't. LAURA: It could happen to you, too.

ANJALI: Please go to the doctor.

ROBBIE: Stay in town for the evening, at the very least.

ANJALI: And most importantly, tell no one of this.

I don't know who you can trust.

LAURA: We'll be sending someone to help you.

ANJALI: We will.

ROBBIE: It might not look like it,

but we truly are the people to get her the best care

that she can have.

ANJALI: We'll tell our

emissary, whoever we send--

MATT: "Just go.

"Just get out of here."

He sits up and is like, "(winces)."

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: "Just go."

ANJALI: We'll tell our emissary to tell you

that they enjoy "The Victory Boys"

and that's how you'll know that that's from us, yes?

MATT: Puts his hand off and waves you off and stumbles away.

He seems very confused, conflicted, and shocked.

He's processing what he just saw.

LAURA: Ugh.

ANJALI: I can't imagine.

MATT: But for the time being,

he's not breathing down your neck or calling for attention.

ANJALI: Let's go, let's go, let's go.

ASHLEY: Let's go, let's go. LAURA: Okay.

I'll go up to the ticket agent

and buy one more ticket,

but all of them in business class,

so that we get a little less attention.

MATT: Understood.

"Not a problem, I'll get those for you right now.

"So is that two more tickets or all--"

LAURA: Just one more ticket,

but upgrade them all to business.

MATT: "All right that'll be done.

"Here you are, miss." LAURA: Thank you.

ANJALI: Thank you, Arlo.

MATT: You gather up.

It's a short wait until the evening's final train comes.

Here, the night air once more it takes off,

kicking onto the tracks southward.

As you ride out across the darkened hillsides,

the beauty of this Halen region

seems differently beautiful, but also oddly ominous,

looking across the shattered expanse that surrounds you

beyond the windows of this train car.

A few other folks wander through.

You can see couple of

less than savory figures

that quickly jaunt through the business class section,

taking stock of some of the folks within.

You make sure that Kara's face is not visible as they do,

but they don't pay mind

and you seem to be a strength-in-numbers type troop

and they carry on to the next car.

A short, quiet ride back until eventually

you can see the glittering lights of the still-bustling city

of Newfaire before you,

eventually returning to The Steam,

stopping here within the city's train depot, disembarking,

and as the steam gathers and it takes off once more

into the distance, you carry your limp companion

as you return to the cityscape.

LAURA: Let's go to the bookstore.

ANJALI: Exactly, we need to get her--

We need to get word to Edmund.

LAURA: We really should tell Alexandra.

ANJALI: It should be Alexandra,

but I don't know that she's available.

ASHLEY: Edmund. ANJALI: Edmund,

we need to get word to Edmund

and we need to get you in some new clothing.

ASHLEY: Okay.

Sorry.

ANJALI: No. ASHLEY: My new jacket.

LAURA: Oh, I think it was worth it.

ANJALI: Your new jacket saved our lives.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

And whatever concoction you made.

ROBBIE: Yes. ASHLEY: You're going to

have to teach me that.

ROBBIE: Oh, a new student. I'd be delighted.

ANJALI: Walking and talking.

Walking and talking. ASHLEY: Walking and talking.

Gilded Rainbow. MATT: All right.

ANJALI: While we walk, I want to keep an eye out

for any unsavories,

anyone who might be trailing us,

might have an eye on us, anything like that.

MATT: Okay. Make a Survey test for me as you go.

ANJALI: I'll do that now.

ROBBIE: And Kara's still dead weight, right?

MATT: Oh yeah. ANJALI: It's a six.

MATT: It's a six, okay.

I will say this success represents both you

keeping an eye out as well as carrying Kara in a way

that you do not draw any attention

to her limp physicality,

more just somebody you're helping who may have had

a little too much tonight.

But as you drag her through the streets,

it is a bit of a trek from The Steam all the way

to The Varnish, until eventually you

come upon the exterior of The Gilded Rainbow.

Quickly hustle through the door,

close it behind you and--

LAURA: Closed.

MATT: Yes, closed.

Reggie emerges from the back room.

"Oh, you've all returned, oh."

ANJALI: We need to get a message to Edmund immediately.

MATT: "Yes, certainly. I can take care of that.

"What do you need?" He grabs a notepad.

LAURA: Alexandra if available, honestly.

This is much more than an--

ANJALI: Both of them.

Let's get it to both of them. MATT: I'll write it down. Okay.

"Right, I'll send a telegram.

"I'll summon them here as soon as possible."

ROBBIE: I'll have propped Kara up in a chair

in the corner, still hooded.

LAURA: Can I pull up my--

MATT: "Who's your friend?" LAURA:-- my text?

Oh. ANJALI: Ah...

ROBBIE: Oh, ah...

Ooh. MATT: "Don't worry about it.

"I assume it's need to know only

"and I'm sure I'll know soon enough." ANJALI: Yes, better off without it.

MATT: Put his coat on.

ANJALI: Let them know that the Red Hand has released

some form of creature.

LAURA: Can I have said on the train ride,

I would've consulted my text and seen if I could,

my book on creatures we've encountered,

see if there's anything like it.

MATT: Yeah, I will say make a Focus test for me

to represent how deep into your collected lore

you can delve during the journey.

LAURA: Six.

ANJALI: Yay, smarty. MATT: Six, fantastic.

ROBBIE: Let's go! ANJALI: Smarty, smarty.

MATT: So as Reggie is out, you begin to recall--

You didn't quite hit it on the trek,

but you felt like you were getting closer

and it's here as everyone's figuring out the space,

setting Kara down, sending Reggie out

to make this telegram,

you find the part in the book that speaks of

the Snatchers.

LAURA: Oh. ROBBIE: Oh, come on now.

MATT: These are

colloquially referred to as the Snatchers.

There is no term translated through Oldfairen

or any existing terminology from eras before,

but there are references to them

in old script and folklore from the city

now lost below.

Believed to have maybe once been people

who either in death or transition beyond The Flare

have changed or something beyond The Flare

has crafted them in its own likeness.

These are still up for debate.

But there are different kinds

that steal different things.

For some, it's their ambitions, their passions,

some even the face, and that's what catches your attention.

The only other term, only other phrase you pick up is

they are vibrant and excitable collectors.

LAURA: Does it say anything about darkness, lightness with them?

Are they relegated to night?

MATT: You pick up that they are creatures that lurk in shadow

and often hail from a realm

where light is shunned.

LAURA: All right.

ANJALI: So I'll include this information.

The Red Hand has released some form of creature

we believe to be similar

to those spoken of as the Snatchers.

We have brought one of their victims back with us

and we'd like for Candela to retrieve her.

LAURA: She needs help.

MATT: "Very well. I'll go and--" ANJALI: As soon as possible.

MATT: "-- send it posthaste.

"I'll lock up behind myself."

ANJALI: Thank you. MATT: Heads off into the night

and closes the door,

locks it up and heads off.

As you wait and prepare,

unless there's anything you wish to do in the interim.

ANJALI: Since I had to cut my hand again

to do my ghost blade,

but I cut the hand that I can't feel anyway,

I look down and it's been bleeding a bit,

so I'm going to wrap it in something that I see there

to stanch the bleeding.

MATT: You got it. ANJALI: Staunch the bleeding.

MATT: Cool.

It's not long before--

ROBBIE: (negative grunt)

MATT:-- before Reggie returns.

"It's been sent.

"Usually within the hour, we have somebody sent,

"if not sooner."

LAURA: All right. We should head to the Brinewash,

see what else we can find.

ANJALI: Is there anything else that we should bring with us?

After that experience,

I'm a little bit jarred by not having what we needed.

LAURA: Maybe, oh, we can all get lighters

or something that can create fire.

ANJALI: I have a knife.

LAURA: How many of those potions can you make, Howard?

ROBBIE: That's a very good question.

I believe with enough time, I could make some more,

depending on-- I don't know the rules.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: I can't role play my way out of this shit.

ANJALI: Rule of cool! Rule of cool!

ROBBIE: There is no limit, I just need time.

ANJALI: Mm. MATT: Yes.

So the concoction you had earlier,

I will say, given your predilection

towards knowing the dangers that you often face

at the behest of Candela,

was mostly prepared and just needed a catalyst

to bring it to the point of extreme flammability

and stickiness.

To craft from scratch

will take some more time.

This is a few hours of work in the laboratory to do so.

ROBBIE: Oh hours, oh poop.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, to make the-- Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

ANJALI: Just a quick retcon, I would have mentioned Dorna

in the letter to Candela because we have--

MATT: Not a worry. ANJALI:-- her name.

MATT: Are you waiting for a Candela representative to arrive?

ANJALI: Ah...

ASHLEY: Should we also give the letter?

LAURA: We can give that to--

ASHLEY: Oh, when they come. ANJALI: When they come, yeah.

ROBBIE: To answer your question, I might be able to

whip something up slightly different,

but I don't believe I could do

the same in a pinch.

So unless we took some time,

which I don't believe we had, I could make something,

but it would be different.

That said, we don't know if we'll encounter

the same creature and we don't know

if we encounter another if it'll have the same weaknesses.

Just a thought.

LAURA: Yeah, that's true.

ANJALI: That's true. ASHLEY: That is true.

ANJALI: Right, so I still have my weapon

and I have my bleed containment vial.

I'd like to leave this letter with Reggie and say:

Don't touch it, but when the representative comes,

please give it to them.

Tell them to use their detector to read it.

MATT: "All right."

ROBBIE: There is something that bothers me a bit.

You know, recently in all of our adventures

or whatever you'd like to call them,

we haven't quite saved anyone yet, have we?

This young lady who was relatively kind enough,

her faceless feature bothers me and fills me

with an emotion I can only describe as anger.

If there's an opportunity to help her in some way,

I would be just delighted.

I'm a collector of sorts myself

and if this Snatcher is collecting the faces of people,

perhaps they still exist somewhere.

If possible, whatever we do,

I would like to try to return it to this young lady.

If we can't, that's okay,

but if we can, that would be a personal request.

That's all. ANJALI: Absolutely.

ASHLEY: I'm going to go to the front of the shop--

MATT: Mm-hmm.

ASHLEY:-- look for a T.C. Vellum book, "The Variety Boys."

ROBBIE: (laughs) Yes! MATT: Mm-hmm.

ANJALI: Oh, is it "Variety Boys"?

I said victory, I said "Victory Boys" not variety.

ASHLEY: I'm going to grab a couple.

MATT: Okay.

ASHLEY: I walk over over to Kara.

I know this is what her uncle was reading,

but maybe it'll feel like something familiar.

I'll put them in her lap and try to take her hands

and place them on the book so she can feel it.

MATT: Okay.

You have to overlap enough to get them to stay,

as they are rather limp,

but you do manage to facilitate a presentation.

ANJALI: Well done, Auggie.

ASHLEY: I don't know. Maybe she'll feel something.

ANJALI: All right, so I do remember one thing

that is consistent with the last time that we came together,

which is someone named Lycan.

LAURA: Yes. ASHLEY: Oh, yeah.

ANJALI: It sounded like,

when Dorna had been talking about someone,

or it was in her papers,

someone she was working for or with named Lycan.

Do you remember this? MATT: Lycus.

ANJALI: Lycus!

Not Lycan. Lycus.

Like a ficus, but Lycus,

or like a lycanthropic ficus.

ASHLEY: Oh, that's right.

ANJALI: Perhaps it's a combination of the two

and it's an evil plant.

LAURA: It sounded like her boss.

ANJALI: Yes.

LAURA: Yes.

ANJALI: Reggie's here?

MATT: No, Reggie has left to--

ANJALI: Reggie's left already to, okay.

MATT: To deliver your message. ANJALI: Okay.

ROBBIE: Where did you say the place was that was mentioned?

ANJALI: Brinewash 7?

LAURA: Brinewash 7.

ANJALI: Do we know of the Brinewash 7?

MATT: It's less about knowing what the Brinewash 7 is.

You do know...

You know what? I'll have you go ahead--

Well, somebody go ahead and roll a Focus

to see if you can recall any information of

what this may represent, to analyze--

ANJALI: Only one of us? I only have one.

You have a couple, yeah. LAURA: I have a couple focus.

Okay. ANJALI: I only have one.

I think it's all you.

LAURA: I'll try. ANJALI: Are you doing...

ROBBIE: The last one.

LAURA: Brinewash 7? Why do I remember that?

I wonder if that's somewhere Eddie ever went.

ANJALI: Hm, perhaps.

LAURA: A five.

MATT: A five. A mixed success.

Okay.

You recall,

the number, you're not sure of, but in Hallow Harbor,

which is the port center of the city,

there is a heavy warehouse district there,

and the Brinewash is the term you've heard used

for this or at least parts of this warehouse district.

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: That's about as much as you can muster.

ANJALI: Perhaps 7 is an address of some kind.

LAURA: Maybe.

I don't remember exactly what the letter said.

"Meet us at the Brinewash."

ANJALI: It said, "The Fourth Pharos are on us.

"You've cost us and myself greatly.

"Your ignorance cannot be left a weakness.

"Give it six weeks, then find me at Brinewash 7.

"I will appeal for your forgiveness."

So there are others. ASHLEY: Give it six weeks?

LAURA: Yeah. ASHLEY: What does she mean?

What is that, like to cool off?

ANJALI: All I can-- LAURA: Is there a secret message in there?

ANJALI: All I can conjecture from this

is that it was a ruse to get Kara to be--

LAURA: Wait, the Pharos Four?

ANJALI: That's us, the Pharos.

"The Pharos are on us."

LAURA: Oh, okay.

ANJALI: The Fourth Pharos, it's connected to Candela.

LAURA: Got it.

ANJALI: My guess is that she sent her there

ostensibly to plead for her forgiveness when she returned,

but whatever they released was going to be sent there

to dispose of her as well.

ROBBIE: Logical. I believe we are the Pharos.

ANJALI: We are.

ASHLEY: You know what? I think--

I think we're the Pharos.

MATT: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Very good.

ASHLEY: I think we are. LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: I think that's us.

ANJALI: Fourth. ASHLEY: Four.

ASHLEY: Are we Pharoses? LAURA: Should we go?

Or should we wait? ANJALI: Yes, I think we should go.

What time is it?

MATT: At this time of night, it's just past midnight.

ANJALI: Oof. ROBBIE: Oh, boy.

Midnight at the docks?

LAURA: We should go before--

MATT: Sounds like a great time.

LAURA: Before the Red Hand find out that we discovered Kara.

ANJALI: That is true.

LAURA: Although, they might already know

if they have some connection to the snatcher.

It was tethered somehow.

It had a connection to the portal it came through.

I wonder if they can open multiple portals.

ANJALI: Is there any chance that we could go Candela,

to our Candela headquarters,

and there is a place there

that we are allowed to go to for information, right?

Like a library or something like that?

There was a--

MATT: What you're speaking of is the Fourth Pharos.

ANJALI: It is the Fourth Pharos. Oh, okay.

MATT: You've visited it twice.

It's challenging to get to

because it doesn't exist in this realm.

ANJALI: It's between The Flare?

MATT: Mm-hmm, in the liminal space. ANJALI: So there's nowhere we can really go

to get more information.

MATT: Uh-uh.

ANJALI: Uh.

ROBBIE: Does anyone have any coin on them?

ANJALI: Yes. LAURA: I do.

ROBBIE: Oh, not for right now,

but if we're heading toward the docks after midnight,

it could come in handy.

ANJALI: Of course. LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: How is your illicit gun?

Do you have enough ammunition for that?

You only fired it twice.

ASHLEY: Yeah, so I've probably got

four left. ANJALI: 29 more rounds left.

29, 30 rounds left, I'm sure.

ASHLEY: Yeah, sure, I got some. ANJALI: Some of the damage.

LAURA: Is it like a revolver?

ANJALI: I believe everyone carrying some form of weaponry

would not be such a bad idea.

LAURA: Oh, I don't have any weapons.

ANJALI: Well, your mind seems to be a weapon.

ROBBIE: No time like the present.

ASHLEY: Oh, yeah. ANJALI: All right.

All right. Let's go.

LAURA: Reggie, do you have any other weapons here?

Is Reggie gone?

MATT: No, he's returned.

ANJALI: Yeah, yeah.

MATT: You see he's--

LAURA: Where's Reggie?

MATT: He's making some late-night coffee,

and you can see his hand shaking a little bit,

looking over uncomfortably at Kara in the corner.

ANJALI: Oh.

MATT: "Well, what sort of weaponry are you requiring?

"I'm not really an armory, by any means,

"but I have a few things for self-defense."

ANJALI: Imagine him being Q. LAURA: Do you have a gun?

MATT: "I do have a handgun

"for emergencies. Do you require it?

"Very well."

(laughter)

MATT: He steps off to his personal quarters.

ANJALI: So good.

ROBBIE: Our occultist is strapped. Good, good.

ANJALI: Yes, I mean, she's got ♪ control. ♪

MATT: He comes back holding what is essentially

a revolver with a handful of rounds.

He goes, "Now, how familiar are you with firearms?"

LAURA: I can drive a car.

I can shoot a gun.

MATT: "Very well. Well, here you are.

"Please be careful with it. It was a gift.

"This."

LAURA: I think I hold it with this hand, right?

MATT: "Yes, but don't cock the--"

LAURA: Hmm? MATT: "(sighs)"

LAURA: You know what? I think I have three items already.

ANJALI: (laughs) ROBBIE: You got a blank space.

ANJALI: You got a blank space.

LAURA: Yeah, but I have--

ANJALI: Give one of us something.

What do you need to get rid of?

LAURA: A bleed detector.

Somebody else can use my bleed detector.

ASHLEY: I'll take it.

LAURA: All right.

ROBBIE: Well, can't you pick three

and then write in one as a fourth?

MATT: Well, you pick three.

You can only carry three with you

at any given point in time.

So you can drop one and then write in the fourth.

ROBBIE: Oh.

LAURA: I just consulted my text.

I guess I could leave my book here,

but I don't think that works,

because I used it once in the game, right?

I can't leave the textbook once I've already used it.

MATT: I mean--

LAURA: Switch it out? What do you think?

ROBBIE: I always enjoy reading,

and I do have some ability in that area.

LAURA: All right.

ROBBIE: Can I take something from her,

so she can have the space? MATT: I'll allow it. Sure.

LAURA: All right. ROBBIE: All right.

I've got research materials now.

MATT: Okay.

LAURA: Ooh, fun!

MATT: And you have-- ROBBIE: Is yours the same--

LAURA: And I have a gun!

(laughter)

LAURA: What? ROBBIE: Oh, occult text.

MATT: ♪ Occultist's got a gun ♪

(laughter)

ANJALI: All right.

All right, then--

LAURA: Can you see it sticking out?

MATT: It is very visible.

ANJALI: Do you have a cloak of some kind or anything, darling?

LAURA: Yes. I will put my coat back on.

ROBBIE: She's just pointing the gun at me.

MATT: Waving it around.

ASHLEY: Oh, whoa, whoa.

LAURA: Reggie, are there any bullets in here already?

MATT: "No."

LAURA: Oh, good. Can I have some?

MATT: "I've given you some, but I've not put them in there,

"and I would recommend not putting them in

"until you are ready to use them."

LAURA: Yes. MATT: "The small satchel

"that I handed you.

"Yes, for the sake of everyone's safety,

"wait until you really must.

"Wondrous. Thank you."

ANJALI: Reggie, have you ever heard of someone named Lycus?

MATT: "I don't believe I have.

"Sorry."

ANJALI: If you would mention that name

to the Candela representative

that comes to pick up our friend.

MATT: "I will. Don't you worry."

ANJALI: All right, Brinewash 7 or bust.

MATT: All right.

So you trek out into the foggy night.

There is a soft wind blowing off from the western coast.

You can take in the fast-moving marine layer

that has thickly encompassed the majority of the city

about halfway to the docks and to them.

It is awash in this thick, thick fog.

ANJALI: I'm keeping an eye out this whole time

for shady characters.

MATT: As you begin to approach Hallowharbor itself,

you can hear, even at midnight,

there is more bustle than you expected.

There are dock workers

that are currently loading or unloading.

There are sailors and wharf hands

that are finishing up their work.

There are many hours of the night

in which sometimes shipments come late,

sometimes intentionally so,

so there is business, though it isn't extremely busy,

but it's not quiet either.

It is definitely the export hub of Newfaire,

and you'd know from walking by in the past,

beyond the ships that come in and out,

there is definitely some sect of

the remainder of the Newfairean navy

the remainder of the Newfairen navy

that also sits on the outskirts of the harbor,

just in case, but the smell of low tide

definitely grasps the atmosphere

in this foggy harbor-side air.

What would you like to do now here in Hallowharbor?

LAURA: Would I know which area is the Brinewash?

MATT: You've heard of it.

You're not quite sure where it would be.

ANJALI: Given my import-export situation,

would there be, say, an associate of mine

or anyone that I would be connected with on the docks,

like Deagan or any of the other--

MATT: I'd say yeah. I'd say

Deagan could be somebody that likely could,

we'll say for the time being, be found in the docks,

half the time running business as one of your go-tos,

so you would know where Deagan stays in here, yeah.

ANJALI: I might have an associate that we can speak to here

to get more instructions, directions.

ROBBIE: Yes, by all means.

ANJALI: Might as well try.

I'm going to Survey

to see if I can figure out where Deagan would be.

MATT: You wouldn't need to,

because you know where Deagan posts himself

here in the harbor when he's doing work, if he's home.

He has a few places here in the city,

depending on what business he's doing

and where he needs to lay low.

ANJALI: Gotcha.

MATT: So you go to what you know to be

one of his various safe houses here within the city,

the one that's specifically within Hallow Harbor.

As you approach it, it's a small, little, domicile,

a simple-looking what may have been a storefront

that has since been closed and boarded up.

It doesn't look like it's abandoned,

but it certainly looks like

it doesn't currently hold a business, but there it is.

ANJALI: I rap on the door three times.

Pause. One, two... three.

It sounds like SOS, doesn't it?

Because it's only got two in the middle.

That's the secret. MATT: Yeah.

ANJALI: I pull Auggie close to me, too,

so the two of us in the lead.

MATT: You hear

(locks clicking).

The door opens faintly.

"Hello?"

ANJALI: Hello, my friend.

MATT: "Charlotte, my dear, come inside, come inside."

He opens the door slightly

and you see a tall gentleman about 6'2",

but if not for a massive hunch at the top of his shoulders

that gives him this stooping stance a little bit.

A long brown coat, a bit muddied on the bottom.

He has receding hair,

a bit of a red-brown widow's peak,

and the hair curls a bit past the shoulders.

He has a bit of a scruffy beard

that probably looks like it was well kept about a week ago

and has led to be a little wild since.

Gaunt. Kind of a Fagin-type energy to this figure.

Indeed, fingerless gloves as he opens the door.

"Oh, I se you brought friends, did you?"

ASHLEY: Hey, Deagan.

ANJALI: I brought some more

welcome associates for our business.

MATT: He leans in a bit and gives you

a quick look in the eye.

"Okay.

"I don't see the glimmer of funny business, so come on in.

"Oh, hello, friends.

"Sorry, we haven't met. I'm Deagan.

"What's your business here this late in the evening?"

He closes the door behind you as you enter.

ANJALI: We are looking to find

another group of associates in Brinewash 7.

MATT: "Brinewash 7?

"I'll bet you that's probably referring to

"one of the warehouses.

"There's 12 of them

"specifically in the Brinewash district,

"so likely the seventh one."

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: "What are you doing there, anyway? It's just storage.

"I'm just curious. Professional curiosity."

ANJALI: Of course, professional curiosity,

and you'll understand professional discretion.

MATT: "Of course, of course.

"I've just, you know, been liable to go ahead

"and give you such important information

"here in the middle of the evening

"and shown trust to you and your compatriots.

"You know, it's always good to know what I'm dealing with

"and see if there's any opportunities in the future

"to make it a profitable bit of information for myself.

ANJALI: I get extremely dead serious and I say: Deagan.

MATT: "Yeah?"

ANJALI: I would warn you to be safe.

Keep your men from there. Keep yourself from there.

I care too much about you

to have you messed up in this business.

In fact, I'm here to ask you a favor.

If you do not hear from me

or one of my associates by this morning,

I want you to send word to the Sight Unseen.

Tell Stinson about our conversation.

He will know what to do.

MATT: His kind of

borderline slimy charm that he carries as you enter drops

and you see him look a bit intense.

He peeks through the curtains a bit.

"Of course, Charlotte.

"Yeah, I'll get that taken care of for you.

"What have you gotten yourself mixed up in?"

ANJALI: Nothing I'm not prepared to handle

one way or the other,

but I'm not prepared to have you there.

You understand?

MATT: "I trust your instincts. Always have."

ANJALI: Would you happen to have any

munitions on you?

We could use a little bit of insurance.

MATT: "Well, I mean, I've got a small stash here.

"Is that what you're looking for?"

ANJALI: We would just need two.

MATT: "Okay, if anyone needs-- What do you need?

"Axes? Guns?"

ROBBIE: Oh, axes.

Oh, sure, certainly.

MATT: "Yeah? You want to take that?"

ROBBIE: Yes, please.

MATT: "I don't normally see that

"from someone so finely tailored, you know?"

ROBBIE: Oh, well, I don't make assumptions about you

based on your appearance.

MATT: "I appreciate that."

ROBBIE: Oh, thank you.

MATT: It's a nice, hefty axe, and looking at it,

the rust and the stains across the hammered metal

give you the sense that

this has probably seen a skull or two.

ROBBIE: The belt loop. Where do I--

LAURA: Where do you put it, right?

I mean, where do you put it?

ROBBIE: Where do you put it?

The blackjack that I have on my hip on a little loop,

I just: Well, yeah, okay.

ANJALI: You did take your cloak back, right?

The one that you wear? ROBBIE: Yeah, I took it off her.

Yeah, so I now have an axe on my hip

hidden underneath my cloak,

and I'll leave my blackjack where it is.

MATT: You got it.

ANJALI: Just out of curiosity,

a hand weapon would be Strike,

but a handgun would be Control, right?

MATT: Correct.

ANJALI: Then I'll take the usual, if you have it,

and, obviously, I'm asking for--

MATT: "I know your preferences, love."

ANJALI: I know, you too.

MATT: He goes back and-- ANJALI: She blushes

just a little bit. MATT:-- brings a small wooden box

and opens it and puts it

across the table towards you.

What is your preferred handgun?

ANJALI: ♪ I don't know guns ♪

(laughter)

ANJALI: It's a magic gun that's bad with ghosts.

(laughter)

ANJALI: No, It's a-- MATT: It's a handgun.

ANJALI: It's a beautiful-- It's a handgun.

It definitely-- ASHLEY: It fits in my hand.

MATT: It's polished gun metal.

The equivalent of a World War I,

Luger-type gun.

As well as some ammunition.

If you already have three items,

you'll have to drop one to take it.

ANJALI: No, I don't.

MATT: Then you can take your third

as your hand weapon.

ANJALI: As my hand weapon.

I look him straight in the eyes

as I lift up my skirt and I have a thigh holster

that actually, I load it

and then I put it in the thigh holster.

What gun?

Thank you, my dear.

MATT: "Next time, just let me know if you need help."

ANJALI: (laughs)

Stay safe.

Morning, remember.

ASHLEY: If you have Jimmy and Donny on any runs,

can you take them off for tonight?

MATT: Gives you a nod.

"Yeah, I think I got a few whisperers

"coming by here in a minute, I'll get the word out, yeah."

ANJALI: All right. MATT: "Hey, Charlie,"

takes your hand, kisses it.

"Whatever you doing, you stay safe, okay?"

ANJALI: Always.

MATT: "You keep her safe.

"I'm going to fucking gut you."

ROBBIE: Scary. LAURA: Aggressive, but okay.

ANJALI: I lead them out.

You know, it's a funny story.

Deagan gave me this.

LAURA: Are you married

to Deagan? ANJALI: No, not to propose.

To deter any rivals that he might have in the game.

He's a sweet man as scary as he is.

ASHLEY: He's a good man to have in your corner.

ANJALI: As are you.

ASHLEY: You know it.

ANJALI: Right, we are sufficiently strapped,

literally and figuratively.

ROBBIE: Everyone has guns but me.

ANJALI: Oh no, I thought you--

Oh yes, well, you are--

ROBBIE: It's okay. I don't prefer them.

ANJALI: No, you seem to be good with your hands.

LAURA: I don't either.

ROBBIE: Well, you have one, though.

LAURA: That's true.

ROBBIE: What are you going to do with it

should the need arise?

LAURA: Shoot from it.

ROBBIE: Perfect.

MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: I would like to head to the Brinewash.

So we know where it is now. MATT: All right.

LAURA: Do we have any fire?

ANJALI: We still have your lighter.

ROBBIE: You have my lighter, I believe.

So you have that I think.

You can make fuego.

ASHLEY: We have two? ANJALI: No, no, no,

there's just one lighter.

LAURA: That's fine.

We can set things on fire. ROBBIE: We'll be fine.

ANJALI: It's fine. We'll be fine.

You did change, right? Did we change your clothing?

Did we stop? You changed. ASHLEY: Yes, yes, yes.

ANJALI: We don't want to light him on fire.

MATT: Right. LAURA: We went to Auggie's house.

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah. MATT: Yeah, you cleaned up.

All right, so with this information

and with a bit of direction from Deagan,

you head over to the Brinewash warehouse district.

Glancing around, it isn't heavily watched.

There are a few company sentries

that keep an eye

to make sure no one's breaking and entering, if you will.

At least, there normally are.

Looks like one particular section

is pretty light in the watching.

As you begin to find the pattern

of their numbered appearance, it doesn't take long

for you to make out which one is marked as seven.

ANJALI: I suspect

if we were to go in there as it were,

guns a-blazing, we would find more formidable foes

than we care to find.

I don't know if we might be able to sneak in?

ASHLEY: We could look. We could try.

LAURA: Does it look like there's anyone on guard

at this particular warehouse?

MATT: You can go make a Survey test,

if you'd like to keep an eye out.

LAURA: If anybody, yeah, if somebody else wants to look.

MATT: (laughs) Sure, you can go.

ANJALI: This is my job, this is my job.

LAURA: We should look for guards.

ANJALI: Yes, and also looking for windows

or anything that can function--

MATT: Yeah, yeah.

ANJALI: Mixed success, and it's a gilded die,

so I will take back a drive. MATT: Okay,

you do see that there is not a window,

but there is a front door

that is quite intimidating in its heftiness.

There is an elevated, almost like,

not quite a fire escape, but an upper iron platform

that looks like it has a secondary door on a second level

for carrying things up onto the roof or off of it.

That's about 12 feet off the ground

halfway in the alley.

So those are two things you see

that can be possible entrances.

You also do see one individual

that is patrolling from the roof.

ROBBIE: The roof? ANJALI: Oh dear.

LAURA: All right. ROBBIE: Oh my.

ANJALI: Well, we might have been spotted already.

LAURA: Does it seem like he spotted us already?

MATT: Not at the moment, no.

You're far enough away. You're patrolling.

It is also, thankfully, pretty foggy.

ANJALI: Yeah, that's right.

I suppose we try to stay

in the shadows. LAURA: Let's head to the alley

to the side.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: Okay, who's leading the stealthy charge?

ANJALI: You're Stealthy McStealtherson.

ASHLEY: I'm pretty sneaky stealthy.

MATT: Okay, make a Hide test for me

as you guide the rest of your troop

as to the best route to get there

unseen and unheard. ASHLEY: An extra gilded and

I get one of these guys.

Okay, I got three.

Oops, it got stuck in my glove.

ANJALI: You got a gilded four. ASHLEY: I got a gilded four.

MATT: Okay, so you get a drive back, if you have one used.

Another mixed success.

You quietly approach the warehouse,

waiting for this one sentry

that's keeping an eye out.

As you get close, you can see they're smoking a cigarette.

The occasional little spark of orange

that hits the end of their finger.

It looks like they have some sort of a rifle

slung over their shoulder and they're just

keeping an eye out and looking around.

They do not notice.

Which entrance are you going towards?

ASHLEY: We want to go in the side, yeah?

LAURA: Yeah, so it would have to be alley and up

and into the second entrance.

MATT: Okay, so you head to the alley.

It is about 10, 12-feet up.

How do you intend to get up there?

LAURA: One of us could climb on Auggie's or Howard's shoulders.

ROBBIE: Is there a ladder, a fire escape ladder?

A retractable ladder?

MATT: There is a retractable ladder,

but it is up there. ANJALI: That would make

a lot of noise. LAURA: Okay, so one of us

would have to get up and then pull it.

ROBBIE: Is there a discernible lever from up top?

That you could see, if you were up there,

could you release it?

MATT: You could, yeah, but only when you're up there.

It looks like there is a metal hook

that it's currently latched up there.

ROBBIE: I'm going to try use my special that I pulled.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: Which is Bending Spoons.

ANJALI and LAURA: (oohing) ROBBIE: So I can roll with a Sense.

"Control an object with your mind.

"You can flip a switch, a small object or something."

Oh no, does this matter? I guess it's proximity.

It says in the room, but we're outside.

MATT: In the room is-- ROBBIE: We're in proximity?

MATT:-- within a room-like proximity.

ROBBIE: Okay, "Move a small object, knock something over,

"put out a light, et cetera."

MATT: Yeah, do you roll for it?

ROBBIE: I do, with Sense,

which I have-- MATT: Roll Sense for me.

LAURA: I'm going to give you a drive.

ROBBIE: Great, I'll take one. LAURA: An Intuition.

ROBBIE: All right, I've got three.

Well here we go. One, two, three. ANJALI: Come on, baby, come on!

ROBBIE: That is...

a six.

LAURA and ANJALI: Yes! ASHLEY: Oh yes.

LAURA: Oh, that's great.

MATT: You look up and concentrate.

As the marine layer is rapidly passing by.

It's one of those things where the fog

is running through the streets.

It gives that odd rapid passage

of time, in a sense, especially when you're still.

As you concentrate and focus,

and you've been trying to make something happen here

for a little bit.

Since you've figuratively and literally

opened your mind a bit, this has been a unique endeavor

to test the limits of the physical world

that you've grasped for so long.

As you focus, the rest of you

figuring out what the heck is happening,

you hear the iron

(high-pitched squeals)

(impacts)

(clattering)

The ladder comes down. You manage, with the success,

you catch it and try and stop the sound

from being too loud.

But it is a rusty ladder that you catch it

and hits the ground.

The ladder's there.

You also hear voice go "Hey, what?"

LAURA: We should hide. ANJALI: Hide, everyone.

LAURA: Just in case he looks over the side.

ROBBIE: I'll hide, yeah.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: We shall hide.

MATT: All right, we'll keep it on the Hide roll there

as you dart off to the side.

The figure looks over the edge.

Jumps down onto the little platform.

Just glances around.

Goes and grabs the ladder

and starts beginning to pull it up. LAURA: Oh, come on!

Come on! ROBBIE: (laughs)

ANJALI: Was a mixed success.

MATT: That was a-- ROBBIE: That was a full success.

MATT: That was a full success. ANJALI: That was a full success?

MATT: Yeah, you succeeded.

But this is a retort from an earlier mixed success.

Are you going to do anything?

LAURA and ROBBIE: (laugh) ANJALI: No, I want to.

LAURA: Hold on! ANJALI: I want

to shoot him, but I can't.

ASHLEY: Can I reach down and see if

there's a rock or something?

MATT: Oh yeah, there's simple stones and loose cobble bits.

ASHLEY: I'm going to try to take it

and chuck it the other way

to try to distract him and see if he hears something.

MATT: Sure, make a Control test for me,

if you don't mind. ANJALI: You got it, baby.

Oh, I want to give you one, but I don't have any!

ANJALI: Oh! A six! ASHLEY: I got a six.

MATT: A six.

You lob it over.

(thwacks)

Multiple loud clacks as it hits

different bits of stone and ground of the wharf.

"What the shit?"

Drops the ladder again.

LAURA: Climb up really fast and punch him.

MATT: Goes and climbs over and starts--

LAURA: Oh, he's coming! MATT:-- lowering down the ladder.

ROBBIE: Oh, he's coming down?

Are we still hidden? LAURA: We're hiding.

MATT: You guys are up on the edge.

He's lowering the ladder

and is about to come into visual range

of where you're all standing

underneath it. ANJALI: Howard, I need you to pop up,

come on, my love, now is your time.

ROBBIE: I get pushed out.

(laughter)

ANJALI: Now's your time to shine.

ASHLEY: We'll wait til-- MATT: "What? Hey!"

LAURA: No, get him before he yells!

ROBBIE: I'm going to reach out and grab him

and I'm going to pull him into me

and put him in a little standing rear naked choke.

MATT: Okay, give me a Strike test for me.

ROBBIE: Okay,

♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪

ASHLEY: I Saw This Coming.

ROBBIE: Are you helping? MATT: You totally did.

How do you help?

ROBBIE: What do I get? ASHLEY: I distracted him!

I distracted him, he's looking the other way

because he was looking for the rock. MATT: That's valid.

ROBBIE: So do I get an extra?

ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: Yeah, you do.

ROBBIE: Ooh goodie!

That is

a six. MATT: That is indeed.

So you grab him, you pull him into the ladder once,

pull him around, give him the choke hold.

Just reaching for the rifle on the side.

LAURA: No, no, I'm going to grab the rifle

and pull it away from him.

ROBBIE: (shushes)

No, no, no. MATT: Goes limp in your grasp.

ROBBIE: Oh no, sleepy time. LAURA: I have a rifle. (gasps)

ASHLEY: There we go.

ANJALI: Okay.

ANJALI: Right. ROBBIE: (impacts)

LAURA: I actually do know how to shoot a rifle.

My father used to take me hunting.

ASHLEY: Oh, perfect, even better.

ANJALI: So up we go.

ASHLEY and ANJALI: (skitter)

MATT: All right, you climb up the ladder,

up onto the upper platform and there is that doorway there

that leads into an upper portion of the warehouse.

LAURA: This is really big, though.

ROBBIE: It looks well on you.

MATT and ANJALI: (laugh)

ANJALI: Is it just an open door or is it?

MATT: No, it's a closed door.

ANJALI: A closed door.

Okay, can you check it and see if--

LAURA: Did we hide the body?

ROBBIE: I did, I put--

ASHLEY: I'm going to...

Wait, are there any windows from where we're at?

MATT: No, the storage warehouse doesn't have windows.

ASHLEY: Is the door locked or unlocked?

MATT: The door is locked.

ASHLEY: Pull out my-- ROBBIE: Yeah!

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: While he's doing that,

I'm going to listen at the door

to see if I can hear. MATT: You got it,

so make a Control or Hide, your choice.

ASHLEY: I'll do Hide because I get an extra gilded.

Five. MATT: Five, okay.

ANJALI: You got a gilded. ASHLEY: Now I got a gilded.

MATT: It opens, and very quietly

you push the door open.

You step inside the dark chamber and there is

a few oil lanterns set in the base floor.

You realize you were up on a second floor

that overlooks the bottom floor below.

There's storage space along the walls here above.

You can see there's all manner of boxes

and baskets and containers.

A lot of blankets and sheets thrown over them.

This is definitely a storage warehouse.

LAURA: I'm going to hide the rifle in the boxes

and under a sheet so that if he wakes up

and tries to get it, he's not going to know where it is.

MATT: Okay, you step inside here.

The first thing you notice

is that the warehouse itself is fairly full.

The second thing you notice is it's not empty.

As there are three figures currently down below,

in the center of the room.

ANJALI: When I was listening, I didn't hear?

We still have the jump on them, they can't?

MATT: They have not noticed you yet.

But the complication of having people within the interior,

two of which you can see plainly armed.

One of them has a jacket off.

They're dressed in business-esque attire,

two of the bigger figures, but their jackets are off

and you can see they have holsters slung to the side

over their vests.

The third figure you see in a long brown dress,

clutching a cane in one hand-- ANJALI: It's her.

MATT:-- dark hair,

and currently in the process of drinking a glass of wine,

is Dorna.

LAURA: Nobody sees us?

MATT: That you know of.

ANJALI: As we're watching them,

I'm going to take off my jacket and roll up my sleeves.

Blend in as best I can.

ROBBIE: Auggie-- LAURA: Wait, are you going in?

ASHLEY: You want me to sneak a little further?

ROBBIE: I think we both should go.

ASHLEY: All right.

Yeah. ROBBIE: Can we try to sneak in

and intermingle among the vagaries of the storage?

MATT: You may, on the upper level here?

LAURA: Hide in the storage.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. MATT: Okay, so yeah.

Best you can tell, it wraps around

this upper area with the central opening

is about 20 by 20 feet or so.

Then as the upper area turns into stairs

that lead down to the main floor below.

But if you are helming this or you're helming this,

someone should roll a Hide roll

to represent both of you slinking about.

ASHLEY: Okay, I'll do it. ROBBIE: I'm pretty sneaky as well.

LAURA: So what are we doing? ASHLEY: I'm spending a--

ANJALI: If they're continuing to sneak on--

LAURA: They're telling us where to hide?

ANJALI: Yes, I would be

following with them and telling them where to hide.

LAURA: Yeah. MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: Since we're doing this together,

let me give you one.

ASHLEY: Okay. ROBBIE: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Three.

ANJALI: Do you have a Resistance?

ASHLEY: I do. LAURA: Yes, yes, yes.

MATT: Okay, so reroll two. ASHLEY: Two.

LAURA: Okay. ANJALI: One is gilded.

MATT: One is gilded, so--

ROBBIE: Oh boy. LAURA: No?

ASHLEY: No, I rolled a two and a one.

MATT: Okay, well, the good news is

you get your drives back.

You both get a drive back.

ROBBIE: Was it Trauma Bonding?

MATT: Because of Trauma Bonding.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MATT: The bad news is as you both begin to slink,

Auggie, you are reaching out on the railing

and glance over to look

right as the railing snaps and gives,

and you fall off the top area onto a box,

roll onto another box.

(loud impacts)

Your back hurts a little bit.

You didn't fully take any damage,

no Body on this point, but immediately you hear--

(metallic clinking)

All of you notice that now Dorna

has put aside the wine glass

and is staring at you on your back

as the two other individuals have pulled the guns.

ASHLEY: Whoa, whoa, whoa! ANJALI: Well, it may not be

a graceful entrance, Dorna,

but you really should watch your security.

I walk over to the edge as I'm rolling up my sleeves.

MATT: "Well, isn't this very interesting?

"Well, I guess I should thank you for saving my life."

ANJALI: You do seem well.

MATT: "(laughs)

"I guess seeing should be believing."

She pulls the skirt of the dress up a little bit

and where her legs are crossed,

you can see right about where the knee is,

they swell and twist

into these slug-like extremities--

ASHLEY: Yikes! MATT:-- that dangle and knot.

As they're exposed at the bottom,

you watch they go (squelches).

Just shift a little bit

before she throws the skirt back over.

"I guess it's living."

ANJALI: I'm sorry we couldn't get there faster.

MATT: She grabs a drink and drinks a bit more wine,

hair getting in her face.

"Well."

Looks at the two individuals now.

One of them is now holding the gun on you still.

The one now has one pointed to you.

ANJALI: I'll put my hands up.

Are there any stairs down or anything like that?

MATT: Correct, yeah. If you walk around on both sides,

there's one closer to where you are

that descends to the first floor.

If you go around the other way,

there's a second set of stairs.

ROBBIE: Was I still able to sneak,

or did that screw the pooch?

LAURA: Are we all revealed?

MATT: I'll say you are both

not revealed at the moment,

but they definitely are. ANJALI: I walk in.

MATT: The room is on heightened alert.

ANJALI: Yes. So I have my hands up and I'm going to walk

towards the stairs with my eyes on her.

MATT: "So what are you doing here?

"It's only important you tell me before we shoot you."

ANJALI: No, of course. ASHLEY: Whoa!

ANJALI: (reproachfully) Auggie.

ASHLEY: Let's not, you know, go to such extremes.

LAURA: (whispering) Pull the rifle back out.

ANJALI: You know we came to you looking for an artifact

in the first place, back at the gallery.

MATT: "Indeed, there are many who come to me

"looking for an artifact.

"Not all of them are affiliated with your organization."

ANJALI: Dorna, if our organization already knew

about who you were, do you think

I would walk in here and speak directly to you?

Do you think I would come in here

if I were honestly associated with them?

MATT: Are you trying to deceive? ANJALI: I am so trying to deceive.

MATT: Make a Sway. ANJALI: I shall do so.

ASHLEY: I'm going to give you a drive.

ANJALI: Okay.

ASHLEY: Yeah, what-- ANJALI: I'm trying to convince her

that I'm double agent-ing, basically.

ASHLEY: Why would I--

Look at me. Why would I be

in whatever the fuck you're talking about?

ANJALI: Auggie, stop talking. MATT: (guard) "You shut your mouth."

ASHLEY: All right, all right. Mum's the--

ANJALI: Ha ha, it is a six!

MATT: Six. ROBBIE: Nice.

MATT: "(sighs)

"I know you are an entrepreneur,

"as are we, in a growing industry

"providing for those who are bored and curious.

"I guess we have that in common."

ANJALI: We certainly do.

In my business, unfortunately,

the product is not quite as interesting, as dangerous.

MATT: "The more interesting things are.

"Well.

"What do you want then, if you're not with Candela?

"What is your business here?"

ANJALI: (sighs)

When I came to speak to you,

I was looking for something special.

It may sound trite, but something to give

a dear friend of mine who, shall I say,

I've been trying to impress

both with business and with pleasure.

MATT: "Mm."

ANJALI: I'm sure you understand.

I was looking for some form of jewelry, something,

which is when we discovered what needed to be destroyed

to get you out of that awful mess.

There must be something else not quite as combustible

that I might be able to provide to him.

I am stalling like a motherfucker.

Can someone help me? ROBBIE: You're waiting for us to save you?

ANJALI: ♪ Who's drowning, I'm drowning ♪

MATT: You get the sense that she doesn't

necessarily believe you. LAURA: What are we trying to do here?

MATT: But she's certainly held at an impasse of curiosity.

ANJALI: I do get that sense?

I do get the sense that she doesn't believe me?

MATT: You get the sense that she's not suddenly relaxed

and like, "Oh! Well, never mind!"

ANJALI: Because I can go one way or the other. MATT: She's still guarded.

ASHLEY: Here's the deal.

I mean, not to be selfish,

but I have goals and hopes and dreams, too.

Do you need someone to also work for you?

You know, bring in some--

I'm really good at

picking stuff up. MATT: "At sneaking, apparently."

She points up

to the broken railing. ANJALI: But Dorna--

ASHLEY: I'm usually better.

ANJALI: The young man speaks some truth.

After all, when I first pulled him off the streets,

I did tell him, if you're going to work for someone

while you're on these streets, make sure it's someone

who knows how to get you off them.

ASHLEY: She's taught me well.

MATT: Her eyes narrow a bit.

ASHLEY: You need someone to move shit? I can move shit.

ANJALI: Consider it a trade, perhaps, for--

MATT: "Can you move people?"

ANJALI: I'm intrigued. ASHLEY: It's been done.

ANJALI: Tell me.

MATT: "Away?"

ANJALI: Move them away or keep them away?

MATT: "Move them away." ASHLEY: Like, forever?

ANJALI: Yes, transporting is no problem.

I obviously have connections at the docks.

That's not a surprise to anyone.

MATT: "As do I, which is why we've had problems

"with the import guilds to begin with."

ANJALI: (hums in agreement)

Clocking in my head, obviously not saying this out loud,

but the situation with the

chamberwoman? MATT: Chamberwoman, yeah.

In the meantime, what are you two doing?

LAURA: Watching. She's a really good talker.

ANJALI: I'm hyperventilating. LAURA: Can we, I want to--

He's mixing something.

ROBBIE: I'm uncertain of our intentions.

LAURA: I'm looking for anything around Dorna,

something that can connect her--

(laughter)

ANJALI: So close to being out there.

ROBBIE: Exactly what I intended.

LAURA: Evidence that this is a Red Hand,

evidence that they're doing something strange, something--

Is she doing a ritual of some sort?

What is she just doing sitting in here?

Is there evidence of any weird play at hand?

MATT: Roll Focus for me to try and analyze the situation.

ROBBIE: Hm, Focus. LAURA: Okay, okay, okay.

I'm going to spend a drive.

I don't know why, but I'm going to do it. No?

ROBBIE: You sure? Shall I help you instead?

Would you like me to help you instead?

LAURA: I've got one left. (laughter)

MATT: Love that. ANJALI: Right.

LAURA: Double fives. ROBBIE: Nice.

MATT: All right, mixed success. ANJALI: Doubles!

MATT: Glancing through here,

you get the sense, looking around,

many of the things that are covered here

are art pieces, statues,

many of the things that a gallery might

store or move based on business.

But you also see, on the table below

and some of the spaces around them, many old things.

You see notes, scrawlings,

like a faint,

hand-drawn map or

an odd sketch. LAURA: We need that.

MATT: You also see books.

These aren't directly before her, necessarily,

but they are part of the surroundings.

You get the sense that she is hiding here.

LAURA: Oh.

(whispering) Howard. ROBBIE: Yes?

LAURA: All that stuff on that table behind her.

ROBBIE: Yes? LAURA: We should take it.

ROBBIE: All of it?

LAURA: Well, at least that little mappy thing there.

ROBBIE: What is it? (laughs)

I would like to try to look at the table and see if there's

anything immediately that looks valuable or useful.

MATT: At this distance, unfortunately--

ROBBIE: Nothing? MATT:-- I will say it's

a little tough with the low light

and you being up here in the middle of mixing things.

If you were to get down there

you could take a look. ROBBIE: Are we still hidden?

MATT: You seem to be hidden at the moment.

ROBBIE: Damn it. LAURA: I wonder

if there's something we can do to distract.

Maybe-- (gasps)

Maybe you can send one of your--

ANJALI: (muffled) I'm getting great information, too.

LAURA: (whispers) Maybe you can send one of your exploding potions

or something far to the end of the warehouse,

and that way, the guard will run that direction.

ROBBIE: You want to explode the warehouse?

LAURA: Well-- Dorna will be left alone,

and you can run down and get the stuff.

ROBBIE: Well, I'd be delighted.

(laughs) ANJALI: Oh god.

ROBBIE: Yeah, I've had a lot of time

up there in the little hidey hole.

I'm going to do my chemical concoction.

While I don't have time to make something as complicated

as fantasy napalm,

I do know how to mix combustibles.

MATT: Yes. ROBBIE: So I've got

a little vial of something combustible.

MATT: All you've got to do is click the cap in

to mix the kettle, shake it up and throw,

and it will detonate on a small scale.

Loud, if momentarily damaging the vicinity of it.

ROBBIE: Would you be so kind?

My arm isn't what it used to be.

LAURA: Where am I throwing it?

ROBBIE: Away.

MATT and ANJALI: (laugh)

ANJALI: Don't hit us. ROBBIE: (laughs)

LAURA: How far away are they from us in this current--

MATT: You guys are on the opposite side now of the upper area

to try and be away from the eye line

of the armed thugs and Dorna.

So she's about 25 feet across from that opening.

LAURA: Uh-huh.

MATT: He's about 30 feet on the floor below.

There is an entryway that goes to the large warehouse door

that was closed on the opposite way

that's about 40 feet across the way

that's opposite from where you all are.

LAURA: I want to send it to where all of the guards

that are pointing on Auggie will be

will turn the opposite, turn their backs to them.

MATT: Okay. So you're going to throw towards the front door,

which gets them looking adjacent away,

or you can throw it below over on the floor,

which means they'll turn that direction,

but it'll be in the direction where you are, just below.

LAURA: Can I throw it back into a corner?

MATT: You can certainly try. (laughter)

ANJALI: I like the trying. LAURA: Okay.

(laughter) MATT: All right.

LAURA: (bottle skittering) MATT: Roll Control for me,

if you don't mind. ANJALI: Come on, baby. Come on, come on.

You got this, you got this. ASHLEY: Come on, come on, come on.

LAURA: ♪ I've got two left ♪ ANJALI: ♪ You got this ♪

LAURA: Okay. ANJALI: I can't help.

I can't help you! (nervous scatting)

Yes! LAURA: Six!

ASHLEY and ROBBIE: (cheer) MATT: Six.

"Look, I appreciate

"your appearance of candor here.

"I think there may be some honesty to what you are saying,

"but everything about this circumstance to me

"is extremely fishy."

ASHLEY: What do you mean? MATT: "As much as I try and believe you,

"I haven't gotten this far in my life by opening myself--"

(chemical explosion) ROBBIE and LAURA: (laugh)

MATT: This massive cracking sound of an explosion.

It's not flame, it's like a flashbang

in the corner of that room detonates.

Bits of wood and dirt and broken crate

go flying from behind.

Dorna's hair is blown in front of her face for a second.

She ducks down to the ground, her skirt blown to the side,

her weird tendril legs now writhing on the ground

as she almost snakes away from the sound.

LAURA: Ugh. MATT: The two thugs are like, "Ah!"

One of them puts the gun down for a second, holds his ear.

The other one ducks and turns around to point his gun

in that direction and sees nothing.

What are you all doing? LAURA: Grab the maps!

ANJALI: Can I have--

I sort of dive in the direction

to protect Dorna just to keep the ruse going?

MATT: You are still-- You came down the stairs?

ANJALI: Mm-hmm. MATT: Uh--

ANJALI: Too far from her?

MATT: I would say she wouldn't let you get that close.

ANJALI: Got it. Okay, all right.

ASHLEY: I was going to try to give that a go, too.

MATT: If you want to. ASHLEY: To try to protect her.

MATT: Okay, okay. LAURA: Oh jeez.

You have one down there. MATT: Because you are technically

closer to her as you descended.

You can make a Sway roll.

No, sorry, yeah, this would be to convince, so make a Sway.

ASHLEY: Okay. ANJALI: Okay.

ASHLEY: I'm going to use

a drive.

ANJALI: Do you want me to give you one more or are you good?

ASHLEY: I think I'm okay. I'm okay.

If it works.

ANJALI: Yes! ASHLEY: Six.

MATT: Six.

As you dive to protect her, she-- "(pants)"

"What is going on? What is here?"

ASHLEY: I don't know, I don't know. I got you, I got you.

I'll protect you. MATT: "Stop them! Stop them!"

ANJALI: Get us out of here! Let's go! Let's get out of here!

ASHLEY: I have my gun out. ANJALI: Show us where to go.

MATT: The thugs are looking around and kicking stuff over.

One of them looks up in your direction.

LAURA: I would say, I would've thrown it,

and then we would've (sneaky footsteps)

and try to move away from--

In the explosion and the noise and all that shit.

MATT: Make a Hide test for me.

ANJALI: You got it. Come on baby. ♪ Come on, you can do it ♪

♪ Spend a Nerve, do a ♪ thing to save yourself ♪

MATT: This is her guiding you both.

ROBBIE: Do you still have your train?

LAURA: Nope, I used it already.

ANJALI: Does it have to be her?

MATT: If you want to guide it instead,

since the two of you are a pair.

LAURA: Yeah! ROBBIE: Follow me!

LAURA: I'm sorry I keep hitting you, Howard.

ROBBIE: I'm a man of action.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: Six. LAURA: Ah-ha!

ANJALI: Yes! ASHLEY: Nice!

MATT: You both dart around, and as they're both distracted,

one of them comes over and kicks over

some of the crates and is looking around.

"There's nothing here."

You both crawl around the side

as she gets up, grabs her cane.

You can see she's having a hard time standing.

She gets the cane and goes, "It's not safe here."

ANJALI: We have to get out of here. Where can we go?

MATT: You see she's weirdly caught in the moment of,

what the fuck is happening between the two of you?

"I honestly--" ASHLEY: I do have my gun out.

MATT: "You said you can hide someone out of the city, right?

"Move people?" ANJALI: Absolutely.

MATT: "You have to get me out. I think--

"I think Lycus has gone mad."

ANJALI: Lycus?

Tell us more, somewhere else. ASHLEY: Who's that?

Who's Lycus?

LAURA: Get out of the warehouse! ASHLEY: Yeah, let's go.

ANJALI: I feel like we're dragging her

in some direction-- ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Walk and talk, walk and talk. ANJALI:-- away.

MATT: She goes over and goes, "Open the door!"

One of the guards is like, "They're coming with us?"

ASHLEY: Yeah! MATT: "Whatever!

"We're desperate at this point."

One of the guards comes over,

keeps one gun and pulls out his keys

and starts going over to unlock the front door.

She's like,

(Dorna) "He's become obsessed with Oldfaire.

"It was once a boon to our organization,

"but his ambition's become extremely alarming.

"I feel like he holds mysteries over The Flare,

"over our enterprise, and the others

"will not be abiding his fantasies much longer.

"I've seen him do some things that even I am frightened of."

She stops for a second. "We'll need to grab--"

Grabs up the map and a few things off the table

while you two are hiding around the side.

ASHLEY: You need me to hold any of those?

MATT: "I've got it, thank you." ASHLEY: Okay.

MATT: Another guy finishes locking the two locks on the door and starts

going to go and start lifting it, gets another guy's help.

(guard) "Come on! Come on, come over!"

They both start lifting the door.

She's sitting there, staring forward

as you hear-- (eldritch groaning)

I am pulling out my gun

and surveying to see where it's coming from.

MATT: As you are both sneaking around the side,

you watch as you see these patches

of growth and fungus

that have added that musty smell to the inside.

You watch as these black roots seem to emerge from them

and begin to swirl and form up

into a familiar, clustered,

hairy-looking entity.

As it rises up

above Dorna and your friends,

you hear that familiar-- (groaning)

ANJALI: Dorna, if there's anything in this room

that can hurt this thing, now is the time we need to know.

MATT: She turns around to look back.

"No!"

As it grabs her by the head-- ANJALI: Oh shit.

MATT:-- and begins to pull her back. ASHLEY: I'm going to try to grab the maps.

ANJALI: Oh, she'll grab the maps. (laughter)

ANJALI: I'm going to grab her body.

I'm going to grab her body. I'm going to grab her body.

MATT: You grab the maps, no issue. ROBBIE: I'll save the maps!

MATT: You grab her by the body

as the hand encompasses it, and you watch as the fingers

seem to wrap, the hair seems to almost swirl around it,

creating this beehive-like cocoon around the head

as it pulls her back.

(growling)

The guards go, "What the fuck?"

ASHLEY: Shoot it! MATT: They drop the door

and pull out their guns.

(gunfire)

You see the flashing (gunfire)

throughout the interior of the chamber.

(bullets thud dully) It just stands there--

LAURA: Oh, guns don't work! MATT:-- nothing affecting it.

ANJALI: Fire, fire!

If there's fire, we need fire! LAURA: Where's the fire?

MATT: She clutches it. ANJALI: Who's got the fire?

MATT: Dorna is struggling and struggling

and struggling as you're holding her there.

ANJALI: I pull my ritual blade out

and I stab at anything that I can find.

MATT: Make a Strike roll for me.

ANJALI: Oh, god help us.

MATT: You're both above on the secondary floor.

The only things that have flame that you see are the two lanterns

that are on the ground floor, if you want

to try and rush out of hiding to get to them.

ANJALI: Six. MATT and ROBBIE: Six!

ANJALI: Oh god, this fucking die!

LAURA: Is it walking close to the lanterns?

Where is it in regards to the lantern?

MATT: It's in the dark corner off to the side

not too far from where you threw the object.

LAURA: Uh-huh.

MATT: So the lanterns are about maybe 15, 20 feet

from where it is, and they're on the bottom floor

up on the table on the side there.

You start carving at the hand,

and the creature's like (guttural groaning)

reacting to the pain as it's clutching.

You start carving the hand free, and as they cut free,

you can see, as she emerges from its grasp,

the skin, smooth-- LAURA: (gasps) No!

MATT:-- lack of facial expressions upon her

as her body limply (body thuds) falls to the ground.

ANJALI: Yeah, I'm good. We're out of here.

ROBBIE: (laughs)

ASHLEY: The lanterns are down here? MATT: (deep, gravelly growl)

LAURA: Uh-huh. MATT: Mm-hmm.

ASHLEY: Okay. Is there one near that I can try to take

and chuck at it? MATT: Sure, if you want to.

ASHLEY: Okay, yeah. ANJALI: I will shoot at it

as you do. ASHLEY: Great.

MATT: Okay. The two guards-- (guns firing)

"Fuck, it's not doing anything!"

ASHLEY: Fire! Fire! ANJALI: Get fire!

MATT: "I'm firing! I'm firing!" ANJALI: No!

We need fire! Throw fire! MATT: He's reloading the gun.

(laughter)

LAURA: Open the doors!

I say from the top.

MATT: One of them puts his gun in the holster

and goes to start opening the door to the facility

while the other one is now looking confused,

trying to reload his gun.

You said you're going for the lantern?

ASHLEY: Question real quick.

Is there-- MATT: Yeah?

ASHLEY: Does this building have electricity?

MATT: This building?

You're uncertain.

You can try and glance for some semblance of it.

ANJALI: If you do that, I'll glance for it.

ROBBIE: I'm going to pop out of the shadows

while they're doing this.

Just emerge, and I'm going to go to the table

where all of the ancient looking stuff is.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: Realizing that our firearms are useless,

and see if I can look for anything, anything.

ANJALI: I'm looking for electricity.

I'm looking for electricity.

MATT: Okay, so make a Survey roll for me.

ASHLEY: I'll give you drive. MATT: You rush to the table.

ANJALI: Oh, and I got a six.

ASHLEY: Okay. MATT: Looking about--

ASHLEY: Yes!

MATT: The paper was grabbed.

There are some books-- LAURA: Which Auggie got.

MATT: Looks like old, old tomes that are

laid out on the table that were left behind.

You start grabbing those. ROBBIE: The books, yeah.

MATT: Picking up, okay, cool.

So you start pulling that up,

as the creature is now lurching towards,

as it grows in size,

it looks like it's still forming,

as it continues to expand out in the shadow,

the roots and vines that are tethering it

to those mold packages in the side.

LAURA: Do I see the portal anywhere, an opening,

there's no? MATT: No portal.

You rolled a six.

ANJALI: I rolled a six to find electricity.

MATT: You glance around, and from the muzzle flares,

the firing, you can see there are wire setups within,

and you can now see, dangling in the center,

there is a dangling light, electrical light.

You follow the line and glance over

to the side of the warehouse, and there is a switch.

ANJALI: I'm running, is it, how--

Where is the-- Do I have to run through it

to get to the switch, or can I just run to it?

MATT: You would have to make a run roll

to dodge to get to it.

ANJALI: Fuck me! LAURA: You can do it,

you can do it. ASHLEY: I'm going to--

I'm going to try to throw the lantern

to distract. LAURA:-- and I'll try to run?

MATT: So. ANJALI: Yeah.

The switch! I'm going to scream out

to whoever can, and point in that direction

to whoever might be closest to it.

MATT: Okay.

So now with Dorna on the ground,

the creature, focused in this direction,

you shout, "Switch!"

ANJALI: I've got the knife.

MATT: Right as its hand (slams)!

ANJALI: Right. MATT: Grabs you by the head

and shoulder, and begins to grasp you there.

LAURA: No! ANJALI: Okay.

MATT: You. ASHLEY: I chuck the lantern.

MATT: Roll Strike or Control.

ANJALI: Save my face, Auggie, save my face!

LAURA: I'm running across--

MATT: You're running across to try to grab the switch.

ASHLEY: Drive. MATT: Yeah,

the one guard is lifting up the door,

the other one is now-- ANJALI: I can't help--

MATT: Looking at chaos here, sees Dorna,

and goes, "Holy shit!"

Goes over to help with the door as well,

and starts lifting it with his friend.

LAURA: Can I roll for the switch?

ROBBIE: That's a lot of rolling going on.

ASHLEY: Three, fuck.

MATT: Three. ROBBIE: Whoa, no!

ANJALI: While this is happening,

can I be trying to pry it off with my knife as well?

Since, like it happened last time?

MATT: You can. ANJALI: Okay.

MATT: You throw the lantern, and it misses,

and it crashes into the back of the room.

You, however, feel the cold sense

of the creature's bleed seep into you.

The vines seem to be pulling

into your nose and mouth,

and you feel like you're being sucked

deep into some abyss, like you're drowning underwater.

Explain to me how you feel the bleed.

ANJALI: I, once again, I'm right back there,

being sucked and pulled towards the crack with the house.

The house is already crumpled and gone through,

and I am starting to go closer, and closer,

and closer to it.

MATT: You try and resist, but you feel like the nearby

trees and roots are now reaching out,

and wrapping around you, and pulling you towards it as well.

Your vision is now marred in this dark space

by being grasped by this entity.

You're running over to grab the light.

Make a run test to see if you can get there.

LAURA: I have one die.

MATT: Go ahead and roll.

LAURA: No drives and no resistances.

ANJALI: Can someone help him?

Anyone, I can't because I'm--

ASHLEY: Yeah, can I give you, wait,

I have no more drives left either.

LAURA: No, I just said.

Five! (cheering)

ROBBIE: I knew you had it, I knew you had it.

ANJALI: That's my girl!

You put on sensible shoes, after all.

LAURA: I mean.

MATT: You rush over, grab the switch.

Blue sparks fire from it.

Multiple lights suddenly

come on in the middle of the warehouse,

alighting the floor.

As you do, one, you can see that across the far away,

a bunch of the currently wrapped,

and covered bits of the collection

are now catching fire from the thrown lantern that missed.

So the warehouse is now catching--

ASHLEY: My bad.

MATT: Catching fire.

The creature immediately releases you. (howls)

ASHLEY: I grab her-- MATT: And shrinks back.

ASHLEY:-- as fast as I can. MATT: You pull her,

and you watch as the roots seem to disentangle,

and retract back into those patches

of mildew and mold that were settled

into the sides of the warehouse structure,

shrinking from the light.

As it does, you also hear (thudding)

as the front door closes,

the two guards having pushed through, and fled.

ANJALI: Right. ASHLEY: What a bunch of--

ANJALI: That's fine, can we still get out,

and get at the front of that, yeah,

can we still get out up top?

ROBBIE: Howard's got a book in his hand and he goes:

It might be averse to light!

(laughter)

LAURA: Wow. MATT: Perfect.

ASHLEY: Should we try to make it out?

ANJALI: Yeah, the whole thing is burning, right?

That's a good, we want it to-- MATT: The warehouse

is catching fire. ANJALI: Great!

ASHLEY: I'm going to grab the other lantern--

MATT: Yep. ASHLEY: And anything that

looks like it could go up in flames,

I'm going to chuck the lantern at it.

MATT: (flames whooshing)

The warehouse is now brightly ablaze, and will begin--

LAURA: Grabbing all the relics from that table.

ANJALI: Anything we can. ASHLEY: Yes.

ANJALI: Running out the way we came.

LAURA: Oh, that's a lot of art, that's a lot of money.

MATT: Okay, you got it.

ANJALI: ♪ Running out the way we came ♪

MATT: You dart up, up to the top of the window,

you shimmy down the ladder,

and there, you see there's the unconscious fellow

with the pile of trash over him that's now resting

aside the building with smoke,

black smoke now starting to pour out,

and be picked up by the fog, and moving--

LAURA: I'm going to grab his ankles,

and try to start dragging him away

from the building a little bit,

so that he doesn't catch fire. MATT: Okay.

You pull him away from that point.

You gather your things, and dart off down the alleyways,

using the fog to your advantage to stay hidden,

uncertain or uncaring as where these goons have run off to,

or where this creature has withdrawn.

You begin to hear the shouts

of people noticing the growing fire,

and you begin to see the distant glow

within the fog of the warehouse that now,

it's a mid-evening blaze.

But you have a few recovered materials,

and the assertation that

whatever list Dorna-- or whatever list Kara was on,

Dorna also seemed to be upon.

What would you like to do?

ANJALI: I think the closest safe haven,

if we have to get-- do we have to get somewhere quickly?

The closest safe haven would be Deagan.

LAURA: Oh.

ANJALI: We'd be least likely to be seen with so much stuff.

Unless we feel like-- Can I make a quick Survey,

and see if anyone is noticing us?

Are people, or are people just focusing

on that warehouse as we're running?

MATT: Sure, make a Survey test.

LAURA: Can we pull up the map?

I want to be looking at the map as we're walking, and--

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: Yeah, that's good.

MATT: It's pretty-- It's hand drawn,

and it looks like it's been drawn over multiple times.

Like whoever drew this,

there were multiple treks,

and with each time, they added more detail.

It looks like it is some sort

of a subterranean cavern crawl.

ANJALI: Mm-hmm. MATT: Where you see it begins,

it mentions the Van Helter Junkyard.

LAURA: Which is in what--

Do I know where the Van Helter Junkyard is?

MATT: You do, you know that the Van Helter Junkyard is,

it would be, my specification here.

LAURA: South Soffit?

ANJALI: We did it, we did it. I still have a face.

ASHLEY: Right, you still have a face.

ANJALI: (laughs) We did it, we did it.

ASHLEY: I was like-- MATT: It is within The Steam.

ASHLEY: This is-- LAURA: Okay, oh.

ANJALI: Too close, too close.

ROBBIE: Ooh boy. ASHLEY: Too close, we come--

LAURA: Well, we could be in this area.

ROBBIE: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

MATT: So a little bit of a trek there, and you know,

you do know of this, this region of this city,

you've never visited it, of course,

a woman of your esteem would have no reason to do so,

but it is a massive junkyard where all manner of scrap,

and old train and trolley cars, and

derelict military vehicles from the recent war

are all left to crumble, be pulled for scrap, refurbished,

and in many cases sold by the person who runs this.

LAURA: Oh, you meant it's The Steel, not The Steam?

MATT: The Steel. LAURA: The Steel.

MATT: Sorry, no, The Steam, The Steam is the one.

LAURA: Wait, The Steam is where the train is?

MATT: Yes. LAURA: Okay. So it's in The Steam.

Okay.

ANJALI: Great.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: It says, "The Mustang car."

MATT: There is a drawing of a train car, a little sketch.

ANJALI: I rolled a mixed success on my Survey.

MATT: Survey.

Indeed, nobody's necessarily noticing

you at the moment,

but you do begin to hear the horns

of the local fire department sending their wagons down.

Shouts are happening,

and chaos is definitely erupting in this space.

Yeah. LAURA: Can we run through--

Let's take side streets through The Varnish,

we could stop into The Gilded Rainbow, and--

ANJALI: Yep.

LAURA: Regroup, and then head over to The Steam from there.

ANJALI: I think Auggie should lead.

ASHLEY: Okay, follow me. ANJALI: Since we're sneaky sneaky.

MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: Bob and weave,

bob and weave. Show them all the tricks.

MATT: At this hour, with this much marine layer,

it's not terribly hard to go through unnoticed.

You aren't necessarily a conspicuous looking lot,

unless you are trying to draw attention in the space

in which people are looking for it.

You're well dressed and out and about,

though some of these districts might

be a little odd, given your clothing.

So no need to roll a high roll here.

You head back to The Steam, eventually emerge here

in this junkyard, hidden away from the--

ANJALI: Did we stop, did we stop at the--

LAURA: I mean, we don't need to. MATT: Oh, did you want to stop by?

LAURA: Just to see if

Alexandra or Edmund had stopped through,

and come to check on us.

It might be timing up.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: I'll say that you do come by,

and Reggie, who's there greet you, and he goes,

"Oh, yes, Edmund returned earlier,

"and took Kara, and is going to continue

"fleshing out the report of what you sent on that way.

"You weren't here at the time, so they headed out,

"but they might return if I can call them back, if need be."

LAURA: Oh, no.

ANJALI: I need to send a message to someone in the Hallowharbor.

I know they're not a member of Candela,

but it's very important.

MATT: "All right."

ANJALI: I need to get a message to a man named Deagan.

Here's his location.

MATT: Okay, he writes it down.

ANJALI: Tell him: I'm safe, period.

We're safe, period.

You stay safe, too.

That's all. And-- MATT: "All right."

ANJALI: Yeah.

MATT: "Is this Deagan fellow going to, like,

"pull a gun on me?"

ANJALI: Not with this message, he might hug you.

MATT: "Hopefully as fun.

"All right, I'll get it to him."

LAURA: Thank you, let Alexandra know that we're

heading into--

This is a map of Oldfaire.

If I'm right, we're going down.

ANJALI: We're going to need more than guns.

Also, let him know who it's from,

it doesn't have to be that secret.

Let him know it's from me.

ROBBIE: The night is young.

LAURA: Let's go.

ROBBIE: Thoomp, more books.

ANJALI: Oh, yes.

MATT: "Okay. (chuckles)"

Reggie takes them and puts them behind the counter.

"Good luck. Did you say you're going to Oldfaire?"

LAURA: Uh. Mm-hmm.

MATT: "Oh. Boy.

"Good luck."

ANJALI: Mightn't have anything that would help us, would you?

MATT: "I am a bookstore owner, and I gave you my gun."

ANJALI: I keep hoping he's going to be like Q.

LAURA: I know. (laughter)

ANJALI: (whooshing)

Look, killer to ghost.

MATT: Not so much. (laughs) ANJALI: Yeah, no.

LAURA: All right.

ANJALI: Off we go to The Steel?

LAURA: Yes.

ASHLEY: The Steam? LAURA: To The Steam.

MATT: The Steam.

LAURA: The Musgrave car?

MATT: Mustang. LAURA: Mustang.

ANJALI: ♪ Sally ♪ LAURA: (laughs)

MATT: So here you come to this massive junkyard,

this field of twisted iron and metals

hidden away from the recently remodeled,

and pleasantly presented portions of The Steam.

This unique, vastly cluttered field covered

in abandoned railway cars, vehicles, discarded scrap,

an utterly compelling blemish on this region of Newfaire.

But what would you like to do while you're here?

LAURA: Well, we need to find a train car.

ANJALI: Mustang car, Mustang Sally.

ASHLEY: Do we split up-- MATT: Who's helming the search?

ASHLEY: Or should we stay together?

LAURA: No, we should stay together.

ANJALI: I might as well do the search.

ASHLEY: Yeah, you're good at it.

I will give you a drive to give you an extra one.

ANJALI: All right, I will accept it.

ROBBIE: I'll step behind a train car and use the bathroom.

(laughter)

ASHLEY: I know, I'm wiggling. ANJALI: Mixed success with a five.

LAURA: Okay. MATT: All right.

ANJALI: I don't know why I keep pulling them out,

I'm like, "Look, I just did a thing!"

(laughter)

MATT: Knowing the sketch that's on the paper that you have,

you begin to leap from abandoned railway car

to abandoned railway car.

Eventually, looking for something,

some sort of a sign that might bring it about,

you do eventually see one that has a brass finish to it

in certain places.

As you approach, getting the best look you can,

with what little bit of light's coming through,

you're just now pulling away from the marine layer,

the fog isn't as thick, though there's a little layer of mist

that sits a couple feet off the ground here

that allows you to get higher ground,

and see some of the larger bits of the junkyard

that poke out throughout this whole portion of the city.

You go to this one, and as you begin to approach,

you can see, across the top of its roof railing,

there is tarnished brass, a design inlay that emerges

in these running horses on the front on each side.

ANJALI: Did we bring any sources of fire with us?

We still have any lanterns, yes?

ASHLEY: No.

Well, you still got the lighter?

ANJALI: I mean,

yeah-- MATT: "Excuse me,

"can I ask what you're doing?"

At this point, you turn around and see this

scraggly looking man in his 60s or so,

a long white skullet,

looks to have this really sunken, long, pointed chin

that comes to a long, scraggly looking chin beard point

that hangs down to about middle of his chest.

A long, tattered overcoat.

You recognize this figure,

if only through reputation, as Maynard Van Helter,

who is the proprietor of the junkyard.

LAURA: Can I Read him? See if he seems

susceptible to bribery, or--?

MATT: Yeah, make a Read roll.

ANJALI: Or a deception, a deception--

MATT: "Trying to see if there is perhaps--"

LAURA: Six on the gilded. MATT: Six on the gilded.

"What you are doing skulking through my yard?"

ASHLEY: We're not skulking, we have something to do.

MATT: "You look pretty skulk worthy."

You read on him, he's definitely--

He's the person that doesn't want people

stealing from his junkyard,

and likely has means to defend his property,

and has had to do it a number of times.

But is also a person that enjoys making a deal.

ANJALI: Maynard, is it not?

LAURA: I whisper in her ear: He'll make a deal.

MATT: "You're not like the usual riffraff that

"comes through here at night, huh?"

ANJALI: No, we're not.

I'm here to make a deposit, shall we say,

into the bank of Van Halter.

Are you interested?

MATT: "Always."

ANJALI: I have some goods that I'm trying

to keep out of the hands of others.

MATT: "The less I know, the better."

ANJALI: Yes.

I was wondering if for a certain sum,

you might turn the other way.

I'll pull out the little pouch of my coins,

pretty much what I've got.

MATT: Make a Sway roll.

ANJALI: Okay.

I hate this game.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: It's the drama, it's the best part!

MATT: ♪ The tension ♪

ANJALI: ♪ Drive, drive, drive, please, drive ♪

♪ Mixed success on a five ♪

Oh, and a five-- LAURA: Make sure you got a gilded.

ANJALI: I got a five gilded, yeah--

MATT: There you go, so you get that drive right back.

ANJALI: I don't hate this game, by the way,

it's just my heart is (quick vibration).

MATT: It's about building the tension.

Gives you a glance, looks down at what you have.

"That looks about a appropriate amount."

He draws his hand, you can see the dirt,

and grime-encrusted fingernails

that are about a half an inch

beyond the tips of his fingers as he reaches out.

ANJALI: As I'll leave it there with him,

and I'll grasp his hand gently, and I'll say:

If this works out, there's more business

where this came from.

MATT: "Don't worry, I know who you work with."

He puts it in his pocket. ROBBIE: Hmm.

MATT: You get the sense from your Read roll,

he has misinterpreted who you work with.

LAURA and ROBBIE: Hmm.

MATT: Based on the location you're currently skulking at.

But he gives a nod, and steps away a bit.

"(whistles)"

And just whistles to himself.

ANJALI: I've always wanted to learn how to whistle.

MATT: With that, you are out of money for this.

ANJALI: I am, she's not, she's loaded, for fuck's sake.

(laughter)

ANJALI: These two with their freaking inherited money,

or wherever it came from.

I had to work for mine!

I didn't say that out loud. LAURA: What's that like?

ANJALI: I didn't say that, I know, it's dreadful.

But there is a certain sense

of accomplishment when it happens.

It's kind of like the thrill

when I fool one of these gentlemen, yes, very funny.

Anyway, that's beside the point.

Auggie's peeing in the corner.

So we see the Mustang, is there a door?

MATT: It's open. ANJALI: Oh, it's wide open.

MATT: It's scrapped and has long been scrapped.

It's in better condition than some of the other

train cars that you've passed by as you were inspecting.

This looks like it was a higher end train car.

It may have been a premium upscale car

before it engaged in some sort of terrible accident.

Parts of it are heavily damaged. LAURA: Can I look around and see

if Maynard is watching us at all or are we alone?

MATT: No, he's wandered off.

LAURA: Then I'm going to take out the bleed detector

and try to get a vibe,

reveal where the entrance would be.

MATT: Glancing within, you look and there's a cluster,

a mass of fallen scrap metal

and torn cushions from seats.

It's all piled in there and you do see a faint trail

of lingering bleed that goes beneath this

massive,

fallen tin panel that's resting

on the far sunken end of the train car.

You can see the tarnished and damaged roof edges

curling over from the front and you can hear

the faintest bit of wind whistling.

LAURA: There.

ROBBIE: What do you see?

LAURA: I'm going to go over and lift

the tin up. MATT: You lift it

and you can see indeed beneath it,

mostly obscured by the panel, there looks to be an opening.

ANJALI: Oh god. MATT: A tunnel

that fairly steeply descends

into the Oldfairean earth.

LAURA: Oh. ROBBIE: Well done.

LAURA: I think this is-- ASHLEY: Oh wow.

LAURA: Yes, we might run into the Snatcher down here as well.

ROBBIE: Huh.

Well, mind your step.

Tetanus is the true enemy.

I jump into the hole. ANJALI: (muttered protesting)

(laughter) ANJALI:-- before you go in!

Professor, do you have light sources, fire sources?

LAURA: Yeah, is there-- ROBBIE: Foomp!

ANJALI: Is there any fire? ROBBIE: I'm in the hole, baby!

(laughter) ANJALI: Any fire sources?

LAURA: Yeah, is there anything we can light-- ANJALI: Well, he does have a hole in his head.

LAURA:-- make a torch out of? ROBBIE: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Oh my god, that made me laugh. ANJALI: Any lights, nothing around us?

MATT: You don't see any--

There's occasional pieces of wood

you might be able to burn, but you didn't bring lanterns.

You also have no light source.

ANJALI: We have the lighter. Is there a stick?

Something that I can-- MATT: Yeah. You can scrounge

a stick. ANJALI: Right.

MATT: You can makeshift a torch here,

and you have chemicals probably still left over.

ANJALI: Right. MATT: You could make a singular torch.

ANJALI: Right. ROBBIE: I've made a singular torch.

(laughter) ANJALI: Excellent.

Excellent. We'll follow him.

ROBBIE: (flames ignite) MATT: Okay.

ASHLEY: Oh my god.

(laughter)

ANJALI: In the hole, baby! LAURA: We were really dumb

to not have grabbed any light sources on the way here.

ANJALI: I feel like we would have-- LAURA: That's really stupid.

ANJALI:-- every single time and yet

we somehow don't. ROBBIE: I have one

in my hand. LAURA: Yes.

ROBBIE: Come, come. There's nothing scary so far.

Is there? (laughs)

ANJALI: We know that the guns are useless on him,

them, it, correct?

Never mind, it's too late. ROBBIE: Are you coming?

ANJALI: Yes, yes, yes.

ROBBIE: I could wait for as long as you'd like.

ANJALI: No, no, no, in we go.

ASHLEY: I'm going to jump down.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: Me, too.

MATT: There is just enough space to go single file

down this tunnel and follow the light source

of the flickering torch,

the bit of wind that seems to be

escaping or running through

causing it to shift as you move.

It is a steep, spiraling decline and this pathway,

as it continues to descend deeper and deeper below,

the temperature begins to drop.

A general moisture seems to be

collecting along the rock, giving it a bit of

a shine or a glisten as the light flickers past.

ASHLEY: Wait, what is the plan?

Are we just going down here,

and we're going to hope for the best?

LAURA: We'll go in and try to close the portal

that the Snatcher came through.

It's connected to something here.

If we can close it, then it won't be able to.

ROBBIE: May I take the light as they're chatting

and hold it up against these squishy, gushy walls

and look for something? MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: I'm looking specifically for moss,

any kind of lichen, any sort of fungal growth on the walls.

MATT: Okay.

Okay, as you keep an eye out as you pass by

this opening part, you don't see any yet.

It is stone and that hint of moisture, but nothing

seems to have taken root from a fungal standpoint.

ROBBIE: I'm going to keep an eye out for it as we proceed.

MATT: You got it. ANJALI: I'm sorry that

I missed this part.

Is there bleed in this hallway?

Whatever, this cavern? LAURA: I'm going to Sense,

I'm going to look at the bleed detector.

MATT: Okay. ROBBIE: (rings)

MATT: Indeed, you see the faint trail of bleed

that seems to scrape across the wall and the floor

in places, like something had dragged its way--

LAURA: Does it feel like

the same bleed that came from the Snatcher?

MATT: You can make a Sense roll, if you'd like.

ROBBIE: Did you say it was as if

something was being dragged on the ground?

MATT: You see streaks

across the way in different patterns.

ROBBIE: Oh, okay. LAURA: Mixed success.

That's a five. MATT: Mixed success.

As you are stepping through,

you indeed sense this familiar bleed there.

Whatever has been assailing you and those

you've been around as of late passed through here

and has left a residue, a residue that still

is embedded somewhere within you since you've Let It In.

In that brief moment, your vision begins to fall

and you tumble into this darkness,

reaching out with your hand as it withers gray

and you almost fall forward before

you stop her with your hand out, but you do take a bleed

from leaning a little too close to the abyss.

ANJALI: Ooh, so close.

ROBBIE: How you doing?

Are you all right?

LAURA: Mm-hmm.

ANJALI: I don't know how I haven't done this before

since I have this damn piece of equipment

I've been carrying around, but I'm going to try to take,

if there's some on the dirt or whatever,

put some of it, soak it.

LAURA: I'm going to use my ward to soak a bleed.

MATT: There you go. LAURA: I just thought.

ANJALI: I somehow scoop some of this bleed

into my little container vacuum.

MATT: Okay, you got it. ANJALI: (pop)

MATT: It got away.

Eventually this tunnel, as it curves deeper down,

sorry, as you continue,

the narrow pathway begins to shift into a twisting,

lightless cave structure.

It seems to intersect at times with long-buried stonework

and structures that jut from the dirt

and rock like peeking bones.

Eventually, on the same path,

the shale and granite giving way to the occasional

step or two, like you've found a staircase that then

vanishes once more into the surrounding earth, widens further

into a massive cavern,

framed in numerous climbing archways and starkly

jagged pillars of squared rock and harsh angle.

Ruined buildings peek from the exposed earth beneath,

the architecture imposing and cold.

Shapes like massive bodies carved from the rock,

partially crumbled and looming like long-dead giants

stand 20, 30 feet above, leaning,

about to fall or buried halfway into the stone itself.

ASHLEY: Whoa.

MATT: As you walk into this space in the silence, the shadow,

the faint bit of firelight in front of you

framing the very edges of this interior,

what would you like to do?

ANJALI: I want to scan to see if there's anything,

any movement, any creature,

anything that might catch my eye before we continue moving.

MATT: Make a Survey roll for me.

ANJALI: Six.

MATT: Six, fantastic.

Here amongst the darkness, you actually

push the torch back a bit so you can let

the light not distract from you adjusting to the shadow

so you can best make out the details and as you do,

you see a little ways beyond,

past an opening in the cavern where part of it shrieks down

this massive, stalactite-type structure

that combines to the ground to create

a natural rock pillar of elements,

you see a faint purplish glow, ever so faint,

risen and in the distance,

unique to anything else you see.

ANJALI: I stop everyone and I whisper:

There's something over there.

It's a glow. I don't know

if it's a person or something else.

Just saying.

ROBBIE: Are there are there any sconces

on the wall or anything like that, no?

MATT: No sconces. ROBBIE: Okay. (sucks teeth)

Well.

(sighs)

LAURA: We should move quietly, then.

ANJALI: Yes. ROBBIE: I suppose.

LAURA: Can I get a read from the bleed?

Oh god, I don't want to try to read anything else.

ROBBIE: You soaked that last one up. You're fine.

ANJALI: (laughs)

LAURA: Is it possible to tell if the bleed

is new?

Does it seem like the Snatcher

left here and has come back or

is the trail of bleed only going one direction?

Do you know what I mean? MATT: I know what you mean.

Would you like to make another Sense roll

to find out? ANJALI: Oh god!

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Go for it. LAURA: Yeah.

Why not? ASHLEY: I'm going to give you a drive.

ROBBIE: What is it?

For what?

ASHLEY: Intuition. MATT: This is intuition.

ROBBIE: I'll give you one, too.

Just all the dice. LAURA: Whoa, you guys.

ROBBIE: All the dice. ANJALI: You got it, baby.

ASHLEY: My drives were out.

ROBBIE: (laughs)

ANJALI: Seriously?

No, I don't believe it. ROBBIE: (laughs)

ASHLEY: What?

LAURA: Every dice is a failure.

ROBBIE: That's so trash.

LAURA: Five dice, didn't roll above a three.

ANJALI: Do you have a resistance?

ROBBIE: We get it back. ASHLEY: We get a die back.

ROBBIE: We get it back.

Whew.

ASHLEY: Whew.

Thank god.

ASHLEY and ROBBIE: (laugh)

ASHLEY: Oh no, oh no. ROBBIE: Oh no.

MATT: You get down to the ground-- ROBBIE: Oh good.

MATT:-- and begin to concentrate with your bleed detector out.

You look to the broken shale and stone

and rubble around you and you're looking at the bleed.

You feel it begin to almost emerge,

like liquid water pooling and gathering out.

It's beginning to flood and it begins

to reach for you and you find yourself frozen,

unable to breathe as it begins to reach up and grasp at you

and with that, you feel it begin to seep into your body

and that cold sensation, like

your arm is beginning to go completely numb,

like it's reaching up to your face.

None of you see this.

ANJALI: Oy, damn it. MATT: But the bleed

is encroaching deeper

and you take a mark of bleed to your body.

LAURA: I'm glad I soaked that last one.

ANJALI: No kidding.

ROBBIE: What do you see?

LAURA: Nothing.

This place is very old.

It's soaked in bleed right now.

Hard to make anything of it.

ANJALI: I'm going to grasp her hand and hold it.

MATT: Now, you can ask me a question

about the source of the bleed, don't forget.

LAURA: Oh, I can?

MATT: Whenever you take a bleed mark.

LAURA: I can ask you a question. MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: Okay, I'll do that. MATT: You took that ability.

LAURA: Okay!

Then I want to ask,

does it look like the creature--

MATT and ANJALI: (laugh)

LAURA:-- was going?

ROBBIE: You can get what you wanted.

ANJALI: You can absolutely get

what you wanted. ROBBIE: You can have your cake and eat it.

ANJALI: Yes! MATT: As opposed to analyzing it,

instead you let it

into your body and soul

and the information comes at the severe cost

of a portion of you lost forever.

LAURA: Mm.

ANJALI: Yikes. MATT: Indeed,

you sense the creature

has not come and gone

as much as it was sent out once it arrived.

ANJALI: Oy. LAURA: So it hasn't returned?

MATT: (whispers) Yet.

LAURA: So we should move quickly.

ANJALI: (sighs)

ASHLEY: All right.

ANJALI: Let's go sneaky sneaky?

Can we go sneaky sneaky with a torch?

ROBBIE: Yes. We...

Well,

here.

ASHLEY: I'll try to sneak up ahead.

ROBBIE: Do you want me to put this out? ASHLEY: I'll sneak up a little ahead.

No, it's all right. ROBBIE: Should I put it out?

ASHLEY: I'm pretty sneaky.

ANJALI: You can make it work? ASHLEY: I can make it work.

There's enough light from that glow, I think I can.

ROBBIE: (whooshes) I douse our torch in my jacket.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: It's dark.

MATT: It is pitch black beyond

the very faint purple glow in the distance.

ANJALI: Then hiding, I suppose, will be easy.

That's not what you meant but it did it.

ASHLEY: All right. ANJALI: All right.

So hand on his back and I guess

the next person's hand on each other's back, yeah?

MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: Follow me.

ROBBIE: Startled me.

MATT: Make a Hide roll for me. LAURA: I'm going to close my eyes,

so my eyes adjust.

ROBBIE: Is it working?

MATT: I'm going to add a dice to it because it's so dark.

I will remove a dice because it is dangerous

and you have no vision of the floor.

So it just evens out.

ANJALI: I know that wasn't-- ASHLEY: So if I spend a die,

spend a drive?

No wait. MATT: If you spend a drive,

you get to add an extra die.

I'm just saying I was going

to add one anyway because it was so dark.

ROBBIE: How many does that give you, one or two?

ASHLEY: That gives me, I have three total.

ROBBIE: Oh, you have three, okay.

MATT: With the gilded, you got it.

ASHLEY: Come on.

It keeps getting stuck in my sneaky--

ANJALI: Sneaky hand things? LAURA: Oh wait.

I'm going to help you. ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: That's a Hide. I'm going to give you a drive.

ASHLEY: Okay. MATT: Okay.

ANJALI: Yes. ASHLEY: Yes!

Two sixes.

LAURA: Nice. MATT: Two sixes.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: That's going to be a crit on that.

Carefully and adjusting to the darkness here,

you're used to traveling in the shadows of the city

and you adorn yourself in this space

with the shadow quite well.

Carefully, you begin to feel the ground ascend,

not a natural cavern rise but large, thick stone steps

and once you've uncovered the pattern of their ascent,

you begin to safely ascend them as well.

You find at points they are cracked and crumbled.

Some of the earth itself

has fallen onto it and piled above it, but

slowly you rise

and rise

and you begin to watch this glow

brighten and brighten.

You step up now

to a small camp

that has been set up around this raised dais

and what you see around it, lit by this purple glow,

looks like the shell of a temple, partially crumbled.

The first thing you notice

is in the middle of this raised platform,

a 10-foot tall oval,

a dark marble archway

with about a half foot to a foot section of it missing.

Though it does not prevent it from currently

holding within it some sort of a

sparkling, glowing ring

and within this

ring of strange arcana

is an absolute beacon to nothingness.

A black void of absence so dark,

you've only seen it creep at the back of your mind

the few times you've touched anything beyond the Flare.

It resembles the interior of a crack you once witnessed.

It resembles the space that one swallowed your fiancé.

This is a black beyond black.

You also see amongst this camp on the ground

scattered three other bodies,

faceless,

unmoving.

What would you like to do?

LAURA: Is there anyone moving, anybody up and moving about?

MATT: Not that you see.

ANJALI: I would like to-- LAURA: We have to break them up.

ANJALI:-- search the bodies.

I want to see if there's anything on the bodies,

anything of use. MATT: Sure.

Make a Survey check as you go through the quick bodies.

LAURA: I'm going to look for...

ANJALI: Five.

LAURA: Oh good. MATT: Five. Okay, mixed success.

You begin to look through their accoutrements

and you, going up to look at them,

some of them are fairly muscular,

like they were hired muscle.

Others, an elderly gentlemen.

They're all well dressed.

They carry weapons.

One of them has a heavy club,

multiple firearms, bullets.

ANJALI: Anything like a flask or any,

I'm looking for combustible materials.

MATT: Nothing. ANJALI: All right.

MATT: What are you doing?

LAURA: I'm looking on the ground, based on

what I remember Eddie's ritual site looking like.

Are there any runes on the ground

or around the portal that seem like

they were freshly added?

MATT: As you ascend, step after step,

to get up to eye line of the dais

where the portal is currently open,

you see there are scattered lines of materials,

like dark dust or ash that has been drawn in lines.

It looks like this is, indeed,

some sort of anchoring ritual site here, surrounding it.

It's about that time that you see a shape

in the middle of the portal.

LAURA: In the middle of the portal?

Coming through the portal?

MATT: As a humanoid form steps through.

LAURA: Uh-oh. ROBBIE: Fudge.

MATT: A man in a dark green suit,

with slicked hair that's a bit frazzled,

a goatee that comes to a point, salt and pepper gray.

You see his body has grown a bit stretched and sallow.

His eyes are sunken in

and both pupils shine a vibrant gold.

He steps out and immediately smiles

and turns his head to you.

(Lycus) "Oh joy of joys.

"Oh, the joys I have seen beyond The Flare.

"If only you could understand how small we are.

"How terrifyingly enormous the hungry truth

"of the endless beyond is.

"You would shatter, or join in this jubilance."

(whoosh) LAURA: (gasps)

MATT: "Edward has seen them, too.

"Although he is still here.

"But you are all too far gone.

"Candela serves the end of greatness.

"Burns our potential to be part of the real chaos."

He reaches to his chest and clutches an amulet

that you see hanging around his neck.

As you hear behind you--

ASHLEY: Wait! MATT: (snarling)

ANJALI: I pull out my gun to shoot him.

Shoot at the amulet.

MATT: Shoot at the amulet? ANJALI: At the amulet.

MATT: All right, you are the closest to him.

You're about 20 feet from him.

The rest of you are about 40 or 50 feet.

He just started to cross the dais,

there's this large plane where it's in the middle.

So you are the first to act, go ahead and roll.

ANJALI: At the amulet.

MATT: Roll Control, this is a high stakes roll.

ANJALI: Oh wait, I have the thing!

Any time that there's a high stakes roll, I can use Cunning!

So I am going to burn

a Cunning and Intuition-- Or which one, is it Nerve?

So that I can have ♪ three dice. ♪

MATT: You got it.

ANJALI: Boom, six! Yes!

MATT: Boom, six.

You fire at the amulet.

You see it tears off his neck

and dart somewhere off into the shadow.

He turns.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that."

You hear that noise getting louder behind you.

(snarling)

MATT: The rest of you glance at the sound and you can see

the orange glow rising as the creature is apparating

out of the cracks in the ground.

The roots forming and you hear Lycus shout out.

(grunting)

Eos ad somnia mitte.

Runs off to try and retrieve the amulet.

What are you all doing?

ASHLEY: I'm going to try to go get the amulet.

MATT: I need you to make a Move test for me

to see if you can beat him to the amulet.

LAURA: I am going to

immediately crouch down on the ground,

and start looking at the runes that are there

and changing them a little bit.

I'm going to try to do a Forbidden Ritual.

ROBBIE: (gasps)

MATT: You're going to try a Forbidden Ritual, okay.

Okay.

All right, so you immediately take a scar.

What are the effects you hope for this ritual?

LAURA: The crack in the marble that's already a foot wide.

I want to finish the break.

Break it cleanly

and destroy where the portal is open.

MATT: Okay.

You--

Describe to me how your ritual apparates.

What do you give and how do you change

in the sacrifice this ritual requires?

LAURA: (sighs)

All of the bleed that I could see

forming into a liquid in front of my eyes

when I was down in the cavern,

I'm going to look at it again

and call it into myself.

I'm going to send it back into the ground

and there's going to be black that shoots

from where my hand is touching the ground.

Like tendriling up the walls and around

until it can reach the crack in the top of it

and get down in it and rip it apart.

ASHLEY: (gasps) ROBBIE: Yeah.

ANJALI: Good girl.

MATT: As it pulls up to the sides,

you see the purple energy that holds

this void back flickering.

The black tendrils reach up and clutch.

In that moment of tensile freeze, you hold,

and give the physical motion.

LAURA: (noise of exertion)

MATT: It shatters and tears.

The exterior of this portal flickers.

(sparking)

(explosion)

It bursts out in a flash of bright purple light,

sending the obsidian stone

scattering in a hundred different directions.

As it shoots across,

you watch as Lycus turns back, "No!"

The creature looming up in the air

just behind you about to strike.

(screeching)

Reaches back and you can see the roots blown back,

exposing its torso where dozens of faces

scream in unison across it.

(screeching)

You roll your Move.

ANJALI: Oh god, I don't have anything to give you.

ASHLEY: Oh god, I feel like I want to do something different now.

MATT: You can adjust, if you like.

ASHLEY: I am going to try to--

No, I'm going to go for the amulet,

I'm going to go for the amulet.

Okay, so I have nothing, so I do two?

MATT: In Move? ANJALI: Is that Moving or Surveying,

because it's to search, can I help with it?

MATT: This isn't search, this is trying to beat him to it.

ANJALI: Oh, got you. MATT: Because you're

running towards it, so roll two dice

and take the lower of the two.

ANJALI: Oh, come on.

Aw, three.

ANJALI: I thought that there's, oh no.

But you have a resistance.

ASHLEY: Can I spend a resistance to try and roll it again,

or that doesn't work?

MATT: You'd like, yeah. Yeah, no, that works.

Just roll those two again and take the lowest.

LAURA: You have to roll--

Both of them have to be above four?

ROBBIE: Can you help on a resistance roll?

MATT: Sure, I'll allow it.

ROBBIE: Would you rather roll two and take the lowest,

or do you want one?

ASHLEY: (grunting)

I'll just roll again, I'll roll it.

LAURA: D'oh.

ASHLEY: That's a fail, that's a big fat fail.

MATT: You are running

and you're starting to catch up a bit on Lycus

who is desperately clinging over.

As he's moving towards it, you can see his gait,

his body is more limber than you expect

and almost has a bestial- like running quality to it

as he's crawling his way towards the amulet

he believes shot off.

Right as you hear this (whooshes, explosion) behind,

you look just as shards of obsidian

end up piercing you in multiple places

across the side of your face.

You take two body marks.

ROBBIE: Two? ASHLEY: Hoo!

MATT: From your proximity to this.

ASHLEY: Ooh! MATT: Continue to stumble,

rolling on the ground.

Get back up and you're covered in blood

on the left side of your face.

ASHLEY: As I get up, I take out my gun,

rolling, standing up, and then I put it on Lycus.

MATT: Holding it on Lycus? ASHLEY: Holding it on Lycus.

ANJALI: From back where I am,

I'm keeping an eye open. MATT: Lycus isn't stopping,

Lycus is just running.

He doesn't give a shit. LAURA: He's trying to get away.

MATT: He's trying to get the amulet.

ANJALI: Can I shoot him from afar?

MATT: If you'd like to. ANJALI: I would like to.

MATT: Go ahead and roll Control for me.

ANJALI: ♪ Control ♪

Missed.

MATT: A missed, with a two?

You go to aim the gun.

As you fire, it goes wide,

but also the creature has finished screeching

at the detonation of the portal

and reaches over and grabs you

and throws you into the air.

LAURA: Oh no, you keep getting thrown by monsters!

ANJALI: I do. MATT: You get flung

as a high arch and then impact hard.

ANJALI: Okay. MATT: And take a body.

ANJALI: Yeah, I'm out.

MATT: She is still and not moving.

You hear a heavy crack upon the impact.

LAURA: Charlie! MATT: Charlotte is limp.

What are you doing?

ROBBIE: Howard's stunned. (stammering)

He bewilderedly pulls out a skinny little cigarette.

ANJALI: Oh shit. ROBBIE: From his jacket.

What happened? Oh, what?

ANJALI: I was allowed to spend my Cunning on that.

I only didn't spend any drives

because I didn't have of these drives,

but I'm allowed to spend my Cunning on high stakes.

May I retcon?

MATT: It's pretty high stakes, roll those additional dice.

ANJALI: Thank you.

MATT: We'll see if you beat it,

and then the narrative will continue regardless.

You've been flung. LAURA: Just the one

additional dice, not both of them?

ANJALI: Oh, just the one additional die, not the both?

MATT: Yeah.

ROBBIE: You've been flung.

ANJALI: No. (sighing)

ASHLEY: Okay, okay, okay.

MATT: Fate is decreed. ANJALI: Yes, it is.

ASHLEY: Good try, good try. Okay. ROBBIE: (laughs)

ANJALI: I did well when I was alive!

MATT: It's true. You're still alive,

you're just very badly hurt. LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ROBBIE and MATT: (laughs)

MATT: Sorry, Dr. Margrove. ROBBIE: Mm! Mm.

Oh yeah, he quickly takes out a little, skinny cigarette,

lights it.

Well, here we go.

Takes the last little bit of his torch fuel

and puts it on his axe, lights it on fire,

and goes: Aah!

And runs toward the beast with a flaming axe.

(cheering)

MATT: Okay, okay. ANJALI: Get it!

ROBBIE: It's just flung.

I'm going to try to take a big,

I'm just fighting the monster.

I take a big swipe at it with the axe.

MATT: I need you to roll Strike for me.

ROBBIE: All right. MATT: A big, old

flaming axe arc through the air.

After it just finished flinging Charlotte

almost to the ceiling.

MATT: I'll use an extra one.

A five, mixed success.

MATT: Five, mixed success.

Crack! You slam it into its back.

(screeching)

This horrible echoing bellow emerges from it

as the flames begin to flicker up its back.

As it does, it lights, and you can see

between the heavy, thick coat of roots,

eyes and screaming mouths

screaming back at you from beneath.

Their milky, pupil-less eyes (snarling).

You draw the axe out and where the flames begin to curl,

it spins around and knocks you to the ground.

You take two body.

ROBBIE: Dos bodies. LAURA: Two body?

ANJALI: Eek, spicy.

MATT: Actually, no, one body, one bleed.

My apologies.

ROBBIE: Oh, he has a ghost punch.

ASHLEY: I'm going to take a shot at Lycus.

MATT: All right. ASHLEY: Do you have more?

ROBBIE: Well, I mean, I feel it cut back and forth

if the fight continues, I'm still going to fight this thing,

so you do you. MATT: Yeah, we'll come back

around here. All right, so. ASHLEY: Taking a shot.

MATT: Taking a shot at Lycus?

ASHLEY: Yep. MATT: Lycus is now

currently stopped and is currently scrambling

and digging through a pile of stone going,

"Where is it? Where is it? (grunts)"

ASHLEY: Four. ANJALI: Mixed success.

Sorry, I pointed. ASHLEY: No, no, no,

you're fine, you're fine, you're fine.

ANJALI: I'm just excited.

ASHLEY: I know, I know, help me, help me.

ANJALI: I can't even use this hand,

I don't know why I'm pointing at it.

ASHLEY: It's all right, I need excitement.

MATT: Okay, he stands up, holding the amulet.

Turns around, gets shot in the chest.

"(heavy breathing)

"It's not enough! It's never enough. (groans)"

He leans forward. He took a hit;

he's not doing great.

He took a bullet to the chest.

But he's holding the amulet forth

and holds it up once more.

Eos ad somnia mitte.

Holds the amulet aloft and you can see

it's kind of cracked.

ROBBIE: Oh no.

MATT: It glows with the blue,

but there's a very apparent crack from where you shot it.

ASHLEY: Yes! LAURA: Yay!

MATT: You can see the creature

that's now flickering from the flame,

it's screeching and running behind.

You can watch as its two arms swing

and a third one seems to emerge and swing as well.

It's now lurched over you,

this massive, terrifying curl of a creature.

You are trying to fend it off with a flaming axe,

as the amulet's held aloft, you watch it clarify

and its glowing orange glow in its face

turns blue for a minute.

That spark of intense ferocity and chaos

becomes focused, it's still flaming.

As you're recovering from this ritual, what are you doing?

LAURA: I take an immediate bleed scar from the ritual.

So when I look up from having done that,

this eye is completely black.

It's just no pupil, no white,

just a completely glass-black eye.

The gray has traveled up the side of my face.

When I lift my hand up,

instead of the void that's been there,

in the hole, there's now an orange eye

staring out from the hole in my hand.

MATT: Cool. ANJALI: (gurgling)

ROBBIE: Whoa.

LAURA: (chuckles)

So I am-- not that it matters.

I'm taking a point away from Read,

because I probably can't interpret body language

quite as much anymore.

ANJALI: (laughs)

LAURA: I don't know whether to take it in Survey or--

I don't know where to shift it to.

ANJALI: Sense?

LAURA: I already have, I maxed out Sense.

I guess I can put another into Focus.

MATT: You can, if you like.

LAURA: So I have three in Focus and three in Sense.

ANJALI: Amazing. MATT: Okay.

LAURA: Can I pull my gun out from my side

and try to start loading bullets into it?

MATT: Yes, you may. LAURA: Calmly.

MATT: It's going to take you a minute to calmly just (clicks).

Okay, as you're doing that,

you are in the middle of the fray with this beast.

Now focused in a more terrifying calm come over it.

(growling)

What are you doing?

ROBBIE: (growls)

I'll growl back at it.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: I come off that last swing,

and the faces are all on its front?

MATT: Hidden within the tangle of hair-like roots

that form most of its body,

you can see faces deep, hidden within.

ROBBIE: Can I look for Kara's face?

MATT: Yeah, make a Survey.

Survey or Focus, your choice.

ROBBIE: Oh, I lost a Focus,

I'm going to spend a drive and do Survey.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: A four. MATT: Four, okay.

ROBBIE: Two ones. LAURA: Phew!

MATT: Glancing in the screaming faces,

and the screaming has stopped and they've all gone still

as that calm has hit.

As you glance in, indeed,

you do see Kara's face amongst them.

ROBBIE: I'm going to put the axe down by my feet

and douse the flame in the ground,

between the ground and my feet.

So it's just an axe,

I'm going to do a Strike,

but I'm trying to do something specific.

MATT: What are you trying to do?

ROBBIE: I'm trying to take that face off the monster.

MATT: Okay. ROBBIE: Just that one face.

MATT: All right.

ROBBIE: It's my last drive on Nerve.

MATT: As you put out the flame,

the creature reaches out

and grabs the side of your shoulder

and its roots begin to curl up around your face

as its arms drift in to try and grasp you.

You take another bleed.

ROBBIE: Ah, boy! Oh, I am in trouble, bubble.

MATT: That was from the mixed success of the Survey.

ROBBIE: Oh, that's right.

MATT: But now you get to take your actual Strike.

So roll Strike for me.

This is a high stakes roll, of course.

ROBBIE: Yep.

ANJALI: Come on, baby!

ROBBIE: Is that a six? I can't tell.

LAURA: That's a six. ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

ANJALI: Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!

MATT: Zeroing in on the face, you pull back with the axe,

feeling that cold climb and that horrible sound

of the crooked roots curling around your head.

Whack! You slam it into the side.

As you strike the face,

you watch it crumble from the body.

ROBBIE: When it crumbles is it still a face?

Or does it like disintegrate? LAURA: Does it disappear?

ROBBIE: Does it disappear or is it a face?

LAURA: Maybe Kara got her face back

when you just took it off the body.

ROBBIE: Ah, interesting.

All right, I'm somehow happy with that,

as I'm getting choked out. (laughs)

MATT: You are indeed.

LAURA: Can I Play The Bait?

MATT: If you'd like to.

LAURA: Yeah.

I'm going to stand up and (gun cocks)

and try to hold my hand up to the creature

and shout: At me!

MATT: Go ahead and roll Sense.

You are combating the will of this amulet.

LAURA: Mm-mm.

ASHLEY: I'm going to take a shot at the amulet.

MATT: Okay, well, we'll see this here.

Then we'll come to you.

LAURA: A five. ROBBIE: Okay.

MATT: A five.

Okay.

The blue that's still there suddenly shifts to orange

and it (eldritch growl)

turns to you and throws you to the side.

You hit the side of the crumbled ruin.

You take a body

as your shoulder's almost popped out of the socket

and you feel that warm running through

your back of your arm.

You're going to go ahead and take a shot?

ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: As it's now (monster shifting)

(monstrous growl)

LAURA: Ah!

MATT: Auggie? ASHLEY: (sighs)

Come on. MATT: Make a Control.

ROBBIE: Let's do it.

ASHLEY: Five.

MATT: Five.

(gun firing)

The amulet shatters in his hand,

as well as two of his fingers

are now gone. LAURA: Ugh.

MATT: "(groaning)"

Falls the ground, whips back,

and you can see the gold in the eyes

intensely shining like a cat,

catching a little bit of light.

"What have you done?

"Fools!"

The word "fools" echoes, echoes.

You hear, as the bleed has crept in from recently,

the voice--

(disembodied) "You fool!"

Once more, and you see the face of the spirit

of your dean drift through.

The life that you took still gathered and hunting you,

drifting around as you catch yourself trying to adjust

to the pain that you now feel in your shoulder.

It is now lumbering towards you.

LAURA: Not that it matters. MATT: (gun firing)

LAURA: Guns don't work against this creature.

MATT: Nope. (hand latching on)

Grabs its hand around you.

The other one-- (grabbing)

as well and your head is now being swarmed

by these roots.

(roots entangling) LAURA: Ah.

Oh, I'm going to be out. This is going to take me out.

MATT: You take a bleed.

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: So you take a scar from the bleed?

LAURA: I take a scar.

MATT: You watch as the creature lifts her up,

swarms around her head, and then releases her

as she falls to the ground.

Her face,

a barren, flat

ROBBIE: (groans)

MATT:-- appearance of skin.

LAURA: I'm out.

You better kill him. MATT: (eldritch growling)

ANJALI: I'm out, too!

LAURA: You better kill him. I got to get my face back.

Set him on fire. ROBBIE: I'm on it.

MATT: (heavy running) ROBBIE: Maybe.

MATT: Goes running towards you. LAURA: Oh god.

MATT: Auggie, what are you going to do?

ASHLEY: (laughs) Oh, fuck! MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: Tick, tick, tick, tick. ASHLEY: Okay, okay.

I'm seeing if there's something here

that I didn't see before.

ANJALI: There's something I didn't see before, but I'm out.

Goddamn it. ASHLEY: Where's Lycus?

MATT: Lycus is currently

further back in the cave,

lost the amulet,

and is now looking for something.

He's starting to move away, curling around

to where the creature's lumbering towards you.

ROBBIE: How far away is Auggie from me?

MATT: From you? You got thrown back to the wall.

You stayed back because you were firing.

So, he's about 15, 20 feet.

ROBBIE: I know. LAURA: Don't get caught.

ROBBIE: I'm going to do my best.

This is fucked.

I'm hurt bad.

My shoulder's fucked.

I'm going to say: Auggie!

I'm going to try to throw my axe out to her. To him.

MATT: All right.

Auggie, you're pretty quick. I'll just let you catch it.

ANJALI: Yes.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: Is it still on fire?

MATT and ROBBIE: No.

LAURA: Catch it on fire!

ASHLEY: All right, all right, all right.

LAURA: (deeply) Cut her face off.

ASHLEY: So, so-- LAURA: Cut my face off?

ROBBIE: Yeah.

ASHLEY: (groans)

I'm going to take a swing.

I'm going to take a swing at it.

MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: And--

I'm going to take a swing at it.

I don't know what the fuck to do.

MATT: All right. Roll for Strike.

LAURA: (whispers) Tell her. ASHLEY: Roll for Strike?

MATT: Yes.

ASHLEY: (laughs) Oh no, I have nothing.

LAURA: You don't have any Strike?

ASHLEY: No.

LAURA: Maybe you can assist?

Nope. ROBBIE: I'm out of drive.

ASHLEY: That's all right, it's all right.

It's all right. ROBBIE: Just good advice.

Aim for Arlo's face!

ASHLEY: All right.

LAURA: (laughs) ROBBIE: Come on!

LAURA: Come on, big money! Two sixes.

ASHLEY: A six and a one.

ROBBIE: No!

ANJALI: But I thought you had--

Oh. ROBBIE: It's disadvantage.

ANJALI: (murmuring) You sure it wasn't Control?

MATT: You take the axe and swing in a large arc.

(battle cry) Screaming in the air.

Right as you're about to impact,

(bodily thud) you get picked up.

Your feet leave the ground

as it scoops down with its arm and lifts you up.

As it holds you, that burning orange glow

from behind the roots alights your face

as it carries you up, almost looking into this alien visage.

(eldritch growling)

Its roots climb up and surround your head.

You take a body and a bleed.

ASHLEY: Oh.

My body's full.

MATT: Uh oh! LAURA: Oh.

(laughter)

LAURA: Howard, save us!

ASHLEY: So I'm out? LAURA: Set it on fire.

ANJALI: Howard, I have--

MATT: Yeah, this is-- ANJALI: Take my original knife.

MATT: You already had three?

ASHLEY: I already had three. MATT: Is it the third?

You take a scar-- ASHLEY: This is my fourth!

LAURA: Yeah. It's attuned to you. ANJALI: Is that the only way?

ROBBIE: Yeah, it has to stay attuned to you.

LAURA: Set it on fire. ROBBIE: I'm going to bare hand it.

LAURA: Set it on fire.

ROBBIE: With what?

LAURA: There's fire in here.

They have lanterns glowing. MATT: As you watch

the creature run, lift Auggie in the air.

The roots surround Auggie's torso.

After a moment, they withdraw

and it gently places Auggie on the ground.

LAURA: Oh, gently. That's nice.

MATT: Auggie's face is no more.

(laughter)

LAURA: Are there? ANJALI: Can't I just wake up?

LAURA: Are there lanterns in here?

There's lanterns in here. ROBBIE: (laugh)

ANJALI: Can I burn a drive

to wake up? LAURA: Aren't there?

MATT: No. LAURA: Because there was fire--

MATT: You're mostly fighting in the dark right now because

you've destroyed the portal. LAURA: Oh, lordy, lord, lord.

Do you have your lighter still?

ROBBIE: Where are you?

ANJALI: I'm out. I got thrown against the wall, baby.

ASHLEY: You are literally the only one

that's still up! ROBBIE: The last man? No!

ASHLEY: You're the last man! ANJALI: You're literally

the only man who can save us. LAURA: You have to save us!

ROBBIE: I am sauced.

I have shit.

I have nothing.

ASHLEY: Can you get my-- LAURA: Are we TPK right now?

ASHLEY: Do you have a gun? You have my gun?

Can you get the axe? ROBBIE: Thinking that the

space guns don't work.

You have the axe. MATT: Lycus is fleeing.

Lycus is running off into the shadow.

ASHLEY: Run. ROBBIE: And the amulet

that controls the monster is--

LAURA: Is broken. ASHLEY: Shattered.

ROBBIE: It's shattered?

LAURA: Yeah. MATT: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Oh.

Oh no!

ANJALI: Okay.

ROBBIE: Oh no!

ANJALI: What was the chemical-- ROBBIE: Wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait. ANJALI: Wasn't there a chemical

that you made? ROBBIE: Okay.

Oh, fuck this.

(laughter)

ROBBIE: When the men that she searched

that were faceless came in,

were they alive?

Quote, unquote.

Did they seem like they-- MATT: Yeah, they were still warm.

There was still a heartbeat.

LAURA: Are you running away?

ASHLEY: Run away.

LAURA: Run away.

ROBBIE: I'm one hit--

Oh no!

MATT: (laughs)

ANJALI: If you run away, you can still come back and avenge and save us.

You can still come back and save us. ROBBIE: (groans anxiously)

(screams)

ASHLEY: Go. MATT: (laughs)

ROBBIE: (stressed groans) ASHLEY: Go, Howard!

ROBBIE: This is horrible!

Howard's no coward.

I run directly at the beast empty handed

and I am going to run-- LAURA: What are you going to do?

ROBBIE: Howard's no coward!

ANJALI: Then we're all going to die! ROBBIE: I'm going to run--

LAURA: No! You're going to kill yourself!

ROBBIE: I'm barehanded.

I've got a couple of hits left. ASHLEY: Where the circle goes.

MATT: The only light you have is the direction

where it's facing, the orange glow

that's throughout the chamber now that

the portal has been-- LAURA: Can you jump on its back

because you see that-- MATT:-- flailing.

LAURA:-- the light is facing another direction

or something? ROBBIE: I am going to go straight

for the front of it

head on, and I'm going to scream as I run at it.

I'm going to try to find one of you

in the dark and just

hurt and pull.

I'm going to pull and tear it.

I'm going to strike at it

and tear it at with my bare hands.

LAURA: Try to pull the faces off of it?

ROBBIE: Yes. MATT: Okay.

So you're rushing towards it.

ROBBIE: Yes.

MATT: You shout and it does turn.

(eldritch growling)

You see that orange glow alighting

the space below as you charge towards it.

You run and leap onto its torso.

You are searching for a specific--

ROBBIE: Just-- MATT: What face are you

looking for? ROBBIE: God.

Well, the truth?

MATT: Yeah. ROBBIE: Arlo's.

MATT: Okay.

ROBBIE: Yeah. MATT: All right.

ROBBIE: I think Arlo is, at this point,

the only one that could get us out of this.

I have no options.

I'm not going to leave you guys behind, I'm sorry.

I can't do it. ASHLEY: I get it.

I get it. MATT: Make a Survey roll.

As you now leap onto it, full on

(latching) grabbing onto the heavy roots.

ASHLEY: Yes. MATT: And starting to tear through

its body.

You can feel it reacts to the impact.

ROBBIE: Six. ASHLEY: Yes!

ANJALI: Yeah, baby!

MATT: You pull through and glancing, you see many faces

inside, almost like--

(groans)

All twitching and looking around

at nothing in the space.

Indeed, over by where it would be

the right shoulder of where it is, you climb up

and then one of the arms tries to reach for you

and you duck beneath and tear up and pull in

and you see Arlo's face peeking out.

ROBBIE: One more shot at it.

Just ball up that old farm boy fist

and try to smush it

through this body-- LAURA: (laughs)

ROBBIE:-- and reach for Arlo's face

and tear it out. MATT: Roll for Strike.

ASHLEY: Yes! ROBBIE: Yeah, here goes.

LAURA: Oh god! ANJALI: Come on, baby.

Come on, baby. ROBBIE: Fingies crossed.

A five and a four.

MATT: A five and a four.

Okay, mixed success.

You (heavy impact)

and repeatedly start punching into his face.

Each time, you feel it recede

further in and further in

until eventually you get your fingers

inside and grab and pull.

It's like ripping a heavy bush from the ground,

as the roots tear from the very well planted earth.

You feel your already hurt shoulder pop,

as you pull it back out of the socket in pulling it free.

But as you do, you rip

Arlo's face forth.

Right as the creature, its arms--

(squelching impact)

encircle you.

(gross heartbeat)

You take a body and a bleed.

ROBBIE: Goodnight, Irene.

ANJALI: Oh, no!

ROBBIE: I only got three bodies but I'm out on the bleed.

LAURA: Oh my god.

MATT: As you hope

in this desperate rage had made a difference,

your vision goes dark.

As you fall to the ground, unmoving

and without a face.

ROBBIE: (groans)

MATT: (gasps)

Arlo, you come to consciousness,

your face returned to your body, lying on the ground.

You're in shadow.

You're scared. You don't know what happened.

LAURA: I'm laying on my back?

MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: My hands are moving on the ground?

MATT: Yeah, you feel the ground. You feel the ground.

LAURA: I am going to--

Draw Rituals,

and shove my hand onto the ground again,

and I'm going to try to change the environment

and fill the entire room with light.

ASHLEY: Yes!

ANJALI: (gasps) ROBBIE: Whoa!

ASHLEY: Fuck, yes! ANJALI: (screams)

ASHLEY: Love it.

MATT: So you're filling the entire room with bright light?

I'm asking, how does this apparate?

Tell me, because this ritual happens automatically.

You take another scar.

LAURA: Yes, I do.

MATT: So explain to me...

What sort of light do you fill this with?

Where does it come from?

What intensity is this?

LAURA: (impactfully sighs)

In my

mind's eye,

I see Oldfaire as it was.

I see where

the lights were in the city.

I see where

the flames, the sconces on this wall used to be.

For a moment, this room is what it was.

All of those lights that would've been on, light up.

They're there. They're back.

MATT: As you finish this ritual,

this stream

of pale gray energy

(gentle whooshes)

spreads out through the cracks.

(electric skittering)

Snaking through all the broken architecture.

As it glides up through all the shattered,

spiraling, spider web-like cracks,

eventually, it finds--

(lights poofing)

All of these long forgotten ancient massive crystalline

and glass orbs that alight the chamber for the moment

in a brilliance not seen in more than probably 2,000 years.

The entire chamber--

(impactful boof)

comes to a vibrant life with an intensity

that almost blinds you.

You hear

a heinous shriek.

"(creepy shrieks)"

The creature withdraws back to the wall.

(quick grunts)

It's screeching, it's trying to get away

and it's unable to find purchase anywhere on the stone.

As it stands there, it begins to shrink

and wither and it's panicking and fidgeting.

What do you do?

LAURA: Are the sconces there?

Are the flames there that would've been there in the past

physically? MATT: You see, as they glow

in the light, they're mostly massive

stained glass orbs that are lit from within,

brazers and torches that give the light from the inside.

LAURA: I'm going to reach out and grab one

and as the creature's flailing against the wall,

I'm going to throw the flame at the creature directly.

MATT: Okay.

So the sconces, they're hanging

quite a bit up in the air.

LAURA: (sighs)

MATT: The closest one to you is

a bit of a leap to try and grab and pull it down.

There is one above it where it currently is situated.

LAURA: Oh, in that case,

I'm going to take the gun that I loaded,

and aim up and try to shoot

the thing connecting it to where it falls down

onto the creature.

MATT: There is a heavily rusted chain that holds it aloft.

LAURA: Okay. MATT: I would like you to

roll for Control.

LAURA: All right. MATT: To aim for

its weakest point.

LAURA: Okay.

Okay.

ROBBIE: No.

LAURA: I hear laughter from outside.

ROBBIE and ASHLEY: (laugh)

LAURA: I failed.

ROBBIE: Oh. MATT: You fail.

ROBBIE: No resistance? ANJALI: (squeakily) No resistance?

No special skills. ROBBIE: No.

No. LAURA: I have nothing.

MATT: (fires) It goes wide.

LAURA: That's good because the scar that I just took, y'all,

is two fully glass black eyes and I'm seeing

the other realm in addition to this realm.

So it's hard to fucking

tell what I'm doing. ANJALI: It's hard to fire.

Sure. ROBBIE: They'll adjust.

MATT: You fire and it just (tiny poof)

hits the dirt and rock nearby.

Dust tends to fall a little bit,

as the flames are still burning. LAURA: (angry growl)

MATT: But you can feel their--

Their energy, this arcana is temporary.

The creature is trying to get itself upward.

The intensity of this gives you a brain

as you are feeling this stress.

As right now in this moment, as you come to consciousness,

you look around and see

one friend unconscious and two faceless.

It causes your mind to almost snap.

The creature is still shrinking,

but it's starting to gain its strength,

as the lights are beginning to lessen.

LAURA: Is it against the wall like that?

MATT: It's against the wall, nowhere to run,

scratching and pulling away. LAURA: Oh god.

MATT: How many more bullets you got?

LAURA: I mean, I've used two so far, so I can try again.

MATT: You can try again, but each one of these failures

is going to come with another--

LAURA: (intense taps)

ROBBIE: Come on, do the dice. MATT: Another mark.

ROBBIE: Do the magic. ANJALI: Come on.

Come on.

MATT: Your bleed should be empty, by the way.

When you take a scar, they go away.

LAURA: (gleefully) Oh, really? MATT and ANJALI: Yeah.

ANJALI: Yeah. LAURA: Clutch.

All right.

Did you See This Coming, Auggie?

Did you See This Coming? MATT: (laughs)

Auggie can't see anything

right now. LAURA: Oh, I got a five!

MATT: You got a five. ANJALI: Yes!

MATT: You focus and as the light around you,

some of the braziers shut off

the ritual's power beginning to wane.

You focus, instead of using the light to guide you,

instead, you let the dark carry your arms.

You aim true.

(echoing gunfire)

(snapping) The chain snaps.

(falling)

(intense impact)

It crashes and immediately (flames whooshing)

flames burst around the creature.

"(shrieks)"

It shrieks and runs around. It tries to flee.

It falls, it stumbles, it reaches out.

You see its arms starting to stretch.

As the flames curl up the side, the fingers reaching.

The roots themselves, flailing and pulling back

before they begin to curl inward.

The smoke begins to billow and create this

black sooty interior of this chamber.

The streaks and the screams of all the faces

in unison now begin to fade one by one

until it's the singular,

curling, glowing light.

"(gurgles)"

Stumbles forward, the rest of the roots burning away.

As the orange glow begins to subside,

you just see the gray

burning face

of Edward

now freed from the form.

But he became lost in the void.

In that brief moment,

you see peace.

As he reaches for you.

"(stuttering groans)" LAURA: Love you.

MATT: And smiles before the cinders take him.

Your face returns.

Your face returns.

LAURA: (sighs)

LAURA: I just sit down.

Hello?

ROBBIE: (sniffs)

Ahem.

Oh, I-- (clears throat)

ASHLEY: What's--?

Did we win?

LAURA: I think so?

ANJALI: (painfully) Oh.

MATT: For the record, you are all in pitch black darkness.

All you pick up are your voices here in endless shadow.

LAURA: Does anybody have a lighter?

ASHLEY: Charlie?

ANJALI: (pained) Uh, yeah.

ROBBIE: I'd have to look around for it,

and I start pawing through the dark,

looking for my lighter. MATT: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Arlo, you're speaking, does that mean you have a face again?

LAURA: Is that because of you?

ROBBIE: Oh, maybe because of you.

My recollection is a bit foggy.

ANJALI: I'm looking around to see if I had his lighter,

because I don't think--

LAURA: I think you did, didn't you?

ANJALI: I'm trying--

ROBBIE: I think I got it back when I sparked my thing.

ANJALI: Yeah. LAURA: Oh,

that's right. ROBBIE: Do I find my--

may I search for my lighter?

MATT: It takes you a little bit because right now you have time,

and you can decide how long it takes,

but you do eventually find it amongst the rubble.

ROBBIE: (clicks)

LAURA: (zooms)

ROBBIE: Oh no! ANJALI: (laughs)

ROBBIE: Oh hello.

How are you, Charlie, are you feeling all right?

ANJALI: What,

what happened?

LAURA: Lycus?

I don't know where Lycus went, but the Snatcher is gone.

ROBBIE: Oh, so my theory was correct.

You defeated the beast single-handedly.

LAURA: (laughs) Not single-handedly,

but I-- yes, he is gone.

ROBBIE: Excellent.

ANJALI: And the portal?

LAURA: Closed.

We should find the amulet, bring it back to Candela.

ROBBIE: Hey, I believe it was destroyed, was it not?

LAURA: Completely?

ASHLEY: Yeah, I can go check it out.

LAURA: We should probably bring the remnants of it back.

ASHLEY: Yeah, I'll try to look. ANJALI: What happens, pieces--

MATT: You find a couple of shards of it--

ASHLEY: Okay. MATT: But the majority of it

has been scattered amongst the rest of the stone around.

LAURA: Okay.

ROBBIE: I'm going to pull out a little journal.

ANJALI: Oh god.

ROBBIE: I'm going to write,

"Lycus."

(laughter)

ANJALI: I'm going to roll over on one side,

and push myself up with the good arm,

and try to get my bearings.

How much can we see?

LAURA: Well, nothing.

ROBBIE: Yeah, just the light, because I have--

MATT: All you have is the lighter.

ROBBIE: Four feet, maybe. LAURA: We have to use

the lighter to get us out of--

ANJALI: Right, so.

ASHLEY: I kind of remember,

can I try to retrace our steps,

sort of feeling around, trying to remember?

ANJALI: I can certainly--

LAURA: We have the map still. ANJALI: Right.

LAURA: I'll, maybe we can rip one of my sleeves off,

and make a torch out of it again,

and then head up and out.

MATT: Yeah. It won't last too long, but it'll be enough

to at least guide you to a safer space.

Under torchlight, you recall where you entered,

where you climbed, and eventually escape back

to the welcome, if chilly, night air of Newfaire.

ROBBIE: I'm not one to imbibe,

but I believe I could use a drink.

ASHLEY: Same.

LAURA: Should we go to The Sight Unseen?

ANJALI: Sure, I suppose I could call the doctor there as well.

LAURA: We do need to inform Alexandra.

ROBBIE: She can wait.

LAURA: (laughs)

ANJALI: I think Stinson can help with that as well.

ROBBIE: Shall we?

LAURA: Howard, what is that around you?

ROBBIE: Around me?

LAURA: Something blue.

ROBBIE: Oh, blue?

LAURA: Mm.

ROBBIE: I'll introduce you sometime.

Oh, I feel strange.

Let's go, let's go, let's have a drink.

ANJALI: I pick up my arm, and put my hand into my pocket

just to hold it there.

And

shall we?

Again.

MATT: As you all clamber back to The Sight Unseen,

to rest, recover, drink, and process,

you take stock of the terrible things you've seen,

the terrible things you've surmounted.

It's one thing to know nightmares exist.

It's another to be part of the bulwark

that keeps them at bay.

It doesn't take long before you check in with Candela,

and learn that Kara's returned,

as well as a number of other figures that mysteriously

were discovered throughout the town.

Utterly connected to some semblance of underground

artifact and art rings, their faces mysteriously return.

Mass hysteria seems to speak of these strange sightings,

and medical workers who saw this strange disease,

but I mean, such a thing is ridiculous, right?

But when all is said and done, sore as you may be,

you've accomplished something very few have,

and sacrificed in some ways that very few are willing.

Candela is thankful for what you've done,

and give you as much time as you need,

indefinite as it may be.

For those that reach the thresholds

of their own capabilities,

perhaps a future as a Lightkeeper lies before you.

But

the city continues roaring on,

the populace obsessed with money and class,

performative presentation and industry, progress.

Unaware of the ancient dangers that lurk in every shadow,

and the many out there that seek to mine them

for their own personal glory.

Thank goodness there's people like you.

I think that's a good place to end this.

ASHLEY: (gasps)

ANJALI: Oh. ASHLEY: Oh man!

ANJALI: Yo!

LAURA: Woof. MATT: No joke,

I thought I was going to end that shit

in a really, I mean, I was, oh man!

ASHLEY: Yeah, I was like, "Oh, this is a TPK."

ANJALI: This is a TPK. This is what TPKs are!

MATT: Yeah! ANJALI: I've never had a TPK!

ROBBIE: I was one bleed away! ANJALI: A first time for everything!

ASHLEY: Woo! LAURA: Whoa.

ANJALI: Wow.

ASHLEY: Wow! ROBBIE: Oh man.

ANJALI: Oh. LAURA: God.

ASHLEY: Holy moly. ROBBIE: Scary, scary.

ANJALI: My boy, my boy. ASHLEY: I know,

I've got a scar there,

now I've got a scar! ROBBIE: Hey,

you have your first scar?

ASHLEY: I've got my first scar.

MATT: Auggie, what's your scar? ROBBIE: I have one, too.

ASHLEY: So when the

obsidian sort of exploded, the rock,

half of his face, you know, that sort of took the brunt

of the obsidian shrapnel.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

ASHLEY: It's scarred across the left side of his face,

and some of it's still black, you know,

you see little bits and pieces,

and his blue eyes, the left one

is just a little bit more milky.

And he cannot see out of his left eye anymore.

MATT: Hmm.

ASHLEY: So

I will take,

let's see here.

Maybe Control.

Because I probably wouldn't be able to shoot,

and drive as well.

MATT: It's up to you. ROBBIE: Mm.

ASHLEY: Then I place it somewhere else?

MATT: Yeah, wherever else you choose.

ASHLEY: Hmm. (tapping)

I'm going to put it in Sense.

MATT: Go for it.

ASHLEY: Because-- MATT: You can take things

to a three, too, if you like.

ASHLEY: I'm going to put it in Read

is what I'm going to do.

LAURA: Oh, that's cool. ASHLEY: Mm.

MATT: So you got a three in Read now.

ANJALI: Hmm. MATT: What you lack in depth perception,

you now gain a deeper understanding

of the dark secrets that people hide.

I like that.

Charlie, how does your scar operate?

ANJALI: I think when she got flung against the wall again by--

MATT: (laughs) That was some rough luck, but--

ANJALI: She's like a ragdoll.

MATT: I know. (laughs) ROBBIE: (whistles)

ANJALI: This time, she took a pretty severe blow to the head,

and when she, even when she's stopping

to focus on something, occasionally,

it's just hard for her to get that super clear sense

that she used to have.

So I'm going to take one away from Focus.

MATT: Okay.

ANJALI: I'm actually going to add one to Sense,

because I think this is the most experience she's ever had

with this level of

being surrounded, and enveloped by bleed.

Now she just, now that she knows what bleed manifests

as in herself,

she knows how to harness it.

MATT: Okay.

Fantastic.

Arlo, we've gone through your scars.

LAURA: Mm-hmm. I didn't change my last stat.

MATT: Oh, okay, what would you like to change?

LAURA: I'm going to take, yes, it sucks because it's gilded.

ROBBIE: Yeah. LAURA: I have a Read,

a gilded Read, so I don't know.

I would lose all of my dice in that,

so how would that work if I did that?

MATT: It would mean you'd roll two, and take the lowest

if the lowest is gilded.

LAURA: Mm.

MATT: But you can also move it from other statistics as well.

LAURA: Oh.

Okay, I will take one out of Control.

MATT: Okay.

LAURA: And

I feel like I can put it in Survey

since she has a sight into another vibe now,

maybe it'll help her see things--

MATT: I dig that. LAURA:-- in a new way.

MATT: Cool. ANJALI: Mm-hmm.

ROBBIE: Hey, how many scars you got?

LAURA: I've got three scars.

ANJALI: Ah. MATT: Ooh.

ROBBIE: One more and you're-- LAURA: One more and I'm a

Lightkeeper, or I'm out.

MATT: Correct. ROBBIE: A Lightkeeper or out.

LAURA: I'm out?

MATT: Well, you're either retired or dead.

LAURA: I understand. ROBBIE: (laughs)

ASHLEY: But retire means Lightkeeper?

ANJALI: Can she be keeper? LAURA: I can be a Lightkeeper.

MATT: Well, within Candela, that means you can

no longer adventure as an investigator,

and become a Lightkeeper, more likely than not.

LAURA: Okay, well, that'll be fun.

MATT: (laughs)

We've already done all of your scars, right?

LAURA: Maybe I'll get to tell all of you what to do.

ROBBIE: Well, not the bleed, I don't--

MATT: Not the bleed, that's right.

How does this come to operate within you, Dr. Margrove?

ROBBIE: Horrid headaches, until one day he's just had enough,

and he's at his home office working on the syllabus.

All right, enough of that.

He'll go fish a couple of things

out of his little knickknacks.

A bit of vine, a bit of leaf, a bit of black powder.

He'll sort of absentmindedly look

over his paperworks as he grinds this up,

and then holds it up in the air,

a little blue light just falls into it.

He takes it like a bit of snuff, and (sniffs) snuffs it.

This headache overwhelms him,

and the hole in his head that he hides beneath his hat

opens a little bit, and splits,

like a crack, straight down to the top of his eyebrow.

He has this literal blue scar

that now just leaks sometimes.

LAURA: Oh! MATT: (laughs)

ROBBIE: And he has to wipe it away.

MATT: That is heinous. ANJALI: Oh.

ROBBIE: It's horrible.

He is just a leaky boy.

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: He's just a leaky boy.

ANJALI: Our beefy boy is our leaky boy.

ROBBIE and MATT: (laugh)

ROBBIE: As he does so, where he was working on his syllabus,

he feels slightly better, the headache is gone,

and the pencil on his table rises up

on his own, and starts going (scritches).

Writing out next semester's syllabus for him.

ASHLEY: Oh!

ROBBIE: I'll add another Sense. ASHLEY: Cool.

ROBBIE: And I'll take away a Survey.

MATT: You got it.

ROBBIE: He's slowly going from the logical to the weird.

MATT: I love it. LAURA: The weird.

MATT: Okay. ANJALI: I-- yeah, that's true.

MATT: Well, I guess-- ROBBIE: We adventure slowly?

LAURA and ROBBIE: (laugh) MATT: For now, that puts

the Circle of the Vassal and the Veil

to rest until another

investigation calls it forward.

Indeed, Lycus is still out there somewhere.

(groaning)

LAURA: And Dorna woke up, too.

ANJALI: Yeah, I was just going to, Dorna.

ROBBIE: She didn't get roasted in the fire?

LAURA: Oh no, that's right.

She got roasted in the fire. ROBBIE: She did, right?

ANJALI: She did get roasted in the fire.

ROBBIE: She did get roasted-- MATT: You have no confirmation.

ASHLEY: We don't know. MATT: But it's likely.

ROBBIE: (laughs)

ANJALI: Yeah, yeah, okay.

MATT: That's a rough one to get out of.

Good news, probably not from smoke inhalation.

(laughter)

MATT: Bad news, the rest of it. ANJALI: Roasted, yeah.

MATT: But yeah, nevertheless.

ASHLEY: That was so fun!

LAURA: That was so fun! ASHLEY: That was really fun.

ROBBIE: That was really fun. MATT: Really fun, y'all.

We did the accelerated lumination track,

I don't think we really need to do it for this

since it's the end of this three-point story.

ASHLEY: No!

MATT: But we can kick back into it,

should we have an opportunity

to return to this in the future.

But regardless, you've all been fantastic.

You know I love playing with you all.

Thank you so much for coming along with this.

ANJALI: Thank you. LAURA: Thank you!

MATT: Thank you for coming along with us.

Big love, and round of applause

to my fantastic players at the table.

Ashley Johnson,

Anjali Bhimani,

Laura Bailey,

Robbie Daymond.

I have been your humble game master, Matthew Mercer.

LAURA: Woo! (clapping)

MATT: Thank you so much for joining us, and

is it Thursday yet?

Good night.

ASHLEY: Ooh. ANJALI: Yay!