The Glass Cannon Podcast - Time For Chaos S2 | E3 – Artist In Residence

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Following up on an article that Jackson Elias was interested in, the investigators arrive at the residence of a local artist. Watch the video here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/r-rc9sYMtic For a limited time, use code "TFC" to save 15% on Cthulhu products at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠chaosium.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Access exclusive podcasts, ad-free episodes, and livestreams with a 30-day free trial with code "GCN30" at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠jointhenaish.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Troy Lavallee, Joe O'Brien, Skid Maher, Matthew Capodicasa, Sydney Amanuel, and Kate Stamas as they tour the country. Get your tickets today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cn8wr0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cmY380⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Watch new episodes when they premiere every Friday at 8PM ET on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/theglasscannon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, starting July 11th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You are listening to the Glass Cannon Network, the premier source for role-playing game entertainment. Ladies and gentlemen, TGIF, it's Friday night and it's time for chaos. We are back. Earlier today while I was procrastinating doing my prep for this, I was scanning through the Instagram, as the kids say, and I stumbled upon this douche Real estate guy maybe in New York and he was giving a tour of his 14 million dollar townhouse in New York and you have never seen an apartment You never seen a home like this let alone an apartment in New York City And I'm watching this guy give I think he's trying to sound humble But also not humble like here's my sauna and my swimming pool like in a New York apartment just crazy elevator with like a mural where every floor

it just showed the mural through a window on the other. It was the craziest thing and I thought to myself if I had 14 million dollars I don't think I'd buy an apartment in New York. You could just be like an hour outside the city and get something 10 times the size of that. Your thoughts, would you with 14 million, where would you buy a home? If you could buy a home anywhere, would you buy it in a big city knowing that you'd be getting a lot less bang for your buck?

I'd probably have to start looking into like property taxes and like seeing how much I can build on. That's very responsible of you. Let's just leave dreaming and imagination out of it. That's a very responsible answer. Millennials don't dream anymore. Yes. Post 2008, our dream life has become emaciated in Christ reality. I've been given $14 million. I'm forced to buy a home with it.

No, that's your budget. Your budget is 14 mil. I imagine you're liquid like it's 14 mil cash You're not getting out of you're not taking out a mortgage for 14 mil It's gonna cost you I have this fortune. I'm just trying to wrap my mind around Wanting to spend the 14 million dollars on a house. I would imagine I'm forced to find a place to live. You have enough money to point. A homeless $14 million has been dropped and they're like. No, because if you're homeless, now we're going to start worrying about property tax.

This is why people win the lottery end up in jail. No, I'm just saying you've got enough money where you go to a financial guy and he's like, all right, let me see. With the money you make, you can afford a $14 million home with everything that comes with it. Money didn't fall out of the sky. No scratch ticket. That's you.

You worked hard and you got 14 million. I think my radius would have to be like, how far away can I live outside of like a big city but I could still like Uberats something that I enjoy eating. That's an important consideration. The moment I moved out of the city, Seamless and Uber Eats and all that, the choices became a little bit more bare until COVID when all of a sudden everybody started delivering. Oh, yeah. Thank you, COVID.

Before that, it was all red lobster and olive garden. Nobody ever thanks COVID. Thank you, COVID. Before that, it was all red lobster and olive garden. Nobody ever thanks COVID. Thank you, COVID, for that. Kate, you recently purchased a home not too long ago. You could have lived anywhere. What did you do with your 14 million? How did you decide? I could not have gone anywhere.

So you kind of changed the parameters. If I had enough money to where I could buy a $14 million house. Yeah, you got 14 million to spend. Where would you go? You kind of change the parameters. If I had enough money to where I could buy a $14 million house. Yeah, you got $14 million to spend. Where would you go? Would you just go to like South Dakota and buy the best house in South Dakota? No, no, no, there's nothing there.

It's like you got a nice house but then there's nothing around. Like first of all, I had- Some people don't care about that though. That's why I'm asking. Those people are wrong. Okay. If I had that money, first of all,

you would never fucking see me again. Like I'm not someone who's gonna be like, I'm gonna get more money. I'm gonna become a CEO. Like you'd never see me again, you'd never hear from me again. And I'd be in my fancy apartment in Brooklyn. Yes, I'd buy a place in Brooklyn. Because 14 million is a good budget

for looking around in like Brooklyn. I don't know, it's kind of hard though, because I'm afraid of being flooded again, and there's lots of flood areas down there. So I don't know where, but property taxes are better in the city than they are where you are and where I am. You guys have some pragmatic answers to this question. I just want to take them. I just don't want to be told what to do with this $14 million, man. I want to fucking make a movie.

Listen, you've got extra money. Again, this the money is meeting you No one is meeting you where you're at Troy like Rob doesn't want to repel this entire thought experiment entirely taking this way to theory seriously thinking about pragmatic Property taxes building codes zoning laws I'm gonna take that 14 million I'm gonna build on an island off the coast of Maine and live like a crazy hermit there it is I'm going to build on an island off the coast of Maine and live like a crazy hermit. There it is. An A-frame house on a cliff off the coast of Maine where I can see whales and seals out of my window.

Maybe a tiny little boat putters out every week to give me fresh supplies and I just become more and more eccentric by the day. You're the person where like the cast of the horror movie like they run into you Exactly Can we shoot the movie at your house exactly when this guy in the in the in the Instagram you're describing when he and his Friends are on their pleasure barge and it crashes on my island I will be there in my in my rain slicker looming over them really yes You may spend the night until the next tug and then it's off with a lot of you.

And who knows what happens. I feel like you have money left over. No, you show up with a shotgun. Oh, you're just in time, but tonight's hunt. Yes indeed. Have you ever hunted the most dangerous game? I don't know. I mean, there was a time in my life when like, oh yeah, an apartment like that, just the

fact that something like that exists, you'd be'd be like well who wouldn't want that but now an old man like that's that's the last Thing I want I would get I don't I don't know what I would do it. I think I would stay family I have a family so that's that changes everything Fucks things up I didn't say that 14 million is you can go into the movie. It going to have to go to the fucking college funds, whatever. Again, you have other money to make the movie. This is just your house.

No, no. This is the money now. I've been given this money. I have friends be like, I take that 14 million, go to Vegas, put it on black, buy two houses. Anyway. I'd probably buy two houses with that. I would sell my house, get a million dollar house where I live here, and get a five million dollar place in the city.

Little piano tear. Little five million dollar piano tear. This is my problem. I don't have that hustler's grind set. I wouldn't. I'm not going to invest this fantasy money. I want to build my creepy island manse. I didn't think I wanted a creepy island. Does it have candelabras? Yeah, you bet.

You've made creepy island. Creepy island is the correct answer, I guess. Uh, well, uh, you guys are not on a creepy island anymore. You have left New York, and you are now in beautiful sunny London. Um, last week's episode, I mean, so much went on. I feel like I've taken the, uh taken the book from Master Neal at the top and I've thrown it out the window because we're doing our own thing now. It's a lot easier to play.

It is the first week of February 1925 when you meet up with your old pals, Jonah Kensington and Carlton Ramsey to sort of discuss last plans. That book is so far away, I'm never going to get it if I need a note. You discuss plans on, you've decided to go to London and they wanted to like jog their memory of anything they knew about what Jackson Elias told them of his trip in London before you go. And also like they seem like they're kind of trying to talk you out of it like you don't have to do this but you feel compelled whether out of a respect

for the memory of Jackson Elias or just out of your own curiosity or perhaps your own dwindling sanity is pushing you deeper into the darkness. You learn a little bit more about Jackson's final weeks and you get a couple of leads. You know that you have a card to the Penhew Foundation, Sir Arthur Penhew was one of the members of the Carlisle expedition. He had, Jackson Elias had a card for Edward Gavigan who is the, as far as you know, the current director of the Penhew Foundation. You also know he met with someone named Mickey Mahoney at a sort of like dirt rag known as

the Scoop and Inspector Barrington of Scotland Yard. You then begin your boat journey from New York to London. During that time you heal, Margot, still suffering from serious wounds and all of you suffering from various mental wounds. You take that time, that fresh salty air to heal. In this downtime, Vaughn approaches Freuse with a rather interesting proposition. As he'll be returning to his homeland, he will no doubt at some point have to visit his family and his family has certain expectations for him. He basically proposes to Feyrez a marriage of convenience, perhaps?

Inconvenience? Who knows? You then arrive in London. You decide to stay at the Waldorf in London and start working on some sort of cover story for what you're doing here. Then you make your way to the scoop. Well, you have me old Mickey Mahoney, who remembers Jackson and is saddened to hear of his loss. That news traveled all the way to London via The Wire out of respect for Jackson.

He didn't write a sensationalized story about it. But he does tell you that when he spoke to Jackson, Jackson looked through his periodicals and was interested in a few articles. So now you have more leads. One of them is called It Almost Had Me, about some sort of attacks happening in the pea soup of London. Police baffled by monstrous murders. Slaughter continues.

Reward offered. And shocking canvases craze. And this is the one that really jumps out to you because it's local. You feel like this is something you could investigate right away. You just head across town over to Chelsea and you could see why Jackson would be interested in this so now armed with a few more leads you head over to Chelsea let's do a quick housekeeping here a luck roll let's see if we get some luck back little daily time for chaos housekeeping you roll a d100 if you roll over your luck score fail your luck score

You will get d10 luck back and you're gonna need it Oh wow, oh that sucks. I only have six luck and I rolled a two You lose all your luck in the new house rule that I just made up right now. No. No. I unfortunately succeeded on that one. So sorry.

Any failures? I got a 72 over 48. There you go, there's a guy that needs some luck. And what about Mr. Tillinghast? I got a 66 over 20 something and now I have 32 luck. Okay. All right. Party time.

So. All right. Add a D10 to your luck if you rolled over. D10 to your luck. Yeah. May all your D10 rolls be tensed. Let's see You head over to Chelsea and you find yourselves today outside of six Holborn Muse Near Sloan Square in London you arrive in late afternoon

But it's dark and it's Sad out it's depressing. I'd never been to, but imagine everyone there is sad because of the weather. The crumbling empire. The Shipley home sits in a terraced row of houses and like most of the houses on this street it's a two-story brick building in need of repair. Every window of the Shipley home is barred and curtained. You see a front door as well as an alleyway that leads to like a tall brick wall in the back of the building with large trees surrounding it. You think maybe there might be like a garden back there or a backyard.

There's a skylight on top of the building that you can see. As you walk down the street and approach the Shipley residence, you get this sensation that people are looking at you from behind the curtains of all these tenements. But then again, even at your most well-rested these days, you're always on edge with this ever-persistent feeling that you're being watched. Just to jog both your memory and the memory of the audience, let's go back to the article that sort of jumped out at you. Shocking Canvases Craze. Let's give this another once over here. Ross,

please. Sure. Quickly pulling him up. Shocking canvases. Now collectors can buy savage scenes which rival or surpass the worst nightmares of the great war, but which are far more exotic than that grim business. London artist Mr. Miles Shipley's work is being sought out by collectors who have paid up to 300 pounds for individual paintings. This correspondent has seen a number of the works of artist Miles Shipley and finds them repulsive beyond belief. Maidens ravished, monsters ripping out men's innards, shadowy grotesque landscapes, and faces grimacing in horror represent only a fraction of Shipley's nightmarish work.

Despite their repellent content these works are conceived and executed with uncanny verisimilitude. Mr. Shipley's imagination is sublime, and it is almost as though the artist had worked from photographs of alien places, surely never of this earth. The artist reportedly is in contact with other dimensions in which powerful beings exist, and says he merely renders visible his visions. Mr. Shipley is a working class man without formal artistic training who has nonetheless made good where thousands have failed. Art

critics say that Shipley provides an English answer to the continental artistic movement of surrealism, whose controversial practitioners have still to convince John Bull that the way in which a thing is painted is more important than what is painted. A tip of the hat to Mr. Shipley for exposing those frauds. Wow, real shame. Yeah, now you know, especially having met Mickey Mahoney, that this is like a National Enquirer type thing. Everything is, the details may be bumped up just to sell papers. So you don't really know how much

fact or fiction is here, but you do know that Jonah was interested in this. I do have a picture of the outside of this building, which I will show you sometime in this episode. Great. If you go to the virtual tabletop of choice here. I will reveal a little photo of the facade. What do you do? We're standing outside the front here? Yep, smoking cigarettes.

Well, I don't know what I expected. Everything is so creepy. This is the sort of garris that your bohemian set find themselves in. Is it not, Froland's are? Oh, yes. We just love creepy decrepit buildings. That's just how we find our inspiration. All right.

Who wants to go into the creepy building? Should we knock or should we just, you know, SWAT team this? I'm assuming maybe there were SWAT teams. Yes. Not sure. Now I was on a SWAT team back at Eaton where it was group of boys that would all target one of the first form lads and then SWAT them good.

That's sort of SWAT team I know Yes, it um Brings a boy up soundly with a with a respect for their elders Yes has no psychological ramifications whatsoever on one I propose that we simply knock upon the door if this man is a I propose that we simply knock upon the door if this man is a approach yeah in a It's an artist in the in a habit of receiving patrons then

What what what what do we have to fear what kind of day is it Troy again late afternoon? Yeah, it's late afternoon guys as you know Not a uncouth time to knock on a door. So I say we do that. So just give it a little. Yeah, but I think Vaughn here should be the one to talk to first, give him a comforting accent. Know what I mean? Oh yes, probably, you're right.

You want someone knocking on your door, four o'clock in the afternoon, you open it, it's an accent that's not your own. I'm quite right, Tillyhast. I think your abrasive American timbre would frighten this man out of his senses. Oh, I love to talk to him about all manner of topics. I'll give him a taste of his native accent

and then, Froland Sauer, if you're, you can, I suppose, speak to him in the international language of the Bohemian set, to which I am not an initiate. Again, all wrap wrap wrap wrap at the door I suppose I'll just try to wink at him I can offer nothing in the situation yes we're a charged wink occasionally works wonders where words fail I tried to knock on obtrusively you stow the battering ram and rap at the door. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum.

Bit of a pause. Maybe you dare to knock again. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum. Then you hear footsteps approaching. Yes, coming, coming. And unlock, unlock, unlock. The door creeps open and you see an old woman, maybe in her 70s, a stooped frame, very kind eyes, white hair.

She kind of looks like a heavyset Judi Dench, but maybe a little hunchbacked. I'll show you a photo of her in the side there. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, hello. How may I help you? Pardon the interruption for coming so late, madam, but I was wondering if we might have the pleasure of speaking to a tenant of yours.

One Mr. Miles Shipley? Miles isn't a tenant of mine, that's my son, Miles. But keep my rudeness, that's my son, Miles. Forgive my rudeness, my terrible, terrible rudeness. No, not at all, not at all. May I ask, are you here to see his paintings? We didn't have anyone set up for an appointment, but how many are you? You're welcome to come in if you are prospective buyers.

Miles, Miles, there's some people here. My son is painting at the moment, but I'm sorry, I'm presuming. What brings you to our home? Well, I think you've sussed us out, Mrs Shipley, we're potential buyers, patrons, and those interested in matters artistic. Are there people screaming on my street? I have to say there. Who looks?

It is a rather odd street. Sloan Square feels considerably closer and more looming than it was the last time I saw it. That's what it used to be. I'm sorry, please continue. But, Parpet, if we could have an audience with your son, I would dearly like to see his canvases. And my associate, Miss Saur here, is a rather innovative artist on her own. And I'm sure she may find sort of fraternal regard in one so sung by the Muses as your son. Also, Mr. Tillinghast here is quite a mover and shaker in the art world. And so I'm sure one mention of your son's work by Mr. Tillinghouse here, he's been able to change people's lives.

Yes, I've known very well in all the most upscale establishments and salons of New York. He's actually my agent. That's right. Yes, that's Connor Tillinghouse, American. How are you? New York, and your accent is quite different than yours. So you are the only person from England here? Yes, we form a rather cosmopolitan body, but we're all, um, all interested parties in what you're... in seeing what your son is capable of. We've heard about it with rumor, but we'd see it with our own eyes.

Oh, well, yes, please come, come, come in. I'm sorry, I'm keeping you out in the cold. Miles, come down here. I have some visitors that want to look at your art. He gets so wrapped up in his paintings, and sometimes it's hard to get him away, but please, please come in. And she ushers you inside and shuts the door

Lock lock lock and it's like crazy dark inside You saw from the outside that all the windows were barred and curtained and they don't have Many lights on in the house at all. This may be like a couple of sconces that are very very dimly lit you find yourselves in a hallway and there's a set of stairs going up. That's where she was yelling. There's a door directly to your right that is closed and then two doors down the end of the hallway on the left and the right and then one door directly at the end of the hallway that looks like it opens into a kitchen.

And then on the other side of the kitchen on the far side of the kitchen is a door that goes out you would think to the outside, whether that's a garden or a backyard. You don't know. But she she says, Ah, here he is now. And a guy comes down and he's very, very, very gaunt. His hair is all disheveled. He has like bags under his eyes, maybe like late thirties, but he looks a little older. And he's kind of wringing his hands. He says, oh, hello, mother.

Sorry, I was busy working. Are you here to look at my paintings, to purchase my paintings? Possibly purchase, I don't wanna presume. Yes, perhaps purchase, but also just surrealist to surrealist. I would just love to look at your your art and chat with you about your process. Oh, I suppose we could discuss that. I have not one to talk too much about what it is I do. But

absolutely. Where are you? Where are you from? And the mother says, oh, Miles, sorry, he's not the most social among us. This gentleman here, I didn't catch your name, points to you, Vaughan. Yes, once again, terribly sorry for my rudeness. The name is Villiers, Vaughan Villiers. Villiers. Yes. Vaughan Villiers, and this is a Mr. Tillinghast from New York City. And this lovely woman here, I did not catch your name, points to you, Ferris.

I'm sorry, Ferris Gibran. I'm a historian, so I too have interest in your work, Mr. Shipley. A historian? Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Yes, very, very interesting. And then you, a very distinct accent. Sauer, was it? Yes, Margot Sauer, artist.

Margot Sauer, artist, a fellow artist, Myles. Perhaps you could learn something from her. And now just remind me again, what brings you all to England? You're just collectors going about? We travel the world looking for interesting art so that we can buy it and also write about it and also critique it. And gain inspiration. And get inspiration.

And seeing as how England has stripped away the fine art of many places around the world, I thought that this would also be... Oh, sorry. Yeah, a favorite. Colonialism aside, we just... This is the next stop on our adventure.

Our art adventure. As you're standing there now with the door closed, it stinks in here. It's like this really overwhelming like BO smell. You don't know if Miles brought it down with him or if it's just now that you're standing in this dark dingy hallway, but it's very unkempt in here. It's very, very unclean. You can actually see in what little light there is over the archways of each doorway, like thick, thick cobwebs that you could very easily just wipe away. She says, oh, yes, and now how did you find out about Miles' work?

We know that he has been the talk of the town from time to time. Many famous people will come and purchase his paintings, but I'm always curious where people find out about my son. Well, of course, his reputation precedes him, madam. He's been published in some local publications. But a friend of ours also, I believe, had an interest in your work, Mr. Shipley. I wonder if you had a meeting with an associate of ours by the name of Jackson Elias.

And he's still standing on the stairs, kind of looming over. He's like, no, I don't remember a Jackson Elias, but I don't always get the names of everyone that comes to look at my work. It's possible that he came and was not interested. That does happen from time to time. Can I do some sort of check because I'm getting like Mendoza vibes No, like is he going to die and become a monster in front of us? Mendoza really ruined you guys for every other

Human and he just seems like he's sick or hurting or something. I don't know Yeah, is that stench familiar? Vaughn is just like shaking his head internally just like bohemians All right, so we had two things we're thinking about here with trying to like do a sort of a psychology check here on Miles Shipley, but then maybe in a natural world if anyone has natural world or You could even do a no role, which is just a straight-up intelligence role But it might be a little harder to try and place this this awful smell I mean I have 50 in natural world. I'm also good with psychology

I don't know if one someone wants to do one. Why don't you do everything? I'll do a no role because all those other options are not very good for a poopy. How's everybody else's psychology just? Pretty bad, but um I mean I gotta take a swing not great That's actually quite good. He's good 50s like what mine is so I mean natural world then okay Yeah, if you've got natural world or a no roll. Let's's try and figure out this scent first And then you can all take a stab. I Don't know if that's a good or bad. That's a three under 50 Yeah, she knows a little about the natural world folks this is not natural Alright so you're

Don't even anybody else has you know no one's going to get better than extreme success I don't think. Well, you could quit. But you smell – at first it just smells like somebody needs to shower, but then you realize it kind of smells like the zoo. But even more with an extreme success, it smells like the last time you visited the reptile house at the zoo. It has a very familiar almost reptilian smell to it.

Like… Can I tell where it's coming from or is it just kind of… It pervades the entire house. You know from outside you didn't catch it because you're still outside but now that you're behind closed doors You get that reptilian smell Let's try psychology on miles just to see what he's doing. I tried I'd missed it. I got a 93 over 50 almost a family also failed von is just like yeah, yes the

The the affected Antisocial behavior of the bohemian set. He's always fighting against his innate class prejudice. I did get a 20 under 25 on psychology. Okay, 20 under 25 for psychology. He seems very nervous and kind of like he's maybe cowering to his mother a little bit. He's just kind of nervous around his mother. She rules the roost and he feels like kind of lesser than that's the sense that you get just like psych in your sort of armchair psychologist like you know maybe you think oh he's the artist he should be the one that's but no it's his

daughtering old mother that's kind of running this conversation and they're just like well I was sitting here talking, you know, please, we should go and bring you up to the garret to see the paintings. Miles, lead the way. And so he starts walking up and she invites you to follow him. Okay. If we're all going, I might try to take her arm at the end of the line and sort of like

walk her up the stairs and... Oh, you're so kind. Yes, you must be terribly proud. I'm curious, I've heard that your son is completely untrained. I'm wondering when this artistic gift of his was manifest. Was he always an artist, even when he was a boy? The papers said he was untrained. I always found that word to be rather uncouth. He is self-taught, yes. His father had a bit of an interest in it and you know he passed when he was a young boy and I think as he was discovering himself he

was looking for passions and stumbled upon a sort of hobby of his late fathers and really took to it. But it wasn't until this new subject matter that he began to draw that he really started to garner the attention he so deserved. Oh thank you. I just have trouble with this third step You're quite strong You flatter and I'll lift her to the upper story and Carter's kind of touching the railing. It's like all this dust is coming off like you guys really keep it like the Tower of London in here. Let's do a great tour. Thick layer of dust. Is there any sign of his artwork like on the walls or anything?

Yeah, what's around? In fact, the walls are completely barren. There are no adornments whatsoever. It's very, very depressing in here. And dark, like I said. And it smells bad. And it smells bad. Carter's taken out one of those little cologne vials.

Still carries around little cologne bits. Just constantly spritzing the air in front of himself so he can walk through it. They take you up to a second floor and on the second floor there's four more doors on this level. Two sort of flanking another staircase that goes further up and then two on the other side of this open area. And Miles keeps walking up this set of stairs to a single door and he pulls out a ring of keys and he's like, yes, right this way.

And he unlocks the door to the garrote, the attic. Locked on. Oh, yes. unlocks the door to the garrote, the attic. You get locked, huh? Oh, yes. I never know if there could be people who are trying to take my hard work, an ounce of prevention, yes. Right this way. And he opens the door, please come in.

And he stands there inviting you all up. Have you had a problem with people trying to take your arts before? No, no, but I was never, I didn't really, no one cared about my art until they did. And you know, now that we have some money in our pocket, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Troy, can I do a...

And you saw bars on all the windows too, whereas the other houses didn't have that. Yeah, is there a way that I can check, given my nefarious depth, this lock, like to see how recent it is, or can I say like, is a design to keep something in the box Yeah, I mean the lock is on the outside of the door So it can't be locked from within but

Take a roll. Yeah, give me a locksmith roll. I Know how to yeah, I got 36 under 48 I know how to, yeah I got a 36 under 48. The lock doesn't really stand out to you, is anything super impressive? All you know is that you could probably pretty easily pick it. It's not like a superior lock. Okay, and it looks like it's, like in terms of its installation, it looked like older, newish. Maybe in the last couple of years it was put on there.

It doesn't match the rest of the house, so it was a later edition. Are there any smells coming from other places in the house? Yeah. So you're really, once you realize that there's a stink, if you focus in on like, is there a place where this stink is coming from or any other, any places where the stink is worse than others, you can really hone in on that. Give me a spot hidden.

Smell hidden. Give me a smell hidden. Okay, I failed, but I'm gonna burn some luck to, I'm gonna burn four points of luck to make that a success. Okay. So you successfully really try to focus your senses in on is there a place where something smells worse than others and you feel pretty confident That it is all around you this smell there is nothing like oh behind that door or anything like that

It is just like it's everywhere, and you don't see any animals whatsoever. You did see several closed doors But you don't hear anything or see anything. It's just stinky. There's a cobalt waiting for us on the other side of the door. Maybe this guy's so wrapped up in his, I was gonna say maybe this guy's so wrapped up in his art that his mom is too like old to take care of the house

and he's too focused on that, you know, but you know that he's selling paintings. They should have a little bit of money. So yeah, things aren't really adding up. You have a general feeling of unease as you walk up the stairs Yeah, and this door that he's unlocking are there are there other doors seem to have the sex similar locks on them? Or is it just this one? Thinking back as you were taking in every door. You didn't see any other locks that looked like this You do see as you're entering the room another door in the

room in the attic basically you think it must knowing the slope of the roof like it could only be like a closet maybe or a crawl space that has another lock on it. You also notice that the sky light that you saw from outside has been completely painted black so that no light can get in. There is an easel in the middle of the room with a bunch of paint around it with its back to you and it looks like that's what he's working on now. And then in the back corner of the room are several other paintings, some hanging on the wall, some sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, maybe another one or two

on an easel. There's a lot going on in here. And the mother says, oh, I didn't even introduce myself. It's Bertha Shipley. By Bertha you could call me B. I was just about to make some tea for Miles and myself. I could easily make some more, but I just have trouble carrying it all up. Would one of you mind assisting me in carrying up the tea? I'll go with you. I was once married to an old woman, and I would be more than happy to assist you, madam.

Oh, wonderful. Please come with me. And so you go down the stairs as the three of you stay up in the attic with Miles. I say, old man, I was given to understand that You artists favored exposure to a great quantity of light For it was it was light itself that you are that you are painting the way it played upon the subject and all that But I have to say to my untrained eye. It seems though you keep your studio about as darkened as a tomb Yeah, and you see there are a couple of like dangling kerosene lamps barely lighting the room. You think anyone could even work in here, let alone like see what they're doing.

And he looks up as you say that and at the dangling lights and he's like, I just found that over time the natural light that came in cast too many shadows, too many hard shadows while I work and it just became too distracting. I started just by painting a little bit of the skylight but then I found that I worked better in the dark. Anyhow, is there a particular subject that you were looking for? Did you just want to see everything? Very interested in the stories behind each painting and what inspires you to paint as you do. So if you could please

give us a little information about each piece that would be very useful for both my perspective as a writer, as an historian, as well as for the assessing the value I suppose of each piece. Sorry to be so crass old boy to talk about fiduciary matters when it comes to art, but I'm afraid I'm rather a dilettante and only acquire what I deem to be beautiful or interesting. But, and I, again, sorry for being crass, but I suppose it's the most cliché question one can ask an artist, but where do you get your ideas?

an artist but where do you get your ideas? Mostly when I sleep I'll see things in my dreams that inspire me and the next morning I will go to work recreating what I see in many ways. Um, in the past I would just draw the world around me and no one cared. But, uh, ever since I started tapping into, uh, perhaps my, my subconscious self, I, um, was able to, uh, breathe new life into my work. breathe new life into my work. You should know my paintings range anywhere from 75 to 300 pounds or more, but what you may like is different from the next. What you may prize will be different than the rest. Please, I shouldn't talk, I should just show you. And he brings you over to these paintings and as you turn to look at them, they are all highly, highly disturbing. Let me go downstairs to the kitchen and she's got her back to you and you're in this tiny little kitchen and you see a door

that leads outside. The curtains are drawn, but you can see through the curtains, it looks like a little garden area, all those trees sort of blocking the area from anyone else's view. Then there's a single door in the kitchen. You pass by several doors that are all closed as you walk down the hallway that is closed. So, New York City, does your interest in art take you all around the world or just to jolly old England? No, I'm a very cosmopolitan man traveling all over. Oh.

But England was one we just we knew, you know, on our little adventure. We had to stop by, you know, and see what's going on, what the haps is. So, you know, it's funny, in America, we put ice in our tea. You ever do that here? Oh, no. You don't have ice? It's not, some people frown upon it.

Not I, if the tea is too hot, sometimes you need to cool it off. Your friend had mentioned someone, Jackson Elias, was it? What is your association with this gentleman? I'm curious what the connection is. Only just heard of him, really. He's written some books that seem to catch on a little bit here and there.

Just a fascinating person. Never met him personally. Writer, what type of books did he write? Non-fiction works. I love a good non-fiction yarn. Non-fiction writer. Yeah, because it's true. You know what I mean?

That's what's so crazy about it. Right, yes. So non-fiction writer may have had interest in my son's paintings. That's what's so crazy about it. Right, yes. So a non-fiction writer may have had interest in my son's paintings. That's what brought me here. Well, he's probably writing a book about, I would imagine he's writing a book about art, non-fiction, probably a coffee table book. Book about art. Well, my son's pieces are very, very specific.

Usually people that come calling have an interest in that subject matter. I'm sorry. They're very specific. They just don't want to see cool art. They're just very... I want to come here and get this intestine ripped out kind of thing. Well, yes. It's a very specific buyer. You know, many occultists we find. Famous occultists are interested in his work. He is quite a talent.

Yeah, a lot of dots. May I ask, what happened to your face? Oh, I forgot that I look like this. Yeah, I was, unfortunately, in my last marriage, which, if I had already mentioned, was to a scintillated elderly woman. Unfortunately, on the grounds of her estate, I was kicked in the face by one of her horses. Oh, that's horrible. That's horrible. It didn't feel great, I'm not going to lie.. It kinda blacked out immediately. But the cool thing is everyone thinks that I went to the war. So stolen valor can get you some drinks now and again,

when it's not prohibition. So you didn't go to the war, you're not a fighter? I wouldn't say that, madam. I fight for love,, but I don't fight for America or countries really Good. Yeah good. Yeah, all of a sudden the tea starts whistling We go back upstairs and you start to take in these paintings. The first one is the one that he's currently working on and it looks like an alchemist lab with like vials all over the place pouring forth foul looking gases and working at the table

is what looks like a scientist at first, but then you realize that it's not a human, it's like a reptilian humanoid who seems eagerly involved in the dissection of some creature on a nearby table. And the creature on the table is so torn apart you can't tell what it was. If it was another person, if it was an animal, it's completely unrecognizable due to the blood and lack of recognizable features. You start to take in another one. There's a processional scene from what looks like ancient Egypt pyramids all over the place. You see a golden chariot passing through a mass of people who are all falling to their knees and sort of bowing

in reverence as this chariot passes by. Atop the chariot is a pharaoh dressed in black and gold robes, but the face of the pharaoh is turned away from the viewer of the painting. Behind this figure, two men have been impaled on stakes, completely eviscerated, and their internal organs are hanging down to the ground. What is touching the ground is being torn apart by a pair of jackals. Another painting you see is a woodland scene at night. A yellow moon casting sickly rays through dark branches upon this little grove full

of nude men and women cavorting around a bonfire, some dancing, some copulating, and then rising from the flames is the image of a goat-headed man whose outstretched arms seem to be conducting all the antics of these people. You see a very unsettling and stomach-churning scene of a man being cut open with a silver dagger and you see the hand of the person cutting is like a black-robed figure. It's some sort of blood sacrifice and upon the victim's chest has been carved an occult looking sigil.

And as you look at the sigil, it almost seems to twist and move as you watch it. Does this make a sanity roll? Maybe? Or is it just art? It's just art. It's just art. Oh.

It does. Relax, Vaughn. It's just art. It can't hurt you. What triggers the sanity roll for all of you is when Margo kind of separates from the pack and is reminded of that vision she saw not too recently where she put on a mask and she was in an attic and heard someone feverishly scratching and then you walked

through paintings to see someone like drawing or painting something and they turn to look at you. You're brought back to that moment and then you come face to face with another vision so similar to when you first looked into the mask. This one is titled, it's called Black Mountain and you see this towering mountain, perhaps in Africa, over which rises a monstrous demonic creature, and it has a great tentacle for a head that is swathed in blood. And near a temple-like building, tiny human figures lift their hands imploringly skyward in supplication to this hellish god-like entity. And from each of these human's heads, a red tongue or perhaps a tentacle similar to this

creature dangles. And it reminds you of not only the vision you saw, but of the headdresses of the cultists of the Bloody Tongue. All three of you roll a sanity check That's a failure no no no no no no It's just paintings though. It's just painting. It's not real right. It's not real World a hard success hard success, okay Margo Unreal. World Day Hard Success. Hard Success, okay.

Thank you, World 20. Margo. Regular Success, 56 under 96. All right, so Margo and Feroz lose 1d3 sanity. With a success. Vaughn, you lose 1d6 plus 2 Mind if you get a 5 you have to talk so if I have if I get anything Basically, oh chances a good folks. You need a 1 or a 2 here. Oh my god. I rolled a 2

Alright so you lose four points of sanity now remember when you fail a sanity check. There's always some sort of Reaction, what do you think happens to Vaughn in that moment? Okay Like as you're losing it. I'm sitting there next to you going it's just a painting right? Yes. I think this I'm taking the Vaughn is Has asked to smoke of course and, and he's got like a dangler just in his lip, kind of, as he takes in all these paintings. And they just slowly, to him, become more and more familiar. Like they're crawling into his skin and there's something too of a, I mean he had a vision as well of seeing someone like scratching the walls of a cave. And there's something too of like some early like Lascaux cave artist, just the idea of

these like cursed renderings but then when he sees the the tongues the the image of the cultists that they encountered back in New York I think he maybe whips around and grabs Miles by the collar and like is I think this is like dreams did you say when in God's name did you see this shipley? When in God's name did you see this please? Please? I'm sorry if my paintings are disturbing I did the dreams that just just dreams that I have please your dreams. Please. They're my dreams, too Why don't who told you about this who spoke to you? No one no one did please if you're not interested in my art, just leave.

Leave while you can." We cut back to the kitchen. I don't like that. And she's like, to get settled. Any other questions you may have? Troy. I kind of want to do a psychology check or something on this woman. She's asking a lot of questions about Jackson I'm not super into. Okay.

Just in terms of like, does she,, she got something up her sleeve here? I've seen her, I've been watching her make the tea, right? There's nothing like. Nothing, nothing untoward. She's going about her, her tea making very calmly, very gingerly. She's an old woman. All right. Well, I don't, I can't tell shit.

So it's. Yeah. I mean mean it's very You feel very uneasy from the moment you walked in you're sitting in this dark Kitchen is barely any light coming through here a couple of like Cup a little bit of light like shaft in from the sconce just outside the kitchen door. Give me a spot hidden Even though my spot hidden is... I rolled a 9 under 25. So at one point you're watching her, you're watching all of her movements, trying to see is something not right here and everything seems above board.

I mean, she's like, you see her like pull a little stool over to climb up to reach a cup that's too high. And you're watching and you're watching for anything. And then all of a sudden, she walks by where sort of one of these shafts of light are coming in from the hallway and the shadow that she casts on the wall Does not look like the shadow of an old woman Like an old man, it doesn't look human it doesn't match at all And when you notice that and look, she's just looking at you. Would you like to help me with this tea? I would love to. You know what I forgot? I got a piss like a raven.

Can I just run out? I just got to run to the bathroom real quick. Is that okay? No, that... That's not okay. Indoor plumbing. And all of a sudden she transforms into something else. Roll a sanity check. Roll a sanity check. I don't know what she is You just see like her face starts to elongate where her nose is and her skin starts turning like a grayish green

Cool, I failed 86 89 over 66. Okay, you lose 1d6 sanity I'll let you roll it. Let me know if you roll a 5 or a 6. I rolled a 4 You lose four points of sanity. What is your decks? It's awesome No, it's not actually it's a 40 fuck okay now give me a power roll Now give me a power roll.

Yeah, I'm sure that's great. Power is also your, is it the same as your stand? No, power is its own stat. 97 over 50. So you see her transform into something else before you can even in this haze of a moment discern exactly what you're looking at Everything goes black God and we'll be back right after this break

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Yes, yes, this is why we play the game. If I'm fun you mean like pooping myself in my chair. I'm terrified, like how the heck are we gonna get out of this pickle? What is going on? And you have to remember like the three of you upstairs, obviously you just had a moment here as you lost the three of you upstairs obviously you just had a moment here as you lost some of you you all lost sanity but poor Vaughn has this like oh he didn't he didn't go insane or anything but when you fail a

sanity check you have like an involuntary response and yours was to grab Shipley and shake him and I think because it's just an outburst, I think maybe even now I'm like, oh sorry, sorry, sorry old man. Yes, the power of artwork is indeed arresting. But for God's sake, man, you're telling me you saw that in a dream? I've seen it in life. He's like wringing his hands and looking at it all year. Yes, it's all, it's just part of the artist's process.

Mine just came later in life. When did you start having these visions, man? I have used the visions, yes. The dreams? The dreams began about a year ago, six months. I don't know, I've lost track of time. Is there any, are you interested in any of these paintings? I'm so sorry about my friend.

He does not understand surrealism. It comes from deep inspiration from your dreams. I also get inspiration from my dreams. And I'm also looking at the paintings, like does anything look familiar to me? I wanna like try to connect with him a bit and calm him down and like show him maybe something that's familiar that I drew. Yeah, he's like, he's pulling himself together.

And some people react negatively to this work and I understand that it's not for everyone. It's just no one has ever been physical with me. I apologize. And you're looking to see, like, does this ring a bell? And obviously, yes, it does connect to these visions you have. Even being in this place connects to your most recent vision of seeing an attic full of paintings. You see the sort of dark hand drawing a sigil.

Is that sigil like the one that was drawn on Jackson Elias' forehead? Not exactly. But as you look at it, like I said, it begins to move and for a moment it looks exactly like the sigil of the bloody tongue and then it goes back to something completely foreign. Is that your mind playing tricks on you or is it some magic of the painting you don't know? I mentioned it. I go, oh, this painting right here, the sigil on this guy's chest, it's amazing what you

did here. It almost looks like it's undulating, it's moving. It's just a trick trick of the light as it were. Is that why you keep all the blinds drawn if I were to open the lights in here? Yes, no. I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable? You're very...

No, I just... I don't often talk about my art. I find that talking about it takes away from its, um... its mystique, as it were. That one is called Drone in Blood. Do you not talk to your mother about your art? My mother? He looks at you.

No. No, no, we don't. We don't talk about such things. And then you hear creak, creak, creak, creak, and she appears at the doorway with tea says oh Sorry, it took me so long Here here's some tea feel like miles be a good man and help and he's like Yeah, yes, but of course of course if you'd like some, just please don't drink near the paintings. Tilling has to help you up the stairs, not terribly gentlemanly of him.

And she looks behind her and she's like, Oh, he's your friend. He said he wasn't feeling well and wanted to go outside to get some fresh air. I'll have to make another trip. I wasn't able to carry everything, but I'm fine at the moment. He just said he wanted to get some fresh air. How are things going here? Did you see anything that you liked? Oh we're just learning so much about each piece and the inspiration and as have we been served any of the tea yet? Oh yes, Miles is like, here, here, here, and then he goes and stands kind of with his back to that padlocked door.

I'm gonna spill some on myself, like I dropped it. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, be careful, it's very hot. Can I hand the cup to somebody? I'm just gonna go, I just going to freshen up. Where is the restroom water closet? What do you call it? Oh, the VSA, yes.

Yes, I can bring you right this way. Miles, now you try and make a sale. She leads the way down the stairs. And I will be looking very meaningfully. If you just point me to where it is, I can take care of this. No need for you to, in your condition, have to go up and down so many stairs on your own. If you just point me to the right direction, it's perfectly fine. I'd also very much like to make a sale very soon.

I'm not sure if he facilitates it or you or... Miles can facilitate the sale. I'm sorry, just a barrage of questions. Yes, I can just point you in the direction here. It's on the first floor just off the kitchen. Thank you. I can just take can, you can stay here. I can just take care of that myself.

And I'm just going to open some doors. All right. So you break off from her and you leave Margo and Vaughn with Miles and Bertha. Yes. Sorry guys. All right. So let's follow you for a moment. You go down the first flight and you are on the second floor.

There's four doors here, but you're also very close to where the opening is. She told you that the bathroom is off of the kitchen downstairs. Right. So you tell me what you want to do. Let's start there. So she hears me clomping down the steps. And I am clomping to make it very audible that I am going downstairs at the moment.

She's just standing at the top of the stairs watching you. Until you go out of sight. Yeah. And once I go out of sight, I'm just gonna start opening doors. All right, you know what? Let's start revealing some of the little map here so you can see what you see It's such a wild thing about call the food is like just open the door like

Whoa. All right. So There's the front door there to the south is where you came in You just came to the bottom of the stairs there. There's a door directly to your right of the stairs there. There's a door directly to your right and then there is a door opposite the entrance door which leads into the kitchen which is open. And then there are two doors at the end of the hallway, one to the left and one to the right. Okay. So, um... There was a door pointed out specifically when I was in the kitchen. Yes. Let's look in the kitchen. There was a door pointed out specifically when I was in the kitchen. Yes, and just-

Let's look in the kitchen. There's a door. Just showing you from Rob's memory. Suspicious of, does she keep rat poison? I'm gonna, cabinets, and I will eventually go through that door in the kitchen, just to see what's there. All right, so you make your way into the kitchen. There's a door on the opposite end, which you can tell leads outside.

And then there's a door, which you think is the bathroom on the far left. It's the only other door in the room. What do you do? So you're searching all the cupboards. That's the door she told you to go into. Yeah, that's the bathroom. That's the bathroom. So I just want to see what's if that's indeed a bathroom before I step into it.

Okay, so first you were searching the campus and everything. There's food in there. Not a lot of food. Certainly not enough food for two people If you open the fridge empty You open that side door and it was actually a jar You open it and there's stairs leading down I'm gonna go downstairs. Find Carter Tillinghast. Find him.

Find him. All right, so you. Is that, wait, wait. So we don't know where Carter has gone to. She has said that he has stepped out. Stepped out for some fresh air. So I'm gonna call downstairs. Carter.

Carter, are you downstairs? Are you there? I can picture this so perfectly, just into the darkness. The whole place is dark, this is like a subterranean space. Carter, Carter are you down there? Nothing. Stanch. I wanna look for him first, I don't wanna go by myself. You do what you want. I'm gonna look for him first. I don't want to go by myself Do what you want

Okay, where do you go? And I'll see if he's like From one of those windows if he's out he is outside You pull one of the curtains aside and you see a little outdoor area, little garden area. There are a couple chairs that are like laying out for someone to sun tan, sunbathe, but there's no Carter. If I don't see him immediately outside where he said he was going to be, I think I'm going to go down those stairs to see that, just to make sure that he's not there and in trouble.

So you head down the stairs and find yourself in a dark basement. It's a pretty large room. It's completely cluttered with junk. There are boxes, crates, broken chairs stacked about. However, you do notice that there's like a pathway that's kind of been opened up with all these boxes that just leads directly to the south wall of the basement. Like it's very cluttered and disorganized except for this like little odd pathway from the stairs that leads to the south wall. Faerûs fumbles through her pockets for both cigarettes and a lighter

because she figures this place stinks. They're not gonna notice. They're gonna be sore about a cigarette smell, so she's gonna light a cigarette and also use that lighter to kind of light her way around Okay, give me spotted Failure You want to yeah, I'm gonna push that

Explain me what you do different. You light a second lighter. I light it again. You light, they light each other. I am now smoking two cigarettes at the same time. There's so much more light there. So there's more light. You know, you're stumbling about and you're trying to see like you don't see anything. What could you actually do differently?

Start moving shit out of the way? Yeah, maybe come a little closer to see if there's any labels on any of the things or take the blindfold off. Yes. All right. Let's say that you just maybe you start pushing some of the things out of the way and Kind of make noise meanwhile we go back upstairs and Birth is just looking down the stairs. I

Should probably check to see if she's all right. It's just asking about you I was wondering what you think about your son's paintings. I Find very inspiring. I What do you think? It's very kind. I suppose many bohemians in sort of an outre art as of this sort often do it against the wishes of their parents. I suppose it's rather rare to find a maternal figure as supportive as you are of your son's particular gifts

He's an only child. I suppose I I've always Spoiled him and I had to raise him myself for most of his life But to be honest, I'm I don't know much about what he does But but people seem to like it and that's good enough for me. I do hope your friend's alright. I should probably go and check on her. Miles, now you, you tell these people what's going on here. Make sure you give them the full story on all these paintings. We cut back to Faerûz. Give me another spot hit and check. Success. Give me another spot hit and check Success sucks s

You notice on this back wall Sort of like it's brick, but there's an outline in the brick of like Maybe a door and you see a loose brick in the middle. I'm going to try to pull that brick. Or push it. Whatever seems like intuitively like maybe both. Maybe both. You pull, nothing happens, but when you push on the brick, it opens and reveals a second part to this basement. And the smell of like snake hits you in the face.

It just reeks of snake and reptiles. Oh, specific. It's such a specific smell that if you've ever smelled it, you know exactly what that is. You see shelves covering one wall while another wall is covered in mystic symbols. All the shelves hold jars that contain dark substances. And then at the foot of the third wall is a bath like stone tub covered with a large sheet of metal. Can we go anywhere in this goddamn game that doesn't have an underground arrow covered in strange symbols?

No. For fuck's sake. With a pit in the ground? Every building is a warren of horrors. Yeah, with a cover over a tub. God damn it. So there's a cover over this tub, you said? Yep.

Jars on one side, a wall of shelves shelves and jars a wall covered in mystic symbols That like is right up your alley But you don't can't make heads or tails of it and then this stone tub with like a metal sheet over it Now can I just point out a narrative thing real quick Carter was spritzing himself a lot that cologne. That's right That's very true May there another aroma cutting through the distinctive scent of reptiles? My decarnoir. You definitely do not smell that here. You smelt it in the hallway and in the kitchen, but you don't smell Carter's trademark scent anywhere down here.

Is there any is there any symbol on this wall that's larger than the others that stands out more than the others that I could just quickly jot down roughly in a notebook? Yes really quickly just for sure one or two. For sure there's there's a couple that really jump out at you and I mean they are they are alien to you but you can quickly recreate them you can even hold a paper up and and trace them to try and figure out the house going on here Yeah Just it just a couple that that would stand out because I know that there is short on time and then I want to go Over to this wall of like things in jars. Is there anyone that's small enough to pocket?

You want to take one of the jars You want to take one of the jars? Take a jar. Yeah, Beth. I do. I want to take a jar. You can take a couple of jars. You can put them in your satchel. Yeah.

I want to take some of my cursed jams. Little vile-sized jars. Yeah. Just take a couple of jars. And then quickly over this bathtub is this cover heavy. Oh dear. Not for someone of your strength. I forgot what my strength is.

It's insane. She's... You're crazy. Yeah. I'm strong. 75. Yeah, no. It looks like you could easily slide it aside. I just want to do that quickly and just hover that lighter over this area.

You slide the metal grate aside. When we go back upstairs to where Miles and Vaughn and Margot are looking at the paintings and again Bertha is like, please excuse me, I just want to check her. She's really concerned for herself. Oh, she surely is. They'll be all right. I would very much love to have your opinion of all this. Being as you are the mother to this distinguished artist but not so much an interpreter, what do you make of

all this, Mrs. Shipley? What do I make of all this? Well, I find that we're very fortunate. We've been blessed in many ways by Miles' ability. We've been able to manage an income and other benefits as well. So it's been good for the shipless. Forgive me for saying so. I'm sure a rather nice income comes from the sale of these paintings. He's like mopping his brow, like glancing back at that image of the tongue creature. But it seems as though that you're rather... How do I say this without sounding terribly rude? Are you saving this income? It is a rather bare bones existence here. Why not move to a less desultory climate where your son's gifts might seek the open air, or at least

a room without bars, darkness, barren walls and all that. She looks down the stairs again. Ffff... Yes, well, I... I find that, uh... the climate here is... just fine. You may not know it, but... we do have many sunny days here. She starts to move

towards the easel in the middle of the room, the one with that, like, reptilian scientist dissecting some unknown creature. You asked if we were saving up for anything? Well, yes, Mr. Villiers, we are saving. She runs her hands along the figure in the painting. We are saving up for the return. Okay, this is um, she's behaving weird right now. Yes, definitely. And I think like, in his head, the tongues, the creature,

something's coming. In Vaughn's head, all he sees is that timer, that clock that was in the bottom of the juju house. The return. Fun. The return you say. Fun. It's just art.

Loosening his collar. And of course he's like seeing in in these images echoes of the temptation of Saint Anthony, like creatures rending and at war with the soul. And just what return is it that you're expecting, Mr. Shipley? She played She says the return and you notice her hand starts to turn Green and gray and starts to crawl up her arm She says the return Of my people

And then we go back to And then we go back to We go back to Fairouz Fairouz you push away this metal grate this metal sheet on top of this stone tub and inside are the butchered remains of Someone and the severed head of a woman just staring at you. Give me a sanity roll Hard success I'm a little mad Rock you lose one point of sanity even on a hard success and you just

You can just feel now that scent is mixing with this snake scent I just vomit a little bit into the Onto the the slaughtered body Even even worse in the body vomits because you vomit it And you just I mean you see it yeah you vomit into this thing and and step back step back it's some like butchered remains of a woman looks half eaten and Her head is just staring up at you. We go back upstairs and this woman is about to turn into a lizard person. Let's get into it.

Von Margo Miles and Bertha. Where the fuck is Carter? Oh my god. He's on the Ves bus cruising through Soho talking about my generation super swingin baby the the beauty of this is the order in which all of you go because Margo's decks is so wild. So Margo, you see this happening before she completely transforms. You have the highest decks in the room.

You can act first. What do you do? Um, I imagined I was near miles at this time because I wanted to try to like talk to him about dreams or whatever. Get out. Well, you can. This happened. Um, but I, I feel like I know

I gotta get Von out of here, cause he's gonna lose it, and then he might become like, like hurt me, hurt us, so. It's a liability. I just, I guess I grab Carter and I run out the room before she fully turns, and hopefully before he sees anything. Oh, just grab me and haul run out the room before she fully turns and hopefully before he sees anything Oh just grab me and pull me out down the stairs. Yeah, like you and I we run and I try to grab a

Cigarette as I grab car All right. So Let me just make sure I'm getting this correctly as she's starting to turn you just grab one hand You grab Vaughn the other hand you try to grab one of these paintings And just fucking bolt for the stairs Yeah, like a tiny drawing on the wall or anything like as we leave just grab something But mostly grab Vaughn and try to run so he doesn't see her okay As you get to the bottom of the stairs, you hear this like hissing sound. Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss roll from you Vaughn. It's coming it's cuz I'm trailing behind yeah? Yep you're

trailing behind. It's the lizard still wearing an old woman's dress and like dick. Little house slippers. Bathrobe. My power roll for the spell dominate Okay, so she it cast this spell on you and basically For the next round it wants you to hold Margo says grab And now it is for my soul It is your turn Vaughn So I need you and I just your turn trying to stop Margo. It's gonna be like oh strength opposed strength roll. Yeah, I

Mean like he's older, but I'm not very strong Um, I'm pretty strong fuck still got that At the dog in me. What's the age got to do with it? Yeah? Be weak All right, I got a regular success with my strength regular fail a Regular fail. Okay. All right. So yeah so yeah, you're taking me down the stairs, um, hand in my cuff or something. Like I try to grab you. Yeah. But then.

And as you're pulling me down, I'm just like, what is, no, no! And then I'm suddenly just like, hit by this thing. My mind whites out. And you just feel my hand close around your wrist. Your old wisdom hand. No, fun. Yeah, my decrepit 30-something year hand just like crushes down on your wrist with its feeble ancient strength.

And it's just like, you must weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak To hold you so this could be another opposed strength role miles versus you margo and miles looks normal Right great miles looks normal, but he's still like his demeanor is still like scared and he's scared of his mother which is obviously lizard person So let me get his Fighting up, so it's my fighting versus your fighting opposed. Let's go. Oh, it's fighting Yeah, it's like brawl rather All right, I had a regular success I have a regular fail and I'm wondering if I should push it because like I'm essentially alone now that

Vaans out to lunch, you know I'm trying to remember if you can combat though it a combat though? Can you have- Oh right. I think I always do this. Yeah, and as do I. I have like a list that I lost that's like what you can push, but I'm pretty sure you can't push combat roles. So the bad news is you are grabbed on one side by Vaughn and on the other side by Miles. The good news is it doesn't look like they're trying to kill you, just capture you.

Oh great. Put the club later maybe. is it doesn't look like they're trying to kill you just capture you oh all right um is she fully a lizard now she is fully a lizard and I need both of you to roll a sanity check oh there it is there it is sorry oh my god I passed it no right 27 under 32 but something in there is still like fighting this is shocking but yes, there's still some part of on that's like keep together Keep it together for them. Oh, I passed Zero sanity loss on a pass. All right, so here's what we're gonna do We're gonna go around to and we're gonna involve the other people who haven't been involved because now this is starting to make noise In the rest of the building Margo you go

You're being grabbed on one arm by Vaughn and another arm by miles and it seems like they're they're pulling you some and I'm yelling So yeah What do you want to try and do here? Me yeah, it's your turn. I'm I'm yelling Me? Yeah. It's your turn. I'm yelling. I just wanted to buy a painting of Beirut's counter. This is not how you treat a patron, a fellow artist. Like I'm reasoning with a lizard of what's going on. And also trying to break free. Like, yeah. All right. Give me a... This is tricky. You got two people grabbing you. So here's how I'm gonna resolve this.

I'm gonna have you roll a brawl. There's no fighting skill, right? It's just- Like maybe something I could do is like, I focus on one of them. I'm trying to like kick them away to like loosen the grip. So maybe I'm trying to kick miles away from me. Okay, yeah.

Michael has a pertinent chat update. Oh,. Let me see that I have seven screens open Margo's build. All right. So, oh, yeah, so your build is actually smaller than Vaughn So you take a penalty die when performing a combat maneuver doesn't matter. Anyways, you were grabbed But I think you probably have the same build as miles. What is your build? Zero right question, I think you have a build of zero you probably have the same build as Miles. What is your build? Um, zero, right? Good question. I think you have a build of zero. Where would that be? I think it's zero because I think the rest of us are one and I remember you being Yeah. All right. So so going to try and break free of Miles is the right call here because you'd have a penalty draw died to try and break free of Va Vaan. It didn't affect the outcome of the first thing

because Vaan grabbed you anyways. But if you can break three of miles, then maybe Vaan can break free of this domination. So go ahead and give me an opposed, trying to think of it. I feel like Brawl is the- On roll 20, I'm sorry, on roll 20, if you go under combat, it'll tell you what your build is.

Yeah, I just found it, it's zero. I mean, so. Yeah, fighting Brawl makes the most sense here. I mean, I guess you could do strength. You could make an argument for both. I'd rather do Brawl, my Brawl's a little better. Yeah, you're trying to kick him away from you. Okay, and he is going to, you know,

as all enemies do, he's gonna attempt to fight back So tie goes to the attacker if you if you both succeed you'll break away But if he succeeds and you fail you could take damage as he's trying to defend himself So give me a brawl. Oh In it episode 3 of season 2 Do doubles mean something Double what? 88.

No, not in this game. That just means you fail. Yeah. And I got an extreme success. No, don't do that. All right, well here's the good news. I thought we bonded. He's no longer holding you, but as you kick him,

he just like instinctively elbows you in the face and you take three points of damage Those me in the nose. I'm like oh you got like blood gushing out of your nose into your mouth now you can taste that coppery Warm copper blood taste it's just like like he doesn't know what to do. He's not a fighter And now I have a hand free now? You do have a hand free. You are free from his grasp, but Vaughn is still holding you on the other side. It is the lizard person's turn. It has crazy decks, but not as crazy as Margo's.

What to do here? Okay. You look like you're going to be a problem here, Margo. If you would just be grabbed They wouldn't have to kill you, but you've made it impossible for them. No, I am going to attempt to I can basically I can use dominate I could dominate can be cast and recast as many times as the caster finds possible but up to

My like intelligence score. I think unless I'm reading another one it's gonna dominate me cast me the spell can only affect one individual at a time you have a target of a say yeah so I'm gonna attempt it again again this is gonna be an opposed power role so Vaughn give me a power roll what's that Margo this is like to sustain it sort of? What's that Margo? This is like to sustain it sort of? Yeah, like basically if I don't cast this again, Vaughn will be able to do whatever he wants. Okay, I failed again.

Can I, on this sort of defensive power situation, can I push? Is there a worl- or no? I don't- you can't push- Is there a lucky? Yeah, I can't- I think can use luck, but you can't push I always forget I've got was so entrenched in like the prep for this. It's fine. How close are you? It's not close at all 72 over 35 72 or 35 powers very low I've been I've been very shaken by the events in my life. So yes well in the in in the drama And the drama of this scene,

we'll just say that you're gonna use your turn to try and bear hug Margo to hold her even tighter now. And to- Pull you in. Yes. There's no need to fear, Saur. We have you now. Yes. We have you now. Fonz, this is making me scared. Nose is bleeding.

In favor is your wiping vomit off your chin and you hear screaming coming from upstairs. I'm going to, if I have the time, I want to just cover that up real quickly and then make my way up. I carry a small handgun. I mean, I would assume I would have that on my person. Sure you have a gun on you at all times. Given our history. Yes. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Yes. So I will make my way towards the noise. Give me a spot hidden as you are running up the stairs. You're in the basement so you get up to the kitchen, do do as you are running up the stairs. You're in the basement, so you get up to the kitchen, get to the hallway. This is gonna be your whole action, just trying to get closer to this.

Maybe you'll get there by next round, but give me a spot hidden as you are making your way back up. All right. Why did it do that? It's a 9. Yeah, that's a strange layout, but you must have crushed that. It's a 9 or whatever. Yeah, because my spot hidden is an 80, so it's a 9 under 80. That is an extreme success, and I was only going to give you this information on a hard

success. If you look at the map here, once you run into the hallway, running for those stairs to go up to the second level, I imagine this fight is happening like on the staircase from the second level leading to the attic. They're like battling on there at the bottom of it, but right when you get to that door just outside the right, you smell Carter's unmistakable perfume right on the other side of that small door to the right. Oh, I opened that door. You open the door and it's a small closet and Carter is just standing there catatonic.

Slap him real hard. Carter! What are you doing down here? Carter, you come to and the last thing you remember is seeing her turn into a lizard. The lizard person! Something's happening upstairs. I'll tell you what happened down here later, but something's happening upstairs. What am I doing in the pantry? You're not in the pantry!

Well, I gotta get the tea. I'll explain later. Let's go. Alright, so that is gonna be your turn you guys are running miles now is going to walk up and just like Punch you in the stomach Margo while Vaughn is holding you so it's just boom goes to punch you in the stomach Defense I'm gonna try to tuck my legs up to block or something? Alright, so even though yeah, you can try and dodge here or you can try and fight back. I'm gonna say either we can work out how the fiction of it works.

Remember with dodge is that if you tie, you don't take any damage. When you fight back, high risk, high reward. If you succeed and he fails, you'll do damage to him. However, if he succeeds and you succeed, Ty means he's gonna do damage to you. So it's a tough situation. You're being held by Thorn. Do I gather that he's a good fighter? I mean, he did elbow me in the face,

but did that seem like luck or? He's got a little pop behind that. Little pop behind that. I mean, how many hit points do you have? You did three points of damage. Nine. Nine, oh, you'll live forever. I'll live forever

I'm going to Try to fight back I feel like that makes sense. I'm gonna try to kick back You got a shotgun rattling around in your purse One of these like carnival shotguns like when the Joker pulls out the gun and the Michael Keaton Batman Right Keep going and going Alright, so I'm gonna have you fight back and I hate to do this to you Don't say it I gotta give you a penalty die because you're being held by Vaughn. I'm sorry. I'm sorry

If my power was higher no, I don't want to do it. Okay. I don't want to do it So much this game it makes you evil. All right All right, so struggles We have obviously it's a fail And I'm just I'm hitting them tonight All right, so that is another hit he just comes up and he's just trying to like doesn't seem like he's trying to kill you He's trying to like subdue you or maybe knock you unconscious He just comes up boom wallops you in the stomach and you take two points of damage poor knocks the wind out of you

You you're just a little arts boys punch me harder than that What did you call me? Spits. Spits. Little art boy just did five total points of damage over two rounds. Alright, so Vaughn, I'm gonna say your round is this domination where you're just, you go to, you're holding her tight,

bear hugging her, doing the bidding of this creature. However, things may change here in this next round as Faeruz andter make their way upstairs. well now it's a new round and margo you go at the top of the round. i'm playing a little fast and loose here where everyone is on different floors but i'm making sure everyone has a turn in each round it's a new round margo you go at the top of the round. vaughn has you in a bear hug you've now been elbowed in the face blood gushing out of your nose

and you've been socked in the stomach you're trying to catch your breath what do you do? God damn it, so like he's bear hugging me to where like my arms are immobilized. Your arms are pinned, yeah. I mean if it was Carter grabbing you, you'd probably get out with ease. But Vaughn's massive strength makes it impossible.

No, it's not impossible, like anything's possible. You tell me what you wanna do here, you wanna try and push him into the wall and kick off and backflip? I mean, you are outnumbered here. It's three against one. I mean... Use your dexterity.

I'm here to cause a ruckus. I want to... How would I use my dex though if I'm grabbed? Like I do kind of want to try to throw the old backflip. Vaan into the wall if he's like attached to me. And like, if there is like a window treatment on the wall like try to pull that down Like you want to throw Vaughn out the window. That's what I'm here. Pull it pull the window treatment down get the light in oh

Interesting all right, you know what I've been I haven't been keeping up with the map here cuz there's so much going on So let me reveal these tight quarters with which you guys are fighting here. If you look at the map, I have all Yo's pawns still around here. Let me just get to my GM lair and make you guys visible. And then I'm just going to place you, obviously this isn't D&D so I don't really care where you guys are but Vaughn and Margo you guys are in that little stairwell and Carter and Faerus are over there in that other hallway making their way up the stairs. Is there a window

nearby? Is there a window nearby? No, because look where you are. You're in the middle of this There are four doors that could lead to other windows and you can actually see where the windows are in the oh No, you guys can't see because of fog of war but there are windows in these other rooms Can you saw them from the outside? I Either want to with Vaughn to me, chuck us down the stairs or into a room. Stairs, but like, I don't want to hurt him too much, but like I want to snap him out of it.

Maybe this will snap him out of it. I'm hurt bad. Creating some distance. I don't know what's in the rooms. Yeah, and creating distance from this creature that is casting this spell, that may help you as well. So you could try and use your momentum and his momentum to kind of throw yourselves both down the stairs, but it'd be kind of tricky not to take damage.

However, you would probably break his grip or you could push into one of these rooms, but you don't know what the hell is in, you don't know what is in these rooms. It would succeed in creating that distance though. It's a tough call. I'm gonna go for the room because I did, I don't wanna hurt too much more. Cause I'll probably hurt myself

throwing myself down the stairs. Okay, you've got four different rooms there. There's one to the southeast, one to the northeast, one to the north, and one to the west. Would it be easier role-wise to throw us into a closer room or can I try a further room? Same kind of- I mean, what makes the most sense thematically is probably that room that is right there

at the bottom of the stairs. Okay. All right. I use all my might and try to chuck us in there with him hitting the door. And I go, Von, God! This seems like brawl to me. You could make a case for something else, but I mean, this is like a full on wrestling match.

You're trying to take him and redirect his energy. Just throwing me off balance. And I'm not gonna give you a penalty die for this because you're actually using the fact that you're grabbed to try and help you in this situation. So it's just a straight up roll to try and push through this door. But it is gonna be an opposed roll

because these wanna go in there. 72. Fail. Poop. All right, so you're just like you're doing everything you can to try and push in there, but it didn't work all right, so It's gonna continue to try and dominate Vaughn and the only reason I'm doing this because if Vaughn succeeds on this power roll It would be really fucking cool otherwise Stacked against me, but let's let's do it. Fonz a great ally for me right now.

I know I continue to be a great ally for these big fights, because I'm so easy to dominate. All right. Another one. Another pal. Yes. And I'll tell you I rolled it is possible. Okay. Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in miracles? In extreme success! Extreme success! I had a regular success. You needed a hard or an extreme success to beat me.

And you got it. So you are not dominated. And I've used my ability this turn. So you can release Margo on yours. Meanwhile, Faehruz, you're up. I'm going to try to make my way up. Can I be like loading my gun on the way up the stairs? Yeah, I would say you probably carry a loaded gun.

Maybe it's ready to go. I think it's ready to go, yeah. You would be like fumbling with the bullets as you're running up the stairs. Hold on, how does this work? Yeah, no, you carry a loaded gun. I don't want to be that flier that's like, well actually, I always have it loaded. My crossbow always has three bolts ready to go. No, no, no, just've carried that player that's like well actually I always have it loaded My crossbow always has three bolts ready to go

Okay, so Making my way up the stairs Am I able to see anything yet? Oh, yeah I mean there this this is all going on right at the top of the stairs So you see this battle going on I don't have pawns for the other two But they're there miles is standing there you see Margo is like her face is covered in blood and Vaughn looks like he's coming out of a trance as he's holding Margo And there is a lizard person that provokes a sanity roll

Let's do that first. Oh my god, don't fail this. With your gun in your hand. No, I succeeded it, so it was a 54 under 90. Beautiful, zero, Sandy's loss. 90? Yeah, you know what Margo says? The girls are very sane. The girls are, um,

much like in culture at large. The girls are very sane. Listen, monsters are a mess. much like in culture at large yeah yeah it's the daddy issues fair okay so I see a lizard person and that's not normal I'm gonna shoot at it shoot the lizard okay and I rolled a 26 under 55 and I failed my attempt to jump out of the way so that is a hit alright and that was three points of damage on that

all right let me get my hit points situation here. Holy shit! Okay, this is amazing. I need a marker. I need a pen. I don't have anything! I'm unprepared! Okay, all right, so BOOM! The gun fires off and you see Miles turn white when you all of a sudden you roll up the stairs. What kind of gun do you have? It's a 22 automatic. Good 22. BOOM! You fire one off. I Guess you could have gone fully out of it. Well. Well you could deal with that next time if you want yeah Alright Carter. It is your turn now Crossbow bolts notwithstanding Just Carter still have and yeah, I can roll a luck or whatever

But you're in this closet by the way in terms of I thought I thought I was following Yeah, you are but I'm just saying like you start your turn here, and then you can run up no problem Does Carter have in terms of weapons? I feel like Carter had that knife that he got from the What's his name's place or he killed him? South McQuinness, yeah little he had a ceremonial something names place or children. Sounds like one is. Yeah. He had a ceremonial something.

Yeah. Yeah. You carry that with you. I mean you know Carter's not. The rest of the most of season one I think I had a machine. Here's what I can tell you the kitchen's right there. Rather than saying you can't carry

that. I think you can easily grab. So have a knife if you just want to grab it from me. Just toss it to me. It's in my hole, it's in my thigh knife holster. That's fine, I can swing, it's cooler if I like grab like a butcher knife or something. Yeah, so you rummage through the kitchen and you just, you tell, walk me through this.

Yeah, like I'm hearing you screaming. Spoon, spatula, damn it. Yeah, like I'm here to screaming spatula damage Yeah, grab a knife as quickly as possible And unless I don't know to lizard people use knives because we got fucking plus grab a knife and That's how they open their tunic hands. I and that's how they open their tuna cans. I didn't just haul ass up the stairs. All right.

There's no food around. The cap, it's. You grab a knife and haul ass up the stairs. I'm gonna let you get an attack off here. I think that that battle is close enough that you could make this happen. Okay, so I get up there and I see Margo face bleeding. Right?

Healed over from being punched in the stomach. Punched in the the stomach and the artist guy is right there, right? Like yeah punched in the stomach. She was shot in like weeks ago He saw so Carter sees and that's guys still trying to grapple Margo, right? Well, you see is like his hands are up and you put two and two together And you realize this dude just socked margo. Yeah, Carter Carter sees that and goes fucking rage Of course you also see a lizard person give me a sanity roll wait. I already saw the lizard person Did you roll sanity on the oh you did roll? I'm sorry you failed you already lost that saying you're like. Oh, there's a lizard person. I'm not crazy, but you You failed you already lost that saying you're like. Oh, there's that lizard person. I'm not crazy, but you

Seen him once you see them all all right, so you come running up the stairs You have a perfect way you could impale this guy. I'm gonna swing at him with this fucking knife All right, and I am going to attempt to fight back because that's what they do Okay, and I failed so any success here works and if you get an extreme success that's an impaling weapon which I believe does extra damage right and I'm trying to brawl right this is a brawly situation yeah fighting fighting brawl unless you have 47 under 77 okay that's a regular success. So that will do your straight-up knife damage I'll say 1d4 plus your your damage bonus a damage bonus which

The old DB yeah, where is it Nora you said you saw a combat yeah under combat I Mean it's only been a year and a half since we did combat. Yeah, why would I? How would we not remember? This could be big. I don't see... This is a really gaunt fella. Good. I'll go right through.

I'm not... I'm seeing... Oh, so it's up on top where it's like Dex, Dodge, Build. It's like that row on down. Yeah It's also a 1d4 so to one nice one yeah there you go 24 plus 24 Five five points of damage, so you just come up and slice this guy's Please please stop art sucks And now he's just he lashes out At you and goes to punch you do you want to dodge or fight back back fuck this guy, okay?

Let's go. I'm so pissed. Okay. That is a regular success for me All right, and this is also this is a brawly Brawly situation if you get a regular if you get a hard or an extreme success, you'll do damage to him Regular success or a failure. He's gonna damage you Why is it that not to kill them? attention here, it's like the Roll 20, how do I get back to my... Skills.

On the character sheet, yeah. Go to skills. Click to skills. God, it's down here. It should be at the top of the... Roll 20, all in. I fucking fucked it up. Def'd it. They heard me. 86 over not that. Over 77.

It's a glancing blow because he's gushing blood from that knife wound. You only take one point of damage. He just kind of like, if he had connected full force, it would have done a lot more. Just kind of hits you right off the chin. And maybe your mask falls off in that punch. oh the mask sprawls on the floor feel this stinky breeze on my face hole if I had a dime it is a new round and it's Margo's turn Margo you've been released from Vaughn. I got sorry. I'm sorry run run You can't take you in that can't take you anywhere anywhere can't take you anywhere um

sorry, but that's what she says and Fair I mean so we've got the lizard sort of fill at the top of the stairs has been shot. We've got miles fighting with Carter Mm-hmm, and you I'm gonna go for the lizard. Okay, um Miles fighting with Carter. Mm hmm. And you. I'm going to go for the lizard. OK. Um. Is it canon that I have my shotgun at the bottom of the stairs? You're the one who said it.

It's a sawed off shotgun. Are you walking around town with a sawed off shotgun? Listen, we talk about this when she came into when we came into the country. Yeah, it is. It is totally fine for you to carry a shotgun into the country because it's considered a hunting weapon Is it okay to walk around with it in cosmopolitan London? That's up to you Kate. I'm not sure how Concealable a shotgun is Have a handgun

So that seems to me I think that's more believable. I think that's more believable. I think when you realize it's go time, that's when you start strapping the shotgun. But I feel like, I don't wanna yuck your yum here, I just feel like it's more of a handgun situation. It makes sense. I shouldn't, I mean, if I was knocked down too,

the shotgun should have fallen off of me anyways. Didn't I say I brought my bazooka to this art gallery? A bazooka? Never know. I just- Art CT party? Carry a harpoon. Hunt some ducks while you get some paintings.

I spend my downtime building a lightsaber. So yeah, I pull out my, I say, on my sheet, I have a model P08 Luger. I don't know what that means. It's German. Sounds cool. But that's just not German. It's a German gun.

So I pull that out and I try to shoot. It's not automatic, so. You hawk a Luger at him. All right, so. Okay, firearms. He is going to attempt to jump out of the way. Did you say the lizard person, Kate? Lizard.

All right, so I'm gonna attempt to jump out of the way. If I do, if I succeed succeed you can get a penalty or like Dive for cover basically I failed all right, so you've just got to succeed here, and you'll do damage. Oh come on Absolutely not 98 96 what is your what is your skill in that gun? 36. That's a critical failure. Oh, what's the worst that could happen?

That's a fumble. You can shoot one of your friends. Yeah, that could be a gun malfunction too. Or maybe I could just shoot the other bad guy. Who knows? You accidentally fumble and shoot the other guy in the eye. Oh my god. Uh oh.

Okay. Okay. It's fine. It's fine. I've got to there's something cool here. That's a fumble. Alright, so you go to pull out the gun here and you go to fire it and it misfires and flies out of your hand and falls down the stairs. Okay. So you no longer have your gun. Eh. It's down the stairs. You can go get it. But that would take a round and we'll get the gun.

Crack those sticks! Ah! And you just hear, boom! The shot goes off as it hits the floor. And it hits the decapitated head downstairs. No, alright, so now it is the lizard's person's turn. It has been using spells to dominate.

It used a spell to enthrall Carter. Put him in a closet. But now I think it's time to fight. Because now they're outnumbered. And put them in a closet. But now I think it's time to fight because now they're outnumbered and they're bleeding and they're angry.

Oh boy. I mean these creatures are nasty. This is why people die in this game. Creatures? This particular creature, the lizard creature creature yeah all right it is going to slide up to favorites and it's going to attempt to bite you do you want to dodge or you want to fight back? Checks my dodge my dodge kind of sucks, so I'm I'm gonna have to try to fight back Okay Goes to like

Take a chomp out of you, give me a fight back roll. Which is? Brawl. Brawl. Brawl. You know, unless there's some sort of thing that you want to do that's different. You can't fight back with a gun. You could pistol whip.

But really, unless you have another thing, you're really just trying to do damage to him before he damages you. Where the heck is my bra? Oh there's my bra. If it's equally brutal you might want to try to dodge because then a tie you won't take any damage. No my brawl is better my brawl is better. Okay I'm gonna have to go with brawl. Success, 32 under 40. Will I get a hard or an extreme? Or even a success because you fought back. You need me to fail.

You need me to fail. Fail, fail, fail, fail. 74 over 60. Yes. Yes. Fail. Get his ass. So it goes to bite you, you see like venomous stuff dripping from its fangs.

What extra damage would that do? And you fight back, which means you're going to deal brawl damage. So that is going to be, I would imagine it's on your sheet. It's your, you know, whatever your fighting damage is. Like unarmed, unarmed.

Probably like a 1d3 plus your damage bonus My damage bonus is 1d4 I think a fist is like 1d3 okay? Yes, so 1d3 plus 1d4 so 1d6 divided by 2 like 1 and 2 is a 1 3 got it So I rolled a 3 so there was that 2 for that one. Yep two and then a d4. Oh my god that's amazing use of fight back. Four! So four plus four plus two points yeah six points. Four plus two six points of damage. Itissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Can you finish this thing off? BAM automatic I'm gonna pop pop pop Going fully auto. Yeah. All right. One bullet has already been expended. So I think there are probably

There's two more so you're gonna full automatic you can fire all three each die takes a penalty die. It's worth it though So go ahead and fire away. So when I say penalty die, penalty die to what? So you roll the attack twice and it gets in the weeds a little bit. But like you're going to roll two times for each and take the worse. Okay, okay. But you could basically succeed. She rerolls the tens. Yes, the tens die.

The tens. Oh, I reroll the tens die? Yeah. Okay. You can rer roll those if you want Okay, let's uh, I'll roll 20 start fresh cuz it's a little tricky Okay, so first shot roll the tens twice take the worst second shot roll the tens twice take the worst This is huge here it's worth. The risk of firing off too. Because both may hit.

OK. So I have to roll under a 67. Oh that's good. So I rolled a 12. So now roll the 10. And now. So now. I rolled a 12 and after all the 10 die. Yes. Something to. Something to.

And you take the worst die. Yeah, so that'll be something to something to Oh God For still 42 under 67 so that's one hit and now do the same thing for the second bullet worth it All right. I Rolled a nine Okay I Okay, okay. Now this is tricky. 89? I rolled a 79 over 67. But one hit.

One hit, alright. So, give me that hit. That damage for one hit. Okay. Alright, alright, alright. Here's a D6. I rolled it so that's one point plus. So three points of damage. Total. Wait, that's just for plus... So three points of damage total. Wait, that's just for when you're shooting?

For that, for the shot. That's like a bullet damage? Yeah, bullet damage. For the shot that hit. Boom! You're standing on the stairs. It just tried to bite you. You pistol whipped it now at point-blank range, which should have been a bonus die, which would have canceled those out. You kill this thing and so boom It just goes down the stairs

It's lifeless body as you hold a smoking gun miles shippley is still up and he Shits himself Carter. What do you do? So okay? So miles is still well Okay, so cars like you see that if I can lizard mom's dead You still want to fight us? Please don't don't kill me. Please. Please. Please don't don't kill me. Please. I didn't down What put your mitts down hands and go tiny? And he just cries and he sinks to his knees What do you do?

I smack him. I smack him across the face. I want to give him an open hand smack in the face. Alright, I'm not going to make you roll for it. You just BOOM! You hit him in the face and he topples to the floor, goes fetal and starts crying. We see the images of all those paintings. That symbol moving.

We see the body again downstairs. Some woman, decapitated head, looking up. We see the lizard person laying in a pool of its own blood. Miles cowering. Vaughn still kind of lost. It was in my mind. It was in my mind. Miles cowering fun still kind of lost My mind was in my mind And we'll see you next week. Oh

I can't believe that could have been so bad How do we always kind of us make it out pretty bad? Oh Wow, Holy moly. That would have been so anti-climactic if one of us died in episode three. Oh, I know. That would have been pissed. I was flipping through this book,

so I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute. I learned a spell. And then I was like, oh, turn things into zombies. Don't want to turn a lizard person into a zombie. Save that for later. Lizard zombie, anyone? Oh, man. Oh, my god.

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Return to the mysteries in Don't Mind, Sealskin Rock. Subscribe now to catch the premiere, and we'll see you on the rock. I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times. And I'm Paul Scheer, an actor, writer and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We love movies and we come at them from different perspectives. Yeah, like Amy thinks that, you know, Joe Pesci was miscast in Goodfellas, and I don't. He's too old.

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