Magnificence

—INTRODUCTION—
[soft, mysterious, droning music]

Jee: Welcome back to episode two of Magnificence! I'm so glad to have you back here in listening to our beginning adventure. Last episode, to give a quick recap, we started in the capital of the Empire, Seer's Mourning, where a grand funeral was taking place for recently murdered heirs to the Empire, Archduke Gianne and his younger sibling, Duke Sanya. The two of them were honored with a rage-filled speech by the newest sovereign, Sovereign Azhli, who was previously fifth in line for the throne but since ascended to take it instead.

Jee: The funeral was proceeded with a strange poisoning by mysterious candles that were– that had poisoned wicks that, when inhaled, sent the villagers and guards and party members alike into a sort of blood frenzy, and made them begin attacking others. And even after the candles were extinguished, such in the situation of Khuvos, whose blood was spilled and was once again exposed to it in a much less indirect way, once again became infected. The party members were able to take down all of the infected guards and villagers and keep themselves and everyone else safe, but the guards and the sovereign and all of their attendants did flee the area immediately.

Jee: So in the aftermath, with three of our six party members poisoned and the remnants of this bloodshed scattered around this city center, and even more questions and mysteries hanging in the air than before, what are they going to do next? We will certainly find out as we get into this episode of Magnificence.

Jee: And real quick, right before we start, I want to give a huge shout-out to Sarsen Games, once again, for the amazing sourcebook that we'll be using, including some homebrew subclasses used by a few of our players, actually. So please check out Sarsen Games and their book, Oracles of Aughra, if you would like to try it out for yourself. And with that, let's get into our game!

02:24
—SESSION START—

[ solemn guitar music, the sound of rain ]

Jee: So. All of you stand amongst the remains of this battle. Some of you are a little more hurt than others. Some of you, completely unharmed. Half of you still feel a remain of that strange poison within your system. All of you look up, look around, and lock eyes with each other, who are the last standing, the last remaining of this altercation. So in the wake of this strange attack, what are you all going to do?

Rosalie: I think actually it may be a little difficult to lock eyes with Sage, as she is going around to the people who are left here unconscious. And… doing– not with a ton of care, not with a ton of compassion, just checking pulses, snapping fingers, seeing if they're breathing, moving on to the next person as soon as she knows if they're alive or dead.

Grace: Cerri also not big on the eye contact right now, very much pondering sort of what we discussed previously: this very blatant, poorly planned, poorly coordinated, poorly executed… assassination attempt? Sort of rolling the possibilities around in their mind as one hand slips into a side pocket and sort of rubbing their fingers together as they're moving something around in their– in their pocket, something small, something fine, something earthy.

Grace: Thinking a little about who… who could be behind this, quite certain it was not the Reavers. This is not quite the style. The candles, that's not... So I think I'd like to start searching... Hmm… I'd like to start searching the area, maybe the stalls, where there were people handing out candles or something. Sort of looking around for any additional clues.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Cerri immediately setting out on their search, falling into years of habits and immediately going into the search. So I'll have you just go ahead and roll general investigation. And while you're doing that, anything else anyone's doing?

Andie: Uh, Olwen is going to turn to Khuvos and he's going to say,

Olwen: Alright, Brat, you alive?

Khuvos: Very much alive, thank you. Though, a little worse for wear. [Sharp inhale, as if in pain.]

Emma: Kind of rolls his shoulder, like, still trying to... still the flow of blood. He's gonna kind of start moving to unbutton the overcoat that's now soaked with blood. Just kind of get it off of him, especially since it has the most visible Conclave insignia. And just look at Olwen, brows furrowed, and just be like,

Khuvos, through gritted teeth: Though I would appreciate the Conclave bit be left out in the future, when you're screaming into the street.

Olwen, sarcastically: Oh sure sure, I'm sure the overall clothes don't give it away, I'm the one that's letting people know.

Andie: As like Olwen is saying that he's like pulling out what appears to be like a seed from his pocket. He's going to bite his thumb so that it starts bleeding as a drop of blood falls onto the seed. I'm going to cast Goodberry and hand it to Khuvos to say like,

Olwen: Here. Eat. Might be able to help me with something, but… not if you're dead. Here.

Emma: [laughs] He is going to look at it, like, suspiciously. Can I do some sort of like arcana check to see if I would recognize the spell? Or…

Winter: Here! Eat this berry that was born of my blood! [laughs]

Emma: …What it is.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely, feel free. Cerri, what was your investigation?

Grace: A 16.

Jee: You take a look around. There were a lot of makeshift tables and stands, people setting up on crates. They moved in, as you suspected previously, with very little plan. None of the would-be assassins remain. You have to guess they fled. They, in your experience, as you know, they were told that this plan would work. They were guided through this, not knowing that they were being sent to what is, most likely, their deaths.

Jee: You see from the stands that were erected just crates and crates of these, pre-prepared like, candles. Nothing further, whatever information they had about the job had to have been on their person, and at this point you're unsure if they got away, if they were arrested, or going after the Sovereign, most likely, they were caught killed.

Jee: Khuvos, I'll real quick get your arcana check.

Emma: That was a 10, so I don't know how closely he's looking, or how much he's familiar with natural magic.

Jee: Hmm. You definitely don't recognize it. This is not- you are very well-versed in magic from all your years of schooling, but… the type that you two practice couldn't be more different. Yours is born of the carving, city of stone. It is prim and proper. It is exact. This is… wild and untamed. This is the twisted briar in a frozen mountain. This is not something that you're familiar with at all.

Emma: And especially with that, he would look up at you all and go,

Khuvos: What is it?

Olwen: It's food. It'll heal some of your wounds if you eat it.

Emma: Hesitantly takes a berry, puts it in his mouth.

Jee: Yeah. It does its intentended job.

Andie: You get 1 HP per berry. [Emma, Andie, and Jee laugh] There's 10 of them. There are 10 berries. So you can munch on this for a while.

Emma: Okay. At that, take a couple and just be like…

Khuvos: We'll circle back to the... Helping bit in a minute. But thank you.

Winter: While… Cerri is investigating the stalls, Suda is going to approach. And just be like, this kind of buzzing gnat. Cerri.

Suda: So, uh… thank you for that back there, but you know, it really wasn't necessary. I had the situation totally, totally in control. So you don't have to, uh, yeah, we don't have to talk about this, yeah?

Cerridwen: Yes, you definitely seemed to have it under control, and we will not discuss it again. Could I have a little more space, please?

Suda: It looks like you're pretty good at working in tight quarters, so… Uh… [Winter and Grace giggling] But that caster definitely was getting your goat there though. So I think we can come to some sort of understanding that this never happened, yeah?

Cerridwen: What happened? [clears throat] [Winter laughs]

Suda: Oh, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So… what are you doing?

Cerridwen: Looking for really anything that could give us an answer, a direction. These are unburned candles. I wonder if one of the wizards would like these. They like this sort of thing, right?

Suda: I suppose so. If you're going to sell them to them, yeah sure. But why do you care?

Cerridwen: I don't... like. [pause] I don't like what happened. It was sloppy. It was brazen. And there are more questions than answers, and I don't care for that at all.

Suda: I understand that. That is an affront to your professionalism. So... I can... I can... I can see that. Uh... Well... It's been good. I suppose I'll see you around. [nervous laugh]

Cerridwen: [clears throat nervously] Yeah, see you around.

Grace: Now that I'm done searching the stall areas, can I go at least search the bodies of anyone who's still dead that Sage did not manage to save?

Jee: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Digging through pockets.

Grace: Cool.

Jee: Yeah. Digging through pockets. You do just altogether gather up five extra silver and three gold. In terms of extra currency.

Jacqueline: As as all of this is going on, Aelina, who did go– when she cast her spell at the very end, she came back and was visible again. And so she's sort of like the others has had, like she's not meeting anyone's eyes really. She’s just kind of looking around at what's happened. And she goes to where she had left the lantern that she purchased.

Jacqueline: And she actually picks that one up again, as well as one of the just… candles that hasn't been lit and takes both of those to figure out what's going on later, possibly. But otherwise she's sort of being quiet and not necessarily like, making the first move with anyone who's still there.

Jee: Mm-hmm. The three of you that gathered that infection… The rage, the bloodless, left you. You feel tired, head hurts, your joints ache and you know that this is not done. You still feel it gripping your body, your heart, your mind. And you get the sense this is not a typical poison, especially in the case of Cerri who used this sort of underground machination.

Jee: This… This needs a direct cure. This needs a… a direct poultice, something to rid you of this rot. You're not sure where that would be, what it would be, but you do know, the ones behind it had to have had some sort of back-up. Whoever made this, whoever put this out, they're the ones who are going to have this cure for you.

Rosalie: With your permission, I think, Sage, has come to a person who might have some sort of wound, and I was going to flag down whoever might be standing nearby. I was thinking Aelina possibly. And be like,

Sage: Hey. do you have some sort of cloth bandages? Something, this person has… sword wound… It's lucky that it missed- it was really close to the artery, but… Bandages?

Aelina: Uh, of course, here.

Jacqueline: And she reaches into her belt. Inside her cloak, she has a belt that's kind of cinching everything in, and it has lots of folds, and so from out of that, she pulls a handkerchief, white, but it has just a little bit of embroidery on the edges, and it doesn't have visible heraldry, but it does have colors of her house because she's very heraldic, and so she comes over and holds it out.

Aelina: Here.

Rosalie: I do clock the sigilry, the heraldry.

Sage: I'm not gonna owe you for this, am I?

Aelina: No.

Rosalie: I just very quickly, not sloppily, but not with a ton of care and attention, dress the wound, and up.

Sage: You were also...

Rosalie: She makes a gesture like... Punches her fist into her other hand to signify enraged in this.

Sage: Do you feel okay?

Aelina: Uh... No? Yeah, I… I don’t know

Rosalie: I'd like to take my wand and cast a light on the tip of it and use it like a pen light like I'm checking for a concussion. [Rosalie and Jee laughing]

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Use it like a pen light to like check for a concussion. Um... The Eyes react normally to lights–

Jacqueline: And I will say, if you happened to notice at the very end what happened with her eyes, any sign of that is gone. She looks fully human.

Rosalie: Can I, I'd like to take a look at these candles and see, I do have… I'm imagining this is probably some sort of rare thing that I might not have heard of, but I would love to, with my herbalism proficiency… I'm in investigation mode now that whoever's not dying is not dying.

Jacqueline: As you're looking for the candles, Aelina actually says,

Aelina: if I can get 10 minutes in a quiet place, I may be able to identify these candles.

Sage: Useful. Okay. Might be a bit difficult to find a quiet place right now. [pause] Prefect. You okay?

Emma: Khuvos kinda gives a sigh. Clearly, he is not staying hidden much longer and just goes,

Khuvos: I'm- I'm fine. Thank you. A little beat up, as you can see, but I'm fine.

Emma: And kind of squints a little bit. A hint of recognition there? Not really gonna say anything about it, though. It's a little embarrassing, especially after... him being the trained one out of the two of them. Uh, he's the most wounded.

Khuvos: But… I take it you're looking into the... You found a candle, something to figure out what this was?

Rosalie: Yeah, I do have the one that I had picked up. I think I've pulled it out of my pouch and I'm kind of scraping at the wick a little bit, trying to see what might be at that core that was burning, making the fumes here.

Emma: Khuvos is gonna make his way over and help you with that check.

Grace: And I think seeing the wizards gathering around a used candle, I'll, you know, grab one of the unburnt candles that I was sort of checking out earlier and walk over and sort of...

Cerridwen: Here.

Grace: And then a couple of fingers on Aelina's shoulder, certainly recognizing that there is a little more rank there.

Cerridwen: Are you all right?

Jacqueline: As soon as the fingers touch her shoulder, she pulls back for a second before looking over and...

Aelina: Apologies. That was.. Intense.

Cerridwen: Hardly my worst day.

Aelina: I see.

Jacqueline: And DM, how far are we from like the parts of town Aelina would know, her… the townhouse, that kind of thing?

Jee: You're in the Rat’s Maze. Where you're used to is the upper city. So you would have to– you guys are in like, the heart of the lower city. So like, twenty minute walk or so–

Jacqueline: Got it.

Jee: –up towards like, the barrier between the two sections.

Jacqueline: Farther than “I have a safe place that we can go if we need to go right now” kind of.... Okay.

Grace: We are in Cerri's home turf. She does tend to have safe houses, safe places, she knows to go to in this area? Can we see… roll a check or something to see if there's one in spitting distance or if we've got to do a little trek?

Jee: Um I will say um for this, you have several. You know one in particular that is right here in the Rat’s Maze. You could go to her. How far away she is from the center… She's fairly close, actually. Her place of residence is pretty popular for people of your stock, so she chose a good location specifically for situations like this, but you know that is a “no questions asked” kind of place.

Cerridwen: If we would like to move things to a less public venue, I do know somewhere we can go. Although, perhaps someone as obvious as that one,

Grace: pointing at the Conclave wizard,

Cerridwen: should... cover.

Emma: At that, Khuvos already, like… holds up the Prefect robe, which has been taken off. He's now in sort of like an under tunic, which is white, though stained with blood, and a black, like, under turtleneck underneath it. So the symbols are gone, but he stuffs the Prefect robe back in his bag for the time being.

Winter: While Khuvos is distracted, Suda happens to wander back toward Cerridwen.

Suda: So do you think that if we found the individuals responsible for this, that there would be a bounty perhaps? I could, you know… we could make some top dollar on it.

Cerridwen: I think the powers that be would certainly be appreciative if we were able to deliver answers or a body for both.

Suda: Good… Yes, sounds good to me. Uh, very good. If you'd need the extra sword arm, you know, somebody to watch your back while you're sifting through these clues, yeah.

Cerridwen: Never hurts to have a Crawler around.

Andie: Is this conversation out loud?

Winter: Oh yeah, yeah.

Andie: Can everyone just hear this? Okay. So as all of you say that, I think Olwen is going to comment and turn towards, Olwen is going to turn towards Aelina and he's going to say,

Olwen: Well, if we're looking for answers, I think a noble in the Rat’s Maze is relatively suspicious.

Sage: I was going to say, even if we don't have a Prefect, we do have Miss Lendarys here.

Aelina: Wait, are you? Are you looking at me for... in suspicion, sir?

Olwen: Oh, well, it's just... Some poison candles find themselves to the Rat’s Maze, And if I'm not mistaken, most of the victims appear to be those of a... How would your people call them? Lower rank?

Rosalie: DM, would I know that... Which side? Um, whether House Lendarys is side Empire or side Conclave?

Jee: House Lendarys, you do know, predictably, House native to Valensun, and also in the top 10, the ninth house of the Empire, is on the side of Shroudmour.

Rosalie: I'm gonna give Olwen just the most withering look.

Sage: It's just because she stands out. Why would she be involved in this? Let's go. We need to get some more bandages for– what's your– I can't keep calling you Prefect.

Khuvos: Khuvos.

Sage: We need bandages for Khuvos, let's go.

Rosalie: And then I realize I don't know where we're going, and I stop. [Jee laughs] But I like, look cool about it. I try to. [Andie, Jee, and Rosalie laughing]

Andie: Just like, not looking at the party so we can't see your face.

Rosalie: Yes.

Jee: Yeah, your back to everyone.

Jacqueline: Meanwhile, Aelina just fixates Olwen with her most withering… not holier-than-thou, like she's not that kind of noble, but just her most like…”You don't fucking know me, asshole” stare. The subtext is clear.

Olwen: Don't look at me like that. Everyone knows that nobles in the upper echelons or whereever the fuck you hang out have nothing better to do than steal and gossip, so you must have heard something.

Aelina: If we are going to be spending any time together, I suggest that you remove the phrase “everyone knows” from your lexicon. Sir.

Andie: I think that Olwen like… with like a huff turns towards the rest of like the people here seeing that Aelina’s not gonna like budge, right, like that's what I'm seeing here? She's not gonna say anything no matter like, how much he like, he grills her?

Jacqueline: She just kind of like, twitches her cloak, fixes it straight so that it stands and draws herself up, and like, the tiniest flicker of pain from the blow that she got hit with from a Suda like crosses her face but she quells it.

Andie: Okay, Olwen's gonna turn to the rest of the party then, and going to say,

Olwen: Alright, fine. Anyone else have any ideas? You were opening an herbalism kit. Do you think this is some kind of poison? Do you think you can make an antitoxin for it?

Sage: Well, I have to take a look at it– closer look at it first. We were going to head somewhere so that we weren't like, in out in the open with a bunch of unconscious and dead corpses? First?

Suda: That would be advisable. Let's find somewhere less public and you there...

Winter: pointing to Aelina.

Suda: I apologize if I… ruffled your feathers earlier.

Aelina: Understandable.

Jacqueline: DM, was I the only person in my family planning to attend this day?

Jee: In your family, yes. In your House, no.

Jacqueline: Sweet.

Cerridwen: If we are all quite done dancing, I would like to get somewhere less exposed.

Khuvos: Lead the way, please.

Suda: Oh no, is the Conclave brat going with us?

Sage: I said we were going to get bandages for him, we're not bringing them back here.

Suda: Eugh.

Emma: Khuvos would turn to make a remark, and you would watch as his face crosses from that irritation to just kind of like a… full pause as he looks at Suda and his face is gonna soften for a moment as he just goes

Khuvos: Nyme?

Winter: Initially, when Suda's gonna match Khuvos's stare just with, “do I fucking know you?” [Winter and Jee laugh] But when Khuvos says, “Nyme”, her face shatters into a million different emotions. All at once. Fear, there's guilt, grief, desperation. All of it just fractures across her face and...

Suda: I don't know who that is.

Winter: And simply just walks in whatever direction that Cerri had been indicating earlier.

Emma: Insight check immediately.

Grace, overlapping: Insight check. [Players and Jee laughing]

Jacqueline: No, I wanted to think as well, a thing. Things are tense, what the fuck is going on? When this weird comment happens, she casts a quick Detect Thoughts. Aelina casts Detect Thoughts on herself. So for one… for the duration of the spell, which is concentration up to a minute, I can hear the surface thoughts of a creature within 30 feet of me. And that if I wanna try and probe deeper, that's a thing.

Jee: Okay. Wonderful.

Jacqueline: But like just surface thoughts.

Jee: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we'll go-

Jacqueline: Sorry to put you in this space, Winter.

Rosalie: Instead of insight checking on Suda here, can I make a roll to clock the components of that spell? I think it has like some…

Jacqueline:Yeah, it's a verbal, somatic, and has a material component, copper piece.

Jee: Okay, so we'll handle it in this order. First, I would like Suda to make me a deception check. Khuvos and Cerri, you guys are making insight checks against her deception. Are you two the only ones doing insight?

Andie: I'll roll if that's all right.

Jee: Yeah, anyone who wishes to, feel free.

Winter: That is a 23.

Jee: 23.

Grace: I also rolled a 23 on my insight.

Jee: Oooooh! [laughing]

Andie: That is a big ol seven.

Winter: And now Cerri can say that she's always had the read on Suda. [Jee and Winter laughing]

Jee: Uh, Khuvos, what was yours?

Emma: Khuvos got a 17.

Jee: Olwen, these people are fucking weird. Khuvos, you... It throws you off, cause they're so sure of yourself, but you must've been… cause I don't know. Maybe it's the blood loss. Yeah, it's probably the blood loss. Cerri, your observance, it's part of your job. Has to be. Suda is stone-faced at the best of times. It is difficult.

Jee: It's the slightest furrow of the eyebrow. The slightest twitch of the eye. There is recognition, at base. You know it.

Grace: I don't say anything that just gets filed away in the ol' branium.

Jee: Then, while that is occurring, while those insight checks are being made, Aelina, you go ahead and do your Detect Thoughts. And remind surface thoughts, it just happens when the spell is cast. To dig further, that's when the save is made and the person-

Jacqueline: Correct.

Jee: Okay.

Jacqueline: Correct. It's– the text is “You initially learn the surface thoughts of the creature. What is most on its mind in that moment”. As an action, I can shift it. And if I probe deeper, they have to make a wisdom saving throw.

Jee: Okay, wonderful. So what's the radius on that?

Jacqueline: 30 feet.

Winter: So as a player, I love this so much. [Jee and Jacqueline laughing] All right. But as an actor, I'm like, oh, I did not expect to be doing this this early.

Jacqueline: I'm so sorry. [Everyone laughing]

Winter: No, it's great. Thank you. All right.

Grace: Episode two, baby!

Winter: When… Probably in your experience, you have cast this spell before, I'm sure, and you've probably only heard one voice. This is probably the first time that you've ever heard two. Having a conversation.

Jacqueline: Okaaay!

Winter: Something to the effect of…

Suda: Am I supposed to know the fish boy back there?

Second Voice, echoing: Oh, that is Khuvos. I remember him from my brief stint at the Conclave.

Suda: That is not what I needed right now. I did not need someone from your past showing up and threatening to expose us.

Jacqueline: That feels like plenty for that spell without digging deeper.

Jee: Oh yeah, just surface thoughts. Yeah, and she does not try to dig deeper in this moment.

Jee: Okay, wonderful. So as you continue on, just as a general, you're all walking, you know, Khuvos's name… Who are these people around you? You all kind of think of?

Rosalie:Yeah, I think as we start walking, Sage does say the,

Sage: Okay, so if you're not this… whatever he said, who are you? Let's get some–, we're going to be working together for at least the afternoon.

Aelina: Well, I'm Aelina Montsen.

Jacqueline: And those of you who are– track in any of this thing, you notice she doesn't use her title, she doesn't list her House, she's not saying it the way most folks of her standing generally would.

Andie: Olwen who tends to like, sort of wear his emotions on his sleeve. The moment that you're not like a dick about like, your title he looks surprised, like he doesn't hide it.

Winter: Very curtly Suda will just...

Suda: Suda.

Grace: With a similar curtness,

Cerridwen: Call me Cerri. [pause] Well, wizard?

Sage: I was waiting for the fur man. Uh… Sage, Sage Xenius. I'm just here with the Coven. We're going to be moving on soon, but like I said, if we're gonna be working together for the afternoon, and can I please have your name, the one with the furs?

Olwen: The one with the furs is Olwen, Olwen Tanner.

Sage: Thank you. I didn't have another name until then. So you'll have to forgive me.

Khuvos: I was wondering where you learned your magic if it wasn't the Conclave.

Sage: Around.

Emma: And… If he’s close enough to Sage, he would kind of say under his breath,

Khuvos: Though I know you tried. [Jee laughing softly]

Rosalie: I'm gonna roll a deception check to see if I don't react, cause I don't want to. [laughing] Okay. Not bad. 15. I think I am like, I'm just like, yeah, just kind of trying to come off as, “yeah, I didn't learn it there. So what?”

Jee: So much shade being thrown already. I love it. [laughing] You're all so shady to each other.

Rosalie: We are so shady to each other.

Jee: This is almost worse than like straight PVP where you're attacking each other. I love it. [laughing]

Rosalie: I usually play complete sweethearts, so this is wild for me.

Emma: Khuvos is just dishing out what he was thrown. That’s all I’m gonna say [laughing]

Jee: I love it. I love it. I love it. No broken reactions for this situation. Yeah, wonderful. Introducing one another, everyone has introduced themselves. You all kind of have a general feeling of who everyone is. And as Sage said, might as well know if you're gonna be working with each other for at least this afternoon, right?

[Footstep SFX]

Jee: Cerri, you lead the way through the streets. Guards are kind of emerging back out in full force. Now that the initial attack is over, they withdrew in droves to protect the sovereign. But now that the initial attack is over, they are once again coming out onto the streets and they're coming out in full fucking force. They are patrolling their overturning parts, they're going to the shops, they're questioning random people on the street. You have to move quickly to get there.

Jee: Easy enough to find it. And you see that, upon approaching this establishment, which the rest of you are unfamiliar with it– you see Cerri is leading you all towards a sort of like, tavern that boasts a resplendent bakery and immaculate hospitality. It is a place called the Labyrinth's Rest. You see there are two people standing outside the door upon approaching, Cerri.

Jee: Two incredibly tall, very muscular gentlemen who are just leaning casually up against the door, not blocking anyone from entering, but watching very closely who comes up to the door. And with you leading the charge, they just nod at you as you approach and give the stink eye to another passing guard. They are, with the situation in the Rat’s Maze, they're falling back to protect what is important and this place is certainly important. So they give you a nod and allow you and everyone else to enter.

Winter: Am I familiar with this place? Suda, familiar with this place?

[Mellow, staccato string and piano music fading in]

Jee: You have never been here before, but you've heard of places similar to this. The Labyrinth's Rest, the name sounds familiar, and it's like, I know there's someone here. The name's on the tip of my tongue, but it doesn't quite come to you. But you know the kind of place that this is. This is… This is the place for the lowly pickpockets, the lowly thieves and criminals. This is a safe house for the general population of the Rat’s Maze. Uh, so you have to guess a lot of people are going to be coming back to places like this.

Winter: So it's not like a tavern per se. It’s…

Jee: Yeah, it is definitely a tavern. It operates as one.

Winter: Okay.

Jee: When you enter, you enter into like, the general eating area. You see there's a counter for like, baked goods set up and there's like, a bar in the corner. it's certainly an establishment, but you definitely know it operates, as well, as a safe house.

Winter: Okay, so in that case, since I'm not familiar with this establishment straight up, Suda pauses by the door, reaches into one of her many pockets, and pulls out a, what, ostensibly, is a well-worn ball of wax that is getting steadily smaller, and wads up two pieces and sticks them into her ears before entering.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Wonderful. Yeah, you do so, and with Cerri leading the charge, all of you are let in, and the doors quickly close behind you. You see there are a few people sitting at tables, casually having drinks. There's someone eating a bit of food at another table. And though the setting looks calm when walking, it is very tense. You all pick up on that as you enter.

Jee: Due to hearing the door close, you see the door to like, a back kitchen open, and a shorter drow woman exits. Very, very dark purple-tinged skin with very, very long white braids tied back out of her face. And she is wearing… it's like a simple peasant's dress with a little apron that she wipes her hands on as she enters. She has a bit of a panicked look, but, in moreso… not overwhelmed. She's very much in control, but just the situation happening in the Rat’s Maze now means she's about, there it is, wiping her hands on her apron as she exits and pauses and sees you, Cerri, and goes,

Drow Woman: Alright, alright, I was waiting for you and a couple of other people to be showing up. Come in, come in, come in. Um, I have two more other people sitting downstairs. The upstairs area is, for now, reserved. We're gonna try to use that as overflow. How long are you expecting to need to be staying? A couple hours? A whole day? What are you thinking?

Cerridwen: For now, a couple of hours. We could use a place to heal this one up.

Grace: And I'll sort of gesture behind to...

Drow Woman: Oh, goodness, darlin'! Oh… Oh.

Emma: Khuvos waves awkwardly.

Sage: We didn't exactly have a good stash of bandages. We had a single silk embroidered kerchief and it wasn't quite enough for that wound.

Drow Woman: Oh, yes. Absolutely. We have… not everything you could need, but we have some supplies. In general, um, Cerri you know, but in general for those of you who haven't been here before: My name is Zara, Zara Demtor.

Zara: In general you try to leave as much as you take just to look out for the next person. It's not required but just as a sort of courtesy. So you're– feel free to use some of the healing supplies that are downstairs, but maybe if you can leave a couple gold as you leave, just for me to go out and get more to restock after you're gone, that would certainly be appreciated. As I'm sure I don't need to say, but I will say anyways: discretion and peace is key. There'll be no fighting, not under my roof, and if anyone goes talking to anyone, well, you're certainly gonna find out the hard way what happens when you fuck with Demtor’s Lowborn. Understand?

Rosie: Out of character, I hope bickering doesn't count towards that, because we are gonna have a hard time otherwise. [Jee and Rosie laugh]

Grace: Cerri will sort of, you know, grasp her hand.

Cerridwen: It is good to see you, Zara.

Grace: And I will press a gold and one of the unlit candles that I found into her hand and sort of lean in.

Cerridwen: And anything you hear about these.

Jee: I'll get the word out, see what I can find.

Cerridwen: Thank you.

Zara: Alright, now, go rest. Let me know if y'all want something to eat. [sighs] I don't know how many of you are from here,

Jee: she says, taking a look at specifically Khuvos, Aelina, Olwen.

Zara: Word on the street is the Rat’s Maze is going to be closed.We're not gonna be able to leave. We're not gonna be able to get to the upper city. We're not gonna be able to leave the city, none of that. So, settle down for at least a week of being down here with us lowborn, as they say. Because until things settle down, we're all stuck here.

Sage: Magda's gonna be annoyed. Downstairs, you said?

Zara: Mm-hmm,

Jee: and she opens the door behind her.

Zara: Just past the kitchen. Don't be touching anything that's on the stove! It's not ready yet. Just pass the kitchen, there's stairs down into the cellar, go right in there. As I said, there's two others in there. There's some beds, there's some cots, there's some shelves full of supplies. Take what you need.

Jee: And opens the door to allow you guys to enter the safe house proper.

Khuvos:Thank you.

Sage: Thank you, Ms. Demtor, we truly appreciate it.

Zara: Mhmm.

Suda: You don't happen to have, um, any drow weed? The sedative?

Zara: I can certainly check. Uh, I think our alchemical stocks might be running a bit low, but if not here, I can see if I can't send someone out for you.

Suda: That would be much appreciated. All the stores were closed for the funeral.

Zara: Ugh, I can imagine.

Aelina: Do you know, are letters making it out of the... out of the rat's maze?

Zara: Depends. The way I heard, I had some of my lowborn up at the border between the two sections of the city and report back to me almost instantly. If you get a Steelbone talented enough, maybe you can get them through. Ah but you know, ain't nobody trusts those couriers. [sighs] So, if you got enough gold lining your pocket, if you're persuasive enough, possibly.

Andie: Yeah, Olwen waits for everyone else to go down before turning to– Zara, right? And going,

Olwen: Thank you.

Andie, laughing: And then he goes down.

Zara: Absolutely, young blood. Alright. [laughs]

Jee: And she lets you go. You enter this basement. You see… It is a door that you would guess is normally locked and as hidden as could be possibly, but has since been opened up to just expect arrivals such as yourself. So the door is unlocked as you all enter. It is a large underground room with a couple dozen cots, some shelves of general supplies that are about halfway full. They've been hit with a bad spot recently.

Jee: Like she said, there's two people: one resting on one of the cots, the other sitting in a corner kind of bandaging his own arm, taking care of himself after such an attack. Other than that, it's pretty silent. The one bandaging his arm glances up as you all enter, but just goes back to his own business. There's a couple of quiet corners that you guys can reside in. Nothing too fancy about this, it's just a woman trying to help out people who get in trouble, essentially.

Rosie: So I am going to try to find those bandages wherever they may be stashed down here and bandage up Khuvos. Narratively, this is literally just a bandage. No actual mechanical benefit, Emma. But hopefully maybe we can justify this being a short rest, DM?

[Ambient wind noise]

Jee: [laughs] Depends how long y'all are staying here, yeah. It's certainly a place where you can take a short rest.

Rosie: Once that's taken care of, I'm gonna start..take a little, like, pocket knife, get some of the stuff out of the wick, you know, trying to start doing some checks on this candle and analyzing it and all that.

Jacqueline: I was going to say, Aelina is going to find a cot sort of near one of the walls. So there's a wall to her back and she takes off the big cloak that she's been wearing, so you can see what she has on underneath, which is like silk noble clothes, colors in teal and bright burgundy– or deep burgundy, excuse me. And she draws her legs up, she's wearing these kind of leather pants under the dress, so she draws her legs up to sit crisscross on the cot and holds the candle in front of her and says, give me 10 minutes. And then sort of closes her eyes and focuses on the candle. And so she's ritually casting Identify.

Andie: Olwen is going to sit down next to Sage and pull out his own herbalism kit. But I imagine as to where Sage’s is sort of like..more well kept… You look at his herbalism kit, it's covered in like dirt and moss. There's a bunch of like, like random bottles of different sizes. They're just filled with like, different crap.

Rosie: Yeah, I totally have like, a pretty well-made like mortar and pestle here. Like everything's…like it might not– it's not shiny and new. It might have some signs of use on it, but it seems like this was pretty good..like, what's the word I'm looking for? Pharmaceutical equipment, more so than herbalism.

Andie: [laughs] As Sage is sort of like working with like a tiny knife and going through it you watch Olwen doing what is mostly the same thing, but instead of like using like a tiny knife, he takes like the candle, breaks it in half with like his hands. He'll take like some leaves pop in his mouth and spit it into like a mortar, a mortar and pestle.

Sage: Don't do, don’t eat–oh my God.

Rosalie: I'm imagining Aelina is going to get the name of the herb. Olwen could figure out like where it comes from and I would know like… when it might be used normally and that kind of thing. [Andie laughing] Hopefully it'll be rolled well enough though, or something like that. Divide and conquer so all three of these mean something. [laughs]

Jee:Yeah.

Suda: Oh, you have herbalism kits. Do either of you have drow weed?

Andie: Do we?

Rosie: Can I roll something to see if I might have it?

Jee: Yeah, let's go ahead and roll a luck check. Over 10, yes, under 10…

Rosie: That's a nat 20.

Jee: Hey!

Andie: That is also a nat 20.

Jee: [laughing] Two nat 20s, holy shit.

Rosie: With that, would I know when it might typically... Can I know specifically what that is prescribed for with that also?

Jee: Yeah

Winter: So I know I just kinda came up with it, but it's a sedative, essentially, just like a sleeping aid.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Both of you actually do have it on your person. It's a useful herb to have, just to have on hand, whether for yourself or someone else; both of you do have it on your person.

Rosie: I have it pre-prepared in tea bags. [Jee laughs]

Winter: Nice, sleepy time tea. [Rosie laughs]

Andie: I don't think Olwen has it in tea bags. He has just like the whole plant, like somewhere in there [laughing].

Jee: [laughing] It's still got roots!

Andie: Yeah, including the roots.

Jee: [still laughing] An ant, a couple ants scurry off and go up your arm.

Rosie: Ew.

Suda: I'll buy some off you if you don't mind parting with any.

Sage: No worries about payment right now. I mean, who knows what might happen the rest of the day. No worries if you don't need to call in a favor, but I don't need anything in exchange. I've got plenty.

Suda: Okay.

Winter: She'll accept a few…a gram or two, and put it into that pouch she had earlier at the apothecary’s.

Jee: So it is Sage and Olwen both doing their herbalism checks. Are you both doing them separately or giving one person advantage?

Rosie: Um I think earlier Emma had been talking about Khuvos helping to give advantage to Sage.

Emma: Yes, Khuvos would still be looking to assist with some of that. Though I am realizing I also had Identify, that would have been so much simpler to just cast [Andie laughing] but Aelina's got it.

Andie: Okay, so I'll roll straight and you roll with advantage?

Jee: You roll straight, you'll roll with advantage, and then when you're finished with that, we'll go on to Aelina's.

Rosie: Am I using Int for this?

Jee: I'm sorry?

Rosie: Like with proficiency, what stat?

Jee: Oh, right. What are we rolling? That's probably good to know.

Rosie: Because I do have the herbalism kit proficiency.

Jee: So yes, rolling with proficiency. So roll…I'll say roll an intelligence check plus your proficiency bonus for this herbalism kit.

Rosie: That is a dirty 20 in that case.

Andie: What do..what's that? Do I use…is it also intelligence?

Jee: You'll use intelligence. So this is basically using your herbalism kit and your knowledge of just plant life and such in general.

Andie: That is a 10.

Jee: 10. Okay, so you have a dirty 20 and a 10? Alright. Olwen, you are not well-versed in too many poisons. It's not really your method of choice, so not too much comes to your mind in regards to this.

Jee: Sage, you are also not as well-versed, but you are a lot more well-read. You have been around for a while and you have researched many a different topic. You don't know exactly what it is, but you do recognize some of the characteristics. This is something that was in fact carefully crafted and coated on all throughout the wick of each candle, so when it burned it would release the poison. It's not the wax, it's the actual wick on the inside that was coated. And it was done in a way that touch is no sort of exposure; it's when you're breathing it in once it burns.

Jee: And in regards to what happened to Khuvos, any sort of contact with an infected person, such as them being close enough to draw blood, it essentially passed along to Khuvos in sort of like a secondary contact kind of way. When the infected persons were still like in the throes of their bloodlust..as I said in the previous episode, they were almost like a carrier. So it infected them and gave them the potential for a short period of time to infect others if they could get into their system, such as breathing it in or through their blood and flesh.

Rosie: Mhmm, mhmm.

Jee: So that's kind of what you can determine. That's..so you are understanding better how it works. The nature of it, again, you're not sure exactly what it is, but it looks almost engineered. Someone made this. Someone planned this and made this. And it really reinforces the idea that all of this was a planned attack, it was a planned assault.

Rosie: Mhmm.

Jee: However it was meant to go, though it turned out sloppy and not successful, this was meant to happen. And it was meant to be random. It was meant to just infect..random people in the crowd. You have to guess, was it a distraction? Was there someone in the crowd? You're not sure, but–all of that you are sure of. The finer details you cannot determine.

Rosie: I think Olwen, as Olwen's kind of like squinting and struggling with this, I'm like,

Sage: Well, there's not a lot of actual leaf substance in here. They probably, some sort of oil or wax they made, this is something.. somebody made an infusion of some sort. You see this, there's a little bit of a different layer of wax around the wick where you broke the candle. You see it's a bit different colored around there? That's what it is.

Andie: I think you see like, normally, Olwen's like very, like, abrasive with people. But when it's talking about like, you know, like working with your hands and stuff like that, and you begin explaining it to him, he gets really quiet. And you can tell that he's actually like trying to take it in and listen.

Rosie: I'm not gonna explain things very often. So value this while it lasts. [Jee and Rosie laugh]

Jee: Aelina, while they're performing these checks, you take the 10 minutes to ritual cast Identify. First thing you gather is the same information that Sage gathered from the initial contact. So I think using Identify you, in addition to what Sage learned, it was not created through any sort of magical force. This was a purely alchemical creation. So there's no spell attached to it, nothing like that. It is essentially just the one-time use for as long as the candle burns. It's not anything, any like well-known poison or any type that could be like instantly recognized.

Jee: This is definitely someone's own personal work and the extra bit that's really important to get from Identify is that the sick feeling that you and the two others still have, this confirms that it is not done. This is a poison meant to stay in your system. So this is something that stays, this is something that remains with you. It is not done with the three of you. You have to guess that in a few days time, something else is gonna go wrong.

Jacqueline: Hmm.

Jee: You aren't sure what, but you know that. And to get rid of it, you have to track down the cure most likely held by the poisoner.

Jacqueline: Got it. Aelina is not going to share the bit about the sick feeling and that it's likely to pop back up necessarily. She's gonna be somewhat closed about how many details she shares on that front.

Jee: Okay.

Jacqueline: So she does say like,

Aelina: it wasn't created by magic, it's something alchemical, and there are probably some side effects.

Sage: If we could just figure out what kind of plant it was, we'd be able to know like where it came from, but that leaves me at a loss.

Olwen: Yeah, with anything we know now, I don't think either of us could make an antitoxin for this.

Khuvos: So how do we find someone who can?

Olwen: Well, I did..before all of the fighting happened, I was able to clock the faces of the...younger folk that were distributing the candles. It didn't seem like they were doing this, like, I don't know. From the expression on their face they seemed panicked, like they knew this was gonna happen, but probably not to the extent that it was going to. I could describe them, but uh… Does anyone have any experience on sketching out a profile or..?

Aelina: I mean,

Jacqueline: and I do a quick cantrip Minor Illusion above my hand and just like a floating face.

Aelina: You could try describing to me and I can see if I can make them look right.

Olwen: Alright.

Andie: Olwen begins as best as he can to describe like what the kids look like.

Jee: Just in general, just for everyone's information, from your recollection Olwen, these were all, as I said, mid-late teens. They were...15, 16, 17 years old. So these were still kids. Older kids, but still kids. They were scrappy, they were rugged, definitely rat's maze locals. They were underfed. Two of them appeared to be maybe elven, half elven. The third appeared to be of a tiefling ancestry, had a very small set of horns on his forehead. And just in general, especially for something against the literal leader of the empire, not the kind of person that you would expect to see in an assassination attempt if that's what this was, like this. And so that's kind of general description of what you have for the three that you saw.

Olwen: Well obviously these kids weren't the masterminds behind this whole thing, but they were the ones being used. I saw them run off towards where the nobles were fleeing when the guards went to go take them to safety.

Suda: People using... kids for their... plots. People like that need their heads stricken from their shoulders.

Andie: Immediately. Olwen will turn to Cerri and he's going to say,

Olwen: You seem like you're from here. I've been around here and there, but not nearly enough to know the people that live here. You recognize any of these kids?

Grace: DM, do I recognize any of them?

Jee: Not personally, but again, you have to guess they are similar to the normal apprentices that are picked up. Low-born orphans, scrappy young kids with not a penny for their name nor food in their bellies, or picked up off the streets after showing slight promise in some sort of criminal area. And after a period of them learning under your type of people, have been set out to accomplish quote unquote their first mission. This is not how it was meant to go and wherever they are now if they're still alive they certainly failed the test.

Grace: Do I think…interesting, do I think…would this be something Reavers specific or flavored in that way perhaps intentionally but not actually from anyone within my loose organization?

Jee: From the information gathered and your present knowledge, your best guess is that this is Reavers specific. Nothing else has come up that would make you think otherwise.

Grace: Then I'd like to pop upstairs, I assume Zara is still in the more public area.

Jee: Oh yeah.

Grace: I’d like pop upstairs and just…

Cerridwen: if Atash can be reached, I have a question.

Zara: Yeah, yeah, I think he's still in town. I can reach out. Um, [sighs] nah it’s nothing. I…just worried in general I suppose is the thing. I'll reach out to Atash, see what I can find out. Just, um...I don't know, I'm sure you feel this. Something about this just..it feels weird. Something about this. There's a part of this we aren't seeing, right?

Cerridwen: It's not alright. There's…yes. We are feeling the same.

Jee: She takes a bit of a shaky breath and wipes at her forehead. Once again, wipes her hands on her apron. Go ahead and give me an Insight check.

Grace: Happily. 18.

Jee: Zara is not an assassin, not well trained in any sort of fighting. She's just a gal who wants to help out the lowborn of the rat’s maze. That's why her quote unquote gang is called Demtor’s Lowborn. They've called themselves that because she takes care of them. But at the end of the day, she's just a woman with a restaurant who wants to help as best she can. Despite all of this – she's been doing this for a while, you know that – she gets nervous, she gets worried sometimes. Or she's worried after herself, she's worried after the people she looks after. There’s something she's really hyper focusing on. Something she can't get out of her head.

Grace: I'll very casually lean on the counter next to her, a little bit too close for comfort. She knows what it is that I do for a living. And just say,

Cerridwen: Zara, what is it you aren't saying?

Zara: Just… You weren't in town when those two heirs were murdered. It wasn't good. Quite the opposite. I’m not… I'm not cut out for this, you know that. I don't scare easily really, but I just… I don't know how else to put it, but… ever since– ever since that night, ever since those two were murdered in the streets. There's something here.

Zara: There's something going on. I'm telling you right now. I don't know what it is. I don't know what's coming. I don't know what's changing. But I don't like it and I'm scared for all of us. And I don't mean all of us as in all of us involved in criminal underground, all of us low born, all of us Rat’s Maze. Not all of us in Seers Mourning. All of us. The Empire. All of it.

Zara: I just… I'm overthinking things. I really am overthinking things. It's just a time of a lot of change happening and I'm... overthinking. Right?

Cerridwen: I don't know that you are.

Zara: [laughs sadly] You ain’t supposed to say that.

Cerridwen: Sorry, Zara.

Zara: You were supposed to reassure me and tell me that my mind's finally driving me crazy.

Cerridwen: Zara, have I ever been reassuring?

Zara: Go on, I'll send word to Atash, see what I can find out. But I'll let you know, just be careful in general. I know it's easier said than done, but still.

Cerridwen: Oh, [laughs] you have no idea.

Grace: I'll go back downstairs.

Jee: You return downstairs, the word sent out. Everyone else, we've done our checks into the candles, kind of rested a bit, bandaged up. Anything else we're doing in this cellar safe house?

Emma: I think Khuvos, realizing after kind of he's bandaged up, they've checked into the candle, which is the immediate worry. It kind of hits him that she said, he's not gonna be able to get out of the Rat’s Maze for a week. And he had business in the Upper City. So he's going to move into the corner, take out that sending stone. And very quickly, you said I can telepathically send the message through the sending stone, correct? I don't have to speak it out loud?

Jee: Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. This is the special edition sending stone given to Conclave Prefects out on their missions. Just so you have communication with your Magister.

Emma: Perfect. He's going to keep it in his pocket to try and make sure that others aren't really seeing it in the room. And he's going to telepathically send a message to the Magister and just be like, so I'm alive.

Khuvos: So I'm alive. But there was an attack made on the Sovereign. Rat’s Maze is locked down, stuck for a week.

Jee: You send that message off and a few moments pass before eventually the reply does come.

Magister Kieran: Fuck. At least you're safe. Just… stay out of trouble? Report when Rat’s Maze is open.

Emma: Just a quick “Understood. Will do my best.” back and then lets go of the sending stone.

Winter: Despite Suda's amazing deception earlier, the whole time that she's down there with Khuvos and the rest of the gang, not only is she keeping a 10-foot at least breadth from Khuvos, but he will find her staring at him intensely. [Jee laughs]

Emma: And I think after he realizes she's doing it a few times, he is going to approach you, Suda. And…

Winter: she's like, curling up. She wants to run away. [Winter and Jee laughing] But she doesn't also want to give herself away at the same time. So she's very conflicted and doesn't know what to do with herself honestly.

Emma: He'll look at her, uh, kind of playing with the staff in his hands. There's not really anywhere he can put it so he's still just holding onto it so he's gonna kind of fiddle with it during the conversation and just be like,

Khuvos: I- look, I'm sorry about earlier, I… Nyme was a close friend. I, at least for the brief time that I knew her, and I was kind of hoping to see her again. So I'm sorry if it's weird that I mistook you for someone else, but you're a spitting image.

Winter: There is a twinge of guilt, in a…. maybe her black eye twitches a little bit.

Suda: It is... it is no big thing. People mistake people all the time. I mean... I can't tell you how many of my early warrants I nearly arrested the wrong person. So it is... no big deal. Who... you must have... or at least Nyme must have left a really big impression on you.

Emma: And he kind of smiles.

Khuvos: She did. Uh… It was a little difficult making friends at the Conclave at first, so... Her being willing to be a friend was... nice.

Suda: I am glad then that you had her around. Sounds like someone I would have liked to have known.

Khuvos: Well, I'm sure depending on how long we were looking into this, I'll have a chance to tell more stories, but I just wanted to make sure there was no bad blood since you seemed a little concerned.

Winter: She says this next one... Like, almost through gritted teeth? Like, she's hesitant to say it. She doesn't want to, but she's being compelled to.

Suda: I would love to hear more, when you have the opportunity.

Khuvos: Of course.

Emma: and kind of seeing the matter solved, and that Suda's kind of still closed off. He'll kind of leave it at that and take a minute to sit down and rest, feeling that exhaustion and that pain still present.

Jee: Yeah. I’m assuming you’re all settling down for a short rest, at least, in this moment here in the safe house? Okay.

Andie: I have one thing to try before we short-drive.

Jee: Oh yeah, of course.

Andie: Uh, Olwen’s going to approach Sage and he's going to say,

Olwen: Well, based on the make of this candle, how likely do you think that any sort of seed from whatever they used got mixed into the wax, even just by chance?

Rosalie: Jee, what, with my 20 from earlier? Dirty 20 from earlier?

Jee: It's…

Olwen: Like, any piece of the original plant.

Jee: From the ones that you guys have, at least you're, it seems to be pretty boiled down. You are doubtful that you would find one, but at the very least, the candles that you have…

Rosalie: More of an essential oil is what I've been imagining.

Jee: Yeah.

Andie: So there's nothing I can make germinate or bloom here even if I tried?

Jee: Uh, no, not that you can see.

Olwen: Okay. Alright, well, guess we'll have to find this with those kids as our only lead.

Jacqueline: Um, Aelina is going to take a little bit more time to ritual cast Unseen Servant because it's just an automatic thing that she does when she is in a place and needs to pause for a moment and you know, needs a servant. So she's got that kind of… hovering around a little bit and then she gets a piece of paper– she looks for a piece of paper and an envelope on the shelves and like a quill because I'm guessing she didn't bring those things with her on this trip and starts writing two letters.

Jacqueline: One of them just to her family sort of saying where she is that she's okay. If they have some suggestions on how to get out of the Rat’s Maze that would be potentially useful. And then the other one she is writing to the Dame of Thorns just to see if she can get any information on what's happening from the Shroudmour side. Do they know what's going on? What's their take? Because we know what it is from like, on the ground what it was, but no idea what's happening for the noble side of things. Not that she knows how she's going to send these letters yet. But she's writing some letters.

Jee: Okay. Aelina, just to…

Jacqueline: Yes.

Jee: …Clarify… You were sitting in the cot. Because you specifically said, I'm going to sit in the cot.

Jacqueline: Yeah, I wanted to have a back wall to my back.

Jee: Okay, writing this letter. It… feels like an exhale of breath. A warm puff of air on the back of your neck.

Jacqueline: I touch my neck and then I turn behind me to see what's going on. Or what's– if there's something there.

Jee: You turn around. Just a wall. Nothing out of the ordinary

Jacqueline: Can I investigate that wall? OK. 14.

Jee: 14. Take a look at the wall. Solid. There's no like you're underground, so it wouldn't be like a draft and there's no like, notable cracks or holes in the wall really.

Jacqueline: I direct the servant to come and stand behind, come and like be behind me to like, fill the space behind me, if that makes sense.

Jee: Yeah of course! Perfect, it does so.

Jacqueline: And then continue to continue to write.

Jee: OK, yeah, great. You write letters. And you all have a short rest.

Rosalie: At some point while we're resting, I do think like. Sage at some point will be like, we need some hot water to clean somebody's wounds and make tea or whatever since I have my herbalism kit out, may as well. She would want to find Zara and tell her,

Sage: I don't necessarily have the components with me at the moment and I'm not exactly financially in the place where I can leave a lot, but if you ever need something protected and can provide… about 25 gold pieces worth of gold dust. And the Coven is in town, feel free to contact me. Sorry, I can't do much, but off–

Zara: That’s– That’s quite all right.

Sage: Rain check. I apologize.

Zara: I know it's not everyone can, some people can, some people can't, that's just the nature of things. That's why I tell people just leave whatever you can. Don't be bankrupting yourself or putting yourself in a bad position to be leaving me anything. It's just something that pass along for the next person. So if you're unable to this time, don't worry about it. Next time though, you bring me drinks.

Sage: Sounds like a plan. It just seems that… you may have just as much to protect as the people who hire me, so rain check on that service.

Zara: If I think of anything I'll contact them while y'all are in town.

Jee: You offer that service, head back to the cellar. So you all have your short rest here in the underground safe house of the Labyrinth's Rest, run by the one and only Zara Demtor. You have some clues in front of you, clues from the candles, clues from the individuals who are seen fleeing the scene, and some of you have a couple of connections that could be more useful than others. With all that in mind, we will end the episode here.

—OUTRO—

Jee: And we will return for our next session to embark on this journey of a mysterious poisoning and a strangely sabotaged assassination attempt against the sovereign of the empire. What could be going on there? Who are we going to find? And… who is behind Aelina? I will end things here today, folks. Everyone, thank you so much for tuning in. I can't wait for you to join us next time. And everyone, take care of yourselves today.