S3 Ep7: The River

[00:00:30] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Aubrey, and I play Isabelle, the entrepreneurial. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Hi, I'm legacy, and I play Rosanna, the faithful. [00:00:41] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Scott, and I play Arthur, the faithful. [00:00:44] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Kermite, and I play Piper, the underground. [00:00:49] Speaker E: Hi, I'm Clara, and I play Cadielynn. [00:00:52] Speaker F: And I'm bloodied porcelain. I will be your storyteller for the evening. A famous economist once said, there are no solutions, only trade offs. Hunters must, by their nature, reject this. To some degree, a successful hunt is a solution, at least to the problem of the monster they were pursuing. Rarely, however, do they stop to ask a simple but fundamental at what cost? What if they trade the life of a vampire who could have been the one to finally solve the puzzle of a bloodborne disease for temporary safety for his victims? What if they kill a politically scheming fae before they could help to foster the dreams of the next generational civil rights leader? What if they prevent the next werewolf rampage, and in so doing, clear. Clear the path for a money hungry corporation to clear cut an ancient forest. [00:01:53] Speaker C: What do we win? [00:01:55] Speaker D: What do we lose? [00:01:57] Speaker B: What have we paid? [00:01:59] Speaker A: And what did it purchase? [00:02:02] Speaker F: When death is the currency a hunter traffics in and lives are the things you save and destroy, how can they truly be sure? Each hunt is a net punishment positive. And what happens when they one day wake up and realize that what they traded for all those successful hunts was everything that made it all worthwhile? Tonight, we continue a hunter story. Hello, players. [00:02:31] Speaker D: Hello. [00:02:33] Speaker F: Hello. Last week, we accomplished a lot, and yet so very little. You contacted Vincent of the tremere for help. Following the revelation that Ophelia had given Rosanna the heads up that she was going dark, that the struggle between the hermetic order and the tremere clan had become complicated. Vincent, perhaps because Isabelle's heads up had given him and his head start to go into hiding, opted to turn up, despite the danger. And as you were discussing with him what needed to be done, what you were hoping he could help with, it seemed like he may not be able to actually give that help when a voice came from behind you. And you all turned to realize that Ophelia, legacy's mage mentor, was stepping out of the darkness and looked pretty livid that you all have thrown in your lot with the very people she had set out to rid the world of. Tensions continued to get higher as Ophelia called out somebody in the distance, and they stepped out into the light and revealed themselves to be none other than Peter, Rosanna's long time pen pal. Also of the tremere. And in fact, at least it seems higher up on the totem pole than Vincent, perhaps even his mentor. There were tense words exchanged, hurt feelings all around Rosanna awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with her mentor as she realized the pile that she had stepped in. Eventually, however, she relented and agreed to at least not pursue the war and her plans on the grounds that once belonged to her lover and to do the thing that she said she would do but had begun to believe you all didn't need her for because no one had ever called her to ask her to do it. She led a high ritual that was clearly physically and probably more than a little emotionally and mentally draining for her, weaving in blood magic and her own magic to create a lore for the books that were related to Piper's curse. Things went over better than expected. Piper had to mentally and physically exhaust herself. Ophelia was sweating blood. But all in all, through great perseverance and the considerable powers of three magic users, they drew the books in. Arthur was entrusted with the one that bestows the curse, walking it away from the rest of the cell and setting it down in the dark before turning his back in hopes that it would disappear and not trouble you all again. While is it Rosanna or Isabelle? One of you picked up the other book and kept your eyes glued to it while waiting for the right moment. Eventually, Piper opened the book and found that the book had a bit of sentience and informed her that in order for the curse to be lifted, another person would have to willingly give a finger off of their left hand and burn it in offering. There was some argument about whose finger exactly it would be with Arthur and Rosanna jockeying for the well, jockeying to decide who would get, who would have to do it, before Isabel finally said the dreaded words that would make Arthur back off of most stupid ideas, which is please don't make me have to tell your wife. Which made him eventually, relentless. And following that, Rosanna was the one to make the sacrifice, with Isabelle doing the cutting herself in order to ensure that it was a clean cut that could be easily bandaged and would eventually the stub of which would heal over. Vincent utilized his powers to knock her out so that she would not have to feel the pain. Quiet. Hefted Rosanna into his arms and carried her back to the house while Patty carried Piper. And I am remembering now that there was a whole scene that I completely skipped over, which was Rosanna summoning her fae and there being a long discussion about the fact that the fae's situation is not as simple as just setting her free. She doesn't know what happens to her if she's set free. Without a body to go to, or even if she can enter a body, clearly difficult choices will have to be made. But when we left off, you all had returned to the big house. Isabelle had insisted that everybody will be sleeping inside where she can keep an eye so she's not having to run back and forth between the house and the rv. Piper was tucked into bed, put on an iv just to be safe. But it's mostly just exhaustion. Rosanna was also taken to bed, and Arthur waited while everybody got settled and eventually answered the door sometime later to find Ophelia outside. Ophelia handed over a set of four pendants with one of the seals of Solomon on them, and explained that they are not as powerful as she had been hoping. She was working on them, and had to stop working on them to follow her quarry. But she wanted you all to have them, just in case. Because being close to her means potentially being a target for vampires. And, well, it seems like you all may have made yourself targets anyway. And that's where we left off. Now it is later that evening, and we are going to start with Arthur. You have a set of pendants in your hand. [00:10:17] Speaker C: Yeah, um, well, I mean, if like, Rosenn is unconscious and quiet, she is in bed. Piper is exhausted and in bed. I think Arthur will probably, like, isabelle's the only one he can kind of talk to right now about what just happened. So he'd probably just talk to her and then wait till the morning to explain to the others so that they have chance to sleep. Because, I mean, he can't talk to Rosenn anyway. Hi. You put this on your neck while you're sleeping? Not creepy at all. [00:11:00] Speaker F: Right. Gotcha. Okay. Well, Isabelle has settled Piper and Rosanna into bed, and Patty has said that he's gonna go take a shower, give her some space. You've probably got bandages that need to be changed and everything. So he's gonna let her do his thing. And he'll be upstairs when she's ready. And she wanders downstairs into the living room where Arthur is, I'm assuming, sitting in one of the chairs, kind of staring at the necklaces. Are you wearing one right now? [00:11:45] Speaker C: I think he's thinking about it. He's debating what to do about them. Because on the one side, protection is cool. He's kind of not so much upset with feely, but at the other side, there's. Who knows what this is so, you know, he needs someone else to balance out his mind and his paranoia. So, yeah, he's looking at them, but not wearing one yet. [00:12:13] Speaker F: Isabel, that's what you walk into. Arthur is sitting in a chair with something in his hands, staring at it. [00:12:20] Speaker A: I think Isabelle will look a little bit unsure, like, look around, seeing, like. Do you have anything to drink here? [00:12:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we have some things. Nothing's super hard, but we've got some wine and things like that, for sure. [00:12:43] Speaker A: All right. I think I at least need a drink after that. It, all in all, could have gone still much worse than it actually did. [00:12:57] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we could have had a full on mage war 100 yards from my house. [00:13:08] Speaker A: Yeah, that was something I. There's no real point being like, well, why didn't we. We already went all over all of this. So could have a drink, move on, figure out what's next. [00:13:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that's fair. And I think. Yeah, we address everything with Ophelia. Things happened. Honestly. [00:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah, a lot happened when I was off helping Jace. Yeah. [00:13:58] Speaker C: Let me get that. Happy? Find that wine? Yeah, I don't. I guess I'm need to recognize that I may have been a little strong with you yesterday. And for that, I do apologize. But. [00:14:26] Speaker A: I, in a way, understand your concern. I. It feels weird to say that I trust Jace, but I do. And maybe I shouldn't have let Vincent know what was going on. I just. That felt right in the moment. [00:14:59] Speaker C: Listen, at this point, I think that's passed. We can't undo what happened. And fortunately, it didn't result in mage war, as it were. [00:15:11] Speaker A: Fortunately. [00:15:14] Speaker C: They'll deal with it on their end. But I think that Ophelia is such. [00:15:21] Speaker A: A bigger pond than we are. [00:15:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I think Ophelia may be dealing with it on her own. She did come by. Oh, yeah. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Kind of a what, don't do this again kind of thing? [00:15:45] Speaker C: More like a little disappointed. But still your friend. To some extent. And she gave us these. The couple of solomonic seals. Just necklaces. And Arthur will hand off the necklaces to Isabel while he goes to get the wine from the cupboard. [00:16:14] Speaker A: Take a look at them as they're handed to me. [00:16:20] Speaker C: Something protective, I understand. Something not as powerful as she would have liked, given the time that she had. But still, she could have just not given them. [00:16:38] Speaker A: That's true. Well, certainly we might need some protection for whatever's coming. [00:16:49] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, considering that we really don't know what's coming, we really don't. [00:17:02] Speaker A: Gotta so much. So much. [00:17:20] Speaker C: You doing okay? [00:17:23] Speaker A: I'm doing it as fine as I can. I, um, got confirmation from Allison about the whole poison thing. Last time, last lesson. [00:17:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:41] Speaker A: And? Yeah, it's still kind of messing me up a little bit. [00:17:53] Speaker C: I mean, she's someone that is close to you, you work with and you care about. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Closest thing I have to a mom. I guess. [00:18:08] Speaker C: I guess I, in a very strange way, understand what it feels like when a person that is very close to you, that is part of your network, your group, does something that you think may have been wrong. Strange how? There's always parallels, isn't it? [00:18:36] Speaker A: Yeah, it kind of is. There's. It has kind of pushed me to a point where I know. I think I know how it's going to end. And it's. I hope it can end well, but I think I need to take matters into my own hands with certain things. I'm going to have to steal a body. [00:19:23] Speaker C: Yeah, I have to follow up with some context for that. [00:19:29] Speaker A: Alison's daughter, biological daughter, is a kindred, right? [00:19:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:38] Speaker A: Yes. I helped Alison track her down, put her in to put a sake through her heart a couple years ago, and I have not seen or heard anything about her since. It's to a point where the guilt for doing that has eaten away at me for years. And yes, I know she's a kindred, but I have a feeling I need to put things right. Maybe a kindred, but how would you like to be tackled in being unable to move for multiple years? [00:20:29] Speaker C: Arthur pours the glasses of wine and hands one to Isabel. I think feeling guilty about something you've done out of everyone in the cell, I think I'm the one that gets that the most. [00:20:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm gonna get her out. And more likely than not, I don't know what I'm gonna do after that. I. But I just want her to be safe and happy and not stuck in a room forever. [00:21:21] Speaker C: Well, I guess I can't say I like the idea of letting a kindred out, if. I understand what you're trying to say, but I guess if it's in a safe, controlled situation, maybe. [00:21:38] Speaker A: I know we're not the biggest fans of the Linnaeus society, but they could take care of her there. Or I could see if Jace could watch her or, fuck it, I do it myself. We know there are humans who watch over kindred, and theoretically one of them says with a smile, it's none of these are good choices, but it's a choice that I'm going to have to make because I made a promise and I'm a bit late at keeping that promise, but. [00:22:41] Speaker C: Arthur's just going to drink instead of responding to what she's saying. [00:22:46] Speaker A: That's fair. I think Isabelle's mostly talking through her own thoughts because it's the first time she's seen said any of these words out loud and is like, you're absolutely the worst person to have this conversation with. But I need to say these words out loud right now. [00:23:02] Speaker C: And in the same way, Arthur's like, I am just here to let her talk, let the catharsis happen. But at the same time, I cannot respond because it will not be supportive. [00:23:15] Speaker F: I love it. Okay, well, on that note, for a. [00:23:20] Speaker C: While, he will still take one of the necklaces, though, and figure out, because he. They're for them. So one is for him, right? [00:23:26] Speaker F: Yes. [00:23:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:28] Speaker F: I mean, they're almost identical. Like, the only real difference is the chain length. So you assume that the one with the longest chain is probably for you, given that, you know, dude shoulders, collar. [00:23:39] Speaker C: Yep. [00:23:39] Speaker F: Yep. But with all of that in mind, Isabelle, as she is talking through her stuff and downing her own glass of wine, eventually gets up and kind of methodically goes through the process of changing your bandages. This isn't the first time. It certainly won't be the last. While you're healing. And then after a while, the two of you part ways and head to back. Maybe Isabelle takes what's left of the bottle and an extra glass and goes to the room that she's sharing with Patty to apologize for the fact that she told him she'd be back in like 20 minutes, and it ended up being like, 2 hours. Listen, he's irish. You have to bring a peace offering. [00:24:29] Speaker A: Of course, she has learned this after the year. [00:24:36] Speaker F: And Arthur makes his way upstairs and realizes as his bedroom door opens and he finds his wife sitting in bed, attempting to knit crochet. Arthur's not sure, and it's not clear that Katie knows what Katie is trying to do, because it's a mess. There's yarn everywhere. It has looped around fit fingers. The ball has, like, rolled off of the end of the bed and is halfway across the room. She looks frustrated, and when she looks up at Arthur, looks vaguely disappointed. [00:25:19] Speaker C: I would have come up sooner had I realized you were up here. [00:25:24] Speaker E: I don't. Look at me. I don't want you to. I don't want to know how you'll feel about me when you find out. I can't. This, um. What time is it? [00:25:37] Speaker F: It's late. Katie Lynn. It's. It's probably a good 130 in the morning. [00:25:43] Speaker C: Too late. [00:25:45] Speaker E: Yeah, and I'm not the one who was mauled by vampires. [00:25:54] Speaker C: Yeah, that's fair. But we had to, well, try something to help Piper. [00:26:05] Speaker E: Yes. And now you're awake. For what? [00:26:10] Speaker C: Oh, because I, like a good shepherd, had to wait, make sure everyone was safe and in bed. [00:26:21] Speaker E: All right. Please make a habit of it. [00:26:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:33] Speaker E: Can you and Caitielyn will point to the runaway yarn ball? Can you grab. [00:26:40] Speaker C: Oh, sure. Yeah. Starts to pretend like he doesn't have pain as he reaches down to get the ball and roll it up. [00:26:52] Speaker E: You should have been in bed hours ago. [00:26:56] Speaker C: Well, unfortunately, the people we had to meet don't come out until it gets dark. They were vampires, Caitlyn. [00:27:08] Speaker E: No, I get you mentioned. [00:27:14] Speaker C: So, you know, their version of a nine to five is more like a nine to 05:00 a.m. [00:27:24] Speaker E: Has that been yours as well? [00:27:29] Speaker C: When hunting them? Yes, but only for the last day or two. Not common. [00:27:38] Speaker E: I just want to make sure you're passing your recovery. [00:27:47] Speaker C: That's fair. [00:27:50] Speaker E: You don't need sacrifice your body just because someone can. [00:28:05] Speaker C: But, um, I mean, like this, right? This wasn't me sacrificing my body. I guess it was. [00:28:15] Speaker E: No, not literally, but yeah. [00:28:21] Speaker C: I did almost literally sacrifice part of my body tonight. [00:28:25] Speaker E: I'm sorry, what? [00:28:29] Speaker C: It's fine. We took care of it. But in order to help Piper, there was a sort of macabre ritual that needed to happen. [00:28:40] Speaker E: I feel like every time we talk about a ritual, it is a bit macabre. [00:28:47] Speaker F: Yep. [00:28:47] Speaker C: Which is why I do not like them. It's like the mages and the vampires have to deal with bodily fluids and blood just constantly. [00:29:01] Speaker E: I mean, some christians do, too. [00:29:11] Speaker C: Yeah, that's fair. That is fair. [00:29:14] Speaker E: I'm just wary of anyone who would ask you to sacrifice more than something symbolic. Right. [00:29:27] Speaker C: Like a finger or a toe. [00:29:31] Speaker E: Specific. [00:29:36] Speaker C: Yeah, but I get what you're saying. Listen, I don't think I've. I don't want to pretend like I'm hiding anything from you. I'm just broaching the subject. Rosanna had to cut off her finger tonight to save Piper. So that's what the book wanted and needed. But Piper's free. [00:30:08] Speaker E: I'm going to repeat back what you said. Now, the book wanted Rosanna to cut off her finger so that Piper could get uncurfed. [00:30:25] Speaker C: That's right. [00:30:26] Speaker E: Okay, I'm just. I'm just confirming what you are saying. [00:30:36] Speaker C: Yep. This is all a lot of crazy. And it just continues to spot, roll downward, we're about to get into a fight with a nun from the catholic church to save a fae that is enslaved. [00:30:57] Speaker F: Keep going. [00:30:58] Speaker E: I'm supportive. [00:30:59] Speaker F: Keep going. [00:30:59] Speaker E: Keep going. [00:31:02] Speaker C: And, you know, it's. We have to sacrifice our fingers to uncursed people. We've got to make deals with vampires and mages and what's next? Werewolves. [00:31:22] Speaker E: You already did werewolves? [00:31:26] Speaker C: Yep. [00:31:28] Speaker E: I. I don't wanna. I don't. It is late and I am not. I am not at my most diplomatic right now. I. You traveled a lot before this, and that was fine. I. That was. I knew what I signed up for. I wasn't worried when you left to speak that someone would try to kill you constantly. And I'm really trying. We don't have to fight about this. We don't have to talk about this. It's not a fight. We're just. We don't have to talk about this. [00:32:47] Speaker C: Um, there is an option. And I don't. I don't know if we should trust them. But the second inquisition has offered some form of retirement and protection for the church. [00:33:13] Speaker E: What do you mean? [00:33:18] Speaker C: For us to help them. If we help them, they will protect us. I mean, if I help them with what they want, which, I'll be clear, is Rosanna, then we. They want. They want her. They want access to the mage, that is or the Fae that is changed to her through her bloodline. And they can't control Rinpoche. Branley. She's gone off the deep end and is needing to be reined in. They need Rosanna to help with that. And if I help, which we've kind of agreed to, even though I don't trust them. Because if plan a doesn't work, we can always resort to plan b. Then I can stop all of this. Ben, come home. [00:34:19] Speaker E: Um, you're going to have to wind just slightly, the second inquisition. [00:34:25] Speaker C: Oh. Group of a kind of cooperative between the catholic church and other church organizations and governments of the world. And they are ridding the world of vampires and other supernatural things. [00:34:45] Speaker E: But ripping up vampires, so what you do. But with funding. [00:34:50] Speaker C: Yeah, with federal funding and as well as federal bureaucratic oversight and so like. [00:35:00] Speaker E: Someone to hold them accountable. [00:35:04] Speaker C: Or hold the peck, but yes. I mean, apparently they can get authority to firebomb an entire city. [00:35:20] Speaker E: I mean, the normal government can do that too. [00:35:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:30] Speaker E: I'm finding it. I'm finding it hard to see a down. [00:35:38] Speaker C: They're shady government agents. That's what it boils down to. [00:35:43] Speaker E: He tried to play who I just scared off. [00:35:49] Speaker A: Right? [00:35:50] Speaker C: Same people essentially. But, um, the thing is that when Bishop Thomas spoke to me, he only spoke to Rosanna. He was Yuskar salesman style talking to me. He was very much trying to convince what he wanted. There's a lot of manipulation there. And, you know, after. After Loki, the speaker, I, uh. I obviously don't take kindly to that kind of thing. It's clear that he wants. It's clear that he wants Rosanna. But, um. And what she can do for whatever purposes he wants. But I agree, there's. It's not necessarily bad. [00:36:52] Speaker E: What is it that Rosanna can do? He wants le fay. [00:36:56] Speaker A: Hmm. [00:37:07] Speaker F: If he's being honest. [00:37:09] Speaker C: Sorry. Yes, please ask. No. No. [00:37:11] Speaker A: Ask. [00:37:12] Speaker F: No. [00:37:12] Speaker E: Are the fae. I just. I have to know. Are the fae something? That's you. [00:37:19] Speaker F: We. [00:37:22] Speaker E: Are the fae. Something that need to be here. As much as vampires? [00:37:28] Speaker F: Werewolves? [00:37:33] Speaker C: That is a question I'm not entirely sure I'm equipped to answer. My knowledge is not as good as I would want it to be. Um, but, yeah, in my thoughts, they're also things that probably don't need to be here. And from what I understand, they, um. There are good ones and bad ones. Like everyone has always tried to convince me about everything else that's out there. Good vampires, bad vampires, good werewolves, bad werewolves. So it's just, if this Fae has tremendous amounts of power, do we really want to hand a nuclear warhead into the hands of guys who are willing to use it? [00:38:30] Speaker E: I really don't know. And it's not a conversation. It's not right now at 02:00 a.m. yeah. What I wanted. All I want right now is the promise of a retirement for you and from getting mauled every few months. And maybe the chance to, you know, move on with her life. Even if moving on with their lives includes a little bit of. Preferably with the backing of an organization that can provide a retirement. [00:39:26] Speaker C: Right now, I'd settle for the IR's to leave us alone. [00:39:29] Speaker E: That too. I. I don't know. It. I know that it feels too good to be true. And often that means it is. And I. The rest of the cell feels that you help protect the mums, but you have a whole flock. [00:40:14] Speaker C: Yeah, you're right. [00:40:26] Speaker E: Obviously, you're. [00:40:28] Speaker C: You're so much smarter than me, so I don't even know why I'm attempting to have this conversation. Of course you're right. [00:40:38] Speaker F: You've got. [00:40:41] Speaker E: Something up there. Maybe behind all of the punching ghosts muscle, but it's there. [00:40:52] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I also crushed a verbal start. I mean, I don't know if you remember that. [00:41:00] Speaker E: I don't know that bragging about the fights you've been in right now is going to super help you. [00:41:06] Speaker C: Mmm. [00:41:07] Speaker A: Right? [00:41:09] Speaker C: Brush my teeth. It's probably gonna help me much better. [00:41:12] Speaker E: Brush teeth, come to bed. Preferably at a time where I'm not too tired. [00:41:21] Speaker C: Give me five minutes. [00:41:25] Speaker E: All right. [00:41:25] Speaker F: Okay. Well, on that note, we transition to the next morning. I would like everybody to roll me. Stamina, please. [00:41:49] Speaker C: Oh, man. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Just stamina. [00:41:53] Speaker F: Just stamina. [00:41:56] Speaker C: Fun. [00:41:57] Speaker A: Okay, well, key. [00:42:02] Speaker C: Why you gotta do this to? Hey. All right, e. Two successes. [00:42:10] Speaker F: All right, e. Two. Got a lot of twos. And a one. I mean, which tracks. Rosanna did get magically knocked out the night before. She might be a little bit slower to wake up than everybody else. Okay. Um, in the morning, Piper, I'm gonna say, probably wakes up earliest, which is weird, because Piper is usually the last to wake up. However, Piper did get a little bit of a head start on her nap time because she passed out in the woods. [00:42:48] Speaker D: I'll bet. Yeah. [00:42:50] Speaker F: Yeah. Um, that being said, piper, when you wake up, there is, like, noise going on in the house. Like somebody is up and moving. You're not entirely sure who it is. They are clearly trying to be a little bit quiet, but also not like, going out of their way to tiptoe. It's more of a. They're just quietly going about their morning routine. And they are downstairs and you can smell food and coffee. And you know what? You're not in amazing shape. You don't have all your willpower back yet, but you got a chunk of it back. You feel better than you have in weeks. [00:43:51] Speaker D: She also has an iv in her arm, right? [00:43:54] Speaker F: Yes, you do have an iv in your arm, hooked to a bag above the bed. So your tummy is empty and kind of clenching because you haven't eaten anything. But also, you don't feel as physically weak as you feel like you should if you hadn't had any sort of nutrients. So, you know, you're smart enough. I'm not gonna make you roll. You're pretty sure Isabel hooked you up to a nut to, like, a. Oh, my goodness. Like a nutrient drip, just to make sure that you were. That you had, like, what you needed to help you recover. Because she wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with you. She just knew you passed the fuck out and you wouldn't wake up. [00:44:39] Speaker D: Yeah. Now, I have a couple options here. [00:44:43] Speaker F: You do have a couple options. You could roll over and go back to bed, or you could get up and go downstairs. It's up to you. Taking out an iv isn't difficult. [00:44:52] Speaker D: I figured it wasn't. [00:44:53] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:57] Speaker D: She'll take the iv out and head downstairs. [00:44:59] Speaker F: Okay. You find yourself downstairs and you can hear somebody putting. Puttering around in the kitchen and humming that you are pretty sure isn't any of your cellmates. So it must be Katie Lynn, who you've really only caught, like, glimpses of since you've been back in Louisiana. And there is a quiet male voice talking to her with a distinct irish accent. So probably Patti. [00:45:34] Speaker D: Yeah, she'll just kind of walk in, walk over to the kitchen. Morning. Are you still working on food or is it done? [00:45:50] Speaker F: It's a process I've started. [00:45:53] Speaker E: Pancakes you can have. Help yourself to the first one. [00:45:57] Speaker F: It's just not. [00:45:57] Speaker E: Never very good. [00:46:03] Speaker D: And with more, I was gonna offer to help. [00:46:06] Speaker E: Oh, I've got things settled here. Besides, didn't. Weren't you hooked up to an IV? [00:46:14] Speaker D: It wasn't really necessary. [00:46:16] Speaker F: It was a precaution. Isabelle was just worried. [00:46:22] Speaker E: All right. Seems that neglecting medical advice is. [00:46:33] Speaker F: Have you learned nothing about this group? None of them listen anyway to the smartest person in the world. [00:46:38] Speaker D: So I would like to make it very clear the iv was just a precaution. The reason I passed out is because I completely exhausted myself. [00:46:48] Speaker E: Okay, that's better. Yes. [00:46:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:51] Speaker E: I was being sarcastic. That is not better. [00:46:58] Speaker D: I'm gonna help make food. [00:46:59] Speaker E: I prefer you didn't. There are knives in here, and they're nice bit. [00:47:06] Speaker F: Patty. Patty is going to pour another cup of coffee and slide it over to Piper. And he kind of winks when he hands it over to you. Piper. And when you get it close enough to your face, there is definitely more than just coughing in that mug. You're pretty sure Patty gave snuck you a little irish coffee for the morning. [00:47:28] Speaker D: Yeah, she just kind of thought. Thank you. [00:47:37] Speaker E: Reaching out to a God I cannot hear because I'm a character in a story, but what the fuck? [00:47:45] Speaker C: Katie. [00:47:45] Speaker F: Liz, this is not new. It has been an open secret that the boys have all spoken, spiked their own coffee. You assume that Piper seems like the type who, even if she doesn't necessarily always ask for it, probably needs it. So. All right. Patty slides the coffee over and then turns back to what he's doing. He is working on, um. We'll say that he is mixing up a big batch of, like, scrambled eggs. They're not like, on the stove yet, but he's doing the whisking and all that stuff. He's trying. He's making himself helpful because he actually can cook. He can't. [00:48:33] Speaker E: He can't bake the import. It's not about the fact that you can't cook, Piper, or I don't believe that you're strong enough to. Is about the fact that this is my kitchen and I have and everything is where it should be right now. And just. [00:48:52] Speaker F: And you have to ask for permission. Otherwise she comes at you with a spatula. And if she's really mad, it's the metal one with the holes in it. And he gives Katie Lynn like, the most, like, charming. You know you love me smile. [00:49:10] Speaker E: In my own house. [00:49:15] Speaker F: Um, all right. Uh, Isabelle, you wake up next. Patty is not in bed with you. Um, that's not overly surprising though. This is not the first time he's been up crazy early. [00:49:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:33] Speaker F: You assume he probably let you sleep in. [00:49:37] Speaker A: Yeah. So it's, you know, get dressed and follow the smell of breakfast. [00:49:45] Speaker F: Okay. You come downstairs to find Patty and Piper and Cadielynn in the kitchen. Piper looks like she has been chastised and sent to sit at the kitchen table while Patty is. Patty is cooking, but he is staying very carefully in a specific space in the kitchen and seems to be dutifully not touching anything that isn't in his immediate, like, work area. Except for when he sees you. When he breaks off and goes to pour you a cup of coffee and kisses you on the forehead. Of course, out of curiosity, because I've never asked, does Isabel take her morning coffee with a little something extra, or does she just prefer standard black coffee? [00:50:26] Speaker A: Oh, usually it is something extra. Yeah. [00:50:29] Speaker C: Okay. [00:50:32] Speaker F: Patty, not so surreptitiously, glances over his shoulder to make sure that Katie isn't looking and then slips you a little something in your coffee and hands it over. This is also the scene that Arthur walks down to at about the same time, Arthur walks down in time to see Patty tucking his flask back into his pocket, and Patty just sort of salutes him with a cup of coffee. Morning, boss. And that's morning Betty. [00:51:08] Speaker A: Morning, author. [00:51:10] Speaker C: He will pick up the cup and just go like hope she didn't see yet. And then walks over to his wife to give her a good morning kiss. [00:51:18] Speaker E: I saw. [00:51:19] Speaker F: As a decide he does not give Arthur one of the spiked cups. Arthur gets a standard cup because Patty doesn't have a death wish. [00:51:27] Speaker E: Yep, I saw it. And if you remain in this kitchen for longer than 6 seconds and do not make your way to table, I will escort you out myself. And Caitlin is holding the metal spatula. [00:51:45] Speaker F: Arthur's hands, Arthur's cooking. [00:51:49] Speaker C: Arthur's gonna sip a little of the coffee and then go. Well, sounds like the speaker has spoken. [00:51:58] Speaker F: All right, do me a favor. Let me see something. I know you can't actually let me see anything. Just hold on a second. I have to look at something is what I'm trying to say. Roll me your nightmares. Roll. [00:52:34] Speaker B: Okay. [00:52:39] Speaker F: I don't always ask you to, but this seems like a, like a big, like an appropriate time. Uh, how many successes do you need? [00:52:52] Speaker B: Like, that is up to. That's storyteller's discretion. You never gave me a set number. [00:52:57] Speaker F: Okay, okay. All right. Well, you know what? Three is probably fine. Um, your rough was a little, or you're rough. Your sleep was a little rough. Um, it was more unsettled than outright nightmares. Perhaps the worst part was the fact that you were aware that you were unsettled and your dreams weren't great and you couldn't wake up. Like, you had that kind of, like, vague in the back of your head knowledge that you were asleep and uncomfortable. And if you could wake up, it might be better, but you couldn't wake up. But you finally do. It is morning. The light is coming in the window. You are laying in one of the guest bedrooms at the big house in Arthur's home. There is the smell of food and coffee coming from somewhere in the house. Your room is quiet, and you are alone. [00:54:02] Speaker B: The first thing she's gonna do is roll over and throw up. [00:54:06] Speaker F: All right, you roll over and throw up into a waste basket beside the bed, because I'm not gonna make Cadielynn clean it up. [00:54:47] Speaker B: Reach over. And usually recently, she's been reaching for her contacts. This time, she just reaches for her glasses and puts them on and stands up. She's gonna take a few minutes to, um, make her way downstairs, um, like, wiping away tears as she does. [00:56:39] Speaker F: All right? [00:56:40] Speaker B: And she's just gonna silently, like, sit at the table. [00:56:49] Speaker F: All right. You all see Rosanna shuffle into the kitchen, looking a little distraught, but keeping to herself for the moment. Patty kind of glances around and gives Katie Lynn the I'm coming in, don't hit me look, and goes to make another cup of coffee. This one gets spiked a little bit more heavily than all the others, and he doesn't even try and hide it. And he just slides it over to Rosanna before he. [00:57:25] Speaker D: Piper reaches into the pocket of her jacket and takes out a travel pack of Kleenex, but she didn't use the last time she was given one. And kind of slides it over the table to Rosanna. [00:57:40] Speaker E: Piper, can you actually get the griddle when you can? Arthur? Sorry, I just need the room. [00:57:52] Speaker C: Okay. [00:57:54] Speaker F: Okay. All right. Well. [00:57:59] Speaker E: Arthur, feel free to stay here. I just. [00:58:02] Speaker F: Yeah. Arthur gets pulled aside by Katie Lynn, leaving Rosanna and Piper and Isabel with Patty standing awkwardly in the kitchen, looking like he isn't sure if he should leave and follow. Follow the boss and give the girl some quiet time or if he should stay. And he kind of looks to Isabelle like, what do I do? [00:58:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I think Isabelle isn't really sure because it's like, okay, that energy changed really quick, but he is going to move, slide into a seat next to Rosanna and say, how are you doing this morning? You need anything for the pain? [00:59:14] Speaker B: Oh, I'm okay. That'll be fine. [00:59:17] Speaker A: Okay. Isabel will sort of place a hand over your non wounded hand and give it a small squeeze. And her bedside manner isn't amazing, but she's trying to give Rosanna the space to feel what she's feeling and be there if Rosanna needs something. [01:00:04] Speaker B: Sorry, sorry. Apologize. [01:00:08] Speaker A: You do not have to apologize. [01:00:12] Speaker D: And Piper was told to man the grip, so she is going to man. [01:00:27] Speaker A: It. It is a. What you went through is traumatizing. It is only natural that you have very heightened emotions right now. So it is okay that you're feeling what you're feeling? [01:01:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess it is what it is. I guess she's not gonna want anything to do with me anymore, is she? [01:01:53] Speaker A: I don't think that's the case. I also don't know how much Arthur might have told her about what happened last night. So. [01:02:13] Speaker D: Wha do you mean what Arthur might have told her? [01:02:18] Speaker A: Rosandra just walked into the kitchen missing a finger. Piper. [01:02:27] Speaker D: Okay, I'm just curious what context you have for the situation that we. Done. [01:02:33] Speaker A: They're married. [01:02:35] Speaker F: Uh, her. [01:02:37] Speaker C: No, no, she's talking about Ophelia. [01:02:39] Speaker A: Oh. [01:02:41] Speaker D: That's why I was confused. [01:02:42] Speaker A: Katie Lynn was the most recent one in here that just left. So that's where my brain went. Yeah. Also, apparently Arthur did talk to Ophelia last night. She. Isabella's going to pull out the pendants and put them on the table and say she dropped these by for us. So I don't think that Ophelia doesn't want anything to do with us anymore. These are to keep us safe. [01:03:34] Speaker B: Rosanna is just going to look to Patty and just holds her hand out for the actual flask itself. [01:03:47] Speaker F: Patty will pull the flask from his pocket and look kind of hesitantly at it, like he this isn't something he does. He doesn't hand over his flask, but we'll kind of glance at Isabelle and see the look on her face and relent and slide it over. You don't know that you should be drinking that much, given the amount of blood you lost. [01:04:21] Speaker B: I don't care anymore. [01:04:28] Speaker F: Right. He stands up, and he goes to get a glass, comes back over, empties the flask into the glass, leaves the glass in front of you, tucks the flask in his pocket, and leaves the room. [01:04:53] Speaker B: I just. [01:04:55] Speaker C: Oh. [01:05:04] Speaker B: I'm sorry. Just a child. I don't know anymore. I don't know anymore. Did you. Either of you know where quiet went? [01:05:41] Speaker D: I don't think either of us could keep an eye on him if we were actively trying to. [01:05:48] Speaker A: Patty, have you seen quiet today? [01:05:51] Speaker F: Patty's not in the room anymore. Patty left. [01:05:53] Speaker A: Oh. I have not been awake very long. I can certainly go find him. [01:06:07] Speaker B: It's okay. I just woke up, and he wasn't there this morning. I don't know if I'm gonna be here right now. Um, I might, uh, try to get out in the woods for a little bit today, get some air. [01:06:50] Speaker A: Yeah, whatever you. Whatever you need to just start push yourself too hard today. [01:07:01] Speaker B: I'm sorry. How are you feeling, Piper? [01:07:09] Speaker D: I mean, that feels like a loaded question. The curse is gone, which is great. [01:07:17] Speaker A: But. [01:07:21] Speaker D: That doesn't fix anything else. Definitely doesn't fix what we had to do to get rid of it. I'm alive. [01:07:36] Speaker B: Good. [01:07:37] Speaker D: And I'm gonna do my damnedest to make it everybody else's problem. Not euphoria, but everybody else. [01:07:48] Speaker A: Everybody else that we need to make it their problem. [01:07:51] Speaker C: Exactly. [01:07:52] Speaker A: There's a lot we should probably figure out today. We. There is that one person that's still cursed. I should figure out what to do with that information about them. It's a conversation for us to have as a cell, so. Yeah. [01:08:43] Speaker D: But I think we should take some time. Yeah, a couple days at least. [01:08:51] Speaker A: For sure. [01:08:55] Speaker D: Figure out what we're doing. [01:09:02] Speaker A: Yeah, we've got a few things left on our list, so. [01:09:09] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, I'm gonna go. [01:09:17] Speaker A: Uh, let me redress your hand before you go. [01:09:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:25] Speaker A: Isabelle will take the time to clean and redress. Cause it probably needs to. By that point. [01:09:32] Speaker F: I'm gonna guess that you're not doing that in the kitchen. [01:09:35] Speaker A: Oh, we won't do that in the kitchen now. [01:09:38] Speaker F: Okay, cool. [01:09:39] Speaker A: We'll go to, like, one of the bathrooms or something to do that. So you're not going. [01:09:43] Speaker F: You go to the ups? Like one of the upstairs guest bathrooms. You redress Rosanna's hand and then part ways from there. I'm guessing because Rosanna said she was. What's Rosanna doing? [01:09:58] Speaker B: She's going to the woods by herself. [01:10:01] Speaker F: Okay, are you going to get like all the bits and bobs that you need for your summoning or are you just going for a walk? [01:10:07] Speaker B: Just going for a walk. [01:10:10] Speaker F: Taking nothing with you. You gonna change clothes? Cause I thought you were in your PJ's or yesterday's clothes. One of the two. [01:10:21] Speaker B: She'll, she'll change. [01:10:23] Speaker F: Okay, do me a favor. Make me a wits and awareness roll. Actually, wits and insight. Three. Three. The first thing you notice when you get into the room that you didn't notice the first time because you were kind of in your own head, caught up in the trauma of the night before. The pain, the phantom pain from your missing figure. The room is a lot more empty than it was when you were in it yesterday. And, but there is one thing that is new, which, there is an envelope on the dresser. [01:12:02] Speaker B: She's going to open it. [01:12:07] Speaker F: I am dropping a link into your journal. I'm also going to read it out loud so that the people at home can follow along. Rosanna, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna get it over with. I'm leaving. In the past ten months, I fooled myself into believing that we had similar desires and priorities in life. But returning to your friends has taught me that that could not be further from the truth. I asked you for commitment and I warned you that I would not wait forever, and you brushed me aside. You said that you would not risk there being in us when you might not be around tomorrow. You overlooked, though, that you being in this life and bringing me with you means that that risk extends to me. My life is also on the line. Every time I help you and your friends, I marched back into the kind of dangers that I left the military to avoid. Except now those dangers come with fangs, claws and magic. And I'm just a guy with a gun and a pathetic, desperate need to keep you safe. I was willing to take the risk to face those demons. All I wanted was what anyone wants. To know. That I am valued by my partner. Hell, to have a partner at all. I've spent the last few days back in Louisiana looking at all of the families and couples, watching Patti and Isabel support and validate each other. And all I can do is wonder what I'm risking my life for. If you can't even acknowledge me. And the second Arthur is around, come to me only when you want sex or he's with his wife. What makes this worth dying for? I had a lot of wishes for you and for us. When I fell for you. I wished you'd learned to see yourself the way that I see you. I wished you'd learned to make yourself your own top priority. I wished you loved me the way that I loved you. None of those wishes came true. I've spent nearly a year centering my life around you. I went to every doctor's visit. I held your hand for every tattoo appointment. I kept you honest with yourself about going to physical therapy even, and especially on days when you, you didn't see the point. I made you my partner and I gave you what you needed. Unfortunately, it took me all this time to realize that I will never be near the top of your list of priorities. Arthur will be first, then anyone you think you can sacrifice yourself for, then yourself, and then me. You'll never make the choice that is best for Rosanna. You will always sacrifice for others. And I cannot stay and watch you slowly lose pieces of yourself in the name of prioritizing others. Your willingness to destroy yourself makes my love for you cheap and pointless. You do not value that. I value you because you're willing to destroy the person I love for vague benefits to others. I see you break yourself into smaller and smaller pieces to appease and do for others, and I cannot be part of it. I was willing to be your partner for the rest of our lives, long or short. But I will not be a party to your suicide pact. I hope you find happiness. I do. But I clearly cannot give it to you. And I've come to realize, with the shadow of ten hard months behind me, you cannot give it to me either. Goodbye. The writing of the letter is any shaky, but very, very neat despite it handling. This is written by somebody who clearly probably had to write a lot of reports for his work over the years. It's. The letters are small. There are moments where it's clear that he probably had a hard time writing them because there are pauses where a period is darker than, than it should be. Or letter letters, for words are crossed out with a scribble. And you can feel as you hold it, that there are places where. There are places that indicate that this is probably the third or fourth draft because you can see where he was writing and then scribbled on another page that happened to be on this one. And it left behind index while the letter is soaking in for Rosanna. We are going to pivot to another part of the house where Patty has found Katie, Lynn and Arthur in an office on the bottom floor. And the three of them are speaking in hushed, possibly slightly heated whispers. So he just, I don't think she knew when she came downstairs, didn't mention him. She just sat down and I had a scene. [01:18:51] Speaker E: And that's why she started crying. [01:18:53] Speaker F: No, I'm pretty sure that was the finger. [01:18:56] Speaker E: That makes sense. [01:18:59] Speaker C: I, I mean, I get it, but, I mean, he just resigns just right before we need him the most and, yeah, I mean, fine, I guess. But, I mean, no, I guess I don't blame him. Yeah, no, no, no, no, I get it. [01:19:28] Speaker F: You say it's right before y'all need him the most, but no one's treated him like you needed him. Unless it was to potentially have to kill someone for you. Pat. It kind of gives us vaguely apologetic shrug, like, I'm sorry, but somebody had to. Has to be honest with you. [01:19:55] Speaker C: I mean, I guess that's fair. It's been a rocky situation between him and I for sure, from the very beginning. Go ahead. [01:20:03] Speaker F: Hasn't been much better between them, is my understanding. [01:20:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:20:10] Speaker E: He'd been struggling with Rosanna for a bit. And I have the resignation letter. Yeah. [01:20:27] Speaker F: Which he handed over to you at like five in the morning when you first got up. Like you had just shuffled into the kitchen to make your first cup of coffee, he was already up and had his stuff packed. [01:20:42] Speaker E: I don't love that he left with a letter for Rosanna. But at a certain point, why, how much do you take? And. [01:20:58] Speaker F: I don't know. [01:21:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm gonna guess the last night was the final straw in where, wherever he was mentally, because she put herself on the line to help us instead of, I'll be honest, instead of letting me do it so I could see him being pretty. [01:21:35] Speaker E: It's really hard watching a person you love throw themselves into danger over and over again. [01:21:48] Speaker C: Right. [01:21:57] Speaker E: He didn't leave any forwarding information or anything like that? I assumed he doesn't know, but I made it clear that we're here for him if he wants to come back. I just don't think that's going to happen. [01:22:14] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna say, I think that when he's ready not to be found, he will be impossible to find. [01:22:30] Speaker F: Kay Lee Lynn, roll me three dice or, sorry, six dice. [01:22:36] Speaker E: Oh, no, how do I do that? [01:22:41] Speaker F: Slash, hunter, space dice, or sorry, slash, h roll. Sorry, sorry, sorry, h roll. Yeah, if you start space roll all right. [01:22:57] Speaker A: And then if you start it. [01:22:58] Speaker F: Six dice. [01:22:59] Speaker E: Just six. Just type six in the thing. [01:23:01] Speaker F: Yep. [01:23:04] Speaker E: Exciting. Two successes. [01:23:08] Speaker F: Would you like this? You have willpower. Would you like to spend it to get a higher will? I don't know what I'm rolling for, so. Sure, why not? You're inciting. [01:23:20] Speaker E: Okay, how do I do the thing? [01:23:25] Speaker F: Reroll failures. [01:23:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:23:29] Speaker F: Three. Okay, cool. When Arthur says he seems like someone who, if he doesn't want to be found, can't be found. Patty sort of glances sidelong at you. When Arthur isn't looking at him, Patty could probably find quiet. You get the feeling that the guys. The guys have ways set up to find each other if one of them needs to go to ground. But he just. He just sort of sidelong glances at you over the top of his mug as he is putting it to his lips, and he doesn't say anything. [01:24:19] Speaker E: It's worth respecting the time he needs, regardless. [01:24:24] Speaker C: Absolutely. I mean, I wouldn't. I wouldn't try to find him. If he is resigning, then we respect that. I mean, that kind of goes for all of you guys. And Arthur looks at Patty. You know, I get it. You've been kind of forced into this life, and we, the four of us, chose it. And he looks at Caitlyn, just glances at her, but then, like, looks away. So I understand that you have a choice, so I respect that. [01:25:10] Speaker E: From what I can tell, it looks like Isabelle's treating everyone better. [01:25:17] Speaker F: I'm very happy. Didn't think I'd end up in this sort of situation. Situation. But I can't complain. [01:25:29] Speaker C: Sorry. [01:25:34] Speaker E: Um, let's. [01:25:42] Speaker C: Did she. [01:25:43] Speaker E: Should we tell her? I don't know. [01:25:46] Speaker F: I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually. She was talking about going for a walk, which would mean she'd have to change out of her PJ's. [01:25:52] Speaker E: I don't know. [01:25:55] Speaker A: I'll. [01:25:58] Speaker C: Try to talk to her and she comes down. [01:26:01] Speaker F: I'm not sure that you're the person who should be having that conversation, no offense. [01:26:08] Speaker C: Do you want to talk to her? Then. [01:26:12] Speaker F: Perhaps let her come. [01:26:14] Speaker E: Let her come to someone. [01:26:16] Speaker F: One, two. Honey. [01:26:23] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah, of course. That is a much better plan than me trying to stop her at the bottom of the stairs. [01:26:32] Speaker E: In fact, we are going back to. [01:26:35] Speaker F: The kitchen, chant like nothing happened. [01:26:40] Speaker C: This is why you are my best confidence and adviser. Come on. [01:26:51] Speaker F: Get Katie to Katie. Lynn does that. My husband is a dumb ass. Shake of her head. [01:26:57] Speaker E: I love you so much. [01:27:01] Speaker F: And the three of you leave the office and wander back to the kitchen, where Piper and Isabel are sitting and eating. [01:27:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it was like, I think. I think after Rosetta left, Isabelle would be like, okay, Piper is there. You need to help because people keep leaving and food needs to be finished. [01:27:33] Speaker E: We're back. We're back. Katie Lynn, like, relieves Piper of pancake duty. [01:27:42] Speaker F: As it turns out, Katie led. Piper's really very good. Piper, you get in expecting a mess and for things to be everywhere and the pancakes to be like, burnt and fucked up and misshapen. It looks like Piper may have maybe worked in some sort of a restaurant that specializes in breakfast foods or something, huh? Oh, because the pancakes are damn near perfect. Okay. [01:28:10] Speaker C: Uh, Piper, thanks for taking over the cooking. Always glad when you're. I was asked to kitchen. Yeah. [01:28:21] Speaker E: I. I have nothing I can say about this. I'm like, you should see what she's. [01:28:27] Speaker F: Made in an rv kitchen. [01:28:29] Speaker C: Yeah, she has made. She's made things out of all kinds of random stuff. It's impressive, honestly. [01:28:37] Speaker E: Once again, sometimes you describe what you do when you're not here and you act like it's a fun, normal thing. And it makes me kind of sad. [01:28:49] Speaker D: I mean, there's nothing wrong with improvising. [01:28:52] Speaker F: No. [01:28:53] Speaker D: Also, they're making it seem a lot worse than it actually is. [01:28:58] Speaker F: All was that. You should see what she does at an rv kitchen because rv kitchens aren't as big. You don't have as much space. [01:29:03] Speaker E: Oh, for sure. [01:29:04] Speaker A: Very true. [01:29:05] Speaker F: You're limited by what's available. I didn't make, I didn't. [01:29:09] Speaker D: Arthur's the one that made it seem. [01:29:10] Speaker F: Like, oh, yeah, he does that. [01:29:14] Speaker E: He does that. [01:29:15] Speaker A: He really does that. [01:29:17] Speaker E: Um, no, I need you to. I want you to know it has nothing to do with my doubt and abilities. It has everything to do with the fact that I am surrounded by people most of the time, who cannot boil an egg. [01:29:33] Speaker D: Oh, no, I completely get it. [01:29:36] Speaker A: It says that looks at Arthur. [01:29:38] Speaker C: Yeah, she's talking about me. Yep. [01:29:40] Speaker E: And it's a nice kitchen. I'd like to keep my knives as sharp as they should be. [01:29:46] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I get it. I'm the exact same way when it comes to stuff in the rv. [01:29:51] Speaker F: Well, feel. [01:29:54] Speaker E: We can talk if you'd like. You're still healing and things, but when you're feeling up to it, we can talk about helping with dinner or something. [01:30:03] Speaker A: I guess I just have to see. [01:30:07] Speaker D: How things end up shaking. [01:30:09] Speaker E: Of course. Oh, Rosanna went off to the woods? [01:30:16] Speaker D: That's what she said. [01:30:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:30:19] Speaker C: Alone? [01:30:25] Speaker D: Yes, unfortunately. [01:30:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:30:31] Speaker F: Um, that's happened. Might be best to just respect that. Choice. Ebus. [01:30:37] Speaker D: There's a reason that I didn't go after her. [01:30:39] Speaker F: Otherwise. [01:30:40] Speaker C: I think. [01:30:42] Speaker A: I think she needs to be alone right now. And it's on the compound. [01:30:50] Speaker E: Yeah. Um. [01:30:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:30:55] Speaker F: Oh, I, like, look at Arthur. [01:30:58] Speaker E: Like, should we tell them? [01:31:07] Speaker F: Oh, well, you've made it obvious now. You might as well fucking say. [01:31:11] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:31:12] Speaker F: I feel like she's. [01:31:15] Speaker C: She's not gonna find quiet anywhere on the combat. [01:31:22] Speaker A: Because he resigned. [01:31:27] Speaker C: He's walked away. [01:31:33] Speaker A: Okay. [01:31:37] Speaker C: It's just a little too much of what we do and a little too little of what he's hoping with Rosanna. [01:31:43] Speaker D: I guess I can't blame him. [01:31:47] Speaker A: No, I think that when that happens is Isabelle sort of. Just look over at Patty for just a moment. [01:31:59] Speaker F: I'm not gonna make you roll. Patty knew. Patty knew before you even came downstairs. And he was just. Wasn't gonna be the one to drop the bomb. [01:32:10] Speaker A: And Isabel understands that it wasn't. Yeah. Wasn't his place. [01:32:18] Speaker E: I had sort of assumed that that's why Rosanna was crying. Apparently not. [01:32:25] Speaker A: I just thought it was. I think it was sort of pent up. [01:32:30] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:32:31] Speaker A: I'm shocked. Yeah. [01:32:37] Speaker C: I'll be honest, I had no idea what it was, but once I was told a little more quiet, I assumed that too, but sounded like your discussion suggested otherwise. [01:32:46] Speaker D: She didn't know. [01:32:48] Speaker A: Yeah. She didn't know. [01:32:50] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh. We should all recognize that Roseanne is going through right now. [01:33:01] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [01:33:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:33:09] Speaker A: It's never easy. [01:33:15] Speaker C: No. And Arthur will reach over and squeeze Caitlyn's hand. Just. [01:33:28] Speaker D: Fortunately, difficult decisions are sometimes what's right. [01:33:36] Speaker E: Is it? I. Difficult is. I agree with quiet. Taking care of what he needed to do for himself. But hard decisions don't always mean they're the right ones. [01:33:55] Speaker D: I didn't say always. But realistically with this, no matter what happened, one of them wasn't coming out of it. Okay. [01:34:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:34:14] Speaker D: I don't think there really was a right decision in this. [01:34:21] Speaker F: There was a decision that was right for him. [01:34:24] Speaker D: Jacqueline. [01:34:30] Speaker E: Do you all know a lot of other hunters? [01:34:35] Speaker A: No. A few. They don't like me much, but I've met some. [01:34:45] Speaker C: Well, we met Roseanne, and I know of one or two. [01:34:52] Speaker E: How many of them have non hunter relations? [01:35:04] Speaker A: It's not the ones that you all love. [01:35:07] Speaker F: Weren't they. Didn't most of the ones that you all knew, weren't they all part of your cell and dead now? [01:35:15] Speaker A: I know some outside of that. [01:35:17] Speaker F: Yeah. He's looking at Arthur. [01:35:21] Speaker C: No, there was one or two outside of the cell. I wasn't the two that were in our cell, because that's a different story. But they did not. [01:35:36] Speaker D: No. It's unfortunately the kind of job that makes that very difficult to make happen. [01:35:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:35:52] Speaker E: Or to retire from. [01:35:57] Speaker D: Most, most people don't make it that long, I'll be completely honest. [01:36:08] Speaker C: And it's, it's kind of like that feeling, that sort of rage that you had when you found out the truth about Liam. Right. We kind of all have that and it just pushes us forward. And unfortunately, unless there's a resolution to the issues facing, I don't think many hunters attempt to retire. But. [01:36:51] Speaker F: As you all are having this conversation, and Katie Lynn looks like she is torn between insisting that Arthur retire now, right now, and giving everyone in the room a fucking wake up call about how not okay all of this is. You all hear footsteps and Rosanna makes her way back into the kitchen dressed not in PJ's anymore. [01:37:34] Speaker C: Hey. [01:37:59] Speaker A: Isabel will softly give the command to Gozer to go over to Rosanna and just. [01:38:18] Speaker F: Gojermakes walk out. [01:38:24] Speaker E: Do you need someone to go with you? [01:38:27] Speaker B: I don't care. [01:38:39] Speaker C: You know, maybe goes her, can at least make sure she's okay. [01:38:47] Speaker F: Maybe her friend should go with her. [01:38:56] Speaker B: I gotta get out of here. And she just walks out. [01:39:02] Speaker A: Isabella is gonna quickly rush, grab her shoes and follow. [01:39:09] Speaker F: Those are kind of stands, like he's not sure if he's supposed to follow the person he was given the command to go to or go back to Isabel when Rosanna leaves. [01:39:17] Speaker A: And then he'll follow Isabel. Cause Isabelle's gonna leave. [01:39:19] Speaker F: Okay. [01:39:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Isabel's like, oh, I'm gonna follow. I'm gonna make sure, you know, she's okay and is sort of rushing and pulling on shoes as she's doing it. [01:39:33] Speaker C: Same here. Arthur's gonna look at Cadielynn. If the other two have gone to follow her, he's gonna start backing toward the door. [01:39:46] Speaker E: Arthur, you're going to stick your foot in your mouth no matter where you go. Do you want to? Anna. [01:39:54] Speaker C: I'm sorry, what. [01:39:56] Speaker E: Do you go after? The rest. [01:40:03] Speaker C: Okay. And he'll go. [01:40:14] Speaker F: Okay. Um, everybody except for Caitielynn and Patty chase after Rosanna. Piper did go, right? [01:40:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:40:26] Speaker F: Okay. [01:40:26] Speaker C: I. [01:40:27] Speaker F: Sorry, I was like, wait, I don't remember if Piper said something. [01:40:30] Speaker C: That's, that's why Arthur was like, uh, okay, so now I have this problem. If I don't go, I'm not doing the cell thing. If I do go, I'm abandoning the wife thing. No win. No win for the Arthur. [01:40:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:41:01] Speaker F: Rosanna, you have a good minute and a half alone, and then you hear a bunch of really not subtle, um, footsteps chasing after you. Because frankly, nobody in this group is particularly good at being quiet. Except for maybe Gozer, uh, who hasn't been given the command to sneak. [01:41:22] Speaker D: Say, I have two dots of stealth. [01:41:24] Speaker A: I have six dots of stealth. [01:41:26] Speaker F: You have six dots total? [01:41:28] Speaker D: Yeah, I have five. [01:41:30] Speaker A: Well, three. Three of stealth. [01:41:31] Speaker F: But you all are rushing to keep up. None of you are particularly stealthy. [01:41:35] Speaker D: Yeah, we're not trying to steal. [01:41:36] Speaker A: We're not trying to be stealthy. [01:41:39] Speaker F: Jesus, you fucking pedants. Just follow your friend. [01:41:43] Speaker A: Yes, we are. [01:41:59] Speaker D: Piper just kind of walks towards the Rosanna and just sits down. I assume Rosanna is, like, on the ground. [01:42:07] Speaker B: Yeah, she's in that, like, little clearing, like, where it's a lot of. Just like, extra growth. [01:42:15] Speaker D: Piper walks over and isn't, like, super close, but she sits down. [01:42:20] Speaker F: Yeah. [01:42:20] Speaker A: Floats. Isabelle will sit as well. [01:42:29] Speaker C: Arthur is gonna come in and see everyone sitting and sit down, not knowing if that was the right choice. He feels like a group hug might be better, but everyone else is sitting, so that's weird. There's a lot of stuff we've gone through last couple of days. Rosanna, it's okay. [01:43:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:43:10] Speaker B: Yeah. It's a bad. [01:43:14] Speaker A: No, it's not. [01:43:16] Speaker B: No, but. Lost a finger. Lost a lot of blood. My mentors pissed off at me. My longest friend is a vampire. I'm losing my sister. I lost. [01:43:38] Speaker C: Quiet. [01:43:51] Speaker F: Everything is not great. [01:43:53] Speaker B: Everything's great. [01:43:57] Speaker D: I think Arthur was saying that it's okay that you feel like. Not that what's happening is okay. [01:44:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:44:05] Speaker C: Yeah. It's okay to feel as deeply as you're feeling. [01:44:19] Speaker B: Saving up to bass a house somewhere in the midwest so we could just get away from it. The craziness was gonna surprise him. Once all this was said and done, I was willing to retire from everything. Give up, let the fae go. You know what? The letter was red. I was a terrible partner to him. I was just sitting dot. He told me that what I'm doing is a suicide mission. I mean, he's right. I put myself in harm's way so many times. I'm tapped out. I'm not happy. I just lost the one thing that made me happy. I don't have any more to give. I don't have any more of me left to give. I'm not gonna be useful for that. I'm sorry. [01:48:36] Speaker A: I have nothing to apologize for. [01:48:43] Speaker C: I think it's clear that we need to take a few days, maybe even a couple of weeks before we approach Rin. [01:48:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:48:52] Speaker C: Or not approach rin. [01:49:02] Speaker B: I don't have anything left. I have. He's gone. [01:49:27] Speaker A: Isabella is just gonna take one of. Take Rosanna's uninjured hand and hold it. Cause she knows that feeling. [01:50:36] Speaker C: You know, maybe it's a good idea we just sit out here in the trees for a while. Just look at how beautiful it is. Like you were onto something, Rosanna. [01:50:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:51:07] Speaker F: Perhaps an hour or two later of just everything, from hanging out and being quiet to the occasional crying jag punctuated by soft reassurances, Rosanna's most tumultuous outbursts have finally started to settle. Maybe it's that she's just too tired to keep crying. Maybe she's worked through the worst of it for the moment. But now you all have time to have a real discussion. Perhaps, Isabel, at some point you did get a text message from Patty, who's. Who basically just texted, are you alive? [01:52:08] Speaker A: I would return, yes. Still in the woods. It feels so weird. It doesn't do nature. [01:52:21] Speaker F: Patty responds with, noted. Keep a stick close in case the mosquitoes get too friendly. [01:52:39] Speaker A: Um, I know this may not be the best time to discuss things, but we do have a few things that we should take care of sooner rather than later. [01:53:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:53:06] Speaker A: There is someone out there running around the same curse that Piper has, and you know they're causing problems. We have information about them that could put a stop to the harm that they're causing. [01:53:31] Speaker C: Yeah, we have something, right? [01:53:34] Speaker D: We at least have a name. [01:53:35] Speaker A: We have a name. Yeah. [01:53:42] Speaker C: I mean, I don't know if we're any, like, kind of nods to his injury and looks at Rosena's hand in a good place to be going to find this person, but we are not. [01:53:58] Speaker A: But. [01:53:59] Speaker D: And even if we were there, we don't know what. They have many options. [01:54:05] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't think we're gonna do all of that. Any motions that the trees around them again? [01:54:14] Speaker A: No. For that, we are not. I can pass on the information we have to Allison, or we can pass it on to someone and they can take care of it. [01:54:35] Speaker D: If we do that, I would recommend not giving any more details about the situation than strictly necessary. Don't explain why she's gone off the deep end, just that she has and she needs to be stopped, right? [01:54:50] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I don't know any other person we would give the information to. Oh. [01:55:03] Speaker C: Alison or Bishop Thomas, I guess, but yeah, just. I mean, all we have to do is indicate that we were tracking down a potential supernatural lead and discovered it. Was something else. And that they've gone really off the deep end. [01:55:18] Speaker A: Yeah. I can make that phone call when we get back to the compound. [01:55:38] Speaker C: Then there's really only two things that we need to think about dealing with. There's Ren, obviously, and that's going to take as much time as Rosanna needs. [01:55:52] Speaker A: Exactly. [01:55:52] Speaker C: To prepare for it. And then. Was it there was a vampire? Piper? [01:56:01] Speaker F: Yeah. [01:56:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:56:03] Speaker D: Andrew. Andrew Barrow. [01:56:10] Speaker F: Yep. [01:56:12] Speaker A: I think we need more information. Yeah, we need more information on him before we can do anything. [01:56:16] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. [01:56:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:56:21] Speaker C: Yeah, I think if. We think that's it on our list. And, um. I mean, once that's over. I don't know, Rosanna, I don't know how you feel, but I'm ready to take a very, very long break. I've got people here that need me, and. Well, I guess I'm kind of getting tired, too. Yeah. [01:57:21] Speaker B: I don't. I'm gonna just keep going. I don't have a whole lot to go home, too, so I'm here. I just. You know, who knows? [01:58:01] Speaker D: I think it's dependent on how these next two things go. [01:58:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I. [01:58:09] Speaker D: If we can talk rin down, then you'll at least have something. [01:58:15] Speaker C: I'll have your sister back. [01:58:17] Speaker B: No, I won't. I don't have confidence that we're gonna talk her off the edge. Uh, not from what I saw of her last. It's, um. [01:58:46] Speaker C: I don't know. [01:58:48] Speaker B: Maybe I don't have a lot of hope. [01:58:53] Speaker D: It wouldn't be the only impossible thing we've done. [01:58:57] Speaker A: We've done several impossible things. We sent a God home. [01:59:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:59:09] Speaker D: The only thing we can do is try. [01:59:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:59:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:59:15] Speaker A: And say, prepare to go in with the attempt to talk her down and. But be ready. [01:59:24] Speaker D: Prepare for the worst. [01:59:25] Speaker A: Hope for the best. Exactly. [01:59:31] Speaker D: Be ready for things to go sideways, but still try. [01:59:37] Speaker C: And I think that if anyone can bring back your sister, it's you. [01:59:57] Speaker B: I'm just trying to not get my hopes up. [02:00:05] Speaker A: That's fair. There are some things that I'm working on and. Hyper. You can make false identities for people, right? Yeah, I might need one. Not for me. Well, I might need one myself, but I need one for someone I've made the choice to. Yeah. To, um, steal my friend back, I guess. [02:00:49] Speaker F: Okay. [02:00:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm gonna. Yeah, I'm gonna really piss off the second inquisition in the end. And then I'm probably gonna disappear. [02:01:01] Speaker D: You need any help with that? Not the disappearing part. Stealing the person, probably. [02:01:08] Speaker A: Yes. [02:01:10] Speaker C: All right. [02:01:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm still working on the plan. I don't know exactly where she's being held. So once I know that, I can actually build a plan. But this is something we can worry about later. [02:01:36] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, that's. [02:01:37] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not. It's gonna be a while before I have a plan for this or have all the information I need. It's far down my priority list. [02:01:53] Speaker D: But I think for now, we just start planning things we don't have anything to act on, so. [02:02:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Start digging, finding information. I'll get a few phone calls to make today. And other than that, it's just the boring part of the cell work, research. [02:02:25] Speaker D: There are worse things. [02:02:27] Speaker A: That's true. [02:02:28] Speaker D: At least we know what we're researching. [02:02:33] Speaker C: Very true at names, after all. [02:02:37] Speaker F: Yeah. Hey, so are you, are you all headed back to the house? [02:02:56] Speaker A: I think so. I think at least Isabelle will head if nobody else is. [02:03:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll head back. I'm gonna just take a few more minutes. Yeah. [02:03:20] Speaker A: All right. Yeah. [02:03:23] Speaker F: Who has been sitting nearby because Isabel is right next to Rosanna anyway, kind of watches Isabel stand up and clearly, you know, stands up himself, intent on following, and kind of pauses when he realizes that everybody, both Rosanna is getting up and then sort of like, looks back and forth, wanders over to Rosanna and proceeds to give her, like, this big, long lick from, like, under her chin up to her hairline. It gets in your eyebrow. Rosanna. Big, adoring doggy lick. [02:04:09] Speaker A: Good boy. [02:04:17] Speaker B: She'll give him a little scratch on the hood. [02:04:23] Speaker F: Kind of whines and looks back at Isabelle, then pack at Rosanna and back at Isabelle. [02:04:28] Speaker A: Isabelle will give him the command to stay with Rosanna. [02:04:32] Speaker F: Okay, Goser is gonna sit back down and plop his heavy ass head in Rosanna's lap like a, hi, I'm here. Now you get to love me. [02:04:42] Speaker A: Isabel knows how just good Gozer is with helping people feel better. He did a lot for her, so, you know, hopefully he can help Rosanna a little bit. [02:04:59] Speaker F: And if anything goes sideways, Gozer has a combat pool that's almost as big as everybody else's is. So, you know, Gozer, as it turns out, might be better protection for Rosanna than Arthur is. So, you know, especially in his condition. [02:05:24] Speaker C: Okay, that's fair. [02:05:26] Speaker F: All right, I'm gonna hide Rosanna. Bye. The rest of you head back up to the house, minus one gozer. [02:05:45] Speaker D: Piper just kind of looks at Isabel. Okay, so when you say that we're gonna steal your friend, you mean. [02:05:51] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, she's been. [02:05:56] Speaker F: I have a question. Where is this conversation happening? Are you back at the house, or is this on the way to the house? [02:06:02] Speaker D: I assume this is, like, as we're coming out of the cliff, like. [02:06:04] Speaker F: Yeah, I have to ask, because if. If certain people overheard, that would make a difference in how the scene plays out, so. [02:06:17] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [02:06:18] Speaker D: Yeah, I imagine this is, like, as soon as we're out of the clearing. Okay, so, like, we're still in the woods. [02:06:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:06:25] Speaker F: Gotcha. Gotcha, gotcha. [02:06:27] Speaker A: And Isabelle is going to tell Patty about this because this is all. This is a plan she's only just started to come up with. [02:06:33] Speaker F: Gotcha. Okay. [02:06:35] Speaker A: He's not going to not tell Patty about this. [02:06:41] Speaker C: Um, listen, I. I want to help you, Isabel, like I do. [02:06:49] Speaker D: I don't think you'd be very useful. I'm gonna be honest, Arthur, but I. [02:06:53] Speaker C: Was gonna say on the other side, knowing what your friend is, I don't. I don't know if I could do it. [02:07:03] Speaker A: Understandable. [02:07:11] Speaker C: I just. I feel like my whole role would be there as the break glass in case of emergency contingency plan and not helpful in what you want me to be helpful in. [02:07:27] Speaker A: It's understandable. Like, I will let you know if I do need you for anything. But. [02:07:37] Speaker D: I'm gonna be honest. I'm just glad that you're stating up front that you don't think you should be a part of it, instead of going along and then snapping at the last second. [02:07:46] Speaker A: It's gross. [02:07:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm trying. Been a lot of work with Katie Lynn and others over the last year, but I have to be honest about the situation. I don't think I'd be a help to you and what you are wanting to do, but yes, I wanted to be honest with you and make sure that you understood. That's not because I don't want to help you or care about you or want to help you save your friend. [02:08:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I understand. I am asking you to save a vampire. [02:08:27] Speaker C: And, I mean, you know my unhealthy relationship with vampires, so. [02:08:32] Speaker A: Yes, you're aware of my unhealthy relationship with vampires. [02:08:37] Speaker C: So I guess this is Piper's. [02:08:39] Speaker D: Just not. [02:08:47] Speaker A: Okay. [02:08:48] Speaker C: Well, um, that. That being said, then I'll just, you know, I'll just stand back here while you guys. While you guys talk. [02:08:57] Speaker D: No, I mostly just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page with who we're trying to save. [02:09:01] Speaker C: Sure. [02:09:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Like I said. Still, I'm brewing up a plan. [02:09:06] Speaker D: Later problem. [02:09:07] Speaker A: It's a much later problem. Starting to build the plan. It's gonna be a bit before I have anything I really can talk about. [02:09:13] Speaker D: Especially because we do have a vampire that you can be helpful with the dealing with. [02:09:17] Speaker A: Incredibly. [02:09:18] Speaker C: Oh, yes. And I absolutely plan to jump on board that murder train. [02:09:28] Speaker F: Okay, so what's the plan, guys? Who's doing what? You are back at the house. [02:09:32] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [02:09:34] Speaker D: Research time. [02:09:35] Speaker A: Research? Yeah. I'll help Piper with some research, but I'm going to call Alison and give her the information about this person whose name I don't remember. [02:09:45] Speaker F: Oh, yeah, we're not glossing over. That scene's gonna happen. [02:09:50] Speaker A: Oh, of course. I certainly guessed it was. [02:09:54] Speaker C: Arthur is gonna be incredibly useless to both of them and go try to find Katy Lynn and fix the fact that he left her to have breakfast by herself. [02:10:04] Speaker F: Katie Lynn is. Hmm. What is Cadielynn doing? Katie Lynn is out front of the house with Patty. He is working up a sweat by moving around like pallets of flowers and helping her with saplings and whatever that she needs to plant that Arthur has not been home to help with and is also too injured to lift. So Arthur walks towards the front of the house to find Patty shirtless and grubby and dirty and carrying stuff around for his wife and dutifully taking orders. [02:10:46] Speaker A: Isabelle's just gonna enjoy the view. [02:10:53] Speaker C: Arthur's going to stand awkwardly for a moment and just be like, oh, well, I mean, I guess it's fair, but she's just looking, right? It's fine. [02:11:04] Speaker F: I mean, to be fair, it doesn't seem like she's really looking all that much. She seems to Conte. She seems pretty intent on planting the things that he is bringing to her. It's just that this is fucking Louisiana, and he's doing physical labor, so of course he's taking the jerk off. Okay, I'm hiding you now, Arthur, because you are outside with your. [02:11:25] Speaker C: I had no intent other than just try to spend time with her to film fix the leaving thing. [02:11:31] Speaker F: Okay. Arthur's going to go awkwardly attempt to plant flowers. Isabelle. [02:11:40] Speaker A: Yes. [02:11:43] Speaker F: You park yourself in the living room of the house out of the sun. Cause you're a pale, pale girl, and you've already been outside longer than you would like. Yeah. At least from here, you can peek out the window to see your boy toy doing the. Doing the physical labor. And that's what you're doing when you make the phone call to Alison, who picks up the phone, sounding vaguely groggy because it's still early in the morning here. It's still morning here, but it's really early there. It's like mid morning. Here. So it's like 06:00 a.m. there, and she picks up the phone. I don't even have my coffee. It had better be an emergency. [02:12:37] Speaker A: It's me forgetting how time zones work again. [02:12:41] Speaker F: Of course it is. How are you, you and your weird, unemployed friends doing soon to be employed still, I hope. [02:12:51] Speaker A: Hopefully. As long as we can get this job done. [02:12:56] Speaker F: Uh huh. So what's up? [02:13:01] Speaker A: Um, I had information I wanted to pass on a name of. Yeah. [02:13:17] Speaker F: Okay. What information can I help with? [02:13:21] Speaker A: It's. I. One of the things that my weird, unemployed friends were is we'd been tracking this person with Bethan Miller from the. Used to be associated with the University of Iowa. It's the other night, you know, with all of my friend getting injured involved, that I wanted to. We decided that it is a thing that we cannot take care of. It is beyond us. So we're doing the smart thing and passing the information on to, hopefully, people who can. She's in a very bad state. [02:14:17] Speaker F: What kind of bad state is, though? And why am I the one who needs to know about it? [02:14:24] Speaker A: You're. She's currently doing a bit of a murder spree on supernatural creatures. [02:14:38] Speaker F: And we should stop her. [02:14:40] Speaker C: Why? [02:14:47] Speaker F: Because that just sounds like she's helping with our job. With your job. [02:14:58] Speaker A: It. Okay, I'm sorry. [02:15:01] Speaker F: I'm very confused. Maybe it's that I haven't had coffee, but this is a weird ass. You okay? Is this a dream? Have you forgotten that I'm an Emmy? [02:15:16] Speaker A: She is taking trophies. [02:15:24] Speaker F: That's weird, but not unheard of. [02:15:29] Speaker A: Yeah, if her apartment was filled with them. Okay, she may not be doing this under her own power completely, if that makes sense. He may be influenced by something. [02:15:52] Speaker F: So she's what? Like, enchanted by a vampire to go kill vampires, or. [02:16:00] Speaker A: Um. No. [02:16:03] Speaker F: Isabelle, let me remind you that I have known you most of your adult life. I know when you're lying to me and when you're leaving things out. [02:16:12] Speaker A: She was cursed. [02:16:15] Speaker F: See, that would have been good. Something good to lead with. What kind of curse are we talking about? Is it life catching? Is that why you guys don't want to deal with her? Or is it just because she's human and. No, don't hunt people. [02:16:33] Speaker A: It is partially option two. As far as. As far as I know. And we know as a group, curse not communicable, does not pass from person to person. It was tied with. I told you. The strange book we were looking for. [02:16:51] Speaker F: Huh? [02:16:52] Speaker A: It's tied to that book. [02:16:54] Speaker F: Huh? [02:16:56] Speaker A: And we don't think she will stop at supernatural creatures either. She'll start going after normal people as well. [02:17:04] Speaker F: Okay. All right. It's very much just, you guys know, people further up the chain of command. But I will do my best to pass this along to who I can. Just don't be surprised if the results aren't as immediate as they would be had you called someone, you know, in charge. [02:17:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:17:30] Speaker F: But I'll do what I can. [02:17:35] Speaker A: Kind of wanted to offer a bit of an olive branch for the other day. [02:17:44] Speaker F: Yeah, making a cagey phone call and trying to hold back information probably wasn't your best option for an olive branch so much as a, you know. I'm sorry the other day sucked. Can we talk? [02:18:01] Speaker A: I was, you know. Yeah, I was hoping we could do that, too. I'm sorry. I'm. I'm trying to be better about a lot of this and be more communicative and open. It's. [02:18:26] Speaker F: I get it. No offense, but it sounds like your weird, unemployed friends are maybe not great at pushing you to be better about these things, but your boys seem to be. You have gotten better, so that's something. [02:18:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:18:43] Speaker F: Okay, I'm gonna go make some phone calls and piss off some people who are definitely not aware yet to try and get this on the radar of people who need to know about it. Then I'm gonna go get some coffee, take my shower, and get ready for my day. And I will talk to you when I'm a little less asleep and a little less, you know, vaguely homicidal feeling. I love you. [02:19:12] Speaker A: Love you, too. [02:19:13] Speaker F: Please be safe. And don't let your weird, unemployed friends get you kicked. Killed. Especially because Patty promised me soda bread. Last time I saw him. Saw him. And he still hasn't made good on that promise, so you have to survive. So he'll keep it? [02:19:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll let him know. He's not here right now, but he's nearby. [02:19:37] Speaker F: Okay? [02:19:39] Speaker A: He is keeping an eye on me. [02:19:41] Speaker F: Be safe. Eat something. Do good things for your body. Don't forget sunscreen and sleep. [02:19:49] Speaker A: Thank you. [02:19:52] Speaker F: All right, I'm gonna go. [02:19:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:19:56] Speaker F: And then she hangs up. All in all, Isabel could be worse. [02:20:02] Speaker B: Could be worse? [02:20:03] Speaker F: You've had more contentious conversations with her. She mostly just sounded tired and, like, annoyed that you were giving her the run around. [02:20:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:20:13] Speaker F: But aside from that, not bad. Okay, are you going to go start helping Piper gather intelligence? [02:20:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's what she's going to do. She's going to help Piper with the research. I think she's going to probably yeah. Anything else she wants to do would be this evening. Cause one of the people she wants to talk to is not gonna be awake until tonight. [02:20:52] Speaker F: Gotcha. Okay. [02:20:53] Speaker A: Uh huh. And she'll talk to Patty after the, you know, the day is done, and, you know, he can relax. [02:21:01] Speaker F: Noted. Okay. Well, Piper, do you have any, like, non informational scenes you want? [02:21:12] Speaker D: Not really, no. [02:21:14] Speaker F: Okay, cool. Well, in that case, because I know that there is a more role play centric scene that needs to happen, I'm going to hide you two and say that you're off doing research things, and I will have you make roles in the background while we fast forward a few hours to the late afternoon to Rosanna finally wandering back from the woods and finding Arthur in his office at the house. Take it away. [02:21:59] Speaker B: Uh, hey. [02:22:02] Speaker C: Hey, Rosanna. [02:22:05] Speaker B: Um, I'm sorry about earlier. [02:22:09] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, there's nothing to be sorry about. You have a lot happening. [02:22:18] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think all of us do. Um, I didn't want to freak out and cry the way that I did. If anything, I'm a little embarrassed that I caused such a scene in front of your wife. [02:22:45] Speaker C: I mean, you just found out about quiet, and you had all the other stuff on your mind, so I don't think anyone felt anything other than just concern and compassion for you. [02:23:08] Speaker B: Did you know? [02:23:11] Speaker C: About what? [02:23:13] Speaker B: Him leaving. [02:23:15] Speaker C: I knew the same time that you were finding out. When you went upstairs, I was given his resignation letter. It just was a letter of resignation, and that's all I knew. [02:23:38] Speaker B: She's gonna take the letter that he wrote to her and just give it to Arthur. I kind of felt like a mix of that and a breakup letter. [02:23:54] Speaker F: I mean, Arthur, I have dropped the letter into your journal in case you need to reference it. [02:24:04] Speaker C: Oh, I listened. I got the key points. Um, okay. I mean, it sounds like there was issues that he was having, feelings that he was having, and I. I don't know how much he spoke to you about them before this letter, or if he. I can't imagine he did like I did, and just stay quiet until he's too angry to do anything about it. But, um, I mean. [02:24:49] Speaker B: I don't know what I'm gonna. I took the second inquisition thing to be able to provide more stability for you and pepper and Isabel. Guarantee office space, comfortable triple desk jobs, retirement, health insurance. But I'll be honest, I don't. I don't know why they reached out to me, of all people. They say that it's to hone and ren, but they know that they are more than capable of doing that themselves. [02:26:02] Speaker C: Um, I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious. They want your connection to Tuatha. [02:26:21] Speaker B: I don't think it's quite that they don't want my connection to Twatha. They want me because it's either she severs her connection or I do. [02:26:37] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [02:26:38] Speaker B: And they're going to always back the one die that works directly for them. [02:26:45] Speaker C: Well, I think that they're. Honestly, I think they're hedging their bets. If both options are on their side, then no matter what happens, they win. It's like when you're playing, but you're at a casino if you bet on both. The reason you can't bet on both colors. I had to roulette, is because you went either way. Yeah. And I feel like that's what they're trying to do. [02:27:20] Speaker F: Yeah. [02:27:27] Speaker C: That'S why I don't trust them. Cause it's obvious to me that they're playing you when they're playing rin. And the house always wins. [02:27:41] Speaker B: I just. I'm tired. [02:27:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I get that. I'm tired, too. I. Sorry, go ahead. [02:28:07] Speaker B: No, no, no, you, you. [02:28:08] Speaker C: No, you. You're the one who has a lot to say. No, I'm just being the idiot behind the desk. [02:28:16] Speaker B: You're not an idiot. I don't like it when my people say mean things about themselves. Maybe that makes me an idiot, but. [02:28:38] Speaker C: No. Makes you the heart of the. Of the group. [02:28:54] Speaker B: Unfortunately, the. You're the heart of the group ain't doing too good. And she just needs a friend. [02:29:05] Speaker C: I mean, I'm here for you. So is Piper and Isabelle. [02:29:17] Speaker B: Can I be honest? This is gonna make me sound so selfish, but I've put my life on the line five times in total for this group. Between taking hits, trying to keep people from doing stupid stuff, giving literal parts of my body. No one's ever said thank you. All I've been is insulted. And, you know, I kind of get it now. I kind of get why he was so upset. Um, I have. Sorry. [02:30:41] Speaker C: No, go ahead. I was just gonna say I've always thought you were the best of us. I've never doubted that. And I've always been grateful for your presence. Because without you, none of us, I think, would have lasted. [02:31:32] Speaker B: Your sunglasses are on and you're inside in the comfort of your own home. Do you sleep with the mom? Sorry, I know that's a dumb observation to make, despite everything. But. [02:32:02] Speaker C: I just got used to wearing them. [02:32:04] Speaker B: I know. I'm sorry that I couldn't do more to help you. With your, she'll gesture to the sides that are bandaged up. [02:32:27] Speaker C: I mean, it was a tough fight for both of us. We weren't in the best conditions. Like, cramped place, not a lot of mobility, tactically unsound. [02:32:40] Speaker B: What they, vicious killer. [02:32:48] Speaker C: A frenzying vampire. [02:32:52] Speaker B: What's the difference? [02:32:57] Speaker C: Well, nothing. I was just clarifying. Frenzying vampire. [02:33:04] Speaker B: Can I ask you what your plans are after everything is settled? Once we deal with Wren, once we deal with whatever else it might be? Crazy, vicious women who are serial killers apparently going after everything. And other vicious serial killers that are going after everything. We're dealing with a lot of death here. [02:33:30] Speaker C: A lot of murderous, frenzying monsters. I've been putting a lot of thought into it, actually. And there's a couple of promises that I've made over the years that I think it's probably time that I finally fulfill. I've got people here who need me. This house that was built without me and a family that is broken and scattered all over the place. And, um, there's, there's one promise that I've never been able to fulfill. And I think it's time that I stepped up. [02:34:34] Speaker B: And what's that? [02:34:43] Speaker C: A bunch of little arthurs running around being a bunch of idiots. Hopefully, they're a bunch of little Katie Lynn's, but we know that'll go, right. [02:34:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [02:35:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:35:11] Speaker B: You're a lucky man, Arthur. Caitlin's a lucky lady. [02:35:20] Speaker C: I mean, I think I'm the luckier one here, but I'll accept for both of us. Hey, Rosanna. [02:35:33] Speaker B: Yeah? [02:35:34] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you for everything. Every single thing from the time that we got together in a cell to standing here in my office right now and telling me how you feel. [02:35:56] Speaker B: Thank you. I don't believe in the God that you. But I do believe that people are brought into your life for either a lesson or for a laugh time. And I hope for us that's the latter. [02:36:26] Speaker C: Yeah, me, too. And, you know, if you want, there's always a place here in Louisiana or in San Diego if you decided to settle down and find a home. [02:36:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I don't know if you knew this, but chaos seems to chase me like I'm a magnet. I don't know if settling down is something I'm ever gonna get the luxury of. But who knows? Maybe one day, and maybe one day, some person will come around and there'll be a bunch of little rosannas running. And if that ever happens, God help us both. [02:37:12] Speaker C: Yeah. We're always gonna be in a whole lot of trouble. I'm just kidding. It would be a much better place if there were a bunch of little copies of you making everyone's world better. It's little Arthur. Is everyone have to worry about. [02:37:31] Speaker B: Oh my God, if there's a bunch of little Arthurs running around, we're all fucked. [02:37:36] Speaker F: Yep. [02:37:37] Speaker C: And heaven forbid they ever become a barista or something because everyone seems to hate the way that I make coffee. [02:37:41] Speaker A: Oh. [02:37:43] Speaker B: Truly an art form in a different type of museum. But it's an art form. That's much is for certain. Thank you for just being in my life. I don't think I ever. You know, with everything that's happened to all of us in the last year, year and a half, I don't ever think I took the time to show my appreciation for you sticking around a spot. Everything. [02:38:37] Speaker C: Yeah, well, it's gonna be hard for you not to have me stick around. Because you're my friend, Rosanna. [02:38:52] Speaker B: You're mine. She'll just lean in and just give him a hug. [02:39:00] Speaker C: And he'll hug her back. [02:39:06] Speaker F: Anybody else have any scenes they would like to accomplish before the time skip? Okay, very cool. That evening, Katie Lynn and patty and piper, if she shows up, I'm sure, will be allowed into the kitchen because she has proven herself competent, at the very least, to help wash and grate potatoes for boxdee. I think she could be trusted with at least that much. Um, uh, get together and make, um, uh, corned beef and soda bread and box tea for dinner. Um, Patty looks like he is on cloud fucking nine. He's so happy. Um, it's not quite just like home, but they didn't get a start on it at a crazy hour of the morning like he normally would. So they made do with a pressure cooker. It's still very, very good. He does not complain. He's like, next time, warn me before 3 hours after breakfast so that I can, you know, properly show you how everything's done. But it goes exceptionally well. It's very good. Every. It's quite tasty. Everybody gets whatever they would like to drink. Patty even makes a run out before dinner to make sure that they have, like, you know, proper alcohol and not just wine. Because frankly, I imagine with as much shit as Arthur puts Cadielynn through, most of the hard liquor that she kept just for emergencies. Disappeared a long time ago. [02:40:50] Speaker C: Ow. Well. [02:40:54] Speaker F: Listen, we all know who Arthur is and what, and what being married to him must be like. None of us are dumb. Um, okay, we're going to time skip. Um, also, uh, Isabelle and Piper you will have lots of information. I'm going to get it to you throughout the week because we're running behind schedule. So, um, I saw your. I saw your rolls. I will make sure that you get what you need, uh, before next episode. Um, we're going to time skip. It is a month later. Arthur, all of your wounds are healed. Um, Rosanna, your wounds are healed. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about your finger, but all of your health boxes are full. Everybody should be at full willpower. You have all had a month to prepare. You have all had a month to rest up and to recover a little bit. Tov has flown out to Louisiana. It took a couple of weeks before he could manage it because he had to make sure that there was coverage. Oh, well, no, he hasn't flown out. He rode his bike. But it took a couple of weeks just to make sure that there was coverage enough back in San Diego for him to leave. Um, he made sure that the house was secured, all of that stuff. Um, Isabel, he. I am assuming that you and Patty have had the conversation. You have clued Tov in on the conversation that you had with Patti regarding your condition. [02:42:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:42:41] Speaker F: Speaking of, it's been a month. [02:42:43] Speaker A: Yes. How am I doing? [02:42:46] Speaker F: Uh, unless you have done something and taken more. Uh, for the most part, it's gone. [02:42:55] Speaker A: I. She promised Patty that she wouldn't, so, um, yeah, unless it was. It looked like it was gonna, like, harm her irreparably. To not take more. She wouldn't have. [02:43:10] Speaker F: Okay, quick question, because you said there was another conversation that you wanted to have before the sun went or after the sun went down. Did you want to call Jace? Is that. [02:43:19] Speaker A: Yes. She was gonna call Jace and check up on things and clue him in slightly. [02:43:30] Speaker F: Okay, we're gonna rewind a little bit then, because that's important. [02:43:36] Speaker A: And she would have also let Patti know about, like, hi, at some point in the future, I need to steal a body. [02:43:45] Speaker F: Patty, weirdly enough, does not sound as put off by that as one might expect. In fact, Patti has now taken to calling the sometime in the future mission the great body heist of 2024. [02:43:59] Speaker C: He's just like, oh, okay. Yeah, sure. Why not? Seems like it is to do. [02:44:05] Speaker F: He seems. He seems vaguely excited by the idea of let's go steal a body. Listen, listen. Pat is ex special forces, and he's irish and he's a biker. He may not be all there. You know, maybe just a little bit. Okay. In your conversation with Jace, you find out that his ghoul is doing. Doing much better. Over the course of your time, your downtime, you find out that he is pretty much fully recovered. After a week or so, he mostly goes through some funk where he's a little. Not entirely himself. He's still a little run down, a little ragged. But over time, especially with more blood from Jace, it gets significantly better. You 100% are sure that you saved his life. Because even with vampire blood in his system, he does not. He doesn't recover as fast as you would expect, but he does recover, which is the important thing. [02:45:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:45:22] Speaker F: As far as everything else, do you tell Jace that you ghouled yourself? Kinda. [02:45:33] Speaker A: Yeah. I think there's a. There's just a sto. [02:45:37] Speaker F: Justly. [02:45:37] Speaker A: You know, this happened. It was really complicated at the time. We're just gonna. You know, we're very far away. I don't plan on continuing this. This is just what happened. Because I don't know if it's a thing that vampires can sense. [02:45:58] Speaker F: Okay. He does not confirm or deny whether or not he can sense it. He kind of brushes right by that topic altogether. [02:46:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't stay on it for very long. [02:46:08] Speaker F: He. Hmm. Yeah. No. Looking at your sheet, I don't think that Isabel would have the insight to pick up on much more than the fact that he acknowledges that you did the thing that you did and is choosing not to have a conversation about it right now. He does say that there might need to be a conversation in person later. Yeah. [02:46:37] Speaker A: And that's 100%. She's like, well, I'll see you again at some point when I'm back in town. [02:46:45] Speaker F: For what it's worth, he does not seem upset. He mostly just is a little hard to read, which, you know, with Jace, is not uncommon. [02:46:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And anything else? Well, let him know that the second inquisition is the one behind that. And to just be incredibly careful if he has any more tangles with them, because they may be using this stuff and it's essentially meant to immobilize him. [02:47:20] Speaker F: Noted. Okay. That might be the first time you've ever heard Jace react. And heard or seen Jace react in a way that seems vaguely pissed off. Not at you. Yeah, you can kind of sense a shift in him that is maybe a little bit like how Arthur gets. When Arthur finds out that people are talking to supernatural people, he's not surprised by your connection and knowledge of the si, but just the knowledge that they are around and are poking their noses, potentially into his business as a problem for him. [02:47:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:47:59] Speaker F: Yeah, yeah. Anything else? [02:48:03] Speaker A: Mostly I just wanted to give him that information tell him to stay safe. Um, you know that I'll see him. Like, she hasn't decided if she's gonna cash in her favor at any point, so. [02:48:18] Speaker F: Okay. Anyone else? All right, back to the time skip. It's been a month. You have all mostly stayed in Louisiana. I am assuming you have stayed close, because you've got to heal. You've got a plan. You've got to prep what you know about the vampire that Piper is targeting and that she holds responsible for her entire life. Kind of going to the. Going to shit. He is old. He is powerful. This is not going to be an easy fight. You do need to go in kind of armed for bear. And so that is what a lot of your time is put into, is prepping for that and potentially prepping for the fight with Rin. Patty attempts Paddy and Tov attempt to help Arthur brush up on his boxing because he was learning at one point. But he's gotten a little off of that because he's been busy with other things, like trying to be a husband. And it has mixed results. As it turns out. Tub didn't go to, like, a formalized, let's learn boxing kind of school. Um, there is at least once. There is at least once where Katie Lynn kind of chews tov out because he nearly dislocates Arthur's shoulder by trying to show him a particular, like, throw. He's. He is genuinely apologetic afterwards. He was just like, what? I thought he knew how to fight. He said he took classes. Cadieln's just like, please don't kill my husband. Patty is a little bit more reasonable. It's a little bit easier to deal with him. Except that Patty grew up bare knuckle boxing because irish paddy learned how to box in bars, or as he calls it, a friendly fight in the local pub. All of that happens after about a month. People are physically in far better shape. Whereas in. I'm going to assume that during that time, you meet with your Fae friend to talk about your options, which we'll go over a little bit more in depth. Exactly what that conversation is like between sessions. Just because we're running out of time. You take the time to practice with your bow, I am assuming, because your grip is different. As it turns out, your grip is not as different as you thought. Because, again, your pointer finger is not responsible for grip. [02:51:25] Speaker C: But guiding an arrow. It is. She just has to adjust fingers, that's all. [02:51:32] Speaker F: Yeah, it takes a little bit of time to learn to shift everything over to your middle finger, but you're fine. And eventually you get it, and it actually works out pretty fucking well. You're not going to be at any negatives. There's nothing like that involved. Everything will work just the way that it always should. The way that it always has. It just takes a couple of practice rounds to kind of get used to the way it feels. Okay. At the end of that month, everybody is sitting around going over the plan regarding pipers vampire problem one more time. You guys have some travel coming up in the next couple of days in order to get to where you need to go to confront him. And Katie Lynn hurries in from outside, looking concerned and vexed, which is unusual for her. Even when she's really mad at Arthur, she doesn't usually look like this. I think you're muted. [02:52:44] Speaker E: I am. Arthur, are you busy right now? [02:52:51] Speaker C: Nope. [02:52:56] Speaker E: Some. I think there's been an incident. I don't know. And it's, um. Some of the boys went out earlier today. They did break. They're allowed to. They went into the swamp, and two of them haven't come back. I. I would be less. I'd be less concerned, except. Except Ruben did come back, and he says that there were, like, arms coming out of the water. [02:53:44] Speaker C: Arms coming out of the water. [02:53:47] Speaker F: He. [02:53:50] Speaker E: He looked like he had seen a ghost. And I know what I'm saying when I say that. [02:54:01] Speaker D: I'll send something out to go look over it. [02:54:06] Speaker C: Yeah, we should probably go check this. [02:54:09] Speaker D: Let's not physically go out there until we've given it a little scan over first. Let's not run into the thing that may or may not be an unbelievably haunted swamp. [02:54:23] Speaker E: I. [02:54:23] Speaker C: We haven't had. [02:54:25] Speaker E: We haven't had trouble with it before. I don't. I don't. [02:54:34] Speaker C: We've encountered something like that before. So it's potentially a horribly haunted swamp. [02:54:42] Speaker B: Yeah. What? Worst case, I can go out. [02:54:48] Speaker C: I mean, we'd all go out, right? But I'm saying, sure, let Piper send the drone to see what Piper can see, and then we'll start getting prepped to go out in the meantime. How about that? Obviously, time is of the essence for our missing team here, but. Yeah. [02:55:10] Speaker F: Okay. Piper. [02:55:12] Speaker D: Yo. [02:55:13] Speaker F: Do your drones have any kind of sensei. Unnatural or anything on them? Is that how it works, or does it have to come off of you? [02:55:20] Speaker D: It has to come from me. [02:55:21] Speaker F: Okay, cool. Make me a wits and technology roll, I guess, to try and see if you can find anything with the drone. [02:55:40] Speaker A: Five. [02:55:41] Speaker F: Okay. What you find, and it takes. It takes some doing. You kind of have to, like, talk to Cadielynn, who has to talk to Reuben, because Reuben is so shaken up and he doesn't know you, and he's not going to talk to you. He'll talk to Katie Lynn. He'll kind of talk to Arthur, but he gets a little iffy around Arthur because Arthur is a. An authority figure who isn't really around very much and is ostensibly in charge. But Katie Lynn has mom energy, so he's a little bit more relaxed with. [02:56:15] Speaker C: Her, and she's actually in charge. It's fine. [02:56:21] Speaker F: You kind of have to have Katie Lynn talking to him and translating for you. But you manage to get the drone to roughly where he says it happened. You don't see any evidence of people or any evidence of, like, currently around people or ghosts. What you do find are very obvious footprints, three different sets that look like they could easily belong to teenage boys. There is one or two empty, like, beer bottles. You could tell that they snuck off to party and be teenagers, as teenagers are wont to do. And there is a hat that Katie Lynn, looking over your shoulder at the screen, recognizes as having belonged to Matthew. And this is a hat that Matthew does not take off. Katie Lynn's not sure that she has ever seen him without that hat, unless it's at church. And even then, only because she gives him the disapproving mom face. And then he takes off the hat. But there is no evidence that the boys are there now, and the swamp is eerily still. [02:57:57] Speaker D: Piper is gonna just kind of fly the drone, like, down really close to, like, the surface of the. Like the surface of the water. [02:58:07] Speaker F: Okay. You don't see anything different, and it. And the surface of the water doesn't even so much as ripple. [02:58:22] Speaker C: So not gators then? [02:58:27] Speaker F: No, no evidence of gators, that is for certain. Piper is pretty sure that unless they are real deep, she'd be able to see them. There's no evidence of gators. [02:58:40] Speaker C: So back to the haunted swamp theory. [02:58:44] Speaker D: I don't think we ever really left the haunted swamp theory. [02:58:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:58:51] Speaker C: Okay, just confirming potentially haunted swamp theory. [02:58:54] Speaker E: Can we not keep saying haunted swamp about the swamp that is around our. [02:58:59] Speaker F: House. [02:59:02] Speaker E: Or can we unhaunt it, please? [02:59:04] Speaker C: Yeah, that's the next step is the on haunting. So we just want to make sure we go into it and it's not something else, like, I don't know, underground vampires or cannibals or zombies or something. [02:59:18] Speaker A: Arthur, please stop talking. [02:59:21] Speaker F: Arthur. [02:59:23] Speaker B: Once again, open mouth and firmly in mouth, meet mouth. [02:59:30] Speaker E: I can talk to. To Matthew and John's parents about this, and. But is this a wait and see thing, or should I prep them for something? [02:59:43] Speaker B: I would make sure that nobody leaves to go towards the swamp. [02:59:47] Speaker A: Make sure. [02:59:48] Speaker D: Yeah, make sure. Yeah. [02:59:51] Speaker C: And we'll go out. [02:59:52] Speaker D: I guess we should get to work. [02:59:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:59:58] Speaker F: Y'all see, Patty and Tov both kind of simultaneously stand up. Tov produces a knife from you don't know where because you didn't see him have one on it before. And Patty. Patty is clearly checking the clip on his gun before he tucks it back into the holster. They clearly intend to go with you. [03:00:25] Speaker C: Yep. [03:00:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, Isabella will gather everything and call for Gozer. Gozer comes running, especially if there's a hat there. We can see where they went. [03:00:43] Speaker F: Certainly worth a shot. Okay. [03:00:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [03:00:45] Speaker C: So, Piper, when we dealt with this a while back, one thing that we kind of failed to realize was that we would all have to kind of resist the pull of the thing to drown ourselves. So this is what Arthur is saying to Piper as they're headed out. [03:01:03] Speaker A: Okay, so we can say this in front of Cadielynn. [03:01:07] Speaker C: No, not in front of Katie Lynn. The others. Yeah, we are sort of leaving. [03:01:12] Speaker F: All right. I'm hiding caitlyn then. Bye, Katie Lynn. [03:01:17] Speaker C: So we didn't coordinate well, is what I'm saying. And I sort of learned from that mistake and think that maybe we coordinate a little bit better. [03:01:24] Speaker B: To be fair, the last time that we had to deal with river Monster, we didn't realize that we had to deal with river monster until attacked Zephyr. [03:01:35] Speaker A: I mean, Piper, you've got the little clippy things. [03:01:40] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna do my roll for the ward. Do that for the unnatural. [03:01:46] Speaker F: Piper, you have the clippy things. Roll for clippy things. [03:01:49] Speaker D: Piper, roll for clippy things. Three successes. I think that essentially gives me an area of three yards or 3 meters. [03:02:06] Speaker F: Right? So as long as everybody stays real close, you should be fine. [03:02:11] Speaker D: I mean, within 10ft, that's pretty close. [03:02:15] Speaker F: For four people, that's pretty close, but. [03:02:16] Speaker A: It'S not, like, super close. [03:02:19] Speaker F: That's fine. Okay, you all head out into the swamp. Are you going straight to the area? Are you all sticking real close to Piper? Feeling off? What are you doing? [03:02:34] Speaker B: I'm gonna hang back just a little bit. Enough to where I'm still within that kind of warded area, but enough to where I can have just, like, a little bit of distance. And I'm gonna summon my bow just in case. [03:02:46] Speaker F: Okay, very cool. [03:02:48] Speaker C: I'm gonna try to empower my thing. [03:02:52] Speaker F: Empower thing. Roll to empower thing. [03:02:55] Speaker D: Will I roll to empower things? [03:02:59] Speaker A: I don't have a role to empower anything, though. I know I pat Gozer on the head. I don't think there's a role for my medium, just in case. [03:03:11] Speaker F: There is not. It is always on. [03:03:12] Speaker D: Just happens. [03:03:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going to spend a while. [03:03:14] Speaker A: I do have controllable night sight, so that's beyond the eyes of the beast, so. [03:03:19] Speaker F: Yep. [03:03:19] Speaker B: Okay, there we go. I got four successes. [03:03:22] Speaker C: My weapon is also gonna use some more power. Sorry, I was trying to talk, and I forgot I was on push to talk. [03:03:30] Speaker F: Click the button. [03:03:32] Speaker B: Click that shit. [03:03:40] Speaker F: Jesus. Okay, Scott, seven successes were the critical. Goddamn, I wish that was, like, a. [03:03:47] Speaker C: Rule that mattered, but really, it just means that I've turned up on the thing and now it's doing its job, and I get extra dice. [03:03:53] Speaker F: Okay, um. As you all draw closer, um. Isabelle, you can see in the dark. [03:04:01] Speaker A: Yes. [03:04:02] Speaker F: Um, it's eerie out here, but not uncomfortably so. Your perception may also be a little bit skewed because you spend a lot of time in a morgue. Um, and, you know, you were literally cursed to see how people would look when they died. For a while, it's gotten better. So, that being said, you hear as soon as you get close what sounds a little bit like whispers, but as you get closer, you realize they're not whispers. Their gurgled gasps for breath, like somebody trying to keep breathing and keep their head above water, even though you can't see it. [03:05:00] Speaker A: Anyone else hear that? [03:05:04] Speaker F: Nope. [03:05:07] Speaker C: Hear what. [03:05:10] Speaker A: Sounds like someone's trying to keep their head above the water. [03:05:18] Speaker D: Any idea how far away? [03:05:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [03:05:24] Speaker A: Can I tell what direction it's even coming from? [03:05:29] Speaker F: Coming from the water? [03:05:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Water itself. [03:05:38] Speaker C: Hmm. Arthur's gonna look in, knowing this isn't the smartest thing. He's just gonna look down at the rock. [03:05:44] Speaker A: I'm gonna roll. [03:05:45] Speaker D: Sense the unnatural. [03:05:47] Speaker F: Okay. Roll. Sense the unnatural. [03:05:49] Speaker C: Oh, right. [03:05:50] Speaker F: That's Arthur. Arthur. You staying in the field of Arthur's? [03:05:56] Speaker C: Yes, he's. Yeah, as much as he can, because he. Cause that's how it went badly the last time. [03:06:03] Speaker D: Nope. I apparently can't roll on this for shit. [03:06:07] Speaker B: I would also like to pull up my repelvian natural to make them stay away from my. [03:06:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Circle the thing. [03:06:20] Speaker B: The thing. [03:06:23] Speaker C: With our powers combined, we can make them stay away from attacking us and be unaffected by their mind altering powers. [03:06:32] Speaker D: At least until I run out of willpower. [03:06:36] Speaker F: Okay, Arthur, you kind of lean slightly out to look over the water without leaving that circle as you are doing so. And your eyes are kind of scanning the water, looking for any signs of anything, looking for ghostly face, ghostly hands, signs of the boys who went missing out here. You don't immediately see anything, however, Isabelle, that curse that you've worked so hard to not constantly be prey to. Yeah. Comes back full force for a moment. As you watch Arthur do this. You watch his lips get blue, his face get swollen, and he looks like a bloated, like, drowned corpse. And you are just about to open your mouth to say something when a pair of ghost white, bloated hands that are slicked with algae and clumps of river weeds and things like that from under the water reach up and out and directly for Arthur. I need Arthur to make a decks and athletics track, please. [03:08:31] Speaker C: Solid question. Does desperation play into this? It being a direct opposition with supernatural? Just a question. [03:08:42] Speaker F: I will allow it. You are at desperation. Three. Damn. All right, Arthur. Five successes. [03:09:09] Speaker C: Five successes. [03:09:10] Speaker F: Arthur, you've learned your lesson. You fought one. You fought something very like this before. You're not interested in a repeat performance. Those hands reach up and you immediately yank yourself back. You damn near bowl piper over, but you manage to avoid getting grabbed. And the rest of you see a face surface from the water, slowly its lips curled back from teeth that look kind of green and rotted. It is hissing. It is snarling. It is far more feral and animalistic than the last river ghost. Arthur and Rosanna fought way back in season one, but it is not too unlike her. It's just a man. And he is wearing clothes that look like he may have stepped out of, like, an old mobster film or what's left of clothes that looks like he may have stepped out of an old monster film. He's in, like, the pinstripe suit jacket and everything like that. [03:10:23] Speaker D: Chains around his ankles. [03:10:25] Speaker F: You can't see his ankles. He's really okay. [03:10:28] Speaker D: I thought he was, like, out of the water. [03:10:30] Speaker A: Okay. [03:10:30] Speaker F: No, not fully. He's, like, from his, like, chest up. [03:10:33] Speaker D: Gotcha. [03:10:40] Speaker C: Okay. [03:10:47] Speaker A: Isabelle's gonna definitely look at the two who have dealt with something like this to take point, because she. She's unsure of exactly what to do. She's pretty sure shooting. It's not gonna do anything. [03:10:57] Speaker B: Well. [03:11:00] Speaker C: Arthur will do what Arthur does. [03:11:01] Speaker A: Shooting it with bullets is not gonna do anything. [03:11:03] Speaker B: Rosanna will do what she does best. [03:11:05] Speaker F: Yeah, I was like, I'm going to assume that while Rosanna's going, and Arthur is at least going to swing on. [03:11:11] Speaker C: The thing super close to him. Yeah, with his newly acquired boxing skills. [03:11:18] Speaker F: But make a swing, Rosanna. You can also roll. You two are kind of prepared for this. It is worth noting that there are. That there is the crack of multiple guns that go off. It's loud, it's a little deafening, because everybody's really close. But the bullets just sort of go like the bullets embed in the body, but the body doesn't stop moving. [03:11:43] Speaker C: Question. I don't know how this. Where the. Where the ghosts classify. I know I have, especially on rates. I don't know if that applies to different kinds of ghosts. So I wasn't sure, and I'd ask for your ruling. Okay. [03:11:54] Speaker F: Not. Not a race. [03:11:55] Speaker C: And I know my dice. [03:12:06] Speaker F: Where is it? Right, that's seven, Rosanna. [03:12:10] Speaker B: Um, doing it right now. [03:12:19] Speaker F: Jesus. Seven and nine. Well, this is definitely not like the last time you guys fought. [03:12:28] Speaker C: We've learned a bit. [03:12:29] Speaker F: Mm hmm. Okay. [03:12:33] Speaker C: One might say we even had some experience, maybe. [03:12:38] Speaker B: Boo. [03:12:39] Speaker F: Um, well, you certainly both fucking hit. Um, as I hunt for my. Hunt for my notes. Sorry, I accidentally closed them. Okay, sorry, guys. One sec. Making rolls. [03:13:26] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [03:13:27] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [03:13:35] Speaker F: All right. What is the damage, Arthur, on your. [03:13:44] Speaker C: It is net. Net successes as ag damage. [03:13:50] Speaker F: Okay. Is it the same for you, Rosanna, as the same? [03:13:54] Speaker B: Yes, ma'am. [03:13:55] Speaker F: Yeah. Okay, cool. I don't even know. I'm gonna have you guys roll this because there's no fucking way this goes. Manages much of anything with the number of net successes that you have. I would like you both to. I would like Arthur to roll me five. Die. That's. You have. You have no. [03:14:22] Speaker B: So whatever he didn't manage to dodge is what he takes in. Damage. [03:14:27] Speaker C: Yeah, it's all ag. [03:14:34] Speaker F: Sorry. It's been a hot minute. And I most recently written 20th, so I'm used to you having to roll your damage. Yeah. So, Arthur, you wheelback and just Cole cock the shit out of this ghost. It feels weirdly physical to you, considering that it's a ghost. It shouldn't have a body. There shouldn't be anything for you to actually hit. But you, Cole, cock this thing, and its head snaps back, and it's just in time for you guys to watch. This arrow from Rosanna's bow hit it square in the bottom of its chin, and it goes up and through its brain, or where its brain should be. And there is another kind of rasping, gurgling, death rattle kind of noise. And this time, everybody can hear it, not just Isabel, because it's happening right there in front of you. It's happening in the physical world. And then there is a moment where it tumbles backwards towards the water and disappears before it hits it. [03:16:00] Speaker C: Okay, well, that's how you deal with the river monster. [03:16:05] Speaker F: And for those of you who have the things that tell you if there are supernatural things around, the only reactions you are getting are the ones that you kind of expect to get from your friends. [03:16:17] Speaker C: But bigger problem is, where are the boys? [03:16:22] Speaker A: I see the hat. [03:16:24] Speaker F: You do see the hat. It is sitting a couple feet away. [03:16:28] Speaker A: I'm going to bring Gozer over to it and see if we can pick up a scent from that. [03:16:35] Speaker F: Gozer sniffs the hat. Can you make a doeser of survival? Gozer has actual stats. That's why I'm asking. I don't remember what skills the fucking wolf has. [03:16:59] Speaker B: Believe it's in the book. [03:17:01] Speaker F: It is. I'm asking because I was hoping that Isabel would have it open. [03:17:06] Speaker C: Is he a guard dog or a wolf? He's a wolf. [03:17:09] Speaker D: He does not have survival. [03:17:11] Speaker C: Yeah. Awareness, three. Intimidation. Five. And stealth. Five. But no survival. [03:17:15] Speaker F: Let's go with awareness, then. Have him go. Mental awareness. [03:17:24] Speaker C: Would that be fortice? Okay, you stroll. [03:17:31] Speaker A: Four dice. Would my beast whisperer or anything like that come into play for any of this? [03:17:41] Speaker F: Yes. Give your. Give him two extra dice because he has you command. [03:17:47] Speaker A: Cool. Seven successes are the critical. [03:17:55] Speaker F: Holy crap. That's more successes than you have dice, woman. Gozer is best boy. Gozer sniffs at the hat, kind of wheels around, walks in a circle. He's sniffing all over the ground. You could tell that they spent a lot of time in the area immediately around where you are. And then he goes to the water and stops and kind of stares at the water for a minute. And then he puts his nose down again and he starts sniffing around. [03:18:32] Speaker C: And. [03:18:32] Speaker F: Then kind of bolts off into the distance, deeper into this water. [03:18:36] Speaker A: I'm following. [03:18:38] Speaker D: Yep. [03:18:40] Speaker F: Okay, I need everybody to make me one, uh, strength and athletics role, please. [03:18:46] Speaker D: Oh, strength and athletics. [03:18:47] Speaker C: Fuck. [03:18:49] Speaker F: You are trying to trek through a swamp. What did you think it was gonna be, a yo? [03:19:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [03:19:01] Speaker A: Well, watch this willpower. I want to reroll two dice. [03:19:05] Speaker B: Nope, wrong. Wrong dice, bot. Oops. [03:19:10] Speaker F: I got. [03:19:10] Speaker B: I got too cocky. That's fine. [03:19:13] Speaker F: Whopping. All right, everybody made one. That was the important thing. You can keep going as long as you at least get one. Some of you are faster than others. None of you are particularly graceful. Hattie and Tom, at one point, just pull out in front of everybody because it's clear that they're used to physical stuff. And it takes a moment before you all get there, and you find the wet, pale body of a teenage boy. [03:19:49] Speaker C: Yeah, that's what I was worried about. [03:19:54] Speaker F: They have already pulled him the rest of the way out of the water, and Patty is. Is working on trying CPR to push the water out of his lungs and to get his heart started again. [03:20:14] Speaker C: Isabel, is there something you can do to help, or is Patty the only. [03:20:20] Speaker A: I mean, I imagine Patty is pretty good at CPR. I mean, if. [03:20:26] Speaker F: I'm sure a doctor. You're better at this if he is. [03:20:30] Speaker A: Exactly. [03:20:31] Speaker F: He has, like, field combat, you know, combat medicine experience, but nothing compared to you. [03:20:39] Speaker D: Is there only one? [03:20:40] Speaker F: Only one. [03:20:41] Speaker C: Yep. [03:20:43] Speaker A: I will say everybody else, keep looking around. I'll help Patti and. Yeah, I'll go with Patty and Esther and, you know, have him do things like CPR and, like, I'll make sure the airways are clear and everything. So we'll work together on this. [03:21:06] Speaker F: Give me a wits and medicine role. [03:21:11] Speaker A: Wits and medicine. [03:21:13] Speaker F: Yeah. [03:21:14] Speaker A: Cool. [03:21:17] Speaker F: Oh, and give yourself two extra dice, because Patty is helping. [03:21:20] Speaker A: Go. [03:21:24] Speaker C: And I'm gonna see if I can look around, hoping that the other missing boy is somewhere nearby. [03:21:32] Speaker A: That is five successes. [03:21:34] Speaker F: Okay. As Isabelle and Patti are helping, are working on this young man. Gozer continues to keep going, and Tov is following him. And the rest of you kind of follow the sound of Tov not being quiet at all, crashing through underbrush and water and everything else, and occasionally yelling curses in Russian, because this isn't exactly what he had in mind for his Thursday night. And after a moment, you all round a corner, Tov is trying to think of the best way to put this. Tov gets to the point where he gets a little turned around because Gozer is so much faster than he is, and he's struggling to keep up while Patty or while the rest of you manage to. Because you're not moving quite as fast, you're not struggling quite as much to keep Gozer in your sights. And you round a copse of trees and find the second young man huddled and shivering against the base of the tree. [03:23:04] Speaker C: Arthur will say a quick little praise and go to the boy. [03:23:10] Speaker F: Isabelle. It takes three minutes of continuous CPR from both you and Patty. You two swap back and forth because that shit's exhausting physically to keep up before you finally get in a splutter and a cough. And he roll. And you roll him onto his side as the water comes finally flooding out of his lungs. [03:23:43] Speaker A: I got. [03:23:47] Speaker F: Legacy. We could hear you typing, my love. Thank you. [03:23:54] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's just. And then it's just continuing because, like, that's just the start, you know, especially, like, he's wet. So, you know. You know, gotta. You know, Isabel probably takes off her own jacket and everything is, like, wrapping it around this person, you know, trying to. We gotta get them dry. We gotta get them warmed up. [03:24:15] Speaker F: Yeah, no, for sure. Given the time. We're gonna. We're gonna skip forward a little bit. You all are able to gather the boys, get them out of the swamp. They are both in a lot of shock. Both probably need to go to the hospital, if for no other reason than to be monitored for risks of what's called dry drowning, which is when water kind of sits in your lungs for too long. But you are all able, every single one of you, to pull them back out of danger and into a place where they should be back in the arms of their family in a reasonably short amount of time after a stay in the hospital. But their families will be able to go and see them. [03:25:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. We at least can tell their families that we found them and that we are getting them the attention they need. [03:25:21] Speaker A: Isabel, will whatever. You probably ambulance it, you know, we'll probably go to the hospital with them just as, like, hi, yes, I am a doctor. I am transferring care to you. This is what's going on. This is what happened. This is how we found them. [03:25:42] Speaker C: In the meantime, Arthur will start thinking to himself how he's going to inform people about what happened as this story of hands out of the water most certainly is going to get spread around. [03:25:57] Speaker A: Out of the swamp. It's cursed. [03:26:02] Speaker D: As they're going back, Piper kind of grabs the bottles. [03:26:09] Speaker F: You do anything in particular with her, or are you just tossing them? [03:26:12] Speaker D: She's grabbing them and, like, as Arthur's. [03:26:16] Speaker F: As. [03:26:17] Speaker D: Cause I imagine we're all kind of like, how do we explain this? [03:26:21] Speaker C: Oh, no, no. Arthur's in his head trying to figure out how to explain, but I'm saying. [03:26:25] Speaker D: Like, oh, yeah, yeah. [03:26:28] Speaker C: Sure, yeah. [03:26:32] Speaker D: We need to make sure that nobody comes out here. We don't know if that was the only one. [03:26:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, old swamp. Yeah, probably lots of old ghosts. [03:26:48] Speaker D: Definitely make sure. And just to be safe, should probably have a guard over here, but that'll be suspicious. [03:27:03] Speaker C: Not after this just becomes part of the security protocols. Now just make sure that people aren't going out to where it is apparently dangerous under the swamp. But I guess it really depends on how we approach this. [03:27:18] Speaker D: Yeah, how do we explain that it's dangerous without going, hey. Swamp haunted. Even though. Swamps haunted. [03:27:27] Speaker C: Swamps haunted. I mean, they do. I mean, it's a church. They do believe in some aspects of the supernatural. I mean, angels, demons, whatever, all. So I just gotta think of how to label it the right way. [03:27:48] Speaker F: Cassidy, is it safe to assume that Arthur goes back home and talks to his wife, who talks to the people of the church more often than he does? [03:27:56] Speaker C: That's what his plan is. His plan was to consult with her about how to approach this, because he's not going to say anything until he's talked to her. [03:28:03] Speaker F: Okay, cool. Very cool. [03:28:07] Speaker D: Yeah, Piper will end up just tossing the bottle. [03:28:10] Speaker F: Awesome. In that case, we're gonna wrap it up here with the cell. Perhaps a little more keenly aware of everything that they have gained since season one. All of the skills, all of the know how and knowledge and power. This very encounter a year ago could have killed any one of them. And tonight, they handled it with remarkable ability and saved two lives in the process.