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Take your seats, bring the house lights down, and please don’t silence your phones, you’ll need it for Theater of the Mindset!
TotM is a show combining collaborative, character driven storytelling in a modern high fantasy setting with audio drama production quality. A mixed table of mild mannered TTRPG players and unmanageable improvisers bring balanced humor seasoned with imbalanced results.
The mindset is brought to you by your kind and generous GM, Justin Gerardot and sound designer and composer, Nick Traeger.
Theater of the Mindset. Theater of
Justin:Last Theater of
Nick:week on Faith and Fortune, Harry received an invitation to meet at his dad's old beer hall haunt, only to find his brother-in-law Bastian there to greet him. After a standoff over Harry using or not using an anti magic bracer, Bastian threatened his mother while Harry slipped away. Sara received bad news at the soup kitchen after she intuited that Imogen knows about the custodian sanguis, and Lucan brought some muscle to Lula Pinch's office and then found out he's on house arrest with the rest of the Baazian church. We're gonna pick up right there.
Justin:It has been a long and exhausting night of Harry, Sara, and Lucan all working inside of Arcanist Tula's office. The three of you and your trusted compatriots have all spent the evening discussing theories, reading books, research texts. Eventually, Al, Harry's father, appears and as a historian has his own set of resources that are at your disposal, you to review books that detail out histories that are too archaic to remember off of the top of your head. The room is busy and full of people who are about a business that both require solitude and a communal group effort. Time flies extremely quickly.
Justin:And each of you, in your own ways, kind of, I think, deal with the act of studying late into the night. Maybe it's small naps, maybe it's a lot of coffee or tea, but each of you are doing your best to kind of keep the steam at full as you move through the night. And before you know it, it is the next morning and the rats 13A, 411B, and 621C are bringing you small plates of like scones and parboiled eggs. And you notice that 621C does have like an eggs benedict that they have worked on that they give to Tula, and she seems very appreciative of all of this. But with all of the work that you kind of did last night, there is no more stalling that you can really be doing the day is new.
Justin:And I think you all kind of have some things that you've discussed that you want to begin doing today. Now that the full new day is upon you, go ahead and you have, like, for the purposes of everything still managed to get a, like, long rest in. So you should have all of your stuff cleared out. It was a on the cusp of not being quite a restful evening for sure, but you definitely will count as having a long rest. So in the room, have Tallulah and Al Pinch, Harry's parents.
Justin:You have Beanie, who has been frantically working on pulling recent numbers on pulling, as well as getting some of the finer details on senatorial procedures. I think for Harry and Sara's purposes, you have made some type of, at distance contact with the witches and some of your, close allies. But as a reminder, all clergy of Baaz are currently under, a house arrest while they kind of sort out who are members of the cult of change, the cult of metamorphosis, and who is just a member of the church. With that being said, I think you all can be gathering your stuff to head out and make some parting conversations. Harry, you know that your mom and your dad will definitely want to, hear from you or talk with you before you leave.
Justin:They have maintained your mother has given you, at several points tonight, these eyes to kinda communicate. I'm cool with this investigation into the secret society right now, but at some point, I'm going to put my mother hat back on and be worried about the actions of my son even if he is a grown man. I'm still apprehensive about him taking on a secret society who's potentially replaced the king.
Nick:Yeah. For sure. So seems like we've all got some individual stuff to do and then some a together thing. I think I'd like to go get Tessa. I assume that's gonna give us some information on what's going on wherever that is.
Nick:Would you guys wanna join me in that later? Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Do that this evening?
Nick:Okay. The beanie kind of
Justin:taps your shoulder and says, we do have confirmation that Tessa is at the lighthouse.
Nick:Okay.
Justin:It's the primary temple of Irasinda, out in the Great Basin. She has been her role as the mother of Venethar has been, a key focus of hers lately. Now, I'm kind of suspect of that at this point, but Yeah. That is where she is currently residing.
Nick:Thank you. The other piece of, the puzzle that I think is an all three of us job is going and talking to Asher.
Steve:I think that's overdue. Yeah.
Nick:I mean, that's why I came over here in the first place, but yeah. Definitely. Would you like to do that first? Would you like to separate? I'm I'm mildly worried about the potential of kidnapping the king's mother and word getting back to Asher before that happens.
Nick:But I feel like I'm under the opinion that Asher needs to know sooner rather than later. Yeah. I completely agree. I'll we'll send a miss about, see when we can get on the schedule with him, hopefully sooner than later, and then I'll let you know when to meet over there
Justin:today. Okay.
Steve:Is this the kind of situation where going through the scheduling channel makes a lot of sense? What happens if we just we just walk in? It's a good question. I don't know. Like, if if we can get on the schedule real soon, sure.
Steve:But Sure. You know, if they're if his next opening isn't for a week or so, don't think that's gonna work for us.
Nick:No. I think with everything going on, we can pull off before next week. Okay. But I'd say if I don't hear back in the next, I don't half an hour to an hour on something within the next three hours, then we'll just show up. Does that work for you guys?
Steve:I can live with that.
Nick:Yeah. I think surprising is not the best way. Let's leave the surprise to the reveals that we know or maybe that he already knows. Who knows? But cool.
Nick:So I'm gonna send message out to try and get us on the schedule with the king. Beanie
Justin:is the one sending this Beanie is before she leaves to go kind of work on this, Is there anything else that you need from me, Peter I
Nick:think that's great. Keep an eye out for I don't even know how to do this. Keep an eye out for invisible ear sending messages.
Justin:Oh, yes. On that note Oh. She hands you a small, almost like a monocle without any attachment, so just like a lens. I'm not that old. Don't know.
Justin:She gives you this look in I'm not even 50 yet. She's not saying it out loud, but there's definitely an unspoken, oh, honey, as this, like, 20 looks at
Nick:you. I've got my readers.
Justin:No. I Oh, I know. I Of course. This And she kind of holds it up. To the best of my understanding, it's they use ultraviolet light Oh.
Justin:To to write and create this invisible ink. So this should help detect that and allow you to read it a little bit. I only have Okay. One at the moment. I'm working on having a couple of others commissioned.
Nick:Wonderful. Thank you, Bini.
Justin:Of course. Excellent. Is there anything else I can get for any of you?
Steve:Are are are you who I talk to if I want that eggs Benedict?
Justin:Oh, no. I think that's the rat over there. And there's this rat who's just like looking over this poi this boiling pot of water, and it was like with its hands trying to fish out a really hot
Steve:It's trying
Justin:to poach eggs. Yeah. It's trying to poach the eggs and spin them while they're
Nick:in there. It's not even a ratatouille situation. They're actually they're actually dead.
Justin:I it's think that one that I would speak with. Oh, okay. Thank then I don't need anything from you. Okay. Thanks.
Justin:Yeah. Okay. Sara?
Nick:I've lost my appetite.
Justin:You see. Yeah. That's she knowingly kind of shakes her head up and down. Of of course. Yes.
Justin:Great. Well, I will be in contact with each of you. I have my sending stone. Great. Please don't hesitate to reach out.
Nick:Take Jack with you. Oh.
Justin:Oh. Yes.
Nick:Okay. Thank you.
Justin:I'll take Jack with me. Thank you. Thank you. And she heads out. I'm going to spend a fear, and you hear a clatter and the sound of, like, breaking glass in the kitchen.
Justin:The attached kind of galley area where the crash comes from is out of sight. It's just like not a very large base, but it is cut off from, like, the research portions of your mother's office. You immediately hear, I'm okay. Everything's fine. I'm okay.
Justin:And it's your mother in the kitchen.
Nick:Mom, what's what are you doing? You got the rats to do. What are you what are you doing?
Justin:I you can't trust rats to make coffee. It's an art, and it's not something that could be taught. I'm just I I just dropped the I just dropped a couple of mugs.
Nick:Are you okay?
Justin:I'm fine. I'm fine. Are you bleeding? It I've bled before.
Nick:Okay. Bleed again.
Steve:When the there's like a gap in her voice, I get up and go. Yeah. Thank you. Like, I I I am going to physically check-in on her.
Justin:It looks like she has all these, like, glass mugs and glassware, and she was just clearly crying to carry too many at once. Sure. She has a pot of coffee on the the stove, and she just a little bit looks shaken. There's just a small cut on her hand. She casts not quite a healing, a, arcane gauze almost appears with a swift motion of her hand over the small cut absorbing a lot of that kind of blood.
Justin:She looks like she's fine. If anything, she just appears a little shaken. Each of you give me a presence reaction roll. So this is just two d twelves, and then you don't get hope or fear. And it's but add presence?
Justin:Yes. Add presence.
Steve:Are you sure I don't get hope or fear?
Justin:Yeah. I'm pretty sure.
Nick:A presence reaction roll? Yes. 24. 15.
Steve:22 with hope. I know you don't care, but dang it. I got a 12 in hope.
Justin:Harry and Lucan both see, as she kind of turns, she, like, wipes a tear away from her eye a little bit, and, is gathering up, again, small amounts of magic allow her to broom together these things as she kind of takes this shards of glass and puts them in a trash. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm I'm really sorry. Yep.
Justin:Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Lucan. Thank you, Sara.
Justin:Thank you, Harry.
Nick:Okay. I'm gonna go. I've got some people that I gotta check-in on. So let me know when Asher says that he's available, but I'm gonna go. You good, Luca?
Nick:And you need anything from me?
Steve:No. But as I leave the room, I think I, like, give to Lula, like, a squeeze on the shoulder and a, we're gonna figure this out. She kind of puts her hand on yours where you squeeze it and
Justin:she says, thank you so much. I we have you've been Harry's friend for a long time and I appreciate that. We're not gonna let anything happen to him.
Nick:I'm going to walk Sara and Lucan out towards the door and just, like, go just say, like, I don't know what page we're on. I don't know what our we don't really have a plan. We still have to figure out what the fuck we're gonna do with all of this. But I trust both of you, and I know we're all in for what's best. And that's going to be my rally for, basically, Bardic Inspiration, the rally dice.
Nick:You get a d six to add to a role at some point.
Justin:Your dad as the two of them walk away, your dad comes up behind you and says, well, I I have a couple of things I need to see to hear right now, but I will be I'm clearing the rest of my schedule today. Your mother and I will be here Great. If you need anything.
Nick:Good.
Justin:How are you doing?
Nick:I'm I'm okay. Let's go let's go grab let's go grab mom. Let's go. Okay. We'll we'll we'll get together on this.
Justin:Your mother has pulled out, like, two more large tomes that she clearly intends to continue doing the research and the work on this side. One of them is the directory of Venator University. It's like a staff directory. So she's get that pulled out, amongst the number of things that are on her desk already. And she looks up at you and she says, Harry, I'm going to kind of cross reference what we might have over the last few years of, arcanists in charge, over at the Tower Of Nemosin, and see which kind of arcanists might be involved more long term in the ritual of harmonization.
Nick:Great. I I that's wonderful. That's wonderful. I appreciate it. Let's take a pause on tomes.
Nick:Let's this is world ending stuff for sure, and we I I really appreciate Imam being the arcanist with us over the night.
Justin:At world ending stuff, you see her eyes start to well up, and she kinda sits down. She's a little halfling woman. And I think in this moment, you are fully aware of just kind of her diminutive size. Her hair has never looked out of place. Yeah.
Justin:She's an enchantress. She would never allow, such a thing to happen. However, it does look like it's gone undergone several deteriorating complexities. What was previously quite the updo is now just like a a bun on the top of her head. Your dad kind of puts a hand on her shoulder, and she says, I knew when you kind of became a senator that there was an element of danger in the public eye.
Justin:I won't lie. I was glad when you stopped working at the police department, and I'm just this is a little bit more like that. Right? Yep. It's you are still just you've always been a talker and that's what you're doing.
Justin:It's not danger, it's talking and you're we're solving problems.
Nick:We're solving problems. There is today's priority for me is Tessa and Asher. There's a lot going on. I trust Lucan and Sara to help with the big picture and to be there with Asher and to help with Tessa. I just want you guys to know that's today's problem.
Nick:That's the thing I want to get to the bottom of and I wanna take care of our family and the people we love. And with that, I wanna use inspirational words and clear a stress on my mom. Okay. It's a first level bard thing. Your speech is imbued with power after a long rest.
Nick:Place a number of tokens on the card. When you speak with an ally, you can spend a token from this card to give them one benefit. Clear Express, clear hit point, or give a hope. She is this is magic. Mhmm.
Justin:You're using magic on your mom. Yep. Magic that she probably taught you.
Nick:A 100%.
Justin:Give me it's going to work.
Nick:Yeah.
Justin:Give me a presence roll. I just need you to be a 13.
Nick:That's a 14. So you just see Harry kind of like with his thumb and forefinger, not loudly, not making any noise, but just kind of like tapping a rhythm on his leg as he's talking to his parents.
Justin:The effects of the spell, you see her shoulders kind of relax quite a bit. She takes the glasses that she's wearing kind of off of her face and kind of gives her eyes a moment to rest. Just lets out this sigh and kind of steals herself, she says, if they're onto you now, Tessa is probably more in And I have to believe that if they left her alone until now, that she probably has some role to serve. But I don't want just And your dad interrupts and says, he'll Tessa's gonna be okay.
Nick:It'll be okay. The As you said, they're onto me, which is understandably got me, you know, a little stressed. But what's the big benefit we have is they don't realize there's a lot more of us than they realize and there's a lot more power I think behind what we're gonna be trying to do and so I'll be careful. I invisible ed my way out of my meeting with Bastion.
Justin:Who taught who taught you that spell?
Nick:I mean, I watched you guys. Where did I learn that spell? I mean, you left books around.
Justin:You none of my books have invisibility.
Nick:Really?
Justin:Illusion. Illusion to deceive. Really? Your mother is like feigning. She's feigning.
Nick:I could have somewhere. Maybe Asher taught me just on a on a on a win.
Justin:That yes. That that would make sense.
Nick:Yeah. Course. It's probably him.
Justin:Yeah. Couldn't have been.
Nick:Or left more than learned in a bar. I don't know. Who knows? Who's to say? Who's to say?
Nick:But no. I mean, I I'll be careful. I'm not alone. I know. My biggest advantage is that they think I am.
Justin:We'll be alright. I see the importance of all of this, obviously. This, to me, still feels like a family thing.
Nick:I agree. And I think that's why we're keeping it with Lucan and Zara and that's why I'm bringing them and that's why we're gonna keep this. We need to go talk to Asher. We need to go I think there's a
Justin:He's as much of a victim Yep. In in this as everyone
Steve:else's.
Nick:I agree. And I don't between us, he Asher has the memories. If Esau knew, Asher would know. Right?
Justin:It's it's worth assuming.
Nick:Yeah. So we might I mean, I I agree that he's a victim in this, but I also don't know what he knows. Or what version of Asher knows what?
Justin:I'm going to find out as much as I can about the ritual and see if maybe there's something we're overlooking. It's not my area of expertise.
Nick:Is there anyone you trust at the university that well, within reason, trust not to be an absolute sketch ball on this?
Justin:Well, I think the person that that first comes to my mind is quite the sketch ball.
Nick:No. Sometimes There's gotta be one of there's there's got there's a whole department.
Justin:There is a whole department.
Nick:There's only one that you would
Justin:No. But the first one that comes to mind is the
Nick:Not the sticks.
Justin:Arcanist Bunkie Not the sticks. A I understand that as a Warforged, he is not maybe the first inclination. Warforged? Exactly. And I think he Camp Forged.
Justin:Yes. He is quite the character. And if you look past honestly, the amount of glitter, I think
Nick:Yeah. If you look past the googly eyes?
Justin:The googly eyes, the glitter, it's there's a good heart under there.
Nick:Is there And A heart?
Justin:Well, he has a mind. There's a good mind under there. Sure. And his predilections Yeah. Will probably leave him outside of the recruitment paradigms that the custodian sanguis would be interested in.
Justin:Okay. Okay. And I don't know of anyone who knows more about souls
Nick:Sure.
Justin:Than the person who doesn't have one.
Nick:Okay. Can you see reach out and see what he's up to today?
Justin:Yes. Of course.
Nick:And I don't necessarily think you need to go anywhere.
Justin:Understood. Got it. I'm not
Nick:afraid to. I you don't need to be. You've got all those wands. We've got all of Lucan's guys here. They're gonna feed them lunch.
Justin:Of course. Yeah. I will say that six twenty one c does only make eggs Benedict. Is it gonna be bad if they have the same thing for lunch? I can ask one of the others, but six twenty one Do
Nick:any of them cook anything else?
Justin:Yeah. Yeah.
Nick:They've got a submarine sandwich mouse?
Justin:They're rats, and I don't Submarine sandwiches, you'd be surprised how, complicated that gets.
Nick:More than eggs Benedict? More than hollandaise sauce?
Justin:But that's it. That's all he makes. There's not like a fancy crab egg Benedict or anything like There's so many customization options. Sure. You can't teach a rat customization.
Justin:Okay. That I think has been the the glass ceiling Yeah. Of the rat community Yeah. Is options.
Nick:Fair enough.
Justin:You can order a number one and a number two, but you must get large fries with both. Okay.
Nick:I mean, I don't really care what they eat, but just just I I'll even say just say, like, take care of them. They are the thing that's keeping Bastian and whoever else out of this room, so Understood. Great.
Justin:Goodbye and I love you.
Nick:Love you. We'll see you this evening.
Justin:See you this evening. A family dinner.
Nick:Family dinner. So I'm gonna go head over to the senate and start kind of whipping boats and trying to figure out where everyone is on the demands and the resolution that Connie put forth.
Justin:You begin making your way through the city over the various bridges that connect the islands that the university is on to where the senate is actually at. And in that process, you pass through the holy sector of Rhysinium City, and the various temples are in a kind of usual state of business. And then you approach the Temple Of Atelene, the goddess of discipline, strength, and to the lesser degree, war. There are a number of people outside. All of the priests and priestesses of Aitling kind of serve as, like, neutral generals and study the art of war.
Justin:It is not uncommon to see soldiers training outside and kind of congregating in this space. You see an abnormally large group of individuals all in their guard attire, but clearly off duty, kind of lounging in the area. And several of them look very perturbed. The ones who are clearly higher ranking, maybe captains are extremely perturbed and seem to be yelling at one of the priestesses of Atelene. You catch this and clock it on your way through the holy sector.
Nick:Yeah. I'll walk over. Do I know anybody from the Church of Attilene or anything? Like, that doesn't seem like Harry's
Justin:vibe. General Chava is, like, a member of that church, of that, like, that is his highest god, the one he spends the most time. He's not a priest or a priestess, but he is, like, a ranked member within the like, a layman leader.
Nick:Do I see Lautner there?
Justin:You, at this moment, do not see Lautner there. Okay. I think who you do see, you see Ida Momen. She is a priestess of Atelene from Hilford. She was present for the debrief that you had when you were handling that entire situation.
Justin:She was not there physically. Mhmm. She was there via, like, the sending stones.
Nick:Yeah. She in, like, the yelling crowd? Or
Justin:She is the one it is her yelling at the guards. They're, like, just having a heated discussion back and forth.
Nick:Harry will walk up kind of edge of the circle and just kind of start listening in and kind of poking his head in, trying to be not in super inconspicuous, but just isn't gonna try and solve a problem of one of the churches right now. You have
Justin:to understand that the appearance of foreign guards or it's just not going to go over well right now. We appreciate you standing by, but right now, tensions are too high amongst the general population to be employing Hilford guards here in the city. The the the the optics of that are just subpar. And what do you expect us to do in this moment? Just sit around while the cult of change has and does whatever it wants in the countryside?
Justin:We are sworn guards to Venethar. It is our responsibility to be a part of solving this problem. I understand that. It's just a matter of time and figuring out where exactly you are best served because here in the city is not it. They are having a discussion about what you now recognize to be, like, a platoon from Hilford.
Justin:Yeah. She is probably acting as their, like, liaison to the higher ups here in Resinium City. Gotcha. So they are having a heated discussion between allies, essentially. Gotcha.
Justin:Gotcha. But she is kind of giving up the ghost a bit
Nick:Yeah. Yeah.
Justin:And trying to talk them down.
Nick:Is she a part of their crew or is she she's just the one that went and talked to the church and is now reporting the bad news? The latter. Okay. So she's not a part of their crew?
Justin:She is not a she is not a guards person. Okay. She probably came with them Gotcha. But is not directly in the the, like, platoon. In reading kind of the body language and the roles here, she is going to be the person the the members of the priesthood of Atelene are going to be the ones who make the, like, administrative decisions about which guards go where.
Justin:She is ultimately responsible to the church Yeah. And she is delivering bad news. Any decision made about them will have to probably go through her.
Nick:Okay. So I will need to work with her if I want to do something Yes. Fun with that.
Justin:Okay. Hello. Harry Pitch. Hi. Hi.
Justin:How are you? How are all doing? Hi. Priestess Moment.
Nick:Hi, Moment. We've we've met at the debrief on the Hilford issue.
Justin:Yes. Yes. Yes. That is right.
Nick:Good to see you. I hear to see you as well. I hear there's some some issues with deployment. What's going on?
Justin:Yes. You can see captain Wickrow here is the captain over the remaining Hilford contingent.
Nick:Yeah. Alright. Harry's gonna go walk immediately walk over and start shaking his hand. Say, hey, Harry Pench.
Justin:Captain Wilford.
Nick:Nice to meet you.
Justin:Nice to meet You can call me Graham.
Nick:Nice to meet you, Graham. I'm sorry to interrupt. Go ahead. Ahead. Sorry.
Justin:The young priestess here is just explaining that currently, because of our city of origin, the optics of the situation supersede in the eyes of the priestess of Attilene, the need Yeah. For more guards. Yeah. I and my men would like to participate in everything going on
Nick:Yeah.
Justin:As is our duty, what we swore to do. Yeah. But the optics and he keeps making Mhmm. Finger quotes around optics. The optics of the situation seem to matter more than our capability.
Nick:Okay. Alright. I this is this is tough. Priestess moment, I I understand you're in a pickle. Captain, the council of faith and and with everything going on, it's a it's just a stressful time.
Nick:So let me let me mediate a little here just just to kinda ease some tensions. We've we've certainly got I think we need some understanding if we're gonna move forward, and I think I'd love to help put these guards to work. And I would like to use rousing speech. Once per long rest, you can give a heartfelt inspiring speech all our allies within far range clear two stress to everyone here. Takes everyone here Two notches down.
Justin:You can see again kind of the tensions. The captain who has previously seemed quite hackled now resembles a little bit more of the general tenor of the rest of his small platoon. Yeah. He's a little bit more relaxed. He subconsciously, I think, takes his hand.
Justin:Not that he was, like, looking to draw his sword Yeah. But it's just, like, squeezing the side of the scabbard. It's comfortable there little bit. Yeah. He his hand has kind of gone off of that.
Justin:And Priestess moment says, I understand, senator Pinch, that you would like to intercede. Yeah. This is a matter for the clergy. Sure. And I am happy to let the generals know of your interest.
Justin:Yeah. But I do want to say that it's just an appreciated gesture. And she is kinda like trying to dismiss you a little bit in this moment. If you wanna convince her, you're going to have to roll Great. For that.
Nick:I would love to. Is this like just a persuasion?
Justin:Yep. Just a president's role. Okay. I'm gonna use senator of Verzenium City. I'm going to deny you senator of Resinium City.
Justin:Means Because as of right now, senate do not have any control over the armed forces
Nick:at all. Okay. And then that's fine. I will then also spend a hope to add a d four to the result of this Mhmm. Through Heart of a Poet to impress, persuade or offend someone.
Nick:Okay. Might as well be offending her her and persuading them.
Justin:Yep. I'm gonna say a 13 you're looking to beat.
Nick:Yeah. That is a 19. With? With fear. I can't not roll with fear.
Nick:Yeah. You see Harry just kind of tapping his cane a little bit as he's speaking just in kind of a subtle little rhythm. And Harry is just I I under I understand. I don't I do not mean to overstep my bounds by any means. I was as a part of the team to kinda make the decision to get these gentlemen out of Hillford and not have them trapped in a snowstorm surrounded by lost.
Nick:So I I do have a little bit of a heart for these guys. So I would I just would love to see them put to work. I'd love to see them they they they clearly take their oath seriously and are not interested in the ultimate metamorphosis. So yeah. When you mention kind
Justin:of your role in all of this, you see captain Wickrow's eyebrow arch a little bit. And Priestess Moment kinda begins calculating in her mind some of the various things, and she says, I can do this, and I will say this. Given the scenario Mhmm. Happening right now, I and she kinda gestures to the city at large Yeah. Which just, like, seventy two hours ago had a riot that needed Quelld.
Justin:Yeah. She says, I will continue to work on finding them a formal position within the guard. Great. However, I can, under my own jurisdiction, lease this platoon to you, senator Pinch, as a guard. Justifying it with the recent uprising in the commons Yeah.
Justin:Can justify that action in the meantime. But I will know when I call on them in their official capacity, I will expect them to report back here. Yep. Is that
Nick:Of course. Yeah. I mean, I as you can tell, I'm not much of a military man myself, so I don't really need a
Justin:And and I mean this in as no insult, but that is a major part of my consideration in this, Senator Pinch, is they will be available to me, but they will also have a justified duty. Yeah. I think that meets all sides. Is that fair? And she kinda looks over at, captain Wickrow, and he nods his agreement.
Nick:Excellent. Excellent. This is this is great. The the city needs your help, boys. I I I really appreciate it.
Nick:Let's this is great. And I go over and shake her hand as well and just say, you're doing you're doing a great job. This is a mess, and so we know we need all the help we can get.
Justin:Thank you. And again, I will get ahold of you when I need them for their assigned duties.
Nick:Of course. Of course. Great. Remind me what the captain's name was. Captain Bram Wickrow.
Nick:Captain Wickrow. Yeah. I I I'm actually gonna send you over to the local, the city barracks just for I I think I've got something for you to do tonight, but until then, I I don't wanna be seen with a platoon of people in my back.
Justin:Understood. Senator Pinch, if I may?
Nick:Yeah. Of course. Harry.
Justin:Yes. The he looks uncomfortable with that. The I don't get me wrong. I appreciate what it is you're doing here, but me and my men are not looking for guard duty.
Nick:Bram, I don't think you know what I'm doing here. I will get back with you this afternoon and we're gonna have ourselves an evening.
Justin:He kind of gives you a look but is going to based on that success earlier, his the fear was kind of him pushing back a little bit. But he is going to nod his head and say, understood. We will be ready for whatever is happening this afternoon.
Nick:Well, I'll call ahead to the chief and get you guys some food, get you anything else you need, gives him a wink and walks away.
Justin:Thank you.
Nick:Thank you.
Justin:And he walks off. You make your way to the senate and in doing so, have to pass
Nick:I thought my scene was done. Goddamn it.
Justin:That was just you. Oh, I should say this on mic. So you, Nick, now have a new card. I'm gonna hand you this card. And you have a dedicated platoon at your disposal.
Justin:The way it works is you will have a number of dice very similar to, like, prayer dice or your bardic dice that you can use to apply to rolls. In in particular, these rolls will apply to what these platoon what these men in the platoon are doing. They can't be split up at least from a they can be split up from, like, a dice perspective. So I think you have four. Yep.
Justin:If you fail, that represents best case scenario, that will represent, some of the members of the platoon kind of losing their allegiance to this role or getting called away. That will decrease the number in your dice pool. Worst case scenario represents some of them dying, depending on how you dispatch them. So that's your card
Nick:now. I'm gonna roll my platoon die. Right?
Justin:I don't think they're pre roll.
Nick:At the start of each session, four d sixes, place them on this card as your platoon die. Six, four, four and two. Nice. And those will be added to rolls later. Got it.
Nick:Love it.
Justin:Awesome. Then you make your way back to the senate. The senate is this large building, so you've got to go through a number of twists and turns to kind of get to your office. In passing, you walk past good old Constantine's office. You see outside of Constantine's office a number of coats.
Justin:It's spring, so it's cold. You see that there are a number of coats. And what clears to be some type of meeting as you notice that Constantine's administrative assistant is quite busy in the front of the office.
Nick:Mhmm. Harry's gonna walk in and just yell, Connie, what's going on? Oh, sorry. Senator Pinch? Oh, Becky, how you doing?
Nick:What's going on? What's going on? This is what are are we whipping?
Justin:Oh, good. I you know, just came back from some PTO and first day back. Busiest day.
Nick:Where were you?
Justin:Oh, we went out to in the Great Basin, there's like a nice cottage house that we have. Unbelievable. I know it's not a lot, you know, just kind of a small little cottage, but sometimes it's good to get out of the city, you know?
Nick:Just not being near the noise. I'm sure did you sleep like a baby?
Justin:I slept so good. We have these blackout curtains that
Nick:I'm surprised sleep them when it's so dark out there without all these lights.
Justin:In the middle of the day,
Nick:it could be
Justin:night. You'd never know. It's my favorite.
Nick:I I love a long nap where you're just like, did I sleep? Is it 6AM or is it 6PM? I love it. Truly. I love that.
Nick:Truly. I love that.
Justin:I you know, it's good to see you. Yeah. Constantine is busy at the moment.
Nick:Busy with who?
Justin:It's a meeting Anyone
Nick:I know?
Justin:It's a meeting of the small circle.
Nick:Love it.
Justin:And you would know that the small circle kind of represents the, like, top members of the the senate, which if you collectively polled who they represent, it's a vast majority of all of Venathar. So these are the heavy hitters. How these small circle votes Yeah. Is really kind of how most votes overall go.
Nick:Yeah. What's the is it is it about the resolution?
Justin:She kind of looks a little bit to the side.
Nick:Yeah. Between us girls. We're on the same team.
Justin:Yeah. Oh, I know. It does. It does have to do with the small circle.
Nick:Yeah.
Justin:Sorry. I do you want me to take down let let Constantine know? Yeah. Yeah.
Nick:Yeah. I wanna talk to him afterwards. But who's who's upset? Who walked in looking mad? She
Justin:does not immediately answer, but looks over to the coats and various kind of leftover outer garments, and you distinctly see the outer garments of a priestess of Irasinda. Most notably, these are extremely decorated. And you would ascertain from that that, based on the petite size of the cloak and the ornamentation, that this is mother Demeris herself.
Nick:At the senate meeting?
Justin:Yes. A member of the Council of Faith is currently meeting with members of the small circle.
Nick:Gotcha. Okay.
Justin:And she kinda looks back at you Yeah. And says, just the usual crowd, really. Sure. You know, you know how senator Hornbridge can be.
Nick:Yes. Yes. Of course. Of course. Well, I appreciate it.
Nick:Let me know if I can can I get anything for you? You you look like you have a hairy day. Was you need a coffee? Oh. I'm gonna I'm about to go get coffee.
Nick:You want a coffee?
Justin:I've got I've got some tea back here. Thank you. Alright. She's hold this little mug. But I'll let Constantine know you were here.
Justin:Appreciate it, Becky. Thank you. Of course. And she kind of goes back to what she's doing as you leave. Awesome.
Justin:Let's jump from that over to Lucan.
Nick:I don't like that. Good. Oh, wait. Can I cast reveal on her shit on my way out? Is there anything
Justin:there? Yeah, of course.
Nick:Is there anything that I can un because I did that already with Irasinda shit. That's how I found out about
Justin:the UV stuff. Cast reveal as in use the monocle.
Nick:Or I've got make a spell cast roll. If there's anything magically hidden within close range, your role would succeed against you. It is revealed. Or the monocle. You six to one, half to one
Justin:the other. I will let you roll this. Yeah. Casting magic in a senator's office is difficult Yeah. To go unseen.
Nick:Yeah. Is it just her though in here?
Justin:It's currently just her, but you you have instruments and items in your office that prevents magic from being unnoticeably cast or, like, offensively being cast.
Nick:Mhmm.
Justin:Sort of like you can't carry a gun into a Yeah. A building of of
Nick:But if I use the monocle, would that be
Justin:The monocle will not be detected. You casting is not I'm not gonna guarantee it'll be connected, but that's going to add to the DC. Yeah.
Nick:Harry's gonna walk out to the sort of outer office area. He just said he's gonna get a coffee, so he's gonna go to, like the little coffee area and just whole ass knock the entire thing over and and make the biggest, most like ridiculous Oh my Oh shit. What the fuck? Oh my Oh my God. Just to see if Becky comes out.
Justin:Give me a presence roll. You need to beat a 10.
Nick:Yep. That'll be a 17 with fear.
Justin:The clash and clatter immediately draws Becky out of the office. She is quickly oh my goodness. Are you
Nick:are you hurt? Yeah. No. I'm I'm fine. I just gotta I gotta wipe myself down.
Nick:I I let me go grab a towel.
Justin:I have I I have a number of things you can use, rads Can help getting this?
Nick:Me let me help you, please.
Justin:She is like doing her best to keep the coffee from getting Okay. Worse.
Nick:Okay. Okay. Let me go I'll go wipe this I'll go grab more towels.
Justin:Okay. Thank you.
Nick:More towels. Yeah. And I'm gonna go back into the office, take a put the monocle on and take a look at first Becky's desk and then if I have time, if it feels like I have time, take a peek through Ursinda's shit, the Mother of Demeris's shit.
Justin:Give me an instinct roll. You can have advantage from using
Nick:the monocle. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. I get to reroll ones on my hope die.
Nick:Wow. Because I'm a halfling.
Justin:Very fortunate that you rolled a one on your hope dies. Oh. Rolled
Nick:a two. Five. So that's a 10. With? That's a 10 with fear.
Justin:So that is a failure with fear.
Nick:Yeah. Thanks for telling the story, baby.
Justin:You are going through her desk. There are so many papers. You immediately can tell Becky's coming back from PTO and has a number of things she's catching up on. And it looks like she's the kind of person who starts at the beginning of the inbox and works Sure. Her way to the most recent things, essentially.
Justin:And so everything on the top of this desk are, like, from three weeks ago. Yeah. And if anything that would be recent or new is buried underneath numbers, a number of other piles. So nothing you're seeing is even from the last, like, three or four days. Everything is, like, weeks old news that for some reason she is, like, pouring through.
Justin:She does not read the thread. She finds the original email, and then we'll read it as they come in. As you are kind of trying to get through as much of this as you can, you hear the door open to senator Constantine's room. And immediately, the room itself feels brighter.
Nick:I love
Justin:it. And you look up to see who has kind of come out of the room, and she is an Elven Fae ancestry woman, so she's quite elegant looking. And she wears these necklaces that are strewn with gold and amber rubies. Mhmm. Everything is ostentatious in terms of the gold and the amber, all kind of layered on top of each other.
Justin:And she says, Senator Pinch.
Nick:Mother of Maris, do you know where Becky keeps the towels?
Justin:I, in fact, do not. I don't know why you think I would know
Nick:Oh, I'm sorry.
Justin:Becky who is Becky?
Nick:Becky is the assistant here, and I I spilled a bunch of coffee outside and I don't like I'm just looking for the she sent me in for towels to wipe off. You can see all the coffee all over me. Oh. I'm truly Harry's playing, daughtering, dummy senator.
Justin:That seems like something Becky can handle Yeah. Senator Pitch.
Nick:Well, I told her I would get the towels. So I'm just looking for towels.
Justin:Well, I I do not know Yeah. Where the towels are.
Nick:Of course. Of course.
Justin:She's gonna continue rummaging. I I don't and this Becky steps in to the room and she says, I I've got it. I've got it.
Nick:And she Alright. Moves
Justin:you out of from behind the desk
Nick:Love it.
Justin:And reaches into one of the cabinets that she pulls out, there's, like, cleaning supplies in there. She gathers them up and kinda hands out. Mother Damaris says, senator Pinch, it's so interesting that you're here.
Nick:Oh, why is that? This is where I work.
Justin:Well, yes, but this isn't your office, senator Pinch.
Nick:I'm a part of the circle of gold. I just walked stopped by to say, to Connie, see how things are going with all these demands. It's pretty wacky.
Justin:All these demands. Yeah. Pretty wacky. Yeah. Go ahead.
Justin:Do you mind if we talk for a second?
Nick:Of course. Do mind talking here or would you go take a walk?
Justin:I'm I'm taking a walk. I need a a breath of fresh air.
Nick:Yeah. Of course.
Justin:The two of you kind of step out and begin walking the large hallways of the senate. And at the beginning, it's all just kind of commentary and conversation about recent riot that happened a few nights ago. Just, you know, I heard things
Steve:were bad.
Justin:What was your experience?
Nick:I was on the ground, if you can believe that.
Justin:That's what were you doing on the ground?
Nick:Wild. I mean, I I like to walk, you know, and just, boy, just chose the wrong night for an evening stroll.
Justin:Well, clearly, I we had considered, intervening with the Selenic knights, but, decided to hold off for the time being. Do you mind you've been quite involved in the push for the devolution of the Council of Faith, that that particular bill. Correct?
Nick:I didn't write it, but I I I love to see it. I I think the I as you know, I've not been quiet about my belief that the egalitarian unit of the senate. It's it's good it's good for everyone.
Justin:I I understand the desire. There it's still, you know, undergoing Constantine can be quite slow in his adjustment process.
Nick:Labored. Yes.
Justin:Absolutely. Labor of love, if you will. A labor of love. I was interested as a person who moves a bit faster.
Steve:Yeah.
Justin:You are both of similar height.
Nick:Yeah.
Justin:And so in this rare scenario, the gait that you have is pretty equal. Love it. But normally, the two of you being of shorter stature,
Nick:Hustle.
Justin:Would usually hustle and bustle a little bit more. And she says, I would be curious if I were to get you the new amendments that are being considered.
Nick:Mhmm.
Justin:Would this be something of I could get your input on?
Nick:I I would love.
Justin:The the small circle is convening now.
Nick:Yeah. Saw that. I'm surprised to see a part of it. That's wild. They're usually so hush-hush and such I mean, you labored labored to go back
Justin:to it. As you're well aware, if things are to be officially adopted into the Divine Codex, they need to be voted upon by the Council of Faith. Yeah. I am considering and in discussion, ongoing discussions with Senator Constantine on what getting that vote to the table might look like.
Nick:Love it.
Justin:I think you've all been working very hard on this bill. Mhmm. And it's time that we start getting down to brass tacks on what is it going to take for the council to really consider this.
Nick:I love it. I'm I'm shocked to hear about the open mind, but I'm I'm not upset by it.
Justin:As you are well aware, we in the Church of Irasinda will not shy away from the truth, even if it hurts to look at. So with that in mind, I'm willing to entertain Constantine's project. Oh. I have and she hands you a sheet of paper. Mhmm.
Justin:These are some of the amendments being considered now. If this is something that I could get your feedback on Mhmm. It would be much appreciated.
Nick:Great. I'll take a look. I'll I I don't have too much going on this afternoon, so that that sounds great. That sounds great.
Justin:I'm spending a fear as she hands that to you. I really must get going back. I just needed the fresh air. Appreciate the company though.
Nick:I appreciate it. It's great to see you mother Demeris. You have a lovely afternoon.
Justin:You as well. With that, we will pick up with Lucan. As you make your way from Venathar University of Arcane Arts, you must pass through the Way Gates. This is the large island where all of the teleportation circles are at that get people out of Rizinium City and into the various farther reaching parts of Menethar. And it's obviously well known for having all of these teleportation circles.
Justin:It's kind of the magical equivalent of a harbor, there's lots of people coming and going. But it's also a large park of sorts because they don't want to put a lot of buildings and they want have controlled pathways. The in between spaces are filled with trees and plants and people will gather in this area to kind of watch foreign strangers come and go and and see who is in and about the city. You pass a part of town, part of the way gates where a lot of boards of towers and flowers are just set up. This just like all the old men and women who are kind of retired and now just want to spend a nice day out in the park will sit in these chairs and it's just like an open, very central park chess board type style of like
Steve:Oh, yeah. Okay.
Justin:Yeah. A lot of us, we just kinda like like the sunshine and we wanna set out here and and play some towers and flowers. So you pass this area with well over 20 different boards set up for towers and flowers. Go ahead and give me an instinct reaction roll.
Steve:It's a nine with fear. Oh, no. Sorry. It's it's also an 11. I didn't add my two.
Justin:It's 11. It's an 11. There are a number of people who are engaged in a game. There is one individual. His general demeanor definitely kinda speaks to his age, and also you get kind of a sense that this is a traveler.
Justin:He has a traveler's cloak and hood kind of put up over his face. He's somewhat lounging on his, like, bench that sits in front of the Towers and Flowers board, and you get the impression that he is equally pleased to take this as an opportunity to nap as it is an opportunity for him to play a game. The game in front of him in Towers and Flowers, it is not set up like like a standard setup. There's not, like, all of the one side pieces lined up in a mirror version of the other side like chess. Towers and Flowers is always set up such that the starting player creates a scenario.
Justin:So the their towers and flowers are set up in a particular arrangement, and yours would be set up in a different arrangement. And it kind of says, like, this is what I'm proposing as the start of our game. This person catches your eye, and the board in front of him looks impossibly difficult, leading to you to believe that, like, yeah, this guy wants to be left alone. He's set up, like, a in no way can I lose setup, but technically, I am ready to play the game should anyone be willing to sit with me? And you can kinda just hear him like breathing heavily.
Justin:It's not snoring, it's just heavy breathing.
Steve:Yeah. The way my grandma said she was only resting her eyes. Exactly. Yeah. Okay.
Steve:Exactly.
Justin:He is not snoring. He is just breathing. I take a
Steve:look at that board and I think I'm initially put off by how difficult that scenario looks. I think under the general etiquette of Towers and Flowers, as you've described, that is a as much of a warning off as an invitation to play. Yes. However, I think as I look around the park, there aren't any other tables, any other setups that look any more appealing. Either the game is in midstream or I'd have to wait a while.
Steve:This seems like the the option I have if I wanna sit down and play Towers and Flowers in a way that is interesting. Fair?
Justin:Yeah. Okay. In your kind of cursory look and the way you have stopped to kind of assess the odd scenario that this person has built, they kind of get up from their slouch position a little bit and kind of look up as someone has kind of been staring at them. They can't quite get comfortable anymore as a result of that. And he says, oh, it's it's just something that I've I've set up.
Justin:Please. And he, kind of puts himself position and starts to reach for some pieces to reconfigure them a little bit. And before he does though, he stops and he says, unless this is something you're interested in. I take a really close look at the board as it's set up and at my potential opponent, and I nod and say, no, let's leave it as it as it was. Let's let's give this a try.
Justin:I'm always up for a challenge. At this, he looks up at you more formally and he is also a simia. So he kind of has like monkey features. The beard that he has grown is farther up on his cheeks than I think a human human's beard would go. It's almost kind of reaching the tops of his cheekbones.
Justin:And he has dark gray fur and hair that is peppered with gray. His cloak is tight around him, of almost warding off more a chill than you feel in the air. And his hand, that reaches out kind of also has that weathered look to it. But against all of that kind of nothing is outstanding about this person, he is wearing these circular glasses that reflect gold and red perfectly, giving you absolutely no view of his eyes. They are just these like almost to me feels like what I envision like a jazz singer would wear inside kind of glasses.
Nick:They're five glasses. They're five
Justin:glasses for sure. And they're also preventing you from seeing his eyes whatsoever. And the gold red color of them stands out as being quite audacious in comparison to his, like, travelers get up. And he gestures for you
Steve:to sit. I pull out a chair and before I take a seat, I reach out my hand for the, you know, traditional pregame handshake. I think like that is part of the maybe not ceremony. Part of like Yeah. The way the game is played.
Steve:You don't like bow to each other like a karate or anything. Yeah. Like, shake hands with your opponent. Like, that is just how the game starts. So before I sit down, I reach out to shake hands and introduce myself and say, thanks for thanks for inviting me to play.
Justin:My name's Lucan. He accepts your hand and his grip is astonishingly strong. I try and match it. I try and squeeze back. Give me a strength check.
Justin:You have to beat a 20.
Nick:You have a rally die. I
Steve:have to yeah. I'm gonna use my rally die. Right. Right now, I am at an 18 with hope. So okay.
Steve:D six for my rally.
Nick:Simply have to.
Justin:Yeah.
Steve:I got a six with the rally die. So that puts me at a 24. That's alright. That puts me at a 24 with hope. So I get my hope mark.
Steve:Right? Yeah. You
Justin:squeeze back and I think pour a little bit because you have strength based divine magic. And the rally from Harry earlier really kind of immediately catch on, oh, this guy is giving me a he's we're doing a strength off. This is a grip measuring contest, if you will.
Steve:This is some really positive masculine energy that's you've
Justin:got a whole evening of doing paperwork behind you.
Steve:Yeah. You made me read overnight. Yeah.
Justin:This is your first like, ah, yes. What I really want to be doing is playing a game and being strong.
Nick:Yeah. You
Justin:match it and for a brief second are, yeah, this is this is a test of will. This is the first this is the first move, this handshake. And he looks up at you and the glasses are gone. The his entire eyeball is that red gold color. There whether there were glasses there previously or not is unknown to you.
Justin:In this moment, you realize that they are a guise for something bigger and something much larger. You are shaking hands with a mountain in this moment. And unquestionably, the person sitting in front of you is Boaz and does not introduce himself as such. But unquestionably, you know this to be true. The garment that he is wearing is not just a traveler's cloak.
Justin:It is a finely woven cloak that does not feel the need to be audacious. It does not feel the need to advertise who it is, but that cloak will repel all the weather. He is underneath there extremely comfortable. And what you previously recognized as being kind of tight and snug around him is because he is hiding his extra set of arms underneath the cloak itself. Bozz has four arms and only two currently displayed through armholes here.
Justin:And so he is kind of using the cloak to also hide his appearance from others. And he says, please sit.
Steve:I I sit immediately, but, like, at attention sit. Like, I think as soon as I noticed the glasses disappear and saw the eyes, my hand went slack. I you know, this battle of wills is, I'm gonna say, behind me now. I real I I realize I am playing a different game at this point. This isn't a a feat of strength.
Steve:This isn't a I get to prove myself before the game starts thing. I am out of my depth here. I also assume this is my first time encountering Boz in this physical sense. Right? Obviously, throughout my time as an adherent, going up through the ranks, going back to my childhood, I've had those encounters with Boz, but they've been spiritual.
Steve:They've been, like, abstract or, you know, like, I feel my luck changing, those kind of things. This is my first direct encounter where I know I am conversing with the entity that is Baaz. Like Yeah. Without a layer of separation of some kind.
Justin:Yeah. He has definitely answered your prayers Sure. In the past, but he has never directly intervened. Well, maybe not directly. He's never directly corresponded with you casually.
Justin:Exactly.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I am terrified.
Steve:Terrified. Yeah. But we're gonna I'm
Justin:in it now. You're gonna Give me a presence reaction roll. You have to beat a 20.
Steve:It's a 20 it's a crit. It's a 22 crit. Well done.
Nick:It's going well.
Justin:It's going extremely well for you.
Steve:2026, the year of Steve.
Justin:This will allow you to speak. Great. This allows you to continue to go about your normal bodily functions, talking, sitting. You are not so awestruck by the presence of your god that you have frozen.
Steve:Lucan regains his composure slightly, realizing that after essentially, maybe not a lifetime of faith, but his entire adult life certainly following this entity, this god. This is an opportunity that is not afforded to many, I presume. At the same time, you know, Boz chose to appear in this form, in this way. So I think Lucan realizes that the move here is not to say, hey, Boz. What's up?
Steve:Like, loudly announce that this is what's happening. Like, we still have to literally and figuratively, like, play this game. Yep. So I think where Lucan Lucan's composure comes into play is that he understands understands that this is this interaction is part of a game in a way, not a chance for him to air his grievances right away.
Justin:Yes. He is in control of this Yes.
Steve:Scenario still. Baz is in control, but Lucan has paths he can take through this. Right? Like Yep. This is it doesn't strike Lucan as a sit and listen necessarily or be talked at.
Justin:Yes.
Steve:But in inter like, an interaction. Mhmm. Boz would not have set this up as a game. Yes. Even a game that's borderline impossible to win.
Steve:Boz would not have set this up as a game Mhmm. If it was intended to be a sermon.
Justin:Yes. The board in front of you, Towers and Flowers is played such that you have flower pieces, tower piece pieces, and modes in between that allow pieces to move differently. But the overarching goal is to always capture the, essential, like, high tower piece. And each board of towers and flowers looks different based on the aesthetic of the nationality, based on the person's investment in, you know, do they wanna buy an expensive version? Do they wanna buy a cheap version?
Justin:The artist can add to it whatever flair that they want, whatever motif, but there are always flowers and there are always towers. And the pieces in front of you look particularly the pieces that you are in control of, there are two things about them. One, they look like ramshackle pieces gathered from different boards that have unique themes. So they're not like some of them are made of wood. Some of them are made from, like, a stone.
Justin:Other ones have, like, intricate designs painted on them, whereas all of the pieces that sit in front of Ba'az are onyx black and have only the pieces on top that indicate their different positions or their origins from their flower form. And, again, you are in a defined you are in a losing position. This is a underdog story if there ever was one. Bozz gestures to you to make the first move. Go ahead and give me an instinct roll.
Justin:I'm not gonna set a DC to this, but the higher it is, the better your knowledge of your next set of things will or your next set of moves will be.
Steve:Should I reroll in the box? Yes. Okay. It was basically the same. That is a sixteen eighteen with fear.
Justin:I'll take that fear. The board at hand, you are able to take some assessments of kind of where your strengths may lie, where the strength of Baaz's pieces may lie. And one thing is glaringly clear to you. One flower on your side is sitting in an extremely suboptimal location. Basically, your best pieces should be in that position, And instead, this, like, lowest ranked flower on your side is, like, gumming up any of your best moves, and is not the focal point of your weakness, in that they're going to attack there.
Justin:It is the thing that is creating inefficiency on your side. If any of your other pieces had been there, it would be better off. The other thing you notice about that is that piece, again, you have a ramshackle of many different motifs within your set, kinda like they were hodgepodge together. That one is distinctly the flower of Venethar on top. It has the national colors.
Justin:It has the, actual the form of, like, the six petal lotus is the flower that they have chosen to be that piece. And you're going to have to move where it is in order to proceed. You can move it into a more aggressive and risky position, at which point, Baaz can take it and keep it for his own. Or you can retreat with it and keep it on your side, but open up your heavier hitters to capture. Which route do you prefer?
Justin:Realizing that
Steve:this is a board that is set up for my failure. Lucan makes the decision that there's there's nothing ventured, nothing gained, especially knowing who his opponent is. Mhmm. And therefore chooses the aggressive move with the let's call it
Justin:Venethar flower piece. You move it to this more aggressive position, taking it out of that key spot on the board and moving it more to the forefront of what you're formulating as your early strategy. He picks up one of his pieces and captures a piece that is indicated with the kingdom of Taranad's national plant. It is this tall oak tree that was your closest piece to being upgraded to a tower. So you're ultimately set yourself back, but he has not taken advantage of any other pieces on the board.
Justin:He is continuing to kind of take a position of you strike, and I will capitalize on your mistake more than a I'm going to, immediately cut this game off. The next piece that is currently being threatened is a piece that is made out of sandstone that kind of harkens back to the Ur tribes a bit, and it is now your move. You can move to protect the Ur tribes, or you can strike with the Rose of Venethar, which is in a more aggressive position. Realizing that
Steve:this is not just a game of towers and flowers, this is something bigger than that, Lucan very intentionally is making the choice to protect the urination piece. You shuffle two of your pieces around, leaving
Nick:aggressive
Justin:spot and protect the sandstone flower on your board. With a grin, Baaz says, it's important to keep in mind the value that all pieces bring to the board. But putting yourself in a position to defend means that you will, in fact, never strike. And he moves a piece severely cutting off the strategic advantage that the Rose of Venathar has, now putting it in a position to be captured if you do not act appropriately. Some a piece on your side is going to have to take a hit.
Justin:You can choose to save your your witch flower, which is a piece that like like a queen in chess, you can kind of mimic the moves of many other things, and take pretty aggressive shifts. Or you can sacrifice your kind of equivalent of, like, a it's it's made out of gold, and it is a flower that represents order. And once you make a move with it, it can't do anything different. So if you decide to move a diagonal, it can only ever move a diagonal. If you decide to, like, make a jump, it can only ever jump.
Justin:Once it has gotten an order, it can never change that direction. Which piece are you interested in sacrificing?
Steve:So the second piece represents conceptually order Mhmm. Meaning the opposite of chaos, not order as in giving it or necessary. Like, that's the bigger pick. And that piece, once you commit it to something, is less flexible, cannot be changed from that course. Correct.
Steve:That is the piece I'm going
Justin:to choose to sacrifice. He almost as quickly as you were able to pull your hand off of your piece, kind of representing I'm done with my set of moves, his hand flits out and takes that piece very quickly. And he goes to move it to your side. And when he takes his hand off of it, that piece is just gone. There is nothing there.
Justin:There will be no reclaiming that piece. His next move, since you have taken a few moves, he also gets to take a few moves. He begins to set up the board such that he will he's opening himself up to converting some of your pieces into his pieces. This is, like, a more difficult procedure than just, like, conquering. This is a if I can surround your piece on three of four sides, it becomes my piece.
Justin:And that has that was the p that was the position you were in earlier where the rose was, like, out of position. If you didn't save it, it was kind of get gumming up your side of things. He is going to look for a new candidate if you don't make an aggressive move to stop him. Your choices are, do you want to give me an instinct roll. I'll see what you see.
Steve:That is a that's an eat with fear. That is so bad that the things I can do to impact a role Aren't even gonna unlikely gonna be very helpful. So
Justin:You get overwhelmed by the number of options that you could be everything it seems like every piece of his you would take is setting you up to have multiple pieces be converted to your side. Sorry, to his side. He sees your hesitation and kinda gives a smile and says, the game is always bigger than you are expecting it to be. The struggle with the flowers are the inherent in fighting. What one piece does influences what another piece can do and cannot do.
Justin:And the strength of the tower is its independence and its mastery of the board. If you focus too much on the movements of one flower, your other flowers will be so gridlocked by their options, they cannot escape. And he is, like, looking at your rose of Venethar and that you have moved now several times locking out your other flowers from having options. And the question is is going to remain, are you going to let the rows of Venethar convert to a tower on Ba'az's side? Or how many pieces are you gonna be willing to sacrifice in order to preserve its status on your side?
Steve:Is there a move I can make that yes. It it causes the conversion of my Venethar flower Venethar flower over to Baz's side. But in so doing, can I make that move in a way that accrues some advantage in this game to me? Not like a and now I've won advantage Yeah. But like, it it seems to me that sacrifice that should be a sacrifice for something in this game.
Steve:Not just a, I lost that to string this out further.
Justin:You can go all in on a Venetharan strategy here. There are two pieces, essentially, of your, like, 12 that are kind of locked into copying the moves of the Venethar and Rose, and all the rest are kind of allegiance to other pieces. And you could essentially go all in on those three pieces and try and get yourself into an advantageous position, where you can ideally upgrade one of them to a tower. And but you would have to sacrifice everything else. And that is the fear that I'm spending from your previous role.
Steve:By getting rid of my Venethar and Flower, by letting Bozz convert that, do I get to keep those other two pieces that are aligned with it? Yes. Such that, like, my remnant is mine. You
Justin:I think that is a great word for it. You will be left with a remnant of those of the Venetharan pieces. But you will maintain a greater hold on the rest.
Steve:Yeah. That's what I'm going to do. I will take the set of actions that that loses me my Venethaurin flower to Boz in the hopes of maintaining what I have left and being able to utilize those remaining pieces. Right? That that was one of my options was the Yep.
Steve:Be essentially, being willing to give up Venethar to maintain what's left.
Justin:He, just as quickly as before, moves the pieces across the board and captures your Venetharan rose. He takes his hand away, and the details and intricacies that previously identified it as, like, a Venetharan motif set, it has been changed to an onyx black piece resembling all of his. Not normally how you would indicate a reversal, but clearly, is doing more at hand. And he says, not a fan of change, I see.
Steve:I don't know if I would go so far as to say I'm not a fan of change. I just do not prefer change for its own sake. I think change is necessary, but how that change is put into place and what what we are changing to are are questions I need answers to before signing signing on to that.
Justin:Oh, don't stutter step now, Lucan. If you're if you must know where you will land every time, you'll never jump. And he finishes off his moves such that he has kind of taken on another dominant piece of the board, but he is setting himself up to upgrade that flower to a formal tower of his side, leaving it locked in on him. So it is in this, like, position where it's a lowly piece on his side. It's still susceptible to, influence if you want to try and take it back.
Justin:Once it's a tower, it's locked in on his side forever. He currently has control of it, and he has moved into positions where he is going to upgrade it and, like, permanently lock it down. What move do you want to make?
Steve:My hope is that the way I've played this, by giving up that one piece, maintaining the remnant, and having the rest of my pieces, put me in a spot where I can essentially go all in trying to take it back from him. The way I see this in our our game structure here is I forced him to I didn't force him to do anything. He was put in a spot where he had to devote a lot of his turns, a lot of his resources to turning that piece in the first instance. Yep. I would like to turn that tide, hoping that that means he has opened some vulnerability because he
Justin:thinks he's won. Give me an instinct roll.
Steve:Is this bold enough of a move that I could use my nothing ventured, nothing gained experience?
Justin:Absolutely.
Steve:Get a plus three? Yes. And spend That's cost one hope. Right?
Justin:Cost one
Steve:Plus five total then. Don't fail Oh. That is an 11 with fear. Okay. I am going to use one of my paradise Okay.
Steve:To put it up to a 14 with fear.
Justin:You go back and forth, the two of you, over several turns. You losing pieces, him setting himself up to really kind of get create a tunnel to your side of the board where he can upgrade the flower. And after this back and forth, you are finally in a position, I think, is a success with fear. And the fear is you have kind of foregone the here's the objective to win focus and instead put yourself in a position where you can reclaim that flower back. He because he is focused on trying to upgrade and lock himself into a I can finalize my this piece's allegiance to my side, has also kind of forgone that original conclusion.
Justin:And everything is kind of centered on this piece throughout. It has gummed up your sides. It has become the focus of his sides. This piece matters more to him than, based on his focus, matters more to him than winning this game. And he says, there are players at this board that are beyond your scope and comprehension.
Justin:If you take this back, you will see exactly what I am capable of. And as he says that, he moves one final piece into a position that will that potentially will devastate you and mark the end of the game. Do you want to convert the flower of Venathar back to your side? Or do you want to let it go and be permanently relinquished to Boz? And in doing so, leave yourself open for, like, a final blow.
Justin:I will let you roll one last time.
Steve:Instinct again?
Nick:Yep.
Steve:That is a 16 with hope.
Justin:He what is your intention to do?
Steve:My intention I feel like I have seen some more of Boz's, like, true face through this, both literally and figuratively. Mhmm. And in the midst of what Lucan is experiencing, this ongoing crisis of of faith, the doubts he has in the Church of Boz as a structure, as an entity. He sees Boz, frankly, no longer as a avatar of good fortune, but as an entity that is prioritizing maintaining its hold on its current status, its current place in the world. And that is not something Lucan wants to commit fully to.
Steve:Mhmm. That is not what he signed up for. That is not what he views the purpose of this entity to be. It has to be for it to be something Lucan can be a part of, it has to be more than a structure that exists to sustain itself. And so the choice Lucan wants to make here is the one to forego fully relinquishing himself to Boz, and instead take back that Venetharan piece within this game.
Justin:You with that role, you move to take back the Venetharan piece, convert it back to your side, and then in that moment, with your first tower piece now, in converting it back, it converts to a tower, Have a plethora of options in front of you. He takes a few of your other pieces that were used in the conversion, but you now have a piece on your side that can win. And Baaz kinda sits back on the chair from his upright position and looks at you and says, there are those of you who might believe that change can only work one way. That a change from the current order to something more extreme, something that puts the towers in your hands is the only option. And in my long, long, long, long long long time, I've learned that even folks like me don't see every possibility.
Justin:He moves this white ivory piece with a golden crest on top into a position that is ultimately taking one of yours, but leaves it vulnerable and open for you to finally begin capturing his pieces. And he takes his hand off and says he kind of looks like this, ah, we have kind of completed this exercise a bit, as now the game is, like, truly afoot. You are still very much behind, but have essentially captured a or given yourself a piece that can achieve the end goal. The end product of this is going to be a long fight now, and you're not guaranteed to win. But prior to this, winning was not even an option.
Justin:Mhmm. Mhmm. And he says, given your position, I would assume that you're always willing to step up to a challenge.
Steve:Out of all the tables here, I chose to sit at the game where I was almost guaranteed to lose.
Justin:I like that attitude. And he gets up, picks up a staff, kind of a walking stick that he had kind of leaned up against the bench, gets up using it and walks past you. And as he does, one of his other arms reaches out from underneath the traveler's cloak. And unlike the rest of the fur that he had, this fur is distinctly younger looking and is almost red, like a rusty red color. And he squeezes your shoulder as he walks past you with that arm.
Justin:And you feel a deep, almost burning warmth kind of print itself on your shoulder. And you know that he is casting deep deep magic in this moment. And it's not even though it's through the layers of your vestments, it feels like skin on skin contact as he is embedding his hand on your shoulder. And when he takes his hand off, you can distinctly feel where each finger was and he has marked you. I'm gonna give you a card, called the Hand of Change.
Justin:He is in giving you a extra ability. This is a one time use ability that will let you kind of go into a state of activation, a state where you can change the influence of roles. Once used, it will exact a cost from you. You can determine beforehand what that cost will be. But if things go awry, you will definitely be left in a state where afterwards, your ability to influence things will be severely hindered.
Justin:You'll be taking on a lot of stress. After he is kind of outside of your field of vision, you turn, and he is nowhere to be seen. The pieces on the board are all gone except for the converted Tower Of Venethar, which sits on the board. 100%. I'm taking that with me.
Joel:You've been listening to Faith and Fortune by Theater of the Mindset. Our actual players this season are Steve Edinger, Shelby Myers, Nick Traeger, and your kind and generous GM, Justin Girardeau. Audio engineering, post production, and scoring is done by Nick Traeger at Studio three six zero seven. If you're enjoying the show, you can help us grow with no capital investment by sharing it with a friend, following us on Instagram and Reddit, writing us a review on your favorite pod catcher, or you can chip in for coffee at our Patreon. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week on Theater of the Mindset.