Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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
Steve (Luken):the mind. Theater mind
Justin (GM):set. Last Theater of the
Nick:week on Faith and Fortune, Harry found himself in the middle of a jailbreak after going to check-in on some forgetful guards. After invisibly Scooby Dooing around the jail and using a subtle touch with the arcane door smell, he was able to keep tensions from bubbling over too much tonight. Lucan and Sara flew out to the protest to talk with the adventurers sent by the local fortune of Baaz and investigate who could have murdered captain Otrallachnir. Their search turned up a bit more than the blood that Lucan was hoping to find. We'll join them right where we left off.
Justin (GM):If it's a revenant that was summoned, only sister Henle could have done that. And as she says that, you all hear pebbles begin to fall at the outcropping above you. And when you look up, that smoky creature is looking down on you. And we are going to begin chase countdown.
Shelby (Sahra):Oh my god.
Nick:Thank god Harry's not there. So
Justin (GM):he is starting right next to you. So you guys are at a he is gonna be at a four and you guys are at a
Justin (GM):six. It is the first one If you guys can get your four down to a zero before his six gets to your same number Oh. Then you escape the forest. If his number gets to your number, then he catches you. And then we'll deal with the consequences of that when that happens.
Justin (GM):Okay. Awesome. But every action, this is a countdown. Yeah. It's a progress.
Justin (GM):So, a success with fear will take it down one. A success with hope will take it down two, and a critical success will take it down three. So with that being said, you can describe whatever you want to do. You can cast magic. You can make an athletic.
Justin (GM):Like, you can make strength checks to run. Like, whatever it is you want to do to do these things, describe it. Do not feel like, oh, I'm running away. Therefore, my action is running. Feel free to be as creative with your descriptions as you want.
Justin (GM):That will determine what you roll, but every it'll be you roll, I roll, you roll, I roll, you roll, I roll until one of us achieves our
Shelby (Sahra):goal. Okay.
End Credits:So do you mind if I I I have an idea for something I wanna do straight away. Are you go you're gonna be going first? Yeah. So this thing is smoky. Yes. Do I still think I can punch it in the face?
Justin (GM):You tell me how much thinking
End Credits:Yeah. Right. That we need us. Yeah. So I see this thing get the drop on us.
End Credits:Yep. It's right next to us. I immediately stride in between the revenant and Sara and Amira. Amira. Amira.
End Credits:I just say, run now. And I get out my knuckle blades and I like send my wings out to like their full length. I don't know, like like I saw a bear. So I'm just trying to make myself big. Yep.
End Credits:And I am going to use forceful push Okay. With my melee attack on it. Okay. Because I, you know, strode in so I could reach it. I make an attack with my primary weapon against a target within melee range.
End Credits:On its success, I deal damage and I knock it back. Close range from melee range. Yeah. My hope being I can help create some distance before I start two.
Justin (GM):Yeah. I will raise its number higher than six if you succeed.
Steve (Luken):Okay. Great. On a success with hope, I add to my damage roll, but that's not Great. Let's succeed first before I worry damage I do.
Justin (GM):18 with hope. 18 is
Steve (Luken):a success? Yeah. With hope, which is great. Which means I do an extra d six to my damage roll. Okay.
Steve (Luken):So I'm going to do damage to this thing. Yep. Go ahead and give me damage. Alright. Here we go.
Steve (Luken):That is 26 damage. I'm also gonna spend the hope I just got, because I succeeded with hope, to make them temporarily vulnerable. Okay. I don't know what that means, but I want to do it.
Justin (GM):It means you will get a d whoever attacks it next gets to add a d six to their attack roll.
End Credits:To the attack roll. Yep. Which is what we're hoping for.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. So I pushed him back to close range. I've done some damage, made him vulnerable, and then my hope is that I gave my allies a head start here.
Justin (GM):Yeah. I move his tick I'll move his counter up to seven, and you guys are still at four.
Steve (Luken):Because that was a Yep. Action, not a Yep.
Justin (GM):Yep. Move a movement happened of
Steve (Luken):some I wasn't kind going the right way.
Justin (GM):A movement happened of some kind, so I'll move his ticker farther away. That makes sense to me. It is now his turn. He is going to use an action to kind of get his feet. I think when you pushed him, you see him rocket backwards kind of out of sight as he's kind of careened backwards over the rock face above you, and you hear him scrambling, and he's going to use just try to kinda get his feet and get back into close range.
Justin (GM):That is a crit. Fuck. Fuck. And crits take it down by that takes it down by three.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. So he's right back on us.
Justin (GM):He is goes from seven to a four which
Shelby (Sahra):Means that he's
Nick:caught up to you guys.
Shelby (Sahra):Yeah.
Justin (GM):I will say that he gets to attack you now. How's he looking after the 26 damage I did? Not great. Okay. Not great.
Justin (GM):So he's gonna attack and doing so, I will spend a fear. We will have him attack. Lucan? Yeah. Does a 13 beat your evasion?
Justin (GM):My evasion says 11, so I think so. Yep. Okay. I deal 20 damage. So you'll take severe damage, so you'll mark three HP.
Justin (GM):He comes jumping over the edge, lands back on the ground, and just starts to shred away at your armor as he has fully caught up to you
Justin (GM):in this moment. You get your armor in between, but he absolutely shreds it up. We will then toss the spotlight back to all of you.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm going to hex the revenant. So I'm gonna mark a stress, and I say, go back to hell where you came from. And while hexed, they gain a penalty to their damage thresholds equal to your spell cast trait, which is plus three.
Justin (GM):Okay. Read that sentence again.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. So they gain a penalty to their damage thresholds equal to your spell cast trait
Justin (GM):Okay.
Shelby (Sahra):Which is three. And a penalty to their difficulty equal to my tier, which I don't know what Two. That
Justin (GM):Which is huge. Yeah.
Shelby (Sahra):It's Aside
Justin (GM):from yelling explicative things to him, what does it actually look like?
Shelby (Sahra):When I when I say go back to hell where you came from, like, kinda sparks shoot out of my hand. And so he's, like, obviously hurt
Justin (GM):Okay. By the I think especially because he's so insubstantial Mhmm.
Justin (GM):you are directly targeting the tether that the primal magic that holds him to this space
Shelby (Sahra):Great.
Justin (GM):And weakening that. Great. The spotlight is not on me yet, so you guys can keep going. And I think that can be to either of you.
Steve (Luken):You can
Justin (GM):keep doing things or
Steve (Luken):I I think I can't fly and carry both of you, unfortunately. Yeah. So I don't wanna leave either of you behind. Yeah. I do think it would make sense to try and create some distance between us.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. While he's like, he, it, whatever, is hexed and vulnerable, what do you think about, like, the three of us all trying to, like, start running towards the tree line?
Shelby (Sahra):We can run and I can also try to terrify it, which would I would do a spell cast roll against a target within far range. On a success, the target marks one d four stress, and I can make the target run one range away
Steve (Luken):from us. I like that. Okay. Why not?
Shelby (Sahra):Let's let's try it. Okay. So I got an an 11 and I'm gonna how much stress do I wanna use? I'm worried about my stress levels.
Steve (Luken):This is a stressful situation.
Shelby (Sahra):I think stressful situation.
Steve (Luken):Seems seems like the time to be marking stress.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. Okay. I'm gonna mark stress to change that fear to hope. So it's an 11 with hope.
Justin (GM):It is still a miss, unfortunately. You try to make a connection to its mind and are just met with one word. Who are you? In its head, it is pure murder and rage. Revenants are the embodiment of wrath and vengeance.
Justin (GM):And that is all that it's it has no room in its in its in its mind for your fear.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Justin (GM):It is still that is a failure though, so it is still now the spotlight is on me.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Justin (GM):It is going to bound at you and attack you now.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Justin (GM):Does a 16 beat your evasion? Yes. 17 magical damage.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. So I mark an armor slot and then I mark one HP. Okay.
Justin (GM):I'm going to spend another fear to attack again. Sure. It will attack you again. Okay. This time I only got a six.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Steve (Luken):Which does that be
Justin (GM):your evasion? No. Okay. This time, you are able to kind of fall backwards and get out of its range as it tries to continue to claw at you. Now, the spotlight is back on you.
Steve (Luken):I think we're gonna punch him in the face again. Please. He's vulnerable and hexed.
Justin (GM):Yes.
Steve (Luken):So I could I I just gonna roll every die I have, it sounds like. But I'm gonna do forceful push again. And again, try and create some distance here. I have that. Vulnerable was I get to add a d six to my Yes.
Steve (Luken):Attack roll. Mhmm. What did hex do? Damage threshold and difficulty lowered?
Justin (GM):Its thresholds are lowered and its difficulty is lowered.
Steve (Luken):So nothing until I hit it. Three twenty three with fear to hit? That is a success. Yeah. That sucked.
Steve (Luken):That is going to be just a 10 on damage. 10 damage? He is though pushed back. He is now
Justin (GM):in close range. He is going to use a feature called my turn. I spend a fear equal to the HP that I marked to cause the attacker to mark the same number of HP. So it immediately responds back to you and you also have to mark one HP.
Steve (Luken):I did one to you. Yep. Okay.
Justin (GM):Yeah. And I
Steve (Luken):do one back.
End Credits:It's a
Steve (Luken):counter to
Justin (GM):you. Yep. And it's my turn because you rolled with fear. It is going to continue its assault against you. Mhmm.
Justin (GM):Yeah. Sure is. And attack.
Steve (Luken):Is that a crit? That's a crit. Jesus Christ.
Nick:But you don't get to crit.
Justin (GM):I don't get to crit in this game. Oh. Which is sad. No, isn't. Wow.
Justin (GM):My As is tends to be the case, I'm very good at rolling my d twenties. I'm very bad at rolling damage dice. So, I rolled a 14. That's two damage. And, again, you can use armor to reduce I'm
Steve (Luken):not Okay. Not at this Yep. Not at this time.
Justin (GM):And you can only use one armor slot at a time, just to let you know. Mhmm. You can't use multiple armor slots to reduce
Steve (Luken):it negate the damage. Okay.
Justin (GM):And with that, the spotlight is no longer on me. The two of you can make choices.
Steve (Luken):Did you close the melee on us for that?
Justin (GM):Yes. Yep. Moving close range to melee is always, like, an easy move.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm going to conjure a swarm of fireflies to help us. Okay. So I get a plus one. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty with fear. Does that Is
Justin (GM):what does it say you're doing? I don't actually know anything about this.
Shelby (Sahra):Make a spell cast roll against all adversaries within close range and then spend a hope to deal
Justin (GM):It does
Shelby (Sahra):hit. Great. So then I'm gonna 15 damage.
Justin (GM):And it is hexed?
Shelby (Sahra):And it is hexed.
Justin (GM):Yes. These fireflies spring up from the various shrubs and low lying trees around you. And at your command, swarm this revenant which begins to swat at them and back away. This severely bothers the revenant and seems to throw it off its guard. And it is going to, with its action, since you rolled with fear, it is going to flee
Steve (Luken):Great.
Justin (GM):And run away in this moment. That is the end of this combat. Ameera comes up from a tree that she was hiding behind and she says, what the I I am we need a leaf. That thing is Yeah.
Steve (Luken):Still alive. It seemed like it was pretty close to dead though. Right?
End Credits:Should we chase it down? Try and finish it off?
Shelby (Sahra):Are you no. We gotta get out of here.
Justin (GM):I I wanna run.
Shelby (Sahra):I wanna run.
Steve (Luken):Alright. Look. I just want us to be considering our options. We we can leave. Yeah.
Steve (Luken):We can leave. I would like to leave. Alright. Yeah. I we're in this together.
Steve (Luken):Let let's get into here.
Shelby (Sahra):Let's go.
Justin (GM):You all head out of the forest and leave the rest of the the feeling of being watched is gone. You head out of the forest. It the woods, it does not take long for you to head out. Again, it's not like a super large wooded area. It's mostly just like a well vegetated area.
Justin (GM):And you emerge. The caravan is, again, pretty well surrounded by the adventurers. You return back and you are greeted by wayfinder Deeprock, who kinda sees the two of you.
Steve (Luken):I'm like near dead. Like, I You look rough. I'm fucked up. Are you Yeah.
Justin (GM):Is everything okay? What what happened? You should see the other guy. Were you attacked? The adventurers Yeah, the adventurers all like get up and they are they approach what happened?
Justin (GM):I know you said that something was coming tonight. Did did it happen? Is that
Steve (Luken):what you were expecting? No. This was something else. I I think we got a lot of problems here for now. Adventurers, your job is the same.
Justin (GM):Understood. Understood.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. As an aside, judgment call for the rules folks, I have mending touch. I lay my hands upon a creature and channel healing magic to close their wounds. Mhmm. Am I a creature?
Steve (Luken):Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I spend two hope to clear a hit point or a stress on myself. Yeah.
Steve (Luken):Once per long rest when you spend this healing time learning something new about them or revealing something about yourself, can clear two hit points or two stress instead. I'm going to reveal to myself. That was fucking scary.
Justin (GM):I don't believe reveal it to yourself. I think you need to reveal it to others.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. I'm like sitting there healing myself and I just turn to Sari and say like, okay. I was actually scared for my life in there and that I haven't felt that in a very, very long time. That was beyond what I think any of us can be reasonably expected to manage. And frankly, I believe Emera when she says that's not something she was capable of of bringing about because that that was wild.
Shelby (Sahra):I think that we need to have some serious suspicions about sister Himel. And unfortunately, I don't know what that means for our mission, but it's looking like this is maybe coming from her.
Steve (Luken):That does seem to be the leading theory as much as I didn't necessarily wanna believe.
Shelby (Sahra):How did she know that we were there?
Steve (Luken):How did you know that we
Justin (GM):were there?
Shelby (Sahra):How did sister Hemmel know that we were there? She had to have known if she sent a revenant.
Steve (Luken):Wasn't that the same revenant that committed the murder? Was the revenant just there and operating like, just unleashed upon the world and operating on its own at this point?
Shelby (Sahra):I guess I don't really know how revenants work.
Justin (GM):You may roll to find out if you know how revenants work.
Shelby (Sahra):Do that. Okay. So this is a knowledge?
Steve (Luken):Yep.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. That's Crit, it's two two.
Steve (Luken):That's Crit.
Justin (GM):You actually know a lot about how revenants work.
Shelby (Sahra):Great.
Justin (GM):So you can clear a stress. Is it clear a stress born HP or just a stress? I don't
Shelby (Sahra):remember. Do I also gain a hope?
Justin (GM):You do gain a hope. Clear a stress only. You can clear a stress.
Nick:Okay. There you
Justin (GM):go. Revenants are spirits of revenge, which you knew, full of wrath and hate. They are summoned with a very specific mission, usually targeted at a person or a group of people, and they will work towards that mission until they have completed it, at which point they, as a spirit, can be put to, like, peace again. They cannot return back to their state of, like, neutrality until they have accomplished what they were summoned to do.
Shelby (Sahra):And so okay. So that doesn't have to mean, like, they're summoned to target a specific person necessarily. Like, they how broad is that mission?
Justin (GM):The more powerful a person is, the more broad the mission can be.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Justin (GM):But the weaker a person is, the more specific and targeted they must be. The more energy expended and utilized. This is where kind of primal magic can cut corners because the universal component in all primal magic can be blood. And a person can give up a lot of their own blood and that translates to a lot of primal magic juice.
Shelby (Sahra):Yeah.
Justin (GM):So even one person can give a lot, but that is limited in its own capacity. So one very, very talented ritualist could theoretically maybe target a small group of individuals, but that would require a very talented ritualist. I think you if we compare your current level, I think you at best think you could target two or three people with a rev net if you really did a lot of preparation and didn't want to use blood as your primary component. Okay. And blood is like a last ditch effort.
Shelby (Sahra):So either sister Hemmel knew that we were there and sent a new one, or she's more powerful than we think and this is the same one.
Steve (Luken):Do you know whether that targeting has to be specific people, or could it be like anyone who comes into these woods, like, as the target? Or like anyone who is antagonistic to the protester? Like, can it be general in terms of who the targets are?
Justin (GM):It needs to be the former. It typically comes with, like, a name.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Steve (Luken):Okay.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. So then she she's targeting us or somebody. I'm assuming it's sister Emil, but it was clearly meant for us.
Steve (Luken):Based on what you're telling me you know about revenants, seems like that one was coming for you and me. It, as far as I can tell, didn't even look at a mirror once. I think we need to find sister I know we're assuming it's her, but we gotta find her. Like, that that's the only next step here, I think. And I turn to Emira now and say, you've seen what's going on in those woods now.
Steve (Luken):If you have anything that could help us find Sister Hunnel, now is the
Justin (GM):time to tell. Like, she's here. She's just hanging
Steve (Luken):out? Yeah. The whole time?
Shelby (Sahra):What the fuck?
Steve (Luken):Yeah. Oh. Can we go talk to her?
Justin (GM):We're just not I don't think Wayfinder Deep Rock is cooperating with the local officials right now. So that's why she's not been turned over. She's here. Okay. Well, do you
Steve (Luken):do you think we can talk to her? Yeah. Alright.
Shelby (Sahra):Well Let's go talk to her. Let's go do that.
Steve (Luken):Above the table, where are you, like
Nick:this point said I could come, but unless there's, a thing that I need to be there for Yeah. I'm sitting out. Like, headcanon, Harry, like, walked away from the cells and just, like, sat on the
Justin (GM):floor for a minute. Yeah.
Steve (Luken):Okay. Yeah. I I think we gotta go talk to her. Let's do it.
Shelby (Sahra):We gotta be careful about how we approach this conversation.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. I think maybe we don't start by accusing her right off the bat of siccing revenants on people.
Shelby (Sahra):And I think that it might be helpful if you lead the conversation because she might trust you more as a religious person Sure. Than me.
Nick:I don't.
Justin (GM):I think that is a that is a jump because spiritualism is a thing in our world because how we view religion and deities and god is not necessarily as cut and dry as it is in this world where gods are real and they have, like, active places in the world. Primal magic works specifically with spirits, which are beings of elemental existence in the physical realm that they then influence and play homage to. Because if they spend enough time thinking about, oh, the lake is a thing. We go to the lake. The lake.
Justin (GM):The lake. The lake eventually takes on an identity of a spirit that primalists can then interact with.
Shelby (Sahra):I see.
Justin (GM):It's not a god. It's not it's not all powerful, but the more people think about it, the more it gets power. Sure. It is bigger. It has more power.
Shelby (Sahra):So, okay. So Sister Henle is not is she not affiliated with the church? Okay. So then why is she called Sister Henle?
Justin (GM):Sister is just like a term for ritualists.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. I was assuming that she was like a nun. Nope.
Steve (Luken):Okay. Not not not a I kinda was too.
Justin (GM):Yeah. Not a nun. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Justin (GM):I'll make sure to
Steve (Luken):yeah. This is a good clarification.
Justin (GM):Yeah. Good clarification. Yep. Cool. Okay.
Justin (GM):I would also add sister implies that she is not a fully trained ritualist.
Shelby (Sahra):That's good to know.
Justin (GM):She is like an apprentice level. But apprentice can be 40 year old woman.
Shelby (Sahra):It's interesting that she would have that much power to summon such a creature.
Steve (Luken):I I'm still not entirely convinced she's the one.
Shelby (Sahra):Because here's the other thing, and I pull him aside so that Amira is not in earshot.
Justin (GM):Yep.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm not fully convinced that it's not Amira.
Steve (Luken):Remember when she responded to you by saying she could make everyone feel the the effects of that smoke? Uh-huh. Maybe she maybe my read was wrong when I said she didn't seem capable of it. Maybe she's sandbagging us a little bit, and she's she's capable of more than she's letting on. But I still think if if it is Amira, I think it it might be in our interest not to let her know we're onto her.
Justin (GM):Yeah.
Steve (Luken):So I think we keep going after sister, Henle, see what she knows, see what she has to say to us, and and figure out next steps after that. I I still think we we go with that plan. But Yeah. I think you should be taking the lead on on the conversation here. She might not be super interested in talking to someone in an organization that is known to be aligned with the existing regime.
Shelby (Sahra):I agree. Alright.
Justin (GM):You make your way over to a wagon that is towards the back end of the line in this caravan. The wagon is painted dark green. The shutters all almost a dark green, a hunter green to the point of being black. The frame of her door is a red color, and the steps are pulled up, so that it wouldn't be easy to, like, walk up to her door. She doesn't have a fire going outside.
Justin (GM):Unlike all the other caravans where people are out for dinner, or late evening drinks, in community, it does not appear. Her windows are all shuttered, and you get no sense, that she is welcoming guests at this time. Sure. Amir points to it and says, that's hers.
Shelby (Sahra):Lucan, do you have any kind of because I don't wanna scare her, and I'm a pretty scary person. Do you have any sort of thing that can maybe take her guard down a little bit?
Steve (Luken):I think my voice of reason would work well here, deescalating violent situations. Like, I think it's a tense situation all around, even though maybe it's not Yeah. With her right now Yep. Violent. I think I can make the, like, initial knock and speak in a way that is a, would you mind coming out or letting us in to talk to you?
Steve (Luken):So yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I walk up to the door, and I I knocked, like, pretty hard. I say, sister sister Henel, are are you in there?
Steve (Luken):We promise. We we just wanna ask you a couple of questions about what's been going on the last few days. People people are scared.
Justin (GM):Yeah. You and everybody else.
Steve (Luken):There's there's only two of us out here. There's no anybody else. There's nobody here from, you know, the town guard. There's nobody here who's planning to do anything to you. We just want to understand what's been happening.
Nick:Who are you? You know who I am. Seems only fair that you tell me who you are.
Steve (Luken):My name is Lucan Mascar. I am a prelate in the Church of Boz, but I'm not the one who is really going to be talking to you. My friend, Sara, she's she's one of you. She's she's on your side here. She just wants to give you a chance to to explain what's been going on.
Justin (GM):In my forty seven years, no one's ever been on my side. So why is this Sara changing her tune and making that different?
Shelby (Sahra):Sister Henle, my name is Sara Manisblood. I'm the daughter of an Ur chief and my greatest wish is to help the Ur people. And I just wanna help you.
Justin (GM):Showing up about fifty years late, aren't you?
Shelby (Sahra):Well, not entirely under my control. You see, I as a young girl, I was I was given Don't ask. Okay. I just I wanna tell you that I am one of you. And I know what it's like to have everybody against you.
Shelby (Sahra):And I'm not one of those people for you.
Justin (GM):Give me a and I'll do the same kind of group check here. Give me a presence check. You've gotta beat a 16. We'll have him roll first for the reaction to see if he can give you a plus one. Alright.
Justin (GM):Here's the first roll.
Steve (Luken):12 hope. Hope doesn't matter, but it's a 12.
Justin (GM):And you have nothing to your presence?
Steve (Luken):Oh, with presence. Sorry. 14. So that's a fail. Okay.
Steve (Luken):You went with a 14?
Justin (GM):I said 16.
Steve (Luken):Oh, did say 16.
Justin (GM):So it was a minus one
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Justin (GM):To your presence roll.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. So I have to beat a 16?
Steve (Luken):Yes. Could this could I get advantage for deescalating a violent situation?
Justin (GM):I'll let you use advantage on that.
Steve (Luken):Now I got it. K. So now you get a 17.
Justin (GM):Plus one.
Shelby (Sahra):I get a plus one. Okay.
Justin (GM):From him. Alright.
Shelby (Sahra):So that's twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen with fear.
Justin (GM):15 with his plus one, with your pluses. Do you wanna add do you have hope to spend on the experiences?
Shelby (Sahra):Oh, I do. Yeah. I'll spend a hope because I'm connected to my roots.
Steve (Luken):K. Great. That one's been coming in handy.
Shelby (Sahra):It has been. Man. So I like say like a common saying of like the old urnation. My name is Sara Manesplund. I am a member of the urnation.
Shelby (Sahra):I am the daughter of a great chief. We all walk on the same sand.
Justin (GM):Old words for someone as young as you.
Shelby (Sahra):I have connections to my ancestors. I feel their spirits guiding me.
Justin (GM):You see her shutters open a little bit and her eyes through the shutters. Alright. Alright. The door opens a little bit. You did roll with fear though.
Justin (GM):She looks out the door after she's cracked it open a little bit, and you see this diminutive woman probably in her upper forties, her hair graying at the roots, her clothes much too large. Clearly, she's wearing, like, hand me down clothes, and she gestures you in, quickly, quickly. Come in, come in. I don't want any unwelcome guests. Both of you.
Justin (GM):Both of you.
Shelby (Sahra):We shuffle inside.
Justin (GM):Mhmm. Inside, you are immediately kind of overwhelmed by the smell of all the dried herbs that she has. You see that there are a couple of jars of spell components, a couple of, bones in a basket just kind of splayed out, and she's burning an incense in the corner of the of the wagon. And you see, like, a an unkept bed in the corner, that she has recently been occupying, and she says, things are bad out there. But I wanna be very clear.
Justin (GM):I didn't do anything.
Shelby (Sahra):I believe you.
Justin (GM):That fucker came here and took my stuff all because things just didn't go the way he wanted to. I can't be tied
Shelby (Sahra):down. Sister Henle, I believe you. Tonight, we went to the site where the murder happened and we were attacked by a revenant. Do you have any knowledge of who could have summoned that?
Justin (GM):I I could cast that spell, but I I didn't do it. He he took all the things anyway. After after the fight, Uhtre and I would he he took all the things from me anyway, so it's not like my capabilities even matter much. And I wouldn't have done that to him. It was complicated, but it wasn't I wouldn't have done that to him.
Steve (Luken):I would like to assess her kind of what I would like to detect lies. Yeah. See if she's lying. I am a scoundrel, apparently. And that means I get advantage on roles to detect lies.
Steve (Luken):Go ahead. That is a crit.
Justin (GM):Yes.
Steve (Luken):So I get a hope. A crit plus six. I'm assuming that the plus six doesn't matter. I just wanna rub it in. Yeah.
Justin (GM):Her affectations, the way she said his name and after the fight, she and OtrA had a thing. There was something romantic happening between the two of them. And she said when she said I would not have done that to him, she meant it. It seems like things were complicated, but her feelings were positive enough that she would not have sent a revenant after him.
Steve (Luken):Sister Henle, we we believe you. I give Sara a look of like, yeah, she's like, I buy this. Sister Hansel, we believe you. What? Can you can you tell us anything you knew about OTRA?
Steve (Luken):Who would have it out for?
Justin (GM):A couple days ago, he wanted to make our relationship official more than it was. But I'm a woman in my late forties, and I am in a traveling merchant caravan. I don't want to settle down. That's not in my interest. We had a fight.
Justin (GM):It wasn't our first fight, but it was maybe our worst fight. With the protests going on, he showed up, and he took a lot of my stuff.
Steve (Luken):To try to get you to stay? Force you to stay?
Justin (GM):I he said something about if, like, I'm like, he's not gonna keep looking the other way if if our relationship isn't good enough, if my feelings aren't strong enough for him to stay, then he's not going to let his feelings get in the way of his job anymore. And so suddenly, the things that he knew I was doing all along were now a problem, so he took my spell book and a lot of my components. And then next thing I know, two days later, I hear he's found dead nearby in the woods. And now you're telling me it was a revenant?
Shelby (Sahra):So the elements that he took were the elements to summon a revenant?
Justin (GM):A lot of them. He took more than those for sure. But a lot of those components were in there.
Shelby (Sahra):Is there any reason to believe that Oatra would have the power himself to summon a revenant?
Justin (GM):I think when you say that with your crit earlier, the key with primal magic, there's always a shortcut.
Shelby (Sahra):Mhmm.
Justin (GM):It's blood. Uh-huh. If you've got the blood Interesting. There's always a way. Interesting.
Justin (GM):You might not be trained, but if you're willing to give up the blood, you can cut a lot of shorts.
Steve (Luken):As as they say.
Justin (GM):As they say.
Steve (Luken):That classic line. Yeah. You
Shelby (Sahra):can cut a lot of shorts.
Justin (GM):And I think you'll also recall that the revenant did not look perfectly summoned.
Shelby (Sahra):Yeah.
Steve (Luken):Sister Henel, do you know where Otra would have kept the stuff he took
Justin (GM):from you? There was a spot not far from here, not far from the woods even, where we would sometimes meet since not everyone in the caravan and in the town approved of our dalliances. I maybe there? Could you show us where? She gets out a map and shows you on the map where it is.
Steve (Luken):There's been a map the whole time. God. Thank you for the map. Of course. You can keep it.
Steve (Luken):I do I I take it from her and keep it. Sorry. I I don't wanna go back in the woods tonight. Me neither. That revenant is still there.
Justin (GM):And If there's a revenant, I am not capable of summoning a revenant. But after one, maybe two people, whoever summoned this, whoever you think it might be, would have to be targeted at someone.
Steve (Luken):Sister Henle, could Sara and I talk for a moment? You know?
Justin (GM):You want me to leave my own wagon? Is there a
Steve (Luken):place we could go to talk Outside.
Justin (GM):Okay. This is my wagon. Great.
Steve (Luken):I wasn't asking you to leave.
Justin (GM):Okay. Good.
Shelby (Sahra):We'll be right back.
Justin (GM):Okay. You can come back in.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. Great. Thanks.
Steve (Luken):You're you're you're not a
Justin (GM):very nice person. It's not a requirement for my job. Okay.
Steve (Luken):I haven't crossed a mirror off yet. Have you?
Shelby (Sahra):I've not.
Steve (Luken):Because okay. Imperfectly summoned targeted quite a few people, though.
Shelby (Sahra):Yes.
End Credits:You know? So that's not nothing.
Steve (Luken):I know that through Primal Magic, you know, an amateur could have summoned a revenant, but maybe not like this. Do you think about telling Amira that we think OtrA had something to do with it to gauge Amira's reaction? Like Yeah. Tell her, hey, we're going down that road and see if she betrays anything in her, like, body language from that.
Shelby (Sahra):I like that. So the idea is that Utra used his own blood to summon the revenant.
Steve (Luken):And because he was bad at it, it turned on him.
Shelby (Sahra):Yes. Okay. I'm in.
Steve (Luken):Okay. So, yeah. Let's present that theory to Amira and just see how she takes it. Either way though, I don't think tonight is the night we go out to the spot in the woods.
Shelby (Sahra):Well, hell no.
Steve (Luken):I think it might be time to, you know, after this reconvene with with Harry because we've learned a ton here tonight. And, you know, I think it's time to start talking about how we get from where we are to resolving this whole thing.
Shelby (Sahra):I agree. I'm going to knock on sister Henle's door.
Justin (GM):Yes. Yes.
Shelby (Sahra):I just wanted to say thank you and may the spirits be on your side.
Justin (GM):May the spirits be on your side. Amira is eating some stew at a fire nearby.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. I think we walk up. How'd your talk with Sister Henle go? I sit down next to her, if that's okay. Yeah.
Steve (Luken):How does Yeah.
End Credits:Do you mind do you mind
Steve (Luken):if I sit? Please. What did you know about Otra? Did you know that Otra and sister Henle had a more complicated relationship than than maybe it initially appeared?
Justin (GM):I've seen him sneaking around here a couple of times. I didn't really want to think too much about what was going on. Seems not uncommon for people in the caravan to have a Rolodex of people that they keep in their back pocket for regular stops. Yeah. And it also, I heard, didn't go very well.
Justin (GM):It was complicated.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. And obviously, everyone's aware that Utra ended up taking a whole lot of spell components. I've heard that. Do do you think Utra possibly could have summoned the revenant himself? That would be very looks puzzled and
Justin (GM):shocked by that. She's like, if he did, it would be so messy and that seems like it would be a revenant is an incredibly powerful spell that Although that revenant did look funny, it seemed misty and ill anchored to this world. Possibly? If he did it, the real question is what what is it? What was it targeting?
Justin (GM):It attacked us. Like, for him to have named us would have had that's so specific. But he didn't know you existed.
Steve (Luken):It's not a clean fit, we agree. But the list of people who could have done this is getting shorter.
Justin (GM):If he did, I would anticipate that he would have had to use
Steve (Luken):lot
Shelby (Sahra):of blood? Probably.
Steve (Luken):I mean, that's that doesn't seem impossible, does it? No? Did
Justin (GM):I mean, the people the guards probably weren't looking for that when they found the body. And if a revenant got ahold of him, his body body probably looked pretty mangled anyway.
Shelby (Sahra):It's kind of what I'm thinking.
Justin (GM):If your conviction is strong enough, you're gonna be willing to sacrifice a lot.
Shelby (Sahra):Can you think of any reason why what OtrA would be either protecting or targeting?
Justin (GM):I can't you could always search his house.
Steve (Luken):I'd like to do my detect wise thing. Yep. That is a eight ten with hope. You got any experiences
Nick:to to add to that?
Steve (Luken):Could I spend a hope to add the nothing ventured, nothing gained because talking to our yeah. I I You're not is a real stretch. Being a child of new money I I I'm just going to say it doesn't work.
Justin (GM):I think this is a fail with hope. I think she's hard to read. She looks shocked.
End Credits:Yeah.
Justin (GM):I think your hope in this moment is her statements about how it works line up with what your understanding was. It's not outside the realm of possibility that he could have done this, especially given what you know about the remnant being kind of wishy washy. I think the missing piece is seems like the spell book is at the in the evidence locker and so are a lot of components. So something is up with that. But you do know that you could check also his house.
Shelby (Sahra):Well, Amira, thank you for everything that you've done to help us, Lugan.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. Thanks, Amira. I I think we've done what we can tonight. I think we gotta go tend to our wounds, coordinate with with Harry, and figure out what we wanna do next. I think we had some leads, but there's some chasing down we gotta do.
Justin (GM):You see, she looks pretty defeated as she has been on a multi day hunger strike and is now finding herself in a position where she was in a situation where you were all kind of in between her and death. And so now she finds herself like, yeah. Maybe I should eat and keep myself well enough to to fight the good fight, and maybe isn't the best person to make the change in the world that she wants to see, but maybe is the person to help those who can, and looks up as you guys go to leave. And she says, if there's anything else you need, let me know. I'm an I I wanna help.
Justin (GM):I think you've done a lot for us and I wanna be able to do something for you all.
Shelby (Sahra):Thank you. And fortune be with you. May the gods shine upon you.
Steve (Luken):And the spirits. And the spirits. Mostly
Shelby (Sahra):the spirits.
End Credits: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 ship in for coffee at our Patreon. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week on Theater of the Mindset.