Ep. 16 - "It's a PBJEB" - Faith & Fortune
Theater of the Mindset. Theater of Theater of Mindset.
Nick (Herry):Last week on Faith and Fortune, Sara went to the soup kitchen to confront the witches about what they weren't telling her and found herself getting more history than she thought possible. In a vision granted by a ritual performed by Sara and the witches, she saw her own past in the last days of her mother as Saria Manasblood saw the birth of the incarnate king of Venethar to a merchant caravan member temporarily stopped in the urnations. Saraya believed this to be the reincarnated king and died trying to protect her, but not before dealing with and then postponing Amineth's release.
Justin (GM):Beanie sits inside of Harry Pinch's office with two speaking stones on speaker mode, both of which are on hold. The hold music in contrast to one another, at different points in the song. And she is frantically writing down a message on a sheet of paper, scribbling it out, and writing a new message down on the sheet of paper, considering it before adjusting another time. This is what Harry walks into when he goes into his office.
Nick (Herry):Harry walks in, does barely like looks up at Beanie. He goes, hey, how you doing? And just reading this
Justin (GM):I bid on a hold for thirty seven minutes and forty two minutes
Nick (Herry):Wow. The incarnate kings on the getting to the second call.
Justin (GM):Well, that's because the first three, I they made me leave a message and I assume that that's not sufficient.
Nick (Herry):That's sufficient. You can you can hang up. It's okay.
Justin (GM):I I and she makes air quotes, take messages a lot, senator Pinch.
Nick (Herry):I get it. But I I it doesn't seem like being on hold is gonna solve it any faster.
Justin (GM):Okay. She goes to take them both off speakerphone. I will no longer need you. Thank you. And she says goodbye to the
Nick (Herry):Very professional. Not everyone's as good at what they do as you are, Beanie.
Justin (GM):Thank you, Senator Pinch. Welcome. What is it you're holding?
Nick (Herry):The rewrites, the amendments to the, resolution for dissolution. Devolution? Devolutions. Yeah.
Justin (GM):And how did you how did you
Steve (Luken):Mother Damaris gave it to me.
Nick (Herry):She, I ran into her. She was at the meeting with a small circle. I I swung through Connie's office and she was there, she found me, maybe rifling through another person's desk, but didn't really get anything with that. But she then handed me this after a little chitchat.
Justin (GM):And it Would you like to read it? Yes. Here you go. As you hand it to her with the monocle on, the back of the sheet of paper does have writing on
Nick (Herry):it. Oh.
Justin (GM):It's in the invisible.
Steve (Luken):Hold
Nick (Herry):on. Hold on. Harry Harry grabs it.
Justin (GM):There is a rune etched on the back of this that even in your kind of cursory arcane training, would know that this is like a would allow an immediate scry Okay. Into the space.
Nick (Herry):Harry's gonna walk over to Beanie's desk, not knowing how Scry works realistically, just knowing that Scry is spy, grabs another piece of paper, hands Beanie the monocle, and just writes on another another piece of paper, look familiar, and flips the Mother Demeris amendment back over and shows it to Beanie, the hidden writing.
Justin (GM):Immediately, Beanie's eyes get big. Mhmm. She opens a cabinet drawer and pulls out a tube of glass, and screws open the top of the tube of glass, and the pressure in the room spikes. Your ears pop, Yeah. The almost like a small wind pulls in air into the tube, and she closes it.
Justin (GM):And she's What's that? It's it's common protocol. It's like an anti scrying device.
Nick (Herry):Very cool.
Justin (GM):It it's timed. Yep. So we don't have forever. Okay. But we should dispose of this paper.
Justin (GM):Correct? She handed this to you as collateral. Correct.
Nick (Herry):But It's got
Justin (GM):information you need on it, but Correct. It comes at a cost.
Nick (Herry):But we might be able to use that to our advantage.
Justin (GM):I don't understand.
Nick (Herry):So we can we can catch up on what the amendments say, but here's how much time do you think we have?
Justin (GM):Minutes.
Nick (Herry):Okay. Here's my plan for the evening. We're gonna go get my sister.
Justin (GM):Okay.
Nick (Herry):She's at the lighthouse as you let me know.
Justin (GM):Uh-huh.
Nick (Herry):Luke and Natara should be here any minute. I'm going to send part of the platoon I just got. Yeah, have a platoon now.
Justin (GM):Okay.
Nick (Herry):On a on a training mission, training exercises towards my sister's house as a little bit of a distraction, and we're gonna go to the lighthouse. But what mother Daenerys and the Church of Irasinda are gonna see through this scrying is that we're going to get my sister out at her house. Why make
Justin (GM):is mother Daenerys putting scry spells on pieces of paper?
Nick (Herry):What's your best guess?
Justin (GM):She wants to know what we're list what we're talking about. Yeah. But I don't understand why.
Nick (Herry):I've been made. She's part of it.
Justin (GM):But the missing faith that was stolen from them
Nick (Herry):That's
Justin (GM):she's playing victim.
Nick (Herry):Oh, yeah. I don't think it was stolen from them. I think it was moved by her other organization that she happens The to be high up cult of change
Justin (GM):invading Hilford was all a ploy to move the faith to here, so she could Oh my goodness. I I am not cut out for this.
Nick (Herry):You're doing great.
Justin (GM):Okay.
Nick (Herry):No one's cut out for this.
Justin (GM):Okay.
Nick (Herry):This is not a thing that people get cut out for. Okay.
Shelby (Sahra):Just then, Sara kind of busts in but she is exhausted and she's frustrated and she just comes in and she huffs and she sits down in her chair and she's got a headache and so she starts taking her braids out. And her hair is just kind of like this frizzy mess from what her braids used to be, and she's kind of like rubbing her head and her temples.
Justin (GM):So you were very focused on and assumed to know what the space is, so we're very focused on that. After you've gotten one or two braids out, you realize that your ears feel funny, and that your skin is a little bit prickly, and you maybe realize that you've walked in on a spell. And Beanie is just standing there frozen, looking at you, like, a little
Nick (Herry):bit panicked. Harry walks over with a glass of whiskey.
Shelby (Sahra):She takes it and she just downs the whole Have
Nick (Herry):you seen Lucan?
Shelby (Sahra):No, not yet.
Nick (Herry):I'm gonna try and get ahold of Lucan. Let me see. Have you heard of Lucan? Have you heard from Lucan?
Justin (GM):To turn off the Scrise Bell. Oh, really?
Nick (Herry):Oh, goddamn it. Okay. There's a Scrise Bell. We're Beanie's Okay. Beanie's blocking it right now.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Nick (Herry):But we only have a few minutes that we have in private. So we'll have a plan in place. You'll be able to pick it up. It'll be fine. But I want I'm look into gate.
Shelby (Sahra):Wait. We only have a couple minutes that are private? Yes. Mother Demeris.
Nick (Herry):What do you know?
Steve (Luken):Knocks on the door.
Nick (Herry):Yep. Come on in.
Steve (Luken):Then it's the knock open. So Yeah. While you're saying
Nick (Herry):Yep.
Steve (Luken):Open close
Nick (Herry):it. Close Close it. Close it. It. Yeah.
Nick (Herry):Close it. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Nick (Herry):Okay. Sky spell. We're this Beanie has done an excellent job of blocking said Sky spell. Tube.
Steve (Luken):So, yes, scry happening. No, we don't gotta worry about it right now.
Nick (Herry):For the next how many how much do we We
Justin (GM):have two minutes left.
Nick (Herry):Two minutes.
Steve (Luken):Two minutes left.
Nick (Herry):Two minutes. Two minutes. Okay. So Mother Demeris gave me new amendments. We can chat about those in a in a minute to the resolution.
Nick (Herry):On the back of him, there was a scry rune. She's so I'm made. Irsinda's involved. You guessed that?
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. Know that? I I don't have time to explain how I know this, but mother Daenerys and the Church of Eurasinda, they are responsible for taking the incarnate king.
Nick (Herry):Okay. Alright.
Shelby (Sahra):I know for a fact that it was Mother Daenerys and she took the true incarnate king. Now, I have my people working on finding where that person is, but it's her.
Nick (Herry):Your people? Who are your people?
Shelby (Sahra):Don't worry about it.
Nick (Herry):Wow. Come on. Wow. But yeah, that's okay. We'll get to we'll get to that next.
Nick (Herry):You got anything? What's going on with you?
Steve (Luken):I I think I got a promotion and I pulled down my sleeve to show like the beginning like where
Justin (GM):the There's like a red
Steve (Luken):I pulled down my sleeve to show where the red hand mark is. I Bozz talked to me, like, in person.
Shelby (Sahra):What? Is
Nick (Herry):he allowed to do that?
Steve (Luken):I don't think allowed to is really how how Bozz operates.
Justin (GM):Thirty second warning.
Nick (Herry):Thirty second
Steve (Luken):warning. Okay. Isarn's not the anointed.
Nick (Herry):Just see it. Okay. Or does that mean you are?
Steve (Luken):Appears that way. Yeah.
Nick (Herry):The? Brutal. Fuck. Okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna Yeah.
Nick (Herry):What the fuck? I'm gonna do my finest acting here as soon as this scribes ball goes down and tell you guys the plan.
Justin (GM):Beanie is holding up 10. We are going Not.
Nick (Herry):We are going to the lighthouse. Okay?
Shelby (Sahra):Okay.
Nick (Herry):Sounds good.
Justin (GM):Five, four, three, two, another pop as air fills the room. Ugh. A cold breeze, the air no longer feels stale, and Beanie kinda gives you a thumbs up.
Nick (Herry):Yeah. I I was just reading the new resolution that Church of Hiracinda is kinda pushing for and who knows what's going on. But I I I'm I'm worried about I'm worried about my sister. I'd happened to get some extra muscle today, which we can talk about later, but I think I'm planning on heading out here in the next few minutes with the with the platoon to go to my sister and brother in law's house to go check on and maybe retrieve Tella.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm coming with you.
Steve (Luken):Yep. I'm coming too.
Nick (Herry):Okay. That's great. Beanie, you're staying here.
Justin (GM):I'm gonna stay here. I'm gonna read through these amendments and identify which ones are most relevant.
Nick (Herry):Jack, did you have lunch?
Justin (GM):Beanie gave me a egg and bean sandwich.
Nick (Herry):Oh, that's nice.
Justin (GM):She said it's the maximum number of protein.
Nick (Herry):The Sounds good? Protein filled. Sounds good. A growing boy. Okay.
Steve (Luken):I I look at Beanie and say, egg and bean?
Justin (GM):Egg and bean. Sometimes if I'm feeling spicy, I'll put PB and
Nick (Herry):J on it. That's crazy.
Steve (Luken):Do you got any more of those?
Justin (GM):Of course. She gets out a PB and E bean sandwich and hands them
Nick (Herry):PBJEB. To PBJEB. Yeah. Pib Jeb.
Justin (GM):It's a PB
Nick (Herry):Pib Jeb.
Justin (GM):It's a PBJ egg and bean sandwich.
Steve (Luken):Do either of you want one? It's about she had a lot.
Nick (Herry):Absolutely not. No.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. Let's go. Let's go. Out of here.
Steve (Luken):I'll I'll eat it on the road.
Justin (GM):Thanks, Beanie. Yeah. Then I say, you don't have to warm it up.
Nick (Herry):Don't know why you would.
Steve (Luken):It's even good room temperature. What? Yeah. You thought of everything.
Justin (GM):I
Shelby (Sahra):know. Oh,
Nick (Herry):god. Do I get the sense that if I were to put because Beanie's got like an outer office outside of my Yes.
Justin (GM):Office. Right? Yes.
Nick (Herry):If we were to put the paper with the rune on it in my office, close the door, would Beanie be outside of?
Justin (GM):Yes. It's just like a it's a
Nick (Herry):We can't speak about this. I need to know this. Oh.
Justin (GM):Player. Bini is looking at you trying
Nick (Herry):to I'm I'm just like, can you put these papers in my office?
Justin (GM):Yes. I can put these papers in your office for you to review later.
Nick (Herry):Thank
Justin (GM):you. And they will be there and ready for you when you're in there.
Nick (Herry):Great. Thank you, Beanie.
Justin (GM):She goes and puts the papers in the office and closes the door.
Nick (Herry):Okay. You're I mean, you're free to hang out here. We'll be back at some point. Okay. Or you're free to go home for a bit if you need to, just take Jack with you.
Justin (GM):Understood.
Nick (Herry):Thank you. Alright. Let's head out. Alright. As we're as we're walking out so okay.
Nick (Herry):Here the rundown on the on the change of the bill. I don't know. This is interesting, but I'm gonna work on making more adjustments as as we can. This removal of the ban on clergy serving as elected officials so they can now be senators. Senatorial powers for the incarnate king, they get to be a tiebreaker and could potentially be more than just one vote, which is weird.
Nick (Herry):Lessen the restrictions on clerical definitions, which I I I I don't really understand that. That might be more of a you.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. So while we're walking, the quick version is our clerics have to fit into kind of well defined roles so that as an accountability measure, you know, if a cleric has the role of a midwife, they're doing midwife stuff. If a cleric is, I don't know, for our purposes in the Vaz Church, in control of the adventurer board, we know that's what they're up to. If we're losing those restrictions, all of a sudden, the lines and the responsibilities can become muddied and the the short version, less oversight.
Nick (Herry):Yep. That makes sense. That makes sense. And then apparently, they want the incarnate king, which they control, to be able to pass multiple laws, right, multiple things into the divine codex. So, their their more power, less restrictions, more control over what matters without the pesky voting.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. But when this first came up, I was under the impression that this whole devolution thing was going to be stripping the council of faith. It sounds like on this version, it's more rearranging and frankly giving those with power in the council of faith what they've kinda always wanted.
Nick (Herry):A 100%. We're gonna run through we're gonna run through the guard's office, the Resident Evil City guard's office. I gotta send the boys on a little training exercise. So we'll head that way. Tell me about your afternoon, Sara.
Shelby (Sahra):Oh, Well, I learned some new information. I don't know how to tell you this without freaking you out or anything, but I I've been looking, as you know, been delving deeper into magic. Sure. And, Yeah. I I had a vision and I I finally found out some information about my mom.
Nick (Herry):Oh my gosh.
Shelby (Sahra):And basically, she saved the incarnate spirit. She saved the incarnate king.
Nick (Herry):Esau or
Shelby (Sahra):No. Not even not even the twin that was related to Esau, at some point, the twin must have died and the new spirit transferred. And my mom was responsible for birthing the child and she tried to to save it. She tried to run away with it. And mother Demeris and the Church of Ursinda followed her.
Shelby (Sahra):And, you know, long story short, my mom's mission did not succeed. And that's how I know mother Demeris has the child or at least had it or is hiding it, I don't know. But I mean, this person is like my age. Yeah. Like a couple years younger.
Nick (Herry):I'm so sorry that you had to learn all that through an afternoon's vision. That's wild. Are you okay?
Shelby (Sahra):No. I mean, as okay as as anybody could be after finding out this information. All I know is that everything that I thought I knew was a lie and this goes so much farther than I ever could have imagined. And if if all of this is true, which that we are finding out is true, then this whole system that we've put our trust in is a sham. So if this this isn't true, then what even is?
Shelby (Sahra):I mean, say we do find the true incarnate king Mhmm. Then what?
Nick (Herry):A true incarnate king that hasn't had their their ritual to unscramble the memory system. Exactly.
Steve (Luken):We don't know what shape they'll be in. Yeah.
Shelby (Sahra):It's a girl.
Justin (GM):Oh.
Shelby (Sahra):It was a baby girl.
Nick (Herry):Okay. I we don't know what shape she'll be in. We don't even know if she's still alive. We don't know. I mean, we'll need to we'll need to find I mean, I assume that'll come out in some of this wash.
Nick (Herry):We are probably walking into a little bit of a lion's den as far as the lighthouse goes. And I would imagine there will be some answers there. Obviously, if mother Daenerys was there and was on the retrieval team, Arysen is not just a little in, but all the way in. So one one step at a time.
Justin (GM):While within Residium City, I've created an environment that allows both myself and you all to take different actions. I'm going to spend a fear right now to use the step into view action. The three of you are walking down a fairly empty street, allows you to speak with these speak on these things a little bit more openly. But someone has caught your trail, and I'm going to use this fear to summon a member of the cult of Metamorphosis behind you, and they are going to target you on an attack. You must now make a strength reaction roll.
Justin (GM):A strength or I will allow a agility reaction roll. You have to beat a 13.
Nick (Herry):What is this a spell? This is a spell. Do I see this person?
Justin (GM):That's what the reaction roll will tell us.
Nick (Herry):Strength or Sorry. Was it strength or agility?
Justin (GM):It's strength or agility.
Steve (Luken):Your can choice. Right? Yep. Okay.
Justin (GM):Or, sorry. Player's choice. You're trying to beat a 13.
Shelby (Sahra):I succeed. Crit.
Nick (Herry):Oh. Nice. 16.
Justin (GM):So you all succeed. So I'm going to roll the damage. You may lose a hope and oh, sorry. You may lose a hope or mark an armor slot to not take this damage.
Nick (Herry):Harry, so I we have now seen. Yes. Harry's gonna cast repudiate.
Justin (GM):I'm still gonna do this part. What does repudiate do?
Nick (Herry):You sure? Maybe. You can interrupt the magical effect taking place. Make a reaction roll using your spell cast trait. Once per rest on a success, the effect stops.
Nick (Herry):Any consequences are avoided.
Justin (GM):I will Yeah. Hell yes. And the DC on this is 14.
Nick (Herry):That would be a 15 with hope.
Justin (GM):You, out of the corner of your eye, see someone following you, pretty nondescript person, and they launch a fireball spell in your direction. How does how do you stop this?
Nick (Herry):Harry turns around or sees it just out of the corner of his eye and just kind of whistles. Just like some little bit of magic and it just fizzles out in this person's hand. And looks at Lucan and goes, corner.
Steve (Luken):Alright. I I go chase down this the cultist. Okay.
Justin (GM):They're not running away. You run out the cultist. What do do? I am going
Nick (Herry):Subtlety, you're on house arrest.
Steve (Luken):Well, like, because they're gonna this person, like, this spell didn't work, but they are still there.
Justin (GM):Yes.
Steve (Luken):Right. So, like, subtlety, yeah. But we also gotta, like, subdue them.
Nick (Herry):Good caster can't. Where'd I forget the last minute? Hold them. Hold them for me.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. I'm gonna try and is there a grapple equivalent I can Like, I I don't necessarily want to, like
Justin (GM):Give me a strength roll.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. Strength roll? That I can do. That is only an 11 with hope. 11 with hope.
Justin (GM):I got a 19.
Nick (Herry):They,
Justin (GM):you failed, so that puts the spotlight back on me. They catch your grapple, and with impressive alacrity, turn it back on you, and slam you to the ground. They look up, and they are going to You rolled with fear. You failed that test. I rolled with hope.
Justin (GM):Sorry. Oh, wait. Yep. It says failure with fear, and I can punish you further, but you didn't do that. They are going to quickly try and stab you while you're down.
Justin (GM):Does a 19 beat your evasion? Yes. Alright. You take eight physical damage. They don't even bother to leave to take the knife back out.
Justin (GM):They leave it kind of embedded in your side. Look up at the two of you, Sara and Harry, and are going to try and make a run for it.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm going to cast Death Grip, which will send vines out of my hands to constrict the target. So that's 17 with fear.
Justin (GM):The vines shoot out from your hand and wrap around this cultist as they make a turn to go. You have successfully kind of restricted them.
Shelby (Sahra):And they mark two stress. They look frantic.
Justin (GM):You all still have the spotlight.
Nick (Herry):I say we take this guy to the barracks where we're headed with the Resident Residentium City Police. I'm sure we could find him a nice room.
Steve (Luken):Yeah. I mean, he's he's subdued at this point.
Justin (GM):Right?
Steve (Luken):Yeah. Mhmm. I I agree with that point. Like, I I don't know which one of us needs to, like, take an official action to do that, but I think that's what we're
Nick (Herry):Oh, shoot. Want me to go grab him and grab a handful of the platoon and bring him on over and take care of it? Or you think you can wrangle him over?
Steve (Luken):Is that the like, is there a way for me to wrangle him on over without us splitting up? Otherwise, that sounds like a thing. Hey, we got this guy. Mhmm. That's what the platoon is Yeah.
Steve (Luken):Like,
Justin (GM):I'm going to spend a fear for. I'm gonna spend a fear to use the cultist ability called magical unfurling. Normally, I'd be able to choose a point in far range, but because they are restricted, I think they can only choose the point that they are at. Mhmm. And I'm going to I need you to make a strength or agility reaction roll.
Justin (GM):The Cultist does as well. I'm gonna say the Cultist has disadvantage because they're restricted.
Steve (Luken):The Cultist failed? That is a 13 with hope for me.
Justin (GM):That is a fail.
Steve (Luken):Okay.
Justin (GM):So you will take this full damage, 10 magic damage. The Cultist also takes 10 damage and Or takes the 10 damage and will mark two HP.
Shelby (Sahra):Okay. I'm gonna mark a stress and I'm gonna hex Cultist.
Justin (GM):Okay.
Shelby (Sahra):So, while hexed, they gain a penalty to their damage thresholds equal to my spell cast trait.
Justin (GM):Okay. So, three.
Shelby (Sahra):So, that would be three. And, a penalty to their difficulty equal to my tier. So, would that be four? Two. Two.
Justin (GM):Okay. You see almost like a It's not fire, but just a massive amount of, like a flare gun light shoot out from their hand that's pointing downwards. They can't adjust where their aim is. They're just pointing down, knowing that Lucan is within very close range. They can hit Lucan at the cost of hitting themselves.
Justin (GM):The bright flare, almost like a magnesium white light, extends out and comes back, and you see Lucan and the cultists are now badly burned.
Shelby (Sahra):So when I hex them, I mutter words of an ancient language and it just kind of flows out of me almost like I'm speaking in tongues and kind of like a purply hot fog kind of circles around them as I'm placing this hex.
Justin (GM):They look confused and
Nick (Herry):a little
Justin (GM):bit disoriented from the fog. Whatever they are seeing is different from the reality around them, and they are more vulnerable as a result.
Nick (Herry):Are they still restricted? Yes. Harry's gonna do the the wonderful combat thing and pull out his speaking stone and certain and call Bram, Captain Bram.
Steve (Luken):I while he's doing that, can I roll out of the way? Like Yeah. I I don't want to get shot anymore. Yeah. Yeah.
Steve (Luken):Do your thing with Bram and then I if I if we still need to, I have a next thing.
Nick (Herry):Bram, we're at the corner of Dane And Westmile. I need a I don't know, you and nine other guys. We've got a cult of metamorphosis gentlemen. I heard you wanted a little action today.
Justin (GM):Yes. Yeah. Yes. Wow. Okay.
Justin (GM):We're on our way.
Nick (Herry):See you in a minute.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm ready
Nick (Herry):to bring him over. Great. See you soon. Is he still grappled? Yeah.
Nick (Herry):Great. Love it. Wonderful. That's what I was gonna
Steve (Luken):I would like to use my voice of reason Mhmm. Because this is a cult of metamorphosis person
Justin (GM):Correct.
Steve (Luken):Which means they are based in, like, the Church of Vaz. Yes. Like Yeah. Like, that's where they would have come from.
Justin (GM):That is not a guarantee. Are people who are part of they're like just followers of the cult. Okay. This could be a lay person who's very passionate.
Steve (Luken):Okay. Can I can I tell whether that's the case?
Justin (GM):Like Yeah. Person looks like just a this does not have any clear signs of being a Bosnian. The magic they cast was not divine.
Nick (Herry):And I said Cult of Metamorphosis because that's who is on the radar for the cops. Right. This is is this Custodia Sanguis?
Steve (Luken):This is Custodia with this. Now, can I do the spread false information action, where I spend two hope to start a rumor or unveil hidden truths about an antagonistic NPC? Yes. So I'm spending two hope. I am also, in conjunction with that, using my voice of reason ability that gives me advantage on action roles to de escalate violent situations or convince someone to follow my lead.
Steve (Luken):I think I am trying to de escalate the violent situation here by spreading the rumor I'm spreading.
Justin (GM):So go ahead and make a presence reaction roll to try and get both a hidden truth and
Steve (Luken):Or am I doing trying to do too many things Start.
Justin (GM):It's start a rumor or do a hidden truth. I would not worry about your second thing.
Steve (Luken):Okay. Then I'm going to be unveiling a hidden truth about an antagonistic NPC.
Justin (GM):Okay. You don't have make a
Steve (Luken):roll to just do one. I get to.
Justin (GM):You just have to spend two hope. If you wanna
Steve (Luken):do I did. Sorry. Yeah. I spent the two hope. Won't roll.
Steve (Luken):We kinda have him, like, gripped. We have the cops coming, everything. And I say to this cultist, you're being lied to. Isarn is is nobody. You're following
Justin (GM):you're following a fraud. Hey, fuck you, dude. Maybe us nobodies are actually gonna do something. Maybe that's what this change is all about.
Nick (Herry):And he
Justin (GM):spits on you. Sara, I think your vines constrict at seeing that. I will let you interrogate and ask a question to get information from them. When Sarra constricts the occultist, you see that there is something in their pocket, that they are trying to reach for, that you could probably get to before them.
Steve (Luken):I I grab for the thing in the pocket. Give that back, you fuck. Oh. And I take it and walk away.
Justin (GM):They are gonna wrestle against. Sara, I will let you continue to restrain them at the cost of a stress. But I will spend a fear. You can fight against it at the cost of a stress. In your hand is a It's not a sending stone.
Justin (GM):It is instead a small tube, maybe no longer than two inches, with a hollowed out center that is glowing with a bright white light. On your cursory glance, you've seen this before. That is faith. That is capital f faith, raw magic that you would believe to be at least a port a small fraction of what the cult took, quote, took from the priesthood of the Ursinda. This is essentially a free magic of some kind that would be untraceable.
Steve (Luken):I turn this over to the two of you.
Nick (Herry):Woah. Where'd you get this, sailor?
Justin (GM):They are they just look at you and they do not respond.
Nick (Herry):This is wild.
Steve (Luken):How did how did they get this?
Nick (Herry):They're passing it around. They want they want everyone to be magicians, to be sorcerers.
Shelby (Sahra):God, those idiots, don't they know how dangerous this is? Can't just give magic out willy nilly.
Justin (GM):Easy thing for a person to say who just has magic willy nilly.
Shelby (Sahra):And I try to tighten my grip a little bit.
Nick (Herry):Yeah. You can go to school. You can learn magic.
Justin (GM):I
Nick (Herry):It's possible. Open a book. You Hey, you're better than this. You're smarter than this. I can tell.
Justin (GM):I will not be I will not be talked to in this way. In what way? Being told that you're smart and better than this? You're you're you're trying to Let me out of this. Let me out.
Nick (Herry):You tried.
Justin (GM):You're trying to stop the revolution.
Nick (Herry):You tried to kill us. Why would we let you go?
Justin (GM):You're you're you're going after What divine mother.
Nick (Herry):What revolution? What are you talking about?
Justin (GM):There will be change. Okay. I I believe in I believe in Isarn. I believe in in the plan. This is about the next step for humanity.
Nick (Herry):Okay. What's the plan? Convert me.
Justin (GM):You see them like
Nick (Herry):Convert me.
Justin (GM):Can I do a pretty lowly member of the thing? Yeah. Go ahead and try and convert. They have a negative two, so you just have to be at twelve.
Nick (Herry):Talk to me talk to me about it. That'll be a 13 with fear.
Justin (GM):You you You're stopping humanity's next great step. Be more specific. We will all be capable of great magic. It will come naturally to us as easy as breathing. We will ascend to godhood collectively.
Justin (GM):Did you read this wanna stop this?
Nick (Herry):Did you read this in a pamphlet? Give me specific. What How does this work? Tell me.
Justin (GM):I can't don't I will not explain our plan to
Nick (Herry):you. So you think you're so you're so on the inside that you know too much? What's the like, are you sure you're not being sold a bill of goods on this to just do violence?
Justin (GM):Did you get hope or fear? Fear. I think I'm gonna require another stress from Sara to keep this person constrained. Wait.
Nick (Herry):Where are my guys?
Shelby (Sahra):Oh, my god.
Nick (Herry):This was two three rounds ago. You said they were close.
Steve (Luken):We gotta get we gotta get moving. Like, we got bigger fish for Friday.
Shelby (Sahra):I'm gonna let's see here. I'm gonna reach into my nomadic pack and pull out a rope. Okay. And I'm gonna have Lucan tie this bitch up.
Justin (GM):Yeah. Yeah. You can do that.
Steve (Luken):The old fashioned method's still working. Cause we took his faith, so it's not like you can Right.
Justin (GM):Yeah. I I'm prepared to to pay the the ultimate cost for this. Okay. I believe it. I will be rewarded.
Nick (Herry):By whom? I will be
Justin (GM):I will be remembered as stopping you.
Shelby (Sahra):Who sent you here tonight?
Justin (GM):I I'm I'm one of many. I am I am the flock that will blot out the sun. I
Shelby (Sahra):Yeah. But tonight, who sent you tonight?
Justin (GM):Wouldn't you like to know?
Shelby (Sahra):Yeah. You
Justin (GM):thought that they were gonna say a word.
Shelby (Sahra):On the Internet lips. I'm like, go ahead. Call me a bitch, dude.
Justin (GM):This person got very scared as the witch got close-up to them. I was gonna say more, but kinda stopped.
Nick (Herry):Can we start walking him towards the
Justin (GM):police station? People coming corner. You've got eight or nine people. Oh. Hi, Pat.
Justin (GM):Guards, help. Help.
Nick (Herry):Help. Here he is. He tried I mean, he had this on him. Harry holds up the faith, which is bad news.
Justin (GM):You don't they don't register kind of fully what that is. Sure.
Nick (Herry):It's bad.
Justin (GM):Should we confiscate it?
Nick (Herry):I I I've got it. We'll take it to the next the next level up. Okay? Well, help us escort this gentleman back to the the jail here.
Justin (GM):We can do that.
Nick (Herry):Yep. Let's go. Let's head over.
Justin (GM):Unhand me. Let me go.
Nick (Herry):Okay. Okay, Help.
Justin (GM):And you all escort them back to the guards post. Do you want to use that as an opportunity to kinda fill in Yes. Them on the plan?
Nick (Herry):My plan well, because I wanted to actually gather all of the platoon at the guards post with these two. Oh, by the way, I have a platoon now. Nice. Pretty Good work. Pretty wild.
Nick (Herry):Okay. Guards, I appreciate your willingness to help. I appreciate your desire to make right what has been made wrong. Tonight's just a training exercise. 30 of you are going to you're gonna be taking a a ruck up to five cross.
Nick (Herry):You may be harried. You may be provoked and I need you to do your training exercise. You're there to ruck out and you're there to ruck back. Sound good?
Justin (GM):Yeah. They can provoke this dick. Sorry. That was that was uncalled for.
Nick (Herry):Hilarious. Uncalled for. Hilarious.
Justin (GM):You see Bram kinda give them the like, cut it out.
Nick (Herry):The three of us were part of the team that made sure you guys got out of Hilford and made sure that you guys could actually be here. What I'm asking you for the next few days is to continue your commitment to keeping Venator safe here in New Zealand City. There's a lot happening and I just ask for your trust. And this is going to be my rally and I'm going to spend a rally die to whom my allies. So you guys are gonna rally die and then however you wanna do that with the platoon.
Nick (Herry):Yep. Okay. Bram, with me with me, give me your best your best like five to 10.
Justin (GM):Yeah. Ryan,
Steve (Luken):with me.
Nick (Herry):Give me rep I I definitely want rep my dick. You want Glenn? Absolutely. That guy that's hilarious.
Justin (GM):Alright. Glenn, Cassie, come with me.
Nick (Herry):Okay. Love it. Okay. So we are sending them on a nothing mission. They're a distraction.
Nick (Herry):They're gonna head straight out and head straight back. That's why it's important that they don't get into any trouble Understood. And that someone's there to keep them in line. Yep. We're going on a separate mission up to the lighthouse.
Nick (Herry):Okay.
Justin (GM):So I'm sorry, the lighthouse? Yes. It's out of town. Yeah. Do you have horses?
Nick (Herry):I have access to something. Yeah. We'll find a way.
Justin (GM):Alright. We we can We'll get ready now.
Nick (Herry):Great. Wonderful. We'll leave in ten. Alright. Great.
Nick (Herry):Okay. So kind of a covert mission, kind of quiet. Trying to make not too much of a stink. Hopefully, we don't run into any more dinguses. I hope that's the hard one.
Nick (Herry):I hope that guy was a representative of the the hole. Although, are you you look are you okay?
Steve (Luken):I'd rather they were maybe a little bit more chill than that one was as I pull a knife out
Nick (Herry):of my Yeah. I'm going to use the the same like inspirational words if you're like, you you looked great back there in clear hit point.
Steve (Luken):Thanks. He I honestly that faith, he was so much stronger than I expected. He got the drop on
Nick (Herry):me. It's wild. It's wild. And you Grassy Minds are crazy and you can go ahead and clear a stress. Yeah.
Nick (Herry):I mean, you guys on a head on a swivel. I mostly just made a phone call.
Steve (Luken):So And, you know, you noticed the fireball he was gonna shoot at
Nick (Herry):us.
Steve (Luken):Don't don't sell yourself short, Harry.
Nick (Herry):Man, that's wild.
Steve (Luken):But we do need to adjust our expectations on what we're walking into if base level, we'll call them troops that the cult is employing have access to faith. Yep. We gotta we're gonna be need to be much more careful than I think we anticipated. Yep.
Shelby (Sahra):How many guys are you bringing with us?
Justin (GM):I said five to 10. I can gather a small portion.
Steve (Luken):You What did you all make of his they're gonna turn us all into magician god thing? That sounded like more than handing out a little bit of faith that expires on, you know, like, can run out of faith.
Nick (Herry):I Sounds like a cult to me. Sounds like a lot of promises until I see something more. I mean, obviously, they wanna do something with all this faith, but he was spewing a lot of just company lines to me.
Shelby (Sahra):If I know anything about magic, I know that someone wielding it but not knowing how is one of the most dangerous things you can encounter. So if these guys just have pure raw faith that they are wielding around, we have to stop them.
Nick (Herry):Is Lautner here? Yeah. Leave it in ten. I'm gonna I'm gonna go talk to Java Lautner. Alright.
Nick (Herry):Real
Justin (GM):quick. Mister Pinch. Hi there.
Nick (Herry):How are you how are you holding up? I've
Justin (GM):been better. Yeah. We are finalizing the retrospective on the riot. Yeah. At the end of the day, it seems like you made the right call.
Nick (Herry):I appreciate that. I you guys did an excellent job. I know it was incredibly difficult. I know you lost people. We did.
Nick (Herry):And let's hope it's not in vain. I don't believe it is. But we've got some big problems, and Harry pulls out the faith. We were just attacked on the road with a person wielding some magic that they never earned, and they didn't they sure didn't receive, naturally.
Justin (GM):He takes the small enclosed vial. This is capable of holding more. Were they did they use it? They tried.
Nick (Herry):Yeah.
Justin (GM):Do you I've never seen anything like these. Have you? Nope. We can I can put this into evidence, and I can have my people start looking into it?
Nick (Herry):Yeah. Mostly just be careful. You got a lot more magic users that hit in the streets, I guess.
Justin (GM):What what kind of magic were they doing?
Nick (Herry):Tried to tried to cast a fireball.
Justin (GM):That's some heavy hitting shit. Yes. So You're telling me that I've got potentially unregistered magic capable magic users out there Yes. Based on this vial alone?
Nick (Herry):Yes. I have no idea how many, but judging by how much went missing, I I have to guess that they have something bigger planned than just handing it out, but it's gotta be out there.
Justin (GM):Alright. I owe you one, mister Pinch.
Nick (Herry):Not at all. We're on the same team. Thank you, General.
Justin (GM):Thank you.
Nick (Herry):Alright. Let's head out.
Joel (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.