Latest / Session Zero Heroes | TTRPG Actual Play Adventures & Improv Storytelling / Benders & Brews S2 - Episode 3 - Mystery of the Stolen Scale (Part 1)
Transcript
- 0:00Um.
- 0:03Jasmine, oolong, green
- 0:06and white. Long ago, these four
- 0:08teas were skilfully brewed at the Blissful Brew.
- 0:12Then everything changed when the shop's
- 0:14popularity threatened its existence.
- 0:17All Mr. Okuron, the shop's owner and tea
- 0:20master, could do was to recruit four teenage
- 0:23orphans to learn his trade and staff his
- 0:26shop. A year has passed since the orphans were
- 0:28hired, and although their skills have progressed, they
- 0:31still have a lot to learn before they can brew anything.
- 0:34But I believe that they have the potential to make the
- 0:37Blissful Brew the greatest tea shop in the
- 0:39world. Last time on Benders and M
- 0:42brews an Avatar Legends podcast.
- 0:45You've pulled some people out of the way, gotten them kind of a safe
- 0:48distance away. There's still maybe, like, three workers that
- 0:51are, like, battling this thing actively. So he's
- 0:54just smashing the ground around him, trying to hit the
- 0:57people.
- 0:57Are there any particular weak points that I am able
- 1:00to see?
- 1:02Something about that gem that's
- 1:04sitting kind of almost on top of where its head would
- 1:07be seems significant to you?
- 1:10So how big is this thing?
- 1:12Oh, man. I mean, it's a good, like, 10ft
- 1:14tall.
- 1:15I'm going to try and climb up some piles of rocks behind
- 1:18it. I'm going to try and jump on top of it. And, uh, I
- 1:20will try and strike the gem, and I will
- 1:23try and dislodge it. It's squirming around,
- 1:26trying to shake me off, has no idea
- 1:29what I am, where I am, what I'm trying to do right. And
- 1:32I'm just starting to wail away at the gem
- 1:35on top of its head.
- 1:36As you're slowly pulling this gem out, you can
- 1:39see some of the chunks of rock actually
- 1:41falling from its body.
- 1:43What here can I use to help
- 1:45rock? Look, uh, at those rock
- 1:48colonnades or whatever on the side of the
- 1:51hill. I'm going to attempt to take out the
- 1:54small piece of stone that's holding.
- 1:56The pillar up, cause it to kind of
- 1:59collapse.
- 1:59I will attempt to destroy this
- 2:02gem on top of the monster you use
- 2:05smash.
- 2:06You raise your hand above your head. You come down hard.
- 2:08As your fist makes contact with it,
- 2:11the gem itself breaks free,
- 2:14uh, from the creature's head. It flies up. Uh,
- 2:17as it does, the creature starts to kind of, like, wobble
- 2:20and so on the rock to tumble forward
- 2:23and start rolling down the hill, as you mentioned, and comes
- 2:26down and sort of sweeps its legs out from under it.
- 2:29So the whole beast kind of just tumbles backwards and
- 2:32falls. You've got the giant gem in your hand.
- 2:35This is just a theory, mind you.
- 2:37But I think what you've got there.
- 2:39Is known as the, uh, heart
- 2:41of the mountain.
- 2:43All right, let's get over to Chin Villa. As you're walking
- 2:46towards the center of town, um,
- 2:49music and crowds, uh,
- 2:52speaking and talking and chatting and stuff starts to get
- 2:55louder. And eventually, you approach, uh, what seems
- 2:58to be a massive festival going on. There's, like, a big
- 3:01podium or whatever, and somebody walks out
- 3:04wearing some very nice, fancy clothes.
- 3:06Attention. Attention, everyone. It is
- 3:09time for the festival's proudest tradition,
- 3:12the revealing of the scales.
- 3:14And he pulls back the curtain,
- 3:17and everyone gasps. Where is
- 3:20it? Someone stolen it.
- 3:22Please, everyone, remain calm. We
- 3:25are sure to find the green scale. I'm sure it was
- 3:27a simple misplacement. Never fear.
- 3:31We will find it, and the festival can
- 3:33continue as normal.
- 3:44Welcome back, everybody, to another awesome and
- 3:47amazing episode of Benders and Brews.
- 3:49Today we're doing episode three and continuing off
- 3:52on the cliffhanger where we left things in Chin
- 3:55Village, where the Great
- 3:58Serpent, uh, Shui Shui's Scale had
- 4:01mysteriously been stolen. A scale that you guys had
- 4:04only just recently found about by attending this
- 4:06festival you didn't expect to attend. But before we
- 4:09get to all of that, we have a character
- 4:12question to get out of the way. And also,
- 4:15in addition, got, uh, to let everybody know that we
- 4:18do not have, um, Michaela, aka Mika, here tonight
- 4:21with us. Um, she had some stuff that she needed to do.
- 4:24So it's just another guys night with the
- 4:27bros. Bros night. Bros
- 4:29night.
- 4:30Boys night. Boys night.
- 4:32Classic. It's a throwback to
- 4:34season one's. Boys night. This is Boys Night Part
- 4:37Two, which.
- 4:38We know is everyone's favorite episode.
- 4:40Everybody loves a boys night.
- 4:42Awesome.
- 4:42So let's kick things off with Connor, aka Brock Lee
- 4:45over here. Give us an interesting fact about our
- 4:48boy broccoli.
- 4:49So another interesting fact about, uh, our boy Brock
- 4:52Lee is we were talking about, uh, how
- 4:55his dad is the cabbage farmer that is in the
- 4:58show. And since this takes in place before the
- 5:01Hundred Year War, uh, I should mention
- 5:04our family discovered, um, the key to
- 5:07not eternal life, but to really
- 5:10dragging out the years. And it's pickled cabbage juice. So
- 5:13he soaks every night in just a barrel of
- 5:16pickled cabbage juice. That's how he looks like
- 5:18he's 50 in the show, and he's actually, like,
- 5:21275 canonically.
- 5:24Um, so that's how he does it, right?
- 5:27I mean, to be fair, this happened somewhere in the 100 Year
- 5:30War, just, like, early on. But, I mean, yeah, that would still be,
- 5:32like, somewhere around 100
- 5:35years old, at least.
- 5:36So he found that out when he was hiding from the Fire
- 5:39Nation. Actually, he hid in a pickled, like,
- 5:42a barrel of pickled cabbages. And he came out and he was
- 5:45like, you know what? I'm looking nice. I
- 5:48feel great. I should do this more often. And so,
- 5:51yeah, he does that. And that's how he survives an extra 100
- 5:54years to meet up with the Ang Gang.
- 5:56He's like Rage al Ghul from
- 5:59Batman with his pool of
- 6:02rejuvenating water. I get the Lazarus Pits,
- 6:05but it's.
- 6:06Like a Patrick bateman, uh,
- 6:09from, um, psycho. He's got his pickle
- 6:12morning routine. He's like, I glaze myself
- 6:15in pickles every morning.
- 6:18Keeps me fresh, keeps me young.
- 6:20Invigorated, um, that's him. He's basically
- 6:23American.
- 6:23Wait, I have to
- 6:26ask. Does Broccoli know about this
- 6:28regiment?
- 6:29How could you walk past him and not know about
- 6:33then the second question.
- 6:34Is then since he knows, does he partake?
- 6:38I think he's going to hold off on it because
- 6:41he wants to age a little bit so he looks more mature. So
- 6:43maybe when he's like in his 20s, he'll probably do
- 6:46that. So that way he'll look like he's 20 until he's
- 6:49like 300.
- 6:50I thought you were going to say he's already doing it. That explains why he looks like a full
- 6:53grown man. But he's only like 17.
- 6:55No, it stops the
- 6:58aging process. It doesn't accelerate it.
- 7:01Oh, no, I was saying he's doing it.
- 7:02He's like 40 years old. But he started at 17.
- 7:05So he still looks 17. But he's like 40.
- 7:07So basically what you're telling me is he bathes in
- 7:10kimchi.
- 7:11Not Brock yet.
- 7:12Well, no. His dad bathes in
- 7:15kimchi. Yeah, essentially.
- 7:16Yes.
- 7:17Interesting.
- 7:18Whatever cabbages he doesn't sell, you've heard it here,
- 7:21folks.
- 7:22Go home, buy yourself. Go
- 7:25to your local nearest Asian market
- 7:28and buy yourself a lot of kimchi. They
- 7:31will appreciate you for it. And once you bathe in
- 7:33it, you'll appreciate yourself for it. No one around you
- 7:36will appreciate you for it.
- 7:38No, you'll love yourself
- 7:4175 years down the line.
- 7:42That's right. You will.
- 7:43Like you're 50.
- 7:44Yes. And you smell like you're dead.
- 7:47Exactly.
- 7:48But you're not dead.
- 7:49But you're not dead. All right, Dave. Aka.
- 7:52Guao Han, give us the interesting
- 7:55fact about our boy Guao.
- 7:58So, um, Gulhan is the type of
- 8:00kid to tell you
- 8:04I can do a backflip.
- 8:08But if you ask him to do a backflip,
- 8:11there's always going to be some excuse like, um,
- 8:14I'm not wearing the right pants or
- 8:17just bought these shoes. I didn't
- 8:20stretch or stretch too much. I
- 8:22pulled something.
- 8:25All right. He's not only the kid we all know that'll
- 8:28say that he could do a backflip. He's the kid. We all know that when you
- 8:31ask him, he won't.
- 8:35That's great. That's awesome. All right. Last
- 8:38and not least, we've got Cameron
- 8:41here, aka Bill Door. And
- 8:43Cameron is going to pull, uh, an
- 8:46interesting fact about Bill Dore out
- 8:49of somewhere. He's
- 8:52like magic.
- 8:53That's how I come up with all my facts, is I come up with them on the spot.
- 8:56Sky always tells me, come up with them beforehand. And I show up without a
- 8:59single fact in doing
- 9:02my one on the spot.
- 9:03Uh, it's a callback to my, uh,
- 9:06prequel episode.
- 9:08So no one else here, really? The guys don't because we
- 9:11didn't listen to each other's prequels. Right? Hopefully. Uh
- 9:14uh. But in the episode, Abel talks
- 9:17about his, uh, family used to go boating.
- 9:19Right. But the thing was,
- 9:23in the episode, it wasn't clear if that was a
- 9:26lie to protect his cover, or if that was something
- 9:29he, uh, really did. And I'm here just to confirm
- 9:32that was a big thing his family did when he grew
- 9:35up. He lived, uh, near the docks, and his family
- 9:38had a boat. And they would go out every weekend and go fishing and
- 9:41stuff and go just boating and just enjoy
- 9:44the water and stuff along
- 9:47the ocean.
- 9:48So he knows boats. So when so in the
- 9:51prequel episode.
- 9:51When he was talking, uh, to the guy
- 9:54and he asked him if he knew boats well, and Bill said,
- 9:57yeah, I grew up on boats,
- 10:00basically, he was not lying about that. No, I'm just here
- 10:02confirming and also saying that's his fact is, like, he's
- 10:05big into boating. Right on. He loved boating,
- 10:08but he hasn't been able to do it because
- 10:11when you're trapped in the middle of an earth kingdom, hiding from
- 10:15just hiding from your
- 10:17reasons, yeah, there's no boats anyway.
- 10:19There's no boats.
- 10:20No, not if you're on land. So the fact that we're now on.
- 10:23Another dock shore, that's true. We have a
- 10:26boat related adventure. Bill's kind of
- 10:28excited.
- 10:29That's right. Right on. Awesome.
- 10:30Very cool.
- 10:31Very cool. Uh, I'm Skyler. I'm the game
- 10:34master here. And interesting fact about me,
- 10:37let's see. This weekend, I walked through a drive
- 10:40through, um, and I got looked at really weird. But
- 10:42I did get food. So, uh,
- 10:46that's, I guess, a possibility. Anyways, all
- 10:48right, onward to the episode.
- 10:54All right. And we're back with Benders and Brews.
- 10:57Episode three. Last you guys, uh,
- 10:59were headed out, uh, you guys came
- 11:02across kind of a mountain pass where you guys fought
- 11:05against some sort of earth mountain
- 11:08spirit of some kind and successfully managed
- 11:11to take it down. Procuring what?
- 11:14Uh, the old man that was helping you guys out referred
- 11:17to as the Heart of the Mountain, which is a sort of
- 11:20gemstone that allegedly holds
- 11:23the spirit of some sort of earth spirit, like, within
- 11:26it or something to that effect. You're not 100%
- 11:28sure that was all he was able to kind of help you guys out
- 11:31with as far as giving you information. But whatever the case,
- 11:34um, you guys quickly found yourselves in Chin
- 11:37Village, which was kind of where you guys were headed
- 11:40before, uh, leaving it's kind of the port
- 11:42village that you'd stop at
- 11:45before you head over to Whaletail Island, which is your
- 11:48ultimate goal, uh, based on the hints
- 11:51that Master Okran had given you.
- 11:54And in Chin Village, you couldn't find anybody
- 11:57until eventually you followed some music
- 12:00and came across everybody all in one place
- 12:03in the town center. And it seemed like there was a big
- 12:05festival going on of some kind. And it
- 12:08turns out they were all there, uh, for
- 12:11something to do with a fancy
- 12:14scale. And when they went to reveal
- 12:17said scale that they claimed was from some sort
- 12:19of spirit lizard creature,
- 12:22something named Shue shui. Uh, they
- 12:25pulled back the covering
- 12:28of the display where the scale was
- 12:31and there was nothing there. And everybody seemed pretty
- 12:34distraught about that. Um, as you guys are standing
- 12:36there in the middle of this square, all around you, people are
- 12:39whispering, gasping. Some people are starting to
- 12:42panic a little bit. Uh, you see one guy in particular
- 12:45that's wearing very drab, dark clothes and
- 12:48he's got stuff all over his face.
- 12:50It looks like he's covered himself in, um,
- 12:53ashes or something. And he is
- 12:56absolutely panicking. He is freaking
- 12:59out. Um, there's the mayor from
- 13:01two different town. Well, a mayor from two different
- 13:04towns.
- 13:08There are two mayors, each from a different
- 13:11town. There we go. Standing up on the stage.
- 13:13They are panicking. Uh, the one mayor seems to be, like, trying
- 13:16to calm everybody. He's waving his hands around and he's.
- 13:19Saying, now, everyone, please remain calm.
- 13:22I'm sure that everything is okay and we will find the
- 13:24scale shortly.
- 13:26The other one is just like, standing there, like, wide
- 13:28eyed, just shaking.
- 13:32Just kind of like almost seizure as a classic.
- 13:35Like, one saying, don't panic, don't panic. And the other one's going,
- 13:38now is the time to panic.
- 13:41And, uh yeah, um, for the purposes
- 13:44of this episode, since Michaela's gone yes, she's going to be
- 13:47an NPC, following the group around, uh,
- 13:49quietly analyzing everything around
- 13:52her.
- 13:55She's quite susceptible.
- 13:56What's new?
- 13:59Uh, what are you guys doing? As everybody's kind of panicking
- 14:01and starting to freak out.
- 14:03It wasn't me.
- 14:06Nothing in this pouch? Well, I mean, there
- 14:09is some stuff in this pouch, but
- 14:12not, uh, any scales.
- 14:14Should we go up to the guy who's yelling to not panic and
- 14:17just is it really our business? I mean,
- 14:19we're on a bit of a time crunch.
- 14:22What would you guys think?
- 14:23Should we try and help these guys?
- 14:25I forgot why we were here.
- 14:28You guys made your way.
- 14:30Yeah, but why are we in the town? Because we were trying to get
- 14:33a boat.
- 14:33Yeah, well, so the town sits on the
- 14:36shore, and then you would take a boat from here
- 14:39over to Whaletail Island. But the problem is that nobody
- 14:42was here. Um, everybody was at
- 14:45the festival. So nobody was there to get you a
- 14:47boat or sail you over themselves or whatever the
- 14:50case.
- 14:50Yeah, I think we were trying to find, uh, some
- 14:53friendly characters to help us get a
- 14:56boat over to Whaletail Island.
- 14:58Guys, maybe we should get out of here before things get any
- 15:01crazier. Let's try to get a boat.
- 15:04And just as you're saying that someone who's not panicking,
- 15:07all of a sudden the mayor looks over towards you and.
- 15:09He says, them over there. Who
- 15:12are they?
- 15:13And he looks over to the other mayor figure, and
- 15:16she stands there and just kind of puts her hands up like, I don't know them.
- 15:19And he says, Quick, grab them,
- 15:22and.
- 15:22A group of guards surrounds you. And,
- 15:25uh, he says, bring them to me.
- 15:27I want to have a word with them about this
- 15:29dastardly crime.
- 15:31And so, sure enough, I mean, assuming you guys aren't
- 15:34fighting against them, we.
- 15:37Need to get a boat.
- 15:39Rock.
- 15:41They lead you behind the stage.
- 15:43Are they leading us to a boat?
- 15:45To which the mayor kind, uh, of comes back behind.
- 15:48He's like, don't worry. We're going to settle all
- 15:51of this.
- 15:51Everybody's eyes are on you as they lead you guys back.
- 15:54Perhaps they're the ones that took it. We can
- 15:57get it back, incarcerate them, and the festival
- 16:00can continue on as if none of this ever
- 16:03happened.
- 16:04Uh, so as they lead you back behind the stage,
- 16:07uh, he insists that the guard search
- 16:10all of you.
- 16:11Search them for the scale.
- 16:13And they give you quick pat down. And he
- 16:16says, no scale. And they say, no
- 16:19scale, sir.
- 16:20And he right. All right, I must
- 16:23ask, what, uh, are the four of
- 16:25you doing here?
- 16:28Uh, we're looking for someone who can
- 16:31help us out with a boat.
- 16:32A boat? To where?
- 16:35Wait, no.
- 16:37First, tell me where you are
- 16:40from.
- 16:41We're from further into the Earth
- 16:43kingdom.
- 16:44That way. Ah.
- 16:46Uh, Zhao Ling. So you must have
- 16:49traveled through the mountain past, then?
- 16:51Yeah, just last night. Yesterday.
- 16:53Sure did.
- 16:54And now we want a boat to whale Tongue Island.
- 16:56Whale tail.
- 17:00Well, you must admit, it seems awfully suspicious for a
- 17:03group of strangers to show up in my town during
- 17:06our festival, just as our prize
- 17:09scale has gone missing.
- 17:10Why is this scale such a big deal?
- 17:13Excuse me. You are not
- 17:15familiar with the great Shui Shui, the
- 17:18great serpent spirit who gave us her precious scales
- 17:21as a blessing and a sign of good luck, so long as
- 17:24we are in possession.
- 17:25Of it in one ear, out the.
- 17:27Other, bud nor care for its
- 17:29scale.
- 17:31Uh, Shui Shui is the great serpent spirit that
- 17:34resides in the waters immediately surrounding Qin
- 17:37village and spanning all the way to
- 17:39Quinchao village. She is
- 17:41incredibly powerful and has chosen Qin village as her, um,
- 17:45home. And to prove this, she has left us with
- 17:47her beautiful green scale, which,
- 17:50as you can tell, has been
- 17:53stolen.
- 17:54And then all of a sudden, the other mayor, the
- 17:57female mayor, comes bursting back. She wears
- 17:59all black clothing. She comes bursting back,
- 18:02and she says.
- 18:03That right there is a bold faced
- 18:06lie. You know as well as I do that
- 18:09the red scale, which is the true
- 18:12scale, mind you, was given to Quin Chow
- 18:15village and has been deemed her home,
- 18:17not Chin village.
- 18:20You, as usual, are, uh,
- 18:23truly and completely mistaken,
- 18:25dear mayor, you.
- 18:27And they start to bicker back and.
- 18:28Forth.
- 18:32And then one, uh, of the guards just goes, sir.
- 18:35And he goes, oh, yes, uh, my
- 18:37apologies. The important matter right now
- 18:40is to find the scale that has been
- 18:43stolen so the festival may go on.
- 18:45Now, knowing that you four
- 18:48don't have the precious scale, I feel as though I can
- 18:51trust you to help us find it. If you would be
- 18:54so willing to help us. If you
- 18:57do, I will ensure you have free
- 19:00travel to Whaletail Island.
- 19:02Pop.
- 19:03What do they say?
- 19:04Post haste?
- 19:05Post haste.
- 19:06I feel like there's also like an old
- 19:09tiny
- 19:13promptly prompt m
- 19:16I like.
- 19:17I'll ensure your travel to Whaletail
- 19:20Island pop goes the weasel. Ferret. Are
- 19:23you willing to help us find the scale and save this
- 19:26celebration?
- 19:26Can we break off into a huddle real quick? Can we talk
- 19:29amongst ourselves and recess?
- 19:32Yeah, sure.
- 19:34Uh, I don't know.
- 19:35What are you guys thinking? Nah.
- 19:38What if we give him the we.
- 19:39Have no idea what we're even looking for.
- 19:42What if we give them like the heart of the mountain thing and just tell them it's the
- 19:45scale?
- 19:46They would know what the scale is. Do
- 19:49they? Well, they seem to have a whole sort of
- 19:52celebration around the scale. I would think they know what it
- 19:55looks like.
- 19:56I'm going to just break off and just yell hey, what color is the
- 19:59scale?
- 20:00That's a great question you asked.
- 20:03Um at the exact same time,
- 20:05both mayors shout out red
- 20:08separately.
- 20:09So one yells green, the other one is red.
- 20:11Yes.
- 20:12What color is the color of the mouth?
- 20:13It's red.
- 20:14So who yelled red?
- 20:16The female mayor
- 20:18shouts out red. The male mayor shouts out
- 20:21green.
- 20:22So what if we just give hold up though. Uh,
- 20:24question though.
- 20:28Wouldn't they have seen it when they searched
- 20:31us?
- 20:32Oh, yeah, the shard. Yeah.
- 20:34They would have seen the thing of the mountain if they searched
- 20:37us.
- 20:38So they would know that's not it.
- 20:40Or else they would have been like, what's this?
- 20:42Uh, the guard probably looked at it and went, but then
- 20:45he put it back because that's not what they were looking for.
- 20:47But the guard saw it, not the other guys.
- 20:50And if they can't even agree on what color it is, they
- 20:53see it every year apparently.
- 20:56So I mean, who's to say? What if he's one
- 20:58of the subjects of the males village and they're going.
- 21:01To think you stole it?
- 21:04What if I put it behind a boulder? I'm like, hey, what's
- 21:07this? And I mean, it's worth a shot, right?
- 21:10We don't want to say that sounds good enough
- 21:13for me. Lean over to Bill. I'm like that
- 21:16should be fun to watch.
- 21:20Yeah, I think so. That sounds a great idea.
- 21:23Yeah, it's a great idea. See, I have good
- 21:26ideas.
- 21:27Yeah, great idea.
- 21:30Pat some on the back.
- 21:32Yeah.
- 21:35We'Ll just kind of shuffle off to the side real quick.
- 21:38Weeding.
- 21:39Yeah. Uh, because we got to
- 21:42find you're all just like
- 21:44sideways smiling.
- 21:47It's very avatar the last airbender, to be honest with
- 21:50you.
- 21:51Very discreetly.
- 21:52There's probably like a sound that goes
- 21:55on.
- 21:56I very discreetly pull the shard out and just chuck, um, it
- 21:59behind a bullet that's, like, 10ft away. I'm
- 22:01like, we'll try and find it over here. And
- 22:04so I go behind, and I'm like, hey, what is this
- 22:07thing that I have just now found that apparently matches your
- 22:10description? And I walk over, and I try and hand it to the lady.
- 22:12Okay, I just want to clarify,
- 22:16as the game master, if this was Dungeons and
- 22:19Dragons and this was not sort of
- 22:22like as much, uh, story developing, as much as it's
- 22:24like anything can, uh, really happen 100%,
- 22:27I would have that, uh,
- 22:30gemstone shatter and bring the boulder
- 22:33to life, because
- 22:36obviously, that's kind of what it does.
- 22:39But that's not what it does in this instance, because
- 22:42that's not what we're playing here.
- 22:43All right, so you want us to do something else?
- 22:45No.
- 22:46This whole interaction out.
- 22:47No, I think this is you already.
- 22:49Threw it what's down? You've tossed into
- 22:52the old saying, you.
- 22:55Go, rock is a rock.
- 23:01You brought it over, saying, Whoa, what's this?
- 23:04I think I found it.
- 23:05What, uh, is this thing I have just now found? Just now?
- 23:07The female mayor says, oh, what
- 23:10is that?
- 23:11And the male mayor says, It seems.
- 23:14To be a shard of some
- 23:16kind.
- 23:18Is this not what you're looking for?
- 23:19Oh, no. It looks more like
- 23:22this.
- 23:23And he pulls out, like, a rolled up
- 23:26tapestry, and he rolls it out, and it shows this
- 23:29sparkling green gem on it.
- 23:31And, uh, the female mayor approaches, and.
- 23:34She says, well, that's what the fake one
- 23:37looks like. Not quite how the
- 23:40real scale looks.
- 23:42Excuse me. This
- 23:45is what the real scale
- 23:48looks like.
- 23:49And they start bickering back and forth again.
- 23:51There's two?
- 23:52Well, there's only R1 scale,
- 23:55of course, and as I said, it's
- 23:58red.
- 23:59No, the real scale
- 24:02is ours, and it's green.
- 24:05Uh, do you guys share
- 24:08it, or.
- 24:09You see, the festival we're holding takes place
- 24:12every year, but not always in the same place.
- 24:16See, when Shue Shui gifted Chin Village with her beautiful
- 24:19green scale apparently Quinchao Village
- 24:22just so, uh, happened to produce their phony red
- 24:24scale at the same time. Rather than start a war over
- 24:27which scale was the real one as Shui Shui scale
- 24:31was supposed to represent peace, we decided
- 24:33to simply alternate which village would
- 24:36hold the festival each year with the
- 24:39respective village presenting their
- 24:41scale at the reveal ceremony while
- 24:44the other village would have theirs on hand as
- 24:47well but stored away.
- 24:49All right, so that didn't work. I feel like we could
- 24:52just sneak off and get a boat, and they probably still would
- 24:55be arguing and probably make no progress
- 24:57whatsoever.
- 24:58Honestly. I mean, you went along with one of my dumb ideas,
- 25:02so I'm down to try that.
- 25:03Except mine's not dumb.
- 25:06Well, I had the humility to say mine's
- 25:08dumb. You were blinded by your
- 25:11own hubris, sir.
- 25:13I'm not blind. I've got perfect vision.
- 25:17I kind of want to hear more about this scale.
- 25:20Um oh, my word.
- 25:21There's two different stories. It's two different scales.
- 25:23Clearly, it's two different scales. What if it's
- 25:26not a scale and it actually is a
- 25:29shiny rock like Brock said,
- 25:32that, like, changes colors. Maybe that'd
- 25:35be a pretty cool addition to my
- 25:37collection. Okay, well, I don't think they're going to
- 25:40let you add this rock to your collection.
- 25:43Maybe I could just
- 25:46accidentally drop it.
- 25:53That's, uh, a great idea. Let's damage this
- 25:56priceless rock.
- 25:57How do you know it's priceless?
- 25:58Well, clearly, look at the state of his town. And
- 26:01Bill ushers over points to the mass
- 26:04swarm of people screaming behind a curtain.
- 26:06Yeah, they're, like, literally bawling their eyes out. They're
- 26:09like.
- 26:12I think it's priceless in their eyes.
- 26:14It's probably fine.
- 26:16I mean, look at these people, though. They're emotionally
- 26:18devastated. I don't think they're in any condition to
- 26:21sail. Well, I mean, if you
- 26:24find your favorite rock, I think you'll be happy.
- 26:26Enough to, like
- 26:29what if we give it, like, 3 hours and then if
- 26:32we can't find it, we'll just hop on a boat?
- 26:34Sounds boring.
- 26:36You're boring.
- 26:36I want to go on the quest now. Brock's got
- 26:39a mean. Yeah, we could probably steal a
- 26:42smaller I mean, I don't know
- 26:45if that's what Mr. Uh, Ochron would want
- 26:48us to do, but if we
- 26:50get a bigger ship, it would go faster.
- 26:54One with bigger sails.
- 26:56I mean, I was the one fighting the
- 26:59monster.
- 26:59At least that's what I would think. I'm not much of a
- 27:01sailor.
- 27:02You stood on the sidelines, and I'm the boring
- 27:04one.
- 27:06I, uh, was still on the sidelines protecting the old guy.
- 27:09Make sure no falling rocks fall on him again. I mean, he already
- 27:12had one tragic event in his life. He didn't need two. I was
- 27:14right there, Brock. I was about to do Slide down
- 27:17the Mountain. I was going to do a backflip.
- 27:22Uh, I still waiting to see one of these
- 27:25fabled backflips glow.
- 27:29I can totally do backflips.
- 27:33Uh, the mayor looks over and he.
- 27:35Goes, wait, this kid can do a
- 27:38backflip? Oh, dang,
- 27:41I've got to see that.
- 27:43No, he's got to stretch first. And Billy does the
- 27:45quotes with his.
- 27:46Hands, but then he stretches too hard.
- 27:49All right.
- 27:51It's kind of an art I expect you guys to
- 27:54understand. Of course. Uh, so you said
- 27:57there's a scale missing? Yeah. We can help with
- 28:00that. Right, guys?
- 28:00You will? Oh, good.
- 28:03And he quickly puts his arm around your
- 28:06shoulders and pushes you out towards the stage.
- 28:08And now, all of a sudden, you're in front of, like, uh,
- 28:11400, 500 people, and he shouts
- 28:14out, good news, everyone.
- 28:16These four strangers have agreed to help us
- 28:19find the scale. As soon as they
- 28:22do, the festival can return
- 28:25to normal.
- 28:26And there's, like, a round of applause as everybody's like, oh, good.
- 28:29They'll find it. I know they'll find it.
- 28:32With that being said,
- 28:34nobody gets to leave
- 28:37town because you are
- 28:40all suspects.
- 28:43I think he did it. And I just point the one random guy
- 28:46in the crowd, he goes.
- 28:50He'S.
- 28:50Like he's, like, stubbing.
- 28:51His face full of like he's got some kind of, like he's got, like,
- 28:54fireflakes or something.
- 28:57Bill's trying to speed up this process.
- 29:00Two guards, like, rush over, and they just start giving him the
- 29:03pat down. And they're like, no, he's clean,
- 29:06Dang.
- 29:06I thought I had a hunch about that.
- 29:08And the mayor shouts out, search his
- 29:11fireflakes.
- 29:14Fireflakes.
- 29:15And move them around.
- 29:15And there's no that's clean, too. But my hands
- 29:18all dirty.
- 29:19You have to eat some to make sure.
- 29:21I really don't like fireflakes.
- 29:24Do you want to find the scale?
- 29:27Okay.
- 29:28He just licks his hand because it's coated in
- 29:31fireflake powder. And he's like, uh.
- 29:35I feel the quickest way to get this done is just to split
- 29:38up and do our own interrogations.
- 29:40Wouldn't you say that sounds like it would
- 29:44sound like it would what? I have to talk to more people.
- 29:47I thought after the job was done.
- 29:50If I may, it would make things
- 29:53easier on all of you. I can gather up
- 29:56the suspects that I have some suspicions about as
- 29:58far as having something to do with this case.
- 30:01I can gather them all up for you, and you can
- 30:04talk to them one by one in my
- 30:07office, perhaps.
- 30:09Putting a lot of trust in four
- 30:12outsiders you've just met.
- 30:14Well, I don't have much choice.
- 30:17Okay, well, give us security.
- 30:21He holds out his hand so
- 30:24are.
- 30:24We all in agreement here?
- 30:26And he holds out his hands to shake. And, uh, you notice
- 30:28that he has black gunk all over his
- 30:31hands. Maybe, like, ink or something.
- 30:35All over his hands.
- 30:36What happened to Dilbert?
- 30:40Craig, check your bag.
- 30:42I checked my bag for yep. I
- 30:45feel his hard shell. He's there.
- 30:47Yep.
- 30:48All right.
- 30:49You feel a very gentle caress from one of
- 30:52his many, um,
- 30:57no, just like a reassuring, like, hey, dad, or
- 31:00something.
- 31:00Like build or is afraid of squids,
- 31:03and he's just been penting it all down deep,
- 31:06deep down.
- 31:11Snyder's Return is a tabletop roleplay interview and
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- 31:16creators from both mainstream and indie
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- 33:56Let's get back to the show.
- 34:02So, of the people
- 34:04on this list, how many people do you know have
- 34:07had access to this
- 34:10shard the scale.
- 34:11In the last day?
- 34:12Wait, didn't he put his hand out for a handshake?
- 34:16I'm not shaking. We all just stared at it, I
- 34:18guess.
- 34:19He looks down at his hand, and he sees the ink, and he goes,
- 34:22Apologies.
- 34:23That must have happened earlier.
- 34:25And he puts his hand away.
- 34:28All right, let me go through everyone I can think
- 34:31of. Let's see. There was
- 34:34me, of course, but, hey, uh,
- 34:36I obviously didn't do it. Then you have
- 34:39Councilwoman Lin. She's my right hand, my
- 34:42assistant, and the m one who does almost all of the
- 34:45planning for this festival. She has
- 34:48access to the scale. Let's see.
- 34:51Councilman Young has a key to the
- 34:54storage building where we keep the scales during the festival.
- 34:57So I suppose if he has
- 35:00his key with him today. He might be
- 35:03a prime suspect. Of course there's
- 35:05cato. He's the guard for the storage building.
- 35:08So of course he had access to the
- 35:10scale. There's also Mayor
- 35:13Yu. When she and her people of
- 35:15Quinchao village arrived, she and I visited
- 35:18the storage building to place their fake red
- 35:21scale in there. Plus, she has
- 35:24a ton of motive, which
- 35:27is pretty suspicious. She
- 35:30was accompanied by Councilman huh Huan, who
- 35:33is her right hand on the council.
- 35:35And you look over, and there's a dude with kind of, like, spiky red
- 35:38hair standing
- 35:41right next to, uh, Mayor Yu.
- 35:44So this morning, when you checked on it, can you
- 35:47recall, uh, exactly what
- 35:50happened?
- 35:51Uh, yes, of course.
- 35:54So this morning,
- 35:56Councilwoman Lynn and I were running around,
- 35:59ensuring that everything for the festival was
- 36:02ready. When the people of Quinchao village
- 36:05arrived, I met with Mayor Yu and Councilman Huan,
- 36:08who joined myself and Lind to the
- 36:10storage facility. Keita was already there
- 36:13keeping guard. He used his key to let
- 36:16us in. Mayor Yu set her
- 36:18fake red scale down on the pedestal
- 36:21next to where we keep the true scale, which was,
- 36:24in its case, covered over with a thin
- 36:26cloth, which is part of the
- 36:29reveal. Then the four
- 36:32of us left, and Kato locked the door
- 36:35behind us, and that was that.
- 36:37Bill, you got any more hunches?
- 36:40Did you all leave?
- 36:41Yeah, he did it. And then I just point at another, uh,
- 36:44random dude.
- 36:47Uh, he's at a game, like he's
- 36:50throwing, like, a ball into a hoop or something like
- 36:52that. And so he's about to throw. He's like, right about to throw. And
- 36:55then all of a sudden, he's like and then all of a sudden, guards
- 36:58like they're like, frisking him and frisking him and checking
- 37:01him, and he's like, oh, no. And then they're like, what's
- 37:04this? And they pull out, uh, a fancy
- 37:07pocket watch.
- 37:08And he's like, no, I swear, that's mine.
- 37:09And they're like, I don't know. You look kind of sus.
- 37:12He said, steal it. What?
- 37:15The guard looks at him and he goes, what?
- 37:21You heard him.
- 37:23We're the detectives here.
- 37:27Michaela was right. This is not bill is
- 37:30100% like.
- 37:32He'S like, I don't know these people. And they gave me unlimited
- 37:35power. So I am trying to see where my extent of my power
- 37:37goes. Now. Apparently, it doesn't help that he's brock
- 37:40goading him on. He's like, you heard
- 37:43him.
- 37:44You heard the man.
- 37:47Bill's just buried up the guard.
- 37:49What did he say?
- 37:51You eat it.
- 37:53The watch.
- 37:55No more fireflakes.
- 37:56What do you think about dang it? He gives
- 37:59the watch back,
- 38:01buys firefly from
- 38:04a vendor, and then just, like, walks back over and just
- 38:07starts munching.
- 38:08On
- 38:14how guys, I don't wonder you
- 38:19crying.
- 38:22He says, I prefer sea sesame crackers.
- 38:25Guys, I think I figured something out. I'm almost
- 38:28100% sure that guard didn't do
- 38:30it. Almost, though.
- 38:33Almost mayor Wu, the male
- 38:36mayor doing everything we say.
- 38:37I mean, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't
- 38:40take a shell. Or maybe he's covering up by being
- 38:43too agreeable.
- 38:44It's a scale, sir.
- 38:45Chim and I point to the guard.
- 38:49Two other guys come running over and they start,
- 38:52like, uh, patting, uh, him down and stuff, and they
- 38:55take all his weapons off of him and such. And then one
- 38:58guy's like, oh, I know what I'm doing. And he reaches into the dude's
- 39:01fireflakes and then he just starts shoveling them into his
- 39:04mouth.
- 39:06Great job.
- 39:08I don't think it's them, but these are delicious.
- 39:11At least someone likes the fireflakes. So, guys,
- 39:14here's my idea, okay? What if we just took
- 39:17everyone on this list and just made them all come up here and then
- 39:19we just searched them all at once?
- 39:21But what if they don't have it on them and they just hit it somewhere
- 39:24else? That's ridiculous.
- 39:26You think they're just going to toss it behind some rock like
- 39:29it's some normal
- 39:32rock? I mean, we found the jet behind the,
- 39:35uh why?
- 39:38Who's to say that Mr.
- 39:41Squid Ink Hands over here. And I
- 39:44point at woo, very unapologetically. Mr. Squid Ink
- 39:47hands over here. Are you with an earshot? Is he with an
- 39:50earshot?
- 39:50Yeah, he's standing right next to you. She wants
- 39:53him to hear.
- 39:55Who's to say this guy didn't take it and
- 39:58put it in, like an ocean thing and that's why
- 40:01he had to run it with squid? That's why he's got black ink on his
- 40:04hands? Who's to say the scale is not in the ocean? Isn't
- 40:07an ocean or a pond or a lake? It's the ocean.
- 40:10It's the ocean.
- 40:11Who's to say he didn't put it in the ocean, had to run it
- 40:14with a squid? That's where the ink is on his hands from.
- 40:17Unless you can explain the ink.
- 40:19Oh, yes, I can, um,
- 40:22absolutely explain that for you.
- 40:24See, earlier, after, ah,
- 40:27I met with Mayor Ewan, secured the scales at
- 40:30the storage facility, I realized I
- 40:33had forgotten my scroll with the speech I
- 40:36had prepared for the unveiling ceremony. So
- 40:39I rushed back to my office and in the
- 40:41process of grabbing it, I knocked over
- 40:44my ink well, um, and spilled ink
- 40:47everywhere. That's
- 40:49how it got all over my hands.
- 40:52So you went and
- 40:54saw the shard, the scale,
- 40:57but then you frantically ran to your office
- 41:00during a huge event
- 41:03by yourself?
- 41:05Well, as I said, I had forgotten
- 41:07my speech scroll. Would you like, uh, to
- 41:10go and see the facility where the scales are stored?
- 41:13Perhaps that would offer an opportunity to
- 41:16find some clues to this mystery.
- 41:19Absolutely.
- 41:22And he turns around, he goes, well, then, follow
- 41:24me.
- 41:25Wait. May you is
- 41:28gone. Perhaps she has stolen it and is trying to hide
- 41:31it. Quick, guards, find Mayor Yu and
- 41:34bring her uh, to me promptly. I will be at the storage
- 41:37facility.
- 41:38With the detectives, and they all start
- 41:41to fan out.
- 41:42I think you took it.
- 41:44That's what he just said.
- 41:46Oh, that's a double meaning because I'm like, uh, yes.
- 41:49Is this guy's name Mayor Me?
- 41:52No. His is wu. He is Me, and I
- 41:54am oh, gosh, no.
- 41:56You did it.
- 41:58No, I didn't.
- 41:59I say, not you.
- 42:01You. What? We can do this
- 42:04bit all night. Yeah.
- 42:05Mr. Let's get to a boat as quick as possible.
- 42:08Great idea.
- 42:09All right, so he takes you guys over to a
- 42:12facility. It's a very basic
- 42:15stone hut. Um, it's
- 42:18a one floor. It's not very big.
- 42:22It's basically just a small storage
- 42:24facility. It has no
- 42:26windows. It just has one door.
- 42:29And it is an iron door with a lock,
- 42:33like a space for a key. Uh, you arrive
- 42:36there and you see Mayor Yu is standing
- 42:39there arguing with the
- 42:42guard that is standing there,
- 42:45and you can hear from a distance.
- 42:46She's saying you don't understand. I must
- 42:49get inside because I need to check on
- 42:52Quinchao Village's scale.
- 42:54Well, ma'am, as I heard, I think the scale's
- 42:57been stolen.
- 42:58Actually, no, the green scale
- 43:01has been stolen. I need to see inside
- 43:04and make sure that the red scale is
- 43:07still in there.
- 43:08Well, I don't know anything about a red scale,
- 43:10ma'am, but, uh, I
- 43:13can't let you in there. I'm on strict
- 43:16orders from Mayor Wu that, uh,
- 43:19nobody's supposed to go in there.
- 43:21And then at this point, this is when you guys arrive. And of
- 43:24course, Mayor Wu says,
- 43:26well.
- 43:28The criminal does return to the scene of
- 43:31the crime.
- 43:32If you must know, I came here to
- 43:35ensure the red scale is still
- 43:38safe, as your storage facility
- 43:40is obviously not as secure as you
- 43:43promised me.
- 43:45Then, of course, they start bickering, I.
- 43:46Guess, really get heated over the
- 43:49color of the scale.
- 43:52We got Mayor Wu here, and, uh,
- 43:55I'm sure he's allowed in his own office.
- 43:58So I think we're just going to go in and, uh,
- 44:01forgive me, I.
- 44:02Must not have been clear. This is
- 44:05not my office. This is simply the
- 44:08storage facility that we use to store
- 44:11the scales prior to the unveiling
- 44:14ceremony.
- 44:14Yeah, this has no windows. That'd be pretty sad if this was
- 44:17his office.
- 44:18It would keto's like, whoa, this
- 44:21is.
- 44:22Kind of like my office, almost, in a sense. I
- 44:25mean, I don't really go in there. I could
- 44:28I probably shouldn't say that I'm kind of incriminating
- 44:31myself.
- 44:32So, uh, who is allowed in there?
- 44:35Oh, who's allowed in? Uh, I mean,
- 44:38like, I mean, I'm allowed to go in there if I have a
- 44:41suspicion that maybe someone's inside.
- 44:44Uh, otherwise, Mayor Wu is allowed in
- 44:47there. Uh, Councilwoman Lynn is allowed
- 44:50in there. That's about it.
- 44:52So could we go in there with Mayor Wu
- 44:55to investigate?
- 44:56Mayor Wu's?
- 44:57Like, yes, of course. Please.
- 44:59Uh, Mr. Cato, if you'd be so kind
- 45:02as to allow us entrance to the facility.
- 45:05He opens the door, and you guys go inside.
- 45:08Uh, there's a number of just kind of boxes
- 45:11that are all nailed tight
- 45:13shut, uh, scattered across the room. Some of them have,
- 45:16like, big, heavy blankets over them. Some of them are just
- 45:19sitting there. Um, there's a couple of other just kind of random,
- 45:22obscure items sitting around
- 45:25that you might find in a storage facility. But then, right in the
- 45:28center of the entire room, there is a
- 45:30fancy stone pedestal. And on
- 45:33top of it, ah, there's nothing there. But you wonder
- 45:36if maybe there would be something there normally. Um,
- 45:38and Mayor Ah Wu walks over and he points
- 45:41at it and he says, yes.
- 45:43So, as you can see, atop this pedestal here
- 45:46is where we keep the scale in a glass case.
- 45:49Now, the facility is really where the security
- 45:52measures are focused. The glass case does not
- 45:55feature a lock. It's more there to keep the scale
- 45:58from getting dirty and such.
- 46:00Anyways, a white cloth normally sits on top
- 46:03of the glass case, and it is removed during the
- 46:06ceremony. If I'm being completely honest, I did
- 46:09not look under the cloth when I came here to get the
- 46:12glass case that I had assumed the scale was inside
- 46:14of. Obviously, that means
- 46:17that anytime between this morning and when I came to get the
- 46:20scale, it could have been stolen.
- 46:22Well, it's funny you should ask, Mr. Mayor, because I
- 46:25did actually kind of notice something at one
- 46:28point. Uh, I was making my rounds around the
- 46:31storage facility, as I do. I was on my,
- 46:34uh, 27th round, in fact. And,
- 46:37uh, all of a sudden, I heard some weird,
- 46:40jingling sound of some kind. Uh,
- 46:43but, uh, by the time I got over here, there was nothing
- 46:46there. But I did see something running over into the
- 46:48bushes just past right over there.
- 46:51And he kind of points off to the distance, not too far off, maybe
- 46:53like, 2020, 30ft.
- 46:57Uh, away from the storage facility?
- 47:00Yeah, right over there. And, uh, like I said, I
- 47:03don't know what it was, but he's just somebody
- 47:05wearing black, it looked like. Or maybe it was an
- 47:08animal or something that just shot, uh, past,
- 47:11like black fur or something. I don't know. But it didn't
- 47:14seem that big of a deal. I checked the door. Everything was
- 47:17still locked. No big deal.
- 47:19Interesting.
- 47:24That most definitely sounds
- 47:26like a clue.
- 47:28Let's take a look at this
- 47:31stone pedestal here. All right.
- 47:35Glow and approach it and look
- 47:38for any hidden panels,
- 47:40compartments, some
- 47:43stone trickery of any kind.
- 47:46Sure. Uh, I'm going to have you,
- 47:50uh, assess a situation.
- 47:52So does Keto not like to eat bread?
- 47:56Uh, it's actually keto.
- 47:59Oh, did I say keto? Well, I guess we're going with Keto.
- 48:02Said three times.
- 48:03All right, we're going with Keto.
- 48:05He's not a bread guy.
- 48:06He's not a bread guy.
- 48:07He's in ketosis.
- 48:09Those are right.
- 48:10That's a five. Those went right off the tip.
- 48:14Eight.
- 48:15An eight. All right, so with an eight, you're able to ask
- 48:18me one of those questions on the assess the
- 48:20situation, and you can kind of alter
- 48:23them as necessary to kind of fit what you're
- 48:26going for.
- 48:27Yeah. What's my
- 48:30best way into
- 48:33this pedestal?
- 48:34Okay, uh,
- 48:40you feel around the entire pedestal,
- 48:43you're looking for any obscure divots or
- 48:45anything, uh, sort of out of the
- 48:48ordinary. And you
- 48:50don't seem to find anything on the
- 48:53pedestal. But as you are
- 48:55checking sort of the bottom of the pedestal where it
- 48:58touches the ground, you do notice a couple of
- 49:01footprints, or rather
- 49:03boot prints seem to
- 49:06be both
- 49:09facing away and a set of the same
- 49:11boot prints that are facing towards
- 49:15let's say towards first, then away. I don't
- 49:17know, as far as you can tell.
- 49:21I analyze these boot
- 49:24prints. I, uh, put
- 49:27my hand next to it to compare the
- 49:29okay.
- 49:31Um, they seem to be fairly large boot
- 49:33prints. Probably, um, two of your
- 49:36hand worth. So fairly large
- 49:39feet.
- 49:40Hey, Keto, what size shoe you wear? Big gang.
- 49:43Oh, man, I just wear these.
- 49:45And he holds them up, and they're.
- 49:46Fairly large sized shoes.
- 49:48Would you mind stepping in these boot prints real quick?
- 49:50Sure.
- 49:51Sets his foot down.
- 49:52Oh, look at that. They're pretty darn close. Look at
- 49:55wow, that's cool. Who's are these?
- 49:58This guy?
- 49:59I don't know. He's great.
- 50:01Ah, yeah, I love him. They're his now he's definitely
- 50:04well, just one. I mean, if there's a whole trail of them, we can, uh
- 50:07you look.
- 50:08Down at Mayor Wu's feet, and you see that
- 50:11he's wearing some very light
- 50:13fabric shoes, which is a bit more
- 50:16common know, kind of higher society.
- 50:19Um, you can see footprints that match
- 50:22those, but these ones stand out as
- 50:25not his, so why would they be
- 50:28here?
- 50:29Okay. Someone that wasn't him or tree
- 50:32van.
- 50:32Correct.
- 50:34Got it. So it's not him. Uh, we got
- 50:37that reveal.
- 50:37Now you at least know that he wasn't the one wearing those shoes.
- 50:40But can we get Mary you in here?
- 50:44Yes. Hello. How can I
- 50:47help you?
- 50:48She peeks through the doorway. She was just kind of standing
- 50:50outside. She kind of rushes in. She pushes past
- 50:53you, and she pulls back another, uh,
- 50:56blanket over what looked like just another one
- 50:59of the crates. And sure enough, inside is
- 51:02a brilliant red.
- 51:06Here. Found it.
- 51:09Well, this is our scale. The
- 51:12red scale from Quinchao village.
- 51:15We were told to find a scale.
- 51:17Done. Give us our boat
- 51:20ride, Mayor.
- 51:23You m
- 51:25mayor Wu is like, wait.
- 51:27No, I need you to find
- 51:30the green scale. I don't
- 51:33give a crap about that red piece of
- 51:35junk.
- 51:36Excuse me?
- 51:38And then, of course, they start Bickling.
- 51:40You just met us today. You think we care?
- 51:42Yeah, that's true.
- 51:43You are here to find the green
- 51:46scale. That's the one that's missing.
- 51:49You got a whole security team.
- 51:51My guy.
- 51:51Uh, as I said before,
- 51:54I can't trust anyone here in the
- 51:57village. They're all suspects, and any
- 52:00one of them could be guilty.
- 52:02Uh, good boy. What's this?
- 52:04Good point.
- 52:07I said you should always follow his hunches.
- 52:11Shouldn't let it get him down that
- 52:14they didn't turn out out there.
- 52:18Uh, yeah. Very
- 52:20cryptic of you, guo. Uh,
- 52:23I think
- 52:26Bill's just kind of looking around the room. How
- 52:29many people are in here? Is it just you
- 52:32and it's wu?
- 52:33You and
- 52:36I and you guys.
- 52:37Wait. What kind of shoes does she wear?
- 52:40Does, uh, wu wear sorry, you
- 52:43wear yes.
- 52:44Why did I do this to myself?
- 52:48You wears, uh, fabric shoes as well.
- 52:51Very similar to woo's.
- 52:53Uh,
- 52:57do the shoe prints that were
- 52:59spotted, the heavyset ones,
- 53:03do they lead out the door?
- 53:05Yes.
- 53:06Do they lead towards that bush?
- 53:09Uh, you could rely on
- 53:12your skills and training to see if you can follow them.
- 53:20All right, so that
- 53:23would be a soft hit. So you are following
- 53:26these footprints, and as you followed them,
- 53:29you realize, uh, they do lead out towards the
- 53:31bush.
- 53:32Okay?
- 53:33And then you turn around to let everybody know
- 53:36the exciting news that you followed the footprints
- 53:39to the bush. And they're all
- 53:41staring at you with a sense of sort of
- 53:44shock and, uh,
- 53:47the audacity kind of a look. And you
- 53:50look down, you realize that you walked on the
- 53:53footprints as you were following them,
- 53:55and now they've all been stepped on.
- 53:59Everyone's got that look. Yeah, well, I don't know.
- 54:02I guess everyone's on the case. They've
- 54:05all cracked the case.
- 54:06Okay, well, it leads to the bush. Cool.
- 54:08I'm just going to go to the bush. I don't care. It's not like
- 54:11a crikey. Apparently, I control this
- 54:14town with this search
- 54:17case. I can just rest anyone, search anyone, do
- 54:20anything.
- 54:21I mean, you could say that you did step on the footprints, but I.
- 54:23Guess it costs you like I definitely did. Okay, I don't
- 54:26care.
- 54:27We know that keto's boots a pretty close
- 54:29match.
- 54:30Oh, yeah, that's true.
- 54:32Uh, wait a minute. What is
- 54:35mayor who wearing?
- 54:37Mayor you?
- 54:38No, mayor wu.
- 54:40Wu. Oh, yes. Mayor
- 54:42Wu is wearing a set
- 54:45of ceremonial
- 54:49fabric shoes. Yeah, the shoes he's asking
- 54:52for, like, the other clothes.
- 54:53Right.
- 54:54You said mayor yu was wearing all black
- 54:57earlier.
- 54:57That's true. Mayor Wu is wearing
- 55:00green, matching the color that
- 55:03he believes the correct scale is supposed to
- 55:06be. Uh, mayor you.
- 55:09What else?
- 55:09I really wish it was a blue scale. The
- 55:12casino would be mare
- 55:15woo.
- 55:18Mare woo mare shoe. Mare.
- 55:22Be doing some tongue twister.
- 55:38Uh,
- 55:50an animal, possibly.
- 55:53It is entirely possible it was a
- 55:56bear, a local bear running around
- 55:59stealing the scale.
- 56:01It could have been a coon cat
- 56:04bears. The other thing that you notice that mayor
- 56:07you, the female mayor, is wearing,
- 56:10is she has a number of pieces of jewelry.
- 56:13I mean, I guess I'm assuming you're looking around at everybody.
- 56:16Uh, she has a set of jewelry laden
- 56:19across herself.
- 56:21Sounded weird.
- 56:22Say it that way, but we're going to roll with it.
- 56:25Of, um, course. Wu
- 56:28has, uh, a set of many keys
- 56:31buckled to his belt that jingle as he
- 56:33walks.
- 56:37Jingle, jangle.
- 56:40Obviously the, uh, jewelry jingles as
- 56:43Mayor Yu walks.
- 56:45Jingle, jangle.
- 56:46The same jingle jangles that Keto
- 56:49heard.
- 56:50Is there anything in the bush?
- 56:52Uh, there is nothing that seems to be in the bush
- 56:54except the scale. The scale
- 56:57itself.
- 57:01There is a cloth
- 57:04inside that seems gosh, that
- 57:06seems to be smudged with some sort of black
- 57:09substance.
- 57:11Guys.
- 57:13Hooray.
- 57:16So, uh, just a cloth?
- 57:19It's not covering anything?
- 57:20No, it's a fairly large cloth.
- 57:23It's like, kind of sticking out or kind of almost
- 57:26draped across the back of this bush.
- 57:29Could I put my hands on the cloth to see if
- 57:32any black stuff residue leaves on
- 57:35my hands?
- 57:36Yeah, absolutely. Um, it does it's a little
- 57:39bit. It's not much. Um, most of it is
- 57:42dried into this cloth, whatever it seems to
- 57:44be the substance. But, um, yeah, there's a little bit that sticks to your
- 57:47hand.
- 57:49Could I compare that with Mayor Wu?
- 57:52Mr. Wu, if that is your real
- 57:54name.
- 57:55It is my real name. What do you
- 57:58want?
- 57:58Yeah, ah, I want to take you up on that
- 58:01handshake from a couple of hours ago.
- 58:03That is a strange request indeed, but
- 58:06as a politician, I would never withhold from
- 58:09one of my constituents my hand.
- 58:11For a shake, and he reaches out his hand.
- 58:13So I reach out my mirroring hand. So if it's his right
- 58:16hand, I reach out my left.
- 58:17Okay.
- 58:18I grab his wrist, and then I hold his hand up,
- 58:21and I hold my hand up and compare. How do
- 58:24the hands compare?
- 58:24Oh, it is a very similar,
- 58:27uh, uh, or visual or whatever you want.
- 58:30To call, uh, that.
- 58:31Mr. Mayor Wu.
- 58:34Martha May wu. Is that your wife's
- 58:36name?
- 58:37No.
- 58:38Live down in Wuville with all your other?
- 58:40No, I live in Chin Village.
- 58:43So, Mr. Wu, would you like to explain how the
- 58:46residue on my hand from this cloth matches your
- 58:49hands?
- 58:49The cloth. Oh, my.
- 58:50And he sees the cloth in your hand?
- 58:52That's the cloth we use to cover the glass case that holds the
- 58:55scale.
- 58:55What do we do with this information?
- 58:57Where did you find this?
- 58:59No, it was in this bush.
- 59:00Perhaps whoever stole the scale
- 59:03has black.
- 59:03Residue on their hands.
- 59:05Mr, now I can see where your
- 59:08mind is going and the conclusions you are making, but again,
- 59:11I assure you I was not the one that
- 59:13stole the scale.
- 59:15That's what they all say. I feel we need to see your
- 59:18office, mr. Wu.
- 59:20We'll meet the suspects in your office.
- 59:22Yeah, call them all there right now.
- 59:25That's an order.
- 59:27Okay.
- 59:27Uh, he turns to
- 59:31Cato and he.
- 59:31Says, cato, since the green scale is no longer
- 59:34here, your duty guarding this area is over.
- 59:37Your new order is to go and find these
- 59:40people.
- 59:40He just starts listing off a number of people.
- 59:42There is a scale in there.
- 59:44Well, I don't care about that
- 59:46phony piece of junk.
- 59:51Mayor Yu is inside, and she says, no, wait.
- 59:54You can't do this. You promised that
- 59:57my red scale would be safe. Who's going
- 1:00:00to protect it?
- 1:00:01Nope. I don't trust you, so I'm
- 1:00:04not leaving you here.
- 1:00:05Uh, but someone is going to steal my
- 1:00:08scale.
- 1:00:09We'll lock the
- 1:00:11door.
- 1:00:12Let's go to the, uh, office.
- 1:00:14All right, you head to the office. Uh,
- 1:00:18uh. They force Mayor Yu out of the storage
- 1:00:21room. They lock it with the key behind her.
- 1:00:23She's like, I swear, if the red
- 1:00:26scale is missing, when I come back, I
- 1:00:29will bring the full wrath of Quinchao
- 1:00:32Village down upon all of you.
- 1:00:34We'll be on a boat by then. We don't care.
- 1:00:36Then they lead everyone off
- 1:00:39towards, uh, the office, the
- 1:00:41Mayor Wu's office, where you will get to meet
- 1:00:44the rest of the suspects.
- 1:00:47Next time.
- 1:00:48Next time.
- 1:00:49Next time.
- 1:00:50We got this whole interrogation next.
- 1:00:52That's right, listening to the full
- 1:00:54interrogation
- 1:00:57search. Um, them.
- 1:00:59Um, and it's going to be done in no time. Uh, uh.
- 1:01:02There you go.
- 1:01:03All right, so be sure to come back next time for Benders and Brews,
- 1:01:06episode four, when we will hopefully reveal the results
- 1:01:09of this mystery.
- 1:01:13Thank you so much for listening to our show. Of course,
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