Latest / Theater of the Mindset / Ep. 18 - "He's Not the Anointed. I am." - Faith & Fortune

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Ep. 18 - "He's Not the Anointed. I am." - Faith & Fortune · Theater of the Mindset

• 0:00
  Justin (GM): Theater of the Mindset Theater of Mindset Theater Theater Theater of the Mindset
• 0:06
  Nick (Herry): Last week on Faith and Fortune, the gang went out for a wellness check on Harry's sister, Tella. The king called with a sending message and joined in on the quote unquote fun. After a short investigation, the team found king Asher's mother at the top of the lighthouse and interrogated sister Collingsworth, an obvious member of the custodian sanguis keeping Tella drugged and complacent. Asher and the team then made a daring escape and we meet them now in the woods just out of reach of the lighthouse and their salt and pepper eagles.
• 0:52
  Justin (GM): The three the four of you make your way to the hill. You do not have much time, but you have a significant gain on you have a significant gain on the individuals who may be chasing you. That being said, there are more salt feather eagles, and each of you have been seen well, going in. Not all of you have been seen going out. That might be the only thing in your favor.
• 1:22
  At least a majority of the people have a registry of you going in and not going out. Just that one guard that Glenn punched is really aware of Sara and Harry's exit. Luke, in
• 1:34
  Steve (Luken): your whole other story, everyone knows you left. But they think I'm John Robinson.
• 1:39
  Justin (GM): They do think you're John Robinson. Not to be confused with Glenn
• 1:42
  Nick (Herry): Robinson. That was a success.
• 1:43
  Steve (Luken): Glenn Robinson er. Glenn Robinson er.
• 1:48
  Nick (Herry): Not to be a complete turd as well, but the runic lock is there and someone with magic, once they start tinkering with it, they have an hour to tinker with it until it breaks. Okay. So at least like, if they're like trying to get into that room to figure out what the fuck happened, that does buy us a little time. I think Harry's going to go up to Bram and be like Bram and B, just say, I actually need you to do one more wacky thing.
• 2:13
  Justin (GM): Okay.
• 2:14
  Nick (Herry): You and the boys are gonna and I say boys as a gender neutral statement, you
• 2:20
  Justin (GM): know. Understood.
• 2:21
  Nick (Herry): The boys are back in town, that kind of thing.
• 2:23
  Justin (GM): From their long vacation.
• 2:24
  Nick (Herry): 100%. And so I want you guys to ride that away and go get boogie and fast and get back to town. Get back to the rest of the platoon. Okay.
• 2:37
  Justin (GM): Alright? Alright. We can do that. Got speed. They all he gives out that order and they all tear off.
• 2:45
  Some of them share a horse and they put up, like, proxies on the backs of others. So it looks like there are a full count of people present
• 2:57
  Nick (Herry): Hell, yeah.
• 2:58
  Justin (GM): Giving a little bit of a credence to the idea that that's the full party. Yep. You approach the hill that he designated earlier and going behind it, so that it is a little bit more guarded against the view of the lighthouse, you see Asher, his back turned to you, kind of kneeling over his mother, in the shadow of a large tree. He looks deep, deeply focused. First thing I want to do
• 3:28
  Steve (Luken): is find us a place to hide. I have Slyborn. The ability that comes with Slyborn is scoundrel. You have advantage on roles to negotiate with criminals, detect lies, or find a safe place to hide. Could I use that in these woods to buy us some more time before any search party would, like, come find us, such that, like, there are parts of woods that are easier to see into than others?
• 3:55
  Justin (GM): Yep. Okay. Go ahead and roll for that.
• 3:57
  Steve (Luken): I'm gonna say that's instinct.
• 3:59
  Justin (GM): Yes. I think it's instinct.
• 4:03
  Steve (Luken): I am going to use one of my prayer dice to add two to that, which puts me at 12 with hope. Okay.
• 4:10
  Justin (GM): I think that's a success with hope. You managed to find a number, like a little cups of trees that would provide you definitely aerial protection and is far enough off the road that they would have to be intentionally searching this area in order to to discover you. Not saying that they wouldn't do that. You didn't succeed with flying colors. You did succeed with hope, though.
• 4:35
  So, yep, I think that's a pretty good spot for you.
• 4:37
  Steve (Luken): So I say to the group, hey, you know, those those eagles, we probably wanna make sure we have top cover because they're gonna use those to be looking for us. Can we move, you know, a little further into the woods, make sure we're as secluded as we can be here?
• 4:51
  Nick (Herry): No. Asher, do you mind if we move?
• 4:54
  Justin (GM): As you approach Asher, you get close and realize that that is an illusion. He got us.
• 5:02
  Nick (Herry): Damn it. Just Asher?
• 5:05
  Justin (GM): Asher and the his mom's figure on the ground are both illusions. And you hear a stick crack behind you and turn, and Asher has his hand extended towards you and says, explain to me exactly what's going on right now. How did you know my mother was unwell? Who what is going on? The three of you explain yourselves now.
• 5:34
  Shelby (Sahra): Harry, I feel like I don't know. I feel like you should explain.
• 5:39
  Nick (Herry): That feels unfair, but okay.
• 5:41
  Shelby (Sahra): No. Just because you're family. I don't know.
• 5:44
  Nick (Herry): The cult of metamorphosis is not the full depth of what's going on right now.
• 5:48
  Justin (GM): What does the cult of metamorphosis have to do with the state of my mother? She was being guarded by daughters of Ursinda. I don't
• 5:54
  Nick (Herry): Because the daughters of Ursinda are involved with something called something called the Custodia Sangwus.
• 6:00
  Justin (GM): Okay. What and who are they? What does this have to
• 6:05
  Nick (Herry): do with me and my mom? The custodious anguish believes that the prophecies regarding the incarnate king refer to a bloodline and not to the incarnation. And so And so, a group of them, we as far as we've been able to find, with the help of professor Tallulah and a few others, that there seemed to be some efforts starting with Esau to create their own incarnate kings and place them on.
• 6:39
  Justin (GM): Create their own incarnate kings, like other people being reborn?
• 6:44
  Nick (Herry): Not reborn, but with the with the powers and potentially removing who would be reborn to create more powerful sorcerers. I don't understand.
• 6:56
  Justin (GM): What are you what are you saying? There are people who are who are who have a different interpretation of the prophecy. And what does this have to
• 7:08
  Nick (Herry): And are acting on it. What I'm saying is there might very well be, and we have reason to believe, that you are not the reincarnated king, but you are a part of this, and that there's another reincarnated king still out and about. What? Harry? We've hey.
• 7:29
  You you said right now you wanna know. We have more information back in the city. My mom has your grandmother has a whole set of information. She's been pouring over it. We've been gathering information.
• 7:43
  That's what we were going to talk to you today about.
• 7:45
  Shelby (Sahra): I'm sorry. Gonna kinda grab on to his arm in like a comforting way. Be like, Ash, I know that this is a lot to take in right now, but you have to believe us. Okay? I've I've seen it and you're not the incarnate king.
• 8:07
  Justin (GM): Give me a both of you, give me a presence role. The DC's 25.
• 8:23
  Nick (Herry): Oh, I got an 18.
• 8:24
  Justin (GM): Failure with hope.
• 8:27
  Shelby (Sahra): Okay. I I failed, but I'm gonna spend 3 Hope and use witch's charm to change into a success with fear.
• 8:40
  Justin (GM): What witch's charm do you have to make yourself be more believable right now?
• 8:46
  Shelby (Sahra): The hand that is touching his arm kind of sends a pulse of electricity that mostly just conveys desperation but honesty. And I think that he can sense that because I'm so desperate, I'm not like, the he can sense that the desperation is desperation to be heard the truth, not a desperation to convince.
• 9:23
  Justin (GM): He kind of shrugs his arm his shoulder off of of your connection and says, sarge, stop. Just everyone stop. Okay. There is I I remember. I know things.
• 9:40
  Yeah. How how can that be true if I'm not the incarnate king?
• 9:46
  Nick (Herry): That's what we'd like to know, to be honest with you. We I that's a question I asked this morning is Asher would have memories of this if it's the case. I don't know what your memories from Esau are. We believe Esau was a twin.
• 9:58
  Justin (GM): A twin of Of the real incarnate king. And these custodious sanguis people
• 10:05
  Nick (Herry): Took took the actual reincarnated.
• 10:10
  Justin (GM): That would mean every action that Esau took was illegal. Yeah. He's not capable of making those decisions. The betrayal of the Ur Nation. Yeah.
• 10:25
  Yeah. Making camps and an education system for adventures, a widely unpopular move. All of those decisions that he made were illegal. Yes. And, Lucan, you just believe all of this too?
• 10:45
  Steve (Luken): I don't want to. But with everything we've seen, with with what's going on in the Church of Boz, it's too much to ignore. And right now, it feels like it's just the three of us trying to unravel this. And I don't know if we're enough on our own. And we have so many questions we still need answers to.
• 11:10
  But broad strokes, what they're saying is the truth.
• 11:21
  Justin (GM): This is too much.
• 11:24
  Shelby (Sahra): I know.
• 11:24
  Justin (GM): Yeah. Yeah, it is. I if everything that he, Esau did, that I that Esau did was illegal, then everything I do is illegal.
• 11:43
  Shelby (Sahra): Asher, you can't think that way. You're not
• 11:45
  Justin (GM): Is that not the point of what you're telling me? Is that I am not the incarnate king theoretically?
• 11:49
  Shelby (Sahra): But that's not your fault that you didn't know.
• 11:52
  Justin (GM): Well, no shit.
• 11:54
  Shelby (Sahra): Asher, this is this is me.
• 11:58
  Justin (GM): I I thought I knew who you Are you who you say?
• 12:03
  Shelby (Sahra): Asher, think about it. Think about it.
• 12:05
  Justin (GM): You think about it.
• 12:06
  Shelby (Sahra): I have been thinking about it.
• 12:08
  Justin (GM): You're telling me that a cult has somehow captured the reincarnated soul and has somehow also created me? That's that's your sales pitch right now?
• 12:28
  Steve (Luken): We're not selling you anything. Do you think do you think we wanted to be telling you this?
• 12:33
  Justin (GM): How long have you suspected this?
• 12:35
  Nick (Herry): We were set down this path at Sharnwick three weeks ago, and we've been trying to hunt it down.
• 12:41
  Justin (GM): Sharnwick, I don't And at this, his mother coughs a little bit. He attention immediately goes to her. I I need to attend to my mother.
• 12:59
  Steve (Luken): Atra, can can I help?
• 13:01
  Justin (GM): I won't No. I think Okay. All of you have done enough help. Thank you. It is very likely that I owe my mother's life to all of you.
• 13:15
  That does not go unnoticed. I need to go. I need to handle this. I should
• 13:23
  Shelby (Sahra): please, please. Please what? Let us help you.
• 13:28
  Justin (GM): How?
• 13:29
  Shelby (Sahra): Any way that we can. But you're not gonna be able to handle this alone, just like we aren't gonna be able We need I each
• 13:35
  Justin (GM): can handle this. And when he says that the air around you for a brief second is filled with latticework, the thin wire lines of his magic encompasses every inch of you, the space between you all, the air around you. And you get the sense that he could, at the mere thought, pull on that latticework and do some significant magic. And I'm gonna use a fear to do that. I can handle this.
• 14:14
  Whatever the fuck I am, it's goddamn capable. I'm taking my mother back. I will summon you when I am ready to speak to you. You will answer, because as of right now, I am the goddamn king. And for now, that is undisputed.
• 14:35
  Do you understand? Agreed. Turns around, picks up his mother, and I need all of you to make a strength reaction roll.
• 14:55
  Nick (Herry): What if I have to crit?
• 14:58
  Justin (GM): You have to beat an 18.
• 15:00
  Shelby (Sahra): I do not. Sure didn't.
• 15:02
  Steve (Luken): You critically succeed. So you do.
• 15:10
  Justin (GM): Sara and Lucan, you are ripped off of your feet as he folds reality to teleport. He is skipping Rysinium. This is not a spell that he learned at his time at Venator University. By his will alone, he is teleporting away. And that ripple effect, you both take 16 damage.
• 15:34
  Harry, you are able to catch yourself in this moment.
• 15:39
  Nick (Herry): You've Low center of gravity. Maybe seen him Yeah.
• 15:42
  Justin (GM): Throw a tantrum before Yeah. A 100%. And maybe not rip a hole in reality to teleport, but you've seen him Mhmm. Act rashly as a child.
• 15:54
  Nick (Herry): Harry wasn't surprised by a blow up.
• 15:57
  Justin (GM): And they are gone.
• 16:02
  Nick (Herry): Well, head back to town.
• 16:05
  Steve (Luken): Seems like the only only thing to do at this point.
• 16:08
  Shelby (Sahra): I need to go I need to talk to the people at the soup kitchen, because I might have a lead on where the incarnate king is. Do you wanna help me find him? Find her?
• 16:25
  Steve (Luken): Sure. Absolutely. You
• 16:28
  Justin (GM): make your way back to Rysinium City. The ride is very different from the ride out here. Getting back to the city, I'm going to use I don't have enough fear. Finally. You all make your way into the city, and you saw this before, Sara.
• 16:53
  You saw the butterfly graffiti in the comments. It is now appearing elsewhere in the city. Just a simple butterfly shape on doors, on walls, on the streets, and the feeling within Residium City continues to feel edgier. It is early evening. The sun is beginning to set, and the streets are not as filled as they should be.
• 17:28
  People are nervous, and that nervous is keeping them at home. You are all able to get to any destinations you may have very easily at this point.
• 17:40
  Shelby (Sahra): I wanna head straight to the soup kitchen.
• 17:44
  Steve (Luken): I think we're at least I'm going with you. Right? Like, this is not a you wanna do a solo thing.
• 17:48
  Shelby (Sahra): Right. Right.
• 17:48
  Steve (Luken): Okay. Yeah. I'm I'm joining in for that.
• 17:50
  Justin (GM): Okay? Harry, you also gonna be there?
• 17:53
  Nick (Herry): Harry's gonna go nearby. He's gonna stay close by, but I don't think Harry's appearance everywhere is good, if that makes sense. Mhmm. I don't think Harry legitimizes you to these folks. In a way.
• 18:08
  And so I think Harry will actually go to a local bar.
• 18:11
  Shelby (Sahra): Great.
• 18:12
  Steve (Luken): Because we I went to the soup kitchen with you once Mhmm. Earlier on. So it's not like Mhmm. Yeah. I I think Yes.
• 18:18
  This is
• 18:18
  Justin (GM): fun. The soup kitchen is again fairly empty. You go to the back room, and Vivian is there with Aggie, and they are packing up.
• 18:31
  Shelby (Sahra): Where are you guys going? What's going on?
• 18:34
  Justin (GM): Oh, dear. We have to go into hiding.
• 18:37
  Shelby (Sahra): What are you talking about?
• 18:39
  Justin (GM): You told us yourselves that they they're aware of us. Don't worry. We are still here with you. We're on your side. We just can't remain here any longer.
• 18:52
  Shelby (Sahra): Have you found anything?
• 18:55
  Justin (GM): I'm going to write down the DC. You have to assign you have to assign the resources from those roles to what you want it to be. Does that make sense?
• 19:05
  Shelby (Sahra): Uh-huh.
• 19:07
  Justin (GM): So you roll those dice. Yeah. What are you assigning to this role?
• 19:19
  Nick (Herry): Do ten
• 19:21
  Shelby (Sahra): and seven. So 17.
• 19:24
  Justin (GM): Okay. And you can only succeed with hope and fail with fear on this. The DC to find the location is a 16.
• 19:35
  Shelby (Sahra): Glad I chose a seven instead of a four.
• 19:39
  Justin (GM): They slide you a map Deep in the Greater Basin, north of the lighthouse by almost a full day's ride, is a location marked as Tonale's Gate. It's along the Merchants Road and the Low Hills Road it connects them to. It is rarely utilized by anyone outside of farming communities. It is prone to being a little bit more unsafe. Getting that far out, you run into less frequent outposts, and so it's not uncommon for there to be some bandits.
• 20:22
  But Tonale's Gate kind of serves as this way post. You would not want to stop on the road out here. This is a get inside of a like, it's some type of civilized area, be it five or six houses with a small gate on the outside, this is type of that type of town. This is a way stop for travelers who are going somewhere much farther away. Whatever is there clouded our vision.
• 20:58
  But every spell we cast pointed us at that spot.
• 21:05
  Shelby (Sahra): This is so strange. I wonder why they would hide her here, unless they're planning on transporting.
• 21:15
  Justin (GM): It's out of the way. No one's going there that they can't control for.
• 21:22
  Shelby (Sahra): Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anything that you need from me? Is there
• 21:31
  Steve (Luken): We
• 21:31
  Justin (GM): are going to move locations Yeah. And put ourselves in a better position to assist you. She hands you an address. You can meet us here. Burn this after you've memorized the location, and that's where we will be.
• 21:56
  Call on us if you need assistance. Again, whatever was happening there is highly guarded.
• 22:05
  Shelby (Sahra): Okay. Thank you. I'll be in touch.
• 22:09
  Justin (GM): Be safe.
• 22:10
  Shelby (Sahra): You too.
• 22:11
  Steve (Luken): Let's go to you, Lucan. Yeah. The thing I'm going to do is I'm going to fly towards the House Of Fortune. I presume Archon Felix is being held near the top of it.
• 22:24
  Justin (GM): Mhmm.
• 22:25
  Steve (Luken): And I'm going to do what I can to fly up there undetected.
• 22:28
  Justin (GM): Okay.
• 22:29
  Steve (Luken): And I would like to spend two hope to spread false information.
• 22:34
  Justin (GM): Yes.
• 22:34
  Steve (Luken): I would like to spread some true information.
• 22:36
  Justin (GM): That's fine.
• 22:36
  Steve (Luken): Is that okay? Yeah. This time I am going to start a rumor and not accidentally say Yeah. Yeah. Learn something new.
• 22:43
  I fly up and I knock on Archon Felix's window using the same, like, code knock that his, like, messenger birds typically
• 22:51
  Justin (GM): Okay.
• 22:51
  Steve (Luken): Have used in the past Yeah. To get him to show up and
• 22:57
  Justin (GM): talk to me. First, give me a finesse roll to see how well you stay hidden. You have disadvantage because you're flying in the air. Oof. And I'm gonna say the DC is 15.
• 23:11
  Steve (Luken): Oh, boy. This is gonna be a rough one. Because this is a risky maneuver, can I spend a hope to do nothing ventured, nothing gained that experience? Okay. So I got plus three.
• 23:24
  Oh, shit. The disadvantages kinda fucked me here.
• 23:29
  Justin (GM): As disadvantages want to do. So I have
• 23:32
  Steve (Luken): fifteen nine plus three is 12. What'd you say the DC was? Higher than that. I can do more things. 15.
• 23:42
  Do I have a rally die? Did you give them out this time? Mhmm. We're gonna use my rally die.
• 23:47
  Justin (GM): You need to get a two or higher? Three or higher?
• 23:50
  Steve (Luken): Two or higher.
• 23:50
  Justin (GM): Yeah. Okay.
• 23:51
  Steve (Luken): On the dot of three. Three on the on the money. Okay. It is still a success with fear. Yes.
• 23:57
  So, you know, take heart.
• 23:59
  Shelby (Sahra): There we go.
• 24:00
  Justin (GM): You wrap on the window. You get up there. You time it well. To the best of your knowledge, no one sees you. And the window opens.
• 24:12
  Inside, I'm spending a
• 24:14
  Steve (Luken): fear yeah.
• 24:16
  Justin (GM): Is not archon Felix. Wearing the vestments of the archon is Erica Reinhold. Well, look what look what stray bird we found. Please, come in Prelit. I can't stay.
• 24:32
  Steve (Luken): I'm sorry. Oh, I'm just here with a message.
• 24:35
  Justin (GM): I think you very much can stay. And she gives you this look of, like, if you disobey me, there there are no other options. She does not expect to be disobeyed.
• 24:48
  Steve (Luken): I All I'm going to do, and I mean, you do with what you want with this, is I pull down my armor to show my anointed mark. This is what I'm using my to hope to start a rumor on. Okay. Or is that what it is? Yeah.
• 25:03
  Start a rumor about an antagonistic NPC. Okay. I am starting a rumor by displaying this mark. Yep. Isarn is a fraud.
• 25:14
  He's not the anointed. I am. And I'm flying away as soon as I say that.
• 25:20
  Justin (GM): I'm going to spend my last fear. She is going to cast a spell on you as you begin to fly away, and you hear her recanting the spell as she is going to try and clip your wings as you are flying away. I'm going to attack. She has a plus four with her knowledge. I'm gonna I don't have a sphere an additional sphere to spend, so I don't get to use her experience.
• 25:55
  I'm trying to beat a what?
• 25:57
  Steve (Luken): My evasion is 11. You're gonna roll a disadvantage. I'm going to mark an armor slot.
• 26:00
  Justin (GM): Okay. She has plus four, so the lowest just ends up to be a seven or higher. My lowest is a 13. She's going to deal two d 10 damage.
• 26:14
  Steve (Luken): Okay.
• 26:15
  Justin (GM): She deals 15 No. Sorry. Yeah. No. She's 12 magic damage.
• 26:23
  Steve (Luken): 12 magic? 12 that's one HP for me.
• 26:26
  Justin (GM): And you feel the muscles in your back tense up. You are able to land softly in this moment and get away. But she has like effectively clipped your wings and using them will require I think the cost is normally a stress if you're flying with someone.
• 26:53
  Steve (Luken): Sure. Yeah.
• 26:53
  Justin (GM): Yeah. Yeah. Now, is a stress to fly.
• 26:55
  Steve (Luken): Just to fly at
• 26:56
  Justin (GM): all. And too stress to carry someone. 100%. Yep. As she has like, as the only person who's above you and stands between you and Baaz clipped your wings.
• 27:08
  I want to be very particular here. You showed her the mark and said, Isarn is not the Avatar. Anointed. Anointed. I am.
• 27:20
  Isarn is claiming to be the anointed of change. You are claiming to be the anointed of change.
• 27:26
  Steve (Luken): I said what I said. Okay. I'm starting a rumor.
• 27:28
  Justin (GM): Yep. Like Yep. I Great.
• 27:31
  Nick (Herry): Is there any mechanic to fix that? Like, can clear hit points and stuff.
• 27:36
  Steve (Luken): Oh, fix the wing clip. Yeah.
• 27:38
  Justin (GM): Oh, I think a your condition will clear over time. That's fine.
• 27:47
  Steve (Luken): Yeah. And to be what I am trying to do in terms of starting this rumor is erode at Isarn, which Erica doesn't like Isarn Correct. So, my view, it was still safe to make that explanation
• 27:59
  Justin (GM): Yep. To her
• 28:00
  Steve (Luken): Yep. Because she will use it as a cudgel against Isarn. Yep. And essentially, enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of deal. Yep.
• 28:07
  Like, I just need to start chipping away at Isarn's essentially unquestioned power base
• 28:13
  Justin (GM): Yes.
• 28:13
  Steve (Luken): On what we'll call what the revolution, the cult, whatever we wanna call it. Mhmm. Also, ow. Yeah. After I land, I'm going to make my way back towards the crew here.
• 28:26
  I'm going to do it as off the beaten sidewalks as I can in my current state.
• 28:32
  Justin (GM): Sounds good. Harry, you're in a bar?
• 28:35
  Nick (Herry): Harry's in a bar. I'd like to actually work some of this out a little bit. I have two things that I might wanna do. Okay. Or two options I should say.
• 28:43
  I've got hope to burn and so I'm trying to decide if I use one of these actions to use your knowledge of the city and your connections to its inhabitants to make the target less likely to succeed. So basically just whatever the next n p c is going to do give a disadvantage. Because there's nothing like happening at this moment but there's always something happening. Or step into view, spend to hope, to bring a truth to light or aid an ally, and this is kind of a stretch on this, but I wouldn't mind writing a letter to Asher, and I would read that here to basically like yeah. I don't know.
• 29:23
  I don't know what that specifically would do. Mhmm. Besides like aid
• 29:27
  Justin (GM): him. Let's do
• 29:31
  Nick (Herry): I'm up to do either.
• 29:32
  Justin (GM): Yeah. You have to pick a target for the spreader rumor.
• 29:38
  Nick (Herry): It's not spreader rumor. Jean Josey to any connections to the habits to make the target less likely to succeed. There's nothing that's not the rumor one. Oh. Sorry.
• 29:47
  The rumor won't spread false information. This is target though. Okay. We basically know I would just make it about Mother Demeris because that's our most current like issue and we just Yeah. Did a jailbreak.
• 30:03
  They're about to come for us. So I think I would work through that.
• 30:07
  Justin (GM): So you are doing to bring light or sorry.
• 30:10
  Nick (Herry): Force of will. Okay. To use your knowledge of the city and your connections to its inhabitants to make the target less likely to succeed. So Harry is in this bar rubbing shoulder rubbing elbows with all of these people
• 30:24
  Justin (GM): Mhmm.
• 30:24
  Nick (Herry): And is gonna call the platoon over to the guard and just get the neighborhood having that brotherly love, having this like, oh, this city is good and just sort of build that connection of not anything specific like, we have this we have I have a specific point to make here, but a it's gonna be harder to break these people apart now. It's gonna be harder to pick this some of these people off into this cult. Yeah. Or maybe yeah. Just like then that's like the disadvantage of Yeah.
• 31:01
  Mother Daenerys as she announces whatever she's gonna announce Yeah. Tonight, tomorrow about what happened and make it a little harder for that to connect with people.
• 31:10
  Justin (GM): Great. Go ahead and spend those two, Hope. Yep. Unsurprising, as the hours begin to pass, rumors about something happening at the the lighthouse begin to circulate. And there's a lot of confusion about what happened.
• 31:31
  A lot of people, it doesn't seem to be sticking as well here. So I'm gonna roll for Mother Demerish. She has disadvantage. What is the Rysinium City is currently at thirteen.
• 31:45
  Nick (Herry): Thirteen. And can I also spend Could I have given up didn't I hadn't read this that well? Could I have given up my last crit, hope and stress that I got to do I get to up that or do I just get to drop it for us? You wanna drop it. Yeah.
• 31:59
  Okay. Cool. So I can't make it any harder for her besides the disadvantage. Yeah. That's cool.
• 32:05
  Justin (GM): Alright. She will fail on this venture. Goddamn right. The rumors that you hear are that that people left the lighthouse essentially, like, against medical orders, and that any other specifics just kinda get chalked away as rumors. And it's just someone left, they made a big scene, it happens from time to time.
• 32:31
  There's always someone who is who can't see the good in people Mhmm. And assume that medical professionals are trying to hurt them
• 32:41
  Nick (Herry): Yeah.
• 32:42
  Justin (GM): As opposed to help them. It's it's scary when things get tense and you're sick. Mhmm. And so sometimes people react poorly in that scenario.
• 32:50
  Nick (Herry): Love it.
• 32:51
  Justin (GM): But your desire to keep the vein of human good present keeps that rumor from turning sour.
• 33:01
  Nick (Herry): Love it. How does the heartbeat of the city work? Because it says we can bypass the gaining hope and clearing a stress. That's not referring to crit. It's just any time either of those things happen.
• 33:14
  Justin (GM): That is referring to a crit.
• 33:15
  Nick (Herry): So we can only change the difficulty if we crit.
• 33:17
  Justin (GM): Yeah. I forgot to write. A PC can quote forgo the gain a hope and clearing a stress of a crit to instead We can only do that? Yep. Okay.
• 33:26
  Steve (Luken): So it could read, on crit, a PC can forego. Correct.
• 33:29
  Justin (GM): It lowers I will keep the 13 for myself. Yeah. I have to kind of double duty on the the difficulty of Resinium City, but it will lower for you all.
• 33:38
  Nick (Herry): Cool. Could I would you let me retroactively do that?
• 33:41
  Justin (GM): Yeah. If you wanna put it back.
• 33:42
  Nick (Herry): So it's down to what? 12?
• 33:44
  Steve (Luken): And that's like, per minute? Yeah.
• 33:48
  Justin (GM): The three of you meet up in this bar now, having kind of gone off and done these brief things on your own.
• 33:56
  Steve (Luken): Maybe you should just let me have my wings.
• 34:01
  Nick (Herry): What's what's the word, guys?
• 34:02
  Shelby (Sahra): I was able to get the location of where the true incarnate king is. Now, here's the question, what do we do about that? Because if we run into this person, they're probably gonna be unstable, they're probably gonna be heavily guarded.
• 34:20
  Nick (Herry): Who who are they with? That I don't know. Okay. Where where is this place?
• 34:25
  Shelby (Sahra): It's just north of the lighthouse, but it's in like a really nondescript, just like small trail road kind of basically.
• 34:37
  Nick (Herry): Could I use my Lord Born, well read advantage on roles that involve the history, culture, politics of a person or place? Yep. Just to like, what do I know about the place Yep. That she's at that if I could glean like, why are they there? 17 with fear.
• 34:56
  Senator
• 34:57
  Justin (GM): Gen three Drummonds is the kind of senator of Tonale's Gate and that area representing those individuals. He's a member of the Circle of Glass, so literally has, like, no strong allies, a pretty weak overall senator. Tonale's Tonale's Gate is itself pretty unremarkable. It because the senator represent it and several other surrounding communities, it's kind of one of those, yeah, we don't really need. We don't identify as Venetharan.
• 35:29
  We identify as country folk and have our own allegiances and our own views. And by and large, if you leave us alone, we'll leave you alone. It is also unless you are going to looking for a shortcut on a well established road, you're unlikely to go to Tenali's Gate. Only people in a hurry are going to take the bypass between the Low Hills Road and the Merchants Road. So it's out of the way.
• 36:01
  It's most from your perspective, it's most remarkable thing is how easy it is to just ride underneath the radar.
• 36:10
  Nick (Herry): That's that's no Mains' Lane. There's but that I mean, that I have to assume then everyone involved, everyone the senator up there has to be a part of this. They can't not know.
• 36:22
  Shelby (Sahra): I mean, based on what we've been finding out, seems like everybody's part of it.
• 36:25
  Nick (Herry): Yeah. I'm I understand the the desire to get to the bottom of finding this person, but what what then? What's the what's the hope? What what hope do you have when you get there?
• 36:38
  Shelby (Sahra): I mean, I don't know. I've been that we're talking about like a nuclear weapon that they're holding. Right? We're talking about we're talking about the custodian sanguis holding a weapon of mass destruction. But on the other side of that, there is a person.
• 36:54
  I don't know. I mean, if everything is out of balance, maybe this is the way to restore balance. I don't know.
• 37:02
  Nick (Herry): Yeah. Don't I don't even put you on the spot. I just I'm we're if we're walking into a nuclear weapon, does is releasing it to the world better or are to our custody? Are we I mean, in any way, I don't feel confident in taking this person anywhere and we don't know the stability. I'm not saying we shouldn't go, I'm just I This I need a plan.
• 37:23
  Shelby (Sahra): Might sound crazy. Okay. Bear with me here. Okay. Say we find a way to read the dreams.
• 37:36
  Say we find a way to figure out who the next incarnate king is going to be, dot dot dot
• 37:48
  Nick (Herry): Are you wanting to become the next custodian sanguine?
• 37:50
  Shelby (Sahra): No. I'm not. But I'm
• 37:52
  Nick (Herry): I guess I don't understand. Yeah. Like, what's
• 37:54
  Shelby (Sahra): Well, clearly, like, if if she is completely unstable and completely, like, not recognizable as a person
• 38:03
  Nick (Herry): Yeah.
• 38:03
  Shelby (Sahra): Maybe yeah. We can't put her in charge but then I don't know. Is is is the goal to restore it back to what it should be?
• 38:17
  Nick (Herry): Not for me necessarily. I don't know that I believe in any capacity that a king having full power because of its lineage or its blood or its reincarnated nature offers us anything. I would love personally we haven't talked I mean, we haven't talked about this but I I you guys know that I would love for the senate to be an egalitarian form of government, primary form of government. So if that means there's a king that's more of a figurehead, I don't know. But I I don't I don't see at this point, we've not had the incarnated king.
• 38:54
  An actor has been perfectly lovely king. Yeah. So I don't know what benefit this new king gets us.
• 39:00
  Shelby (Sahra): Well, we certainly can't just have her out there on her own.
• 39:06
  Nick (Herry): And so we're assuming that she's still under the control of Custodia. So regardless, we have to deal with Custodia Sanguis.
• 39:13
  Steve (Luken): Yes. And as long as the Custodia Sanguis has her, they can just keep making more Ishorns. They can just keep making more Ashers. We Doesn't seem like we have a lot of leads right now, but the one we do have, one way or another, we gotta take we we gotta cut them out at the knees by taking away their ability to just propagate what they're doing.
• 39:40
  Shelby (Sahra): We've got two main sources of faith that they are pulling from. They're pulling from all of the children that are being born, and they're also pulling from the true incarnate king. Yep. So they've got two massive ways to produce faith and distribute it?
• 40:03
  Nick (Herry): As well as a huge stockpile of it. Yeah. Which seems like the more ticking time bomb to me. There is a large amount of magical resource that I mean, we were attacked with earlier obviously. And so I I'm all for getting to the bottom and finding them out, but are we in a place to start smoking them out and facing them head on?
• 40:24
  Or do we need to figure out where this faith is and how do we
• 40:28
  Shelby (Sahra): Yeah. It feels like we need to neutralize the faith before we can do anything else because the three of us alone are not gonna be able to take down this entire system.
• 40:37
  Nick (Herry): And so we need we probably need Asher. Yeah. We need my platoon. I'd and I we could use your folks. Yeah.
• 40:45
  Sorry. So I think there's some organizing that needs done and I don't know Yeah.
• 40:52
  Shelby (Sahra): So I need to talk to Vivian and see if there's a way of neutralizing this magic in some way.
• 41:02
  Nick (Herry): That would be the hope or I mean we gotta go get it. We have to figure out a way to release it. I mean, look and there's got there's gotta be a way Right? To release Release it to the gods.
• 41:11
  Steve (Luken): It's owed to the gods.
• 41:12
  Nick (Herry): It's owed to the gods. That's where it was going originally. They just grabbed it. So if there's some mechanism, some ritual, some something, I don't know I don't know a goddamn thing about it.
• 41:23
  Steve (Luken): Would I know anything along those lines?
• 41:24
  Nick (Herry): Give me
• 41:25
  Justin (GM): I'll check.
• 41:25
  Steve (Luken): That's what
• 41:26
  Justin (GM): I'm yeah.
• 41:26
  Nick (Herry): I don't know shit
• 41:27
  Steve (Luken): about fuck is the problem. I don't know. It's a it's a seven with hope. Well, if you really wish you
• 41:36
  Justin (GM): had maybe done a few more rituals in your time
• 41:40
  Steve (Luken): I was taking flying lessons. Sender.
• 41:43
  Shelby (Sahra): Shit about fuck.
• 41:44
  Justin (GM): It would have been great. Whatever it is, if it is released, it needs direction. It is the equivalent of without direction, what it does is kind of up to the people immediately in the vicinity. And so you don't have off the top of your head right now a This is a failure of fear. I need to make this hurt.
• 42:13
  Steve (Luken): Nope. It's a failure with hope.
• 42:14
  Justin (GM): Oh, it's failure with hope. Okay. You do not know of one that doesn't that wouldn't require a lot of people. And you definitely had very little interest in organizing other people into a grand scale religion or religious rite in the Ba'az faith. That was not your
• 42:37
  Steve (Luken): Not how I made my bones.
• 42:39
  Justin (GM): Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
• 42:40
  Steve (Luken): Yeah. Do I know who within the Church of Vaz would have like There were five prelates. Right? Yeah. We know Erika was the prelate of being mean.
• 42:51
  Justin (GM): And unfortunately, the prelate of the cup who was the strongest in magical rites and rituals was killed. Yes. Right. So there's only one other prelate right now. What do I know about that prelate?
• 43:05
  The prelate of the staff, is your, like, community organizer. They are the shepherd of of the prelates, and you could reach out to them. He is a very well meaning guy who is he would be your best bet. He is easily cowed. The great things his great qualities are he is like a firm believer in Boz, and he has followed Archon Felix's word without a lack of a better term, religiously.
• 43:45
  And right now, I think your biggest fear is, has Erica already gotten to him? Because she outranks you.
• 43:55
  Nick (Herry): Do you relay this to do you relay this to us?
• 43:57
  Steve (Luken): I, with a heavy sigh, turned to you two. Look, you you both have known me for a long time. You know that like paying attention to things I should know hasn't really been a priority. So I don't know how we would handle that much faith. All of my contacts in the church are out of commission, not on our side, dead, except except one.
• 44:33
  And prelate chorus, I think he would know. He he's smart. He knows stuff. I worry we're we're too late. We wouldn't He listens to the strongest voice in the room, and right now, that's that's not me.
• 44:52
  And but but he's our best bet to ask this question to. Where's Felix? Yeah. I went and checked on him. Yeah.
• 45:04
  He's not in his room and someone else is. Prelent Erica Reinhold? Do you know her by reputation?
• 45:11
  Nick (Herry): Oh, yes. By reputation.
• 45:14
  Steve (Luken): A hard real hardliner. We didn't talk for long. And the fact that Felix isn't in his room doesn't bode well for our ability to get any help from him at this point.
• 45:28
  Nick (Herry): So let's say we have a flare for the dramatic, a little Theatrics. There seems to be a vein of the church of Baaz and maybe Baaz himself that wants change. You have a mark that tells us that. Can we convince Felix to say that he's been ousted unfairly and actually you are the rightful anointed one and to get some of these people from Boz out from under the thumbs of the other two rivaling factions? Can we break Boz?
• 46:09
  Steve (Luken): Can we break Boz, the institution? I'm gonna break that question up a little bit. Yeah. Can be Boz be broken? Absolutely.
• 46:17
  There's already a a schism. Can we be the ones to do it? And can we count on Felix to help us at all? We would have to we'd have to try and find out. I think that's yep.
• 46:31
  It when I talk to Boaz, which yeah. When I talk to God, that's a I'm never going to get used to saying that sentence. He alluded to me that even he can't see all possible outcomes here. So I don't think we can deal with this in the hypothetical. Yeah.
• 46:51
  I think we either do it or we don't.
• 46:54
  Nick (Herry): Like I said to Sara, we need as much firepower as we can get. And so if there's a chance that a third sect of Boz could come help us out, it might be it might be worth investigating if that rumor mill can spread, how fast that rumor mill can spread. They're sure all in one building right now.
• 47:13
  Steve (Luken): Yeah. I think that is if we want anything out of the Church of Boz, that is how we do it. Go in, maybe not solve the schism, but marshal the folks who are there into something different. That that could work.
• 47:31
  Justin (GM): I'm gonna spend a few.
• 47:32
  Steve (Luken): Yeah, you are.
• 47:36
  Justin (GM): The ground shakes underneath you, and each of you have to grab a table, hold yourselves against a wall as outside you hear a massive slosh of water. It shapes the ground beneath your feet. It moves the walls of the building, and you hear people screaming outside. What do you do?
• 48:10
  Nick (Herry): What now? Harry runs out.
• 48:12
  Steve (Luken): Yeah. I think we gotta run outside and check. Yeah.
• 48:20
  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 chip in for coffee at our Patreon. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week on Theater of the Mindset.