Edge of Midnight | Ep. 7 | Judgement of Heaven
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Welcome to Legends of Adventress! I'm Adela Druskinvold and you're listening to Edge of Midnight. Here's what happened last time. It's almost as if someone has taken the time to heal you. It sounds like you're up. Try not to freak out. Everything's going to be fine. Do you see? You're all in here.

I can't shake the feeling that that book is some sort of fate-bound something. I must apologize for what happened at the inn. The beastie, he saved our lives. His name is Hugo. We can go into the woods in the north and kill whosoever do this. See if you can bring Keziah Jenkins back. Do not kill her. And just within the trees, there are three dancing firelights.

Her eyes roll back in her head and she goes, "Perfect." This is no witch. Far too simple. And as you step within ten feet, you hear faint click as all of the things inside of the house explode. A large centipede that has the face of an old human man. At the end of all of its 100 legs are individual hands. A wide grin spreads across its face.

There's a witch in the woods. The darkness of forests has always been the perfect lair for evil things that wish to stay shrouded and hidden until the time is right to leave their wooded home and strike against the unsuspecting innocents that choose the comforts of civilization. But with that comfort is no guaranteed safety, as the poor people of Cyril know all too well.

As they go about their daily routine, believing with all their heart that Foltus will lead them down the one true path and reward them, they starve, bleed, go mad, and wither away from disease in their beds. And maybe there is a glimmer of hope from those they least expect. And as you stand in the woods,

You have been blasted back by the magical eruption of what appears to be some sort of trap that was triggered by getting too close to this place. As the magic begins to settle, you see that for the most part, the innards of this house seem to be untouched as the strange form of the large centipede with the humanoid face and the humanoid hands burrows deep within the earth. You look up and the forest is quiet.

The body of the witch in the woods that you had knocked unconscious is laying there motionless. You're grim. You reach down to remove her mask. As the blast hits you, you're far enough away that you're unmovable. And as your mind settles on the fact that no one seems to be hurt and quiet is beginning to overtake this small part of the forest around you,

Your hand is still hovered there by her face, by the wooden mass that shrouds who she is, that covers her identity. Is everyone alright? I'm so sorry. Is anything on fire? No. Did I... I forget. Did I take damage? No. I did not. So, just while you're going to... It was basically like a poof of... So basically what happened...

It was more, it looked sort of like a magical explosion, so you might imagine that there were bits of flame, etc. in it, but it didn't ignite anything. It blasted you back from the door, and whatever it destroyed, you would have no idea, because for all intents and purposes, the cottage in front of you with its door wide open looks nearly untouched.

What you saw emerged from it, and I would imagine that Farron would see this more than anyone, was the form of that large creature that dug into the earth at her feet. I would say anyone else who was looking would have also seen it, but Farron would have gotten the full... And you had said there were like alchemical bottles and stuff in there as well? And they're all gone now?

They're not all gone. You see that there's most things are still there. You imagine that there are spots where things are empty, but it looks more like some kind of trap. It didn't destroy the place, but it knocked you on your ass. Damn it. We have to see if there are any leads. There must be something left. All right, Yogi, take a mask off and we need to gag her before she wakes up. All right, let's see who this is.

- Go try and take her mask off. - I need you to roll a wisdom saving throw. I'm just kidding, I don't need you to do that. Classic Nikki tack. You are able to easily remove her mask. Her face is serene. She is clearly unconscious. She's early to mid fifties, plump woman. You don't recognize her at all, but in sleep, she looks peaceful, happy almost.

This isn't who we were looking for. I don't recognize her at all. Wouldn't you recognize Mother Midnight if you saw her, your girl? Well, don't we have... It was a genuine question. Have you ever made her an acquaintance? No, I've never... I've been with you the entire time. Well, no, that's actually not true. That's why I'm asking. You just walked up to us. We all came on a ghost train. I wouldn't recognize Mother Midnight. I came from...

- Well, that depends. Another dark domain. I've never encountered her and I wouldn't recognize her, but it's my understanding we were looking for a woman from the serial. This isn't her. - You wouldn't know. - Do we know who she looks like? - It's not, what's her name? It's not Macduff. - It's very clearly not Maggie Macduff, but she looks like she would be a woman that you would have passed or seen in serial. There's nothing about her that looks like she wouldn't have come from serial.

- Can I check through some of her belongings, see if I find anything that maybe identifies her as someone who might have been from Cyril or even like the woman you're related to? - Sure, roll an investigation check for me. - Oh, it says Cyril's driver's license. - Expired two months ago. - Ooh, a natural 20.

Oh, for... Was it actually a natural 20? Yeah. Alright. For 20. Just for 20 flat. Yeah, you rummage through what she has on her person, the small brown satchel at her side. She has voluminous pockets sewn into the skirts of her dress.

Because women need fucking pockets. Thank you very much. This is a fantasy world. Sorry. And I will say in one of the pockets, you find a silver chained necklace that has the symbol of Foltus. You don't find anything that has name or identification in any way, but...

What does the mask look like? It is a wooden mask.

- Just very plain. - Yeah. You, I don't know if it's still on there, but you could see a rough approximation of the token if it was still there. - Yeah, it was pretty like, - It was just like basic square-ish kind of, just like blank. - Like the mask from The Mask before it turns into the mask. - Yeah, sure. That's pretty good. - The Loki mask, yeah. - Oh yeah. - I would hold the item in my hand and I'd like to toss it to Lethicon and pause for a moment, thinking about the last time somebody tossed Lethicon something.

And I would toss the... I would toss it to Marius. What do you make of this? I would grab it, catch it, if my dex is a negative. Just kidding. And just kind of give it a once-over. Clearly, we're on the right path.

There's something here, even if this is not the woman that we're looking for. And then I'm gonna just throw the mask kind of at my feet back into the dirt and look towards the hut and say, that vile creature came from there. I'm going into the hut.

"All right, you go in there. I'm gonna be right out here. I'm gonna find a rag on my purse and shove it in her mouth, and I'm gonna take a longer, you know, something to bind it and to keep it in her mouth." You're easily able to do that. There's no resistance from her. She's clearly completely unconscious. No amount of moving her has seemed to stir in any way. I'll walk forward and pick up the mask from the dirt and sort of brush it off silently.

put it into, I think, the first item that I'm putting into my new purse. Yeah, as you open it up, the hand reaches out, grabs the mask, and pulls it in before you're even able to drop it in. Thank you. I think it is unlikely that this is Mother Midnight, but it is more probable the woman we heard of, this Zendaya Jenkins,

I think it's T'Zai. T'Zai. This isn't the planet of Arrakis. Sorry, I thought that we were in the Spider-Man movies. We were in Druskinvold. That's... Zendaya's a friend

of the stream, she's probably in chat right now. We just don't like to talk about it. She watches all of our stuff. Kazaya, Kazaya, I meant to say Kazaya. Kazaya. Clearly she's some sort of practicing someone, but this was nothing compared to the fight that we had in the house. Well, we know that a witch ain't a hag, but that gross animal came out of there, was that her familiar? I didn't think it was hers, could it be?

It was likely another familiar similar to the dirty...

Jenkins again? That's because I accidentally called him Jenkins. Fucking Dirty Jenkins. Oh, Dirty Jenkins! I have a song about old Dirty Jenkins. Yes, I will hear it later. I think perhaps it was another hags familiar, this human centipede.

"Oh gosh, I don't care for whatever creature that was, that was even more unpleasant than filthy Jasper." It was pretty disturbing, all those hands. "Well why would it be here if it wasn't at least related to the hags? Or the witches? Regardless, it's a connection point that she was up to no good, she attacked us, we were just walking up to her head. She attacked first with those form things." "Prixie's right, we're onto something."

There's bottles and things in the hut there. They're doing something, making spells or witchcraft or whatever they do. Whatever I set off, and I'm sorry I set it off, but she probably knows that we're here now. No matter. We'll hopefully find something inside. Well, we might want to get a move on, just in case.

I'll walk into that. All right, is anybody else going or just Marius? I'll probably follow Marius as I'll pick myself up after getting knocked back and I'll grab my banjo and I'll-- I have my sword and shield drawn. Okay. I'm gonna keep binding 'cause I like, just knowing magic and I wanna like make sure she can't do any kind of-- I'll kind of be like muttering and humming as I pluck a few tunes like, "Brave, brave, brave Sir Marius." And I'll give you bardic inspiration. Thank you, 1d6? 1d6, yeah, as you enter the hut, if you need to roll anything.

- Keep it down. - That won't happen. - And I'll just be behind you, probably keeping about five feet behind Marius, so giving a full, you know, just to let him go first. - Seeing the two of them go in, I will turn to the other three and go, "Keep watch," and I will be five feet behind Jericho. - Perfect.

Briggsie, I want you to roll a perception check for me. Marius and Jericho, you slowly make your way up the wooden steps that lead into this hut in the woods. They creak beneath the weight of your boots. As you step into this place, you cough a bit on the remnants of...

alchemical magics that still linger in the air around you. The scent from the bubbling cauldron in the very center of this room is, um, it's almost sweet as it roils this dark green and almost mossy brown color. And you look around and you see that this room is actually quite beautiful in a sense. The

liquids in the jars are luminescent and you begin to notice that throughout the room there are patches of this strange fungus, this bioluminescent fungus. And you see scatterings of papers.

and a notebook off to the side and scribbles here and there and a language that you don't understand. It is clearly some kind of secret code that she had been using for her workings. But you see that there are diagrams and almost dissections of this mushroom as if it's being used for some purpose and all of this. And for

Anything else you may glean from this, I need you to roll an investigation check at advantage because Jericho's helping you and then with your whatever. Look over there. And what did you get for your perception? Oh, look over there. With a natural 20. Gotta give it up. 24 total. You are binding this woman and you have experienced harmful magics. Being a pirate, you're...

You're very familiar with danger and so you take great care to make sure that you bind her properly. And as you are binding her arms behind her back and slowly beginning to put a blindfold around her eyes, you notice a faint purplish glow. You reach down and you slowly peel her eyelid up. You see that

Both eyes are that strange, luminescent, lilac purple. I, um... Hey, Farron, can you take a look at this? Oi. What is it? Oh. Investigate. This is... This is the same thing as affecting... The kids. The kids? Oi, it looks like it, yeah. And the old man as well. Do we? Maybe she's gone mad? That'd be a safe bet.

Could she be just another victim? She's not dead. We can wake her up. We can ask her. Well, we know that if it was Keziah Jenkins fled town. So Keziah Jenkins fled town after her husband died and one of the witch balls was found under his bed when they were doing the investigation, when they went to question her, she had fled town.

And there had been whispers previously that she had been sneaking out into the woods. And she was essentially tracked out this way. The horrible things were happening in this wooded area to the Knights Templar. They wouldn't go past the mines. And that's why you were sent out to check it out and to try and bring her back. Look, if this is Keziah Jenkins, I mean, maybe it's possible that, you know, if she is one of the witches, maybe she's...

you know, gone mad herself. Maybe this is what wishes looked like and they all got the purple eyes and they want everybody else to have purple eyes as well. I don't know. It seems too suspicious that she attacked us without any warning. She didn't really attack us. She ran screaming at us. What would you do if six people ran out of the woods at you while you were at your home? That's a fair point.

The thorns attacked us before she was even outside. It's possible some other force rallied them against us. Inside of the hut, what did you get? Natural 20. What? Rich witness. What is going on with this side of the table? Rich witness. Woo!

Because it was at advantage, luckily. Well, I'm going to use a twist. I'm just kidding. You could. I've got plus zero to investigation, though, so 20. What else? You know, that was just, unfortunately, the DC was a 21. What happens? It happens, you know? It happens. You take note of the things that I had mentioned and a few more things that you gather. You open the notebook on the table and you see scrawled on the inside where...

You would be familiar, it's a leather tome essentially. You would see property of, you see the words, the name scribbled, Keziah Jenkins. As you make your way towards the center of the room, you see that the bubbling in the cauldron has almost completely evaporated. As you've been in here, it's slowly melted away and is now just a thick, goopy substance along the entire sides of this cast iron basin.

And as you look in, this is a large cauldron. You see sitting in the very center of it, the skull of a goat. And beneath it, the symbol of the Midnight Coven. Um...

I would gather the papers, anything that's loose leaf, just stick it into the notebook, close it up if I can and take it. Okay. As proof that it, you know, has property of in there. And I would turn to Jericho and Lethegard and show them this notebook has her name in it. Certainly don't know if that woman is Keziah Jenkins, but this notebook is certainly hers.

It would be an amazing deception if it was not Keziah. Well, agreed. And I don't mean to project my own past and experience on this situation, but this does look awful familiar to the kind of dwelling and home that me and my best gals stayed in in the middle of the woods. Is that true? I would say it looks very similar. Okay, okay.

And I'll point around like, well, she and maybe others were working on some sort of brewing and strange witch's brew, maybe. I know nothing of this type of magic. What do the two of you make of this cauldron? I am no alchemist, but perhaps my experience will help. I will go to the cauldron and I'll sort of take an initial timid,

I want to say drink with my nose. Smell? Inhale. Thank you. Drink with my nose. I'm going to drink with my nose. I'm going to take a nose drink. Please. One nose drink. I just want to smell it before getting closer and seeing if there's any way I can vessel up the liquid inside. If I can see inside, does it look goopy? Does it look like it's got chunks? What's going on? My butt sneeze. LAUGHTER

I would no longer like a nose drink. I retract my query. Well, you guys. Good Thursday, guys. I nose drink. I butt sneeze.

God, how old are we? 33? I choose to slurp sound waves into my earwax. I watch with my looking balls. Can you imagine if ears actually had little tongues and just clapped? Oh, yeah!

And they like lap up the sound. Like a kid drinking milk. Okay. And when you sleep, they sleep, so you can't hear at night, and that'd be horrible. Do you want to DM this cat? No, I don't. Please don't use that. Oh, she's gonna. Lethica inspects the cauldron. I'm sorry, what's happening?

I'm smelling the cauldron to get a sense of how toxic it might smell if I can...

register any of the smell notes to my own palate and understand what might be in it and trying to get a sense if it feels like poison or something I might consider tasting. - Roll an arcana check. - Arcana? - Perhaps if we can get a sample, Farron might be able to also help you decipher what this might be. - Yeah, these look like mushrooms. - They were mushrooms. - They were mushrooms. - And you see that they're all over. You see that in some cases they're dried, in some it looks like they were being boiled. You see an area where she was chopping them up.

Almost as if she was experimenting on these mushrooms. So two natural 20s is a one in 400. Three natural 20s is a one in 8,000. Did you get a natural 20? I'm about to roll. Oh. One in 160,000 chance.

13. And to be fair, I rolled a few dice. That's going to give me a 14 on smells. Okay. You take a big whiff with your nostrils, and the first scent is sweet. It's that similar scent that you smelled when you first entered this place. But it's followed by an earthier note, which you...

You know this to be the scent of soil, of mushrooms, of fungus. On top of that, maybe a bit of cinnamon, maybe lavender. It's hard to tell. There is such a large mix of things in this. I would say there's enough that you could find one of the vials or one of the corked, the empty corked bottles and you could scoop some. It's slightly gelatinous and the longer it sits, the more it starts turning, becoming thicker and thicker. So...

I will... You imagined your times limited before it. Describe the bouquet to Marius and Jericho. Um...

Ooh. Herbaceous, earthy, sweet, but complex. And then I'll go to the vial. I have no idea what you're saying. I don't see no bouquet anywhere. Never mind. And I will try very delicately not to get any on my fingers as I scoop up... Roll a sleight of hand. Uh-oh. Oh, yeah. Crushed it. She's a drow. 19. 19.

You needed a 20. You lose your left hand. But the nice thing is, as the poison eats, the acid eats all the way up your arm, your bag just becomes your new left arm. That'd be cool. That'd be badass. By the end of this campaign, I'm going to look like Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I can't wait. You are easily able to use the large wooden spoon that was inside of this cauldron to ladle up a bit of this liquid and it makes a resounding plop as you put it into one of these large bottomed glass bottles. Mikey, shut up. You're using...

You know, I like my glass bottles. Okay. Water bottle, okay, I got it. Perhaps we will be able to find some expert on alchemy to analyze the contents of this vial.

And until then, I will hand it to my bag. Regular resounding plops of health. I look around, have we gotten the color of the mushrooms? You know, I'm not answering any of your questions. You pushed it too far! Your investigations are zero. The PCs have been raised significantly. Oh.

- No, you're made of straw. You're not burning with a little fire. - I may have missed it. Do we know the color of the mushrooms? - They are bioluminescent. They're glowing a... - Lavender? - A green. - Oh! - The mushrooms themselves look to be like a grayish brown, like very earthy-like with the underside of the mushroom cap is a nice beige, but they are glowing this strange green color and these small little like wisps of light almost shoot off of them as if there's some kind of...

not pollen because mushrooms don't pollinate, but there is some kind of spore that they're giving off. If there's another extra... You die. Okay.

You know I titled this stream "Horror Games." I'm mighty spooked. If there's another vial or something that we can use to contain some of these mushrooms, I would attempt to just use a dagger or something to cut some of the mushrooms off. Yeah, you're able to see that there is a station that she'd been working at where she'd already started chopping up the mushrooms. I would say it'd be easy with the things that are in here for you to

collect samples of whole mushrooms, boiled mushrooms, mashed mushrooms, chopped mushrooms, whatever you want to take. I just want to bring as much as we can back to Farron with the notebook and see if she can like, and that's, and then I'm... Do y'all think we should bring the skull in the bottom of that cauldron? I feel like that's a bit relevant. Well, personally, I think witnessing it, knowing that it's here is enough.

Not necessarily so sure we should be touching it or moving it. Well, I think that it's evidence. Aren't we supposed to bring that back too? And the symbol there, that's the symbol of the coven, isn't it? We know that, right? And it is etched into the bottom of the cauldron. Lord Philip and Lady Adela said that that symbol was the same one on the dish.

Well, I mean, we certainly can't bring the cauldron back with us. It's far too heavy. If you want to bring the skull, we can try. I just, if we're not destroying this, I feel uneasy about touching it or moving it. I was going to propose destroying it. This is a complex matter. I do not know much about alchemy, but I understand that recipes like this can sometimes take days to complete. We may do the right thing if we at least destroy what remains of this strange potion.

The way I see it is we were sent here on a mission. We have the authority of the peoples and the enforcement of Cyril. They should take our word for it. We've seen it. If we have this notebook, if we can decipher it or if someone can read it, it should be all the proof that we need, especially if we bring that woman back alive. Okay, y'all raise a good point. I guess we shouldn't be touching that creepy goat skull.

Do I remember what they said happened to the husband in terms of how he died or where his body might be? I don't think that they gave you that information. When we get back to Siru, I recommend that we ask what happened to Keziah's husband more specifically and see if the body is perhaps missing a head. You found a what?

Oh, we're gonna swaddle into the cottage. Did I ever hear a ghost go? Yes, Briggsie, that's correct. We have found symbols of Mother Midnight. There's definitely a connection here. Whatever that creature was, familiar or whatnot, perhaps it was overseeing what was going on here, providing instruction.

providing direction. We're bringing it back. Even if I have to carry it myself. The entire cauldron. Well, I mean, I can't carry the entire cauldron, but I mean, Yorgi out there's got an entire fucking tombstone on his back. What's another cauldron? I think that, well, Briggs, you must realize being encumbered like that would be dangerous on a truck back. I mean, we can try, but I caution Jericho about moving it at all.

Look, I mean, this is going to be important information in the trial, you see. Look, I know a thing or two about trials. And many of my best mates meant to hang the man's jig because of trials. Let me see if I can get the skull. And I will walk up to the cauldron and I will take the bag that is at my side and I will hold it mouth open into the cauldron. Go on then, take the skull. You wait for a moment and nothing happens.

And then you see spindly fingers begin to make their way out of the bag, only up to the elbow, but they elongate unnaturally as they wrap themselves around the cauldron, and skull and all, they pull it into the mouth of the bag and slowly close the top over them. The whole cauldron or just... The whole cauldron. How do we get it back? If you had asked me what was going to happen when you reached for the bag...

I could have taken one million guesses and I never would have guessed that that was one of them. I thought it would just take the skull and it feels as light as ever. It's a very magical thing. Double check and make sure that it's actually in there. I'm going to look down into the opening of the bag and see if I can see anything. Thinking of the cauldron. You look into the bag and at first it's nothing but a mass of darkness. And then...

a little bit of light begins to pierce through it. And you see that the inside of this bag is shrouded in mist. As it begins to move this way and that, you think of the image of the cauldron, and you are able to see it. And with it, those two spindly arms wrapped around, holding and turning the goat's skull. And that's all. Yes, it is all in there, intact. I feel slightly...

Less bad about cursing you, I suppose. It seems to be quite handy. It doesn't seem to want to hurt you. Sir Marius, I didn't know you were also a comedian. I am very witty. Oh, no, I'm learning that. Well...

That solves our problem then, Bigsy. The bag may have had a troubling history when we learned of its past, but it is becoming something of an ally to me. Thank you. Thank you, bag. The Archbishop's going to want to see that. I mean, that's better than any of this other stuff. We did find outside that she's got the same purple eyes that the children and the crazy older folks have. I don't know what that's all about.

I mean, is it possible that doing all of this she's not even in her right mind? I mean, that poor man on the side of the road, he didn't even know who or where he was. He had a moment of clarity and that was it.

- Look, I mean, that could be true. Maybe the witches wanna make the people like them and they got the pooper eyes anyway and they're trying to like, you know, spread their flock around and turn all their eyes purple and make everybody go crazy. Make some sort of plague. That's right. - It's pronounced plagues. - Some sort of plague.

Even more like plague. Oh, gosh. I guess what concerns me about that is what's stopping us from catching it. What happens if this happens to one of us? It doesn't seem to be a cure. I don't pretend that we're some better than these average folk, but last time I looked around, well, I don't have any biology, but none of us are human. What if we're immune?

Oh, he was a human. But ain't no more. He got them pointy ears and them red eyes and them fangs. No offense. None taken. I would not classify myself as a human, unfortunately. Right? He's Leather King and a human. I mean, I've got two dark, huge ears pointing out his direction. Yeah, no, I don't think Leather King's a human. Let's hope that you're right. That would be quite the boon in our favor. Well.

Well, we should keep an eye on each other's eyes. If mine go away from infernal orange, I think that's what it's called. Then... If they were a pink, I'd rather be infernal orange. That's a Kregle. LAUGHTER

That's what it said. "Devil skin, human flesh, infer orange." Oh no, I think it's more of abyssal orange because it's a demon. Anyways, anyways, I suppose we should go see what Jörgrim and Fëron think of this. Agreed, we have, we found many samples amongst this hut that none of us seem to know anything about, and perhaps you might be able to shed some light on this.

Let's go. Miss Farron, look at these mushrooms. I would show them both the collection of different mushrooms in different states. So you're all inside of the house now. We're leaving now. We're coming out. So you collected the stuff you wanted, you collected the mushrooms, the stuff inside the cauldron, but then also the cauldron. Yep.

All right. We're not sure what to make of any of this. We were hoping that perhaps someone, if not Farron, would be able to identify maybe what this is or what it's used for. I hate mushrooms. Why do you hate mushrooms? Thank you for sharing and not exactly pertinent right now. No, it's pertinent. Why? Why, Yorgam? I've had mushrooms one time and it was the first time I saw the maiden, whether it be a specter

Whether it be a vision or the first time I walked in the mist. I haven't eaten them since. But you still see this maiden and the mist and all that spooky stuff? Yeah. Now it's a permanent thing, but... So is there really a connection between mushrooms? You might just be, you know, I forget what effect they call it. Like, you know, ye olde Garcia effect, perhaps? It's like you have something, it's a bad experience, and it ruins it forever? I...

Hate mushrooms. Okay, Garsh, I'm so- Don't be- be more polite to Miss Farad. I mean, she's not really mushrooms, more- Blight is different from mushrooms and spores, but it's all fungus, so you're being very insensitive. Oh, unrelated to you. Were these the same mushrooms that you had before your maiden vision? Oh, either way, I don't think the mushrooms caused you any harm. They maybe opened your mind to something. Do they look like this? They do not. They do not. No.

I think you're safe then. It's just a mushroom. Still don't like 'em. I don't like the rubbery texture. It's like eating balloons. Exactly right. What is a balloon? It's like a mushroom. I understand now. Miss Farron, what do you make of all of these mushrooms? How did I get trapped with these bowls? I'll look through the bag and kind of pick 'em up and touch 'em and break 'em apart in my hands and smell them. These are unlike any mushrooms you've ever seen before.

These are unlike any mushrooms I've ever seen. Roll an age check for me. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I must say that's rather concerning. If you've never seen these mushrooms, what hope do the rest of us have?

And I roll the natural one. These mushrooms are unlike any you've ever seen before. Well, I mean, we're in this like crazy place that's not really like a real place. I mean, it's not unreasonable that the mushrooms here are different than the ones that she's seen before. I was just hoping to get a little bit more information, that's all. Well, look, I think the Archbishop can tell us everything we need to know. So we're gonna take her...

And I look at... I pick her up. You two. Put her on my shoulder with one arm. Just slap her. Try and make sure... Wait a minute. Oh. We're just going to take her. We're not even going to wake her up and talk to her ourselves. I pause. Who knows when she could wake up? We gave her quite a wallop. I would propose we take her away at least from her place of power. Well, I'm fine with that, but I don't know about you all.

I don't trust this man. I'm not just going to deliver her not knowing what she's been up to. Have her put to trial, possibly put to death. We don't know what he's going to do with him. If the first time that she says anything is in the presence of us and the Archbishop, we might not get any kind of real answer. It might not hurt to just see what we can dig up first. Not intended. Jericho. You really are a comedian.

Maybe we can go off into the woods a bit. Find somewhere quiet and just make camp and watch this place for a bit. I don't trust... See if anyone comes up. I don't trust the Archbishop. I don't either. But...

Can we trust her? Even if we un-gag her? I mean, that's the thing. If we un-gag her and she just says a few words and we all explode into forms and shit, and it centipedes, what if a centipede attacks us? And even Ruse is written, she would be unconscious for at least 1d4 hours. I don't know what any of that means, but I'm very genuinely spooked. No, Briggs, he makes a good point as well.

We can't risk her casting any magics or spells. And I already had told the Archbishop that if push came to shove and she was this Mother Midnight, that we'd have to kill her, and he vehemently opposed that. And if we un-gag her and she starts casting magic, we might have to kill her. And then our reception back to Cyril might not be so warm. I at least propose that we make our way out of the woods. Beyond even that mine, the spooky mine that we passed on the way here.

Well, and didn't they say that all the Nats Templar that would come out to check on her in the woods never returned? That's a good point. What happened to them?

I mean, it could have been any number of things. Did she kill them all? Are they buried right here? They're a beast. Just like him. You just jump to conclusions, whatever fits your story. I don't have a story, but it's awfully suspicious. She attacks us. There's a set of people with a human's face and human eggs. A crocodile scared of a little unconscious woman. Did you find any evidence in her hut of the night's

Oh! Collected. Dead. I apologize for not saying that. We did. Believe it or not, the bag that is attached to Lethika's hip swallowed the entire cauldron. In the bottom of the cauldron, etched, was a symbol that we were looking for, as well as a skull. Goat skull. A goat skull. Lethika and I had talked about potentially destroying it,

Hoping that a word would be enough to do any kind of convictions that might need to be done. But the bag just picked it up like it was nothing. It consumed the whole cauldron. So we have it. We're taking it back. I also found this notebook, which is the property of... Keziah Jenkins. Keziah Jenkins. Thank you. You're welcome.

I open it up and I just show them at least that. And then as I flip through, I show them the language. I cannot read this. Anyone. And I would just show them all the book. None of you are able to read it. It's clearly a coded language. And the thing that makes me the most suspicious and very hesitant to un-gag or cast some sort of magics...

was the fact that that symbol is the same on the dish. I believe that Lord Phillips said it was the Coven of the Midnight Moon, their symbol. - Goat skull was at the center in the crooked house. The hag of the weasels as well. - Yes. - Do any of you remember Vesla? Did she have, she didn't have purple eyes, did she? Did she have purple skin? - She had purple skin, right? - Not purple glowy eyes? - No.

I don't think so, but she was like a proper hag. This is a, this is, well, I've been offing, this is a witch. I don't know. We were told that witches are worse. And this was nothing. Um, Jericho, roll an intelligence check for me. Ooh. I'll use my new one from Gen Con. I think this is some sort of peon, some sort of...

That is not copped as much as I want it to be then. What if she is... Oh, no, three. As... What if she is to the hag as Lady Lockwood was to...

The hag in the crooked house. That's exactly right. She's just some tool being used to fulfill... Wait, pardon? P.R.? A dark purpose. I agree. Well, either way, if she's a hag or a witch or serving a hag or a witch, the archbishop deserves to have her in his possession. Is all I'm saying. Well, and I guess there's really no way for us to know what they mean by more powerful.

Perhaps, I mean, although the Vessel Browntooth was quite good in a scrap with all of her weasel magic, but, I mean, how do you define powerful? Maybe it doesn't mean blow to blow. Look at what's happened all around in Folsons. I'd say that's far more powerful than a bunch of gross weasels.

I look at the scar on my chest, and I'm like, "That's pretty fucking powerful." Well, I suppose Briggsies... You look at the scar on your chest, and you see that where it is, though it's healing up, it appears that a nipple is slowly starting to form where the scar was. What? No. Was there one there before?

Wait, like he's got a third one growing. No! For real? Yeah. You're not fucking with us. Yeah, I'm totally fucking with you. Oh my god, I didn't want to back that out. I love that you were going to. I've got one more erogenous stone. Oh, I shouldn't have eaten pizza. Ew! Is it really? Yeah, so they would look for the witch's mouth.

And if you had a third teeth, that's where you would feed your familiar. That's why Vessla had Filby Jasper attached to her chest and was sucking off her third nipple. You're gonna have to call me Filby Jasper. Marius, you were saying something. I was saying, as much as I hate to admit it, Briggs is right. Even if this woman, outside of her own volition, did these acts because she was mad or manipulated...

She's still committed an atrocious act and must be... must pay for her crimes. She is a creature of the night. Even if she was used... made to do so by someone's magic. That is correct. What kind of logic is that? I would remind you that, um, hundreds of children have died. We kill her. Here's the thing. I mean, if we've Petunia Lockwood... I mean, was she in a Rob Marne? Maybe. Maybe she wasn't. Maybe there was a little bit of both.

Does that excuse her actions, what she did to the orphans, her family? No, but that's not my voice. That just hit me right out of my ass. Now you know how I feel every time I have to do an NPC, I'm like, fuck! Um, no. No.

Oh, I see. Perhaps we should circle the house and see if there are any grave spots that we hadn't noticed the first time around. Before we go, I agree, Miss Lethka. I think we should go around and just check to make sure there aren't any shallow graves or deep graves or perhaps medium graves of any of the Knights Templar. I think I found a wart on my palm.

I got in character? No, it's just a tiny nipple. Oh! Ew! Now you've got a mouthful! I would like you... Your shovel will come in mighty handy for us to just kind of poke around and dig around. If we all have the time. Let's do one clean sweep. I feel better having as much knowledge as we can get. For what it's worth...

My vote is with Brigsy. We do not un-gag her. We get her back before she wakes up. We turn her over to the Archbishop like we're supposed to. I don't trust that man. That's fine, we don't have to. But we were sent to do a job, and she's clearly out here practicing something evil. Exactly right. We were sent to restore hope to Cyril. I don't know that the best path to that is with the Archbishop. I don't trust him either. But we don't know that it's not with the Archbishop.

So I think we get all the information we can from the sources at our disposal before we go back to him. I think we talk to her, but also check for these graves. Oh, thank you, thank you. Gosh, I never thought that adventuring with someone with a big old shovel would come in such handy fashion. Roll an investigation check.

Dig a shallow grave, dig dig a shallow grave. - You're getting help so you can roll an enemy. - Dig dig dig a grave. And I give you bard inspiration. - You did say you were all helping. - 18 plus bard inspiration. - You begin to, you don't even need to shovel.

As much as everyone would expect you to. You're familiar with the way the ground differs when there's a grave beneath your feet. As you make your way around the house, most of the earth is firm until you get to the west side of the house. And you find that there are clearly shallow graves here. And as you begin to dig in an earth, you find bones. Leg bones. Hand bones.

connected to the-- - Hip bones. - I knew that was coming. I knew it. As soon as he said leg bone and had to come up with another bone, I was like, it's all over. - You find tail bones. - I'm sorry, I'm sorry. - We got a couple tail bones. - I don't know what's happening tonight. There's no horror tonight. - And the rib bones connected to my wristwatch. - We all had a little bit too much GigaWatta. - Seriously. - Oh gosh, I'm out of Artic's Breed. - You are able to find about eight different shallow graves.

And the skulls themselves are unidentifiable. I would say you're familiar with digging graves, but you're not familiar with inspecting bones to figure out genetic markers or things like that. Would I be able to roughly tell that it's like eight graves and there are eight bodies here? Or like eight graves and there are like 20 bodies? Eight graves and there are probably maybe 10 bodies here. Ooh. Ooh.

There are bodies in the west. This earth is disturbed. Well, just right here. There are a bunch of dead bodies. Thank you, Jorgren. Yes, I can see their bones now. Do they look like they might be the Knights Templar that came out looking for Keziah Jenkins? Do we see any, like, armor, any clothing? Just bones. Okay.

But they are clearly human. Okay. It's impossible to tell. It's nothing but graves, but bones. Well, let's take some of the bones and say we found them in shallow graves. I mean, is it shallow? Your grandma should probably ask you. Does this qualify as shallow? Medium to shallow. Why don't you bite Chaken the bones from the earth? We should just leave him. I agree. I think that we got all the evidence we need.

"Alright, I mean, you know, some extra skulls wouldn't help. I mean, wouldn't hurt. It'd help, right? I mean, it's up to you." "Oh, I guess they could identify him if they're able to say, 'Oh, that teeth looks like Gerald.'" Now that the threat is diminished, they can come and get their own family. I would propose we leave the bones. I don't think the dental work is up to par enough to identify people. "No, but what if one of them has like a go-to for something?"

Oh, that's a good-- Let's take a look. Jörgrim, are there any of them that have any kind of-- Oh, gosh. There's not a single gold tooth in the bunch. It's impossible to identify from the bones. Okay. We leave them here. Otherwise, we disturb their rest. All right, well, yeah, cover 'em all up, Jörgrim. I'm gonna be looking around while I listen to this absurd conversation, and can I get a sense-- Was this a good plot for-- You die. Oh, no. Oh, dear.

I take the bag. The bag takes you. No, you're alive. Yeah, so what I'll ask is,

Speaking of the north and the south and the east sides of the house, does it strike me as unusual that it would be only here on the west side? No, I picked the west side because of an inside joke that happened before the stream. The west is evil.

Maze in his D&D campaigns when he DMs, he for some reason always puts the bad things on the west side. I don't have no idea. I realized I was reading through my notes and I was like, oh fuck, every threat has been in the west. To be fair, I was like, oh, the demons are in

- The Western bank of the Nile was the land of the dead in ancient Egypt mythology. So you could just say that that's a reference to that. - That's what I was thinking. - Western isle of Avalor was the isle of the dead.

I think it's very good. That's a classic mythological. I just like to always reference it. So join us January, where we're going to be starting our new campaign with Mace's DM, The Threat of the West, where we all play cowboys. Or you could have said West Side Story. That's what I need to go through this. Also, thank you, IzzyXI, for the follow. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Welcome to our family. Or is he 11? Yes, finish your question. Or is 11? Oh, you did. Or start your question. It's no significance. There's no significance at a meta or story level. No, I wanted it on either side of the house, and I just figured I'd pick the west because of me, so. I withdraw my question. You're gracious. Are we ready to leave? Let us make our way. While we're walking away, can I just kind of look and see if there's other footprints?

or tracks of other... Now that we've walked everywhere and totally destroyed it. We've dug it up. Yeah. Sure, roll a survival check. I feel dumb even asking. No, it's not dumb. We've ruined every survival check. I would say...

You don't see any additional footprints, at least any that would have been made recently. Okay. But it's not a, you don't know if there were no more. I would say, you know, that the only footprints that have been here have been hers. The 100 handprints from that horrible centipede creature. And then the six of you. Okay. I would pick up Keziah and...

If I can, toss it over my shoulder. I'll learn. And as we go, I'll say, Virgil, how's the pigeon sitch? No additional news. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing strange. No out of the ordinary pigeon bees. Let's go. It's a little unsettling when you do that. Yeah, well...

I suppose. Is that how you speak to him? Well, I also speak to him and say, "Hey Virgil!" But it's just easier when it's all in my head. Do you recall how much of a walk it was through the woods before we could get to the treeline? Is it like a three or four hour walk or something? You could easily get back to Cyril right around nightfall. Okay, but for the purposes of spell duration. Yeah, further darkening. Or on the edge of midnight.

- Midnight hour, which is the night hours. See, I have to have my own one. - I'm working on my own version of it that looks like a half moon where like this is the actual clock and this is actually how it all, anyways. - Is it late dusk or evening right now? - I mean, that's really cool. I'm too stupid for your clock. - I woke up and then we traveled there. So it's night now, right?

We woke up in early dusk. Presumably. Yeah. Oh, it's just always late dusk. I would assume it's either late dusk or evening at this point. Yeah. Late dusk? It is, yeah, it's around like, it's almost, it's yeah, around late dusk. I think that would be, that would be fair. At a meta level, I'll ask more directly. Do I feel like I could cast Pass Without a Trace on the party and help us get through the woods in less than an hour, which is the spell's duration?

Oh yeah. I think if you were moving as quickly as possible, you're not making any stops, you are just trying to take the path that you had followed to get here, which was, even though it was overgrown from the many years of disuse of this mining area, it was still a clear enough path for you. As long as you're making a straight shot, I'd say with Pass Without a Trace, you would be essentially exiting the forest proper right at that hour mark. We also have a deer person in our party.

I will touch Marius on the shoulder and give him my blessing through my beliefs in Char. And just sort of silently, you feel like you've become more stealthy of advantage on stealth checks, or at least canceling out your disadvantage. Thank you. And then I will turn to the rest of the group. I am...

A little wary returning through the woods. If we were to get ambushed with her on your shoulder, I don't want us to be taken by surprise. So in order to make us a little more stealthy, I am going to call upon my goddess.

Is that understood? Yes, and especially because Farron saw that beastie what stalks the woods. Someone steps on a branch. Crack! Have I seen the beast stalking around us while we've been in this clearing? Roll perception check. Disadvantage, because you have been distracted with everything that's going on. You're distracted.

Oh, so am I. I'm infuriated with this. My comment about Warpath is a natural one and a natural 20. Oh! Gotta give it down. Come on, hand up.

But mostly down. I am quite distracted. There have definitely been noises in the forest, but none that you could place. I don't know, probably fine. You're like, "What?" That'd be mighty helpful, thank you. Thank you to you and your lovely goddess. Can I see through the tree canopy to see the night sky, or is the forest too thick? It is very thick.

the forest portion that you entered, but this has been a little deforested enough to build the hut here, so you can see up at the twinkling stars above, and you can see the very edge of the hagboon. As it looks down at you. Does it feel like it's looking at us?

You get a sense that it's possible. It's one eye, but the other one's... Does the light of the Hagmoon shine directly on the hut? It has a lazy eye. That's how I'm picturing it. It's Tannen now in my headspace. I'll look up and I'll find the window through the tree branches and focus on the night sky and just say...

greater power of the Dark Knight. Lend us that, that darkness. And you'll feel the shadows creep over and around you like a veil. You suddenly feel like if you wanted to disappear into the shadows, you could.

And I cast Pass Without Trace. Oh, I love that. Which mechanically does something. It's a flat 10 plus, isn't it? Yeah, 10 to stealth. A flat plus 10 to your dexterity stealth checkus. Okay, I'll be extra sneaky. Is that a cleric thing or a trickery domain thing?

Yes. It's a cleric spell. Oh, thank god. I got a five, which gives me a total of 16. Wow. And it's another fucking mistletoe material. It mistletoes everything.

31. Do you have mistletoe on you? Because we're doing reagents for the fish. No, but I do have a sprig of spruce, which apparently is the other material. I just don't think that you're allowed to have spruce in this. Do I have spruce? I have 24. 24. All right, who was lowest? And tell me why it was Marius. 16. I rolled a natural 1. 30. I rolled a 5. Okay.

- I rolled a natural one for a total of 15. - Oh, yes! - 28. - Correct! Oh, I shit-worn the same team. I win! - You just wanna win. - I do, I just wanna win D&D. - Yeah. - Damn it. - So let's all be mighty sneaky

I'm extremely sneaky. You toss the unconscious body of Keziah Jenkins over your shoulder, and all of you rally together and make your plan to exit the forest as quickly as possible. Under a shroud of the magics blessed upon you by Letheka's Goddess, you are able to easily and undisturbed make your way through the forest.

And just as you feel the shadowy magics that envelop you begin to fade, you see the soft moonlight that is covering the unobstructed land of the path ahead of you as it breaks through the trees. You now know you are at the very edge of the forest. You quickly dart out of the tree line and the world around you illuminates under the light of the two moons shining brilliantly in the sky. You see just

I'd say 150 feet from you is the road that you had taken from Cyril to get here to the treeline. And you know that it's that road that will get you back to the city.

I would have been quickly, you know, following along and just trying to be as stealthy and as quick as possible. But as we just pass the abandoned mine, do I just get any sense of like, does anything feel off or does it feel like an abandoned mine as we go past? Roll a perception check.

Because it was on the way. It was on the way. It was pretty close to the hundred. It was very close. I got a 13. There is definitely something unsettling about that place. Something unnaturally unsettling, but there wasn't anything that spoke out to you enough that it would have caused you to want to stop. But it definitely has been lingering on your mind as you've traveled past it. I've got the gibblies. Gibblies, gibblies, gibblies.

You're right. Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli. Oh, Ghibli. I got the Ghiblis. Oh, gosh. I don't know what that means. Are you okay? I got the sense of the Ghiblis. You know when you feel like there's a little bit of the Ghiblis? You keep using that word. Oh, yes. It's how I sense how I'm feeling at the time when I just feel like I got the Ghiblis. You're being very tautological. What does Ghiblis feel like? Just like, ooh. You want to use the word when you're defining the word.

Oh, I just feel like there's just something off, some darkness, some strange thing that makes me afeard. Ah, frightened and scared. Gosh, we've seen so hard, hasn't it? I just got the gibbous. All right, you're all right. We're all here together. Thank you. And then we'll, obviously. All right. So you are at the tree line. Are you just going to make quick move back to Cyril? That's my plan. Let's book it.

I concur. We should not dilly-dally. We should not wait or waste time. We need to get back quickly. This is our last opportunity to hear what she has to say before we get to the bishop, the archbishop. And my vote is still with Briggsie to keep her mouth shut and keep her unconscious.

I want to open her, just kind of peel back her eye a little bit. Yeah, I know. I didn't know how to say that. It felt like I wasn't trying to steal her eyeballs. I just want to check and see if her eyes are still glowing purple. You look at her eyes and there's still a hint of purple, but it is mostly faded. It's different than it was before. It seems to be fading from her. Maybe if we wait just a little bit longer, she'll come out of it and we can talk to her like the old man did.

We wouldn't even have to un-gag her. I could find some ways to communicate without her having the ability to speak. Would you please just consider it? She can't speak, she can't cast.

Well, that's not quite how magic works, Yulgrim. Okay, well, I just hit things with my shovel, okay? I don't know how magic works intimately. This is only happening while you're walking. There are many spells where that would be the case, but there's sometimes you just need to think about something. It's my understanding that she would need to potentially make

hand signs or have material components her hands are bound by I think if she was really that powerful then she would have used her magic when we all six of us came at it she's not gonna just eradicate all of us

with her hands bound and her mouth bound i'm more concerned about her thinking about slipping away and then her doing exactly that and then we're just we have butterfingers and she slips away i suppose you're right that's the thing that fears me the most and again at the end of the day she's committed atrocious acts whoever this woman is she we will find out

And she must be judged fairly for her crimes. I just don't think that she will be judged fairly. And if that's the case, perhaps we can step in and worry about that when the time comes. But for now, it's one lead at a time, and this is the job that we have and the lead that we have.

And I've heard and told many great tales about great bands of adventurers venturing against great evil, and whenever they leave the ne'er-do-well villain alive, all they need is one second to slip away from them, leaving them to say, oh, gosh, what have we done? And look, what I'm going to say is no trial's fair. No judge is truly just, just.

This isn't our land, this is his. These aren't our people that are affected, it's his people, it's the people of this land. Philip told us to come here and help that guy. That guy told us to come out here, find some kind of witch, and bring her back to him. That's what we're doing, that's the job. And we're not the judge, he is. Fine. Surprisingly insightful, Briggs. That's a very great statement about the concept of the rule of law.

From a pirate? That's actually... Pretty shocking, actually. That's actually quite, yeah, that's... I mean, what do you expect? About the philosophy of governance. Anyways, perhaps let's continue on our way. Perhaps there's hope for you yet, Briggsie. Some of those tenants might be rubbing off on you. And I pat you on the shoulder as I continue to walk towards Cyril. Maybe one day, lad. Your journey is unventful.

And though you do see movement here and there from the small provincial towns that are further off from the path that dot the landscape around you, nobody seems to bother you. And though occasionally you hear strange sounds and you feel the constant tickle at the back of your neck as if you're being watched, nothing approaches you. Nothing bothers you.

And it takes a few hours. You spend your time arguing about how to handle the situation, aligning on it, walking in silence, or growing closer together as a unit. This time and this land bringing you together in a way that you hadn't expected. As after a few hours, you finally see the silhouette of Cyril on the horizon. It is not much longer before you get to the gates of the city, when you're immediately met by two Knights Templar.

as they step out of the shadows and halt you. They don't say anything to you as they place their swords in your path and stare at you. Neither one of them with a look of distaste or distrust, just the stony stoic faces of guards on duty. Wait for a moment, wondering whether you should speak as you hear the rumble of heavy footsteps, one right after the other.

A loud crash booms from the side of the walls that encircle Cyril, and the entire place seems to shake for just an instant. As in the arched entryway, you see the shadowy form of Huguen. The four cages on his back, and even though it is, there's still enough light here, the moon is still high in the sky.

He is shrouded in shadow with a massive amount of light that's illuminating Cyril behind him. You hear his voice boom out to you. Follow Hugo. And he immediately turns and starts stomping his way through the city. Well, you heard him. Let's proceed. He's quite the welcoming party. Oh, him.

Alright, let's go. The guards retract their blades very quickly and they allow you to pass through. Do we recognize them? They all look the same to you.

I would say these, they're just gate guards. They have helmets, you know, hands on their face. Yeah, I would say you can see their face enough that you would know you don't recognize them. They're just random guards. Oh, did the woods that like sold us down the river, have we found them yet? Oh, you haven't found them yet, but you've heard that they are awaiting their justice. Oh, okay. So they're... And given some time, you might learn what that is. Evening, evening, evening, pleasant evening.

I follow Hugo, but quietly, but with grim purpose. You watch him as he moves ahead of you. You're grim. He is so large, his form nearly takes up the entire width of this main thoroughfare. As you're walking, he seems to be walking straight towards the town center with the large fountain with the tall statue to Foltis right in front of the cathedral.

And he is walking with purpose, but there is a grace to him that you noticed when you saw him swinging down from the houses the first night that he turned the raging drunkard into flesh paste. But you see that as he's walking forward, he does have this... Even though he is so large and so strong, there is almost a gentleness to him and a...

This is the word I'm looking for, I just sent it. Grace. Grace, thank you. A grace to him that seems almost unnatural but suits him. He does not turn to talk to you, the hood drawn up over his head making him look even more menacing as the four cages on his back rattle with every step that he takes. His strides are so large that it's hard to keep up, but he doesn't seem to worry too much about whether you can keep up with him, just that you know where he's going.

As he finally makes his way towards the fountain, he steps to the side. He stands there for a second and steps to the side. And as you crest over the small slope to lead your way towards the fountain, you see that what he'd been blocking for a second was a very tall, very beautiful armored woman.

She is pale of skin, her bright blue eyes piercing even this far, her long, almost pure white hair hanging down her back.

She looks stern, but she is easily one of the most beautiful women that any of you have ever seen. Some might even call her a thigh inquisitor. As you make your way up the path, once you get directly in front of the statue,

the fountain with the statue, Hugo places his hands out. Stop! No! As you wish. Understood, Mr. Hugo. We far away from here. And he bows his head towards the, to him, small woman standing next to him. But to you, she is actually quite tall. Her heels definitely not helping as she steps forward. So...

Do you have Keziah Jenkins, then? Oh. High Inquisitor. Oh, Mamma, we do, of course. As you can see here, with this big fella right on his shoulder, that is the unconscious body of Keziah Jenkins herself. I have my hat in my hand.

Well, my name is Briggsie the Cutlass Scratch. Yes, I know. I feed pirate fur across every scene. You can stop talking now. Oh, I'm... Yes, I know. Oh, Jericho Sticks. I'm old Jericho Sticks, but you can call me Jericho most of the time. Hugo, darling. I can sing a tune better than Briggsie can. She looks at you, and she looks like she's getting very frustrated. Hugo, darling, take Keziah Jenkins and imprison her in one of your cages, please.

Yes. And he reaches forward, he starts lumbering towards you, and he leans down and with his large hand, he begins to grab her and pull her out. Well, I would just move her into like a cradle, like I would take her off my shoulder and like cradle her. He easily picks her up in one hand and as he opens one cage, he throws her in it with absolutely no regard as he slams it shut and gracefully locks the cage.

With respect, ma'am, where is she going to be? In that cage until trial? Oh no, she'll go to the jail. There's questioning to be done this evening, but her trial will be promptly tomorrow at evening. So just to confirm, that is the woman Jenkins? Oh, of course. I would know her the moment- I knew her the moment I saw her. Hugo, take her to the jail. I'll question her when I'm done with our new friends.

Thank you for procuring her. The Archbishop said that you would do it, but... I can't say I had faith, but... If she is who we believe she is, then that means our city will finally find peace.

So thanks is to be given to you. Oh, well, don't mention it at all. It's no trouble at all. You say you're the High Inquisitor, is that right? Yes, High Inquisitor Maven. High Inquisitor Maven. Well, that's a beautiful name. You have a first name, Poppet?

See you, Dora. But you may call me High Inquisitor Mabel. Well, High Inquisitor, I would never presume to ever call you by your first name like Briggsie. He's also a thief. Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!

- As you say this, you can see that she looks to Brigsy and she has a look of disgust and revulsion on her face. - And his flesh is running away. - You don't have to point it out, Brigsy! - You think I don't know? - Boys, can you control yourselves? Reign it in for just a moment. - I'm sorry, Miss Farron. - Thank you, Farron. - Please, Louise.

My question was, does that mean you're a judge? Is it a fancy way of saying you're a judge? No, the Archbishop will be the judge. For he has the ear of Fultus. I will simply question her once she wakes. And what do you expect to be asking her? Well, the questions you would ask of her. My methods are a bit harsh, but they're effective.

If she is Mother Midnight, I will know it this evening. I don't mean to impose it, but I don't think she is. Oh. She didn't put up much of a fight. And that means she's not a witch? No. We just, uh... So it's not possible that she allowed you to capture her so that she could easily be brought into our city without the guards accosting her? That's not a possibility. I don't mean to interrupt, but...

I think what Farron is trying to say is that if we are given the opportunity to debrief, we have plenty of evidence and would like to just recount our side of the story. And before Hugo goes, he should probably grab the heavy cauldron what's in our bag. You mean the Hugo that is left already? Oh, gosh. Well, we have several items that may need to be placed somewhere. They could potentially be dangerous.

Any evidence that you have should be delivered to the jail. You can provide them to any of the Knights Templar and they'll be able to deliver them for you. Just tell them it is at High Inquisitor Mayville's request and they will know where to take them. Understood. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them. This may be a little presumptuous, but do y'all have hill giants here in Fawcett's? She looks at you and she can see...

where this question is coming from that is irrelevant to the topic at hand. You're right, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. Do you have a way of proving her a witch or more specifically Mother Midnight aside from questioning? Well if she confesses what more proof do we need?

And I'm sure you've probably already thought of this being such a capable High Inquisitor and all, but if y'all have bindings or a cell or something that might suppress her any kind of magical powers and abilities, I would strongly recommend. Well, thank you, Jericho. We do have it covered. We've dealt with many witches in our time, none as powerful as Mother Midnight, but

We will do what we can. And we will keep you abreast of any information that is necessary. If she does not confess, and she does not answer your questions to insinuate that she is Mother Midnight, will you let her free? No. Tomorrow, at nightfall, there will be a trial regardless of whether she confesses or not. There are ways to suss out a witch.

High Inquisitor will handle it in front of all of Cyril. You will be there to watch. You can judge for yourselves. Well, if none of us have anything else, I suggest we head to the prison to deposit the evidence and we can move on. Well, if you're heading back there, perhaps we can find some of the nearby guards to grab the cauldron and y'all can go together. We can enjoy a nice supper as friends. Before tomorrow evening, should she be awake by then,

Would we be able to visit her and speak with her ourselves? I do not think that would be for the best. I am High Inquisitor of this town. Who better to get the information that's needed than someone who is the lead of the job? I appreciate what you've done, of course, but you're not equipped to handle the trial of the witch. You're simply muscle. You do not know what we are dealt with. I know what the Archbishop has told me, and this is not the job for you.

Do what you've been asked, and Philip Droskenwald will reward you. Say no more. Thank you very much for your time, High Inquisitor. We appreciate it. It was lovely to meet you. Thank you, Thine. I mean, High Inquisitor, High Inquisitor is what I said. We'll see you tomorrow in the town square for the festivities. Doing that agitated thing that, like, horses do when they stomp a little bit.

No, I'm not really doing that. And thank you so much for your help. You have no idea how valuable you've been. And she quickly turns and walks away mid-sentence.

Her ass swaying in the dark. Her exposed thigh glinting at the camera like... Flip! That's gonna be crust. Go up an even amount. She's gonna levitate. As soon as she is out of... We watch her go, and she's out of earshot, I am going to turn to...

these two and lean in. I will now turn to your turn too. What I will say is as she walks away, or is the guard gonna take the cauldron? So I'm looking around for guards, anyone that's nearby that might be able to help. I'll say quickly two guards who were flanking her are easily able to take the cauldron and the skull from you. And whatever information you choose to give immediately. Does it just come out of the bag?

He asked for it. I put it upside down and the hands put it down gently. It's like a piranha. Exactly. That's perfect. I accept it. I wish I had thought of it. That's exactly what happens. The guards take the things you're willing to give. We don't have to think about it right now. You can let me know what it is later. But they take those things from you and you are left alone in the circle here. The cathedral looming over you. All of these statues of saints that you're unfamiliar with but

looming over all of them is the large fountain with the statue of Foltus in the very center as the silvery water flows out glistening in the moonlight. And you realize the town is incredibly quiet. But as you look around, you see that there are people looking out of their windows. And you would experience this the first time you'd come into Cyril, but no longer are the sneers of revulsion and the shouts of witch-like

burn them. Instead, you see that though they don't seem inviting, they seem quizzical and they seem interested and a little wary. But it's almost as if it has already infiltrated the entire town that you have brought back Mother Midnight. You have secured Keziah Jenkins and their

Hope has been restored to this town just a little bit and the streets are quiet and you're left alone to talk as you want to. The guards back off into the shadows and no one seems to bother you for now. Gentlemen, and I turn to the two of you. Mr. Marius? I have been alive and will continue to be alive for far longer than is natural for a human. In my time, I have met many people

many different kinds of people. I can tell you that that woman is dangerous. You must... Oh, do you stink? Listen... Listen to me, Jericho. I'm sorry. I mean serious. I am the way that I am because I fell to lust. I'm sorry. Do not be taken in so easily. Do not wear your hearts on your sleeves.

Like schoolboys. But Mr. Marius? Yes? I don't have a heart. It oughtn't to say anything about hearts. You're asking for trouble. Crocodile dick! You're asking for trouble.

I'm sorry, Mr. Marius. Do not give in so easily is my point. She's just so pretty and all and very competent, it seems, and very trustworthy. Looks can be deceiving. That's exactly right. I can chime in and say that woman is not, not a woman worthy of your affection or your love or your lust or anything else. Like,

I don't have any real intentions. I thought perhaps maybe a nice picnic in the meadow. I don't think that's the kind of woman you take on a picnic. That being said... I need you to roll a group perception check for me, please. Group? Mm-hmm. Jinx? Jinx? You are off the 20th. Oh my god, crushed it. 15. Perception... 22. 22 is well...

Perception? I have a 23. Okay. Continue. That being said, personally, I'm famished. I don't know about the rest of you. I need to pray, and then we can get food.

Reasonable? Well, the cathedral right there, I don't know if it's improper to pray to a god that isn't of the cathedral. You immediately hear a strange sound coming from the alleyway directly behind you. The sound of shuffling feet. Almost as if it's someone or something is running toward you. I'll turn immediately. Shit, yeah. Is it out of place? Because it's really quiet. Everything is quiet. There's nobody else in the streets. I'd probably whip around on the aisle. Yeah, we'd all probably snap our arm.

You snap around and all of you are able to see as what appears to be a thin lithe form darts across the alleyway and presses its back up against the wall for just a second, trying to hide from view. Before, with apprehension, it moves out, or it moves away from the wall and faces you and begins to walk directly towards you. The movements are jerky, shaky, unsure.

You all watch as what appears to be a scrawny young boy steps out of the shadows. Uh, excuse me, are you the heroes that are in town just brought that witch back from the forest? Yes. Hey, my name's Dudley, but my friends call me Skinny Dudley on account of the fact I'm skinny and named Dudley. It's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Do you think you could help me with something? I don't know who else to tell about it.

Sure, come closer. Come out of the shadows, please. He like looks up. You ain't going to bite me or nothing, are you? I'm not going to bite you, no. All right, you sure? I probably don't taste good. I ain't got no meat on these bones. Mom says I need to eat bones. Holy moly. You have my word. We're not going to harm you. Please. All right. So, like, here's the thing. I don't really know who to talk to about this.

I clean most of these houses, like that's my job. That's what I do, you know, that's my thing. And so, you know that Keziah Jenkins lady? You know how they found a witch ball under her husband's bed after he died? Yes. I found one of those tonight. In a different house. Right. The problem is, the people who own that house, they have connections, and so I don't know who to tell, because...

I don't want to get in trouble. I don't want to be called a witch, but I don't want to keep it from anyone. I don't know what to do. I don't know who else to go to. I think you did the right thing. Tell us everything that you know and we'll pass the information on to the right people and we'll leave you out of it. I don't know. I'm not sure it's a good idea to say anything to anyone. I...

And he looks around to see if anyone's listening. He's, well, come on in. Let's huddle or something. Of course, Skinny Dudley. My name's old Jericho Sticks. You can call me Jericho. Most folk do. Do most folk call you... Skinny Dudley. I already told you that story. Well, I guess I'll call you Skinny Dudley then. Yeah, I hate it. I'm skinny too. There ain't nothing wrong with just being skin and bones or wood and metal. I mean, things in this town have been real bad with all the kids getting sick and stuff and...

You know, after I found that witch ball under Keziah Jenkins' husband's bed, things have not been good for him, man. I'm just really worried about this one, so I guess I'll just get to the point. I was at the Mirabelle house today.

in their master bedroom, in their armoire. And I found this thing and he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out what is very clearly a witch ball. It's the same thing that you were shown with the Archbishop and Matron Maggie McDuff. And I know you're staying there. So maybe it was brought there for some reason or something, but...

I don't know. And they don't know I have it and I'm afraid they're gonna find out. And she's the... she's the sister. She's the Archbishop's sister. I don't know who to tell her what to do. And he looks really scared and he starts shaking and you see a tear start to run out of his eye. I don't want to die. I don't want to be called a witch because I've been this. It's alright. We're gonna help you. Exactly. We're here to help. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you. Tell us, where in the house did you find it?

It was in the master bedroom. I was cleaning the armoire. I have to go in there every week. I clean lots of the big houses here. Like I said, that's my job. That's how I make money to support my family. And I was cleaning the drawers, doing the dusting, and I moved over what was, I imagine, some real nice pajamas. And it was right there at the corner.

I will, while he's talking, remove a small piece of cloth from my regular bag. And he's holding it in his hand. And I'll hold out the cloth in two hands like so. Skinny Dudley, please, you may give us the witch ball so that it does not endanger you. Are you sure? If I don't tell Inquisitor Mayville and she finds out I had this and I gave it to you, I'll go to trial. I'm very good at keeping secrets. You can trust us. I want you to roll a persuasion check.

I'm going to go with 23 big money. Boom. Let's fucking go. He looks around at all of you and his face alights with just a slight smile as he looks at Jericho, being clearly the least threatening of all of you.

oddly enough, as he seems to be uncomfortable around Lethika's feminine form. But he looks toward you and he, well, all right, you promised you're not going to tell anyone. I mean, you're staying there, right? So if it comes down to it, you could say you found it. No one has to know I found it. That's a great idea. You're very smart, Deadly.

All right, well, they don't call me Smart Dudley. Well, they don't call me Smart Dudley. They call me Skinny Dudley, but I wish they'd call me... Anyway, here. And he passes you the ball. I will immediately sort of wrap it up, and then I will think about whether or not I'm going to put it in this bag. Do you think I did the right thing by telling y'all? Yes, I do. I'm super nervous. Town's been really on edge, and if I step one toe out of the line, it's Witch Dudley. Just...

Protect yourself. Be careful, and we'll take care of the rest. All right. Tell us, before you go, what other houses do you clean? Oh, most of them. All the big houses in town. Even some of the smaller houses, too. Anyone that can afford it. But to be honest, most people ain't got much money here. What about the Archbishop's house? Oh, no. He don't need no one to clean it. It's a house of God. Dust isn't allowed in there or something. I've never been a place that dust doesn't go. Yeah, well...

You ain't never met Folt, that's true. It's because he doesn't know Sam. No, I'm just kidding. Silver light. You are instantly sumoed. I am sumoed if I'm existed. All right, well, I should get to dinner unless you need anything from me, so.

How old does he seem to be? I would say he's probably 13, 14. Okay, I'll say, well, young Dudley, you've done a real fine thing. Once this is all taken care of and Mother Midnight is gone and your city is saved, they're going to sing songs about you.

Dudley, you are smarter than most.

When you start telling people my name's Smart Dudley, we'll be the best friends. I would ask that you remember we brought a woman back to the city. Oh, heck yeah, that witch. Mother Midnight, I heard. But you're smart enough to understand that until she is judged to be a witch, she is still... Oh, yeah, the trial's gonna be tomorrow. It's gonna be a hoot. Thank you.

Did you clean her house as well? Oh yeah, I'm the one that found the witch ball under her husband's bed. Did you find anything else while you were there? No, not much. Just a bunch of dust. It's kind of messy. Doesn't like to wash her dishes. I mean, sure, it's all boarded up and the guards are washing it so you can't get in, but it's right around that corner three houses down on the left.

Thank you, Dudley. You're welcome. Do you know how her husband died? Oh, he had a fit in his sleep when he didn't wake up. He had spittle and blood running out of his mouth and his eyes. And his ears. That don't sound natural.

Spittle in the ears. It's unusual. No blood, sorry. It's okay, smart Dudley. That's why they don't call me smart Dudley. Hey, wouldn't it be cool if people had tongues in their ears and like anytime you were standing around and you wanted to hear something, the tongues would come out and they'd just lap up the sound? I think that'd be neat.

And then when you go to sleep, the tongs have to sleep too, so you can't hear, okay, bye! I'm just gonna spin him around and just cut him. Bye, little smart Dudley. Brave, smart, smart, smart Sir Dudley. I won't workshop it. And you see as he quickly darts into shadows and runs away. And even as he walked away, he looked over his shoulder very nervously. You can tell that he is still on tenderhooks about the situation.

I love that. This is troubling. Which part? All of it. That's a very serious accusation. That boy just made us. Right. I mean, he didn't really accuse anybody. He just said what he found. He wasn't making any sort of implication. Jennifer Derrick was right. And what I'm more concerned about is the safety of the boy. And I'm concerned for the safety of the family. If one of them starts to get sick...

It doesn't necessarily mean that they were or are a witch, but that they've perhaps been marked or targeted. He didn't make it, but there are implications. The whole reason Keziah Jenkins was believed to be a witch was the witch bar was under her husband's bed. Then she fled.

And if a witch ball is discovered in the dresser of Mirabelle Holm... Yeah, look at you! Again, they may just be targeted by a witch. I got you, Tugs! I don't think that this means that they're witches. I think that it's possible they're being targeted because they're close to the Archbishop. I don't think that it means that they're witches either, but if it gets out...

Others might think they are, but it seems like that's all the evidence they need. It's going to get out eventually. Like I said, if one of them becomes sick. So you think that somebody's targeting the sister of the Archbishop by placing that witch boy in her house? And I think what you're implying is that maybe that poor gal that we handed over to the beastie, the same thing happened?

It's very possible. It's possible. I mean, like Mary said, I mean, she fled, so... But did you see how afraid he was even to bring it up that he might be accused? Of course. Just for finding it. Absolutely. It's a dangerous scenario. So Keziah possibly fled to avoid what she knew would be certain persecution.

I don't doubt it. And he handed her over. Well, she's still brewing potions in a cauldron with a goat skull. We didn't see her do anything. We don't know what she did and what she didn't do. We know she walked down into her like...

That was very good, Bigot. As Briggsie so eloquently put it. It's like a back at the hut. She was practicing some sort of magics, and there were bones and dead corpses surrounding her hut. Maybe she was trying to help. She wasn't just in hiding. We met a man on the way here whose actions were controlled by a hag.

Hers could be she could have been lulled into the forest, and hers could have been as well. Yoram, none of us are to die, but that's not a possibility. The point is, she still must be judged for what she did. She committed crimes against peoples of this town. But you saw who's going to be judging her. Someone that's going to torture whatever answer she wants to get, and then some man that's going to rely on the god that only he can hear. And I'm not disagreeing with you, but as of right now, there's nothing that we can do about it.

Except he sits here on the street and argues. I regret very much that we did not take the time to talk to her before we delivered her to the High Inquisitor. I mean, look, this is different, right? I mean, there's a political reason, theoretically,

there's some political gain to be had while maybe accusing the Archbishop's sister, maybe some sort of jealous, you know, noble rival or something. You don't know, right? With this Keziah Jenkins, I don't see that. And that's where we're staying, in that same house. So maybe when everybody goes to sleep, we can, you know, dig around a little bit, see if we can find more, see if we can find evidence of the woman in the household being a little...

Witchy. Look for the sigil. I think you're right. I think Briggs is right. It's no coincidence that we're in the thick of it. It happens to be at the house that we're staying at. That's right. It seems odd enough. I can see that maybe they're trying to take her out. Well, then, if someone is trying to take her out, perhaps we should hustle back there and enjoy a nice supper. If they're kind enough to give us some supper. I concur. And I need to pray. Let us... We have to be...

Careful. If this information gets out, that it came from us, the Archbishop could very easily say that we were the ones that placed it there, living in her home. Oh, absolutely. To protect his sister. So we agree then, we won't say a word. All of us. Yes. My only concern is, we wake up tomorrow and one of them's dead.

You don't think that would happen, do you, Sir Marius? Seems to be a theme. All of these people who have gotten sick and died, they find the witch balls. Can we try to check under the beds before they go to sleep? We really should. But you're right, we need to stay silent. I mean... Should I pretend? You should. I'm gonna pull out a needle and thread and start. No, no, no, no, not literally. Just don't talk about what we just saw.

I have the witch bomb here. Pulls out a sickle. If I used sleight of hand, I could make it appear as though I discovered it, and then there would be no risk to the owner of the bed, and we would be able to make as though we are discovering it together with the Mirabelles. I think that's wise. And perhaps the Mirabelles, if we put on a good enough show for them, they'll know what to do, and we've done a good thing. I think that's wise. I think that's a good course of action.

Okay. We still don't know what these things are, what they're doing. I wonder if the Archbishop still has two wishbones, or if this is one of the two he already had. I think either way, we don't know enough. He just blew into his mind. Put it in the bag. Let's not talk about it. We'll search the house tonight. Someone, maybe a stealthy type to me, and we'll investigate.

I think that's smart and we'll all be thinking a lot clearer on a full stomach. I mean, I just eat to feel included, but you all probably think a lot better on a full stomach. Agreed. This politics and dealings in the cities have made me lose an appetite. And with that, you all begin to make your way back to the residence of the Mirabelles. And as you leave the town square, you immediately hear the flapping of wings as you turn and look behind you.

Talking amongst yourselves you hadn't noticed as an entire group of pigeons had found roost on the statue of Foltus, and as you leave, the flapping of their wings as they begin to fly away alerts you to their presence. They fly over you, dart into the darkness, almost as if they had been eavesdropping.

listening to every word that you had said. Almost as if. Almost as if. But they're just pigeons. They're just pigeons! You're supposed to be looking out for pigeons! No, I'm not saying you're useless. With that on your mind, they looked like completely harmless pigeons. No human faces, no human hand. As you make your way back to the home of the Mirabelles, the entire place is illuminated. You can hear laughter and the sounds of a happy family erupting from within.

And as you make your way towards the door, you have that key on your person. You unlock the door and open it to allow yourself entrance. And immediately you are met with the loud, boisterous voice of Zephyrine Mirabelle as she welcomes you into her home. Dinner's ready now, so come on, come on, we've been waiting, we've been waiting.

I will, is there like a bench or something outside the home? Sure. I will be in momentarily. I need a few moments to myself. Thank you very much. If you don't mind, you can start without me, please. Well, we're not going to be able to stop the children or the child. That's fine. I'll be quick. I promise.

And then I would like to sit on the bench and begin, you know, softly to myself reciting the evening prayer that I normally do, that I've done hundreds and hundreds of times to the point where it's, the words are automatic and my mind is drifting and I'm dwelling on the witch ball and this boy and I'm worried about, you know, what's going to happen to him. But very quickly, my mind turns to the High Inquisitor.

and dwelling on her and thinking about her and trying to push the thoughts from my mind. - You see nothing but thighs. - As I finish my prayer, I stand up and I go back into the house to join for dinner.

And don't forget to snag all of the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies,

a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. You make your way into the house and the entire family is so happy to have you back. They don't pry, they don't ask you what had happened. They're just happy to see that you've arrived back safely. They let you know their worries that you wouldn't come back, the fears about the rest of the guards, but that they had hope and so they cooked for you. And they were so happy to hear that you'd arrived back in town.

especially Colette. And you can see that she is barely able to stay in her seat as she's bouncing around, shoveling food in her face and telling you how happy she is that you are back home. And that really is what this has become for you, your little home in Searle. And it is very clear that this family, though they've only known you for a day, they care about you. They care about your well-being and they're here to support you. You can have whatever conversation you choose to have, but

I think I would just be very much enjoying normal, pleasant supper conversation. I might be telling stories to Colette. You know, telling her jokes and just being generally goofy. She's giggled so much during the course of this dinner that by the time that

that dessert comes out, she's too tired to even eat it. For the first time in her young life, she is passed out on her father, snoring away, little drips of spittle coming out of her mouth. I'm not blood. I ain't gonna eat that. What? Please don't say "not blood." We're done talking about the bones. Not blood? Oh, not blood. What the fuck? I assume it was named Jericho.

I would be trying to be as positive and cheery as possible. Misunderstood. To bring warmth and cheer to this dinner and enjoying the stories that Jericho is telling and just trying to be positive and warm. And they are doing the same.

Zephyrine is constantly refilling food on the table. Francois is assisting her. You can tell that they're very much in love. The way that they look at each other is definitely a love that has lasted 30 years, if not more. And they are-- Not much longer. Huh? Not much longer. Oh god, I hope so. Are you gonna kill them in their sleep? I'm not. I'm not the DM.

No one is innocent. You go hungry. This is where we get out of a horror game, right? Horror nice things. Do I remember where Skinny Dudley said he left the Witch of the Battle of the Far Mar? Yes, it was in the master bedroom, so it was in Zephyrine and Francois' bedroom in their armoire. Okay. It's interesting. It was really bad. It is interesting, but it was under pajamas. Hmm?

- I would probably inquire about Samuel Good. That was his name, right? If he's fine. - Yes, they're happy to tell you that around midday, that he was, though he wasn't exactly where he needed to be, he felt well enough to leave. - Okay. - And he is firmly back at the inn. He feels absolutely horrible about what happened and has offered you free nights and free drink there.

and that he understands that you probably won't take him up on that, but... Not a fucking chance. I say... Or me. I don't know. It seems too suspicious, and we're taken from our own beds. You got poisoned worse than we did. I prefer staying here. Personally, your hospitality's been wonderful, thank you.

Well, I can agree to that. A bite of food. You've been very kind to have us. We really are happy to have you here. The food is good. The first bit of hope that this town has had in a long while.

I want to generally gauge, is the breakfast that we got and the supper that we're having, do we get the sense that people were kind of skinny and starving as well? Does this seem more like a bit more bountiful than we might expect in a standard Sea Roll

A bit more lavish. Oh, because of the crops. Yeah, the crops and the livestock. I would say that it's probably clear that being the daughter of, or not the daughter, being the sister. I told you, I haven't read much lately. Don't you dare write that down. It's a slip. Being the sister of the Archbishop, that there are clearly perks that go along with that. And they do seem to have more money than your average Cerulean. Got it.

Thank you very much for the supper. I'm feeling mighty sleepy. Do you do this? I'm sleepy and tired. Oh, gosh. He only had a heart. Oh, there we go. Sorry about that. I'm mighty tired. This is a new sensation for me.

We won't keep you up. We've got a bit of cleaning to do and we've got to put Colette to bed. Is there anything around the house we can help with? Please. You've had a long day and you've done all you possibly could for Cyril today. We wouldn't even think of asking it of you. Get some rest. Our home is your home. And we mean that. We're both here, but he'll help you clean. Oh, I'll help. I'm moving the broom. You should go to bed.

Oh, no, I just was saying what I thought. You should just go upstairs to bed. I thought most people just, after supper, they say, gosh, I'm mighty tired and I need to go to sleep. I'm happy to, I'm good with the broom or mop or any other chores. It's part of what I was created to do. Wait, wait, what do you mean? So who's going to help clean and who's going to bed?

I'm happy to help clean. You see that they have already turned away and started cleaning while you're out here. I would just get up and start helping, clearing dishes. I would help too. Carrying things in the kitchen. And they don't stop you. They continue to make conversation with you and make jokes, and they're happy to have your help, but they definitely don't require it. I would like to try to, like, you know, get upstairs and investigate. Oh, let me grab that for you. Oh, thank you, Miss. Thank you, Miss. Okay, here you go. All right, you're tired, too. Nice job.

Let's get it early night. Thank you for your hospitality. And I will join your Grimm and Brigsy on my way up there. Jericho and I will be up soon. Sweet dreams, we'll see you in the morning. We'll continue to help. Let us know if you need anything. Good night, thank you for dinner. And as you're about to leave, you hear a loud knock at the door. Zephyrine quickly makes her way to the door and opens it. And you see a knight's templar standing there.

as he hands her a letter. His voice booms out at all of you. We've had a confession. Mother Midnight has been captured. Her trial will begin tomorrow at dusk. Not dusk, fuck. Evening. Evening. God, this is really hard trying to keep up with a world of night.

- That's great news, thank you for letting us know. - Garge, that is great news. - And he immediately turns and you can hear the clanking of his boots as he marches away.

And you see as she unrolls the parchment and there is, and she turns and shows it to you and there is a clear order. You see the door is still open that these notices have been plastered on lamps and buildings all over the place. Mother Midnight has been captured. Trials promptly tomorrow. And that is what happened. Philip's going to be so proud of us.

I can't wait to get me ol' flesh back. I look at Briggsie like, "Are you stupid?" I don't say a word. No, I'm not stupid. I can tell what you're thinking. I think maybe you should go up to bed. Get your rest for tomorrow. I can tell what you're thinking now. I think, you know what, we are gonna go upstairs, right, Yogi? Yes. Well, Miss Leather has also been in my attire too.

Well, isn't that good news? Well, you rush up and you get your sleep. But that is such good news. I'm...

And you see as she looks over as Francois is holding the now completely crashed out daughter, Colette, in his arms. She is, if you've seen that meme of Anna from Frozen where she's drooling in her arms, that's exactly what she looks like. As they both, their eyes linger on her and you can feel the hope

that they feel knowing now that nothing can happen to their daughter. Now that God has met her. Gosh, I wish, I wish that. This is so fucked up. We are, this is about to get so dark. Oh God, I feel it in my bones. Well, Jericho and I are happy to continue cleaning if you'd like to put the young one to bed, please. Oh, that's right. You go on up ahead and we'll take care of the rest. Well, Ferenc, well,

So I didn't realize you were staying down here with us. We're happy for the help. And he quickly, he nods his head to you. He places a kiss on his daughter's forehead and he quickly takes her up to her room. And you imagine that she always said that he would tell her a story at night. And so he's probably got about roughly 30 minutes in there of tucking her in. She'll clearly wake up and

want to have dessert and he's gonna have to calm her back down, tell her a story, get her to sleep. Sounds like Potter. It'll take us probably, Miss Zephyrine, probably about 30 minutes down here. We'll clean it together for about 30 minutes.

Well, we'll go to bed immediately. It won't take 30 minutes doing anything. Well, thank you. Well, gosh, I'm glad you're going to get some rest. You look mighty tired, more than usual, I'd say. I feel fine, actually, but I will go to bed. So, thank you. And you help Zephyrine clean up downstairs. You make small talk, and she seems very excited, while the three of you, who was it, you three, head on upstairs.

There's no way this is over. No, it is impossible to me that that would be Mother Midnight. Either she confessed because of the undue harshness of the Inquisition, or because she was manipulated to do so as a pawn. Or she didn't confess at all. It could be a political maneuver to try and suppress the panic that has taken the city. Are we going to have

Snoop Man. I'm going to need to figure out what's going on there. There's no way that this ends tomorrow at the evening. Are they... Is anyone in the master bedroom? You clearly know where their bedroom is and know it's completely empty. Do your thing. Do we still want to do that given the revelation that the confession has occurred? Yes. I think now more than ever we have to. We'll be right back. I will...

silently pray for the darkness to surround me, for the night sky to, as a tiny gift, grant me advantage on stealth. And immediately I'll creep up to the door. Is the door to their bedroom open? It's not locked, no. I will open it and as silently as I can open the door and I will see the bedroom and I will

See if there's an obvious place that I can hide a witch ball in plain sight so that it might be stumbled upon. There's a desk, there's a chair, a nice cushy chair with a side table, there's a bed. It looks like a bedroom, anywhere you could put something in a bedroom. I'm going to...

I'm going to go over to the bed and I'm going to see the sheets. Are they perfectly tucked in the way that they might be in like a hood? It's neatly made. Neatly made. So there's a sheet over the pillow that's like tucked under the pillow. Yeah, and there's a towel elephant that's on the front and there are two Andy's chocolates. Obviously. Are the beds

- It tugs in with hospital corners at the edges. - And then when you flip the bed open and you show the sheets, it's clear that the sheets hadn't been washed in a long time. There are some like blood markings where like, well, that's pretty gross, but you still get into them 'cause it'd be too much trouble to wait like an hour for them to bring you the sheets. - The water glasses still have lipstick stains on the side. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to put the,

the witch ball between the pillow and the comforter and the, like, into the fold under the pillow. Okay. So that when they lift the blanket, the witch ball will emerge from underneath the pillow and cleanly roll out under the fold. Okay, roll a performance check. Oh. That's... That's something. Oh! There you go. Yeah.

All right, guys, you guys have been rolling okay, but I'm giving you another chance. Performancy?

That's another wizard's rule. Natural 20. Wow. 22. Sort of. Sort of. It's a 29. It feels good. You feel like having done this that there you've left no, you've left nothing behind that would allude to any of you having put this there and you imagine that the moment the blanket is moved that this witch ball will be discovered. I will close the door behind me and look to

Briggs and Yorgrym. It is done. Come with me. As you're turning to leave the room to close the door, you see me in the doorframe as I start to creep through. All right, what are we for? Let's start looking for shit. LAUGHTER

We have to-- it had to be completely undisturbed that it was found. Back out. He's saying this, and I'm like, "Opening a closet door." Roll an investigation check. Roll an investigation check. Rustling through struggle. I love Briggsie capers. Uh, do-do-do, skills, investigation. I think I'm a pirate, so I better be proficient. I am. Ten.

You don't find anything. At least nothing valuable, nothing you'd want to steal, and absolutely nothing that would allude to why the witch ball was found here. Found nothing? It all seems normal. I mean, I guess what you did is probably fine, aren't I? Let's go. I'm going to have to close all of these doors. Oh, I forgot I left it all open. That's right. Thank you. Rosie, put that back.

It's her wedding ring. That's got no value. Oh, that's got value. Put it on the bed. All right, and they pull out her ring. Fine, they put it on the bedside table. Yeah, you're right. They're very hospitable. It would be rude to steal from them in their own home while they're keeping us up, you know what I mean? So, fair enough. It goes beyond rude. Come on, let's make our way back to our room. You quickly make your way back to the room. You finish up downstairs, and you're able to, um,

co-mingle in your bedroom space and is there anything you want to do before it's time to hit the hay? I wouldn't say much to either of you. Once we get into the room, I would pull back the partition allowing me privacy and go into my ritual of prayer. Well, I think we did a good thing today. They found Mother Midnight.

And I think that the whole town is going to be saved, and I'm really proud of us. So good work, friends. Just so that we're all on the same page here, you don't actually believe that she was Mother Midnight? I mean, what other information do we have? Why would that not be Mother Midnight? It is, I think, a deception. Theron? I just... I don't even know what to say. You can't really mean that. It's not Mother Midnight. It's just some woman...

I was untortured. Well, either way, maybe this will lure out, if it ain't Mother Midnight, maybe it'll lure out the real Mother Midnight, and that's the plan. Hopefully? Maybe? There is a manipulation happening. I do not know if it is the Archbishop...

Or if it is Forgus' will, or Mother Midnight. What? I think it's, you know, it's a few members. I'm a real man. I'm a real man. I'm a real man. I'm a real man. I'm a real man. I'm a real man. I'm a real man.

now we have to put the gold in the barrel because the goal is that the elites have you heard about it have you heard about it i'm just saying excuse me

If you'd like to have any context about talking about one, fine. Check out Pratt, one of your favorite shows. What I will say, Forges would be an amazing NPC in the land of witches. Derek is still dead.

To always be suspicious, but never have the right idea. Yeah, he's always wrong. Witches. I'm assuming you meant Foltis. Now that I imagine the world, Foltis is the god. Something is telling me I got that one. I do not know if it was Foltis' will, or if it was Mother Midnight, but that woman, that confession is either fake or false.

produced by some charm or magic, not from Mother Midnight's mouth herself. I mean, how do we know? It's awfully presumptuous. Listen, Jericho's right about one thing. And it's that we know nothing. Oh, yeah. I'm right about something. See, I'm right about something, Virgil. You should learn a thing. Oh, I... It's awfully suspicious that they just take her off for questioning. We can't be part of that. It's not part of the trial. She's heading away. We're not to come see her.

It's politics, simply as Briggsies stated earlier. There's no doubt about it. But the point is, who are we to say, oh, she confesses, then maybe she is Mother Midnight, and maybe, you know, there's a reason why she wasn't too great hand-to-hand. Like Jericho said, maybe how she's powerful is spreading this blood through the crops and charming people, but once we show up, she's barely an inconvenience. Well, I think one thing's for sure.

We will know soon enough. If this woman is put to trial and she is deemed to be condemned to death or... She will be. Or however they deal with their people. If the blight does not stop and the lands are not cured, then our job is not done. But how many more children are just going to die waiting for them to realize that she wasn't the real one?

Well, at the end of the day... Are you willing to sit by and watch it? She was part of what was causing these children to die. That's right. So we've done something right. It may not be the end, but we have a lead. One lead will lead to another, and we will continue one step at a time until our jobs are done. For the sake of brevity, what's your plan for tomorrow, during the day? I want to go buy some shoes. You know that at the moment that...

What we would consider dusk or twilight is happening in this realm is when the trial is going to happen. What are your plans to do during the day? I would say it's very apparent that the Archbishop will be busy and that, um, thigh inquisitor Mayville will also not be taking visitors. I'm happy to go first.

Marius would spend his day exploring the town and seeing if there was any way that he could help random people. Okay, perfect. Quite literally just trying to aid and learn more and just trying to see if there's any way he could help. Perfect. Can I help you cross the street? Here you go! LAUGHTER LAUGHTER

Britsy will explore the town as well, finally get a chance to kind of experience Cyril. He'll keep an eye out for bordellos.

Of which there are none. He won't find any. Every crossroad he approaches, they'll work him though. I'll do some weird thing and then spin around three times, hoping that Mr. Crossroads doesn't appear. It's giving him good luck and not bad luck. And yeah, sort of fruitless, basically just meet up with everybody else. Okay.

I'm assuming you're all just gonna hang out doing those similar things?

How big is Cyril? It's pretty large. You've only seen a portion of it. It's a city. Yeah, it's a city, not a town. Would it be unreasonable to say if I wanted to during the day to just walk outside of it? Not to go do anything, but just to be outside of the city? You could. You've been outside of it on multiple occasions, and there's basically nothing anywhere around, but you could do that. I would probably just try and walk outside and just get away from it. All right.

City life. I would shop. I'd like to go shop and find a gift as thanks to the Mirabelles and what I would think human, which I probably still haven't gotten a good sense of what these humans would want.

and get maybe a gift basket, a bouquet of flowers, something like that, a toy for Colette, and bring it back. And any additional time I would have, I'd like to try to read through the storybook and perhaps commit them and flesh them out in my mind and create songs about them because it enthralled Colette so much. I'd like to, I presume, and that's what other children would like. - Perfect. - I'm assuming we're enjoying a long rest.

- You will be, not yet. - Oh. - We're just describing what we're gonna do. - Don't count your chickens there. - We're just gonna say what we're gonna do. - Yes, it's important for this thing, 'cause I don't wanna keep you guys until midnight again, but we do still have a bit to get through. - Okay, so for the purposes of planning-- - And so I'm trying to speed through the day tomorrow for purposes. - I would remember that I promised,

Anya a gift and that she didn't want carrots, but I do go to a bakery to see if I can find carrot cake. Okay. And I do just enjoy urban living again. I'd probably do a lot of people watching. Maybe find a cafe and a little gold and just sort of get a sense of what the city's like when it's not in panic mode. Just sort of trying to read it and get a pulse. I love that. I would go...

as sneakily or as non-conspicuously as possible by Keziah's house and kind of work my way around and see where the guards are posted and if I thought that it would be possible upon like full nightfall to make my way in there. Okay.

And is there anything you want to do before you go to bed? Marius would lay down and try very hard to push the thoughts of the High Inquisitor from his mind as he drifts off to sleep.

- I'd go into the broom closet and like try to... - I would take off my clothes except for my pants and I'd leave my tombstone on and I'd sleep on the floor, rest up against the wall. But before I sit down, I'd prop my shovel up and say, "Thoraxilmar, bring me dreams, many at all." - And you all in your own ways find sleep.

and all of them are dreamless. You wake up in the morning to the sounds of yelling and shouting in the streets. You're all woken abruptly. All of these ideas of what you would do in this day when everyone was so excited for the capture of Mother Midnight. But it is not excitement that you hear in the streets. It is absolute terror.

As you run toward the window, you see that the Knights Templar have their hands full as people are yelling and screaming at each other. You see that people are being dragged out of houses. You see women crying, doubled over in pain. And all of this seemingly out of nowhere. You listen and you can tell that the house is completely empty. The family gone.

You're here alone. What do you do? I will quickly run to the bedroom to see if the Mirabelle spent any time in their bed. It clearly looks like the bed had been disturbed. It's not made. There are no smells of breakfast. It sounds like they got up very early and left. I'll run to the door, try and get outside and make sense of what's going on. From the windows, are we able to decipher any of what people are yelling about?

It is from inside the house, it is really hard to tell what they're yelling at. Yeah, I would say, well, let's go. Something must have happened that we all slept through. Yeah, I would get moving. Pulling a door open, I'd be trying. I'll quickly just turn the sheets on the bed back and forth to make sure that the witch ball wasn't missed. Is it still there? It is not still there. And then I join the rest of the gang. So this is the day that we were going to do all those things we told you. And we may still want to. We're going to do a goddamn thing.

You make your way outside. - I have such big plans today. - I'll follow the rest outside. - You make your way outside and you hear

yelling and screaming. Off to your left, you see a woman yelling out in rage. "He slept with her! I know he did! He's a lustful witch! Hang him! Hang him, guards! Hang him!" Shouts everywhere. "He's a witch! She's a witch! They're a witch!" And you see posters all over the town. Mother Midnight has confessed.

Mother Midnight blames accomplices in town. No one is safe. Find them, hunt them. Any witch provided to the Knights Templar, those who wanted, anyone who delivers a witch to the Knights Templar will be graciously rewarded. And you watch as the town is in absolute disarray, as friend turns on friend, family turns on family.

People are being accused of lustful actions, of wrathful deeds, of gluttony, of laziness. Any manner of sins. The town is just consumed by it. Would you still like to enjoy your plans for the day? Seeing that there's panic, no. So what would you like to do? Did we enjoy a long rest though?

No, I think you're still tired. No, of course, yes. If I, like, hit the streets, and obviously it's, like, pretty chaotic. What I will say is this is not the kind of thing that you could get involved in and stop. It's the kind of thing that you can watch happen, but it is so overwhelming the way that these people who've had no hope, the idea that people that they know and love could secretly be witches. There are people who...

seem to be clearly afraid that someone might be a witch, but you get the sense that there are some people who are malevolent and blaming people just for the sake of the money. And there is hardly anything that you can do about it, but nobody seems to be trying to stop you. You, having brought Mother Midnight to justice,

At least to trial, your people look at you as almost heroes and no one is pointing a finger at you at all. Well, strangely enough, the DM has said exactly what I was going to say. I was exactly what's on my mind. My goal was to explore Cyril and see if there was anyone that I could help, but this is...

This is unmanageable. We need to find the Mirabelles and make sure that they're all right and then maybe hunker down until this trial. I'd want to find one of the posters and just read over it in its entirety and like, is it like put out specifically by like the Archbishop or does it say like... It is clearly stamped with an insignia that looks to be the High Inquisitor's mark.

And it shows simply that Mother Midnight has confessed, but she has also claimed that she was helped from within the city. And that there are witches hiding among the innocents. And though she will not give names, there is a reward for anyone that can bring forth a witch. And people are doing just that. This is chaos. We should get to the jails. We should figure out what's going on. Talk to that woman.

figure out why she's incited all this panic. What's her doing? Well, I think... I believe that the High Inquisitor will probably be tied up the whole day, if I recall what the God of the universe might have said.

But I think, is that right? Yes. So what I will say is you are able to make your way through the city. You head to the jail and you are turned away. They are far too busy. The amount of witches that are coming to their initial questioning is far more than they had expected. But they do believe that they have at least a handful so far in...

in captivity and you question about the whereabouts of the Mirabels and you get varying opinions, but you are eventually able to find out that they seem to be just fine. They are with the Archbishop and they are safe within the sanctity of the church. The Knights Templar are keeping them protected and they will not be coming out into the city until the trial starts this evening.

Um, occasionally you are able to do what you tried to do, Marius. You pick a kid up off the ground who was, uh, nearly trampled on by mass hysteria and you're able to help heal his wounds. You, uh, find people who are, um,

are in alleyways, terrified, and you shroud them and take them home. And you try and get as many people off the streets as possible, all while all of this is happening. And it's hours and hours of trying to do what you can. And though the craziness of the situation is, it feels like it's ramping up.

Eventually, the Knights Templar step out onto the street and they announce that all of the witches, all of the accomplices have been apprehended and that everyone should go back to their homes for in an hour's hence, the trials shall begin.

you have an hour until the trial. - So while that was all happening, I would have been like, you know, everybody's helping each other. - Literally whatever you wanted to do, you could do. - Yeah, I'd be helping Marius and helping people and trying to like sing positive songs, probably not. - With a smile. - Yeah, exactly. - I would have been like, "It's us, the heroes of Ciro!" And I'd be turning over my hat. - And that's people who were maybe going to be apprehended when you would do something to step in the way, no one would go against you. - And I would be like, "We're taking donations for the next step on our heroic quest."

to find any remaining witches and allies of Mother Midnight. - Roll a performance. - I'd be handing my... - He drops his hat. - Performance or persuasion? - It's a performance.

You do this, but you see that most of the people in this town are unnaturally skinny. They don't seem to have the money to be able to, as thankful as they are, they don't have the money to throw in your bag. And to be quite honest, you don't know because you haven't had to pay for anything. You don't even know if they pay in coin. You don't know what the currency is of this land.

- It's a valiant effort. - Do we get the sense, so obviously this seems like-- - Jeez! - This seems like it's been extremely chaotic. Do we get the sense that anybody's just outright been murdered or died in the scuffle? - Yes, clearly. And I would say all the while you have seen William Van Brunt.

leading a huge group of angry men, accosting many, many people. But he is constantly surrounded and constantly protected. There have been times, I would say, knowing you, that you might have approached and tried to stop what they were doing, but they moved in unison. There was no way to stop it. - I will say, you could shoot that guy with your gun in the head. - I... - Just put him in place, Yogi.

I have a concerning thought. What's the thought? If we have like a moment, you know, where there's... You have an hour before the... Are we huddling? Are we huddling? I don't want to be overheard. What concerns me, I can't shake this feeling. Let's say this woman has been captured. He's saying she's a mother of a knight. She wants to cause this chaos by claiming that there's accomplices.

Because what she ultimately wants is for these innocents to be rounded up and killed. I'm concerned that this woman wants blood to be spilled. Some sort of sacrifice. If this woman is indeed under control by Mother Midnight, and she's being compelled to say the things that she is saying, confessing, then if I were Mother Midnight, I would have her say exactly that. That there are more accomplices to spread panic and fear, just as

just as the High Inquisitor and the Archbishop have. I mean, that's exactly right. At a bare minimum, you cause nothing but chaos and delay and more trouble. But at worst, I think there could be some sort of sacrifice. Blood needs to be spilled. Well, I'll be the first to say, things escalated quickly. And what's happening today is not quite what I expected when we handed her over yesterday.

So, um, it definitely feels like a plot unless, I mean, they're so desperate. Maybe it's just sort of, you know, the human condition and just they're all desperate for an answer and they're all trying to find a reward. She gave up. She gave up very quickly. We heard the word last night before we were barely at home to say that

She was... she had confessed as Mother Midnight. What better way to sow the seeds of discord than to get onto the farm? So then what we're saying is that it actually could be Mother Midnight, and she just let us capture her, and so she could have other people get put on trial, and then the last moment she'll make a daring escape. I'm so confused. Or this woman is just a mouthpiece. She's a puppet.

So what if we were to go and check her out? Go to the jail? We just went to the jail. I think that we've already went there and it's only an hour. It's probably in 45 minutes. Did they see many interesting men as well? There were more Knights Templar than you had even expected existed in this town surrounding the jail. They were overrun by the amount of people that were bringing in witches to be tried, and

They turned you away immediately. There was no way to get into that facility. It seemed like if we assaulted the jail in full force... They would all die immediately, and it would be a TPK, and that would suck. What if we snuck in? That would be real hard to do. What if we... I'm going to kill him before I die! I would also say that you had been told that Keziah Jenkins was not being held at the jail. Oh, yeah. Okay.

No, I don't recall that. No, it's because nobody asked. But I'm telling you as the DM. I thought she said she went to the jail. No, you did go to the jail to see. I thought when I asked her, she said they were taking her to the jail. They did. But she's not being held at the jail anymore.

She's now convinced, or she's now essentially convicted. She's admitted to being Mother Midnight, and so they have moved her, and they're not saying where. Damn it! They're processing all of the other accused witches and questioning them probably at the jail. And it would not be safe to keep Mother Midnight with all of these witches that are her accomplices. Wouldn't you take a head witch? Foot workers. Ha ha ha ha!

- We're running out of time. Has anyone seen the mirror bells? - Well, we haven't seen them, but apparently they're at the cathedral with the archbishop. And so if they're in good hands, then we don't have anything to worry about. - I hope so. I mean, it seems like there's no better place for them. - The bells of the cathedral begin to toll. Time is getting closer.

There's about 30 minutes until the trials and you begin to hear the sounds of the people that have not been convicted of witchcraft or put on trial for witchcraft. As they begin to make their way out of their houses and meander down the streets, you see all of them look tired and hungry and wanting of something. But you also get the sense that they're happy.

They're excited. Witches will be tried tonight, and hope will return to Cyril. As you hear off in the distance the hoots and holler of clearly William Van Brunt as he yells out, "Burn the witches! Death to the wicked!" And you hear the sounds of what sounds to be a large group of people around him yell out and cheer in unison with him. All of these people gathering in the town square.

I would proceed with what I had wanted to do, knowing now that she's not in the jail. I would go back to the house, Keziah's house, and see if there are still guards posted. Mm-hmm.

And if there are, or if they're not, I would just sneakily try to get in there. If there are, which I assume there are, I would go into the shadows and... Case the joint. Oh! And what are the rest of you doing?

I think it's going to be in the flesh, though.

I join. Where are you going? I'll join Farron. I appreciate it. I think if we can learn anything from the house, we can...

- I don't know, try to stop this if we can. - Lead the way. - I'm going Briggs-y to the splash. - I'm gonna try to get them off. - Front row, and Shamu does that flip out of the water, back flip. - I'm gonna go with the last. - So you split the party in a very dangerous city. - That's a really weird thing. - And four of you make your way towards the town center. - They die, they die. - And it,

You get there 30 minutes early hoping to be able to get a spot in the splash zone and this place is already completely crowded. But people do move out of the way for you. You are the people that brought Mother Midnight back to Cyril. The two of you. You make your way down the alleys and everything's quiet as everyone is rushing towards the town center right out in front of the church.

And you are able to make your way to what you imagined to be the house that Skinny Dudley had described to you. The windows are boarded up, the doors are boarded up, but nowhere to be seen are any guards, as all of them seem to have their hands full with the upcoming trial. If there was any night to sneak into this house, it is this night. If there is any night to sneak into this house, it is this night. We agree.

Let's see if we can get in. I'll go, um, I don't know if these kind of houses have a, they wouldn't have a back door, would they? These are like little. They're, yeah, they're like little houses. Little homes. Okay. So you would have to. So I'll try the door and see if it's locked. It's boarded up. It's boarded up. Okay. So you'd have to remove the boards.

Do you have any ways from your god to get inside? No guards. I don't think so. Is it no guards day? It was actually a no bones day. Sorry to people watching this a year from now who have no idea what we're referring to. During the first session of Feywild, I tried to use thieves tools and I didn't have proficiency. I would say for the sake of this and brevity, you are able to get into the house. I need you both to roll investigation checks.

The boards pry off at their dainty grips. 20. That's not spells, that's skills. Investigation all-mays? Yeah, it's easy to do. Give me a 14-0.

Perfect. The two of you make your way throughout this house. It is pretty small and it is very, it's very sparse. It looks like aside from being combed over and looking for additional things, more than likely by the guards when they came in to apprehend, apprehend Keziah Jenkins after the discovery of her husband, nothing else seems to have been disturbed. What you do notice is that

This is a completely different situation than the Miravilles house. Their house was comfortable and cozy. This is dilapidated. There's barely any food in the cabinets and that which is there succumbs to rot and decay. And anything like I saw in like the crops or is it just natural? Natural rot and decay. It is very clear that the Jenkins residents, they did not have much.

Not much at all. And I would say with those rolls, you find nothing out of the ordinary. I would say you are able to find what appears to be a diary of some sorts, but it is written in that same code that her journal was written in. We'll keep that. Yeah. But outside of that, there doesn't seem to be much else. I would think, too, the way that things were hidden in the attic of the house that we inherited for a night.

and the way that that house behaved in general and just sort of think around corners. Do I find anything like a hidden door or knock on walls? - This house is not even similar to that house in any way. It was very clear to you that even though you couldn't find the entrance, there was a room above you. This is a very small, like two or three room. I guess it would be three room house.

And there doesn't seem to be anything below, anything above. So even if I were trying to be evil and hide evil witchcraft in this house, I wouldn't think to... It definitely wasn't hidden here. Imagine if she was hiding her evil witch biz, it'd probably be at her hut in the woods. Okay. Well, I'm satisfied. I do not think we've found anything other than this code-written diary. Maybe we can crack it, but I feel better just...

Just putting my own eyes on it. I had thought that you were onto something, and perhaps you are here. But, uh, let us get quickly back. You hear the sounds of the cathedral bells one more time. Five minutes until the trials. You quickly make your way out of the house and roll a performance check to see how well you do at putting the boards back up on that house to...

Make it look like you hadn't snooped around. Good god. This is our downfall right here. 14. I should probably twist. We're twisting it. There was just like a town riot, so shit's fucked up. Uh-oh. I got a four. Thank you, Danette. You do your best to put the boards back up the way that you had pulled them down. You believe this one went there and that one went there. Looks...

You imagine like it looked when you got there and you quickly dart through the shadows and make your way towards the crowd. It has... Carve WVB was here. The crowd has expanded now, spilling further down into the streets. It's really hard to get a look at what's going on, but...

the crowd starts to part for you and they do it in a way that leads you directly to the rest of your friends for plot convenience. - Thank you. - Nikki's like, "I'm so, we gotta go, I gotta get to the next chapter." - No, it's great, I love that. I love that you did that. I mean, I think it was great. - I have a big bucket of popped green kernels and I'm...

Anybody want some? And with that-- What is that? That looks delicious. I need you to shut up. Why don't you shut the fuck up, okay? I'm just hungry. I'm very hungry. Here! Thank you. I bought Vuvuzelas. That's what you arrive to. As you enter the city center,

The bells of the Cathedral of the Blinding Light chime out an echoing mournful toll that reverberates around the absolute throng of people flooding into the wide circle of well-paved streets around the ever-burbling fountain beneath the watchful statue of Holtus. As the throng pushes to get closer to the marble steps of the Cathedral, you're able to slowly thread your way closer to get a look at what they're moving toward.

Erected before the brilliantly constructed cathedral are nearly two dozen wooden stakes, all atop a bed of dry firewood laced with tinder and kindling. And tied to all of these stakes are citizens of Cyril, mostly women, but a few men among them. Some struggle and cry out, their faces wrenched in fear and sorrow and streaked with tears and snot. Others simply hang their heads solemnly. At least one or two have fully passed out from the stress of the situation.

And at the center of these terrified townsfolk stands Keziah Jenkins, her hair disheveled and her face bruised, but she's the only one who stands tall and calm, looking out resolutely, almost defiantly and malevolently at the jeering mob of Cerrillians before casting a harsh gaze at the woman before her.

Atop a temporary wooden platform, acting as a macabre stage that stands before the accused, is High Inquisitor Theodora Maybill. Adorned in her most elaborate silver leathers and vestments, and flanked by her top inquisitors, separating the trial from the people of Cyril is a ring of knights templar, with the enormous, looming Hugo at their center, occasionally rattling the chains that cover him and pounding the ground with a massive fist to cause the rowdy crowd to keep away from the justice about to unfold.

Finally observing from an ornately carved and decorated chair, sitting tall before the door of the cathedral is Archbishop Dante Alexander Renault. He looks impatient and irritable as he chats with some of the deacons and priests of the Church of Foltus that sit in their far more humble seating arrangements. You push your way through hundreds of shouting and jeering townsfolk, most of them either furious and screaming threats of death to the accused or gleeful at the long overdue salvation to the city.

also screaming threats of death to the accused. When you finally get to a point where you have a good view of the stage, you hear a cacophonously booming voice that sounds more hill giant than man as Hugo the Gargoyle bellows out, Quiet! Immediately, a hush falls over the crowd.

and the only sound that can be heard in the square is the sobbing and pleading of the accused, and the occasional cooing of the pigeons that roost on the various outcroppings and statues of saints that cover the cathedral. In the quiet, High Inquisitor Mayville, her back toward the crowd, steps forward and addresses the woman tied to the stake directly in front of her.

"Kazide Jenkins, you stand accused of witchcraft, murder, kidnapping, extortion, treason, conspiracy, grand larceny, manslaughter, blackmail, housebreaking, blasphemy, infanticide, perverting justice, and high crimes against the Crescent Court as the Witch Mother Midnight of the Coven of the Midnight Moon, to which you have already given signed confession."

How do you plead before your province man, your archbishop, and your god? The crowd around you murmurs as they await a response. Keziah Jenkins, several strands of brown hair covering her bloody and bruised face, stares maliciously at the crowd, the statue of Foltis, and at the High Inquisitor. Then she spits a mixture of saliva, mucus, and blood toward the makeshift stage.

The crowd gasps and immediately breaks out into a cacophony of screams, jeers and threats of death to kill the witch. It takes another bellow from Hugo to calm them down as the tension fills the air. High Inquisitor Mayville, her face never changing from its stone-like expression, then grabs a rolled parchment from the hand of an Inquisitor and begins to read. Mary Winthrop, John Sillsby, Fantine Le Maire,

Mose Wildes, Louis Monet, Gertrude Baum, Elias Morse, Martha Parker, Cosette Moulin, Elizabeth Redd, Margaret Carrier, Pierre Garnier, Sophia Easty, Susanna Willard, Jacques Laurent,

Rebecca Putnam, Sarah Booth, Thomas Warren, Claudette Dupont. You all stand accused of aiding and abetting Keziah Jenkins in her aforementioned crimes. Ungodly paraphernalia has been found in each of your homes. How do you plead before your province men, your archbishop, and your God?

Immediately, the accused men and women beg, plead, wail, and scream of their innocence and devotion to Foltus into full sense as Mayville's inquisitors present numerous jars, boxes, and other containers filled with witch balls after grabbing them from the evidence table. The crowd once again erupts into jeers, and several small stones and rotten vegetables are thrown in the direction of the accused, which settles down after another roar from Hugo.

The evidence has been presented, and the pleas have been made. Your fates are in the hand of the one true God, Archbishop Renault. How do you rule? All eyes turn to the Archbishop as he slowly rises from his throne and descends the steps past his entourage of priests, before standing before the squirming prisoners who continue to beg for their lives. His expression is stoic, but with a hint of a gentle smile on it.

He raises his hands and even the tied up accused fall silent. I have seen and heard all I need to know that all of you twenty souls are merely lost and have stumbled off of the one true path.

Seduced by the dark powers in this land we have steeled ourselves against for so long. Mother Midnight was your false idol and you were led astray from the godliness of our flock to the wickedness of sin and so I rule guilty but with mercy. Mother Midnight will surely receive the eternal punishment within the hellfire of the lower planes but for you twenty lost sheep

I will pray that you might be saved after performing the penance that faultless wills for each of you. We will all pray for your mortal souls as they are freed from your wicked flesh.

The archbishop raises his arms toward the sky, and with a flash of light, a pillar of silver flame descends from the heavens and strikes the center of the massive pyre. It immediately erupts into an inferno as the wood, tender, and the convicted are entirely consumed in blazing flame. The shrieks and screams of agony are nearly drowned out by the uproar of cheers from the crowd, the tone of which is a mixture of jubilation and vicious bloodlust.

As you see the 20 convicted Ceruleans wailing and struggling against their bonds in the fire, Keziah Jenkins stares out incredibly still as she burns until you lose sight of her as the blaze flares up and all of the screaming finally ceases. Then...

as the silhouette of Keziah slumps forward. Suddenly, the hue of the flame shifts to a radiating purple, just as you'd once seen in the chimney of the crooked house. It shoots upward toward the sky in a pillar of purple flame that is accompanied by an impossibly loud scream of agony in what sounds like booming death throes above you.

It is so loud that it causes the entire city to shake and rumble, and as it dies down, so does the fire, returning to its dancing oranges and reds. And as the crowd rallies from their collapsed and cowering positions of dread, having covered their ears from the cacophony, you all turn your gaze skyward, and above you, where once had been the face of a leering hag, is now a large but plain full moon. And that is where we'll end the session. What the fuck?

No way. What? Holy shit. The fuck? So the Hagmoon's gone. Allegedly. Well. What? Nikki, why you do this to us? And you killed Mother Midnight, right? No. No way. No.

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