Jane Austen vs. H.P. Lovecraft | Inside Sagas of Sundry: Darkling Gate Ep 1 | Quests N Answers

Welcome to Quests and Answers. If you're watching this, you probably just watch "Sogas of Sundering" Darkling Gate at episode one. And that is what we are gathered here to talk about tonight. You were cordially invited. Join us, won't you? I don't know about y'all, but I'm buzzing. I'm on one. I'm so stoked. This has been so so fun. We're just one episode deep. I cannot wait for more. But I'm not the least impressed and sort of gobsmacked by this set. I noticed part way through the session on a little wallpaper. That's tentacles. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There's a tentacle motif. I'm loving the little illuminated window. We have a very cool tower. We've seen the lights of tarifford and perhaps the glowing window of Longford House here. And the freaking chandelier, the table, it's all every day. Oh I love it. And I love how it looks like a drawing of this time. It's like a pen and ink drawing that we've come into in illustration. Oh my gosh. Speaking of, this is we're in this sort of like kind of rendering of Longford House. What are our vibes on Longford House? How do we like it? I honestly was not expecting a sleep over. This is great. No. You were? I wanted to ask Ish Washerlet supposed to die in your head or when she fell out of the tree and like you're like dashed her head. I'm - I'm like, 'cause y'all are like, "Oh, obviously, I'm gonna try and save her." Because maybe if somebody fumbled a roll on that, that would have been good. - That's true. She would have been good. - You could have also not rolled. - I could have just watched. - We could have watched. - Yes. (laughs) - Well, what's-- - I mean, you kind of just watched, didn't you? - No, I could have watched. - Oh, I'm not. - I'm not. - I'm not. - I'm not. - Oh, you watched. - We watched. - We watched. - We watched. - We said, "I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, - I'm not making it. - I'm not making it, I'm not making it. - Yeah, but you managed to save Charlotte Dartmore, and you've made some new friends. - I don't know if they like us. - I tell them they like us. - Well, yeah, I guess time will tell. - I like us. - I like us. - I like us. - I like us too. - We don't-- - Okay. - You don't like these displays of affection? - Gross. - I have a question in terms of like the relationship y'all have with the characters that you chose for this campaign. Like, how close are they to you? - Oh, interesting. - I love any vehicle for snark. - Mm-hmm. - Isn't that something really? - Is that typically like the kind of characters that you create? - No, usually I'm like, well, I guess. Another campaign that I just was actually playing last night we're doing pirates, and I play a known rogue thief. So similarly interested in loot, but we're only selfish, hoarding, I'm gonna sit on a pile of gold reasons. - Mm-hmm. - It is cool. Like, I feel like, I don't know about y'all, but like, there's something about like the Jingos, like, I think especially of like, was it Elizabeth Bennett? - Who is-- - Yeah. - Has a snark to her. - Yes, she's making fun of everybody. - Mm-hmm. - And so that's-- I love that we're kind of bringing that into this hyper distilled way. - Oh, yes. - Yeah, and Kitty Lark. But yeah, how do you feel like you're a close to your character? - Oh, not. Like, I usually play characters that are very-- I mean, very feminist leaning. I don't-- at least for the first time I wanted to lean in so hard to the Regency aspect of everything because it is the first time playing Regency, but not my first good to loot. And I want to lean in hard on like the romance and like, she just wants to get married. It's so opposite of everything about me. So yeah, it's nice to like, kind of be, you know, against a type. - Mm-hmm. - It's pretty cool. - Yeah. - It's cool. - Mine's a mix, I think. - I have been accused of making every-- - A key? - T-T-R-P-G-I play in a rom-com. Like, I'm-- - I love it. - I love it. - I love it. - I have a crush on someone. - Yeah. - It doesn't matter. - Oh. - Like, yes. - So that's just-- - I-- and I love that we can like, play that up within this world and setting specifically. In terms of like, we haven't gotten too much into the like mild, goth-y vibes of Ayrabella Montgomery, but that is not me and all in real life. Like, I would never actually get cast in that kind of a role in anything. So, it's fun to lean into that. - Almost forever. - Yeah. I was never going to say out in some real life. You crazy, I'm not. You can't lean. Someone wants to ask to bring-- - If you look through trouble-- - If you look through trouble-- - If you look through trouble-- - I will find you for sure. - I'm sorry, I was raised in the Southern Religious family. The Ouija board is a no, no, no, no. - I will not touch a Ouija board. - But, Ayrabella would. - Oh, yes. - Oh, yes, absolutely. - Oh, yes. - Yeah. - I love the immediate, like, sibling vibes. - Oh, yeah. - Immediately. It's the kicking under the table. The little snarky comments to each other. - Yeah. - I'm happy to establish we have like a little weird, twit triplet language. - I know, but that's fun, I like that. - The way that dynamic is sort of emerging is very cool. And this character's like fun foil to your energy. - Yes, yes. - Oh, yes. - The fuck are you all talking about? - Are you people? - I was. - Yeah. - So we didn't have cool dads who took us on adventures around the world in two. It was great. I'm cooler than you. It's true. - It was cool, yes. - Yes. Gidee Lark is all aura and no prospects. It's amazing. - 100% raise, zero prospect. - Yeah. - Oh, amazing. Do you feel as though Augustus is at all an avatar of Oscar? - I don't think so. I mean, there's like, I think like a common theme in the characters that I tend to play is like a gentleness. And there's a gentleness in Augustus. But in terms of like how Augustus is built, like I purposely built Augustus as a frail, just like a very breakable little guy, you know? And I think it's also really cool to have all of these like strong women in the party and like the male who's typically seen as a sort of like strapping and like the head of the household is in this dynamic is the weakest member. It's like, you know what I mean? Like I'm sure y'all took care of Augustus when he was, you know, sick and just that moment in the campaign when you sort of held him, you know what I mean? - That was so much. - You know what I mean? It's like, and it's an interesting thing in terms of-- - We can't lose another brother. - Right, right. - You know, that, no. - But it's also like so interesting to, I mean, especially with Regency stuff, status is such an essential part of society. But like what happens to status when we're all in the same level? - Yeah. - We all have the same age, you know? - Yeah. - There's like no obligation really as the eldest, youngest, mental to do anything. And so to me, it's really nice the way that we all sort of like, I don't know. - Yeah. - Congealed together. - It feel like that happened very naturally. - Naturally. - Quickly too. It was very sweet. - Mm-hmm. - Yeah. - When I love what you're doing with the flashback scenes with Archibald. - Yes. - Are so sweet. - Yeah, really? - And the way both of you are doing like, I can tell everyone's younger, like, I just love watching. - Yes, yes. - Yeah, you popped right in. That's okay. - Just everything I'm learning about the world and our characters through watching those scenes is so fun. I love, love, love those flashbacks so much. - Can I say how much I'm loving how Aurelia and Kitty are like a two-man team to carry this mess? - Yes. - We're like, oh, spotted. Child falling caught. - Yes. - Yes. - I'm going to get on the case. - On the case. - I think seeing how like, there is, she's slightly older than the three of us and that you've had such a worldly life. I think there's part of Aurelia that is just admired to see so much. And it's just like being fouled. And the more she knows that she hates it, the more she leans into it. So I think that there is, you know, there's part of, although she would never confess it, I think there is a part of Aurelia that's like, maybe in my life, how do you believe that? - Oh, that's fascinating. - And I think that to ducks to pose that with like this flashback since we're childhood, where she is like a little person. - Like a little person. - Yeah, yeah. And so I think she's like, that might be a little, that's a thing that she wants to fight with. - Yeah, yeah. - It's so cool, Nora, what you're talking about, we're like, yeah, that Aurelia does have this energy that you were talking about playing against, types that you normally play where she's kind of leaning into the societal expectations. But you've got this emblematic version of like, the road not traveled. - Yeah. - And I'm wondering. - And then the flashbacks of with her brother who like, didn't treat her like a girl. - Right, right now. - That's neat. - Now, how, like, I don't know about you all, I think, one of, one of two of you mentioned that this is your first time playing Regency Cthulhu. For some of us, it's your first time playing Cthulhu. And how does Regency feel in comparison to the other iterations of this particular system you've played? - So far, I think there's the societal expectations are some of the things that we're talking about. Something that makes the story interesting instead of like a hindrance that I feel could be when you play other, Cthulhu and other eras. It's while there are things that we, you know, we disagree with obviously today. In terms of storytelling, I think provides like a nice, you know, death to it. Yeah. Interesting obstacles. Yeah. Yeah. I'll get around. Oh, yeah. I was just trying to kind of put my finger on this. I feel like role-playing games are really great when you can put the party in some sort of pressure cooker. Yeah. And the societal constraints of this era create that kind of pressure cooker where like you're now, the siblings are now in this position where like, in order to like maintain your livelihood, some got to give like, you have to marry up. Go marry my cousin. Orgid. You simply have to. You've got your favorite blanket, a freshly poured drink and a cold case burning a hole in your streaming queue. You're not just watching true crime. You're running the investigation from the comfort of your couch. Welcome to murder. She watched the podcast where we recap, dissect and slightly over analyze some of the best and craziest true crime documentaries on our favorite streamers. Did the spouse do it? Why is the shady neighbor wearing leather gloves in July? Why did this guy agree to be interviewed in this documentary? 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So madness cutting against that is like you get the sense that this is a time with a lot of repression. We all got these carefully constructed songs, so it'll be fun to break them. That's so great. I'm curious how does it feel to kind of like inhabit these characters for the first time like in the same space? Like I felt like they were really coming alive. Like you were saying that just that little moment of you taking your brother's arm tells us so much about the very sincere and sweet relationship between the three of you. I'm so here to learn more about like Kitty-Lark and such and a cool adventure. Yeah. There is even this moment that I probably would never have picked up on if we were playing like online, where like there's a, like Mr. I've forgotten everyone's name as soon as you stopped playing. Yes, Dartmoor is talking about like one of them is talking about like how there's no govern, so no one's there to take care of and I just look over here and Augustus is looking at me. Don't you dare do it. Don't you dare. Don't you dare. I would love to. We should do something. Because I knew that it would be like of all people you'd be the one to do this kind of stuff. There were definitely multiple conversations being had at the same time. Yes, yes, yes. Like there was the, you know, the polite conversation that Dartmoor was having with each of us individually and then there were like the reactions and like the conversations with gender. I hope that that, I mean, I hope that this can be captured in the edit because to me that's so, that's such a genre specific type of thing where like a conversation rich in nicity is occurring, but a whole other conversations have in the language of looks and gestures and vibes. Under the table, both, you know, literally and figured it out. Right. Right. Okay. This is a question. You asked for it. I'm asking. Who's hotter? Whitby, Dartmoor, or Gatson? Yeah. Gatson! Gatson! Gatson! Sleeper-Hotty? Yeah. I'm like, which of these two NPCs am I going to be into the nice one that's like Mr. Binglier, the one who's hard to read? Well, let me tell you about it. I just know, but Ross chose for it. I just think you got a little less than I learned in one of my other campaigns. Why choose? Why choose? And that a lot of them. Why choose? I installed a mod and Baldur's Gate 3. Wake it up! Wake it up! I'm dating multiple people. Hey! Hey! If you want to install such a mod and this is him, you never know what might happen. Oh my god. He or it isn't her, dude. We had a cast of white men. Oh, really? No. Whichever one is interest in it. I mean, truly the stakes are. I'm going after the house. It's giving catch of the day, you know? And there is so much to be said about partnerships back then of like his romance, even an element here, you know? Off and no. Exactly. It is. They are business arrangements. Yes. And then people would have their other relationships outside of that. You just don't talk about it. Maybe don't make it known. But yeah, I mean, I think that was-- Absolutely. It might understand in common. And it's like-- I feel like in the public imagination, and I know I was this way, when you think when Jane Austen's name is brought up, it's like, she writes romances. These are swoony romances. And the books are like about the hard materialistic brass tax of, I need to get married so that I will have a house. Right. And the fantasy of that in the Jane Austen novels is how often they actually are able to find the rich man. Right. They actually also love very convenient. And rare. Yes. Yes. And hard. You never have them. This is hard. All we do is like, you know that? Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. I even told you about how your teeth are raised. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm rooting on. You want to touch yourself. Just one jacket lantern too. Sorry. That asked right in the middle. I love it. He smiles like a jacket lantern. Yeah. I can't wait to find out hopefully more about whatever has happened to him. Yes. Maybe he was just alluding to the loss of his brother, you know, or whatever. But he's like, bad things happen. And then good things happen. And then bad things happen again. Right. And I'm like, oh, I want to know more about that. Yeah. Kitty was biting her tongue. She was like, oh, poor baby sweetie. Did you stumble on a big castle? [LAUGHTER] I love all this priceless [BEEP] Don't appreciate it. Yeah, I know. To me, that is so like gothic heroish. Right. I have it all, but I'm not happy. [LAUGHTER] There's something so funny too about your character. This person who like goes out and gets artifacts for other people. You seem so into every artifact that you've collected. But you don't keep a lot of it. Well, I think that's what the personal collections about. I think we're starting to move towards a more curated museum. Living for yourself. Living for ourselves. That's the duty of past the day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm supposed to imagine. Life's going to be harder for me than it was for my father. So let's use what we have to be what we want. Mm-hmm. I love it. Mm-hmm. Is anything like surprised you about the world we've created so far? Do you love Disney? Do you love Top 10 lists? Then you're going to love our podcast, Disney Countdown. Hi, I'm Megan, the magical millennial. And biscuits, I'm Jeremy, aka Jeren Dell. And we are the host of the hit Disney podcast, Disney Countdown. On every episode of our fun and family-friendly show, we count down our Top 10 lists of all things Disney. The parks, the movies, the music, the food, the lore. There is nothing we don't cover on our show, right, Jeremy? Ooh, girl, you know we are famous for rabbit holes, Disney themed games, and fun facts you didn't know you needed. But you definitely need it in your life. Looking for a healthy dose of Disney magic? Check out Disney Countdown, wherever you get your podcasts. It's the love of the game, the call of glory, that drives us to build fantastic worlds. Yet some grow darker than others. Dark Dice is the horror D&D podcast, diving into the depths of madness and the corrupt divine. We share a world of terrors with wayward souls who dare risk their characters at our table. Enhanced with narrative editing and immersive soundscapes, each season travelers embark to dark corners of our world. And they will never be the same again. Find Dark Dice, Reveal us in the Bonkasts. - Make a pickle on the woods, this is kind of-- - Oh yeah. - How nasty the house was, but it made sense you explained it. Like, there's rumors no one wants to work here. - Yeah. - I mean, it feels very natural though, getting into the house and everything has felt very like, "Oh yes, of course that's what we do." - Yes, of course. - Yes, of course. - Let's walk the girl back. Oh, let's start it to thunder, okay. Yes, we'll stay the night. Of course, there's some bleeding hearts among us. Okay, let's educate this girl. - Yeah. - It all feels very in character and natural. - Yes, of course. - It's a phage itself at a hand. - I don't know about that. - Where's this consummation? We shall see, we shall see. And last but not least, I got to throw it up to Oscar. I love this. Our first real sanity. - Oh my gosh. - The game, like that's what Cthulhu was all about. And that was such a cool way to play it. And I love that you've got this deeply fearful backstory where it's coming at you in these physical ways of your, the symptoms of your illness manifesting. - Your reaction to being asked if you shoot. - Yeah, I love that. - I love that, thank you. - Oh, good. It was so clear to me that like, you're like military history in our session zero, like what happened there and why you would add PTSD and not want to be able to have done. - But how expected that is for me. - Yes, of course you would go out and you would shoot. - That's nothing, it's nothing. But when you associate a gun with killing people and being in that environment, that's crazy, you know? But yeah, I think you said it in our session, you said it one time that was so smart and encapsulates this call of Cthulhu, which is like, sometimes ignorance is what you want. - Yeah. - And like understanding whatever it is is actually not in the best, yeah? But to me, there's something so innately human about wanting to understand, right? Of like, yeah, why do people chase after the killer? Why do people go into the room with the weird creaky sounds, you know? The instinct is to be like, I don't want to mess with that, but like as human beings, we want to know. We're curious people and like, yeah, what is the price you pay for knowledge? - That conflict is the engine that drives the game call of Cthulhu, that love crafty and characters are compelled to know, obsessively compelled to know, and the knowledge of the truth destroys them and ignorance is a mercy. But you have, but they are compelled to continue to pull away the veil and see the truth. And the more sanity, the less you take, the more that compulsion may manifest. - You shall see. - Even that little, like even just looking at a portrait, you know, seems harmless. What it will cause that bow to your family. - And it's partly because like you saw in the portrait of this guy, you never met emblems from your childhood play. - Yeah. - Probably just a coincidence. - Well, I know it's not. (laughing) - Well, it's been real, y'all. (laughing) - Anyway. - I love that the Mount Gumries and Kitty Lark and Dark Moor and Whitby and Charlotte are having a little sleepover. - Charlotte's really long. - It wound to be a cut out now. - I love that. - It's pretty long. - I'm so glad she's not dead. - You saved her life. You truly saved her life and she might need it. See you next time. - That's terrible. - That's terrible. - What a awful way to end this. (laughing) - Hide your kids. - Hide your kids. - Hide your wife. - Hide your wife. - If you got a wife. - If you got a wife. - If you want. - If you want. - What are you doing? You break. (dramatic music) - Steve Cubine and Nan McNamara's podcast from beneath the Hollywood Sun. - Mary Astor has been keeping a diary. - Mary writes everything down. - And so this tour to fair with George's Kaufman is chronicled on a daily basis. - In great detail. - And I pulls out a box and gives McAllister a ring, saying here's something to remember me by. This article caused Daryl Zannock to hit the roof. - actress Ruth Roman followed that up with playing a foil to Betty Davis in Beyond the Force. I mean, if you can stand toe to toe with her. - And she does because she plays the daughter of the man that Betty Davis kills out in the hunting trap. - And it's directed by King Vidor, so. - Yeah. - He's no such. - Speaking of the Oscars, talking about what I call beginners luck, the actors and actresses who won an Oscar on their very first film. Get your fix of Old Hollywood from Steven Ann on the podcast from beneath the Hollywood Sun. - There are vampires out there. They walk among you, shoulder to shoulder in the dark, heading to work, heading home, going to the bar. It's a life just like anyone else's. And I have grown used to it, to the darkness, to the moon, to the taste of blood on my tongue. But vampires are dying out. We are a fading kind. And I am the first one created in so long. And that is a dangerous thing to be. Those who came before me, elders of all stripes, they do not want to see our kind gone. And they will do anything to keep their power. And for myself, and for grace who created me, that is a sword that hangs above our heads. And the worst person of all carries our secret. And he will use it, however he sees fit. Who do you look to, when things are at their darkest? From the creators of Park Dohawn comes a woodbine, a podcast about monsters, dreams, and changes, those you want, and those you never saw coming. The final season begins this fall, distributed by Realm. - Most writers have written really terrible stories. My name is Vince DeJohnny, and I am no exception. The only thing different about me is that I kept them all. Now, I'm going to force my very talented actor friends to read them with me. - I want to be done like a man in his 50s or perhaps 40s, if he was the largest smoker as the scents surrounding him suggested, wow. - Drag him, Vince it. - There are teen slasher's where every character sounds edgy as hell. There's sci-fi giants that read just a little bit too much like giant penises. And there's a murderer who enjoys musical theater for some reason. And occasionally, something I wrote 15 years ago will be much, much worse. - Only after a few minutes did I realize that if I thought about a certain thing or said at a time when something was said or thought by what am I reading, what does that mean? - We're gonna laugh, we will probably cringe, and I may even cry just a little bit. Listen to Character Development, a comedy podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.