The Heist on the Row | A Carnival Row RPG

Greetings Adventurers! Gaming today isn't one thing. It moves between cozy, chaotic, and everything in between. One minute you're exploring something slow and immersive, the next you're in a fast-paced match, and somewhere in there you might be creating, streaming, or just seeing where the session goes. That's why Alienware systems are built with the performance to handle all of it. With NVIDIA GeForce RTX, it delivers powerful graphics that bring every world to life while optimizing battery life. So whether you're playing, creating, or jumping between both, everything runs the way it should. No interruptions, no slowing down, you don't have to adjust how you play, you just keep gaming your way, however that looks in the moment. Be more Alien at Alienware.com/Gaming. Welcome to the Heist on the Row, an all-original Carnival Row RPG. I'm Travis Beecham, the creator of Carnival Row and your Game Master for today's one-shot adventure. I'm here today with these four wonderful players who visited us on the set of Carnival Row in Prague, and now we're playing through a unique adventure with new characters from our world. So let's get started. All right, so I guess, uh, I guess we'll start off by, uh, I'll ask you to help me introduce your characters here. Uh, Amy, we'll start with you. Hi, I'm Amy Vorpahl, and I'm playing Mabel Solipond, the fierce, furnace battle nanny. Mabel Solipond hails from the war. She is a veteran, so she is no stranger to fighting, be it with her fists, with guns, any sign of weakness, she's going to go for it. And some may have called her a little rage hungry, but she truly is the GOAT. Hi, my name is Aliza Pearl. I'm playing Carmeline Brightraven, a Mima fairy. A Mima is a fairy priestess who's very well versed in fey lore and history. Carmeline is definitely a fey history buff, and she'll tell you all about it if you ask her. She also is really interested in studying human medicine, because she likes to acquire knowledge and also use it to help and care for people. Carmeline also saw a lot of stuff go down in the war, so even though she's kind of warm and fuzzy and kind of. calm, she has some secrets that she probably doesn't want anyone else on the row to know about her past. Hi, I'm Dan Casey, and I'm playing Officer Tiberius Bottom, a member of the Constabulary of Carnival Row. I patrol these mean streets, protecting and serving mainly myself. I don't have a heart of gold so much as I have pockets of gold, because Officer Bottom runs a protection racket. He will shake people down, he will run scams, he will destroy evidence, he will do whatever it takes to obtain that grain, get that bread, yeet that yeast, whatever he will do, it serves his bottom line, because Bottom is coming out on top. Hi, I'm Erika Ishii, and I'm playing Moonshadow Foxglove, a Black Raven fairy. The Black Ravens are the criminal underworld of the Burg. Moonshadow, true to her name, is sneaky, a bit of a thief and a rogue, a scoundrel if you will. She works alone, or so she'd have you believe. She also loves knives. All right, so, uh, let's set the scene here. Our story tonight finds us, your characters actually, in a room not unlike the room that we now find ourselves in, in the back of a prestigious supper club called the Janissary Club, not on the Row. So I think you will all find that you are a bit out of your element, and you've been summoned here. You've all, you've each received a note containing information that compels you to be here by some anonymous presence. For you, uh, Amy/Mabel, the note is, uh, is, is offering a way out of, to buy you out of your contract, which you desperately want. I desperately want, and also I'm so taken by this entire situation. I, I've never been able to interact with the teacups and the silverware myself, so, um, kind of, you know, rat-a-tatting them and seeing what sounds they make on the teacups and everything. And Carmeline, in your case, the note has promised some knowledge of some dark deed that you did in your past back in Tirnanach that could maybe come out if you weren't to show up tonight. 'Cause, you know, you haven't always been a Mima, and you've, you've made some mistakes in the past, and whoever wrote this note seems to know what some of those mistakes are. There's only one thing I wouldn't want anyone else to know that I did. It must be that. Oh, I thought you were gonna tell us. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All those murders. Right? Like, let's wrap this up right now. Yeah. Secrets, secrets, secrets. Keep your secrets. Officer Bottom, in your case, as you know, your character has not always played by the straight and narrow, and in your case, the author of this note seems to know that and, and is threatening to out some of your more questionable decisions to your bosses in the constabulary. We're not really inclined to be nice about that kind of thing. Oh, God, this is gonna be bad for old Bottom if I don't get to the bottom of this. Oh, my God, what is happening? I hope it becomes, like, a running thing. Like, you just work Bottom into, like. Every sentence. He's an unintentional narcissist. And if it doesn't, it just becomes punctuation. I stand up, Bottom. It's time to get to the me of this. And Miss Moonshadow Foxglove, in your case, it has to do with your wife, who's stranded in the port of New Freehold between Tirnanach and the Burg, looking for a way to finally get to the Burg, but unable to cut through all the red tape blocking her way into the castle. Blocking new immigrants from coming. And whoever wrote this note has promised that they have a way to expedite this process and get your wife here, finally, to the Burg. This is my chance to bring her home to me. Yes. That is why you've all found yourselves here. And you've maybe crossed paths before. You know, it's not a -- it's a big city, but you've all lived here for a while, so it's entirely possible that you might know each other. But to find yourselves here in the back room of this very prestigious supper club, summoned by an anonymous note, of course, you know, you're all wondering why I've gathered you here. Right now, coming into the room is this gentleman, this mysterious human gentleman, in a dark suit who calls himself Mr. Rathstock. And he says to you, "I've gathered you here today for this reason. Because arriving on a ship this very night are antiquities from Tirnanach, fairish treasures from the homeland of the Fae. And they're headed for the Burgish Museum. I represent a collector of such antiquities who would rather -- a specific one -- fall into their own hands. What I want is a book. It's a very old book. It's called "The Palest Lantern." Written thousands of years ago, a thousand years before the first human words were ever put down. And it's written by this fairy shaman called Farron the Black. And contains within it a lot of interesting formulas and incantations, not the least of which being a formula for the creation of a beast called the Dark Asher. That is a very dangerous book. I hope whoever's asking for it knows what they're doing. It's just a tale for children. Dark Asher doesn't exist. It exists. And it is very dark. Dark magic. Well, Rathstock, you want the book. What else do you need? Just the book. Just the book? Just the book. So who are you? Are you going to address this? I wave the note at him. Is there a way that we can ensure that what has been promised to us will come to pass? There's no way. You just have to trust me. I had the power to summon you here today. You're standing in the Janissary Club, which is usually reserved -- reserved for politicians and diplomats and men of power. And the fact that you're even allowed to be in this room at this moment should be proof enough. And can any of you really afford to not believe the notes that were sent to you? Well, I certainly can't afford to eat here. I would like for it to remain private. It absolutely will, if you get the book. So, uh, Mr. Rathstock, was it? Let's say that some of these antiquities fall off the back of this boat, wagon, centaur, whatever. Is that okay? Do you just need -- you just need the book? If some of these others disappear? My employer would like very much for there not to be more reason to -- any more reason to look into this than there already is from the authorities. But say if one or two were missing, uh, this. After all, I am the authorities. Like, who's going to look into it if not me? Then it becomes your problem. Oh, yeah. Story of my life. Will there be any additional security around this item? Is it sought after by -- by more people than just you and your employer? Does anyone else know about it? Some know about it. That's why it's critical that we find it as soon as possible. And as far as the security around the item, Mabel, you're, uh, you're in a unique position to find out the security measures surrounding this item, owing to the fact that your own master, Dr. Beddington, is the professor who got them here to the Berg in the first place. Yes, um, that is who -- that is, uh, who I work for, um, Nathaniel Beddington and, uh, and his three small children, who are just delightful. All right, give us more details before she pulls out photographs. All right, so the details are, we're in a position right now where these items are in customs. They've just been, uh, floated off the ship, and they're on their way to the museum. After tonight, they're going to be trucked to the museum, at which point it will be much harder to retrieve them. So you have very little time, and I would make use of it wisely. So I don't have time to finish my prime rib? No. Shit. All right. It does seem like a wasted opportunity to be in this room and then denied all of this. pleasantries but if we must I have another question besides these remaining private what else will we get Wow I don't know what else do you want I I do want something all right I want to speak with mr. Beddington about his importation of fairy relics and what he's doing with him that is important history for our people and I don't want them in the wrong hands I think that is a wonderful in I mean he's he's quite fascinated by the the both of your type of folk and has spent many an evening with me even in his library just asking me questions about how I grew up so arranging a meeting I think would be advantageous anyway don't you interesting yes very much well you would be in a unique position to do that right then I should be asking you um well if if we're all agreed that this is happening then oh I feel all of a sudden not as useless as I did entering this room listen Raph stock before we go where do we find you and this is all over I'll find you Oh great so here's the situation the customs house is in the area called the dock lands it's a poor human neighborhood on the south side of the river near the ocean and these are where the items are they're kept in a labeled lot number locker how would you like to proceed so the customs house in the dock lands I don't know about you but this city's feels like it's on the verge of exploding thanks to a sudden influx of shall we say some more monstrous citizens and wing it now I know why she's never allowed to touch the teacups I should just let her at you right now well you might want to but then I'll arrest a lot of you have you locked up then you'll never get your secrets you can't do that if you're dead it's all right we just wait until after we get the job done what I'm saying why I brought up these racial tensions in the city not just because I'm a bad guy I'm not I'm doing my part I'm saying this because if they see the lot of us skulking around they might get suspicious call in some of my colleagues we don't want to get caught so we have to be stealthy about this not a problem for me what about that master of yours so I I do like the idea of going to my master because I going to him you think you're gonna talk to him and he's gonna give us this I don't know if he'll outright give us any information but I do think that was sarcastic I don't think you will I think that we take what we want from him well within reason sure but but the the presence of you two if I present both of you as willing to relinquish some fae I don't know and anything about your culture you could get into probably the actual room where he keeps his secret into the room I'll get I'll take us from there I have seen some pretty important documentation and tools like perhaps keys or scholarly notes that he's taken so I think you seem to be of the underworld shadow type you might be able to pick some off mm-hmm or I don't know if you've noticed but I'm a I am an officer of the law I've got a - We've all noticed, dearie. We're very proud of you, dearie. - I could go and talk to your master and tell him, oh, it's a matter of security for the museum. People are trying to steal this. Why don't you let me go in and check it out? You let me. - You do realize that there'll be extra eyes on it. - Yeah, my eyes. - It might not be necessary to go to the Bennington house because as you say, you as an officer of the law have access to certain places and really the customs house might be one of them. I mean, you know, sure, certain officers are maybe cleared for different things, but I mean, really, does the Port Authority know exactly who, you know, is allowed to come and go? - Yeah, maybe Special Agent Bottom is on the case. - We bluff our way in there and then we just pick out what we need and we're gone. - But I do think it might be worthwhile talking to Mr. Benningfield because maybe he has some insight as to what-- - Well, Bennington-- - Yeah, whatever Bennington-- - Whatever yourself. - Yeah, I don't care about the kids or that guy. - They're so cute. - Okay, let's go talk to the big daddy and see what he has to say. So we get the sense of what we're looking for. - I think that's pretty smart. Um, I'll lead the way. - All right, so Bennington lives in a beautiful neighborhood called Finisterre Crossing. It's a wealthy human neighborhood on the north side of the river. And so you make your way there. It's still early in the night, so people are still about and you're trying to travel in a way that does not draw suspicion, you know, keeping a safe distance apart as you're making your way to the Bennington house. But you notice as you're approaching, there's some commotion up ahead. There's a crowd gathered and you can't really see what they're reacting to, but you see the light flickering on their faces, on their eyes. And when you round the corner, you see the Bennington house totally up in flames, an inferno on fire. - No, no, the children. Oh no, we have to save them. They were here the last time I saw them. I left them alone. I was never there. I was never supposed to leave. - The house is a hopeless case. The house is completely burned. They might not be dead. Maybe they weren't in the house, but clearly I think you can assume that you're not the only ones looking for this book. - Okay. - That's a dead end then. Are the children okay? - Not yet. - Yeah, are the children okay? - All right, I'm pulling up my badge and walking up to the crowd being like, "Officer of the Constabulary, who's in charge here?" - I'm gonna make myself scarce. - All right. - I'm gonna be right up beside Dan being of the Bennington house. - Okay, okay. - I'll be nearby both of them. - Okay, all right. - Not right next to them, but nearby. Earshot. - You go and you ask what's going on, and there's another officer who recognizes you from the Constabulary and says, "Ah, it's insane. "This house, it's gone up like a matchbook." We're still trying to figure out what exactly happened. I think somebody may have knocked an oil lamp over. - Are the children okay? The Bennington children? - Yes, the children are fine. The children are okay. - Why are you rolling your eyes about it? That is a perfectly valid question. - So if you look over there, there's the Bennington children. They're wrapped in bags. They're wrapped in blankets. They're obviously terrified, but they're alive, as is Mr. Bennington and his wife. - Is there any, I'm talking to the officer, is there any suspicious activity around these parts? You heard anything? - Well, you know, it's funny that you ask, because there was, we did just talk to a witness. I'm sure, you know, with this fire, you know, everybody, you know, tensions are high, and, you know, it's hard to tell what's real and what's not real, but somebody was saying how just before the fire they saw a fae flying around wearing all black, so obviously there's rumors of the Black Raven, but for one of them to fly all the way over here and set a house on fire, you know, that doesn't seem-- - Does seem extreme even for them. - Yeah. - What is the state of the Benning, like Dr. - Terrified. - I'm gonna approach both of them. - Okay. - Dr. Bennington, is everything okay? You know I just went to the market together. Supplies for tonight for the cook. - Yeah, no, no, everything's terrible. The house is on fire. - No, I know, right? Right, but are you okay? But clearly the children are protected, and you and the missus seem to be fine. - Oh yes, yes, we're fine, we're fine, we're fine right now, thank you for asking. Where have you been? - As I said, the cook had sent me off to gather supplies for tonight's dinner. She didn't have the special onions, you know, for the peasant, pheasant, pheasant. - Because little Millicent over here was saying you locked them in a closet before you, what's that? - She exaggerates, you know, we all play games, it was an imaginary closet. We're playing constabularies and fey. - All right, all right, fair enough. Well, I guess we'll be moving to the summer house to live from now on, at least until we can get all this mess sorted. - Is there anything you need from me, perhaps, to make sure of before I travel off with you? You know I have connections down in Carnival Row where I can just get fun little trinkets. - Perhaps you're driving at an idea that I'm not quite sure works. - Well, I just don't wanna have to, like, I don't want him to secure me in with the family right now. - Oh, oh, I see, okay, okay. - Perhaps I could just make sure that all of your affairs are settled down in the row, maybe at the bank and everything. - That would be nice, and if you could just, you could meet us, up with us in the morning, you know, and we'll head off to the summer house then. - Sounds perfect. - Do I see this happening? - Yes. - Can I go over there? - Yes. - Excuse me, miss, I believe you're wanted as a person of interest in this case. You will come with me. - I'd like to ask you some more questions. - But the trinkets. - I knew it, I never trusted her. - I'm sorry, sir. - No, no. - And Dr. Beddington, pleasure is all mine. Officer Bott, I'm working this case. Now, do you have any idea-- - What is she under suspicion for, by the, is it, is it? - Well, she has-- - Is it child murder? - Dr. Beddington? - I'll have to add this to a case file. I write it down in a little notebook. - Okay, 'cause I hate that they're kind. - Yeah, you can't trust 'em. - I don't know. - I certainly don't. That's why I'm gonna question her. But no, do you have any indication as to why someone, we're investigating all possibilities. I'm thinking arson because tensions are running high in the city, as you well know. Is there any reason that people might target you specifically? - There's none that I can think of. I mean, aside from volumes of extraordinary power that I've stolen from somewhere across the ocean. But no, other than that, none that I can think of. - Well, we prefer the term imported, sir. - Oh, yes, yes, yes. - Stolen. - That's, of course, imported. - Yes, oink, oink. - Yes, yes. - Stolen from people. - Excellent people. - You know, I actually have a bit of an interest in this subject myself. I apologize, not maybe at the time, because, you know, apologies for your house, but you know, I've always heard tale of this one book I've always wanted to see at the Bergish Museum called the, it's like the Palest Lamp. - Oh, the Palest Lantern. - Oh yes, the Palest Lantern. - It's a very old text, one of the oldest, fairest texts. Yes, you know what, I'm glad you brought it up because now, you know, I've just been thinking about this house here and how it's all on fire and they're owing to Mabel and whatnot. - Oh yeah. - I don't know how I'm blamed for this. - That I've been, you know, I'm so distracted by that, you know, but now that you mentioned, yes, the book is being, it's not on display at the Bergish Museum yet, but it's being held in customs and I just, I need to get my affairs in order and if you would do me the favor, officer, of just going there perhaps and just making sure that everything's okay on the docks. - Oh, absolutely. - That would be great. That's one less trip I have to make. - Oh, I'd love to check it out. Is there any sort of special key or access code I need to get in there? - You know what, that's great. I'm glad you asked. I have a key in my pocket here. I'm just gonna give it to you. - Oh, thank you. - And I'm gonna write you a note. If you could just take this note, I'm sure, you know, with my trust, I trust that you have the matter in hand. - Absolutely. As an officer of the constabulary, you can believe in me. - And you can totally prove my guilt or innocence. - All right. - All right, we'll see what happens. - As humans have to stick together, you know, that's-- - Absolutely. - Absolutely. - So I sidle over after this conversation and I take your hands and mine. - Greetings, adventurers. We interrupt this potentially life-changing podcast to bring you a message from our sponsor, Brooklyn Bedding. Now, Adam, of the two of us, you're actually the one who received a brand new mattress from these folks. - Correct. And while Dan has been losing sleep over elder chars and the terrifying consequences of his own actions, I've been sleeping on a Brooklyn Bedding mattress. - So, honest review, how's it been? - Honestly, it's pretty great. 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Take a quick style quiz and be sure to select Sundry when prompted to unlock this offer. This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. Again, that is fabletics.com/sundry for 70% to 80% off everything as a new VIP. And now, on to the show. - Humans are rubbish. - They are the. - They are rubbish. - They're the worst. - Right, I know that you love those kids, and that I think they're stupid, and that any humans that aren't actively our allies are against us, but I'm so sorry, and we'll get back at them. - Well, I'm very impressed you're handling this so well, Moonshadow, because it does seem that if the rumors are correct, you will be moving against your own organization tonight. - Yeah, this one wasn't one of us. - All right. - Couldn't. - All right. - Couldn't have been. - Ah, shit. - All right, so, so from there, from the mysteriously on-fire Bennington house, you make your way to the Docklands, across the river by the ocean in the Customs House. By now, things are starting to die down a little bit. The night is growing old, and people are starting to turn in and go home, and in a place like the Docklands, it's desolate. There's nothing there but some tall-masted ships swaying in the tide and the occasional watchman pacing about, whistling, twirling his keys, and you see, just up ahead, the distinctive silhouette of one of the oldest buildings in the Docklands, the old Customs House, which is where you've been told the object of your interest lies. - Does the key have a number on it? Like, where you said the book itself was, inside of a numbered locker? Would that match up with what was on the key? - Oh yes, so when I say, it does have a number on it, but when I say locker, I mean not like locker locker, I mean like, locker the size of this, half of this room. Like where all, yeah, yeah, where like all the lot, you know, would be. - So we know where we're going. Also, along the way to the Burg, I'd like to sort of make inquiries, light inquiries, and see if indeed this was the work of the, of the Black Ravens. - Yeah, yeah, okay. - Just because I'm, because I'm part of the Black Ravens, so I'm sure that the information highways, I'd have an advantage. - Yeah, so you would know signals. Let's say, let's say you know a special whistle. You can like, fly your way up to the, to a rooftop and do a cry or a whistle that will call any other Black Ravens who are near. - Woo, woo, woo, woo! - Well, yeah, or, you know, something else. - Oh, so subtle. - Sounds like a bird to me. - Damn birds! Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah! - Yeah, something, yeah, no, like that, that's great. So, but that would be a roll, that would be a, if you wanna do it, and I would set the difficulty of that at, I would say, you're in the Dark Lands, so you're kind of far from anyone. It's at least demanding. I would put that difficulty at three, so your target number is nine, unless you can bring it down. - With my ties with the advantage with being part of the Black Ravens. - Okay. - So, is it one, down one? - What, okay, what skills do you have? - I am streetwise. - Okay, well then I would lower, then I would, if you have streetwise, I would lower that, your target number, down two. So that's a one, you just have to roll three, actually. - Oh. - Yeah. - All right. First roll of the game. Yes, all right! - Okay, so what happens is, you go up and you do your signal. - Ah, ah, ah, ah! - Or something like that. And then a nearby Black Raven flies over, somebody you know, it's Slingo, and-- - Oh, Slingo. - Yeah, Slingo. - We go way back. - You can turn it off. - And what do you want? What do you want, Moonshadow? - There was a fire at the Beddington estate. Was that us? - Listen, you best not ask questions about that. Look, something's going on tonight, high up stuff. - What's going on? - High up stuff, I can't really talk about it, but you know, the less you know about it, I think the better. - Mm, usually more information is better in our line of work? - We've got somebody who's very interested in acquiring something. - Is it a book? - Listen. - Just rumors on the street say it might be a book. - Listen, I can't really, like this is actually making me sort of uncomfortable to continue talking about this. This is on high, this is on high. - Sling, come on, it's me. - It's a book. - All right, so if I were on my own, on another job, get one, then what? - What the , Moonshadow? Like you can't go against the, there's no on your own with the raven. Just walk, turn around, walk the other way. - I'll walk away. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - No money's worth that. - Yeah, yeah. - I'll just make myself scarce. Good luck tonight. - All right, Moonshadow, where'd you get off to? - Just drinking chums, all right. - I'm gone, I'm out, I'm out. - Slingo out. - Slingo. - Bingo out. - Well, turns out the Black Ravens are after the book, so we're screwed. - Well, I don't know about that. I mean, look at us. What a formidable force. - So we still have some tactical advantages. We know where the book is. We have access to the book. Now we just need to move quickly because- - I might suggest something I actually come across as very mild and meek, but I'm a damned first to be reckoned with. I might put myself forward as a lost faun to attract some, perhaps, ne'er-do-wells away from the Customs House and then take 'em down. - Create a distraction. - Well, sure. - I'll sneak around and get a lay of the land while you do that. - All right, and I'll walk in through the front door with my badge and my letter of writ and the key. - Well, there's actually no ne'er-do-wells around, really. There's just security officers. Are you looking to distract them? - Yes, I'd like to distract the security officers slash - Ne'er-do-wells. - Ne'er-do-wells. - Ne'er-do-wells. - Yeah, show a little hoof. - No, I don't think like that. I think I'll act like a victim, so I look like a lost target. - Oh, I could say that I found you lost and you needed assistance. - Yes, absolutely. - All right, all right, good. What skills would you have in the course of getting their attention? - Okay, I would like to use persuasion, that I actually am completely out of my element. - Okay, so I would put the baseline difficulty of this at three. And bring it down then based on that to. - I have one, yeah, so that would be a two. - Yeah, yeah, to two. You have to roll a six and let's see if anybody cares that a faun is hurting. - Oh, no. - I told you. - What? - I told you. - This is so scary, why is there fog everywhere? It's so ominous. A 16, which, yeah, I definitely beat that. - Yeah, so everyone at the Burg rushes over. Like, oh my God, a faun is hurting. - And I, I, I, 90 for three children. Someone must help me, I must get back to my children. - You attract attention, there's some officers coming over. It's not, perhaps not quite the sympathetic attention that you would want, because their first words are, hey, what are you doing here? What's the big idea? Maybe you should just move along. - And I look to my Mima friend. - Yes, I'd step in and would like to intervene. And I'd like to use persuasion, too. I have, I'm trained in that. - Taking that. - Taking that into account, I would put this difficulty, for Mima, let's say you have to roll a three, a difficulty of one. - Okay. I got a 10. - All right, so they buy your story. - Yes, so this faun, I was actually looking after her. She has some forgetfulness, her memory is not well. And the poor thing, she cares so much about the children that she cares for, and we just want to find her back to her home. If someone could help us. - Well, where is her home? And while this conversation is happening, I might add that Woodgood is a distraction if it's not taken advantage of. - While this is happening, I think that Moonshadow and I are making our way towards the customs house. Or I'm gonna take the front, you take the back. - I go around the back. - Yes, and together, we will meet up inside. I think that's the best plan of approach. - All right, let's see if their play works out for us. - Yeah. I mean, you can come with me if you want. I figured pincer maneuver. - I'm thinking about tactics, I am. - Very smart, officer. - Yeah, that's why-- - That's why I always like working with you. - Yes, that's why they're gonna make me special agent bottom one day. Then we'll see who's on top, me. - I like this screwball comedy dynamic between Constable Bottom and Moonshadow. - This ain't our first sting. - Let's just say we get things done. - So you do. You take, what is it, the front? - Yes. - And you take the back and you enter the darkened customs house. And you're making your way, you're looking at the key, at the number on the key and matching it with the cage numbers as you're going along the way. - I'm keeping an eye out for others. - While they're distracted, of course, you have the opening that lets you go in the front. And since you're doing the sneak around the back, let's have you roll for that and see how successful you are. I would put this difficulty at, I would say, it's the customs house, so it's demanding. You know what, I would put it at a four and say it's difficult. And say your target number is 12, so what have you got? - So, I am trained in sneak. All my life here in the Burg, I've been sneaking around. It's dark and there's nothing but shadows. And I am nothing but shadows because I've got this cloaked hood. It wraps around me, it covers the shine of my wings, and there's a hood on it that's just, it's nothing but shadow. - That sounds like a really badass hood. - It's great. - Slash cloak. So I would say, you're trading, that's minus one. I will say that darkness is another minus one. And the cloak is very badass-sounding. So I would say that gets you down to a roll of three. And you're successful. - Come on! 15! - Oh, yes! - I was really hoping for a one. - Soylent! - You bump into the door. - You step on a rubber chicken. - There's a rake somewhere there. - So you go in the front, you go in the back. Let's say that you need to keep lookout and make sure the guards don't come back while he's looking for the key. - Okay. - Make it quick, Bolton. - So this is like a super crowded, like there's like trunks and stuff everywhere? - It's like cages, like storage cages, like a long corridor of storage cages. - Okay. - And each one full of crates from whatever delivery. And they're all numbered, and you're looking to match the number with the key. - Okay. I'm gonna, I'm skilled in investigation as an officer of the law, so I'd like to see if I can make a roll to speed up this process a little bit so I don't waste our time and risk someone else coming in. - Someone to find us? - All right, okay. All right. So speed it up how, like run or something? - Well, no, I just meant like put my keen powers of intellect to the test to see if like, 'cause I don't know how this numbering system works, if everything's in proper order, 'cause I don't know, last time I was at public storage, it was just like Craigslist spilled. - One thing that's going to be perhaps a very helpful hint to you as you're moving down this corridor is somewhere up ahead, and maybe you're crossing your fingers that it's not going to be the locker that you're looking for, somewhere up ahead, a cage door is hanging open and someone is rummaging around the locker and you're approaching very quietly. They still haven't noticed you. - Yeah. I'm going to try and stealth up to them and pull my pistol to their head. Say freeze. - All right. Okay, I like this. I like this. Yeah, yeah. - I don't know. I certainly hope so. - Let's cut back outside to you guys and see how all that's going. - If the two security officers are still engaged with us, has everyone else kind of dispersed now that it seems like, you know, the crazy faun is being dealt with? - It's relatively uncrowded right now, being at this late hour, so that the two that came up to you, like the two that are engaged with you are the two that came up to you. There's no other ones in sight. - Okay. - I want a gun because I'm actually really good with rifles. So I want to actually try to take one of their guns. - I love this. - Power move. - Yeah, yeah. - Now who's lost? - Outside the box. Yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - I just know, I just can sense that like my teammates, my, I don't know, we're in a dangerous, I know we're in a dangerous situation and I did fight in the war, so I'm trained with a rifle. - Don't screw with Mabel. - If there's a rifle, I want it. - I said it's bedtime. - Yeah, yeah. One of the guards does have a rifle slung over his shoulder. The other does not. How do you want to-- - I want to use etiquette and I want to play the part of a docent, a mild, well, we'll see. This is what I do. I go, it's just so scary out here. Oh, if only a nice strong guard could walk me back home. You know I live at the Beddington, so it would be quite nice. And oh, is that a gun? Could I hold it? And I've never held a gun before in my life. - No, actually no. - I'm so sorry, officer. As I said, her mind is not quite there. - What is this, is this for real? Like I thought she was in trouble, now she's asking to hold my gun? - Yes, no, I'm so sorry. I pulled the trigger. I pulled her away. And I say, actually, we just need some assistance getting back to the house. Not the Beddingtons. She said the wrong name because no. - You know, your kind aren't even supposed to have guns. You know, you could go to jail even for touching the gun. - Oh, of course. - Even for thinking about the gun. - Of course, officer. - Right, right. Well, silly me. - Yes, of course. - What am I doing taking care of children? - Perhaps you could tell us about the neighborhood. Over there. And I want to point away from-- - From the customs office. - All right, all right, all right. What's going on here? - What's the history of this neighborhood? - What's happening? I'm getting very suspicious. - Can I do a persuasion to see if that distracts them? - Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would put that at quite high as well. Heroic, I would say. 24. Do you have anything to bring it down? - I do. I have persuasion. I would like to change my tactic. Yeah, I'd like to, instead of basically asking for the history of this, I would like to tell some fey history. 'Cause I know a lot of fey history. - Oh. - And just wrap them in with a really cool story. - Oh, okay. - About fey lore. - Oh, okay. - Which is persuasion and fey lore. - Okay, so that would bring it down to, what, six? So roll an 18, and he's gonna want to hear about it. - Look at the one history buff working at the docks. - It's an eight. - Dang. - Boy, we really could've used-- - Oh, man. If only they wanted to learn more sweet fairy trivia. - Tell me more. - Oh, actually, I've been meaning to study this. - Actually, when the fey first came to - All right, okay, listen. - You don't want to hear this story. It's a very interesting story. - No, no, no, have a nice day. Listen, I've got a customs house to protect. I'm gonna go back to that. The other guy's like, yeah. And so they're both turning around and going back to the customs house. Better do something fast. All right, meanwhile, back in the customs house where it's very dark and the only light is coming from the lamp light on the water flickering through the floorboards. And we have Moonshadow sneaking around somewhere, keeping an eye on things as Constable Bottom is very bravely attempting to sneak up and put his pistol to the back of someone's head. Hopefully this is a good idea. Let's see how you fare in that sneak. 'Cause I think that's gonna need to be a role. - All right, free scumbag. - 'Cause the goal here is you don't want him, you don't want this person to hear you coming. - Correct, yeah. So I, contrary to what you might think, in spite of all of my expert level tactics, I'm not trained in stealth, but I am trained in using firearms. So I'm not gonna hopefully not accidentally discharge my weapon prematurely. And I am also very skilled in intimidation. - I will give you a stealth discount. - Okay. - But your proficiency, neither your proficiency in firearms nor your intimidation, I think, will affect how the floorboards creak. - Rats, okay. So what number do I have to beat here? - I will say you have to beat a nine. - Okay. - Okay. - Seems pretty demanding, but Officer Bottoms on the case. - Okay, I rolled a seven. - As we say in the biz, that's a big yikes. - So as you're approaching, the aforementioned floorboards creak and you see in this figure ahead of you, this shadowy figure rummaging around in the locker, you see a flicker of wing as they turn and they're all black clothes. It's a black raven who turns and sees you. - I quickly go, - Oh, oh, oh! - Oh, oh! - Oh, oh! - Oh, oh! - In an effort to deceive. - Damn it! - In an effort to confuse him, maybe you are just a black raven undercover. - In all reality, would I know this? Would I have picked up on that earlier? Or is that just me metagaming? 'Cause I don't wanna do something that my character wouldn't necessarily know here as fun as it is. - You're actually saying you wanna make the secret black raven signal. - Yeah, do you think I would've noticed that earlier and put two and two together? Or am I just Officer Dengus over here? - I think, you know, you're welcome to try. You can try whatever you wanna try, but I think he's not going to be fooled. I put the difficulty of that like obscenely high. - Okay. - It's impossible. - It's impossible? - Yeah, if you're trying to summon her. - Yeah, it's a dual purpose move. - Yeah, if you're trying to fool him, that's crazy. - Officer Bottom's playing four-dimensional tricks right now. - All right, okay, all right. Well then you don't have to roll. Yeah, if you wanna summon her like that, yeah, make your little noise there. Oh, oh! - Bottoms up! - Do we hear that outside? - Well, no. - Okay. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. 'Cause you're in your own little zone, and I think several yards away. Bottoms up. - Oh, so I, yeah. It's what I say when he gets himself in trouble. - Yeah. - I like how you have your own little, yeah, yeah, that's good. - So I silently and swiftly move towards where they are. - Yes, because as you look and see, you see him with his gun raised and a black raven coming at him, unintimidated by his gun. And what are you gonna do? - So I keep making sure my hood is still still up. I quick draw a knife, and I lob it at, you know, you take the-- - Oh, you're knife throwing. - Yeah. - Okay, okay. - Take a wing out. - That's a good move. That's a, take the wing out is what you're-- - Yeah, 'cause you said they're flying. - Oh, no, no, no. He's, he's, he's walking. He's walking, because he was in the air. - Oh, and I'll take a leg, take him out on the knees. - Okay, okay. So you're not aiming to kill him? - No, no. - All right, okay. All right, so that's, I would say, demanding, but you have knife throwing skills, right? - Yes, I'm a two with knife. - Let's say you have to roll a three to hit your mark there. - All right, so a nine or a three? - A three. - For an actual three? - You have to roll a three, yeah. - Yeah, I'm very good with knives. - Oh, four! - Just made it! - Woo hoo! - Yo! - Magic. - Yes, yes. - Brutal. - Your knife catches him in the calf. He goes down on one knee. He's temporarily incapacitated, only for a moment. I could remind you, you still have a gun pointed at him. - Yeah, I'm walking, I'm walking. - You're walking up to him with the gun trained on him, saying like, "All right, spill it, Pix. "What are you doing here?" - Racist. - It's a tactic. - All right, all right, we're gonna come back to that, but what have you two decided to do about these guards who have now turned away from you and are headed back to the customs house? - I'm gonna start chanting and pretending I'm possessed, 'cause that'll freak him out. - I've seen the rifle, and I can no longer take my eyes off it. It has to be mine. I'm going to charge and take him down to take the rifle out of his stupid hands. - Okay, that's an interesting two-part plan. We maybe don't need the first part. - I can distract. - Well, they've already got their backs towards you, so you would only-- - Oh, yeah, I was trying to keep them from going back to the customs house. - Oh, I see, I see, I see. Well, how do you wanna do it? - Let's see how we can collaborate on this. - Okay, my instinct is to take one of them out by surprise, like by charging, taking his gun, and just-- - And shooting him? Look, I've got some PTSD from the war, and I've seen my rage, so that's what I would like to do. - Let's do the charge, okay. - Okay, let's do the charge. - Well, if she's taking one of them out, I feel like I should take the other out, because we don't wanna have-- - You should definitely be ready to, yes. - Well, yeah, I'll be charging the other one, then. - Great. - By physical force. - Yeah, I have melee, I have unarmed attack. - All right, all right, all right, fair enough, fair enough. Okay, you're going for the guard with the rifle, the big one with the rifle. - That's right. I have an unarmed attack with my horns that is a minus two, but I would argue that because his back is turned to me, I might be able to have some advantage there as well. - Okay, that makes sense. I would say, I want you to land at a six, 'cause I think there are levels of four based on what you've said. So a six-- - So a six or higher, okay. - Six or better is gonna yield a productive charge. - Perfect, all right, I've had about enough of this. I hate playing crazy, people. All right, here we go. That is a 12! So I charge-- I charge right out of my hooves, stamping in the murk and the mire of these docklands, and I come up from behind them, kind of ram my head right into their back, forcing them to arch their back and then just smack down while I pick up their rifle. And I do pick it up by the, I don't know, the chick-chick part, so then it goes, chick-chick, and I'm ready. Okay? - It's a shotgun! - I like that, I like that. Suddenly it's a shotgun, but okay. Maybe it's a rifle with a chick-chick part. - Oh, I think I broke his gun. - It's like Terminator 2 all of a sudden. So you do that, and you have his gun, and he's on the ground, he's not dead, but he's knocked down, you know, you gave him a good hit. You have his gun, and it's pointed at him. Meanwhile, the other guy, who's, you know, all of this is happening within a few seconds, he's shocked, he hasn't had time to react yet. He maybe doesn't realize that the Mima, of all people, is now running towards him. Do you have anything-- Do you have anything that you want to attack him with, or is this just a body blow? - I have a knife as well. - Okay. - So I don't want to stab him. I would like to knock into him and press up with the knife. - Oh, like holding it, you're looking to restrain him from action. - Yeah, his difficulty, I think, is probably a three. Do you have any sneak skills? - I have melee, hiding, an unarmed attack, and two, minus two for knife. So that's like four steps right there. - I would give you knife if you were attacking, attacking with a knife, but just restraining with a knife. I would give you hiding and unarmed attack. - Okay. - So that gets you from three to what? - To one difficulty. - All right, so roll a three or better, and yeah, yeah. - Sounds easy, right? Let's see. Ah, it's a five. - Oh my gosh. - Come up behind him, wrap the knife around his throat. He's not going to make any move towards your friend there, who's got her brand new rifle trained on the guy. What do you want to do with these guys? - For now, 'cause we don't hear any commotion yet, right? It's more, I guess, to make them look as if everything's normal. - By now, you will have heard a commotion, 'cause I think this has taken long enough that you have heard the knife, well, not heard the knife, but heard whatever commotion, shouting has arisen from her throwing the knife at the Black Raven. - I want to force us to move into the shadows so that we're not surrounded by wandering eyes. - Yes. - It would be good to lock them up somewhere, somewhere in a closet, or maybe you have some experience with that. - There's like a whole runner here, that's like. - The villain of season two, a flaming closet. - But as it turns out, I am familiar, and it seems like there might be some closets inside the customs room that might fit these two. - That's perfect, let's go. Let's bring them inside. - Okay, you realize you have a rifle pointed at him and a knife to one of their throats, okay. - We don't want to kill them yet, unless. - Unless you want us to, Travis. - No, I'm just, you know, it's like I'm a bloodthirsty god. I demand sacrifice, no. - No funny business, we're taking you into the customs house and locking you up. - And you're moving them into the customs house to lock them up, and meanwhile, you're in the customs house, this black raven is on one leg, but he's still sort of, he's hopping, and I should remind you that at this point, he's turned around and he's seen you. - Got my hood up, I got my hood up. He knows there's a black raven somewhere. - I would say the burden on you is very high to not let this guy out of here. How do you want to handle him? I think it's your move. - All right. Shut my gun against his temple. He's saying, "All right, you little black raven shit, - Where's the book? - The book is in my pocket, you human. There's not a lot of racial insults. - Yeah, I know. It usually works like that when the power structures are not in your favor, unfortunately. It's really up when you think about it. Anyway, I rifle through his pockets. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But at around this time, as you're rifling through his pockets, you don't see he's reaching for, look, black ravens really like knives. - Yeah. - He's reaching for a knife that's tucked into his boot. - Do I see it? - You see it. He doesn't see it. - I draw a knife and I stab him in the kidneys. - Oh, let's see, let's see what that does. - She likes to did her own coworker. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - He can't know I'm here. Or I won't have any coworkers. - He's not gonna know much. - I'll be dead. - All right, so you're gonna try to stab him in the kidneys. Let's say-- - He's restrained. - 'Cause normally I would put him high. I would put him, I would put him at formidable. Let's say you have knife skills, right? That's two. Then do you have anything else? - Melee. - I would say this stabbing him in the kidneys, let's put it at a nine. You have to roll a nine or better. - 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 overanalyze 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? We ask the tough questions that you're often just screaming at your TV. So every week we break down the twists, red herrings, and absurd documentaries that have kept you up all night. It's high drama, cozy vibes, and absolute couch detective energy. Grab your throw blanket and hit subscribe. Search "Murder, She Watched" wherever you listen to podcasts, and let's solve this thing together. - I'm Ann Foster, and I have never watched the show "Spartacus, Blood and Sand." - And I'm Gina Barry, and I've watched this show numerous times. - On our new podcast, "Net for TV," we discuss TV shows and movies, set in ancient history. This season, we are discussing "Spartacus, Blood and Sand." - Follow "Net for TV," that's N-E-F-E-R TV, wherever you get your podcasts. - Oh, no! - It's a one. - Natural one? - No! - No! - It was a one. So let's say you make a move to stab him in the kidneys. You're not fast enough. He gets his knife out. - No! - He gets his knife out, and he gets Bottom in the bottom. - Oh! - Yeah! Butt stab! - Oh, no! - My name's sake. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Real pain in the arse, ain't it, Bottom? - Oh, you up now? You suck at stabbing. - Yeah. So now what's happened is as you're rushing to Bottom's aid, this fae, his wings are out, and he's off the ground. He's not outside, but you know, remember his legs aren't quite working. He's flying down the aisle. He's gonna make his way out. - I'm gonna try and shoot him. - You're gonna try and shoot him? - Right in the head. - All right, all right. All right, what do you got? Let's see. What did I say? He's formidable for a injury to your namesake, Bottom. I would dock two points of damage for that unless you've got some sort of protection. - Well, thankfully, as a member of the Constabulary, I wear our fashionable police coats, which provide me with two armors, so I am thankfully unscathed. - Butt pads! - Although I do not appreciate what he just tried to do. And I'm definitely taken off guard. - Okay, okay. So he's on his way out. You're raising your gun to hit him. - Yeah. - He's booking it, and he's at formidable. What do you got that's gonna bring this 21 shot in the head down? - Okay, so I have two rank in pistols. So I'm like a pistol expert. They call me, you know, they call me the Widowmaker down at the Constabulary. - Okay, okay, that gets you to 15. - I'm pretty intimidating, so I'm gonna say like eight lead picks, and then hopefully strike fear into his heart. I don't know if that's gonna play with you. - What the hell? 12, yeah. - Okay, okay. - All right. - All right, come on. - Wait, you can, with effort. - Yeah, you can expend effort, too. - Expend effort. - Do you wanna put any effort into this? - Yeah, I definitely wanna expend effort to burst his head like an overripe melon. - Okay, so, all right, target number nine. - All right. - 19! - Oh! - All right, so that would be four damage, but since it's a 19, that's plus three. Three damage or a minor effect. After being sort of surprised by what was happening, I cock the hammer on my gun, raise it at him and say, "Eat lead, picks," and then I fire it, and the bullet travels through his back of his skull, out through his eye, and his head bursts like a Jackson Pollock painting all over the other lockers there. It's a mess. - Can I suggest also, at that moment, that the Mima and I are coming through the door to lock up the guards, and we get a little splatter. - Yeah, they open the door. - You see quite a different set of tactics being used inside the Customs House than you were using outside. - Oh, I didn't know. Were we firing? Did we say we were firing? That was, oh, okay. - We didn't say we were going to be killing people. - Amazing. - That's a power bomb! - Yeah! - Nailed it! - So he's dropped down. You go in there. Well, you've gotta secure these two guards that you have. What are you gonna do with them? - Easy, we put them in the locker where the book was. - Where the book was, with the open locker. I'm gonna go real quick and rifle through and grab something small, maybe. - All right. And then they usher the guards that they've captured inside. Bottom, you might want to turn up your collar so they don't recognize you. - Yeah, I'm playing it cool. Turned up my collar, got my hand like this, like, oh, I don't know you guys. And I also want to rifle through the dead Black Raven to see if I can find that book. - Let's see where that book is, because he said, he said it was on his person, but, you know, he might've been lying to get you distracted. So before you lock your guys up, both of you, let's use investigation to see if you can find the book. You focus on the locker. - Okay. - The book's somewhere. So I would say this is standard difficulty. - Okay. So we're gonna beat a six. - You gotta beat a six. - You can find it. - And I'll just do a straight roll, too. - That's why I never made detective. - Oh, God. - Afraid? - I see nothing. - A three, so it's definitely not in the locker. - Nothing, but. - An eight. - All right, so you find the book on his person. - Can I try to see if there's anything else, though? - You can. - Just, I don't care what it is. Just, I'll just take a package and. - Okay, you want to grab something? Yeah, okay. - Just grab something random. - Can I also get in there and look for other Fae lore that I would like to protect? - Yes, all of you can go in the locker and do a little shopping. - Just, no, no, I'm not interested. I just want to put people in big closets. - Yeah, you got your rifle. - I'm wiping the book off on his cloak, getting a little bit of the gore off of it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that you guys are so interested in Fae history, but as, of course, that you've all started perusing this locker, and Mabel is no doubt admiring her new rifle. These two guards are gone. - Whoa! - They've run. They are off to get help. Backup is coming. - They slipped through our fingers. - Backup is coming, but. - On the plus side, you found the book, so what do you want to do? You want to wait for them to come back and try your odds against-- - I'm just going to grab anything I see, just a random package and tuck it away. - I'm stuffing the book into my jacket pocket and just walking out the front door with purpose. So all of you are making your way out of the customs house. - I'm going around the back. - Yes, you're-- - I'm sneaking. - You're already hearing the alarm bells ringing somewhere. Somewhere outside calling for backup. - Let's truck it. I don't know why we're just walking. I think we should run. - Run. - Well, before you do, you're standing there, you know, on the foggy docks, and you're about to part ways when you see a figure approaching. It's a dark figure, and he's approaching very calmly, and it's Rathstock. And true to his word, he's found you, just when you found the book. He's like, wait, wait, wait. Before you go anywhere, before you do anything, I'm going to need that book. - Rathstock, you get us out of here, you get your book. If we go down with this ship, ain't nobody getting nothing. I'll throw this in the water. - Can I do an insight to see if I think he's going to try to kill us or do harm to us after he gets the book? - I'm also going to do a sense of motivation. I don't trust him. - Yeah. - OK. OK, you can. - So what's the target? - The target is high. The target's going to be formidable, because Rathstock is good at concealing his-- - OK. - I have a sense of motivation, so that goes down one. - OK. - I have two steps in insight. - OK, so let's say 15. - All right. OK. Let's see what's in his head. 20! - Woo! - 20! 20! 20! 20! 20! - Mine was not worth it. - 20. 20, so you do not get a good feeling about this guy. And you've started-- you're looking around in the fog, and you see that he's not alone, that there are other people, like, behind crates, behind ships, people leveling weapons you there's something about this that you don't like and you are surrounded. And Rathstock has a smile on his face and says to you, you know, no, I think you will give me that book. So what do you do? Well, I nudge these two and make eyes, eyes, eyes. To make sure they see who's around us. Well, I hike up my skirt where I've been hiding my rifle and I pull it. Do you know how rifles work? She's very tall. She's 12 feet tall. I'm very furry down there. Very straight legs. Super furry. All right. So I pull it out of my fur, which makes a lot of sense. And I say, oh, will we? And I blast a shot right in Rathstock's face. Look, I trust my Mima friend. Okay. Okay. You're aiming for his face. I mean, fright. He's, he's, he's formal. Firearms is minus one and rifle is minus two. All right. So roll a 12. All right. I believe in you. A one. A one. A one. A one. You pull the trigger. The rifle is not loaded. Nothing happens. Oh my gosh. All right. All right. Seeing that, I want to roll out of the way and scramble for cover. And now everyone's claws are out, including Rathstock, who's now pulling a gun on you. All right. So let's roll for initiative and see what happens next. Rathstock's number is seven. It is a difficulty seven. So that's it. Oh, oops. I got a natural 20. Yes. Ooh. He goes first. Damn this round is tough. I got a seven. Yeah. So he's pulled the gun on you and he fires. He fires at, of course, Mabel, who has pulled the trigger. He's pulling the gun on you and he fires. - He fires at, of course, Mabel, He's pulling the gun on you and he fires. who has pulled the trigger at him. Hits her in the leg. - That's my rifle leg! - Yes, her rifle leg. She's going down, and you hear the clomp clomp of boots coming as the men who have been watching this and armed are on their way. So yeah, who's next? - Do I take damage for that? - You do take damage for that. We're gonna take two. - Awesome. Minus one armor, so that's only one. - Just trying to kneecap you, though. All right, so I'm next. - Okay. I am going to try and shoot the gun out of Wrathbone's hand. - Okay, I like this, this is interesting. - Wrathstock, excuse me, not Wrathbone, Wrathstock. I'm gonna shoot his Wrathbone, which is what he holds his gun with, just to see if I'm the hot shit gunslinger that I fancy myself to be. Probably not. - You've done well so far. - Yeah. - Okay, so let's see, your target is 21, which is not possible. So what do you wanna do to bring that down? - I'm skilled in pistols and firearms, It takes me down to 15, but also I think that I want to expend some effort. This is an extraordinary circumstance. I think that I can become the super cop that I've always wanted to be in this moment. This is where my life turns around. - All right, hopefully I don't enable this. 14, yes, oh my God. - Okay, so yes. - We needed that. - Stressful. - You pull the trigger and the bullet hits the gun, not his head, but it knocks the gun out of his hand. Rathstock is now disarmed. You still have these other men coming at you through the fog, and it's whose turn now? - Oh, I think that's me. I rolled a 12. - My jaw is just agape 'cause I can't believe that actually worked. - Yeah, yeah. You see this ping of sparks and the gun just flying out of his hand. Even Rathstock looks a little surprised. - I would like to run at Rathstock and tackle him. - Okay. As we know, Rathstock is a difficulty seven, so what do you wanna do to bring that down to something you can-- - I have unarmed for minus one, and then I have melee for minus one. Okay. And he also might not be expecting this 'cause he just caught off guard. He absolutely expects this. Okay. Okay. This is a 15. I see that he's well-versed in the martial arts. He's ready for whatever comes next. Yeah. All right, 15. Yes, no, 12. Oh, psych out. So in running, you trip and you fall. Oh no. Oh no. So seeing Ravstock and all my friends failing miserably and seeing all of them around us, I grab the book. - I knew it, I knew it. - I grab the book from bottom and I fly out over the water. And I say, all right, let them go. Everyone goes their separate ways. I throw the book to you. If you shoot at me, I drop it in the water. - Well done, that's good, that's well done. - Okay, Rath Stark's listening to you now. All right, throw me the book. - Let him go. - All right, boys, let him out of here. - I start booking it. - Clippity-clop on the hooves. - Just running in shame. - Run. - Now give me the book. - And I throw it, like, over it. To where his men can get it, but they'll all have to go find it. They'll all have to scramble for it, there's no way they can come after us. - All right, which they do, 'cause the book is what they truly want. And so, from then-- - I'm out. - You're out, all right. You narrowly got out of this caper alive. - And I'm sure we made zero enemies in the process. - I know, I'm gonna be holding your finger to the page to write me an excuse for my Beddington family. - Officer, she executed a pix in cold blood at the stockhouse. - No, the opposite. - And submitted often. - So thankfully you guys have made it to safety. The book that you've been trying so hard to get has fallen into Rathstock's hands and whoever his employer was. I remind you, it contains within it some very dangerous incantations, as you've heard, including formulas on the creation of a dark Asher, which is a very dangerous creature. To see what his or his employer's interest was in the book and to see if you guys are still around, check out the show. - All right, that was awesome! - And if you like what you saw, please go to Nerdist or Geek and Sundry to download a free copy of the RPG to play for yourselves. And remember to watch Carnival Row, season one, now on Amazon Prime. I think you'll enjoy it. - Be sure to tune in to Carnival Row, the new hit TV show from Legendary Television and Amazon Prime Video, available to stream now. Steve Kubine and Nan McNamara's podcast from Beneath the Hollywood Sign. Mary Astor has been keeping a diary. Mary writes everything down. So this torrid affair 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 Zanuck 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 on the hunting trip. And it's directed by King Vidor, so he's no slouch. Speaking of the Oscars, talking about what I call beginner's luck, the actors and actresses who won an Oscar on their very first film. Get your fix of old Hollywood from Stephen N on the podcast from Beneath the Hollywood Sign. 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 wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, it's Hillary Frank, host of The Longest Shortest Time, a women's health podcast for everyone. And exciting news, I've got a new original audiobook. It's called Wedlocked, and it's a thriller about the pressure on women to smile through pain. There's marital strife, gaslighting, gynecology, and creepy music, which is running under me right now. If you like thrillers with a social message, like Get Out, Promising Young Woman, then Wedlocked is for you. Get it now, wherever you buy audiobooks.