0:02

By word and liar,

0:04

let thy desire resound

0:06

in soul and string.

0:08

Set fervor's spark to

0:10

cold hard hearts, and

0:12

stir the stones to

0:14

sing. Welcome

0:17

to the Orpheus Protocol. I'm

0:25

Nick and I play

0:28

Ishmael Carnegie. I'm Cameron and

0:30

I'm playing Barb. I'm

0:32

Sydney and I'm playing States.

0:34

I'm Penn and I'll

0:37

be playing Sheeth Omega. I'm

0:39

Kit and I play

0:41

Sanctity. This week's episode, War

0:43

Anthems, Part Three. War

0:46

Anthems contains violence, meetings and

0:48

parties, and a destination worse

0:50

than any journal. You

0:52

have been warned. Last

1:00

time on the Orpheus Protocol. Ishmael

1:05

comes to his senses after fleeing

1:07

in terror upon seeing Ramsay's

1:09

gruesome death. He, Tess, and Foro

1:11

When I'm Not Okay reunite

1:13

and are visited by a messenger

1:15

of Joey. The Necrolord informs

1:17

the group that while he's fought

1:19

the newborn expression to a

1:21

standstill, both he and his opponent

1:23

will require extensive healing and

1:25

regrowth before they can move again.

1:27

With Joey out of commission,

1:29

it falls to Tess, Ishmael, and

1:31

Foro When I'm Not Okay

1:33

to travel to Central Indiana and

1:35

facilitate Ishmael and Tess's infiltration

1:37

of the architect's unnatural realm

1:39

before it can be used

1:42

for its baleful and mysterious

1:44

purpose. After training

1:46

Foro When I'm Not Okay and

1:48

the basics of squad tactics, Tess

1:50

and Ishmael lead them on a

1:52

long, overland journey as well as

1:54

a successful resupply mission in a

1:56

fecundity -infested town. Riding high on their

1:59

success, they reach... the freshly rebuilt

2:01

estate of the late

2:03

Benjamin Weiss. Ishmael Tess

2:06

and the newly completed

2:08

lineup of 401 I'm

2:10

not okay are freshly

2:13

arrived upon the just

2:15

anachronistic sort of eerie

2:17

estate in the middle

2:19

of these central Indiana woods.

2:22

It's clear that some of

2:24

the food is grown. Here,

2:26

there's a bunch of garden

2:28

space, both rooftop and in

2:31

the yard, and it would

2:33

be a very long and inconvenient

2:35

trek to the nearest town. So

2:37

whoever lived or lives here

2:39

is somewhat reclusive, but obviously

2:42

quite wealthy. Despite the low

2:44

property values out here in

2:46

the middle of the sticks,

2:48

this is a formidable building

2:50

and set of out buildings.

2:52

Someone with money set this

2:55

place up. There is no gate,

2:57

no wall, it's very accessible.

2:59

You do not see a

3:01

single vehicle anywhere. And there

3:03

are so far no signs

3:05

of activity from the massive

3:07

house, nor any of the

3:09

barns or sheds or outbuildings.

3:11

But I would like to

3:13

hear how you wish to

3:16

proceed. All you know is

3:18

that there is something of

3:20

supernatural significance about this place

3:22

and that it serves as

3:24

some sort of conduit, whether

3:26

an exit, an entrance, or

3:28

a navigational aid, you're

3:30

not sure, but it

3:33

is involved with the

3:35

spatial manipulations taking place

3:37

under the auspices of

3:39

this mysterious and sinister

3:41

architect. How are you going

3:43

to find your way? It looks to

3:46

the eyes of anyone who has any

3:48

knowledge on the subject to be the

3:50

kind of place where like one rich

3:53

person may have ended up hosting kind

3:55

of a hippie commune. And that brings

3:57

you back to the anachronistic...

4:00

feel of the place. It looks

4:02

like something that got custom built

4:04

in the 1950s, but it looks

4:06

new. All of the style choices

4:08

are super out of date. Very

4:10

fallout, okay. If that's the

4:12

case, if we're just looking

4:14

for something with scary mojo,

4:16

I feel like Bart works

4:18

as a pretty good dowsing rod

4:20

for that. I think spreading

4:22

out and just trying to sense

4:25

things, sort of like a

4:27

magic metal detector, would probably be

4:29

the best choice. Search pattern

4:31

alpha, basically. Sure. Methodical. So, what

4:33

does that look like? I

4:35

assume that you and Bart have

4:38

like a really well -trod routine

4:40

where you do this. Cause

4:42

like something like this has come

4:44

up on about half of

4:46

your missions at least. Oh, yeah.

4:48

It's a ratatouille, so Bart sits

4:50

on my head and grabs

4:53

two handfuls of hair and steers

4:55

me around like a giant

4:57

meat mech based on what he's

4:59

feeling. So his back feet

5:01

are kind of gripping like behind

5:03

your ears, like his little

5:05

stirrups. And so he gets up

5:08

on there, does his little

5:10

shimmy stretches, cracks his little knuckles,

5:12

takes a deep breath. I

5:15

was told that this

5:17

place was really magically

5:19

significant. Uh,

5:21

yeah, that's, that was sort of

5:23

the idea. Eki, are you

5:25

feeling okay? Like, are

5:27

you experiencing perhaps some sort

5:29

of like astral dysfunction

5:31

or something? Hey, uh,

5:34

Mama Kovalyov said that

5:36

everybody has that from time

5:38

to time. It's perfectly

5:40

normal. Now what I'm getting at

5:42

all jokes aside is that there's

5:44

no magic really

5:47

to speak of here. This

5:49

is, this is almost

5:51

an aggressively normal area.

5:53

Like magically impotent to, to

5:55

a weird amount. really

5:58

didn't mean to, to empower - Further

6:00

boner jokes? I mean,

6:02

yeah, if having magic or

6:04

a little spark of magic,

6:06

the way that a lot of

6:08

places do in our metaphor

6:10

is a penile erection, this place

6:12

is pushing rope. Damn, what

6:15

a boner. Just

6:18

kidding. Now it's not the time for

6:20

jokes. Sorry, serious mode. Sorry, each man.

6:22

No, I was trying to figure out

6:25

how to work the word flaccid in

6:27

and kind of draw on a blank.

6:29

So, my

6:31

question would be, do we

6:33

feel like it's overcompensating? If the

6:35

magic is flaccid, the penis

6:38

is flaccid? Yes, there you

6:40

go. Thank you. Thank you, Bart. Or

6:42

you could do the other way around, because they rhyme. It

6:46

sort of feels like if someone

6:48

tries to cover their tracks, you

6:50

can follow the smoothest part of

6:52

the ground where they've over covered

6:54

it. Like, if there is absolutely

6:57

no magic here. Sure, right. That

6:59

makes sense. Just changing the way

7:01

that you're looking. Yeah, because my

7:03

thinking is this place looks weird

7:05

and is magically strange in the

7:07

same way of like super normal

7:09

to the point where it's strange.

7:11

So let's look for that instead

7:13

of just the normal telltale magic

7:15

signs. What you're able

7:18

to determine is that the

7:20

somewhat muted quality to the

7:22

eldritch energies of the area

7:24

drops off fairly quickly as

7:26

you move away. But there's

7:28

some convolutions to like exactly

7:30

how quickly that happens. And

7:33

you realize that every building

7:35

here, the main house, sheds,

7:37

barns, greenhouse, anything, all of them

7:39

have some version of this effect

7:41

going on them. So it's when

7:43

you start getting away from all

7:45

of the buildings that the energies

7:47

start to return to normal. But

7:50

the way that it all

7:52

feels, it's like there

7:54

is a perfect linear cessation

7:56

of magic where the

7:58

buildings begin, as in And every

8:01

threshold here seems

8:03

to be perfectly repulsive

8:05

to all external magical

8:07

energies. And while

8:09

you rattle through your way around

8:11

making these determinations, you do not

8:13

see anyone. Nobody shoots a gun

8:15

at you or yells at you

8:17

or comes to a window and

8:19

twitches a curtain. So is it

8:21

like each building is its own

8:23

self -contained sort of blocker or is

8:26

it the layout out of the

8:28

like compound is like does it

8:30

look like a pentagram? If

8:32

the compound itself is laid out in

8:34

such a way, it would be along

8:36

a discipline that you have not studied.

8:39

It doesn't. Okay. You've actually probably

8:41

seen places where like, oh yeah,

8:43

we're doing Geomancy. We're laying out

8:45

buildings in a way consciously to

8:47

invite certain types of magics or

8:49

repel certain kinds of spirits or

8:51

things like that. Oh, I mean

8:53

like Aki's first mission with Orpheus

8:55

was to hunt down a serial

8:58

killer who was using the bodies

9:00

to do a city -wide spell. Like,

9:02

yeah, that's standard shit. That's a

9:04

Tuesday. This is nothing like that.

9:06

And furthermore, where everything is makes

9:08

perfect sense for people living here.

9:10

Like there haven't been any compromises

9:12

made in the name of like

9:14

making something work magically. Hm. Does

9:16

the anti -magic field have any effect

9:18

on our connection with our lich

9:20

powers? Not that you can tell.

9:22

You don't even feel it. You're

9:24

sort of taking Ishmael's word for

9:26

it. Like it feels normal to

9:28

you. Although when Bart talks about

9:30

things being eerily quiet or whatever,

9:32

you do realize that a little

9:34

further into the woods there was

9:36

more insect and bird noise and

9:38

like squirrels scurrying around in the underbrush

9:40

and climbing trees and stuff. Like

9:42

it is not completely dead here. But

9:45

it seems like nature has some

9:47

idea that maybe this is a place

9:49

that you should try to avoid.

9:51

Hm. So, team,

9:54

whatever's going on here is

9:56

going to pretty much

9:58

befuddle standard operating. procedure, but

10:00

I have a sneaking suspicion that

10:02

whatever it is is probably in

10:04

the basement. I feel like it's

10:07

always in the basement if we

10:09

just go to the main house

10:11

and go down. Everything seems so

10:13

logical that obviously creepy weird thing,

10:15

basement. You're taking lead right, achy

10:17

like. Tess is taking lead. You

10:20

all can go behind

10:22

us, but Tess, if you

10:24

look up DoorKicker in

10:26

the dictionary, it's just a

10:28

picture of Tess. Well,

10:30

I'm prettier. DoorKicker's

10:33

my brother. Mr.

10:35

DoorKicker was her father. What

10:37

are the chances that there's

10:39

terrible monsters waiting in these

10:42

sheds outside to descend upon

10:44

us as we walk into

10:46

the house? Uh,

10:48

not zero. Not zero, but

10:51

I think it's important to

10:53

note probably less than

10:55

most places we've been lately.

10:57

Fair. Hopefully none of

11:00

those like teethbleweeds. Those, oh,

11:02

like I mean, I don't,

11:04

this is just intuition. Aiki,

11:06

you'll have to say if there's

11:08

something to this, but the fecundity doesn't

11:10

seem as present here. It's like

11:12

we've kind of gone back in

11:14

time almost walking through these woods,

11:16

right? Like, yeah, doesn't this

11:18

look like the way woods

11:20

in this part of the country

11:23

would have looked before any of

11:25

this happened? Yeah, whatever this is,

11:27

I feel like it's a different

11:29

problem than the current apocalypse, which

11:31

doesn't mean it's less dangerous. It

11:33

just means it'll be more surprising.

11:36

I mean, that lines up with

11:38

what Joey said through that, um,

11:40

voice box. I was gonna

11:42

say a tongue balloon,

11:44

but walkie -talkie, or not

11:46

walkie, just talkie. Flappy talkie.

11:50

Should we like raise these sheds

11:52

to the ground or? I don't,

11:54

why? I don't know, so

11:56

there's no like monsters that pop out. But

11:59

if we could - There's

12:01

monsters in there. They're gonna pop

12:03

out and then we kill them. So

12:05

maybe if we leave the monsters

12:07

alone They'll just keep napping and they won't

12:09

come out. Sheet. I love how proactive you're

12:11

thinking My concern is if we just start

12:13

knocking stuff over that's sort of high -risk

12:16

high reward, right? So we burn a lot

12:18

of energy. We maybe destroy something before it

12:20

can get the drop on us But like

12:22

Barb was saying that also does sort of

12:24

open us up to an ambush Generally

12:27

in this situation, I would say

12:29

let's just move vaguely quietly and

12:31

just investigate until something tries to murder

12:33

us And then Tess will pre

12:35

-murder it back. Not to mention

12:37

Joey seemed convinced that this place was

12:39

really intricate or something, right, Anki?

12:41

So who knows if we might

12:43

have to use something in here

12:46

rather than just burn it all

12:48

down or knock it over Was

12:50

as fun as that would be. It

12:52

would be really fun. We deserve

12:54

some stress relief Well, we'll get

12:56

to that when we can

12:58

But for now, I say we

13:00

start as Underground as we can

13:02

get as close to the middle

13:04

as we can get and just

13:07

spiral our way out until something

13:09

good or bad Happens because my

13:11

normal means of detection are Fallen

13:13

short today kind of disappointing. All

13:15

right So I assume that

13:18

you are just going to approach

13:20

the main house then and have

13:22

Tess take point. Yep We are walking

13:24

to the door. I Mean

13:26

she opens it. It's not

13:28

locked. Oh Nobody shows up.

13:30

Yeah, she looks almost disappointed

13:32

or at least and certainly

13:34

not what she expected But

13:37

you hear her say okay

13:39

under her breath and she

13:41

Steps cautiously into the entry

13:43

of this large house Aiki

13:45

whispers under his breath tactical

13:48

genius and Follows Wow

13:50

The moment you cross the threshold

13:52

Bart sort of gets a little

13:54

reason in his fur like he

13:56

gets a little poofy Oh like

13:58

the Ghibli the Ghibli thing Uh -huh

14:00

all the way up. Okay. Yeah. Yeah,

14:02

okay. There's the magic

14:04

It's all in here. Does

14:06

it feel familiar or gross

14:08

or neither? He's sort of like

14:10

licks a finger and holds

14:12

it up in the air Wiggles

14:15

his hands around a little bit

14:17

closes his eyes takes a deep

14:20

breath. It's like I can't really

14:22

tell exactly what it's like Because

14:24

it's like, you know, there's food

14:26

in a refrigerator But it's like

14:28

inside many layers of plastic wrap

14:31

and Tupperware Like it could be gross.

14:33

It could be real bad or it could have

14:35

just been put in there an hour ago

14:37

It's like that somehow Schrodinger's

14:39

mold gotcha. This place

14:41

is um It feels

14:43

really managed like it's more

14:45

of an orchard than a forest

14:47

and that makes sense like things are

14:49

a certain way I

14:52

am a little worried about

14:55

what the crop might be Bandmates,

14:58

do you all feel anything

15:00

through your connection to undeath? Use all

15:02

our resources here They are going strong.

15:04

If you have knowledge Eldridge You might

15:06

be able to tell that there's something

15:08

different in here But like your connection

15:10

to your lich powers are unaffected by

15:12

this place like you've still got them

15:14

They don't feel like more costly or

15:16

distant or staticky and you're you're

15:18

still you And the sanctity's

15:21

whole shit with the fecundity is

15:23

not also unaffected. Yeah, it's not

15:25

even it's more biological than this

15:27

It is magical, but it's expressed

15:29

more through like a

15:31

biological standpoint. All right.

15:33

Well We have made some

15:35

progress At this point

15:38

team. Let's move into

15:40

a more tactical mode

15:42

I know test is always

15:44

the that way, but let's

15:46

stick to mostly Hand signs

15:48

voices low Investigate something around

15:51

here is probably gonna want

15:53

to kill us or be

15:55

an important clue Aki makes

15:57

like several complex hand gestures

15:59

pointing around the entryway and starts

16:01

to head deeper into the

16:03

house. All players roll luck, please.

16:05

I got a negative one

16:07

on my left. I also got

16:09

a negative one. I

16:11

got a plus one, got a plus two. I

16:14

got three zeroes. Barb and

16:16

Sanctity, you don't know how it

16:18

happened, but as this large

16:20

group of people move into this

16:22

very large and somewhat labyrinthine

16:24

house, you get separated from the

16:26

rest of the group, at

16:28

least by like a room. You

16:30

just sort of have that

16:32

moment of realizing, wait a minute,

16:34

I don't hear them anymore.

16:37

Oops. You kind of come to

16:39

your senses, realizing that you

16:41

are in some sort of den.

16:43

There are turntables, a

16:45

really impressive vinyl collection,

16:47

nice, loungy seating,

16:49

a piano, and you

16:51

keep looking around.

16:54

There's a full drum

16:56

set here and

16:58

some compact but well

17:00

-designed looking amps and

17:03

microphones and guitars

17:05

and bass guitars and

17:08

tambourines and maracas and castanets, just

17:10

anything you can imagine really.

17:12

This is a music room that

17:14

somebody spent a good chunk

17:16

of a million dollars on. That's

17:18

not creepy at all. As

17:20

professional musicians, you have sort of

17:22

a sixth sense about you

17:25

where you move into a space

17:27

that is set up for

17:29

either performance or recording or whatever,

17:31

and you can kind of tell roughly

17:34

how it would be to work in this

17:36

space. Like it's just a professional insight

17:38

that you have. And this

17:40

would be an amazing

17:42

place to rehearse or perform

17:44

songs. Everything is set

17:46

up in a very well

17:48

thought out way. And

17:50

as you turn back the way

17:52

you came to see where

17:54

the others are, to let them

17:57

know this wild thing you've

17:59

found, sanctity. your elbow bumps something

18:01

and you're jump -scared slightly by

18:03

the honk of an accordion

18:05

that was sitting on a shelf

18:07

Right next to the doorway

18:09

that you did not see Sheath,

18:14

you don't know how it happened,

18:16

but you find yourself separated from

18:18

your companions Oh fuck fuck fuck

18:20

fuck a second after you enter

18:22

this room that you realize you're

18:24

alone and Tess walks in looking

18:26

a little confused Wasn't

18:28

I in front? Tess?

18:31

Oh, and before you

18:33

can figure out how that

18:35

happened the Impressiveness of the room

18:38

that you've walked into sort

18:40

of dawns on you here.

18:42

This is It looks like

18:44

a workshop space Very

18:46

large very well stocked

18:48

clearly organized well for

18:50

actually having work done

18:52

in it where you

18:54

see numerous drawing tables

18:57

binders of blueprints and

18:59

sketches and just table -on

19:01

-table of Scale models

19:03

of houses and other

19:05

buildings Set up not

19:07

really for display more

19:09

for like the end

19:11

stages of a design Sheath

19:17

puts their hands on their

19:19

head um a little

19:21

confused Uh

19:24

What happened to everybody?

19:26

least two of us.

19:29

Yeah, I didn't feel anything

19:31

or hear anything What

19:33

um do we go back

19:35

or maybe so yeah, let's

19:37

just step outside There's

19:39

something Yeah, let's let's

19:41

step back outside Tess

19:44

and sheath leave this

19:46

workshop meanwhile Stace

19:48

and Ishmael you find yourself

19:50

in You don't know how it happened. You're

19:53

separated from your companions. It's just the

19:55

two of you You don't hear anybody

19:57

else walking or talking anymore and you

19:59

are in a room you would not find

20:01

in most houses, in fact not even

20:03

in most large mansion type houses. It's

20:06

a well -lit,

20:08

plush -carpeted, nice standing

20:10

plants here and there.

20:12

It's a gallery,

20:15

like it is a

20:17

place for the

20:19

display of artworks. There

20:21

are numerous little

20:24

deuses arranged in a

20:26

grid in the

20:28

have gorgeous, super detailed,

20:31

perfectly painted and

20:33

treated scale models of

20:35

buildings and homes on

20:37

them. Complete with like little,

20:39

clearly there's electrical stuff running

20:42

where there are lights on

20:44

in them and lamps outside

20:46

and stuff that are on

20:48

like they would be. The

20:50

rest of the tables are

20:52

empty. There's many many more

20:55

tables than there are completed

20:57

little display pieces here. But

20:59

a cursory look shows that

21:01

one of these five displays

21:03

is the very building in

21:06

which you are a perfect

21:08

scale model rendition of this

21:10

very house. There is another

21:12

very large old stone church

21:14

or house or something like

21:16

that. There is a very

21:19

modern looking hospital. There is

21:21

a just almost stereotypical old

21:23

Victorian haunted looking house and

21:25

there is what looks to be

21:27

a modern and very tall

21:30

office building. What are the odds

21:32

that any of these on

21:34

display are our token of I

21:36

don't know occult stuff? Feels

21:38

a little easy, doesn't it? Well,

21:41

you're the one with a talking

21:43

dowsing rod. His name is Bart. He

21:45

doesn't like when you call him

21:47

a rod. We

21:51

definitely need to take a look,

21:53

see what this is. This level

21:55

of detail is a little spooky.

21:57

If we look in the window...

22:00

on the model that's the current

22:02

farmhouse. Do we see anything

22:04

that looks suspiciously like the band

22:06

and or the personnel that

22:08

are here? You do not. However,

22:10

when you get closer, Stace,

22:12

you see that there are very

22:14

cleverly built little hinges and

22:16

openings that are so engineered to

22:18

be flush with the surfaces

22:20

that you don't really see them

22:22

until you get super, super

22:25

close. The house can be like

22:27

opened in a variety of

22:29

ways so that you can get

22:31

to and manipulate objects in

22:33

every single room. So rather than

22:35

just a perfect scale model

22:37

of a house, it is a

22:39

very complicated puzzle box that

22:41

also happens to be a perfect

22:43

scale rendition of the mansion.

22:45

Stace opens up one of the

22:47

things and is suspicious and

22:50

listens to see if it affects

22:52

anything in the real world

22:54

or if it is just a

22:56

model. It's not that it

22:58

affects something in the real world,

23:00

but you feel like as

23:02

you investigate these little miniature rooms,

23:04

something is happening to you.

23:06

You're not sure what it is,

23:08

but it's like when you

23:10

look at things in this model,

23:13

you feel like you have

23:15

suddenly remembered something that you forgot.

23:17

You start to feel like

23:19

you've been here before. Do all

23:21

of the models have the

23:23

same sort of like puzzle box

23:25

quality that they can be

23:27

opened up and manipulated? Which one

23:29

do you look at first?

23:31

I would probably pick the church

23:33

based on my history. You

23:35

look at it, it's definitely not

23:38

set up as a church.

23:40

It may have originally been built

23:42

as one maybe, but it

23:44

almost looks too big when you

23:46

start to see what the

23:48

scale is. It has a lot

23:50

of rooms set up in

23:52

it, clearly a lot of people

23:54

lived here and there are

23:56

offices and there is a cafeteria.

24:00

It all looks very old like it

24:02

looks like it was made maybe closer

24:04

like turn of the century World War

24:06

one at the latest, but it looks

24:08

like it's some sort of institutional space

24:10

Built into what was once maybe a

24:12

church Huh some kind of yeah, you

24:14

don't know it does similar to the

24:16

place you're in look outdated and Like

24:18

a lot of people lived here, but

24:20

also people worked here. Hmm. And it

24:22

is in fact puzzle box like in

24:24

the exact same fashion These

24:27

are Very

24:29

weird. Yeah, I feel like

24:31

I've seen something like this house

24:33

or this thing before it's

24:35

it's weird Can you remember where

24:38

you have any more to

24:40

go on than deja vu? Do

24:42

I have anything more to

24:44

go on? Certainly not you said

24:46

it with plenty of confidence

24:48

because it's true But like once

24:50

a clarifying question is asked

24:52

you realize you have no idea

24:54

why you feel that way

24:56

This gives a shrug So I

24:58

know I told jeeth we shouldn't

25:00

just start destroying stuff But I do have

25:02

to admit some corner of my brain

25:04

wants to see what happens if we smash

25:06

one of these intricate motherfuckers I don't think

25:08

that's a good idea. Anki. Did you hear

25:10

that? Hear what? It was really

25:13

high pitched Like a little well,

25:15

I mean what my my little

25:17

brain came to was like toast

25:19

being done Are you are

25:21

you having a stroke? No, no, that's

25:23

smelling toast I

25:25

don't think you have a I don't

25:27

think I don't think you hear

25:29

toast when you're having a stroke That

25:31

does kind of make sense to

25:34

me, but uh No, I don't I

25:36

don't hear anything. Do you have

25:38

like a a direction of sensation? Yeah,

25:40

it sounded like it came from the

25:43

tall building the one or that one

25:45

He points at the display of the

25:47

super tall office building Well, let

25:49

us take a closer look shall we

25:51

this thing is formidable This is

25:53

a large building that it's depicting even

25:55

though it's like shrunk down in

25:57

scale like as much as craftsmanship can

26:00

allow it's obviously a huge fucking building

26:02

that it's depicting. Does it have

26:04

a like on the corner of the

26:06

foundation like a building name or

26:08

an address like some of the big

26:10

ones in New York do? Cool

26:12

that you should think of that, Stace.

26:16

There is something like that. It's

26:18

literally too small to read, but

26:20

if you poke around a little

26:22

bit there are magnifying glasses in

26:24

drawers in the bottoms of these

26:26

tables as well as like pen

26:29

lights and other such things that you might

26:31

use to examine them more closely. Very

26:33

well equipped gallery. If you

26:36

look for those cornerstones you

26:38

do in fact see in

26:40

like a all -caps copper plate

26:42

kind of a gothic script

26:44

a single word, Daedalus.

26:47

Does that mean anything to

26:49

you? It sure does Ishmael,

26:51

Daedalus Tower. It's a very

26:53

storied building in New York.

26:55

It was a place that

26:57

the cult of seasons controlled

26:59

for a very long time

27:01

and had as their headquarters.

27:04

Additionally both Kezik Holdings and

27:06

Sol Invictus had offices there

27:08

and operations there. They worked

27:10

on collaborative projects there and

27:12

in fact you're told that

27:14

the board of Sol Invictus

27:16

would have meet at Daedalus

27:18

Tower. You're pretty sure now

27:20

Sol Invictus/DAS have completely

27:22

taken over that installation because

27:24

of the big falling

27:27

out and Tabitha Kezik being

27:29

labeled as a terrorist

27:31

enemy of America? Yeah this

27:33

is basically like Daedalus

27:35

Tower is like the World

27:38

Trade Center but for

27:40

magic and a cult bullshit.

27:42

So kind of a

27:44

cornerstone of a like secret

27:46

society I suppose? Very much

27:48

so. Aki's gonna look real

27:50

close and see if there's

27:52

anything about the building that

27:54

would have a different aura

27:56

or if there's something about

27:58

the way it unfolds that affects

28:01

the rest of the room because

28:03

he's starting to suspect that

28:05

something like Feng Shui is how

28:07

this house works of like

28:09

everything in space being in the

28:11

right space might do something

28:13

So when you're looking close at

28:16

this scale replica of Daedalus

28:18

Tower from which Bart heard a

28:20

strange little tone Something sets

28:22

your teeth on edge a little

28:24

bit there are lights inside

28:26

the building of course because everything

28:28

is wired up as a

28:30

replica as much as is possible

28:32

and On the top floor

28:35

you could have sworn that a

28:37

tiny shadow passed over the

28:39

light coming out of the windows

28:41

Well, I mean if it

28:43

looks like there's something moving around

28:45

inside a keel definitely hunker

28:47

down And he won't put his

28:49

eye right up against the

28:52

window, but try to get level

28:54

so that he could just

28:56

see in When you look more

28:58

closely you see Certainly not

29:00

what you would have expected you

29:02

see miniature scale models of

29:04

people a very lifelike pose like

29:06

they just Exited the elevator

29:09

stepped off the elevator on the

29:11

top floor But they don't

29:13

look like the kind of little

29:15

people that you would have

29:17

in scale models to show off

29:19

an architectural design Because usually

29:21

you would not have a tall

29:23

scarred really rough off looking

29:25

dude with a sword or a

29:28

more Slight sort of gender

29:30

non -specific person liberally spattered with

29:32

blood tracking blood out of the

29:34

elevator But that's sure how

29:36

these models are set up And

29:38

as you stare at them

29:40

you feel like Not that they

29:42

are staring back at you

29:45

so much, but that's something is

29:48

And you feel like Something might

29:50

happen to you if you

29:52

look away You find that your

29:54

eyes are watering You just

29:57

don't want to take the risk

29:59

of looking away, and then

30:01

you realize that you just have to

30:03

blink. It's physiologically

30:05

necessary, and when you blink,

30:07

you don't know, you do

30:09

it real quick, but wasn't

30:11

the tall guy with the

30:14

sword's right foot forward? Because

30:17

now it's the left foot that's forward.

30:19

Are they a little closer to you? I

30:21

like you to roll your instauror. I

30:23

got a flat on the die, so

30:26

that puts me at a 5, and

30:28

I'm just gonna leave it at a

30:30

5. You pass. You stand to take

30:32

5, less your ranks in Knowledge Eldritch.

30:34

Which is an S, so I take

30:36

nothing. Yeah, you're okay. I mean, it's

30:38

weird, but it's weird in a way

30:40

that for at least the moment you

30:42

feel like you can handle. You

30:45

good you've been staring at that for a

30:47

while. Uhh...

30:50

Probably don't look at this.

30:52

Alright. Do you need me to

30:54

like drag you away? Uh, not

30:57

quite yet. If

30:59

I stop talking, then

31:01

yes. But don't

31:04

look in here,

31:06

because it's weird,

31:08

and I want

31:10

to protect your

31:12

soul. Uh, appreciated.

31:15

I'm going to do something

31:17

rash in 3, 2, 1,

31:19

and then Aiki starts waving

31:21

his hand up and down

31:23

in front of his eyes

31:25

to rapidly break line of

31:27

sight over and over again

31:30

to see how fast the

31:32

mannequin little model people can

31:34

move. Yeah. Uh, repeat

31:36

exposure. Go ahead and lose

31:39

one humanity for doing this on

31:41

purpose, but yes, the tall

31:43

man with the sword is helping

31:45

the injured -looking person move from

31:47

the elevator down the hallway.

31:49

They look like stop -motion

31:51

animated, and like they are

31:53

unfamiliar with their environment, and

31:56

scared. Alright, so Aiki,

31:58

having seen that... is

32:00

going to break eye

32:02

contact with it finally, and

32:04

look back to Stace.

32:06

So there's like moving

32:08

figurines in there,

32:10

and I feel like

32:13

Joey the Necrolord said

32:15

something about certain

32:17

important people trapped somewhere,

32:19

and these look like people, and

32:22

they look confused. So

32:24

we did it, question mark?

32:27

Do you want to grab the

32:29

building and your arm like a

32:31

football and leave, or do we

32:33

want to smash it? Yeah, that's

32:35

the tricky thing about a cult

32:37

shit like this, like we could smash it,

32:39

and that could free them, or it could

32:42

kill them. We could pick it up, and that

32:44

could free them, or it could kill us,

32:46

or do nothing. We could try and

32:48

reach in and grab the little figures, and

32:50

just take them out, which might free

32:52

them, or kill them, or both. This

32:55

really to me sounds like

32:57

the perfect occasion for a

32:59

hybrid check between investigation and

33:01

knowledge eldritch, because yeah, there's

33:04

usually a right and wrong way

33:06

to do things like this. No,

33:08

this is literally what this character

33:10

is built to do. So because

33:13

I have Bart with me, I

33:15

have an S in investigation, and

33:17

I already have an S in

33:19

knowledge eldritch, and I have five

33:21

focus, so it's pretty much the

33:23

best thing. I got a flat

33:25

on the die, I'm going to

33:27

go ahead and replace that with

33:29

a plus two instead, spend my

33:32

three temporary strain in knowledge eldritch,

33:34

and I'm going to roll my

33:36

principle of don't trust

33:38

the hierarchy, because in this

33:40

case, everything in this

33:42

place is strictly regimented and

33:44

organized and perfect, and

33:46

clearly works like a finely oiled machine,

33:49

and it is very uncomfortable, and

33:51

I don't trust it, and I kind

33:53

of want to break it, but

33:55

not in a way that gets me

33:57

or my friends killed, and

33:59

I rolled - Three, so that

34:01

is a 13. Cool. Lose

34:04

26 humanity. Jesus Christ.

34:06

Oh, that

34:08

hurts. You know a lot about

34:10

how this place works now,

34:13

Ishmael, and how these displays work and

34:15

what they really are. These

34:17

are conduits of sympathetic

34:19

magic. This is a control

34:21

room that operates eldritch

34:23

processes across the world in

34:26

different buildings. And you

34:28

start to understand how you

34:30

don't just open but

34:32

activate these displays. You now

34:35

have a limited but

34:37

significant ability to affect reality

34:39

within something. Within

34:41

a construct that is distributed across

34:43

multiple buildings in multiple places,

34:45

that you only begin to grasp

34:47

the magnitude of. I think

34:49

you can intuit here that all

34:52

these tables should have things

34:54

on them. The fact that they

34:56

don't is because it was

34:58

left alone for too long and

35:00

something atrophied, something decayed. This

35:02

place is in the process

35:04

of being rebuilt or remembering

35:06

itself. But yeah,

35:08

you understand a lot

35:10

about how these displays

35:13

work and can probably

35:15

use them now to

35:17

both affect reality and

35:19

satisfy your curiosity. Great.

35:21

So Stace sees as

35:23

Aiki starts to really

35:25

focus in on this

35:28

and put his mind

35:30

to understanding it. There

35:32

is a feeling like the

35:34

room is leaning in around

35:36

him and the shadows seem

35:38

to lengthen and there's a

35:40

long pause where the world

35:42

holds its breath. And when

35:44

he stands back up again,

35:46

Aiki's skin looks way more

35:48

salo and his hair looks

35:51

like it's starting to rot

35:53

off of his head a

35:55

little bit. And you notice

35:57

that while you watch his

35:59

fingernails start. get longer and

36:01

crack and his eyes look

36:03

yellowed he says well

36:05

I have just learned something

36:07

about the universe you

36:09

look like shit yeah um

36:11

I left something behind

36:13

learning about it and I'm

36:15

real hungry which I

36:17

will have to deal with

36:19

at some point but

36:21

I think I can now

36:23

control space and time

36:25

does that mean we're done

36:27

not quite yet and

36:29

achy's going to display his hands

36:31

out like part conductor part puppet

36:34

master and start fucking with

36:36

stuff what stuff do you fuck

36:38

with first that's important for

36:40

me to know yeah uh first

36:42

off would probably be to

36:44

make sure the rest of the

36:46

team is not in and

36:49

hurt them towards stays and achy

36:51

I don't think he would

36:53

just pull them out of hammer

36:55

space into this room because

36:57

that would probably hurt them well

36:59

that's not exactly how it

37:01

works anyway so okay but your

37:04

your desire your intention is

37:06

to gather everyone here yes okay

37:08

so you go to the

37:10

estate model and you just sort

37:12

of without thinking about it

37:14

open a panel and like oh

37:16

would you look at that

37:19

this is the exact room that

37:21

they are in you in

37:23

fact without thinking about it flutter

37:25

a blink and watch as

37:27

miniature sheath walks into the music

37:29

room there are in fact

37:31

miniatures of you guys in

37:33

this at least there are

37:35

now at least achy can

37:37

see them and the scale

37:39

of these tiny figures as

37:41

long as you stand in

37:43

this room it feels like

37:45

those are the real tests

37:48

and sanctity and sheath and

37:50

you are the real achy

37:52

the scale difference is palpable

37:54

you are this gigantic being

37:57

looming over them like

37:59

a god And so you just

38:01

Rearrange the rooms a bit

38:03

so that they can be where

38:05

you are Sheath

38:07

you wander out of this workshop kind of

38:09

in a bit of a reverie Like

38:11

you're not sure what you're looking at none

38:13

of this stuff makes any sense to

38:15

you But you think you hear

38:18

Sanctity talking and then

38:20

you hear Unmistakably

38:22

one short inexperently played

38:24

note of an accordion You

38:27

and Tess following this

38:30

accordion note find yourself

38:32

in the very impressive

38:34

music room So you

38:36

are now face -to -face with sanctity

38:38

and Barb who seem to

38:41

be sort of taking in just

38:43

the majesty of How much?

38:45

Musical equipment there is how well

38:47

designed the room is oh

38:49

my god Hey guy, we like

38:51

we're trying to this is

38:53

an outside She three thoughts

38:55

move through sheath's brain

38:58

at once But we found

39:00

you hey, and you felt sanctity.

39:02

Oh my god sheath's eyes go wide

39:04

and they start moving pretty quickly

39:06

You found an accordion is it is

39:08

this new oh my god no

39:10

clue. This is a classic Is it

39:13

really do you mind do you

39:15

mind if I look I wasn't gonna

39:17

do anything with this isn't our

39:19

house Sheath doesn't stop me

39:21

from looking God. I know

39:23

that's what I'm saying We don't need

39:25

our permission to look at

39:28

it She took it the opposite

39:30

way. Yeah Go for

39:32

it bud. You pick up

39:34

this accordion. It's very nice

39:36

It might not be like the best accordion

39:38

you've ever picked up ever because there's

39:40

probably one that you've played a lot of

39:42

performances on that's like Well loved and

39:44

perfect in that way, but it's definitely the most

39:46

expensive one that you've ever picked up That's

39:48

for sure There comes a

39:51

sharp tapping at the window

39:53

And you see one of Kayla's

39:55

bone gargoyles Tapping at the

39:57

glass and like waving it little

39:59

bony hands to try to

40:01

get attention. Barb waves back.

40:04

I think this is a hoener Hanukkah. It's

40:08

sort of scratching at the window. It

40:10

clearly can't get purchase on the outside. It

40:12

looks like it wants in. Barb will

40:14

go up for an open the window. When you

40:16

open it, some sheet music

40:19

flutters. There's a gust of air

40:21

through the room as some

40:23

pressure equalizes. And that breath of

40:25

air out of the house, fucking

40:29

molecularly disintegrates the bone gargoyle.

40:31

It is a puff of dust

40:33

on the wind now. Oh,

40:35

gosh. Roll against Torah, Barb. Plus

40:38

two, my focus is a

40:40

three. You certainly pass. You seem

40:42

to take two points of strife.

40:44

I think that others in the

40:46

room probably saw at least a

40:48

glimpse of what happened. Yeah, she's

40:50

certainly. She's like, that is true. You

40:53

might want to close that window.

40:55

Barb very carefully shuts the window again.

40:57

Well, good to know. So none of us

40:59

stick our arms out. But you guys

41:02

are doing fine. So that's interesting.

41:04

However, suddenly there is more light pouring

41:06

into the room from the doorway

41:08

that Tess and Sheeth just came through.

41:10

And you hear voices. That

41:12

doorway now leads to a gallery

41:14

with ludicrously detailed scale models on a

41:17

handful of tables in a very

41:19

large room with a lot more room

41:21

for more displays that aren't there. Ishmael

41:24

and Stace are there. You did

41:26

not walk through that room or past

41:28

Ishmael or Stace. Sheeth, you need

41:30

to roll against Torah. Yeah. Dismayed

41:33

honk from the accordion. Plus

41:36

two on the dice. So plus

41:38

four, that would be a six. Yeah,

41:40

you certainly pass. You stand to

41:42

take three points of strife. Two, spiritual

41:44

strain. I will also need a

41:46

horror check from Barb and Sanctity. Because

41:48

you've been in here for a while. That

41:51

was not the room that you came

41:53

in through. Actually, you know what?

41:55

Give me a luck roll, both of you. Hey, plus

41:57

one. Plus one. Oh,

41:59

you guys - came in from a different door

42:01

there's no horror check for you

42:03

sweet like you could have just not

42:05

looked through that doorway yet well

42:07

and with aches control of things maybe

42:09

I tried to rearrange it that

42:11

way odd purpose yeah maybe so but

42:13

now you guys are

42:15

all at least in

42:18

view of one another

42:20

aches got like magic control

42:22

of the house or

42:24

whatever okay awesome more magic

42:26

shit yeah great oh

42:29

fuck sanctity

42:32

barb and she's

42:34

when Stace talks to you from this

42:36

other room you can sort of

42:38

hear some echoes of their voice

42:40

from the big resonance of

42:42

the large gallery coming through but

42:44

like something about when the

42:46

voice passes through the doorway to

42:49

the room in which you

42:51

are it just becomes more pleasant

42:53

to listen to there is something

42:55

happening here sonically between the members

42:57

of 401 I'm not okay wait

42:59

it's like you feel like you

43:01

can't put a foot wrong in

43:03

a way Stace I just got

43:05

the ting like I just got

43:07

the vibe like like I know

43:09

this is an inappropriate time but

43:11

like like I just got the

43:13

jam vibe like thank you for

43:15

refraining from calling it the tingle

43:17

I heard you tried to call

43:19

it that I appreciate you changing

43:21

it I second Barb yeah why

43:23

are you holding an accordion Stace

43:25

you gotta come in

43:27

here Stace shrugs and goes

43:29

into the music room

43:31

Stace this place rules sonically

43:33

it's oddly perfect and

43:36

there are though quite old

43:38

electric guitars of models

43:40

that then descended to the

43:42

ones that you prefer

43:44

in here you're probably pretty

43:46

knowledgeable yeah on guitars

43:48

so you see models going

43:50

all the way to

43:52

the late 60s here some

43:54

are older is that it

43:56

one of the early

43:58

less Paul's Like, can we

44:00

just, like, I know the

44:02

world's fucked right now, but can

44:05

we just, like, what's wrong

44:07

with stopping and having a quick

44:09

jam? We're in a haunted

44:11

house and it'll probably, like, eat

44:13

our minds or something. God,

44:15

I hate that you're fucking right.

44:17

It's probably already eating our

44:19

minds. Honestly though, it's my haunted

44:21

house now, and I think

44:23

you're fine. I got you, if

44:25

you really have the inspiration.

44:27

Aiki, do you want to look

44:29

at the replica of the

44:31

music room and see what you

44:33

can see? Sure. Yeah, so

44:35

you just sort of, like, dip

44:37

your toes in that spiritually

44:39

and, um, yeah, significant things happened

44:41

here at some point in

44:44

the past, having to do with

44:46

music. And if musicians in

44:48

a spirit of community and collaboration

44:50

made music in this room

44:52

and did a good enough job,

44:54

that is another lever. That

44:56

is another part of the method

44:58

of control for this building. You

45:00

don't know how it compares

45:03

to what you're doing. It's more

45:05

specific to this place. You

45:07

have a feeling that there's no,

45:09

like, way of doing a

45:11

magic music thing in any of

45:13

these other buildings that you

45:15

have displays of. What you're doing

45:17

is relevant to everything that

45:20

is connected to this larger complex.

45:22

This is the thing that

45:24

is specific to this estate, this

45:26

very house. Okay, so, uh,

45:28

I don't really feel capable of

45:30

going fully into everything. And if

45:32

anybody's looking at Aiki, they

45:35

see a fingernail just fall off

45:37

of his hand. But

45:39

trust me when I say

45:41

on a metaphysical and occult level,

45:43

we actually do need you

45:45

to heal the world with music.

45:47

Like, oh my god. What?

45:49

If you all play and you

45:51

do well enough, I think

45:53

you'll heal some of this tapestry

45:55

we're trying to put back

45:57

together to get these people out.

46:00

So, oh my god,

46:02

my mom was right.

46:04

Seems about as likely

46:06

as us turning into

46:08

undead, creature -powered house things,

46:10

sure. This is ridiculous.

46:14

Sanctity, you say this is

46:16

ridiculous and you realize that

46:18

you set it into a

46:20

microphone. Yes! You're

46:22

standing on the little stage

46:24

in front of the drum set

46:26

with the big mic stand,

46:28

like that fucking cool like 50s

46:30

radio microphone. Yeah! Kind of

46:32

set up. And you love

46:34

the way your voice that

46:37

goes back to you in

46:39

this room. There is an

46:41

undertow. There is an inexorable

46:43

current that has to be

46:45

completed. You're all here. You're

46:47

in weirdly one of the

46:49

best venues you've ever been

46:51

in, in the middle of

46:53

this strange visitation during an

46:55

apocalypse. And there has never

46:57

been a more necessary time

46:59

for 401 I'm not okay to

47:01

put aside the concerns of the

47:03

moment and reach out and

47:05

touch the divine through the perfect

47:08

conduit of rock and roll

47:10

music. The vibes and the dynamics

47:12

being what they are, I

47:14

want to know what everyone except

47:16

for sanctity would reach a

47:18

consensus on wanting to achieve through

47:20

their music. And then I

47:23

also want to know what sanctity

47:25

wants to achieve through her

47:27

music because that's roughly equally weighted

47:29

scales. At least my

47:31

energy thought right now is

47:33

like really jamming authentically and

47:35

in a way to honor

47:38

like everybody we've lost. Stace

47:40

is really just looking to

47:42

like connect with the band,

47:44

foster that spirit of like,

47:46

you know, we're all in

47:48

this together playing music together.

47:50

Like things might be okay.

47:53

Barb just really wants the band to have

47:55

a singer again. To

47:57

have a whole band again.

48:00

You know, like maybe make it through

48:02

a whole cool set without church

48:04

zombies Yeah, you know wizards

48:06

or just any want to make it

48:08

through a set without things going

48:10

terribly wrong and without their friends

48:12

dying and What's the world just

48:14

be at peace for a moment?

48:16

in this moment sanctity can't deny

48:18

that 401

48:20

I'm not okay always

48:22

was kind of her

48:25

stable consistent Feel when

48:27

she performed and that's

48:29

why her solo career

48:31

Failed even though she'd

48:34

never actually admit it

48:36

to herself. I think that

48:38

in some way as

48:40

Sanctity's kind of completed by

48:43

401. I'm not okay

48:45

it re -ups the urge

48:47

that she's always felt when

48:49

she's around them to

48:51

be the center of the

48:54

universe and in some

48:56

way if this Jam session

48:58

that she thinks is

49:00

more ridiculous than anything if

49:03

it's going to heal

49:05

something about the world She

49:07

wants to be at the center of that new healed world

49:09

Yeah, that's

49:12

it Yeah,

49:14

sounds about right what I

49:16

need from every member

49:18

of the band is a

49:20

performance check now for

49:23

Sanctity that's going to be

49:25

willpower for the others.

49:27

It will be an instrument

49:29

skill drums can be

49:32

focus or Dexterity the other

49:34

instruments are dexterity. I

49:36

have a knowledge music. I

49:38

will say that that sort

49:41

of means People are

49:43

sort of unconsciously looking to

49:45

you for cues a little

49:47

bit as the improvisation

49:49

happens meaning that you sort

49:51

of just Get to ignore

49:53

negative dice results seems good on

49:55

this one. You're not gonna

49:57

get caught falling out of step

49:59

with people as much because they're more looking

50:01

to follow what you're doing. Sanktity got

50:03

a plus three on the die for

50:05

a total of seven. I'll use my

50:07

motivation. I'm going to use my principle

50:09

of survival of the fittest. Okay. You're like,

50:12

no, my vision. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

50:14

So that's a d3 and then you

50:16

can spend up to three spiritual strain

50:18

on this. I

50:23

rolled a six on the die.

50:25

So that's a - That's another three.

50:27

So you're at 10 before strain?

50:29

You can just get a

50:32

13 if you want. Yeah, give

50:34

me. So Sanktity's at a

50:36

13. If we're not the singer,

50:38

can we still use Charisma?

50:40

I think you specifically could use

50:43

Charisma because you are leading

50:45

people's cues so much. Everyone else

50:47

must use either dexterity or

50:49

focus. I take the plus two

50:51

and Lou of rolling. And

50:53

then I will invoke my bond

50:56

of loyalty to 401. I'm

50:58

not okay. Yeah. Because this is

51:00

the band as it remains.

51:02

And that's a two, which

51:04

is an eight. And then

51:06

I'll spend my three temp

51:08

strain to take that to

51:10

an 11 with my S

51:12

and presence. Another ridiculous result.

51:14

How about sheath and barb?

51:16

I am going to be

51:18

using my S rank in

51:20

specifically accordion. Yes! You're pioneering

51:22

a way of kind of

51:24

one man banding it where

51:26

you are sustaining base notes

51:28

and playing the accordion. It

51:30

shouldn't work, but it's working. Boink

51:33

-o -boink -o, Dropkick Murphy's, you know,

51:36

they all do it. So

51:38

I will take a plus two

51:40

instead of rolling. Plus my

51:42

five dexterity is seven. And then

51:44

I have my loyalty to

51:47

the band as it remains. But

51:49

I roll real quick. That's

51:51

a one, so eight. And then

51:53

I'm going to spend three

51:55

strain to bring that to an

51:57

11 as well. So barb. Yeah.

52:00

I'm going to let the band

52:03

down. But it's fine. Everyone's

52:05

following. Is it following me

52:07

on the drums? We're all

52:09

following Stace. So it's fine.

52:11

Well, they're following you on

52:13

the drums in terms of

52:15

measure by measure, but when

52:17

it feels like you're getting

52:19

to a point of transition

52:21

in the music, people are

52:24

looking to Stace for like,

52:26

are we speeding up? Are we

52:28

slowing down? Are we changing key?

52:30

you are holding things together. So

52:32

I got plus two on the dice.

52:35

My decks is a four. My

52:37

bond for when I'm not okay,

52:39

although I'm also tempted to use

52:41

my go loud or go home.

52:43

Either one is perfectly appropriate here.

52:45

Five, so it's another three. So

52:48

I'm at a nine. So I'll

52:50

spend two strain to get to

52:52

an 11. Just to perfectly match

52:54

it all up there. Just to

52:56

catch up. Glorious. Okay. Wow, all

52:58

right. I think Tess and even

53:00

Ishmael, despite being like clearly super

53:03

invested in the magic of this

53:05

place and like not that interested

53:07

in what you guys are doing,

53:10

I think they end up completely

53:12

fucking transfixed. This is a

53:14

moment frozen in time. This is

53:17

like Nervana unplugged in New York.

53:19

This is like the live extended

53:21

performance of love, hate, love that

53:24

Allison Chains did. Like, this is

53:26

something that people will talk about

53:28

for a long time. Even though

53:31

only two audience members, so to

53:33

speak, heard it. If there is

53:35

a future, this will be lore

53:38

in the music world. What

53:40

happened here today? What I need

53:42

to know, though? Because Sanctity's role

53:44

was the highest. What does

53:46

this song sort of end

53:49

up being about? Like what

53:51

is the song in terms

53:53

of its tone, its feel?

53:55

What's the vibe, and what

53:57

is the message that sanctity...

54:00

successfully sends through the

54:02

song because in the

54:04

end it's kind of

54:06

a bohemian rhapsody situation. Everyone's

54:09

doing career best work here but it

54:11

is the singer's vision. I

54:13

think that with the circumstances

54:15

and with a lot of

54:17

other things going through her

54:19

head to avoid doing something

54:21

along the lines of we're

54:23

trapped in a haunted house

54:25

and I am so sick

54:27

of hearing about accordions. Sanctity

54:31

sings a love song.

54:33

So because you don't want the

54:36

song to be about your surface frustrations

54:38

like you get a little more

54:40

real? Yes yes and

54:42

I think that it

54:44

is like it's one

54:46

of those 80s ballad

54:48

like hard hitters you

54:50

know with bohemian rhapsody

54:52

because no one actually

54:54

knows what direction we're taking

54:56

the song. Yeah every band

54:58

member is putting something like unexpected

55:00

into it for a sequence

55:02

and somehow it all works. I

55:04

think that it sounds like she's

55:07

singing about how great she is

55:09

and whatever and all like her

55:11

normal stuff that she would default

55:13

to during these sessions in the

55:15

past but I think that to

55:17

her it means something different and

55:20

she's I don't know I think that she

55:22

has mixed feelings about what she's saying

55:24

but I think that she knows exactly what

55:26

she wants to come out of the

55:28

song either way so it doesn't really matter.

55:30

And what is that? Well she wants

55:32

to be the center of the universe

55:34

which means that she wants what? Is

55:36

it a love song from sanctity to

55:38

sanctity? I think that the

55:40

reason that she regrets it

55:43

it's because of her long

55:45

harbored crush that's not Kayla

55:47

and I think that

55:49

that's why she's trying to

55:51

be vague as vague

55:53

as you can be in

55:55

an improv song. Yeah

55:57

so who is this song

55:59

actually? four. It's about

56:01

she. You

56:05

gotta date Kayla because

56:07

she's one's Kayla. It's

56:11

so perfect that the love

56:13

song to she features the

56:15

accordion. I think that

56:18

over the course of playing

56:20

this song she and

56:22

sanctity become aware that each

56:24

other know what is

56:27

happening here. But

56:29

in a way where they are

56:31

both completely terrified to bring it up

56:33

outside of the context of performing

56:35

this song, at least for now. It's

56:37

like everything that can be said

56:39

was just said and like you don't

56:41

know how to how to take

56:43

the next step at all. That's

56:46

something to figure out later if

56:48

there is a later. But over

56:50

the course of this song you

56:52

feel reality reordering itself a bit

56:54

around you, though you don't know

56:56

this in much the same way

56:58

that Ishmael did. Different but equally

57:00

powerful. And Ishmael's guess that he

57:03

just threw out there at the

57:05

beginning proves much more true than

57:07

you might have imagined. There is

57:09

a seller in this house, cleverly

57:11

hidden in terms of its entrance.

57:13

But you can follow the resonance of

57:15

your song to it. You now

57:17

sort of just know where all

57:20

the rooms are. You have almost

57:22

a perfect echolocation map of the

57:24

entire estate in your head, all

57:26

of you, that you don't have

57:28

to expend any energy or effort

57:30

thinking of. You just know exactly

57:32

where you are. And in that

57:34

seller is what this place was

57:36

built to house to contain. You

57:38

don't understand it, but the way

57:40

for you to complete your mission

57:42

from Joey, which is to see

57:44

Tess and Ishmael into this construct

57:46

so that they can rescue what

57:48

needs rescuing from it. The

57:50

answers lie in that seller. There's

57:52

no doubt in your minds.

57:54

Stace hits the final chord and

57:57

lets it ring out. There's

57:59

a resonance. between the decaying

58:01

off guitar chord and the

58:03

extremely sustained quieting and quieting

58:05

note that Sanctity is on

58:07

at the end. There is

58:09

sort of a slightly discordant

58:11

yet beautiful quality to it

58:13

that just perfectly evokes the

58:15

dying sigh of a lover.

58:17

This is the sound if

58:20

you were in the room

58:22

at the end of Romeo

58:24

and Juliet. Sheath

58:26

stands kind of

58:28

vacant wrapped by the beauty

58:30

and the revelation of this

58:32

song. Uh, epic?

58:35

That was epic? It

58:38

was. That word's overused, but it actually

58:40

fits here. The song was like seven

58:42

minutes long. That's

58:46

401. I'm not okay. Were we

58:48

that good? I don't remember us

58:50

being that good. I don't

58:52

either. I mean

58:54

I'm pretty sure we were always that amazing. The

58:57

accordion helps though. Oh

58:59

yeah. And Barb gives like

59:01

a wicked grin towards Sanctity. Maybe

59:03

that's what we were missing. I

59:06

think you guys are full of shit. Sheath's

59:08

eyes are just wide

59:10

still on Sanctity. Stace

59:15

looks to the two

59:17

audience members. Uh, the thing

59:19

is in the basement.

59:21

Yeah. Tess involuntarily looks quickly

59:24

to Ishmael when you

59:26

say that. I, oh

59:28

shit. You called it. I

59:30

guess attuned with the house or

59:33

something. But yeah, it's in the

59:35

basement. Stace reverently puts this old

59:37

guitar back up on the stand

59:39

on the wall. That was uh,

59:41

wow. Yeah, I

59:43

don't, I have like nothing really

59:46

to say to that. Um,

59:48

you're not normally that good,

59:50

are you? Like I said,

59:52

I don't think we are. Okay. Maybe

59:55

since the Lich Powers. Yeah,

59:57

yeah. Dude, we get music

59:59

magic. The - This room

1:00:01

were immaculate. Yes You

1:00:04

know where Tess and Ishmael

1:00:06

must go. So we

1:00:08

take them to the door and then

1:00:10

we're dumb And that's kind of what it

1:00:12

feels like. I thought we had to

1:00:14

do something for a God or something

1:00:16

like that or Did that

1:00:19

weird God guy

1:00:21

just Want us

1:00:23

alive Joey Necrolord

1:00:25

Joey Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty

1:00:27

sure he's just a big fan of

1:00:29

yours And and wanted to make sure

1:00:31

that the band got back together so

1:00:34

that they could play a reunion tour

1:00:36

Us being alive didn't really seem

1:00:38

important though as the

1:00:40

the Necrolord Yeah, would

1:00:42

suggest I have just

1:00:44

sort of mixed feelings about influence

1:00:46

in your decision at this point

1:00:48

You definitely did what you agreed

1:00:50

to do You've

1:00:52

been very helpful clearly you are

1:00:54

magically musical which is pretty neat

1:00:56

Tess and I are going in

1:00:59

the basement. You can you could

1:01:01

try it come you can you

1:01:03

can bail you've certainly fulfilled your

1:01:05

contractual obligations one way or the

1:01:07

other can we use this to

1:01:09

like Help people do we want

1:01:11

to help people ishmael makes

1:01:13

a Face but doesn't say

1:01:15

anything. What are we gonna

1:01:18

drag it outside and play

1:01:20

a Charity concert. I

1:01:22

think we kind of tried that

1:01:24

There's no more Concerts

1:01:26

to play so and I didn't

1:01:28

make any agreement with anyone

1:01:30

nor did I become a lich

1:01:32

But you you do want to stick stick.

1:01:34

I'm not but you would have

1:01:37

to like you do want

1:01:39

to Stick around or no I

1:01:43

don't know Yeah, this room is

1:01:45

special sure But you guys just

1:01:47

did that and you're pretty sure

1:01:49

that you can do that again

1:01:51

and like yeah, maybe there's not

1:01:53

as many concerts But music is

1:01:55

both still part of humanity and

1:01:57

also you have a feeling a conduit

1:01:59

to some Something more than that. Depends.

1:02:03

Are you planning on slowing

1:02:05

me down? Slowing you down

1:02:08

from what? Surviving. It's

1:02:10

all we have left to do. One think of it.

1:02:14

Whatever you would need. Can't

1:02:17

imagine the armies of undead we have

1:02:19

following us are to be bad

1:02:21

for surviving. Sanctity's going

1:02:23

to glare at the ground and

1:02:25

then fold her arms and shrug.

1:02:28

She's trying really hard to be neutral

1:02:30

about this. She doesn't want to be

1:02:32

the person who's like, guys, I really

1:02:34

want to get the band back together. Probably

1:02:37

the best way to retain

1:02:39

your cool factor and your aloofness

1:02:41

would be to at least

1:02:43

temporarily refocus on finishing up the

1:02:46

favor that your bandmates owe

1:02:48

in exchange for the power that

1:02:50

allowed them to survive long

1:02:52

enough for you to rejoin them

1:02:54

and in your mind lead

1:02:56

them to greatness here. Why

1:02:59

don't we get Tess and

1:03:01

Ishmael through the whatever door

1:03:03

and then we'll I'll have an

1:03:05

answer. Oh, yes. Yeah. Of course.

1:03:07

Great idea. The cellar

1:03:09

is accessed via a very cleverly hidden

1:03:12

trap door, quite small, not long

1:03:14

of a drop. Like you're not going

1:03:16

to break your legs or anything. The

1:03:19

square of illumination where

1:03:21

it opens shows a

1:03:24

somewhat uneven dirt floor

1:03:26

that looks weirdly wet. Ew.

1:03:29

Well, uh, this is our

1:03:31

stop. Are basements normally this

1:03:33

wet? Some pump

1:03:35

probably broke. So no.

1:03:37

Let's get this over with.

1:03:40

Rule number one of

1:03:42

haunted houses, friends. Do not

1:03:44

hypothesize what the mystery

1:03:46

fluid would be. Ishmael's gonna

1:03:48

descend as far as he

1:03:50

can. Tess jumps down. Ishmael

1:03:53

descends. The moment Ishmael's

1:03:55

head breaks the plane of

1:03:58

the floor when he is below

1:04:00

the trapdoor it slams shut

1:04:02

behind him of its own

1:04:04

accord and that's the last

1:04:06

that 401 I'm not okay

1:04:08

see of Ishmael or Tess

1:04:10

or Bart a lot happens

1:04:12

now there is a rumbling

1:04:15

groaning sound throughout the house

1:04:17

band members you realize it

1:04:19

feels like you have some

1:04:21

sort of weird vertigo or

1:04:23

headache or something but what

1:04:25

is actually happening is the

1:04:27

dimensions of the house are

1:04:29

changing the rooms every last

1:04:31

one of them are

1:04:34

slowly but surely stretching and

1:04:36

they are stretching at

1:04:38

a constant rate relative to

1:04:40

their size which means

1:04:42

that if you don't leave

1:04:44

the house soon it

1:04:46

will become physically impossible to

1:04:48

reach speeds necessary to

1:04:50

escape the house good time

1:04:52

all right let's go

1:04:54

as the house expands and

1:04:56

you try to leave

1:04:59

it you become conscious of

1:05:01

the structure itself

1:05:03

picture plant like trying

1:05:05

to keep you

1:05:07

from leaving I need

1:05:09

everyone in the

1:05:11

band to roll up

1:05:13

I got a watch I

1:05:15

got a plus two a plus

1:05:17

one I got a plus

1:05:19

one so the rooms are stretching

1:05:21

and the first couple of

1:05:23

times that you attempt to leave

1:05:26

through the front door that

1:05:28

you make it to you find

1:05:30

yourself walking into another exterior

1:05:32

door in a different part of

1:05:34

the house this place doesn't

1:05:36

want you to leave but by

1:05:38

working together you're able just

1:05:40

barely to get outside before the

1:05:42

house recedes back to its

1:05:44

original dimensions what I need

1:05:46

to hear about is

1:05:49

how you get out and

1:05:51

avoid the changes there

1:05:53

are suddenly artworks and decorations

1:05:55

and carved frescoes and

1:05:58

murals that were not before,

1:06:00

many of them

1:06:02

depicting bulls, minotaurs, labyrinths,

1:06:04

and before long

1:06:06

you become conscious of

1:06:08

movement in the

1:06:10

walls. Not the scratching

1:06:12

of rodents, seemingly

1:06:14

organic, fluid -like distortions

1:06:16

of the dimensions of

1:06:18

the walls themselves,

1:06:20

you realize what you

1:06:22

are looking at

1:06:24

is humanoid forms moving

1:06:26

through the walls

1:06:28

and distorting their dimensions

1:06:30

in a perfectly seamless manner,

1:06:32

and eventually the people

1:06:34

in the walls start

1:06:37

to reach for you, an

1:06:39

attempt to capture you.

1:06:41

But once again, your

1:06:43

synchronicity as a group has

1:06:45

a band is just

1:06:48

slightly too great. So what

1:06:50

are these last triumphant

1:06:52

moments inside this nightmare?

1:06:54

4401, I'm not okay, before

1:06:56

they leave. I think

1:06:58

much like the playing of

1:07:01

the band as they

1:07:03

followed Stace, again they're

1:07:05

following Stace's lead. Moving

1:07:07

in formation as Stace

1:07:09

catches a couple of

1:07:11

hands that are then

1:07:13

blocked or diverted by

1:07:15

band members. Keeping everyone

1:07:17

moving in the right

1:07:19

direction and no one's

1:07:21

getting split up due

1:07:23

to Stace's shepherding. I

1:07:25

think as things start getting

1:07:27

weirder and more humanoid the

1:07:29

freakier, a barb to keep

1:07:31

herself from freaking out, starts

1:07:34

humming one of the band's

1:07:36

songs and it helps keep

1:07:38

the group together and in

1:07:40

the same, similar to during

1:07:42

our performances we're following Stace.

1:07:45

We're doing that and now

1:07:47

we're adding the music level

1:07:49

to it. Yeah, it's actually similar

1:07:51

to the role, right? Stace is

1:07:53

making the big changes and you're

1:07:56

keeping the rhythm consistent within each

1:07:58

segment. Sanctity

1:08:01

recognizes what Stace and Barbara

1:08:03

trying to do and has

1:08:05

her moment of losing some

1:08:08

of her cool points to

1:08:10

maybe sacrifice a little bit

1:08:12

of her autonomy, but Sanctity

1:08:15

will link her arm at

1:08:17

the elbow with... barbed to

1:08:19

stay close and then reach

1:08:22

to make sure that they're

1:08:24

not losing eyes on anyone

1:08:26

including sheath who she'll grab

1:08:29

their shirt sleeve and sort

1:08:31

of make sure that they're

1:08:34

connected in some way. As

1:08:36

for one of these deformed hands

1:08:38

with a few too many fingers

1:08:40

to try and push everybody out

1:08:43

really quick as she feels like

1:08:45

a big shoulder check with a

1:08:47

burst of speed to try and

1:08:50

push everybody out really quick as

1:08:52

she feels one of these deformed

1:08:54

hands with a few too many

1:08:57

fingers wrap around one of her

1:08:59

ankles and a shoulder and her

1:09:01

neck. and her face. So everyone

1:09:04

breathes the outside air again, but

1:09:06

sanctity you realize that you're not

1:09:08

holding on to Sheath's hand anymore,

1:09:10

there was that push. You realize

1:09:12

that Sheath was trying to sacrifice

1:09:15

themselves to get you out, but

1:09:17

you can't have that. Not after

1:09:19

admitting what you've admitted to yourself,

1:09:21

not after the performance that you

1:09:23

did. all your bandmates are part

1:09:25

of you in a way that

1:09:28

they weren't before and they don't

1:09:30

belong to this place or the

1:09:32

things inside of it. They belong

1:09:34

to you. As Stace and Barb

1:09:36

were pushed out first, Sanctity is

1:09:39

probably the one that is still

1:09:41

the closest to the door just

1:09:43

given the lineup and by the

1:09:45

time that Stace and Barb turned

1:09:47

around to be like, oh yeah,

1:09:50

we got out. They watched Sanctity

1:09:52

Do maybe the first ever non-selfish

1:09:54

act, they've seen her do, and

1:09:56

sprint back to the door to

1:09:58

grab Sheath or...