Roleplay for One | The Discovery

You're about to listen to the first experimental season of our show, formerly called Nat One Presents the Podcast. For better audio quality and our current ongoing DD campaign, skip ahead to season two featuring the Daft Monks. On this episode of Nat One Presents. These [expletive], hold on, and I pull out uh my handkerchief that actually is uh coated with a laudanum and I take a big huff. I'm like, oh okay, now that feels great. His hip feels great. He can't feel his gunshot anymore.

Adventure. Heartwarming stories, role-playing that could only be seen by the gods. Here at Nat OnePresent, you get all that and more. Now join us as we start another epic tale of con.

Just kidding. This is Nat One Present, a tabletop role-playing game podcast that takes your favorite nerdy games and pop culture icons and ruins them with info.

Hello and welcome to Nat One the Podcast. Uh welcome back, Nate. Thanks, Nate.

Uh I had a short leave of absence, even though I was actually standing right behind the camera. Um, but we were so excited to have guests. Thanks again, Steph, for being on the show. Uh we had a blast. I couldn't stop laughing. Um, in fact, it's really probably all you hear on the video recording version because I was sitting right next to the camera. But uh it was Nate just hissing behind the camera. That's yeah, so that's my southern in me. That parcel tongue, you know. Um Nate, Valentine's Day is coming up. I have some questions for you.

Okay.

Do you do you first of all, do you celebrate Valentine's Day? I uh Megan, I'm vouching for you right now.

We we always say we're not, like we're not gonna fall on the trap. Like they just want us to buy chocolate for them. But that's the trap. Right. And then every year I still get it for, you know, at least something. Because I'm a sucker.

Like, and you probably get in trouble for that, but if you don't do it, you'd be after.

Right. She'd probably never say I'd get in trouble, but I'd see the look in her eyes, you know. It's the same look that pickles gives me when I push her down.

Megan deserves it though, you know. Anyone who puts up with you or I, honestly, right, you know, so I I think, yeah, get her, get her, don't get her chocolate, get her, get her whatever she wants.

I should, whatever.

You know, under a certain dollar amount.

When we get our our 50th uh uh stimulus check, I'll get her something real nice.

Oh man. So, all right, that was like the warm-up question, but the real question is do you think Cupid was real? Was he a baby? Did he shoot arrows? What are your thoughts on Cupid?

I don't know. Just the the idea behind Cupid is really creepy. Like, why is a baby telling me about love, you know? Or is it like the act of love equals a baby? Because that's not always the case, you know. No, exactly. So why is a baby telling me what to do with my life? It's uncomfortable and it's weird.

And then, like, you know, talking about consent these days, like someone shearing arrows and forcing people to be together. Ah, I call shenanigans. That's a different segment. Like, you're looking at a lawsuit, baby. Yeah. Get out of here, baby.

You know, your chubby cheeks, like you stop it.

Well, here's what I think. Okay, tell me. Do you know what I love? Love? Yeah, what do I you know what I love? No, do you love love? No. That's definitely not where I was gonna say. Oh, okay, sorry. I love our patrons. That's that's where I wanted to take this. I like that. I love our patrons. I don't need a cupid to say, thank you, patrons. I love you guys. You know more than anyone that it's just a dollar.

Just a dollar. And with that, I want to thank our newest patron, uh, Michael. It's actually my dad. Thanks, Dad. Nice. Um, Nate, what do we have coming up for Nat One Presents, like really shortly, like coming up soon?

Really exciting. So it should uh already be out by now, um, because we are a little bit in syndication. Uh, we had a recent interview with Business RPG um as an entrepreneurial podcast for nerds.

Ooh, that sounds interesting.

So, like kind of like us, right? I could have used this podcast a couple months ago when we were getting started with Nat One Presents. It would have been great to have listened to this because it's tips from people like they could be streamers, some of them sell crafts on Etsy, some of them are podcasters like us, and it's just tips. It's it's it's like your nerdy audience, but also how to start and be successful at your business and grow it. And so, really great tips if you're thinking of you know turning your hobby into some kind of monetization scheme or business. Uh, definitely check this out. Uh, but also Isaac's a really cool guy. We had a really, really great chat, and uh, I think you'll you'll learn a lot. So check it out.

Uh his podcast is BusinessRPG. Um, it's on all the channels, the same as Net One Presents.

Right. And I I like that idea because right now, where Nat One Presents is at, like me and you both just love doing it. And like it's a hobby right now, but we want it to be more. But if we had something to go back and look to to save us a lot of the legwork building up to where we finally ended up today, like that would have been great and probably saved us at least what two months worth of work. Easily like research and development, yeah, saved some [expletive] friendships along the way.

Probably would have gone a lot better.

So I like the idea of doing this. I I do, I really do.

Check it out. Business RPG. So, Nate, uh, today we are revisiting, we're back to Roleplay for One. It's been a minute, uh, but we're going back to our roots today, and we're playing uh again some kind of homebrew-ish call of Cthulhu. Um, and today's episode is actually going to be a prequel to the last episode. I was so excited. Could you recap for our our you know, our our viewers what happened on the first episode of Roleplay for One? Uh, the delivery.

So in the delivery, uh, Nate was playing a detective agency detective, Shirley Devlin. Shirley Devlin, and he was given the task to take this box, the an archaeologist or whatever he was, his job, blah, blah, blah, and just deliver it to his friend in Arkham. And that's all he had to do. He had to board a train, take the train to Arkham, and that was supposed to be the end. Easy peasy, make a couple bucks. But it didn't happen like that because it turns out the box itself had um like some kind of spirit energy in it from uh one of the old ones, uh Haster. And with that, it ends up being a lot of shenanigans happening. So surely Devlin went to sleep.

Big mistake, you don't go to sleep with some kind of box like this because dreams is where the old ones thrive, you know, and then that's when all the stuff just starts going downhill. There was a talking radio, and after that, he travels along the train, a bunch of shenanigans happened, he ends up back. Uh, successfully, I would say, completed the the puzzle of the box by what was what was your idea behind the the ending towards the puzzle box? What was your idea for that night?

Well, you put me in a precarious situation where Shirley Devlin uh was kind of being attacked by some like uh some like wall-hunted monsters came to life. Yep. It was like a bear type thing.

Well, there was the tiger originals and then yeah, and then uh some other weird monster came out there at the end.

And then I also had this, everybody was kind of obsessed with the box in that realm, and then uh there was this uh older gentleman, I don't remember his name, but he Appleton. Yes, Mr. Appleton, I do remember his name actually. He wanted the box in a very suspicious, and so I either had to figure out how to get out of that very precarious, dangerous situation without opening the box, or if I opened the box, there was a chance that I could escape at all. And my character being the weak, not very thoughtful uh character that he is, he chose the easy solution, open the box, right? Um, which I think we learned at the end had some unforeseen consequences.

Yes. So by opening the box, you got out, but something got out with you. And then Haster, in one of his many forms that he takes, was there to thank you personally when you woke up, but you also had a dead body at your feet. These things happen. All the time, these things happen, especially if you're on that one percents.

So you know me, Nate. I like to fixate on the most irrelevant characters, and for me, it was Kitty. Uh I think it mostly too for humorous sake, when I would go basically every time you go in and out of a room, the room would reset on that in that dream realm. And so there was this one character, Kitty, uh, who I have a little bits right now. Um, and uh every time I would come in and out, she would reenact the same scenario, and it just became a joke that I would just walk through and be like, hi kitty, and just like walk through and yeah, exactly. We just repeat it over and over again. So I wanted to do a prequel to your episode.

I think we will go back and continue the story going into the future, but you know, the box has been around. You you kind of set that precedence in the dream realm that um many other people had encountered the box over the years, and so I wanted to go ahead and set the precedent, uh, or I wanted to go back and explore where maybe maybe some more origins of the box or where we've seen the already, and I decided to do that through the character Kitty. So that's what we're gonna explore. I like that a lot. So today's episode, uh, your episode was the delivery. Today's episode is the discovery. Ooh, okay. Um, so okay. Uh before we do that, I guess tell us a little bit about the character you created.

So I don't know anything about what's gonna happen in this adventure. Nate is DMing, or uh yeah, whatever. He's DMing this episode, and all he asked me to do was make an adventurer type character. So his name is Sebastian Travers. He is 40 years old, he lives in Cairo, he's originally from Arkham, and he's just like you're a 40-year-old brawny guy, he's got a nice mustache, you know, adventurer type, he's got a bullet wound uh from the war, and he kind of has a cane that he uses just a little bit, and like you can tell he doesn't really need it, but sometimes he lays on thick. But that's about it for Mr. Travers.

Alright. So, where we're picking up today, so the Vanderbilts were a massively influential family. If you remember Kitty from the previous episode, she was Kitty Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. Um, so the Vanderbilts were a massively influential family, which is why you, Sebastian Travers, couldn't refuse their offer to join their expedition. Even as a notable archaeologist in your field, it was uncommon for a wealthy benefactor to fly you to Cairo and finance your excursion into the unearthed Egyptian ruins. Victor Vanderbilt, the head of the family, was very excited to bring you on board, quite literally, as today you set sail down the Nile towards the excavation site.

So as you're on the boat, uh Victor finishes giving a speech to the entire crew and just describing about how excited he is that uh they're going to make history and unearth an ancient relic never before seen uh to the world, and just kind of a big happy feelings, like rah-ha-ra, kind of thing, like just to get the crew kind of motivated. Um, and when he finishes his speech, he spots you over off to the side of the ship and comes over to speak with you, and he says, uh, Sebastian, my boy.

What did you think of my speech? It was very moving. I was very fond of your words. They struck me to the core, and I'm ready to find whatever it is you need me to.

Well, I'm glad you say that, because you know exactly why I brought you here, don't you, Sebastian?

Usually when people hire me on for these kind of jobs, they have something in mind, but they don't want other people to necessarily know about it. And I like to keep my discoveries hush-hush to private buyers, but I assume you already knew that since you hired me.

That is exactly why you're the great guy for the job. So it's time I let you a little bit more in on what we're looking for on this dig. I would hope so. So legend tells of a box that predates the very first Pharaoh himself. But upon more of my research, this box doesn't seem to be Egyptian at all. It seems to actually reoccur over and over throughout different civilizations. What do you think of these markings? And I didn't draw them for you today, but if you remember the markings that you had on the box um that you showed me before, he shows you some kind of similar Cthulhu-esque kind of issue. Okay, look at markings.

Oh, should I make a roll for it?

Yeah, do the what is it, the Cthulhu uh mythos roll? Yeah, I'm sure you probably don't have anything in it's very rare.

Yeah, it's only a 44, so no, I don't have it.

So I show you, like, what do you think of these markings?

Ooh, but if it's a cult, that is a pass. If it were doing a cult, I'll take a cult.

Ooh, okay, okay.

So pass, yeah, yeah.

Okay, so so you say something to the lines of, well, you know, like it's in line with some some other things I've seen. I maybe not don't know exactly. And he's like, Yeah, Sebastian, that's that's exactly the point. These these aren't Egyptian markings. These are this is something more uh far older than possibly any civilization we've we're talking the Dead Sea Scrolls, older than that. We're talking, you know, Rosetta Stone, like these are ancient. Uh and I think uh I think this is going to change the world with what we find.

Wow, this is I don't even know what to say at this point. To to have something this old and ancient in my hands, but it looks remarkable. It's in such great condition, it's almost unnatural.

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. But this part I there's not research, but I'm a man of I like a story. I like a good story, I like a good legend. And so legend says that this box has the power to usher souls into this world. It's pretty exciting stuff. I've spent years researching the box, and I'm just excited, I think, well, through my vast network of researchers and scientists and and experts in the field, I think I pinpointed uh the site, and we're gonna take you there tomorrow to to help uncover the secrets.

That sounds wonderful. I I can't wait to get started on this. I've I've always been a fan of occult studies, but I've yet to see anything that has changed my mind about it. Who's joining a call?

And then uh a younger uh a female that you maybe recognize uh approaches uh the gentleman and kinda uh leans up next to Victor. Um Victor, have you had a chance to meet my daughter yet?

Is this young Kitty Vanderbilt? It's been a day and an age since I have seen her. Hi, Sebastian. I've heard very much about your work. Oh well, thank you, Miss Vanderbilt. I too. Um I've heard a lot of things about you, but what have you done recently? Why are you here on this expedition?

Daddy insisted I come. He likes me to be part of everything we do. It's a family business. Also, I'm a little blitzed right now. But no, I get the drinks for everybody, and I'm just, you know, I'm just here to have a good time and make sure everybody's in good spirits.

Well, very well. You're already brightening up my day there, Kitty, and I am glad you're on board right now.

Ha ha. Uh easy there, boy. Kitty is engaged, uh, so and actually Mr. Beauregard is on the ship. He'll he'll probably uh make an appearance sooner or later. Um Kitty, why don't you go get Pops, uh your dear old Pops a a drink and maybe something for for Mr. Travers.

Okay, Dad.

Thanks.

Nice meeting you.

Oh, you too, Kitty. She is a delight.

Yes, she's serious. Uh Kitty Kitty walks away and he's uh she probably will not actually bring you that drink. I know my daughter very well. But you know, she's really beautiful, isn't she?

Oh, just gorgeous, you know, as far as a young lady could be.

Yeah, you know, she reminds me so much of her mother.

Oh, where is the missus?

Oh, we lost her a long time ago. It was a very, very tragic, tragic accident.

Like a baggage claim or no, no, not quite.

Uh we were we were running the business and we we we went on site to a construction site where we rebuilt, you know, the Vanderbilt double towers.

Oh, yes, yes.

The twin Vanderbilt towers.

You couldn't miss them. You couldn't miss them with one of those new airplanes I got today.

Yes. Well, uh, I brought her to the construction site, and we were, you know, we thought we were invincible back then. We were rich, we were invincible, so we weren't wearing helmets on the site, and while one of the materials fell and struck her.

Oh my god, that is just awful. I am I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Mayor.

It doesn't even take a lot. You know, you could it's like if if you threw a quarter from the Empire State Building, that would incinerate your brain by the time. I have heard that. And uh yeah, so I mean it was a brick, so it was more than a quarter, but uh it just it knocked her right out. Oh, what a what a gruesome scene. She just bled there. Kitty wasn't there, thank goodness. But Kitty's all I have left in this, and she is by far the most important thing to me in this world.

I can understand that. And why you brought her along on this excursion? It's nice to keep family together, and I can appreciate that you from you, a businessman.

And with that, uh, you start to hear a bunch of commotion on the ship. You hear some like yells and some like like some kind of like anxious noises and some some bustling. What's going on up there? Um, do you like go over? Do you when you want to say you go up to you saying that?

Yeah, I run up like straight to the front or kind of hobble since I have my cane.

Oh, that's right. You have a cane. Uh so I kind of forgot about that when I built this challenge. Um, so with that, you go up and you see this like veiled uh silent. Think like if you've ever seen um like the mummy, kind of like the like that organization. They got like the two scimitars, like the curved swords, and the tattooing. Yeah, the tattoo, and they got like a veal over them. And uh they have two swords, and uh the one of the clo or it's just one gentleman and or female, who knows, and the the cloaked assassin appears and says, You will not find what you seek. Turn back now before you lose everything. And then he shifts his gaze to Kitty.

Stand back there, sir. You will not harm that young lady, and you cannot tell us where we can and cannot go.

Victor whispers, like, Well, yeah, we have a permit, so we're totally legit. But also, Sebastian, I beg of you do something. That's my daughter.

Very well. Kitty, are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, I guess so. He's just staring at me right now, but uh, I feel really scared.

Okay, I'm gonna I think I'm just gonna pull out my gun. And then I'm gonna try to threaten him. Be like, please leave the woman alone and leave the party alone. It's time you went on your way. We have every right to be here.

There is there an intimidation or a threat um type role?

See, we got a fast talk, we got there is an intimidate. Okay. Yeah, do an intimidation. Oh my god, I put zero points in an intimidation. 33?

No, that's a fail and pass. Okay, so he says, I will only warn you one more time. All will be lost if you do not turn back. You do not have a right to come to to see seek what you're searching for. Be gone.

We have every right to be here, and I personally take on the responsibility for the entire party if something bad were to happen. Nothing bad happens under Traverse watch. Okay? So you, sir, need to take your business elsewhere or be prepared to deal with my fist and cuffs.

Right. Um, you have persuasion this time, so now you're not threatening, you're more just trying to. Oh, it's a 27.

Oh, where the [expletive] is that?

A 10?

[expletive] no. Oh, okay. So he's done that. So he uh he basically does some like quick dodgy movements, and now he has like a sword up to to Kitty's uh throat.

Oh my god. I'm gonna try to shoot him.

Okay.

Handgun.

Yep, fire to uh fire.

That's uh 33. That's gonna hit that is gonna be a normal hit.

Okay, so yeah, you are good with your shot, and you he I get he wasn't totally it's more alright, instead of like behind her with like the sword around his throat, he was more like staying next to her with like the sword like outstretched to the side. So he was wide open. Yeah, so he was wide open, probably didn't expect anything, you know, from an old man with a cane, and you just shot him in the chest and he falls backward into uh into the water. Um, everybody cheers. Um, and then you know Kitty comes by and she's like, Oh my goodness, thank you so much, Mr. Travers. I didn't even know you were you were packing heat.

I always pack heat, kitty, but not now, okay? We'll talk about this later. You there guards! We need to set up a patrol around the side of the boat and be observing the distance for any more of these kind of intruders to be coming across our path. Nothing is going to interfere with this plan.

So you say that, and really there's just like two crewmen that are like clearly like just contractors, like not like they're just natives who were hired to run the boat, and they just kind of like nod uh and then just kind of like walk away. What the hell did I sign up for? Uh Victor says, Thank you, my friend. Uh, you know, about that permit. We do have a permit. I I know some people in the government, but uh people aren't particularly happy uh we're with us digging up the past, and we couldn't get a lot of hired help, for surprisingly, in this area. So uh we're a little light on really everything, but especially security.

Oh, say no more, Mr. Vanderbilt. I completely understand. This isn't my first rodeo, if you know what I'm saying. I don't know if people said that in the twenties, but [expletive] it.

Who knows? Yeah.

Yeah, who knows? But um I appreciate the concern, but you hired me for this job, and I guarantee you it will be accomplished.

Ah, you are an investment well worth making. Well, it's getting late. Uh why don't we retire to our cabin tonight? Tomorrow we will arrive at the excavation site, and I want you to be well arrested and in peak ship.

Very good. I'm just going to make my rounds before I retire as well. The the old leg injury is causing me a little bit of trouble, but I'll manage. And I didn't expect so much excitement on the very first couple minutes being on this [expletive] boat, but what can what can you expect, you know? So uh I bid you night, Mr. Vanderbilt, and I will make my rounds and then I will retire. Good night, Mr.

Travers. Um, yep, uh so Victor exits and you're free to explore the boat a little bit more.

Yeah, I'm just gonna uh walk around and like check the like what's my scenery look like on the outside of the boat? It's getting dark now.

Yeah, so it's it's getting dark, but it's still like we'll say it's like what, like sundown or like you know, so sunsetting sunsetting. Yeah. Um so it's sunset, so I still have some light. Um it's just like a steamboat, like you're not on like a yacht, but you're also not on like a little like pushboat or anything. So it's got like two levels, and you know, it's got like a couple of different cabins or compartments. Okay.

Um as I'm uh walking around, is there any like uh suspicious characters? Like I know we're like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel for help around here. Is there anyone who like draws attention to me? Like, ooh, I definitely need to see what that guy's about.

Um, so a couple different things. Um there's no really perception or anything, right? Uh no, just uh okay. Well, I'm gonna say these are pretty obvious. So the crew itself seems very uh distrustful of you. Um maybe because you shot a guy literally on their boat, um, but also probably just foreigners and and Mr. Travers kind of mentioned that you know people seem a little weirded out that some rich, you know, American is is coming to to dig up um stuff. Um so the crew members are looking kind of oddly at you, and then there's also this other gentleman who seems to very clearly kind of be tailing you and just observing you from afar.

Ooh, okay. I'm gonna discreetly make my way around like one of the corners of the ship and then kind of wait for him to walk around and then I'll like jump out and confront him.

Okay. So you hear like uh uh give me a I think hiding is for sure uh a skill check.

Yeah, there's a stealth, yep.

Or or a hide. You could use either of the third.

Ooh, that's a 15, that's a pass.

Okay. Oh, all right. You are stealthy for a guy with a a cane that's just walking around, hobbling around. You for some reason are very stealthy. This isn't your first uh rodeo, as you as you have in fact said. Um so yeah, you'll go ahead and you'll go around the corner, and then um I'll say that was enough. So you wait, you know, maybe maybe a little bit of time passes, and then finally uh a gentleman kind of peers around the corner.

Um I'm gonna wait for him just to like keep walking since I'm stealthily in the shadows.

Oh, okay. You're completely hidden. You're not just like you didn't just hide behind a corner, you just like Right, right, right.

Like I assume there's like crates or something, hopefully, there. And then wait for him to pass me. And when he does, then I'll tap him on the shoulder and be like, Can I help you with something?

Okay. So yeah, so before you do that, so the gentleman doesn't see you and he walks by and he kind of like glances left and right. He's clearly looking for something or someone, such as yourself, and he is this um maybe middle-aged gentleman, uh, like older than Kitty, but younger than uh Victor. And but he's in like a nice suit. He's got like the the pocket thing, and uh he's just like a I don't know, he looks kind of like another businessman versus the other like the intellectuals and the ship crew. Um so he's walking around, um, kind of rugged looking. Uh and yeah, he passes you and you tap him on the shoulder. Yep. Right.

Yep.

Um give me a what is it? Uh brawl. I think there's a hand fighting or oh my god, yeah. Yeah, so he's gonna turn around and try to take a jab at you.

Okay, so I'd have to dodge then.

Yeah, or you can do a dodge then. You can dodge or you can try to like jab back.

Oh man, that's terrible. 68. That's it.

So yeah, yeah, it's awful. Okay. So yeah, he like quickly, we'll just say punches you like in the shoulder, like, and maybe you drop your cane.

Ooh, okay.

Can you stand without your cane?

Yes, I can.

Okay. So you drop your cane, and then he realizes who you are. Uh, do you want to say anything real quick?

Yeah, I'll be like, hey! Watch it. You're the one tailing me. Now what is the business about this before you proceed to beat me up further?

Ah, Mr. Travers, old man. I uh didn't see you there lurking in the shadows. Nothing suspicious about that. And he bends down and picks up the cane and hands it to you.

Thank you. It's the least you could do. Now tell me why you were tailing me on this small boat.

Well, Mr. Travers, I have been brought on board as Kitty's fiancee. Uh I am looking out for her best interest, and after today, I am not sure that this expedition is in Kitty's best interest. And furthermore, I think somebody let that assassin on board. And so I have been looking into the case, and you are prime suspect number one, Mr. Travers. I know nothing about you.

But I've shot the assassin, and I can guarantee you Kitty's safety is fine. Every adventure I have been on has been successful in some way or another. We lost one guy named Paco back two months ago, but he was a necessary loss. Somebody had to do the little switcheroo with the the doll and the beanbags full of sand, you know? But he was that guy. This this is besides the point. He didn't make it, okay? But I promise you Kitty will be safe. But after what has happened right now, I don't know if I can promise that you will be.

You, in fact, just made me more suspicious, not less. But listen, even if you are innocent, don't you think it's a little suspicious that an assassin got aboard a boat? I mean, it's not like he swung in on a vine, or, you know, like how do you think he got on the ship?

We're in Egypt of all places, people just get on ships. It happens all the time. The Nile's huge. He could have even been on the wrong ship for all we know, wanting to scare off another the excursion right next to us. We don't know he was really specifically after us.

That's true. Indiana Rivers is doing a separate, completely different ex adventure today.

As you like look over in the dark, you can kind of see his boat tuning.

Fair enough. Well, if you can assure me that you are not here to harm Kitty, and in fact, maybe even pledge your allegiance to make sure she stays safe, then I will give you the benefit of the doubt. But you haven't cleared your name.

True. Sebastian Travers only pledges his allegiance to one person, and that is money. And it's not even a real person. But I promise you, Mr. Vanderbilt is paying me extremely well, so every part of this operation will be a success. Kitty will be safe, and we will retrieve whatever it is he hasn't detailed me yet what we're looking for.

Well, it's getting late, so why don't you get back to your cabin and we can discuss this more the next day.

Very well. You're keeping an old man from his warm milk.

Gross.

Sorry. Yes, I know. I have problems. It's my hip. Okay, we'll talk later.

Okay.

Uh so uh I don't I don't think he even actually introduced himself, but uh that was Mr. Beauregard, uh the fiance uh of Kitty. Um and he yeah, he seems very uh skeptical of everything that's going on, and uh you're not quite sure his motives. Um so he returns to his cabin. Um do you do the same?

Uh yeah, I think so. Like I'll make my final walk around the boat, and if it's all quiet, I'm not gonna bother anybody else, and I'll just retire to my chambers. Okay.

Uh so you do so, you're in your chambers, and you just go to bed. Do you have your warm glass of milk?

Yeah, I'm gonna have my warm glass of milk, you know. I'll uh rub some wood polish on my cane and [expletive], and uh getting my jammy jams and hit the hey.

So we're gonna say that you took quite a while to do all that. By the time you drank your milk and polished your cane and put on your gym jams, um, you hear some like clunky banging noises from like lower below the you're kind of on the second level of this two-level ship, and you hear stuff on the lower level.

Okay. Um, does anything like sound close, close? Or is it like I hear noises all the time, but which one sounds like more urgent if I need to investigate?

Sure. It wasn't it wasn't your usual, it sounded like like clangs and bangs, like metallic sounding, um, which don't seem normal.

Ooh, okay. So I'm gonna get my cane and my uh night slippers and uh a lantern. Okay, and I'm just gonna start strutting my stuff out there to investigate. Like I've seen the the way the crew looks around this place. I've seen [expletive] Beauregard, he looks like a chump. Like I I'm gonna have to make sure everyone's safe, so I'm gonna go investigate this.

Give me a navigation um just uh see like how efficiently you like find your way around the ship. Okay, okay.

Uh oh, god damn it. That's 79. That's terrible.

That's not good, that's a super okay. Yes. You are just wandering around and you take a little bit longer, but it's a ship, right? There's only so many finite possibilities. So you didn't go the fastest route, but you eventually make your way down to what you can presume is the engine room.

Okay.

And uh you see um sticking out from the door like a foot, like kind of just upwards, like if it was a person laying down flat on their back, their foot would be sticking to shake up.

Exactly, exactly. Ooh, okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna try to be quiet, as quiet as an old guy with a cane can be, and go up there and just like tap the foot with the tip of my cane.

No response.

Oh, okay. All right, I'm gonna turn the corner and see who I'm looking at.

Um, it looks like one of the two uh crew members that you mistake you mistook for security. Oh he uh some e he kind of has some like coal like stuff on like you know, some marks. So just saying that he'd been working, kind of proving that he he worked in the engine room. And he um he well give me uh like a first aid check.

Oh, okay. So that's uh what do I have? I thought I had medicine. I don't have medicine. First aid's a fail. First aid's a fail. Yeah. Yeah, if you don't have medicine, then I did take medicine, but it's super low. Medicine's hard to put point out.

So you're really good at dirt and rocks and things, but not so great with people. Um, so you don't notice that he's still breathing and you just think this guy is dead.

Okay.

Um and uh yes, you you see him in a pool of blood on the floor of the engine room.

Ooh, dang. Okay. This is very upsetting for me. I'm gonna damn it. Not on my watch, not again, not Paco again.

Give me a listen. Okay.

Ooh, I can listen. I can listen.

What the did you fail?

I'm pushing it, I'm pushing it. Okay. I'm pushing it. Yes, that's a success on that push.

Alright, and that's a good one, right?

Yes, that's a super ultimate omega success.

So you hear a few things actually. Um, even though you were bad at first aid, you you take a moment to kind of listen intently, and you hear um faint breathing from the crew member, and then you also could have sworn you hear like a like a watch almost.

Oh man. What would I uh what would Sebastian Traverse do in this situation? Um is the the noise familiar to me in any way?

Uh no. Well, hmm. I mean tell me more about what you've done at excavation sites. What do you usually do on an excavation site?

Okay, so so for my so he was a war veteran. Okay, so he's familiar with explosives and driving. Um I take it.

Give me, yeah, give me an explosive roll whether or not you have it. Okay.

So that's a 12.

That's pretty good. Okay. Uh it kind of sounds like uh what they like the dynamite they use um when they like attach it to like a timer um for like excavation sites to like blow up like uh like rock animations.

Okay, and it sounds like it's coming from the body or just somewhere in the room.

Somewhere in the room.

Oh my god. Okay. So I'm gonna try to pick up the guy and then drag him out of the room.

Okay. Um, I'm gonna just say you you can. There's no really like kind of strength or you know, check or anything, so go sure.

And yeah, we're just hoofing it. I'm like, everybody, everybody, leave the engine room as soon as you can, please. Something's off.

No response. Everyone is deeply asleep, and you're about a level below.

These [expletive], hold on, and I pull out uh my handkerchief that actually is uh coated with a laudanum, and I take a big huff. I'm like, oh okay, now that feels great. His hip feels great, he can't feel his gunshot anymore. For our for our viewers, what is laudum? It's um what they would use back in the the 20s, and it was basically like uh opium in a liquid form.

So basically your your character kind of has like a drug addiction, yeah. Kind of like a painkiller opium type.

Yes, exactly. Like I, you know, like I appreciate that in a person. He's been through some [expletive], and he does what he needs to get by, okay? And then so his loud known uh at this point he's uh just huffing it, but uh you can also like put it in a dropper and drop it in your eyeball if you want or in your mouth. So we'll see what happens later on with uh Mr. Travers and his drug excursion.

Okay, so all you did was call for help and then do some drugs.

Yeah, no, I'm booking it.

So give me um give me a listen check. Okay.

37 and my listen is a 30. Uh I'll use seven points a lot.

Okay. Um, so you hear, it's good enough you hear uh the faint wheezing from the guy, and he says, Behind the the engine. Oh my god, okay. And then you can still kind of hear the ticking. So between the two, um, give me there is a I think there's an uh this kind of doesn't totally make sense. There's a mechanical, right? Yes. Use like a mechanical repair to just see how well you can like navigate around like an engine to like look.

Okay, so when he says that, like I don't even set him down, I just drop his ass.

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, I'm feeling it. I'm like, oh, they need my help. I'm [expletive] on it, man. And then so I drop his ass, and then now I'm uh investigating or mechanical repair, kind of. Yep, so that would be a a nine.

Oh, that's great. That's great. Okay, that's great. So you know your way around mechanical equipment, and you are very quick to like get around the back and up like inside of it, and you find uh stick of dynamite.

Ooh, okay.

Uh with like a timer thing on it.

Okay.

And you can now vividly like very loudly hear the ticker tick.

Okay, can I see on the timer how much time is left?

Yeah, for some reason it literally just says the exact time, and you have 10 seconds.

Oh my god, do in the split second, do I think I have enough time to get to the edge of the boat?

You tell me.

Oh my god, I don't know. Okay, I'm gonna try to disarm it right here.

Okay. Uh I think we'll go back to explosives. Okay, okay.

Oh my god, okay. Oh, that's an eight.

That's an eight, that's great. Uh, yes. So, in your experience in the field, you have worked many times with explosives, just like on the archaeology sites, and you know how to stop the fuse, you disable the timer, and you yep, it stops ticking.

Beautiful. Well done, Travis. You've done it again, you old dog. And then I take another huff from my uh handkerchief.

And uh you don't hear it, but the other guy's like, Need help.

Oh yes, I almost forgot about you since I just saved the day. Don't worry, I'll come over there and help you.

Not me.

Oh who then, sir? Kitty. Kitty. Oh no, and then like and he just dies. Oh, okay. So I like step on his torso as I'm like running past him. Like I step on him and get kind of leverage to launch myself. Kind of like uh when you're at the starting line, you know, and they have those blocks. Like I use his body as one of those blocks to really launch myself forward, and then I go and try to find wherever kitty's at. I don't think I know the boat enough to know where their all their quarters are at.

Okay. Um, are you still holding the dynamite?

Uh yeah, but we're gonna go with yes.

So, yes, yes, yes. So uh you start heading towards what you believe to be uh the Vanderbilt's or Kitty's quarters, and uh Borgard comes out and be like, Travis, is that you? I heard someone calling for help.

Yes, there's some kind of shenanigans happening on the boat right now. Why are you holding dynamite? I found it. Behind the engine compartment. That's besides the point. Is Kitty okay?

He slowly backs away from you and like, I don't know, you tell me.

That's why I'm here to find out if Kitty's okay.

Look, we can Why don't you put down the dynamite and fight me like a man?

Why are we fighting right now? I'm here to check and investigate on Kitty. Like, is she okay?

If I really am to believe that, throw the dynamite off the ship.

Okay, fine. And like, I pretend to be old about it, and like I go to throw it off the ship, but I totally miss, and it kind of like lays on the floor, like right by the edge, kind of.

Okay, he approaches you, Slur, and he is like, I just came from Kitty's room. She's fine. Why do you have dynamite?

I told you somebody planted it behind the engine in the the engine compartment, and somebody killed one of the I thought it was a security guard, but come to find out he just tends the engine. Silly me, I know. Pulled a real Travers on that moment. Hold on one second. I pull out my handkerchief and like, okay.

Are you okay?

Yeah, it'll be fine. Just let this kick. Oh yeah, now I'm feeling great. Now, is Kitty okay? He said something happened to Kitty. Are you lying to me, Beauregard? Are you lying to me, Mr.

Travers?

Are you lying to me, Beauregard?

And just then Victor comes out. I'm like, what is the meaning of this?

Beauregard's lying to me. I think Travers is lying. He has dynamite, Victor. I found it behind look, I don't have to explain myself. I will to you, Victor, because you're giving me money, of course, but I found the dynamite. Someone's trying to sabotage this excursion.

Um he believes you. You don't even have to roll for it. He's like, Mr. Beauregard, I Mr. Travers is one of the most esteemed professionals in the industry. I brought him on for a very specific reason because I trust him, and I know that not only is he good at his field, but he's a good man. I trust him. If he says he didn't walk aboard the ship walking around with dynamite, I believe him. Also, where would he put it? Look at that stick figure frame and hobbly cane walking goodness. Like, there's nowhere for him to do anything like that.

See, thank you, Mr. Vanderbilt. I told you, Beauregard, as I take another huff of my my handkerchief.

Kitty just like pokes her head out, like, what are you boys all making a rackus about right now?

Kitty, I heard that something was wrong and that you might need attention. There's some weird stuff going on on the ship. Is everything okay? Truly, is everything okay?

Yes, Silly, I don't know what you're talking about. We need to get some rest. Tomorrow we have our big day.

Well, I feel like somebody should do something about the dead man that I found in the engine engine bay.

Just leave him. We'll have it taken care of by the authorities when we arrive on site tomorrow.

Typical Vanderbilt's very well.

Good night, Miss Kitty.

Good night.

Mr.

Bor before you go to bed, Mr. Travers, and Mr. Boregard, you as well, I need you to hear this. We are one party. We are one team here. We need to look out for each other. Clearly something is as foot, and they want you guys to mistrust each other. We must work together if we're going to reach the the the the halls of eternity and and become famous for this this this project that we're on.

I agree a hundred percent that Beauregard started the whole thing and he should probably be uh let off the next time we talk.

Alrighty then. Well, uh that was good enough for me, Beauregard. You are a piece of [expletive], but you are also engaged to my daughter. So please get it together and work with Mr. Travers. And so Beauregard's like whatever you say, uh sir. We'll we'll we'll re-renew this this precarious, dangerous situation in the morning.

Very well. I say we shake hands, Beauregard. Like gentlemen.

He'll do it.

Okay, I just gives you a very aggressive, like stern grab.

Okay. Uh, and here you Victor returns to his room, Bargard returns his room. Um, and I I assume you do the same? Yes. Okay. Um, tell me what you do to prepare. Um, do you go, do you restart the cycle? Is there more milk? Is there more cane polishing? Uh uh.

I think.

Are you just you're like, well, that was nice, and you just go to sleep.

No, I think like uh I'm gonna work up to a little bit. Like I want like an 80s montage, like take it to the limit. Limit! Like I'm gonna be doing like some sit-ups and stuff in the still like all like drugged up, yeah, and I'm still like pumped from finding the dead body and saving the day from the dynamite, so there's no way I can just go back to sleep. So I'm gonna like do some push-ups or whatever, like you know, old adventurer guys do.

Okay. Um, so we'll say that goes on for a while. For some reason, nobody notices because everybody's exhausted now. They've been woken up once or twice now from all the ruckus. Um, so you do your little thing, and eventually, hopefully, you just tucker out and you you doze off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so night happens, you guys sleep, and you are woken up some do you wake up on time in the morning, do you think?

Oh, yeah, guaranteed. I'm an old guy, so that's all I have going for me is my schedule.

You're a professional. Yeah. Um, so then you wake up, you get ready, you uh, and you are part of so you you go outside of your cabin, and Victor and uh Mr. Beauregard and Kitty and one of the crew members uh is all ready with their uh they have some equipment, like they're all kind of like wearing like bags and kind of what you would imagine like diggers and archaeologists. Like we got like suspenders and hats and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um they're all like, you know, just for the occasion. So Like Travers, we didn't know if you'd make it this morning. You were quite excitable last night after we all went back to our chambers.

Just part of my getting woke up in the middle of the night routine. Just something I gotta do to tucker myself back out to get back to sleep. But that's besides the point. Are we ready for today? Because I am ready.

Today we will make greatness, I am sure of it, Mr. Travers. How far to the Oh Kitty. How far to the site, do you think? Oh, oh, not far at all. Like uh thankfully um uh Alfonso, uh as I call him, not a very Egyptian name, but he will be taking us over to uh we just have uh a Humvee over there that we'll be taking and uh it should take us uh just maybe uh an hour or so.

Ooh, very good, very good. I am excited, I am ready to go. I got like my pack on and I'm awesome.

Uh so you guys do that. Um, do you have any as you're driving? Is there any conversation you want to make, any insight anywhere?

I kind of just want to look at Beauregard and maybe see if I can roll a psychology on to see why he's acting in this way.

Okay. I'm gonna say you are in the front, so it's like Victor, it's like for some reason it works out where like there's like the driver, and then there's like you and Victor, and then behind you guys is for some reason uh like Kitty and Beauregard.

Okay.

Um so yeah, go ahead and do your psychology.

Oh, that's 54. That's not that's a fail. Okay.

Um he's hard to read, he's a hard man. You kinda you're torn between like, is he really uh in love and trying to care for Kitty, or maybe he's just really wants in on the Vanderbilt Fortune. Um it could be either of those. You can't make out which way, right either way.

I'm just gonna give him some looks as we're driving, and then I'll uh turn back and try to like as we're driving, make my own personal map in a journal as we're driving, kind of like to get my bearings in case the [expletive] hits the fan and I need to get back to the boat. Sure, sure.

Okay. Uh so you guys get to the excavation site, um, and you're probably expecting a number of people and workers, and it looks basically abandoned. You can see equipment was set up, and you can see uh this is definitely like a site people are working at, but no one seems to be there at the moment, as you pull up.

Mr. Vanderbilt, what seems to be the issue here? I thought this was an active site.

Yes, well, Esteban told me, or Alfonso, I don't remember his name. He told me this morning that uh a lot of the local workers were uh concerned about the assassination attempts, uh both on Kiddie and the dynamite. Um, and they think this area is cursed and they refuse to work anymore on the project. So we might be on our own today.

Well, how close were we to the discovery?

Oh, we've we've found the chamber. It's it's over here. Uh today we were supposed to crack open the doors, uh, so we might have to get our hands dirty and and open it up.

Oh, very well. Luckily you have me. Uh this should be in and out. We'll find your artifact that we're looking for and then be on our way. So um let's proceed if we don't have anything else.

Okay. Uh so what would you like to do? So you're on this, uh so you see, alright, it's almost like cellar doors. You see two stone doors with like a crease between the middle um in the ground, like and laid into the ground.

Okay.

Um, there's some symbols and whatnot on the doors, and then there's also a bunch of just equipment around, we'll say like whatever the 20s equivalent of like jackhammers and explosives and digging tools are. Okay. So what would you like to do?

Um the symbols.

Victor's just all of them, honestly, the Vanderbilts and Mr. Boregard are kind of just looking at you to kind of figure something out.

Yeah, okay. Uh the symbols, are they the ones they showed me earlier? The same symbols that are all across the door and everything.

Uh, it's gonna be a really low barrier, but give me a um there is like an archaeology, right?

Okay.

Is there history and archaeology? One of those?

Yep.

I have both. Whichever one you want. Um, give me one of those.

78 and uh my archaeology is a 61. So let's You don't have to use points.

I'll say that's good enough. Okay. Um, it's pretty obvious to you. These are just straight up Egyptian. Okay. Um so yeah, very, very kind of standard. Okay, I would say.

And then uh no uh traps or anything. Like if I open this door, it's not gonna trigger anything, right? If I can check for traps, uh spot hidden, maybe? Yeah, do a spot hidden. Uh I'm gonna use a I'm gonna push it.

Okay.

Oh god damn it, that was worse. I failed. Failed a spot hidden.

Um, so you don't know if there's traps or not.

Okay. Um Beauregard, you there, hand me the pry bar, please. And we're gonna try to pop open these doors. Okay.

He'll give you the pry bar, and then uh I don't know. There's either like you could either do like a mechanical, because it's a tool, I would say, or I don't know, [expletive] geology or something. I don't know. Give me some kind of skill if you're gonna actually try to pry the doors open. Yeah, I'll try uh geology.

I'm well versed in that. Okay. Yeah, that's a fail. That's a 91.

Okay. So you try to pry it open, but you are not able to do so.

Oh, golly ge. Uh let's try to get some more men on this, and then I try to like I'll hop out with my bad leg and everything, and Beauregard and you there, Ibanez, whatever your name is, get over here and help pry on this thing, and then they're gonna pry on it.

Okay. Uh, do another geology, and this will just count for more people. Do it, and you can we'll say advantage if you'd like.

That's passed. That's passed.

Okay. All right. So, yeah, you start to crack it open, like a puff of like dust comes up, um, and it starts to open. You haven't opened the doors all the way, but you you have a nice gap that you can kind of look through.

Ooh, nice. Okay, uh, I'm gonna try to like get my lantern close and then like try to get my head in there and like try to investigate as much as I can.

Great job, Travers. Excellent. I knew you were the man for the for this excavation, for this dig. Um, he says really loudly.

Oh, you could count on me, Mr. Vanderbilt. Now let's please try to keep it down while I do my investigating. I need to keep absolute concentration just in case you understand.

Okay. Uh so you said you looked in with your like lantern?

Yes.

Um, still do a spot hittern, like so you're just looking into like the darkness kind of with some assistance from your light.

Uh let's uh lose another 10 points of luck to make that a pass. Ooh, okay.

All right. Um so you can kind of clearly make out you would have to jump down. Um there there's not like a stairwell or anything. You jump down, and then there's a big spiral-looking staircase with a giant gaping hole in the center that you go down very deep, and you cannot tell um how like if it ends at all.

Ooh, have I seen this kind of like a structure type before, like this architecture?

No, it's very unusual. Usually in the pyramids, it's not spiral kind of stairscape. This is unique. It's um still kind of vaguely. I mean, the the construction is Egyptian, probably built by Egyptians, but uh if if you do like a history check if you want, um that's this isn't how the typical style they built.

Oh their I'm gonna kind of whisper, uh, Mr. Vanderbilt, you have made quite a find. This is nothing like anything I've ever seen before. It's time we push oh push further into the tomb here, or whatever this could be. Uh Beauregard, slightly open up the door the rest of the way for me, please, and we'll get everything set up and lower ourselves down in. Right.

In great detail, describe to me how you are opening the doors.

Okay, so um Beauregard is gonna be like pushing on the one side, and then the helper guy is gonna help them, and then I want to have like something because they open up and out, right? Uh I always imagine they were just sliding. Oh, they're just sliding. Um, okay. So well, if that's the case, then uh they pushed it open far enough for me to stick my head in.

Like, are there two people pulling like this? Is it like two people standing in the middle trying to like cleave it?

Right. So, like, okay, we're gonna do one door at a time. So I'm gonna have my rope set up with like a grappling hook kind of deal, and that's gonna be placed in the middle. Okay, and then Beauregard and the other helper are gonna be on both edges pushing back towards that way. We're all kind of pulling together.

So it's safe to say none of you guys are like directly over the hole as you as you open it, like you're more like pulling away from it. Yes. Okay, so you guys do that. We'll just say you're successful because you already started uh to get it open, and as that happens, like a number of like darts like shoot up um [expletive] out like into the like kind of into the air. Um, but they just shoot up and then kind of fall down. Um you guys weren't standing directly over it. Is everyone okay? Yes, yes, that was a very good call to delicately and from a distance open the door. Uh, Mr. Travers, uh I you are in fact the professional you claim to be. And that was coming from Mr.

Beergard, so it's kind of like reluctant too.

Ooh, wow, okay. Well everyone thank you, Beauregard, for that, but everyone needs to stay on their toes. Things might get a little weird from here on out. We don't know what we can expect from a booby-trapped tomb, so we can only expect the worst. Now let's proceed slowly and get the other door open, and then we can get our rigs set up before we enter.

Okay. Uh so I'm just gonna say, hey, give me one I don't know, just give me any check you want to just see how well all of that goes, like for as far as all of you entering into the stairwell. Okay.

Uh 40, and I'm gonna say I'm gonna use my survival. Okay. And then that is a 40 on the dock.

Okay, so you you carefully and and and skillfully guide everybody in safely without triggering any kind of traps or maneuvers, and you guys are now going down what seems to be a very long spiral staircase.

Oh, good, okay. Um, I'm gonna try to keep track the best I can in my journal, like how far down I feel like we're going the best I can.

Okay. Um, and then these obviously, like like most ruins, like there are hieroglyphics everywhere. Um, and they uh very elaborate. You see lots of different gods depicted in different ways. So a lot going on on the walls as you kind of go down their stairwell.

Oh, okay, okay.

Um, so are you guys just proceeding carefully?

Yes, I think so. I'll obviously be leading. And uh Beauregard, if you will, please handle the back end of this. That way we can be sure to keep Kitty safe there in the middle. And then let's proceed.

Absolutely. Um okay. So yeah, he says, uh, yes, he you you seem to have earned his trust a little bit um by not getting him killed while opening the door. So he's kind of walking in the rear, but keeping an eye out on the back. And then you you and Victor are leaving the front with Kitty kind of guarded safely in the middle. Cool. Um so you're just proceeding down? Yep. Are you okay? Um do you investigate anything on the walls?

Um, the more and when I notice it, like I am familiar with uh Coptic, which is the Egyptian whatever, you know. Uh is anything look abnormal at a glance as we're going?

Kind of. Usually you see like shrines with a god, you know, but there seems to be like lots of gods depicted um in this one.

Ooh, okay. So if this catches my eye, I definitely want to stop for a second and really investigate it and see if I can read what they're trying to tell me.

So give me uh give me a roll though, still. Um either history or archaeology or something like that.

I got uh 28.

Yeah, that's that's great. Um, so we're gonna say that um the first story that's kind of depicted is you see um lots of the gods uh being killed. Uh so you see like Anubis, you see um all the I don't know, all the Egyptian gods, but right you you see them like they're there's they're they have spears in them, you see them like they're they they seem to be fighting against something and losing. Oh and as you keep spiraling down, it continues to tell the story. The story just kind of continues as you go down the spiral, and what it eventually turns into is you see all of the gods teaming up together um to form this like this like square around um another or this glowing entity.

Ooh, okay, okay.

Wow, this is this is unlike anything I've ever seen before, Mr. Vanderbilt. Just be on the lookout. This is very intense writing on the walls. It's I really don't else know how to explain it to you, but it's very dark, especially for Egyptian times. And we just need to be on the lookout if you know what I mean. Protect Kitty.

Yes. Um, and then the story continues to go on. Um, and you see um it this one is less clear, but you see a number of people holding up um babies um just to the sky. Um, and then there seems to be like a river um kind of like traveling between all of the people and their babies.

Oh, disgusting. Uh I guess what do you see, Victor? It's nothing but a bunch of babies. I don't know what they're doing with them. I've never been fond of kids, and then I grab my handkerchief and I pull it out. Oh, they they actually scare me a little bit. I'm just not a fan of children, and the wall is just covered with babies. It's best if we just move on.

Is that actually a thing in your character sheet? I don't remember it. Was there something about babies or something?

I think I wrote something about kids. Like I did. Okay.

Alright, so you eventually get to the bottom and you did not trigger any traps. Um, give me one listening check.

Ooh, that's not good. I'm gonna push. I'm gonna have to push. Ah, that's [expletive] awful. That's a super fail after a push.

Okay, so you didn't hear anything. Um, and you get to the bottom and you arrive at these big grand doors. Um, very big stone doors. Um, and yeah, give me like an investigate them or just tell me like what um obviously lots of symbols on them and whatnot.

Ooh, okay. I'm gonna use uh two luck points and use my geology for that. Okay. So that'll be a good pass.

You know that these are like huge heavy stone doors, like you are not gonna be able to pry bar these doors open. Um, but some other things you notice is there's these uh kind of a you know, there's like a seam, like a split down the middle, so you can tell that like it's kind of doors that probably once again like slide um to the left and right. Um, and then you see these like two holes, one on each side of the split. And then a bunch of like symbols.

Okay. Can I interpret the symbols in any way?

Yes, uh, yeah. And Victor's like, Victor, all right, or uh Travers, tell me what what does it say? How do we open the door? Um and so uh we're just gonna say this when you've established you can read all of the the the comics uh or whatnot. Yeah, um and basically it tells you to go back um that you know don't like only death buys beyond this door, but it says it also does kind of tell you how to open them. It says that um you must uh basically um you have to uh submit the left and the right um side simultaneously to become one again.

How far apart are are the holes?

Um about like a little bit more than shoulder width.

Oh, okay, okay.

So I I would say like maybe three feet apart.

Okay. So it doesn't matter.

And then with like the split of the doors between the two.

Oh, okay, okay. Um Mr. Vanderbilt, it's just a typical warning, if you will, nothing too critical. We've all seen them before. No, it says we need to give a left and a right, and I'm assuming from the pictures and everything, we should probably have uh Beauregard stick an arm in there, and then have uh Ibanez or whatever his name stick an arm in there so we can proceed forward. They both stick one left, one right arm into the doors. Okay. Uh and nothing happens. Uh nothing, nothing. God damn it. Alright, uh Ibanez, Beauregard, get out of there for a second. Ibanez, go ahead and stick your other hand in that hole, see what happens. He looks at you um hesitantly. Come on, man. We've all been persuaded. You know what it's like being that guy.

Just just do it. 36. Is that work for years for persuasion? Uh it's only a 10. No, it doesn't work at all.

He says no. Like he starts speaking another language frantically, and he starts to pull his other hand out.

I pull my gun out. And I'm like, You stick your hand in there, Ibanez. I've never failed on a mission. Don't act like Pedro now.

And then Victor uh chimes in, do what you say, and you will be handsomely rewarded, Ibanez.

Yes, what he said. Wail in the gun, wail on the go.

So Ibanez, um Kitty surprisingly says nothing. Um she's a little blitzed right now. Yeah, yeah. Um, and so Ibanez puts both his hands in and you hear a click, and the doors uh start to like like open up, slide in different directions, but he has one hand on each side. Um and you kind of wait for him to to exit, but he just seems to be like standing there. Ibanez, go ahead and get out of there. And he's he's like frantically speaking in another language, and he's like seems to be like tugging, trying to tug his hands out, but they won't let go, and the doors just keep splitting.

Oh my god. Um, okay, I put my gun away. And then I pull out my cane. And it's uh what do you do with that? I open it. It's a cane sword. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so I unsheath it. And I go over there and I'm like, Ivanes, if you can't pull yourself out, I will get you out of there, I promise. He's screaming now. Oh my god, I'd lop off one of his hands.

Okay, give me. Is there something for sword? I know there's way like like for like guns and whatnot. Yeah, so it would just still be fighting brawl. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Please give me one of those to see if you can cleanly chop this guy's arm off.

Oh, it's a two!

A two out of a hundred. So that is an amazing role. You somehow, I'm not gonna say it's the drugs, but you somehow cleanly cut this guy's hand off. Um, and frankly, potentially save his life because uh as that happens, uh the doors open to what would have been beyond his um his like wingspan, and it would have ripped both of his arms out of his socket, and he probably would have bled to death. Um, he is still bleeding quite a bit with that one arm, and he's still screaming, and now he's just on his knees.

Okay, I pull out my handkerchief and like he probably notices what I've been doing, and he's like, Oh, okay, he's gonna give me some painkiller, but I huff it instead and put it back away.

And then uh he's like, Oh my god, someone help him.

Kitty, hand me a piece of your dress, and then Yeah, she like tugs and rips some of it, and I'm just gonna do my best to first aid his stumpy little. And it's a 39, and my first aid's a 30. So, uh, it's just a fail. I don't care. Okay.

It's like you make a [expletive] tourniquet, yeah. But uh, you didn't put it high, you didn't put it tight as they teach you, and so um you you kind of lean him up against the wall, and Victor's like, stay here, like we will send for help. Um so you guys kind of lean him up, and then you you leave him there and you enter uh the of the final chamber. Um and you as you go in, um, you're we're gonna say you like light one of the like there's these like kind of like clearly like like torch areas, and when you light one, they all kind of light and the room lights up. Um, and in the center of the room you see what appears to be some kind of altar.

Oh, okay. Now that still gets me excited every time I do it. I've been probably 500 tombs, and every time I light one torch and they all light up, it still gets me going. You know what I'm saying, Vanderbilt? Fascinating, Travers. You are truly a genius. Okay, now let's slowly but surely make our way to the altar and see what we have prepared. We don't know what kind of sick minds have set this thing up. They need a sacrifice just to get into the place.

So let's So he's not really listening to you now. Victor goes up to the altar and he starts like just like like smiling and he's just like Olivia, Olivia, finally, I will bring you back to this world. Vanderbilt, what's going on?

What nothing, nothing. We found it! Traverse, we did it! We did it. But what exactly did we find? And at what cost? Ibanez's hand? His whole arm, in fact.

Oh a small price to pay to bring uh someone back from the dead.

That's what we're doing here, Vanderbilt, you madman.

You would do it if you had somebody you loved to. Kitty, come here. We're going to we're gonna see your mother again. And Kitty begins to like walk uh towards her father.

Oh well. Kitty, step away from him. He's he's obviously gone crazy to Kitty. Step away. What is going on here, Vanderbilt?

Uh do our persuasion for Kitty.

That's a 73, that's a fail.

Okay.

She says, uh no, I I I'm sorry, Travis, but I want to see my mother too.

And Victor's like, yes, kitty, come. Like we will get to see your mother again.

This is [expletive] crazy. And I put off my handkerchief, like, okay, I kind of want to see this through. I really don't believe in this nonsense.

So guard kind of interrupts you. He's like, Kitty, please, please, I love you, kitty. Um, don't don't do this. Um and kitty's like, What I don't understand. And as that happens, uh, Victor grabs Kitty and like pulls her up to the altar and like holds her hand down, like up on onto the altar. And then he goes on this big, like kind of you know, classic bad guy speech of like, Kitty, you are the most important thing to me. You I've always said that, but I guess that wasn't entirely true. You were the most important thing to me after I lost Olivia. But I miss her. I need I need her back in in your life. You understand, Kitty, don't you?

Papa, what what are you what are you getting at, Papa?

What are you doing to Kitty Vanderbilt? Let go of her. Burgod says. Um and Vanderbilt takes out a knife and he's like, This won't hurt at all, my darling. Just close your eyes and it will all be over in a moment. Um and do you do anything? He's about to kinda go and like claw Kitty's arm.

Oh, just her arm? Like you give her a little scratch? Yeah, I've probably seen worse. I'm I kinda wanna just ride this out, so I'm gonna pull out my handkerchief again and be like, okay, I'm ready to ride it out.

Okay, so you don't do anything. So Boregard approaches, he's like, Stop! You won't harm a hair on her head. Um, and so uh uh I'd say uh Victor puts down the knife and he says, You're right, I won't. And then he pulls out a gun and shoots uh Beauregard uh just directly, very quickly. Like just he's a great shot. He like shoots him basically in the head.

Oh my god.

Oh Travers, if you know what's good for you, don't do anything.

Alright, you got it, man. I'm just standing here, but can I go check on Beauregard? Like, we kind of had a connection when I opened the door. I felt like we were becoming friends again, and you just shot him.

He's not even listening to you. He's like he starts like saying some like weird things um in like another language, and he's like doing some kind of maybe ceremony with with Kitty.

Oh my god, I feel like I should really do something crazy right now.

Give me a listening uh roll.

That's a 13.

Okay, so this time you didn't hear it earlier, but you hear someone else is maybe in this room.

Okay, I'm gonna like try to scan around and see what's going on. Like, I'm freaking out right now. Like, I'm high. Like the guy I just thought we were friends again, like just got shot, you know. Like Ibanez's arm just got I had to chop off his arm basically to save his life.

Give me a spot hidden.

I'm not doing good right now. That's a 66. My spot hidden is a 50. [expletive] it, I'll use that 16 points.

Damn, okay. Yeah, okay, so you see it's it's hard because the room is still it's lit, but not well. But you see this like kind of dark veil, very similar to the assailant you had seen before, like a similar outfit. Um, you see this like dark character sneaking around, kind of like uh with what seems to be the intention of approaching Victor from the back. Um, but he's hesitant. He kind of he works his way around the back, but he doesn't yet approach Victor.

Okay, I'm gonna try to make eye contact with him and just like give him a thumbs up, like [expletive] do it, man. Like get him. Like, I'm I can't do [expletive] right now. You gotta do this.

I'm gonna roll to see if Victor notices you just give it a thumbs up in a dungeon. So I'll do like a I don't know, like a spy hit or whatever. We're gonna say he fails. He's just so enthralled in his like thing. Um, and so yeah, so the the uh the the cloaked figure sees it uh and then he like gestures at you something that's kind of along the lines of like distract him.

Um okay. Um I'm gonna take another half of my [expletive] uh my scarf or whatever, my handkerchief, and I'm gonna walk over and kind of get in the eyesight of uh Vanderbilt and just start flailing my arms around, you know, like in that what was that puppet movie, Team America World Police? I'm giving a signal, like hey, look over here, man.

Like, Traverse, it's too late. I finished it. Now all it needs is uh tribute to blood. Um he does like a little [expletive] of uh of kitty and uh a little little blood falls in. There's a little of these like little like grooves in the altar and like wells is almost as if like the blood is meant to like funnel in. So a little bit of blood trickles in and goes down like one of the grooves and in the hole, but nothing happens.

Vanderbilt, you madman, what have you done? What am I doing wrong, Traverse? Tell me. Tell me or I'll kill both of you. I don't know, it just seems like everything I've read, when you kind of do weird [expletive] like this, something bad always happens.

And with that, the assassin lunges out and tries to stop uh Victor. So Victor and and him are both um like tussling over like the dagger that he's using. Uh Victor drops the gun, and then uh Kitty's like, please stop. Like she doesn't, she's she's not her arm's not being held on the altar anymore, but she's like, please stop, please, father.

Oh man, like uh I'm thinking that I should run in there and help, but at the same time, I'm scared [expletive] because like this is really weird and I'm super high. So, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pretend like I'm running over there there to help, but then I'm gonna be like, Oh, my leg, and then like fall on the ground, and then like kind of roll around a bit, and then like and then just start watching to see what unfolds.

So Vic Victor stares at you like distracted for a moment. Um, but he he jams his dagger in to the assailant, and the assailor drops to the ground, and he starts walking down the stairs and he's like, Like, Travers, I thought you were on my side. I thought we would make history today.

Well, aren't we still? I haven't really done anything to stop you. You know, like I didn't see that.

Well, you're not helping either.

Well, what do you need from me? You have Kitty's blood.

Like, get up here and tell me what to do for the ceremony. Okay, fine. As he walks back up, um, and now he has his back to the altar, back to Kitty, and he's just facing you.

Okay. Um, I'm gonna get up, but I'm gonna take uh an obnoxiously long time getting up, like really hamming it up that I'm old.

Like, oh while you do that, kitty like draws the weapon, the gun on the ground, like with her foot and like draws it closer to her.

Oh, okay, okay.

Um, she and she says, and then she like picks it up and like puts it behind her back.

She's like, Papa, please, please, let's just go. There's still time.

We can go back. We don't this isn't what mother would have wanted. And uh Victor will be like, Shut up, Kitty. We're going to finish this now, here and now.

I think your daughter's right, Vanderbilt. This is bananas, what we're doing right now. Like, this assassin guy, you killed him. Ibanez is bleeding out in the back. You shot your son-in-law.

You see Kitty hold up a gun behind Victor, but Victor doesn't notice.

Alright, I'm gonna still try to keep talking to him. Be like, I think we just need to step away from this, take a break, or at least explain. It's too late.

It's too late, I can't go back. And then he turns, he's like, I'm sorry, Kitty, but and a gunfire. Oh my god. Um Kitty shoots her father, and he uh he like staggers, he like gets shot, uh, because she shoots him from behind, but he like steps forward but then kind of trips and falls backwards on the altar.

Oh my god.

Um and then begins like his from his shoulder like bleeding out into the altar, and it like fills all the grooves and fills the wells. Um and then you start to hear like some rumbling, and then you hear like almost like uh you hear like different sliding, almost like sliding doors, but they're made of stone in the altar. And then like a box like rises up from the center. But now you hear like a huge amount of rumbling, like this cave is about to fall apart.

Oh kitty, grab the box and let's get out of here. No, I think we should just leave it. We've done all that we can, kitty, but uh, you know, like we already came this far, so we might as well at least get something for it. I mean, your father's dead, that your husband Okay, okay, just stop talking. Okay, let's go.

She grabs it and goes, um, and give me, I don't know, do you have climb? We're gonna call climb. Okay. Because uh the stairs now are starting to like some of them are falling apart, so it's not just a leisurely walk.

It's a 70 and my climb is only a 20. I'm hobbled.

Uh you're hobbled. Uh so she goes forward and she's like, Traverse, like, can you can you walk?

I can walk, but barely. You must if anything happens to me back here, kitty, you must press forward and move on. I am but an old man and you have so much life left to live. Please at least just get to the boat. I will be behind you shortly, I promise.

I'm a little blitzed right now, so I'm gonna believe you.

I know, I'm high as a kite too, kitty. This [expletive]'s crazy right now. We need to press forward though, so please don't look back. Whatever you do, always go forward. I will be there.

I didn't know you very long, Travers, but you knew more than rocks and stone and history. You knew my heart.

Thanks, Kitty. I've lived what they call life. Now please, let's move forward.

Okay, she's she starts climbing up uh and uh she gets to the top, and she we're gonna say she's like pretty scrappy and is able to like climb out of the cell. And she looks back and how far give me another climb, please. Let's see if you make some progress.

Uh 63. No, that's still a fail.

Um, so you've you've you've kind of like crawled up the stairwells a little bit, but now a boulder falls and like pins one at your good leg.

Ah, son of a [expletive]. She's like, Do you want me to send somebody to help you? No, kitty, I told you already. Don't look back. Please continue going forward, kitty. You will survive this. I'll survive eventually.

And with that, um, some boulders crash down, cutting you off from Kitty, and it's just you. Um, and then Esteban is like also kind of like using his feet to like push himself up off the rocks, and he kind of slides next to you.

Oh, it's just me and you again, old friend. We're gonna get through this, I promise.

I've been through worse. He's just yelling in another language.

Yes, yes, I understand. You're upset about something. We'll get out of here, I promise.

And a bunch of rocks collapse, and that's uh as far as we know, that's that uh we don't know what happens to those two. Um uh so it cuts to Kitty and she gets back out. Um, she somehow passes uh an equipment check and and drives a Humvee back to the ship where there are still some crew members on there, and uh she's a Vanderbilt, they know if they get her home that uh they'll so basically she gets some people to operate the boat and try to get her back to Cairo or whatever nearby port is available, and she just sits uh staring longly in the direction of the excavation site, having lost her fiance, her father, and a new love in her life that she didn't even know she needed.

Um, and she goes to take a nap. Uh, she goes to lay down on her bed and uh the box is next to her and she falls asleep.

Yes!

And that is it for the discovery.

That was awesome, Nate. I loved it. I was so excited, like I just wanted to stop playing and just listen to what was gonna happen next.

It was so good. We actually we have uh an interview coming up later, and I went ahead and had to email that person and ask them to push it back a little bit, but I think it was worth it. I wanted I wanted I wanted to finish it up. So I hope that was I hope I did your original session justice and uh set up kind of the mysterious mystery of the box and how uh dangerous it is. You know, we talked about being able to bring souls in from another world. Um I tried to to set that up for because it we brought back in that uh what would you call it? Hester's Hesters. Yep. Um so I tried to set that up.

I tried to uh, you know, Kitty falling asleep with the box because that's how she was introduced on the train on the Nile. Um I loved it.

I I thought the whole thing was a cool setup. Like I got really into the story there for like a little bit, you know. It was good. Yeah, and I liked it.

And I'm uh you know, for viewers, uh, I'm not super familiar. Nate's a lot more familiar with Call of Cthulhu. I played a lot of DD, but not a lot of Call of Cthulhu. So I really tried hard to incorporate like we use explosives, we use mechanical repair, we use listening. I tried to do a better job at using more of the skill checks because I think that's one of the coolest things about Call of Cthulhu is in DD, you kind of just have 20 skills and then like fighting stuff or magic stuff, and in Call of Cthulhu, you have like kind of more realistic to reality, in my opinion, that just a number of different skills you can call upon.

Just skills, like you're still a real person, but you do have skills in certain things.

Yeah, like right, it makes sense. You had geology, you had archaeology, you had a lot of skills that would make sense for a researcher.

And I think it is terrible charisma.

Yeah, and you cannot climb to save your life. So I'm awful. Okay, well, that is it. Uh, as usual, if you liked what you heard today, if you want to hear more, if you'd like to suggest what direction we go next with uh roleplay for one, do we continue with the box? Do we explore a new adventure? You let us know. Uh leave us a review on Apple Podcasts if you're listening on there. If not, just give us a rating on whatever your platform is. Uh, follow us on social media, on Instagram, whatever, and subscribe to Patreon. It is just a dollar. Just a dollar. How dare you? How dare you? And that's gonna wrap it up. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks, guys.

That's not stopping.