In the bowels of the Cleveland Public Library..First a haunting tune..Then a haunting voice…Has Michael Clay lost his mind? Or has something from the deepest Shadow awoken?If he can't tell the difference, how will his fellow hunters?After the encounter, will Michael ever be the same again - and can his Task Force S.I.R.E.N. team members truly trust him with their lives?
Knights of the Night
KOTN Actual Play Podcast 36: Shit Luck Ep: 37 "Inner Voices"
[Music] Hello, and welcome to Night to the Night Actual Play Podcast. This world of darkness storyline, shed luck, was written and run by our storyteller, Scott. [Music] And now, please enjoy, Chapter 13 seems to be titled Inner Voices. [Music] And before we get started, we got a little bit of feedback. First off, actually, there was a bit from the rod that he sent me a message and said, "He's wanted to know that he's common about his players. They're not all like that. He has some very good players." Some of his players are, like we mentioned in the previous one, where they're quick to jump to the attack of NPCs and etc. And they don't play as well as he would like. He says, "He has some very good players." And he said, "I don't need to clarify that, but I did anyway, so there." We also have two bits of feedback from the RBG Crosstalk, which is RBG Crosstalk.webs.com. And that's what we're using for a forum now. So if you want to go there and post on an episode or just in general, feel free. We also have Facebook and iTunes, which we got another rating of Five Star, but no review along with it. So nothing to read, and I have no idea who rated it. But from RBG Crosstalkwebs had two messages on the forum, and Scott, if you would. Okay, this is from Rocket. I love the podcast, and I sat down and listened to all 34 episodes. Your characters are deep and well thought through. I will continue to listen rapidly to every episode, and I thought Side Street Billy was living on borrowed time. My favorite character was John Beamer, followed by Tony, Si. Now it's either Dr. Lucius or the Relequarian. I think that's my mic. Well, I'm just at the bottom of that list. Yeah, he's not a big fan of Chew, apparently. Thanks, guys. Keep it up. So that was from Rocket. Well, Rocket... Go ahead. Well, screwing you, Rocket. Actually, it's not me. Chew is running away with the best... That's right. And the best player character votes. According to the poll, you have many fans. You have many fans. And four times as many as I do. Well, when you vote for yourself that many times, that's what happens. You go to the library, so it's all legit. Uh-huh. But anyways, Rocket, thanks very much for listening to all 34 episodes so far. I've done that, actually, myself. I was going to say I can't imagine listening to 34 straight episodes. But roughly between 1/2 and 1/45 minutes each. That's still... That's the location. That's still, you know. But anyways, we really appreciate your listening and posting. So welcome aboard, and we hope that we can continue to provide good stories for you and not kill off your favorite characters. Okay, let's see. This one is from P-A-I-P. Those are the initials. It's actually a P period, you know. Yeah. That's why it's got saying it that way. Yes. You've got me hooked. And you've left me hanging. Now waiting with baited breath for the amazing demonet. I think that's... What do you say, does it not? Do you know me? Do you know me? No. I know. That's how it's written. That's how Americans say it. I knew it. I knew it. I'm sure Scott has in store. Don't you, Scott? Please. Really impressed by the trust in the storyteller. And the way he has fully merited that trust so far, Smiley face. My favorite thing, without wanting to leave too many spoilers for those who come after, is the way the plot seemed to ramify out into a thousand strands leading the characters hopelessly out of their depth. That we are. But is now being drawn into a tight knot of interwoven relationships. Leaving the characters hopelessly out of their depth. So that was from PAIP. And we certainly appreciate that feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying this story and liking how the various threads are coming back together. Anyway, I'm really happy that he said, you know, use the word "dino me". I actually had to look it up because I'm a stupid American. I actually went to dictionary.com and had it actually pronounced with a little computer. Oh, so you also have a bit of feedback that came directly to our email account. Which doesn't get used quite enough but is available for anybody. Feedback@kyotnpodcast.com. And this is from Merck T. That's T-E-A. Hi guys. I came across your podcast while recently scrolling through the White Wolf forums in search of Requiem Stories. I decided to give it a try. In turn, I got interested and now I'm fully addicted. During the recent two weeks I managed to listen to all of your podcasts and I'm waiting for more. As for the characters in contradiction to some of your fans, I began to recognize Dr. Lucius I. Greg would be pleased although he's not here today. He did seem to be someone standing out from the crowd because of the doc label. Then Mike and Chew afterwards. You don't have to swear at this person. Bob, you know, it's all good. But you mean now. I actually haven't been mentioned in any of the feedback. I am apparently not a script. But you are tied for second. I'm not a favorite character. I was quite surprised by the amount of rolling which seemed to be excessive at times. But I also noticed that the storyteller as well as the players have a lot of fun by it. So I congratulate on that basis that you keep getting fun out of the game. Also, special regards to Scott for his NPC playing. I like Nico and Billy. I am looking forward to the further development of the story as well as the lives and deaths of the characters. Your faithful listener, Merck T, spinning in the mug. So yes, that was very nice. In regards to rolling. You know, I've heard people say we had some comments early on that they thought. We didn't do enough. We didn't do enough. We were like all free form in it. Well, actually so many minutes come at that. We almost went through an entire podcast without rolling it off. Where they're saying that the storyteller is in call for enough rolls or calls for too many rolls. Right. And I think that's probably, you know, I think that's probably really individualistic. I would guess that, you know, obviously we've had different answers from different people. And I would think that Merck T is right from his standpoint. We do have too much rolling. The earlier listeners point of view, we didn't have very much rolling. I think that might have been Aramis actually who happened to post early on. I think it just depends on the episode. Obviously if we're going to have a combat scene or we're just going to be a lot more rolling. That's true. That's the way it's designed. Well, in a role playing a lot of times you're not rolling as much. Unless you're trying to convince an NPC or something. I don't think, as you guys probably try to develop as characters and play a role play a better character. I try to become a better storyteller as I go on. You're never a finished product. You're always learning. And from that perspective, I think there were times that I would go back and change things. Like sometimes if you want someone to know something and see something, just tell them they saw it. Don't make a perception check. If it's really important in germane to the story and they need to see it, do you really have to call for six different perception rules from the characters? Well, by the way, Chu looks to the side and sees this. I think that I'm learning too in developing and you may see a little less rolling in the future because it was that discussion we had at the end of our story. One of those points was Dr. Lucius saying sometimes the role takes me out of the moment. I'm scared. I'm literally physically scared or I'm excited or I'm stressed. And all of a sudden you say, okay, how many dice is that going to be? It takes me a little bit out of the story. So I think minimizing dice rolls would be... It's a common argument though in role playing is, do you allow the players' social abilities dictate his character's social abilities? Right. So if you have the ability to act well in carry on a conversation and pull answers from a non-player character by your interactions as a player, should your character then have to fall to a dice roll because they don't have those skills? Or should you just allow it? Do you avoid the dice roll and just go with the players? And that's probably a discussion that could really take up a high chance in itself. Actually, it has many times in other shows, but that's a common thing. Where's the line between rolling and just going with it? And I noticed that a lot of times when you forego to roll and say you saw something, then we would always say, well, we're looking into this, we want to do that, and that's when we're either rolling or coming to play. Oh, so you're saying that it was your actions that might have prompted me to say a roll? Wasn't me necessarily causing the roll? We're asking for more detail and you really want to... Right. And you're like, okay, now you got a roll. You can give out what is necessary for the plot and then there's... Yeah, I'm really looking forward to my second story to be completely honest. As a storyteller, I'm looking forward to it because I think I learned a lot in that first world of darkness story, and I just think I could even do better the second time around. So for what it's worth, I feel like I had less than things on the table. I feel like I could have done a bit more. So really getting to Merck T's point, it really is a case of where I kind of see his point, but I think that if you ask 100 different listeners, you get 100 different answers as to what is and is not too much rolling. But we certainly appreciate his point of view and he's still listening and still enjoying the podcast. And anybody who dedicates themselves to listening to 30 hours in a row to catch up? That was our first feedback from Rocket. So there we go with the three feedbacks from this week. And I think really this episode they're going to be listening to tonight is going to be really acceptable. Is it not? Is it not? It is, it's a spirit. Yes, very exciting stuff, so enjoy. And we appreciate any feedback or ratings to give us in iTunes. iTunes? Yes, I know. You don't have to, obviously, but it'd be great if you leave us some feedback. Just let us know how great we're doing. And for those of you giving us the stars, we appreciate that as well. All right, and on to the adventure. This is Chapter 13 of World Darkness Story Shit Luck. And with us tonight is Mike playing Michael Clay, Tom playing Jay Alton. Greg playing Dr. Lucius Miles, Bob playing Special Agent Cheapuck. All right. All right, Mike, it's a dark spring evening. You head downtown with Nico. Nico has a rented car that he's using while he's in Cleveland visiting the exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art. He takes you downtown, and as you wind your way through downtown, you see your typical plight of a downtown area. You see, you know, homeless that come out at night that you don't see quite as often during the day. You see this, you know, the streets littered with a little bit more trash and garbage kind of working its way down. It's a blustery night. It's definitely cloudy because the storm's just passed, so it's still very cloudy. So you don't have a lot of moonlight to work with, which means it's dark. A lot of the street lights are out. You wind your way down to the warehouse district nearby, which Cleveland Public Library is located. And as you pull up to the library, Nico finds a parking spot because there's quite a few, obviously, this time of night. It has a few coins across the street from the library, and you can see a couple of homeless individuals hunkered down against the side of this giant monolithic marble building. Let me stop you there. Sure. I brought this, I've been kind of a little bit paranoid about being on the field for the first time, so I'm always kind of trying to keep an eye out for when I suspect the danger of the street. I completely have faith in Nico, but do I perceive any danger from the homeless people or from the pedestrians? You know, I don't have to roll right now, but I'm going to put it out there. I'll make the roll for you. Okay. I'm still pretty beat up and I didn't get a lot of sleep. What is your street-wise plus your wits, please? My wits is three, my street-wise is one. Relatively street-wise for a, uh, elastic type. You feel relatively confident that the homeless are just that homeless huddled against a steam vent. You know, like a heating vent coming out from the library because it's dropped into spring and it's early spring. Well, that early spring, it's May, I think, fourth, but the point being is probably temperatures in the low 40s or mid 40s at this time of night. So they're huddled for warmth against the side of the building and it's not near the entrance of the building. You know, that obviously the facing of the Cleveland Public Library is, it's got to be a good 200 feet or so in size. So you've got some distance between you and them as you walk across St. Clair and you walk up the marble steps to the Cleveland Public Library. When you get to the landing, Nico tells you, "Stay, Michael, stay." And he goes to the door, uh, what ends up being like almost like a little side entrance to the security door and he wraps his knuckles against it. And you see the door open and there's a security guard there. And beyond the security guard, you see someone wearing a suit. He has white hair and he's an older gentleman. And you see him talking in hushed tones to Nico. I do have a level two status in the age of Skydora. Do I recognize this person? You do not recognize this person. Okay. The individual with the white hair, the older gentleman, who's very pale, looks in your direction. It looks a little bit displeased. Looks back at Nico. They've shared some words again. The conversation now is taking a good 30 to 45 seconds and finally nods his permission. And the security guard backs up and Nico looks towards you and waves you over. Okay. It's a step forward. As you walk in with Nico, the security guard hands you both a flashlight and Nico explains that they cannot turn the lights on. After dark, no one's supposed to be allowed in and the lights would just blaze and it would be very obvious they were breaking the rules. So we're going to have to do the research with flashlights and it's a major inconvenience and that's what I was arguing about. But they would not listen. But aren't the archives done a couple floors below, so what lens would there be? If you recall, remember there was windows? There was a glass block window. It was just on one level below. So the glass block windows would definitely show the light through and for whatever reason, you're not allowed to have light. Plus it's more scary that way. Okay, so. Okay. Here's your flashlight. All right. I tried. Does it work? Oh, tricky. I think you're going to try so early. Yes, it works. The security guard leads you down and with some keys opens up the special section of the library. And there are some very basic, like almost night light type things at the end of each aisle that are glowing. So there is some ambient light. It's not much. Plus there's a little bit from the glass block windows on this somewhat dark spring eve. And the door closes behind you and locks behind you. And Niko starts walking over towards the section that you were in. While walking, I ask him who the white here gentleman is. Oh, Niko. That is the, how do you say? Curator? Curator, yes. What good? More? And like administrator of the library. That does it. Sure. And so he leads you over to the section. I'm wondering, there seems to be an awful lot of security here at the Cleveland Public Library. Do you like stress the public part of it? I'm just saying Niko says this is odd to me that we have this much security. This is the special section, Mikaya. Okay, okay. And it is after hours. They are breaking many rules to allow us in. I must abide by these rules, Mikaya. All right. I understand. All right. So where should we start? Mikaya. Where did you start looking? Well, we want to go back to where we had been looking earlier in the day. Now I had already talked to him at St. Patrick's and filled him in on everything. I have the idol with me. I have my dagger with me too, by the way, but that's in the sheath. And basically I share with him that information that we have about the results of our research. And I need to verify two things. I need to verify what the ban might be on a Shartha. Right. The Shartha is a term for what's called the hosts, which are the creatures that generally inhabit. Or actually that's right. Thank you. Sure. That was her name or title perhaps. Well, I want to verify the ban. Right. Then what exactly is it? Is it I suspect it's a chant? Or if it's an item or something else, I need to clarify what exactly is that? And I need to verify the ritual used to divest her from the locus, however you want to say it. Alright, Mikaya, when you dismissed me earlier, you looked for relic, right? You researched the relic. Right. Did you look, Mikaya, you were always weak in French. Did you look for the French? What is relic in French, Mikaya? It's a body part. No. You know, he sees eyes like a mentor would normally sigh and, you know. No parlable france, eh? It's a weakness, Mikaya. You need to study your French in your romance languages, Mikaya. In Vignito, Guten Tag. What is relic in France? Relique? Relique Quay. Relique Quay. Relique Quay. Relique Quay, Mikaya. Always with the language, Mikaya. Always with the languages. You did not look for relic Quay. You look for relic, not relic Quay. It comes from France, Mikaya. Relique Quay. You get your stern tongue lashing. So, you go ahead and you start doing your searching. All right. And he's doing searching as well. He's going to do some research on the more recent history, Alistair Crowley. He'll work that. And he'll allow you because he thinks you need the practice, quite honestly. He's going to allow you to do the relic Quay in France. So, he lets you search that. So, go ahead and you spend about an hour, the first hour doing some research. And go ahead and make, you could use academics or occult. And you'll do that with an intelligence role this time. Well, my academics and my occult are the same at two dots. However, I have a specialty in relics for the occult. So, go ahead and do that. Okay. So, I have two, the specialty in relics. So, I don't think as well as three. All right. That's three. I'm going to say intelligence. I think I was using woods people, but now you're getting down to some very... Research, okay. Yeah. Research, Oregon, stuff. I think I'm going to use intelligence instead. All right. So, that's five. Okay. Because of the inconvenient lighting situation, we're going to subtract one die. Go ahead and roll. I have two successes. Even if you had one. So, go ahead and roll your zero over again. All right. Two successes. So, you find yourself making some interesting progress. Oddly enough, when you're looking at Reliquet in French, you stumble across something that really interests you. It's the werewolf trials of the 16th century in France. And there were over 10,000 trials. And you kind of get sidetracked, but in a serendipitous way, the sidetracked leads you to a story of several threads of werewolves that you find very interesting. And so you start heading into your second hour of research. And Nico is working quietly in the bookcase next to you. And sometimes you meet at the table and exchange some ideas. And you go back to your respective sections on folklore and the occult in the special section of the Cleveland Public Library. As you start to wind your way into your second hour, what's interesting is that out of nowhere, song starts long. On the loudspeakers, or do I hear it as if someone has a radio in the room? It sounds like it's in this room somewhere. Nico? You hear some shuffling of books, and Nico comes up with this flashlight. Yes, Mikayo. Do you hear that? Mikayo? Mikayo. I don't hear anything, Mikayo. All right, I check my iPhone. Is it on? Or is it on? It's on, but is it on? No reception. I look at my idol. There'll be eyes blowing as it's singing. So I'm hearing this music in my head. Nico, I'm hearing the music in a song. And Mikayo. That's not good, Mikayo. You've had a long day, Mikayo. Perhaps you should sit, my friend. Well, really, I need to find this information out, and I'm onto something here, and I don't want to like go over, but very hot. What song are you hearing, Mikayo? I don't know. I'm not a fan of popular music, Mikayo. Is it a pop song, Mikayo? Sounds like it sounds pretty modern. I mean, I wish I could hear it, Nico. You're jamming. I wish I could hear it because he's looking at you very concerned. I try to wreck my brain to see if I have any clue as to who this might be. Like, what do I recognize the music or the group? Or can I get a sense of what the title might be? Um, I would guess that that would be certainly... Intelligence and... Yeah, I'm looking for the social expression. That's what it is. Alright, so now you've got three. Do you have an expression? Yeah, I do. Oh, that's good. Three and... minus one die because of the esoteric nature of this particular... I don't know. My brain's gonna burn down my watch control, man. I'm trying to get my head clean. I push these out too, and I make it reach down for you. I make it reach down for you. I make it reach down for you. I have no clue. I make it reach down for you. Alright, well, I'm picking up music or reception. I don't understand what that means, so I will continue to try to work. Yeah, it's very distracting. It is very distracting. As if somehow someone has telepathically funny a random song. Yeah. But why a song? Why not just randomly snow-nores or whatever? It's a great question. Or when I just like a, you know, a dial tone or something that would be, you know... I'm really maddening and distracting. I'm trying to figure it out, everything. What would a... I don't understand. Do I hear any buzzing in my ear? Yeah. So far you've just... Hear that song. Nico, the music has stopped. What did you say, Nico? What? Yeah. I don't like that. What do you want, Nico? Nico's Mikayo. I am not speaking to you. Somebody is trying to get some type of telepathic connection with me. I imagine if I believe in such a thing. Yes? Do we need to leave, Mikayo? No, we must persist. I have to pull up the idol. You're talking to me, idol? No, I'm talking to an animal object, Nico. Nico is really concerned at this point. Could you repeat that last please? Mysterious and not at all scary voice? Could you repeat that last please? Mysterious and not at all scary voice? You're here to help me destroy... Okay, good. And you are... My name is Ichabod, you pronounce your tongue. But you can call me Heart Cooks Brain. Heart Cooks Brain. Heart Cooks Brain. Cooks, as in a meal Cooks. That's what I think that said? Because that's not at all pleasant. Do I take any type of bashing damage from this? Not yet. Because you are the chosen one, you always have been having two people. I don't understand what you mean. And I'm not sure of the friendly nature in which you address me. Heart Cooks Brain. If you know me, there's a good permanent right now. Or for me it's right now. And together we will save the city. Okay. Where are you? Are you speaking out loud? Yes. Nico might be flipping out. Yeah, like he's coming up to the table and he's got a hand on your shoulder. And he says, "Micael, I think we should go. I am not pleased with..." I understand. I understand. You're not good. I've worked in the field longer than you, Mikael. You see mail. We should go back. But I seem to be receiving a communication. And I will speak again. Heart Cooks Brain. Is this the right thing? I will try speaking in your head. I will try speaking in my head. Okay, go ahead. To see if you can respond. In my head I will ask him, "Can you tell me what the ban is or what the ritual is to defeat Shahartha?" Yours. Okay. In my head I will say, "Is it here in the library or is it somewhere else?" This is in your head. Yes. You must let me lie to your soul. You've been to Meryl against Meryl of Paris. And together we will defeat her. I've heard that phrase before. What's that? Being written. Yeah, it happens. Sometimes people are written by spirits. Yeah. They blend together for a period of time, sometimes forever, sometimes to death. I mean, it's obviously a very dangerous type situation that you've heard about in your occult. Yeah, it's also usually a demon. It's basically possession, as I understand it. Is your character mind understand against? That's probably how you would understand it. He says you would know him as the platonic ideal of Cleveland. There's no thought about it, and my deal was going in for us. And together we will save the city. It's almost like a spirit of the city, the community, the area, the land, the combination of everything. That's what the platonic ideal is correct? Yeah. He is Cleveland incarnate. It's a non-human entity of force that wants to use me as an instrument. And I'm saying this out loud to Nico. Nico, we take your notes now and go. We go now. I do not hear as much time in the line. It would be your answer. All right, in my head, I will say, can you guarantee that myself or my friends will survive this encounter with Shaharpa? No! I do not answer that for you, my goal is information that cannot be revealed. Out loud, I will say, you know what, Nico, you're right, I think I'm just way over tired. But let us go. In my head, I will agree to allowing you in, wait a second, I gotta think. See, prudence would say that under no circumstances should you open yourself to an unhuman entity to rid your soul. Their guidelines, they're not. You know, scripture. Well, prudently, I know you're a cruel individual, but you're also a gritty one who wants to experience more joy. It's true, but there's not a tangible artifact here to wrap it around, but then that's not necessarily true. I do not answer that. Okay. I immediately take on my phone and start writing a text message to Jay Alton. Okay. Saying "got ally", it's inside. You're speaking this too, you do understand. As you type it. I didn't think that went through. Okay. If you went against a physical voice that everyone can hear, not inside my head, not a platonic ideal, that supposedly knows everything that I do since I am in Cleveland. I agree to it. If my purpose is to stop the threat, stop the danger, and save everyone, but I ask the platonic ideal, will I be released, when it's all over? Yours. Promise? I would know something about the occult, knowing that if they can't lie, or that bargains have power. Each spirit is different, and they react differently, and they could lie or tell the truth. All right. Prudently, I would not do this, but to succeed, since I didn't take the easy, well, I didn't take the answer. They were before. I ain't got the idol. I agree. You must agree now. I-I did agree. I'm sorry. What's wrong? I'm alive. Maybe you want to see my death. He didn't think that you're. Okay. Yes, it was. My yes wasn't definitive enough? Correct. All right. I'm out loud, so that Nikko can hear me. Hopefully, it will be an ace in the hole. I agree to your terms. I open myself up to the platonic ideal of Cleveland. You may ride my soul into battle with Shafartha. You say that to Nikko? I say it out loud, hoping that he will- he'll sit together. Okay. I'm hoping that I'll be my ace in the hole. Well, I guess strategically, even though I guess he would know, if he's in my head he'll know that that's one of my strategies. The point that- When you say yes to the last time, you feel- I'd say yes sometimes, right? Right. You feel an almost imperceptible energy kind of release. And you almost feel like you're alone again, as Nikko is grabbing you by the arms. Before you say that, which you certainly can. You said yes in your head, you felt an instantaneous release of pressure. Nikko has got you by the arm. Your notes are all stuff, you know, in pockets and in your hands. He's trying to rush you out of there thinking that something really bad is happening to you. And the look of concern is on his face. Okay. Alright, everyone can recommend it. Yeah. Alright. Come on down. I've got lots of fun on some things, though. Google Street View is our friend. Yes, it is. We worked the entire plan. Excellent. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Really? You see this? The only building between St. Patrick's and the site is a green one over there. Mm-hmm. It's just a two-story building. And this is the tower that Jay will be at the top of. Nice. Google Street View is your friend. You can just sit up there with your binoculars. Mm-hmm. So you definitely set up cameras up there. You're going into a Catholic church bell tower with a sniper rifle too. You've got your house, I am. Do the Lord's Word. You are all back at your... I'm just going to go back to your rooms at the church. And you are sitting around talking with Kate. Okay, so you get a text, Jay. You're a fire too. You want to repeat what the text says? Bond weapons slash ally. I am being written. I am being, like, written. Go ahead. I asked why he wanted to be alone. His mentor. Mm-hmm. His mentor. I am being written. What does that mean? I think I know what that means. What do you think it means? Yeah. I'm praying for us. We are. We got a bee in his brain. It's, uh... That's what I've done. Found... That's what, uh... I'm reading. I don't know if someone's out there. Figuring to be speaking out. Hopefully. Found weapon slash ally. I'm being written. And you've never known Michael's talking to such old mentor, so you have to assume that he means something else besides him. And the fact that he's being written. Well, with this group, they would, you know... Yeah, both of them have a little... They had a ton of knowledge in that... That's why I was here. That's right. Well, I've had an experience with field ops, so maybe that kind of confusion is okay. Um... I didn't really have an opportunity to say much more than that, right? 'Cause I don't think it... No. I'm not... I'm trying to be fair, because otherwise I would... Right. Give him a text and add an email. So, what's, uh... You guys make it that... Secret code, or... I'm being written. Why don't you just text him back and ask what does being written mean? Uh... Yeah, I'll text you back. So, uh... Where are you? What the hell does that mean? I... Accepted... Bargain from a spirit of Cleveland. It's a platonic ideal of Cleveland. Like... P-O-C. What was this, Cleveland? Oh, like the beer. P-O-C. More than any Great Lakes now. Ooh, Great Lakes. Great Lakes. Where you guys worked. Or some of you. Yes, I asked, "Where are you?" In what second time? Is this me? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm, uh, Ed. Leaving Cleveland Public Fire. Yes. Leaving. Leaving. Quickly. Well, wait a second. They were in the morning. I pushed to talk. What the hell? Why aren't you... What? What'd you get back from me? Apparently, I received a spiritual contact. And you lost the ability to call me. Why are you texting? Because... I... Wasn't sure I couldn't. Well, sure. Ask that's what's going on now. At the time it seems like I... It just seemed like a real issue. No, no, that's okay. We can play with this. Let's move forward with this. Because I'm in a very delicate fragile mental state right now. After what happened? Which duels in any way? I guess. I've received a spiritual communication and I have accepted the terms of a spiritual entity to be a weapon in our fight against the Chanta. Let me know in the chat. Chanta. Chanta. Chanta. Chanta. Chanta. B-boys got off the deep end. Chanta. Chanta is the creatures that are called the hosts that go inside people and take them over. Have we heard this term about fun? Yes. From... How are we building this? The B. People? From... From... Billy. So, are we all listening to this conversation? Yes. I'm pushed to talk and I'm not. Hey guys, listen to him. Look at him. What? What is he doing? I don't know. So anyway, uh... Yeah, anyway, I have... Somehow... Maybe I'm overtired. Maybe I'm, you know, punch drunk, but... Uh-huh. Maybe you'd be deep in a spirit. Possibly. My point is that you may want to take twice about, uh, having me. You know, maybe you guys are playing when the shit goes down. When the stuff goes down. Shit's fine. Okay. Now you're feeling this way? You know, I mean you... But now you have a weapon and possibly, you know, for this... Is this anything to do with the band? Yes. It has to do with the ritual and the band. So you know the ritual? I... Do you know the ritual? The spiritual spirit said it. Yes. The answer is yes. What? I need to be in the front lines, baby. Guns ablaze him. You know. He sounds as confused and upset as he really sounds right now. Uh, why don't you come here and we'll talk about it. Are you in danger right now? No, I'm okay. Where are you? Or do you not want to come here because you think you're a danger to us? Well... I've never been written before by a spirit. I feel like very confused and conflicted right now. So you are obsessed? Is that what that means? Not at the moment. But maybe at a key juncture, maybe when the ritual begins, maybe when the band is invoked. Who knows what will happen? You met the spirit in the library? Yes, it came to me in the library. I don't know. I don't seem to think he's with me at the moment. It's not a... It's like a... It's so hard to explain over a phone. Perhaps if I see him in person, you'll understand more completely. Maybe he can communicate. No, that's all right, man. No, that's okay. Where are you guys? Where... Where... You left us. Oh, okay. That would be... You're at the stakeout, right? Maybe. They were talking about the stakeout. Oh, okay. You were at the... Who were you talking about the stakeout ahead? Remember? I... Wasn't it safe, Patrick? Yeah. Mario, I'll see you back at the church. Don't worry. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. Don't worry. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. Do you know that tower now? Yeah. Maybe. Oh, they're welcome. So, I bought 10 minutes later, a car comes pulling up into... You could hear the... Oh, seriously? I've got my block. I've got my block. I've got my back belt. I've got a can, a braid, or an ortho. I've got... Earplugs and a search. Yeah. Yeah. Seriously, you're wearing a search match? That was the strangest conversation I've ever had with this guy. Is this true? What are you doing, Doctor? Oh, I just sit comfortably on the couch in the waiting and a little... I don't know. It's going to have to walk through the door, correct? Right. So, I just sit comfortably on the couch with my coal-45 under my... Bye. We have my shotgun bulletproof masks, surgical masks, and... Yeah, earplugs sound good. You know, ortho? Yeah, there's ortho. We're in our bee. All right. Bee fighting gear. Hello? Can I come in? Hello? This is Nico. I am with Mikhail. He is not well. And we gathered that. Can we speak? Yeah. Can we speak? Ah, I speak. Nico, I'm fine right now. I'm not in any type of... in any type of temperature or anything like that. He's been talking of spirits in... Please. Possession, and it's very frightening. Open the door, and please invite me in. I had it. I had it. I had it. I had it. I opened the door. That's a joke. He invited me in. I'm not a vampire, guys. He's probably dead there. See? Unless it's a humor. That means I'm okay. I'm making jokes. Nico has his arm around, like... He looks pretty white. He looks like pasty. You know, like he's gone through something. I opened the door and stopped sweating. To let them come in. Yeah, I do not invite them. Okay. Nico helps bring them in. Sit down the couch. Let me get some water, and I'll be fine. Yes, he should have water. And some rest. It's very strange. Did you do Nico? We were researching in the library in... He starts saying, do you hear the song? Do you hear the music? I think he's joking. I say, no, I hear no music. I hear no song. It was very strange. I hum a bit when I do the research, but I hear no song. I heard some kind of pop song. He hears this popular music. But he has a radio picking up a song or something. That was very strange. And then he starts talking to something that was not there. A spirit or something. Did anything strange happen before that? No. Then I got shocked at you. He's true. Don't get all bent out of shape. No, he is... I mean, I did not notice anything. Not noticed nothing. But Mikaeli started talking out loud. Do you hear the song? I hear you great spirits of Cleveland. I invite you in to share. It's very frightening. Job stress. I told that we need to leave right now. So we left. Here's my notes. Cleveland rocks. That was fun. No. At least I could have gotten behind that when I started to understand. These are the only notes we could get before we had to leave the library. Special collection. That was a lot of notes. This is... Well, we got an hour, hour and a half. You know, Mikaeli does not know the French. So he looked for relic. Not relic way. Relic way. So we find good stuff. Here you go, doctor. Why me? Oh, we find lots of notes. Everybody gets a note. Here's a note for you, good doctor. Thank you. Sure. Mikaeli? Here's some notes for you. Your notes and my notes. Thank you. See? Well, your handwriting is the charges. Oh, dog. That is Mikaeli's handwriting. No. See, if you look at... If he goes very clean. Very clean. Wait a minute. He doesn't recognize his own handwriting. I shoot him in that. Right. He must be an imposter. What's everything, crayon? What's this? Blue guru. Whatever. Blue is like a world. Fantastic. Really? Fantastic. Very peaceful in nature. Actually, I think a little crew might actually be a wolf spirit guy. A wolf that can change into a man, instead of a man, to a wolf. To be even... Niko. Shake his head. Mikaeli. Nope. Francais. Luke. Guru. Is werewolf in Francais. So, we have werewolves bees here, and they're talking about werewolves bees. Yeah, interesting. This relic can also be used to stop this werewolf mission. Where would we be if you were not so greedy, Mr. Mikaeli? Well, we have the band. Where? Let's see. He got the B-roll, because he was greedy. Good job. He had a choice to walk out of the family. There's a link between these two characters. To walk out of the maze, or to take to be figurine. Major, figurine. Nice. What is the name of the CDO? Meredith Perks. Meredith Perks. Mary before they died or something. Oh, she was married. Her husband and children died and they were Perks then. But she did have a maiden name. Yeah. What was the maiden name? Did we have that? Sure. The maiden name is St. Clair. Bingo. Look at that. And if I read this correctly, I suspect we will have to pay another visit to Bernard and play hard. Did you guys figure out what pinions are yet? We got wings. We got wings. But we need an actual bees and wings. Kind of mean. If I read that right. Where did he go? I read 20. Did I read it right? I read 20 pairs. 11 pairs. But it's something we can ask. Well, I don't know how we find them without Bernard's help. Damn it. What? These? Benjamin's help. Benjamin's help? He said Bernard. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm in Benjamin. Oh, I'm sorry, Benjamin. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Sorry. He was special bees. He was in time for it. We don't know what is last. I know. Sorry. That's a better thing to say. You think it might be saying Claire because her maiden name was St. Clair, right? And her father was on, you know, was married her. But he just had Benjamin. But her unmarried name, her maiden name was St. Clair. So we could share or someone's going to read all of it? Michael should read Michael's. Well, we're not done. But I don't know. I think we should read the notes to the art. If you're going to be reading, Michael will be turning music down just in the head. Hi, Will. Do you want me to read the entire page? Of my notes and then everyone else too. That seems like a lot of trash. Sure. I'm going to say it. Me too. Thanks for listening to Knights of the Night at Actual Play podcast. Visit kotnpodcast.com for more information on this and other adventures. Where you will find character stats, photos, storytelling, props and even a form for comments and suggestions. Or you could email us directly at feedback@kotnpodcast.com. Or contact us via Twitter or leave a message on Facebook. All music for this podcast was created and performed by Zen Audio Smith. If you'd like custom professional music created for your podcast or business, please visit ZenAudioSmith.com. And please join us next episode for more mystery and adventure. [Music]