Session Zero Heroes - A TTRPG Actual Play Podcast
Speaker B: Jasmine, oolong, green and white. Long ago, these four teas were skilfully brewed at the Blissful Brew. Then everything changed when the shop's popularity threatened its existence. All Mr. Okeron, the shop's owner and tea master, could do was to recruit four teenage orphans to learn his trade and staff his shop. A year has passed since the orphans were hired, and although their skills have progressed, they still have a lot to learn before they can brew anything. But I believe that they have the potential to make the Blissful Brew the greatest tea shop in the world. Last time on Benders and Brews an Avatar legends.
Speaker A: Podcast. Uh, you guys came to Chin Village? Uh, there was a massive festival going on that had something to do with a strange serpent, uh, scale. They revealed the scale only to find that it had been stolen. Uh, the key characters that you've met so far mayor Wu.
Speaker C: Well, this is my office.
Speaker A: His counterpart, Mayor Yu, who is from Quinchao Village. Cato was the patrolling officer that was guarding the facility where the scale had been stored. Uh, the name's Huan.
Speaker D: Councilman Huan, that is.
Speaker A: My name is NIA.
Speaker C: Um, I am m a traveling salesman from the village of Chin SHO.
Speaker D: What are you looking at? Where even am I? What am I doing here?
Speaker E: Old Man Gunja is known as, uh, our, um, crazy man. Is that a thing?
Speaker A: So I learned nothing. And quo you have a pie.
Speaker B: Hey, everyone. Due to some big life events going on and adjustments to the schedule, we were unable to record an opening for this episode where normally each player would share an interesting fact about their character. Nevertheless, we've got a great episode coming your way, and plenty more before we're done with season two. We've been looking into some interesting new ideas which might be coming your way as well, so be sure to keep an eye out for those announcements. Now sit back and relax as we jump into episode five.
Speaker A: So, anybody else want to take a crack at this interrogation? I guess I'll take a turn. Hey, uh, you and I point over at the guy sobbing in ash. Okay? Uh, do you have a boat?
Speaker F: Yeah, I've got a boat.
Speaker A: You know how to sail it? Yeah. How many can it fit?
Speaker F: It can hold about four people in it, but not if I plan on fishing.
Speaker A: Or we're not going to fish.
Speaker F: This is starting to sound a bit foreboding.
Speaker A: We just need you to take the what is it called? Whale. Whaletail island. Whaletail island.
Speaker F: I will never sail again. I will not eat nor sleep until the scale of the great and powerful Shue Shu Wei is found.
Speaker A: Do you know any other fishermen that could just take us on their boats? Yeah. Who? Like who?
Speaker F: My friend group is made up of successful fishermen with their own boats.
Speaker A: You give me a name. Just take me to one right now. He looks over at the guard, and the guard just goes I give him a thumbs up. This is important, guys, okay? I need to go to Whale Tongue Island because we only have, like, three days, right?
Speaker F: I will happily provide passage to and from Whaletail Island to anyone that can return the Lost Scale to our village.
Speaker A: This is important because I think these stones on it. I have a hunch, and us four detectives, we need to go check this hunch out.
Speaker F: But none of us fishermen sailed the night before or the day during the festival out of respect for the Great.
Speaker A: Shui Shui, I'm sure. Yeah, but do you think in, uh, guilty person would follow the rules?
Speaker F: I suppose not.
Speaker A: Exactly. So this is for Shue Shui.
Speaker F: I will happily, joyfully, even provide three individuals precisely one two way trip to and from Whaletail Island to any group that finds the scale and returns it.
Speaker A: To our no, no, I think it's on the island. I need to go now. And Mayor Wu says, I suppose it's possible. Yeah, I'm confused why he's so hesitant to go there. I feel like it's there and he doesn't want to take us. Uh, you're just gaslighting this entire village. I'm trying to get through an island as fast as I can. Uh, do you even remember why we have to get to Will? The treasure? What treasure? Insurance treasure. Uh, his will. Oh, yeah. That's the whole reason we're here. So I'm going to repair wills from now on.
Speaker E: Insurance.
Speaker A: Treasure. Insurance treasure. My grandpa died, and he left me some insurance treasure. Clearly, Bill has no care for this stone at all and wants to get to that treasure. He is quickly skipping every step possible to get there. Couldn't tell by you just pointing guys and saying, Arrest him. Hey, again, speedy process. Do justice anyways. Guilty till proven is. Anyways, if you're not going to take me to search for the scale, I.
Speaker F: May never sail again.
Speaker A: I need a boat pronto to get to that island because I think it's on it.
Speaker F: You will have quite the difficult task for yourselves trying to find a non believer in this village with a boat willing to give you a ride anywhere.
Speaker A: You know, the more you describe this, the more it sounds like it's hidden there, because why would someone go to search there if all the sailors are refusing the sail anymore?
Speaker F: Well, most of the sailors don't typically go to that island anyways, because it's full of pirates.
Speaker A: Even more reason a pirate took it. Oh, my word. And how the story has grown even more even more reason to go there now. And I look directly at the mayor and go, I'm making good points here, and you got to agree with me.
Speaker C: I suppose it's possible. But why would the Great Shui Shui allow her scale to be stolen away from the very island she gifted? It to.
Speaker A: Why would.
Speaker C: Because her realm is within the water. Of course. She doesn't come onto the land.
Speaker A: Her realm is in the water. What? Can we check for it on a boat? Yeah. Why are we staying landlocked for this search? What if the scale went back into the water? A returned home? Oh, no one thought of that way. Uh, do you have any agnostic woodworking friends who make a boat for us? Because apparently everyone's refusing. Uh, can we just take a boat? Mayor, mayor, no one's going to be on these boats, nor ever sail one again. They're going to be free use for mayor Wu sits there silently for a moment. He thinks and he thinks, wait.
Speaker C: If you're right, and the green scale was taken back and returned to the great sea serpent herself in the watery depths, then that must mean that the green Scale was the real no, no.
Speaker E: If any scale would be taken back by her Majesty scaliness, it would be ours, because ours is the real one.
Speaker A: How do you know yours are then?
Speaker E: Well, it wasn't stolen because it was back in the storage facility. We just saw it.
Speaker A: It's probably not there anymore.
Speaker E: You don't think that's true, right?
Speaker A: Well, it's true.
Speaker E: Most of them. No, it couldn't be. We swapped guards with our guards. They can be trusted. I assure you, it's gone.
Speaker A: Uh, so anyways, let's get on that boat and let's do some searching. Whale. Come on, everyone. Whale tail island, here we come. We're sway. Sway scale. Yeah. Shu schweichway scale. Bill just starts walking out the door. What's going on? I think we're getting on a boat. Bill is walking straight to the dock where the boats are. Uh, everybody's kind of confused. So they're not stopping you? Yeah, and guess what? They can't say I'm stealing because they know exactly what I'm doing with this boat. If I start taking one, uh, I push the map. I don't know if that's how that works. Well, you can steal a car and a police. What are they going to do? Chase me down on the water with all the people who refuse to get on the boat? What were you asking, Dave? Mayor Wu.
Speaker C: Uh, yes.
Speaker A: I need something from you.
Speaker C: Okay.
Speaker A: I need you to send somebody to the kitchen and bring back a jar of cinnamon.
Speaker C: Okay.
Speaker A: And a glass of milk.
Speaker C: All right. Councilman Young.
Speaker F: Yes, sir.
Speaker C: Rung to the kitchen and bring me back a jar of cinnamon and a glass of milk. Straight away, sir. What could you possibly want with just get the ingredients.
Speaker F: Yes, sir.
Speaker A: And, uh, Councilman Young rushes off, uh, to go get the things. And a couple moments later, he returns with a small jar of powdered cinnamon and a glass of milk. And he hands them to yes, uh, thank you. And I drink the glass of milk. Oh, man, that pie made me thirsty. And then I go over to cato. Cato. Oh, yeah. Come confer with me. Okay. All right, so let's go over your story again. All right. You were guarding the temple or the vault? Guarding the vault. You said you went around about 27 times. Oh, yeah, I did about eight more laps when you guys left before they brought me here. Oh, got you. And you said you heard a coughing at some point? Uh, oh, yeah, I think I did. That's what alerted me. And then I came running over and by that time, whoever it was, was gone. But like I said, I saw someone in the bushes. And you heard a jingling? Oh, yeah, lots of jingling. So you heard a cough and a jingle. All right. Yeah, it's like some kind of, uh what, like a sneezy Santa Claus bag of tricks? Yeah. All right, we got this line up here. Hang, um on. And I go back over to where the old man was and he's sitting there. I grab one of the spoons off the ground.
Speaker D: Hey, now that's my fourth favorite spoon.
Speaker A: I just need to borrow it. Ah, all right.
Speaker D: But you better bring it back and with interest.
Speaker A: Okay. Not sure what that means, so I wipe that one off on my shirt, my robe, and I go over to the first person in line. Um, go to Lee. Okay. All right, Mr. Lee. I scoop a big thing of cinnamon. Open wide.
Speaker F: Okay, but this is kind of weird.
Speaker A: Yeah. I stick the spoon down his throat. I looked at Kato and he coughs. What do you, uh didn't really sound like that. That was a bit too much phlegm in that one. Alright, Mr. Lee, I need you to jump up and down. Give me some jumping jacks.
Speaker F: Jumping jacks, okay. Are these for shui shui?
Speaker A: Yep, for shue shui. It's doing jumping jacks very vigorously. 12345 and, uh, he's very quiet as he jumps. You just hear the rustle of his clothing. Um, he kind of sets his fishing pole against the wall since that's awkward. It's hard to jumping jack with that, but otherwise, yeah, that's all you hear. Ah. I go over to talk with Mika. I'll be right back.
Speaker F: 8910.
Speaker A: Yep. Keep going. Mika. Mika. All right, so at the crime scene, we found what was it? The cloth. Do we have the cloth that had the ink on it? Guys? I think it was left in the think it yeah, I think Bill had it, I think and left it in the bush when he went to man. I probably should have gathered that piece of material evidence. Uh, one of the guards steps forward and he says, I couldn't help but notice I heard you say the cloth. Are you talking about this cloth? And he holds out a white cloth with black smudges all over it. I found it over at the I was there when you guys were investigating. I saw you guys take it into the bush, and I thought, hey, that's evidence. Uh, I'd rather not get blown away. It's a little irresponsible, but that's all right. Well, this guy is either using his noggin or tampering with evidence. I can assume it's the first one. All right, how can we test this smudged material to what's on these people? Because a lot of these guys in this town are apparently filthy. The only, uh, people who seem to have the smudges are Councilman Young. Mayor Wu. I can read my own handwriting, I swear. Well, Mr. Lee had that sort, uh, of black powder on him. Mr. Lee had the black powder and the Blacksmith. Those are the four that I mean, I got literally nothing out of my conversation from the Blacksmith, but I'd start with those four. So we need four spoons to just sort of expedite the cough test. Oh, man. We're going to need your first three favorite spoons.
Speaker D: No, not all my favorite spoons. Just don't forget, you guys are renting these, so I expect interest when you bring them back.
Speaker A: So can we kind of just line them all up and just at the same time, just shove spoons of cinnamon into their mouth? Okay. All right. Who did you want? You wanted. Uh, Wei, the blacksmith. You wanted Councilman Young. Councilman Young. Mayor Wu. Okay. And Lay. And Lay. All four people. Oh, no, we already tried lay. Yes. Let's try him again just in case that wasn't a good enough cough while doing jumping checks. Well, he hit 20, and now he stopped. Hey, I said to keep going.
Speaker F: I thought you said I only had to do 20.
Speaker A: Okay, uh, yeah, I'm down for, uh, shoving cinnamon in their mouth just to try that cop test with anybody who might match that ink. All right, guys, we need your help over here. All right, so the four of you I'm not here. Oh, yeah, you left you're at a boat. All right, the three of you stand across from four individuals, and, uh, you prepare four spoonfuls of cinnamon. And Cato says, well, you guys are looking for kind of more of a that's what it sounded like. It sounded like thank you. Like a ghost. Like coffee. Actually, we've already tested Mr. Lee. Kato. Uh, we better test you. Me? Just to make sure it wasn't your own cough you heard. Okay, so we stick the spoons in their mouths. It sounds awful close to what your cato. Well, it wasn't me. Spiky dude startled himself with his own, um, cough. Probably ran to go see where the noise came from. In an armor jingle. He just saw some shadow in the bush. What was that noise? Wearing some black clothes over there. What was that noise? What? Just for clarity's sake, what's the other people sound like. Okay, so you go through them. Uh, councilman. Uh, well, we'll start with Mayor Wu. You stick it into Mayor Wu's mouth, and he says uh, Councilman Young goes write that down. Write that down. Wei goes and, uh, that's the three you haven't heard yet. So Wei, councilman Young and Cato. So only one was not like the.
Speaker E: Second one was the most accurate.
Speaker A: The last one was the second one was the most accurate. The second one was the farthest. His original cough was you're not even in the room. How do you hear these coughs?
Speaker E: Literally, the second person who's the mayor.
Speaker A: Or the Councilman Young? Was the second one. Uh, Councilman Young? Uh, yeah. The second one not counting Cato, right? Oh, not counting Kato. That was way. Which one is the second one out.
Speaker E: Of the last three?
Speaker A: We just yeah, okay, that was Way. No, I thought it was oh, no, uh, it was Young. Yeah, because young Mayor Wu approaches you. He has a glass of water in his hand and he's rinsing out the, uh, cinnamon taste from his mouth.
Speaker C: And he's like so what clues did we get from that? Is the cough relevant to the case?
Speaker A: Yeah, why don't you let us worry about the details of the case, mister?
Speaker C: My apologies. I was simply curious about the current status of the case.
Speaker A: Uh, we don't want, uh, to have him hiding any jingles. Mayor Wu, you don't want him hiding any jingles? What do you mean? All right, I'm going to need some jumping jacks.
Speaker F: 4142-4344 Lee, you can stop.
Speaker A: Good work, Mr. Lee. But everybody else get a jumping everybody there, everybody there starts doing jumping jacks. Uh, you listen for a fairly reasonable intensive jingling. Uh, Mayor Wu, he seems to have some keys on his person. Not a lot of keys, but just like one thing of keys on his belt. And it makes a bit of a small jingling. Councilman Young also has keys on his belt, similar in number. Uh, he also has a couple of looks, uh, like medals, like kind of military style medals. Uh, those also jingle a little bit. Of course, Kato wearing some fairly heavy armor and having some weaponry. Oh, geez, I'm really jingling. Kind of like the guy I heard earlier at the thing. He was really jingling too. I sound almost, um, wei, um, the blacksmith, he also has a copious amount of jingling. And Kato looks over him and he goes, man, you're jingling about as much as I am, Mayor. Uh, yu. The other, uh, also, she has a variety of jewelry on her person. So, uh, she jingles a little bit. It's a very light kind of, um, jingling. Um, yes, more of like a tingling. That's right. And, um, then, naya, the merchant is, uh, doing some very, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? He's not getting far off the ground. He's a fairly heavy man, but, uh, he too jingles quite a bit when he jumping jacks. And, uh, occasionally a coin pops out of his pocket and he quickly stops jumping jacking. Jump jacking. Jack. Huh, I never thought about that before. Uh, to pick up the coin, puts it back in his pocket, goes back to jumping jacks. He's definitely heading towards out of breath very quickly and that's about it. Everybody else seems to be fairly just cloth movement sound. So we got six people that are jingling, but three of them just hear those people jingling. Three of them, um, match the black stuff and the cough, I guess. Four if you count Kata. What about Naya? Yep. As Mr. Naya was jumping, I remembered we found that, uh, deep boot print in the mud. The boot was about uh, uh, it was bigger than Kato's boot. Two hands. Mhm. It's a fairly large boot. Was that two of my hands or two of your man? I can't remember. Two of it might have been Bill's hands because Bill was the one that found him. It was slightly bigger than Kato's boot print. No, it was yeah, yeah, we need Bill. Well, he's, uh, at a boat probably. Just so there's also always the possibility of who's actually wearing boots, um, in general. Mr. Naya. Yeah, just who's wearing can you can just look around the room and see who's wearing boots? Okay, people wearing boots. Uh, Wei, the blacksmith cato, of course, is wearing boots. Lei, uh, the fisherman, is wearing boots. Councilman Juan from Quinchao Village is wearing boots and Naya is wearing some boots. But they're very like fancy boots. They have a little bit of a heel to them. And just to clarify from your remembrance, the footprint you saw did not have a heel. It was a very standard, more of a work or military boot versus a decorative fancy boot. Can we just have the guard shake down all of these people simultaneously? This hurts my brain. Only there was one person here that just does that. Snyder's.
Speaker C: Ah, return is a tabletop roleplay interview and actual play podcast. We chat with content creators from both mainstream and indie publishers and we release actual play episodes of systems like our, uh, City of Misgame, Meddlers Monsters and uh, Mabin and more games coming in the future. We also have a TTRPG review show on YouTube. Fly like a d six. Come and check us out. You can find us on Twitter at return snyder instagram snyder's underscore Return. You can find us on YouTube at snyder's return discord and everywhere you get your podcasts.
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Speaker B: Hey, everyone. Skyler here, your friendly neighborhood game master. I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that we at Benners and Brews have been working our creative juices extra hard and pushing our artistic skills to the max in order to bring you some sick Benders and Brews merch. That's right, you can head on over to the tea public shop we created where you can snag shirts, stickers mugs, and so much more with your favorite B B characters on them. Grab a Chibi Mika baseball T shirt, or maybe you want a broccoli mug designed with the employee Blissful Brew Tea Shop logo. There's all of those and more and even more down the road when we come up with ideas. So head on over to T Public and search for Benders and Brews. Or you can follow us on social media, where we'll post the links that will be easily available to all of you. And of course, if you get some of our merch, be sure to tag us in a photo of you with the respective BNB swag, because all of us at the studio would love to see it. Thanks for listening. Let's get back to the show.
Speaker A: Can I try Earth bending in a way that sort of shakes everybody down at the same time? You could do, like Toph does when she tries to give Aang a massage and she just stomps the ground while he's on that little section of tiny columns. And then all the columns will randomly kind of shoot up and poke him in different spots on his back, like in a really intensive and that might shake some people. See, I was thinking I Earthbend to where their feet are stuck in rocks oh. And then put them upside down. And then I sort of lift the floor up and just yonk, it over. So everybody's upside down. Uh, I would say I will for this, but absolutely. Give me a rely on your skills and training, and that rolls alongside. This could go actually, I'm going to say push your luck, because this explicitly says a fairly risky situation. And this is a fairly risky situation. Do I have any, uh, modifiers? Uh, this would fall under passion. Passion. Okay. Is Brock familiar with a dead fault trap? Yes. As you can see, I'm just ready to so nine nine. All right. Uh, it succeeds, but it costs you to scrape by. That means it's going to have to cost you something. Okay. You stomp the ground and twist your foot which causes the sand or stone underneath their feet to sort of become coarse and then quickly resolidify, sealing their feet into the floor. And then as they start to kind of panic a little bit, you slam your other foot down, which raises a platform into the air and immediately twists in such a way that cause or you use your arms to kind of twist it in such a way so that they're all sort of upside down to some extent, or sideways at the very least. Nobody panic. We're just going to try and expedite this whole thing and I just kind of like shake them up and down and uh you're simply trying to find what's in their pockets. Yes. I'm just going to see if anyone has the scale on. Oh, just straight up. Uh uh. No scales fall out? No. Could I hold them there until someone just speaks up and says they had the scale? I, uh, would say yes, except for by scraping by, it lasts for a quick moment before you're unable to hold the bending anymore and everybody kind of drops to the ground upside down and hurts themselves a little bit. You hear a series well, and uh, as they're all picking themselves up all grumbling and angry, mayor Yu looks over.
Speaker C: And he says, let's not do that again, please.
Speaker A: We won't have to. I don't know. I think we should do it again. I mean underneath, uh underneath let me roll underneath where Niall was, there's like a large pile of coins falling out of his pocket and he just starts like scooping them all up and he's.
Speaker C: Like, um this is starting to become excruciatingly painful.
Speaker A: So can we all agree nobody wants to do that again? There's the resounding. Yes. So I won't have to do it again if whoever took the scale will speak up.
Speaker C: Excuse me, Mr. Brock. This investigation is turning into torture.
Speaker A: I think you're the one who wanted to put his faith in a bunch of strangers and this is the result you get.
Speaker C: I would like to hear what the young lady has to say about this.
Speaker A: I roll the ten, sir. You, uh, once again, slam. Hey, what are your principles, by the way? My principle like my balance. Yeah. I am, uh, a force plus two. So if you want to count that, I'm at twelve. Yeah, well, it's going to have to go up to no, uh, it's going to go up again though because you're leaning more towards force again. Well, yeah. Classic Brock. Am I right? So 13. Yeah. To just try and hold people upside down until somebody talks. All right. Because I'm getting tired of this, sir. All right. You shake and you shake and you shake and they're all crying out in anger and some fear and many put me down.
Speaker F: Release me.
Speaker E: I'm not the one who stole it. Put me down.
Speaker A: I'm so sorry.
Speaker C: Excuse me.
Speaker A: I feel like you're not.
Speaker F: I feel like that is a lie.
Speaker A: Does anybody in this time, does anybody speak or anything else? Any new information? Uh, they fear what you might do to the person who stole it. This can all stop if someone speaks up. All right? We're going to adjust it. So we're going to say that you did it again, but this time, let's run it as an intimidate, okay? That way, uh, you pick one that they can't choose from the list. It'd be the same role. It's the same role because it's still with passion. Um, so of the options they have, they run to escape or get back up. I'm going to say that's not an option. As it is. Um, they back down, but keep watch. They give in with a few stipulations, or they attack you. But off balance, the GM marks a condition on them. So I pick one they can't do. Correct. Uh, they can't attack me. Okay, so if they also can't run right, then they either have to back down, but keep watch, or they have to give in with a few stipulations. What does that mean? Back? Yeah, it's like they're going to attack you. So it sounds to me like someone's given in. This guy was probably fuming right? Now I'm not fuming. Trying to figure out how they would handle this. This whole story he's woven together over hours is now just kidding. All right. Finally, a voice cries out.
Speaker D: All right, it was me. Please. I did it. You spoke me down.
Speaker A: So I'll flip everybody over. Okay, and so who said that? Uh, you look and you see way the blacksmith called it. Mr. Blacksmith, sir, would you like to explain yourself?
Speaker D: That's right. I did it. I had to show the people that he wasn't real.
Speaker A: In fact, he says, and he reaches into a pouch, a hidden pouch inside of his, uh, apron, and it's got, like, a little button on it. And he unbuttons it, and he swings his arm down, and he throws the scale at the ground with all the force he can muster from a standing position. And you can see as you kind of turn and everything goes into slow mo as Mayor uh, Yu and Mayor Wu kind of no. And as the, uh, scale hits the ground, fragments start to break off and shatter in every direction as it starts to almost disintegrate upon touching the hard floor, until there's only about half a scale left, and the rest of it is just shattered across the ground. And everybody's just frozen, stunned. We found your scale. You're welcome. See you later. Uh, no, it's probably not the mayor. I mean, we found the scale. Kind of looks around, really awkward.
Speaker C: Well, uh, this is awkward.
Speaker A: And Mayor Yu finally speaks up, and.
Speaker E: She says, I knew it. Their scale was fake. No scale from a spirit beast would possibly shatter in such a. Way. It's obviously a glass replica. I knew it.
Speaker D: Um oh, yeah. That scale is a big old phony. Neither of them is real.
Speaker A: Well, then I guess we'll just have to test that theory. And Mary Yu says or sorry, Mary.
Speaker C: Wu says, yeah, I think we should just go and test that theory.
Speaker E: Well, now, I don't think that's really necessary.
Speaker A: But it's your scale where Will story is.
Speaker E: Well, no, I don't think that's really necessary.
Speaker A: People start filing out in almost an angry mob out of the office, like, well, actually sorry, let me rephrase. People from Chin Village. What's that?
Speaker E: I thought the scale was there.
Speaker A: There's two scales. There's two scales? Yeah. So there's the one from Quinchao village.
Speaker E: Yeah.
Speaker A: So where are they leaving it's? In the vault? Yeah. So they're headed to the vault. So the people from Chin Village are like, let's go see the scale. Let's go destroy the scale. And then the people from Quinchao Village are like, oh, no, wait. I don't think this is necessary at, uh, all it's their song. Um, Bill, where are you at right now? On the boat. You, uh, just walked straight like you beelined it for the docks. I'm already on a boat. Okay, you're on a boat. I've been, uh, prepping. Okay? Everything in me wants to just take off. What are your prep? I know that would completely derail everything, so I'm not okay. But I'm preparing everything, making sure the boat's nice. It's good. It can fit all of us. Okay. My principles are trust and self reliance. Okay, well, since you're not leaving, I'm not going to move it. If you left, that would 100% push you towards self, but you're not doing that. So, um, whatever the case, uh, you see from a distance yeah, that's what I was getting to, is you can kind of see there's sort of like a break, sort of an alleyway almost, between a couple of the buildings. And you can kind of see the doorway to the, um, courthouse, if you will, or the city hall. And you see a flood of all the people that you had just seen before start flooding out the doors. And they all seem to be chanting, and they're in a mob, or some of them are looking really concerned and stuff, and they all seem to be making their way. Uh, the storage facility is actually not too far from the docks. You can actually see the back of it from where you're at, and they all seem to be making their way towards it. You just chilling the boat? Yes. Okay. All right, sounds good. I'll jump back over to you guys. Prepping. Just prepping the boat. Sounds good. So back over to you guys. Uh, you guys are following as this mob sort of makes its way to the facility. And, of course, the guards that are waiting from Quinchao Village at this facility are very surprised to see this group. And, uh, Mayor Wu says, I do.
Speaker C: Believe I'm going to need entrance into the facility, if you don't mind.
Speaker E: No, don't let them inside. They're here to destroy the scale.
Speaker A: And they're like, well, it's their facility. We really can't stop.
Speaker E: They're here to destroy the.
Speaker A: You know, at that know, the mayor pushes them out of the way, and Keto walks up. He's like, oh, I got the keys of this thing, so I'm going to open it. He opens it up, and they all start walking inside. And then, of course, Bill from the boat, you're seeing all this happen in front of you, having no context to any of this. You just see this group of angry people walk out of the facility carrying the glass casing that has the red scale inside of it. And they seem to be starting to make their way towards, um, the town square. And you notice that one individual in the group, it's just one of the guards, seems to be holding the half broken scale green scale from Chin village. So obviously somebody found it, I guess, and also broke it. The rest of you guys kind of follow this mob as they make their way to the town square. And, uh, again, Mayor Yu is truly panicking over this whole scenario.
Speaker E: No, please don't harm the scale. Please. It could be very fragile. This is wholly unnecessary.
Speaker A: She's trying to get it back, but you've got a pretty angry mob that's keeping her away from it. And eventually they make it to the town square. And of course, everybody from the festival is kind of waiting there. And they all turn around, and, uh, the Mayor Wu stands up in front.
Speaker C: Of him and he says, people of Qin and Quing Chao village alike, I'd like to garnish your attention for the moment. We've decided as a group that we are going to test the reality of the red scale once and for all.
Speaker A: And he just chucks it straight at the ground, and Mayor You screams out, no as it falls and shatters onto the ground. And everyone goes. And then, of course, the uninformed people who weren't there for the rest of the situation start going. The green scale is real. They hold up the green broken scale, and everyone goes. And then it just gets really quiet. Can we just slowly walk towards just I just want to slowly walk towards silently. You're doing, like, a very cartoonish like as you back. I'll just I'm just going to slowly and silently make my way over to the boat. Okay. Mika and Guao, what are you guys doing? Is Mr. Wei here? Yeah, he was part of the angry mob, so he was happy at the idea that we're about to go smash the other one.
Speaker D: Honestly, this worked out better than I possibly could have imagined.
Speaker A: One of those reporters. Mr. Way. Mr. Way, uh, how did you know the scale was a fake.
Speaker D: Well, as I'd mentioned before, I knew right from the beginning that the scales were fake because, well, why would a magical spirit beast be dropping the scales off itself in random villages? You ever seen a snake? They don't drop scales. They shed their horse skin. And that's how I knew it.
Speaker A: Uh, thank you for your comment.
Speaker D: And now we know that both the scales were fake. And these two and he points at both the mayors, one of the perpetrators of the whole thing, they've been lying to you good folks all this time. So now I ask all of you, what are we going to do about it?
Speaker A: And, uh, you see, Lee is like, sprawled out on the ground, like sideways tears streaming down, like clearing the ash off of his face as they go. He's just crying silently, though. It's like a, uh, deep cry that's internal. It's almost entirely internal. And you can see that his entire soul has been crushed and his entire existence is now no longer. As he's realized that neither of the scales are real, you wonder. You're like, man, I bet a guy like that, if one of the scales was broken, he'd probably just move to the other village and be like, yeah, no, it's all good, because this was the real one all along. No, they're both fake. His reality is shattered. And, uh, Wei stands there and he.
Speaker D: Says, what are we going to do about it?
Speaker A: And, uh, you see the two mayors are whispering to each other at the moment, and they step forward and they say, mayor, uh, Wu, since it's his village, technically.
Speaker C: He says, well, uh, all I have to say is that, uh, the three.
Speaker A: Of you and he turns to you guys and looks a little surprised because it's just you and Mika at this point. Whoa.
Speaker C: Uh, congratulations. Yes. You solved the mystery of the fake scales. Yes, that's it. Uh, we've had this contest going for years. Unbeknownst to all of you, be, sure enough, these strangers and of course, Way was, uh, also involved in solving the mystery. Well done to all of you. You've won the contest.
Speaker A: Yeah, I did it. And he turns to the people and.
Speaker C: He'S like, yes, and next year we're going to do it all again. But we switched up. Make it a new mystery. That way it keeps things fresh every year, and you all have a chance to try and solve it.
Speaker A: And as he's saying this, lei kind of starts to pick himself up off the ground a little bit.
Speaker F: A, uh, contest. A, uh, contest. But what about Shui Shui?
Speaker C: Ah, yes, well, Shue Shui will always be there watching over us, whether or not we have her, uh, scales.
Speaker F: Oh, okay. Hooray. Shue Shui.
Speaker A: And you watch as the festivities kind of start to go back to normal a little bit. Music starts to play in the background. The vendors are shouting out to buy food and there are some games to play and everybody kind of starts to go back to it. And, uh, mayor's approach you and Mika?
Speaker E: Well, that was a bit awkward, to say the least. I suppose things are in order. Well done in solving the mystery and we appreciate you all joining in on the festivities. I'm sure we can get someone to get you over to Whaletail Island right away. Ley, ley, would you mind taking these wonderful folks to Whaletail Island?
Speaker F: Oh, yes, of course.
Speaker E: Thank you very much.
Speaker A: All right, I just got to take care of one thing here. I'm, um, going to go and find the old man.
Speaker D: You you ate my pie and now I'm out of crackers. And you took all my spoons. Where are my spoons? Where is my interest payment?
Speaker A: Here's your spoons. Here's your spoon. He starts just sucking on the spoon. Each, uh, one he like, takes each one individually and sucks on it for a second. And I've also brought you this. And I pull out an empty glass of milk. A little trickle in the bottom. He grabs it out of your hand and he just sticks his nose into it, goes.
Speaker D: It'S m fresh.
Speaker A: But that's not it. Did I pull out a half full bottle of cinnamon? He jams his nose into that and goes.
Speaker D: Also fresh. All right, have a nice day. Thank you. You're a good boy. Yes, you are.
Speaker A: Back up slowly.
Speaker E: Bye.
Speaker A: And run away. Lose myself in the crowd. Yes. All right. Um, and eventually you push your way through that crowd and you find yourself at, uh, the docks. You see Bill standing out on a boat. Um, you see Lay walking up and.
Speaker F: He says, oh, wow, you found my boat very fast and got it ready for sailing. Did I leave it like that? Well, I must have gotten a bit excited for the festival and completely forgot about putting things.
Speaker A: Like is everyone here? Think so? I think so. Mika here. Mika, are you all right? Good. All right, we turn around. There's Mika. Oh, she's just standing there on the boat, quietly. Uh, so he climbs onto the boat and with that, you guys take off into the waters towards the island in the distance that you know, is Whaletail Island. So they were, uh, uh, it took a little so that means Way stole it. Yeah, he stole it. If he didn't have any buttons sewn into his jacket, it would have been over a lot quicker. But what does that mean? What does that mean? Uh, I don't know. Why did you get the guards to shake him down? Did you just point to him and say, shake that guy down? Sort of, yeah. Brock, what's up? Did you Earth bend? Nah. You. I can't earth bend, Brock. No, I don't know what you're talking about. Okay. You should have been there. It's one of those jokes. You should have been there. I had to be there. It was a rigorous multi step investigation. Ah. Uh, there's a lot of steps. That's probably why I left early, because it sounded like a lot of work and I was starting to suspect Kate. I think he was too dumb to do know. I thought that was maybe an act. All lies have an element of truth to know. So the biggest lie was just they were fake? Both, I'm assuming. Yeah, both. Uh, that's what the crowd was. Yeah. I saw the first broken one, and then I saw them carrying away the second one. And then I heard the crowd go. I heard a loud gasp, so I figured that's when they broke the second one. Yes. Ah. That's when I came out here. Uh, switched the place pretty quickly, like you did something wrong. I did nothing wrong. Okay. Uh, he's really wanted to come boating with good little Broding. Little Broding. That's right. And then Mika showed up behind us. How long were you standing here for?
Speaker E: Literally the whole time.
Speaker A: The whole time? I was fixing the boat. She's just watching you. She's just been silently watching you, just like, from the shore. You watched me do all of that work and didn't even offer to help?
Speaker E: I just saw you meant with you guys. I've literally been here the whole time.
Speaker A: Oh, okay. Well hey, Ley, how far is it to this island? It's not that far. We'll be there soon. Are you sure you're in any condition to drive a boat? Um, having your whole religion just tear it away from you. You know, I'm definitely in a bit of mental turmoil, but I like to see, and it relaxes me. And, uh, I'm close to shui shui here, so, uh, I feel like I'll be okay. All of us are in a bit of turmoil, too. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What's wrong? What's wrong? Uh, we're searching for a will. Well, where there's a will, there's a way. That's right. Man, Bill, I was distracted with this whole festival. Now you gotta bring me back to reality. I mean, that's all I've been thinking about, this whole like that's why I didn't really care about the stone or any of that, because why should I worry about their problems? I have bigger problems of my own right now. Yeah. Sorry to be real Debbie Downer guys, but, uh, I want to find that treasure, so I got my priorities straight. I want to make sure you guys do, too. You still have that letter that Mr. M. O'cong gave you? Yeah, I did. I might have cried a little when I read. So can you read it again? I kind of forgot what it, uh yeah, maybe next time. Maybe when we get to land, that would make more sense, because that's when we actually have to track down pieces and stuff, like step by step. Yeah, but from a man who's got his priority straight. He should have it memorized. I don't even have the letter anymore. You just said you had it. No, I gave it to Mika. Did you not just say 10 seconds ago you had it?
Speaker E: When did you give it to me?
Speaker A: When you kept badgering me about it. You literally just said that you have it. We all say stuff, Brock. We all say stuff. We're all changed, people. You changed in 20 seconds. Oh, I still have it. Phil's just padding his body looking for it, nervous, like, oh, crap. Oh, yes, here it is. I never gave it to Mika. So what's it say? So we got some time to think about it before we get to Whaletail Island, because time is of the essence here.
Speaker B: I think it'll be that much more dramatic if we save the reading of the letter again for next time. We want to take a moment before I do the outro to mention a couple of things. Firstly, I'm going to mention, uh, it during the outro, but if you have the opportunity and the ability to drop us a review, it really does a lot to help out the show and encourages the cast as well. We would absolutely and truly appreciate it if you would take a quick moment or two to do so. Thank you so much for everyone that listened, reviewed, and participated in the show so far. And then lastly, I want to say a massive thank you to our amazing cast of vocal talent who have lent their time and incredible voices and skills to our show for episodes three, four, and the upcoming fifth episode, which will be coming out Thursday, June 22. Uh, I highly recommend everyone checking them out. I've credited them in the description of the episode so you can find them and see who it is that they played. And also it links back to their preferred profiles, wherever that might be. So thank you so much to each.
Speaker A: And every one of them.
Speaker B: Really appreciate it. Thank you so much for listening to our show. Of course, don't forget to follow or subscribe to our podcast through whatever podcast site that you're using, such as itunes, Spotify, YouTube, and others. Additionally, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Just look for the social media icons. Following us on social media gives you access to all news announcements and of course, new episodes as they are released. You can check out our website, Bendersonbrews.com, which will feature all of our episodes as well as news announcements and even cool character and player profiles. It's a great hub of information for the Benders and Brews podcast. And finally, we would be truly humbled if you would be willing to take the time to leave us a review if your podcast site allows you to do so, such as on itunes or in the case of YouTube, you can hit the like and subscribe button and drop us a comment. Tell us about what you thought about our podcast episodes. It sure would mean a lot to us. Avatar Legends is a tabletop role playing game created by Magpie Games, Nickelodeon, Avatar and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International, Inc. All rights reserved. I also want to thank the following artists who you can find on Fiver for their amazing creative work on this podcast. Character art was done by Alicio Papa draw background art by Konichi, music by Joe Tims. Two one five. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see.
Speaker A: You on the next episode.