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. Okuron, the shop's owner and tea master, could do was to recruit four teenage orphans to learn his trade and 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 podcast.
Speaker C: We've got two individuals, Bill and Guo, who are both helping Mr. Okran set up. On the other hand, we have rock and Mika, who have disguised themselves like members of the hot leaf juice.
Speaker D: Or take a banana.
Speaker E: You and you. I need you to go with Coval into town and bring me back some very important tea ingredients. He has the list.
Speaker D: She points at me.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker D: I'm going to drop my banana peel and I'm going to stuff on it, and then I'm going to be very dramatic in falling in hopes that I knock some of their tea glasses over.
Speaker C: Yep, sure enough, you come crashing down, knocking down a pretty hefty handful of cups.
Speaker E: One more slip up like that and you're fired. Now get out there and get me those ingredients.
Speaker D: I'm going to turn to the guy who has the list, and I'm going to say, why don't we divide, um, up things on the list so we can get more work done faster?
Speaker C: He kind of just tears the list in half and then hands you guys.
Speaker D: One half, I take it.
Speaker C: See, I remember everyone getting into the.
Speaker B: Cart back in bossing, say, and I.
Speaker C: Don'T remember seeing you. And then he takes up a fighting stance. You better give me that paper. And then scram. And so you use your sweat and you subtly bend it underneath you to make a puddle of mud. And you slap that paper into the mud and run away over at the blissful Brew stand. If you could come with me, uh, we are having the opening ceremony. He, uh, has a few words he'd like to say, and thanks to, uh, everyone that has made this party possible.
Speaker F: Sure, I'll go hip hockey.
Speaker G: I'll stay and defend this thing.
Speaker A: All right.
Speaker H: Welcome, one and all, to the annual summer bash.
Speaker C: Do you want to come up on stage with me? Yeah.
Speaker H: We have a much more quaint tea shop. Mr. O'Haron's blissful brew.
Speaker F: I, like, kind of raise my fist.
Speaker C: People kind of dig the energy. They're like, okay. The applause kind of grows just a little bit.
Speaker H: As many of you know, I am m an avid mask collector. So as a special event tonight, take yourself a mask and put it on. The game will play like this. It is your duty to determine those behind their masks. Only one masked member remains. That individual will be pronounced the winner and take home, uh, a nice bag of 250 U One.
Speaker C: There's a table set up, a whole bunch of spirit masks.
Speaker D: Obviously, I'm going to steal one. I am going to go into some of the rooms of the house looking for a different piece of clothing.
Speaker C: And welcome back to Benders and Brews and Avatar Legends actual Play podcast, where we actually play Avatar legends. Ironically, last, uh, week. Last episode, rather, we didn't have Connor aka Broccoli with us. This week, we have Connor aka Broccoli with us.
Speaker A: What's up?
Speaker C: But we do not have Michaela aka Mika with us. But that's okay. Uh, Mika did a lot last episode, and so we're going to give her a little bit of a break, and we'll check back in with these. The three bros, the three boys of the group, or men, I don't know.
Speaker F: Wherever you bros. To men.
Speaker I: Guys being dudes.
Speaker C: Guys.
Speaker G: What's better than this?
Speaker C: It's going to be an episode of Guys being dudes. Welcome back to another episode of Guys being dudes.
Speaker A: Shaw.
Speaker C: Dude Shaw. We've got surfer dude. We've got.
Speaker I: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C: I don't know. What would that be, Dave? What is that? Uh, pizza delivery board. Yeah, got your pizza and then whatever. Cameron's version of a dude bro. Uh, anxious dude. The one that's always like, we should be doing this.
Speaker G: Guys, I'm hungry.
Speaker H: Uh, I need some snacks.
Speaker C: All right, perfect. So we're jumping into things right off the bat. Uh, before we do, though, I just want to remind everybody that you, uh, can obviously find this podcast if you're listening to it right now, you're probably wherever it is that you like to listen to podcasts from, which is either Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, your bedroom, your bedroom, and anywhere else that you can find podcasts being hosted through. Uh, maybe you're on YouTube. Yep, you can find us on. Maybe, uh, you're just straight over on our website. I don't know. Uh, you can also find us on social media. You can find us on Facebook. You can find us on Twitter. You can find us on Instagram. Uh, you can also even find us on TikTok. Believe it or not. So just definitely, uh, check those out so you can see some of the crazy stuff that we post outside of just the episodes, uh, of the show. And also to keep up on episodes of the show. Uh, just throwing that one out there before we just jump right in Torontomo.
Speaker G: All right, guys, is this what boys night is? It's just inserting random tribe, random radio.
Speaker C: Uh, like soundboards.
Speaker G: The soundboard, it's not even Dave. It's a Dave soundboard that we got. We're just playing that. I've got Dave's laugh going on a loop. Put it on loop.
Speaker C: Okay, so to start us off, we are going to asking you guys your character question for the day. Today's question is, uh, what does your character want to grow up to be? Whether that be a job or some other dream, aspiration, whatever you want to call it, career, hobby. But whatever the case, what do you want to be when you grow up? Cameron, do you want to start us.
Speaker G: Off with, uh, I guess, um, Bill Doer wants to be like his dad.
Speaker C: That's his goal.
Speaker G: Uh, his dad is an engineer, uh, and he's highly regarded in his community. And his dad is always a protector of a family. And those are the three qualities, uh, job quality and respect, that, uh, wants.
Speaker C: Right on, right on. Learn a little bit about Bill Dor today, um, in this boys night.
Speaker G: In this boys night.
Speaker C: That's right.
Speaker G: Boys nights for feelings and sharing.
Speaker C: All right. Dave, aka, um.
Speaker F: Also wants to be similar to Bill Dor's dad. No, just kidding. But he secretly does want to be a dad. Not, um, like in the near future. But he looks at these father figures and he looks back on his life so far, and he wishes that he could be that person for somebody, um, somebody to take care of him, somebody to watch out for him, to provide for him, to be that support. But, um, it's kind of secretly because he doesn't really think he can do it.
Speaker C: Um, he wants to step up and be what he never had, but he's scared that maybe the past, yeah, maybe the past and the influence it had on him might be too much for him to push past.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker F: Doesn't know if he can rise above.
Speaker I: I feel that even though the earth rumble career, which we might be getting into in some episodes coming up. Stay tuned. Um, the Earth Rumble career started out for only providing for his family with some extra money. I think he's really taken a lichen to it. So I think he wants to sort of overtake the league, so to speak.
Speaker C: Okay.
Speaker I: Be the best in the nation.
Speaker C: Run.
Speaker G: The rumble.
Speaker C: There you go. I like it.
Speaker G: Boys night.
Speaker C: That's right. Yeah. We're going to get emotional and we're going to get sentimental.
Speaker G: And then we won't wrestle. We're going to wrestle afterwards, we're going.
Speaker C: To smash each other with, like, a.
Speaker G: Proper boys night sleepover.
Speaker I: I think we've already figured out the title for this episode.
Speaker C: Boys night. Perfect. That saves me a lot of thinking. Uh, if, uh, it were to come down to me as the DM, my goal is to. I'm, uh, going to be, uh, the best that ever was. Catching, uh, them will be my real test, and training them will be my cause.
Speaker G: Avatar. Is that in Avatar? Again, I've only seen the movie.
Speaker C: Why you have to ruin it?
Speaker G: You ruined boys night. Sorry.
Speaker C: Why have you ruined boys?
Speaker G: And this is when everyone helps me with pillows.
Speaker C: Awesome. Well, with that being said, and with us knowing a little bit more about everybody's character, let's jump into Geronimo. Last time, uh, we found ourselves at the start of the big party that we've been, uh, kind of looking into and waiting for and leading up to pretty much this whole time. Uh, so the party has begun. Things have started. Guests, uh, have arrived. Guests have been getting tea, no less, which is obviously a key importance to, uh, all of this. Uh, we have Guo and Bill are hanging out with Mr. Okuron, trying to keep things tip, uh, top and to the utmost quality. Over at the blissful Brew booth, on the other hand, you have, uh, Mika, who's nobody's really for sure where Mika is, but she's somewhere out there doing her roguish thing around the party. And then we have good old Brock Lee, who's hanging out in disguise, undercover. Uh, there's another word I can't. I'm blanking on. But it basically is just incognito, uh, incognito over at the hot leaf juice booth, uh, posing as just one of their many employees. And that's where we're actually going to pick things off. So, Brock, when, uh, last episode, we didn't have you. So what was Brock Lee doing, uh, at the time when everybody else was kind of getting everything ready and finishing putting those final touches on setting up.
Speaker I: So last I recall, I was able to, uh, infiltrate hot leafjuice and their company. While they were all setting up, I was able to secure a couple of crates full of, um, tea and cups and whatnot. And if I remember correctly, I catapulted them into the maze.
Speaker A: That's right.
Speaker I: That is in the backyard, and from there, I believe I just tried to go on and blend in. Um, can I ask, is the party fully started right now?
Speaker C: Well, I was going to give you an opportunity. If there was anything that you wanted to do in the, uh, short, in between, before the party fully got kicked into place, there's anything you wanted to do. If not, if you were just keeping your head down and laying low until opportunity arose. That's totally fine.
Speaker I: I think I will do that. I'll try and lay low until, uh, I'm able to sort of sabotage them again.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker C: All right. Well, then, let's just jump right in. The party is in full swing at this point. They have held the opening ceremony, which you would have seen go down. During the opening ceremony, the, uh, owner of the house, Mr. Yotaku, he presented a game to the people that were in attendance. Is sort of a masquerade game where everybody changed into a new outfit and put on a mask, and there's a monetary prize going out to whoever can, uh, sort of be the last mask standing. As they go about the party, they can try to guess and say, hey, I think you're so and so. And if they get it right, the person has to take their mask off. If they get it wrong, they have to take their own mask off. So it's a very difficult game of clever determining and, uh, deduction. And you knowing that you were helping with the booth, that wasn't the most interesting thing ever. It was kind of intriguing, but you were like, well, I'm not participating, so who cares? But the thing that was kind of neat was you watched during the opening ceremony. You got to see, uh, Mr. Okuron and Guo went up on stage as he was kind of, uh, the owner of the house, Mr. Yotaku, was kind of having each of the caterers come up, uh, giving everybody that was in attendance kind of a brief description of what it is that they serve. So that way they know if I go up to their booth, what am I looking at here? Nobody likes to go to those parties, and they see something fancy, and they grab it and they go to take a bite. It's like something really weird. Like, it looked like cheese, but it turned out to be, like, this weird flavored tofu. So it's kind of a courtesy to, uh, let everybody know what it is.
Speaker F: Yeah. Like when you're six years old and you think there's ice cream in the middle of the table, and you take a big spoonful, and it was just a ball of butter, the whole m.
Speaker C: When they scoop it just right, it does kind of look like ice cream. I've seen that happen before.
Speaker F: May or not be based on a real life event.
Speaker C: The secrets that come out during boys night. Yeah. Uh, but anyway, so you got to see them go up on stage. Um, Guo did this little bit while he was up there where he kind of raised his fist in sort of almost victory, uh, uh, symbol. And, uh, it got the crowd kind of excited. There was some energy to it, so they were feeling it. They're excited to be at this party, so they went right along with it, and it was kind of cool to see that. But otherwise, uh, you're back to work at the hot leaf juice booth, and, uh, things are heated right now. At the hot leaf juice booth. Yes. Uh, Madame Yang is pacing back and forth. Uh, she's actually wearing a mask, but you know who she is.
Speaker I: I don't know if I've ever canonically met Madame Yang.
Speaker C: I think you saw her from a distance approaching the. When she was getting out of the hot leaf juice cart. When they first approached, um, Mika was outside, tried to drop water on them. Uh, you were out there as you were heading out to the cart, so you would have at least seen her. But to be honest with you, a lot of things give her away. Between her hairstyle, her height, um, her very, just kind of intimidating, imposing figure. Um, you almost wonder if she's just wearing the mask more for fun. Like, everybody know who she is, and she's just trying to kind of play along with the whole game and stuff like that. So you're not sure she's really participating per se. Um, but you also know because, uh, she's been yelling at all of the employees pretty intensely since the party started. Basically, she's, uh, very frustrated about missing ingredients. Uh, some employees, actually, she had sent out to go get ingredients, came back. They only came back with half of what she needed. She's pretty upset with them about that. Uh, in turn, they're upset, so they're kind of, like, beaten down on everybody else because they're in trouble, and you always kind of want to pass the blame to the next person and things along those lines. So, um, there's that going on. Uh, everybody's really stressed out, and you're kind of in the middle of this, where you're in an interesting position of, I'm glad to see that everybody's stressed out, but it is kind of annoying to have people yelling at me. Um, tell me about, uh, what are you, uh, up to right now? WhIch job position are you kind of holding right now within the business plan?
Speaker I: See, I got a couple ideas of what I could be doing, but it sort of depends on what the layout of this hot leaf juice booth is. So for now, I'm just trying to blend in, pick a job that seems like it needs to be filled, and keep my head down as of right now. But I would like to know how hot leaf juice operates with their tea. Do they wait to pour it until somebody orders it, or is it sort of like there's tea on the table already poured in their cups, and people will just walk up and grab it?
Speaker C: Right. Well, it's funny you say that. Um, you said you were looking for a job to be filled, and ironically, the thing that came to mind was perfect. He's filling cups. Okay, so there's a whole, like, two tables that are just covered in saucer and teacup. And then you've got a couple of people, one of which I assumed would be yourself, uh, with holding teapots and quickly pouring more tea as somebody comes by and they take a cup, and then they walk over and there's another table that has some other things they are very big on. The employee is doing it all for you. So nobody puts their own honey in their cup. The employee scoops a little bit out, says, tell me when, pours it in their cup.
Speaker I: This is perfect.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker I: So I am filling teacups.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: Ready for this? I don't know if you're ready. So I'm filling teacups. Um, in my right hand, I've got the teapot, like, the handle. The left hand is, like, supporting it, but in my left hand, I have the little bag of tiny rocks.
Speaker C: Oh, okay.
Speaker I: I sneakily put one tiny rock in each cup as the thing is pouring.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: And when I see, like, somebody picks up the teacup.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker I: I Earth bend the rock back to me, breaking the cup, uh, and spilling tea everywhere.
Speaker C: And how often are you doing this?
Speaker I: Every ten cups, boys.
Speaker A: Man.
Speaker I: Every ten cups, I put a little pebble in and I wait.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: I wait for someone to grab the cup and start drinking.
Speaker C: Sure. Uh, I'm going to say that nobody would suspect anything for sure, at least for the first tHree. Um, but roll me a trick. Trick with creativity.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: So I have a plus one.
Speaker A: Creative. Okay, awesome.
Speaker I: Three, four total.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: It doesn't work, does it? I thought I was so clever.
Speaker C: It works the first three times. Uh, but they start to get kind of frustrated. A couple of the employees are looking at you, and they're like, I don't know what you're doing. If you're cooling the cup, are the.
Speaker A: Cups cooled or something?
Speaker C: And you're pouring the hot liquid too fast, I don't know what you're doing, but you need to go somewhere else. Go, uh, help them lift the fresh tea out from the vat and pour it into the separate. You're a strong guy. Go do that.
Speaker I: Is that still at this area, or do I need to go somewhere else?
Speaker C: I mean, everything's happening within their section of the ballroom.
Speaker I: Okay.
Speaker C: Um, so, I mean, it's just, like, a few tables over. They've got the big heating vat where they're heating up the tea, and somebody will kind of pick up a section of it and kind of start pouring it into, very carefully, into the teapots, which are then taken over and poured into the cups.
Speaker I: Can I do the same thing? But with the vat?
Speaker C: It's like a metal vat.
Speaker I: Okay, maybe not.
Speaker A: All right.
Speaker C: Uh, but as you go over there, uh, Madame Ying, she disappeared for a little bit. Like, she went to go look around. She comes back. She looks just as flustered, if not more flustered than she did before. She's sweating, she's red. She takes off her mask so that you guys can see her, because, again, she's not really, like, participating, participating in the whole masquerade game.
Speaker E: And, uh, she says, okay, I want everyone's attention. Earlier, I discovered there was a mole among our regs. Someone pretending to work for hot leaf juice in order to sabotage us and make us fall behind. And, uh, I have a theory that she was not working alone. One of you, I believe, is working with her, and I will have none of that. So I'm going to have a little sit down with everyone, starting with you.
Speaker C: She points out one of them. Not you, broccoli, but just a different one. And, uh, you Watch as they start walking through the ballroom and over kind of out of sight, still in the building. They didn't go out the front door because you can kind of see the front door to the house from where you're.
Speaker I: It, uh, sucks for Gary.
Speaker A: I bet.
Speaker I: He's probably the mole, that guy. He's been rubbing me the wrong way all night. I don't know about you guys. So did Madame Yang. How many hot leaf juice employees are we talking here?
Speaker C: Uh, we're talking probably about almost a dozen. Uh, she comes fully staffed. She has multiple people in one spot. The one thing that she has going right, right now, um, with everything else that's going wrong, is that she has enough employees to keep things moving. She doesn't have all the ingredients that she needs to, uh, make the tea the way that she wants it. And you recognize that as somebody that was serving, uh, helping to pour the tea, the ones that you didn't shatter. Um, you did notice that some people just were like, it's okay. It's nothing special. Um, so they don't seem real, uh, inspired by any means by this tea. It's not what it's supposed to be, that's for sure. Because you got rid of a lot of ingredients. You see, obviously, you had destroyed some of their glasses. So the way they've made up for that is they just had, like, an extra couple of their employees that are furiously washing through teacups, trying to get them back out and clean as quickly as they possibly can, which, again, has affected the rest of the staff. Obviously, having fewer people to make sure that things are running correctly and smoothly is, um, not easy on those that have to kind of make up the difference. So we'll switch over to Bill and Guo. So, Bill and Guo, you guys are over at the blissful brew, and you guys are experiencing a little bit of problems of your own. Ironically, uh, with all the failure that hot leaf juice has been experiencing, you guys have experienced a lot of that success from that. Um, customers are kind of like, the tea over there is not all that great. Let's go outside. It's a nice day. It's a nice afternoon. We can watch as the sun slowly sets, enjoy the fresh air. And I heard they've got some pretty good tea out there. On the other hand, now, obviously, that's a great thing. But the negative side is now you've got quite a big line of customers that are starting to develop outside, and it's getting to be a little bit of, uh, a lot between three people. And Mr. Oak, Ron is trying to make sure the tea is being made correctly, so he's working hard to get that done. Um, uh, Bill, you're directly serving the customers, I assume. And then, Guo, uh, you're kind of an in between guy. I mean, you've got a couple of different options to jump around between, I suppose.
Speaker F: I'm helping, Phil. I'm helping. Steep stakes are high, and you gotta let it fly.
Speaker C: That's right. Now, as things are growing in the hustle and bustle of these customers coming through, uh, Bill, out of the corner of your eye, you do notice that, uh, guy from earlier, that guy that you saw that looked a little sketchy, seemed to be, um, probably a firebender, um, somewhere around your age, maybe a little bit older. He's still kind of scouting around the area. He's kind of left the gazebo, and he's kind of trying to slowly kind of make his way closer real nonchalantly, as best as he can. Now, you've caught him already as, like, a, uh, sketchy figure to keep an eye on. So you notice as he is kind of moving in, you're not like, oh, man, you've really tricked me, but he is moving in.
Speaker G: Can I just keep glancing at him while I'm helping people?
Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, if you want to take a moment to, uh, turn around and maybe do something intimidating or something.
Speaker G: You can definitely turn around.
Speaker C: He's behind me. Well, yeah, because you have your booth, which is right next to kind of the pathway, like the big main path that a lot of people kind of come down to. The gazebo is kind of back behind you. There's a hedge between you and the gazebo.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: If you want it.
Speaker G: So when I, uh, turn around to get more ingredients that Mr. O'crun is using to prep, I figured I was taking orders and getting side ingredients while he did all the cooking stuff.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker G: When I turn around to go grab more ingredients from our little cart, I see him and I just stop, and I just give him, like, a death glare.
Speaker C: Okay, uh, do an intimidate.
Speaker G: Fa ten.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: You get to pick one that they cannot choose from that list, which is, uh, they run to escape or get back up. They back down, but keep watch. They give in with a few stipulations, or they attack you, but off balance. So you can choose one they don't get to choose.
Speaker G: Oh, well, I don't want them to attack. That's my last case.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker G: I can't choose that one.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: Uh, he's too scared to attack.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: That's the best way.
Speaker C: He is going to run. He's going to escape to get back up. I see him run.
Speaker G: Yeah, yeah. And then after Bill sees him run off, he just kind of grabs his ingredients and he turns around and goes back to helping customers with an award winning smile.
Speaker C: That's right. That's why they put Bill up front.
Speaker A: Yeah. Ah.
Speaker G: His smile is a ten out of ten.
Speaker A: Wow.
Speaker C: Anything, uh, specific or anything that you wanted to add that, uh, you'd be doing?
Speaker F: I mean, while all this is going on, we're trying to keep up with all these customers. I'm keeping an eye out on the game that's going.
Speaker C: The masquerade okay, are you hoping for anything specific, like catching slip ups or.
Speaker A: Not? Sure. What else?
Speaker C: Like maybe trying to figure it out yourself? I mean, I don't know how many people you would necessarily know in the area.
Speaker G: Or a, uh, subtle hint of jealousy. Gohan. Uh, and wanting to play. Or maybe.
Speaker F: Keep giving sidelong glances over.
Speaker G: Cool. He keeps just sighing really loudly behind.
Speaker F: Think, uh, I noticed nobody's going after Madame Yang. Think they're all scared of her?
Speaker G: Probably they just all assume that everyone knows who she mean. But I guess no one's bothering to just go guess her. That's my best guess.
Speaker F: You think she'll get got before the end of the party?
Speaker A: Um.
Speaker F: Or you think she'll be the last one standing?
Speaker G: She's the last one standing. It clearly means people are more scared to tell her what her name was than anything.
Speaker F: Well, you want to put some money on it?
Speaker G: What are we betting on here?
Speaker C: What we always bet on. Toilet duty.
Speaker G: Toilet duty.
Speaker A: Nice.
Speaker F: I got a few, uh, coins jangling around in my pocket.
Speaker G: Okay, what are we betting on?
Speaker F: I bet she makes it to be the last one.
Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
Speaker G: Okay. I feel like that's a super simple bet for me to win. I'm, uh, going to say, yeah, you're on. And I have a whole two copper.
Speaker C: Bet on that one.
Speaker G: That's my life savings right there.
Speaker F: All right, you're on.
Speaker G: All right, moving forward, we got another bet going on.
Speaker C: This one. Not with, uh, bathroom duty.
Speaker G: Uh, and Bill. Door. Uh, just waits. Uh, he just waits until he's serving customers. And he waits till someone with a mask comes up. M he goes, hey, could you help me out with something real quick? As he's giving them their tea.
Speaker A: Do.
Speaker G: You see that lady with the really tall hair over there working at hot leaves juice? Could you just walk over there and say, hey, you're Madam Yang for me. I'd be appreciative. You'd, uh, win me some.
Speaker C: Betters.
Speaker G: Your chances of winning. And Bill gives them a wink.
Speaker C: And from underneath the mask, you see him give you a wink, because you can just see their eyes, obviously, you can see he gives you a wink. And then he takes his tea, and he kind of heads off in that direction.
Speaker G: And then Bill turns around and looks at, uh, Gohan and gives him a wink.
Speaker F: What are you winking at me?
Speaker G: Just. I feel like.
Speaker C: One thing that you do notice is that the few times you guys see Madame Yang, since theirs is set up on the inside of the mansion, is when you guys see her, she's usually, like, just like, shooting by making her, uh, know, just, like, looking for people, whatever it is that she's up to, but she's, like, racing about.
Speaker G: So building that account for the fact that she's probably too quick to stop.
Speaker C: Nobody's guessed it because they can't even stop her.
Speaker G: She says, let's keep going.
Speaker C: She's like Sasquatch. People see a glimpse of her with.
Speaker G: Us, and when someone tries to start a conversation with her, she grabs one of her hunchmen and just shoves them in front. Say, talk to them for me.
Speaker C: Just keep going. It's like when you get served and noticed to go to court. And if they can't say your name when they serve you, then they can't give you the. Are you Madame Yang? No comment. Walks away. Didn't call it. You asked.
Speaker F: Little known fact about, um, Madam Yang. Former high school track star, even in high heel.
Speaker G: Wow.
Speaker C: Mr. Ogron turns and he says, can confirm.
Speaker G: But they yelled out that piece of detail in your very lengthy backstory, Mr. Oakeron. My apologies.
Speaker C: I never even got to high school, so when, uh, I was in high school.
Speaker G: Okay, well, and then he just continues to talk while we're serving tea.
Speaker C: She was involved in every organization, and I never really heard that she actually did anything. Anyways, uh, I'm going to jump back over to Brock.
Speaker I: I did notice they were talking about that Firebender looking guy looking shady over at our tea stand. So you said the rich people, they all changed clothes, right?
Speaker C: That's right.
Speaker I: Are their clothes, like, all in a conveniently placed closet somewhere?
Speaker C: So when he, uh, made the announcement, he had mentioned that, uh, they had distributed. So everybody had brought a second outfit when they came. They had distributed everybody's second outfit that they would change into, into the many rooms in the mansion. So everybody, um, had kind of, as part of their invitation, had been told which room they would have their stuff put inside of. So you know that pretty much walking into just about any bedroom in this house, you'll probably find a nice, probably not pile of clothes. They'll be nicely folded and waiting for their owners to return to get them. Or even, um, you wonder if maybe given the high society of all this, they might honestly just be, uh, delivered back to the houses by the end of the night. So there might be staff members that are actually going through the clothes right now and taking them, uh, back over to their houses. But there's going to be some that definitely, by this point, have not been collected yet.
Speaker G: Okay.
Speaker I: Because I got to change out of the hot leaf juice stuff. So I'm going to go try and find a bedroom that's got any sort of clothes that are relatively my size. Try and change into those, and I want to go confront this firebender guy.
Speaker C: Okay, just before you can leave, um, as you're kind of, like, making your way out, uh, one of the hot leaf juice employees kind of starts yelling at you and say, hey, where do you think you're going? Get back here and help.
Speaker I: I am helping. Some of these glasses broke, so I got to go grab a broom. You don't want people stepping on our broken porcelain and blaming us, right?
Speaker C: Oh, jeez. I didn't even notice those therapists been so focused. Yeah, no, that's a good point. That's a good point. Okay. Um, yeah, I don't know where the closet is, but I'm sure if you ask one of the staff members, they.
Speaker A: Can help you out.
Speaker I: Yeah, I'll find it.
Speaker C: No worries. All right, hurry back. We, uh, need all the help we can get right now.
Speaker I: Oh, uh, I believe it. I see all you guys scrubbing stuff. Don't worry. I want nothing more than to scrubs and pops.
Speaker C: Yeah, because it makes Madame Yang happy. He does this little, like, weird ham thing I'm doing, the rock on, but I don't know, he's doing something else. It makes the Madame Yang happy, and.
Speaker I: I just sort of, like, just kind.
Speaker G: Of try to play along.
Speaker I: But it's obvious that I have no idea what the hand sign is. Makes her happy.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker G: I'll be right back.
Speaker C: And as you're walking away, uh, you see Madame Yang come back with the previous employee that she took with her, and they, um, kind of look a little bit out of it. Their eyes, uh, are a little bit, like, wider. Their pupils are a little bit dilated. They walk a little bit stiff, and as soon as she brings them back, they go straight to work. She doesn't even say, like, all right, get back to it, or point at a job and tell them to start doing it. Uh, they just get to it.
Speaker I: Did she drug this man?
Speaker C: No.
Speaker I: Guess that's a question for a doctor.
Speaker C: I am not. Not a Brocktor.
Speaker G: Yeah.
Speaker C: Boys night.
Speaker G: Boys night.
Speaker C: So, um, obviously, as she brings that employee back, she points at another one and takes them off to go talk to them or whatever it is. So you kind of see which direction they're going in, and I don't, uh, know. Where are you headed?
Speaker I: I'm heading the polar opposite direction from them, trying to find just a room with clothes and a mask. All I need.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker C: You very easily are able to find a bedroom with clothes in it. Uh, you go by a couple that have staff members in it that are, like, folding up clothes, and they're like, okay, these belong to so and so and so and so. Um, the kind of idea was that you leave your invitation on the previous clothes. That way they know who they belong.
Speaker A: To and things like that.
Speaker C: So they're getting them ready, but eventually, uh, you kind of figure out, like, oh, they're going room to room. So I'll just go to the next room that they're not at, grab some clothes out of there. So you're able to find some clothes, but you do not find a mask.
Speaker I: When the people lose the game, where do they put their mask? Do they keep them, like, in their pockets, or do they just throw them away?
Speaker C: You see, most people, people hand them off to a staff member. So you wonder if maybe somewhere in the back rooms, uh, where the staff are operating from, there might be an opportunity to figure out where it is.
Speaker A: That they're keeping them.
Speaker I: Um, am I already wearing the new clothes?
Speaker C: That's up to you. Do you want to be wearing them, or do you want to wait?
Speaker I: Yeah, I'm wearing the new clothes.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: I'm going to change into the new clothes.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: And then you are now wearing some very ornate earthbender, uh, kind of high society robes.
Speaker I: So I want to go up to one of these staff members, and I'm going to tell them, m like, hey, uh, I never received a mask, and I'd still like to join in this game if it's not too late. Is that possible?
Speaker C: Oh, dear me. Did you already change into your other clothing?
Speaker I: I did.
Speaker C: Oh, dear me, yes, please follow me. Yes. Come with me quickly. We'll get you masked. Don't let anybody see you. I, uh, don't want you to feel like you've had the game ruined for you.
Speaker I: Absolutely. I will make sure.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: He's got, like, an empty platter. He was, like, handing out or d'oeuvres or whatever, and he has an empty platter. He holds it up, but he's not sure where to hold it up next to you because you're reasonably. Well, uh, you are a reasonably tall guy. We know that. And so, uh, he's trying to cover your face, but then he's like, but also, he's wearing the clothes, so I need to cover the clothes. I'm like, oh, which is more recognizable. And then finally, he gets you into the back rooms.
Speaker G: Oh, my.
Speaker C: Hopefully, nobody will, uh, easily scoop you.
Speaker A: Just quick.
Speaker C: Follow me, and I will get you to one of, uh, the masks. We can find a mask for you.
Speaker I: Thank you. I really appreciate it. Uh, it's honestly my fault. Don't worry about it. I took a little extra time in the bathroom with the misses, if you know what I mean.
Speaker C: Oh, my. Boys night.
Speaker G: Boys night over share.
Speaker I: They won't ask questions.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker C: And he does look very awkward when you say this. So just quickly, uh, rushes you down the hall and takes you to, uh, a room. And inside the room, uh, so any masks that are being brought back in, uh, you kind of wonder if maybe they're like collectibles, because as you look around, um, staff members that are bringing them back in are putting them in very specific places, um, within the. So, uh, the staff member that you're with, he looks at you and he says, feel free to pick any of.
Speaker H: The masks that are in the room.
Speaker C: Except for the one in the center. That, uh, is Mr. Yotaku's. His pride and joy, you might say.
Speaker I: You got it. I will absolutely not even consider touching that one. You have been a great help.
Speaker A: Thank you. So.
Speaker C: Oh, yes, yes. Please let me know if you need anything else. Uh, and he bows his way out of the room very quickly. Bows multiple times as every step back he takes is another bow. And then eventually he's back out.
Speaker I: Okay, so obviously I need to give. So is it like, on a stick, like a masquerade mask, or is it.
Speaker C: And it's inside of a glass case. Okay, but you don't know whether or not the glass case is, like a, uh, locked or.
Speaker I: Do I get anything I might need to Indiana Jones it with, like, true. Uh, I might want to come back for that.
Speaker F: Okay, so where you drop a giant.
Speaker I: Boulder on it.
Speaker C: It is Brock's signature.
Speaker G: Yeah.
Speaker I: Just when in doubt, smash it with a rock.
Speaker F: Brock was cheering for the boulder when he watched that movie.
Speaker C: That's right, man. I really relate to. That's what I want to do when I grow up fighting a young blind girl. The boulder is over his conflicted feelings.
Speaker I: All, um. Right, so in this storage room, is it just masks, or do they just have boxes of masks? And there are other stuff in here.
Speaker C: So this is more like a display room. So it's pretty much all masks. Um, you get the impression that Mr. Yotaku has a thing for masks. And, um, there are a lot of different kinds of masks, too. There, uh, are regular. Kind of traditional masquerade masks. There, um, are masks very similar to the, uh, blue spirit. Mask kind of along those lines. So a lot of spirit masks which have sort, um, of tie strings in the back to hold them to your head rather than having to hold it there, um, are like, kabuki style masks. Anything that you could kind of think of that has kind of like a, uh, Chinese, Japanese, uh, even like, Korean kind of a tone to it in our world, uh, you could probably find a version of it here in, uh, this room.
Speaker I: Okay, so I want to grab a mask that can tie in the back so I don't have to hold it.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker I: Because if I'm confronting this guy, I don't want to have the disadvantage of only having one hand.
Speaker C: Yeah, I've never really understood that at masquerade balls. I'm like, you guys are going to dance. You guys are going to do, like, grab your drinks and stuff, and you're going to hold a little stick mask the whole time.
Speaker I: Yeah, I never understood that. So I'm going to go grab a mask. Let's go with the blue spirit mask.
Speaker C: That's very cool.
Speaker I: Calling it classic.
Speaker C: Well, nice fallback.
Speaker I: It might clash with the green of my Earthbenders. Higher. So I don't want to stick out like that because, uh, could be spelled bad news because rich people love to match colors and such.
Speaker A: I see.
Speaker I: So I'm going to grab just a regular black and white kabuki mask.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: That ties in the back. I'm going to remember where this room is because I really want to grab that mask, that other mask. Um, and I want to go just back the way I came, but I want to make sure that, um, the servant is out of the way. I want to make sure that I'm not going to run into anybody until I hit the floor where everybody's ah at.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: And I go, just cross the floor, and I go and try and confront that firebender.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: I don't know why I'm gesturing.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Um, yeah, I mean, you walk out of the room, and another key point is any staff members that you do see that are anywhere in the area, they just very quickly bow. They're like, oh, if you need anything, please let us know. Kind of a thing. Nobody's accusing you of anything or anything. They don't assume anything. Um, they get nervous at the idea that you're back here because they're like, oh, man, we must have messed up. Is he angry? Customer coming back here to be like, oh, man, that banana I ate earlier was a little off or something. Um, so they're glad that, honestly, you walking past them is like, oh. Uh, so, yep, you easily make it back out onto the floor. Uh, as you do, you look over to the hot leaf juice area, and you see, uh, Madame Yang has brought back the employee that she took as you were leaving. Uh, this one also has kind of that very wide eyed, kind of off. Like, if you were to wave your hand in front of them, they might not react. Uh, just seems OD, uh, goes back to work. She's about to call over the next one when all of a sudden an individual runs inside and, uh, starts whispering in her ear something that obviously you can't hear.
Speaker I: Yeah. Got a feeling. She's, like, hypnotizing these mans or drugging them or a. There is no war in Boston.
Speaker A: Judy.
Speaker C: My name is Judy.
Speaker I: Can I ask them if their names are Judy? They don't recognize me, so I could go ask them their names. No, I got to stay focused.
Speaker A: So many possibilities.
Speaker I: WE must stay focused. Um, so this firebender guy, can you give me a brief description? I, uh, was not here with the, uh.
Speaker C: No, that's fine. I mean, there wasn't really much description.
Speaker G: I guess, before either.
Speaker A: That's my bad.
Speaker C: Um, so he is wearing, uh, whereas most of the employees are wearing kind of like, a pink, uh, and related tone outfits for the hot leaf juice with the logo on it and stuff like that. Um, he is actually just in a very simple, uh, robe that features kind of, like, red tone colors. So it's, like, kind of adjacent, but not directly, like, that kind of pink that all the other ones have.
Speaker I: So he's a hot leaf juice.
Speaker C: Floyd, you assume that he must be if he's, like, whispering to Madame Yang, but he doesn't have any insignia on him to suggest that he is.
Speaker I: All right, so I'm going to go up to the, uh, blissful, uh, brew table.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: I'm going to.
Speaker C: Oh, man.
Speaker G: See, if we had tied this in.
Speaker C: Just right, you would have walked up to the blissful brew, and Bill would have leaned forward and said, hey, you want to do me a favor?
Speaker I: I still can.
Speaker G: Winks.
Speaker I: So I'm going to go up to the blissful brew, grab two tea cups.
Speaker C: I'm going, uh, to kind of wink at them just to sort of, like.
Speaker G: There'S a lot of winks going on.
Speaker I: The blissful brew, and I'm going to walk over to the guy.
Speaker C: Do you wink at either of them in particular?
Speaker I: I wink at both of them at the same time. They mistake it just for blink at them.
Speaker C: I just blinked.
Speaker F: Did you see that guy give us a weird blink.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker G: Why do you just steal our teacups? What do you even ask? He just walked up and walked away with them.
Speaker F: Uh, you think he knows they didn't even have tea in them?
Speaker G: Well, no. The audacity of these rich people. Not you. And he looks at the person standing in front of, uh, not you. You see that guy?
Speaker I: Well, now I feel stupid.
Speaker G: Well, why are they on the table.
Speaker C: If they're going to be empty cups?
Speaker G: We're preparing.
Speaker I: So I go back and I grab cups.
Speaker C: Always return.
Speaker I: Thank you, Guao Han. Um, where.
Speaker C: He knows your name.
Speaker I: Guys, it's me, Brock.
Speaker G: I know Brock.
Speaker I: I'm going to go talk to mans over there that's giving us some weird looks. Just be prepared if something goes down. Don't tell Mr. Okarov. So I go and I grab.
Speaker G: Standing right there.
Speaker I: Uh, just don't worry about it.
Speaker G: Covering his ears.
Speaker F: Sorry. He's absorbed in this crap.
Speaker G: Sorry. No mixes and stuff.
Speaker I: So I grab two full teacups. I walk over, saunter, if you will, to this man. I hand him one of the teacups. I'm like, yeah, it's a good party going on out in there. So why, uh, are you just chilling out here? Why don't you go inside and join the fun, the festivities?
Speaker C: So this guy turns to you, and he says, oh, yes. My name is Timothy.
Speaker I: Like, the least intimidating.
Speaker C: My name is Timothy. It's very nice to meet you.
Speaker A: Uh, may I ask.
Speaker C: Of course. I can't ask who you are. Who, uh, you are. My apologies, of course.
Speaker I: Of course. I've seen you out here. You haven't really been mingling amongst the rest of us. Uh, what's been up out here? What's so exciting out here?
Speaker C: Oh, you must forgive me. Call me a tenant soul. I don't always have as much need or initiative to socialize with people. Not that I'm not enjoying our conversation. You have me intrigued. I'm not from around here. I'm actually from basing Se.
Speaker I: The big city.
Speaker C: Yes, the very same.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker I: Well, you know, as I heard, that one, uh, of my favorite tea shops from my hometown is here. I'm in town visiting, so. My hometown. Visiting. Uh, blissful brew. I've always loved their tea. And, uh, I saw you looking over at their stand over there, and, uh, thought maybe you were a little too shy or timid to go up and get some. So I went ahead and I brought you some of my favorite tea in the Earth kingdom.
Speaker C: And he looks at the tea, and he says, um, well, thank you.
Speaker I: Of course.
Speaker C: And he takes the teacup, and, uh, he goes in, uh, for a sip. And he takes a sip. Yes.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Very good.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker I: I'm glad you enjoy it.
Speaker C: Um, I have a feeling you've got.
Speaker I: To be here for some reason, even if you're not, uh, the most social soul. So if you're not the most social and that's not your reason for being.
Speaker C: Here, uh, what brings you over to this party?
Speaker A: Oh, well, you might say that I.
Speaker C: Was somebody's plus one.
Speaker I: And, uh, where are they at? I haven't really seen you interacting with too many people, tier.
Speaker C: Oh, well, it feels like you've been watching me now.
Speaker G: No, not at all.
Speaker I: Well, I mean, one man standing outside by himself is a little hard to miss.
Speaker C: Wow. The irony that, uh, a person doesn't really like socializing, yet he ends up standing out more than anyone else, I suppose.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker I: If you want to blend in, you really got to get up in there.
Speaker C: You make a fair point.
Speaker A: You make a fair point. Yes.
Speaker C: No, I am here on behest of, uh, Yang. Uh, as I said, I'm a close friend. One might say her plus one to the party. Okay. Not like that, of course. No romantic, uh, relations, I assure you. Just strictly botanic. Strictly botanic. I see.
Speaker I: Well, uh, uh, I best leave you here. Otherwise, uh, you might think I'm trying to interrogate you or something. You enjoy your night?
Speaker C: Yes, of course. And you as well.
Speaker I: So, uh, with that new information, I go back over, back over to the blissful brew, drop off my teacups, and I'm talking to Guao Han and, uh, just guao Han, honestly. Because if I talk to both of them, uh, then it might look a little spicy to Mr. Okeron's, like, yeah, that man over there is with Madame, uh, Yang. Have you seen him do anything but stand there all.
Speaker A: Guy?
Speaker F: Oh, yeah. Bill was giving him some looks earlier.
Speaker I: But do you think we got know.
Speaker F: Just take him out, or what do.
Speaker I: You want to do?
Speaker F: Mean, we're pretty packed right now. We got customers lined up here. Well, um, partygoers.
Speaker G: Yeah.
Speaker F: But what do you think we should do?
Speaker I: If we can get some more information out of him, we can know.
Speaker A: What.
Speaker I: He'S trying to do, because he's just standing out there on his own. There's no reason for him to be standing there if he's with Madame Yang, he could be helping her out.
Speaker A: Maybe.
Speaker F: He's got to be up to something. We could lure him in by leaving a seeming opening in our awareness. What do you suggest well, maybe he's trying to even the score with what you guys have been doing over there.
Speaker I: But he wouldn't know it was us because we've been. WeLl, he might. Has Mika been found out?
Speaker C: Um, you wouldn't know. You haven't seen Mika in quite a while, actually.
Speaker F: Regardless of who's doing it, they just know they got to see how successful we're doing over here. They got to not like that.
Speaker I: True.
Speaker F: Do you think if he's going to try something, I think we should lure him into it.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker F: So he strikes where he think we're most vulnerable. But, uh, actually, we'll be waiting for.
Speaker C: I'm going to need a. Sure, sure. Um, so are you just sticking around by them while you think if I.
Speaker I: Walk around and mingle, there's a chance? Well, Madame Yang wouldn't know it was me because I got a mask and a new disguise.
Speaker A: Mhm.
Speaker I: Can I follow? I'm going to try to nonchalantly follow Madame Yang if she's pulling off those people to the side.
Speaker A: Perfect.
Speaker I: And um, yeah, I'm going to try and try and follow her and see where she's taking them.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: One of the, uh, most fearful things that a DM can ever say to you, which is, I was hoping you would do that. But before we cut over to that, we'll jump over. As you walk, uh, away, we'll cut over to Bill and Guao. Um, I want you guys, and I know this is kind of more of a sort of d d style move to do this, but I want you guys to both roll. Or, I mean, one of you can help and one of you can roll. It's up to you guys, um, for an assess the situation. Uh, something. As you guys are getting things done, something just feels off. Your spider sense is tingling. Uh, something just doesn't seem right. Mr. Okran is super focused, making sure everything is man. You guys notice something's not right? Nice.
Speaker F: I got an eleven.
Speaker A: Nice.
Speaker G: I got a two.
Speaker F: Nice.
Speaker C: All right.
Speaker G: I'm very distracted by these rich people. They're badgering me with orders right now.
Speaker I: You are lost in the sauce.
Speaker C: That and the fact that, um, you look a little intently at each one as they pass by because you really want to see who else is winking at you and why.
Speaker G: And who else is going to just steal our cups. Also that because now it's happened once already. That's right. How many other times has it happened without paying attention?
Speaker C: Running off with your cups. Well, it's funny that you say that. So. Wow. You get to ask a question from the list of questions for a sister. Actually, I think you get because you got an eleven. Cool. And you get a plus one ongoing, uh, when acting on the answer to these questions. So you'll get a plus one to a role relating to doing something about whatever the answer question is. So the questions that you have the option to ask me are what here can I use to blank who or what is the biggest threat? What should I be on the lookout for? What's the best way out in or through and who or what is in the greatest danger? And I feel like there's a few of these questions that, ah, the answer is probably going to end up being the same, um, but in a good way.
Speaker F: What should I be on the lookout for?
Speaker C: Okay, perfect. So you should be on the lookout for some sketchy individuals who might be trying to, at this very moment, steal your tea ingredients from right out of the hand cart. And sure enough, as this kind of like inkling in your mind of, uh, I feel like we need to keep an eye on things and make sure nothing's know taken from us, something in your mind clicks. You think, wait a minute, if we destroy the ingredients or some of the ingredients from hot leaf juice and they can't get it from elsewhere, because you remember, Mika came back and she said she destroyed half the list and all this other stuff and you're like, where else could they get the ingredients from? Um, yeah, exactly. Oh, probably from you guys. And as you turn around, you see two individuals wearing hot leaf juice outfits that, uh, look like they are rummaging through your hand cart.
Speaker F: Who is the biggest threat?
Speaker C: These guys. One of them is pulling a box of ingredients out at this very moment and you think all it would take for them is to get too far away from you, that you can't chase them. Um, or even just the idea of, like, if they ran into the grouping in the party, um, just like the various partygoers, you might lose them in the crowds and that would obviously be a problem.
Speaker F: Okay. Uh, so we have partygoers are still actively lining up here.
Speaker A: True.
Speaker C: Yes.
Speaker F: Uh, I'm going to take a couple cups of tea and pretend to trip and throw it on the guy.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Hot tea coming at him.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: Um.
Speaker C: Man, this is why I almost feel like this would jump us into, uh, a combat situation.
Speaker I: Tigma Quellhan, show this gloss.
Speaker C: Sure.
Speaker F: I would also be like, Bill, our ingredients. Look out.
Speaker G: Good thing he said look out because Bill would have been like, yeah, our ingredients. Yeah.
Speaker F: Nice. They're pretty solid.
Speaker G: People are loving them. Um, when Bill hears that, he would immediately, uh, turn around, bought these guys, these, uh, guys rummaging through our cart, and he would immediately flick up his, uh, bow stack, which he's had on his.
Speaker C: That's right.
Speaker G: Entire time.
Speaker C: And you also had a plus one. You were prepared.
Speaker G: I was prepared.
Speaker C: This, you were technically prepared for other guy, but I would say that you were prepared.
Speaker G: I never took it off my foot.
Speaker C: Right. You were prepared for the concept that somebody might try to sabotage. That's what I'm going to say. So, technically, both of you have plus one, and we are going to call this an encounter. We're going to call this a combat situation.
Speaker A: Kill them.
Speaker C: So you guys will each be picking a combat approach to take this turn, as will they, to make them regret touching our teeth. Kill them dead.
Speaker I: Kill them dead.
Speaker G: I don't think that's a normal term in, uh, Avatar, but, hey, I only watch the movie.
Speaker C: You just love to remind us.
Speaker G: Focus, people.
Speaker C: All right, so we're in an encounter. What would you guys like to do? What is your combat approach going to be? Are you going to defend a maneuver? Are you going to advance an attack? Are you going to evade and observe?
Speaker G: Defend and maneuver?
Speaker C: You're going to defend and maneuver.
Speaker F: Okay, I'm going to advance an attack.
Speaker C: Yeah. We're on this legendary teacup attack. Well, if that is the case, then rolling with focus.
Speaker G: If you don't know anything about Bill, he is not the offensive fighter. He is a defensive fighter. He is called the guardian for a reason.
Speaker C: Uh, that's true. Uh, and then, Guao, since you're doing an advanced attack, you will roll with passion.
Speaker G: Plus, of course, well, ten.
Speaker I: Okay, you get a plus three.
Speaker G: Yes, I do get a seven.
Speaker A: Seven. Okay.
Speaker G: All right, so my son gets plus three.
Speaker C: We will start with Bill. Uh, you rolled a ten, so that means you have a number of options, but you get to choose, uh, one.
Speaker G: One from the list.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker C: So mark one, fatigue to use a learned technique. Use one practiced technique, or use two basic or M mastered techniques.
Speaker G: Um, it says use two basic or mastered. Could I use one of each?
Speaker A: Sure. Okay.
Speaker G: Because I want to use divert. Um, and then I want to use retaliate because they combo together. Divert is the special fighting technique for the guardian.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: And it says, in this case, it's kind of a little word. It says, step into the way of blows intended for allies. I want to say the ally is the cart.
Speaker A: Oh, okay.
Speaker G: Um, and when it says, when an ally within reach, within the cart suffers a blow. This exchange, which I assume is them.
Speaker C: Taking stuff out of the cart.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker G: You can suffer it for them.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: I basically can just step in the.
Speaker C: Way of the cart.
Speaker G: Just basically put my body between them and the cart.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker G: And then I'm going to use retaliate. And retaliate is steal yourself for the blows. Each time a foe inflicts fatigue, a condition, or shifts your balance, I inflict one back at them in return.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: And it says, if I use retaliate along with my divert, I deal an additional fatigue. So no matter how much fatigue they do at me, they take back plus one.
Speaker C: Okay, got it. All right. Uh, so what you do is, uh, Bill, you nimbly having your staff prepared at your feet, you kick it up, catch it in the air, and immediately start to sprint over towards the wagon, probably doing some acrobatics in the air as you kind of jump and kind of catapult forward with your bow staff, and then maybe flip in the air as you do and land in front of the cart, blocking them from access to grabbing any more items and preparing yourself for, uh, them to make Any sort of attempts to do so. Um, they also chose to defend a maneuver. Uh, theirs was to seize a position, and their plan is to escape the scene, uh, with the two boxes, or at least like, a box and maybe like, a crate or something, a small crate that they each have in their hands. Uh, but any foe engaged with them can mark one fatigue to block this technique and stop them from getting away.
Speaker I: Does that go for either of them?
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker G: I'll do that.
Speaker A: Huh. Okay.
Speaker C: Makes sense. Since you're up there, you're like, oh, bending the card.
Speaker G: That includes the content.
Speaker C: We'll hand it back. All right, perfect. All right. And then we will hop over to Guao. Guao, what are you doing with your advance and attack? You said you rolled a seven, so.
Speaker A: You get to choose one.
Speaker F: So I'm going to strike. Strike, you steamy tea. Strike.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: That's right. Oh, yeah, because you're spilling tea on them.
Speaker G: That's right.
Speaker F: How do you brew.
Speaker C: And you fling hot, scalding tea onto them? Uh, which hits them on, uh, probably the hands where they're holding, uh, these crates, or these boxes go, and they scream as they take.
Speaker G: I do want to add that I find it funny that Guohan said he was acting like he was tripping and spilled the tea, but then still managed.
Speaker C: To say a catchphrase, actually.
Speaker G: He's like, that's how he greets customers. He goes, how do you brew.
Speaker C: Sitting.
Speaker G: On that quip for years.
Speaker C: They keep making him go into the back and wash dishes. He's never gotten to use it. All right, I'm going to mark them m as stunned. Uh, yeah, exactly. I'm going to mark them as stunned. So they are caught off guard. They can't act or respond for a few seconds until they steady themselves. Given that they just had hot tea spilled on them, I think that fits.
Speaker G: And then bill trips them.
Speaker C: Correct.
Speaker G: Oh, boy. They've been hit with the one two combo, hot tea and a sweep to the legs.
Speaker C: All right, so with these guys stunned and such, you guys have the option you can continue to maintain the exchange, or we can kind of drop it for the moment. If you guys wanted to do some, uh, more, like, handle this more of a role play direction, what would you like to do? Curbstop them.
Speaker G: Not, um, that option. Did they drop the.
Speaker C: I would say that they did drop the boxes that they were holding. Given that they're surprised by both of you and guao kind of spilled hot tea on their hands, I would assume that they were probably wearing clothing. So really, the tea really only scalded them where they didn't have clothing on, which would be their. Like, they didn't have gloves or anything. So makes sense that they drop it.
Speaker G: So they're both on the ground.
Speaker C: I wouldn't say they're necessarily on the ground, but they're startled and they're stunned. So they're not, like, running away at the moment. They're kind of baffled that you guys would, uh, just come out of nowhere at them.
Speaker G: Can Bill's just going to, um, point his staff at them and take a stance, like, above the T. He's going to just say, back off, or else you're going to get a stick to the head.
Speaker C: And, uh, uh, you notice that their eyes are fairly wide and their pupils are kind of dilated. And they both say at the same time, almost eerily, Madame Yang wants these, and what Madame Yang wants, Madame Yang gets.
Speaker G: And then Bill's gonna kind of step in soy forward.
Speaker C: Like, he's basically just push back.
Speaker G: His goal is to, uh, push them away from the T, and then he's gonna, like, kind of, like, slide them with his feet over the Quohan. Put these back in the car.
Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, they're not aggressive. They're not, like, leaping down to grab it or anything like that. They just kind of seem like they're not really sure what to do right now. They've been caught. Um, but they also seem a little bit out of it. And they also kind of have this, I don't really want to leave without it, kind of a look in their eyes.
Speaker G: Look, I don't want to hurt you, but we're running a business here and we need that tea. And look, we got nice customers waiting. We don't need to cause trouble. Now, go on, get out of here.
Speaker F: Beat it, bozos.
Speaker C: I'll have you guys, uh, here. Uh, Bill, I'm going to have you roll a plead, but, um, gwowth, you're there with him, you can help him roll. Oh, well, actually, hold on.
Speaker G: So I.
Speaker F: Can mark a fatigue to give them.
Speaker C: A plus one if you'd like to.
Speaker G: Oh, that's the thing. Yeah, after the rule.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker G: Why did I plead and not intimidate?
Speaker C: Um, I mean, I'll take either one, I suppose.
Speaker G: Oh, well, if it's an intimidate, that's if I got it.
Speaker C: I got seven.
Speaker G: You wouldn't need the fatigue.
Speaker A: Okay. All right.
Speaker C: So you did intimidate you. Roll the seven. All right. They're going to give in with a few stipulations. They're going to start backing away. And their stipulation is just simply, Adam Yang will not be happy about this.
Speaker G: Uh, I say back away. Bill Dor is going to step forward again. He's going to just put his staff down by side. He's going to say, well, Bill door ain't too happy about this either.
Speaker C: Bill door got like a Southern.
Speaker G: No, I wasn't trying to go Southern. No, Bill door ain't happy about what you two are doing here. Now gone.
Speaker A: Scram.
Speaker C: I'm glad Bill Dore is not Larry the cable guy.
Speaker G: Appreciate. Same here.
Speaker A: All right.
Speaker C: And, uh, so, yes, they back away. And then eventually they actually turn around after almost bumping into, uh, partygoer, uh, as they were walking backwards. They turn around and they walk forward the rest of the way back into the mansion. All right.
Speaker G: And build, or turns around. Um, is Gua Han loading?
Speaker F: Yeah, I'm picking up the stuff and putting it back where it belongs, restorting it. I turn to the other people in lime. All right, what do you want?
Speaker G: Okay, calm down.
Speaker A: Um.
Speaker C: Excuse me.
Speaker G: Um, let's get back to work. Come on. And then Bill's going to walk back up to the, uh, table, and he's going to lay his bow staff back underneath. He's going to wipe, uh, off the front of his, like, dust off the front of his vest and straighten it and his tie, and he's going to.
Speaker C: Go, sorry for the giving, uh, you.
Speaker G: Quite a show, uh, back there, but, uh, got to defend the business. And he grabs his notepad and goes, may I take your order?
Speaker C: And the woman standing in front of you winks and says again, okay, I'll take something hot. And spilled all over me.
Speaker I: I'm sad I missed out on that lady.
Speaker C: Hot.
Speaker G: And spilled all over. And he goes, our tea is quite hot. It may burn you.
Speaker C: It's like those weird alcoholic drink names. Like, what was the one Emily ordered the other day? Sand in your shorts, sex on the beach, and sex on the beach.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker C: So it's like, hot.
Speaker G: I'm glad she didn't order one of the sex on the beach.
Speaker C: Cutting back over to brock, so you manage to follow Madam Yang and this employee to this room. It's kind of like a farther into the back. Whatever. Um, there are two hot leaf juice employees that seem to be standing outside of the room. Uh, but these guys kind of look like the guy that you confronted earlier. You assume they're hot leaf juice employees because they're waiting for her, but they're not wearing any necessarily, like, insignia or anything like that. So there's one on each side of the door. As soon as she brings that employee over there and they go inside, these two kind of go in with her and then close the door behind them.
Speaker I: Okay. Um, is this one particular room the only one in this particular hallway, or are there multiple rooms, like, in the immediate area?
Speaker C: There are some other rooms in the area.
Speaker I: All right, I'm going to try and get as close as I can to that one room.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: So I'm going to go, um, is it like a bedroom, or is this lead down another hallway that they're going in?
Speaker C: Oh, uh, it's another bedroom.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker I: Okay, so I'm going to go down this hall, and I'm going to try and get into one of the bedrooms that's right next door.
Speaker C: Adjacent. Adjacent, sure.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Yeah. You're able to do that.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: So, no, I don't got to confront anybody about it?
Speaker A: No.
Speaker C: You notice that, uh, there's no clothing yet on the bed, so you assume the staff probably already grabbed the clothes that were in here and they took them out. This is pretty much just an open bedroom. Also, nobody's in there for any other reason.
Speaker I: Okay. So I go into this bedroom, and I put my ear up to the wall.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker I: To try and listen in on what's going on in the other room.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Uh, I'm going to have you roll, uh, rely on your skills and training, and that will be focus.
Speaker I: So I get no additional focus.
Speaker A: Ten. Nice.
Speaker C: Okay, perfect. So you do it.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker C: You successfully are able to hear everything that goes on in this room. Uh, so as you're listening, you can hear Madame Yang through the wall. You hear, like, some shuffling around as this person has sat down on the chair or whatever the case. Uh, you hear her ask, what is.
Speaker E: The finest tea in the land?
Speaker C: And the employee that she has sitting in there responds, the tea that grows on Madame Yang's trees. One of those things you say out loud, and you're like, wow, that sounds weird.
Speaker G: You pre wrote that. That's what I was. Oh, boy. You've pre written stuff out loud.
Speaker C: I needed it to sound cryptic. That sounded somewhat cryptic and somewhat something else suggestive.
Speaker I: Guys.
Speaker C: Nice. Um, she, uh, said. She said, very good.
Speaker E: Now get back out there and do what I've hired you to do.
Speaker C: And then, um, you hear that there's a little bit of shuffling, and then the door opens, and, uh, they head back out.
Speaker I: Do all of them leave, or do those other two still stand guard?
Speaker C: The other two still stand guard?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker I: Are these rooms, what are the walls made out of here? Are they made of, like, are they the paper walls? Or are we talking, like, concrete, wooden, um, rock? What's the interior looking like in here?
Speaker C: I would say that they are stone walls.
Speaker F: Stone walls.
Speaker C: Well, I'll give you that.
Speaker I: Little old me here. The earthbender.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker I: Uh, present. I will bend a small broccoli. Well, not, uh, small, but a broccoli sized doorway down into the ground. And I want to go through there into the other room, bring the wall back up, and I want to investigate what's going on in this other room.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Yeah, you're able to do that. Um, you enter into the room, and you see, uh, it's a very simple room. It seems like all the furniture, for the most part, has actually been moved out of the way to the edges of the room, uh, kind of against the wall, except for one chair in the middle, and then one chair across from it, kind of facing each other. Um, and right in between this, uh, if you look up on the ceiling, there's a large, a small chandelier that's hanging there. And then from the chandelier, there's a sort of long gold chain with a elongated diamond shaped green stone on it, and it kind of just sways back and forth ever so slightly.
Speaker I: Okay, so from this, I'm judging that Madame Yang is, in fact, hypnotizing her employees. Is it obvious to tell which Chair Madame Yang is in and which chair the employees go in.
Speaker C: Yeah, the chair that you assume the employees go in, uh, looks to be set a little bit closer to where the pendulum is swinging. The other one is set a little bit further back.
Speaker I: Okay, so what I'm going to do, what are the floors made out of first? Are they also stone?
Speaker C: They'd also be stone, yeah.
Speaker I: All right, this is going to be a stretch. What m we're going to do, I'm going to stand with my back, so, facing the wall. I'm m standing with my back to the chair, my arms on either side, and I'm going to earth bend two straight lines in front of me.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: I'm going to use them as measuring points into the next room. I make another broccoli sized wall, hole in the wall. And then I go back in and I wait for Madame Yang to bring in another employee.
Speaker C: Okay, the two lines that you're making. Um, so hold on. Explain that to me.
Speaker I: So do you want me to explain the full plan or just like.
Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'm not here as a DM trying to stump you or I'm not going to met a game or anything like that. So, yeah, feel free. Um, let me think as far as, like, I don't know. I kind of want it to play out. Let's let it play out for the audience.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: So I make two very small, like, very small thin lines across the floor.
Speaker C: Oh, okay.
Speaker I: Unless you're looking directly at it, it's not going to be noticeable.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: But the lines go through. But essentially, yeah, through the wall into the other room where I'm going to be. I make a broccoli door. I go through into the other room again and back. And I put the door back where it was.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: So it's as if you were never There and you're back in the bedroom that's next door. And then you've got these lines that, are they impressed or they are pressed?
Speaker I: Very slightly impressed.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: But if it's a stone floor, it's.
Speaker C: Going to just look like it's going to.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker C: Nobody really. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: And they go into the next room where you're.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: Okay, sounds good. Um, all right. And then you wait for maybe another five minutes or so. And then, sure enough, uh, you hear the door on the other side open again. Um, Madame Yang steps in, and you start to hear a little bit of shuffling as, uh, an employee and her two sort of specialty subordinates, uh, step into the room. They sit, the employee down on the chair, they, uh, start going about their questioning.
Speaker I: Okay. So using those two lines that I use to measure, I know exactly how large Madame, um, Yang's chair is, and I would like to use my Earth sinking ability to trap her underground.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: I would mark two fatigue.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: All right.
Speaker I: To trap an enemy in the earth, and they become trapped.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: So you're kind of like. It's like a quicksand kind of a thing where you pull them.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker I: But it's like a pit.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker I: So I would push her down and she'd be in a pit.
Speaker A: Sure. Okay.
Speaker I: So do I have to roll or.
Speaker C: Just mark two fatigue? I think you just mark two fatigue. I mean, all things considered, it would technically be a combat move, but we're not in combat, and she wouldn't know to react. So I'm going to say just, yeah, go with the stipulations of what it costs you.
Speaker I: That lady be underground.
Speaker C: All right. So, yes, you, uh, do your maneuvering, and suddenly you hear sort of a crash esque kind of more just like an Earth against Earth, stone against stone sliding sound, and suddenly you hear. And with that, we're going to call it a night.
Speaker G: Boys night.
Speaker H: Boys night.
Speaker B: Thank you so much for listening to our show. Of course, don't forget to follow or subscribe to our podcast through whatever podcast cast 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, uh, 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 Papadra. Background Art by Konichi Music by Joe Tims Two, one, five. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see.
Speaker C: You on the next episode.
Speaker A: Bye.