Eternal Lies 10: Cthroughhlu The Looking Glass

0:00 Daniel's Dread Tales is a show for grown-ups. It may contain adult language and adult themes. Please check the episode description for content warnings. Last time on Eternal Lives, with a plan in place regarding the seemingly untouchable Mr. Donovan, our investigators went about untangling their last few leads, discovering a yacht that stopped short of being a pleasure craft and two young boys in intensive care. One being the scion of the Donovan house and the other an involuntary test subject for experimental treatments incorporating the insipid nectar. Armed with this new knowledge, the investigators chanced a test run with Doctor Morgan's new found power in the relative safety of the hotel before retiring with a cult books in hand, discovering the wretched roots of the cult may extend deeper into history than they ever would have dared to guests.

0:56 The die is cast. The pact is sealed. May God have mercy on our souls. It's Daniels Dread Tails. I'm your game master, Daniel Fernandez. He. Him. I'm Damien eBay. I'll be playing. Reginald Gilbert I'm Nathan and I am playing JB Falk, a writer. And Russell, they them. And I'll be playing Colin King, Private Eye. I'm Renee. She, they and I will be playing Doctor K Morgan Sheehar.

1:41 I believe the plan was to kidnap someone, yes. Yeah, yeah. That's great. All the things that we had been talking about. Nobody even tried the. Real. We're we're kind of loopy here, So OK, everybody. So you're going to kidnap this guy, right? Let's go. Hell yeah. No. So you guys wake up the next day after a day of or a night of magic. All right, what are we going to do today, gang? Oh, we got those creepy messages last night. That was fun. Oh yeah, Oh yeah, that too. Could you remind me please? I honestly don't remember.

2:22 I told you what they said, but I don't know if your characters open them yet. Oh gosh, I forget the exact wording that I used. That's OK episode. I have it written down OK. We're doing so good. OK. Beware, you meddle in things you do not understand and put your soul in jeopardy. And they were signed with a cross. All righty. Colin tosses this letter aside and says, Well, tell me something I don't know. Yeah, nothing we can do with that. So do you go to your morning breakfast? Oh yeah, Reggie's already down there and waiting for everybody else when they arrive. After waking up and looking at the message, OK just sits in the bed for what feels like a long time, just sort of staring at her hands.

3:15 I'm wondering at them just this way and that, as if trying to come to terms with this newfound power before getting dressed and going down. Kellen does a sit up. A Sit up. Yeah, considers going back to bed. And what about JBJB? Is going to get some breakfast. All right. I will note that, Kay, while you are sitting there looking at your hands, you do probably glance up at one point and see the mirror just sitting there with the stuff that you wrote on it in lipstick. Yes, that's that's kind of part of it. I feel like I noticed the mirror 1st and then sort of got caught up in the reverie.

4:06 Yeah. Do you start out looking at your hands in person and then realize that you're looking at them in the mirror instead? There, there's quite a bit going through Kay's head right now, probably something along the lines of the first philosophers felt once humans finally started to get smart enough to start thinking about themselves and our place in the universe. It's just. All downhill from there. Yeah, it all went downhill from there. Yeah, 'cause this is Kay's like, first experience with eldritch horror. A mouth knob nobbled on her. Well, I mean the the. This. This whole situation. Yes, yes, but. Being numbed by fuck mouth is a little bit different. Than don't be crass, nobbled.

4:56 I'm not quite sure what the word novel even means. It's just the word that I used that sounds like a chewing. Is it the one where the K is silent? Never mind. So I'm just going to say that it's a little bit different than actually doing the impossible yourself. That makes sense. As you make your way to the, I assume you've just sort of got a regular, you're starting to become a little bit of regulars at the restaurant across the street from the hotel. Yeah, Kearns is also down there as well. Unless you guys are going somewhere else maybe. But you know. Becoming regulars makes it easier to identify us. Yeah, is there, is there a Tim Horton's somewhere? There is not a Tim horton's.

5:44 This is not Canada, this is Malta. You cannot get Timbits or whatever else happens at Tim horton's. I don't know. I'm American. Mostly timbits and a double double. Kind of disappointing. Ice caps in the summer, yeah. They don't even have walnut crunches anymore. Do they still have ice caps? I haven't been. Yeah. OK, Yeah. Welcome to Canada, bitch. Maybe you go somewhere else? Be a real power move to go to the cafe that Montgomery goes to in the mornings. You could if you really wanted. To that might be an idea.

6:26 I was actually thinking the exact same thing. Should we dare we? I can't imagine something less interesting would happen if we did. Let's fucking go. All right, he's not there when you arrive. You're up a little earlier than he is, but that's. Fine. Yeah, Kurds is with you as well, and it's time to make your plans for the day. Oh, we've. Got one, Kearns. When he arrives, he looks like he has not been sleeping. Circles under his eyes that. Sort of thing. All right. Once everybody gathers Reggie's going to speak up, you guys get a creepy ass note under your door too.

7:13 Yeah, I already tossed it. The meddling into things we don't understand. Yeah, that's about the long and the short of it. Yeah, that's the one. Who do you think it might be from? The Pope. Curtin says wait, the Pope's involved? I no I. We can't cross anyone off the list, just get currents. Ignore him. I'm no Papist. I don't I don't know about the we've. Been perusing some choice volumes. OK, I'm a good God fearing Methodist. I have a feeling this might have something to do with the Knights of Malta, you know, the people who created this place. Yeah, but they're not really around anymore, are they?

7:56 What do I know about the Knights of Malta? This is a Cthulhu game, of course they're around. Somewhere I'm just saying they're not anymore. They're not. They're not around. I don't know. You guys are making crazy jumps of logic. Yeah, it's almost like we're playing a fucking Cthulhu game. We're. Characters in a Cthulhu game. Insanity need not apply. Also, as established, all of us are like loopy as hell right now so. Yes. Speaking of which, hey Kearns, you having terrific dreams? Yeah, I guess so. It's fine. I guess just hearing you guys talk about all that stuff, it really, really, you know, I think it just kind of skewed me out a little bit. It's it's nothing.

8:41 I make a mental note to talk to him later. Hey turns, I, I know this is probably something that's not comfortable for you, but considering everything that's going on, do you think you could let us know what what you've seen? And I'm going to try and go with reassurance. You know what, I think he will go for that. I think he will say it's, it's weird. I was dreaming and I saw doctor, doctor Morgan and they were in a forest, a a dark forest when they they were running and in the ground and the underbrush and everything it was covered with, with blood and like something sticky like like honey.

9:40 She, she was, you were bleeding from a like a gash on your arm and you were chasing this wolf or some sort of beast at first. Then, then the wolf was chasing you. And then you came through the woods. You're all crazed and mad and bloody and you ran up to you with a knife or a machete or something and you started shopping me to pieces and that, that's when I woke up. So yeah, it wasn't. Great.

10:23 Kay looks horrified at this, and I think in a, in an uncharacteristic for her impulse, she takes his hand. And I'm, I'm sorry, I, I mean, obviously I, you know, I wouldn't. Yeah, no, I know. It's just a, it's just a dream. Just a just a dream. Let's get this. Let's get this done. Yes, yes. So. Mechanical question for the GM. Yeah. Considering I have points in outdoorsmen, would you say it would be feasible that Reginald would know about herbs that could like help with sleep and stuff like that?

11:15 Maybe. Like natural, like natural, like bulky remedies, remedies type. This would be more of a medicine thing. OK. So I have a there's whether it works on them or not. I, I have kind of a way I'm going with this and I will roll preparedness for this if you would like, but. What are you trying to have? Reginald is going to open up his jacket and pull out a slightly nicer than normal flask. It has some like silver filigree on it and going to pass it over to Kearns. Drink some of this tonight before bed. It's a little something that I came up with, essentially some like vodka that's been like infused with wild chamomile. It does make a lot of sense that Reginald of all people would have a nightmare repellent slash sleep aid. You could have that, You could have that. Yeah.

12:16 I think that will help with his situation for now, but it might continue to worsen. But yeah, that's a. Well, I hope we won't be in Malta for much longer, yeah. Me too. Anyway, what can I? What are you folks doing today? And also how can I help? You don't want the answer to that question. Also, we need a car. We do. A car I can I can get you a car for sure. Yeah, and today is what we're going to call Plausible Deniability Day for you. Oh. Oh OK, well I'll get a car and then go back to the rooms then.

12:58 Yeah, treat yourself, Karen. Good plan, good plan. Treat myself. What do you what do you mean by that? Well, in order to make a getaway we need you free and clear, so go take care of yourself. Have a spa day or something? Shouldn't I be guarding the rooms? We'll call that a secondary objective. OK. I'll try to. I'll try to take it easy then. I mean, I hate to admit it, but Colin is kind of making sense. We do need our pilot to be at his best. OK, OK. Oh, and don't don't forget to expense it. Sure.

13:45 Work related self-care. I'll see if Miss Winston Rogers buys that. And with that, he sort of stands up that he feels a little awkward and he gives like a little bow because he's not quite sure what to give to you guys because it's still thrown off a little bit and heads out of the cafe. So now it's just the kidnappers. You make it sound so wrong when you say it like that. I said what I said. I feel conflicted about this. Is that Renee saying this or K saying this? Both, But yes, Doctor Morgan watches Kearns go and says I I feel somewhat conflicted about this gentleman and I I have to admit the procedure took quite a toll on me, but I'm willing to do whatever is necessary. Well, if you're not comfortable with what we've come up with, we can try to come up with the Plan B. Whatever is necessary.

14:52 Dealing with this sort of thing, it takes a toll on it. Whatever is necessary, where do we think is the best place we can get him? I still think it's the cemetery. Pick him up at the cemetery and take him to Kay's room, I guess. No. Didn't we scout abandoned buildings for this purpose? We did. Yeah, I guess we can bring the mirror. You did do that. You could bring the mirror, or you could make another one I guess, though using the pre-existing mirror will limit the stability that. Sounds good to me. But it involves carrying a mirror out of the hotel. What's that be the hard part of it? I mean, we can put the mirror in the car, right? Yeah, we just have to get it past the front desk. Oh, I guess that depends on how many exits there are to the building.

15:44 I am not going to make our podcast concern itself with you sneaking. Me. Thanks, Dan. OK. As much as I think that might be slightly amusing, I think there are more dramatic avenues. Too. Thanks buddy and. Make me lose a credit rating or whatever, I can just fucking pay them for the mirror. Exactly, exactly. I think that's fine. Assuming this nonsense insane plan for idiots works. I don't know why it wouldn't. We're insane and idiots so. What are we actually going to do with the man? I would assume that you, Mr. Cain, and you, Mr. Killworth, know your way around getting information from a person.

16:31 Well, this is kind of new territory for me. I mean, how hard can it actually be to torture somebody, right? That is pretty dark. I I hold very little compassion for this man. If our deductions are accurate, then he's using a 10 year old as an experimental subject. A 10 year old that he nearly had eaten. I have nothing good to say about this guy. Well, we need to figure out where the mouth is. That is a great question to ask him, yes. We also need to figure out where they are storing their nectar.

17:16 Yeah, I mean we can have hypothesis and suppositions. But that's the best place to start. We'll want to get our fake names straight beforehand too. If you say legacy one more time in my presence, I don't know what I'm going to do. Speaking of, I have a great question to the GM. Can I use a person to create a hyperspace gate? Can you use a person like you would inscribe something on their body and they become a gate? That's not how the spell is designed. That will probably you could try it for stability. I'd imagine it would do worse things to the person I am turning into a interdimensional portal. So I'm going to tell Colin as much if you utter the word legacy in my presence one more time. Oh, how about Helen then?

18:17 Sure, Helen works. Doctor Morgan has no idea the curse she just accepted. I'll be Michael JB, We'll call you Jonesy. We'll see if we can break the curse, as it were. Reg What? What? What should we tell you, Donnie? Works. All right. What else do we need to know? OK, questions. Where's the nectar stored? Where's the mouth and where's the nectar stored? What happened to his wife? What happened to his son? Wear mouth, wear nectar. Wife, son, what the fuck? Succinctly put.

19:00 Excellent series of questions. Now how are you getting him? Here's what I want you to do. I want you to tell me if everything goes as planned, what happens? OK, when he's in the graveyard, we jump him, tie him up, guy comes so he doesn't make a whole lot of noise. Knock him out, whatever we got to do. Stuffing through a portal into an abandoned building. Vanish like the wind through the portal. close the gate behind us, and then when he's unconscious we tie him up to a chair or something and ask him a bunch of questions while we have him under extreme duress. We'll have about 15 minutes until they realize something's wrong.

19:48 As long as things go well. Yeah, and 15 minutes should be enough time to get out of there. I'd suggest we have Reds wait in the graveyard. Point of order. The spell takes about an hour to cast. Which is why we got to get there first. As it is a gate, my understanding is you can go two ways through. So we could set it up in the warehouse, cast the rich will get it going, go through, swipe him and then get all that done and leave less evidence behind. Yes, that makes more sense. Yes, less evidence that we were ever in the graveyard. Yes, that that does make more sense. Do you have a different idea, Mr. Cain? If it works, it works.

20:34 God I hope it works. So we should probably get set up in the warehouse. Well, about now, I think. We still have to wait for currents to get back with the car. I think that all happens. Cool. All right, team, let's do this. And it would be very easy to just take the mirror and open a portal back to JB's room because you're opening to a different place. It is still going to be a little bit difficult, but it'll be slightly less difficult because you're mostly you are going to need to make a stability role difficulty 5. Can I spend stability to?

21:15 You can. I've spent two and I'm actually rolling physical dice this time. 8 total. You open up the gate in this little abandoned storefront, In the backroom of this little abandoned storefront that you're in, Kay once again inscribes bizarre drawings on this mirror. And then once again, it says. Everything goes silent for just a moment. And then you see on the other side of the mirror the garden with the grave in it, and you see Donovan kneeling at the grave.

21:57 And then he looks up in horror at the space-time portal that has opened up right next. To and the hands reaching towards him to pull him through. Yep. Yes, Reg is going to grasp this motherfucker and get him through the portal before he has a chance to yell or react. I need you to make a scuffling roll. Will do. What's his hit record? It's going to be 4. I am going to spend 2. I got 6 info. That's one success I need maybe one more success to do it quiet, OK.

22:38 Oh absolutely. Reg is pitching and Colin is catching. OK. Giggity non sexually. All right, same. Check the. Threshold's four. I'll spin 2 as well 7. Nicely done. Nicely done all. Right. I catch the fuck out of that dude. All right, in a moment, you grab this guy and pull him into this room. One hand over the mouth and the other just sets him down in the chair. Kay closes the portal immediately. All right, I need everybody to make a difficulty for stability check with a loss of two, just cuz this is a kind of a weird upsetting situation. What US kidnapping a guy?

23:19 No. Can't be that upsetting. We've planned it for like 3 days. Yeah, but just the the the magic is mostly the thing that is upsetting about it. I succeeded. You've never kidnapped someone through a portal. OK. I'll spend one point. Good. All right. I'm at 0 stability. I succeed. You are shaken at 0. This whole thing is messing you up just a little bit, but you now have grabbed this man who is not having a great day. Well, we're about to make it a whole lot worse. All right, Jonesy, get the rope. Hey, hey, let me go, let me go. What the fuck is going on here? How'd you get free hand goes back over mouth.

24:01 Oh, OK, gotcha. You shouldn't let go. I'm sorry, I doubted myself for a second. Am I really a kidnapper? Control yourself, Michael. All right, I've got the chair. What now? Yeah. All right. I just assume we sat him down on this chair and then chair into it. Yeah. What? The Who are you people Get Me Out of here. I didn't. I haven't done anything wrong. We all know that's not true. Tell it to your wife. And your son? What? No, don't hurt him. I've already lost my wife to this. I just want out. I want my son to be free. Don't. Please. Assess honesty. Does he actually just want his son to be free? Or does he seem like a squirrely motherfucker? You would need to talk to him more. Yeah.

24:43 He hasn't said enough for you to really assess his honesty. All right? Yeah. OK, who's got intimidation? Mr. Donovan, we both know you have done enough. You are not an innocent man. We are going to ask you some questions and you are going to answer them. OK, Yeah. And I'm like leaning on intimidation right now. OK, I I do want to cooperate. OK, just I I just need to know. I'll, I'll tell you everything you want to know. You just said to promise me and my son aren't going to get hurt. That is very disconcerting because he's trying to position himself as if he is the he's an innocent and all of that.

25:24 That's just out of character thoughts because Kay is just collapsed at this point. Understandable. Yeah. So J VS going to be with Kay. Aw, thanks Hun. And I'm going to leave the interrogation to you. 2 Remember no real names. That's right, Jonesy. Reg is going to pull the brass knuckles that he's been carrying around with him for a while out of his pocket and in full view of Donovan, slowly put them on his right hand and walk forward and lean in fairly close.

26:08 And just say, kind of quietly, you are going to tell us everything you know about these mouths and about this NECTAR shit. After that, we will see what happened. Look, I'll tell you anything you want to know. There's no reason to hurt me. There's no reason to even threaten me. Just just please, if you could get me and my son out of here, away from all this, that would. I'll tell you everything you want to know. What sort of chair are we restraining him in, do you think, Russell? Standard 4 legged chair wood, nothing fancy. Might not even be a cushion on there.

26:48 So no arms. No arms. Went down to the junk shop, picked up the cheapest chair I could find. You had to buy a chair for that. Well, I didn't want to break one of the hotels. This warehouse didn't have a single chair in it. It's an abandoned building. Yeah, it's an abandoned storefront, not a warehouse, but. Yeah, the duck irony of it all. It was a chair store. So just just ask me, OK? I'll tell you what you want to know. Start with the mouth. What I mean, it's, it's big. It's, it's huge. Now it's 30 feet wide. I, I don't, I don't know how you, you deal with it. You, you want to, I want to kill it, right? What did you do a month ago?

27:35 30 feet. I We needed the mouth to produce more nectar, but it demanded sacrifice, a Mystic sacrifice in exchange for more nectar. It had to be something important. It it it said the more serious the sacrifice, the more important the power. We we tried to volunteers, but the mouth wasn't satisfied. We. You gave it your wife. Sweet heaven, yes I yes and he. He starts to cry. The mouth took her and ever since we've been drowning in nectar. We don't, we don't even need to have sex rituals anymore, it just.

28:20 We just do it for fun now. And now my son, he's very ill. We've we've tried nectar and magic and medicine and and none of it's working. I thought maybe if I gave Porsche to the mouth it would heal my son, but but he's only getting sicker. It's like he's cursed. I need to get him out of this, away from them. I'll, I'll do anything. Wait, your son was sick before you gave your wife to the mouth? Assess honesty. Also, you just being there, you realize that that's not the case. He's lying to maybe himself about this and to you. The kid got sick after the mother was sacrificed. Realizing that, I think I stand up on my shaky legs, stumble over to him, and just slap him across the face. No, I thought I was supposed to be the. Bad guy, you sick son of a bitch, you're lying. Tell us the truth.

29:23 I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. What did the mouth do to your kid? I don't know what he's doing to my kid, but there's something. It feels like he's the next sacrifice. I don't want him to be. It's not my choice. Assess honesty because this sounds awfully convenient. I. Wouldn't want anything to happen to my son. I didn't really want anything to happen to my wife. Diana said that we needed to make the sacrifice, and we did. What's this about a Diana? Diana Hans, she she overseas the warehouse and and she she manages all the the shipments. She and our our head of security, Victor. They they live at the warehouse.

30:08 Their their lives are devoted to the cult. Oh God, If they don't have talk, they'll they'll come for me. They'll come for him. I the the mouth. It's too it's too much. It's too powerful. You could. I mean, I thought about it, though. There's a way you could stop it. You would need explosives, grenades, dynamite. Shove it in there and and detonate. The whole thing would collapse and it would, it would bleed and it would starve, I think. Or maybe you would just move through the stone. I don't know. It's just one part of a bigger thing though, you know that, right? The thing with 1000 miles, it's here on earth. It it, it spreads out to all the corners of the globe, but it's here, buried under the earth.

30:58 Yeah, it's been here for a lot longer than. Trammell told me it's it's beneath some sort of far off mountain. There's a crack that only opens when the moon is dark and the stars shine down a a a moonless night. Well, that happens roughly once a month. I. I, I have a, a right, a spell that would hide the moon and part the clouds so that the crack would flex open. It's in my office in the warehouse, but I don't even know where I would go to perform the right. They, they might know in Bangkok, but I don't know where this thing is. But it's it's under a mountain and it's, it's lurking and there's nothing we could do.

31:40 We could, we could destroy its mouths here to slow it down. Please you have to help me. Then why the hell didn't you do it in the first place? Why feed your wife to it and then your son? I didn't feed my son to it. Oh, you know well, as I do while your son is lying in a hospital bed. You just haven't committed the action. That's why I'm trying to escape. They wouldn't let me escape. The Colt won't let me go. Don't you get it? Once you're in, there's no escape. Maybe we can help each other out here. Hey there listeners. You know what's great? Desert Bears. No, those are objectively off having a roof.

32:22 Over your head. All right. And as it turns out, we're going to have one of those that we own like rent from the bank through a complicated series of contracts and agreements that make us liable for issues that necessitate it being called the ownership. Yay and. We're going to be moving. And we're committed to making sure we keep the episodes on schedule, right? We're going to keep them on schedule, right? No. Sorry, what? We're going to miss an episode, maybe even 2, but I don't know how long it'll take to get into that. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. But don't worry, listeners, we've got you covered. Yay, that was a lie. We ain't got shit, Boo. So why not check out another great show like the Crows Codex?

33:02 The Stars Aren't All Right, or even Friendship Factory. I guess. Please let me get this shit sorted. I'm so tired. There's so much to do. It will never end. Oh God please let it end. Please please please. Never. Yay. Hey Shannon, I have this really awful issue with a rash in a place I can't discuss on air. Do you have anything to help? Me with that. Oh boy do I. Matt, have you tried Dice Beans? It's a podcast where games are played and it's great and it'll clear all your rashes up, especially the ones and those unmentionable places. Oh. Is it OK if I get it in an orifice? I don't know how you would do that. It's audio, you can find it anywhere. Podcast. Sorry. All right, I'm going to head.

33:43 Straight to my nearest podcast center and get me a jar of diced beans. Thanks, Shannon. You're welcome. Matt Dicings has not been proved to clear ashes, but he can't really afford them. If Dicings is exposed to an office, contact your doctor immediately. You can find Dicings on other shows like on the Imaginary Broadcast Network. First of all, where is this mouth? It's it's underneath the warehouse in the in the catacombs. Of course, the catacombs. Yes. Always. Just going to look at Colin and just be like, yeah, I'll, I'll. Tell you whatever you want. What's the deal with the seagrass? The seagrass that's outside of the gravel path, the one that bites you if you've fallen it.

34:26 Oh, there's, there's mouths that's full of mouths. It's full of smaller mouths. Yes, yes, Yikes. How did those get here? When the mouth grows in power, it starts manifesting more mouths. Starts running its mouth. I get it. Please just let me know. I'll I'll help you. They know me. I could. I could get you in inside. I I could. What's going on in Bangkok? You mentioned it. I don't know. There's a the cult over there. It's one of the other major sites. But honestly, we're the most important Colt Bastion these days. Because of the nectar production. Yeah, they're getting distracted and lazy overseas. We are the leader of nectar exports worldwide, Europe and North Africa.

35:18 They get, they get all of our product out of this operation. I don't, I don't know what they're doing in Bangkok and Mexico City. They they're getting distracted with promises of power greater than wealth. I understand I was like them once but but here we're just focused on getting the nectar out. But no, it affects me. This guy fucking sucks. I don't know if that should be my take away since you know, like I, yeah, his son's in danger, whatever, but this guy fucking sucks. Yeah, no, this guy not a good dude. How did you even end up getting into this shit? I met a cavalry a years ago and it's just been going on ever since.

36:06 How many years ago? Just for the curious. I've been doing it for like a a decade now. I asked the question to see if a cavalry is secretly around, so it's it's we're getting that straight. No, no, no. That that's a good idea, but no, a cavalry is dead as far as this guy is concerned. You are not letting that one go, are you, Russell? Nope. What about Ayers? Yeah, I never met a guy named Ayers. I mean, yeah, he, he runs things these days. Does he know? Oh, no, wait. Ayers. No, I, I I thought you were talking about. No, no, I I don't know, Ayers. S S Honesty. S s honesty the Game Master got confused about names for a second.

36:48 Just as that. Makes sense? Yeah. So then who is running things these days? Like a guy by the name of Trammell in Los Angeles. Yeah, that makes sense. And we haven't even met Trammell because we but we. Kind of work independently from each other. We're separate cells really, the person who's in charge and charges that thing. And what do you call it? The thing with 1000 mouths? OK, fair enough. Yeah. So can you let me go? Oh, I don't think we're quite there yet.

37:29 This guy's funny. My guards are gonna tear this city apart looking for me. They're both my guards and my jailers. I mean, has he, has he actually perceived the way he got here? Like what's he think about? That yeah, I know that you magic. He knows he got magic here. Fred is going to walk up and not roughly, but not very gently check Donovan's pockets. He has his wallet. The bastard. Well, yeah, I'm just going to come out and say it. Nothing magical in nature. No. OK. Somebody ask about the glyphs. So your house. Yeah.

38:10 Your home security that's a little bit outside of standard. Well, yeah, we have ruins to prevent scrying, and we have the gargoyles that if they see anything, they inform the the larger mouth, and then that mouth tells people what's going on. Well, that's worth knowing, I suppose. And the warehouse, what sort of security measures does it have? There's also ruins there, but there's armed men and the mouths outside like you. You mentioned most of the cult is is based there.

38:50 We have about 50 people working for us locally. Not in counting my private guards, bottlers, guards. I handle all the accounting. The books and records are in my office in the warehouse. Accounting's a very important skill, I understand. Yeah, I have points at accounting you. Don't say. So Diana Overseas, the warehouse manages the shipments and Victor is head of security. Yes. And you also suggested getting us in there into the warehouse. How do you how do you propose we do that?

39:31 They they trust me. I could lead you in. Say you're new new members. Well, that'll work to get us in. Assess honesty. Is this guy going to backstab us at the first available opportunity? He generally wants out of the cult generally and genuinely wants out of the cult. He wants to raise his son in peace. He doesn't care about stopping the cult and he has no allegiance to you necessarily. I mean, OK, we did just meet the guy so. Yeah, yeah. And we all think he's terrible, so. All right. So what I'm thinking is, well, what's the largest construction company around? You know, the sort would be handling dynamite. I don't know.

40:21 I don't I don't know about dynamite. Don't you have all those assets? Oh, the Opera House? What's up with that? Sorry, sorry, I interrupted. What the fuck is up with the Opera House? The Opera House. I donated money to it because I like opera. OK so that one genuinely is just he has hobbies. Yeah, can a man have hobbies? Christ. Smack. No, I mean we have seen your hobbies. You got to create content. It's all about that grind.

41:03 Look, your hobbies are one thing, but considering your main business, you'll have to forgive us for being a bit suspect. Anyways, dynamite. What I'm thinking is Donovan gets us in, we bring in a crater, so at dynamite he gets his kid to the plane and we all take off. Wait. Also, there's an explosion in there somewhere. We'll figure it out as we go. Wait, Michael I. Do like the sound of blowing that warehouse to hell. We're just going to let them go on airplane. Well, if we want his help, we have to give him some sort of incentive. And it would be a pretty good incentive to actually like, give him the only thing he wants right now.

41:48 And if these guards here, as jailers, we're going to make a hell of a distraction. Oh yeah, big time. One I have a crazy idea. Awesome. What if we create a gate from the plane as we're flying into the warehouse and just shove a bunch of dynamite in there? We need to have been in the warehouse. Oh yeah, that's. Fair. Well, you do. The runes inscribed on the warehouse I think will block any attempts to do that. Fucking bullshit runes. Do you have any pictures of the warehouse? I I think with what Donovan here is saying, it will block the ability to even get in.

42:29 Even if you do know what it looks like. Yeah, OK. All right. Like I said. Smuggle the dynamite in manually. Here's what I'm thinking. Crazy ideas. You take the box in, disguise it as a bunch of sex toys, like maybe just put a false bottom on it, and then just have a bunch of dildos and shit. And underneath all that is the dynamite. I don't know JP, how are we going to make Dynamite look like sex toys? That's. What the false bottom is for so that people only see the sex toys. There's not a lot of sex going on in the warehouse. Kind of nun, actually.

43:12 Damn it. Nuns, you're saying? What's the point of starting a murder death sex vault if you're only going to have the murder and death? To get a lot of money selling Nectar. And then wait, what's the plan after that? These things are going to eat everyone, you realize. Put the damper on the market. We're all going to die someday. I I slap him. I slap him again. Yeah, we're all going to die Sunday, and because of the shit you're into, your son's going to be eaten by the mouth next Tuesday. Speaking of your son, the other thing I was thinking about can we grab Alexi as well and maybe have Donovan adopt him? I don't trust Donovan's ability to parent someone he who is in his direct blood, but I do think at the very least we should get Alexi out of there.

44:06 Yeah, and have Donovan, like basically set him up for life. Yeah. Trust fund. Yeah, that makes sense to me. I'll do whatever you want. Because yeah, you're, you're absolutely responsible for this boy's suffering. No, that's I, I, that wasn't my idea that that was, that was the doctor's idea. I slap him again, hard. Is it Doctor? Yeah, it was on the charts there. Doctor Solazio. So who was the one who helped bring this mouth here? Was it the doctor that did it? Or was it you? The. Mouth was already here, but yes, my sacrifice, it's what gave it its power. Exactly.

44:51 It's not the doctor's fault that that other child got injured near your warehouse. Look, it's all, it's all just, you know, a can a guy make a mistake? I'm just sitting over my head. Clearly. The mistake you made is more than likely going to doom this planet. There's mistakes and then there's oopsie doodle. I've ended the world. Guess which one you're on right now. Look around. Idiots. The world's coming to an end, mouth or not. No, I think it's mostly the mouth. Yeah. Yeah, you're literally speed running Apocalypse right now. What tell that to that that fascist in Germany? Yeah, we we've got plans for that guy, but. They going to kill Hitler?

45:48 Oh, I'm so fucking lately. So to be fair, Canada wanted to join World War 2 before like basically as soon as it broke out. So it that it tracks that Kay would be like, yeah, fuck Hitler, he's a douche. Kay's gonna use her magical power to teleport to Hitler and kill him. Yeah, absolutely. I'm going to do that. Well I'm sure everything with that guy will blow over. Wonderful. United States would certainly not allow our allies to fight and die for two years before joining the war. Whoa, I'm sad now. That Charlie Chaplin guy, He's, he's, he's no good. Oh, do not get me started.

46:40 OK you guys, you leave the the tramps name out of this right? No, I'm just saying that that that the, the what's his name? He looks like Charlie Chaplin, the German guy. I don't remember his name. I'm sorry I don't remember his name. Led Zeppelin. Von Zeppelin. No, that's like the whatever. Anyway, OK, let's blow up a fucking mouse. Let's talk less about Nazis. Yeah, I and I know we're all extremely mad at this guy because obviously he sucks, but last, we are not getting anything out of further antagonizing him, even if he is an idiot who has been responsible for a lot of shit. So we'll do what we can to take care of our part of the problem. How do we get in touch with you when we're ready? Wait, what do you mean?

47:40 I mean. I mean, grabbing you from a cemetery through a mystical portal is not going to work next time. Well, yeah, are wait, they're going to know I'm gone. How are we doing for time, Reg? I mean, Donnie, good. Size. Great size. Reg. Donnie. Looked at his watch. 2 minutes now. So Kay's gonna cast the spell again. Oh yeah, I meant to ask, did the portal stay open? No, I closed it immediately, OK. It'll take only one stability, no role to use the portal that's already been created. OK, they use the portal that's already been created but like is it OK if it's closed?

48:22 Yeah, you could just use it again. OK, yeah, I'll part with one more stability. So I yeah. How long does it take me to reopen it though? Oh, you could reopen it immediately. Oh, OK. OK. Yeah, right. Setting it up took an hour. OK, can can I have the blinding light coming from my eyes this time for extra spookiness? Sure, sure. If we want to say it's been doing that every time, Yeah. Light flows from your eyes as you do it. Sure. Yes, I sort of just motion with my hand as if to open the door and it opens. Just just speak to me and I'll, I'll let you do whatever you need. Wait, what? You know, just just meet up with me and I'll let you into the warehouse.

49:03 The Piazza by your house. You sit at the same table every day. Usually, yeah. Sit at the same table every day, there'll be a note under it. OK, sure. Yeah, yeah. I'll work doing time after I've passed Ridge the time. Yeah, and get the fuck out of our sight. Can I meet you somewhere? It'll be on the note. OK, OK. And he is kicked back through the portal. Yeah. Portal closes, we make hasty exit. Unless I can redirect it to back to the hotel. I don't think you need to waste any more of your stability.

49:44 Yeah, I doubt we really need to fast travel. Kay's getting really into this spell crafting stuff that she's doing. I was about to say she is really enjoying this newfound power and the control it sort of grants her. Famous last words. Yeah, I know we can we. Can walk, We'll walk. Let's walk, team. Or drive, as it were. Do you leave the mirror in the storefront? Absolutely. That's important. OK. How's that crack in the mirror doing, by the way? Every time the spell is cast, the crack is getting a little higher up on the mirror.

50:26 It's a metaphor for Kay, unfortunately. If we end up summoning something awful through this mirror, maybe we can make it fight the other thing. That's possibly not a terrible idea. Wow. No, it is a terrible idea, but it's possibly not a bad idea. I'm sure Nathan wouldn't want to see giant monsters fight. I was about to say, just watch it, fight it from the sidelines like a. Battle. Well, I guess you've convinced me. I'm pretty sure there was at least one Lovecraft story that that happened. Where something burst from the ground.

51:09 I guarantee there's at least one Mythos story that that happened. All I know is Cthulhu's a chump. You couldn't get rid of Godzilla just by hitting him with a ship. And they try. Cthulhu I. Don't know, seems like a chump. Well, that which is dead can never die, or what however it goes. But in stranger eons, even death may die. I know that. Doug Casula is dreaming and waiting. Till the stars are right. Yeah, and he's a chump. All you do is hit it with a steamship. I'm not worried about that technical guy. Fuck that guy. So now what do you do?

51:50 It's right around like 2:00. We need to source some dynamite. How do you imagine you would do that? What sort of construction companies were big in Malta in the 1930s, Dan? Oh yeah, I know. Definitely tell me what skill you would use to get a hold of some dynamite. That's a good question, just like in disguise could help me get in get onto a job site, but I've got no athletics. I have an idea. It will have to be A tag team effort between Colin and Reg, but I think it could potentially work. All right. I I I spend one point in phone book to find a construction company. That works. I'm looking at construction companies in Malta right now. Wait, really?

52:37 Yes. With OK. Contemporary though, will that work? It's probably better if we just make something up. Falcon Construction. So Colin, if you can get us in there as inspectors of some sort, pretty sure I can see about getting us some explosion. Yeah, right. I can maybe disguise us, maybe use a little bit of fast talk. Intimidation. Well, there are a few things more intimidating on a job site and then an inspection. I could wave some hands. Yeah, I think you're able to get onto a job site. They don't have a ton of dynamite, but they have a little bit.

53:17 Well, this is the wrong place. Then. Find us a different company, Daniel. No, just you're not using a lot of dynamite in construction on this small island. Get a little bit of dynamite OK? So yeah, Reg is gonna use a combination of bureaucratic mumbo jumbo and reassurance to talk these fine folks into parting with their dynamite. It's it's been recalled. The dynamite that you have most recently received it is currently being recalled as there is a defect and it is unstable. Oh yeah, Take a look at this, Donnie. And in the background, Cullen has sprinkled some water on the dynamite.

54:03 Look, it's sweating over here. We got to get this out of here ASAP. Yeah. I mean, we don't use a lot of dynamite, but we do have some that needs to be recalled. I guess that's that's how it goes. Dynamite sweats. Ditroglycerin. And that is dangerous. So you get some dynamite. Congrats. As we're driving back, Reg is going to look at Cullen. So we could potentially just drop that building if we place this dynamite or at least some of this dynamite in the catacombs. We could, but we'd have to get down there. Pretty sure we can find an entrance to it nearby. Now granted, we're going to have to go to the catacombs anyway because apparently that's where the mouth is, so. I don't feel any particular loyalty to Donovan, but if we can get that kid out of the situation, might as well play things straight here.

54:54 Oh really? All I want. I just want to get those two kids out of the situation. Donovan can go fuck himself. Oh, I'm right there with you, but unless he knows what's happening, he's not going to get the kids out of there and the cult could just go after him in the chaos. He. Could accidentally fall into a mouth. Exactly. We'll have more opportunity to make that happen if we go through it this the the way we planned out. OK, so what's the plan, gang? Now, because we don't have a specific timeline on this, I feel like maybe the next day we all take that spa day that we told currents to, you know, refresh some points, regain some stability, just take it real easy.

55:36 Do I really want to though? Because there's. The person with 0 stability who is suggesting that I believe really does want that to happen. Yeah, I wouldn't mind. There's two kids on Ivs and like Nectar is being shipped out. I hate to say it, but they've been that way for a month. Fine. Well. If we're going to be taking tomorrow off, I'm going to do some research tonight. If you would like to take a day off as is being suggested, I will let you refresh 4 points in any skill, including stability. That would be nice. What's the other end of it? What's the catch?

56:19 It's a day. Yeah, of course it wouldn't hurt to let Donovan sweat for a day. It would be really funny. So we've taken the day off. Everybody's on board with that one. Sure. Yeah, I think people are already giving themselves points, so I think that is happening. OK. You're going to take a spa day tomorrow, but what does everybody do tonight? And let's go around and tell me what you're doing tonight. Reggie is reading the Fragments of Ball saga. Oh God damn it. OK, it's time to look at what books you're reading. I did actually write a song for this, it's not done yet.

56:59 This slim, peculiar volume purports to be a dream woven from the true and factual accounts of many diverse peoples around the world. It's sort of an odd book. It talks about a fabled island called Balsagoth or no. Maybe the Balsagoth is a person. It's a little unclear. Ultimately it will give you a point in Cthulhu Mythos which means your sanity is going to go down. Nice. And you have one dedicated point to look into, Gaulgoroth. Dandy.

57:40 Because it is said that the Balsagoth this island was touched by Gaul gore off and it fucked the place up. Does anybody else want to read a horrible book? Not going. Me, me neither. I I have a different thing in mind. OK, so we only have one person reading horrible books. That's probably, probably for the best. Yeah. All right. If I called my source of stability, would I get more stability back? Because I'm also thinking just outside of mechanics, this would be a good time to do that. You're going to make a like a long distance call. Oh yeah, Long, long distance. You could try to make a long distance call. Yeah, you'll need to.

58:21 You know what? Fuck it. Let's have you talk to a character. Let's do it anyway, OK? Are you talking to that person that Miss Winston Rogers is protecting? Yes, May. OK. I think you able able to connect with them maybe through the radio and stuff on Kearns's plane. Let's hand wave it a little bit. I don't know if you'd really be able to make a transatlantic call like this quite so easily, but we'll let it fly. So those people are really concerned about the historiosity of this game with magical mouths. Sorry. We do try a little. We try a little bit, yes, you get in touch with the woman that you're trying to talk to all.

59:01 Right. What's she sound like, Daniel? It's your character that you made-up. Hello. Hey, May. Hello, are you are you OK at some mountain pain and told me that I needed to to come here. Yeah, those are the clients, guys. They treating you all right. Yes, yes, though we're lovely people. I'm glad to hear that. Well, just wanted to get in touch and let you know that things may be about to get a little crazy where I am and well, just wanted to check in before they do. Oh.

59:50 I think I, I hope everything's OK with you, dearie. I I've been thinking about you quite a bit. Yeah, I've been having dreams about Tom again. Yes, Tom. Lisa, you are so nice to think about Tom. I hope he isn't parting your dreams. Dreams are a curious thing, aren't they? I've been having some weird ones myself lately. No, fuck. I'm sorry, what was that? Yeah, nothing. Just wish I could have been there that night instead of the Secretary. Yeah, we can't.

1:00:37 We can't close the path. I know he he had a rough life, but you were there for him to a lot of it. Please take care of yourself, Siri. You too, mate. Click. That's how radios work, right? Yeah, it's fucking, you know. I guess they kind of did in the 30s, didn't they? Yeah, full on handsets. Roll AD 6 for me. Perfect. That's a one. Everyone like the 10? No, OK, you get one point of stability pack. I'll take it. All right, K Doctor Morgan, what do you think you're going to do? Rather than chasing after him, I'm going to invite curtains to my room. Oh, he comes in, he says, Doctor Morgan, is there anything that you need help with?

1:01:27 I thought we established that you can call me Catherine. Right, of course. Sorry, Miss Catherine. When he comes in, I'm sort of in, just wearing a robe. He's a little flustered by that. And I'm standing in front of the mirror, the one that I used to create the portal, and I'm just looking at the cracks. And I say this Donovan person, he didn't turn out to be quite what I thought. In a good way or a bad way? Judging from his extraordinary wealth, I sort of imagined to see a person in power, a person in control. But all of that is just exterior, and that exterior is full of cracks, and I run my finger along the crack in the mirror.

1:02:18 Well, is there something I could do for you, Miss? Do you need a a drink or something? I turn around. No, I don't need a drink right now. Just want to talk about power. True power. Yeah, you are you. I, I heard a little bit of what you're doing. Do you? You're doing magic now, right? That's right. That's it's quite a trick. You have no idea And I approach him and I lightly push him in the chest so he sits on the bed on my bed and I climb on top.

1:03:02 Oh, I see where this is going. What do you think? Does he? Yeah, he he sits down on the bed, he embraces you. And our camera cuts away from that. JB, what are you up to? JB is writing in his notebook recounting the events of the past few days, his general take on Donovan and this whole mess, and before he gets ready to go to sleep, he adds 2 last lines. I hope everybody enjoys tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have a nice and relaxing time, because the day after that we're sending this whole goddamn cult to hell.

1:04:02 Thanks for listening. Nathan played JB Falk, Renee played Doctor Morgan, Damien played Ridge Killworth, and Daniel is our GM for this campaign and Trail of Cthulhu Russell played Colin Kane, in addition to mixing, mastering and musicing the episode. Special thanks to Isaiah Brighton for reading our intro this time. They've got a YouTube channel and a SoundCloud full of music to check out. Our album art is by Trinity the Tea Time Witch. Our main theme is by Claire LW on SoundCloud and our website isdanielsdreadtales.com in case you missed it in the mid role. Russell and Renee are moving into their own house shortly, actually about two months sooner than expected, so there wasn't time to get some extra editing done to cover the time. Because of this, we'll have a brief interruption in our release schedule, but rest assured the episodes are recorded and we'll be back before the end of June. Keep your eyes on the Discord for updates and there might be a bit of a bonus in the feed soon, despite what I said about not getting extra editing done.

1:04:53 And our monthly stream will be coming up on the 25th over on our YouTube channel. Again, thanks for listening and until next time, if you can't beat them, kidnap them.