Ep. 38 - Layover: Line Bulls in the Mist(port)
As the Pride of Duskwall speeds through the Dagger Isles, the Line Bulls on board must deal with the results of their altercation in the mist. Passengers are often lost, and a locomotive may enter a city a few passengers lighter than they left with. Conversely, stowaways are rare and extra passengers may be viewed with suspicion. The Bulls approach Mistport hoping to put the situation behind them. Pippin is caught in a lie. Andrel makes a promise. Drix makes a friend.
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For the full transcript, go to https://ghosts-on-a-train.captivate.fm/episode/ep-38-layover-line-bulls-in-the-mistport.
Ghost Lines by John Harper. Music by Sebastian Black. Art by Yoshiko Agresta.
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Transcript
Radio Announcer Greg 0:00
The Pride of Duskwall blasts away in the mist of the Dagger Isles with a jet of fire and smoke. This violent flame is at odds with the calm glow of the archipelago's bioluminescent flora. The Dagger Isles are a collective of small nations, and there, the Imperium is as the Pride's fiery outburst: unwelcome and disruptive of the local ecosystem. The Iruvian city of Mistport is the preferred point of contact with the wider world, the furthest place from the Emperor's reach, and yet still along his serpentine railway line. Though the mist for which the city is named relents as a locomotive approaches, the mystery of the Dagger Isles continues to obfuscate and protect the collective from Imperial eyes.
Greg 1:06
Hello, and welcome to Ghosts on a Train, a podcast where we play Ghost Lines, an RPG by John Harper. Thanks for listening, and I'd like to welcome any new passengers who're just joining us! I'm Greg, your conductor, and I run the game.
Hannah 1:20
I'm Hannah. I play Andrel Anderson, still an outraged citizen.
Guy 1:25
Mm hmm.
Hannah 1:26
I, we've never welcomed new listeners before. That's, that's, welcome.
Greg 1:32
Well, we did the last time, after I was told -
Guy 1:35
Yeah, I did goof on him.
Hannah 1:36
Oh right, yes, because we yelled at you.
Greg 1:38
This is my new thing. This is my new thing. It's not being yelled at, it's, it's criticism.
Hannah 1:42
Okay.
Greg 1:43
And let it be known -
Hannah 1:44
Loud criticism.
Greg 1:45
- I take criticism.
Stefen 1:46
Greg responds to criticism.
Greg 1:47
It wasn't loud criticism! It was you reading a half-hearted thing from Guy.
Guy 1:51
It was real bad.
Greg 1:53
You half-heartedly reading a thing from Guy.
Guy 1:56
I'm Guy! I send Hannah half-hearted things to read to Greg. I play Pip. Pip is a drunk. Also just a bad man.
Stefen 2:06
Coming down hard on Pip real fast, aren't we?
Guy 2:08
I think it's just factual at this point.
Stefen 2:13
We can change him, though.
Greg and Hannah 2:14
We can fix him.
Guy 2:16
I don't think he wants to change. Which is, you know, probably why he's bad. Who is that?
Stefen 2:24
That would be Stefen, a guy who's just happy to be here. I play Drix, and Drix is... Drix.
Guy 2:39
I'm so sorry, editing Greg.
Greg 2:41
Me and Hannah kind of - that's nothing, that's, like, a gaffe. But I'm gonna preserve that gaffe because me and Hannah were almost, like, almost, like, like a, like a Rocky Horror Picture style, like, antica...
Guy 2:51
It was very fun to have this with, like, a camera, because I got to see both of them lean in at the same time, just, like, eh?
Stefen 2:58
Oh, it was great. They had the perfect reaction.
Andrel 3:02
It's very, very fun to record with the camera because me and Greg are the only ones that use the camera.
Greg 3:09
Well, listen, I love it because as the conductor, I've got to interject and say a lot of things, and it's easier if I'm, like, raising a finger, or about to say something.
Guy 3:20
This is true. I just don't wish to be perceived. Just ever. I am a non-entity for most of you.
Stefen 3:27
I can't fault you for that.
Greg 3:30
Our two friends with no faces.
Hannah 3:32
Cryptids.
Greg 3:33
We begin with the Pride of Duskwall, the locomotive, on its way to Mistport, a city isolated from the rest of Iruvia but on the continent, separated from U'duasha and the, the rest by mountains, but connected along a track that passes through the Dagger Isles. The Line Bulls of the Pride of Duskwall have returned along with a nun, Hecla, who turned out to not be a nun but a Skovlander assassin on a mission, and they abandoned some missionaries of the Church of the Ecstasy of the Sacred Flesh to the perils of the Deathlands after discovering their heinous acts against Hollows, human beings whose souls have been removed but whose bodies continue. The Line Bulls returned with the Hollows, with Drix and Andrel getting the Hollows to the freight boxcar, Pippin running sort of interception to speak to Candace in the locomotive - Candace, the owner of the train, the, oh God, the conductor. Meanwhile Hecla, unbeknownst to the rest, went to face her destiny, entering the office car where Mr. Walker was waiting. But her badge, given to her by the ancestor of Skovlan, told her that it was not Mr. Walker within his body, but the Immortal Emperor himself projecting his awareness into his vessel. His "walker", after a brief encounter that was more of a conversation, the walker Emperor effortlessly atomize Hecla, leaving behind a pile of dust, a single knife, and attached to that knife, the triangular badge that reads Booker, reminiscent of Line Bull badges but lacking in any indications of rank or any imprints declaring any sort of fealty to the Immortal Emperor. But the Line Bulls don't know about that. This is an unusual episode. This one will likely be labeled layover, which is ordinarily where we sort of take time off from big encounters, and that, it will, we will be spending most of the time in a city taking time off from this last line, but due to the needs of the story, we will be beginning it on the train as it approaches Mistport. So you're basically to the lightning barrier within Mistport, we're, we're gonna, we're gonna say that as this happens. Anyways, in the freight boxcar, the overpacked boxcar, Drix and Andrel, nobody really goes back here.
Guy 6:04
Does it still smell faintly of Fishbone?
Greg 6:07
Fishbone, I don't think has a signature scent.
Guy 6:10
That's disappointing.
Greg 6:11
I don't think, I don't think Fishbone's smelly. Fishbone, Fishbone washes his ass.
Hannah 6:17
Okay. Good to know. Good characterization there.
Stefen 6:21
Mm hmm. Fishbones, you know, branded cologne is actually wash your ass.
Greg 6:27
Yeah, nobody often comes back here. The sheer amount of luggage back here - luggage and freight, it's tough to say what is meant to go where, but the density of it is usually enough to put off any sort of passenger who would want to put away or retrieve their own luggage. As a result there are many rats that have just sort of made their home among the, the freight and luggage. So there's many nooks and crannies. The seven Hollows, which was, I don't think, I don't think you dressed them in any sort of way, so they do sort of have a modern Dagger Isles look to them. So, like, hip and waist coverings on their trousers, intricate patterns on otherwise common Imperial clothes.
Guy 7:09
I'm imagining Pirates of the Caribbean.
Greg 7:12
It's almost like a Polynesian sort of thing. So, like, Samoan, Hawaiian, that sort of thing. But also, like, not, I'm not talking, like, Moana. These are modern people. Would be almost intentionally open and flowy, but now it's to an unhealthy degree, as the all the Hollows are very emaciated. They don't know what to do.
Guy 7:35
Understandably.
Greg 7:37
So, yeah, you're in the freight boxcar. There's probably some nooks and crannies to hide them in.
Hannah 7:41
Alright. It's me and Drix, yeah?
Greg 7:43
Yeah.
Hannah 7:44
Okay. Yeah, I guess just -
Andrel 7:49
Hide?
Greg 7:51
As you say that they all start to, like, crawl under things, force their way into the crevices. It's unsettling as you realize how good they are at that. There's also a bunch of rats that are displaced. The Hollows are unbothered by it.
Stefen 8:09
Okay.
Greg 8:10
But the rats seem a little bothered.
Hannah 8:12
Alright. Well, the rats, the rats can tell us if they're bothered, canonically. So...
Stefen 8:20
Yeah, I think, I think Drix looks down and is like -
Drix 8:24
You'll get your spots back in a little bit. Don't worry about it.
Greg 8:28
One looks up at you with the dull unintelligence of a rat. Utter lack of anything in its eyes, but also at the same time with its face as though it will remember this and hold you to that.
Hannah 8:40
Okay.
Pip 8:43
A righteous squeak.
Andrel 8:45
Yeah, we're gonna come back once, once we get to Mistport. We'll let you guys out.
Drix 8:51
Yeah. Should we -
Greg 8:53
You hear muffled from behind some box of scrap metal and stuff, you hear -
Hollow 8:58
Out?
Greg 8:58
One of the Hllows.
Andrel 9:00
Yeah. We have a friend that hopefully can get you somewhere safe, where you'll have food and you'll be able to rest.
Greg 9:11
And then that's, like, all throughout the entire car.
Hollows 9:13
Rest, rest, rest, rest.
Drix 9:16
Things are gonna be better for you soon. As much as we can promise.
Stefen 9:21
I'm gonna write a pneumatic tube message to Greta and be like, hey, can we get some, can we get some rat kebabs?
Greg 9:32
You, you write that out, and you know rats can't read, but that one rat, that one rat is staring at you.
Stefen 9:43
Fine, fine.
Hannah 9:46
Fish kebabs?
Stefen 9:47
Fish kebabs. It'll be a fish kebab.
Greg 9:50
Eel, eel. Eel is what we have.
Hannah 9:52
Eel kebab.
Stefen 9:53
It's gonna be an eel kebab, then. Alright.
Drix 9:57
That should give them something to snack on for a little while. Hopefully get them to Mistport.
Greg:Meanwhile in the locomotive. Candace no longer has her office, because for now Mr. Walker is using it. Sitting in his little, his, Trevor's little corner, Trevor's reading some magazines, trying to not look at Candace who's, like, writing stuff out on, like, a little, little typewriter. She lifts up her cigarette holder, you see without the desk she's got her, like, ashtray a little precariously close to the typewriter, so she's always very carefully, like, very careful with the paper. She puts it down.
Candace:Pippin McKeel. You've come here. I don't see the other Bulls. I didn't hear any flagellating from the other cars when, from, from, from the party as you arrived. Did something happen out there?
Pip:Yeah, it's just, just... the work they were doing was gonna take a little bit longer than they expected. And they are expecting to take a different train on the way back. Which I thought was weird, because they have all their luggage here. So I don't know what to tell you.
Candace:Pippin McKeel.
Pip:Yes'm.
Candace:So do you have paperwork for that, or are you lying to me? If you're lying to me, you got to tell me that you're lying to me.
Pip:I may be lying to you. It is a, a half-truth.
Candace:All right.
Pip:A lie of omission. I apologize.
Candace:Now listen, it's not always a great idea to report everything exactly as it goes. You know me, there are some things that don't agree with, but I have fudged some reports. I need you to give me the facts so I can do something with this. So I can work with this. Just, what happened? Are they are they actually staying?
Pip:Yes, they are actually staying.
Candace:All right. Why?
Pip:Genuinely, it appears that the fog out there is some kind of mind addling effect and we could not convince them to return. Except Sister Hecla.
Candace:All right. So they're lost.
Pip:They are lost.
Candace:It is the Deathlands. I do believe you, that this, this part of the Dagger Isles there could be some sort of mist that has "mind addling effects," as you said.
Greg:She takes a drag from her cigarette holder.
Pip:I know a thing or two about mind addling.
Greg:You, there's a, there's a little chuckle from, from Trevor in the corner behind his magazine. Candace puts the cigarette holder down.
Candace:Alright. This is rough, because Mr. Walker's on the train.
Pip:I am accutely aware.
Candace:It's rough, but not impossible. Walker's a little more reasonable than those other Ministry folks, which you know firsthand. I'll talk to him. We can get a statement from Hecla too, that'd be really helpful.
Pip:Yeah, I'll, she actually said that she was going to go and talk with Walker personally ahead of time, so I'll see what, well, I can go and dig up.
Candace:All right. All right. No, that's, that's very good. We're going to arrive in Mistport soon. When we get there we'll convene in Walker's office car. In my office car, but with Walker in it.
Pip:That sounds quite, quite wise. Thank you for your time and consideration, ma'am.
Trevor:Uh, ma'am? Ma'am?
Greg:And Trevor points. The papers from the typewriter are getting a little singed from her burning cigarette holder that she put on the ashtray, and she starts to flap it away.
Candace:All right, get out of here, Pippin.
Pip:I don't think you have to tell Pip twice. He is gone.
Greg:Pip, as you pass through the dining car -
Guy:I can't believe I didn't have to roll for that.
Greg:This is a layover, baby.
Guy:We have to roll in those!
Greg:But only at specific times. So, Pip, you walk through the dining car and as you stop by, Greta shoves a big old tray, a tray of some eel kebabs.
Greta:Pippin McKeel, you're exactly who I wanted to see. Drix and Andrel ordered these. Could you just bring it back if you're walking?
Pip:Certainly, of course.
Greta:Thanks. Say, are you alright? Everybody seemed a little rattled when they came here and I couldn't help but notice the lack of those missionaries.
Pip:It's, it's, it's just stressful with Walker on train. And I'm not the dad, that'd be kinda weird if I were, but, like, they're doing their thing.
Greta:All right, you take care.
Pip:Have you seen Hecla anywhere? One of the missionaries? I just haven't seen any of them.
Greta:Yes, the Skovlander. I have not seen her.
Pip:I'm assuming that a her talk went well and she returned to her seat. So I'll just keep going.
Greg:Yep. Andrel and Drix, you guys headed to the freight car, like, from the outside when the train was stopped, so you didn't pass through on the way there. So after getting the, the guys situated, you head into the office car, sort of pass through back to the bullpen. You head over there, and Walker is present, no sign of Hecla or anything. Mr. Walker just kind of says -
Mr. Walker:Line Bulls. Hello.
Andrel:Hello.
Hannah:I am going to keep walking.
Drix:Hey, Mr. Walker.
Greg:Drix. You You were the first one to notice her knives, Hecla's knives. As you're passing by, in Walker's bag, there's the end of one of the knives with, like, the electrical, like, wiring hookup just sort of, like, sticking sticking out of it. You just notice that as you guys, you pass through the office car.
Drix:Gotcha. Drix is going to just gonna follow Andrel and keep going, but he tenses up a little bit, I think.
Greg:And yeah, you guys enter the bullpen. Pip, you enter, you also get to the bullpen with that food. Hecla was not sitting down at her seat.
Pip:All right, I got the the eel kebabs. Ke-babs? Ke-bobs? Ke-babs.
Andrel:Ke-babs, ke-bobs. Thank you, Pip.
Pip:I got em. Did you guys see Hecla back there? She wasn't in a seat.
Drix:She's gone.
Pip:Gone where?
Andrel:She, I, well, she wasn't Mr. Walker's office car, if that's what you mean.
Drix:He had her knife.
Andrel:Oh.
Drix:Yeah.
Andrel:Is... just, well, where is she?
Drix:I don't know.
Pip:If I were to posit a theory, I do think she's still in that office car, just all over.
Drix:Do you think that's where the weird spot comes from?
Andrel:Oh my god.
Drix:Do you think the office car has a body compartment?
Hannah:Oh my god.
Pip:Drix, I want to be very clear with you right now. What was the one thing that we do not talk about since you joined the train? It is in your contract.
Drix:We don't talk about the weird spot.
Pip:We do not talk about the weird spot.
Andrel:I mean, we've also been, like, doing treason lately, so I feel like taling about the weird spot does become fair game.
Greg:There's -
Pip:Yeah, probably.
Greg:Yeah, when you, when you, when you signed your contract and there was a specific clause about like not talking about the weird spot, you had to sign that part in blood for some reason?
Andrel:Oh my god.
Greg:Just real quick. Anybody in particular going to bring the eel kebabs to the, um, Hollows?
Guy:Pip doesn't know where they are, but also...
Andrel:We're gonna look very weird bringing food through the office car, aren't we?
Stefen:Mm hmm.
Guy:We'll just say it's for the, just say it's for the the railmen on the back.
Hannah:Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's a good excuse.
Greg:No need to overthink this. I'm literally just asking.
Hannah:Yeah, I'll go. I'll go.
Greg:Yeah.
Andrel:If anyone else wants to come with, they're welcome to.
Hannah:Yeah.
Drix:I think Drix is gonna come. I think, I think Drix is, like, a little shaken.
Guy:Pip will not because he does not want to see Walker.
Greg:Yeah, that was the main thing. I was maybe gonna do something if Pip walked by.
Hannah:Yeah, okay.
Greg:Um, but, uh.
Hannah:We know your game.
Guy:In that case then sure, I'll go.
Hannah:Really?
Guy:Fuck it. Yeah, it'll be fun. Pip doesn't want to, but, like, he's like, eh.
Hannah:Whole gang?
Greg:Whole gang.
Guy:Do we need three people to deliver food?
Andrel:We're gonna say hi to the railmen.
Guy:That's true, I guess.
Stefen:It could be, like, a, we could tell Walker it's a, it's an after mission thing.
Greg:Well, I'll tell you what happens. You walk into the office car, all of you. Walker sees the food, catches a glimpse of Pip. Drix, you notice that Walker has stowed away the knife a bit better. Pip, Walker looks at you briefly, his face, like, the typical stoic, but there is a bit of a sadness in the eyes that is almost foreign from the entire face. But since Drix and Andrel there he says nothing.
Guy:Phew.
Greg:Anyways.
Guy:I don't think Pip super notices, I think Pip, like, tries specifically not to meet his gaze. That's for the audience.
Greg:So then the Pride of Duskwall arrives through the lightning barrier to Mistport. Misty, as the name implies. There's a lot of dagger Isles trading ships at the port, they're pretty distinct from some of the other ships you've seen. They've got, like, multiple canoes on the bottom.
Guy:Are there any foils? That's a boat joke and a card joke, because trading ships.
Greg:They're distinct. Their style is, like, multiple canoes on the bottom and then, like, another hull on top with these big, triangular sails. The architecture of, like, the main spaces around the ports are also, you know, seem to be more of a Dagger Isles thing, because this is not a Dagger Isles city, but this is, like, the main point of interaction between Iruvia and the Dagger Isles, and then indirectly with the rest of the Imperium, because the Dagger Isles would really like nothing to do with the Imperium.
Guy:Understandably.
Greg:Yeah, the architecture here is a lot of, like, big domed roofs held up by posts, and a lot of the buildings, like, which you find it weird to call them buildings, but they lack walls for the most part. They are also more traditional Iruvian buildings closer to the center of the city. And in the distance, there's the sound of, like, construction, really destructive, like, demolition, it sounds like,
Guy:I'm assuming that, like, because of the, all of the mist, like, it just seems like the mist is extra heavy, but, like, half of it is probably dust.
Greg:So, so the mist does kind of clear at the port, but it is replaced by, on the opposite end towards where the mountains are, yeah, dust from, like, demolition and construction.
Guy:Contiguous.
Greg:It's not like the streets are misty, but then also remember it's very dark. It's all lamplit.
Guy:That imagery, because then the lamps have, like, that a big circle that you can, like, see, reflected off of the water.
Greg:So you guys are in the office car, where ordinarily you would get your chits and pay for the line. Candace is there with Mr. Walker. Candace turns to you all and says -
Candace:All right, this whole thing's a bit of a headache. I've got some good news to go with the bad news. Now, the good news is, you're not in trouble or anything. We do indeed have within your pay funds for missing passengers, and the Church might be upset, but that's the reality of making these trips and the reality of your work. That unfortunately means the bad news - I can't give you any payment either in chits or stash for this run. I hope you've saved up for, you know, eating and drinking while you're here, getting any medical attention. Mr. Walker here is going to help with this whole situation, smoothing it over.
Greg:Mr. Walker, with his Salvador Dali mustache, none of that foreign emotion in his eyes, tents his fingers, and he says -
Mr. Walker:It is unfortunate what befell those missionaries here. But as you told Candace, Hecla was able to give me an explanation of the situation. I will assure you that I can make this whole situation simply vanish. While we're in Mistport, I would ask that you perhaps avoid taking on any work that could be tracked, as I am going to currently write down that I am running an investigation upon you.
Pip:Noted.
Andrel:Okay.
Drix:That makes sense.
Mr. Walker:Bobody but us needs to know that the investigation, of course, is concluded as it is undertaken. You are blameless, and this was an accident.
Drix:Thank you for understanding.
Pip:That's mighty kind of you, sir.
Greg:Thank you. It is only because of brave Line Bulls like you that the dream of an empire is even possible. Transporting resources from one to another, where one is wanting and one has but does not, is what allows humanity to thrive in this day and age.
Hannah:I think at that first, "It's only because of you that the Empire is possible," Andrel kind of fidgets a bit.
Guy:Oh yeah. Pip is like, his fingernails are, like, digging into his palm.
Greg:Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall head over towards the Ministry camp. We are building a new railway. Dunvil, you seemed interested at the notion of the Sualim when we set out. Perhaps you'd like to accompany me to see them? No pressure otherwise.
Andrel:Oh, um, I, it's been kind of a rough line, I think I'd like to rest a bit.
Mr. Walker:Understandable. Regardless, do be careful. Due to the demolition of the mountains just outside the barrier and the building of the track within, the Eastern ward of the city is a hardhat location, if you should.
Andrel:Cool, noted.
Greg:Walker rises from Candace's desks, carrying his things and what Drix knows is Hecla's things, and he exits. Candace just puts, puts the typewriter at the desk, arranges a couple things in some drawers, but she, like, waves you out, like -
Candace:Yeah, you guys have fun, all right?
Andrel:Thanks, Candace.
Pip:We'll try our best. Not getting in any trouble. Further trouble.
Drix:We'll stay out of, we'll stay out of the public eye.
Greg:And with that. It takes a little bit, you have to go a little farther from the port specifically because so many of these buildings don't have walls like you're used to. But once you come to some of the more walled buildings, Drix, you're aware of some of these, some of these doorways that normal people just aren't, aren't seeing. You, Drix, recognize one as Cross Dava's doorway.
Drix:Andrel and Pip are with me?
Greg:Do they want to be? Like, you, if you want to be, like, the head person? Like, I don't know. It's whatever.
Stefen:What do you, what do you guys want to do?
Andrel:I'll come if you want me there.
Guy:Yeah.
Stefen:Yeah, sure. They don't see the doorway, correct?
Greg:Not until it's, like, opened for them.
Stefen:Okay, sick, sick.
Greg:You're, you, like, move towards it. They're not aware of it.
Drix:I'm gonna, I'm gonna look back over my shoulder and be like -
Drix:Check this out.
Stefen:And he's gonna do the good old *tapping* and knock on Dava's door.
Greg:Yeah, Drix raps upon a wall. And then suddenly, yeah, that mysterious doorway opens up where there was no door, just a crack. And you see Cross Dava's cat eyes poke out as he pokes his head out, and he's like -
Cross Dava:Adric? What do you call me for? I have not requested of you any work. Do you have a request for me?
Drix:Yeah, see, we ran into a little bit of trouble with the Church of the Sacred Flesh out in the Deathlands, and it turns out that we have a bunch of Hollows that we're fostering now. So we wanted to see if you would help us with that.
Cross Dava:It is a... truly a wretched existence of a Hollow, and to become like one such as myself, my own spirit was placed into it specially prepared Hollowed body... I suppose, I suppose aiding you by taking in these Hollows would be a way to atone for the injustice that I have done to...
Greg:And he put the hands over his own heart.
Cross Dava:To this person.
Hannah:God, he is so dramatic.
Drix:He really is, and I do love it.
Drix:Believe me, I think it would be good for you. I think it'd be good for both of you.
Andrel:They're in the freight boxcar of the train now. I guess we can get them off and bring them here? I don't know if there's a more convenient way to pick them up.
Cross Dava:March them over to... well, Adric is, Adric is strange. Not a typical human at the moment, after his encounter with the One Within Many. Wherever he sees my door, just bring them.
Andrel:You'll be able to feed them, you think?
Cross Dava:Of course.
Drix:It really mean a lot that you'd do this. I know a lot of people might not see the value in it.
Cross Dava:Regardless, know that my heart is moved.
Greg:And he will close this door. Anybody gonna mark off the favorite for a major request, please?
Ekimosa:How much is that?
Greg:Four favor.
Hannah:Okay.
Stefen:Okay.
Hannah:I can take it unless you want to, like, split it? I don't know how much favorite you have. Because I have seven, that's not really skin off my back.
Drix:I have five. If you want I could toss one in and, like, that would keep us both at four, so we could both do a level four favorite thing later.
Ekimosa:That sounds good.
Greg:Yeah.
Stefen:Or I could toss in two. I just need to save enough to do some custom gear soon.
Andrel:No, we can, we can... I'll put in three, you put in one, that's fine.
Stefen:Okay.
Hannah:I don't - well, I like, vaguely have something on my mind. But I don't mind waiting for it.
Guy:Pip has no favorite to give. Which is appropriate since he used to murder a child
Andrel:Yeah, no, I think that, I think me and Drix taking this is thematically good.
Drix:That's fair.
Pip:All right, let's, let's heal our wounded minds and body.
Andrel:Well, let's get the Hollows to him first.
Stefen:Yeah, let's get -
Andrel:You don't, you don't have to help if you don't want.
Pip:No, it's - I, I'm seeing it through to the end.
Andrel:Okay.
Pip:I said I would. Even if it's just kind of as a supervisional role.
Greg:It's not anything super secret. Like, once you have the Hollows. Until you get close and are somebody who knows what a Hollow is, it just looks like a person. Just look like people. So you're definitely able to, like, walk out past the the train station with them. There's only a brief moment where you think you've, like, done something wrong. Somebody looks and approaches - no, doesn't even look at approach, rather, just sort of look as you pass by and shouts -
Guy Who Sucks:Hey, hey, Imperial! How much for one?
Drix:They're, they're already, they're already spoken for.
Guy Who Sucks:Oh, you own them. Okay.
Drix:Anyone else really stressed about this?
Andrel:Yeah!
Drix:Also, man, I take, I take offense that he called Imperial.
Andrel:I think, I think -
Greg:He was calling to Pip first.
Hannah:Yeah.
Stefen:Oh, gotcha.
Greg:That's why he said, "Oh, so you own them."
Stefen:Gotcha. Right, right, right. Yes. I forgot Pip was with us, right, yes.
Greg:Anyways, yeah, you're easily able to bring them over to the door. Cross gets a look at them. At first, they're, like, a little nervous, in a way similar to but not the same to the weird vibe they got around Pip, and Cross sort of reaches out a hand and just says -
Cross Dava:Come along. Nobody shall harm you.
Greg:One of them's got some tears welling in their eyes, and he puts a hand on their face in a way that, like, in another person would be, like, an affectionate let-me-wipe-those-tears, but you see his thumbnail extends and curves with a wicked edge. This finger greedily absorbs the tear, leaving behind a claw mark underneath the eye. The Hollow, for its part, does look not as sad anymore, and Cross says -
Cross Dava:There, there. I shall fight for you now.
Hannah:Phew!
Pip:Well, that was maybe more than I wanted to see, but alright.
Andrel:Good goodness. All right.
Greg:Cross looks, looks at Andrel and then looks around.
Cross Dava:Strange. Are we in Skovlan?
Andrel:Uh, we're in the Dagger Isles.
Cross Dava:I could not help but notice one of those knives you're carrying.
Greg:Oh.
Cross Dava:I'm only familiar with them around Blackvale, in upper Skovlan.
Andrel:Yeah, it's, it's from a friend.
Cross Dava:Well, it's a very dangerous weapon. I hope you, hope your friend is able to instruct you before you attempt to wield it.
Andrel:Uh, I'll find someone to instruct me.
Cross Dava:Let me know if require any aid there.
Andrel:You know how to use Skovic weapons?
Cross Dava:No, but I've been alive for centuries. I know somebody.
Andrel:That's fair. All right. Thank you. I will.
Cross Dava:Thank you.
Greg:And he nods to all of you and the door closes
Drix:All right. It's been a hell of a day, huh?
Andrel:Yeah, yeah.
Pip:Yep.
Andrel:I think we should go to the pub. Or to the doctor, but definitely to the pub at some point today.
Greg:So you all head over to the Physicker's hut. From the outside the Physicker's hut appears to be just a typical, like, quick medical tent. Upon entry, one enters alone and finds the walls covered up with herbs, medical instruments lying about, sweet, sterile air as lotions, potions and unctions brew. The interior of the Physicker's hut is the same regardless of the hut that you enter. The Physicker themselves stands with a full plague doctor get up, leaning very much into the bird aesthetic. You do note that the Physicker is not as tall as the corvid person from the missionaries.
Guy:Brother corvid.
Greg:Brother corvid.
Guy:Nobody's favorite, as they shouldn't be.
Greg:They are wretched.
Hannah:Wretched!
Guy:They are wretched.
Greg:But the -
Stefen:Oh my god.
Greg:But, yeah, so the Physicker welcomes Drix.
Physicker:Hello there, Drix!
Drix:Hey Mx. Phys, how're you doing?
Physicker:I'm doing quite well. Contented, I have been.
Drix:Oh, really? Did you, have you been doing something new? I know you were micro-napping last time.
Physicker:Yes, I, it's not so much that I am attempting anything new since last thou see me. I've just fallen into a particularly new schedule. It's very nice to, you know, like, sort of fall into a rhythm.
Drix:Yeah, no, I absolutely understand that. Sometimes it's really easy to just, like, move on autopilot for a little while.
Physicker:Exactly. And so I am contented.
Drix:Uh, do have some good news for you. We spoke with Dava earlier. He actually seem to be fairly moved by something that we were able to do for him. Well, he was able to do for us rather. We liberated some Hollows from the Church, and Dava seemed to be really happy about being able to provide something for them, considering how his body was formed.
Physicker:Liberated Hollows from the Church. Very strange. It was my understanding that Church, the Church of the Ecstasy of the Flesh, Hollowed volunteers. Is that not accurate?
Drix:Well, they certainly may have been volunteers before their deaths, but they were certainly being oppressed after.
Physicker:Ah, yes. Very good, then.
Drix:Mm hmm, mm hmm.
Physicker:Like anyone with a - well, I suppose not a beating heart. But like any, any person, I despise servitude, especially now that I find myself locked within my own bonds.
Drix:I can imagine that you could relate. Unfortunately. Hey, one day, maybe you'll be free, Mx. Phys.
Physicker:The dream of far-off freedom is not what sustains me, but meeting Line Bulls with optimism such as yourself to feel that does help.
Drix:Well, glad I can provide something to you.
Physicker:I suppose then I need not ask you any questions, as I could not help but notice based on the nature of your wounds - the lack of any plasm burns, no strange supernatural effects - it appears as though you were, just gotten into a typical street brawl. And now I see that it was a skirmish with some Church members.
Drix:They turned violent fairly quickly.
Physicker:Funny, that.
Drix:Yeah. It is what it is. Sometimes, gotta get your hands dirty. And I'm aware.
Physicker:Here. Let me get some swelling down.
Greg:He hands you a chunk of ice with a dark shape in it.
Physicker:Put this in your mouth, swish it around, and then spit once it melts. Like, as soon as it melts, you gotta spit.
Drix:Oh, okay.
Stefen:I'll... fully work.
Greg:Yeah, yeah, yeah you, like, swish it around. We're not, we're not going to make listeners listen to the swish, mouth swishing noises. But yeah -
Hannah:Coward.
Greg:- yeah, you swish it around in your mouth. You begin to feel something wriggling inside your, like, the mouth water.
Hannah:Ugh!
Greg:You immediately spit, and the Physicker catches in a cup.
Drix:Bleh, ugh, okay.
Greg:You see a little leech with hands.
Hannah:Ugh!
Drix:How does...
Guy:Does it do jazz hands?
Drix:How does that... eugh.
Physicker:Well, rather than having to treat you, all your wounds on the outside for infection, this little guy sucks up all the infection. But if you do, if you do let him get a hold of your tongue, he's gonna keep it. That's why I freeze him.
Greg:And you see, the leech has little grabby hands and he's, like, sort of reaching out towards your mouth. And then the Physicker puts a cold metal instrument into the cup of water and it immediately freezes over.
Physicker:Back in there, you little bastard.
Hannah:Horrifying.
Drix:Science is weird and I do not like it.
Physicker:Well, thou art healed.
Greg:And there's the typical cross marks over your wounds.
Drix:Thank you.
Guy:I'm gonna name it Gibblet.
Greg:My, my favorite thing is coming up with stupid treatments for the Physicker to do. Like, it's maybe not my favorite thing, but it's one of my favorite things. So thank you for indulging my gross treatments.
Hannah:That was disgusting.
Stefen:Yes.
Guy:I love Gibblet.
Stefen:Grabby hands leech. How do you even, Greg?
Andrel:Yeah, what the fuck, man?
Greg:Gibblet fanart!
Guy:I genuinely hope someone draws it.
Stefen:Someone's, someone's gonna draw Gibblet and it's going to upset me.
Hannah:Please don't draw Gibblet.
Stefen:Not because we got art, because it's gonna look amazing, but it's because I can't be mad about Gibblet.
Greg:So yeah, Drix, you exit before, or maybe after, or maybe at the same time, as your companions, as time works differently in the Physicker's hut.
Guy:For the next ten minutes or so Pip is, like, furiously trying to, like, shake something out of his ear, and he refuses to tell Andrel or Drix what it was that happened in the Physicker's hut.
Radio Announcer Greg:We here at Ghosts on a Train would like to take a moment discuss Little Business Library. Little Business Library is an online directory of small businesses that allows consumers to shop directly, so they never charge a sales fee. And instead of charging percentages to businesses, LBL is just $4 a month! But don't take my word for it. From the Pride of Duskwall, here's the Line Bull Pip.
Pip:Hello. I'm working on some, some mock ups of a design, I'm working on.
Radio Announcer Greg:Well, worry not. LBL has a collection of shareable graphics that you can use how you wish! What are those for, anyway?
Pip:Industrializing the way that food production is made so that it can be served and eaten faster. I call it a deep fryer.
Radio Announcer Greg:Alright, we get it. You heard it here, folks. Use our coupon code, listen10, to list your business on Little Business Library. We now return to your regularly scheduled audio programming.
Greg:So.
Guy:Pub trip.
Greg:Yeah, the pub that your chits are good for is a pub called I'an Hadra, which, Andrel, you know in Iruviam is literally, like, nourishing garden. It's an Iruvian-run pub, but -
Guy:I can't believe you took us to Olive Garden.
Greg:The Iruvian version of Olive Garden, where you're here, you are part of the Noble House. Yeah, they actually have that, they have that written out.
Stefen:In Hadrathi of course, though.
Greg:In Hadrathi
Guy:Rather than unlimited breadsticks it's just unlimited sticks. They just give you, like, sticks from outside.
Greg:So, they cater to Dagger Isles traders before they cater to Line Bulls for this place. There's, like, a back area where there's, like, a kitchen and stuff, but the seating is all domed roof with, like, posts and no walls set up, so you're, you're still sort of outside enjoying the lamplight. They bring you some wild cognac, very pungent drink with a slight numbing effect, and not, like, the typical alcohol numbing, like, over-exaggerating a little bit, but almost like anesthetic.
Hannah:Damn.
Stefen:So maybe, like, laughing gas, like, is the middle step?
Greg:Yeah, we, it's a real thing, that I have not had.
Stefen:Interesting.
Greg:Wild cognac is sort of, like, the colonial term for it, which is why I'm telling you that. It is in actuality, Kava, or, like, the equivalent.
Guy:Hey, listeners, if you've had this drink, let us know. Write a review. Leave a comment. Like, comment, subscribe. I don't think Greg's gonna keep this in.
Greg:And so for meals, they've got two different options. There's, like, a soup, eel soup, an eel coconut cream soup. And for another good meal is, it's solidified coconut milk baked inside taro leaves and then wrapped in banana leaves, and there's, like, onions and stuff for flavor inside. That's a little more of a vegetarian option.
Guy:That's the one Pip gets.
Hannah:Yeah.
Guy:Not because he's vegetarian, but because he prefers the texture.
Andrel:I'll have the meat. I like meat.
Stefen:Yeah, I think Drix is going for the meat.
Greg:You've had eels before. Eels, eels are ghastly, but -
Andrel:I dunno, eel's pretty good. Like, I've had eel in real life.
Stefen:Eel is real tasty.
Greg:Okay, eels here are ghastly. Can't stress enough how the eels in the Shattered Isles are ghastly, but unfortunately, they are the most pleasurable fish to eat. The coconuts themselves are not as we would imagine coconuts, but definitely, like, horrible fell-looking fruits with a lot of, like, spikes and teeth and stuff. Prying open is a huge effort. Well, probably not, like, a huge effort, but I guess prying them open sucks a little more now. But it is the descendant of our typical coconut.
Greg:Can you still use it as a house for pet rodents?
Greg:Sure, if you want them cursed! Nah, it's fine.
Guy:Everything's cursed here anyway.
Stefen:Yeah, you could really just walk down the street and get six curses, couldn't you?
Hannah:Probably.
Greg:Yeah, you see these, these, these coconuts are grown with some radiant energy. But yeah, you guys are now here at the pub. For those who drink, enjoying the numbing sensation of some wild cognac. Enjoying some food.
Pip:Gotta say, whatever they put in this stuff, it's really something.
Andrel:Are you guys good?
Pip:Oh, yeah, never been better.
Andrel:Okay.
Drix:I'm pretty good. Just, you know, just a little loose.
Andrel:Little loose?
Drix:Loose, yeah.
Andrel:Okay. Well, I thought we were all going to need emotional support after this one, but now you guys are just being weird, so.
Drix:It's fine, it's fine. Give me one second,
Stefen:Drix -
Andrel:No, it's fine. You can be weird.
Stefen:- he slaps his face a little bit -
Andrel:Oh my god!
Stefen:- and he buttons up and he's like -
Drix:Alright. I'm good.
Greg:Yeah, Drix, you're probably, you're trying, you're trying to be more in the moment for Andrel, probably.
Stefen:Exactly.
Pip:I just wasn't expecting this to go straight to my head.
Greg:Maybe not that extreme, Guy. Though very, very good, good bit.
Guy:I'm going to turn my camera on so you can actually see what it is that I'm doing.
Stefen:Oh my gosh.
Hannah:Oh my God.
Greg:Classic.
Hannah:He's, like, pinching his own cheek.
Greg:But, yeah, Drix. I don't know if this is something that you've ever grappled with, or a situation you've encountered before, but you realize that it must be kind of hard for Andrel, because you backed her up on it, but the two of you just, well, you just indirectly killed some people. Like, they deserved it. But the fact remains that Andrel, either by herself or with your help, was capable of deciding that somebody should die and acting on that. Like, you were the one who did the fighting, but she's a child.
Stefen:Yeah.
Greg:And probably hoping for some guidance.
Drix:Hey, Little Spurs. I, I know that probably wasn't easy on you, right?
Andrel:No, this one sucked.
Drix:Yeah.
Andrel:This one sucked, like, pretty bad.
Drix:Understandably, it was -
Andrel:It was all around not good.
Drix:It was, there were no good choices. There were no good choices in any of it. Not with, not with the Church, not with Hecla.
Andrel:Oh, God, I forgot about Hecla.
Drix:Yeah. Look, I want you to know that you don't have to feel guilty about that whole deal. You shouldn't have ever been put in that position, but unfortunately you are here. But you made the right choice. You saved a lot of lives.
Andrel:Yeah. I mean, honestly, I don't really feel that guilty. Which, I guess almost seems worse? I mean, they deserved it.
Drix:They did. I don't know, really, what to say, because I think you have good judgment. You've had a hard life and you know when people... are bad, essentially. It's not good that you've been saddled with this knowledge, and it's not good that you had to be this judge of character, but I know that you know, deep down, when something is or isn't right, and I think you have, I think you're a good moral compass.
Andrel:Thanks, Drix.
Drix:It's nothing. I always want to look out for you, Little Spurs. Even if you don't need it. For now, at least, it doesn't seem like much is changing, but we did a little good, I think that's worth celebrating.
Andrel:I don't know. I feel like mostly I'm just sad that... the world is like this. And I already knew that the world is like this, but...
Drix:It sucks to be reminded of it. Maybe one day things'll get better. For all of us.
Pip:I think that that day might be a little bit closer than you think.
Drix:Yeah?
Pip:Yeah. I mean, like, the way I sees it, our goal so far has been to, to bust this thing right open. And I think we've done a pretty good job at that. We've got, we have some options. We got, like, plans for the future. And we got, like... we, we're on our way, is all I'm saying. And, like, sure, it sucks now, but we did good. You did good, in an otherwise unwinnable bad situation? And I think that's... that's worth appreciating.
Andrel:So you don't regret it?
Pip:The only reason to regret a choice you made is if you're a coward.
Andrel:I feel like that's - I mean, well, we can, that's not important.
Greg:Pip, two things.
Guy:This is, that's very fun coming from Pip.
Hannah:Mm hmm.
Guy:And I am personally very amused with hypocrisy.
Greg:Pip, two things. One, the wild cognac can ease up on the effect some if you like.
Andrel:I'm, this is gonna be such a bitch to transcript.
Stefen:Oh my God, Guy, I had so much trouble understanding what you were saying there.
Guy:Oh, God, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Hannah:You're always a bitch to transcript.
Greg:Yeah, yeah, I was, I was looking it up, it's, like, yeah, so it's, like, muscle relaxing, is what, is what the effect is. And, but also, Pip, speaking of making choices that you don't regret, when you told those Hollows to stop, you called upon something that you kind of only accidentally grasped before with Jamu'hka. I think this whole Hollow business has left you, I, not want, I don't want to prescribe feelings, but, like, let me just tell you the new awareness that you have of yourself. Something you can't quite run from. That, like the Hollows, some part of you is gone, but whatever that something is that you called on is there, is there in its place. And you understand now how the Hollows in U'duasha somehow knew that you were full when they were empty. And that's, that's a truth that, that, that Pippin cannot drink himself out of.
Guy:Nope.
Greg:Just want to get that out there.
Andrel:I'm glad you backed us in the end. I know that can't have been easy for you. If we, if we run into more stuff like this, I guess I just want you to know that I'm... not gonna stop doing things like this. And, I don't know. If that's gonna be a problem, we should talk about it.
Pip:I think it's kind of a case by case basis. But if, if this is the track that you're on, then I guess I'm seeing where it goes. I may not be able to go all the way, but I am curious.
Andrel:We will walk together until we can't anymore, I guess.
Drix:Pip's a big old softie anyway. One day he'll, he'll loosen up a bit, eh?
Stefen:And Drix, like, jeers Pip a little bit.
Guy:Pip is I think at least three cups deep already. So I think that's a, I just call for another cup.
Greg:Okay, it's not a huge challenge, but I'm ready to throw a quick curveball to one of you three. Who wants to take it?
Guy:Wuh oh.
Hannah:Oh, goodness.
Greg:Like, you the players.
Guy:Wuh oh!
Greg:Who wants to take it? Very quick.
Andrel:I'm down unless someone else wants it?
Stefen:I want to see where it goes. By all means, go for it.
Hannah:Okay.
Greg:All right.
Guy:I just gotta see...
Greg:Stabbo, you're pretty sure -
Hannah:AHHH!
Guy:IT'S THE BOY!
Stefen:OH SHIT!
Hannah:Okay, continue.
Greg:Stabbo, escaped criminal, enters I'an Hadra, the nourishing garden, and is pretty sure that the three Line Bulls consisting of an Imperial, a Severosi wide as a barn, and a small child are the three that Fishbone was going to hire, so you just need to give the, give the note and your friend, Ekimosa, will be safe.
Andrel:I, Stabbo, will go up to the three Line Bulls, including the now very silent little girl.
Greg:Can you give a description of Stabbo?
Hannah:Stabbo is a huge, huge man. He is from the Dagger Isles because I thought that was too good of a pun to pass up, and so he's got... I don't remember how I described him before.
Greg:People of the Dagger Isles typically have a, almost, like, a more of, like, a bronze colored skin as opposed to the amber of Iruvia. Dark hair like a Severosi, but, like, straighter. That's how we described Coleman Kanatcher's.
Hannah:Yeah, that works. And I think he has very long hair in a ponytail. Honestly, the, like, biggest thing about him is just how big he is. He is the largest man you've ever seen in your life. Yeah, he also has an eyepatch, I'm deciding right now.
Stefen:I love that I'm wide as a barn, but Stabbo is still...
Hannah:Stabbo's bigger than you. Stabbo is bigger than you. Crazy that Fishbone was like, "Yeah, look for this big guy" to Stabbo of all people.
Greg:So -
Guy:It shows more trust, I appreciate it.
Greg:- listeners might be familiar with Stabbo briefly as a name that we threw out there. Listeners will be familiar with Stabbo in a in a Patreon special that has been recorded, but has not come out yet. Just so you know, we're going to so vaguely allude to events of it, and I mean so vaguely, I mean, like, Stabbo is present. And, like, you don't need to know the Patreon to know what's going to happen in this main show. But just so you know, the reason why Hannah is Stabbo is because in the Patreon, Hannah is Stabbo.
Hannah:Yes.
Guy:I can't believe Stabbo is canon.
Hannah:Stabbo is so canon.
Stefen:So glad that I didn't have to, that I didn't say yes and have to pick up Minty and figure out that accent on the fly again.
Pip:Oh, God, we'd be here for another two minutes.
Andrel:All right. Well, Stabbo's gonna, Stabbo's gonna go up to the Line Bulls.
Greg:Stabbo, Stabbo walks up to your table.
Stabbo:Hey, guys. Are you, you Line Bulls?
Drix:Yeah.
Pip:Yes.
Drix:That would be us.
Stabbo:Do you know -
Hannah:He adopts kind of, like, what should be a whisper, but he's a very loud man.
Stabbo:Do you guys know Fishbone?
Pip:Yes?
Stabbo:Okay. Well, he told me to give you this note. I don't know what's in it, but, but, I don't know. He told me to give it to you.
Pip:To us?
Stabbo:Yeah, he said some Line Bulls were gonna help him out. Big guy, not as big as me, but big guy, weird little reedy dude, and child. And that's you guys. Probably. I don't know.
Drix:Isn't Fishbone also a child?
Stabbo:What? No. No? No.
Pip:Give us, give us the note.
Stabbo:He's an adult man! Here's the note.
Drix:I mean, he fits into a suitcase, I just kind of assumed...
Stabbo:He just, like, kind of, he's, uh, he's contorting, you know?
Greg:Stabbo, this is getting awkward.
Stabbo:Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, enjoy your, I'm gonna go. Later, guys. I'll probably never see you again, later.
Pip:Have a nice life, I guess.
Stabbo:Yeah, you too.
Drix:It was a pleasure to meet you, Stabbo.
Stabbo:Yeah, you too, man.
Guy:All right. What's it this note?
Andrel:Wow, that guy was weird!
Pip:Reedy?
Drix:Wow, Andrel, you were so quiet for a minute there.
Andrel:I, he was just so big, I was shocked into silence.
Pip:Reedy?
Andrel:I mean, you're pretty reedy.
Drix:Yeah, I mean, that kind of tracks, actually.
Andrel:Also, he looked like the type of guy that can't read, so I don't think his vocabulary is great.
Pip:Maybe. Who knows, he might be very emotionally intelligent.
Andrel:Maybe.
Greg:So yeah, the note.
Guy:What does the note say?
Greg:The note tells you meet Fishbone at this upscale restaurant. It's so upscale it doesn't have a name, just a symbol. The symbol is of somebody, like, like, reclining. Like, somebody, it's the symbol of, like, like, somebody laying down, restfully.
Pip:He wants to met us at a mattress shop?
Andrel:Are there any mattress shops around here?
Greg:We don't have to play out you guys finding it.
Guy:I do want to do, like, the bit -
Greg:I know you guys -
Guy:- of just, like, they don't know what it is at first. They do find it eventually.
Drix:Wait, wait, wait, I think I can figure this out. All right, all right, all right. There's a man who's reclining on a thing, right, right? So.
Andrel:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Drix:All right, all right, all right, follow me.
Greg:The note, the note says it's a restaurant! It's a restaurant!
Hannah:Shush.
Drix:Follow me on this journey.
Greg:I'm being held hostage! My players have unionized, they're not letting me end this bit!
Stefen:All right, all right, all right.
Hannah:We'll end the bit, we'll end the bit, we'll end the bit. This isn't worth unionizing over.
Greg:Yeah, um, so you guys show up at this restaurant. In the corner there's Fishbone, an Iruvian man with far too many knives. The knives look nicer than ever before. He's got still got his red scarf, though, but it's pulled down because he's eating food. He's eating some, like, fancy raw fish off of this, like, big mess of vegetables. It's not even, like, bad cuts of eel. This seems to be, like, the good parts of some, like, harder to catch fish. And he waves you over.
Andrel:Hello, Fishbone.
Pip:Are we interrupting you on this day, the day of your cat's Quincenera?
Fishbone:Haha, I don't even know what that is.
Andrel:I also don't know what that is.
Fishbone:Hey, listen, just come on in here. Sit down.
Andrel:Okay, okay, we're coming in.
Fishbone:Yeah, have some food.
Pip:We just came from another restaurant.
Drix:I mean, it's free food, though.
Andrel:This looks very good.
Greg:You hear from underneath the mass of vegetables -
Table Boy:Yeah, it's pretty good if I say so myself.
Greg:Ah!
Table Boy:Hey there.
Andrel:Are you eating a person?
Greg:You see, you see what you thought was a table is actually an affable looking Akarosi man. He's got, like, red hair, real K.J. Apa looking type, a bunch of abs, and he's, he's laying down there. The food goes on the vegetables, which go on him.
Andrel:Fishbone, what?
Pip:That just seems inefficient.
Fishbone:Yeah, they charge you per ab, but let's just say Fishbone is pulling six figure heists, these days.
Greg:And he winks at you.
Andrel:What is happening?
Drix:I mean, it's not the first time I've ever eaten off an ab.
Andrel:WHAT?
Pip:I've never seen a more remarkable glow up, and yet feel so disgusted at the same time.
Andrel:Okay, I'm just -
Hannah:Andrel's just gonna start eating the food and not ask any questions.
Drix:So...
Table Boy:Don't worry about it, little girl, don't worry.
Andrel:Okay, I feel weird about this.
Table Boy:Oh, all right. I understand, silent table. It's all right.
Andrel:No, that's not...
Pip:What do you want? You called us here to see your eat off a man?
Drix:I mean, he's also inviting us to eat off the man.
Fishbone:Yes, I got an attractive man and I'm eating food off of him. Because I'm, because I'm pulling six figure heists, which you can hear about on Patreon.
Andrel:What's a Patreon?
Drix:Yeah, I'm, what even is that?
Andrel:I never know what any of you are talking about!
Pip:Yeah, I'm genuinely lost here.
Fishbone:Listen. Never mind all that.
Drix:Is that, like, a newsletter?
Andrel:So wait, you're rich now? Is that my understanding?
Fishbone:Uh, yeah, cause I'm great. Anyways, my associate Stabbo seems to have found you all right.
Pip:We've met, yes.
Andrel:Yeah.
Pip:A large man. Very scary.
Andrel:Very large. The largest of men.
Fishbone:I heard you were gonna be in town, so I made my way over, and I was hoping I could perhaps bother you for your talents. I want to offer you a job. Is that cool?
Pip:I guess.
Andrel:Sure.
Drix:I mean, we can't do any aboveboard work, so we may as well, right?
Pip:We've gotta keep it under the table, though. Don't you say anything. Not, not a word.
Greg:The table guy's like -
Table Boy:Don't worry. My lips are sealed. Zipped up.
Hannah:God, there's some joke here that I can't make, because again, Andrel is thirteen, about being under this table.
Fishbone:That's what I'm doing later.
Hannah:Fishbone fucks! Fishbone fucks!
Stefen:Yep.
Guy:Can't believe Fishbone fucks.
Ekimosa:All right, continue.
Fishbone:See, Stabbo's got this friend, Ekimosa. And we need to smuggle them over to the Sualim camp outside of town. He's on the run.
Andrel:Okay.
Drix:Well, we have gotten pretty good at smuggling recently.
Andrel:Yeah, we've been doing a lot of that.
Fishbone:Oh, that rules. You guys want to join my crew?
Drix:No.
Andrel:No.
Fishbone:You sure?
Andrel:I'm sure.
Fishbone:You don't want to be By Hook or By Crooks?
Andrel:I'm sorry, what's your crew called?
Fishbone:The By Hook or By Crooks.
Andrel:Okay, I did hear that right.
Pip:I think we're good. I think we're fine having this be a part time gig.
Fishbone:All right. If anybody wants to hear any more adventures of the By Hook or By Crooks, they can just listen on Patreon.
Drix:I don't know, I'm just not too interested in the Hooker Crooks.
Fishbone:Whoa, whoa, you gotta have the by in there, otherwise it sounds wrong.
Drix:The By Hooker Crooks?
Fishbone:Not inaccurate, but.
Hannah:Diversity win, Fishbone is bisexual?
Guy:I guess.
Stefen:We stan a king?
Hannah:We stan a king, I guess!
Stefen:I guess he is the textbook chaotic bisexual.
Fishbone:So listen, you, you can, you can do it though, right?
Pip:Yeah, sure.
Andrel:Yeah, sure, I guess.
Fishbone:So, anyways.
Greg:And he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a tube that, like, glows some, and has notches that's almost reminiscent of, like, a spinal column. You guys have all seen enough of these to sort of recognize it. It's, like, a Hull container.
Fishbone:Here he is. Here's the, here's Ekimosa.
Pip:Oh.
Greg:Stab, Stabbo had a bit of a secret burial for him.
Hannah:Aw.
Fishbone:And now we need to, we need to get him to disappear among the Sualim. That'd be pretty helpful. So you just gotta take the package over, over to the camp. And yeah, see if you can get him in one of those bad boys.
Drix:All right, so it's like a reverse heist. Where we break in and put something there.
Fishbone:Yeah, we're, like, smuggling.
Drix:Yeah, I mean, that sounds less fun to say, though.
Andrel:Reverse heist! Reverse heist!
Andrel and Drix:Reverse heist! Reverse heist!
Fishbone:Shh!
Andrel:I thought it was cool.
Candace:Listen, listen, Ramsney -
Fishbone:Points, points to the guy at the table. Ramsney's cool. You could just, just don't, don't, don't shout too loud.
Andrel:Okay.
Stefen:Understood.
Andrel:Well, it's better that I said reverse heist than smuggling, then, because no one knows what that is.
Fishbone:Listen, it's kind of, it's kind of a cool power play, it's kind of a cool power play to do, like, criminal stuff in the middle of, like, the public, but I'm realizing now that perhaps it's, it's not a great. It's not a great idea.
Andrel:No, I don't know why you did this.
Drix:Honestly, it really does seem like - don't you have a base? Like...
Fishbone:Not in Mistport, okay? I...
Andrel:All right, let's, let's go.
Fishbone:All right. Anybody wants this fish to go, or what?
Andrel:Oh, I'll take it.
Greg:And yeah, he hands you some more fish off of Ramsney.
Andrel:Sorry, man.
Table Boy:No, it's alright. It's a living.
Andrel:Okay. Glad you're having fun.
Pip:I hope they tip well. Do they tip at all?
Drix:They tip very well.
Pip:I'm not gonna question that. Let's go.
Andrel:I have some questions for you, Drix.
Pip:No, we're going. We're going.
Greg:Yeah, so we're gonna do this like we did breaking into that one place. I'm just gonna need one roll from each of you. I'll describe a little situation and you describe to me how we do it. Yeah, but first thing's first is obviously you're gonna have to sneak over to the Sualim worksite. There are the Sualim themselves. Sualim means bronze giants, and they are unusually large Hulls, like, 20 to 30 feet tall. And they're used to, for, like, construction work. Sometimes they've got, just got giant sized tools, but also it's really helpful to just set a girder with your own damn hands. And there are non-Hull overseers that are, like, from the Ministry, so you'd have to sneak past those. But yeah, just in general, this sort of could be any kind of roll, because it's also a dangerous spot. Like, you know, it's like a hardhat place, because there's, like, rubble and stuff from all the construction going on. So you could do steel to get through there, or finesse to sneak through, force to knock somebody out, like, I don't know. Who wants to go first?
Guy:I would like to roll steel. I'm going to say it's, like, a willpower role of basically, like, we're walking in like we own the place and basically, like, because we're, you know, just going in like we're supposed to be there no one's gonna pay any attention to us, so.
Greg:Alright, which don't you want to do? Now we're playing Ghost Lines.
Hannah:Yeah!
Guy:Now we're playing Ghost Lines. I'm gonna go panic, disengage, or flee. I think that's probably the worst one, right? I don't get any bonus for nobility because willpower in this is just steel?
Greg:Just rolling plus steel.
Guy:Cool. That is an eleven plus two. Thirteen, baby!
Stefen:Hell yeah.
Greg:Yeah! You guys walk in like you own the place. You guys, you guys are Line Bulls. You're in your, like, regular clothes, but you probably still got your, like, badges, and all it takes the flashing your badges. You're Ministry. So, like, and there's just, like, low level clerks here, so they're not going to be like, "Oh, scrubby Bulls!" Like, you know, for all they know, you're masters here scoping something out, doing something important. You just get a lot, you get a lot of nods, in fact, from, like, the non-Hulls that are there. The, any, like, at one point in time there's a Sualim just sort of hefting, like, a little, you know, one of those little pump train cars, and it goes to step near you guys and then he, he sees that, like, his foot's in your way, his massive foot, and he goes, like -
Sualim:Sorry.
Greg:And steps, steps back.
Andrel:Oh, God. They are big, aren't they?
Drix:And I thought Stabbo was the biggest thing.
Pip:They're quite large. Don't stare too much.
Greg:Alright, next roll. So yeah, so obviously what you need to do is you need to actually get him into a Sualim. You know, there's, there's occupied ones, there's a repair area, probably, where there's, like, broken-down ones, and there's probably also, like, I don't imagine they're clocked into these giant bodies, like, all day every day. So there's probably also, like, the equivalent of, like, a locker room that's got a normal size door on one end and a 30 foot tall door on the other.
Andrel:Alright, I can try to finesse to, like, sneak into the locker room?
Greg:Sounds good, sounds good.
Hannah:Yes, that's an eight.
Greg:All right, which do you want to do?
Andrel:I will avoid trouble, compromise, or cost.
Greg:Alright. So Andrel, you go to sneak in to the little, like, locker room area, avoiding some of the other Hulls. You're very, very careful. You, you, you find where they keep some of the Sualim that are, that're ready to be docked, and you're sort of carefully, flitting from, like, behind body part, behind, like, unoccupied, normal sized Hull, you're getting there. Meanwhile, Drix, what are you doing? Do you think you're, like, outside, or?
Stefen:Yeah, I think I'm outside, like, trying to run interference. Make sure no one bothers Andrel.
Greg:Yeah, you're going to have to. Because approaching you, who looks like they know what they're doing, but also looks like they're on their own lookout for something, is a man in a bronze mask and a coat. You recognize the bronze mask as the mask of a Spirit Warden, a similar, like, supernatural arm of the Imperium, Spirit Wardens track down errant spirits and make sure that when there's deaths in the city, that no spirits may rise. Spirit Warden walks over to you, Drix, and takes a look at your badge and says -
Spirit Warden:Excuse me, Line Bull. Have you seen an errant specter pass this way?
Drix:No, I can, I can firmly say that I have not seen an errant specter pass this way.
Spirit Warden:We have reason to believe that there was a burial, and perhaps the escapee may attempt to hijack one of the Ministry's Hulls.
Drix:Would you guys not be able to, you know, track, track that? That feels like, that feels like that would be -
Spirit Warden:I am here, am I not?
Drix:Oh. Fair, fair enough, actually. You know, see, this is why I, you're a Spirit Warden and I'm a Line Bull. See to -
Spirit Warden:In fact, yes.
Drix:Wow. You know, I meant that a whole lot kinder than you made it seem.
Spirit Warden:Tell me, have you seen it? Your cooperation is unnecessary, but would be accepted.
Drix:I have not seen it, but I could help you look for it.
Greg:Make me some kind of roll to throw this guy off the scent, because he's clearly almost there.
Stefen:So, question. Drix would know that if he touches, that if he, like, does something through the Ghost Field, this guy would probably be able to sense it, right?
Greg:Oh, yeah. I mean, even as, like, anybody can whisper into the Ghost Field, but Spirit Wardens are particularly adept at that sort of thing, and on top of that are usually augmented with some magic from, not directly the Emperor, but, like, through the Emperor, they are empowered in some way.
Stefen:Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. In that case, then I'm not gonna fuck, I'm not gonna fucking try that shit. I'm gonna try this with words. Um, yeah, I'm giving it a good old finesse roll and see if I can, see if I can, like, smooth talk him.
Greg:Yeah, you seem, you seem to, you're like, you're, "Oh, let me, let me, let me look around, like, I'll help you look around." That may be nice.
Stefen:Oh, boy. Well, that ain't great. That would be an eight total.
Greg:Which one, which one do you want to do?
Stefen:I think I would like to avoid trouble, compromise, or cost.
Greg:Yeah, yeah. I think you're spending a good amount of a day with this Spirit Warden. You're going through the whole camp, looking near and far. At some points, maybe, like, retracing your own steps, like, "Oh, you think they'd go this way? Like, you think they'd try to go into the locker room?" Meanwhile, Andrel, you are able to lock, lock the Hull container into one of the Sualim, which sparks to life. You know, in repose they're, like, in, like, a, like, a giant fetal position, and you see when it comes up it sort of puts its arms back, dangles its legs, it's like relaxing in a park or something.
Ekimosa:Oh, man, that's great. They put toes on these.
Andrel:Yeah, their attention to detail is really good, huh?
Ekimosa:Yeah, it's, like... I can't feel my toes touching, but I can, like, feel like I'm wiggling them.
Andrel:Yeah, I can see them wiggling.
Ekimosa:Huh.
Andrel:Yeah.
Ekimosa:You're real small, but is that because I'm real big, or are you, like, a baby?
Andrel:I'm thirteen, which I think is not a baby, but sometimes people treat me like a baby, so.
Pip:She's very tall for her age.
Hannah:Are you here?
Greg:Sure.
Hannah:I guess.
Greg:Sure.
Ekimosa:Yeah, man. I mean, thirteen in this day and age.
Andrel:Yeah, I'm an adult woman.
Ekimosa:Yeah. I mean, my, my entire life was, you know, about twenty-five years. Now I'm a, now I'm a ghost robot man.
Andrel:Yeah, more than halfway there, I guess.
Ekimosa:Yeah.
Andrel:That's... hope you have fun as a ghost robot man.
Ekimosa:Oh yeah.
Pip:Hey Andrel. When when you inevitably pass on, as we are all bound to do, do you want to be a 30 foot tall robot?
Andrel:I can definitely see the appeal of it.
Ekimosa:Yeah, get a load of this, too.
Greg:And he puts a big hand over you and sort of does, like, a little, like, a little hair ruffle, oh so gently.
Hannah:Oh my god.
Ekimosa:Really fine motor control on these guys.
Hannah:Ahh, robots are cool.
Ekimosa:Anyway, you can go on and tell Fishbone that I'm here. Just note down my number, huh? What does it say on the back?
Andrel:Uh, your number, 420?
Guy:I was gonna say 80085.
Ekimosa:Oh, and on the front it says 69.
Stefen:There it is.
Guy:There we go.
Andrel:Alright, 420 69.
Greg:420, 420 80085 69.
Hannah:Amazing, we're doing great.
Guy:There it is. There it is.
Greg:So I think eventually you guys are, yeah, you guys are all able to regroup. Ekimosa stands up and joins the other Sualim sort of clumsily, like, picking stuff up. The Spirit Warden deposits Drix back with you guys.
Spirit Warden:Well, Colburn. It is unfortunate that I have not been able to track this specter. But I appreciate you taking the time.
Drix:Oh, I mean, it was nothing, I understand. It's a hard job, isn't it? Like, you wouldn't believe some of the things some people have tried on our training. Just, you know.
Spirit Warden:I think you'll find that there is most anything I would believe.
Drix:Really? Okay. Alright. Alright. Alright. Alright. Alright, so -
Spirit Warden:No, that was not an invitation to speak to me. Don't you have - go, go, go catch your train, as I no doubt you must. I shall continue to stalk this camp.
Greg:And he, woosh, disappears in a puff of smoke.
Pip:Do you make a friend, Drix?
Drix:Well, I mean, he wasn't very hospitable at the end, but it wasn't a bad day. I mean, you know, he's, the guy's a little, you know, eeeeh, but once, once you get past that, he seems like a generally normal dude.
Andrel:Nice.
Pip:I was being facetious. Now I'm just genuinely happy for you.
Drix:Aw, thank you.
Greg:Let's see some side job rolls. Remember, so, I think, I think Pip rolls with a fucking plus two, the rest -
Guy:Ey.
Hannah:We each get zero.
Greg:You two, just, yeah, just roll with zero.
Hannah:Three.
Stefen:All right, all right, let's, let's go for Ben de loi. Let's see if Ben de loi is going to help me out today.
Guy:Holy shit.
Stefen:Oh, shit, yes, six!
Greg:Nice.
Guy:I got an eight total.
Hannah:Damn.
Greg:So I guess, you two, do you want ghost work or more stash and favor? Or favor? I know you've currently got a moratorium on ghosts work, right?
Hannah:Yeah.
Greg:Keep that up?
Guy:We've got enough ghost work, like, kind of sitting around.
Greg:Either way I gotta roll on the rumor table, so it's like, I'm still gonna do that regardless. Yeah, remember, you all get your normal pick of plus two stash or plus one favor, and then you two who got sixes, also go ahead and...
Hannah:I love that in canon in this translates to Fishbone paying Drix and Pip extra but not Andrel.
Fishbone:There you go. What? You're a child.
Andrel:What, I did the - I still deserve money!
Fishbone:Yeah, and I gave it to you.
Andrel:But they got more money than me!
Fishbone:Yeah, cause you're a child.
Andrel:But I - that's, that's discriminatory!
Fishbone:Well, childs are literally - childs, childs are literally a trigger for me.
Andrel:What?
Fishbone:I was deposed by a child.
Andrel:Yeah, but then why'd you hire me?
Greg:He stops for a moment.
Fishbone:Listen, just take the money.
Andrel:This is a hostile workplace.
Fishbone:I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, I'll give you this for free, then. I'll give, I'll give you this for free, a little extra, just for you.
Greg:I'm rolling on the rumor chart.
Andrel:Okay.
Greg:I'll give you extra details on this one. The dice are helping me here, because I did have plans for this already. So I'll give you extra information on here to, honor their their sixes as well.
Fishbone:Yeah, well, I'll give you this for free, all right? How about, how about that? You, if you want somebody who will, who will pay you a little more, I hear there's this rich vampire guy who started up some, some, they say he's got a gang of Hollows these days. They say that there's, they say there's a gang. Someone, someone's running this gang made of Hollows.
Guy:Word travels fast.
Andrel:Yeah, we knew that already.
Fishbone:What?
Andrel:Yeah.
Fishbone:You're sure? Like...
Andrel:Yeah, no, we knew that already. Unless it's a different guy.
Fishbone:No, he's, he's a rich cat-eyed undead man?
Ekimosa:Oh, is he rich?
Fishbone:Yeah, he pays, he pays so much. I worked for him before I became a crime lord sometimes.
Andrel:I guess that's true. Yeah, he does give us good money. Yeah, no, we knew that already.
Greg:Here I thought I was hooking you up with a guy who had a gang of Hollows so you could pull heists and stuff.
Andrel:No.
Fishbone:Yeah. Yeah, well, I'm not paying you more.
Andrel:GOD DAMMIT.
Guy:I'm gonna take the favor.
Hannah:What was, was that literally the rumor? Vampire with Hollows?
Greg:Someone is running a gang of Hollows.
Hannah:Amazing. Love it.
Stefen:I'm gonna take the stash. On both, so I'm gonna add four stash. I did realize, I definitely haven't hit 30 yet, though. So we're gonna say I'm at, like, 28 after the four stash.
Greg:Alright, so you've got all that. And soon it will be time to return to the Pride of Duskwall. We've dealt with the Hollows, the disappearance of the missionaries, which you all knew about. But strange that there's a complete lack of Hecla, for perhaps sinister reasons, as Drix noticed that knife. We'll dive a little, little deeper into those mysteries, next time on Ghosts on a Train!
Hannah:Yay!
Guy:Yay!
Greg:Thanks and bye!
Stefen:Woo!
Hannah:Bye everybody!
Guy:Thanks and bye!
Stefen:Thanks and bye!
Hannah:Thanks and bye.
Stefen:Hell yeah.
Radio Announcer Greg:Pride of Duskwall is now arriving. Please allow all passengers to exit the train before boarding. This has been Ghosts on a Train, a podcast with the Faustian Nonsense network, where we've played Ghost Lines, an RPG written and designed by John Harper. All of our music by Sebastian Black. Our cover art is by Yoshiko Agresta. Your Line Bulls for this trip were:
Hannah:Andrel Anderson, badge name Dunvil, played by me, Hannah Levin.
Drix:Adric, aka Drix, badge name Colburn, played by me, Stefen Lewis.
Guy:Pippin "Pip" McKeel, badge name McKeel, played by me, Guy Zwiebel.
Radio Announcer Greg:And I have been your conductor, Greg Carrobis. For bonus contents as well as behind the scenes, become a patron of the Faustian Nonsense Patreon. Your support will help our podcast as well as the others on the network, and in lieu of monetary support, a review on your favorite podcatcher will help Ghosts on a Train maintain visibility. If you have any questions about the Pride of Duskwall or additions to suggest for the train, please email them to ghosttrainpod@gmail.com or contact us on Twitter @ghosts_train, and I'll have Candace bring them to the Line Bulls. Thank you for riding with us, and please consider traveling with us again next time.
Guy:I was genuinely upset when I found out that Squid Game was not, like, people were not talking about Splatoon 3.
Greg:Yeah, I could see that being upsetting.
Guy:It took, like, a good, like, three or four times of, like, hearing about people being excited over Squid Game before it's like, oh, this is something different.
Greg:Weird direction they took it.
Stefen:Mm hmm, mm hmm.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
