Episode 10: 2 Girls, 1 Cloak

**2 Girls, 1 Cloak** (C1E10) is the tenth episode of the first campaign of The Table is Yours: A Role-playing Adventure Show. The Faded Fates get help from Suum to return to the Tenth Precinct of The Burg...

## **Synopsis**

### Suum Saves the Day

Suum tells the party to finish their food and meet her in the back room as she leaves their table. The Faded Fates breathe a sigh of relief knowing they have some sort of plan to get out of this. Terrance informs the party the Ninth is most likely sending, or has already sent, Bronzers into The Wilds to find them. The Bronze Guard (Bronzers) are special operatives typically sent on missions to settle high-stakes disputes in all three sectors of Zobraria.

While the group discusses whether or not to trust Suum, Isa notices Shae looks paler than normal. Shae brushes her concerns off as the deliberation continues. They decide to, at a minimum, speak with Suum; the party finishes eating and makes their way to the back room where Suum is waiting for them. Isa and Codex notice she has a parchment in her hand that she quickly shoves into her back pocket. She looks at them and asks, with a genuine concern, what kind of trouble they are in. Terrance repeats what they told her before; they were accused of something they didn’t do and their options were to stay in The Burg and be executed or fall into The Wilds. Suum nods in understanding and tells The Faded Fates she wanted to be sure they weren’t Bronzers before trusting them, but because they are actually in trouble, the Bronzers would be there soon enough. For that reason, Suum agrees to help them get back to The Burg. She pauses for a moment and rubs a tattoo on her wrist, though the symbol is not visible. She asks the group if they like The Burg. Most of the group seem indifferent; Terrance and Wash say they just live there and have no loyalty to the city. Isa stays quiet, and Codex admits she does like The Burg considering she used to work for The Neremont Society.

Suum says she works with a group that isn’t the biggest fan of The Burg because of generational trauma that occurred long ago. That’s all she tells them. Suum asks where they want to be transported. The group discusses for a moment, but suddenly, Shae drops unconscious to the ground. Isa quickly kneels down to offer Shae healing, but it didn’t work. Frantically, the group decides to head back to the Tenth Precinct to take Shae back to the Red Raven Adventuring Guild. Suum recognizes the guild and mentions that she knows the guild leader, so she agrees to send them there with a Teleportation scroll.

### The Faded Fates Repent

Unfortunately, the group does not land in the Tenth together. Codex, Terrance and v2 drop in an alley, and Isa, Wash, and an unconscious Shae are in the marketplace near *The Iron Woman*. The Faded Fates know they are people of interest, so each trio frantically start planning their way back to the guild. Codex and Terrance decide they need to hide v2 because he is noticeable. Codex tries to remember the command word to transform v2 into “backpack mode”, but Terrance, ever the genius, calls out, “v2, command up” as he crawls up Terrance’s back and clamps down around his chest. Codex is excited that he remembered how to command v2, until she realizes v2 is a heavy piece of machinery, and Terrance is 5 '6'' and 120 pounds soaking wet. The two decide to make their way, slowly, through the alleys back to the guild hall.

On the other side of town, Isa, with Shae on her back, and Wash realize how close they are to the Iron Woman, so they decide to pay Milla a visit. They ask if she has any cloaks or something they can use to obscure themselves in a crowd. Milla looks at them, confused, and reminds them that she is a blacksmith, not a tailor. Isa explains that they had some issues on their last mission and need to get to the guild hall unnoticed. Milla suggests that Isa put her cloak over Shae to make it look like she has a hunchback. Isa does this and throws Wash clerical robes from her pack. He begrudgingly puts them on, and the two ask Milla how they look and are met with a shrug in response. The two thank her and leave the Iron Woman.

At the same time, Codex and Terrance round the corner. Terrance quickly notices the sneakers on the feet of the hunchback and the holy man smoking a cigarette, a dead giveaway that these are their fellow party members. Codex catches up to Wash, leaving Terrance behind as he continues to struggle with v2 on his back. Codex explains the situation to Wash, who gestures for Isa to go ahead with Shae while he waits on Terrance. Isa moves quickly into the guild hall, while the rest of the group follows suit. Wash is stopped for a moment by a guard, but somehow convinces them that he is bringing these troublemakers (Terrance and Codex) to the guild hall to “repent.” As Telemauchus brings Shae to the infirmary, the remaining party heads to the study.

### One Returns

They find One debriefing Shawm and Maude on her previous mission, but the conversation comes to a halt as the rest of the party enters the room. Shawm smiles that usual smile of his and welcomes to the table. One quickly assists Terrance with getting v2 off of him, and they all join together to discuss the events which transpired at The Polished Wall. Shawm offers Isa an opportunity to join The Faded Fates as a full member, and she agrees, as she’d enjoyed her time with them the past couple days. At this point, Shawm attempts to make his leave, but not before Codex stops him to spill everything she learned about Balthazar. Shawm looks at her with both surprise and concern as he tells her to be careful with Balthazar and then quickly exits.

Maude sits at her desk with her head in her hands and tells everyone to gather so she can explain their situation. She informs the party they are no longer being hunted for execution, thanks to her. However, they are still sought after for the information they know. Maude explains that after they all left the gala, the attendees were held for a whole day for questioning, and Visrai was taken into custody as the next likely suspect (after Terrance, of course). Terrance breathes a sigh of relief and is initially excited that this person he hates so much is behind bars, but Maude quickly gives him a frustrated look. She explains that this is not a good thing. Once Visrai was captured, he spilled everything he knew, including Terrance’s full name and the fact that he worked with Vorano. He was also the party’s main connection in their investigation into Vorano, so now that he’s gone, they have no new leads. Maude looks at the group with defeat in her eyes and asks if they have any other leads to look into, specifically ones that are outside of the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Precincts because that is where Lady Rousseau's men are looking for them. Terrance hesitantly raises his hand to mention that he has suspicions about Phoebe, the employee at the Aurel Envoy. Codex chimes in and says they can look into the office in the Third Precinct because that is where she met Phoebe originally, and that would keep the party away from the guards looking for them. Maude sighs and says she can get them to the Third first thing in the morning, and for now, they can rest. Isa asks how Shae is, and Maude says they will take care of her for the night and see how she is feeling in the morning. With that, the group makes their way to the chamber hall where they prepare for sleep.

### Even Heroes Bathe

The team makes their way to the bathhouse for some relaxation. Codex dives right in, only disturbing some of the other bathers, and swims up to One who is sitting, fully armored, on the sidelines. She asks about One’s mission and how it went, to which One answers very bluntly that she doesn’t remember, but, since she is alive, she assumes it went well. Codex is perturbed by the answer, and she tells One she is sad that she doesn’t feel like she can trust her with what happened. One takes a moment and explains to Codex that it isn’t that she doesn’t have trust for Codex or the other Faded Fates, but she is being honest. She explains she can’t access her own memory because it isn’t safe to do so, but she promises that when she has information to share, she will. One asks Codex about Balthazar while inspecting her neck, and Codex tells her that he is very mysterious, and she thinks that he is the voice from the woods in Generta. One just nods and lets Codex continue to talk about everything that happened while she was gone.

Terrance and Isa decide to go to the steam room, where Terrance welcomes her to the group, officially. He asks her what she thinks about everyone so far. Isa likes Codex because she seems optimistic, and that is a much needed trait in an adventuring group. She doesn’t know much about Wash, but Isa thinks he is kind deep down and is interesting . Isa doesn’t think One likes her, but she hopes that changes since they just met earlier in the day. Terrance tells Isa she is very much like their leader and maybe having someone else that has their shit together threatens One a bit. Isa laughs and admits she doesn’t have her shit together, but she is good at acting like she does. She tells Terrance that she feels like she knows him the best, and she really enjoys their moments together… It is nice to have a friend. Terrance smiles and agrees.

Before Wash makes it to his sleeping quarters, he is stopped by One. He tells her she didn’t miss much, except for them screwing everything up and getting tossed into The Wilds. One half-heartedly listens as she grabs his head and inspects his neck. Wash looks at her confused, but she says she’s glad he is alright and makes her way to the baths for some privacy.

As One sinks into the water, finally alone, she realizes how achey her body is after her mission. She takes note of a few bruises and scrapes; she isn’t too beat up, but she could be better. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes until she feels a rippling in the water next to her. One opens an eye to see Chartreuse sitting next to her, smiling. One asks if the mission was a success, and Chartreuse says it went well and that she made a lot of good progress. One scoffs and remarks it doesn’t feel like she did as she sinks deeper into the hot water. Chartreuse pats her on the head and tells her not to doubt herself. She says that she will tell her what happened, but she isn’t the one who took the memories. One understands and closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, Chartreuse is gone.