The Tellic House (episode)

*This article is about the Check Please! episode. For information on the ancestral home of the Tellic family, please see the Tellic House (location).*

## *Check Please!* Episode(s)

### Released

24 Aug 2019 (YouTube)
06 Nov 2020 (Podcasts)
30 Apr 2021 (YouTube)

## Key Details

### Location(s)

The Deadlands
The Tellic House

## Players

### Cast

Keni as Sol
Xeno as Vera
Screwy as Markus
Grem as Lovette

## NPCs

### Minor

Ann-Lysse Tellic
Bernhardt Tellic
Duncan Tellic
Magdaline Tellic
Tristan Tellic

## Links

### Podcast

Apple Podcasts
 Amazon Music
 Spotify

*Check Please!*

"**The Tellic House**" is the 8th episode of the first season of *Check Please!* Campaign One. It was first released on August 24th, 2019.

*"Last time, our 'brave' Heroes arrived at the ruins of the Tellic Manor, only to have the area somehow transform into the pristine estate that it once was, and for Sol to be confused for a young noblewoman. What strange secrets does this manor hold for our adventurers?"*

## Summary

The Check Please! Party members, assuming the identities of Caroline Tellic and her schoolmates, enter the Tellic Manor, where they learn firsthand the tragic history of the Deadlands.

## Synopsis

### Making an Entrance

The Party members advances into the house, where the Elderly Butler politely takes their coats and adventuring gear; Sol retains their lyre, and Lovette declines the offer entirely. The Party encounters the rest of the Tellic Family – Lord Bernhardt, Lady Magdaline, Duncan, and Tristan – who are delighted to see "Lady Caroline". Sol bluffs their way through awkward questions about the Academy.

The group separates, with Markus and Lovette heading to the mansion's cozy smoking room alongside Lord Tellic, Duncan, and Tristan, and Sol, Vera, and Archie heading to the solarium/music room with Lady Tellic and Ann-Lysse. Lady Tellic and Ann-Lysse select songs to perform with Sol and Vera. Strangely, neither Tellic appears to notice Archie. The four sing, with Sol performing exceptionally and Vera doing their best to muddle through.

Meanwhile, Lord Tellic and Lovette discuss financial matters and the former's pursuits on his estate. Lovette attempts to discern where Lord Tellic keeps his valuables, in the hopes of recovering them when the Party members return to their own time. Tellic mentions a few valuable paintings, tapestries, pieces of pottery, artwork, and curiosities acquired in his travels. He specifically refers to items from Kin-Tau and Protus, making oblique reference to an ongoing conflict – a "bloody business" – underway between the two Empires. Sol checks in with the rest of the Party in the smoking room, while Vera, mindful of their apiary, remains outside. Archie follows Sol, but again goes unnoticed by any of the Tellic family present.

### Dinner

Shortly after, both groups assemble in the dining room, and dinner is served. Lord Tellic again mentions "that dreadful war taking place to the north" and asks for opinions; the Party members prevaricate. He also references a guardian of the Halflings, which Markus interprets as a reference to Eden; this confuses Tellic, who apparently meant someone else. Lovette, having stowed Archie in his ball form, prepares to deploy the Eidolon beneath the table, to test the constraints of their current situation. Meanwhile, "Lady Caroline" is called on to perform something she learned at the Academy; Sol, in character, rises to the occasion and gives a lyre performance. Archie finishes deploying under the table, causing a disturbance, but it goes unnoticed amidst applause for Sol's song. In the aftermath, Sol notices Ann-Lysse's expression go blank for a brief moment.

After dinner, the group assembles again in the solarium/music room for an "impromptu talent show". Lady Magdaline, up first, plays a hauntingly beautiful piano composition, one with which Sol is unfamiliar despite their Bardic training. Sol commits the gist of the tune to memory. Next, Tristan and Duncan fence, displaying considerable skill; Duncan, the elder of the two by a year, wins with a clever feint. Ann-Lysse uses a minor illusion spell to conjure a butterfly that circles the room and then cascades into multi-colored sparkles. Markus magically summons a pony. Lovette attempts to demonstrate Archie's strength, but the automaton is invisible to the Tellics, and they mistake the performance for Gnomish levitation magic. Vera turns her familiar Hummel into a swarm of bees. Finally, Sol once again sings, accompanied by their lyre, with its sounds magically changing between those of different instruments over the course of the performance. Suddenly, there is a flash of light.

### "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds"

Unlike the flash that brought the Party into this unusual world, this light comes flooding through the windows, through which the Party can see in the far distance a huge mushroom cloud. Clearly, something terrible has happened. The Party tries to convince the Tellics to find shelter, but the noise of the explosion catches up with the light from it, smashing in the glass of the windows with the force of an earthquake and knocking everyone present to the ground. Everyone except Sol is wounded by the flying debris. The assembled individuals stagger into the main hall, just in time for the central ceiling support beam to fall; Lord Bernhardt pushes Lady Magdalene aside and is crushed in her place. Suddenly, Ann-Lysse turns to Sol, looks them dead in the eye, and asks the heavy question: "Who are you?"

## Key Points

### Plot & Lore

* The war between the Protean and Kin-Tau Empires that ultimately resulted in the formation of the Deadlands in the Cataclysm is referenced for the first time. Lord Tellic states his nominal support for the Proteans, and states that the fighting has spread from the northern region down south into Tellic land.
* A relationship is hinted at between Zel and Halflings.

### Character

#### Sol

* Sol continues to be snippy with Vera, and vice versa.
* Sol gives their first performance of their Tellic House song, a musical theme they reuse at future points in the campaign.

#### Vera

* Vera continues to be snippy with Sol, and vice versa.
* Nevertheless, though they're unwilling to admit it, Vera is impressed by Sol's incredible post-dinner performance.

#### Lovette

* Lovette blushes at a compliment from Sol, an early sign of her growing feelings for them. She also eagerly holds their hand in support when they are under pressure at dinner to maintain their guise as Caroline.
* Lovette shows little regard for the Tellic boys' "meathead" attitudes.
* Lovette's first instinct as the shockwave hits is to tackle Sol to safety. She misses.

#### Archie

* Archie is invisible to the Tellics during the "flashback" sequence, which has implications for whether or not he possesses a soul.

## Running Gags & Callbacks

* The cigars acquired from the Tellic House would remain in the Party inventory for a considerable number of future episodes.
* "Thanks, I hate it."
* Screwy asks for a mulligan on a roll. Unusually, so does Keni.
* Markus jokes about Sol having been "tied up" with things when they first met Lovette.

## Memorable Quotes

* "It must be nice having such a powerful guardian watching over you and your entire race." – Lord Tellic, to Markus.
* "I hope Vera's fuckin' talent show [performance] is just BEES!" "You get a bee! You get a bee! We all get bees!" – Grem and Keni

## The Dice

(These are estimates, since not all rolls are called or broken down out loud.)

* Keni receives a 20 on a Perform (Strings) check, but it's unclear whether or not this is a natural roll.

## Trivia & References

* Screwy references *The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers* with regards to checking their weapons and items at the Manor's door.
* Screwy likens their situation to being in a holodeck, referencing the famously unsafe rooms in the Star Trek franchise where individuals can, among other things, simulate and take part in past events.
* Stealth Pun: Beardy describes the Tellic Family's confusion and disappointment at first seeing the gnome Lovette (rather than Lady Caroline) as lasting "a short little moment".
* The fact that Archie went unnoticed by the Tellics (and the corresponding implications about his soul) went unnoticed by the rest of the Players until an episode of Check Point! several years later.
* Grem/Lovette mentions "duck and cover" in response to the mushroom cloud.
* Screwy seeks clarification on whether Bernhardt is "*dead* dead" rather than "mostly dead", a reference to *The Princess Bride*.

## Notes

* The episode is entitled "The Telic House" in its podcast releases, but the family name is spelled "Tellic" in other media.