Ep. 129 The Boss is Late Chapter One (C2)

## Listen

C2 Ep. 129 The Boss is Late Chapter One

—Hob

The Unity Dinner is still ongoing. Reynard and Erys notice some people missing, and they group goes to investigate. Katherine is looking frazzled at having to run this party by herself, her hosts having disappeared. She thinks Drauthr and Maylan have gone off to talk somewhere, as they had an upsetting conversation.

Milo and Reynard explore the oustide of the house, and bump into the City Watch. Reynard, still seeing being questioned as not an option, crashes a cart into their vehicle and takes off, switching into his Dranyer personality. Milo is left to deal with the officers. One of them hands him a business card and says he's sent by Alister, and that Reynard really needs to speak to him before Verla.

Inside, Hob and Erys find Maylan and Drauthr in private conversation. They tell Drauthr that it's really bad to work with Calloway, Erys dropping that he got his son killed. They make a hasty exit, and Erys accidentally walks in on Sana in the bathroom.

The group joins up outside, and Erys examines the claw marks on the walls. She's sure they belong to the clawed glove she made for Kath. Ace barrels past them, and recevies a stern talking-to about stealing from this neighborhood. They drop Ace back off at the party, and leave for Boromar HQ.

They arrive without incident, but when they get to his office, they find his body in the middle of the room, with Reynard's dagger in his chest.

## Synopsis

The Unity Dinner continues. Erys and Reynard notice some people missing from the dinner: Do'orla, Ace, Kath, Drauthr, and Maylan. Katherine is looking around, confused at the missing hosts. Milo asks Katherine what happened to them. She and Drauthr had a conversation that seemed to upset him, so he and Drauthr left somewhere. She says they're close so maybe they're having a private conversation. She seems on edge, now being the only person to host this dinner, and wanting to move on. Milo thanks her and says he won't keep her. She leaves to tell the Khorabar bartender to stop overpouring for everyone—and stop serving Erys.

Milo makes his way to Erys and Hob, followed by Reynard. Hob and Erys are mid-conversation about if they should sneak around the house looking for the missing people. Hob is most worried about Ace, the thief, being lost in the house. Milo and Reynard go to look around outside the house. Towards the backdoor, Sana barrels through, the plate she's holding toppling out of her hands. Milo goes to catch up, but just flips it even more and covers his shoe in the food.

Milo and Reynard exit onto the back aroad. Ulfen's cart is present, but no signs of Ace. Milo spots what looks like fresh scratches on stone on the house next door, like someone climbed up the house with claws. A man in a trench coat, flanked by a few City Watchmen, calls out to Reynard.

Erys considers where *she* would look for valuables, to get an idea of where to search for Ace. She thinks Ace is probably not as good a criminal as her, so she thinks he might have gone to the study looking for a hidden room, instead of the vault that she'd already found last visit behind a painting. They head to the study and find Drauthr and Maylan having drinks. Drauthr says Katherine doesn't understand some way things work in the city. Erys asks if it's cause he's working with Calloway (and he's a real taat). Hob stops her blunt way of talking about Calloway, but agrees that he's not the best to work with. He says Calloway is violent and dangerous, and they might be putting Katherine in harm's way. Erys adds that he got a lot of people killed, including Faru. Drauthr's jaw clenches and glass shatters as he squeezes his cup; blood runs down his hand.

Reynard notices a cart parked in perfect alignment with the City Watch. Milo tries to stop him, but Reynard kicks it and runs the other way. Milo runs to help the people. He runs through the street, hooks a right, turns the necklace, and walks back down the other side.

*"You're just going to make it worse!"
"Yeah, I already made it worse!"
–Milo and Reynard*

Reynard rejoins Milo and the City Watchmen, as Dranyer. He tells them he doesn't know Milo, but just saw what happened and wanted to see if he could help. They thank him and send him on his way. After he leaves, the Watchmen tell Milo that they need to get in contact with Reynard, before Verla does. He gives him a business card, and says Alister sent him.

Erys is baffled that Drauthr would enter into a partnership with Calloway, knowing what he's done. Hob thinks it's probably because of the money that he brings in. They look around the rooms for Ace. (Having wandered the house before, Erys knows what all the rooms are.) They don't find him. As they're discussing what to do, Erys continues to break into locked doors. Both her and Sana are incredibly embarrassed when one happens to be the bathroom Sana is using. She closes the door, and then asks if Sana has seen Kath.

Milo and Reynard join up again, and Milo relays the message and the card. Reynard doesn't understand why he wouldn't want to talk to his old friend, Verla. They meet up with Hob and Erys, who have exited into the alleyway. Erys expresses regrets about how they killed Jason, and then examines the wall to see if the claw marks matches what she made Kath. She's very confident they are. Erys's goggles track the disruption of the tiling on the house, and footprints running along the top. Next to one of the chimney's are Kath's clothes.

As they walk down the street, out of one of the alleyways runs Ace, who barrels into Reynard. Hob picks him up by the ankles and shakes the coins free. A couple coins fall loose. To make it seem like a joke, he does the same to Milo, who plays along. Ace is indignant when Hob tells him not to rob anyone up here, since in the past Hob told him to check out the spots he was interested in and get back to him. He says Kath was headed to bed, Do'orla was leaving, and so he snuck out with her. There was an awkward, tense walk as they all walked together, until Kath dipped out and Do'orla went home. Ace was headed back to help Ulfen to wrap up the party. Erys shames Ace for not helping with the party, and go back with him to make their goodbyes.

They head to Tasha, and drive to Boromar HQ. Malcolm invites them to go back to Saidan's office. The door is ajar, and when they go inside, all the bay windows are open. In the middle of the room, is Saidan's body in a pool of blood, with Reynard's dagger sticking out of his chest.

End of episode.

## Locations

* Boromar HQ
* Katherine's house

## Quotes

"I don't remember that."
"That doesn't surprise anyone."
*—Trevor and Philip 0:17:12*

"I'm beginning to think that we shouldn't have killed him in Kegbottom's."
"No, we should have never done that!"
"And probably definitely shouldn't have left his body there."
"I—ya know, look—"
"And there were a lot of people around."
*—Erys and Hob 0:45:25*

"I have regrets, and I haven't even rolled the dice."
*—Philip 0:47:43*

## Trivia

* Philip uses a triumph to heal Erys's critical wound.

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ Notabley, Arthur is still at the party.
2. ↑ Except for Sana, so that Hob doesn't feel guilted.