The Adventure Begins?

Rerolled:
29 Jul 2020 (YouTube)
28 Oct 2020 (Podcasts)
28 Apr 2021 (YouTube)

*Check Please!*

"**The Adventure Begins?**" is an installment of *Check Please!* consisting of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd episodes of season one.

## Summary

The earliest version of the Check Please! Party assembles for the first time when its members are hired to protect a tavern owner from a criminal organization.

## Synopsis

### Introductions

Beardy, the DM, introduces the players and their roles: Keni, playing the role of Sol'eana Poly'hym'nia; Xeno, playing Vera Vespid; and Screwy, playing Markus Cupshigh. He goes on to describe their starting location: the town of Edge in the nation of Vil, at a tavern called the Dead Man's Rest. The town borders a mysterious area known as the Deadlands, a "vast area of magical devastation" filled with the Undead, along with a treasure trove of rare items eagerly sought by adventurers and collectors. Each player describes their character's appearance.

Vera, at the bar, sees Markus enter; Sol enters soon thereafter. Markus, oblivious to the attention, heads to the bar for some wine. Aside from the other patrons, also present are a middle-aged human barman and two barmaids – one a graceful older Halfling, the other an attractive but clumsy human girl of around 20. Markus also notices a smiling, well-dressed, white-haired human in his late 30s mingling easily with the other patrons. The man makes his way over to Markus and introduces himself as Serwyn Vardale, the owner of the establishment.

### The Party Assembles

Serwyn and Markus converse briefly before Markus approaches the halfling barmaid to shamelessly (and effectively) flirt. She introduces herself as Tellie Talbert. Tellie mentions rumors about the Syndicate undertaking criminal activity in the area, then excuses herself to continue her work. Vera approaches Markus and offers their services as a healer and fighter, noting that they've had difficulty finding work with other adventurers. As they mention their gods (Melifera and Eden, respectively) and discuss the possibility of working together, Sol interjects, excited about the prospect of making money. Vera is openly hostile towards them on the basis of Sol's race, but Markus is warm towards the Elf.

Serwyn approaches the nascent party, and after introductions are exchanged, Serwyn offers to sell the group a map he acquired from another group of adventurers, one purportedly showing a path to "uncharted and hidden treasure" in the Deadlands. Markus unsuccessfully attempts to haggle the price down; Sol has more luck and convinces Serwyn to give them the map in exchange for "services".

Serwyn leads the group through the kitchen and outside, revealing a door and stairway into the tavern's cellar. On the way, Vera continues to insult Sol, slurring them as a "keeb". Serwyn descends first; Vera follows; Sol then pushes Markus down the stairs and follows last. Once the group is in private, Serwyn explains that he borrowed money from The Syndicate in order to open his tavern, and despite his having paid back the loan and interest, the criminals continue to extort him. He enlists the newly-formed Check Please! Party as bodyguards to provide a show of force, with the promise of both the map and fair pay for their time and efforts.

The group argues over the appropriate level of violence to employ. Markus and Sol are in favor of simply roughing up the criminals, while Vera is comfortable killing them if required. Serwyn explains that the ruffians will arrive in a few short hours. The group discusses strategy. During the discussion, Markus explains that he is "not really from this dimension" and has a home and family in an alternate reality; his subsequent explanation is met with disbelief and mocking by Sol and Vera.

### First Combat

Markus and Sol position themselves in the shadows downstairs, while Vera goes back up to the tavern to keep watch. In short order, three members of The Syndicate arrive: the leader, a shorter-than-average male half-elf (later identified as Gilbert), armed with two shortswords; a massive, towering human man with an enormous battleaxe (later identified as Gort); and a woman with curly raven-black hair (later introduced as Siva), wearing a bright red dress. Vera tails them through the kitchen to the cellar.

From their hiding spot, Sol attempts to lull the criminals into relaxation, using their lyre and magical bardic song. This proves unsuccessful (with Keni and the Check Please! Party's first "nat 1" roll in combat, on their first ever combat roll); Gilbert and his companions prepare for battle. Vera, arriving from upstairs, attacks Siva with their scythe, slashing her across her back. Siva responds by casting a spell, causing fiery hands to emerge from the floor and take hold of Vera, burning Vera in the process. Gort then attacks, taking Vera down. Serwyn and Gilbert begin to duel, and Serwyn is heavily wounded. Markus, so far unnoticed in the corner, attempts to vault an open vat of water to come to Vera's aid, but instead falls headfirst into the vat and begins to drown.

Sol takes the high ground and throws their lyre weapon, Symphonia's Wit, at Gilbert, mildly injuring him. Siva withdraws from combat, as does Gort, who sidles over to the water vat and begins to laugh at Markus's predicament. Serwyn and Gilbert continue to duel, with Serwyn at severe disadvantage.

### Betrayal

As Gilbert prepares to finish off Serwyn, Siva suddenly casts a Scorching Ray fire spell at the half-elf, near-mortally wounding him. Serwyn and Siva begin to fight. Markus again fails to escape from the vat and continues to drown, but is able to cast a healing spell that revives Vera. Sol attempts to attack Gilbert, but fails. Vera manages to stealthily crawl to a corner. Serwyn makes one last "victory-or-death" attack and is able to take Gilbert down. Siva kneels beside the fallen half-elf and whispers something in his ear, then casts Scorching Ray again directly at his face, killing him.

### Aftermath

Siva calls Gort off, and at Sol's request, has him pluck Markus from the vat. Markus channels energy to heal up the party, Siva, and Serwyn. Siva informs Serwyn that he will now be free of The Syndicate's harrassment. Siva and Sol formally introduce themselves to each other, with considerable winking and blushing. Siva tells Sol and the group to look her up if they ever find themselves in Hartenshen.

### Compensation

While Vera heals themself with their magic, Serwyn rewards the party with a "sack of goodies" containing the promised map, a large sum of gold coins, and a number of potions. He also offers them free accommodation for the evening. Serwyn returns to the bar to celebrate his freedom. Markus tracks down Tellie to resume their flirtation, which Vera soon obliviously interrupts. Sol retires to their room to rest, taking the bag with them; Markus sends Vera up after them so that he and Tellie can be alone with their booze and hormones. Vera argues with Sol over who should possess the map, neither trusting the other with it. Sol insists that Vera can look at it in the morning. When Vera stomps back downstairs, Sol gathers up their items and the reward bag and escapes out of the window into the night, injuring their leg slightly as they head towards Hartenshen in pursuit of Siva.

### Pursuit

A little later in the evening, Vera discovers Sol's disappearance. They rush to tell Markus, once again interrupting his attempts to bed Tellie. The two trace Sol's path and discover the discarded map left in the dirt. They continue their pursuit, soon catching up to a strangely chipper Sol and eventually overpowering them. Sol happily returns the potions and explains they deliberately left the map behind. Markus demands to know what Sol has done with the reward money. Sol gigglingly implies that it has now all been spent, and explains that they bought "Happiness" with it. Vera binds Sol with rope and carries them back to The Dead Man's Rest, with Markus in tow.

### Intervention

With Sol tied on the bed, Markus prays to Eden in order to prepare a spell, Touch of Truthtelling (referred to as "Touch of Truthfulness"), while Vera tries to sleep. Though Markus casts his spell on Sol, it does not compel them to answer his questions. A frustrated and sleep-deprived Markus sits and prays for another four hours in order to prepare a Command spell, but Sol is able to resist the spell. They pretend to be under Markus's influence and emphasize their desire to get on the road and escape from certain pursuers. Rummaging through Sol's possessions, Markus and Vera discover a bag of Muse, a potent magical drug favored by bards, explaining Sol's erratic and manic behavior, and where the money went. Markus, not believing Sol's protestations (despite having successfully cast a truth spell on Sol) that the bag cost the entire 50 GP reward, sadistically drops several of the pills one by one into the room's fire, then the entire bag... seemingly oblivious to the fact that the drugs could have been resold and the party's money at least partially recouped, and to the higher sale value of the returned potions. Sol attempts to break free from their bonds, but passes out in the process. Vera and Markus head downstairs to get breakfast, leaving an unconscious tied-up Sol on the room's bed.

## Key Points

Some of the major elements of story continuity and character development in this episode:

* Vera, Markus, and Sol join forces for the first time.
* Vera's racist streak towards elves is prominently displayed.
* Vera begins to proselytize for Melifera almost immediately after meeting Markus.
* Markus's otherworldly backstory is introduced.
* Sol establishes that although they're not very religious, Symphonia's influence is present in their role as a bard.
* The Syndicate is mentioned for the first time in the show's run, and its future leader and recurring NPC Siva makes her debut appearance, catching Sol's eye.
* Sol's use of Muse is discovered.
* Siva invites the group to Hartenshen – an offer they will finally take her up on in "Crime Pays" (C1 S1 E11).
* Sol continues to use Muse throughout the show. Markus never comments on it again.

## Running Gags & Callbacks

* Markus is ridiculed for his signature sling staff and "homeless"-looking attire.
* Hummel helps himself to Vera's mead.

## Memorable Quotes

* "What do you drink, then?" "Well, mostly wine, but... I'd rather drink *you* in at the moment." – Tellie and Markus.
* "What's the point of adventuring if you can't adventure in one's bedwear?" – Markus, defending his questionable fashion choices.
* "Yeah, if you're the death of any of our characters, we're gonna kill your character." – Keni to Screwy, inadvertently foreshadowing.
* "I'll do my best not to completely kill them, but I'm not gonna not defend myself when things turn ugly." "Yeah, you look great at not defending yourself." – Vera and Sol, verbally sparring.
* "We need to come all at once, if we can." "At the same time." "[snickering]" – Markus dropping an unintentional double entendre as he discusses a pincer move, with Vera and Sol's reactions.
* "As I'm drowning, can I flick [the giant man] off?" "I mean, you can, but it's gonna give you a penalty to your swim check." – Screwy and Beardy, as Markus drowns.
* "Gilbert, you'll never touch me or anyone else ever again." – Siva, seconds before burning Gilbert's face to ash with a point blank Scorching Ray.
* "'I'm a good Cleric! I want people to die! I'm considering murder!'" – Keni, capturing Screwy's early vibe for Markus.

## The Dice

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

 4
 Keni
* Performance
* Constitution
* Combat Maneuver

* Keni's performance check was intended to lullaby the Syndicate members; instead, it provoked the Party's very first combat session.
* Markus rolls a 20 for a Stealth check. Would this have definitely been a 1d20, or a combination of dice for the various modifiers?

## Trivia & Notes

* The first roll of the series: Keni, with a 24 (19+5) for a Knowledge (History) check. Sol also rolls the first two Nat 1s, while Xeno snags the first Nat 20.
* Vera comments on Markus and Sol's distaste for violence by sarcastically suggesting they tuck their enemies into bed. A few minutes later, Sol is indeed preparing to play the enemies a Lullaby.
* Episodes 1-3 were rerecorded sometime after their initial release to address perceived issues with the audio quality and performances, and rereleased as "Check Please! Rerolled".
* At the time of the episode's recording, Screwy was the only married member of the cast. The fact that his first action in the game was to shamelessly flirt with an NPC was met with a mixture of amusement and shock by the rest of the party.
* Screwy's character, Markus, is based on one he used in another D&D campaign – hence the "alternate dimension" aspect of their backstory.