Transcript: Episode 5: Rarely Spoken of, but Always Seen

A Knight of Shreds and Patches Transcript

Episode 5: Rarely Spoken of, but Always Seen

Transcript by Cameron Robertson

Note: Zee-o is a synthetic humanoid being and primarily speaks in a robotic, monotone voice.

Intro:

[hurdy gurdy music begins]

Nick: Welcome, listeners, to A Knight of Shreds and Patches. An immersive actual play podcast. This episode features the talents of -

Rhi: Rhi as Pallie Fisher.

Drew: Drew Mierzejewski as Wyatt Fisher.

Aly: Aly Grauer as Zee-o.

Cameron: Cameron Robertson as Emma Blackwood.

Sydney: Sydney Whittington as Cassidy Shard.

Nick: Nick Robertson as GM and Narrator.

Sydney: Hello listeners, this is your editor, and the voice of Cassidy, speaking, and I’ll be taking over announcement duties, now that we’ve brought the full cast together and we begin to have announcements to make. First, a bit of news about this show: our release schedule from this point on will be moving to every other week. We were very impatient to get the show into your hands after months of pre-production, and couldn’t wait that long between these opening vignettes, but now it’s time for us to settle in for the long haul.

In more exciting news: Rhi, the voice of Pallie and GM of the Magpies, is getting ready to launch her next project! On April 6, she and the Magpies cast are launching a Kickstarter to fund their next podcast. Currently codenamed Project Bluejay, this Blades in the Dark actual play will leave the standard setting behind and tell a story of crime, power, and desperation in a Roaring Twenties-inspired capital city. Visit clevercorvids.net to learn more and to stay updated on the fundraiser!

And with that, we wrap up today’s announcements and head into episode 5: Rarely Spoken of, but Always Seen. And so...

Join us, for now our tale to yours attaches

To carry hope: a Knight of Shreds and Patches.

[hurdy gurdy music ends]

[electronic beeping]

[robotic powerup noise begins]

Distorted Robotic Voice: Power restored. Systems online. Reconfiguring audio connection.

[robotic powerup noise fades to radio frequency static]

[over radio]

Cameron (as Emma): Last time on A Knight of Shreds and Patches, I got an exciting visitor, and I learned what a manifold is, and [pause] I-I thin- I made a friend.

[radio static]

Episode Start:

[footsteps and truck engine rumbling]

Nick: The air is cool, and crisp. The grumble of your rumbling truck and the tromp of your feet through the light snow blends together as the sounds ring through the clear air. This stretch of road has seen better days. The truck is moving at a crawl, we get an aerial shot of the vehicle. A large half track with a canvas covered truck bed. The flat windshield reflects the sunlight that peeks through the trees and clouds. Several of you are walking beside or in front of the truck clearing the way of debris or helping to spot for any potholes, or things that would bind the truck up - particularly deep mud or stones. Everyone, describe what you look like after time has passed from the last time we saw you and what are you doing to help make progress on this journey.

Sydney: Cassidy is out in front of the truck, leading the way looking for obstacles and stuff. Cassidy's wearing a brown canvas jacket, green scarf wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair is up and a crown braid with a couple of local flowers in it. The flowers are not in the best of shape because there's snow on the ground. She's got on grey pants and leather boots that come up to her mid calves. She's got her bow hanging from a sling on her back; she's got her hip quiver stocked with arrows.

She's also spinning around and throwing up in the air and catching a really old looking beat up rifle. It's questionable if this thing is even still a rifle at this point. But she's keeping herself entertained while she does this scouting; looking for potholes, uh sinkholes, anything that's going to get in the way of the truck and either clearing the debris if it's small or making sure that the truck goes around it.

Cameron: Emma is walking behind Cassidy, still in front of the truck, but more to the side and keeps getting distracted looking around. She is wearing a big chunky turtleneck sweater and cargo pants and boots. And she looks very new, all of her clothing items just appear fresh and unworn. She has had a hair cut, since the last time we saw her. She now has a longish tousled pixie cut and you can tell that it's a recent development cause as she's walking along, she keeps reaching back behind her ear as if she was going to tuck longer hair out of the way and it's not there anymore.

So she's walking by the truck, quite distracted by the world that we're driving through. Looking at the trees, looking up a lot, just the scale. And every time something needs to be moved out of the way for the truck, is arriving slightly late to assist Cassidy in shifting things out of the way. But is very invested in what's happening around the truck as it progresses.

Aly: Zee-o is more or less at Emma's side as the group is progressing and making their way across this stretch of road. But as Emma continues to get distracted by things, Zee-o moves much faster and more efficiently, and therefore, when things need a second set of hands to be lifted or moved or coordinated, Cassidy takes the lead point and Zee-o is right there to pick up and move and do things and occasionally even gently moves Emma out of the way, in order to do something, faster; it's almost like Zee-o is doing it for Emma. And at points where the road is more manageable but just slow going, Zee-o drops back to sort of flank where Emma walks. Not right on top of her, not shadowing her, but close by and attentive.

Zee-o is a synthetic bipedal humanoid figure standing about 5'10", with a matte black or gunmetal gray framework with bits of rose gold plating and wiring sticking out at different joints at the neck and the shoulders and whatnot. They have wide eyes, pupil-less glowing a pale bluish white color, and an expression of interest and almost neutral curiosity about their facial features. They wear a drapey oversized hooded black cloak coat sort of thing, and some pretty boring standard looking drapey multi pocketed cargo pants and like a dark brown, really plain, but really functional, but they do not have shoes or boots or anything, because their feet are perfect and functional.

Drew: The camera pulls back from Zee-o and goes into the front window of the truck. And there in the front seat of this truck we see Wyatt. And Wyatt is sitting in this old bucket seat of this truck. The seat is so worn and it fits him like a glove. This is his chair. This is his seat, he drives this truck, more often than not, and Wyatt is it big man - he's probably like six foot two and relatively older, in his 40s. He's got dark hair, but it's turning gray in a lot of different places. The main feature we see on his face is he's got these very piercing, I would say beautiful, beautiful blue eyes, and he's got scars all over his face - as he's seen a lot of wear and tear in his life. And he's got a very well trimmed, well kept beard, that comes down to about the middle of his chest, and his hair is really short right now. The sides of it are shaved pretty close and he's got a lot of hair on top that’s haphazardly tossed up in this devil may care look. It's one of those ways that it looks like it must have spent hours working on it. It's disheveled in such a way that he just “I woke up like this.” He's got his coat off and he's wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up. We can see that the front couple of buttons are unbuttoned, he's got a t-shirt underneath it. And there seems to be a graphic of some kind, but we can't really see it cause it's buttoned up mostly. And we see that he has on top of his head this old fisherman's hat in this faded green, and leather brim that's cracked and bent and re-stitched a bunch of different times. He's got it pushed up on the back of his head, and he's not really paying attention to driving.

As we look over to what he's doing, we see that he has this complicated rig set up. He knows that what we're doing is a straight shot on this road, doing probably like less than 10 miles an hour. And so it's set up that he doesn't really need to watch the road, or even put his foot on the gas. He just needs to sit in the chair and make sure that they don't run themselves off the road. And so in the meantime, what he's doing he's got the window down. We can see the cold air coming in. He's reading a book. And I think it's a romance novel. And he's thumbing through it and reading over it. Every so often we see him look over the book. The front of the cover is. Oh man. Can I ask you guys, I want one thing from each of you guys, like what's on the cover?

[music starts]

Aly: Part of the cover is a sunset landscape where you can see multiple rockets exiting the Earth's atmosphere towards space.

Sydney: I would love it to be a young hunky shirtless fisherman, watching these rockets go up. Fishing pole hanging off their shoulder.

Cameron: Even with the fishing pole on the shoulder, the other participant in this romance novel, is still dramatically draped over this fisherman and is just in a state of undress and disarray.

Nick: And the book's title is Of Marlins and Missiles.

Drew: Beautiful. As we see him, flip through the book as he's reading, and it goes

Drew (as Wyatt): Oh…

Drew: Turns to the next page. I think it's one of Palllie's old romance novels.

[music becomes more somber]

Rhi: And Pallie...[pause] isn't there. [pause] In the cab behind Wyatt, glinting faintly in the light, hangs her robotic right arm. A memorial that's rarely spoken of, but always seen. A constant reminder of who they've lost.

[music starts to fade]

Nick: So the truck rolls onward into the early afternoon. We see draped across the road, a very large tree trunk, as though the tree had been felled by some wind or from an impact or maybe just, it was its time, and it fell across the road. But those of you that see it know that the truck’s not going to be able to go over it, and going around it is going to be almost impossible with how thick the undergrowth of the forest is on either side.

Sydney (as Cassidy): Wyatt! There's a tree in the road.

Drew (as Wyatt): What?

Drew: He looks up from his book,

Drew (as Wyatt): Oh sh…

Drew: A flurry of activity as he pulls a lever, and we see the truck [Drew makes truck braking noises] stop just before it hits the log across the road.

Nick: And with the sudden stop the canvas that covers the back bed of the truck riffles with the momentum and we see just the hint of a large mechanical foot, sticking out of the back before the canvas falls and covers it again.

Drew: Wyatt puts down his book onto the other seat and goes and opens the door to the cab and leans out.

Drew (as Wyatt): What's going on?

Sydney (as Cassidy): Tree.

Sydney: And Cassidy points at it.

Drew (as Wyatt): All right. Cass?

Sydney (as Cassidy): Yes?

Drew (as Wyatt): I want you to go out at least 100 yards in either direction, make sure this thing fell on its own.

Sydney (as Cassidy): I can't go in both directions.

Drew (as Wyatt): Take your time, and go in all directions.

Aly (as Zee-o): I can help.

Drew (as Wyatt): You too, Zee-o. Do the same.

Aly: Zee-o goes in the other direction that Cassidy is not going in.

Sydney: Cassidy turns, stands for a second and then walks off.

Drew (as Wyatt): Emma!

Cameron (as Emma): Yes?

Drew: Come close to the truck.

Cameron (as Emma): Okay…

Drew: As you get close to the truck, you see Wyatt get down and he has a rifle with him, and he gets down close to you and goes,

Drew (as Wyatt): You know how to use one of these?

Cameron (as Emma): Uh, in theory.

Drew (as Wyatt): All right, in theory, have you ever shot anything before?

Cameron (as Emma): Nooo, but I understand like the concept of pointing it at the thing you want to shoot and then pulling the trigger.

Drew (as Wyatt): Alright that's good enough for right now.

Drew: And he hands the rifle to you, and he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out one bullet.

Drew (as Wyatt): This is almost all we have. So I'm gonna give you this one bullet, and this one shot. Okay? I want you to get on top of the rig. I want you to look out and make sure that nobody's coming close. All right?

Cameron (as Emma): Okay…

Drew (as Wyatt): Alright.

Cameron (as Emma): How do you put the bullet in here?

Drew: And Wyatt [click click, click click] pulls the bolt, puts the bullet in, closes it and hands it back to her.

Drew (as Wyatt): All right, you're gonna be fine. Um...Don't fire until I say, alright?

Cameron (as Emma): Okay. Do you want me just to yell if I see something?

Drew (as Wyatt): Yeah. Just yell, if you see something, okay?

Cameron (as Emma): Ohh-kay.

Drew (as Wyatt): Alright.

Drew: And once everyone's gone off to do their thing. We watch Wyatt go over to the side of the rig, and he takes a canvas tarp and he pulls it off. And we see his exo frame, and we see him leap up onto the side and begin to get himself into it, cause he's gonna use it to go move this log.

Nick: The exo frame is not a rare piece of technology but it's rare to see one that's this functional. It's used for anything from heavy lifting to combat, which this rig is set up to do. What does it look like?

Drew: So it's basically a robotic frame that goes around Wyatt, it's got bits of armor on it. And the moment he gets into it we see it [vwwww (pitch increasing)] turn on, it goes [vwwdddd (pitch decreasing)]. He hits it a bit [vwwww (pitch increasing)] as it goes back up, and this thing is mostly held together with welds and wire. And one of the pauldrons has this fish logo painted into it, but it's mostly a bunch of loose bits of armor that come around Wyatt, and it really doesn't give him a lot of bulk, other than the armor pieces, it's made to fit with more armor that he usually puts on, but because he's doing it quick and dirty like this it's empty looking in the middle. The main thing that we do see is that it's got a big boxy head that, as he's getting into it, he puts his hands into the places it clamps down around him and this big boxy HUD goes [dshh] over his face.

Nick: As the suit boots and begins to function with a couple of miss starts, Wyatt you reach up and you slap at a quick release at one shoulder and there's a rumbling sound of shocks engaging as you drop the two feet to the ground. Now, as armored as you can be on such short notice. And I am going to need some checks from people. Cassidy and Zee-o, if you could make me Survival checks please at hard difficulty. And then Emma I'm going to need a Perception check from you at hard difficulty.

[lots of dice rolling]

Aly: I have one failure.

Nick: Okay.

Sydney: I have a triumph, with no success, and two advantages.

Nick: Huh. Interesting. Emma we'll get to your result in just a second here. So, Cassidy you don't find any evidence of any tampering with the tree or any potential ambush. With your experience you know where to look, there's some obvious signs even if they're being hidden. And you don't see any signs of something like that. And honestly with the way you were sent out into the field to look around, you're a little miffed at the treatment you've received anyway so it's a little distracting. But that being said, something unrelated, but really good, happens as well.

Sydney: So, Cassidy, in her wandering around being annoyed at Wyatt, sees what looks like a very small structure that, it's almost like a hunting stand, but she gets closer and it's not screened in the way that would hide it from animals. It's only camouflaged in the direction of the road and Cassidy draws the conclusion that this is probably a bandit hideout or a bandit ambush point but it's not currently occupied, which is promising for the tree not being a problem. And down in the corner of that, tucked away under the roof and a little bit of ragged cloth is a rusty ammo box.

Nick: Wonderful. And do you crack that open?

Sydney: I think she takes it back. She carefully pokes around to make sure nothing weird is going on as far as it being a trap right there, but also there are people in the crew that can open this more safely than she can.

Nick: Yeah. It doesn't appear tied to anything it looks forgotten and aged, but as you fiddle with it and try to make sure it's safe you do hear something rattling around inside. You're hoping that it's some ammunition.

Sydney: She's definitely got a little bit of a bounce in her step as she starts looping back towards the rig.

Nick: We leave Cassidy walking with her newly found treasure back toward the road. And Zee-o, you're very perceptive, but woodcraft, naturalism, not really your strong suit. So what does it look like as you fail to track anything in this instance?

Aly: Zee-o heads off down to the other end towards, I guess the branches of the tree that has fallen since Cassidy went toward the roots. Zee-o heads up the other way to the other end of the tree, these naked branches from the wintery atmosphere that has been pervading the area recently. And examines it and looks around at the snow and the mud and the other trees and the other shrubs and ultimately, they determine this is a tree that fell over and there are other trees here annnd it doesn't seem like they fell over. So that's...something.

They turn around to come back, and they stop because there's the remnants of a bird’s nest still clinging to one of the branches. And they kneel down in the muddy snow and scoop it up in their hands and they're studying the way this bird’s nest was crafted by a creature long gone. And there's no remains of eggshells or anything like that, thankfully, but it is a very well made nest and of a good size. Not too small and not too big and they are very interested in it. And they carry it back to the truck with them.

Nick: While this is happening, Emma, you hear the sound of Wyatt's exo suit powering up and he's given you a gun and loaded it for you and your heart’s racing at the idea that this might be some sort of ambush and Zee-o and Cassidy are off in the trees alone. How did you do on your perception check?

Cameron: I have four successes and two threats.

Nick: Oh damn. So... What do you think good happens from your perception?

Cameron: I imagine that the moment of most peril, with the gun is as Emma's climbing up on top of the truck, cause she's got to stick the gun somewhere so that she can use her hands. And uh, that's dangerous. But once she successfully gets up there, is holding the gun safely again, but just kind of holding it down across her waist isn't holding it to shoot anything is just, like, "Alright, Wyatt gave me this gun." And is just slowly turning in circles. Just looking into the woods, occasionally looking up, sometimes glancing for slightly longer than she probably should be at Wyatt as he's wearing the exo suit and working on the log. But other than that, just spinning in circles on top of this truck.

Nick: And so, with how well you're watching, it looks a little silly, you're obviously uncomfortable up there, but you know where to look. From your time on the family farm you know how to watch a flock, you know how to look out for any kind of ambush and you know that there is nobody with any sight lines coming towards you, until you see a flicker of movement to one side. You bring the rifle to bear, and right before you wrap your finger around the trigger, you see that it's Zee-o. And the threats are that you and Zee-o make eye contact and Zee-o knows that you got a little close for comfort as far as almost shooting at them. And everyone is converging back on the truck. Wyatt - Are you going to try to move the log?

Drew: Yeah. We see Wyatt walk to the front of the truck and towards the tree. He looks over to the side, and he sees that Zee-o didn't go anywhere. Zee-o is like 10 feet into the treeline holding a bird's nest walking back this way. He looks for a second. He's got the helm on, so he can't yell out anything, but he's just looking at it as like, I don't like. And we have this look of him outside of the armor and we see the arms go up, and then the arms go down, and the armor shakes its head and then [robotic stepping noises] moves over to the tree to move the tree. He does focus on where the tree broke off. The heads up display, I imagine, is a wide view of everything around him. And it's all fuzzy and there's distorted digitized places of it. And there's a couple of readouts going here and there but most of the readouts are like error error error error, which is just ignored. Actually I think there is a part of the heads up, that's just a piece of paper he's pasted up there, because he knows that that's just a part that's not working anymore.

Nick: Is there an iPhone screen crack in one corner that's all pixeled out?

Drew: Oh, absolutely. There's a crack in one corner that it's obviously been tried to be patched, but it's got tape on it in a couple different places. This is all in one spot of the heads up display where obviously he got hit pretty hard. Where that paper is in Pallie's writing there is "Fix later". And I think it's easy enough to see that he's like oh yeah that's that's not bandits.

Nick: The base of the tree looks weathered. This tree was rotting and very old. It looks like the wind brought it down. Or, if this is an ambush, y'all are probably in big trouble anyway because this one, the setup for it was extremely expert. And so, Wyatt, are you going to try to use the suit to move the log?

Drew: Absolutely.

Nick: That is going to be an Athletics check at hard difficulty.

Drew: So the rig gives Wyatt plus one to his Brawn, so I will be using three green instead of two green, and two yellows, for this hard check.

[dice rolling]

Drew: So all of my dice canceled out which gives me a success, and a triumph.

Nick: Nice. So you’re able to do whatever you want to do, you can clear the road you're equipped for it, you planned it out. And something else really good happens as well.

Drew: We see his big mechanical arms reach down, grab into the wood and they like crunch into the wood, and he lifts and it takes a bit, we hear the whine of gears and of hydraulics, as he lifts it. He bench presses it over his head turns, we see a moment where there's Zee-o looking down at the bird’s nest and then looks up, and then Zee-o runs out of the way. And he tosses it into the trees. And so we see this giant, this literal tree, arc into the air and land on these trees [branches creaking], and then as it settles it creates, unexpectedly, a perfect little campsite. It makes basically like this giant lean-to.

Nick: Yeah, so, it leans some trees over and creates some shade and shelters from the wind and clears some of the snow away and Wyatt you look at that and you realize you all have been driving since dawn. No one's complained but no one's been able to really sit down or take a break, and even more pragmatically you know the truck probably is starting to overheat a little so you decide to call for a break, it's time to eat some food and rest for a little bit before you continue on.

Drew: We see Wyatt toss it and come to that realization. I imagine actually the exo frame connects to like some implant that he has at the back of his neck so it connects to his cerebral cortex, in some way. So a lot of the internal things that happen, the systems that he can run, are thought based and not touch based. Does that make sense?

Nick: Yeah.

Drew: Cool.

Nick: I like the idea of you have like a subdermal implant that works off of RFID or something so it's not like you plug in like the Matrix, but once you're lined up into it, it can sense what you're, what you're doing.

Drew: It will connect, it will WiFi its way into me controlling the internal systems of this thing. And so we see on the inside of the heads up display a line of different systems rolls up. Imagine the text is red, and we see them scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll until it gets to Speakers and it clicks on there, and we see these two speakers in his chest open up and he goes

Drew (as Wyatt): [voice through speakers] Alright everyone, that's lunch.

Nick: And your voice comes out of this suit slightly louder than is comfortable with how quiet it's been in these woods and shakes just a little bit of snow out of some of the low fir tree branches and you see a couple of birds, take off and fly away. And you all set about breaking for lunch, and taking a small break.

Cameron (as Emma): Can someone come and help me down?

Sydney: Cassidy jumps up on the tire and puts her hands up real quick.

Cameron (as Emma): Okay, I just need you to take this.

Cameron: And hands off the gun.

Sydney (as Cassidy): Wyatt gave you a gun?

Cameron (as Emma): Yeah. It is loaded. There's a bullet in it.

Sydney (as Cassidy): Hmm.

Cameron (as Emma): Just so you're aware.

Sydney: Cassidy takes it, works the bolt, takes the bullet out, tucks it in a pocket. Takes that gun down, puts it on the ground and then helps Emma down.

Cameron: Yeah. Once the gun is handed off, Emma starts climbing back down using the open window as a stepping stool, but after the adventure of getting up there with the gun, she did not want to come back down while still holding it.

Aly: Zee-o is still standing off to the side examining the bird’s nest.

Drew: And we see Wyatt going to replace the exo frame on the side of the truck.

Nick: So I picture, the way that the exo frame is rigged on the side, is if you've ever seen the way they stick a spare tire under an SUV, where it's got a little clamp on a wire that you have to winch up to get it to stick into place. There's a little grapple thing that grabs the middle of the back of the exo suit. So when you release, that releases both the clamp and the wire, but that means you have to backup into it, and then exit the suit, clip the clamp onto it and activate a manual winch to wind it back up off of the ground.

Drew: Yeah we see Wyatt get out and start doing that as he's clamping it and winching it back up.

Nick: It's the kind of thing - it's a quick release. It's good for an emergency but putting it back is kind of a pain.

Drew: So it's taking him a while to do it.

Sydney: I think Cassidy's gonna put the rifle in through the window onto Wyatt's seat, and then put the bullet on the seat next to it. And then go around to the, I guess it's like a box on the outside, a container where there's food stuff for people that eat. Cassidy takes out some bread, some meat, some cheese and one jar of...

Drew: We just call it condiment.

Sydney: Yeah.

Drew: It's like Mayo, mustard, maybe ketchup.

Sydney: [smiling] Yeah.

Nick: The nice thing about traveling in winter, this container where you keep a lot of your supplies isn't particularly insulated, but in the winter it stays cold so you can put a softer cheese and meat lasts longer.

Sydney: We probably still have some, not the freshest stuff, but the stuff that lasts for a couple of weeks coming out of Thunder Bay. So, there's still a couple of bites of Emma's comfort bread or something. Cheese from her cow.

Nick: And so, you quickly set up the camp, you lay out your homey rations for everyone to make themselves a quick sandwich. And the way this tree triumphantly landed, it broke pieces off for knee height seats, just very comfortably without very much preparation. And you all are able to sit and eat and share a quiet moment. Zee-o, you don't eat. So in these situations, what do you do?

Aly: Often, when this kind of break takes place Zee-o does sit with everybody and observes, and participates in any conversation that might come up. But Zee-o is also not afraid of silence and in the event that there isn't conversation, Zee-o does not usually start it, unless there's something on their mind. And at the moment, they're very happily investigating this bird’s nest they found. So they sit in the arrangement with the rest of the group, and they are delicately turning this bird nest over in their hands and examining different bits of thread and different kinds of twigs and leaves that have been stuck in here and studying the artistry, with which whoever this bird was created this nest.

Drew: I think Wyatt, once he's out of the suit, he goes to the cabin of the truck and he sees the rifle kind of thrown in through the window. And he picks it up, reaches over, grabs the bullet and goes and puts it inside on the wall, again and when he puts it on the wall. He goes underneath the seat, and he pulls out what looks like a granola bar, maybe? Some jerky. And a water thermos, and he pulls that out. And he also grabs his coat to put back on, as he gets on out, and makes his way over to where the miraculous shelter is.

Sydney: I point to where the ammo box is sitting, I left it probably 30 feet away. And I go,

Sydney (as Cassidy): Hey Wyatt! I might have found more ammo. If you want to try to open it because I'm not sure it's not a bomb.

Drew (as Wyatt): Yeah, I'll try. Did you see anything else out there?

Sydney (as Cassidy): There was an old bandit outpost little like, hunting stand thing.

Drew (as Wyatt): I knew it.

Sydney (as Cassidy): But it was very old and very empty except for this rusted thing.

Drew (as Wyatt): Well, better be safe than sorry.

Drew: And as he walks over to the ammo crate and he like picks it up and takes it over to everyone else and sits down in the middle of everyone.

Cameron: Emma leans over to Cassidy,

Cameron (as Emma): Are ammo boxes often bombs?

Sydney (as Cassidy): Ammo explodes. And it's - people get creative about hiding their stuff.

Cameron (as Emma): Mmkay.

Sydney: Yeah and Cassidy narrows her eyes a little bit at Wyatt bringing it back over here before he opens it, but doesn't say anything.

Drew (as Wyatt): Do you not want me to bring this over?

Sydney (as Cassidy): I'm just making sure we do it safely.

Drew (as Wyatt): You said there was no bomb on it.

Sydney (as Cassidy): I said there's probably no bomb on it.

Drew (as Wyatt): So you didn't check?

Sydney (as Cassidy): No, that's why I wanted you to look at it.

Drew: He picks it up and walks away, not even towards the truck he goes further down the road to set it down and check it out. But he gives a very pointed look at Cassidy as he walks by to go check it out.

Sydney: Cassidy nods her head graciously and slightly dips her shoulders.

Nick: So, Wyatt you picked it up, you felt it. You could tell there's almost nothing in it, you know it's not a bomb. So how do you quote unquote carefully check it, knowing that this thing is just a box with something in it?

Drew: As I'm walking over, I've got it in my arms, and I take my knife. And I take it out and I literally just jam it into it and pop it open, while I'm walking.

Nick: Yeah, you pop it open it makes that particular shrieking noise that rusty metal makes as it finally gives up and it almost falls to dust in your hands. But there are two bullets in this ammo case, Wyatt, and you can see that it's the lighter caliber that fits the rifle that you gave to Emma to stand sentinel on. Which is lucky. Your rifle is a little bit smaller bore than what a lot of people use, and there's not as prevalent of ammo for it that's actually that brings your grand total of bullets for that gun to three.

Drew: I imagine that Wyatt, having popped the lid he reaches in, takes the two bullets and just drops the ammo box in the bush. And he keeps walking for a little bit. He steps out onto the road and puts those two bullets into his breast pocket, puts the knife away back in on his belt. And he like reaches into his pocket, pulls out some jerky, puts it in his mouth, stands in the middle of the road. And just looks off in the distance. He's just thinking about stuff and he's just gonna stand here for a couple of minutes.

Sydney: I see Wyatt start staring off in distance, think for half a second and then just look away, and look over to Zee-o,

[chiming music starts]

Sydney (as Cassidy): Zee-o. What's so fascinating about the nest? I know you, I saw you playing with that, instead of super scouting.

Aly: Zee-o stops turning the nest over in their hands and looks over at Cassidy, with the physical posture of a child who has been caught daydreaming.

Sydney (as Cassidy): There wasn't an ambush - It's fine. I would have probably found it if there was.

Aly (as Zee-o): I do not understand. I went to the other end of the tree, opposite of the direction you went, just as Wyatt asked. Did I not complete the action?

Sydney (as Cassidy): He wanted us to go way off into the woods and make sure there was no one, he said 100 yards away. So, out of eyesight.

Aly (as Zee-o): Oh. I did not understand the parameters of the exercise.

Sydney (as Cassidy): Did you ever get taught distance? Units of distance?

Aly (as Zee-o): Taught by whom?

Sydney (as Cassidy): Pallie, I suppose?

Aly (as Zee-o): No.

Sydney (as Cassidy): Hmm.

Aly (as Zee-o): I understand distance. I did not understand Wyatt's instruction.

Aly: Zee-o looks down at the birdnest for a moment and then says,

Aly (as Zee-o): I suppose that is my fault.

Sydney (as Cassidy): If you hadn't gotten explained it.... Eh, okay. In the future,

Sydney: I look over at Emma as well.

Sydney (as Cassidy): If we have orders that we don't totally understand, we should ask clarification, because I think Wyatt...you would, I would rather have Wyatt, be mad at me for maybe being a smartass about it and asking, then do something that is not what he was hoping for, especially in a case like this where if there was an ambush... that, his orders were right.

Aly: Zee-o looks back over at Cassidy and Emma.

Aly (as Zee-o): It is not that I misunderstood... It is not that I did not understand...

Aly: And Zee-o pauses and looks towards where Wyatt is standing further down the road.

Aly (as Zee-o): I am experiencing a complicated moment. I thought that I understood Wyatt's instruction. But there was more to it. I did not realize. Also, I found a birdnest.

Aly: And they hold it up.

Cameron (as Emma): Was that in the tree that had fallen down?

Aly (as Zee-o): Yes, it was attached to one of the branches.

Cameron (as Emma): It's lovely.

Aly (as Zee-o): It is beautiful.

Sydney (as Cassidy): It's very pretty.

Aly (as Zee-o): It is intact as well. This surprised me as the tree appeared to have fallen violently. It is amazing that something so delicate, so carefully crafted, could survive so drastic a change in elevation.

Sydney (as Cassidy): A lot of things are tougher than we give them credit for.

Aly (as Zee-o): It does not appear to have been used for quite some time. And yet, it remains. This is interesting. Do you agree?

Sydney (as Cassidy): It's very profound.

Aly (as Zee-o): Profound. How is it profound?

Sydney: I think for a second and put my hand in my chin.

Sydney (as Cassidy): It's looking at a thing that I would not have thought twice about and discovering a lot of meaning behind it that I would never have come to on my own thoughts.

Sydney: And I look slightly confused, trying to see if I got across what I was trying to say.

Aly (as Zee-o): I understand.

Sydney: I look over at Emma who's been mostly eating her sandwich during this and go,

Sydney (as Cassidy): What's your opinion on the profoundness of bird’s nests in fallen trees?

Cameron: Emma had just taken a huge bite of sandwich and holds up a hand for a moment and chews. And then, has to take a drink of water to get it all down once she's done, and then is like,

Cameron (as Emma): Okay. Um... [pause] Well, I I agree that it is... impressive and surprising that the tree that that was in could fall down and the nest could be intact. But I've always found bird nests to be... just the way that the birds put them together is just very... it seems random, when we look at it but... like looking at that one there's there's string in there, there's feathers, there's sticks, there's little bits of metal, just the... the inventiveness of the creation of the bird’s nest, and how they get it to hold together cause... mechanically, I don't think that should work. But it's... It is beautiful and I, I like what you said Cassidy about not necessarily being able to tell the strength of something by looking at it. And sometimes... sometimes strength is hidden within and isn't particularly noticeable from the outside.

Cameron: Takes another bite of sandwich.

[music starts to fade]

Drew: I feel like at this point, Wyatt has stood up and he's still chewing on that piece of jerky. Something doesn't sit right with him, but he shrugs it off, and he turns around, and he's going to head back to the lean-to.

Aly: As Emma takes that next bite, Zee-o sees Wyatt shift position and start to head back, and they stand up from their perch, still cupping the birdnest in their hands and they take a few steps forward, as though to go to greet Wyatt, and their eye lights kind of fix on his direction and they call out.

Aly (as Zee-o): Wyatt! I found a birdnest.

Nick: And we see the birdnest in sharp detail; the string and the metal and the bits of snow that is still dusted over it. And Wyatt you are able to see the birdnest, and then you look up past the Patina, and you see the glint of a rifle scope. And as soon as it registers, you see the birdnest [gunshot] explode into a cloud of debris as it is ripped apart by a bullet, just barely missing Zee-o’s hands.

[hurdy gurdy music swells]

Outro:

Aly (as Zee-o): End of episode. Commencing end credits. The following information will be placed in the show notes for your added convenience.

This has been A Knight of Shreds and Patches, an actual play podcast using the Genesys game system from Fantasy Flight Games. The show is edited by Sydney Whittington, and features the talents of:

Drew Mierzejewski as Wyatt. Drew can be found on Twitter @worldstoforge and is the showrunner for Skyjacks: Courier’s Call, an all-ages actual play podcast set in the world of Spéir, designed by James D’Amato.

Aly Grauer as Zee-o. Aly can be found on Twitter and Instagram @dreamstobecome. Aly is also a player on and audio editor for Skyjacks: Courier’s Call. You can support both Aly and Drew by joining their Patreon @ Patreon.com/WhimsyArtifice.

Rhi as Pallie. Rhi is the GM and producer of The Magpies, a Blades in the Dark actual play podcast, and the owner of Skill Check, a document accessibility service for the RPG community. Rhi can be found on Twitter @Rhiannon42.

Sydney Whittington as Cassidy. Sydney can be found on our Discord server, which is linked in the show notes, and on Twitter @ sydney_whitt.

Cameron Robertson as Emma. Cameron can be found on Twitter @midnightmusic13 and on Instagram @reading_and_dreaming. Cameron is also a player on Tabletop Squadron, a Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play podcast.

And Nick Robertson as narrator. Nick can be found on Twitter @alias58. Nick is also the GM for Tabletop Squadron, which you can support @Patreon.com/TabletopSquadron.

This podcast features the musical talents of Dora Violet. You can find Dora at facebook.com/doraviolett with two Ts.

The official artwork for this podcast was created by Rashed AlAkroka, who can be found on Instagram and Artstation @rashedjrs.

You can follow the Patina on Twitter @akosap_podcast or visit the website: www.akosap.com.

Until next time…

...Audio Offline.

[hurdy gurdy fades]