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bylightofdawn · 1 year ago

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WIP

Okay so I'm a hair late mainly because today kind of got away from me.

Uhh, context: Fordo and Alpha are putting away Shaak Ti's trusty rancor mount, the ferociously named Petal. (named by a bunch of ten year olds so is anyone surprised) and there's a bunch of talking and some butting heads over what's happening in the world in general.

As one does when arguing with your adult siblings, its gets a little personal. Cause who else knows you well enough to really push your buttons.

Petal eagerly entered the stable and the loose corral, which didn’t really stand a chance if the rancor decided she didn’t want to be held by it any longer. Thankfully, she’d mostly outgrown her escapist habits as she’d grown older. The stable represented safety and food for the rancor now and she was eager to go home.

“I still think you’re crazy for keeping one around.”

“He doesn’t mean that, Petal.” Alpha mock-cooed at the beast because while he agreed with his brother, he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Besides, he felt obligated to defend Shaak Ti’s decision to keep the rancor.

“But, can you imagine the look of terror on any Imp who tries to approach our base?”

“Okay, that would be hilarious.” Fordo conceded after a moment of consideration. “I still think it’s nuts, though.”

“I’m not going to get between the two of them, they have a bond. Dunno if it’s Force osik or whatever, but there’s definitely a bond there. Petal treats Shaak like she is her mother. Maybe it's because she was young when we found her and she imprinted but I am not worried about Petal going feral and harming her or anyone here, really.” Alpha pulled some meat from a nearby conservator and placed it in Petal’s trough.

The rancor was well-mannered enough to wait until he’d gotten all limbs out of the way before falling onto the meat with gusto. A look of horror filled the other clone’s face when the rancor chowed down, a sentiment Alpha understood because it was a pretty gruesome sight, but one he'd had grown used to over the years.

“Come on, we’re on KP duty since we’ve been layabouts all morning.”

“What?” The offense in his brother’s voice was endlessly amusing since he knew it went against his pride as an ARC. The joke was on Fordo because Alpha had served so much time in the kitchens here that he’d gone from nearly burning a pot of water to actually managing to cook a flavorful meal using real ingredients.

During his time in the GAR, the extent of his cooking knowledge was learning how to embellish GAR provided rations into something that tasted more palatable than soaked cardboard or meat-flavored mush.

“You don’t think meals just magically appear out of nowhere, do you, vod?”

“Of course not, but you’re a fool if you unleash me in a kitchen and don’t expect me to accidentally burn the whole thing down.”

“Sounds to me like someone needs some updated survival training: civilian edition.” Alpha teased and clapped Fordo on the shoulder to propel him towards the exit.

The other clone looked like he’d sucked on something sour.

“We’re not civilians.”

“We’re not GAR soldiers anymore either. We’re renegade clones, technically deserters in the eyes of the Empire.” Alpha pointed out without an ounce of mercy or sugar-coating and he didn’t miss the way Fordo flinched at being called a deserter.

“Maybe you don’t see yourself as a soldier anymore but I do.” The other clone shot back with a note of bitterness in his voice.

“Soldier of what exactly?”

“The Rebellion! The Hidden Path, something. I cannot believe you have given up believing in something, Seventeen. Not completely. You’re too damned stubborn to have given up completely, no matter what sort of osik you’re spewing about being a deserter.”

That accusation stung more than Alpha wanted to admit and he found himself fighting back a disquieted frown as he followed Fordo back to the trees which held their hidden base.

“I believe in what we’re doing here. It might seem small and inconsequential to you but it’s enough for me. Shaak Ti is raising a new generation of Jedi and I am going to protect her and those children with my life.”

“It’s not going to stop, Seventeen. They won’t stop. You haven’t seen how the universe has gone to complete shit while you’ve been hiding here. The Empire has spread across the galaxy like a cancer. Their Inquisitors hunt Jedi like your Shaak Ti without mercy and they don’t give up. One day they will find this place and will burn it to the ground. They’ll kill her and anyone who gets in their way and those kids? If they’re lucky they’ll die.” Fordo said with a certainty that had icy fingers of dread crawling up his spine.

His first instinct was to go on the attack, to deflect and call Fordo on his self-serving bantha-shit but a calmer voice of reason in the back of his mind won out over that knee-jerk reaction. Shaak Ti had been working with him on trying to control his deep-seated anger issues, which was the only reason he didn’t take Fordo’s head off right then and there, even though the angry, black rage was there simmering beneath the surface.

It would be easier to punch him than continue this frustrating conversation but what would that net him? A physical altercation that would end in them both no doubt beating one another black and blue, but it wouldn’t solve anything, would it?

Stars, he hated this.

“Stop trying to sell me, I ain’t buying.” Alpha finally managed, his voice a dangerous growl and Fordo must have heard that danger in the other clone’s tone because his mouth thinned to a grim slash.

The walk back to the camp was tense and filled with icy silence that only started to defrost when they reached the kitchen and Alpha started to tersely instruct Fordo on how to do the most basic of kitchen tasks.

#el writes #wip sunday #alpha-17 #captain fordo #fanfiction snippet

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sleepyskunk · 7 years ago

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Deconstructing the 2017 Movie Trailer Mashup

Why deconstructing a mashup? Because these videos are often perceived as a random mess of pretty images from movie trailers. While that’s absolutely true, there’s an opportunity to explore themes and also pay a few obscure tributes to elements that don’t belong in the video itself but that are generally widespread within pop culture. These montages have been going on for a few years now, and it’s hard to edit the footage in a way that won’t feel reminiscent of one of the many great retrospectives put out by other talented editors in years past. I have to say that trying to build a narrative with all that footage has now become more enticing to me than to highlight the moments that made the year in cinema within their proper context. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

Someone on Reddit commented: “starting off with GEOSTORM, that’s a bold move!” and it didn’t even cross my mind. The shot was exactly where I wanted to go right off the bat - a blend of childlike wonder and eerie caution reminiscent of earlier Tim Burton films. The track was composed for a television spot called “A Wonderful Day” from IT and it showcases major Danny Elfman influences. Thus, this was my small tribute to the Burton/Elfman collabs happening under snowfalls like EDWARD SCISSORHANDS or BATMAN RETURNS. I loved the contrast in dialogue from PERSONAL SHOPPER which was such an under-appreciated indie film this year. Every mashup has its horror section, but I am gently sneaking you in by the supernatural door this time around. It’s just innocent enough to deceive those who hate horror.

Childlike wonder flawlessly captured in one shot, from the lens of Matt Reeves. I can’t say I connect emotionally with his APES movies, but the quality control on every frame, CGI or otherwise, it pretty much above and beyond all industry standards. That facial expression is exactly what I needed, you can tell she’s not too sure whether she’s safe or not but without feeling properly scared either. This is like the part in the original POLTERGEIST where kitchen chairs are moving on their own and the family still thinks it’s kind of fun. Kind of.

KING ARTHUR is the best type of release when it comes to trailer mashups because 1) it had a fantasy undertone 2) it was tracking poorly and 3) it went way over budget. Big studios know months in advance if they have a major bomb on their hands, and they have two choices at that point: either stop spending a penny on it and dump it for a quick theatre run and VOD release (more common if the movie didn’t cost that much) or, like in this case, spend extra millions of dollars to sell the shit out of that movie on opening week-end before everyone realizes it’s bad. Those extra millions go towards CGI money shots like the one above, which is really meant to make the marketing more attractive and oh dear lord, did KING ARTHUR have some last minute money shots to offer or what? It was a joy to pick and choose from its nine trailers.

This is where I put my cards on the table, whimsy never happened and I am taking you all to creepytown. That shot from ANNABELLE: CREATION is one of the many that upstages the featured evil doll in that wonderful movie and the film’s cinematographer Maxime Alexandre reached out because he was happy so much of his work was featured. You never know in front of who your videos can end up and industry people are keen on celebrating the year in film, especially if their own works are included. This is just a top notch unsettling shot clearly inspired by THE SHINING (the girl’s dress and the way her arms look lifeless.) On a side note, I always manually add all sounds including that floor cracking. If anyone reading this is starting off editing mashups, I promise you one thing: using professional, isolated, studio-recorded sound effect packages such as BOOM library is much superior to the original trailer track (unless you get a clean sound within the trailer.)

Another random insight (if you’re interested in making your own movie mashups) is to try as much as possible to avoid that one marketing shot everyone recognizes. You can revisit a memorable moment but going straight to the most oversold shot of a film hurts you. While you’re eager to make everyone relive the most epic imagery of the year, some value gets lost when a studio bombarded the same shot over and over and you go for it. Two quick examples: Giant hologram JOI pointing at Ryan Gosling in BLADE RUNNER 2049. I wanted that moment, but the original side-scroller shot was so overused that I went with her from a closer angle (see video thumbnail). Another example is that uncomfortable sniffle from Daniel Kaluuya in GET OUT which I favored over the super overplayed mouth open crying paralyzed shot from every marketing piece. In both cases, I assume you know which shots I am referring to without having to show them. Trying the alternative makes us relive the moment without its obviousness. It gives that other shot they didn’t choose its moment to shine (and more often than not, it’s just as effective.)

Someone’s not getting much sleep. A CURE FOR WELLNESS is a gorgeous-looking film no matter what you think of its bizarre plot points. I spend much of the first segment flirting with the creative key points from IT. One I tried to play around with is the idea of Pennywise as a half-real/half-fiction monster, and how similar to Wes Craven’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET his realm of terror extends. A few winning concepts in both films: 1) He isn’t real but he can really hurt you so you have to stay on your guard at all times and 2) Only a select few have been cursed with having to deal with him, adding a psychological layer to an already spooky premise. Dane Dehaan looks like a kid from Derry, or Elm street if you prefer, whose mental focus seems affected by the fact that he saw something, and his friend saw him too. Meanwhile, I throw in a completely out of context quote from Vanessa Redgrave which ties in that mysterious “sickness” from Verbinski’s film.

A shot from PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN from a trailer edited by Kees van Dijkhuizen Jr. for Annapurna Pictures where he works as an in-house editor now. In 2015, I talked about Gen Ip’s storytelling approach and last year I praised Matt Shapiro’s famously epic crescendos, so this year, let’s talk about Kees a little bit because I find all their influences fascinating. My first observation is how far his much-adored Cinema series has taken him, and that one of the top production houses in the business (if not the top, sorry A24 and Fox Searchlight) hired him so he could bring his own distinct style onto their major features. The whole trailer mashup craze started off only a few years back and so many editors were recruited right off YouTube to turn their passion into a livelihood down in Los Angeles. I can think of at least six editors whose names you’d recognize and who are now living the dream, and I consider this to be really inspiring because none of them initially got into it thinking something like that was ever possible. (side note: I also moved to L.A. and was poached by a trailer house but prefer to keep things on the low-end until it’s been long enough. I wouldn’t want to jinx it.)

The second observation about Kees is how much influence he’s had on every mashup that gets uploaded on a daily basis every December (me included) - I will link his Cinema series below. Instead of pairing clips into a horror bit, an action bit, a laughing and dancing bit, a kissing and crying bit, Kees was always out to create new feelings and nothing ever seemed more important than proper flow. Many shots would pop-up that you would never expect thematically, images of moving objects like a breaking glass transitioned with a girl’s hair waving through the wind (also see the lie detector in the previous shot.) He would connect nature documentaries right along with major superhero blockbusters and the movements flowed so perfectly that nothing ever felt out of place, quite the contrary. He was the best shot curator we’ve ever seen, and the order in which he put them together was beyond logic and predictability. Imagine “One Perfect Shot” but with 275 perfect shots back-to-back. If you want a prime example of what I’m referring to (random objects and flow), check out 2:49 - 2:52 from his Cinema 2011 (links below). Kees set the bar so high that attempting an end-of-year mashup certainly felt foolish at times, but hoping to improve made the editing process all the more inspiring.

CINEMA 2008 | CINEMA 2009 | CINEMA 2010 | CINEMA 2011 | CINEMA 2012

So apparently, they have the internet and flat-screen TV’s in RINGS but landline phones are still a thing. Quite frankly, I haven’t seen RINGS and I bet it’s aggressively ordinary, but how retro horror is that shot? Paired up with the voice of THE SNOWMAN saying “Mister Policeman” it’s a throwback to Nancy being terrorized by Freddy in the original Nightmare of Elm Street (minus the tongue.) I was also pleased with the aesthetic of HAPPY DEATH DAY, clearly the product of horror fans who grew up during the low-budget slasher craze of the early ‘80s. It’s got MY BLOODY VALENTINE written all over it (meanwhile their poster was paying homage to APRIL FOOL’S DAY.) Retro horror, in all its disturbing practical gore glory! Rick Baker, Tom Savini, how much we missed you in our modern times where only a few major productions have enough VFX money to escape the uncanny valley (and even then... *cough* JUSTICE LEAGUE.)

I always tend to edit right on tempo, which means switching shots at the exact moment the music beat tells you to. But over here, I thought this elevator drop from FLATLINERS looked so frenetic and out of control that I started it half a second before as if the beat couldn’t keep up! Like in cartoons when the car accelerates so fast that it takes off but their eyeballs are standing still for a little fraction. This whole mashup sequence is meant to be a little cartoony and tongue-in-cheek. To anyone who found this to be disturbing (and yes, I heard from a few viewers who said it was too much) I must admit that it wasn’t my intention. I won’t apologize for my work, people choose to watch if they want to or not. But if I really tried my best to scare the crap out of you, I can assure you THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE wouldn’t have made the cut.

Now channeling a CHILD’S PLAY vibe thanks to this retro television shot from the highly underrated BRIGSBY BEAR. A kids program works well as an element of fear because it’s supposed to be a safely protected zone of positivity and care, just like a doll or a clown for that matter. Once that turns on its head and begins to attack, you basically have nowhere else to hide. It also makes for great contrast, and Andy Muschietti must have had an absolute blast this year incorporating this component into his remake of IT. The bear costume was one of the many shots that wasn’t from a horror movie and yet I used to great effect in this section. I know there was a new CHILD’S PLAY movie this year but sadly, it didn’t hold a candle to the Hitchcockian original.

“At the end of the day, people are out for themselves.” That’s not true, and only people who are out for themselves could believe that. Because if you’re weighing low on the morality scale at some point in life, you still wanna go to bed thinking you’re a good person. So if you can’t justify what you did, the best logical next step is to convince yourself that human nature is to blame, that everyone else would have done the same as you. Ask people who were charged with insider trading on the stock market, they’ll always say “everybody was doing it.” I could refer to a certain World War to keep hammering that point but instead, I’d like to point out the interesting contrast between this and Part 3. I try to disprove that very statement by showing in the finale that everything we do that matters is for others, and others are the only thing that matters once everything else has come and gone.

The KING ARTHUR studio spending extra millions of dollars to sell the shit out of that movie on opening week-end before everyone realizes it’s bad money shot festival continues. EPIC! In fact, that shot is so gorgeous, you could place it anywhere in any mashup ever and it would probably work.

Having a bit of fun giving a more literal visual cue to IT’s “We all float down here” with Guillermo Del Toro’s hypnotically beautiful THE SHAPE OF WATER. However, it’s not the tudum tssshh, get it? movie connection that works here. It’s the underwater sound effect and the incredible sound mixing by trailer house Buddha Jones so that Georgie’s voice seems to come from the bottom of the ocean. This is likely the best sound work you’ll hear in the entire mashup, and I didn’t mix it, the editors behind that teaser trailer did. In fact, their work was so effective at scaring people that it earned twice the amount of views on YouTube than what Avengers: Infinity War received. A fact Kevin Feige will likely never admit.

That moment when you realize your manic pixie dream girl wears white socks! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I've used vulgarity in the past but not every year, depends whether it brings value. Some of you may remember “Game on, c***suckers” from KICK-ASS 2 in 2013 or “Nap time, motherf***ers” from COOTIES in 2015. Perhaps there’s another guilty pleasure at play here, however, which is that feeling of pure creative freedom. As mentioned earlier, not everyone digged the horror undertone of this year’s Part 1 and that’s okay because it went exactly where I wanted to go and no compromise was made. No client notes. No studio revisions. No censor beeper (which makes it worse because we seek to find out what the word was.) If you get into professional careers that are creative in nature, you’ll find that teamwork, compromise, and not taking anything personally are all essential components for success. But when the movie trailer mashup comes around, I report to no one. And that moment from THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI is one I wanted included as soon as the red band trailer came out.

This shot comes from a small movie you should seek out called MY NAME IS EMILY starring Evanna Lynch (aka Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies.) The film was directed by Simon Fitzmaurice who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (ALS) a few years ago, the debilitating disease for which the viral ice-bucket challenge was based on. He wrote the screenplay for this movie while his body was entirely paralyzed, and the only way he could communicate with the cast and crew while shooting the film was through eye gaze technology. There was a documentary following his brave journey that played Sundance called IT’S NOT YET DARK. Check it out if you need some real work ethic motivation and want to feel truly inspired about overcoming challenges. Much better than THE DISASTER ARTIST which is a spoof about a millionaire with no talent who mistreated the people who worked on his film. Okay, it’s still very entertaining and James Franco is hilarious but I don’t get a ‘never give up’ vibe from it, more like ‘maybe this isn’t for you.’

With the second segment, I was going for a British Gangster film vibe, hence the music cue Main Offender by The Hives. No movie captured that feeling better than Ben Wheatley’s FREE FIRE this year. I find the criminals in British movies are equally as clever in their quips as they are dangerous and often have the appearance of fair, well-behaved citizens until they have a reason to go mad. Jon Hamm’s performance in BABY DRIVER was also a textbook definition of that archetype, because all the build-up scenes where he acts friendly and discusses music with the titular character only bring an element of surprise at the end of his arc (spoilers: he’s not that nice in the end) I am aware that BABY DRIVER takes place in America but it’s directed by a Brit so it counts!

If Kubrick only knew his famous jump cut from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY that connects a flying bone to a space shuttle would lead to this fifty years later. What a shit show jump cuts have become! But they’re fun, and let’s be honest here: 7 minutes of serious quotes about life would get a little heavy. The way you edit jump cuts is the same way to solve a puzzle with over a thousand pieces. Extract dozens of short action clips onto your timeline and try to make them fit with one another over and over until you’re entertained. I mean, the music stays the same in the background, all I am doing here is deciding which projectile this pair of underpants from CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS will become. The answer was a tranquilizer from the underground mall chase sequence in Bong Joon-ho’s excellent OKJA. Maybe we should try one really long domino of jump cuts one day. Should take forever to edit, but how much fun would it be?

Did you know that Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander was a professional ballet dancer before she started acting? Work ethic applies in everything you do. When you hear about successful actors, you often discover people who are world-class at delivering under pressure and dedicating themselves to their craft with an insane amount of work. Acting is hard and yet so many people think they can do it, which makes it even harder. At least ballet puts constraints right off the bat, you need flexibility and a specific body frame. Part 3 is about finding your passion AND putting in the work. Just finding your passion is hard! It’s not always the bottomless pit one could hope for, especially when it becomes a real job with hours upon hours of work. Many people don’t even know what their passion is, they know what they’re good at but don’t love it. “Without your passion, it’s very hard to find our place in the world.” I don’t think you need your income to come from your passion in order to find said place, but I wish everyone that many of the limited hours they have each day goes towards their passion, and not towards something that feels like a waste of time. Wanting to wake up has everything to do with what happens after your first cup of coffee. Put your time towards something meaningful to you, even if it’s only on evenings and week-ends and you’ll never make a penny from it. If you love animals, volunteer at a shelter. If you love to travel, just GO!

But what happens when your family conflicts with your passion? Would you leave them behind to pursue your dreams? We all remember the tragic scene from DEAD POETS SOCIETY where a young scholar gets forced by his father to become a doctor instead of his passion and commits suicide. And then we have this year’s COCO, Pixar’s big comeback, where music is prohibited in Miguel’s family but it’s all he dreams about. But that conundrum doesn’t even have to be confrontational in nature. What if you wanted to work in a low-paying field like online journalism because it’s what you love but your single parent (who always took care of you) became sick and needed you to take care of their treatment. What happens then? What comes first? I humbly try to answer that later in the segment, of course.

We always told you Daniel Radcliffe... you’re special. That’s why you have a scar on your forehead that looks like a bolt... Just kidding, poor guy. I look at Mark Hamill in THE LAST JEDI and keep thinking that if studios are still a private enterprise in 40 years, some new Harry Potter movie will come out in which an old bearded Radcliffe will be teaching at Hogwarts. (PS: he keeps making bold choices, so much so that I am willing to watch anything he’s in.)

A man’s reach... (or woman, btw) should exceed his/her grasp. Words from a poem by Robert Browning, suggesting that, to achieve anything worthwhile, a person should attempt even those things that may turn out to be impossible. The downside with attempting the impossible is two-fold, however. 1) You may spend your life trying and never succeed. 2) If you do get there after so much sacrifice and effort, the world will expect you to do it again, or to keep doing it at the same level or better. If you won a Gold medal at the last Olympics, what are the expectations for the upcoming Olympics? That’s where passions and dreams enter a darker road, one many people choose to avoid altogether. But whatever happens, it’s worth the risk as long as you have the one thing along the way that’s a hundred times more important. And that thing is...

...people who love each other! Look at this guy, he just figured it out!

Kate Mara in MEGAN LEAVEY really seems to be the one thinking out loud in this shot while we hear a quote from THEIR FINEST. I had a blast with the Freddy Krueger references earlier but this is my favorite part. Audiomachine make the best tracks to bring that crescendo to its proper peak. You can say this part of the mashup is more in my comfort zone. And the influences from Kees that I discussed earlier can be felt here. Some shots of objects and landscapes that aren’t thematically connected but keep a nice flow. I also handpicked the best cinematography of the year all at once here. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS was a damn pretty movie, then SHAPE OF WATER, then THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS, then OKJA. Every shot looks like a million bucks. Notice the use of paper, letters and ink. I want to see you again, a character from EVERYTHING EVERYTHING writes on a sheet.

Family comes first is nice, but along with family comes conflict and distance at times. Things we said that we regret. Times we let each other down, or weren’t there when we needed to. All the papers dropping from the bridge, all the shots that refer to letter writing, that’s where I was going with that. Not always obvious because it moves so damn fast which is why I do this deconstruction blog post every year!

The final big lift from Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! Also, the first frame I added onto my AVID timeline. This is how I organize my work basically. I pick the right songs, then I identify the exact moments in that song where a big moment should happen - if you use trailer music, it will be crystal clear what those are. And then I try money shots in each of these spots over and over until one really, really fits. Then, I ask myself how did we get here, how can I get to that point? And build around these big moments. The second shot I added into the mashup was the little girl in Part 1 under the bed who points to another version of herself sleeping in her bed and says “Shhh! That’s not me.” I put that in right when the music stopped, it became a big moment, and then I built around it in order to get there. Every editor works differently, but I am just sharing how I personally prefer to do it. Back in 2012, the first clip I added onto the timeline was “I have an army. We have a Hulk.” from THE AVENGERS which means I’ve been editing this way for five straight years.

Those letters of reaching out to people you care about. Apologies or wondering how they’re doing. Flying everywhere around Winston Churchill (that’s my dog’s name, he’s a Pembroke Welsh Corgi!) I guess you should always be the one to reach out in difficult situations with important people. The mistake is to not reach out, or convince yourself that they were dragging you down and you’re better off without them. That’s rarely the case, and you’ll never get over them when you know that’s not the case. Maybe they will reply someday, maybe they never will. But you swallowed your ego and you decided to give it one more shot. That’s the bravest thing we can do in this life, and I hope you’ll see it that way if the time comes. Happy New Year! Achieve your passions, take care of the ones you love and make it a wonderful day! (Halle Berry: “Aaaarrh!")

- Sleepy Skunk

#2017movietrailermashup

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proven-paradox · 6 years ago

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Rosa’s Campaign Journal, Session 3

((Want to listen to us play this game? You can check the VoD over at KomodoKiss’s Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/308141352))

After leaving the mansion, we went to the mayor’s office. Percy took the lead for this one, showing the mayor’s people to be remarkably open minded about a talking imp. Mayor Stark had gone home, but we got directions and were able to arrange a meeting with her. We were let into her home, refined but a bit minimalist inside. After explaining what we’d seen and what questions we had, we got what answers we could. She explained that she’d been attempting to get the mansion cleared of danger and restored for a long time, but town funding was too limited and the utility of doing so was never significant. When the topic of the wizard who entered the mansion before came up, she spoke with open contempt for the man, describing him as a “greedy son of a bitch.” The town payed him to find and mark traps, and also allowed him salvage rights. They could not pay him enough to remove corpses or traps. He determined that the lord of the manor was missing from his investigation. She confirmed the corpse on the third floor was expected, and that there were no keys found in his investigation. She also indicated the animated skeletons were new. However, Stark provided evidence that there were trap markings on the third floor which had been erased in the meantime, further proof that there was some conspiracy in place here.

After discussing with her for a while, my understanding of the mansion’s history is as follows. The Bertholdt family included many doctors and physicians with philanthropic tendencies, well respected and liked. At some point they discovered an inexpensive cure for a ‘plague’ that was otherwise extremely expensive to cure, meaning it affected the poor disproportionately more to than the rich. (If this was the same as the venom Derek was afflicted by, “plague” is an odd term, but those were Stark’s words. Perhaps that story is separate from the Death Sleep Venom.) One night the entire family was killed, save for the head of household, one Darius Bertholdt III. His corpse was never found. After a period where no further evidence was found, they labeled Darius the killer, swept the case into a dark corner where it was forgotten, and removed the family’s name from the history books. At this point I suspect the corpse (and accompanying wrathful spirit) was Darius, but we still have no leads on who his killers were. Based on the language in his note, I suspect it was an organization, and based on how the case was handled after I suspect one with significant political clout.

After further discussion, Stark suggested that maybe this third party needed us to open the door to bypass the flashbang trap we set off. It’s conceivable, but it seems like they already had some access to that room anyway. Darius’s hand was missing, presumably it’s the one we found on the third floor, and it was clutching the note and the key. If they planted those, then they already had access to that sanctum. If they didn’t, then how did those items get onto the third floor between the time it was searched by the town’s hired wizard and when our own investigation began? There are still many questions unanswered. Regardless, I recommended mayor Stark post guards at the sanctum. I also mentioned the cockatrice problem in the garden, which she promised to send guards to deal with.

That done, we made our way back to the inn. On the way, Percy purchased one of Fairman’s health potions, and I purchased a pair of joints and some chalk from the general store. The latter will be used mostly for research purposes; some of the figures I need to perfect are best done on a large surface, such as a wall or floor. My scratch notebook is no longer sufficient for such studies. At some point I noted Kiniky attempting to assault Percy. When I asked, the imp and warlock acted like this was completely normal, and Helja said she understood and told me I needed to “get up on yo game.” The conversation quickly went nowhere and at this point I regret asking. I still have no adequate explanation for anything that was going on there, and I suspect I’m going to have to learn to accept these idiosyncrasies from my new companions.

We met back up at the tavern (imp still striking elf, elf still standing by passively). Percy headed to Spyro’s room to fetch her while Helja and I picked a table. When Spyro and Percy came down, it seemed Spyro had physically separated Kiniky and Percy, setting him on her horns. I saw Kuro sprinting to their room at this point, trying to do so unseen. Spyro called them over, but they were already up the stairs, seeming to desire privacy for some reason. I think I spied a shield on them as they went up, but when they came down a few moments later that shield was gone. They filled us in on their progress: neither Spyro nor Kuro had anything kind to say about the kids they spoke to, calling them rather boring. Apparently they got the rumor from a gnome or dwarf from the tavern. Apparently Derek was very keen on the rumor when they heard it, rushing off to check it out immediately. After that, Kuro quickly recounted a situation and they had had a run-in with a magically inclined dwarf previously, which at the time seemed like a possible suspect. (Not long after Kuro and Helja got a missive that gave their guy a solid alibi, leaving us with no suspects once more.) At this point I relayed what we learned with Mayor Stark to Kuro and Spyro.

Kuro and Helja got a private missive and walked away from the table to go over that. Meanwhile Spyro, Percy, and I continued discussing what we’d learned. I suggested that perhaps Derek’s eagerness was brought on by magical coercion. A properly worded Suggestion spell could have brought about that behavior, and that is a second tier spell that I could cast myself. Well within the realm of possibility for someone with the resources our third party seem to have.

Ryan called Kuro over for some small task while Helja returned to the table at this point. While they were out, Spyro and Percy spoke to Ryan asking about who might have spoke to the kids to plant the rumor for Derek. He said that there was no unusual patrons other than the man Kuro and Helja dealt with. Percy and Kiniky were still quarreling, so Spyro separated them again and gave Kiniky a sip of ale, ignoring Percy’s disapproval. Then Kuro returned to the table, visibly shaken.

They said they’d encountered one of the town guards. They said this guard let them “they’d figured out the situation” and that we didn’t need to keep investigation. Spyro talked about Kuro being attacked, in confusion. Apparently she can read lips (good to know) and what Kuro was telling us at the table didn’t match his conversation with Ryan at the bar. At this point I ceased believing anything Kuro was telling us; clearly something had happened outside that got to him. They said the guard revealed that “they” just wanted us to open the door for them, but when I pressed Kuro on who they were and what they wanted, the goliath said it was “classified,” started talking about leaving town. The rest of the party seemed keen on the idea.

At this point I stopped paying full attention. Once Kuro began recounting our time in the mansion to bar patrons, I had to leave. I despise lies in whatever form they take. The direct lies Kuro was telling us, and the recounting so exaggerated and embellished that it was practically false, was more than I was willing to stand for. I was very close to telling them to leave without me at that point. Instead I walked outside to think without the distracting sounds of a lively tavern. It seems Spyro followed me, attempting to be stealthy about it. Eventually she came to ask what was wrong, I told her of my objections to lies, and she asked if it were hurting anyone. What I wanted to say was, “Yes, obviously it hurts my feelings, you should be able to tell this because I am out here with clearly hurt feelings.” Instead, I just asked after what happened to Kuro. She made some excuse--I’d guess she’d jump at any chance for coin, so I don’t particularly care about her take on the matter. Once I went through the required social motions to get her to leave, I just returned here to my room.

I come to the end of the night in a deeply foul mood. We’re no closer to knowing who’s actually behind this, and about out of ways to find a new lead. Save for one--as I utilized my spells in combat, I gained the understanding needed to access the second tier of spells. Among my new powers is that of Augury. First thing in the morning, I will purchase a set of cards to use as a focus for this spell and hopefully divine a new lead we could use to gather more information.

But for now, I am tired. Now that this entry is finished, I’m going to do a bit of work before bed. I’ve unlocked the second tier of spells available to me, and now I must work on the third. Being able to mentally submerge myself in a context where my mindset is welcome will hopefully calm me enough to sleep.

((The writing begins somewhat sloppy, but after a bit the script rights itself.))

I greeted this day with a bit more work on my circles after the required morning prayers. Going slowly but steady before being interrupted by Kuro at my door, eager to explain themself after the previous night. After the explanation I understand their actions much better. They described going out to the stables after Ryan requested it, likely under the influence of a Suggestion spell. Outside, they were the victim of a Hold Person spell. The caster--still unseen--gave them most of the answers to our investigation. We had most of it right; we were set up to open that bottom room for them, they had what they were looking for, and wanted us to stop investigating the mansion. All we’re missing is WHO these people are. Kuro didn’t see much of their attacker, but the person was human sized at least, so we know we are either working against at least two conspirators, or one who can cast Disguise Self or some other effect to appear at different heights.

Kuro said that they are willing to leave us alone if we stop our digging. Kuro advocated this action, out of concern for the people of the town. (I do think that concern is genuine, not just a veneer for cowardice.) I, for one, am not going to rest after being used for some foul organizations schemes. But I do believe that Kuro is right that we are in over our heads. We need allies against them. I intend to show Father Namfoodle the symbol we found; he will know what it means. I now have access to the Augury spell; I can use it to make sure he’s not one of our conspirators. I very much doubt it; of all the people in this town he has impressed me the most. But still, he potentially fits the description of the one who targeted Derek, and his presence wouldn’t have been seen as unusual by any of the townsfolk. It’s possible he’s one of the conspirators. But I think we can trust him. Unless the cards warn against it, I will seek his help in this investigation.

((The text here is shaking, and the pen was pressed into the page so hard that the impression shows on the next page.))

He’s one of them. Tower, for catastrophe. Fool reverse, for naivete and recklessness. Namfoodle is against us.

#Rosa Campaign Journal #DnD 5e #welcome to paeranthia

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