The cohort follow the lead Dr. Werner gave them and come face-to-face with something truly bizarre. Will they leave with more questions than answers?--------Episode Transcript:Get your snack and beverage of choice ready. It’s time to “Gather ‘Round the Trashfires” for a tabletop roleplaying story! I’m your host, Bek Andrew Evans.Tabletop characters make decisions ranging from questionable to horrific in pursuit of their goals especially when a table values going for the interesting route in roleplay. It becomes trashfires all the way down.My current and main running story for this podcast is the misadventures of the cohort from the Deviant: the Renegades chronicle I’ve been playing in since early 2021. And I play Geri.For those of you unfamiliar with Deviant, it’s a TTRPG about people who were formerly human but were irreparably changed in traumatic ways to the point their very Souls broke and they became something Other. They seek vengeance on those who made them, those who hunt them, those who seek to exploit them for what they are and will never leave them be.As such, this podcast will feature heavy themes and content throughout. There’s an overall content warning for language, violence, criminality, homelessness, substance use, human experimentation, cults and religious extremism, mentioned torture, kidnapping, implied incest and incest-related comments, and abusive relationships. On episodes where there is a new content warning or a particularly notable instance of one of these, I’ll call it out.I hope y’all enjoy hearing about my cohort’s antics and stumbling headfirst into the mysteries of the world as much as I have.[Music Intro: "_violence" by Avantist]Green Country Calcination Episode 2: The Fellowship of the WardThe new cohort only had a week before Camille was going to come back to take them to the next stage of experiments and, if Patty was correct, no matter what happened to them there, they’d never be seen again.During the past few days, they’d gotten to work on various forms of information-gathering to plan their escape. Madison took point on the plan to break into room 164 that Dr. Werner told them ‘totally definitely don’t break into WINK’. She’d observed it was, despite seeming to be some sort of supply closet, the most guarded spot in the ward. She’d managed to figure out when the hall the room’s on had barely any activity and gathered the nascent cohort for their mission.Because they were on their last week on the ward, they were able to convince the staff to get them some special items. Madison got a pair of her ballet shoes sent to her from her friend and Geri got a deck of tarot cards and a book to interpret them. They finally let her have paper.They meet at the couches in the common area to not draw suspicion. It’s just after dinner and the orderlies are busy packing up the cafeteria carts, too busy to be patrolling the hall with the strange supply closet.Unlike Madison’s spying and playing around with security cameras with electrokinesis, Geri had decided to spend her time reading minds of staff picking up rumors. She also tried to read Patty’s mind, got driven off by the discomfort of feeling the influx of Patty’s enhanced senses and maaaaybe not quite all there thoughts, and decided she hated Patty for thwarting her telepathy. As one does.AJ gets a little uncomfortable about the idea that not only can Geri read minds, but she's so casual about it, but calms down when she says she hasn’t read his mind because she doesn’t want to be subjected to more bad puns. Madi’s also distressed by the idea initially, but mostly by the idea that Geri may have accidentally seen disturbing things Madi couldn’t put up content warnings for (but Geri says she’s not read her mind, either).Once that’s settled, AJ declares it’s ‘go time’ and the cohort head off to the location. Robert is supposed to be keeping watch the whole time (his player wasn’t available). AJ has his scrub shirt tucked into his pants and has something hidden under the back of his shirt, it’s discreetly lumpy when he moves and stretches.The trio head off together, as if they’re headed to their rooms for some of the allowed private time before the next round of tests. They blend in rather well and turn a corner down a different, empty hall. They keep quiet and pretend they’re totally definitely supposed to be there.Madison shocks the other two - though not literally this time – by using her electrokinesis to sap the power from the security cameras nearby. AJ is quite a bit more shocked than Geri and accidentally risks getting the group caught by yelping in surprise. Geri gives him a friendly-not-so-friendly weak punch to the shoulder and reminds him to shut the fuck up.The yelp thankfully didn’t seem to draw attention, so the group keeps on sneaking toward the “supply room,” where they encounter a door with a manual lock and a keypad to the side.AJ...
