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The Belly of the Beast
What happens
- 00:00:18 Brennan welcomes everyone to the "penultimate episode" and recaps (recap) episode 8: Sylvester in the oubliette, the doubt about his guilt, Lucretia's body with "I do not need my hands to murder", the fake constables as old Cottonbottom servants, the open questions (Fletcher's ghost versus Daisy's mirrored hologram; the figure at the top of the elevator: Shellcrest, Harding or Armond), "three o'clock" being a position, the key, the knocked-out constable, the shorted stove and Sylvester sprung; the elevator descends — 00:00:36
- 00:04:37 During the descent Brennan asks where each is looking; Gangie and Lars square up at the two doors, Sylvester steels himself for Fletcher, Daisy makes side-eye at him — 00:04:50, 00:06:11, 00:06:46, 00:07:00
- 00:07:17 Brennan pauses the elevator ride and asks the table (as characters and players) where the biggest question marks remain; Gangie, then Buckster (insight "Dirty 20") state what they know and miss; Rekha adds the address book detail; Sylvester announces Fletcher Cottonbottom "is the one pulling the strings" — 00:08:54, 00:09:34, 00:11:21, 00:13:57, 00:14:18
- 00:15:24 Brennan: the one assassination attempt certain tonight is the "character assassination" of Sylvester — 00:15:24
- 00:17:09 More questions: Rekha's list (gyroscope, the Medal, the "no arms" creature), Sam's and Ally's theories about the war vet and the decoy body, Daisy's insight 10 (the desk breaker hidden in a bathroom; Rosalind and the bust), Daisy's summary of the theory, Lars's projections, Brennan's reminder of the eyes of the bodies — 00:18:20, 00:20:01, 00:20:35, 00:21:36, 00:24:48, 00:26:39, 00:28:51
- 00:29:20 The doors open on the secret basement wing: junk, a wheelbarrow, a mushroom garden of cyanotoxin fungus glowing with electricity, and a door with an eight-digit padlock — 00:29:25, 00:29:50
- 00:32:17 Sylvester's investigation (help from Lars) 28: footprints of Harding, Gilfoyle, a large badger man, police and rabbits; the lock reads "mors est in gloria"; after wrong guesses (1885-1905; 12345678) Daisy enters the date, and the lock opens only on the wrong year written on the Barkus Aurelius bust — 00:33:02, 00:33:20, 00:35:49, 00:37:18, 00:38:30, 00:40:29
- 00:41:09 Treasure room: Gangie perception 28, Buckster "18 up to a 25", Daisy natural 20; contraband from the Schnauzer War and a network linking Squire Badger to the Cottonbottom organisation; some take art objects; the original family painting is in the corner — 00:41:25, 00:41:56, 00:43:36
- 00:43:36 Sylvester lights his pipe: Roman ruins under Loam Hall, a medical bay that is a morgue — 00:44:30, 00:45:12
- 00:46:00 Gangie pulls the sheet off the body of Squire William Thornwall Brockhollow — 00:46:24
- 00:47:07 Skill checks in the morgue: the Vicar blesses the group (d4 on skill checks); Lars insight 27, Gangie perception 29, Daisy and Sylvester investigation 19, the Vicar investigation, several medicine checks; the room is a "Build-A-Bear Workshop" of decoy parts; Gangie finds mouse fur, pond scum and pulls shrapnel out of the squire's chest; the Vicar finds a disguise kit — 00:47:43, 00:49:35, 00:51:54, 00:53:18, 00:59:28, 01:00:07, 01:04:21
- 01:05:10 The table argues over which Squire is real and whose side Hawkins, Harding and Gilfoyle are on; Brennan: no other decoy bodies, only parts; police have been cleaning the room; Ally asks whether this body has Buckster's fur and the spilled wine from dinner, and Brennan says it does not ("You look and see that it doesn't."); the room works like a refrigerator for the bodies — 01:00:21, 01:00:37, 01:05:24, 01:08:39, 01:09:10
- 01:11:21 Incense is smelled; investigation re-rolls would need a short rest; Buckster reads the documents (insight 27, Lars helping); Brennan's texts and narration give the squire's debts and the secret of his Bavarian mission; Gangie hears the police upstairs ringing for the elevator — 01:11:53, 01:14:36, 01:16:13, 01:17:20, 01:17:28
- 01:22:22 Sylvester (24) follows the incense to the elevator; Daisy (18) finds a letter D scratched with a beak; Buckster explains the squire's treason and Fletcher's leverage — 01:23:08, 01:24:33, 01:25:40
- 01:30:38 In the elevator the table debates why Fletcher would kill the squire; Brennan: Fletcher may have flipped the wrong switch, or lightning overpowered the system, while in the downstairs bathroom; the table speculates that someone at the party is Fletcher in disguise — 01:30:38, 01:32:04, 01:33:37, 01:34:07
- 01:36:26 The D: Daisy 26 reads it as a beak-scratched letter; the three beaked people at the party; Daisy remembers D stands for docks on the switchboard — 01:37:18, 01:37:23, 01:38:55
- 01:39:59 The elevator descends to a candlelit ritual chamber with a blood-scrawled message signed with a fox symbol (Sylvester: the penmanship is a perfect match) and the bodies of Jeremy Brockhollow and Osmond Sheffield on the altar — 01:39:59
- 01:41:22 Checks: Sylvester and Daisy both natural 20 investigation, Vicar 23, Lars perception 22, Gangie medicine 16 (the bodies are decoys), Buckster insight 14; the police shout up the shaft; the Vicar finds unfinished set dressing — 01:41:52, 01:42:09, 01:43:07, 01:43:48, 01:44:02
- 01:45:04 Two natural 20s: Sylvester takes the "mystery door", Daisy asks "Is Fletcher Cottonbottom Mr. Harding?" — Brennan answers with the footprints and the unhurt turtle (no plain "no"): "You do not think Ambrose Harding is Fletcher Cottonbottom." — 01:46:02, 01:52:30, 01:54:11
- 01:55:08 Sylvester's secret door leads up a spiral staircase to Gangie's cottage; the guests are cornered in the ballroom by constables — 01:55:37
- 01:57:02 Buckster proposes to wrap it up and go home, then (Brennan: "the contract on Colonel Hawkins' body and the knife still with the mouse maids") decides to stay: "it's the right thing to do" — 01:57:02, 01:57:13, 01:57:20; Buckster's speech about justice; a constable grabs Mrs. Molesly by the neck; Brennan sums up what the party knows and the goal — 01:57:42, 01:58:06, 01:58:08
- 01:59:56 Planning: the tower entrance is on the leisure-wing floor; a guard at the boathouse; investigation of the cottage (nothing suggests Gangie used the passage); the party splits — 02:00:28, 02:01:38, 02:03:14, 02:06:59
- 02:07:44 Lars leaves for the dock; Sylvester, hiding in the cottage, sees a knotted rope hanging from the tallest tower window; end of the episode and "Next time" preview — 02:07:50, 02:08:40
Frames
Key quotes
- “Hello one and all, and welcome to the penultimate episode of "Mice & Murder."” — Brennan 0:00:18
- “it's a long elevator ride down” — Brennan 0:07:17
- “It seems only appropriate, in honor of the now late Miss Lucretia, that we are about to determine what is real and what is not, for everything cannot be real.” — Buckster 0:17:09
- “I am the servant of the serpent. I am the hunter.” — Brennan 1:39:59
- “I don't need arms.” — Grant 0:19:37
- “Whoever's been staging these murders had a little bit of final touches.” — Brennan 1:44:02
- “12345678.” — Rekha 0:37:57
- “Now, I think we can all agree that this looks very bad for the late Squire Badger, but assuming that the actual police don't find this, I call dibs.” — Buckster 0:42:53
- “Squire Badger was into SOMEBODY for more than a fortune.” — Texts from Brennan to Sam 1:17:20
- “Dr. Magpie was just trying to write Dr. Magpie!” — Ally 1:37:48
Who and what appears
Player characters
- Buckster $. Boyd
- Daisy D'umpstaire
- Detective Sylvester Cross
- Gangie Green
- Lars Vandenchomp
- Vicar Ian Prescott
NPCs
- Ambrose Harding
- Armond Armadillo and Professor Shellcrest
- Barkus Aurelius
- Catherine McCabbage
- Colonel James Hawkins
- Connor McCabbage
- Constance and Corbin
- Fake police
- Fletcher Cottonbottom
- Jeremy Brockhollow and Osmond Sheffield
- Josiah Jackrabbit
- Lady Eugenia Bristlebrush
- Lucretia "Lucy" Brockhollow
- Matilda Molesly
- Rosalind Crumb
- Sir Ignatius Cottonbottom
- Squire William Thornwall Brockhollow
- Thomas Gilfoyle
Locations
- Ballroom
- Boathouse
- Freight elevator
- Gangie's cottage
- Mushroom garden
- Padlocked door
- Ritual chamber
- Roman ruins
- Secret basement wing
- Tower of Loam Hall
- Treasure room
Items and artifacts
- Brennan's texts
- Buckster's cream suit
- Disguise kit
- Jeweler's loupe, pipe, pen knife
- Medal of Valor
- Padlock
- Priceless art objects
- Red silk key
- Shard of shrapnel
- Squire's ledgers
Factions and organizations
Roll log
| Time | Character (player) | Roll | Result | DC / AC | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:11:21 | Buckster (Sam) | Insight | "Dirty 20" | — | "assassinate" comes to mind; secrecy and openness both critical |
| 00:20:35 | Daisy (Rekha) | Insight | 10 | — | Brennan: reminder of breaker in bathroom and bust returned to the library |
| 00:33:02 | Sylvester (Grant) | Investigation, advantage (help from Lars) | 18 and 28 | clues on 25 | tracks; the lock inscription |
| 00:37:31 | Buckster (Sam) | Insight | 22 | — | the code must be easy for criminals to remember |
| 00:41:22 | Sylvester (Grant) | Investigation | number not said | — | — |
| 00:41:25 | Buckster (Sam) | Perception | "18 up to a 25" | — | — |
| 00:41:30 | Gangie (Katie) | Perception | 28 | — | — |
| 00:41:39 | Daisy (Rekha) | Investigation | natural 20 | — | network linking the squire to the Cottonbottom organisation |
| 00:48:17 | Lars (Ally) | Insight (Bless) | 27 | — | looking for the war wound |
| 00:49:35 | Gangie (Katie) | Perception, Bless | 26 plus d4 3 = 29 | — | all the bodies came here; Harding's tracks |
| 00:49:54 | Daisy (Rekha) | Investigation, Bless | 16 plus d4 3 = 19 | — | — |
| 00:51:18 | Sylvester (Grant) | Investigation, Bless, advantage | 19 | — | carved bodies, ram fur, crow feathers |
| 00:56:09 | Vicar (Raph) | Investigation, Bless | 22 plus d4; "25" at 00:57:41 | — | incense; disguise kit |
| 00:58:23 | Sylvester (Grant) | Medicine | 21 (20 plus 1d4) | — | — |
| 01:02:32 | Daisy (Rekha) | Medicine | 21 | — | — |
| 01:02:51 | Gangie (Katie) | Medicine | 25 | — | shrapnel; the body is the decoy |
| 01:03:17 | Vicar (Raph) | skill not stated | 20 | — | — |
| 01:14:36 | Gangie (Katie) | Investigation / Perception | 12 / 11 | — | nothing hidden; hears shouting |
| 01:16:13 | Buckster (Sam) | Insight, advantage (help), Bless d4 | 27 | — | squire's debts and secret |
| 01:22:46 | Sylvester (Grant) | Investigation, Bless, advantage | 16 first; 23 plus d4 = 24 | — | follows the incense |
| 01:22:51 | Daisy (Rekha) | Investigation, Bless, advantage | 18 on both | — | the D scratched in the baseboard |
| 01:37:18 | Buckster (Sam) | Insight / investigation on the D | 22 | — | — |
| 01:37:19 | Daisy (Rekha) | Investigation or insight (skill not stated; Brennan offered both at 01:37:01) on the D | 26 | — | beak scratch; three beaked guests |
| 01:41:52 | Sylvester (Grant) | Investigation | natural 20 | — | mystery door |
| 01:42:09 | Daisy (Rekha) | Investigation | natural 20 | — | one yes/no question |
| 01:42:43 | Vicar (Raph) | Investigation | 23 | — | painter's cloth, containers of blood |
| 01:42:43 | Lars (Ally) | Perception (perimeter) | 22 | — | police heard up the shaft |
| 01:43:03 | Gangie (Katie) | Medicine | 16 | — | Jeremy and Osmond are decoys |
| 01:43:07 | Buckster (Sam) | Insight | 14 | — | — |
| 02:01:38 | Sylvester (Grant) | Investigation | 22 | — | nothing shows Gangie used the passage |
| 02:01:50 | Lars (Ally)? / Daisy (Rekha) | Investigation (not stated) | 19 (speaker uncertain: Ally says "I got a 19." but never says she is rolling; her "Okay, 22." repeats Grant) / 15 | — | — |
| 02:03:14 | Buckster (Sam) | Perception | 26 | — | guard at the boathouse |
| 02:06:57 | Sylvester (Grant) | Perception (Lars helps) | 21 | — | the knotted rope |
Natural 20s: Daisy 2 (investigation: treasure room, ritual chamber), Sylvester 1 (investigation) · Natural 1s: none