Session 44: Defrosting the Machine

General Summary

Before the main session begins

The group had a discussion regarding the recent threads and document about Campaign Adjustments which took a significant portion of the first part of this session's time slot. The details are documented in the linked article.

Housekeeping

Loot distribution that was not handled between sessions is addressed before session begins. The Rewards section of the prior session report has been adjusted to reflect the outcome of this distribution.

Session Proper

Summary of prior session

3 points

Sunday, 30th Leafbreak

We left off with the party completing a long rest, preparing spells and getting ready to Dispel the block to talk with the humanoid figure inside.

Opening the mystery block

Gearing up and dispel

Sunny uses Deep Rumble to give Leucis bardic inspiration. Maya casts Enhance Ability (DnD Beyond) for Wisdom on the cleric to improve his chances.
Most of the group takes up positions with a little distance from the block, near a bit of potential cover as they're unsure what to expect. Contrarily, Harb stands almost directly next to it and Kol is less than 20' away in case he needs to back Harb up.
Leucis calls forth the power of Selune to Dispel Magic (DnD Beyond) on the block. From the top downwards, the block turns into a fog and dissipates to reveal a strange warforged, who regains full consciousness in time to land on his feet in the wagon.

Wakeup

Harb gets a good close look as the warforged emerges from the magic crystal, and the appearance of it triggers something in his memory - like he has met this specific warforged or the person whose likeness it bears. Kol can hear a bubbling, hissing noise behind Harb's skullplate. Harb can also catch a whiff of ozone and hear sparks. The fighter makes his Con save (natural 20) and takes a mere 2 points of psychic damage as his mind is rewired to receive this memory.
Harb's ersatz eye projects a golden image of a robed human with the same features as the warforged, though with a few signs of age (as if the warforged were a younger version of this person). Overlaid and in front of the human figure is the same symbol from the middle of the Teleportation Circle (DnD Beyond). Harb puts together that the symbol is the Arcane Mark of the mage Nogos.
Given a moment to think, Harb recalls from his History that:

• Nogos was notable for not being secretive about his arcane power, but was very reluctant to share what he knew because it was dangerous.
• Harb met Nogos in person before he lost his eye and limbs.
  • Harb saw the arcane mark of Nogos in many places where he met the mage, which is why he recognized it in the circle (though he originally couldn't place it).
  • The meeting place was some sort of wizard tower, and the tower itself even bore the arcane mark.
  • The details of the meeting are not clear, but Harb had been tasked with claiming a relic from Nogos that would be used as fuel for the powerful spell the unidentified archmage was working on.
  • Nogos has a reputation as being more than a little suspicious, so Harb went alone to a place of Nogos's choosing.
  • The relic in question was supposedly the Reaping Razor, made from a fragment of the scythe of Nerull.
  • Nogos wouldn't hand the relic over directly but agreed to contract conditions to surrender the item; Harb doesn't know the details of the pickup or anything else in the contract.

The warforged shakes his head a bit as he seems to regain consciousness, and says:

How long was I out this time, Professor?

Stirred memories and a new... friend?

The warforged notices Harb, takes a short moment observing him, and then notes the golden image of Nogos projecting from him. He comments that Harb must know the Professor, and inquires again how long he was out.
Maya inquires who "the Professor" is, and the warforged (gesturing at the golden image) replies that he of course means Professor Nogos. He assumes that the group works for the Professor, and that that's why they're here.
Sunny peeks out from his cover to inform the "new metal bro" that the group doesn't know the Professor. The warforged seems a bit confused, and explains he thought that the projection of the image meant that they worked for the Professor. But he admits maybe using the Professor's arcane mark would do the trick, instead, so he's not sure what's happening.
Harb waves the group forward, and the projected image fades. The old sailor asks how long the warforged has been away from the Professor. As the group approaches, the warforged indicates that the last time the professor used the block, he was in it for about a week - that was to make sure it worked. He comments that the Professor was always one to have a plan for if something went sideways. He elaborates that he's not fully conscious while in it, just some sparks in a fog.
Harb says things have definitely gone sideways since the warforged went into the block.

Trading Questions and Getting Instructions

During the course of peppering the newcomer with questions, he introduces himself as Sigmand:

1. Saf inquires if the warforged knows the sky in the hopes that he might be able to gauge the time since he went in, and the warforged pulls out an astrolabe and indicates he's willing to share whatever he knows. Harb seems convinced it's been a long time, but the warforged gestures at his metallic body and mentions that he has the advantage of not aging, so it's hard to say with certainty.
2. Saf inquires if anyone would age inside the cube, and the warforged admits he doesn't really know.
3. Maya inquires what the last thing the warforged remembers is, and he relates that the Professor was off somewhere else and left him at the tower, and the next thing he knew he was in the block. He doesn't sleep or dream but likens his time in the block to that - he's not aware of things outside the block or the passing of time within it to any notable degree.
4. Kol asks where the tower was, and the warforged says it was in the base of a mountain but the Professor had 6 or 10 such towers. He's unsure exactly where it was located, so Maya starts pulling out his maps.
5. Sunny inquires if Sigmand knows any other warforged, and it seems he was based on another design that the Professor said he could "make improvements on." However, it seems there may have been other earlier versions that Nogos worked on, but Sigmand has never met them.
6. Leucis asks what Sigmand did for Nogos, but Sigmand isn't clear what his actual purpose is. Most of what he did with the Professor was testing, seeing what his body was capable of and the like. Sigmand reports that Nogos seemed a bit disappointed that he wasn't smarter, but he's not sure the professor was expecting - something about "not everything from the template transferring."
7. When asked to elaborate on the template, Sigmand confesses ignorance, just that Nogos was a big proponent of having a plan.

Prompted by this reminder, Sigmand pulls a thin sheet of metal foil out of one of his pouches, unfurls it like a scroll, and muttering what he's reading from it out loud:

• Am I in immediate danger?
  • Sigmand looks around briefly and decides he's not, then taps on the scroll.
• Is the surrounding area an actively hostile environment?
  • Sigmand again says no, and a good thing too because the block was probably the best defense against that kind of thing.
• Where am I?
  • Sigmand puts this question to the party.
  • Saf interjects at this point to ask what exactly the warforged is doing.
  • Sigmand explains that these are his In Case of the Unexpected - Directions - Nogos gave him these so he'd do what the Professor needs him to do if something unexpected came up.
  • Saf indicates that the directions may very well instruct Sigmand to hurt the group, so they're disincentived to cooperate if that's the case. She suggests explaining the full contents of the instructions.
  • Sigmand admits that he probably could hurt the party but he doesn't understand why that would be what the Professsor is after - Nogos doesn't go in for hurting people without a good reason. He does admit (with Saf's prodding) that Nogos may very well have such reasons.
  • Sigmand clarifies that his instructions aren't really a full document that he can share as such - he's presented a single question at a time, occasionally with some options, and then it present him more questions or directions and objectives.

The party has a quick conference about whether or not to answer - it seems Sigmand could be hostile, but probably isn't. Sigmand, for his part, seems unconcerned by their caution.

Up close inspection

While Maya is getting his maps together and a few others continue to question, Saf and Sunny request to give Sigmand a closer look. The warforged just asks if it's going to hurt, and they indicate they don't intend for it to. Saf is trying to determine just how expensive this creature/device and perhaps how it works; Sunny is more about figuring out if Sigmand's construction or materials might tell him how to find Nock. They're able to glean a few details:

• There are a few layers of the platinum/gold/silver wire over the same sort of treated wood that the group saw at the Llyrian Moon Facility.
• There's very much a "spare no expense, bespoke prototype" sense to how this warforged was made.
• The execution of the construction is very high quality - either high end magic, great skill, or both were employed.
• Saf determines that Sigmand is easily worth more than ten thousand gold pieces in materials alone (to say nothing of his workmanship, utility or artistry).
• It's clear that Sigmand and Nock have some design decisions in common, as though they have a shared design ancestry.
• There's even a similarity of general personality between the two warforged the party has met, in terms of relatively genial outlook.

Mapping and Circle Sigils

Looking over Maya's map, Sigmand seems to recognize the continent but not so many places on it. He does recall seeing Grayhill but it was called Giant's Spur on the map he remembers; he reasons that if the city changed names his was likely in the block for a while. It seems Sigmand hasn't actually been to that city (Nogos was toying with the idea of attending a festival there but decided against it).
Most of the names don't match up with anything Sigmand recognizes, but he's pretty sure Nogos had a tower on this continent. He doesn't think he visited that tower, however. Sigmand does recognize the name of Estimarth when Maya says they're near there, and is able to point out its location.
When discussing Estimarth, Sigmand admits he hasn't been there. With a gesture towards Harb:

I guess it makes sense if you guys are headed to Estimarth. I mean, that's why you have a guide who's not alive, right?

The group gets a bit derailed by this, and their reaction causes Sigmand to apologize to Harb in case that was a secret. Sigmand thought it was pretty obvious that Harb doesn't breathe. There's a quick discussion on the difference between "not alive" and undead; Sigmand says he's not alive the way most people think of it.
Sunny probes a bit further into Harb's feelings on the matter. Harb says he feels alive aside from the not-breathing thing, and turns the topic back to Estimarth - was it ruled by a council? Royalty?
Sigmand says he doesn't know the politics, only that it was originally a city of elementals and they left, after which the undead took it over. Nogos told Sigmand that Estimarth was a place for people whose interests took more than a lifetime to pursue. Some were there to preserve knowledge, the idea being that the knowledge would never be lost because its keepers would never die. The knowledge, craft and skill were kept alive by people who weren't alive themselves.
Putting that many undead in one place, though, made folks uncomfortable. Estimarth is great for the undead but inhospitable to the living, so if you're going there you'd need to not be alive. There was some means for the living to go in, though - Nogos said he'd been to Estimarth.
When asked about whether he's been to this ruin before, Sigmand doesn't recognize it. Harb points out that he was on the wagon and came out of the Teleportation Circle (DnD Beyond). Sigmand indicates that the circle's sigils would tell him where he is - he traces those symbols into the metal foil scroll he has. The scroll's inquiry changes:

• What's the date?
  • Sigmand isn't sure why this is relevant unless he was in the block for quite a long time.
  • Sigmand tries to extract more information about the question from the scroll, and it shows a branching between going to Estimarth or Waukeen.
  • The group supplies the current date (30th of Leafbreak) but doesn't know the year.
  • It's not clear if the dating system the group is using matches Sigmand's, which he calls Concordiat.
  • Leucis asks if Nogos could see the future, which might explain why this question is being asked.
  • Sigmand explains that foresight wasn't really Professor Nogos's preferred approach. The Professor used to try to see the future, but it didn't work the way he'd want it to. Sigmand alludes to The Blinding of Ioun as a reason why Nogos might hold that view.
  • Nogos reportedly decided that preparing for all potential outcomes was better than trying to predict them. This rings true with Leucis's prior knowledge about Nogos having a custom Contingency (DnD Beyond) spell.

Saf says to Maya that Sigmand is likely to free Nogos given the opportunity; the two seem to agree that this might be bad for their various interests. Leucis indicates that he likely knows many useful things, especially if he could see the future. Maya retorts that maybe he's the one that ended the world.
Sigmand jumps in at this point to ask about the world ending. The group explains what they know about The Calamity. Sigmand is disturbed by this but isn't sure what to make of it. Saf seems convinced that Nogos saw these events and engineered the party's rescue of Sigmand. Sigmand seems certain that even the Professor couldn't have predicted everything, he just had plans in place for things he thought of that might happen.
Sigmand also seems pretty firmly convinced that the Professor is unlikely to be dead, if only because that didn't seem like something that would interest him. That doesn't mean Sigmand is able to find him, though - Saf suggests Sigmand is likely the best option for finding Nogos, and the warforged agrees. Sigmand even says this may have been his purpose - Nogos never did say exactly what his purpose was.
Sigmand indicates he's only about 6 months old, but that the time in the block likely means that's no longer true - he's not sure it should count. He knows his last memory from before being in the block last was in Longmarch (mid-spring) of 3560 Concordiat.
Sigmand tries to work out why the scroll offers Waukeen as an option for where to go next. To a certain extent, since she's known to make deals with people, it would make sense. Upon further digging into what the scroll has for that option, he's able to glean that Nogos has made a contract with Waukeen that she's obligated to aid people sent to her in his name before 3775 Concordiat. If it's before that date, Waukeen's faithful would be the group to contact. If it's after that date, directions point to Head Librarian Balsifar at the Library of Leng in Estimarth. Sigmand presumes that this is because as someone who "lives" in Estimarth, Balsifar is probably an undead and thus unlikely to have died in the intervening time. The group raises a solid point that (not knowing what has happened to Estimarth) Balsifar may also no longer be in the mortal realm.
The group discusses going into Estimarth, and Harb reminds people that there's some effect that may deter them from so doing. It occurs to Sunny that he was perhaps affected by the Modify Memory (DnD Beyond) spell, and he requests that Leucis cast Remove Curse (DnD Beyond) on him.
Sigmand inquires about this memory wipe business and seems disturbed by this possibilty. There's a short chat about Harb's loss of memory (and this it was "squeezed out of him") to Sigmand's visible dismay.
When the spell takes hold, Sunny recalls going closer to Estimarth than the trading post when he was here with Silver Moonlight, but that they got down the road to a stone obelisk, read it, and then felt a strong urge to head home. The bard explains this recently recovered experience to the rest of the party, and puts together that the obelisk he saw from climbing up and looking around matches the description of the item the Gnomish Gnowledge Gnode Identified before Sunny claimed it.
Leucis inquires that if Sigmand is going into Estimarth, would he have a token that would keep him safe? Sigmand explains that his understanding is that his kind and others like him are not affected in the way that the living are by Estimarth's aura. Visitors had such an item, and it makes sense that the Teleportation Circle (DnD Beyond) would lead outside the area of effect, so Sigmand would expect this to be the place to get such a thing. It seems that any that were here are long gone, though. Sigmand also believes that the folk of Estimarth tended to use the undead and constructs for most of their needs in the city proper since those wouldn't suffer the negative effects of the place.

Settling in

Around here

Sigmand isn't sure what to do next until his astrolabe tells him what year it is, so he's going to wait for nightfall. When the group says they have many questions, Sigmand assures them that he's not aware of anything he knows being secret and is happy to be of any help he can.
Harb says there's safety in numbers, so keeping company while he waits is a good idea. Sigmand asks if it's really that dangerous, and Maya says the area has been crawling with undead while the group has been here. People finally get around to introducing themselves.
Sigmand notes the star symbol on Sunny's instrument and says he's seen that before. The Professor had an instrument from Errant Constellation as well. Sigmand was familiar with the story of the group - they were supposed to have some important performance but didn't, and supposedly their instruments will be taken up by others to eventually fulfill that performance. While this instrument is clearly a lute of some kind, the one Nogos had looked like teeth. The Professor warned Sigmand not to mess with the instrument, though - something about "bending space." Sunny seems enthused about the prospect of finding these instruments and starting his own group. As an aside, Sigmand mentions that he missed seeing a band at the festival in Giant's Spur called Healer, Fangs, and the Shocking Pandemonium

A quick aside on motives

The players discuss how much they're interested in helping Sigmand - the general thrust is that it's not clear whether they want to or not. There's a bit of "wait and see" about what he finds out from his astrolabe.

Question Summary

In the interest of session flow, we put some questions to the side and addressed them all together. Note that this is paraphrased and broadened from the actual text of the question, and that the answers are usually summarized in the audio but exponded upon in the linked articles (where applicable).

1. Where is fat loot? (IE, where were valuable, accessible goods kept in Sigmand's time that the party might recover that would still be valuable after a long period of time?)
   • Sigmand seems to think that being near Estimarth is fortuitous, since it trafficked in the rare and expensive. The Bazaar of Besht likely had tons of cash; the Manufactory of Mempt, the Library of Leng and the War-Forges of Threkt would have rare and unusual relics. These make it a likely candidate for valuables that are still extant.
   • Wizards were often quite wealthy in both coin and items; if they are no longer around to watch over their collections, those would likely be rich pickings. If Nogos is not still concerned about the Material Plane, his towers would be good storehouses to pick through. Even if the wizards remain, they tend towards being loose with resources.
   • Sigmand seems to believe that since it was a group of strangers with no real connection to Professor Nogos that retrieved him, it's unlikely that Nogos is acting on his inclinations.
2. Why would Sigmand be pulled into Estimarth by summoned steeds?
   • Sigmand isn't sure. He thinks the Professor likely engineered the block and the wagon, and knew what was likely to happen if those were teleported to this circle. If the Professor wanted Sigmand to end up talking to someone in Estimarth, these arrangements make sense.
   • The skeletal horses specifically seem like something Estimarth put together - they wouldn't use living steeds if the living were likely to be subverted or damaged in some way. Alternatively, people with magic tend to like constructs for that kind of job, so maybe that instead.
   • The folks in Estimarth would create undead for various purposes, but also paid a bounty on undead that they would put to work in the city.
3. What can you tell us about Nogos's magical knowledge? (Where did he write it down? How many towers did he have, and where? Where were you stationed last?)
   • The Professor had many tomes, most of which were copies of other books but some were his own notes and research. Most of his notes were in books that only he could read.
   • Nogos had several towers but I only visited three. Most of them were on planes other than the Material Plane to discourage people from bothering him, though there were at least two on the Material Plane. He's not at all sure where they are beyond there likely being one on this continent.
   • The tower I was last in was at the base of a mountain on the Plane of Fire (but I'm uncertain, I didn't really go outside on the Professor's advice that it would be bad for me.)
4. Did the professor have any powerful enemies?
   • Maybe? He didn't tell me all his problems, and he was quite powerful himself, so it's certainly possible.
   • He had concerns, for sure - he was talking about some big magic thing coming up that he didn't like the sound of. I am not sure he was going to do anything about it, but he was definitely concerned by it, even though I don't think it was aimed at him specifically.
5. Do you have the teleport addresses of any circles?
   • Sigmand doesn't have any addresses, but says his scroll seems like it should be able to tell you where a set of sigils went (since it can determine locations from sigils).
6. Have you been on this continent before now?
   • I don't think I've been here before. I recall seeing a map similar to this (indicating Maya's map of the main continent) in the Professor's library, and he pointed out Estimarth to me as somewhere I might have to go at some point.
7. Why are your arms different from the rest of you, do they have some special abilities?
   • Sigmand then demonstrates a silver shield (apparently moonlight) over his left arm and a gold blade (apparently sunlight) in his right hand.
   • Sigmand reverses his arm positions so the right bears a golden shield (apparently sunlight) and his left a silver blade (apparently moonlight).
   • The Professor told me about these, because it seems they were not easy to get ahold of. Some sort of deal with the faithful so he could use this power.
8. Do you know Nock or any other warforged?
   • Sigmand isn't aware of any other warforged, either of his design or another one.
   • (When Sigmand is shown a sketch of Nock for reference) I don't think the Professor made that one. He likes to leave his mark on things.
   • (When Sigmand is shown a sketch of the wooden warforged parts) I think the Professor may have started from this design before he got to me. Maybe this gave him the idea?
9. Where is Estimarth on the map?
   • Sigmand points out where he's fairly sure Estimarth is.
     Main Continent

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10. What other areas do you recognize on the map?
    • Sigmand isn't as immediately familiar with much of the map, though he points out the strange-shaped gulf was called the Bay of the Anvil.
      Main Continent

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11. Did Nogos talk to dieties?
    • The Professor has a complicated relationship with the divine. He claimed he probably could have ascended to godhood if he were interested but it sounded like too much work for not enough payoff.
    • He did have a tremendous respect for Oghma, but he also thought the gods were a bit short-sighted and narrow of focus.
    • Nogos wasn't above dealing with deities, though - he had dealings with the faiths of Waukeen, Pelor, and Selune as evidenced by other things I've spoken about.
    • (In regards to "Did Nogos speak directly to the gods?") The way Nogos spoke about Ioun made it sound like he'd spoken with her directly.
12. Have you heard of keystones?
    • Sigmand wasn't familiar with that term, but upon some elaboration he knew what they were. The Professor said they were shockingly common if you knew where to look.
13. Do the circles go between planes?
    • Sigmand's grasp of Arcana is patchy. He thinks you might be able to get to the Teleportation Circle (DnD Beyond) from another plane, but that to get to another plane you'd need other magic.
    • The Professor generally used Gate (DnD Beyond).
14. Do you know why the info in these books are missing?
    • Leucis shows Sigmand two copies of the same book.
    • Sigmand says that's not great, if something redacted usually they just cross it out so it can still be read. It just being gone is probably bad - I don't know what would cause that, but if the world is in ruins and a bunch of knowledge is missing, that's not good at all.
15. What's the last date you recall before you went into the block?
    • He knows his last memory from before being in the block last was the 4th of Longmarch (mid-spring) in the 3560th year of the Concordiat.
16. What are the details you know about Ioun?
    • Sigmand relays what he knows of The Blinding of Ioun.
    • Nogos deprioritized trying to use foresight to address problems since the deity of it came up short.
    • Nogos didn't mention the responsible party but seemed pretty irritated with whomever it was in a way that made it seem like he knew.
17. What are the details you know about Waukeen?
    • Sigmand relays a version of the story of Waukeen Ascendant:

      It is a common tale among the faithful of Waukeen that she was born a mortal, though a particularly enterprising and wily one.
      
      Despite her humble beginnings, she was noticed by a powerful being and entered into a pact of servitude. She served her patron faithfully, but was able to leverage her loaned abilities into greater power using contract magic. She eventually outgrew her patron and bought out her contract.
      
      Now a formidable force in her own right, she employed guile to subvert the worship of a deity. The stories differ on who this deity was, but their portfolio included Greed. Waukeen tempted the highest of the clergy away from their deity with great wealth, and outmaneuvered the deity in a contract to give them back the resulted in Waukeen acquiring a measure of the deity's power.
      
      This last move elevated Waukeen to a divinity; she has always been watchful for greed among her followers in case her foe comes looking for revenge.

    • Sigmand elaborates that Waukeen is notorious for dealing sharply with people via contract magic, honoring her contracts (having seen what happens when yo don't) and avoiding greed specifically.
    • Nogos said it was the difference between the movement of money than the accumulation of it.

The group will also pose the general thrust of the questions posed via Mia's Library Research or the Elders of Hearthstone - answers to be provided later.

Next steps:

PC Next Steps

Eddy: Conspiracy theory through this pile of info.
Heather: Info gather and try to make sense of all this stuff.
James: Deciding what to ask the Elders. Find the visitors' center for Estimarth to get a pass/token.
Jeremy: Digest a Sending.
Matt: Not enough info yet. Figure out if Nogos is alive and what his plans are; impede his return if Nogos is not in line with Saf's plans.
Meg: Find a way into Estimarth.

Overall Next Steps

1. Scheduled:
   • Wisdom of the Elders of Hearthstone this evening
2. Determine if there are any PC activities before nightfall
3. Get more info from the astrolabe at nightfall
   • Find out the date in the Concordiat system
   • Find out what Sigmand is doing next
   • Determine if the party goes along with Sigmand
4. Between session tasks:
   • Heather: Compose Sending to Sohmweyr/Clouded Summit
   • DM: Respond to PC Sendings (Sohmweyr, Einar)
   • Run Wisdom scene (John, James) to take place during the next long rest
   • DM: Compose Sigmand's answers to the other question lists

Feedback

Eddy: The summary went well. I liked the infodump we got, but I think since it was not a full session we didn't get quite so overwhelmed by the info - it was more digestible than otherwise. Seeing what we're going to do next is going to be interesting - many things point at Estimarth but we don't know what happened there.
Heather: I think this new character is pretty interesting, partly (for Sunny) because he's a warforged. Once he gets his bearings, he's more interested to hear what this guy knows and where things go from there.
James: If you're effort it to deliver us a shining sign that says "Go to Estimarth," congratulations. Largely I'm disappointed. I wanted more info in this dump, but it does seem to point to a place for info. Summary went pretty well.
Jeremy: It was good to knock out the summary. I was glad to see the dispel roll get smoked, I thought that would introduce more hiccups. It took a lot of questions to get what we go in the infodump. The guided reanimatioin process scroll makes me curious, maybe we could steal it and see what it could do.
Matt: I'm glad the summary seemed to go well. We put some stuff on the table for folks to think about, and we can revisit as necessary. As far as the infodump thing - I think you did exactly what you set out to do in terms of removing a layer of pixelation. It definitely got Saf's attention.
Meg: The summary brought up more than I expected it to but it went well. I am fascinated by the new NPC and hope he hangs around a while. I like the info that he's brought to us. It deepens some mysteries but we're getting some data.
John: I'm glad that what of the infodump hit well, hit well. There's more coming, even from this person whose knowledge is pretty limited in a lot of ways. I'm really interested to see how hard the party follows Sigmand - if he decides to do something dangerous (that's less dangerous for him than it is for you) how far down that road do y'all chase him?