Daniel Andrlik (00:00:30): Welcome to Explorers Wanted. We are a weekly Numenera actual play podcast. I will be your humble GM, Daniel Andrlik. With me today is Sampson Davis. Sampson Davis (00:00:42): I was at a wedding this weekend and I got some of the extra beer. It's not good beer, but I have a lot of it now so I'm pretty happy. How are you? Daniel Andrlik (00:00:50): Alex Finn. Alex Finn (00:00:50): My mom went to a wedding recently and she was telling me how I would look okay without hair because I have a fat head, but the groom did not look okay because you could see all the veins in his head because he did not have a fat head. Sampson Davis (00:01:05): What? Alex Finn (00:01:11): Digest that. Daniel Andrlik (00:01:16): And Stace Babcock. Stace Babcock (00:01:18): So what kind of beer is it, Sampson? Sampson Davis (00:01:23): Miller Lite. Stace Babcock (00:01:25): Oh, come on. You're going to knock Miller Lite? Alex Finn (00:01:27): Living the high life. Sampson Davis (00:01:29): Okay, here's the thing with Miller Lite, is that I can't get drunk off of it because it's basically carbonated bread and the alcohol percentage is so low. My stomach only has so much volume, so I'm basically just at my limit at three beers and I'm bloated. Stace Babcock (00:01:42): You got to drink them fast. What you got to do is you got to crack the top, punch a hole in the bottom- Sampson Davis (00:01:47): No, it's a volume thing. My stomach can only hold so much. It doesn't matter how fast I drink it, so checkmate. Stace Babcock (00:01:55): I'm actually not sure that's true. Sampson Davis (00:01:58): That my stomach has a finite volume? Stace Babcock (00:02:01): That drinking it quickly wouldn't mean that you couldn't absorb more alcohol faster because you fill up your stomach faster. Sampson Davis (00:02:06): Yeah, but then I throw up because I'm- Stace Babcock (00:02:07): It doesn't matter. I've thrown enough doubt onto this to rob you of victory, Sampson. Alex Finn (00:02:13): Learn how to butt chug. Sampson Davis (00:02:16): Oh, that's a sneaky strategy. I don't like that. Alex Finn (00:02:18): Ultimate trump card, butt chugging. Stace Babcock (00:02:22): We do not recommend butt chugging. Sampson Davis (00:02:24): Yeah, that bypasses the liver and actually will cause you to die, so don't do that, listeners. Stace Babcock (00:02:31): Also, the logistics of getting butt chugging down is very complicated and it would be very messy trying to learn how. Daniel Andrlik (00:02:38): Listeners, imagine a star going across the sky with a rainbow on it. Stace Babcock (00:02:41): The more you know. Daniel Andrlik (00:02:43): The more you know. Yes. Sampson Davis (00:02:46): Dan, can you put that in the final cut, just a PBS PSA sound? Daniel Andrlik (00:02:51): I'll try. Stace Babcock (00:02:52): What, you think Daniel's going to cut part of this out? Alex Finn (00:02:55): No, we're getting the full butt chug on this. Sampson Davis (00:02:58): Final cut as in final edit, so yeah. Daniel Andrlik (00:03:01): Yeah. I have to check out now the licensing status of that sound. Stace Babcock (00:03:07): I feel like it would just be that sound you get in PowerPoint when you do the transition slide where it just wipes across the screen. Sampson Davis (00:03:16): Could be. Daniel Andrlik (00:03:17): Who remembers what happened last time? I'm going to pick on Alex. Alex Finn (00:03:22): Golly gee willikers, Batman. After we took a nap, we decided, "Hey, let's not live in this weird flesh cave. Let's not." So we went to go climb up the rope again. We were like, "Hey, Dili's the worst at climbing. Let's make a skill sandwich so we can both help Dili climb the rope." ChaCha made it up the rope fine. Dili made it up the rope fine. And then Nix tried to get up the rope and I guess it was the compensating for eating a human being just threw off her balance and she fell and impaled herself on a tooth rock, which is confirmed it is a tooth, not just a rock. This cavern does not have good dental hygiene, which we cannot express enough, listeners, take care of your teeth. There's no shame in losing them, but try and prevent any gum disease you can. I have a story I can tell at the next Ask Me Anything if people want to know my family's history with not taking care of their teeth. Anyway. Sampson Davis (00:04:33): Another more you know sound effect right there. Stace Babcock (00:04:37): I don't want to hear that story. Alex Finn (00:04:40): It's not as bad as you think it is. So anyway, we were like, "Oh nos." Nix got up the rope after Dili helped get the grappling hook attached, so that was the good. But then it was discovered hey, you might get the gingivitis of the shoulder. Let's just do another emergency surgery. But we got to see Nix's tattoo, so that was the bonus Jonas right there. Oh, I forgot. We mutated Dili. Sampson Davis (00:05:14): Yeah, we did. Alex Finn (00:05:15): I almost forgot that. Dili volunteered. I want to make that clear. Dili volunteered for this mutation. It was not forced upon Dili through peer pressure. Alex Finn (00:05:26): And he got a good one, too, so nobody can be angy with me. He got dark vision, so he can see in the dark and he can see the full spectrum of color in the dark. So heck yeah. Sampson Davis (00:05:41): Dark vision plus. Alex Finn (00:05:42): Mm-hmm (affirmative). That upgraded one. So then we decided that we're going to go back to the village. Dili learned how to salvage all of the io and mechanical components from ChaCha's body should she happen to find herself a corpse, which is useful. It's useful. Stace Babcock (00:06:04): If Nix doesn't eat ChaCha first. Alex Finn (00:06:07): True. Sampson Davis (00:06:08): Oh, shit. Stace Babcock (00:06:09): This is going to be like a battle of the titans when ChaCha dies. Who's going to get to that corpse first? Sampson Davis (00:06:17): It's not going to be a battle. It's Nix versus Dili. Are you kidding me? Alex Finn (00:06:19): I mean, you don't know what happens- Sampson Davis (00:06:21): Nix'll just pick Dili up and she'll throw him. Alex Finn (00:06:22): ... between now and then. Dili could get super powerful or something, if Sampson would stop spending all of his XP on stuff. God. Come on, Sampson. Come on. Sampson Davis (00:06:33): I have eight XP I haven't spent yet. Alex Finn (00:06:35): Oh. Listeners, please remember that Daniel gave Sampson an XP for something and we don't know what it is. But I think it might be that spoiler from... I'll get to later. Daniel Andrlik (00:06:49): Yeah, yeah. Alex Finn (00:06:49): And also, Daniel made me roll a D20 and I don't know why and I'm very concerned. Listeners, I'm concerned. Sampson Davis (00:06:57): Yep. Alex Finn (00:06:58): So then we went to the village, reported to Vlad that hey, don't worry about it. We fixed everything. For some reason, he was super ungrateful. He was just like, "Why are you making ChaCha more powerful? That's not safe." They were just like, "Stop complaining. We fixed your problem. You're being a party pooper." Alex Finn (00:07:17): We tried to go help the Hendersons and then we realized it is currently not in our abilities to help them, unfortunately. ChaCha learned that when she gets angy, if she touches somebody, she'll probably randomly mutate them. But, we're going to buy her some fancy potholders so don't worry, listeners. Stace Babcock (00:07:40): Potholders? Alex Finn (00:07:42): Yeah. She's going to have the oven mitt potholders. Stace Babcock (00:07:46): Just for the front of the... Yeah, the finger and thumb ones? Alex Finn (00:07:49): Yeah, little grabby ones. Stace Babcock (00:07:50): That don't cover the back of her hands? Alex Finn (00:07:52): Yeah. Stace Babcock (00:07:52): Just those little dinosaur puppets? Alex Finn (00:07:55): Yeah. Stace Babcock (00:07:55): Where are your puppets? Alex Finn (00:07:58): Oh my God, where are my puppets? Daniel Andrlik (00:08:01): Those probably had to be discarded a while ago because they smelled bad. Alex Finn (00:08:04): Yeah, because I don't think Nix ever finished hollowing out any scorps for ChaCha. Stace Babcock (00:08:10): I think that ChaCha should just, though, buy the oven mitts, put little googly eyes on them. Alex Finn (00:08:16): Ooh, yeah. We're doing shopping soon, listeners. Daniel Andrlik (00:08:20): There was, what, one installation that would make real googly eyes, too. Alex Finn (00:08:24): Oh, yeah. There was that machine that made googly eyes on the rocks. Stace Babcock (00:08:29): Pretty sure Nix sold all the googly eyes. Alex Finn (00:08:32): Yeah, but we could go back to those ruins and get the googly eyes. Stace Babcock (00:08:37): But ChaCha has to get the hunting mittens where the finger is also separate. Alex Finn (00:08:42): Oh, yeah. Stace Babcock (00:08:42): Otherwise, how are you going to shoot your pew pew gun? Sampson Davis (00:08:44): Oh, those lobster claw things? Alex Finn (00:08:45): True. Stace Babcock (00:08:46): I don't think so, Sampson. Sampson Davis (00:08:49): Aren't they called lobster gloves? Stace Babcock (00:08:52): Oh. Sampson Davis (00:08:52): Because it's like finger, thumb. Daniel Andrlik (00:08:54): That'd be odd because that's not how lobster hands work. Stace Babcock (00:08:58): I mean, that's true. Sampson Davis (00:09:00): I'm not the marketer. I don't know why they're called that. Stace Babcock (00:09:03): All right, I'm going to look up lobster hands, see what I get. Alex Finn (00:09:07): That might be bad. Safe search that. Anyway. Sampson Davis (00:09:10): Yeah, I was going to say. Alex Finn (00:09:12): There was an American Horror Story that involved- Sampson Davis (00:09:15): Lobster hands. Alex Finn (00:09:15): ... lobster hands, so be careful. Anyway, back to this, listeners. When we were walking back to the village after unfortunately not helping the Hendersons, just magicking an arm away, oopsy doodle poople scoople, Dili was itching a bug bite. When Dili looked, he had synth underneath his skin, which is what I think Daniel used his intrusion for. That is my theory, listeners. That is my theory. And that's what I remember. Daniel Andrlik (00:09:47): Okay. Stace Babcock (00:09:47): They do call them lobster gloves. Sampson Davis (00:09:50): Weird. Daniel Andrlik (00:09:51): So yeah, you guys were on your way back to town, maybe five minutes away from the outside of town, and Nix, you've noticed that Dili's been scratching and as Dili looked down and seen a synth beneath the skin in your elbow. Sampson Davis (00:10:04): Seeing synth below his skin, Dili stops and then that Mac loading circle dot thing appears above his head and he's just stuck there for a few minutes. Daniel Andrlik (00:10:19): What did Nix and ChaCha do during those few minutes? Stace Babcock (00:10:22): Nix walks over to Dili and just looks at what he's looking at. Alex Finn (00:10:27): I think ChaCha does, too, and she tries not to touch anything. Daniel Andrlik (00:10:31): Yeah, so you see that Dili's been staring at the inside of his left elbow. There is a bit of place where he has basically scraped away the skin. There's a bloody opening there and underneath, you can see the distinctive gleam of synth. Stace Babcock (00:10:48): Oh, yeah. That'll throw Dili for a loop. Daniel Andrlik (00:10:53): And that appears to be what he's staring at. Alex Finn (00:10:53): This wasn't me, right? I did the eyes, not the skin, right? Stace Babcock (00:10:58): Yeah. I mean, seems like. Yeah. Not ChaCha, probably not. Alex Finn (00:11:03): I mean, could we peel more skin away so we can see if there's more synth? Stace Babcock (00:11:08): I think honestly, ChaCha, that we should let Dili just handle this one himself. He might be happy. He kind of likes synth. Alex Finn (00:11:17): But he's frozen. Do we push some buttons like Control-Alt-Delete or... Stace Babcock (00:11:22): What? Alex Finn (00:11:24): I don't know. I read it in a manual somewhere. Sampson Davis (00:11:31): This is nano jargon. Daniel Andrlik (00:11:33): Dili, it's at this point that you jar into awareness that your friends are standing right there next to you and talking. Sampson Davis (00:11:39): Am I a cypher now? Alex Finn (00:11:41): I mean, I'm an artifact so is it really that bad? Stace Babcock (00:11:45): And I'm a snake, so Dili- Alex Finn (00:11:47): Join the club. Stace Babcock (00:11:48): I told you to get on our level and I cannot believe you're doing it. Alex Finn (00:11:55): One of us. One of us. Sampson Davis (00:11:56): Right, right. This is what you two are doing, so it probably going to be fine. Okay. Stace Babcock (00:12:00): I mean, maybe. Sampson Davis (00:12:02): I'll probably stop scratching, though. Stace Babcock (00:12:03): Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:12:04): Yeah. Alex Finn (00:12:05): We'll get him some oven mitts, too. Stace Babcock (00:12:07): Yeah, and I would recommend closely monitoring that, Dili, because if there's one thing I learned about ignoring the snake bite on my hand for an extended period of time, it's that you really should get these things checked out. Alex Finn (00:12:19): I mean, it turned out fine in the end, right? Stace Babcock (00:12:23): Oh, yeah. So far, so good. I can bite people. I can eat people. I can tell when things are warm. I can tell when things are cold. There's a whole lot. Sampson Davis (00:12:33): Was that the snake bite or when you ate that snake thing? Stace Babcock (00:12:36): The snake bite happened first, Dili. Sampson Davis (00:12:39): No yeah, but that was because of the snake roach. But then you ate the snake roach and then you started getting snake powers. Stace Babcock (00:12:45): No, Dili, because things started to get weird... Daniel Andrlik (00:12:48): Nix, can you give me a three perception roll? Stace Babcock (00:12:51): I mean, strong chance of that. Nine. Daniel Andrlik (00:12:55): You are very aware of [Hubert 00:12:56] scrabbling frantically in ChaCha's pocket. Alex Finn (00:13:00): Damn it. What about his villain origin story? Stace Babcock (00:13:05): Shoot. Dili, what was I saying? Oh, monitor that shit. Sampson Davis (00:13:10): Yeah, yeah. You good? Got a little bit of drool in the side of your mouth. Stace Babcock (00:13:17): Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I'm fine, Dili. Like I said, things are weird for me now, and things are probably also going to be weird for you. Oh, right. I remember what we were talking about. Daniel Andrlik (00:13:27): I just have this image that Nix is saying all of this with her mouth half distended down her face. She's drooling. Stace Babcock (00:13:37): But yeah, no I started to transform from the snake bite, Dili, before I ate the snake. Sampson Davis (00:13:42): Oh, okay. Welp. Alex Finn (00:13:46): Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:13:47): I think I have more processing to do, but I am functional so I guess we should continue on, get ChaCha some oven mitts. Alex Finn (00:13:56): Get you some oven mitts. Scratching isn't good. Leads to infection. Sampson Davis (00:14:01): I think I just need long sleeves. Now that I know what this is or... Yeah. Now I know it's not a bug bite, I think I can... Hands off. Stace Babcock (00:14:10): Honestly, maybe we should open you up. Alex Finn (00:14:12): Yeah, surgery. Sampson Davis (00:14:14): Nope, nope. We're not doing that. We're not doing that again. Alex Finn (00:14:18): Just peel back a little bit of the skin. See what happens. Sampson Davis (00:14:20): Nix, your part snake. How do you deal with molting? Do you molt? Do you shed? You shed. That's what snakes do. Stace Babcock (00:14:27): What? Sampson Davis (00:14:28): Snakes shed. Snakes shed in the Ninth World? Snakes still do that? Stace Babcock (00:14:34): Dili, I am snake-like. I am not a snake. Sampson Davis (00:14:38): You don't shed? Stace Babcock (00:14:39): No. I mean, my dandruff got a little bit bad on the road, but... Sampson Davis (00:14:43): All right. Daniel Andrlik (00:14:44): As she says that, by the way, Dili, there are two batches of her hair follicles that seem to point out in your direction when she says that. Those are both [inaudible 00:14:55] to the rest of her hair. Sampson Davis (00:14:58): Are you doing that on purpose? Dili [ 00:15:01] around Nix to see if the hairs follow him. Stace Babcock (00:15:06): And Nix goes, "Wait, is it doing something, Dili? Because I've been trying to control it." Sampson Davis (00:15:12): It's pointing at me. Daniel Andrlik (00:15:14): It does follow you as you move, Dili. Sampson Davis (00:15:16): ChaCha, do you see this? Do you see this happening? Alex Finn (00:15:20): I mean, maybe the wind's just really selective today. Sampson Davis (00:15:24): What? Alex Finn (00:15:24): I mean, nature is a living being that I ate. Maybe someone ate wind nature. Sampson Davis (00:15:31): Anybody we know? I believe you. That probably happened, but does that happen nearby? Alex Finn (00:15:38): Maybe Vlad did it. Stace Babcock (00:15:39): ChaCha, you're spiraling. You're spiraling. Sampson Davis (00:15:43): Nix, why do you keep looking at her pockets? Stace Babcock (00:15:46): Dili, you know why I'm looking at her pocket. Sampson Davis (00:15:49): No, I don't. That's why I asked. Stace Babcock (00:15:51): What do you mean? That's where... Ah, yeah, that's where Hubert, Hubert, whatever, is... You know the mouse with the antlers? Sampson Davis (00:15:58): Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock (00:15:59): I always know where he is. Sampson Davis (00:16:04): Yikes. Alex Finn (00:16:05): I mean, wouldn't you want to know where he always is? Stace Babcock (00:16:08): Yeah, but I don't want to eat Hubert. But if I didn't know Hubert, I would probably eat him. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik (00:16:18): Stace, give me a social roll. You're specialized, so it's a plus six on whatever you roll. Stace Babcock (00:16:25): Thirteen. Daniel Andrlik (00:16:27): ChaCha and Dili, please give me a social or detecting deception roll. Stace Babcock (00:16:34): Is Nix lying? Daniel Andrlik (00:16:35): I'll get there. I'll get there. Stace Babcock (00:16:35): All right. Daniel Andrlik (00:16:39): A thirteen. Sampson Davis (00:16:40): A free level of Effort gives me a plus three, right? Daniel Andrlik (00:16:43): Mm-hmm (affirmative). Alex Finn (00:16:44): I got a 13. Sampson Davis (00:16:45): Seven. Stace Babcock (00:16:46): Nice. Sampson Davis (00:16:48): I believe you. Daniel Andrlik (00:16:50): Yeah, Dili believes you. ChaCha, Nix definitely wants to Hubert. She's resisting because of your friendship, but she wants to eat Hubert so bad. That part is a lie. Stace Babcock (00:17:01): But Nix is resisting because she doesn't want to eat Hubert because he's ChaCha's. Alex Finn (00:17:07): I mean, Nix, if you eat him, you have to replace him. You got to find something you won't eat before you eat him. Stace Babcock (00:17:15): What? No, ChaCha. I need you to not be okay with me eating Hubert or I am going to eat Hubert. Daniel Andrlik (00:17:22): And Nix, you already did say that you wouldn't eat Hubert. That is a Traveler giving their word. Stace Babcock (00:17:31): Oh. Yeah, ChaCha. Sorry. It doesn't matter what you would let me do or not. I promised I wouldn't eat Hubert. Alex Finn (00:17:40): Okay, good, because I have this whole origin story planned for him. Sampson Davis (00:17:44): You planned an origin story? Alex Finn (00:17:47): Yeah. Maybe one day, we're just walking in the woods and bam. He accidentally mutates, becoming giant, and he has to go on a quest. Sampson Davis (00:18:04): That's ridiculous. Alex Finn (00:18:07): I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but imagine it. It would be pretty awesome, wouldn't it? Sampson Davis (00:18:12): He could barely control your mutation powers. Alex Finn (00:18:18): I know. That's why I haven't tried it yet. If I could guarantee this happened, it would've already happened. We would've started that side story. Daniel Andrlik (00:18:27): You guys reach the edge of town. Stace Babcock (00:18:29): To the shopping district. Sampson Davis (00:18:32): Let's get some gloves. Alex Finn (00:18:34): Maybe some fancy jorts. Daniel Andrlik (00:18:38): They have gloves, some plain gloves. They don't have much in terms of clothing options because this is a village. Most people maintain their own clothes and pass them down. There's some very basic jackets and things like that, but not much in the way of standard clothing to wear underneath a jacket. And gloves, of course. They've got gloves, worker gloves. The worker gloves appear to be the prized part of the stuff because it was probably the something that requires more skill to do right. Alex Finn (00:19:14): Do they have any child size working gloves for all that child labor? Daniel Andrlik (00:19:21): I would say child labor's probably a fact of life around here, so yeah. Alex Finn (00:19:24): I'm just worried we'd have oversized gloves and then they would just like, "GM intrusion. Your glove flies off in your rage and you touch people." Stace Babcock (00:19:33): It'd be more subtle, like there's a hole in your glove that you didn't notice. Alex Finn (00:19:37): Because they're too big. Daniel Andrlik (00:19:38): Both of those sound unlikely. I wouldn't worry about it. Alex Finn (00:19:44): Don't worry about it. Daniel Andrlik (00:19:45): Gloves, you guys could get or... I mean, things are more expensive here because it's so hard to come by them if you're not going to make them yourselves. A pair of gloves would be two shins. Sampson Davis (00:20:00): Is there any place that sells just fabric, just the raw fabric bolts? What are they called, bolts of fabric? Stace Babcock (00:20:08): Yes, bolts of fabric. Daniel Andrlik (00:20:09): Yeah. It's not so much a designated shop. Usually, the shop that actually sells items does most of the purchasing from there, but I would say there is a place where they're producing that fabric as best they can what they have available. They don't have a lot of fancy fabric. If you go there and... They're used to selling in bulk, so they would be looking for six shins for a rather large bolt of this fabric, or 15 shins if you're looking for a huge bolt of essentially this leather. Daniel Andrlik (00:20:47): And these bolts of fabric are huge. They are way more than you need. They're like the kinds of things that you... You would get enough of that fabric to completely dress a single person as opposed to simply making one item of clothing. Stace Babcock (00:21:05): I need clothes, so... Sampson Davis (00:21:07): Get that? I can pay for that. Stace Babcock (00:21:10): No, I can pay seven shins. Sampson Davis (00:21:12): Wasn't it eight shins? Stace Babcock (00:21:14): No, I only have seven shins, Dili, but I'll use them all. Sampson Davis (00:21:18): Okay. Here, I'm just going to give you 20 shins, just so you can have that in case of an emergency. Stace Babcock (00:21:24): Oh, thanks. So this is for me or are you depositing it? Sampson Davis (00:21:27): I'm depositing it for your usage. Stace Babcock (00:21:31): Okay. Yeah, I'll have to open an account, then. Sampson Davis (00:21:33): I don't have a social security number, so is that fine? Stace Babcock (00:21:37): Oh no, this is your account, Dili, and Nix holds up one of the banks. Sampson Davis (00:21:43): All right. Yeah, cool. While we're shopping, Dili's also going to keeping an eye out for a Wright shop or a Wright workspace, if this village has one. Daniel Andrlik (00:21:52): There is no Wright here. There is a blacksmith who handles a lot of the stuff. They're decent at crafting stuff, but they don't have any particular knowledge of numenera. Sampson Davis (00:22:04): As we're passing by, did they seem like they had tools that Dili could make use of in the capacity of a Wright? Daniel Andrlik (00:22:11): The tools themselves are of lower quality than what you're used to, but one thing that you notice is that they have a very fine workbench with some excellent clamps. Sampson Davis (00:22:23): Ooh, some nice clamps. Alex Finn (00:22:25): Oh, yeah. ChaCha did buy gloves. Stace Babcock (00:22:29): Unless we're going to von Trapp this thing and have matching outfits. Sampson Davis (00:22:35): We'll save that for tier five or tier six when- Stace Babcock (00:22:37): When we come up with a group name? Sampson Davis (00:22:39): We're about to fight the big bad. Stace Babcock (00:22:40): Ooh, yeah. And we have a group dance when perform at the talent show and then flee the country. Sampson Davis (00:22:46): Aren't we the explorers? Isn't that our name? Stace Babcock (00:22:49): No. Daniel Andrlik (00:22:51): I don't think you guys have named yourselves yet. Stace Babcock (00:22:54): Sorry. Daniel Andrlik (00:22:56): That's actually a good thing for you guys to consider, not just for your characters, but also branding-wise. Stace Babcock (00:23:03): What? Alex Finn (00:23:05): It's Baby Pack and Friends, thank you very much. Sampson Davis (00:23:09): Yeah, we have this bolt of leather that we've definitely paid for because... Stace Babcock (00:23:12): Oh, yeah. Can you make clothes, though, Dili? Alex Finn (00:23:15): I mean, I can do some stuff. ChaCha shows off her fancy little romper that she made from that coat. Sampson Davis (00:23:23): Yeah, I think ChaCha might be better. I can make what is technically considered clothing, but it won't be fashionable. Stace Babcock (00:23:31): Oh, that's okay, Dili. I don't... What? Sampson Davis (00:23:33): Not about fashion? Stace Babcock (00:23:35): I just need it to cover the important parts. Sampson Davis (00:23:38): Oh, okay then. Stace Babcock (00:23:39): So as not to scandalize the public. But ChaCha, honestly, that romper is legit. Alex Finn (00:23:47): I know. Do you want a fancy jort situation? Stace Babcock (00:23:50): No, I don't want a jort, mostly because I want to cover up this leg because I feel like it would attract attention. Alex Finn (00:23:58): You can have asymmetrical pants, one full pant, one short. Stace Babcock (00:24:05): I like where your head's at, ChaCha, but I really would prefer full-length pants for walking through the woods reasons. Sampson Davis (00:24:15): Oh, can you also give her zip-off around the knees? Alex Finn (00:24:18): Rip-off pants. Yes. Stace Babcock (00:24:20): Oh yeah, that's fine. So versatile. Daniel, what kind of roll is it to make rip-off pants, cutaway pants? Daniel Andrlik (00:24:29): Going to be a crafting roll of some sort. Alex Finn (00:24:30): I might need your help. Sampson Davis (00:24:34): Dili will help. Daniel Andrlik (00:24:35): Crafting numenera is not going to help with tailoring. Sampson Davis (00:24:38): Damn it. Alex Finn (00:24:38): But I feel like Dili could help with the crafting. Stace Babcock (00:24:41): But you're not hindered in tailoring. Sampson Davis (00:24:46): That's true. Daniel Andrlik (00:24:47): No, it's not going to hinder him. He can assist. Stace Babcock (00:24:48): Yeah, with the zippers. Daniel Andrlik (00:24:52): But he's just going to be able to do a normal assist. Alex Finn (00:24:52): Do we want to do snaps? Sampson Davis (00:24:55): Actually- Daniel Andrlik (00:24:56): Snaps make more sense. Sampson Davis (00:24:57): ... I just thought of something. We should probably go talk to Vlad before we do this. Then maybe we can just do this in the room at the inn or something. Alex Finn (00:25:06): Oh yeah, we should probably take a nap or sleep. Stace Babcock (00:25:09): Vlad just has a bad vibe, man. Boy, you sure? Alex Finn (00:25:15): He didn't provide good hold music in the bubble. Sampson Davis (00:25:18): He just seems embittered. Daniel Andrlik (00:25:19): And ChaCha, it does occur to you that it is evening and you are supposed to perform at the inn tonight. Stace Babcock (00:25:24): Oh, shit. Alex Finn (00:25:25): Oh, oh. I have to go earn my portion of that door. Sampson Davis (00:25:27): Right, yes. Dili's just not even going to argue with that. Daniel Andrlik (00:25:34): Okay, so ChaCha, you run in. The bartender looks at you kind of harried and motions towards a little riser at one corner of the room. Alex Finn (00:25:43): Okay. Everybody, it's going to be amazing. I'm going to tell you the up-and-coming adventure of Hubert, the giant-sized mouse who will go on a quest. It's going to be weird. Daniel Andrlik (00:25:57): Okay. Sampson Davis (00:25:58): While she's doing that, Dili's going to go find Vlad. Daniel Andrlik (00:26:01): Okay. ChaCha, give me a performance base roll of 12. Alex Finn (00:26:08): Cirque du Soleil. Daniel Andrlik (00:26:08): That will help. That brings it down to a nine. It'll be intellect if you want to add Effort. Alex Finn (00:26:14): Sixteen. My pools aren't good enough right now. Daniel Andrlik (00:26:18): Okay. You are going to have a successful performance about Hubert. What is the story of Hubert? Alex Finn (00:26:24): How Hubert was living in the forest, a blind, giant mouse with antlers, and through a misunderstanding, accidentally harmed a guard and had to go on this epic quest to find a cup, a coin and a spear. And just the vague adventures along the way. Maybe he'll meet some interesting people. Maybe, I don't know, get lost in a weird, giant worm. Maybe give birth. We'll see. We'll see. Daniel Andrlik (00:26:57): Okay. The crowd is oddly into it. It's been a while since they've encountered something so avant-garde as to end in alternatives as opposed to a distinctive ending. The crowd is into it. They enjoy it. They're very happy. You're going to earn seven shins tonight. Alex Finn (00:27:18): Pays for the gloves. Daniel Andrlik (00:27:22): And then while ChaCha was performing, I can't remember if it was Sampson or Stace who said there was something they wanted to do in the meantime. Sampson Davis (00:27:28): Yeah, Dili was probably right behind ChaCha and went to go find Vlad. Daniel Andrlik (00:27:32): Okay, so you went over to find Vlad. He's in the corner. He looks at you and says, "Well, how did it go with the Hendersons?" Sampson Davis (00:27:39): Not great. It seems that baby pack over there can only give. She can't take. And it seems that what she can give is random. Daniel Andrlik (00:27:51): Damn it. Well, that's a problem. Sampson Davis (00:27:54): Yeah. Daniel Andrlik (00:27:55): He looks at you. Then he looks at Nix and says, "Suggestions?" Sampson Davis (00:28:00): We got her gloves. It seems to be a skin-to-skin contact thing. Stace Babcock (00:28:05): I mean yeah, at this point, my only suggestion would be maybe Dili could make some sort of cypher that could do something, I don't know, to harden their insides. I don't know. Daniel Andrlik (00:28:14): Harden their insides. Sampson Davis (00:28:19): And then Dili just drifts off into thought like, "What? I do that?" Stace Babcock (00:28:24): But Dili would need a workspace and some tools and some materials, so I don't know if the guardians have any of that stuff on hand. Sampson Davis (00:28:34): Dili perks back up. I do? Daniel Andrlik (00:28:36): Well, if we were in one of our fortresses, sure. But we can't bring a contractor to one of those. Stace Babcock (00:28:42): Okay. So yeah, Dili, I guess... How do they sense the synth, though, too? Sampson Davis (00:28:48): What, the Hendersons, you mean? Stace Babcock (00:28:51): Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:28:52): Oh, right. I mean, I could try crafting edible synth. If I found a way to melt the synth down and then, I don't even know what the material would be, but mix in something softer, for sure, but something that would dilute it, maybe, or at least spread it out enough that they could eat the synth, get whatever nutritional value they think they're getting but they're not destroying their bodies. Stace Babcock (00:29:19): Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. We could put flakes of synth in some nice alcohol or liquor. Sampson Davis (00:29:29): Nice synth liqueur. Stace Babcock (00:29:30): Yeah. If we can find... Yeah, edible synth, Dili. Yeah, so smart. Sampson Davis (00:29:35): I would need to do some research because that's definitely not something I've ever done before. Stace Babcock (00:29:43): Okay. What do you need? You have a book, right? Sampson Davis (00:29:48): I have one book. Vlad, there doesn't happen to be a library in town. Daniel Andrlik (00:29:53): Here? No. Sampson Davis (00:29:54): Yeah, stupid question. Stace Babcock (00:29:55): Do you have any books, Vlad? Sampson Davis (00:29:58): Cookbooks, crafting books. Daniel Andrlik (00:30:01): No, I don't carry any of them like that with me. Stace Babcock (00:30:03): Yeah, I'm not really a reader, either, so I totally get it. Daniel Andrlik (00:30:06): When Race gets back, he might have something. Sampson Davis (00:30:09): Okay. What is Race's deal? What's he like? Stace Babcock (00:30:12): Nix gives Dili the weirdest look. Sampson Davis (00:30:14): What? I'm just asking. Daniel Andrlik (00:30:21): He looks at you and says, "Honestly, he's relatively new as well. He came to us relatively recently within the last six months, but he's had a rough go of it. Honestly, I suspect that they assigned you to me because they suspect that he wouldn't last much longer." Sampson Davis (00:30:38): Rough go of it like he's been failing missions, that kind of thing? Daniel Andrlik (00:30:41): It's at this point that the door to the tavern opens that Nix knows the history of. Stace Babcock (00:30:49): Yes. Daniel Andrlik (00:30:51): In walks a man in a cloak. He's about 25. He's got long, dark hair, kind of like how they used to draw black hair in the comic books where there's only shades of blue in it. He comes in in these loose robes and looks at the rest of you, then impatiently moves into a spot in the booth and says, "I think I found it, Vlad." Then Vlad raises a hand and says, "Do you see how we have other people here right now that you don't know who they are? Shut up for now." Daniel Andrlik (00:31:35): He turns to the rest of you and says, "Allow me to introduce my companion here. This is Race Kayleth. He's also a new guardian to our order." Ray's this broken nano who tries his best. He waves at each of you. Alex Finn (00:31:59): We love him. We're going to fix him. Sampson Davis (00:32:03): He's going to turn on us one point, but aw. Alex Finn (00:32:05): We're going to fix him. Don't say such slander against our baby. Sampson Davis (00:32:12): He's going to be tempted by whatever evil artifact we deal with in the future and we're going to have to kill him. We're all going to cry. Sampson Davis (00:32:18): Hi, I'm Dili, but I'm going by Bork at the moment. So hi, I'm Bork. Daniel Andrlik (00:32:24): Oh, nice to meet you. Why do you need an alias? Sampson Davis (00:32:29): Probably best that you don't know that. Stace Babcock (00:32:30): It's because we're wanted by the queen. Oh, and a criminal organization, two criminal organizations. Daniel Andrlik (00:32:41): Oh, oh. Stace Babcock (00:32:43): You asked. But hello. Daniel Andrlik (00:32:47): Hi. He looks at Vlad and Vlad just says to him, "They know what the door is and they have a contractor." Vlad flicks his gaze up to the stage, and Race looks over and nods and looks back at the rest of you and says, "Well, I guess welcome to the club." Sampson Davis (00:33:06): Thanks. Daniel Andrlik (00:33:06): Race coughs into his hand and moves his hand inside his cloak. Stace Babcock (00:33:13): Dili, weren't you going to talk to this, hi, Race, this guy about edible synths? Sampson Davis (00:33:20): Yeah. We're trying to help the Hendersons just out of town. One of the things we're thinking maybe was trying to melt down synth and mixing it with something to make it more palatable. Do you have any thoughts on where we can even start with that? Daniel Andrlik (00:33:38): I would at least make it easier on their bodies to ingest it. I mean, it would still be potentially problematic from a contamination standpoint, but it's a possibility. Sampson Davis (00:33:51): It's not perfect, but at least keep them from suffering for a little bit longer. Daniel Andrlik (00:33:55): They don't have a lot of options for grain around here in the mountains. It's mostly vegetables and meat, but you might be able to find something you could use to mix the synth into. Sampson Davis (00:34:09): Okay. Maybe go to the blacksmith and pulverize the synth there so it's more of a powder. That'd be easier to work with. Daniel Andrlik (00:34:15): That's possible. Sampson Davis (00:34:16): Okay. Daniel Andrlik (00:34:16): I don't know the smith personally, but I hear she's a good person. Sampson Davis (00:34:20): Good. That's good. Stace Babcock (00:34:24): Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:34:24): How was your day? Stace Babcock (00:34:25): This is a little bit strained, but that's cool. We just met each other. It's going to take us a minute. Vlad's kind of grumpy. Race, you seem quiet. Dili's Dili, so it's going to take us a minute to really settle in. You're awkward, Dili. Sampson Davis (00:34:41): Oh. Daniel Andrlik (00:34:42): Race coughs again into his hand and says, "It's all right. I just thought I had to wait until you guys were done until I could make my report." Stace Babcock (00:34:51): Yeah, that is kind of what it sounded like. I think you're spot on there. Sampson Davis (00:34:54): All right. Are you okay? Kind of have a bit of a cough. Daniel Andrlik (00:34:59): It's fine. I've been dealing with it for a while. Anybody who wants to can make a perception roll of six. Stace Babcock (00:35:05): Four. Sampson Davis (00:35:08): Two. Daniel Andrlik (00:35:08): ChaCha's performing. Yeah, you guys don't notice anything. Sampson Davis (00:35:13): It's really compelling. I don't know what it is. Daniel Andrlik (00:35:16): Don't worry about it. Vlad says, "Okay, well go on ahead, Race." Race says, "Yeah, so I found the tunnel down into the ruins. It's bigger than we thought. I got a little ways into it and knew I was in over my head. It was too hard to map, so I came back out. But at least the entrance is there. I think it's a solid lead." Daniel Andrlik (00:35:46): Vlad looks at him and nods and says, "All right. Well, maybe we should figure out a way to check that out." Vlad looks at the rest of you. "It might be a good starting task for you. We initially came here on the course of a buried ruin that had thus far been undocumented. We're not sure if there's any real reason for concern, but if there are any highly dangerous artifacts inside, we would like to retrieve them. If not, then it's fine to just leave it be for others to make use of." Sampson Davis (00:36:26): Okay. So go in, explore around. Nothing seems dangerous, then we just leave it? Daniel Andrlik (00:36:31): Yeah, essentially. Sampson Davis (00:36:32): All right. Is there a standard for what's dangerous or what's okay to leave? Daniel Andrlik (00:36:39): "I would say weapons of mass destruction or potential weapons of mass destruction." He blinks for a moment, and then he looks up at ChaCha performing and says, "Eventual weapons of mass destruction, those are issues." Stace Babcock (00:36:58): Yo, you seem like you have a problem with ChaCha, which just doesn't seem fair because you don't even know her. Daniel Andrlik (00:37:07): I know what we already know about her and the fact that she can now, if she gets upset, cause random mutations in any organic entity she touches. Stace Babcock (00:37:18): When you put it like that, it sounds bad, but she bought gloves. Daniel Andrlik (00:37:25): I know. That's why we're letting it lie. We're trusting you. But something like that is not, in the future, an acceptable thing to leave undealt with. Stace Babcock (00:37:37): Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sampson Davis (00:37:38): Right. Stace Babcock (00:37:39): That makes sense, yeah. So we got a little time to make some clothes, develop edible synth before we go or... Daniel Andrlik (00:37:49): Yeah. I mean, I would say it's ruins. It's not going to go anywhere. Well, I can probably give you a few days to get yourselves prepared. Stace Babcock (00:38:02): Awesome. Is there a bootsmith here? I didn't see one. Daniel Andrlik (00:38:04): Not really anybody that specializes in that. The general store sometimes has stuff like that, but most people either make their own because it's very expensive, the general store. Stace Babcock (00:38:16): Okay. I must've overlooked it. Thank you. Cool. Good to meet you, Race. Vlad, you're here. Sampson Davis (00:38:24): Nice to meet you. Daniel Andrlik (00:38:25): He coughs into his hand again. Stace Babcock (00:38:26): You got to get that checked out. You know what? Our contractor, she's got a little bit of medical knowledge. She could probably help you. Daniel Andrlik (00:38:34): Race shakes his head and says, "No, no, no. It's fine. I'm used to it. It's just a cough I've had for a little while now." Stace Babcock (00:38:44): Is it contagious, though? Sampson Davis (00:38:45): Did it start in the ruin? Daniel Andrlik (00:38:47): No, no. I had it before I got out here. Sampson Davis (00:38:49): Okay. Daniel Andrlik (00:38:50): He coughs again. Stace Babcock (00:38:51): Nix just gets up and moves on. Sampson Davis (00:38:54): Dili will sit there for a few seconds and just be like, "I guess I will go, too. Have a good night. See you tomorrow. Okay, bye." Dili will very awkwardly get up and then not know where he's going, and then go get some food and then get a room. Daniel Andrlik (00:39:16): Race and Vlad watch you for a while as you cross the room before they finally turn to each other. Sampson Davis (00:39:22): Cool. Daniel Andrlik (00:39:24): ChaCha, it's about this time that your performance ends. You can see Nix has already got a key to something and is heading upstairs, I would assume, and Dili is in the process of getting a room. Sampson Davis (00:39:36): Carlisle, Carlisle. Come here. Don't. Come here. Come here. Come here. Don't break line of sight. Daniel Andrlik (00:39:44): The bartender looks at you guys and said, "Um." Alex Finn (00:39:47): We're very codependent. Daniel Andrlik (00:39:50): All right. Here's keys. Sampson Davis (00:39:54): Thank you. Alex Finn (00:39:57): I guess ChaCha's going to walk up to them and be like, "[inaudible 00:40:00]." Sampson Davis (00:40:01): Are you done? All right. Alex Finn (00:40:01): Yeah. I told them the story of Hubert and what an amazing person he will become. Sampson Davis (00:40:07): All right. Alex Finn (00:40:08): The potential ending was he was going to die, but that one seems weird. Stace Babcock (00:40:12): Yeah, no, this is cool. You guys want to make me some clothes, though? Alex Finn (00:40:16): Yeah. That'll seem like a fun thing to do while on watch. Stace Babcock (00:40:21): Are we going to set a watch in the tavern, do you think? Alex Finn (00:40:25): I mean, do you trust these people? I don't. Stace Babcock (00:40:28): I trust them enough to try to get a good night sleep, ChaCha. In a real bed? Come on. Sampson Davis (00:40:35): That would be nice, real bed. Oh man, I'm excited. But yeah, let's make you some clothes first. Do you want pants first? Stace Babcock (00:40:43): Yeah. Alex Finn (00:40:44): Here are some JNCO jeans and whatnot. Stace Babcock (00:40:46): No, no. ChaCha, I tried the baggy style for a while and it would get caught up when I was doing different moves. I would trip over it. It just wasn't... Sampson Davis (00:40:56): Well, this is a leathery material, so I don't... Alex Finn (00:41:00): But if they were tearaways. Stace Babcock (00:41:01): I thought you got leather and cloth, a bolt of leather and a bolt of cloth. Daniel Andrlik (00:41:06): He only said he wanted to buy the leather. Stace Babcock (00:41:08): Great. Alex Finn (00:41:08): We can make this little harness contraption. Sampson Davis (00:41:14): I thought it was only the one material. Stace Babcock (00:41:17): I've always wanted leather coveralls. That sounds cool. No, better make it a two-piece for ease of access. Alex Finn (00:41:24): Yeah, because I mean you never know what happens when you have to pee in coveralls. Stace Babcock (00:41:30): Could I have a fringe? ChaCha, do you think you could pull off a fringe? Alex Finn (00:41:35): A fringe where? Stace Babcock (00:41:37): I was thinking at the shoulders or across the chest. Alex Finn (00:41:40): Yeah, I think that could be a nice accentuation. Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:41:44): Yeah. Alex Finn (00:41:45): Cool. Stace Babcock (00:41:46): Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:41:47): Make your kicks seem more fluid and cooler. Alex Finn (00:41:48): Ooh, yeah. Sampson Davis (00:41:50): Just little streamers. Stace Babcock (00:41:52): Measure me, ChaCha. Daniel Andrlik (00:41:54): Okay. Sampson Davis (00:41:55): All right, what the fuck kind of crafting roll is this going to be? Daniel Andrlik (00:41:59): It's definitely not a crafting numenera roll. This is going to be a pure intellect task. ChaCha or Dili could lead. The other will assist. Because the two of you are working together, it's probably a four-hour project instead of a full day to make these outfits. Being generous, assuming that you're not experts doing very detailed work. Stace Babcock (00:42:21): Oh, two people can assist, right? I would like Nix to use confident outlook [inaudible 00:42:27]. Daniel Andrlik (00:42:26): Okay. You could assist without doing that, by the way. As long as you don't have an inability. Stace Babcock (00:42:34): Could I make it go faster? Daniel Andrlik (00:42:35): No. No, you can... Max of two assets. Stace Babcock (00:42:38): Very well. Daniel Andrlik (00:42:39): Okay. Whoever is leading this, it will be a roll of six intellect. Alex Finn (00:42:45): You want me to do it? Sampson Davis (00:42:45): Do it. Alex Finn (00:42:46): Okay. Sampson Davis (00:42:47): I trust your luck better than mine. Alex Finn (00:42:49): Sixteen. That's some hella good fringe, though. Daniel Andrlik (00:42:52): Okay. Yeah, you've made very good fringe on this outfit for Nix. It's not the best tailored clothes in the world, but that's not necessarily your specialty or anything like that. Alex Finn (00:43:06): I feel like Cirque du Soleil comes in handy. Stace Babcock (00:43:08): Nix slides her sling through the belt loops. Sampson Davis (00:43:10): How's it feel? Stace Babcock (00:43:11): Pretty good, guys. Sampson Davis (00:43:13): And you can still kick super high? Stace Babcock (00:43:15): Nix does it. The seams hold up nice. Sampson Davis (00:43:18): All right. Stace Babcock (00:43:19): Nix just does 20 squats for no reason. Daniel Andrlik (00:43:21): The seams hold up fine. Your toes get up to over Dili's forehead. Sampson Davis (00:43:27): That's not hard. That's not a hard thing to do. He's very short. Alex Finn (00:43:31): Maybe we should give up adventuring and become tailors. Stace Babcock (00:43:34): I wouldn't go that far, ChaCha, but it's pretty good. Sampson Davis (00:43:38): I don't want to be a tailor. Daniel Andrlik (00:43:42): At this point, by the way, Dili's just saying, "I don't want to be a tailor." I need to follow up with you on something. When you were frozen in time land, you were working on ideas for Nix's leg. Sampson Davis (00:43:54): I was. Daniel Andrlik (00:43:55): And we established that you had built an effective diagram to use for planning. Sampson Davis (00:44:01): Yes. Only a few minutes had passed while I was in the void, though, from Dili's perspective, so I wasn't sure how far he got on that. Daniel Andrlik (00:44:11): Physically, that's how much time passed. Mentally, it was an hour for every six seconds. Alex Finn (00:44:18): Damn. Sampson Davis (00:44:18): So Dili was in there for about a year or something? Daniel Andrlik (00:44:22): Absolutely. Sampson Davis (00:44:23): Whoa. Okay, that's more than I thought. Okay. Daniel Andrlik (00:44:27): I wanted to follow up with what's your plan for Nix's leg. I would say that whatever you're planning, you're going to have a couple assets on it because mentally, you had at least a year to work on it. Sampson Davis (00:44:41): Shit. I think that would've fucked Dili up. Okay. Then yeah, he would definitely a very detailed plan, although he would need to make sure those details were right. Sampson Davis (00:44:50): So yeah, I guess Dili would turn to Nix and just be like, "Hey, so are you cool with me making your leg better? Your robot leg, I mean. Obviously." Stace Babcock (00:44:59): Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Sampson Davis (00:45:02): Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Do you mind if I check some things real quick? Because I want to make sure that I have this... I have a plan for your leg right now so that if I screw anything up, I can walk back on it and I don't fuck up your leg completely. Basically, I want to make a plan for your leg as it is right now so that if something breaks, Dili can recreate it and you can get your leg back. Alex Finn (00:45:23): Smart. Stace Babcock (00:45:24): Sure, yeah. Can you also make me a crutch? Alex Finn (00:45:28): Ooh. Sampson Davis (00:45:31): I think so. Yes. Do I have enough material for a crutch. Stace Babcock (00:45:35): Yeah, or maybe even a pair if necessary, because that's a good point if that leg breaks. Sampson Davis (00:45:42): Yeah, yeah. Stace Babcock (00:45:43): Collapsible, Dili, if you can pull that off. That would be... Sampson Davis (00:45:47): Collapsible leg or crutches? Stace Babcock (00:45:49): Crutches, Dili. I'm probably have to carry them. Sampson Davis (00:45:53): All right, all right. Do you want them to be like weapons, like whatever those... Like batons? They're batons that you collapse out into crutches? Stace Babcock (00:46:04): You're the mechanical guy, Dili. Whatever you got to... Sampson Davis (00:46:08): Okay. Yeah, I might be able to do something relatively simple. Yeah, yeah. I can do that, absolutely. I need a workspace, though, although I could probably do the crutches here. Those should be simple. Sampson Davis (00:46:18): Can I at least look at your leg? I'm not going to add anything to it tonight. I'm just going to make sure I have all the details I need. Stace Babcock (00:46:24): If I have to take it off, Dili, I would like to have the crutches. Sampson Davis (00:46:27): All right. Crutches first. Gotcha. Stace Babcock (00:46:29): Yeah. Sampson Davis (00:46:30): Then I guess Dili will start working on crutches that can collapse into effective batons. Alex Finn (00:46:36): Ooh. Daniel Andrlik (00:46:36): Okay. We'll start with the plan. That'll be a six crafting numenera roll. Sampson Davis (00:46:45): Six crafting numenera. Got a free level of Effort on that. I'll try my luck with this one. Six. Daniel Andrlik (00:46:55): Okay. You think you have a plan. It would probably take you a day to manufacture crutches. It would cost you two synth because you will have to do all these interlocking synth. It would probably cost you at least one generic io. Sampson Davis (00:47:11): One generic io for the crutches. Okay, okay. Then that's what Dili does before bedtime. Daniel Andrlik (00:47:19): Okay, so you've built a plan for that. You know that it'll take you a day to build them. I would say this, that they are simple enough that it'll just be a [inaudible 00:47:32] since you've already got your skills and tools and things like that. It's just the time you'll spend working it. Sampson Davis (00:47:36): Okay. Daniel Andrlik (00:47:39): What did Nix and ChaCha do this next day while Dili is essentially building collapsible crutches for Nix? Alex Finn (00:47:44): Get that 10-hour rest in. Sleep can reset our pools. Daniel Andrlik (00:47:51): You definitely got your 10-hour rest in, so you can roll up through your 10 hour and reset your every rolls. Stace Babcock (00:47:56): Well, Nix doesn't go anywhere because she doesn't have a disguise without Dili. Alex Finn (00:48:01): True, true, true. Stace Babcock (00:48:03): So yeah, Nix is in the room. She's shadow fighting some stuff in the corner, trying out new things with her leg. Daniel Andrlik (00:48:13): Okay. I would say Dili, as you're working, and ChaCha, if you're still in the same room as Nix is shadowboxing, you notice occasionally, involuntarily, her mouth opens extremely wide, showing her fangs. Alex Finn (00:48:27): Aw, [inaudible 00:48:28]. Ooh, is there any leftover material? Daniel Andrlik (00:48:33): Yes, there is. Alex Finn (00:48:34): ChaCha's going to make finger puppets with that. Daniel Andrlik (00:48:40): Okay. Give me a roll. It's an intellect-based roll of nine. Alex Finn (00:48:46): Sixteen. They are decent. Daniel Andrlik (00:48:49): Yeah, you craft some decent finger puppets. They do not look like horrific leather golems. Stace Babcock (00:48:55): Too bad. Alex Finn (00:48:56): I know. I was going to say that's too bad. Daniel Andrlik (00:48:59): The days goes and Dili has constructed these crutches. Sampson Davis (00:49:02): (singing) Check it out. Stace Babcock (00:49:06): Hell yeah, Dili. Sweet. Give me those. Sampson Davis (00:49:10): Here you go. And then if you want to collapse them, just press this here and they will shoop right up and then you can just tot around. Stace Babcock (00:49:17): Yeah, I probably will just keep them in my backpack, Dili, because I don't really need weapons. Sampson Davis (00:49:25): All right. That's fine. Stace Babcock (00:49:27): But yeah, I appreciate the thought. You can use it as a baton, but do you want to take my leg now? Sampson Davis (00:49:35): Yeah, sure. Start working on a plan. That's this guy. Daniel Andrlik (00:49:39): What's the plan you're working on, Dili? Sampson Davis (00:49:44): Dili's basically just, again, writing down a plan of the leg as it is right now so that if something goes wrong, he can reconstruct it from this plan. Daniel Andrlik (00:49:52): Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's fine. We can accept that. But skipping ahead, what is the plan that you're working on for real? Sampson Davis (00:49:59): Yes, the fun one. Basically, Dili is working on what'll effectively be a upgrade to Nix's sling. Let's see what I said earlier. The idea is that Nix would be able to choose if she wants to add extra range to whatever projectile she may have, such as a little capsule full of her venom or a cypher. Or, if she uses this basically cannon-like thing that would be in her femur, if she uses it within short range, she does an additional two points of impact damage on top of whatever the projectile does. I guess that is what Dili is going for at the moment, a cannon railgun thing in her femur so she could put a projectile in there and pop it off at somebody. Daniel Andrlik (00:50:47): Okay, so I would say that you have identified this plan. You've confirmed it with Nix's leg. You know that it is going to be a level seven crafting numenera roll. And you know that the process, assuming that you could spend a few nine hours a day working on it, would take about a week. But it's doable. Stace Babcock (00:51:12): Does Dili have to have the leg the entire time, or could he make the cannon component separate from the leg and then- Daniel Andrlik (00:51:20): He would need it for at least part of the time. Building the component probably takes up most of the week, but there would probably be a couple days of making space in the leg and then installing it. Sampson Davis (00:51:33): Once Dili is confident in his plan, he'll tell Nix, "So this'll probably take about a week. I'm going to need the leg at significant parts of it, so probably don't want to start it before we go into whatever ruins that Race found. But if we find a week after, if everything goes well after this ruins expedition, what do you think?" Stace Babcock (00:51:53): Oh, yeah. No, it sounds super cool, Dili. And yeah, I think you're right, because we should go work on that edible synth before we leave. Probably is more important. Sampson Davis (00:52:03): Yeah, yeah. Use the ruins as a place to hide if that goes wrong. Hopefully it doesn't, but it's just a thought. Well, I didn't know. It totally could be like that. I don't know. All right. Daniel Andrlik (00:52:14): Okay, Dili. You're trying to make this edible synth. I assume both ChaCha and Nix are helping you. Alex Finn (00:52:20): Yeah. Stace Babcock (00:52:20): Nix can't because she has the inability to all things numenera. Alex Finn (00:52:24): Oh. Daniel Andrlik (00:52:27): Yeah, Nix can't so it would just be ChaCha helping you. Sampson Davis (00:52:30): Right. Daniel Andrlik (00:52:31): That brings it down to a six. Sampson Davis (00:52:33): Right. Okay. Right, so what's the plan here? Dili's going to, I guess, grind the synth down into powder and then- Alex Finn (00:52:43): Make synth powder, like the protein powder? Sampson Davis (00:52:44): Yeah, and then mix it into what? Alex Finn (00:52:47): Water. Sampson Davis (00:52:48): Water, just start with water, see how that goes. Yeah, all right. Maybe chicken stock. Alex Finn (00:52:53): Ooh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sampson Davis (00:52:53): Just make it more flavorful. Alex Finn (00:52:55): And nutrients. [inaudible 00:52:56] river. Sampson Davis (00:52:58): Make a synth bouillon. Alex Finn (00:53:00): Ooh. Sampson Davis (00:53:02): All right. So crafting, you said? Daniel Andrlik (00:53:05): Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sampson Davis (00:53:06): All right. Daniel Andrlik (00:53:07): But not crafting numenera. Sampson Davis (00:53:08): Just straight crafting. Cool. Crafting tools still apply? Daniel Andrlik (00:53:12): Sure. Sampson Davis (00:53:13): All right. Crafting tools and free level of Edge, that's just a gimme. Daniel Andrlik (00:53:17): Okay. You've made what you think is edible synth. Sampson Davis (00:53:21): All right, so this is technically edible. Let's see if it's enough, I guess. How much synth did I spend making this? Daniel Andrlik (00:53:29): Not enough to really matter because you couldn't shave off much and make this. Sampson Davis (00:53:33): All right. Okay. All right. You guys want to try this? See if this- Alex Finn (00:53:37): Yeah. Stace Babcock (00:53:37): Yep. Sampson Davis (00:53:38): ... appeases the Hendersons? Stace Babcock (00:53:39): Let's go. Sampson Davis (00:53:40): Do you guys want to taste it? Stace Babcock (00:53:42): No, Dili. No. Sampson Davis (00:53:44): Yeah, okay. Alex Finn (00:53:45): I mean, a little. A little. Sampson Davis (00:53:46): Little? All right. Small spoonful. Alex Finn (00:53:49): Yeah, yeah. Daniel Andrlik (00:53:51): It doesn't taste good. I mean, it's not bad. It just is... You've had dirt before. You had to and this is just [crosstalk 00:53:58]. Alex Finn (00:53:59): It tastes like dirt. Sampson Davis (00:54:00): But do you feel sick? Do you feel... When's the last time you pooped, by the way? Alex Finn (00:54:04): That's a good- Sampson Davis (00:54:06): You ate nature. Have you passed nature? Alex Finn (00:54:09): I think nature might be... And once you eat it, it's with you forever. Sampson Davis (00:54:13): Huh. Just sitting in your stomach, just taking up space. Stace Babcock (00:54:18): Guys, the Hendersons eating synth, that's making their... Alex Finn (00:54:22): Oh, oh. Stace Babcock (00:54:22): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sampson Davis (00:54:24): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. Alex Finn (00:54:25): Let's go do that. Sampson Davis (00:54:26): Let's go see how they do. We go to the Hendersons. Daniel Andrlik (00:54:30): Okay. Go to the Hendersons. Takes you about an hour. You reach that same synth structure and you still see that there are two people crawling on the structure, hammering on it. There are three other bodies on the ground. Sampson Davis (00:54:44): Oh, fuck. Daniel Andrlik (00:54:54): They appear to have been torn in various places, revealing synth underneath their skin. Stace Babcock (00:54:59): Oh, fuck. Alex Finn (00:55:01): Dili, is this happening to you? Sampson Davis (00:55:09): Does Dili have a hunger? Daniel Andrlik (00:55:10): Dili doesn't have any hunger for synth that he's aware of. Sampson Davis (00:55:12): Cool. I'm going to go check on them. Can you give this soup to the Hendersons? I'm just going to go check these dead bodies real quick. Stace Babcock (00:55:20): Nix takes the soup mix and goes up to the two who are still alive. Daniel Andrlik (00:55:26): They try it. It seems to satisfy them. Stace Babcock (00:55:29): So yeah, so all you got to do is you got to shave a little bit off. You got to grind it up and then yeah, soup. Alex Finn (00:55:35): Soup. It solves things. Stace Babcock (00:55:38): What can you tell us about what happened to the... First of all, I am so sorry for your loss, but what happened to them? Daniel Andrlik (00:55:47): The synth started growing out of their bones into spurs. We couldn't help ourselves. We had to break it free. [inaudible 00:55:57]. Stace Babcock (00:55:56): Oh. Daniel Andrlik (00:55:59): But some of the bone and the other things came with. Sampson Davis (00:56:03): Wait, what? What happened to them? Stace Babcock (00:56:04): Their bones turned into synth and started having bone spurs of synth, and their compatriots ate them. Sampson Davis (00:56:09): But when Dili goes over there to see each, he sees partially cannibalized... Daniel Andrlik (00:56:13): He sees broken bones that are... There are clearly spots where maybe you see fragments of synth, but most of it has been broken off of the bones. It appears to be most of those spurs must've come from the elbows, knees and hips. Sampson Davis (00:56:30): Dili's going to, blocking the view from the living Hendersons, going to look at his elbow, see how that's going. Alex Finn (00:56:40): Good plan. Daniel Andrlik (00:56:41): It's not bleeding anymore, but there's still some [inaudible 00:56:45] there. Sampson Davis (00:56:46): It has the skin around it kind of, I don't know, dried up, loosened up. Does it look like it's trying to fall off? Daniel Andrlik (00:56:53): It looks like a raw wound. Sampson Davis (00:56:55): Okay. All right, cool. That's cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Dili covers up again. Stace Babcock (00:57:01): So. Sampson Davis (00:57:03): Dili goes over to the others. Do you think this synth soup is going to be good for a while, at least? Alex Finn (00:57:10): Makes the synth last longer. Sampson Davis (00:57:12): Keeps you from bleeding out your mouth. Alex Finn (00:57:14): We don't know the other end, though, but the mouth is okay. Sampson Davis (00:57:20): What's the vibe? What's the reaction? Are they okay? Daniel Andrlik (00:57:25): The soup is good. It's satisfying. It doesn't mean that they can leave the synth structure, but it seems to be helping. Stace Babcock (00:57:32): Dili, can you show them how to make that here? Sampson Davis (00:57:35): Yes, I can do that. Dili shows them with as simple tools as he can how to make the synth powder that they can mix into not just soup, but any other food that they might have. Daniel Andrlik (00:57:51): Okay. They seem to get it. Thank you. Maybe we can take turns harvesting versus preparing. Sampson Davis (00:57:57): Yeah, yeah. I don't know how else to help you, I guess. Stace Babcock (00:58:03): Yeah, that seems like about all that we can do, guys. Super sorry about that. Really wanted to help you out. But yeah, you're kind of... This is a rough one. Daniel Andrlik (00:58:14): Well, thank you for the help that you provided, at least. Stace Babcock (00:58:17): Is the guy with one arm alive or dead? Daniel Andrlik (00:58:18): He's still alive. Stace Babcock (00:58:21): You're welcome for our help. We're going to go. We're going to be in town for at least a little while, so if you need us, just leave a message at the tavern. Sampson Davis (00:58:31): Try your best. We should go. We should go. We should go. Okay, bye. Alex Finn (00:58:35): We did enough here. We did enough. Daniel Andrlik (00:58:40): You guys head back to town. Sampson Davis (00:58:42): It doesn't feel like a win, but it feels like we did our best. I hate this feeling. Stace Babcock (00:58:46): We might've did our best, Dili, but I don't know if we did the best. You know what I'm saying? Alex Finn (00:58:51): I mean, no one died directly because of us. That's an improvement. Daniel Andrlik (00:58:58): Except for [Bacharest 00:58:59]. Alex Finn (00:59:00): Of the Hendersons. Sampson Davis (00:59:03): Of the Hendersons specifically, we have not had a direct- Alex Finn (00:59:07): Right. We have not sped up their death. Sampson Davis (00:59:09): ... lethal impact. Alex Finn (00:59:12): And in fact, the guy who I accidentally took his arm is doing kind of fine. Stace Babcock (00:59:18): He really seems to have a good perspective on that. I really admire that because sometimes, yeah. Alex Finn (00:59:25): I know. Sampson Davis (00:59:25): Yeah. Daniel Andrlik (00:59:29): Can everybody make me a perception roll? It'll be a six. Sampson Davis (00:59:34): Oh, natural 20. Alex Finn (00:59:35): Hell, yeah. I got 13. Stace Babcock (00:59:38): I got a... I forgot how my app works. Sixteen. Daniel Andrlik (00:59:42): Okay. You all notice for sure that people in town are moving about, and they're whispering to each other instead of talking openly. What would you propose as a Major Effect, Dili? Sampson Davis (00:59:56): Major Effect. Dili hears a snippet of whatever they're talking about without getting too close to any of them. Daniel Andrlik (01:00:03): You hear him whisper to the other, two men walking like, "Other Traveler at the edge of town. They've come for our children again." Sampson Davis (01:00:11): Hey, Nix, we might have an issue. Alex Finn (01:00:16): I mean, I feel like we should stop it, maybe. Sampson Davis (01:00:19): Nix, there's another Traveler here. Stace Babcock (01:00:20): Oh, yeah. No, cool. Sampson Davis (01:00:22): Is it cool? Alex Finn (01:00:22): Is it? Sampson Davis (01:00:22): Your face says it's maybe not as cool as it would be, previously. Stace Babcock (01:00:27): Well, the townsfolk do not like us so yeah, kind of worried about the Traveler. They think that they're a cult and honestly, I should probably warn them to scoot. Alex Finn (01:00:45): But wouldn't that reveal yourself to be a Traveler, and then they would be like, "Hey, who's this new Traveler in town? I thought we were the Travelers visiting this town to kidnap the children. Maybe we should investigate this traveler and then hey, maybe they're wanted by the queen"? Sampson Davis (01:00:58): I could disguise Nix as a Traveler but not use her face. Maybe Nix could say, "Hey, so I'm already here so you can leave and go travel somewhere else." Maybe do something like that, like, "Already recruiting here." Stace Babcock (01:01:12): I say let's- Sampson Davis (01:01:14): Go check it out? Stace Babcock (01:01:15): Go check it out, yeah. Sampson Davis (01:01:17): Okay. We'll check it out. Daniel Andrlik (01:01:20): In disguises, though. Sampson Davis (01:01:21): Yes. We are disguised. Daniel Andrlik (01:01:22): Okay. You guys go check it out and sure enough, you see that there is a small gathering outside of town. There are some tweenagers and teenagers out here that are talking. You see a figure up there talking about being able to see all of the world, being able to learn everything that there is and to help people on the way. That's the dream. That's what we're all about, is really helping those that we find and applying a technique of peace to everywhere that needs it. Everything is changed by us being there. Daniel Andrlik (01:02:03): The figure looks up and sees the three of you moving into view. This guy is just like, "Oh, new people. Feel free to come over. Have a seat. Let me tell you about things. You can call me Hey You. What are your names?" And that's where we'll end this episode. Alex Finn (01:02:22): I'll say ChaCha takes off her glove. Daniel Andrlik (01:02:27): Dili, something about this episode. Sampson Davis (01:02:30): Dili did a lot more crafting than he usually does, and successful crafting. I wasn't sure if that edible synth soup was going to work or not. I'm glad that worked. I'm also glad that we have an idea of what enhancing Nix's leg is going to look like. I'm glad Dili's really getting into his Wright roots for the first time in a long time. Daniel Andrlik (01:02:53): Very cool. Sampson Davis (01:02:54): Last time I think was the cart right before we got onto that ship. Stace Babcock (01:02:58): You did make that one cypher. Daniel Andrlik (01:02:59): Yep. Sampson Davis (01:03:00): Oh yeah, the data vault. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik (01:03:02): Don't sell Dili short. He's using his skills to come into his own. Daniel Andrlik (01:03:09): We have a segment we do each week called player intrusions. That's where we offer you, the listener, an XP to try out something that we think you would really dig. This week, it is my turn. I will offer you all an XP to try out playing the board game Root, a game of woodland might and right. Alex Finn (01:03:27): Ooh. Daniel Andrlik (01:03:29): It's also available on iOS, Android and Steam, a digital version of it. This game is adorable. It has the cutest art of all these woodland creatures, but it is a fucking brutal war game at the same time. You are either playing the industrial armies of the Marquise de Cat; a totalitarian regime of the Eyrie, which are these birds which you choose different leaders with different philosophies; the Woodland Alliance of foxes and mice trying to resist these empires in the forest or you can play the Vagabond, a faction that just wanders between, like an adventurer for hire trying to help. Daniel Andrlik (01:04:19): The thing I want to point out is that the game is based around whoever gets to 30 victory points, wins. But every faction operates completely asynchronously in the strategy. The Marquise de Cat gets their points from building things and crafting things. The Eyrie gets it from crafting things or building roosts, but the birds, the way they function is it's like programming in that you have to say, "I'm going to do this in this clearing," every turn. If you hit a point where you can't complete your programming, your leader is deposed and you have to choose a new one and you lose some points. The Woodland Alliance all works by spreading sympathy and crafting and some battle. And then you have the Vagabond, which could be different types of animals, but their goal is to help everybody, basically be the middleman helping every faction and building up points and completing quests. Daniel Andrlik (01:05:21): As a board game, it's really interesting because to get good at it, you have to not know not just what your faction does, but how all the other factions work. It's really engaging in a way that I haven't found in a lot of strategy board games. I've been playing it once a week now with my local friends in the area over Zoom, since we're still in quarantine, and I've been playing it a lot on my iPad just against the AI, getting a feel for it. It's fascinating how different interactions are so unpredictable because since every faction operates differently and you could be assigned any faction when you come into the game. Daniel Andrlik (01:06:01): So highly recommend it. I know it was also converted into an RPG, because the factions are so well defined philosophically, by Magpie Games, which means it's powered by the Apocalypse which is not my favorite system, but it's there. But yeah, highly recommend playing Root. Daniel Andrlik (01:06:21): This artwork on Root is adorable. If you get the digital version of Root, it's especially cute. The animations of the battle scenes and... If you're playing the Vagabond as a thief, which means that you're a raccoon, you make the cutest little chirp every time you aid another faction. It's very cute because you've got the cats, you've got the birds, you've got the foxes and mice and you've got either a raccoon Vagabond or a little beaver or a wolf or a possum or a badger. It's really good. Daniel Andrlik (01:06:56): I highly recommend the game. It's really well balanced and a fun strategy game that I can easily see becoming a very brutal war game over the course of playing it with a group of people who know it. Sampson Davis (01:07:12): It sounds like FernGully, but Dune. Daniel Andrlik (01:07:15): Yeah, yeah. That's very much like it. It's a good game. I highly recommend it. And it supports asynchronous play, if we all wanted to play Root at some point. Stace Babcock (01:07:24): Ooh. Daniel Andrlik (01:07:25): Also, the expansion has a lizard cult. Sampson Davis (01:07:28): Hell yeah. Daniel Andrlik (01:07:32): And a riverside trading company made of otters. Anyway, if people wanted to reach out to us and tell us what they think of Root if they've had a chance to play it or the podcast, how would they do that, Sampson? Sampson Davis (01:07:50): Well, easiest way would be to go to explorerswanted.fm, where they could find all our socials listed there for their convenience. On Twitter, we are @ExplorersWanted. In Instagram and Facebook, we are @explorerswantedpodcast. Sampson Davis (01:08:06): We also have a Discord, the link of which you can find at explorerswanted.fm/discord. We're very active there. Lot of cool stuff. Lot of cool people, so that's a great place to come hang out with us. Sampson Davis (01:08:17): If, also, you have his insatiable need to give us money, you could do so at patreon.com/explorerswanted, but only if it is within your means. But if it is within your means, give it to us. Alex Finn (01:08:30): Yes. Daniel Andrlik (01:08:34): Yes, please. There are a number of benefits there. There are monthly character journals. Higher level backers can help name NPCs. For example, a couple of the NPCs we're dealing with now came from our backers, as far as naming. As well as we have AMAs for our highest level backers, where we produce a video every other month for them where we answer whatever they want to ask us. Daniel Andrlik (01:09:00): But honestly, the best thing that you could do for us if you like the show is to tell a friend and tell them why you like the show and why they should listen to it. The second best thing is to leave us a five-star written review on a podcast directory, specifically Apple Podcast, Podchaser and Stitcher. Those places make the biggest difference to people checking out our show to see if they want to start listening to it, all of that kind of stuff. It makes a huge difference. Daniel Andrlik (01:09:30): If you didn't like the podcast or if you just thought it was meh, well I like to remind you that the tooth fairy is real and she waits patiently with bloodied hands in the dark corners of every home. Her canines are long and sharp, but her molars are made of cold iron, the better to crush the things that she finds. Even without her touch, doors still open for her and honestly, so will your mouth. Daniel Andrlik (01:10:04): If you'd like to reach out to us individually on social media, you can. You can find me on Twitter at @andrlik, A-N-D-R-L-I-K. Stace Babcock (01:10:12): You can find me on Twitter at @StaceWindu. Sampson Davis (01:10:15): Tooth fairy is just a minor bone demon. You can @ me at @SlamPotato. Alex Finn (01:10:19): Anybody else reliving Darkness Falls? @ me at @realteaunicorn, or we can probably discuss it on Twitch with tea with unicorn. I don't know. Is that against TOS, movie review, Darkness Falls? Not watching movie, reviewing it. Daniel Andrlik (01:10:35): Reviewing is fine. Sampson Davis (01:10:36): Yeah. Alex Finn (01:10:37): I don't think they bone in that movie, do they? Sampson Davis (01:10:40): Well, if they don't, then there's your review. Stace Babcock (01:10:42): You should probably watch it before you review it. Sampson Davis (01:10:45): [inaudible 01:10:45]. Alex Finn (01:10:46): Oh no, I've watched it several times. It temporarily reignited my fear of the dark when I was a kid. Daniel Andrlik (01:10:52): Good times. Anyway, that's it for us. Hope you enjoyed the show. We will be back next week, as we will for every week in the foreseeable future. Have a good night, day, weekend or whenever you're listening to this. Bye. Alex Finn (01:11:05): Bye. Sampson Davis (01:11:05): Bye. Stace Babcock (01:11:05): Bye.