Daniel Andrlik 0:29 Welcome to Explorers Wanted. We are a weekly Numenera actual play podcast. I will be your humble GM Daniel Andrlik. And with me today is Sampson Davis. Sampson Davis 0:43 Oh, Hi. How's it going? Daniel Andrlik 0:45 Alex Finn. Alex Finn 0:46 It was decided I'm on insta, instacart because I'm snap. Uwu. Daniel Andrlik 0:51 And Stace Babcock. Stace Babcock 0:53 Have nothing to follow that with. I'm hungry. Alex Finn 0:56 I deliver. [Laughter] Sorry. Stace Babcock 1:06 That's what I'm here for, to set Alex up. Daniel Andrlik 1:08 Oh, that was good. Alex Finn 1:09 I was playing too much fire emblem and I can now almost, so close to seducing the children. Not actual children. They're like 22. Let me just slip that in there. Stace Babcock 1:20 Yeah, let's be very clear about that. The adults. Daniel Andrlik 1:24 Yeah. Who remembers what happened last time? I am going to pick on Stace. Stace Babcock 1:32 Okay, so last time on Explorers Wanted Dili, ChaCha, and Nix went back to Mama J's to start. She was in a meeting so we were like "Sorry", went to the Doc Taraz safe house. Nix channels her inner caregiver and fed and helped Doc Taraz to the bathroom. And then it was just general napping. Meanwhile, Atalia was with G-ma in their safe house and G-ma was like, "Gotta get that thing out of your arm. We need to break into the Handler's and get it, but we need more information." So Atalia is like, "Cool, I need to go check on my friends." So Atalia leaves, comes to the Doc Taraz safehouse, we have a conversation with Doc Taraz where it's basically like, "Hey, listen, you can leave and talk about us to the Queen but we're also gonna sick the Stones on you, so don't do that. Deal?" And she was like, "Deal", so we let her go. And then Atalia is like, "Okay, well, no one's paying attention, so I'm going to sneak back out back to the G-ma safe house where G-ma is standing over some dude who has no teeth because she took them and is like, "We have the info we need. We got to go break in to the Handler's and get your shit." So yeah, long story short Atalia circles back with the crew and is like, "Hey, G-ma and I are gonna break into the Handler's". We were like, "How can we help?", and it was decided that Dili would go inside with Atalia because of his illusion capabilities and the fact that he has some stealth training. And then ChaCha, Nix, and G-ma we're going to provide the distraction at the front. So, it's go-time. ChaCha sets the door on fire, Nix breaks windows with her sling to feed the fire and then also shoots people through the windows with her sling, and that is the front door distraction. Meanwhile, and I'm really gonna need some help with inside the house because my attention was slipping I'm not gonna lie so then at some point G-ma goes inside the house. And I'm sorry Sampson to tag you in because I just really I know you guys ended up at like the at like the vault, right? But if there's anything important that happened before you guys actually arrived in the vault, I don't remember. Sampson Davis 3:53 Not too much important inside, we ran into a couple of doors, but then Atalia locked the one with the head guards behind it so we'd have some time there. But then when we opened the door that's when shit started getting real. Because Atalia's mom was there. Stace Babcock 4:07 Yeah, Atalia's mom was there like, "I figured you'd show up", and then there was some very snappy dialogue where Atalia is like "You're not my real mom!", and her mom was like "But I actually am!" [Laughter] Sampson Davis 4:22 "Eat shit", "No, you." Stace Babcock 4:25 Eventually, G-ma shows up and then I just remember Dili stealing grenades and Atalia being like, "I'm leaving with this control." Alex Finn 4:33 Yeah, that's what I remember. Daniel Andrlik 4:35 The image of Dili with an armful of grenades makes me smile every time I think of it.. Alex Finn 4:41 Oh, wait, the house fire did get out of control and there are explosives in the basement, so that might have consequences later. Stace Babcock 4:49 Yeah, so we skedaddled out of there, Atalia with the controller that she got from the vault. G-ma, Dili, and Nix all going together, kind of, Atalia is hanging back a little bit with G-ma. We get almost back to the safe house when Atalia is like, "Goodbye", and then- Alex Finn 5:08 Yeah, dueces! Stace Babcock 5:09 Yeah, she's like, "I have to go", she hands Nix a letter and the Reset Cypher, which can I just say, I didn't use. Yeah. Hands Nix letter and the and the cypher and is like, "I have to leave. This isn't for me anymore, like, it was good while it lasted but it wasn't a great fit. It's not you, it's me." And then she used the cypher and disappeared. And then G-ma stayed. So Nix just told G-ma if Atalia ever needs her to let her know. And the group, I think that's kind of where we left the group. And then, yeah, and then Atalia materializes in this faraway place, we don't know where it's at, in this with this little hut, and it says, on a sign outside, "A. Stone", and Atalia and Jeski arrive there to make that their new home and I assume that's where A. Stones turn into the badass bitches that Amaranth and Salianna are. But also an important note is Atalia's story ended because Marietta has left the podcast. Daniel Andrlik 6:21 We pick up where we left off, G-ma has just started wandering away from you guys in the alley, limping a bit still, because she's been pushing herself very hard the last two, three days. So she, you know, wanders off and you guys are standing in this alley, almost back to the safe house. And its at this point that you hear a loud explosion. It's too loud for how far away the Handler HQ should be. It's very loud, and it lights up the whole city for a moment. And when you look back, you see, because it happened behind you and then it lit up everything around you, and then when you look back you can see coming out of the city over there this pillar of blue and green lightning and light. Alex Finn 7:18 Oh, fuck. Doc Taraz strikes again. Stace Babcock 7:21 Do you guys feel like that might be the artifact that Doc Taraz was talking about? Alex Finn 7:26 I mean, it wasn't me. Daniel Andrlik 7:28 It just blew up in the nice part of town. Stace Babcock 7:31 Oh shit. Sampson Davis 7:32 Stace is getting her Qi-is-attacking thing going. Stace Babcock 7:35 Quick, ChaCha, put your Piroit outfit on and run through Ward- Alex Finn 7:40 Oh no, ChaCha is still wearing it. Stace Babcock 7:43 Oh. ChaCha, take that off! Daniel Andrlik 7:46 And she was part of the force that was on the outside of the building. During the strike. Alex Finn 7:51 Yup. Oh, and we weren't disguised either. Because Dili was inside. So there was some terrorism implications. Daniel Andrlik 8:00 Some light treason. Stace Babcock 8:01 Oh, so it is,... we can conclude or it would seem like it is the Handler house? Sampson Davis 8:08 That's probably the building that we were just in. Stace Babcock 8:09 You said it was too loud. Alex Finn 8:10 No, that was... Daniel Andrlik 8:11 Well, it's certainly from the right direction and distance. But it certainly was louder and it is more of a visual display that doesn't seem to be stopping. Stace Babcock 8:22 Oh, so when you say a pillar it's like a pillar of like smoke or is it like a physical... Alex Finn 8:26 Lightning? Daniel Andrlik 8:27 It's a pillar of blue green lightning that is, just, it looks based off of how far, if it is in fact the vault based off of how far away it is it's incredibly wide. Sampson Davis 8:43 Doc Taraz described "Void Storms", I think.. Alex Finn 8:47 Yeah. Sampson Davis 8:47 Do we as characters know what those look like, color-wise? Daniel Andrlik 8:52 Well, you could give me a nature check. Alex Finn 8:54 Would ChaCha be good at this because she is nature baby? Daniel Andrlik 8:59 I would, except that we went through the Doc Taraz interrogation and ChaCha had to ask what she meant. So, so, it's kind of established that ChaCha doesn't know. So this will be a 12. Sampson Davis 9:10 Alright, free level of effort with my Edge. Alex Finn 9:12 17, bitches! Stace Babcock 9:13 4. Sampson Davis 9:15 3. Alex Finn 9:15 She just didn't know what the name was, you and your civilized names. Daniel Andrlik 9:21 It's reminiscent of a Void Storm, Void Storms are actually very difficult usually to see from a distance because they are usually encased in sort of this blackness, you have to like be past the edge, the plane of that black shroud of the storm to see the the lightning and blue. This is a color that you've seen before when you've been high up in the mountains, it's never anything you would have encountered down close to ground level. Like at, you know, sea level or anything like that. You are aware that there you have not spent much time in them. Probably the one time that you were there, you saw somebody getting crispied by the lightning almost immediately. And when the lightning hit them it wasn't just a crisping, there was a moment where their body covered with oils and started mutating and [bushing?] like almost like what you would expect of the Iron Wind except then they burn to a crisp. Alex Finn 10:18 I would like to restate my position of we should have killed Doc Taraz because she made, she made my explosion look small. Stace Babcock 10:32 Oh, and you're, like, hurt by that, ChaCha, or like... Alex Finn 10:36 No, it's just, she was probably in a more occupied area when she did it, so there might be casualties. Stace Babcock 10:45 You think she did this? Well, it could have been or it could just be the Handler house blew up because we set that fire and there were like some explosives inside. Alex Finn 10:53 No, because that looks like those storms that happen on the mountain where when you get hit with them you kind of explode in a gross way and then you fry. So, I'm just saying maybe we made the wrong choice in letting her live. Maybe this is one of those times where murder was good. Stace Babcock 11:11 I kind of want to check it out, you guys, but I'm not sure if it's so smart to head back in that direction. What do you guys think? Alex Finn 11:16 We need to check this out because we might need to help people. That's what we're doing right now, right? We're helping people? Stace Babcock 11:23 Yeah, yeah, we help people, ChaCha. Yeah, you got that right. Alex Finn 11:25 Okay. Sampson Davis 11:26 Ah, Dili has been quiet this whole time just staring at where Atalia was. Stace Babcock 11:26 Dili... Alex Finn 11:31 Dili, are you leaving too? Sampson Davis 11:34 What? Alex Finn 11:35 Well, you're just kind of standing there staring at where Atalia left and does that mean you're leaving too and it's just me and Nix, family forever? Sampson Davis 11:44 No, I...I just don't understand why she left, I-... we nailed that, like, the whole infiltration thing, like, went off... We had a problem down in the vault, but then it went off without a hitch. So I... why now? Stace Babcock 11:57 I mean, honestly, Dili it kind of seemed to me like it was building up, like, for a while. It did not seem like this was a decision that Atalia made today. I mean, I guess I could like read the letter. Sampson Davis 12:13 Yeah, what, what does it say? Oh, holy crap. Where's that smoke coming from? Stace Babcock 12:17 Ward Marris, yeah. Alex Finn 12:19 It's one of those things where I'm just like, yeah, letter or a pretty Numenera explosion, Dili? Stace Babcock 12:27 Honestly, I think this letter is going to keep so if we're going to check out this explosion we should get there while things are still kind of confused in case we have to you know, like, nope the fuck out. You know, I'm saying? Sampson Davis 12:39 I don't... isn't that where the Handler's place was? We shouldn't go back towards that direction. Alex Finn 12:44 No, that's Doc Taraz. Opposite. Stace Babcock 12:48 ChaCha is pretty sure that that is like a Void Storm or something. A mountain storm, we think it might be related to that artifact, Dili, and if it is don't we kind of have like a duty to check it out? Yeah, I said duty, ChaCha, I said duty. Sampson Davis 13:05 Yeah, I guess yeah, if you guys want to go that way. Alex Finn 13:07 I think ChaCha puts her hand on Dili's shoulder. Daniel Andrlik 13:10 I mean, it's same direction either way. They're both Doc Taraz's place and the vault where were in Ward Marris. Stace Babcock 13:15 Alright, Dili, will you throw up some you know, disguises. Sampson Davis 13:19 Yeah, I'll do that. Dili throws up disguises. Alex Finn 13:23 ChaCha pats Dili's shoulder and is like, you get used to people leaving, don't worry. Sampson Davis 13:26 Dili stays quiet at that. Stace Babcock 13:28 Hey, yo, listen, sometimes people come and they go, it's all about their journey, right? Like, it takes them where it's gonna take them and sometimes it takes him near you and you travel together and sometimes it doesn't. And that's just the way it is, ChaCha. Alex Finn 13:40 Yeah, maybe Atalia went to university like she always wanted. Sampson Davis 13:45 It was so sudden. I feel like I never really got to apologize for scarring her. Alex Finn 13:50 I mean, it made her more distinguished. So is it really an apology needed? Sampson Davis 13:54 Yeah, I scarred her. Alex Finn 13:56 I mean, if you want we give you a scar and then it's like an eye for an eye. Somebody smart said that once. An eye for an eye makes people equal. Stace Babcock 14:04 Who was that ChaCha? No, you, guys. All right. Let's go check out, let's go check out the explosion and then when we get a moment, all right, I'll read the letter. We'll see what it says and, Dili, we'll work through this together, okay? But I'm just telling you, people's journeys, man, they're all different. Sampson Davis 14:20 Dili nods, and, I guess, follows you guys. Daniel Andrlik 14:23 Okay, so you're heading back to Ward Marris. Are you trying to be stealthy about it? Are you just trying to be people walking along? Alex Finn 14:30 I mean, from interacting with people would we know in the Ninth World if there are people who enjoy rubbernecking? Daniel Andrlik 14:37 I mean, that's human nature. Alex Finn 14:38 I know. So it's just like, I think it could go either way. Stace Babcock 14:41 Well, we're disguised. So, I think, yeah, just like, shortest route. Alex Finn 14:46 Yep, we're going to rubberneck. Daniel Andrlik 14:48 Okay, so you guys get there shortly. And you, as you're tracking this explosion, it does appear to be the Handler vault that you, you guys left with this pillar of void storm going up in the air and you notice that the explosion seems to have taken out portions of the two houses next to it and there are some figures on the ground crawling. They are humanoid, but they have the wrong number of arms and legs and they have like strange bone spurs on their back and they're wheezing, but if they could breathe better you think they might be screaming. Alex Finn 15:33 Okay, so I lied, this was a my bad, this was a my bad. Stace Babcock 15:38 Well, we can't just like let them suffer, ChaCha. We're here now so... And Nix will go up to one. Alex Finn 15:45 I think ChaCha picks another and we're gonna try some stealth murder. Stace Babcock 15:48 No! Daniel Andrlik 15:50 Is that what you guys are doing, putting them out of their misery? Stace Babcock 15:52 Nooo!! Alex Finn 15:54 They have too many arms and are screaming! Stace Babcock 15:56 With, a, some distance, but close enough to see. So now that she's closer, Daniel, what, what is up with these humanoids? Daniel Andrlik 16:07 When you're closer you can kind of recognize that they're wearing, the clothing is very badly burned and torn, but it just looks like shredded pajamas. Alex Finn 16:17 Oh, no. Daniel Andrlik 16:18 And... Alex Finn 16:18 Fuck... Daniel Andrlik 16:19 They look up at you with these eyes where the whites of them are completely red, like beyond bloodshot. They're just red, and their mouths are irregular, their jaws are, like, their upper jaw is to the right by almost an inch of their lower jaw. And when they look at you, they open their mouth revealing broken teeth, and just go [painful, upsetting sound]. Alex Finn 16:47 Now I don't seem so crazy for wanting to kill them. Stace Babcock 16:50 Has Nix ever seen one of these things? Daniel Andrlik 16:52 No. Alex Finn 16:53 NIx will go. Hey, a, are, are you all right? Daniel Andrlik 16:58 They lift one of their arms and you notice that some of their pale flesh is dripping almost like it's a liquid off the tip of their finger. And they just reach out towards you. Not that they can reach you, but it's like stretching an arm, dripping their own body on the ground. Stace Babcock 17:20 ChaCha, you're good at first aid. Can you help being out? Alex Finn 17:26 I think this is beyond my skills. I think this is the point of no return, Nix. We're mercy killing, like the people with the trees. Stace Babcock 17:37 Can you just try real quick for me, ChaCha. And then, yeah, if we gotta mercy kill. I mean, you know, I'm down to mercy kill. Alex Finn 17:44 Okay, ChaCha is gonna do a healing check and see what's the best option. Daniel Andrlik 17:51 It's a 9. Alex Finn 17:53 Okay, so she's trained in healing. Daniel Andrlik 17:56 It's a 6. Alex Finn 17:57 I got a nat 20. Oh, god, please don't say I'm now Jesus, please don't say that. Daniel Andrlik 18:03 No, you can propose a major effect in a moment, but this is what you can tell. This is somebody who has been forcefully mutated and the mutation has not stopped. And you can see that the tips of their fingers now, this one, the hand is stretched out that was dripping, it's still dripping. But now down to that first knuckle on each finger it is just exposed bone and the bone is darkening and growing spurs. What would you propose as a major effect? Alex Finn 18:36 Can I hold that for a second and kind of relay this information to Nix? Daniel Andrlik 18:41 Sure. Stace Babcock 18:42 Oh, shit. Yeah, I think that you're right. Chacha, we should help him out. So, Nix will reach over and grab it under the chin and at the back of the head and she's getting ready to break its neck. Alex Finn 18:57 I think ChaCha major effect will be being able to kill them as painlessly as possible. Daniel Andrlik 19:03 Yeah, I think that's fair. So, and you have that dagger. So, that makes it easier to do that. Stace, you do your neck snapping thing and your hands come away covered in this sort of fleshy, viscous blue liquid, like clearly as you snap the neck, like parts of their flesh, like a gel, like came off of them. And there's actually a streak across their dead faces where you can see where the hands scooped this off of them. Sampson Davis 19:32 What a dark way to leave a fingerprint. Stace Babcock 19:36 Nix is going to... well are people gathering or not? Because Nix wants to take like an arm to take back to Mama J, like, you might be interested in this. Daniel Andrlik 19:46 Oh, the other neighbors are out here. Alex Finn 19:49 We did an Oopsie-Doodle. Stace Babcock 19:50 Oh, so Nix will say really loudly, "Hey, stay back, like the... uncontrolled mutations right here! So stay, stay back, stay far, far back, you guys." Daniel Andrlik 20:00 You now notice that this light, it's not disappearing yet, but it is, and flickering is the wrong word. There's just like this moment, like, if somebody was just twisting back and forth just the very top setting of a dimmer light. Stace Babcock 20:15 Who has the battery? Sampson Davis 20:16 I do, I was actually gonna check that. Stace Babcock 20:18 Yeah, okay. Okay. Sampson Davis 20:19 So, Dili, kind of looking on in horror at what this explosion has wrought, is actually going to check the battery that has see if there's any like resonance or similar flickering or anything. Daniel Andrlik 20:30 It doesn't appear to be doing anything. You could an Understanding Numenera roll to see if you can figure out how to make it do something. Or if it would do something. Sampson Davis 20:40 Yeah, alright. I'll take a shot at it. Daniel Andrlik 20:42 So this will be a 12 Understanding Numenera. Sampson Davis 20:45 And I have a free level effort, so that should be a 9. 7. Alex Finn 20:50 I was gonna help him. Daniel Andrlik 20:51 You can't figure out what to do with it. Alex Finn 20:53 Can ChaCha take the battery and kind of try and stick it in the light. Eh, eh, eh? Daniel Andrlik 20:57 Okay. How about this? How about ChaCha give me a 12 Understanding Numenera roll first, because you're trained in it, so that'll make it a 9. Alex Finn 21:06 18. Daniel Andrlik 21:07 Okay, so the battery, you start bringing it towards the storm, and then you realize that, you know, it doesn't need to necessarily be touching it. You'll realize there is... it's a little confusing with the, the structure of it. It's not a smooth battery. It's got sort of ridges and things like that. But you realize that those ridges are... like there's something as you're moving your finger across it, you bump one of them and you see a light for a second, and you realize those are control surfaces. And you see that there might be a way for you to activate this somehow, which would make sense based off of the way Doc Taraz described drawing energy from things with it. And even though you didn't see the battery when you were in the jail cell insubstantially when Doc Taraz was there, you remember one of her hands up in the air pulling the energy out of Nix's mom. Alex Finn 22:03 ChaCha would like to mimic that motion. Daniel Andrlik 22:05 Okay. And are you doing the activation sequence on the battery at the same time? Alex Finn 22:11 Ye-e-e-es... Daniel Andrlik 22:11 Okay. So, this is what Dili and Nix see. They see ChaCha step forward a little bit starting to hold the battery up in the air towards the void storm. She's, you can see that her thumb is moving on, but you can't see exactly what she does. And then it turns on, and all of a sudden, a bar of green lightning comes off this pillar, meets up with the battery, but it doesn't seem to be harming ChaCha. The flip side though, is that the battery seems to be lifting as it's being charged and, if assuming that ChaCha is still holding on to it, she is slowly being lifted off her feet as well as this lightning is striking the battery as the rest of the pillar is flickering. Sampson Davis 23:00 While this is happening, Dili is gonna somehow tear his gaze away from this and look at the crowd. Partially for their reaction to this but specifically in case Doc Taraz is here. Alex Finn 23:11 Oh, good point Daniel Andrlik 23:12 Oh, give me a Perception role. It's nighttime. I mean, there's this light, but it's still gonna be confusing light because it's almost, like, strobing in the night. So, give me a 12 Perception roll. Sampson Davis 23:25 Free level again, so it's a 9. 12. Daniel Andrlik 23:28 Okay. You do not see Doc Taraz. But you can see in the crowd that there are people starting to freak out at seeing this person with a hand in the air, apparently a bolt of lightning coming out and striking what they think is just her hand and starting to lift her in the air. Stace Babcock 23:48 Nix will just go and be like, "Yeah, stay, stay back. There's some weird stuff going on. So, it'll be alright, just more space. You know what, just get, just more space is probably better. Alex Finn 23:58 Don't want to get caught up in that lightning. Sampson Davis 24:00 This is being contained, she is containing it. Give her some space. Daniel Andrlik 24:04 Okay, so let's do a Social role. Dili is assisting you. You don't have any inabilities in Social, right? Sampson Davis 24:11 No inabilities, no. Daniel Andrlik 24:12 Okay. And Nix is specialized. Actually, it's not even a roll, it's a gimme. The crowd starts calming down and saying, "Okay, but...", and it's at this moment ChaCha you are up in the air holding on to this battery. Your hand is, like, stuck. Like, it's like the muscles have tightened, like you cannot let go. You're up there, lightning striking, and you hear that voice in your head. And they say," Um, I am... this is not safe. I... I need shelter. And I'll be back soon." And then, ChaCha, that voice goes silent and there's definitely, like, feeling like, there's something different in your head. You don't know if anything's gone, or if it's just the nature of the thing. But then, as that's happening, the battery begins like slowly lowering down, like the lightning stops arcing into it, and then lowers you down as the pillar is starting to do its last flashes before fading out. And when you look at the battery, you see that there, where the activators are, you see one line across it that was originally just look like a blank ridge. And now it seems to be lit all the way up, like a charge indicator. Alex Finn 25:37 I think she's gonna kind of shuffle over to Dili and kind of hand it to him, like, "Eh? Eh?" Sampson Davis 25:43 Okay. Alex Finn 25:44 Oh, but we're wanting to do it stealthily. So people don't know we have a battery. Daniel Andrlik 25:48 Yes. Okay. Sampson Davis 25:50 Dili will slightly alter to the disguise, so it just kind of looks like her hand. Daniel Andrlik 25:53 Mmm, that's good. That works. Alex Finn 25:55 Just the hardy friendship handshake. Daniel Andrlik 25:57 Okay, so you guys want to hang out and, you know, hobnob with the crowd. Exchange business cards. Stace Babcock 26:03 Nix actually does want to check out their pajamas and see if any of the bodies have anything. Daniel Andrlik 26:09 The bodies don't have anything on them besides pajamas. But when you're looking at the people in the street, you see some people kind of ran out of their houses in similar styles of pajamas. And, Nix, this is about the time when it occurs to you that this just means be the fashionable, rich person pajamas right now in Ward Marris. There's definitely like, fashions that will sweep the Ward that everybody does. Stace Babcock 26:37 Nix is like, "Oh, these are back. Ugh." But they're not Handler clothes, is what I'm kind of trying to get at. Daniel Andrlik 26:45 No, not unless, there's some very well off Handlers that were sleeping nearby. Stace Babcock 26:50 Where are the Handlers? Alex Finn 26:51 What would the role be to investimagate the giant hole now that there's no lightning in it. Stace Babcock 26:57 We look down the hole. Daniel Andrlik 26:59 The hole extends downward at least 30 feet into darkness before, where you can't see any deeper. Stace Babcock 27:07 I got 40 foot of rope, guys. Sampson Davis 27:11 You want to go down there? Stace Babcock 27:12 Don't you, Dili, or not? Like, if it's not... But, like, that was some Doc Taraz bullshit. What if this is the labyrinth, dude? Sampson Davis 27:23 Looking down do we see, like, another hole in the hole, like... Daniel Andrlik 27:26 So, it's more like the hole goes down a ways and you can sort of see the striations of the city as it's been built up over the years, or centuries, or millennia even. And then it reaches this point, this dark point where you can't really see beyond those edges. So it's not that it's a hole within a hole, it's just that there's a certain point where the illumination gets so weak that you can't see. So I mean, it could be there's 30 feet of wall that you can see, but you cannot see the bottom of where this lines up. Stace Babcock 27:59 In classic Stace fashion. Oh, I mean Nix fashion. Nix will drop a glow globe. Daniel Andrlik 28:06 That's your last one if I remember right. Stace Babcock 28:07 Yeah. She should buy more. How much is it glow globe? Sampson Davis 28:13 I'll make more it's fine. Stace Babcock 28:14 How much can a glow globe possibly be, $10? Everyone 28:16 [Laughter] Daniel Andrlik 28:20 So yeah, so you toss it down. I assume you're like dropping it near one of the walls, you can kind of see as it goes down. So as it's going down you can see it kind of highlighting more and more of this wall, and then earth, and then synth. And then it lands on some sort of synth surface below. Now the hole is cylindrical, but the surface that it lands next to is synth and it's landing in a corner where there's a right angle, where it looks like there's synth wall and synth floor, but the light doesn't extend very far. It seems to be being, something seems to be in the way that's blocking the light from getting too far from that corner. Stace Babcock 29:04 So how far approximately? Daniel Andrlik 29:06 It's at least 70 feet. Stace Babcock 29:08 Yo, together we got 90 feet of rope. Sampson Davis 29:11 Yeah, cuz Dili should still have his rope. Stace Babcock 29:13 But like, Dili, totally up to you. Like, we can come back, you know what I'm saying? Sampson Davis 29:17 I'm just very afraid that we're going to get down there and it's just gonna be like, "Well, this is the bottom of the hole." And then we'll have to come back up here and then,"Ope! Guards are here." Have to explain why we're climbing out of this hole. Stace Babcock 29:27 Legit. We'll wait till it cools off, right? And then we'll come back. Or like, let's let Mama J know what we think is up. She might be interested, actually. Daniel Andrlik 29:35 I'm sure the city will just patch that up no problem tomorrow morning. Sampson Davis 29:38 In a week there's gonna be another art installation here. It's... It'll be fine. Alex Finn 29:42 It's gonna be a Fantasy Costco. Stace Babcock 29:44 Alright, well, let's beat feet guys. Let's get the fuck out of here. Daniel Andrlik 29:49 And sure enough, you can hear the distinctive sound of armored guards coming in to Ward Marris from the direction of the palace. Sampson Davis 29:56 Yeah, we should... Stace Babcock 29:57 Yeah, yeah. Everyone 29:58 [Nervous mouth sounds] Sampson Davis 29:58 We'll table this, we'll table this. Daniel Andrlik 30:02 Okay, where are you heading? Stace Babcock 30:03 I think Mama J's, to give her a report. Yeah. Alex Finn 30:06 I think Mama Jerrun's. Yeah. Stace Babcock 30:08 Yeah, and not just ask her to save us. Daniel Andrlik 30:13 Okay, so you get to Ward Anna and you knock on Mama Jerrun's door and the door opens and Mama Jerrun is there and she says, "Nix, Dili, ChaCha, it's good to see you. Sorry about earlier it's I have another meeting I had to take care of. New contractors that I'm trying out to see if they're Guardian material." Stace Babcock 30:35 No, yeah, I totally get it. That's your, that's your, that's your hustle Mama J, like I have respect for that. We do have a fairly significant report to deliver to you though if you have some time. Daniel Andrlik 30:47 Sure. Come in. Sit down. There's some scones still on the table. I can make some more tea. Stace Babcock 30:52 Awesome. Thanks. Nix is eating scones. Putting scones in her pockets, and scones in Dili's pockets. Sampson Davis 31:01 Careful, that's the one with the explosives. Alex Finn 31:05 I think ChaCha is just like going chipmunk-mode on the scones. Daniel Andrlik 31:11 Stuffing her cheeks. Yeah. So you are munching scones. Getting your yum on. Alex Finn 31:18 Hell, yeah. Daniel Andrlik 31:18 And Mama Jerrun comes back with tea for each of you. And it is a little bit more bitter than her usual tea, but it definitely seems to soothe your muscles because even though you guys didn't get damaged from that fight, you guys have been going all out for a long time now. And she's just like, "Hopefully that'll help you relax." Sampson Davis 31:42 It does help, thank you. Alex Finn 31:44 Drug Insight check! Didshe drug us? Daniel Andrlik 31:47 Give me a Nature and it'll be 9. Alex Finn 31:50 I feel like ChaCha gets an asset to that because she's just done the drugs. Daniel Andrlik 31:54 I'll give you an asset. Alex Finn 31:55 Fuck yeah. 5, doesn't matter. Fuck it. Daniel Andrlik 31:58 Doesn't matter. Yeah, you have no way of knowing. Either way. Alex Finn 32:01 Now I know we're drugged. Fuck. Stace Babcock 32:03 Alright, so first item of business, Mama J, it appears that Atalia has left the organization and the city. Daniel Andrlik 32:12 That's unfortunate. She glances over at ChaCha for a moment and then glances back at you and says, "Do you have any idea where she went?" Stace Babcock 32:22 No, not at all. Not at all, Mama J. She... well, she left me a note. I haven't read it yet. I guess I could read it. Daniel Andrlik 32:29 That's up to you. I mean, I'm just curious. I mean, like I said, this is not the kind of commitment or oath you swear and then just disappear on. Stace Babcock 32:38 Yeah, I don't think she's coming back. I don't know where she went, Mama J, and I don't think she's kind of back. Daniel Andrlik 32:43 Alright. We'll have to see how that plays out. Stace Babcock 32:46 Well, that sounds dire. Daniel Andrlik 32:47 It has nothing to do with me, it's just the... everyone took an oath before the fire. The fire has... the oath has a life of its own. Stace Babcock 32:56 Oh. Sampson Davis 32:57 What does that mean? What's... what's going to happen to her? Daniel Andrlik 33:00 "Well, I don't know. Presuming that she doesn't... if she's still operating in line with the goals of our order..." She's definitely like, she's trying to answer you, but she keeps looking at ChaCha. Stace Babcock 33:14 Oh, yeah. Daniel Andrlik 33:15 As long as she's continuing to work within it, nothing should. Stace Babcock 33:19 Gotcha. So second item of business, Mama J, is about artifact under Ward Marris. So, Doc Taraz, who you helped us kidnap, yeah. Daniel Andrlik 33:32 Yes. Stace Babcock 33:33 So she told us about an artifact under her house that like has made her super powerful or whatever. ChaCha has a battery to it that's been charged. And... Sampson Davis 33:45 I have it. Stace Babcock 33:46 "Oh, sorry, Dili has it. Wow. I didn't even see her pass it to you. That's weird. Yeah. So this artifact makes a really powerful, charges batteries. And it also exploded perhaps in Ward Marris." And, oh, I said Nix was going to take that arm. I never actually like, acted it out. Does Nix have the arm, Daniel? Daniel Andrlik 34:11 No, because there was the crowd there. So I assumed you weren't actually gonna do it if the crowd was there. Stace Babcock 34:15 It seems that it caused a Void Storm that caused rapid mutations. Daniel Andrlik 34:20 I will say this, though, because you're Nix, I don't think you really cleaned off your hands. Stace Babcock 34:26 Oh. Daniel Andrlik 34:27 In any real way. So you've been eating scones with hands that still have this like weird fleshy residue. Everyone 34:32 [Jovial sounds of disgust] Stace Babcock 34:34 Yeah, Nix is like, "Whatever. Yeah, it seemed to rapidly mutate like the people that were sleeping there when it exploded into a Void Storm. And we think it might be related to that artifact." As she goes around like the hole and it goes down to synth and like all that. Daniel Andrlik 34:49 Wow. I would have thought at this point anything as large as Doc Taraz was describing to you... If it was here, we would have known about it already. That's a big deal. Alex Finn 35:00 I mean, it was under the Handler's house, so... Stace Babcock 35:03 And the Knyxos knows about it, kind of. Alex Finn 35:07 But there's like one of them left. What is he gonna do? Sampson Davis 35:10 There's two of them. Stace Babcock 35:12 Really hoping he killed Deuces, Dili, really kind of hoping like he just knocked him off. Alex Finn 35:17 Yeah Sampson Davis 35:18 Gotta be honest, Nix, I don't think we're that lucky. Alex Finn 35:20 But like, he knows I have this leg and he knows I know how to use it. So... Daniel Andrlik 35:25 Mama Jerrun looks at you guys and says, "A lot of people know about it. That is potentially very dangerous. We don't have a policy of like, snapping up everything we find out about. Some things don't need to be vaulted, they can be for everybody. But now we've got multiple parties who may know where this is. That sounds risky, if it's as powerful as you say." Alex Finn 35:52 Oh... Stace Babcock 35:53 Yeah, and the Queen is totally sending like guards to the site. That's why we scooted and like she's probably gonna know." Daniel Andrlik 36:01 Right. Alex Finn 36:02 Yeah, we were gonna go down the hole, but we were just like, "Oh, no Queen's guards. Maybe we shouldn't." Daniel Andrlik 36:09 And by the way, you know that your glow globe would still be lit as you ran away. Stace Babcock 36:14 Fuck, it didn't break? Alex Finn 36:16 Fuck Stace Babcock 36:16 It didn't break, durable ass shit? Shit, Nix [Funny, indecipherable remark]. Sampson Davis 36:24 You know what, Charmonde's bust, let's just go to a new one. Start fresh there. Alex Finn 36:28 I mean, we could just nuke it and be done. Stace Babcock 36:30 Guys. You know what, I just remembered? The Handlers, before Atalia left the Handlers tried to give her a contract to get some sort of barbed wire crescent moon from Clemuel. Sampson Davis 36:42 Right. Stace Babcock 36:42 And, ah... Alex Finn 36:43 But I feel like we already took care of that. Stace Babcock 36:45 I'm just saying the Handlers want it. And that might be like, Alex Finn 36:48 Oh, we blew up their house. Stace Babcock 36:49 Yeah, we blew up their house, Mama J. So uh, well, I mean, their house blew up. We might have had something to do with it. Alex Finn 36:55 Mysterious circumstances. Stace Babcock 36:57 It's not provable. Daniel Andrlik 36:58 "I see." She looks at Dili, "Nothing to do with it, huh?" Sampson Davis 37:05 We did not set any explosions, explosives. Daniel Andrlik 37:10 Okay, give me a Deception because you're still trying to mislead. So that is gonna be a 12. Sampson Davis 37:18 7. Alex Finn 37:19 Technically, he's telling the truth because Dili didn't start the fire. Sampson Davis 37:22 I'm deflecting, though. Daniel Andrlik 37:24 Yeah, he's got a lot of verses about it. Mama Jerrun says, "I see. Well, you all like to make your presence known. I agree the artifact is important. I agree it is a dangerous situation. It definitely sounds like a bad idea to go through that hole because if guards are there they will probably start guarding it, especially if there's any indication that they could use to suggest that there's something different down the hole." Alex Finn 37:58 So we're breaking into Doc Taraz's house. Daniel Andrlik 38:01 She says, "This is the challenge I have. You all are extremely hot right now and I don't have a spare Guardian to assign to you yet. Merrick not at my beck and call. He has other duties." Stace Babcock 38:19 He has been great though. Just, heads up. Stellar dude. Daniel Andrlik 38:24 "Merrick is one of the best of us, in my opinion. Honestly, if he was more interested in management, he would have been a Proctor a long time ago." She turns and she looks at ChaCha and she says, "I can't go into any more detail with you present because you have not taken an oath and joined us, but..." Alex Finn 38:43 Dili learned how to bubble. Sampson Davis 38:45 Did I? Alex Finn 38:46 Remember where you like put the bubble on the head and then they can't hear? Sampson Davis 38:50 Oh, right. Yeah. Oh, I see what you're going for. Do you want me to do that now? Alex Finn 38:55 Yeah, that way you guys can get the information and if we have to go break into Doc Taraz's house we can do it tonight. Sampson Davis 39:03 Okay. Since you're not a prisoner, do you have any requests? Sounds you want to listen to? Alex Finn 39:08 The usual. Stace Babcock 39:10 Screams in the distance? What does that mean? Daniel Andrlik 39:15 Just the constant sound of phantom centipedes clicking as they crawl over people. Sampson Davis 39:20 How about just a nice forest sound with a soft rain. Alex Finn 39:25 With a seagull in the background. Eah! Eah! Daniel Andrlik 39:31 Okay, so that's what you're doing. Sampson Davis 39:33 Yeah, Dili throws up an illusion, kind of looks like like you took a like forest scene and just cut out a circle of that. And that's just like overlaying ChaCha's face. Daniel Andrlik 39:45 Okay. Sampson Davis 39:46 She cannot hear us at the moment, so... Daniel Andrlik 39:47 Mama Jerrun's glances at her, looks back at you and says, "That's a good trick, Dili. Useful application of your abilities. I'm impressed." Sampson Davis 39:58 Thanks. Daniel Andrlik 39:58 So anyway, yes, the artifact needs to be dealt with. If you're going to enter through underneath Doc Taraz's, I think that is a very good idea. Going back through the hole is a terrible idea. The guards will definitely be there. The Queen has more than just one Nano that she contracts with, somebody else will be there to investigate. If it is in fact a labyrinth like you say it is, presumably only you and Doc Taraz have the key to navigate it right now. Stace Babcock 40:29 The battery, yeah, yeah, as far as we know, she has all the rest of them. Daniel Andrlik 40:34 Mm hmm. So, I think it's a good idea to check it out. I would suggest doing it as soon as possible. ChaCha could be a contractor on this mission. I'll approve a budget of 60 shins. And you guys can contract with her directly and figure out how you're going to spend that budget. It's a limited budget because I don't have other Guardians to deploy at the moment. And, I suggests, like I said, you do it soon because this city isn't and hasn't been for a while... it's no longer safe for you. And your at a level of danger now where it risks the Guardians. I want you to check it out because time is urgent, but after that we need to get you out of the city. Sampson Davis 41:27 Sounds like a plan. Sounds... actually sounds normal. Just sounds like our normal everyday thing. Stace Babcock 41:33 Yeah, I do need to re-up on some stuff before we head down. Dili, do you have any money? Sampson Davis 41:40 Yeah, yeah, I got some money. Daniel Andrlik 41:44 Alright, you can shop and do whatever. Like I said, don't wait too long to get down there and check it out. And if the danger proves to be too great, if you think you can do so without anybody following you, come back and report to me. Or you could go to the same safe house that we were holding Doc Taraz at. I'll have Merrick there waiting as a contact. If it's too dangerous to proceed, or if you can't move any farther. If it really can't be moved, you can report into either place before you leave the city. Sampson Davis 42:16 Alright, are we just doing like, basically recon? Just go in there, figure out what it is, what it does, how dangerous is it, and then out? Or if it's, like, is there a possibility we may need to like try to destroy it. If it's like too much or other parties are getting too close... Daniel Andrlik 42:34 I don't know if I can tell you that for now, I'm gonna have to trust your judgment. But keep in mind that assuming that what Doc Taraz has told you is true, it is beneath the city of Charmonde. If you're going to try to destroy it, please be aware of any collateral costs. Sampson Davis 42:50 Right? Yeah. Okay. Okay. I got nothing else to ask her. Stace Babcock 42:55 Cool. Sampson Davis 42:55 "So I guess we should go...?" Or, actually, while we're still relatively safe, can I do a quick check on these two explosives that I took out? What specifically they do? Daniel Andrlik 43:07 Yeah, so give me an Understanding Numenera roll of 6. Sampson Davis 43:11 Free level of effort... 4. Daniel Andrlik 43:15 Good thing for that level of effort, huh? Sampson Davis 43:17 Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 43:18 So one of them is a flame detonator that creates a ball of fire within short range that lasts for three rounds. Alex Finn 43:28 Jesus, you got a fire ball spell. Stace Babcock 43:30 Oooooh! Daniel Andrlik 43:32 Except the fireball doesn't go away, it stays there for three rounds. You can engulf somebody in a sphere of flame or multiple people because it, it explodes in a short range. Alex Finn 43:44 Oh, jesus. Sampson Davis 43:45 I assume these are ciphers also. Daniel Andrlik 43:47 Yes, they are. The other one is a, it is also an explosive. It is a poison detonation and the poison the hinders the target by two steps. Sampson Davis 44:00 Immediate range? Daniel Andrlik 44:01 It explodes in immediate range, but of course you could throw it up to short. Alex Finn 44:05 Do we need to redistribute the ciphers so certain people don't get cipher sickness? Stace Babcock 44:10 Or so certain people can have some cyphers? Sampson Davis 44:13 I've actually one over, so... Alex Finn 44:15 I've got one slot left. Sampson Davis 44:17 Do you want fire or poison? Alex Finn 44:18 But also ChaCha has got the bubble on, so... Stace Babcock 44:21 Fire or poison? Does Dili have a preference? Daniel Andrlik 44:25 Do you really want to give ChaCha something more with fire? Stace Babcock 44:29 Well, Nix could take them both. Sampson Davis 44:31 I don't think Dilli can get out of flame detonation range. I feel like someone with a good arm should use that one. Stace Babcock 44:37 Okay. Sampson Davis 44:38 If we're done with top secret business, Dili will... Daniel Andrlik 44:40 Well, hold on, with your Numenera roll you also realize something about another cypher you have on your person. Alex Finn 44:47 Oh no. Daniel Andrlik 44:48 The cipher your companions gave you. It is a image projector from the automaton that they removed from its chest. Dili, that was never a part of the automaton's design. Not in the Knyxos design, not in your additions. You assume the automaton added it itself after it came online. Stace Babcock 45:12 Adilabrim Kret, you're our only hope. Sampson Davis 45:16 I'm gonna write that down. Alex Finn 45:18 Oh my Sampson Davis 45:19 Okay, just, just another question to ask that creature one point. Stace Babcock 45:24 How much damage does that fireball do? Daniel Andrlik 45:26 Roll 1d6 twice for me, Dili. Sampson Davis 45:29 1d6 twice! Daniel Andrlik 45:32 Yeah cuz I need a level for each one. Sampson Davis 45:35 6 and 3. Daniel Andrlik 45:36 Okay, so the poison is level 3, the fire does 7 damage. Alex Finn 45:42 Jesus... Sampson Davis 45:43 It's our nuclear option before the real one. Stace Babcock 45:46 It's great crowd control. Control the battlefield, you don't want to jump through my ball of flames. Daniel Andrlik 45:53 Exploding in a short distance is a big deal. I mean, that's a huge amount of distance. Stace Babcock 45:58 Next time we fight Minos. Daniel Andrlik 46:00 That's like a diameter of 60 feet. Alex Finn 46:02 Oh, fuck. Stace Babcock 46:03 Oh, damn. Alex Finn 46:04 So you got to yeet that. Wait, do you, you have a sling, so... Stace Babcock 46:08 And Nix can yeet, you know, she's a yeeter, she got a heater. That's a baseball reference. Daniel Andrlik 46:16 Okay, so Mama J indicates to you, Dili, that like the confidential stuff is done. Sampson Davis 46:22 Dili drops the ball. Daniel Andrlik 46:24 And as you're dropping the ball, we're gonna cut back a little bit in time. ChaCha, you are in this ball with this sound and it is a little bit disorienting. At this point, I would offer you a GM intrusion. Alex Finn 46:37 Fuck yeah! Daniel Andrlik 46:38 Who will you give the other XP to? Alex Finn 46:40 Dili for the ball, giving me that sweet, sweet ball. Daniel Andrlik 46:43 Okay. So you, due to this like sense of dislocation and isolation, your mind starts wandering and your vision starts to shift and fade and you can feel that same sort of dissociation you feel when you take your special drugs for your vision. And in this moment, you can see, you know, faded images of Dili and Nix. You can't hear them. You can see Mama J looking just as solid as ever. Can't hear her either, although you can see that she's saying something to them. And then at the edge, like, near the walls, you can see Bastion standing outside the door with his purple eyes, just sort of staring. And he reaches up his hand as if to touch the wall on the outside of Mama Jerrun's house. And then he gets very close to it and then he suddenly backs away. And you see one of those snakes with the elongated munk faces, wander into the building, look at Mama J and leave. And as they step out, Bastion doesn't even look like he's stepping. It's like he just, in one moment he's where he is and then the next moment he's right where that snake is. And he grabs its head and snaps what presumably is its spine and his jaw distends again, the way you saw him do when he was taking the cane in. And he grabs this snake and he starts pushing it headfirst and it's like he's slurping a noodle in slow motion. And then all of a sudden the noises go away and you're back in Mama Jerrun's and you can see Dili about to say something to you. Sampson Davis 48:30 ChaCha? ChaCha, are you back? Alex Finn 48:32 Yeah. Mama J you gotta really work on your wards. They're not tuned very good. And do you think I should leave the nuke here? Daniel Andrlik 48:43 You have a nuke? What do you have? What's a nuke? Alex Finn 48:47 "Oh!", and she just like whips it out, like... Sampson Davis 48:49 C-c-careful! Alex Finn 48:50 I bought it. Daniel Andrlik 48:51 Mama J takes a look and is like, "That is incredibly dangerous, ChaCha. How long have you had this?" Alex Finn 48:59 For a while, but, like really, I thought, was thinking about maybe I should find a safe place to hide it. Because when we were fighting the Knyxos I almost went down and then I realized, well, if I get captured, whoever captures me gets this nuclear weapon. Daniel Andrlik 49:17 "Yeah, that's... that's a legit risk." She looks at Nix and Dili for a moment with a look of like, she isn't asking questions, but it's that look that's like, did you guys know this? Sampson Davis 49:30 Dili shrugs, like, what are you gonna do? Stace Babcock 49:32 They're selling them for like 1000 shins in the marketplace, Mama J, it's ridiculous. Alex Finn 49:38 But like I negotiated and didn't have to pay that much. Stace Babcock 49:41 They're selling them at a discount in the marketplace, Mama J. Daniel Andrlik 49:45 That's shocking. Sampson Davis 49:46 They're paying you to take them. Daniel Andrlik 49:48 What shop was this? Stace Babcock 49:49 Oh, shit. Sampson Davis 49:51 Dili who remembers a lot of things tells her. Daniel Andrlik 49:54 Okay, that's fine. Sampson Davis 49:55 Carmen's Oddities. Daniel Andrlik 49:57 Yes, Carmen's Oddities. And so she says, "Okay, that's something we'll check out later, how something like that is getting there. ChaCha, yes, this is not safe for anybody to be wandering around with. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll compensate you for it. And we'll lock it away. And no discount required. This is what it's worth. So, if you want you can have 1000 shins for it. Alex Finn 50:22 Is that a lot of money, Nix? Stace Babcock 50:23 Oh, yeah ChaCha, that's like, I don't know. You get like 2000 rations? No, wait. 500 rations? I don't know. Chacha, its a lot. Alex Finn 50:34 I mean, is this like, forever? Is this like a forever sale? Or is this I lend you this, you lend me money? Daniel Andrlik 50:42 No, this is a forever sale. Alex Finn 50:44 Okay, do we need this in the future, you guys. Like, what if we were just like bored one day and we're just like, meh? And we want to roll it down a mountain. Sampson Davis 50:52 Ah.... Stace Babcock 50:53 Well, I got this time reset cipher. You know, so, we could play with that instead. Alex Finn 50:58 Okay, let, let's do this. Let's do it. Daniel Andrlik 51:02 Okay, so Mama Jerrun goes to a lockbox on the other side of the room. She opens it up and you hear her picking up what you assume are satchels of shins, she's clearly pouring one into the other and brings you back a satchel that's very heavy with shins. And she says, "Here you go." Alex Finn 51:24 Yeah, ChaCha hands over the device and then gives Dili and Nix 300 shins each. Sampson Davis 51:30 Oh, why, do- ah... Really? Stace Babcock 51:33 ChaCha, I didn't, you know, like I didn't help you buy it or anything. So you don't have to give me anything. I mean, I'll ask you to buy stuff for me anyway, like either way. So. Alex Finn 51:41 Okay, I guess I'll hold on to Nix's. Stace Babcock 51:45 Okay. Alex Finn 51:46 But Dili, do you want the shins? That way we can like go buy all the things. Sampson Davis 51:52 I mean, I already had like 500 shins, so where do you want your money to be? Alex Finn 51:57 "I mean, I have my new clothes already." And she like shows off her yellow Piroit costume. "I mean, so what else do I really need? And I got this knife. What else do you need?" Stace Babcock 52:10 We need glass jars, guys. I have an idea. Also, like, ChaCha if you want me to hold on to some of it, that's cool, I'll do it. But like, I give my money away all the time. Sampson Davis 52:21 Actually, you keep the stuff. I'm gonna get my 300 to Nix just because if someone finds me with 800 shins they're probably going to take it, but if they find money on Nix, they're not getting that. Stace Babcock 52:31 Oh, all right, cool. Alex Finn 52:32 Okay, so, Nix, are you holding 600 or 300? Stace Babcock 52:36 However much you guys want me to hold, like, I'll be the Bank of Nix. Yeah. Alex Finn 52:40 You can hold on to 600. Stace Babcock 52:44 I'm just gonna mark that I'm holding on to 600, I'm not going to add it to my shins. Because Nix only has 7 shins of her own. Daniel Andrlik 52:52 So, Mama J says," So, I think you guys had a task you were going to do. ChaCha, I'm sure the others can explain to you the arrangement on the way, but it's been a long day for me as it has for you and I certainly need to rest. The safe house that Merrick is holding should still be there and available to you." Alex Finn 53:15 Remember, tune your wards, you're letting snakes in. Stace Babcock 53:18 ChaCha, come-... I-... Daniel Andrlik 53:20 She looks at you and she blinks for a second and she's like, "Thank you, ChaCha, but I'm not worried about the Imps." Alex Finn 53:27 But like let my friend in, I bet he would like a scone. Daniel Andrlik 53:30 She looks over to where Bastian had been, like, outside the building. You know obviously you can't see now one way or the other and she looks at ChaCha and she says, "That one's more than he seems to be. That's all I can say." Sampson Davis 53:45 But, you can, you know what she can see? Because, no offense to you ChaCha I haven't been entirely sure if what you're seeing is real and I, I, it felt rude to ask so I'm just, I'm surprised. Alex Finn 53:57 Fair. Daniel Andrlik 53:57 The Ninth World is a strange place, Dili. And, try to remember that. It will help keep you safe. But you don't have to worry, that individual is not out there right now. But head to the safe house. Stace Babcock 54:11 And the store. Yeah. Dili, I got a list. Daniel Andrlik 54:15 You probably want to wait till morning for that, since it's the middle of the night. Stace Babcock 54:19 Smart, Mama J. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Alex Finn 54:23 We could do the other kind of discount shopping. Stace Babcock 54:25 Stealing, ChaCha? Nix is saying this on her way out the door. Daniel Andrlik 54:29 Yeah. Mama Jerrun has been like slowly like, shuffling you towards it like putting her hand at the small of each of your back. So she's been- Alex Finn 54:29 Pushin you out. Stace Babcock 54:32 That Midwestern Goodbye. Have a 20 minute conversation by the door. Daniel Andrlik 54:42 Yeah. And she shuts the door and you guys are in the alleyway. Alex Finn 54:47 Like, out of character, did I make like a 300 dollar profit on that cypher? Stace Babcock 54:52 Nice. Trade and profit. Daniel Andrlik 54:57 You know there was a part of me that was hoping Marietta would forget to give you the reset cypher. Alex Finn 55:01 Oh yeah. Daniel Andrlik 55:02 Just for giggles, just to see your faces when you realized. Sampson Davis 55:05 Well, she didn't give us the artifact. Stace Babcock 55:07 Yeah, the house scanner. Alex Finn 55:08 Yeah. So now we can't scan buildings, but it's like whatever. Stace Babcock 55:11 Nix could be like double watches, which is always in fashion. I say we had to the safe house. Sampson Davis 55:20 What list did you want me to make? Dili is making this list as we're going. Stace Babcock 55:25 Oh, all right. So I need 2 glow globes. I would like another rope. I would say half a dozen glass jars with stoppers that can be sealed. Honestly, if we can swing it, I would like a float stone. I mean, that's like kind of- Sampson Davis 55:40 For what? Stace Babcock 55:41 For fun. But also did you know... Huh? Sampson Davis 55:45 Half a dozen jars, you said? Stace Babcock 55:46 And a grappling hook. Yeah, half dozen. Sampson Davis 55:48 Half a dozen jars. Stace Babcock 55:50 Yeah, yeah. Sampson Davis 55:50 And a grappling hook. Got it. Yep. Half a dozen grappling hooks. One jar. Got it. Stace Babcock 55:54 No, no, no, Dili. Sampson Davis 55:55 I'm joking. Stace Babcock 55:57 And some rations. We should get rations. Daniel Andrlik 55:59 Okay, Alex Finn 56:00 Food is always good. Daniel Andrlik 56:01 So you make this list and you arrive at the safe house. You can see Merrick step out of the shadows, nod to you, and kind of wave with a hand for you guys to go in the door. Sampson Davis 56:11 Dili waves back. Daniel Andrlik 56:12 You guys go in. Stace Babcock 56:12 Not that I'm just reading the Equipment page, Daniel, but Nix dropped a minor glow globe, which extinguishes after an hour. Daniel Andrlik 56:19 Okay. Alex Finn 56:20 So they're just feeding glow globes into the hole? There's now a glow globe shortage. Daniel Andrlik 56:25 You're in the safe house. Alex Finn 56:26 So like, nap time? Sampson Davis 56:28 Well, hold on. Nix, can you read the letter? Stace Babcock 56:30 Yeah. Sampson Davis 56:31 I, I do, I do want to know what it says. Stace Babcock 56:34 Yeah, I was gonna read the letter. Sampson Davis 56:36 Out loud? Stace Babcock 56:36 Mmmm, I'm going to read it to me first, and then I'll tell you guys what's in it, if it's relevant. I don't want to break Atalia's secrets. You know? Daniel Andrlik 56:49 Okay. So you open the envelope and pull out a letter. The letter is addressed to you and then it's followed by a bunch of, like, scribbled out, like somebody started writing something and scribbled something out like they wanted to start over again, Stace Babcock 57:04 Classic Atalia. Daniel Andrlik 57:06 Stace, I'm going to send this to you to read. Stace Babcock 57:09 So, Nix is reading this to herself, though, to be clear. Nix, I have to leave and I don't know how to explain it to your face. I love you. I love you. I've always loved you, I think, but I cannot stay. I refuse to be a part of my mother's narrative and I am ready to cut ties with all of it. With Charmonde, the Handlers, the Guardians, and even you. If these last few days have taught me anything, it's that I do have to forge my own path. I don't want to be caught again and I don't want my actions to put you at risk. Everything is so convoluted and messy. How do I even begin to explain? I wanted so desperately to be a team player, to be part of your team. For while I even could be. How lucky I was. You taught me that I can be part of a team, what companionship and found family can be like. I wish I could stay. But you have given me the strength and assurance to follow my own path, my own solitary path. I thought of asking you to come with me, but you still have so much left to do. I hope that I will see your face again sometime from now. Who will we be then? I'm not certain. I do know that I will think of you and dream of you every single day between now and then. You will forever be my greatest regret. Love, Atalia Stone. So you guys are watching Nix read this. And she just starts crying silently as she reads. And then she looks at Dili and she looks at ChaCha. And she wipes her face with her sleeve and she says, "Yeah, there's nothing for you guys in here. This is all just for me. Excuse me." And Nix will go in the bathroom, and close the door. Sampson Davis 58:44 Dili nods quietly and then starts working on a little cypher. Alex Finn 58:49 I think ChaCha tilts her head to the side, like, "Is this how it usually happens when people leave in your life?" Sampson Davis 58:55 Um, first time there was a letter. Alex Finn 58:58 Yeah, I was gonna say the letter part's unusual. Usually it's just kind of, you wake up and they're gone. I thought that was the normal way people did it. Daniel Andrlik 59:06 ChaCha is like, "Everyone I know keeps going for something called cigarettes. I don't understand." Alex Finn 59:10 Yeah, they keep going to this "corner store" and they're just like, "Be right back!" and they're never back and I just assumed the corner store is never. Oh, man. Now I have to think about how ChaCha parents left because she had to have parents at some point. Right? Or did she just like, did the Numenera, Ninth World, just will her into being in the forest one day? Like, this will be funny! Daniel Andrlik 59:36 I think it happened at such a young age that ChaCha wouldn't remember one way or the other. Alex Finn 59:39 Oh, true. True, true, true. Sampson Davis 59:41 ChaCha is only like two years old, she just manifested. Alex Finn 59:46 She came into this world fully formed. Oh god, that would be weird. But would explain so much. Daniel Andrlik 59:53 So, whacha guys doing? Alex Finn 59:54 Is this where we take naps, Dili, like I don't want to like bug Nix because she's using the restroom and we don't want to like be Pee Perverts. Stace Babcock 1:00:02 Nix isn't using the restroom. Nix just closed the door, put her back against the door, slid down, and she's crying into her knees as quietly as possible. Alex Finn 1:00:11 Oh, no, but ChaCha assumes Nix is using the bathroom. Daniel Andrlik 1:00:14 Yeah, and the creature inside did open its mouth expectedly when you came in and then when I saw you like slumped down and start crying it closed its mouth and you saw it like make a little like disappointed face. Alex Finn 1:00:28 And now it won't make eye contact. Sampson Davis 1:00:31 Yes, it's time for naps. I'm gonna stay up for a little bit and just think. Alex Finn 1:00:36 "Dili, we could play with the battery together." Can ChaCha show daily how the battery works? Daniel Andrlik 1:00:42 Yeah, you do. Pretty easily. Alex Finn 1:00:44 Where was your brain going with that??? Daniel Andrlik 1:00:48 You press this, it vibrates. So- Everyone 1:00:50 [Laughter] Daniel Andrlik 1:00:53 Yeah, you show him, like, you figured out this activation sequence for it taking in energy. There doesn't appear to be any other way to turn it on or off. But that is theoretically how you replenish it. Sampson Davis 1:01:03 Okay. Alex Finn 1:01:04 So, maybe next time you can fly, Dili. Sampson Davis 1:01:08 I'd rather not stand that close to lightning. Alex Finn 1:01:11 Oh fuck, Insight check, did ChaCha get a mutation? Daniel Andrlik 1:01:14 No. Alex Finn 1:01:14 Okay, then ChaCha is going to go into a corner and sleep. Sampson Davis 1:01:19 So Dili is actually going to, for the first time, use his ability Always Tinkering. Daniel Andrlik 1:01:23 Mm hmm. Sampson Davis 1:01:23 For the next hour, I can, basically I can build a little... Daniel Andrlik 1:01:27 Unstable Cypher. Sampson Davis 1:01:28 Unstable Cypher, that's the one. Daniel Andrlik 1:01:29 And it's random, right? Sampson Davis 1:01:32 That's what I am checking. Daniel Andrlik 1:01:34 I believe it is. Sampson Davis 1:01:35 If I have any tools or materials, which I do, carrying fewer cyphers than my limit- Okay, nevermind. Can I... Can I make like 90% of an Unstable Cypher, and then like, save it for later when I have an open slot? Daniel Andrlik 1:01:49 This is what I'll say, you can do this, I will tell you what you get. You are going to need to make a decision about what you're going to do with your cyphers immediately, or we are going to have to do cypher sickness checks because you were carrying around those explosives for a while. Sampson Davis 1:02:02 Okay, any open cypher slots? Stace Babcock 1:02:04 Yeah, Nix has one. Sampson Davis 1:02:05 You too? Alex Finn 1:02:06 Yeah, I got one Stace Babcock 1:02:07 Nix is in the bathroom, though. Daniel Andrlik 1:02:08 Nix doesn't have one, cuz she's got that fire explosion and she's got the Reset Cypher. Stace Babcock 1:02:12 Oh, shoot, I didn't even... I forgot about the Reset Cypher. Like I didn't, but I did. Alex Finn 1:02:18 Yeah, ChaCha has got an open... Daniel Andrlik 1:02:20 Yeah, cuz ChaCha gave up her nuke. Alex Finn 1:02:21 Oh, she's got two open slots! Daniel Andrlik 1:02:25 So, Dili, do you want to do that? Sampson Davis 1:02:26 Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:02:26 Keep in mind that whatever you're building here is an Unstable Cypher, which means it'll only work for you. Sampson Davis 1:02:31 Right, yeah, I know. Yeah. Dili will build one. Daniel Andrlik 1:02:35 Okay, so I was encouraging you for this because the card I drew for the cypher is very cool. You have crafted a Data Vault. This device scans one object chosen by the user that can fit within a 10 foot cube, and is within a short distance. The object that was scanned then dissolves, its substance drawn into the device. Activating the device again causes it to create an identical copy of the object using solidified light at an open spot within a short distance. Alex Finn 1:03:08 Can this be used on people? Daniel Andrlik 1:03:10 Any object. Alex Finn 1:03:11 Because I have a plan. Sampson Davis 1:03:13 Any objects less than 10 feet, you said? Daniel Andrlik 1:03:16 It has to fit within a 10 foot cube and be within a short distance from you. Alex Finn 1:03:20 It's like you could just stick Minos in there and be like, "Knyxos soul!" Sampson Davis 1:03:25 But then, if we ever do, does that kill him? Alex Finn 1:03:29 It sounds like. Daniel Andrlik 1:03:30 The identical copy it creates is using solidified light at an open spot within a short distance. Alex Finn 1:03:37 I think it kills them and makes them a hologram. Sampson Davis 1:03:39 Well, hard light, so... Also, well, ChaCha doesn't know this, but Minos is not what he quite appears to be. Alex Finn 1:03:47 But he is within 10 feet of a cube. Maybe? Daniel Andrlik 1:03:51 He's a big guy, but he's definitely less than 10 feet. Sampson Davis 1:03:54 We could definitely take out Deuces that way, I'm suspicious of Minos. Yeah. All right. That's what Dili does before knocking off. Daniel Andrlik 1:04:01 And what are you giving to ChaCha? Sampson Davis 1:04:04 I'll give her the level 3 Poison detonator. I'll just kind of place it gingerly in her arms while she's sleeping. Daniel Andrlik 1:04:10 Okay. ChaCha, you know, unconsciously kind of cuddles it a little bit like a stuffed animal. Alex Finn 1:04:15 Like a baby. Sampson Davis 1:04:17 When she cuddles it I kind of, I kind of quickly like shift her hand so it doesn't press the button. Daniel Andrlik 1:04:21 Yeah, ChaCha feels it like, "Oh, this, this feels like destruction." Alex Finn 1:04:25 The warmth of destruction keeps me happy. Daniel Andrlik 1:04:29 Okay, I'm assuming everyone's going to sleep. Nix, you awake the next morning in the bathroom with a slight wet pressure against your cheek and you see this creature has, is sort of licking your face a little bit to wake you up. Alex Finn 1:04:45 Oh, gross. Stace Babcock 1:04:47 Nix will go to the bathroom, pat it on the cheek and then be like, "All right. I gotta go." Daniel Andrlik 1:04:55 It gurggles happily as you do your business. Alex Finn 1:04:58 Oh God. So does like Nix gain the skill of toilet whisperer? Stace Babcock 1:05:02 Nix is just nice, to everybody. Well try, well no, except for certain people. Daniel Andrlik 1:05:09 It's the next morning. Stace Babcock 1:05:10 So yeah, I would just like to add that before Nix fell asleep she had pulled out her little well worn pamphlet of the Benevolent Society's tenets and spent some time staring blankly at them before she fell asleep. Daniel Andrlik 1:05:31 I like that, I like that. Stace Babcock 1:05:32 Now she's, she comes out of the bathroom, is now available. Daniel Andrlik 1:05:36 So it's morning. Alex Finn 1:05:37 I guess ChaCha wakes up, sees her new toy and is like, "I think the weapon fairy visited me in the night. I guess this isn't a safe house anymore." Sampson Davis 1:05:47 Dili doesn't correct her. Alex Finn 1:05:51 Congrats, I now believe in the flippin fairy. Sampson Davis 1:05:54 Ah, so... store? Stace Babcock 1:05:56 Store. Daniel Andrlik 1:05:57 Are you all going to the store or just sending somebody with the list? Stace Babcock 1:06:00 Oh. Alex Finn 1:06:01 I feel like it's safer if we all go because Dili has to go no matter what for the disguises and Dili is kind of a squishy by himself. Stace Babcock 1:06:10 I think we're going on the way. Daniel Andrlik 1:06:12 So you go to a store on the way. Assuming that you are keeping to your list it'll cost you maybe 15 shins total. Stace Babcock 1:06:22 Nix looks at Dili. "Would you like this to come out of your balance in the bank? Or... I have 7 shins, so I only need 8." Daniel Andrlik 1:06:30 Just swipe my corp card. Sampson Davis 1:06:32 I got this one, I can pay for this one. Alex Finn 1:06:35 So, out of character, what kind of role would it be to see if we see anything else really fun? In case we want to do, you know, the cypher flipping again. Daniel Andrlik 1:06:43 Okay. Give me an understanding Numenera role of 12, and that would be a 9 for ChaCha cuz she's trained. Alex Finn 1:06:51 I got an 8. Daniel Andrlik 1:06:53 An 8. Yeah, so you don't see anything. Stace Babcock 1:06:55 Oh, dang, Dili, can I have a first aid kit? Sampson Davis 1:06:59 Sure. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:07:00 I assume that Stace is looking at the equipment list, so... Stace Babcock 1:07:04 Book says 10 shins. Daniel Andrlik 1:07:08 Okay, 10 shins. Sampson Davis 1:07:09 First aid kit. Stace Babcock 1:07:10 Oh, and a grappling hook. That's so dope. Alex Finn 1:07:12 Is there anything else we need? Like I assume ChaCha can't find anything because she got an 8. Daniel Andrlik 1:07:18 Yeah, she-... Well, you don't find anything like cool. You don't find cyphers or cool oddities that would be worthwhile or anything like that. Or at least the oddities that you do find are like way overpriced. Alex Finn 1:07:30 Legit. Buyers market. Wait, no, sellers market. Sampson Davis 1:07:34 $400 sex crystal? What? Alex Finn 1:07:36 Yeah, I think I have that in the other campaign, a sex crystal. Stace Babcock 1:07:40 Oh, yeah. Alex Finn 1:07:42 It gives people wet dreams. Stace Babcock 1:07:43 We got rid of it, right. I think we didn't like it. Daniel Andrlik 1:07:46 No, you kept that one. Alex Finn 1:07:48 Oh, no. I think she still has it under the fear that she doesn't want to give it to anyone. Stace Babcock 1:07:52 Correct. Alex Finn 1:07:53 Because its awkward. Daniel Andrlik 1:07:55 Yeah, to be clear, it doesn't make them have wet dreams about anybody in particular. It just makes them have wet dreams about whatever they're already into. Giraffes or whatever. Stace Babcock 1:08:04 Get out of my head, Daniel. All right, onward. Alex Finn 1:08:06 Well, you see that magic cream. Oh, wait, how much rope did we get? Stace Babcock 1:08:11 Nix got one extra rope. So Nix in total has 90 feet of rope. "ChaCha, have you considered purchasing a rope?" Alex Finn 1:08:17 How much would it be for ChaCha to like buy an Explorer's Pack? Stace Babcock 1:08:21 It is 20 shins, per the book. Alex Finn 1:08:24 20 shins? I think ChaCha will do that, because, like... Daniel Andrlik 1:08:28 Good idea. Alex Finn 1:08:29 Yeah, maybe we need that instead of just drugs. Daniel Andrlik 1:08:34 No rope, only drugs. Alex Finn 1:08:37 That was, yeah, that was a choice. Daniel Andrlik 1:08:40 Okay, so you have an Explorer's Pack. Where are you guys going now that you have your equipment? Alex Finn 1:08:45 To go kick Doc Taraz's ass. Stace Babcock 1:08:48 No, we're going to the labyrinth. Sampson Davis 1:08:50 Well, ah, yeah, how do we want to approach this? Like, stealthily, or like, with force? Stace Babcock 1:08:56 Do you guys remember if there was like an outer cellar door or would we have to go into her house, like...? Daniel Andrlik 1:09:03 There was no external entrance besides the front door and the windows that you saw to-... Alex Finn 1:09:08 I think we have to go in her house. Stace Babcock 1:09:10 We can pretend that we're exterminators and that we have to go in the basement. Daniel Andrlik 1:09:16 It is also, while it is early she does have an appointment in the books for Anastasia and Alabaster Featherwight. Alex Finn 1:09:24 What were you going to her for? Daniel Andrlik 1:09:26 Just throwing that out there. Stace Babcock 1:09:28 That's true they did make an appointment. Alex Finn 1:09:30 We could actually use it. Daniel Andrlik 1:09:33 I'm trying to think of how many days its been since they've made that appointment. Sampson Davis 1:09:37 Oooh... let's see if I can... Daniel Andrlik 1:09:37 In game time... Alex Finn 1:09:38 It's maybe been a week. Stace Babcock 1:09:39 I don't know if that would help them get to the basement, though. Daniel Andrlik 1:09:42 Well their meeting was, their appointment was a week from when they were there, so... Alex Finn 1:09:48 Well, we could get two of you into there and then ChaCha can sneak in the basement. Stace Babcock 1:09:52 But we all got to go in the basement Alex Finn 1:09:54 Or... Daniel Andrlik 1:09:55 Could also be their child. I'm gonna shut up because I'm just writing fanfiction now in my head. Stace Babcock 1:10:03 I just can't, I just don't know how that gets us in the basement. Sampson Davis 1:10:06 I think it's been about five or six days since the Featherwights Daniel Andrlik 1:10:11 It could be the day of your appointment, even if your time is totally wrong because it's the beginning of the day. Sampson Davis 1:10:18 My issue with the Feathereight thing is that I don't know how to disengage from that. Stace Babcock 1:10:24 Right and like go down to the basement. Sampson Davis 1:10:27 Yeah, like, maybe, like, one of us could sneak down there as the Featherwights distract them but I don't... Also... Actually, know what, I don't think that's going to work because I'm pretty sure Doc Taraz would straight up see through my disguise. Stace Babcock 1:10:38 Oh. Alex Finn 1:10:39 I mean we could make it a weird sex thing. Like we want help encouraging our thrupple. Sampson Davis 1:10:44 Well, no, cuz I... Again that would start, but again the second she scans us... Stace Babcock 1:10:48 So we gotta wait for her to go leave the house, go to the palace or like whatever she's doing with the Queen, right? And then, once she's gone we fool the servants. I know what the sewage people's uniforms look like, cuz, like, yeah... Sampson Davis 1:11:03 Well, if we want to do the sewers... Alex Finn 1:11:05 I was also gonna say we could use practical effects instead of CGI for the disguises. Stace Babcock 1:11:10 Oh, that's true, we could like... Alex Finn 1:11:12 ChaCha is a performer. Sampson Davis 1:11:14 Well, if we just want to like try to get into the sewers it might be easier to like go to like a runoff drain from the rivers, yeah. Stace Babcock 1:11:20 Oh my god, Dili, you're so fucking smart. Sampson Davis 1:11:22 Stahp it. Alex Finn 1:11:23 But like what if it isn't in the sewer? Because it was like 30, 40 feet down. Stace Babcock 1:11:28 But we could at least take the sewers to like, beneath Doc Taraz's house. Sampson Davis 1:11:33 We can get close, that's true. Come up her toilet. Stace Babcock 1:11:37 Come up her toilet, ChaCha, I feel like you would fit. Alex Finn 1:11:39 Well, like, if we go with that idea, that means that she hasn't made a nice staircase to walk down into this labyrinth to get to the artifact. Stace Babcock 1:11:50 Maybe she has. But like how did she find it in the first place though? Like, she, it must be connected. Alex Finn 1:11:56 I mean, when you bury a dead body you dig a hole?. Stace Babcock 1:11:59 I like to bury my dead bodies in trash, ChaCha. Sampson Davis 1:12:02 What? Hold on, wha... what? Stace Babcock 1:12:06 It's like a matter of technique. Alex Finn 1:12:07 I mean, I guess it's like better for the nature. Sampson Davis 1:12:12 It's composting. Daniel Andrlik 1:12:13 Nix is a firm believer in composting. Alex Finn 1:12:18 If you don't want anyone to find the dead body, normally you put it in a hole in the ground. And so she would make a hole in her basement. Stace Babcock 1:12:26 I vote that we try the sewers and honestly, Dili, we don't even have to get in through the docks like, couldn't we just use a local access point? Alex Finn 1:12:34 Also, side question, how would the toilet creatures be connected to the sewer? Because they are living beings. Stace Babcock 1:12:41 No, they're not connected to the sewer, ChaCha, that's the whole point of them is they're like, you can be like off the grid. Daniel Andrlik 1:12:48 It cuts out the middleman. It just cuts out the middleman. Sampson Davis 1:12:51 I thought they sat on their own toilet and then just passed- Alex Finn 1:12:54 Like a human centipede? Stace Babcock 1:12:56 I have to say that the sewers in Charmonde are extremely well maintained by some very knowledgeable people, so... Alex Finn 1:13:02 Um, we did blow up a section of it. Well, not we, but like me. Stace Babcock 1:13:07 Does my dad know. Alex Finn 1:13:09 Yeah, he was there. Stace Babcock 1:13:10 Oh, all right, then. Alex Finn 1:13:11 That's how he escaped. Sampson Davis 1:13:13 Actually, Nix, do you think, do you think you know where we could find a map of the sewers? Because that could actually help quite a bit. Stace Babcock 1:13:19 Well, I know where my dad's work is. Sampson Davis 1:13:21 Okay. Alex Finn 1:13:22 Step one, break into your dad's work? Sampson Davis 1:13:25 I don't know if that would help though, if that's all you know. Stace Babcock 1:13:28 I just vote we go down to a local access point. Guys, I don't know if you know this about me and its not just confidence, but I am pretty good at finding my way around. So, remember the ship? I found that shortcut, so, like... Alex Finn 1:13:41 That is still debatable. Daniel Andrlik 1:13:43 Between ChaCha coming up through one of the access points on Ward Ana and between Nix sort of like, peripheral, picking up something from her dad, probably when he was talking about his work when she was barely paying attention because, remember, that Nix can never remember what her dad does. I would say you guys could spot like what access points are around very easily. It's not going to be a question mark. Stace Babcock 1:14:07 You know what, Dili, since it's below ground, maybe we should pick up a compass while we're here. Sampson Davis 1:14:11 All right, that's, that's good idea. Yeah. Stace Babcock 1:14:13 If they're charging you more than 10 shins, they're ripping you off. Alex Finn 1:14:16 Should we like- Sampson Davis 1:14:16 Good to know. Alex Finn 1:14:17 Get paper and... I feel like we should make our own map of the sewers then? Daniel Andrlik 1:14:22 Anything else you want off the equipment list, Stace, while we're doing this. Stace Babcock 1:14:28 I would like the whole equipment list, I would like one of everything. Matchsticks, 1 shin for 10. That's a pretty good deal. Alex Finn 1:14:35 We should get some more rope, or yarn, or something to create a path for when we hit the labyrinth. Stace Babcock 1:14:45 Oh my god. Alex Finn 1:14:46 Because there's this story about this, these kids who used bread to find their way places. But, like, they got screwed over by some crows, so they got eaten. But there's no crows in the sewer, so we could use... We could find some thing to make a path so we know where we go in the labyrinth. Stace Babcock 1:15:03 I don't know if they would have this here, ChaCha, but there's this thing called Glow Ink, which is ink that glows. Daniel I'm giving you a- like, you can cut me off, like you can cut me off. Daniel Andrlik 1:15:15 Go ahead and keep going, I will cut it out if it makes no sense, but I'm just trying to make sure that we address all this in case anybody in the listenership is keeping track. Alex Finn 1:15:26 Could we get chalk? Like chalk works or we could just like gouge the walls. Sampson Davis 1:15:31 I am pretty good at remembering things, so that might... I could just also write down in my notebook like, I can make, I, I'll make a map as we go. Stace Babcock 1:15:39 Okay. You got that dagger. Daniel Andrlik 1:15:42 An ink pen is 2 shins. Sampson Davis 1:15:44 I assume Dili already had one because he's been writing in his notebook, so... Daniel Andrlik 1:15:49 You can also buy Glow Ink for 10 shins. You could also get a Major Glow Globe for 500 shins, you could get a shock ring. I would say in Charmonde you could get anything that is not on the very rare list. Depending on how many shins you want to spend. Sampson Davis 1:16:06 And I was looking at that Shaper Key, like, we need a way to open door since Atalia's gone. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:12 Yeah, you can't scan and you can't lockpick. Suck it! Sampson Davis 1:16:16 I think Nix still has the skeleton key of fucking kicking it down. Alex Finn 1:16:20 It's true. Stace Babcock 1:16:21 Also I have this fireball grenade. Sampson Davis 1:16:23 When all the doors need to be open. Alex Finn 1:16:24 I mean, and ChaCha mildly knows how to pick locks. She did it at your shop. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:31 So, is there anything else you want to buy? And you're going into one of the sewer access points near Doc Taraz's house? Stace Babcock 1:16:38 Yeah. Sampson Davis 1:16:39 Yes. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:40 So you go into the sewer access point. You're in the sewers. Sampson Davis 1:16:44 Also, we've been disguised this whole time. Alex Finn 1:16:46 FYI. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:47 I figured. Sampson Davis 1:16:48 Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:49 Stace, I assume that you are trying to lead them through the sewers? Stace Babcock 1:16:52 Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:53 Okay. So give me a 15. Alex Finn 1:16:57 ChaCha would like to assist. Daniel Andrlik 1:16:58 ChaCha could help. So... Stace Babcock 1:17:00 Nix is trained in Navigation. Daniel Andrlik 1:17:02 Okay, so that makes it a 9. Dili doesn't have a hindrance, so he could help if he wanted to, which would bring it down to a 6. Sampson Davis 1:17:11 Chacha already said that she was assisting. Daniel Andrlik 1:17:14 Yeah, but she could get up to two assets. Stace Babcock 1:17:16 Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'll do that. We get here. Daniel Andrlik 1:17:19 Never say I don't do anything for you guys. Stace Babcock 1:17:22 Nat 20. Alex Finn 1:17:23 Fuck yeah! Stace Babcock 1:17:24 That sounded like I was disappointed, I should be excited. Except it was like,... I'm excited. Daniel Andrlik 1:17:29 So, you definitely reach a point in the sewer system that is the closest you can get to Doc Taraz's, you can see the pipes that bring in the refuse from Doc Taraz's home, but you notice that,... Well this would actually be sort of an engineering test. Give me a sort of engineering knowledge, anybody can do this, an engineering knowledge roll of like, 15. Sampson Davis 1:17:57 Dili is doing that. Alex Finn 1:17:58 Why not? Sampson Davis 1:17:59 With two levels of effort. Daniel Andrlik 1:18:01 Got Alex Finn 1:18:01 Goddamnit Sampson Davis 1:18:03 10. Just barely. Daniel Andrlik 1:18:04 Okay, there you go. Alex Finn 1:18:06 Nat 20 Daniel Andrlik 1:18:07 Dili, these are not as many.... Oh, cool. Okay. Alex Finn 1:18:11 Fuck. Daniel Andrlik 1:18:12 So we'll circle back to all this in a second, I've got two nat 20s to deal with. Dili, you definitely know that this is not enough refuse pipes for a normal house. A house Doc Taraz's size should have more than this, and there isn't. So you would suspect that at least one of her bathrooms is occupied by one of these creatures, and the other one isn't, which is why her pipes are narrower and don't need to have as wide a diameter as most refuse pipes. So, let's take a step back. Nix, what would you propose as a major effect? Stace Babcock 1:18:48 That if there is any sign of this sewer having, leading to the labyrinth, or something else unusual below Charmonde, that Nix would spot it. Daniel Andrlik 1:19:00 Okay, there isn't a way into the labyrinth from here. But, I would say this confirms for you, for sure, where it would be, where the sewer like ends and Doc Taraz's basement. I would say that you would probably know. Stace Babcock 1:19:15 Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:19:16 Because I can't give you that it's there, because it isn't, but I will say this, you do know like where the sewer links up. Like, it doesn't line up necessarily right with Doc Taraz's house from what you've seen, because you've used at least her guest bathroom and there was not a creature there. And knowing what you know about plumbing, your dad, this pipe is in the wrong place for that. If it was doing a normal design. Stace Babcock 1:19:43 But it's all, like it's, it's walled, there's no clear way into the space that should be there. It's just blocked off. Daniel Andrlik 1:19:49 No, it's just this, it's just this pipe, which is about, at best, 3 1/2 feet in diameter. Alex Finn 1:19:56 ChaCha's bigger than that. Daniel Andrlik 1:19:58 To start with. And, ChaCha, what would you propose as a natural 20 for this engineering roll. Alex Finn 1:20:05 So since it's engineering I think I want ChaCha to be able to, with her very destructive mind, be able to pinpoint a weakness in the wall between the sewer and Doc Taraz's basement. Daniel Andrlik 1:20:18 You could definitely identify where you could break in the wall for sure. There's a way to do that here. And someone with Nix's might could do it without needing a roll. Stace Babcock 1:20:30 Oh, "Line me up, ChaCha." Alex Finn 1:20:33 I think ChaCha kind of like positions Nix just so, and like, adjusts her hips just so, and she's like, "Okay, go." Stace Babcock 1:20:41 This is a kick situation or is this a lower the shoulder situation? Alex Finn 1:20:45 Kick. Stace Babcock 1:20:45 Alright. Daniel Andrlik 1:20:46 You bust through the brick. I mean, it's not easy. I mean, you know it's gonna hurt, right, like, doing this kind of thing. So, you are going to take 2 might damage from this process, but... And it takes a little over an hour, but you get past this brick, and then you get this thick soil that you kind of scrape through and then you reach a solid synth wall. Stace Babcock 1:21:11 Nix has Flesh of Stone, so I assume that armor is armor. Okay, so... Daniel Andrlik 1:21:17 Yeah, armor helps. Stace Babcock 1:21:18 ChaCha, I found some synth. Hey, Dili, can you cut through synth, is that thing? Sampson Davis 1:21:24 Ah, I don't think so. How thick is it? Like, if you knock on it, does it sound hollow-ish, does it sound...? Stace Babcock 1:21:32 Nix knocks as hard as she can. Daniel Andrlik 1:21:34 It sounds really thick. Alex Finn 1:21:36 Daniel wants us to pull off the thrupple cosplay? Stace Babcock 1:21:39 No, that's not our plan. Our plan is to go up the poop tube. Alex Finn 1:21:44 It's 3 1/2 feet in diameter, not- Stace Babcock 1:21:46 3 1/2 feet? If your shoulders can fit, you can fit. Sampson Davis 1:21:51 Well, ah, well. I was also thinking, I kinda... Daniel Andrlik 1:21:54 Remember, Alex, we're talking about like real feet, not your feet. Alex Finn 1:22:01 Valid. Sampson Davis 1:22:01 "So, I did kind of whip up something last night while I was thinking, so...",Dili will pull out the Data Vault. "So this will actually store an object within a 10 foot cube, right? So, what if I tried to use it to, like, take out a 10 foot chunk of synth. Other than that, I don't really have anything that could... cuts." Daniel Andrlik 1:22:24 You want to try that, you good? Sampson Davis 1:22:25 "Yeah, alright?" Alright, Dili's going to set the Data Vault to take out a hopefully 10 foot chunk of synth and whatever other material is behind it. If it goes after... Daniel Andrlik 1:22:36 Okay. So, it reaches out and it does this scan over it. And then, you notice the material in front of you begin to melt and it starts melting and like, flying as if it's in zero gravity towards the cube and it gets pulled into the device. And you see now you have an opening to that goes all the way to, the, what looks to be a synth hallway and you can see it almost scrapes off an indentation of synth on the other side. Stace Babcock 1:23:08 Dili, that's dope as hell. You built that? Sampson Davis 1:23:12 Yeah, just, always tinkering, that's me. And now we just have a block of synth. So, if there's any block puzzles down here, we're good to go. Stace Babcock 1:23:22 Oh my god, Dili, you could, you could... Crush somebody with it. Alex Finn 1:23:24 Crush somebody with it? Sampson Davis 1:23:26 Maybe? It'll come out as hard light, so I don't know how heavy that is. But, I, this... it's something, we have something. Alex Finn 1:23:31 Psychologically crush? Sampson Davis 1:23:33 I've never tried it, so, I can't say either, either or. Stace Babcock 1:23:36 Or you could just have a wall. Having a wall came in very handy for me after the auction, Dili, so don't underestimate having a wall. Alex Finn 1:23:43 Yeah. Wall's are great. Sampson Davis 1:23:46 Fair enough. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:23:48 So you guys going in? Or, are you gonna go back the, the way you came, or...? Alex Finn 1:23:52 We got to go in now. Daniel Andrlik 1:23:54 Would you like to plan some more? Alex Finn 1:23:55 No. We're going in blind. Sampson Davis 1:23:58 I do have one quick question, Dan. Is this Data Vault now a part of my cypher thing still? Daniel Andrlik 1:24:04 Yes, it is. Sampson Davis 1:24:05 Okay. Daniel Andrlik 1:24:05 It is until you activate it again. Sampson Davis 1:24:08 Got it. Stace Babcock 1:24:09 Dili, you could put the wall back. Alex Finn 1:24:10 Yeah, that was also a, an idea. Hide our tracks. Sampson Davis 1:24:15 Well, no, it's... it's not synth anymore, it's hard light. So, if she comes down here and sees it, she's gonna see, 'Oh, this wall is completely not the same.' Also, I think it also takes out the air. So, it'd just be like a block of hard light blocking our path if we try to come out this way again. Stace Babcock 1:24:30 Yeah, that makes total sense. Daniel Andrlik 1:24:33 Fuck you for figuring that out, Sampson. Sampson Davis 1:24:35 [Triumphant laughter] Alex Finn 1:24:38 Leave that in! Stace Babcock 1:24:39 Yeah, oh, anyway, what, you guys want me to lead? Like, I'm cool with that. Alex Finn 1:24:43 Yeah. Sampson Davis 1:24:43 I'll draw a map while we're doing this. Stace Babcock 1:24:44 Nix steps inside. Looks left, looks right. Daniel Andrlik 1:24:47 Okay, you see a hallway. Nix is in there and nothing happens. It's just a dark hallway. Stace Babcock 1:24:52 Does it seem to go the same distance in either direction? Daniel Andrlik 1:24:56 As far as you can tell, it's very dark. Sampson Davis 1:24:58 Dili pulls out a Glow Globe. Stace Babcock 1:24:59 Rolls it down the hallway- no. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:03 And are you stepping in, Dili? Alex Finn 1:25:05 Oh no. Sampson Davis 1:25:05 Yes. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:06 As soon as you step in along the edge of the hallway, a light begins to light up leading off to the right. And you can feel a vibration from the battery in your clothing. Sampson Davis 1:25:21 Alright. ChaCha, I need both hands for the map, do you want to hold the battery? Alex Finn 1:25:25 Yes. Sampson Davis 1:25:26 Dili gives ChaCha the battery. Alex Finn 1:25:27 ChaCha is holding it out like a divining rod. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:30 And the hallway does light up in front of you as you do this. Sampson Davis 1:25:33 Dili turns off the Glow Globe. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:35 There's still light coming from the hallway. Sampson Davis 1:25:38 Cool. Cool Cool Cool Cool. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:39 The battery seems to have lit up and seems to be leading the way. Sampson Davis 1:25:43 Alright, before we get noticed, let's get on down there. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:47 Okay. So, you're just following the, wherever the light leads you? Stace Babcock 1:25:50 Yep. Daniel Andrlik 1:25:52 Okay, so you walk for about 20 minutes, and you have to make several turns along the way. Right, and left and left again. And it's about then when you come upon a figure laying on the ground in a pool of blood. Alex Finn 1:26:09 Oh fuck. Daniel Andrlik 1:26:10 Their clothes are soaked with blood, they've clearly been stabbed multiple times. And then their throat has been slashed. And, Nix and Dili, but not ChaCha, you would recognize this face. It is the face of the butler that you talk to, the butler of Doc Taraz and it is her dead body lying on the ground. And that's where we'll end this episode. Stace Babcock 1:26:36 The butler didn't do it. Alex Finn 1:26:37 butler didn't do it!? Fuck. Daniel Andrlik 1:26:39 So, Dili, something about this episode. Sampson, rather, not Dili. You're a real person, not a character. Alex Finn 1:26:45 Sure. Daniel Andrlik 1:26:46 You're not a hologram. Sampson Davis 1:26:48 Well, I'm rather glad I thought of the thing that you were possibly going to get me on with the Data Vault cube, so, whatever. That was pretty cool. I mean, Atalia's letter was fucking heartbreaking, so... Stace Babcock 1:27:02 Yeah. Alex Finn 1:27:02 Yeah. Sampson Davis 1:27:03 I'm also kind of glad that it was only for Nix and Nix didn't share it. I don't know what Dili is gonna think about that, but I'm, I'm glad it happened that way. Stace Babcock 1:27:11 I have a strongly worded message for Marietta, and feelings, she's going to hear about this. Right now. I'm starting right now. Sampson Davis 1:27:19 I'm also rather interested that Mama Jerrun kind of knows what a ChaCha can see. So... Alex Finn 1:27:25 Yeah, that was... Sampson Davis 1:27:27 That'll be interesting. Alex Finn 1:27:28 I wanted to confirm it. So I was just like, mmm? [Unearthly... laughter?] Daniel Andrlik 1:27:33 Yeah. Okay, cool. So we have a segment that we do each week called Player Intrusions. That's where we offer you, the listener, an XP to check out something that we think you would really dig. This week it is Sampson's turn. Sampson, what would you offer our listeners an XP to check out? Sampson Davis 1:27:48 I would offer them an XP to check out a game that, as of recording recently came out, called Loop Hero. It's a small, kind of, take on RPGs. It's basically a tower defense game you play against yourself. Daniel Andrlik 1:28:01 Oh, okay. Sampson Davis 1:28:02 So basically the, the experience is that you are kind of taking care of this adventurer as he goes on a loop. basically. And along the way you fight monsters, and from them you get equipment and also, like, environment tiles. And so you lay down the environment tiles, it changes the environment to a forest or swamp or a graveyard in that square. And then you find different monsters and gets slightly better equipment. And the point is to basically throw more and more obstacles at this hero, such that they are leveling up at a rate that they are not near death when the final boss comes, but they're also like, getting more and more powerful quick enough to take on the final boss. It is, it is addicting. It is wonderful. There's so many different like systems going on because you can put different environment tiles together and from that you kind of get like a monster that you would see in both. Alex Finn 1:28:57 Ooooh. Daniel Andrlik 1:28:58 Fuck you, Sampson. Sampson Davis 1:28:59 Yeah, yeah. Alex Finn 1:29:02 I think I'll look at this game. Sampson Davis 1:29:04 I believe it is about 20 bucks on Steam. So it's not that expensive. And it is, it's also like really lightweight as a game, so just like, throw it up for like a half an hour as you're working Daniel Andrlik 1:29:15 So much shit, god dammit. Sampson Davis 1:29:19 Yeah, so yeah, Loop Hero, out on Steam. I'm assuming when you hear this, everyone's already, like, raved about it and gotten over it. So,... Stace Babcock 1:29:27 Hades all over again. Alex Finn 1:29:28 I think I'll.... Sampson Davis 1:29:29 Yeah, I'm sorry. Backlog. Can't help it. Daniel Andrlik 1:29:34 I just clicked purchase on Steam. Alex Finn 1:29:39 I'll have to look at this.... Daniel Andrlik 1:29:40 I don't know when I'll have time to play it. Like, so many games are aspirational for me right now. But that sounds awesome. Sampson Davis 1:29:46 Again, super lightweight. Just give it 15 minutes. It'll get you. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik 1:29:51 Cool. So if somebody wanted to reach out to us and tell us what they think about Loop Hero or about the podcast, how would they do that, Sampson? Sampson Davis 1:30:00 Oh, my god, I'm doing that now. So, if you want to talk to us, you can find us at our socials, we are at explorerswanted.fm, and from there you can find all the links to our socials. We are @explorerswanted on Twitter, we are @explorerswantedpodcast on Instagram and Facebook. If you feel that we are worthy of money that you give us, you can support us at patreon.com/explorerswanted. And probably the best way to interact with all of us and this little community that we're building is to find us on our Discord, which you can get to at explorerswanted.fm/discord. Stace Babcock 1:30:36 Yeah, and there you can not only interact with us, but with people who are much cooler than us. Alex Finn 1:30:40 True. Daniel Andrlik 1:30:41 Yeah, for sure. Yeah, our community is way cooler than us. Someday they'll realize that and everything will be for naught. Stace Babcock 1:30:47 We'll have to change the name. Sampson Davis 1:30:50 Dan edited that out. Can't, we can't tell. Daniel Andrlik 1:30:54 Very cool. And if you like the podcast, the best way that you could help us out is to tell a friend and tell them why you like the show and why they should listen to it. The second best thing you could do is to write us a five star review on a podcast directory. Specifically, Apple podcasts, Podchaser, and Stitcher. Those directories in particular make a huge difference for people trying us out, particularly Apple podcasts. The others if you have a Stitcher account, awesome. Podchaser, if you don't feel like having an Apple account, that's totally understandable. Podchaser is also a great platform. But, honestly, the reviews on Apple podcasts make the biggest difference for a show of our size. If you didn't like the podcast, or if you just thought it was meh. Well, let me address the elephant in the room. We've talked a lot about street meat on this podcast of late. Partly because it's fun to torture the cast with descriptions of food late at night, but mostly because of a simple truth. Podcasters are always hungry. And today it's time to feast. If you want to reach out to us individually on social media you can, you can find me on Twitter @andrlik. A-N-D-R-L-I-K. Stace Babcock 1:32:10 you can find me on Twitter @StaceWindu. Sampson Davis 1:32:13 Tell me what your favorite class is in Loop Hero. Mine is the Necromancer. I'm @SlamPotato. Alex Finn 1:32:17 If you want to tell me your favorite snack on Twitter, it's @realteaunicorn. I do not count. And follow me on Twitch @teawithaunicorn. Got to give them that sassy stuff. Daniel Andrlik 1:32:31 Okay, 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. And.... Everyone 1:32:44 Bye! Daniel Andrlik 1:33:16 Stace, I'm going to send this to you to read. Out loud. Stace Babcock 1:33:20 Oh yeah, sorry. Sorry. [Clears throat] Everyone 1:33:23 [Laughter] Stace Babcock 1:33:23 Nix will read this to her self, to be clear. Transcribed by https://otter.ai