Daniel [GM] 0:29 Welcome to Explorers Wanted. We are a Numenera actual play podcast. I am your humble GM, Daniel Andrlik, and with me today is Stace Babcock. Stace [Nix] 0:40 I'm here. I'm ready. Daniel [GM] 0:45 Alex Finn. Alex [ChaCha] 0:46 Hi. Daniel [GM] 0:48 Marietta Jones. Marietta [Atalia] 0:49 Hi. Daniel [GM] 0:50 And Sampson Davis. Sampson [Dili] 0:52 So fun fact, I forgot St. Patrick's Day was the thing. Until today, which is St. Patrick's Day. Daniel [GM] 1:00 I had the same thing. Sampson [Dili] 1:01 Yeah. Because when you're hearing this we are just the beginning of coronavirus season. Marietta [Atalia] 1:06 [laughs] Daniel [GM] 1:09 So let's cover what happened last time and I am going to pick on Stace. Stace [Nix] 1:17 Man. Is it cuz I didn't get the chance to transcribe so this is just from memory. Daniel [GM] 1:23 Maybe. Stace [Nix] 1:25 Ah, so last time. On this podcast. Daniel [GM] 1:33 Which we recorded on a particular day. Unknown Speaker 1:36 [laughter] Stace [Nix] 1:40 Gosh, I just cannot remember where the last episode started and where two episodes ago ended. Uh- Marietta [Atalia] 1:48 Uh, the tree. Stace [Nix] 1:49 The tree was part of the first? Marietta [Atalia] 1:51 Sorry. She was, uh, friends- Stace [Nix] 1:54 We started after the tree last? Marietta [Atalia] 1:57 No, we started with me being asleep at the tree and then the whole tree interaction. Stace [Nix] 2:02 Okay cool. So there was this tree, it is a beautiful tree, and we were walking by it and Atalia decided to take a nap, was lulled into taking a nap. Alex [ChaCha] 2:14 Yeah. Stace [Nix] 2:16 Dili also took a nap. Nix barely managed to stay awake at the insistence of ChaCha. And then basically ChaCha discovered that there were spores coming from the tree putting everyone to sleep and that the tree itself needed to be convinced to let them go. Nix tried to talk to the tree, the tree did not respond. Nix knocked on the tree rudely again. The tree did not respond. And so the Nix was like I'm just gonna go sleep and go talk to it. So she did. She convinced the tree to let them go, with the power of spending one XP for a reroll and subsequently rolling a 20 on that reroll. Managed to let the tree - or get to get the tree let us go and promised the tree to help it find vessels for all the previous souls that it had stolen and stored. And then the team went back to Charmonde and went and saw Momma Jerrun who seemed very forthright and honest about her involvement with the artifact and Mewin's death. Reported Mewin's death to Momma Jerrun, showed her the journal. She then paid out 40 shins apiece. That for Atalia who has some weird contract thing going on and then renegotiated that contract with Atalia, I think? That correct? Sampson [Dili] 3:53 Yeah, the rest of us like stepped out and her and Atalia had a conversation. Stace [Nix] 3:58 Yeah. So the rest of us don't know. Daniel [GM] 4:00 Yeah, it's more Atalia has a new contract. But in addition to the one that she's getting paid for when she meets up with her contact. Stace [Nix] 4:08 Oh yeah. And then Momma Jerrun tried to hire or hire Atalia away from whatever organization she's currently working for, an organization that apparently murders people, Atalia. And that's where we ended the ep. Daniel [GM] 4:24 Good. Want to- Stace [Nix] 4:25 I did a good job. Daniel [GM] 4:26 Yes you did. You get a gold star. Stace [Nix] 4:30 Can I? I'd rather have an XP? Daniel [GM] 4:33 Well, this is what I will say. Because you guys explored the ruins, you figured out what had happened to Mewin, you've also you know, encountered strange trees and all sorts of other strange things. So you all have two additional XP from the exploration you accomplished. Sampson [Dili] 4:51 Yes. Marietta Jones 4:52 Oh ehm gee. Sampson [Dili] 4:53 Did we also have a full night's rest? Daniel [GM] 4:56 Well, you probably. In order to get back to Charmonde. Stace [Nix] 5:00 Oh yeah. Sampson [Dili] 5:01 Okay. Stace [Nix] 5:02 Cuz you guys were kind of - refused to, remember your refused to sleep on the dead bodies around the tree. Unknown Speaker 5:07 [laughter] Stace [Nix] 5:09 So we had to go to the trade road and make camp. Sampson [Dili] 5:12 Yeah, let's say we did that so I can reset my recovery roles. Daniel [GM] 5:18 Sure. If I wanted to be a real dick, I would make you roll for each one of those recovery rolls, but I'm not going to. Sampson [Dili] 5:23 Well, I only have two points missing at this point, so. Stace [Nix] 5:26 What if you got a zero on all of them? Sampson [Dili] 5:28 That would be wild cuz I at least get two. Daniel [GM] 5:32 I don't know with your dice, Sampson. Sampson [Dili] 5:35 That's fair. Daniel [GM] 5:38 So you've got your two XP. You've had your conversation with Momma Jerrun, as we end - Momma Jerrun and Atalia have made, as Momma Jerrun referred to it: a compact. They even spit in their hands to shake and everything. Specifically, Atalia was offered 140 shins to retrieve that artifact. Because Momma Jerrun recognized quite clearly which organization had taken that item and Atalia happily agreed to it, in a pure mercenary fashion. Atalia has finished with Momma Jerrun, so I think I want to go back to the rest of you or Nix, Dili, and ChaCha. What do you guys do when you leave Momma Jerrun's? Do you go anywhere together? Do you split up and go your separate ways? I know that prior to this, Dili and ChaCha were essentially in hiding. So I don't know where you guys would go, if you go your separate ways or if you try to coordinate or what Nix would be doing. Stace [Nix] 6:45 Nix would be going to her mom's house. She'd be like, [As Nix] Yo, guys, I gotta drop this, these shins off at my mom's house. Like, you could walk with me if you want? Sampson [Dili] 6:56 [As Dili] Well. Shall we wait for Atalia? Just because she's kind of our best lead on where this item is since it's her contractor's? Contract. People who have it supposedly. Stace [Nix] 7:14 [As Nix] Oh, yeah, sure. Like, whatever you want to do, man. You can wait here. Actually. Will you wait here? And then tell her I went to my mom's house to, just to drop this off real quick. Sampson [Dili] 7:26 [As Dili] Okay. Stace [Nix] 7:27 [As Nix] Like I'll be right back. Sampson [Dili] 7:28 [As Dili] Do you want us to wait here for you to get back? Or do you want us to meet somewhere like... else? Stace [Nix] 7:34 [As Nix] Wait here - Or is there a nearby tavern, Daniel? Daniel [GM] 7:40 There's the Queen Spittoon, which is a pretty rough and tumble place. Stace [Nix] 7:44 That's right. [As Nix] Yeah, I could meet you guys at the Queen's Spittoon. Sampson [Dili] 7:48 [As Dili] Okay. Stace [Nix] 7:50 [As Nix] The - Oh my god. I have heard amazing things about the green scorpions there. So if you beat me there, will you, like, order some and save some for me? Haven't tried them yet. Sampson [Dili] 8:03 Are green scorpions the green grasshoppers of ninth world? Daniel [GM] 8:08 They're literally green scorpions. Sampson [Dili] 8:11 Fuck. Stace [Nix] 8:14 [As Nix] Alright cool. So yeah, Nix gonna go drop off the cash. Daniel [GM] 8:20 Okay. And Dili and ChaCha are waiting for Atalia? Alex [ChaCha] 8:23 Yeah. Daniel [GM] 8:24 Okay. So then for now unless, well let's play this out. So Nix you're going to go back to your folks house. Stace [Nix] 8:34 Mmhmm. Daniel [GM] 8:35 You come in the door and your father is sitting on the, this essentially a bench in the you know, sort of opening area of the house. Just looking exhausted. His head is in his hands. As you walk in the door, he looks up at you, and what is your father look like? Stace [Nix] 8:58 He is - He has clearly lost some weight, but he's he's a taller man with graying hair. Little bald on top. Umm, wearing clothes that were once fairly nice but are now threadbare. Not -the resemblance to Nix is more in his build than in his features. Daniel [GM] 9:23 Okay. He looks up at you. [As Nix's Father] Nix you're, you're home. How did, how did it go with the nano? Stace [Nix] 9:30 [As Nix] Bad news, Dad. The nano says this week's visit is her last visit. Has she been here? Daniel [GM] 9:40 [As Nix's Father] Not yet. There. We're expecting her tomorrow. Stace [Nix] 9:45 [As Nix] Yeah, so tomorrow's visit's the last visit until we can pay her that 300 shins. I did a - I did take a jab though. Though I got 40 shins here from today's job and I got 60 shins - That's right. Right, Daniel? Daniel [GM] 10:05 Yes. Stace [Nix] 10:06 60, right. [As Nix] I got 60 shins from a job I took the other night. So 100 shins towards the next month's treatment. Daniel [GM] 10:17 [As Nix's Father] Thank you. You're, you've always been. You've always been a good kid Nix. Stace [Nix] 10:22 [As Nix] Hey, thanks, Dad. You know I just, I just want Mom to be all right. Daniel [GM] 10:27 [As Nix's Father] She's, she's been away a couple times today. She's laying down now. Stace [Nix] 10:32 [As Nix] Twice today? Daniel [GM] 10:33 [As Nix's Father] Yeah. The first time she just came back, then looked startled. But the second time she came back, there was - there was frost in her eyelashes. Stace [Nix] 10:43 [As Nix] Can - can I see her? Or do you think I should let her rest? Daniel [GM] 10:47 [As Nix's Father] You could check in on her in the room. I don't know if she's asleep yet or not. Stace [Nix] 10:52 [As Nix] All right, I'm gonna go check in on her and then I got another job after this one, but I'll say bye before I leave again. Daniel [GM] 11:00 [As Nix's Father] Okay. Just kind of like, like droops at his bench as you walk out of the room and up to the master bedroom where your your mother is sleeping. The room is relatively dark, there's still some light. There's a glow globe lit up and one of the far corners, which you happen to know that with your mom's condition she doesn't like to be in total darkness. So you, you come in and she's laying there on the bed just kind of staring up at the ceiling. Stace [Nix] 11:34 [As Nix] Hey, Mom, are you - are you up to for a visit? Daniel [GM] 11:39 There's like a long pause. What does she look like? Tell me about your mother. Stace [Nix] 11:43 Um, she's got long hair. Blonde-ish, like dirty blonde. Looks very - looks old, looks older than she is. Looks older than she is because of the stress of the situation. Definitely resembles Nix pretty strongly. But she's a very small person. I mean, like, not abnormally small, just not big. Daniel [GM] 12:18 [As Nix's Mother] Nix, I'm still awake. Come on in. Stace [Nix] 12:26 So Nix goes in and she sits on the chair next to the bed and holds her mom's hand. She's like, [As Nix] You know, I'm gonna want to hear about where you went, just in case it's helpful, but uh, you all right Mom? Daniel [GM] 12:41 [As Nix's Mother] It's hard, dear. I - it's sometimes, it's all I can do not to scream when I think about it. Stace [Nix] 12:49 [As Nix] I know, Mom. I - you know, just hang in there. I got, you know, the Nano's coming back. We're getting closer to figuring out what's going on. Daniel [GM] 13:01 [As Nix's Mother] Are we? I feel like, I feel like we're not getting anywhere. I mean, don't get me wrong, she helps when she comes, I go less often, but it's it's it still feels a little hopeless right now. Stace [Nix] 13:17 [As Nix] I know, Mom. But listen, I'm back I'm going to be around Charmonde for a while. I'll be taking jobs. Like we're gonna keep we're gonna keep this treatment up till we till we find the answer. And uh you know every time I go out see something new, hear something different, it helps me figure out where you've been. And if there's a pattern we're going to find it, Mom. Daniel [GM] 13:40 [As Nix's Mother] Yeah... Oh your friend Jen was here today. Stace [Nix] 13:46 [As Nix] Oh. What uh, what did she say? Daniel [GM] 13:51 [As Nix's Mother] She had a lot of questions. I was a little confused at first, I thought she was going to help me, but she just seemed interested more than anything. So after a while, I told her I was tired and that she needed to leave. Stace [Nix] 14:05 [As Nix] I - I went to the the society, Mom. And I tried to get like an advance or a little bit of help to pay the nano and I guess - I'll talk to her, I'll make sure she doesn't come back again. Daniel [GM] 14:19 [As Nix's Mother] Okay, it's it's okay, dear. I - It was just unexpected. Yeah. Stace [Nix] 14:25 [As Nix] I didn't know she was gonna do it either, Mom. I'm real sorry. I'll uh - I'll head out to the way house later today - or send her a note. Daniel [GM] 14:37 [As Nix's Mother] It was really cold today, dear. Really, really cold. It was dark. It was cold. I could hear something. Stace [Nix] 14:46 [As Nix] What uh, what did you hear? Daniel [GM] 14:49 [As Nix's Mother] Like a long scraping, stone against stone or claw against slate. And it went for a second, I didn't get a chance to see it. Just so cold, so cold that I couldn't breathe and there was this scraping. Then you know, I came back. At this point you do notice that it looks like at least she's got like one little bit of her face that's got a little bit like frostbite. Like it's not like full on frostbite, but there's definitely a bad burn of cold. Stace [Nix] 15:26 Would Nix know generally the areas that would be that cold in the Ninth World? Daniel [GM] 15:32 You would probably - actually give me a roll, let's let's let the dice decide. Stace [Nix] 15:36 Let's let the dice decide. Daniel [GM] 15:38 Let's do this. It'll be a nine. Stace [Nix] 15:41 Okay. I don't think any of her skills will help. Daniel [GM] 15:45 Yeah, this is just gonna be based off of what Nix has a reliable chance to figure out, not necessarily what that she know the real answer necessarily. Stace [Nix] 15:53 Right. I got 10. Daniel [GM] 15:55 Okay. You know of the frozen desert to the south. But you're not sure about like, not being able to breathe or the claw sound or the darkness. You just know that there is a frozen plane beneath, beyond the south wall of the Steadfast. Stace [Nix] 16:14 Okay, so she takes out her her map and just sort of makes a notation along that south wall, that she thinks her mom ended up somewhere south of there. [As Nix] Um, Dad said, uh, you left twice today? Daniel [GM] 16:29 [As Nix's Mother] Yeah, the first time was - first time was. It wasn't painful. But I - it wasn't good. I saw things, they were. I can't even describe what they look like. There were so many limbs and it was twisted and one of them turned to me. I swear it spoke my name. Stace [Nix] 16:52 [As Nix] Really? Do you uh, do you think you could describe it so that I could maybe draw it. Daniel [GM] 16:59 [As Nix's Mother] Well they, they look different whenever you, whatever angle you looked at, so many angles to them. That's not the important part, hun. That's not the important part. The important part was after they said my name, they said yours. Stace [Nix] 17:16 [As Nix] What? Daniel [GM] 17:16 [As Nix's Mother] I heard them say Nix. Stace [Nix] 17:19 [As Nix} I believe you, Mom. That's. I mean, I think that that changes a lot. I mean, they - even just that they knew your name, that's crazy. Daniel [GM] 17:31 [As Nix's Mother] It is. You know how it is my - your father doesn't always believe these stories when I come back. Stace [Nix] 17:38 [As Nix] I know that, Mom. But Dad hasn't been around, I have. And I have seen some weird fucking shit and this is not the weirdest shit I've ever heard. Daniel [GM] 17:47 [As Nix's Mother] You're a good kid, Nix. Stace [Nix] 17:48 [As Nix] Thanks, Mom. You'll never believe who I ran into though. Daniel [GM] 17:55 [As Nix's Mother] Who? Stace [Nix] 17:56 [As Nix] Atalia. You remember her? Daniel [GM] 17:58 [As Nix's Mother] Oh, was she the - was she the really short one with the red hair, or was she the sort of medium height one with brown hair? Stace [Nix] 18:08 [As Nix] Mom. I kind of feel like this is a test. Unknown Speaker 18:11 [laughter] Stace [Nix] 18:11 [As Nix] The average height one, Mom. She had uh - it was like reddish brown hair. Daniel [GM] 18:22 [As Nix's Mother] Oh, that's right. Stace [Nix] 18:22 [As Nix] - in the right light. Daniel [GM] 18:23 [As Nix's Mother] That's right. Stace [Nix] 18:24 [As Nix] Yeah. Daniel [GM] 18:24 [As Nix's Mother] Whatever happened to her? She was so sweet. And then I haven't seen her in years. Stace [Nix] 18:30 [As Nix] I hadn't either. I tell you what. She's a nano. Did you know? Daniel [GM] 18:35 [As Nix's Mother] Really? Stace [Nix] 18:36 [As Nix] Yeah. Daniel [GM] 18:37 [As Nix's Mother] I had no idea. I mean, I'd heard that her family hadn't been able to afford school, but you know, sad thing about her mother, too. But no, I thought she - I'm surprised that she could train for that. You know, taking care of her grandmother. Stace [Nix] 18:53 [As Nix] Yeah, I don't know how she picked it up. But she I mean, she was pretty good. We went to these ruins outside of town and honestly, like she's pretty clutch, she's pretty good. Kind of sneaky-weird though, I'm a little bit worried, Mom. She's kind of caught up in like, this organization. Not sure what they're about. Now I don't think they're from the good part of Charmonde, you know what I'm saying? Daniel [GM] 19:15 [As Nix's Mother] Yeah, I suppose that is what the gossip says as well. Stace [Nix] 19:20 [As Nix] What else does the gossip say, Mom? Daniel [GM] 19:22 [As Nix's Mother] I don't like repeating gossip because most of the time it's not true. Stace [Nix] 19:25 [As Nix] Well that's a fair point, but I'm going to be working with her quite extensively. I've another job with her after this. So I'm just wondering like - Daniel [GM] 19:34 [As Nix's Mother] You're not going to the ruins again, are you? I - you know I worry about you when you do these things. Stace [Nix] 19:39 [As Nix] No, no, no, no. No, I - there's no plans to go to any ruins. But honestly, Mom, this last trip to the ruins earned me 40 shins so. Daniel [GM] 19:51 [As Nix's Mother] Oh, that's lovely. You should buy yourself - buy yourself something nice with it. Stace [Nix] 19:56 [As Nix] Aww, Mom. You know I've got a good pair of boots, that's all I need. I gave it to Dad. Daniel [GM] 20:00 [As Nix's Mother] Okay. Nix, I love you, but I need my rest. Thank you for checking in on me. Stace [Nix] 20:07 [As Nix] I love you too, Mom. And she, Nix will like kiss her on the forehead and leave quietly. Daniel [GM] 20:13 And as you leave quietly, if you look back over your shoulder, you see your mother's still laying there, staring at the ceiling. And with that, we're going to come back over to ChaCha and Atalia, how you guys passing this - Chacha and Dili. Heading back to ChaCha and Dili. How are you guys passing the time while you wait for Atalia? Sampson [Dili] 20:30 First, I would like to scrap Dili and focus completely on Nix's backstory, because I'm fuckin invested. Yeah. Um. Marietta [Atalia] 20:48 I've disappointed her guys. It's really unfortunate. Alex [ChaCha] 20:53 We're helping her Mom, it's gonna be fine. Daniel [GM] 20:57 What are Dili and ChaCha doing to pass the time? And are you staying in the alley waiting for Atalia? Are you wandering off somewhere? Sampson [Dili] 21:08 That's true. This is a long forgotten alleyway that we just happened upon by happenstance. So, yeah. Alex [ChaCha] 21:15 I think the alley's got good cover, I don't know why we would leave. Sampson [Dili] 21:19 [As Dili] Hey, ChaCha. Are there any whore-roars around? Alex [ChaCha] 21:28 [As ChaCha] What? Sampson [Dili] 21:30 Three R's in that word. Unknown Speaker 21:32 [laughter] Alex [ChaCha] 21:38 The deliberate over pronunciation of the word "horror" because I can't hear. [laughs] I don't know. Are there any horrors? Daniel [GM] 21:49 Just the usual sort of fleshy skin centipedes that are roaming around in the - around the edges normally, like climbing up the walls and through the walls. Alex [ChaCha] 22:02 Oh, that's what she like. That's her like base level normal? Daniel [GM] 22:06 Yeah, pretty much I mean like, like if you're looking for something specific that's not something that jumps out at you. That's like in a city, that's that's no big deal you just assume that it's like pigeons in the area. Alex [ChaCha] 22:19 Oh god invisible centipedes just everywhere. Daniel [GM] 22:24 In fact there's one that's kind of like curling itself around Dili's leg, but you've been around these enough that you're not really worried about it, because they never seem to actually interact with matter. Alex [ChaCha] 22:35 I think ChaCha is gonna like stare at the one on Dili's leg for a while, be like, [As ChaCha] No, it's just normal. Sampson [Dili] 22:41 [As Dili] Okay. Wait, did I step in something? Why are you looking at my leg? All rright. Alex [ChaCha] 22:48 [As ChaCha] Don't worry. It's, it's normal. Daniel [GM] 22:52 Just out of nowhere I want to make sure that you understand that your leg is completely normal right now and there is nothing wrong with it. Unknown Speaker 23:00 [laughter] Sampson [Dili] 23:00 I don't disagree, which is more worrying. [As Dili] I'm just, you keep mentioning things that you're seeing and I'm just, I don't see these things that you can see. But it's because of what you can see that we were able to find that or the item that we're looking for went it's like the ripple in space time that you vaguely described as a shoulder shrug that I'm not entirely sure what that meant. So I was just wondering if you could explain that a bit because it's kind of harrowing, that that is happening. Alex [ChaCha] 23:36 I mean, I know he's like, this is like a weird, like, mechanics question. But I know we slightly changed it. So ChaCha's not like constantly doing drugs because drugs are bad. Okay. Daniel [GM] 23:50 Yeah. Alex [ChaCha] 23:51 And it's like, children are her drugs, but are they really her drugs? Daniel [GM] 23:58 They're definitely like helping children and teaching children is really what ChaCha loves from what I have, like that's that's where her passion is. There's sort of an ongoing things that she sees whether or not Chacha ever takes like some sort of drug to kind of like dole her reactions to that, that's a choice that you would have to make as a player. Alex [ChaCha] 24:23 Okay. I think she's gonna turn to Dili and be like: [As ChaCha] Some people just see things that you can't see. They're always there and sometimes the worse they look, the better it is. And I mean drugs help, but drugs aren't a way to live all the time. Sampson [Dili] 24:42 [As Dili] Okay. Alex [ChaCha] 24:44 She's just gonna stare at that centipede again. Daniel [GM] 24:49 ChaCha's like, "this is your intervention." Alex [ChaCha] 24:52 This is the list of what's hurt me. Sampson [Dili] 24:54 [As Dili] Maybe I went too deep, too fast. Let me rewind. Have you lived in Charmonde for long? What's your favorite color? Alex [ChaCha] 25:03 [As ChaCha] Oh, no. I came here to be a slave, but they said I couldn't be a slave, and so I lit it on fire. I like blue. Sampson [Dili] 25:14 [As Dili] Hold on. What? Couldn't be a slave? We have, like the castle's called the house of 1000 slaves Alex [ChaCha] 25:23 [As ChaCha] Yeah, you think 1001 would be okay, but they were like, "No Chacha, we don't want you." So I lit it on fire. Sampson [Dili] 25:31 [As Dili] The castle, the Empiternal House? You lit that on fire? Like, recently? Alex [ChaCha] 25:37 [As ChaCha] Just somebody's desk. Sampson [Dili] 25:38 [As Dili] Oh, okay. [laughs] I feel like I would've remembered that, if the castle went up. Okay. Daniel [GM] 25:45 And Dili, as a native to Charmonde, you would know that like, something like that, if it was like a big fire, like a fire that did real damage at the castle, like there would be a full on, like warrant and bounty for ChaCha's execution at this point. Sampson [Dili] 26:01 Well wait, isn't there? Daniel [GM] 26:02 Well you're not, you haven't heard of that term, you've been running on your own. Sampson [Dili] 26:06 [As Dili] Oh, that's. That's cool. That's cool, cool, cool, cool that - hey! Congrats on not being a slave? I guess. Alex [ChaCha] 26:14 [As ChaCha] I guess? Why are you not a slave, Dili? Sampson [Dili] 26:18 [As Dili] It. You know what slaves are, right? Like it's not - Alex [ChaCha] 26:22 [As Chaha] - things people want. You know, they're things people want. Sampson [Dili] 26:29 [As Dili] Oh... Daniel [GM] 26:31 I like to think of like, ChaCha standing there and Dili is seeing this like imaginary like sign that says, "I'm damaged. I'm damaged." Sampson [Dili] 26:40 [As Dili] So blue. That's a very pretty color. Like the sky. Unknown Speaker 26:46 [laughter] Alex [ChaCha] 26:46 [As ChaCha] I thought so. Kids like blue, too. Sampson [Dili] 26:51 [As Dili] Okay, kids are involved. Great. Unknown Speaker 26:55 [laughter] Sampson [Dili] 26:55 [As Dili] Boy, Atalia is sure taking her sweet time in there, huh? Daniel [GM] 27:03 It's about this time that Atalia opens the door and comes out and sees - Marietta [Atalia] 27:08 [As Atalia] How's it going? Daniel [GM] 27:09 - like Dili and ChaCha just standing there. Sampson [Dili] 27:12 [As Sampson] Uh, great. Just great. Just talking about normal things, that are totally fine - Marietta [Atalia] 27:17 [As Atalia] Doesn't sound conspicuous whatsoever. Sampson [Dili] 27:19 [As Dili] - out here. What? No. It's fine. Marietta [Atalia] 27:22 [As Atalia] Okay. Sampson [Dili] 27:23 [As Dili] ChaCha, stop looking at my leg. Daniel [GM] 27:26 Okay, yeah, so Atalia has arrived. Show me what happens. Marietta [Atalia] 27:31 [As Atalia] So yeah, I guess we need to get that item. Sampson [Dili] 27:36 [As Dili] Do you got any ideas where to start with that? Since it seems like this is mostly in your element, at the moment. Marietta [Atalia] 27:43 [As Atalia] Yeah, I don't know. Do I just like go confront the guy? Do I just go for it? Sampson [Dili] 27:51 [As Dili] Cha Cha, you raised your hand? Alex [ChaCha] 27:53 [As ChaCha] What's Atalia's favorite color? Mine is blue. Marietta [Atalia] 27:57 [As Atalia] Blue. Alex [ChaCha] 27:57 [As ChaCha] Now we're best friends. Marietta [Atalia] 28:00 [As Atalia] Well that was easy. What's your favorite color, Dili? Sampson [Dili] 28:07 [As Dili] Silver. I think Marietta [Atalia] 28:09 [As Atalia] That's... Come on, man. Like - Sampson [Dili] 28:11 [As ChaCha] Primary. Marietta [Atalia] 28:12 [As Atali] - black is actually my favorite color, but like - Daniel [GM] 28:15 That's a little on the nose. Sampson [Dili] 28:16 [As Dili] Silver, I don't understand. Why is that too on the nose? Marietta [Atalia] 28:22 [As Atalia] Like, like red or blue or orange or yellow or green or purple? Like silver is just like... light gray. It's not really a color. It's just like - Sampson [Dili] 28:37 [As Dili] Silver is the color of cyphers and Numenera that are working properly. And I am a big fan of those things that work properly. So I'm going to stick to my answer: silver. Yeah. Marietta [Atalia] 28:49 [As Atalia] All right. Anyway, yeah, we should go get this item. I think maybe I should go meet with my guy? I'm a little, I don't know. Like that's - But like, I feel like I need to go investigate it and be like, "Hey, man. Why'd you send me on this?" Daniel [GM] 29:07 Yeah, well, and you definitely won't get paid for the first job unless you go to him, because he's the one who handles that. Marietta [Atalia] 29:12 Right. Yes, I do want my money. I like money. [As Atalia] So I guess I'll go find him. And yeah. I'm a little concerned though. Maybe you guys could like, maybe we could meet up somewhere after I meet with him? Sampson [Dili] 29:28 [As Dili] Nix went off to her mom's house. And she said that we should meet at the Queen's Spittoon. Familiar with that one? Marietta [Atalia] 29:37 [As Atalia] Platoon? Sampson [Dili] 29:39 [As Dili] The Queen's Spittoon. Daniel [GM] 29:41 This is something, Atalia, you've become aware of more in recent years. It is like the worst dive bar in Charmonde. Marietta [Atalia] 29:50 [As Atalia] Oh, okay. Yeah, sure. Sure. That's where you guys want to meet. Yep, I'll be there. [As Dili] All right. [As Atalia] Mmhmm. I'm going to, I'm going to go. I'll see you guys. And she'll, like [makes noise] hood up and you know skulk away, like, head down, quick walk. Daniel [GM] 30:09 Hopefully you also tell them where the Queen's Spittoon is. Marietta [Atalia] 30:12 [laughs] Ah... Daniel [GM] 30:17 Although Dili's a local he might have a vague idea of how to find it. Sampson [Dili] 30:21 I think he would know it might be in the worst sector. Daniel [GM] 30:26 Which isn't far away from right now. Marietta [Atalia] 30:29 I think just from like, you know, Atalia's facial response, you should know that. Anyway, so. Daniel [GM] 30:39 So apologies, Sampson and Alex. I think we're probably gonna fall Atalia story wise now. Sampson [Dili] 30:46 No, that's totally all right. Alex [ChaCha] 30:47 You don't want more confusion? Daniel [GM] 30:50 So Atalia, where are you going next? Marietta [Atalia] 30:54 Oh, well, I should probably go get my money. Try to go get my money. Daniel [GM] 31:02 Okay. Marietta [Atalia] 31:03 So I'm gonna go, I'll go report in. Daniel [GM] 31:06 Okay, so you make your way to sort of a middle class area of town. It's obvious that's it's middle class because here the statues are not crumbling. And you can see, like strange like sort of clockwork creatures like wandering the streets cleaning things up. And you go to that bar and you go in and you take the step back, you know, behind the bar and you go down the stairs to the basement. And once again, always as if he's been waiting for a while. It's James, with his feet up on the table, and a bottle of yellow brown liquor next to him. And as you come in, it looks up like, [As James] Atalia. I'm glad to see you're back so fast. They actually sent a courier. I hear that you did a good job on this one. Marietta [Atalia] 32:03 I'll shut the door and then I'll pop my hood down. And I'll be like, [As Atalia] Yeah, I think it went, well, except I found this. And I'll pull the patch out. Daniel [GM] 32:18 He's like, [As James] Huh, well, I mean, the customer's happy, but what? Where did you find that patch? Marietta [Atalia] 32:25 [As Atalia] The contract I was hired, the person I was to find, was murdered. And there was also a body of someone with this patch on right next to them. Daniel [GM] 32:32 [As James] Ah, so you think somebody murdered somebody from our organization? Marietta [Atalia] 32:37 [As Atalia] I don't know what I'm supposed to think. Daniel [GM] 32:41 [As James] Well, I'm glad you mentioned this. I mean, obviously, if somebody in our organization has been killed, we'll have to. We'll have to even the scales a bit. But can you tell me anything about the individual in question that you found and where you found them? Marietta [Atalia] 32:58 [As Atalia] The ruins. Just - Daniel [GM] 33:01 You're gonna have to be more specific when you say ruins Marietta [Atalia] 33:04 [As Atalia] You know, the ones outside town. The ones that start with a "K" I don't know. Daniel [GM] 33:11 [As James] Oh was that where the old woman sent you? Marietta [Atalia] 33:13 [As Atalia] Yeah, they wanted an item. Anyways, I was just wondering if that was of interest to you. It's disappeared and that's what they wanted, so... Daniel [GM] 33:21 [As James] Well thats interesting, I mean things go missing all the time. I'm a little more concerned about who killed somebody who'd be wearing this patch. Don't get me wrong, I mean, you're dear to me Atalia, but somebody's wearing that patch is no independent contractor. So I'm deeply concerned. Marietta [Atalia] 33:42 Can I insight check him or can I detect falsehoods? I'm trained in that. Daniel [GM] 33:48 You sure can. Marietta [Atalia] 33:49 I want to read the situation. Daniel [GM] 33:51 So the difficulty would normally be 12 with your training, it's a nine. Marietta [Atalia] 33:55 Okay. And I would like to spend a level of effort because this is important. All right, 13. Daniel [GM] 34:09 Okay, you. James definitely knows more than he's letting on. So James is definitely, he definitely knows something that he's not letting on, like he is doing an amazing job of showing you a poker face. And it's a poker face that you know from experience, he's very good at. But he, you suspect, at the very least, he already knows who died out there. He may not know everything about it, but he at least knows who you're - who you brought this patch from. Marietta [Atalia] 34:41 I'll sigh then and I'll say, [As Atalia] Look, James, I've been working for you for quite some time. And you've been really good to me. And I just don't understand why you would hire me out to these people if you were involved from the beginning. Daniel [GM] 34:52 There's a moment of pause where he just like stops, he's bringing up the drink to his lips, and then he freezes for a second. He's like, [As James] You're a sharp one, Atalia. I've always said that. Maybe too sharp, but sharp. I just do what I'm told. I hand out the contracts as they're necessary. Marietta [Atalia] 35:10 [As Atalia] Okay, well. I will stay out of it. I just didn't understand why, it seemed really unnecessary, but I won't poke any further. Daniel [GM] 35:22 Yeah, I mean, so is that a truth or falsehood that you're saying? Stace [Nix] 35:27 Oh, she's lying through her teeth right now, because now she's annoyed. Daniel [GM] 35:30 So give me deception roll the difficulty will be 12. Marietta Jones 35:37 Natural 20! Daniel [GM] 35:39 Okay, James is definitely on board. He's like, [As James] That's good to hear, better for everyone that way. Anyway, here is your payment. And he pulls out a small satchel and hands you a sack of shins, says [As James] 40 shins, as we agreed. Which is interesting to you, because that's exactly what everybody else was getting paid, which means that Momma Jerrun paid extra to contract you for this - Marietta [Atalia] 36:07 Interesting, okay. Daniel [GM] 36:08 And James says, [As James] I don't have anything else at the moment, but I will reach out as soon as I do and you always do good work for us. Once again. Thanks, Atalia. I don't know what I would do without you. Marietta [Atalia] 36:21 [At Atalia] Don't forget it. Daniel [GM] 36:22 [As James] Oh, ah. Did you ever find that seskii? Marietta [Atalia] 36:26 [As Atalia] Sorry. Daniel [GM] 36:28 [As James] Okay, well, yeah, I just thought it was worth asking since you know, it was a job you were involved in. Marietta [Atalia] 36:35 [As Atalia] Yeah, I'll look around for it. But I just you know, this job came up and priorities, so. Daniel [GM] 36:40 [As James] Okay, well, fair enough. Have a good night. Welcome back to the city. You've got 40 shins in your pocket. Make sure to celebrate a bit. Marietta [Atalia] 36:49 [As Atalia] Oh, I'll work on that. Thank you. See you later, James. And I'll put the hood back up, open the door, close it behind me. Daniel [GM] 36:59 So as you're going out the door, the camera first kind of like stays back and zooms in on James, it's so dramatic. Then we are going to catch up to ChaCha and Dili as they make their way to the Queen Spittoon. It doesn't take you long, you're not very far away. This is a very bad area of town, which makes sense, you guys were probably hiding somewhere here in the bad area. And as you kind of make your way over, you see this bar and it is definitely, it's definitely where some of the windows are already broken. The sign is a crude drawing of a crown spitting into a spittoon. Which makes sense because you guys know that like actually representing the Queen Armalu, like if you actually were to try to sketch her or something like that, in a non flattering fashion, that's punishable by execution. So just using a crown here is the best that they can get away with. Or at least Dili, you know this. ChaCha, you are a total stranger to Charmonde, so you I - I don't know like, if you even had time to get any of this information about the Queen. Alex [ChaCha] 38:14 I think ChaCha's gonna turn to Dili and be like, [As ChaCha] Why didn't they just use the crown as the spittoon? Why did they spittoon the crown? Crown's can't spit. Sampson [Dili] 38:25 [As Dili] Yeah, if you draw or depict the queen in any like, even like the slightest negative way, you just offed. You just, you wake up dead, probably. So they kind of have to learn how to use metaphors around here sometimes. Alex [ChaCha] 38:44 [As ChaCha] She hates pictures and juggling. Sampson [Dili] 38:48 Okay, now question. Does Dili know anything about this juggling incident? Daniel [GM] 38:54 Yeah, Dili would know all about the juggling, in fact that she's had jugglers executed on multiple occasions. Sampson [Dili] 38:59 [As Dili] Yep, juggling. Bad pictures. She is, [whispers] she's a little prickly. Daniel [GM] 39:06 Dili, you feel like a surge of like getting away with something, saying that. Because after all, she's the queen who's lived 273 years and she's, she's the prize of Navarene. So. Dili and ChaCha, as you go into this tavern, it is not great. It is definitely like really beat down. There are a number of people in here, there's a lot of people that just look like they're sort of like local to the area, with sort of beaten up clothes, kind of covered in dirt. Maybe they don't work in the city proper, maybe they do some mining or things like that. And there is one guy in the far corner that's just a sort of broad shouldered, kind of huge, and he's got a bunch of people kind of like sitting around him, who are also kind of burly, and everybody else seems to be keeping their distance from him. There's a guy in another side of it that kind of sticks out because he's wearing like bright yellow with like magenta pinstripes in a suit. Like what we would think of a suit as people today, but like in the ninth world is utterly ridiculous looking. And there is, you know, sort of a harried bartender up at the bar. Sampson [Dili] 40:32 What time of day is it? Daniel [GM] 40:34 This is night now. Sampson [Dili] 40:36 Okay. Alex [ChaCha] 40:37 Are there any open tables we can saddle up to? Daniel [GM] 40:41 Yes, there is an open table. Alex [ChaCha] 40:43 I think ChaCha's going for the open table. I had to remind myself we're not making friends with everybody. Sampson [Dili] 40:49 Dili's gonna follow ChaCha. And he has his hood up, by the way. Daniel [GM] 40:54 There's no table service at this one, so you guys figure out after a couple of minutes, you will have to go to get your order. Alex [ChaCha] 41:02 Or we could just be dicks and take up space without spending money. We could be those people. Sampson [Dili] 41:07 [As Dili] Let's not draw attention to ourselves. This is this is a bit meaner than I was expecting. Do you want to try to get drinks or should I? Alex [ChaCha] 41:17 [As ChaCha] You think the person who sees horrors should be drinking? Sampson [Dili] 41:22 [As Dili] I admit that sounds like a bad idea. Just between you and me, I don't think the wires can be much better. So - Alex [ChaCha] 41:31 [As ChaCha] I guess we're gonna see what happens with horrors and drinking. Sampson [Dili] 41:35 [As Dili] Let's do that. I... Daniel [GM] 41:39 Sorry, just thinking of horrors - whores and drinking now. Stace [Nix] 41:43 Man, me too - Alex [ChaCha] 41:44 I mean we could do that too. Stace [Nix] 41:47 Just didn't want to start the spiral. Alex [ChaCha] 41:50 We could do all three! Sampson [Dili] 41:52 Whore oh no whore whores is just the nurse from Silent Hill. Daniel [GM] 41:57 You guys - so Dili are you going up to the bar to order? Sampson [Dili] 42:00 I will do that. Yes. Daniel [GM] 42:03 Okay. So you go to the bar and the bartender kind of again, they're moving around a bit and they come over. What are you ordering? Sampson [Dili] 42:10 [As Dili] Two - What would be the blue collar drink in the ninth world? Beer, just say beer? Daniel [GM] 42:19 Yeah, you can just say beer. It's a ninth world beer. So it's different, but you know, you can just say beer. Sampson [Dili] 42:24 Alright, [As Dili] Two beers, please. Daniel [GM] 42:26 [As Bartender] Okay. No food or anything? Sampson [Dili] 42:28 [As Dili] No, no, thank you. Alex [ChaCha] 42:30 [whispers] What about the green scorpions? Daniel [GM] 42:31 [As Bartender] Do you want to open a tab then? Because you know it's only about a quarter shin for two beers. Sampson [Dili] 42:40 [As Dili] Maybe later, we'll see where the night takes us. Daniel [GM] 42:45 [As Bartender] Okay, do you have a quarter shin or...? Sampson [Dili] 42:48 Uh, do I have a quarter shin? Daniel [GM] 42:51 You probably have whole shins. Sampson [Dili] 42:55 Dili will put one shin on the bar. [As Dili] Just the two beers for now the rest is for you and your kind service. Daniel [GM] 43:02 [As Bartender] Oh, oh, wow. Well, The bartender takes a moment and she says, she looks kind of both ways. She's like, [As Bartender] I understand. And she winks at you and hands you two beers and takes the shins. Alex [ChaCha] 43:20 What did you just pay for? Sampson [Dili] 43:23 And like very like stiff robotically, Dili will take the beer and then just like, turn and walk again. Daniel [GM] 43:30 I guess you bring back the beer, it's not terrible. It's definitely not high quality, but it's not terrible. It's definitely potent. Alex [ChaCha] 43:37 [As ChaCha] Oh. Sampson [Dili] 43:40 Dili's just sipping. Alex [ChaCha] 43:41 Is it like do a constitution check on how drunk we are? Daniel [GM] 43:44 I wouldn't make you do that on one drink. I mean, I know ChaCha is very - actually ChaCha is really small. Sampson [Dili] 43:51 So is Dili. Daniel [GM] 43:53 Oh, yeah. Okay, why don't you guys both make a might roll of six Sampson [Dili] 43:59 I swear. Oh, thank god. Natural 20. Daniel [GM] 44:03 Okay. Alex [ChaCha] 44:04 I got seven. Daniel [GM] 44:05 Okay, so both of you are good. Dili you, man. Yeah, I would say that, like story wise, you helped ChaCha kind of stable herself. And I will give you sort of an asset on something in this room that involves you being alert and aware of what's going on. You can just hold that until you leave this scene. Sampson [Dili] 44:29 Thank you. Daniel [GM] 44:30 If something comes up. Sampson [Dili] 44:31 [As Dili] So how long do you think we should wait for Nix and Atalia to get here? Alex [ChaCha] 44:37 [As ChaCha] How long does it take to visit your mom? Sampson [Dili] 44:40 [As Dili] Well, my mom is dead. So however long it takes to get to the graveyard. Alex [ChaCha] 44:45 [As ChaCha] So like 30 minutes? Sampson [Dili] 44:49 [As Dili] Sure, why not? I don't really know where the graveyard is from this sector. Daniel [GM] 44:55 Hmm? Alex [ChaCha] 44:55 [As ChaCha] Do we order her her green scorpion? Sampson [Dili] 44:59 [As Dili] You know what? I think she can go to the bar for that one. I may have fucked up somehow by tipping. Because it's always something, isn't it? Alex [ChaCha] 45:11 [As ChaCha] People like tipping. Daniel [GM] 45:15 The bartender is watching you. Anytime you like look over there nervously, she winks at you. Sampson [Dili] 45:20 [As Dili to himself] Okay. Ah, this is gonna be rough. [As Dili] So blue. How about what brought you to blue is your favorite color? Alex [ChaCha] 45:29 [As ChaCha] It makes me happy and horrors aren't blue most of the time. Why? You like silver? Cuz Numenera, but what if Numenera is horrors? Sampson [Dili] 45:44 [As Dili] That's a hard question to answer. I guess, it'd be difficult, but eventually I would understand them, so they wouldn't be as scary anymore. So I get the feeling that's not quite the same situation you're in. Daniel [GM] 46:00 Dili, I think you have absolutely seen Numenera as a horror. In fact I think you tried to do something about it. Sampson [Dili] 46:09 Okay. Daniel [GM] 46:10 I feel like some of this is a deception. Sampson [Dili] 46:13 That's fair. Alex [ChaCha] 46:14 Does this have to be contested? Daniel [GM] 46:16 It will be. Sampson [Dili] 46:18 I have a six. Daniel [GM] 46:18 Okay, so ChaCha just roll like whatever your equivalent of insight or detecting falsehoods is. Alex [ChaCha] 46:24 If I have any abilities or inabilities, that's a good question. I got a 14. I don't think I'm hindered on this? Daniel [GM] 46:33 Okay, so 14 will definitely help you, I mean even if you were hindered, if you - Dili is definitely sort of dodging that question. Alex [ChaCha] 46:43 ChaCha will remember this. Unknown Speaker 46:46 [laughter] Alex [ChaCha] 46:46 Anyway. Daniel [GM] 46:48 This is the juice guys. This is why I play the game. Alex [ChaCha] 46:53 I think ChaCha's though, just gonna ignore that and just like skate on by like, okay. You do you booboo. Daniel [GM] 47:02 Okay. I would say in terms of distance traveled, time spent, I would say, probably... I guess the question is, would Nix spend any more time at home beyond the visit to her mother? Stace [Nix] 47:17 No, she would just say bye to her dad and dip out. Daniel [GM] 47:22 Okay, then I would say that since Nix got a head start, that Nix would be arriving at the bar next. Stace [Nix] 47:29 Ok. Daniel [GM] 47:29 And so the door opens, Nix comes in. You easily spot ChaCha and Dili in the corner. Dili has his hood up in here, which looks suspicious as hell. And there's ChaCha, who is still wearing her flamboyant cape. They're both drinking at an open table. And as you come in the door, you definitely see two sets of eyes, or you feel at least two sets of eyes, like from different parts of the room, following you as you go over to the table. Stace [Nix] 48:03 [As Nix] Hey guys, what's up? Sampson [Dili] 48:07 [As Dili] I was just shooting the breeze. Stace [Nix] 48:10 [As Nix] Man, Sampson [Dili] 48:11 [As Dili] Drinking this. Stace [Nix] 48:12 [As Nix] You didn't get those scorps, man. Listen it that is a solid wreck, you are going to regret it. As soon as you try these things, man. Sampson [Dili] 48:24 [As Dili] I am not going back up to the bar. For reasons I don't think I can explain. Like I physically don't understand what happened, so I don't - I can't explain what happened. So - Stace [Nix] 48:36 [As Nix} Okay? Sampson [Dili] 48:37 [As Dili] If you want some scorpions go hog wild. Stace [Nix] 48:40 [As Nix] Did you, did you open a tab? Sampson [Dili] 48:44 [As Dili] No, I didn't. I'm not really in a position to get very drunk at the moment. So no. Stace [Nix] 48:51 [As Nix] Though did they overcharge you, man? Cuz like these drinks are like stupid cheap, like Sampson [Dili] 48:57 [As Dili] Yeah, it's like - Stace [Nix] 48:59 [As Nix] Yeah? Sampson [Dili] 49:00 [As Dili] quarter shin? Stace [Nix] 49:01 [As Nix] They don't got no tab? Sampson [Dili] 49:02 [As Dili] No. I just tipped the bartender like a good person. Like everyone should, listener. Alex [ChaCha] 49:13 We're looking at you right now. Stace [Nix] 49:15 [As Nix] I see. Uh, alright. I got you, no worries. I'm gonna go get some beer for myself and some some of those scorpions. Alex [ChaCha] 49:23 I think ChaCha's gonna push a shin towards her. And then just to be like the most awkward person she is, she's gonna say, [As ChaCha] Dili says his mom lives in the graveyard. Does your mom live in the graveyard too? Unknown Speaker 49:35 [laughter] Stace [Nix] 49:35 [As Nix] Not if I can help it, ChaCha. Alex [ChaCha] 49:49 [As ChaCha] Okay. Stace [Nix] 49:52 Nix is gonna buy. Alex [ChaCha] 49:55 I have a plan for Chacha! Stace [Nix] 49:57 [laughter] Nix is gonna buy something stronger than beer. Daniel [GM] 50:04 Okay, so Nix goes and orders a drink. And some scorps, I assume. Stace [Nix] 50:09 Double, double scorps. Daniel [GM] 50:10 Oh, nice. Stace [Nix] 50:13 And then would Nix know what would have happened with the tip? Or what impression would have been left by the tip? Daniel [GM] 50:21 Nix has only been here once before, so I don't think so. Stace [Nix] 50:25 All right, so Nix opens a tab. Daniel [GM] 50:29 As the bartender is handing you things like, [As Bartender] What can you tell me about the little guy over there? She's - [laughter] Stace [Nix] 50:35 [As Nix] Dili's super smart. Kind of just met him, so I don't know a whole lot. Seems nice. Daniel [GM] 50:44 [As Bartender] He seems kind of desperate, which I'm kind of into. Stace [Nix] 50:51 [As Nix] Yeah, he definitely gives off. For sure man, that aura of desperation, I feel it as well. Kind of a real - he's a nervous short boy, you know what I'm saying? Daniel [GM] 51:04 [As Bartender] Yeah, yeah. It's very much my type. But anyway, here's your scorpions and your drink. Stace [Nix] 51:13 [As Nix] Dope. So uh Nix though wouldn't ignore Karfa if he's in there. Daniel [GM] 51:21 Karfa is there. Sampson [Dili] 51:22 She's like, Stace [Nix] 51:23 [As Nix] Yo. What up, Karfa? Daniel [GM] 51:25 He just kind of nods at you, like a lil "sup?" And raises his glass to you. Stace [Nix] 51:29 She raises her tray and her glass back at him and goes back to the table. Daniel [GM] 51:36 Okay, so you guys are presented with this plate of greens scorpions and a sort of purplish dipping sauce. Stace [Nix] 51:46 [As Nix] Yo my boy "Hey You" said these are dope. So dig in guys. Sampson [Dili] 51:53 [As Dili] "Hey You?" Stace [Nix] 51:54 [As Nix] No. Not "Hey Me," "Hey You." Sampson [Dili] 51:57 Nope. I'm not falling for this fucking epic stellar routine. Whatever. Unknown Speaker 52:00 [laughter] Sampson [Dili] 52:04 So are they like pickled scorpions or?? Stace [Nix] 52:07 I imagined they're like crab legs. Alex [ChaCha] 52:09 I mean, they're same family. Daniel [GM] 52:11 Except it's like the whole body. Stace [Nix] 52:13 So Nix just like cracks that in half, cracks it in half, and dips it. Daniel [GM] 52:19 Do you go straight for the tail or the body? Stace [Nix] 52:21 Breaks the body in half. Daniel [GM] 52:23 Yeah. Okay. Alex [ChaCha] 52:24 That's just like mini lobsters. It's fine. Stace [Nix] 52:26 Dips it in the purple sauce and like sucks the meat out of the shell. Daniel [GM] 52:31 It is fucking amazing. Stace [Nix] 52:34 Oh, my [laughs] Daniel [GM] 52:37 Let's say, imagine yourself at 2am, after drinking the whole night, and you get into like a Perkins or a late night 24-hour diner, and you order yourself some mozzarella sticks. And you have your first bite of those mozzarella sticks. That's how good these scorpions are. Sampson [Dili] 52:59 Dan, we're in quarantine right now. Can you not describe it like that? Stace [Nix] 53:04 Yeah, for real. Alex [ChaCha] 53:05 Just about to have an orgasm over here. Stace [Nix] 53:08 Like, I'm right now I'm kind of like, how much of my health and safety is T-Bell worth? Unknown Speaker 53:15 [laughter] Stace [Nix] 53:16 Umm. Yeah, so she just started smashing them and like gestures at them, to the other two. Sampson [Dili] 53:24 Dili will try a little. Daniel [GM] 53:26 Yeah, they're fucking amazing. Sampson [Dili] 53:27 [As Dili] Oh shit. Daniel [GM] 53:31 It's about this time that Atalia wanders in. Marietta [Atalia] 53:34 Oh, uh, I'll go sit down by them and pick up a scorpion. And... eat it. Sampson [Dili] 53:41 [As Dili] How did your meeting go? Marietta [Atalia] 53:44 [As Atalia] Uh. It was not as productive as I might have liked. Sampson [Dili] 53:50 [As Dili] How do you mean? Marietta [Atalia] 53:52 [As Atalia] Well, I was like, "Hey, bro, what's going on?" And he's like, blink, blink, blink, blink. Stace [Nix] 53:57 [As Nix] That's why you got to go into these meetings with an agenda, dude. Like otherwise they are never productive. Sampson [Dili] 54:05 [As Dili] Okay, Nix. You don't seem like the kind of person that goes in to any place with a plan. So that seems like suspect advice coming from you. Daniel [GM] 54:13 Holy shit. Stace [Nix] 54:15 [As Nix] Dili, I have been part of an organization for almost eight years, man. So I've been in a lot of meetings. I've never written the agenda, I have just noticed a market increase in productivity when someone brings an agenda. Marietta [Atalia] 54:15 Oh man. Alex [ChaCha] 54:16 Burn. Marietta [Atalia] 54:17 [As Atalia] Yes, well, I had an agenda and tried to check off the list and he was like, "Nah, man, I'm not collaborating." So. Daniel [GM] 54:41 Okay. Can everybody, for me, roll some sort of perception based roll. And the target is going to be 12. Stace [Nix] 54:50 Nailed it. Marietta [Atalia] 54:51 All right. Is it searching or listening? Stace [Nix] 54:54 I got a five. Alex [ChaCha] 54:56 17! Sampson [Dili] 54:57 Can I add my nat 20 asset to this one? Daniel [GM] 54:59 Yes, you sure can. Uh, searching would not help you with this, nor would listening. Sampson [Dili] 55:05 Dili rolled a six. He's really into the scorpions. Daniel [GM] 55:08 Well, he actually, yeah. I would say with a natural 20, Dili's just going to notice this. Sampson [Dili] 55:13 Oh, all right. Daniel [GM] 55:14 I think Atalia is oblivious to this. So I think everybody to some degree notices it, but Dili you catch it first. Somebody has kind of slunk into this bar. They're very thin, they're wearing dark clothing. They are definitely hooded, like you. Although their hood kind of comes more across as a fashion statement rather than "I'm wearing a Halloween mask so you don't know who I am." And they have come in and they have immediately like slunk and blended into the background, but they're very clearly watching Atalia. Sampson [Dili] 55:47 [As Dili] Hey, Atalia, you got a - I mean don't look, but - Actually Dili will make like a subtle illusion on the table. Like whatever the woodgrain is or something, he'll make an arrow pointing roughly in the direction. Something subtle enough that neighboring tables won't see, but everyone at the table will be like "hey, there's an arrow in the table." [As Dili] There's someone over there that seems to have eyes for you. Marietta [Atalia] 56:16 [As Atalia] Intriguing. Umm So she's gonna dramatically put down the drink that she, she picked up someone's drink and started drinking it. Sorry guys, I don't know whose. And then is like, [As Atalia] I have to piss. And she'll wander off to the bathroom and then look while she does that, because obviously, you know, distraction. Daniel [GM] 56:39 Give me some sort of deceit or stealth in hiding that you're looking for them. It'll be a 12. Marietta [Atalia] 56:47 I'm trained in searching. Daniel [GM] 56:49 Well, this is gonna be you hiding something. Marietta [Atalia] 56:52 Hiding something from who? Daniel [GM] 56:54 You're hiding the fact that you're trying to catch a glance against them. Marietta [Atalia] 56:58 Oh, okay. Sure, yeah. Okay. 16. Daniel [GM] 57:05 Okay, um, you think you've managed to kind of glance, you see this like shadowy figure there. You don't recognize them, but with your experience working with this handling organization that you've contracted for, whatever it is, like some instinct in you, like, screams that it's somebody from that organization. If not somebody part of the organization proper, they are a contractor. Marietta [Atalia] 57:29 Okay, I'll file that information away and you know, go get a drink at the bar or something. You know. Daniel [GM] 57:37 I thought you were heading to the bathroom. Marietta Jones 57:39 Oh, that. Yeah, bathroom. Go. Daniel [GM] 57:41 Okay. Alex [ChaCha] 57:42 Bathroom, bar. Marietta [Atalia] 57:43 Drinking. Alex [ChaCha] 57:44 Same thing. Daniel [GM] 57:44 Dili, as an extension of your natural 20, you'll notice that as she goes to the bathroom, this dark figure follows her. Sampson [Dili] 57:45 [As Dili] Shit. Hey, guys. Mystery person over there is following Atalia into the bathroom. Should we help? Actually, you two should help. I don't think I can go into that room. Unless it's a unisex bathroom. I don't know what we do in the ninth world. Alex [ChaCha] 58:09 Is it just like a pit outside? Marietta Jones 58:11 Yeah, it's just a pit. Daniel [GM] 58:12 Like Charmonde normally would have some sort of separation, but here at the Queen's Spittoon? No. Sampson [Dili] 58:19 It's the same hole for everybody. Daniel [GM] 58:20 Yeah. Sampson [Dili] 58:21 [As Dili] We should go help. I think. Alex [ChaCha] 58:25 Can ChaCha throw the broken googly eyes at this figure? Daniel [GM] 58:31 If you want to try to do that in the from the middle of the bar, you sure can. Alex [ChaCha] 58:35 Yes. Daniel [GM] 58:36 Okay. So this is gonna be a 12 speed roll. Alex [ChaCha] 58:40 I got a 19. ChaCha's good at throwing and juggling. Daniel [GM] 58:45 So are you doing a minor effect? Or are you doing extra damage? Alex [ChaCha] 58:50 Um, would a minor effect be that he like temporary loses sight of Atalia? Daniel [GM] 58:57 I would say it could be a distraction. I think yeah, it could be definitely a distraction where it would slow them down. So this item hits his head and or her head, or whoever's head it is, their head. And they kind of look down at it and they look at you briefly, seeing you kind of like juggling other items. And then they look back and see Atalia entering the restroom, and then they kind of look at you again. And then they kind of hurry towards the restroom. And then, and then they go into the restroom very quickly. And then Atalia, you hear a voice behind you, it's kind of gravelly, and it says, [As ???] You should know better than to ask those kinds of questions. And that's where we'll end this episode. Stace [Nix] 59:52 No Alex [ChaCha] 59:54 No stop. Stace [Nix] 59:56 I would prefer not to stop playing, Daniel. Daniel Andrlik 59:59 Yeah, sorry. Unknown Speaker 1:00:01 [laughter] Daniel [GM] 1:00:03 Marietta, is there something this episode that made you feel awesome that Atalia did? Marietta [Atalia] 1:00:09 Um, I don't know, knowing that she was being deceived was pretty good. And that nat 20, always nice, but I think I'm mostly just really stressed out now. So. Hard to recall at the moment. Daniel [GM] 1:00:21 Yeah, okay. Okay, fair enough. We have a segment we do each week called "Player Intrusions" where we talk about something that you should check out. This time it's actually my turn. And what I want to tell you about is, I'll give you an XP if you guys check out Invisible Sun. And Invisible Sun is another Monte cook game. You can see when you're looking at the rules, the bones of the cypher system that makes up Numenera. I like to think of it as the cypher system on steroids because there's all sorts of extra things that get layered on. The game has got a simple concept that becomes very complex, and that is the world that we're in now, the world that we think of as real, where we go to our jobs, where we go to the pharmacy. All of that is a lie. It's the world of shadow. And in reality, all of us are Vislae, people who use magic. And when we remember that, when we escape from shadow and return to the actuality, we have capabilities that we've forgotten about. Invisible Sun is all about the surreal, it's all about the strange twists and turns, like everything weird that you can imagine, it exists there. And you have, and everybody there has some kind of gift for magic. And they go forward and they seek out their knowledge or they seek out power or they seek out different things, but it's a really neat game. And one of the things I think is very cool is that the character advancement is always based off of your personal character arc. So if your character has a particular thing that they're trying to achieve, all of your advancement, the things that actually allow you to get extra powers and things like that, are based off of you forwarding your story arc. So you really get a chance to inhabit the characters. In fact, at the first session, you not only kind of introduce your character to everybody else, but you define what your house looks like, and what your house - what kind of mysteries your house has, and then all the other players get to decide what neighborhoods that you live in. And everything is changed by the sooth deck, which is sort of a tarot like deck that when a card is in play, it changes the way that magic works. So there's a lot of variation in this, it's a very cool concept. If you want to do like really character heavy campaigns or games, it's a really good system for that. It's a little bit, the thing, I say it's the cypher system on steroids because in cypher, the basis of your character is really a single sentence. I am an adjective noun who verbs. There's other details and backstory that you build. But all of your specs come out of that single statement. In Invisible Sun, you have that, you have sort of that statement. You have some extra things on top of that statement, but there's all sorts of other layers of complexity that get applied on it. So if you think about cypher system as almost sort of a counter response to complicated character creation. And Invisible Sun is a sort of love letter to taking your time to build your backstory and a meaningful character that you really want to explore over time. It's a very cool game. I haven't had a chance to play in it as a player, but I've had the opportunity to run it once. Actually, Sampson was in that game. And I had a blast. It was it was a ton of fun. And I love that it's sort of bizarre strangeness that the surreal nature of it allowed. It's the kind of game that I would suggest that there are some sort of short adventures and some one shots out there but really, to experience that game, you need to campaign. That's my player intrusion for this week. Invisible Sun. Check it out. I'm aware that it's it's a bit expensive, but it's worth at least like checking out the key, which is the main sort of introduction to for players and seeing what it's like. Stace [Nix] 1:04:53 It sounds dope as hell Daniel [GM] 1:04:55 It is very cool. Sampson [Dili] 1:04:57 It is a lot of fun. Daniel [GM] 1:04:58 Actually, similar to Dili, Sampson had a character whose face was a theater mask and it kept changing based off of his mood. Sampson [Dili] 1:05:07 Yes. Marietta [Atalia] 1:05:08 Excellent. Stace [Nix] 1:05:09 Sampson, you come up with amazing characters. Alex [ChaCha] 1:05:12 That's cute.Yeah. Sampson [Dili] 1:05:13 Thank you. I do have a lot. Alex [ChaCha] 1:05:15 So we keep murdering them. So we can see more. Sampson [Dili] 1:05:18 I do have seven or eight waiting in the wings right now. So. Unknown Speaker 1:05:24 [laughter] Sampson [Dili] 1:05:25 Sorry six, six and a half. Stace [Nix] 1:05:27 You haven't finished the last one yet? Sampson [Dili] 1:05:29 Well, no. One of them is the same character sentence, but I take the actual character two very different ways yesterday. Stace [Nix] 1:05:36 Oh, interesting. Sampson [Dili] 1:05:37 Yeah. Daniel [GM] 1:05:38 That's kind of cool. You will have to share that one with me. That's, that's interesting. I might play with that idea. Sampson [Dili] 1:05:45 Please don't kill Dili because of that idea. Please don't hurt me. Daniel [GM] 1:05:48 No, I'm not going to. Probably. But yeah, so that was our player intrusion this week. Marietta, where can people find us if they want to talk to us on the social medias. Marietta [Atalia] 1:06:01 Oh man, we're a lot of places. We're on Twitter. We're @ExplorersWantedPodcast? Daniel [GM] 1:06:07 Just @ExplorersWanted Stace [Nix] 1:06:09 Or just @ExplorersWanted. Dang. Okay. It's just @ExplorersWanted and then Instagram is @ExplorersWantedPodcast and Facebook is also Explorers Wanted Podcast and then we have explorerswanted.fm which is our website. Daniel [GM] 1:06:26 Mmhmm Marietta [Atalia] 1:06:26 Did I miss anything? Daniel [GM] 1:06:27 No, you got everything. Until you make that Tumblr page for us. Stace [Nix] 1:06:31 Yeah. Marietta [Atalia] 1:06:32 I don't know, I need to see some like requests for the Tumblr page. Tumblr, you have to be really invested. Give me like a week. Alex [ChaCha] 1:06:40 Hard to be invested when they took away porn. Unknown Speaker 1:06:43 [laughter] Daniel [GM] 1:06:45 So we are a new podcast. And really, if you enjoyed what you heard, the best thing that you can do is tell a friend about it. What you liked about us, what you liked about the show. The second best thing you can do is leave us a five star rating. It is a huge deal, it will really help us if you could go to your podcast directory of choice and leave us a five star rating, particularly if it's Apple podcasts, because that really affects the way people discover new shows. If you didn't like what you hear, if you really kind of hated the show, I would recommend that you write about that in your journal and kind of work that out, you know. Maintain sort of a hate journal, you can even draw like weird sigils in there and things like that. And then just burn it at the end. I think that's best. Umm, it's really helped you work out your negative feelings so you're not carrying it to the day. If you want to talk to us individually, you can. I am on Twitter @andrlik. That's a-n-d-r-l-i-k because my family cannot afford vowels. And that is where you can find me. Stace [Nix] 1:07:58 You can find me on Twitter @StaceWindu. It's like Mace Windu. But Stace... Windu. Sampson [Dili] 1:08:05 You can tell me your favorite color @SlamPotato. Unless I asked you to do that last week. In which case, say/tell/remind me what your favorite color is. Unknown Speaker 1:08:17 [laughter] Alex [ChaCha] 1:08:18 And then you can find me on most social platforms as teawithaunicorn, except for Twitter, where I'm @realteaunicorn. That's a thing I had to do. Daniel [GM] 1:08:31 Yeah, cuz you're the original, accept no substitutes. Alex [ChaCha] 1:08:34 If you got a substitute, it's margarine. Marietta [Atalia] 1:08:36 No substitutes here. And then yeah, you can find me on Instagram. I do the picture thing. And I'm @imonahike, all one word. Daniel [GM] 1:08:46 Okay, excellent. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for listening. We will be back next week with another episode as we will for every week for the foreseeable future. Have a good night and bye. Unknown Speaker 1:09:01 [All Together] Byyyyye.