Daniel Andrlik: Welcome to Explorers Wanted. We are a weekly Numenera Actual Play podcast. I will be your humble GM, Daniel Andrlik. With me today is Alex Finn. Alex Finn: Today's the day of shrimp. I'm eating shrimp chips and I'm going to make shrimp for dinner. Shrimp. Daniel Andrlik: Stace Babcock. Stace Babcock: I have 144 hours into New World, if anyone was wondering. Alex Finn: It hasn't killed your computer? Stace Babcock: No, my GPU is fine. Alex Finn: Sweet. Stace Babcock: Thus far. Daniel Andrlik: And Sampson Davis. Sampson Davis: I ran out of coffee, so this episode will be a disaster. Thank you. Daniel Andrlik: So who remembers what happened last time? I'm going to pick on Stace. Stace Babcock: No shit, There we were, sleeping, snuggly warm in our beds when Hubert the First fucking attacked Hubert the Second. So Nix woke up, saw the situation, scared the shit out of Hubert the First. And woke ChaCha up, treated Hubert the Second for his wounds, and then yeah. Went back to bed. Dili got up first the next morning, a surprise because Nix is usually the first one up. But we'll find out more about that in a minute. So Dili goes downstairs, is chatting with Vlad, and noticed that he had some sort of knob in his right bicep, some sort of synth... yeah. Knob. And turns out Astor's making modifications in the event that he has to save Dili's ass again. There was like some parenting going on. Long story short, Astor is giving Dili the cold shoulder and the silent treatment for the moment. Or did, for the moment. I think he did speak later. Stace Babcock: So then Nix and ChaCha wake up. Nix feels like trash. She loses five might points. It's unclear why. An action recovery roll does restore those points. Nix heads downstairs, hydrates, and discusses the situation in general with the crew and then goes to sweat it out. Meanwhile, ChaCha also comes downstairs. Thinking about what happened in the tavern... oh. A wee child Jackson, I think was the child's name, came up and gave ChaCha a drawing of her in a red cloak with purple smoke coming out of her eyes. And ChaCha informed the child, really a life lesson that if somebody fucks with you, you should fuck them up. And yeah. So Jackson seemed to internalize that immediately, which is concerning. Stace Babcock: So then the crew leaves, gets on the subway which is now clear and heads off toward the proving ground. Oh! But before getting on the subway, Nix was of course again trying to sweat it out. She was performing calisthenics in the corner. And ChaCha comes down and sees imps, the snake-like horrors, a pair of them in that corner fanboying over Nix. Meanwhile there was a third one that was really creeping toward Dili for reasons unknown. ChaCha asserts her dominance, does some mental onslaughts. Nix and Dili can't see anything. ChaCha has somewhat informed them of what's going on. And then Nix steps between the invisible imps that she can't see but ChaCha pointed them out, and hisses and extends her fangs. They immediately become submissive. One pukes a necklace on the ground. Nix picks it up, cleans it off, puts it on. It doesn't seem to have any particular effect. And the crew puts together that Nix being an imp queen, or being referred to as an imp queen by the artist that they killed in the tunnels previously... I like how that makes the crew sound terrible. Stace Babcock: The artist in the tunnels they killed previously had referred to Nix as a little imp queen or something. Speculated on that for a bit, got into the pod headed through the Black Riage. Haven't we been in the Riage this entire time, Daniel? Basically? Daniel Andrlik: Yes. Stace Babcock: Yeah. And then they exit at the other end, and it's clear to Nix that they're only about a day from the proving ground. She knows where they are. And boy, I feel like something happened right after that. Oh! Prentiss showed up. The mysterious Prentiss, who can also see horrors, showed up and was like, you're late. And yeah, that's where we ended it. Did I miss anything? Sampson Davis: I'm pretty sure you fucking nailed it. Alex Finn: Yeah, that was amazing. Sampson Davis: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Did you mention the pendant? Stace Babcock: Yep. Daniel Andrlik: Yep. Alex Finn: Yeah. Look what we can do when we're not drunk. The focus! Daniel Andrlik: Also when we're doing the recap right after we recorded the one before. Alex Finn: Right. Sampson Davis: Shh, shh, shh. Stace Babcock: Let's not lose sight of the actual situation. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Alex Finn: Like, I took my Adderall. Shh. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. So you've just heard this voice on the other side where you came out, saying, You're late. And Vlad is kind of jump started a little bit, and then turned around and said, My friends, let me introduce you to Prentiss of the Guardians of Night's Hope. And when you turn to look at this individual, they are wearing a gray cloak with a hood over. They pull their hood down. This individual is about 4'5" with sort of coppery red hair. She has darker skin. She has pale lavender eyes and very similar to ChaCha, they seem to always be a thousand yard stare. She looks at you, you can tell that she's looking at you, but her focus doesn't seem to be on you. Underneath her gray cloak she just seems to be wearing very standard traveling clothes, but they're clearly adapted. Some of them appear to be adult clothes that have been tailored down to her size, but her shirt seems to have been a patchwork child's shirt that has been expanded by sewing extra fabric into it. Daniel Andrlik: And she looks at you each in turn and says, I was expecting you here yesterday. Alex Finn: We took a nap. Sampson Davis: Something exploded. We kind of had to deal with that. Alex Finn: Oh yeah, that too. Daniel Andrlik: What caused the explosion? Stace Babcock: We did, yeah. Dili mostly. Like honestly. Sampson Davis: Yeah, that was... I put it there. I didn't set it off, but I put it there. Stace Babcock: It was victim operated, yeah. Daniel Andrlik: She turns and looks at Vlad for a second and she says, That is consistent with what I've heard about these. Sampson Davis: Wait, hold on. Do we have a reputation? Alex Finn: You didn't think we had a reputation? Sampson Davis: I didn't think people really gave a shit about us. Alex Finn: Eh, we did take out a large part of that city. Stace Babcock: Oh yeah. Wow. This is not the first explosion we've been involved in, actually. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: I've noticed... Sampson Davis: Ah shit, yeah. Daniel Andrlik: I've been traveling to this point for two weeks and I've encountered at least five different bounty hunters looking for Nix. Stace Babcock: Oh yeah, that too. Daniel Andrlik: I assume that's you? She says, looking right at Nix. Stace Babcock: Oh yeah. Was the likeness good, or? Daniel Andrlik: Some of them. Sampson Davis: Wait, how did you know we were going to be here two weeks ago? Because I don't think we made the decision to come here... wait, yes we did. Did we? How long has it been since Lachlan? Daniel Andrlik: It's been about a week. Sampson Davis: Oh. Yeah, how did you know we were coming here when we didn't even know we were coming here until like a week ago? Daniel Andrlik: The pig man told me. Alex Finn: Oh. Daniel Andrlik: Yes. You know the one I'm talking about. Alex Finn: Did he tell you what he did to Zacc? Daniel Andrlik: No, he didn't. Alex Finn: You should talk to him about boundaries. Daniel Andrlik: But I know that the other one is looking for you. Alex Finn: ChaCha just kind of sighs. Daniel Andrlik: He'll find you eventually, but for now you're hidden. Alex Finn: I mean, that works too. I've switched over to the "if you can't work with me you will be destroyed" kind of mentality. Daniel Andrlik: Most of us go through a phase like that. We can talk about it later. Alex Finn: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: So! Here you are, back in the belly of the beast. Sampson Davis: Yep! Daniel Andrlik: Vlad kind of looks at her and says, Uh, yeah. I was actually thinking that we should probably have them talk to you if we could find them. I'm glad that you're here. Daniel Andrlik: She raises a hand. She's like, Not now, Vaslav. Not now. She turns and looks at each of you in turn and says, So. What's your plan? And as she says that, she reaches out a hand to a rock. The rest of you guys don't notice anything, but ChaCha can see where she puts out her hand, one of those fleshy centipedes comes crawling over the rock and onto her arm and just sort of crawling almost playfully over her body. Alex Finn: And ChaCha's hyper-focusing on that. Stace Babcock: Yeah. So like, our plan is basically... and Daniel, we didn't actually pick a major effect for the navigation. Daniel Andrlik: Oh right. What would you like as a major effect? Stace Babcock: I want Nix to know of a way to get to the proving ground that would allow covert observation. And I would like her to find something out about the intentions of the Society towards her or the crew during that observation. Daniel Andrlik: Okay, yeah. It'll probably take you an extra half day of travel to do it that way. Stace Babcock: Okay. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: But yeah. You could get to a place. You're not going to be able to figure that out right now what the Society's intentions are, but. Stace Babcock: Right. Daniel Andrlik: It's a covert place where you could watch to try to get a hint, yeah. Stace Babcock: Okay, cool. I am going to have Nix... I'm not tearing up. But I am going to specialize in intrigue. Daniel Andrlik: Hm. Stace Babcock: Yeah. Basically... yeah. Our plan, it's loose, you know what I mean? It's still in the development stage, but basically we're going to sneak up on the proving ground and then watch for a while, see what the vibe is. Should we go in? Should we not? Do they want to capture me? Do they not? That sort of thing, and then just go from there. Daniel Andrlik: Hm. Be careful. At least one of the bounty hunters I encountered was near here. Stace Babcock: Ah, yeah. Oh, hey, I got a question for you. Daniel Andrlik: Yes? And she's holding out another hand, and the centipede is going from one hand to the other as she holds them up. She's just sort of bouncing... of course, Nix and Dili just see her hands going up and down, palms up. But ChaCha can see her sort of playing with the centipede. Stace Babcock: I feel like there's an additional degree of strangeness from ChaCha at this point, but I think Nix has seen enough to just sort of go with it. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock: Am I transforming into an imp? Someone called me the queen of the imps and I just want to know. I'm cool with it, but do I have responsibilities, do I have obligations? Daniel Andrlik: She snorts and says, The imps only want chaos. They love it. Stace Babcock: Uh, so. I am turning into an imp or not? Daniel Andrlik: She reaches over and reaches out with the little finger and just pokes you in the tummy. You feel solid enough to me. Stace Babcock: Nix definitely flexed as she did that. Not that she really needed to, but. Just as a matter of form. Daniel Andrlik: She glances over to ChaCha, where purple smoke is coming out. Ah, sure. You've already combined two pieces. That's unfortunate. Alex Finn: What do you mean? It was needed at the time. Apparently we love chaos enough that one of us is transforming into the queen of it. Sampson Davis: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, the same entity that called Nix imp queen also called ChaCha sumah. Does that mean anything to you? Daniel Andrlik: She looks at Dili and it's almost kind of a harsh look. And she says, Be very careful with that word. Some of us are very sensitive about it being used. Sampson Davis: Ah... Alex Finn: It's a bad word. Sampson Davis: I'm sorry. I had no idea. I will be very careful. But what does it mean? What does it imply? What is it? Daniel Andrlik: It implies that we are merely tools and not things with our own sense of will, direction, and care. It's the term that people use to describe people like myself and ChaCha and others, because they look at us and only see what we can be used for. Sampson Davis: Yikes. Okay. Sumah equals no-no word. Daniel Andrlik: She turns and looks at ChaCha. Understand, young one. You are more than what they think you are. None of us is just a key. Alex Finn: Yeah, but like, we're still deciding on that door situation. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. That's why I'm here. But Vlad, I also am here to give you some relief from this responsibility. Daniel Andrlik: What do you mean? Daniel Andrlik: These next things are not safe for you. I'm going to need you to go to the safe house. I'll provide directions to this group as to where to rendezvous with you. For now, we will camp here. Not you, Vlad. You'll go on your way. We'll camp here for the night. And then she looks at you all and says, Stannis will meet us here in the morning. Stace Babcock: Yes! Daniel Andrlik: To escort you on the next part of your journey. Sampson Davis: Dili looks up at the sky and is about to say something, but then just doesn't. Daniel Andrlik: I realize it's daytime, Adilabrim. We just have much to discuss. Sampson Davis: No, I completely trust that you know what you're talking about. Daniel Andrlik: Right now she's back to playing with the centipede. She kind of takes it from one hand and she puts it on her shoulder and seems to stroke it in the air, and it kind of curls around her shoulders. She picks it up and it's kind of waving its little fleshy head around. She kind of pushes the head down, gives it a kiss right between the two mandibles. Alex Finn: Aw. Daniel Andrlik: And then she sets it on the ground and says, On your way, Vaslav. Daniel Andrlik: I guess I'll see you guys later. Stace Babcock: Oh yeah. It's been real. Daniel Andrlik: Dili, just so you know, hopefully we'll see each other soon. I have something for you. It's not on me right now, but I'll make sure I have it by the next time we meet. Alex Finn: Aw. Sampson Davis: Yeah. That sounds great. But also, thank you. I know things have been awkward. And then he does a quick glance at Nix. But I at least have been listening to what you've been saying. I just have a lot of voices in my head recently. But thank you. Daniel Andrlik: You're welcome, Dili. You're going to be a great guardian. Sampson Davis: Ah, thanks. Daniel Andrlik: He looks at Nix and ChaCha and says, Nix. ChaCha. Make good choices. And he winks at you and starts walking down the path. Alex Finn: Good for who? Daniel Andrlik: When he's about maybe ten feet away from you, there's something like a flicker of his illusion powers, and he's just gone. And you can't see him anymore. Prentiss kind of snorts. He's always been such a showoff. Daniel Andrlik: Might as well have a seat. There's some rocks over here. So you're going to go watch the Society. What about you, Adilabrim? Sampson Davis: I guess I was going to go help with that. Daniel Andrlik: If you wish. Sampson Davis: Okay. But were there other options? Daniel Andrlik: You could accompany me to a safe house for training, but that is optional and not required. Sampson Davis: What kind of training? Daniel Andrlik: I'm not at liberty to discuss in front of ChaCha. Sampson Davis: ChaCha, do you mind if I bubble you for a couple seconds? Alex Finn: Yeah, go ahead. Sampson Davis: Dili throws up a bubble around ChaCha. Daniel Andrlik: She looks at you and blinks and says, Could you bubble Nix as well? Sampson Davis: Uh. Nix, do you mind? Stace Babcock: Nah, go for it. Sampson Davis: Throws up a bubble around Nix. Daniel Andrlik: I'm only offering you an out. What Nix is about to do is extremely hazardous, at great risk to herself, her family, and the guardians. You are under no obligation as a guardian to participate and risk yourself in this way. I am not telling you you can't do it. I am merely offering you an out if you need one. Everything I've heard is you're a very loyal man, Dili. Sometimes in times of great trial it's hard to say no when you should. I'm providing an out in case you need to set boundaries. That's all. Your choice. Sampson Davis: I think Dili is about to say something, but then past conversations with Astor kind of bubble up in his head. As much as they frustrate him, he does kind of acknowledge that Dili has had to get himself pulled out by someone else. And then he kind of hesitates and says after a few moments, I guess I'd kind of like to think about it for a moment. A little bit. How long do we have? Daniel Andrlik: You don't need to make any decision until we get closer. I can take you or Stannis can assist you in finding your way later. No reason to make a decision one way or the other. You have at the very least until next morning and probably a good day and a half beyond that, if you'd prefer to travel with Stannis. Sampson Davis: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: I'm afraid neither I or Stannis can accompany you all into the proving grounds. That's just the way it is. Sampson Davis: Okay. Thank you. Daniel Andrlik: You're welcome. Sampson Davis: And then Dili will drop the bubbles around ChaCha and Nix. Alex Finn: So? Daniel Andrlik: So you, ChaCha. Alex Finn: So me what? Daniel Andrlik: You've met the lost one, haven't you? You have his- She points to her eyes. You have his mark upon you. Alex Finn: You mean Bastian or Buddy Cop? Daniel Andrlik: She pauses and says, I'm not sure what Buddy Cop refers to, but Bastian. That's the name he likes to use. Alex Finn: Oh yeah. We have a lot of fun playing, although his playing is a little bit rougher than we typically like. Daniel Andrlik: It always has been. Alex Finn: Why is he lost? Daniel Andrlik: He was like us. He made a choice and now he's stuck in the in between. Alex Finn: Is that a good or a bad thing? Daniel Andrlik: I suppose that depends on your perspective, but I imagine it's lonely. Alex Finn: I mean, he has Buddy Cop and all the snakes he can eat. Daniel Andrlik: Who do you mean when you say Buddy Cop? Alex Finn: I guess ChaCha's going to try and describe Buddy Cop in a detailed yet vague manner. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Ah, yes, the one looking for you. Bastian is not friends with him. Bastian owes him. Bastian is a vassal without title. It's why Bastian approaches each of us when we're discovered, looking for friends. But the only way to stay with Bastian is to get trapped in the in between. Alex Finn: I mean, can't we reverse it? Daniel Andrlik: There's no coming back from that, ChaCha. Once you're in the in between you're like that forever. Or- And she looks at each of you and says, Or the door opens and the other one gets what he wants. Sampson Davis: Is Buddy Cop the other one? Or is the other one another one? Daniel Andrlik: We'll use your terms. Buddy Cop, he wants the door open. He wants his kind to be able to pass through without hindrance. There are others who don't want the door open and some that don't care. She looks at Nix and says, The imps don't care if the door opens or shuts. For that matter, their creators don't, either. Stace Babcock: Whoa. Who created them? Daniel Andrlik: She frowns a little bit, looks concerned and says, The angled ones. Stace Babcock: You said angled? Daniel Andrlik: Angled. Stace Babcock: Uh, all right. Wait, so what was that snake thing that I found? I found a snake artifact and it bit me. Now I'm becoming a snake. And I have this necklace from the snake people. Nix will show the pendant. Daniel Andrlik: Prentiss leans back, keeping her distance from it. Stace Babcock: Ooh, interesting. Daniel Andrlik: Be careful where you push that. It's sleeping now. No sense in waking it. Stace Babcock: What is it? Daniel Andrlik: Dangerous. Stace Babcock: Well yeah, I kind of gathered that from your dire warnings and vague hints, but uh... you got any specifics, I guess? I just want to know what I'm dealing with. I don't want to do the wrong thing because I don't know what is going on. Daniel Andrlik: She looks over at ChaCha and says, We are not good with specifics. Alex Finn: I like how I established that of this entire group of people like, no, you're not going to get specific. It's just kind of vague. Stace Babcock: Nix in a rare show of frustration pinches the bridge of her nose. And she's like, All right, but yeah. I guess what happens, happens. Which is honestly the best way to live your life, yeah. I can get down with that. Sampson Davis: Maybe you should eat it? Stace Babcock: No. Well, I already ate one, kind of. Sampson Davis: And it worked. Just a thought. I'm just going off of previous data, you know. Stace Babcock: Should I put it in my mouth? Sampson Davis: Dili just shrugs. I don't know. Stace Babcock: I think I'm going to hold off on that, Dili. Daniel Andrlik: Prentiss starts giggling and winks at Nix and says, You're funny. Stace Babcock: Thank you. Yeah, I try to keep things light. You know what I mean? Your journey shouldn't be too serious. Alex Finn: That's why I'm still here. Nix is worth it. So is Dili. Stace Babcock: You too, ChaCha. Cool. So is this safe house training something that I need to schedule in the future? Daniel Andrlik: I wouldn't worry about it right now, Nix. There's a lot of stuff to be determined before you come back out. But yes, at some point you will need to come to a safe house. Stace Babcock: Oh yeah. So whether I survive this or not, it's kind of one of those things. I get it, yeah. All right. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. ChaCha, there's something on your wrist. Alex Finn: Oh yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Can you tell me about it? Alex Finn: It's a favor. Daniel Andrlik: To him? Alex Finn: Yeah, that's why I'm still a contractor. Daniel Andrlik: She reaches down and she strokes another centipede that's wandering by as it passes. That's unfortunate. Alex Finn: I mean, it was worth it. Daniel Andrlik: I'm sure it was. That's how he gets you. Alex Finn: I mean, it's like a high interest loan. Eventually, in the long run, it's not worth it, but in the immediate need it is necessary. Daniel Andrlik: Well hopefully it works out for the best. ChaCha, I am not like the other guardians. I'm not going to try to tell you what to do. If you see the door and you have to open it, it may spell doom with the Ninth World. Many may die. The guardians won't be ready. But it is not to me to unnaturally affect the timing. I had to face a similar choice that you have coming up. It won't matter to me what choice you make, so long as you make it as your choice and you don't let someone make you merely a tool. We are a side effect of that which came before and that which preserved, but that does not mean that we are not full entities in our own right. Alex Finn: Thank you. Also like, are we one thousand percent confirmed if we open the door the world ends? Daniel Andrlik: Nothing ends forever, ChaCha, but everything does eventually end. And yes, opening the door is dangerous. There's opportunity beyond the door, but ultimately the one you call Buddy Cop will be just one of the threats to come through. Alex Finn: These are some tough choices. Daniel Andrlik: If they were easy choices it wouldn't need to be you who made them. Alex Finn: Maybe I'll just punt it downfield a little. Daniel Andrlik: The field only goes so long, but fair enough. She looks at Nix and says, Meanwhile, you have their attention. The angled ones. Alex Finn: Kind of annoying. Daniel Andrlik: She starts humming a weird little tune. And then she looks at Nix a little bit more closely. (singing) They know your name. They know your face. Stace Babcock: Are they fucking with my mom? Because like, that is very similar. The things that she says. Are you up on my mom situation? Daniel Andrlik: In general. Stace Babcock: So you know that's why I'm going to the proving ground. Daniel Andrlik: I don't think it has anything to do with the angled ones. I think they're merely taking advantage of an opportunity. Stace Babcock: You got any idea about this plate and stuff? Daniel Andrlik: No more than what your Caller told me. Stace Babcock: Yeah. All right. Sampson Davis: Have the guardians and the Society of Travelers Benevolent had a significant relationship in the past? Daniel Andrlik: We're not exclusive, if that's what you mean. No. No, the society is a little too flighty for our taste. Sampson Davis: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: A little too inconveniently placed in a political standpoint. Sampson Davis: What, where... I guess Dili's kind of asking Nix this as well. Where does the Society sit politically? They always seemed kind of independent and as you said, a little flighty. Just kind of doing their own thing. Stace Babcock: We prefer chill. Sampson Davis: I'm sure. Stace Babcock: Yeah, I don't know. I used to think that the Society was just a bunch of good people who went around and did good things, but now it seems like maybe they do some bad things. So yeah, it's hard to say. Actually, could Nix use intrigue to try and answer the question? Daniel Andrlik: So you've actually already done that with intrigue before, and [crosstalk 00:27:11] that- Stace Babcock: Oh, right. Daniel Andrlik: Politically, it's inconvenient for them because they are based in Navarene. So even though they attempt to be apolitical they are still to a certain degree at the mercy of the queen of Navarene. Stace Babcock: Oh yeah. Our tax exempt status is something that we want to keep, and also our various wayhouses and things like that. The Society tries to make nice with the queen. Otherwise I don't think that there's much politics outside the order. Prentiss, do you disagree? Daniel Andrlik: From what I know, sure. Sampson Davis: So what does the Society do for the queen? How does the Society give back to the queen? Do you know what that would be? Stace Babcock: Oh yeah. They tried to give me back to the queen, that was one. Or at least Pathfinder Jen did. I'm actually not sure. Would Nix know what the queen gets out of the Society, if anything? Daniel Andrlik: As far as you're aware, nothing. Stace Babcock: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Officially there's nothing there explicitly. Sampson Davis: Another question. What's the relationship between the Society and the Aeon Priests? Stace Babcock: Those guys, Dili? Honestly, as far as I know, there is no relationship other than we kind of don't agree with their goals, which is to make the Amber Pope more powerful. They take a lot of really cool artifacts and stuff like that, yeah. But like, we don't do anything... we're not in conflict or anything with them, Dili. We just keep our distance. Alex Finn: Are you sure? Or is that just your experience? Stace Babcock: My experience. Thank you, ChaCha, for clarifying that. Yeah, I mean, honestly that's one of the reasons why I got to go there. I got to try to figure this shit out, because I'm not sure that the Society is what I thought it was. Sampson Davis: Yeah, I'm kind of getting that vibe. Alex Finn: Should I join as a new recruit to see if there's a different experience? Stace Babcock: I wouldn't, ChaCha. Because if you remember, we talked to Hey You and it sounds like the experience for your average recruit is bad. Alex Finn: Right. Stace Babcock: And abusive. And I don't want you to kill 20 travelers or whatever you do. Sampson Davis: Yeah- Stace Babcock: You would kind of- Sampson Davis: More concerned about your safety. Stace Babcock: It would just blow the operation wide open. Alex Finn: Oh. Yeah. This is nothing to say about you, Dili, it's more of, we don't want Astor killing 20 travelers either. Sampson Davis: Yeah. That would be an obstacle. Stace Babcock: I mean, like unprovoked. You know what I mean? Self-defense is a different story, as we often say. Alex Finn: I mean, define self-defense. Preemptive self-defense? Sampson Davis: I mean... While this is kind of a problematic situation for me, he has not done anything unprovoked. So. But then when provoked he does fuck shit up, so. Alex Finn: Yeah. And we don't know exactly what provokes him. Most of the time he's reasonable, but what if it's just like, hey, I didn't like how you're treating Dili in this moment, because Dili might get hurt unintendedly. So oopsie doodle, there goes 20 travelers. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Nix, in your mind how would this operation go in your head? What were you thinking? Stace Babcock: All right. So yeah. What I was thinking was that we, which obviously you guys do not have to come, would sneak up. We would watch for a while, see if there's a bounty hunter situation, try to figure things out. And then if all seemed cool, go in, go to the library, read a bunch of journals, try to find some clues, and go from there. You know what I'm saying? I got to figure out this plate thing. This is not sustainable. Alex Finn: True. Stace Babcock: Dili, and honestly my plan was to go to Key and your plan was to go to the proving ground. So what do you think I should do? Sampson Davis: I mean, Key is very far away and it seemed like it made more sense that we would find information, or that you would find information about the plate here at the proving grounds. Stace Babcock: Yeah, and that's why I was thinking the library. So of course first thing... well, after I find out if I'm safe or not or what's up. Is, I'm going to have to find the library because I'm not entirely sure where it is. But that shouldn't be too hard. Sampson Davis: Hm. Daniel Andrlik: So as you guys have been having this conversation, Prentiss has kind of moved behind the rock where she was sitting. She seems to be playing, again, she's got one of those fleshy centipedes, which of course only ChaCha can see. And ChaCha, she's also holding up something that, it's kind of like a daddy long legs, except the body is probably about the size of Hubert the First and the legs are twice as long proportionally. So it's just sort of walking almost on stilts, going around her. And she occasionally, when it comes within reach she's like, tickling its belly. Alex Finn: Aw. Daniel Andrlik: And it kicks one of its legs whenever she does that. And then she's giggling. She is not paying attention to you guys at all right now. She is just playing with these unseen creatures. Sampson Davis: You know, I do have a cypher. It's a data sphere inquirer. You get one question. It seems very useful and I've never, we haven't really encountered a situation where I remembered it and where it'd be useful. That never happened at the same time. Daniel Andrlik: Meanwhile, Prentiss is lying on her back playing with these things with her feet up in the air. Sampson Davis: If you had a single question that you could ask, Nix, what would it be? Stace Babcock: What is up with my mom's teleportation attacks? And what's up with the plate, Dili? I don't know how we would phrase that. Sampson Davis: Yeah, I'm not sure either. Dan, is there some sort of check that Dili can make to see how strict the wording would have to be? Daniel Andrlik: It will try to answer your question honestly, but it will answer based off of what the question is. And so the more broad your question, the more broad the answer could be. Not because it's trying to deceive you, but the more broad it is the more open it is for interpretation as to what a correct answer to return is. Sampson Davis: Okay. I think specificity is better, but I don't think it's going to... it's not going to do the Genie thing where it twists the answer to suit its own purpose. Stace Babcock: What if we ask, how can we stop the teleportation attacks? Because that's the end goal. Sampson Davis: That could work, but I'm also kind of worried that... no. I think we need something that's slightly more specific. Because what if it says, kill the entity that is having the teleportation attacks, that'll stop it. Stace Babcock: Oh, while preserving the life of my mother. Yeah. Sampson Davis: Okay. You guys want to try it? Stace Babcock: That or the nature of the plates, because we know the plates have something to do with it. Alex Finn: Yeah. Sampson Davis: Okay. Alex Finn: And all those, the weirdness and its inferior power. Stace Babcock: Maybe we ask what the Benevolent Society, how they're causing the attacks. Maybe. Or how it's related. Alex Finn: You think they're aware of it? Stace Babcock: Well, it's their plate. Alex Finn: Yeah. Sampson Davis: Okay, so... what if we ask, what is the relationship between the Benevolent Society of Travelers and the plates? Stace Babcock: And the teleportation attacks. Sampson Davis: And the teleportation attacks. Okay. Is there a proper name for the plates? Again, specificity. Daniel Andrlik: I'm laughing at Alex shaking her head. Stace Babcock: Oh. Do you think not, Alex? Alex Finn: Yeah. It's one of those things where I'm just like, asking the travelers about the plates, I feel like it's going to be like a, I don't know, this is just something we've always had. It's kind of like asking your mom why she has that weird kitchen gadget that they've never used. Like I don't know, I've just always had it. Stace Babcock: But we're asking the data sphere. Sampson Davis: Yeah, we're asking the data sphere. So we get a more omniscient answer. Alex Finn: But remember, we're going to have to spend like 20 minutes figuring out the perfect question to this, Jen's request. Stace Babcock: Well I don't feel like Daniel's trying to blow our data sphere question cypher thing. But I do think we do need to put some thought into it. Sampson Davis: Yeah, because if we die then... Alex Finn: We die, we die. Sampson Davis: If we die then Dan has to come up with a whole new campaign. Stace Babcock: Well I don't think it's going to kill us, regardless. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, I would say this. Like I said, it's going to answer your question to the best of its ability based off of the question you asked. It's not going to try to deceive you or trick you. The data sphere inquiry process is not adversarial, but at the same time I'm not necessarily going to lead you in a way to construct your question. Stace Babcock: Right. Daniel Andrlik: And you can't just roll to figure out your question. You need to figure out what your question is and then I'll answer to the best of my ability as the data sphere. Sampson Davis: It's a Google search. Stace Babcock: Yeah. Sampson Davis: The better terms you type in, the better you get back. Alex Finn: That was more my thing. Stace Babcock: Benevolent Society of Travelers plus... Alex Finn: Plus... Stace Babcock: Commemorative plate. Daniel Andrlik: It's like you're typing it into Google and hitting "I'm Feeling Lucky." What's the answer that I get back? Sampson Davis: Okay. Alex Finn: Don't forget the quotation marks. Stace Babcock: Nayo Sladek, if you want the... we should probably use her name. Sampson Davis: Oh yeah. Does Dili know how to Google hack the data inquirer? Daniel Andrlik: No, but you've done data sphere inquiries before so you kind of know what to expect. Because you had three questions before that you asked that were limited to a specific area, so you already know a little bit about how this works. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Does that feel like a good question to ask? The relationship between the Society, the plates, and the teleportation sickness? Stace Babcock: Yeah. Sampson Davis: All right. What would you say is the proper name for the plates? Stace Babcock: Commemorative death plate? Sampson Davis: Commemorative death plate. Stace Babcock: Commemorative family plate? Because I know where it came from. Sampson Davis: All right, yeah. It came from your aunt, right? Stace Babcock: Did Nix say that? Ever? Because Nix made her mom a promise. Daniel Andrlik: Nayo told Nix that the travelers dropped it off when her sister went missing. Sampson Davis: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: But Nix didn't tell you guys about that because she was supposed to keep a secret about what she knows about the plate. Sampson Davis: But I thought Nix told us more information when Dili and Atalia were kind of poking at it. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, you did figure out that whatever entity that was in there, you did put the connection together. The entity you encountered there is either Nix's aunt or something like the way Nix's aunt used to be, or a different corrupted version of it. You don't know exactly, but you know that when that entity is in their fully human form it looks like Nix's aunt from Bastian's description. Sampson Davis: Okay. Stace Babcock: Commemorative missing persons plate, Dili. Missing travelers plate? Sampson Davis: Commemorative missing travelers plate. Daniel Andrlik: Dili's also not the only person that can use this. Dili could give it to somebody else to use. Alex Finn: Just saying. Sampson Davis: Yeah. If you're more confident in wording this question, that's fine. Stace Babcock: All right, yeah. No, I'll give it a shot. Sampson Davis: All right. Stace Babcock: Can't know less than we already know. You know what I'm saying? Sampson Davis: Someone find some wood to knock on. We don't know that. Alex Finn: ChaCha knocks on the air because she sees a horror that's made out of wood. Daniel Andrlik: It looks like a tree with human legs kind of running around. Alex Finn: You just see her fist punch the air and hear a weird knock. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock: All right. Nix takes it. She activates it. Now, is it a data input, or does she vocalize the question? Daniel Andrlik: So once you activate it, Nix, you feel like you're falling. Then you're standing on a space filled with darkness. There's clearly something under your feet, because you're not falling, but you don't see anything. And then there is a moment where there is a sort of purplish green light that sort of comes in front of you, and it mutters in some sort of glitchy sounding language, but you still understand what it's saying even though it's not any language you speak. And it says, Query, please. Stace Babcock: Uh, yeah. What is the relationship between the Benevolent Society of Travelers, the commemorative missing travelers plates that they give to families, and the teleportation sickness that is affecting Nayo Sladek? Daniel Andrlik: Please stand by. Processing. Daniel Andrlik: And a few seconds pass. A few more seconds pass. Daniel Andrlik: Stand by. Processing. Daniel Andrlik: A few minutes pass. Stace Babcock: Nix is like jumping on the invisible floor. Just sort of... Daniel Andrlik: Nix, to you it feels like you've been waiting for 20 minutes. Stace Babcock: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: And it comes back and says, "Plate." You can almost hear the quotation mark around "plates." Daniel Andrlik: "Plates" are structured energy transference. "Plates" collect gathered jump energy to pass to host. "Plates" can only be passed within the same family. "Plates" must have a energy source, an energy host, and a individual used as capacitor. Entity Nayo Sladek is host. Entity Nix slash Nix Sladek slash Imp Queen slash Guardian slash- Daniel Andrlik: And then there's this unpronounceable word. It hits your head and your brain almost goes blank for a second. Daniel Andrlik: Is siphon source. Note: siphon source energy is corrupted. Capacitor translation is weakened. Capacitor is half of remains of entity Tolley Mabry. Capacitor must be forcibly separated from rest of remains. Process triggers common mutations. Thank you. End of line. Daniel Andrlik: And Nix, you're suddenly sitting among the stones. Prentiss is now behind the rock and she's already curled up and snoring. To the rest of you guy's perspective, Nix has been staring into the distance for about four hours. Stace Babcock: Nix comes back and just starts talking like nothing has changed. All right, so I got the answer. Sampson Davis: Oh shit! Hi, welcome back. Stace Babcock: Good to be back, Dili. All right. So I got some answers. And Nix will regurgitate it as exactly as possible. I'm going to say she was writing it down to the group. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Stace Babcock: Yeah. My mom's the host, I'm a siphon source. I'm corrupted, which seems bad. And then half of my aunt Tolley is the capacitor. Sampson Davis: Okay... Stace Babcock: And the point is energy transference. Sampson Davis: Okay... energy transference. Alex Finn: Hm. Stace Babcock: They pass energy to the host. Yeah. Alex Finn: I mean, my first brain idea is, why don't we use the battery? That's got electricity. Daniel Andrlik: That is what Doc Taraz was using to treat Nayo before. Of course, you sent her to Qi without that. Alex Finn: Yeah. So we could find your mom and give her the battery and be like, hey buddy, maybe you wanted this. Here's... I don't know a good example. Here's your CPAP machine that we forgot to give you. It's not not life threatening, but it's not like we took away her dialysis machine. Stace Babcock: Well the one thing it didn't tell me, it told me a lot about the plates but it didn't tell me why the Society is doing this or how the Society relates. Alex Finn: My brain just shouted something about traveling and the idea that you could do instant teleportation. Probably relates to the travelers wanting to do that. I think we've mentioned it a while ago, that this is the goal. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Mamma Jerrun did say it had something to do with creating an entity capable of the ultimate freedom of movement. Sampson Davis: Huh. I mean yeah, it makes sense that travelers would want to be able to move wherever they want I guess. It's weird that they don't talk about it more. I mean, amongst themselves, obviously. It's weird that, Nix, that you don't know that they would want to work on this. Stace Babcock: Oh no, Dili. I mean, that's not very weird. I'm just a normal traveler, you know what I mean? I go out, I travel around. I don't stay at the proving ground. There's nothing in our tenants- Daniel Andrlik: Nix, would you like to make an intrigue roll? Stace Babcock: Yes! Starbuck, can I have my dice tray? Alex Finn: No. Daniel Andrlik: You have this information from the data sphere, so that's going to give you two assets. Okay? So that brings this down to a 15, which means that you are specialized which then brings it down to a nine. Stace Babcock: Ooh. I'll spend the three intellect effort to make it a gimmie. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. The data sphere answer did say that the process of the separation to create the capacitor caused mutations. Stace Babcock: That's right. Daniel Andrlik: And presumably, the capacitor is supposed to be a traveler too. Someone of the same family, because it has to be passed along families. So presumably whatever's left of that traveler is probably not something that it's wise for everybody to know about if the program was to continue. Stace Babcock: Yeah, I think something bad happened to my aunt. Alex Finn: Could we investigate? Sampson Davis: Okay. So then I guess what we need to figure out is how... I guess it'd be good to know what happened to your aunt, just because loose threads and all that. But I feel like the goal to save your mom would be to cut you off as the source. Right? No source, no teleportation. Stace Babcock: Maybe it's because I'm a bad source, Dili. Alex Finn: That in transformation might be impairing it. Sampson Davis: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: Although I would say this with your intrigue roll, your mom started teleporting before any of this snake stuff started happening to you. Stace Babcock: I'm not putting together what that means. Sampson Davis: I think since you've gone all snakey, that's what's corrupted you. But the teleportation happened before that corruption. Stace Babcock: I wonder what effect that has on the whole situation. Daniel Andrlik: So the data sphere did tell you that corruption is interfering with efficient energy transference. Stace Babcock: Right. But what practical result? Daniel Andrlik: I don't know, you haven't seen your mom in a while. Sampson Davis: Maybe that interference means it's happening less frequently? Or... Stace Babcock: It seems bad. If I'm the source and my aunt is the capacitor, right? So there goes my energy to the capacitor, and then it goes to the host? Or the other way around? But maybe it's bad for my mom that I am... I don't like to call myself corrupted, but, you know. Sampson Davis: Yeah, that's fair. Daniel Andrlik: Prentiss suddenly jerks awake and says, Hide. Stace Babcock: Nix immediately complies. Daniel Andrlik: Hide. Now. Sampson Davis: Dili throws up illusion of shadow in the surrounding environment to help with hiding. Alex Finn: I guess ChaCha finds a physical object to hide behind instead of a horror object to hide behind. Daniel Andrlik: Prentiss sees the illusion come down and she kind of nods approvingly at Dili. Sampson Davis: The one thing I'm good at. Well, one of the two things I'm good at. He says quietly. Daniel Andrlik: She leans over towards Nix and she mouths the words, Bounty hunter. And sure enough, you see a figure probably about 5'9" in a dark hooded cloak coming up the path. They are looking, and you can see them looking at the ground for tracks. They circle around a couple times and Prentiss points at this individual and sort of nods like, that's the one. And the individual looks back and forth. They take a peek inside the cavern entrance down to the stairs below. They pull out a small notebook. They're using these gloved hands and they write neatly in the notebook. They look up at the rocks around and they put the notebook away. You can see their whole body underneath the cloak sigh. And then you hear a voice: Oh, Nix. I knew you'd come back here. And they pull their hood off their head, and Amaranth Stone looks both ways and says, Looks like I'll have to meet you there, and begins walking back down the path. And that's where we'll end our episode. Stace Babcock: What the fuck! Why's she coming for Nix? Alex Finn: Bounty. Daniel Andrlik: Alex, something about this episode. Alex Finn: I liked our long debate on how to phrase the question before we're like, hey, you know other people can use this cypher, right? I love how we're just, we're so careful in some aspects like that and other aspects we're just like, seat of our pants. It always brings me joy. Daniel Andrlik: Very 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 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: Well, it's currently spooky season here in the Explorers Wanted recording and editing closet. Even though I think this is going to come out in November, I would still offer everybody to check out a game called No One Lives Under the Lighthouse. Daniel Andrlik: Hm. Sampson Davis: It is a only $7 little indie horror game on Steam and absolutely worth the money. This has one of the strongest atmospheres that I have ever played, one of the scariest games I've ever played. The sound design is wonderful. Visually it is doing that whole early PlayStation, N64 kind of 3D graphics, and it does that very difficult thing to do with horror visually where it places you in a real world that you believe but also obfuscates and abstracts everything. So even when you're walking across the field, you'll see a vaguely humanoid shape off to the left and you're like, is that a thing or is that just a plant? I can't tell. It doesn't seem to be getting any closer and I'm not going to get closer. It's fucking scary. Daniel Andrlik: That's cool. Sampson Davis: And yeah, No One Lives Under the Lighthouse is just... it uses all those things so effectively. I can't really say much more except that if you watched the movie The Lighthouse with Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson you're probably going to like this. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Cool. Sampson Davis: No One Lives Under the Lighthouse. That's what it's called. Go buy it and play it and try not to poop your pants. Daniel Andrlik: Well if people wanted to reach out to us and tell us what they think about that game or the podcast, how would they do that, Sampson? Sampson Davis: Oh! Well we happen to have this website called explorerswanted.fm, and from there they can find all our socials. For example we are @ExplorersWanted on Twitter. We are also @ExplorersWantedPodcast on Instagram and Facebook. And if you want to hang out with us directly and talk about whatever stuff, plants, video games, books, we got it all, can find us at explorerswanted.fm/discord and talk to us on our Discord. Sampson Davis: Also, if it is within your means, we'd love to have whatever loose change you have in your pockets. Give that to us at patreon.com/explorerswanted. Daniel Andrlik: Honestly, the best thing that you could do for us, if you can't afford to financially support us, is to tell a friend and tell them why you like the show and why they should listen to us. The second best thing to do is to leave us a five-star written review on a podcast directly, specifically Apple Podcast or Podchaser. Those are the ones that make the biggest difference. Really specific written reviews make a big difference because they're so many actual play podcasts out there and many of excellent quality. As we're attempting to grow our audience, those reviews really help bring in cool people like yourself to hear us. Daniel Andrlik: If you didn't like the podcast or if you just thought it was meh, well, this is a reminder that you're still not 100% sure what is making that sound in the vents of your home. I assure you, it's not what you think it is. And I'm sorry, but it's coming. So very soon. Daniel Andrlik: 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: You can find me on Twitter @StaceWindu. Sampson Davis: You can tell me about how your experience on the island ended @SlamPotato. Alex Finn: So the noise in my vent is the singular wasp that is allowed in my house at a time. You can find me @realteaunicorn on Twitter and teawithaunicorn on Twitch. Yeah, just one singular wasp. Daniel Andrlik: It's a big responsibility. Well, 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 bye.