1.08 Better Than Normal

This city’s full of secret places, around every corner! Fran finally finds a decent mentor. JJ lets down their walls. Gordon gets to know the locals. Ibra jumps out of their skin.

Thanks so much to our special guest for this episode, Julian Mundy as Fuller Silvring!

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- United By Blue: Creators of sustainable apparel and outdoor gear. Use code wanderingpath for 20% off at https://unitedbyblue.com

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

1.07 The Time Gordon Got A Dog

We’re all recovering from Mayanna’s birthday party! So it’s a pretty chill one. Paz joins the quest. Gordon makes a new best friend. JJ throws out the rundown. Fran & Ibra puzzle it out.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

1.06 Scratching The Surface

Left on their own, the crew searches high & low for answers. Fran & Ibra seek wisdom at the Pachonko Parlor. JJ & Gordon hit the books. Everyone’s a little jumpy.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

Detour 1-5: Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman

Welcome to the Detour! Now that we’ve been playing in our world and with our main characters for a little bit, we discuss how those characters have come into their own, what they think of the mystery in front of them, and just for fun we’ll commit some early plot theories to tape.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

[Theme music].

Mischa: Hello!

Bex: Hello!

Mischa: Welcome.

Lyn: Hi.

Mayanna: Hi!

Mischa: to The Wandering Path.

Lyn: Hello.

Mischa: This is the detour where we talk about the show instead of making the show. 

Ian: Nice.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Mischa: We talk about the game instead of making the game. We talk about the story instead of making the story. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: How meta.

Mischa: Just for a week. Just because, you know, when we're, like, going so hard on story and plot and emotions and feelings, it can get lost that like, we're friends and we just want to hang out sometimes.

Mayanna and Bex: Yeah!

Lyn: It's almost like we like each other or something.

Ian: Meh…

Bex: Weird.

Mayanna: Gay. 

[Laughter. Echoes of “gay” from Lyn, Bex, and Mischa].

Ian: Oh, I'm taking it back!

[Laughter].

Ian: That's a party point!

All: Yeah! 

Mischa: Okay – okay!

Ian: We'll talk about that later.

Bex: Speaking of party points.

Misha: Okay, so let's, I guess, Ian, let's start there.

Ian: Let's talk about party points now.

Mischa: So, party points. Party points have popped up into this podcast. [Laughter]. They've been a thing, I've been doing them for years. I, I'm constantly thinking about how to reward players for having fun and making jokes in a way that like, I don't want to reward a player's joke with an in character thing.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And I don't want to reward an in character thing with an out of character reward, which is why I'm not like a huge fan of inspiration in Dungeons & Dragons. 

Mayanna: Yeah, like, DM inspiration?

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: So, so I, you know, thinking back, we all love Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Mayanna and Bex: Yes!

Mischa: So I came up with this thing, Party Points, where, you know, you toss them off, they're worth nothing. You can just name a number.

Mayanna: They're worth everything!

Bex: Points don't matter, but they do! 

Mayanna: They do.

Mischa: Only now, because this is my first game on tape, there's a record –

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: – of me giving them out!

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: And Ian, you – Remind me Ian, we played a game together before, right?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Did I do party points in that game? 

Ian: No. You–

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: This is, this is two separate– you have a Party Points history, and then I have my own–

Mayanna: He's taking the power back. 

Ian: –separate thing of it, and we've come together.

Mischa: Oh, do you? Do you want to tell us about your Party Point thing?

Ian: Well, when I was in a super heteronormative fraternity in college.

[Laughter].

Bex: Oh my god!

Mischa: We take back all that “gay” from before.

Bex: What a start. 

Mayanna: Straight. 

[Laughter].

Ian: At Monday meetings, there was, we had the “ding board”, which was literally someone had, like –

Mayanna: The Cinema Sins board!

Ian: – super glued a ding bell to the top of a clipboard, and then they had a piece of paper, and any time someone said something funny that got a big laugh in the meeting, they'd ding the bell, and they'd keep the record, and we kept the record for the whole year.

Mayanna: Holy, man, wow. 

Lyn: Oh, wow!

Ian: So, that's my experience with it, and then you said the word Party Points. And a match made in heaven was born.

Lyn: Oh, I see

Mayanna: Where were you on the board? 

Ian: I, you know, my brand of comedy did not–

[Laughter].

Ian: –it was not as popular in that setting. 

Mischa: Heartbreaking.

Mayanna: Oh that is so messed up. You deserve to be at the top of the board.

Ian: And I was not.

Bex: You were wasted on the straights.

Mayanna: That is so fucked up!

Ian: I was, I was. You know what?

Mayanna: But the gays love you.

[Laughter].

Mischa:  I mean, I also had a similar thing when I was in college. We had this, we had this thing called “the bar,” which was just a bunch of command hooks on our wall and like a golden curtain rod we'd gotten somewhere for five dollars. And anytime someone. you know, said something truly commendable, we would raise the bar.

[Ohhs].

Mischa: And anytime somebody would do something that was just like really shameful, we'd lower the bar. 

Ian: That’s amazing.

Bex: Clever.

Mischa: Well, then people would come over to our house for house parties and they'd just be like, “wait, so it's just there?” [Gasps]. “So can I just–” And they just pick it up and lower it. And every single hou– I lived with four other guys. We'd all be like, “you can't just lower the bar for no reason!” 

Mayanna: “Somebody has to do something deplorable!” 

Mischa: Yeah! 

[Laughter].

Mischa: So, so we wrote it into the house rules. One of the house rules became “you can't just lower the bar.” 

Ian: Amazing. 

Mischa: Which, like, I feel like is good. 

Lyn: That’s a good mantra, actually.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: I think that is a good mantra! Yeah, you can't just lower the bar. You have to once you've reached a standard, you– that is the new standard. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. All of which is to say, Ian, you were–you've been keeping track of the Party Points–

Ian: Yes.

Mischa: –for this campaign so far. Now, my caveat for you doing this–

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: –was that I retain the prerogative to cut out anything that earns a Party Point.

Ian: This is true. 

Mischa: That said, where are your totals?

Ian: Okay. (Clears throat).

Lyn: This might not be the canon totals, but it's our real lived experience totals. 

Mischa: Well, the whole point of party points is that they're not canon. So I do think this is just– I think we just have a total and that's what the total is.

[Laughter].

Lyn: That's so funny. 

Ian: Yeah, it's–this is canon, you just haven't heard all of the canon.

Mischa: Yeah, correct!

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah, fair – fair, fair, fair. 

Ian: Okay, so, I'm starting from the bottom up. I'm taking like, fun Party Points, but I'm also just taking a couple of like, just so we know things are happening. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: Cleaning items made by Fran so far in the series? 

Bex: Yes. 

[Giggles].

Ian: Two.

[Laughter].

Ian: Times Mischa's dog tried to be a part of the podcast. 

[Laughter].

Ian: Ten. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Whoa! Max high on the leaderboard. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Wow.

Ian: Production manager, Erin Bark, who is the light of our life, one party point. 

Mayanna: Nice. 

[Oohs].

Mischa: We're gonna get her score up there.

Bex: Yeah.

Ian: We're gonna get her score up there. 

Ian: Mischa, Mischa Stanton: two and a half party points. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: You know, so that's the other thing about me inventing party points and giving them out as rewards to players – I never get party points! So like –

Bex: You do now!

Mischa: I'm doing good!

[Agreement].

Mayanna: That’s great. 

Lyn: Pretty good. How did half happen? 

Ian: I can't remember. It was, it was like, it was funny, but it wasn't quite the full explosion of laughter that we would usually get, but it was so clever that I still wanted to mark it in some way.

Lyn: I see, I see. 

Mischa: I'll take it. 

Ian: It's the only half on the board so far. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: I'll take that too. 

Ian: I literally made a separate section of a half point. 

Mischa: Yeah, excellent. 

Bex: That's spectacular. 

Ian: I, myself, have two party points. 

Mayanna: Nice. 

Bex: Nice. 

Ian: Bex and Lyn, you have three party points apiece. 

Lyn: Hell yeah. 

Bex: Eyy.

Ian: And then Mayanna has a whopping seven party points.

[Surprised whoas].

Bex: Yes! That feels correct. 

Lyn: That feels right. That feels so right. 

Mayanna: Thank you!

Ian: So – we all gotta catch up. We all gotta raise the bar. 

Lyn: We gotta raise the bar. 

Mischa: Yeah. This week, Mayanna's queen of the party. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yay! You get a little crown. Here you go. 

Mayanna: Thank you! I love my crown. It's so shiny. [Laughter]. I like being funny and I like making people laugh and I do aspire to be funny as much as I possibly can, so I appreciate that. 

Bex: You are damn good at it.

Mayanna: I appreciate that.

Mischa: You truly, like, why do you think we asked you to be here? Like, come on. 

[Laughter].

Bex: Yes, we like you, but also you're damn funny. 

Mayanna: Thank you. That means a lot. Thank you. 

Mischa: Okay. Y'all want to talk about this story? 

Mayanna: Yes.

Bex: Yeah. 

Lyn: Let's do it. 

Mischa: Okay, so we've had five episodes in the city of New Prosper.

Mayanna: Hell yeah. 

Mischa: How's it feeling? 

Mayanna: Great. 

Bex: I love it.

Mischa: Yeah? 

[Agreement].

Mayanna: It's so fun.

Lyn: It's so good. 

Mayanna: Oh my god, it's a dream!

Bex: It’s my favorite!

Mayanna: It’s so fun.

Ian: It's literally a dream. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Not to be like begging for compliments or whatever, but like why and how?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Be specific with your feedback!

Ian: Tell me everything about what you like about my story that I have made for you. 

Mischa: Yes please!

Mayanna: Yes. Oh my gosh. The world is so fun. I mean, the world building day where we all got to add something was so fun. And so now it feels very fleshed out. And the characters, the society, the class disparity, the separation. Like there's just so much. It– you feel like you are a small piece of this larger tapestry. And you're, you're very good at encapsulating that.

Mischa: Well, thank you. 

Mayanna: You're welcome. 

Bex: And I like the mystery. [Agreement]. I honestly have no idea what we're doing right now. And I love that, [Laughter], because you're not making it confusing and frustrating. [Agreement]. You're making it engaging and-and-and curious, you know, and intriguing. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. Thank you. yeah, I mean, we started out that first episode with a banger of a mystery that was not explained at all.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: And then you had to go about your daily lives. So–

Mayanna: Yes.

Bex: I mean, that felt so real though. Like –

Mayanna: That's how it would be if you were a person and you were just about– that you were just living your life and then one day something weird happened. 

Lyn: And then suddenly handed a destiny, yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah, like you, too, wouldn't have-- where would you start? 

Bex: Yeah. And it's so often we see these fantasy projects where it's like – Oh, big destiny immediately– like, “okay, well, I have to figure out this dream and my destiny.” 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Bex: Reality is more like, “okay, that was freaking weird.”

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: “And there's so much other stuff I have to do!”

Mayanna: Yeah. In addition. 

Ian: This one time– I have this memory that I forgot for years and years and years, and then remembered years later.

Mischa: Oh?

Ian:  I walked out of my parents house, I was taking out the garbage at night and I looked up in the sky and there was… a UFO in the sky. 

Bex: Yeah.

Ian: It was a glowing disc that was like super high up, bright white light, spinning rainbows, just sitting there at night. 

Mayanna: Wow.

Ian: And I looked at it for a minute, and then my brain went, “I don't know what the fuck that was,” and then just continued to take the trash out and forgot that it happened for years.

Mayanna: Wow. 

Ian: Cause I was, I just couldn't process it. 

Mayanna: Yeah, you're like, “I can't do that. I have laundry to do.” 

Ian: So I was like, “back to normal things. (singing) Boop a doop a boop a boop a doo.” 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what I was going for. Like, I was trying to imagine like, yeah, “what if I found out one day for certain that I had a magical destiny and then still had to wake up and go to work.”

Mayanna and Lyn: Yeah! 

Mischa: Like, I don't stop having a job or needing to pay rent because I have a magical destiny. 

Mayanna and Lyn: Yeah!

Bex: Real quick to go back to an earlier thing Mayanna said, like, being part of the world building makes it feel so much more personal, and, I don't know about the rest of y'all, it makes me feel so much more connected to the world.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Like, it feels like a place that's lived in. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Mayanna: That we are familiar with. Cause it's like, yeah, you get dropped into a campaign and you are learning about the environment as the DM is giving it to you. 

Bex and Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: But by it being collaborative, yeah. It's like, well, I at least know my area. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Which is how it would be if you lived there.

Lyn and Bex: Yeah! 

Bex: And of course Mischa is still like surprising us with new things. 

Mayanna: Absolutely! Of course. 

Bex: As a brilliant Dungeon Master is going to do. 

Mayanna: As always, absolutely. 

Mischa: Aw shucks. 

Bex: But like being part of the base– 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Bex: –the core of it feels really good. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: I also just have to say that I love that you made the elves French. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes!

Lyn: That feels so right.

Mayanna: Canonically French. 

[Agreement].

Mischa: Yeah, so I'll talk about that a little bit.

Mayanna: Yes, please.

Mischa: Because that's one thing we really didn't do in the world building was like populating the–

Ian: Who's French and who's not. 

Mischa: Yeah, who's French and who's not. [Laughter]. Populating, like, the sort of racial diversity of the world, and so when we were making characters, you know, two of you came back with humans, one person came back with– Bex, you and I talked about doing Hexblood, but like, it comes out in our world as human-ish.

Mayanna: Mhmm. 

Mischa: And, Lyn, you're the only person really playing a non-human. 

Lyn: Mhmm. Still part human, but… 

Mischa: Yes. So I didn't really know what exactly our world was going to look like. I was like, well, it's mostly human and dwarves also exist. And, you know, we're all, you know, tied back to J. R. R. Tolkien. And, if there's dwarves, there's elves. [Agreement]. And, yeah. And at that point, I was like, “well, do we want to just do every D&D race?” So that's kind of where I went, is like, I didn't really want to do tieflings and goliaths and halflings and all that stuff. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I wanted to keep it a little more contained than that. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: And we already had dwarves. I was already kind of planning to use elves, especially for people who were longevitous. And–

Ian: Nice word. 

Mischa: Thank you. 

Lyn: Put that in your SAT prep book. 

Mayanna: Yeah, seriously. 

Mischa: So we had humans and two races whose lifespans are longer than humans. I was like, that's an interesting dynamic, because – human in the book, in fantasy world, kind of wants to be in the middle of a melange. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: So I was like, well, there's two races with longer lifespans. I'll just make two races with shorter lifespans and humans will be in the middle, which is kind of where saurids and capras came from. 

Mayanna: Yeah. The deer folk, right? 

Mischa: Yes. We haven't had a ton of deer folk. I think the only real deer person we've had is Nora, the receptionist at the clinic. 

[Agreement].

Bex: She's lovely and Scottish.

Mayanna: Yes. 

Bex: We love her.

Mischa: And something that hasn't really come up yet is that like, objectively, you guys are almost the same age, but she is – she matures more rapidly, so she's like middle aged for a capra. 

Mayanna: Oh, wow.

Bex: Same with the saurids? 

Mischa: Yes, same with saurids. That's, and we'll talk about this in a little bit, but that's part of why Ravona called you guys children.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: It's because she is actually a lot closer to children than you might think just to look at and talk to her. 

Mayanna: Interesting. 

Ian: Wait, wait, wait, wait– 

Bex: More closer to adulthood?

Ian: She’s closer…?

Mischa: Because, she is objectively younger, but further along in her maturity.

Mayanna: Oh, okay. So she's been on the earth for less years, but those years are more mature for her.

Ian: Oh yeah, yeah.

Mischa: But because of their life cycle–

Ian: Shorter life span, I see.

Mischa: –is further along in their life cycle.

[Agreement].

Ian: Right, yeah. Old man fly: one year old. 

Mischa: Yeah! So I've been playing with that a little bit, and then, you know, we're in an audio medium, so I had to come up with some way to differentiate these races, and I gave all elves a French accent for some reason.

Mayanna: I love that. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: French is not even like, one of my pocket accents, I feel like.

Ian: Which is so–

Mayanna: Really?

Ian: –which is why it's so funny to hear you do it.

[Stereotypically French “hon hon hon”s]

Mischa: It's– I did take French in, all through grade school, so like. 

Lyn: Yeah, I took like seven years of French. 

Mischa: Yeah! 

Mayanna: Seven?! Oh my god. 

Bex: Mischa, your French accent isn't bad– 

Mayanna: Yeah, it's good. 

Bex: –it's just funny. 

Ian: Yep.

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: Oh, great, thank you. Yeah, I will, and what's great about it is that–and we haven't even gotten to this much either–but so far all the elves we've met do have positions of authority over you guys, and they know stuff that you don't. So like, to play them as these like, keeping it close to the chest–

Mayanna: It’s very French.

Mischa: –and also with this accent on top of it. Like it is really fun. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Amazing. 

Mischa: I felt like it fit. 

Mayanna: No, it fits great. 

[Agreement].

Lyn: It fits well.

Mischa: Even though his name is Thorgunn. 

Mayanna: Thorgunn.

Ian: If I could go back and change anything, it would be picking a less Viking name for Thorgunn. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: No, I think it works so well. 

Bex: It does. 

Mayanna: I think it works fabulously. 

Lyn: It feels so… What's the word that means, something out of time? 

Ian: Ageless?

Lyn: Anachronistic!

Mayanna: Ohh.

Ian: Anachronistic.

Mayanna: Anachronistic!

Lyn: Put that in your non-SAT prep book. [Laughter]. Are the ACT's still a thing? I took the ACT.

Mayanna: I had to take both of them, and I was bad at both of them. 

[Laughter].

Bex: I didn't go to college. 

[Celebratory cheers].

Ian: (Imitating a machine gun) Brrrah. Brrrah. Brrrah. Brrrah. Brrrah. Brrrah. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Imitates a party siren).

Mischa: So let's talk about that a little bit. 

Ian: Not going to college? 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Well, some of you are going to college. 

Bex: That's why– that's another thing that I'm really loving about this. It's like, I get to go to college. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: How’s it going?

Bex: Well, okay. Here's the thing. I did Duke TIP when I was a kid. So I took criminal trial advocacy one summer. 

Mischa: (Surprised recognition) Oh!

Bex: Yeah. So this is really fun for me. Like this is actually throwing it back to my childhood. My only experience with college is in criminal trial advocacy for four weeks, one summer when I was 14.

Mayanna: Incredible.

Lyn: I love that. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Mischa: Oh my god. 

Bex: So this is–

Mayanna: Iconic behavior.

Bex: Yeah, this is really fun for me. This is– the only time I went to college was for a summer and in this game. And it's both for, you know, like the same sort of thing, that sort of idealistic version of wanting to help through a system that's put in place that's definitely broken, [hum], but thinking that this is the only way to help and wanting to be part of it. 

Mischa and Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: Cause that was a big thing for me as a kid. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: I would love to talk about that next. So one of the big vibes we wanted to bring to this game was sort of like figuring out where you exist within systems with positions of authority, what you owe to those people and things. And we designed characters towards that goal, but designing a character and playing a character for five episodes, very different things. 

[Agreement].

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Mischa: So, so I would love to talk about how your characters are feeling now that you're living inside of them. 

[Pensive hums].

Lyn: Well, for JJ, I had a pretty concrete idea with what I wanted, and I think that, like, a lot of that still rings true. But I do think, like, some of the stuff, when thinking about, oh, like, the magical destiny and stuff, is that JJ didn't feel like–and to some degree still doesn't feel that way, of, like–JJ didn't feel like the destiny applied to her until it started affecting the people around her. 

Maynna: (Understanding hum).

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: As soon as she realized, like, oh, like, Samira–something's up with Samira, or like, my friends, these party members, like, that Paz got injured.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Or like, that this was at my dad's work site.

Mischa: Yep.

Lyn: Like, those are the things that, like–

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: I think are the things that are causing her to act?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Stepping up.

Lyn: Which is surprising to them, for sure. But that's like, part of the tension that I wanted to create, and it feels like, that's the thing, it's like, oh, this feels like it's building a home within this character. That makes a lot of sense in those ways of like, oh, it's rooted to these people, rooted to these connections that I'm like, okay, the trajectory of this character is transforming a little bit in a way that I really, really like.

Mischa: Cool.

Bex: I love JJ. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: JJ’s delightful. 

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: They're so self conscious. 

Lyn: I know they became so much more awkward than I initially set them out. But I was like, “no, no, no. That, that was the right call.” 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Bex: Yeah.

Lyn: They are deeply actually very anxious.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And it's, it's really fun to watch the way you're playing it.

Lyn: Aw, thank you.

Bex: The trajectory you're taking JJ on with that, like, visceral response to danger being fight rather than flight, which is what they expected. And I love having you play with that, and I'm loving watching it continue. 

Lyn: Aw, thanks.

Mischa: I do, I mean, this is just maybe a casual observation, but like, for a long time, JJ kind of assumed that the response would be flight, and then that magical destiny dream happened– 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: –And like, the dream wasn't wrong to pick JJ, but JJ has to kind of figure that out. [Agreement]. You know, like, obviously there was something that whatever cosmic force sent you guys that dream sees in you. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: And also in class, in that scene where you're in class with Samira, where I think you get called on in class, and like, you do know the answer. Like, I think it– I've known so many of those kids who are like, they do know it, and then they're like, “no,” and I'm like, “You do know it, though. Like, what's the problem?”

Bex: “You're so capable!” 

Mayanna: Yeah! 

Lyn: And that's also something so interesting for me, like, or at least for JJ. Me? (Word jumble while resetting).

Mayanna: It's all blending together! 

Lyn: Bleed, it's happening! [Laughter]. But like JJ seeing their friends, and they fully believe that all of their friends are more capable than them.

Mayanna: Hm.

Lyn: Like, they believe that Ibra's, like, certainly more combat capable. Fran is–

Ian: Well, they are. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Fran is– should be the engineer, like, and is like, “why am I in engineering school when Fran can just do this shit?” 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Lyn: Like, Gordon is so charismatic, and, like, I think JJ feels like they are the weakest link.

Mischa: Which is so interesting to me because I feel like you've had some of the most impactful combat turns in the show. 

Bex: True.

Mayanna: Agreed. Agreed. And hot take, leaders tend to not think of themselves as leaders. 

Lyn: Truly the case. 

[Laughter].

Bex: And the best leaders lead from inside the pack. 

Mayanna: Exactly. 

Mischa: What's that like, Lyn? 

Mayanna: Yeah?

Lyn: (Sound of deep discomfort).

[Laughter].

Ian: Skin crawling. 

Lyn: Yeah. Me and JJ? Wanted… Vomit.

[Laughter].

Bex: And that's the thing about Ibra that I wanted to design was someone who's designed, who is literally manufactured to be a leader, who doesn't want to be a leader, who just wants to be part of the world. 

Mayanna: A protector. I feel very protected by Ibra.

Bex: Yay!

Mayanna: I feel like they’re always– They're always jumping in there taking care of stuff. It's very nice. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah. I mean, I don't know what other class we possibly could have picked for Ibra other than warden. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: Truly.

Mischa: Protects everyone forever. 

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: Yeah. 

Mayanna: It's really great. 

Ian: Yeah. Especially our party currently as what it is. [Agreement]. Like, it's just really nice to have someone who's like, “okay, cool. We're going to throw you at the big thing.”

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah

Bex: And it's been really fun. Cause like, I, I get to throw Ibra into these situations that they aren't sure they can handle, and they can to an extent, but they still need their team. 

Mayanna: Absolutely. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Bex: And they know it.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And they, they don't feel afraid to have, like, these people behind–like, intrinsically, maybe it was the dream, maybe it was the first combat, but at no point has Ibra felt any sort of question about whether this team would have their back.

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely. 

Ian: Sure.

Lyn: Yeah, I think what JJ, like, with everyone too, is JJ really loves her friends largely because like, “oh, all of these people are so comfortable taking initiative.” And like, I think when we were talking about like backstory and stuff like, Ibra is the one that JJ has known the longest out of the party from just being in school together. And I think like that was the thing that drew JJ to Ibra is like, “oh like yeah, you're from Uptown or whatever like, I shouldn't like you,” like, probably was really skeptical of you for a while, but like, saw that you were willing to get your hands dirty, that you stood up for people and was like, “oh shit, like, that is a really commendable person, that is the kind of person I want to be around, and like, this person is unafraid of taking that initiative,” and then while meeting Fran and Gordon, like, that is, I think, the common thread between specifically the three of you that JJ's like “I want to do that, too, and I think these people will push me to do that.” So like when Fran is like “say it with your ches.t”

Bex: Yeah!

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Like JJ does take that to heart. And is like, “Okay, you’re right.”

Mayanna: Oh good!

Bex: Oh god. Fran is the best cheerleader. 

Lyn: I know! Like everyone needs a Fran.

Mayanna: Aw!

[crosstalk agreement].

Bex: Everyone needs a Fran! 

[excited agreement].

Ian: (Singing) You got a Fran in me.

All: Ey!

Mischa: And I do think that like– If this is how JJ was feeling as you were becoming friends with these people, then to appear and the dream is the three of them and you.

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mischa: You know? And, like, Bex, you said it in that very first episode that, like, just by being drawn into it, the four of you being drawn into it, like, it makes you feel like you're a part of something even if you don't know what it is. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Mischa: And so, like, for JJ to see all of these people with these commendable qualities and then to be among their number implicitly without equivocation, that's the word I was looking for, without, without, like, any doubt, you know, like, it's a dream. It's magical. And you are there with them. 

Lyn: Mhmm. 

Mischa: You are among their number. 

Mayanna: (Thoughtful hum).

Mischa: It's just like a beautiful thing.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: I know we've gone over this, but remind me again. How old is everyone –ish? Are you guys college age? 

Bex: Yes. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. 20s. 

Lyn: Like early 20s. 

Mischa: I think, yeah, we went with like some early-mid twenties energy when we were all making characters, I think.

Mayanna: Mhmm

Ian: But that, but that age, that sort of like not quite kids, but not quite adults. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Ah!

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Whew.

Bex: That, like, those last couple of years of your brain forming sort of situation. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Not a girl. Not yet a woman. 

[Laughter].

Bex: Yeah! Very much so.

[Laughter].

Bex: I love this. 

Ian: Oh my lord.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ian, talk to me about Gordon a little bit.

Ian: The build

Mischa: Because I, like, you came in and said, “I am going to play Tombo from Kiki's Delivery.”

Ian: I know.

Mischa: But now Gordon's his own guy. So like, I do want to talk about that evolution a little. 

Bex: Yeah!

Ian: I  know this is what I was thinking about. It's so hard for me to balance, because I think this has happened in all three games that I've played where I've picked a really, really strong personality type that wouldn't, you wouldn't think it would be beneficial to like moving the game or the story forward, right?

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Ian: Like I played a really, really big, dumb barbarian Dragonborn –

Bex: Love those.

Ian: –in my first campaign. Slate, that–

Mischa: Yeah, we played– you were an earth genasi. 

Ian: Yeah, yeah, and Slate was just like such a weird, funny dude. And then I wanted to basically play Tombo in this campaign, but I always have to–I'm always balancing that with my own super, super type A personality.

Mischa: Sure. 

Ian: So that in those moments where this character that I want to be a little bit less– impactful, maybe, is in a mystery circumstance, right? There was that moment last episode where you were like, “I'm so glad you guys decided to walk over to the hole because I had a thing there.” 

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Yeah, so, cause there’s always–

Mischa: As soon as we shut the recording off, I was like, “Oh my god, if you guys hadn't looked at what was in the hole, I would have been so sad.”

[Laughter].

Ian: Right! So it’s always a–

Bex: We would be lost without you. 

Mayanna and Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: So it's always a balance, right? 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: And it ultimately changes the character from the original energy that I want into this new thing. Which is cool! 

Mischa: Well, that's what we're here to do. 

Ian: Yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: Like, you're not playing Tombo. You're playing Gordon. Gordon's a different guy. 

Ian: Right. Right right right right. Right.

Mischa: And so that's what I'm interested in. I mean, maybe, maybe Gordon's smarter than he thinks he is. 

Ian: Yeah, exactly. 

Mayanna: Yes!

Lyn: Well, Gordon has the highest intelligence out of the whole party. 

Mischa: Yeah, exactly. 

Ian: Oh, that's a great point. That's a great point. I didn't think about that. 

Lyn: Even mechanically, like, Gordon, I think, is, yeah, like, that personality– or that almost caricature of that personality– isn't the same as like, what's actually happening, and that's not necessarily, like, untrue of real people, right? Or untrue of other characters.

Ian: Right.

Mayanna: Also. Tombo in Kiki's Delivery Service is really smart. 

Lyn: Yeah!

Mayanna: He's super observant. He's interested in Kiki. 

Mischa: He almost makes that propeller bike.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: He almost makes that propeller bike! Like–

Bex: Look, if he’d had a Fran he would have been able to do it.

Lyn: That's so true. 

Mayanna: He's like, he’s not as he's not as small minded as some of the other people in that world. And I also think Ian is a player, you're very very smart. 

Bex: Oh yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: You know, so I think like that will inevitably bleed into Gordon because like you have good instincts. 

Ian: Yeah, 

Mayanna: So I think those feed into him very nicely.

Ian: Thank you, I appreciate that. 

Mayanna: You’re welcome!

Ian: Yeah, the past two episodes felt a little bit more like detective Gordon Baker.

Mayanna: Yes!

[Agreement].

Ian: Detective Baker.

Bex: Detective Baker.

Ian: Which is fun and and feels– 

Mischa: now I'm just imagining a police officer like sprinkling flour to find footsteps.

[Agreement].

Bex: Wait we have to do that at some point.

Lyn: We have– I literally learned how to take fingerprints using cocoa powder. 

Ian: Did you really? 

Mischa: Nice!

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Wow.

Lyn: Weird thing that happened in my life.

Mayanna: (Whispering) That’s awesome.

Mischa: Remind me not to touch anything else in your house. 

Mayanna: That's so funny. 

Lyn: You can touch anything in my house. 

Mischa: Not if I don't want proof. [Laughter]. I'm trying to get rid of the evidence. 

Lyn: You should have thought about that before!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Damn it!

[Laughter].

Ian: Mayanna, what about you? What's going on for you? 

Mayanna: Oh my gosh. Well, when I first moved to LA, I was working at a movie theater. And I –

Ian: For real real? Not for play play?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: For real real. I think I brought a lot of those experiences. I also worked in retail for a long time. 

Lyn: Oh yeah.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: And so I remember that when I first, it was like my first job out of college, I was interviewing for an associate level position. And the guy who was interviewing me was like, “how do you feel about management?” And I was like, “I feel great.” And he goes, “really?” And I was like. “Yeah”. And he's like, “have you ever done management before?” I'm like, “no, but I, I think I can figure it out.” 

[Laughter].

Bex: Amazing.

Mayanna: So I think like working in retail spaces, working in customer service, I was also a hostess at a restaurant. So I think like, I brought a lot of that, and I think that in those spaces you do start to just identify things that you can tell don't work–

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: –and are silly, and you may not always be able to fix them, but I think, like, that was a big impetus for Fran. And then I think also, like, I'm playing in a lot of, like, high fantasy, like, I'm playing, like a noble woman for the first time in a home game, and I'm playing a girl at, like, a magical college in a different game, so I think I just really wanted a very grounded…

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Gal! I just, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. And, and we also, you know, talk about picking the right class for the right character.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: What seems so fun to me about craftsman is that, like, even when you're doing magical stuff it's all in physical items. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: It's not like– you're just putting stuff together. 

Mayanna: I'm just trying to build. I’m just trying to build.

Mischa: You really get your hands into it. 

Lyn: Build a better world! 

Mayanna: (Mumbling) Building a lil world.

Lyn: Like, that's the big thing. 

Mayanna: Yeah. So I really adore her. I don't know what my direction, I think was, like, our– like, when I– when we first started playing in the first day, I was still trying to, I think, like suss out what her personality or her feel was.

Mischa: Hm.

Mayanna: But yeah, like, just identifying the strengths in the other characters and just being excited by the things that everybody else is doing, I think, like, informed me how she best can support. 

Mischa: Well, there was this great moment I really loved from the first episode, which I, like, sort of found in the edit, I guess.

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa: Where, and I, you know, through use of music–and shout out to the Independent Music Licensing Collective for their amazing quality selection for an affordable price.

[Cheers].

Bex: We love you.

Mischa: I like took this cue, and I really tried to make a moment out of it because it really moved me. When Fran is talking to, I think she's talking to Morga in Boggins, where she's like, 

Mayanna: Oh, Cecilia, it's Cecilia. 

Mischa: Or Cecilia, yeah, where she's like, “I look around and everyone's not improving things they could be.”

Mayanna: (Appreciative hum)

Lyn: Mhmm. 

Mischa: And like, I feel like that was really core to my understanding. I really identified with Fran in that moment, too. 

Mayanna: Oh, thank you! I just remember, when she was talking to Cecilia, and Cecilia's like, “I'm scared all the time.”

Mischa: Yeah.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: And I was like. “I couldn't tell.” 

[Laughter].

Bex: And I love, like, how you listen. Like, you and Fran, you both listen and you bring it back. Like you never throw anything back in anyone's face. You like, you bring it back in a gentle way, in a way that's like healing and, and, and progressive for…

Mayanna: Aw, that means the world to me. Thank you. 

Lyn: One of the really interesting things like yeah, like. Everyone, like, could use a Fran, for sure. And it's like, one of the things that I've noticed, kind of listening back at things, is that every time we're complimenting Fran, Fran's not there.

Mayanna: (Gasp) Aw!

Lyn: And I think that's actually something that, like–

Bex: (Whispering) Wow.

Lyn: –I don't know, like, I, as a player, noticed that, and I was like, should that be something that's, like, in game, an important aspect? Like, where we all know, so surefire that, like, Fran's fucking awesome, really goddamn capable, so fucking smart, like, and so great at being everyone's cheerleader–where, like– Lyn, as a player is like, but is– “does Fran get some of that back?”

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Aw! That’s so sweet!

Lyn: That to me is kind of a really interesting dynamic that I think was accidental, but I think is really interesting. Where I'm just like– 

Mayanna: Hm. That’s very astute, I didn't even realize that. 

Lyn: Well, we're all in the same room together when these things happen.

[Laughter]. 

Lyn: That's the weird thing.

Mischa: No, there is, there's a couple moments where, before the four of you guys get together at Boggins in that first episode, where I think, like, Ibra and JJ were talking about, like, “that dream was crazy, but also that armor was rad. Fran probably made it. She’s so cool.” 

[Laughter].

Bex: Yeah!

Mayanna: Yeah, I remember that, yes.

Mischa: Yeah, and you're right, that does come up, like, a lot. 

Lyn: Yeah! There's a lot of moments where, like, just various comments of, like, “Fran's fucking great at everything.” 

[Laughter].

Mischa: And not to be earnest on main or anything.

Lyn: Yeah?

[Laughter].

Bex: That’s my job.

Mischa: But I also identify with Fran in that a lot. [Laughter]. In that, like, she's so good at the things she's passionate about, but she can't make that into her job just yet.

Mayanna: Yep. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: And so she keeps getting these other jobs that she's also losing kind of through no fault of her own. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Just by the state of the world taking the jobs away.

Mayanna: Which is very poignant for the moment in time we’re recording this podcast.

[Laughter].

Lyn: (Imitates party siren).

Mischa: Yeah dude! Yeah!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah, yup! This exact moment in time. 

Mischa: It's March, 2024. 

[laughter and groans].

Mayanna: I heard a quote from a friend, mostly in terms of my own industry, but “survive till ‘25.”

Ian: Holy fuck.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah. 

Lyn: Wow.

Ian: Holy fuck.

Mischa: I heard, you know, I heard the same thing recently. 

Lyn: I was just talking to my friend that I ran into at a coffee shop this morning. She also works in marketing and we're both like,

Mayanna: Yep. This year’s–

Lyn: “So… we're not working, right?” And she's like, “yeah, we're not working.” 

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah.

Bex: Survive to ‘25. 

Mayanna: Survive to ‘25.

Lyn: She's like running her little pottery pop up in the coffee shop by us–

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: –and she's like, “so I've been doing this more.” I'm like, “that's great!” 

Mischa: Yeah, dude. I like asked four of my friends. I'm like, “Hey, none of us are doing a ton. You guys want to make a D&D podcast together?” 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I was like, “yes, I do.”

Bex: Oh, those lucky fucks. 

Mayanna: I’m not doing anything else! I really do.

[Midroll music].

Mischa: Hey there, it’s Mischa. This is the rest stop. Come take a break beside the path with me, just until we catch our breath. 

I hope you’re liking this detour! We thought it would be fun to change up the format a little. Try something a little different. I promise we won’t have too, too many. Every few episodes or so, maybe? We’re still working it out.

But one thing we definitely want to include next time is your listener questions! Please, we’d love to hear from you. If you have any burning questions about the characters, the story, the plot, the game mechanics. Hell, even questions about us! No question too big or too small. Please submit them to us. Hit us up on social media. We’re @wanderingpathpod on Instagram, @wanderingpathp on the artist formerly known as Twitter, or you can use the easy contact form on our website, wanderingpathpod.com.

And if you sign up with us on our Patreon, you’ll receive a special secret code to include in your submission to jump your question to the top of your queue. That’s right! Our patrons get priority Q&A access! That’s at any level, five dollars and up. And if you’re able to help us out even more, you can also get access to ad-free episodes, blooper reels, stat blocks, game mechanics, and more, all by signing up with us at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. 

Thank you so much to our newest patron, Charlotte A, as well as our Voyager level patron JWX, whose questions are always answered first.  Though, maybe in the form of a cryptic riddle or a creepy nursery rhyme or something. 

Okay, that’s it for now! Let’s get back on the path, and get back to the show.

[Midroll music fades out].

Mischa: So, like, and we don't have to spend a ton of time or any time in this section at all, but is there anything about the production that you guys have questions or thoughts or comments about? I know, like, Bex and Lyn, you're producing with me–

Lyn: Yes.

Mischa: And you guys are doing a great job.

Lyn: Thank you!

Bex: Thanks!

Mischa: And having very thoughtful notes and it's a wonderful collaborative process. I think, especially for Ian and Mayanna, but for everyone really, like, do you have any thoughts about the difference between recording it in this room and then hearing it at the end? 

Mayanna: Ooh, I'm always curious about writing process.

Ian: (Appreciative hum).

Mayanna: So like, what is your, what is your story crafting process? 

Mischa: Oh my God. Great question. One of the best things about doing an improv storytelling podcast is you don't have to write things. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: I've been making, scripted audio fiction for– God, almost 10 years. 

Mayanna: Mm=hmm.

Bex: Woohoo. 

Mischa: Oh my God. 

Ian: Yeah, baby!

Lyn: (Imitates party siren).

Mischa: And, like, one of the biggest stopping points is waiting for scripts to arrive so we can go into production

Mayanna: Mhmm, yeah.

Mischa: And with this, we're recording in two weeks and you know, I'm gonna have something.

Mayanna: Yeah. But do you have a sense of ahead of the day of where you would like the story to go? Like, do you, when we record, do you go like, “okay, I think we're gonna hit these beats today.”

Mischa:  Yeah. Good question. Thank you. I do have that. 

Mayanna: Hmm. 

Mischa: I have like, generally a couple of set pieces that I, that I will bring you to– 

Mayanna: Mhmm. 

Mischa: –and populate them with characters and let you guys kind of interact with it. My friend Eric Silver GM of Join the Party–shout out shout out shout out–

Lyn: (Quietly imitates party siren).

Mischa: –talks a lot about how the GM has different narrative beats as like a hand of cards–

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: –that you can play at any time. 

Mayanna: Yes! 

Mischa: And so I, yeah, I have a bunch of those prepared. In fact, y'all don't maybe know this. I have a giant story document that I wrote before we even started that has like a lot of the answers to the mystery.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Oh, I believe it.

Mayanna: Yeah, see that’s –that's what I'm curious about. ‘Cause, and please don't give me any spoilers, but yeah, it's like you must, as a, as a–a seasoned storyteller. You're not winging it by any stretch of the imagination. 

Mischa: No. No, that’s absolutely true.

Mayanna: And I think, I think there's a myth out there that it is just like, you know, and you see the memes on TikTok where it's like “me prepping for 15 hours before a session, and it doesn't do anything. It's like me prepping for 20 minutes before session. You're like, that was amazing. That was the best session.” 

Mischa: Yeah 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: And I'm like, that sounds like made up. That sounds, I think prep is critical. 

Bex: I think it's somewhere in between those two.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Right. Well, with all things, right. Like the more work you do ideating on something then the more fun you can have improvising when things aren't going– 

Mayanna: Because you have a sense of–

Ian: –where you want to go 

Mayanna: –some body, yeah, of story.

Mischa: Yeah and you know one of the benefits to playing D&D in our first campaign and I I know that like we had some back and forth on it when We were talking about it, but It gives us a wide audience. We hope people out there are familiar with at least some of the rules, even as we introduce new rules to the familiar rules in this game. 

Bex: Woo!

Mischa: But also that, like, I have been playing it for so long that I have kind of internalized the rules. And I think that, to your point, Mayanna, I've been playing home games for so long.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Home games is really where that advice is big. 

[Agreement].

Mayanna: That’s where that– and I think that's a huge, I think that's genuinely very, like, important wisdom to impart.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Because I think we see a lot of stuff in the space–

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: –that you're like, “Oh, I could just do that.” And it's like,

Mischa: No.

Mayanna: You could do that for a home game, but if you're going to do this as a production, like–

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: –there is a lot of thought and prep and time that goes into it.

Mischa: Yes. Big difference between playing a game at home with your friends and making a show. 

Lyn and Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: So, but I do think that like, the practice of doing those sling from the hip sessions. 

Mayanna: You build up the skills. 

Mischa: You build up the skills. You build up, like, the, you know, mental muscle memory– 

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: –to pivot and maneuver in situations. Like, for example, I have played some games in the past–no shade to them. This is just sometimes how games go.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Where, like, the mystery of that construction site would have been a little more railroaded, but, like, you guys didn't roll well that day. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: And other stuff had to happen.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa:And having the ability to improvise story, like it's a skill you have to build up.

Mayanna: Absolutely. And it also, and I think that comes from like logic, like a good understanding of just narrative logic, of your like motivation, opport-like area of opportunity, like kind of the same thing with like a murder mystery.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Where you're like, were they in the right place at the right time? Did they have the motive and did they have the opportunity? And then you can. Even if it wasn't what you thought it was going to be, like, it makes sense. And like, the audience or the players are like, “Oh, of course, that's what you planned. Like, because it makes sense to me.” Yeah. You know, yeah. 

Mischa: For example, one of the things that was really shocking and surprising to me, and I loved it because it really fed into kind of the stuff I'm planning, was that the only person who ended up hurt in the first combat was Paz.

[Agreement].

Mischa: I was like, “Oh. So many things could have been different if I had actually ended up really harming any of you guys in that moment.”

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: But the fact that it was just Paz, like, I, I was like, “oh, okay, this is what we're doing now.” That meant that in the third episode, there was definitely probably going to be a scene where you go to the hospital and visit her.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I hadn't had that scene written until that combat went through. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah! Yes. 

Mischa: So, yeah, I mean, there, there was probably going to be that information coming episodes down the line, but it came up in episode three because of how the dice rolled. [Agreement]. Sometimes that's that's the best part about improv storytelling with dice.

Bex: Yeah.

Ian: Yeah.

Lyn: The dice tell a story.

Mayanna: Being a DM just constantly trying to think of what your next move is, but you can't think of what your next move is until somebody makes their move before yours.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah. 

Mischa: Absolutely. 

Mayanna: It's so wild. 

Mischa: Okay. We've talked about characters. I think what's next is to talk about story. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Bex: Yee.

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn: (Prolongued, excited groan).

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I love it. 

Mischa: So we've had five episodes so far, we've had two combats, we've had a bunch of, again, trying to find your way within these societal systems, trying to make it all fit, make it all work. How are y'all thinking about this mystery, about this story?

Mayanna: I'm riveted. 

Lyn: I'm so into it. 

Mayanna: Edge of my seat. 

Mischa: Yeah? 

Mayanna: I'm like, “what is going on?” 

Mischa: Okay, what about what's going on? 

Mayanna: I mean like all the stuff with like people coming to these locations investigating things that you're like, you don't know what they're investigating. No one wants to tell you stuff. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: People are forgetting things. Like, it's very scary.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And very like, unsettling. And the fact-and it's frustrating when you're a part of something, and you can tell something's wrong–

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: –and someone's just not telling you. And when you ask them what's wrong, not only are they not telling you, but they're like, “you are entitled and stupid for asking me that.” [Agreement]. It's so interesting. 

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: I think, I think it was Mayanna that said, “I want to create a world where we want to trust each other, but we can't. “

Mayanna: Mm, I think it was Lyn that said that. 

Bex: That it was hard, or something. 

[Thinking sounds, trying to remember].

Bex: Oh, sorry, it was Lyn that said that.

Ian: I think it was Lyn that said it, but we're going to give the credit to Mayanna. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah!

Bex: That sounds more fun. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Mayanna’s already winning on party points, can we stop giving her all the things?

[Laughter].

Lyn: No! 

[Laughter].

Bex: No!

Lyn: Never!

[Laughter].

Bex: Okay, so it was Lyn that said this. 

Lyn: I don't actually know who said it honestly. 

Bex: Doesn't matter. It was said. And it was brilliant. I think that Mischa's done a great job of creating that space for us. 

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Bex: Of like, we want to trust these people that are employing us, that are seemingly putting us in positions of danger, if not–

Mayanna: Literal danger, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. 

Bex: If not also, import. 

Mischa: You know, and I guess that, that's what I want to know is like, who are you trusting right now? Who are you not trusting?

[Deep breaths].

Mischa: Like, who do you think has the thing you need?

Bex: I’m trusting Gwen even though she doesn't remember shit. 

Mayanna: (Thoughtful hum).

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn: Yeah, like, mechanically, the reason why JJ is a cleric is because of Gwen.

Mayanna: (Thoughtful hum).

Lyn: So I think like that is a tie that would be really challenging to break. But ultimately like, yeah, like, like I said earlier, like, kind of defers to these people that she trusts most.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: And is like, even though I want to trust Ravona, or it feels like the right thing to do in this situation, like, this is a Person Of Authority that should be the person that we trust like still deferred to Fran where's like “if you think this is sus it's probably not right.”

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah, those– especially at the end of last episode with Ravona– that moment where like– 

Bex: That was clutch.

Mischa: –like we were on the bleeding edge of trust being established and then, a combination of the dice rolls and like what's going on with her that you guys don't know about and what's going on with you guys that she doesn't know about it. Just– it just sort of fell apart. 

Mayanna: Yeah, 

Ian: I have to say I was, I thought we were making the wrong call. 

Mayanna: I did too. 

Ian: When we– were you?

Mayanna: I got scared. Yeah, I-I-I always have doubts. 

Ian: You were the one who was saying– 

Mayanna: I know. I know!

Mischa: Whoa.

Ian: –we shouldn't trust her! 

Bex: Yeah, but you're brilliant. 

Mayanna: I know! But as a player–

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: I doubt choices all the time.

Ian: Wild!

Mayanna: Yeah, I always doubt. That's a big swing to take. 

[Agreement].

Ian: Yeah, it was, that's what it was, it was, such a big swing. 

Bex: I loved it. 

Ian: And again, being a type A person who's like, whose main goal is pushing story forward, to be withholding that information from our like, biggest fount of stuff so far. I was like, “what? What are we doing? Are you serious?” 

Mayanna: Mhmm. Mhmm. 

Ian: But now that that's happened, in terms of like, talking about who we trust, to me it really does feel like the four of us against the city now. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Agreed.

Ian: And it didn't feel like that before that scene. 

Mayanna: Yeah, 100%. 

Mischa: Absolutely. 

Mayanna: I mean, because we are all-we are all in the same situations of like, we are putting our lives on the line now twice for this thing that we didn't sign up for, that not even the people who are like closely working in government have any context for.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: And especially as us two working class characters, 

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Gordon and myself, like–this is, I don't think it's a crazy ask to be told what's going on. 

Bex: Mhmm.

Ian: Right.

Mayanna: And the fact that we met, we were met with like disrespect.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Not just resistance, but disrespect. 

Mayanna: Like– disrespect!

Lyn: Like condescension.

Mischa: Dismissal. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Dismissal!

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Like, “How dare you? You entitled children” is like, “Okay,” 

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: and I and that and that's-that's-that's a Mayanna problem too. 

Mischa: No!

Bex: No no no.

Mischa: I don't think– I think you're right. Like I was rooting for you guys in that moment. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: I think that like, yes, there's a completely different version of the story where that interaction goes well.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: And you guys are a team, and you're brought into this community of people trying to solve this problem. 

Ian: Where the four of us were Batman and Ravona was Inspector Gordon. 

Mischa: Yeah, kind of. 

[Agreement].

Mischa: And now that's not going to happen. She doesn't feel that way about you guys. You don't feel that way about her. We'll come back to this probably in the next episode, but, you know, how does Gwen feel about all of that? 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: She's kind of the one who sent you to Ravona.

Lyn, Mayanna, Bex, and Ian: Yeah...

[Laughter].

Lyn: There will be consequences to this action for sure. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Gwen will remember this.

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Or maybe not?

Ian: Or not!

Mayanna: Maybe not!

Ian: Or she won't! 

Mayanna: Or maybe she won’t!

Lyn: (Skeptical groan).

Mischa: Ravona, that's, that's really what it was, is that like, that conversation with Ravonna after the construction fight, I was rooting for you guys to find that crystal in that hole, and then–

Mayanna: Thank God, Gordon.

[Agreement].

Mischa: Yeah, and then the minute you guys had the choice to show it to Ravona or not, that was my big telltale, like, Ravona will remember that moment.

[Agreement].

Mischa: And it, that's just the end of our first arc, but we'll see where it takes it. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: It's gonna, it's gonna change the trajectory of the story for sure. 

Mayanna: My tinfoil hat conspiracy theory–

Mischa: Hit me!

Mayanna: –is Ravona activated the mech. 

Mischa: Whoa! 

Lyn: Woah!

Bex: Woah!

Mayanna: Like, cause we couldn't see her! We couldn't see it was too high up. I think that's my, I, and I'm sure I'm wrong, 

Lyn: That’s compelling.

Bex: It was a completely shadowy figure.

Mayanna: But I'm like, she activated the mech.

[Appreciative noises].

Ian: On this subject, the thing that I've sort of been not realizing I've been chewing on is why is she the only other person who can remember stuff? Do we have any idea of what that is? 

Mayanna: No clue.

Lyn: No, she says that there are a team, 

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: like she works with individuals and investigators. 

Mischa: I will, I'll point out, she's also not the pers– the only person who remembers,

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Paz remembered. 

Lyn: mhmm.

Ian: Oh, right. 

Mayanna: Oh, right, Paz remembers

Mischa: It's– it’s– it’s not 

Mayanna: Samira does not. 

Mischa: It's not clear to y'all, we haven't gotten to the point in the story where you figured out what's causing that.

Ian: Got it.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: The only thing that's really clear is that like, obviously you guys remember. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: It's giving Men in Black. 

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah!

Mischa: A little bit. 

Ian: One of my favorite movies of all time. 

Mayanna: Such a good movie. 

Lyn: Such a good movie.

Ian: First Men in Black, perfect film. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Terrifying. Terrifying idea that you could just, like, not remember something you saw.

Mischa: So good, they made the exact same thing again and just put a 2 after it.

[Laughter].

Ian: And that one wasn't great. And then–

Mayanna: Hot take: Love 3.

Ian: –they made the third one, and the third one fucking rocks. 

Mayanna: I love 3. 

Lyn: Yeah

Ian: I cried. 

Mayanna: I cried too!

Mischa: The third one's a time travel one right? 

Ian: Yes!

Mayanna: Yeah, I cried too.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Josh Brolin's in it playing– oh my god, I cried. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: The future seeing alien is one of my favorite characters in anything.

Lyn: Ooh.

Mayanna: He can see all possible futures all at once.

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: So great. 

Ian: Also the really, really like weird looking Men in Black cartoon that was–

Lyn: Oh yeah!

Mayanna: That was a great cartoon.

Lyn: That was great!

Mayanna: I loved that show.

Ian: That was so sick.

Mayanna: Yeah, animation cinema. Anyway. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, no, truly. So, here we are five episodes in your authority figures not trusting you with information. I'm not going to say anything in this moment, but I would love to go around. And hear what you guys think is happening.

[Deep breaths].

Mischa: I'm not going to say anything. But I would just hear it in our very first detour, our very first talk back episode. I would love for you guys to put this on tape. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Lyn: Should we roll for initiative–

Ian: Yes! Do it!

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: –to see who goes first? 

[Laughter]. 

Ian: Do it. Fuck yeah. Mischa's face. Mischa's so over this. 

Mischa: How did I know Ian was going to just jump at that?

Mayanna: I love that. 

[Laughter].

Bex: Can I borrow? 

Mayanna: I love that idea. 

Bex: I didn't bring. 

Mayanna: Yeah absolutely– no, you absolutely can. 

Bex: Yay! 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: I rolled a 17. 

Ian: You rolled a 17? That's high. 

Mayanna: 11. 

Bex: 4! 

Ian: And unbelievably, a 2. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: So I guess that's me. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah

Mischa: Lyn, you first. 

Lyn: Shit. Okay, Um. I don't have any hypotheses around, like, the shadowy figure necessarily, but as far as, like, what is happening. Based on the investigation thus far, both mine and JJ, because at this point, as far as the investigation goes, we're the same. (Laughs).

Mischa: Yeah, I mean, I think that's, that's the fun part about making a mystery game, right, is that, like, at a certain point, your theories and the characters theories are just, you're playing the game. 

Lyn: They're aligning, yeah. 

Bex: Mine, mine don't, though. 

Mischa: Ooh!

Lyn: Ooh. I want to get into that. 

Mischa: Okay, We'll talk about that in a second.

Lyn: Is that the structure in which magic is created, or that Astra funnels magic, like essentially the grid–like the hypothesis that it's collapsing because it was never actually that stable. That like the conduits in which we have been using to contain wild magic, you know, industrial revolution, et cetera, et cetera, like this, it's fucking fossil fuels, like the way that we are actually manifesting it and utilizing it, we don't actually know its true nature. We just understood the physical properties of it enough to make it work for us. But that the infrastructure is breaking and either someone is making it break faster on purpose, or it is breaking kind of naturally and some person or group is taking advantage of it. And the magical destiny that we are on is that this has happened before, I mean, we were told “it's happening again,” so that to some degree, some kind of, like, cataclysmic magical occurrence is like, on its way, and our use of Astra has sped it along.

Mayanna: Hmm. 

Ian: Wow. 

Mayanna: I think that Astra contains some life matter of some kind–

Lyn: (Thoughtful hum).

Mayanna: –that we can utilize for magic and I think it is alive and I think over time it's creating these like living creatures that we're fighting like the jelly ghost and the, and this, this, this new one we found that feels like home or whatever, like that it's, it's not just a resource. That there’s something else deeper going on with it. And also that, that someone knows and they're not telling us and they're trying to keep it from getting out– 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Or whatever Astra or whatever prior thing was used in the war. I think there's a soul cost to all of that. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And so I think there's like a reckoning happening where the souls want to get us or something.

Lyn: I like that.

Mayanna: Yeah, that's my theory. 

Lyn: I'm incorporating that into my belief system as well. 

[Laughter].

Bex: I, Bex, think that there is some sort of political play going on to gain power based on something that happened in the past maybe during initial construction that was unsolved, swept under the rug, and is now sort of being unearthed–pun semi-intended, [chuckle], to be utilized for a power play. 

Bex: Ibra… has no fucking idea what's going on. [Laughter]. Ibra is like, “there is some dream stuff going on and now there's some specter stuff going on…” Ibra's really far more confused and doesn't really have any sort of, like, mapped out version or idea of what's going on at all. 

Mischa: That sort of plays into Ibra's character because Ibra has been shepherded along by their parents and by these doctors, and like, it's created a person who doesn't seek the answers because they're used to be– like someone else having them and just going along with it.

Bex: They're used to being in the dark– 

Mayanna: Siloed.

Bex: Having to trudge through the dark. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And like the other, the other thing I was thinking as Bex is like, there is something about this Astra that is like, pure, different, something different that makes it more powerful or at least easier to manipulate. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: You're talking about the thing that we just found?

Bex: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Okay. I keep coming back to that initial dream and that sentence of “it's happening again.” 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: The “it's” that is happening again, I'm going to guess that it's… revolution. 

[Intrigued gasps].

Lyn: Ooh.

Bex: Hell yeah.

Ian: And my guess is that someone is using the Astra to harness these creatures and is going to try to take down the upper levels of society with it.

Mayanna: Nice.

[Appreciative hums]. 

Ian: That's my guess. 

Mischa: When will it all come down? 

Ian: When will it all come down. 

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Oh, right!

Lyn: That's one of our questions in the world building. 

Mayanna: Yes. Yes. Ooh!

Lyn: Spicy. I got chills. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Lyn: Damn.

Mischa: I'm not going to say, but, I loved that. [Laughter]. I personally was just sitting over here loving all of that, everything that just happened was great for me.

[Giggles].

Bex: It's so funny. I have so many more thoughts that I can't put into words because as soon as it's my turn, my brain goes, (spooky panicked noise). 

[Laughter].

Lyn: That's literally also me when I plan my moves so far in advance in initiative and then it gets to my turn, I'm like, “well!”

[Laughter].

Mischa: (Confused “whatever” sound) Myeh?

Lyn: (Confused “whatever” sound): Blep.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I know it's so hard. You have to prepare a little, but you can't over prepare.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: because you do have to anticipate that things will have changed by the time it's your turn.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: That's very hard. 

Lyn: Like a lair action. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Bex: (Yelps).

Lyn: Horrible. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Well, and you know, I mean, I'm constantly doing that, you know. 

Mayanna: Yeah!

Mischa: Like, like you guys have, you, at least you guys can coordinate.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: I'm working against you guys most of the time. 

Bex: Mhmm. Yeah.

Ian: Just want to say out of game, too, that I feel really bad for how I treated that construction worker guy.

Bex: Aww!

[Awws, laughter]

Lyn: Percy! 

Bex: Good! 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: The Muppet man? 

Ian: I felt so bad. As I was bullying him, I felt bad. 

Mischa: And so fast, like without, without very much prompting it. 

[Agreement].

Ian: I surprised myself. 

Mischa: It was just immediate. 

Mayanna: (As Percy, with a wavering voice)“Sorry, sir.” 

Ian: Yeah, that was, that was some childhood trauma coming out.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Just being like, “I'm going to step on you.” 

Mayanna: Mm.

Ian: Very fast.

Mayanna: Because he reminds you of yourself, or like?

Ian: I guess, I don't, I'm not even going to dig that deep. 

Lyn: Wow.

Mischa: “There's a pecking order, and I won't be in the bottom.” 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Overly enunciated) Buck, buck, b'gawk. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Incredible. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Bex: (Echoing) Buck buck b'gawk. 

Mischa: We're almost at the end of this little friendship welcome circle. Before we sign off, I do want to point out that after the last combat, you guys leveled up.

[Cheers].

Ian: Oh snap!

Mischa: You guys went from level two to level three. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Mischa: We'll discuss that a little bit narratively in the next episode, but–

Mayanna: Incredible.

Mischa: –as far as mechanics, I would love to go around and talk about how your builds have changed. We'll go in reverse initiative order. 

Mayanna: I love that. Thank you. 

Lyn: Cool.

Mischa: So, Ian. 

Ian: I am deeply – I'm realizing this moment that this was our homework assignment and I did not do it.

Mischa: Shit. 

Bex: Ah! 

Ian: Yeah, I fucked up. I'm so sorry. 

Mischa: That's okay. 

Ian: I have to look at– I have to look at it. 

Mischa: You get access to things called reagents which make your bombs stronger and you can also craft potions now. 

Ian: I really love that you're– that you asked me and then knew the answers. 

Mischa: Being a GM, [Laughter], is all about asking questions of your players that you know the answers to.

Ian: Okay, so will you tell our listeners at home, because I am useless. Please explain it for me. 

Bex: You explain it so well, you should go ahead. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: That’s so funny.

Mischa: Yeah, Gordon's a level three alchemist. 

Ian: Holy fuck. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah

Mischa: Listen, we're all playing with Valda’s to Spire of Secrets. A book we're not all intimately familiar with yet. 

Bex: But deeply obsessed with!

[Agreement].

Mischa: Deeply, deeply obsessed. 

Lyn: I love it. Despite not playing, playing with it.

Mischa: I cannot stop playing with Valda’s. Like I-I-I don't know if, well–

Bex: I don’t wanna play with anything else ever again

Lyn: I’ve played it in other games.

Mayanna: Oh yeah yeah.

Mischa: Oh, I don't think I ever wanna play a game of 5e again without Valda’s classes. 

Bex: No. 

Lyn: Yeah yeah, it’s sick. 

Bex: Valda’s is the best.

Ian: Okay. So everyone listening at home, imagine that Mischa's voice is my voice.

Mischa: Gordon's a level 3 alchemist now, which means you get access to reagents–

Ian: Okay.

Mischa: –which make your bombs more volatile and more powerful. 

Ian: Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Mischa: And then, as a level 3 alchemist, there's like a list of common potions you can make. I think one of them is a potion of growth, which lets you grow two times your size. 

Ian: Oh, we talked about this.

Lyn: Get big.

Mischa: You can make healing potions, you can make a couple of different potions now too. 

Ian: Cool. 

Mischa: And I, now that I've, I'm the one saying it on mic, your homework is going to be to narratively justify all those things for next episode. 

Ian: Yeah, I got an assignment on an assignment. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Bex: Yeah. I am taking my champion's call in the warden class.

Mischa: Ooh, that's the warden subclasses, you finally get a subclass. Yeah!

Bex: I finally get to choose my subclass, and I'm going with Soulblood Shaman. Again, this is in Valda’s Spire of Secrets. It's very exciting. I get to be like a third-caster now instead of like a half-caster or full-caster. 

Mischa: Yeah, it's like, it's like a paladin where, like, you get access to magic, but not all the way. But like a warden, even less so you get like, I think you max out at level four spells or something like that. 

Bex: Yeah, I do. 

Lyn: It also sounds badass as hell. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Bex: It is. 

Mischa: It's, yeah, it's sort of about having an otherworldly call to destiny. 

Lyn: Mhmm. 

Mischa: It's, it's about like the spirits of the past imbuing you with the power to protect the present. So. 

Mayanna: That sounds thematic. 

Mischa: Fits pretty well. 

Lyn: (Singsongy) Sounds thematic. 

Bex: It's very thematic, and I'm very excited narratively– like, JJ just did some magic stuff to save my life, so I'm very excited to play with, like, Ibra needing a new tool in their belt. 

Ian: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: speaking of tools in their belt. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Tools in my belt!

[Laughter].

Mischa: What a transition! 

Mayanna: I am gonna take up your advice about doing arcane maesters guild subclass.

Bex: Yes! Yes yes yes.

Mayanna: I think it also makes sense for the Astra stuff that we're all experiencing and investigating. 

Mischa: Yeah. There was that moment where you, like, tried to press a crystal to the barrel of your gun. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: And hope it did something. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: I'm like, oh, that's a person who wants their– to make their things more magical.

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely. I know. And, and like overall, I'm very, very happy with Fran's build. I think she's in over her head because she's not someone who was ever anticipating being in a situation she's in. So for combat purposes, I think she is a little ill equipped, but I think that's like, that makes sense. And additionally, I think she has other values she can add to combat, like assisting with getting hostages out of situations. 

Lyn: Yeah, that was clutch. 

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah! Like, so, but I feel bad that I can't help hit the big, the big metal guy. 

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: I just love how every shot you fired misfired. 

Mayanna: Yeah, I know. But I feel like that, I feel like that's the storytelling itself.

Ian: Yes.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: I think, I think that is the story that needs to happen. But I'm very excited to do more magical craftsman things. 

Mischa: Yeah! So, your thing again, all about adding tags to items, crafting different weapons. With your subclass, you get, like, a special tag, right? 

Mayanna: Yes. I think so. I believe so. Yes, because I did sighted, but that was like, accidental. So I'll have to go through the tags and see what I can get to do. 

Mischa: Oh, yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah. I'm very excited. 

Mischa: Well, when we were building Fran originally in our world building episodes, we had talked about doing the armorer's Guild. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: Of craftsmen. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: Which is like, which is going to deal with, like, your fashion designer qualities. So that's another thing that I think is interesting that, like, because Fran has now been in these situations and seen what she actually needs to do. She, like, I don't, I don't know if narratively she changed her mind, the fact that like, the build evolved as the story did. 

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like,  she's, she, she went through a leather work phase, [Laughter], and now she's in her arcane era.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Now she's in her “Imma fuck shit up” phase. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Now she's in her, “I'm a magician” phase.

[Laughter].

Bex: Part of the thing about craftsmen is you use your downtime to make everything so much cooler. 

Mayanna: Yes.

Bex: And the thing about Fran, you have never been able to have downtime. 

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Yeah! True! 

Mayanna: It's so true. 

Mischa: We're truly on like day two of this campaign in-world, so we've had like, an hour of downtime.

Mayanna: An hour of rest once. I had a great time helping Gordon on his delivery route. 

Ian: That was so good. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: That was so fun. 

Lyn: I loved that scene. 

Ian: We gotta, we gotta play another one of those sidequests.

[Agreement].

Mischa: Yeah, I– I think–

Mayanna: You have a week of deliveries left to make. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: That's the thing, yeah.

Mayanna: You have six days.

Mischa: Yeah, we, we sort of left off episode five kind of in a pivotal emotional moment as we've been talking about most of this episode. But, I think once some of that gets resolved, we'll move into a downtime phase and see how that goes. 

Bex: Woo!

Mayanna: I'm so excited. 

Lyn: I loved that scene so much. 

Mayanna: Aw thank you.

Lyn: It made me so happy. I was like, “ah, I want to be in this ride-along all the time.” 

Mayanna: It’s such a fun ride along and Gordon handled it great. 

Ian: I passed on Santa Monica Boulevard one of those tuk tuks.

[Gasps].

Ian: There's there's a Instagram group called, I don't know how to say it, it's K-E-I. Is the brand. 

Lyn: Kei? Oh, the Kei trucks? 

Ian: Kei trucks. It's called Kei of SoCal. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Ian: And there's a community of people who have those trucks here and have like, refurbed them and are driving around. And I. I saw it and I was like, (excited, strangled gasp).

Mayanna: That’s us!

Lyn: Kei is a classification of Japanese vehicle.

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Oooh!

Mayanna: Wooaaahhhh

Ian: It’s not a brand, it’s a classification of truck.

Ian: Got it.

Mischa: You got to take those pictures and send it to our group chat dawg. 

Ian: Oh that’s such a good point.

Mayanna: He was driving. He was being safe. 

Mischa: Okay. Don't text the group chat when you're driving. 

Ian: Yeah yeah.

Mischa: OSHA approved podcast. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: OSHA approved. The only podcast that got OSHA approval. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: What am I talking about? 

Mayanna: JJ's build! 

Lyn: Oh my gosh! JJ's build! It feels anticlimactic because I'm the only one not playing Valda’s class, and I've already had my subclass this whole time.

Mischa: Yeah! Hey! Listen. That’s okay!

Lyn: Clerics are– Clerics are little weird! 

Mayanna: I love clerics! 

Bex: We love clerics.

Lyn: So, JJ taking level 3 in Peace Cleric, which is such a, like, we've been talking out of game about, like, a lot of the weird tension there, which I think is really spicy and fun and is why JJ has anxiety. [Laughter]. I gave my character anxiety. That's me. I did that. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Look at what you've done to this perfectly good D&D character. It has anxiety. 

Mayanna: It's like the fairies in Sleeping Beauty, or it's like “my gift will be the gift of song.” [Laughter]. It's like “your gift is the gift of anxiety.” 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Can I– honestly? Can I have the gift of being put to sleep for 16 years? That sounds kind of nice.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Oh yeah, I could use that.

Mayanna: Well that was the curse. 

Mischa: Was it though? 

Mayanna: It was. 

Bex: Was it though?

Mischa: I’m sleepy.

Mayanna: I’m eepy.

[Laughter].

Lyn: so yeah, so the exciting thing about that is I get second level spell slots. 

Ian: Hey!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Hey that’s pretty big though.

Lyn: Which is huge. Yeah. I now have four first level spell slots and two second level spell slots, which is great. And now I get Spiritual Weapon. 

[gasp]

Bex: Yeah! 

Mayanna: I love Spiritual Weapon! 

Mischa: Pretty good!

Lyn: You know. The cleric thing. That thing that clerics get. 

Mayanna: Yeah, it's great. 

Mischa: As soon as you replace your shattered Astra crystal. 

Mayanna: Oh, yeah.

Lyn: Yeah, so mechanically, I'm very excited for that. 

Bex: Yeah, someone needs to tell Ibra what the frick is going on. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Lyn: Yeah. That's gonna be so expensive to replace… I’m not gonna think about that.

Bex: Again, someone needs to tell Ibra what the frick is going on.

Mayanna: Well, not if you go to Thorgunn. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: I suppose. 

Mayanna: He's so smart and very good. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: We all don't really know who Thorgunn is. 

Mayanna: Yeah, I think it's gonna be a fun day. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: I want that field trip now actually. 

Mayanna: Yeah, perfect. 

Lyn: That’d be really funny.

Mayanna: I think he's the first person I would go to if Astra was broken, which is terrible. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: You know what, don't explain it to Ibra until we get to Thorgunn's, because it’s more fun that way.

Mayanna: I won’t. Yeah, I won't. Well, it won't be Thorgunn's home, it will be the Pachonko parlor. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Which is his de facto home.

Mayanna: It's where he's always found. 

Bex: He hasn't left that stool for three weeks. 

Mayanna: As far as I know, he does live there. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah. But yeah. Still trying to decide what that Spiritual Weapon will be. Because I think that narratively, that'll be very fun to decide.

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah, I'm excited to see it. 

Lyn: So, the, the fun thing is, Mischa knows this, is that I was also, like, forever GM for a while until Mischa became my GM, and now I play in three of Mischa's games. 

Mischa: Yup! 

Lyn: (Laughs) Which is –

Mischa: Wild, what a wild turn for you. 

Lyn: Honestly, it was not intentional and yet here we are. So like, I love, like, the narrative choices of characters and, like, character symbolism specifically. So I have thoughts on the flavor and descriptions and all that. And very, not even half baked. It's like– haven't chosen the ingredients yet. 

Mayanna: Hm.

Mischa: Keep tuning in, I guess. 

Lyn: Yeah, find out… whenever I cast that spell. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Well, thanks so much, you guys, for talking with me about this little story that we're making.

Mayanna: Thanks for having us. 

Mischa: I'm so excited to keep playing this. 

Mayanna: Yes!

Bex: Thanks for having us! I don’t want to be done.

Mischa: It's so fun and so cool. I'm so invested. 

Bex: Yeah!

Mischa: Five episodes in, I'm so invested.  

Ian: I feel even more invigorated to play after this conversation. 

Mayanna: Yeah, me too. 

Bex: Right?

Lyn: Yeah. 

Ian: Like, I just feel like I have a better overall grasp. I hope everyone at home does too.

Mischa and Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Thank you guys so much for listening. 

Mayanna: Yes, thank you!

Bex: Yeah!

Lyn: Thank you!

Bex: We love you.

Mischa: Full veil-up for a second. Like we're still recording this pre-release. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: So like we're recording with the hope and faith that people are out there listening and enjoying it. I think they will. I hope they will. 

Mayanna: I hope so. 

Bex: Yeah!

Ian: Cross your fingers.

Mischa: So, so before we even know who you are, thank you for being here with us and for listening and for coming with us on this journey.

Mayanna: Yes! Down the path.

Mischa: Down the Wandering Path! Oh, like we made the show with that title on purpose.

[Laughter].

[Theme music].

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafil, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. 

If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Till next time!

[Theme music fades out].

1.05 A Little Spark

A looming threat reveals hidden layers beneath the rubble. Ibra bears the brunt. JJ maintains health & safety. Gordon finds a hidden warmth. Fran makes a tough call.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

1.04 A Good Spot To Dig

The team arrives on-scene for their first assignment. JJ bonds with her dad. Ibra stands sentry. Gordon steps up. Fran ponders “construction chic.” 

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

Bex: Previously, on the Wandering Path.

[SFX: Theme music plays in background of recap].

Mischa: Our crew’s tracking down the mysterious wraith attacks across the city, which might be harder than they thought, considering that apparently some people can’t even remember anything having to do with them. But at least Gwen knows what to do: assign competent, qualified, capable individuals to the task. Or, when you can’t find any of those, call in some eager young folks who need some employment. I guess when you’re fighting electric jelly ghosts, any crew will do, you know? Okay, let’s see what’s around the bend today on the Wandering Path.

[SFX: Theme music swells, then fades out].

Mischa: Well, here we are. 

[SFX: Gentle, pensive music begins: acoustic guitar and piano].

Mischa: A group of heroes, and a quest calling them to action. Now that Gwen has officially noted the four of you as people capable of handling a vital and important task for the city–a task she can't even remember the details of as she assigns it. But fortunately for her and for the rest of the city, you all do remember it: the task of investigating potential incidents of danger across the city that may or may not have been caused by spooky electromagical creatures, or what y'all have affectionately called electric jelly.

Ian: Wait, also, just not to put too fine a point on it. But, people are forgetting, right? So even the people who assigned us these tasks, they told us that they might not remember having done so. 

Mayanna: Yeah, having given us the job. 

Mischa: Correct. In fact, Gwen is one of those people and knows she is one of those people. So is trying to do this job knowing that she's not going to remember what she has told people to do. 

Mayanna: So scary.

Mischa: Which, for the person assigning tasks across the city, pretty scary. 

Mayanna: Not awesome. 

Mischa: Yeah. And to that point, she's also warned you guys that like, anybody you try to talk to–to gain access to places, to investigate, to do your jobs–might not be willing to help you because they won't know why you need to do what you need to do. 

Mayanna: But she gave us an ordinance or something, right? 

Lyn: We got some forms. 

Ian: Some paperwork. 

Mischa: She said she would help you where she could. 

Ian: Yikes.

Mayanna: Gotcha, right. Well, that's not– That's not promising. 

Ian: So it's gonna be like a, “Hey, the city sent us to investigate ghosts.” And people are gonna be like, “Ghosts don't exist!”

Mayanna: “You're dumb. Get out of my lawn!” 

Mischa: Little bit.

Ian: Great. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: Specters. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Phantasms. 

Ian: Wraiths. 

Mayanna: Spooky.

[SFX: music fades out].

Mischa: To that end, she sent you to investigate the bridge collapse: an overpass has collapsed over Minetown, over the center of the city, and it's a major thoroughfare. It's been tossing traffic around the city into chaos for the past 24 hours.

Mischa: Ibra and JJ, you're headed directly there from Gwen's office, correct? 

Lyn: Yes. 

Bex: Mhmm.

Mischa: Fran and Gordon, you guys were still doing Gordon's bread route. And Ian, you were going to decide whether you were going to stick on your delivery route, as you've promised Cecilia, head of your guild–

Ian: Mhmm.

Mischa: –or if you're going to drop everything and head over to help your friends at the disaster site.

Ian: It's such a hard call. And I'm so scared to leave them alone for whatever amount of time that is. How–Okay, wait. Just so I know before I make this decision–how far off the path does it put us if we finish the delivery? 

Mischa: Well, correct me if I'm wrong. The final delivery on your route as prescribed by Cecilia is handing out free bread in the Dustpan.

Ian: Yes. 

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Dustpan? Pretty close to the disaster site, actually. 

Ian: Ohh-kayy.

Mayanna: (Aligning with Ian’s cadence) Ohh, that's greaaatt. 

Ian: That makes the– 

Ian and Mayanna: (Elongated, singsongy, and in unison) –decision easier. 

[Laughter].

Ian: Well, that solves that problem. We're going to go finish the route so I fulfill my responsibilities to the Baker's Guild and to Cecilia. 

Mischa: Sounds good. 

Ian (Gordon): Let's go hand out some bread. 

Mayanna (Fran): Let's hand out some bread. Let's do it. 

Ian: So we get back in the tuk-tuk. 

[SFX: motor revs, then rumbles in the background].

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: And we head in the direction of the bridge, but we stop at the Dustpan. 

[SFX: motor zooms off into the distance]. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: How many people are there today? 

Mischa: Well, that's a good question. 

Ian: Flippin' on the GM, ask them questions. Boo! 

Mischa: Oh no, I have to make a world? Come on! 

Bex: Keep them on their toes. 

Ian: Uh oh, that's not a good face.

Mischa: Well, I love when you ask me to casually roll a d20 and it shows one of the highest numbers or one of the lowest numbers. 

Bex: (Nervous) Aiiee.

Ian: Oh lord. 

Mischa: It's slammed today. 

[SFX: soft but tense music begins, rhythmic piano]. [SFX: soundscape begins, overlapping chatter of a crowd on the street with building intensity].

Mayanna: Oh. 

Ian: Fuck, I shouldn't have asked a question. 

Mischa: It is a little rowdy. 

[].

Ian: Oh no. 

Mischa: I think, well, I think that you know, the people of the Dustpan are not always in the right minds.

Mayanna: Right.

Mischa: A lot of these people are sort of dependent on this chemical, this drug that has swept through the city in the past few years called “dust.” [Thoughtful hums]. Which gives people like, a glassy-eyed look. It gives them, you know, stray thoughts. It makes people's behavior erratic. Their moods and emotions can shift at the drop of a hat. So I think all it takes is this, you know, this orderly line that Cecilia has enforced every day, that like, people know Cecilia's coming, line up, get your bread. 

Ian: Sure.

Mischa: And today's the day that it's you and Fran. 

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: Yeah. Mom's not there. 

Mayanna: Yeah, so the kids are getting a little-getting a little rambunctious. 

Mischa: Yeah, so I– 

Mayanna: Substitute teacher.

Ian: Yeah. (Chuckles).

Mischa: Gordon– 

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: –and Fran, you can either roll separately or you can help action, I suppose. 

Mayanna: I'll do help action. 

Mischa: Okay. Gordon, will you roll a charisma save with advantage? 

Ian: Yes… I… 

Mayanna: Nice. 

Ian: Can… [Dice rolls]. I got a 21. 

[Impressed cheers].

Ian: Gordon steps up to this. 

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: I like– It's looking like it's about to get out of hand. What do you do? 

Ian: Okay. I get on the top of the tuk-tuk.

[SFX: metal creaks and thuds].

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: I– It's so loud and rowdy that at first people can't hear me. So I take one of my handy muffins out of my bag: the biggest muffin I can find. And then I very quickly just hollow out the center, turning it into a somewhat of a cone-shaped muffin, and I use it to amplify my voice– The look on Mischa's face right now.

Mischa: (Flabbergasted) I’m sorry. Fucking what?

Mayanna: You made like a cornet, a literal cornet. Basically. 

Bex: Like a director's cornet. Oh my god. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: And so, yeah, on the top of the tuk-tuk, yelling through my director's cone.

Mischa: (Chuckles).

Bex: Thank you.

Ian: I think I get everyone in line, and I think because– You're with me, right? 

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Ian: You really like– If Fran wasn't with me, we would have no hope. But me getting people in line and Fran starting to hand stuff out–

Mayanna: Mhmm. I'm a server. 

Ian: –we get– Ohh!

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: I'm a server. 

Mischa: Yeah! 

Mayanna: I'm servin’. 

Bex: You're servin’. 

Ian: Wait, so maybe Fran has a piece of this, too, in terms of getting– Cause, you know, I'm not super used to it. So what did Fran do? 

Mayanna: I think I start– I whip out my little, 

Mayanna (Fran): What can I get for ya? 

Mayanna: And I think, I think the sort of stark weirdness of that, I think people go, 

Mayanna (Dustpan Resident): (Taken off guard) Can I get bread?

Mayanna: And I'm like, 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, you can get bread. Yeah. All right. Just to line up right there and, we'll give you a number and yeah, we'll be-we'll be right on your way. 

Mischa: Whoa.

Mayanna: And I just keep doing that. 

Mischa: Whoa!

Ian: So we would not have succeeded without Fran. So– 

Mayanna: I'm unemployed. I mean, I just got a new crazy job, but if you need help on this route, I can help you.

Ian: That's amazing. I think–I think we–I think we like, look at each other and we're like, 

Ian (Gordon): Wow.

Mayanna (Fran): Going good. 

Ian (Gordon): Dynamic duo. 

Mayanna (Fran): This is working out. 

Ian: And we fairly, I guess in short order, we take a really messy situation and we handle it. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: I was not expecting that. 

[SFX: music and soundscape fade out].

Mischa: Yeah, I'm– with a 21 charisma save like, I mean, Cecilia's gone for the better part of this week, but like when she hears about that, she's gonna, I mean.

Ian: (Singsongy) Gordon makin’ the ranks. 

Mischa: Yeah baby.

Ian: (Singsongy) In the Baker’s Guild. 

Mayanna: (Singsongy) Yeah yeah yeah, earning respect. (Continues singing)

Mischa: What a fantasy. Earning respect at work. 

Ian: Yeah. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah! Look at that. 

Mayanna: I like wipe a little sweat. 

Mayanna (Fran): Whew. Whew.

Ian: Yeah, we get in the tuk-tuk, [SFX: motor revs], and then we head to see our friends at the bridge. 

Mayanna (Fran): Woohoo! 

[SFX: motor rumbles into the distance].

Mischa: Let's head over there with Ibra and JJ. 

[SFX: reflective music beings, pulsing synths and vibrant metallophone]. 

Mischa: You head over to the collapsed overpass. It soared hundreds of feet overhead, these crisscrossing sections of roadway supported by tall, grey concrete columns embedded into the steep hillside, creating a central thoroughfare high above Midtown. It was a huge interchange, with all sorts of major roadways overlapping and leading in and out of each other, creating a central hub for traffic leading to every part of the city.

Mischa: And I say “was,” because as you approach, you see that the topmost section of roadway seems to have just collapsed, like it was knocked down by a giant's fist. And it crashed into the layers beneath it until the entire hillside is just covered in asphalt chunks, concrete dust, and other various cascading debris. 

[SFX: soundscape begins to fade in, various hums and whirs of large machinery, hammering and digging as rubble is cleared].

Mischa: It seems fairly static at this point, the sort of immediate rescue effort having taken place the previous day, so the work crews here are mostly excavation and construction, rather than rescue and paramedic. Lots of members of the Mechanist Guild have been called in. You can see workers in the cockpits of large excavators, six-limbed machines clambering spider-like over the debris pile, breaking larger chunks down, with blasts from force cannons on their backs.

[SFX: electricity hums and thuds, making contact with rubble]. 

Mischa: Some people are also carrying smaller versions of that, workers armed with like, shoulder-mounted rigs, as well as some telekinesis harnesses to carry the smaller pieces away. By a rough headcount, you see about 30 workers. Looks like a pretty big crew called down here. 

[SFX: music fades out].

Mischa: Ibra and JJ, you arrive from Gwen's office. Riding on Ibra's bike? 

[SFX: electric motor winds down].

Lyn (JJ): It's too fast, this is too fast. 

Bex (Ibra): You say that every time, but we get here on time. So.

Lyn (JJ): (Distressed groan).

Bex (Ibra): You wanna go find your dad? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh my gosh, my dad! 

Mischa: Yeah, your dad is here. 

Lyn: Which one? 

Mischa: Your dad, Paul. 

Lyn: Paul!

Mischa: He's on site. Lyn, why don't you go ahead and describe your dad, Paul, for us? 

Lyn: Yeah, Paul. I wrote in my notes, “Paul just gives off big dad energy, you know?”

Mischa: Helpful. 

Ian: Classic dad. 

Lyn: Yeah, so Paul is one of my dads. 

[Yays].

Lyn: He's an engineering technician with the Mechanist’s Guild. He– I don't know, he oversees like equipment maintenance, a bit of project management on worksites, I don't know, that kind of thing. So, he's got on his workman's gear, always a little bit dusty, with a… tan. Yeah, sure. [Laughter]. He is, you know, a bit sunned, he hasn't been directly working in the Pit for some years, so he can actually see the light of day, which is great. 

Mischa: Pretty nice. 

Lyn: He's a little taller than JJ, but he's still like, you know, a squat man.

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: Still a half dwarf. 

Mischa: Yeah. Half dwarf size. 

Lyn: Yeah, half dwarf size, and he's-yeah, he's squat. And especially, especially maybe more so now, because he is (singsongy) rather far along in his pregnancy. 

Bex: (Singsongy) Ooh.

Mischa: Yeah, how far along would you say he is? 

Lyn: I don't, I don't know what, (mumbled) half dwarf gestation periods are, [Laughter]. (Normal) but like, we'll say like, mid-second trimester? 

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn: Yeah. Like definitely like noticeable. 

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn: Uh, but…

Mischa: I'm going to go ahead and make an executive decision that that's eight months along in a 14 month pregnancy.

Lyn: Wow. 

Bex: Whoa.

Lyn: Math. 

Mischa: Yep. 

Lyn: That was very fast. Yeah. So, but yeah. Like, just like, still early enough that he's like, approved to be on a worksite. And, yeah, he likes being hands-on at the job. So I guess that's why he's currently here and not like, at home doing not work stuff.

Mischa: Sure, but I bet you that like, his supervisors are like, “Okay, but you have to actually supervise, you can't jump in.”

Lyn: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like “you have to stay at a distance. Like, you can tell people what to do, please tell people what to do, but you cannot operate heavy machinery right now.” 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Lyn: Yeah, that’s definitely the vibe. So I'm looking for like, a foreman, essentially. 

Mischa: Pretty much, yeah. I think he's been called in to oversee, yeah, the use of these pieces of heavy machinery. Probably overseeing like, the larger construction pieces. There's, you know, some people with almost mech power armor-like devices that sort of like strap to their whole chest and shoulders, and then there's a couple of big diggers. They're like these six-armed almost spider mech looking things–

Lyn: Cool.

Mischa: –that like, they're heavy and not nimble, but they're like you know six-legged, and they kind of crawl up the piles and like, they have little drilling lasers or like, they'll just knock stuff away, and they're trying to clear away the debris. And I think that's probably where you find your dad is overseeing that section of the disaster site up on the hill.

Lyn: Amidst the din of all of the machinery, I am looking around trying to find a short man in a white helmet. (Chuckles).

Mischa: Yeah, you find him he's kind of way in the back. You know, you have to enter on the lower level so you're looking up the hill, and you can see him a ways away through some of the smaller portions of the worksite.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: I think he wears, the family crest of Calderon on the back of his helmet. It's not like, a super well-known crest, but he takes a lot of pride in it, and so he put it there. 

Bex: Aww.

Mischa: So you can, I think you know exactly what you're looking for, but you see it far away. 

Lyn: I think I change out of like my normal overshirt that covers a lot of my other workwear, and I put on a high visibility vest that I take when I ride my… fixie as opposed to your… Ducati ass crotch rocket so I'm very, the safety is there like I have a little high visibility vest. I don't think I have a helmet?

Bex: I mean, I– you might not have a hard hat, but you have at least a motorcycle helmet. 

Lyn: Oh no. 

Mayanna: With like the visor?

Bex: Visor down. 

Lyn: No, I mean, can I put the visor up? Does it have the–

Bex: Yes. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Okay, I just have the visor up. 

Mayanna: But it's still like a full encapsulation of your whole head. 

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna give you like a bonus to persuasion because the hi-vis vest and then the motorcycle helmet like took it back a little bit.

Lyn: It’s a lot. (Laughs).

Mayanna: It's a clashing outfit. 

Mischa: Yeah. I think. Before you gain immediate access, there's like, some standing barriers, just kind of keeping the general public out. And there's a couple of crew people standing by just to sort of direct traffic in that way. This is a– I mean, it's a big disaster area. There's a bunch of people walking by on adjacent streets that might get curious and it might be a little dangerous for them. 

Mischa: So, I think a young human man, probably about your age? Lanky, he doesn't fit his hi-vis vest very well. This is clearly like a mechanist's apprentice being, you know, put on traffic duty, and you two walk up and he stops you and says, 

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): (In a garbled voice) Excuse me. Sorry. This is a highly dangerous area. Please stand clear. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, we have business here. I– we work with the Magistrate's Office, but I'm also a student in the Mechanists Guild. But we've also been assigned to come here. Also my dad's up there. I need to speak with my dad. He's the foreman. 

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): Listen, I understand you need to fulfill your work hours for your-your schooling in the Come-Up. This is very dangerous. We need you to find a new activity today. 

Lyn (JJ): We have a letter from the Magistrate, actually. 

Lyn: So I pull out, it's probably like the graphite copy. 

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: Like, you know, the pink version instead of the normal version. 

Lyn (JJ): So we're– This is– We're supposed to be here. 

Mischa: I… Okay. There's so many competing elements that go into this role. The motorcycle helmet. Ibra's next to you in full riding leathers, not looking like a member of the crew at all. Your dad's on the crew. He's a member of the same guild as you. You have a letter that's really just a copy of the letter. I think we're just gonna jump straight to it. Can you roll persuasion with midvantage?

[c].

Lyn: I've been gunning for midvantage this whole time. 

Bex: Yes, yes, yes.

Mischa: You did it! 

Lyn: Nice. 

[Dice rolls].

Bex: We love to min max. 

Lyn: Okay. Yeah, that was a flat 7. 

Mischa: A 7? 

Mayanna: (Pained) Ooh.

Lyn: 2, 7, 17.

Ian: (Pained) Ooh.

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): I don't know, this doesn't-this doesn't look very official. 

Bex (Ibra): Okay, here's the thing, just because something doesn't look very official doesn't mean it isn't very official. I've learned that in the last couple years in the Magistrate's Office. It's very confusing. But I can promise you this is legit. We have been sent by the Magistrate to do some work here. I know we don't have proper hard hats, but we've got these helmets, if that helps. 

Mischa: This apprentice gets a look on his face like he doesn't know if those helmets are properly rated. He's like, 

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): (Nervous whimper). Is there? Something about how they make the helmets? Are any helmets good? Alright, stay here one second. 

Mischa: And he turns off to the side and goes, 

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): Supervisor! 

Ian: I love this guy. 

Lyn: (Giggles). 

Bex: This is my favorite. 

Ian: 100 percent my favorite NPC. 

Mayanna: This guy’s actually a muppet. This guy's a puppet and everybody else is not a puppet. 

Bex: Imagine him doing that flappy thingy when he says, (garbled) “Supervisor!”

Mischa: Yeah, he looks at the both of you and goes, 

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): Alright, stay right here, alright? 

Mischa: And he walks over to his supervisor to ask whether or not it's okay. 

Bex (Ibra): Should we just go in while he's not looking? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I can also just page my dad. 

Bex (Ibra): I mean, that works. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky filter, indicating a text] I'm at the site. 

Bex (Ibra): He's not looking. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky filter] I see you. Ha ha. Can you come down here? They won't let us in. 

Ian: Do you text “ha ha” to your dad? 

Lyn: Yes. Absolutely. 

Mayanna: Really hitting them with the do you know who my dad is. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah! 

Lyn: I mean, do you know my dad? He's right there. 

Bex: He's on the hill, literally. 

Mayanna: Just call him over. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Ian: This is classic bureaucracy. He's. Right. There! 

Mayanna: He's right there. I just need to get to him. Please. 

Mischa: Yeah, about 10 seconds after you send that text, you see off in the distance, he raises his hands to stop the work–

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: –and sort of like trundles down the hill towards you. 

Mischa (Paul): Ah, JJ, hi! What's uh? This is kind of dangerous, what are you doing here? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I didn't bring my hard hat. 

Mischa (Paul): You always gotta bring your hard hat to a worksite!

Lyn (JJ): Right, okay, so, we didn't know that we were coming here originally, but we did get assigned to come here, so. 

Bex (Ibra): And I brought motorcycle helmets. I don't know if they're the same. 

Mischa: Ibra, what's your AC? 

Mayanna: Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh. 

Bex: Uh… 18. 

Mischa: Paul takes out, an Omnitool lookin device and just sort of like, thunks right on top of the motorcycle helmet. It cracks.

Bex: (Surprised) Oh!

Mischa: And you take one point of bludgeoning damage. 

Mayanna: Ohhh.

Ian: (Mocking laugh). Survey says?

Bex (Ibra): Okay, so it's not the same. Got it. 

Ian: Not the same!

Mischa (Paul): Well, we'll get you some rated hats. Hold on one second. 

Mischa: And Paul takes his hard hat off of his head and, JJ, puts it on your head. 

Mayanna: Aww. 

Lyn (JJ): Thanks, Dad. 

Mayanna: Aww. 

Lyn (JJ): Are our head's the same size? That's crazy.

Mischa: He reaches into the back and like, twists a knob that tightens it onto your head. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Great. Yeah. I knew that. That's fine. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: See those Mechanist classes really-really paying off, huh? 

Lyn (JJ): You know that I'm mostly doing the like, more architectural stuff. I'm not normally on work sites like this, usually. 

Mischa (Paul): That's more your father's area. You know, I-I'm– I think there's something to be said for getting your hands in up to the elbows. I like it. It's just me personally. Yeah, and I'll-I'll grab I-Ibra, why don't you come with me? We'll grab some helmets. 

Bex (Ibra): (Stammering) Could I buy one so that I can replace this motorcycle helmet, which apparently does nothing? Cause this this sort of? This?

Bex: And I'm like, touching Ibra's, 

Lyn (JJ): Motorcycle helmets are supposed to break on impact because when it hits. It deflects the energy, so it takes it away from your head. But hard hats here, things are supposed to slide off. 

Bex (Ibra): Man, I have so much to learn. 

Mischa: (Surprised) That's-that's really true. That was not a made up fact. That's a real fact. 

Bex: I love that. 

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Okay, well, then, yeah, thanks, sir. Um. Thank you. 

Mischa: Yeah, and he takes you off to the equipment trailer where you pass that, other apprentice, and he goes,

Mischa (Young Construction Worker): Okay, I, I don't know if they're– Oh! Oh, Mr. Calderon, you– Are you here with these…? Are they…? 

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, Percy, it's fine. 

Mischa: And Percy– 

Bex: (Delighted) Percy.

Mischa: Yeah, and Percy goes,

Mischa (Percy): (Unsure) Okay. 

Bex (Ibra): Thanks for keeping it safe, Percy.

Lyn (JJ): You're doing great. 

Mischa (Percy): Thanks. I worry sometimes. 

Lyn (JJ): I… know the feeling. 

[Laughter].

Bex: Oh my god, I love this.

Mischa: Yeah, your father has gone off with Ibra to go get some better equipment. You have a hard hat. You have a hi-vis vest. It's a construction site. What do you do? 

Lyn: I would like to cast Detect Magic on the site. 

Mischa: Yes! Cast some spells! What does the tech magic look like? 

[SFX: dreamy music begins, arpeggiated synth harp]

Lyn: Ooh, for fun, I feel like I have safety goggles. 

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: And so I plug my Astra into my safety goggles. So that it turns into like, the heat radars. But for magic. 

Mischa: Sure, normal glasses with a slot in the side. You just like, click it in and twist. [SFX: dial clicking, electric whir powers up]. And, like, detection, like, AR screen pops up onto the normal glasses. 

Lyn: Nice.

Bex: Sick.

Mischa: Yeah. Okay! Great! Detect Magic! 

Lyn: Yes. I think this one's hard because I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for, but taking a page out of Inspector Ravona's book like, clearly was looking at infrastructure for latent magic…stuff.

Mischa: Sure, I'll describe for you again what Ravona was doing, and so that can inform what you do here. She didn't really tell you what she was doing. She had a modular weapon/device, which she sort of like smacked into the floor of Boggin’s Beestro in various spots until it glowed a different color, and then when she did that, she immediately said, “Okay, everybody leave, Boggins is closed for business.”

Lyn: Got it, yeah, so dowsing, essentially. So, I guess what I'll look at is– there's a bunch of construction going on, so I'm looking for if there's any magical spark that happens whenever contact is made with any of the debris. 

Mischa: Yeah. Great. What do you want to roll about that? Perception? Investigation? 

Lyn: I could do either. They're the same modifier. 

Mischa: INT and WIS? 

Lyn: They're the same mod for me so. 

Mischa: Okay, great. Go ahead. Let's get it going. 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Oh my god I thought that was a 1. That's a 7. Plus five. 12! 

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn: I was so scared. I was like, “Nooo!”

Mayanna: Naur! 

Mischa: A lot of the construction cleanup equipment is powered by magic. So first things first is–it's funny. Cause like Detect Magic also, in this world, a little bit goes Detect Electrical Devices. [Understanding hums]. So yeah, the first thing you see that lights up in your vision is anybody using any sort of piece of construction equipment. The heavier machines, and some of the heavier personal apparati have debris clearing like, lasers. They kind of like break up big chunks of rock into smaller chunks so that they can then pick it up and do stuff with it. And at the front of the construction site, there– it's really more just like, clearing rock, clearing rubble, clearing debris, cleaning up pathways so that other people can walk further into the site.

Mischa: Up near where your dad was working, up onto the hillside underneath the soaring overpass, your goggles spot something deep underneath a pile of rubble up on the hill. Up where the big spider crawler is doing its large work. It's not on the surface, it's very clearly like a reading on the goggles, that where you like, you turn your head, and it's faint, because it's covered by a layer of stone or whatever.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: But with the 12, you, like, something registers on your goggles, that like–as you're turning your head. 

[SFX: music fades out].

Lyn (JJ): Oh boy. Um. Dad? Ibra– Oh, they’re over there. Dad! Dad! Hey, Dad. Dad. Dad.

Mischa (Paul): Wassup?

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Um. Do you know what caused the collapse? Also, there's something in that pile. 

Mischa (Paul): Okay. 

Lyn: I– one was a question, one was a statement. There's something in there. 

Mischa (Paul): We don't know what caused it. It happened pretty randomly. It crumbled. We assume it was a structural weakness in one of the pillars. We're still investigating. You know, we're really clearing out the area. We're probably going to take down some pieces of the overpass, amputate it a little further back towards the ground level and rebuild from there. But we're still on the first phase of that stuff. You said there was something in the rubble? 

Lyn (JJ): There's uhhh… There's a-there's a magical footprint in there. I can't see it very well. But…

Mischa (Paul): Okay, okay.

Lyn (JJ): There's something magical within the rubble up there. 

Lyn: And I point to that specific location.

Mischa: Sure. I think Paul, puts a hand on your shoulder and goes, 

Mischa (Paul): Good looking out. I got this. 

Mischa: And starts waving to the driver of the spider excavator. The six-legged excavator. 

Lyn: So cool. 

Mischa: And starts like, hand signals pointing to the exact spot you pointed out. And it moves over and starts digging. Ibra, what would you like to do? 

Bex: I'm trying to figure out if Ibra's at all concerned about unearthing something unknown. 

[SFX: tense music begins: reverberating synths].

Bex: I think Ibra's gonna– Ibra doesn't really know what to do with it in this kind of voice, it's like, 

Bex (Ibra): Are you sure digging it up is the right move? If if it's buried, why don't we formulate a plan while it's buried? So that we don't just accidentally unleash it before we're ready, in case it's something like…You know.

Lyn (JJ): Oh. That's a good point, but we won't really know– I can't even tell what it is until it gets uncovered a little bit. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh. That's fair. I just. Ah, okay. Can I go up there and-and-and-and– You think your dad will let me go up there and be at the ready? With the hat and everything? 

[SFX: music fades out].

Lyn (JJ): If you ask really nicely. And look really cute doing it. 

Bex (Ibra): Okay, I can try. On the second part. 

Lyn (JJ): Heh, I don't actually think that'll work. 

Bex (Ibra): No. 

Lyn (JJ): No. 

Bex (Ibra): But I'll try. 

Lyn (JJ): Do it! 

Bex (Ibra): Okay, I'll channel you. Let’s go.

Lyn (JJ): He likes you. 

Bex (Ibra): Here we go. He does? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Bex (Ibra): I like him. Cool. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Bex: Can I sort of, like, establish something kind of a little gross? 

[SFX: ominous music begins, creepy organ and keyboard]

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: (Intrigued hum).

Bex: At one point during the transition process, Ibra popped out a canine.

Mischa: (Perturbed) Ooh, okay. 

Bex: And, slipped it into JJ's pocket. 

Mischa: Okay, sleight of hand Ibra, perception JJ. 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 18. 

Bex: 11. 

Mischa: Okay, as you head off towards the excavator's position JJ, Ibra pulls a tooth out of their head, and slips it in your pocket. 

[SFX: soundscape pauses].

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: an echoey filter, indicating telepathic speech] This is the only way that I know that we can talk from afar. 

Mischa: And JJ, you hear that in your brain. 

Mayanna: (Disturbed) Oh god. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] Hello? 

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Hi. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (Disgusted) Ew! 

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Yeah. It's weird, but, it's the only way that I know how to work this thing. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (Extremely flabbergasted) What?!  

Bex: (Devious chuckle). It is a hexblood feature. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Bex: It is called Eerie Token. 

Mayanna: Yeah, no kidding. 

Bex: And I give someone a tooth, a lock of hair, or some other token that is–

Mayanna: Part of your body.

Bex: –broken off of me. 

Mayanna: (Under breath) Oh my god.

Bex: This token is imbued with magic until I finish a long rest. While the token is imbued, I can take the action to telepathic message. Up to 25 words, to 10 miles, or remote view, and enter a trance for a minute and see through it. 

Mayanna: Does your tooth grow back? 

Ian: Yeah that’s–

Bex: Yes. 

Mayanna: What?! 

Ian: Oh okay.

Lyn: I was gonna say like, well, I think JJ's response is, 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] Was your tooth loose this whole time? 

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Oh, this one's always a little bit loose, it's supposed to do this.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (Trepidatious) I–Uh… Okay. If it's supposed to, I'll take your word for it. You know your body more than I do. 

Ian: I’m shook to my very core.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (Heavy denial) This is fine. 

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Look, if it helps you at all, you can think about this tooth as just a piece of Astra. 

Mayanna: (Nervous chuckle).

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] I think that makes it weirder. 

Mayanna: It does. 

Bex: (Dejected) Oh.

Ian: 100 percent worse.

Mayanna: 100 percent.

Bex: Dang.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] I think that's weirder. 

Mayanna: Yeah, not helpful. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] Um…

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] I tried. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] We'll talk about this later.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Okay.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] Is it wet? Ew! 

Ian: Gro– Jee-zus!

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (Disgusted, rapidly) You couldn't have dried it off before putting it in my pocket? I just put my hands in my pocket, it's your wet tooth. 

[Laughter].

Bex: (Mischievous laugh).

Mayanna: It’s bone, it’ll dry eventually.

Ian: Oh my god, I'm so uncomfortable. 

Lyn: It’s (fake gag).

Bex: Your pocket’s gonna dry it.

Mayanna: It's porous. 

Ian: (Disgusted and horrified groan).

Mayanna: Sorry. I had to.

Lyn: You could’ve wiped it off!

Ian: It's not like a cyborg tooth, it's just a tooth. 

Bex: (Devious cackle).

Mayanna: It's bone with magic. 

Mischa: It's a magic tooth. 

Mayanna: Magic bone. 

Ian: No! 

[SFX: soundscape resumes].

Bex: I'm gonna go up to– I'm gonna call from afar before I start walking so that it's not a surprise.

Bex (Ibra): Um. Mr. Calderon? Sir? I– May I approach… the bench… please? 

Mischa (Paul): I'm not a judge.

Bex (Ibra): Sorry, force of habit. 

Lyn: (Prolonged chuckle). This laugh is in character too. 

Ian: I so deeply identify with these dads who are like, “The kids are over at the house again today? Yeah, sure. Yeah, what do you– Yeah, yeah. Just stay out of the garage.” 

Mischa: “What do you want? A peanut butter and jelly? Yeah, one second.”

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Bex: Sir, do you mind if I stand nearby? I'm just– I'm not sure what it is that JJ saw, and we had a weird encounter the other day, and I-I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I could stand nearby just in case something jumps out. 

Mischa (Paul): Yep, sure. You know, union regulations say you have to stand a minimum of so many feet back, so just stay, I think, behind this area, clear of the excavator doing its work, and you should be all set.

Bex (Ibra): Cool. Awesome. Thank you. 

Bex: I'm gonna, I've got my shield in one hand in front, and from a pocket I pull something that has– any-if anybody in the audience is familiar, it looks like a pop out cane that a magician would use. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Bex: (Fake whisper) But it's actually a spear. 

Mayanna: (Fake whisper) Shh.

Mischa: (Fake whisper) Shhh, don't tell anyone. 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Imagine a magician pulling out a wand, but it's actually a spear.

Mayanna: I'd leave that show. I'd go, “Well, I think I'm done here. I don't want to see what's about to happen.” 

[Laughter].

Lyn: The weirdest night at the Magic Castle. 

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm like, “Y'all, you will not believe the show I saw last night at the Magic Castle. Uh. Somebody died.” 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Okay, so you pull out a shield and spear and head into the…rubble?

[SFX: soft footsteps crunching on gravel].

Bex: I head into the area that's sort of designated safe–

Mischa: Sure.

Bex: –distance from the thing. 

Mischa: Kind of like the other side of the rubble pile. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Mischa: Okay. Sure.

Bex: I'm just sort of standing at attention at the ready, if anybody– if anything pops out, I'm on it. 

Mischa: Sure. Will you roll perception for me please? 

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 13. 

Mischa: 13. Interesting. 

[SFX: mysterious music begins, a mix of soft synths and plucked strings]

Mischa: Yeah, you step up onto the rubble pile, and the action is kind of on like, the other side of the rubble. You're taking like, a wide stance to just sort of survey the whole scene. Out of the corner of your eye, on the far side of this rubble pile, a piece of roadway shifts, [SFX: rocks tumbling], and cascades a little bit down the hillside. No one was touching it. 

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: It's just sort of, you know, maybe the vibrations of the machinery. But like, it cascades kind of behind you. You turn around to look, and different pieces of debris have revealed themselves. You can see mixed in there, there's actually like, a couple of pieces of car, or like, other devices that were on people that like, when they were rescued, they left them into the–in the pile, you know, kind of thing?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Something moved.

Lyn: I direct my Detect Magic gaze in that direction. 

Mischa: You– With Detect Magic, it doesn't come up with anything new. 

Lyn: Okay. 

Mischa: Nothing like, nothing has rec– like, just now started being magical. 

Lyn: Okay. 

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] I-I don't know, I just-I just saw something up here moving. Maybe I'm just being para–. Ah, just a little on edge.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] That's okay, and I know the feeling. 

Lyn: I cast Sanctuary on my dad. 

[SFX: a glowing hum].

Mischa and Mayanna: Ooh. 

Lyn: Just in case. 

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Oh, that's a great spell. 

Lyn: You ward a creature within range against attack. Until the spell ends, any creature who targets the warded creature with an attack or a harmful spell must first make a wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature must choose a new target or lose the attack or spell.

Mischa: Okay. Really, not spotting anything yet, but really preparing for danger, which, I mean, in all honesty, is exactly what Gwen asked you to do. So nice work. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

[SFX: music fades out].

Mischa: Gordon and Fran. 

Ian: Tuk-tuk pulling up. (Imitates motor rumbling)

[SFX: motor rumbling].

Mischa: Parked just outside of the barriers. And Percy goes, 

Mischa (Percy): Excuse me, you can't park that there. 

Ian: I laugh at Percy's face. [Laughter]. Percy's voice catches me so off guard and I just go, 

Ian (Gordon): Pft. That's what you sound like?

Bex: (Gasp).

Lyn: Jeez!

Mayanna: (Surprised cackle).

Bex: (Horrified) Oh no!

Mayanna: I think I’m side saddling, just laughing at you laughing. 

Mischa (Percy): All right. You definitely can't park your tuk-tuk there, sir. Please move. 

Ian: And I go, 

Ian (Gordon): It just keeps getting better. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): You want a muffin? Are you hungry? 

Mischa (Percy): No, I'm at work. We have lunch in a few hours.

Mayanna (Fran): Few hours? 

Mischa: Sir, excuse me, sir. 

Ian: Wait, quick question, side question. Can you give me some physical characteristics of Percy? Did we talk about this? 

Mischa: Sure. Human. Lanky. Again, like wearing the hi-vis and like the helmet, but it's all like a little too–

Ian: Big.

Mischa: –big for him. 

Mayanna: Aw.

Mischa: It's like he's– It's not form fit. It's not his stuff. It's like he's been-he'd been given it by the guild. 

Bex: He's cosplaying a mechanist. 

Mischa: A little bit. He– I mean, he cannot be that much older than you guys. Like, he– Fresh faced like, just out of school like (some stuttering). Maybe– You know, probably not his first day on the job, but within the first.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: I pulled two high protein muffins out of my satchel as we pass him, and I just put ‘em-put them into his arms and go, 

Ian (Gordon): You need to eat more, my friend. Come down to the Baker's Guild, and I will teach you how to eat, okay? (Laughing slightly) You have a great day, man. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Sincere) Have a wonderful afternoon. 

Ian: And we just walk straight past him.

[Laughter].

Mischa: He's definitely gonna try to physically stop you from doing that. 

Mayanna: I would love to see him try. 

Ian: Not worried about it. (Devious laughter).

Mayanna: I'd love to see him try.

Mischa: Okay, Gordon. Let's roll an athletics contest. 

Ian: Woohoo!

Bex: Gordon, you're not very strong. 

Ian: Hey, don't remind me of that right now, okay? I'm riding high. 

Mayanna: Weirdly, I am. 

Ian: Yeah, there we go. I got Fran next to me.

Mischa: You need those beefy arms to craft stuff. 

Mayanna: Yeah, it's true. 

Lyn: And from servin’. 

Mayanna: (Disbelief) My strength is 17. 

Bex: Yes! 

Lyn: Holy moly! 

Bex: Oh my god, that's so hot.

Mayanna: Ah, thank you.

Lyn: You're buff. 

Mayanna: I'm buff. 

Bex: You're smart and buff. 

Mayanna: I'm a buff lady. 

[Dice rolls].

Ian: I yeeted him! 

[Cheers]. [Prolonged laughter at Mischa’s expense. Sorry].

Mischa: So you… shove… two high protein muffins in each of Percy's hands and like, pat him on the shoulder and just walk past. He goes to like, grab you but doesn't want to drop the muffin because it does look delicious. And you guys just like breeze past him. He's-he's like, so confused and doesn't know what to do with his hands. 

Mischa (Percy): (Stammering) No, you can't– I just– Please sir! [SFX: fading into the distance].

Ian: We're already gone. 

Mayanna: Yeah, bye. 

Ian: We're like 40 feet, 40 yards ahead already. 

Mayanna: I can't hear him, it's too… 

Ian: I'm still laughing, he can hear me laughing.

Ian (Gordon): That guy sounded so funny! 

Mischa: That's so mean.

Bex: JJ, you hear your head, 

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Is that… Gordon laughing?

Mischa: Yeah, it like echoes off of the underside of the overpass, and it like makes it–

Mayanna: (Exaggerated and haughty) Ha ha! 

Bex (Ibra): Oh good, they're here.

Lyn: Looking around for them. Waving. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, oh, there they are. 

Ian (Gordon): Hey! 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, you see them. Hey! 

Lyn (JJ): (From afar) Heyy! 

Mayanna (Fran): Heyyy! 

Ian (Gordon): Hey! 

Lyn (JJ): Hi!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, should we get helmets too? 

Lyn (JJ): (From afar) Yeah, there's a– in the shed over there.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay. Oh, I hate– 

Ian (Gordon): We have two motorcycle helmets in the back of the tuk-tuk. Are they strong enough? 

Lyn (JJ): (From afar) No, absolutely not. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Alright. 

Lyn (JJ): (From afar) They're improperly rated. 

Mayanna (Fran): Are there any that are in like, complimentary colors? Cause these are I'm not really loving the options. 

Bex (Ibra): (From even farther away) I think I saw a pink one in the back. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, sick!

Lyn (JJ): (From afar) There's white, blue, yellow, orange. 

Mischa: Lyn, real quick, name five more colors. 

Ian: Yep.

Lyn: Um. Octarine.

[Laughter].

Lyn: I just started The Color of Magic like yesterday. 

Mayanna: Indigo. Oh that's so funny. 

Lyn: Um. Red. Scarlet. Maroon. 

Mischa: Also some reds. 

Lyn: They're different reds. 

Mischa: Yep, you got it! 

Mayanna: Periwinkle.

Bex: I love this game. 

Lyn: Turquoise. [Laughter]. Teal. 

Mischa: Okay. So you, you go back and–

Lyn: (Whispering too close to the mic) Seafoam green.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Fuck you. You head back and try to, and like get some equipment. 

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: Are you trying to avoid attention when you do that or are you just like walking up and grabbing some helmets? 

Mayanna: (Thoughtful hum). Probably should cool it. I'm feeling pretty confident. We-we-we did waltz our way through this, but we should probably just maybe keep a low profile, Gordon.

Ian: Great. Fran nudges me, and I like, cough and chill out a little bit. 

Mayanna: (Fake cough).

Ian: Gordon's just so stoked, just, you know. 

Mayanna: Oh no, I get it. I really get it. I just like, I don't want to get kicked out at this juncture. 

Mischa: Fran, roll stealth. 

Mayanna: Okey dokey. Woohoo! [Dice rolls]. Not good. 3. I picked hot pink as my helmet color. So.

Ian: We made a mistake.

Mischa: I think you go and pick a hot pink hard hat, and what color for Gordon? 

Ian: Seafoam green. 

Mischa: Seafoam green? 

Mischa: Seafoam green. 

Lyn: You look like Cosmo and Wanda. 

Mischa: Yeah, you walk in looking like a pair of Fairly OddParents. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: We are, aren't we? 

Mischa: With a low stealth roll, I think what happens is you just grab a couple off the shelf. [Hum]. And, like, as you walk away to hand the green one to Gordon, the person who owns the hot pink hard hat comes up– like, comes back from, like, a ten minute break, and is like, 

Mischa (Pink-loving Construction Worker): Who freaking took my hard hat? It's hot pink. Everyone knows this one's– Where did it–? 

Mischa: And then looks off to the side–

Mayanna: Oh no.

Mischa: –and sees you. And… You don't hear what happens after that, but you got spotted. 

[Mixed reactions of pain and delight].

Mischa: What do you do? 

Mayanna: I mean, I kind of want to go back in there, but I don't think that's a good idea. I think it was just like, 

Mayanna (Fran): (Hurriedly) Go, go, go, go, go!

Mayanna: So I think we're like, shambling to put on the outfit and just like, 

Ian (Gordon): (Grunting in effort).

Mayanna (Fran): Come on, come on, come on, come on, go, go, go! 

Mischa: And you walk up to JJ like, “Okay, we're here, what are we doing?” 

Mayanna: (Rushed) What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

Mayanna (Fran): I probably have like 15 good minutes before, somebody– I didn't know this hat belonged to somebody. I should've checked. I see now that there's a name on the inside. But, we probably have like 15 good minutes before I have to return this, so, yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. I was also really accidentally rude to the guy at the front, who has a really funny voice, by the way?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, he is so funny. 

Ian (Gordon): But yeah. Anyway, people are probably coming.

Lyn (JJ): Percy? Percy's just a guy. 

Mayanna (Fran): Well he’s a guy with two muffins and– 

Ian (Gordon): A really funny voice.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: …So are you guys just hanging out at this construction site? You just chillin? What’s up?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: J chilly! 

Mischa: J chillin!

[All repeating “J chillin’” in various voices].

Lyn (JJ): Oh! Have y'all met my dad? 

Mayanna (Fran): No! Oh my god, your dad's here?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, cool! Wait, which one? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, that's Paul. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, cool. (Yelling) Paul! 

Ian (Gordon): (Yelling) Hey, Paul! 

Mayanna (Fran): (Yelling) Hey! 

Mischa (Paul): Oh, hello, hi, you must be, uh– 

Mayanna (Fran): I'm Fran! 

Mischa (Paul): Fran, and, uh– 

Mayanna (Fran): Nice to meet you. 

Ian (Gordon): Hey, it's Gordon! I think we met, like, a couple months ago, maybe? 

[SFX: soundscape pauses].

Mischa: Ian, you've been doing this thing where you say something and then you force me to accept it. 

[Laughter].

Ian: I know. I’m–

Mischa: You're just like, “and uh…last week (growl).”

Ian: I'm co-creating story with the GM against their will.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I live.

Mischa: Stare daggers into me. 

Ian: (Devious laughter).

Bex: Truly it’s a staredown every time. 

Mayanna: “Say yes, say yes, say yes, say yes.”

Mischa: “I met him two weeks ago, (threateningly) right?”

[Laughter].

[SFX: soundscape resumes].

Mischa: He goes, 

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, of course. Oh, so great to see you again. So great to meet you, Fran. Thank you so much for for taking care of our little JJ.

Mayanna (Fran): Aw, JJ's the best! 

Ian (Gordon): JJ's great. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): Y'know, I see you guys grabbed hard hats? 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Mischa (Paul): That one.. Did you– Hot pink hard hat, huh? Did you make that? I know you make stuff! 

Mayanna (Fran): (Extremely unconvincingly) Uhh... Yeahhhhh. [Laughter]. Yaaa.

Mischa: Alright, deception. 

Mayanna: Okay, heehee, alright. 

[Various “teeheehee”ing].

Lyn: The “Yaaaaaa.”

All: “Yaaaaaa.” 

Mayanna: 9.

Ian: 9? You are not rolling well.

Bex and Mayanna: I know. 

Mayanna: I mean, I'm lying bad. It's obvious. 

Mayanna (Fran): I may have borrowed it. I will give it back. I will give it back. I promise. 

Mischa: He actually looks to JJ for that cue. He sort of looks down and is like, 

Mischa (Paul): This is a work area. You know that work is important. Are you gonna be on your best behavior here? 

Lyn (JJ): Yes. (Admonishing) Yes. 

Mayanna (Fran): Of co– Yaaa.

Lyn (JJ): We're going to be… on great behavior.

Mayanna (Fran): Great.

Lyn (JJ): Great.

Mayanna (Fran): Great behavior. 

Lyn (JJ): This is work. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes.

Lyn: We're working. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes. Working.

Lyn (JJ): Work. Working. 

Mayanna (Fran): I love working.

Ian: (Disapproving hum).

Mischa (Paul): (Doubtfully) Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): Alright. [SFX: machine loudly whirrs, then a loud thud and crumbling concrete]. No! Oh! Not that column. You gotta swing it the other way. 

Mischa: And he's off supervising again. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) I am so sorry. I should've picked a different helmet. It was just the cutest one. 

Lyn (JJ): It’s a good– It is the-it is the cutest one. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): It's… 100%. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): But we should get you a hot pink helmet. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah!

Lyn (JJ): It’s a good look.

Mayanna (Fran): I love that idea. We should do what we're here to do though. 

Lyn (JJ): Yes. 

Mischa: Fran and Gordon, why don't you guys roll some investigation for me? 

[SFX: mysterious music begins, a slow drum beats under synth and piano]

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Okay. 

[Dice rolls]. 

Ian: 10.

Mayanna: No! 4. 

Mayanna (Fran): I see rocks. 

[Laughter]. 

Lyn (JJ): There are a lot of those here. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, cool. Alright, so that's-that's on the up and up?

Mischa: Fran, you start digging just sort of idly in the rubble, [SFX: large rocks and concrete scraping against each other], really being like, “Man, we have not been given parameters for this assignment.”

Mayanna: No, I have no idea what's going on. I'm like, yeah, I feel lost in the woods at this moment. 

Mischa: Yeah, I think you start digging through, [SFX: rocks shifting and thudding], and you shift some layers aside and you come across in the pile, like a sealed wooden crate.

Ian: Uh ohh.

Mayanna: (Skeptically) Uhh. Hmm?

Mischa: You sort of like dig it out of there. [SFX: scraping]. It's like, you know, like milk crate size. It would like fit in your arms. 

Mayanna: Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Yelling) Crate! 

Ian: I run over. 

Mischa: Sure. 

Mayanna (Fran): I think I might have some tools maybe to open it. Should we open it? I don't know. It doesn't belong to us, so. 

Ian: Does it look particularly, like dangerous or enchanting?

Lyn: Can I look at the crate? 

[Laughter].

Mischa: I said “crate” and all the players went, (gritted) “I look at it.”

Mayanna: “Crate!”

Mischa: No, it looks battered, but still sealed. It's got a label on the outside of it that– It looks like it was highway maintenance equipment that was stored underneath and got buried. 

Mayanna: Oh yeah. In the rubble. Okay. 

Ian: I go, 

Ian (Gordon): Hey, maybe there's two non pink and seafoam green helmets in here.

Mayanna (Fran): That sounds like a great idea. 

Ian (Gordon): Let's-let's see.

Mayanna (Fran): Let's just, let's just crack it open. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mayanna: I mean, I'm, it's probably not going to be like a crowbar situation, but it's probably like maybe something that can slowly remove nails. 

Mischa: Oh, yeah, sure. 

Mayanna: Yeah. So just like– 

Lyn: Like the claw of a hammer? 

Mayanna: Yeah, like a little, like a little claw, because it's-it's a-it's a tool belt that I think like rolls out with like hand-sized tools. So nothing like, nothing big, but I can start getting some nails out. 

Mischa: Yeah, sure. You pry it open and look down and you see, just lined in the bottom of the crate about half full are little gray blocks. 

Mayanna: Okay. 

Ian: Hmm.

Mayanna: Hmm. Does this, is this anything? For you?

Ian: Yeah. I mean, I would know more about food. So–

Mischa: Oh, you know, roll arcana for me, please.

[SFX: music fades out].

Ian: Yas!

Mayanna: Oh.

Ian: 13. 

[SFX: foreboding music begins, rattling and high synths].

Mischa: A crate at a site with like, construction materials, and a crate just full of like, gray clay bricks. 

Ian: Fuck.

Mayanna: Oop.

Mischa: You are a bomb expert.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: You know, a chef, but you– Actually, let's take a moment, let me take a moment and just ask, What is your interest in chemistry outside of cooking? 

Ian: (Thoughtful hum).

Mischa: Like, how like-how do you feel about chemistry outside of cooking, I guess?

Ian: Well, we live in a post war society. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: So I think that it's pertinent to know and maybe like, topical for societal knowledge. So I think probably I got into chemistry first as a kid and was like, you know, starting little bitty fires. You know, using the magnification of the sun to burn things, [Laughter], and then realize that there was like a positive way. So I think I know a fair amount about chemistry. 

Bex: Well, you had parents who were like, “Okay, we see your potential and we're going to bring you into a safe zone.” 

Ian: Exactly. 

Mischa: “Let's turn these urges into a positive thing.” 

Mayanna: That is so funny. 

Ian: “Stop causing fires in the basement.” 

Mischa: So I think maybe from your teenage years, you can recognize an accelerant when you see one.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: This is the equivalent of C-4. This is like, solid explosive that like, if you ran a charge through it, would explode.

Ian: Explode. So, so I think I immediately, very carefully, like grab Fran's forearm–

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa.

Ian: –and pull it back out of the box. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, so not good. Bad? 

Ian (Gordon): Bad. Very bad. Bad.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. How bad? 

Ian (Gordon): I mean, it's an accelerant. It's not a full bomb, but it's like, if the right thing hits it.

Mayanna: This is also like the first time I think Gordon has ever said anything kind of science-y and smart. And I'm really, I'm really like, “Whoa!”

Mischa: You've been hanging out with him on the deliveries all day. He not once has he mentioned anything about science.

Mayanna: Anything about accelerants or like, 

Mayanna (Fran): Wha– oh! Okay. 

Ian: We take a couple of steps back.

Mayanna: Alright.

Ian: I like push us back. 

Mayanna: Okay. 

Mischa: And then I think I immediately call for JJ's dad. 

Mischa: Yeah. Good call. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Deep breath).

Lyn (JJ): What-what'd you guys find? 

[SFX: music fades out].

Mayanna (Fran): You tell ‘em, you said the science words. 

Ian (Gordon): I'm not gonna say, I'm– It rhymes with “mom” and starts with a “B.” 

Mischa: Before we get too much further, it's not a bomb.

Ian: Yeah, right.

Mischa: It's just like a construction C-4.

Ian: Right. Oh yeah. 

Mischa: It's a valid thing to find at a construction site, but it is dangerous. 

Bex: It's normal, it's just dangerous. 

Mayanna: Hypothetically, if I shot it with my gun, would it ignite? 

Mischa: Well, you did spend time… 

Mayanna: I did. 

Mischa: …dipping your bullets… 

Mayanna: Into magic.

Mischa: …in liquid magic fuel. 

Mayanna: Yes, I did. Okay, cool. 

Bex: So, yeah.

Mayanna: Good to know if it- if we need that.

Ian: So I let you all know that we found some accelerant, which is not necessarily super weird, but is definitely very dangerous. 

[SFX: mysterious music begins, resonant synths and chimes]

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. 

Lyn (JJ): Big safety hazard. Yeah, that's… Daaad! 

Mischa (Paul): What's that your kid's found? 

Mischa: And you show him the crate full of stuff, and, like, you just, like, turn it to him, and kind of pop it open. And he goes, 

Mischa (Paul): (Poignant silence).

Mayanna (Fran): (Gasp).

Mischa: And he slowly shuts it.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa: And he goes, 

Mischa (Paul): Thank you so much, I will take that.

Mischa: And he sets it down, like, just, just to the side of him. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Nervous laughter).

Mischa: Just like away from you, on to the side. And then takes out a safety whistle from around his neck. And blows.

[SFX: whistle].

Mayanna and Ian: Whoa.

[SFX: humming of machines winds down]. 

Mischa: The spider mech immediately stops moving. 

Lyn: Because they're excavating with lasers, too. 

Ian: Oh.

Mayanna: Oh, man. 

Lyn (JJ): I'm very glad you found that. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yay! Okay, we're helpful.

Bex: As soon as the excavator shuts down, I'm headed back to JJ. 

Mischa: Paul looks down and goes, 

Mischa (Paul): I think I need to go make a phone call. I didn't really know what you guys were doing here. You might have just saved the day. Good work, kids. 

[SFX: music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): Cool. 

Mischa (Paul): Good work. Seriously. 

[SFX: soft footsteps into the distance]. [SFX: soundscape shifts, less din of equipment, with ambient sounds of far off traffic].

Ian: As he walks away, I turn to the group and I go, 

Ian (Gordon): Good work! [Laughter]. We did it! 

Bex (Ibra): I missed it all. Sorry.

Ian: I'm just, like, I'm standing there, like a high five up that no one's–

Mayanna: I'll, I'll high five.

[SFX: soft clap of hands].

Ian (Gordon): (Pleased) Yeah.

Bex: I had five a little too hard. 

[SFX: much harder slap of hands]. 

Ian (Gordon): Ye-

Bex (Ibra): Oop.

Ian (Gordon): Ow.

Bex (Ibra): (Sheepishly) Sorry. 

Mischa: Not very strong. 

Ian: My yeets are gone. Now I'm just rolling straight 3s for high fives.

[SFX: midroll music fades in].

Mischa: Hey there. It’s Mischa. This is the Rest Stop. Come take a break beside the path with me, just until we catch our breath. First things first: a big shoutout to everyone supporting us over at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. Thanks so so much to our newest patron, Emma, and to our Voyager level patron, JWX, who gets a shoutout in every episode. That’s in addition to to other neat stuff, like bloops for every episode, stat blocks, and more. This month, we put up the monster block for the Electric Jelly, in case you want to add it to your home game! 

Mischa: So, if you want to see this show keep going and keep growing; if you want us to be able to survive until 2025; if you want to bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons; please help us out for just a few dollars per episode. One more time: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. 

Mischa: This week, I’d also be grateful if you checked out our website! We’ve got some new updates over there for you, like world detail pages and character descriptions. That was all added thanks to a message from one of our listeners. Thank you so much for the suggestion! Hopefully it helps some visual learners keep details straight for our audio-only show. How’d they get in touch with us, you may ask? Well, of course, they used the contact form! We love to hear from you, and we’re planning some talkback episodes here are there. We want to hear your questions about the show. So, any question, big or small, drop us a line. That’s wanderingpathpod.com.

Mischa: That’s it for now! Let’s get back on path and back to the show.

[SFX: midroll music fades out].

[SFX: soundscape resumes, at construction site].

Mischa: So Paul has wandered off to sort of reinforce the safety measures that this construction crew now should be taking, now that they know there are some buried explosives in this debris. They're sort of re-strategizing. The spider climber excavator has shut off. The pilot has come down and is now like, conferring with Paul on the ground. Which sort of leaves the four of you alone on top of this pile of rubble. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Sigh). Okay, that can't be it, right? There's gotta be…

Lyn (JJ): I feel like there's gotta be more here, and I still–

Lyn: With Detect Magic up, I can still see the faint aura–

Mischa: Yes.

Lyn: –within the rubble? I'm like, 

Lyn (JJ): There's still also something in here. 

Mayanna (Fran): What do you mean? 

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I have these goggles.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. 

Lyn (JJ): I can detect some magical–

Mayanna (Fran): We'll talk about the goggles because–

Lyn (JJ): Do you like them? 

Mayanna (Fran): There's areas of opportunity here. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I like that. I like that framework. There's always an opportunity to make things better. 

Mayanna (Fran): Exactly. 

Lyn (JJ): Right. 

Mayanna (Fran): Exactly.

Lyn (JJ): Yes. 

Bex (Ibra): Good spin. 

Mischa: Those goggles, they're a design choice. 

Mayanna (Fran): They are choices. Choices that were made.

Ian (Gordon): I just don't like how front heavy they are. You know what I mean? 

Mayanna (Fran): I just think that there's some aerodynamic options for us. Maybe some color changes, but again, we will talk about that later. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I mean, I'd really appreciate help on these actually.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. I'm very excited for this. 

Lyn (JJ): This was like an older project.They work.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, yes. So I can see an aura of magical something in there, but it's so faint that I can't even really see what it is at all. 

Mayanna (Fran): Should we go…

Bex (Ibra): Digging? 

Mayanna (Fran): …check that out? 

Lyn (JJ): We should, I mean, we can dig. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): We just have to be really fucking careful. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. 

Lyn (JJ): Because there's… potential bombs? In here? 

Ian (Gordon): And just to be clear, the crate that we uncovered was not very deeply buried.

Mayanna (Fran): No. 

Ian (Gordon): Right? 

Mischa: No. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Ian (Gordon): And there's big, heavy mechs walking around on the landscape. 

Mischa: Yeah. There are a couple of these excavator mechs, and then there's people sort of tricked out with–it's like bulkier than power armor. It's not quite a mech, but it's like personal equipment that like, a person can walk around with, but it's heavy equipment that they like have to rest on their shoulders and like maneuver.

Ian: So a lot of heavy things walking around. 

Lyn: Like a Steadicam.

Bex: I was just thinking Steadicam. 

Mischa: Yeah, just kind of like a Steadicam. Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): And the other question I'm having is like, you know, people store equipment under bridges, like whatever, but like– I don't know. It's interesting that. That those types of explosives were being stored under the bridge?

Ian (Gordon): Right.

Mayanna (Fran): That doesn't seem like the best place. 

Lyn (JJ): I don't think they would normally be under here. That’s the weird thing.

Mayanna (Fran): That's really confusing to me. 

Ian (Gordon): Also, if they were being stored, you'd think they would be all together. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Not a box. 

Mischa: Yeah, Gordon. That's a good point. Why don't you roll investigation about that? 

[SFX: ominous music begins, deep thrumming and echoing taps].

Mayanna: Oh gosh.

Ian: Let's go! 

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Here we go! 

Ian: (Whispers) Damn it. (Normally) 11.

Mischa: It's hard to tell where this thing was originally stored. There's just– it's all a big old pile of mess. 

Ian: Damn it. 

Mischa: Like you're on, you're, you're sort of still near the bottom of a pretty steep hillside that like, you know, was excavated to make room for this overpass system when it was originally built. So like, it's pretty steep. It seems like the entire thing just like kind of slid down and is at a pile on the bottom and that's where you guys are. So like, if there was an order to where these things were stored, it's almost impossible to tell. 

Ian: Yeah. Cause it could have all come down. 

Mischa: Yeah. The evidence has kind of been obscured.

Ian (Gordon): But so then we can assume then there might be, there's probably more boxes. There could be more boxes in the big slide. 

Mayanna (Fran): So they– Cause if the bridge is above us, and the rubble has cascaded downward, and we found essentially a crate that sort of bubbled to the surface. Either the crates were on the bridge when the blast happened and then got like washed away. Or like, the dirt sort of pushed it up? Which I don't think makes any sense.

Bex (Ibra): Hm.

Ian (Gordon): I think we need to find some more crates. 

Mayanna (Fran): We should find some more crates. Let's– Okay, breadcrumb wise, if we found them down here, so you want to go up–you want to go up the-the cascade? 

Ian (Gordon):  I think we kind of do, don't we? 

Mayanna (Fran): Is that kind of in the vicinity of where you're seeing some magic stuff? 

Lyn: I look with my goggles.

Mischa: Yours is kind of deep in the pile, whereas Fran, you're looking sort of like up the hillside there.

Mayanna: Mhmm. Okay. 

Lyn (JJ): This thing is much deeper. It's at least– it's a combo of stone, wood, and dirt in here. So somewhere between one and three feet deep at least. 

Mayanna: When we discovered the accelerant, that was non magical, correct? 

Mischa: Correct. It's not like, generating magical energy. 

Mayanna: So we wouldn't be able to detect it.

Mischa: Yeah. It's more alchemical. 

Mayanna: Alchemical.

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, I think maybe we split a little bit, you guys focus on this magic, and Gordon, you and me maybe go up the incline, and-and see if we can uncover some more crates? 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, let's do that. 

Mayanna (Fran): Cause you're, you'd be able to identify them, and I'm able to dig. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): And there was something moving when I was over there earlier–

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. 

Bex (Ibra): –by the magic stuff, so I wanna-I wanna maybe look closer.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, you guys, you guys check that out. We'll go up the incline a bit and see if we can find more crates. 

Mischa: Sure. Fran and Gordon, you start climbing and clambering your way up this massive rubble pile up the side of the hill. 

[SFX: footsteps crunching as debris shifts]. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Tired groan).

Ian: My chef whites are not white.

Mayanna: No. 

Ian: More…

Bex: Chef grays.

Ian: Chef grays. 

Mayanna: Chef grays. Alright.

Mischa: JJ and Ibra, you guys at the bottom of the hill, where do you want to start? 

Bex (Ibra): You're the one with the glasses, I'm gonna, I'm gonna trust you.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): My other problem with the glasses is that the battery pack isn't attached to them, you know? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, Gordon! 

Ian (Gordon): Right? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes!

Mayanna: And I start writing that down as well.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): That is part of the problem. 

Ian (Gordon): They need the Astra input on the headset.

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon!

Ian (Gordon): Not in a pack that goes into your pocket. 

Mayanna (Fran): Collab?!

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, so wherever those goggles see, I'll go, but something moved when I went in... uh… there. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, in a different direction? 

Mischa: Yeah, kind of like around the back of the pile from where you and your dad were standing, where Ibra was standing sentry.

Lyn: Okay. 

Lyn (JJ): I mean, so let's go back around where you saw things and start digging through from that side.

Bex (Ibra): Cool. 

Lyn: I look for a shovel? 

Mischa: Sure, just like a normal shovel? There are also, like, again, people are walking around with sort of person-sized construction equipment. 

Bex: I want to-I want to ask a passing person with a Steadicam rig if I can borrow it.

Mischa: Okay, I think a saurid construction worker with like, a shoulder mounted like, force beam, [SFX: electronic whir and burst of laser. Rattling debris], that's like, clearly swinging their tail out for like, counterbalance as the thing like, hangs over its head, is sort of working on like, a different pile off to the side. 

Bex (Ibra): Uh, excuse me. 

[SFX: laser powers down].

Mischa (Saurid Construction Worker): Oh, yes. 

Bex (Ibra): Hi, do you mind if I borrow that tool just for maybe five minutes? I'll give it right back. 

Mischa (Saurid Construction Worker): This whole rig? Are you certified? 

Bex (Ibra): I have a pass from the foreman. Paul Calderon.

Mischa (Saurid Construction Worker): Have you gotten your certification? 

Bex (Ibra): Uh… Certification? Yes. 

Mischa: Okay, sweet. You know what you're gonna roll. 

[Giggles].

Bex: Yeah. [Laughter]. Thinking, thinking, 21. 

Mischa: Whoa.

Lyn: Whoa.

Mischa: Yeah. I think you look at him and go, “Would I come to the site if I wasn't certified?”

Bex: If I wasn't ready. 

Mischa: He, he goes, 

Mischa (Saurid Construction Worker): Well, that's good enough for me. It's about-it's about time for my 10 minute break. Anyway, I'm gonna go lie in the sun.

Mischa: And, yeah. Takes this heavy thing off, and like, without putting it down on the ground, [SFX: metallic clinking], just sort of like up over the head and, [SFX: thud], onto your shoulders. 

Bex (Ibra): (Strained) Yep. That's what I– yep. Thank you. Thank you.

Mischa: Ibra. You're gonna be encumbered.

Bex: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: I was thinking about putting one of these on, and I've realized that Gordon probably doesn't have the constitution or strength to even wear it in the first place. 

Bex: I think it would squish you.

Ian: I think it would squish Gordon.

Mischa: Canonically not very strong. 

Ian: (Through laughter) Canonically.

Mischa: Yeah, Ibra, you've got this device. It's got like, two handles on either side that come, you know, elbow height for you. You can swivel it around. [SFX: robotic whirring]. There's like a force turret on the top of it that, that blasts away bits of debris. Cool. You got it. 

Bex: Ibra feels a little guilty about lying, because it's not fun. And then is like, 

Bex (Ibra): Alright, I– I can figure this out. 

[SFX: robotic whirring].

Lyn (JJ): I'm not certified in that, so I don't even know how those work. 

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): I can figure this out. 

Mayanna: Oh boy. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay, well, I'll grab a regular shovel or pickaxe. I can start digging away a little bit to make sure that there are no crates when you use that. A little, (nervously) canary in the coal mine, as they say.

[SFX: suspenseful music begins, quick and staccato synth rhythms].

Mischa: Okay, Ibra, you are not proficient with this piece of equipment. I was going to have you roll an attack with disadvantage, but now you're being helped by JJ with more conventional tools, so go ahead and roll me an attack roll with midvantage. 

Bex: (Singing to the tune of the Red Robin jingle) Midvantage. Yum. 

[Laughter]. 

Bex: Attack? 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Bex: 18, 13, and 6, which gives me 16 with my additional points.

Mischa: Nice! Yeah, the two of you, start digging away. [SFX: shovel repeatedly digging into dirt]. And, you know, it's like JJ with the shovel kind of knocking away some debris, it's like, okay, this spot's clear, and then [SFX: laser powers, thuds, and hums], you blast it with, some force damage. It's just sort of like, a little bit of like, invisible blast energy that just, just sort of makes a little crater in the thing.

Lyn: I love this minigame.

Mischa: Yeah? 

Lyn: I've loved– You know in, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl–

Mayanna: Yes!

Lyn: –when you're in the underground? 

Mayanna: Oh, when you're like, (imitating a hammer) ting ting ting ting? 

Lyn: Yes. 

Mayanna: And you're getting the stones out? 

Lyn: It's like that. 

Mayanna: One of my favorite parts of that game. Yes.

Lyn and Mischa: Yeah.

Mischa: You spend a little bit of time, digging for this stuff. JJ, after about two or three blasts of it, [SFX: laser activates], you step in to do your-your small dig, and the bottom of your foot feels warm.

Lyn (JJ): Warm, warm, it's warm. Hot. Warm. Okay, just warm, not hot. [Laughter]. Maybe it's hot. Hot. Metaphorically. Um!

Bex (Ibra): Is this what happens when ghosts pee in the air? 

Lyn (JJ): Ew! 

Bex (Ibra): Does it get warm? What’s happening?

Lyn (JJ): First, your tooth! Then… ghost pee?!

Ian: That was the craziest thing.

Bex (Ibra): Look, I'm trying to figure out why the air is warm. Is that what you're saying? 

Ian: That's the craziest thing that's been said on the podcast so far. [Laughter]. Just to be clear. 

Bex: (Maniacal laughter).

Mayanna: So far.

Ian: So far.

Lyn: When I look down at that spot, is it magic there? 

Mischa: Oh yeah. Entirely.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, oh! Red hot. Red hot! Magic!

Bex (Ibra): Well, move!

Mischa: You start digging, like, very tentatively with your shovel, [SFX: dirt scraping away], still trying to knock away loose debris.  Bend down into this sort of little debris crater that you've made for yourselves. You're kind of fully in it now. You're like, [SFX: digging through larger debris] , you know, pretty deep into the rubble pile. You know, you're knocking aside like pipes and bars and bits of rubble and then, [SFX: digging suddenly louder], as you dig you uncover a device. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Bex: Device?

[SFX: music transitions to more ominous, thrumming tones and suspenseful piano].

Mischa: It is a small, handheld thing with control boards and like wires sticking out of it and on the control board, in a little slot, built for like, for example, a power supply, there is a piece of Astra stuck in it.

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Ian: Now that looks like a bomb. 

Mischa: It does look a little like a bomb. JJ, can you roll arcana please? 

Lyn: Yes. Which die should I use? 

Mischa: A good one. 

Bex and Lyn: (Scared groan).

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Not the best roll, 11. 

Ian: Ah, jeez.

Mischa: Okay, yeah, with an 11, you examine the device. The wires feed from the power supply back, but the circuitry is so complex that, you know, you're working on big machines, you're working on physical devices. This thing is a little bit too advanced for you. You take a look at the piece of Astra in it, and it's like, dark in the middle, almost like a burnt out lightbulb. 

Lyn: Oh. Yeah, that's not a common occurrence for Astra, right?

Mayanna: It's like spent. 

Lyn: It's been juiced. 

Mischa: Like, burnt out lightbulb is a pretty good analogy for it. Like, it looks like a fuse that's burnt. 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Lyn (JJ): Uh… Can you call Fran and Gordon down? I feel like… we're gonna need every brain cell we have for this one. 

[SFX: music fades out].

Bex (Ibra): Got it. I can't provide that many of those, so I'll go get the good ones. 

(JJ and Ibra overlapping).

Lyn (JJ): Oh, no, that's not what I meant! I meant-I meant they're-they're-they're just–

Bex (Ibra): No, I was kidding. I was kidding, JJ. It's okay.

Lyn (JJ): I'm so sorry. You're so smart! 

Ian: You can hear them bickering from around, because we're not super far, right? So you can hear them bickering and go, 

Ian (Gordon): (From afar) What's going on over there?! 

Bex (Ibra): JJ, I was kidding! 

Mayanna (Fran): (From afar) Did JJ say something by accident? 

Bex (Ibra): No, I was ki– Ah. It was me. 

Mayanna (Fran): (From afar) No, I’m sure it was just–

Bex (Ibra): I'm just messing with JJ. 

Lyn (JJ): (Pitifully) I’m sorry!

Mayanna (Fran): Everything's fine! I think.

Mischa: Fran and Gordon, you guys climb up the hill. 

Mayanna: Yeah, we climbing. 

[SFX: footsteps crunching through dirt and debris].

Mischa: Yeah, you guys are like, tentatively, almost on all fours climbing up this thing, the like, rubble sort of like minimally streaming behind you guys. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: How far up do you want to go before like, you pause to look around? 

Mayanna: Hmm, are there any sort of areas that look like additionally kind of sunken in? Like that, you know, any spots where there looks to be like divots or like…

Mischa: (Thoughtful hum).

Mayanna: You know what I mean? 

Ian: Or abnormal like, variations.

Mayanna: Like that, yeah, that something may have sunk or that something may have been dragged, you know, something that would pull the rubble in a way that's not normal. 

Mischa: Yeah, I would say you can either roll investigation or survival.

Mayanna: I'll do Investigation. [Dice rolls]. 17. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Sick. 

Mischa: Yeah, there's major spots where, like, each sort of subsequent layer of the thing collapsed onto the next one. And so I think with the 17 you can get a good sense of where those layers are. 

Mayanna: Mhmm. 

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah. As you climb kind of like, you know– I love this sort of like idea of the soaring crisscrossing roadway.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: That just like you look up, and it's sort of– It's like majestic if it wasn't a banal piece of infrastructure. [Laughter]. And as you sort of get to the base of the second layer of pillars, it sort of transitions from less dirt and rubble and more like broken objects and stuff.

Mayanna: (Thoughtful hum). Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): I think this is probably a good spot to dig. 

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Ian: We start moving stuff around. 

Mayanna: I'm gonna start shifting stuff. Yeah. 

[SFX: large rocks scraping, thuds as they’re tossed aside].

Mischa: Yeah. Slow and steady or?

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: I think slow and steady. Cause I don't-I don't technically have a tool for this situation, so I think I'm literally digging through the rubble with my bare hands.

Mischa: Sure. Your tool belt doesn't have like a trowel in it or anything? 

Mayanna: Um… I mean, it can.

Mischa: It's up to you. It's a mechanical thing, so I don't wanna make you spend charges of stuff, but…

Mayanna: I won't spend the charge.

Mischa: Okay. So bare hands then.

Mayanna: I won’t spend the charge.

[SFX: continuous digging and shifting of stone and debris].

Mayanna: I'm just gonna just dig with my bare hands, you know. You gotta–you gotta roll up your sleeves sometimes and get in there. 

Mischa: That's true.

Ian: And we're, we, we have four hands between us, so we can lift semi heavy things. 

Mischa: Yeah, sure. Now I would like both of you guys to roll survival, I think. 

Mayanna: Okay. Survival. 

Ian: I think I've got a really good survival bonus. 

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: (Pained) Oof. 

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: I did not do good. I rolled a 1.

[Gasps].

Bex: No!

Ian: Oh fuck!

Mayanna: A flat 1. 

Ian: I rolled a 16. 

Mayanna: Great. 

Mischa: Gordon, you rolled a 16? 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Oh god.

[SFX: suspenseful music fades in slowly]. [SFX: soundscape shifts to the sound of digging, debris and refuse being moved aside].

Mischa: Yeah. I think you start, you start digging through. You start finding more construction equipment, broken pieces of like, traffic cones and like, some other tools. Maybe like an axel that broke off a wheel of a machine that's buried in the pile. Basically you can find evidence that whatever was going up on the top layer, like people were working up there when there was a collapse. 

Ian: Right. Work was interrupted by this. 

Mischa: Work was interrupted. Yes, absolutely. 

Ian: I see.

Mischa: So you start finding– And now that you know that you do start looking through maybe what they were doing. So with that 16. It seems like there was some, repair work happening on the topmost layer. You see things like epoxies or like, you know, smaller focuses for magical spells that like were casting Mending. 

Ian: Right, so it seems like it was a routine bridge repair that should not have resulted in an enormous collapse like this.

Mischa: Exactly. 

Mayanna: (Understanding hum).

Ian: Yeah, yeah, I pick up what you're putting down. 

Mayanna: And I die, right?

[Laughter].

Ian: I look to my left, and Fran is just dead.  

Mayanna: I died of tetanus immediately. [Laughter]. I find a, I find a needle that stabs me right in the hand and I die of fast, rapid tetanus to my whole body. 

Lyn: Oh no.

Mischa: And that's a season wrap on Fran. Thank you very much. 

Ian: Lockjaw!

Mayanna: What's my next character gonna be?

[Laughter].

Bex: It's so funny you said “tetanus” and I thought you said “deadness. I died of deadness.” 

Mayanna: Oh, that's so funny. 

Ian: I've always dying of deadness. So I turn to– I-I-I notice this, and I turn to look at Fran to tell her what I'm seeing. 

Mayanna: My hands are gone. 

Mischa: You have a Nat– honestly, with like Fran with a Nat 1 on survival, I'm so sorry to do this to you. I think that you do climb high enough and slip. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Oh no!

Ian: That has to be what it is.

Mischa: I think, yeah–

Ian: Big old rock slides under you. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Oh no! 

Mischa: You start sliding and like scraping your hands. 

[SFX: rocks and dirt shifting, building in speed].

Mayanna (Fran): (Escalating panic) Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Oh my god. (Yells). 

Ian (Gordon): Fran!

Ian: And I-and I immediately sort of rush over as fast as I can, and I try to grab her as she's sliding down the mountain.

Mayanna: I'm gonna reach for Gordon's hands. 

Mischa: Gordon, roll a DEX save. 

Ian: (Singsongy) Let's roll a DEX save! 

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Ian: Here we go. [Dice rolls]. Oh yes! What is it? It's a 22. 

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: (Whispering) I am crushing it today.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

[SFX: sudden shifting of rocks and gravel].

Mischa: You managed to grab Fran before she slips to fall. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Nervous screaming).

Mischa: I think this is the first moment where you go, “Oh, all of those safety measures were for a reason.”

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. Oh my god. 

Mayanna: And my hands are like cut up pretty bad. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh no!

Mischa: Yeah. I think you– hold on. 

Mayanna (Fran): My money makers! 

Bex: Yeah!

Mischa: I'll only roll a d4 because of the good DEX save. [Dice rolls]. It's 2 slashing damage. 

Mayanna: 2 slashing damage.

Ian: (Pained) On your hands.

Bex: (Pained) Aiee.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god ow, ow! Oh my god! Ow ow ow ow ow ow.

Ian (Gordon): Are you okay?

Ian: Okay so I immediately take my apron off, [SFX: soft shuffle of fabric], and I flip it inside out, so you get the clean back side.

Mayanna (Fran): Aww thank you.

Ian: And like rip it in half, [SFX: fabric quickly tearing], and wrap it around–

Mayanna (Fran): Ow.

Ian: –Fran’s hand

Mischa: Wow. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Heavy breathing) Ow ow ow ow ow.

Bex: Oh you rip it? That's so sweet.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: That’s what aprons are for.

Bex: That’s love.

Mischa: Your apron has like a little torn frayed edge at the bottom. I'm not even gonna make you roll it. Yeah. You manage to wrap up those hands pretty good? 

Mayanna (Fran): (Labored breathing, out of breath). Ow. Thank you. That was a really good job. That was tied really nice. (Breathy) Okay.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. This one time I cut my hand really bad in the kitchen and blood went– Nevermind. Let’s not talk about it.

Mayanna (Fran): (Still breathing heavily). Yeah, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. That was really stupid. Oh my god. I don't know how that happened. Thank you. 

Ian: She says, “I don't know how that happened.” I might be off. And I go– I get a lightbulb and I want to go check out where it was that she fell. 

[SFX: mysterious music begins].

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: You know, where the rocks slipped, just to see if there's anything there.

Mayanna: (Intrigued) Ooh. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: (Pleased humming).

Mischa: (Thoughtfully) Yeah. 

Mayanna: (Suspensfully) Ooh. 

Mischa: You start digging through that rubble. You already got your 16 survival. I'm not gonna make you roll it again, cause I do think this is just really cool and I'm gonna give it to you. You start digging through, [SFX: rocks tumbling], right where she slipped. You dig down like, with your hands just kind of pushing things away. Like, it almost– The rubble almost like, wants to crumble back in from the edges, and you're just sort of like, hurriedly pushing things aside to see at that spot where it slipped.

Mischa: You dig down in the debris, and you pull out a device. [SFX: digging stops]. A control board with a piece of Astra in it that is burnt out like a fuse and wires attached to it. 

Ian: Looks like. (Smug) A bomb. 

Mischa: And it looks like a bomb. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, what is that? 

Ian (Gordon): That's a bomb. 

Mayanna (Fran): What?

Ian (Gordon): I know exactly what that is. That's a bomb. 

Mayanna (Fran): What?! 

Ian: I call to the other– I call to, JJ and Ibra down the hill. I'm holding this up. 

Ian (Gordon): Guys, I found something. 

Bex (Ibra): I'm ki– What?

Lyn (JJ): I can't see. I'm in a hole. 

Bex (Ibra): Hold on, let me put this off. [SFX: metal clinking]. (Strained) Oh god. Oh, this is really heavy. I'm fine.

Ian: Are you taking it off already? 

Bex: Yep. 

Ian: We're getting out of it. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah, get outta that mech.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: metallic thud hitting the ground] Alright.

Mayanna: Can’t be encumbered in this situation.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, here. I gotta help you out. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Here we go. 

Lyn (JJ): We found a thing!

Ian: I bring– We bring them very carefully down the hill, and I show them– And I see that they have the matching device and that tells me that there are two detonating devices in a big fall, at least two. 

Mayanna: That look like they've been used up. 

Ian: Or burned out. Cause they're not, yeah, they're not still active in any way, right?

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Everybody. 

Ian: Uh oh.

Mayanna: Oh god.

Mischa: Roll either perception or arcana. 

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Okay. (Thinking sounds).

Ian: I'm rolling for perception. 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Thank fucking god.

Mayanna: Alright, I'm gonna do arcana. 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 22. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Bex: (Excited) Ooh!

Lyn: For either. 

Bex: 22!

Mayanna: (Disappointed) Okay. 14. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: Dirty 20. 

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: Wow! High rolls, everybody. Nice work. 

Bex: We've been saving for now. 

Lyn: We've been saving for now. 

Mischa: This, this really clutch– High rolls. 

Ian: It's the “fuck/yeet” dice that you got us all.

Bex: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yes! 

Ian: So good. 

Mayanna: Blessed. 

Mischa: Yeah, Bex got us all d20s that say “yeet” on the 20 and “fuck” on the 1. It's pretty great. 

[SFX: pensive music begins, slow piano and soft strings].

Mischa: You compare these two devices to try to determine if they're the same, if there's what. The device that JJ has recovered, the Astra crystal is completely burnt out like, black sooty in the– from the center almost all the way through. Gordon's device…

Mayanna: No.

Bex: (Gasp).

Mischa: …Only about halfway. 

Mayanna: No.

Bex: (Gasp).

Mayanna: No.

Mischa: It looks like there's a little bit of charge. It's not like– The devices aren't blinking. It doesn't look like they're activated or on–

Lyn: It’s not a live–

Mischa: –but it looks like this piece of Astra has not been totally burnt out as opposed to the one that was on the bottom layer, which is. 

Mayanna: I think I want to know what kind of Astra we're dealing with? Like if it's infused with any particular spells, which is something that like I'm intrigued by.

Mischa: Yes.

Mayanna: Yeah, I just, yeah, I just want to-I just want to get a closer look at what kind of Astra we're dealing with.

Lyn: Can I help Fran with that? Detect Magic lets you know the school of magic–

Mischa: Oh yeah?

Lyn: –that something can come– comes from. 

Mayanna: Oh, amazing. 

Mischa: Oh shit, I have to look up the schools of magic. Okay. [Laughter]. Yeah, you look at this with your Detect Magic goggles. You can, spot– You like look into the internal structure of the crystal, and like, the way the wires run on these boards. You can spot this as conjuration magic.

Mayanna: Conjuration magic. 

Lyn: Conjuration?

Ian: Which means…?

Mischa: Which is– Sorry. Conjuration is making stuff appear. 

Mayanna: Making stuff appear. 

Lyn: It's like the summoning…

Mischa: It's summoning portals, that kind of thing. 

Ian: Got it. 

Mayanna: Oh! 

Bex (Ibra): Well, summoning bomb? 

Mayanna (Fran): Well, it's summoning what? 

Lyn (JJ): …That’s weird.

Mayanna (Fran): Fire? Creatures?

Lyn (JJ): Because explosives, in theory, would normally be abjuration or evocation.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes. Which means they're conjuring something that's creating the explosion for them? 

Lyn (JJ): Maybe, or…? This is a…?

Bex (Ibra): Are they conjuring the jellies? 

Mayanna (Fran): The creatures? 

[SFX: music intensifies, high strings swell].

Lyn (JJ): If it's connected– I mean, it must be… At the very least, Gwen thought that this might be connected somehow. 

Mayanna: Is there anything on the mechanism that leads me to see like where it was manufactured? Any like serial numbers or any sort of like components? 

Mischa: I mean, you're a craftsman. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: You know exactly like where to look for–

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: –makers marks and such. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: This device reeks of homemade. 

Ian: Yikes.

Mayanna: Oh god.

Mayanna (Fran): So somebody made this themselves. 

Lyn (JJ): Fran, You're a much better artist than I am. Can you sketch a diagram of this?

Mayanna (Fran): Absolutely. 

Mayanna: Should I roll for how good the sketch is? 

Mischa: (Chuckle) Yeah. Roll performance. 

Mayanna: Okay. Let's see. Charisma. All right. Come on. [Dice rolls]. 11. Pretty good. 

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Yeah, pretty good.

Mayanna: Pretty good schematic. Not my best. 

Mischa: Functional, clear, not the most artsy. 

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like, it's a rush job. But, it's-it's-it's-it's the important bits. 

Lyn: I think, yeah, this sketch will also be good evidence to bring elsewhere.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm gonna fold that up and like, put it somewhere safe in my clothes. 

Lyn (JJ): It was on my graphite paper, so there is a second copy. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh gosh, yes! 

Mayanna: I'm gonna take, I'm just gonna make a note of this for Thorgunn for later. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Because I think he would probably have maybe some insight into this. 

Mayanna (Fran): Um. This– Who-who–? Why would somebody make something like this? This is like… This is like, terrorism kind of stuff. 

Ian: Yeah, so here's what-here's what's interesting to me. 

Mayanna: Mm hmm. 

Ian: None of us, except for maybe Ibra, have dealt with like, ballistic combat equipment much. 

Mischa: Well, I– And I don't even think Ibra had. 

Bex: No.

Mischa: Like, Ibra's combat training is really, like, kind of…

Mayanna: Theoretical?

Mischa: Well, basic martial arts, I would say. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Mischa: Like, like this, the training that–

Lyn: You do recreational karate. 

Mischa and Bex: Yeah. 

Bex: Ibra compares to like, a black belt in karate and someone who like, actively trains in a different– a couple different mixed martial arts. 

Mayanna: But you're not in the field because there's nothing to be in the field about, so you'd be like, training in a facility, presumably.

Mischa: No, of course not. The war's over. 

Bex: (Satisfied but nervous chuckle).

Ian: So here's what I'm after. 

[SFX: suspenseful music begins]

Mayanna: Go for it. 

Ian: We uncovered accelerant, which on its own could just be, “Oh, that's kind of dangerous in a site.” Now we have uncovered two types of detonators, one of which is not fully out. So we haven't really been thinking of it in this way, but I think if we were standing there, we would immediately realize that we were in an incredibly potentially dangerous situation.

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: And it might feel very eerie instantly because all of a sudden you realize that you're kind of in a minefield. 

Bex and Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: Right. 

Bex: Literal.

Ian: Because if one of the– if there's another one that isn't done. And there's a bunch of boxes.

Mayanna: (Understanding sigh).

Ian: So I kind of want to get off the hillside–

Mayanna: I agree. 

Ian: –as fast as possible.

Mayanna: I would agree with that.

Lyn (JJ): Well, this is still an active work site. Even though we called the safety whistle. 

Mayanna (Fran): We got to clear this site. 

Lyn (JJ): There's a lot. 

Mayanna (Fran): You gotta talk to your dad. You gotta talk to your dad. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): This is not the kind of specialization to be handling these kinds of things. 

Bex (Ibra): We need to call Inspector Ravona. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. We have her card.

Bex: I think I'm gonna, I'm–

Mayanna: I'll–yeah. I'll hand you the card. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. 

Mayanna (Fran): We should message her for sure. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Bex (Ibra): You guys are good words. Help me craft it so we can do it. 

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky filter, indicating a text]. We have discovered– This is– This is Fran, by the way, from the other night, at Boggin’s Beestro. We have been– 

Bex (Ibra): We've been assigned to you.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] We've been assigned to you by the Magistrate's office. We have uncovered ballistics equipment and detonators at the recent overpass destruction site. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Just to be clear, while they're texting this, my head is like on a swivel. I feel very uncomfortable. 

Mayanna: You should. No, I'm paranoid as well. 

Mischa: Perception, please, Gordon.

Mayanna: (Nervous noise).

Mayanna: With advantage. Your head's on a swivel. 

Ian: (Excited singing filler noise). [Dice rolls]. 19. 

Mayanna: Nice! 

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Gordon, while all of your party members are huddled together crafting this message, looking over these two devices. I think you've probably maybe handed yours to Fran and JJ. And they're kind of– 

Mayanna: I’m holding one and then messaging with my other hand.

Mischa: Yeah. Gordon, you're the– You know, while they're doing that, you have the thought to start looking around. You spot up high on the top level. You know, and this has got to be at least, you know, a hundred feet overhead.

Ian: Great.

Mischa: Something like that. You see the silhouette of a figure–

Ian: (Tense grumble).

Mischa: –dark gainst the light of the hover engines keeping the Constellation afloat overhead.

[SFX: ominous music begins, deep rumbling and echoing crackles]

Mayanna: (Under breath) No.

Mischa: And you see them [SFX: ominous buzz] reach a hand into a-into a back pocket…

Ian (Gordon): Go. Run. Run.

Mischa: Pull out something…

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Ian (Gordon): Run. 

Ian: I start– I yell to everyone,

Ian (Gordon): (With increasing alarm) Get off the side of the mountain, off the side of the mountain right now. Now!

Mischa: And press the button. 

[SFX: a deep, low thud].

Ian: (Screaming).

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

[SFX: earth rumbling, builds and swells].

Mischa: Everybody make a DEX save please. 

Mayanna: Oh. My god.

Lyn: Oh no.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 16. 

Ian: Dirty 20. 

Mayanna: No! I rolled a 4. [Pained exhale]. Oh my god. I like trip. (Laughs).

Bex: 10. 

Mayanna: I feel like my foot gets caught.

Lyn: Your hands are full. 

Mayanna: Yeah, my hands are full. 

Mischa: Yeah. An electric crackle spreads over the debris field. [SFX: zaps and crackles build]. It jumps from stone to stone. Crackles spread down like a waterfall over this debris pile. From deep underneath the stone. You hear, though it is muffled– 

Ian: Oh no.

Mischa: –a familiar high pitched scream. [SFX: piercing screech]. 

Bex and Lyn: (Groans).

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Ian: Oh. My. God.

Mischa: The electricity, [SFX: zaps and sizzles], spreads and cascades all the way down the pile. Fran.

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Mischa: Unfortunately. 

Mayanna: Oh no. 

Mischa: You're going to take 2 lightning damage. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. Ah! 

Mischa: And then the crackles of lightning condense, [SFX: static and crackles quickly zoom], onto the excavator–

Ian: (Under breath) Oh no.

Mischa: –which starts to twitch and jitter and move. 

[SFX: metallic rattling, heavy thuds into the ground].

Ian: (Pained whisper) Of its own accord.

Mayanna: (Pained gasp).

Mischa: And rear up on its six spider like legs [SFX: metallic thud] , and swivel [SFX: motorized twisting, clicking into place] its force beam in the direction of the gathered crowd and work crews.

Mayanna: No! 

Mischa: And–from deep within, its like, hollow metal chassis–bellows.

[SFX: deep, metallic, echoing roar].

[SFX: music ends]. 

Ian: So, today, when everything got laid out, I naively thought, “Oh, cool. Maybe a battle where one of us is driving a mech.” I–I'm going to say again–really naively just didn't anticipate the obvious choice of us fighting a giant disembodied spider mech. [Wheeze]. And I'm bummed. [Laughter]. that I didn't see that coming. 

Mayanna: I'd like to speak to a manager about that.

Mischa: Ian, would it help if we participated in one of your favorite activities in Dungeons & Dragons? 

Ian: Is it rolling dice? 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Is it called rolling initiative? 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Woo! 

Everyone else: No! 

Mischa: Let's roll initiative!

[SFX: theme music begins].

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafil, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective.

Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Til next time!

[SFX: theme music fades out].

1.03 We Swept It Under The Rug

The gang returns to daylight after a harrowing encounter. Gordon makes a mess. Fran’s out of a gig. Ibra throws their weight around. JJ scours the stacks.

-- links --
Website: wanderingpathpod.com
Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --
Created by Mischa Stanton
Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton
Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus
JJ: Lyn Rafil
Gordon: Ian McQuown
Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton
Cover art: Lyn Rafil
Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --
The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

Lyn: Previously on The Wandering Path.

[SFX: Theme music plays in background of recap].

Mischa: Boggin’s Bee-stro. Haunted? A showdown at everyone's favorite fun time zone led to a victory over a spooky electro phantasm. Though the birthday party was definitely ruined. What the heck was that? Does anyone know? And who's this Inspector Ravona lady? She just gets to decide Boggin’s is closed? Doesn't she know Fran needs to get paid somehow? Well, every day's a new day in New Prosper. And hopefully the light of dawn will illuminate some answers for our heroes. All caught up? Okay, then let's see what's around the bend, today, on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music fades out].

Mischa: Good morning, everyone. 

Bex: Morning. 

Mischa: It was… 

Mayanna: A night. 

Mischa: Definitely a night. 

Ian: Filled with ghosts. 

Mischa: How'd y'all sleep? 

Ian: Bad. 

Lyn Not well. 

Mayanna: Not very well, no. 

Lyn: Also, both extremely well and horribly. 

Mischa: Yeah? 

Lyn Yeah. 

Mischa: Tell me about that. 

Lyn Um, you know when you're so tired that you don't realize you go unconscious, and you're like, “I must have slept very deeply, but I don't feel good when I wake up.”

Mischa: Yeah, for sure.

Mayanna: There was one time I fell asleep on a sheetless mattress. [Laughter]. I was in the middle of laundry. And I just laid my little head down on my sheetless mattress. It's that kind of night. 

Mischa: Gotcha. [Laughter]. I mean, definitely for JJ and Samira, who fell asleep in the laundry room? 

Lyn Yeah. 

Mischa: Did that- Was that real? Did that really happen?

Lyn That was real. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Great. Um, I want to start this little wake up sequence with Gordon, actually. 

Ian: Sick.

Mischa: Gordon, you– it was a rough night. 

Ian:Yeah. Spectres abound. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

[SFX: soundscape begins, birds chirping lightly in the early morning]. 

Mischa: Before you fell asleep in Ibra's apartment–

Ian: Okay.

Mischa: –did you remember that you have, like, an extra baking task, and that you are not near your kitchen? 

Ian: No! Oh, right, I have to cook because of the route. I have to do the route. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Oh, fuck. [Laughter]. No, wait, okay, okay, okay. So, I have to get up at, like, four in the morning, usually. 

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: How far am I from the, the kitchen? 

Mischa: A commute. 

Ian: Fuck. No. 

Mischa: You know, your kitchen's in the Edge. And, , the Come Up is closer to the center of town, kind of adjacent to Minetown. 

Ian: Oh no. 

Mischa: You can catch a bus early in the morning. Buses run 24 hours in New Prosper. 

Lyn Love that.

Ian: Okay, that's good. Okay, so I mean, I must, like, have some sort of alarm that gets me up at like three in the morning. Or maybe I– Or do I forget and I sleep through it, I wonder? 

Mischa: I can leave it up to you. Or we can let the dice decide. 

Ian: I think we gotta- I mean, we just fought a ghost. Like, I don't know how much I– I mean, I clearly forgot. So maybe Gordon forgot. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: Do you wanna roll for it? 

Lyn: Gordon has the highest intelligence of the party, though. So maybe not.

Mischa: That's true. 

Mayanna: Does he?

Lyn Yeah!

Ian: Alright, here we go. And [Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Oh.

Ian: 10.

Mischa: Yeah! With the modifier? 

Ian: Yes. 

Mayanna: Oh no.

[Laughter].

Bex: Oh buddy.

Mischa: 10's enough to remember to set an alarm, I think. I think it's probably so ingrained into your, like, daily routine-

Ian: Great.

Mischa: –to make sure that alarm's going.

Ian: Great.

Mischa: Um, maybe. maybe with a 10, it's the same alarm–

Ian: That’s what I’m thinking.

Mischa: –that you would set if you only had to go downstairs, so you might, like, lose. 

Ian: So I'm late. 

Mayanna: Oof.

Mischa: Yeah, a little bit. 

Ian: And I have to bake everything that I usually bake and everything on Cecilia's route. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: So I have double the baking and I'm late by 45 minutes. 

Mayanna: This is sending me.

Ian: This is a bad day. 

Lyn Yeah. 

Ian: And I just fought a ghost. 

Mischa: Yeah, so you wake up. 

[SFX: Alarm ringing in rapid beeps]. 

Ian: Okay. 

Ian (Gordon): (Gasp).

Mischa: Four AM. 

Mayanna: I'm so stressed. 

Ian (Gordon): Oh no.

Bex: (Quietly) Oh no.

Mischa: Immediately, oh no? 

Ian (Gordon): Oh no. 

Ian: Yeah, it's that kind of wake when you shoot up out of bed, and your eyes open, and you realize you've made a terrible mistake. Um, and I don't think I'm quiet about it at all. I think I wake everybody up in the, in the house on accident. 

Bex: I think I'm already up, actually. I'm waiting for calls. 

Mischa: Fair enough. Then Fran and JJ roll Perception checks, and I will roll for Samira. 

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Oof. Um, 5. 

Mischa: No, that's fine. 

Lyn Dirty 20. 

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Sick.

Mischa: Fran, dead asleep. 

Mayanna: (Fake snoring) Honk mimimimi.

Mischa: Absolutely nothing.

Ian: That’s cute.

Mischa: The sleep of the newly jobless. 

Mayanna: (Fake snoring) Honk mimimimi. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: I think you probably, maybe you've already decided–

Mayanna: Checked out.

Mischa: –that like, there's no way. 

Mayanna: Truly. I was like, “wow. Is this what the other half lives? Is this how the other half lives?” 

Mischa: No, it's not. Cause they don't have to worry about paying for meals. 

Mayanna: It’s true.

Mischa: Um, JJ, the clatter of Gordon rummaging through the–

Ian (Gordon): Oh god.

Mischa: trying to gather–

Lyn (JJ): Another ghost!

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): We’ve been followed! 

[Laughter].

Ian: Dropping pots and pans. [SFX: metal clanging]. I think I'm looking for–I'm not looking for pots and pans. 

Mischa: Why did you hide your clothes among the pots and pans last night? 

Ian: It's just–It's just habit, you know? They feel most comfortable among the kitchen things, and I didn't want them to get misplaced. [Laughter]. So I'm grabbing my apron out of the cabinet, and my–

Mayanna: You put it, like, in the freezer.

Ian: Yeah, well, I put my rolling pin and stuff that is always on my belt in with the other kitchen stuff, so it would be comfortable. 

Mayanna: That makes sense. 

Ian: And now I'm getting it all out. 

Mischa: So it would be comfortable!

Mayanna: That makes sense.

Ian: I definitely accidentally open like I accidentally it's so early. I reach into a cabinet and pull like a glass out and break it on the floor [SFX: glass shattering] I think on accident.

Mischa: No!

Ian: I think I'm actually breaking things in the apartment. Um, and then, okay, so how do I get there? Bus? I mean, is bus the only option? 

Mischa: Um, you can– so, in New Prosper, transit on the ground is mostly by bus, or they have like, rent an e-bike stations, you know, like a, like Citi Bikes. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mischa: That you can rent. They’re like, not great, they don't go super fast, um, you have to pay like, an Astra deposit probably.

Ian: I think what Gordon would do, I, I, here's my pitch. Okay. I think I freak out and go, 

Ian (Gordon): Help! Anyone? Do you guys? I have to get across town! 

[SFX: frantic rustling of clothes and kitchen items shuffling around].

Ian: And I think I ask the, the group, like, if anyone has any idea– cause I think I'm just panicking. Cause I'm 45 minutes late with double the baking. 

Mayanna: Oh, God, that sentence. 

Lyn (Disapprovingly) Mm-mm.

Bex: I think I've been only half asleep all night, if at all, because I'm waiting for a call from Paz's mom that she's woken up and that I can go visit.

Ian: Mm-hmm.

Bex: Um, so I think I come out as soon as the first thing breaks. 

Ian: And I'm like sweeping up the broken glass [SFX: broom quickly sweeping against the ground] and I’m vibrating like, 

Ian (Gordon): I'm super late, I have to get out of here. Do you know the fastest way I can get across town? 

Bex (Ibra): Uh.. E-bike. Do you know how to ride one? 

Mischa: Are you proficient with vehicles?

Ian:  I don't think so.

Mischa: Then I don't think so. 

Ian: Well, but I guess I am supposed to take her–Cecilia's route so I can drive the truck. 

Mischa: Yes. 

Ian: The tuk tuk. 

Mischa: Yeah. Okay. Okay. 

Ian: So I must be. No, yeah, I must. I know how to ride a bike. 

Lyn Maybe not all vehicles. 

Ian: I gotta know how to ride a bike. I'm a cute little boy. 

Mischa: Sure. [Laughter]. 

Ian: I definitely know how to ride a bike.

Lyn I dunno if you're a little boy. 

Mayanna: He's Tombo from Kiki's Delivery Service. 

Ian: I'm Tombo from Kiki's Delivery Service. I know how to ride a bicycle. That was Tombo's whole deal. 

Mayanna: That was his whole deal. 

Mischa: Okay. Okay.

Ian: I take it back.

Mischa: You go down to the garage where you find Ibra’s e-bike and you put a big propeller on the front. No, I'm just kidding. 

Bex: I'd be into it. 

Mayanna: That's so funny. 

Ian (Gordon): Yes, yes. Do you have a bike? Is there a bike? 

Bex (Ibra): Yes. Yes, I do have an e-bike. Do you– is it okay if I take you? Cause I, I kinda really wanna be on call. I wanna be able to get back to the hospital. 

Ian (Gordon): Do you mind? It's so early. I'm so sorry. 

Bex (Ibra): I'm sure I have time. Paz is a very deep sleeper. 

Ian (Gordon): Oh my god, thank you so much. Yes, yeah, can we– I think we just have to go right now. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh, uh, yeah. Can I put on pants? 

Ian: And as you're doing that, I'm literally going back into the cabinet and I break another thing as you say, “can I put on pants?” [SFX: rustling and glass shattering]. 

Bex (Ibra): Gah- and shoes. Okay. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: You put on your clothes while Gordon fumbles around for every single object he brought into the apartment in the first place. [SFX: even more rustling and shuffling as Gordon tears apart the kitchen].

Bex: I scrawl a note on a post-it for these two to put on shoes before going in the kitchen. 

Mayanna: Oh, that's so funny. 

Mischa: That's excellent. 

Lyn I'm looking out because I woke up. I have my wrench. I'm like, 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, it's just you– It's too early for this! 

Ian (Gordon): I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. 

Ian: Smash. [SFX: Glass shattering].

Lyn (JJ): (Incredulous and worried stammering).

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: You grab your riding leathers and your helmet and the big basketball-sized marble of Astra that powers your bike. And you head down to the garage and open the door. [SFX: motorized garage door opening]. And Gordon, you get on in like the, you know, the passenger position, hug around the waist. 

Ian: Also in my mind, the Astra, you said it's basketball-sized?

Mischa: Mm-hmm.

Ian: I don't know if this is canon, but in my mind, it plugs into the bottom and then it's sort of like spins. [SFX: component locking into place, electronic hum stirs as the bike powers up].

Mischa: Again. I love the idea of all of these motorized vehicles. You just take a big crystal and you plug it into the front wheel well, and it powers the rest of the thing. 

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: So yeah, I like the idea of like it gyros inside the front wheel well.

Mayanna: That's very cool. 

Ian: It glows and it's super sick. 

Bex (Ibra): (shockingly awkwardly) Let's ride. 

[Delayed beat, then cackling laughter].

[SFX: electronic motor whirs louder as it kicks into gear]. 

Ian: I think as you pull away, my apron, which is only like half tied, is like flailing behind me like a white cape.

Mischa: And you're off in the western direction of the Edge. Back in the apartment. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Snoring).

Mischa: JJ, you're up. 

Lyn I'm looking for a broom? 

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn I'm opening every closet like, 

Lyn (JJ): Where are the cleaning supplies? 

Mischa: Where are the cleaning supplies? 

Bex: Um, they probably still don't have a lot of cleaning supplies. It's, it's still like– it's a clean apartment. It's just, you know like, it's not what it– it's not what it should be for someone who would have been taught. 

Mayanna: Is it clean because it's sparse? 

Bex: Yeah, it's mostly clean because it's sparse. And there's– I clean up the dust, but it's like, there's spots I miss. 

Mayanna: There’s not a lot of stuff there.

Bex: And I'm not good at this. All my stuff is in the laundry room though.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, that makes sense. 

Lyn I climb over Samira like, 

[SFX: light rummaging and rustling].

Lyn (JJ): Broom, broom is over. 

Mischa: Roll for Samira. Um, she goes, 

Mischa (Samira): Keep it down! 

Mischa: And she pulls one of the folded bedsheets back over her shoulders and turns the other way. 

Lyn (JJ): (Mocking) Whatever.

[Laughter].

Lyn: I like, nudge her playfully with my foot, like a fake kick, like, 

Lyn (JJ): (Mocking) Meh meh meh meh meh.

Mayanna: Exactly like that. 

Lyn I don't know, I feel like the broom is like, awkwardly behind her head, like, 

Lyn (JJ): Fine, I might broom your head. 

[SFX: rustling and thuds].

Mischa (Samira): No. Ow. I’m sleeping over here, gosh. 

Lyn (JJ): Yes, you're so sleepy, huh? 

Mischa (Samira): Yeah!

Lyn I just like, fake sweep her head for a second. 

Mischa (Samira): It's called a slumber party, not an awake time party.

Ian: Sleep bubbles coming out of the nose. 

Lyn (JJ): You're doing a bad job at it. Bleh. 

Mischa: Um, and yeah, so you're, you're gonna sweep up the glass. 

Lyn Yeah, I sweep up the glass. [SFX: sweeping].

Mischa: Okay, great. Yeah, I think. Actually, Fran, do you want to roll a contest to see if you or Samira is awake first? 

Mayanna: Yes, okay. [Dice rolls]. 9. 

Mischa: I rolled a 7.

Mayanna: Hey! 

Lyn Wow

Mischa: Fran, you wake up– 

Mayanna (Fran): (Yawn).

Mischa: –and you find JJ sweeping.

Mayanna (Fran): Uhh. Why is there glass here? 

Lyn (JJ): I think you know why. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. 

Ian: There's a note under Ibra's note from Gordon that just says, 

Ian (Gordon): Sorry!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh God, what happened? Did he have like a freak out? What's going on? 

Lyn (JJ): I– It's hard to tell what's a freak out and what's normal–

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): –when it comes to the things breaking.

Mayanna (Fran): Do you have a dustpan? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): I can, I can, cause you know, every, the worst part about sweeping is the dustpan awkwardness. 

Lyn (JJ): Um… 

Ian: I'm sorry, what, what's dustpan awkwardness? 

Mayanna: Okay. So, you know, like. You've got like a normal sized broom, and it's long, and then you've got this dustpan that's small. 

Ian: Oh.

Bex: That's what it is!

Lyn Like the handheld one. 

Mayanna: So you've got to hold– you're kind of in this weird middle ground where your body kind of looks like an upside down Y, where you're holding the dustpan against the ground because you have to make a vacuum tight seal, and then you're pushing it with a normal sized broom, and it's just awkward.

Lyn (JJ): There are the, there are the–

Mayanna (Fran): So if you need a buddy. 

Lyn (JJ):–long handled dustpans, but I didn't see the, you know, the dustpans that are like– 

Mayanna (Fran): They make long handled dustpans? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Ian: Ibra doesn't have a long handled dustpan though. No way.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, that's so smart. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it's not like the weird shovel. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, you're so right. I have seen those. It's just been a while. Okay, I'm gonna go find a dustpan, because I–I can't watch it. It makes me so sad when I see it. So, for my own sanity, I'm going to help you. If there's a dustpan. 

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. 

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome. 

Lyn (JJ): (Stilted) If it helps you, then it helps me. 

Mayanna (Fran): … Okay, you don't have to say it like it's a question. If that's how you feel. You know your inner world. You can just, it's okay. You can, you know, if that's how you feel, that's great. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): It's not a question. You know yourse–you know yourself. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah?

Mayanna (Fran): I imagine.  

Lyn (JJ): (Unconvincingly) Uh huh. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. I'm gonna go get a dustpan now. 

Ian: Lord. 

Mayanna: Meanwhile, you take out your little like, crafting ideas notebook and write “long handled dustpan.” 

Mayanna: Of course I do. Of course.

Ian: I was wondering if she was only gonna come back with one just. 

Mayanna: Wait, okay. What tools do I have? Or like, what are the cleaning supplies that are available there? Is there anything? Is there a rod in there you don't care about? 

Bex: I was thinking that the only duster I had was, like, one of those old ones that's on, like, an extendable rod.

Mayanna: Oh, like a feather duster thing? 

Bex: Yeah, like a feather duster thing. 

Mayanna: Alright, I'm gonna take, I'm gonna take the rod off that. [Laughter]. And now it's a height adjustable dust pan. That's what I'm gonna do. 

Lyn You're innovating. 

Mayanna: I have to. It's in, it's just, it's just who I am. 

Mischa: A, B, C, always be crafting! 

Mayanna: Yeah, always be crafting! Uh. Do I need to roll for that? 

Mischa: No. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: This is my free–

Lyn Roll for dustpan?

Mischa: It's fine, you can just do it. 

Mayanna: Hooray!

Ian: You crit fail on dustpan. 

Mayanna: Just gonna like, unscrew the top of the duster and then just start Frankensteining this dustpan with now a height adjustable rod on it. 

Mischa: Sure, you're clambering around the laundry room for crafting supplies [SFX: more rustling and rummaging] and Samira's like, 

Mischa (Samira): I guess I'm awake now. [Laughter]. I– there's no–

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, you were– Oh, I'm so sorry. I just thought that was a pile of sheets. 

Mischa (Samira): What did you call me? 

Mayanna (Fran): Are you not–

Mischa (Samira): I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Ha ha, you're a pile of sheets. 

Ian: God, she's such a pile of sheets. 

Mischa (Samira): And proud of it. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, slay. 

Mischa (Samira): You guys, yesterday was so weird. 

Mayanna (Fran): So weird. 

Lyn (JJ): That was a lot. 

Mischa (Samira): I have never been in a place that was going through all the kind of haywire stuff like that. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Sigh) Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): You've never been haunted? Is that what you're saying? Great. Cause neither have we. 

Mischa (Samira): Haunted?

Lyn (JJ): Right? It was a ghost! 

[SFX: ominous music starts] 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): That was a ghost. 

Mayanna (Fran): It was a ghost. 

Lyn (JJ): And it's haunting. 

Mayanna (Fran): Haunted. 

Lyn (JJ): Haunted. 

Mayanna (Fran): Spooky. 

Mischa (Samira): No, you guys, stop messing with me. Like, I know the power went out, and like, all the machines malfunctioned, but like, and we had to call emergency services in, and they, you know, shut down the building, and it seemed pretty unsafe.

Lyn (JJ): The– But the creature.

Mayanna (Fran): Right, but you saw the being? 

Mischa (Samira): The what? 

Mayanna (Fran): The being? The like, floating electrical…

Lyn (JJ): The electricity…

Mayanna (Fran): …being?

Mischa (Samira): What are you guys talking about? 

Lyn: Insight check!

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Laughter]. [Dice rolls].

Lyn: Bad roll. Oh no.

Mayanna: Oh boy, let's see here.

Lyn: Oh, it's plus 5 though. So 10. 

Mayanna: Bad roll for me as well. 2. Garbage. Garbage.

Ian: It’s way too early for you guys to be insightful.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm like, yeah, whatever like I think on some of them Like is she she's either in denial or something bigger is going on, but I don't have time to think about this I'm too exhausted. 

Lyn: Like that's not my circus.

Mayanna (Fran): That's a whole other day. 

Mischa: That’s fair.

Lyn (JJ): You know? The ghost? That we fought?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Samira): Okay, now I know you're messing with me. 

Mayanna (Fran): Why did you run out of the building? What was–what was?

Mischa (Samira): Cause the lights were going and there was like an electrical… 

Mischa: And she thinks about that for a second. And she gets like a confused look across her face. And she goes, 

Mischa (Samira): You know, it was… unsafe. 

Mischa: But she doesn't seem very sure.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh...kay…

Lyn (JJ): Um, are you…?

Lyn: I check her for a fever. 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Roll Medicine? 

Mayanna: Nice. [Dice rolls].

Lyn: I'm like, 

Lyn (JJ): Are you good? 

Lyn (Afar) Um, why am I'm rolling only fives? (Normal) Um, that plus medicine. 8.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Samira's a dwarf, so her skin's slightly cool to the touch, like a flagstone that's been sitting in the shade. But that's normal, not concerning. She seems okay physically.

Lyn Oh, okay. 

Mayanna: Like normal, regular. 

Lyn (JJ): (Repeated, questioning humming).

Mischa: She touches your face back. 

Lyn  Yeah, we're just patting each other's face. 

Lyn (JJ): Bop.

Mayanna (Fran): Is this–

Lyn (JJ): Bop.

Mischa (Samira): Is this what we're doing now? 

Lyn (JJ): Bop.

Mayanna (Fran): Should I go? 

Mischa (Samira): Are we doing this? 

Mayanna (Fran): Should I leave? 

Lyn (JJ): I– Ugh. 

Mayanna (Fran): Should I be seeing this? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Why would you not? 

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know. I just don't know if it's like, 

Ian: Mating rituals.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm like, 

Mayanna (Fran): Is this like a religion? I don't know. 

Lyn (JJ): No, no, I don't think so. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Alright. 

Lyn (JJ): Are you feeling okay? 

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, I feel fine. 

Lyn (JJ): (Doubtful) Okay. 

Mischa (Samira): Anyway, I gotta go home and get my materials for the rest of the day. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa (Samira): Um, thanks for, is Ibra here? 

Mayanna (Fran): No. 

Lyn (JJ): Uh, they left. 

Mischa (Samira): Oh okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Mischa: Um, she takes out, wherever you guys are getting these post-it notes from, she gets one. And she writes underneath the two notes that are already there, like, “thanks for letting me crash,” but the I in “letting” has a little heart for the I– 

Mayanna: Cute. 

Mischa: –for the dot.

Mayanna: Alright, so they are now gone? 

Mischa: Yeah, Samira, and she, yeah, she grabs her stuff, she's like, 

Mischa (Samira): I'll Catch you a little later. 

Lyn (JJ): See you later. 

Mischa (Samira): Do I have like, do you have like room in your tightly knit schedule for me later?

Lyn (JJ): Always. 

Mischa (Samira): Okay cool.

Lyn (JJ): Probably. 

Mischa (Samira): Great.

Lyn (JJ): Yeahhhhhh. 

Mischa (Samira): Thank you.

Lyn (JJ): Fine, I'll see you later. 

Mischa (Samira): Thanks. Byeeeee.

Lyn (JJ): Byeeee.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, that was so weird. 

Lyn (JJ): (Whispering) That was weird.

Mayanna (Fran): That was really weird. 

Lyn (JJ): That was weird.

Mayanna (Fran): Um, is there anything in your experience, is there like a spell that like makes that happen? I don't know, she just seemed very unsure of what she was saying. 

Lyn (JJ): She seems to have not remembered the thing at all. 

Mayanna (Fran): The thing that happened, like, yesterday.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Like, not even 24 hours ago. 

Lyn (JJ): A very visible, important thing. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. You remember it. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I remember it. 

Mayanna (Fran): I remember it. (Sigh). I don’t know, that seems really weird. Did somebody, no one was here besides us, right? 

Lyn (JJ): No, not that, I mean, ghosts can apparently appear at places, but–

Mw: That is fair, that is fair. 

Lyn (JJ): But.

Mayanna (Fran): Idon't know, that seems really, I don't know what is possessing me, but do you remember that weird dream?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Unfortunately. 

Mayanna (Fran): Um, like, is this part of that? Was it like a prophecy? Cause, I don't know, they– Remember they were like really like not, they weren't like seeing what we were seeing. 

Lyn (JJ): Were they– It was both that they couldn't turn away, but they…

Mayanna (Fran): Didn't want to?

Lyn (JJ): They couldn’t… 

Mayanna (Fran): Is this part of that? 

Lyn (JJ): I don't like that. 

Mayanna (Fran): I don't like it either.

Lyn (JJ): Um…

Mayanna (Fran): I'm gonna… Let's get this glass off the floor. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, let's keep– let's sweep our problems away! 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah!

[Laughter].

Mischa: You attempt to sweep your problems away. 

[SFX: sweeping, broken glass clinking] [SFX: Ominous music ends].

Mayanna: It's a temporary solution, but it's the only one that I can come up with right now at, what is it, like 5 or 6 in the morning? 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah, I'll deal with this in a couple hours when it inevitably bubbles up inside of me again.

Lyn After breakfast. 

Mayanna: After breakfast. 

Mischa: Speaking of breakfast

Ian: Let's go! 

Mischa: Back at the Baker's Guild. [SFX: whirring slows as e-bike powers down]. Gordon, you, like, I think Ibra, like, slows the bike to a stop, but you're like, bounding off of it to run inside. 

Ian: Which is actually what I do in real life, too. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Mischa: (Incredulous) Bound off the back of a motorcycle? Ian!

Ian: My mom always used to yell at me. She'd be like, like, my mom would be pulling the car into the driveway, and I would open the door before the car stopped. She'd be like, (yelling) “Stop doing that!” 

Mischa: Yeah. I'm with your mom, actually.

Ian: (Muttering) Yeah, I know.

Mischa: Ian, that's not safe. 

Ian: I always get out of the golf cart before it stops rolling. I'm going to roll my ankle. 

Mayanna: Why do you do that?

Ian: I don't know. I have no patience, I guess. 

Mischa: Hold on. Stop the podcast. Let's have a talk about like–

Mayanna: Patience.

Mischa: –safety. 

Ian: Yeah. It's always this, I mean, it must be ADD. It's, it's always the same thing. Like doing six things at once, right. 

Mischa: Yeah okay.

Ian: Listening to a book podcast while doing the dishes and texting. So, you know what I mean?

Mayanna: And free rolling out of a moving vehicle. 

Ian: Yeah. Let's go.

Mayanna: We do those all at the same time. 

Ian: Barrel roll!

Mayanna: Yeah. (Giggles).

Ian: Yeah. Okay, so I barrel roll off of the e-bike. 

[SFX: jaunty music begins, fading in with rhythmic, energetic piano].

Mischa: Yep. 

Ian: And I bolt into the kitchen. 

Mischa: Sure. 

Ian: The–

Mischa: It's constantly, always bustling. You hastily get your ingredients prepped and get started. Um, do you have a strategy for trying to get all this done?

Ian: Yes, I do. So for those of you who don't bake at home, bread requires– the hotter the environment, the faster your bread will rise, right? The colder it is, the slower it will rise. [Intrigue]. So the first thing that I do is I think I crank–I can't turn the temperature up. No, I can. Screw it. I turn, I go to the thermostat and I turn the temperature up in the whole main kitchen.

Mischa: Oh.

Bex: Oh no.

Ian: So even though I'm just at a station, I'm so panicked that I'm like, I got to do this fast. And I turn the heat up, not thinking about how it's going to affect anyone else, I've just realized now. 

Bex: Oh no.

Ian: But therefore all of my bread rises like a little bit faster and I make up the half hour that I've lost.

Mischa: Sure. 

Mayanna: My goodness. 

[SFX: music ends]. [SFX: soundscape begins, ambient fans and occasional shuffling of metal mixing bowls and sheet trays in ovens, light chatter of other bakers].

Mischa: Why don't you go ahead and roll. What is this? Survival? 

Ian: Sure. 

Lyn Something like that?

Mischa: Something like that. 

Ian: 15. 

Mayanna: Nice. 

Mischa: Yeah! With the thermostat change, you yourself only lose, you know, that 45 minutes that it took to get you to the Baker's Guild. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mischa: Um, but, you know, you're like an hour late, but like, that's not as bad as it could have been.

Ian: I bake everything that I need to bake, and I bake all of Cecilia's stuff. 

Mischa: Yes. You are good to go, you scramble. 

[SFX: brisk music begins, rhythmic ukelele strumming with building complexity and chaos]

Mischa: I think maybe you grab like, an intern, you know, you're a junior baker but there's gotta be like, you know, people even below you like apprentices or people like, hopefuls, frosh…

Ian: Yes.

Mischa: Prospects.

Ian: Prospects.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: You know, little prospects, little prospies running around.

Mayanna: Cute.

Mischa: And you get one of them to like, help you load up your little tuk tuk in the communal garage.

Ian: I'm like, 

Ian (Gordon): Steve! Pick up that thing! Gretchen! Help me over here! 

Mayanna (Prospie): (Flustered yell).

Mischa (Prospie):  (Timid yelp). (High pitched) Okay, Mr. Baker. 

Ian: They're also all two feet shorter, because they're all like, preteens, right? 

Mischa: Yeah. (Giggles).

Ian: So it's just me commanding a bunch of like, fourteen year old small people carrying giant stacks of bread. 

Mayanna (Prospie): (High pitched, light Brooklyn accent) Boy, this is the big time. This is my big break.

Bex (Prospie): (Squeaky) Who even is this guy?

Ian (Gordon): (Angrily) Stop talking and move the bread! 

Mayanna (Prospie): (Timid) Sorry, okay, sorry! 

Bex (Prospie): (Startled) Ah sorry!

[Laughter].

Mischa: And I think right as you get it loaded up and are ready to head out, [SFX: motor revs] like, you're in the garage, you're sort of pulling out, and you go, “Okay, Prospies, thanks for all the help”, and you drive away. [SFX: motor of tuktuk, driving off into the distance]. In that moment is when everyone else in the Baker's Guild realizes that their proof times are off because someone messes with the thermostat. Can you roll Stealth for me? 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Nice.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: 19! 

Mischa: Nice! 

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: Okay, no one saw you do it. No one knows why the rest of the bread is ruined in the entire city today.

[Various yells of horror, disappointment, and disapproval]. 

[SFX: Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): It's all too airy. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: There's bubbles everywhere. 

Ian: Yeah, and it's all flat and pancakes, right? Because it's like, if it overproofs, then it doesn't spring as much. 

Lyn It spreads.

Ian: So it's like a bunch of like pancake bread.

Mischa:  I'm so glad that all of my players know so much about the process of baking bread. Because I don't know a lot about it. And I'm really glad you guys do. 

Mayanna: I'm learning every day. 

Lyn I just watch Bake Off on occasion. 

Mayanna: Oh, I do love Bake Off, but yeah, I never… Yeah, this is good. This is good education for me. 

Mischa: Um, Ibra.

[SFX: pensive, ambient synthesizer music begins]

Mischa: You drop off Gordon, I think probably at that point is when you get a text from… Do you have Paz's mom's contact address programmed into your Sidekick?

Bex: I want to say for emergencies, yeah. 

Mischa: Okay, yeah, she texts you and it just says “she's awake, you can come.” 

Bex: I'm speeding. Safely. [SFX: electric motor whirs to life]. I am obeying all the traffic laws, but I am also in stretches where it feels safe. Just (nyoom noise).

Mischa: Yeah, sure. You zip zoom through the cars. There's a little bit of traffic on the roadways, counting to detours for the collapsed bridge. But you, with your nimble Ducati-ass e-bike, like top of the line, crotch rocket model.

Mayanna: Ducati-ass.

[Laughter].

Bex: “Ducati ass crotch rocket.”

Mischa: Yeah. 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I need assistance. 

Bex: I love you Mischa.

Mischa: You managed to zip through and around and head over to the center of the city, Minetown, which is the largest district in Lower Prosper. It was built out from the original Astra Mine that was used by the Fortress, which is now Upper Prosper, during their war with the Balvarox 60 years ago. That mine sort of grew out into like a miner's town, like one city in and of itself. And then when the city got too big to be contained by one district, this became the largest district. It's a lower class part of town. The buildings were hastily constructed and not rebuilt unless they fell over. So everything is kind of corrugated metal, not great insulation, stacks and stacks and narrow streets. But for your Ducati-ass crotch rocket, not a problem to zip through. 

Mischa: You make it to a hospital, a pretty decent hospital, [SFX: bike motor slows down], newer than a lot of the buildings around it, I would say. Where do you leave your bike? 

[SFX: soundscape begins, passive sounds on the street outside].

Mayanna: Ooh. 

Bex: Um. 

Mischa: Do you just leave it or? 

Bex: I think I have some sort of like, portable lock mechanism, so I look for some sort of rack. 

Mischa: Sure.

Bex: Something nailed down, bolted down.

Mischa: Sure. Really, that was my question, like, do you take the time to park it or do you just, like, again, Gordon-like–

Mayanna: Yeah, roll.

Mischa: –just kick off in the middle of, like, the emergency room and just leave it in the street.

Bex: I think that's Ibra's first initial impulse is just like, alright, dump, go! And then, as they're, like, four steps away, they're like, 

Bex (Ibra): (Stammers) Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, forgot something.

[Laughter].

Ian: Gingerly walk back to the bike. 

Bex: Yep. 

Ian: So cool. So lame.

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: You head into the hospital, you head up to the nurse's station. 

[SFX: door opens. Soundscape changes to hospital interior: quieter, shuffling of staff and patients in background, occasional beeping of equipment].

Bex: First thing I do is I fish out what looks to be like, a small leather bound journal from a zippered pocket on the inside of my motorcycle jacket. And I don't take it out much, so I think like, the zipper gets stuck for a second trying to get it out. Like (struggling grunts). [Laughter]. So it's, it's a black leather string around a black leather binding, and there's a shining family crest emblazoned on the front. And it looks like a hand, like an extraordinarily symmetrical hand with thumbs on both sides, you know? 

Mischa: Oh, yeah. Like a Hamsa or?

Bex: Yeah. Awkward turtle. 

Mischa: (Laugh). Like an awkward turtle. Yeah. 

Bex: And it's the crest of house Bracha.There are official cards and ID and things inside, but usually just flashing the front crest is enough to get most people to stop asking questions and start finding answers. I put it on the table and say, 

Bex (Ibra): I'm looking for Pazmina Voxana. 

Mischa: The nurse looks through their patient roll and at first, like, gets a furrowed brow and says, 

Mischa (Nurse): You said Pazmina…

Bex (Ibra): Voxana?

Mischa: And she looks down, and like, can't find it for a second, and then finds it. 

Bex (Ibra): (Relieved sigh).

Mischa: And points you to the correct room. You bolt up there. You enter her room. 

[SFX: soundcaspe shifts to Paz’s room, heart monitor faintly beeping intermittently].

Mischa: She's awake. She seems in decent spirits. She, like, you know, weakly, but like, waves to you as you come in. Um, Paz’s mom, Esme. Looks like she has not slept all night. An elf woman, auburn, short curls, darker skin, pointed ears popping up through, deep bags under those eyes. You walk in, I think she probably sighs in relief. 

Bex: I think I go to give her a gentle hug. 

Mayanna: Aw.

Mischa: Yeah. 

Bex (Ibra): Hey. 

Mischa (Paz): Hey. 

Bex (Ibra): Hey. 

Mischa (Paz): I'm still here. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I'm glad you are. Sorry it took me so long. 

Mischa (Paz): No, it's cool. That last night was nuts.

Bex (Ibra): It was. I have never seen anything like that. That was wild. (To Esme) Did Paz tell you? 

Mischa (Esme): She told me a little bit, but she was very out of it when we came to the hospital last night. I– thank you so much. I'm so glad that you were there to protect her, Ibra. I am always so glad that you are there for her. 

Bex (Ibra): I'll always..

Mischa (Esme): We, we cherish you very much, this family. 

Bex (Ibra): Aw, and I cherish y'all. Aw. That's so sweet. Esme, that's just, you're so nice to me. 

Mischa: Paz says, 

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, last night was… Ibra, did we get attacked by like a like a spirit? 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah!

[SFX: ominous, thrumming music begins in background].

Mischa (Paz): Like a floating– 

Bex: Like a-a-a sparky– sparky jelly ghost? 

Mischa (Paz): Horrible. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): It like–

Mischa: And she looks over at her mom and says 

Mischa (Paz): (Whispers) It like, burrowed into my brain a little bit?

Ian: Yikes. 

Mischa (Esme): Yes, this is where I would like a little bit of clarity. What the shit happened?

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): That's a really good question. Fair, valid, important. And I don't have a good answer yet. Um, basically, we got attacked by electric jelly? It hit me, but not as bad as it hit Paz. And I gotta say, from what I felt from it, not comfortable. Um, so I-I definitely want to go into figuring out what happened. But I do want to check Paz, how are you feeling right now? 

Mischa: She gets a hollow look in her eyes. She like, kind of falls deep into herself. 

Mischa (Paz): I don't know. I feel okay. I'm a little weak, but…

Mischa: And she trails off and she kind of like, looks in a–and like her gaze drifts off to the left a little bit. Like she's got like a little bit of a thousand yard stare. 

[SFX: ominous music suddenly ends].

Mischa: And then she comes out of it, and she's like, 

Mischa (Paz): You know, the doctor said that like, you know, I got my scans. They wanted to keep me for 24 hours to just make sure everything was okay. 

Mischa: She turns to her mom and goes, 

Mischa (Paz): Are you sure that–

Mischa: And Esma goes, your father will pay for this room and we will say nothing more to him. I have nothing more to say to him. But he will pay for this room as that is the deal. 

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, okay, then I guess, I guess I'm here for 24 hours. But I feel all right. You know, food’s–for hospital food, pretty decent. 

Bex (Ibra): That's fair. We've had some really bad stuff. 

Mischa (Paz): Yeah. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Oh gosh, you remember that one that you went to a couple years ago? It smelled so bad. 

Mischa (Paz): Oh my god, I swear. That the person in the cafeteria was using Astra to make all that food and had not seen real meatloaf in like 15 years. 

Bex (Ibra): It must have been, cause everything– (disgusted) oh my gosh. 

Mischa (Paz): Brown–brown cube, not my favorite meal. 

Bex (Ibra): Not really. 

Mischa (Paz): Not my favorite meal, brown cube. 

Bex (Ibra): (Chuckles).

Ian: Astraloaf.

Lyn Proximal loaf. 

Mischa: You know what, honestly, very funny Ian. I am gonna go with brown cube. 

[Laughter].

Lyn Brown cube. 

Bex: Astraloaf is so much better than brown cube. But that's why brown cube is the worst meal. 

Mischa: It's just like a puck of carbon that you charge magic through and it pops up into nutrition. 

Lyn: Like in Spy Kids.

Mayanna: Yeah

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely. Just like in Spy Kids. 

Mayanna: So funny.

Ian: Or Back to the Future when they microwave the pizza, right? 

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: It's like this big and it goes bing!

Mischa: That's what I'm saying. Yes. But I mean, much like microwaves in our real actual life, these ones are made by turning on a magic spell for a minute. 

[Pensive hums].

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: That's so funny. 

Lyn Whoa. Microwaves. Makes you think! 

Bex: I love this.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I, I… (Deep sigh). Esme, I cannot explain what happened last night, but I can give you a rundown of what we saw. 

[SFX: soft, dark, somber guitar music begins].

Bex: And I proceed to give her a decently detailed rundown of what the ghost looked like, what we learned its vulnerabilities were, what it was like to actually break through it, what it was like to feel its icy tendrils attack, the fact that it was–seemed to possibly be sniffing out electricity, and I was worried about why it went after Paz.

Mischa: Esme sighs tiredly. 

Mischa (Esme): I did not want this for you kids. We thought that when the war was over we would spare you these kinds of turmoils. We did not want the children we raised in this city to follow us in our warrior footsteps. I am glad you are competent enough to protect my daughter, but I mourn for you a little bit, Ibra. I am so sorry. I am sorry it has come back around. 

Bex (Ibra): Wha- Back around? 

Mischa (Esme): I have to make a phone call. 

Bex (Ibra): (Confused noise, cut off).

Mischa: And she goes, she leaves the room and she goes to find a phone. 

[SFX: somber music ends].

Bex: I start a group chat. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Great. 

Ian: If only the listeners at home could see all of our faces. 

Mayanna: We get so stressed. 

Lyn: It was wide eyed, pursed lips. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Glancing around.

Mayanna: Like “Oh oh. Oh oh.”

Ian: Sorry. What were you saying?

Bex: I start a group chat. Fran, Gordon, JJ, and myself. 

Mischa: What do you name the group chat? 

Bex: Um, I name the group chat Electric Jelly. 

Ian: Sick! 

Mayanna: Nice!

Ian: And while I'm on my deliveries, I see the group chat pop up and it's titled Electric Jelly. And I'm like, 

Ian (Gordon): What is going on? What?

Mayanna (Fran): Ohhh, that's so funny.

Mayanna: And then I just go

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Ha ha! 

Bex: First message is, in quotations,

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) “I'm sorry this is coming back around again.”

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm. 

Lyn: JJ, while sweeping up glass, reads this and thinks that it's the electric jelly speaking through the device, and is like, 

Lyn (JJ): (Panicking) Um! Uh!

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): No, that's like, funny. It's like, cause of last night. Cause it's– Cause it was electric jelly. 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Are you the ghost question mark.

Ian: Oh god.

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) No, comma, I am Ibra period 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) You have my number, period. 

Ian (Gordon): (Staticky filter overlay) JJ, comma, calm down dot dot dot.

Mayanna: (Giggles). And then I just send like a sticker of like a dancing cat. 

[Laughter].

Ian: And then after–

Mayanna: Just to break up the tension. 

Ian: After a minute. And then I say, 

Ian (Gordon): (Staticky filter overlay) Has anyone thought about contacting that government official lady?

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Yes. 

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) Inspector Ravona?

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Who were you quoting? 

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Yeah! Who were you quoting?

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) Esme.

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Oh!

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) Paz’s mom said something very cryptic and sounded important. Sorry for no context. I wanted to write it down before I forgot. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Oh okay. 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Fair.

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) That makes sense yeah. So is this like that job you were talking about last night? 

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) It’s feeling like–

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) I have to go to work!

[Laughter].

Ian: All caps. 

Mischa: That seems like a great time for me to punch in– I had some other stuff to do in that scene. 

Bex: We can go back.

Mischa: We'll come back for it.

Mischa: Well thanks, Bex. 

Ian: Oh my god. 

Mischa: Um Ibra, that sounds, or– JJ, that sounds like a great time for the next thing I had planned, which is while you're sweeping up glass and getting Ibra's Apartment back to nominal [SFX: sweeping, glass clinking], I think Gwen calls Ibra's phone. 

[SFX: low bit phone ringtone].

Lyn Oh, the landline. 

Mischa: Yes. 

Mayanna: (Intrigued) Ooh.

Lyn: Oh, I pick up. 

Lyn (JJ): Um, Ibra–

Lyn (Mumbling aside) What's your last name? 

Bex: Bracha-Shinmar. 

Lyn (JJ): Ibra Bracha Shinmar's phone. This is JJ speaking. They're not in right now. Please leave a message?

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) JJ, JJ. It's me. It's Gwen. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh! Hi, hi, boss. Yes, hello. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) I heard what happened at Boggins Bee-stro last night.

Lyn (JJ): Oh. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) You were there. 

Lyn (JJ): Y-yes. They-they contacted you? That makes sense, I don't know what–Gr-great, um, I'd love to debrief? I have questions. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) JJ, this is very important. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) Right now, right this morning, before you do anything else. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) Tell me what happened. 

[SFX: bright, suspenseful music begins, ambient echoing synths]

Lyn (JJ): Um, okay. So, we were there and celebrating Paz's birthday, everything was normal, and then suddenly the lights flickered, all the arcade machines started glitching. And a strange spectral being came out of the machines and attacked us, and we killed it. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) (Incredulous) You killed it?

Lyn (JJ): We killed it. I think we killed it. Um, it was destroyed, or at least we destroyed its–what we knew its presence to be. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) JJ, that's incredible. 

Lyn (JJ): (Unsure) Yeah! 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear you talk about this. Do not disrupt the rest of your day, but we have much to discuss when you can find the time to come into my office.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Um, I'll be there relatively soon. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) Excellent.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. 

Mischa (Gwen): (Staticky filter overlay) Goodbye. 

Lyn (JJ): Goodbye. 

[SFX: line clicks on other end, hanging up].

Mischa: Always a very firm goodbye on the phone with Gwen. 

Mayanna (Fran): Uh, everything okay? 

Lyn (JJ): Um, that was, that was Gwen.  

[SFX: suspenseful music ends]. [SFX: landline clicks into receiver].

Mayanna (Fran): Uh huh. 

Lyn (JJ): Um.

Mayanna (Fran): Tall lady, right? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. So tall.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, so tall. 

Lyn (JJ): So tall. (Giggles).

Mayanna (Fran): Anyway. 

Lyn (JJ): Um, she called. She, she knows about the incident. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. 

Lyn (JJ): And she was–she said she was relieved?

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): Based on what I told her. Which is…

Mayanna (Fran): Well that’s good, right? That’s good for you?

Lyn (JJ): I think so, kind of? I don't know what to make of that yet. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): But she did say that she wanted to talk when I could, so I should… let's see, I don't, I mean, I don't really have to go to, (annoyed grumbles).

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, technically I'm unemployed, so like you can go. 

Mischa: Yeah, Fran, as you're saying that, you get a text from Sid. 

Mayanna: Oh, god. 

Mischa: The owner of Boggins’ Bee-stro. 

Mayanna: (More upset) Oh, god! (Resigned) Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Hiiii. 

Mischa: And it just says, 

Mischa (Sid): (Staticky filter overlay) (Rough gravelly voice, New York accent) Boggins closed til further notice. I’ll let you know when we’re back.

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Further notice? What’s the timeline there Sid?

Mischa (Sid): (Staticky filter overlay) Governor’s office. Closed us down. Under orders. I’m getting paid back. 

Mayanna: And then I think I said like an emoji that's like, (a sound like huh? and wha? combined), like “what about me?” Like,

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) And what does that mean for my salary?

Mischa: No response. 

Mayanna (Fran): No!No, no, no, no no no no. (Frustrated groan). Oh, okay. All right. You go. I'll clean this up. I have to (deep breath) I have to find a new job. 

Lyn (JJ): (Concerned) Oh. 

Mayanna (Fran): Like, soon. 

Lyn (JJ): Um. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Despairing) Oh, god. Okay. It's fine. I'm chillin You're good. I, you-you-you– this is my problem. 

Lyn (JJ): I can look for things at the office. 

Mayanna (Fran): No, stop. You focus on you right now. I'm–I'll be okay. It'll be fine. 

Lyn (JJ): It is the office of labor placement. 

Mayanna (Fran): I know, but I have very particular preferences for my profession. I just like, I like to kind of keep a fluid schedule. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): I like I have time for, like, my interests, you know, so it's like, I don't know. I'm very picky. 

Lyn (JJ): So, part time or full time with flexible hours?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, actually, yeah, that's exactly, yeah, you nailed it. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Ian: Right then Gordon texts the group in sort of a panic because the route isn't going well, cause I have double the route and I go, 

Ian (Gordon): (Staticky filter overlay) (Stressed) Hey, does anyone help me distribute this bread today? Because I’m really really behind.

Mischa: Fran, would you rather go with Gordon on his route or with JJ to meet the person who gives out jobs.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Oh my god. I… want to help Gordon. 

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: I want to help Gordon. He's helped out at our bistro and I I know that I'm dealing with an unemployment situation, but that's my that's my bud.

Mischa: Cool.

Mayanna: So I'm gonna go help him first.

Mischa: Sick.

Mayanna: Great. I'll just be like,

Mayanna (Fran): Hey if you do hear of anything when you're at the labor office like let me know. Sorry. I'm being so weird about this. Like, you offered to help me with something, and I feel like I just kind of, like,

Lyn (JJ): No.

Mayanna (Fran): I was being strange, so I'm sorry about that. 

Lyn (JJ): You don't have to apologize for anything. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Sigh). That's really… Thank you. Thank you. 

Lyn (JJ): You're great. And you're good at things. That’s what– I mean, I'll just take a look at things that match what you want for your future.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. I’ll see you later. Ah, okay, go, go, go, go!

[Overlapping frantic chaos].

Lyn (JJ): Gordon is stressed. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I'm stressed. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. I’m gonna go.

Lyn (JJ): We're all stressed.

Mayanna (Fran): (Yelp).

Lyn (JJ): (Yelp). Okay. 

Bex: I love this friendship so much. 

Ian: The tuk tuk pulls up out front and you hear like a, 

Ian (Gordon): (Imitating a car horm) Meep, meep.

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, that's my ride, I guess. 

Mayanna: So I run downstairs, and I go help Gordon.

Mischa: Absolutely. You traipse off on a bread filled adventure. 

Mayanna (Fran): Wee!

Ian and Mayanna: (Chanting) Bread, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread. 

Bex: It was between bread and dough, that's my favorite part. 

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh no! That's a point. 

[Laughter].

Bex: I got my first party point–

Ian: That's the first point.

Bex: –and that wasn’t from the DM.

Mischa: Whoa, the players can just give out party points now? 

Ian: I'm the keeper of the party points.

Lyn Well there were–

Mischa: Who's running the ship?

[Laughter].

Mischa: Before we cut to break, I do want to come back and finish this scene with Ibra in the hospital. 

[SFX: hospital soundscape resumes, faint beeping of heart monitor in background]. 

Mischa: So Esme has stepped out of the room to make a phone call, to go find a phone to make a phone call. When she closes the room [SFX: door shutting], it's just you and Paz alone with the steady beeps and hums of hospital medicine equipment.

Bex: I finish sending those texts and I turn back to Paz and I say, 

Bex (Ibra): Well that was weird. 

Mischa (Paz): (Whispers) Yeah, dude, that was crazy. 

Bex (Ibra): What did she mean? 

[SFX: soft, melencholic piano music begins].

Mischa (Paz): So here's the thing about my mom. She's an elf. So she's been around for longer than, like, me or you or even my dad. So she remembers a lot of stuff from her life that like, we weren't really around for. Sometimes she does that. Sometimes she like, something will happen or like, I'll be in school and, like, tell her about my classes, and she'll just get like, really abnormally happy? Like, like, really huge grin on her face. And sometimes I'll come home and tell her about like, I don't know, some–something I saw in the streets, you know, somebody almost ran somebody over with a car, and she'll get just like really depressed. She, she kinda has some like oversized reactions to stuff sometimes, I guess. 

Bex (Ibra): She's got like that big empathy thing? 

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, maybe. And you know, I'm, I'm giving her a lot of leeway cause like, I'm her baby, and I am in the hospital again. So, I just, you know, she's gotta feel what she's feeling. (Sigh).

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, but like, “sorry this is coming back around again,” seems like. I…

Mischa (Paz): Listen, there's chronic illness stuff, and then there's getting attacked by like, a crazy jellyfish electricity monster. I don't know. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I, (sigh) honestly she could mean anything, I just, I'm sorry that you're back here right now. 

Mischa (Paz): Hmm, thanks. Hey, can I ask you one extra thing? Always. 

Bex (Ibra): Always. 

[SFX: music transitions to bright, suspenseful, building hums]

Mischa (Paz): It attacked you too, right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. 

Mischa (Paz): When it did that, did you, like, see anything? 

Bex (Ibra): What did you see? 

Mischa (Paz): I don't know. It was like a. It was like remembering a dream a little bit, but there were like tall white columns. Everything was kind of bright. It was like, but not like from the engines beating down from the upper city. It was like, just bright everywhere. Just like… shiny? Is that anything? 

Bex (Ibra): Like a pretty star with a ring around it? 

Mischa (Paz): No, no, just like… I don't know. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was a dream. 

Bex (Ibra): No, no, no, no. It's, don't, don't sell yourself short. I like listening to what you have to say. 

Mischa: Roll Persuasion.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: Yeah. This scene is adorable and terrifying. 

Lyn I know.

Mayanna: I know!

Bex: 7. 

Ian: Yikes. 

Mischa: Yeah, with a 7, I think she just goes, 

Mischa (Paz): No, I-I, it was probably just some like, I don't know, cross wire in a brain, like a, I don't know, like a seizure or something? It was electricity, and our brains are made of that, so. I, I don't know. 

Bex (Ibra): It was electric jelly attacking your electric jelly. 

Ian: (Exasperated) Oh, my god.

Bex (Ibra): No? Okay. 

Mischa (Paz): (Singsongy chanting) Jelly party, jelly party.

Bex (Ibra): (Joins in chant) Jelly party, jelly party. 

Mischa (Paz): Next time, jelly party, less painful for me. 

Bex: Next time, jelly party, let's go less electricity. 

Mischa (Paz): Sounds good. Just jelly. 

Mischa (Paz): Just jelly. Ooh! We can do like multiple flavors–

Bex: And I'm gonna start crawling in like around the wires and starting to cuddle I'm like, 

Bex (Ibra): We could do all different types and we can make our own jelly. 

Mischa: And as you guys plan this jelly party, we sort of move out of the hospital room and fade out.

[SFX: Midroll theme music begins].

Mischa: Hey there. It's Mischa. This is the rest stop. Come take a break beside the path with me, just until we catch our breath. Oh baby, we are rolling! It is so exciting to finally see what y'all think of this show! We've been working on this for so long, passing it to just our friends, whispering, waiting. But seeing it finally out in the world, and hearing the reaction to our first batch of episodes has brought us such immense joy!

Mischa: Thank you so much for being here! Please keep telling us what you think, shout us out on social media, or drop us a line through the contact form at our website, wanderingpathpod.com. Thoughts, theories, questions, early ship pairings, we want to hear from you. And if you especially want to get our attention, you can sign up with us at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. You can get ad free episodes, blooper reels, behind the scenes art assets, and whatever else we can possibly think of. But more importantly, you'll be helping us keep this show going for as long as possible. We're all independent creators trying to make our way in the world, doing what we love, and trying to keep a roof over our heads. And we really do need your help to make that happen. If you're in a position to help us, and you want to bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, it would really mean a lot to us. One more time, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. Okay, that's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[SFX: Midroll theme plays then fades out].

Mischa: So, Gordon. 

Ian: Hello. 

Mischa: With Fran in tow, it's gonna be the busiest day of your young baker life. 

Ian: But I really am so glad that I texted her because a lot of these places are like, you know, you get to a block and you have that building and that building– 

Mischa: Yes.

Ian: And that building. So now we can park and split. 

Mischa: Absolutely.

Mayanna: Nice. I love it.

Mischa: I would love to play a little minigame with you. 

Ian: Oh, snap. Really? 

Bex: Woo!

[SFX: upbeat, lighthearted music begins].

Mischa: Yeah, this minigame is titled Gordon's Deliveries. 

Mayanna: Yay! 

Ian: Gordon's Delivery Service? 

Mischa: Yeah. (Chuckles).

Mayanna: Gordon's Delivery Service. 

Mischa: Exactly. 

Mayanna: Press start. 

Mischa: So, basically, I, I would just–I just want you to tell me about one of the deliveries you have to make today.

Ian: Oh my god, this is so good. 

Mischa: So yeah, so you and, and Mayanna, Fran–

Mayanna: Here I am!

Mischa: –please feel free to jump in.

Mayanna: Yeah! 

Mischa: You have so many deliveries today. Tell me about one of your deliveries. 

Ian: Well, actually, honestly, I was thinking about the hospital when they were talking about the food earlier. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: Because we probably bring a bunch of bread to the hospital.

Mischa: Sure. 

Mayanna: Oh, yeah. 

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: But maybe it's not their hospital. Maybe it's not where they were. 

Mayanna: Une hospital. 

Mischa: Yeah, I mean, there's got to be more than one hospital in the city, right? 

Ian: Right.

Bex: Yeah Paz’s been to all of them. 

Mischa: (Chuckles) Yeah, fair. Yeah, which hospital do you visit? 

Ian: Okay, I'm going to say we visit– Oh, oh, wait, oh, but it's all heart, right? We call them hearts and stuff like that? 

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Yes.

Bex: Heart pavilions. 

Ian: Heart pavilions. Okay, so it would be the Emerald Heart Pavilion. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: (Satisfied hum) Building story, doing things. 

Mayanna: I love it. 

Lyn: What if every hospital is named after a thing that was mined? 

[Excited sounds].

Mayanna: Groovy.

Ian: Holy shit, that's amazing. And it's a, it's like a small to small medium hospital. It's not a huge thing. It's a smaller facility. Like an outpatient facility. 

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: But it still has a little kitchen. So we deliver them, I wanna say, four flats of various hot buns. 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Sure. Every scene that we create is going to have an NPC who is expecting Cecilia and gets you. 

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Ian: Oh, god. 

Bex: (Giggles)

Ian: Okay, great. Got it. Got it. The guy who runs their commissary, I think has a crush on Cecilia.

Mayanna: Ah.

Mischa: Excellent. Yeah, let's start strong. 

Bex: As she should. 

Mischa: As everyone should. 

Lyn As everyone should. 

Ian: All of everyone. Yes. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

[SFX: motor of tuktuk speeds by].

Ian: So, I think we get there, and maybe there's, it's a bigger building, so we go in together. 

Mayanna: Yes. Sure. 

Ian: Me and Fran. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: And when me and Fran are walking up to like, the back dock where we can drop the stuff off, that guy's already there. Like, he's always waiting. 

[SFX: Music ends. Soundscape begins. Exterior on the street outside the hospital. Ambient sounds of cars, bikes, and pedestrians go by].

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian:On the stroke of whatever time. 

Mischa: Yeah, the guy who runs the commissary here, the commissary manager, he's a middle aged capra, mid thirties. He's got long, splitting antlers, and broad shoulders, and like a dark brown top coat of fur with like a white underneath his snout and his chin.

Ian: Very well groomed. 

Mischa: Yeah. And he's there with his hands on his hips, waiting at the loading dock, and sees you pull up, and gives a big wave, but the moment you step out, his face like, darkens like a storm cloud moving in. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mischa: He's like, 

Mischa (Head of Commissary): Oh (flustered grumble). Uh. Hi. 

Ian: Hey! 

Mischa (Head of Commissary): Thanks, you’re the bread-bre- bread delivery? 

Ian: Yeah, I'm Cecilia’s–

Mayanna (Fran): (Cheerful) Bread delivery!

Ian (Gordon): Fran. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Sheepish) Sorry. 

Ian (Gordon): My route. 

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry. 

Ian (Gordon): Helping me. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. 

Mischa: That's big Cecilia energy! Woah! 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: And I look at you for a second and I see like a spectre of Cecilia. 

Ian: Behind me? And then I, and then my eyes twinkle. 

Mischa: And he goes like, 

Mischa (Head of Commissary): Is your, um, Cecilia's, uh, not coming in today?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, she's out for the week. I'm so sorry. We're a couple minutes late, but we just wanted to drop you off your bread and thank you again for patronizing the Baker's Guild. 

Mischa (Head of Commissary): Sure. 

Ian (Gordon): (Murmurs) not that you have a choice. 

Mischa: Come on in. 

[Laughter].

Ian: And that's a point for me! 

Mischa: Yeah, that’s definitely a point.  I’d already moved on to the next thing– 

Mayanna: “Not that you have a choice!”

Mischa: I was already moving to the next thing, and then like, I was like, wait a minute. That was too funny. 

[Laughter].

Ian: (Afar) A party point on the board and I've lost my pen, so I can't even get it down. (Normal) Oh, I got it. Okay good.

Mayanna: Nice. Nice.

Ian: Okay. So I say that, and we head in. Also, I want to say, I might be wrong. You can nix me on this, but I want to say that maybe there's a romantic holiday that's like coming up. So maybe even he got her like, not like a dating gift, but just something, a little memento– 

Mayanna: A card or something.

Ian: And maybe it's in his hand. 

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn Like a lollipop with a card

Ian: Right.

Lyn –in it like Valentine’s day.

Ian: And then he's like hiding it behind his back as we walk up. 

Mischa: Sure. Let's make a holiday. This is fun. 

Ian: Yes.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: We're never done world building here on the show about building a world. What season does this holiday take place in Mayanna? 

Mayanna: Ooh, spring. Sorry, I'm basic.

Mischa: That's okay. Um, Lyn, what stage of romance is this holiday celebrating? 

Lyn: Oh, this is entirely like, crush reveal. 

Mayanna: Aw.

Ian: Oh.

Lyn Like, it's, it's not, it's not cuffing season. 

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn It's not like, oh, there's like things happening. It's like, it's the reveal.

Mayanna: It's the “I like you” day. 

Lyn It's the I– it's “I like you” day. 

Mischa: Yeah. Bex, ,what is a traditional gift given on this holiday? 

Bex: Since it's all about crushes, um, it's those jawbreaker candies. [Laughter]. Um, but they're, you're supposed to suck them down enough so that you can chew them and crush them. 

Mayanna: Aww. 

Mischa: Okay, so– 

Ian: So nougaty center. Or a soft nougaty center.

Bex: There's something it's, it's like, you know, the Tootsie Pop center with the Tootsie Roll but– 

Mischa: Yeah, it's hard candies with surprises in the center. 

Bex: Yes!

Mayanna: Aw!

Lyn Like a Wonder Ball!

Mayanna: Yeah, it's a Wonder Ball. 

Mischa: I wonder if you like me.

[Adorable cheers].

Mischa: It's Wonder Day. 

Mayanna: Wonder Day!

Ian: So, we see that I see it, and we all know Wonder Day is coming up.

Mischa: Yes.

[SFX: soundscape shifts to echoey hospital hallway].

Ian: So as we're walking in and he's already flustered, over my head completely, and I'm like, 

Ian (Gordon): Oh, Gregor, who you got a crush on? Someone in the facility? Eh?

Mischa: Yeah. 

And I'm like, giving him a little elbows. 

Mischa: Um, roll Persuasion. 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: Oh, you said Persuasion? 

Mischa: Yes. 

Ian: 15. 

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: 15, yeah. He goes, 

Mischa (Gregor, Head of Commissary): (Flustered stammering) Oh, you know, Cecilia just works really–This isn't, it's not for the– for the thing it coming up. This is a separate–

Mischa: It's so clearly wrapped, like a candy wrapped in a nice box with like a ribbon. 

Mischa (Gregor): (Extremely unconvincingly) Oh, this is this is for something else. It's just like an appreciation… 

Mischa: And he like, tries to like, shuffle it, as he's covering for it, like shuffles it kind of behind his back and like reaches back for a refrigerator to like, chuck it into.

Ian: The minute he says Cecilia, Fran and I like, freeze and look at each other. 

Mayanna: Yeah, I was like, 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. My. Gosh. 

Ian: And then we both like, blush and we get like that huge Spongebob smile. 

Mischa (Gregor): Well, wha–do you guys like, do you know her? Do you like…

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, we know her. 

Ian (Gordon): Oh, we know Cecilia very well. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we know her. She's our, she's our friend. 

Mischa (Gregor): So, not for anything. This is a completely, uh, you know, very important. Oh. What's her deal like?

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): I’m dead.

Mayanna (Fran): Her deal. Like in what way? 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, Gregor? 

Mischa (Gregor): Just generally, like, her… Does she…hiking or?

Mayanna (Fran): Is she hiking? Nooo.

Ian (Gordon): Definitely not a hiker. 

Mischa (Gregor): So like.

Mayanna (Fran): She’s not hiking. 

Ian (Gordon): No, no, no, no, no. 

Mayanna (Fran): She is busy. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran):  And she's very like ambitious. 

Ian (Gordon): Work oriented. 

Mayanna (Fran): Work oriented.

Mischa (Gregor): Got it. Got it. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah

Ian (Gordon): I think she likes wine? Maybe? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, wine. 

Mischa: Gordon, I want you to roll History to see if that's true. 

Ian: Fuck yeah. 

[Cheers].

Mayanna:Ooh.

Ian: Oh yes, but my History stat is fucking absurd. 

Mayanna: Oh no!

Ian: Oh wow! I have a plus 6 history and I still only rolled a 9. 

Mayanna: Oh no! But that's still good. 

Lyn (JJ): Could be worse.

Ian: I'm gonna say that's a misfire on my part.

Mischa: I think you probably saw her drink a glass of wine once.

Ian: One time. 

[Laughter].

Ian: Wine time. 

Mayanna: What kind of wine was it? 

Mischa: Red?

Ian: Red It was red. It was a red wine colored wine. But, but, I've just told Gregor–

Mayanna and Ian (Gordon): That she loves wine. 

Mischa (Gregor): Cecilia loves– likes a glass of wine at the end of a long day. Yeah, of course. I love that. Maybe, hmm. Just, funny coincidence. Both of us liking a thing. 

[Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): I know. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Well, good luck with that one, Gregor. 

Mischa (Gregor): Sure, and you said she's back, uh.. are you my? You're my new? Delivery guy?

Mayanna (Fran): Next week, right? 

Ian (Gordon): No, I'm the permanent guy. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh! 

Ian (Gordon): No, I'm just messing with you, Gregor. I’m sorry. (Laughs).

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Gregor): (Awkwardly stilted laughs).

Mayanna (Fran): Ah, he’s kiddin! He's a kidder.

Mischa (Gregor): Such a– such a goof. Okay, next week though?

Ian: His teeth are gritted a little bit. He's like stomping the floor. 

Mischa: Yeah, he starts like, he starts like idly chewing like a little bit of cud in the back of his mouth. He's like, 

Mischa (Gregor): Okay. Hm.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, she's going to be back next week, right? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, next week. 

Ian (Gordon): In all seriousness. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Next week. 

Mayanna (Fran): Next week. 

Mischa (Gregor): Okay, cool. Great. Okay. And, um. Everything, oh, yeah.

Mischa: And he finally, like, inspects the flats of bread that you brought. Um, he's like, 

Mischa (Gregor): Oh, this looks good, smells good. 

Ian (Gordon): Four, four pallets of warm dinner rolls. 

Mischa (Gregor): Excellent.

Ian (Gordon): Hey, thank you for everything you do in keeping people safe. 

Mischa (Gregor): Well, you know, we'd much rather give them this stuff than, I don't know, like, brown cube.

Ian (Gordon): (Incensed) Don’t even talk about brown cube.

Mayanna (Fran): Ugh, god, I hate brown cube. 

Ian (Gordon): Are you kidding me? Carb cube? 

Mayanna (Fran): The worst. 

Mischa (Gregor): Ugh. The starches, it just, it gets caught up in my palate. I've been tasting it for days. 

Ian: We all stand there for a minute just like, in disgust, thinking about brown cube. 

Mayanna (Fran): Ugh! Ugh! 

Ian (Gordon): Okay, well, nice meeting you, and see you never! 

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. 

[Laughter].

Ian: No, I don't feel that, that's crazy.

Mayanna (Fran): See you tomorrow! 

Ian (Gordon): See you tomorrow! 

Ian: Oh yeah, cause, oh wait, do we do, is it a daily delivery route? 

Mischa: Yeah, I mean, probably. 

Mayanna: Every morning.

Ian: So we’re gonna see him later–

Mayanna: Every day.

Mischa: It’s a daily appointment, or, you know, five days a week at least.

Ian: Yeah. Great. So I'm like, 

Ian (Gordon): Well yeah, so see you tomorrow. Can't wait to get to know you a little bit more. Gregor. Alright.

Mischa (Gregor): Great.

Ian: Shake his hoof.

Mischa: Yeah. He has hands. I wanna be clear, capras have hands.

Lyn: I am anticipating that every new NPC you come up with now has for Cecilia. So there's gonna be a week long of like just seeing–

Mayanna: “Oh, you again.”

Lyn –how beloved Cecilia is.

Mischa: No, no. I think. Unfortunately, this is the first time we're playing this game. I think now we have to take it as a given that everyone has a crush on Cecilia. Not all of the scenes can be about how everyone loves Cecilia. 

Mayanna: That’s fine. 

Lyn I know, it's just want the bit of every single person hiding a box.

Mayanna: It’s like “ (Excited) Oh. (Disappointed) Oh.”

Ian: So we drop off the stuff. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: We get back in the tuk tuk. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Mischa: Sure. And you're on your way. 

Ian: And we (light sputtering raspberry, imitating a motor).

Mischa: Yep. Just like that. 

Mayanna: That's exactly what it sounds like. 

Bex: That was such a soft puff.

Mischa: Sorry. Yeah. Sorry. Can you run that one again? 

Ian: Yeah, one more time. So we get in the tuk tuk and we're on our way. (light sputtering raspberry, imitating a motor, with a little warbling puff in the middle). 

Bex: Oh, it had a little toot in there. 

Ian: Yeah. There we go. It was a little clunky at the end. 

Mayanna: It’s so soft. I love it. 

Ian: Tuk tuk's small. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Little guy. 

Ian: Okay. So something's been tugging at me. 

Mischa: Okay. 

[SFX: suspenseful, rhythmic music begins].

Ian: Um, we all fought a wraith yesterday. Like, what– how do we feel the day after that extraordinarily strange, unsettling thing happened? 

Mayanna: I wonder if like, as we were driving to the next thing, maybe it occurs to both of us that we should probably talk about it? 

[SFX: soundscape begins behind suspenseful music, motor of the tuk tuk rumbling in the background].

Mayanna (Fran): We should probably talk about it, right? 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. What was with that Ravona woman? 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, god. Well, yes. I, I mean, are you, do you have any feelings about the fight we had? Before we get into that? Because I do have thoughts on that as well. 

Ian (Gordon): This is horrifying. There-there– Okay, we're not talking about it. There was a spectre.

Mayanna (Fran): Right.

Ian (Gordon): In town. Have you ever fought a spectre before? 

Mayanna (Fran): I've never, no. No!

I've never fought a spectre before.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course not. (Sigh).

Ian (Gordon): But, we're walking– oh god.

Mayanna (Fran): I know, we're walking around holding bread like, (mocking, stressed noise that sound) like. 

Ian (Gordon): Like everything's fine. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. 

Ian: Emotionally, like I light a cigarette even though I don't smoke. You know, like, let's just take a second. 

Mayanna: Do you have a stale muffin? Do you have a stale muffin to chew on?

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I pull out a muffin, that's what it is. I pull out a stale muffin out of the bag and I'm chewing on it. And then I turn to Fran and I go, 

Ian (Gordon): This is scary, right? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah. It's very scary. And, I don't know, it's– it seems like something that even the people who should know about it don't know anything. It's very weird. The Ravona lady, I don't know, like she seemed like, I don't know, unsure of what to do? Which, for my government officials, I'm not super engaged in politics. But, I would like them to at least have a sense of the threats to my daily life. That doesn't seem like a high bar to hit, right?

Ian (Gordon): I agree.

Ian: And I don't, I don't say this, but like, it sort of has the weird feeling of when something really earth shattering happens in your society and culture, but no one's dealing with it. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: So it feel, that, you know what I, you know what I do say is, 

Ian (Gordon): It feels like something really big is coming. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah, it does. And like, we had that weird dream. 

Ian (Gordon): Right! I didn't even think about the dream! 

Mayanna (Fran): Like, and then a frickin creature shows up in our lives. And ruins a very nice, intimate friend birthday party. And, yeah, we're just supposed to, we're just supposed to go on, like, everything's just regular and normal? 

Ian: My heart's like beating more. Like, the more we talk about it, the more stressed out I'm getting. So we can't like, we can't stop the route, because we're halfway through, but I'm really starting to get anxious about it, and I, and I either, I turn to you, I look at you, and then I text the group, I say, 

Ian (Gordon): (staticky filter overlay) We have to go talk to someone. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I agree.

[SFX: suspenseful music fades out].

Ian: And I really want to go talk to Ravona. 

Mayanna: I would, I, that would be great. I mean, do we even know how to get in contact? She gave us a business card, right?

Mischa: Yeah she did.

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, I don't know. Do you think she would tell us any, any more? 

Ian (Gordon): She has to. 

Mayanna (Fran): I hope you're, I hope you're right. I'm– I love the confidence. I'll go with you.

Ian (Gordon): Great. 

Ian: And I take a couple other gnaws on my muffin. 

Lyn: In response to the text. I'm also going to say like, 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Going to talk to Gwen. We'll also follow up. 

Mayanna (Fran): Awesome. 

[SFX: soundscape ends].

Mischa: JJ. You probably had something on your calendar before last night's combat.

Lyn Yes.

Mischa: Last night's thrilling something. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mischa: What was it? 

Lyn I think today I probably had, like, an engineering class–

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn –that I actually can't avoid.

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn Um, or something where I'm just like, 

Lyn (JJ): I shouldn't, but if I say that I'm going to (pensive hum), I could go maybe to the library and do the work for that class. 

Mischa: So you're like, how are you feeling? Like you're, you're someone with such a strict minute by minute schedule and like, you're ready to just throw it out the window and do your own thing today?

Lyn: It's like, um, I only rolled a 4 for a sweep our emotions earlier. [Laughter]. So, um, but is like desperately attempting to. Or… 

Mischa: I would like you to roll a Charisma save. 

Mayanna: Oh, no. 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn 5. 

Mischa: Okay. So that was a save for whatever class you are blowing off. What are you actually doing this morning? 

Lyn I think I'm going to go to the library? Research?

Mischa: Great. So I think if you're expected at shop hours, um, with a 5 charisma save, um, I think the instructor is going to know. “Ugh, JJ always, always, always, always blowing off class to go work on alternate projects, head in the clouds, you know, needs to buckle down and really get to work if they want to go far in this field.”

Lyn: (Nervous fake laugh) It's not like that's on purpose or anything. 

Mischa: But the teachers are going to know it. The students are going to know it. I think it's, it's, you know, with a 5, like, word spreading a little bit in your program. 

Lyn: Yeah. I'm also so nervous that I can't hide it. 

Mischa: Yeah, for sure. 

Lyn It's not subtle. (Laughs).

Mischa: It’s not subtle. So what's the text you send to the instructor for not showing up then?

Mayanna: Oh god.

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Hey Professor Ewan.

Lyn It's only because he said Gregor earlier and now I'm thinking of Ewan McGregor. 

Ian: So hot.

Bex (Ibra): Oh no.

Ian: So hot. 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) I’m going to do some independent study at the library to learn more about infrastructural engineering.

Lyn (JJ): Not a lie. 

Mayanna: Wrote, “not a lie” in parentheses. 

[Laughter].

Lyn No, in my head I go, “not a lie.” 

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) If there's any assignments that are due next week for lecture, let me know. Thank you. 

Mischa: I think it's– he just texts back, 

Mischa(Professor Ewan): (Staticky filter overlay) Remember your hourly quotas for the semester.

Lyn (JJ): (Soft groan). It's fine, I have time, I have time in the day, I have time. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't wake up not in my room and have– it's fine. I can do it.

Ian: Yikes. 

Mischa: Thank goodness this isn't like a text to speech program. 

Mayanna: Oh seriously.

Lyn Exactly.

Bex: I wish it was.

Lyn: It's fine. I'm like, power walking through campus while texting too.

Mayanna: Aw.

Mischa: Yeah sure.

Lyn I run into a trash can. [SFX: loud metal thud].

Ian: That's what I was doing. 

Lyn Yeah. I-I apologize to it.

Lyn (JJ): I– Sorry. Oh, that's a trash can. Um, sorry! Anyway!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Great. So you head to the library. Which library do you want to go to? 

[SFX: rhythmic, buoyant, plucky synth music begins].

Mischa: So in the Come Up, there are a plethora of different guild libraries scattered throughout the district. There's the Technology Institute, the Academy of Arcana, which features magic and history and philosophy a little bit. There's the Medica, which is a big medical library. There's the Architects Guild, which holds a lot of, presumably, like, infrastructure, probably a lot of your like, structural engineering reference materials would be there. And the School of Rhetoric maintains their own sort of like humanities library. 

Lyn: Yeah, I think the two interests that I think that JJ would be– find worth pursuing are looking for what I think would probably be in the Arcana one, which would be history and magic to learn about supernatural appearances. 

Mischa: Mm-hmm.

Lyn Or the Medica library to see things about amnesia, because did not like what happened with Samira earlier today.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Ooh yeah. Great. Which one of those do you want to go to? First, I guess. 

Lyn First. 

Mischa: I mean, you know, they exist until, (mischievously) until I blow them up them later. (Faux evil chuckle).

Lyn: I think, okay, I think I'll first do the Arcana library.

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn I'll do that and then it'll probably be the sense of, like, gnawing, something was not right this morning, it's making me really uncomfortable, and I can't ignore it, then I'll probably end up checking out medical later.

Mischa: Sure, for sure. You head through the Come-Up over to the Academy of Arcana. 

Ian: The Arcademy for short. 

Mayanna: Oh yeah. 

Mischa: Hmm. I don't know. 

Ian: DM hates it. DM hates it. 

Mischa: Thumb out to the side, shaky a little bit…

Ian: Aaaand?

Mischa: Mild thumb up! 

Ian: Oh! 

Mayanna: Hey! 

Lyn It can be shortened to like the Arc also. 

Ian: Ooh. 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: I like that. 

Ian: There it is. 

Mischa: I legitimately like that. 

Lyn Yay!

Mischa: I’m sorry, Ian, but I legitimately like that.

Ian: Thats the winner!

Mischa: The Academy of Arcana is the school devoted to recording history, philosophy, ethics with the teachers what the teaches call Thought Design, training you to take in the historical context and implement it in new and unique ways, which is why this is also the main school for spell designers, mapping out the arcane mathematics of brand new spells and uses for Astra.

Mayanna: (Whispering) Oh, that’s so sick.

Mischa: That freedom of mind is encapsulated in this enormous library. It's a huge building with floating crystal edifices, grand bookshelves with swooping curling designs lining every wall, made to look even larger and more impressive by illusory magics. Illusory Terrain, Stone Shape, you're not exactly sure which spells are doing what, but one thing's for sure, magic flows freely here. The building's design is whimsical and inspiring, but also, to the outsider's eye, super imposing. 

Lyn Like floating crystal spire things to light up the stacks, situation? 

Mischa: Larger than life, maybe like, tricks with forced perspective that as you approach it like, it seems even larger. 

Lyn Like at Disney World. 

Mischa: Like, just like at Disney World. If Disney World was a…

Lyn Huge library?

Mischa: Well, I was gonna say–I was gonna say if Disney was in the business of paying people to make new magic, but that is what they purport to do. 

Mayanna: Ooh that’s…

Lyn Wow.

Mischa: So yeah, I guess I was trapped by my own sentence structure on that one.

Ian: Shot across the bow. 

Mischa: Yep. Their library, for visitors? Honestly, probably only restricted section. I think you probably need to be a student of the Academy of Arcana to really access the full breadth of the materials they keep here, especially the stuff about magical research. 

Lyn Hm.

Mischa: Um, but history stuff, philosophy stuff, you know, essays written inbound. 

Lyn: I think in this case I'm looking like history of magic like, or history of magical phenomenon.

Mischa: Sure, what are you looking for? 

Lyn Um, I am looking for essays in history on like the domestication of Astra to some degree of like, how did the grid come to be? And like the magical equivalent of like, how do solar flares impact like, radio waves? Like I'm trying to find like, like wild magical occurrence plus electricity in this case.

Mischa: Sure. Okay, I love it. 

Ian: Do you know that moment when someone says something and you instantly understand how much smarter they are than you? 

Bex: Yeah, I had that feeling with Lyn a lot. 

Ian: I just had that moment. 

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Lyn, go ahead and roll investigation for me. 

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 17 plus investigation? Um, plus five. So 22. 

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Whoa! Big money!

Ian: Matches the vibe.

[SFX: low, reflective, somber music begins].

Mischa: Yeah, I think you can get access to news articles about when they were building the grid out from Minetown. 50 years ago, you know, it's not the technical documents, but it's like journalists trying to put that in layman's terms for the people. It's a lot of like, 

Mischa (Journalist): (Staticky filter overlay) (Mid-Atlantic accet) Whiz bang, look at this brand new technology. 

Lyn Sick, love that.

Mischa: Like big like, World's Fair energy. But essentially it is a technology that grew out of Shield spells that were inscribed into the fortress during the war. They were building magical protections for their fortress so that they could keep the Balvarox, these roving beasts that were rampaging across the entire world, at bay. And once– you know, that was in their desperation what they needed to get up and running, but the ability to control spells from a remote location and send them through conduits to affect a different part of space was the technology that sort of, you know, once the war was over, and the city was expanding, kind of led them to create an electrical grid. Basically, like, the way electrical generation works here is, you send a little bit of, um… 

Lyn Intention? 

Mischa: Intention, yeah. Will. Thought into these crystals and it generates a spark. And the purer a piece of Astra is, the more focused and intention can be. Your Guiding Bolts. But if you get an impure piece of Astra, one that's sort of frosted dull oddly shaped, still useful, still can generate, you know, electrical power. And so they do. So at one time, it sort of used technology from the war to improve peacetime and found a way to use what was previously discarded resources. So it was a big–

Lyn Like recycling?

Mischa: Yeah, or not recycling, but like, look at this use we found for shale after you frack it, you know? 

Ian: Shout across the bow again.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Don't do fracking maybe!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: If you think about it. 

Mischa: Hot take on the Wandering Path podcast. Fracking? Bad. 

Lyn You heard it hear first, RuPaul!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: The people versus RuPaul. 

Mischa: Oh my god. 

Lyn That's a party point for Lyn.

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Yeah, so what you're getting from the news articles that you're seeing in this library is like, look at this way we're continuously using the world to improve people's lives using what we've learned. We're going to build the best society the world has ever seen. 

Lyn (JJ): Very optimistic, considering that we just got attacked through it. 

Lyn Um, okay. Well, if it was around 50 years ago and it came from the Pit.

[various deepened voices saying “It Came From The Pit.”].

Lyn: Kind of like upon seeing like, oh, duh, obviously electricity generation, if it's about the grid, it all like goes back to mining and the Pit. It was around 50 years ago that they started introduc– like expanding the grid. My parents probably–

Mischa: Yes. 

Lyn –were around to see that. 

Mischa: Yes. 

Lyn And maybe– that was probably what they were studying. 

Mischa: Right. So your– So remind me, JJ, your parents were around during the Balverox War. Where– They're half dwarves. They have a lifespan long enough where they were around. 

Lyn Yeah. They were like teenagers or something during that.

Mischa: Okay. 

Lyn Yeah. Based on the timeline you just said, it probably would have been new enough that they eventually did work on the grid in its expansion. 

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn But they weren't, like, the inventors of the grid. 

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn Otherwise, we'd live in a much better house. (Chuckles). That's how they were able to get out of Minetown, probably.

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn Was that they… It was like, that was their elevator out. 

Mischa: It was a big, it was a big infrastructural effort. This city probably, if they were trying to build a city, they probably had incentives, and that's how they were able to afford to get out of Minetown. 

Lyn Yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah. But JJ, you got a 22 and this, this doesn't feel like enough of a reward. What else do you want to know? 

[Laughter].

Lyn: Now I just look up to see if my dads are mentioned in any papers. 

Mayanna: That is so funny. 

Bex: So good.

Mischa: Ooh. I want you to roll history. It's going to be a pretty high DC, I think, for them to appear in a paper in this library. 

Lyn I dunno. [Dice rolls].12 plus five. 17. 

Mischa: I don't think with a 17 that’ll do it. 

Lyn No. Oh that’s okay.

Ian: Damn.

Mischa: I think, I think it's a lot of. Again, if you're looking for news articles about the–the first time they built the grid out, um, it's a lot of like, 

Mischa (Journalist): (Staticky filter overlay) (Mid-Atlantic accet) Look how the population of New Prosper is coming together for a better tomorrow!

Lyn: Yeah, they'd be more likely to be listed in like, an essay or a research paper that's in the restricted section as opposed to mentioned in a news article. Yeah, I think that, you know, I look for any mentions of my dads, like seeing, like looking through the pictures of the things of like,

Lyn (JJ): Are they in the background of this news–? No. Oh, it's so grainy. Ew. Is that–? No probably not them.

Mischa: You know what else I'll give you with a 22? Here's what I'll give you with a 22. What you're getting is news articles about when it was first built. And so there's not a ton of like technical documentation here, but you with a 22, you also notice what isn't here, which is to inlay infrastructure into a landscape is not without physical risk. A lot of these newspapers are propaganda, like, look how we've pulled together, but there's no mention of, like, and there were two people injured on the job today. So– 

Lyn: Or even, like, delays in… 

Mischa: Right, or, or even mysterious things that might be people misremembering a wraith attack. 

[Various hums of understanding and intrigue].

Lyn Yeah. 

Mischa: Um, with the 22, I think that probably occurs too.

Lyn: I noticed the  absence of something. 

Mischa: Yes

Lyn Okay.

Mayanna: Weird. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I'll probably talk to my dads later about it as a first for firsthand accounts. Um, but oh shit. What time is it? I do need to go to work. Gwen needs to talk. Oh shit. 

Lyn I'm messaging them like, 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Going to talk to Gwen. Any questions for her? 

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) On my way.

Lyn: (Staticky filter overlay) Oh, okay. 

Ian: Feel free to cut this. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: But then I text, um, “Our route ends at the coffee shop outside of Gwen's office.”

S: (Giggles) No. 

Ian: Dammit! 

Bex: Ah!

Ian: I tried!

Mischa: Good attempt, no. 

Ian: Thank you. 

Lyn That'd be funny. 

Mischa: Um, so Ibra, you're on your way to Gwen's. 

[SFX: down trodden, thoughtful rhythmic music begins].

Bex: Yeah, it's– Paz has gone back to Nappyville, and it is not time to go back to school at all.

Mischa: No?

Bex: No matter what, Ibra is, is not going back to school today. 

Mischa: Yeah. Are you also kinda ditching? 

Bex: I am. 

Mischa: Okay. Legit. 

Bex: I'm not supposed to, but I'm absolutely ditching. I feel kinda bad about it, but like, I'm-I'm doing great right now! I'm gonn–, and things are weird, and I'm handling them, so I'm gonna go handle them.

Mischa: Okay, I'm gonna roll to see how much you like the class you're missing today. 

Bex: Oh here we go.

Mischa: You don't like the class that you're missing. 

Bex: Oh, hell yeah. Easy!

Mischa: What is, what class is it? 

Bex: What don't I like? What don't I like? What do I want that's probably required for judgeship that my dad wants me to take? Fuck. 

Lyn: Contract law.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: Contract law. Definitely contract law. 

Mayanna: Ooh yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, there's too much to do. I don't want to go to contractual law.

Mischa: Yeah, sure. 

Bex: And so when they get the text from the gang being like, hey, things aren't okay. They're like, I'm feeling the same thing. And then JJ's like, I'm going to go talk to Gwen. They literally text, 

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) O. M. W. T. JJ.

Bex: “On my way to JJ.”

Mischa: Ibra’s the kind of texter that like is really into text acronyms and will make up new ones for new phrases without telling their friends what they mean yet. 

Bex: Yep. I love playing characters that communicate written in a very bad way. [Laughter]. Yeah, I think the entire trip to Gwen's is just a lot of numbness and not good emotions for trying to ride a bicycle through traffic.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, fair. 

Bex: I think I take extra time. I think I might get there the same time JJ does because I'm just–I'm going so slow. 

Mischa: Yeah, sure. So yeah, so maybe you guys like meet up outside the front door of the building. 

[SFX: music ends.]

[SFX: soundscape begins, exterior of the magistrates office on campus in the Come-Up. Light sounds of the streets, pedestrians walking by].

Lyn (JJ): Hey, how's Paz? 

Bex (Ibra): Oh, uh, good. Sleeping, yeah, good, good sleeping, a good sleep, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, she's okay? 

Bex (Ibra): No.

Lyn (JJ): (Worried) Oh.

Bex (Ibra): But, um, she's gonna be? I–I don't know, she's, medically she's cleared, but, I (sigh) you know? 

Lyn: I give Ibra a hug. 

Bex (Ibra): Thanks. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, um, I'm glad that physically Paz is okay. 

Bex (Ibra): Me too. 

Lyn (JJ): How are you? 

Bex (Ibra): I'm great. (Blows raspberry).

Lyn (JJ): (Sarcastically) Yeah, same. Super awesome. 

Bex (Ibra): Every day above ground is a good one.

Lyn (JJ): We're doing– we're doing so good (voice breaks). 

Bex (Ibra): Killing the game. 

Lyn I just start crying. 

[Laughter].

Bex: I give you a hug. I give JJ a big hug. 

Lyn (JJ): (Panicking) I, I've never shot not an object. Like, it's always been cans and bottles, but it was a living thing? Maybe? Maybe I killed some– we killed something? 

Mischa: You take your gun out and like look at it in your hands. 

Lyn: It's on, like, it safety's on everything. Like,

Lyn (JJ): I-I-I'm not suppo- (panicked crying) 

Bex (Ibra): You didn't know. 

Lyn (JJ): (Rapid deep breaths)

Bex (Ibra): No. It's okay.

Lyn (JJ): You did great. You're excellent. 

Bex (Ibra): So did you. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I-I shouldn't have done great. 

Bex (Ibra): But you did. 

Lyn (JJ): I shouldn't have. 

Bex (Ibra): But you did. 

Lyn (JJ): I don't know how to feel about that. I'm not like you, you know. I don't know what happened and I don't like it. I don't like not knowing things. There's a lot that I don't know, to be fair. That's why I'm here. 

Bex (Ibra): It's not nice to not know what your body's doing or why your body's doing it.

Lyn (JJ): (Deep sigh). 

[SFX: suspenseful, high pitched thrumming music begins].

Lyn (JJ): Samira didn't know what happened last night. 

Bex (Ibra): None of us know what happened. 

Lyn (JJ): No, no, no, no, no, no. She didn't remember that there was a fight. 

Bex (Ibra): But she was just there?

Lyn (JJ): She doesn't, she doesn't hide things, she doesn't– It was like she– It was blocked from her blocked. 

Bex (Ibra): Blocked.

Lyn (JJ): She doesn't do that. 

Bex (Ibra): Did the Ravona people– 

Lyn (JJ): I don't know.

Bex (Ibra): –do something. 

Lyn (JJ): I don't know. Like we all remembered that it happened. 

Bex (Ibra): Yes. 

Lyn (JJ): She remembered that it happened last night. She went to bed like “that was fucked up. That was a ghost.” And this morning she didn't even know that anything dangerous happened. Well, she knew that there was danger, but she couldn't say why it was dangerous. 

Bex (Ibra): That's so weird. 

Lyn (JJ): I don't… Did Paz? 

Bex (Ibra): Paz remembered. Paz, Paz remembered all of it and, and then some. Paz told me that she saw something extra in the attack. But she wouldn't go into it. I think it really rattled her. So I, I didn't want to push and, and. But she definitely remembered. And, and remembered even maybe more than we did. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh. 

Lyn: I think, like, in that moment, JJ really expected Paz not to remember. Like, you just see my face fall.

Bex (Ibra): I’m sure Samira's okay. I'm sure it's something weird and fluky. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, yeah, um, we should talk to Gwen. Gwen will know more. Gwen sounds like– it already sounds like she knows more. Maybe she knows–

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): –what's going on. Um, it's fine. 

Bex (Ibra): Have you heard from her? 

[SFX: music ends, soundscape resumes].

Lyn (JJ): Oh, she called you earlier. 

Bex (Ibra): Uh?

Lyn (JJ): Or your house. Well, your room. Your place. Your phone. 

Bex (Ibra): Right. 

Lyn (JJ): Or the. The… She called.

Bex (Ibra): I should clean up all that glass that Gordon left. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh yeah, we swept it under the rug.It's fine. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, that's where I usually sweep things. It makes more sense.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, we saw a lot under there. Honestly, at first we were like, we “shouldn't do this.” But then we were like, “oh, there's so much there. It's cool.” And then–

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): I mean, I don't know if you saw my–

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Putting a hat on a hat, you know? 

Bex (Ibra): I don't know if you saw, but my dustpan's kind of crappy.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, oh, Fran fixed it. 

Bex (Ibra): What? Okay, well, I will have to deal with this later, but that's so cool. 

Lyn (JJ): Fran honestly has been really killing it with cleaning supplies recently. 

Bex (Ibra): Dang.

Lyn (JJ): I think that. You know, obviously fashion is the big one, but like there, I think there's something there.

Bex (Ibra): There’s gotta be, Fran can do anything.

Lyn: You're so right. 

[SFX: soundscape ends].

Bex: We're like walking in the building at this point.

Lyn We have also swept it under the rug as this conversation is happening, 

Bex: We're really good at sweeping under the rug guys. 

Lyn This is why we're friends. 

Mischa: Um, you head into Gwen's office, and as soon as you walk through the. The main door of the department, her office door opens [SFX: door latch clicks and swings open], like the-like the moment you walk through the threshold. Her office door opens and she gestures you straight back. She asks you to close the door and have a seat. 

[SFX: door latches closed]. 

[SFX: suspenseful, mysterious music begins, swelling over time]

Mischa: And then she sits at her desk leaning forward, says, 

Mischa (Gwen): Thank you both for coming. I spoke to Inspector Ravonna last night. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, good. 

Mischa (Gwen): Late last night. Um, I was shocked that she knew you. I was concerned that she knew you, that she was calling about you. Nevertheless, I, I'm– providence that you are the two people that work for me and with me, Ravona called me and said that you both were involved in an incident last night for which she had tasked me to find a team to stop such incidents. I spoke to you both yesterday about something I couldn't talk very much about.

Lyn (JJ): Yes.

Mischa (Gwen): This was it. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Lyn (JJ): Oh. 

Mischa (Gwen): I find it hard to believe. Like it almost stretches credulity that you should find yourselves at the center of it when I tried to keep you as close to the edge of it as possible. 

Lyn (JJ): Yay? 

Bex (Ibra): Happy accidents? 

Mischa (Gwen): What happened? 

Mischa: Now, you don't have to tell me again, but do you tell her everything?

Lyn Yeah. 

Bex: Yeah. 

Lyn There's nothing–

Bex: The only thing held back is Paz's revelation of something in the attack. 

Mischa (Gwen): Now, you all remembered it this morning. When I called you, JJ, this morning, when I called you at Ibra's apartment, that was, that was right? 

Lyn (JJ): Yes, that, that was me. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): We all crashed at the same place. 

Mischa (Gwen): Sure.

Bex (Ibra): Slumber party. 

Mischa (Gwen): I don't need to know. 

[Laughter].

Mischa: She's constantly dealing with students in her office. [Laughter]. These are college kids, like she knows. 

Lyn: That was just so funny! 

Mischa: She says, 

Mischa (Gwen): Okay, when I called you, you seemed to have full memory of the incident. 

Lyn (JJ): Yes, um, but not everyone who was there. Um.

Mischa (Gwen): Yes. 

Lyn (JJ): Me, Ibra, Fran, Gordon, and Paz all have recollection. Samira doesn't. 

Mischa (Gwen): Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. 

Lyn (JJ): Um, I don't know about Cecilia. 

Bex (Ibra): I haven't asked. 

Lyn (JJ): That would be the only other people who would have been there. 

Mischa (Gwen): I'm going to start off here with an important piece of information that the two of you need to know going forward. When we talk about this next, I won't remember either.

Ian: (Whispering, horrified) What? 

Lyn (JJ): What does that, um? 

Mischa (Gwen): We're not sure. That's why I asked you to find candidates with a general skill set and knowledge base. For some reason, something is happening to this city, and only certain people can remember it. Which makes it hard for those of us who can't to try to solve it. 

Bex (Ibra): Do we have parameters for who remembers?

Mischa (Gwen): Not yet. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh. 

Mischa (Gwen): It seems as far as I've been able to investigate entirely random? 

Lyn (JJ): Archives, libraries, any, like– can-can records be kept of these occurrences? 

Mischa (Gwen): We've looked, um, it's hard for some of us to even remember what we're looking for as we're looking for it. How do you, how do you search for the absence of a needle in a haystack?

Lyn (JJ): You would have to know that there's a needle in there to begin with. 

Mischa (Gwen): Exactly. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

[SFX: music fades then transitions to more hopeful, pensive music]. 

Mischa (Gwen): Maybe. I hope, I pray, that you two will have better luck than I. Ravona's been in touch with you. You spoke to her. 

Lyn (JJ): Yes. Correct. 

Bex (Ibra): Once. Last night. 

Mischa (Gwen): How'd that go? 

Lyn (JJ): She was nice. We gave her pizza. 

Bex (Ibra): She liked the warmth. 

Lyn (JJ): But Ravona is in charge of this investigation, and she, does she recall?

Mischa (Gwen): Yes. That's why she's in charge of it. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh, okay. 

Lyn (JJ): So we should certainly keep in contact with her. How would you like future proceedings with you about this to…

Lyn I'm writing everything down, and I'm going to do it in paper and pencil. 

Mischa (Gwen): Tell me everything you can. I'll retain as much of it as I can. And when I don't remember, be gracious.

Lyn As a test, I will write everything down, what she says, I'm like, 

Lyn (JJ): For your proof for you later, so that you can be assured of that this memory, these events, this conversation should happen, will you sign here? 

Mischa (Gwen): Yes.

Mischa: And she signs a grand flourish of a signature. Gwenivere Concordis. It's like big and loopy. We pray this 

Mischa (Gwen): We've, I–I think maybe we've–we’ve had to have tried this before. I… See. Here it is again. I don't remember what happened. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Bex (Ibra): We should mark this page, file it somewhere so we can take a look at it. 

Lyn (JJ): I'm going to file this in four separate locations. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mischa: Whoa. 

Bex (Ibra): I like it. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna: Quadruplicate. 

Bex (Ibra): Get rid of as many variables as possible.  

Lyn (JJ): Physical, digital, the weird graphite paper copy. If we don't know how it affects memory, I'm worried that it might affect recordings in some way based on the research that I did this morning.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, what’d you find this morning?

Lyn (JJ): I didn't find anything. 

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

[SFX: music ends]

Mayanna: Hm.

Ian: How quickly is her memory of the thing fading? 

Mischa: Um, well, you're not there. 

Ian: I know. I'm just curious as in, in wondering.

Mischa: Maybe one day you'll find out.

Lyn Oh!

Mayanna: Devastation.

Ian: Drops mic. 

Mischa: She sort of takes a moment to herself. I think. 

[SFX: pensive music begins]. 

Mischa: I think, Ibra and JJ, this is probably the most rattled you've ever seen Gwen by a wide margin. The least rattled person in the world. And she has to take a moment and be like, 

Mischa (Gwen): Okay. Okay. Okay. So, you'll be in contact with Ravona. You obviously have remembered it for at least a day. That's good. Um, yes, very good. You let me know how I can assist you. 

Lyn (JJ): Let's write that down, just in case you don't remember telling us that. 

Mischa (Gwen): “I am relying on JJ and Ibra for assistance and aid.”

Mischa: And signs it. 

Bex (Ibra): When we were talking about, , when we were talking about this in the before times, when it was all theoretical,  it was a job placement, right?

Mischa (Gwen): Yes. The governor himself has set aside discretionary funds for those who can help do something about whatever it is. Did you say spectres? 

Lyn (JJ): Spectre, ghost, creature from some…

Bex (Ibra): Somewhere else?

Lyn (JJ): Extraplanar, extraterrestrial, I don't–?

Mischa (Gwen): Fascinating.

Lyn (JJ): It did not look like anything that I am aware of that exists in this material plane.

Mischa (Gwen): Fascinating. 

Bex (Ibra): I-I-I hate to return to the monetary aspect of this, very important job, but you tasked us with finding a group that had all these traits. Um, could I throw our hats in the ring for this placement? Um, I know that last night put one of us out of a job, and I think this would really help.

Mischa (Gwen): Ibra, you've got it. This is it.

Bex (Ibra): All of us?

Mischa (Gwen): Yeah, there's four of you, and you defeated one of these things last night between the four of you? 

Lyn (JJ): We did, yes. 

Mischa (Gwen): You didn't even know it was coming, I couldn't tell you. You already did it? You're hired. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Bex: I text Fran. 

Bex (Ibra): You have a job. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Whaaaaaaat, oh my god! 

Mayanna: And I send a little, like, squiggly dancing dude.

Mischa (Gwen): And here's your first assignment. I stopped by the site of the bridge collapse yesterday after I spoke to you. There were mysterious signs, things that couldn't be explained except by malice, and we're following those leads as well. Somebody causing some havoc, casting some spells. We're tracking down all possible mundane and mundanely magical leads. But I couldn't tell you for certain that this isn't being caused by what you're currently investigating. Would you do me a favor as your first assignment and go and check that out?

Lyn (JJ): Of course. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): We're on it, boss. 

Mischa (Gwen): Great. 

[SFX: transitions to more hopeful, yet still apprehensive].

Lyn (JJ): If we're working on this a lot, I might not be able to meet my quotas for engineering classes.

Bex (Ibra): And I don't think that contractual law class will work for any of my investigation time. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, and access to other guilds libraries would be probably really helpful. 

Bex (Ibra): And site access as well. 

Mischa (Gwen): That might be a little harder. I will do what I can for you, but without being able to explain why you're doing what you're doing, for fear that the person you're trying to get permission from for a certain task might not remember it ten minutes later, I will do what I can for you. I'm here. I'm on call for this. This is an assignment task to me directly from the heads of state and the leaders of this city. And I have not failed them yet, and I don't intend to fail them now. I'm so grateful that two people I trust are already on the case. 

Bex: We blush. 

Mayanna: Aww.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. We don't take this lightly.

Mischa (Gwen): Get to it. 

Lyn (JJ): Yes, ma'am. 

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering, stressed) This is heavy. 

Lyn On the way out, I just like clutch Ibra's hand like in a death grip. 

Bex: We're just holding hands on the way out. It's really cute, but also like, we're so anxious. 

Lyn Our forearm like, veins are completely popping out. 

Bex: We're just anxious babies at our cores. 

Lyn: As we leave, we will also text Electric Jelly chat.

Ian: Jesus. 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Talked to Gwen. There's a lot of stuff going on. We need to meet up and also talk to Inspector Ravona. Also we all have a job. Yay! 

Mayanna (Fran): Yay! 

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter overlay) Or more job! Yay! 

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Yay! 

Bex (Ibra): (Staticky filter overlay) Paid position! Yay! 

Mayanna (Fran): (Staticky filter overlay) Woo!

Ian: Gordon, how do you feel about more jobs? 

Ian: I don't know! I have a route! I was thinking about that while they were talking about it. Am I gonna go to the bridge with them or am I gonna be delivering bread? I have to decide. 

Mischa: Yeah, you do. 

Ian: Fuck me. I'm not gonna decide right now.

Mischa: Okay. I guess you'll keep me and all of our listeners in suspense. 

Ian: Let's table that discussion for until tomorrow. 

Bex (Ibra): Two weeks to think about this.

Ian: Yeah.

[Theme music fades in].

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton. And produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafil, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. 

If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. We're so grateful for anything you contribute to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Till next time!

[Theme music fades out].

1.02 Electric Jelly

An uninvited guest breaks up the party! Fran & JJ take their shots. Ibra stands their ground. Gordon thinks on his feet.

-- links --
Website: wanderingpathpod.com
Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --
Created by Mischa Stanton
Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton
Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus
JJ: Lyn Rafil
Gordon: Ian McQuown
Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton
Cover art: Lyn Rafil
Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --
The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

Mayanna: Last time, on The Wandering Path.

[SFX: Music begins].

Mischa: Meet our heroes, Fran, Gordon, Ibra, and JJ. After sharing a weird dream that clearly feels like some kind of call to some kind of magical destiny, the four of them try to go about their days in the city and plan a birthday party for their friend Paz. But an ethereal party crasher has arrived to cut the fun short. (Scared voice) Oh no, spooky scary! (Normal voice) Let’s see what's around the bend, today, on The Wandering Path.

[SFX: Music reaches a crescendo, then fades out].

Mischa: The lights on the arcade machines flicker and crackle [SFX: electrical buzzing] with white static in rows, flashing down lines among the aisles of the arcade as power is drawn up into the translucent spectral form of a floating entity, drawing ghostly flesh out of the electricity and around itself, forming on a wire skeleton of glowing blue. It looks like nerves or the branches of a tree. It forms into this wispy structure that lets out blood curdling screams. [SFX: screams].

Ian: Yikes.

Mischa: Let's roll initiative.

[Groans]. [Dice rolls].

Ian: 16.

Bex: Oh no. 7.

Lyn: 14.

Ian: Okay, well. 6.

[Laughter].

Mischa: The only sources of light in the room right now, because the power is being drawn into this creature, are the creature itself, the flashing screens, which are almost painful to look at, all of them flashing for too long, and the booth table, which JJ has lit up with a Light cantrip.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: And so.

Mayanna: Thank God.

Mischa: The four of you and Paz are uplit from the table, and across the large arcade space, this spirit is forming. This…phantasm.

Mayanna: [Groans].

Mischa: Fran.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: You are first to act.

Mayanna: Great. We have a cake on the table, correct?

Mischa: Correct.

Mayanna: I would love to—sorry Paz—I’m gonna dump the cake, and I'm gonna toss the plate at the ghost.

Mischa: Okay.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Great. I love it. Just, just immediate fight or flight and you choose fight. Okay.

Mayanna: Yup.

Ian: I have to tell you, if I had gone first, it would have been the rolling pin immediately through it. [Agreement]. That was gonna be my first move.

Mischa: Okay. Yeah. It's a strength, or it's a dex roll, cause you're throwing it.

Mayanna: 4!

Ian: Fuck.

[Laughter].

Mischa: The tray goes completely through it.

Mayanna: (Disappointed) Ooh. 

Mischa: Ad clatters against one of the machines on the other side with a loud metallic bang.

[SFX: metal clanging].

Mayanna: (Whispering) Okay. (Normal voice. So we know something. [Laughter]. It… doesn’t have… a physical form. (Higher voice). Write that down everybody, write that down!

Mischa: It screams at you.

[SFX: Screams].

Mayanna: Okay. Alright.

Mischa: Anything else?

[SFX: Spooky music begins].

Mayanna: Hmm, I think I… I think because I—I have a gun, [laughter] but I don't have it on me all the time.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: So I'm going to go make a dash—or not a dash, but I'm gonna make a run for the—for my bag in the locker room.

Mischa: Okay, yeah, I think you can probably—oh you're in the booth though.

Mayanna: I’m in the booth.

Mischa: Can you roll me a quick dex save to see how far into the booth you are?

Mayanna: 9.

Mischa: Okay, yeah, so you're on the inside of the booth, so I think you can only make it halfway to the locker room.

Mayanna: Okay. (Stammering). [Laugher]. I’m gonna like, climb over the table.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I think my knee makes contact with the cake. [SFX: Squish].

Mischa: Well, the cake has already been—

Mayanna: smooshed.

Mischa: Smooshed everywhere.

Mayanna: So I'm climbing over the table, and I'm all covered in cake now. [Laughter]

Mischa: Great. Great. Fan artists, get on it.

Mayanna: Man, oh man!

Mischa: JJ, that's you.

Lyn: Oh gosh, Okay. Fight or flight. I don't think JJ has experienced this before and is now surprised that fight is the action.

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: I think just straight up sees giant… screaming… electricity wraith. Yeah, and fires off. Just straight up Guiding Bolt.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Wow, okay.

Mayanna: Nice. Nice.

Mischa: From whence do you know Guiding Bolt?

Lyn: Great—

Mischa: How have you gained this knowledge?

[SFX: Pensive, string music begins].

Lyn: Great question. You know, JJ has studied a lot of magic, but this is a cleric spell. It was supposed to be firebolt and then it turned into something different after some studies and philosophy stuff. Especially right now, in this moment, it's like, maybe I tried to cast Firebolt, and then, because I'm trying to protect other people, has now turned into Guiding Bolt.

Mischa: Yeah, I think, you know, you plug a piece of Astra into the matrix on your—what is it?

Lyn: I have like a—it’s like a watch.

Mischa: Yeah. You plug it in, and like, something about your intentionality, changes it. [SFX: chimes sound]. At the last second something not necessarily quantified in the matrix itself. But for now, it's changed, and it's working for you.

Lyn: Cool.

Mischa: So attack me?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Do it.

Lyn: That is a 13 plus 5…18.

Mischa: Okay an 18 hits. [Cheers]  Write that down!

Mayanna: 18 hits!

Lyn: That is 4d6 radiant damage.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: That’s a lot.

Lyn: 6 plus 4 is 10, plus 4 is 14, plus 3 is 17. [Impressed cheering]. And the next attack roll made against this target has advantage.

Mayanna: Nice. That's the best part.

Mischa: Interesting.

Lyn: Thanks to the mystical dim light glittering on the target until then. So I feel like hits this ghost thing [SFX: zoom then a chime] and then the type of light that is alighting it changes.

Mischa: Yeah, it’s sort of a cold white almost. Lightning white translucence, and all of a sudden, like, the translucency, I think, fills in with, like, a warm yellowish glow?

Lyn (JJ): That’s—I hit it! I hit it with something.

Mayanna (Fran): Great. Great.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know if we should write that down. I don’t know what that was!

Mayanna: I don’t know what something means, so we'll just leave that one as question mark for now.

Mischa: I think Paz looks up at you and goes,

Mischa (Paz): That’s a ghost! You're attacking a ghost!

Ian: How normal are ghosts in this world, by the way?

Mischa: Do you want to roll a free history check for me?

Mayanna: Ooh, yes.

Ian: Tell me I have something.

Mayanna: Come on, history. Come on.

Ian: I think it's just a 12.

Bex: Is it acceptable if I, also? Because I would like to calm Paz down.

Mischa: No, I just want Gordon to.

Ian: My history has a plus 6 next to it. Does that mean?

Mischa: Yeah, it sure does.

Ian: I’m an 18!

[Cheers].

Mischa: Okay, ghosts are spooky, and there are stories about haunted places, especially out on the Edge.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: I don't know if you know anybody who has told you firsthand they've ever seen a ghost.

Ian: Great. Okay.

Mayanna: So we're seeing ghosts.

Ian: So it's not something that does it exists, but it's something that, it's like, “does it though?”

Mischa: Yeah, it’s like, you know, like, my cousin heard from his neighbor that like he went into this haunted place and there and it was scary.

Lyn: Sure, Kevin. Whatever.

Ian: They decided to keep you down.

[SFX: Ominous, rhythmic music].

Mischa: Yeah. Next up, the Phantasm, [groaning]. having been lit up from the inside, not of its own doing, and attacked via serving tray, most brutally. [Laughter] It shudders on its frame, on that, like, that central blue—I don't even know what the right word is. It's like, it's like a branching electrical conduit that runs from top to bottom of the thing that branches out into different ghost limbs.

Mayanna: I think you nailed it.

Mischa: Okay, great. Good. It's still a new podcast—

Mayanna: You crushed it.

Mischa: I’m still working on it. The wraith screams again, [SFX: screams] and lashes out, and Like, stutteringly teleports, like, one foot, one foot, one foot [SFX: stuttering teleportation sound] and darts forward directly towards the table.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: And attacks Gordon.

Ian: Wow cool. Love it.

Mayanna: What?

Bex: Disadvantage.

Mayanna: What did you do?

Bex: He's within five feet of me. I'm using my reaction. Fighting style protection.

Mischa: Whoa!

Bex: Creature you can see attacks a target other than you, that is within five feet of you. You can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll.

Mischa: Yeah! How do you do that?

Bex: I'm standing in the bee costume.

Mayanna: You are standing in the bee costume.

Bex: I step in front of the booth.

Mischa: Great. The ghost has to go through the bee.

Bex: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Okay. Great. So I attack with disadvantage then.

Mayanna: Nice, nice.

Mischa: Pshh. Oh boy. It lashes out and is thrown by you so quickly reacting that way and tries to go through you to get to Gordon. [SFX: rattling]. But… ends up going through the both of you, and like, out the other side.

Mayanna: Woah.

Ian: Oh, damn.

Mischa: It passes through you.

Mayanna: Do you feel cold?

Mischa: It passes through both of you. It doesn't feel cold. It feels like a static shock.

[Groans].

Mayanna: That’s way worse.

[SFX: Buzzing static].

Mischa: From, like, when you rub your—

Ian: Ahh! Don’t say it.

Mischa: —socks on a carpet.

Ian: No!

Mayanna: The current.

Ian: That's like, actually one of my things.

[Sounds of discomfort].

Bex: I imagine that this bee is mildly fuzzy, so this happens to Ibra sometimes, and it is never, never a good feeling.

Mischa: I love the image of just like, between the fur points on the bee costume. Like the little (buzzing sounds).

Bex: The antenna looks like a light bulb right now.

Mayanna: That is–

Mischa: I think Paz just screams. Just absolutely terrified.

Mayanna: Oh my god, no.

Bex (Ibra): I'm okay! It's okay, it's okay.

Mischa: Ibra, that's you.

Bex (Ibra): Everybody, scatter! Move away from this booth. I will be right back.

Bex: And I'm going to use my action to dash to the locker room so that I can get changed. At the very least, we prolong this so that I can get back and you aren't in the same space to get attacked all at once. [Agreement]. I think I can shout over my shoulder:

Bex (Ibra): Paz, get down!

Ian: What’s likelihood that Paz fainted into my arms?

Mayanna: (Snickering).

Mischa: How much does that happen versus how much does Paz want that to happen?

Mayanna: Yeah, how much did Paz make that happen? How much did Paz move the situation in such a way to make that happen?

Mischa: Okay, I think you're gonna have to spend your action changing armor.

Bex: Hundred percent. Okay. That's fine.

Ian: Cool. Gordon.

Ian: (Muffled, mouth full). Gordon’s been eating a muffin because he's so scared. He took a muffin out of his bag. And so I'm standing there eating a muffin and he goes:

Ian (Gordon): Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!

Ian: And then, I have an idea.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: I wonder if it might be fed on electricity. Because of the stuff that was happening earlier with the lights and the and so I think I call out:

Ian (Gordon): Where’s the fuse box?

Mayanna (Fran): It's in the back. Why?

Ian (Gordon): I got an idea, I got an idea, I got an idea.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I like this.

Ian: So I'm gonna try to dash towards the fuse box. I shimmy up over the side of the red pleather booth into the other booth and then I think I dashed towards the—where you said it's in the back, right?

Mayanna: It’s in the back, yeah.

Ian: I think I'm trying to dash towards the fuse box.

Mischa: Yeah, which is great because it's in the back in the direction the ghost came from which having passed through you…

Ian: Oh, it’s the opposite—

Mischa: So you have a clear shot.

Mayanna: Nice.

Ian: Great, great. Do I grab Paz, like, am I scared for Paz? Do I grab Paz by the hand and—

Mischa: You tell me man.

Ian: Pull Paz with me, I guess my question is—What’s up?

Bex: You better be scared for Paz, or I’ll kick your butt!

Mayanna:  Yeah, Paz is dangerous!

Ian: Yeah, I think I grabbed Paz too, so I'm pulling Paz by the wrist.

Mayanna: Nice.

Ian: Okay, see, I knew this was gonna be a problem. Yeah,

Mischa: She walks with a pronounced limp. It's gonna slow you down.

Ian: Yeah, I mean, I think that's, I think that's what I'd do.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: I think I'd probably carry her.

Mayanna: Smart.

Ian: I think I'd just grab her.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: I’ve been holding Paz for like six minutes, and I'm not very strong.

[Laughter].

Ian: Yeah! You beat me to it. So I'm sort of half carrying her, right? I'm sort of just, like, bear hugging her, and kind of maybe dragging her even more, right?

[Horrified laughter].

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: There’s a fucking ghost, you guys!

Mayanna: No I get it, no, I get it. I respect it.

Ian (Gordon): I’m not at my best at the at the current second.

Mayanna: No, this is fine. I'm just glad you're protecting her.

Lyn: It’s still chivalrous, but not gallant.

Ian: Yeah, like, I think I think she sees me coming in slow motion, and, like, in her first fantasy, like, my hair comes out of my man bun and it's like flowing and I like scoop her up and my chest muscles are exposed. But then what really happens is I'm like:

Ian (Gordon): (Panicked, undignified) Ghost!

[Laughter]

Ian: And I grab her and we're sort of hurtling towards the doors.

Mischa: Absolutely. Gordon, you pick up Paz and start strengthening towards the back out of the back of the arcade. Samira and Cecilia come back into the room. I think Cecilia goes.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, did the lights go off? What is happening?

[PCs shout about ghosts.]

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay!

Mischa: Samira doesn't even have, like, the wherewithal to react like that, she's just like:

Mischa (Samira): (Screaming).

Mischa: And Cecilia probably, like, grabs her by the shoulder and has her, like, duck behind, like, a machine.

Mayanna: Nice. Nice.

Bex: Beautiful.

Mayanna: I mean, like, what other reaction would you have in a world where you've never seen a ghost before?

Mischa: That’s what I mean, like, Like, yes, there's magic here—

Mayanna: But a ghost!

Mischa: —and there's technology, but like, that's fully a thing.

Mayanna: It’s a ghost. It's crazy.

Mischa: Fran, that's you.

Mayanna: Alright, so can I make my way—have I acquired my bag?

Mischa: Yes.

Mayanna: Alright, cool. So I've acquired my bag, I unzipped my bag, [SFX: zip] and I flash back [SFX: flashback whoosh]. To the moment when I told my mom I was moving to the city, and she gave me this gun, and she said, “You never know. You never know.” And I was like, "I think I know,” and she goes, “you never know.” [SFX: whoosh back to present]. And so I've never used this gun before. I've never had a reason to. Cause I just hold on to it cause my mom insisted.

Ian: Is it loaded?

Mayanna: Yes, it's loaded. I know how to—I know how to load it I've just literally never needed to fire it. Like any time I've even been in a situation where I thought I might be attacked, I just said I have a gun and it's never led to anything else. So I—I'm going to grab the gun. And so I'm going to fire the gun at this ghost.

Mischa: Sure. Okay. So you're firing a gun at this wraith?

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: You normally would be firing with disadvantage because of the way it's form is like, not completely solid, not completely ever in one place at a time. However, because of the guiding bolts some part of its light remains steady. So I'm going to give you this choice. We can either cancel out the advantage or disadvantage, or you can roll with midvantage.

[Curious sounds].

Mayanna: What's midvantage?

Mischa: Here's what midvantage is.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: When you roll with midvantage, you're going to roll 3d20 and take the middle result.

[Excited noises].

Mayanna: I love that. Okay. Three dice, midvantage. My God. What an invention.

Mischa: Thank you.

Mayanna: Okay. We've got, okay. 8 plus 3 plus 2. So, 13.

Mischa: So close.

[Groans].

Mayanna: Dang! Midvantage! No!

Lyn: What were the highs and lows, though?

Mayanna: 18, 3, and 8.

Mischa: Wow, what a spread!

Lyn: A true mid!

Mayanna: Woo! True mid!

Mischa: That's the power of midvantage.

Mayanna: I love midvantage! I want to use that all the time.

Mischa: So yeah, so you—everybody’s sort of running in the opposite direction, so there's no, like, worry of hitting anybody.

Mayanna: Good.

Mischa: But I think you come out of the locker room door, [SFX: door opens], level this gun that you've never fired at anyone.

Mayanna: Mom!!

Mischa: Fire it at a ghost, the bullets hit the surface tension of its ghostly form—

Mayanna: Fascinating.

Mischa: —which kind of ripples as it allows the bullets to pass right through and a couple of bottles in the bar shatter.

Mayanna: Okay. I think I just had an idea for maybe a magic bullet of some kind. So I'm going to write that down in my journal.

Mischa: Okay, Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): A bullet for the spectral. Don't know what that means yet!

[Laughter].

Mischa: JJ, that's you.

Bex: Oh, I completely forgot to use my bonus action. It's fine.

Mischa: Next time.

Lyn: Yeah, no, I was like, Oh, Guidance is a bonus action. Nope, in Baldur's Gate. But not in regular D&D because—

Mischa: Dang you, Baldur's Gate! Setting expectations!

Lyn: For making an improvement, because Guidance should be a bonus action!

Mayanna: Agreed. Agreed.

Lyn: Anyway. I also have a gun.

[Laughter].

Ian: Vote yes on Prop 42.

[More laughter].

Mischa: [SFX: Flashback woosh]. JJ, your dad sent you off into the Come-Up after moving away from Hillside? They live in Hillside?

Lyn: Yeah, but I think they grew up in, what is it?

Mischa: In Minetown, in the center of the city?

Lyn: In Minetown. Yeah, I—I did—They did teach me how to use this in Minetown.

Mayanna: Well, that’s good.

Mischa: Sure. And he just gives it to you and it's like,

Mischa (JJ’s Dad): JJ, you never know. You never know.

[Laughter]

Lyn (JJ): What? Dad, when will I? I'm going to school.

Mischa (JJ’s Dad): You never. Know.

[SFX: Whooshes back to present].

Lyn (JJ): (Sighs). Oh god, you really never know!

[Laughter]

Lyn: Yeah, I guess I have this gun, also.

Mischa: What kind of gun is it? So like, I think Fran, yours is more like a—

Mayanna: It's a parlor gun.

Mischa: Yeah, yours is a parlor gun. Yeah. So it's like a tiny, like, almost concealable weapon?

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like I put it in my purse, and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): I guess I do feel safer.

Mischa: Yeah. So JJ, what is your gun?

Lyn: No, mine's a straight up revolver.

Mischa: Okay!

Lyn: Like, it is a hand me down. My parents are also like—

Ian: Is it from the war?

Lyn: —Dwarves, yeah. It's like, when they say, you never know, they meant it with like a dark fear.

Mischa: Yes!

Bex: They meant the Balverox.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: So you level your gun.

[SFX: Rhythmic music begins].

Lyn: So I level my gun in this moment after, you know, I've mostly only shot like, cans and glass bottles before, but.

Mischa: Yeah, never like a moving target and also one whose flesh allowed solid objects to pass through it.

Lyn: Yeah. Sure. Is this phantasm like in front of me? Cause I'm still in the booth, right?

Mischa: Yeah, it's, it's kind of on the other side. You know, there's like a low knee, like hip high wall.

Lyn: So am I firing point blank?

Mischa: Yeah, you are.

Lyn: Cool. Slightly easier.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: Truly, JJ is not expecting fight to be part of their—this has never happened before.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: So the fact that they fired off a thing then was like, gun, answer, bang.

Mischa: Yeah. Thank goodness for that training!

Lyn: Thanks, Dad!

Mischa: It's disadvantaged because it has blurred form, and you have advantage because of Guiding Bolt, no?

Lyn: It's just the next effect. 

Mischa: So you're rolling with disadvantage.

Bex: Oooh no. 

Lyn: 15 to hit.

Mayanna: Okay!

Mischa: Still hits!

[Cheers].

Lyn: Yeah, point blank, bang, and [Dice rolls] 4 points of piercing damage.

Mischa: Okay! The light from your Guiding Bolt dims after the bullets from Fran's gun pass right through it. But while it's dimming, there's still, like, a moment of stability at its core, and that's right what you aim for. And right before the light goes out, you hit that source of yellow glow. Point blank and the bullets enter its form and like, actually hang there and don't pass through.

Lyn: Woah.

Mischa. And it cries out in pain and anger. [SFX: Screech].

Lyn (JJ): I'm sorry.

Mayanna (Fran): Why are you apologizing to the ghost?

Lyn (JJ): I don't know. This is very real. It looks like an arcade game, but it's real. Or maybe it's an arcade game that became—I don't know!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, alright.

Bex (Ibra): Treat it as an arcade game!

Mischa: It is now the phantasm's turn. It looks at JJ, and the head section, I guess, it's hard to kind of tell with this thing parts, and roars and bellows as if it's about to attack, and then the roar catches inside of itself, and it looks up, and it almost sniffs the air, and then locks its head parts in the direction of Gordon and Paz heading towards the breaker. It's going to twist around its neon blue center and fade, and then right next to Gordon and Paz fade back into being and scream right in your face.

Ian: No! No!

Mischa: It’s going to attack you, Gordon.

Ian: It looked like a 20 from here.

Mischa: Did it?

Ian: It looked like a 20 from where I was looking.

Mischa: That’s funny because it was a 5. I guess it can look like whatever it wants.

Ian: It does. Yeah.

Mischa: It seems like, it's still working out how to exist in physical space and do all the things it wants to do. So it, like, appears, and before it fully solidifies, takes a slash at you with its wispy tendrils. But the tendrils haven't solidified yet, so they pass right through you. But then it's going to step through you again. You feel that static discharge. The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, whether from fright or from electricity. And it's going to attack Paz.

Ian. Of course. Of course it is. Of course it's going to attack Paz. Why'd I bring Paz?

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: I told Paz to get down.

Mischa: You did. And then Gordon.

Ian: Then I got in the way.

Mischa: So this thing raises, its the tendrils, its wisps, and raises them up [SFX: booming bass] and stabs them all forwards right into the crown of Paz’s brain and it's going to deal her some damage.

Ian: What is happening right now?

Mischa: Paz shuts her eyes tight and screams a high piercing scream and falls against your side.

Mayanna: Oh my god

Mischa: But is still standing.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: She, like, her knees go wobbly and she looks rocked.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: Oh my god, what’s wrong with you?

Bex: Ibra didn't see it.

Mayanna: No. You heard it though, probably.

Bex: I heard the scream.Yeah.

Mischa: I think you can hear it from the other room.

Bex: I know that—I know the timbre of that voice. That is the worst case scenario.

Mischa: It's your turn.

Bex: I’m, I'm immediately busting out of that locker room. Full. Leather jacket, leather riding pants, leather boots, which essentially is leather armor.

Mischa: You've used your action this turn to get into your, your normal armor from the bee costume.

Bex: I have.

Mischa: You grabbed your weapons.

Bex: Yeah. So now I only have a bonus action and movement. So I come busting out of the room, shield in one hand, a knife in the other, and I say:

Bex (Ibra): Everyone, get back!

Bex: And I press a button and a naginata comes out. [SFX: Metal shing].

Mayanna: What’s that?

Ian: Yeah, what?

Bex: It’s basically, it's a really, really cool blade on the end of a long pole.

Mayanna: Cool.

Mischa: It’s a, it's a Japanese polearm.

Bex: Sick. Love that. Cool. This belonged to my mother. This is a family heirloom. This means, this weapon means a lot to me. And right now, Paz means more. How far away am I?

Mischa: You can get there in 30 feet.

Bex: I’m going for it.

Mayanna: Nice!

Bex: I’m going to get within 5 feet of it, and I'm going to use Warden's Mark. [SFX: rattling thrum]. Bonus action, mark a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. And while that creature is marked while it's within five feet of me, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than me.

Mayanna: Nice.

Bex: The mark lasts for one minute or until I mark another creature or become incapacitated.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Mischa: Yeah, do I, I don't save against this? There's nothing I can roll?

Mischa: Nothing.

Mischa: Ooh, I love it.

Bex: You can only fight me or you will be at a disadvantage.

Mayanna: Dang.

Mischa: Wow. Incredible.

Mayanna: Dang.

Ian: That’s bananas.

Mischa: What a move! Good move. Love that.

Ian: Better move than picking up Paz and dragging her across the floor.

Mischa: Well, now's your chance at redemption, cause Gordon, it's your turn.

Ian: Okay, let's see.I think I just have to keep pulling Paz out of the room, especially because of that, right?

[SFX: Somber music begins].

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: So that's what I do. I how, how much farther is it to the room with the fuse box? Now I'm carrying her.

Mischa: Now you’re carrying her. Can you make a strength check for me?

Ian: That’s not going to go well.

Mischa: Athletics, I guess.

Ian: 7.

Mischa: Okay, so it's gonna take you this turn and one more turn to reach the circuit breaker.

Ian: Fuck, so weak.

Mischa: Yeah, Paz kind of crumples into your arms. She manages to crack her eyes open. Can you roll a medicine check for me?

Ian: 16. [Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: You glance down at her in your arms as she cracks her eyes open and you can see a little bit of static discharge across the irises of her eyes. 

Ian: Oh my god.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, correct. Yikes.

Ian: She's not low on health though, right?

Mayanna: She’s staggering.

Mischa: With your medicine, I'll also give you a general no. She's not looking good at all. Oh no.

Ian: I—does it take my full out– Could I do, could I, I can't remember how bonus actions works. Could I do the painkiller bomb in a bonus action for her?

Mischa: Oh, you have painkiller bombs because you're an apothecary alchemist.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mischa: You absolutely can do that.

Mayanna: So you can do heal bombs in addition to hurt bombs?

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Nice.

Ian: Yeah. And just in case we didn't talk about it, for everyone listening at home, my bombs are this bag of muffins.

Mischa: Yeah. So, so you're carrying Paz across the room, you reach into your pack and grab a muffin, and—

Ian: Blueberry.

Mischa: Okay. Paz goes,

Mischa (Paz): Is that a muffin? Smells really good, but—

Ian: I put my finger on her and I go,

Ian (Gordon): jdon’t speak.

Mischa: I'm gonna roll something for me, not for my NPCs. This is for Misha Stanton. Great, hot.

Ian: And then I, and then—so I take a vial off—or out of my apron. Yeah. And I like, inject it into the blueberry muffin. 

Mischa: Yeah, what color is the reagent for the painkiller bomb?

Ian: It's white.

Mischa: Cool.

Ian: Yeah, and sort of shimmery.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: And then, and then maybe the muffin starts—I shake the muffin a little bit.

Mischa: It starts glowing with a white shimmer from the inside.

Ian: Yeah, and so, and then I smash it down on the black and white checkered linoleum floor.

Mischa: Yeah, it bursts open in a scattering of white light particles and blueberry crumbs. [SFX: bursting shimmery poof].

Mayanna: I love it.

Ian: And 7 HP!

Mischa: That's pretty good!  So, that's almost everything she lost. Pretty good.

Ian (Gordon): I fixed it.

Mayanna: You did it!

 Bex (Ibra): Thank you, Gordon.

Ian (Gordon): I fixed it.

Mayanna (Fran): You did it!

Bex:Good job.

Mischa: Paz enlivens and like, comes back to her senses in your arms and then picks a blueberry off of her cheek and eats it and is like,

Mischa (Paz): This is really good.

Mischa: And then looks up and realizes that you're carrying her in your arms. And just goes, (nervous giggling).

Ian: One for Gordon.

All: Yeah!

Mischa: As you are carrying her through the arcade towards the back near the circuit breaker, you pass where Samira and Cecilia are hiding.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Cecilia catches your eye and is like,

Mischa (Ceclia): is she okay? Do you, do you want to leave her with us?

Ian (Gordon): Yes. Great idea.

Bex: Thank you, Cece.

Ian: And I, and I like, lay her down on the floor, and now the hair out of my man bun has come out and is flowing. Yeah. Great. I, yeah, I decided that I'm, you know, I'm a baker. Yeah! So I definitely have long hair that's pulled back in a man bun.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: I love this.

Mischa: And the elastic is snapped when that—

Ian: It's snapped!

Mischa: It’s, yeah, it's snapped from the electric discharge from the ghost—when the phantasm passed through you.

Mayanna: How long is the hair when it's down?

Ian: Oh, it's probably like just, it's Fabio level.

Mayanna: Fabio level.

Ian: It’s just about shoulder length.

Mayanna: Or Gale level, as I like to call it.

Ian: Or Gale level. 

Mischa: Fran, back to you.

Mayanna: Here we go! Okay, so I'm, I'm thinking I'm intaking the data, which is that it's an electric based ghost, and I'm curious if there's anything I can do to, like, like, utilize electricity back at it. I'm trying to figure out if that, if that's, like, adding to it, or if it's like a neutralizing situation.

Mischa: Great question. Why don't you give me an Arcana check?

Mayanna: Great. I love that. Okay. Ooh, that's a 19.

Mischa: Ooh, yeah. With a 19. Here's what I'm going to give you. Yes, it's drawing electrical power from the arcade around it. [SFX: Electricity crackling]. As it moves through the arcades, all of the lights on like the machines in its immediate vicinity flicker on and off. Where does the electricity come from?

Mayanna: Where does the—in in the building or the or the ghost in the building in the building from the fuse box?

Mischa: From the fuse box, which is drawing power from where?

Mayanna: From—God from the—I guess the electrical like—

Mischa: Yeah, in this world, in this city, is powered by what?

Mayanna: Astra?

Mischa: There you go.

Mayanna: Okay. Okay, so it's Astra based electricity. Alright.

Mischa: That was a good roll.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Ian: Sounds like you need to add Astra to this turn.

Mischa: We said it! Ba da ba!

Mayanna: So, if I were to add Astra in some form to my gun, like if I were to take like Astra and like, I guess like press it against my gun, could I charge it?

Mischa: Oh. I don't think so.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: I don't think that's how objects work.

Mayanna: That’s fair.

Mischa: I think that sounds like a great idea to add to your gun later.

Mayanna: So I'm going to write that down. Yes. [SFX: Suspenseful, energetic music begins]. Okay, in the meantime, like, I want to take one of the plugs from one of the arcade machines and kind of just like whip it at the ghost.

Mischa: Okay! I love that. I love all of these improvised weapons. I love that you're using the environment. I love it. Okay.

Mayanna: Just to see if maybe it can make some kind of contact or like it hurt it in some way.

Mischa: From one of the arcade machines?

Mayanna: Yes. I want to like unplug—Like, you know, they have those like big wires that you like plug into that plug in the wall so when I just like take it out of the machine and just kind of like whip it rope style at the ghost and see if the the prongs make some kind of contact and see if it hurts it.

Mischa: Okay, sure. Yeah. Hold on. I'm going to get, I'm going to get statistics for a whip real quick.

Bex: This is fucking weird. I love it.

Mischa: Yeah. Okay. And you have, just remind me, as a craftsman, you have proficiency with every weapon.

Mayanna: I do.

Mischa: Including exotic weapons—

Mayanna: Yes, I do.

Mischa: Which are a whole class of weapons that only you have proficiency with.

Mayanna: Yes, yes, yes.

Mischa: Okay. Then yeah. Oh, this is a finesse weapon. So you can either use strength or dex.

Mayanna: Okay. I'll do, it's the same bonus either way.

Mischa: Well, there you go.

Mayanna: So did I just roll a d20 and then add? Okay, all right. Ooh, so it's 7 plus 3 plus 2?

Mischa: So 12.

Mayanna: So 12. Okay. Great. Great.

Mischa: Yeah, you unplug one of the machines. It’s, like, it's got like a race car that you like sit in in front of it and like the big steering wheel. Classic. You pull it out and like try to whip it at this wraith [SFX: whip crack], and the taillights of the car, like, start blinking on and off [SFX: car alarms], and, like, the steering wheel starts spinning random directions but the ghost itself seems a little unfazed.

Mayanna: Okay, fair. I'm gonna keep writing these things down.

Mischa: Yeah, for sure. That's science.

Mayanna: This is, this is the research.

Mischa: The difference between fucking around and science—

Mischa and Lyn: —is writing it down.

Mischa: JJ, that's you.

Lyn: Getting a lay of the land again. Gordon has run off towards the fuse box.

Mischa: Yeah, Gordon has now, unencumbered by Paz, sprinted for the back of the room to the fuse box. Fran has ducked into sort of the machine, the arcade machine land from the locker room. Yeah. Ibra is holding this spectre's attention sort of in arcade land.

Lyn: Cool. Yeah. Adrenaline is now fully kicked in, zeroing in on the situation. I'm also going to run so that we're kind of making a triangle around the figure to keep it contained so that Gordon can—and everyone else is kind of safely far away.

Mischa: Great.

Lyn: Even though I know it can teleport. And I'm going to use, I'm using so many features.

Mischa: It's our first combat! Introduce the people to your features!

Mayanna: Yay, know what we do!

Lyn: So I'm going to use Emboldening Bond as an action. You can choose up to two willing creatures within 30 feet of you, creating a magical bond among them for 10 minutes, or until you use this feature again. While any bonded creature is within 30 feet of another, once per turn, they can roll a d4 and add it to an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw they make.

Mischa: Whoa.

Lyn: So I'm going to look at my two pals that are squaring up with this frightening, horrible thing, and I'm just gonna say,

Lyn (JJ): You got this. We got this. You you got—we—we got this.

Mischa: But as you say that, the adrenaline just courses through your vein and pulses and that crystal of Astra in your little focus sort of pulses with your quickening heartbeat and starts sending out like waves of light towards your friends. [SFX: chimes].

Lyn: Nice. So that's my movement to get out of the booth there. Action—I don't have any usable bonus actions right now, but I'm just going to like grab my giant ass monkey wrench and like kind of hold a position to… whack-a-balverox this ghost.

Mischa: You rock back and forth from one foot to the other in idle pose?

Lyn: Yeah. Yeah. Sick. Still like shaking, but it's like looking at both Ibra and Fran like a little frantically between the two that's like,

Lyn (JJ): (Nervously) We got this. We got this. We… got this.

Mayanna (Fran): Are saying it like a question or are you saying it like a statement?

Lyn (JJ): It’s a statement now! We got this!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, great.

Lyn (JJ): Write that down!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I’m writing it down.

Ian: From across the room:

Ian (Gordon): We got this!

[SFX: ominous humming music begins].

Mischa: The Wraith rears up on Ibra, who has positioned themself, as they often do, directly between their friends in danger, and wants to get past you, and is willing to go through you to do it, and so they will try. It’s going to rear its tendrils back and take a stab directly at your head [SFX: booming bass]. You manage to get your shield up and it seems to have a little bit of resistance pushing through your shield, but screams in rage and pushes. [SFX: screech]. And finally gets the point directly to your head.

Bex: What did you roll?

Mischa: Attacks? Attack mass? Yeah,

Bex: My, my AC is higher now because I have my shield and everything. Again, I'm back up to 18.

Mischa: Oh, okay. Does it beat a 22?

[Laughter].

Bex: No. I was just wondering. I'm getting high now.

Mayanna: That's so cool, that's so cool. Does it beat a 22?

Mischa: Great question. I did attack twice. One of them didn't hit and one of them did.

Bex: There. Wow.

Mischa: That's gonna be 2 piercing damage and 4 psychic damage. Nothing.

Bex: Nothing!

Mayanna: That ain't nuttin.

Mischa: Okay, Ibra, it's you.

[SFX: heroic music begins].

Bex: I think as a direct response to that, Ibra, still crackling with electricity, cracks their neck.

Ian: Oh my god, you just actually cracked your neck.

Bex: I was waiting for it.

Ian: Jesus.

Mischa: The foley work on this show, impeccable.

Mayanna: The commitment, the craft.

Bex: The thing about this naginata, is, it's only been used for training. Ibra has a lot of history of combat training. But this, this naginata has only ever been used for training with, like, someone who you can use a real naginata with, but still. Not death scenario. And for the first time in their life, Ibra takes a swing at something with actual malice. And like, intent to harm. Mm. First, I'm gonna bonus action. Warden's Grasp [SFX: rattling thud]. Until the start of my next turn, I can't move, and this that I choose, this creature that I choose, our specter, cannot willingly move away without disengaging.

Mischa: Yeah. 

Lyn: Nice. 

Mischa: Nice.

Bex: And I'm going to attack with my naginata.

Lyn: You can add a d4 to that as well.

Bex: Oh, thank you. 18 plus 5.

Mischa: Yeah!

Ian: Jesus Christ.

Lyn: You can add a d4 if you want. Well, it's once per turn, so… As long as you're within 30 feet.

Mischa: For how long?

Lyn: For 10 minutes.

Mischa: Oh, so the whole time.

Bex: Max damage.

Mischa: What?

Bex: 10 plus 3. Big money.

Mischa: Yeah, you, with the rage flowing through you of someone threatening someone close to you. It empowers you. You swing the naginata once around your head, and then grab it with the second hand and bring it down in a diagonal slash through this thing [SFX: weapon twirling and whooshing in air, clanging metal]. As you do, the tip of the blade glows [SFX: chime], and It makes contact, and it's like slicing through, I don't know that they have this in this world, but like ballistics jelly, where it's like, it's like jelly and it, like molasses kind of slows you down, but the minute you get to the center of the thing and your blade makes contact with the neon blue branching structure at its heart, it sends a crackle [SFX: crackling chimes] of yellow white glowing energy up and down through the thing. That makes the entire phantasm twitch. [SFX: screech].

Mischa: And you pull your naginata out from the center.

Mayanna: Whoa!

Bex (Ibra): It's got a gooey center!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay!

Mischa: Amazing! Gordon, you sprint to get to that fuse box with a little leftover.

[SFX: pensive rhythmic music begins].

Ian: Yes. Great. And then I shout,

Ian (Gordon): I’ve got it.

Ian: And with one action, I turned all the fuses off. One swipe. [SFX: Thud, electricity powering down].

Mayanna: You kill the power.

Ian: Kill the power.

Mischa: Yeah. You throw the main breaker, and the power circuit to the building abruptly cuts out.

Mischa: The screens in Arcade Land that were flashing with blinding cold white lights reacting to the presence of the the wraith cut out now that the circuit's been broken between it and the power grid. It's a lot darker in the room now, but also less, I don't know, seizure inducing, so that's good too.

Mayanna: That's good, that is good.

Ian: If I threw an impact bomb at it from here, how, how close are all my friends to it? Well,

Mischa: Ibra would get caught up in it for sure.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: You could try to throw it, so you could try to throw it past Ibra, so that you only catch.

Ian: The back of the ghost.

Mischa: The back, you know, you throw it at an empty space past it to try to catch it in the ring of your bomb, but I believe it's less damage if you do that.

Ian: I also, because I'm far enough away, I wonder if I would have the frame of mind to call emergency services. Do you know what I mean?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I think that’s smart.

Ian: You’re like, I think that's what I think considering that I'm, they feel like they got it. It feels like they have the thing.

Lyn: We did say that several times over and over.

Ian: Yeah. So I think that's what I do. I think at the fuse box, I text the emergency text line, the words, “electroghost” with five—No, that's not what I did. I text the emergency text line and ask for help.

Mischa: Sure. Sounds good. Each round of combat in dungeons and dragons is six seconds. So within six seconds, you don't get a response, but that's also like, I don't know, pretty normal for text, I would feel.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Cecilia and Samira. I think Cecilia is going to—while you're spread throughout the arcade section, is sort of going to, like, pull Samira and Paz into, like, a little huddle and, like, make a plan. And then, when you, Ibra, make contact with the center of the spirit, and when you, Gordon, throw all the switches and everything goes dark, Cecilia goes, 

Mischa (Ceclia): Now! 

Mischa: And they book it for the exit.

Mayanna: Nice. 

Ian: Nice.

Mayanna: Great.

Bex: That's fair.

Mischa: Good. They're, again, they're encumbered by paths a little bit. Yeah. But one on each side of her and helping her get to the door.

Mayanna: Okay, great. That's good. I like that.

Mischa: Fran, that's you.

[SFX: exciting, suspenseful music begins].

Mayanna: Okie dokie. Okay, so we know it has a gooey center. I think I'm gonna try and aim my gun at the vague center area.

Mischa: Hell yeah.

Mayanna: Okay, great. So that's an 18 plus 5, so that's 20 You can roll with disadvantage still. Oh, you guys. Alright, so that's a 12 plus 3 plus 2, so that's 15, 18. 18 to hit.

Mischa: Yeah, nice!

Mayanna: Yay, yay, yay! We could've just taken the 18 that I rolled previously. At that point.

Mischa: It attempts to, like, flicker its form to move around your bullet, but it's being held in Ibra's Warden's grasp.

Mayanna: Nice, nice, good job.

Bex: It can't move.

Mayanna: Good job, Ibra. Do I roll for damage? Yes, please. So it's 2d4 plus 3. Hang on, let me grab those dice. I wasn't expecting to hit—

Mischa: So you put your damage dice away!

Mayanna: So I put— I— I was like, you know, dreams do come true in New Orleans. 7. [Laughter].

Mischa: Nice. Okay. I think, because you're like, sort of in tactics, like, now you guys have set up a little bit of like a triangle strategy around this thing.

Mischa: As soon as Ibra pulls the blade out from the center of the thing, you're aiming right for like, the gash in its flesh.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Yeah, you fire off another round, and yeah, it sticks right in there, and then like, the wound. Like, forms up around it, but you can see the little bullet, like, stuck in there.

Mayanna (Fran): I did something.

Bex: Sick!

Mayanna (Fran): Something happened. That's exciting.

Lyn: Does it have two rounds in its center now?

Mischa: Yeah, and they're just sort of, like, stuck in it, like jelly.

Mayanna: Interesting.

Mischa: Yeah, it's like electric Jello.

Lyn: Oh, like our brains. 

Mischa: Just like our brains. You’re right, Lyn. Just like our brains. Electric jelly.

Lyn: It’s what it is!

Mischa: I know! 

Mayanna: You’re not wrong. You’re not wrong. [Laughter]. 

Mischa: JJ, your turn. 

[SFX: suspenseful music begins].

Lyn: So people are running.

Ian: People are screaming.

Mayanna: People are afraid.

Mischa: It’s scary.

Mayanna: Ooh, it's a little scary in here.

Lyn: Because it's currently dark, and that seems to not be boding well for us to hit this creature, correct?

Mischa: I’ll say this, it's hard to gauge where the creature exactly is at any time.

Lyn: Okay, so the light is not necessarily the thing that's causing the difficulties?

Mischa: No.

Lyn: Okay.

Bex: The creature is causing it.

Mayanna: It’s like phasing in and out.

Mischa: Correct.

Lyn: I see, I see, okay.

Bex: That’s why your guiding light was so helpful.

Lyn: All right if it would if it works the first time then I'll do it the second time. For fun and flavor. I'm going to swing my monkey wrench, but as a method of like aligning my guiding bolt.

Mischa: Can we do like a cool anime sequence where like you pull the piece of Astra out of your watch [SFX: shimmer], slam it into the head of the wrench [SFX: thud], and then swing it [SFX: whoosh].

Lyn: Yeah. Cool. Sick! Yeah. Yeah.

Mischa: And I think also while you do it, you're like, Okay, last time I was trying to do a f—What if I try to do the Guiding Bolt this time and swing it?

Lyn: Still rolling with disadvantage to hit, correct?

Mischa: Correct.

Lyn: Cool. 9 plus 5, 14.

Mischa: 14’s gonna hit.

Mayanna: It's like right on for 14.

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, correct.

Bex: 13 was no, 15 was yes, it's 14.

Lyn: 13 points of radiant damage.

Mischa: Ow! Ouchie!

Lyn: JJ just yells,

Lyn (JJ): Stop hurting my friends!

Mayanna: Becoming Sora.

Ian: This is an anime if I've ever seen one.

Mayanna: My friends!

Lyn: My friends!

Mischa: Yeah. You swing the Guiding Bolt slash with your monkey wrench directly at this thing. It cuts a horizontal slash into the specter's form that, almost like a bolo, wraps around the branch at the center and forms a ring of light that just clamps on. Its form starts jittering even more, like, the electricity that forms its flesh is shorting.

Lyn: Sick.

[SFX: ominous, thrumming music begins].

Mischa: It sort of reaches its hand tendrils out, around, and back in, trying to grab at the energy of the Guiding Bolt that's now wrapped around the center of its being. Like, grabbing at it, trying to let it go, like it's, this thing's really in pain. And then, it stops and sniffs the air again.

Mayanna: What does it mean when it does that!?

Bex: Something bad.

Mischa: And it looks around, not at any of you, but at all the different arcade machines. And it picks one, and dives for it. It's going to disengage.

Bex: Oh, farts.

Mischa: And it's gonna dive for it.

Bex: Alright, well I can move again now too.

Mischa: Yes.

Lyn: Do we get opportunity attacks?

Mischa: No, cause it's disengaging.

Lyn: Oh, right.

Mischa: But that means it can't attack this turn, which is great.

Mayanna: That is great.

Mischa: I am gonna roll one extra thing. Nope, one day I'll recharge an ability. Yeah, it dives for a particular machine, which begins lighting up again, as though all the other ones were, only now it's gone. It's because of the circuit breaker. It's centered on this one arcade machine. I think it's probably like an older machine. Like I think the Pac Man of this world, like the Pong, like really one of like the, the older machines in Boggins’ Bee-stro and it dives into it and the screen lights up the same cold white color with, and you can see like pixelated on the screen running from top to bottom is that neon blue branch. And this machine begins sparking and sputtering. [SFX: buzzing, crackling].

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Ibra, it's your turn.

Bex: I am going to place a curse on this ghost in the machine.

Ian: Yeah, you are.

Bex: I would like to use my hex magic bonus action.

Mischa: You have so many bonus actions, I love it.

Bex: Not a lot of reactions, but I got a lot of bonus action. Until the spell ends for an entire hour. I deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the target whenever I hit it with an attack.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex (Ibra): I’m so sorry for your machine. I'm gonna try to break it.

Mayanna (Fran): That’s fine. I'm definitely gonna fix it.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, that's fair. Okay, that's a good goal. That's good teamwork. We got this. Hey, JJ, I think we found our team. Not important right now.

Lyn (JJ): Huh? Oh.

Bex (Ibra): Nothing. 

[SFX: heroic music begins].

Bex: Okay, I'm gonna hit it. I've still got the naginata. I've got one good strike that I just delivered to this creature. I wanna, I wanna try again. 19 to hit.

Mayanna: Nice.

Lyn: Solid.

Mischa: You curse this arcade machine. A little bit of like, dark purple pixelation creeps along the edges of the screen. And like, it seeps into the whiteness and then you kick the bottom of your naginata [SFX: clinking and whooshing] with your heel so that it spins around and you bring it down overhead and slice the machine in half [SFX: metallic thud, electricity crackling]. The circuitry inside, like, sparks and sputters and dies and the light inside of it caused by the wraith, sort of disperses like you popped a water balloon. It spreads out across the floor. It rises back up, it, like, stutteringly tries to form. [SFX: chaotic buzzing, crackling, whooshing]. It attempts a scream, but the scream sort of stutters and reverses and twists. It has taken too much damage. It can't hold itself together anymore. And with a pop, and a fizzle, the spirit disperses and is gone.

All: Whoa!

Ian: That’s what I'm talking about.

[SFX: mid roll music].

Mischa: Hey there, it's Misha. This is The Rest Stop. Come take a break beside the path with me. Just until we catch our breath. And yeah, like, give me a minute. Combat! Woo! We are really in it now, y'all. Very exciting. 

You know what else is exciting? It’s only our second episode, but we already have patrons over at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. That’s incredible! Thank you so much to our newest patrons, Asher, and our newest Voyager level patron, JWX. It means so much to us that you already love this little baby show so much that you pay us money to keep it going. 

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But if you're not able to help us out there, fear not, I have good news. There's a really easy and free way you can still help us. All you have to do is tell someone else about the show. No, seriously, tell like one person. You'd be really shocked at how much it helps a new podcast like us grow. Spread the word. That's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[SFX: mid roll music].

[SFX: soundscape begins, crackling and buzzing near the broken arcade machine].

Bex (Ibra): I am so sorry about the machine. I am so happy about the creature.

Mayanna (Fran) : That is so fine. What like. What level of repairs are we talking for this machine?

Bex (Ibra): Overhaul. I sliced it in half.

Mischa: Totaled.

Mayanna: Totaled.

Lyn (JJ): I can ask my dads if they have any scrap parts for it?

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, that's fine. I think we could probably just put in a work order.

Bex: What does necrotic damage do to electronics? Are we about to see that?

Mayanna: I guess so. Can I, can I investigate what kind of like, because if it's like, what, what would be like rot, right? Is it like kind of that vibe? So it's like what I imagine corrosion. Yeah. Like an uncommon amount of rust or corrosion through the center of this machine.

Mischa: To the point where like, Fran, you could probably fix this, but you might just be building an entire new arcade machine.

Mayanna: Yeah, I think so. I think so.

Bex: It’s like the Argo. How much of it is still the original?

Lyn: That’s the ship of Theseus

Bex: Oh, sorry, Theseus.

Mischa: Yeah, if you replace the motherboard and the cabinet and the glass screen, is it still the Ship of Theseus?

Lyn: That’s the name of the game, actually.

Mischa: Actually, yeah, I was just going to say the same thing. The name of the game is Ship of Theseus. It's like a sailing adventure side scroller. It’s like one of the first side scrollers.

Ian: I walk back over and I see,

Ian (Gordon): Oh, Ship of Theseus. I know. That's my favorite game.

Bex (Ibra): That’s one you had a high score on.

Ian (Gordon): High score of all time!

Ian: Yeah, I think I just turn all the fuses back on. It's like, pfft. And does the split in half video game spark a little bit? Is it still plugged into power, or? [SFX: zaps].

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, it gives, like, another, like, couple of sparks.

Ian: And I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Ah, ghost! Oh, okay, we’re fine.

Mischa: And yeah, as the lights sort of come on behind you, you can hear—

Lyn: Oh, the sound of all the arcade games turning on at the same time.

[Everyone makes arcade sounds].

Lyn: Sound design that, Misha!

Mischa: Yeah, as though the GM isn't the sound designer of this contest also. Alright.

[SFX: arcade machines start up, beeping in the background].

Lyn: I'd like to check in on, you know, everyone Cecilia, Samira, and Paz. They were making their way out the door.

Mischa: Sure. Yeah, I think, like, last turn of combat, they made it to the door. So probably in, you know, the moment we're coming out of initiative, where, like, normal time resumes its pace they're probably sitting on the curb outside the door of Boggins, out on the street.

Lyn: I'm probably gonna tell everyone, it's like—

Lyn (JJ): I’m gonna check in on—you’re looking at—Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Finish the sentence!

Mischa: You go to tell everyone that you're going to head outside and then don't end up doing it. And then you yeah, JJ, [SFX: door opening to the street, light traffic in the background], you find it's Cecilia is sort of standing on the street, looking down, up and down the street, waiting for emergency services, which you saw Gordon text for before she came outside, she's sort of waiting out front to flag them down. Samira and Paz are sitting with their backs up against the front of Boggins. Paz is drained, just, like, weakened and, you know, sort of really out of it. Samira looks physically fine, but is just breathing heavily and trying to come down from a panic attack.

Lyn (JJ): Hey, hey, hey.

Mischa (Samira): Hey!

Lyn (JJ): Hi. You with me?

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, you—did you—?

Lyn (JJ): It—it’s gone.

Mischa (Samira): (whispering) How did you do that?

Lyn (JJ): (whispering)I don't really know.

Mischa (Samira): Don’t tell that to anyone. Pretend it was all your idea, always, every time.

Mayanna: She’s always hyping.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, you're right. Um…

Mischa (Samira): Great job.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. Thank you. Are you okay? Are you—

Mischa (Samira): I'm just gonna—

Lyn (JJ): Deep breaths.

Mischa (Samira): Whew.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa (Samira): I talk a big game. I had nothing. That was so scary!

Lyn (JJ): I mean, you got to safety. That's the most important part. All three of you were together.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah. Is… is Paz…?

Mischa: And she looks over to see Paz, who has again, like, you look at her and she's very clearly physically less worse for wear, but also like not as panicked. Her breathing is shallow, but even. You take a look over at her, and she glances back at you, and you can still see a little bit of electricity jumping between the tines of her iris.

Lyn: Can I use a quick Cure Wounds?

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: On her? Because she's not completely full up, right?

Ian: Well, also the thing only lasts for a minute. 

Mischa: What thing?

Ian: The temporary HP only lasts for a minute.

Mischa: Oh, it was temp HP, the painkiller bomb.

Ian: It's temp HP, yeah.

Mischa: Then yes, you can do that.

Lyn: Yes, I will use a Cure Wounds. That's all my spell slots.

Mayanna: Oh boy. 

Bex: Level 2!

Lyn: It’s fine. Yeah, so Cure Wounds, I'll like, reach out my hand.

Mischa: You take the piece of Astra back out of your wrench and put it back on your wrist and dial up a Cure Wounds and it flows from your wrist out over your hand into her hand and sort of diffuses and spreads across her body. [SFX: humming chime]. The electricity in her eyes slowly fades. It's jumping back and forth, and then as the light spreads it like slows down and then stops. She… comes back to herself a little bit and she just goes

Mischa (Paz): Oh we're on the sidewalk now.

Lyn (JJ): Were you, you went to safety? Everything's okay now, emergency services on the way. Everyone's okay, everyone's fine.

Mischa (Paz): My mom's gonna be so upset.

Lyn (JJ): Maybe, but this was no one's fault. We have no idea what happened.

Mischa (Paz): I’ve never seen anything like that before, but I don't know, classic my birthday.

Ian: I, I my hand comes in and I hand her a muffin, and then I hand JJ a muffin, and then I just go around and pass muffins out to everyone out of the giant stack.

Mischa: You go, you hand out a muffin to Paz, and then JJ, and then Samira, and then you look at Cecilia, and Cecilia looks kind of busy. You head back inside and you're like, hey Fran, hey Ibra.

Bex: He passes me directly, like bumps into me as I'm heading out the door. [SFX: thud].

Bex (Ibra): I, I, sorry, I'm going to check on—how's Paz doing?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, you should go check on her. [SFX: door opening].

Ian: And I put a muffin to your chest.

Mischa: JJ, Ibra, medicine roll?

Lyn: [Dice rolls]. I rolled so bad. 2 plus 3. 5.

Mayanna: That is 5.

Lyn: Thanks.

Bex: 13.

Mischa: Yeah, on the 13, Ibra, you know that Paz's constitution is not the best on the best of days, and as the only person who took a full hit in that combat, like, it can't be good for her. She looks really weakened and tired, but there's no electric burn marks, there's no, like, outward physical sign of injury. You're not Paz's nurse or anything, but like, probably should get a heart scan.

Bex: I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say,

Bex (Ibra): Hey, hey babe, can, can I pick you up? 

Mischa (Paz): Okay. 

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Alright. I think that we're gonna go take a quick test. And if you want, I can look like I'm wearing the bee costume the whole way.

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: She looks at you in like, your normal, like, training armor that, like, makes you look really confident for battle and she's like—

Mischa (Paz): Does the scan have to happen right now? Do you have time?

Bex: Time?

Mischa (Paz): To change into the Bee costume.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, I don't have to change. Hang on one second.

Mayanna: What?

Bex: And I'm going to hex magic disguise self.

Mischa: Oh my god, you get a free disguise self once a day!

Bex: I do, I get a free one.

Bex (Ibra): I was saving this for the, for the, if I had to do a funicular ride to see my parents, and I didn't want to deal with—doesn’t matter. This is for you.

Mayanna: Awww.

Bex: And I look like, it, if it, it doesn't hold up to scrutiny, you could roll for intelligence and tell that I'm a thing if you tried to, like, touch the bee costume. You would go right through it sort of thing and touch me. So— but, it’s, it's the aesthetic.

Lyn (JJ): Does that mean you could have just been doing that all the time instead of wearing the bee costume?

Mayanna (Fran): But for work they require, you know.

Bex (Ibra): and I really wanted to you know, the full experience for Paz.

Mayanna (Fran): She loves the kitsch.

Ian: I have to tell you the level of D&D that y'all are playing is so high above the level of D&D that I'm capable of playing.

[Everyone protests].

Mayanna: Counterspell. You don't say that anymore. [Laughter].

Ian: I’m happy to be here.

Mischa: This is episode two. You're gonna get there.

Ian: I'm gonna learn.

Mischa: I have faith.

Mayanna: You have bomb muffins.

Ian: I got bomb muffins.

Lyn: Yeah, you're already at that level.

Mayanna: That’s crazy. Yeah, you’re fine.

Mischa: Ibra, you hoist Paz up to her feet, you get her cane situated underneath her, you cast a spell on yourself to vaguely look like the Boggins bee. And she goes, ah, yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Okay. Let's go. (Singing). Happy, happy bee day…

All: (singing) From all of us to you. We wish you a happy bee day, so we can party too. Bzz!

Bex: And I, I think I lift her up into a full like carry.

Mischa: Sure. And she goes,

Mischa (Paz): Maybe next year… less ghost attacks.

Bex (Ibra): Deal.

Mischa (Paz): Cool.

Mischa: Yeah, I think you know, it's a good response time. It's only about five minutes for emergency services to arrive outside of Boggins. Cecilia sort of flags them down, there's an ambulance, they pull out a stretcher and you lay Paz down on the stretcher and Paz goes:

Mischa (Paz):  Ibra, will you call my mom and just have her meet me at the, at the thing?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, do you want me to come with you or do you want me to wait here?

Mischa (Paz): No, I'll be, I'll be okay. I'll text you later.

Bex (Ibra): Promise?

Mischa (Paz): Yeah. Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Pinky promise.

Mischa: She lifts up her pinky to give you a pinky promise, and grasps you, and when she does, a little static shock goes between.

Bex (Ibra): Alright. Love you. Be good.

Mischa (Paz): Okay. Take me away, boys! [Laguhter].

Mischa: And they slide her to the back of the ambulance.

Bex: I’m gonna go call her mom.

[SFX: intriguing, rhythmic music begins].

Mischa: Yeah. While you watch the ambulance take Paz away, another vehicle arrives. A hovercar, slick and black, fresh off the factory line. A stark silver grille flows into trim lines that draw the eye swooping across to the back of the car. This thing screams power and speed… if not exactly the height of style. And it rumbles with a concealed aggression, like a growling dog just waiting to be let off its leash. It lands on the street outside of Boggins, and out of the gullwing doors, steps a saurid woman with black scales on her dinosaur face, piercing green eyes with vertical slits. Around her neck, she's got two stripes of yellow surrounding a stripe of red, like a coral snake. She’s wearing a dark trench coat that splits in the back around her lizard tail. And like, a button up vest and, like, clean pressed suit with a circular emblem on her chest.

Mayanna (Fran): Who are you wearing? 

Mayanna: Immediate question.

Mischa: Yeah. She gets out of the car, and says something to Cecilia they talk a little bit, and then she gives you a look, Ibra, but doesn't stop to talk, just immediately inside. She sort of surveys the scene, kind of looks at, like, the destroyed machine, the lights, half of which are still flickering back on, and looks around at the rest of you guys inside, and just goes,

Mischa (Mysterious woman): All right is there a supervisor on staff? Is there someone in charge?

Mayanna (Fran): Ah, me!

Mischa (Mysterious woman): Great. Hi.

Mayanna (Fran): Hi. How can I help you? Who are you wearing?

Mischa (Mysterious woman): Who… am I..?

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, who designed your ensemble?

Mischa (Mysterious woman): I didn't think to ask.

Ian (Gordon): (Whispering) It’s the government issued coat.

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh, really? But it's got this nice emblem on it.

Ian (Gordon): (Whispering) I know, for the government.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, sorry.

Lyn: Is there—would we recognize the emblem that she's wearing?

Mischa: No.

Bex: Do I recognize the saurid?

Mischa: No.

Bex: Can I Insight check the look?

Mischa: Sure.

Bex: Sweet. 16.

Mischa: Just a look of all business, very serious not.. pausing for pleasantries, not here for grief counseling, here to examine what has happened.

Bex: And I look like a bee.

Mischa: And you look like a bee.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: It doesn't hold up to scrutiny, but she's also not scrutinizing you today.

Bex: I'm gonna drop it. I'm gonna drop it and walk in behind her.

Mischa: As soon as the ambulance drives away, like, they close the doors and the ambulance drives away and you just go, ugh, and you're back in normal. That’s so funny.

Ian: You could say it didn't hold up to scruti-bee.

Mischa: I might not say that!

Mayanna: I won't, in fact!

Mischa: You can't make me!

Mischa: Yeah, she holds out a claw to shake your hand.

Mayanna: I shake it.

Mischa: She introduces herself as Inspector Ravonna.

Mayanna (Fran): Inspector Ravonna. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Fran Weaver. This is the Boggins Bistro. We don't normally have phantasms. Just to be clear, that is a not normal occurrence.

Mischa: She gets a steely look across her face when you mention the phantasm, and she says:

Mischa (Ravonna): Go on, tell me exactly what happened here.

[SFX: suspenseful music begins].

Mayanna (Fran): Absolutely! Well, you know, we were just having a lovely evening, a little birthday party situation for our friend Paz, and then… seemingly out of nowhere, all of the lights turned off. And a creature, a floating creature of blue, electronic, kind of like a root system situation, appeared, screamed we were able to, you know, cut the power we discovered it had like a gooey center, and then we dispatched of it. And then it killed the machine.

Mayanna: And then I point to the arcade machine that's got a giant splitter.

Mischa (Ravonna): This machine here?

Mayanna: Yes, mmhmm.

Bex (Ibra): It went into it first. I didn't just stab the machine or slice the machine out of nowhere. It was in the machine. I swear it was in the machine.

Ian: There was a ghost… in the machine.

Mischa: Hey o!

Mischa: She goes over she says:

Mischa (Ravonna): This one here?

Mischa: And then she reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a baton. Which she presses a button on, and it extends much the same as your naginata, Ibra. She plugs a piece of Astra into the head of it, and twists a dial, and an energy construct of a pickaxe extends from the head of the device. [SFX: electric humming].

Mayanna: Writing all of this down.

Bex: Sick.

Mischa: She says,

Mischa (Ravonna): you’re sure, right here.

Mayanna (Fran): Right here, yep.

Mischa: She swings the pickaxe directly into the floor underneath the split machine. [SFX: thud, wood crunching]. She strikes with the pickaxe a couple of times, like mining into the floor of Boggins, until after the fourth swing, she hits, and the energy construct of the pickaxe head glows a bright orange [SFX: heavy crunch, shimmering chime].

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa (Ravonna): Okay, great. Fran was it?

Mayanna (Fran): Yep, yep, this me.

Mischa (Ravonna): Are you the owner?

Mayanna (Fran): No no, I'm just, I'm just closing this evening.

Mischa (Ravonna): Okay we're gonna need to get in contact with the owner. We're gonna have to close down this restaurant for a few days.

Mayanna (Fran): Why, why, why, why?

Lyn (JJ): It’s a crime scene.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay..What about the, I mean, but we, like, I work here, like, what about our income? Are we gonna, like, get lost wages? Like, what's the situation with that?

Mischa (Ravonna): I don't know. My supervisor in my department will have to talk to the owner of the restaurant.

Bex: I'm gonna put my hand on Fran's shoulder.

Mayanna (Fran): All right, fine. Okay.

Mischa (Ravonna): I am very sorry for the inconvenience, and my department is on the case now. Thank you so much.

Bex (Ibra): Could we ask what department you're part of? Is that something we're allowed to ask of you? I don't know how this works.

Mischa: She reaches into another pocket of her coat and pulls out a, like, leather bifold and flips it open and you see the same emblem that's on her coat and she says,

Mischa (Ravonna): I'm a special inspector for the governor's office.

Bex (Ibra): It's nice to meet you. Can we go get our stuff from the lockers before the investigation starts? Or…

Mischa: She looks around at the crime scene and looks at you guys, you know, disheveled at best, you know, like, like, in the middle of a battle.

Mayanna: I have cake all over my pants.

Mischa: Yeah, Fran covered in cake a little bit.

Mischa: She looks you over and says:

Mischa (Ravonna): The four of you handled the situation here?

Lyn (JJ): Yes.

Mayanna (Fran): In about 30 seconds, might I add.

Lyn (JJ): It happened really fast.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. 24, if I remember correctly.

Mayanna (Fran): Pretty efficient.

Lyn (JJ): You have a really keen sense of time.

Bex (Ibra): I like, I'm good at battle time.

Mischa: Ibra, will you roll a persuasion check with advantage? I'm gonna roll something for Ravonna.

Bex (Ibra): Dirty 20.

Mischa: Wow, yeah. She says:

Mischa (Ravonna): You have stuff in the locker rooms, I imagine?

Mayanna (Fran): We work here.

Mischa (Ravonna): Okay, be quick about it.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Mischa (Ravonna): Try not to disturb any place you found contact with the breach incident. Please try to disturb as minimally as possible, but yeah, go ahead.

Lyn (JJ): Inspector, are we in any continuing danger from this?

Mischa: She looks at the head of her pickaxe [SFX: glimmering chime] and she says,

Mischa (Ravonna): No, but the restaurant is closed until my personnel and I can finish our work.

Bex (Ibra): JJ, let's go clear out the lockers.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I'm gonna go clear out my locker too.

Lyn (JJ): I don’t work here-

Bex (Ibra): Just come with us.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Ibra, what department do you work in again?

Bex (Ibra): We work in the magistrate in labor.

Mayanna (Fran): Did they teach you how to handle all the shit you were just handling?

Bex (Ibra): No, but they did sort of ask us if we knew of four people who could.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): And…

Lyn (JJ): Was it four? Did they specifically instruct four?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, they didn't instruct, but they did specifically ask to find a couple that could.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay…

Bex (Ibra): I don't understand everything that's going on, but things are feeling related, and I JJ, you're smarter than I am. Could this be connected?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, it's a lot of coincidence to be stacked up on each other. I mean, the dreams, the assignments, this…

Mayanna (Fran): My bigger question is, you seem to have, like, a lot of combat training.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And what kind of physical education does the Constellation have?

Bex (Ibra): It’s less what the Constellation has and more what my family has.

Mayanna (Fran): Are they, like, doomers or something?

Bex (Ibra): Worse. They're government and military.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, that is worse. That's way worse.

Bex (Ibra): So, my mom was really, really high ranking military during the war, and because of that, I have been trained since birth. I—I was sort of—okay—

Lyn (JJ): This makes—Oh, you're a military brat!

Bex: Yeah, I've been training since I was basically born. I'm pretty sure they selected some of my genes to be better at it than other genes, but like, that's a whole other thing.

Mayanna (Fran): Whaaat?

Bex (Ibra): I haven't told you exactly everything about the chaos of my family.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. I thought you had like, I don't know, annoying siblings or something, not this military gene pool thing.

Lyn (JJ): I thought maybe you just had like celiac.

Bex (Ibra): Well, I mean, no, that's Paz, but—

Mayanna (Fran) and Lyn (JJ): Oh, right, right.

Bex (Ibra): I just like to eat what Paz eats because it tastes good.

Ian: Right at that moment, I kick the double doors of the kitchen open and I come in with a steaming hot, like, Neapolitan style pizza that I threw together from ingredients in the kitchen.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm starving.

Ian: And I go, oh, and I'm, I'm, I'm walking out.

Ian (Gordon): Hey guys, you want some pizza?

Lyn (JJ): Yes.

Bex (Ibra): Yes.

Mayanna: I immediately eat a slice of pizza.

Mischa: Can I just throw a detail in here? That, like, it cooked abnormally fast because you have chemical reagents that turn bread into bombs. So you, like, like, flash burnt the bread with, like, alchemical reagents.

Mayanna: Wow, this pizza’s the bomb!

Ian: 100%.

Mischa: Five party points for Mayanna.

Ian: What?! What?! I’ve been doing that all session!

Bex: Yeah, but you have the bombs.

Ian: Okay, it's fine. I'm just gonna mark them down so that I know who's got points.

Mischa: Party points are worth nothing and cannot be redeemed for anything.

Ian: Well, guess what? I'm keeping track of them now.

Mischa: Alright, mark it down.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I—

Lyn (JJ): We can get into that later.

Bex (Ibra): I would rather talk about it later, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): But we've spent a lot of time in this locker room.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we should. Yeah. They're probably going to—

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Should we bring a slice for the, for the lady?

Lyn (JJ): Inspector? Oh, maybe the inspector will want a slice of pizza.

Bex: Oh, the specter inspector!

Lyn (JJ): Oh, in-specter.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, we should leave before she hears the joke.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we should, we should. Okay.

Mayanna: I grab all the rest of my stuff. I'm like so mad that I don't know where my next paychecks are going to be coming from.

[SFX: more relaxed, thoughtful, piano music begins].

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I’m really, really stressed about that.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I’m not saying that, but that's like, I'm, I'm pissed that that's the situation.

Mischa: Absolutely.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Here’s the thing. We got a request this morning. JJ and I got a request this morning for us to find someone who can fill a new job.

Mayanna (Fran): Is this about that personality quiz you asked us about last time?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I think you just passed it.

Lyn (JJ): I think we all just passed it.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. It's like a temp type thing?

Lyn (JJ): We’re not sure, but you think really well on your feet.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Lyn (JJ): You’re, you adapted a lot in this moment.

Mayanna (Fran): I’m a server.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, but like you threw things that had no business being thrown.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, you served.

Bex (Ibra): And we learned things from it.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you!

Ian (Gordon): And you took copious notes.

Mayanna (Fran): I did.

Lyn (JJ): And that was, that was really brave. That was really courageous.

Bex (Ibra): And that was unknown. That was the face of the dangerous unknown.

Mayanna (Fran): Fair. Okay.

Bex (Ibra): So… and JJ, you, you passed.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know what came over me. I don't, I don't know what that was.

Bex (Ibra): It was cool.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. I might barf.

Bex (Ibra): And Gordon!

Ian (Gordon): What about me, you guys?

Bex (Ibra): You made a bomb out of a muffin!

Ian: That’s true!

Bex (Ibra): And it healed someone!

Mayanna (Fran): Do that!

Lyn (JJ): You did like the smartest thing and actually disconnected the electricity.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah! Aw, thanks you guys! I thought I was going to be left out of this compliment session.

Bex (Ibra): No, man!

Lyn (JJ): I'm pretty sure that probably would have gone a lot worse if you didn't do that.

Bex (Ibra): For sure.

Ian (Gordon): And I make a killer pizza, you know? 

Lyn (JJ): That’s great.

Mayanna (Fran): And you sliced a machine all the way open.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that was bananas.

Bex (Ibra): That was pretty wild. I have never used the naginata like that before. Like that, that was, that was a cool feeling.

Mayanna (Fran): That was really cool. We should probably go.

Lyn (JJ): We need to but, at the very least we can report this back to Gwen, in general. Huh? I feel like…

Lyn: And then I now briefly remember the fact that there was a huge bridge collapse earlier this morning. I was like,

Lyn (JJ): Oh my God, I need to, I need to message my dads!

Mayanna (Fran): Because you survived an attack from a ghost?

Lyn (JJ): …that too!

Ian (Gordon): Well, if I'm being honest, I don't really want to go back to my apartment alone after being attacked by a ghost.

Mayanna (Fran): You could stay with me? I have an apartment nearby.

Bex (Ibra): We could go to campus.

Lyn (JJ): We could go to campus and then we've got dorms. We can.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Sleepover.

All: Sleepover! Sleepover!

Ian: Cool.

Mayanna: I grab a to go box to put the rest of the pizza in.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, wait. Leave a slice for the inspector.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course. Yes, yes, yes.

Mayanna: I’m gonna put that one on a little plate and bring it out to the inspector, who's presumably still outside.

Mischa: Yeah. She puts away her texting device. She's texting someone else in her department, you know. She puts that away and she's like:

Mischa (Ravonna): Is that pizza?

Mayanna (Fran): Mm hmm.

Mischa: She, she holds it and she's like:

Mischa (Ravonna): Oh, it is warm.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex: (Laughing) She’s a lizard.

Ian: Oh, God. That's, that's a party point for Mischa.

Mischa: Hey! I'm on the board!

Bex: That’s so funny.

Mischa: Yeah, she's like,

Mischa (Ravonna): Oh, I, it is really late in the torpor setting and I, I really appreciate this.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, of course.

Mischa (Ravonna): Thank you. Um. Did you get, did you clear out everything you needed? We really need to shut down the site now.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. All right. Fine.

Lyn (JJ): Will you be in contact with us at all for any follow ups or?

Mischa (Ravonna): Sure.

Mischa: And she pulls out a calling card and hands it to you. It just, it, it's just like very simple. It just says, “Ravonna, Inspector– Special Inspector, Governor's Office.”

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: And then she says,

Mischa (Ravonna): All right. Get home safe.

Mayanna (Fran): Thanks, we will.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. Cecilia, will you be okay You'll I don't want to assume that you wouldn't be okay after—Oh god, okay, let me do that again.

Mayanna (Fran): You got this. You got this.

Mischa (Cecilia): You got this. Hey. Hey. JJ?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah?

Mischa (Cecilia): You can do this.

Lyn (JJ): Thanks. Cecilia, thank you for getting everyone to safety. I'm glad that you're okay. Will you be okay getting home?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, it’s—I’ll…I’ll be fine getting home as long as I don't get, I don't know, accosted by ghosts in the street. Is that a thing that happens now?

Mayanna (Fran): I guess so?

Lyn (JJ): I don’t know.

Mayanna: I think as we're leaving the building I also like, Look at the axe, the pickaxe one more time, and I also look at like, the giant gaping hole in the floor as we leave because I'm just like, so, like, floored by the idea that yeah, there's like ghosts in the grid. I guess? Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Do you wanna come with us too? Are you feeling safe?

Mischa (Cecilia): I think I'm just gonna go home.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mayanna: I give her a little hug.

Mischa (Cecilia): Thanks. I just… are you gonna be okay?

Mayanna (Fran): I am out of a job for several days and I am—there’s a ghost, so, no! But I'll be okay. I think. Maybe. Somehow.

Mischa (Cecilia): It's hard to feel safe when there's ghosts that could attack anywhere randomly.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. In the electric city? Yeah.

Mischa: And she, she starts walking towards, you know, a bike station or like, some transit. And she gets a little ways down the sidewalk and turns back and is like:

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey Fran?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah?

Mischa (Cecilia): I don't think I'm going to tell anyone about this.

Mayanna (Fran): I think that makes sense.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): That makes sense. I don't think I'm going to tell anybody else about this.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Mayanna (Fran): You're leaving for a couple days, right?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Whispering to herself) Could ghosts attack the funicular?

Mischa: And she, like, walks off kind of muttering to herself, scaredly.

Mayanna: Oh, poor Cecilia. And I remember because she told me that she's scared all the time. Last, last time, so, that I feel very sad that this is just another thing for her to be worried about right now.

Mischa: Exactly. Samira stands up and like her hands are shaking a little bit and she's like:

Mischa (Samira): So… I'm going to be awake for the next three days. So if you're up late at night, text me.

Mayanna (Fran): Do you want to come with us? Do you want to crash with us?

Bex (Ibra): I've got a suite, there's room.

Mischa (Samira): Oh my god, I totally forgot you're rich as hell.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I, I forgot. I was really trying to plan the layout in my apartment.

Bex (Ibra): Oh no, I was inviting all of you over to mine.

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Ian: I was inviting all of you over to mine! No, that's not true. I live in a closet.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, that sounds… Yeah, that sounds great.

Bex (Ibra): Deep breaths. Slow breaths.

Mayanna (Fran): Come with us, let's go to… your place?

Mischa (Samira): You guys are like scary competent. I talk a big game.

Lyn (JJ): Don't, no, don't say that. Come on.

Lyn: I just, like, hold out my arm. I was like:

Lyn (JJ): Let’s go.

Mischa: She holds your arm, and then, like, as you walk off towards Ibra's apartment, kind of, like, sneakily, like, pokes your bicep a little bit. Yeah, you get back to Ibra's apartment. [SFX: door squeaks open]. Samira as soon as you walk in the door, Samira's like,

Mischa (Samira): Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go lie down. I'll see you guys in the morning. And then, like, wanders off into a room.

Bex (Ibra): She's gonna sleep in the laundry? Okay.

Lyn (JJ): She can actually sleep anywhere. It's one of her special skills. She did that all the time growing up.

Ian: I immediately walk into the kitchen and like start opening cupboards and find coffee, or like, tea.

Mischa: Sure. It’s like night.

Ian: Yeah, so I'm brewing like a calming cup of a calming pot of ginger hibiscus tea with lemon.

Bex (Ibra): Smells good.

Mayanna (Fran): It does.

Bex (Ibra): Whatcha doing?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, just helps me think.

Mischa: Hold on one second. I'm looking up the mechanics of something.

Ian: Oh, great.

Mischa: You all gained two temporary HP.

Ian: I don't even ask, but I like open your fridge and I'm pulling out eggs and stuff. I'm just like whipping together little scallion cheese omelettas—like the mini omelettes. [SFX: dishes clinking, steam sizzling on a pan].

Bex: Eggs are good for any time. But also—

Lyn: You need the protein.

Bex: My, my health is down. Yes. I think I've got like, just a little bit of a crusty, like, that just itches a little bit, and I'm not even noticing it.

Mayanna (Fran): Can I dab it? I'll just like dab it. Yeah. It's dripping.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): Did you not feel that?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, I—I did, but it's been a while, so now it's, now it's just weird, like, texture. It's like scabby.

Mayanna (Fran): That makes sense.

Mischa: I wouldn't worry about HP too much, we're gonna long rest.

Lyn: Can I do a flavor even though we're about to long rest?

Mischa: Okay, sure.

Lyn: I'd like to use my channel divinity, Balm of Peace.

Mischa. Okay.

Lyn: This normally is an in combat thing, but I'm using it out of combat.

Mischa: Okay.

[SFX: low, calming music begins].

Lyn: As an action, you can move up to your speed without provoking opportunity attacks, and when you move within five feet of any other creature during this action, you can restore 2d6 plus 3 hit points to that creature. A creature can receive this healing only once whenever you take this action.

Mischa: Whoa!

Lyn: So I think like as you're dabbing Ibra's head, I will also approach just like with the feeling of like camaraderie, but also like, these are my friends. I'm like, we were in danger and now that we're out of danger, I want to help and just kinda like in the spirit of alleviating the anxiety that we're all feeling is like,

Lyn (JJ): You okay, bud?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, thanks. I feel better.

Lyn: It would be max. Not actually max, but you would regain to max.

Ian: So around the counter. I feel like we're standing around a counter—I think we're sitting.

Mayanna: Yeah, kitchen island vibes.

Ian: Yeah, I'm at I bring this conversation up to us, but it really I'm secretly asking our team. This ghost.

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: Or rather the war that was fought recently, semi recently, right? Like the war is how long ago?

Mischa: Yeah, about 60 years before, a little under 60 years before our campaign, the world was at war against these angry beasts that drove civilization to like the brink of existence. And the war was ended in one big move. The war was ended, the tides turned, those things were eradicated entirely. And it sort of left the world to you, to the forces of, you know, not humanity, quote unquote, because we have multiple versions of sentient beings here, but like the forces of civilizations triumphed. And in the 60 years since this city has become the city that it is.

Ian: So that's recent history. So we all must know all of that information.

Mischa: Yeah, I mean, in fact, like, I don't think any of you would have known a world where the war was happening, but I think, probably, at the very least, JJ's parents possibly, Ibra's parents probably?

Bex: Probably.

Mischa: So, you know JJ's parents have a slightly longer lifespan, they're half dwarves. Ibra's parents…Ibra’s parents…

Bex: They’re wealthy enough to live longer than they ever should.

Mischa: Right. So they're, they're humans, but they're sort of like artificially extending their lifespans a little bit with their resources.

Ian: And Gordon's parents?

Mischa: We haven't talked a lot about Gordon's parents. I would probably say since you and Fran are humans, maybe your grandparents were alive during the war.

Mayanna: Yeah. So they would talk about it and I was kind of like disinterested, but like I did receive a version of the information.

Lyn: We had to learn about in our history classes.

Ian: So the reason I'm asking is because that war was fought definitively against beasts, not ghosts.

Mischa: Correct. The history lessons and like, what everybody knows, they were beasts. And these are not beasts.

Ian: Yes.

Mischa: I don't know if you can even tell what they are.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, right right right.

Bex: Goo with electricity!

[SFX: suspenseful, thoughtful music begins].

Mayanna: Can I roll for investigation with the information I've learned to see if I can glean any way that I could add some sort of type of Astra thing to my bullets?

Mischa: So Fran, you're a craftsman.

Mayanna: Mm hmm.

Mischa: More so than most other classes in Dungeons and Dragons, I would say. You're about spending your downtime creating and modifying items. I have to imagine that the Craftsman rules include a way to make your weapon into a magical weapon.

Mayanna: Yeah, I think there is.

Mischa: So I don't think you need to roll for that, is what I'm saying. I think, like, you already have the mechanics.

Mayanna: Yeah, I have all the notes I took, I have my gun. Yeah. And I think while you guys are talking, I'm just kind of quietly, like, detaching pieces and like—

Lyn (JJ): Do you want some textbooks to help you with that?

Mayanna (Fran): Do you have textbooks? Aren't you like—Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

Lyn: Just like multiple engineering textbooks.

Mayanna: Yes, like while we're chatting on the kitchen island, like, I'm just I rolled out, like, my little tool belt, I have, like, my little work mat. And I'm just, like, whittling away at my gun. Like, I never want to be in a situation again where, like, I'm caught off guard without a magic situation.

Mischa: I don't know if as an apprentice craftsman, magical is one of the tags available to you. It's the beginning of the campaign. Y'all are level two.

Mayanna: So maybe I'm remembering what I saw. I'm like looking at the components that I have. And I think I'm just going to try to like, like basically just like try to stick a piece of Astra to a bullet and see what happens. And obviously nothing.

Mischa: So here's a question then. Thorgunn Boomslaang, your mentor.

Ian: Worst name I ever came up with.

Mischa: It’s so good though.

Ian: I really stuck us with that last name.

Mischa: It’s excellent. He was the pioneer of a, like, liquid power source. Like an alternate power source to solid Astra crystals. He used little vials of liquid.

Mayanna: I'd like to liquid dip a bullet, please.

[Cheers].

Ian: Shit just got real!

Mischa: I love that.

Mayanna: Like, cause I, I presume at some point, he has given me at least one vial of this liquid magical component that I've held on to for some reason.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Please tell me you're wearing safety equipment.

Mayanna: Yeah, of course.

Lyn: Eye protection.

Ian: She's got gloves.

Mischa: You dip some of your bullets in the liquid magic source and I think if you still, if you want this to be your like craftsman crafting for the next day, here's what I would love to trade you. I think that we can add your first apprentice masterwork tag to your weapon.

Mayanna: Hooray!

Mischa: I think you dip the bullets and then they come out with sort of like a pearlescent sheen across the shell [SFX: shimmery chime] and you load it into your gun and, well, probably not in the apartment.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Where do you go?

Mayanna: I think I'll, do you have a balcony of some sort?

Ian: Just firing off some balcony shots.

Mayanna (Fran): I think, like, do you have, do you have any potted plants you don't care about?

Ian: Jesus Christ!

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, actually. My sibling got me this one and it's kind of dying.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, perfect.

Mayanna: So I'm going to just put it on a little coffee table on the balcony and I'm going to just shoot it. I'm going to shoot the pot.

Mischa: As you're about to shoot it, Samira opens the thing, like,

Mischa (Samira): Hey girl, do you have some mouthwash?

Mischa: And it throws off your concentration. You like turn and you fire the bullet [SFX: chime], but it curves and still hits the thing [SFX: clay pot breaking]. Oh, I think you can add the tag “sighted” to your weapon. The properties of sighted are it's normal range increases by 50 feet, it's long range also increases by 50 feet, and this weapon has a disadvantage on attack rolls made against targets within 20 feet of you.

Mayanna: Woah.

Mischa: Yeah, so now it's harder to hit something close to you with your gun, but it increases the range of it.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Lyn: It makes it a sniper essentially.

Mischa: Yeah, it makes it into a sniper.

Mayanna: So the bullet just kind of like goes to the pot regardless?

Mischa: It bends slightly towards your intended target.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Mischa: The way I want you to think about this is that you've coated these bullets in magical conductive material. And magic works based on intentions and your intention when you fire a gun is to hit something. So you have bullets that now can hit things slightly further away

Mayanna: Incredible. Thank you so much.

Mischa: What a cool system this craftsman thing.

Mayanna: I’m so excited to show this to Thorgunn. He's gonna be so proud of me. I don't know yet. Someday, I'll find out.

Lyn (JJ): Is there a phone in your apartment?

Bex: There's a landline in the bedroom, so that my parents can always reach me at any time of night.

Mischa: Oof. Big oof for me over here.

Ian: That's a major oof.

Bex (Ibra): Unfortunately, yes, I do.

Lyn (JJ): May I borrow it for a bit?

Bex (Ibra): Anytime. Please.

Lyn: Cool. I'd like to call my house? My parents? My house?

Ian: Phone a friend?

Lyn: Phone a dad?

Mischa: So your tay picks up.

Mischa (JJ’s dad): JJ, how are you doing? Are you okay?

Lyn (JJ): I've, short answer: mostly.

Mischa (JJ’s dad): Okay, is, is there anything, you know, your father and I, we were down at the worksite all day.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, how, what, how bad was it?

Mischa (JJ’s dad): Oh my goodness, so many things, there were collapsed bridge columns and debris strewn everywhere, we had to—

Mischa: and he sort of like, goes off, and like starts telling you about his day.

Lyn: There's part that's just like I kind of relax with it. I'm just like, Oh, okay.

Mischa: And then I think probably like 20 minutes pass of him just sort of describing and there's even things like:

Mischa (JJ’s dad): Oh, and you know this person was not paying attention so the dig pile slid down this way, and oh, it was a mess to clean up. Oh! But you, you are doing okay?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah…  thanks. Some stuff happened. I don’t… You work in electrical mostly, right?

[SFX: suspenseful music begins].

Mischa (JJ’s dad): Yes.

Lyn (JJ): Are ghosts normal?

Mischa (JJ’s dad): My darling, you said ghosts?

Lyn (JJ): Yes. Ghosts.

Mischa (JJ’s dad): I don't think ghosts are normal….

Lyn (JJ): Okay, great. That answers my question.

Mischa (JJ’s dad): Okay?

Lyn (JJ): Love you. Good night. Bye.

Ian: Hang up. Click. Hard click.

Mayanna: My darling. I don't think ghosts are normal.

Mischa: I think about five minutes later, your dad texts you.

Mischa (JJ’s dad): Hey, hon. Everything all right?

Lyn (JJ): Yep… J chillin….?

[Laughter].

Mischa: J Chlllin!?

Mayanna: JJ Chillin!

Bex (Ibra): JJ Chillin!

Lyn (JJ): love you, bye!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: Aw, you text like you talk.

Mischa: I’m still, like, I completely froze on “J Chillin.” I cannot get off of that. Okay!

Lyn: And then, like, a minute later it just goes,

Lyn (JJ): Sorry, with friends right now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you bye!

Mischa: You get back a thumbs up emoticon.

Lyn: Great. That's so funny. Perfect. So good.

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon, how are you feeling now that you've been cooking for a little bit?

Ian (Gordon): Feeling pretty good.

Mischa: Yeah?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, except I've used all of the ingredients in your kitchen. I'm sorry.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that's, that's okay. I get a new grocery delivery in three days.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: Then I just, I'm like, I'm just staring at you.

Ian (Gordon): You just get them all delivered?

Mayanna (Fran): To your house?

Bex (Ibra): I've got this whole thing where like, they want to take control of my diet from the doctor's office. So if I've, I've made a deal where if they send me the food that they want me to be eating, I'll eat it, but otherwise I'm eating what I want to eat.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Who’s they?

Bex (Ibra): The doctors.

Mayanna (Fran): So like plural doctors?

[SFX: suspenseful music begins].

Bex (Ibra): Well there there's one that I see, but there's like a whole panel that he answers to. I’m…

Lyn (JJ): you can have more than one doctor?

Mayanna (Fran): You do. You do realize, like, I've worked with you for a while now and this has somehow never come up?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. I don't, I think Paz is the only person who I've told about it.

Mayanna (Fran): Does Paz also have multiple doctors?

Bex (Ibra): Paz, Paz just has health issues. I have multiple doctors because I'm a science experiment.

Ian (Gordon): Is that what all this is for?

Ian: And then I pull up a Tupperware that is just full of pills of various colors and forms. [SFX: plastic rattling].

Mayanna: Oh. My god.

Bex (Ibra): Huh. That would be that. Those are… those are a lot of supplements and vitamins.  [SFX: plastic rattling].

Ian: I shake it, it just, like the rattling is so many vials.

Mayanna (Fran): So you're like some kind of super soldier?

Lyn (JJ): The math does add up to that with what you've told us in the past two hours.

Bex (Ibra): I guess I could be… yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You didn't know about this either, JJ?

Lyn (JJ): No, I just thought that, you know, rich health nut.

Mayanna (Fran): You guys like work together?

Lyn (JJ): You like granola or something.

Mayanna (Fran): I guess, yeah, that’s fair.

Bex (Ibra): I mean, like, I, you know how I don't get along with my parents great, but I still see them every week?

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Mhmm.

Bex (Ibra): They sort of signed away my, my health information. In order to have me exist. So I'm technically made of Astra.

All: What?!

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. That's why I've only told Paz. My siblings and I are the first. I don't actually know if there have been any other after us, but that's kind of why they signed our information away, so that we could figure out if it's viable to have more children created from Astra, for people who can't have their own. And my parents, are way too old to have their own. Even with the enhancements and accommodations. So, they had to create me, and my siblings.

Mayanna (Fran): Like a, like a test tube baby?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay you do understand that that sounds…insane right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, like it's so fun.

Lyn (JJ): Sounds like fun.

Mayanna (Fran): It sounds terrible.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. No, it sounds really bad. That sounds not good. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. Okay. You got any food I can eat, Gordon?

Ian (Gordon): I made a giant casserole.

Mayanna (Fran): Great! I'm gonna just chomp on casserole, cause this is breaking my brain right now.

Mischa: Yeah, you—Gordon plunks down a big ol casserole dish, Samira's already in another room sleeping, I think the four of you just kind of like all take forks into the casserole dish and just sit around it kind of silently eating. And once it's done, and once you guys have eaten your fill, it's, it's just kind of like an awkward air of silence, but it's getting late.

Mayanna: I think I'm gonna just grab the blanket from the couch and, and meander towards the guest room.

Ian: Dragging behind you, slow, like you're wearing the blanket like a cape.

Mayanna: Yes. Yeah, exactly.

Ian: And it's just dragging.

Mayanna: Exactly.

Mischa: Like, some kind of depowered version of your showstopper cloak, just pulling it around you hoping this blanket has the same kind of protection?

Mayanna: Yes. My world is rocked. Yeah.

Bex: Ibra goes and checks all the doors and windows, the locks, twice before going into the bedroom and leaving that door open.

Lyn: I think I'll, at some point, pull Samira out of the laundry room and at least try and set up like on the couch with her and be like don’t….

Mischa: Roll persuasion.

Mayanna: Nice.

Ian: Yeah, my bet is that door is locked. [Dice rolls].

Lyn: 2.

Mischa: Trying to get any dwarf but especially Samira to give up her sleeping location is like trying to wake a stone.

Lyn: Fine. I Do the thing that we've always done, which is I just curl up next to her. I make a better pile of the clothing. I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): Oh, you always, there are towels, right? Use the towels.

Bex: There’s like four stacks of clean sheets right next to where she is.

Mischa: You all sort of make your sleep spots and attempt to get some rest after a very long day. And the apartment is dark. This is like a nicer apartment. So it's kind of higher up in the building, the lights of the city. feel a little further away, and I think there's a little while where all four of you lay in bed and wait for another weird dream to hit you. But fortunately tonight, none does. 

All: Yay!

Mischa: But we'll see what the next day brings. Because, at this point, it really could be anything.

[Theme music begins].

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Misha Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafil, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. 

If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

Mischa: We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Till next time!

[Theme music fades out].

1.01 Time To Wake Up, Little One

Four friends share a haunting vision… then get ready for a party. Fran searches for inspiration. Ibra gets a check-up. Gordon promises a favor. JJ gets a philosophy lesson.

**Check out our worldbuilding episodes to see how we built the City of New Prosper, and learn more about the themes & characters driving our first story!**

-- links --
Website: wanderingpathpod.com
Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --
Created by Mischa Stanton
Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton
Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus
JJ: Lyn Rafil
Gordon: Ian McQuown
Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton
Cover art: Lyn Rafil
Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --
The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

Mischa: You come to consciousness in total darkness.

[SFX: deep bass. Music begins. Low, suspenseful thrumming reverberating].

Mischa: You can't see anything in any direction for as long as it goes. You take a step forward, and as your foot hits an impossibly smooth surface in black on black [SFX: a thunk of footfall onto a glass-like surface], a tower of glowing crystal formations spawn beneath your feet [SFX: crackling and crumbling], descending into the depths below. And every step you take spawns a new tower of crystals, leaving a trail of them behind up [SFX: repeated crunching footstep thuds]. I want to roll–

Ian: Jesus

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Holy moly.

Mischa: –our first roll. I want to roll a wisdom saving throw.

[Shouting].

Lyn: Shut up!

[Laughter]. [Dice rolls].

Mayanna: 15.

Bex: 16.

Lyn: Would you believe it or not, a Nat 1!

All: No!

[Laughter].

Mischa: What a way to start, Lyn!

Ian: (Sing songy) It’s not going well!

Lyn: And I have proficiency in that! I have plus five to this!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: Something feels right about the first crit of the campaign being a one.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ibra.

Bex: Oh no.

Mischa: You look behind you at the glowing trail, and the columns of crystal growing into the floor–this impossible surface–have now illumnated you to yourself. Now that you're facing them, the light bounces off of the front of you, and you see that you are dressed in resplendent, pristine armor that form fits to you, that you have never seen before, a style of which you are incredibly unfamiliar. Nobody makes armor like this. A mystery for another time, you turn back around and keep walking.

Mischa: Eventually, you come to a place that feels like the meeting place. Something inside of you says that this is the meeting place. And across a flat courtyard, you can see backlit at other cardinal directions three more figures, each silhouetted in armor. What do you do?

Bex: Are they evenly spaced, or is one–

Mischa: They are.

Bex: And they're equally far from me?

Mischa: Yes. Well, geometry. But, you know, hypotenuse or whatever. Hypotenuse or whatever.

[Laughter].

Bex: Hypotenuse or whatever. I want to hypotenuse this and go for the one that's sort of the quickest trajectory.

Mischa: So, that would just be moving straight ahead, because your already sort of moment is carrying you. You run across the flat expanse. You try to make it to the person across the way from you, and you take a few steps forward and splash [SFX: splashing] into a pool of water.

Mischa: As soon as you do, the steps you take [SFX: low reverberating thud] illuminate a crystal formation now that encompasses the entire center, a pool of water with a glowing crystal formation that's shaped like a funnel that curves in, and goes down and down and down as far as you can see. The funnel's light starts pulsing [SFX: low throbbing hum], beating, like a heartbeat. And all four of you, in the back of your mind, hear a whisper.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispering) It's happening again.

Mayanna: (Under breath) What?

Bex: I get out of the pool.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, you scramble back to the surface. [SFX: splashing].

Bex: I stand up, and I sort of get a better awareness of, of my situation. I look at everything that's been illuminated so far, everything that I can see.

Mischa: Yeah, the lightest thing you can see is the trails of each other person's footsteps in cascading crystal columns behind them. Each of these three figures are backlit, and their silhouettes are kind of imposing in their resplendent armor.

Bex: Does–The armor looks like mine, right?

Mischa: Yes. The armor looks–Although you've never seen any other piece of armor like it, their armor looks like yours.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Bex: My heart sort of skips a beat at feeling like there's something that I'm part of even though I have no idea what it is. I can tell that there's something here, and I'm a part of it.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: I think I start to follow the footsteps towards my compatriots around– I-I go around the pool if I can.

Mischa: Yeah, sure. You sort of skim the edge now that you can see this bright, glowing pool. You approach the figure around the circle to your left. How do you get their attention?

Bex: Can I see their face, or is this silhouette completely obscuring?

Mischa: Currently they're facing in such a way that the silhouette is completely obscuring, but you could call out to them.

Bex: I call out very tentatively,

Bex (Ibra): Friend?

Mischa: JJ, is that Ibra's voice?

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Lyn (JJ): Ibra, what, what, um, hi?

Bex (Ibra): JJ?

Lyn (JJ): Yes?

Bex (Ibra): Uh, hold on, this is not Gwen's office. Wha–?

Lyn (JJ): I really hope not.

Mischa: Just at that moment [SFX: large boom, fire crackling], a star ignites overhead, illuminating the entire rest of the courtyard below around this strip mine filled with water. You can now see the faces of the other two figures. It's Gordon and Fran from Boggins’.

Bex (Ibra): What?

Mischa: And they're dressed in exactly the same kind of resplendent armor that you are.

Ian (Gordon): Wow, look at this. Oh my gosh, this is so swanky.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I should take notes. Okay, so what do we got? Gloves? Slay. Boots? We love to see it. Shoulder pads? Wow, whoever did this is an artist.

Ian (Gordon): You look amazing.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, you look amazing.

Ian (Gordon): Thank you!

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. I–I have no idea who made these, but I must find out.

Lyn (JJ): We all look amazing, but is no one concerned about what's going on?

Mischa: The star shines bright overhead, illuminating the rest of the field around you.

Ian (Gordon): Wow, bright.

Mischa: And now that you look around, you can see vaguely humanoid shadows.

Ian (Gordon): Hm.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa: The front of their heads all tilted up looking directly at the star. Myriads and myriads, infinite forms stretching into the dark distance are now slightly illuminated by the star. They stand there, shadowy mouths agape, mesmerized. And you hear the voice again.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispering) They don't remember. How could they?

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) You-you guys heard that too right?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) Absolutely.

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh my god.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, this is getting a little creepy now.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Did we take something?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) I think it is telling us to whisper. Are we not allowed to–or are we–

Ian (Gordon): I don't know. I just don't I don't want to spook these other guys.

Lyn: Can I look at the star?

Mischa: Yeah. Roll a constitution saving throw.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Roll better this time.

[Laughter]. [Dice rolls].

Ian: Nat one, your eyes are burned out of your head.

Lyn: 15.

Mayanna: (Relieved) Whew.

Mischa: You look up at the star and the center of it is blinding especially in the middle of this vast darkness. [SFX: twinkling chimes]. But the more you look, as your eyes get attuned to the brightness, as you shield yourself in just the right way, you can see that this isn't just a burning circle. This star has points, that it's a four pointed star ringed by a rainbow corona. And actually, as you continue to stare at it, the corona– it's hard to tell because what does light look like when it's spinning? But you do get the sense that the corona starts spinning faster and faster and it expands outwards. It contracts and pulses and expands. And falls into the center, and boom! [SFX: large thud and echoing ringing] expands out into a full ring around the star, filled with five other bright shining points.

Ian: Ah!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Everybody, except for JJ, needs to roll a dexterity save.

Mayanna: Ooh, boy-oh. [Dice rolls]. Oh no! 1! Oh no! Oh no!

Lyn: We're getting them out of the way. We're getting them out of the way. It's fine.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Imagine if your Nat Ones, and I just killed you in the opening sequence.

Lyn: Honestly? Baller.

Mayanna: In the dreamscape?

Ian: 16.

Bex: 15.

Mischa: Okay. The light blasts outward from the center of the star, and eventually, after a moment, the shockwave reaches the surface of the water, expands outward across it, and blows everybody backwards.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Fran, the blustering wind, howling wind, sort of knocks your face aside.

Mayanna (Fran): (Grunt).

Mischa: And you lose sight of what's going on. The rest of you can see that whatever smooth glass like surface you were walking on before you got here gets blasted away by the shockwave. [SFX: shattering]. All that's left are floating platforms wherever your footfalls created a pillar of crystal.

Ian (Gordon): Okay. This is officially the weirdest dream I've ever had.

Mischa: Around you, the phantasmal forms have their surfaces seared away. [SFX: rustling]. It bleaches the shadows white and whips across the heads of their forms, and draws long wispy tendrils out of their heads. It blasts the smooth surface of their face plates away until there's a grimace of bearing teeth. And they're all still staring eyelessly, wordlessly up at the crown of light.

Ian: Is it loud or is it, you know, like do we hear the wind rushing and the burning and the all of it or is it more…

Mayanna: Unsettling silence?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Imagine both.

Mayanna: No!

Ian: Ugh, fucker.

Mayanna: I don't want to.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Is it like that thing that what happens after like a concert or something where the rush of your own like blood in your head?

Mayanna: Ooh. Ugh.

Mischa: Yeah, I think so. Your heartbeat?

[Disgust].

Mischa: But it's it's coming from somewhere external. Usually with that sound I can tell like oh that's in my ears. That's in my biology. That's like a sound that my brain is creating. You can tell exactly where this is coming from.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: We don't have swords with this armor, right? We're just in armor?

Mischa: Have you looked yet?

[Intrigue].

Ian: I start to feel around my body.

Mischa: You feel a weapon belt with a scabbard.

Ian (Gordon): (Excited) Ooh.

Mischa: And pouches for different materials and vials for different concoctions. All of them are empty.

(Gasps).

Ian: Bummer.

Mischa: You hear the voice again, the moment you can hear sound again.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispering) Someone should warn them.

Ian: I definitely draw my sword. I don't know what at, but I'm freaking out at this point.

Mayanna: It's just the handle, right?

Mischa: You don't have a sword, it's just the sheath.

Mayanna: The holder.

Ian: Oh! Oh! Oh no!

Mischa: You grope for your sword, hoping desperately that there will be something there to protect you from whatever is coming from above, and your hand gropes air, and you feel nothing.

Ian: Oh my gosh.

Mayanna: I'm gonna just start going up to– How far away are the humanoid figures from where we are?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: They're standing on your footsteps, they're three feet behind you.

Mayanna: Okay, I'm gonna turn around and start, like, shaking them, like,

Mayanna (Fran): You gotta get out of here! You gotta get out of here!

Mischa: Roll a charisma save.

Mayanna: Oh my god, oh my god. [Dice rolls]. 14 plus 1. 15.

Mischa: This one turns its gaze away–

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Towards you–

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: And it has no eyes.

Mayanna: Okay!

Mischa: It just has like a face plate–

Mayanna: Alright.

Mischa: Drawn back into tendrils–

Mayanna: Okiedokie. Okay.

Mischa: And its teeth bear to the surface, open slightly, and like a raspy breath breathes out into your face. [SFX: chilling exhale].

Mayanna (Fran): Alright. Very cool. You should still go! Get away from here! It's dangerous. (Scared) I don't know. Somebody told me to warn you.

Bex: Do I have my shield?

Mischa: You reach onto your back where your ever present shield should always be, and you feel it bare.

Bex: (Angry groans).

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: In fact, the clasps of your sash, your belt that holds it to your back, are broken.

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Mischa: As though something tore your shield away.

Bex: (Groan).

Mischa: You look back up to the sky, and a streak of golden fire [SFX: firecracker streaks] comes down from outside your field of vision, and collides with the crown of light [SFX: echoing boom]. More unseen force blasts outward from the center, blowing the phantasms to ghostly ash and dust around you. The only platforms left are the ones you're standing on. I need everyone to make a strength save.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: Jesus.

Mayanna: 19.

Ian: (Cackles).

Bex: Oh, that doesn't help. I have a plus 5 to this save. I rolled a 4. [Laughter]. I got a 9, baby.

Mischa: Not gonna do it.

Bex: No.

Lyn: 13.

Ian: So then a 3. [Laughter]. Gonna be honest, this is all a little too much for Junior Baker. I have to tell you.

Mischa: Yeah. Ibra and Gordon, you are blown off of your platforms and fall into the now ash white void.

Ian: Sick.

Mischa: Fran and JJ, you manage to hang on to the edge of your platforms to hear one last message.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispers) The path is set, but maybe not the destination.

Mayanna (Fran): (Scared) Okay.

Mischa: You can resist just long enough to hear that one extra message before you two are blown back off of your platforms and blown into the endless white void. Backwards and backwards, falling and falling until your entire vision is white.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispers) Time to wake up little one. Lots to do.

Mayanna: You're telling me, buddy. Oh my god.

[Theme music].

Mischa: Hello, and welcome to The Wandering Path. Thank you so much for being here. My name is Mischa Stanton, pronouns xe/they, and I am gonna be your game master for this first story here on the podcast. Before we get started, why don't we go around the table and introduce y'all's characters?

[Cheers]. [SFX: ambient twinkling music begins in the background].

Mayanna: Hi, I'm Mayanna Barron. My pronouns are she/her. I'll be playing Fran Weaver, whose pronouns are also she/her. She's a human woman. She's about 5'5 She's got tan skin and a curvy build. She's also got bright eyes and a calm yet passionate demeanor. She works as a waitress, but she's got bigger aspirations of being a fashion designer. Her class is craftsmen. So she focuses predominantly on like making stuff, especially during like downtime. So Mischa and I have worked out like a resource management system.

Mischa: Yeah. We're pulling a lot of our classes for this campaign from the book, Valda's Spire of Secrets by Mage Hand Press.

Mayanna: Yeah. I've never-I've never done it before, so I'm very excited. And her aspiration is to craft really beautiful items of clothing that hopefully the wealthy people in the Constellation will wear that has Astra and magic infused into every fiber.

Bex: Hello, I'm Bex Taylor-Klaus, pronouns they/them. I am playing Ibra Bracha-Shinmar, pronouns also they/them. Ibra appears human. They stand about six foot tall, athletic build. Think like baseball player, they got that good butt and good shoulders.

Mischa: Nice.

Bex: They appear human but with a very distinctive mark on their forehead that indicates that they are actually a hexblood. That's the base, and we're sort of re-skinning it for our wonderful world that we've created. I am also playing the warden class, which is another class taken from the wonderful Valda’s Spire of Secrets. Thank you, Mage Hand Press!

[Cheers].

Bex: Ibra is a privileged judicial law student with no idea what their dreams are quite yet because they've been at the mercy of their parents and doctors’ wills for their entire existence. That is also a little bit of a hint as to why their skin coloring is just a little bit blue?

Mischa: We'll find out!

Lyn: Hi, my name is Lyn Rafill, my pronouns are they/them, and I'll be playing JJ Calderon, pronouns she/they. JJ is a half dwarf, so short for a human, tall for a dwarf, standing at a great 4'10”. Dark tan skin, hair cropped very much into like an Eton crop, very 20s-esque. Just wearing a bunch of hand me down workwear that has been repurposed into like business casual. It's fine. It works out mostly okay. There are too many pockets. So JJ is supposed to be an engineering student and has recently found their way into becoming a peace cleric as a common person learning to be a better person. They're slacking off on their classes. It's fine. They're fine!

[Laughter].

Bex: They're doing great.

Lyn: They're just fine.

[Laughter].

Ian: Amazing. Hi, my name is Ian McQuown, pronouns, he/him, and I'm playing Gordon Baker. Also pronouns, he/him. Gordon Baker is an alchemist, which is a bomb maker, with a subclass of apothecary, which is like healing. So, we're-we're kind of playing with healing bombs and we're flavoring that as chef. Or! Baker.

[Laughter].

Ian: The inspiration for Gordon is big Tombo energy from Kiki's Delivery Service. And then Gordon is a baker in a-in one of the guilds. that, like, rule this world, basically. Gordon wants to succeed and like, climb the ranks of the guild, for sure. But, but really, he's just a goofy, fun guy, lookin to have fun, fall in love, hang out with his friends. You know, just the basic stuff. Ride his bicycle around a cobblestone city.

Mayanna: Ah, the dream.

Mischa: Man, aren't we all?

Ian: Right?

Mischa: Isn't that what we're all just lookin for?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Sweet, thank you. So now that we know who exactly will be the heroes of this story, let's get in there.

[Cheers]. [SFX: Music ends].

Mayanna: Here we go!

Mischa: The city of New Prosper.

[SFX: Music begins in the background: pensive, wistful piano].

Mischa: A magitech powered metropolis. A shining beacon of civilization and hope. Bright Lights. Big City. New Prosper was founded almost 60 years ago, in the wake of a long, bitter war with the Balvarox, roving packs of horrible beasts that brought humans, elves, dwarves, capras, and saurids alike to the brink of extinction. Since then, New Prosper has grown into a thriving, sprawling, beating heart of a city, the largest in the world, all thanks to Astra, a crystalline fuel source for electrical and magical energy. Astra has enabled great architectural marvels, arcane wonders, and levels of everyday convenience past generations couldn't even have dreamt of. For those who can get it, of course. In Upper Prosper, the hovering-megafortress-turned-seat-of-power for its ruling classes, Astra enables good health, fortune, and dreams of grand design.

Mischa: Meanwhile below, in Lower Prosper, where the Astra miners’ shantytown has exploded out into a vast sea of tightly packed buildings and streets awash with millions of souls. To them, Astra provides the small conveniences that let them hope for more. One day, they'll be able to earn enough, have it all, if they can only get their feet under them. Maybe one day.

Mischa: New Prosper. A city of plenty. Plenty of hopes and dreams. Of plans and schemes. New It's a shining beacon over a dark pit. It's wildly magical and profoundly mundane. It's ecstatic and painful. It's beautiful and horrific. It's inspiring and terrifying and everything in between. It's a place where the past sprints day and night to keep pace with the oncoming future. It's a pressure cooker, and one day it might fulfill your every fantasy or drive you completely mad. But until then, it's a busy day with lots to do.

[SFX: Music ends].

[Groaning].

Ian: What the fuck?!

[Groaning and screaming].

Ian: How much do we remember?

Mischa: I just told it to you.

Ian: Great. All of it.

Mayanna: Great.

Ian: Crystal clear.

Mischa: Yeah. It's a busy day in the city of New Prosper. Bread to bake. Pipes to fix. People to wait on at Boggins’ Bee-stro inexplicably.

Mayanna: Yuck.

Mischa: There's a lot to get done especially if you guys are going to get ready for Paz’s birthday party tonight.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, man. Alright.

Bex (Ibra): Yes!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I got a lot to do.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, I've been waiting for this night for so many weeks. I have so many gifts. I'm so excited.

Mischa: Let's roll initiative to see who we follow first.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: 14.

Lyn: I got a 10.

Mischa: Doing great.

Bex: Natural yeet.

Mischa: Nice!

Mayanna: Natural yeet.

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Yeet! 20 crew!

Mischa: Whoa! Fight to the death about it. No.

Mayanna: Oh no!

Bex: What do you have? What do you have?

Mayanna: Plus 3, so 22.

Bex: Oh, you win.

Mayanna: Whoa!

Mischa: So, Fran.

Mayanna: Hello! Good morning.

Mischa: You wake up in your…

Mayanna: (Sigh). Modest apartment.

Mischa: Modest apartment.

Mayanna: The most modest apartment.

Mischa: In the Barra, the entertainment district of New Prosper.

Mayanna: And it looks way less glamorous in the sobering light of morning.

Mischa: As opposed to the neon light of night? [Laughter]. It's never not bright in this apartment.

Mayanna: It's never not bright. I have what I was told were blackout shades, but they're not doing what they were supposed to do. So I get up, I'm gonna wash my little face. You gotta, you gotta get a good skin care routine going. Brush my teeth, put on my little uniform. But I like to– I-I'm a big quick change girly, so I usually wear the uniform as the base layer, but then I'll try to throw a cool jacket or something else over it. I'm not– I'm not just a waitress, okay? I've got other things going on, allegedly.

Mischa: Did you make the jacket?

Mayanna: I did make the jacket.

Bex: It looks sick.

Mayanna: It's a nice little jacket. Thank you so much. I have a little–little fringy sleeves and little fun little pocket detailing. This was really like my leather work era. You know, it was a fun era. Yeah. So. Live and learn.

Mischa: Back when– back when the style was just too many pouches.

Mayanna: Yes, exactly, yes. I learned that, you know, just because you can make more pouches doesn't mean you should. I learned about the responsibility. Takes guts, takes intuition, takes intelligence to understand that pouches are a limited resource. [Laughter]. You don't need so many pouches. It overwhelms the ensemble.

Ian: It's like the Johnny Depp rule of like, once you have all your pouches, take four of the pouches off.

Mayanna: Exactly. Exactly. [Laughter]. And I live by that. Yeah. I live by that.

Ian: I think that's smart.

Mayanna: Thank you. I think so too.

Mischa: How are you gonna spend your day? Do you have a day shift today? Did you get the night shift so that you could be working during Paz's birthday?

Mayanna: I think I. Yes, I think I'm working during Paz's birthday.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: I kind of like to be busy. I get very stressed at an event when I don't have tasks.

Mischa: Yeah, sure.

Mayanna: So I have a night shift, so I think I’m gonna go out. I'm gonna visit my old craftsman friend. I'm gonna check on him this morning.

Mischa: Sure. You roll down the main drag of the Barra.

[SFX: Soundscape begins, exterior on a street] .

Mischa: Over to a little side place that nobody wants to admit that everybody knows exactly where it is, Gambler's Alley, because no matter the time of day, you're going to be able to find your craftsman mentor, Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Thorgunn, thank you.

Mischa: At the machines, at the slots.

Mayanna: Oh, Thorgunn.

[SFX: Soundscape shifts to the interior of a gaming parlor. Games and slot machines pinging in the background].

Mischa: He can't give his money away fast enough.

Mayanna: (Laughs). Okay, so I'm gonna, –is he on a pachinko, on a slots?

Mischa: Yeah, you tell me.

Mayanna: A pachinko. Okay, great. He loves a pachinko machine. Yes, I'll go over to Thorgunn and, just, just check in on him. I like to see how he's doing and also see if he has any little nuggets of wisdom he'll accidentally throw my way if I sit there next to him holding his cup of coins for long enough.

Ian: So I'm just curious, is he up or down today?

Mischa: I'm going to roll for it. [Dice rolls]. He is down today.

[Oh nos]. [Laughter].

Mischa: Oh, he's very down today.

Lyn: That's a bad mood for Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Oh, Thorgunn.

Mischa: He just goes,

Mischa (Thorgunn): (In French accent) Ah, the next one, I'm due for the next one.

Mayanna (Fran): For sure, for sure.

Mischa: He pulls the lever again.

Mayanna (Fran): Did you happen to take a look at the–some of the designs I gave you last time I saw you?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, yes, I put them in my pocket here somewhere. [SFX: paper rustling].

Mischa: The papers just kind of like, pour out of the front of his shirt.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, you know, if you sweat a lot, you know, the papers will dissolve, the ink might run, so, you know.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, is that what that was?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, God. Okay, alright. Um yeah, so just. I was thinking, you know, maybe like, some sort of Astra-infused cloak garment. I call this one the Showstopper. It's, it's got Dancing Lights infused into the fibers so that when you walk around, it kind of like gives a little glow, a little light action. Thoughts? Feelings?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Will anybody notice this glow among the noise and lights of the neon signs? You must consider your environment, girl.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Okay. That's good. That’s good feedback.

Mischa (Thorgunn): For example, if your cloak is so glowing, it distract me from the pachinko.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay, right. Well, I was thinking more so this would be for, for the Constellation, for folks up in–

Mischa (Thorgunn): (Scoff). You go to the Constellation with this?

Mayanna: Uh. Yeah, that was, that was my goal, my hope, (voice breaks) my dream.

Mischa (Thorgunn): A silly goal for young people.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Okay. I'll take that under advisement. Thank you.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I tell you this, my girl.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, yes, yes.

Mischa (Thorgunn): They will love it up there. (Chuckles).

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Okay, you're laughing like it's funny, but I think it's very serious, so. Alright, I'll just. Do you need anything? I've got some day olds from yesterday.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, bread I do not have to pay for.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Even good day olds.

Mayanna: I take them out of my bag and I give them one.

Ian: I just want to say that I love that Thorgunn is French.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (In French accent) Thorgunn.

Lyn: (In French accent) Thorgunn.

Mischa: Yeah, Thorgunn's an elf. And he is probably one of the most disheveled elves that you'll find in New Prosper. Truly, like, sitting in the same shirt that he was in three days ago.

Ian: Fuck yeah.

Mayanna: Oh, and I take something else out of my bag.

Mayanna (Fran): I sewed one of your shirts for you. The one you ripped from when you tripped that night when you were too drunk coming back from the pachinko parlor. So here you go.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Ah, my favorite shirt. I have wondered where it is.

Mischa: And he, he takes his shirt off in the middle of the gambling parlor.

Ian: Oh lord.

Mayanna: Ink prints from my designs on his are chest.

Mischa: Just smears. Like you, you spot like the corner of one schematic that like imprinted like silly putty on his chest there.

Mayanna: Go there it goes. Yep.

Mischa: And just strips off. And you see a couple of other people in the parlor and be like, “what does he do?”

Mayanna (Fran): He just–you know, you know how artists can be.

Mischa: And he throws the shirt on and he like really roughly treats it, and he thrusts through one hole. [SFX: rustling fabric].

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: And then thrusts the other hole. [SFX: rustling fabric].

Mayanna: All righty.

Mischa: And you just hear [SFX: fabric ripping].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay. That's fine.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh. I am so sorry.

Mayanna (Fran): That's okay.

Mayanna: I have a little pocket sewing kit. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna start doing a little patch job.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Yeah, just a little, just a little to see if I can, I don't want him to look embarrassingly disheveled.

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: I respect him even if he doesn't always respect himself.

Mischa: Sure. You pull out your like, all purpose tool kit, which just has the right tool for the right job pretty much every time.

Mayanna: I love this thing. Hello.

Mischa: And like you sit there, like one arm, he's pulling the lever on the Pachinko machine.

Mayanna: And I’m like, (stressed gasping).

Mischa: Do Pachinko machines have levers?

Ian: That's what I want to know.

Mayanna: I am not sure. I think–

Bex: They do here.

Mayanna: Yeah. They do here.

Mischa: He, you know, like is working the machine with one hand while he's holding out his arms so that you can–

Mayanna: It’s “pachonko.”

[Laughter].

Ian: Pachonko. There we are.

Mischa: I love that because it's got a chonky lever.

Mayanna: Yeah. It's a chonky. It's Pachonko. Yeah. All right. So I'm just sewing the other side while he's pulling the slots and stuff.

Mischa: Yeah, and he finally wins one.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god! That's great!

Mischa: And he pulls a couple of copper pieces from the bottom of the machine and he like, tucks them into one of your pockets on your jacket.

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa (Thorgunn): For you, my girl.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you, Thorgunn. You, you're alright.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I am simply what I am these days. But I will not be anything else.

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, I love that. Oh my god, I'm gonna write that down.

Mayanna: I have a little pocket notebook. Fuck, yes. I write down all the things that I perceive as wise things, he says, but there's just things he's saying.

Mischa: Yeah. Roll insight.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Okay. Ooh, not good. I think that's a, that's a 3.

[Laughter].

Ian: I'm so glad that that totally matches what the vibe I'm getting, which is, is a very one sided mentor relationship in which you are missing some of the flags.

Mayanna: Yeah. I mean, isn't he great? He's so brilliant.

Mischa: He laughs at what you've just written. Must be some like, inside elf joke from like a hundred years ago.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. So deep and cool. All right. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with me.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I hope you share your wisdom with others.

Mayanna (Fran): I will.

Mischa (Thorgunn): It is wasted on the floor of the Pachonko parlor.

Mayanna: Right. Oh my God.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Yes. This is why I only give my advice here. [SFX: lever pulling].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, man. Riddles and riddles and metaphors. Gotta keep reading. Gotta get there.

[Laughter]. [SFX: Soundscape ends].

Lyn: I adore this.

Ian: Do we know that this is a toxic relationship as her friends or not?

Mischa: I don't know how or why you would possibly know that.

Bex: I don't think we've met Thorgunn.

Ian: I don’t think that either.

Mischa: Yeah, I don't know if you've met Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I think, and from what you get from Fran, it's probably just like, “Oh my God, he's always so wise. I'm always parsing his wisdom.”

Ian: Oh my lord.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm like writing out on napkins what I think “I'll have the potatoes” meant. I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, so like potatoes could be like a metaphor for like creativity and like, he'll have the creativity, but with a side of like intuition, you know?

[Laughter].

Mischa: Where, where do you go after the pachonko parlor?

Mayanna: I think I'm gonna walk amongst the shops.

[SFX: soundscape shifts back to the street exterior. Lighthearted music in the background].

Mayanna: You know, I'm never, I'm never really–never really taken with the clothing. It's a lot of like “what happens in the Barra stays in the Barra” type shirts and whatnot.

Mischa: Sure, so is this the kind of thing where you're just like strolling through like looking for like, “hmm I can do that better here.”

Mayanna: Yeah, it's the inspiration or yeah, like. I like to sketch and doodle and just think of like, what would I, if I was given this assignment, how would I innovate in this space?

Mischa: Sure, do you have–do you have an ongoing project that you're currently working on that you're looking for inspiration for?

Mayanna: Definitely the Showstopper. I think that, like, it's this beautiful, ornate cloak, but I think that it's just a little uninspired right now. I think it's very simple in its structure, so I'm always looking for, like, interesting sleeve detail, or interesting, like, movement and flow. That kind of thing. So I'm looking at all the duster jackets and whatever I can find in the city.

Mischa: Sure. Well, let's hope you find some inspiration, and we'll move on to our next scene here.

Mayanna: Amazing.

[SFX: Soundscape ends].

Mischa: Ibra, you wake up after that lovely dream.

Bex (Ibra): (Stretching noise).

Bex: I immediately reach over to check for my shield, and whether or not it's in its rightful place when I'm sleeping, which is right leaned up against my bedside table. And it's there. I stop panicking a little bit, and start to breathe and-and-and release the anxiety of whatever the hell that dream was.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Today is doctor day.

Mischa: So it's going to be a packed day before the party then.

Bex: It's going to be a packed day before the party. I have to go all the way up to the Constellation. I have to go see the doctor. Maybe I can see Paz before the party tonight, probably not. I have to get back down here and keep working at Gwen's and there's, it's a packed day.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: It's too much to do.

Mischa: It's a packed day. Doctor's appointment's first thing in the morning.

Bex: First thing's first.

Mischa: So you sort of get yourself dressed, you pack up your shield, and you head over to the funiculars. You flash them your family commuter pass, which has the crest of House Bracha on it. And you take the ride up. You are conveyed in this sleek little pod on sort of like a magic tether that holds the former fortress of Upper Prosper in place above Lower Prosper. It's a smooth ride, but it's not fast.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: It, like, it's a commute to get up there. It takes, I mean, an hour or so. Even though you can always see it. It's like, it's right there. It feels like it should be faster.

Bex: Right? And I use the time on my little devices to get as much clerical work done for Gwen's so that I have less clerical work to do when I get there later today.

Mischa: Mmhmm. Great. Filling out your most recent assignments. Hopefully that clears your queue, and you'll get a couple new assignments today. The last ones were pretty tedious, pretty run of the mill. Just, you know, there's always labor assignments to be had in New Prosper. You know, this is a lot of like, requisitions from Minetown looking for more grunt labor, and there's always less of that to go around, and always more of that to go around than you hope.

Bex: It's been really, really hard to fill, like, three certain positions, and that's the one that I'm really focusing on on this commute, is those last three.

Mischa: You eventually get up there. You take the trams that makes up the transport network of Upper Prosper [SFX: tram cars rolling down tracks] all the way around deeper into the Constellation.

Mischa: You pull up, you walk a couple of city blocks, and you head over to Sacred Tree Heart Clinic. [SFX: sliding door opening]. You have a standing weekly appointment.

[SFX: soundscape of the doctor’s office. An air conditioner hums in the background].

Mischa: You walk in, and the air inside smells like someone tried to hastily paint over anesthetic. It's sharp, it's astringent, it's like way too perfumed, and it's like artificial perfumed. You glance up into the corner and you see a glowing piece of Astra in like a device that's obviously casting Prestidigitation to make the air smell like something.

Bex: Ibra sneezes like three times in a row. [SFX: sneeze].

Mischa: Gross. I think the, the receptionist, Nora, goes,

Mischa (Nora): (Scottish accent) Oh, hello dearie. Do you need a tissue and a mask, perhaps?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, you know, it happens every time I walk in here. That, that perf–that Astra perfume just, whew! The first couple seconds are a doozy.

Mischa: Nora's definitely the kindest person in this office, warmth pouring out of her big brown doe eyes. She's a capra, a deer woman. Her face and hands are covered in a layer of velvety fur that's graying slightly in a few patches, and her antlers are two spirals standing straight out of the crown of her head. She gestures to her face, she's wearing a medical face mask, and, like, it loops above the horns. She points to her face mask, and she says,

Mischa (Nora): Aye, and with my nose! It's so–you know, I get used to it in the first hour or so, but I'll talk to the doctor about changing it.

Bex (Ibra): Do you need anything? You're the one who has to sit in this all day.

Mischa (Nora): Oh no, you're here to check in for Dr. Abbadio? Yes. I'll let him know you're here.

Mischa: You sit down and, you know, continue twiddling away on your–your…tablet?

Bex: I think so.

Mischa: Okay, I'm gonna roll something.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: What are you gonna roll?

Mischa: Ooh, yeah, it runs out of power while you're sitting there.

Ian: Sick.

Bex (Ibra): I forgot to charge it last night. Maybe that's part of what my dream was, was not having what I need when I need it. Okay. (Sing songy) Trying to make sense of my dreams.

Mischa: You sit there. The time ticks by. You know, how's your sense of time, Ibra, generally?

Bex: Eh, not great. In battle situations, there's more focus, and I'm better about timing.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: But in every other day when it's not battlefield focus, I'm more like, that was now? Oh, oof.

Mischa: I do think that in this moment, you probably do have a good sense of time. Because you're right, you're battle trained, but also, maybe being in this office sets off your fight or flight a little bit?

Bex: Hundred percent. This is a battle scenario for Ibra.

Mischa: Yeah. Eventually, after what seems like on the edge of too long, Dr. Abbadio comes out into the lobby and calls you back.

Mischa (Dr.Abbadio): (French accent) Ah, my greatest experiment. Please, please, come back, come back.

Bex (Ibra): Hi Abbadio.

Mischa (Dr.Abbadio): It is Doctor Abbadio and you know this.

Bex (Ibra): Hi Doc.

Mischa (Dr.Abbadio): The disrespect of your generation. Sit on the table there.

Bex (Ibra): Mhmm. [SFX: Scanner hums in the background].

Mischa : He starts taking your vitals. It's kind of rough. You know, the blood pressure cuff, [SFX: Cuff pumping with air] is squeezed hard and maybe you wince at it, but like, you've gotten your blood pressure taken every week since you were born. It doesn't need to be that hard.

Bex: And every week it feels like he's doing it a little bit harder.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Ian: When you guys said it was rough, me and Mayanna just immediately looked at each other.

Mayanna: Yeah, we were both like, that isn't how that should be going.

Ian: Jesus, no.

Mayanna: Yeah, that's not how that should have been going.

Ian: Ew.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: He says,

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Tell me about your diet.

Mischa: And he's not really even looking you in the eye, he's like, examining your ears, and, you know, like, measuring your musculature. He says,

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Tell me about your diet.

Bex (Ibra): Well, you know, I've been mostly eating in the cafeteria at school, but every once in a while I go eat a whole big bag of bolts.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): You really should be coming up to the Constellation, we must monitor your health, and that is your diet as well.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, well, if you ever listen to me, maybe you'd know that I do come up here every week and I have dinner with my family. But, hm, no, you don't actually listen to me, so we're fine.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): But you are hearty and you do battle! You do battle training! How is your exercise, my dear one?

Bex (Ibra): You know, every once in a while, I have to stop exercising cause, you know, I have to go to the bathroom, but doesn't seem to bother any of my superiors so far.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): And your bathroom visits? They are regular and normal?

Bex (Ibra): Why is that the only thing you heard? Okay yeah, my bathroom visits are regular and normal. They're fine. I'm fine. Everything's great.

Mischa: He writes down all of the pieces of data that are relevant to his investors on his tablet–

Mayanna: (Intrigued) Oh.

Mischa: –and, and goes,

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): And your stress levels?

Bex (Ibra): Stress levels?

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): We have talked about these before. The cortisol levels in your blood are somewhat toxic for proper musculature growth, at least as far as my guidelines are concerned.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, you know, I don't know if going to the doctor every week is stressful or anything. Don't know if there's a correlation there.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Whether there is a correlation or not, I will write it in my notes. But you know we must do this. You know we must track every week this was in the terms and conditions when you were born.

Bex (Ibra): I did not sign anything. I was just born into this.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Take it up with your parents, I guess.

Bex (Ibra): Still doesn't mean I have to like it.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Well, we are just about done here. I shall prepare my investor report. Thank you very much for your cooperation, once again.

[SFX: Soundscape ends].

Ian: Okay, just a couple questions.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Several questions!

Mischa: Maybe for later in the show.

Lyn: I would like to file an audit.

Mayanna: I'd like to file, like, a harassment complaint.

[Laughter].

Ian: Also, is Dr. Abbadio, which sounds just like “Doctor A Body, Yo”–

Bex: Yep.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: So funny.

Ian: –also French and therefore also an elf?

Mayanna: Correct.

Ian: Sick.

Mayanna: Oh my god, I love that.

Ian: All elves are French in this world.

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: Hell yeah.

Mischa: You know, this is a city, full of a few different types of people. There's humans and elves and dwarves and capras and saurids, all living in and amongst each other. It seems to be a fairly integrated society, although there is some imbalance when accounting for different lifespans of different species.

Mayanna: Interesting.

Ian: Wait, okay, another, and another question.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Are we supposed to–Why-why do you-why-why– [Laughter]. Why is there a contract relating to your health? Do–we're not supposed to know that yet, right?

Bex: No, not yet.

Mayanna: I love the mystery.

Mischa: Yeah. I think that's up to Ibra. Like how much would you have told your friends about where you go every week?

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: I think I've told you I go to the doctor every week. I think I've explained that they, you know, they have to keep tracking my systems.

Ian: Wild.

Bex: But you don't know how much of a dick my doctor is.

Mayanna: Yeah, seriously.

Bex: Yeah, you know that I'm part of, like, an experimental study, but you don't know the extent of it.

Lyn: It's like a clinical trial. It's like, yeah, that makes sense.

Ian: Sure.

Mayanna: What race is Ibra?

Bex: Ibra looks human with a big ol birthmark on their head.

Mayanna: Okay, sick. Sick sick sick.

Mischa: Human…ish.

Mayanna: I love that.

Bex: Human-ish, but with like an odd blue tint to their skin?

Mischa: Oh yeah?

Mayanna: I would probably just assume just that you would have corrected me by now if there was any. So I'm just like, yeah, human. Yeah, for sure.

Ian: Blue– Blue human. Blue-man.

Mayanna: Blue blue blue.

Bex: Blue human.

Mayanna: Blue-man. Blooman.

Lyn: Blue man group.

Mayanna: Bloomin onion.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Ooh!

Bex: It's like, it's like the blue tint is really, really visible in the light of the Constellation, but not quite as visible in the light of the Barra.

Mayanna: That's fair. I would probably just asse you have like a bad sunscreen.

Ian: Yeah. It's like Twilight rules where you sh–the vampires shimmer in the daylight.

Mayanna: Yeah, perfect. [Laughter]. Message received. I got Mischa with that one.

Mischa: This is the skin of a killer, Bella. [Laughter]. Ibra, you finish up at the doctor's office. [SFX: Door opening]. Go back out to Nora, the receptionist, and you set your time for next week?

Bex: While I'm checking out with Nora,

Bex (Ibra): Do you know when my siblings are coming in next week?

Mischa (Nora): Oh, I'm so sorry, dear. We're implementing a new protocol. You're actually, we're not supposed to tell you when they're coming in.

Bex (Ibra): We literally have the same DNA.

Mischa (Nora): I know, it's something about controls and experiments.

Bex (Ibra): (Frustrated groan).

Mischa (Nora): I, the science is a bit above my pay grade.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thank you, Nora.

Mischa (Nora): I’m so sorry.

Bex (Ibra): I know.

Mischa (Nora): If I could tell you I would. But my hands are tied on this one.

Bex (Ibra): I appreciate you so much. I hope you have a great week.

Mischa (Nora): You too.

Mischa: Where to next, Ibra?

Bex: Right back to the funicular. It’s a-

Mischa: It's a big commute day. Well, I'm gonna leave off, if that's alright–

Bex: Yes, please.

Mischa: –with you catching the tram [SFX: tram rolling by], and Gordon!

[SFX: rooster crow].

Ian (Gordon): Ugh! Oh! Wow, that was a dream.

Mischa: What time do you wake up, buddy?

Ian: So much earlier than everybody else. I was going to ask earlier, but I didn't want to be a dick.

Mischa: No, that's the thing.

[SFX: Soundscape begins. Birds lightly chirping in the distance].

Ian: A hundred percent. I mean, so, I think, I think a baker wakes up at four?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Even earlier sometimes.

Lyn: Yeah, even earlier.

Ian: Three, and then you get in at four?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Yeah, so it's still dark out. It's, it's, you know, it's like that, like, cold, cool, dark part of the morning, maybe? And my first moment is terror. Because, remind me, I was falling down, a bottomless–

Mayanna: Void of white until your eyes see white and there's nothing.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Tough start to the morning.

Mischa: Yep. Still got to bake the bread though.

Ian: Still got to bake the bread.

Mayanna: Bread’s not going to make itself.

Ian: I think I transitioned pretty quick, right? It's like,

Ian (Gordon): (Gasping, heavy breathing, noises of confusion). Okay, okay. I think we're okay.

Ian: And then I grab like a, a morning muffin that I baked yesterday. I always bake the– tomorrow's morning muffin at the end of yesterday.

Mischa: Sure. So it's always like at least a few hours, like at least eight hours old by the time you eat it.

Ian: Yeah, but I don't care because it's like when you're a baker, you're always around the fresh bread, you know, so I can have fresh bread anytime I like.

Mischa: That's fair.

Ian: Day old bread is actually more of a rarity.

Bex: Delicacy.

Mayanna: Novelty.

Ian: Delicacy. So I grab the day old muffin, night old muffin off the thing, shove it in my mouth because that's my first thing I do every morning.

[SFX: Music begins, leisurely, folksy guitar and harmonica].

Ian: And then I, I'm in my apartment. Right?

Mischa: Yeah, do you, so your apartment is, is more into the Edge of Prosper, right? You living sort of closer to the farmlands where your guild works and, and I, I imagine that there's like sort of the, the, the Baker's Guild, like headquarters, having like huge communal ovens and training facilities. Are you, do you live in there?

Ian: I was kind of wondering if it was like, not dorms necessarily, but like little apartments above the, so you could just walk right downstairs and start baking.

Mischa: Sure. Sure. And I think that there's, it's almost like cubicle kitchens.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Like, you can sort of like, sign out. By the time you're a certain age, you kind of just have like, your long standing appointment of like–

Mayanna: That's so cool.

Mischa: –my oven time.

Ian: Yeah, it's like Le Cordon Bread.

Mischa: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Le Cordon Bread!

Mischa: I love it.

Ian: Yeah, so I think, so, I, I, you know, I get my flour-dusted apron on.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Ian: I shake off the dream. I think by this point now I'm totally back to normal, and I start baking. I gotta bake so much–Am I baking for Paz's birthday, by the way?

Mischa: Are you?

Ian: I think I mean, probably.

Mayanna: I think so, yeah.

Ian: How well do I know Paz?

Mischa: Roll history!

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Oh, I rolled it out of the box. [Laughter]. Jesus. Um, 9.

Mischa: You're not the closest with Paz. You know that Paz is Ibra's friend from like way, way back. And I think you're probably closer to Ibra than Paz, but like, it's a birthday. You're a baker.

Mayanna: Make a cake. Come on!

Ian: I’m making a cake.

Mayanna: Make a cake.

Bex: I think I've specially requested at least one dessert for Paz.

Ian: Yeah. Oh yeah, so maybe I'm not making a cake. Maybe I'm making, like, sweet rolls.

Mischa: I think, I think with a 9, you also know one other thing about Paz, and that's that Paz has a lot of like, dietary restrictions.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: So you might have– So like, but that's all normal to you. You know, like, the Baker's Guild deals with that kind of stuff all the time.

Ian: So I think what I'm making then, yeah, maybe, cause like, people, some people are very sensitive to the gluten in bread. (Sarcastically) No one's ever heard of that before.

Mischa: Couldn't relate.

Ian: So I think I'm making a, like a sourdough bread dessert, right? It's sourdough, so it's easier to eat, but it's also like filled with cinnamon and butter.

Mayanna: Like a French–

Mischa: Oh yeah.

Mayanna: like one of those big French toast blocks.

[Oohs].

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: I love like a sweet and spicy.

Ian: Yes. With like a big sort of like a, like a vein of, you know, cinnamon deliciousness through the entire center of the block.

Mischa: Like a big cinnamon roll.

Ian: Yeah. So it's, and then maybe, and then maybe I'm going to frost it like a cake, so it'll look like a cake–

Mayanna: Oh that’s so cute.

Ian: But then you cut into it, and it's cinnamon sourdough bread.

[Excitement].

Lyn: I like that.

Mischa: Your portion of this campaign is going to make me so hungry.

Ian: Top of my class, motherfucker.

Mayanna: (Chanting) Fan art of the food. Fan art of the food.

Lyn: Please.

Mischa: Thank you.

Lyn: (Chanting) Recipes for the food. Recipes for the food.

Bex: (Chanting) Fan art of the food.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Cool. So you, do you take that, do you take care of that out of the way?

Ian: Like, oh, so I have to get up even earlier! 'Cause I have to do that before all my other bread duties.

Mischa: Or you can just do like in between kind of. I'm wondering.

Ian: I think I got up super early today.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: So I think I got up and did all that stuff so that I can just bake it right before.

Mischa: Cool, so cinnamon roll's done, you're in the midst of your bread orders.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: You know, Boggins’ Bee-stro is one of your clients, I'm sure not the only one.

Ian: No.

Mayanna: Maybe you have like a couple more.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: So it's just like big orders.

Ian: Yeah, I just gotta make, I probably have to make like, pfft, 500 loads of bread before, you know, seven in the morning.

Mischa: Yeah. Oof.

Ian: And you just start making them, like, on racks.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah.

Ian: And it's good, it's good work though, you know?

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely. It's, it's honest work, and that's why the Baker's Guild exists, is because everyone deserves their daily bread.

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Hey!

Ian: You know, get some exercise in.

Mayanna: (Singing) Amen.

[Laughter].

Mischa: While you're in the midst of making your bread rolls, you hear a knock at the doorway to your kitchen area. [SFX: knocking]. You turn around and Cecilia, who is a very kind of important person within the Baker’s Guild. Now, remind me, is she also your sister? Did we talk about this?

Ian: No, I don't think we did talk about this. Do I want to roll for it?

Mayanna: Roll for sister.

Mischa: No, I think I just want to ask you. So we've come, we sort of come up with a system–

Ian: A sister system?

Mischa: –whereby, like, your guild is as important to you as family. And that's where I got confused.

Ian: Oh.

Mischa: I don't know if she's actually your blood sister or you just think of her as a sister or?

Ian: Yeah, I think she's more just my boss. My sister boss.

Mischa: Great.

Mayanna: Your senpai.

Bex: Sister boss?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: The person you're trying to impress.

Ian: My senpai.

Mischa: Well, and today, Gordon, senpai's noticed you.

[Gasps].

Ian: Oh dang.

Mischa: She knocks on your door and says,

[SFX: Music ends. Soundscape begins. Light whirring of kitchen fans.]

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, Gordon.

Ian (Gordon): Hey, boss.

Mischa (Cecilia) How's it going?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, it's so good. I'm just, you know, about a quarter of the way breaking all the rules for the day. I only ruined like four racks. It's fine.

Mischa (Cecilia): Four?

Ian (Gordon): Well, you know, I just, I'm still a junior baker.

Mischa (Cecilia): All right. Well, we'll have to get you, get you in like the 201 course, man.

Ian (Gordon): I drop a, I literally like accidentally knock a bowl off the counter. [SFX: metal clanging]. Oh, sorry. I–ignore that.

Mischa (Cecilia): You know that flour has costs, right?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I'm trying.

Mischa (Cecilia): All right. All right. Listen, I do need you– Can I jump in and help you a little bit? I need a favor from you today.

Ian: Oh, oh my gosh. I would be honored. Yes. Come on in.

Mischa: She jumps in, she ties on her apron, which is, like, dusted, but with flour, just like yours, but very evenly and very precisely, like, there's not, like, spots where it got thrown at her apron.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: She rolls up her sleeves, washes her hands, and gets into making rolls with you. And goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I would love to help you finish this up. I really need a big favor from you today and kind of the rest of the week. I've gotta spend a bunch of time up in the Constellation this week.

Ian (Gordon): Oh.

Mischa (Cecilia): We really need a rep on the ground there. Er- boots on the floor up there. So I was wondering if maybe you would cover my deliveries while I'm up there. I might not be able to make it back in time.

Ian (Gordon): Are you asking me to go up to the Constellation and cover your delivery?

Mischa (Cecilia): I'm expressly not doing that. We only have one commuter pass.

Ian (Gordon): No, you're doing the opposite of that, aren't you?

Mischa (Cecilia): I would love if you would stay down here and take care of my normal stuff.

Ian (Gordon): Oh.

Mischa: While I go and do the big important things for our guild.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Junior Baker, no disrespect.

Ian (Gordon): Totally.

Mischa (Cecilia): Absolutely none. It's all part of the process.

Ian (Gordon): Yes.

Mischa (Cecilia): Junior Baker.

Ian (Gordon): Uh-huh.

Mischa (Cecilia): Almost head of the guild.

Ian (Gordon): Totally understand.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, my mistake. There was a very strong portion that I thought that you were saying, “Do you want to come up to the Constellation with me?” Which is why I looked really excited. And so now the fact that I look really sad, don't worry about it. I totally can cover that. It's fine. I would love that. That'd be great.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. Cool. So if you could just come with me on my delivery today so you can get the route down and then you'll pick it up for me.

Ian: Love that. Just, and just, you know, I don't know, you know, you're the boss, so not really giving you a note. But just saying, when you start the sentence with, “come with me,” you know, and you're talking about going to the Constellation later, it just leads people to believe that maybe they're going, you know, I'm just.

Mischa (Cecilia): Gordon, what's step one of the recipe? It’s “read the whole recipe,” isn't it?

[Gasps and pained stutters].

Ian: (Weakly) Oh no!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Psychic damage.

Ian: And then I just put my head and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Yes ma'am. Apologies.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool. Listen, you're not going to get nothing out of this. I'm definitely going to, you know, put a recommendation into your– Do we do files here? I'm not really even sure.

Ian (Gordon): Bread files.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, this, you're going to get some points for this. Don't worry about it.

Ian (Gordon): Oh, great. Okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): This is your time. Show me you're responsible and you can go places in this guild.

Ian (Gordon): Thank you so much, Cecilia. I really appreciate that. It's been so nice hanging out with you and thanks for the help. And thanks for thinking of me and, you know, picking me out to help you with this.

Mischa (Cecilia): You got it. You know, you are my, um. The best choice.

Ian (Gordon): Love it. [Laughter]. Heck yeah!

Lyn: This is so–

Mayanna: The only option.

Ian: Failing upward.

Mischa: Cecilia jumps into your kitchen and helps you finish up your orders, your batches in record time. [SFX: dishes and metal clinking]. You pack up your vehicle. You have like a delivery, like a little delivery tuk tuk or something?

Mayanna: Beep beep.

Ian: I feel like it's a little, yeah, like a little three wheeler. Maybe it's got a tiny motor.

Mischa: Yeah, she goes into the garage and grabs like a softball sized piece of dull Astra, plugs it into the engine, and it starts lighting up.

Ian: Yeah, the classic sort of like three wheel anime truck. You know what I mean?

[SFX: End soundscape].

Mischa: Yeah, exactly.

Mayanna: Like a Porco Rosso energy.

Lyn: Ooh.

Mischa: But if it was powered by like a really big frosted glass marble.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: So cool.

Ian: Where does it plug in?

Mischa: I think it probably, honestly, I love the idea of it plugging in right in the wheel well of the front wheel – [agreement and excitement] – of just any vehicle. I was trying, you know, we're starting up this campaign. I was thinking about like, well, we have e-bikes with this magic stuff too. And like, what if it was just a big wheel that you sit on top of and there's a crystal in the middle?

Mayanna: I love that so much.

Mischa: That's dope.

Lyn: Yeah that’s great.

Mayanna: That’s so sick.

Lyn: I love an orb.

Bex: Sexy.

Mayanna: Love an orb, oh my god, yeah.

Lyn: Let's continue to ponder them.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Shut the fuck up!

[Laughter].

Mischa: JJ.

Lyn: Yes, hello.

Mischa: JJ, you wake up from that dream.

Lyn: I think it's the classic, like, alarm? [SFX: Beeping of alarm clock]. Panic alarm. Slamming it, um, the –

Mischa: Roll athletics?

Lyn: Roll athletics? Oh, goodness.

Bex: Yes!

Lyn: So bad! Yeah, that's a 4.

Mischa: It takes you like, three or four tries. [SFX: repeated thuds, hitting wood]. And you-I think you break something else on your nightstands. [SFX: alarm stops. Light crack].

Lyn (JJ): Oh no, I'm gonna have to fix that later, it's fine.

[SFX: Music begins, rhythmic, somewhat frantic synth loops].

Lyn: But it's the equivalent of, like, 5am. Very regimented routine. Get out of bed, make the bed, go to the bathroom, shower, brush teeth, etc., sit down, make coffee, open up calendar.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, so classes later today, so that gives me an hour and a half to study before I go to recitation and then half an hour, I'll grab lunch then. I have a shift today at the magistrate's office, four and a half hours, then I'll have another hour to study and then – Oh, wait, when's Paz's birthday party? Oh gosh. Okay. That's later tonight. So then that'll give me, oh wait, I should eat dinner before the– should I eat dinner before the–? no, I'll eat dinner at the Bee-stro, but it's gonna be late so I should–

Lyn: –and then it's just like reorganizing my calendar, like trying to plan like minute by minute –

Mischa: Oh, wow.

Lyn: – what's happening for the day.

Mayanna: Heart palpitations. Immediately.

Lyn: And then like, as soon as it hits 7am, it's go. For everything.

Mayanna: Wow.

Lyn: That's, that's JJ.

Mischa: Wow.

Bex: Wow.

Mischa: That's intense!

Ian: Personal assistant vibes.

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Is not happy about that, but does it anyway.

Mischa: Yeah, so, sorry, remind me, what was, what were the first couple of stops today?

Lyn: The first, uh, okay. So…

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Sorry, I thought you had all that written down. Did you come up with that from the dome?

Lyn: No, I didn't. I was making that up, yeah. I was getting into the headspace.

[Laughter].

Ian: That's personal experience.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Actually, no.

Ian: Really?

Lyn: Yeah, I slacked off a lot in college.

Ian: Wow!

Lyn: Absolutely not.

Mayanna: So your fantasy is being a good student.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Wow. Read to filth on your own podcast.

Lyn: Yeah, exac- Yeah, I was a great student, but I love doing as little work as possible.

Mayanna: I mean, same. Abso-frickin-lutely.

Lyn: So I think first, um, oh, I have a recitation early in the morning first. So some class type thing.

Mischa: Sure. It's, it's, you know, I like to imagine our education district here in New Prosper, which we call the Come-Up, a place where sort of, young adults move out of their parents’ place to sort of like, learn independence in situ. It's a little bit set up by the guilds, you know, Montessori style learning where it's just like, there's work happening. And if you want to learn how it's done, go and watch and assist and help until you know it. But, you know, there have to be lectures at some point.

[SFX: Soundscape begins. Chattering of students in a lecture hall].

Mischa: Are they Mechanist recitations this morning, or are you sort of following your own track today?

Lyn: I think this is one of the ones where I'm following my own track. I'm studying for the Mechanist stuff. That's where my other several hour long blocks are, but–

Mischa: Which is okay, you can get away with that, because the Mechanists have a lot more hands-on training. So like, it's, you know, if you want to fill a recitation hour, they're not really going to notice where you go.

Lyn: Yeah, so, in this case, this is probably something more along the lines of, like, probably a philosophy course almost. So, the recitation is a lot of arguing about the reading, like, “what's your interpretation of this?”

Mischa: Sure. I think that you maybe have heard about this lecture series from your friend Samira.

Lyn: (Agreeing) Mhmm. Absolutely.

Mischa: Who is a pretty strong student of the School of Rhetoric, which is where they teach philosophy courses. She probably was like, “Oh yeah, this one's really good.” But today, like, because you're just arguing about reading and the teacher is taking, is very much taking like a, “I'm going to defend the reading stance no matter what it says because that's what we're doing in the lecture today.” It seems so regimented. So kind of throughout the lecture, Samira will just raise her hand and be like,

Mischa (Samira): So, I don't understand why the author, I don't know, completely ignored the plight of the people on the ground when the city was being built. They were going through completely different–

Mischa: And the teacher cuts her off and is like,

Mischa (Professor): Well, that's addressed in chapter five, which I hadn't had you read yet.”

Mischa: And Samira just goes,

Mischa (Samira): Oh, so we're only arguing about part of the reading today. Got it. Got it. Got it.

Mischa: And then she turns to you and laughs.

Lyn: Mhmm. And then I'm, I really try and like, stifle like,

Lyn (JJ): (Whispering, holding back laughter) Dude, stop. No you’re right you’re right –

Mischa (Samira): I'm gonna get you to laugh. End of the lecture. I'm gonna do it.

Lyn (JJ): Fuck you.

Mischa (Samira): Um, ‘scuse me, teacher? I think JJ has some really important things to say about this topic.

Lyn (JJ): (Groan). I'm gonna kill you. I'm, after this, I'm killing you. I'm killing you and I'm murdering you and I'm burying you in the Pit.

Mischa (Samira): Three, three o'clock, out by the playground. You and me, let's go.

Lyn (JJ): You and me, let's go.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah, Samira is like my absolute best friend, so [laughter]. And this is probably, I think like the only course that we have together. So even though–

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: Even though that we, like, like came to school together, we're on different paths.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: We don't get to see each other as much anymore, so I'm always trying to hide how much I like being in the class with her.

Lyn (JJ): Uh, yeah, I, I do have something to say. (Under breath) What the fuck am i gonna say?

Lyn: Like, just like making, eye contact.

Mischa: Like she, she just like throws up her hands. She's like,

Mischa (Samira): It's your time, your time to shine.

Lyn (JJ): So if we're not expected to go over the entire– what the author is actually trying to purport– then are we not just misconstruing what their own argument is? Unless we take into account their entire perspective?

Mischa: The teacher says,

Mischa (Professor): In the real world, you're not always presented with the entire perspective. You must only argue what's in front of you. This is an important piece of rhetorical strategy that you must learn. You cannot argue that which is not in front of you.

Lyn (JJ): I see.

Lyn: I write that down in my notes and I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): That doesn't make any fucking sense.

Mischa: Samira leans over to your desk with her pencil and writes underneath it “that doesn't make any fucking sense.”

Lyn: I, I go over like–not making any eye contact, but I put my arm over onto her desk and her paper. And I literally just write “fuck you too” on it. And it's so messy because I'm not looking at it, but I'm trying to look like I'm still paying attention to my own notes as I try and deface her own, which I'm sure she's actually not even writing.

Mischa: Mm, roll perception.

[Oohs (Intrigue)].

Mischa: I can tell you stuff, but at any point, I can just make you roll for something.

Lyn: 19 plus something.

Mischa: Whoa.

Mayanna: Perceptive.

Lyn: 19 plus 5. 24.

Bex: Shit.

Mischa: You've written in the margins of her notes, and at first you glance down and you're like, “that's so many notes for Samira to take in this class she doesn't really seem that into.” And then you get a glance at it. It's a speech. She's writing a speech.

Lyn: (Confused) Oh.

Mischa: You just glance down and you're like, “Oh, this is clearly something else. This has nothing to do with this class.” The lecture wraps up the point, you sort of got distracted trying to look at whatever was on Samira's paper and says,

Mischa (Professor): All right, now for next lecture, you shall read chapters six through eight and see how the author refutes his own argument. You see patience, patie –

Mischa: And everybody's already leaving. The teacher’s like,

Mischa (Professor): Patience in rhetoric is important, you must remem– Ugh.

Mischa: Up the aisle of the lecture hall, you hear the clack of a crutch landing on carpet. And Paz walks up to you and goes,

Mischa (Paz): You guys are terrible.

Lyn (JJ): Listen, I think it's actually rhetorically important to get to the point sometimes?

Lyn: And I'm looking at Samira, like,

Mischa: Samira just goes,

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, and I think it's rhetorically important that everyone listen to me sometimes. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

Lyn: Yeah, I just like, shove her a little bit.

Mischa: Yeah, Paz is like,

Mischa (Paz): Some of us were here to like, learn things. We're supposed to be learning stuff. Are you guys going to be at my party later?

Lyn (JJ): Of course, we wouldn't miss it for the world.

Mischa (Paz): I, I'm so excited.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, who's all gonna be there?

Mischa (Paz): You know, I invited, you know, Ibra, and Fran's gonna be on shift, and Gordon's probably gonna be there?

Lyn (JJ): Oh nice.

Mischa (Paz): I hope. I hope Gordon's gonna be there.

Ian: (Intrigued) Ooh. (Suggestive) Yeah.

Lyn: Insight check!

[Excitement and agreement].

Bex: Do it, do it, do it.

Lyn: 6 plus 5.

Mayanna: Nice.

Lyn: 11.

Mischa: You know, I rolled, and that beats what I rolled. [Laughter]. She just goes,

Mischa (Paz): What? I just mean he's always busy. He's got a lot of clients, and I don't know, I just don't want to take him off the shift.

Ian: Sick.

Mischa (Paz): (Rushed) I'll see you guys later.

Mischa: And then and then she sort of like, walks quickly out of the lecture hall.

Lyn: I just give like a really like meaningful glance to Samira, like –

Mischa: Samira's face – like, her – She's got a grin, but her mouth is also wide open like,

[Samira and JJ make weird, squealing sounds at each other].

Lyn (JJ): Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, no, it's fine.

Mischa (Samira): I know what I want to get Paz for her birthday!

Lyn (JJ): It's fine, it's fine. Okay, no, it's fine. We're, we're all fine.

Mayanna: Oh my god, and Gordon made a cake.

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh no!

Bex: Oh yes!

Ian: Oh no!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: Oh yes!

Mayanna: It's gonna, it's going down!

Mischa (Samira): I'm shipping it so hard.

Lyn (JJ): Ah! Okay, I will see you later, then. Oh I have so much to do. I'm so sorry, I gotta–

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, girl, you gotta take care of your stuff, I'll– yeah, I'll be there, I'll be–

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa (Samira): I'll be at Boggins’ later.

Lyn (JJ): I'll see you later.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, see you later.

Lyn (JJ): Bye. Hug. Bye. Okay, bye.

Mischa: And you're off to your next appointment.

Lyn: Yep.

[SFX: Soundscape ends. Midroll theme music].

Mischa: Hey there, it's Mischa. This is the rest stop. Come take a break beside the path with me. Just until we catch our breath.

Mischa: Welcome to the show! We are all so excited to put this out into the world. We've been working so hard on it, and I think it's sounding really cool. The adventures we have in store for this world and these characters are just getting started, so thank you for joining us, we are so glad to have you! If you like what you're hearing in all its rich, glorious detail, and you think it's cool too, and you want to help us keep making it so the world can have more cool shows made by real artists in it, please, please help us out by spreading the word. Maybe you have a friend, or a partner, or a mutual, or a co-worker that might also think this show is pretty neat? If that maybe, possibly, could be true, the best thing you can do to help us grow is to get them listening to us as well. And then you'll have someone else to talk about it with. And that's half the fun of being a fan of something anyway, right?

Mischa: Tell your friends to find us most places you usually find podcasts, or hit the links at our website, wanderingpathpod.com. We're also now on Patreon. If by some miracle you've got some money to spare, if you want to support independent artists in the face of an oncoming cyberpunk dystopia threatening all of our jobs, if you want to give us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, you can join up starting at just a few dollars per episode. You'd really be helping us out. That's patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. Okay, that's it for now! Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[SFX: Midroll music].

Mischa: We're gonna come back in to Gordon and Cecilia on Cecilia's Routes.

[SFX: Soundscape begins. Engine rumbles along the street].

Ian: Yep.

Mischa: You've been all over the city.

Ian: She has such a longer route than I have.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: You know, like, I go to the Bee and one other place and she goes to like 25 places.

Mayanna: (Hums in understanding).

Mischa: Yeah. And she makes it look easy.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Damn.

Ian: I'm a little worried, I think. Because I have to take care of it while she's out.

Mischa (Cecilia): And you know, these guys, they really appreciate the seeded bread, so I try to put, like, extra seeds on there, just for this one delivery, and save the darkest baked ones for this place. You got all that?

Ian (Gordon): Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Ian: Furiously taking notes.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, one second. Hmm, mm, yeah, sorry, what was the bread that you were just talking about? Seeded? Seeded. Seeded.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Seeded. Great. No problem. This is easy.

Mischa (Cecilia) Okay.

Ian: I'm like, shoving, like, day old muffins out of a bag, just in my mouth to keep me sane. Just,

Ian (Gordon): (Muffled chewing) Uh-huh, yeah, no problem. Everything's gonna be fine.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, hold on one sec.

Mischa: She, like, parks the tuk tuk on the side of the road for a second, and is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, this is like a weird concern, so forgive me if I'm being like, forward and personal, like.

Ian (Gordon): (Muffled chewing) Yeah, no problem.

Mischa (Cecilia): You're eating fruit and other stuff though, right? Like, not just bread all the time?

Ian (Gordon): (Still chewing) Uh-huh. Yeah, I totally–

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, so you know, like, a loaf of bread.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mischa (Cecilia): You have to like, put yeast in there, but the yeast won't rise until it has like the right conditions of sugars and, you know, oxygen to like make the dough rise and like make it a proper fluffy, delicious thing that people want to interact with.

Ian (Gordon): (Swallows). Yep.

Mischa (Cecilia): So like, you just need to make sure that you're giving your body the proper environment.

Ian: Reaches over, grabs another muffin. [SFX: crinkling of bag].

Ian (Gordon): (Gulps, eating another muffin).

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. I'm just making sure you're taking, you're taking care of yourself. You know, it's like, it's, it's kind of my job to, to make sure that the workforce keeps, keeps trucking.

Ian (Gordon): (Muffled chewing) I really appreciate that Cecilia.

Mischa (Cecilia): Sure.

Ian (Gordon): And thanks for taking a second to calm me down. I'm feeling a lot less stressed.

Mischa (Cecilia): Sure. I'm going to give you this orange.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mischa (Cecilia): And I just, I just want to make sure that you're also, you're going to eat that.

Ian: I take the orange, and then, as though I've never seen one before, I just take a bite out of the orange, like, through the rind.

Mischa: Okay, I definitely need a constitution saving throw.

[Laughter].

Bex: Okay, but that’s how, that's how my father-in-law eats oranges.

Mayanna: No, are you serious?

[Laughter].

Ian: Are you fucking kidding me?

[Laughter].

Ian: Ooh, that's– Man, I'm not rolling great today, everyone.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Mischa: Good thing these are just like the joke silly story rolls.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And not where it's like gonna kill you if you roll bad.

Ian: It's a 5.

[Gasp].

Mischa: Excellent. I think that you have never tasted anything quite so bitter?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Have you never made, like, an orange cake? Or –

Ian: I have, but I don't think I've ever bitten through orange rind. Maybe I'm always using orange oil in the–

Mischa: Yeah, or zest!

Ian: –I mean I guess I should know.

Mischa: I– well, no, I just think that you, maybe you just like, you're pretty good at zesting, so you've never had to deal with the bitterness.

Ian: Yeah, I think I'm also just so stressed that I don't even like, look at the thing she's talking I'm not even like, really listening to what she's saying.

Mischa: (Agreeing) Uh-huh.

Ian: I just grab the first thing and I take a bite, and I've bitten through an entire orange.

Mischa: Yeah, and it's, it's just, god, it's just so bitter.

Ian: It's so bad. But, but Cecilia's my boss, so I'm not going to hurl in the, the delivery truck.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: So instead, I've just got full cheeks, and like, kind of a red face, as I'm like, slowly chewing a full orange rind.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, we'll, we'll head on to our next stop.

Mischa: And she puts the thing in gear. [SFX: motor revs].

Ian (Gordon): (Mouth full) Oh good, thank you so much.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You all can't see this, but Ian is holding up an imaginary muffin in one hand and an imaginary orange in the other hand.

Ian: And then I look at the muffin and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Oh my god, this muffin's got blueberries! I'm doing it!

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, man, you're doing it. Okay.

[SFX: music begins in background, soft, melancholy metallophone]

Mischa: She pulls up into a new section of the city which has popped up in the past few years, which it's not really like an official district of the city, but everyone calls it the Dustpan.

Ian: Oh.

Mischa: It's a lot of strung-out people, people not in housing, people handing second, third, fourth degree hand me downs back and forth to each other, making shelter and making it work, because they're spending all the money they can muster on Dust, the substance that's sort of been making its way around the city the past few years. And Cecilia parks the tuk tuk, grabs a couple of her baking implements that she's carried with her into the vehicle, and she sort of straps them to herself, like she's, she's arming up, and she's like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, get ready. It's a little dangerous in this part of town.

Ian: Shit. I don't have, I haven't brought any of my cooking gear. I just look down, and I like, grab into my sack, and I pull the two hardest muffins I can.

[Giggles].

Mischa: And she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, but like, stay friendly. Just follow my lead, I guess.

Ian (Gordon): (Nervously) Mhmm.

[SFX: music ends. Soundscape begins. Quiet bustling in the city’s open air].

Mischa: Slowly but surely, a bunch of people in the population sort of like drift into a vague queue at the back of the tuk tuk. And she opens up the back and she, she starts handing out loaves of bread.

Ian: Awww, Cecilia. I, I, I’m like, I'm so surprised that we're here that I want to know, like, what's the look on Cecilia's face? You know, like, what's Cecilia's vibe?

Mischa: It's, yeah, roll insight.

Mayanna: (Knowing hum).

Ian: 18, plus whatever.

Mischa: Woo hoo! Uh, yeah, it's mixed. It's, it's very much a like, we're here to do something good. And so there's like a contentedness to it that comes with, like, good work, hard work.

Ian: Yeah, it feels very important.

Mischa: But at the same time, it's like such a volatile good work that she's like, guarding herself? She's not letting her walls down while she does this vulnerable thing.

Ian: I think as I like, watch her do that, I like, I then see a rolling pin in the, in the bed of the truck and I like, finally get it. I like, pick the rolling pin up and I put it in my like, side holster.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Um, and then start handing bread out.

Mischa: Yeah. You know, you, you hand out bread for, like, you know, a good half hour there.

Ian: I give the two muffins away, too.

Mischa: [Laughing] I think, one of the, one of the dust heads here kind of chomps it, and, like, the top of the muffin crumbles off, and, like, sticks in their mouth, and they're just like,

Mischa (Dustpan Resident): (Muffled chewing) Oh, thank you sir.

Mischa: And then they take the muffin out, and, like, a tooth comes with it.

Ian: Oh, God.

Ian (Gordon): I'm sorry, I'm just a junior.

Mischa: He goes,

Mischa (Dustpan Resident): This is one of the kindest things somebody's done for us in a little while.

Mischa: [SFX: Soft squelch]. Tooth back in head.

Ian: I start to cry a little bit. I don't like full cry, but I just like, tear up.

Mischa: Cecilia kind of ribs you, like, nudges you hard in the ribs and goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, this needs to be done.

Ian (Gordon): Ow.

Mischa (Cecilia): Everyone deserves their daily bread. But these people are unfortunately in such a state that you can't predict what they'll do and they might prey on weakness. So you got to– you gotta do a nice thing with a hard face, you got it?

Ian (Gordon): Yep, got it.

Mischa (Cecilia): This is one of my most important stops in the day. You know, we, the guild needs the rest of the money, but…

Mischa: She looks back at the people, like, patiently waiting. But people are like, you know, swaying back and forth and kind of off balance, and some of them have glassy eyes. And she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): This one I need for my soul. So take care of ‘em, okay?

Ian (Gordon): (Softly) Yeah, yeah, I got it.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Mischa: She, she finishes up. She rolls down the back rolling door of the tuk tuk. And she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): All right, Let's make the rest– you have a stop in the Barra, right?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Ian (Gordon): Let's go.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool. Excellent.

[SFX: motor revs. Music begins in background, lighthearted, rhythmic synths].

Mischa: You head back away from the Dustpan further into the Barra District. Along the Buffet, the road in the Barra with all of the, quote-unquote “finest restaurants in the city.” The sign definitely says that, whether or not it's true.

Mayanna: It has a question mark at the end. “The finest eating in the city?”

Lyn: Yeah, it's definitely graffiti that has the question mark.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Maybe there's like a spray, like a spray paint question mark that has to get cleaned off like once a month.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Which only makes it look worse. They just like, paint over it all the time. [Agreement] And like they're clearly, it's just a battle of like– There's graffiti, it's painted over. There's graffiti, it's painted over.

Mischa: Oh, you remember one month where they painted over it and it was blank, and they were like “finally, they stopped” but anytime you shined a UV light at it–

[Laughter].

Ian: You could see all of them underneath just like an endless–

Mayanna: Yes. Void of question marks.

Ian: P.S. What you're describing is actually my, the front of my apartment building.

Mischa: And Fran, you spot the, the tuk tuk puttering its way with like a light cloud of flour around it sort of down the street. [SFX: faint motor revving].

Mayanna (Fran): I know that cloud of flour anywhere.

Ian: And I'm like out the front window and I see her and I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Hey!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, Gordon!

Ian (Gordon): Hey!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey!

Ian (Gordon): We brought bread!

[SFX: music ends. Soundscape shifts to the exterior of the restaurant].

Mayanna (Fran): I– you always do. Thank you so much for doing that. Hi, Cecilia. Are you, what is this? Some kind of like, audit?

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh. [Laughter]. That'd be funny if it was. That'd be hilarious. No, I, I have a bunch of business up in the Constellation next week and, Gordon's going to take over my route.

Mayanna (Fran): (Soft gasp) Oh, my god.

Mayanna: I'm like, going to lean into Cecilia.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you worried?

Mischa (Cecilia): I’m–

Mayanna (Fran): Are you excited? Are you worried?

Mischa (Cecilia): No, dude. I'm like kind of stressed.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh girl.

Mischa (Cecilia): It's always like such an ordeal. That's when I have to spend any amount of time up there.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh!

Mischa (Cecilia): And this time's actually really important, and I really need to like rep for the guild and –

Mayanna (Fran): Sounds like, uh, maybe you need a, a, little a travel buddy? Maybe a little, maybe hook, hook a girl up with your little travel pass. Maybe I uh, maybe I come up there with you?

Mischa (Cecilia): You know that I would bring you up there in the heartbeat, but the commuter pass really only–

Mayanna (Fran): I get it.

Mischa (Cecilia): They're kind of strict about it too.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand. I understand.

Ian: I come back – while you guys were having that conversation, I had gotten out of the other door and like opened up the, you know, the roll door and gotten bread out and I come back at this point and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Are you trying to get Cecilia to bring you up to the top with her?

Mayanna (Fran): No. Yes.

Ian (Gordon): You could bring us both.

Mayanna: Yeah, we give you like, the shimmery puppy dog eyes. (Whining noises). Like, we've asked you this like a hundred times.

Ian: Cheek to cheek.

Mischa: She goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Ha ha ha, yeah, hold on one second.

Mischa: And she takes a piece of raw clear Astra out of her back pocket. It's a little, round, sphere of crystal, like a crystal ball. Like you can see through it and it's a little distorted. You can see right through it.

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: It's perfectly clear. There's no impurities in it. This is a well made piece of Astra. And she takes it out, and she taps it to the commuter pass, which is a laminated piece of paper. She's like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Wha – Oh, I guess magic won't work. It still only carries one.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. We get it.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You don't have to do the demonstration.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): Really weird. You know?

Mischa (Cecilia): Well, I like to make sure you guys get the message. I love you dearly.

Mayanna (Fran): I get it. Wait, where do you get the Astra?

Mischa: You can buy it at the Astra dispenser.

Mayanna (Fran): Nah, but it's like, it's really clean. I'm just like, it's, it’s crisp.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, you have to like, go through the market stall and like, pick the clear ones. What, are you going to pick ones with impurity and pay full price for them?

Mayanna (Fran): (Defensively) No, obviously not. I'm just impressed by your level of taste.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Defensively) Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): (Defensively) You are welcome.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Still defensively, but waning) Why, are we talking–

Mayanna (Fran): I don’t– I don’t know –

Mischa (Cecilia): –this way?

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know.

Mischa (Cecilia): It's so aggressive.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm sorry. I don't mean to be–

Mischa (Cecilia): Thank you, I–

Mayanna (Fran): I respect you.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Touched) Girl.

Mayanna (Fran): (Recognizing) Girl.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): (Higher pitched, lightheartedly) Girl!

Ian (Gordon): I've been holding four pallets of bread for like, six minutes and I'm not very strong. Can I put this down for a minute?

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry, sorry.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, sorry, my bad. Hold on, man. Let me, I'll take those in. I got this. One second.

Ian (Gordon): (Relieved sigh). Oh my arms.

Mischa (Cecilia): Watch the tuk tuk, alright?

Mischa: And she goes inside.

Mayanna (Fran): How are ya?

Ian (Gordon): I'm so good!

Mayanna (Fran): Are you sure?

Ian (Gordon): Well–

Mayanna (Fran): Sounds like you've got a big, a really big thing you might be having to do.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I'm really scared actually for next week.

Mayanna (Fran): (Understanding hum).

Ian (Gordon): Also, I had this crazy dream this morning.

[SFX: Suspenseful music in the background].

Mayanna (Fran): Really?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, we were all in it, wearing like crazy armor, and like a sun exploded. It was– I'm just like, I'm having the weirdest day.

Mayanna (Fran): I had the same dream.

Ian (Gordon): What?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): What do you mean? No.

Mayanna (Fran): I had the same dream. You were there. There was a star. It exploded. It was weird people with no eyes. And we fell into the void of all white until all we could see was white, and then you woke up?

Ian: So at this point, like, I think I've pushed it off until, you know, right? Because I've been thinking about all this other stuff. And I think when she says that, like, a little like, trickle of sweat goes down the back of my neck, you know, like the hair stands up just a little bit.

Mayanna (Fran): You okay?

Ian (Gordon): Uh. No?

Mayanna (Fran): Me either. Yeah, it was weird.

Ian (Gordon): Great.

Mayanna (Fran): It was weird that we had the same dream. We–

Ian (Gordon): Shall we head into the restaurant?

Mayanna (Fran): I suppose we should…Go about our day…As if that's not weird.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okie dokie. Well, (nervous laughter). Yep. All right. Here we go!

Ian: And we go start, we both start to walk in together and then like, as we get halfway, I,

Ian (Gordon): Sick, armor though, right?

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) I know, so good!

Ian (Gordon): God, where did that come from?

Mayanna (Fran): It made me angry.

Ian (Gordon): Yes.

Mayanna (Fran): It was so good.

[SFX: music ends. Fades back into soundscape].

Ian (Gordon): Man.

Mischa: Cecilia comes back out and goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Yo, dude, Sid is so weird.

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa, wait, what? Wait, what happened?

Mischa (Cecilia): Nothing. He's just like, asked me if I could give him another discount on the bread, and I feel like the discount was Gordon, who's an up-and-comer, and like,

Mayanna (Fran): Very generous, yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Real, like, apprentice rates. My hands are kind of tied. And he seemed mad about it. I– like, I've been working with you guys for years. I thought he knew how it worked.

Mayanna (Fran): No, do you want me to talk to him?

Mischa (Cecilia): Do you feel like talking to the owner of Boggins’?

Mayanna (Fran): I don’t feel like talking, but, you know, I, I don't like you-I don't like you feeling weird. So I will go figure this out.

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh! No, I, it's, you are a waitress in this restaurant. I'm, like, near the head of one of the food guilds.

Mayanna (Fran): I know, but you've got a lot on your plate right now. Do you want me to just, like, see if he's like, mad? I don't know, maybe he's just in a weird mood and he said something he didn't mean to say, you know.

Mischa (Cecilia): Sure.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): You guys, I've been holding this door open for like–

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god.

Ian (Gordon): – six minutes, and I'm not very strong.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I just realized that that's Gordon's catchphrase.

Mayanna: “I'm not very strong.”

[Laughter].

Ian: (Laughing) I'm not very strong.

Mayanna: Do you have good forearms at least? From all the–

Ian: No, no I'm a string bean.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Which is crazy considering how much, carbohydrate bread I eat.

Mayanna: And how much, how much kneading of dough you do in a day.

Ian: Yeah, 100%. But again, 13 HP. [Laughter]. First strength roll of the game was a 2.

Mayanna: His rolls are soft, much like his-

Ian: Just like his doughy bread.

Bex: He’s mushy.

Mischa: Yeah, you step through the threshold and into Boggin's Bee-stro.

[SFX: soundscape shifts into the interior of the restaurant. Chattering, cheesy jaunty music, and blips of arcade games in a restaurant].

Mischa: The loudest, chintziest, family friendliest, fun times to be had on the strip of the Barra. This is like the Tokyo equivalent of a Dave & Buster's.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: There's like a long sort of bar that only serves soda. And there's like dining tables, and there's like a low half wall that separates it from all of the arcade. Like, bits – there's like, I think there's probably the equivalent of like those basketball-hoops-like games. I think it's probably some kind of fantasy sport. I don't think that– I, I don't know if they have basketball.

Mayanna: Blitzball.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: That– wait that– that one's, that one's trademarked.

Ian: Bon ball.

Mayanna: Shutterball.

Lyn: Barrelball.

Mayanna: Barrelball.

Mischa: It’s like– It's like, yeah. Barrelball.

Mayanna: Barrelball and Pachonko.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You are greeted as ever by the animatronic version of Boggins’ Bee singing like, the same song you hear 300 times a day [SFX: electronic musical jingle] at your normal shifts over your head as you walk in. The eye is like not very well maintained and it kind of twitches a little bit.

Ian: Oh god.

Mayanna: We gotta do something about that. We gotta.

Mischa: It's almost like you should talk to a craftsman or engineer and see if they know anything about fixing things.

Mayanna: (Gasp). Wait a minute.

Mischa: (Laughing) How long have you been working here?

Mayanna: I, you know, it's been a little bit. I would say I've been, I've been working here for about a year.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: I, you know, so I'm one of the more senior waitresses. Like, I know everybody. If somebody new is there, I, it's very notable to me. I'm very familiar with the flow. I'm very familiar with whatever. I, I, I wonder if at some point I have offered to fix the thing? Maybe he just was like, “Eh, I'm not paying you for that. I barely pay you as it is!”

Mischa: Yeah. This is probably something that like, your manager Morga has talked to you about a lot. Where she's really like,

Mischa (Morga): (New York accent) Listen, I know it's gonna bother you. There's a lot of stuff around this place that bothers me, too. I ain't getting paid to fix that, you know what I mean?

Mayanna (Fran): I understand, but at the same time, I mean, like, if you're walking around with jeans with a hole in them, at some point you're gonna want to patch the hole.

Mischa (Morga): You're so good at crafting. What, what's, what's your rate these days?

Mayanna (Fran): Um. Hm. You know? I've been doing it kind of as like a, like a side thing for a long time. I, I– should, I like, like, quote a rate, to fix, Mr. Bee?

Mischa (Morga): That's how business gets done.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Alright.

Mischa (Morga): Gotta put, put together like a rate sheet. I'll take it up to, you know, I wanna hire you.

Mayanna (Fran): (Thankful) Oh, girl.

Mischa (Morga): It's not up to me. My hands are tied on this one.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand.

Mischa (Morga): My claws are tied on this one.

Mayanna (Fran): I, I see it. I see it.

Mischa: She's a Saurid.

Mayanna: Okay!

[Laughter].

Ian: That's a lizard person?

Mischa: That's a lizard person.

Mayanna: That's– my claws are tied.

Mischa: Yeah. She's like,

Mischa (Morga): My, my claws are tied on this one.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand. By the way, your new shed? Immaculate. It’s-I love it.

Mischa (Morga): Oh my god, it was so itchy for so long.

Mayanna (Fran): I. (Knowingly) Girl.

Mischa (Morga): You're not working until later, huh?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I’m– So, it's Paz's birthday, so I was like, you know.

Mischa (Morga): Oh yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): I want to celebrate, but I also kind of like to be busy, so.

Mischa (Morga): That's so adorable.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I don't know about that.

Mischa (Morga): You got closing, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I got closing.

Mischa (Morga): Okay, cool, because I didn't really want to stick around to close.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand. I got you, girl.

Mischa (Morga): Excellent, excellent.

Mayanna (Fran): I'll set it up really, nice for the morning shift.

Mischa (Morga): Alright, do your thing.

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, thank you.

Mayanna: I, I just like look at the animatronic again and I’m just like,

Mayanna (Fran): I could fix that.

Mischa: (Imitating the electronic zaps) Bzzt bzzt.

Mayanna (Fran): (Annoyed) Oh god.

[Laughter].

Ian: P.S., does this– because it's a family restaurant, does it have like, a little corner that has like, some pinball-y types of games in it?

Mischa: Oh yeah, this is –

Mayanna: Like skee-ball?

Ian: I think that's immediately where I ran. As soon as I walked in, like I forgot all the discomfort of the dream and I went,

Ian (Gordon): Games!

[Laughter].

Ian: And so that whole conversation, I'm like, just in the back like pulling the thing.

Mischa: Yeah, I think you, you run over to, one of your spare– you pull out the rolling pin that you pocketed.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: And you go over to the machine where you know it'll do the most good: the Whack-A-Balvarox machines.

Ian: Oh, sick.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Where the horrors of generations’ past have been turned into a cutesy kids game.

Ian: Wild.

Mischa: Where– but like, these little moose-gorilla looking things, like, pop out of their little like, cave holes and you pop them back down.

Ian: Like,

Ian (Gordon): Gotcha! Oh, so close.

Mischa: Yeah, you head upstairs to Sid's office.

Mayanna: Yes! Knock on the door. [SFX: knocking].

Mischa (Sid): (Stuffy voice) Come on in. [SFX: door opens]

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, I know you don't like to be disturbed. I just wanted to check in. Is everything going okay with like, our bread situation?

Mischa (Sid): We don't need the high quality stuff. I just want to pay as little as possible, and get what we need to serve our customers so they'll pay as much money as possible.

Mayanna (Fran): Right, but like, don't you think– Just out of curiosity, that like, I don't know, raising our quality bar may actually increase profits?

Mischa (Sid): (Hefty pause). What are you, a numbers girl now?

Mayanna (Fran): (Stammering).

Mischa (Sid): You know everything about quality to price ratios, branding business plans –

Mayanna (Fran): Uh, well, I mean, you know, it's just like, I would pay more for something knowing a lot of work and craftsmanship went into it.

Mischa (Sid): You know, Fran, that's why I love you. It's because you're such a sucker.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Thanks, Sid.

Mischa (Sid): How about this? I'll run the business, and you wait the tables. And we'll both do our own jobs here.

Mayanna (Fran): (Defeated) Okay.

Mischa (Sid): How about that?

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. You got it.

Mischa (Sid): You got it?

Mayanna (Fran): I got it.

Mischa: And that's probably why Cecilia doesn't like him.

Mayanna: (Deep sigh). Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Dammit.

Ian: From the other room, you might hear that I, like, raise my arm to hit one of the gorilla-monkeys, and I accidentally, like, let that rolling pin slip, and it flies out of my hand and, like, breaks something behind me on the wall. [SFX: glass shattering].

Mayanna (Fran): I'll go clean that up.

Mischa (Sid): Damn right you will. Close the door on your way out.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, you got it. [SFX: door closes]. Fuck.

Ian (Gordon): Sorry!

Mayanna (Fran): It's fine.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: So I go get the mop. There's only one mop. It's falling apart. It's got three strings left. [Laughter]. And I started mopping up the spill.

Ian: Did you just say a three string mop?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Sick.

Mayanna: It's like– it’s like, it's it's been so worn down, and we- I keep saying we should get a new mop. We probably have the budget for it.

Mayanna (Fran): You know, Sid acts like we don't make any money at this establishment. This establishment was one of the only family friendly establishments. We are busy all the time. I don't understand why we can't get a good mop.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Why, why Boggin’s Bee has a wonky eye. Sorry, Gordon. I know that you're in the middle of playing a game, but I just, I have to vent.

Ian: We're literally standing in front of the game, and you're just mopping with the three, just total vent.

Mayanna: (Horrible squeaky mop sounds).

Ian: And I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, that sounds terrible.

Ian: –as I'm continuing to whack.

Mayanna (Fran): It's the worst. Ugh!

Mischa: And Morga is standing over by the bar being like,

Mischa (Morga): I thought she wasn't working till later.

Mayanna: Oh, right. I'm not even on the clock right now. [Laughter].

Ian: You don't even realize though. You're just like, fuming.

Mayanna: Yeah, furious mopping. And then I think I go into my tool box. I'm, I'm, I'm heated about this! Like, I don't, maybe it's because of this weird dream I had, but it's like, it's occurring to me that like I can do things that could make things better.

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: Even just a marginal amount. So I think I'm going to look in the closet and see if there's any like rope, and to see if I can maybe like manufacture kind of a better, a better mop situation. If I can like fray it, just get something more absorbent than the three strings left of mop.

Mischa: Sure. Well, you can go into your craftsman's tool belt–

Mayanna: Yes, I would love to do that.

Mischa: –and sort of fashion a mop–

Mayanna: Pft.

Mischa: -for today?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: What is it? Three times a day, you can pull any mundane objects from your tool belt.

Mayanna: I think so, yes.

Mischa: So yeah, you sit down and you're not on the clock, so you can spend as much time as you need to crafting a thing.

Mayanna: Yes! Yay.

Mischa: And then you come up with a mop, and Morga's like,

Mischa (Morga): I didn't know we had a spare mop? Where'd you get that?

Mayanna (Fran): Um? Oh! Oh, I just. Just made it.

Mischa (Morga): Oh my god, girl, you're so talented. What are you doing here?

Mayanna (Fran): You know I can't afford anything. I, I, if I could, if I could be somewhere else, no offense, I would be, but like–

Mischa (Morga): None taken, I also fucking hate it here.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. What do you want to do? What's your dream?

Mischa (Morga): Oh, me? I mean, I stopped, I stopped having dreams when I had kids.

Mayanna (Fran): But if you had one –

Mischa (Morga): You know, my dreams are their dreams.

Mayanna (Fran): Sure.

Mischa (Morga): I really just hope my clutch of eggs, you know, makes, makes something of themselves.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Well, I guess that's a dream. That's a nice dream.

Mischa (Morga): Thanks. I think so. Meanwhile, I got to stick it out in this fucking joint.

Mayanna (Fran): (Begrudingly) Yeah, I understand.

Mischa (Morga): Did you finish cleaning up that broken machine?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, well, oh, the Bee?

Mischa (Morga): No, no. The thing that Gordon broke.

Ian: I think I think my rolling pin –

Mayanna: Oh, oh my god.

Ian: – smashed like a jar of sauce or liquid, and it’s on the floor.

Mayanna: And so now with the new mop, I'm going to go finish up the cleaning job, which is, I imagine, infinitely easier with a more absorbent mop.

Mischa: (Laughing) Yeah, absolutely.

Mayanna: And I think I feel very proud. I think if I like. I'm so focused on my, my little things that I, I've never thought really about how to apply my talents to this job. They're so separate in my mind, but it's like, “wow! I can make things better.”

Mischa: Yeah, I think when you're done and like you go back out into the street cause you're not working til later, you hand off the mop to Morga and she goes,

Mischa (Morga): Hmm. Not bad.

Mischa: And she goes off to like mop the rest of the floors, like one of which probably like has been sticky since the beginning of time. And like all of a sudden she could clean the actual place because of something you made.

Mayanna: (Small squeal). I think I feel very proud of myself. Very excited.

[SFX: Soundscape ends. Changes to ambient, industrious music].

Mischa: We'll move from here back across the city to the office of the Department of Labor Resources over in the Come-Up. We enter through a busy, bustling office suite full of clerical assistants walking swiftly back and forth from office to office, filling out paperwork, fielding private messages, that sort of thing. It's a constant state of activity, but it's not messy. The office is orderly. Just everything within it moves with a sense of urgency and purpose. We head towards the back to the one closed office door, behind which sits the tallest human woman most of you would have ever seen, big and broad shouldered and platinum blonde. It almost seems like a giant sitting behind her normal sized desk. She's intimidatingly professional, direct and commanding, but not cruel. She embodies the idea that the work of managing the balance of the various workforces that keep New Prosper running is vital and necessary, and that nothing should sway the decisions she and her office make, except the true needs of the people. Ibra and JJ, who makes it into the office first today?

[SFX: music ends].

Bex: JJ by a long shot.

Lyn: Mhmm. (Chuckles).

Bex: I got held up on the Constellation by the funicular ride back down.

Lyn: Oh, and my minute-to-minute schedule puts me in at the office 15 minutes earlier than I need to be.

Mischa: Excellent.

Lyn: Because if you're not early, you're late.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mayanna: Exactly.

Ian: Is your schedule called the “Minutes, Minutes” Schedule?

Lyn: I said “Minute To Minute,” but now it's “The Minutes Minutes.”

[Laughter].

Mischa: Do you check in with anybody at the office, or do you just start right in?

Lyn: I think it's like, on the way in, I'm probably still reading one of my textbooks and drinking coffee at the same time to make the most out of my day. And by that I mean, I'm– What's the word of like, when you're maxing out–?

Mayanna: Optimizing.

Lyn: Yeah. Just like truly optimizing things. But like on the way in, I'm, there's probably a couple of people. I'm so regimented at this. So it's just like,

[SFX: soundscape begins. Quiet motion in the office interior].

Lyn (JJ): (Awkwardly and stilted) Oh, hi Megan. Good morning. Daniel. Great. Hi. Nice to see you. How are the– ? Okay. Moving on.

Lyn: Just like, trying to like, make niceties while I'm going through.

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: Before I actually get to where I need to be here.

Mayanna: You min-max small talk.

Lyn: Yeah, I'm trying to min max small talk. I'm not great at that part. I know I'm supposed to do it.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: And I try very earnestly. So it's a lot of,

Lyn (JJ): (Very awkwardly) Hi, hello. Good mo– oh it's afternoon. Good afternoon. How was your day? Gr-great, great. Mine's good, mine's good. St-studying, studying. Tests, yeah. Um. Yep! Nice to see you too. Have a good week– weekend later. Are you leaving? Oh, you're leaving. Okay. Um, bye. Okay. (Deep breath and sigh). Okay.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: There's definitely someone who works there who's like, (very tired) “Oh, fuck. Not again.” [Laughter]. “Oh my God.”

Lyn: I feel like it's probably like a mix of like, (cutesy) “Aw, she's trying so hard.” Also like, (cringing) “Oh my God, she's trying so hard.”

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. And you head back to Gwenivere's office, knock on the door and enter. [SFX: knocking. Door opens].

Lyn (JJ): Good afternoon.

Mischa (Gwen): Ah, JJ. Thank– I'm so glad you're here. Close the door. Come in.

Lyn (JJ): Um, yes.

Mischa (Gwen): Have a seat. JJ, I… I'm going to be frank with you. (Sigh). I often wonder what you're still doing in my office. Not to say I'm not glad that you're here. It's just, you know, I, I've, I've been in touch with your parents, and I know that you're on a mechanist track. I worry that there's just not a lot my office can offer you in your education. But today I'm actually really glad you're here because I have a new assignment for you that (deep breath) really could take a, a holistic problem solving approach to the task at hand. You see sometimes here, a lot of our job here at the Labor Department is making sure the departments we already have – that the jobs that the city needs doing, are appropriately assigned and staffed, and that there's education and forethought put into those assignments as well. Another part of our job here at the Department of Labor Management is training people for jobs that don't exist yet. And today we have one such assignment. In fact, I would love for you to work closely with, with Ibra. Are they here at the office today?

Bex: Door bursts open. [SFX: Door slams].

Bex (Ibra): I'm so sorry I'm late. I'm so sorry. I missed the first funicular. It’s all my fault.

Mischa (Gwen): It's okay, Ibra. Ibra, breathe.

Bex (Ibra): (Deep breath). Okay. I really don't like being late. I’m so–

Mischa (Gwen): You're right on time.

Bex (Ibra): Okay.

Mischa (Gwen): Have a seat.

Bex (Ibra): Okay. (Pained sigh). Hi, boss.

Mischa (Gwen): Hi.

Bex (Ibra): Hi, JJ. Okay. Sorry.

Lyn (JJ): You're very sweaty.

Bex (Ibra): I am? Oh god.

Bex: I take off my leather jacket.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that helps.

Mischa (Gwen): Do you, do you need a drink of water?

Mischa: And she pulls out a glass bottle, like a glass cylinder of water. She goes,

Mischa (Gwen): The irrigation section of the Mechanist's Guild sent me a case of these, and I really don't have a use for it, but please, please take one, please take one.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thank you, thank you. (Several deep gulps. Gasps for air). Breathing. Breathing between gulps. Okay.

Lyn (JJ): They're gonna get the hiccups.

Bex (Ibra): (Whimper, hiccup) Oh.

Lyn: (Chuckle) Oh.

Bex (Ibra): (Hiccup). (Pained) Oh.

Lyn (JJ): (Sympathetic) Oh.

Mischa (Gwen): Listen, I'm, I'm glad you're here. I have an assignment for the both of you. [SFX: Suspenseful music starts]. There is a position that needs filling, and unfortunately, I am not authorized to tell you that much about it. We need to look through our talent pool for people who think on their feet, who adapt to situations, who are courageous in the face of dangerous and unknown tasks and situations at hand.

Bex (Ibra): I had dreams about unknown tasks and situations at hand. This feels weird.

Lyn: I look at you very strangely and I'm like, (heavy pause).

Bex (Ibra): Just a weird night.

Lyn (JJ): (Whispering) I-I.. We’ll talk about this later.

Bex (Ibra): (Knowingly) Oh, oh!

Lyn (JJ): Sorry.

Mischa (Gwen): I would love for you to find a way to recruit these people. Find a tutor who would be fit to encourage those traits in recruits. And I need this done as soon as possible. We don't have time. This is priority one. I need you both to work on this until it's done.

Lyn (JJ): Of course. Is the implication here that there's a threat of danger at…?

Mischa (Gwen): I can't say.

Lyn (JJ): Got it.

Mischa (Gwen): Good. Now, this is an important task. It's priority one. It's priority one for my office. I'm here to answer–

Mischa: And then the door bursts open [SFX: click of door handle. Music ends], and I think Megan comes in and goes,

Mischa (Megan): Minister Gwen?

Mischa (Gwen): What is it?

Mischa (Megan): A section of the highway has collapsed. We'll need to reach out to the Mechanist’s Guild right away.

Mischa (Gwen): Yes, that is a major problem. If you'll excuse me for one moment, I'll be right back.

Mischa: And she rushes out of the door and closes the door behind her.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, big task, big task. What were– what were– what were you saying about a dream?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, uhh.

Lyn (JJ): Cause you were in my dream, which is weird, I don't normally dream about–

Bex (Ibra): Wait you were in my dream.

Lyn (JJ): you– or our friends in general.

Bex (Ibra): Wait, hm, I had a dream with you in it, and all our friends in it.

Lyn (JJ): Yes.

Bex (Ibra): There was a lot of glowing lights.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, yes.

Bex (Ibra): And there was a star that exploded.

Lyn (JJ): Several times, yes.

Bex (Ibra): And then I got knocked off a platform, into endless whiteness and oblivion until I woke up.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it was blinding and terrifying all at the same time?

Bex (Ibra): It feels connected.

Lyn (JJ): Whispers? Whispers, scary whispers. There were a lot of scary–

Bex (Ibra): Scary, scary whispers.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, cool, great.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, so. (Worried stammering). We had the same dream?

Lyn (JJ): Yes, that's, that's, yes. Yes we did. That's not typical, right?

Bex (Ibra): No, I, I mean I'm a triplet and I've never had the same dreams as either of my siblings.

Lyn (JJ): That's so fascinating, I want to know more about that.

Bex (Ibra): (Awkward squeak) Maybe someday.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Um…

Bex (Ibra): I don't like, not believe in coincidences or any of that bullshit. But I do feel like it's a little weird that there's a new job popping up that we need to fill, and we just got warned by our dreams. I don't know things feel weird right now.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it does not bode well for the state of affairs. Nor us. Okay. I know, I know she said that she couldn't say anything, but I feel like she was saying something by not saying something.

Bex: You hear the crinkling of leather as Ibra pulls their motorcycle jacket into their chest like a security blanket.

Lyn (JJ): I think we should probably take this job really seriously then, right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah…

Lyn (JJ): Should we– (whispering) should we talk to someone about the dream?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) I think, should we talk to, like, Fran and Gordon?

Lyn (JJ): Oh yeah, they were, they were, they were a big part of that.

Bex (Ibra): They were absolutely there.

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Bex (Ibra): Like, and did Fran make that armor?

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I bet Fran made that armor.

Bex (Ibra): It was such cool armor.

Lyn (JJ): It was so good. It was beautiful.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, man.

[SFX: Music fades out].

Ian: I feel like it's possible that at this moment, I've texted them in that, right, in whatever communication device we have.

Mischa: Yeah, everybody, everybody in New Prosper has a– what is it? An N-Gage Sidekick? To text everyone?

[Screams of excitement].

Lyn: Incredible.

Ian: (Singsongy) Living the life I never got to live!

Mischa: Where, where there's just like, you know, like, it's a flat device with a keyboard where you can text each other, but there's like a slot for Astra in the back where you can swap out the battery.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: You know, you can plug it into the back.

Ian: Yes!

Lyn: Incredible.

Ian: So I think I texted them like,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky filter] Hey, see you guys tonight. Fran’s cleaning the restaurant right now. Should be really fun! When are you guys coming out tonight?

Lyn (JJ): (Slowly, while typing) “After work and class.” Do you have class after this? Are we going straight after?

Bex (Ibra): I was just gonna skip and get Paz a couple more gifts.

Lyn (JJ): Oh crap! I didn’t get Paz anything.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, don't worry, you can – i have like four in my backpack, you can have one of them.

Lyn (JJ): What?

Bex (Ibra): Look, Paz is my best friend, I really like to shower her with gifts. Like. You can have one of them, it's fine.

Lyn (JJ): That’s really cute.

Mischa: Gwen comes back in through the door and goes, [SFX: click of door opening].

Mischa (Gwen): I'm so sorry about that. That wasn't a joke. There's a major section of one of the highways across Lower Prosper that collapsed.

Lyn (JJ): (Worried) Oh.

Mischa (Gwen): I'm gonna need to spend the rest of my day assigning work teams and making sure that the training regimen that we've been running the Mechanist Guild through covers these sort of problems. I need you guys to take care of that assignment. Grab any numbers you need from the bullpen. They know you're working on this. Hurry, please.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, okay.

Mischa: And then she sits back down at the desk and immediately starts making, like, frantic phone calls.

Lyn: I'm also gonna text my parents who are in the Mechanist Guild, is that correct? Send them a quick text – like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky filter] Highway collapse, you good?

[Laughter].

Ian: Great text.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I think your dad Paul answers you back and goes,

Mischa (Paul): [SFX: staticky filter] We just heard – we're packing up our gear and headed to the site.

Lyn (JJ): Be safe. Heart emoji.

Lyn: Are, are there emojis on– No –

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely.

Lyn: Heart– Heart emoticon – less than three

Ian: (Approving) Mhmm. A hundred percent.

Ian: The only way.

Mischa: Yeah, only ASCII characters in this texting.

Mischa: Cool. So you guys head out into the bullpen, gather up statistics and lists of names and different spreadsheets that you'll need to sort of parse through to get this information. Do you guys have a, have a place you work? Other than Boggins’ or?

Bex (Ibra): I mean, we could go to the Commons, but I kind of want to go to Boggins’.

Lyn (JJ): We could just go there. I was going to go there to study anyway.

Bex (Ibra): Right? It's so bright and fun, and it's perfect. We'll just go do that there.

Lyn (JJ): The background noise is, it does something to me.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, and look, if we end up getting stuck, we can ask for covert help from our friends.

Lyn (JJ): I mean, I guess that is part of the recruitment process. Okay, yeah, let's just take some of these things.

Lyn: Do we have computers in this world?

Mischa: (Hesitant) I–

Lyn: Like a, like a Lenovo ThinkPad situation?

Mayanna: Ibra had a tablet?

Mischa: Yeah, good question.

Bex: I was sort of thinking we'd have something?

Mischa: I, I truly think that, like, there is– devices to access text databases–

Ian: Right.

Mischa: –and like, like, websites, but not interactive media. That it's not like, and maybe this is not because the technological limitations are such, but maybe it's just like the culture is such that like– the things you can do digitally are, are text based things.

Lyn: Yeah. so, the computer is just like. Actually, just like a word processor –

Mischa: Yeah, it's like a terminal and word processor.

Lyn: Great. A Lenovo ThinkPad!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Cool. You guys, yeah, you get the files you need from other people working in the office. I think probably a couple of those people are like,

Mischa (Susan): Wow, you, like, this is a really kind of important task to give to, like, interns that aren't, don't even work in this office. But, like, good on you for stepping up.

Lyn (JJ): You know, looking for ways to prove myself. Anyway, um–

Mischa (Susan): But you're like a mechanist, though.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, but people can be good at a lot of things, right?

Mischa (Susan): It's kind of how it– We, we find the people who are good at something and then give them jobs for that thing. That's kind of the office's whole deal? No?

Ian: Craig leans over the table and goes,

Ian (Craig): Stop being so judgmental, Susan. We need the extra hands.

Mischa (Susan): Okay, fine. All right, Craig.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Susan): Where are the reports from last week?

Ian: I don't know, where are they?

Mischa (Susan): That's what I thought.

Ian (Craig): (Frustrated) Oh, god.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa (Susan): Anyway–

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) We should just go.

Mischa (Susan): –files are done. Here you go.

Lyn (JJ): (Awkwardly stilted) Um, thank you so much. I appreciate the time and your cooperation.

Mischa (Susan): (Awkwardly) Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (Rushed) Okay, have a good rest of your day. Goodbye.

Mischa (Susan): (Hesistant) Yup.

Mischa (Susan): Craig, is it just me or is she like so weird.

Ian (Craig): Those interns are so weird. I was just about to say.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You guys –

Lyn: JJ’s just so nervous!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. You guys head over to Boggins’ to get work done early. Fran, did you leave at some point to come back or are you just?

Mayanna: (Sigh).

Mischa: Because I'm pretty sure Gordon is lost in the sauce over in the arcade section.

Mayanna: I think, I meant to leave? And then I think I posted up in one of the empty booths cause it's not that busy yet. And I started, like, drawing out schematics for how I would fix the wonky eye of the bee. (Laughing) I just can't stop thinking about it.

Mischa: I think Cecilia is probably sitting at the booth across from you, just kind of like casually munching on probably not bread, but probably like some other thing they make here at Boggins’.

Mayanna: Some cheesy sticks or something.

Mischa Oh yeah. She definitely got like a basket of cheesy fries.

Mayanna: Yes. Cheesy fries.

Mischa: And is just kind of like eating them and watching you work, and is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): The way your mind works. It's, honestly, it's wild.

Mayanna (Fran): (Stammering). Thank you, that's really nice. I don't know, I think what you guys do is way more impressive. I can't make food.

Mischa (Cecilia): Turn on fire, make bread. I don't even know –

Mayanna (Fran): No, there's so– You know there's more steps than that.

Mischa (Cecilia): Look how many mechanisms are drawn on your page to work on a bee's eye.

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, yeah, well it's just there's a lot of pieces. That's just, you know, that's just how it is.

Mischa (Cecilia): Really? Cause to me, there's like three pieces. One eye, two more eyelids. Psssh.

Mayanna (Fran): (Chuckle). Alright, agree to disagree. I think you're great, you think I'm great, can I have a cheesy fry please?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah!

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Mischa (Cecilia): Why do you think I got a large?

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh, you’re a genius.

[Laughter].

Bex: I love this aggressive friendship.

Ian: Agreed. Also from the food perspective of this podcast, is this like mozzarella cheesy fries, cheese-curd – cheese-curd cheesy fries?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: Poutine!

Ian: Poutine fries?

Mischa: No, its –

Ian: Parmesan fries – parmesan fries?

Mischa: It's Boggins Bee-stro. It's absolutely American cheese, melted on the batch of fries.

[Mixed crosstalk of agreement and disgust].

Ian: What was I thinking?

Mayanna (Fran): How would you, how would you innovate on these fries, Cecilia?

Mischa (Cecilia): How would I innovate?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, like what would you do to make these better?

Mischa (Cecilia): Well, like, I would process the potatoes differently?

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): There's like –

Mayanna (Fran): I'm, like, starting to write this stuff down.

Mischa (Cecilia): There's so many other cheeses you can– There's – I'm pretty sure this cheese is, like, half plastic. It is so good, though.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): I cannot stop eating them.

Mayanna (Fran): It is addictively good.

Mischa (Cecilia): But, like, I can feel it in my arteries.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): And that's probably not good.

Mayanna (Fran): That's not good. Well it's, like – Cause I don't know – it just – why do we settle for what's there, right? Like, you wouldn't settle for, like, mediocre bread, you would keep making bread until it's like, the best bread you can possibly make, right?

Ian (Gordon): (Yelling from afar) Yep, definitely!

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon do you want to come over and sit with us?

[SFX: Arcade machine announces “High score!”].

Ian (Gordon): (Yelling from afar) One second!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god–

Ian (Gordon): (Grunts and yells).

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know. I just – I don't know, I'm all fired up about this today.

[SFX: Music begins in the background, inspiring and pensive].

Mayanna: It's just like, why do we just look around and go, “Yeah, this is good enough.” It's not! It's just not, objectively. It could be so much better!

Mischa (Cecilia): I mean, I feel you. Sometimes we get so busy that all we can do is maintain, I guess.

Mayanna (Fran): (Exasperated) Yeah, okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): It doesn't feel good.

Mayanna (Fran): No, it doesn't!

Mischa (Cecilia): It doesn't feel good.

Mayanna (Fran): (Deep sigh).

Mischa (Cecilia): I agree.

Mayanna (Fran): How do we, I don't know, how do you – cause you're like a leader. You're like, you're like making moves, doing deals, like – how do you get, how do you get there?

Mischa: Cecilia kind of sighs, looks over at Gordon and is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): You get to the top and then you teach other people how to do it, for the people around them, and you give them space to grow. And that, that's, that's why I'm going up to the Constellation next week. I– (Deep sigh) I gotta bring some issues up to the higher ups, and I'm really the one who does that these days.

Mayanna (Fran): Is that scary?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You just never struck me as someone who's scared of anything.

Mischa (Cecilia): I'm scared– I'm scared all the time.

Mayanna (Fran): Really?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yes. And part of my job is being scared so that everyone else doesn't have to be.

Mayanna: I just give, like, like give Cecilia a little side hug in the booth.

Mischa (Cecilia): Thanks.

Ian: In the distance you hear, like, (imitates arcade game music). And I say,

[SFX: Actual arcade game music].

Ian (Gordon): Oh my gosh, the highest score ever! I don't have a care in the world!

[Laughter]. [SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Amazing. Ibra and JJ, you walk in.

Lyn: How did we get here? Cause you were on your motor –

Bex: On my e-Bike!

Lyn: Oh, okay.

Lyn (JJ): I could have just taken the bus.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. But wasn't that fun?

Lyn (JJ): (Deep sigh. Resigned.) Yes.

[Laughter].

Ian: How, how soaked in sweat are you?

Lyn: I's pretty – pretty sweaty. It's so much faster than my actual bike.

Mischa: Yeah, the zero to 60 speeds on these Astra e-bikes – because it's truly just like magical power from the crystal converted to electricity. And like, there's no in between steps. So the motors on those things can kick in.

[Multiple imitations of a speedy bike].

Mayanna: I think I noticed that you guys have arrived. And I think that, you know, I'm, I'm aware where you guys like to sit. So I like flag you over to our little section because that's kind of, the zone –

Lyn: I wave– I wave.

Mayanna (Fran): Hello!

Bex (Ibra): Hey!

Lyn (JJ): (Stilted) Hi, good afternoon –

Mayanna: I like, turn to Cecilia and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): She always looks like she's in pain when she's talking

Bex (Ibra): You don't have to be formal with them.

Lyn (JJ): I know. It's hard to switch. It was so fast. I normally use the bus rides to decompress.

Mayanna (Fran): Have a soda! Chill out!

Lyn (JJ): (Deep sigh).

Ian: Gordon also sits in the booth.

Ian (Gordon): Ooh, cheese fries! (Chomping sounds).

Mayanna (Fran): Have a cheese fry. You seem stressed. More stressed than usual.

Ian (Gordon): (Agreeing, full mouth) Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): Um … yeah. Okay. Oh, hi, Cecilia. You're also here.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Great. Everyone's here. Well everyone and Ceci– Hello. How are you?

Mischa (Cecilia): Am I not – part of –

Mayanna (Fran): No, you’re –

Mischa (Cecilia): Do you need me to leave?

Mayanna (Fran): No. No.

Lyn (JJ): (Rushed) No no no.

Mischa (Cecilia): I wasn't going to.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Okay. Can I, I, , Cecilia, I, I'm working, we're working on a – I have three survey questions to ask you!

Mischa (Cecilia): Fire away.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Lyn (JJ): One, do you consider yourself someone that thinks on their feet?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Great. Two, do you consider yourself someone that can adapt to any situation?

Mischa (Cecilia): I would really love to hope so.

Lyn (JJ): Great. And finally, do you consider yourself brave and courageous in the face of danger and/or the unknown?

Mischa (Cecilia): Unfortunately, yes.

Lyn (JJ): Wonderful. (Whispering) Add Cecilia's name to the list.

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) Already done.

Mayanna (Fran): What are you guys doing?

Bex (Ibra): Nothing!

Ian (Gordon): (With full mouth) You guys are being so weird right now.

Mayanna (Fran): (Suspicious) Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Usually!

Mischa (Cecilia): You guys know I already have a job that I really like most days, right?

Lyn (JJ): We are maybe looking for tutors?

Bex (Ibra): Yes.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Someone who can teach those three things?

Mischa (Cecilia): (Hefty pause) I make bread.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, she makes bread.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, but you're really good at it!

Ian (Gordon): Really good at it.

Mischa (Cecilia): That I know.

Lyn (JJ): And you're good at business stuff.

Mayanna (Fran): (Appreciative hum).

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And talking to people.

Mischa (Cecilia): Alright, I feel like I'm about to get recruited into, like, some kind of weird pyramid scheme. Like, what is happening?

Lyn (JJ): No, we got a new task from our boss to find people.

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, Tall Lady?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (Simultaneously) Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Cool.

Lyn (JJ): She's so tall.

Mayanna (Fran): She's the tallest, from what I hear.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Never seen her in person.

Mischa (Cecilia): I'm gonna take the rest of my cheese fries and I'm gonna like –

Mayanna (Fran): Do it.

Mischa (Cecilia): – go over there before I get, like, recruited.

Mayanna (Fran): No, that's fair. That's fair.

Ian (Gordon): Bye boss.

Bex (Ibra): Bye Cecilia.

Lyn (JJ): Nice to see you.

Mayanna (Fran): What's going on with you guys?

Lyn (JJ): (Blurting suddenly) Did y'all have a crazy dream last night?

[SFX: Suspenseful music begins].

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I was trying not to say it in front of Cecilia, but I was –

Bex (Ibra): Like where we all, like, fell into the void in nothing but blinding whiteness, and it was horrifying?

Ian: I think I freeze when you say that.

Mayanna: Yeah, I do as well. Cause I was like, it's weird enough that one other person had the same dream.

Lyn (JJ): Because we were talking and we were there, and–

Bex (Ibra): You were there

Lyn (JJ): – but you were also there.

Mayanna (Fran): (Nervous) Uh huh.

Lyn (JJ): So we thought that maybe you were there, actually.

Mayanna (Fran): We were there.

Ian (Gordon): (Hefty pause. Quietly) We were there.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): (Shakily) Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Did we like, did someone like someone like microdose us or something was like a collective, like, hallucination?

Ian (Gordon): Like, a drug situation?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Like, I mean that's, come on. That would be – there's no way –

Bex (Ibra): I mean, usually I would blame my sibling Hema for that. But (stammering) I haven't seen them in a couple days. I don't think they're clever enough for this either.

Lyn (JJ): I also don't know of a drug that makes people share dreams. It would just be like separate weird dreams, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Do you have any more muffins?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I have a whole sack.

Mayanna (Fran): Excellent.

Mayanna: I'm gonna just eat– stress eat muffin.

Ian: I pull out muffins for the table.

Mischa: While you guys are like sort of discussing this dream and sort of going over details and making sure that like, yeah, you were in fact inhabiting the same kind of space, I think the rest of the restaurant sort of is like, slowly clearing out.

[SFX: Music fades out].

Mischa: And then, finally, Samira and Paz walk in.

Mischa (Paz): You guys are already here! That's, that's really nice.

Mayanna (Fran): Happy birthday!

[Cheering].

Mischa (Paz): Thanks. It really means a lot that you guys came out to my favorite restaurant slash arcade, to come have some fun. Fran, I am sorry that it is the place you work.

Mayanna (Fran): That's fine. This is your favorite place?

Mischa (Paz): I love it here.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. That's great.

Mischa (Paz): I – I know that's –

Mayanna (Fran): That makes me so happy!

Mischa (Paz): I’m – does that – does that make me lame? Does that, like, make me like a little kid? Cause I do I feel –

Mayanna (Fran): No! No, I love that for you. I'm so happy to be here. Yeah, I know. Yeah,

Ian (Gordon): I was just gonna say I also love this place! It's great! The games? Oh! I have to frost your birthday cake! I'll be right back.

Ian: And I pop up out of the booth and then when I'm, like, walking past her, maybe, like, we just brush. You know, like, brush, like, shoulders just a little bit, as I like, walk past.

Mischa: Yeah, you head off into the kitchen, and Samira looks at Paz and is like,

Mischa (Samira): (Gasp. Whispering) The sparks, they're flying!

Mischa: Paz is like,

Mischa (Paz): Shut up! Oh my god.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Wait, what's happening?

Mischa (Paz): Nothing! No.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh no.

Mischa: And Samira's like,

Mischa (Samira): Paz and Gordon.

Mayanna (Fran): Pfft! Gordon?

Mischa (Samira): Just imagine it. Paz and Gordon. It would be so cute!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, if Gordon was able to, like, I don't know, pay attention to details, ever.

Ian: A bunch of pans clatter from the kitchen.

[SFX: Metal clanging]. [Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): (From afar) I'm okay!

Mayanna (Fran): Like that.

Bex (Ibra): Why does he need pans for frosting?

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I– he knocked into them.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): Cause they're on the way there. If you do want to make something happen, you're gonna have to really spell it out for the guy.

Mischa (Paz): Okay. Okay. (Heavy breathing).

Mayanna (Fran): You okay?

Mischa (Paz): (Nervously) Yeah.

Mischa: And she reaches –

Bex (Ibra): You – you need your inhaler?

Mischa: Yeah, she reaches back into her bag. She's like already taking it out and she pops her inhaler.

Mischa (Paz): (Deep inhale. Exhale). Okay. It's my birthday. Let’s–

Mayanna (Fran): The night is young!

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): To start your birthday off on the right note–

Bex: I fish through my jacket.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): I got you, a little Boggins’ bobblehead.

(Gasps).

Mischa (Paz): Oh my god!

Bex (Ibra): It's the little bee and it bobbles, isn't it cute?

Mischa: (Imitates the sound of a spring bouncing).

Mischa (Paz): I love it.

Bex (Ibra): I knew you would.

Mischa (Paz): It's so cute. Oh my god, look! It's got the little twitchy eye just like the real one!

Mayanna (Fran): (Aggressively) Not for long, you porcelain monster!

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh my god!

Mischa: I'm sorry! I knew you were going to respond but that was not what I expected you to say!

Bex: That was delicious.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I'm gonna start serving you guys,

Mayanna: So I, like, take off the jacket layer, and then I have my little apron, but of course, you have to wrap around on the back the stinger.

[Laughter]. [SFX: Music begins in the background, upbeat and lighthearted ukelele].

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: And you put on the antenna, and then I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Buzzzzz! What's the buzz with you guys tonight? How can I make your evening sweeter?

Bex (Ibra): (Begrudging) Oh, Fran, are we going all out?

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, I don't know. I thought she wants the experience.

Bex (Ibra): (Sigh) All right, I'll be right back.

Bex: And I go to the back room.

Mischa (Paz): Is it kind of weird? I do want the experience.

Mayanna (Fran): That's – that – it's your birthday, girl.

Bex (Ibra): (From afar) I'm on it!

[Laughter].

Bex: I go back in. I put on the Boggins’ Bee costume.

Ian: Sick.

Mayanna: Nice.

Bex: And I come back out for the full experience.

Mayanna (Fran): Here we go.

Mischa: Paz just looks at you and goes,

Mischa (Paz): You are a guest at this party. It never gets old seeing you in the bee.

Lyn (JJ): It is so funny.

Bex (Ibra): You're welcome.

Mayanna: Then we do a little shimmy bee dance.

Bex: (Sad shimmying noises).

Mayanna: A little shimmy dance.

Lyn (JJ): You have to do the birthday dance.

Ian: Happy, happy Bee Day from all of us to you. (Others joining) We wish it was our Bee Day so we can party too! Buzz.

[Laughter and buzzing sounds].

Mischa: Happy Bee Day? That’s genius. It's such a funny joke.

Ian: That's why you hired me.

Bex: And part of the dance is at buzz at the end we turn around and shake our stingers.

Mayanna: Little stingers.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And then like there's a “Happy Bee Day” button! See, here's a little “Happy Bee Day” button, and I write your little name on it in sharpie.

Mischa: She pins it right to, like, the front of the crutch on her arm, and is like,

Mischa (Paz): Look, see, it's so cute!

Mayanna (Fran): Aww, so cute!

Mischa: Gordon, you're in the back frosting this cake. Sort of the, the kitchen has, like, died down. Maybe there's, like, you know, a dishwasher who's kind of ignoring you.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: You're in the middle of, like, frosting your, your cinnamon roll cake.

Ian (Gordon): (Humming wistfully).

Mischa: Do we do candles here? What do we–?

Mayanna: I think-

Lyn: Sparklers.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah, sparklers. Yeah, and like a little, one of those candles that when you light it, it opens up, so it's like a little beehive?

Mischa: Oh!

Ian: Oh.

Mayanna: That when you light it, it, it opens a little bee.

Mischa: Right. Beeswax candles, bee themes.

Ian: Beeswax candle.

Mischa: Anyway. So you're just getting them in place and you light up the sparklers to bring it outside and the lights in the kitchen flicker.

[SFX: buzz and flicker of a fluorescent light].

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Ian (Gordon): Huh.

Mischa: And like, they just go out for a second. I mean, you're already done, so like you're, you're not dropping anything, but –

Ian: Yeah, I don't think anything of it. I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Oh, weird. Meh.

Ian: And then I go back to whistling while I work. (Whistling jauntily).

Mischa: Yeah, sure. ,You bring the cake out. Or the cinnamon roll.

Ian: Yeah, the super cinnamon roll cake.

Ian (Gordon): Hey I got your cake everybody! I missed the song! Happy– I love that song! Happy, happy – (players join in with varying degrees of enthusiasm) – Bee Day, from all of us to you! We wish you a Happy Bee Day so we can party too!

All: Bzzz!

[Laughter].

Mischa: You set it down, and the beeswax candles illuminate Paz's smile. [SFX: suspenseful music fades in slowly]. And she closes her eyes, and she makes a wish. And she blows out the candles, and all of the lights inBoggins’ go out completely.

[SFX: breaker shuts down. Emergency alarm beeps in the distance.]

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh, my god.

Ian (Gordon): Huh.

Bex (Ibra): Oooh! Neat trick, Fran!

Mayanna (Fran): (Scared) No, that's not a trick.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mischa (Paz): That wasn't–? that was really cool, you didn't –?

Mayanna (Fran): I mean the fuse box is fritzy, but not like that.

[SFX: Suspenseful music intensifies].

Ian: And the darkness of this moment reminds me of the darkness of our dream.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: And I immediately– I don't panic, but I immediately drop into a cold sweat.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Light cantrip.

Mischa: Ooh, let's get into it. So you Light cantrip?

Lyn: Mm hmm. I think because we're all at the table, I think it's just like, the, the moment– I light up the table.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: You light up the table and illuminate the four of you, uplit. Samira and Cecilia are sort of like, drifting in the background, but it's the four of you and Paz at this table. And the lighting from the uplit table reminds you of how you guys looked in the dream when you were lit from below, of those glowing crystal structures. That puts you right back into that dream.

Bex: I start sweating too.

Mischa: Paz looks around at you guys and,

Mischa (Paz): Guys, it's just a power outage. Are you okay?

Mischa: And that's when.

[SFX: piercing spectral screech. Soundscape begins. Electricity and static crackling, building].

Mischa: Lights start flashing and flickering across the screens and wisps of ghostly white light start drawing into each other and swirling around, and gathering and forming at the top of a structure, which then illuminated with a blue glowing vascular system? Do ghosts have vascular systems?

Mayanna: They do now.

Mischa: Something, tendrils of something, are strung throughout a vaguely humanoid, wispy appearance that floats five feet above the floor, sort of occupying like above head space. This thing forms up and contorts and twists in uncanny ways – fast and staccato – and it turns its center of light towards you all and screams again.

[SFX: piercing spectral scream].

Mischa: And next time, we roll for initiative.

[Screaming, cheers].

Ian: Fuck yeah!

[SFX: theme music begins].

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown and Mayanna Baron. Cover Art by Lyn Rafil, and Music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making the show. Thanks for wandering with us. Til next time.

[SFX: theme music fades out].

1.00 Worldbuilding, Part 1

Meet GM Mischa & players Bex, Lyn, Ian & Mayanna! Hang out with us, get to know us a little. We’ll pick some of our favorite vibes, we’ll decide what kind of story we want to tell, and we’ll start sketching the outlines of our world. 

-- links --
Website: wanderingpathpod.com
Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --
Created by Mischa Stanton
Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton
Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus
JJ: Lyn Rafil
Gordon: Ian McQuown
Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton
Cover art: Lyn Rafil
Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --
The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

[Theme Music]

Mischa: Hello and welcome to The Wandering Path.

All: Hi!

Mischa: Thank you so much for joining us for our first story and for these inaugural world building episodes. We are so excited to create something for you. I'm Mischa Stanton. I'm gonna be running our first game.

Mayanna: Yay!

Bex: Woo!

Mischa: I have podcasted for a long time and run games for a long time and only done them together now.

So, we'll see how it goes.

Bex: It's been a long time coming.

Lyn: Truly.

Mischa: I think so. That's probably true. [Laughter]. Can we go around and just do a quick intro?

Mayanna: Yes. Hi. I am Mayanna Berrin. I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons since college and I–

Mischa: Hold for sirens.

Mayanna: Yeah. Alright.

Ian: Hold please.

Mischa: We made the apartment sounds so good, but living next to a fire station, nothing we can do about it.

Mayanna: That's brutal. That's brutal.

Mischa: It's cool. Go ahead.

Mayanna: I do live plays. I do, I'm doing Vampire and, and I, and I like dogs.

Ian: Nice.

Mayanna: That's me.

Mischa: Excellent.

Lyn: Solid.

Mischa: Good to know.

[Laughter].

Bex: Hi, I'm Bex. I am an actor and a menace. I've been doing some actual play stuff. I played a little bit of Vampire stuff, but mostly I just do it with my friends. And now I'm excited to do it with my friends and record it!

[Cheers].

Lyn: I'm Lyn Rafil. I am not an actor in the slightest.

Mischa: You are now!

Lyn: But I am now!

Bex: Yeah baby!

Ian: One of us!

[Chanting]. One of us!

Lyn: I have, been surrounding myself with actors and podcasters for many years, though. So it was also a long time coming. I've been playing tabletop games for... oh, a long time now. I did not, I was like, "since college" and then I was like, "oh, I don't wanna do the math on when college now."

Mayanna: Yeah no. You don’t have to. I wouldn’t.

Mischa: Danger.

Bex: I didn't go to college.

Mayanna: Oh, cool.

Mischa: Nice!

[Cheers].

Lyn: I love games. I love storytelling. I love friends and I mean, I invested in this microphone, so I guess I have to use it now.

[Laughter].

Ian: Truer words were never said.

[Laughter].

Bex: Leans into his mic.

Ian: Hi, my name is Ian McQuown. I'm an actor. You may know me if you know Mischa's work from StarTripper–

Mischa: Woo!

Ian: –AKA Feston Pyxis. I've played tabletop games and Magic since I was like 10 at my local hobby shop with people who were 40 and chain smoking cigarettes outside and allowed a 10 year old to hang out with them. So that was wild. but I had actually never played D&D until the pandemic, where Mischa was my D&D Sherpa. Or, not D&D, live play.

Mischa: That was D&D.

Ian: D&D.

Mischa: Yeah, it was.

Ian: I don't know if we can say, can we say, is D&D gonna come after us–

Mischa: No.

Ian: –and try to take our podcast?

Mischa: No, that's part of the license. No, so we are gonna be playing Dungeons & Dragons for this first game.

Ian: Oh, great.

Mischa: Just to make sure everyone who happens to find this podcast knows part of the rules before they sit down. That we figured there was a pretty good chance of that. That said, I am a huge fan of hacking D&D, of putting other games in this game, of using third party modules, and even homebrewing some stuff, subclasses, spells, what have you, all of which is in service of the world. So let's talk about the world.

Mayanna: Yay!

Mischa: We're going to create a world live here on mic, and then we're going to populate it with characters and plot, and hopefully some moments that'll make you feel some things too. To start us off, I have a few questions here. I'm gonna read all of the questions first, and then we'll talk about it.

Ian: Kay.

Mischa: Question one. What's the tone? What are you hoping to see? I've asked you all to bring some vibes. To the table, ideas, statements, feelings, genres, or media properties, what vibes do you want to play and can we find a hook for our world?

Mischa: Question two, what do we not want to see? What are we tired and bored of, disinterested in, or unexcited about? What are some boundaries we have around some of the tones and vibes? What do we not like about the things we like?

Mischa: Question three, what is the scope of our game? Do we want to travel a continent, explore a cosmos, or focus in on one town or city?

Mischa: Question four, how populated is this world? Why do people band together? Why do people fight?

Mischa: Question five, what resources are scarce here? What resources are abundant? What economy exists to spread resources around, if any?

Mischa: Question six, what role does magic play in this world, if any? Technology. Religion. Government. I imagine since we're playing Dungeons & Dragons, magic will have some kind of presence in this world. Because Dungeons & Dragons is a ruleset that has magic in it. [Laughter]. That said, I've seen games that are like, yeah, we're a high tech environment and all of our little devices cause spells to occur. So we can play around with it.

Mischa: And question seven is, what are some unique challenges the society faces? How do people generally deal with them day to day? For example, I've played games where like it's an airship society, but, the ground is hella dangerous and there's horrible monsters down there.

Mayanna: Floor is lava?

Mischa: Yeah. So that could be a unique challenge.

Lyn: Oops, all lava.

Mischa: So yeah, does anybody have a place to start with that? Does anybody want to start with some vibes?

Ian: Oh, so we can pick any question on the list?

Mischa: You can pick any, any of these questions and we'll just talk about them. I just want to keep these questions in mind while we discuss the world. These are the focal points.

Mayanna: Have any of y'all played Tales of Symphonia?

Lyn: No, but I've seen some people play it.

Mayanna: There's two things I really like in Tales of Symphonia. It's a great game. It was on the GameCube. the first thing is that people are normal, but if they have special abilities, they have them because they have this thing called an Exsphere. It's a tiny little orb that you have to attach safely to your body. So it requires like a crest of some kind.

All: Ooh.

Mayanna: And you find out midway through the game, spoiler alert, that every Exsphere is a person's soul that has been harvested from a factory.

Bex: Whoa.

Mayanna: So every person who has a special ability or an Exsphere is carrying around the soul of someone that they may or may not know.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: The second thing about the world is you start out in this continent called, or like a planet called Sylverant that is like waning in magic. And your job is to help like escort this religious person around to these temples to try and bring the magic back slowly. And what you discover is that there's actually a parallel planet that, is abundant with magic. And basically every cycle, one chosen has to pull the magic back to their world. They die. And then another chosen happens in the other world. And so they just keep going on these pilgrimages, constantly pulling and pushing magic. Yeah.

Lyn: Cool.

Mischa: That's like the most controversial part of the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime.

Mayanna: Oh, really?

Mischa: Where the energy for alchemy comes from deaths in a parallel world, which happens to be our world in the midst of like between World War I and World War II.

Mayanna: That is so funny. I love it.

Mischa: No one likes that ending except for me.

Mayanna: That sounds awesome.

Ian: I think that's an amazing ending.

Lyn: That sounds really cool. It actually perfectly sidelines into something that I really like, is the like, as far as magic and the role, I love stories where magic comes with a price.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: It doesn't necessarily need to be something so grim, but just or even negative, but the idea that, magic isn't necessarily a finite resource, but is something that is a consequence of something else. I love stories in which magic has like a tangible essence to it that makes it a resource that you have to replenish or manufacture. Even if it's just like, oh, there's a realm in which magic is abundant. We like have to channel that realm.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: Either through like a sacrifice of our own body or by like Paying homage to that realm like with like fairy rules or something like that kind of stuff. I'm like if it's going to be a system where magic is a resource, which is what Dungeons & Dragons does, and by design D&D was supposed to be a magic scarce world and like the people who can utilize magic are very special for that reason. I also, I'm like, I don't need that kind of high fantasy where magic is that rare, but it should have like a consequence aspect to it.

Mischa: Well, I think that there's a way to make a world where like, convenience is abundant, where like, technology has sort of met the things that magic lacks, and so that like, nobody is really like, suffering for lack of magic, but that magic remains rare.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: So like, people who don't have magic have other ways to get what they need.

Lyn: Like Legend of Korra.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yes. Yes.

Lyn: In my list of vibes, there's a lot of Avatar references.

Ian: I just also love that you said Legend of Korra and then everyone in their own little moment's like, “Oh, huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Korra, right.”

Bex: I mean, Legend of Korra is one of the vibes that I think I had down for this.

Mischa: Strong vibe. So, like, like magic technology. Like, like what's the level of technology? Is it cyberpunk far future? Or is it like we have, cars but not cell phones. One of my favorite period defining words that my friend Amanda McLoughlin from the podcast Join the Party came up with recently was setting something between 2002 and 2007, calling it PIPNE, which stands for " Pre-iPhone, Post 9-11."

[Overlapping sounds of recognition].

Ian: (Yelling) Oh my fucking God!

Lyn: I mean, that's,

Ian: (Yelling) Oh my God!

Mischa: It's such a specific time period though.

Mayanna: It really was. It really, really was.

Bex: I'm not even good with time and I can pinpoint that.

Lyn: So, I mean.

Mayanna: There were a lot of America pride songs. A lot of freedom fries.

Lyn: Yeah, this is very specific to, like, American capitalism in that era.

Mischa: Yeah. Well, we don't have to do that.

Lyn: But I'm just, I'm just really intrigued by that.

Mayanna: I do...

Lyn: I'm like, I'm about to write another paper.

Mayanna: ... weirdly like the idea, though, of a society that, like, just overcame something and they're like, weirdly, like emboldened now. They're like, "nothing's gonna stop us now. The worst thing that could happen has happened and now we're indestructible."

[Laughter]

Lyn: (Sarcastic) Nothing can go wrong!

Mayanna: (Sarcastic) Buddy. Right on.

Lyn: (Sarcastic) What could go wrong?

Mayanna: (Sarcastic) That was a one and done.

Lyn: (Sarcastic) Yeah.

Mayanna: (Sarcastic) This isn't a sign of things to come.

Lyn: (Sarcastic) No.

Bex: And that sort of leads right into what we were talking earlier about, of like wanting to trust each other, but not being able to.

Lyn: Yeah. It would be interesting if that, like, that trust is a thin veneer of things. Like, everyone actually is trusting, but it does, it's only surface level of like.

Mayanna: Cause everyone's really scared.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. But it's like, if you invoke the fear, it's, it's like toxic positivity where it's like, shhhh the bad part's over. The bad part happened!

Lyn: It's very cold war.

Ian: Yeah. That's what, that's what I was just thinking. It's like, what's that event that's in the past? Is it that we just won a big war?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: And so it's like a new, a new nation or a new society is just like, it's kind of set, but also kind of not really.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Yeah. A little too excited.

Lyn: Very, like, Gilded Age.

Ian: Well, yeah, some people are really excited, right? Some people are like, "We did it!" And other people are like, "This feels strange."

Lyn: It's just like, “Are we not going to talk about that? I guess.”

Mayanna: "Nah, that's the past."

Bex: "It's over. We're done."

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Similar to Legend of Korra.

[Laughter].

Ian: Also just to go back to what you were talking about right at the beginning, just in terms of like where we're at in terms of a cell phones versus other technologies, there's something appealing to me about what you were talking about, Mayanna. Those, you know, like that not necessarily, not steampunk, but sort of elegant metal and glass. Right? Glass orbs?

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: I was thinking kind of like, I've been watching– Escaflowne came into my YouTube algorithm.

Lyn: [Recognition].

Mischa: [Giggles]

Ian: I'm just watching that, that kind of like design. So it's like technology, but it's not American modern capitalist technology.

Mayanna: Yes, it's like magical and like, yeah, graceful and elegant.

Lyn: I'm thinking like Art Deco slash, like Art Nouveau.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ian: Yeah, I was picturing, instead of orbs, like, picturing, you know, the people that you can buy magic spells from, but all the spells are in their own little art deco, you know.

Mayanna: Like a little accessory or like a pin or something.

Ian: Right, exactly.

Lyn: Like a charm.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Wait what'd you say?

Lyn: Like charms.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: Collecting on your charm bracelet.

Mayanna: Yeah, there's a, there's a manga that I really love called Sugar Sugar Rune about witches. And they have their base wand. And if you want to learn a new spell, you have to buy like a diamond and put it on your wand. So like the people who have the most spells have like a bazillion diamonds on this like gorgeous wand. Yeah.

Lyn: Wow. I love the idea of like things being, like, bedazzled or blinged out actually having, like, a real substantial right?

Mayanna: You'd be like, "oh shit!"

Bex: My brain immediately went to all those crystal shop wands and being like, those would be powerful.

Mayanna: Yes. Exactly. Exactly.

Mischa: Yeah. So, I mean, so it sounds like in this world, like, technology is made to fuel magic, that magic is a commodity that can be traded, that, like, you can go to a shop and buy new spells and put it in your bracelet and now you know that spell.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah. I think, like–

Ian: And also, and also, like, acquire those things in your journey, sort of like, what is it? Gym badges?

All: [Overlapping]. Yeah, gym badges.

Mayanna: And maybe there's some spells that there's only like a one of one. And those are really hard to come by because only one was made.

Lyn: Oh, spells as a coll- as like collector's items also. It's like, oh, like everyone can have.

Mayanna: It's like (mocking) “you have dancing lights? Buh huh, everybody has dancing lights.”

Bex: “Yeah, but mine is shiny and holographic. How about yours?”

Mayanna: “Get a grip! Get a grip!”

[Laughter]

Ian: I'm back in third grade again. I really do actually love the reality of that though. Like, “Hey, yeah, my uncle's got three of them in the closet in a shoebox.”

Mayanna: “Like collecting dust. You want one?”

Bex: “I've got a few vintage ones back here that might be like even cooler.”

Lyn: I think that's such an interesting take on like spell levels too. Like that cantrips are like the one out of like 5,000 and there's like so many iterations of it. Like how many freaking versions of the Pikachu cards are there? But there are some that are like specifically, aged.

Mischa: Well, the first thing I thought of was, what happens if you get a misprinted candle?

[Excitement].

Mayanna: But it's like, it's dented.

Mischa: And you're like, the crystal is dented or something.

Mayanna: It's damaged!

Bex: There's also those, like, one word difference, like, can change anything. That whole, like, the joke on the socials all the time of, like, change one word, change one letter.

Mayanna: Greek flame blade.

[Laughter].

Ian: It reminds me of Ron's broken wand, right? It's like it just doesn't quite cast right.

Mischa: Exactly.

Bex: I love that.

Lyn: Well, that could be like the flavor for like sorcerers or, like wild magic surges. Or that some people might just have wild magic surge, but it's not related to like the sorcerer class or something.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Like this would be a really interesting take on how to take the mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, but it's commodified.

Bex: How would this, how would sorcerers work?

Lyn: Nepo babies.

Bex: Oh!

Ian: [Laughter]

Mischa: Well, here's my first thought, is that sorcerers are about their power coming from their bloodline.

Bex: Nepo baby.

Mischa: Yeah. If some kind of war happened and now we have magic commodities in factories, like–

Mayanna: Test tube baby!

Mischa: Or some chemicals from the magic factory leached into the water–[overlapping sounds of recognition]--and then there were birth defects, which like, those would be, that would be a one in a million thing.

Lyn: Wizards would essentially be like engineers.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Which would track.

Ian: Oh yeah.

Bex: That would be really cool.

Lyn: That tracks.

Mischa: Well, and we'll throw this on tape just real quick. I've also, I'm obsessed with the book of Valda's Spire of Secrets by Mage Hand Press, which has between 10 and 12 new classes, like base classes. And so like, you know, a craftsman, just someone who tinkers in their workshop and makes new devices that work with these crystals or whatever. It sounds like they're crystals or orbs or something.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: I think crystals or orbs.

Bex: I like crystals.

Mayanna: Crystals are gorgeous. Yeah.

Ian: The thing too is if, if there was just a war that's over, there's an excess of a certain type of common piece of it.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: It's like what happened after World War II where there was just like all of this stuff and they're like, “Toilets, toasters, refrigerators, get them while they're hot!”

Ian: Right.

Lyn: They finally created the technology for all those things.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I just wrote down new tech as propaganda.

Lyn: I mean, that was the big thing. And, but they're also.

Bex: Legend of Korra.

Lyn: (Agreeing) Yeah. But really, they did a lot right in that.

Ian: Let's just do Legend of Korra. Guys, let's just do Legend of Korra.

[Laughter] .

Lyn: But, I have two things along that. One, like post war stuff. One, it could be war. It could be like, I don't know. We fought off Eldrazi. I don't know. [Mischa laughing]. Thank you. But like that some big thing happens that we needed all this equipment for, but like that stuff gets dispersed asymmetrically, I guess, like I think of like the Philippines, for example, like we got like a lot of canned goods out of that and not much else. Like I ate Vienna sausage again recently. I only kind of like it now, just like straight out of the can. I was like this. I could see why I really liked it as a kid. But like, yeah. You know, Spam, processed sugar, et cetera, that things became like weird cultural artifacts in the Philippines that like were not from the Philippines and also like wasn't any of the actual like good shit coming out of the war. Like it wasn't air conditioning. Air conditioning came very late.

Ian: It was the leftovers that were mass produced.

Lyn: Yeah. I was like, it was leftovers. And there's a difference between like the people who get to benefit from the progression of technology, where that technology was developed versus–

Bex: The dredges.

Lyn: Like, well, the occupied lands that had all the, that had all the trash left there.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: It also sounds a little bit like, so there was some event. I don't know if it was like a human versus human war or like a person versus person war. It sounds like it was something a little larger, more natural, more dire, more, like, sort of overwhelming.

Lyn: Like, I think what might be interesting was like, it was the world against a thing.

[Agreement].

Bex: For one time, unification.

Mayanna: We were unified.

Bex: And now here we are on the other side of it, fractured again.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: It's a little bit, it's a little bit like the USSR in that like, there's a central authority that was doing a good thing for everyone initially, but now that the big threat is over, they think that they're entitled to the central benefits of it. And the people in the outlying lands are like, “but what–you know, we were with you when you were protecting our lands, but now we don't need protection. We need what you have.”

Mayanna: Need the resources.

[Agreement].

Lyn: That's what like that thin veneer of trust kind of makes sense for is like, we're going to be cordial with each other.

Mischa: Because we used to trust each other, and now the trust is breaking.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Or there's no reason to trust each other anymore.

Mischa: Right.

Mayanna: There's no reason.

Mischa: There was.

Bex: And we're in the middle of the trust breaking.

[Agreement].

Lyn: Cool cool.

Mayanna: And also like some people decided all of a sudden that like, “great, thank you so much, we're going to take our toys and go home.”

[Agreement].

Mischa: Exactly.

Bex: So we're like really at that turning point.

Mayanna: Very cool.

Bex: We're really at this precipice moment. I like that.

Ian: Yeah. When you said “Nepo babies” earlier. [Laughter]. No, really, it made me think there could be that type of person that has actually been affected and it is coming out of them. But then there's the other piece of it, which are the people who are in power in this new society who just have access to all the things, right? Like, let's say it was coats that have a badge or a thing on them. Like these military people walking around in these giant coats that just have spells all the way from shoulders down.

Mayanna: Oh, it's Kill la Kill.

Lyn: Ohh.

Ian: Oh that's what it is!

[Agreement].

Mischa: Or even. There's a version of, I believe it's a version of craftsman in Valda’s that is all about mutatious grafts, where you can graft stuff into your body.

[Overlapping excitement].

Lyn: I think that's the cyberpunk aspect of it.

Mayanna: Wearable tech.

Mischa: Or, I mean, yeah, but also Fullmetal Alchemist had automail, which is like dieselpunk.

[Agreement].

Bex: I would love to be able to like pull in some body modification, like human–you're hacking your own system.

Ian: This is not me saying I don't want to do this. I want to do this. I just want everyone to know for their own enjoyment. Like surgery, body stuff makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: But! We should still do it. It'll be fun for everyone to listen to me squirm.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It's hitting there. The other thing too, is just the idea of like, so then if it's more closer to like wearable tech, you can have like fashion designers.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Or like, lines, you know. Like this is the Yves Saint Laurent green-flame blade line.

Lyn: Oh, that would be really cool for a lot of the, like, magic class. Bard and wizard are the two that I'm thinking of where, like, there is a lineage for certain magic that's like, oh, these houses, either they're like, colleges in the way that we know them today, or they're like fashion houses.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lyn: Which would be really interesting.

Mayanna: House of eloquence.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: It would be really interesting because then, like, a lot of martial classes could have access to magic in a–

Lyn: Different way.

Bex: –in a really different way.

Mayanna: Like belts.

Mischa: Well, or, like, I mean, for the really martial classes, for like your paladins, your fighters, your wardens–another class from Valda's–like, it means you want a bespoke weapon so that you have enough slots for all of the magic you want to pump into it. [Agreement]. And so it, like, it might lead to a place where, like, everybody names their signature weapon. [Agreement]. Could be cool.

Lyn: Oh, I love a signature move! You know that!

Bex: I like that.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: Especially if they're able to modify their weapons. Like if there's body modification, we have to be able to modify our weapons.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: There's, in Final Fantasy VII, you're, you get better swords with, which have more materia slots.

Mischa: Exactly.

Mayanna: Cause yeah, you start out with a base sword.

Mischa: That was what I was thinking.

[Overlapping agreement and laughter].

Mayanna: And then you get like, your glove with like five materia slots and then you can do way more stuff.

Lyn: Yeah. I think something like that would make a lot of sense. And it would give a really interesting flavor to clerics and warlocks in particular because those are ones where–

Mischa: I was going to start asking about gods and stuff next.

Lyn: Like. I think that there's certainly a lot of room for religion here, but also in the sense of like, if this is post war, like a lot of those values and ideals are– I'm thinking like American Gods, like the new gods.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I love an old gods versus new gods conflict. [Agreement]. Listen, you're going to have to stop me from, from making an old gods versus new gods conflict.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Joking) Mischa stop, you're doing it again!

Mischa: (Joking) Ah dang it!

Bex: I'm not mad at an old god versus new god conflict. [Agreement]. I love that.

Ian: And I think the new gods. would be the people who are in power now. [Overlapping agreement]. Like the people in the military who's created the–

Lyn: Or even, like, the ideal of, like, of freedom, for example. Like, that's why I like American Gods, is like, there would probably be a god of, like, technology. [Agreement]. In progression, that would be, like, have a strenuous relationship with, like, the god of the forge, for instance. [Agreement]. Like, they're very intertwined, but would have very different roles.

Mayanna: Opinions

Lyn: and domains in society now.

Bex: And, and, like, you're right. Opinions. That one would be stuck in the past, and one would be all about moving forward.

[Agreement].

Mischa: And, you know, whatever conflict there was, like, there was probably a god who liked that it was happening.

[Overlapping agreement and recognition].

Bex: A god of chaos?

Ian: Profited.

Mischa: And that the people won.

Mayanna: Kind of bummed him out. [Agreement]. And also, if there's like, you know, still the traditional religions, it's like, “stop buying all this shit. You can have magic the old fashioned way, if you just come to this church and pray.”

[Laughter].

Mischa: “Grind up this powder for an hour, people will wait for something good.”

Mayanna: “That seems too far fetched. That seems too slow and boring.” It's like, “nah, it's great. It's pure. It's great.”

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. So, so this does sound honestly, but it sounds like we're creating like more of a secular world where like devout followers of a religion are sort of the minority.

Mayanna: Old fashioned and like. Yeah, it's like that kid that's, that's got a weird haircut and holds a book in a weird way. And you're like, “are your parents okay?”

Bex: Almost like the worshipers of the new gods are just way more chill.

Mayanna: They're cool and chill. Yeah.

Lyn: I'm just thinking youth pastor energy.

Mayanna: Very much. Yeah. Sitting in the backwards chair, playing guitar.

Lyn: I literally, I went to– when I was in high school, I went to my other friend's youth group once, which was at a very new agey, like, quasi-megachurch, [laughter], and I was like, “I can't be here.” [Laughter]. It was when the youth pastor compared Jesus to both Goku and the Terminator.

(Overlapping yells and laughter) Oh no!

Lyn: And then I was like, “I need to leave.”

Mayanna:No. That’s too cool.

Mischa: Goku died for your sins, but you can bring him back with all seven Dragon Balls.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: He was hip!

Lyn: Yeah, and it's like

Mayanna: Too current.

Lyn: He was, he, it literally was like a, a weirder holy trinity of like Goku, the Terminator, and Jesus. And the commonality was, “I'll be back.”

Ian: I would go to that church. I'm just saying, right now.

Mischa: I wouldn't! Goku's a horrible dad!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Mocking) I'll be back.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah, that, that was the throughline.

Mayanna: (Incredulous) That's crazy. Anyway, that's. Holy shit. That's. That's bananas.

[Laughter].

Ian: No, but seriously, what's the number that you've crashed on? [Laughter].

Lyn: I just want to talk.

Mayanna: I want to buy what you're selling!

Ian: If my Bible had Goku on it, I wouldn’t hold that [overlapping laughter].

Mayanna: I would have been really into Bible!

[Laughter].

Bex: Yeah. I do love conflicting gods.I love conflicting gods.

Mayanna: Yeah. I love that too.

Mischa: Gods with a point of view. Gods that are not omni.

[Agreement].

Lyn: yeah, I think that one that still holds true, it's like, D&D as a system, that like, domains are still very important. And that there could be some interesting flavor of like, oh, like, a patron could be a literal, still a human, patron, but is the representative of some ideal. [Agreement]. And that could be like, corporate, could be military, it could be any other ideal. But it could still be a represent, like represented by like a mortal being that is the stand in for.

Mayanna: The Apple logo shakes violently.

[Laughter].

Bex: Okay, but think about it. If you had told someone that you were going to have a giant conglomerate that controls everything and their logo is literally an apple with a bite taken out of it, you'd think that no one would buy that.

Lyn: Yeah, that'd be heavy handed.

Mischa: I've also, I've also been watching Loki and, Miss Minutes is that it's, it's just like, like she starts out very much as like a little computer helper and a friend. And then it turns out she's crazy. [Laughter]. And like really has a perspective of her own that like influences events.

Mayanna: Yeah. That's very interesting.

Lyn: And I think there's a lot of room for that to play in that. And it could be like a piece of technology is representative of something [agreement] or like a chain of franchises could be representative of something.

Ian: Yeah, I'm so, I'm so intrigued by the idea–and it could go either way–of whether the old gods are in opposition to all this new technology and this way of doing magic, [agreement], or if it's how they are getting their influence into the world.

Bex: Maybe. Maybe it's both.

Mischa: I think it could be both. I think it doesn't necessarily. I think putting old gods versus new gods creates such a black and white conflict. I think that some old gods can have good opinions about new gods. [Agreement]. And they can try to–

Bes: Like some of them get along.

Mayanna: They're not threatened by them.

Mischa: I think each one has a personal relationship with the people around them.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: It's like having a baby sister where you're like, “I see what you're going for. I don't know– if I don't know if it's a great idea.”

Lyn: It's like, “I'll be here to help you.”

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like, “come to me if you have questions, I guess.”

Bex: Like, “when that, when that fails, I can help. But until then.”

Mayanna: “Call, call your big sis. We'll figure it out.”

Bex: “You're doing great.”

Mayanna: It's like, “I crashed the car.” You're like, “Okay. All right. Okay.”

[Laughter].

Bex: “I'll be there in a minute. Give me a second.”

Mischa: So I'm going to come back to our world setting questions a little bit.

Mayanna: That's fine.

Mischa: So what scope do we, in our game, want to focus on? Are we all in like the capital city and we're working on that?

Mayanna: I think so.

Mischa: Or are we traveling?

Mayanna: I like the capital city.

Lyn: Capital would probably be a good.

Mischa: Okay, cool.

Bex: I feel like if we need to travel within that story, that can happen down the line, but like, we can start for sure in the capital.

Mayanna: Or if there's like an under city or like a neighboring manufacturing city.

[Agreement].

Bex: I want flying city.

Ian: Under city is so cool.

Bex: I want like, I want some above city.

Mayanna: I love that. A sky city and then it's like, oh–

Mischa: Like Battle Angel Alita, where there's like the hovering rich people [agreement and excitement] part and then there's poor people on the ground.

Mayanna: (Excited) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lyn: Or–

Bex: I was actually thinking

Lyn: –League of Legends, like Piltover.

[Agreement]

Mayanna: Piltover. Zaun.

Lyn: Yeah, yeah. Piltover, Zaun.

Mischa: I don't know League of Legends, but I do know Arcane.

[Laughter].

Lyn: That's enough.

Mayanna: I unfortunately know both.

[Laughter]

Mischa: (Joking) Nerd!

Mayanna: (Joking) Oh my god.

Bex: Well, I was also thinking of the new Zelda.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Where there's the sky, the depths, and the land.

Bex: Yeah, all three.

Mayanna: I like that. I like that.

Mischa: So, so my question about this scope is that, like, anywhere we set it, it's gonna have sub layers. [Agreement]. So, like, if we're in a city, there are different neighborhoods. [Agreement]. If we're in a country, there are different city states and towns. If we're in a galaxy, there are different star systems. [Agreement]. That's gonna be our next segment, so I don't wanna get too ahead of me. But like, yes, we can set it anywhere and then subdivide within that as we like.

Mayanna: I like a capital city, [agreement], because I think like it can keep the scope like we can go to all these different neighborhoods. I just I like it because I think it'll keep the story more contained to I'm sure there's going to be many nefarious forces that you can have within a ZIP code.

Mischa: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Lyn: I like how all of us, like, side-eyed our environment while we did that. We were just like (groan).

Mischa: I think, I think doing one city, you know, sort of creates a, a jelly-like boundary where like it binds us in as much as we want, but it's still permeable enough that you can go outside of it.

Bex: And I love when a location is a character.

Mayanna: Absolutely. Like Sex in the City. That city really is the fifth character.

[Laughter].

Lyn: So true!

Ian: Jesus.

Lyn: So true. I was thinking Gossip Girl.

Mayanna: It creates obstacles. But it also creates stories.

Ian: Oh my God.

Mayanna: You never know who you're going to run into.

[Laughter].

Ian: Wait, wait, wait. Sorry. Let's just do a Sex in the City.

[Cheers].

Mischa: So Ian, you're Carrie.

Ian: I'm Carrie!

Mayanna: I'm the Samantha!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Amazing. I want to throw– I want to do one more thing from these questions and I think we're about ready to move on. This is cool. This is a cool place.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: This is very cool.

Mischa: I want to throw back to, what are some unique challenges the society previously faces? Now we've talked about the challenges that the society previously faced.

Bex: That is a unique challenge.

Mischa: Yes. But I want one thing that sort of everyone knows about, that like, is there and they have to deal with.

Mayanna: The upcoming election.

Mischa: Well, it could be the upcoming election. It could, it could be like- It depends on how real world we want it. It could be the rise of a new political party. [Sounds of fear]. It could be, it could be that like, whatever had to be done to end the travails of the past, like, left the dimensional borders a little permeable and the government's like, “no, we solved it”. But like occasionally a spirit will come through and have to deal with it.

[Agreement].

Bex: I like that.

Mayanna: Yeah. Like that, that it's like, “Everything's chill. We're cool. We're past it.” And it's like, “I don't know. What if it comes back?”

Bex: “We won at a cost.”

Mayanna: Yeah. It's like-

Bex: “And I’m not discussing that cost.”

Mayanna: “Well, there's no way it'll come back.” Yeah, exactly. You're like, “It could come back. It came once.

[Agreement].

Bex: And obviously it got through once.

Mayanna: Yeah, how'd it get through?

Bex: We're not talking about how it got through.

Lyn: (Excited) Oh-

Mayanna: How did it show up here?

Lyn: Pacific Rim!

Mayanna: Oh yeah. Yeah! Yeah. How did it get here in the first place?

Lyn: And it's like, okay, we, we have the band-aid solution, but like the actual problem might not have actually been solved. I think that that might be interesting.

Mischa: So is it then-

Bex: I wanted to bring Pacific Rim as a vibe, but I second guessed myself.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Don't second guess yourself!

Lyn: Oh, we’re drift compatible.

[Laughter].

Mischa: So the, the barriers are thin. Is it that the barriers themselves are thin and that's what people are dealing with? It's that monsters are attacking the city and the government doesn't want to deal with it. Like, what is, what is actually the day-to-day challenge?

Bex: Could it be that, like, the, the, the line has been thinned enough that there are smaller threats still coming in. Actively.

Mayanna: And they're like, “Oh, this is fine. We'll just have exterminators. We'll pay people to kill it. It's fine.”

Bex: Rather than, like, band aids.

[Agreement].

Mischa: That's also great, because one of the things we did have to figure out is, like, D&D is a war game. It's, we're going to have to have combat if we're running this system. So, like, that's a good way to generate random encounters. Yes.

Bex: And that can also be good, because then it's like, the monsters are starting smaller, and then, like, bigger ones start seeping in.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Exactly. Or it's like, oh, when a bigger one seeps in, maybe it's like, “Hey, we gotta, we gotta sweep this under the rug. Like nobody can know that this bigger one came through.”

[Excitement and agreement].

Lyn: And there are also forces that could be taking advantage of like the lighter chaos or people's needs not being met. That's like, “Hey.” This is environmental racism. That's what I'm going for. Some people are probably going to be more affected by, like, the, the lack of infrastructure.

[Agreement].

Bex: Especially if we have these levels of this world, we can really, like, differentiate them in terms of environment

Lyn: But like, in, in the same way that, like Zaun in League of Legends, it's like–

Mayanna: It’s all polluted.

Lyn: It's all polluted. It's disgusting. It's causing more trouble. And like, that people are going to respond. They're going to take care of themselves in the way that they feel is necessary.

Mayanna: They'll adapt, but it, they'll adapt in a way that's maladaptive.

Bex: The way, what I'm sort of thinking of right now is like the upper city. The, whatever is propulsion to keep them up is beating down on the people on the surface. And whatever the people on the surface have to keep themselves functioning is polluting the people beneath.

Mischa: Yeah. Well, you know what, if we're powering magic via crystals and orbs, what if the underside of it has giant crystals that are constantly shining light and the light pollution is driving people a little mad?

[Excited agreement].

Lyn: Yes. I love that. I think that's really interesting in terms of like. This is more like flipping tropes on its head a little bit might be a little granular, but like. The city that's always light is actually the one that is suffering the most. [Agreement].It's, it's the light pollution from the city above that still has weather the way that weather normally happens, but because people are living underneath it.

Mayanna: Like directly underneath it. Yeah, they don't get rain.

Bex: The circadian rhythms are fucked.

Mischa: That's the big one for me. There's too much light. People don't get enough sleep. People like are constantly more stressed out.

Mayanna:

Mischa: They're beaten down. Meanwhile, people in the upper city have access to an open sky, which like allows for like larger dreams and schemes

Mayanna: And not to be political, but that's fucked up!

[Laughter].

Ian: Fucked up yo! We got to do something about that.

Mischa: You know what? You're right. And you should say it.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm glad I said something.

[Laughter].

Ian: We were talking about monsters coming in. Backtrack just a hair, it could be interdimensional or like they're coming in. It could also be falling down from debris, right? Like it's like, also, if it's a flying city, that makes me think that the conflict was probably above it possibly. [Agreement]. Right. And so there could just be, it's like the war's over, but there's still, I don't know what it is, fragments of ships or fragments of stuff that come down to earth every once in a while, and there's still some stuff that's alive.

Mischa: I love that. I have a secret GM idea about that that I'm not going to tell you guys.

[Excitement].

[Music. Ad break.]

Mischa: Hey there, it's Mischa. This is the Rest Stop. Come take a break beside the path with me. Just until we catch our breath. Thank you for hopping on for our inaugural Worldbuilding episodes. It's a joy and an honor to have you with us as we embark on this new project. I think we're cooking up something special here, and I'm excited and eager to share it with the world.

Mischa: So I hope you're having fun getting to know us and the world we're making a little bit and that they get you jazzed to dive in. Join us, please.

Mischa: If you like what you're hearing and you want to help us out, please spread the word about us. We want as many people as possible to hear what we're making, and word of mouth is honestly the only tried and true method of growing a new show.

Mischa: You can find us most places you find podcasts, and we also have links at our website, wanderingpathpod.com. Okay, that's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[Music].

Mischa: So, now that we have a pretty solid basis for the kinds of world we want to tell our story in, let's move on to our next segment where we're going to play a little world building game, which I have titled, I'm Sorry, Did You Say World Building? A Straight Up Hack of Several Games, But Mostly Street Magic by Caro Asercion.

[Cheering].

Ian: Mischa, will you put in some game show music right there after you do that?

[Goofy singing].

Ian: No, I mean–

[Overlapping goofy singing].

Ian: Yeah, that too.

Bex: Okay, that has to be the base of whatever you put in there.

Lyn: You can sound design over that, right?

[Laughter].

Mischa: So, here's how this is gonna work. We're gonna take turns around the table here and start defining locations and details within our city.

Mischa: We'll start with some adjectives to start with, and we'll lay in some regions of our city, and then in later rounds, we can also lay in some landmarks and some residents. I'll also start introducing events, which change something about the details y'all are laying in, but that's a little later on. For round one, I would love if, based on our discussion and this city slash world that we've made, if everybody would throw down one adjective that they want to describe this city with.

Ian: I just wanted, for the record, that I thought you were going to say everyone throw down a die.

Mischa: No, we're not rolling dice today.

Ian: I know.

Mayanna: I didn’t bring any!

Mischa: I said you weren't rolling dice.

Ian: Because I brought my dice.

Mischa: Do you want some? I have a giant cabinet full of fucking dice.

Mayanna: Oh! Thats– I will, I will peruse the offerings.

[Laughter].

Ian: No, it's fine.

Lyn: We could roll initiative?

Ian: No, no, no, no.

Mischa: you want to roll initiative for the adjectives?

Bex: I do! I really do!

Mischa: Okay, hold on. I have to go get Mayanna a die. I do.

Ian: I knew if I squeaky wheeled it, I would get some dice.

Mischa: Well, so we're all going to roll initiative to see who lays down an adjective first.

Ian: The power of asking.

[Dice rolling].

Bex: I've got my-

Mayanna: (Excitement) Ohh!

[Cheering].

Mischa: Did you just nat 20?

Lyn: Nat 20?!

Ian: You nat 20'd the big die.

Mayanna: (cheering) Yeah!

Mischa: First roll of the show, nat 20.

Lyn: 10. Solid, mid.

Bex: 15!

Mayanna: Nice!

Lyn: Wait, we're doing five. OK, you got to roll a five.

Mischa: Ian, pressure's on.

Ian: I know. Well, so, Mayanna, nat 20, the big die. So I'm now–

Mayanna: Tiny dice!

Ian: Switching die. I'm pulling out my tiny die. Here we go. It's either going to 20 or a nat 1.

Mischa: Let's go.

Mayanna: Here we go. For a 13.

[Cheering].

Bex: These are good numbers.

Ian: Oh wait, I lied. It's an 18. Fuck yeah!

Mischa: Okay. Mayanna, you're first.

Mayanna: Gay. Just kidding.

[Laughter].

Mischa: It's gonna, okay. It's gonna, let's just throw this. It's gonna be gay.

Mayanna: I know. I know. That's why we, I didn't even mean to say it.

Ian: If you're gonna say that, you have to say it a la NSYNC.

All: (singing) It's gonna be gay!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: My adjective is vibrant.

[Excited Oohs]

Mischa: Ian, you're up next.

Ian: My adjective is towering.

[Excited Oohs]

Bex: My adjective is breathing.

Mayanna and Mischa: Breathing?!

Ian: (sings suspensefully) Dun dun dun! That's the last time I'm gonna do that, I promise.

Lyn: I think. Musical.

[Contemplative Oohs]

Mayanna:I love musical.

Ian: Curveball.

Mischa: These are great. This is very cool. So, that's round one. We're gonna move on to round two, where everybody is going to make a region of the city.

Mischa: Each region has a name, some vibes or snapshots to get us started. And a reputation from both inside and outside. What people who live there think about it, and what people who don't live there think about it. [Understanding]. You can feel free to collaborate with everyone at the table, take ideas, but whoever's turn it is to place the region has final say on what it is.

Ian: So are we each doing a full region is what you're telling me?

Mischa: You're each going to do a full region.

Ian: Copy that.

Mischa: So, yeah, does anyone have Any strong ideas to start?

Ian: Feels like we should roll for initiative.

Mischa: We already rolled.

Ian: (Murmuring) I’m just saying.

Mischa: The initiative order remains the same. Have you played Dungeons & Dragons? It doesn't change every round.

Ian: Not a ton.

Mayanna: I would love the like, the fun, not casino district, but the like, you know, entertainment district. I'm thinking like Akihabara, where it's like games, pachinko, fast food, lights on, colors, people in gothic lolita costumes, like, the fun, goofy part where-

Lyn: Just like nightlife in general.

Mayanna: Yeah, the nightlife where people go and hang and play arcade games.

Bex: My brain went to like an open air night market.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah, an open air night market vibe. And that's where the karaoke bars are. That's where, like, people go to chill and eat giant sundaes that are as big as their head and take pictures of them. And yeah. Okay.

Mischa: So what do people who- Do people live there?

Mayanna: People do live there, unfortunately.

Mischa: What is the reputation from the inhabitants themselves?

Mayanna: Oh, it's, I think it's like Anaheim, California, where they just want to like chill. but that's also where I guess maybe like some of the more affordable housing is. And the trade off is, you know, It's awful and loud and people are- People come to visit and they come to have fun, but they, the people who live there deal with like the trash leftover every night and the like screaming drunk college kids who are there like having fun and like they just finished finals.

Ian: I love that.

Lyn: Or it's like the residents don't get to benefit from the farm.

Mischa: But that sort of also, like, belies the reputation from Without, which is like, “what a great place to party.”

Mayanna: “Oh my god, so much fun!” Yeah, so I guess the people who live there are probably the employees of the establishments that people go to frequent there.

Mischa: Or anybody who needs cheap housing.

Mayanna: Exactly. Yeah, so it's the cheap housing and then the people who have to be waitresses and cleaners and whatever for these establishments. Yeah. Exactly.

Lyn: Yeah. I love the idea of, like, college students, like, bro, college students who live there, people are like, “oh my god, you live in that district?”

Mayanna: “That's so cool.”

Lyn: And they're like, “it's hell.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: “I hate it there.”

Lyn: “Hell.”

Mayanna: “Yeah, I can't afford to move.”

Ian: “I live in a shoebox.”

Bex: “I live in a shoebox. I can't get any sleep.”

Mayanna: “On the plus, I don't have to buy a lamp because it's lit all night!”

Lyn: “All the time.”

Ian: Oh lord.

Bex: “I can study whenever I need, which is always.”

Mischa: That's great.

Ian: “And the food is great.”

Mayanna: The food's great. Yeah. You can, and like at the end of the night, there's always like extra food. Yeah.

Lyn: There's probably, you know, the route to get the free food.

Mayanna: Exactly. Yeah. You frequent.

Lyn: That's all the leftovers. Yeah.

Bex: Really good for the people who live there.

Ian: Oh yeah, you got the spots.

Mayanna: Exactly. Exactly.

Ian: You know, the people to let you in the cool, like the- not the cool cool spots. But like, the local spot.

Mayanna: I remember when I worked at a coffee shop, we had the day old pastries and whatever was left over we got to eat for free. (Agreement). So it was always like I was banking on a day old pastry so I didn't have to pay for breakfast.

Lyn: Exactly.

Ian: I remember when I used to work at Jamba Juice, I used to steal extra pastries because they'd only give you one free smoothie a day.

Mischa: I had a roommate who was a manager at Panera. We ate so good. So I imagine that this is in the lower city then.

Mayanna: Yeah, probably. Yeah.

Lyn: Like anyone from the upper city would go for funsies.

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Lyn: And then trash the place.

Bex: New Orleans.

Lyn: And then they go home.

Mayanna: They go home.

Lyn: It is like New Orleans, yeah.

Bex: French Quarter.

Mayanna: When I went to college, there was like a little student shuttle that would take you exclusively to like Señor Frogs. I went to Miami. And and then take you home. And I can't imagine what, they're like, “look at the little kiddie bus dropping off the little kids to drink underage and then going, time to go home, back to your dorm.”

Bex: Imagine the flying shuttles required.

[Laughter and voiced sound effects].

Mayanna: And they have like balloons and shit.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Amazing. that's great. Yeah, that's what we're looking for. Regions.

Ian: Wait, wait. Sorry. Everyone just close your eyes for a second, and I want you to all imagine to yourself what the CEO of Señor Frogs looks like. [Laughter]. Now we can move forward. I just wanted everyone to see that. That's a person.

Lyn: That better be a character.

Ian: That's a person.

Mayanna: It's a man! It's definitely a man.

Mischa: No-

Ian: 100 percent it's a man.

Mischa: Big man-

Bex: It's a frog!

Mischa: -dark pinstripe suit, purple tie, double chin, and when he gets really mad, it does bulge out.

Bex: The frogs from Kipo.

Lyn: I was going to say the frogs from Kipo, but also the frogs in Flushed Away.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah, Flushed Away! I love Flushed Away.

Mischa: There's a vibe we're putting into the game.

Bex: Meet the Robinsons frogs.

Mayanna: Oh, yeah.

[Recognition and laughter].

Mayanna: The jazz singing frogs!

Mischa: Frankie!

Mayanna: Frankie! And then they put people in trunks. [Laughter]. I forgot to name my region, so I'm gonna pitch the Bara District. Oh, nice. And from what I remember, because I named an OC after this, it's the Japanese word for rose. But every rose has its thorn.

Ian: No! Boo!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I know. But I'll double check to make sure I'm not mis-educating-

Mischa: That's fair.

Mischa: -the people in this room.

Mischa: Thanks. Okay, who's next to name a region?

Ian: I think it's me.

Mischa: Okay, Ian, hit us.

Ian: The engineering core. I don't know where this, you know, like, whether it's high, low, what it is, but I think there's something powering the city, and I, it's, in my mind, I think it's underground or deep in the center.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Vibe? I think it's like. Very cavernous, very rocky cave surrounding, like, big machinery or giant crystalline structures.

Mischa: Yeah. So do people, do people live there? Do, like, the workers live there?

Ian: I don't know if they live there.

Mischa: So it's more like, so it's more like a warehouse district of a city.

Ian: Or more like the, or more like-

Lyn: , Is this like a nuclear power plant vibe?

Ian: Yeah, like the bowels of the Titanic, or, you know what I mean? Like inside the, the factory.

Mischa: Yes, so-

Ian: Maybe people work there so much that they basically live there?

Mischa: So here's my question. We're, we're starting with regions. The further we go in this game, you're going to be able to name landmarks and, and, residents of regions.

Bex: Cool.

Mischa: So I'm asking, is this a landmark? Is this a building that exists within a region of the city or is it a region of the city?

Ian: No, it's a region. It's massive. I think it's absolutely massive.

Mischa: Okay. So, so if it's so big, I do imagine that they might have company housing.

Lyn: Bunkers.

Mayanna: Yeah, company housing.

Bex: Military barracks.

[Agreement].

Ian: Or at the very least, like, the on call room, right, where you can just go sleep in between shifts.

Mischa: Oh, it's like the hot racks.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like, you know, like Arrival where they're, they're living there, or like Oppenheimer where they built a city around the thing.

Ian: Yes, exactly.

Lyn: What Bex just said, like military barracks, it could be repurposed barracks.

Mischa: Yes!

Mayanna: The war!

Lyn: Like, it, like, if this city that's floating was built for whatever threat was happening, then, yeah, it would be similar to that. That they would have built all of the technology to make the city float. That would have essentially been military barracks as well, and now, like, now that the military esque thing is no longer there, they still need people to maintain it. So it's, like, all repurposed barracks, and it might be way bigger than it needs to be, so it's a little bit scarier and more labyrinthine.

Ian: Yeah, you just made me realize the thing. The thing that I'm pulling from, which is Silo,

[Recognition].

Mischa: Very cool. How do people who spend the majority of their time there feel about it?

Ian: Yeah. I think it's a, it's a tough place. They, they feel like it's a tough place. It's a dirty place. Like everyone, you don't shower a lot down there because that's not what's important.

Mayanna: Oh, it's like the coal mines almost.

Ian: Right, exactly.and, and how do they, are they happy to be there, I wonder?

Lyn: Or do they feel like it's like valor?

Ian: Right. It’s like a calling.

Mischa: Oh, yeah. It's a calling.

Mischa: So they, they feel pride that they spend, like they feel proud that this is their home.

Ian: Yeah, it's like, and we are the people who do this difficult thing.

Mischa: What do people outside of this district think of it?

Ian: I don't think they go there. I think normal people don't go to the inside of the district.

Lyn: Like, avoid at all costs.

Mischa: So the reputation is that it's inhospitable, would you say?

Ian: Yeah, and also that it's a place of, like, work.

Bex: Why would you go there if you don't have to?

Mischa: Not for people.

Mayanna: I have a thought too, off of the Valor thing where it's like, “what's the matter? You, you're not tough enough to handle going to the silo with the boys.”

Ian: Yeah, exactly.

Bex: It's like the Marines, that toxicity.

Mayanna: “I don’t think you candle it.”

Ian: Right. And, but so then now that we're saying that assuredly, there are like teens who are like, “Oh, we're going to sneak down to that. Right. Like I found a, like a valve entrance. We can get into the inner core.”

Lyn: It really is just like old coal mines.

Mayanna: “What's the matter? Are you scared?”

Lyn: Where most people are like, why- One. It's like the neutral is like, “why would you go there? I have no reason to be there.” People who are like, “I'm going to be responsible. Like that place is dangerous and important and you don't want to mess with it.”

Bex: Then there are adventure junkies.

Ian: Well, and also I don't think you can.

Lyn: I think it’s restricted.

Ian: Like, if it's the thing that's powering the city, it's super restricted.

Mayanna: You shouldn't be able to sneak in, but people try. And it's like a badge of honor if you can, right?

Mischa: Sure. I love that.

Bex: Hell yeah.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: Oh my god, maybe there's, cause we were talking about badges you can make with magic, maybe there's like an actual thing.

Mischa: A security spell.

Mayanna: (Excited) Oh!

Lyn: Security.

Mischa: Where like, it just, it, you make a crystal and there's a ward across the thing and if you have the right crystal it lets you through the ward.

[Excitement].

Mayanna: And then you can steal one.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Like for a heist or something? Like for some kind of arc in our game or something?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Like some kind of cool thing? That we do maybe? Could you imagine a world?

Lyn: Where we steal?

[Laughter].

Bex: Lyn!

Ian: That's never happened in D&D.

Lyn: Never, never.

Mayanna: Picture a world where things happen.

[Laughter].

Lyn: It's not as if there's an entire D&D class that is designed for infiltration.

Mischa: Submitted for your approval. Stuff happening.

Mayanna: Stuff! Happening!

Ian: Oh my god, name for the podcast.

Mayanna: Stuff happening.

[Laughter].

Bex: I love it.

Ian: And then for season 2 it'll be stuff happening 2, the stuff happening-ing.

Mischa: 2 stuff, 2 happening.

Mayanna: Stuff happened, and the happening is happened.

Bex: Stuff happened with a three as the E.

Lyn: Stuff happened back in the habit.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Print it, ship it, sell it to kids. Bex or Lyn, do you have a region?

Bex: I do. I want to pitch the Constellation. That is its name. [Excitement]. The reputation for, from, from those outside of it is it's lavish and unattainable.

Mischa: Oh, so this is definitely in the upper city.

Bex: Yeah, this is the upper city. Like the reason it's called the Constellation is because it looks like stars from underneath.

Mischa: Okay. Yeah. I love that.

Ian: Oh, right. Because of all the things under the, wow.

Bex: And they get to see the stars, but they are the stars for the people beneath them.

Mischa: For other people.

Ian: Clever, clever Bex.

Lyn: That? Chills.

Bex: You see them and they are your stars now.

Lyn: That’s really cool. Instead of a sky rise, it goes like. Into the sky and below the plane of the upper city. So like its basement is still visible from the ground.

Mayanna: I like it.

Bex: Yeah. So like the, the whole thing.

Ian: So if every, just, just a thought experiment. If everyone in this world is now on this thing, what is on the ground below?

Mayanna: Yeah. I think like that's where as many people as they could get off the ground.

Ian: They did.

Mayanna: They did. So now they're in the sky. So it's like, what else is on the ground? Yeah, like debris from the war. And presumably civilians who didn't make the cut. Or didn't get on the, it's like the axiom in WALL E, right? Where it's like, “We think we got everybody.”

Mischa: I mean, you have to imagine, like, the purpose of this thing. If there's the engineering core was what was powering it during the war, and now it's doing some, now it's being repurposed for some new task. Then I, like, there's a chance that this was, like, the battle fortress by which they ran the war. And now, and now, like, because it was made for the king and the king's advisors and the heads of the military to live in perpetually until the war is done. That's why it's so luxurious.

Mayanna: Luxurious, yeah.

Mischa: And so, like, people who could afford be like, “Oh, well, now ordinary people can live there. Well, I have enough money to live there. I'm going to go live there.” don't, just don't get to go.

Mayanna: Yeah. They don't get to go and they stay on, you know, Oh, and they make little towns and-

Bex: Yeah, it used to be a necessity for the wealthy and now it's just luxury for the wealthy.

Mayanna: Or the middle class.

Mischa: Yeah. So to come back to Bex's round here, then the reputation from within it is like, “this is the place to be.” And from without it, there's, I feel like there's two versions of it. There's one that's like,” I'm going to live my entire life for a hope of getting there” or sour grapes, which is like-

Mayanna: “It's probably not that great.”

Mischa: It's probably not that great. Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. It's probably overblown. Oh my God. And also it's like, well, you know, “stars are technically dead. So it's like, if it's a constellation, it's probably not even that great.”

Bex: And I feel like they still have to come down to the surface level for, for things. So it's like, it's inconvenient.

Mischa: Because it's, it's fully, like, I don't think you can farm up there.

Mayanna: No, you can't farm. It's just, yeah, it's all like.

Bex: You have to come down for everything.

Mischa: I guess you can have vertical farms.

Mayanna: You can have vertical farms.

Ian: And that's the question of how, powerful this sort of like magic technology is. I was, cause when we were thinking about scarce resources, I was wondering if, if they had a bunch of technology, but not a bunch of food, for example, but then again, maybe, you know, those little things you can go, you can pop them and then there's like a meal, right?

Mischa: Well, yeah, I mean, create food and water is a spell.

Lyn: Goodberry.

Mayanna: But it’s like how- how good could it be versus.

Mischa: And do you have, and relying exclusively on that versus natural processes.

Mayanna: Soylent green.

Bex: And how that can cause such a problem for like the wealthy people who are like, “Oh, we can just buy the spells to have whatever food we need.” And that runs out.

Lyn: If that is a finite resource.

Mayanna: Or it's like, well, it's the food that you can imagine, but it's like, if you are there for long enough, you, you can't, you can only conceive of your conception of an ideal food. And so you're, you're just like, Square. And you're like, yeah, I guess that's food.

Bex: Nutritionally.

Mayanna: And it's like, “have you had an apple?”

Ian: No.

Bex: No.

Mayanna: “Try an apple.”

Bex: “But I've had a nutritional square.”

Mayanna: Yeah, “I have my cube. It gives me all the nutrients I need.”

Ian: It sounds like such a more interesting, watchable version of Elysium.

[Agreement].

Bex: That's exactly what I was thinking. That was, that was my, my initial thought was Elysium. And I was like, that's too on the nose. Let's go with Constellation.

Mischa: I love that though. That's really cool. That's great. Lyn?

Lyn: This one's, I don't know if this can be defined as a region, so we can hold on this, but kind of because we mentioned college students earlier, like, like collegiate leagues. Like is there, like, the Ivy League, like, I'm just thinking like the college system as a whole, where like, Maybe it's multiple. There's like the equivalent of Ivy versus like public.

Mayanna: Boston where there's just this weird collection of the best schools, some random middle schools.

Bex: Ivy Leagues, Little Ivies.

Mayanna: Yeah, exactly.

Mischa: I remember the tiny art school that's across from Harvard that nobody has ever heard of.

Mayanna: Or like, my partner went to Brown and there's RISD which is the art school–which is where the Avatar guys went.

Lyn: Just bring that back.

Mayanna: Winky dink.

Bex: Yeah. Well, there's also like Bard colleges and everything. Like, we could get really into this.

Lyn: I think that I want specifically a ground surface college town.

Mayanna: Like an academic, like the academic region.

Lyn: Yeah, but it could also be like, it could be sports. It could be whatever. But like, I want the college town.

Mayanna: The college town.

Lyn: That's all on the surface.

Mischa: Okay, here's, here's a pitch actually. During the war, there had to be people drafted. And that became entrenched in the society as a coming of age ritual, like being drafted. And the society still sort of realizes that there's a need for young people to come into their own. So there's a district of the city called The Come Up.

[Excitement].

Lyn: I like that.

Mischa: Where there's dormitory housing and like it's where people who move out of their parents house live and there are a bunch of schools.

Bex: Halfway district!

Mischa: Yeah, like a halfway district.

Mayanna: Oh my god. That's great.

Lyn: I think that's super interesting I also think that like they still need, like capable people on the ground. But the people in in the floating city are like, “those people aren't actually that important,” whereas the people down on the earth are like “No, this is It's extremely important.”

Bex: Essential workers.

Lyn: Yeah, like, not just essential workers, but like, still engineers. It's like the differences between like-

Mischa: It's like not nearly enough people are going to trade school.

Lyn: Exactly. It's, it's, it's similar to that level where it's like, oh, like, you know, all the STEM education, but no one's actually like wanting to be the person that–

Bex: Everybody wants to be an engineer. No one wants to be a plumber.

Mischa: Well, and that's, you know, everybody in the Constellation is like, yeah, “obviously you want to go to school and have the best job,” but they're so removed that they don't see how the lack of tradespeople is affecting them.

Lyn: That's what I think that the inside point of view is, is that there's kind of a split difference between the population. There are people who are like, “I'm on the come up, I'm going up.” And it's like, “I'm on the come up, I'm staying here.” And like, that the place itself has room for both of those intentions, but that there can be, no matter what, there's a sense of pride in what you're doing. It's actually like, weirdly, really competitive within it.

Mischa: I also think that there's like, if their training facilities are there, and the point is to get people into jobs, like, union halls also probably live here?

Ian: There feels something, yeah, there's something so, stratified about it to me, you know, it's like people who, you're at that school or in that union and everyone's wearing the same blue coat. [Agreement]. And if it's a, if it's a college town, if it's like all these buildings are around every, they're, all the groups are very identifiable. But they're all around each other.

Mischa: And, and it's a gateway to stuff, but it's also a bottleneck to stuff.

Mayanna: Absolutely. And also it's like this weird uniformity with the promise eventually of individualism on the Constellation, if you get there. But in the meantime, you're just like one of many who could potentially get there.

Ian: Because again, we're coming out of a war, right? I mean, like, that stuff gets–

Lyn: Like, everyone's so hopeful.

Ian: And that stuff gets very, factory-fied to create, you know, it's like, “you're gonna go to this school and learn this trade so you can (murmurs).”

[Agreement].

Lyn: Like, I think that people can still choose their trade. That's part of the idealism of, like, everyone was unified for this thing. We all get to, like, make the decisions to find where we're best suited for the greater good. Yeah. You can choose your track, everything like that, but, like, I think there is a really big expectation of, like, “if you choose this, you're dedicated to it.”

Mayanna: You're committing your life to it, and it's, like. The thought that I'm having is like, instead of for the “greater” good, it's for like the “greatest” good. It's like, whatever that idea is. And it's like that, that's not a thing. That doesn't exist.

Mischa: Well, and I, I love this too. Cause Lyn, we talked before the recording about like, sort of like, devotion to the people who sent you there. And like, what do you owe to the people who like, enabled your life?

Lyn: Like, what is the difference between devotion and obligation?

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Lyn: I think like, both of these areas would have very like, would have very different ideas of what devotion and obligation look like and mean.

Mischa: But this, but they're both centered on this and sort of like people crossing in opposite directions about it, but the cross is where this.

Mayanna: And it's like the collectivism versus individualism debate of like, yeah, are you, are you contributing to the bigger system of value? And it's like, what if I don't care about that? Like that doesn't make me a bad person.

Ian: No but you probably are a little bit of an outcast.

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely.

Lyn: And I think that is also what makes the outside threat really interesting because it, it's so clearly a threat to both of those ideals.

Mayanna: Yes, and collectivism saved us. Like, you don't get it. Like, we had to all stand together. Because if you're not with us, like, you're, you could die. We could die.

Lyn: And an interesting inside-out perspective. Yeah. I'm so into this. Is that like, is that like, there are people who are like, “no, that collectivism was fake.” Like, it was a strenuous collectivism. It was not actually based on, like, a real valuing of, like, people, ideals, culture, society, et cetera, it was like, no, it wasn't collectivism. It was–

Mayanna: Fear. Kind of.

Lyn: Fear. But it was, what's the word that I'm thinking of?

Mayanna: Homogeny?

Lyn: Yes! It was homogeny.

Ian: Yeah. Which is exactly what I'm thinking about. If most people in this world only hang out with people who are wearing their same color coat for, a bad bad metaphor. That's could be what's interesting about like our group, right? Is it's like we're not necessarily all-

Mayanna: From the same-

[Agreement].

Mischa: Yeah, that's what we're going to talk about in the next episode. After we build some more of the city, we'll be figuring out who you guys are and what the party is. But this is all just to sort of create places where you guys could be coming from. That's dope. That's fresh as hell.

Ian: You're dope. You’re fresh as hell.

Mischa: Thanks. Thanks.

Mayanna: Show name: fresh as hell.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Thanks. Cool. So that was, round two of this little game. For the remaining rounds, so we'll do one more round in this episode, and then continue into the next episode, I think. Here's how it's gonna work. I'm going to set a compass for the round, which is just like a word or idea or concept that we're all going to focus ideas through.

Ian: Sure.

Mischa: We're going to go around. Everybody can make either a new region of the city. You can make a landmark within a region, but it has to be within a specific region.

Ian: Got it.

Mischa: Or you can make a resident, residents are associated with a specific landmark. For example, if a landmark is like the corner store, in the, engineering district where, like, people get their, their parts and supplies, there's a resident who's, like, the guy who works in the back that's kind of curmudgeony.

Lyn: Oh, I was thinking bodega cat.

Mischa: You know what I mean? Does that make sense?

Ian: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I see.

Bex: Bodega cat.

Mischa: Yeah, exactly.

Ian: Bodega cat?!

Bex: That was Lyn, not me.

Mischa: The one I was thinking of is definitely, Teo from the Spider-Man video game.

Bex: Yes. And Spider-Man the cat.

Mischa: Yes. And Spider-Man the cat. See? A resident. Spider-Man the cat associated with the corner store. So that's how this is going to work. For our compass for this first round, I think I want to try towering, which was one of our adjectives from round one. So we're going to create new parts of the city through the lens of towering.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: feels like we should roll more dice to see who goes first.

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: Ian, you can roll as many dice as you want. It might not mean anything.

Bex: Eleven.

Mayanna: Fifteen.

Lyn: Nat twenty.

[Cheering].

Ian: Ten.

Mischa: So, when we, when you said, “let's roll dice about it,” did you want to go last, or?

Ian: You know, it wasn't what was in my head, but it's what the dice have showed me.

All: (In unison) The dice tell a story.

Mischa: Okay, Lyn, you're up first.

Bex: Pay tribute to the dice, or pay the price.

Lyn: Towering. I'd like a landmark. Yeah. Which would be similar to an elevator. Like, that that is both symbolic of the Come Up. I think that there's a difference between the elevator, maybe part of it is that there are elevator passes, there's the one way ticket, which is mean, which means you made it. And then there's the commuter badge. Which different people have different points of pride around it. It's obviously not a literal elevator because that would be hell for physics, even in a magical world. But I think it is like some kind of like floating platform beam thing that like is a light, like a beam of light that like shows the tether between the surface and the floating city.

Mischa: It's like a hard light monorail.

Lyn: Yes, yeah, exactly.

Ian: A specific spell, perhaps?

Lyn: Yeah, but it's like, but that they're like floating carriages or whatever that will take people to and from. There's like probably a personal badge that shows like one way versus commuter. And then, or like, you know, other things that are like, I work on both. And because I'm very important and I have to see both sides, or what have you, or I have like a one way ticket for a job thing.

Mischa: Well, maybe, like a commuter badge requires a sponsor. And rich people, no problem finding a sponsor, they can get them easily. But if you're on the ground, you really need, like, an employer that specifically provides that.

Mayanna: Oh, that's brutal. Cause it's also, it's like you couldn't, it's probably really difficult to communicate with the upper city unless you have a go-between who presumably is in the pocket of the upper city.

Bex: Or you have access to the magic that can-

Lyn: And I, and I think that it's hyper visible. I think that it literally looks like a beam of ascension that like, for some people, it's a beacon of hope, and for some people, it's like a beacon of like, “I will never get there.”

Bex: I'm sure the language around it from people really reflects how they feel about it. Some people call it what it's called, and other people have nicknames for it.

Lyn: Have different names for it. And I think that, yeah, like, it is a towering presence because it's, from the ground, it is the tallest thing that you can see before you hit the upper city. It's like, that's the fucking beam of light. That, there it is. You can always see it from every angle in the city.

Bex: That's the rapture.

Lyn: Yep, that's, that's the rapture.

Bex: Sorry.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Come on, you're the other Jew on this podcast.

Bex: I know.

Mayanna: I'm Jewish!

Mischa: Are you Jewish too?

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm Jewish!

Mischa: Hell yeah! Majority Jew!

Bex: There’s three of us!

Ian: I'm Jewish!

Mischa: No, you're not.

Ian: No I’m not. [Laughter and cheering]. I just want to be a part of this bit.

Bex: We have majority.

Mischa: Incredible.

Lyn: Wow!

Mischa: A quorum, let's go.

[Laughter].

Lyn: But yeah, I think that that is, that is the towering landmark.

Mischa: Cool. Very cool. I love that. Yeah, that's a landmark. Who's next? Mayanna?

Mayanna: I rolled 15.

Mischa: Yeah, 15's next.

Mayanna: I want a statue of a goddess that represents the, the Bara party region. And, not that, like. It's a beautiful woman, and it's, it's, it's, it's a garishly large statue. And it's like the first thing you see when you go to the region. It's like the, I guess, like the protector of the party region.

Bex: Her toes are hella shiny because people love them for luck.

Mischa: Is she a party goddess?

Mayanna: I think so. I think she's the goddess of partying. And she, everyone loves her. She's super fun.

Mischa: Hell yeah. But. Party's gotta end sometime.

Mischa: True. It's very true.

Mayanna: And then, yeah, you get a hangover and that's, and that's punishment.

Lyn: I think it's the, the mantra of you, “you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here” is like a very specific-

Mischa: And truly, I love the, the image of that girl outside the bathroom at the club being a goddess.

[Agreement].

Lyn: Because it's true!

Mayanna: She's a goddess. It's, yeah, and so like the people who do live there, they get to see the statue in like the day and it's, it's just this, it's a far less-

Lyn: Glamorous.

Mayanna: Glamorous sight. Like, they see the cracks. They see the like, sunken eyes.

Bex: The mascara running.

Lyn: They don't have the like- you know how, like, fountains and statues at night. I'm really thinking of Vegas.

Mayanna: They're lit.

Lyn: They have the spotlight on it.

Mayanna: Yes, they're lit beautifully.

Lyn: Beautifully. And then in day, they don't need that. They're just like, fine.

Mayanna: They're just like, yeah, it's chill.

Mischa: It’s like up lights from the ground versus down lights from the sun.

Mayanna: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. I love the idea that people rub her toes for luck.

Mischa: I wrote that down too.

Lyn: It's so funny.

Mischa: It's like whenever there's like a statue, like a black statue of a dog.

Mayanna: And it's like the nose is gold. It's so great.

Bex: That's exactly what I was thinking.

Ian: That's what they do in England. The politicians rub Winston Churchill's toes for luck.

Mayanna? Really?

Mischa: That's a weird person’s thing.

Ian: That's a real fact.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Any other statue, honestly.

Mayanna: That’s wild.

Ian: It's Winston.

Mayanna: It’s Winston!

Ian: It's W. W. Chur.

Mayanna: W. Chur!

Bex: W Chur?!

[Laughter].

Ian: Side fact.

Mischa: I love that. That's a great fact.

Mischa: People that know him call him The Chill.

Mayanna: The Chill!

Ian: (Screaming) No!

(Screaming and laughter).

Mayanna: (Yelling) The Big Chill!

Lyn: Alright. I'm out. I gotta leave.

Ian: This podcast was really fun. But now it’s the end.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Bex, I believe you're next. I also want to throw this out. You can make a landmark in the, in the district that you didn't make.

Ian: Oh, I'm going to.

Bex: I want to make a resident in the engineering core.

Mischa: So there's gotta be a landmark to put a resident in.We're going to do multiple rounds. This is one where we're going to do it multiple times.

Ian: Thanks. Thank you for teaching us all that.

Bex: I'm glad I can make mistakes for everyone else to learn from. (Laughter). Then I want to put the landmark as the, the Hub. The Hub of the engineering core. Like the, the, the zone that is, was used to make things work that is no longer used for that, but is like specifically the area that has the machines that were utilized.

Lyn:Like the old heart?

Mischa: So why–

Bex: It used to be beating and now it's not.

Mischa: And now it's not. I would love to come up with a specific thing it did during the war that no longer needs to be done now, that it was about. And I think having that place be a landmark and have it be a meeting place for all these people is great, but I do kind of want to know why this part didn't get repurposed when the rest of the engineering core is.

Mayanna: Was it like the medical ward? It was like the wide, like the mass, the mass medical ward.

Mischa: Maybe

Ian: Or like this, the spell factory, right? And like making all the little glass.

Bex: I think they could still use.

Mischa: They still have that.

Ian: They may have a bunch of them, but they might not be making more. Right?

Mischa: I think they are.

Mayanna: I think they are.

Mischa: That's just me personally as a storyteller. I think they are.

Bex: I like sort of. The hospital or something else that was like dedicated for this war effort that can only be used for the war effort of like mass casualty mass wounded.

Mayanna: The scale, the scale of it is like far too much for it to be like a functioning regular medical thing, but, and there's like offices. There's meeting places, there's cafeterias.

Bex: There's like a WeWork in there now.

[Laughter].

Mischa: So, so could we, could we maybe call it–

Lyn: Not a hospital turned WeWork!

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh, I wonder, wait, actually weird pitch also. What if it's the old church?

Mischa: Yeah, I like that. The Hub is a little bit of a generic name for this thing.

Lyn:But the heart would make sense.

Mayanna: The heart.

Bex: I like the heart.

Mayanna: The heart is great.

Lyn: Because if it would be like, they would use it as the, they call it the heart now because that was the signage for a medical ward. Yeah. Instead of like the red cross that we have here. It's just a heart.

Bex: Which is modeled after a butt.

Mayanna: And also the HP. Oh, the HP Symbol.

Mischa: The Heart Pavilion. The HP.

Mayanna: Heart Pavilion. The HP.

[Overlapping chanting] The HP. The HP.

Mischa: That's putting your D&D into your story.

[Cheering].

Bex: There we go. The Heart Pavilion.

Mischa: Excellent. I love that. Thank you. cool. Who goes next? Ian?

Ian: I’m last.

Mischa: Ian, you're last.

Ian: Oh, but is it me?

Mayanna: It's your turn.

Ian: Oh, sick!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Finally! My time!

Ian: (singsong) Da da da.

Mischa: (exaggerated) My move!

Ian: I think I'm gonna make, no, I'm gonna make a landmark. And it's gonna be in the, the college town. And I think that's the magistrate's office. Right? So if everything is separated out into like what school you're at, I think there's one central office where you go to maybe like sign up for your school or also the people that send you to them.

Mischa: That coordinates with all the different schools.

Ian: Right, and runs them and keeps them in line for the greater needs of the society and-

Lyn: Ugh, working in student affairs was awful.

Ian: It's that! It's student affairs but through like a, you know, a more USSR-ian kind of dictatorship.

Mayanna: The Magical Guidance Counselor.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I mean the Administrator is Cindy.

Mayanna: She casts guidance.

Ian: Exactly.

Lyn: That's so funny.

Ian: What'd you say, what?

Mayanna: She casts guidance.

Lyn: That's the funniest thing. [Laughter]. The Guidance Counselor is just casting guidance.

Mayanna: And she goes, welcome. Guidance. All right, what did you want to talk about? Changing your major or whatever? Blah.

Lyn: Guidance.

Mayanna: The paperwork.Guidance.

[Laughter].

Bex: You know, I hate how much I love this.

Lyn: Yeah, that's very funny. I really like that actually. It's so funny.

Mischa: That's really good. Okay, to close out this round, at the end of each round, the GM will cause an event. Something happens and the world is changed in some way. Each player will focus on–so I'm gonna say what happens. And each of you are going to focus on a region or landmark, but not a specific resident. This is about how these events affect neighborhoods as a whole. That's good because we don't have any residents yet. Perfect. and after I say the event, you will do one of three things. You can ask an unanswered question, which we will not answer. You can state a biased opinion or reaction to the event. Or you can show a consequence of the event.

Ian: And, and sorry, will you just explain the mechanics of unanswered question?

Mischa: Sure. I'm going to say something happens. Yes. You can say–

Mayanna: Who's behind this?

Mischa: Yeah. Like who's, who's really behind it? And we're not going to answer the question today.

Ian: Yeah. Got it. Cool. Yeah. That's sweet.

Mischa: It's something for me for later.

Ian: That's kind of sexy.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. That's, that's straight out of Did you- I'm sorry, did you say Street Magic?

Ian: I'm glad that, cause I thought you were about to say that's straight out of Digimon and I was like, no, it's not. I watched that show.

Mischa: What?!

[Laughter].

Mischa: I'm sorry. Hold on. Derail. Why would it have been Digimon?

Ian: You said, because you, you stopped mid, “did you say Street Magic?” So Digi?

Mischa: Got it.Digi.

Lyn: Fair.

Mischa: I think, for the compass of towering, I think that a major portion of the constellation falls.

Mayanna: Oh, shit.

Ian:Why'd you gotta, we just built it. I know. We literally just made it.

Bex: It has to fall.

Mischa: Welcome to events.

Ian: What the fuck?

Bex: It has to.

Mayanna: It does. It's floating.

Ian: Well, it was.

Mayanna: What comes up-

Lyn: Or part of it-

[In unison] Must come down

Bex: And like the way I was thinking of it is like the, you know.

Mischa: Yeah, I think it's purely structural. I don't think anybody was in it when it fell. Maybe it's part of the suspension apparatus, like crumbled and just sort of like a piece of it fell off. But it landed below.

Ian: Yikes. Big old yikes there.

Mischa: I believe Lyn was first in this round?

Lyn: I'm really inspired by what goes up must come down.

Ian: I just want to say, my dice rolling contributions has really added to the mechanics of this, and I'm really enjoying it, just so we know.

Mischa: You know, and it's, I'm so glad that you thought to use dice in a game.No one's ever really done that before, and that's really innovative of you.

Mayanna: Groundbreaking.

Ian: Okay, so nice to meet everyone. I think I'm gonna get out of here.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh, was that the time? I have to go?

Lyn: Oh yeah, your hard out.

Ian: Oh, I asked to get out. Hey, thanks for my time.

Mayanna: Mom, they’re being mean. Can you pick me up?

[Laughter]/

Lyn: I used the excuse, my mom's calling for so long with friends who also use it as a bit. But when I moved to LA, I started using it and everyone was like, “Oh, is your mom actually calling?” I was like, no, she only calls me once every two months.

Mayanna: It's a healthy boundary.

Lyn: We're just all neurodivergent and like very independent. It's fine. It's no hard feelings for either of us. Anyway.

Mischa: Sp you're going to pick one of our regions or one of our landmarks that is affected. You're going to ask a question about it, you're going to state a biased opinion, or you're going to show a consequence.

Lyn: Yeah, I think my unanswered question is how long until it all comes down?

[Agreement].

Ian: Damn, that was fucking hardcore. That was hardcore.

Lyn: And I think that's the, that I'm doing that as the question that's unanswered for a lot of people like from their point of view is like, (questioning groan).

Mayanna: Yeah, what's going to happen?

Mischa: Well, and I mean, I think that there's even a question of like, insecurity from the people who live there. Is it going to crash?

Lyn: Yeah, I think it's literally everyone, and no one really wants to say it because it has really bad consequences for literally everyone.

Bex: Well, I want to, I want to put a region in where it's like, they could have gone up to the, the constellation, but they're afraid of it falling.

Mayanna: So they move away.

Bex: They have their own district.

Mischa: So, so your, your things in future rounds can be about the events that happened in previous rounds. That's the game of it. This is, I know it seems like we're just discussing things for our story podcast, but this is a game with mechanics.

Mayanna: Yeah, mechanics!

Ian:And engineers. Ba dum tss.

[Groans].

Mischa: But, I know this is a podcast, so I can't put an eye roll into the show, but.

Mayanna: Eye roll!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Mayanna, I think you're next.

Mayanna: Okay. Yes. I think the biased opinion from the constellation is like, “we probably didn't need that. That's chill. We probably didn't need that part. You know, I bet it was just, I bet you, I bet you it was just all rusty and bad.And, and if it wanted to stick around, it would have.” [Laughter]. “You know, it's really about, it's really about willpower. And you gotta want it. And if you don't want it, you're gonna fall.” So, yeah.

Ian: This feels like a quote from one of the Nepo people on the constellation who has not gone to school.

Mayanna: Exactly.

Ian: But is still in a position of power.

Mischa: The way you stay elevated is you just, you pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Mayanna: Yeah, you toss what's not working. If it doesn't have a job!

Bex: Buzzwords, buzzwords.

Mischa: You gotta just disrupt it.

Mayanna: Get a job, part of building!

[Laughter].

Ian: No! That was worse than engineers. Bye.

Lyn: Wow.

Mischa: Bex, your turn.

Lyn: Oh no. I'm in pain.

Mischa: This is great. This is gonna be a good show, you guys.

Bex: Roll for psychic damage. I'm gonna go with a consequence. The piece that fell, shattered the Heart Pavilion.

Mayanna: Oh, fuck.

Mischa: I'm sorry, was the Heart the Heart Pavilion was on the Constellation? Is it not?

Mayanna: It's on the ground.

Mischa: Oh, it's on the ground. Okay, I understand.

Ian: This all has to do with where the engineering core ends up being.

Mischa: Yeah, I thought I had thought that the engineering section was in the constellation. I think that doesn't preclude it. I think that like if something felt like maybe there was like a sinkhole.

Lyn: There could be a surface version and a floating version in theory because.

Bex:Two pavilions.

Ian: There's also a version which each shattered another cracked right? If it like if it- Half of the heart pavilion is still up there, and it like, split.

Bex: Broken heart.

Mayanna: Broken heart.

[Excitement].

Mischa: Oh, that's it. I'm writing that down. Broken heart.

Mayanna: The broken heart!

Ian: I just got chills.

Lyn: Brutal.

Mischa: Ian.

Ian: Okay. Consequence, unanswered question, or what was the third one?

Mischa: A biased opinion.

Ian: A biased opinion.

Mischa: And by biased opinion, I mean from the bias of one of the communities we've made.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the biased opinion would be. The flip side of the biased opinion of it not mattering is that it's a conspiracy.

[Gasps].

Mayanna: That someone wants to make us afraid.

Ian: Yeah. Or that the, the, we know whatever the

Bex: Something was important there and they got rid of it.

Ian: Yeah. Yeah. I love that.

Lyn: Or they're trying to stoke fear. They're trying to make us think we're going to fall. We'll never fall.

Mayanna: Yeah. We'll never fall.

Ian: Or, or also that the, whatever the thing was that we were fighting, like secretly had power and did it.

Mayanna: Pinning it on the invisible people.

Ian: Those–

Mayanna: The threat.

Ian: The, the Glorfinflorkens did it.

Mayanna: The Glorfinflorkens!

Bex: Okay, but that actually has to be what they are now.

Mischa: It's absolutely 100 percent not, because I don't have confidence that I can say that over and over on the podcast.

Mayanna:That's fair.

Mischa: It's really gotta be sayable.

Lyn: We all said it separately.

Ian: Unique new Glorfinflorkens.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: You've been doing StarTripper too long.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. I love this. This game is going to be really cool.

Bex: Oh my god, we're doing so great.

Mischa: We're really podcasting, you guys.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's great.

[Music].

The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafill, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark.

If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Till next time!

1.00 Worldbuilding, Part 2

We continue to play our world-building game, and flesh out some of the people, places & things we want to include in our first tale. Then, the players start forming ideas about their characters!

-- links --
Website: wanderingpathpod.com
Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- cast & crew --
Created by Mischa Stanton
Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton
Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus
JJ: Lyn Rafil
Gordon: Ian McQuown
Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton
Cover art: Lyn Rafil
Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective
Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --
The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— Transcript —

[SFX: Opening theme music]

Mischa: Hello, and welcome back to The Wandering Path. Thank you so much for being here. If you're just joining us, we're creating a world from scratch, in which we'll tell our tale here in our first campaign. And we're in the middle of a modified version of the world building game titled I'm Sorry, Did You Say Street Magic? by Caro Asercion.

Mischa: We played a few rounds in the previous episode, so if you're listening, you're going to want to start there. We've made a few regions of the city so far, so I'll just give a quick recap of what we have, we have the Barra, which is the flashy entertainment district, we have the Engineering Core, which, I, it sounds like it's on the ground, but that doesn't make sense to me.

Ian: Well, half of it's on the ground now because of the fall.

Mischa: Sure. But mostly was in the upper, was like the, the least hospitable part of the upper city. [Agreement]. We had the Constellation, which is the very livable part of the upper city. And we had the Come-Up, which is the sort of young coming of age school and union devoted district.

Mischa: So, round four. I gotta set a new compass.

Mischa: I want to set a compass of “outside.” What is like- We've come up with this city. It has a bunch of districts. Keep your regions within the city, but I want them to relate in some way to something that's outside. Ian, do you want to roll initiative about it?

Ian: I fucking do!

[Cheers].

Bex: A natural 20!

Lyn: Wow.

Mayanna: Nice!

Lyn: All right. And the next one, you have to roll a natural 20. Ian?

Ian: Crit fail.

[Laughter].

Bex: Finally.

Mayanna: 9!

Mischa: 9.

Ian: Jesus Christ.

Mischa: So Bex, we're going to start with you.

Bex: Oh no.

Mischa: Name a region, a landmark, or a resident.

Mayanna: Based on “outside?”

Mischa: It's on “outside.” Which can mean, you know, these are one word prompts. They can mean whatever you want.

Mayanna: Based on outside.

Mischa: So the only person you can't pick is Bo Burnham, I guess.

[Groans].

Mayanna: That's so funny. So funny.

Bex: You can't see this, but I just sunk.

Mischa: Thank you. Thank you. That was my bad joke for the podcast. That was really good.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Fantastic!

Bex: I want to make another landmark.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: I want it to be the sort of perimeter, the outskirts.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: It is the last known piece of the city before you get to the outside. This is the edge of the city.

Lyn: This might be a region more than a landmark.

Mischa: This might be a region, but I'm into it. I'm very into it.

Bex: Okay.

Mischa: I'm very into that.

Bex: The outskirts. The Edge.

Ian: The Edge.

Mayanna: It's like, where Barbie goes. [Agreement]. That weird desert.

[Agreement].

Mischa: The part where the travel montage happens. Where does that happen in physical space?

Mayanna: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, right.

Bex: If it either– whether it's a landmark or if it's a region, it's called “the Edge.”

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: It's the edge of the upper city, like the floating one? Or are–

[Overlapping confusion].

Bex: I was thinking the ground.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So it's a region. So we're gonna– Give me some vibes. Like, what is it like there?

Bex: It's spread out. It's way more– While the rest of this, the college town can be more like condensed and on top of each other, the edge is spread out. It's more like farmlands, more like–

Lyn: Rural or suburban?

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: And it's slow and happy out there.

Mayanna: Oh, that's nice.

Ian: Oh, so there are people out there?

Bex: Mhmm.

Ian: Oh.

Mayanna: Yeah, probably not a lot.

Bex: Not a lot. It's sparsely populated. It's– your neighbors are a couple miles away.

Mayanna: Yeah. It's like those towns when you're on the way to California.

[Agreement].

Ian: And so is it– so it's not particularly like woodsy. Would you say it's more plain-like or like?

Bex: I was thinking plains, but I like patches of woods.

Lyn: I'm truly just thinking of the Midwest.

Bex: That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Agreement].

Lyn: I'm from there, so...

Ian: Some flats and forests. Some flats and forests.

Bex: Some great plains with a little bit of forest.

Lyn: I think that also makes sense for a floating city too, like you wouldn't want to build a floating city over– Or like maybe that's why it was a floating city to begin with is because there's no protection via terrain. [Agreement]. On the planes.

Mischa: There's no mountain barriers or anything to keep whatever out.

[Agreement].

Lyn: And from the sky you can see everything.

Mischa: What's the reputation from within and without?

Bex: The reputation from without is “slow.” “Boring.”

Mayanna: Yeah. “Why would anybody want to live there?”

Bex: Almost backwards. And the reputation on the inside is “wholesome”, just “happy”. It's sort of like the way that the people in the Upper think that they're living freely. These also feel so free.

Mischa: Yeah, it really feels like, to really put it in like George Orwell 1984 terms, that we've like made an upper class on the floating thing, a middle class below in the lower city, and like the proles are on the edge.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah. And it's kind of like, “how could anybody live like that?” And it's like, they're saying it to who?

[Agreement].

Mischa: Hell, yeah. I love that. That's very, very cool. Who next?

Mayanna: I rolled a 9.

Lyn: I rolled a 13.

Mayanna: You.

Mischa: Gonna be you, Lyn.

Lyn: Okay. I think I'd like to make a resident. And I think it is– I could go either way. This could either be in the Constellation or honestly in the Come Up. But–

Mischa: So we don't have any landmarks in the Constellation.

Lyn: Oh, right. That's true. I think this would make sense as a resident in the Magistrate's Office. But essentially, like, the external coordinator with– Not just the person who's like, in charge of like, admissions and stuff, and like, in charge of–this is more the person who actually can– Cause this is like, we're in the capital city of our region. [Agreement]. This is the person who is actually– who gets communication from like, outside the city of like, “what do we need for the rest of the people?” [Excitement]. That is in charge of setting the quotas and the curriculum for the schools. Like

Mischa: That's like the head of the Department of Labor.

Lyn: Yeah, essentially.

Mayanna: Placements.

[Agreement].

Ian: (whispering) Name them, Lyn. Name them.

Mischa: So we haven't had a resident yet. Residents have names or titles and pronouns. So like head of Department of Labor is valid. They have a “high concept,” which is a snappy one liner describing their whole thing. And they have one perfect scene, which is I want you to narrate a scene. It doesn't have to, like– nothing has to happen, I just want a snapshot of it, of like, them in their element, their iconic– Like, what they're doing.

Lyn: I'm imagining Gwendoline Christie as my fan cast.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: Yes!

Lyn: For this person.

Mayanna: Love that.

Bex: Gorgeous.

Lyn: Like also someone who is–who has like a towering physique, absolutely gorgeous. Like, this is also like, someone who even the Upper City like really respects, where it's like, “if you're going to be on the ground, this is the position to be in.” [Hums]. Like, the tagline for this person would be, “I see as far as the eye can see.” [Ooh]. Cause this is a person who knows everything on–like, who knows everything about the region and is sending people, like, is in charge of everything.

Bex: You see farther than the eye can see.

Lyn: Maybe, yeah, it's farther than the eyes can see.

Ian: Ooh, there it is.

Mayanna: Because she's looking ahead.

Lyn: She's looking ahead at the future as well.

Mayanna: Yeah, she's predicting what we'll need in five years, ten years, fifteen years.

[Agreement].

Lyn: Like, and is in charge of leading whatever the people will be after.

Mayanna: The other thing, too, is like when people speculate about like the declining birth rates. It's like, “you don't get it. If we don't have this amount of babies, we're not going to have this many people in the workforce in 18 years and all that stuff, too.”

Lyn: Yeah. This is like someone who's like really into economics.

[Agreement].

Ian: Someone intimidating, I would assume.

Lyn: Yeah, very intimidating.

Mischa: You don't cast Gwendoline Christie without being at least a little bit intimidated by her.

Ian: Damn right, you don’t.

Mischa: So then for a perfect scene, I kind of imagine like–and we haven't really established if we have phones. Do we have phones? Do we have cell phones?

Bex: I think we should have some–

Mayanna: We probably should.

Bex: means of communication, I think, that’s like technology-based.

Lyn: I think like flip phone type phones, not smart phone.

[Agreement].

Mischa: I like that. Everybody has a Motorola Razr

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah, a convenient way to communicate.

Lyn: Or even like a pager system because there could be like landlines, but not necessarily–like that are more like, you know–

[Overlapping comments].

Mayanna: Private lines.

Mischa: I love a landline slash pager. Like you can send–you can text people one thing. You can't have a text conversation, but you can text one thing. Or if you're at a physical location, you can dial people.

Lyn: Landlines, pay phones even.

Bex: Oh payphone booths, phone booths! We can brick back phone booths!

[Agreement].

Mischa: I’m into that!

Bex: I love the idea–Also, cause then we can keep going with like the messenger, the magic of it.

Lyn: I like the idea of my perfect scene being this person in like a boardroom meeting but is clearly in charge of it. Yeah. Alot of suits, a lot of whatever. But like this, and–in theory–is being told what to do. B at the end of the day, like, all of these people are still trying to win her favor.

Mayanna: Yeah, people send her like, nice pears and like, fancy baskets and like, whatever they think.

Bex: They can tell her what to do till they're blue in the face, but she gets to decide it either way.

[Agreement].

Lyn: Yeah, exactly. Like, she's ultimately very, like–I like the idea that she's actually very pragmatic. Like, she's not actually bribable. She's like, “thank you.”

Mayanna: “That was very nice. Yeah, that's very nice.”

Ian: That's exactly what I was thinking.

Mayanna: The pears were delicious.”

Ian: Like they give her the–she gets the gift basket and then immediately drops it in her office garbage,

Lyn: Not even like–

Mayanna: With all the other gift baskets.

Lyn: Like, I do like the idea that she's intimidating, but not because she's mean. But she's pragmatic. So it's like, she would, she, she receives a gift basket and everyone else in the office.

Lyn: She's like, “hello, everyone. Like the, the kind neighboring, like tri state area has given us these things. Please. It's in the break room.”

Mayanna: She gives you nothing. She’s just–you're like, “what could she be feeling?” “We're not sure.” [Agreement]. She's so professional.

Lyn: Yeah, extremely professional. Everyone's just like, “(unsure grunt).”

Mayanna: She never goes to drinks after work.

Lyn: No. Very cool.

Mayanna: God, I would work for her.

Bex: Yeah, so pragmatic.

Lyn: I'll come up with a name shortly.

Mischa: Sure, no worries. Give it time

Bex: She’s so sexy.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Mostly I'm just thinking “Gwendoline Christie,” and I–

Mayanna: Gwen?

Bex: I was saying, can we call her Gwen?

Mayanna: Gwen.

Lyn: Gwen.

Mischa: Yeah, we can call her Gwen. Absolutely.

Ian: Gwen's such a great name.

Mayanna: Gwen's a great name.

Mischa: Shout out to all the Gwens listening out there.

Mayanna: Thanks, Gwens.

Lyn: Thanks, Gwens.

Bex: Gwen!

Mischa: Give us $5 on Patreon. Okay!

Lyn: The Gwen tier.

Ian: Y'all weren't expecting that, were you, Gwens?

[Laughter].

Bex: You're in it now.

Mischa: Who's next?

Mayanna: I think I'm next.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Man, my crit one really fucked me on this quarter.

Mischa: You're the one who wanted Dice to determine the winner.

Ian: I know!

Lyn: Oh, I really want Gwen to be short for Guinevere.

Mayanna: Guinevere.

Bex: Yes!

Mayanna: That's great. I think I also want to make a resident. Oh, but I guess I have to, I'll, all right, I'll make a landmark for the constellation.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: I think the landmark for the constellation is the like, financial district. That's where all the high powered, young, hungry hedge fund people go to make their name.

Mischa: I think financial district sounds like a region. Can we make it like, The stock exchange, like the building.

Mayanna: The stock exchange! Yeah. The, like the crystal exchange or whatever it is. I guess like what, like we want to buy magic. What is the preferred currency? Is it gold, do we think?

Mischa: (Sighs). Yeah. See, that’s interesting.

Mayanna: The credit system?

Mischa: Do we want credits? We could do credits.

Mayanna: I think credits.

Lyn: Credits.

Mayanna: I think credits. So the credits. Yeah.

Bex: Then debt can be like, “ooh, what a thing.”

Mayanna: Yeah. The credit system. So this is where you evaluate the value of different companies, and how many credits you think they're worth. This would be where like any new magic manufacturers would be like, “Oh man, we're going to go public. This is so exciting. Green Flame Blade is going to blow up the credit market.”

[Laughter].

Bex: The GFB. Yeah.

Mischa: We're going to make one serialized Meteor Storm and then Post Malone is going to buy it for $2.6 million.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh, that's so funny. That's great.

[Laughter].

Lyn: That was–

Mayanna: That was a crazy day. That was a crazy day. I'm trying to think of like, what it's like, I don't want to call it the stock exchange.Just trying to think of like a cool–

Ian: The interchange?

Mayanna: The interchange. The, like the line go up?

[Laughter].

Ian: That's the one!

Mischa: Here's something we haven't done. We have a lot of, like, “the district,” “the thing.” I would love to, like, name it after someone. Like a memorial thing. Maybe someone who died in the war?

Mayanna: Yeah. (Thoughtfully) Ooh.

Mischa: And it could be, like, the Memorial Value Exchange.

Mayanna: Yes, yes, yes. The, let me think. I want it to say, like, Benjamin. Something Benjamin.

Mischa: Benjamin Thrabisher.

Mayanna: Benjamin Thrabisher Memorial Credit Exchange. Benjamin Thrabisher Memorial Credit Exchange. So it's B T–

Mischa: T M C E.

Mayanna:T M C E.

Mischa: Thrabisher Memorial Credit Exchange.

Mayanna: T M C E. I like that. Yeah, that's where all the tech bros and the finance bros, that's where they go to make their fortune and be scrappy. And so yeah, that's where people go. Yeah, they're big on all the freaking points and the ups and the downs and hedging their bets and all that stuff.

Mischa: Hell yeah.

Mayanna: And it's a very intense, predominantly masculine environment.

Mischa: But I also feel like, if you live on the ground, if you don't live in a constellation, right? Like, that just looks like–

Mayanna: We're money.

Mischa: –people, well, it looks like people betting on a cockfight. [Excitement and agreement]. Well, “those people are betting on our lives.”

Mayanna: (Excitedly) Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah! But it's like in nice outfits.

[Agreement].

Bex: Dark.

Mayanna: Woof.

Bex: I like it.

Mischa: Thats stock exchanges.

Mayanna: Yowza!

Ian: (Sarcastically) What are you talking about? I live in a world that's only lovely and good.

Lyn: I wonder if there's something similar, like that other people would call it. Like how we call our stock exchange, like the rat race, for example. There's probably something similar that other people–

Mayanna: The brat pack.

Lyn: –have a connotation. That's like, some people say it with pride because they're in it, but most people are like, it's not. We don’t love that.

Mischa: Okay, I love that. Yeah, the first thing I came up with is the meat market.

Mayanna: The meat market.

Lyn: Meat market. Yikes. Yeah, the meat market.

Mischa: Yeah. You're just, you're just–

Bex: That’s really good.

Mischa: You’re just cutting people up and sell them off to profit.

Mayanna: But the proud people are like, “We're fucking butchers, man. We go in there. We cut it up, we sell it for parts.

[Excitement].

Lyn: The butchers!

Mischa: Amazing! That's really good. I love the meat market. That's really good. Who's next?

Mayanna: Yeah, it's Ian.

Lyn: It’s Ian.

Ian: Okay. So how many landmarks do we have?

Mischa: We have one in every region except The Edge now.

Ian: Okay. I'm going to make a resident. Okay. He's a resident of the Barra. So he lives, he lives right across the street from the statue.

Mischa: Great. I love it.

Ian: He is the former head maker of whatever this spell technology is during the war.

Mayanna: Oh, he was like, yeah, the big man.

Ian: Yeah, led a division, like a massive division making the things.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Right. He's now out of work because that specific division of it isn't happening anymore.Maybe it’s elsewhere.

Lyn: Or it got bought up.

Ian: Or it got bought up, or he aged out. Cause I think he's older. He's like an older guy. He's on the back end.

Mayanna: He kind of ran out. Like people were like, “you're kind of out of ideas.”

Ian: Yes.

Mayanna: Like, “let the young ones take it over. Like you're good. You're chilling.”

Lyn: So you might've been forced into a retirement.

Ian: Right. Forced retirement.

Mayanna: I think that's exactly what it was. They're like, we're doing you a favor. You don't want any of this. You don't want any part of this.

Ian: Right. Exactly. So he's doing that thing, which is–because he's got nothing to do, and it probably wasn't a good exit–he's taken all of his money that he's received for that separation and basically lives in like the gambling district. [Recognition]. And so he just spends his time waddling around the casinos, winning, but mostly losing money.

Mayanna: Oh, brutal. It's like the pachinko parlors.

[Agrement].

Ian: Exactly.

Lyn: Where it's like just a slow bleed. Where it's like, “I have enough money to like, to subsist.”

Mayanna: It's like self harm almost. [Agreement]. A little every night.

Ian: And he also has just a massive excess of whatever this spell technology is, right? These ampules orthese little–I keep thinking about them–is a mix of what we're talking about, Like little glass, like, like I'm thinking like there's a love potion one, right? And so it's a little glass heart with like a gold rim that's like this big. And in order to activate you, like you break it, maybe like break it on your hand.

[Excitement].

Bex: That’s cute.

Mischa: Maybe it's this was the spell tech. And then like, a rival of his invented, like, the solid version–

Mayanna: The sustainable version.

Mischa: –and no one wanted the liquid with the breaking of the glass anymore.

Ian: The one-use ones.

[Excitement].

Bex: I love that.

Lyn: I feel like this might be something akin to, like, a healing potion or something, too.

Ian: I like it too, because, like, because you can have boxes and boxes of all these, like, multi colored little–there's these little shapes that are glass and metal and color. And he's got just a fuck ton of them collecting dust.

Lyn: Too many.

Bex: They can't sell, can't do anything with it.

Lyn: Yeah. because who needs a healing potion now that the war is over?

Ian: Right!

Mayanna: And yeah, and also like, who needs a single-use healing potion?

Mischa: Yeah. If you, if you have like the crystal for Cure Wounds, what do you need a one-use? But for the party, you guys can go visit him and get one-off combat items.

[Excitement].

Bex: He's gonna be like our favorite guy.

Lyn: I think that's something so interesting too, like, in the mechanics of D&D, of like, oh, if there are healers who know healing spells that are pretty much like good to go. Or if we now have a school of healers, that now that we've been able to harness the magical technology for it, then like, yeah. All the more prototypical items, that would be a reason why certain magic items are really rare.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah. I think your guy is kind of like the Nikola Tesla to whoever's running the world.

[Excitement].

Bex: Can we call him Nikola?

Mayanna: Nikolai. Or Nikola?

Ian: Also, I was going to say he should be like sort of an outsider. Because we've got a Guinevere and we've got a Benjamin. So I wonder if his name's like Thorgunn, you know? He's like a, like a Swedish guy, you know what I mean? [Agreement]. From a different place.

Mayanna: Yeah. I like that.

Mischa: Thorgunn with two N's.

Ian: Thorgunn Boomslank.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Boomslank?

Ian: What was the–no, that's like the Boomslaang is what it is the–

Mischa: I wrote it down.

Bex: I like Boomslaang.

Ian: Boomslaang.

Mischa: With two A's and one of them has an umlaut over it. [Cheers]. Amazing. So that was the last one for this round. So we're going to have another event.

Mayanna: Woohoo! Oh no. Fuck.

Mischa: Well, that's the thing about events. They can be bad, or they can be good. I think someone goes beyond the edge. And outside the city–after the city is established, after these things already exist–finds a new building resource. You know like, what's that technique that they have in Japan where they kind of like grow straight shoots out of the trunk of a tree and it's like completely sustainable wood forever?

[Intrigue].

Mayanna: Oh, I did not know that.

Mischa: This is the thing where there's like some technique where you can kind of manipulate the growth of a tree, like cut it off at a certain point and then they grow like just straight shoots. Wow. Like bamboo on top of a tree trunk.

Lyn: It's called like pollarding or something. But part of it is that you have to cut off every branch of it in order to make it go, and some people don't love that. It makes really weird tree trunks.

Mischa: Yeah. So I think that the event is the discovery of a new building material on the ground.

Lyn: Is it someone from the city who went out, or is it just someone who made a discovery, just like, not in city?

Mischa: I don't want to get that specific. I think that there is a new building material available.

Lyn: From outside.

Mischa: It's–yeah, it's cheap and like, easy to get, but not as durable.

Ian: Is it of this world or whatever world we were in battle with?

Bex: That's the unanswered question.

Mischa: That could be an unanswered question.

[Agreement].

Bex: Where does it come from?

Lyn: Is it of this world?

Mischa: I'm gonna write that down. Do you want to write it down?

Ian: Yeah, write it down!

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Who nat 20’d? Bex?

Bex: Yes!

Mischa: 20’d this round? Sorry, Ian kind of jumped ahead with it.

Mayanna: It was a good question.

Bex: I like it. He deserved it.

Ian: Thank you.

Bex: I think a biased opinion is that it is not durable. “It is not to be trusted. Why would you want to deal with this when you have what we have? This is a stupid idea to bring it in.”

[Agreement].

Lyn: If it ain't broke, why fix it? Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. (Whispering) But it’s breaking.

Lyn: (Whispering) But it’s breaking.

Bex: (Whispering) It’s breaking.

Ian: (Whispering) A big piece of it just broke.

Lyn: (Whispering) A very sizeable chunk broke. (Speaking normally) I think this is a biased opinion in response to that opinion, which is, “they're afraid that we'll have what they have.” [Hums]. Like, like, “oh, we have this new–we have this new commodity. It's from the surface. We can get it. We can build our shit up. We're gonna prosper. They're trying to keep us down. We can't trust them because they just want to profit and keep themselves elevated. But like, we'll build it better here.”

Mayanna: Whew.

Bex: One of the biases from my side is “it's not safe.” [Agreement]. And theirs is like, “why wouldn't it be safe? It's the surface.”

Mischa: Legit.

Lyn: I think like the main underlying thing is like, “we'll build it better here, and they're afraid of it.”

Bex: I like that.

Mayanna: I guess mine is–I guess it's a question is like, what were the–what possessed–what was the purpose of the expedition? What are the mechanics or the like, the motivations for why this was discovery was made at all?

Lyn: Like, how was this found?

Mayanna: Yeah, like who, yeah–what you just randomly decided to just go explore? Like what? Who's behind–who's behind this?

Bex: What prompted this?

Mayanna: Yeah, what motivated this, this need to discover a new resource?

Mischa: And also corollary. What were you really looking for–

Mayanna: Exactly!

Mischa: –if you just found this?

Mayanna: Exactly, yeah.

Bex: What were you trying to find?

Mayanna: It's giving survivor immunity idols. (Laughter). “Why were you out there, huh? What were you looking for?”

Bex: “What exactly were you trying to find? Because I don't trust you”.

[Agreement].

Mischa: Hell yeah. That's great! I love it.

Ian: Can I provide a consequence even though, secret, went first?

Mischa: Fucking fine, I guess.

Mayanna: (Gasps) A consequence?

Ian: Maybe a consequence is that There is a–there is a mysterious group past The Edge that is starting to–that has a head start on utilizing this resource.

Mayanna: Ooh. What if–

Ian: Look at that Mischa, look at that smile.

Mayanna: What if they found like farms?

Ian: What’s up?

Mayanna: They found farms for this resource. Or like, they found evidence that it had been harvested previously, which is how they knew they could harvest it.

Ian: People are–yeah, yeah. People were using it, so then they started.

Mayanna: It's giving Columbus.

[Laughter and agreement].

Mischa: It is giving Columbus.

Ian: Just powerful secret groups.

Mischa: Very cool. So let's move on to round–I think we have enough time for a round five of this. Let's do one more round of Regions, Landmarks, and Residents. Let's roll one more time.

[Dice rolling].

Lyn: I got a Nat 20.

Ian: Fuck.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You were supposed to get it this time!

Ian: I know.

Lyn: We all rolled one! You can have this one.

Ian: Thank you. No, I got a nine–

Lyn: No, you can do it.

Ian: No, I went first anyway.

Lyn: I don’t care, just do it. I I Okay. You just do it. That's your time.

Ian: Okay. I got a Nat–I got a Nat 20, and Lyn got a–a Nat 9.

Lyn: Great.

[Laughter].

Bex: 13

Mayanna: 19.

Mischa: Whoa! Okay. Ian with “your” Nat 20. [Laughter]. You’re first.

Lyn: Oh, do you have a new compass for this round?

Mischa: Oh, right. I forgot to name the compass. Thank you so much, Lyn. The compass for this round. Ooh, great question. (Inhales deeply) We've done a lot of the city and the social infrastructure. I think, I think what interested me so much about that last bit is the natural resource built into it. So I think “natura”l is going to be our compass for this round.

Ian: Love it

Mayanna: Natural.

Mischa: Yeah. Like let's incorporate the city into the world it lives in a little more maybe. But–but–but still creating things that are within the city.

Ian: I love that.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Great.

Mischa: Is that a lie? Are you–

Ian: No, no, no. I'm just stalling for time.

Mischa: Got it.

Ian: No, I'm trying to decide if that means that you–we want to do something in the city or if we can go down to the ground. I know that means we can go anywhere we want.

Mischa: I think this is still a region of our city.

Ian: Great.

Mischa: So like a neighborhood of the city, but maybe it's a processing plant. Maybe it's a–

Ian: No, that's totally fine. No, that answers my question. Okay. Let's– so I'm going to make a landmark in the Edge and the landmark is a huge grain farm to make grain and bread for everyone around.

Mischa: Cool. And it's the central grain facility for the whole city? This is where the grain comes from.

Ian: Yes. Except I even hesitate to use the word “facility,” because it feels like it feels more rural older because out in the edge. So it's like–

Mischa: So I think–I mean, that's fair. But like, you know, rural towns have sawmills, you know, it can be a–even a complex of things.

Ian: That's a good point. That's a fair point. I think I'm also thinking that it makes food actually just for people on the ground. It's like more of a local thing than a massive everyone thing.

Lyn: It's still a regular farm and mill?

Mayanna: It's like a farm to table situation?

Ian: Yeah. It's like a family.

Mischa: Maybe it's–maybe it's–Okay. Maybe it's a part of the city that when they were establishing the city after the war, after the–the hovering thing picked a spot and said, “here's where the city is going to be.” And they–cause that means they planned the lower city, right? They built it for everyone or found it and spruced it up. But like, there was some planning involved in that. And here is the part where all of the farmland is, and we will allot it to people of the city. And so it's like kind of co-op-y, vegetable garden-y, but like it's massive. It's fields and fields and fields.

Ian: Yeah, exactly. And I think this specific landmark is this–it's like a stone farmhouse building that's like, run by a family and they make bread for like, I don't know, let's say they make bread for–

Mischa: Okay, so there's, so there's a family. That institutionally is like, they're the ones that make the best bread.

Lyn: It's the bakers.

Mischa: They're the–yeah.

Mayanna: With their tray. Like sometimes.

Ian: There it is. It's like–maybe it's where you go–maybe it's where you go–if you come out of like the baker's guild school. Right? It's like–

Lyn: Baker as a family name, but like as a guild name instead.

Mischa: Okay. I'm gonna write that down.

Ian: Got Mischa to write one down.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm gonna make a resident, Cecilia Baker. She's the eldest daughter of the family that owns the mill or who runs the mill. And she, somehow, got a commuter pass. So she brings bread to the Meat Market. She has a little stand. She makes a killing. Everybody tries to hit on her. She's not about it. [Laughter]. And she brings the money back. But she's like one of the few Edge civilians who consistently goes to the Constellation. And she seems very out of place when she's there.

Lyn: She's the breadwinner.

Mayanna: She's the breadwinner.

Mischa: That's the high concept, baby.

Mayanna: She's the breadwinner, absolutely. So yeah, her little scene would be– yeah, she just every day she goes up with her offerings. She has a little stand in what I guess is effectively like the Times Square of the Meat Market. And there's other stands that do similar stuff. But you know, it's breads and rolls and all this stuff. And she's very sweet. And she's very friendly. But she's also very like, worldly. And she's she's been doing this for a long time. [Gasp]. Yeah?

Bex: She's as sweet as her sticky buns.

[Cheering].

Mayanna: Yeah. But she is not–but she's not no spring chicken.

Lyn: Not to be trifled with.

Mayanna: She's not to be trifled with.

Mischa: It's like funny, cause she–that makes her worldlier–

Bex: I want a roll.

Mischa: –than her– [Laughter]. Jesus.She–she's worldlier than her neighbors in the Edge and also worldlier than anybody she'll meet in the Constellation. [Agreement]. Everywhere she goes, she's like

Mayanna: A little–

Mischa: A little weary.

Mayanna: A little too wise.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: A little too sus.

Lyn: I love that.

Mayanna: She's like, “I don't know about all this.”

Mischa: Yeah, that's really good.

Lyn: I'll also do a landmark.

Mischa:

Lyn: And I think–I think I want this in the Constellation, but a distillery. Okay. I'm thinking, you know, post-Cold War, or Gilded Age, or whatever, like, “it's a raucous party. Where's the party coming from?” I think that the distillery is not in the entertainment district, because that'd be weird.

Mischa: But it's, it's like an exclusive members club.

Lyn: Yeah, it's like–it's very like, they need to know your name at the door. No walk ins allowed.

Mischa: The kind of place that the noir detective always has to get past the bouncer to get the clue from.

Mayanna: It's like a champagne lounge almost.

Lyn: I'm thinking of this one speakeasy I went into Berlin that was an underpass, but inside was the nicest place in the world. And I was very underdressed. I did not know we were going there. But it, yeah, it's–it's discreet. It's exclusive. But they also make their own shit. And when I say distillery, sure, alcohol, but probably also some other natural substance that has become bespoke? Especially in the upper city area.

Mayanna: Snuff?

Mischa: I love snuff as like a storytelling device.

Mayanna: Yeah, cause it's like–

Mischa: People have those fancy boxes.

Mayanna: It's got fancy boxes. Everybody's got a weird character tick they do when they do it.

Lyn: Yeah, it's something akin to that. That's like–

Mayanna: Dust.

Lyn: And it's all–and it's all– And because this is the source, it's the cleanest shit, kind of thing. Like this is the source of it.

Bex: I got a resident for your brewery. Your distillery? It’s the brewer. [Agreement]. He's a little bit unhinged. He's really in stark contrast to the–his surroundings. The distillery itself is so posh. And he's so not that. He doesn't spend a lot of time in the front of the house.

Lyn: I like the idea that this is a Jekyll and Hyde situation, but the Jekyll is the establishment and he's the Hyde.

[Agreement].

Mischa: If the people who were in charge of this place could find someone else to do it, they absolutely would. [Agreement]. Because this guy is not it.

Mayanna: He's brilliant, but he's not suitable for front of house.

Lyn: No.

Bex: He’s brilliant and broken.

Mayanna: And it's like, he almost wants to craft like, the beautiful world he can't be a part of. [Excitement]. (Whispers) Phantom of the Opera.

Lyn: Yeah, that, and “Brilliant But Broken,” I think are good themes for probably multiple systems and people throughout this world in particular.

Mayanna: Damn.

Bex: I think everyone calls him Brewer. Nobody knows his name.

[Agreement].

Mischa: Okay. Yeah. I love that. That's really great. And they just call him the Brewer? He/him pronouns?

Bex: Not even “the.” Just Brewer.

Mayanna: Brewer.

Lyn: Brewer. Like a name.

Bex: Like a name.

Mayanna: Like Brewster!

Bex: Brewer!

Mayanna: I love it.

Bex: Not his name, but no one knows that.

Mischa: Right. Well then–then there's a–there's like, different branding to different parts of the town where like, in the Constellation, it's like, “look at this, the thing that really is like the culmination of your ultimate desire.” And in the lower versions, like “have a version of what they have upstairs come to your door.” [Agreement]. Like, bringing–bringing you a little bit of the luxury that you couldn't find elsewhere. [Agreement]. Spicy.

Lyn: I think what's interesting with like the guild system and like even with this naming, I think that there's probably a similar naming convention now of like, “Oh, your job title is your family as much as your bloodlines are your family,” and I think that will tie in really interestingly to the, like, obligation and devotion stuff of like, “oh, which name do you use? Your surname or your guild name?”

Mayanna: You are what you do.

Mischa: Maybe peop– Is it like, there's like a maiden name and then job title?

Mayanna: (Gasps) You're married to your job. What if there's like a marriage-style ceremony–

Lyn: (Whispers) A ceremony!

Mayanna: –where you commit yourself to your trade?

Bex: You can get the Ceremony spell.

Mischa: II was trying to come up with some pun that was like “bar mitzvah,” but with tools, and I couldn't think of something fast enough. Or here–here's another thing. What if like you're generally known by your occupation, but your blood family has a secret name that you only tell to like very close friends?

Mayanna: Oh, I love it.

Lyn: That's very intimate.

Mayanna: That's like, yeah, in like the Japanese society where you like refer to everybody by their last name. And then if you–it's like very intimate if you refer to somebody their first name.

Mischa: Right. So–so the first name is like, the common name. The–the general last name is what you do and what your family has done. If there's casp–I don't know.

Mayanna: I have a comp for your “bar mitzvah, but with tools” thing.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Which is in the Tinkerbell direct-to-DVD animated movie. [Laughter] You get born, you're like, “boom, welcome to the world, fairy, here's your wings.” And then a bunch of floating objects surround you and whichever one you grab, that's your job forever. So she grabs a hammer–

Bex: Horrifying.

Mayanna: –and they're like, “you're a tinker fairy and you can't be anything else. Have fun with all the Tinker Fairies in Tinker part of the world.” And that's why her name is–

Mischa: And that’s why her name is Tinkerbell!

Mayanna: Tinkerbell.

Bex: Oh my, that's so sad.

Mischa: The lore involved.

Mayanna: Absolutely. And the–and the real disparity is that there's some fairies who have like, like weather powers, like fall, like spring and all these things. And they get to go to the mainland in the humanworld, and they get to like move the seasons along.But the Tinker Fairies and the other working class fairies don't get to go to the mainland because they have no purpose in going there.

Lyn: Wow. So true.

Mischa: Heartbreaking.

Mayanna: That's so funny.

Lyn: Well, that's, that's a thing in a lot of Asian cultures. You have like money, a pen, like a paintbrush, et cetera. Like you just, there are like collections of things where it's like, “what will you be suited towards?” Like what draws you in as a baby is going to be what will draw you in life.

Mayanna: In life.

Bex: That's actually all over my TikToks is people with their babies and like reaching towards things.

Mayanna: It’s like Pokemon starters on my Tik Tok feed. It's like the three Pokemon toys.

Bex: Mine is parents with like a whole thing. And then there's a little slip that says OnlyFans and the baby goes to that.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I bet you there's a parent like, dangling something just beyond the camera as a bit.

Bex: 100 percent. [Laughter]. It’s just for the bit.

Mayanna: Nothing is real.

Mischa: Amazing. Was that the whole round? Is it event time?

Ian: I think so.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's event time.

Mischa: Time for something to happen.

Lyn: I don't actually know

Mischa: I definitely want to know about the time that–there has to have been one time when people living in the Lower City like, stormed the elevators. [Gasps]. There was like a, there was like a protest or a riot–

Mayanna: Or an occupation-type situation.

Mischa: Where they are–yes. The Occupy Elevators movement. It probably involved a lot of people from the come up. Probably intelligence from people who came down, who already had commuter passes or like handed them off to people and there was coordination there. There was people from various districts reacting in various ways. Let's go around and find out.

Mayanna: Are we using the same roll from this round?

Mischa: Yes.

Mayanna: Okay, cool.

Mischa: So Ian, you had the Nat 20. It was gifted to you.

Ian: It was gifted to me, a gift of a Nat 20.

Mayanna: It’s a special gift.

Ian: It really is. [Laughter]. So when it happened. A lot of–there needed to be a lot of soldiers to go down and deal with the people trying to get in the elevator, right?

Mischa: Probably, yeah.

Ian: But, but there was less soldiers because it was post war, so it pulled all of like the street constables and stuff off of their positions? Right? And so while they were off defending the elevator or dealing with the riot, the rest of the upper city was completely unpoliced for like a large portion of time.

Mayanna: Hours.

Ian: Yeah. And potentially some nefarious dealings happened in that time.

Lyn:Oh, consequence, like upper city crime has a window.

Ian: Yeah. And additionally, maybe. You know, some of those people got hurt or killed in defending. So post–the consequences, there's less constables around.There's less like the–the city's a little bit scarce–

Mayanna: For constables.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Which means Gwen's got her work cut out for her.

Lyn: Whether she likes it or not.

Mayanna: Yeah. And it's like, no one wants to be a constable, especially because a bunch of constables just died.

Mischa: Yeah. Very good. Mayanna.

Mayanna: The consequence as well. It was a group of students who led the uprising. And the students who like–the schools that those students represented now have like a reputation for being like, bad, or like, bad influences. Yeah. So it's, so people have been less keen to be sorted or selected or placed in those schools or those roles.

Bex: All constables are bastards.

[Laughter].

Lyn: True. So true.

Mischa: Good to–good to say it up front on this show.

Bex: Well, aside from that being a biased opinion, all constables are bastards.

Lyn: No, that's an objective opinion.

Bex: It is. [Laughter]. That's why I can't use it as my bias, because it's objective. Biased opinion from the boots on the ground is, “they're okay with us dying. They want us to die. They'd rather us die than give us our place in the stars.”

Mayanna: Dang.

Mischa: I'm writing–I am quiet because I'm writing that exact phrase down. Mostly I've been writing notes. I'm writing this exact phrase down.

Mayanna: That’s great!

Bex: Oh, thanks.

Mayanna: Damn, dude.

Ian: Damn, Daniel.

Mayanna: (In British accent)Damn, Daniel. Back at it again with the sick words. [Laughter].

Mischa: Lyn.

Lyn: I think this will tie into that, which is an unanswered question from both sides is, “will everyone go up or will everyone come down?”

[Agreement].

Bex: What goes up must come down.

Mischa: Bex.

Bex: A question!

Mischa: Yes.

Bex: The-the-the-the unanswered question!

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: “When will it all come down?”

Lyn: Again.

Bex: Again. Part two.

Mischa: We had that one. Yeah. How long until it all comes down?

Bex: But 2.0.

Lyn: I think like that phrase has like–has so many layered meanings.

Mischa:That phrase is graffitied on walls and places. [Agreement]. What a world full of complex layers and ideologies.

[Midroll music]

Mischa: Hey there, it's Mischa. This is the rest stop. Come take a break beside a path with me, just until we catch our breath. Thank you for hanging with us as we built out this world. It's a thrill to have you with us as we get ready to play our first game and tell our first story. We actually recorded these episodes a while ago, and we've already been playing around in this world for a little bit now. And I might be biased, but I think there's some people out there that are really gonna like it. I don't know for sure, but that's just the feeling I get.

If you like what you're hearing and you want to help us grow and reach more folks, please spread the word. A new podcast needs all the help it can get to let people know we're here doing a cool thing. You can find us most places you find podcasts, and we also have links at our website, wanderingpathpod.com. Okay. That's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[Music]

Mischa: So now let's pivot in our final section here into coming up with characters. Yes. So once again, I have a list of seven questions with sub questions.

Ian: Okay.

Mischa: I'm going to read them all out and we can, and then we can talk about it. And just as a focus, you know, obviously we're playing D&D, have a thought to what mechanical builds you want, but this is the part where we're coming up with narrative.

Lyn: Yeah, more characters. I mean, people based as opposed to mechanics.

Mischa: We can kind of figure out what the mechanics of it are that fit later.

Lyn: Cool.

Mischa: That said, you know, if you have cool builds, pure mechanics that you like and you want to include, we'll figure that out too. So here are my questions for the characters round.

Mischa: Number one. Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you want more than anything in the world? Perhaps consider if you were one of our residents from the previous segment, what would your high concept be? For example, Cecilia Baker was the bread winner.

Mischa: Question two. What do you believe in? What was your first experience with belief? What first made you doubt? What now makes you hope and strive even despite doubt?

Mischa: Question three. What's your greatest strength? What happens when it gets taken too far?

Mischa: Question four. How did you get involved with the group? What's your role?

Mischa: Question five. Who do you trust the most, either in the party or outside of it? Who do you trust the least?

Mischa: Question six. What do you hope others think about you? What do you fear others think about you?

Mischa: And question seven is, do you owe any debts? And if so, to who?

Ian: So much, Mischa.

Mischa: But they're good questions.

Bex: They're great questions.

Mischa: They’re so good.

Ian: Yeah, they're great.

Lyn: I feel like I should answer this about myself.

Bex: Yeah.

Ian: Let's sit down with some coffee.

Lyn: Some chamomile tea.

Bex: I've got this soft spot for a character that I want to play that's like, raised to be the queen bee, but wants to be a drone. [Hums]. Wants to be the worker.

Mischa: That–that for me immediately makes me think that that's someone from the Constellation who found a new life in the come up.

[Hums].

Bex: Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. I'm from the Constellation. I am in the Come-up, and that is where I want to remain. I want to work for the greater good. I want to work for other people. I want to be part of something. Not the leader of something.

Mischa: That's cool. That's great. That's such a wide array of Dungeons and Dragons class options for that. So many classes want to be part of something.

Ian: I've been watching so much–I can't even say I've been watching anime. I've just been watching clips of anime on YouTube.

Mayanna: I love that.

Ian: YouTube is taking over my life.

Mayanna: I love YouTube.

Ian: If the people who run YouTube are listening–

Lyn: Oh, I can tell somebody.

Ian: I appreciate you, but also, fuck you.

Mayanna: Tell them, “what up”

Lyn: Cool.

Mayanna: You're the platform I watch more than any other streaming service combined.

Ian: A hundred percent.

Lyn: Every night. And that's on record.

Mayanna: And that's on God!

[Laughter].

Mischa: And that's a rock fact.

Lyn: And that's a rock fact!

[Laughter].

Ian: So the reason I say that is because I just–I've been watching so much of that sort of like, positive, positively thinking, unsinkable, you know, like young guy main character.

Mayanna: Monkey D Luffy.

Ian: Yes, Luffy, Naruto, all of these–all of these people. [Agreement]. Just as a vibe, I think I'm just getting, like, young baker. [Excitement]. Young baker, who has huge dreams–

Mayanna: Aw.

Ian: –of one day making it into the Constellation. Yeah, maybe becoming like, because if you're a baker on the ground, maybe you think one day you'll get to be like, head baker of all the bakers.

Mayanna: So Cecilia is senpai?

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: It’s like, “Cecilia, Cecilia. Oh my god.”

Mischa: “Can I come with you this time? Oh my god, please.”

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: “Oh my god, she noticed me.”

Ian: Exactly.

Lyn: Wow.

Bex: “Notice me, senpai.”

Ian: Yeah. Yep. Yes.

Mischa: Cool. I love that.

Bex: Call Cecilia “Cece”.

Mischa: So do you–

Mayanna: “Cece!” “Don't call me that.”

Mischa: : So do you make bread? Are you like a chef who's trying to perfect their craft? Are you a farmer with big goals? Are you like a businessman trapped in a farmer's place?

Ian: I think I'm a junior baker.

Mayanna: Aw, I love it.

Ian: The thing I think the yep, yes, yesing was I–I didn't want to set this rule, but like, let's say everyone in this world wore colored–that metaphor I keep coming back to–colored coats, depending on what they do.

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: This baker does not have a coat. This bakerhas an apron that's always covered in flour.

[Aws].

Mischa: Got it.

Mayanna: Adorable. He's got a little flour on his nose.

Ian: Yeah. Who's the other–who's the guy? The male character from Kiki's Delivery Service?

Mayanna: Oh, Tombo.

Lyn: Tombo.

Bex: Tombo.

Ian: It's very Tombo energy. I've never Tombo'd in a campaign before.

Mayanna: I love that.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Sure. That sounds great.

Ian: Yeah. Tombo-ing sounds fun.

Mayanna: That's so fun.

Mischa: Continue to use that man's name as a verb. I love it so much, actually.

Mayanna: People should. Yeah. Don't, don't disrespect the name.

Bex: You should Tombo more often.

Mayanna: Put some respect on the name.

Ian: Tombo’s gonna Tombo.

Mischa: I love that. That's great.

Mayanna: I think I want to do a character who is like a waitress in the Barra district, and she has aspirations to either be like a designer of some kind. She wants to make the spell thingies. But the closest she can get is old man guy. [Laughter]. So she, after her shifts, she'll like come and check on him and make sure he's like drinking water. But then she also like asks him about his time making spells. And she'll bring little prototypes and like, things to him and get his critiques. And I think her dream is to be like one of the best spell crafters the world has ever seen.

[Oohs].

Ian: He's hanging out with old man Thorgunn,

Mayanna: Old man Torgaan. And she's just–she's wiping tables and dealing with drunk college kids, and–

Mischa: I love that.

Mayanna: –barely getting any sleep. But she–she just wants to make spells and…

Lyn: How old is she? Is she also like college age?

Mayanna: Yeah, I think she–I think she–yeah, she couldn't afford it or like, she just chose not to do it. So it's people her age who are like, “I don't see you on campus.” And she was like, “you wouldn't!” [Laughter]. “Please don't throw up again.”

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: I love the youthful energy that's happening. It's all seemingly young that's happening.

Ian: Young, sexy teens?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah! Gossip Girl!

Lyn: Gossip Girl!

Ian: Let's just do Gossip Girl.

Mayanna: Gossip Girl!

Mischa: The Constellation's really a fifth character of the show.

Ian: We spent four hours building this world. We interact with absolutely none of it. And we just do like–

Lyn: Gossip Girl.

Ian: –an hourly Gossip Girl show–

Lyn: That would be so funny.

Ian: – in this world.

Mischa: I hate that.

[Laughter].

Ian: So much strife but we–

Mayanna: (Excitedly) We can get Penn Badgley, he does podcasts now!

[Laughter].

Lyn: So yeah, I, I, I love the youthful energy, I'll stick with that.

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: I'm still formulating it in my head, but I think it's like–the aspiration what you're put into are not the same. So like, it's probably someone who committed to a track in the Come-Up and has realized kind of late in the game, “this is not what I want to do.”

Mayanna: Oof, brutal.

Lyn: This might be like–maybe too strong of a parallel to this actual universe that we live in, but like, someone was like, “Oh, like STEM is the way to go.”

Mayanna: Yeah, “you gotta do STEM.”

Lyn: Like–like that–”that's what you got to do. STEM. That's your way up. That's your way up. That's your way up.” And once the Heart fell was like–

Mischa: Oh, I love–please interact with the events that have happened already in the game.

Lyn: Yeah. And I think it's like the idea of like, but people are still like pushing STEM and everything's, like– the Heart fell. Like, is that a failure of these engineers? Is that the failure of STEM? But like at the end of the day, it's like, no, that's a failure of the Heart. Like people are–After the events of like the student uprising, et cetera, just like, no, people got hurt and everyone's focusing on security and no one's taking care of the people after.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: That's like, oh, I put all of my energy towards like engineering and everything. That's like, the aspiration that was handed to me. That's now my obligation. Where it's like, you know, the point was to help people. And right now the help that needs happening–

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: That's not...language.

Mayanna: The happen happened.

Lyn: The happening happened.The happening happens. If something else bad happens, we don't have healers anymore.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Lyn: And like, that's kind of like, is it all going to come down? When will it all come down? Kind of this unanswered question for my character is, when all the soldiers and the healers are gone, what happens when the next big thing happens?

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: I don't want to be a soldier.

Mischa: And there, there's also something to, you know, like, your parents, or like who–the forces upon you in your early days were like, “the way to get to the Constellation? There's an easy way. The Constellation always needs people in the Core, in the Engineering Core. You need to maintain their–if you were there to maintain infrastructure, they will always need you.”

Lyn: “They’ll always keep you around.”

Mischa: And then–and then, It sounds like at some point you might have had a change of heart of like, “actually the important infrastructure here is the people because the people can repair the infrastructure.”

Mayanna: Yeah. Absolutely.

Mischa: The people are the actual infrastructure of the city. And I was told wrong.

Lyn: And I think, weirdly, my character is in love with Gwendoline Christie.[Cheers]. But I think that's like–the thing is like–sees this person, and that–that can be something that can crack later on, but I think there's an opportunity there of like, “oh, I see someone who is very professional, who does care about the future, but ultimately, the future to this person is the people.”

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Like, is in control of where people are placed, how they're taken care of, what they learn, what they do. That role should be the– person in charge of people and they work–

Mayanna: Do they work closely with Gwen?

Lyn: Maybe. Probably works in student affairs, like takes the part time job at the phonathon, you know? (Mumbles) I'm really maybe, talking about my own friends.

Mischa: Maybe uses that as their like work hours, even though everyone else in the STEM job are taking–

Lyn: They're doing labs.

Mayanna: They’re taking labs and you’re doing admin.

Mischa: Yeah, you're working–Wait, yeah, and–and maybe they judge you a little for that?

Lyn: Yeah, it's like admin or even like–

Mayanna: Her assistant.

[Excitement].

Mischa: We could do that.

Mayanna: Part time assistant.

Lyn: No, I think there's something there. That's like, either through like a healing track–like a healer track or something else that's like– Or maybe there's like, there's a track missing.

Mayanna: Gwen–Gwen's not an idiot. Gwen's like, “why are you doing, why are you doing this still? Like, you've long since exceeded your hours. Like, you, you're barely taking classes.”

Lyn: I think this would be a very interesting point of view to bring a cleric. [Agreement]. Where it’s like–

Mischa: Clerics can be anything.

Lyn: Yeah, it can be anything. But I think like, this would be a very interesting way of like, instead of like the god-based system, tt's like what I was talking about earlier, like, Oh, a person is representative of a value. Like, this might be how I commune with that.

[Agreement].

Bex: That's gorgeous. I kind of started thinking about warden. Of being like– being raised to be a leader, maybe it was a military leader. And not–and wanting to be like, “if I have to be part of this machine, I want to support. I want to help. I don't want to attack. I want to support.”

Mischa: Yeah. Warden is the class from Valda’s, which is very much like, tank and, you know, sentinel movement, protecting other people, standing in the way of harm.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Mischa: I–I–I don't know if you can come from a military background–

Lyn: Because there’s no military.

Mischa: But maybe a military family. And they said, “you don't have to do the military cause it doesn't exist, but we have great expectations for you.” [Agreement]. Cause people who are five star generals have great expectations of the children.

Lyn: I think thats–

Bex: Started as a Nepo baby. [Agreement]. I don't want this.

Lyn: It's probably someone who's like, “no, you're going into finance. Like that's the next route. Like we're strategic mindsets. We have power. You should have domain and dominion over other people in this world. It's finance, baby.”

Bex: Yeah. And I don't want power over people. I want to support people. Yeah.

Lyn: Right. You'll be put in the econ track.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: That’s so funny.

Ian: And because it's such a stratified system, like you still–even if it's going to be fine for you when you get out of school–like, you still have to start at the bottom rung. [Agreement]. So you're–you're at this apprentice type position or something.

[Agreement].

Mischa: I think the only question left is kind of like how y'all know each other? Like, what do we want the party to be and how did–how did y'all get together? And we can–we can–

Bex: Are we all in the Come-Up?

Mayanna: Um…

Mischa: No

Mayanna: I’m in–

Bex: Oh, okay.

Mischa: Only two of you.

Mayanna: –the party district. But the party district–did we say the party district was on the ground?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. So, okay. So that's great.

Mischa: And the–the coolest part about like, Did You Say Street Magic? is it's really– it talks about like concepts, but it doesn't tell you to make a map. So the–like, the Come-Up can be right next to the Barra.

Mayanna: Yeah! That makes sense.

Mischa: Like, there's no–they can be adjacent.

Lyn: That would make sense.

Bex: That would make so much sense.

Mayanna: I think then my–

Bex: That’d be perfect for the students.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I think my character is friends with Cecilia. And so that's how I know you, because we're around the same age. [Agreement]. And I'm sure she knows that I'm very poor. So she probably brings me food.

[Aws].

Mischa: What kind of restaurant is it?

Mayanna: Oh, the restaurant where I work? I think it's a like–it's like a BJ's. [Laughter]. It's like, pizookies. You sing for people's birthday.

Mischa: Oh, terrible.

Mayanna: But it's like a–but it's like a–it tries to look cool. It's like a cool BJ's. [Laughter]. So people go there, they get the giant fishbowl drink. They–there's like karaoke Wednesdays.

[Laughter].

Ian: But the floor's a little sticky.

Mayanna: The floor's a little–they're always a little sticky, yeah, and like you have to be super nice. You have to be so nice.

Lyn: I'm imagining truly a Red Robin.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah, like a Red Robin. Yeah yeah. But with dimmer lights.

Mischa: I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask some questions and then I'm gonna make a pitch. How do you know Cecilia?

Mayanna: How do I know Cecilia? Ooh. I think I know Cecilia because she came in with her family one time.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: And it was–it was weird. I usually don't see Edge types in our establishment, and I think maybe it was like someone's birthday and they thought it would be like a–like they were like, “let's try Vegas.”

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And it was–they were like, “we don't like Vegas.” But she–she–I could tell that she and I had like a banter. And it was one of those things where I was like–I was on break and I was just like, “do you want to hang out? Like, do you want to just like chat for a little bit?” And then, so, you know, I'll–I'll try and go out and see her sometimes whenever she's, you know, working or whatever, she'll come visit me every once in a while and bring me some extra bread.

Lyn: So like, you and her–

Mischa: So I–

Lyn: Oh sorry.

Mischa: So I want to play this.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: That night, when you guys are like, hanging out, and she's like

[SFX: Soundscape in alleyway]

Mischa (Cecilia): By the way, your–your like–Sandwich? Really good. Bread? Terrible.

Mayanna (Character): Yeah, oh.

Mischa (Cecilia): My younger brother actually like, kind of needs a way to prove himself. Do you like–do you guys want to like, set up–

Mayanna (Character): A new bread purveyor?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Mayanna (Character): Yes, I would love that. I hate the sandwiches here.

Mischa: And so–

Ian: And then as she says that, like, I literally fall out of the alleyway [SFX: crashing] like, four blocks down, being like–

Ian (Character): Hey, Cecilia! I found this like, cool place down the block!

[Laughter.]

Bex: And a puff of flour comes up.

Ian: Knocking so many metal trashcans over. [SFX: so much crashing].

Lyn: Like–like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown.

Mischa: (laughing) But with flour!

Mayanna: Yes, oh my god, that's so funny.

Ian: With my hard sole shoes click clacking on the cobblestones as I run towards you guys. [SFX: footsteps].

Ian (Character): I found this other thing over here!

Mayanna: That's so funny.

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh, cause… do you–

Ian (Character): Oh, hi!

Mayanna (Character): Hi! How's it going?

Mischa (Cecilia): They desperately need better bread.

Mayanna (Character): Yeah. Do you make bread?

Ian (Character): (Scoffs). (Sarcastically) Do I make bread?

Mayanna (Character): (Seriously) Do you?

Ian (Character): Oh, yeah, no, I make a lot of bread.

Mayanna (Character): Okay, awesome, awesome. Okay, cool, I'll introduce you to the–Well, he's–he's a–he's a little angry guy. So I'm gonna–I'm gonna go like set–I'll set the scene for him, and then you come in.

[SFX: Whoosh to restaurant interior].

Mischa (Boss): (Hoarse voice) I don't care where the bread comes from, does it cost me more money?

Mayanna (Character): No, I think it'll be about comparable.

Mischa (Boss): Fine, take care of it.

[SFX: Door close, back to exterior]

Mayanna (Character): Okay, thank you. Alright, you're hired.

Ian (Character): Thank you so much!

Mayanna (Character): You're so welcome.

Ian (Character): Whoa!

[SFX: Soundscape ends].

Mischa: Great. That's how you know each other.

Bex: Magic.

Lyn: I love the idea that you and Cecilia were on, like, your respective smoke breaks.

Mayanna: Yeah, exactly.

Lyn: Specifically, like, Cecilia is just like–

Mischa: Well, Cecilia needs smoke breaks from the rest of her family.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: “I have to take a cigarette outside because you are too loud.”

Ian: I would pitch–so is it that I'm baking bread in the BJ's or am I delivering our bread to the BJ's?

Mischa: No, I think–in my mind, it was you're baking your bread wherever you bake them.

Ian: And then bringing them.

Mayanna: At your bakery.

Mischa: Part of it, one of your clients is this restaurant.

Ian: Yes. Yeah, we are–you and I are caught up.

Lyn: You have your own route.

Ian: Yeah. Yes. Right. Right.

Mayanna: And the restaurant? Senor Frogs. No. [Laughter]. Senior Bogs!

Lyn: Bogs?

Bex: No.

[Laughter].

Mischa: There is something to Boggins.

[Overlapping repetition]

Mayanna: I like Boggins.

Bex: Toboggans.

Mayanna: Boggins.

Bex: Let's go to Boggins.

Lyn: Boggins Bistro!

Mayanna: Boggins Bistro. Boggins Bistro.

Mischa: And not–it does not deserve “Bistro.”

Mayanna: It does not – Bistro, I don't know how we–

Ian: Bistro's spelled wrong.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's spelled–

Lyn: It's Beast.

Mayanna: B-E–

Bex: A

Mayanna: –E-S-T-R-O. Bee-stro!

Mischa: Is there a mascot?

Lyn: Absolutely.

Mayanna: Yes! It's a giant bee. Boggins Bee-stro.

Mischa: And thank goodness you don't have to wear the costume anymore.

Mayanna: I–I know. I really–

Bex: Anymore!

Mayanna: I know. Anymore. I–I–I've been here long enough that now the–it's whoever's the newest has to wear the costume.

[Agreement].

Ian: That's the costume–that's the bee costume where the stinger is on a spring, so wherever you're moving, the stinger's just constantly boinging.

Mayanna: It’s like boing boing boing boing boing boing.

Bex: Can that be my new job? [Laughter].

Mischa: Do you want it?

Bex: Can that be my new job? That's how I know you.

Mayanna: Are you Boggins’ bee? You're Boggins’ bee?

Bex: I'm Boggins’ bee

Ian: Wait, on the weekends? Like when you're not–

Bex: On the weekends, I’m Boggins’ bee.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: While I say “Boggins’ bee” in my head, I'm going “Beebo Boggins.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Beebo Boggins!

Bex: You be Boggins!

Ian: Why–why are you–why do you keep coming down to the surface on the weekends?

Bex: I don't. I don't come down. I live on the surface.

Mayanna: You live here.

Mischa: Oh, Bex is in the Come-Up.

Bex: I live in the come up. I moved down.

Ian: Oh. I keep thinking the come up is up there too.

Mischa: No.

Ian: So we're all down– yeah okay.

Mischa: Constellation up here. Engineering Core up here. Down below: Entertainment District, Come-Up, the Edge.

Ian: Got it.

Mayanna: The only people we know who go to the Constellation are Cecilia and your family.

Bex: And speaking of that, I don't have debts, but I have obligations to family.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: I'm a Nepo baby.

Mischa: Yeah.So when I was talking about debts, I do mean abstractly as well.

[Recognition].

Bex: I have debts to my family.

Ian: That was the question that I immediately–

Mayanna: You have to do the Gilmore Girls rule, which is you have dinner with them every Friday night.

Bex: Truly. It's Shabbat.

Ian: What does your family think about you being the, the bistro bee?

Bex: Oh, they hate it.

Lyn: I was going to say, do they know?

Bex: One sibling knows. Parents do not know. Extended family does not know. Only this sibling knows, and this sibling has been sworn to secrecy, and they only know because they happened to be there–

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: To be there?

Bex: –on that weekend.

Mayanna: To bee there.

Lyn: Oh, so you're both pointing– you're both Spider Man going–

Bex: Yeah. I'll tell that you were there.

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah, that's great.

Lyn: (Mockingly) What were you doing at the devil's sacrament?

[Laughter].

Bex: It's like, I live right next door, I go to college, and I want to be part of the community. And the best way to do that as a nepo baby is to, like, join the workforce.

Lyn: Oh, that seems really like the other NYU kids that I knew that like, got part time jobs. I'm like, “you don't need this.”

Mischa: But also–

Lyn: “Leave some for the rest of us.”

Mischa: I think there's also something to like, that's why you have no context for how shitty a job this is going to be before you take it.

Bex: None whatsoever.

Mayanna: Oh yeah, you're like, this is an acting role.

Ian: So you still hate it? It still sucks?

Bex: Yeah, I think there's–there's like a piece of me that's like, trying to be optimistic about it, but it's–it's the worst job in this terrible restaurant.

Mayanna:It's awful. It's not fun at all. I feel bad for you.

Lyn: I want everyone to know that I've been thinking of the Jollibee mascot this whole time.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah.

Lyn: It's like that.

Bex: With the gloves.

Mayanna: People take pictures with you.

Lyn: Yeah I mostly–

Mischa: And it’s got big–because it's in the entertainment district–big anime eyes.

Mayanna: Big anime eyes.

Lyn: Yeah. But I'm also imagining all the videos I've seen of like the Jollibee mascot busting it down. Like, that's kind of like a prerequisite for people who get hired for that role.

Mayanna: Those like Elsa–those Elsa dance videos.

Bex: I think I discovered like, that side of me, like being able to put on the thing and not have anybody know who I am just unleashed an aspect to like being able to actually be a dancing bee.

Mayanna: Yes. And also it's humbling because people treat you very differently.

Lyn: Humbling and bumbling.

Mayanna: Humbling and bumbling.

Ian: Oh Jesus.

Lyn: There we go! There's mine!

[Laughter.]

Mayanna: You are so good at making honey rolls now. It's ridiculous.

Bex: Yes.

Ian: Oh, honey rolls.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: I thought you meant dice rolls.

Mayanna: No. No.

Ian: And I was like, explain.

[Laughter].

Mischa: No, no, no, You're a baker.

Ian: 100 percent. Which, which leads me to this question. We were talking about classes earlier?

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Could–could you be a bard class, but it's not music that you're playing, it's bread and food?

Mayanna: It's bread dough?

Mischa: Okay, so yes, I–Constantly in Dungeons & Dragons games, I'm always trying to figure out how to play a chef character.

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: I love it.

Ian: We got one, baby.

Mischa: Really? Well, so here's the thing. I think–I think the best way to do it actually is to become–one of the things in D&D is a background which is separate from class, and you can be a guild artisan background as a cook.

Mayanna: Yes. Yes.

Ian: Okay.

Mischa: It gives you enough benefits where like, at a short rest, you can cook meals for everybody and like, you can have items in your inventory that like, you can–can buff people.

Mayanna: I love it.

Mischa: But like trying to do a chef class where you like build in crafting things as part of the class, like it gets a little complex.

Lyn: What could be interesting would be working with, what is it? Alchemist? In Valda’s?

Mayanna: Artificer?

Mischa: Oh, alchemist!

Lyn: And by like–I mean, baking is chemistry.

Mayanna: Yeah. You make bread in the shape of a shield and it gives you like Mage Armor.

Ian: (Sputters).

Lyn: Oh, that's so cute.

Mischa: That's pretty good.

Lyn: That's cute as hell.

Mayanna: Like the little–little–little rolls are shaped in whatever thing they do.

Mischa: Yeah. Which means you definitely have. Like, a materia sphere in, like, your KitchenAid.

[Cheers].

Ian: Oh, for sure.

Mayanna: Oh, I love that.

Ian: 100 percent.

Bex: That's sick.

Mayanna: That's so fun.

Lyn: That's so cute. I like the idea of your backpack as being like, a miniature oven.

Mayanna: Oh, cute! Yeah, so you can cook on the go!

Ian: Yeah, and the reason I was thinking about it was–I think what y'all talking about is much more mechanically sound. The reason I was thinking about it in terms of bard stuff is instead of playing music, it would be like you pull the thing out and you make a quick meal or something.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Yes, absolutely.

Ian: Do you know what I mean?

Mayanna: And the clanking–

Ian: The pots and pans.

Mayanna: –of the–the metals and yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. There is a–there is a College of Creation bard, but it doesn't do a great job if you're trying to do food out of it. Like it doesn't quite mesh as well.

Mayanna: I think Alchemist makes sense.

Mischa: I'm looking at the Alchemist subclasses real quick.

Ian: I'm going to trust the group on this one.

Bex: Does Valda’s have an alchemist subclass?

Lyn: That’s what–

Mischa: Yeah, well–it has a full alchemist class. And the subclasses are–they're, , Love Potion Guy, Apothecary, Dynamo Engineer–

Lyn: Is that bombs?

Mischa: –which kind of just sounds like the whole world. There's a Bomber. There's a Mutagenist, which you inject mutagens. It's like BioShock.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: That's how I do all my cooking.

Mayanna: That’s so funny.

Mischa: Yeah. So you like splice people. There–you can be an Ooze Rancher alchemist.

Mayanna: Oh, that's hilarious.

Ian: Also how I do my cooking.

Mischa: There's a poisons guy. And then there's–yeah, the Xeno alchemist, which is monster surgery. [Whoas.] I think–

Lyn: Ooze rancher, but the ooze is dough?

Mischa: I think he could be an apothecary alchemist and like–

Ian: Yeah. Let’s experiment with that.

Mischa: Yeah, you can give that a shot. That'd be fun.

Ian: Yeah. That's cool too. Cause I'm always afraid of playing a bard. Cause I just feel like I'm going to get absolutely rocked in every immediate conflict.

Mischa: Well, yeah. And the best part about the alchemist is like, yes, you specialize, but the base alchemist thing is you make bombs.

Ian: Yeah yeah yeah/

Mayanna: Your bread can explode.

Ian: Bread bombs?

Bex: Bread bombs!

Ian: Bombs–bombs for your insides. Bombs for the outside.

Bex: It's bomb. In many different ways

[Cheers].

Ian: I knew there was something there.

Lyn:There it is.

Mischa: No pressure, but do you have any thoughts about your class?

Mayanna: I was, I was thinking craftsman.

Mischa: Yeah. That makes sense, because you wanted to be a designer.

Mayanna: Yeah. I want to be a designer. I want to make magic–the magic crystal thingies. I don't know about subclass though. Any thoughts there? Any recommendations?

Mischa: Well, you're not making a mech.

Mayanna: No.

[Laughter].

Ian: Could though.

Mischa: So not that one.

Ian: I’m just saying. If we're following the–the escalating rules of anime by the end–

Mayanna: Then we will have a mech made out of bread.

Mayanna: Listen, this is a new podcast and we are swinging to D&D for our first one, so we can reach a broad audience. But like, if you think I'm not considering how to make a mech anime for season two? [Recognition]. Like I played all of 13 Sentinels very fast.

Mayanna: I love that. Ooh, very fun.

Mischa: Let's see. What are the–what are the craftsman subclasses?

Mayanna: Let me see, I have the book.

Mischa: Turning items into magic items seems fairly basic enough. Armorsmiths, Weaponsmiths. Gunsmiths. There's a subclass that you carry a portable forge with you, which means you can add flame–fire damage to your stuff.

Mayanna: Oh, fun!

Mischa: So like, you have like, and you–a portable forge that you bring with you.

Mayanna: I think Armorsmith. But can it be like fashion designers?

Mischa: Absolutely.

[Excitement].

Bex: That would be so sick!

Mayanna: Oh, thank you!

Lyn: I mean that–I mean, a bunch of the history in our world of military craftsmen did start most of our fashion houses.

Mayanna: Yeah, exactly. So I think she wants to be in like, House of Yves or whatever it is. Like, she's so bad.

Bex: Saint Laurent.

Mayanna: Donatella Bear-sace (rhymes with Versace), and she's a bear.

[Laughter].

Mischa: (Laughing) Oh my god.

Bex: Bear sace (rhymes with mace).

Mischa: That's so good.

Mayanna: She's like–all she wants is to just be in one of these big houses, and she makes these designs, and she brings them to this old man, cause–and he's like,”eh? Is this anything?” And he's like, “I don't know. I don't know. I'm out of the game.” You're like, “okay.”

[SFX: soundscape in a game parlor]

Mischa (Thorgunn): What's with all the frou frou bits on the edge?

Mayanna (Character): It's–it's for style. It's–it's, you know, it's for movement.

Mischa (Thorgunn) It's gonna get caught on your sleeves.

Mayanna (Character): These are the sleeves.

Mischa (Thorgunn): These are the sleeves?

Mayanna (Character): These are the sleeves!

Mischa (Thorgunn): So drafty!

Mayanna (Character): It flows when you walk! It gives you like an intimidation factor.

Bex: Plus two to intimidation.

Lyn: The silhouette!

[Laughter].

Mischa (Thorgunn) I'll give you something to intimidate about.

Mayanna (Character): Oh my god. Eat your food!

[Laughter]. [SFX: Soundscape ends].

Lyn: You're also bringing him day-olds.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Have you ever played a craftsman before?

Mayanna: (negative) Uh-uh.

Mischa: Okay, it's a little complicated.

Mayanna: Okay, okay.

Mischa: Mechanically.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Is that cool?

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. We'll talk about it. I'll do some reading.

Mischa: I'm here to help.

Mayanna: Okay, great.

Mischa: Okay, amazing. It–it gets into like systems of like crafting custom items with a tag system.

Mayanna: Whoa, what's that?

Mischa: Where you add like “durable” or “overheating” to like items. And then that has mechanical benefit.

Lyn: “Burst,” et cetera.

Mayanna: Oh, cool. Okay. That sounds fun.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Hell yeah.

Bex: It also sounds fun with the world we've built to be able to just– crystals on crystals on crystals.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. For combat-wise, would that be–that probably would not be a good combat character?

Mischa: It's a martial class.

Mayanna: Okay. Okay, cool.

Mischa: It tends to be like. On your off time, you're making the thing, and then in combat, you use the thing.

Mayanna: Use the thing you made. Okay, sick! I love that. That's great.

Mischa: Neato.

Mayanna: Yay!

Bex: So we've got some heavy martial here and magic.

Mischa: Yeah, there's martial.

Mayanna: And cleric.

Mischa: There's a good–there's a decent spread. [Agreement]. I really like it. Have we answered all these questions? I believe we have. I also, you know–

Ian: How do we know–

Lyn: Oh, me. Oh, yeah. Well, I go to school with you.

Bex: Yep.

Mayanna: Nice.

Bex: I trust you.

Lyn: I'm from the surface, I'm not from the Constellation. So I, unfortunately, probably have been to Boggins’ Bistro a couple times.

Mayanna: Boggins’ Bistro. And I give you guys the discount at this point, because you work there, so you get the discount, you get the discount, you get the discount.

Lyn: And I'm there because I'm actually broke. [Laughter]. I'm like, the portions here are unreal.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's a Cheesecake Factory, basically.

Lyn: Oh, it's like a Cheesecake Factory!

Mischa: Are you the person who got Bex's character the job? Because you were a regular?

Bex: Yes.

Mischa: They said they wanted to serve. They're like, “they always need a bee at the bistro.”

Bex (Character): Yeah, I can do that on weekends.

Mayanna: People quit constantly.

Lyn: Yeah, turnover is pretty wild.

Mayanna: I think it is the–

Bex: I wonder why?

Mayanna: –it is the aesthetics of a Cheesecake Factory. So it's opulence, but like.

Bex: With those eyes of Sauron on the wall.

Mayanna: Yeah! [Laughter]. It's like–it's opulence, but it's like so ridiculous. It's like what we think the Constellation looks like.

Mischa: Yes!

Lyn: I am imagining a weird combination of Cheesecake Factory and Dave and Buster's.

Mayanna: Yes, exactly. [Laughter]. There are arcade games. There is karaoke.

Bex: I love this.

Mayanna: There–yeah. It's like three floors of spiraling tables. t's comical. It's exhausting.

Lyn: Honestly, it's a Hard Rock Cafe.

Mayanna: It's a Hard Rock Cafe! [Laughter]. I–if I could work anywhere else, I would.

[Agreement].

Lyn: No, it is actually a Hard Rock Cafe.

Mayanna: It’s a Hard Rock Cafe.

Lyn: That’s literally what this is now. I was like, Hard Rock Cafes is the combination Cheesecake Factory and Dave and Busters.

Mayanna: Yes exactly.

Lyn: Oh my god.

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Mischa: What were you gonna say?

Ian: Two things. One, is it a busy restaurant or not?

Mayanna: I think it's a very busy restaurant.

Ian: Horrifying.

Mayanna: I think it's–I think it's, a Cheesecake–it's like the Cheesecake Factory at the Americana. It's like–

[Disgust].

Bex: (Horrified) Oh god.

[Laughter].

Bex: Visceral reactions from everyone at the table.

Ian: And then–

Mayanna: Oh man, yeah?

Ian: And then two, so we all basically work at that place in some capacity except for Lyn. And Lyn's a regular. [Agreement]. So it's–is the Bistro like, literally where we hang out most of the time?

Lyn: Is it our headquarters?

Mayanna: Oh yeah, that's our HQ for sure.

Bex: Bistro is base.

Mischa: Well, certainly in episode one.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's where we all hang out. Yeah, it's like you come see me. I give you like, the discount on top of the discount. When we're all on break, we chill. You're bringing the bread, and you just hang. You–and–and you're like studying the experts, and you're–you're like, testing out the menu and whatever. I'm like, “you've tried everything on the menu. Like there's nothing more you can learn here.”

Lyn: I feel like the reason why you like me is one time I went to study for some reason and you're like, “what are you doing here?” And I'm like,

[SFX: soundscape of restaurant interior]

Lyn (Character): This is one of the few places open late that sells coffee.

Mayanna (Character): That's so fair. That's so fair. It is so loud.

Lyn (Character): Yeah.

Mayanna (Character): Can I do anything about that for you?

Lyn (Character): I dont–

Mayanna (Character): I made these ear muffs. Do you want them?

Lyn (Character): (Stammers) I love that. Sure. (Laughing).

Ian (Character): Guys, I've been experimenting with bread muffs.

Mayanna (Character): Oh, that's… That's great. I'll take those. I'll–I'll–Thank you so much.

Ian (Character): Here you go.

Mayanna (Character): Ooh, they sound…warm.

Ian (Character): Right? Just out of the oven.

Bex (Character): (Distantly) Guys, my bee head's all backwards. I can’t see anything!

Mayanna (Character): Oh my god. I gotta go. I gotta go fix the bee's head. (Under breath) God damn it.

[SFX: End soundscape]

Mischa: And as Dungeons & Dragons is a game about epic heroes, these are the four.. Fuckers who are gonna save the world.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Gotta start at a low level!

Ian: (Muffled, while chewing) Alright, what were you saying? I’m just eating a muffin over here. (Swallows).

[Laughter].

Mischa: Wow, we did it. [Cheers]. We made a world. We made some characters. I'm gonna send y'all home with homework to fill out your mechanics, and I'm here to help, but I think that's what it's gonna be.

[SFX: Start ending music cues]

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: And I’m excited to throw you guys into it.

[Cheers].

Mischa: Thanks so much, everyone. This is gonna be such a cool show, you guys.

[Cheers].

Mayanna: So excited!

[SFX: Ending theme music]

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafil, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us on Twitter. We're also on Patreon: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Till next time!

Welcome to The Wandering Path

An actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! New episodes every other Monday, starting May 13th, 2024.

Join GM Mischa and players Bex, Lyn, Ian & Mayanna for our 1st season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past.