1.18 Fighting Memories

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran & Brama: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Come see us LIVE at WonderCon in Anaheim, CA!

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.

Mischa Stanton 3/10/25 Mischa Stanton 3/10/25

Detour 14-17: New Prosper, Old Problems

Welcome back to the Detour! Even though we’re missing Ian in this recording - he had better, cooler things to do than record with us nerds - we still get into it: Fran’s memories, Ibra’s privilege & legacy, JJ’s feelings about Samira… we’ll talk about Javi, Brama, Ravona, Cecilia, Thorgunn, and more! Among them all, we’ll try to crack open how to make a compelling NPC for your story. And of course, we’ll answer some questions from you, our wonderful listeners!

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Project Ghostlight, featuring their new story “Private Nightmares.” New episodes airing every other Friday! Check out their channels and learn more at patreon.com/projectghostlight

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Come see us LIVE at WonderCon in Anaheim, CA!

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 2/23/25 Mischa Stanton 2/23/25

1.17 Wrassle Em!

All hell breaks loose when Ravona and her Strike Team invade the Radical Action Collective’s rally! Gordon thinks big. Ibra brokers a truce. JJ leans on trust. Fran fixes a gadget.

-- 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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 2/10/25 Mischa Stanton 2/10/25

1.16 All The Weight On Our Shoulders

The ordinary world intrudes upon our fantastical quest. Ibra’s grip slips. Fran throws herself into her work. Gordon burns the fumes. JJ holds hearts in their hands.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Shaker & Spoon: Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/wanderingpath

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 1/27/25 Mischa Stanton 1/27/25

1.15 Practice Does Make Perfect

Practice time in the gym, to test out some new moves. Fran hits the firing range. Gordon bakes up new recipes. JJ feels the beat. Ibra breaks through their limits.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Volante Designs: Badass clothing designs inspired by your favorite media! Use code “WANDERINGPATH” for 10% off at https://www.volantedesign.us

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 1/13/25 Mischa Stanton 1/13/25

1.14 Have You Interrogated A Hostage Before?

Time to find out what this masked guy’s deal is. Ibra calls in a favor. Fran’s feelings bubble out. Gordon loses his cool. JJ confronts some shit.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Tab for a Cause: Raise money while browsing the internet! Join our team at tabforacause.org/wanderingpath

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran & Brama: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 12/23/24 Mischa Stanton 12/23/24

An Extra Rest Stop

One last Rest Stop before the end of the year. Regular episodes return Monday, January 13th, 2025. Happy holidays everyone!

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Shaker & Spoon: Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/wanderingpath

- Tab for a Cause: Raise money while browsing the internet! Join our team at tabforacause.org/wanderingpath

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

- Volante Designs: Badass clothing designs inspired by your favorite media! Use our promo code for 10% off at https://www.volantedesign.us

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 12/9/24 Mischa Stanton 12/9/24

Detour 9-13: A Rolling Boil Of Horny

Welcome back to the Detour! For our last episode of 2024, we’re covering combat, roleplay, story reveals, cooking minigames, Family Week, guest stars, heists, hot terrorists, and SO much more. We also took some listener questions rapid-fire to slot ourselves into some famous foursomes!

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Shaker & Spoon: Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/wanderingpath

- Tab for a Cause: Raise money while browsing the internet! Join our team at tabforacause.org/wanderingpath

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

- Volante Designs: Badass clothing designs inspired by your favorite media! Use code “WANDERINGPATH” for 10% off at https://www.volantedesign.us

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 11/25/24 Mischa Stanton 11/25/24

1.13 Chekov’s Bad Guy

Showdown with the mysterious masked thief! Ibra keeps their cover. JJ directs traffic. Gordon blows up the spot. Fran grabs for glory.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Shaker & Spoon: Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/wanderingpath

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 11/11/24 Mischa Stanton 11/11/24

1.12 We’re Going To The Constellation

It’s time to see what the Governor’s Office is hiding. Fran lives up to her name. Ibra reconnects with an old acquaintance. JJ keeps an eagle eye out. Gordon gets the jump on ‘em.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Volante Designs: Badass clothing designs inspired by your favorite media! Use our promo code for 10% off at https://www.volantedesign.us

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

Mischa Stanton 10/28/24 Mischa Stanton 10/28/24

1.11 The Bracha Estate

Ibra & Paz return to the Bracha-Shinmar family home for a meal & a mission. Ibra picks flowers. The General invites a surprise guest. Hima schemes for an upside. Brama breaks etiquette.

Thanks so much to our special guest for this episode, Reed Sights as General Shinmar!

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

- Tab for a Cause: Raise money while browsing the internet! Join our team at tabforacause.org/wanderingpath

-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

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

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— transcript —

Lyn: Previously on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: Gordon called Cecilia back down early and convinced her to hand over her travel pass to the upper city. And JJ went home to ask their family about their experiences during the early days of New Prosper, as well as to pack up their childhood stuff. But answers to the current happenings remain elusive, so the plan to break into the governor's office is still on. Okay, let's see what's around the bend. Today, on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music plays and fades out].

[Music begins: gentle, classical piano].

Mischa: Ibra. You and Paz catch the afternoon funicular up to the constellation and take the trolley all the way around to Palace Estates, [SFX: train passing on rails] the section of Upper Prosper that was formerly the Head of States Palace back when the war was on, that has now been converted into several family estates. Each one unique, but all of them grandiose.

Bex (Ibra): (Sarcastically) Ah, it's, uh, great to be back.

[Soundscape begins: light wind, birds chirping, occasional distant cars on a faraway road].

Mischa: As you walk up the driveway, you are greeted by the Bracha Estate. A huge, sprawling section that started as an art deco frame that was sort of built into the side of the fortress, that since your family has been in charge of it, has had several… additions added to the front of it–a soaring metal and glass art deco building has, like a stone portcullis built into the driveway, and several accents, you know, a gorgeous front lawn, a wide rotunda out in the front driveway, centered by, what kind of tree is it?

Bex: it's called an ‘ohi’a lehua. It's the state tree of Hawai’i. And it's an evergreen myrtle. It's really slow growing and it's very, very large. So it's been there for decades on decades on decades. It has two different types of flowers that grow together, very diaposed, very much the Bracha-Shinmar vibe.

Mischa: Ooh, yeah.

Mayanna: I want a picture for the gram.

Reed: Is that, is that the tree that when you would pluck the flowers it's rumored to rain?

Bex: Yes.

Mayanna: Ooh, oh my god.

Reed: Oh, that's, that's a whole–

Mayanna: They're like prickly and lovely. I love it.

Reed: Oh, the little red ones are actually very soft.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: Yeah, they're very soft. They just look very prickly. And then the other flowers are like small and round. They sort of look like berries, but they're flowers.

Mayanna: Oh my god

Mischa: As you walk past it, Paz picks a leaf off of the tree and starts like absentmindedly sort of tearing it up.

Bex: You hear a distant rumble of thunder. [SFX: thunder].

Reed: Ooh.

Ian: (chuckles).

[Music ends].

Mischa: You head up the wide steps and up to the grand wooden front double doors. And Paz looks at you and just says,

Mischa (Paz): okay, remember what we're here for?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Pass.

Mischa (Paz): One funicular pass with a plus one, so we can get all our friends up here. There's a lot standing in your way, but I gotcha.

Bex (Ibra): Wow. This is such a great pep talk.

[Snorts].

Mischa (Paz): I'll work on it.

Bex (Ibra): You got this.

Mischa (Paz): No, you got this.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, I got this. I got this.

Mischa: Paz holds up a little thumbs up.

Mischa (Paz): We got this.

Bex (Ibra): We got this. I gotta text JJ about this. I gotta ask Fran, is this portcullis tacky, or is it just me?

Mayanna: Somewhere far away you hear like,

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, [Laughter] yeah it is. I don't even know where it is, but yeah.

Mischa: Fran, having never seen it before in her life, knows.

Mayanna (Fran): If you have to ask, it is.

Reed: Wow.

Bex: I love Fran.

Reed: (Laughing) Shit.

Bex (Ibra): Okay. Can I just take a couple more deep breaths before we open the door? Is that…

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Okay. (Two deep breaths to self) Okay. I got this. I got this.

Bex: I reach out my hand, and I open the door.

[SFX: door creaks open].

[Soundscape ends].

Mischa: Today, on The Wandering Path, we're going to play a game that I have titled The Bracha Estate. [Cheers].

Mayanna: It's a very easy game for babies. [Laughter]. Easy, no hard try game for babies.

Mischa: Absolutely.

Bex: I'm not scared, it's fine.

Reed: It’s great, it’s great.

Mischa: Oh, yeah, we're playing a game. It's, a hack of Urban Shadows by Magpie Games. [Cheers]. Shout out to Magpie Games. Thank you so much. I've, taken a bunch of mechanics from that game and put them into Dungeons & Dragons numbers.

Mayanna: Because Mischa is a genius.

Reed: Inspired, honestly.

Mischa: Well, thank you. and if you're listening at home, that's a new voice on the podcast. Welcome Reed Sights!

[Cheers].

Reed: I'm so excited to be here!

Mayanna: (clapping) Second guest!

All: (Chanting) Second guest! Second guest!

Ian: One of us!

Mischa: Yeah, thank you so much for joining us!

Reed: I'm so excited to be on The Path!

All: Yeah!

Ian: Ooh, man, that sounded cool, The Path.

Reed: Yeah!

Ian: That was–I haven't heard someone truncate it like that.

Bex: Friend of the Path!

Reed: Friend of the Path!

Bex: Thanks for wandering with us.

Reed: Ah, I’m so excited.

Ian: Oh, damn, it's all coming up!

Reed: It's all coming together.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Before we dive in, I do just want to go over the rules of this little minigame for our listeners at home so they know what's happening.

Bex: And a refresher for all of us.

Mischa: Yes, absolutely. We're going to be playing a little minigame with Ibra and their family at their family home today. So I'm just going to go over the rules a little bit for our listeners just so everybody knows what the heck we're doing. Here are the rules for the Bracha Estate minigame. For all of my players here, when you do someone a favor, or someone interferes in your business, they owe you a debt.

Ian: (Singsongy) Dun dun dunn.

Mischa: When someone does you a favor, or you interfere in someone else's business, you owe them a debt.

Reed: (Whispering, singsongy) Dun dun dunn.

Mischa: Whenever you cash in a debt, you can either gain plus ten on a persuasion or intimidation check, or you can give the person rolling against you minus ten.

Mayanna: Cool.

Reed: Hm.

Mischa: When you refuse to honor a debt, which you can do, you'll have to roll a charisma save, and there are options on my little list for depending on what you roll.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: And the final rule is this. Remember that the list of debts on your character sheets may be incomplete. Sometimes you may owe more than you think.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: Great.

Mischa: So that's the game we're playing today!

Reed: I’m so excited.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Sinister.

Mischa: With that, let's dive back in.

[Music begins: synth chords]

Mischa: Ibra, you open these big, creaky wooden doors up to the foyer of the Bracha Estate. [SFX: wooden creaking and metal hinges squeak and echo]. Inside, it's a vaulted ceiling, large staircase up to the second level. Marble tile floors,

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: just ornate sort of pieces.

Bex: Like that green marble with streaks of white.

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely. The color of money, the color of prosperity. It's not even the color of money in this world, but I still feel it.

Bex: There's flecks of gold.

Reed: Oh yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Mischa: Absolutely. All of it is like ornate and grand and imposing, but I think it doesn't all quite match. It's not all quite the same style, like almost Cheesecake Factory-like in its mismatchedness.

Bex: It almost makes Boggins feel more like home.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: That’s so funny.

Mischa: At least Boggins has a consistent aesthetic, you know what I mean?

Mayanna: It's bees all the way down. [Laughter]. This one's a quilt of mismatched vibes.

Mischa: Yeah, but all of those vibes–

Mayanna: Are immaculate?

Mischa: –are equally intimidating, I would say.

Mayanna: Ooohh.

Mischa: This is a foyer built to make an impression on anybody who walks through that door.

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Bex: Even though it’s–

Mischa: Mayanna's already stressed.

Mayanna: I'm so stressed. And I live here. I'm stressed!

[Laughter].

Bex: Even though it's only been a week since Ibra's been back, it sort of stops them in their tracks. It, the effect works even when you're used to it.

Mayanna: And also it's like, you are coming in with an agenda today. So it's like, “oh man. This is what that's for!”

[Music ends].

Bex: Yeah, I think Ibra, at the moment of hesitation, pops out their eternally loose tooth, [groans and shivers] the eerie token, and slips it into Paz's pocket.

Mischa (Paz): Oh, oh, it's the tooth again, okay.

Bex (Ibra): You're welcome.

Mischa (Paz): I love the tooth, gotta love the tooth.

Ian: Is it wet?

[Laughter].

Mischa: We've already, I'm sorry, we've already done that joke in a previous episode, we have to move on.

[Laughter].

Ian: Cutting it for time.

Mischa: In your mind, Paz goes,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey, indicating telepathic speech] Check, one, two.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Three, four.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Whoa.

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

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] It's never not weird.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] This way we can talk and don't have to move our mouths!

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Yeah, I think we will probably find that useful. Good call.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Sorry about the wet.

Ian: Yeah, it's fuckin in there.

[Laughter].

Bex: I always figure sliding into someone's pocket will dry it.

[Music begins: hammered strings].

Mischa: Meeting you in the foyer is Florence, your family's house servant, who offers to take your coat, offers to take any of Paz's accessories.

Mischa (Paz): Oh, hey Flo, here you go.

Bex (Ibra): Hey Flo, thank you. [SFX: fabric rustling]. Do I need a ticket for my coat?

Mischa: She reaches into a pocket of her, like, waistcoat and, pulls out a roll of paper and tears it and hands it to you.

Bex (Ibra): I was, is this, I was kidding. Is this a new thing? Did mom put this in place?

Mischa (Flo): All of this is standard protocol for a dinner with guests.

Bex (Ibra): Gue–Guests?

[Music shifts: ominous ambient synths].

Mischa (Flo): Yes, of course.

Bex (Ibra): It's just Paz. No offense, Paz, but we all– Paz is family now.

Mischa (Flo): There are more to be expected. Please, your mother is waiting for you.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thanks Flo.

Bex: And in Paz's mind, she hears,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] What the, what the fuck, what's happening? Who's here? Oh my god, oh my god.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Oh, we have to be on our “best behavior.”

Mischa: And even in your mind, you can hear the air quotes.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Ah, I swear I could see you doing those. [Laughter]. Okay, okay, I'm sweaty. Oh, I'm sweaty. I'm glad I don't have a coat on anymore. I'm so sweaty.

[Music ends].

[Laughter].

[Music begins: eerie high synths, later joined by disjointed piano]. [Soundscape begins: clock ticking in the background].

Mischa: you head on back into the drawing room [SFX: door opens] and, sitting in a large leather armchair behind a desk finishing up some paperwork is your mother.

[SFX: pen scratching on paper].

Bex (Ibra): Good evening, General.

Reed (General Shinmar): Good evening. Just a moment, please.

Bex (Ibra): Of course.

Reed: And I think it almost takes, there's a very pregnant pause of just nothing but pen on paper.

Mayanna: I had a boss like this once.

[Chuckles].

Bex: That's scribbling.

Reed: Silence that is to be expected while she is finishing her work. And then just very, almost delicately, but purposefully sets the pen into a little ink pot. Arms folded, looks up.

Reed (General Shinmar): It's good to see you, Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): It's good to see you too, mom.

Reed (General Shinmar): How’ve you been?

Bex (Ibra): Great, I got a new job.

Reed (General Shinmar): Oh!

Bex (Ibra): I'm working with the Magistrate now.

Reed (General Shinmar): Do tell.

Bex (Ibra): Well, there's some weird things happening around and

Reed (General Shinmar): Weird? You're going to need to be more specific.

Bex (Ibra): I wish I could be. Unfortunately–

Reed (General Shinmar): You wish? Wishing is for people who don't have skills, Ibra. I believe you have those skills.

Bex (Ibra): I do have those skills. I am unable, due to the current job description and requirements, to be more forthright. I would love to answer every question; I am not permitted under my current employment contract.

Reed (General Shinmar): Very good, continue.

Bex (Ibra): I'm working for the Magistrate. I'm no longer doing job placements. I'm doing something a little bit more tailored to the skill set that you so graciously instilled in me.

Reed (General Shinmar): Mm.

Bex (Ibra): I am doing some work in accordance with the Governor… through tutelage and guidance of the Magistrate.

Reed (General Shinmar): I see. So tell me, why did you turn down this position with Inspector Ravonna?

Bex (Ibra): I'm sorry, what? I'm sorry, uh.. how did you know I'm working for Inspector Ravonna just through the Magistrate?

Reed (General Shinmar): Mm, I heard you were very rude.

Bex (Ibra): Rude?

Reed (General Shinmar): Mm.

Bex (Ibra): Out of curiosity. Where did you hear this?

Reed (General Shinmar): I find the dodging very disconcerting.

Bex (Ibra): I believe I missed the question. I did not mean to dodge anything.

Reed (General Shinmar): Mm. Paz, it's lovely to see you.

Mischa (Paz): Nice to see you, General Shinmar.

Reed (General Shinmar): How’ve you been?

Mischa (Paz): Um..

Mischa: And she, like, looks at Ibra, clearly sweating.

Mischa (Paz): Fine? Good?

Reed (General Shinmar): That's wonderful. Were you given a number for your coat?

Mischa (Paz): Yes.

Reed (General Shinmar): Lovely.

Reed: And with that, she does stand. you see that she's a very tall woman. Her hair has been sort of tucked into a bun with a braid. It's very much function with a dash of fashion, as to be expected.

Bex: Mm.

Reed: She's wearing the usual sort of casual military outfit, though she hasn't had to do any proper military service in a while. These kinds of dinners, she wears the outfit–

Bex: For sure.

Reed: –along with a sword that is sort of tucked at the side. This is usual.

Reed (General Shinmar): (sighs) Well, I'm looking forward to having dinner this evening.

Bex (Ibra): As am I. I heard from Florence that there-there's a-that there is a guest.

Reed (General Shinmar): Yes, yes, I thought Inspector Ravonna would be a lovely addition to tonight's dinner.

Bex: (Sharp breath).

Mischa: And a chime resounds throughout the estate. [SFX: chiming doorbell].

Reed (General Shinmar): Ah, that might be her now. I look forward to you having… discussions about work, since you're working with her through the Magistrate.

Bex (Ibra): I look forward to it as well. It will be good to see her again.

Reed (General Shinmar): I'm hoping we can corroborate on these stories. I'm hearing different tales. It's very concerning.

Reed: And with that, I walk past Ibra to go greet our guests.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] (quickly) Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

[Music ends].

[Laughter and exclamations].

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: I don’t think I can play this game anymore.

[Laughter].

Bex: I fucking called it, Mischa!

Mayanna: I’m sick today, I can’t, I can't go to work today.

[Laughter].

Bex: I hate that I called it and still wasn’t ready.

Mayanna: I’m sick.. And you know what's so funny? As I saw in the sheet, the thing about it, I was like, “Ravonna’s not gonna be here.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Idiot. Moron.

Ian: So dumb!

Mayanna: So stupid of me!

Ian: Hey, but, but, but, but, we're not us, okay?

Reed: Yeah.

Ian: Okay, so we don't have that relationship.

Mayanna: Honestly, that's worse. [Laughter]. It's worse that we're not us, because we can't do anything.

Ian: That's fair, that's fair.

Mischa: Ibra, your mother brushes past you to go answer the door for Inspector Ravonna. What do you do?

Bex: I think Ibra is frozen. The only thing moving is their brainwaves, at this point.

[Music begins: ominous ambient synths].

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] What do we do?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] (haltingly) We have dinner with Inspector Ravonna.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Okay. Okay. Stay on mission.

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

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] It's not, it's not about that. It's not about that, right?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] No, I didn't know I was rude. I, I was just injured. Am I rude when I'm injured? Oh, no.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Take, take it from me. Sometimes when you're in pain, your social mores kind of like go out the window.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Oh, I have an apology to make. Oh no.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Okay, do you think your siblings also know about the special surprise guest at this fancy dinner?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] I mean, they live here, so maybe they've had a conversation with mom already? I'm, oof–Speculation. Oh no!

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Where are they?

Bex: [SFX: echoey] Probably in th–If they're not already waiting at the dinn–Hmm, we should go to the dinner table. We should go wait. We should go wait at the dinner table. I don't want to be late.

[Music ends].

[Music begins: energetic synths].

[SFX: door opening and closing].

Mischa: You head out of the drawing room and into the large, lavish dining room, long, rectangular table, set with, like, multiple candelabras and, like, fancy dinner places, like, meticulously laid out by the house staff. I think sitting at the dinner table, leaned back in a chair that was not really made to be leaned back in, you know, like, like a straight backed wooden chair, but slouched in it, texting on their compad, your sibling Hima.

Ian (Hima): Ugh, hi Ibra. Paz?

Bex (Ibra): What a warm welcome, Hima. How kind of you.

Ian (Hima): How was the trip?

Bex (Ibra): Boring?

Ian (Hima): Mm. So pedestrian of you.

Ian: And I keep texting on my phone, just look down and completely ignore you.

Bex (Ibra): Who you texting?

Ian (Hima): None of your business.

Bex (Ibra): You're right, it's not. I'm just curious.

Ian: I look up and I just stare daggers at Ibra. Like, like, years and years of sibling history of being like, “Do not.”

Bex (Ibra): Wow. You're in a bad mood.

Mischa: Hima, will you roll intimidation?

Mayanna: Ooh, here we go.

Ian: Fuck yeah, I'll roll intimidation.

Mayanna: First roll?

Reed: Fuck yeah, first roll.

Mayanna: First roll of the minigame?

Ian: And I'm gonna roll the dragon eye die.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Ooh boy.

Ian: Let's go. It's an 11.

Mayanna: Cool.

Ian: Siblings don't intimidate each other that much.

Mischa: Yeah, Ibra, you don't know what act he was putting on, but it's, it's gotta be for some reason, you assume?

Bex: Yeah…

Bex (Ibra): Been to Boggins recently?

Ian: But see, that's like a dig on you, kind of, because that's a secret I hold for you.

Bex: You also weren't supposed to be there. You were seeing someone you weren't supposed to be seeing.

Reed: Ooohh

Mayanna: Oh, a Spider Man meme.

Mischa: What were you doing at the Devil's sacrament?

Reed: The Umbrella Academy meme where they're both looking at each other and passing cars.

Mayanna: “What?” “What?”

Ian: Who was it I was seeing?

Bex: I haven't given a name to them yet–

Ian: Oh, great.

Bex: –but it was someone that you also owe me a debt for having me break up with them by pretending to be you.

Mayanna & Reed: Ohhhh.

Ian: Right right right right fuck.

Bex: So Boggins is heavy for you as well.

Mayanna: Oh my god

Ian: This is bad. This isn't good you guys.

Reed: This is, I'm loving the vibe here. I’m vibing.

Ian: So you, you, you look at me and you say, “Have you been to Boggins recently?” And then I stare even more daggers at you. And I reach forward and I grab a bottle of like a very expensive white wine and uncork it and silently pour myself a glass [SFX: cork pops and liquid wine into a glass]. And then I move the glass to me and I slump back in my chair and give you one last, like, deathly dagger look and then I look to Paz and I go,

Ian (Hima): Good to see you, Paz,

Ian: and take a sip and look down.

Mischa (Paz): Sup, Hima.

[Music ends].

Ian: (laughing) For everyone at home, Mischa just, like, threw a hand sign.

Reed: Whattup?

Bex: Heyyo.

Ian: I don't even know if I say anything. I think I just maintain silence.

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mischa: Paz looks at you, doesn't break eye contact, and then winks and goes,

Mischa (Paz): Gotcha.

Ian (Hima): (Grumbles).

Reed: Delight.

Mischa: in your head, Ibra you hear,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] When people are trying to put on airs, all you gotta do is hit them with the sup and the hand sign. It throws them off the game every time.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] You know, as many times as you've done that, you'd think I'd have learned by now.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] It's like, honestly, such a good move.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] You're right. Look at their face, they look so silly.

Mayanna: Jester privilege.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Absolutely.

Reed: Gotta love jester privilege.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Hey Hima, are there assigned seats tonight?

Ian (Hima): Yes, you're next to me.

Bex (Ibra): Oh yay.

Ian (Hima): Paz is next to you on the left. And then this Ravonna character is on the other side of the table, next to Mother.

Bex (Ibra): You're across from Ravonna?

Ian (Hima): Yes.

Bex (Ibra): Have you met before?

Ian (Hima): No, but I've heard many things about this woman. What is going on?

Bex (Ibra): You really wanna know?

Ian (Hima): Yes?

Bex (Ibra): How badly do you want to know?

Ian (Hima): (sighs) Badly enough. Tell me.

Mischa: Sounds like someone is doing someone a favor.

All: Oooh

Bex: I’m gonna mark that down.

Ian: This isn't good, because I feel like I already owe a lot of debts, and I'm just, like, racking up debts.

Reed: Hey, embrace the system. You're doing it.

Mayanna: That's what the, that's what the, the, the goofy silly sibling does. He just racks up debts and checks he can't cash.

Reed: Yeah, I love it. Absolutely. I love it.

Mayanna: He texts, he lie, he eat hot chip, and he in debt.

Ian: What the fuck was that?

Reed: It’s a classic meme. A classic meme!

[Music ends].

Ian: I've never seen he–eat hot chip.

Reed: He eat hot chip and lie.

Mischa: Girls only know, eat hot chip, be bisexual, and lie.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yep!

Reed: That's the one, that's the one!

Mayanna: I love that meme.

Ian: I gotta check that out

Reed: It's such a–I gotta find me a hot chip.

Bex: I was gonna say, oh no, I'm a girl.

[Laughter].

Reed: Oh no!

Mayanna: Oh no!

Bex: All this gender exploration for nothing!

Mayanna: Oh no!

Reed: Hey, but you get the hottest chips.

[Music begins: ominous low ambient synths].

Bex (Ibra): Well…

Ian: I grabbed the wine and I lean in and I'm now starting to smirk.

Bex (Ibra): I was handpicked for a job.

Ian (Hima): Mm.

Bex (Ibra): I did the job. I was not informed nearly enough about the job before or after I nearly died on the job protecting society, people, my team and the entire city. And when asking for more information, my boss Ravonna turned on us and told us we were children and not to be trusted. So even though I still have the job, I'm now deferring to a different supervisor than Ravonna because she doesn't like me.

[Music ends].

Ian (Hima): Two things. One, ugh, you just said “job” and “boss” so many times, I'm sick to my stomach.

[Laughter].

Ian: I got Mischa.

[Laughter].

Ian (Hima): Ugh. And two, who cares? Why is mother bringing this gnat to dinner? I don’t under–

Bex (Ibra): Because she wants to hook you up, obviously.

Ian (Hima): Funny. Very funny.

Bex (Ibra): Also, you do realize dad has a “job” and goes to “work.” Do you sneer at him?

Ian (Hima): But he doesn't say the word, Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): He doesn't come around to say anything.

Ian (Hima): Well, that's true.

Bex (Ibra): He's too busy at his (overly enunciated) joooooob.

Ian (Hima): Don't say it! Oh, gosh! Blegh. Well, I have a tip for you, if you like. But it'll cost you.

Bex (Ibra): I don't need a tip.

Ian (Hima): Mmm. Suit yourself.

Ian: And I take another sip of my white wine.

Ian (Hima): Mmm. Good luck tonight, sibling.

Bex: I, as Bex, am curious, Ibra is spiteful.

[Chuckles].

Ian: That's fair, I respect that.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely.

Ian: But man, it was a juicy tip.

Bex: I believe it.

Ian: It was a hot chip.

Mayanna: It was a hot chip tip?

Reed: It was a hot chip tip?

Bex: Oh, no.

[Music begins: classical piano].

Mayanna: I think, at this point, Hima, you feel on the back of your chair a strong force push the chair up to upright position.

Mayanna (Brama): You know that they're not meant to bend back like that.

Ian (Hima): Ow. Yes, of course.

Mayanna (Brama): Ibra, it's so good to see you.

Bex (Ibra): Hey, sib.

Mayanna (Brama): When did you arrive?

Bex (Ibra): Umm, I'm bad at time, but about five minutes ago.

Mayanna (Brama): Alright, oh, I'm so sorry I was not here to greet you.

Bex (Ibra): Thirty seconds. Thirty two seconds.

Mayanna (Brama): Did Florence, do you have the tickets? Do you have the tickets?

Bex (Ibra): Yes, of course.

Mayanna (Brama): Okay, wonderful.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, are the tickets new?

Mayanna (Brama): Yes, well, no, they're not, but they're new for tonight. They're important for tonight. It's very important that everybody gets a ticket for tonight.

Bex (Ibra): Hey, Brahms?

Mayanna (Brama): Mhmm?

Bex (Ibra): It's really good to see you.

Mayanna (Brama): It's so good to see you.

Mayanna: and I give you like a quick, like, kiss on both chick–Both cheek. [Chuckles]. Both chick cheek.

Mischa: How elvish of you.

Mayanna: Yeah. Yes. Oui oui.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Brama): Hima, you weren't supposed to open the bottle yet. That was supposed to be when–When we all sat down.

Ian (Hima): Ugh. Who cares?

Mayanna (Brama): Haha. All right. I'm just going to go get another one. you can put that one under your seat or something just so that it, because we don't, we don't want Inspector Ravonna to see an open bottle before they get here.

Mayanna: I'm going to go and grab another bottle from the cellar.

Mischa: Yeah. You just rush back out of the room.

Ian: I slide, I go,

Ian (Hima): Mmm, score.

Ian: And I put the bottle under my own seat.

Mayanna: (chuckling).

[Music ends].

Bex: Insight check on Brama.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Mischa: Yes. So insight checks are working a little different today. Again, taking some mechanics wholesale from Urban Shadows. Shoutout Magpie Games, shoutout, shoutout. When you're rolling insight on someone, there's a list of questions that you may ask of them, depending on how high you rolled, shows how many you get to ask.

Mayanna: Yes. That’s so good.

Bex: Sexy. I rolled a 15, I get to ask one question.

[Music begins: ambient synths].

Mischa: Okay, yeah, so you ask, you get to ask of Brama one of the following questions. Who's pulling their strings? What's their beef with someone? What are they hoping to get from someone? What do they worry is going to happen? How could you get them to do something, or how could you put them in your debt?

Mayanna: So I think if you find me in the cellar while I'm trying to pick out another wine.

Bex: I think I have three really interesting options. That I'm struggling to choose from.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: So I'm gonna procrastinate by having Ibra walk down the stairs to the cellar. [SFX: door opens, footsteps down stairs].

Mayanna: Amazing

[SFX: glass bottles clinking].

Mayanna (Brama): (Muttering to self) Okay so not that one, no, that wasn’t the same one, that’s a different year. Okay, we've gotta get the same year.

[Music ends].

Bex (Ibra): You know, Dad hides the really, really good stuff behind that shelf.

Mayanna (Brama): Right. Yes. Thank you for the reminder. [SFX: glass bottles clinking]. (To self) Okay, not that one. No, that's not a white.

Mischa: Yeah, Brama, are you picking the ones from the good shelf that Ibra has picked out for you? Or are you, now that you, now that they've been pointed out by your sibling, are you avoiding that shelf?

Mayanna: I think I'm humoring Ibra by looking, and then being like,

Mayanna (Brama): No, I think it should be the same one. It should be the same one that was on the table already, because that was the one that mom picked out already. So I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna–

Bex: Before Brama can get back to that shelf, I slide over. Can I sleight of hand the last bottle off the shelf?

[Music begins: gentle piano].

Mischa: Ooh, yeah, yeah, you can.

Mayanna: So rude!

Mischa: Okay. Ibra sleight of hand. [Dice rolls]. Brama, you don't have a perception stat, do you?

Mayanna: Let me see here. I have, I have performance, persuasion, deception, insight, and intimidation.

Mischa: I think you could probably roll with your same insight number.

Mayanna: I think that's fair. Cause also like I am trained.

Mischa: Yeah. So, for the audience at home, the NPCs that Ian and Mayanna are playing have some stats but not all, so we're gonna make it work.

Mayanna: Yeah, That's a 10.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: 15.

Mischa: Nice, you successfully nab the last bottle of the same white wine.

Mayanna (Brama): It should be here, where, where is it? [SFX: glass bottles clinking]. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

Bex (Ibra): Do you want some help finding a good white wine from dad's stores? Because I, I know the really good years now.

Mayanna (Brama): Oh, Ibra. Fine. Yes, help me.

Bex: I walk over, I sort through the years [SFX: glass bottles clinking] trying to find like just the one that's matured just enough to be still a similar flavor profile to the one that we just, that I just hid.

Bex (Ibra): Um, I think she'll like… this one. Hey, have you met Inspector Ravonna before?

Mayanna (Brama): Yes, yes I have.

Bex (Ibra): Oh!

Mayanna (Brama): Mhmm.

Bex (Ibra): She's fascinating, isn't she?

Mayanna (Brama): She is. She's very accomplished.

Bex (Ibra): Yes.

Mayanna (Brama): Very capable. Very smart. Very good leader.

Bex (Ibra): What are you, you look a little worried. What are you worried is gonna happen tonight?

Mayanna (Brama): I just, I just want everything to go well, you know. Mom's riding a lot on this, and you know, because it's my new job, I just, I just want to make sure that my boss is–

Bex (Ibra): New job?

Mayanna (Brama): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): New boss?

Mayanna (Brama): Yes, yeah. Yeah, I'm working for Inspector Ravonna.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mayanna (Brama): Yeah. It's a really big opportunity for me.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Brama): You know, after somebody turned down the opportunity.

Bex (Ibra): What do you mean? I didn't turn down any opportunity.

Mayanna (Brama): Uh-huh.

Mayanna: (laughing) And I'm gonna keep looking.

Mayanna (Brama): Alright, this is, do you think this is, do you think this is a good one? You think the one–

Bex (Ibra): I think it's fabulous.

Mayanna (Brama): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): You didn't answer my question, though. What are you worried is gonna happen?

Mayanna (Brama): Ibra, Could you just, please? I know, I know that, you know, you, you have your whole life, and you have your whole thing, but like, I still live here, and I still have to… I still have to, I still have to live here, so I could just, could you just not turn the screw tonight, please.

Bex (Ibra): I don't ever want to make anything more difficult for you, Sib.

Mayanna (Brama): Mm.

Bex (Ibra): You, you know that.

Mayanna (Brama): Mmhm. Right. Um, well, even if you didn't intend to, sometimes you do. That's all I'll say.

Mayanna: And I'm gonna just, I'm gonna rush back out to the, to the dining room.

Bex: That’s fair.

[Music ends].

Ian: Like the minute Brama walks into the dining room, I could see the look on their face, and you hear me laugh from the other room. And I go,

Ian (Hima): Calm down, Brama. You're such a worrywart.

Mayanna (Brama): Well somebody has to, right?

Ian (Hima): No, nobody does actually have to.

Mayanna (Brama): Mm.

Bex: I slide the bottle back into its place.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I think, yeah, Paz looks at Hima and goes,

Mischa (Paz): Well. You should worry about more stuff.

Mischa: And then looks to Brama and is like,

Mischa (Paz): Well, not that much stuff.

Mayanna (Brama): What?

Mischa: And then she looks kind of both at you and like gestures across the table and just goes,

Mischa (Paz): Stuff.

Ian: (Laughing).

[Music begins: light, twinkling high piano].

Mayanna (Brama): Right. Paz you are such a… character. [Laughter]. Hima, I understand that to you this is not very important, but it is really important to me, and I really, really would love this to go well, so could we all just get along, please? Please.

Ian: Hima smiles devilishly at the table.

Ian (Hima): What's it worth to you?

Mayanna (Brama): Oh my god, what do you want? What do you want? Okay.

Ian (Hima): Hmm. I would like you to say one embarrassing thing at the table tonight in front of Ravonna. [Laughter]. If you do, then I won't embarrass you.

[Gasps].

Mayanna: (laughing) Oh my god!

Reed: Wow.

Mayanna (Brama): Hm. Fine.

Mayanna: And I, it's a very stiff handshake out to you.

Ian: I languidly reach my hand over and shake softly.

Mischa: And your two pale, slightly blue-tinged hands meet across the table.

Mayanna: I love it.

Reed: Yeah.

[Music ends].

Bex: Ibra, downstairs in the cellar, actually, on the way out, stops, turns back, grabs the bottle of wine they hid, and walks it back upstairs.

Mayanna: Oh my god, amazing. I love it so much.

Bex (Ibra): Hey, Brama, look what I found.

Mayanna (Brama): Oh, wonderful. Where was that I wonder?

Bex (Ibra): It was hiding. Must've been put in the wrong spot.

Mayanna (Brama): You two with your tricks, It was always so funny. Oh, so funny with the tricks. Let's all just prank Brama. It's so funny, isn't it?

Mayanna: I'm going to go,

Mayanna (Brama): I'm going to go check on the coats.

Mayanna: I'm just going to go organize the coats. [Laughter].

Mischa: I think as you, like, try to scurry out of the dining room, you're met and stopped at the threshold by, your mother. [SFX: door rattling].

Mayanna (Brama): Mother.

Reed: I think it's mid conversation,

Reed (General Shinmar): and you'll really appreciate the wine. It was the exact same year that I believe you were born. Ah!

Mayanna (Brama): Mother, hello.

[Music begins: low, tense synth tones].

Reed (General Shinmar): Brama! You seem to be in such a hurry.

Mayanna (Brama): I just wanted to check with Florence to make sure that all of the coats were in the correct numerical order.

Reed (General Shinmar): Of course. How dutiful of you. Very detail oriented, this one.

Mischa (Ravonna): As I see,

Mischa: Inspector Ravonna walks into the dining room and strolls across to her chair and like, slowly scans each of you. Her eyes resting for like, an uncomfortably long moment on each one of you in her turn.

Bex: Ibra holds eye contact.

Reed: I think I'm holding eye contact with both of you, expecting you to stand.

Bex: I do.

Reed: As, oh, perfect.

Bex: I stand as soon as she enters the room and I maintain eye contact, even when she's looking at others.

Reed: So proud.

Ian: Hima also stands but doesn't have eye contact with you.

Mayanna: I love it so much.

Ian: Okay, Reed's staring at me in real time and won't stop, [Laughter] so Hima waits a moment, and then finally has one quick look, eyes to eyes with Mother, and then–

Reed: I think it's just a very curt nod of like, “Yeah, I raised you better, make eye contact for crying out loud.”

Bex: I, I hold up the bottle of wine that I've brought up from the bottom.

Bex (Ibra): Would you like me to open it, Mother?

Reed (General Shinmar): Yes, please, thank you.

Bex (Ibra): Of course.

Bex: I get up, I uncork the wine, [SFX: cork pops] and I pour for every single glass at the table [SFX: wine pouring into glasses] before returning to my seat.

[Music shifts: tense piano].

Mischa: Ravonna, slowly and with impeccable posture, sort of takes a place beside her chair, and she looks around each of you in turn and goes,

Mischa (Ravonna): Hima, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Ian (Hima): You as well, Inspector.

Mischa (Ravonna): Brama.

Mayanna (Brama): Hm.

Mischa (Ravonna): Nice to see you again.

Mayanna (Brama): It's good to see you as well.

Mischa (Ravonna): Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): It's an honor.

Mischa (Ravonna): I imagine it would be.

Bex: I simply nod with a smile.

Mischa: And she unbuttons the done up buttons on her vest and takes a seat.

Reed (General Shinmar): We are so grateful to have you here at dinner tonight.

Bex (Ibra): I'm so glad you could escape your busy schedule to join us. And I'm amazed that you have met my family.

Mischa (Ravonna): Your family has greatly come to the attention of my office. You are–

Mischa: And she looks over at the General and she says,

Mischa (Ravonna): You are all renowned warriors, in your own right, a thing this city sorely needs. Devout warriors, driven to a singular task. I'm so fortunate to have Brama come under my wing.

Bex (Ibra): It'll be a pleasure to work alongside one of my siblings.

Reed (General Shinmar): I'm so glad you say that, actually.

Bex: I don't look at you. I maintain eye contact with Ravonna.

Mayanna (Brama): I used to eat the flowers off the tree in the front yard!

[Music ends].

[Laughter]

Reed: (laughing) What?!

Mayanna: and then I go check on the flowers. And then I go check on the closet, I go check on the coats.

Bex: Okay, that breaks my eye contact.

Reed: Oh my god!

Mischa: Yeah, everyone stares after Brama as they leave. And there's a really long moment and then Paz just goes,

Mischa (Paz): (Snorts).

Ian: I have the most wicked smile on my face.

[Laughter].

Reed (General Shinmar): (Sighs).

Bex (Ibra): To be fair, half of the flowers looked like berries.

Ian (Hima): That's true, they did.

[Laughter]

Bex (Ibra): I mean, I didn't.

Ian (Hima): No, no no.

Bex (Ibra): But I can understand.

[Music begins: eerie synths later joined by quiet, slightly unsettling piano].

Mischa (Ravonna): And If I had such a gorgeous tree growing outside of my childhood home, I would perhaps be tempted. I have slightly more caution in mind. I don't know that I would just eat any old thing I saw growing on a tree.

Reed (General Shinmar): We make sure that everything in our home is safe within reason, and we really encourage curious minds, especially in youth. But as we get older, we find we must all snap to responsibility. Wouldn't you all agree?

[A beat].

Bex: The silence is heavy.

[SFX: door opens].

Mayanna (Brama): The coats are well organized.

Mayanna: I'm back.

[Laughter].

Reed (General Shinmar): Thank you, Brama. Please have a seat.

Mayanna: Am I sitting next to Inspector Ravonna?

Reed: I think so, yeah.

Bex: Yeah, definitely.

Reed: I mean, you're working together. It's important that you guys get a chance to chit chat.

Mayanna: Of course.

Mischa: I think it’s Hima, Ibra, Paz, and then on the other side is Ravonna and Brama, and then at the head is General Shinmar.

Ian: Got it.

Reed: But we're all sitting close enough that I think we could pass the butter to each other.

Ian: I was just curious.

Reed: But I imagine the table is still comically long, but we're just grouped up at one side.

Mayanna: Grouped up in one little corner.

Ian: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Classic. Yes, I do think that that's the case, because I think that, yes, you have a weekly family dinner and this one has a particular guest, but I also imagine that you're throwing other events at other times.

Reed: Oh, heck yes. Unfortunately, that is, what takes up General Shinmar's time, as much as I think secretly she wishes this wasn't what was taking up her time.

Mischa: Ooh.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Bex: I love that.

Reed: Dinner parties are not really her thing.

Mayanna: I think that–

Reed: At the same time, you gotta play the game.

Mayanna: Absolutely. Ooh, that's interesting.

Reed: Yeah.

Mayanna: Do I, would I know that? Would I know that you–

Reed: I think you would.

Mayanna: I think I would, too. Yeah.

Reed: I think it is, it is similar to taking your daily vitamins.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Reed: I have to plan dinner parties like this.

Mayanna: Yeah you don't like dinner parties.

Reed: I'm not a dinner party person. I would much rather be doing katas in the, in the square.

Mayanna: I think as I sit down, if I'm across from Hima, I just like, I just like really look at you Just like,

Mayanna (Brama): (Soft angry grumbles).

Ian: I smile so nice and sweetly. And then still looking at you, I say,

Ian (Hima): So, Inspector, you've come all this way to join us for dinner. Why don't you regale us with the goings on of the Lower City?

[Music ends]. [Music begins: melodic, calm piano].

Mischa (Ravonna): The Lower City, as it always is, is a bustling hub of change. Everything is tossed over week to week. You never know what you're going to find. Here in the Constellation, I find things are a little more… static, a little more set in its ways. Which is not a bad thing. Sometimes the ways are good.

Mischa: And Ravonna gestures to the table in front of her.

Mischa (Ravonna): So that when something falls out of place here in the Constellation, it is easier to take note. Don't you agree, Brama?

Mayanna (Brama): Of course, absolutely. Very astute observation, Inspector Ravonna.

Bex (Ibra): That, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, because I am often wrong, that is to do with the Upper City. I believe that I could fill in what's been going on in the Lower City.

Mischa (Ravonna): Could you now?

Bex (Ibra): Absolutely.

Reed (General Shinmar): By all means.

Mischa (Ravonna): By all means.

Bex (Ibra): Well, we have been dealing with attacks on the city down below. From an unknown origin, with unknown levels of danger, with as yet to be discovered abilities. Someone blew up the bridges in the under city. Someone came back to finish the job. And when they did so, they activated a device that activated a mechanism that went rampaging. I did my very best to be its only target. However, in its… mess, it attempted to hit me and further destroyed more of the highway structure. I took it down, not before it took me down. I was brought back by a team whom I trust, and we finished the job. Something is happening that people are forgetting, and it's our job to keep them safe and figure out what it is. Isn't that right, Inspector?

Mischa (Ravonna): Mostly.

Bex (Ibra): What am I missing?

[Music ends].

Mischa: Ibra, why don't you go ahead and roll Persuasion?

[Dice rolls].

Bex: Dirty 20.

All: (cheers) Yay! Nice.

Ian: Kachow!

[Music begins: suspenseful stuttering synth chords].

Mischa: Ravonna takes a long sip of her wine and says,

Mischa (Ravonna): What you're missing is that these incidents are connected to dangerous and hazardous materials that it is unsafe for the public to stumble across. My office has been developing protocols around the containment of these materials. And when I asked you to turn them over, your friend, the fashionable one–

Bex (Ibra): Fran Weaver.

Mischa (Ravonna): Yes. Ms. Weaver, looked me in the eye and refused. Now, she could have any number of reasons, and I don't mean to ascribe, but anybody who wouldn't hand over these dangerous materials to the proper authorities is dangerous.

Mayanna (Brama): I agree.

Bex (Ibra): To be fair, ma'am, you told us we were the proper authorities, but wouldn't tell us the proper protocols or what we were looking for.

Mischa (Ravonna): Begging your pardon, Ibra. I was told you would be the proper authorities.

Mayanna (Brama): Yes. It sounds like your associates are quite irresponsible.

Reed (General Shinmar): I would have to agree.

Mayanna (Brama): Thank you, mother.

Reed (General Shinmar): Ibra. I believe you have acted wonderfully. I'm so proud of you.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you, mother.

Reed (General Shinmar): However, I'm worried about these associates that you claim to trust. They did what I consider the bare minimum. I think you can do a lot more, with better partners.

Bex (Ibra): I respect your opinion, Mother.

Reed (General Shinmar): So you agree?

Bex (Ibra): I am not in charge of my team. The Magistrate is, and I trust the Magistrate.

Mayanna (Brama): What are their qualifications, exactly?

[Music ends]. [Music begins: vibrant chime synths].

Bex (Ibra): We have an alchemist. A master chemist, an absolutely incredible asset to the team in terms of science and intelligence. We have a crafter, quite masterful to watch her work. She has managed to weave magic into objects, talent I've never seen the likes of in terms of creativity and capacity to create and destroy in equal measure. We have a mechanist, someone who is deeply, deeply studied in everything to do with the minds, with engineering, with technology, with deep connections to the boots on the ground, so to speak, the people who build our society on the ground, the people who keep us floating up here. We also have a storm goddess.

Mischa (Paz): She sounds cool. I don't know anything else, but that one sounds neat.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, she's awesome.

Mischa: And then Paz takes a huge sip of wine.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): And… we have me. You know what I can do.

Reed (General Shinmar): I do.

Bex (Ibra): I believe they're qualified.

[Music ends].

Reed (General Shinmar): They sound quite qualified indeed. If you'll all entertain me, have you heard the story of my first battalion? They were a rather qualified group, and we all trusted each other. And I believed that we all had the good for our fellow man in mind.

[Music begins: deep, unsettling reversed strings].

Reed (General Shinmar): However, we didn't quite, mesh well together, I think. Things happen on the battlefield, you know. You can trust each other as much as you want, but sometimes the skills don't mesh together like cogs as they should. And that's how you lose part of your spine that day. And I am thankful there were outside medics to help me. And I would hate the same thing to happen to my child.

[Music ends].

Bex (Ibra): I'm very sorry that your team could not support you the way you needed and deserved to be supported. Mother, have you ever heard of overpowering Astra?

[Music begins: ominous, building, low synths].

Reed (General Shinmar): I feel like you're about to enlighten me.

Bex (Ibra): There are new studies that magic and will have a connection. And if you can impose enough will on magic, you can surpass its limits. That is the only reason I sit before you today, Mother. My teammate surpassed the limits of Astra with their own will in order to keep me in the fight.

Mischa (Ravonna): And we thank the gods that went well. Did you hear anything I just said about hazardous materials? Do you know how dangerous it could be to try to use the thing you found at the construction site in such a fashion?

Bex (Ibra): You paid my medical bills. You know that I know how dangerous things can be.

Mischa (Ravonna): A favor to your mother, which, if I'm not mistaken, this dinner is meant to make amends for, to even the scales, as it were?

Reed (General Shinmar): Yes, it is, Inspector. I–

Mischa (Ravonna): I don't mean to reveal your–

Reed (General Shinmar): I think it's about time. The appetizers are coming out after all.

Mayanna (Brama): What is she talking about?

Reed (General Shinmar): Considering some of the choices your sibling has made, and the danger they have thrown themselves into, and trust they've put into their compatriots who, unfortunately, allowed them to fall into such a state, there's been a bit of a muckery between our lovely relationship with the Inspector Ravonna, a relationship I am hoping we can build as strong as the tree out in the front yard. And I am hoping this could be a time we all come together and excel past our current means. I think we could all work together rather splendidly. I think a transfer of departments is in order. And we can all work together properly as a family. Now I was meaning to reveal that over dessert, but I do think that we can all digest that during the meal. Wouldn't you agree?

[Music ends].

Mischa: And as though on cue, the doors to the kitchen are thrown open–

[SFX: doors open].

Mayanna: Oh my god

Mischa: –and servants begin to to serve the first course.

Ian: (in a French accent) First course!

[Chuckles].

[Midroll music plays and fades out].

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.

Do you need a second? This is a very stressful episode. (chuckles) Sorry, but also not sorry. Sometimes families are nice like last episode, and sometimes they're very not. And Ibra's is… not! That's why found families are so important too, and we're so grateful to have our found family over at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. A big old shout out to Disney Aubrey, who joined us at the Voyager level, so they'll get a shout out in every episode, alongside our cartographer level patrons Mubarak Dhabri and JWX, who upgraded this week. Thanks, J! And if you want to join our found family, bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons. Come sign up with us at any level, starting at just a few dollars per episode. One more time, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

And just another huge round of applause for Reed Sights, who is killing it in this episode as General Shinmar. Reed and Mayanna also star together on StoryQuest, an actual play platform focused on heartwarming and cinematic storytelling in bite-sized packages. Their first campaign, Supernova, is cooking now. That uses the Spelljammer setting, which is like pirate ships in magic space. It's very sick. And if you love Mayanna as much as we do, and you're loving Reed in this episode, then you will love to watch them together on StoryQuest. I guarantee it. Check out StoryQuest on Twitch, YouTube, or go to their website, StoryQuest.tv.

Our sponsor this week is Tab for a Cause, a browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online. Whenever you open a new tab in your browser, like to look up what an ‘ohi’a lehua flower looks like, because Bex is right, they are very pretty, Tab for a Cause will show you a beautiful photo in a small ad. Part of that ad money goes towards charity of your choice, and there's a ton of charities and causes to choose from, like reproductive health, bail funds, Action Against Hunger, Human Rights Watch, climate change action groups, and more. And they recently launched Tab for Democracy, which raises funds specifically to get out the youth vote. And not to be like that, but the election's right around the corner, so that's pretty necessary this week in particular. And best of all, you get to choose how much of your contribution goes where–the power is in your hands. Join our team by signing up at tabforacause.org/wanderingpath and help support your favorite causes and your favorite podcast. One more time, tabforacause.org/wanderingpath.

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

[Midroll music plays and fades out].

[Music begins: fancy harpsichord].

Mischa: The serving staff takes away the dishes from your appetizer course. I feel like they're, they're little circular ramekins, that was served, ceviche, because you guys are all like high protein snacks all the time.

Reed: Oh yes.

Bex: Mhmm.

Mischa: So the little ramekins were perfectly placed in the center of your serving dishes, and now they're cleared away, like, swiftly and quietly, General Shinmar, your staff knows exactly what you expect of them, and they do it.

Reed: I, I think in a, there's a horrible moment where the plate is set in front of me, and I visually measure if it's in the center or not.

Mischa: Oof.

Mayanna: Mm.

Reed: I don't put my hand out, it's just a moment of look, check, good.

Mayanna: I watch, I watch you do that every time and I’m always like (gasp and holds breath).

Reed: Every time. Every time. And I look at everyone else as if it's not in the center, someone's getting fired. Someone's gotten fired for that before.

Ian: I love being on the side of the table that doesn't give a shit about people.

Mayanna: Yeah, oh yeah.

[Music ends].

Ian: It feels so nice to not care about the little people. [Laughter]. And just have, and just have like, you know–

Bex: Yup.

Ian: I don't know, existential crisis on the brink of the world and just not really give a shit.

Reed: Oh my god, it's like Roman Roy, from Succession.

Ian: I would really, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mischa: I think you listeners out there can tell that All these people playing new characters today, locked in. They're locked in. They’re so into it!

Mayanna: We really cooked with this one.

Ian: But we cooked with citrus, not gas.

Mayanna: There you go.

Ian: Cause of the ceviche. That was, that was too many levels.

Reed: It was good, it was good.

Mayanna: No, I love that. I love Ian's secret cooking knowledge.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Every time I'm always like, oh my god!

Bex: We need to have him cook for us.

Ian: I need to make ceviche today. I'm going to straight up make shrimp ceviche today.

Mayanna: Take a picture of it.

Ian: I will.

Mischa: Put it on the gram.

Mayanna: You put it on the gram.

[Music begins: haunting piano].

Ian: Fucking good! Okay, I feel like we've been sitting and digesting and thinking because that was like a massive bomb that was dropped, right?

Mayanna: Yeah, that we're trying to get Ibra back on the thing.

Reed: I think General Shinmar, at a periphery has been keeping an eye on Ibra and is waiting for the next rebuttal as, she has just served for their court and is, you can tell, ready, almost for the next bout and volley on dinner.

Ian: Well, luckily for Mother, I'm not going to let us get to the next rebuttal.

Reed: Ooh!

Ian: Because I had so much fun watching Ravonna sweat earlier, that that's the more interesting game to me. So I turn to Inspector Ravonna, and I say,

Ian (Hima): Inspector, I don't understand why you're so concerned about the danger of all of these… materials. Isn't your job to deal with dangerous things every day?

Mischa (Ravonna): It certainly is, and that's why I expect compliance from my employees. And she pointedly looks at Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): I believe, madam, I'm employed by the Magistrate.

Reed (General Shinmar): And we are all working as a team. Infighting will get us nowhere, and, I think, undermines the Magistrate, don't you think?

Bex (Ibra): Not at all. I'm just stating a fact. No infighting here, mother.

Ian (Hima): I agree with Ibra. And you know, we around the table are all in on the fact that we are potentially the most capable people in the Upper or Lower City. So why is Ibra not the best to handle this dangerous material, Inspector?

Mischa (Ravonna): I will grant you that the three of you here at this table are perhaps some of the most physically capable people available to my office.

Bex (Ibra): I would say four, including my mother, wouldn't you?

Ian: Oof.

Reed: I think that goes without saying, Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): I believe you deserve to have it said, mother. It's only respectful.

Reed (General Shinmar): How kind.

Mischa (Ravonna): Be that as it may, physical prowess is not everything. This is not the war. We cannot simply bash our heads against a greater foe and hope that we win. This requires judgment, care, a level-headedness that has proven a challenge to sift through and look for.

Bex (Ibra): Aside from my mother, Brama has the clearest, steadiest head of anyone I've ever met. I understand why you've chosen them.

Mischa (Ravonna): I absolutely agree.

Bex (Ibra): Do you trust them with the material?

Reed (General Shinmar): I think it's important to acknowledge where we excel and where we lack.

Bex (Ibra): I agree. I'm, I'm trying to really highlight where my sibling Brama excels.

Reed (General Shinmar): Yes.

Bex (Ibra): And-and I'd love an answer to make sure that this inspector really respects my sibling and their prowess.

Reed (General Shinmar): Ibra, I'm a little shocked. I believe we covered in your rhetoric classes, debate, and leadership classes, if you've been taking them, that those who just point out the problems in a room shouldn't be talking in the room. Solutions are greatly appreciated. Do you have any in mind?

Bex (Ibra): I do. I believe a wonderful solution would be hearing the answer from Inspector Ravonna to my question.

Ian (Hima): And I agree.

Ian: And I'm looking at my mother with like a mischievous face.

Mayanna: I'm, I'm having flashbacks as just like, this is the thing that they would do when we were kids is they'd like get into these, like– Like once Hima and Ibra were locked in on something and they would just like go back and forth like this. I was like, “Oh no, it's happening again!”

[Laughter]. [Music ends].

Ian: I want to find, I don't think I have, I don't think she owes me a debt, but I want to find a way, like, I wonder if there's a way that I can roll a intimidation in this moment on my mother.

[Music begins: unsettling, low ambient synths with some percussive elements].

Mayanna & Reed: Ooh.

Ian: I mean, maybe I'm just rolling it either way and there, if there isn't a–

Reed: You can roll.

Bex: I believe that mother owes me a debt for interfering in my progress with Ravonna right now.

Reed: Ooh!

Ian: There we go. There we have it.

Bex: Minus 10.

Mischa: You can't give your minus 10 to one of your siblings.

Bex: Oh, I'm using it on my mother.

Mischa: Hima’s the one rolling.

Mayanna: Ohh.

Reed: Hima’s the one rolling. It's not–you can't transfer a debt so this way the roll.

Bex: Oh, okay, does it work if we're both staring daggers?

Mischa: No, because Hima’s the one rolling.

Bex: Okay.

Reed: I love that for you. I believe I'm gonna cash in one of my debts on your intimidation check for me. I birthed you.

Ian: (laughing) Is that on your shit?

Reed: Yes! I brought you into this world. It's a debt that you have.

Bex: Amazing.

Ian: That’s some fucking bullshit.

Mischa: I believe, if I recall correctly, it says “you brought them into this world dot dot dot.”

Reed: Yeah.

Mayanna: Of fucking course. And we all know what that “dot dot dot” means.

Reed: I think it's just a moment of, you're trying to, to intimidate me, and it's just a moment of a quirked eyebrow of, “Really?”

Ian: Well, let's see how that affects Hima. Here we go.

Reed: Really? So minus 10 to this.

Mayanna: Ohhh.

Ian: I rolled a 2.

Mayanna: Aw, negative 8.

Ian: Wow.

Bex: That's huge.

Ian: So that eyebrow sends Hima back into total silence.

Mischa: Yeah, I think. I think, like, Hima, you have grown bold over the course of this past year, and especially this evening. Like, you were feeling good, you were feeling aloof, you were feeling in control. You think you can toss a look off, and it'll affect your mother. And then you remember who taught you how to toss looks.

Reed & Mayanna: Ahh.

Ian: Fuck. Sorry, Ibra. I didn't say that, that's not across the table.

Bex (Ibra): Brama.

Mayanna (Brama): Hm?

Bex (Ibra): I meant what I said. I trust you more than almost anyone. I would like to know the answer if the Inspector will not answer.

Mischa (Ravonna): Of course I trust Brama. I trust Brama to bring me any materials they find because they have and they will.

Reed (General Shinmar): It's called respecting the chain of command, Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): Did you inform Brama of the material they were looking for before asking them to bring it to you? Because you did not for me.

Reed (General Shinmar): It's very interesting. In the chain of command of things, you need to trust your superior.

Bex (Ibra): I trusted my superior to inform me what I was looking for, and they did not.

Reed (General Shinmar): I think you need to trust that they withhold information for your better good.

Bex (Ibra): If it's a dangerous material, is it my better good to not–

Reed General Shinmar): Yes.

Bex (Ibra): Why?

Reed (General Shinmar): Perhaps you're too young to understand these things.

Reed: I just take a sip of wine.

Bex (Ibra): Perhaps.

Mayanna (Brama): But if– If it is dangerous, and, and you don't have the proper protections in place, you can't properly handle the materia–(clears throat) Excuse me.

Bex (Ibra): No, you're right, Brama. That, that's why I have feelings about this. I want to make sure you're safe, and I'm safe.

Mischa (Ravonna): Your mother once again proves herself a wise and capable woman. She knows how important it is to reveal certain information to certain people at certain times. Ibra, I would have told you eventually.

Bex (Ibra): After I blew myself up accidentally, by not handling the material properly?

Mischa (Ravonna): Why aren't you–Why are you– (huffs).

Mischa: And her reptilian nostrils flare.

Mischa (Ravonna): You would only be misusing materials if you were attempting to use them at all. Whereas Brama, when they find something dangerous and unknown, immediately turns it into me.

Bex (Ibra): I have no intention of using it. However, if it is as volatile as you say, if anything could activate it at any time, I need to know that so that I can handle it properly.

Mischa (Ravonna): That's not what I said. What I said was misusing it is dangerous, and you were about to misuse it.

Bex (Ibra): How could you be sure? I don't have any intention of using anything other than my skills to protect the city.

Mischa (Ravonna): The materials we seek are volatile and powerful and tempting.

Bex (Ibra): Tempting?

Mischa (Ravonna): Tempting.

Bex (Ibra): Are you tempted?

Mischa (Ravonna): I don't have to respond to that.

Bex (Ibra): You don't?

Mischa (Ravonna): You know who was tempted? You know who I think was tempted? The person who lied to me about having it in their possession and refused to give it over to me and refused to even admit that they'd found it when I knew that you had.

Bex (Ibra): You have not been honest with us or clear. You know what? I realize I'm overstepping my bounds. Mother, may I excuse myself for five minutes to take a walk and clear my head? I don't want to be disrespectful to our guest.

Reed (General Shinmar): Florence?

Mischa (Flo): Yes, General?

[Music shifts: discordant synths].

Reed (General Shinmar): Would you be so kind as to escort my darling child on a walk? It seems that they need to cool their head, and I worry that they're going to need a shoulder to discuss things with, and perhaps Florence would be good by your side.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you, Mother.

Mischa: Paz speaks up in a–

Mischa (Paz): I mean, I can go with them.

Reed (General Shinmar): Of course, Paz.

Ian (Hima): I can go with them too, Mother. No need to–

Reed (General Shinmar): Hima, you're not excused.

[Chuckles].

Mayanna (Brama): I think actually Hima should also escort them on the walk.

Ian: I'm very confused by this.

Reed: (Bemused) I’m also confused.

Mischa: Brama, Brama, will you roll persuasion?

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely.

Bex: How can I give them advantage?

Reed: Is it against me?

Mischa: It is against you.

Mayanna: Oh, it's against the mom?

Mischa: It's against your mom.

Reed: It’s against me!

Mayanna (Brama): Persuasion. I'm gonna invoke a debt.

Reed: Do it.

Mischa: Yeah, can you tell me how?

Reed: Yeah, tell me that debt.

Mayanna (Brama): I believe under the current circumstances, given that I have agreed to take on this position in Ibra's absence, that I would much prefer for us to perhaps have a quiet sidebar, if that would be, to please the mother.

Reed: Dang, I just want to give it, but they have to roll, don't they?

Mischa: yeah, but they're gonna get plus ten.

Reed:Yeah, good.

Mayanna: Persuasion.

Reed: Cause that's, that's too good.

Mayanna: That's a.. (chuckles) 27 plus 2, it's 29.

Bex: Yes!

Reed: I think there there is a pause, there is a very clear softening, on sort of my my darker, my dark skin features.

Reed (General Shinmar): Of course, thank you for your wisdom and guidance.

Mayanna (Brama): No problem.

Reed (Genera Shinmar): Hima, perhaps a bit of fresh air would do you good.

Reed: Eyes go down to the bottle under your chair.

Reed (General Shinmar): If you're able to walk at all.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Damn.

Ian: How much of this wine have I drank so far?

[Laughter].

[Music ends].

Mischa: Do you want to roll a constitution check?

Reed: Yeeeah!

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Thirteen.

Mischa: I'm gonna go ahead and say half the bottle and it's just like a, it's like a maybe a mild sway in your, in your gait, in your walk.

Bex: You can pretend it's swagger.

Ian: I'm feeling great. It is swagger, just so we're clear. I look to my mother and I go,

Ian (Hima): Thank you, mother. I appreciate you.

Ian: And I very languidly push my chair back, [SFX: wood screeching against floor].

Reed: Screeches, god.

Ian: Stand up, and walk to the exit.

Bex (Ibra): Flo, may I grab my coat if we're going outside?

Mischa: Flo reaches into her waistcoat and I have to tell you, There's only… five of you? [Laughter] It's not a system that requires numbers. So she pulls out, she pulls out the one that says three and goes,

Mischa (Flo): No, no, no.

Mischa: And puts it back in her pocket and pulls out the four and gives it to you.

Reed: I love Flo so much. (Laughs). Must be protected.

Bex: At all costs. Inside Paz's head, you hear,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Hey, do you think my siblings put their passes in their coats like I do?

Mayanna: (Gasps).

[Music begins: inquisitive, pulsing synths].

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Mischa: Mayanna and Ian.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Be honest with me.

Mayanna: Uh-huh.

Mischa: You have information about where your characters go in their off time, can you please write down where you keep your funicular pass and show me?

[Sighs].

Bex: Oh boy.

Reed: Here we go.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Reed: In the safe, in the bowels of the estate.

Mayanna: My funicular pass.

Bex: Right? They live here, I'm like, this is the longest shot in hell.

Reed: I know, Oh yeah.

Mischa: Paz looks at both of them as you guys exit the dining room and just says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Brama never goes down to the Lower City. Maybe Hima?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Gotta check Hima.

Bex: As I usher my unruly sibling, my best friend, out of the dining room and follow Flo, I bow to my mother. And as I turn and swipe past Brama's head, I say,

Bex (Ibra): I'm sorry, always.

Bex: And walk out.

Ian: Oh my god.

Reed: Mm.

Mayanna: (sighs) I think under my breath to myself, I'm just like,

Mayanna (Brama): What am I supposed to do with that?

Ian: So I think we get to the foyer, or the foyer, depending on where you were raised. [SFX: door opens].

Mischa: And if you're an elf or not, I guess.

Ian: And if you're an elf or not. The (French pronunciation) foyer.

All: (In over-enounced French accents) Foyer.

Ian: And so I have a question for you, which is, was that thunder that we heard in the distance at the beginning, has that become a storm outside?

Mischa: Ooh, um, yeah, I think dark grey clouds are rolling in [SFX: thunder] and kind of like, block what would otherwise be another beautiful, Constellation sunset.

Bex (Ibra): Flo, it looks like we might need some umbrellas. I believe they're in the coat closet with our coats. May I accompany you and help you carry?

Mischa (Flo): Of course, Master Ibra, thank you.

Mischa: And you head to the coat closet.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex I'm grabbing my coat. I'm grabbing Hima's coat.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And I'm checking it.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Okay, go ahead and roll sleight of hand. Hima…

Bex: They're not there.

Ian: It's true.

Mayanna & Reed: Ohhh.

Ian: I didn't go with them.

Bex: I thought that through.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Bex: I'm making Florence look for the umbrellas.

Reed: Ohhh

Mayanna: So smart.

Reed: You're good at this.

Mischa: Go ahead and roll sleight of hand with advantage.

Bex: [Dice shaking, dice rolls]. Natural 20!

[Cheers and laughter].

Reed: Clever sneaky! Clever sneaky Ibra!

Bex: It was a natural 20 and a 5.

Mayanna: Hell yeah.

Mischa: Oh my god! Ibra, you offer to help Flo with the coats and umbrellas. Flo goes off to grab the umbrellas, which are not an item you need every day, and so she is wholly distracted as you rummage through the pockets of Hima's coat. [SFX: fabric rustling]. You feel a little spike in your heart rate because you check both the outside pockets, the inside breast pockets, you don't find anything. It seems like Hima has not used this coat for a couple of days and has emptied it out. And then as you grab around, you feel something hidden in the lining.

Bex (Ibra): (whispered) Yes!

Mischa: And you slide your fingers between the seam of the coat, and you pull out a laminated funicular pass.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Reed: Oh yeah.

Bex: I slide it into my jacket, into my secret pocket, into my Shinmar-Bracha book.

Mayanna: Mm.

Bex: And I zip it tight. [SFX: quick zipper]. And then I throw all the coats over my arm and I help flow with one or two umbrellas and we walk back outside. [SFX: Door opens, bird caws]

[Soundscape begins: wind blowing, birds cawing].

Mischa: Paz is talking to Hima. What do you– what are you and Paz talking about?

Ian: I think I'm talking to Paz about if there's any interesting places in the Lower City, because I like to go down there all the time.

Mayanna: Mm-Hmm.

Mischa: Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm. And of course Paz is gonna talk about her favorite place in the world.

Mayanna & Reed: Yes.

Mischa: Boggins Bistro.

Reed: So funny.

Mayanna: Yes!

Reed: The rich girl who loves a kitschy restaurant is one of my favorite, like, character archetypes.

Bex: Paz is descended from rich, but Paz isn’t rich.

Reed: Right, right, right, right.

Ian: I'm telling Paz she's so pedestrian, and that she should check out this underground–

Mischa (Paz): It's so fun, though. They have games, they have great food. I'm really upset that they closed, I really hope they reopen soon, I love that place.

Ian: We're chatting about that. So my first question is, because they rolled a natural 20, if I should just not roll any of these dice. But the question to me is, first, does Hima elect to put on their coat or not? Because there's umbrellas.

Mayanna: It's raining.

Ian: And then second, if they put on their coat, do they feel that their pass is missing? And I was thinking rolling like an evens/odds.

Mayanna: Oohh.

Mischa: Yeah, I think, I think you can, yeah, you don't have a, I didn't give you guys a perception skill. I guess I really should have done that.

Reed: It's all good.

Mayanna: It's our house.

Bex: I think insight would work here to see if Ibra's got anything guilty written on their face

Mischa: Perception and Insight are kind of, you know, they're both wisdom skills. Yeah, why don't you go ahead, as you put on your coat, go ahead and roll Insight in lieu of Perception to see if you can feel it missing.

Ian: [Dice rolls]. I'm just gonna show you what that is.

Mischa: I don't know, I'm not really good at reading numbers, but that does look like a natural 20.

Ian: Does that look like a natural 20 to you?

Bex: Oh, shit!

Reed: Confirmed, confirmed. That eyeball looking at me through that 20.

[Music begins: mysterious low synth xylophone].

Ian: That's a natural 20 in the Dragon's Eye dice.

Mischa: Yeah, you, you have a way of putting on this coat where the moment you grab it, you're always feeling for that secret pocket that you sewed into the lining of your coat, and the minute you grab that jacket, you're like you can feel it, it's not where you put it.

Ian: And I stop dead, and I look deep into Ibra's soul. And then I look at Paz with like a slight smile, and I say,

Ian (Hima): Paz, if you don't mind, will you go tell mother that Ibra and I will be a moment?

Mischa (Paz): Uh... yeah.

Mischa: And telepathically goes,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Are you gonna be okay?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] It remains to be seen. You should go.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Oh, okay.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Take Flo.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Okay.

Mischa (Paz): Ah, yes, of course. Hima. Hurry back to the table.

Reed: (Chuckling hums).

Mischa: And she walks back inside.

Ian: I turn to Ibra and I just say,

Ian (Hima): Give it back.

Reed: Mm.

Bex (Ibra): I need it. I will trade you for it.

Ian (Hima): Trade me what?

Bex (Ibra): What do you need? What do you want? What do I owe?

Ian: Oh, this is so sweet!

Reed: Oh, man.

Ian (Hima): As much as I appreciate the thought, I don't particularly care about erasing a debt in exchange for not being able to leave the Constellation.

Bex (Ibra): You look exactly like Brama. Find theirs.

Ian (Hima): What do you want this for, anyway?

Ian: Maybe that's the insight.

Mischa: Yeah, sure. You want to roll insight?

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Minus ten.

Bex (Ibra): You remember that time? You took that lovely girl to Boggins.

Ian: Okay, so here's what I want everyone listening at home to understand is that you can only invoke your debt one time. So Ibra has just burned the debt.

Mayanna: The biggest.

Ian: And Mischa, you can tell everyone what I rolled this time.

[Gasps].

Reed: Oh no.

Mischa: Again, I have a really hard time reading numbers. I don't know what that is–

Reed: Yeah, what is it?

Mischa: –but that does look like a natural one.

Ian: Yeah, I think that, I think I rolled a nat 1.

Mayanna: Oh my god

Reed: Oh, that's a total of a negative, a negative 9.

Mayanna: A negative 9.

Ian: No, I think that would be a, oh yeah, sorry, I can't do math.

Mayanna: No you’re fine.

Reed: No, I was worried that I didn't have it right. You had me going.

Ian: Wow, so Ibra's not going to tell me what they want it for and what's going on. That's extremely frustrating. So it feels now that the tables have turned and now I can't even ask for anything because it feels like I'm a little bit over a barrel.

Mischa: No, but, I'll say this, it does seem, Hima, to me, that Ibra is willing to eliminate a debt in exchange for what they've taken from your coat.

Reed: Mhmm.

Bex (Ibra): I've proven it to you.

Ian (Hima): Fine, my sibling. Eliminate the other debt–

Bex (Ibra): The one where I broke up with Se—.

Ian (Hima): Shh, be quiet! Do not even speak the words.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, but it's so much more fun to eliminate it once I've said it.

Ian: I'm staring the most daggers I've stared at anyone the entire episode.

Bex (Ibra): I love you too, Himes.

Ian: And as you start to walk away, I stop you and I say,

Ian (Hima): And you still owe me another.

Bex (Ibra): Do you plan to cash it in now?

Ian (Hima): Of course I don't. What do you take me for?

Bex (Ibra): My sibling.

Ian (Hima): Yes, that is a good point.

Bex (Ibra): I love you, Heembo.

[Music ends].

Ian: (laughs) Heembo.

Mischa: That's a party point for Bex. [Laughter].

[Cheers].

Reed: Yep, yep, yep, yep.

Bex: Mark it down. Don't you deny me my party point.

Ian: Oh, I'm sorry. I was laughing. I didn't hear you.

Mischa: Just cause you're at a disadvantage of the scene, you better write down the party point.

Ian: So then my question is this. Does, or do you then, having gotten what you want, are you walking back into dinner, or where are you walking?

Bex: I'm marking down the new debt to Hima.

Ian: Yeah. That's a big honking debt. Cause now I can't go to the Lower City.

Bex: Until I bring it back to you. Or, unless you steal Brama's.

Ian: I know. That's a, that's a side quest.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Reed: Nah, Don't do Brama dirty like that. Brama's so stressed all the time.

Mayanna: You could try asking too.

Reed: That's true.

Ian: Are you going back into the party or are you going?

Bex (Ibra): You want to go back in or you want to blow off steam with me?

Ian (Hima): I'll leave you be.

Bex (Ibra): As you wish.

Ian: And I angrily, my heels tap on the hard floor back into the dining room.

[Music begins: calm chimes].

Bex: I go and I pick one of each flower from the tree in front, the Bracha-Shinmar tree. I look up into the sky, let down my umbrella, wait for a little trickle of rain to hit my face.

Mischa: Just a spare drop, just one or two, and distant thunder rolls. [SFX: Thunder rumble, light rain falling].

Bex: I take out my Bracha-Shinmar booklet that now has two passes, and I walk to the end of the driveway. And I hide it in the mailbox to grab on my way out. [SFX: mailbox opens, shuts].

Mayanna: Oh, you're a genius. You're a genius.

Reed: That’s–That's Listen. That’s my child thinking.

Mayanna: You're a genius.

Bex: I'm in the presence of my mother. I'm remembering everything she taught me.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Reed: That’s my child.

Mischa: It all comes flooding back the minute you come home, doesn't it?

Bex: I have a hidey hole at the end of the driveway. Something that my siblings and I used to, like, leave little messages for each other. Brama and I especially used to, like, draw little pictures to each other. Hima would use it to put gross things in there, but Brama and I would have a lot of fun with it.

Mayanna: Aw, yeah.

Reed: Aw.

Mischa: And then you, head back inside.

[SFX: Door opens]. [Soundscape ends, rain ends]. [Music ends].

Mischa: Brama, you stayed behind to talk to your mother.

Mayanna: Yeah, is Inspector Ravona also at the table?

Mischa: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Okay, great.

[Music begins: quiet low ambient synths].

Mayanna (Brama): I just want to understand, Are we truly proposing that Ibra join the… I thought I was, I thought it was going well so far and it just started as well.

Reed: Can I get an insight check on what's going on with Brama?

Mischa: Ooh yeah, go ahead and roll for it.

Mayanna: Yeah, go for it.

Reed: Cause, cause I feel like I, I know, I feel like I can infer.

Mayanna: Yeah yeah yeah.

Reed: But there's just a moment of let's, let's look deeper into this.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Yeah

Reed: That would be a cool 14.

Mischa: Okay, you get one question off that list.

Reed: Okay, one question. What, what are you, what are you worrying that's going to happen? Like, what's, what's Brama's worry right now?

Mayanna: I think you would, you would understand the same thing that I'm always worried about, which is like,

Mayanna (Brama): I've been working so hard to impress you every single day. I never leave. I do everything you ask and, and it's still not enough?

Reed: That hits really deep, but, so I, I have to, I have to recover.

Mayanna: And you, you would just know, I'm like,

Mayanna (Brama): Why, why again? Why, why is the spotlight on Ibra again? I don't understand.

Reed (General Shinmar): Brama, I can see how it is coming across that way. And I am sorry that Ibra is, once again, demanding my attention, pulling on my skirts as they are wont to do.

Mayanna (Brama): (Sighs).

Reed (General Shinmar): I didn't want to trouble you with such things. I didn't want to worry you that your siblings are acting up.

Mayanna (Brama): I'm always worried.

Reed (General Shinmar): I know. And you've been doing such a marvelous job under Inspector Ravona. Evolving, one might say. Truly coming into your own, and I'm very proud of you for this. To the point that I wish Hima and Ibra would fall in line like you do. Because maybe they too could grow and elevate the way you do.

Mayanna: I think, inside I'm like,

Mayanna (Brama): [SFX: echoey filter, indicating internal thought] I don't want this for them.

Mayanna: I understand that this is not good. And I don't know how to get out of it, but I don't want it for them.

Reed: Mmm.

Reed (General Shinmar): You understand.

Mayanna (Brama): Of course. It's perfectly clear to me.

[Music ends].

Reed: I think there is a moment of pause. And I think, General Shinmar does a very soft clap. I believe we have like a full staff, right?

Mischa: Mhmm.

Reed: I would like to call out, instrumentalists.

Mischa: Ooh.

[Music begins: orchestral violin and strings].

Reed: Violins, I think I have a retainer, a band,.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Reed: And just, I very softly smile to Inspector Ravona.

Reed (General Shinmar): I believe I have something that you would find very fascinating. If you'll excuse me, Brama and I must prepare it in the other room.

Mischa (Ravonna): Of course. I'll refresh myself, shall I?

Reed (General Shinmar): Of course, please feel free to come back and enjoy the entertainment.

Mischa: I just had a whole scene in my head where Ravona goes into the bathroom and like, you've laid out like, specific scale scrub because you knew she was coming.

Reed: Oh, absolutely.

Mayanna: So funny.

Bex: Fabulous.

Reed: I think those are the meticulous niceties that General Shinmar is frustratingly good at.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Mm.

Reed: And she hates that she knows that I need to have specific toiletries out for these specific guests, and this is what Inspector Ravona would like, and yeah.

Mayanna: Mm.

Reed: So those are there. There is amenities, there are comforts and luxuries. They're playing her favorite song.

Mischa: And it was all so much easier when all of that strategic prowess was being used to combat an enemy head on, wasn't it?

Reed: It was so much more fulfilling. This is so beneath me.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: rhythmic metallic clanging].

Mayanna: Mmm.

Mischa: Ooh!

Reed: The most alive I think General Shinmar felt tonight was when Ibra said there are attacks in the Lower City and there was that dog inside of her that just wanted to slip the leash and start stabbing once again.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Mischa: Cool.

Reed: But that happens when the war gets bigger.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: That was some ominous shit that you just said.

Reed: Thank you.

Bex: That was gorgeous.

[Music ends]. [Prior music resumes: orchestral violin and strings].

Mischa: Yeah.

Reed: So just a very polite nod.

Reed (General Shinmar): Brama, if you could, I could use the hand–

Mayanna (Brama): Of course.

Reed: And I excuse myself into my office with Brama [SFX: door opens]. Because I think, I think what's going on here needs a very deeper, more emotional sidebar that I would not wish to show in front of Inspector Ravona.

Mayanna: Mhmm, mhmm.

Reed: So with that and that– Ugh, I hate that I'm leaving my guest alone. That's such a bad hostess thing to do.

Mayanna: (overlapping) I know, I was thinking about that, too. I kept being like, “we need to leave to have a conversation.”

Reed: Oh! It's, it's why I'm like, I have entertainment on staff. It’s fine.

Mayanna: Yeah, you're a genius.

Reed: It's fine. I go into my office with Brama.

[Music ends]. [SFX: door shuts]. [Soundscape begins: clock ticking] [Music begins: discordant low ambient synths].

Reed: I shut the door. it's, there's a very soft kind of lock, as I'm wont to do when I want it to be a truly private conversation.

Mayanna: Mmhm.

Reed: I think important thing for the, the key's in the lock. It's not a moment of you can't escape. Yeah, no. it's, it's not that kind of conversation.

Mayanna: It's worse though, in a way.

Reed: In, in a way, it's worse.

Reed (General Shinmar): Brama.

Mayanna (Brama): Mother.

Reed (General Shinmar): you're usually a person who is worried. You take so much on your shoulders. A very admirable quality. But I'm noticing perhaps there's too much weight.

Reed: She takes a seat, sort of at her desk. [SFX: Chair creaks]. It's a very utilitarian office of, the chairs are desk chairs. There is no real comfy, cozy lounge seating here. I think this is her best attempt of kind of having a sit down with her child.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Reed (General Shinmar): What is the weight that is breaking you?

Mayanna (Brama): (softly, to self) What is it? That's such a question. (Normally) Mother, what's going on? Why is she here? Why are you trying to get Ibra involved in this? I understand that you have agendas and motives that are far beyond me, and quite frankly, they're none of my business. I am but your child. But I'm getting confused, and I'm getting concerned. Why must the three of us work together? We don't want to. We don't need to. We are all capable warriors. Why put people together who don't want to be together?

Reed (General Shinmar): That's a very good question. You heard what Ibra said. There are attacks going on in the Lower City.

Mayanna (Brama): Mhmm.

Reed (General Shinmar): There are dangers in the Lower City.

Mayanna (Brama): And Ibra is more than capable. There are attacks everywhere, Mother. Ibra is more than capable of handling the Lower City. Why? Why pull them away? They seem happy down there, they seem focused.

Reed (General Shinmar): (quietly) They’re not.

Mayanna (Brama): They seem accomplished.

Reed (General Shinmar): I believe this is a very clever and well established veneer.

Mayanna (Brama): Why? Why? What would give you that indication?

Reed (General Shinmar): They're missing lessons. They're going against the rules I set.

Mayanna (Brama): They're doing their job. I'm doing my job.

Reed (General Shinmar): They almost died.

Mayanna (Brama): (Scoffs quietly) But they didn't. Is that what you're so concerned about? I thought you trained us.

Reed (General Shinmar): I did. I did. I am concerned.

Mayanna (Brama): So you think the best way to go about this is to force them back here? You think that's gonna make them listen? You think that's gonna make them fall in line?

Reed (General Shinmar): What do you suggest? Freedom clearly isn't working.

Mayanna (Brama): That's not true.

Reed (General Shinmar): They're recklessly spending the family money.

Mayanna (Brama): We have enough money.

Reed (General Shinmar): For now.

Mayanna (Brama): You run a tight ship, Mother. I understand why. But this seems like a waste of your time. It seems less strategic and more emotional. Stop forcing them to be here. Just leave them alone.

Mischa: Brama, will you roll persuasion for me, please?

Reed: Mm.

Mayanna: Yes. And I am going to invoke my debt.

Mischa: Oh, yeah.

Reed: Ooh.

Mayanna: Which is:

Mayanna (Brama): I may have been ready to settle for whatever you threw my way, you But even I know growing up here wasn't exactly a picnic.

Reed: I would like to also cash in my debt to cancel out your debt.

Mayanna: Oh, you—!!

Reed: I am cashing out the debt of just very simply this growing up here wasn't a picnic, and this moment of,

Reed (General Shinmar): do you wish you hadn't grown up at all?

Mayanna (Brama): Hm.

Mayanna: It's a 3.

Reed: Oofh.

Mayanna (Brama): Sometimes I do.

Reed (General Shinmar): I just want to see all of you hit your fullest potential.

Mayanna (Brama): And when we break, know it will be because of that.

Reed (General Shinmar): I hope one day you understand.

Mayanna (Brama): I won't. I will be here, because I have to be, but I will never understand. You feel trapped here too. I know it. You hate this. Why? Why force it on everyone else?

Reed (General Shinmar): This is the only way we get to be free at the end of the day.

Mayanna (Brama): To be in prison for the promise one day of being released?

Reed (General Shinmar): It is captivity for now to be at the top later. Unless you'd prefer to be at the bottom.

Mayanna (Brama): I don't even know what the bottom is anymore.

Reed (General Shinmar): I do.

Mayanna (Brama): Mm.

Reed (General Shinmar): I lived there.

Mayanna (Brama): Mhmm. Are you jealous of us or something?

Reed (General Shinmar): Go into that, please. Expand on that.

Mayanna (Brama): We didn't pick this. I don't even know why I'm born, what I was made for, and I've wondered every day, and I have kept it inside. I have kept these questions to myself, because I didn't feel like I was ever going to get an answer. And I don't think I ever am going to get an answer. And maybe, maybe, Ibra might get one. And if there's even a shred, a chance for them to have that, I hope they find it.

Mayanna (Brama): I don't know why you gave up. I don't know why you do this. I don't know why you throw these dinner parties. I don't know why you buy special soap. You hate this shit. And I hate it too.

Reed (General Shinmar): Brama, what do you want at the end of the day when all of the shit is done? What do you want?

Mayanna (Brama): I want to draw pictures in the mailbox again. I want a schedule that's not filled with training and ceviche and protein and push ups and sweating and crying and bleeding and breaking all the time! Maybe you loved that shit, but I don't. I don't even know what I like. And that's fine, I can live my life never knowing. But I cannot let them have this, too. Take me, it's fine. I'm the best of them, you know that. So keep me here, just leave them alone.

Reed (General Shinmar): If I do, it's over.

Mayanna (Brama): What do you mean?

Reed (General Shinmar): Stick it out for another month and we'll talk about it.

Mayanna (Brama): You know I always do.

Reed (General Shinmar): My brave soldier.

Reed: And with that, I go into my desk.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[SFX: drawer opening, pages rustling].

Reed: I pull out, a ledger, like a history book that is, well, it's immaculately done. Because I do need to come up with something that I think Inspector Ravonna would find interesting.

All: Mmmm.

Reed: Of course, I follow through. I'm not going to show up with nothing. And it's just a very, very detailed, very, very up done book.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Reed (General Shinmar): You are the best of them.

Mayanna (Brama): I don't know, but I try.

Reed (General Shinmar): You're going to know it all one day.

Reed: Key unlocks, and I leave the room. [SFX: key turns, door opens].

Mayanna: Mhmm, I follow.

[Music ends]. [Clock stops ticking].

Mischa: Mayanna be gunning for the Oscar today.

[Laughter].

Bex: For real, like, Emmys, Emmys, Emmys, Oscars, BAFTAs, everything.

Mischa: Webbies?

Bex & Ian: Webbies!

Mischa: Webbies is a real thing we could actually get, maybe?

[Laughter]

Bex: That was glorious. Just gorgeous.

Reed: The number of times I've been like, “fine, have it!” And I'm like, I can't.

Mayanna: I know.

Reed: I can't, there's too much on the line!

Bex: That was so good, both of you, holy shit! I loved that.

[Music begins: orchestral violin and strings].

Mischa: You head out of your office [SFX: door opening] and back to the dining room. You pass Paz in the hallway, also headed back in that way. And as you enter the dining room again, you catch the tail end of a conversation between Hima and Ravona.

All: Mmmm.

Mischa: And Ravona just says,

Mischa (Ravonna): Very interesting, I'll have to, I'll have to really consider that, thank you.

Reed: Fuck, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian (Hima): Yes, please do.

Reed: Internally, this is when General Shinmar goes, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit.”

Mayanna: I can see, I can see, my mom is starting to, to, to lose the plot here, and I'm, I, I, I think I'm gonna I'll, I'll like do the clap for the music [SFX: clap] to see– Get the dinner back on track.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: ominous low synths],

Mayanna (Brama): Hima, are you entertaining our guest with hilarious stories?

Ian (Hima): You could say something like that.

Mayanna (Brama): Always the scoundrel, this one. They're so funny.

Ian (Hima): Brama, you look so miserable.

Mayanna (Brama): Hmm.

Ian (Hima): Buck up. It's not that serious.

Mayanna (Brama): It really isn't, is it?

[Music ends].

Ian: So I sit back down at the table, pour myself a little bit more wine, [SFX: wine pouring] and, and just smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

Mayanna: Mmhm.

Ian: I just say,

Ian (Hima): Would anyone care to rejoin me?

Mayanna (Brama): Yes!

Mayanna: And I also drink. [SFX: wine pouring].

Reed: I present the book to Inspector Ravona.

[Music begins: low, energetic synths].

Reed (General Shinmar): as a protectorate of our lovely city, I believe you don't own this volume detailing its marvelous history. I wish you to take this home with you to reminisce on why we do this for.

Mischa: Ravonna looks it over, runs her fingers over the cover.

Mischa (Ravonna): Beautiful, gorgeous detail.

Mischa: Flips it open and scans the first few pages. Ibra, I think that's probably when you rejoin, the last person to rejoin the group.

Bex: I walk in quietly to that side of the table. I place the flowers that I've collected right next to Brama's plate.

Mayanna: Mmmm.

Bex: One of each flower right next to Brama's plate, and I walk around to the other side of Ravonna. I bow and I say,

Bex (Ibra): I deeply apologize for my behavior. It was unacceptable. I am deeply remorseful for how I've acted in your presence.

Mischa: Will you either roll Persuasion or Deception?

Mayanna: Ugh.

Reed: Ugh, do you have any more debts that you can burn? Also, does me giving a book count as getting a debt on Ravonna?

Ian: That’s a gift.

Mischa: Yes.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 11.

Mischa: Ravonna turns only slightly over her shoulder, not quite all the way to look at you, but just enough to acknowledge, and says,

Mischa (Ravonna): Good.

Mischa: She sort of drifts back into this book and furrows her brow and flips a couple of pages. She looks back up to the general and, gives a kind of look that's like, “is this what I think?”

Reed: I give a nod, because you can't see it on podcast.

Mischa: Not on visual media, baby!

Bex & Mayanna: Yeah!

Reed: I think there's just a very almost kind and warm nod, because I'm assuming this is a good thing.

Mischa: Ravonna, carefully lays the cover back down onto the book and pats it twice.

Mischa (Ravonna): A generous gift.

Reed (General Shinmar): You've been most generous with your time, I only hope I can repay such a gift you've given me.

Mischa (Ravonna): I am flattered for this gift you've given me and my office and these gifts–

Mischa: And she gestures to your children.

Reed: Yep.

Mayanna: Oh, no.

Mischa (Ravonna): –that you have given to the city.

Reed: Yep.

Bex: DM?

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Did I see anything over her shoulder, Ravona's shoulder, before she closed the book?

Mischa: Now see, Bex, I know your character sheet has a perception stat, [Laughter] so why don't you go ahead and roll it.

Mayanna: So you called us gifts–[Dice rolls]–out loud to everybody, or was that a sidebar between just the two of you?

Mischa: Oh, no, that was out loud to everybody.

Reed: It was out loud.

Mayanna: I immediately, I'm, I'm so locked in right now.

Reed: Mm.

Bex: 22.

Ian: Oh shit!

Reed: Give us that plot! Give us that lore! Woo!

Bex: I love a lore dump.

Reed: Lore.

Mischa: What you can see in those first few pages is the genesis of the city. In the early days of New Prosper, it contains information about how they decided on the site. It tells of an offensive that General Shinmar led to clear out a massive population of Balverox.

Mayanna & Reed: Oh.

Mischa: It describes the miracle under the surface and how General Shinmar was instrumental in tracking down and sourcing Astra in the early days of the settlement in the later days of the war.

Bex: I immediately, mentally speak to Paz and say,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey, indicating a text] Text the group.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Reed: Ooh.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] We have a book to steal.

[Gasps and exclamations].

Ian: Bum bum bum!

Reed: The plot thickens!!

Mayanna: Ahhhh.

Mischa: She pulls out her compad and starts texting, and the doors to the kitchen swing open [SFX: doors open] and the main course arrives.

[Music ends].

Mayanna & Reed: Oh my god.

Ian: (french accent) Your course premiere.

[Chuckles].

Mischa: The kitchen staff comes out and serves, like, pretty large portions of pasta bolognese. High protein, high carb for that military life.

Reed: And lots of gluten.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, Immediately, Paz is in the middle of texting the Pazology group chat.

Reed: Oh my god.

Mischa: And they lay down the plate in front of her and she, like, it's like, stops her and she makes this face. And she–

Mayanna: Uh-oh.

Bex (Ibra): Mother, you know Paz can't eat this.

Mischa (Paz): I'm so sorry, General Shinmar. I can't, I can't really eat this.

Reed: General Shinmar looks at the plate, almost as if poison has been put down in front of Paz, because it has!

Bex: Mmhm.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Music begins: high metallic, percussive pulses].

Reed: looks over at Ibra, there is an actual look of just actual shock and concern, and then, I believe the server, I kind of make a small motion.

Mischa: Comes over and like leans down so that you can whisper in their ear.

Reed: And I think, it is a whisper, but I think whoever has a good perception might be able to hear it.

Mayanna: I’m also like next to you, so I'm sure I can hear it.

Reed (General Shinmar): Now, I believe we've discussed, we've had Paz, who's come to our home for quite some time, how long have you worked here?

Mischa: Uh–a servant I have to make up on the spot has only worked here in the past few months. It's so hard to keep a good staff on hand.

Reed: Mmhm. There’s a moment… looking, looking, looking.

Reed (General Shinmar): Emil, you came highly recommended, this is so disappointing. Pack you knives and go.

Mischa (Emil): Yes, ma'am, of course.

Reed (General Shinmar): Tell them to bring Paz's food out before you leave.

Mayanna (Brama): I'll ha– I'll handle it. Ensuring no more mistakes.

Mischa: Brama, you take the plate back into the kitchen.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: Emil follows you, and dejectedly, speaking to no one, making eye contact with no one, simply starts packing their things.

Mayanna: Mhmm, mhmm.

Mischa: You head in and, grab the specially prepared meal that Paz has. The entire staff wants to make sure that the main meal is perfect, and so, what gets left for Paz is, like, it's well prepared, it's well plated, but it's still, astra-generated food.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: You pick up a plate of Green Pyramid.

Mayanna: Okay, Green Pyramid. Better than Brown Cube!

Bex: Brown cube!

Reed: Better than Brown Cube! Better than Brown Cube, but Green Pyramid?

Mayanna: I think if the staff are, I doubt I'm in the kitchen often.

Mayanna (Brama): I would recommend everybody here, if you want to keep your jobs, double check the dishes for the rest of the evening. Got it? Thank you.

Mayanna: And then I leave.

Mischa: Simultaneously everyone in the kitchen goes, “Yes, Chef!”

Mayanna: (Laughs).

Bex: Behind!

[Laughter]

Mayanna: And then I, I, I like, plate it for Paz, and then I take my seat again.

[Music ends].

Mischa (Paz): Th-thanks, Brama.

Bex: Thanks Brahmbles.

Mischa: And she takes a fork, and she like, tentatively pokes the top point of the pyramid.

Reed: Mm

Ian: Does it jiggle?

Mischa: Yeah, it jiggles a little bit.

Mayanna: Of course it jiggles, it’s green pyramid!

Mischa: It’s green pyramid!

Reed: It's a puree!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, it's, it's sort of like It's like a second- or third-hand memory of food.

Reed: Oh, it's describing the memory of the memory of broccoli.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: And it's, it's, listen, it doesn't, it tastes bad. It's, it's like very nutritious, but it's, it's such an abstract food stuff.

Mayanna: Yeah, It's functional.

Mischa: It's so, it's so–

Ian: You know what it reminds me of? Lunchables has just started selling pre-made grilled cheese sandwiches–

Bex & Mayanna: Oh no

Ian: –in shrink wrapped containers.

Mischa: That's gonna be a hefty no thank you from me.

Mayanna: There’s also those Smuckers like Pre–like, packaged bread circles with cheese inside.

Reed: Oh no, I thought we were gonna say Uncrustable, and I was like, offended.

Mayanna: It's an Uncrustable, but a cheese Uncrustable.

Reed: A grilled cheese Uncrustable?!

Mayanna: Yeah, it's a grilled cheese Uncrustable.

Bex: No!

Reed: Don’t, don’t, mmhm.

Ian: And it's, like, perfectly, like, factory made, toasted on one time.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, pressed.

Bex: I'm so glad I can't eat any of that.

Mischa: (Laughs).

Reed: I'm upset.

Mayanna: Yeah

Ian: And they're selling it to kids.

Mayanna: I know, we're eating it.

Reed: We're eating that up.

Bex: I think, Ibra, in an effort to lighten the mood, starts telling stories about playing on the front lawn, the three of us, wonderful training sessions with mother, of course.

[Music begins: low, melancholic synths].

Mayanna: Wonderful, of course.

Bex (Ibra): My favorite one was the ceremony where we all got our weapons. You remember that?

Mayanna (Brama): Of course I do.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, you still have yours.

Mayanna (Brama): I still have mine. I use it all the time. I have been especially using mine lately with this job.

Mischa: Ravonna nods and says,

Mischa (Ravonna): Yes, Brama's prowess with the chakram is impressive.

Mayanna (Brama): Thank you. Mother trained me well. She is the best. Genuinely.

Mischa (Ravonna): I have heard many tales of your prowess, General Shinmar. I understand you were a force on the battlefield.

Reed (General Shinmar): Why, thank you.

Mischa (Ravonna): It seems that Brama is following directly in your footsteps, a rising star.

Mayanna (Brama): Would we perhaps regale Inspector Ravona with a drill?

Bex (Ibra): (Gasp). Yes, please.

[Music shifts: energetic, playful but quiet synths].

Reed (General Shinmar): I'd be delighted to.

Mayanna (Brama): The courtyard is always prepared for such occasions.

Ian: Oh my god.

Reed (General Shinmar): Do, let’s.

Reed: And a very militaristic standing up.

[SFX: chairs creaking].

Mayanna: Mmhm. I stand up, yes.

Reed: There is, man, Brama throwing curveballs, everyone's throwing so many curves!

[Chuckles].

Ian: I know, I want to roll an insight check on the general.

Mayanna: Ooooh!

Bex: I want to roll one on Brama.

Reed: Dual insight!

Mischa: Okay. Go ahead and make your rolls.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: I rolled a 15.

Bex: 19.

Mischa: So each of you can ask one question of your subject.

Mayanna & Reed: Ooohh.

Mischa: Why don't we go with Hima first?

Reed: What you got, Hima?

Ian: I mean, it just, to me, it looked like you looked very ruffled just now. Yeah, I say,

Ian (Hima): Mother. You don't look the happiest. What are you worried is going to happen?

Reed: I, I want to give what she replies and what you get mentally.

Ian: Yeah, great.

Reed: I think, mentally you get there's this moment of, “oh, sparring at the dinner? That's,-that's-that's uncouth. It's in the rule book that no sparring happens during dinner.”

Ian: Got it.

Reed: You think there's that first moment of that's the worry of, “This is a break of code. This is a break of conduct.” I want to add a little more though. It's again, that moment of that beast gets a little riled at the idea of like, “my favorite thing!” But this is a creature that has to be put down so often. At the moment it gets happy. It's like, no, no, we, we must be polite in society.

Ian: Got it.

Reed: She merely speaks and just goes,

Reed (General Shinmar): I only hope that this is entertainment for Inspector Avona. I wouldn't wish her to be bored during such things.

Mischa (Ravonna): I find such displays of talent, especially that of the illustrious Bracha-Shinmar clan, to be most impressive.

Reed (General Shinmar): We shall do our best to impress.

Mischa: Ibra, how'd you do on your insight?

Mayanna: 19.

Bex: 19.

Mischa: 19? Go ahead and ask your question of Brama.

Bex (Ibra): Oh dear sibling.

Mayanna (Brama): Mmhm.

Bex (Ibra): As much as I do love watching you spar, especially with mother, what are you hoping to get from her?

Reed: (Under breath) Yes yes yes.

Mayanna (Brama): From mother?

Bex (Ibra): Yes.

Mayanna (Brama): One, to demonstrate that I can handle this. And two, hopefully, to demonstrate to her that like, that it is no longer necessary that you need to be a part of this.

Reed: I love that.

Mayanna (Brama): And perhaps, if Inspector Ravona sees that a mother is still quite capable in the battlefield, maybe getting her out of the house.

Reed & Bex: Ooh.

Bex: I love that.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: gentle, twinkling chime synths].

Mischa: Yeah. Ooh. So interesting. [SFX: Doors crashing open] Brama, you, head to the armory of the estate and grab your chakram. [SFX: metallic scrape of blade against blade] Two round, bladed throwing weapons. What’s up?

Bex: Does Warden's Mark, does the person have awareness?

Mayanna: Hmm.

Reed: Hmm.

Bex: Or do they just have it disadvantaged without really understanding why?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: I think that anybody who weren't your siblings wouldn't know why.

Bex: But what about my mother?

Mayanna: (Excitedly) Mhmm mhmm mhmm.

Reed: Whoa! Twist!

Mayanna: Mmhm. No, you're a genius. You're a genius.

Mischa: No, I don't think so.

[Gasps and excitement].

Bex: Warden's Mark. [SFX: thrum of magic]. Mother.

Mayanna (Brama): Ooohh. Wait, so does that mean that I have disadvantage?

Bex: She has disadvantage on attacks against you.

Reed: Yo!

Mayanna: Okay, got it. Got it, got it, got it, got it, got it.

Reed: I forgot that Warden's Mark was a bad thing, I thought it was a, was a boon, and I was like–

Bex: Oh, it's a boon for Brama!

Reed: Exactly, I was like, why are you booning me? I'm a, I'm naughty!

[Music ends].

Mayanna: No.

Mischa: Okay.

Reed: Here we go.

[SFX: Door opens]. [Music begins: tense percussive synths].

Mischa: You head out to the lawn and arm up. Brama, you take a comfortable stance. General, you draw your hipside sword in a flourish, [SFX: sword unsheathing, swishing through the air] and you face each other across the track.

Reed (General Shinmar): Let's see your skills.

Mayanna (Brama): That'll be fun, won't it?

Mischa: And Brama, you catch a brief flash of something feral across your mother's face.

Mayanna: Yeah, and I think I'm glad. I think I, I think this is what I wanted. (chuckles).

Bex: I think you hear the sound in your head that Warden's Mark makes.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, you can feel the familiar buzz of magic.

Bex: And you know it's not on you.

Mayanna: (Sighs). Okay.

Mischa: Brama and General Shinmar, go ahead and roll attack rolls on each other.

Reed: Okay.

Mischa: General Shinmar, you're going to roll with disadvantage because of Warden's Mark.

Reed: I am.

Mayanna: Mmm.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: Ibra, what's your usual addition to attack rolls?

Bex: Plus… Five?

Mischa: Okay, so Brama, you're gonna add plus five to your roll.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: General, you're gonna add plus seven.

Reed: Okay.

Bex: Oh, shit.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Twelve.

Reed: Uh.. eleven.

Ian: Oh!

Mischa: Oh my god!

Bex: Holy crap!

Mischa: The wind whistles through the courtyard, [SFX: wind gusting, leaves rustle] waiting for either of you to twitch and make the first move. You stand stock still, waiting for the premier moment to strike. [SFX: thunder cracks in the distance] Brama, you catch the first hints of a snarl across your mother's face, and you know this is your moment.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Mischa: You lunge forward and strike, [SFX: metallic slicing] and a slim trickle of blood runs down your mother's cheek.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Ravona, on the front steps of the house, catches your eye, Brama, and nods graciously, and starts a small clap. [SFX: polite clapping]

Bex: Ibra starts just absolutely howling, and I'm like,

Bex (Ibra): Brama! Go Brahmbles!

Mayanna: (laughing) I think I'm gonna do a performance check and see if I do a nice bow. We'll see how that goes. That is the same number again, it's 11.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: A little one.

Mischa: Yeah, just sort of like, curt and very militaristically. Ravona says,

Mischa (Ravonna): Incredible! A rising star.

[Claps].

Reed: I think there's a, she claps as she kind of stands and just nods to you.

Reed (General Shinmar): Well done.

Mayanna (Brama): Thank you, mother.

Bex (Ibra): Dinner and a show!

Mayanna: (laughs) I think like against my better judgment, I, I, I chuckle cause I can't help it around Ibra.

[Music begins: gentle, melancholic piano].

Ian: I'm, I think Hima's silent the whole time cause they know how potentially bad that is going to go for Brama in the long run.

Mayanna & Mischa: Mmhm.

Mayanna: I think, I go to inspector Ravona and I just say like.

Mayanna (Brama): My siblings are gifts, but I believe I am more than capable of handling the responsibility of this role on my own.

Mischa: Ravonna claps you on the shoulder.

Mischa (Ravonna): I believe in you, Brama. You have everything it takes to keep this city safe.

Mischa: And, in the background, Paz kind of grips Ibra's shoulder tight and says, in your mind,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Not everything.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Bex: I put my hand on Paz’s and don't say anything.

[Music ends].

Bex (Ibra): Hey, that was possibly the best entertainment of any of the dinner parties in the last 20 years. I would argue that we should end on a high note. What do you think, mother?

Reed (General Shinmar): I think that's a very sound decision, Ibra. Walk with me, would you?

Bex (Ibra): Of course.

Reed (General Shinmar): Brama, I believe the night’s in your very capable hands,

Mayanna (Brama): Of course.

Ian (Hima): Well, this was interesting indeed. Good night, everyone. I'll be in the east wing.

Mayanna (Brama) & Bex (Ibra): (Simultaneously) Good night, Heembo.

Ian (Hima): Hmm.

Reed: And I think I stroll with you kind of down the driveway that you were just strolling down.

[Music begins: low ambient piano, later joined by curious chime synths].

Reed (General Shinmar): It's always good to see you, Ibra.

Bex (Ibra): And you, mother.

Reed (General Shinmar): I hope you understand my concerns that I've been having for you and your little group.

Bex (Ibra): I do.

Reed (General Shinmar): What do you think of my concerns?

Bex (Ibra): I think that as my mother, your concerns for my safety are more than valid.

Reed (General Shinmar): And you understand that sometimes as a mother you have to make hard decisions.

Bex (Ibra): I understand that, more than just as a mother, you often have to make hard decisions.

Reed (General Shinmar): I'm glad we could be of that understanding. I feel like there's so much of your life that I don't hear from you. I must hear from others, and it is a shame.

Bex (Ibra): I believe that when it comes from my mouth, you find it distasteful. And when it comes from anyone else's mouths, you find it equally as distasteful. So I am left at an impasse, unaware of how to best explain my situations to you in a way that will bring you the joy that my life brings me.

Reed (General Shinmar): That's most troubling. Brama has inspired me to start asking questions of my children. Ibra, what do you want when all of this is done?

Bex (Ibra): Do you remember how you trained me, Mother?

Reed (General Shinmar): Of course.

Bex (Ibra): I want to train the next generation. I want to be a coach, a teacher, an advocate, a pillar of strength for the community. I want to teach like you taught me, with grace and power.

Reed (General Shinmar): And what I am doing is helping you build towards that dream. I hope you understand that.

Bex (Ibra): I understand how you feel.

Reed (General Shinmar): I think I'm going to have to cut you off for five days.

Bex (Ibra): As you wish, mother.

Reed (General Shinmar): Starting today, I think.

Bex (Ibra): Yes, ma'am.

Reed (General Shinmar): And when you feel the need to buy Astra, do it from something better than a vending machine.

Bex (Ibra): Yes, ma'am.

Reed (General Shinmar): Your siblings spoke well of you tonight. You should thank them.

Bex (Ibra): I will.

Reed (General Shinmar): I look forward to hearing more from you. Stay close to your phone.

Reed: And with that she gives a curt nod and then walks back up to the home.

Bex: I follow a few steps behind.

Mischa: Paz catches you on your way back up the driveway in your mind and goes,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Oof, dude.

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

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Brama): That's the name of the episode.

Bex: Oof, dude. [Laughter].

All: Oof, dude.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] How did I handle that? I blacked out for a minute. Phew. Okay.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Ibra, you were kind of great.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] Thanks, buddy.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] You're greater than you think you are.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] No, I'm just trying my best.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] I think we just gotta make sure we're trying our best for the really important things.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] I think we are. Whether my mother agrees or not.

Mischa: Paz walks down the driveway to meet you, and is speaking to you in your mind as though they were standing next to you, and she telepathically indicates towards your pocket, like just, like, like a, like a buzz in your brain towards, towards your pocket where your pass is and mentally indicates towards the mailbox where the other one is. And goes,

[Music ends].

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] Don't worry about that other stuff. We got real work to do.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: echoey] You couldn't be more right.

[Theme music plays].

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, transcript assistance by Darby Summers, 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 plays and fades out].

Mischa Stanton 10/14/24 Mischa Stanton 10/14/24

1.10 If You Have A House, Live In It

Our heroes are resolved - but are their loved ones so happy about their new mission? Ibra takes their leave. Gordon reveals the hard truth. Fran makes a tiny friend. JJ faces the music.

-- 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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— transcript —

Mayanna: Last time on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: There was just a nice dinner party at Gordon's house, and they cooked stuffed eggplant and yogurt sauce, and everyone had a nice time, and no one had a breakdown, and everything was fine! And that's why the gang needs to get/procure and/or steal some extra funicular passes and also possibly break into the governor's office who is also Paz's dad. Completely normal. Everything is fine. I'm fine! All caught up? Okay, then let's see what's around the bend today on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music fades out].

Mischa: Hello, my lovelies. Welcome back to the show.

Mayanna: Thank you, hi.

Ian: What a start.

Mayanna: It's so nice to be a lovely.

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: What a gift. What a treat.

Ian: But see, now pitch that into a scary voice. And go.

Mischa: Hello, my lovelies. (Mischievous cackle).

Ian: Different vibe. Yup, see.

Lyn: I kinda like it.

Mayanna: Ohhhh. Is this our Halloween episode? (laughs).

Lyn: No.

Mischa: Like mid-fall, I think. Mid-fall.

Mayanna: Hey, that's close!

Lyn: That's relatively close.

Mayanna: That's close to Halloween.

Lyn: All of fall is Halloween.

Mischa: Falloween. That's what we call it in this world.

Mayanna: Falloween, ooh.

Ian: There it is. You beat me to it.

Mischa: Just before we start the game today, I just did want to acknowledge that we're missing a Bex today.

Mayanna: We're sans one lovely.

Lyn: Aw, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. Bex, we miss you.

Mayanna: Yeah, we miss you. You'll be back soon.

Mischa: Bex will be back in two weeks.

Mayanna: Heck yeah!

Mischa: But today it's time to talk to families.

[Music begins: gentle ambient strings].

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: Ahhhh!

Mayanna: Found and biological.

Mischa: Yeah. Last time, you guys had decided that you want some information from JJ's family and that you might need to convince Cecilia to give up her funicular pass–

Ian: Oh, fuck.

Mischa: –so that you guys can get up there. We left off last evening. We're going to pick up the following morning. Gordon, Cecilia has texted you that she's on her way back from the Upper City.

Ian: I believe the words were “I'm disappointed.”

Mayanna: Oh, yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Regret that choice.

Mischa: Yeah?

Ian: I regret that game choice.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: I've been nervous about this for the past two weeks.

Mischa: It was a text message, but like, you could hear her voice behind it–

Mayanna: That disappointment

Mischa: –just like, hammer blows. I think it's maybe rattling around your mind this morning?

Ian: Yeah, oh, yeah, I think, I mean… I, Ian, have been thinking about it since it happened.

Mayanna: Damn.

Ian: I think Gordon's probably sweating.

Mischa: Yeah?

Ian: And like, shaking.

[Music shifts: ethereal reversed tones].

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: Oh.

Lyn: (Sympathetic grumble).

Mayanna: I just feel compelled to say that you didn't actually fail. You lied about failing. You were doing great at Gordon's delivery service.

Ian: I understand. The thing I'm worried about are the consequences.

Mayanna: Of course. Of this lie.

Ian: Of this lie.

Mayanna: I totally understand.

Ian: And I think what's probably gonna happen is I'm gonna have to convince her to give me her pass. But I think my original intention last week was trying to steal it from her at a lunch.

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: Which I just don't think is feasible in any way.

Mischa: How's your sleight of hand, your stealth abilities?

Lyn: (laughs).

Ian: I think they're pretty medium at best.

Lyn: Medium, mhmm.

Mischa & Mayanna: pretty mid.

Ian: Yeah, they're mid as hell.

Mayanna: Oh.

Ian: I just feel like it's gonna not go well. You know what I mean?

Mischa: All right. Well. You can–

Ian: Yeah, plus 3 to stealth.

Mayanna: That’s pretty good

Mischa: –you can ponder tactics all morning because you still have to bake your bread.

Ian: Yes.

Mischa: But, but if this is all you can think about, and you're a little distracted, maybe, maybe instead of just automatically assuming the bread's good today, maybe I would like you to roll for bread.

Ian: Fuck!

All: Oh!

Lyn: Bread roll??

Ian: Oh no!

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Oh no!

Mayanna: Roll for rolls?

Lyn: Roll for rolls.

Ian: Do I get a modifier on it?

Mischa: Yeah, it's your intelligence modifier, and it's with your cook's utensils, so we'll add proficiency to that as well.

Ian: Great. Okay, so that's a plus six.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: I'm gonna roll with the floating dragon eye dice ‘cause it's ominous, and I just feel like so many of my choices today are very ominous. And here we go. [Dice rolls]. Dirty 20.

[Gasps].

Mayanna: Oooh!

Ian: Bread is good.

[Music shifts: gentle, slightly jazzy piano].

Mischa: You have this morning routine so down pat that even distracted by the biggest of concerns, the bread's coming out pristine.

Mayanna: Perfect.

Ian: I'm good at baking! And I'm getting better by the day.

Mischa: Yeah! You know, and I keep, as a GM, I keep wanting to trip you up and admit like, hmm, maybe it's, maybe Gordon's off his game today, but Gordon's never not on his game.

Mayanna: He loves bread.

Ian: You gotta admit, when I turned up the temperature in the entire bakery, that was a pretty slick move.

Mayanna: That was really slick.

Mischa: For you. For you and you alone. Yeah, absolutely.

Ian: For me and me alone.

Mischa: Great, well, then, despite my efforts to trip you up, you get out the door to make your deliveries right on time. As much as I love our little minigame, I think I'm going to forego Gordon's delivery service today.

Ian: Wow, well we do have, yeah, it's probably, I probably don't get to do the delivery service on the day that I'm being punished for failing at the delivery service, rightly or wrongly.

Mischa: Maybe you only make deliveries to Gordon's regulars.

Ian: Sure.

Lyn: Did Celia call in a pinch hitter for the day?

Mischa: So, no matter what I try to do to trip you up, Ian, Gordon's making that bread. And it comes out great every single time.

Ian: Today it was a onion and garlic bread.

Mayanna: Ah, that sounds awesome.

Mischa: Ah, onion rolls.

Lyn: I love a good onion roll, it's so good.

Mischa: Today, as you're finishing up the batches, you hear a knock on the door of your bay. [SFX: knocking].

Ian: Oh no. Oh, I'm so worried. I'm really, I'm actually nervous.

Lyn: Ian is clutching his heart.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Like, clutching it.

Mischa: There's a journeyman baker–

Ian: Ah, okay.

Mischa: –named Chaunce. You see him around, maybe he was like, a few years ahead of you in classes, and just has like, you know, is like, upper classmen, but not, powerful over you energy.

Ian: Got it.

Mischa: Chaunce is a, a half saurid, vaguely humanoid features, but like a flatter nose, and like, scales, but like, maybe not everywhere?

Ian: Sure.

Mischa: Yeah, why not? There's, there's half saurids too.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Heck yeah.

Mischa: And also, just like, a guy who thrives being in front of an oven all day.

Ian: Oh, got it.

Mischa: Like a, just a very natural baker. Just like, yeah, like, as a journeyman, like, really is into his own work and just always seems like he's in his element.

Ian: I love that.

Mischa: Comes in and taps on the doorpost and just says,

Mischa (Chaunce): Uh, hey, Gordon, man?

[Music ends].

Ian (Gordon): Hey, hey! Chaunce, right?

Mischa (Chaunce): Hey, yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Hey, how are you doing?

Mischa (Chaunce): Good, good.

Ian: Patting that flour off myself.

Mischa (Chance): Yeah, oh. Ooh. What, you got onion rolls?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mischa (Chaunce): Oh, nice.

Ian (Gordon): You want to try one?

Mischa (Chaunce): Yeah, I do.

Ian: Toss him an onion roll.

[chuckles].

Mischa: No, I’m not gonna roll for it.

Ian: No, roll for it. No, roll for it!

Lyn: The roll was tossed. Dexterity save.

Mischa: No, you already rolled a dirty 20 for the rolls.

Lyn: Yeah, but did he catch the roll?

Ian: That doesn't speak to any of Chaunce's taste.

Lyn: Did he catch the roll?!

Mayanna: Oh It's like the flirt rolls. It's the taste roll.

Mischa: Okay, sure. Ooh, 19.

Ian: Yeah, that's what I thought. That's what I motherfucking thought, game.

Mayanna: Yes, yes!

[Laughter].

Ian: Okay, I'm back.

Mischa (Chaunce): Oh, so good. These are excellent.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mischa (Chaunce): Oh, the steam all up in my nostrils, so nice.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mischa (Chaunce): Listen, man, Cecilia texted me this morning and just, and told me you were having a little bit of trouble with your delivery routes. Everything okay?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, yeah… oh, yeah, they've just been kind of real tough for me. Struggling just a bit, but Cecilia's gonna talk to me about it this afternoon, so I don't think you have to worry about anything.

Mischa (Chaunce): Sure, yeah, um do you want me to take, take care of some of that delivery for you?

Ian (Gordon): Did Cecilia tell you–?

Mischa (Chaunce): Yeah, she did.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, yeah, sure,

Mischa (Chaunce): I didn't, I didn't, I was just trying not to be a jerk about it, I'm sorry.

Ian (Gordon): No, yeah, that's totally cool, Chaunce, you're not a jerk, I appreciate it.

Mischa (Chaunce): Listen, it's okay, hey, Cecilia's pretty high up in this place for a reason, you know? She takes on a lot of work, and she's good at what she does. It's hard to be at her level. If we all could do it, we would, you know what I mean?

Ian: Yeah, yeah, the jerk thing really came back around on me.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, here, I'm gonna give you the keys,

[Music begins: melancholy synth chimes].

Ian: And I take the keys out of my pocket, [SFX: metal keys clinking], and I've gotten really used to having the double key ring, you know, because it just feels so much more powerful than my single small key ring.

Mischa: Right.

Ian: And I hold the keys for a second and like a single tear comes to my eyes because even though this is for the good of mankind, I really did like having Gordon's delivery service. And then I unhook the big keys, [SFX: metal keys clinking], and I extend my arm out to Chance.

Mayanna: Ah, this hurts me.

Mischa: Chaunce takes the keys–

Ian: Fuck.

Mischa: –and just, like, doesn't, without kind of a second thought, just tosses them in the apron pocket. [SFX: metal keys clinking]. Like, doesn't, doesn't give them anywhere near the reverence that you have given them in this moment.

Mayanna: Aw.

Mischa: Like, you're just like, “these keys are part of me now.” And he's just like, “yeah, cool, whatever.”

Mayanna: Aww. Dang.

Mischa: He goes,

Mischa (Chaunce): Don't worry, man. I gotcha. We're all, we're all one big Baker family here, you know?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. Yeah, totally.

Ian: And then as he's leaving, I turn around, like it's an 80s movie, you know, it's like that really, really, deep moment in an 80s movie.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Ian: And I go,

Ian (Gordon): Hey, Chaunce, this is a really important route, man. Just take care of it.

Mischa (Chaunce): Gotcha. You know what I find, man? I think they're all really important routes, you know?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, they are. Alright man.

Mischa (Chaunce): Okay catch you later!

Ian (Gordon): Okay catch you later.

Mischa: And he like, strolls back out.

Ian (Gordon): Stupid Chaunce.

[Laughter].

Mischa: And Chaunce, you know, I think a couple of guild apprentices come in and load out your trays into Chaunce's tuk-tuk.

Ian: Fuck.

Mischa: What do you do after everything you baked this morning has been loaded out?

Ian: I think I'm standing in my in my, like, baking stall.

Mischa: Mhmm.

[Music ends].

Ian: And it's, like, so much emptier than it's been over the past week. And I got really accustomed to how full it was, just like the keys. And I think I let out a long exhale, and I load up my pallets. To–I don't have the tuk-tuk anymore. So man, how was I doing my deliveries before that? Was I like biking them around?

Mischa: Yeah, probably.

Ian: So walk them out to like a little, you know, like school bike. It's like kind of rickety and rusty [SFX: rickety wheels turning] and has like a much smaller rack for like the four pallets I have as opposed to like the twelve.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: And I like bungee the pallets to the back of the bike.

Mayanna: Oh my god. And you don't even have Boggins anymore. I think you just have one place you deliver to.

Ian: Yeah, I have, I have like literally enough rolls, like I'm just bringing rolls to a friend's house for dinner. Like, this isn't real. This isn't a job.

Lyn: Mmm.

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, you, you head out for your one delivery [SFX: bike wheels on pavement] and, you know, even on your bike, I mean it's slower than the tuk-tuk, but, but you make it out and back, and it's– I think you come back in like the late morning. It's like the earliest you've finished your delivery route in a really long time.

Ian: Mhmm.

Mischa: Cecilia's not back yet.

Ian: Thank God.

Mischa: What do you do while you wait for her?

Mayanna: Sweat.

[Laughter].

Ian: No, I do research.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: (in a lower voice) I do research.

Lyn: Research into what?

Ian: Batman never sleeps.

[Laughter].

Lyn: I thought you were saying you're doing research into Batman.

Ian: What I look into is spells. Mind control spells. Based on what we talked about last week. Do we have a library of any sort? Do we have like an old little nook of a library in the Baker's Guild?

Mischa: Ooh, yeah. I mean you do. I gotta imagine it's mostly–

Ian: Baking.

Mischa: –agrarian and food prep.

Ian: I think I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna start my search.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: And see if I can find anything.

Mischa: Yeah, go ahead and roll arcana. It's gonna be a really high difficulty,

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Like a, like a, such a high roll.

Mayanna: Like 99!

Mischa: No!

Mayanna: Just kidding.

Mischa: Yeah. 1d20 plus something equals 99.

Lyn: Yeah!

Ian: It's a 12.

Mischa: I think the only references to magic you can find with a 12 are like, plant growth, you know, kind of like how to, how to use a light cantrip to increase crop yields, stuff like that.

Mayanna: So relatable.

Lyn: Shape water.

Mischa: Yeah. Irrigation techniques via shape water. Stuff like that.

Ian: A treatise on shaping water, great. Okay, then I, maybe I try to take a nap, that probably doesn't go well, so then I bet what I do is I clean the entire test kitchen. [Hums]. Like all the bays, everything. It's pretty clean because it's a school, but I think I just do like a deep clean on everything. [SFX: cleaning rags wiping across surfaces].

Lyn: Stress cleaning.

Ian: Stress cleaning.

Mayanna: Yeah, good ol’ stress cleaning.

Lyn: Good ol’ stress cleaning.

Ian: Nice little sweaty, [SFX: water running, wet rags scrubbing] don't have to be alone with your thoughts while you clean, while you scrub ovens.

Mischa: Will you roll? Will you roll performance for me?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: Yep. [dice rolls and clatters]. Whoa! 12.

Mischa: 12?

[Laughter].

Ian: Shit.

[Music ends].

Mischa: No, I think as people come in from their own deliveries, other apprentices, like people who only have one or two, or maybe, you know, just like a smattering of places to deliver to that come back from their routes, the earliest people back, spot you cleaning but, don't really think anything of it, kind of like head upstairs for their… mid-afternoon… siesta?

Mayanna: Yes!

Lyn: Yeah!

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Except in this world. It's called a–

Mayanna: Sorstina.

Ian: There it is.

[Laughter].

Ian: I pointed to a random person as I said that just so everyone knows how that happened. The sorstina.

Mischa: Okay,

Mayanna: The sorstina.

[Music begins: gentle low synths with high, ethereal synths]

Mischa: Yeah, so they they go up for their sorstina and just kind of like leave you to your stress cleaning. You know, you, you, Here people stream in after you and don't give them a second thought, you're just sort of using the, the cleaning as like a, a meditative activity, just like to get, to get your thoughts a little clearer, to, to stave off that feeling of–

Ian: Stress.

Mischa: Yeah, to stave off that stress, that anxiety.

Ian: That hook in the center of your sternum that gets all tight.

Mayanna: Oh god.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: Yeah. And I think eventually you do stop lifting your head for every single person who walks through the door. Like drea–Half hoping, half dreading that it's gonna be Cecilia.

Ian: (Loud groan). I'm so stressed about this right now! I know where you're going! This is super cinematic, and I can feel it coming, and I'm stressed. Please continue.

[Laughter].

Mischa: And you're scrubbing away, [SFX: scrubbing] and from behind you, you just hear,

Mischa (Cecilia): You missed a spot.

Ian (Gordon): (sighs) Hey. Hey, Cecilia.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, I was kidding about you missing a spot. Did you clean the entire kitchen?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Wow.

Ian (Gordon): Sorry. I mean, nevermind. Hi.

Mischa (Cecilia): Let's go step into my office, shall we?

Ian (Gordon): (sighs) Yeah. Yeah, let's step into your office.

Mischa: She takes you up to the second floor of the bakery silo and around the railing [SFX: door opens] into a room that looks pretty similar to your baking bay. It's just got like, a couple more ovens in it, a little bit more workspace, a few more racks along the wall, and a desk in one side of the room, which is about twice as large as yours. but, other than like, just sort of a little bit more facility to accommodate the capacity that Cecilia takes on, like pretty similar to all the other kitchens. She gestures you inside and closes the door behind you and takes a seat behind her desk. [SFX: Door closing]. She goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): All right I you know, I don't like to be like, “The Principal” or whatever. (sighs) It's, it, you know, it's disappointing to hear that, you know, I really needed someone to, to come through for me this week, and it's just, it's disappointing to hear, but I want to hear your side of it. So, you want to tell me what happened?

Ian: A couple questions. Not for Cecilia, for you.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Can I see her travel pass? Is it hanging from a necklace? Is it hanging from a waist–?

Mischa: Ooh, yeah. Roll perception.

Mayanna: (gasps) Perception.

[Dice clattering].

Mischa: Yeah, we're in the game now

Mayanna: It’s happening

Ian: Now we're in the game. Now we're playing. Where's my dice?

Mischa: Sometimes I just like when people roll for stuff because it's fun to make people roll dice. But then we go into the game.

Ian: [Dice rolls]. Oh, God. It went poorly.

Mayanna: Uh-oh.

Ian: It went so poorly. 7.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Ooh, That is bad.

Mischa: She didn't walk in carrying it.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: It does look like she just, like, walked right in. You know, she didn't, like, get settled before she came to talk to you. Like, she, so you have to imagine it's on her person. But she didn't, like, come in and toss it onto the desk while she sat down or anything. So you can't, you can't tell where it is.

Ian: Nor is it dangling sort of laissez faire.

Mischa: It’s not like on a carabiner, like a ring of keys.

Ian: Yeah. I take a big, deep breath in. I don't see the pass anywhere. My plan of trying to steal it is quickly falling apart. [Laughter]. So I then just take a big exhale and I say,

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, I'm really sorry. I lied to you.

Mischa (Cecilia): What?

Ian (Gordon): Everything was going great. It was awesome. I loved every second of it.

Mischa (Cecilia): What? Wai–

Ian (Gordon): Also, by the way, this guy at the church, he has a huge crush on you, I think.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): What?!

Ian (Gordon): But we can talk about that another time. It was awesome. But something terrible is happening in New Prosper, and I had to get you back down here, and I have to get your travel pass.

Mischa: Okay, I want you to roll Persuasion with disadvantage.

Mayanna: Oh, no, no.

Ian: Here we go [dice rolls] (groans)

Lyn: Oh no.

Ian: Okay, Well, it's a 6.

Mayanna: No!

Mischa (Cecilia): Hold on. Hold on. What what are you talking about?

Ian (Gordon): (Groans).

Mischa: (Cecilia): So so take me back to I didn't hear anything from the clients. I assume I would have heard if something was going wrong. So I was kind of confused when you, so now, so everything went great?!

Ian (Gordon): Everything went great.

Mischa (Cecilia): So I didn't have to come back here.

Ian (Gordon): Maybe.

Mischa (Cecilia): Gordon!

Ian (Gordon): I know! I know it's bad.

Mischa (Cecilia): Did you think I wasn't doing anything important up there?

Ian (Gordon): I know you were doing incredibly important things, but everybody in New Prosper might be under a mind control spell. I know how this sounds!

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh, everyone in New Prosper is under a mind control spell? That's ridiculous. Who even– how would you even do that?

Ian (Gordon): I don't know! I don't know, and I need to figure it out, but– Okay wait, I'm gonna start over. Breathe, Gordon, breathe,

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, breathe.

Ian: I'm like shaking. I'm sweating in my palms.

Mischa: Yeah, she leans back in her chair and folds her arms, very–

Mischa (Cecilia): This better be good.

[Music shifts: conspiratorial piano and synths].

Ian (Gordon): Okay, as of about four days ago, myself and Fran and Ibra and JJ have all been wrapped up in crazy ghost encounters and mysterious people throwing bridge bombs and government cover ups, and it might go all the way up to the highest level. There is a very real chance that the answers that we need to solve whatever is going on are up in the Constellation. We have to get up to the Constellation, and we have to, and I swear, please do not scoff at me! (Quickly) Break into the governor's house, maybe.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): (Scoff in disbelief).

Ian (Gordon): I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. But just stop. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Think about it. Has anything strange been happening for you recently? Have you noticed anything weird?

Lyn: Does she remember being at Boggins's?

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, Boggins, remember Boggins's with the ghost?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I remember the ghost.

Ian: Oh! Oh!! Okay.

[Shouts, exclamations]

Lyn: WAIT CECILIA REMEMBERS?!

Mayanna: Holy shit.

Ian: Wait, wait, wait.

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, I need you to text Samira right now. And ask her if she remembers the ghost at Boggins.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay…

Mischa: Cecilia taps away on her compad for a minute and sends off a message.

Ian: And then I look at her and while we're waiting I say,

Ian (Gordon): Do you remember how scary that was?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Do you remember how intense of an experience that was?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Wouldn't it be crazy if someone didn't remember it?

Mischa (Cecilia): That would be wild.

Mischa: And as soon as she says that, the compad buzzes on her desk. [SFX: device buzzing].

Mischa (Samira): [SFX: Staticky filter, indicating a text] No, why does everyone keep asking?

Mischa (Cecilia): That would be wild.

Ian (Gordon): We are in the middle of something terrifying and scary and other synonyms for words that have to do with fear.

[Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): And I wish I could explain better what it is, but the answers that we need to do that are up in the Constellation.

Mischa (Cecilia): Damn.

Ian (Gordon): And I wouldn't have asked you to come back and lied to you–I'm so sorry–if it didn't seem like it was the most important thing in the city, ever.

[Music ends].

Mischa (Cecilia): So you lied to me. To get me down here quickly.

Ian (Gordon): Well, I lied to you because I was going to try and steal your pass, but that is neither here nor there.

Mischa (Cecilia): (sighs) Gordon, I, really?

Ian (Gordon): I know. It's so bad.

Mischa (Cecilia): I appreciate your current honesty.

[Laughter].

[Music begins: ominous low synths]

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. (Sighs) Yeah, it would be really weird if there was some kind of wraith attack and nobody who saw it remembered it. Just like the other day...

Ian (Gordon): What happened? Wait, what? What happened the other day?

Mischa (Cecilia): So, I've been in the Constellation all week, or I was supposed to be in the Constellation all week. I'm up there with reps from the Greengrocers Guild and the Shepherds Guild. It's like a summit, a meeting of the minds. We're meeting with reps in the Upper City just to make contact and we're talking to people on city council. You know, we do this every, about every year. We just renegotiate the contracts with the city, making sure all of our members are looked after. It was day one of proceedings, and we were taking a break, we were on like a recess, I was out getting lunch with Viridia, she was the rep for the Greengrocers, and we were just walking by, I, I saw one of the city council reps walking, minding their own business on the street, and one of those things appeared. That thing that we saw at Boggins.

Ian (Gordon): Another wraith appeared?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, it was crazy.

Ian (Gordon): Just in the middle of the street?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, people were running, people were screaming, it came after that city council rep. I did the same thing I did at Boggins. I was just trying to keep bystanders safe, you know. I sort of lost track of it. At one point, I think some people showed up to, to fight it off. Like a, like a team of, like a–

Ian (Gordon): Like a government team?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, like a response team came to sort of contain the situation.

Ian (Gordon): Do you remember seeing a woman with a big pickaxe with a giant piece of astra in it?

Mischa (Cecilia): yeah, I do. Like a, like a saurid lady with like a red stripe on her neck.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I did see her.

Ian (Gordon): We know her.

Mischa (Cecilia): I also saw–This is gonna sound really crazy. Is there any chance Ibra was there?

Ian (Gordon): Wait, what?

Lyn: No, there's no chance.

Ian: No? Didn't Ibra just go up?

Lyn: This was day one of proceedings, that was a few days ago.

Mischa: Yeah, it was a few days ago.

Lyn: Also, we know that–this is out of game–

Ian: Yeah, no, but you know.

Lyn: Ibra has–is one of three triplets.

Ian: Yeah yeah yeah.

Mayanna and Ian: (escalating yells of realization) Ahhhhhh! Ah!! Ahhhh!

Ian (Gordon): No! no, no, Ibra wasn't there. Was there someone there who looked like Ibra?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, you sure?

Ian (Gordon): What did that person look like?

Mischa (Cecilia): Lean and muscular, bluish skin, I guess?

Ian (Gordon): Just like Ibra.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): No, Ibra was with us the entire time.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, weird. Um, yeah, and these people, they came and contained it, and, you know, they saved the city council rep's life, I guess? They evacuated nearby buildings? You know, people were really concerned. We cancelled negotiations for that day, and we were supposed to pick up yesterday, and Viridia and I were, you know, we met like for coffee beforehand, and we were like, so we're definitely gonna bring this up to the, the, in negotiations, how to, how to keep people safe when something like that happens, and no, we were the only two who knew anything about it.

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Mischa (Cecilia): They like, kind of paused negotiation. They like called us crazy and told us to that they were gonna pause negotiations until we'd like.. be rational. It was very disrespectful.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, so that saurid lady, she knows this is happening. She was at Boggins. She works for the governor's office. Now, let me ask you this.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay?

Ian (Gordon): Why would the people in charge be trying to hide whatever is happening from everybody, because even if other people don't remember, why aren't they telling us so that we can take precautions? Think about it.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, that's, that's true.

Ian (Gordon): I don't know what is going on, but as of last night, me and JJ and Fran and Ibra and Paz…

Mischa (Cecilia): Paz?

Ian (Gordon): Paz is working with us. Paz can shoot lightning!

Mischa (Cecilia): What??

Ian (Gordon): Out of the hand. Hand lightning.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. Listen, I, I took a huge insult to people calling me crazy when I was describing objective things I experienced. So I'm not, I'm not gonna pass judgment on the thing you just said, I guess, except… (Sputters) How?!

Ian (Gordon): I'm gonna, I don't know, I'm gonna show it to you though, we'll show it to you.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Ian: So then I can, I tell you that story, I say exactly what happened with the other wraith, and the, and I just recap that whole story to you.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): So, here's the deal.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Very few people remember and know what is happening, and you’re one of them. We have to get up to the Constellation, but more importantly, I don't know anyone who's more capable than you in this entire city.

Mischa (Cecilia): Thank you.

Ian (Gordon): You're welcome. The compliment is really for me to ask you—I need your fucking help.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. Um... shit. Bleh. I'm supposed to be up there for a week. I'm supposed to be like, in the room fighting for the rights of the guild members.

Ian (Gordon): Can you say you're sick?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, but then, then who's in the room, man? I gotta think of my people. That's my whole gig.

Ian (Gordon): They're not going to be around, I don't think, if this continues.

Mischa (Cecilia): But if they are, someone's gotta fight for the next day.

Ian (Gordon): Okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): Plus, Ambrose, head of the guild, like, he– I'm gonna be in huge trouble with him.

Ian (Gordon): Because you left?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, because I, I’m AWOL.

Ian (Gordon): You didn't tell them you were leaving?

Mischa (Cecilia): I told them I was coming down to handle you.

Ian (Gordon): So they know you left, they know you're down here.

Mischa (Cecilia): Right, but I have to go back.

Ian (Gordon): (groans) Okay. Okay, okay, okay, think, think.

Mischa (Cecilia): But you're, but you're right. You're, man, that's so heavy. You're-you're absolutely right.

Ian (Gordon): Is there any way you could smuggle me up with you?

Mischa (Cecilia): Uh…

Mayanna: (whispers) Bag of holding.

Ian: (Excited stammering).

[Music ends].

Lyn: No, no, no living creatures can go in the Bag of Holding.

Ian: No, I didn't know that rule.

Mayanna: I know.

Lyn: I'm so sorry, I don't want you to die via Bag of Holding.

Mayanna: I know.

Ian: And that's how we lost Gordon in one fell swoop.

Mischa: It was so close.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: You can't, yeah, you can't survive in the Bag of Holding.

[Music begins: gentle, hopeful piano].

Mischa: She's on the same page as you. She's obviously seen something that makes her want to believe all these things you're saying. And I think one of the last things is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Just so I have it clear: Delivery's? Going fine?

Ian (Gordon): Great, so good.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey man, nice work.

Ian (Gordon): Thanks, really, it was such an honor.

Mischa: Will you roll a new persuasion with advantage this time?

Lyn: Ooooohhh!

[Laughter].

Ian: I thought you were speaking as Cecilia for a second.

Mayanna: I love it.

Ian: [Dice rolls]. Yeah, sick. That's a 21.

Mayanna: Oh, yeah!

Lyn: Do you want to see if you can get a natural 20? Just for fun?

Ian: Yeah, let's see if I get a natural 20. [Dice rolls]. Oh, I didn't, but I stalled the die on the exact same number.

Mischa: That was pretty sick.

Ian: 21, 21. And it's a little, it's a little corner box stall.

Mayanna: Oh, that’s great

Ian: Like I'm on a skateboard.

Mischa: Yeah. You guys sort of put your heads together, and I think Cecilia comes around to the conclusion that you're at the center of it, that you know what's going on with strange things she's experiencing. And that if everything was going great, that you're equipped to handle it, you know, you guys try to put your heads together to come up with some kind of scheme where she like smuggles you in a suitcase or puts you, you know, somehow to get you, the both of you up there and she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Ugh. If time is a factor, man, you gotta go.

Mischa: And she reaches in her pocket, and she hands you her pass.

Ian: (Gasps).

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Oohhh.

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, I can't tell you how much this means to me.

Ian: And I give her a huge hug.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Strained) Oh, uh–

Ian (Gordon): (Rushing) You're the best boss anyone could ever have, Cecilia. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. I'm never gonna forget it. Thank you so, so, so much.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Strained) Yeah, okay, no problem, thanks man.

Ian (Gordon): (releases her) Okay, okay. Got a lot of planning to do. By the way, we don't have the evidence yet, but I really, really do think that the entire city is being controlled by some sort of mind control spell. I'm just gonna pass that to you in case anything occurs to you while I'm up in the Constellation.

[Music ends].

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I'll, you know. Keep my eye out for that.

[Music begins: bittersweet, hopeful piano].

Ian (Gordon): Cool. Well.

Ian: I hold up the pass. I go,

Ian (Gordon): This means a lot.

Mischa (Cecilia): Don't waste it, man.

Ian (Gordon): I won't.

Ian: And then I like flip the pass around my finger like it's like a spinning smoking gun. Put it in my side pocket of my flour-y apron. And I saunter out the door like a cool cowboy.

Mischa: Cecilia follows you out and like watches you go out into the sunlit day, task completed, and she looks around at the spotless kitchen, and she, she didn't receive any texts from any clients that were unhappy with your work. She, you know, you were, if you were lying, then there's only proof that you were doing an excellent job. And she sighs with satisfaction, and she goes,

[Music ends].

Mischa (Cecilia): Did he say that guy from the church had a crush on me?

[Laughter].

[Midroll theme plays and fades out]

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. As always, we reserve this space on the Rest Stop post board thingy for our patrons, over at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod, thank you so much for coming on board, Helen W, for sticking with us, Voyager level patron JWX, and we are so excited to announce our first cartographer level patron, Mubarak D! We are so, so grateful to have you helping us chart a course. Not only does Mubarak also get a shout out in every episode, but they also get early access to each new episode. Plus, behind the screen game mechanics, bloops for every drop, and whatever else we can cook up. If any of those things appeal to you, or honestly, if you just want to help give us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, please sign up with us for even just a few dollars per episode. One more time, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

We're sponsored this week by United by Blue. United by Blue is a fashion and lifestyle brand that prioritizes sustainable materials and ethical manufacturing to lead the charge towards better business practices. For every product purchased, United by Blue removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways. Get it? Blue for the ocean! They've removed over 3. 5 million pounds so far, and from picking up the plastic bottles that litter our shorelines to cleaning up their own packaging and supply chains, they're on a mission to eliminate single use plastic. From non-toxic regenerative fibers that keep harmful pesticides out of the environment, to recycled fabrics that put existing trash to good use, they do their best to keep it clean from the very start. Their products are created to last, because the best way to be a conscious consumer is to ultimately consume less. They make this attainable by designing products that facilitate new ways to generate less waste, like take-it-with-you meal kits and reusable coffee cups. Now listen, I I have a little bit of NeuroSpicy going on with me, so shopping for clothes that have just the right fabric and just the right feel is a little bit more of a challenge. It takes me forever to find just the right clothing that fits my life, that feels good, that is sustainable in this fast-fashion economy. God, it's just terrible, isn't it? So I'm really excited to have United by Blue as a sponsor because they are trying to pave the way forward. So if that interests you, go to unitedbyblue.com and use code WANDERINGPATH to get 20 percent off your first order. That's unitedbyblue.com and code WANDERINGPATH to get 20 percent off your order.

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

[Midroll theme plays and fades out]

Mischa: Well, while Gordon was getting a hold of a funicular pass and also Cecilia's expectations and thoughts about him…

Ian: Success?

Lyn: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, honestly, pretty successful.

Mayanna: I'd say he made out pretty fucking great.

Mischa: While all that was going on, JJ.

[Music begins: ethereal, ambient synths]

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky] Okay, Fran, I’m so sorry, if we’re gonna get to my family’s place all the way in Hillside, we’re gonna have to take the bus and it's gonna be a long time. I'm so sorry for waking you up–

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] I ride the bus all the time.

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] No, I just mean that I'm sorry for having to wake you up this early.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] That's fine, I get up this early anyway.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Really?

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Yeah…

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh. I guess I also wake up early. I don’t know, I just expect other people to not…

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] I mean I’m still kinda on Boggin’s time.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh.

[Soundscape begins: birds tweeting, the occasional car or motor in the distance, gentle winds].

Mischa: You guys wake up early and catch a bus clear across the city over to Hillside, a sleepy community on the east side of town, resting up against the foot of the nearby mountain. The streets of Hillside are made up of rows and rows of single family homes, arranged into a picturesque suburban ideal. It's a quieter district, less of the noise and bustle of the city center. More lawnmowers and the distant sound of children playing in a nearby manicured park. Because Hillside tends to be the place you move to when you've got your career firmly under you and you can afford to move out to a quieter, safer place to start raising a family. You know, it's the kind of place where they say the schools in Hillside are very good.

[Laughter].

Lyn: They do say that here.

Mischa: JJ, you're waiting at the bus stop when Fran's bus pulls up [SFX: bus brakes squealing, door opening] and Fran disembarks at the Hillside Stop. And, and you guys walk down through the lanes up to the Calderon house.

Lyn: I'm walking my bike, alongside me.

Lyn (JJ): So, okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Lyn (JJ): I guess you met Paul. Paul's great.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Yeah, of course. Paul is great.

Lyn (JJ): At the worksite. you haven't met my other dad. You haven't met my aunt or my grandmother or my baby sibling.

Mayanna (Fran): They all live in this house?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): you know, if you have a house, live in it. Um.. uh..

Mayanna (Fran): [00:35:00] Right. So how many generations are we talking about in this house right now?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, I guess technically three total. My grandmother and my parents and my aunt and then, well I don't live here anymore since I live on campus, but baby sibling and then future baby sibling. Also, my, my grandma's a little bit old school, so when you come in, she will offer her hand to you, and then you take her hand and put it up to your forehead as like a little bow of respect.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, okay.

Lyn (JJ): She's great. I think my aunt is really gonna love you. You know, all my family are either tinkers or craftsmen of various capacities, so it runs in the family.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you okay?

Lyn (JJ): I'm just a little nervous. I’m nervous, I’m nervous.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, that's okay.

Lyn (JJ): I'm, I'm happy you're here. I'm genuinely very happy you're here.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I think my family will really love you. I hope you like them.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm sure I will love them.

Lyn (JJ): I hope they’re not–

Mayanna (Fran): You're great. We're friends. I love you.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I love you too.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Do we say that a lot? I don't know if we say that a lot.

Mayanna (Fran): No, but we can.

Lyn (JJ): We should make it known.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): That's nice.

Mayanna (Fran): I love you, friend.

Lyn (JJ): I love you.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Fucking adorable!

Mayanna: I just hug JJ for a second. I, and I, I hold, I think I put like a hand on your head, and I just kind of, like, hope that you, like, settle into that for a second.

Lyn (JJ): (Sigh). Okay. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): It's gonna be great.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): You’re welcome.

Lyn (JJ): we're all of Dwarven heritage, etc. So my family is older, all of everyone there, obviously, aside from my baby sibling.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Do they all have beards?

Lyn (JJ): Huh?

Mayanna (Fran): Do they all have beards?

Lyn (JJ): I don't have a beard.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I know you don't have a beard, but I thought maybe that was like a style choice. I just like–I don’t meet a lot of dwarves.

Lyn (JJ): Oh. Should I have a beard?

Mayanna (Fran): No, no, no, I truly no. I actually, you're, you have a very strong jawline.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): It would be a criminal travesty [Laughter] to hide that jawline from the world. I just wanted to double check.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, cool.

Lyn (JJ): Nice.

Mayanna (Fran): Sick.

Lyn (JJ): No, but, everyone but Paul's name starts with a J.

Mayanna (Fran): J, got it. Okay. Alright.

Mayanna: I pull out a little notebook to start tracking all the names.

[Chuckling].

Lyn (JJ): They will tell you how they want you to call them. Obviously, I call them different things.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay, like nicknames and stuff?

Lyn (JJ): I guess. Yeah, I don’t know.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. It's gonna be great!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, okay.

Mayanna (Fran): It's gonna be awesome!

Lyn (JJ): It will.

Mayanna (Fran): We're just here to learn stuff and have dinner?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, probably. I mean, we're gonna eat at least three times while we're here.

Mayanna (Fran): Three times?!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. They can't stop feeding people. It's kind of nice.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. I'm not used to that.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, well, you should, I mean, it's kind of a distance, but you could come over here whenever you wanted, I'm sure.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, okay!

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I imagine this was, like, right in front of the door.

Lyn: Yeah, we were standing, like, like–

Ian: For such a time.

Lyn: Like, yeah, like, in the cul de sac, we've been standing, like, not even a full quarter of the circle away from the house.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Well, and what's so interesting is that, actually, as you round the corner, it's really loud.

Mayanna: Woah.

Mischa: Yeah. There's like a big ol clangin’.

[Soundscape ends].

[Soundscape begins: construction machines whirring, wood, metal and other materials thumping].

Mayanna: Oh!

Lyn: Huh.

Mischa: like as you round the corner, you stop in front of the Calderon house, which is like a, a one story ranch house, kind of smaller than a couple of the houses alongside it. But also, that one section of it looks like it's in the middle of renovation.

Mayanna: Oh.

Lyn: Oh.

Mischa: Like, there's, like, sort of some auto construction equipment, like, working alongside the house that's big and, like, metallic clanking and clunking away.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Sort of, reconfiguring the house as you walk up.

Mayanna (Fran): You didn't tell me they were remodeling.

Lyn (JJ): I did not know they were remodeling.

Mayanna (Fran): Mm. Hm.

Lyn (JJ): Of all the texts that we've sent, this was not one of them.

Mischa: JJ. There's one other thing about it too.

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Lyn: Uh-huh?

Mischa: That's the side of the house that your room was on.

Mayanna: Oh!

Lyn (JJ): Oh! Wait, hold on, pause!

Lyn: And I start walking faster.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh wait whoa whoa…

Lyn: I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): Wait my stuff!

Mayanna: They turned it into the gym.

[Laughter].

Lyn: (Sing songy) Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong.

[SFX: chiming doorbell].

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, Paul comes to the door and answers it. [SFX: door creaks] And says,

Mischa (Paul): Oh, JJ!

Lyn (JJ): Hi dad!

Mischa: Gives you a big hug and welcomes you in.

[Construction soundscape fades to background].

Mischa (Paul): Oh, and, and your friend, Fran!

Mayanna (Fran): Hi, nice to see you again.

Mischa (Paul): Hi, welcome to our home!

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much.

Mischa (Paul): So glad to see you.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. it is very, it is an honor to be here.

Lyn (JJ): I saw that there's, shoes on or off today?

Mischa (Paul): Oh, you're gonna want shoes on. It's a little bit of a worksite here.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, what… is that about?

Mischa (Paul): Well, we'll need space for the baby.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah…

Mischa (Paul): You know.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. I understand that,

Mischa (Paul): aAd we just figured, you know. We could afford the permits and a little bit of time off or you know. There's there's gonna be a little bit of time on my hands now that I'm you know, moving into the later stages here.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, when is the baby due?

Mischa (Paul): Oh should be it should be a few months out now.

Mayanna (Fran): That's exciting.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa: And he like pats his belly and beams with pride.

Mayanna: Awww.

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, we thought we'd make a little, you know, baby suite. You know, just

Lyn: That's really cute.

Mischa (Paul): Sure, so we're gonna want you to come in and take a look at your stuff.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, where, is it? The room is kind of–

Mayanna (Fran): Under construction.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): Your father didn't–he didn't talk to you?

Lyn (JJ): No.

Mischa (Paul): (Sighs).

Lyn (JJ): Should he have?

Mischa (Paul): Well, come on in. Keep your shoes on.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Shoes on. Worksite.

[Music begins: jazzy piano].

Mischa: The house is loud and raucous. JJ, as you wander through the front living room, your younger sister Josephine runs out and like, jumps into your arms.

Lyn (JJ): Hi!

Mischa (Josephine): JJ!

Mayanna (Fran): Aww

Lyn (JJ): Woo!

Lyn: And I, pick her up and spin her over my head as much as I can. It's like,

Lyn (JJ): okay, Josie, here's tita Fran!

Mayanna (Fran): Hi! Hi! Nice to meet you!

Mischa (Josephine): (tentatively) Hi.

Mayanna (Fran): It's okay, hi.

Lyn (JJ): She's a friend. She's very fashionable.

Mischa (Josephine): (whispers) She's so pretty.

Lyn (JJ): (whispers) I know.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispers) Oh my god, thank you, you are very pretty as well.

Mischa (Josephine): Eee, thank you

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, you're welcome.

Lyn (JJ): what have you been up to, Josie?

Mischa (Josephine): It's building day!

Lyn (JJ): It's building day!

Mischa (Josephine): It's building, we're building!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, you're building! What are we building?

Mischa (Josephine): New room for the baby!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that is what we're building. Good job.

Mischa (Josephine): Yeah!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Did you see the blueprints?

Mischa (Josephine): Yes!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, did you–

Mischa (Josephine): I gave approve.

Mayanna (Fran): She gave approval!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Do you have a stamp?

Mischa (Josephine): Yup!

Mischa: There's actually a drafting table in the living room with the blueprints for the project up, and you see, in the bottom left corner, in green crayon, just like a scrawl.

Mayanna: Oh my god, that's so cute.

Lyn (JJ): You have an excellent stamp.

Mayanna: Wait, so she has, she has crayons?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Okay, cool. Can I, can I take like a piece of metal–

Lyn: Like a little rubber stamp for her?

Mayanna: –and like craft a little seal for her and then, and then melt a little crayon?

Mischa: Oh my god, yes!

Lyn: That’s so cute!

Mischa: You wanna use one of your tool charges?

Mayanna: Yeah, I wanna use one of my free, one of my free crafts for the day and make her a little, I, like a little piece of wood and a little metal and I, I, what, what are her initials? It would be JC?

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: So I do a little JC with a little heart. Carve it into some metal, attach it to like, a very like, you know, not super stylish, just like a small block of wood. And then I melt a little bit of the crayon, and then I press it into the, where, where she was doing her little scribbles on the blueprint.

Lyn (JJ): Ooh, a wax seal, Josie!

Mischa (Josephine): Woah!

Mayanna: And then I give that to her.

Mischa: She takes it in, in one fist, and like, huge eyes reverently looks at it in her hand. Looks back up to you, and then bolts off for the hallway like slamming it against the wall.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Hey, hey! Say thank you, say thank you!!

Mischa (Josephine): (yelling from a distance) Thank you!

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome! That's your personal seal of approval!

Lyn (JJ): Use it wisely! Eh, she's… Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): She's approving a lot of things. Everything’s approved.

Lyn (JJ): Everything is very approved.

[Laughter].

Lyn: And I give a thumbs up to–

Mayanna: I give you a thumbs up back.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: Just another at Josie in the distance.

Mayanna (Fran): Did I just create more problems for you?

Lyn (JJ): No, this is, this, you know, you should have seen what I did as a kid.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): What did you do as a kid?

Lyn (JJ): Um. A lot, anyway!

[Laughter].

[Music ends]. [Music begins: cozy acoustic guitar].

[Soundscape begins: sizzling of cooking].

Mischa: You wander back through the living room and pass by the kitchen where your grandmother is just constantly back and forth all cooking up a storm.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my goodness.

Lyn (JJ): Hi, Mama Joy.

Lyn: Does the, does the thing.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Oh, hello JJ.

Lyn: And holds out a hand for you.

Lyn (JJ): Mano po, this is my friend Fran.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Hello, Fran.

Mayanna: I take the, I do what JJ just did.

Mischa: Can you roll performance for me, Fran?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes, absolutely, I can. I would be insulted if you didn't. Okay, let's see here. Oh, no! It's a 4. It’s bad.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I think you take her hand and you like and like fall back to your old habits, and you just like kiss the knuckles real quick.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry, I don't know. I don't know why I go for like the dap up–

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): No, wait, what? Sorry, I'm sorry.

Lyn: JJ’s cracking up behind you.

Mayanna (Fran): I just, I think, I got excited. I think I just, sorry, I just learned it and I, I don't know what happened. [Laughter]. I just really, I'm so sorry about that.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Hm. Your friend is strange. Welcome home.

Lyn: Big hug. kiss on the cheek.

Lyn (JJ): So, how's the, how's the renovation going?

Mischa (Mama Joy): You know your parents, always doing something.

Lyn (JJ): That is true. Work site stuff isn't uncommon, I just normally know when it's happening.

Mayanna (Fran): Mm.

Mischa (Mama Joy): I think your father, he might be a little upset with you.

Lyn (JJ): Where's tatay at right now?

Mischa (Mama Joy): He's back in your room, back in, back in the, I'm sorry, the project wing.

Mayanna (Fran): The project wing?

Lyn (JJ): Ooh, okay.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Yes, I'm, I'm sorry, I box up your things as best I can.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, thank you. You–that was really nice of you. You didn't have to do that. I would have come back and done it.

Mischa (Mama Joy): You have been busy.

Mayanna: Do I know you changed your major? I think we talked about that, right?

Lyn: Yeah, last night. We would’ve talked about it.

Mayanna: So I think I know, I think I pick up immediately of like, oh, it's about that, huh?

Lyn: Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I guess I should go… See him… (Nervous humming).

Mayanna (Fran): I would really love to, the next time I'm here to try the greeting again. I just, I keep thinking about it and it's probably gonna haunt me all night. And like, I keep replaying it over and over and it's just, I'm just so sorry.

Mischa: Mama Joy, impassive face, just, just stone, and then turns back to cook. And, like, like, like, something starts burning and she turns back to cook it. [SFX: more intense sizzling from a hot pan]

[Music ends]. [Soundscape ends].

Mayanna: (Stressed humming). I like turn to JJ, I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): I get it! I get why you are the way you are!

Lyn (JJ): No, she likes you.

Mayanna (Fran): She likes me? That's good?

Lyn (JJ): She didn't slap you.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh wow. Okay!

Lyn (JJ): Like a playful thump.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay.

Lyn (JJ): More like a thump.

Mayanna (Fran): Just a thump?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, a little thump.

Mayanna (Fran): A little playful thump. Okay. Right on. We should go see your dad, I guess?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Okay.

Mischa: Yeah, you wander back into where your room was,

Lyn: Okay.

[Soundscape begins, construction machines whirring, hydraulics working, metals and woods clanking and clattering].

Mischa: And you can see, Your father, Jovany, overseeing a construction bot, placing, like, floorboards and sort of expanding the platform of your bedroom. Because one wall is missing, and presumably those walls will come back up at a later date.

Lyn: Yep, at some point, probably.

Mischa: It's loud, it's cacophonous, it's, it's –

Lyn: I hand you some earplugs.

Mayanna: Oh god, okay, thank you.

Mischa: OSHA approved baby!

Lyn: We have, like the over ear ones, like, hanging at every vestibule in the house.

Mayanna: I just, this is so foreign to me. Like, I, so much construction, like, I just can't imagine being around this level of chaos all the time.

Lyn (JJ): I don't think we have pink or purple ones, but, there’s some..

Mayanna (Fran): Dammit! Do you have cream?

Lyn (JJ): Oh yeah, here's some. Oh, thank god. A little off white.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, here we go.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I love it.

Lyn (JJ): These are my aunt’s, but if she's not using them, you can use them.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, great, awesome.

Lyn (JJ): Anyway.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you okay?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, let's, we got stuff to do…

Mayanna (Fran): Look, you have nothing to apologize for. It's kind of weird that he is, like, kind of making a statement without talking to you, because you didn't do anything wrong.

Lyn (JJ): I… See your point?

Mayanna (Fran): I get where you're going with this, and no, it is not my place, and I do not understand the dynamic of your family, so I am going to stay out of it, but just know, you didn't do anything wrong.

Lyn (JJ): I appreciate you.

Mayanna (Fran): Even if they feel like you did, that's their opinion, but it's not fact.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): But I will not step in unless you would like me to.

Lyn (JJ): If I give you a thumbs down–

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Lyn (JJ): –I might need some backup.

Mayanna (Fran): You got it. You got it.

Lyn: I make my way into the “project wing.” [Laughter]. Tatay! Tay?

Mischa: Jovany takes down, takes like one ear off of the ear protection, and his face starts to light up as soon as he sees you, and then he catches himself, and he like, remembers that he's mad at you, and turns back and pulls the lever on the machine to stop it working, [SFX: metal thud], and goes,

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, anak, welcome home.

[Music begins: high ambient synths].

Lyn (JJ): Hi, Tatay.

Mischa: And, and, and gives you a hug, and it's kind of hard and stony.

Lyn: Mhmm. Give him two solid pats on the back and a hug, and then step away.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I, came home– oh, this is Fran.

Mayanna (Fran): Hi.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know if you've met before, I don't think you have.

Mayanna (Fran): I met, we, I met Paul. but no, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Mischa (Jovany): A pleasure to meet you, Fran.

Lyn (JJ): Fran was, was, with me at the, at the bridge site the other day.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And helped out a lot with that.

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, yes the bridge site, Your father told me about the bridge site.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Jovany): I heard about that.

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm

Lyn (JJ): Luckily everyone was safe. It was..

Mischa (Jovany): I thank the stars for that. I am so, I'm, we are happy you're safe. We hear you are keeping other people safe as well.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Yes. Yep. That is, that is a thing I'm doing now and I wanted to talk to you about it. For a number of reasons, but –

Mischa (Jovany): Yes?

Lyn (JJ): Um.

Lyn: Like kind of looks at him and then like looks at Fran and–

Mischa: Do you want to roll insight for me?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Ooooh.

Lyn: Come on. Insight. Come on. Proficiency.

Mayanna: You got this. You got this.

Lyn: [Dice rolls]. 18.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Yeah. It's a mixture. It's not just the consternation that you were fearing, right?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Like, I think within 18, you can compartmentalize a little bit. You can, you like, take a deep breath and really look over how he's actually reacting instead of just how you were expecting him to react.

Lyn: (Agreeing).

Mischa: he is not happy. About this choice, in the way you were expecting, but like, he is genuinely happy that you're safe, that something bad didn't happen to you.

Lyn: Yeah, mhmm.

Mischa: And again, it's almost like he has to like, remind himself that he's still mad.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Like he, it looks like he's, he's disapproving, but with effort.

Lyn: Yeah. Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it. I am.

Mischa (Jovany): Well, I am sorry we didn't talk to you about your room. I'm, I'm sorry.

Lyn (JJ): I mean, the blueprints look great. I see that Josie already stamped it with her little seal. So, honestly, that's the only foreman you have to worry about around here right now.

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, we always have to run it by the committee, you know?

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Lyn: And like, with the reflection of like, he's trying to like, be upset with me. Like, still upset, but like, JJ looks at Fran and gives you actually a thumbs up.

Lyn (JJ): So, what would you like to talk about first?

Mischa (Jovany): Well, I…

Lyn (JJ): Or do you want to go eat? Have you taken a break yet? Have you gotten your 30?

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, well, thank you for noticing. Look who still remembers the regulations.

Lyn (JJ): Ha ha ha, I'm still getting good grades in those classes.

Mischa (Jovany): I still have another couple of hours before my mandated, but we can, we can blow the steam whistle early, I guess, I suppose.

Lyn: I take out a little whistle and blow it. [SFX: high-pitched whistle]

Mayanna: Awww.

Lyn (JJ): I would have used it earlier if you couldn't hear me. It is your whistle. Okay, let's go. Let's go!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm so joyful.

Lyn (JJ): Coffee? Coffee, anyone? Let's get coffee. Over in the kitchen. Coffee.

Mischa: You head back to the kitchen, and on the way, Jovany points out that all of your stuff has been neatly boxed and labeled and, like, is off in sort of one side of Josie's room.

Lyn (JJ): Oh. Do you want us to go through that today?

Mischa (Jovany): Well, we know you're still living in the Come-Up, we know it's a small place,

Lyn (JJ): yeah

Mischa (Jovany): we don't want to burden you, we will put it in storage if you need us to.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I should go through that. Fran, would you mind helping me go through this later? You'll tell me what I should–what I–

Mayanna (Fran): Absolutely. I have a very good method for this. If it doesn't spark joy, you throw it in the garbage.

Lyn (JJ): Wow. I really like that.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I really, I think I'm, I'm gonna work on publishing.

[Music ends].

[Chuckles].

Lyn (JJ): I think, yeah.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Edit this out.

[Raucous Laughter].

Mayanna: The Fran Weaver method.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Just, it's just snap decisions. You just look at it and if, you either know if you need it or you don't. If, if guilt is the overriding emotion you feel when you're like trying to figure out if you need it or not, you don't need it.

[Music begins: melancholy synth string chords].

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): That's the thing that I did when I moved out.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. We don't. Really? I don't really know where you lived before.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, It was me and my mom.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah?

Mayanna (Fran): Before, yeah. Kind of running away, in a way, from that. I don't really have a dad, so to speak.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, Well, I got extra.

Mayanna (Fran): I see that, it's really nice. I'm glad you have two of them.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): And they both seem really great.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You're lucky.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah…

Mischa: You head back out into the kitchen and, Paul and Jovany share a look across the room and all sort of gather around the coffee table in the living room on, like, couches and chairs.

Lyn: I take some bread and dip it in my coffee.

Mischa: Paul goes to do the same. Jovany goes,

Mischa (Jovany): No, what are you doing?

[Music ends].

Mischa: And grabs the coffee cup and went,

Mischa (Jovany): You can't have caffeine. What are you doing?

Mayanna (Fran): It'll stunt your growth.

Lyn: (cackling) That was so funny because that's been my whole fucking life IRL.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You nailed it in one. Good job.

Mischa: yeah, Paul looks at you, Fran, and, and just gives a very exaggerated, like,

Mischa (Paul): Oh, shoot.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Jovany comes back with another cup. It's presumably herbal tea. Paul gives a sniff,

Mischa (Paul): I want coffee.

Lyn: (laughing)

Mayanna: Aww.

Lyn (JJ): So…

Mischa (Jovany): So…

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah…

Lyn (JJ): So…

Mayanna (Fran): Yup we were wondering…

Mischa (Jovany): So JJ, how are your classes?

Lyn (JJ): Uh. (Clears throat). Well, some are good.

Mischa (Jovany): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): Some are I don’t really know, because I… am changing tracks.

Mischa (Jovany): Okay. You're to a different side of Mechanist–you work with different systems, what is it?

[Music begins: high ethereal ambient synths].

Lyn (JJ): Um. yes and no. I mean, working with different systems, yes. Still working for the city. Yes.

Mischa (Jovany): City. Government work?

Lyn (JJ): Yes. Um.

Mischa (Jovany): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): Still hands on.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (whispering to Fran) Is that accurate?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. I think so, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Very important. Very important work for the city. Vital work, in fact.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, so, I mean, as you know, I was working with the labor department to, you know, learn about. labor, an important and vital part of etc.

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, of course, we loved it. That sort of work background diversity looks great on the resume.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, yeah. And, so expanding my knowledge about…

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) You got this, JJ.

Lyn (JJ): (whispered) Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) You’re welcome.

Lyn (JJ): Um.. oh my god, I'm gonna throw up.

Mayanna: I put like an empty bowl in front of JJ.

Mischa: I think Paul puts a hand on your shoulder.

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa (Paul): It's okay, honey.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I.. won't be working directly within the Mechanist's Guild. Anymore.

Mischa (Jovany): (sighs heavily)

Mischa: Jovany, keeps a deep sigh and mutters something quietly to himself in Dwarvish.

Lyn (JJ): You know, you know I love it. There are lots of parts of it that I love, but I think you also know that I love what it does for people and what the people do for it. And I am part of a relatively new team now to work amongst all the guilds and beyond for, I guess, the safety and security of everyone?

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Mischa (Jovany): Sounds dangerous. And not very stable.

Lyn (JJ): Well, yeah.

Mischa (Jovany): JJ, don't you understand why we sent you to the Mechanist Guild, why we want you to join us? It is–Everybody always needs the maintenance. All of our infrastructure needs to be taken care of. That is how you take care of people. You take care of the world for them.

Lyn (JJ): I know.

Mayanna (Fran): That's what JJ is doing.

Mischa (Jovany): And they will always need you. And you will always have a job.

Lyn (JJ): You're not wrong. You're not wrong. I agree with you. You know I do. I've been with you this whole time. I'm not leaving. Not like that.

Mischa (Jovany): So now your job is to run into danger? How does this end? You think this is a way to build a life?

Lyn (JJ): I'll do it if it means that other people can build theirs. And I know, you know what that means.

Mischa (Jovany): I don't care about them. I care about you. You are my daughter!

Lyn (JJ): And this whole city is our family. You've always been telling me that.

Mischa: Roll persuasion.

Mayanna: Ooh,

Ian: Dun dun dun!

Lyn: Come on, come on.

Ian: You got this.

Mayanna: You got this, you got this.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. 17?

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Nice.

[Music ends].

Ian: P. S. What I also rolled for persuasion, it's the roll of the day.

Lyn: (Stressed noises).

[Music begins: energetic synth chimes].

Mayanna: Yeah, it's true. [Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): You got this. I'm so proud of you.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm so proud of you.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you, Fran.

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome.

Mayanna: I'm just like saying this under my breath to you while you're talking to your dad.

Mischa: Fran, I think Paul, like, takes your hand.

Mayanna: I hold, I hold Paul's hand.

Mischa: Jovany sighs in frustration and kind of snorts and looks back to his mother, Mama Joy, in the kitchen who has not stopped cooking whatsoever or preparing food whatsoever while this intense family meeting is occurring.

Mayanna: Damn.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: And she glances over her shoulder to her son and gives him kind of a, “come on now,” look. Jovany says,

[Music shifts: higher mournful synth notes join].

Mischa (Jovany): they are not my family. All this time, we have tried to build for it. I have seen an ugly side to these people. I work for their betterment because if the world is safer for everyone else, it makes the world safer for us. Gives us a place in this world that cannot be taken from us. But I don't want you to inherit this from me.

Lyn (JJ): I don't want to live always running headlong into danger. That's why I like the regulations and safety and predictability. And infrastructure. God, I love it. But right now, all of that is in a really precarious state. I'm working to investigate some really weird things that have been going on. Things that I think impact the grid. The very things that we have laid every foundation of on this city. Everything that, just as you said, everyone's lives depend on. And we do need help.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm

Lyn (JJ): I'll always need your help. Okay?

Mischa (Jovany): We are here for you.

Lyn (JJ): I'm here for you. I know it doesn't always feel like that, I know.

Mischa (Jovany): I suppose if we knock down the walls of your room, we make it harder.

Lyn (JJ): You'll rebuild those, you can always rebuild those.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: low energetic synths].

Lyn (JJ): What I'm–what we are, we–

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm,

Lyn: And I look over at Paul,

Lyn (JJ): And, you know, everyone else you met at the worksite the other day, part of a team that is working on this investigation, and we're a little bit worried that it might be running so deep that the ability to rebuild is, we'd need far more than any amount the Mechanist Guild is available.

Mischa: Paul looks at Jovany and goes,

Mischa (Paul): That's what I was trying to tell ya. I was at work on that reconstruction site underneath the bridge, and the kids came in and stopped a catastrophe, and we were supposed–I thought we were going to return right, get right back to it. All of a sudden they, you know, another day passes, they suspend operations there. We're just supposed to move on, they're just gonna what, they're just gonna leave it?

Lyn (JJ): They suspended all operations?

Mischa (Paul): Oh yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): So that bridge is just closed?

Mischa (Paul): That's what they tell me.

Mayanna (Fran): Huh.

Lyn (JJ): did they say it was under further investigation or anything?

Mischa (Paul): Pft. Well, they don't tell me that kind of stuff.

Lyn (JJ): They should!

Mayanna (Fran): Don't people like, need that bridge to like, commute and travel?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, traffic everywhere around the city has been awful. I got here on my bike faster than you on the bus!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah, yeah, the bus took, I'm not gonna lie, it was arduous, but, again, not your fault, I'm just telling you, not for you to feel bad, but because it's weird, because the buses run great, normally.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, A lot of weird things have been happening. We're not sure yet, but everyone in our family, weirdly, knows so much more about the history of this city than most of us know. You've all been here since the very beginning.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): We think that there's a problem with the grid.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm

Lyn (JJ): There's been some…

Mayanna (Fran): Anomalies,

Lyn (JJ): Extreme anomalies, danger that is either feeding off of or is built by the Astra-electrical conduits. These creatures that can appear through electrical lines or possess mechanical automatons.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, they possessed the drill at the site.

Mischa (Paul): That thing was possessed?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, and they came–

Mischa (Paul): Like a ghost?

Lyn (JJ): Something like that.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, and they came through the grid and attacked Boggins and this is something that people are not really talking about and they're trying to contain it.

Lyn (JJ): And something is happening that not everyone can remember.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): That's why we've been called to action.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Lyn (JJ): It's because we can remember and we can help.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I don't mean to make this a business call, but, you know? Maybe you can tell us some stories about how the city came to be.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Jovany and Paul look at each other silently and just pass wordless thoughts to each other.

Mayanna: Hm.

Mischa: I think they both sort of lean forward in their chairs and sigh in unison.

Mischa (Jovany): Okay. JJ, what do you want to know?

Lyn (JJ): Okay, Fran, get out your notebook!

Mayanna (Fran): Great. Absolutely. The mines. Tell us everything there is to know about the mines.

[Music begins: pensive piano].

Lyn (JJ): The fact that this is a huge Astra deposit, we don't even know where Astra comes from, what it is, how the grid even came to develop. I know that that is part of what both of you studied as far as like the infrastructure of everything was both like mining and excavation technology as well as electrical engineering and all of it is so mundane now. But it wasn't always that way, was it?

Mischa (Paul): Well, no. It, it took a, a lot of effort, a lot of, a lot of elbow grease building this town. Tell you what. Well, I mean, we were on that fortress. What, how long, honey?

Mischa (Jovany): I, after I moved up there, we were up there, it was 15 years before we, we landed in this spot.

Mayanna (Fran): Damn.

Mischa (Paul): And I was born along that thing, so.

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): And you would go to the mines like every day?

Mischa (Paul): It was, it was the only thing we were. We were running scared, you know, we, we'd pick people up off the ground who had nothing, their homes destroyed. We were, we were giving them sanctuary. And then one day our, our leaders announced that they were scanning, you know, they were trying to find Astra deposits to sort of fight back.

Mayanna (Fran): Huh.

Mischa (Paul): We, we, we needed something, we, we were running scared.

Mayanna (Fran): Who was telling you that you needed to find Astra? Like, who, who was in charge of that?

Lyn (JJ): How was it even discovered?

Mischa (Paul): I don't know, I feel like we've always had it. It's, I mean, it's, it's been in the, it, it grows in the ground.

Mayanna (Fran): Right. And so–

Lyn (JJ): Like regular ore?

Mischa (Paul): I guess you didn't get to that class yet, huh?

Lyn (JJ): I'm not in the natural sciences side of things now.

Mischa (Jovany): No, But yes, you, you bury an astra crystal and you, you leave it for many years. It grows into the soil. The soil converts into it. It grows, it grows through the ground.

Mayanna (Fran): But where did the first crystal come from?

Mischa (Jovany): I don't know. Was it not always here?

Lyn (JJ): So even in your lifetime you didn't know? I mean, if, I mean, whether it grows like sodium, like, yeah, sure, crystals can proliferate, hmm, I don't like it.

Mischa (Jovany): Well, the biggest problem, of course, was that wherever we tried to find deposits before, the Balverox would, would keep us from it.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Mischa (Jovany): They wanted this, this stuff for themselves.

Mayanna (Fran): What did they use it for, do we know?

Mischa: They, Jovany and Paul look at each other quizzically, and they're like, “do you even know?”

Mayanna (Fran): So we don't, so we don't know what the enemy needed Astra for. Like, they, they could have been using it for the same reasons we were using it, and we just didn't ask or find out, we just, they just attacked us and we just attacked them.

Mischa (Jovany): They used it to destroy my home.

Mayanna (Fran): Right. Totally.

Mischa (Jovany): They use it for destruction. They use it for whatever–I don't know. They do dances in caves. What do you want?

Mayanna (Fran): But like, why did they, but why did they attack? Like why, why, what would, what would be the reason for them to attack us in the first place?

Mischa (Jovany): I didn't know.

Lyn: I kind of turn my attention to the kitchen.

Mischa: Mama Joy is standing over the stove, pointedly not looking in your direction, lost in thought.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, you would have been even younger than us when this happened.

Mischa (Jovany): I was just a boy!

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Jovany): Some of my very first memories are living in tents, wandering the countryside, hoping desperately they wouldn't come after us. Fifteen years we were on the ground before they came and got us. Hard years.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, and I don't want that happening again.

Mayanna (Fran): No.

Lyn (JJ): That's why this is important. Okay.

[Music ends].

Lyn: And I say that while turning towards the kitchen.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): So, I tried to do some research, and you know the library at the Arc, how it's so locked down?

[Music begins: ominous electronic synths].

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, they, they like to think magic is a big secret. Magic is a trick of engineering

Mayanna (Fran): Right? That's what I've been saying. Ah! You get me.

Lyn (JJ): (whispered) See, I told you, they'd like you.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered)Totally, yeah, yeah,

Lyn (JJ): I couldn't find anything about anything like we've experienced. Which seems weird to me. Like, it would be weird if this is the first time ever something like this was happening.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): And we got confirmation that it's been happening for who knows how long. Have you heard of anything like strange occurrences happening with the grid that didn't have an engineering explanation?

Mischa (Jovany): No, I have not seen anything like that. And unfortunately, I–If there were anomalies with the grid, I think I would have noticed.

Mayanna (Fran): Unless someone was keeping that from you.

Mischa (Jovany): Well, of course. Yes.

Mayanna (Fran): Right.

Lyn (JJ): Hmm.

Mayanna (Fran): What about that factory? That, that abandoned factory?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, there’s an abandoned factory in Minetown.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): That, there's been reports of strange things happening there. And I think most people are just chalking it up to, you know, skaters.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Paul gives a big exaggerated sway and goes,

Mischa (Paul): Oh, now you think skateboarders are annoying. Well, how the tables turn.

Mayanna (Fran): (chuckles).

Lyn (JJ): Okay, fine. Whatever.

Mischa (Paul): Like you weren't Little Miss Skater Chick.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, we're not talking about it.

Mayanna (Fran): Wait, were you a skater chick?!

Lyn (JJ): We're not talking about it!

Mayanna (Fran): (Jokingly scolding) JJ!

Lyn (JJ): We're not talking about it.

Mayanna (Fran): (conspiratorial whisper) What color was the skateboard?

Lyn (JJ): It was ultramarine blue, if anyone's asking, but whatever.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) I was asking.

Mischa (Paul): If I recall, it had, like, pretty sick flames up the middle like a racing–

Mayanna (Fran): Pretty sick flames, okay.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): JJ was a little risk taker? A little safety disregarder?

Mischa (Paul): No, absolutely not, that's why we thought it was weird she wanted to ride a skateboard.

Mayanna (Fran): Was she all in the pads and stuff?

Lyn (JJ): Yes!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, JJ.

Mischa: Jovany goes,

Mischa (Jovany): your little friend Samira bought a skateboard–

Mayanna (Fran): (gasps).

Mischa (Jovany): And all of a sudden JJ had to have a skateboard even though we told her it's unsafe.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I love Samira.

Lyn (JJ): (quietly, strainted) Stop talking. Right now.

Mayanna (Fran): Samira's great.

Lyn (JJ): Shh, shut up.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh.

Mischa (Jovany): Then maybe you should tell her to behave a little nicer, a little better.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. Mmmm. Hm.

Lyn (JJ): Please.

[Music begins: quiet, contemplative piano].

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. She is a wild, a wild child, but you know, sometimes a ripple in a lake, yeah, it's, it's disruptive, but it kind of settles back to the same place, but it was kind of nice for a second, you know?

Mischa (Jovany): We build our lives for the stability part.

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Mischa (Jovany): She does not care about this.

Lyn (JJ): That's not true. And you know it. That's really unfair.

Mayanna (Fran): Stability looks different to different people, right?

Mischa (Jovany): I suppose if you make stability out of instability, if you make instability the status quo, then it is always what you are used to, yes?

Lyn (JJ): (whispering to Fran) We gotta talk about entropy at some point, anyway! Fran, this is not–

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) Totally.

Lyn (JJ): (whispering) It's a thing, I should have I forgot that in the thing. I should have mentioned that.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) Flames on the skateboard, huh?

Lyn (JJ): (whispering) Not that part! We're not talking about that part!

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) I still want to talk about that part.

Lyn (JJ): (whispering) Fine. Later.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) Okay, fine. (normally) Anyway.

Lyn (JJ): (normally) So this factory.

Mayanna (Fran): This factory, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): There've been reports–

Lyn: And I give the description that we have at the factory.

Mayanna: And there was also that house that the gas line exploded.

Lyn: Oh yeah.

Mayanna: Cause Gordon told us about that.

Lyn (JJ): I, yeah. And like things have been happening.

Mayanna (Fran): Strange things, infrastructure things.

Lyn (JJ): And I know the work you do. Like this amount of instability doesn't come from nowhere.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Pretty strange. Pretty odd.

Mischa (Jovany): Very true.

Lyn (JJ): You haven't been getting reports about it at all?

Mayanna (Fran): Pretty weird!

Mischa (Jovany): Well, no, if, if the factory is abandoned, they're, they would've been cut off from the grid. If they're not paying the power bill. So,

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Mischa (Jovany): I would, they wouldn't have reported problems if it's abandoned.

Lyn (JJ): But then they shouldn't even have access to–

Mayanna (Fran): Boggins was also shut down.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, some stuff happened. After we cut the power.

Mayanna: I'm gonna text Gordon and ask if he knows if the house, if that apartment complex with the busted gas leak was also closed down.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Hey, remember when you told us about that, that house that you heard about from the old lady in the dog park?

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: Staticky] Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Do you know if that house, or do you know if that like building is still attached to the grid?

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: Staticky] Dot, dot, dot. I don't know, but I can check.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Yeah, that would be great.

Mayanna (Fran): So if they're cutting things off from the grid,

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): That presumably had weird things happen.

Lyn (JJ): It's a quarantine.

Mayanna (Fran): It's a quarantine. But it's not containment.

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Lyn (JJ): I do not understand that metaphor, but you said it was such confidence that it gave me chills.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, it's like, it's like, hey, the grid is causing some problems. Well, let's just stop the grid from going to the place where the problem is. But that's not really the problem. The problem is the grid.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): It's not the building.

Lyn (JJ): It’s a very, just a bandage solution.

Mayanna (Fran): Which again means that there's something going on with the grid. Is the mine connected to the grid?

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, the mines are connected to the grid. That's how they run the equipment deeper into the tunnels.

Mayanna (Fran): And at this point, are we still excavating Astra from the mine still to this day?

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, constantly. There's a massive supply down there. You remember, don't you, honey?

Mischa: And Paul goes,

Mischa (Paul): Oh yeah, the day they found it, they–It was a jubilation in the streets. Finally, we, a place to settle. Finally, a way to win. Finally, we were going to turn the tides. It was, it was huge.

Mayanna (Fran): So let me get this straight. You bury Astra in the ground to build more Astra, which means somebody buried Astra at the bottom of this mine, a lot of it, and we just stumbled upon it and then built our entire civilization around it, but we don't know who planted it. And we don't know why.

Mischa (Paul): It grows in the ground naturally. It grows from itself. I mean, maybe it grew up from deep within the planet?

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Lyn (JJ): If we're approaching it like ore in other capacities, that's how ore, as we know it, works.

Mayanna (Fran): Mm. Mhm. Hm. On average, what color is the astra that we excavate from the mine?

Mischa (Jovany): Uh, neutral white. It's white in its rough form and then it's polished to a clear.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Are there other colors of Astra that you're aware of?

Mischa (Jovany): Minor impurities that run through the stream, sure.

Mayanna (Fran): Hm.

Mischa (Jovany): I mean, we don't run experiments. That's not really–

Mayanna (Fran): Right.

Mischa (Jovany): As long as it generates current, I don't really care. And most Astra does that, even, even the dud pieces will make a little spark.

Mayanna (Fran): Huh.

Mayanna: What color was the electricity of the wraith in episode two? I believe it was blue, correct?

Mischa: (Smugly) Yeah, it was blue.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Hm. It's occurring to me in this moment that Ibra has a bluish tint to their skin. What color is the Astra on your bracelet, JJ? (laughs).

Lyn: What color is it?

Mischa: It's, it was just like, machine vended, right?

Lyn: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mischa: So it's, it's, I mean, it looks like all the other ones, which is to say, white-ish clear.

Lyn: White ish clear,

Mayanna: White-ish clear, okay.

Lyn (JJ): The one that we found was orange?

Mayanna (Fran): (whispers) Yes, it was.

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, I mean, I've heard guys talk about, you know, they find other minerals mixed in, you know, that could be something like that?

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. It could be some kind of contaminant, maybe. Or some cross pollination of some kind?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, some minerals can interact in that way. I'm, actually, I don't know. Natural sciences was not my forte.

Mayanna (Fran): That's okay.

Mischa (Paul) : Yeah, they sort of studied that on the other side of town.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Mmm.. I don't know. I feel–

Lyn (JJ): But the wraiths were blue.

Mayanna (Fran): The wraiths were blue, and the Astra we found is orange.

Lyn (JJ): The Astra we found was orange. The pickaxe is orange.

Mayanna (Fran): The pickaxe is orange and like–

Lyn (JJ): The electricity that ran through the mech was blue.

Mayanna (Fran): Was blue.

Lyn (JJ): What color were the Balverox?

[Music ends].

Mischa: Paul goes,

Mischa (Paul): I mean, I never saw one up close.

[Music begins: mysterious, slightly ominous synths].

Mischa: Jovany goes,

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, well, big brown fur. They have these brilliant, sort of, opal antlers, big and huge, big hulking masses. They stand heads taller over us, covered in shaggy brown fur and walls of muscle.

Mayanna (Fran): Could they do magic?

Mischa (Jovany): They possessed some rudimentary powers, but, but nothing so refined, not spells as we would call them. You know, they're, they're not harnessed to a specific effect. It was just waves of raw power. I don't remember. Mother, did you, did you ever see?

Mischa: And from the kitchen,

Mischa (Mama Joy): They bark a word and knock down my home.

Mayanna (Fran): Huh.

Lyn (JJ): What word, mama?

Mischa (Mama Joy): A word in no language we speak, the language of beasts.

Mayanna: Hm. So I think like. I'm starting to chart out that, like, there are different kinds of Astra, and there's kinds of Astra that we are not, like, collectively aware of as a society.

Mayanna (Fran): I just, like, I keep trying to figure this out, because it's like, whatever they're looking for, it's in the Earth already. There, it exists, like, it's, it's out there, and it's, like, naturally occurring, and they're trying to find it, and they're trying to contain it before anybody else finds it.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Who is?

Mayanna (Fran): The… (whispers) The governor.

Mischa (Paul): What?!

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know. I mean, we're in too deep now, we gotta tell him.

Lyn (JJ): The official investigation is being run directly through the governor's office. We are technically working in collaboration with it, but that relationship is–

Mayanna (Fran): We have conflicting objectives.

Lyn (JJ): You know, bureaucracy.

Mischa (Paul): You're conflicting with the governor?

Mayanna (Fran): Not on purpose.

Lyn (JJ): And not directly, but–

Mayanna (Fran): We just, we have concerns that they have been inadequate at answering.

Lyn (JJ): Again, you know…

Mayanna (Fran): Unsatisfactory.

Lyn (JJ): Bureaucracy.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): Man, I voted for that guy.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh.

Mayanna: Wait, are we in an election year?

Mischa: When are you n–when is it not an election year?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Ah, okay.

Lyn (JJ): Are there private mining–

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, yeah. Private mining contracts?

Lyn (JJ): Any private mining contracts?

Mischa (Paul): Sure, yeah, people compete for the contracts to different veins.

Mayanna (Fran): So the governor could have, like, their own private mining contract?

Lyn (JJ): Or anyone could, the Constellation could, anyone.

Mischa (Paul): Sure?

Lyn (JJ): In theory, if they have enough..

Mayanna (Fran): Money and resources?

Lyn (JJ): Resources...

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, I mean, we, we subcontract to those guys, personally.

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Mischa (Paul): You know, whenever we get hired for a Pit job, it's always, it's, we're always working for one of those, those companies.

Lyn (JJ): This might be something to also go through some of the labor resources. This is, yeah, if we can find any private operations?

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Lyn (JJ): Oh boy.

Mayanna (Fran): How dangerous are the mines?

Mischa (Paul): Well, they don't like kids down there, that's what I'll say.

[Laughter]. [Music ends].

Mischa: (Silly fart noise). Sorry, my notes for Paul just say “big dad energy.” I'm just trying to play that for you.

Lyn: I know, I know, that is what it says.

Mayanna & Lyn: Big dad energy.

[Chuckles].

Mischa: I'm pretty sure you just wrote big dad energy on my card here.

Lyn: Yeah, that is literally all I wrote initially.

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “I don't know darn nothing about whatever it is y'all are up to, but I love you so damn much.”

Ian: (Light southern twang) “But good luck you kids.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “Hey, don't go to those mines, they sound real dangerous.”

Ian: (Light southern twang) “You kids, you keep me young.”

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “You keep me young with your newfangled Pokey-man cards and Minecrafts.”

[Laughter].

Ian: (Light southern twang) “Different colored Astra, I never thought.”

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “Never would have thunk in a million years.”

Lyn: (Light southern twang) “Back in my day, we only had one color-a Astra”.

Ian: There it is.

Mischa: (Light southern twang) “We walked 15 miles down into the mine to get it.”

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “In the snow, barefoot with no shoes.” [Laughter]. “Which is the same thing as barefoot.”

Lyn: Nope, they got bears for feet.

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “We had bear feet and no bear shoes.” I don't know where, I don't know.

[Laughter].

Ian: It's gone so off the rails.

Mayanna: I know. Man, I, Fran's mind is. Swimming with just all these questions about like, cause there's different schools of magic and we know that magic comes from different places, but like what color is blue magic, what color is orange magic, what color is clear magic, like… And so I'm just like notating all of these things just like to myself in my notebook just like trying to, trying to figure out why the orange one is the one that everyone's looking for.

[Music begins: low unsettling, ominous ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, your notebook's starting to look a little bit like a–

Mayanna: Conspiracy board?

Mischa: –conspiracy board without the red string.

Mayanna: Yeah. I started writing in, like, shorthand, for some of the more, like, speculative things that, like, a little language that I came up with just in case this ever gets taken from me.

Mischa: Ooh.

Mayanna: Yeah. Fran's gotten real, distrustful of the world.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. Rightfully so. but yeah, I think like, I just keep trying to, I just keep remembering this moment of just like this drill just digging so desperately into the earth to get this orange Astra and like why was that the one it needed? It's making me so frustrated that I can't quite figure this out yet.

Mischa: I don't want to… push you in any particular direction.

Mayanna: Mm. Mhmm, mhm.

Mischa: I will point out, just as one of your many options here, there's one way to find out what makes the orange Astra different.

Mayanna: Do we use it?

Mischa: Yeah, you have some.

Mayanna: I do, well, Gordon has it, actually. Gordon has it in the Bag of Holding.

Mischa: That’s fair, that’s true.

[Music ends].

Lyn: Do we have the vial?

Mayanna: We do, I think we do have the vial.

Lyn: We could show them the vial at least.

Mayanna: Yeah, we could show them the vial.

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): What do you make of this?

Mayanna: And I take out the vial and I show it to JJ's parents.

Mischa: Jovany takes it from you, and holds it up to the light, and Paul, like, struggles up from the couch and strides across the room to get close, and they both sort of press their faces together and look at it up into the light.

Mayanna: Aw, cute.

Lyn (JJ): Put on your glasses!

Mischa: Jovany takes the safety glasses that they put on their forehead when the conversation started, and puts them back down over its eyes. And Paul says,

Mischa (Paul): Honey, do you feel that?

Mischa (Jovany): Yes. What is it?

Mischa (Paul): It feels like…

Mayanna (Fran): Home?

Mischa (Paul): Yeah. It feels like walking in the door at the end of a long work day.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Mischa (Paul): Is that, that's… that's not how Astra normally feels. Normally it feels like nothing.

Mayanna (Fran): Right. But this one doesn't because I think it has something inside it. A heart, a soul?

Mischa (Paul): What is it?

Mayanna (Fran): (whispers) I think it's a memory.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know what it is, but Astra carries intention, doesn't it?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): We've been working with neutral, but what if it could carry something else?

Mischa (Jovany): I thought it was just a conduit. We carry the thoughts, we carry the intentions, we push them through the Astra, and that is how–

Mayanna: I'm gonna, I'm gonna take a finger to my forehead, and I'm gonna try and pull a memory out.

All: Whoa!

Mischa: What memory are you gonna pull out?

Mayanna: I, I'm gonna do the dinner we just had yesterday.

Lyn: Whoa.

Ian: Eggplant? What? What? No!

Lyn: Not the eggplant!

Ian: No, Fran!

Mayanna: It's not gone. It's just different now. And it's a con save, correct? [Dice rolls] Okay, that's a 17.

Mischa: Yeah, with a 17 you can easily close your eyes and you remember the warmth of the bakery silo and everybody digging into this delicious meal that you all made together.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: And as you draw your finger away from your temple, the soft light of the bakery silo and the vibrant purple of the eggplant and the green of the arugula all goes grayscale. [SFX: ghostly shimmer].

Mayanna: What color is the string? White, right?

Mischa: Yep. Comes out as a slender, glowing white thread.

Mayanna: I think I have a little spool in my craftsman's tools and I like, wrap it around. Cause I don't have, I can't refine it right now. Cause I don't have a loom right now.

Mayanna (Fran): This is, this is a memory. I just took this out of me. And it's magical. And I made a bag of holding out of one of them.

Lyn (JJ): Fran's a really talented designer and engineer.

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispers aside) Thank you so much. (Normally) If I can do that with my own thoughts, who's to say that Astra comes from nowhere? Could it come from somewhere?

Mischa (Paul): Fran, we-we believe you.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay,

Mischa (Paul): You–Honey, I think,

Mischa: And Jovany says,

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, it seems important.

Mischa (Paul): We think you guys are, are as qualified as they're saying. You guys are doing this job. I don't know anything about that.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Mischa (Paul): We're just, we're like electricians and mechanists.

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Mayanna: I put it away.

Mischa (Paul): You're asking me where Astra comes from? That's like asking me where the trees come from. Heck, I don't know.

Mayanna (Fran): Seeds.

Mischa (Paul): Seeds from different trees.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): Going back millions of years.

Mayanna (Fran): Totally. But like, seeds are not neutral. Astra's not neutral.

Mischa (Paul): I thought it was!

Mayanna (Fran): But it might not be.

Mischa (Paul): Maybe it's not. Maybe you're right. I don't know. You're telling me that for the first time today.

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Lyn (JJ): I–

Mischa (Paul): You could be right though. I don't know.

Mayanna (Fran): Ugh, man.

Lyn (JJ): Let's–

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I think we have to figure some stuff out.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): A bit. But If, if you hear of anything that's happening infrastructure-wise.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): Like, we can go through the official channels, but…

[Music begins: ominous, low synth strings].

Mayanna (Fran): Or, if somebody named Inspector Ravona comes to your door–You're not home.

Mischa (Paul): Are they coming for us?

Mayanna (Fran): No. But if they do, you're not home. Because she came to the worksite.

Mischa (Paul): Oh yeah, I remember.

Mayanna (Fran): And she had an orange pickaxe.

Lyn (JJ): Wait, did she, did she do anything there? Were you there?

Mischa (Paul): She took our statements.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): About what happened.

Lyn (JJ): Did she look around for, did she find anything?

Mischa (Paul): I don't know, they closed down the site, they sent us home.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we gave her the detonator. But that was it.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it was a detonator. It was a planted thing. It was, it was, there, it is dangerous.

Mischa (Paul): Oh, what?!

Lyn (JJ): Please. Oh my god, I can't believe we really, I was upset with you for burying the lede earlier and now I'm, oh no!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, hey, hey it's okay. You just didn't remember. It's been a, it's been a long few days.

Lyn (JJ): That's why we think this is really important and why we think that, that there might be some, maybe even multiple agents of–

Mayanna (Fran): The destruction of the bridge wasn't an accident. It was planned.

Mischa (Paul): Whoa.

Lyn (JJ): Even the possession.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. We found several detonators, and somebody activated the mech.

Lyn (JJ): And that's what happened.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paul): Well, no wonder they shut it down. I wouldn't want to go back there now.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, yes, of course.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, please don't go back.

Mayanna (Fran): Don't.

Mischa (Paul): I'm not gonna. They already reassigned me, but I'm not gonna anyway.

Mayanna (Fran): Good! You’re expecting! You're on mat leave, presumably, soon.

[Music ends].

Lyn: Pat leave?

Mayanna: Pat leave.

Mayanna (Fran): You're on pat leave!

Mischa (Paul): Yep, took my paternity leave. Just a couple months early. Figured I had deserved the time at home.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I agree with you.

Lyn (JJ): You did.

Mischa (Paul): Working hard or hardly working.

Lyn (JJ): (overlapping) Hardly working for you, hopefully? Please hardly work.

Mayanna (Fran): (overlapping) Yes. Please don't be working. Please. For the baby.

Mischa (Paul): But I get bored.

Mayanna (Fran): Sure.

Mischa (Paul): I get bored sometimes.

Lyn (JJ): Maybe take up weaving.

Mayanna (Fran): Highly recommend getting a loom in general. It's really nice.

Lyn (JJ): (Chuckles). Could be fun.

Mayanna (Fran): Good piece of technology.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. So just keep in touch with anything that we…

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah

Lyn (JJ): That you hear of, anything weird. We should maybe go through some of my things?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I guess?

Mayanna (Fran): That sounds great.

Lyn: And I'm going to like take one last stray look in the kitchen.

[Music begins: gentle, contemplative piano].

Mischa: You all stand up from around the coffee table. Josie comes back out and like peeks around the corner and goes,

Mischa (Josephine): You guys are done?

Mischa: And Paul kind of slaps his thigh and holds up an arm out to pick Josie up on his hip.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, grown up talk's so boring. I get it. You, get out of here when we're like, when we're gabbing away. God.

Lyn (JJ): What’d you approve?

Mischa (Josephine): Yeah. I approved all, all the walls.

Mayanna (Fran): Nice.

Mischa (Josephine): All the floors.

Mayanna (Fran): Nice

Mischa (Josephine): Wanna get the ceiling, cause they're not approved, I can't reach.

Mayanna (Fran): That's okay.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah

Mayanna: How tall are the ceilings?

Mischa: They're, I think they're probably a little short for you, Fran. Like, it's a half-dwarven home.

Mayanna: Can I, like, pick up Josie and just put her up to the ceiling?

Mischa: Yes.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You can put her on your shoulders and just walk around.

Mayanna: Yeah, I put her on my shoulders and I go,

Mayanna (Fran): Go on!

Mischa: Yeah, you parade Josie around the house to approve the ceilings.

Mayanna: Yup. Nice.

Mayanna (Fran): That's a good one. And that's a good one.

Mischa: JJ, as you walk back around the corner–

Lyn: Yeah, I'll take all of the mugs to the kitchen. [SFX: glassware clinking]

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: Yeah, Mama Joy turns to look at you. And like, sort of comes, puts her, puts aside her food prep for a moment. [SFX: food sizzling]

Mischa (Mama Joy): My love, we sacrifice so much, but it is all In the dream of you doing something you love and being happy with people who care about you.

Lyn (JJ): I know.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Your father, he is afraid. He grew up in hard times.

Lyn (JJ): I know.

Mischa (Mama Joy): But maybe he wasn't old enough to understand why. We love you. We only want you to be happy and to contribute to a better world. (pause) I miss my village. I miss the way it was. Before threats. Before beasts. Before a long road… Before huddling for safety in a great metal city in the sky. I don't know if you kids know, but for just a little bit in the beginning, things were okay. Your father, I don't think he remembers that part.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Mama Joy): So I don't think he knows that this is what this was for.

Mischa: And she puts her hand on your cheek.

Mischa (Mama Joy): You make us proud.

Lyn (JJ): I try.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Don't waste your gifts, and we will be happy.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa (Mama Joy): You go look through your things. Josie's room is so cramped.

[Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I, I can see why she's been out here a lot more.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Food in a minute.

Mayanna: Of course. I come back into the kitchen.

[Music begins: ambient synths].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, we've approved all the ceilings. They're all great.

Mischa (Josephine): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): You're doing, you're great foreman.

Mayanna: That's what the, the foreman's approve things, right?

Lyn: Yeah!

Mayanna: Okay, yeah,

Mayanna (Fran): you're great foreman.

Mischa (Josephine): Approve!

Mayanna (Fran): Approve!

Mayanna: Does she have long hair, Josie?

Lyn: It's like a really tight ponytail.

Mayanna: Tight ponytail? I take out a little strip of ribbon from my craftsman's tools and I tie it around–Presumably she already has a ponytail on, but I wrap it around and tie her little on top of it.

Lyn (JJ): Looks good.

Mayanna (Fran): It's the foreman's ribbon.

Mischa (Josephine): (gasps in awe) The foreman's ribbon.

Lyn (JJ): It's really important, you've been promoted.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Mischa (Josephine): About time!

Mischa: And she runs off.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): I love her. She's going places.

Lyn (JJ): She truly is going to leave all of us in the dust.

Mayanna (Fran): Absolutely. We have to make sure that happens.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Should we go look at your stuff?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, we are not looking at the skateboard.

Mayanna (Fran): Okayyy!

Mischa: You head back into Josie's room, it's got her smaller bed, like, off to one side. You know, she's even littler, so, like, yeah. She's got plenty of room, they let her run around the house, but, yeah, fully one half of the room is just taken up by, stacks of, of boxes and stuff.

Mayanna: Oh wow.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, This is way more than I thought it was.

Mayanna (Fran): Dang. I know, it's like when you take your whole life and you put it in boxes, you kinda realize like how much stuff you have.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, normally I just put things in boxes and don't ever look at it again.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we should, yeah, you mean like emotionally–

Lyn (JJ): Huh?

Mayanna (Fran): Or like literally?

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

(Beat).

[Music ends].

[Laughter].

Mayanna: “Oh. Huh. Mmm.”

Mayanna (Fran): JJ.

Lyn (JJ): Anyway, let's look at this one!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, alright.

[Music begins: cozy acoustic guitar].

Mischa: JJ, your whole childhood is boxed up in here.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, these shoes.

Lyn (JJ): Oh my god.

Mayanna: Keep or throw away.

Lyn (JJ): Please throw those away.

Mayanna (Fran): You got it, absolutely. I’m glad you–

Lyn (JJ): What are those?

Mayanna (Fran): This hat.

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Mayanna (Fran): This one's like– no, come on.

Lyn (JJ): But, I don't know.

Mayanna (Fran): No, when have, when in your life have you needed this hat? You didn't even remember it was here.

Lyn (JJ): Maybe I'll look cool with it.

Mayanna (Fran): Fine, put it on right now.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, okay! See–

Mayanna: Roll for cool. (chuckles)

Lyn: Oh no.

Lyn (JJ): This is performance. [Dice rolls]. (snorts).

[Laughter].

Lyn: That's a 6!

Ian: Oh no!

Mayanna (Fran): It's gone! Gone!

Lyn (JJ): Come on!

Mayanna (Fran): Yesterday!

Mischa: Now, I don't know about everyone else out there, I had a few objects in my childhood that weren't, that didn't mean a whole lot to me, that it was okay when my parents got rid of them when they moved out of their house. What is the thing in this stack that you're looking for?

Mayanna: Mm. Great question, oh my god.

Lyn: Oh... I think what I'm looking for is… the equivalent of, like, a big LEGO or K'Nex set.

Mayanna: Aww!

Mischa: Oh yeah? Like a building toy?

Lyn: Yeah, like building toys. Like, it probably started with, like, the regular LEGOs, but then, like, evolved into the LEGO Technic sets really quick.

Mayanna: Mm.

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: But like, really,

Mischa: Not sponsored.

All: Not sponsored. Not sponsored!

Lyn: You could like it could make like those like big like marble run type things, but also like big city builders like it was a lot of it.

Mischa: Yeah, I think it's probably like a full box.

Lyn: Yeah, just several several kits that were that just dumped into one big pile.

Mischa: Mhmm .

Lyn: Yeah, I think that's the thing that JJ is wanting to find the most right now, especially

Mischa: You, you know, start unstacking things, just like, cracking them open. [SFX: cardboard rustling] After stacking a couple of boxes, you hear that familiar rattle as soon as you shake the box that you're looking for. [SFX: plastic pieces clinking]

Lyn (JJ): Okay, now I found it.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh? Is it necklaces?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I just collect so many.. necklaces. (laughs)

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, you're being sarcastic. What's in there? What is in there? What is that?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I couldn't keep my mouth straight.

Lyn: and then I open it up, and it's just a million, one million pieces.

Mayanna (Fran): (gasps) Oh my god, JJ.

Lyn (JJ): You wanna take them out?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, take them! Obviously! We have a bag of holding now!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, okay.

Mayanna (Fran): You can fit all of that in there.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, we don't have the bag of holding.

Mayanna (Fran): But like we can fit it in there

Lyn (JJ): I will be taking this box.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course, you take the box.

Lyn (JJ): I’ll strap it to the bike,

Lyn: and I just like start taking pieces out, and being like,

Lyn (JJ): Pkay, so this, oh, these pieces make really good, light posts, and then you can have them everywhere.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, Uh-huh

Lyn (JJ): So I like these ones for light posts.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, Great, great

Lyn (JJ): And, oh, these ones, they're supposed to [SFX: audio fades, continuing in the background for a few seconds]

Lyn: And then like starts pulling out random things and just like starts info dumping about all of the–

Mayanna: I'm just so happily.

Lyn: Random like, things that they would use the pieces for.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Like talking about like all of the various cities and stuff that they would build.

Mayanna: Yeah, I’d live there.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: fading back in] ..this one’s really off color. So I always use this for a laundromat.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my God, that's so fun.

Lyn (JJ): It's giving laundromat, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Because it feels different. Like you're like, this one's the laundromat.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, exactly.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. It just like, it just calls to you in that way.

Lyn (JJ): Mm-Hmm…

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: reversed synth tones].

Mischa: Jovany and Paul are standing a little ways down the hallway listening to you guys pull these toys out.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Mischa: And Paul says to his husband.

Mischa (Paul): That's our JJ. Always trying to figure out how to build it better. As long as there's communities, they're gonna need leaders.

Mischa: Jovany sighs.

Mischa (Jovany): I just don't want them to get hurt.

Mischa (Paul): Them get hurt? They're saving everyone. You gotta let them go. It's what she's built for. And we build them like no other.

Mischa: And Jovany chuckles. And hugs his husband tight.

Mayanna: And then I say,

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh there's the skateboard!

Lyn (JJ): Oh, no no–

Mayanna (Fran): Yes! Oh my god! Look at the flames! Oh my god!

Lyn (JJ): Okay wait wait wait, you wanna try?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, it's amazing.

Lyn (JJ): Oh wait, [SFX: wheels turning] the axels are still good. Hold on. Let's go, let's go.

Lyn: And they start pushing–

Mayanna (Fran): Oh yes!

[SFX: skateboard wheels against a floor].

Lyn (JJ): Wait, helmet!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, put the helmet on!

Mischa: And you ollie out the front door.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Ian: Kickflip, kickflip outta the front door.

Lyn: Kickflip!

[Theme music plays]

[Theme music fades out]

Mischa Stanton 9/30/24 Mischa Stanton 9/30/24

1.09 A Lil Menty B

Cooking a meal together provides a distraction… or so everyone desperately hopes. Gordon runs the kitchen. Fran spins a theory. Ibra & Paz drop the curtain. JJ calls the play.

-- 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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— Transcript —

Ian: On the last Wandering Path.

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: Mysteries multiplying! While JJ and Gordon took BG to the neighborhood dog park, they ran across a few citizens experiencing weird, potentially electric jelly related phenomena, and uncovered a minuscule grain of that same bright, warm Astra that they found underneath the bridge. Meanwhile, Ibra and Paz accompanied Fran into a hidden workshop beneath the Dustpan. Fran's got some sick upgrades, but Ibra's only got anxiety about being made of what they now know is a possibly dangerous substance. Will a wraith attack return everything to quote-unquote normal? Absolutely not, because Paz has lightning powers now! Phew, all caught up? Okay, then let's see what's around the bend, today, on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music plays and fades out].

[Music begins: menacing electronic synths]

Mischa: Ibra, the Wraith has lunged 60 feet through the air in a downward trajectory straight at you and Fran. [SFX: ghostly shriek]. It came dangerously close to digging its electric jelly claws into your supple flesh.

[Chuckling].

Lyn: Supple?

Bex: I wasn’t ready for supple!

Ian: That was great, that was perfect.

Mayanna: Okay! “Supple flesh.”

Mischa: And before it can turn around and do you a great amount of harm.

Bex: (giggling) “Turn around and do you.” No.

Ian: I heard it too.

[Laughter].

[Music abruptly ends].

Mischa: Alright, reset.

Lyn: Walk that back. Walk everything back.

Mayanna: Why is, why is it so horny in here?

[Laughter].

Bex: Why did you do this?

Mischa: Let's just start it over.

Mayanna: Okay.

Lyn: Everyone's gotta get less hornt up.

[Laughter].

Ian: Strap in everyone at home. It's gonna be a day.

Mischa: Strap, Ian?

Mayanna: Noooooo!

Ian: Noooo! I didn't– I didn’t even mean to!

Bex: Bonk! Horny Jail.

Lyn: Yeah, Horny Jail. I’m an abolitionist–

Mischa: Everybody's in Horny Jail, we can play the game from Horny Jail today.

Mayanna: Okay, let's do it. We're rolling dice in a cell in Horny Jail.

Lyn: Wow. Tell me more.

Mayanna: No, I won't. [Laughter]. It's a very sexless cell, actually. [Laughter]. It's very dingy and dusty, and there's no sunlight.

Mischa: Aw.

Mayanna: And every once in a while somebody clangs the bars. [Laughter]. But not in a sexy way. In like a chaste way.

Lyn: (Disappointed) Oh.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Alright. Back in it.

[Music resumes: menacing electric synths]

Mischa: [SFX: ghostly shriek] It rears back upon you and makes to strike, but before it can, it is lit up from behind by an enormous bolt of crackling electricity. [SFX: thunder and electric sizzles]

Mayanna: Oh my god

Bex (Ibra): Woah!

Mischa: The thing arches its central branch in pain and screams skyward. [SFX: ghostly shriek]. It collapses to the ground. This thing's been hovering, but it all of a sudden loses its ability to hover and collapses to the ground. And as the wraith drops, 30 feet behind it, you see your childhood friend–

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: –Paz Voxana–

Mayanna: (gasps).

Mischa: –her hands crackling with electricity, staring down in wonder, surprise, and a little bit of fear, and she shouts,

Mischa (Paz): What the hell was that?!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god! Oh my god!

Bex (Ibra): I told you, maybe more than just normal!

Mischa: Ibra, it's your turn.

Bex (Ibra): Special Paz!

Mayanna: (laughs).

Mischa: What do you do?

Bex: First things first, I think Ibra literally cheers. Just involuntary–

Lyn: Woo!

Mischa: Yea, free action.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Yes! Awesome! Okay!

Bex: So, I think Ibra's going–So the thing's on the ground now, how far away is it?

Mischa: It's right in front of you.

Bex: Oh!

Mischa: Yeah, and I don't know if you know this, but this is a rule of Dungeons & Dragons, when you attack a prone target, you get an advantage.

Mayanna: Ohh!

Mischa: So, that's just, that's just some helpful information in case you want it.

Ian: Extra couple kicks in there.

Bex: You know, I love when that happens.

Mischa: Yeah!

Bex: Oh god, there's so many fun things to do! [Laughter].

[Music shifts: energetic synth music].

Bex: Okay, we should start with a bonus action, and we're gonna Warden's Mark. [SFX: laser ripple]. We're gonna mark the electric jelly that is within 30 feet of me, and because it is within five feet of me, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than me.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: And that's just an extra bonus for when it does get back up, because I'm gonna hit it while it's down!

Mayanna: Heck yea.

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely.

Bex: I'm gonna go with the pop spear in one hand, and shield in the other.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: And we're just gonna spear it.

Mischa: Yes.

Bex: Absolutely spike it.

Mischa: Stabby stabby.

Bex: Stabby stabby. [Dice rolls]. That's not gonna hit. [Dice rolls]. A natural yeet might.

Mayanna: Nice!

Lyn: Oooh boy.

Mischa: Oh boy. Go ahead and roll damage, and then also add the maximum amount of damage you could do with this attack.

Bex: Oh!

Mischa: The maximum amount.

Bex: So whatever I roll on the die, plus max?

Mischa: Yeah, so this is a d6 plus 3–

Bex: Mhmm.

Mischa:Go ahead and add another 6 at the end.

Bex: Whoa. Okay. Cool! [Dice rolls]. That's max damage on the die.

All: Hell yeah.

Bex: That's 6 plus 6, plus 3!

Mayanna: Woah, woah!

Ian: Dang.

Lyn: (In a silly, deep voice) 15.

Bex: 15 points of damage.

Mischa: You stand over the–hold, hold the fuck on. Sorry.

Bex: Oh no

Mischa: I didn't, I didn't think it was gonna end in the first turn.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: Yeah that’s what’s up!

Lyn: This is juicy.

Mayanna: Did you just body this wraith?

Lyn: Well, cause Paz bodied it in one hit.

Ian: Right.

Mayanna: Oh! My god!

Ian: Didn’t Paz do 13 damage?

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: (laughs).

Lyn: Wait, this is gonna be so juicy.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Bex, do you want to describe?

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Lyn: Oh my god.

Mischa: This–

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: I guess I do! I think that with residual electricity crackling [SFX: electricity sparkins] from the gooey mess on the ground, Ibra takes the pop spear [SFX: weapon fwips through air] and just stabs right into the center [SFX: weapon impacting a body, a ghostly shriek, and electricity sizzling followed by a rumble of thunder] and the electricity shoots right out through the end of the spear sort of back into the sky.

Lyn: Yeah!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: Whoa That's pretty sick.

Mayanna: Holy shit.

[Music ends.]

[Soundscape begins: ambient sounds of near-silent street].

Mischa: Hey, remember that thing that like almost downed you guys in the first combat and stuff?

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: You just bodied it. You just took care of it. You took care of business.

Lyn: That protective instinct..

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god.

Bex (Ibra): Whoa.

Mischa: The thunder resounds through the empty courtyard. [SFX: thunder rumbling]. For a moment, the air becomes incredibly still.

Mayanna (Fran): Wow.

Bex: Ibra's frozen.

Mayanna: I rush for the box and get the Astra put away.

Bex: I start looking around for the knight.

[Music begins: ominous strings].

Mischa: Across the courtyard, standing at the mouth of an alley. Far away, you spot the knight smiling and nods and holds a closed fist up to its heart and then pulls a short cape around itself and turns to walk away and the cape swooshes around it [SFX: wind]. And the knight is gone.

[Music ends].

[Soundscape begins: desolate wind]

Mayanna (Fran): What are you looking at?

Bex (Ibra): I–

Bex: Ibra's eyes are absolutely transfixed for a moment until they bring their fist to their heart and drop it.

Mayanna: Uh-huh.

Bex: And say,

Bex (Ibra): I think I got an answer that brings more questions.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, great. That's, that's just, that's like, that's just Tuesday for us, right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Oh god, is it still Tuesday?

Mayanna (Fran): It's been like, three days.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Everything that's happened to us has happened in the last three days.

Bex (Ibra): We’re gonna have to start processing this aren’t we oh god…

Mayanna (Fran): I know, I know, I know. You know what? That's a great point.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Okay, so–

Mayanna (Fran): Um, man. Okay, hold on. Let me just get-let me just get my-let me just get my thoughts together. That thing, that was, that thing almost killed us like three days ago. Like, or something similar to that. Almost killed us three days ago, right? And now, you just, you just, what is that, like, the wind? Just, whew. So, are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): Better than I thought I'd be.

Mayanna (Fran): That is very impressive.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you?

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome. Paz, are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Don't, don't touch me.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I won't touch you. I'm not gonna touch you. But are you…?

[Music begins: suspenseful synth strings].

Mischa: You can roll insight.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [Dice rolls]. That is a 16.

Mischa: Paz is horrified. She's like staring at her hands. She's backing slowly away from you–

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, hey hey..

Mischa: –Any step you take towards–I don't think Paz has ever considered herself dangerous before.

Mayanna: Right.

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, it's okay. It's alright.

Bex (Ibra): You can't hurt me. You, you can't hurt me.

Mischa (Paz): I didn't think I could–c–d–do lightning from my fingers.

Mayanna (Fran): Totally, totally. That's okay.

Bex (Ibra): You want me to show you? Too late.

Bex: I'm gonna give her a hug.

Mischa: Ooh, I'm gonna roll a con save for Paz.

Bex: Go for it. I have absorb elements.

Mischa: You go “too late!” and hug her. And she yelps in fear. And when she jolts, she jolts you. [SFX: electricity zapping] I'm going to go ahead and roll some lightning damage.

Bex: Absorb elements reaction.

Mayanna: Nice, nice!

Mischa: Okay. [Dice rolls].Um, that's max damage on it.

Mayanna: Woah.

Mischa: So that would be, eight halveD to four lightning damage.

Bex: I think that Ibra flinches, but only barely.

Mayanna: Mm

Mischa: Okay

Bex: and pulls Paz just a little bit tighter and breathes out electricity [SFX: quiet electric crackles] just sort of like a crackling as they release and hug Paz just a little tighter.

Bex (Ibra): I told you.

Mayanna: Mm. I'm gonna text Gordon.

[Music ends, wind soundscape continues].

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I text Gordon, I'm just like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky filter, indicating a text] I’m just telling you what I’m seeing, and what I’m seeing is just like, a lot of closeness. Between Ibra and Paz. Could be nothing, I’m just like… I don’t know, it’s just interesting I guess.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Smash cut to us at the dog park.

[SFX: camera whip].

Ian (Gordon): I just got a weird text.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, what does it say?

Ian (Gordon): Well, Fran just said, here, look,

Ian: And then I show it to you.

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Lyn: Sorry, (laughing) is your background garlic bread on your actual phone that you just showed me? [Laughter].

Ian: Uh, no, my background is a French omelette and fresh regular bread in my bag. But way to just dox me on the podcast.

[Laughter].

Ian: I think I'd just text back,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] Haha, okay, question mark?

Lyn: (through laughter) I can't get over the actual bread on your phone.

Ian: Look, it's an omelette. Look, it's so de–it’s an omelette I made.

Lyn: It looks really good.

Ian: It was really good.

Mayanna: Oh, I thought that was a thing you were saying in character.

Lyn: No!!

Ian: Nope!

Mayanna: Oh my god, it's really bread!

[Laughter].

Bex: His background is bread.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: I love you.

Ian: It wasn't an inside bit for the podcast, I just really like that photo.

[Laughter].

Bex: I love it,

Mayanna: I love that!

Mischa: Ian's background is bread all the time.

Mayanna: I love it! Oh my god!

Mischa: The Venn diagram of Ian and Gordon is a circle.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I mean, Fran, Fran is just me with extra steps.

[SFX: camera whip].

Mischa (Paz): You guys don't have secret lightning powers too, do you?

Mayanna (Fran): I wish. My god, all I have is this gun. [Laughter]. And it doesn't shoot straight all the time, and that's really on me. Everyone's been trying to make this gun better for me. You know what? I haven't even–I didn't even get to check if it's working better since my experience moments ago. But no, I wish I had lightning powers is all I'll say. I–I'm so jealous of you right now. It's insane.

[Laughter].

Bex: I've let Paz go and I'm sort of keeping her stable by the shoulders.

Mischa (Paz): Okay. Cool.

Mayanna (Fran): This is good. This is, you can…

Mischa (Paz): Alright.

Mayanna (Fran): You can protect yourself.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): You can protect whoever you want.

Mayanna (Fran): You like, you–you are part of the reason this thing is dead right now.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah... Cool.

Mayanna (Fran): That's a good thing. The last time this thing–it hurt, it hurt you the most! The last time we fought something like this.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, this one wasn't fun to fight last time.

Mischa: You guys are like crowding around Paz, like hyping her up, trying to make her not feel quite so weird about this thing. She's just sort of like staring in the thousand yard stare in the middle of distance, like between the two of you. Eventually she stops responding to your praise,

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And there's like silence in the courtyard again. And then Paz's stomach growls super loud. [SFX: stomach growl]

Mayanna (Fran): (Gasps).

Mischa (Paz): Ugh. I am so hungry.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. (laughs).

[Music begins: quiet ambient synth strings]

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds. Wow, you know? Now that, like, you know when you just, you just go for a while, and you don't check in with your body, and then all of a sudden you just do and you realize that none of it–

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, and your body has lightning powers all of a sudden?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, that too, that too. Oh! You're probably also super hungry because you have superpowers now. That makes sense, you probably need a lot more than you used to before.

Bex (Ibra): Well, I was gonna say, You remember how you always get mad at me for stealing stuff off your plate after I've been in a training session? It's because I'm hungry.

Mayanna (Fran): There you go. There you go!

Mischa (Paz): Oh.

Bex (Ibra): You're gonna have to steal stuff off my plate now.

Mischa (Paz): okay.

Mayanna: I'm gonna text Gordon and go like,

Mayanna (Fran): (SFX: staticky) Food, question mark?

[SFX: camera whip] [Soundscape begins: dogs barking at the park in the background].

Ian: I look at it, it's food.

Lyn: BG, I'm just petting BG, there’s slobber everywhere.

Ian: Yeah, heck yeah. I think I bought a cola.

Lyn (JJ): (to BG) Who’s a good boy?? Who’s a good boy?!

Ian: I think I bought a cola that I cracked open a little bit ago, sipping on a nice cold cola.

Mayanna: God, you guys are having the best day.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Not a care in the world. So Fran texts me, I go,

Ian (Gordon): Food? Oh my god, you wanna make dinner tonight?

Lyn (JJ): Oh. That sounds so good, actually.

Ian (Gordon): Let's make dinner!

Lyn (JJ): We can make dinner!

Mayanna: Yes! That sounds amazing.

Ian: I just text Fran back a single exclamation point.

Mayanna (Fran): That means yes.

Lyn (JJ): We can stop by the farmer's market.

[Soundscape ends].

Mischa: I think there's probably farmer's markets in neighborhoods all over.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: That like, I don't know.

Bex: It's probably really fun to like, see how different they are. Based on which community you're in.

Mayanna: Yeah. Like, would Minetown have like, the best, the best farmer's market?

Mischa: Well–

Bex: The Edge might.

Mischa: Well, the, the farmer's markets would be populated by the Green Grocers Guild.

Mayanna: Mm. Green Grocers.

Mischa: Which is like the fruit and veg growers guild from the Edge. The Edge is–

Bex: Are their last names green or grocer, or—

Mischa: Stuff having to–

Bex: Grossman?

Mischa: Stuff like that. Yeah.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Ian: I was wondering if– Yeah, I was wondering if there's like a more permanent sort of produce market out by the Edge. 'cause it's because you have all that farmland, you know?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Well that's, so that's the thing is if you want to go anywhere in town, you can find produce. Just like Gordon makes his deliveries, you know, people who grow fruits and veg make their deliveries too.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa:But you know, it's up to you if, if you wanna invite every–you could invite everyone back to your place and do the thing, do stuff there.

Lyn: Yeah. That's the, the real question is,

Lyn (JJ): Wait, where do we want to have dinner? We all have homes.

[Laughter].

Ian: What time is it?

Mischa: It's getting towards sunset. I said that y'all sort of spent the afternoon in the dog park.

Ian: What am I saying? It's my house. I have so much food at my house. I'm a chef-in-training for–I'm a baker-in-training, but I also like to dabble.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): No, let's just all meet at my house. I have a ton of stuff. We'll decide what we want to cook.

Mayanna: Amazing.

[Music ends]

Ian: Man, that was a lot of conversation to get to that, but you know what?

Mayanna: No!

Ian: I liked every single second of it.

Mayanna: That's, that's, that's how this works. That's how logistics work.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: So I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna grab the bus. I can't fit on the bike.

[Soundscape resumes: empty street].

Bex (Ibra): Are you, umm–

Mayanna (Fran): Don't worry about it!

Bex (Ibra): Are you sure?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, it's okay.

Bex (Ibra): It's, I don't–

Mayanna (Fran): I'm okay.

Mischa: Paz gives Ibra a knowing look, and then goes,

Mischa (Paz): No, it's, it's cool. We just fought a monster. I can call us a car.

[Music begins: slightly unsettling synth].

Mischa: And she pulls out her phone okay. And texts a number and just goes,

Mischa (Paz): Okay, it'll be on its way.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Thanks P.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Mischa: Fran, you remember how reticent the bus driver was to bring you this far into the Dustpan?

Mayanna: Right Yes. The goat man!

Mischa: Paz looks very unconcerned.

Mayanna: Interesting. I, it's occurring to me in this moment that like Paz and Ibra are obviously very good friends, and I am friends with Paz, but, and, and they were pretty well taken care of in the hospital.

Mischa: Mm-Hmm.

Mayanna: But I don't know a whole lot about Paz's situation.

Ian: It's called the Paz-uation.

Mayanna:The (stuttering) Paz-uation.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Let's not call it that, I guess.

Mayanna: Yeah, I know I didn’t–

Bex: Paz-ology.

Mayanna: Pazology.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mayanna: Um. Yeah.

Lyn: Are you just now struck by the fact that you're with the two rich kid friends that you know?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah, it's it's interesting. It's very interesting. I think that Fran doesn't normally think about that kind of stuff because she doesn't really have time to think about those things.

Mischa: Mmhm.

Mayanna: But it is weird, you know, being especially in the Dustpan of just like this very low income area and not having the ability to call a car.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And have never had the ability to call a car.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: That's really interesting.

Ian: Like you wouldn't even think about it. It wouldn't even occur to you.

Mayanna: No, God, no.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: yeah.

Ian: Which is weird. Cause it's such an easy option when it is an option.

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely. And I think she is feeling that, I think, for the first time.

Mischa: Valid. Fair. I don't know how to respond to that.

Mayanna: No, you don't have to!

Lyn: Yea, cause well, we mostly all hang out at Boggins.

Mayanna: Yeah, I, like, you guys show up, and I'm working, and you guys hang out, and Ibra's working, and Gordon's working, and, and, before all this stuff happened three days ago, Fran–all Fran dreamed about was going to the Constellation and, like, making these designer things and, like, being a part of that. But like, not realizing how far away she was from that, even with the people around her.

Lyn: Mmm.

Mischa: Yeah. Fair.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Does anyone else remember how quickly this episode turned from combat to Touchfeels… therapy party? I do.

[Laughter]. [Music ends].

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Remember when there was supposed to be a combat?

[Laughter].

Bex: (sarcastically) Sorry.

Mischa: Before I got my shit wrecked.

Mayanna: The dice didn't want it to happen again.

Mischa: Yeah

Ian: It's called pivoting.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Music begins: ambient synth strings].

Bex: So, I think Ibra has been Really thinking about that night ever since, and kind of in this moment of quiet, not quite feeling what Fran is feeling, not quite feeling what Paz is feeling, sort of in their own space, sort of mumbles,

Bex (Ibra): I don't know if I'm going crazy, but I think I saw someone else.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, this is what you were looking at earlier?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): What'd you see?

Bex (Ibra): A knight?

Mayanna (Fran): Like one from like the, like the armor from our dreams?

Bex (Ibra): And… for some reason they picked up the box.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): And opened it.

Mayanna (Fran): What? Wait, okay, wait, wait, wait, wait. Because if you're seeing something that doesn't exist, it can't touch stuff.

Bex (Ibra): But it did. And you saw it. Oh, you saw the box open, right?

Mayanna (Fran): I saw the box move, but I didn't see anything.

Bex (Ibra): There was a knight unlatching it. Or at least that's, that's what I saw.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Right. Okay.

Bex (Ibra): And I was ready to fight it.

Mayanna (Fran): You're not crazy.

Bex (Ibra): Oh..kay.

Mayanna (Fran): You're not crazy.

Bex (Ibra): Promise?

Mayanna (Fran): Promise.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome. I just don't know why that is happening. It's okay. Everything's okay.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Everything's great.

Mayanna (Fran): Everything's not great, but everything's fine.

Mischa (Paz): There's like, three or four things that shouldn't be happening that all just happened at once.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Yeah, you're right. You're right. You're right. You know what? Yes. Paz. You're right. This shit's fucking crazy.

Bex (Ibra): Mmhm.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. So, so ghosts, invisible ghosts, moving workshops and, uh, and lightning powers.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, wait, hold on. How did the rest of the workshop go?

Mayanna (Fran): Um… Good, good. Very good. There is something that I have to give up if I want to do this, I have to give up my…memories, Kind of.

Bex (Ibra): Woah, what?

Mayanna (Fran): The feelings associated with memories that I have.

Bex (Ibra): The feelings of memories?

Mayanna: They're not gone. They're just like. Okay, for example, remember when we sang Happy Birthday to Paz? So like, that's kind of like a grayscale memory now.

Bex (Ibra): Whoa.

Mischa (Paz): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): Like it was in color, and now it's not.

Mischa(Paz): Oh. So you put your memories in?

Mayanna (Fran): To, to tags, yes. and then you put the tags on stuff and then they, and then they kind of carry the will and force of the memories, and then you can use that to conjure abilities and–

Bex (Ibra): Wait, so like, it, so the memory went from being like exquisite armor to mid armor in your mind, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): That's so weird. Sorry. Is that weird to say?

Mayanna (Fran): No, it’s okay. you can say it's weird.

Bex (Ibra): It's kind of weird.

Mayanna (Fran): There's a lot of weird stuff going on right now.

Mischa (Paz): There's a lot of weird stuff going on.

Mayanna (Fran): Mmhm.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Magic is weird. This is all weird.

Mayanna (Fran): It is weird. Man, remember when you were doing work, and I was doing work, and JJ was in school, and Gordon was working on bread?

Bex (Ibra): Remember when I was a bee?

Mischa (Paz): I miss Boggins.

Mayanna (Fran): I do too. I can't believe I'm saying that.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, me too.

Mischa (Paz): Do you really? That's–Wait, hold on, Fran, that's wild.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: (Whispering in disbelief) It is wild, isn't it? [Laughter].God, it's so wild.

Mischa: So much stuff has been going on, but the fact that Fran actually misses Boggins might have been the final straw.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Like, that one? That broke me.

Bex: We're worried about you now, bud.

Mayanna (Fran): Miss the mop.

Bex (Ibra): Aw. The new one?

Mayanna (Fran): No, the old one. I miss the animatronic with the wonky eye. I miss the sticky floors.

Mischa: And it's as you're listing this litany of things that you thought were large problems in your life way before–

Mayanna: Oh god!

Mischa: –the car approaches

Mayanna: Ah yes, new problems, wonderful.

Ian: Oh my god

Mayanna: Incredible

[SFX: Car pulling up]. [Music begins: low ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, it's an older car, it's not like brand new, it's not slick, it's not like Ravonna’s car but it's like a sturdy, utilitarian little hover car and a driver, not in any sort of uniform, just like an ordinary sort of, dwarf, just sort of like, as soon as it lands, pops out and holds a door open for Paz and the rest of you. [SFX: door opening with hydraulic hiss].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, thank you.

Bex (Ibra): Thanks, doc.

Mischa: Paz gives the driver an address in the Edge, for the Baker's Guild headquarters.

Mayanna: Is there room for all of us in the backseat, or is it like a two, is it like a five seater?

Mischa: There's room for all of you in the backseat. Ibra, what are you gonna do about your bike?

Bex: I'm actually gonna close the door behind Paz and Fran, [SFX: door sliding closed] and I'm gonna stay back with the driver and I'm gonna be like,

Bex (Ibra): Hey, I'm just gonna follow you on the bike if that's cool with you. Just try not to go too fast so I can keep up.

Mischa (Driver): You got it.

Bex (Ibra): Thanks, Boss.

Mischa: Gives you like a, like, tips his newsboy cap.

Mayanna: Wow.

Bex: I'm gonna pat the car twice like an old dad would do or something stupid.

Mayanna: That's so funny.

Lyn: You say that and that's what I do.

Bex: Right. I'm an old dad at heart.

Mayanna: Incredible.

Mischa: And, Fran, you and Paz, enjoy a smooth ride to the edge.

[SFX: car drives off, motorcycle revs to life and follows].

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah.

Ian: (singing) Livin on the edge, ridin’ to the edge.

[Laughter].

Lyn: That's the smash cut to us in the tuk-tuk, jammin’ to the radio.

Bex: That's what's playing.

Ian: I’m singing full volume. And I got, like, my fist to my chest and I'm like, [SFX: radio bopping in the background] (singing) Ridin’ to the edge! Ridin’ to the edge!

Mischa: And BG's in the back like,

Mischa (BG): (singing howls).

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh BG!

Ian: And I get, and I put my hand back and be like,

Ian (Gordon): Good job, BG!

Ian: And then I put my hand out and then he, like, chin fives my hand.

Mayanna: Awww BG!

Ian (Gordon): Ew, ah.

Ian: And it's all wet. And I like, brush my hand out the window and drop the slobber off of it.

Bex: I like to imagine someone's riding by on a bicycle and it's just,

Bex (Bike rider): Oh! Agh!

Ian (Gordon): Sorry!

Mayanna: “This was gonna be my year!”

[Laughter].

[Radio music fades out]. [Music begins: low, peaceful ambient synths].

[Soundscape begins: bugs and birds chirping, plants rustling in the wind]

Mischa: Unlike most of the other districts in New Prosper, life in the Edge is a little bit slower. Everything's a little bit more spread out. As soon as you cross the boundary between Minetown and the Edge, everything sort of sprawls. The air has more freedom to move. Housing allotments give way to fields and crops, and there's a little more room for everything here. As you travel, you leave the shadow of the Upper City behind, and orange light bathes the entire field. Gordon, it's a beautiful, picturesque scene as you drive home.

Ian (Gordon): Ah… The Edge.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You roll up to the Baker's Guild headquarters. [SFX: Tuk-tuk motor]. It's a big silo training facility, dormitory thing. From the outside, do you think that like, people are making deliveries at all hours? Like, do you think you're one of the last people to drive your tuk-tuk back? What do you think?

Ian: I think I'm one of the last people to drive my tuk-tuk back. I think that it probably calms down a lot earlier than you would expect because we all have to get up so early.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Ian: So I think it's actually, like, pretty low key right now.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Yeah, that's fair. One thing you do notice is as you drive up to the garages in the, the sort of like visitor parking quote-unquote, Fran and Paz step out of a car. [SFX: car door hissing open]

Ian (Gordon): Oh, great. Hey!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey! How's it going?

Lyn (JJ): Hi guys! Oh, wait, can I have some help getting my bike out of the back of the truck? Oh, yeah. [SFX: metal clanging, bike wheel idling] Ah!

Mayanna (Fran): You didn't– Are you okay?

Lyn (JJ): Okay. It's okay. The chain just got stuck. It's fine.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Hi!

Mayanna (Fran): Hi!

Lyn (JJ): How was the escape room?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Oh! it–was so good. Thank you so much for your help. We got out. We escaped, we did it.

Lyn (JJ): Good! I'm glad.

Mayanna (Fran): yes.

Lyn (JJ): Next time you want to go. Let me know. I love escape rooms.

Mayanna (Fran): I will absolutely–We have so much to talk about you guys.

Mischa (Paz): What escape room? What are you guys talking about?

Bex: Ibra's parking their bike and like drops the chain– [SFX: hoverbike powering down].

Bex (Ibra): No, I, we–we'll take you next time.

Mayanna (Fran): Let's just tell them. We, it was a puzzle, and it was, it was bad. I–

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that's what escape rooms are. [Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Totally, no. It was, it was a test. It was the Arcane Masters Guild's test, and I barely passed. And if it wasn't for you, maybe I would not have ever learned anything new at all.

Lyn (JJ): What, did you just have like a few minutes left on the clock, or?

Mayanna (Fran): No, it, no, this was like, this was, okay, it was like a test of will, it was like, Thorgunn, finally trusted me–

Lyn (JJ): Whoa!

Mayanna (Fran): –or I finally earned my keep enough to prove that I was ready to learn about things that were, I don't know, powerful or whatever, and then I, and then I, and then I totally shut down, and then, and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't, now know–

Mayanna: And I-I-I hold up like a– I hold up the tag.

Lyn (JJ): Would you like a hug?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah I would.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): That sounds really nice.

Lyn: I give Fran a big hug.

Mayanna: I give you a hug and I hold out the tag just like really far away from our bodies. [Laughter]. Cause I just–I just don't want it to touch anything that it's not supposed to, and then I put it back.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you. I might not be very smart.

Bex (Ibra): Take it back.

Lyn (JJ): That–Take that back.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, take that back.

Mischa: Counterspell!

Lyn: Counterspell!

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, okay.

Ian: BG jumps on you and tries to lick you in your face.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay. you know what? You're right. You're right, BG. You keep me honest. Thank you.

Lyn (JJ): We can talk inside.

Mayanna (Fran): That sounds great.

Lyn (JJ): You are all so sweaty.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah. There was also, we got attacked.

Lyn (JJ): What?!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we got attacked.

Ian (Gordon): Wait, what?!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, let's go inside, let’s go inside!

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, we should get inside.

Mayanna: Before we go inside, I'm, I'm going to turn back to the car really quickly and just like, I'm going to go over to the driver's side window. I'm going to just like, thank him for driving us.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, he tips his newsie cap to you outside of the window. Paz does the same. Takes the time as y'all are preparing, like headed across the parking lot. Just like stays behind.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Thanks very much, and that's on the–

Mischa: And he goes,

Mischa (Driver): Don't worry, ma'am, I got it.

Mischa: And starts up the car and drives off. [SFX: car starts and speeds off]. Paz looks to you, Fran and is just like,

Mischa (Paz): It's not a thing I can do all the time.

Mayanna (Fran): Mm, mhmm.

Mischa (Paz): It's just like, very special occasions, but I felt like getting attacked. By a monster. In a really dangerous part of town. And then manifesting lightning powers. I felt like I could call one in, you know?

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, if this isn't a special occasion, I don't know what the fuck is.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (From afar) Sorry, what was that about lighting powers?

Ian (Gordon): (From afar) What is happening right now?

Mayanna (Fran): Right, so, okay, let's go inside, let's go inside!

[Soundscape ends]. [Music begins: cozy, peaceful ambient synths]

Mischa: You step through the entranceway to the Baker's Guild. [SFX: door creaking open] It's, like, the flour has baked into the concrete bricks of the silo. Like, it just, the smell, even with no ovens going, like, fresh bread and pre-bread and, you know, dough proofing overnight, just fills the space. It's, it's empty, it's calm. Yeah, it probably shuts down pretty early, so like, at sunset, it's probably like, the stragglers, right?

Ian: Mhmm. It's occurring to me that this is a culinary school.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Yes, it's designed for bread.

Mischa: Yup.

Ian: But I was like, oh wait, I live in a dorm, I probably don't have a full kitchen in my dorm, but there's definitely a full kitchen here, and I'm wondering one of two paths.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Not Paz. (Over-enunciating) Paths.

Mischa: Got it.

Lyn: Are they wandering?

Ian: They are wand–fuck, I didn't realize I did that.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Heyyo! That's a party point for Lyn.

Lyn and Bex: Yeah!

Ian: Fuck yeah. Here's the first path. The first path is that there are, in the kitchens, like, in one corner in the kitchen, there is either, like, a practice room that you can log you know, you can, like, sign into as a guild member slash student, and, like, do experimental cooking, right? And we can all go use that test kitchen and whatever the ingredients are. And I have a little potential game for it.

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: Or I'm just taking everyone down to the kitchens and raiding the fridge, and then there's risk there. But I, cause I don't know what is, I don't know what's in the world or not.

Mischa: Um, yeah, no, good question. I think that like, the usual kitchen that you sign out every morning, that like, you know, you have your regular, your time.

Ian: Right, oh yeah, I have my bay.

Mischa: Right, so, I think that, you know, just because everyone else is shut down and has gone to bed, like, you could obviously sign out that space late night again if you wanted to, I think.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: There's probably–

Lyn: Like studio hours.

Mischa: Yeah, there's studio hours. There's like, you know, when I worked at the theater studio, there was like a late night attendant. You could sign up for spaces. Yeah, absolutely.

Ian: So if that's the case, if I'm just signing out my own bay, then it would seem to me that we're raiding the bakery kitchen of whatever is there.

Mischa: Yeah, as we know from our previous excursion to the bursar's office, I've been sort of tracking what everybody has been spending on stuff.

Ian: Sure.

Mischa: I think, I think we can just add that. You're right, you're a culinary student. They take it out of your paycheck, they sign out the cost of materials to your account. Absolutely.

Ian: Well if that's the case, y'all, We have a lot of options. And over the past five minutes, I've been writing some of them down.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Okay. All right.

Lyn: Your notebook is wild.

Mayanna: I can't wait.

Mischa: I'm like fully losing control of the podcast. But go for it.

[Laughter].

Bex: You like it this way and you know it.

Mischa: I do, it's true.

Ian: My name's Ian McQuown. I'm the new GM of this podcast.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You made a game?

Ian: I, I, I, I think on the spot just now, I made a game.

Mischa: Okay

Ian: I have no guarantees that it will work.

Mayanna: I can't wait. Do it.

Ian: But I have an idea. Unless you have a game that's actually a game.

Mischa: I'm, yeah, I'm the Game Master. I have come up with game content for you–

Ian: Mmhm

Mischa: –but do you want to tell us about your game?

Mayanna: I can’t wait.

Ian: Okay, here's my game.

Mischa: I'm so thrilled you made it. [Laughter]. Tell us everything.

Lyn: Show and tell.

Ian: Okay, I have four, there's four people who are not me around. There's Paz, right?

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: Included. So I've broken up the ingredients into four major sections. With four options a piece.

Mayanna: Wow.

Ian: So my pitch is that I'm going to lay out all the food we have on the table and then we'll go around and everyone can roll one d20 to determine what of the four options we get to pick in each category. And then, as a group, we can talk about the dish that we make with those four options.

Mayanna: (Gasps) Oh my god

Lyn: It's like chopped, but randomized.

Mayanna: I love this.

Bex: I love this

Mayanna: so much.

Mischa: Yeah. Listeners, I'm learning about this game in real time. Ian, you know we have like production chat where you can tell me about things you want to do? Nope, learning about it real time online.

Ian: I just came up with it right now!

Mischa: Incredible.

Mayanna: The Inspiration struck.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: It really did.

Lyn: That's another gold star.

Mischa: That's a gold star.

Ian: Fuck yeah! (Singsong) I'm just marking down my gold star. Okay. So.

Mischa: Yeah. Okay. Walk– It's your show, man. [Laughter]. Let's play this game!

Mayanna: Do it!

[Music begins: upbeat synth]

Ian: Okay, so, guys, here's the master list of all the things that we have that I pull out of the school kitchen.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mayanna: Wow.

Ian: We've got chicken.

Mayanna: Woah

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: We've got eggs. We've got fish. We've got eggplant. Those are our main ingredients. like our, our primary ingredient options.

All: Mhmm.

Ian: For our secondary ingredient options, we've got bread. We've got rice. We've got various like green veggies. And then we have potatoes.

Mayanna: Mmhm, woah.

Ian: For our, third, which would be like our third ingredient. It's not quite the garnish, but it's maybe like–

Lyn: It's the support or side.

Ian: It’s the support component. Yeah, exactly. We've got, like, peppers and spice, i.e. cayenne. We've got citrus components. We've got yogurt, or we've got alliums, like scallions and onions–

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: –and I don't know if garlic is in there.

Lyn: Garlic's an allium.

Mischa: Yeah it is.

Bex: Boo.

Ian: Yeah, and garlic. Did you say boo? [Laughter].

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Toxic for Bex's,

Bex: Bex irl.

Mischa: But Ibra's stomach okay.

Bex: Ibra's fine.

Bex: What about Paz, though?

Mayanna: Oh, Paz has dietary restrictions.

Ian: Oh!

Mischa: That's true!

Ian: Oh, what are Paz's dietary restrictions?

Mischa: Paz can't eat wheat and rye, starchy beans, cabbage, mushrooms, stone fruit, and artificial sweeteners.

Ian: Oh man, so if we roll bread, we're, we gotta, we gotta–

Mayanna: Cause we did like a non-gluten cake.

Lyn: It was sourdough though. So it has some–

Ian: We're gonna all work together and we're gonna, we're gonna cook it with whatever we roll.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: And then our fourth is sort of like the, the garnish or the finishing. We've got soy/ginger. We've got butter. We've got just fire, just straight flambe. And then we've got herbs, fresh herbs.

Mayanna: Amazing. Wow.

Lyn: Incredible.

Ian: Okay, roll for initiative!

[Cheers and laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god, yeet!

Mischa: Nice

Ian: You yeeted?

[Cheers]. [Music ends].

Mayanna: I yeeted!

Bex: Nice!

Ian: Oh my god!

Lyn: Yes!

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: Okay, so, great, so who's first Fran is first–

Lyn: 14.

Ian: 14.

Mischa: She got a 3.

Bex: 15.

Ian: Paz is last. We've got, Fran first, then Ibra, then JJ, and then Paz.

Lyn: Nice.

Ian: Okay, so Fran, roll a d20 and I will tell you what of the four ingredients we will use. We've got chicken, eggs, fish, or eggplant.

Mayanna: Okay. [Dice rolls]. It's a twenty again!

All: Whoa!

Mayanna: Holy moly!

Mischa: Wowee.

Ian: Hot dice.

Mayanna: Okay, so yeah, I rolled a 20, so is it a random like, is it like between 1 and a certain number?

Ian: I marked it, yeah, so 1-5, 6-10, 11 to 15…

Mayanna: Okay, sure.

Ian: Alright. you picked my least favorite ingredient as a human, I'm so excited that we're gonna cook it. We are cooking with eggplant as our final ingredient.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Wow.

Ian: Oh, that's, yeah, I should've done that. Great.

Mayanna: Holy moly.

Ian: Okay, great. I'm changing spice, that'll be the end. So, tomatoes, citrus, yogurt, and alliums.

Bex: [Dice rolls]. 18.

Ian: 18! We are cooking guys with eggplant and yogurt. That's what we know so far.

Bex: Interesting.

Lyn: Mediterranean.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Very Mediterranean.

Lyn: North African also.

Ian: Great. I did these in the wrong order. Great, awesome. JJ, you're up. Now we're dealing with the secondary ingredient, which I skipped, which is bread, rice, mixed vegetables, or potatoes.

Mischa: We're running a game. It's harder than it looks, huh?

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Fuckin A. I'm already tired.

Lyn: I rolled a 15.

Ian: 15! Ooh, veggies. Okay, bonus question: What kind of green veggies are we working with?

Mayanna: We got eggplant, we got yogurt.

Mischa: I feel like, um.. arugula?

Ian: Ooh!

Mayanna: Yeah, that makes sense.

Mischa: Rocket, for our British listeners.

Mayanna: Rocket, yeah.

Ian: Okay, anyone else got something to add to the arugula? I mean, like, there's a ton of green veggies in here.

Lyn: Yeah. Broccolini.

Mayanna: Broccolini's fun.

Bex: Asparagus.

Mayanna: I could do a broccolini.

Bex: Makes your pee smell.

Ian: Broccolini or asparagus? Let's choose.

Mayanna: Should we roll off for it?

Bex: Yeah!

Lyn: What are we rolling for?

Mayanna: Above a 10, it's broccolini. Below a 10, it's asparagus.

Bex: Cool.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: What did you roll?

Bex: 11.

Mayanna: 11? [Dice rolls]. That's a 7.

Bex: Oh!

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: So what does that mean?!

[Overlapping chatter]

Bex: I love this game.

Mayanna: You know what, you rolled higher, so we'll go with asparagus. My rule was dumb.

Bex: Asparagus is closer to 10 and yours was further from 10.

Mayanna: But it should just be who rolled higher gets what they want. [Laughter]. My thing was dumb. I overcomplicated it.

Ian: It's hard running a game, isn't it?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It’s hard running a game! Thank you, Mischa. For running a game!

[Laughter].

Mischa: My pleasure.

Ian: The worst part is that I didn't tell you that there's a third vegetable in this alternate universe called asparalini.

Mayanna: What?!

Bex: Ah! It's asparalini. The whole time it was asparalini.

Ian: Okay, back to it. Final. So this is our finisher ingredient.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: For Paz.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: We've got soy/ginger, soy ginger. We've got butter. We've got just fire.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Ian: And then we've got spice and herbs.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Ooh.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: 8.

Ian: That would be butter.

All: Oh,

Ian: And then I'm gonna do a bonus roll [gasps] for me to add an ingredient from the section.

Mayanna: Oh my god, amazing.

Ian: Okay, I'm gonna do two. One to see what section we roll in.

Mayanna: Okay.

Ian: [Dice rolls]. 20 it's more finishing ingredients and then it's [Dice rolls]. Herbs. Herbs and spices.

Mayanna: I do love herbs.

[Music begins: rustic acoustic strings]

Ian: Okay, so here's what we've got to work with, ladies and germs. We've got eggplant, arugula, asparagus, a rustic yogurt.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Butter, and like, herbs, and pepper. So here's the question. Does that violate any of the dietary restrictions of anyone in our group?

Mayanna: I don't think so.

Ian: Any allergies or dietary restrictions?

Mayanna: No. If they can eat butter, Paz can eat butter.

Mischa: Paz can eat butter.

Mayanna: Cool.

Ian: Okay.

Lyn: There's a Middle Eastern dish, I'm trying to look at the pronunciation, but it's, sheikh al mashi.

Ian: Okay.

Mayanna: Oh.

Lyn: Which is literally stuffed eggplant in a yogurt sauce.

All: Whoa!

Lyn: It's usually stuffed with like pine nuts and meat.

Mayanna: Okay.

Lyn: But there are vegetarian versions.

Mayanna: So we could stuff it with the Broccolini, maybe puree the broccolini?

Lyn: It's asparagus.

Ian: It's asparagus, stop whining, I know you pitched broccolini but you didn't get it.

Mayanna: Sorry, sorry, sorry, you're right. Asparagus.

Ian: Work with the ingredients you have.

Mayanna: Sorry, you know what? You're right. I have to let it go.

Lyn: But it could be like a side salad type of thing. Like, they might not necessarily be the same. They don't need to be the same component. I'm thinking like, Chopped, where sometimes they'll have like, multi courses.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah, wow.

Ian: Okay, so, so what we've been talking about is coring out the eggplant, using some of the inside of the eggplant, too, for the stuffing, along with, like, probably very, very small, chopped (in a French accent) asparagus,

Mischa: That'd be elvish asparagus.

Mayanna & Bex: (In exaggerated French accents) Asparagus!

[Laughter].

Ian: Okay, so then, so then if it's asparagus and roast eggplants so far on the inside, we have herbs and peppers to work with. What would be good in there? You know, what kind of herbs?

Lyn: I mean, that could also be stuffed with it.

Bex: Yeah, peppers and seasoned peppers.

Ian: I know, like what kind, like, so like spicy chili peppers? Like red bell peppers?

Lyn: Let’s see. Bell pepper would definitely work.

Mayanna: I think bell pepper makes sense.

Ian: And like chives maybe.

Mayanna: Yeah, I like chives

Lyn: And/or like dill. Dill would also work.

Ian: Ooh, dill, I like dill!

Mayanna: I like that.

Bex: Dill!

Mayanna: We gotta do dill with the yogurt. Yes.

Ian: Okay, great. So we've got stuffed eggplant with eggplant, asparagus, dill, red pepper.

Lyn: Mm-Hmm. Yeah.

Ian: And chives. And then we have a yogurt sauce underneath. What does it say about the yogurt sauce?

Lyn: It's cooked in the yogurt sauce usually.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Lyn: And it can be stuffed with pine nuts and stuff too.

Mayanna: Cool.

Lyn: So yeah. If we have pine nuts anywhere else.

Ian: Oh, that can work for herbs. I love that.

Mayanna: Yeah, I like that.

Ian: We'll rustle up some pine nuts.

Mayanna: That's awesome.

Mischa: Hey listeners. I don't know about you, is anybody else really hungry?

[Laughter]. [Music ends].

Lyn: We said like episode one–

Mayanna: Fan art! Food fan art.

Lyn: Food fan art! And recipes.

Mayanna: Fan art of the food!

Mischa: I'm gonna, you know, Lyn, text this to me, I'm gonna put the recipe for this in the show notes.

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Oohh!

Bex: Yes!

Lyn: I’ll Also check some of my friends to see if they have a family recipe for this.

Bex: Oh yay!

Mayanna: That is so fun. Oh, I hope somebody out there makes this dish and tells us how it is somehow, so if you're out there listening, and you're the one person who decides to make this dish, I hope you let us know that that happened sometime in the future.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah. Post it on Instagram. Tag us in it.

Mayanna: What a gift you gave us with this.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mayanna: This is such, that was such a delightful, experience we all just shared.

Mischa: Yeah, thank you so much Ian for making a game for us on the spot.

Mayanna: That was really special. I really liked that

Bex: I loved that.

Lyn: I loved that.

Ian: I hope it was impactful.

Mayanna: Nah, I really enjoyed it.

Bex: It was.

Lyn: That's how I'm gonna cook my dinner from now on.

Mayanna: That really warmed my heart.

Ian: Yeah, just roll dice and pick ingredients.

Bex: That's really fun.

[Midroll theme plays and fades out]

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 up, as usual, I want to say a huge thank you to our patrons at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. We got our biggest influx of new patrons yet this week. That is amazing news.

Thank you so, so much to The Queer Mess, Patrick H., Sparrow, and Asa V. for signing up. And of course, a huge shout out to our Voyager level patron, JWX! We love you so much! I don't think it's a coincidence that so many of you joined up with us after the last detour, where we broke down how many hours go into making this show. It's a lot, but I love to do it, and it really does mean the entire world to us to have your support doing what we're good at and what we love. So if that's worth anything to you, even just a couple dollars per episode, and you want to bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, sign up with us at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

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That's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[Midroll theme plays and fades out].

Mischa: Yeah, I think this is just a food podcast now. [Laughter].

Mayanna: Wasn’t it always a food podcast?

Mischa: No, no, we'll tell a story. I guess we'll tell a story. Okay.

Bex: But we'll tell it with food!

[Music begins: rustic acoustic strings]

Mischa: Yeah, so, it's a quiet early evening in the Baker's Guild silo.

Ian: Mmhm.

Mischa: And you've got your usual kitchen to yourself. You're laying out your ingredients. You've got things laid out for somebody to help you with prep, somebody to help you with the cook, and somebody to help you with finishing and plating.

Ian: Love it. Okay, so here, so I take the biggest eggplant, because we're all going to be sharing stuffed eggplant, so it's like a football sized eggplant, right?

Lyn: Hell yeah.

Mischa: I love an image of Gordon in front of just a large bay, like a large pantry cabinet.

Ian: Yeah, and like I've just, it's all laid out, and it's all at a cooking school, so it's all perfectly ordered.

All: Mmhm.

Mischa: While you guys are waiting for Gordon to give you jobs.

Lyn: Yes, chef.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Heard, chef.

Bex: Yeah, sure.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Chef yeah.

Ian: Dish area, immediately.

[Laughter].

Mischa: There's so much that's been going on for the rest of the world that like, yes, making dinner together is a wonderful distraction, but like, there's quests to be had, there's new powers gained, there's feelings to be processed?

Mayanna: Feelings to be processed, period.

Mischa: Maybe? Okay, great, good. I'm proud of you. Does anybody feel strongly about any of the cooking positions? Do we want to roll for it?

Mayanna: Let's roll for it.

Mischa: Do you want Ian to assign you?

Lyn: Let’s roll.

Mayanna: Let's roll for it.

Ian: I think we're rolling for it.

Lyn: Yes, chef!

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: 4.

Bex: 8.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 13.

Mischa: Okay. JJ's on prep. Ibra's on cook. Fran's on finishing.

Mayanna: I love that.

Bex: Sick.

Ian: Spectacular.

Lyn: That feels right, weirdly.

Mayanna: Yeah, it does feel right, doesn't it?

Bex: I like fire.

Ian: I guess I'm just overseeing everybody, right? Walking from person to person? Or what am I doing?

Mayanna: This is so fun.

Mischa: I, so, I mean, you tell me, but in my mind, Gordon's actually doing most of the work.

Ian: Yeah, great, great, great.

Mischa: Hold on. Now, actually, I'm gonna go back. Rest of the party, Gordon always does, like, a majority of the cooking or, like, takes you out. You, you've previously handed over free will at restaurants so that Gordon is gonna order for you. How much cooking do y'all do on your own?

Mayanna: Damn, great question. I think Fran is a, like, Cup Noodle girly.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: She does not, she has no time.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah, I think Fran's about convenience and efficiency.

Mischa: (laughs).

Bex: I think Ibra's not creative with food, but can cook it.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Bex: I think Ibra's actually a meal prepper.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Only because of training. Usually if, if it, when it comes to anything not meal prepping for exercise, Ibra's not so good at it, but when it comes to, like, what they've got on their docket, on their scheduled food, they can make it really well.

Mischa: Well, that, and that makes sense, because, like, we've covered your diet is prescribed by the doctors that own patents on your body.

Bex: Yeah.

Lyn: I think JJ cooks, like, not as much as they'd like, because it gets expensive, but they actually probably cook more to save money, and their grandmother would kill them if they didn't cook at home.

Mischa: Yeah, that makes sense. Absolutely.

Lyn: (laughs) JJ, I think, is the pendulum swing of both. It's like, it has to be either convenient or cheap.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: And then like, like, sometimes we'll nail good in the middle. But it's like, sometimes JJ eats brown cube and kind of likes it.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yea, When I worked at a movie theater–this is Mayanna talking– I would. They had, they discounted all the food. So I would, I would have $2 chicken strips every night that I had a shift.

All: Ooh.

Mayanna: It was not a good situation, but it was the situation that made sense at the time.

Lyn: Exactly.

Bex: Sustenance.

Mayanna: Sustenance, exactly.

Mischa: And very much how it would be in the Barra.

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Mischa: Where like, all of the leftovers are, it's all leftover bar food.

Mayanna: Yep, it's all this, yeah, it's like discounted food at Boggins, or like, yeah, whatever's around, or like whatever people are giving out at the end of the night.

Bex: The veggies you're getting are like, crudités, fried pickles and fried brussels sprouts.

Mayanna: Yup, Fran's diet is rancid. [Laughter]. It's terrible.

[Music ends].

Mischa: That's why she needs that good skincare routine. [Laughter].

Mayanna: Truly, it’s something I gotta, I gotta, thank god for genetics, man, you know?

Ian: It's pronounced “Francid.”

[Laughter].

Lyn: Wow.

Mayanna: Francid.

Bex: I think you get a party point for that.

Mayanna: You know what, I resent it, but yeah, that's absolutely a party point. That is a unanimous party point.

Ian: (singsongy) And it's on the board.

Lyn: Get a begrudging–a begrudging party point

Mayanna: Absolutely. Francid diet. [Laughter]. Put that on a t-shirt, us.

Mischa: Yeah. So silly.

Mayanna: Francid vibes.

Mischa: Okay, Gordon, you lay out all your ingredients on the prep table, and, you tag JJ in and get to work.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, so what we're going to be doing is we're going to cut the top off this eggplant, we're going to scoop out the insides, and then we're going to chop up the inside of the eggplant, as well as the other veggies we have.

Lyn (JJ): Yes, chef! Heard, chef!

[Music begins: quiet, calming piano and synth]

Ian: I take my sharpest, like, 8 inch chef's knife. [SFX: knife being unsheathed]. Maybe it's a 10 inch chef's knife.

Mayanna: Woah.

Lyn: Ooh I'm a dwarf. [Laughter].

Ian: I take my 10inch,

Lyn: Okay. Just checking.

Ian: And I, and I cut like the first sort of like, inch off the top of it sideways, right? So now laid out it's like a boat, or it's going to be a boat on its side. and then I take my paring knife and I run a little, like, outline of what we're gonna cut on the inside. And then I hand the eggplant and a very big spoon to JJ so you can scoop.

Lyn: Great.

Bex: Yeah, Dungeon Meshi is playing behind my eyelids.

Lyn: Mmhm.

[Laughter].

Bex: It's great.

Mayanna: Not sponsored.

Ian: And I think while you scoop, I'm gonna chop the asparagus. [SFX: scraping against eggplant] How's scooping the eggplant, how's that going over for you?

Mayanna: Do you want to roll for it?

Lyn: Fine?

Mayanna: Roll for it.

Mischa: Yeah, why don't you go ahead and roll a–

Mayanna: Roll for scoop.

Mischa: –sleight of hand.

Lyn: Great. [Dice rolls]. 13.

Mischa: Okay, you reach in, like the eggplant is, the biggest eggplant that Gordon could find and he's using a lot of like human tools. I think with a 13 you do a decent job of scooping out the eggplant itself. I think maybe you don't manage to salvage all of the innards and make a little bit of a mess around the kitchen. Which it being after hours.. Ehh..

Lyn (JJ): I'll clean it. It's fine. Clean as you go.

Ian: Yeah, heck yeah. And you know what you didn't do, which you could have done, the beginner move is like, you scoop too deep, and then the spoon goes through the side of the eggplant.

Lyn: Oh no, I think the problem is I was erring on the side of caution.

Ian: Which is great, I love that.

Mischa: Classic JJ.

Lyn: You can always scoop more.

Ian: Yes, you can. You can never scoop less.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: I think, like, Ibra's coming in with a trash can to help out, and is like–

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, no, one of my teachers, one of my, trainers was teaching me about a French phrase, I think it's (deadpan, aggressively American accent) mise en place.

Lyn: (restrained sound of frustration).

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Ooh boy.

Lyn: Oh, I hate it.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Oh, that's so wrong that it might just as well be right.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: No.

Mischa: Okay, Fran.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: Gordon and JJ are cooking in the kitchen. Ibra and Paz are just chillin out in the Baker's Guild hall.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: What are you doing?

Mayanna: Hmm. I think, you know, I'm watching all of this happen and I'm… Like between the car and the fact that I'm realizing I don't cook a whole lot and that, you know, my life is just constantly moving. And I think I like that it's constantly moving because when it stops for any reason, all of these things come up that I try not to think about.

Mayanna: We still just have no clue what we're doing. And I think like it's easy to just keep trugging along and not think about that. But like, you know, when I was driving with Gordon the other day, like, who knows what's out there? Who even knows, who knows what lies beyond this mortal coil? And just like, while we're currently in this current mortal coil, it's just like, there's so many forces beyond our control. The city feels increasingly large to me. And, I've never had to worry about that before. I never had to worry about any of this before, and, and now, on top of that, I also have to worry about, like, this thing that I always dreamed about, this thing that I was hoping that Thorgunn would one day bestow upon me, is also rife with sacrifice and-and yeah, I guess… I guess Fran's in this moment wondering, like, when's it gonna, when's it gonna make sense?

Mischa: I don't know.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I don't know.

Mayanna: I don't know. I, I'm not even asking you. (laughs).

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: And also, what, what else are you gonna have to sacrifice?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And what do you choose to sacrifice?

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm thinking about all my cherished memories and, like, which ones are next and which ones could be useful to this bigger thing that's beyond me, and like, am I willing to do that? And of course the answer is yes, because like, I'm just one person. And if my prom date or a birthday party or the time my mom gave me a gun is something that can build something more important than me, why wouldn't I give that up? And so I guess I'm like taking stock of that as well, of like, what am I willing to put on the chopping block for the greater good?

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, do you vocalize that out loud to anybody?

Mayanna: (sighs) I think I'm going to go over to Paz and Ibra. I think I'm just going to see what they're talking about. I think, I think that in this moment, I, I want to think about something else for a little while.

Mischa: Okay. Ibra, what are you and Paz talking about?

Bex: Ibra really wants to talk about what happened, really wants to talk about electricity, really wants to talk about the night, and is trying to gauge Paz's emotional state–

Mayanna: Hm. Yeah.

Bex: –and dancing around, like, dancing around in conversation just to feel Paz out before figuring out if it's the right time to dive deep or not. Should I roll insight?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: [Dice rolls] 15.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: 15. She is just like, shaken and exhausted. I think as soon as y'all get settled and Gordon and JJ start getting to work, I think she sort of wanders over back to the pantry and grabs just like, a handful of like, walnuts, just, just was incredibly hungry and is like, letting that be her focus, and is like,

Mischa (Paz): These walnuts are really good. They have so much food here.

Lyn (JJ): Gordon, is everyone like, really tense right now?

Lyn: I say, scooping poorly. Or mid-ly.

Ian: Gordon was like literally humming while cutting like,

Ian (Gordon): (Singsongy humming).

Ian: And he stops, and he looks up, and he notices how quiet the room is.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: He's like,

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, it is really tense in here.

Lyn (JJ): It seems like something really big happened, and they all look kind of upset.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, good point. I feel like we should go ask them.

Lyn (JJ): Should we go… eh…

Ian (Gordon): Okay, when we pass off the food, we're– let's bring it up just casually.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Let’s do that, yeah. We'll be super normal about it.

Ian: And then I think back to the text that Fran sent me earlier, where it said that, Ibra and, Paz were getting close and I like, start to put together like,

[Music ends].

Ian (Gordon): Wait a second, people didn't.. k-kiss or something, like, what's happening?

[Laughter].

Bex: Just armpit sniffing.

Ian: And I'm like, looking from Paz to Ibra.

Mayanna: I love this.

Lyn: And they're making meaningful eye contact with each other.

Mischa: Yeah, they're sitting together at a table.

Bex: Ibra looks super concerned.

Ian: Can I roll? It's not an investigation, it's perception.

Mischa: No, that's insight.

Ian: Insight.

Mischa: Yeah, go ahead and roll insight.

Mayanna: I love a classic misunderstanding

Ian: [Dice rolls] (laughs) I rolled a 2!

[Cheers and laughter and whooping].

Bex & Mayanna: Yeah!

Mayanna: Misunderstanding! You guys want to tell a story?

Lyn: I'm so happy!

Mischa: You look over and catch Fran sort of, like, contemplating thoughts and then shake herself out of it. And, like, she's sitting off on her own, and you see Paz and Ibra sitting very close to each other, like, at a coffee table. And just like, sort of whispering to each other, sitting really close, and, yeah, and Paz is sort of leaning on Ibra a little bit–

[Music begins again: quiet, contemplative piano]

Lyn: Sharing some walnuts.

Ian: And I'm watching them. And at that second, I've taken my focus so off the cutting board that I like cut my finger just a little bit. [SFX: slicing].

Mayanna: (gasps).

Ian (Gordon): Ow! Ooh!

Lyn (JJ): Wash it off, wash it off.

Ian: Yeah, it's like a teeny little cut.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: One slashing damage. [Laughter].

Ian: Damn it! I did that to myself.

Mayanna: That's great.

Bex (Ibra): Hey, what happened? Are you good?

Ian (Gordon): (Curt) I'm fine.

Ian: And I'm staring at you and Paz.

Ian (Gordon): (Stiffly) How are you guys?

Mischa (Paz): Um… I'm okay.

Ian: That sounds so guilty. That sounds like the guiltiest thing of all time. [Laughter]. And I go,

Ian (Gordon): Great! Okay! I'm just gonna go put a bandage on this!

Ian: And I stomp out of the room. [SFX: creaking hinges]

Mischa: Whoa.

Mayanna: I love this so much. Oh my god.

Mischa: Friends are fighting! Oh no!

Mayanna: Oh my god, I love it.

[Music ends].

Lyn: I'm holding a spoon, continue.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Oh, maybe, I'm gonna go over there and I'm gonna help out while he's bandaging himself.

Mischa (Paz): What?

[Laughter].

Ian: PS, now I’m not in the room to help guide us in the cook.

Mayanna: Oh here we go

Mischa: That’s so true!

Bex: I’m coming in to help guide in the cook. [Laughter].

Mischa: Okay, go ahead and roll a survival check.

Bex: Yay! [Dice rolls]. Oh, yay.

Lyn: Oh, no.

Bex: 14!

Mayanna: Nice.

Lyn: Ooh.

Mischa: Okay, decent.

Mayanna: Solid.

Mischa: It's an eggplant, what could go wrong?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Meal prep!

Bex (Ibra): This one doesn't have salmonella when I cut into it raw, it's probably fine.

Mischa: It's probably fine.

Lyn: It'll be okay.

Mayanna: We're chillin’.

Lyn: We washed it already.

Bex and Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: It's an eggplant, what could go wrong? [Laughter]. That's the t-shirt. [Laughter]. That's a party point for Mischa.

Mayanna: Yeah. That is.

Mischa: Yeah!! Ibra, you, you jump away, leaving Paz and Fran at the table.

[Music begins: calming synth chimes]

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, hmm, how are you doing, Paz?

Mischa (Paz): Like, really tired. I do think you were right about lightning powers maybe taking ener–Energy, I just got it.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Yeah.

Mischa: She like, eats another handful of walnuts.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, you keep doing that. You're probably gonna need to eat different from now on, would be my guess.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah. Fran, what is going on?

Mayanna (Fran): We're really in over our heads here, and I think no one really knows what's going on, and the people that do are keeping secrets from us, or don't remember what's going on. And I think we think we know what's going on, but we don't really know about anything that's going on.

Mischa (Paz): I think the city's under supernatural attack and that there's more even to it than that on the surface.

Mayanna (Fran): I think, yeah.

Mischa (Paz): And that… Maybe I'm part of it now?

Mayanna (Fran): I think you're unfortunately part of it now. And I'm really sorry about that because this is terrifying.

Mischa (Paz): I feel like cosmic forces are amassing.

Mayanna (Fran): Yup.

Mischa (Paz): Like there's like a, like clouds are getting darker.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. The sun is eclipsing the moon or something.

Mischa (Paz): And my umbrella’s made of lightning.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. Mhmm. And you were the star in our dream.

Mischa (Paz): Yep.

Mayanna (Fran): Yup. What was the-what was like the hardest thing you dealt with before today?

Mischa (Paz): Well, my health has not been very good.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): And that usually it's just like a struggle doing normal stuff.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Navigating infrastructure, getting around, finding seating in places with standing room only.

Mayanna (Fran): Mmhm, yup. Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): I have not had to deal with lightning-ified wraiths attacking me. It's a-it's a whole new caliber thing. I feel very unprepared.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): I, I'm really glad that I have you guys who at least know like a little bit of what to do when something very dangerous happens.

Mayanna (Fran): And we just found out about that three days ago. So you're going to learn fast ,because we did. I think what I'm realizing is like, people are capable of a lot more than they think they are when they have to be. I'm just sorry you have to be.

[Music ends].

[Music begins: low, menacing synth chords]

Mischa: Yeah, Fran, you think about Thorgunn and the look on Thorgunn's face when you mentioned that danger was coming. And you remember Fuller's face, impassive though it normally was, when he was talking about preparing for unnamed dangers on the horizon. And you think about the books that JJ and Gordon have been seeking out in these libraries that seem to leave them with more questions than answers. Where do you think the answer might be next? Like, where would Fran start looking?

Mayanna: Yeah. I really want to know more about this Astra. I really want to know more about where it comes from. I want to know what it is and what, Fuller said that Astra is like thoughts made real or wants made real, but we don't know where those wants come from. And I guess I kind of want to know where, I want to know where this fucking Astra is coming from. Like, I know, I know we, like, they're like, you can buy it and everyone has it and there are these depositories or whatever, but like, where, what are these things, like, why are they so integral to our lives, and I don't really know how they get made, and I don't really know what goes into, like, if I had to sacrifice something to make a tag, What the fuck are people taking that makes Astra so available to everybody?

Mischa: Great questions. There is a big, giant pit in the center of the city where you might find those answers.

Mayanna: Yeah, mhmm, yeah, and I think like, we drove past that pit, right, when we were going to the church?

Mischa: You drive past that pit anywhere you can go. It's pretty visible throughout most of the city.

Mayanna: Yeah, I–yeah, and I think like, as a civilian, would we know that that's where the Astra comes from.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: We'd be like, we're like, that's where Astra comes from. And you go like, yeah, like, like when you point to a factory and you're like, that's where electricity comes from or whatever the fuck.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: I mean, yes, it is. It is the Astra mine. Okay. It is, it is the mine that Minetown was built or like the, it is the central thing of the city.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I think like I, I, I turn to Paz and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): (sighs) I don't know what's going on. I don't think any of us know what's going on, but I do want to find out. And I'm really sick of wondering, so I think we gotta go to this pit. Do you wanna go to the Pit?

Mischa (Paz): You're just gonna jump right to the Pit?

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, I don't want to jump into it, but like, I think that's next. That feels like that's what's next.

Mischa (Paz): (sighs) There's no hiding on the sidelines anymore.

Mayanna (Fran): No.

Mischa (Paz): If we gotta dive in, we gotta dive in.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

[Music ends].

Mischa: She looks down at her cane and she's like, I think I'm gonna need like, several more rubber tips if we're going into a mine.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm gonna, can I get your cane? Can I look at it?

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, sure.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I'm gonna like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make this better for you. And that's not gonna be a problem anymore.

Mischa (Paz): Oh, okay.

Mayanna: And I'm gonna start running schematics and trying to figure out what, what arcane master things I can do to make this like more durable or more efficient.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: For Paz.

Mischa: Sure, absolutely.

Lyn: Oh, hell yeah.

Bex: Multi-tool cane.

Mayanna: Yeah, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna start sketching frantically. [SFX: pencil scratching against paper]. And I think if we're sitting at like a table or whatever, like the cane is like in between us and I'm just like I'm just in it.

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, finally, a task that Fran can get her mind around.

Mayanna: (content sigh) And everything feels right with the world for just a second.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): JJ, where did y'all go today?

Lyn (JJ): Huh? Oh, we were at Faris Park, you know. Yeah, there's a dog park there.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that's fun.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, did you take? Oh You took BG!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah we took BG there. some training and stuff, which was cool.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, sweet.

Lyn (JJ): And, yeah, it worked out pretty well. I mean. You know, Gordon talked to like, one million people there while I was filling out paperwork, but it's no big deal. Yeah, um, are you okay? Is, what, what happened? Fran's talking about a, a test of will, and, and, and y'all are saying something about lightning powers? Paz’s…

Bex (Ibra): Oh. Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): What happened?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, okay, okay.

Lyn: I'm gesturing wildly with this spoon in hand.

Bex (Ibra): So… Oh! I got a little bit of eggplant cream in my eye.

Lyn (JJ): Sorry! Uhh..

Bex (Ibra): It's all good. Don't worry about it.

Lyn (JJ): Wipe that off.

Bex (Ibra): All good. So basically, the escape room wasn't an escape room. It was the–it was the test to, to the… whoever the cool magic guys were. And we walked down into a place that shouldn't have existed, like down a whole bunch of stairs. And then we got down there and there were a bunch of weavers.

Lyn (JJ): Uh-huh.

Bex (Ibra): And they were like, pulling the strings out of people's heads, and like it turns out that the strings are memories. But like only the feelings of the memories

Lyn (JJ): O…kay…

Bex (Ibra): And so like I think Fran said like they were grayscale now? So I think Fran's a little scared about, like, the cost of the magic. But, yeah, I wasn't there for that, because the guy was talking about how Astra is dangerous, and I don't know how much I've told you, but I'm basically all Astra.

Lyn (JJ): Uh-huh. Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): And so I had a little bit of a–Yeah, it was a panic.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, a little menty b?

Bex (Ibra): Little menty b.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, uh-huh.

Bex (Ibra): This is just a little b.

Lyn (JJ): Cool. And, and the lightning powers?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that's important. Yeah, Paz was calming me down when all of a sudden the, somehow, we dropped the box with the, with the crystal in it.

Lyn (JJ): Uuhhhh.

Bex (Ibra): And then I saw a knight open the box, and nobody else saw the knight, but everybody else saw the box open.

Lyn (JJ): Uh-huh.

Bex (Ibra): And then, because it was open, I don't know, all of a sudden it was like the wraith was like, “Yo, I'm here, I want th–”

Lyn (JJ): Sorry, there was a wraith?!

Bex (Ibra): It showed up as soon as the box opened.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, so you got attacked?

Bex (Ibra): So we got attacked. Fran and I got attacked.

Lyn (JJ): Uh-huh?!

Bex (Ibra): It was okay, we didn't get hit.

Lyn (JJ): Good.

Bex (Ibra): Paz was like, “Don't touch my friends!”

Lyn (JJ): Uh-huh.

Bex (Ibra): And, or “leave them alone” or something super awesome like that and, and, and just zap! Lightning out of, out of her fingers and, and it shrieked and fell down, and I stabbed it, and it caused lightning to go up and thunder to crash. It was crazy.

Lyn (JJ): Cool. (voice high) So what you're telling me is (voice catches, clears throat)...

Lyn: That's in character.

Lyn (JJ): So what you're telling me is that there's a secret society of… Some kind of magical weavers–

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): –that are doing something with Fran. That you're made of Astra.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And Paz has powers now, which is sick.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna: Which is tight as fuck!

Bex (Ibra): And they, they're strong, they hurt. Technically, she hurt me a little bit when I went to go prove to her that she couldn't.

Lyn: Just gesturing, like, mouth agape with the spoon. Like, white knuckling the spoon.

Lyn (JJ): And this all happened while we were just at the dog park?

Bex (Ibra): Apparently, yeah. But the dog park sounds nice.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it was great. It was very cool and all. Very eventful. We did find a piece of Astra. That was actually, no, that was–

Bex (Ibra): Did you get a wraith?

Lyn (JJ): What? No.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Lyn (JJ): We would have told you if we had been attacked right away. That's what I'm– (sighs)

Bex (Ibra): Sorry.

Lyn (JJ): I'm not upset with you. I'm upset that y'all were possibly in danger, and you didn't tell us.

Bex (Ibra): It was so fast! I'm, I'm really sorry.

Lyn (JJ): Did you have a whole car ride here?

Bex (Ibra): Well, I was, I was driving.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, yeah, don't text and drive, actually, that's a good point.

Bex (Ibra): You get mad at me, when I–

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, yeah, I, I will continue to get mad at you and–

Lyn: I'm now threatening you with a spoon. The spoon is very important to the character now.

Bex: I'm honestly threatened by this spoon right now.

Lyn (JJ): I just, a lot has been going on.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And, it's a lot to take in and, I'm much more nervous about us keeping things from each other instead of relying on each other when shit goes down. None of us are in this alone now. We had a weird prophecy dream, but even if it wasn't that, like, you are my friends. And it's, I'm very, very grateful for that, and I don't, I don't want to lose that when things are fucking going haywire. I'm here for all of you. And I know that you're all here for me. And–

Bex (Ibra): Always.

Lyn (JJ): –yeah. And so… No secrets, okay?

Bex (Ibra): Deal.

Lyn (JJ): And I think I hit you with the spoon a few too many times, I'm going to go wash it.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that's okay.

Lyn (JJ): Because that's not sanitary for use while cooking.

Bex: I already, I've got the napkin, I'm starting to clean up the little bits on the counter. I've already–

Lyn: There's so much eggplant now everywhere!

[Laughter].

[Music ends]. [Music begins: quiet, contemplative piano]

Ian: Okay. So Gordon has walked back in. [SFX: door creaks on hinges] I have a totally different demeanor than when I left.

Mayanna: Oh.

Ian: I walked out all stompy and pissed, and I walked back in sort of serene and like, contemplative. I walk past like, them having an argument, I don't even notice because like, all the stuff in the kitchen's not done, and I just start doing the rest of it, right?

Mayanna: Woah

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: I pick up some of like the stray eggplant that's like all over the counter, scoop it into a bowl, [SFX: utensils clinking against a bowl] put it in a blender with the yogurt and some salt and pepper, and I blend that up to be like a whipped eggplant yogurt for the base. [SFX: blender whirring].

Mayanna: I love it. Amazing.

Ian: I take the chopped vegetables that we did earlier, I throw them in the pan with butter on super high heat, [SFX: sizzling] and I get the asparagus and the eggplant and the red pepper like a nice solid like char on it, you know, really good. [SFX: whoosh of oven starter] turn the oven up to 500 as high as it goes. Pop the eggplant in. [SFX: door closes]. I think the recipe said we cook it in the, in the yogurt. So the yogurt sauce is some of the yogurt sauce in the bottom that's roasting away. And while that's all cooking, when it, when it finishes, I'll take that out, put the sauteed in, cover it and finish it. [SFX: gentle sizzling, occasional chopping, utensils against a cutting board] But it's like very seamless, right? It's like. Chopping, hm, hm, oven open, oven closed, turn the heat on, little flip of the veggies. And I'm just thinking to myself, and then eventually I say,

Ian (Gordon): You guys, what if it's a spell?

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): What do you mean?

Lyn (JJ): Wai–wh–wha?

Bex (Ibra): A spell?

Lyn (JJ): A spell?

Ian (Gordon): Right, let me go back. So.

Bex: (under their breath) Yes!

Ian (Gordon): I walked out of the room, and I won't tell you what I was thinking about, but I was thinking about, you know, someone being under a spell,

Ian: And I'm like looking up at Paz, and like, looking from Paz to, to Ibra being like,

Ian (Gordon): You know, someone putting someone else under a spell of some sort, against their will.

Mayanna (Fran): Wow. Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Lyn (JJ): Okay?

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh, uh-huh.

[Music begins: low, thoughtful, eerie synth].

Ian (Gordon): And as I was wrapping up my finger, I was thinking about that, and then all of a sudden it occurred to me. What if no one can remember anything in town because they're under some kind of mind control spell?

[Gasps].

Bex (Ibra): Woah.

Ian (Gordon): Is that possible?

Ian: And I like, look to JJ, I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Is that something that's even possible?

Lyn (JJ): I don't know, there's a lot that's like, apparently possible that I thought wasn't possible.

Ian: Still waving the spoon around!

Bex (Ibra): There's nothing left to be flung around.

Lyn: Now I'm scratching my head with it.

Mayanna (Fran): Mass amnesia? Well, the war, there was magic and like, they used magic to end the war, right?

Ian (Gordon): Not mass amnesia. A mass forgetful spell. A mass mind control spell.

Lyn (JJ): I mean–

Bex (Ibra): But who, like, why would they choose different people to target and not everybody?

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, why is it some people and not everyone?

Lyn (JJ): So, oh, you two really need to pay more attention in your magic classes.

Bex (Ibra): I haven't–

Mischa (Paz): Were we supposed to be taking magic classes?

Bex (Ibra): I didn’t go to school for–oh crap.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, fair.

Mayanna (Fran): I didn't go to college.

Lyn (JJ): But there, there's very few magical capabilities to completely override one's willpower. you can contest it. You can fight against it.

Mayanna (Fran): You can will against it.

Lyn (JJ): You can will against it, and depending on what happens, sometimes it's just like, you know, luck of the draw, roll of the dice, that some people can break through spells like that. But it could be that like, some kind of enchantment or something is happening or some abjurative wards are placed, but some people, it might not affect everyone that it comes into contact with. But I don't know how. It'd have to be something that either is imbued in an object or is perpetually inherent to something that would–

Mayanna (Fran): (gasps) Oh fuck…

Bex (Ibra): What?

Mayanna (Fran): Is it the Astra?

Lyn (JJ): Um..

Mayanna (Fran): Everybody has Astra. They carry it with them all the time.

Lyn (JJ): But we’ve–

Bex (Ibra): But JJ, but remembers JJ carries Astra,

Mayanna (Fran): But, but, but JJ might be immune.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): What the fuck?

Lyn: And JJ sits down, and is like,

Lyn (JJ): Okay, well we, we, we know that like spells can be replenished. We have enchantment magic, you know, like the funiculars or, like how we get electricity through things or… I don't know air fresheners that are constant prestidigitations, like, so there are ways that we have spell repeaters.

Mayanna (Fran): But what about the, what about the Astra we just found? If-if- what if-what if that's the thing that they're trying to get? Like, if they're running out of whatever Astra they need to use, the specific spell that you're talking about, Gordon, they would need to harvest more. To keep everybody forgetting stuff.

Lyn (JJ): It also begs the question of, like, what opportunity is presented when people forget things.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, that's exactly right. Because one of the people who's affected by this magic is the Magistrate.

Bex (Ibra): Whoa.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): That has to be on purpose, then.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, that would be my guess.

Bex (Ibra): So Ravona not being affected is also on purpose, so she could–

Mayanna (Fran): She has an axe that's the same color as the Astra we found!

Lyn (JJ): Well, okay, okay, let's run it back real quick.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, clearly, there are probably multiple people in the city that are being affected by it, and it doesn't necessarily correlate with everyone's power or position or status in this world, but for some people, it does.

Mayanna (Fran): But Ravona also has access to the Magistrate.

Bex (Ibra): And can influence the Magistrate by telling her things that may or may not have happened because she can't remember.

Lyn (JJ): But Ravona answers to the Governor.

Mayanna (Fran): What?

Bex (Ibra): Wait.

Lyn (JJ): She's in the Governor's office.

Mayanna (Fran): Fuck!

Lyn (JJ): We don't know how deep this goes.

Mayanna (Fran): Fuck!

Bex (Ibra): Wait, um…

Mischa: Everybody in the room roll insight.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: Can I get an advantage?

Mayanna: No! No!

Mischa: Ibra, you don't have to roll.

Bex: Yeah. No, Ibra immediately is like, uncomfortable.

[Music shifts: metallic percussion with low menacing ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 24.

Ian: Oh, fuck.

Mayanna: It's a 5.

Ian: An 8. Not good.

Mischa: JJ, as you guys are like, coming together with this theory, like having this brain blast moment, you look askance at Paz, and this entire conversation is making Paz incredibly uncomfortable.

Mayanna: Oh no.

Mischa (Paz): I just think you're assigning motives to people really, really fast, okay?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Just like, maybe it's not all an evil conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, is all I'm saying. Maybe it only goes up to the middle, maybe there's just like, weird supernatural for–I don’t–

Bex (Ibra): And maybe the top isn't in control, maybe the top is a victim as well, we don't know. We don't know what's happening.

Mayanna (Fran): Paz, I don't know you that well. What do your parents do?

Mischa (Paz): My mom works in publishing. She publishes books, and I live with her, and I've lived with her my whole life. So it's really just been her and me.

Mischa: And she looks at Ibra, and her voice is shaky.

Bex (Ibra): Paz's family is Paz's mom. Paz's family is me and her mom and the guy who–

Mischa (Paz): Because my dad wanted nothing to do with us, okay? It's..

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. He's also, um..

Bex: And Ibra kind of looks with raised eyebrows and a pleading, apologetic look.

Mischa (Paz): My dad's the Governor.

Ian: (under his breath, through laughter) Oh my god. Oh my fucking god.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. And so the car.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah,

Mayanna (Fran): We drove over here.

Bex (Ibra): That's why it's–

Mayanna (Fran): Is a favor from the governor.

Mischa (Paz): I guess?

Mayanna (Fran): Did you call your dad to pick us up from the Dustpan?

Mischa (Paz): No. I called the car company, and I told them to bill my dad.

Mayanna (Fran): But they know that they picked us up in the Dustpan.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): It's okay.

Mayanna (Fran): It's fine.

Bex (Ibra): It'll be okay.

Mayanna (Fran): We didn't know. We didn't know that. Oh my god.

Mischa (Paz): He really-he really doesn't want anything to do with us. He’s really–

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, until he puts it together, because the Magistrate filed that we're an official organization now, right?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, and your name's also on that list.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): That is information that will be shared with the special forces, you know, I don't know, the whatever–

Mayanna (Fran): That's why the workshop moves.

Bex (Ibra): That's why the workshop moves.

Lyn (JJ): We'll need to cover our tracks a lot, I think. Thank you, thank you Paz.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you for telling us.

Lyn (JJ): I'm so sorry.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you for telling us.

Mischa (Paz): I'm sorry I kept it a secret.

Mayanna (Fran): Don't apologize. Hey.

Lyn (JJ): It's okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Don't apologize. It's okay. That's okay. That's–no one's, anyone's business.

Bex (Ibra): Hey, It's not our fault where we come from.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): It's not our fault.

[Music ends].

Mischa (Paz): Oh my god. What is he going to say now that I have lightning powers?

Mayanna (Fran): It's okay, it's okay, it's okay!

Bex (Ibra): He doesn't have to know.

Mayanna (Fran): He doesn't have to find out about that if you don't want to tell him. If you guys don't talk.

Mischa (Paz): I don't want to tell him. I don’t want to tell him.

Mayanna (Fran): Don't tell him. Okay. Don't tell him.

Bex (Ibra): He do–you don't owe him anything.

Mayanna (Fran): No.

Bex (Ibra): Do you think he'll recognize your name if it's not using his last name?

Mischa (Paz): He knows my mom's last name.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. Oh my god.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, but he's such a narcissist. Do you think he'll really pay any, enough attention? I'm sorry, I'm reaching.

Mayanna (Fran): Also, if they're investigating these things, you're one of, you have, they're, oh my god, fuck.

Lyn: JJ goes silent.

Ian (Gordon): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): Get it together.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep, absolutely.

[Music begins: ominous ambient synths]

Ian (Gordon): JJ's probably right.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Ian (Gordon): If we are this connected, they are probably watching us, and we're gonna have to do a better job at covering our tracks.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Second point.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): What do we do with this information?

Mayanna (Fran): That's a great question. Well, for one, Ravona was looking for–

Mayanna: And I like, Paz has seen it, right? Paz has seen it at this point?

Mischa: Yeah, well Paz saw it when it fell out of the box.

Mayanna: Right.

Mayanna (Fran): Ravona was looking for this.

Mayanna: And I'm gonna hold it out.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, JJ and Gordon found some, I haven't seen it.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, we found a fleck, we put it in one of your vials.

Bex (Ibra): A fleck?

Mayanna (Fran): What?

Bex (Ibra): What’s a fleck?

Lyn (JJ): It’s just a small–Well, a fleck of Astra.

Mayanna (Fran): And it's the same color as this one?

Lyn (JJ): Yes.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Ian: I take it out, we hold it right next to it.

Bex (Ibra): How did you find that?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god.

Lyn (JJ): BG found it.

Mayanna (Fran): Good boy.

Bex (Ibra): Good boy.

Mischa (BG): Woof!

Mayanna (Fran): Good boy. Good boy.

Bex (Ibra): Extra scritches.

Mayanna (Fran): Whatever this is. That's what someone's looking for, and, oh my god, what if it's the governor's office that sent the mech?

Lyn (JJ): I don't, I, I think, Paz, actually, you're–you are right. We can't assign too much motive to anyone because as soon as we declare a motive, we'll have blind spots.

Mayanna (Fran): Right, you're right. You’re right.

Lyn (JJ): Because there are many people in this city that do not care for the way that things are right now that also have just as much incentive to take things down. There are a lot of opportunities when people can't remember.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Lyn (JJ): It's the same as people not being able to see or–

Mayanna (Fran): What do the attacks have in common? They attacked Boggin’s. They attacked the Dustpan.

Ian (Gordon): They attacked the bridge, too.

Mayanna (Fran): What? The bridge? Areas that attract a lot of energy?

Lyn (JJ): There's the dog park in Minetown. There's the major freeway artery.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): There's Boggins, which is kind of at the heart of the Barra. Yeah. And we have that list from Gwen of all these other places.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): The factory, the mansion.

Mayanna (Fran): Astra powers all of that, right?

Lyn (JJ): Astra powers everything.

Bex (Ibra): Astra powers me.

Mayanna (Fran): Astra… It's gotta be alive, right?

[Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): At the very least, possible, truth.

Mayanna (Fran): And it’s pissed at us?

Ian: That's a, that's, that's a little far.

Mayanna (Fran): Maybe you're right.

Bex (Ibra): I gotta ask some doctors some questions.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I think I need to talk to my family.

Mayanna (Fran): I think we gotta go to the Pit.

Ian (Gordon): I think we gotta go to the governor's office.

Lyn (JJ): We gotta take some baby steps before we reach most of these places because, I don't know if any of you all know, the Pit is really fucking dangerous!

Ian (Gordon): We're not going to the Pit. Who said we're going into the Pit?

Mayanna (Fran): I said we were going to the Pit.

Ian (Gordon): We're not going to the Pit, are you serious?

Mayanna (Fran): We have to go to the Pit. That's where all the Astra is!

Ian (Gordon): We're gonna get so killed in the Pit!

Mayanna (Fran): I don't wanna, I don't wanna die in the Pit, okay?

Bex (Ibra): I think we should–I think we should do some training first before we go in the Pit. Can we do a little training first before we go in the Pit?

Lyn (JJ): We have a lot of different leads, is what I’m saying.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, fine.

Ian (Gordon): You guys were all upset about all this stuff. I'm upset someone said we're going in the Pit!

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry! Sorry!

Lyn (JJ) : You said the governor's office! Do you know how many–

Bex (Ibra): That’s scary too!

Mayanna (Fran): That's like the Pit of our society!

Bex (Ibra): That's the Pit of bureaucracy!

Ian (Gordon): We can't sneak into the governor's office after dark and collect some evidence?

Bex (Ibra): That's the Pit!

Mayanna (Fran): I could make a lockp–

Lyn (JJ): Okay, tell me how you're going to reach the Constellation!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh.

Ian (Gordon): Oh, it's in the Constel–

Mayanna (Fran): Cecilia! She'll be back in a couple days. She would, she's gotta give us her pass now.

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mischa: Gordon, you look down at your compad. [Gasps] And you have a text from Cecilia.

Ian: Oh, great. I thought I had her keys or something with her pass on it.

Lyn: No.

Mayanna: That's so funny.

Mischa: That was so easy. But you do have a text from Cecilia.

Ian: Great, what's my text say?

Mischa (Cecilia): [SFX: staticky] Young Gordon, how goes the deliveries?

Ian: Man, what do I say to that? I think I look up to Fran when I see the text, and I, and I, I look up to the whole group, and I say,

Ian (Gordon): How badly do we need to get up to the constellation?

Bex (Ibra): I have a travel pass to see my family as often as I need to, and I believe I can travel with one guest.

Mayanna (Fran): How many guests can Cecilia get?

Ian: Do I know that information?

Mischa: It's been three days, and Cecilia is the only person who went.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Based on everything that Cecelia said before, it sounds like she doesn't have a guest.

Mayanna (Fran): It sounds like it might be Paz and Ibra.

Ian (Gordon): And if I could get Cecilia's pass from her, that could be three of us.

Mayanna (Fran): Yup.

Bex (Ibra): If you could get a way to help her. Tell her that everything is here, and if she needs help, you can go.

Mischa (Paz): Or do we try to get passes for all of us?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah..

Mayanna (Fran): Is that possible? I've been trying for months.

Lyn (JJ): We can also see if Gwen can get us in anywhere.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, well, yeah, we work for the Magistrate. We can see if the Magistrate can send us up there.

Lyn (JJ): It just means that if we go that route…

Bex (Ibra): It's official.

Lyn (JJ): It’s official and on the books.

Bex (Ibra): Fuck.

Mischa (Paz): Or, I mean, this is the fate of the city, right? It's the fate of everything, right?

All: Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): Other people have passes.

Bex (Ibra): You want to st–

Mayanna (Fran): You want to steal?

Mischa (Paz): I don't know! This is my first day in whatever you guys are doing.

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, hey, you're doing great, by the way.

Bex (Ibra): No idea is a bad idea.

Mayanna (Fran): For your first day? You're doing great.

Ian: No, but I look at it and I go,

Ian (Gordon): That's what I'm thinking.

Ian: And I text Cecilia back. Man, is four days too far away, I wonder, to steal passes?

Mischa: Time has been moving so strangely in this campaign, in this show so far.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: I think that's up to you as a player, my man.

Ian: Okay, well, that's my plan at the moment.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] It's going so great, Cecilia. I can't wait til you’re back. Let's get lunch, question mark?

Mischa (Cecilia): [SFX: staticky] Absolutely. I'm gonna get the whole debrief as soon as I'm back.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] Great. Sounds good.

Mischa (Cecilia): [SFX: staticky] No issues?

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] None.

Mischa: Can you roll me Deception with Advantage?

Ian: Cause it's through text?

Mischa: Cause it's through text.

Mayanna: Smart. Oh, that's great.

Lyn: You don't text like JJ.

Bex: (laughs) You don't text with your heart on your sleeve.

Lyn: Yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: That's a natural 20.

[Cheers].

Bex: Oh!

Lyn: Yeah you do!

Ian: Wait, I have a better idea.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: What if I lie to her and tell her everything's terrible so she has to come back immediately?

Bex: Why would you do that to her?

Ian: So that we can get–

Lyn: You’re gonna get fired.

Bex: You're gonna get so fired if you do that.

Mischa: Well isn't this the fate of everything?

Bex: Don't you wanna get fired?

Mayanna: Damn, dude.

Ian: Because we have to get up there.

Mischa: This is such a fucking juicy story moment that I'm willing to go back and retcon this moment.

Bex: Hell yeah.

Mischa: What do you say to her?

Ian: I think I say,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] Honestly, Cecilia, this was a little bit of a big job for me. And it hasn’t been going great. If at all possible, you might want to come back for some… damage control.

Ian: And then a fire symbol.

[squeaks and gasps].

Mischa: There's a long time before she responds again.

Bex: Natural 20.

Mischa: I think she just says,

Mischa (Cecilia): [SFX: staticky] Disappointing. I'll be back in the morning.

[Gasps].

[Deep groans].

Ian: Oh, that hurt more than I was expecting it to hurt.

Ian (Gordon): Now I'm nervous about my plan.

Mayanna (Fran): Don't be. We stood up to Ravonna. We fought a mech.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): She'll understand.

Lyn (JJ): And this food is delicious.

Mayanna (Fran): And also it hasn't been going bad.

Bex (Ibra): It's been going great.

Mayanna (Fran): You've been doing great.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, great.

Mayanna (Fran): This is all a lie!

Bex (Ibra): But you're right, it is too much.

Ian (Gordon): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): You didn't actually fail.

Ian (Gordon): You're right.

Mayanna (Fran): You're just doing this to potentially save our entire town.

Bex (Ibra): She-she's probably going to be pissed for a lot of reasons, but we're trying to save everything.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, great. I'm gonna meet up with her tomorrow, I'm gonna try to grab her pass, who else's passes can we grab?

Mischa (Paz): And I'm not supposed to call favors from my dad, right?

All: (shouting) No!

Mischa (Paz): Okay!

Lyn (JJ): Oh, we sounded really aggressive.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, one more time.

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry.

All: (sympathetically) No.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, do it one more time.

Mischa (Paz): N-no, I get the, I get the idea. Thanks.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Sorry, Paz.

Mayanna (Fran): from here on out, you probably can't ask your dad for any favors.

Bex (Ibra): I don't wanna say that entirely. I think we have to ask him for favors really strategically.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. You're right.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah it's like it's, it's like–

Bex (Ibra): In a way that benefits us.

Mayanna (Fran): You're right. Would Thorgunn have a pass?

Bex (Ibra): Hang on. I have siblings. I can steal some. I have dinner tomorrow night.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. [Gasps] You're gonna rob your family?

Bex (Ibra): I have a mandatory meeting. I'm not robbing my family, I'm robbing my siblings.

Mischa (Paz): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, That is a lot of things you just said. uhh–yeah.

Bex (Ibra): I'll get it back to them.

Mayanna (Fran): For sure, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that wasn't what I was worried about.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah, and we can do that. Yeah, there's, I mean, there's two of them and two of us.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): And Gwen can't help at all?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, I can ask. It's just, again, it'll be on paper. Which–

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, right. We can't do that. We can't do that. Damn it.

Lyn (JJ): You know, for better, for worse, it's available to us, but it’s a risk.

Mayanna (Fran): we can't do that. They can't know what we're doing, man. Okay. So here, okay. So here's, here are the options. We could, we could rob Ibra's siblings.

Mischa (Paz): They each have a pass and they get plus ones like you, right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): And you already have yours.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You already have one.

Lyn (JJ): Let's count seats. Cecilia has one seat.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): I have two seats.

Lyn (JJ): Ibra has two seats.

Mayanna (Fran): Two seats, that’s three.

Bex (Ibra): Brahma has two seats, and Hema has two seats.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, so that's six.

Lyn (JJ): That brings us to a total of seven seats that we can get if we steal your siblings’.

Bex (Ibra): How many of us are there?

Lyn (JJ): There are five of us.

Mischa (Paz): So we only need one from your siblings.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mischa (Paz): Even easier.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that's even easier. One of them is the one that uses it. One of the ones just stays up there. We'll just steal the one that stays up there.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, that sounds great then.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): That makes a lot of sense. I'm sure nothing will go wrong in that situation.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, no way.

Ian (Gordon): Ibra's gonna steal one pass from siblings.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Ian (Gordon): I'm gonna steal one pass from Cecilia.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Mischa (Paz): Yep.

Ian (Gordon): And then–

Mayanna (Fran): We're gonna go to the Constellation.

Lyn (JJ): And then what? There's so much stuff going on down here. What are we gonna do when we get there? We're gonna go to the Governor's office and we're gonna what, knock on your dad's door and be like, tell us what the conspiracy is?

(Bex, Mayanna, and Ian overlapping)

Bex (Ibra): Yeah…

Mayanna (Fran): Damn it. Yeah, that's about it, yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, that sounds kinda bad, doesn’t it?

Lyn (JJ): I know I'm often over-cautious.

Mayanna (Fran): You're not. You're being smart. No, if anything, I think you know what to do more than you think you do, which is why I always tell you to finish your punctuation with a period, not a question mark. You are really fucking smart.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome.

Lyn (JJ): You're also very fucking smart.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Ian (Gordon): What do you think we should do, JJ?

Lyn (JJ): I think we have some leads we need to follow down here before we make bold moves of stealing. Like, there's a lot of increased security on all of the funiculars right now.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Like, that's a really big risk and we don't even know what the end goal is going up there. We don't even know if we're gonna get attacked while up on the funicular as far as we know.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): I think–

Bex (Ibra): With our luck at this point...

Mayanna (Fran): We follow the leads. We follow the trail?

Lyn (JJ): I think there are a lot of leads here to get a better understanding of our, I hate to say it, enemy.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Lyn (JJ): (shudders) We do have leads, and Fran, I'm really stuck on what you're saying about Astra being this unknown thing. Do you want to talk to my family?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): We've been miners and tinkerers forever.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. I do want to talk to your family.

Ian: I toss Fran the vial with the tiny piece.

Mayanna: Okay, I catch it.

Ian: And I go,

Ian (Gordon): Show them that so you don't show them the big piece.

Mayanna (Fran): Got it. Who should carry the big piece tomorrow?

[Music shifts: gentle piano]

Bex (Ibra): I'm going to the Constellation, so not–

Mayanna (Fran): So not you,

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): I'm out then as well.

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, I guess I'll hold on to it.

Lyn (JJ): Or, Gordon, do you wanna?

Ian: Everyone looks at me?

Mayanna (Fran): No, no, no, you have to go talk to Cecilia.

Ian (Gordon): I disagree, I think you should pass it to me.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, do you have your backpack on you? The backpack that you keep all your muffins in?

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): Can I have it, really quick?

Bex (Ibra): You sure it's gonna fit in the muffdolier?

Mayanna (Fran): I think I am positive it's gonna fit in the muffdolier.

Ian: I look very dubiously at the muffdolier.

Mayanna: Yeah, I take the tag out and I press it onto your backpack.

Mischa: The tag is laid across the front of the bag, slightly diagonally across the zipper, shines cold white, [SFX: metallic shimmering] and then like, sinks into the bag itself, and like, fuses with the bag. All of a sudden, as you're carrying it around your shoulder, as you always are, even when you're cooking? Question mark?

Ian: Mhmm. Every time.

Mischa: Yeah. As, even as you're carrying it, all of a sudden, the weight of the bag, it's not a lot, it's just carrying muffins, but like, the weight, it goes like, anti gravity, like the weight of it kind of disappears off your shoulder.

Lyn (JJ): Wow.

Mayanna (Fran): We don't have time. We have a lot more storage space now.

Bex: Wait.

Ian: (excited whooping).

[Music ends].

Mischa: Gordon, your muffdolier is now a bag of holding.

[Cheers].

Bex: Whoa, holy crap!

Ian: (shouting) Yes! Yes! Yes! I've got a dog! [Laughter]. I've got a bag of holding! This is Gordon's world, baby!

[Laughter].

Bex: I think Gordon's now the permanent carrier of Astra.

Ian: Woo!

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Wow, that was cool.

Lyn: That was sick.

Mayanna: I'm gonna, I'm gonna like, just get very close to you, Gordon, and I'll just say,

[Music begins: somber, bittersweet synths].

Mayanna (Fran): This was Paz's birthday party, and if anybody should hold on to that, it's you.

Mischa: You look over at Paz, and Paz looks back at you and nods.

Ian: I think a single tear comes to Gordon's eye, but he does not let himself get overcome with that emotion, because that feels rude. (sniffles) And he, you know, sniffles it down and wipes the tear. He says,

Ian (Gordon): Thank you.

Ian: Ding! [SFX: oven ding] The oven goes off and I pull out a perfectly charred eggplant boat that–

Mayanna: Wow

Ian: In, in a lovely, like cooked whipped eggplant yogurt sauce, and I ladle the cooked vegetables in. and I place the little eggplant bonnet back on and then– I lied. We're not gonna use chives. We're gonna use cilantro. And I like sprinkle cilantro over the top I don't even–I lied, I don't put the bonnet back on so it's like exposed with the stuffing and then fresh cilantro over the top.

Mayanna: Ah, gorgeous.

Mischa: Incredible, delicious.

[Music ends].

Mischa: The quiet rings out as Gordon sort of wordlessly plates the stuff and places it in front of you as each of you individually considers your next moves. [SFX: utensils clinking on plates]. And as soon as you place the final plate and sit around, the five of you at a table, Paz looks down at her meals like,

Mischa (Paz): I'm sorry, the hunger is overtaking the awkward.

Mayanna (Fran): Please go for it.

Mischa: And she just immediately dives in.

Mayanna (Fran): By all means.

[Music begins: cozy, rustic acoustic guitar]

Lyn (JJ): Oh, thank you for breaking the seal.

[Laughter].

[SFX: clinking of utensils and plates].

Mayanna (Fran): By all means.

Bex (Ibra): I'm so glad you said something (gobbles food).

Ian (Gordon): I'm so glad. I thought you were going to say you were allergic to eggplant.

Mischa (Paz): No, it's, oh my god, it's so good.

Mayanna: (laughs)

Ian: Oh, I go,

Ian (Gordon): Wait!

Ian: And I run to the kitchen, I pull out a bottle of white wine.

Mayanna: Ah.

Ian (Gordon): Assyrtiko?

Mayanna (Fran): Yes

Ian: And I pop it. [SFX: cork pops]. It's got like a tiny bit of effervescent, and I pour it in glasses.

[SFX: drink pouring].

Mischa: Oh, Nice.

Mayanna (Fran): Amazing. Thank you.

Mischa: And as the food fills your bellies, your minds turn away from dire tasks just for a minute, and just to enjoy a meal with each other. This excellent meal that your excellent chef friend has concocted.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Bex (Ibra): Round of applause for the chef. (Applauds).

Lyn (JJ): Cheers to saving the world, you guys.

Mayanna (Fran): To saving the world.

Bex (Ibra): Let's do this.

[SFX: glasses clink]. [Music ends].

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia's gonna be so mad at me.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, she is.

[Theme music plays].

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, transcript assistance by Darby Summers, 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].

Mischa Stanton 9/16/24 Mischa Stanton 9/16/24

Detour 6-8: The Devil’s Avocado

Welcome back to the Detour! We’re reacting to the slow forward rumble of revealed information, we’re welcoming guest stars to the path as well as Paz & BG to the party, and we’re discussing narrative justification of game mechanics and what “coming of age” really means, to our characters and the world around them. We’ll also get a quick Party Points update, and have a collective gush about the romance between JJ & Samira.

-- 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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— Transcript —

[SFX: Theme music plays].

Mayanna: It's detour time, baby!

Bex: That's how it starts!

[Cheers and overlapping chatter].

Lyn: That's how it starts!

Ian: Welcome back to–

Bex: To the detour!

Ian: –The Wandering Pa–oh

Mischa: Just step over here real quick. It's a detour. Yeah, detour everybody. Come over here.

All overlapping: Hey, psst, psst, psst. Hey guys, come here. Come over here. You're going that way, but just come this way for like, just for a little bit.

Ian: (whispers) We've got candy.

Mischa: Nope.

[Laughter].

Bex: Nope.

Ian: I'm so sorry. I thought it was a different game.

Mischa: Welcome to the Detour where we step off of the path and talk about the game a little bit.

[Cheers].

Mischa: gosh. Since we did, since the last time we did one of these, I feel like it's just been like full, story forward, like, laying track, mysteries, learning about stuff.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: You guys have, like, just had, like, the mysterious world having been revealed to you. It's just, like, you know, I think I was trying to set up a choice between, like, do you sort of still clock into mundane things and sort of brush it under, sweep it under the rug? Or do you just, like, nope, this is my life now. We're examining the mysteries. And I feel like other than Gordon, who has chosen, like a manic crazy person, to do both at all times and also raise a new dog.

Ian: Dog life.

Mischa: I feel like you guys have chosen mystery path.

Bex: Yes,

Mayanna: Yes, we have.

Bex: I think most of our characters realized that the mundane was not something that we wanted to follow anyway. And this was just a beautiful excuse.

Mischa: Mm... I did too good a job making the mundane world seem terrible.

[Laughter].

Bex: I mean, but also like we are still beholden to our mundane world.

Mayanna: Yes, absolutely. Which I think is the most interesting part that like, we can't just fully commit to adventure things because we have, like, jobs and stuff. And like, then now the adventure is our job, but there's other, there's other responsibilities like Gordon’s route and the government stuff and yeah.

Lyn: Yeah, I'm, I'm, it's one of those things where like, as a player,

Mischa: And school,

Lyn: Ugh, yeah.

Bex: I still haven't gone back to see my family.

Lyn: Oh my god. Yeah, or like my family.

Bex: Right?

Lyn: Like, I think that there's, I'm waiting, like as a player it's like the other shoe's about to drop.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: Like, we have chosen adventure, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we get to abscond from our mundane lives.

Bex: We chose adventure, but at what cost?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah. and I, I'm, I'm really already feeling the tension of that. And like, you said that like, oh, like as characters, like we have chosen the adventure. I'm like, JJ is not, did not want to do that.

Bex: Yeah. The adventure chose JJ.

Lyn: Yeah, unfortunately.

Ian: Are you guys supposed to be doing, so it's like you've been given a new title as the ICB, but are you still also supposed to be doing your other jobs too, or no?

Mayanna: Oh yeah. Cause you're still working for the magistrate's office in a different capacity, right? So are you doing, are you working two jobs? Are you a single mom who works two jobs?

Lyn: (Laughing) I'm a single mom who works two jobs.

Mischa: The way I've been kind of looking at it is that whatever Gwen asks you to do fulfills your responsibilities to the hours you need to put in at Gwen's office that are registered with your, your school’ns. But also that like, yeah. I mean, it's been a few days, but like it's been a while since either of you went to a class.

Lyn:

Mischa: Yeah. and you know, of course, like JJ, Gwen is kind of setting you up to not have to do that anymore.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: She's given you these forms and you've signed them and like all it, all it takes is like you could just hand those in and not have to do that anymore.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: Ibra. You just kind of have not been going to class. (Laughs)

Bex: Yeah, I've been skipping for, for, for a little bit.

Lyn: Even previous to the adventure.

Bex: Yeah, I think Ibra's–

Mischa: So at least it's in line, I guess.

Bex: Yeah, Ibra's kind of been looking for this sort of excuse to not go to class, because they're not on the track that they want to be on, and they're still not exactly sure what that track is, but this sort of new adventure feels closest to whatever track they, they're seeking, even if they don't know what it is yet.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: I was re-listening to the pilot, and it struck me how bored and annoyed Ibra is, you know, for like that scene with the doctor, like, “Yeah, I ate a bunch of bolts.”

Mayanna: That was a really funny scene. I love that scene. Oh, it’s so good.

Mischa: Yeah. And, well, that's the other thing, like, I don't know if I intended this when we started the story, but, like, time in this story is moving kind of slowly.

Mayanna: It's been, like, three days.

Mischa: It's been, like, three days.

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: And we’re like, at episode eight?

Mayanna: I love it. It's been an eventful three days.

Mischa: It's been an eventful three days. So, but, like, we haven't even come around to your next Doctor's appointment, Ibra, or, like, Cecilia coming back from her weeklong trip of whatever she's doing.

Ian: Oh, wow, right.

Mischa: so, like, you're all still in the, like, exploring the new avenues without the– yeah. Yeah.

Lyn: We haven't even reached downtime stuff for, like, Fran’s mechanics even. Everything ramped so quickly.

Mayanna: Oh, it did.

Bex: We just got to like Fran’s mechanic being revealed. And like, it's a good thing.

Mayanna: I think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bex: I think the trajectory, like tracks where we're going absolutely works.

Mischa: That's kind of what I want to say. Like these, these three episodes, episodes six through eight that we're talking about today, is like, they did have sort of like a slow rumbling trajectory where like. You guys were seeking sources of information, finding them, finding them inadequate, finding new ones, like trying to maneuver your way like slowly towards the center of like, you know, like it's, it started with like, you guys meeting up in a diner and like exhausted and the first thing you do is like, “let's go to libraries” and then the libraries didn't have it for you.

Mayanna: I love the library scenes so much.

Mischa: Or like–yeah?

Bex: They were so much fun.

Mayanna: Oh my gosh, just how quiet you had to be was so funny.

Bex: The way Samira bursts in!

Mayanna: It was so funny.

Ian: There was a piece of me, there was a portion of me that wished we had done that bit for like an hour.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I, too–And I wasn't even in that scene, I, too, could have watched you do that for like an hour.

Bex: Genuinely.

Mayanna: It made me so happy, oh my god.

Ian: Okay, quick sidebar, sorry, went to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire yesterday and–

[Cheers].

Mischa: Shout out to the Ren Faire!

Ian: Shout out to the Ren Faire! But today I am only dust. [Laughter]. So I'm going to be blowing my nose periodically.

Mayanna: That is so fair.

Bex: And to dust he returns.

Ian: (blows nose) Cute, so cute.

Lyn: That could’ve been much grosser.

Mayanna: See, in the detour, in the detour we let our hair down. [Laughter]. That's true.

Bex: And our snot.

Ian: No, it's not snot, it's just dust. I'm literally just, like, trying to–

Mischa: The LA Pleasure Faire is in, like, kind of the middle of a desert.

Mayanna: It's crazy.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: It's so dusty.

Mayanna: I mean, it's huge. You need, like, a lot of land for it, but it's dusty.

Ian: Yeah, it's dusty.

Mayanna: Imagine if we live in California.

Ian: Los Angeles? Los Angeles. Hollywood, to be specific. The place where dreams are crushed slowly.

Mischa: With the greatest respect for you, my friends and colleagues: oof.

[Laughter].

Lyn: But yeah, the time dilation, I feel like, kind of feels real to what's happening.

Bex: Very.

Mayanna: I think so, yeah.

Mischa: But I also, I like, again, with that rumbling sort of and you guys have been like, are learning things. You know, you're gaining these pieces of information that, like, give context to the stuff that you don't know.

Mayanna: 100%.

Mischa: As opposed to finding out new things, really, so far as I've seen it. I don't know. Maybe you guys know stuff. I also have a really hard time remembering, like, I made this world. I know a lot of things about it.

Mayanna: There's lots of things to keep track. I mean, it's like, for you as the storyteller and also just tracking, like, us as players, like, that's a lot of things to balance and manage.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: And being our editor.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: You're living in a multiplicity of timelines in this universe that we could not comprehend.

Mayanna: Could you be the anomaly?

Bex: Ooooh!

Mischa: Possibly.

Mayanna: Are you the secret?

Bex: You're trying to usher us through the story, but you're also trying to usher the audience through the story.

Mayanna: Mmhm. Absolutely.

Mischa: Yeah. And I'm also playing 5D multiversal time travel chess with the audience as well.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: And you're a member of our party, too. Don't forget, right?

Mayanna: Yes, you are now!

Mischa: Right, cause Paz joined the party. [overlapping chatter] I’m what they call a GMPC now.

Mayanna: Is that what that's called?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Ooohhh.

Bex: That's great.

Mischa: GMPCs are fun. I recall a campaign where we started the adventure and there was like, clearly like, like a nepo baby who was born to an epic quest and had this gorgeous armor, but was just a huge douchenozzle the entire first quest. And like, we ditched him the moment we could.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Mischa: But then like, like that was the impetus for like his family to come after us. It was like a whole story thing.

Bex: Brilliant.

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: So yeah, but like Paz is not That. Paz is more fun.

Mayanna: Paz is delightful, absolutely. That reminds me of a character that's happening in my home Strixhaven game right now where one of our characters got kidnapped and so we had to play a replacement character for like five weeks, and the character is like a nepo rich kid named [overly affected voice] Qrouton.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Can you say that again?

Mayanna: Qrouton.

Ian: One more time.

Bex: Coo-tod.

Mayanna: Qrouton.

Ian: There it is.

Mayanna: (with an accent) Q-R-O-U-T-O-N

[Laughter].

Mischa: I mean, you guys chose adventure, how was it to hear that like, Paz, who, let's be honest, in that first fight was like, kind of more of like a protect-a-person quest than an active force. Like, how does it feel like, That, that person also wants to fully dive into whatever you're doing.

Mayanna: Great. I feel great about it. I feel great about it.

Bex: So badass.

Mayanna: And she's like, got, and, and, and, cause I remember when you did the reveal at the end of last episode, that, that, that was because of what happened in the first fight.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: She got powers.

Lyn: We also screamed for about nine hours.

Mayanna: Yeah, we did. We screamed.

Mischa: We're going to get to that. First I want to talk about, because before she knew those, she had those powers, she made the same choice as you guys, and, but like, I don't know, like, I was trying to confront you guys with what that looks like from the outside a little bit, even though you guys aren't really outside, but like, I don't know, this half of the room really liked that. Does this half of the room have any dissenting opinions?

Mayanna: Oohh.

Lyn: As both a person who has played many tabletop games and GM-ed, whenever there is an end to NPC that, like, we cannot fully protect, I always get so scared.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Where it's like, oh, like, like, even as, like, characters, like, oh, this is, like, a person that we love and care about that at least most of the party doesn't know about the connection, like, only, you know, like, Like, I think if I remember, Paz only told Ibra about the dream that she had. So all of us are like, “Oh, we can, we know that we know collectively that this is like a big deal. And then there's like a really big thing happening and we're just scratching the surface, but we know that there's a lot more under the surface.” We're not aware that Paz has a glimpse of that too. And so it's like, one of the things of like, “I want to give you like the agency of your own decisions because you are like, you're like smart, you're capable, like. Like, you're an adult, like, you can make your own choices,” and at the same time it's like, the fear of like, “should we take any responsibility should anything happen to you? Like, are we responsible for you?” Not in the sense of like, “Oh, like I'm your boss.” But like in a sense of like, “you're my friend, and I care about you.” Like, like, what role do I play in like, keeping you safe?

Mayanna: I think that's a conversation we can have with her, though. Like, I, like, I think that that's a great thing to bring up, because I imagine she, you know, Especially because she has a disability has probably had like that conversation before with people.

Lyn: Yeah, exactly.

Mayanna: And I'm sure she is fully capable of protecting herself, especially now that she has these abilities. So I wonder how she– I wonder how she would deal with that conversation.

Ian: I have the idea of this century.

Mischa: Whoa!

Ian: Well, you don't have to do it.

Mischa: You heard it here first.

Ian: But I'm just telling you, we need to, maybe it's a mini game and it's a Paz training montage.

[Gasps and cheers].

Mayanna: Which could take us back to your house.

Bex: Yes!

Ian: I told you, I fucking told you.

Bex: Ibra hasn’t even gone to training in–

Mayanna: It’s Big Hero 6 time, baby, yea!

[Laughter and cheers].

Mischa: Alright, alright.

Bex: All the references.

Mischa: That's great, and that's really good to know. Y'all want to talk about Paz's powers?

All: Yes.

Mayanna: We gotta! It just happened!

Bex: I'm so excited.

Mischa: So as soon as she got touched by the Wraith in the first combat, I was like, oh yeah, something, something unlocked here. That was like the electric current behind her eyes as she was in the ambulance.

Ian: Ohhh yeah.

Mischa: I made a whole character sheet for Paz,

Mayanna: Amazing.

Lyn: Yeaaaa.

Mischa: she's fully in the combat, she's in there. I want to shout out on mic, I don't know if I did this before, I want to shout out Valda’s Spyre of Secrets for including a lower limb disability feat that I've added to Paz's character sheet.

Bex: Yes!

Ian: Hell yeah.

Mischa: It has both advantages and drawbacks, I'll– I'm excited to explain them as we continue that combat that we left off in the middle of.

Mayanna: Oh my god, that's right.

Mischa: Yeah, so, but like, I'm, I feel really good about, like, her stuff. I think it's interesting that, you know, she's not the only one who's been touched by one of those ghosts, but she's the only one who got electric powers from it.

Mayanna: Oooh.

Ian: That’s true. Dun-dun!

Mayanna: As a storyteller, when that moment happened, cause like you didn't anticipate necessarily that Paz would get attacked, or like, you could probably glean it, like, you're like, “they're in the combat, like they probably are gonna get hit.”

Mischa: I put a protection side quest in the combat for that purpose, yeah.

Mayanna: But like when she got electrocuted, like, do you as the storyteller kind of go back and look at that and then decide like, “okay, what do I want to do now that that is a thing that's in play?”

Lyn: Hmm.

Mischa: I don't know. I was really excited for that moment, and like, as a storyteller, not that, like, I love Paz and I don't want anything bad to happen to her,

Mayanna: 100%.

Mischa: But also, as a storyteller, yeah, I was really excited when, like, she's the one who of you guys, like–and you guys have HP, you have armor, you have, like, mechanics to mitigate this–and at that point, Paz did not.

Mayanna: No.

Mischa: And so I was really excited for, like, she's really the only one who took major damage, and, like, that's, that's a juicy story nugget that can have consequences.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Mm.

Mischa: Yeah, that's like a big theme thing that I can pull on and be like, “okay. What does that mean now?”

Mayanna: Yeah. Oh.

Mischa: I've been working on it. We're still so early in the story. I don't want to reveal spoilers.

Mayanna: Don't do it!

Ian: I just want to say: Paz training montage, Paz shopping spree, gotta go buy armor, gotta go buy all the stuff.

Mayanna: Paz shopping spree! Yes.

Lyn: I think we all kind of need some of that. Just a thought...

[Laughter].

Ian: We probably do.

Mayanna: We need a little bit,

Ian: Oh, my, my leather apron isn't enough?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Your apron you use to make food? No.

Bex: I think that Ibra is eventually gonna have to go back to training. And is going to not want to do it alone–

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: –And is gonna want the excuse to not be alone in going back to training. 'cause it no longer feels right.

Lyn: Wait, does that mean we're going to Upper Prosper?

Mayanna: Bracha-Shinmar.

Lyn: House Bracha-Shinmar.

Bex: Probably. I think we might have to at some point.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: We do have to at some point. Well, the question is are we going up or down?

Mayanna: Ah.

Ian: You know what I mean?

Mayanna: Yeah. Wait, cause you live in the Constellation, your family does?

Bex: My family lives in the Constellation, I live in the Come-Up.

Mayanna: That's insane.

Ian: Could we, could we go up to the Constellation and get a whole bunch of really sweet gear before we, I don't know when, when we're gonna get there, but at some point.

Mayanna: Mmhm.

Lyn: Possibly.

Mischa: Sure, how much money you got?

Mayanna: Oh, that too.

Ian: I think I have 16 gold on me or something like that.

Mischa: Yeah, welcome to the campaign where we're tracking gold and money.

Ian: Yeah, it's rough.

Mayanna: Remember like in Pokemon when you go to like the really fancy stores and–

Mischa: Yeah, like the Celadon Mall.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And it's insultingly expensive.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: And it’s like, that's the one dress I want.

Ian: Oh, right, like the $400 Pokeball or whatever?

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or, like, just, like, cosmetics that are just like, that's gonna be...

Lyn: It's like, oh, like the stickers back when Pokeballs had stickers.

Mayanna: Yep.

Lyn: Those are sick. I miss those.

Mayanna: It hurt my feelings personally. I took that personally.

Ian: What version of Pokemon are you guys–

Mayanna: We’re talking about XY. There's like, that was like the first 3D handheld one and they had these, like, cosmetics you could do for your trainer. And I, I love a costume on a player character in a way that I will make irrational decisions just to facilitate getting a cool outfit.

Lyn: No, you’re right for that.

Ian: Fortnite lives on you.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Having made the character Fran Weaver, who's constantly looking at–

[Laughter].

Mayanna: And I had this realization that I think Fran is the most me I've ever put into a character.

Ian: Hell yea.

Bex: Aww!!

Mayanna: And I don't know if that's bad or good.

[Laughter].

Bex: We love Fran.

Mischa: Well, regardless, you've given me this gift, and I'm sorry in advance for what I do with it.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee. but yeah, like Tales of Symphonia, I was like, well, “let me see those skins, guys. Let me see those titles. I got to get the fancy dinner party title.” I played through Tales of Symphonia four times because you can only take three people to the fancy dinner party at a time. And so I played through Tales of Symphonia four times so that everybody could get their fancy dinner party outfit for the final event.

Ian: Oh, that's for real.

Lyn: I love that.

Ian: Un-fucking-believable.

Bex: Phenomenal.

Mayanna: And they all looked so pretty.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah! No regrets, no regrets. It was so worth it.

Mayanna: No ragerts. I went through that waterfall puzzle dungeon, I went through the shadow puzzle dungeon, and for those of you who've played Tales of Symphonia, those hurt.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Oh sure, you can do puzzles in other people's dungeons.

[Raucous laughter].

Mayanna: Hey, I have the strategy guide. I have the strategy guide. [Laughter]. You think I did that shit alone? I have the strategy guide. I held that thing so close to my face, I think I went cross eyed because of it.

Ian: Just to be clear, that was a party point.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Thank you!

Mayanna: I never, I didn't use a single brain cell. Not a single one. I only had two to spare! So I had to save ‘em. For the costume titles!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Great, got it.

Bex: That's the other thing, canonically, Ibra has like, the lowest intelligence and wisdom of the entire party.

Mayanna: Yeah, but me as a person! [Laughter]. You can't beat not knowing what to do.

Lyn: I, for us as players, want to go to an escape room.

Bex: So badly!

Ian: No, fuck no.

Mayanna: I will, I will, I honestly, yes. It will be very entertaining. You– it will disturb you how stupid I actually am.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Oh no.

Mayanna: The trick is don't do things you're not good at. And no one will ever know that you don't know what the cardinal directions are, like, pressed, you know?

Mischa: Yeah, for sure.

Ian: P. S. Lyn and I at the Ren Faire, under the influence of many ales,

Mayanna: Slay.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Were discussing, you know, Floating, pitching the idea of a Wandering Path: After Dark episode at some point.

[Gasps].

Mayanna: Oh no!

Ian: Just saying.

Bex: What?

Mayanna: I love it.

Mischa: It could be yours if you donate to us on Patreon.

Mayanna: I'm down. I'm down to do it.

Ian: Just saying.

Lyn: When we reach X amount of Patrons.

Mischa: Yeah. I mean, you say that, but like, We're a real show with real Patreons now.

Lyn: I'm not joking! I just–

Mayanna: Can you give me the logline of what an After Dark episode would, in your mind, what it would entail?

Lyn: Schwasted.

Mayanna: Schwasted, great.

Ian: And then I'll add, and then I'll add, and puzzles.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It's gonna be bad, but it'll be very funny.

Lyn: It's gonna be me running Dread. While drunk.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Mischa: That's great because as Mayanna is to puzzles, I am to dexterity challenges.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Amazing. I know I had this fun idea that I wanted to do, which was if I'm GMing something with a god in it, you have to arm wrestle the DM.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Wow.

Mayanna: Cause that's what fighting a god would feel like.

Mischa: Do you know that Bex has famously won armwrestling competitions on air?

Mayanna: I know! It wouldn't be, it wouldn't be Bex.

Bex: Yeah I’m not allowed to be the DM here.

Ian: What are you talking about? Mischa's choosing Bex as their champion.

Mischa: As my champion!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: “I will be your knight!”

Ian: Didn't you see, Dune? Come on!

Mayanna: Wait, what?

Ian: Nah, Dune 2 reference.

Mischa: “May thy arm chip and shatter.”

Ian: There we go.

[Laughter].

Ian: So good, another point for Misch!

[Cheers].

Mischa: Okay, all right, we're 20 minutes into the episode. Ian, is it time for the party points update?

[Cheers and beeping like calculating]

Mayanna: Party points update, yes, please! Oh, I love these.

Ian: The only– The board does not look dramatically different. The only real thing, which we discussed in the episode, if it made it in, is that I lost all of my party points for a terrible pun that I said off mic about nickels and Nickelback.

Mischa: Yep.

Ian: And I lost all my points.

Mayanna: Cause here's the thing, party points can happen at any time.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Like, we are all playing the game all the time. The party points game.

Mischa: Yeah. I like to say that the party points don't matter, but it turns out, party points are the only thing that matter.

Mayanna: I think they're the most important thing. It's like, your objective as a human being, [Laughter] which will always matter to you.

Lyn: Yeah. Like when my soul gets weighed in the afterlife, it would be for party points.

Mayanna: Exactly. Against the feather in the ancient Egypt scale situation.

Lyn: Exactly.

[Laughter].

Bex: I’m so mad at how much I liked that.

Ian: You get on the scale and all your points appear over your head.

Mayanna: It's bonus stars at the end of Mario Party.

Lyn: Yeah!

Ian: I mean, I will say–

Bex: I always hate the bonus stars for being the worst.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but hey, they gave you something, right?

Bex: They did. Cause I needed it.

Ian: BG, BG has a section of party points on the board.

Mischa: BG has– Wait, BG's not a player.

Bex: Max is.

Ian: Doesn't matter.

Mayanna: He's BG!

Ian: BG's gonna get a, BG's, BG might do some wild shit. BG's gonna get some party points.

Bex: Does BG get a party point for when his head turned into a square?

Ian: He didn't, but that's a great– that's a perfect example.

Mayanna: That is so funny.

Mischa: Yeah, sure.

Mayanna: I have played back that, that moment where you hit an octave that I, that, when we were like, “big guy,” and it was like, I can't even do it.

Ian: Wait, what happened?

Mayanna: Like, when, when we're, we're like spitballing the names of the dog and it's like, “BG, big guy,” and you go, “(high pitched squeal).”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It makes me laugh every time. I love it so much. It's so, it's so good. It's like operatic. I was like, wow.

Bex: That episode title is one of my favorites, honestly.

Mischa: Listen, if you think you like this podcast, it cannot compare to how much we the people making it like this podcast.

[Laughter].

Ian: And to be real, everyone, I feel actually terrible for saying this, but you guys are all talking about how worried about Paz you are. I'm worried about BG. That's what I'm worried about.

Mayanna: Me too.

[Agreement].

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Yeah, I’m worried about BG, Actually yes.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it.

Mischa: Yeah, let's talk about BG.

Mayanna: Let's talk about BG.

Ian: I just… If you do something to that dog, I will, I will seek revenge.

Bex: Gordon’s villain origin story.

Mayanna: Yeah, oh yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, it's so dangerous, the power you've given me that like– So, so, so yeah, so now is now in the detour is the time to talk about it.

Mayanna: Let’s do it.

Mischa: I made for your last Gordon's Delivery Service, which was,

[Laughter].

Mayanna: In episode 7?

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh my god, If we, if we officially call it. We have, but I just have never really heard it until this moment.

Mischa: Yeah, it’s Gordon’s Delivery Service!

Mayanna: Yeah, You have a movie.

Bex: Gone full Kiki.

[Laughter].

Mischa: So in episode seven, we did Gordon's Delivery Service episode two. Yes. and, I made, like, a complications table where I had eight things that could happen while you were on your delivery, and you rolled a D8 about it, and one of them was that a dog was gonna, like, an angry street dog was gonna growl at you while you're on your deliveries, and you're gonna have to do something to do that, and you just, you rolled so high on all of, on every single one of those checks–

Mayanna: It was so good.

Mischa: –that I had to be, like, You have a dog now, but Ian, what you don't know, as the newest D&D player among us–

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Hello.

Mischa: – is that any time a player character has a pet, you have handed the GM a future heartbreak.

Mayanna: Yeah–Potentially!

Bex: No, every time.

Mayanna: Potentially.

Ian: Potentially.

Mayanna: Allegedly.

Mischa: Right.

Bex: I've seen Mischa do this to a dog in a campaign before.

Lyn: Yeah…

Mayanna: Allegedly!

Mischa: Bex and Lyn and I played a previous campaign where we also had someone who had a dog, and the dog died mid-combat just from the pure mechanics of D&D, and then I tried to bring the ghost of the dog back, and then the ghost got kidnapped by a shrimp witch!

Lyn: Krillda!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It won't happen. I won't let it happen.

Bex: We will avenge dog.

Ian: I agree. I won't let it happen either.

Mayanna: Yeah, well, we will die before BG dies.

Ian: That's exactly what I was about to say.

Mayanna: No like, truly, I will die before BG dies.

[Laughter].

Bex: This is a gift we continue to give–

Lyn: Mayanna Berrin will die.

Mayanna: I will, Mayanna will die. I will jump over this table and die before BG dies.

[Laughter].

Ian: You run out of the balcony, and you're just threatening your own life.

[Laughter].

Bex: “I'll do it, I'll do it!”

Mayanna: Yeah I’ll be Peach Girl, I'll be Peach Girl, I'll be Momo, I'll throw up–

[Chaotic laughter and objection].

Mayanna: I'll sit in the hospital window telling the boy to please believe me, before that dog dies, it won't [Laughter]. I'll be the Momo in the hospital! I will be an anime from 2007 about it, I promise you. [Laughter]. My skin will be glossy, my eyes will be too big. My hair will be too shiny, I will do that about this.

Ian: Okay, you guys, a new thing has occurred in party points.

Bex: Yeah, Mayanna got 10.

Ian: Mayanna did not get 10, because, because I can't count how many party points Mayanna was supposed to get. I think, I think we have just seen the creation of the party crown. [Laughter]. Which is when you hit a homer that hard, you have the party crown, until such a moment that the party crown gets passed to another player. And so, I can tell you with absolute certainty, based on the past 45 seconds, that Mayanna now has the party crown.

[Claps].

Mayanna: Thank you so much. It's an honor. This was so unexpected.

Bex: My abs hurt.

Mayanna: Good, I'm glad.

Lyn: I'm actively crying.

Mayanna: That is the gift I give to you.

Bex: Thank you so much.

Mischa: No, dude, I am happy to give you a dog. Like, honestly, like, what little fans we have so far will kill me if I do anything to this dog in at least the next few episodes. Like, I got the dog, you know what I mean?

Ian & Mayanna: 100%.

Mischa: So talk to me as the person who's played the least amount of D&D, how you feel about having a pet in Dungeons & Dragons.

Ian: I’m really excited to– I'm really excited to see how having a dog affects the, the minor stuff, right? Like, how it affects how much gold I have, right?

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Which hasn't really mattered so far because for me, Fran has so graciously, like, built us a bunch of stuff.

Mischa: Yeah, well, I mean, that's one of the benefits of having a craftsman in your party.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: And weirdly, since I work with food, it seems like I can get around that, so actually it might not really have an effect, but I'm curious to see what all that stuff will be.

Mayanna: We're co-parenting this dog.

Ian: Yeah, we are.

Bex: It also might have an effect with the guild, if you're using Guild services and Guild content.

Mischa: Well, there, I, I, in my mind I know which mechanics that's affecting. It hasn't come up yet, so we haven't really talked about it.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: But, when it does come up, it, it will be in a scenario in which you did not want it to happen.

Bex: Oh no.

Ian: I'm so excited. Yeah, so I think that's gonna be really fun. I'm also just really excited. I'm, this is, I probably shouldn't be for everything we just talked about. But I'm excited to see BG in combat. See how that happens.

Mayanna: Oh me too.

Ian: There's been a lot of discussions.

Mischa: And thank goodness you did say on, on mic, on camera, like, in canon, that, like, he's a big guy.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: He's a big guy.

Mischa: Because, like, imagine if you picked a little dog.

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa: Mewf! Mewf! Mewf! Mewf! CONK.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Cause who–Noah had a dog in Final Fantasy VIII? Right? She had like that black and white dog?

Mischa: Oh god, yeah! Do you know how many years it’s been since I played Final Fantasy VIII?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Too many, clearly!

Bex: I'm so glad that we're still in Final Fantasy.

Mischa: Yeah. We are, so yeah, that's the, that's another thing that I have kind of learned as we've gone on is that like, we only mentioned it briefly in our world building episodes, but this game is actually so Final Fantasy.

Mayanna: Which I love. As a Final Fantasy girly, so happy about it.

Mischa: Good.

Bex: I never, I never got introduced to Final Fantasy. This is my introduction to Final Fantasy and now I want to play it.

Ian: Same.

Mischa: Wild.

Mayanna: Can I prescribe to you the perfect introduction to Final Fantasy?

Bex: Yes.

Mayanna: Because it's mine and I'm biased.

Bex: Yes.

Mischa: Excellent.

Mayanna: Final Fantasy X-2. Specifically–

Mischa: Wow.

Bex: Ooh.

Mayanna:Because it's the– You play as Yuna, who is a totally different vibe in Final Fantasy X.

Mischa: Might as well have been a different character, honestly.

Mayanna: She's Hot Girl Summering it, it's Charlie's Angels, you're on a big airship, you're going around solving problems, there's great music in it, and they have In my opinion, the best mechanic, which is the dressphere system, which is you find these little spheres of light, and they have different job classes. So you switch classes on the fly, and every class has a magical girl transformation sequence. [Laughter]. And a custom cinematic specifically for that outfit.

Bex: Oh, this is so you.

Lyn: Oh shit.

Mayanna: Yes. Yeah.

Bex: Okay, perfect.

Mayanna: And it's really fun and I really like the game and it's very campy and silly.

Bex: I wanna play.

Mayanna: and then play any of the other ones you want. But Final Fantasy X-2. And here's the thing, a lot of people think Final Fantasy X-2 is the worst final fantasy game. And that's because you're homophobic.

Lyn: Oop.

Mischa: You heard it here first.

Ian: Oh shit.

B2: You’re right, and you should say it.

Ian: Shots fired.

Mayanna: You hate people who are queer. I'll tell you that right now. So if you are walking around here talking about how you don't think Final Fantasy X-2 is a good game, you're homophobic.

Mischa: And also because you never played Final Fantasy V.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: There you go. Oh yeah, I named a different character Faris after Final Fantasy V.

Mischa: I named Faris Park after Final Fantasy V.

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: I thought you guys were going to say ferret.

Mayanna: Oh, that's so funny.

Mischa: No Faris, the–

Mayanna: Trans icon.

Mischa: –the park where JJ and Samira had like a beautiful moment in their childhood.

Lyn: Mmhm, yea, wow.

Ian: Wow.

Bex: Gay.

Mayanna: She starts out, you think she's a man, and then you find out she's a princess, and you're like, “Oh yeah. Oh yeah.”

Lyn: That would do something to me.

Mayanna: “This is the best day ever.” Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It's awesome.

[SFX: Midroll theme music plays then fades out].

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 off, as always, and as usual, our biggest shout out to our patrons at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. To our newest patron, Eleanor G, and of course, a huge shout out to our Voyager level patron, JWX, who is rad and cool and keeps us alive with the fires of passion burning in their heart.

We actually have seven levels on our Patreon, and they all have great Path-wandering specific names that I think are very cute! Well, almost all of them do. We do have one Patreon tier at $69 a month that's just called “Nice.” But at any level, you will get a shout out in this section of the podcast, and I love doing the shout outs. So if you want those, or ad free episodes, or blooper reels, or any of that fun stuff, Or, if you simply want to bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, head on over to patreon.com/wanderingpathpod and pledge your support, we truly appreciate it.

The Wandering Path is sponsored this week by Tab for a Cause, a browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online.

Whenever you open a new tab in your browser, like if you want to know more about Final Fantasy X-2's dressphere system, or you have no idea who Peach Girl is and you want to look it up, Tab for a Cause will show you a beautiful photo and a small ad, and part of that ad money goes towards a charity of your choice. And there's a ton of charities and causes to choose from, like reproductive health, bail funds, Action Against Hunger, Human Rights Watch, climate change action groups, and more. And they just launched Tab for Democracy, which raises funds to get out the youth vote. And best of all, you get to choose how much of your contribution goes where. The power is in your hands.

Join our team by signing up at tabforacause.org/wanderingpath. And help support your favorite causes and your favorite podcast, which we hope is us, and don't tell us if it's not. One more time, tabforacause.org/wanderingpath.

That's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[SFX: Midroll theme music plays then fades out].

Ian: Okay, so Misch, for you as the GM, what have been the most interesting moments for you in the past three episodes?

Mayanna: That's such a good question.

Mischa: Great question. I think the questions that JJ and Gordon asked in the library were really interesting ones. Again, I kind of loved answering those questions in a way that gave you context for the stuff you don't know about what you're trying to solve, but that, I mean, hopefully, like, propelled you further down that rabbit hole a little bit, was a lot of fun for me. You know, like, one of the hardest things in GMing, I think, is, like, trying to give answers to failed roles, or even worse, middling roles on, like, information-gathering checks. Julian Mundy, actually, who was our first guest on the show, which we'll talk about in a little bit.

Mayanna: Yes! Oh my god, do you want to talk about that?

Bex: That was so good.

Mischa: Yeah, we'll talk about that in a second. Yes, he actually gave me a great piece of advice recently, which is, like, when that happens, to answer the question stupid.

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa: Like, answer the question, but do it in a stupid way, which I'm really excited to incorporate into my life going forward. But yeah, finding the ways to, like, not quite give you what you're looking for while still keeping the momentum going is an interesting challenge.

Lyn: It’s not like hitting a wall.

Mayanna: Why would you always give the perfect answer? Like people don't give the perfect answer in their real lives. Even the things they do know the answer to.

Mischa: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So that was interesting. I got to go into like a little bit of the history before the city, which, you know, I, I have some big brush strokes, but not a lot of the finer detail doing that, that one kind of like account of the person who was assaulted by like a circle of Balvarox was really cool. Cause that's the first glimpse we've gotten of anything in this world before the city existed. Very cool to me. And honestly, like having that scene in the workshop with Fran and Fuller. Was so compelling, mostly because like, I did give Julian prompts, but I only gave him a few things. I gave him like, this is what you want out of the scene. This is like what you have to give Fran. This is what is standing in her way of you giving it to her.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And like just kind of let him go. And thank goodness, like Julian's an incredible GM and it's a hard thing to ask someone to come in and be an NPC.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: But like. He did, I think he did a fantastic job, he made it compelling.

Bex: And you two worked together so magically.

Mischa: Yeah, that's because he's my oldest friend.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: He was wonderful, he was a wonderful addition, just a great, a great player, a great person to have in the room while we record, just like, lovely.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, audience out there listening to this podcast, you have to tell us, but I think it went super well. I think it really bodes well for us having future guests on the show.

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: I think, you know, I especially love that dynamic where like, yeah, we did his scene first and it was kind of long and so we did it and got it out of the way to make sure it was good. And then like, much like you guys, Julian was just around to comment on the rest of it afterwards.

Mayanna: Hangin’ out. Oh, it was so great. It was delightful.

Mischa: Julian has his own count on the party points board.

Bex: Yeah!

Mayanna: He does.

Ian: Oh, that was the other new thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mayanna: Guest star party points.

Ian: Also, just to say it for anyone who hasn't heard, myself, Mischa, and Julian make a science fiction podcast called StarTripper!!.

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: It's out there if you ever want to give it a listen.

Bex: It’s so good.

Mischa: Yeah, it's really good. It also features music by the people who contribute music to this show.

Mayanna: Heck yeah.

Mischa: So if you, if you like the show, you will probably like StarTripper!!.

Mayanna: Cause when you work with people you like, you keep doing it.

Lyn: Wahoo!

Mischa: So, but the scene with Fuller was so cool to me, like describing the workshop. Like, you know, we as a group have sort of talked about being interested in narratively justifying these, like, class, subclass leveling up mechanics. And so as soon as we were like, “oh yeah, like, Fran gets to join like a, like a guild of magical item people.” I was like, “well, what does that look like? Who runs that? And what's it about? How does it interact with the magical systems that we already know exist in the world?” And then, you know, I was looking through it and I was like, “oh, yeah, you make spell tags.” There are tags in anime, there are tags in video games where you just apply paper tags to things.

Mayanna: Yeah it’s so good. It’s also very Sheena from Tales of Symphonia.

Mischa: Yeah, I'm pulling from specifically, Dennou Coil,

Mayanna: Oh I don’t know that.

Mischa: Which is, yeah, a very little watched anime, which is about, like, the first city in Japan where AR glasses are, like, widespread, and so there's sort of, like, an AR layer over the whole city, and the protagonist's grandmother is, like, a lead hacker in the city. It's very funny.

Mayanna: Incredible.

Mischa: And she makes these, they're, like, digital, but when the characters interact with them, they're paper tags, and they apply them to stuff, and it manipulates the code of the AR layer in the digital space. And I was like, “yeah, we could do that with this.” That's what tags can be.

Mayanna: I love that, that’s so cool

Bex: Sick.

Mischa: So like, yeah, finding a way because they're called tags in the book, but like putting that in the story was very cool.

Mayanna: I loved that. I also, I just loved you, you giving narrative justification for mechanical things. Because I feel like sometimes you play with enough people that you just run into this thing where it's like, “yeah, that just happens.” Like mechanically, like you have this thing, and it's not connected to your character in any meaningful way. And it's like, you, you, you went the extra mile and really incorporated it into the story.

Lyn: Like being able to re-introduce, like, the roleplay part of it.

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely.

Lyn: It's like the story–you get to embody that a little bit with the story and within the character and how you play the character. Where it's like, yeah, like of course, we're playing a system that provides you mechanics, but how do you make those mechanics yours and make them make sense in a world?

Mayanna: Mmhm.

Lyn: Like, that scene was so cool because I could, like, see the tension, both on, like, Mayanna's face, which I wish that the listeners could have seen, but, like, the stress, like, you were so stoked, but at the same time, you were like, “emotional memories, oh, and then they're removed from you,” and, like, Fran is like, so, like, clearly present and so eager and so determined that, like, for me in the moment being, like, an audience member and that was like,
oh, but the tension between, like, that being Fran, like, the stuff that makes Fran Fran,

Mayanna: Yup.

Lyn: But like that and what Fran wants to accomplish both in, like, not just the shifting dream of, like, being a fashion designer, but now that shifting to, like, wanting to help and protect people,

Mayanna: Mmhm.

Lyn: Like, when we were talking in the world building of the things that we wanted to do is having these aspects of, like, responsibility and sacrifice. I could really see that, and it kept going in that scene! Like it kept building and building and I was like, (deep breathing, stressed scream).

Mayanna: It's–I think in my journey as a TTRPG player, like I think I had this instinct to just not give up things. And that's just like holding on to like, “no, I don't want things to change. I don't want things to be different. I don't want things to be hard,
but like you, you have to do those things. Like, otherwise, it's like, what do you, what are you protecting? Like a made up? It's not, it's, it's very real, but it's also not real. And it's like, am I sacrificing a more interesting part of a story that we're all telling together to hold on to, like, who my character was in the first episode?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Like, that's not fair to the story.

Lyn: Because also,

Bex: Character development is important.

Lyn: Absolutely. It's cool for the character development, too, of, like, really reacting to, like, the world as it unfolds in front of you.

Mayanna: Yeah. And that, yeah, in times of struggle, like, you can't hold on to everything.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: You can’t.

Mischa: I was hoping that that would make its way in when you were making your character Fran and Ibra, even, like the two of you were like, “yeah, and we work in Boggins and that's how we know each other. We all hang out there.” And I was like, “Great, I'm gonna rip that place up and it's gonna be closed.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh dang!

Ian: Bye Boggins!

Mayanna: I haven't in my GM journey. I haven't gotten to that place yet where I'm like, I'm gonna take that from you.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Well, this is, I mean, this is. That's the thing about this story. It's like, it is a world full of hard choices. Like, we talked about the themes of this being, you know, how do you make those hard choices? And so, not that you want me to take away every precious thing, looks over at BG worryingly.

Ian: No, fuck you, I'll kill you. I'll murder you.

Mayanna: I'm opening the window. It’s happening.

Lyn: We know where you live.

Mischa: But like, like, there is some freedom from a GM standpoint of you guys, like, wanting to play a story where those choices come up that like, allows me to make them harder.

Mayanna: Absolutely. Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah. One of the things, while I was, you know, writing our media kit.

Mischa: Woo! Look at us, Mom, we're a real podcast!

[Laughter].

Lyn: While I'm, like, developing the media kit, I was, like, oh, like, writing things like what listeners could, like, “pair as well with listeners who like immersive audio fiction, techno magical settings, nostalgic anime,” and, and then I was, like, trying to find the last thing I was, like, And I was like, “oh, and coming of age stories.”

Mayanna: Yes

[Agreement]

Lyn: We're like, all of our characters are kind of at this crux, not like, I think now when you say coming of age story, at least in this current media landscape, it's usually like teens.

Mayanna: Yeah, you think like 17 to 18, or high school to college.

Lyn: But like, for like, young adults, emphasis on the adults rather than the young, like, we're all playing characters in like, essentially the early 20s of like–

Mayanna: Which is the new 17.

Lyn: Which is the new 17, where it's like the formation of a new identity.

Mayanna: Mm-Hmm.

Lyn: But not in the sense of like, “I'm learning what I like”, but in the, “oh, I have a place in this world.”

Mayanna: Mm-Hmm. you have things you can contribute to. Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah. And trying to figure that out and what that means to you Was the thing that I ended up landing on where like all of the things that formed our characters’ identities and purpose as of episode one has completely changed.

Mayanna: Mhmm. Oh yeah.

Lyn: And we're all reacting to it.

Mayanna: We all had very. You know, normal, regular dreams of, like, doing well in school or, like, figuring, figuring your stuff out, doing well at bread, [Laughter], making an outfit, and now it's, it's so much bigger than that.

Bex: Well, I think there's also, like… This world– you've done such a great job of having there be so much cost, and penalty, and consequence, and that can be…

Mischa: Thanks, it was one of our basic themes.

Bex: Yeah, but the thing is, it can be a good consequence or a bad consequence, and it's really up to us as the collaborative storytellers to figure out what it's gonna be.

Mayanna: Yes, absolutely.

Mischa: I, well, I feel a little bad that, like, Just because we keep, I keep finding such juicy moments in all these other scenes that, again, the time dilation, things are moving so slowly that I do feel like, you know, where, where Fran has moved on to her new purpose, and JJ has moved on to their new purpose, and, Gordon, really just having two purposes out there.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: We'll talk about more of that in a second.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Oooh.

Mischa: But like, Ibra, I still feel like, is looking at that, like, especially with that panic attack of like, “Oh no, things have to change and I'm not ready.”

Bex: And “things have to change, I'm not ready, I have to change, what am I?”

Mayanna: You don’t know yourself.

Bex: Like, there was that, I was re-listening and what Fuller said about the application of the magic being dangerous is what really gave Ibra that panic attack.

Mayanna: Yes.

Bex: It was like, “I'm the application of this magic, I'm dangerous.”

Mayanna: And you didn't choose that.

Bex: Not at all.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mayanna: No, it's, it's scary. It's very scary.

Mischa: Yeah, so we've had those moments with us. I feel like that moment like we're very close to it with Ibra, like it's coming in the next episode or so.

Bex: I'm excited. I feel like that the next scene, this combat is going to be catalytic for Ibra.

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Lyn: Yeah, absolutely

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, I hope so. So maybe by next detour we'll have a chance to talk about it.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Ian, did you have something to say?

Ian: Two words.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Inspector Gordon.

All: [Cheers] Yes!

Mischa: Okay, what?

[Laughter].

Ian: Gonna lean into the detective hard. Talking about the character changing from where you thought it was day one, the uncovering of the mystery and the facility that Gordon is having with doing it. I want to lean in more and go get a book.

Lyn: Yeah, well, like, JJ fully recognizes that both Fran and Gordon are way smarter than her. And like, so being able to accompany Gordon to the library and like kind of see that shit happen. It's like no, you have a lot of like, like you have a lot of intuition. Like, you are a learned person and, like, a skilled person, and you are just, like, not in an environment that, like, gives you, like, books of this kind, like, but you're, like, you are a researcher, like, your little notebook,

Mayanna: Yeah, oh my god, yes!

Lyn: and, like, this is maybe Lyn projecting some stuff onto there, but, like, the reason why maybe you, like, fuck up four pallets of bread, episode one, is actually, like, you're experimenting, like, you're doing, like, all this trial and error and, like, you ultimately, like, also mechanically, like, you are a scientist.

Ian: Right.

Lyn: And so, like, JJ sees this in Gordon a lot, that's like, “hey, I think, like, you might belong here more than I do.” And not in, like, a self disparaging way, but it's like, I”'m so excited that you can finally get this. Because I think you'll do really, really well and make something out of it.” Not, like, that you should, you know, like, stop being a baker, stop doing anything, but it's like, “keep investigating. I will rely on you to do that because you're good at it.”

Mischa: That's so interesting. I like that. I don't even know if that occurred to me, but like, yeah, we made you a scientist character with the highest intelligence and then put you in a guild that's mostly about doing one thing the same way every day.

Ian: Mmmm.

Mayanna: But you do experiment though.

Mischa: But that's the thing.

Lyn: Yeah, yeah.

Mayanna: You try different stuff.

Bex: The garlic knots, the sausage rolls.

Mischa: That's the tension.

Ian: Right.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: And, and what's funny is you say to keep baking, which is possible in one iteration of the game, but based on what we're talking about, making hard choices, having to, you're right. It's like, that's such an interesting story too, of getting to the point where all of a sudden you don't want to be a baker anymore, but that's what you've done your whole life. And you live in this world where, well, once you say you are, you are.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And also like in, with, with JJ, like JJ has the magistrate who's like, “what do you really want to be doing?” Or like, “Hey, You might say you want to do this, but your actions are indicating to me that you actually are more interested in this.” And like, if Gordon doesn't have that person in his life, like maybe it's Cecilia, maybe it's somebody else, but like, who can go, “dude, get out of here, man.”

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Like, like that person who can kind of redirect you and be like, “are you, are you really gonna stay in Indiana?”

[Laughter].

Lyn: Shoutout to my therapist at age 16.

Ian: Right. My question to you is, in this world, can you move? Are you legally, like, allowed to move once you, you know what I mean?

Bex: I mean, we work for the office that moves jobs, so if anyone's allowed it's us.

Ian: Oh, sick.

Mischa: Yeah, fortunately. Truly, you do work for the lady who moves the people around.

Mayanna: But it's not easy, I imagine. Like, most people don't have that access.

Bex: It's not easy, it's not common.

Ian: Doesn't feel culturally normal.

Lyn: Yeah, I think that it's the culture side of it. It's like, when we talk about stuff, it's like, oh, your family is Like, your work is your family, is your life is your work, is your family, is your life.

Ian: It's my surname, it's literally my surname.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Yeah, and that's the thing I've been playing, right? Is that, like, well, especially with JJ, like, that's, that's the conflict so far. And so, like, we're, we're still in the beginning, but we're ready to move into that phase where, like, okay, you guys have made the choices, but you're right, it's the culture. It's about, you know, especially with JJ, like, yes, you can do this, and you want to do this, and your mentor says it's okay, and then she encourages you to do this, but what do your parents think?

Lyn: Exactly.

Mischa: And Ibra, you know, you're ditching classes, and you're whatever, what do your parents think? You know, Gordon, I like, I think that's a great tension to look at, especially as Cecilia returns from her trip and like, you know, you're not slacking on her deliveries, but …

Mayanna: You're trying stuff out, you're shaking shit up,

Mischa: You're changing shit up, you change stuff up at the church with those garlic rolls, like she's going to hear about that.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: You know, like, It's still to be seen what she thinks of all this when she comes back and what advice she has for you moving forward. I also think it's interesting that, like, Fuller laid a tag on the gun that your mom gave you, Fran.

Mayanna: Yup, oh yeah.

Mischa: That, like, there's something there, too. We're really about to start looking at, like, you guys have made this choice, but what does that mean?

Lyn: Yeah,

Mayanna: Absolutely. Sorry, the cat in this room has chosen me and I'm very happy about it.

Mischa: Mayanna?

Mayanna: Huh?

Mischa: That's Gaz!

Mayanna: Gaz!

Mischa: Gaz! From the Bursar's Office, that's the guy!

Mayanna: Hi Gaz! Gaz! I'm so happy!

Mischa: When we, when we, this is Gaz, my partner Erin’s 18 year old cat, we moved him across the country from Pennsylvania. He always has drippy eyes, so when we do voices for him, like we do for all our pets.

Mayanna: Oh that’s so funny

Mischa: (A nasal and slightly garbled Gaz voice) He kinda huffs out like this.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Mischa: And he's also very, just like, an old cat, seeded in his ways, so he, like, gets what he wants, and wants a thing, he expects it. So that's where that character came from!

Mayanna: We see each other.

Mischa (as Gaz): Like, You probably just forgot to do it for me.

Mayanna: Yeah, (mimicking voice) we see each other, Gaz.

[Laughter].

Ian: I just, quick, quick, side sauce, side flavor.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: I just met this person whose cat lived to the age of, give me a guess.

Bex: 32.

Ian: 30!

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: (in awe) 30.

Mischa: You want some extra sauce on that?

Ian: Yeah, I do.

Mayanna: Yes please.

Ian: Sauce on my sauce.

Mischa: Most old cats tend to die of renal failure. Their kidneys give out. There was a study that I read from Japan a few months ago where they cured the most common causes of renal failure in cats, such that like, if this becomes a widespread medication, most cats could live to 30 now.

Ian & Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: Amazing!

Mischa: That's not, that has nothing to do with this podcast, but just a little bit of fun fact.

Mayanna: It has everything to do with this podcast. Because there's a cat here.

Mischa: Because there’s a cat here while we’re recording this podcast.

Ian: Okay, I have another, I have another word for everybody, and you don't have to answer this. We can leave it open ended, but it is a word with a question mark on it.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: And that word is: “Dungeon”?

Mayanna: (gasps)

Bex: Yes. Dragon.

Lyn: Oh my gosh. When you had all, we haven't even gone into the side quest yet, but we–

Mischa: Oh yeah.

Lyn: When we retouched on some of like additional leads during Gordon's dog training game.

Mischa: Yes. That's one. Another big like rumble of information coming in is that like you have leads to follow up on for side quests

Mayanna: We found Astra.

Lyn: Yeah. And we found a speck of Astro where I'm like, we are. Like, I know places where JJ wants to go, and also that Lyn wants to go, and Lyn wants to go everywhere.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh and the restricted thing with the skating team.

Lyn: Yeah, the teens, and then like, the, the–

Bex: Factory,

Lyn: Yeah, the teens at the factory, and then in the mines, and then at that house.

Ian: Not in the mines yet.

Lyn: Yeah, we cannot, we know that there's a restricted level, like, for levels 12 through 15.

Mayanna: No way.

[Laughter].

Ian: But I'm definitely ready to get into a place, you know, where we can't just have a conflict and disengage. I'm ready to start dealing with some shit.

Lyn: We also, for the level 3 level up, most of y'all hit your subclasses, and we're gonna see some of that with Fran and Ibra,

Mayanna: Yeah oh my god, so hype.

Lyn: But between Gordon and JJ, there's like, new stuff that we have. Well, my stuff isn't that new, it's just third level spell slots.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: But good! We need those.

Bex: Yeah, we do.

Mayanna: Hey, “just third level spell slots,” how dare you.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Just–Whatever

Mayanna: That’s my best friend you're talking about.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Third level spell slots. My god.

Mischa: I've known that guy since kindergarten. Me and third level spell.

Mayanna: Me and third level spell slaads, we fucked it up!

Bex: I'm about to play a one third caster, so shut up.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You're never gonna get there.

Bex: Never. I never get third level.

Lyn: But like, yeah, dungeon question mark. I answer with dungeon exclamation point.

Mayanna: Good! Dungeon? dungeon!

Lyn: Dungeon, dungeon, dungeon!

Mayanna: Dungeon, dungeon.

[Laughter].

Bex: I am excited for like, since we're talking about subclasses and classes, I'm excited for the fact that we can either continue on our trajectories or multiclass in this because I started thinking about that when Inspector Gordon came up. I'm like, there's a Valda’s inspector class.

Mischa: Yes, the investigator class.

Bex: The investigator.

Mischa: And, and it's, it's very much like you're looking for clues. You pick, you know, you also pick like, I think you pick a favored enemy.

Mayanna: Ohh Wow. Favorite enemy.

Lyn: I, was reading again, because I was working on the media kit, I was reading so many different source book bits all at the same time. I'm like, now I don't know what anything is anymore.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Where it ends and where it begins.

Lyn: I don't know.

Mischa: Hold on, shout out to Mage Hand Press, they've been so nice to us, they sent us a physical copy of Valda’s.

Lyn: They did.

All: Thank you so much Mage Hand!

Lyn: For making it.

Mayanna: It’s glorious!

Mischa: I wanna make sure we get it right. Let me just look it up real quick. Mage Hand Press. Yeah, so the short description of the investigator class in Valda’s is “supernatural researchers and monster hunters, investigators use a few silver tipped crossbow bolts and a tome brimming with rituals to banish monsters that stalk the night.”

Ian: Fuck yeah

Mischa: “Play an investigator if you want access to boundless utility options and the ability to go toe to toe with a vampire, werewolf, or electric jelly ghost.”

Mayanna: Woahhh!!

Ian: That's where we're going, right there! Inspector Goddamn! Gordon!

Mayanna: Gordon! Yes!

Mischa: Yeah, that's pretty sick.

Lyn: Yeah I know there's some multi class things that I kind of am thinking about, JJ, but it depends on what happens in the story.

Mischa: Yeah, like, I am slightly sorry for the time dilation, I hope it's not, like, too much of a slow burn.

Mayanna: Please don't apologize.

Mischa: But we are right on the precipice of, like, really digging in and doing some stuff.

Mayanna: Truly don't apologize, we've had so much fun.

Lyn: You’re doing really really well.

Mayanna: And we wanted to dig into things minute by minute, so.

Lyn: Yeah. I think, like, part of what's working really well, these first episodes, when, like, time is moving a little slower, is, like, still, like, oh, kind of about the characters as individuals, like, in their individual contexts, but then, like, the next part is, like, oh, yeah, these characters out in the world, and responding to the world at large now that they've made their, like, their self-centric choices.

Mischa: Well, now that you've accepted the call to adventure and are crossing the first threshold.

Lyn: Exactly.

Mayanna: The Hero’s Journey

Lyn: It's almost as if story arcs are real.

Mayanna: Wow. No way.

Mischa: Thanks, Joe Campbell.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: Shoutouts to my pal, Joe.

Mayanna: Yeah, I mean, y'all, first name basis, me and I, me and I, my boy, Joe. [Laughter]. There is one thing we haven't talked about yet.

Lyn: Oh?

Mayanna: Samira.

Lyn: Oh.

Bex: Yes! Oooo!

M!: Oooh!

Bex & Ian: Gay gay gay gay gay!

Lyn: My favorite thing was Mayanna not. [Laughter].

Mayanna: I had no clue.

Lyn: You were so.

Bex: The angry face.

Mayanna: I had no idea.

Mischa: And what's so funny about that is in my scene breakdown for the episode, I did just write, “Flashback with Samira, Flirt Roll for JJ?”

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And that's all I had written down.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: I'm so excited about how much romance there is in this campaign.

Mayanna: I love romance.

Bex: I'm deciding that Ibra is aroace.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Oh!

Bex: The one without, for this whole campaign. And I, that's, that's my decision. And I'm, after listening all the way through again, I'm like, “yeah, no, I think I accidentally set that up.”

Mayanna: Interesting.

Mischa: I, you know. I have not done a lot of games with a lot of romance in the past.

Mayanna: Are you kidding me?

Mischa: I really, like, wanted to take this opportunity where we're taking the story really seriously because we're making a podcast and, like, take that opportunity to examine romance.

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Romance is my favorite part of anything.

Mischa: Yeah. Well, thank you, Ian and Lyn for, like, being my little guinea pigs in that. I'm really excited to see where it goes.

Lyn: I can continue to grow and evolve and devolve.

Mischa: All of like the, the, the, like, you know, looks across the ballroom between Paz and Gordon, like, in the middle of combat–

Mayanna: My favorite thing.

Mischa: Like, because she's in the party now, like, yeah, I'm so excited!

Bex: Combo moves between everyone?

Ian: Oh, wow.

Mayanna: Synergy.

Ian: Yeah. I do feel like Paz and Gordon, though, are, you know, still on sort of like the young track of, of the flirting.

Mischa: No yeah, I'm not pushing anything, we're still gonna abide by dice rolls.

Ian: No, that's not what I mean.

Mischa: We're gonna play to find out, but like, I want it so bad, I want it so bad!

Ian: Yeah, no, what I mean is the sort of like, the hot and cold of like, “well now she's in the party, so now she's really close, so like, how does that change things?”

Mayanna: Mmm

Mischa: Oh yeah, interesting.

Ian: That's what I'm talking about. You know what I mean?

Bex: And now you got that text from Fran being like, “I think Ibra's moving in.”

[Laughter].

Ian: Right!

Lyn: I love that! Especially with you being like, yeah, no, Ibra's definitely aroace and completely misreading the situation.

Mayanna: Like, cause like, why would you be that close to someone if you didn't like them? So like, my dumb brain is like, “oh, okay. I didn't know. I have no idea it was getting like this. My bad. Sorry, guys.”

Lyn: Just like, so much happening. I love you stirring the pot.

Mayanna: I didn't mean to. Like, mechanically I was like, “I'm going to say something that truly is misinterpreted.” Very Atonement. [Laughter]. But, but Fran was like, “I think this might be happening.”

Lyn: No, I... Please continue. [Laughter]. I will now also participate.

Mischa: Let's, but let's also come back to JJ and Samira.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah, whatever.

Mayanna: Yes! JJ and Samira.

Bex: I'm obsessed.

Ian: That feels like the strongest relationship piece of the show to me so far. Like it feels like there's a lot of weight there.

Mayanna: It’s so good. Yeah. Unrequited.

Bex: I don't know if it's unrequited.

Mayanna: Or deeply repressed.

Bex: That’s it.

Lyn: Yeah, so, um… When I was developing the character, like, after the, we did our world building stuff, some of the questions that Mischa was asking was like, oh, like, relationships, like, family, or, like, classmates or coworkers, like, who do you have bonds to, who do you trust, who do you not trust, like, how, are they, a catalyst in how you have belief, or have lost belief. And so, my favorite thing with creating characters is like fleshing out their family. In this one, in this game, I think is pretty important.

Mischa: You came back with a full like family tree almost.

Lyn: Yeah. I came up with like a family tree with some like bullet points for each person and–

Mayanna: Hmm.

Lyn: They are actively so fucking Filipino, y'all don't even know. and 'cause I was like, oh, like. The idea of, yeah, like, work is family, is life is work, is family, is life, and, like, those kind of three things really coalescing. And so, when I came up with Samira, I wanted Samira to, like, be a really close childhood friend that could also, at least initially, serve as a foil to JJ. Of, like, someone who is very sure of herself, who was, like, willing to, like, follow her own determination.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Lyn: Like, no matter the cost. Like, that kind of stuff. And like, JJ being the opposite of that. and then while I was writing this, I was like, “and they're gay! “And then I was like, that, I mean, I'm gay. So I think that my own, my own queerness possessed me when I wrote that.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It took over.

Lyn: It really took over.

Ian: “Stop, hand! No, stop writing. No!“

Mischa: “Keep writing, yes!”

Mayanna: That's the gay goblin inside.

Lyn: That is just me. That's what Lyn is short for.

Bex: Gay Goblin.

Lyn: Yes.

[Laughter].

Ian: Gay Goblin? Oh my god! What? Ugh!

Mischa: Sounds like a party for Lyn.

Ian: That's definitely a party for Lyn.

Lyn: Yay! But yeah, like, as I was writing that, I was like, and I think what will make that extra juicy would be like, if JJ has been in love with Samira this whole time.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: And, whether or not they will ever act on that remains to be seen.

Mischa: That has got to be the closest flirt role I've ever played in a game. It's never been that close before. It's so good.

Bex: The heavy breathing you did!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes!

Lyn: Yeah and it's like, yeah, like at that point in time, you really came in with that flashback so heavy. Like the only thing that when we were thinking of potential things to do I like talked to Ian and we were like dog training! I was like at a park like it's in Minetown JJ used to hang out in Minetown Maybe like it's one that Samira and JJ would go to! And then you came in with a fucking steel chair [Laughter]. I was like so flustered–

Mayanna: Much like Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

[Laughter].

Ian: Leave. Get out.

Mayanna: No.

Bex: Fucking nerd.

Ian: You get out.

Lyn: But yeah, you came in with a steel chair. I was so flustered. [Laughter]. throughout that whole thing. Like, I, the spirit of JJ did possess me in that moment. I was like, I am now like, Actively imagining myself, like, as a 13 year old, like, in love with, like, one of my best friends at the time. And I was out the whole time, so, like, some of my best friends I ended up dating, but, like, one in particular I was really thinking about was, like, if–and for this person, whose name I will not name,

Mayanna: Good for you.

Mischa: Shoutout! Shoutout nameless person! Donate $5 to us on Patreon!

Mayanna: You know you are!

Bex: Anybody without a name, give us $5!

[Laughter].

Lyn: If you think I was in love with you when I was 13, donate to our podcast.

[Laughter].

Ian: Correct

Lyn: Anyway, and, and like, this was before she was out as queer. like we were again, like 13. So like kind of just like on the cusp of anything being figured out. And we were in suburban Illinois.

Ian: Oof.

Mayanna: I’m so sorry.

Lyn: Like there's a lot of stuff like layer onto that. where in that moment I like really put myself back. Like, I remember a moment at a playground, blah, and I was like, “(stressed breathing) you are great and cool and awesome, and I think you are the best person ever. And I mean that in a way that totally makes sense and is normal.”

Mayanna: Dang.

Lyn: Cool.

Mischa: Well, and I loved, like, for a character that was designed from the jump to be so sure of everything she does in every moment, to have one moment of uncertainty. Like, that's storytelling gold, baby.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And all the joking and laughing and teasing, like, has so much richer flavor now.

Bex: That slide tackle.

Mischa: Any excuse to physically touch each other.

Bex: Yeah, slide tackle is so queer teenagers.

Mayanna: Oh my god. So gay.

Lyn: It's like, “I don't know, I just need to make contact with you all the time, and I guess, it'll be slightly violent?”

Mayanna: I live for these moments.

Lyn: “I don't know why.” The rituals, they're intricate.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: That's what it's all about. This is what life's about. Is those moments.

Mischa: Yep. That's so true. Ah. All right, y'all, I'm very excited to introduce a new section to the detour, which is Question Corner. [Cheers]. We asked for listener questions, and finally, we have some.

Mayanna: Yay! You listened and you wondered!

[Laughter].

Ian: See, that's a party point.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Okay, I want to answer some listener questions specifically from our patrons at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Thank you.

Mischa: Thanks so much for giving us money, we'll answer your questions first.

Bex: We love you.

Mischa: From Sydney.

Ian: My girlfriend?

Lyn: No?

Mischa: No, different Sydney.

Mayanna: Ooh! Sydney is now canon.

Ian: I thought for a second that Sydney was listening to the podcast without telling me.

Mischa: Hey all Sydneys out there, Ian'll be your boyfriend if you donate to us on Patreon! [Laughter].

Bex: This Sydney is gay and will punch you in the balls.

Ian: Whoa! That took a turn.

Mayanna: Also, hot!

Mischa: Sydney asks, what are the mechanics that were used to cast a spell without spell slots left? So, back in the mech fight when JJ had no more spell slots left, and Lyn asked to overcharge.

Lyn: Yep.

[Laughter].

Mischa: And this is not in in vanilla Dungeons & Dragons, this is one of the things I made up, and the reason is, we thought it'd be cool.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: And it is.

Lyn: The mechanic is...

Mayanna: Please.

Lyn: Yeah. Yeah.

Mischa: Without giving too much away, basically, someone whose astral crystal is depleted can get one, can juice one last spell out of it with a 75 percent chance of breaking the crystal when you do it.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Mischa: And this comes from like, anime and Final Fantasy.

Lyn: Every video game ever.

Mischa: You know, like, using, like, the power inside you to, like, go beyond your limits,. “Plus ultra.”

Mayanna: Yeah, “limit break.“

Mischa: Yeah, limit break, exactly. That's exactly what it is. So, and I thought it'd be cool because a lot of that stuff was on our vibes list, so I was leaning into those tropes, and I think, you know, we've only seen it once. It's also, like, potential fodder for something cool to happen later, you know.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Like if I let you know early that overcharge is a thing, then later when you're in a dire moment, maybe you'll try to overcharge and something dramatic will happen.

Mayanna: Yes, please.

Lyn: That's one of my favorite things about like other systems too, that I'm immediately blanking on all of them, but a bunch of ones like have like some kind of last stand or, like limit break capacity that you can do a really cool thing, but it could cause, like, come with a really severe cost.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And that's one thing that I love about, like, in our world building, we talked about how magic comes with a cost, and this is the ultimate form of that. It's like, there's a 75 percent chance of the ultimate cost here.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: I wouldn’t call that the ultimate cost.

Bex: Okay, fine.

Mayanna: But I think it would be like in terms of damage.

Lyn: But it was a 50 gold cost.

Bex: For some of y'all, that's the ultimate.

Mayanna: One of the systems that I'm aware of that has something like that is called Shadow Dark, which is a, like, a solo.

Mischa: I don't know that one.

Mayanna: It's fairly new, it won a bunch of awards at Gen Con this year,

Lyn: Oh yeah.

Mischa: Oh nice.

Bex: Sweet.

Mayanna: but they have a death thing, and it's like Blaze of Glory, which is you auto crit, but you die. There's Risk It All, which is you roll, and if you roll anything above a 10, you come back with full HP,

[Laughter].

Ian: What?!

Mayanna: But if you don't, you die.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: That makes me think of that one that got Mollymauk dead.

Mayanna: Oh! Wait, what was that one?

Bex: I can't remember the exact mechanics, but in Critical Role there, Mollymauk had like, I do this, and if I fail, I die.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bex: And they failed. And they died.

Mayanna: Awww.

Mischa: Well, ours are not that dark. I mean, unless running out of crystal means you go on a longer thing and then maybe you die later.

Ian: Right, or if we're in a dungeon and all of a sudden you're dead.

Mischa: Exactly, exactly. That's why I wanted to include something like that.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm trying to think of what the most high stakes ramification would be, like, had you not succeeded. One, it's just that you were, you were down, Ibra was down.

Lyn: And under a mech.

Mayanna: And under a mech, which would, yeah, would have been very dangerous. Yeah, honestly, like, the risk less than So for you, JJ, and more so for Ibra in that situation, but I wonder if there's also something mechanically where like it can, you can take damage–

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: If you don't succeed.

Lyn: Well, I mean, if we're talking about overcharging electrical capacitors that are attached to your body somehow.

Bex: Yeah. I feel that's what a natural one would be is like,

Mayanna: Yeah, you're in pain now and you–

Mischa: Well, and you guys didn't know this at the time when. When the overcharge happened, but now that you know that there's this other slightly different, maybe more powerful version of Astra out there, like, what happens if you try to overcharge them?

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Six feet higher.

Mayanna: Oh no, I guess we'll just have to do that.

Bex: I think we should try it with the tiny, tiny, tiny.

Mischa: The little, the little, the little grain of sand. Just overcharge this one. I get the super cantrip.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: You get two Mage Hands.

Mischa: Wow. Two hands?

Mayanna: Two hands!

Mischa: Okay, next question, from our patron, Hannah.Thank you, Hannah.

Bex: Woohoo!

Mischa: Can you tell us about my sound design process? How do I decide what moments should have effects? How do I choose effects and music? How long on average does it take you to edit and design an episode?

Bex: So I want to answer this one.

Mayanna: I’m gonna just sit back and relax. Yeah, learn all this.

Mischa: I would say sound design is a lot about timing. It's having a lot of pieces in my bin, which I have a giant hard drive full of sound effects that I've garnered over a sound design career, and like just having all the pieces available to me and then editing it together in sequence with the music and the sound effects placed like with correct timing that just makes it sound rad as hell. And that's my process is– I try to like. Set a background for y'all to live in, you know, like, downtown has a different sound than the Edge, has a different sound than the Dustpan has a different sound from, like, Gwen's office. I try to do those, like, background paintings. And then, in the moment, I try to do what would sound cool, or what would sound funny, especially when y'all make jokes. I love sound designing to your jokes.

[Laughter].

Ian: I don't know what you're talking about.

Mischa: Y'all are very funny...

Ian: We don't make jokes on this podcast.

Mischa: Nope.

Lyn: So serious all the time.

Mischa: So serious.

Bex: Never heard a single one.

Mischa: It’s a very dramatic podcast. But so like, If you guys say something funny, I want to play. I want to be there in a world where we're trying to make something like JJ when you like tripped over the chair in the library. Like, I didn't know you were gonna do that, but then I listened to it later. I was like, “It'd be funny if you could hear them trip over the chair.”

Bex: And it was.

Mischa: Like, that's the kind of thing I do, yeah. So, in combat especially, like, I'm trying to, we've only had a couple of combats so far, but I'm trying to, like, develop what each of your spells sound like, what each of your moves sound like. I have, like, what Ibra's Warden's Mark is. I have, like, whenever Gordon injects a muffin with fluid that makes it do bomb stuff.

Mayanna: Yeah, whenever I try to shoot something and it doesn't work.

Mischa: I do, I will.

Bex: It’s true though.

Mischa: And also, like, when you went to Fuller's place and, like, he upgraded your gun and Julian was there in the moment and improv’d, like, a cool sound upgrade. Now, like, then I want to do that. And I'm sitting there later I'm like, it'd be cool if that was correct and you could hear it as he was describing it. It would be dope.

Ian: Well, so here's my question for you though. I Wonder if what's implicit in her question is like, do you just have such a good understanding of all of the sounds that are in the bin so that you go. “Oh, okay. I'm at this moment. Ooh, I kind of have a gun sound that I kind of know and let me go find it” or are you like, “we in the library and you go like, there needs to be a sound effect here,” search bar, chair, and then you just like go through.

Mischa: Oh, it’s absolutely the second one. Usually I'm, usually I'll start, I'll start, and Ian, you know this from working with me in the past, but sometimes I like, I'll always start with the literal thing.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: I'll always start with, what I think the, the real object that's being described, would sound like.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: And then what often happens is other people who aren't me listen to it and they go, “that's not satisfying.” I'm like, “that's what it sounds like.” And people will be like, “real life's not satisfying. You have to do something else.”

Mayanna: Oooh.

Ian: Yeah. Damn right you do.

Mischa: So I've been trying to lean into like the nature of you guys narrating and supporting what that is, so like, not always being so literal. You guys are just, like, a lot of stuff is magic, a lot of stuff is like, not real, and support, like, not trying to crowd out your description of the magic is important to me.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: So trying to balance that. I also, coming back to the question about music, I also use music in this show a lot to convey tone. I think I spend the most time making these episodes just picking and editing the music. I have a lot of fun with it. There's a lot of music on that website that we use. Shout out to the Independent Music Licensing Collective.

[Cheers].

Mischa: They're good friends of the show and, we love them very much. I think they make the show sound rad and is a really good shortcut to make you feel stuff quickly.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Bex: Yes.

Ian: How long about does it? Oh, I’m so sorry.

Bex: No, I just wanted to compliment Mischa for a quick question saying that I don't want you to like sell yourself short on being like, “yeah, I just look it up and then change it if it doesn't sound satisfying.”

Mayanna: No, That's a lot.

Bex: You also, you can make it sound like sunlight.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: And I could never explain that. I could never explain how you do that. And I don't even know if you could explain it to me. You just, instinctively, intrinsically know how to make that feeling happen in the human brain from sound.

Mischa: So, great question. Thank you for asking. [Laughter]. I went to school for theater sound design.

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: And what I learned in my four years of college for theatrical sound design–

Ian: Was how to wrap cable.

Mischa: Huh?

Ian: Was how to wrap cable.

Mayanna: Gotta wrap cable!

[Laughter].

Mischa: That is… a large portion of what I learned.

Mayanna: The cable knows the way it wants to be wrapped. You just have to allow it to do it.

Mischa: So true. and a lot of what I learned is that a lot of art and a lot of design is picking what you think is good and then justifying it with philosophical concepts later.

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa: Like, you just have to make a choice and commit to it for a reason, and then that says something. That's art.

Mayanna: I feel like that's the same way too with lighting because like– I remember I lit a show for a black box theater in college and people were like, “I've never seen something lit that way.” And I was like, “well, it was like heaven. So I just kind of like did a bunch of lights that felt like heaven.”

[Laughter].

Bex: Yes!

Mayanna: Yeah. But like, yeah, it's just like an in, in, like it's instinctive, I think. Because you're an artist, obviously. So it's like you can tap into that ethereal thing.

Bex: Yeah

Mischa: Sure. And that also comes in with like, you know, understanding the culture in which you live and like what tropes lead to your listeners thinking, the things you want them to think. And you know, that just takes study. And I've just been like doing it a lot. Thanks for the complos?

Mayanna: I have a baby follow up question.

Mischa: Yes.

Mayanna: What's your favorite sound?

Mischa: Oh.

Ian: wow. What a question

Lyn: In general or used on the show?

Mayanna: No, just in general.

Bex: Also the one used on the show,

Mischa: Okay. In the show, I love doing the tuk-tuk, honestly.

[Laughter].

Ian: Damn right. You do.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: It's so satisfying. I use like a little, little library of like like dirt bike sounds.

Bex: (puttering bike noises).

Mischa: It's just like so cute and very Studio Ghibli in my head. I'm always imagining like Ponyo's mom's car when I do it.

Mayanna: Oh, yeah!

Ian: What color is the tuk-tuk in your mind?

Mischa: In my mind, it's like white and grimy.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Oh, fascinating.

Mischa: It's like covered in city dirt.

Ian: Yeah, okay.

Mayanna: I thought it was like white with a red stripe down the middle.

Ian: Got it. What color?

Bex: I thought it would look like a postal truck.

Ian: Yeah, okay.

Lyn: Mine was also white.

Ian: Wow! That's, in my mind, it's like either like a light, light, light brown or it's like seafoam.

Mayanna: Oh, Seafoam's fun.

Mischa: I do like seafoam.

Lyn: Seafoam’s nice.

Mischa: Seafoam's the Studio Ghibli choice.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bex: Can it be a seafoam postal truck?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely. My favorite sound in general is one I made in high school where I was doing a– We had a play festival, a short play festival at my high school.

Mayanna: Pop off.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: And I designed a show that was written by a guy who would later go on to found the website Clickhole. [Laughter]. And it was a show, it was a show– He went to my high school, it's called Eggsicles.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god, he's been the same man!

Mischa: Yeah, he has. He also made a short film while also when we were in high school that makes me laugh every time I hear Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata.” I cannot hear that song without laughing.

Lyn: Oh my god.

Mayanna: God, I need to meet this person so badly. I want to understand his mind.

Mischa: So, It was like a show where like CIA spies in the 50s were interrogating a Russian spy–

Mayanna: Incredible.

Mischa: –about like a really nefarious plan and they kept bringing people from throughout time to like come and interrogate this guy.

Mayanna: I love it.

Bex: Perfect. Spectacular.

Mischa: And early in the play, the plays were only supposed to be like 10 minutes long and this one was fully 40 minutes.

Mayanna: This man is an auteur.

Mischa: Yes.

Mayanna: You cannot hold him down.

Mischa: Correct.

Lyn: Absolutely.

Mischa: So early in the show they say that the place where they're interrogating the suspect is like underneath an animal testing–It's supposed to be an animal testing lab, but I'm pretty sure when we did the show, the actor said “animal torture lab.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh no! It's a lab for the torture of animals.

Mischa: So I had to make a background loop of animals being tortured. I didn't like that.

Bex: No.

Mischa: Eventually over the 40 minute show, the sound fades out and at the end, somebody goes, “what happened to that animal torture facility?” And they go, “oh, didn't you hear it got replaced by a tank of whales falling on a landmine.” And then I had to make the sound of a tank of whales falling on a landmine–

Bex: Oh my god.

Mischa: And then blackout. End of play.

[Laughter].

Ian: This is chaos.

Mischa: And I still have that sound effect. [Laughter]. And I submitted it to a sound design contest once, and I won. And I got to see it–

[Cheers and laughter and overlapping enthusiastic chatter].

Bex: Yes!

Mayanna: You have to put it in the end of this detour. You have to put it in the end of this detour!

Ian: Yeah

Lyn: Please!

Mayanna: I am begging you

Mischa: and then. Because I won that contest, I got to see American Idiot on Broadway for free.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: And now for your moment of zen, a tank of whales falling on the landmine.

[SFX: Whale call, explosion].

Ian: Last piece of that question, how long does it take you to make an episode?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Good question. I would say maybe like 10 hours to edit and another 12 hours to, let's be real, mostly just put the music in.

Mayanna: So 22 hours per episode?

Mischa: Yeah, about. Plus the two to three hours we record for.

Mayanna: So 25 hours per episode.

Mischa: Yeah!

Bex: And that's not including the notes that we give, mostly because the notes that we give aren't really that extensive anymore because Mischa's really good at the job.

Ian: Yeah.

Lyn: I know you nailed things pretty quickly in the process.

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: Thanks.

Mayanna: That's amazing.

Mischa: We have a category in our doc that's like for notes that are just like, “nice!”

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah, “funny!”

Bex: They're mostly just “nice” now.

Ian: And Patreon subscribers, if you're curious, Mischa's doing 22 hours of work without a boss.

Mayanna: Without a boss, just, just out of the, just out of the drive and the ambition and the heart's fire.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah. I'm putting, I'm like, I put in like an hour or two a night, you know, like it all comes together.

Mayanna: I feel you though.

Ian: Don't downplay it. We're making it intense for the Patrons.

Mischa: It is a lot of work. If you think it's worth something to you, you should donate to our Patreon, patreon.com/wonderingpathpod.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Bex: Woo!

Ian: Okay. Next question.

Mischa: Okay. last question today. We have a question from Maddie in Kansas. Thank you, Maddie.

Ian: Kansas!

Mischa: Question is world function question, we've gotten glimpses into how the government of New Prosper works, can we get a specific outline? Is there a mayor or a council, and if so, do they live up on the constellation or down in the city proper? How do people feel about this governing body? And why isn't Gwen running everything? She seems so competent.

Lyn: So true.

Mayanna: Because she's a woman and she's competent. That's why.

Mischa: Fantasy fulfillment right there: a competent government official.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Imagine a woman who cared!

Mischa: Good question. So how does government work in New Prosper? We haven't really gotten there yet? They are up on the Constellation. I do think like the seat of? government is up there because it was up there during the war and they wouldn't, I don't know if they would have moved it onto the ground.

Lyn: That feels like a big hassle.

Mischa: In the first 60 years, you know, maybe in like another hundred years or so, they'll like, one governor or other will be like, “I'm meeting the people down there” or something. Or maybe not. We'll find out.

Bex: But in the meantime, it's definitely kept separate.

Mischa: Yes, they're definitely up there. That really plays into like our themes. There's a governor that I imagine is like a president who is elected. It's– I think we covered this, that it's been the same governor for like the past three or four terms.

Bex: Governor Mellus Asinko.

Mischa: Yeah. And then I think that each district of New Prosper had, like, comes together in a city council, which is kind of like the legislature. So, like, there's, like, East Minetown, West Minetown, Hillside has a rep, The Edge has a rep. I think there are, like, a couple of reps from the Constellation, even though it seems like maybe it would only be one district. Consolidated power. And then they come together in kind of like a citywide congress.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: And then I don't know if there's, like, a third branch? I honestly– I kind of imagine New Prosper like, the legislature makes laws, and then the governor says, “yes, those are good laws, you can have those.”

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: That’s exactly how that conversation went down, too.

Ian: Where does Gwen fit into that power structure?

Bex: I was just gonna say, I think that the reason that Gwen doesn't have more power is because Gwen intentionally chooses to be on the lower level.

Ian: Got it.

Bex: And they refuse to give too much power to anybody on the lower level.

Ian: But she's not a rep. She's like a city manager.

Mischa: She's like an independent office that is part of like the–I watch a lot of West Wing–She's like an independent office that's part of the executive, kind of like a cabinet position.

Ian: Sure.

Mischa: She runs things mostly autonomously, but she's technically under the authority of the governor. Indirectly, I think.

Lyn: Cause like. Even in the system we have, like, the heads of the guilds, which are also…

Mischa: Yes.

Lyn: Part of the government to some capacity, but more as lobbyists? Question mark?

Ian: Yeah, probably.

Mischa: Actually, maybe each of the guilds also sends a rep to the city council.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: That would make sense.

Ian: Like Cecilia, right, Probably?

Mischa: Yeah, or maybe there's like a specific–

Lyn: Cecilia's not even the full head of the guild, though.

Mischa: No, that's true. She's up there as a rep for–Yeah, I'm not–See, that's the fun part about an improvised storytelling podcast. I'm not exactly sure. I'm gonna have to nail it down eventually.

Mayanna: Yeah, you got this though.

Bex: We're still figuring it out.

Mayanna: And we haven't encountered it yet, so…

Mischa: Interesting. Thanks, Maddie.

Ian: Sidebar, I was re-listening to the world building episode, and I caught that we said that Cecilia was my older sister.

Lyn: Yeah, that's what I remember. In the first episode, we asked you to clarify that I asked you and you said, “no, she's not.” And “we're like, okay!”

Ian: Okay, good. I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Bex: Because remember we said your guild is your family?

Ian: Yes.

Mayanna: Right!

Bex: So she's your oldest guild sister.

Ian: Ohhh yeah.

Lyn: So that was our world building. But in the canon of the actual recorded episode, you said “No, it's more of a sister-like figure as opposed to her being my actual sister.”

Mayanna: Yeah, that makes sense.

Mischa: And if you check the record, you will see that I did not perjure myself.

[Laughter].

Bex: Yes.

Ian: That's a party point for Mischa. [Laughter]. You guys had to see the hand movement that went along with it, it was great. So like, I was re-listening to episodes when we were recording to know what was happening, but I hadn't re-listened to the world building episodes. And I went back and listened to them two days ago, and my mind was blown by how much stuff we talked about in the world building episodes that I can now, that you can now see in the show, that when it was happening, I wasn't like, “Oh, I remember talking about that.” and like how it's come to. Like the, like the body mod section where I was like, “Oh my God, it's going to be so fun to like watch me squirm.” Cause like that stuff makes me really uncomfortable, but like we should still do it. And then I thought we just didn't do it.

Mischa: No. And then Ibra's tooth was there.

Ian: It's been there the whole fucking time! And I was like, “Oh my god!” So that's been a really, really fun experience to see how The core concepts are getting teased out and changed and moved around. That's really fun for me.

Mischa: We're, we're getting to time, so I'm gonna move into this.

Ian: No!

Mischa: I know, I'm so sorry.

Ian: No!

Lyn: Let’s talk forever!

Mayanna: But we're having so much fun.

Mischa: I know, that's the worst part about it is that we have so much fun making it.

Ian: Okay, take us where you want to take us.

Mischa: Thank you so much for listening to the show.

Mayanna: Thank you,

Bex: (Blows kiss) Mwah!

Lyn: Truly, thank you

Mayanna: Genuinely. Thank you.

Bex: It means the world. We're, like, putting our hearts and souls into this and it means a lot that you guys are seeing it and appreciating it.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Eh, you're welcome.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Thanks, Ian.

Ian: Straight man to the rescue

Mayanna: So honestly, honestly, I think that's a party point.

[Laughter].

Ian: Fuck yes!

Mayanna: I think that's a party point.

Ian: Let's go.

Mayanna: The confidence. Yes, yes. Honesty, yes.

Lyn: Very good.

Bex: I mean, this is my favorite job of all time, ever. I want to do this only for the rest of my life.

Mayanna: Awww. And what's interesting too for me is like, I worked in YouTube for a long time and like I'm just used to like a comments section of things and I'll usually just like check it as I'm like, I want to get a gut check of like what people feel about the things that I make. And it's interesting to have something where there is no comment section.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And just to be like. “Yeah, I don't know.” I guess it's out there and people are listening to it and feeling a way about it.

Mischa: People are definitely listening to it. Again, thank you so much.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Mischa: Please, if you're listening to it and you like it, drop us a line, write us a review on wherever you're listening. Like, people used to say like leave reviews on Apple podcast and algorithmically helps—it doesn't. But like–

Bex: It’s nice for us.

Mischa: We do like reading them.

Mayanna: It’s nice to know what people are liking and not like.

Mischa: Absolutely and we want to be answering listener questions and story questions more even if it's just like You know, like what's every character's favorite color.Like, obviously for Fran it's purple. We know that.

Mayanna: Yes, yes we do.

Bex: Oh, speaking of favorite colors, I feel like this is really indicative of the fact that we're accidentally playing Scooby Doo now. [Laughter]. We got a dog.

[Laughter].

Ian: Were you not in the room when we figured this out.

Lyn: No, Mayanna was not in the room when we figured this out. We became Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

Mayanna: No way!

Bex: Fran is Daphne. Everything's purple.

Mayanna: Oh!

Bex: Ibra is Fred.

Mayanna: Ah!

Bex: I like traps.

Mayanna: Gordon's Fred, or no, you're Fred, oh my god.

Ian: Yea so Gordon is Shaggy

Mayanna: You’re Shaggy!

Ian: With a dog.

Mayanna: And you're Vel–ah! And Velma's–AH!

Lyn: Yup!

Bex: This broke us the other week.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: I gave myself goggles, hello?

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: So if you out there–

Bex: I can't see without my goggles!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: So if you out there in the listening sphere have other, like, five man bands you want to compare us to,

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god yes!

Mischa: Please write in

Mayanna: Jabberjaw.

Bex: (Cackles).

Ian: Wandering path mailbag coming soon.

Mayanna: Yeah! Give us questions. Yeah, let's answer that.

Mischa: Yeah. We have a contact form or website, wanderingpathpod.com. We're at WanderingPathpodcast@gmail.com. Tweet us, Instagram us. we do have. We're on YouTube, so you can leave comments there if you want to.

Bex: Comment on our YouTube!

Mischa: But also, yeah, like, get in touch with us. We really want to hear from you. It would be so exciting to make this more of a dialogue, especially in these detours.

Bex: We want to bring you along.

Mischa: We want to bring you along.

Mayanna: On the detour.

Lyn: Yeah, and the whole path.

Mayanna: And the path.

Lyn: Let us wander together.

Ian: Yeah, you can come if you want.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ian's like, “whatever, I've starred in a podcast, I'm good.”

Mayanna: “No worries, if not.”

Bex: I love this confidence coming from this corner.

Mayanna: I do too, I live.

Ian: I'm just playing the devil's advocate motherfucker.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Oh yeah, white man in the room?

Ian: There it is.

Mayanna: A devil's avocado.

[Laughter].

Ian: The devil's avocado?

Mayanna: The devil's avocado.

Bex: Okay, French is so weird because “the lawyer” and “avocado”–

Lyn: Avocat.

Bex: –Are like so similar so that there's this guy, there's this lawyer in Louisiana whose billboards are “l'avocat” and it's his face on a pit.

[Laughter].

Ian: Him and Sweet James the lawyer–the attorney needs to get together. L'avocat and Sweet James.

Mayanna: I live for this.

Mischa: It, it sure does sound like we've, come to the end of–

Ian: I guess it's over.

Lyn: Oh yeah, there's the detour. We passed the Sweet James billboard, so I think we’re good.

Mayanna: Yeah, we found our way back to the path.

Mischa: Yeah, thank you so much for listening again, and we'll catch you in a couple weeks.

All: Bye!

Mayanna: Thanks guys!

[Theme music fades in].

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].

Mischa Stanton 9/2/24 Mischa Stanton 9/2/24

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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— Transcript —

Mayanna: Last time on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: With a decree from Gwen's office, we now have an official team name for our heroes, the Investigative Safety Brigade. Ooh, so professional. And it's not just our four players either. Paz has signed on, too, as is Gordon's new dog, BG. But before anything else, Fran, Ibra and Paz headed to the spot in the Dustpan that Thorgunn told them about. Just an empty courtyard? Of course not. It took 'em a minute. But with some timely remote help from JJ, they finally figured out the puzzle of the secret hidden door. All caught up? Okay, then let's see what's around the bend today on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music fades out].

[Music begins: ominous low synths].

Mischa: Fran and Ibra and Paz descend, ramshackle steps made of rusted out pieces of metal sheeting and, like wood and different bric-a-brac. Cobbled–

Mayanna: Patchwork.

Mischa: Magically patchworked and cobbled together to form perfectly level steps descending into a dark basement below street level.

Bex: Oh.

Mayanna: I'm so enamored already. I turn to Ibra, I'm like,

[Soundscape begins: voices echo in a cavernous path].

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, just don't tell anybody about how hard it was for us to get in here.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, I would never.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, sick, thank you so much.

Bex (Ibra): It was so easy, we got in immediately.

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Mischa (Paz): My lips are sealed.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you, Paz. You are a homie.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you, Paz.

Mischa (Paz): Until we get out of here, and I'm definitely gonna tell JJ and Gordon.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh… Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Dammit! Paz….

Mayanna (Fran): Paz. oh, you know what, that's fair.

Mischa (Paz): No, I'm just kidding.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, thank you, thank you thank you.

Mischa (Paz): No, Fran, you deserve this.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa (Paz): The magical thing, it's really finally happened.

Mayanna (Fran): I know! (Excited squeak).

Mayanna: Okay. I'm just gonna keep going down the stairs.

Bex: Is there a handrail?

Mischa: I think there is a handrail.

Mayanna: Oh, nice.

Bex: I know they're all leveled, but still.

Mischa: Yeah, I think it's the kind of place where Paz, like, goes to instinctively reach for one, and, like, one forms out of the metal business of the wall to, like, meet your hand. [Gasp]. Like a little piece of, like, sort of, uh, Schedule 40 pipe.

Mayanna (Fran): And they're accessible?!

Bex (Ibra): I! Love! It here!

Mayanna (Fran): These people are amazing!

Bex (Ibra): Who are these people?

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know!

Mischa (Paz): I super appreciate it. I do feel like hand railings on stairs are the bare minimum. I do appreciate you guys.

Mayanna (Fran): Mmhm. Honestly, you know what? Yes. Yes. You are right.

Bex (Ibra): You're not wrong. We appreciate the bare minimum.

Lyn: This is an ADA approved podcast.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Not sponsored.

Ian: No free ads.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Deep in the stairwell, down in the darkness, you can hear the clinking and clanking as the staircase finishes building itself and locking into place. [SFX: rumbling of metal sliding into place]. And when you reach that bottom, a soft dim light emanates from the doorway. You step through and enter into a workshop.

[Soundscape begins: forges running, tools clanking, the scuff of boots on the floor, looms whirring].

It's a large open space hewn from the earth, the walls being held back by walls of cobbled, scrap, and metal, and wood, and stone. It's kind of an impossible place, and you think about the portion of the Broken Heart of the Constellation that you came in through, and I think you wonder how that structure that you saw embedded into the ground, and this space, how they can coexist down here together. Like, it feels like this room shouldn't be here.

Mayanna: Cooool.

Mischa: You get down to the bottom, and it's a wide open work studio. There's rows of thick, sturdy wooden workbenches lined with desk lamps glowing with incandescent light, generally the only lighting in the room, giving the space a twilight glow.

Mayanna: Cool.

Mischa: At the workbenches sit a few pale artisans in thick leather aprons, hammering on projects and coordinating neat stacks of what look like notepaper. Off in one corner, there's a circle of people sitting in chairs, and at first glance, it looks like they're braiding each other's hair?

Mayanna and Bex: Oh?

Mischa: And then as you look, you see them drawing their hands away from people's temples and coming away with like white filaments and weaving them.

Bex: Woah.

Mischa: And then people taking bundles of these threads and bringing them to the second station, at which sit people deftly weaving at four giant looms.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god.

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) Weavers.

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Weavers.

Mischa: Overseeing all of them is a later middle aged dwarf, dressed in armor of like, dark composite plates that has little sockets all over each of them, carrying an enormous hammer with almost what looks like an engine on the back of it.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Carrying it like a maester's staff as he strides back and forth across this room, overseeing everything.

Mayanna (Fran): Wow.

Julian (Dwarf): Who's that?

[Music ends]. [Soundscape continues].

Mayanna (Fran): Um, friends, friends!

Mayanna: Hands up, just like,

Mayanna (Fran): Um, we just… Thorgunn sent us?

Julian (Dwarf): Oh, Thorgunn Boomslang you're talking about?

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, yes, yes. He gave us a card–

Julian (Dwarf):Wonderful. I, uh, And your name is?

Mayanna (Fran): My name's Fran, this is Ibra, and this is our friend Paz.

Mischa (Paz): Hi.

Julian (Dwarf): Well, I, uh, I'm not sure exactly why Thorgunn sent you down here, but you're, you're, you're here to, what, uh, contribute to the cause or…?

Mayanna (Fran): I'm here to learn.

Julian (Dwarf): Wonderful, and I assume that you are not even sure what you are here to learn.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. Thorgunn is a mystery wrapped inside an enigma, bent into a question mark inside of a haunting nightmare that I only hope to one day understand.

Julian (Dwarf): So he's not gotten better then, has he?

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh he's been the same? This is, this, this was not like the, this was not the falling action of an act two I didn't see, it was just, act one the whole time?

Bex (Ibra): He's always been like this?

Julian (Dwarf): Let me give you a little bit of background. My name is Fuller Silvering. I am the engineer and overseer of this workshop and the educator as best I can be of the students within its walls.

[Workshop soundscape pauses].

Mischa: Yes, say hello to Fuller Silvering, played by our good friend and first guest on the podcast, Julian Mundy.

[Cheers and hellos].

Julian: Hey! Wow, hey, uh, huge distinction to be first guest on the show. I'm so glad to be included in this really fun series that you guys are proposing over here, and I've gotten a little bit of my feet wet in terms of the lore, the world that you all are building and I think I'm almost as big a fan of you all as your GM here.

[Awws].

Julian: So I'm looking forward to jumping in and getting to do a little bit of a few bits with you guys.

Mayanna: Yes!

Julian: I'm not sure how much we'll get to, but I'm hugely excited for what we do here.

[Cheers and laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my gosh, I'm so excited too.

[Soundscape resumes: looms whirring in the background].

Mischa: All right, well. one of the attendants brings you over a bundle of glowing white fibers to inspect.

Mayanna (Fran): (Quietly) Woah.

Julian (Dwarf, Fuller): Once more through the refiner.

Mischa: And, like, nods solemnly and runs quickly away.

Mayanna (Fran): Wow.

Julian (Fuller): Now, start from the beginning. Why exactly did Thorgunn send you down here?

[Soundscape ends. Music begins: pensive electronic synths].

Mayanna (Fran): Um, well I've been, I've been one of Thorgunn's students for a while, and recently there was an attack.

Bex (Ibra): Several.

Mayanna (Fran): Several. Of a magical nature?

Julian (Fuller): A magical nature? You're talking people trying to, uh, what, knock over a bank? Something like that?

Mayanna (Fran): There was a ghost, I think?

Bex (Ibra): An electromagnetic, spectral–

Mayanna (Fran): Electrical, yea Creature? Phantasm? Something like that.

Bex (Ibra): …anomaly?

Julian (Fuller): And you have evidence of this?

Mayanna (Fran): That's the thing. We remember it, and some people don't. And Thorgunn, when I mentioned that there was danger, he got really scared and he freaked out and he kind of had like, what I assume was like some sort of flashback, very violent in nature.

Julian (Fuller): It’s possible. I, uh, I'm not sure what exactly Thorgunn Boomslang might or might not remember on a given day.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Julian (Fuller): But, uh, I used to be a student, as a matter of fact.

Mayanna (Fran): You were the other student.

Julian (Fuller): I was. And, uh, I'm… Well, you may also be feeling a bit of a dead end yourself, correct?

Mayanna (Fran): Yep, yep.

Julian (Fuller): Not really getting out what you're putting in?

Mayanna (Fran): (Faltering) Y-yeah, you could say that, yeah, Yep. Mhmm.

Mayanna: This is like the first time I think I've admitted this. Yep. Tiny little tear, just like (sniffles).

[Laughter].

Julian (Fuller): Kinda feels a bit like a, uh, free field study of your own.

Mayanna (Fran): (Frantic) Yeah, it's kind of like when you walk out into the world and you just go like, “where do we start,” you know?

Julian (Fuller): Teaches some people direction, I find, but that may just be down to the personality involved.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Julian (Fuller): I found direction in a number of places, and it really came down to who was willing to dedicate themselves to doing something.

Mayanna (Fran): Right.

Julian (Fuller): And, uh, wait, let me think, is, uh, is Thorgunn still haunting that same–

Mayanna (Fran): Pachonko parlor?

Julian (Fuller): Pachonko. Perfect, yes, alright, so nothing has changed.

Bex (Ibra): Nothing’s changed for him, but Fran is like you. Fran isn't like Thorgunn. Fran has been learning from Thorgunn, but Fran is like you, driven and capable. Fran is willing to do things. I've seen it.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you, that was really nice.

Mayanna: I have to take that in for a second. Oh my god, okay.

Bex: I rub your back gently

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, thank you.

Julian (Fuller): Well. I'm glad to see that you're putting in some effort. It's encouraging to see. But, uh, I have to be honest. What assurance do I have that you're worth my time? You can see that we have some quite extensively important work here to be getting on with, and I don't mean to be rude to you all, but time is not a luxury that we necessarily have, and if I'm going to invest any in you, I'm going to need some kind–Do you have any, written record of this attack, these, uh, events that you've been experiencing?

Bex (Ibra): Yes. I have a copy of a letter from the Magistrate, detailing our position in…

Mayanna (Fran): …this endeavor?

Bex (Ibra): A vague enough way for it to be accessible to the layperson, but also specific enough to detail our import here.

Mischa: Hm. Hey Ibra, will you roll Persuasion for me?

Mayanna: Amazing.

Bex: Yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Fran, you also have your notes from the attacks.

Mayanna: I do, oh, I do? Ooh.

Bex: Oh yeah!

Lyn: You’ve been keeping track..

Mayanna: Right, My personal notes, my engineering notebook, yeah, so I do have like, Essentially like a diary entry of the– of what I saw.

Mischa: Yeah, and you, you take out your, uh, diary of the events, [SFX: pages turning] which are mostly just like ideas for different devices that you come up with.

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry, that one's, that one's old. Don't look at that. Don't look at that. Um, it's just this, it's from, uh, 6:45 p.m. to like 7:45 p.m. That's, that's the area.

Julian (Fuller): Understood. All right, well thank you for pointing that out.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, no problem.

Mischa: Um, will you also roll persuasion? Meanwhile, Ibra, what'd you get?

Bex: 12.

Mischa: 12. Um.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: 19!

Mischa: Whoa!

Bex: Yea!

Mayanna: Wooo! Plus three, so 22.

Mischa: Whoa!

Lyn: Whoa!

[Music shifts: humming ambient synths]

Mischa: Yeah, Fuller, you can feel the earnestness coming off of Ibra in waves. There, there's just like, not a lie within a hundred miles.

Julian: Great. Helpful.

Mischa: So, at least. Fran has, like, one earnest reference from somebody who isn't Thorgunn.

Julian: Mhmm, right.

Mischa: As Ibra's sort of, like, blathering on, like, sincerity, honestness, hard working, you're like, “yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before,” you open up this journal of Fran's, and you right away, can see someone whose mind is constantly on crafting, and if nothing else, that's a kindred spirit.

Julian: Okay!

Mischa: Maybe now you see, maybe what Thorgunn might have seen in her, briefly.

Julian: Right.

Mischa: Whatever that's worth.

Bex: Before he went back to the Pachonko parlor.

Mischa: Yeah, whatever that's worth.

Julian: Right.

Julian (Fuller): It is encouraging to know that, whatever else Thorgunn might be, they are at least a lodestone for raw talent. Whatever else happens is sort of up to the talent at that point. But at the very least, you know, you have a gravity well for a bit to work out in the meantime. So. This is helpful. This is–this material will cover some questions I was going to ask you, frankly.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm, mhmm.

Julian (Fuller): But, I suppose my next question for you is: what is it I can do to assist you in this? What is it you're hoping to learn here?

Bex (Ibra): (Sigh) Everything.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, literally anything you're willing to teach us. I just, what is this? This is amazing. I've never seen anything like this before and-and I think that things are about to get really dangerous and anything that I can learn to protect my friends and make me a better craftsperson–I would like to learn.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, you mentioned you didn't have a lot of time and what you're doing here is very important. Can we- can we know a little bit about what it is?

[Music shifts: ominous synths and strings].

Julian (Fuller): The whole fervor around Astra and its use?

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Julian (Fuller): It's not sustainable. It's not going to end in a situation where people's lives are made better.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, that makes sense.

Mayanna: And I remember– I flashback to when JJ overstressed their Astra trying to get like one last spell out.

Bex: Ibra starts to sweat.

Julian (Fuller): You've been seeing it fluctuate, come into, uh, unstable conditions, crack. These things are indications of applications made in ignorance. At the very least, we are not refining the material to the point where it is safe. My research is devoted to a different system of handling energy.

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa.

Julian (Fuller): Which has its price.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Um–

Julian (Fuller): But it will give those who are committed a leg up on what you have begun to document here.

[Music ends].

Julian (Fuller): What we make here are tags.

Mayanna: I take out my, I, hands up. I take out my revolver in a very non threatening way, and I take out one of the bullets that has been tagged with “sighting.”

Mischa: Fuller, you see a, like, small caliber bullet that has, like, a liquid metal coating across it.

Julian: Right.

Mischa: That has clearly been dipped in something, and then you run it under your nose, and you sniff it, and it smells a little acrid, almost like gasoline.

Julian: Sure.

Mischa: Obviously, one of Thorgunn's concoctions.

Julian: Right.

Julian (Fuller): Oh, very good. Okay. Yes. This is somewhat familiar. I can see that this was done a bit in haste.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I kind of just dipped it with tweezers. It wasn't sanitized or anything. It was just kind of an experiment.

Julian (Fuller): Well, you're here–

Mayanna (Fran): You can give notes. You can, I'm open to feedback.

Julian (Fuller): You made it here, and if you manage to use this and make it out intact, then I'll live with the next part. Which is, if you're going to devote yourself to a craft like this, you have to be aware of what you might be giving up in the process.

[Music begins: broad chords of horns, brass and synths]

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa: Fuller escorts you over to the circle of people braiding white strands from their temples and sort of like gestures to the circle.

Julian (Fuller): These students are beginning the process of removing and refining the emotional core of their own minds, harnessing individual memories, impulses, creative ideas. All of these things that make up yourself and transmute them into the material that we turn into tags.

Mischa: You see a young elf woman kind of sitting at the front of the braiding train with her eyes closed, kind of meditative in thought, but crying. Like, like, pretty deeply crying. And then the person behind her sort of, like, continues drawing the string from her head, and as the thread gathers itself in her hands, the young elf woman, like, slowly stops crying, and then her face goes, like, very neutral.

Mayanna (Fran): (Hesitant) Okay. Uh-huh.

Julian (Fuller): You see this?

Julian: Raises the hammer, [SFX: metal sliding against stone, clanking as it’s put down] rests it with a clang down on the flagstones.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Julian (Fuller): This is imbued with my own fury.

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa.

Julian (Fuller): My own discipline. I could tell you about the origin of that feeling. I would not sound any particular way about it.

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Julian (Fuller): We find objectivity in these moments by giving up the core emotion that created it.

Mayanna (Fran): (Unsure) Okay.

Julian (Fuller): If you're willing to commit yourself to meditation, focus, and eventually, manufacturing your own tags…

Mischa: And here he sort of takes you by the shoulder and walks you over to these enormous looms.

[SFX: Looms whirring louder].

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Mischa: They're like big, silver spiky things with like three dozen wire teeth threshing back and forth as the glowing white threads are funneled into one side and woven together by these expert hands deftly weaving back and forth and what comes out is a rectangular paper tag, like an onmyo tag, like this little prayer tag that like weaves it into like a flat sheaf of paper.

Mayanna (Fran): Ohh, that's incredible.

Julian (Fuller): Now, what will you apply this tag to? That by definition becomes a part of you, but only if you are able to properly focus, distill, and craft your own will.

[Loom whirring fades back into background soundscape].

Mayanna (Fran): (Deep breath).

Mayanna: I think Fran is thinking about… Of course, it would make sense that this level of craftsmanship would require this level of sacrifice, and I think she's also clocking for the first time, like, how you, like, “I just thought you were calm and serene because you're, like, all wise or whatever, but you are, like, the byproduct of this process. You're just very steadfast and very neutral and very, like, sure of yourself, but you clearly have taken something out of yourself to put into these things.”

Julian (Fuller): Do not craft tags willy-nilly.

[Music ends]. [Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn: William Nilliam.

[Laughter].

Ian: That's a party point for Julian.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect my friends.

Julian (Fuller): That’s a start.

Mayanna: I like, go over to the circle and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Can you show me?

Julian (Fuller): I can. What about the rest of you?

[Music begins: pensive ambient synths]

Bex: Ibra is visibly sweating and shaking. Ibra is… Ever since Fuller started talking about the fact that Astra is unstable and the way that it's been used being so dangerous, Ibra has sort of, been in a thousand yard stare since that point in the conversation. Sweating, shaking, I think. Paz has her hand on Ibra's back, and Ibra's just like, not there.

Mischa: Yeah I think Paz is like,

Mischa (Paz) : Yeah, sounds, sounds neat. (Whispers aside) Ibra, are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering, shaky) Um, yeah, I’m fine I’m fine I’m f–um, yeah yeah… I don't think so. Um, I think I need some air.

Mischa (Paz): Okay.

Julian (Fuller): Very good.

Mischa (Paz): Okay. Um, Fran, you, you got a lot of, you got a lot of stuff to learn.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): You're in school now!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh God. Yeah. Yep. I'm in school. I–

Mischa (Paz): You did it!

Mayanna (Fran): I did it. I did it, I didn't think I'd ever get to school.

Mischa (Paz): It's weird that your school is a basement in the Dustpan, but it's great.

Mayanna (Fran): It is really weird that it– Yep. Mhmm.

Mischa (Paz): You obviously have like a lot of, I'll take Ibra upstairs.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mischa (Paz): We'll meet you back upstairs?

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, sounds good, yeah, I'll meet you upstairs, thanks.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, yeah, um, have fun.

Mayanna (Fran): Ibra, are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): Um, uh, have a good time. I'm gonna be okay, I think.

Mayanna (Fran): You promise?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Um, I'm gonna roll insight for Fuller.

Mayanna: Ooh yeah.

Mischa: Um, will you roll, stealth, honestly?

Mayanna: Ooh.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 8.

Mischa: 8. It seems clear to you now, Fuller, that Fran was the one who was sent here by Thorgunn, because she's the one who, like, came to train, ready to train. You look over to her compatriot, who's showing signs of collapse.

Julian (Fuller): I see. Well, no, absolutely, please, do not go any further into this if you are not feeling up to it. I know that the consequences of what we have devoted our society to is going to have ripple effects in unexpected places, so if you are one of those people, then I am sorry.

Bex: You see Ibra shake even harder and just kind of nod in the weakest way.

Mayanna: I put a hand on the other shoulder.

Julian (Fuller): Please understand this, that that does not make you less. Your weakness is something that you can hammer out.

Lyn: (Pained laughter).

Mayanna: Wow. I think that's another party point, honestly.

Bex: Mhm. Ooh!

Ian: Two for Julian.

Mayanna: Wow.

Bex: Ibra just sort of blinks a couple times and nods shakily and tries to open their mouth but just… no ability to speak anymore just turning and walking.

Mischa: And Paz looks briefly at Fran and she's like,

Mischa (Paz): I gotta, I gotta go. Okay?

Mayanna (Fran): I understand, I understand.

Mischa: And follows you upstairs, back up to the street level.

Bex: I rolled a 2 on the die for that.

[Laughter]. [Music fades out].

Mayanna: Yeah, and that felt like a 2.

Bex: Yeah. It's like, this is close enough to a Nat 1 that it feels like we're right above it.

Lyn: A Nat 1 would be you barfing.

[Laughter].

Bex: Yeah, right? And this was, this was just before that.

Lyn: Yeah, just shy.

Bex: “Oh God, I'm dangerous!” (Retching noise).

Mayanna: (Laughing) Yeah.

[Soundscape resumes. SFX: looms whirring louder].

Mischa: Fran, your compatriots leave and you are left alone in your new dojo. Fuller gestures over to the thread drawing circle and sort of gestures for you to take a seat.

Mayanna: Okay, I do.

Julian (Fuller): Now what I want you to do is start with taking the impulses that you wish to use, bring them to the surface, and skim them off the top.

Mayanna (Fran): (Exhale).

[Music begins: slightly discordant, nostalgic synth chords].

Mayanna: Um, I think I, uh, pull up the memory of Paz's birthday party and when we were all singing the, the Boggins Bistro birthday song.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And the, the feeling of sort of completeness and wholeness of that. And I try to channel that into what a bag of holding would need.

Mischa: In your mind, you recall that memory, the warm, orange-yellow glow of the birthday candles lighting everyone's face.

[SFX: an echoey sound of the party’s laughter, the memory coming to life]

Mischa: And as you concentrate and draw a finger away from your temple slowly, carefully, the color of the memory fades until it's grayscale in your mind.

[SFX: whooshing].

Mayanna: Ohh!

Lyn: (Groans).

Mischa: And you draw a slender white thread away from your head.

Mayanna: (Whispers) Oh my god.

Julian (Fuller): Now remember this. It is here. It is not gone. No more than the memory is. Your feeling will then become your tool.

Mayanna (Fran): (Softly) Okay. Okay.

Mischa: You sit down at one of the looms. Will you roll me a dexterity check plus your proficiency because this is a craftsman's tool and you have proficiency with all craftsman's tools.

Mayanna: Oh my god, okay, so I have a dexterity of 17, so I have a plus 3 and a proficiency of plus 2. Woo! That is a 16 on the die, plus a 3 plus 2, so 21.

[Cheers and whoops].

Lyn: Yeah! Hell yeah.

Bex: Yea!

Lyn: Hell yeah.

Mischa: The emotional portion of it was maybe the hardest part, because as soon as you're sitting at a desk with a craftman's tool, [SFX: loom whirring] your hands instinctively know what to do. You carbon copy the process that you saw the other acolytes going through, and yeah, you draw your emotional memory into a white paper tag.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Oh my god. And then I open up my notebook and I start to decide what kind of bag we need.

Mayanna (Fran): Could it be like a, like a crossbody or like one of those like sling bags or maybe it's a backpack?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: And I just, I'm, I'm working on that and trying to figure out which bag to use to put this on. I do ultimately like, our society is pretty trendy and futuristic, so I do go with like, one of those like athletic sort of crossbody.

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: The ones I'm constantly getting ads for on Instagram. Yea, for sure.

Mayanna: Yes, exactly, exactly. But cool, but it's cool.

Mischa: Listen, those bags on Instagram? Are pretty cool. I'm not going to buy one, but they do look pretty cool.

Ian: But they’re pretty sick.

Mayanna: A deep purple with like three little zipper compartments, and it's very gender neutral, so anybody could wear it, and it would look slay.

Bex: I love how much Fran loves purple. It's so good.

Mayanna: I love purple. (laughs).

Julian (Fuller): I see we have a trendsetter in the building.

Mayanna (Fran): (Laughs nervously with a hint of mischievousness) I don't know what you're talking about.

[Laughter].

Julian (Fuller): I hope that it serves you well. Now, as I say, continuous creation of these tags does exact a toll, and we are still studying the long term side effects of the process. But our understanding has advanced enough that we can begin to apply it.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: gentle piano].

Mischa: Fuller reaches into a pouch on his belt and pulls out, from a stack, one of several paper tags that he keeps in there.

Julian (Fuller): You have a means of fighting back, or?

Mayanna (Fran): The-the tiny gun hasn't been working great so far. But this is, this is all I have.

Mischa: Fuller takes the tag and lays it, like, tries to lay it across the gun, but has to, like, kind of wrap it around because the gun's so small. [Laughter]. And the white paper, once it's woven into paper, it, like, takes the form of dull paper, but as soon as it's applied, it brings that white glow back. [SFX: high pitched shimmering sound]. And it fades into the surface of the gun and kind of like melds into it and disappears.

Mayanna: Like an inscription sort of wrapped around or like, uh?

Mischa: Yeah, like the like the whole paper sticker like just goes all around it and then the paper itself fades into the object and becomes part of the object.

Mayanna: Sick, wow.

Mischa: As you hold it in your hand, you can feel a clarity of purpose, that “when I hold this object, I know what I must do.” And then you look back at Fuller's face, impassive, wise, but somewhat devoid of feeling, and you realize that this was, like, one of Fuller's moments of clarity that he has given you.

Mayanna (Fran): What was this memory?

Julian (Fuller): The first hammer blow I struck in building this new workshop. It was the first time I realized that I could do something about the world around me.

Mayanna (Fran): I will, I will treasure this for the rest of my life.

Julian (Fuller): You'll need it.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Can I come back here? Am I allowed to come back?

Julian (Fuller): By all means. Dedicate yourself. Find your way back. You have my blessing.

Mayanna (Fran): It moves.

Julian (Fuller): It needs to.

Mayanna (Fran): Ahhhhh, It's so cool. Okay. All right. I will, I will do just that.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: And I think I um, if I may, I would love to leave one of the sighted bullets. In the building, maybe under the stairs.

Mischa: (Laughs) Okay.

Mayanna: I don't know if that'll do anything, but I, I would like to hope that maybe if it's there, I can maybe feel for it again.

Mischa: Okay, interesting. Yeah, good call. Okay. Cool.

Mayanna: I don't know–

Lyn: One day, your cleric in the party will level up enough to get Locate Object.

[Laughter].

All: Yeah!

Mischa: One day.

Mayanna: I just kind of like leave it under the stairs on my way out. Like I, I, I casually kind of go to pick up Ibra's backpack and I kind of just, like, leave one of them down there under the stairs.

Mischa: Ooh, You wanna roll Sleight of Hand?

Mayanna: Yes, I absolutely will.

Mischa: And I'm gonna roll Perception for Fuller. Julian, do you wanna roll it?

Julian: Sure.

Mayanna: Oh my god. [Dice rolls]. (Gasps) That is a 21.

Mischa & Lyn: Whoa.

Julian: Beats what I got.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, you, um, slide a bullet, like, into the stair, like, the bottom riser of the stair and, like, you push it in so that it's flush with the rest of the objects. Yeah. It just, it kind of, like, from the back looks like another nail but slightly shinier.

Mayanna: Yeah, Yep.

Mischa: And you, uh, with your fresh new tag, your upgraded gun, and your new way of doing things–

Mayanna: Oh my god. Yup.

Mischa: You go to ascend the stairs, but just as you're about to leave, Fuller calls you back and mentions one last thing.

[Music begins: ominous, unsettling ambient strings and synths]

Julian (Fuller): Young Fran, a moment please. Young Fran, just one thing to consider.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes?

Julian (Fuller): Magic is thought made real. Astra is thought made real. Our process comes from within us. When you see these crystals, remember and ask yourself, “whose thoughts are these?”

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Julian (Fuller): We cannot continue to rely on the scavenged thoughts of those who came before, whatever they may be. That path leads us somewhere broken, and I refuse to let this city break any more.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm with you.

Julian (Fuller): So find your way back here, and I hope to see that you've done good work when you come back next.

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa: And you grip the strap of your bag tight and ascend the stairs.

Mayanna: I think on the way up the stairs I put my finger to my temple again just to see if I can do it alone.

Mischa: Mmm. Roll a …

Mayanna: I'll take, like, Arcana if you want.

Mischa: No, it's a concentration check. So, in point of fact, it's a constitution saving throw.

Mayanna: A constitution saving throw? [Dice rolls]. 12.

[Loom whirring ends].

Mischa: Yeah, with a twelve, you ascend the stairs and, like, slow your steps and attempt to draw another memory and you like, yeah, it comes to you pretty, you know, like you have to try, you have to think about it, you have to concentrate, but you, you can do it and like, you're like, oh, and it like elastics back into your head a little bit.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. That was my prom date. Okay.

[Laughter].

Julian: A lot of ways that can go wrong.

[Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): Hat trick for Julian!

Mischa: While you were down in the basement. Gordon! you've completed your deliveries for the day.

Ian: Yup.

Mischa: JJ, you've completely thrown out your daily schedule.

Lyn: Yep.

Mischa: What are y'all doing?

Lyn: After texting Fran and Ibra about their escape room that they were supposedly in, I think at some point, JJ was like, on the bus, [SFX: bus doors open, bus hydraulics working as it drives off] originally gonna go home, but then just, like, stops off in Mine Town, and wanders around a bit before getting the idea to text Gordon after your deliveries just being like,

[Soundscape begins: city noises, birds tweeting, dogs barking, gentle wind and cars passing by].

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky filter, indicating a text] Hey, man. Are you done with your route for the day? You have a dog now, which is so cool. Um, I don't know if you've had a dog before?

[Laughter].

Ian: I love this block text right now.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] But there's kind of a sick dog park over in Minetown that a bunch of the residents had built a few years ago. If you want a little doggy date, I can– here's the location, wanna meet up with me?

Ian: You just see, like, the three dots of, me typing back, and then after a moment, two full lines of only exclamation points.

Mayanna: Oh my god, yes.

Bex: Perfect.

Lyn: How do you pronounce that as Gordon?

Ian: Uh, it goes like this. You look at your phone and you hear in your head, (muffled screaming through closed lips).

Lyn: Nice.

Julian: That's almost exactly what I imagined.

Mischa: I know right?

Bex: Yeah, that feels correct.

Ian: That's the proper pronunciation.

[Music begins: charming guitar joined later by harmonica].

Mischa: Yeah, you head over to Ferris Park, an old park over in Minetown, near, closer to where you grew up. Your, your feet just sort of, as you wander, carry you towards it. It's been around for a little while, it's sort of cobbled together, like, old HVAC ductwork into slides, and like, old decommissioned construction equipment into, like, jungle gyms. There's, like, welded pipe climbing things.

Lyn: Yeah, like repurposed rebar.

Mischa: Yeah, But it’s all–

Lyn: It's safe!

Mischa: Yes, it's all, it's all like, been worked over. It looks like a big community project that the neighborhood around it kind of like realized this need for a park for the kids and for pets and stuff and sort of like built this together out of what they had on hand.

Julian: It's amazing what you can do with a new shade of paint.

Mischa: Yeah, for sure, absolutely. There's also like, like hard scrabble, sort of like dirt, stone courts with lines drawn on them in chalk, for kids who are playing four square. It's mostly dirt, ground, there's not a ton of like, manicured grass lawns, what is this, the upper city? But there is a little patch of like, clover lawn that's like, for the dogs and pets to run around in. It's, it's carpeted in five leaf clover.

Mayanna: Awww.

Julian: Whoa!

Mischa: That's normal here, but it's weird to us.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: That's cute.

Lyn: Dungeons & dragons–

Mischa: Yeah, You can do anything, even have clover lawns instead of grass lawns.

Mayanna: You can do that in reality, too, just to be clear.

Lyn: I highly recommend looking up the various states of clover lawns in your native area.

Mayanna: Yeah. Star clover, I think, is a good one. It's like water, it's like a water reducing lawn. Alternative, yeah.

Ian: Are you serious?

Lyn: Yeah, there are a lot of lawn alternatives.

Mischa: I'm gonna have to bring it before the unholy court of my HOA next time I see them.

[Laughter].

Mischa: JJ, as you stroll up and, like, kind of wander through this park, there's families, there's kids, there's you know, single adults, there's groups of people just sort of minding their own day. Which part of the park do you wander to while you wait for Gordon?

Lyn: I think what JJ first turns to is, like, sitting at a bench, looking over, like, the playground area, kind of.

[Music ends]. [Soundscape shifts: children playing is added into the city mix].

Mischa: Mhmm.

Lyn: And takes out the transfer forms that Gwen gave her. [SFX: papers rustling].

Mayanna: Ooh.

[Music begins: pensive ambient synths].

Lyn: And, um, spends a lot of time, like, looking at it. Looking back at the playground, which is like, you know, like JJ's been on this playground growing up. Really trying to kind of bask in the families and the people just going about their day to day. Most of them being like blue collar working families, but still like being able to take time out of the day to like spend time together.

Mischa: Mhm.

Lyn: And like find little bits of joy and happiness and relaxation. And like, at first it's like kind of like smiling, like listening to kids, like going like, Like,”Yeah! ah!” chasing each other around and then it kind of dawns on JJ that, like, this is what is at risk.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: That's so good.

Ian: This is a heavy episode.

Mischa: Leetle bit, sorry! Are you ready for a heavier part, Ian?

Mayanna: Oh, yes.

Mischa: Are you ready?

Ian: No. What? No!

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: Because I'm about to come with my new dog. Nothing heavy about that, except the dog.

[Music fades out].

Mischa: No, it's too late. We're already here. We're already in the episode.

Ian: What the fuck?

[Laughter].

Julian: Here we go. I'm turning down the lights.

Mayanna: No, it's dark in here now!

Lyn: It's so dark and dim!

Mayanna: I can't see anything!

Mischa: JJ, you stare into these forms [SFX: paper rustling] and sort of drift back into, through your memory. You flash back to a day in this park, [SFX: whoosh]

[Soundscape ends]. [Music begins: gentle guitar and ambient synths].

Mischa: Maybe like I don't know, six or seven years ago, you were also in this park as a little teen JJ. I'm imagining like pigtail braids?

Mayanna: Aww!

Lyn: Yeah, absolutely. This was before JJ cut all their hair off.

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely.

Bex: JJ Longstocking.

Lyn: Absolutely braided hair, maybe a butterfly clip.

Mayanna: Oh yes, please.

Mischa: Cute.

Lyn: Like one fell off. The other…

Mischa: I think it's a little one made of, like, a gear and then, like, wire woven into the little clip.

Mayanna: So cute.

Lyn: Yeah, my grandmother made it for me.

Bex: Oh!

Mayanna: My heart.

[Soundscape begins: birds in park, wind rustling through trees].

Mischa: You are here with Samira. Samira had texted you earlier today to come meet in the park. She had something she wanted to talk to you about, and she rolls up, big smile on her face, like, striding across the park lawn like she owns the place, as she does most places she enters.

Mischa (Samira): What are you waiting for?

Lyn (JJ): Huh?

Mischa (Samira): It's jungle gym time, baby!

Lyn (JJ): Oh, oh, oh, oh, okay, uh…

Lyn: And I, like, also, like, sprint, like, jokingly, like, tackle her before she can get onto the jungle gym. I was like,

Lyn (JJ): Nope, me first.

Mischa: Ooh, uh, let's roll, let's roll a grapple check.

Mayanna: Yes, yes, yes, yes!

[Dice rolls].

Bex: I love baby JJ.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: Uh, grapple, that's athletics, right?

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: 17.

Mischa: She bolts for the jungle gym and you tackle her onto the clover lawn. [SFX: falling onto clover].

Lyn: Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Ha, me first. Heh.

Mayanna: Adorable.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, what are you waiting for?

Mischa (Samira): I, nothing, no, I, I'm waiting to pick up the flaws in your strategy so I can swoop in for the win, of course.

Lyn (JJ): Ah, yes, a gambit, if you will. I don't know what that word means. I think I'm using it right. Am I using it right?

[Laughter].

Mischa (Samira): I have no idea.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa: She sort of like sighs and stands up and dusts herself off. She's like,

Mischa (Samira): That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.

Lyn (JJ): A gambit?

Mischa (Samira): Learning what gambit means.

Lyn (JJ): Oh… What?

Lyn: I'm also, like, getting up, dusting myself off. I have, like, a huge grass stain, like, on me because I really went for it.

Mayanna: You really did.

Ian: Clover stain.

Lyn: Clover stain. A big clover stain where I'm just like,

Lyn (JJ): “I can get that out probably. No, my aunt's gonna get that out.”

Julian: It's a whole thigh.

Lyn: Yeah, it's like, like, yeah, it really wraps around, like, to the butt cheek, too.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It's like a baseball slide.

Lyn: Yeah, exactly.

Bex: You didn't just tackle, you slid.

Lyn: Yeah,

Mischa: You sort of like brush at it for a few times. You're like, that's not going anywhere.

Lyn: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It's making it worse. Really bleeding it in there.

Lyn: Um, so like, as she's saying, it's like,

Lyn (JJ): I don't, wait, what? What are you talking about?

Mischa (Samira): You know, um, I know our parents definitely want us to, like, go into the trades and follow them in their footsteps, and, you know, they, they sit us down and talk about that a lot.

Lyn (JJ): A lot, yeah.

Mischa (Samira): A lot.

Lyn (JJ): Every dinner. And most lunches.

Mischa (Samira): Like, we haven't, like, we haven't heard it before, like, it's just the same argument. Every day.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it's an argument. It's just their thoughts, I guess.

Mischa (Samira): It is, but, like, I wonder if there's just more.

Lyn (JJ): What do you mean?

Mischa (Samira): Well, just cause my name is Mason doesn't mean I was born to do masonry.

Lyn (JJ): I mean, you are good at it though.

Mischa (Samira): Well, yeah, I'm great at it. I'm great at everything I try.

Lyn (JJ): Well, That's true. Unfortunately.

Lyn: And I like hit her shoulder a little bit.

Lyn (JJ): So like, what do you want to do then? You want to do something else?

Mischa (Samira): Yeah. I want to do something… else. You know, sometimes when we're in classes, it feels like I'm just there to do a task, that I'm just hands, that I'm just feet. I'm just arms.

Lyn (JJ): Mmhm. You don't feel your brain or heart in there?

Mischa (Samira): No.

Lyn (JJ): You've got a lot of those. Okay, that makes it sound like you have multiple brains and multiple hearts.

Mischa (Samira): I do, I have three brains and four hearts.

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Mischa (Samira): That's why I'm great.

Lyn (JJ): I knew something was up with you.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah. But like, did you ever think about doing anything other than what your parents told you to do?

Lyn (JJ): Um, yeah…. No. You know I don't.

Mischa (Samira): Why not?

Lyn (JJ): I don't know. Like, what they do is cool. And my whole family, they, like, all the work that they do is really important. And helps a lot of people, really helps the city, and I want to do that, I think.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, that's just like you, you always want to help every single person.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Samira): You know, I, sometimes I just think that like, yeah, it's just about what my hands can do and building stuff, but like, no one really cares what I think or anything.

Lyn (JJ): I care what you think.

Mischa (Samira): I know… I was, I was gonna say except for you?

Lyn (JJ): Oh, well, I'll always care about what you think.

[Music and soundscape end].

Mischa: Hey Lyn, do you want to roll a flirt roll about it?

All: [Laughter and yelling]. Oh shit!

Bex: Finally!

Mayanna: I did not pick this up at all.

[Laughter]

Ian: Me neither. I was like, what the fuck is happening? This is chaotic.

Mayanna: I didn’t get this was this the whole time till just right now.

Ian: Yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: I rolled a 12.

Mischa: Okay, what's your charisma mod?

Lyn: Oh, charisma mod, flat 12.

Mischa: Yeah, I rolled an 8, and Samira gets a plus 3, so that's within one.

[Music begins: ambient horns and synths]

Mayanna: (Gasps)

Bex: Oh!

Ian: Wait, that's the game!

Mayanna: (shouting) That's the game! That's the roll for flirting!

Bex: That’s it! Wait a minute, that's it?

Mayanna: It's 11 and 12! AH!

[Back to back screaming].

Ian: Yeah, that's fucking good.

Lyn: I, as Lyn, am blushing right now. I'm like, I don't know what to do about this moment.

Mayanna: I'm beside myself.

Bex: I got goose pimples.

Mischa: You guys are tearing down your walls in that way that teens do when they think that they're the only people in the world. And at that moment, you lock eyes with each other.

Mayanna: (gasps) Oh my God.

[Park soundscape resumes: birds and wind in the trees].

Lyn (JJ): (Stammering) Um, anyway, uh… So, so you're, you're gonna do something else when we go to school? That's what you're, you're gonna…?

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, I don't. I don't think normal's for me. (Heavy breathing).

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Um, yeah, you're, you're better than normal. Um…

Mischa (Samira): JJ?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah?

Mischa: And she, she puts her hand on your shoulder and it's like shaking a little bit and she goes,

Mischa (Samira): So are you.

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Mischa: And then you snap back to the present.[SFX: a whoosh and the sound of children playing and the sounds of the street resumes]

[Music fades out]

Mischa: Staring down at these forms that are kind of what you've always wanted to be offered by someone else and something that might disappoint your parents most of all.

Bex: (Whispers) but it might excite Samira.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: That is not the point of that flashback!

[Laughter].

Bex: Nope, not at all. But!

Lyn: Um, yeah, I think like–

Julian: It’s the point I took away..

Mayanna: Yeah, that's the only thing I can think about now.

Bex: Right? The rest of us are like, “we know”

[Soundscape pauses].

Mischa: Okay, quick, before we go on with this scene with JJ in the present, everybody react to what just happened.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: YES! Oh my fucking god, yes! HAHAHA Gay. Heeheeehee

Ian: You did it.

Mayanna: I can't believe I missed that. I can't believe it.

Ian: 100%

Mayanna: Every–Sorry, this is lore about me, Mayanna, the person. [Laughter]. Whenever I would watch a movie with my family, I'd be like, “Are those two gay?” And my brother would be like, “Why do you think everyone's gay?” And I'm like, “I don't know. There's just like a vibe between them. That they just seem like they really like each other.” And I had no idea!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I didn't clock it at all! Oh my god.

Lyn: It's been years of repression.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: Literally, since they were 13.

Mayanna: I’m like they’re just gal pals! Good friends!

Lyn: Since that moment, clearly, nothing has happened.

Mischa: No movement.

Mayanna: Besties!

Lyn: No movement since then.

Julian: Oh, so it was a tremendous, it was like an earthquake where it was a seismic shift and then back to stasis for another hundred thousand years?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Literally oh, I love it.

Bex: So delicious.

[Soundscape resumes].

Mischa: Meanwhile, back in the present, you, that, that flashback, like, I'm gonna say JJ. probably thinks about that once a week at least. But–

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

[Laughter].

Bex: That's your Roman Empire.

Lyn: (simultaneously) That’s my Roman Empire.

[Laughter].

Lyn & Bex: Jinks!

Ian: Wait, wait, wait, I mean I guess this is a stupid question, but if you think about it once a week, why haven't you done anything about it?

Lyn: Have you met JJ?

Bex: (overlapping with Lyn) Gay!

Mayanna: That's literally JJ's whole problem.

Mischa: Ian, you've clearly never been a teenage girl.

[Laughter].

Ian: That's so true, how did you know that?

[Laughter].

Lyn: Wow.

Mischa: But like, here back in the present, the reason it's rattling around your brain now, of course, is because like, I don't know, did you ever think that you'd confront that question the way Samira did?

[Music begins: serene chimes]

Lyn: No, I mean, that's the thing that JJ likes most in Samira, is that she's always willing to tackle things head on. So like, in that moment, remembering her voice, even though it was a moment of doubt for her, she still… Like, the knowledge of the present is that she still went full force into it, like, despite being at odds with both of our whole families because of it, that she still charged ahead and, like, reflecting on looking around and thinking of that memory like, this is what's at stake, and starts filling out the forms. [SFX: pencil scratching on paper].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

[Music and soundscape end]

[Midroll music plays and fades out].

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.

This week, we ask that if you're liking the show, please share it with your friends. We're really getting deeper into this story and this mystery now, and I know there's some people out there that like to wait until there's a few episodes of something before they try it out. Well, now's the time! Please, please, please, word of mouth is still the number one most effective way to help a podcast grow. So if you have a friend, a relative, or whoever, and you think they might like the show, send them a link. Sit down and listen to an episode with them, we'd really, really appreciate it.

And not just for this reason, but it's an added perk that the more people who listen to the show, the more people might donate to us at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. We love making this show, but it doesn't cost nothing. We put a lot of time and effort and care and love into making the show for y'all. And while we're doing that, we still need to like, pay rent and eat food and stuff. So we really can't do it without you. If you want to bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, pledge your support at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. And as always, a very special thank you to our Voyager level patron, JWX.

We're sponsored this episode by United by Blue. United by Blue is a fashion and lifestyle brand that prioritizes sustainable materials and ethical manufacturing to lead the charge towards better business practices. For every product purchased, United by Blue removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways. Get it? Blue for the ocean! They've removed over 3.5 million pounds so far, and from picking up the plastic bottles that litter our shorelines to cleaning up their own packaging and supply chains, they're on a mission to eliminate single use plastic. From non-toxic regenerative fibers that keep harmful pesticides out of the environment to recycle fabrics that put existing trash to good use, they do their best to keep it clean from the very start. Their products are created to last because the best way to be a conscious consumer is to ultimately consume less. They make this attainable by designing products that facilitate new ways to generate less waste, like take it with you meal kits and reusable coffee cups.

One time a friend of mine came to LA for like a week and there was a day where we were just hanging out and they were like didn't want to do touristy stuff. So they said, Mischa, we'll just hang out with you while you do whatever you want to do for a day. And I was looking for a new backpack and I took my friends to like four or five different clothing stores just to find the perfect backpack. And I didn't even find it? We went home and like, I felt like such a bad host for taking them around on this boring, unsuccessful day. And as soon as they got back home from their vacation, they sent me a link to United by Blue’s 9 Liter Sidekick backpack. And it's honestly, it's everything I was looking for in that day, the black multicolor way is super attractive, I'm a huge fan. I went out, I got it immediately. It's changed my whole work-carrying-things game. I really appreciated that. So go to United By Blue and use code wanderingpath to get 20% off your first order. That's unitedbyblue.com and use code wanderingpath to get 20% off your first order. Okay, that's it for now.

Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[Midroll music fades out].

[Soundscape begins: city traffic, occasional honking of horns, driving to the park].

Mischa: Gordon.

Ian: Hi.

Mischa: Hey, you, uh, roll up. Are you still in the tuk-tuk even after all your deliveries? You know, you gotta get around town somehow.

Ian: Yeah, I think I use the tuk-tuk pretty irresponsibly. [Laughter]. You know, I think like that I use the tuk-tuk for all of my life.

Mischa: It took you like two days for Cecilia to be gone, to be like, “this is my tuk-tuk now.”

Ian: A hundred percent. And it's sick, gotta tell you.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Having a tuk-tuk when you previously did not.

Mischa: So small, parallel parking's a breeze.

Ian: A hundred percent.

Mischa: Yeah. So you roll up onto the park in the tuk-tuk [SFX: car parking] and BG, your brand new dog.

[Music begins: jaunty, jazzy piano].

Ian: So sick.

Mischa: sticks his head out the window, uh, looking around for just, just like, little tiny picture window on the bread tuk-tuk, just enough for ventilation for the bread, and just sticks his head through it.

Mischa (BG): (Panting)

Ian: Is his head also square, like the, like, it's like a perfect–

Mischa: Yeah, I think like, well, for, for the first moment, it's like perfectly rectangular and it pops out to normal.

[Laughter].

Ian: Great. Okay, so I get out, I get BG out of the back. I, I have, I've been wondering about this, this whole episode so far. It's a dog park.

Mischa: Yeah,

Ian: There's other dogs.

[Soundscape shifts: Dogs barking, birds in trees, animals running around in the park, breeze in trees].

Mischa: There's other dogs.

Ian: We've never seen BG interact with other dogs.

Mischa: That's very true.

Ian: I'm super curious if BG is well behaved cuz BG is a chiller or if BG is gonna be a dog–

Bex: A killer?

Ian: A killer. Not necessarily a killer. I don't think he's a killer. I don't think BG's a killer. I don't know if a–

Bex: I know but chiller or killer is what I'm supposed to say.

Ian: Oh, you're right.

Julian: He's a thriller.

All: Ooooooh.

Ian: There it is. Is he chiller, killer, or thriller?

Mischa: Well, we're here to find out today, here in the Dog Park.

Mayanna: Dog park!

Ian: So, uh, I take BG out, I put his leash.

Mayanna: That I made.

Mischa: His brand new, like, bespoke, beaten metal and leather collar.

Mayanna: Yes. It's got a little studs for BG on the handle near where you hold it.

Bex: Our theme for our team is purple.

Mayanna: Yes, it's purple, it's a purple leash.

Ian: It's dyed purple.

Mayanna: Yeah. I have like leather strips of various colors that I keep in my craftsman's tools, and purple's always in there.

Lyn: Always stocked.

Mayanna: Always stocked.

Ian: So we get out, and I… I mean, the dog park's like, not It's big, but it's not massive, right?

Mischa: No, it's not massive. You can probably spot, uh, JJ.

Lyn: And there's like a– There's a big dog section and a little dog section. As soon as I hear the tuk-tuk roll up I like wave to you [SFX: brakes creak as tuk-tuk parks].

Ian: Oh, great. Okay, so I walk over to JJ., and then presumably we go to the big dog section.

Lyn: Yeah, because he's a bigger dog.

Ian: Cause BG’s a Big Guy.

Mischa: Yeah, I think as you roll up on JJ., I think BG, like, jumps up, big paws, right on the bench next to you, and sort of, like, sniffs all around your face.

Mischa (BG): (Sniffing).

Lyn (JJ): Hi! Okay, okay. You're very good, but, I will start helping you with training,

Lyn: And I turn away.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa: Whoa! Interesting. Make for me, please, JJ, the first of what I'm sure will be many animal handling roles in this scene

Mayanna: Ah! Yes.

Lyn: Perfect.

Ian: Oh my God. I'm gonna get my D20 out.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Lyn: 13.

Mischa: Yeah. With a 13. Um, BG's a street dog. Yeah. BG sort of like barrels through situations, but after just a, a couple minutes sniffing around you, like eventually slowly hops down.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: And looks back up to Gordon.

Mischa (BG): (pants)

Lyn (JJ): Good. That's called “off.”

Lyn: And then, I. I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): you might need some help, Gordon,

Lyn:And I will cast, um, Enhance Ability on Gordon for owl’s Wisdom, so you have advantage on Wisdom Checks.

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mayanna: (gasps) Yes!

Lyn: I'll just like, put my hand on Gordon's shoulder, and be like,

Lyn (JJ): You gotta be firm, but fair. They don't think like people do, but that doesn't mean they don't think and that they don't feel.

Mischa: Great, you're gonna get advantage on any wisdom checks.

Lyn: Which includes animal handling.

Mayanna: Thank god.

Mischa: A small, like, glowing thumbs up symbol appears like right over your heart. [SFX: high, shimmery note]. [Laughter]. Yeah, you, gather up the lead and go, “Okay, boy, time to go to the big dog section.”

[Music ends].

Ian: And we walk into the dog park. How many dogs is it? Is it like a busy day or not?

Mischa: Um, it's like a moderately busy day. I would say it's like, um…

Mayanna: Roll for dogs! Roll for dogs!

Mischa: You don't have to roll for dogs. I have an entire table full of NPCs that have dogs.

Mayanna: Ooooh yes.

Mischa: We're good. We're okay. We have dogs.

Mayanna: We're eating good in this game.

Mischa: I have dogs!

Bex: We also just really like to roll things.

Mischa: Well, good news for you Ian, I would love to play a little minigame with you and BG

All: Minigame! Minigame!

[Music begins: playful electronic beats].

Mischa: here at the dog park. Here's what's gonna go down. I have a table of people you can run into at the dog park as you are attempting to train and rein in your dog.

Mayanna: I love this.

Ian: Okay, great.

Mischa: You're gonna do several rolls of increasing difficulty.

Ian: Great. Energy's key, thank you.

Mischa: The better you roll on these things, the more people that BG will behave himself in front of that you might be able to talk to.

Ian: Oh, you really know how many people are in this dog park. You did this whole, yep, I've seen it.

Mayanna: I'm so jealous cause you guys had an ASMR library scene and now you have this sick ass dog park scene. This is so dope.

Bex: Ian gets great shit.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Hang with Gordon.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: So dope. Oh yeah, and deliveries. Oh my god.

Lyn: Gordon gets all the minigames. Yes.

Mischa: Gordon's a minigame machine.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Are you ready?

Ian: Yes, I'm ready.

Mischa: Okay, so these are gonna be animal handling rolls.

Ian: Okay,

Mischa: Which is a wisdom skill So you're gonna roll with advantage.

Ian: Got it.

Mischa: The first one has a difficulty of five.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: 7.

Mischa: Great.

Ian: Woo!

Mischa: What's the first command you attempt with BG?

Ian: Uh, it's heel because there's more dogs, you know, we go in there's dogs around BG's super interested and I say “heel” and…

Mischa: You give the command to heel, and BG, now having crossed the threshold into the dog park, is straining at your lead to see all the dogs.

Mischa (BG): (Pants).

Mischa: A woman in athleisure wear, like stretchy lycra pants–

Mayanna: A true queen.

Mischa: –and like a brimmed visor, with like five or six dogs on leashes in her hands.

Ian: Yeah, that's a problem.

Bex: Excellent,

Mischa: Comes up to you and goes,

Mischa (Dog Lady): That's no way to get your dog to listen to you. You need to be firm. You need to be commanding. You need to show him who's the alpha. Are you the alpha?

Ian: And literally like, she's so staccatic in the way she talks that every time she's like, “alpha,” I like, jump a little bit Yeah Ha ha! But, but I take her advice.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Uh, because I'm sure BG is pulling on the lead even more now with five dogs around.

Mischa: Absolutely, He’s trying to sniff at all the other dogs. The other dogs are, um… Can you roll nature?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: 13.

Mischa: Her dogs are sort of like, milling in place and like, wiggling, like they really have the urge to move, but like, they're not quite straining at her leads, but like, they're not, they're not prim and proper and sitting in a row either. You know what I mean?

Ian: (Understanding hums).

Mischa: And yeah, BG is still, like, straining, and you, you just go, “Heel! I'm the alpha! Heel”! Nothing.

Ian: Nothing?

Mischa: No.

Ian: No, I rolled a seven, he got a five! Okay, great.

Mischa: I know, listen, and um, the, the trainer lady looks at you and just goes,

Mischa (Dog Lady): You're clearly not cut out to be a dog owner.

Mischa: And, and sort of leads her, her dogs away.

Mayanna: Uh! Wow.

Ian: And as she walks away, I'm gonna yell something after her, but then I think BG like, pulls on my arm again, so I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): (Voice cracking) Hey, y–watch out!

[Laughter].

Ian: I, like, I take a huge breath, like, my lungs in front of me go,

Ian (Gordon): BG, chill!

Mischa: And as soon as you say chill, BG sits and smiles up at you.

Ian: (Singsongy) Ooh, we're making progress.

Bex: Chill!

Ian: (Singsongy) Training our dog. Progress.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Great. Okay, great.

Mischa: What's the next thing you want to try?

Ian: Uh, well, he's already sitting, so maybe let's try rollover.

Mischa: Ooh, interesting.

Bex: You wanna skip down?

Lyn: Yeah, you gotta hit down and then roll over.

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh yeah, that's true, that's true, that's true, that's true. It's down and roll over. Sure.

Mischa: Sure, you could've convinced me. I've never trained a dog.

[Laughter].

Bex: Nah!

Mayanna: I have no idea how any of this works.

Mischa: Okay, go ahead. Um, this, this one is a difficulty of ten.

Ian: Oh, fuck me.

Julian: See, if you command a dog to do that before they go down. They do a somersault.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lyn: They do a kickflip.

Bex: Yeah, they do a kickflip.

Mayanna: And then they get a skateboard out of nowhere and then they just go.

Bex: They start ollieing.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: 17.

Mischa: 17, nice.

Ian: I'm gonna fucking trounce today's minigame, you guys.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, BG, lays down in the clover. An Older woman walks past, with her, like, old moving afghan. Comes over and goes,

Mischa (Afghan Owner): What a lovely sweetie.

Ian (Gordon): Thank you, ma'am.

Mischa (Afghan Owner): May I pet him?

Ian (Gordon): Uh, mm, I don't know if you should. Uh–

Ian: Is she already petting him?

Mischa: Uh, yeah, I think as you're equivocating back and forth, she leans down and, and pets BG and BG’s super into it.

Ian: Oh my god, I literally had closed my eyes in fear to not see the tragedy that was about to unfold. [Laughter]. And then BG's a lover.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Chiller.

Mayanna & Bex: Chiller!

Ian: We're finding out, Chiller at the moment.

Mischa (Afghan Owner): I love spending my afternoons in the dog park.

Ian (Gordon): Oh my God. Hi, it's so nice to meet you. My name's Gordon. What's your name?

Mischa (Afghan Owner): Hello, my name is Dorothy.

Ian: Oh my God,

Mischa (Dorothy, Afghan Owner): it's a pleasure.

Ian (Gordon): It's such a ni–Do you come to the dog park often, Dorothy?

Mischa: She sighs a little bit. And goes

[Music begins: wistful piano and synth].

Mischa (Dorothy): more and more lately I have tried to spend my time here. You see my, Hmm. My building was damaged recently, and now my landlord wants to buy the unit out from under me to refurbish. I'm afraid I might have no place to go.

Ian (Gordon): Oh my gosh, that's terrible. What was the damage?

Mischa (Dorothy): I came home one day from buying the groceries and the wall was completely blown apart.

Ian (Gordon): Blown apart? Dorothy, that sounds terrible.

Mischa (Dorothy): Some sort of gas leak? I don’t know.

Ian: And then something about gas leak just like, just like perks my ears up for a second. And I look at Dorothy and I pull a muffin out of my muff-dolier.

[Laughter]. [Music cuts].

Lyn: I thought we were not saying muff-dolier

Bex: I thought we were only saying muff-dolier.

Lyn: No!

Mischa: Hold on, we lost Julian for a second. Alright.

Julian: Alright, I'm back.

Ian: It's a bandolier for muffins.

[Laughter].

Julian : Oh, just caught me from the side, that's all. No, we're good.

[Music resumes].

Ian: I, like, I like, I very nicely just like, hold out a muffin, I go,

Ian (Gordon): You hungry, Dorothy?

Mischa (Dorothy): Oh, so nice, thank you.

Mayanna: Cute.

Mischa: She's, she smells, she breathes it in. What flavor muffin is it?

Ian: It's blueberry.

Mischa: Oh yeah, she smells it.

Mischa (Dorothy): Oh, I love blueberry. Thank you. So nice to meet such a kind young man.

Ian (Gordon): Dorothy, maybe I can come by your house and see the damage. I don't know if you want

Mischa (Dorothy): Oh! Oh, that's– What a kind offer, whatever for?

Ian (Gordon): Well I mean, if I'm being honest, I kind of just got a promotion, and I worked for this cool thing called the ISB, and, you know, we're supposed to help people, and, I don't know, it just kind of seems like I met you for a reason today.

Mischa (Dorothy): How kind, yes, do you have a piece of paper, something to write?

Ian (Gordon): Oh yeah.

Ian: And then I like pat all around my apron and I pull out a little, like a little bakery pencil.

Mayanna: Yeah. You have your restaurant review notebook.

Ian: Oh yeah, you're right! I tear a back piece out of the restaurant. No, I don't even tear it. I just hand her the. Uh, Restaurant Review Notebook, open to the last page.

Mischa: She writes her address in there. Her address is in East Minetown.

Ian: East Minetown! Dorothy from East Minetown.

Mischa: Yeah! You have this entire conversation with Dorothy, this lovely woman, and you turn around and BG is still in the down position, exactly where you left him.

Mayanna: Wow.

Ian: BG is the most chiller. So then I get inspired, and I like, Dorothy's here so I kind of want to, you know, to have a show.

[Music shifts: upbeat guitar chords and light piano].

Mischa: Yeah sure.

Ian: You know, I want to show off a little bit, that's the word, and so I go,

Ian (Gordon): Hey BG, roll over.

Mischa: (laughs) Okay, go ahead and roll.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: I'm so excited.

Ian: I'm using the yeet dice.

Bex: Let's go.

Mayanna: Do it.

Ian: I'm gonna yeet this.

Lyn: Roll twice and take the highest because you have advantage.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: (whispering close to the mic) Well, the first one's a 21, so…

Bex: Ayo!

Mayanna: Woo!

Ian: (whispering close to the mic) And the second one's a 20.

[Cheers].

Ian: Wow, that's the best dice of all time.

Bex: Oh, damn.

Mischa: Yeah, BG rolls over, um, and sort of like, rolls into one of the, um, flattened dirt paths. [SFX: a thump and dust rustling from being disturbed]. And a group of skating teens–

[SFX: skateboards rolling].

Ian: No.

Mischa: –Roll up and do ollies over BG.

Mayanna: Nice:

Ian: Oh my god, what?!

Mayanna: “Yeah, take that Terrence! I told you we could do them all over this dog! Yeah!”

Ian: Which is even more impressive, because they're riding skateboards through grass.

Bex: “I can’t believe he landed that!”

Mischa: Yeah, they're, honestly, these are skateboards that have, like, rubberized tires. They're like mountain boards or whatever.

Ian: Yeah, totally.

Mayanna: Cool.

Mischa: These kids, like, do sick flips over your dog.

Ian: Sick flips.

Mischa: And, yeah, and they they, like, stand off to the other side, like, high fiving. Uh, Dorothy kind of goes,

Mischa (Dorothy): Oh! Oh my, what a, what a good doggie!

Ian (Gordon): What a great.

Ian: and then I lean down and I pet BG behind the ears, I go,

Ian (Gordon): You're such a good dog! You're such a good dog, BG!

Mischa (BG): (pants) Arf!

[Music ends].

Ian: And I, and I pull out, oh my gosh! I pull out some of the specialized dog treats that I've made for BG.

Mischa: Yeah!

Ian: Yeah!

Mischa: The sausage rolls!

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: The little, they're like, they're like, about nickel sized.

Mischa: More pigs in blankets, really.

Bex: Oh yeah!

Mayanna: Little bite-sized

Ian: Totally, and they're like an inch long. And I tossed one up and he catches it in his mouth.

Mischa (BG): (Chomps).

Ian: There it is. Perfect day.

Julian: The inaugural BG Bite.

Mayanna: Yes. Yes.

Bex: BG bites!

Mischa: The skateboarding teams all stand off to the side, like high fiving each other. They're like,

Mischa (Skateboarder 1): Sick air!

Mischa: And the, another one's like,

Mischa (Skateboarder 2): Not as good as in that factory though. Oh man. We got to get back there.

Ian: Wait, what, what the hell is happening today? Everything is converging upon Gordon. Uh.

Lyn: So many leads… we had a lead for the factory.

Ian: Right. Which we, we just. I run over to the kids, and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Did you just say you were skateboarding at the factory?

Mischa (Skateboarder 2): Yeah, what's it to you, old?

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Mischa: And another one goes,

Mischa (Skateboarder 3): Yeah, old!

[Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): I'm twenty. Or something.

Mischa (Skateboarders): Old! So old!

[Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): Stop it! Hey!

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Mischa: Do you want to go ahead and roll, Persuasion with Disadvantage because you're talking to children.

Mayanna: To children, yeah.

Bex: I don't know, he's acting like a child.

Mischa: Any time I have spoken to children, I have rolled Persuasion with Disadvantage.

Mayanna: That is fair, because you have to speak to them in their language.

Bex: But he is! He's being petulant and dumb.

Ian: But I gotta be real with you, it was a lot… I didn't do so well as a kid, so that checks out.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I, too, didn't.

Ian: Yep. Uh, oh, this is wait, hold please, hmmm. 11.

Mischa: Yeah, within 11, I think they go,

Mischa (Skateboarders): Nuh uh, that's our spot, get your own!

Ian (Gordon): I'm not taking the spot from you! Oh, ok, look. When you've been at the factory recently, have you seen anything strange, weird going on at the factory? That's all I wanna know.

Mischa (Skateboarder): Yeah, I was there two days from now, I saw a weird old guy at our spot.

Bex: “His back cracked a lot!”

Ian (Gordon): Oh God. You–

Mischa: And then they skate off and high five in the distance. [SFX: Skateboard rolling away].

Ian (Gordon): Come back here you stupid kids!

Julian: Time travel burns.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Ian (Gordon): I work for the government!

[Music fades out].

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Party point.

Lyn: What in the Ars Paradoxica?

Mayanna: That’s so funny. “I work for the government.”

Mischa: That's just how kids work, man.

Lyn: In the distance you see even JJ goes like,

Lyn (JJ): (Pained groan).

Mayanna: Yikes.

Bex: You hear over the hill, “Old!”

Mischa: As the kids, skate away, BG comes up and stands right next to you and looks up at you and smiles.

Mischa (BG): (Pants).

[Music begins: calming piano].

Ian (Gordon): I love you, BG. You make everything okay.

Mischa (BG): Woof.

Ian: Okay, uh, this is a real challenge for me. This is like a real life challenge, because I grew up with boxers. And boxers are fun, great dogs, but they aren't the smartest of dogs. So I never got a dog that would play fetch, because you'd always throw the thing, and then the dog would run and go get it, pick it up, look at you, and then drop it.

Bex: Yep.

[Laughter].

Ian: And then you would walk the 20 feet to pick it up and throw it again, and basically that was your walk across the park.

Bex: It's really great when you have a Fitbit.

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Otherwise, not so great.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Okay, so we're going to do, we're going to try fetch.

Mischa: Fetch? Okay. The difficulty for this one is up to 20.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: Oh, shit.

Ian: And plus 6. [Dice rolls]. 18.

Mischa: Nice!

Mayanna: Yeah, alright, awesome!

Mischa: Alright! You pick up a stick and hurl it and, uh, and just tell BG, go long.

Ian: I take another huge breath,

Ian (Gordon): Go long, BG!

Ian: And then I chuck the stick sort of like a boomerang, it's like, [SFX: whooshing]. (Imitates wooshing) through the air.

Mischa: Yeah, it lands, uh, way off in the distance next to one of the picnic tables next to a bunch of guys eating lunch.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Oh, no.

Mischa: Oh, no?

Mayanna: Guys eating lunch? You don't want to bother guys eating lunch.

Lyn: Yeah it’s lunch!

Mayanna: It’s lunch!

Lyn: It’s their lunch break!

Ian: You're just throwing sticks in the direction of guys eating lunch.

Bex: Dog get distracted from stick, go eat food.

Mischa: Yeah, I do think that, like, BG picks up the stick and then gets a whiff of whatever they're eating at the table and just sort of like, with the stick in mouth, just kind of leans over the table and goes, and all the guys at the table go,

Mischa (Lunch Guys): Ugh! Dog! Who's dog is this?

Ian: I go,

Ian (Gordon): BG, heel! Heel!

Mischa: Yeah, nothing.

Ian: Fuck. I run over.

Lyn: “Oh he really wants my ham sandwich”

Ian (Gordon): (Out of breath) No, I'm sorry. So sorry to disturb you. I work for the government.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Lunch Guy 1): (Vaguely New York accent) Oh you work for the government, huh? Well, I got something to say to you, pal.

Ian (Gordon): (Out of breath) Oh, no, no, no, that's not what I meant. I work for a very small branch of the government that’s meant to fix things.

[Music begins: energetic synth beats].

Mischa (Lunch Guy 1): Listen, you got,

Mischa: And another one of them goes,

Mischa (Lunch Guy 2): Tony, simmer down, will you settle down?

Mischa (Tony, Lunch Guy 1): No, no, no, this guy says he works for the government.

Ian (Gordon): Oh, okay, this is a problem.

Mischa (Tony): I got a bone to pick. All these bridge collapses, pipes explodin’. Our community's going down the pits. All these things poppin off every single day I hear about somethin’ new. What's the government doin’ to fix it?

Mayanna: Oh, no.

Ian: And then I'm about to say something, and I look down, and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Oh my gosh, what kind of bread is that? That looks really amazing. Did you get that from the local bakery?

Mischa: Roll a charisma saving throw.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Fuck. Yeah. That's called misdirection.

Mayanna: I love this.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: 17.

Mischa: Okay, uh, yeah, he goes,

Mischa (Tony): Uh, I don't know, it's whatever the sandwich place had.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, the sandwich place! I made that bread!

Mischa (Tony): Good for you. You work for the go–Oh, the government's too busy making bread to solve all the problems of the little people down here on the ground, huh?

Ian (Gordon): That's not–No, sorry, that's not what I meant. I just I was trying to connect with you, because, like, you had bread, I think it's probably really good bread, and I made it, and I'm also

Mischa (Tony): I don't need connecting–!

Mischa: The other guy at the table, goes,

Mischa (Lunch Guy 2): Tony, he's trying to level with you.

Mischa: He goes,

Mischa (Tony): shut up, Maurice.

Ian: And I go,

Ian (Gordon): Hey, don't talk to Maurice that way!

[Laughter].

Mischa (Maurice, Lunch Guy 2): Thanks, kid.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. Now you listen to me, Tony. I'm a part of a brand new organization within the government that was just started yesterday to solve all these problems. And if you've got a complaint, I advise you file it formally with my office. Address pending. [Laughter]. My name's Gordon Baker, and you can tell ‘em I said so.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Hey Gordon, roll intimidation.

All: Yes!

Mayanna: That was sick.

Ian: (Singsongy) Motherfucker.

Julian: You really wanna fuck with the guy that bakes your breakfast?

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Yeah, you really wanna step to the king?

Ian: 15.

Mischa: Yeah! Tony takes a step back and just goes,

Mischa (Tony): I got complaints, I got complaints up to here, with bakers like you on the task. Jeez, Maurice, when's it all gonna come down?

Mischa: He sits back down and eats his lunch.

Mayanna: (Gasps) (Pained groan).

[Music ends].

Ian: That hits me a little bit. That hits me, that hits me hard. But there's nothing I can say to this guy.

Mayanna: Nope.

Ian: So all I really say is,

Ian (Gordon): Hey, just between you and me, that bread's really, really good if you put butter on it.

Mayanna: Mmm.

Ian: And then I… Give him a thumbs up and I'll walk away.

Mischa: over your shoulder, we, the audience, see Maurice, hand Tony, like, a pre packaged butter pat. And Tony just, like, knocks his hand away and folds his arms.

Mayanna: Aw.

Lyn: Maurice!

Mayanna: He's hurting. Toxic masculinity's a prison.

Mischa: Yeah, it's true.

Bex: It's true.

Mischa: But BG trots back with you, stick in mouth, super happy.

[Music begins: gentle, upbeat piano].

Ian: Ah. Best dog ever.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: He really is.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm. You're great, BG.

Ian: And I lean down, and I take the, like, I take the stick, but he's like,

Mischa (BG): (Growling)

Ian: Yeah, yeah.

Ian (Gordon): You're such a good boy.

Ian: And then I go,

Ian (Gordon): You and me, BG. We're going to save this town together.

Mayanna: Awwww.

Bex: (Squeaks).

Mischa: Um, BG hears that and forgets about the stick in his mouth and just goes,

Mischa (BG): Woof!

Mischa: and then, um, licks you on the face.

Ian: Yes!

Mayanna: BG and GB. Best, best duo.

Ian: We run back to JJ.

Lyn: I was on the bench still, filling out forms.

Mischa: Your forms are completed. They're all ready to be filed.

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Yay!

Mayanna: That’s so exciting!

Lyn: Um, then after the forms, watched a lot of cringe happen with Gordon, I was like,

[Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): Oh, should I, uh, I don't think I can help with that.

Mayanna: I think I'm proud of you for setting that boundary. I’m not here, but I’m really proud of you for like “I don't need to, I need to let him fly on his own.”

Bex: It's a beautiful step for JJ.

Lyn: I don't think Gordon spends a lot of time in Minetown, now that I think about it. I don't think he knows how to talk to people here.

[Laughter].

Ian: I run up to JJ with BG in tow. JJ, BG, ISB, it's a big, it's a big letter. It's a big acronym.

[Laughter].

Bex: A big letter day.

Mayanna: A lot of acronyms, yeah.

Lyn: So many letters.

Ian: And I run and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Hey, man, everyone, this part of town is really intense. But, I think I found a little bit of a lead.

[Music begins: ambient synths]

Ian: And I tell JJ all about the old woman's house who had a wall explode for seemingly no reason.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn (JJ): Woah. That is… That should not happen.

Ian (Gordon): That's what I was thinking!

Lyn (JJ): Infrastructure here is not the best, but not like “exploding walls randomly” bad.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. We should go check it out.

Lyn (JJ): : Yeah.

Ian: And then it feels weird and awkward for a second, I pull out another muffin.

[Laughter].

Mischa: BG, you pull out another muffin and BG kind of, like, gets up and you, like, tries to hop up on your chest and get the muffin.

Mischa (BG): (Pants).

Ian: And I go, sit, sit BG, sit.

Mischa: Roll another animal handling check.

All: Yes!

Mischa: This one's up to 25.

Ian: Motherfucker, are you serious?

Bex: Why is it harder?!

Lyn: It gets harder and harder.

Mischa: It's up to 25!

Ian: But like, I don't even, with my, there's no way I'm gonna roll 25.

Mayanna: You have advantage.

Mischa: If you get a nat 20.

Ian: Oh okay, got it.

Julian: This muffin is full of bacon.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: It was a 14.

Lyn: Try one more time, cause you have advantage.

Ian: Oh sick, [Dice rolls]. It was a 12.

Mischa: BG hops up onto your chest, grabs the muffin out of your hand, and runs off.

Ian (Gordon): No!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: Whoa, whoa, what? What?

Ian (Gordon): BG come back! BG!

Mischa: Bolts up into a bush and kind of like disappears into a bush. [SFX: leaves rustling].

Ian: Okay, I follow him. I run after BG.

Ian (Gordon): Hey, get back here! BG, come on! Come on, BG!

Lyn: I will run with you.

Lyn (JJ): Ah! Oh no!

Ian: I pull a little sausage snack out of my bag. I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): BG, come here, come back.

Mischa: You find him, underneath a hedge, digging a deep hole into the dirt. [SFX: dirt and leaves rustling].

Mayanna: Oh my god. That's so silly.

Ian: A hole to put the muffin in?

Mischa: Plops it in. And sort of like, brushes it back with his back feet. JJ and Gordon, please roll Perception.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: That's not… regular.

Lyn: Oh, unfortunately, I don't think that's very good.

Mayanna: Come on, you got this.

Lyn: Uh, 14.

Ian: 16.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Yeah, you see, mixed in with the topsoil, uh, that BG has sort of kicked up. Like, a glint of light catches your eye. And you bend down and brush aside a little bit of dirt and pick up a sand-grain-sized little particle.

Ian: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: You hold it up to the light and it refracts that same, like, orange yellow glow that you found. In the crystal of the construction site.

Mayanna & Ian: Woah. Woah. Woah.

Mischa: And you can feel, scaled down to the tiny speck size of this crystal, that same feeling of warmth of home, that you felt holding the other one.

Mayanna: (gasps) Oh my god.

Ian: I look at JJ.

Lyn (JJ): I'm not sure what that means.

Mischa: BJ looks up at you, dirt covering his face and his paws and like a huge mess, just goes,

Mischa (BG): (Sneezes).

Mayanna: Oh, he's a good boy.

Ian: He's a good boy. He’s a really good boy.

Bex: He's the best.

Mayanna: He's a really good boy.

Ian: The first thought I have is that we need to section off the area and conduct a dig, but man, all these Minetown peeps are going to hate us if we close down the dog park.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Man, you, this is so smart.

Bex: (whispers) Whose thoughts are these?

Mayanna: Ugh, I thought there was only one.

Bex: Oh hell no, whose thoughts are these.

Ian: Did we get, we got like, we got like badges or like patches or something like that when we

Mayanna: I mean, I can, I can work on that.

Lyn: Yeah, Fran wanted to design some patches.

Ian: But we don't have that one yet.

Bex: We gotta design a crest for the ISB first.

Mayanna: Yeah, crest.

Julian: Varsity jackets.

Mayanna: Yeah, exactly.

Lyn: Just for right now, I'll charge up my goggles again with Detect Magic, [SFX: electronic whirring] to try and locate, to see if there's like, a bunch scattered in the dirt, or if it's just like, this one.

Mischa: Sure, good call. It is just the one piece.

Lyn: Okay.

Mayanna: That's worse, I feel.

Mischa: And it's, and it's so tiny, like I'm talking about like a, like a, like a large grain of sand.

Lyn: It’s so small.

Ian: Got it got it got it.

Lyn: Yeah, like a speck of glitter.

Bex: Like one of those pearls in soil that's like fertilizer.

Mischa: Like it would, like it would fall straight out of your gauntlet if you tried to use it, you know what I mean? Like tiny.

Lyn: Yeah. Huh.

Ian: So we don't think, so it doesn't, it doesn't– There's not a bigger piece underneath, because the goggles, the goggles aren't just the surface, right? They can detect–

Mischa: Well, uh, I mean, rules as written, the goggles only penetrate, what is it, three feet of soil?

Lyn: It's, um, let me double check.

Mayanna: Because if it was deep underground.

Lyn: Yeah, three feet of whatever.

Mischa: Yeah, so, so it's at least In the top three feet of soil in the park as far as JJ can see and walk around for the next what 10 minutes or whatever it says. Yeah, if there is one, it's deep below the soil but like-

Ian: And it's just this one speck.

Mischa: It's a tiny one and yeah, and it's the only thing you can see with Detect Magic

Lyn: Okay, um, I grab like, I don't know, do I have like a… Do you have vials? You're an alchemist.

Ian: 100 percent I do.

Lyn (JJ): Can you pop that into a vial? And then we can have it for safekeeping.

Ian: I open up a vial, and I pour the contents of it onto the grass, and the grass immediately starts to like, smoke and fizz. [SFX: Fizzing and steaming]

Mischa: Yeah, like bubbles and fizzes.

Mayanna: That is so funny.

Bex: Nice.

[Music fades out].

Ian: And then I take my, um, apron, my bakery apron, and I put my finger, like, in the cloth, and I'm like, (imitates squeaky noises of cleaning the inside of the glass vial with the apron) Right? And I'm like, wiping out the inside of the vial.

Mayanna: That’s smart yea

Lyn: I'm stomping out the–

Bex: Yes!!

Mischa: Well, I think you take, you take the piece of your apron out, and that, like, sputters and fizzes a little bit.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mayanna: Oh my god, what was in that one?

Mischa: Volatile reagents.

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: And then I drop the speck in.

Lyn (JJ): That is not good for the ecosystem. Okay.

Ian: I don't notice at all. I’m all like, (humming).

Lyn (JJ): Dogs play here, You can't be pouring reagents on the ground!

Ian (Gordon): Oh yeah. Right. Right. Sorry about that.

[Laughter].

Mischa: BG like bends down to sniff it.

Ian (Gordon): Get out of there, BG. No, no, not food. No. Sit. Heel.

Lyn (JJ): Although if you do put it in your baked goods, maybe it is edible. Are these edible?

Ian (Gordon): That's a great point.

Ian: And I, and I pull out another one and I uncork it for a second and I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Hmm… Another day.

Mayanna: (Laughs).

Bex: That's a disaster for another day. I mean, adventure.

[Park soundscape ends].

[Music begins: dark ambient synths]. [Soundscape begins: wind through the Dustpan, far-off cars].

Mischa: Let's cut from there back over to the dustpan. Ibra, you ascend the staircase.

Bex: I think I have to stop several times to like, steady myself and grab the handrail.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: And not drag Paz down with me.

Mischa: Yeah, what's going through your mind? What's–

Bex (Ibra): It's absolutely racing, speeding like a bullet train. And the words from Fuller about Astra being dangerous keep echoing through my head. As all other thoughts keep running, those thoughts keep echoing over top. It feels blinding at a certain point. It, it just, the echoes end up getting cacophonous and, and Ibra, like, stops being able to see for a minute and has to sit down and breathe.

Mischa: Yeah, your vision, your vision swims and blurs and like lights bloom around you. You take a seat. Paz steps over in front of you and starts like,

Mischa (Paz): Hey, hey, it's okay. Listen to me. Deep breaths. You got this.

Mischa: Your vision swims and everything sort of like melds together, but over Paz's shoulder, [SFX: crow caws] you see someone standing still in the courtyard, like, 50 feet away.

Mayanna: What?!

Bex: My breathing completely stops.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: You try to focus on that as the blood pounds in your ears.

Bex: I'm not breathing either, which doesn't make it easy.

Mischa: No. And, again, it's a little blurry, your vision's sort of hazy, but it looks like a full armored knight.

[Music shifts: almost sinister, ethereal ambient synths].

Mayanna: What?

Mischa: Standing in the courtyard, staring you down.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Mmm…

Bex: I immediately bolt to my feet and push, like, get in front of Paz.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Push between Paz and whatever this figure, knight-ish figure is. Breathing very hard.

Bex (Ibra): (Heavy breathing).

Mischa: Yeah. I think that fight or flight kicks in and actually all of a sudden, like the anxiety that was misplaced, all of a sudden it gains context and becomes part of the battle mode.

Bex: Adrenaline takes over the cortisol.

Mischa: Yeah. you reach down for a weapon, any weapon at your belt, at your side, you pat. You remember you left your backpack downstairs.

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Lyn: Oh no.

Mischa: You look back towards. the staircase considering whether or not to make a bolt for it and leave Paz defenseless or whether to stare them down barehanded, and then you look back away from the staircase back towards the knight and there's no one there.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Whoa.

Bex (Ibra): (Breathing shakily) Um. Ah..

Mischa (Paz): Uh, what? Uh, what, what, what's going on?

Bex (Ibra): There was, there was, there was a knight, uh, there was, there was a knight there.

Mischa (Paz): Really?

Bex (Ibra): Where, where'd he, where'd he go? Oh god. Oh god, am I losing my mind? Am I dangerous? Oh god.

[Music begins: bright, ambient synths with hopeful guitar entering later].

Mischa (Paz): Hey, hey, You couldn't hurt me.

Bex (Ibra): But I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm Astra. I'm dangerous. I-I don't know what I am.

Mischa (Paz): We got time, we can figure it out. We're young, we're fresh, we're spry.

Mischa: And she bounces back and forth from leg to leg and then she winces on her bad leg.

Mischa (Paz): Oh, ow.

Bex (Ibra): (Laughing weakly) Don't, don't do that. But what if, what if I'm just a complication?

Mischa (Paz): You can't be a complication. If you have complications, you decide what to do with that. And you're like several decades into this whole deal. I feel like if you were dangerous, it would have come up before now.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): (Chuckles between heavy breaths) Yeah I.. I guess you're right. It's just, I never thought of how much of me is based in something I don't understand, you know>

Mischa (Paz): Like, man. I'm not like you. I'm made of something that's volatile and-and unstable and… I didn't know that and now I do and I'm scared of myself. Even if I haven't changed my knowledge of me has.

Mischa (Paz): It can be tough, incorporating hard facts about ourselves into our identity of ourselves. Especially when it's like, sucky stuff. [Laughter]. But it doesn't change who you are. You're my friend. You're our friend. If there's, I don't know, explosive chemicals in your skin or whatever, [Laughter], we'll figure it out.

Bex (Ibra): I mean, I really hope that it's not, like, in my skin, because I feel like that would be way too easy to activa–I don't know enough. We gotta find stuff out. I'm just–

Mischa (Paz): But you, you already have training with it.

Bex (Ibra): I-I guess?

Mischa (Paz): You already know how to, like, use your special glowy powers to do rad shit! I've seen it!

Bex (Ibra): I mean, I guess, but I hadn't really thought of it that way. Just, I don't know, I guess I was just kind of taking it for granted.

Mischa (Paz): Well, Now you can look into it, uh, with a clear eyes, full hearts.

Bex (Ibra): Can't lose.

[Music ends].

Bex (Ibra): Man, I'm sweaty, I can't– Ooh, (groan). Anxiety sweat smells so bad. Oh, I wish I had my backpack.

Mischa: Paz leans down to sniff your pits.

Bex (Ibra): Don't do that, you don't want to do that.

Mischa (Paz): Hard boiled eggs.

[Groans].

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Mischa: Fran, you ascend the staircase, and Paz is sniffing Ibra's pits.

Mayanna (Fran): (Drawn out) Uh huh?

Bex (Ibra): I have deodorant in my backpack! You don't want to do that!

Mayanna (Fran): (Drawn out) Okay…

Mayanna: And I just immediately like give you your backpack.

Bex (Ibra): Oh my God. Thank you.

Bex: I pull out the deodorant and (imitates spraying).

Mayanna: While they're doing deodorant, I just text Gordon. I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] I think Paz might be moving in on Ibra.

[Snorts and laughter].

Ian: I think you see Gordon like do the three dots a couple of times and then stops. And then three dots again and then stops. And then just sends the melting face.

[Laughter].

Lyn: What does JJ see looking at you read this text?

Ian: Oh great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I read it and I kind of laugh at first. I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Psssh.. what? Psh. Nah.

[Laughter].

Ian: And then like nervous laughter.

Lyn (JJ): Are you okay?

Ian (Gordon): What? Get out. I'm fine.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Pardon me.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Total misunderstanding of the situation, but I love stirring the pot.

Bex: I love this so much.

Mischa: As you like rattle around your bag, [SFX: rustling in bag] you notice inside the bag and remember that you have the, the crystal of rough Astra that you found in the construction site with you.

Bex (Ibra): Oh shit.

Bex: Ibra like finishes with the deodorant. And is like,

Bex (Ibra): I just remembered I brought this with me.

[SFX: metal on bag jingling].

Bex: I pull out the box.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Should I just keep that in—

Bex: I just shove it back down [SFX: metal tinkling as bag is closed]

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. We can put that back in there. Are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, um, no, but that's okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Right, Paz?

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Paz): It's okay to not be okay. Correct.

Mayanna: I pat you on the head a little bit.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thanks.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I mean, looking–you're looking pretty okay to me.

Bex (Ibra): Thanks. Smelling okay too.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. That's, yeah. Sorry. I didn't realize you left your bag, so.

Bex (Ibra): I didn't either. I-I-I– (sighs).

Mayanna (Fran): It's okay. We got it.

Bex (Ibra): I, I'm, I'll be ready to talk about it soon.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. I got you.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you.

Mayanna: I'm gonna text the group chat, be like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Hey, where are you guys at?

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky] Minetown Dog Park. Ferris Park!

Mayanna: And then I text back like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Without meee??

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky] Get over here.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Okay!

Mayanna (Fran): You guys wanna go to the dog park?

Bex (Ibra): Absolutely.

Mischa (Paz): Yeah!

Mischa: Ibra, you pick up your backpack to hoist it onto your shoulder [SFX: bag closures rustling] and the lead box tumbles out of it. [SFX: reverberating metal clinking and bouncing]

Mayanna: No!

Mischa: And sort of skids like five or ten feet away from you across the cobbles.

Bex: Oh shoot.

Mayanna: I immediately rush to it.

Mischa: Yeah, um, Ibra, Fran moves towards the box and time slows.

[SFX: Metal clinking slowly, rhythmically] [Music begins: very deep, low notes and high pitched ringing]

Bex: Uh oh.

Mischa: The knight in armor steps up to the box.

Bex: Oh no.

Mischa: Picks it up. Looks down at it. Wordlessly. Stone faced looks at you and cracks it open.

[Music shifts: striking low piano notes and ominous strings].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Immediately, night and day, as soon as the box is open, you can feel the warmth pouring out of it. The energy that was contained inside the lead box and had no escape sort of cascades out of the box and washes over you in this time-slowed moment. Fran, you just see the box on the ground sort of like tumble and open. And you thought, like, you bought one with a good clasp.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah,

Mischa: But apparently it pops open as soon as it hits the ground.

Mayanna: I panic immediately, I'm just like, I gotta get that thing immediately.

Mischa: You rush forward, pick it back up, and close the lid. And behind you, you hear a loud zap. [SFX: thunder and electric crackling]

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Mischa: A large crack of electricity hitting the very top of the metallic debris.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: That made up the, the roof of the workshop. [SFX: electrical zapping] And cascades out from that point in several arcs, before coalescing and forming at the very top of the structure, a wraith. [SFX: abrupt whooshing]

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Lyn: Oh no.

Mischa: It takes a moment to scan its surroundings. It looks over the courtyard, the shafts of sunlight peeking down from up above. It scans all around. It takes in everything it can. It looks back towards you, holding the box. And screams and dives for you. [SFX: high-pitched shriek]

[Music ends].

Mischa: We're about to roll initiative. Ibra, do you have something right before that?

Bex: Abso-fucking-lutely I do.

[Music begins: upbeat techno]

Bex: I'm going to either– bonus action Springheel. I can jump 10 feet, just standing jump on top of my movement.

Mischa: Nice.

Bex: Or I could use the bonus action to mark, trying to figure out which order I want to go in.

Mayanna: Man.

Bex: I’m thinking Springheel first?

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: Cantrip. My jump distance increases 10 feet until the start of my next turn, and I can make a running high jump or a running long jump without a running start.

Mischa: Nice.

Julian: Dive kick this son of a bitch.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You sort of like Yeah. You like dodge slide towards Fran.

Bex: Yeah. Can I use my movement with, or just the bonus action?

Mischa: No, I think just the bonus action.

Bex: Cool.

Mischa: But that's, that's plenty. You can get right up--

Bex: I'm gonna use it. Yeah.

Mischa: –Next to, uh, Fran. And uh, at this point we're gonna roll initiative.

Bex: Yeah

Ian: Yeah!

Mayanna: man.

Lyn: We’re missing it, Gordon.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Ooh, that's nice. I got an 18.

Bex: I got a natural fuck.

All: Awww.

Bex: I'm going last, baby.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Well, good thing for that, that warrior's prowess.

Mayanna: Yeah, seriously.

Julian: That's what they call batting clean up.

Bex: It's a very important position.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Yeah. Fran, you are up first.

Mayanna: Ok, he's coming at me? Um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna grab the gun.

Mischa: You can feel the gun jump to alertness in your hand.

Mayanna: Woah, woah.

Mischa: Like you, like all of a sudden whatever connection Fuller has given to this gun. You can feel it just like, as soon as you are ready to use it, it is ready to be used.

Mayanna: Oh my God, amazing. Um, ok cool. I'm gonna fire. Um, so I'm just gonna roll to attack.

[Dice rolls].

Julian: Can I, can I? Pitch a flavor thing where when you fire the pistol, the, uh, the report of the, the shot rings like a hammer blow? [SFX: gunshot and the ringing of a hammer at the same time]

Mayanna: Oh, yeah, you can. Yeah, you can. Absolutely. Every bullet does that now.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah. They make that sound every time.

Mischa: You're actually, instead of rolling dex, you're gonna add your intelligence.

Mayanna: Oh, neat.

Mischa: Because this, because this gun is now enchanted.

Mayanna: Oh my god, so it's a plus 3 , and then I have a plus 5 to hit. It's still pretty bad, I think that's like 8. It's eight to hit. With all that, yeah.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: piano].

Mischa: Ugh. Yeah, I think the wraith is diving right for you, and as it leaps through the air on like a flying hover course directly for you, [SFX: ghostly shriek] I think maybe you're just a little bit thrown by like, the immediate threat of it.

Mayanna: Yeah, I go, yeah, it's, it's, a lot's going on. It's very frantic.

Lyn: It's a very fast moving target.

Bex: Fran-tic

Mayanna: Fran-tic! Nice. Um, yes, my bonus action. So that's one bullet, it's two before I have to reload, so I'm not gonna reload, but I think I'm just, I think I'm, I'm just bracing, I think I'm just bracing for whatever's about to happen.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I'm clutching the box very tightly.

Mischa: Yes, the box is closed, you reclasp it, it doesn't look like the clasp was broken.

Mayanna: Yeah, I assume there's some trickery going on here.

Mischa: Well you, Mayanna, know there's some trickery because I told you when I did that thing with Bex.

Mayanna: I assume, yeah. Fran, Fran is just confused and scared.

Mischa: Yeah, for sure. This thing is going to, uh, finish its trajectory straight into you, [SFX: ghostly shriek] and it's going to, like, solidify itself as much as it can. It's going to forcefully slam you.

Mayanna: Hoo, boy. Okay.

Bex: Disadvantage on the attack.

Mischa: Why?

Bex: Uh, fighting style protection, reaction.

Mischa: Oh, okay, yeah.

Bex: When a creature you 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 role.

Mischa: Baby, there it is. All right, disadvantage.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Bex: Thank you, Longstrider.

Mischa: Yeah. Ibra, at the last moment, like, leaps to your side.

Bex (Ibra): No!

Mischa: And like, pulls your hips and sidesteps you.

Mayanna: Whoa, hello. [Laughter].

Mischa: And the, the ghost, the, the wraith flies past you and skids across the ground.

Mayanna (Fran): Ah!

Bex (Ibra): I got you.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, thank you.

[SFX: ghostly shriek].

Mischa: Uh, it hovers uncannily back to upright, [SFX: abrupt whooshing] twists around on its central stem and screams at you both. [SFX: ghostly shriek].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

[Music ends]. [Music begins: piano, synth, strings, and percussive beats]

Mischa: Paz. Stands in the shadow of the structure as the wraith flies overhead, sees it make a beeline for the two of you, and, you know, Paz is a pretty passive, pretty friendly person. I don't know if either of you have ever seen her angry. I don't know if you've ever seen her enraged.

Mayanna: No.

Mischa: But a dark storm cloud, crosses her brow.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: And her face contorts with an anger you've never seen from her. And she says,

Mischa (Paz): Leave! Them! Alone!!

Mischa: And a giant arc of lightning [SFX: electrical crackle] zaps from her fingertips directly towards the ghost.

All: Oooohh!!!

Mayanna: What?

Lyn: What?

Bex: Get ‘em Paz!

Mayanna: How?

Lyn: When did she take a level?!

Mayanna: I don't know! Well, she did get touched. She got touched by the spectral forces.

[Ecstatic laughter].

Mischa: The lightning hits and is going to deal 1d12 lightning damage.

Bex: Boom, baby!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Julian: Happy birthday, gang.

Mischa: That is 11 lightning damage.

Ian: Holy shit!

Lyn & Mayanna: Oh my god!

Mischa: Paz's fingers crackle with lightning, [SFX: electrical crackling,] and she looks down at her hands, astounded.

Mayanna: She doesn't know about, oh my god.

Mischa: She goes,

[Music ends]

Mischa (Paz): What the hell was that?!

Mayanna: Oh my god, oh my God.

Bex (Ibra): I told you maybe you're better than normal!

[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, transcript assistance by Darby Summers, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark.

Thanks for wandering with us. Till next time!

[Theme music fades out].

Mischa Stanton 8/19/24 Mischa Stanton 8/19/24

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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— Transcript —

Bex: Previously on The Wandering Path

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: The hunt for answers is on! After a brief recovery lunch at Jenny’s Deux, JJ and Gordon headed to the library to hit the stacks, and found some historical accounts of how Astra was used before the war. Meanwhile, Fran tapped her biggest repository of arcane knowledge, her pachonko-loving mentor Thorgan, but unlike every other time she’s come to him for advice ever, this time he actually gave her some: to check out a mysterious location in the heart of a dangerous part of the city. You know, beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. All caught up? Let’s see what’s around the bend today, on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music fades out].

Mischa: Good morning, everyone!

All: Good morning!

Bex: Is it?

Mischa: And by everyone, I do not mean the characters, I do mean the players. [Laughter]. Uh, last night was Mayanna's 30th birthday party. [Cheers]. Which was an excellent time, and all of us were there. [Laughter]. Some of us- some of us were there until well past midnight.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Including me!

Lyn: Yeah, I hope so, I guess.

Mayanna: Especially me!

Mischa: Oh my god.

Mayanna: So, a bit of- a bit of fun fact for y'all is um, I got to the party at 6:35. The party was supposed to start at 7:00, because I had to pick up Ikea cushions for the outside lawn furniture, [Laughter], because the old ones were– I, I love my friends and I won't let them sit on bad cushions. So we coordinated an Ikea pickup. And so I went to the Ikea and it took so long for them to get me these four cushions. It was insane. And so then I had to rush back to my house. And then I got ready, and then I drove them, and so I parked my car and it was 6:35 p.m. And then I had to put the cushions–it was very silly. [Laughter]. So like right before people showed up, I was like putting these cushions into covers and zipping them up and it was very–

Lyn: Wow.

Mischa: Listen, I spent most of the night on those cushions.

Mayanna: I’m so glad you were, I'm so glad you were sitting on that. Literally my friend and I were like, “they're being used!”

[Laughter].

Ian: You guys were all out for that.

Lyn: That was awesome.

Mayanna: We love to throw, I love to host my friends and I, and I, uh, have you ever heard of stockfleth? This is like a Swedish term.

Mischa: No.

Bex: No.

Mayanna: It's a term I heard when I was working at a coffee shop, and it's like this thing about like– I think it's like a Swedish design principle or something where everything has like a place and everything needs to feel welcoming. And so like the- instead of saying like “did you clean the counter” be like “did you fleth that?” like that so everything needed to be fleth– so I've just internalized that. It's like I want my friends to feel welcomed; I want everything to be in its proper place; so I gotta- I gotta make sure it's all flethed.

Bex: I fuck with flethed.

Mayanna: Good, I’m so glad.

Ian: You guys also made tacos for like 80 people.

Lyn: That was sick.

Mayanna: We had a dress rehearsal for the food.

Ian: Are you serious?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: They were so good, too.

Mayanna: I'm so glad.

Bex: It was delicious.

Ian: Also, fun fact for listeners at home, Mayanna likes crispy onions on her tacos.

Mayanna: Yes. Yes, I do. And we got a big bag of them, and I'm glad they were a hit. I'm glad people liked them.

Lyn: Oh, yeah. Yeah, they're great.

Mayanna: And I also heard some hot Cheeto fries got on some tacos!

Bex: Oh, for sure.

Ian: Oh, yeah, I got a bunch of hot Cheeto fries.

Mayanna: That made me very happy!

Mischa: Yeah, so, so yeah, if today's a little bit subdued, that is why.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: Also if it’s manic, that’s why.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I got up at 2:30 in the morning, so I think I'm ready to fight God.

[Laughter].

Ian: I do have to tell you all one more story, just because it's, I'm never going to forget it as long as I live.

Lyn: (Laughs).

Ian: So here's the deal. For everyone listening at home, we're all sitting in Mischa's apartment on couches. We're all sitting, so we're all pretty much the same height.

Bex: Comfy. [Laughter]. Oh. Yes, okay.

Ian: I did not realize. Just how short you are, Lyn.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah.

Ian: How tall are you?

Lyn: I'm like 5 foot.

Bex: Even.

Ian: Even?

Bex: Full measurement.

Mayanna: Like on the dot.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Which is so amazing that you're playing a half dwarf, I just have to say.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yes! I was like, I'm gonna play a race that's shorter than I am!

Bex: Yay!

Ian: There was a moment last night where we were all standing around, like the four of us were talking, and I had my tacos in my left hand, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement that was just way lower than I thought it should be, [Laughter] and it scared me. Lyn scared me, stepping up next to me to join the group, so much so that I literally went, “Ah!”

[Laughter].

Lyn: That was so funny. It was really really funny.

Bex: For context, Lyn comes up to, like, Ian's elbow.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: You're like, extraordinarily tall.

Mayanna: How tall is Ian?

Ian: I'm six, well, I'm a- I'm a Hollywood six, which means I'm 5'11” and a half.

Lyn: Sure.

Mayanna: You have to keep the half. I'm 5'5” and a half and it's very important.

Ian: Yes, it is. It's my true height.

Bex: I'm 5'3” and a quarter and I say I'm 5'4”.

Ian: Anyway, it was just an amazing- God, it was just- I've never- I've never actually been scared by someone just standing next to me.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Someone I know.

Bex: Just being there.

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Lyn: I also walk quietly.

Ian: You did! You were just like, I literally thought I was about to get eaten by a mountain lion.

Lyn: By a mountain lion?!

[Laughter].

Ian: Just some, some predator about elbow height, silently coming upon me at a party.

Mayanna: Some sneaky night creature.

Lyn: How big do you think mountain lions are?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It could have been a baby mountain lion.

Bex: About your size, honestly.

Ian: Your size? Mountain lions are like, exactly your size.

Lyn: But like, tall?

Ian: That's a good point.

Bex: When they’re on their hind legs.

Lyn: When they're on all fours?

Ian: Maybe it was on its hind legs, about to pounce on me, you know? [Laughter]. I was drunk. Anyway, happy birthday, Mayanna.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Lyn: It was lovely.

Bex: It was fun.

Mayanna: It's good to be 30. I love y'all so much. I'm so glad you all came.

Bex: You're fantastic.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Mischa: Alright, y'all wanna play a game?

Mayanna: Let's play a game!

[Cheers].

Mischa: Okay. Well, it's a good morning for our characters as well.

Bex: Yeah!

Ian: Woo!

Mayanna: What a day!

Ian: (Yawns).

Mayanna: What a time! Who did we share the, I gave it to you, the Astra, yeah. Okay, cool.

Mischa: Yeah, so Ibra, you've got that, everyone else kind of went to your individual homes. Gordon, you took a pretty significant detour.

Ian: Oh my god.

Mayanna: That was scary.

Mischa: Just having like, a moment

Ian: Yeah, I was sort of wondering, in a parallel universe where I like went down there. After I left, after we left that session, I was like, “what would it have been like if I made a big mistake?”

Mayanna: I think you'd have died.

[Laughter].

Ian: I probably would have died.

Bex: Yeah, turn around, go home.

Lyn: Yeah. It was like an active construction site, right?

[Music begins: low, melancholic, ambient synths].

Mischa: It's a, it's, it's the largest industrial site in a large industrial city. Like, it's the central industrial location. Like, they train people their entire lives to work on this thing and this thing alone.

Bex: Fifth level minimum.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You might say . but, yeah, y'all made it home to face your various existential crises and panic attacks vis-a-vis, uh, electric ghost attacks.

Ian: That's the name of my new band.

Mischa: Is anyone feeling any particular ways about it, like, after a sleep?

Mayanna: I think, like, you know, off of, I, I still think about what you said, last session, which was, “you're looking at this jacket, and for the first time, you're like, this wouldn't protect someone in combat.” And so I think, like, as, as I wake up in my modest apartment, I… I'm still thinking about how dangerous the world is in a way that I've never thought of before. Granted, my mom gave me a gun before I moved to the city, [Laughter], but I, I, you know, that, that's one of those, like, “yeah, at some point, like, some creep might, you know, try to mug ya.” This is, like, “everyone we know, potentially, could be exposed to something that they are not prepared for.” And, like, we are barely aware of, like, how to prepare for that.

Mischa: Well, yeah, and, I mean, thinking about that moment with your mom, where she just, you know “You never know.”--

Mayanna: You never know.

Lyn: You never know.

Mischa: Today…you know.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: And from now on, you will know.

Mayanna: Yeah, and I think I also wonder, I'm like, you know, Ravona knows, and Gwen knows, but But, like, who else knows? I think, is the question that, like, if we know, and we're just people, who- there must be other people who also might know. And, like, Thorgunn knows to a certain extent, so, like, who else knows? And so I think I'm, like, looking out my window, just kind of, like, wondering that as people walk around the Barra district, regretting decisions they made the night before.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I think we all relate to those people today. Yeah, you look across the city, and out your, modest apartment window.

Mayanna: My modest apartment.

Mischa: It's a little bit, like, noir-y, you know? Like, maybe it's, maybe, yeah, maybe today it's overcast. We control the weather in this world. Maybe it's like a gray and overcast morning. [SFX: thunder rumbles]. And you kind of look out across the expanse of the city being like, who knows what out there and who isn't safe.

Mayanna: Yeah, I know. And I'm gonna work more on the jacket. I think I'm gonna keep sketching out places where I could put, like, subtle plates of armor?

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: Maybe panels and different things like that, so I think I'm gonna work on that this morning until Gordon's delivery route starts. Do you want me to help you today, Gordon?

Ian: Definitely.

Mayanna: Hell yeah!

[Music ends].

Mischa: We'll get to that in a second. The four of you do, wake up to a text message, y'all have been put in a group chat with Paz!

All: Yay! Paz! Paz!

[Music begins: pensive, piano, strings, and choir synths].

Mischa: Paz sends you guys a text that everybody wakes up to that says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: Staticky filter, indicating a text] Finally headed home today.

Bex: Immediately I take the group chat and I change the name to Pazology.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Amazing.

Ian: Cute.

Mayanna: I send like a dancing lady emoji.

[Laughter].

Bex: I send one of those like body rolling cartoon characters.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Okay, so we have established that these texting devices are only like text characters.

Bex: Right.

Ian: Rudimentary.

Mischa: But they do. Well, so I love that they have like that ASCII like animation style where it's just like, like morphs between different characters to make the animations.

Mayanna: I think my dancing lady is like, like the, the, the sideways slash and then like a line and then a letter O and then another slash.

Bex: I'm imagining, like, the two emojis, the dancing lady and the dancing guy, switching back and forth.

Mayanna: Yes, yes!

Ian: Yeah, I definitely send, like, parentheses and squiggles to form, like, loaves of bread.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh, amazing!

Bex: Yes.

Mischa: Paz texts back,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] How are you guys doing this?

Mayanna: We’ll have to teach you!

Lyn: We have a lot of them saved, actually.

Mischa: Just their macros?

Lyn: Yeah, no, it's like, we have our own notes app equivalent, and then we just copy and paste them.

Mayanna: It took too long to put it together the first time, we will not put that much work in again.

Ian: I text back IYK–IYKNK? IYKNK. [Laughter]. Phew, That was hard.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] While I've been sitting in the hospital, trying to find more information on that stuff that happened to us at Boggins. I can't, like, find anything.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Weird!

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Where did you look?

Ian: Shocker Paz!

Mayanna: Crazy!

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Are you guys still looking into it?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Absolutely. Where did you look?

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Just what I could bring up on my–

Mischa: What do they call them? Sidekicks? Phones? Do they call them phones? I think we just call them phones.

Mayanna: I guess communicators?

Bex: Device? Communicator?

Mayanna: Device?

Ian: Compad.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Just what I could pull up from databases here in the hospital bed. If you're still looking into that, I want to help.

[Music fades out].

Ian: Twist.

Mayanna: I think in our own chat, in electric jelly, I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] honestly, love that for us. She's invested. And she was harmed by this creature. Like, she’s your friend, I think we can trust her.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] yeah, but do you think it’s safe?

Bex: I text in Pazology,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Want me to pick you up?

Ian: Whoa.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Yeah. I just gotta grab some stuff.

Mischa: Double exclamation points. She's like, so excited.

Bex: Cool.

Ian: Will you do it again with double exclamation points?

Mischa: Sorry. She says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] (Enthusiastically) “Yeah, Let me just grab my stuff!!”

Ian: There it was. That's the excitement.

Bex: I text back.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Awesome. Let me know as soon as you're ready. I can be there in 20 minutes.

Mischa: Sweet.

Mayanna: Ooh!

Mischa: There's two other people that received individual text messages from Paz this morning. The first one is Ibra.

Ian: Dammit.

[Laughter].

Bex: (Mischievously) Hello.

[Music begins: ominous, low synths;].

Mischa: Ibra, you're gonna get a second text from Paz after, like, all the party in the group chat.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Hey Ibra, this might sound kinda weird, but remember what we were talking about in the hospital?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Yeah, seeing something with the… weirdness?

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Have you ever had, like, a weird dream?

[Gasps].

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] I have.

Bex: And I, uh, I pause, and I leave, like the ellipsis going for a second before I hit send.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: And then I type again.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Do you want me to tell you about it?

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Yeah. What was yours?

Bex: I pause for another moment and then I start to type out the dream.

Mayanna: Woah.

[Music ends].

[Music begins: pensive, fantastical synth pads]

Bex: In, in as much detail as I can, including the columns at our footsteps and the armor on our friends, the Corona, the spinning lights, the people, the faces. Absolutely everything I can possibly remember. And that it happened right before. And I'm trying to keep this concise, but it does end up becoming a novel.

Mischa: Sure. Do you want to roll performance about it?

Bex: Yeah. I would love that. [Shuffling through dice].

Mayanna: Ohh. I love “about it.” “Roll performance about it.”

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Speak on it.

Ian: And the roll. [Dice rolls]. And it's good.

Bex: Dirty 20.

All: Yes. Hell yeah.

Mischa: Yes. This gift you've given me. [Laughter]. It takes a long time for Paz to respond after that. Clearly, you know, you've, you've dumped a whole novel. Maybe she just needs the time to read it. She needs a little time to process it. You describe the dream in pretty vivid detail. And then she says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] I think I may have had a pretty similar dream last night. I dreamed I was above a crowd far below a crown of white light, and I flew over all of them and collided with a bright star and washed them all away.

Mischa: From your description of the dream, it sounds like Paz's point of view was the golden streak. [SFX: firework whistling through the sky].

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Woah.

Mischa: That flew through the sky and collided and, and, and like blew the dream away.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: What the fuck, Mischa?

Mischa: Welcome to the story, motherfuckers!

Mayanna: I love this!

Bex: I reply,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] I always told you you were a star.

Mischa: Oh my God.

Ian: That was fucking–

Mischa: right in the heart.

Ian: Jesus.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] You guys were people in the dream. You were on the ground, you were in armor. You were people?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] We were people.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Why wasn't I people?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Maybe you're something more than people.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] That feels weird. I don't like that. No. I don’t like that.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Okay. Then maybe you're just people, but you're awesome. How about that?

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] That I'll take.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Okay, cool. How close are you to home?

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] I'm in the car back now. I'll be home in like 10 minutes. Let me grab some stuff. You'll meet me here?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] I'll meet you there in uh, about 30 minutes.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Sweet. See you soon.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] See you soon.

Mischa: Uh, uh, smooch emoticon. (Air kisses).

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] I love you byeeeeeeee.

Bex: With like extra Es.

Mischa: Yeah. She sends.

Mischa (Pax): [SFX: staticky] Byeeeee (muffled noises of other letters),

Mischa: but she's like keysmashing around the E.

Bex: (Laughs) “byeeelflmgflgm.”

[Music ends].

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. The other person who gets a text, a private text from Paz this morning is Gordon.

Ian: Called it!

[Gasps and laughter].

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Okay, Mr. Big Shot. Chill the fuck out–Settle down. Yeah.

Bex: You didn't get the first one because you called it.

Mayanna: No, get excited. I'm excited.

[Music begins: low, wistful synth].

Mischa: No, get excited. No, it's so true, get excited. Gordon, you wake up to those group chat texts and then a private text from Paz that says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for saving me at Boggin’s.

Ian: (Groaning) Oh my gooooood. That was me, not Gordon. Ummm, okay cool.

Mayanna: (Chuckles).

Mischa: And then she sends a second text a minute later that says,

Mischa (Pax): [SFX: staticky] Can I make it up to you?

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Mischa: Can you roll insight for me?

[Gasps, squeals, general freaking out].

Mayanna: Oh my God!

Ian: Oh my God. Are we going to go on a date?

Mischa: I don't know. Do you want to?

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Ian: Here we go.

Mischa: Only if Gordon wants to.

Ian: I rolled a yeet!

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Oh my God! Insight!

Mischa: Okay,

Bex: Natural Yeet! Natural Yeet!!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Through the text, you can like, feel the heavy breathing that happened in between those two text messages, so it's like, (heavy breathing). And then like, you can feel the amount of tension that she's sending, like hitting send. Like, you can feel how nervous she was, she must have been writing these texts.

Mayanna: Awww.

Ian: Lord. Okay. Okay. What do I do here? So, because I yeeted that dice.

Mayanna: You know.

Ian: I know.

Mayanna: You know.

Ian: And something happens sometimes.

Mischa: Yeah, like, I think, I think some part of your like, mind, like, flashes back to the, the battle when you were, like, scrambling and freaking out, and you think back to those moments you had with Paz, where you were holding her in your arms, and you're like, “I see what happened.”

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Yeah. And I, yeah, because sometimes what happens too is when people send just the right thing, you all of a sudden understand there's interest, and then that, like, completely changes your, you know, your relationship to that person.

Mayanna: Yeah it like recontextualizes your interactions, and like things you've said of like that sparked this and oh maybe this was this. Yeah.

Bex: This is like even a thing that could happen. As opposed to before it was like what that I would never think of that.

Ian: Yeah, I think that happens. So I think I read that text, and I think I like smile to myself, right? It just sort of catches me off guard. And I say,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] I would love that.

Mayanna: (Gasps) Wow.

Ian: But then I, but then I also send,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] side note, are you feeling okay?

Mischa: Um…

Ian: I've stumped the GM.

[Music fades out].

Mischa: Yeah. You nat 20'd the insight–

Ian: Damn right I did

Mischa: –but whether or not she's going to open up to you about this over text, not even at the date yet, but is she going to open up to you? Um, can you roll… This is gonna be a, like… I want a high persuasion roll.

Ian: Here we go.

Mayanna: Oh, nice.

Mischa: And I think if you try this roll again later, right, there are circumstances which will make the difficulty lower.

Mayanna: Yea, of course.

Mischa: But in this moment, it's pretty high.

Ian: A 7 persuasion.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: That's fine.

Bex: That tracks.

Ian: Great, great insight. Poor execution.

Mayanna: It makes sense.

Mischa: Yeah, um. She just says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] Yeah, thank you so much, it really means a lot that you care. I feel great.

Ian: Awesome. I text back,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] I’m so happy to hear that. I would love to.

Mayanna: Awww.

Ian: Oh man, do I say tonight question mark? No, that feels crazy. There's so much crazy shit going on.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] Let's get together this week. Let's get dinner this week.

Mischa: It takes her a minute, and then she responds.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] I’m looking forward to it.

Mischa: Period. And then she sends another one that says,

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] I mean, it’s gonna be great!

Mischa: Exclamation point. And then she's like, really overthinking that period. She sends like a couple more texts.

Lyn: (Guffaws).

Ian: She’s like me in texts, this is how I text.

Lyn: I feel that in my soul. I feel that in my soul!

Mayanna: I have a friend who is like, anytime somebody texts me something that ends in a period, I assume they are mad. And I'm like, “no, it's just good punctuation!”

Bex: You guys I have refused to use punctuation for a while because of that.

Mayanna: Honestly, fair.

Ian: Also the edit feature in iMessage, worst thing that's ever happened to me.

Mayanna: I love the edit feature in iMessage.

Ian: I know, but I text my girlfriend, and then I immediately edit it six times.

Mayanna: Because you have to, but like that means you care.

Ian: It does, but I also feel like a sociopath.

[Laughter].

Bex: You're just gay about it.

Mischa: So that's the text you get from Paz, and she's like,

[SFX: Light, ethereal synth music begins].

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: staticky] I'm really looking forward to it. I mean It's gonna be great. Where should we go? I think it's gonna be a good time. Okay. Have.. good… deliveries!

Ian: I laugh to myself. I say, and I, I, I say,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky] Haha, can't wait,

Ian: And a smiley face.

Mayanna: Aww. Oh my god.

Lyn: Incredible. Love that. This is why JJ and Paz get along.

Ian: We'll figure out where we're gonna go, cause probably not, Jenny's, it could be Jenny's, but we could also find some other fun places in town.

Mischa: I'm sure, as someone who keeps a notebook where you review different restaurants, you–You know, the exact place.

Ian: Yes. Exactly. So we'll, we'll approach that later.

Mayanna: Oh yeah. Paz is in for the best time.

Bex: Right?

Mayanna: And I'm so excited for this person who doesn't exist,

[Laughter].

Bex: Right? Especially because he knows her food allergies too. [Agreement]. Like, oh my God, this is going to be so great.

Ian: And then I set my compad, if that's what we're calling it,

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: Love it.

Ian: Called it, fuckin swinging the power around. Set my compad down, which has a little bit of flour on it, dust off my hands and turn back to where I am, which is in the kitchen baking a whole bunch of bread.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Yes! It's time for another installment of Gordon's Delivery Service!

Ian: (singing and snapping) Gordon's Delivery Service! Gordon's Delivery Service! Boop!

[Music begins: jaunty bossa nova].

Bex: I love this.

Mischa: That was great!

Ian: Thank you.

Mischa: I don't even need to do music. I will though.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, so it's another installment of Gordon's Delivery Service. As we recall, you're gonna name the delivery you're making and the reason that the person you're making the delivery to is expecting Cecilia and gets you.

Ian: Great.

Mischa: And then today, I have an extra little fun mechanic that we'll get into once we get in there. But for now, Fran, are you joining?

Mayanna: I'm joining. If Gordon will have me, I am joining.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Oh, good.

Ian: Always, every time.

Mayanna: Absolutely. I think I will have gotten up early and then make my way over on, like, some sort of transport so that he doesn't have to pick me up, so I'll, I'll have probably, like,

[Sounsdscape begins: transit and cars rolling by]

Mischa: Oh, wow.You're like up early.

Mayanna: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Because I, I, I did my, my wistful window watching and then I was like, I should probably get to the bus.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Although, I mean, yesterday was like an ordeal. You fought an entire mech and then did a bunch of stuff in the afternoon. I imagine y'all went to bed, except for Gordon, maybe, who was like staring into the void. Y'all probably went to bed like even earlier than usual.

Mayanna: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I got up early and so I, I, I didn't want you to have to worry about picking me up. So I think I'm going to meet you at the silo.

[SFX: bus brakes squeaking, door opening and closing, low motor rumbling]

Ian: I love that. I also just love the casual anime vibes of like, we fought a giant mech yesterday, and then, and then 12 hours later, you're just like, tiredly standing at a bus stop.

Mayanna: Yeah. Just holding my backpack, Just like,

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, here we go. We got work to do.

Ian: So you meet me at the silo.

Mischa: Great. where are y'all delivering today?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: My choice?

Mischa: Yeah, it's Gordon's Delivery Service, man.

All: (Singing) Gordon's Delivery Service. Gordon's Delivery Service.

Mayanna: Call now.

Ian: Boop.

[Laughter].

Ian: I would say today, I think we're visiting a church of some sort.

Mayanna: Ooh, awesome.

[Music begins: light, ethereal synth pads and chimes]

Mischa: Oh, interesting. So, okay. I love that. There is a spot in East Mine Town, which is known as Temple Way. It's in one of the older parts of town that has sort of older shrines to various gods, like organized place of worship that were like from the really early days, like almost before New Prosper was a whole city. They were like we're gonna build a mine here, the miners need a place to practice their various faiths, one of the first places we're gonna establish is like this row of houses of worship.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Mischa: Tell me about this temple.

Ian: It's not very tall. I think it's, like, low to the ground. It might even be, like, single story. You know, like, low and long as opposed to high and…

Mayanna: Mighty?

Ian: Amazing. Yeah, how far is it from the mine?

Mischa: Well, the mine is huge and in the dead center of the city. Everything kind of spreads radially out from there. It's really pretty close to the rim, I would say.

Ian: Right. Yeah, maybe that's why we're here today too, because of last night, sort of being pulled back to the, you know what I mean?

Mischa: Ooh, that, that you can't like, avoid the call.

Ian: Can’t let it go. Yeah, yeah.

[Music shifts: ominous, suspenseful synth and strings]. [Soundscape of traffic and motor rumbling in the background].

Mischa: Fran, will you roll insight about that?

Mayanna: Yeah, I will absolutely roll insight about that.

Ian: (Singsong-y) Acting like it's fine.

Mischa: Do you want to roll deception?

Ian: Yeah, sure.

Mayanna: Okay, let's see here.

Ian: Fuck.

Mayanna: That's a 16.

Ian: Yeah, that's a 5.

Mayanna (Fran): Um, you, you okay, Gordon?

Ian (Gordon): (Long pause). (Drawn out) No…..

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Um, do you want to talk about that?

Ian (Gordon): No?

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, okay. Alright, is it just, you know, rough night?

Ian: I think as we're driving, I look past Fran out the window to the edge of the mine.

Mischa: You're driving radially around it so it, so the mine is just like deep and like makes up the horizon kind of no matter where you look past, like you're just always looking kind of at it.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: So yeah, so like Fran asks, you know, are you okay? And you just stare a little bit past her. out like the other side of the tuk-tuk and just in the background over Fran's shoulder at every angle you look as you drive towards Temple Way you see the mine. It's just big and looming.

Ian: And I keep sort of like checking in to make sure nothing's changing with it, you know, like it's an animal, kind of.

Mischa: So, yeah, and Fran, you clock Gordon having this existential moment vaguely moving towards like the most religious part of town.

Mayanna (Fran): Um… Do you… Are you, is it, are you okay? Is it the church? I don't know if you believe, I'm kind of, you know, I'm kind of like, “what could, who knows?” But like, you know, I don't know what your religious vibe is, you know?

[Music fades out]. [Soundscape returns to the sound of motors].

Ian: I think, I think Fran saying it that way, like, completely pulls me out of it and distracts me. And I just go,

Ian (Gordon): Who knows?!

Mayanna (Fran): Well, yeah, like, who knows?

Ian (Gordon): What do you mean who knows?

Mayanna (Fran): I mean like, I mean, I know that people can like, I just don't know what your like, religious vibe is, you know?

Ian (Gordon): That's such a good question. I don't think– I think I believe in bread.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, that's true. Bread you can see and feel and understand and you can like have a tactile relationship with it. So that like, makes sense to me.

Ian: So that's what I start talking about. Like I switch the subject. to what I baked today, which was garlic rolls, because the garlic rolls at Jenny's were so underwhelming. That that's what I made today for church.

Mayanna: Nice. Oh, amazing.

Lyn: Really good.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you worried they're not going to like it? Because I think they're going to like it.

Ian: That's a great question. I literally, you asked me that, and I opened the sort of like sliding back window of the tuk-tuk while we're driving, and I like reach my arm, and I like fish a roll out of one of the trays. And I like toss it to you.

Mayanna: Incredible.

Mischa: As soon as you roll the window up, like the waft of garlic comes from the back of the thing, it fill the front compartment.

Ian: Yeah, yeah yeah.

Mayanna: I love garlic. Me and Fran both love garlic.

[Laughter].

Ian: So how is it, that's my question.

Mayanna: I'm gonna try it. Do I roll? Do I need to roll for it or?

Mischa: No, it's good!

Mayanna (Fran): It's so good! They're gonna love it. It's gonna be fine.

Ian (Gordon): Thanks. Thank you so much. That makes me feel a lot better.

Ian: I think I like chill out when, when she says that. Breathe a sigh of relief when she tries.

Mayanna: Do you not normally listen to music when you do deliveries? 'Cause I mean, I love, I love a, a calm, neutral silence between friends, but I also love a tune.

Ian: I love that. Does this tuk-tuk have a radio?

Mischa: Ooh. here's what I'm going to say. This is Cecilia's tuk-tuk. Eleven or higher, there is a radio. Ten or lower, there isn't. There could be tomorrow, Gordon. That's up to you.

Mayanna: Oh. Here we go.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: Twelve. yeah, there's a radio.

Ian: There's a radio!

Mayanna: Amazing! Let's listen to some music or something.

Ian: Yeah, I love that. Here, go for it. Pick a song.

[SFX: static and intermittent sounds of radio dialing in].

Mischa: You click on, some tunes. It's all the best hits of the 80s, 90s, and today.

[SFX: staticky, upbeat pop rock].

Mayanna: Ah, Yes.

[Laughter].

Mischa: No, but it is, it is like a, like a chill tunes radio.

Mayanna: I love that song “Damn I Feel Like a Half Elf.”

Bex: Yes. A banger.

[Laughter].

Ian: Is it? That's, that's a Mayanna's laughing so hard she can't anymore.

[Everyone sings the intro sting to “Damn, I Feel Like a Woman”]

Mayanna: Let's go elves!

[Laughter].

Ian: Fuck it that's a party point, but I really resent it.

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: I really don't like that I'm giving you a party point.

Bex: You have to put a category for party points you resent.

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: A second party point.

Mayanna: I do it for the points!

[Laughter].

[Music begins: light, dreamy, synth organs]

Mischa: okay, so I think that this church is dedicated to to light. [SFX: heavy door latch opens]. I think that this place on Temple Way has like a big sort of refractive skylight opening that sort of takes in the light of early morning as it comes like underneath uh the fortress of Upper Prosper and like it catches those early sunshine rays and refracts them so you walk in there's not a lot of artificial lighting, but it is one of the brightest places, especially that you can find, you know, in the shadow of the upper city. Tell me about the head abbot of this place, the person who's expecting Cecilia and gets you.

Ian: I think they're, I mean, they're very mine-related, right? So they're not in, super elegant decorated clothes. They're much more in like, brown-scape, workery.

Mischa: Oh yeah, I would say for a light domain place, probably wearing like rough linen that hasn't been like bleached white, but it's like light clothing, you know. As the morning rays come in, like it sort of casts them in like a little bit of glow as they wander around the space with, I don't want to say worshippers, because I don't know if people are coming to like pray to a statue, but people who like come here for solace.

Bex: Lightbaths.

Mayanna: Community.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah. (Chuckling) People using the ceiling as a, as a seasonal affective disorder–

Bex: Yeah. Lightbaths.

Ian: Wow.

Lyn: Like it's a better tone than the lights from the Upper City.

Mischa: Yeah, something about like the prism of it like softens the lights of the underside of the upper city.

Mayanna: Amazing.

Lyn: More natural.

Mischa: Yeah.Honestly, yeah. Yeah,

Ian: I love that. I think we walk in, and they have this, they have such a calm, serene voice to them, right? You know, do you want to do it, or do you want me to do it?

Mischa (The Abbot): (with a wavering voice) Welcome, young baker. Thank you so much for delivering.

[SFX: voices echoing, in the halls of the temple] .

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] Hi! We're here for the, uh, we're here to, delivering. You nailed it. Um, sorry, what's your name?

[Music ends].

Mischa: Why the hell did my brain just say that this guy's name is Abbott Costello?

[Laughter].

Bex: It is! Because it is! Because this is Abbott Costello!

Mayanna: Yes! Please!

Mischa: Damn. Yeah, his name's Abbott Costello.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Incredible.

Bex: Mischa, I love you.

Mayanna: I love it.

Lyn: Ten out of ten.

[Soundscape begins: quiet shuffling through the church, books being put down and picked up in the distance]

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] So nice to meet you, Mr. Costello. Uh, the Abbott. Anyway, uh, where do you want me to put the rolls?

Mischa (Abbott Costello): [SFX: echoey] We will take them to the back for any who might enjoy them. (Sniff). These– ooh, extra garlic.

Ian: Do I, can I, is that a good thing or a bad thing, I'm wondering? Not asking, wondering.

Mischa: Go ahead and roll insight.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: I rolled the Nat 1 fuck.

Mayanna: Aww.

Bex: Oh no, is he a vampire?

(All overlapping).

Lyn: Woah, at the light–?

Mischa: Yeah, The Abbot of the Light Temple is a vampire.

Bex: Yeah, it's a vampire. With a Nat 1, that's what you think.

Ian: Absolutely. It's canon, it's canon, it's canon.

Mayanna: He's one of those daywalker vampires that can walk in the sun or whatever.

Mischa: Uh, the Abbot, like, eats one and is like,

Mischa (Abbott Costello): [SFX: echoey] Mmm, I would not think of garlic rolls as a light dish. They are delicious but, uh, rather off theme. Did, did Cecilia bring these?

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] Yeah, yeah. She thought that it would be a great switch from the normal. Uh, you know, a little change up.

Mischa (Abbott Costello): [SFX: echoey] Indeed. I will have to discuss these changes with her. We are an old institution with an old way of doing things.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] No, no, no, that's fine. I'll tell her. How about I tell Cecilia and, and, and she'll note it down for the future?

Mischa: I think now is a great time for you to roll a d8 for me, please.

Mayanna: Oh. Ominous.

Bex: Whoops.

Ian: Oh god. [Dice rolls]. I rolled a 7.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: 7? (Chuckles) Okay.

Bex: Is that good?

Lyn: I don't know if that's good.

Ian: I'm gonna assume it's some kind of–

Bex: I'm assuming it's bad.

Mischa: You Head back out to the tuk-tuk to get, like, a second box of rolls. [SFX: door swings open]. You know, you don't want to leave this temple lacking, even if, like, maybe garlic rolls not the best fit.

Ian: Sure, yeah, they need enough bad rolls.

Mischa: Well, I, I, I don't want to say bad, they taste good. I think he just was not expecting them.

Mayanna: They’re just different.

Ian: Yes, of course.

Mischa: Like, you don't go to a church and expect, like, the fancy garlic parmesan wafers.

Ian: That's a great point, yeah.

Mischa: But you, you don't want to leave him short handed, so you go back and get the second thing. From around the corner of the building you hear a low growling.

[Music begins: suspenseful, jazzy strings and piano].

Mischa (Unidentified Creature): (Growls).

Ian: Uh, okay, great. (Blows raspberry). Awesome.

Mayanna (Fran): What was that?

Ian: I'm terrified. Terrified.

Mayanna (Fran): What was that?

Mischa: You, you slowly turn your head and you see a big dog on the sidewalk.

Mayanna (Fran): Ohh, big dog.

Ian: Like, how big?

Lyn: Like… Mountain lion-sized?

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, like mountain lion-sized. I was gonna say, have you ever seen a dog that was the size of a small horse?

Mayanna: Oh yeah.

Bex: A great dane.

Ian: Yes, yes I have. Okay, great. And it's looking at me, and it's not happy.

Mischa: Do you want to roll animal handling?

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Oh, fuck yeah. Ooh, I got a 17.

Mischa: Yeah? As you sort of lean to one side and lean to the other and try to gauge this dog's behavior, you spot its eyes tracking the garlic rolls.

Ian: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Aww.

Ian: Oh no. It's a hungry dog.

Mayanna: He's just hungry.

Ian: I take a garlic roll. And I gingerly put– I like toss it, like two feet in front of the dog.

Mischa: Uh, it catches it.

Ian: Oh wow.

Mayanna: Good boy.

Ian: That’s a little scary.

Mischa: It like jumps forward.

Mischa (Dog): (chomps roll out of the air)

Ian: Yeah, that was terrifying. I'm like, I don't feel like I'm in danger, but I still feel very scared.

Mayanna: You know when like a dog's teeth like go like, get that, like that hard click.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, gotcha.

Ian: But I like something about this dog.

Mayanna: Aww.

Ian: Uh, I tossed it another garlic roll.

Mischa: Uh, it jumps again.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Ian: What's the, what's the emotional state of the dog at this point after two rolls?

Mischa: Um…

Ian: P. S. I rolled a 19 instead of 17. I lied, just so you know.

Mischa: Okay, listen, you're, the, the dice said a 19, so, yeah, I think the dog, the first couple times you, you give it a roll, it sort of lands back in that crouch, like that, that defensive crouch, and like, trying to figure out how to, how it can get the tray from you. But you toss it a couple more, and over the course of it, like, it realizes you're going to give it some?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: And then, after only a couple, like, it's waiting.

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: It sort of, like, sits, and, like, stares up at you.

Bex: Puppy.

Ian: I reach into my satchel, and I pull out, cause, like, garlic rolls are okay, but garlic rolls aren't for dogs.

Mischa: That's true.

Lyn: Yeah, garlic is toxic to dogs.

Ian: Is it fucking really? Oh no!

Mischa: Yeah. It is, It's gonna give him big tummy aches later, but you don't have to be there for that.

Ian: He's huge, so.

Mischa: Also, this is a fantasy world.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Maybe in this world, Dogs like garlic, leave me alone.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Dogs are not vampires.

[Laughter].

Ian: I reach into my muffin bandolier, and I pull out like a much more sort of savory muffin that would be like much more better for the dog, much more better.

Mischa: Ooh, like a sausage roll?

Ian: Yes. I have sausage rolls in my bandolier.

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: And I think this time, ooh, I'm taking a chance here.

Mayanna: Okay.

Ian: I set the rolls down, and I approach the dog with the sausage roll. And I I, instead of tossing it to him, I hold it out in front of him.

Mischa: The dog darts forward.

Ian: Oh god.

Mischa: And sniffs, sniffs, sniffs, sniffs.

[SFX: dog sniffing and quietly whines].

Ian: Oh god, I'm so scared.

Mischa: And then looks back up and waits for you.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: (Gasps) Whoa!

Ian: I give the dog the sausage roll. And then while he's eating it, presumably?

[Music begins: gentle, lighthearted piano and chimes].

[SFX: chomping].

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Do it.

Ian: I pet him. I pat him on the head.

[SFX: Dog whimper].

Mischa: The dog's angrier facial features sort of relax and it closes its eyes sleepily, chewing happily on the sausage roll and receiving pets.

Mayanna: Does he have a collar?

Mischa: No.

Ian: No collar.

Mayanna: Gordon.

Ian: I call Fran.

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon, You gotta–Gordon.

Ian: I go

Ian (Gordon): Fran!

Mayanna: I've been here the whole time.

Ian: Oh have you been standing next to me this whole time?

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm like, I follow you. Like, I'm your little assistant. Like, I'm here if you need anything. I'm here to hold stuff if you need me to hold stuff. So I've been watching this whole situation.

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon, you, Gordon, you have to. Gordon, you have to.

Ian: I pat him on the head and I say,

Ian (Gordon): I'm gonna name you…

Ian: What am I, what am I gonna name him? So we’re gonna call him BG.

Bex: Instead of GB, Gordon Baker?

Ian: Well, because I was thinking garlic bread. GB. GB… BG

All: Oh, GB. BG.

Mayanna: Uh, Big Guy.

All: Big Guy! [Cheers and laughter].

Bex: Barlek gred.

Ian: That was so good.

Mischa: Uh, try to tempt BG into the tuk-tuk with another sausage roll.

Ian: Yep.

Mischa: BG seems hesitant to get into the, a, small space like the tuk tuk.

Ian: I completely understand that.

Mayanna: I understand. I will sit in the back with the bread. [Laughter]. I will give up my seat. I want you to have this dog.

Ian: So maybe what we do, maybe what we do, is because we've already given, like a certain amount of trays out. So maybe we move the rest of the trays that are in the back of the tuk tuk to the front seat, and then you sit in the back with BG.

Mayanna: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Bex: Make sure he doesn't–

Ian: So maybe I put a roll in the bed of the tuk tuk. Does BG jump in the bed of the tuk-tuk?

Mischa: Ooh, can you, you're going to have to roll a second animal handling check.

Mayanna: I would love to give you the help action if I could.

Mischa: Yeah. So that's with advantage.

Ian: I rolled a yeet.

[Gasps].

Ian: I yeeted it.

Mayanna: Big Guy is canon now.

All: (chanting) Big guy, big guy, big guy! Big guy, big guy, big guy! Big guy, big guy, big guy!

Mischa: Gordon, you have a dog now.

[Cheers, yelling, laughing].

All: Fuck yeah!! For real?! Yes!!

Lyn: I'm so thrilled and so afraid!

Mayanna: Oh my god, we have a dog!

Ian: I've never got a dog in a campaign before!

Mayanna: Me neither! I’m so excited, I'm so excited for you!

Mischa: And the largest cheer and the biggest high, emotional high of the campaign: the time Gordon got a dog.

[More cheers and laughter].

Mayanna: That's the name of the episode. Clickbait, not clickbait.

Ian: Okay, I have a dog.

Bex: Big Guy, Gordon Baker.

Ian: So we finished the delivery.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Can we say he's a Bernese Mountain Dog?

Ian: He's massive.

Mayanna: He's a big guy.

Ian: Yeah, but he's, but he's black, right? He's a big black dog, like a short haired dog.

Mayanna: Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We didn't pick breed. Roll for breed. I don't know.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Is there a dog breed table?

Ian: To me, to me, like a giant, like a, like a mastiff.

Mayanna: Oh, a mastiff.

Ian: Like a huge, short haired, big jowly dog.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my god. I'm so excited.

Mischa: Yeah, Absolutely.

Ian: Jet black. This is fucking wild.

Mayanna: I will die. I will die before this dog dies. I will take a bullet for this dog.

Bex: We will protect this dog. At all costs.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Good for me to know, the person in charge of the bullets.

Mayanna: Yes, I will take, I will take a bullet for this dog.

Mischa: Yes, you wrap, you wrap up the rest of your deliveries, only now you have this dog. I can't believe Gordon just has a dog.

Ian: (Dog panting noises).

[Other players start making dog panting noises].

Mischa: You'll have to, you'll have to make a, make a stop at the pet store.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Ian: Dog sounds coming off the couch! Yeah, I think I do. I think we make a quick side step, cause, cause he's, he's a stray dog, so he's probably a little thin, right? You can probably see his ribs, for even how big he is, or not?

Mischa: Uh, great question. Do you want to roll medicine about that?

Ian: Yes I do.

Mayanna: Ooh, do it.

Lyn: I love all these dog rolls.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: 16.

Mischa: Ooh, yeah. it looks like this dog is not that skinny. You get a sense that it's probably been eating a lot of the rolls that Cecilia delivers.

Mayanna: That is so funny.

Ian (Gordon): Oh my God. Oh my God. I wonder if Cecilia knows BG.

Bex: I'm sure she does.

Mayanna: I bet she does–we’ll ask.

Mischa: We'll see when she comes back from town.

Mayanna (Fran): I miss Cecilia so much. I love doing this with you, but I hope she's doing okay.

Ian (Gordon): I'm terrified. I hope I don't get in trouble for making garlic bread for the church and then lying and saying it was her idea.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, He's so old. He'd probably forget.

[Laughter].

Ian: Yeah, I did also want to know how upright that old man was, cause he sounded like he was pretty parallel to the floor.

Mayanna: How much question mark is his spine?

Bex: (Laughing) “How question mark is his spine?”

Mischa: Honestly, Abbott Costello, I think he's like, a short man and like not bowed, but definitely looks like, a meeple or like a Matryoshka doll kind of shape, like just like a round guy, like straight to the floor.

Mayanna: A round man. I love it. With the robes, just like, yeah,

Bex: Just a little blueberry.

Mayanna: Yea, a little blueberry man.

[Music begins: jovial, relaxed lo-fi].

Ian: So my pitch is, sorry, just cause to not get a super off track. My pitch is that we finish the rest of our deliveries and then we stop at the pet Mart and we pull whatever meager sums that we have and buy the basics. Like a dog bowl, a water bowl and a pillow.

Mischa: Sure. And maybe that's when it hits you that like, Fran, you've been doing this like side gig for the past couple of days. Like, are you getting paid?

Mayanna: Oh no, I just, I'm just here for the vibes.

[Laughter].

Mischa: No worries for Fran? Not even a little bit of like, “oh yeah, I should probably do something that's getting paid?”

Mayanna: I'm hoping, I'm hoping that the job we just did will pay and then I like, here's my thing. I want to help Gordon because I want Gordon to get in good with Cecilia, and I just like to stay busy. So I'll also, I would love to use my craftsman's tools as we finish up the deliveries to make BG a collar.

Lyn: Yes!

Bex: Yay!

Mayanna: So I'm working on that in the back. I was like measuring his neck. Um, and so I, I, I give you like a sort of like dark purple leather collar with like a nice little silver pressed coin.

Bex: Can you infuse it with like tracking?

Mayanna: Ooh, that might take longer. Correct?

Mischa: That would probably get into like actual magic. Actual custom stuff. Yeah, that'll, I'll do that later.

M!: That's later.

Mischa: We were doing like a fun cute little thing.

Bex: Sorry I got ahead of everything.

Mayanna: No, but honestly not a bad idea. But I think for now just like, he now has a home, and so he deserves a collar as well. So I made it for him.

Ian: This is the, the one where Gordon gets a dog and a girlfriend.

All: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Mischa: Gordon's living his best life today!

Mayanna: BG GF, let's go!

Bex: It's Gordon's big day.

[Laughter].

Ian: Gordon's big day.

Lyn: Big day.

[Music fades out].

Mischa: You finish up your deliveries for the morning, and then it probably hits you at some point near the end as you're sort of like basking in having a new dog, this wonderful distracting force that's keeping you finally staring at something that isn't just the gaping void in the center of the city that, like, causes your heart to race a little bit every time you look at it. At some point it probably occurs to both of you that JJ set an appointment with Gwen this morning.

Mayanna: Oh! Oh!

Ian: Oh! Shoot.

Mayanna: Oh, we have to go! We have to go there. We have to go to there. Oh gosh.

Ian: Right. We just bring BG with us.

Mayanna: Yeah, we got it, we got it.

Ian: Cause there's no time, we ran so late.

Mayanna: On the commute I make like a, and it's probably like less sophisticated, but a little leash to go with the collar the rest of the drive.

Mischa: Sure, yeah. The minute it hits you guys, you rev up the tuk-tuk,

Ian: (revving up engine noises).

Mischa: BG sticks a head out the window and just goes

[SFX: dog bark].

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: And you drive away.

Bex: He's got such a little bark for such a big guy.

Ian: Yeah, he's got, that's what I was just thinking. Small bark, big dog.

Mischa: Yeah. The next thing this morning is, uh, JJ, you had talked to Gwen yesterday about sort of getting everybody together and debriefing about what's been going on.

Lyn: (Drawn out yelp. That's fine. That was Lyn, not JJ.

Bex: (sings) What’s been goin– (Stops singing) Okay.

Lyn: Thank you. Yeah.

[Music begins: energetic, rhythmic, arpeggiated synth beeps].

Lyn: JJ waking up, I think, like, looked at her, like, whiteboard calendar thing, about to do, like, the normal routine, and then, like, stares at it for a second… And then just erases most of it.

Mayanna: Whoa!

Bex: Nice.

Lyn: Like, keeps, like, appointment with Gwen, but, like, the only things that are up there are, like, see Gwen, see friends, see family. Like, it's all just, like, everything, everything else is just, like, erased.

Mayanna: Wow.

Lyn: And just, like, keep staring at it for a bit. And then probably that was also when all those texts came in and she's like,

Lyn (JJ): Okay, (sighs)Um… Nothing matters. No, that's not true. Everything, everything matters. That, that didn't matter. This matters. This matters a lot. Okay.

Mischa: And I think for, for someone who's so on the move, on a morning routine. I think, like, if you're erasing everything but the appointment which you knew you had to make after Gordon's deliveries would be done, so like it's like a mid to late morning kind of deal, for someone who's always like on the clock moving like brush teeth, you know, whatever I think maybe this morning like you're just at your kitchen table. Just like staring.

Lyn: Yeah, like just staring for a while. Didn't even make my own coffee. Just staring.

Mischa: And then eventually like an alarm goes off. [SFX: alarm ringing]. It's like hey get to your appointment with Gwen.

Mayanna: Okay Moment of zen, but for the wrong reason.

Bex: Moment of zen before Gwen.

Lyn (JJ): I will grab coffee on the way. I think. I think that’d be good for me. I’m talking to myself. Yeah, I talk to myself. That's fine and normal, I think.

[Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): I do that, right? Yes. What? What? What am I doing? Okay, I gotta go. Uh. Uhh! (Sighs). Everything's fine. Everything's, we're good. We're good. We… Me… I'm good.

Lyn: I'm saying that as I'm like, you know, locking up my door behind me. I'm gonna go to like, the coffee shop around the corner first before texting everyone like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Remember, we're meeting with Gwen in a bit. Okay, see you all there.

Mischa: Gordon, do you say anything on the group chat about bringing a dog?

Ian: (Pause). No.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah! Hell yes! Amazing.

Bex: Good. Because I have a plan too!

Mischa: Yeah, JJ, you're the closest to the Department of Labor Management offices. You head on over and wait outside on the sidewalk for the rest of your compatriots to show up.

[Soundscape begins: cars going by, people walking, gentle, indistinct chatter]

Lyn: Yeah, I'm like waiting on, um, kind of like on the steps. There's like side railings that are stone, so people hang out on them like they're benches.

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: So I'm just like Kknd of hanging out, watching people as they go by, maybe saying hi to some of the people that, again, very awkwardly like,

[SFX: heels stepping on pavement].

Lyn (JJ): Hey, Melissa, morning, have a good… day.

Mischa: A lot of people just like, kind of like half waving and nodding as they head inside.

Lyn: I think like at some point I like pull up my– what? Compad?

Ian: Compad.

Lyn: Compad.

Mischa: He said it, it's canon. I can’t change it now.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's great.

Lyn: Yeah, like I take up my compad, and I start typing a message to Samira and then delete it. And then start typing again. And then delete it.

Mayanna: Oof.

Bex: (quietly) Gay.

Lyn: And then I–

[Laughter].

Bex: Sorry!

Ian: Take–I love how you're taking it back. You know.

Lyn: Yeah. Take it back, take it back.

[Laughter].

Bex: Oh my god, Mayanna.

Mayanna: “Gay!”

[Laughter].

Ian: Sorry. That is also a party point. That's funny. I’m keeping it.

Mayanna: Oh sorry.

Lyn: And then, yeah, just continues to just sit and wait. Just watching everyone go by and being like,

[Music begins: light, pensive]. [Soundscape continues].

Lyn (JJ): this is what matters. They all. This, them. Everyone here that's walking by, this is what matters.

Lyn: And like, kind of similar to Fran, I think, is like, “I don't know who knows and who doesn't, but clearly that doesn't matter because anyone can be affected.”

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: And I think that's really scary.

[Music fades out]. [Soundscape continues].

Mischa: Ibra, you and Paz pull up on your bike in front of the labor management building, [SFX: electric bike decelerating] catching JJ in a thousand yard stare. Like, I think JJ's like, just kind of like staring at the sidewalk a little bit and just like doesn't even notice you drive up.

Bex: I recognize that because that's how my morning was until Paz texted. I, when I got home last night, I crashed super early, which means my internal clock has like eight hours set. So I woke up early.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: And I was just in the state that JJ's in now for, for, for those couple hours before Paz texted. Sort of seeing that thousand yard stare, Ibra swings their helmet into, like, down into view by their legs.

Mischa: Sure.

Bex: Sort of in the vicinity of JJ's eyeline, just so there's movement, something to break them out, but not freak them out too much.

Lyn: Ah, a mountain lion!

[Laughter].

Lyn: (Laughing) I'm never letting that go.

Mayanna: Meow!

Lyn: I was kidding. No, JJ doesn't do that. But does, like, go,

Lyn (JJ): Ah! Oh.

Bex (Ibra): Hey.

Lyn (JJ): Hey. Sorry, I didn't hear you come up.

Bex (Ibra): It’s o–

Lyn (JJ): Paz! Hi!

Mischa (Paz): Hey, hi!

Bex (Ibra): I brought a surprise.

Mischa (Paz): It's me.

Mayanna: It’s a Paz.

Lyn (JJ): What a lovely surprise.

Lyn: I open my arms as an offering for a hug.

Mischa: Roll for hugs? No, I'm just joking. It's great!

Mayanna: It's a nat 20 every time!

[Laughter].

Mischa: I have every faith that JJ is excellent at hugs.

Bex: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah, one thing they're confident at, it's hugs.

Mischa: So true.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Paz): Hey, yeah, thanks for including me in your, like, club of people who got attacked at Boggins’ Beestro by a Ghost.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know if that's a club, and also we were all there…

Bex (Ibra): I'd say you're already part of it, by being there, right?

Mischa (Paz): Yeah!

Lyn (JJ): We didn't want– it's not that we–

Mischa (Paz): Do we have like a secret handshake, or?

Lyn (JJ): : Uh….

Mischa (Paz): Like, like, membership cards? I can make them?

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Bex (Ibra): Really?

Mischa (Paz): No, I'm just kidding around. What are you guys what are you talking about?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, we don't fully know what's happening still. Well, we kind of do.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I feel like– Should we fill Paz in on like, what we've got so far.

Lyn (JJ): oh yeah, I think, I mean Gordon and Fran are still on their way, so.

Bex (Ibra): We've got some time.

Mischa (Paz): Oh my god, you guys have been, like, on it. This is so exciting. I have been waiting in a hospital bed. It has been so boring! Tell me everything.

Mischa: And I think you guys, like, star wipe, like, explaining it to her, and as soon as you kind of catch up, that's when, skrrt, [SFX: brakes squealing] the tuk-tuk drives up alongside.

Ian: That's a hard brake. I'm excited.

[Music begins: jaunty, lighthearted].

Mischa: Yeah. out of the back window of the tuk-tuk, like, a big dog's face just hanging out.

Mischa (BG): (Panting).

Bex (Ibra): Whoa!

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Bex (Ibra): Hi, big guy!

Lyn (JJ): Hi, hello, aww, he's so cute.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Oh, he's got a lot of drool.

Ian: I think the only way that I communicate with BG so far is like leading him around food wise. So I think I toss, I think I toss JJ a biscuit.

Lyn (JJ): Ah ah oh!

Lyn: I'm gonna roll a dexterity, see if I catch it.

Mayanna: Ooh, yes. I love this.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Okay, fine. 15 plus something.

Mayanna: Nice. Good job.

Ian: So I toss you a muffin and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Guys, this is BG!

Mayanna (Fran): It's BG!

Bex (Ibra): BG!

Mayanna (Fran): It's BG! He's here now.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): Yep, he's here now and that is happening and that will not stop happening. So get ready!

Lyn (JJ): Okay!

Bex (Ibra): Cool. Hi BG, nice to meet you

Lyn: Immediately JJ is just happy.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes good, oh my god yay!

Bex: Okay, so

Mischa: nothing will break you out of a thousand yard stare quite like a cute dog.

Lyn: it’s literally like in colleges instead of like giving like more than ten sessions of therapy. They have a puppy party.

Bex: Yes.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: It's what that feels like.

Bex: Last night at the party, there were blessings that were coming from a giant D20, and the blessing that I got was the good boy blessing.

Mischa: Oh my god!

Mayanna: BG's the good boy! Oh my god!

Lyn: Wow!

[Laughter].

Bex: BG's the good boy. It came true so fast. My good boy blessing is BG.

Ian: Holy cow.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

[Laughter].

Ian: Mayanna is literally being torn apart by her joy right now. I mean I've never seen her make these faces.

Mayanna: I'm so happy! I typed up the little blessings and I was like, I hope somehow, someway, these are maybe a little bit magical.

Bex: So real though.

Ian: This is the chillest session we've had so far. Just the dogs…

Mayanna: I love it, the vibes, immaculate. I love it here.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Happy birthday.

Mayanna: Yeah! Thank you.

Bex: I think Ibra being like a protein fiend has jerky in their backpack, so I think I take out some jerky and I feed BG.

Mayanna: (Whispers) Oh I love it so much.

Mischa: Yeah. Oh my God. So many meat snacks for BG. BG is elated. And like also like has been munching on like stray rolls in the back of the tuk-tuk, I think is like happy and contented.

[Music ends].

Ian: I go,

Ian (Gordon): hey boy, you're going to stay right here and you're going to be a good boy.

Mischa (BG): (Woofs).

Mayanna: Um, I think like, cause I made the mop the other day, I think I've got some like stray rope. And so I, I did a little, a little, you know, one of those little braided rope bones.

Mischa: Yes!

Mayanna: So I was just working on that. So I'm going to give that to BG to chew on while we–

Ian: And we have a bowl with water in the, in the bed.

Mischa: Oh yeah. Cause you stopped by the pet store.

Ian: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In the bed, not in the, in the cab. Cause that's irresponsible.

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Mischa: For sure. Y'all head up and into Gwen's office.

[SFX: Door opens]

[Music begins: contemplative chimes].

Mischa: I think when you open the doors to the the main bullpen, I think the four of you kind of walk in and like head straight back, and I think you catch the rest of the bullpen giving you like half awed looks, you know, sort of like hushed whispering as you guys walk past people's cubicles.

Bex: I check my outfit for blood and rips.

Mayanna: I mean, we look amazing, but like, that's like, all the time for us, so.

Lyn: Can I insight check the vibe of the office currently?

Mischa: Yeah, yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: I still feel like I'm the same bloodied that I was yesterday, so I'm checking for signs of it on my body.

Mayanna (Fran): No, you look good. You look good.

Bex (Ibra): (Sighs). Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): You look good. You're okay.

Lyn: I only rolled an 8.

Mischa: There's several vibes sort of clashing throughout the office, and I think all of it just has the cumulative effect of making JJ incredibly uncomfortable. It seems like this word has spread of yesterday's events.

[Hums].

Bex: I clutch my backpack strap a little tighter against my shoulder.

Mayanna: I think I like, I like roll my shoulders back, like puff my chest out a little bit.

Mischa: Awesome.

Mayanna: Just like “teehee.”

Ian: I brush some, uh, flour off my apron.

Mayanna: Nice. Nice.

Mischa: You walk on back, you sort of like wave to Gwen through the window. She waves you in.

[SFX: Door opens]. [Music ends].

Mischa (Gwen): Excellent. Thank you all for coming, for making time for me this morning. Please shut the door.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course.

[SFX: Door closes].

Mischa (Gwen): I, I've heard several conflicting accounts of the events yesterday at the Overpass site.

Mayanna (Fran): From which parties out of curiosity?

Mischa (Gwen): Well, uh, I had some calls from the Mechanist Guild saying that they'll need additional resources because more parts of the, the bridge collapsed?

Lyn (JJ): Correct.

Mayanna (Fran): That is true.

Mischa (Gwen): I, uh, received a very terse note from Inspector Ravona's office.

[Groans].

Bex (Ibra): Oh. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Right. Could we perhaps see the contents of that note?

Mischa: Ooh. Roll persuasion.

Mayanna: Ooh, I can't wait. Let's see here.

Bex: Can I help? I wanna help.

Mayanna: You wanna help?

Bex: Yeah. I wanna be like,

Bex (Ibra): We had a little bit of a… awkward moment where we asked for more information and were met with, uh…

Lyn (JJ): Disdain.

Bex (Ibra): That's a really good word for it.

Mayanna (Fran): Dismissal would be another word I would use.

Mischa: Yeah, go ahead and roll again.

Mayanna: Okay. Come on, baby. [Dice rolls]. Ah! No. no. Not much better. 7.

Mischa: Oh, she says–

Bex: Does it count if it wasn't in the box?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh, maybe. Does it count if it wasn't in the box?

Mischa: I guess not. I don't know what to tell you.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Ugh, no.

Bex: It was a birthday box.

Mayanna: No, it doesn't want– it doesn't want it to happen. It's a five.

Mischa: The dice are telling the story.

Mayanna: The dice are saying no.

Mischa: Gwen says,

Mischa (Gwen): I don't think it would be appropriate to show you the exact wording– Suffice it to say, it seems that Inspector Ravona doesn't deem you fit for the task. Now, I think Inspector Ravona's a highly competent woman. I think she will follow this task diligently, but I don't think she's the ultimate authority. And I know you. I want to hear your side of the story.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course. Thank you.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Mischa (Gwen): What happened?

Mayanna (Fran): (sighs) Okay. Well.

Lyn (JJ): We arrived on the site, and then, when we got there, Gordon found additional explosive material on site buried amidst the rubble that was already a little bit suspect. I talked to the supervising engineer on staff, my father.

Mischa (Gwen): Oh, yes. I had seen that on the rolls after the fact. That was kind of a funny coincidence.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Gwen): Ha ha.

Lyn (JJ): Ha.

Ian: (Quietly) Writing that down.

Lyn (JJ): He had mentioned that those materials shouldn't have been on site. So that was already cause for alarm. And then while we were there, we believe that there was an outside force that caused the–

Bex (Ibra): Activated the device.

Lyn (JJ): Activated some sort of device that caused one of the Mecha excavator–

Ian (Gordon): There was someone on the bridge.

Mayanna (Fran): We couldn't make out who.

Lyn (JJ): And so we– Fran was amazing at being able to evacuate all of the workers who were on the site.

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon also assisted.

Lyn (JJ): And Ibra faced down against the excavator head to head.

Bex (Ibra): JJ saved me when I couldn't get it all done.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): We were able to decommission the excavator safely.

Bex (Ibra): Unfortunately, it did hit another part of the bridge. And, and that's–

Lyn (JJ): What caused the further collapse.

Bex (Ibra): It was trying to hit me and I– I'm sorry, I got out of the way, and it hit the bridge.

Mayanna (Fran): We also found several detonation devices that had been activated previously. I don't know if you'd mentioned that.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, yes. There were other activated devices. I think we turned over some of the detonation devices that we had found to Ravona, Inspector Ravona.

Ian (Gordon): Suffice it to say, it feels like something weird is going on.

Mischa: Yeah. As you're telling your story, Gwen is sort of rifling through papers and digging through her notes, which you had sort of really insisted that, that she start taking. And she furrows her brow and she goes,

Mischa (Gwen): I don't think I have any records of malicious sabotage quite yet. You know, we, we’re tracking all avenues, but this is, this is so concrete, and you gave this to Ravona, and, and?

Mayanna (Fran): The detonation device, yeah, we reported everything that we witnessed and experienced.

Bex (Ibra): And she dismissed us, and told us to leave, and told us we had no further business. And then when we asked questions, and telling her that it was really dangerous, and like, I almost died, she told us we were children and had nothing to do with anything.

Ian (Gordon): Wait, did she not tell you any of this?

Mischa (Gwen): She is very selective in what she tells me, uh, perhaps more than she needs to be. Yes, I… am disappointed to hear this. I was nervous about working with Inspector Ravona, and, I had hoped that she would be amenable to working with competent and caring individuals such as yourselves, which is why I, I entrusted you, JJ and Ibra, and you're a different, you know, we don't know each other.

Mayanna (Fran): Right, sorry, I'm Fran. I know to run the records and stuff, but yeah, yes.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, and this is Paz. Paz is joining our team. They were, she was out of commission after the first attack, but, she's really integral to our, to our work and our team.

Lyn (JJ): She remembers.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes.

Mischa (Paz): ‘Sup boss lady.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: For those listening at home, she, she hit ‘em with the peace sign.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: She hit ‘em with the sideways peace sign.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, Gwen kind of takes that in and like, sort of narrows her eyes slightly at Paz. It's like,

Mischa (Gwen): Yes. Pleasure.

Ian: And you are also here.

Mischa: Sshe says,

[Music begins: Melancholic, rhythmic guitar and suspenseful bass]

Mischa (Gwen): yes, I, I was, I was concerned. I believe very strongly that we need to unite our efforts to combat this malevolent force. And it sounds like there is indeed malevolence behind it. You say you saw a mys– a a shadowed figure detonating a device that brought these things to life. Like, clearly, someone is planning something, and the only way– I believe the only way we're going to stop anything is to pool our resources and combat it all together.

Mayanna (Fran): I agree.

Mischa (Gwen): Ravona does not agree with me on this.

Mayanna (Fran): What?

Bex (Ibra): Why?

Mischa (Gwen): I don't know if she's acting under some orders I haven't been made aware of, if there's some piece of this that I'm not able to know. She has different priorities than I do.

Mayanna (Fran): That is clear.

Mischa (Gwen): She is here to take charge and solve this mystery and keep it contained. I am here to keep people safe.

Bex (Ibra): And I'm, I'm on your wavelength with this.

Mayanna (Fran): 100%.

Bex (Ibra): And I, I think that was made clear, unfortunately, with Ravona in a way that she was not happy about at the site.

Mayanna (Fran): We just wanted some clarity on what she was aware of. And she was very hesitant and resistant to share that with us. And when we had mentioned that we are putting our lives on the line here, that was where she made the comments about us being…

Bex (Ibra): She called us children!

Mayanna (Fran): She called us children, she called us entitled. Yeah, she, she really pulled rank on us in a way that made it difficult for us to communicate with her.

Mischa (Gwen): So frustrating. That a woman like that should be given such authority. I don't mean to talk out of turn.

Mayanna (Fran): No, that's fair. We appreciate your candor. And we, we want the same thing you want, which is we want people to be safe. Whatever this is, obviously like the public being made aware, we don't want that either. We want people to feel safe, but we also want people to be safe. And containing a secret versus protecting people's lives... I think you know where we stand.

Mischa (Gwen): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): We've also started to investigate previous instances of the blue electric magic. And we're trying to learn anything that we can that will help us further understand the situation.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes.

Mischa (Gwen): In order to keep the people safe, not in order to contain whatever it is, or lock that information away from those that would be kept safe by it. You are here to keep people safe. You were here to learn things to keep people safe.

Mayanna (Fran): Agreed.

Mischa (Gwen): This is. (Exasperated sigh). These were the things I thought I was supposed to be looking for. I don't know. I don't know what Ravona’s deal is. I honestly don't.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm sorry.

Bex (Ibra): I'm sorry we've put you in this position.

Mischa (Gwen): No, no, of course it's not your fault. In fact, you know what?

Mischa: And she pulls a drawer open from her desk and she pulls out a set of forms.

[SFX: paper rustling].

Ian: Yes!

Mischa: Like, official, crisp looking forms with, like, a gold seal in the corner. And she says,

[Music ends].

[Music begins: triumphant yet solemn, slow horns and synth].

Mischa (Gwen): By the authority vested in me as the Magistrate of the Department of Labor Resources, I am hereby commissioning you five.

Mischa: And Paz in the corner goes,

Mischa (Paz): Oh me? Cool, sweet.

Mischa: And she says,

Mischa (Gwen): I'm commissioning the five of you as an investigative safety brigade.

Bex (Ibra): Cool.

Mayanna (Fran): Woah. An ISB.

Ian (Gordon): Whoa!

Bex (Ibra) : Hey, that's close to my initials.

Ian (Gordon): The ISB.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes!

Lyn (JJ): That's quite an honor, thank you.

Mischa (Gwen): It seems that Ravona's priorities are so different from ours that if she's looking out for the wrap up of this mystery, someone should be looking out for the people it affects. And you have proven yourselves worthy of the task.

Mischa: She takes out a fountain pen and like, signs the form with a flourish. [SFX: pen scratches]. And then goes,

Mischa (Gwen): Oh one moment.

Mischa: And she adds Paz's name and then like initials by it. She says,

Mischa (Gwen): Now, unfortunately without Ravonna's authority, you may have to defer to the quote unquote official investigation at times. My office can only do so much for you. I wield influence but not power, and it's important to know the difference.

Bex (Ibra): You deserve both.

Mayanna (Fran): But one is kind of more fun.

Ian (Gordon): So I guess that only leaves one last thing. Do you have another mission for us?

Mischa (Gwen): Yes, I've been consolidating community requests. I can't tell what's a supernatural event and what's caused by the mundane happenings of a city, but I have attempted to corroborate and consolidate every abnormal community request. And I have here a list of them.

[Music ends].

Bex: Is that what quest is? Short for request?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: That's so funny.

Ian: What?

Bex: I'm an idiot. [Laughter]. God damn it. Just figured this out. Okay, I'm having a moment.

[Midroll 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 out breath.

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

[Midroll music fades out].

Mischa: She hands you a typed out list of various community requests around the city that she thinks may or may not be related to wraith attacks, as far as she understands them. There's reports of break ins, there's reports of robberies and stick ups, there's reports of stolen keepsakes, there's reports of strange physics happening at certain old sites around the city.

Ian: That's where my eye goes immediately.

Bex: Yup.

Mischa: Okay. There's an old overseer's estate in Minetown, it's sort of a, like, a, one of the early examples of, like, a large mansion on the ground, that's been, as far as you know, abandoned for years, but apparently there's reports coming out of there of, some strange lights in windows going off, some spooky vibes that keep people from getting too close.

Ian: Spidey sense tingling.

Mischa: Yeah, there are also reports from an old factory that, some people have, gone into what should be a shutdown facility and spent days there and come out a couple of days later, incredibly exhausted.

Ian: Got it. So far, the Mine Town Mansion, it piques my interest most.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Ian: Like, and we're not talking about this, but like, just doing a quick glance at the list, that's what I, that's where my head goes.

Mayanna: From my insight from earlier, do I clock that?

Mischa: I mean, yeah.

Mayanna: Okay, so I do, I do like, kinda watch Gordon's expression for a second. When he looks at, at the, like his eyes, like his eyebrows, like furrow when he looks at that one. I’m like, “hmm.”

Ian: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Mischa: Yeah, sure. She says,

Mischa (Gwen): I trust your judgment. I trust you. You are my team. And here it is written in ink.

Mischa: And she slides the paper towards you. [SFX: paper slides across table]

Mischa (Gwen): I trust you. I have faith. I have faith in you.

Mischa: And she looks JJ right in the eyes. She goes,

Mischa (Gwen): I have faith in you.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, that means a lot, ma'am. Thank you. We'll do our best.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Bex (Ibra): Thanks boss.

Ian (Gordon): Can I ask a quick question?

Mischa (Gwen): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Some of us in this room today may have just, I don't know, gotten a dog, and–

Mayanna: (muffled laughter).

Ian (Gordon): You know, things like that have expenses attached to them. And I just was curious if there's a stipend that comes along with this?

Mischa (Gwen): Of course, this official position comes with an official stipend, of course. we'll set it up with each of your accounts at the bursar's office.

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispers) Oh my god.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Ian (Gordon): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, thank you.

Mayanna: Yeah. I'm like thinking about my rent and I'm like, “It's paid. It's paid, I don't have to find a new place to live.”

Mischa: Can you roll deception for me?

Mayanna: Oh, deception. Oh no, yes I can.

Mischa: It's a high number. Gwen gets a high modifier.

Mayanna: I know, I know. I know. [Dice rolls]. 15.

Mischa: Oh, pretty high, but not high enough. She pulls out a second form from the drawer. [SFX: paper rustling]. It's like a smaller, like, memo pad slip, and she writes a thing. She goes,

Mischa (Gwen): In fact, you should already be paid for the job you've already been doing. I commissioned you yesterday, I sent you on a mission, and Ravona may not be happy, but I am suitably satisfied that the task was completed. No one was hurt–I'm sorry, present company excluded.

Bex (Ibra): I mean, I'll take it. Nobody else was hurt. That's what we were going for.

Mischa (Gwen): You kept, your job was to keep civilians safe, and that you did. Your job was to investigate and learn new things about the threat that faces us, and report them back to me, and you did. It's unfortunate that Ravona won't be a part of our operation, and that we'll lack her approval, so to speak. Although, whether or not I need that, I'll decide later on my own. But, you should be paid for the job you've done. Take this down to the bursar's office, we'll get you paid right away.

[SFX: paper rustles].

Mayanna: Oh my god, I'm like, I'm so relieved.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Gwen hands you guys a little slip of memo paper that says, “Hey bursar's office, give these folks moneyyy.”

Bex: Verbatim.

[Music begins: ambient synths].

Ian: Does it say how much money that we get?

Mischa: no, but it does, it's sort of like an approval for the release of funds. The Bursar's Office in New Prosper is sort of like a general citywide bank and credit exchange. Like, when you get a birth certificate, you also get an account with the Bursar's Office. Kind of thing, that it's just sort of like tracked over the course of, and a lot of like the paperwork that is handled by guilds or businesses that register is sort of making sure that anything you're supposed to be paid gets put in your account. That, like, payroll is sort of automatic through the bank. Taxes are automatic through the bank, (pointed mumbling) like they should be.

Players: (Grumbling) Like, they should be, they should just, should just tell us what it should be.

Mischa: You know what it's supposed to be. Gwen stands up from her desk, uh, and, and you all sort of rise with her, almost like a judge leaving her chambers. And she just says,

Mischa (Gwen): Ravona may not be as grateful as she should be, but I am grateful to have you all looking out for this city. We're a little bit safer now with you on watch.

[Music ends].

Ian: We all exchanged like looks with each other. Me and Paz have eye contact for like just an extra second.

Mischa: Hey, Gordon.

Ian: Oh Lord.

Mischa: Can we introduce a new mechanic?

Mayanna: Oh my God.

Ian: Yeah, of course.

Bex: Roll for blushing?

[Music begins: tense synth pads]

Mischa: We're going to start doing flirt rolls.

All: Yes! [Cheers].

Lyn: Oh, I've been waiting for this one.

Mischa: So here's how, so here's how a flirt rule is going to work.

Ian: Okay.

Mischa: You're going to roll a d20 and I'm going to roll a d20.

Ian: Great.

Mischa: What we're trying to do is match numbers as close as possible.

Ian: Oh my God.

Mischa: So to this roll, you can either add or subtract your charisma modifier.

Mayanna: Cool.

Ian: Add or subtract your Charisma.

Mayanna: Cause you just want to get numbers close to each other.

Mischa: You're trying to get as close as possible.

Ian: That is fucking spectacular.

Mayanna: I love this mechanic. I think about it once a week. [Laughter]. I'll just be like making coffee and I'm like, “that's such a good idea.”

Ian: Alright, are you ready?

Mischa: Okay, here we go!

Ian: 1, 2, 3!

[Dice rolls]. [Music ends].

Mischa: So I rolled an 18.

Ian: I rolled an 8.

Mischa: Ugh!

Lyn: Dang.

[Music begins: lighthearted chimes].

Mischa: Yeah, you share a moment with Paz, you like, lock eyes briefly, and then she like, gets so nervous that she like, looks away. But as she's like, giving Gwen her fiercest eye contact, her face is just getting red.

Ian: Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. I love that.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Yes. It's so real. It's, it's exactly what it feels like. I love mechanics that feel like what life feels like.

Lyn: All of us are like internal, like we're all like clenched. Like we're all just a little bit like (squeals).

Ian: I'll say too that we all outside of the game have an idea of where we want this to go. In game though, Gordon? You know, this is a brand new thing, right? This is not, this is, this is like, Level 1 of 10 or 20.

Mayanna: It's like the beginning of a social link.

[Agreement].

Lyn: (Whispering) Persona series.

Ian: So it's like, so I see her blush a little bit, but like, I don't clock it too much.

Mischa: Okay. Yeah. as you guys are, uh, heading out, Gwen says,

Mischa (Gwen): Oh, JJ, uh, just one other thing.

[Music begins: hopeful yet melancholic piano and chimes].

Lyn (JJ): Uh, yes, ma'am.

Mischa (Gwen): I've seen your growth and you have stepped into this role with such a confidence. I really have marveled at it. I think it would benefit your education and the city as a whole if we were to make your transfer into my office official.

Lyn (JJ): (Surprised) Oh.

Mischa (Gwen): What do you think about that?

Lyn (JJ): Um, that– Thank you, that, that's quite an honor. Um, so I would no longer be with the mechanists’ school?

Mischa (Gwen): I have taken the liberty, I hope you don't mind, I hope this isn't too forward, I've taken the liberty of filling out the transfer paperwork if you just… want to file it.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, that's… very kind.

Mischa (Gwen): It's all in a day's work for someone who moves people's jobs around on a citywide scale, but it gave me a particular pleasure to fill these ones out.

Mayanna: Aww.

Lyn: Lyn is crying.

Mayanna: (laughs) “Me, Lyn, who I am, is crying.”

Lyn: Yeah, me!

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. This is… I don't take this lightly. Is it okay if I take a day before I–I mean no disrespect, it's just… It is a hard transition to make, I think.

Mischa: Yeah, she, puts a reassuring hand on your shoulder and she goes,

Mischa (Gwen): I completely understand. Sometimes our visions for ourselves don't always match where we're most needed. And it takes a certain amount of maturity and a certain amount of selflessness to commit to a new vision of yourself. I understand. It's a process. It takes time. Take some time to think on it. It's not like these forms will expire.

Lyn (JJ): Very much appreciate it. Thank you. For everything.

Mischa (Gwen): Good luck out there. We need it.

Lyn (JJ): Anything for the city.

Mischa: Oof.

Bex: Oh, damn.

Lyn: Then I take my leave.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: That probably got to Gwen just as much as it got to Mischa.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Dang.

Mischa: From there you head down across the way to a Bursar's Depot.

Mayanna: Amazing.

[Music begins: gentle piano].

Mischa: It's a squat little nondescript stone building, it's like pretty, just sort of, they'll pop up anywhere, anywhere you can stick one. You guys walk into like a little foyer. There's a very short, squat, saurid with like a flat nose and face hunched over and like a round bald head, standing behind a counter as you guys walk in. The little guy behind the counter goes,

Mischa (Office attendant): (Very nasal and stopped up) One moment please, I'll be right with you.

[Music ends]

Ian: (Laughs) Oh fuck.

[Laughter].

Ian: I can't talk to this person.

Mayanna: I see Gordon start to like, I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Don't.

Ian: I literally turn around and be like,

Ian (Gordon): (stifling laughter)

Mayanna: I know, I'm like, just, just,

Mayanna (Fran): It's okay, just like. You know what, stand behind me. Stand behind me.

Ian: I take, I literally step right behind Fran, and I like bury my face in Fran's hair.

Mayanna: I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah, that's so fine. Yeah, you got this. You got this. It's gonna be okay.

Mischa (Office attendant): Okay guys, how can I help you?

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Um, we are here to collect our payment for a job.

Mischa (Office attendant): So, did you bring your employee identification card?

Mayanna (Fran): Yes. Yes, I did. Yes, we did.

Mayanna: And I give them the papers.

Mischa: Yeah, sure.

Mischa (Office attendant): Uh. Oh, this is like a whole rush order. We have to like… Hold on one second.

Mayanna (Fran): No problem.

Mischa (Office attendant): And he kind of like shuffles into the back behind the counter for a little bit.

Mayanna: And then I go like

Mayanna (Fran): (Snickers)

Mayanna: I just get it out while he's gone.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. We're going to do this. We're going to be okay. It's going to be, I will, if you guys don't want, I'll just do all the, I can handle this.

Lyn (JJ): What– Why are you freaking out?

Bex (Ibra): What's happening?

Lyn (JJ): Are you alright?

Mayanna (Fran): I'm not freaking out. You heard his voice, right?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that's just a completely normal voice.

Bex (Ibra): What's wrong with it?

Ian (Gordon): What?

Mayanna (Fran): Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. We're cool. We’re chillin.

Lyn (JJ): That's just a guy.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, it's just a guy. You're right.

Ian (Gordon): You're right.

Mayanna: I love this so fucking much.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I am obsessed with this.

Lyn: It's gonna keep happening.

Mayanna: This is great. No, I'm just obsessed.

Bex: “What do you mean, this is a completely normal voice”

Ian: Also just out of game. Just so we're clear, you know, people have many different forms and shades of voices, right? So we're laughing with this person, not at this person.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Ian: Mischa does not believe me.

Mischa: Well. I think what is happening is I'm doing funny voices, and you're finding them funny, so I'll take that as the compliment that it is. But like, you have to understand that if you continue to laugh in people's faces about their voices, it will have in-world consequences.

Mayanna: Yes, exactly. That's why, you just stay back there, you're chillin.

[Laughter].

Ian: Yes. I'm not– this person can't see me.

Mayanna: No, yep. Nope.

Mischa: Sure, do you want to roll stealth?

Mayanna: Oh, yeah. Hide in the hair.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: I rolled a 15.

Mayanna: Nice

Mischa: Okay, pretty good. Okay, so that'll go against, anytime this person, attempts to spot you cracking the hell up at their voice .

Mayanna: I have a big poofy ponytail I wear sometimes. So yeah, you're just chillin back there.

Mischa: The little man shuffles back and goes,

Mischa (Office attendant): Okay, I think I have your stuff in order.

Mayanna (Fran): Awesome.

Mischa (Office attendant): This, uh, was this a Fran Weaver?

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, correct.

Mischa (Office attendant): Hi.

Mayanna (Fran): Hi. Thank you so much. Sorry, what, what's your name, by the way?

Mischa (Office attendant): Oh, me? I'm Gaz.

Mayanna (Fran): Hi, Gaz. Nice to meet you.

Mischa (Office attendant, Gaz): Nice to meet you.

Mayanna (Fran): Nice to meet you, Gaz.

Bex (Ibra): Thanks for helping us.

Mischa (Gaz): I'm sure it's a pleasure. It's an honor. Anyway, I have another employment file on form. [SFX: pages turning]. Something about, uh, something about a bistro.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, the bistro is closed currently. So I'm, I'm sort of on extended leave. yeah, everybody who works there.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh yeah, sure. And you definitely filed the extended leave form, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, um, I feel like my boss should have done that. Cause he was the one who told me that, that I wasn't going to be coming back to work for a while. Did he not?

Mischa (Gaz): No.

Bex (Ibra): The paperwork actually should have been filed through Gwen, the magistrate's office. There was an incident at Boggins, and, and I'm pretty sure my office filled out the info for that closure.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa: Kind of flips up through a couple pieces of paper on the clipboard. [SFX: paper rustling]. Like, slowly, like one page. And then a second page. And flips them down, looks back at you.

Mischa (Gaz): No.

Mayanna: Oh. Is there anything that I can do to file that currently? I can fill out anything right now?

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, if you just fill out that form, but also like, a rush through form, I'm sure you just probably just, you forgot. That's totally fine. But we do, we'll do have to get this before I could get you paid.

Mayanna (Fran): No problem. I'll, I'll fill these out right now.

Mayanna: I go, uh, and I'll, I'll grab Gordon too. And I'm just like, we'll go off to the side, like how they do at the post office.

Lyn: Yeah I was literally just thinking that in a post office.

Mayanna: And there's like those standing, yeah, those like standing weird tables. And I just start filling out forms and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): You're doing so good, Gordon. You're doing amazing.

Ian (Gordon): I feel like that guy smokes so much weed.

Mayanna (Fran): I, I, I… probably.

Mayanna: And I just start filling out forms. I'm just like

Mischa (Gaz): Okay, who's next?

Bex (Ibra): hi. Uh, uh, Ibra Bracha-Shinmar um…

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, Bracha-Shinmar.

Bex (Ibra): Yeeeaaah. Uh, that's not important right now. I'm, I'm, I'm here.

Mischa (Gaz): Is this about account transfer for your family estate?

Bex (Ibra): No.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, it's something else?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh shit, I gotta get a different form. Hold on.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): What? I–

Mischa: And like, rifles in the back underneath the desk like,

[SFX: rustling and thumping of desk drawers].

Mischa (Gaz): God. Where'd that form? Uh, where'd I put it? Oh, I got, I got, hold on, I gotta go make another copy of this.

Bex (Ibra): I actually, I have this–I, form is he, okay, he's gone.

Mayanna: I love it. It's so good. I love it so much! I’m obsessed with him!

Lyn: I love Gaz's insert into here.

Mayanna: I'm so happy.

Mischa (Gaz): Okay, what are you looking for?

Bex (Ibra): I actually have it right here, it's… [SFX: paper rustling].

Mischa (Gaz): That's good, thanks.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I'm taking up, okay.

Mischa (Gaz): That's so much better.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mischa (Gaz): It's really nice of you to, to have everything all set to go.

Bex (Ibra): Absolutely, I wish I could take credit for it, but…

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, it wasn't you?

Bex (Ibra): It was my boss.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh.

Bex (Ibra): She's pretty put together.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, she's better than you. Anyway.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, in a lot of ways.

Bex: I love Gaz.

Mayanna: He's such a cool, yeah, he's like, “oh shit, no way.”

Bex: “You suck.”

Mischa: Yeah, Gaz, Gaz pulls up your account, [SFX: typing], like puts through the, the scan code for the rush form for this job, and then presses a big chunky button on, like a big red like arcade button on the desk. [SFX: fax scanning].

Mayanna: Amazing.

Mischa: Pulls out a cash drawer, [SFX: register opening] and he goes,

Mischa (Gaz): Okay. One. Two. [SFX: counting punctuated by the handing and clinking of coins]. Two gold, there you go.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you. Thank you very much.

Mischa (Gaz): Okay, next?

Lyn (JJ): JJ. Calderon, here are my forms. [SFX: paper sliding across surface].

Mischa (Gaz): Uh, okay. Yeah, everything's, everything's good. [SFX: paper rustling]. This is all, this is all normal. You should tell your friends to be better at paperwork.

Lyn (JJ): I try.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, sometimes it's hard to get people to do what you want them to do.

Lyn (JJ): It’s kinda hard, yeah.

Mischa (Gaz): I get that. Hold, okay, hold on one second.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: And I'm filling, I'm finishing filling out the forms and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon, you're gonna have to–

Ian (Gordon): (Strained with holding in laughter) I can’t–you have to

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I’ll do it. I'll tell him you have like a sore throat or something.

Ian (Gordon): I'm sick.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah yeah yeah.

Mayanna: So I, I come back and I give you the forms that I just filled out.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh yeah, hold on. [SFX: paper rustling].

Mayanna (Fran): No problem.

Mischa (Gaz): No, hold it, wait. Wait a minute.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm?

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah. Okay. That's good.

Mayanna (Fran): Phew yeah, Okay. Ooh, that was a close one.

Mischa (Gaz): Okay. Fran Weaver.

Mischa: And types, like, types into the computer, pulls out the cash drawer. [SFX typing and then a register opening] All right. Uh, one, two, uh, how, is this a weird glitch? Is there another Fran Weaver works with like a bakery guy?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, um, Well, yes, I've been assisting, Gordon Baker on his delivery routes, but I haven't–

Mischa (Gaz): Oh yeah, that's what it says. I thought that was weird.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, yeah, it I–You know, the gig economy, am I right?

Mischa (Gaz): What's that?

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, nothing, never mind. yeah, I just, you know, that's like a that's like a side job. Kind of like a…

Mischa (Gaz): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): A side gig.

Mischa (Gaz): I, like, always have worked in the Bursar's office.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, that's really cool, actually. That's, like, that's great that you have, like…

Mischa (Gaz): It’s like, a really good gig.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, that's awesome. How did you, how did you get into that?

Mischa (Gaz): Uh, it's, like, in my family.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, that's so cool. That's really cool.

Mischa (Gaz): You know, my uncle Gaz gave it to me.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, oh, your uncle's name is also Gaz?

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): That's really cool. It's like a family name.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): That's really, really cool. That's awesome.

Mischa (Gaz): Okay. Here we go.

Mischa: He gives you a third gold piece.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. Thank you so much. Uh, wow. Thank you. And I will be, sorry, my friend Gordon is also here. He's got, he's got like a, like a little sore throat thing, so he can't really talk.

Ian (Gordon): (Fake coughing).

Mischa (Gaz): Oh yeah?

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: Well, uh, I rolled a 2.

Mayanna: Okay, great.

Mayanna (Fran): Um, so, but he is also, looking to get his payment as well.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh yeah, sure. What's his name?

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon Baker.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, bakers. Bakers are easy. I like bakers.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh good, Okay awesome.

Mischa (Gaz): Their records are, like, pretty good.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh good. Do you have any, like, breads that you like? Because we can bring you something.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, you guys do, like, a, like, a lavender scone with salt on it?

Ian (Gordon): (Strained) Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Yep. Don't speak, but yep.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: Rolled a 10.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Amazing. Amazing.

Mischa: Amazing. Um, the guy’s, like,

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, I love this. That'd be a little bit sweet.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we can get that over to you for your helping us out. And yeah, just for being a great standup guy.

Mischa (Gaz): I'm just, I'm just doing the Bursar's office, you know?

Mayanna (Fran): No, but you're doing great. I really appreciate it.

Mischa (Gaz): Okay. One second.

[SFX: papers printing].

Mischa: Um, and pulls out a stack of six gold for Gordon. [SFX: coins clinking].

Mayanna: Wow. Great.

Ian: Why do I get six gold?

Mischa: Because you've done deliveries every day and you did, safety security brigade.

Mayanna: ISB.

Ian: Fuck yeah. This is going to be helpful.

Bex: You're a good bank, buddy.

Mischa: Buddy. You’re workin’ two jobs. It's fair.

Mayanna: You’re a single mom that works two jobs.

Ian: Just like my real life.

Bex: Loves her kids and never stops.

Mischa: Nine to five. What a way to make a living.

[Laughter].

Ian: You did it this time. Not me. I'm so happy.

Mayanna: Nine to five, five to nine. We love to see it.

Ian: I take the gold off the table and in my smallest voice, just trying to not let any air out of the balloon, I go,

Ian (Gordon): (Strained) Thank you.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, man, no problem.

Mayanna (Fran): We'll get you some, some of those lavender scones with some sea salt tomorrow.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, do you need like a lozenge?

Mayanna (Fran): Do you have lozenges?

Ian (Gordon): (strained) What did you say?

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, I have like a whole bunch of lozenges.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I think a lozenge would be great.

Mischa: And pulls out a different drawer in the desk, [SFX: drawer opening] just like filled to the brim with cough drops.

Mayanna (Fran): Amazing, do you have like a honey lemon situation in there?

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, hold on, let me look.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, thank you

Mischa: And like digs through the paper wrappers.

Bex (Ibra): I'm sorry, what are those things called again?

Mayanna: Lozenges?

Mischa (Gaz): Lozenges.

Ian (Gordon): (Strained) Oh my god.

Mischa: You want, you want throat lozenges?

Ian (Gordon): (Strainedy) Yes please.

Bex (Ibra): I, I, I think I would love a throat lozenge.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, well hold on, I'll give everybody lozenges.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Bex (Ibra): What kind of flavors do you have?

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. Allergy season and all.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): (Strained) Quick question, do you ever take these lozenges?

Mischa (Gaz): (Pause). No.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Gaz): I don't really need them, I just keep them for the customers.

Mayanna: That laugh was Mayanna not Fran.

Ian: I like, I put like, I'm like literally shaking. I like put a shaky hand out for a lozenge.

Mayanna (Fran): He's, he, he's so grateful.

Ian (Gordon): I'm really sick.

Mayanna (Fran): He’s so sick.

Mischa: Rolled an 8!

Mayanna: Amazing!

Ian: Fucking yes!

Mayanna: Amazing!

Mischa (Gaz): Yes! Oh, hold on, let me give you two.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, thank you, that's so sweet. That's so kind. We'll give you, we'll make, we'll get you a couple scones. We'll get you like a, yeah, a couple scones for you.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, I would love a scone. That sounds so good.

Mayanna (Fran): Amazing.

Mischa (Gaz): So, well, you guys will be back like later today with the scones?

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I think we'll probably get them to you tomorrow.

Mischa (Gaz): Oh, tomorrow. Oh, you guys kind of made it sound like you were gonna give it to me?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, no, no, because we, well, we have to bake them.

Mischa (Gaz): Sure, and I'm sure you just forgot to make them today. And that’s fine, but like–

Mayanna (Fran): I'm so sorry. That's my bad. I think I just, I, sometimes I say things in a way that aren't, that isn't clear. No, but he bakes his like rounds in the morning, so we'll get that to you on our delivery route tomorrow.

Mischa (Gaz): Yeah, okay. You'll do better tomorrow. Thanks.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we will. We will.

[Laughter].

Ian: You just hear me go,

Ian (Gordon): I have to go.

Ian: And I hobble out.

Mischa: Okay, last roll. Rolled a 9.

[Cheers].

Bex: We love this.

Mayanna: Nice. Amazing. Amazing!

Lyn: 10 out of 10.

Ian: That’s the best NPC.

Mayanna: Also amazing that you guys were like, “this is normal.” Amazing!

Lyn: Just a guy!

Mayanna: I love it here.

Lyn: Most of the people that JJ interacts with is like that.

Mayanna: Amazing.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Oh man, Fran, you met a sick little weirdo in a stall, he gave you gold. You’ve got money in your pocket.

[Music begins: suspenseful, humming synths].

Mayanna: I'm so happy.

Mischa: What's next?

Mayanna: What's next? I have to investigate the thing on Thorgunn’s business card.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: I've been thinking about it all night, and I think it's probably the thing that spurred me awake this morning. And I think I go to Ibra, because Ibra was there with me, and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): I think we've got to knock this out today. We have to. What else? We have to.

Bex (Ibra): Absolutely. Can we bring Paz?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, Of course.

Bex (Ibra): Sick.

Mayanna (Fran): That's great. So, you're going to take the bike, right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, that's fine.

Bex (Ibra): I only have room for one.

Mayanna (Fran): That's really okay. Yeah. That's really, yeah. So, you'll take Paz.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): I'll just hop the bus.

Bex (Ibra): You sure?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. It's kind of nice. It's like, I get to kind of think about like, design stuff and like people watch. It's a very soothing time for me. So I will, yeah.

Bex (Ibra): That’s nice. That sounds cool, actually.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah.

Bex (Ibra): You have a pass, right?

Mischa: One bus ride is actually one copper.

Mayanna: One copper. Okay.

Mischa: Which I, I–

Bex: You have from Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Oh, oh, you're right, I do!

[Laughter].

Mischa: They could also, I was going to say they can also break a gold.

Mayanna: Yeah, of course.

Bex: But Thorgunn tucked a couple copper pieces in your pocket.,

Mayanna: Yeah, he gave me a couple copper pieces, you're right.

Mischa: Well, let me ask you this too, just, just to nail down some details of our world. Do you think it's really copper, silver, and gold? Or do you think that's just like denominations of currency that we use?

Mayanna: I think it's denominations of currency that we use. I think, like, I don't think it's like a physical piece of gold. I imagine it's like bills that are gold sheen.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And then like bills that are brown or like bronze sheen, you know?

Mischa: Sure. Okay. That makes more sense. Yeah. So, um, uh, one bus ride is one copper.

Mayanna: One copper. Okay.

Mischa: I did forget that Thorgunn gave–

Mayanna: Thorgan gave me a couple copper pieces in the first episode. And then, yeah,

Mischa: Amazing.

Mayanna: I have a copper. so I will use it on the, on the bus. [SFX: bus pulls up and brakes squeak to a halt, door opens]

Mischa: Fran, who's on the bus today?

Mayanna: Who's on the bus today? I think we've got, you know, the classic, like, sweet old man, who's just kind of sitting in the corners, like, I, wherever he's going, it's probably to see an old friend, and that's nice.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: And I think we've got, like, a young student, who's probably, in the midst of, like, trying to cram for an exam, and then I think we’ve got a young woman around my age who you know, she’s that girl, who knows what the day holds for her. [Laughter]. And I am holding on to the handle and I’m just like ‘I hope whatever it is, it’s good for her. I hope it’s not a douchebag guy, I hope it’s like coffee with her best friend.’

Mischa: Yeah. Or like some business deal, and she’s gonna crush it.

Mayanna: Yes, absolutely! That’s like I’m just like “aw whatever it is I hope you get it queen!”

Mischa: She’s starting up her own interior design firm, and she’s got a meeting with a big supplier–

Mayanna: Perfect, I love it

Mischa: –and she’s gonna crush it, and she’s gonna get those deals.

Mayanna: She’s gonna get it, she’s gonna get in there.

Bex: Hell yes.

Lyn: Discounted tile.

Mayanna: And the bus driver, I think, is like a gruff, like, gruff on first blush, but one of those guys who's like, (in a gravelly, vocal fry voice) “Yeah, you're alright, kid, you know?”

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, I love the idea of like, an older, like, capra, almost billy goat looking, with like a white tuft of fur right at the bottom of his chin, like,

Mischa (Capra Bus Driver): Yeah, all aboard, everybody all aboard.

Mayanna: Yes, I love it.

Mischa (Capra Bus Driver): Oh, Fran.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, hello! Gary!

Mischa: What's his name?

Mayanna: Gary!

Mischa: Gary?

Mayanna (Fran): Gary, oh my god, how are you?

Mischa (Gary): Where we going?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, the Dustpan.

Mischa (Gary): Oh, that's a dangerous part of town.

Mayanna (Fran): I know, I'll be okay.

Mischa (Gary): You gonna be alright there, kid?

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): I'll be alright, I'll be alright. I appreciate it. I, I'm good, I've got, I've got friends meeting me there.

Mischa (Gary): Well our routes don't take us past that way no more. We'll, we'll get you as close as we can.

Mayanna (Fran): I appreciate it. Ugh, the last mile, am I right?

Mischa (Gary): Yeah. Truly. Alright, all aboard.

[SFX: bus door closes and air hisses as the bus rises to get going]

Bex: Alright, as Fran steps onto the bus. Ibra pops out that tooth that's grown back overnight and hands it to Paz.

Mayanna: Amazing.

[Music begins: jaunty, rhythmic bossa nova].

Bex: I was like,

Bex (Ibra): Just put this in your pocket, it'll make it easier to, to talk where we don't have to worry about the wind. You've done this with me before.

Mischa (Paz): I've seen you do it a bunch of times before and it does not make it less weird. Every single time.

Bex (Ibra): You know what? You popped your teeth out when you lost them as a kid, and it wasn't weird then, I don't know why it has to be weird now.

Mischa (Paz): It happens once, it happens one time.

Bex (Ibra): Well not for me!

Mischa (Paz): Okay.

[Laughter].

Bex: And then I think we're gonna follow the bus. We're gonna follow Fran's bus.

Mischa: Okay, cool, sounds good.

Bex: That way I can fill Paz in on the, with telepathic link, I can fill Paz in on Thorgunn and everything without having to yell over the wind. Sure. [SFX: electric motor revs].

Mayanna: Ooh, yeah, smart.

Mischa: It's a little bit of a slow trip, yeah, there's a full amount of time to fill Paz in as this bus makes several stops before the Dustpan, and it only, it, again, only gets so close, I think, it won't go directly into the heart of the district. Partly because it's just like a rough side of town and as Gary said, they've sort of been instructed to avoid bus routes that go that way. But also that some of the roads are torn up. That like, even still like four years on have not been fully repaired. So it, it can be a little bit of rough driving. So I think when the bus drops you off, [SFX: bus brakes squeaking] you might have to like walk your, walk your bike. Maybe, maybe you just ride really slowly while Fran walks.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like,

Mayanna (Fran): Thanks, thanks for hanging back with me, I appreciate it.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, no problem, it's fun.

[Music ends].

[Music begins: pensive piano].

Mayanna: Yeah, and, and I think like, I'm realizing for the first time, like, I took for granted that, Gordon just got me there, like, that we, that we were just very, like, we dropped off where we needed to go and that was it, and so walking it is just a very different experience. And I think typically, like, Fran likes a little bit of a commute, but I think the, the mentality of, like, I, I, “how much further till we get to where we gotta go?” Like, I'm getting, like, a little impatient. I just, like, wanna get there.

Bex (Ibra): I'm gonna need to buy a sidecar, aren't I?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I don't, I, I don't know, maybe.

Bex (Ibra): I think it might be time. And since we might have like a gaggle now–

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. you’re probably right. You're probably right.

Bex (Ibra): –I think it might be time.

Mayanna (Fran): It might be time.

Ian: I loved how that was a no that turned into a yes. You're like, “no, you, ah pssh–”

Bex: My feet are hurting.

Mayanna: I'm like, yeah, probably. I'm like, if Paz is joining too. Yeah.

Bex: Yeah. It's time.

Mischa: She's like,

Mischa(Paz): I'm, I'm sorry, guys. I–

Mayanna (Fran): Don't apologize.

Mischa (Paz): I'm taking wheel privilege.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Take the wheel privilege. No, we just. This is good contingency for the future.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah look, we can start planning now. You're a designer.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, you know what?

Mayanna: And I start writing, I have my little notebook and I start writing, I'm like, “sidecar design?”

Mischa: Yeah, you guys, um, sort of like, slow ride and walk this bike through, the Dustpan. There's like, cracked pavement and sidewalks, it's like, a bit of rough terrain, a lot of like, sort of overgrown cracks where like, wild grasses and dandelions are like pushing through, it just makes for like, a little bit of a bumpy ride. You see a lot of, various citizens with very worn and stained clothes, kind of neglected, like, kind of walking the streets. No one's in a hurry. Everyone's like, kind of just making their way and making their day all about like, the next spot they're going to stop in the Dustpan.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: You follow the address given to you on Thorgunn’s business card. Thorgunn’s ratty, wrinkled up business card.

Mayanna: Which I hold like a relic, like a beautiful, sacred object.

Bex: You’ve laminated it.

Mayanna: Yeah, I have laminated it. For sure, and it's all wrinkled and crumpled in there, but I'm like, “this is so important to me.” I think I'll put it on a necklace at some point, like, oh my god.

[Music ends]. [Soundscape begins: birds squawking in the open air].

Mischa: You roll up to a somewhat abandoned city square, the center of which, in the middle of like what probably at one point was like a big crosswalk, has just been torn up by a huge, like, broken, mangled piece of metal.

[Music begins: wistful, wavering synths].

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Mischa: That just sort of stands tall in the center.

Mayanna: Like it's a monument almost?

Mischa: Almost like a yeah like a monument to–

Mayanna: –To destruction.

Mischa: Destruction. Yeah.

Lyn: Wow.

Mischa: Ooh yeah. And the wind rolls through like the city blocks sort of like rattling boards across abandoned windows. The people that were walking the streets and sidewalks, like, they either, they have more central routes through the Dustpan, or that they're avoiding this place intentionally, but like, there's no one here. You guys roll up on an empty square. You take out the card to check the address. You sort of unfold it and uncrumple it, and you look around and you flip the card over and on the back of it is, like, a weirdly drawn symbol.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: That wasn't there before you got to this square.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, it's happening. Oh my god. It's happening.

Bex (Ibra): What’s happening?

Mayanna (Fran): Magic is happening. Magic is happening!

Bex (Ibra): What? Where?

Mayanna (Fran): There's a thing. Sorry, the card is different now. The back of the card is different now. There's a symbol on it.

Bex (Ibra): Whoa, that wasn't there before?

Mayanna (Fran): No, it was not!

Bex (Ibra): What does it look like?

Mayanna (Fran): I don't.

Mayanna: yeah, what does it look like?

Mischa: It looks like a twisty line, it looks like a– like somebody took a paperclip and like unfolded it and then like wrapped it around and like messed with it a bunch. It's like a weird squiggle.

Mayanna: A weird squiggle. Is there anything on the streets, any of the crosswalk signs that resembles the symbol?

Mischa: Roll investigation.

Mayanna: Ooh, here we go, it's happening. Alright, come on buddy boy, you got this. [Dice rolls]. Ooh. Ooh. Okay. I rolled a 19 on the die. I have a plus 3, and I'm proficient.

Mischa: Woah, I think that's like a 24?!

Mayanna: Yeah. Cause it's proficient plus 3.

Bex: Yea!

Mischa: Woo. 24. Yeah, absolutely. You're wandering around looking at different parts of the street, looking at different angles, you know, Paz and Ibra hanging back with the bike. Paz is like,

Mischa (Paz): What is she doing?

Bex (Ibra): I don't know. She, she does this. Sometimes she gets an idea and she just goes off on a brilliant little, like her own little world.

Mischa (Paz): I'm so into it.

Bex (Ibra): I know, it's great to watch.

Mischa: Yeah, and you're like, trying to like, look up at all the street signs, and like, cracks in the sidewalk, and then you get to one angle, and you turn back towards the central structure, and it, like, just from exactly where you're standing, it lines up exactly right with the symbol.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, it's happening, it's happening, it's happening, okay, it's happening.

Mayanna: Okay, and so, like, the central structure being this weird monument thing?

Mischa: This weird, like, fallen piece of metal that, like, looks like a wreck from part of the Upper City.

Mayanna: Okay. Hmm. I'd like to approach the metal.

Mischa: Sure. As you approach, the symbol looks less and less like the structure in front of it.

Mayanna: Oh, fascinating.

Mischa: The symbol on the back of the card shifts and like morphs into a different outline, one with like a flat edge on the bottom and a jagged like edge on the top.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Man, I'm kind of stumped. Ibra, it turned into this.

Bex (Ibra): That I think that either looks–okay. There are three things that I'm seeing here.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh huh, uh huh?

Bex (Ibra): Either, mountains, flames or Paz–your heart monitor on a really bad day.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: I'm gonna have Paz roll medicine.

Bex: Yes! Sorry. That's exactly what I was going for.

Mayanna: Oh my god. I'm obsessed.

Mischa: She looks and she goes

Mischa (Paz) I don't think it's a heart monitor. It's too random and too jagged.

Mayanna (Fran): Hmmm.

Bex (Ibra): Do you think it's something broken? Maybe?

Mischa (Paz): Maybe? We're in the broken place.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mayanna: I'm gonna start looking at the cracks in the sidewalk and see if any of the cracks kind of look like that.

Mischa: Roll another investigation.

Mayanna: You got it. That is a 11. It's 9 on the die plus 3 plus 1.. Wait, sorry, I'm bad at math. That is not an 11.

Ian: That would be a…

Ian & Lyn: 13.

Mayanna: (laughing) That is not an 11 at all. I’m sorry.

Ian: 9 plus 3 plus 1. Eleven.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: The twist, the twist. She's really dumb. That's me.

Bex: Can I help by like, pointing out–

Mischa: Yeah, you want to help?

Bex: I want to point out that there, that we're below the Broken Heart. I'm like, there's all this, the line could be where we are and the jagged could be the Broken…

Mayanna: Okay. Okay. I'm going to roll again.

Bex: Look farther.

Mayanna: Come on, baby. [Dice rolls]. That's, that is an 11.

[Laughter].

Ian: Saw that coming.

Mischa: You start trying to like compare it to the sidewalk, like up to the sky, up to like different pieces of it. Nothing's quite matching up. Uh, it's also hard to grasp because, like, as you move around the structure, the picture on the back of the card, like, morphs back to the, like, it, it only matches up when you're standing at a specific spot.

Mayanna: So I'm gonna stand back at that same specific spot.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, so maybe turn, like, maybe it's just, like, a scavenger hunt, like, it's a map, like, it's leading you somewhere.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, yeah, it’s leading me somewhere. Okay, so it's pointing at this thing.

Mayanna: (Sighs) Is there anything? at this point where I'm standing, that it changed, that resembles this thing at all.

Mischa: Will you roll, hm, perception for me?

Mayanna: Perception, sure thing. Come on, baby. [Dice rolls]. Oh! that is a natural 20.

Bex: Yes!

Mayanna: Um, and then for perception...

Lyn: There it is. There it is!

Bex: Finalmente.

Mayanna: Let's see here, wisdom. Yeah, no, it's just, it's just a raw natural 20.

[Laughter and cheers].

Bex: Yeah, baby!

Mischa: So yeah, you're, you're like, sidestepping and moving back and forth and trying to figure out like where this picture stops like moving and stops becoming a different thing. And then you put it like right up against the surface of the structure and the place where the picture resolves most readily. And like you move it slightly aside, and you notice a perfectly round circular hole in the surface of the fallen metal structure.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: It's like pinky width.

Mayanna: Is it bullet sized?

Mischa: It might be bullet sized? It's like small and long and cylindrical and narrow.

Mayanna: Okay!

Mischa: And the picture on the back of the business card like resolves really thickly, like it stops moving, it's that jagged pattern again.

Mayanna: Okay, I'm gonna take a bullet out of my gun, one of the sighted bullets, and I'm gonna put it in the hole.

Mischa: Oh, interesting.

Bex: Do you flick it?

Mayanna: Cause it's like Thorgunn, it's Thorgunn’s Infusions.

Mischa: Sure. when you pull out the bullet and make contact with the hole, there's like a bright spark. [SFX: electrical sparking].

Mayanna (Fran): (gasps) Okay. Is that good or bad? I don't know!

Mayanna: Uh, can I do an Arcana check on this?

Mischa: Yes.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Ugh, it's like roses and thorns today. That is a 10.

Mischa: The spark happens when you, uh, like, complete a circuit. So obviously there's like one half of a spell circuit inside of this structure that's waiting for the other half.

Mayanna: Oh shit, okay.

Bex: I want to, can I try to touch the hole? I got some–

Mayanna: Do it.

Bex: With my weird little astral self.

Mayanna: (Giggles).

Mischa: Ooh.

Bex: Cause I'm full of Astra.

[Music shifts: suspenseful, fantastical synth chimes].

Mischa: Yeah. Interesting.

Bex: I want to just like put my pinky in the hole.

Mayanna: It’s a pinky sized hole! (Giggles).

Mischa: Yeah, Roll a constitution check?

Mayanna: Okay.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 11.

Mischa: 11. You reach your pinky out towards the hole, and you feel like an electric current. Drawing it in, it feels a little bit tingly.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: And then you feel a sharp pain at the tip of your pinky. [SFX: electrical zap]

Mayanna: Oh God.

Bex (Ibra): Ow!

Mayanna (Fran): Are you okay? Are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): Ah! (Sucking sound).

Mayanna (Fran): Uh, I'm so sorry.

Mischa: When you put it in your mouth. To, like, suck on it, you can feel that the edge of your pinky has, like, turned into, like, sharp, jagged, hard edges.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: Your flesh has deformed into, like, a shape.

Mayanna: Oh.

Lyn: Oh!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. My god. I'm so sorry, are you okay?

Mischa: You shake your hand out, and it returns to its normal form.

Mayanna: What.

Bex: Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): What. What. What. What. Is this? Okay.

Lyn: I fucking see you Mischa.

Bex (Ibra): I know my body does weird things, but this one's new.

Mayanna (Fran): That one's, yeah. Um…

Mayanna: I'm gonna look to Paz and be like, any of this, is any of this hitting anything for you?

Mischa: She looks at it and she's like,

Mischa (Paz): Can I see that business card again?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah, yeah, here you go.

Mischa (Paz): Ibra, do that again.

Mischa: Roll another constitution check.

Mayanna: Oh, here we go, here we go, here we go. Here we go.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: Oh, that's even worse. 9!

Mayanna: No!

Mischa: The deformation in your pinky only manages to get, like, the very tip of it, cause, like, I think you're a little scared to, like, put your fingers in.

Bex: Yeah. Yeah.

Mischa: And then, as soon as the spark between your finger and the hole goes off, Paz grabs your wrist and shoves it down next to the picture, and she goes,

Mischa (Paz): Look!

Mischa: And then, as like right before your pinky turns back to normal, it matches the tip, like one side, just one edge of the drawing on the business card.

Mayanna: Oh, man.

Mischa: It's like.

Mischa (Paz): So what is, I don't know. I thought it, what is that?

Bex (Ibra): How many, how many ridges are there?

Mayanna (Fran): It's like so many. There's so many ridges. It's like one, two, three, f-four, five, six, seven, like 12.

Bex (Ibra): Am I going to have to put all my fingers in this thing?

Mayanna (Fran): No, no.

Mischa (Paz): I don't think you should do that.

Mayanna (Fran): Naaaaaah.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you, that hurt.

Mischa (Paz): That doesn't, that doesn't look safe.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm so sorry about that.

Mischa (Paz): You might get, like, tetanus.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we don't want that. We don't want that.

Bex (Ibra): Probably.

Lyn: (Laughing) Magical tetanus.

Mayanna (Fran): It's this jaggedy shape. I'm just trying to understand it.

Lyn: Ahhh I’m screaming, I'm just squirming so hard.

All: Oh, Did you already figure it out?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Oh, is it electricity?

Bex: This is why we need JJ.

Lyn: Oh god, so.

Mayanna: Is it electricity? It might just be electricity.

[Laughter].

Bex: This is why I wanted to bring JJ or Gordon!

Mayanna: Can we call JJ?

Bex: Can we call a friend?

Mayanna: Can we phone a friend?

Bex: I'm gonna text JJ and be like,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Hey dude, what do you know about electricity.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] I mean, a lot. I go to school for that. Why?

Lyn: I'm like on the bus, like, somewhat going somewhere right now.

Mayanna: That’s so funny

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] We're in the Dustpan with some weird sparky stuff.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Why are you in the Dustpan? Wait what?

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Classified.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Classified in fru–Well, we're we're, we're on a side quest .

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh okay.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Yeah I got a side quest from Thorgunn. anyway.

Mayanna: Oh god.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] I we’re I think we're at a puzzle, and.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh, I love puzzles!

[Laughter].

Ian: Un-fucking-believable

Mischa: Did you know your Dungeons & Dragons character can just say that?

[Laughter and overlapping chatter].

Ian: Wasn't that what you did earlier, where you were like, “Oh, you're going to be in our party now.”

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: I'm going for meta this episode.

[Laughter].

Ian: “You're the fifth member of our party and now you're healed.”

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Wait, are you at an escape room?

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Uh yeah!

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Yes, that's exactly where we are.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] oh fun!

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Amazing yeah. We’re pretty stumped.

Mayanna: And can I take like a picture of the symbol?

Lyn: We've said before that there are no pictures.

Mayanna: Oh right.

Lyn: there's no pictures on the compads.

Mischa: You have to describe it!

Mayanna: So yeah, I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] And it's this many jagged side and then it’s flat line.

Bex: And then I use, I use like, those, the underlined things to like.

Lyn: Oh, like, like parentheses and underscores like.

Bex: Yeah the hyphens under, under, like, make those.

Lyn: Slashes.

Bex: Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh! Are those ridges of a key?

[Music begins: energetic, rhythmic synth beeps].

Bex (Ibra) & Mayanna (Fran): Ohh!

Bex: Damn.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: For those listening at home, Lyn and Mischa just like, finger gunned each other. They're like, “ayyy.”

[Laughter].

Ian: I can watch you, I can watch you muddle through puzzles for the next fuckin two weeks.

Mayanna: Um, okay, uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna look around and see if there's any like scrap metal around, and I'm gonna try to make a key.

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, you can pick up a, like a piece of, like, rebar, and you–

Mayanna: Are there any like jagged rocks? I think I'm gonna just like start, like, trying to carve this thing.

Mischa: I mean you might have a chisel.

Mayanna: I do have a chisel.

Ian: Don’t you have something.

Mayanna: I definitely, I, you're so right.

Ian: You're not even going for your tool belt!

Mayanna: I know, I'm sorry, I don't know.

Ian: You did it like seven times in the episode!

Mayanna: I know, I'm so sorry!

Lyn: You need to use your free things.

Ian: Fran’s. Fran’s kryptonite is puzzles.

Mayanna: I, I warned the cast before we recorded today that I, Mayanna, am very bad at puzzles.

Ian: How might you make a key, Fran? “I think I'm gonna pick up some rocks.”

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Laughing) Okay!

Lyn: I love–

Mayanna: This is good feedback, I appreciate this. You guys keep me honest, you make me better. [Laughter]. Anyway, I'm going to open up my tool belt and I'll take out a little chisel [SFX: metal scraping] and I'm just going to start like trying to match the shapes, of the key. So I just, do I roll like, I don't know what I roll for this.

Mischa: No, you've solved my key puzzle. [Laughter and cheers]. I just, no, I, absolutely. I think it's perfectly within your crafting capabilities to make a key that matches here.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Okay.

Bex: So funny.

Lyn: I'm so thrilled.

Mayanna: I’m so sorry.

Lyn: Do not apologize.

Mischa: You, you take, I mean, you take a bunch of time and like sculpt a key out of some, out of some scrap metal. [SFX: metal scraping] You're just like sitting there with a file and Paz and Ibra like leaning up against the back, like,

Mischa (Paz): It's so cool to watch her work.

Mayanna (Fran): This is my wheelhouse. I can do this. This I can do.

[SFX: metal scraping continues].

Ian: She's shaking. She's just like so burnt out.

Mischa: Paz leads over to Ibra and says,

Mischa (Paz): Do you think she can make a key to any door?

Bex (Ibra): Probably given enough time and like note taking, I'm positive she could do it.

Mischa (Paz): Okay, I'm planning like several heists, but we'll talk about it later.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: That is so funny.

Lyn: You get a text like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Did you solve the escape room?

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Yes!

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Oh yes, thanks JJ.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Maybe?

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] I won't tell anyone you cheated.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Thanks buddy.

Mischa: You, put the key in the lock [SFX: key clicking into place] and it, like, buzzes in your hand a little bit, but still doesn't quite activate.

[Music ends].

Mayanna: Okay. Okay. Okay. But now it's complete as like a thing. Like it's like,

Mischa: You can feel that the ridges lock into place, but something's still keeping it from turning.

Mayanna: Hmm.

Bex: I'm going to text JJ.

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] Hey, JJ…

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm going to look at the, I'm going to look at the business card again. I want to look at the business card again and see what it tells me. I like put it up against the metal. It's like,

Mayanna (Fran): Commune with your,,, sibling.

[Laughter].

Mischa: …Oh!

Mayanna: I can at least make you laugh while I fail at the puzzle. That's what I can offer you.

Mischa: No, that's interesting.

Mayanna: Oh.

Mischa: You put the card up, and, what do you say?

Mayanna: I say “commune with your sibling.”

Mischa: You put the card up and you say “commune with your sibling, do it!”

[Music begins: pensive piano].

Mischa: And the ink on the back of the card runs down off the card and onto the edge of the key [SFX: energy charges and rumbles], and like slides along the the edge of it, like a bit of ferromagnetic fluid–

Mayanna: Oh my god.

[SFX: ringing].

Mischa: And connects the magical circuit along the edges of the lock.

Lyn: Yes!

Bex (Ibra): Was that card written in Astra?

Mayanna (Fran): Maybe! Thorgunn’s a man who works in mysterious ways, as I've mentioned.

Bex (Ibra): And I can see now.

Mischa: And you hear, within the structure, like, the large metal clunking of a giant arcane lock disengaging. [SFX: lock turns, metal heavily scrapes]. And like a metal scrape and hiss as the door that you were putting your hand up against like falls in half an inch and now swings open. [SFX: squeaky hinge].

Mayanna: Oh my god, I like fall to my knees.

Bex (Ibra): You did it right! Nice job.

Mayanna: I’m just like.

Mayanna (Fran): (Heavy breathing) Thanks guys.

Mayanna: And I text, I text JJ like,

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Thank you so much.

Lyn: Just on the bus. Like,

Lyn (JJ): I hope they're having a fun time!

Mayanna: Oh, you're so sweet.

Bex: I love JJ.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: You look down into a metal staircase descending underneath street level. Stairs put together out of pieces of, like, scrap metal that have been, like, perfectly arranged into smooth, perfect stairs.

Mayanna: This is so gorgeous.

Mischa: And you can hear the stairs like far away down into the stairwell, [SFX: stone shifting and echoing] like sort of clinking and clunking and forming together, descending below.

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

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: echoey] Oh my god. We gotta go.

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

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: echoey] Let's go.

Mischa (Paz): [SFX: echoey] You guys are really on like a magic quest. This is rad. Let’s do it!

(Overlapping squealing).

Mayanna: Okay, I'm gonna go down the stairs.

Mischa: And you descend to find secrets below.

Mayanna: Oh.

Bex: With your posse of Paz and Ibra flanking you on either side.

Lyn: That’s so sick.

Mayanna: I'm so happy you guys are here with me to witness this.

Ian: Remember how you almost single handedly ended the campaign by not being able to open the door?

[Laughter].

[Theme music fades in].

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].

Mischa Stanton 8/5/24 Mischa Stanton 8/5/24

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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

— Transcript —

Lyn: Previously on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: After taking down a dangerous excavator at the construction site, Fran and Gordon found a strange crystal of rough Astra at the bottom of a laser drilled crater. Clearly, this is the thing the awoken mech was hunting for. But now that we have it, do we really trust it to Inspector Ravona? Fran says no! That lady’s got some secrets of her own for sure. But parting ways with Ravona leaves our crew on their own to tackle the city’s crisis, and that’s a lot to handle for a waitress, a baker, and a couple of students.

All caught up? Okay. Let’s see what’s around the bend today on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music plays and then fades out].

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Mischa: There's a phenomenon that happens in New Prosper in the late morning, sort of coasting into noon where the sun passes behind the hovering fortress that makes up Upper Prosper, and it casts a shadow over the ground. There's a little moment of transitioning into darkness before the lights of the underside kick in and create artificial daylight. It's almost like a sunset. But there's a big difference, because when the sun sets, the colors warm, and it feels like the warm caress of the end of a long day. This one is cold and bright, and a little bit more immediate, and the cutoff between light and dark is a little sharper. That shadow crosses your faces, the four of you, as you reel from the emotional and mental showdown with Inspector Ravona. There's a lot going on. There's a lot to think about. It's a little bit of an ending, but the day's only half done.

[Soundscape begins: Wind, perhaps a car passing every now and then].

Ian: Oh, wow. Sunset in the middle of the day.

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: What do you guys do?

Bex: My stomach starts rumbling.

Mayanna: Yeah, I think my stomach also starts rumbling.

Lyn (JJ): Um. Do y'all want to get lunch?

All: Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And maybe a coffee or several?

Ian (Gordon): Let's go to Boggins!

[Disappointed groans].

Bex (Ibra): Have any of y’all been to Jenny's?

Ian (Gordon): Ooh, Jenny’s.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I could go for Jenny's.

Bex (Ibra): Jenny's is good.

Lyn (JJ): Jenny's?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, a stack. A hot, like, stack of pancakes.

Bex (Ibra): That'd be so good right now.

Lyn (JJ): Mmm.

[Soundscape ends].

Mischa: Okay. Tell me about Jenny’s. [Laughter]. I don't know.

[Music begins: energetic, playful beats].

Ian: Wait, wait, did you say tell me about Jenny or tell me about Jenny's?

Mischa: No, tell me about Jenny's.

Ian: Okay, the place, not the person.

Mischa: You can tell me about both.

Bex: Well, Jenny, Jenny is an actual person. Jenny started Jenny's, the founder of Jenny's.

Mayanna: She’s an inspiration, a girl boss icon.

[Laughter].

Bex: Truly.

Mischa: Great.

Bex: She's amazing.

Mischa: Go on.

Bex: She feels like she's been alive forever. She might be. She's probably an elf.

Mischa: Okay.

Bex: And she–

Mayanna: So it's (in a French accent) Jenny's.

All: (in a French accent) Jenny's, Jenny's, Jenny's.

Lyn: Jenny sais quoi.

Bex: But everybody calls it Jenny's.

Mayanna: Yeah. It was short for “je ne sais quoi.”

Ian: Yeah.

Lyn: Exactly.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: But then everybody just started calling it Jenny's.

Ian: Graduate of the Baking Guild, I might add.

Mayanna: Oh my god, that's why she's so amazing.

Ian: Like 10-10, 15 years ago, you know, like legends of the past.

Mischa: The only place besides yourself that you might trust in this, your moment of need, your hour of need.

Ian: Jenny’s. 100%. It's either Boggins or Jenny's.

Mayanna: Yes.

Ian: Or my own kitchen.

Lyn: Is Jenny's like a franchise chain now?

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Bex: She has her few, you know.

Mischa: I would say maybe there's like, there's one on the other side of town called Jenny's 2, but it's T-O-O. But it is a second franchise of it.

Mayanna: That is such good branding.

Bex: Je ne sais quoi too.

Mayanna: I love it so much.

Lyn: Deux? (Laughs) (in a French accent) Jenny's Deux.

Ian: Jenny’s Deux is–

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): They say Jenny's the original is the best one. I'm biased and I think Jenny's Deux. It's kind of like Jenny's Deux. It's like the, I think there's just like

Ian (Gordon): You like Jenny's Deux?

Mayanna (Fran): I do like Jenny's Deux. Granted, it's on the other side of town. We're not gonna go there.

Ian (Gordon): It’s so far.

Mayanna (Fran): Like, look, it's a hot take of mine. I'm telling you that as friends. I know that it's, I know that it's like an unpopular opinion.

Ian (Gordon): I just don't like Jenny's Deux because of the like, the furniture and stuff. You know, I don't like that.

Mayanna (Fran): It's a different vibe for sure.

Mischa: That reminds me.There's something special I want to show you guys today.

[Gasps].

[Music ends].

Ian: Wait, what?

Lyn: Oh, yeah.

Mayanna: What?! No way, what!

Bex: I am excited!

Lyn: Hold for fun!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: I’m so excited, What's happening?

Bex: Hold for content!

Ian: Okay, Mischa's running away, Mischa's running back!

Mischa: I drew a map!

[Cheers and yelling].

Ian: Oh my god!

Lyn: (amidst cheers continuing in the background) That we will reveal on our social media and Patreon later!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

[Excited cheers and giggles].

Ian: Mischa, like, scurried away. And pulled something out of a binder. Oh my god! Oh shit.

Mayanna: It's so cool! Love it.

Bex: And they come back with this adorable rough sketch.

Mayanna: I love it. I'm so excited.

Mischa: Listen, we'll make it nice before we put the podcast out. I promise.

Mayanna: Wee!

Ian: You know what's crazy is I forgot that there's a big fucking sinkhole under the–

Lyn: That's the mine.

Mischa: Oh, directly under? In the center of the city? The center of the city is a big, giant hole with a mine in it?

Ian: Yeah, I forgot that it was directly under. I thought it was like elsewhere.

Mischa: Oh yeah.

Ian: But the fact that the floating top city is just over the abyss.

Mischa: So if Jenny's is here, then Jenny's 2 is like over here. Do you know what I mean?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): it feels like the area that it was built in kind of influenced the aesthetic.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, closer to the suburbs.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, it's got that like stark, I see what you're saying about it.

Ian (Gordon): It's just a different vibe.

Mayanna (Fran): It's a different vibe, and I get it. Again, I love a little, a little zhuzh, a little different, but Jenny's Une is like–

Ian (Gordon): Original recipe.

Mayanna (Fran): The original recipe is–

Lyn: (French accent) Premier.

Mayanna (Fran): is, is great.

Bex: J-OG is great.

Ian: (French accent) Jenny’s Premier?

Lyn: Yeah, Jenny’s Premier.

[Laughter].

Mischa: So you guys head from the Overpass site, over to Original Jenny's–

Mayanna: Original Jenny’s. Mhmm.

Mischa: –over here in West Mine Town.

Mayanna: Yes.

[Music begins: light, cozy synth].

Bex: J-OG. Sorry.

Mayanna: No, don’t.

Bex: JOG. I’ll see myself out.

Mayanna: That's a good acronym. Jog.

Bex: Jog.

Lyn: Jog.

Mayanna: We're going to jog.

[Soundscape begins: door opening and bell chiming as patrons come in, occasional soft clattering of dishes being put down, some muffled chatter in the background].

Mischa: You guys walk in, [SFX: door opens, bell chimes]. It's a very, kitsch little establishment, there's like a lot of homey touches because this was the original location. It’s existed since like the early days of the city, so there's like a ramshackle feel to it, and sure it's been maintained and like upgraded over the years, but there's still like original, you know, corrugated roofing, like underneath the nice roof, just like for that feeling of home.

Bex: Part of the charm is the hole in the wall nature of it.

Mischa: Exactly, exactly. So you guys, Walk in?

Lyn (JJ): Table for four?

[Music ends].

Mischa (waiter): Oh sure, y'all, we just, we got a table right in the middle there, is that all right?

Mayanna (Fran): Do you have a booth?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, booth would be good.

Lyn (JJ): We can wait for a booth.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we'll wait for a booth.

Lyn (JJ): When one opens up?

Mischa: Mayanna, will you roll a d6?

Mayanna: Absolutely.

Bex: Yay!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Actually, roll a d4.

Mayanna: A d4?

Bex: Oh no.

Mayanna: Okay, oh boy.

Mischa: No, that's okay, that's better for you guys.

Mayanna: Oh, is it better? All right, hang on.

Bex: One hour or six hours?

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: That is a one.

Mischa: Great. It's only a 10 minute wait.

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Oh yeah! I remember in my hostess days, cause I'm pulling from personal experience with Fran, that they always told us to give a window of time. So you'd be like, “it'll be 10 to 15 minutes” because a guest is more likely to be like “10 minutes.” Even if it's not 10 minutes, you just, you give them a range and they go like, “Oh yeah, I can wait the low amount.”

Mischa: That's how they get you.

Mayanna: Yeah. That's how they get you.

Mischa: Well, it's a, it's a short wait for your guys’ booth. You guys get in.

Mischa (waiter): Coffee? Water? Juice?

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, please, coffee. Please.

Lyn (JJ): Coffee, please.

Ian (Gordon): Espresso.

Bex (Ibra): I think I need tea. Everything hurts.

Ian (Gordon): (Acknowledging hum).

Mayanna (Fran): Oh gosh, yeah, you took a lot of damage.

Bex (Ibra): I must have, cause I– (painfully trails off)

Mayanna: I'm gonna like, rub Ibra's back, just like, tenderly.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thank you.

Mischa: Sure. You know, going to a diner counts as a short rest if I've ever heard one.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: I like that. (Laughs)

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, that feels better.

Bex: I need to expend some

Bex and Lyn: Hit dice.

[Laughter].

Lyn: It's bad.

Ian: Yeah, we finally get a look at Ibra and it's like, black eye. Big ol’ bump on the noggin.

Bex: A big ol machine rolled over on me while I was stuck to it.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: There's, there's some significant (wheeze).

Mayanna: I think I go to the server and I go,

Mayanna (Fran): Can you just get me just like a bag of ice?

[Laughter].

Mischa: They signal back like, you got it.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much.

Ian: We look super ragtag sitting in this booth at Jenny’s right now.

Mayanna: We returned our little construction worker equipment? Or are we still in our little reflective vest?

Mischa: I honestly, I think that's up to you.

Mayanna: I think I didn't return my reflective vest.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Or your hot pink hardhat.

Mayanna: Or my hardhat!

Ian: I'm gonna roll for it. Evens, I'm in a vest. [Dice rolls]. I returned my vest.

Mayanna: I think I just forgot.

Mischa: Put Hi-Viz vest in your inventory.

Mayanna: Hi-Viz vest? Oh my god, okay!

Lyn: And a hot pink hard hat?

Mischa: Hot pink hard hat.

Mayanna: Hot pink hard hat. [Laughter].

Mischa: So Hi-Viz vest will definitely get you some like, [Laughter]. stealth points towards trying to go into further construction sites.

Mayanna: Oh my god, amazing.

Mischa: Hot pink helmet, probably not so much.

Mayanna: Oh my god, amazing.

Lyn (JJ): How, how are you? Good on health? Is everyone..?

Mayanna (Fran): I'm good, I didn't really take that much damage because we were doing evacuation stuff.

Lyn (JJ): Honestly, that came in clutch. Thank you for doing that.

Mayanna (Fran): Please, Ibra did all the work.

Bex (Ibra): (Groans).

Mayanna (Fran): We just waved people away.

Bex (Ibra): It was absolutely a team effort. People would have gotten hurt if it weren't for y'all.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, but you got hurt, and that's not cool.

Bex (Ibra): I… It's okay, I still barely even know what happened. It’s a blur.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, what did happen? It's–oh my God, that's right. You lost consciousness.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that was scary. Don't do that again.

Mayanna (Fran): JJ, you came in clutch.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, what did you do?

Mayanna (Fran): Well, you healed Ibra.

Lyn (JJ): Oh shit, my Astra!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Oh, oh!

Mayanna: And I, I look at your Astra again and I, I just, cause it's all cracked. Right? You like stressed it.

[Music begins: curious, plucky synth beats].

Lyn (JJ): (Distressed) Oh no.

Bex (Ibra): Wait, what's going on? What happened? Why does that look weird?

Mayanna (Fran): JJ's, JJ's Astra. I, I've never actually seen this up close before, but JJ over stressed their Astra.

Bex (Ibra): You can do that?

Mayanna (Fran): And I think it's–

Mischa: It's in pieces. It's like shattered.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, it's shattered.

Mischa: So like, when you said you take it out, I was picturing like taking out a bunch of pieces of that.

Mayanna: Because I thought it was in your watch, right?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And I think I had looked at it. Is it like when you break a watch and the shattered pieces are still kind of embedded in it?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, but when you try to take it out–

Mayanna: I think I just like, I grab your wrist. Just involuntarily.

Lyn (JJ): (Sad groan).

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry.

Mayanna: And I'm just, I'm just like looking at it. I don't, I don't think I take the pieces out, but I just want to like look at it again just to get a sense of like, I want to look at where the source of the fracture started. Like, is it in the center? Is it off to the side?

Mischa: Oh, Yeah. You want to roll Arcana?

Mayanna: Sure, I’d love to roll Arcana for you. Let's see here. [Dice rolls]. That is an 18.

Mischa: Oh dang. Okay. So yeah, it's split directly out from the center. All of the, the fractures like sort of meet in right in the middle and then they…

Mayanna: The center of it, so like the heart almost. Like, whatever the core core is, and it just, like, split right from that.

Mischa: Yeah, it's– there are, like, pieces in the device that are, like, wedges that, like, they're, like, almost, like, cones or pizza slices that reach directly into the center on all, like–

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: It cracked from the middle point out.

Mayanna (Fran): What happened?

Lyn (JJ): : I don't know, you went down, and I was like, “that's not good.” And so I… thought and felt really hard about… making you not unconscious, and then it happened.

Bex (Ibra): You d–you did what?

Mayanna (Fran): You pulled a spell out of Astra that didn't have any left?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, well, okay, so I thought… Well, I didn't think. It was subconscious.

Mayanna (Fran): It was involuntary.

Lyn (JJ): But, based on the research I did… Was that this morning?

Mischa: Yep.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex: It's been a long day.

Lyn (JJ): Based on the research I did this morning, you know, Astra and magic is based on willpower and intention, and that'd be my guess as to why I was able to do it. You know, Astra is a magical conduit, not necessarily…I don't know. I… I, uh… This broke.

Mayanna (Fran): It's okay. We'll figure it out.

Lyn (JJ): It's essentially a power surge. I fried the circuit.

Bex (Ibra): So you fried your circuit to bring me back up?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah… Yes…

Bex (Ibra): Okay, then I owe you a new circuit. That's it. I owe you a new circuit.

[Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): No, you don't have to do that.

Bex (Ibra): That's how it works. I owe you a circuit, at very least.

[Music begins: gentle piano].

Lyn (JJ): (Deep sigh).

Mayanna (Fran): JJ, take it.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, thank you.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, thank you.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, of course. I'd do it again.

Mayanna (Fran): Any of us would.

Lyn (JJ): I should probably not do that again, though.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course.

Lyn (JJ): But… I would.

Bex (Ibra): I can't believe that you did that for me.

Lyn (JJ): I wasn't gonna let you die!

Bex (Ibra): Well, thank you, but also, holy crap!

Lyn (JJ): I don't want you to die! Please don't die!

Mayanna (Fran): Any of us would have made that choice. You are our friend. We would do anything to protect you.

Bex (Ibra): I want to be able to do the same for you guys.

Lyn (JJ): I mean…

Mayanna (Fran): You have.

Lyn (JJ): You did.

Mayanna (Fran): So many times.

Lyn (JJ): You actively did.

Mayanna (Fran): So it's even.

Lyn (JJ): We’re even.

Bex (Ibra): I went down. You had to save me.

Mayanna (Fran): No, but you–Stop.

Lyn (JJ): You killed the thing.

Mayanna (Fran): You need to stop it. I'm not even–

Lyn (JJ): You killed the other thing.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm not even entertaining this conversation.

Lyn (JJ): You killed two things in two days.

Mayanna (Fran): Can we get more juice over here?

Lyn (JJ): How's everyone's blood sugar?

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): So low.

Mischa: I think the server comes over a little, like, scared. It's like–

Mischa (waiter): Yeah, you got it.

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry, We– Sorry, glucose. It's, it's, it's draining. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. You're a gem. You're a treat. I really appreciate you.

[Music ends].

Ian (Gordon): Sorry, real quick, before you leave, can we put in an order?

Mayanna: Oh, yeah,

Mischa: For sure.

Ian (Gordon): Sorry, I haven't been paying attention to anything you guys have been saying–

Mayanna: (Laughing) Cause you’ve been studying the menu?

Ian (Gordon): –I've been just reading the menu this whole time.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Laughing) I love that so much!

[Music begins: jaunty, playful elevator music vibes with light percussion].

Ian (Gordon): I think if everyone trusts me, we're just gonna get two wedge salads, four elvish onion soups, the oxen prime rib for the table with the roasted carrots and crispy potatoes, hot garlic rolls, if you guys like the hot garlic rolls.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes. Yes.

Lyn (JJ): Oh absolutely.

Bex (Ibra): Always.

Ian (Gordon): And then we'll get two ice cream sundaes for dessert.

Mischa (waiter): You got it!

Ian: Are we old enough to drink wine?

Mayanna: I think so.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah!

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): A bottle of elvish wine, please.

Mischa (waiter): I can see what we got.

Lyn (JJ): We'd also do mimosas if that's not an option.

Ian (Gordon): Ohh.

Mischa (waiter): Mimosas I can do.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Mimosas…

Mayanna (Fran): I like that.

[Overlapping agreement].

Lyn (JJ): I think, can we switch that to mimosas?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, mimosas sound great. Wait, actually, I forgot we were at lunch. Do we want to do roast chicken instead of prime rib? Prime rib feels kind of dinner-esque.

Mayanna (Fran): Let's do roast chicken.

Ian (Gordon): Let's do the whole roast chicken.

Mayanna (Fran): I like that.

Ian: Gordon, Gordon pulls out a very small notebook and puts it on the table with a small pen and then you, he opens it, and maybe you see that it says like Jenny's and then the date that we're at–

Mayanna: I love this.

Ian: –And then, so it's a very subtle like cataloging of how good the food is.

Mayanna: I love this.

(Overlapping excitement).

Lyn: You're a food nerd. You're a little baby gourmand!

All, overlapping: baby gourmand!

Bex: Gord-and

Mayanna: I love it. And that sounds like an incredible order.That like–That's incredible.

[Music ends].

Mischa: That was really great.

Lyn: Did you say Elvish onion soup? Cause that's very funny.

Mayanna: Yes. Sounds amazing.

Ian: Well, because yes, French onion.

Lyn: Yes, exactly. That’s really clever, I really enjoyed that.

Mayanna: I love it. That was truly so brilliant.

Bex: It was so subtle and so well done.

Mayanna: Great job.

Ian: I'll take all the compliments. I appreciate it.

Mischa: With that order. I think you have a while that you won't be disturbed at this booth.

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh, great. And we can chat.

Mayanna: Perfect. Heck yeah.

Ian (Gordon): So wait, what were we talking about? I missed everything.

Mayanna (Fran): So we have to get JJ some new Astra.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): And then we were just trying to figure out like… What, what is going on?

Lyn (JJ): What do we do…?

Mayanna (Fran): I think is the biggest question. We saw someone at the top of the overpass, right? Like there was someone and then, and then the mech came alive and then they were looking for,

Mayanna: and I like kind of gently like point towards my bag where the, where the piece is.

Ian: And we all nod and we're like (understanding hums).

Mayanna (Fran): So what the fuck is going on? Why are they looking for this? What is so important about this?

Ian (Gordon): I don’t know.

Mayanna (Fran): That they're willing to kill civilians over it.

Bex (Ibra): And that the police are willing to shut down Boggins’ over it.

Mayanna (Fran): I can't. Oh my God.

Bex (Ibra): Sorry.

Mayanna (Fran): No, it's fine. It's good. It's good. I just, I don't like not having a job and I like having something to do.

Lyn (JJ): Oh wait, this is technically a job. We should get paid.

Bex (Ibra): Technically it is a job.

Mayanna (Fran): Ah, we need to get paid. Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, all you have to do is submit your tickets to any of the number of bursar's office depots around the city.

Mayanna: Bursar's office depots. Okay.

Ian: Amazing. How long were you sitting on that?

Mischa: Today.

[Music begins: ominous synths]

Ian: (Laughs) okay. So here's my question about it regarding what's going on. It's been the same type of bluish electricity that's animated the mech, and that was flowing around like the Spectre, right? So. Are we familiar? Like, have you guys experienced that? Do you have any experience with that type of blue electricity? Or is this brand new to us?

Mayanna: Can I do an Arcana check to see if I'm familiar? Any, some of the infusions I've seen?

Mischa: Yeah, yes. Everybody who wants to can roll Arcana about it.

Mayanna: Okay, sounds great. [Dice rolls] 12.

Bex: 11.

Lyn: 13.

Ian: 20.

Mischa: Whoa.

Mayanna: Wow.

Ian: Remember that time Gordon asked a question and knew the answer?

Bex: Asking the question can sometimes spark it in your own brain.

[Agreement].

Mischa: Gordon, you're like a smart guy. We've talked about this a little bit. It's like, where does the magic for your magic muffins come from? We've talked about your stand mixer or your kitchen equipment, having Astra slots in them to make magic food with, or stuff like that. You know, maybe part of your guild training is maintenance of the equipment that you need. So yeah, I think you have like a decent background knowledge in normal everyday magic stuff.

Ian: Yeah. Right.

Mischa: I don't know if you know enough about where magic, like the origins of magic, high science. This would be like you being a casual expert in particle physics.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: You know what I mean? But one thing you do know is like you're around electro-magical devices all the time and this felt different.

Ian: This feels different than the normal thing.

Mischa: It just like some, like, it feels different. Like something inside you feels different. It's different about this, like, like the energy that came off this mech, the, the, that ghost that passed through you.

Ian: Right

Mischa: Like that, there's a feeling that like–

Ian: –it’s different.

Mischa: Maybe it doesn't have words yet, but it's different and you know it.

Ian: So where my mind goes is wondering if we can find out anything about this, if we read up on like, the types of monsters and beasts that were, that were prevalent around that time.

Bex: But would it be written down if nobody remembers it?

Mayanna: Was Thorgunn there?

[Music ends].

Ian: Was what?!

Mischa: Well, one thing you know about Thorgunn is that he was, he was definitely active during the final days of the war.

Ian: (pained muffling of screaming).

Mayanna (Fran): I might know somebody, you guys have, I've told you a little bit about Thorgunn. my mentor?

Ian (Gordon): Thorgunn Boomslang.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): The one with the, with the liquid Astra.

Ian (Gordon): The crazy guy.

Mayanna (Fran): Ye– Hey! He's–

Ian (Gordon): I’m sorry.

Bex (Ibra): He's not crazy, he's just cuckoo banana pants.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): He's an eccentric genius, who is difficult to understand, except for me.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, that's what I said. Cuckoo banana pants.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): No. He's a brilliant, brilliant man who I have yet to understand, because I am not as smart as him.

Mayanna: And I start like going through my little notebook of all the things he says. It's like.

[SFX: pages flipping].

Mayanna (Fran): Because his knowledge can only be shared at the pachinko-pachonko parlor because.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, he's just a smelly guy at the pachinko parlor.

Lyn: Pachonko!

Mayanna (Fran): No, no, no, no! He's just, he's just, that's just like, that's just where he does his best work.

Mischa: Yeah. You see one thing written down in your notebook that says, (in French accent) “when you two cherries, you must wait for the third cherry.”

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. You gotta wait for the third cherry. Obviously!

[Laughter].

Ian: And then I look, I look to you two, I'm like, what's happening right now?

Lyn (JJ): I don't know. All the really smart people I know in my family are also a little hard to understand.

Mayanna (Fran): See? See?

Lyn (JJ): I think it comes with the territory.

Mayanna (Fran): For sure.

Bex (Ibra): All three of you are smarter than I am, and I find you all hard to understand, so I'm just flying with it right now.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you?

Mayanna (Fran): We should talk to Thorgunn. Maybe he'll know something.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): He hasn't, he's a little, I mean, he's a little secretive, obviously, so I'll have to like, warm him up or whatever. But yeah, oh my God, you guys have to meet Thorgunn. He's amazing.

Bex (Ibra): What kind of stuff does he like? Should we bring him a gift?

Lyn (JJ): I honestly thought that you were kind of making up a guy for a while.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, um…. [Laughter]. Okay. Say more about that. Why don't you? Well, okay. You thought he was what, like my imaginary friend? Like that he wasn't real?

Ian: (laughing) Imaginary mentor.

Lyn (JJ): No, I thought that he– I–

Mayanna (Fran): –thought like, I’d just make up a guy? I'm just like making up a guy?

Bex (Ibra): I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's hard to believe that there's a guy who never leaves the Pachonko seat for two weeks at a time, two months at a time.

Mayanna (Fran): It’s where he does his best work!

Lyn (JJ): It's less than I thought that you're making up a guy, but I thought that there were some embellishments to a real person.

Mayanna (Fran): Why would I embellish such a brilliant man?

Ian (Gordon): Well, because he's the smelly guy at the Pachonko parlor.

Mayanna (Fran): Again, sometimes when you're like, when you're really in a flow on something, you just like forget to shower. Okay, it happens to the best of us.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah I.. I do that.

Mayanna (Fran): Not me because I have a skincare routine, but like generally speaking.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): How many steps is your skincare routine? Cause you look stunning.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. It's actually just water, soap, and genetics.

Lyn: [Cackles].

Ian: Also I just really loved the concept of like someone who's not making up a fake boyfriend or girlfriend or a partner, but like making up a fake mentor. [Laughter]. Like, “Oh my God, I was hanging out with my mentor the other day.”

Mayanna: “He's so cool and strong and smart and like he tells me all his wisdom and yeah.”

[SFX: clinking of dishes].

Mayanna (Fran): No, he is very real. And he is a, he is a force of nature.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, so we definitely have to talk to Thorgunn.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Ian (Gordon): A part of me also wants to– You just reminded me that like, no one really remembers the war.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know, like my family was alive during the war. A lot of people remember it.

[Music begins: pensive synths].

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, a lot of people remember the war. It just seems like a lot of people don't remember the last time that the spectres showed up.

Mayanna (Fran): So that's weird, right? Yeah. So does that mean that if this is happening about this, do people also not remember things about the war?

Ian (Gordon): Right

Mayanna (Fran): If this memory thing is happening, is this the first time?

Lyn (JJ): Or there might be parts about the war that–

Mayanna (Fran): –people don't remember.

Bex (Ibra): They don't remember they don't remember.

Mayanna (Fran): Exactly.

Ian (Gordon): What if we split up, and some of us go talk to Thorgunn, and then I kind of want to go to the library and see what I can read up about the war.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): You, you said that Thorgunn is good with magic, right?

Mayanna (Fran): He's the best with magic, is what I said.

Ian (Gordon): I see what you mean about the embellishing, it does feel a little embellished.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes. Okay, yeah, yeah, of course you can.

Bex (Ibra): I'd love to come meet him.

Mayanna (Fran): I think, I think he's gonna just love you. I think he will, yeah, absolutely.

Bex (Ibra): He sounds wild.

Mayanna (Fran): He is an enigma wrapped inside a riddle, bent over into a question mark, that is, that is a haunting nightmare that I will never fully understand. And that is why I, that is why I must keep trying. [Laughter]. When you meet him, you will understand.

Lyn (JJ): Well, okay, Gordon.

Ian (Gordon): JJ. I don't have access to the same section of the library.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I was gonna say, do you need an escort into the library?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, will you go with me?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): That'd be amazing.

Lyn (JJ): I love the library. It's nice there.

Ian (Gordon): Sorry, the reason I'm so low key right now is because I'm really anticipating the wedge salads that are gonna be coming soon.

Mischa: Yeah, the server comes back with the salad course.

Ian: Fuck yeah. I'm going to roll and see if it was good or not.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Ooh, do you think rolling is going to change the outcome? It's good.

Ian: I don't know. It could be an off day.

Mayanna: Oh.

Bex: I think rolling is going to determine whether or not Gordon can recognize that it's good or not.

Mayanna: Or like what he thinks of it.

Ian: Evens. It's good.

Mayanna: Okay.

Ian: It's good.

[Laughter].

Lyn: I like that you just decided it was 50 50.

Mayanna: I love that. No, cause honestly, it is a toss up.

Ian: Chef could be having an off day or not.

Lyn: Salads are also a tough one. A sad salad is really sad.

Mayanna: Yeah. And a good salad is like, wow.

Ian: But the iceberg is really crisp and the, and the gorgonzola blue cheese dressing is like really, really umptuous. And then there's crispy bacon on top. I rolled for the rest of the meal and everything was great except for surprisingly, the hot garlic rolls.

Mayanna: No, no!

Lyn: Were they burnt?

Ian: I don't know. They were, yeah. Maybe they were a little burnt or maybe they were a little undercooked.

Bex: They're just not as good as gorgonzola.

Mayanna: yeah they were like soggy in the middle where you go like these needed a couple more minutes.

Ian: But everything else was evens all the way.

Mayanna: That is gorgeous.

Ian: Oh, wait, I didn't do the wine, hold on.

Lyn: Mimosas

Ian: Oh, the mimosas. Mimosas were good.

All: Yeah!

Mayanna (Fran): You have to order for me anytime we go anywhere now. Like, I, I trust your judgement.

Bex (Ibra): I no longer have free will at restaurants. It's all Gordon.

Mischa: So it sounds like we're splitting the party a little bit.

Ian: Buh buh buhhh!

All: oooh…

Mischa: But like not in a dangerous scenario where they always talk about it. Like in a nice way where it's a city and you guys can do multiple things.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: You never know, libraries have a lot of dark corners in ‘em.

Mayanna: (Singsongy) Ohh, forbidden section.

Mischa: I think I have one question for you, if we're about to split the party, who's taking the crystal you found at the worksite?

Mayanna: Ooh, I'll hold onto it for today. I did want to talk to you guys about this.

Mayanna (Fran): I do think this is obviously a really big responsibility and I don't want any one person to feel like they're in danger, so I was thinking maybe we could do some kind of, like, hand off system?

Bex (Ibra): Okay, yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Like, maybe we pick days where one of us holds on to it, just so, like, One, if someone's looking for it, they won't know who has it. We can come up with some kind of, like, randomized schedule, just so that we can all, like, split the responsibility. Because I don't want any one person to feel responsible for this.

Ian (Gordon): That's a great idea.

Lyn (JJ): No, that's really smart.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, thank you.

Bex (Ibra): Do you want me to take a shift?

Mayanna (Fran): I can take it today if we're gonna be together, and then I'll give it to you at the end of the day.

Lyn (JJ): Can you pick up a lead box to put that in?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mayanna: Remind me again, how big is it?

Mischa: It's big. It's unprocessed, right? So the processed ones, they're either like engine sized, so they're like a basketball sized thing that goes in a wheel well, or they fit into like wristwatches. This one's like softball sized, but it's also not perfectly spherical. It's like got crystalline faces on it still.

Mayanna: Okay, cool. Yeah, so, yeah. Probably like a medium sized one.

Lyn: Like a large dragon fruit.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, just like that.

Mayanna: Ooh, a large dragon fruit. I love that. Amazing. I love that.

[Diner soundscape ends].

Ian: I thought that you were describing a box that way and I was like, that's fucked up.

Lyn: (Laughs).

Mayanna: A large dragon fruit shaped box.

Bex: That box would hurt. Is there like a spot on the way to just stop by and grab a quick Astra thing for JJ or should I do that later?

Lyn: Like a Radioshack?

Bex: Yeah. An Astrashack.

Mayanna: Astra Quick!

Bex: (Delighted scream).

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. there are–

Bex: Quick Astra.

Lyn: FASTRA.

All: FASTRA!

[City soundscape begins: wind, cars going by, occasional horns honking, people walking and chatting].

Mischa: Yeah, that's pretty good. yeah, you go to a FASTRA depot. They're little sort of automated, vending machines. They're like very well–they're almost like ATMs. You know what I mean?

Mayanna (Fran): I always feel weird going to these. Yeah, it's just like Where's the, where's the romance? Where's the like, where's the salesmanship, you know? But I get it, we're in a rush.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, I get that. It's nice to be able to choose.

Mayanna (Fran): That's fair, yeah.

Mayanna: It reminds me of those cupcake vending machines.

Lyn: Oh, yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): And which one is it? Is it 8? Is it, which one are we…

Lyn: An 8 gig.

Mayanna: An 8, oh.

Bex (Ibra): I’m gonna get two 8 gigs and just hold on to one.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's smart. I like that. That's great.

Mischa: Basic Astra crystals are 50 gold.

Mayanna: Dang. Oh my god.

Bex: Can I use my parents credit slash finance it?

[Music begins: tinkering chimes].

Mischa: yeah, you, as a noble born can use your parents credit, but you know they get the bill.

Bex: They do.

Mischa: Okay. Then yeah, you can put it on their credit card.

Mayanna: So I watch Ibra do this, have I, I don't think I've ever seen you do a transaction before. So I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): (concerned) Uh. Um…

Mayanna: Because I saw how much–

Mayanna (Fran): What is going on? What's going on?

Bex (Ibra): I, uh…

Mayanna (Fran): You are in a bee costume.

Bex (Ibra): It's not my money. It's my parents’.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. That's cool. That's nice.

Bex (Ibra): Until they turn off this card, I'm gonna use it.

[SFX: ATM machine buttons].

Mayanna (Fran): Why would they turn off the card?

Bex (Ibra): I don't know. I just feel like it's always a possibility if I don't do exactly what they want me to do, and that's getting harder and harder to do every year.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, cash that in. Cash that in right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): So I'm just gonna ride this while I can.

Mayanna (Fran): I get that.

Mayanna: I think I kind of have a flashback to like, when I was living at home, and just thinking about like, counting down these days until like, I could move out.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: And just, and I feel for you in this moment.

Bex: Yeah. You can sort of see. Just written all over Ibra's face, the debt that they owe is not financial but it is deep.

Mayanna: I feel that, for sure. I think I recognize that in you, definitely.

Lyn: Generosity is the sunny side of control.

Mayanna: Mmmm…

Ian: What the–What? Woah.

Bex: That was beautiful.

Mayanna: I'm gonna write that down.

Bex: (while noting) “Generosity is the sunny side of control.”

Ian: Oh my god, I feel like I'm bleeding. [Laughter]. Wow.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Yeah. Well, I have to move on from that moment, even though I'd like to sit in it just a little bit longer. [Laughter]. Yeah.

Lyn: Sorry

Bex: I love that.

Mischa: that's okay. So you, you punch in, you know, a number on the thing and out pop, like it pops out like a little, you know, pinball into the bottom of the vending machine. [SFX: Astra rolling down into the bottom of a vending machine].

Bex: Also, how much are bags of holding?

Mischa: Ooh, great question. Hey, Fran, do you want to tell us about that?

[Music begins: energetic techno synth].

Mayanna: I would love to tell you about that. So, now that I'm at level three, because of the subclass I've chosen, one of the items I'm allowed to craft is a bag of holding.

Ian: Whoa!

Lyn: Holy–!

Ian: Lead boxes left and right.

Lyn: That’s better than a lead box!

Bex: I think if we have a lead box and put it in, or even without the lead box, just put it in a bag of holding then...

Mischa: I think while you're on your way to the Fastra Depot, Ibra, you ask about bags of holding, like how much do you think one is, and you start looking in store windows, and the prices are insane.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god.Oh my god. Oh my god! No, mm-mm, we're gonna make it ourselves. We're going to make it ourselves.

Bex (Ibra): You can do that?

Mayanna (Fran): Um, well, I'm going to try.

Bex (Ibra): Sweet!

Mayanna: And I just start, I, I whip out my little notebook and I start like writing down little specs that I see. And then I just start kind of like doing like little equations or just like thinking about infusions and stuff of like, okay, so like, what is it like spatial? And then like, what kind of magic is a bag of holding based in?

Mischa: I think it's enchantment magic, right? I think a lot of stuff is, is when you lay, when you're laying spells on objects.

Mayanna: Cause it's a normal object that becomes magical. It's not like. Yeah.

Mischa: Right.

Mayanna (Fran): I think I can do this.

Bex (Ibra): I, I know you can.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I appreciate that.

Bex (Ibra): If anyone can, it's you.

Mischa: Yeah, I think, but like, you know, you have a couple of vials of, like, that little synthetic liquid stuff that, like, Thorgunn has tossed off to you in occasional moments, and I think you've been observing Some pretty magical stuff in the past few days. You, you know, you could probably do it. Maybe you just have to ask Thorgunn one or two questions.

[Music fades out].

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I think I'm going to ask Thorgunn a couple questions. Now, the bigger question is shoulder bag? Is it like a pocket size thing? Is it a backpack situation? Is it like a messenger situation? You know, we'll talk about that later. We'll workshop that later.

Bex (Ibra): Absolutely.

Mischa: You pocket it and you're on your way to the Barra, although let me consider my map here for a moment.

Mayanna: Consider your map.

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Mischa: turns out the bridge collapse was over in West Minetown, right near the Barra, so it's like one district over.

Mayanna: Oh, nice. Oh, great. Could, could we, do we walk it or do we like…

Mischa: The thing about the Barra is that it's, it was built out of a need to get away from work during the early days of the mining city, right?

Mayanna: Yeah, that makes sense.

Mischa: It's a site dedicated to, like–

Mayanna: – It's a very Gold Rush of them.

Mischa: Yeah, it's a little bit like, there's this section where the Goddess of Delights watches over us and lets us have a good time and put our work behind us. So it is like, kind of off on its own little offshoot of the city, like you do have to go down a, like, most, it's mostly like a really long strip and then a cul de sac at the end.

Mayanna: That makes sense.

Mischa: So you do kind of have to like, go around. you can take a bus.

Mayanna: All right.

Bex (Ibra): Did you want to take the DACR?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, let's do that. Yeah, that sounds good.

Bex (Ibra): Ducati-ass crotch rocket. It'll get us there fast.

Lyn: Oh my god.

[Music ends].

Mischa: Are we I don't Okay, I do think we're gonna get demonetized by Ducati if we keep calling it this. Can we- Can we go-

Bex: That's why I switched to DACR.

Mischa: (Laughs). No, I mean, it's the same. Can we come up with a name? What does Ibra call their bike?

Mayanna: Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. What is your relationship like with the bike? What does the bike give you?

Bex: Freedom.

Ian: Freedom.

Bex: Yeah. Her name is Frida.

Mayanna: Frida. I like it.

Lyn & Ian: Frida.

Bex (Ibra): You want to take Frida?

Mayanna (Fran): Frida. Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): She's fully charged.

Mayanna (Fran): I love it.

Bex (Ibra): Cool.

Mayanna (Fran): Frida's a beautiful bike, by the way.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome.

Mayanna: I put on the pink hard hat.

Bex: I put on my, I put on my cracked motorcycle helmet.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Okay, so I am staring directly at this crack and trying to figure out how to fix it.

[Laughter].

[SFX: Electric bike powering up and zipping off].

[City soundscape ends].

[Music begins: suspenseful, humming synth]

Mischa: You zip out and around down side streets, in the direction of the Barra and then glide Frida down that strip until you reach the little offshoot from the main drag of the Barra that only people who live there and are seeking it out tend to know where it is.

Mayanna: it's The Pachonko Parlor.

Mischa: The, that, that Pachonko Parlor, it's like, down an alley that's off an alley that, like, is usually closed off by barricades that somebody put up ten years ago, and people have left up because it's convenient to have the privacy, but like, you know where the hole in the gate is.

Mayanna: Yeah, it feels like at some point someone was like, maybe if we just create a little bit of an obstacle, people will be like, more likely to avoid it. And then it's like, in the classic with any vice, the obstacle is not what's stopping you.

Mischa: No.

Mayanna: It's, it's, it's, you're gonna do it if you want to do it.

Mischa: Exactly, exactly. And you know who really wants to do it?

Mayanna: Thorgunn.

Mischa: Thorgunn. So you walk in over to what you know is his machine.

Mayanna: Mhmm, yep. Yep.

Mischa: And there he is, just poppin copper pieces in, pullin the lever.

[SFX: Slots machines being cranked and spinning].

[Music fades to low ambient synth].

Mayanna: Is he up or down today?

Mischa: Ooh, let's roll for it!

Ian: Roll for it!

Mischa: Oh, he's up today! He's up a little bit! [Gasps]. He's like, like, enough that he'll come back tomorrow, you know what I mean?

[Casino soundscape begins: people occasionally talking in the distance, slot machines giving techno trills, wheels spinning mechanically, coins clinking]

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, and that's all he needs. I think I pull up a little, cause there's like little stools around, so this is normally what I do, is I–We'll pull up a little stool, sit next to him. And then I think I,

Ian: Is it a shorter stool?

Mayanna: It's a shorter stool. Of course it is.

Ian: Amazing

Mayanna: Yeah. I'm like a child sitting next to a parent. It's not a good situation.

Mischa: You said stool. All I'm imagining is one of those blue chairs.

Mayanna: Yeah. Just a little plastic. It's like, it might, you know what? You know what it is. [Laughter]. It's not a chair. It's one of those little steps that you use to like reach a high shelf.

All: Yes.

Mayanna: And they're just around. And so I'm sitting on that, and I kind of slowly start to hold the cup of coins for him, which is usually, like, the role that I take on in this situation.

Lyn: Oh no.

Mayanna: And so I kind of wait for him to take notice that he is no longer holding the coin and I am holding the coin.

Mischa: Sure. Can you roll a charisma save?

Mayanna: A charisma save, you say? Oh, let's see here.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: Can I support?

Mischa: You can support or you can make your own roll, what do you think?

Bex: Umm…

Maynna: (Cackles in the distance).

Bex: I think I'll help.

Mischa: Yeah, okay.

Bex: I only have a plus two, I don't think that'll help.

Mayanna: That's fine, you can like tug on his sleeve.

Bex: Yeah, I think I wanna like,

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) He's in the zone.

Bex (Ibra): (whispered) But I feel like he should know before you grab his money.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) Well, this is what I normally do.

Bex (Ibra): (whispered) Yeah, but he normally knows you're here.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) Well yeah, I'm the only one who talks to him.

Bex (Ibra): (whispered) Let me just–(clears throat)

Mayanna (Fran) and Bex (Ibra): (humming as if they aren’t acting super shady)

Mischa: Yeah, go ahead, roll again.

Mayanna: Okay, oh, thank you. [Dice rolls]. Ooh, that is a 17.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, so when Ibra clears the throat, Thorgunn goes,

Mischa (Thorgunn): Fran, you must tell your friend, when I am in this zone to not disturb.

Mayanna (Fran): Gee, I told, I tried to tell, I'm sorry.

Mischa (Thorgunn): You are always looking out for me, my dear one.

Mayanna (Fran): Of course.

Mischa (Thorgunn): What can I do for you today?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my gosh, wow, thank you. Well, this is my friend, Ibra. And, Ibra wanted to learn a little bit about your line of work, and I had a couple questions for you because I am trying to craft a Bag of Holding.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, the Bag of Holding. You are, you are dabbling in the magical enchantment side of things. (Chuckles). Oh, I love it. I love a good enchantment.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, good, good, great. Would you perhaps have any wisdom you would want to impart to help me with this?

Mischa: He makes to, start divulging secrets and then he looks at Ibra again.

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: I'm gonna roll something for Thorgunn.

Bex: I still look very bloody. I'm only at half health.

Mischa: Yeah, and I think that the bumps and bruises on your head and like maybe, you know, a cut that's like stopped bleeding, does a little bit to obscure your birthmark. And Thorgunn takes a scrutinizing look at you for a moment and then just goes,

Mischa (Thorgunn): Your friend seeks the mystical secrets of the ways of magic.

Mischa: And he like, prestidigitates, like a, like a couple of sparks. [SFX: electrical sparking].

Bex (Ibra): Whoa. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk.

Mischa (Thorgunn): All this and more can be yours, if you study the dark ways.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) The dark ways. The dark ways.

Mischa (Thorgunn): No, I'm just kidding.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Look at the look on his face. Classic Thorgunn.

Mischa (Thorgunn): You treat magic this way, you are not ready. Magic is a science, a science you can learn. Anyone can learn the secrets if you study long and hard enough.

Mayanna (Fran): Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm.

Bex (Ibra): (Stuttering) I'm ready. I'm ready. I want to.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Step one…

Mischa: (aside) Takes coin. [Laughter].

Lyn: Oh no.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Persistence.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): We're gonna be here for a while.

Mayanna: And those are the moments that I'm like waiting for like, like hours and hours and hours of stuff that doesn't make any sense and is like whatever. And then every once in a while it's just like a little bit of something.

Mischa: Yeah, I agree. I think he's, he's pulling, he has a run of like a couple in a row where like nothing's happening. [SFX: lever pulls, machine whirs and chimes]. And he, he gets back into like a flow state and he, he goes,

[Ambient music ends].

[Music begins: ominous and apprehensive synth]

Mischa (Thorgunn): why is he suddenly interested in magical ways? You have always been crafter of fine garments.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, you were around during the war, right?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Many of us were around during the war.

Mayanna (Fran): Right. We might be dealing with some stuff that's not… what's the word? Normal? We have sort of started interacting with a lot of magical sort of encounters lately. And I, I think I need to take my studies somewhere that I can use what I need to protect people.

Mischa: He stops mid motion, putting a coin into the slot, and looks at you dead in the eye, and his eyes are a little, like, rheumy and watery on the best of days, but like, through the little bit of teariness, like, he's looking dead at you, which is, you know, usually he's like, kind of–

Mayanna: Yeah, he's not, yeah.

Mischa: He's looking dead at you, and he goes,

Mischa (Thorgunn): (Under breath) They return…

Mayanna (Fran): What?

Mischa (Thorgunn): (raising his voice) You tell me what is going on right now, right now!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, okay, okay!

Mischa: He starts getting super agitated.

Bex (Ibra): Whoa hey!

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's okay, it's okay, it's alright. It's alright, it's me. It's okay, it's me, it's Fran.

Mischa: Go ahead and roll persuasion.

Bex: Whoa

Ian: Oh my god whoa.

Mayanna: Okay, great.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Spicy, so spicy.

Mayanna: 21.

[Cheers].

Ian: Boom!

Bex: Yeah, excellent.

Mischa: Yeah, so you, you sort of like, grab him by the shoulders and.

Mayanna (Fran): Thorgunn, it's okay, it's okay, it's me. It's okay, it's okay. It’s alright. What happened just now? Where'd you go? Where'd you go?

Mischa (Thorgunn): I was back there. The kinds of things we see, we pray we do not see them again.

Bex (Ibra): What did you see?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Tell me what is going on. You two, tell me right now.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mayanna: I tell him about the Boggins’ Bistro encounter.

Mischa: Uh-huh

Mayanna: And then I tell him about the mech, and then I kind of gesture to Ibra of like,

Mayanna (Fran): As you can see.

Bex: And I explain what happened with overpowering JJ's Astra, and how that's the only reason I'm here, and how I have a deep need to understand more about magic now.

Mischa: He points at his temple and points to you, Ibra, and he goes,

Mischa (Thorgunn): Ah, that is the problem. I think–we do not know the source of these things!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa (Thorgunn): We meddle. We are troublesome. We fool around with these crystals like we know what they do. They create wonders. Do we know where they come from? No. We do not know. I warned them, I tried to warn them all!

Mayanna (Fran): Wait, who, wait, what? Wait, who did you try to warn?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Those fools who build an entire city upon a phenomenon we do not understand.

Mayanna (Fran): The Constellation?

Mischa (Thorgunn): This whole place.

Bex (Ibra): The Astra?

Mischa (Thorgunn): The, the Constellation, the Low Town, the Deep Mines.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we built it on top of an Astra reserve, that makes sense, that's where all the magic comes from, that's what powers the city, what, is that, what is, that's, that makes sense!

Bex (Ibra): Wait, does, do you not use Astra?

Mischa (Thorgunn): No, my friend!

Mayanna (Fran): Thorgunn has something else.

Mischa: He reaches deep into his, his like ratty shirt, and you hear like, the clunking around of like a big chest of tools rattling around, [SFX: metal clattering], and then he pulls from his shirt another vial of the liquid synthetic stuff.

Mayanna: Yeah, and you've seen me use these. That's what I dipped the bullets in.

Bex (Ibra): That's where you get this from?

Mayanna (Fran): Thorgunn was the original innovator in this space. You figured out how to do something nobody else figured out how to do which is like harness raw magic and put it in things.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Yes, I distill the raw magic into this form. It comes from the ground in this crystalline form. Yes, sure It may be a little more “stable.” Maybe a little more “reliable day-to-day,” who am I to say? What I know is, I know where these come from.

Mayanna (Fran): Where does it come from? You've never told me before.

Mischa (Thorgunn): It’s a long and complicated synthesization.

[Music stops].

Mischa: Synthesization is a hard word to say in a French accent.

Bex: Yeah it is!

All, attempting in a French accent: Synthesization, synthesization, synthesization.

Mayanna: Cause there's so much Z and R and yeah.

[Music begins again: suspenseful plucked synth strings]

Mischa (Thorgunn): The method to synthesize is a long drawn out process, known only to me.

Mayanna (Fran): Would you teach me, please?

Mischa (Thorgunn): I try to teach people once. They shut me down. They lock me away.

Mayanna (Fran): Wha–?

Mischa: And he looks around the Pachonko parlor.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I have learned the price of sharing my secrets.

Bex: Fran would never. You know that. You know, Fran.

Mischa: Ibra, roll persuasion.

[Dice rolls]

Bex: Dirty 20.

Lyn: Yeah!

Mayanna: Boom!

[Synth string music ends]

[Music begins: melancholy horns with a reversed-play effect]

Mischa (Thorgunn): You know, Fran, you are not my first student. Many have come here to seek my wisdom from the Pachonko Parlor. But do you know that you are the one who keeps coming back? Perhaps... Perhaps I can teach you my ways. You must improve your base of knowledge.

Mischa: And he reaches back into his shirt, more clunking around. Pulls out a business card.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Okay.

Mischa: At one point it was really pristine and white and just had like a nice, like, one calling card, but it's been crumpled up into a shirt pocket for so long. He kind of has to

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Just like a little wiggly.

Mischa: Yeah, and like the, the integrity of the card stock is like a little bit, for how many times it's been folded.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's like, it's like could dissolve if you like touch it for long enough.

Mischa: Exactly, yeah. And he, he like tries to smooth it out on his pant leg a little bit.

Mayanna (Fran): Careful, careful, It might rip.

Mischa (Thorgunn): You tell them Thorgunn sends you for deeper knowledge.

Mayanna: I take it. I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm beyond. Like, I am, I, I feel, I feel incredible right now. Like, like, yeah, this is what I've wanted, like, for so long.

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: What does it say? What does it say? I'm not there. What does it say?

Bex: What does it say?

Mayanna: What does the card say?

Mischa: It has an address on it.

Mayanna: And nothing else?

[Laughter].

Mischa: Nothing else.

Lyn: Whoa.

Mayanna: I'm like, I think like, Ibra look to me like visibly shaking, like I like, I'm so excited.

Bex: I'm gonna take a picture of the paper just in case it falls apart.

Mayanna: That's fair.

Mischa: The address is– you look at the address and you're like, “Oh yeah, that's in West Minetown. I know exactly where that is.”

[Music: horn music fades out, leaving behind suspenseful strings]

Mischa: And then, maybe because it was such a recent event, it only occurs to you like a second later that, now that address is in the middle of the Dustpan, right underneath the Broken Heart where it fell.

[Strings music ends].

[Music begins: melancholy piano].

Mischa: Thorgunn looks at you, and I think, Fran, that you get a sense that, like, maybe he's finally seeing you for the first time.

Mischa (Thorgunn): There are dangers. You must find them. You must not fall victim to them. You must not fall for their wiles, the things they can promise. Swear to me, girl.

Mayanna (Fran): I swear.

Mayanna: And then I do a little pinky promise.

Mischa: He like, furrows his brow and kind of like cocks his head to one side and like around your pinky to the other side and then like tentatively takes your pinky in his.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And you shake it and he's like,

Mischa (Thorgunn): What is this? What is this new gesture the kids are doing?

Mayanna (Fran): It's a pinky promise.

Mischa (Thorgunn): The pinkies promise? Okay, whatever.

Mayanna (Fran): It means that, it means I'll do it.

Bex (Ibra): You promise to cut off your pinky if you don't.

Mischa (Thorgunn): In my day we just give our word, but this is also fine.

Mayanna (Fran): I will give you my word.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I'm not going to cut off your pinky, but don't do it.

Mayanna (Fran): I won't do that. Yeah, I give you my word. I will. I will. Thank you.

Mischa (Thorgunn): You bless me with a glimmer of hope this day, girl. Perhaps, our city is not as destined to fall as I once believed.

Mayanna: I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm losing it. Like,, I'm keeping it cool, I'm keeping it cool, but inside I'm like, (screeching) “OH MY GOD! WHAT?!” Okay. Mhmm.

Bex (Ibra): Thank you, Thorgunn. sorry for startling you.

Mischa (Thorgunn): And you, ami de Fran, you, you are only now just starting your path upon the magical secrets. One thing I tell you, find an alternate source. The astra is dangerous, this is why I come up with alternatives. You follow my latest student. Find other ways.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Okay. I'll be Fran's student. Cool.

Mayanna (Fran): Cool. Great. Amazing. Thank you Thorgun.

Mischa (Thorgunn): You are welcome.

[Music ends].

Mischa: The first time he's probably ever acknowledged you saying thank you.

Mayanna:Yyeah, yeah. Oh my god. Ahhhh! Sorry.

Lyn: This is so hype.

Mayanna: I'm so excited.

Bex (Ibra): I think I get the hype now, he's pretty cool.

Mayanna: In the back of my brain, I'm thinking, like, “thank the fuck that this went well” because I remember, like, even just the last time I saw him, where it was he ripped the shirt I gave him, [Laughter]. and he had, like, my blueprints stuck to his sweaty chest, and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, yeah, he's pretty cool, right? Pretty cool. Pretty cool guy.

[Casino soundscape ends].

Ian: He's inconsistent.

Mayanna (Fran): : He's always, he's always that cool, actually.

Bex: You get a text saying,

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky filter, indicating a text] Fran wasn't lying.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, that's kind of nice. I want to meet him at some point.

Ian (Gordon): I, I'm still kind of half out.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): I, I need to know who this dude is actually. It is killing me inside.

[Laughter].

[Midroll theme music plays then fades out].

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 up of course, a big shout out to our patrons over on patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. To our newest patron, Hannah C, and as always to our voyager level patron, JWX, thanks for helping us keep the lights on and the blanket fort over our heads. We hope you’re enjoying this week’s blooper reel, our ad-free feed, and whatever else we cook up. We’re working on getting together an illustration of New Prosper from above, and our patrons will be able to see it first. So, if you want any of those things, or if you just want to bring us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, one more time, that’s patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

Another way to sustain us is by reaching out and letting us know you like the show! Podcasting is weird sometimes in that you just kinda toss audio files into the void and hope somebody out there finds them. So if you did find us and you like us, we love to hear that. You can reach out to us with questions and comments at the contact form at our website, wanderingpathpod.com, you can leave us a review on whatever platform you listen on–preferably five stars, if you please–you can find us on social media. Bex has been posting Wandering Path memes on our Instagram, and I know there’s such a narrow band of audience out there for them, but I think they’re really funny, and if you like our show, you probably will too. Please get in touch, we cannot wait to keep hearing from you.

The Wandering Path is sponsored this week by Shaker and Spoon, the subscription cocktail service that helps you learn how to make handcrafted cocktails right at home. Every box comes with enough ingredients to make three different cocktail recipes developed by world class mixologists. All you need to do is buy one bottle of that month’s spirit, and you have all you need to make twelve drinks at home. At just $40-$50 per month, plus the cost of the bottle, this is a super cost-effective way to enjoy craft cocktails, and you can skip or cancel boxes any time. My local drinking spot is a gamer bar, and they have a mixologist on staff that makes custom nerd-themed cocktails every month, and they usually have some kind of hot pepper cocktail on the menu, and y’all, I love a spicy cocktail. Every time I go, I just want to be able to make those drinks at home, and liquor is easy enough to find, but it’s all those finishing ingredients that I’m missing. So truly, thank goodness for Shaker and Spoon. Invite some friends over, class up your nightcaps, or be the best houseguest of all time with your Shaker and Spoon box. Get $20 off your first order at ShakerandSpoon.com/wanderingpath. One more time, that’s ShakerandSpoon.com/wanderingpath for $20 off your first box.

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

[Midroll theme music plays then fades out].

[Soundscape begins: cars driving past].

Mischa: Meanwhile, across town, JJ and Gordon.

Lyn: Do we take your tuk-tuk or did we take the bus?

Ian: Tuk-tuk.

Lyn: Okay, cool.

Ian: Tuk-tuk for sure.

Mischa: I do like how we sort of have, like, among the four of you, we do have two vehicles that can kind of go different places. It's pretty good.

Mayanna: Oh, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I do miss the bus, but this is fine, too.

Ian (Gordon): Do you want to have taken the bus?

Lyn (JJ): No, you have, you can't leave your tuk-tuk here.

Ian (Gordon): That’s true.

Lyn (JJ): And then, if you take the tuk-tuk, you'll be there so much sooner than I will be.

Ian (Gordon): Oh yeah, we're not gonna separate. I'm not gonna put you on the bus and me take the tuk-tuk. That would be the shittiest of friend moves.

[Laughter].

Mischa: On your way around to the come up, you run into some bumper-to-bumper traffic.

[Soundscape shifts: horns honking, motors rumbling, cars moving short distances]

Lyn: Beep, beep, beep, beep.

Ian: (Imitates motor rumbling).

Mischa: And you know I'm gonna do it later.

Ian: I know. I know, but it's just so fun for us.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Alright, go. [Laughter]. I'm gonna give you five seconds. Do as much traffic noise as you want. Ready? Go!

[Soundscape fades for player-made soundscape].

Ian: I’ll be the tuk-tuk.

Ian (tuk-tuk): (Tumbly car noises)

Lyn (Various drivers): Hey, get out of there! Move, move! You can't move this! Do you see what's happening? Move!

Mayanna (Fruit vendor): Do you wanna buy this fruit?

[Laughter].

Lyn: What fruit was it?

Mischa: That's how you can tell that New Prosper's in California.

[Laughter].

[Traffic soundscape resumes].

Ian: Okay, so we're sitting in the tuk-tuk in traffic.

Mischa: Yeah, people are honking, beeping, getting pretty, agitated. JJ and Gordon, will you roll, perception to see if you can see what's going on?

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Wow, shit.

Mischa: No. [Laughter].

Ian: 6.

Lyn: 23.

Mischa: Whoa!

Mischa: Gordon, I think that, you're a little bit worried. Like, the tuk-tuk does not have a great engine, and leaving it stalling in traffic is, like, not what it's designed for.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: this thing really wants to, like– [SFX: stalling engine].

Ian: Brbrbrbrbr.

Mischa: Yeah. JJ, you Lean out the side of the tuk-tuk and kind of like, Oh, you're, a half dwarf, you're a shorty. Maybe you, you like, get out and like, clamber up a little bit. Like, lift yourself, like, chin up yourself to the roof a little bit. [SFX: footsteps thuds on metal].

Lyn: There's a little ladder on the side.

Mischa: Yeah, and I think you spot, way down the way, a traffic signal, like, at an intersection, going haywire. Blinking bright lights, flashing like, different colors, almost blinding. Clearly malfunctioning.

[Music begins: suspenseful, energetic synth]

Lyn: Yeah, it's like a rave light.

Mischa: Yeah, a little bit.

Lyn (JJ): There's something wrong with the light up ahead? Yeah, that's not right.

Mischa: You can see one lone traffic guard in, white, big white gloves and another hi-vis vest, sort of overwhelmed by the amount of traffic trying to run through this intersection.

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Ian (Gordon): JJ, what's going on? What's happening?

Lyn (JJ): I got this,.

Lyn: And I clamber down.

Mischa: Yeah?

Lyn: Also with my–I put on my high visibility vest.

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: To, like, safely walk through traffic.

Mischa: Yeah, sure, sure.

Ian: I just get out of the tuk-tuk and you hear me as you walk away and go,

Ian (Gordon): (as if yelling from a distance) What do you mean you got this?

Lyn (JJ): I think it'll be fine. You might want to turn off your engine, though. It doesn't sound very good. [Laughter]. We'll still be here for a bit. Hold on. Excuse me. Pardon. S-sorry. Sorry,

Lyn: I'm ducking like under, like, mirrors, side mirrors and stuff.

Lyn (JJ): Sorry!

Ian: Gordon turns off the tuk-tuk and like gets out and starts running after JJ. No hi-vis vest.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm obsessed.

Lyn (JJ): excuse me, pardon, okay. Getting under, no, stop your car, stop your– Okay. Um, hi officer!

Mischa: They take the whistle out of their mouth and they go,

Mischa (traffic officer): Please return to your vehicle.

Lyn (JJ): Do you need help? With the light?

Mischa: The minute they stop to turn to talk to you, two vehicles try to go and they like low key collide in the center. [SFX: cars collide].

Ian (Gordon): Oh!

Lyn (JJ): oh god

Mischa (traffic officer): Okay. I'm sorry, excuse me. Who are you?

Lyn (JJ): oh, I'm with the guild's engineer–the craftsman guild, I can take a look at it.

Mischa (traffic officer): Yeah, will you please take a look?

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Lyn: I take a look at the light.

[Traffic soundscape fades out].

Mischa: Okay. This gets into your, like, a little bit of your mechanist training, right?

Lyn: Yes

Mischa: Do you have proficiencies that you can apply here?

Lyn: Let me see. I have Tinker's Tools proficiencies. Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. Go ahead and roll Intelligence with proficiency.

[Dice rolls]

Bex: I'm so obsessed with this group of smart people.

Lyn: 8 plus…

Ian: Man, that almost bounced to like a 19, and then it rolled as an 8 at the last minute.

Lyn: Yeah, I know I know.

Mischa: Man, the die has so many faces, and it could really be any one of them, couldn't it?

Lyn: What's 8 plus 5, 13?

Ian: 8 plus 5 is 13. No, yes.

Lyn: Cool. 13.

Mayanna: 8 plus 5 is 13, yeah.

Lyn: Great, thank you for double checking my math everyone.

Mischa: Yeah. With a 13, you crack open the control panel for the traffic signal off to, off on one of the street corners. There's, you pop it open, [SFX: opening metal control panel, electrical crackling and whirring begins, occasional screeching of car breaks] it's a pretty complicated, like mesh of circuitry and a control board and wires and like it–there's no Astra crystal in it because it leads down into the grid the circuits on the board light up where they are powered and, similar to the traffic signal above, the circuits inside the board are like crackling and lighting up different patterns where I mean, you're pretty sure they should all just be lit up.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: You can smell a little bit of ozone as you look at this thing. The way it crackles, like it, it gives off like a couple of sparks here and there.

Lyn: Cool. I will send a quick pager text to my other dad who works in electrical. That's like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] There's a problem with the grid over in,

Lyn: and then most, traffic signals and lights have demarcations, like a numerical system for them. That's real. [Laughter]. So I just like send that code over just as a things like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] I'll try and do a quick fix, but this is probably a synchronization error as well.

Mischa: Sure. I think it's a little more complicated than a 13 can totally fix.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Can you roll me sleight of hand, please?

[Dice rolls].

Ian: (mumbling) That’s not bad.

Lyn: 14.

Mischa: Okay. you get in there. It's, it's a little more complicated than, than you can solve. You try like rerouting power. At one point, you know, from one circuit, like, you move a little, like, fiber optic cable from one part of the board to the other, and, like, a different part of the traffic signal starts going haywire, and you're plucking around, but, like, this is not really your area.

Lyn: Hm…

Mischa: You're not gonna take any damage, but when you plug in one of the things, you get, like, just a little, like, burn mark on the tip of your finger. [SFX: spark zaps]

[Energetic synth music ends].

Ian: That feels devious to me, just saying.

[Music begins: ambient synth chords]

Mischa: I think, JJ, you have a moment where the last time you took Lightning damage, electrical damage was during the fight.

Lyn: Mhmm.

[SFX: electric crackling ends]

Mischa: something about the sensation, like, just puts you right back there for a little bit.

Lyn: Yeah, my eyes start darting around just in case something else starts coming to life.

Mischa: Yeah, roll a wisdom saving throw.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Uh.. 22.

Mayanna: Wow!

Mischa: 22.

Lyn: Cleric.

Mischa: For a moment, you're sent back into the fight at the construction site in the fight with the arcade, and your nose fills with the smell of ozone in the back of your throat. You taste a little bit of acid bitterness, the taste of adrenaline, and your heart spikes for a moment. But you calm down, you take a moment, you take a breath. [Music fades out and the traffic soundscape fades back in: car honks, cars traveling short distances and breaks squealing] You realize that nothing's attacking you. It's just a, it's just a control board.

Lyn: Okay, I don't think I can fix this, but I do want to help the traffic flow–

Mischa: Well, you may not know the intricacies of this control unit in their entirety, but I mean, you know where the power switch is.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I think it'll be better off if this is just powered down.

Ian (Gordon): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): To avoid the lights changing and just let the crossing traffic guard be the only signal. Damn, I am not doing great in my studies right now.

Lyn (JJ): Officer, I'm so sorry, I think this is going to be more complicated. I'll shut it off. I already alerted the Mechanist's Guild as well that there's trouble in the area, but I'll shut it off and at the very least it might be a little less confusing.

Mischa: Yeah, without stopping in the signal pattern, just sort of like, you know, salutes to you in a vaguely grateful gesture.

Ian: Gordon hands you, a, what's the fruit that they're selling on the street? Cause while you were doing that, I walked across to the seller.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Sliced mango?

Mischa: I think it's a cubed zigfruit.

Bex: Nice.

Ian: Yeah, there it is. I literally hand you like a little, like, wax paper of zigfruit and my mouth is full and I’m like,

Ian (Gordon): With mouth full: cubed zigfruit?

Lyn (JJ): Oh, thanks.

Ian (Gordon) and Lyn (JJ): (appreciative mm’s with mouths full of fruit)

Lyn (JJ): A little under, but good.

Ian (Gordon): Tiny bit.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. When it's under, when it's underripe, it has a little less zig, you know?

Ian: Yeah, it was off.

Mayanna: It's got more zag.

Bex: Yeah thank you.

Ian: Yeah. It's a little bit of a zag fruit.

Lyn: Yeah. I, while turning off things like,

Lyn (JJ): okay everyone, be safe, take turns. It won't make it faster if you rush.

[SFX: car honks and speeds away while laying on the horn]

Ian (Gordon): Oh, jeez.

Lyn (JJ): It's fine. Everyone's just a little bit frustrated.

Ian (Gordon): Back to the tuk-tuk!

Lyn (JJ): I mean, we do. It is stopped in, now moving, traffic, so let's get there quickly. Excuse me! Sorry! Pardon! oh.

Ian: We get back in the tuk-tuk. It maybe takes me a couple key turns to get the engine to turn back over because it was so stressed. But it putts back to life. [SFX: engine whirrs up and the tuk-tuk starts moving off]

Mischa: And you’re back on your way, across the city, you get over to the Come Up with, no further delay.

[Traffic soundscape ends].

[Music begins: light ambient floating synth chords]

Lyn: Bad intersection.

Mischa: That one bad intersection. Seems like an isolated incident for today. you head over to the Come Up. Which library are you going to visit?

Lyn (JJ): You wanted to look into, The past wars and stuff, right?

Ian (Gordon): The wars, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): we should probably head to the School of Rhetoric. they'll probably have the most stuff about it there.

Mischa: The School of Rhetoric is housed in buildings very reminiscent of like American government buildings that are like big dome on top and like large white columns that like, there's no, connection to ancient design principles. Like somebody clearly came up with this aesthetic and applied it to this building. It stands out a little bit from like the more ordinary student housing around it by trying to look as officious and stately as a building can. So, the first thing that hits you as soon as you cross the threshold [SFX: door creaks open then echoes shut] is like, silence in the library, strictly adhered to in this building. Like, the air almost like presses down, trying to keep you quiet.

Ian: I I look at JJ with sort of a like, we–is it–what do we do, everything gonna be fine? Are we cool? Kind of look?

[Ambient music fades out].

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey filter, indicating the large rooms of a library] (whispers) Yeah, just, Keep your voice down, we can try and book a private study room.

Mayanna (student): [SFX: echoey] Shhh!

Ian: We hear from, like, across the hall.

Lyn: I wave vague hand signals towards the, I guess, like, the catalogue of, like, computers? Or are we doing card catalogue in this day and age?

Mischa: Hmm, good question.

Lyn: We haven't talked about this already?

Mischa: I think there's probably a different answer for each of these different schools.

Lyn: Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

Mischa: I think For the School of Rhetoric library, yeah, I think they're probably still in the process of transferring their physical card catalog into a text database.]

Lyn: Mmhm, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Actually, Gordon, we might have to talk to someone at the reference desk.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Okay. That sounds–

Bex and Mayanna (students): Shh!!

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) God, sorry.

Mayanna (student): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Jesus.

Ian: Like, I look across to the reference desk, and I lock eyes with you, and I like, do like a two finger point, you know, like, sort of like military style.

Lyn: I salute back at you.

Ian: Yeah.

Lyn: And then we march over to the reference

Ian: Quietly march. We march as quiet as possible.

Lyn: Yeah. It's like our knees come up, but then like as our feet come down, it's really soft.

Ian: Oh yeah,

Mischa: sure.

Ian: Very straight backs.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: yeah. There's a, capra librarian at the reference desk who, in a, like, a low sweet voice, kind of goes.

Mischa (librarian): [SFX: echoey] (Very breathy voice) Hello. How can we help you today?

Lyn (JJ) : [SFX: echoey] Hi. we're–

Mischa: (whispered ASMR voice) ASMR going to a library.

Ian: (whispered ASMR voice) Yeah. There we go.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (hesitantly whispering)–we are looking for–

[Laughter].

Ian: No you gotta do it, you gotta do it!

Lyn: Hold on, hold on.

Ian: Everyone strap in. Here we go.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Hi, we're looking for materials on the war, information about the Balvero. And we'd like to know if there's a study room available that we can do some collaborative work in.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Yeah.

Mischa (librarian): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Sure, I can sign out study room three. If you'll just sign here. Sign the, sign the slate. Sign the, the sign out form here.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Thank you so much.

Ian: Gordon takes a pen out from under, from the thing and signs it. And it sounds like

[SFX: pen dragging on paper in two bursts and a flourish, echoing in the quiet].

Mischa (librarian): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Okay, I'll have a page bring you some texts.

Lyn (JJ) : [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Thank you so much.

Mischa (librarian): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Okay.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Which, which direction is it again?

Mischa (librarian): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) It's over there. And two stacks down, over to the right.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Thank you.

Mischa (ASMR librarian): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) You can't miss it.

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) Okay.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: echoey] (whispers) We appreciate it. Thank you. Have a nice day.

Mischa: Hold on, let me just get, before we get out of this, little section of the scene, I'm just gonna get some quick library foley for you. (Rustles and turns a paper over) Okay.

[Laughter].

[Soundscape ends. Echo filter ends].

Mayanna: I'm so happy.

Bex: This was so much fun.

Mayanna: I love it so much.

[Laughter continuing].

Mischa: So fucking stupid.

Mayanna: I love, I love an ASMR where it's like a receptionist checking you into a hotel. Oh my god. I love it. I'm so happy.

[Laughter].

Bex: So funny. This made me so happy.

Lyn: We can speak normally in the study room, correct?

Mischa: Yeah, we can.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I always forget. That the vibes here are–

Ian (Gordon): Intimidating.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that's the right word. I was going to say, stifling.

Ian (Gordon): Stifling, stifle- timid–nevermind.

Lyn (JJ): Huh?

Ian (Gordon): Nothing.

Mayanna: Stifledating.

Ian: There we go.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Oh, yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah. About five minutes later, you hear a soft knock on the door of your study room [SFX: three light knocks], and then the door swings open [SFX: door latch clicks] and it slams closed [SFX: door closing] and, and someone comes in and goes,

Mischa (Unknown entrant): What up, dorks?!

Lyn (JJ): (Surprised) Oh!

Mischa: Samira brings in a bunch of references.

[Laughter, cheers].

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synth chords]

Lyn (JJ): Why did you, oh my God.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Samira): No, it's so, the vibe's so intimidating in here, right? I thought it'd be funny.

Ian (Gordon): This place is terrifying.

Mischa (Samira): I know. I love it here.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): What? Uh…

Ian: JJ is just holding their whole–shocked. Just absolutely shocked.

Bex: Rubbing their eyeballs.

Mischa (Samira): I'm working my off hours. Where you guys been?

Lyn (JJ): I hate you so fucking much.

Mischa (Samira): Girl! You guys looking at war stuff?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Yep.

Ian (Gordon): We just need to we're– There's just some weird stuff happening around the city, and we really… I just want to know a little bit more. Do you have any recommendations on, like, books I can start with?

Mischa: Yeah, she sort of sorts through the stack with you. Yeah, she you're gonna she's gonna give you the help action on your investigation.

Lyn: Nice.

Ian: Oh, yeah!

Lyn (JJ): So, how are you? How are you? You good? You chillin’? What's up?

Mischa: Um, can you roll deception for me?

Ian: Gordon reads in the corner.

Bex: J Chillin.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: I think that's a flat 10.

Ian: Don't know about that.

Lyn: Yeah, that is a flat 10.

Mischa: Samira’s like,

Mischa (Samira): I'm good. Classes, Library hours. Are you okay?

Lyn: I… finger guns.

Ian: No!

Bex: (quietly) Oh no

Ian: You finger guns?

Lyn: I finger guns.

Ian: From the corner, Gordon looks over just saying goes,

Ian (Gordon): Oof.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah. It's like, is this for class or?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I mean, you know, I got some independent study going on. Well, stuff happened at Boggins’ yesterday, and that was a lot.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah.

Lyn: And I'm trying, knowing that she doesn't remember, and also remembering how scared she was, JJ, is like, trying to avoid saying too much.

Lyn (JJ): And then there's the bridge collapse, and, well, we got a special assignment from Gwen to look into some of that stuff, and–

Mischa (Samira): Oh, that's sick! Congratulations!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Thank you! It's a lot, but it's all really interesting, and, you know, learning about the history of the city I think is going to be really important for it.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, I super agree. There's a lot going on in this city with people who are just sort of plowing into the future, and it, I mean, you know, I think it doesn't really respect the foundations all the time, you know you gotta build on what's there and a lot of people are just willing to knock stuff down.

Lyn (JJ): You’re–I think you're right about that. I don't know like we're kind of grasping at straws for a lot of it We don't really know what's going on, but as far as I know, it's some stuff tied with maybe infrastructure and history and maybe there's some stuff from the wartime era that could be insightful about it, and we're really not working off much. It's kind of a lot. And the, oh my gosh, the bridge collapse turned into a whole thing.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, I heard that, like, more of it crashed? Is that real?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, there was a malfunction with one of the mechs and–we got everyone out though.

Mischa (Samira): Whoa. Okay, that's good.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Samira): Do you think it's, it's gonna like take even longer to rebuild now?

Lyn (JJ): Probably, it took out an entire other top section of the whole thing.

Mischa (Samira): Whoa.

Lyn (JJ): It was really bad. Cleanup is gonna be rough and I don't think my dad should be on site anymore, but you know him.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, I mean, that's probably a good call.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Samira): When does his paternity leave start?

Lyn (JJ): I don't know, like, it should have started already, but you can't keep that man away from work.

Mischa (Samira): I know, that's Paul, though.

Lyn (JJ): That's Paul. He's always at the grindstone.

[Laughter].

Bex: Grimace.

Lyn: Just like, big grimace.

Mischa: She goes,

Mischa (Samira): Okay, well, right on. I'll see if I I'll see what else I can find and bring you some stuff.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, and if you hear about anything weird, will you let me know?

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, sure. You're the boss lady now.

Lyn (JJ): That's me!

Lyn: And I finger guns again.

[Music ends]

Mischa (Samira): Is this, is this, are we doing this now?

Ian (Gordon): (quietly) No! JJ…

Lyn (JJ): I don't know, it's, I, I, I was trying something new.

Mischa: She, gives her finger gun a little kiss and then points at you and winks.

Lyn: And then I, really melodramatically clutch my hand over my heart and fall over, but then actually trip over one of the chairs [SFX: a chair sliding against the floor and a thump] and actually fall for real.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I love that you give yourself obstacles. [Laughter]. I think that's such a beautiful thing as a player, to give yourself status differential.

Lyn: You know, my charisma's at a flat ten.

Mayanna: No, I love it. I love it. It's really good.

Bex: It's so good.

Mischa: Yeah, Samira's like,

Mischa (Samira): (holding in laughter) Whatever, dork.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, JJ and Gordon, go ahead and roll investigation for me.

[Music begins: investigative, mysterious atmospheric synth]

Ian: Here. We. Go.

Lyn: If we have help, are we both at advantage?

Mischa: Yeah, you both have help, so roll with advantage, please.

Ian: Yes.

[Dice rolls]

Lyn: Oh my god, so bad. Gordon, help me.

Ian: 19.

Mischa: Whoa, there it is!

Bex: Hell yeah.

Lyn: Investigation…15.

Mischa: That's not bad!

Lyn: Yeah, I just rolled a 3 and a 10.

[Laughter].

Ian: I'm looking for stories similar to what we're experiencing now, in ways that will give us clues as to like maybe where to go next or what to investigate. So stories of, you know, specters, or like blue electrical currents doing crazy things or anything relating to this magic that we're seeing.

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: And I'm going to be looking at the history of Astra.

Mischa: We'll do Gordon first. Gordon, you're looking for phenomena from the warthat are similar to stuff you're experiencing now.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Which is, hard to do because the city was built after the war, right? So like before the city was built, before the end of the war, life across the planet was pretty different. It was very much like a, sort of an apocalyptic scenario. People were like, almost all of civilization was retreating to these massive flying fortresses and like getting off the ground, fighting a ground offensive against a massive force. Like, life was just so different. With a 19, I think what you find is an account of some sort of mission to clear out a cave network that the Balverox lived in.

Ian: Ohh.

Mischa: That was like on, it was before the fortress was founded here, it was before the mine was founded, like, this was a hundred years ago, kind of story, where a soldier was separated from their group and surrounded by a herd of Balverox, and the beasts cast some kind of spell between them, some kind of magic force that, as it's described, ran through this ring, their horns lit up a blue white and created some destructive force in the middle.

Ian: That they were all working together to create, or sort of like, conducting.

Mischa: Yes.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: And it's notable because when, you know, you're, you're reading through dozens of accounts of these things, but like the color, the description of the energy is specific and like,

Ian: Blue-white.

Mischa: Painting something in your brain.

Ian: Yeah. Wait, sorry.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: More floating city, more floating cities than just ours over the planet?

Mischa: A few.

Ian: A few left over. A lot at the time, less now.

Mischa: With a 19, it seems like there were some, and that over the course of the war, they lost touch with each other. They like, were in communication, and then over the course of the war, fell out of touch with each other.

Ian: Wow. So for, as far as we're concerned, really, we might be the only place with one left.

Mischa: As far as you know, I mean, there are neighboring towns that are getting bigger with the rebuild effort that sort of rely on New Prosper for industry still. But as far as, like, other cities with other fortresses- that were built out of other fortresses across-the globe, yeah, not in contact.

Ian: Right, might be on another continent.

Mischa: Or something, yeah.

Ian: Yeah, cool. Yeah, because I don't think we've gone, it doesn't seem like a world in which you do a lot of, like, jet setting traveling, it feels very local.

Mischa: Yeah, I would agree, yeah.

Ian: This war account with the Balverox and the ring, does it mention where that happened, and is that close to us?

Mischa: It doesn't. It mentions, like, again, this was during the war where everyone sort of fled the surface, so like, there wasn't like a solid map anymore, you know, like towns were overrun and destroyed, or like, remnants were left behind. This just says, in the course of the war, in some cave system.

Ian: Oh, so that, okay, great. So that is something, like, because we do live, as described, on the precipice of a giant sinkhole.

Mischa: Yeah. True.

Ian: Okay, cool. Good, good, good. Good, good, good.

[Investigative music ends].

[Music begins: uneasy, undulating synth]

Mischa: JJ, what you'll find is that the history of Astra is, it goes back to the war. It seems like in the war, during the war, it was a very well known substance that, like, it was in, like, people knew about it, that it was part of daily life. Maybe not built into, like, city/civilization/electronics/infrastructure, but, like, accounts from the time of the war don't treat like “and we found this new masterful substance,“ like it, like it was known to them. And then Samira starts looking for older texts from like before the war, if she can find them. Like,

Mischa (Samira): I was thinking about what you said, and I went in, I went into the tier two section and I thought I might find something. I don't even have access to like a lot of the really old texts, but like this was the oldest one I could find.

Mischa: And what you find is that Astra was a known substance for like, centuries. Like, the history of Astra is ancient.

Lyn: Yeah, it wasn't like, “oh, this new material that has just suddenly cropped up.” It's…

Mischa: No, it's been around.

Lyn: It's been around, and then we found new ways to harvest and manipulate it through the course of the war.

Mischa: Yeah, when civilization retreated to these fortresses, when they took sort of a more wartime footing, a lot of, like, R&D around Astra, if you could call it that, like, a lot of experimentation by engineers was towards the war effort in trying to, you know, use it to save their own skins from the Balverox hordes. And one thing you both get, again, is that the war ended very suddenly. It was like one day somebody did something and the war was over.

Ian: But we don't know what that thing is.

Mischa: Yeah, I think, can you roll history for me?

[Dice rolls].

Ian: It's a 20.

Mischa: Whoa!

Lyn: Dirty 20.

Mischa: Whoa!

Ian: Yeah, same, two dirties.

Bex: Ooh!

Ian: Two DTs.

Mischa: So what you guys know about it is, mostly, like, propaganda?

Ian and Lyn: (Understanding hums).

Mischa: You know, it's a lot of like, “we finally put all of our effort and all of our ingenuity into a last, final weapon” that we used, and just like that, we won the war

Mayanna: Uh-huh, Sure.

Lyn: Like a confidential, like it's confidential enough–

Mayanna: And just like that. Yeah.

Lyn: It'd be like if we couldn't see the material ramifications of using like a nuke, right.

Mischa: Yeah. I would say it's very similar to a nuke. Because it's like, you know, they were working on that in the desert for three years. And then one day they were like, and now we have this thing, and now we're gonna win the war.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Well, especially also if so much of the conflict is taking place, maybe underground. Right. And so you can't see what happened?

Mischa: Well, well, with those twenties and with the research you're doing now, like, let's. Let's bring these two checks into each other. You're looking at history of accounts from the war. This war took place around the entire planet. It pushed civil– like the forces of knowledge and civilization to abandon their homes into last ditch flying fortresses. And they set off one thing in one place and the war was over?

Ian: Yeah, that sounds fishy. That sounds fishy as hell.

[undulating music ends].

[Music begins: tense strings]

Lyn (JJ): It would have to be, I think, something environmental. Like killing an ant colony, right?

Ian (Gordon): Right.

Lyn (JJ): You either flood the whole colony, or you introduce something into the colony that gets transmitted throughout and they all die.

Ian (Gordon): Right, because one colony is one colony, and if we're talking about the entire world, that's a different thing.

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm. So, what would that be?

Mischa: Samira stares at the pile of books on the table in the study room in front of you.

Mischa (Samira): Whatever that thing was, it's not gonna be in a library that the public can access.

Lyn (JJ): I think you're right.

Mischa (Samira): I don't think they're just gonna leave this around, do you?

Lyn (JJ): I don't think so. This is gonna be under really tight security.

Ian: I write down on a piece of paper, “G-W-E-N?”, and I slide it across the table to JJ.

Lyn (JJ): That's our one outlet, I think. Or other people who were around during the war. Thanks, Samira. you did not have to spend your whole work hours with us.

[Tense music ends]

Mischa (Samira): Are you kidding? I got to spend my entire work hours hanging out with my buds. This was dope.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Ian: I high five.

Mischa: Yeah, she high fives back, for sure.

[High fives].

[Music begins: low, contemplative ambient synth]

Ian: Heck yeah. And then I think I turned to JJ. So I had already pitched Gwen, which feels like a medium pitch. And then I–

Lyn (JJ): We do have to, I do have to call her, actually, about today.

Ian (Gordon): We should call Gwen.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, there are payphones right outside, because, you know, it's really quiet and terrible in here.

Ian (Gordon): What about Ravona?

Lyn (JJ): Well, Ravona wasn't around during the war.

Mischa: No, absolutely not.

Lyn (JJ): No she’s too young.

Ian (Gordon): But might she have access?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, she might, but I don't know. I don't really know how to feel.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah,

Lyn (JJ): I'd rather explore other outlets first.

Ian (Gordon): Great. Love that

Lyn (JJ): I could maybe even talk to my parents or my grandma. Ibra’s parents were around during the war and then maybe even Paz's mom said some stuff? There are many options before we talk to Ravona, although we'll probably see her sooner than we'd like, regardless.

Ian (Gordon): Okay, so we've got underground, we've got white blue electrical magic, and we've got a weapon.

Lyn (JJ): We've got a weapon. There's a lot there. We're really only scratching the surface, huh?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

[Music fades out].

Ian: And then my stomach grumbles again. I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): I don't know. I'm kind of getting hungry. Are you getting hungry?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, there are food carts outside the library.

Ian (Gordon): Oh, what do they have?

Lyn (JJ): They got hot dogs. There's one lady with churros, and she's the best.

Ian (Gordon): Great. And is there a third?

Lyn (JJ): And there is one that is kind of shawarma?

Ian (Gordon): That.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): Let's get kind of shawarma.

Lyn (JJ): Alright. I don't recommend that place.

Ian (Gordon): Oh, really?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. The guy's kind of a jerk.

Ian: Wait, hold on. [Dice rolls] I don't know. Dice says it's good.

Lyn: Okay. Even if the food's good, the guy–

Ian: Oh, the guy's a jerk.

Lyn: Yeah, the guy's kind of a jerk.

Mayanna: The other thing too is I feel like Gordon doesn't care about the service if the food is good.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. Give me good kind of shawarma.

Mischa: You guys head back out of the library, you load your reference books back on Samira's cart to have her return to the shelves, and you head outside. [SFX: door creaks open]. Gordon, you head down to the food carts. Now the sun's setting for real, the sky's getting a little orange. this has been your afternoon. But JJ, you head over to the payphones around the side of the building.

[Soundscape begins: ambient noise of cars going by]

Lyn: Call up Gwen's office, it rings a few times. [SFX: inserting coin, picking up phone, punching in numbers, a ring on the phone].

Mischa: Yeah, Megan picks up the phone.

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] Department of Labor Resources.

Lyn (JJ): hello, this is JJ Calderon–

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] Oh, sure. Hi.

Lyn (JJ): –Calling about our assignment–

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] The intern.

Lyn (JJ): –from Gwen, yes, but we received a special assignment from Gwen.

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): From the magistrate, our lady magistrate.

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] Sure.

Lyn (JJ): –Ma'am, boss. She asked us to call her when we had information.

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] Um... okay, I will put you through.

Mischa: Can you roll insight for me?

Bex: This is so wonderfully awkward.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Ooh. 17 plus 5, 22.

Bex: Whoa.

Mischa: Megan is, like, kind of a problematic co worker.

Lyn: Yeah?

Mischa: I think, I think in this moment you can, like, when she says, “Oh, the intern,” I think you can hear a little bit of, like, jealousy.

Lyn: Oh.

Lyn (JJ): Thanks, Megan. How, how are you? How's your day going? Is it good?

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] (Terse) Going fine. I'm going to transfer you to Gwen now.

Lyn: Okay. Have a good day. Thank you for your help.

Mischa (Megan): [SFX: staticky] Yep. Please hold.

Lyn: Even, even though JJ is really insightful about people, they don't know what to do about it.

Mischa: Yeah, knowing what their emotions is and doing something about it is totally different.

Mayanna: What would you do if you knew someone was jealous of you? Cause it's like, no matter what you do, you know that it's going to be perceived wrong.

Lyn: Exactly, yeah.

Mayanna: So it's like, I guess I'm just going to keep living my life. And that's advice to all of us.

Lyn: True. Look directly into the camera.

Mischa: Come for the story, stay for the life wisdom. [Laughs]. Yeah, Gwen picks up the phone after a couple of rings.

[Music begins: gentle horn music]

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] JJ, hello.

Lyn (JJ): Hi, we checked out the bridge site today.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Yes, how did it go?

Lyn (JJ): Not ideally.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Oh.

Lyn (JJ): I think there is subterfuge and conspiracy afoot that is causing and accelerating infrastructural collapse. I think we have a lot more to tell you, but I think it would be best to do so in person. Can we set a time and date in your very busy schedule for a meeting?

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Sure, of course, very concerning. We'll get something on the books tomorrow morning.

Lyn (JJ): Great, I’ll let everyone know.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Will Ravona be joining you?

Lyn (JJ): Oh! (Pause). Probably not.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Okay, yes, she's very busy, of course.

Lyn (JJ): Yep, it'll just be us. Thank you.

[Laughter].

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: No? She rolled bad.

Bex: Yeah!

Lyn: Just kind of frozen holding the phone.

Mischa: She's, she goes,

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Excellent, well, I'm excited to hear your first report from the field.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you, yes, it'll be me and my companions.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Ah, yes.

Mischa: And you hear the flipping of a page,

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Ibra, and, you said your friends, Fran Weaver and Gordon Baker, correct?

Lyn (JJ): Oh, yes. I think so. That sounds familiar.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] I'm looking very forward to meeting them. I, I, I'm really looking forward to what you have to say. I know that I may not be able to retain certain information as we've discussed, but I, I still, I'm no less concerned and I still want to know what's happening as much as I can.

Lyn (JJ): We'll obviously do our best.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Tomorrow morning in my office then.

Lyn (JJ): Perfect. We will be there.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Excellent.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Well, have a good evening. Rest up, I'd say, whatever it was, you probably earned it.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. Have a great rest of your day.

Mischa (Gwen): [SFX: staticky] Goodbye.

[SFX: phone being put back].

[Music ends].

Mischa: I almost forgot that Gwen ends every phone call with goodbye.

Mayanna: Goodbye.

Bex: Love clarity.

Ian: Gordon walks back over with the kind of shawarma and a full mouth and goes,

Ian (Gordon): Oh my god, the shawarma's so good. You're right, that guy's so rude.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): He’s so–Like, the food is really good, but he's so unpleasant, and he's yelled at me several times, where I just, I don't know if it's worth it. Give me a bite.

[Laughter].

Bex: “Give me a bite!”

Mayanna: You just need somebody to order for you.

Mischa: Gordon, I think you went up to the cart, and you, like, ordered something, and the guy was like,

Mischa (Kind of Schwarma vendor): (in a French accent) No, you don't order that, I give you something better.

Mischa: And, like, hands you, like, it's really good, but, like, it's not what you ordered.

Ian: At all.

Mischa: It is better than what you ordered. But also… You should give people what they ordered.

Ian: Poor customer service. Yeah.

Mayanna: One of those guys, I know those guys, yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Good food though.

Lyn (JJ): It's really good.

Lyn: I text everyone, it's like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Meeting at Gwen's tomorrow in the morning. How are things at Pachonko? Did you win?

Bex (Ibra): [SFX: staticky] She wasn't lying about Thorgunn.

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Ian (Gordon): Sweet!

Lyn (JJ): I still… am so curious

Ian (Gordon): No, not at all. Crazy.

Lyn (JJ): What do you mean, not even curious a little bit?

Ian (Gordon): You'll see what I'm talking about.

Lyn (JJ): What? Have you met him?

Ian (Gordon): I've seen him.

[Laughing].

Ian: I got a party point, look at that!

Mayanna: That's a party point. For sure.

Mischa: Absolutely, yeah, 100%.

Mayanna: “You've met him? I've seen him!”

Bex: Better than meeting him. I've seen him!

Mayanna: So funny.

[Music begins: poignant ambient synths]

Mischa: The sun dips back down to bathe, Lower Prosper in orange sunlight as the day well and truly gets on. Y'all have sort of, been assigned individual tasks and are getting ready to do something about it in the morning. but for this evening, where are you guys going?

Mayanna: I think I split off from Ibra and I give you the, the bread and say,

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, make sure it doesn't get too stale!

Bex (Ibra): Deal.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you for coming with me today.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. Thank you for taking me.

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome. I'm very excited about this.

Bex (Ibra): Me too! I'm excited to learn from you.

Mayanna (Fran): (chuckles) Oh, yeah, that's, that's right. That's part of it. Yeah. And I got to think of what I'm going to like a curriculum or like a study guide.

Bex (Ibra): Nah, you're natural. It'll be fine.

Mayanna (Fran): You guys are too nice to me. (laughs). Please get some rest.

Bex (Ibra): You too. See you tomorrow?

Mayanna (Fran): See you tomorrow.

[City soundscape ends].

Mayanna: And I go off to my modest apartment.

Mischa: Yeah, you catch the bus. Oh no, you guys were already in the Barra. You walk home.

Mayanna: Yeah. I walk home and I think I, it's the first time I've been home in like two days.

Mischa: Mm hmm.

Mayanna: and I look at this cloak that I'd been working on, the showstopper, and I feel like it's so far away from, like, what I'm worried about now.

Mischa: Yeah, you know, it's funny, the past two days have been so threatening.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: That, like, before now, you were looking at this cloak, the pinnacle of style, like it was going to be your showpiece, like your entry into the fashion world, and now I think you look at it and all you can say is, “that cloak looks really flimsy, like it wouldn't protect anybody from anything.”

Mayanna: Exactly. Absolutely. And then I think I immediately start, sketching out where I would put padding and armor and plates inside of the cloak. And I start, thinking about it more as something that I could use to protect my friends or protect myself. So I think I pretty much work all night on that.

Mischa: Yea, for sure.

Bex: I love that. Ibra takes off on Frida and uses the whole drive back to the Come-Up to just think and evaluate and feel and really explore what they're thinking and feeling about magic and what that means. Taking in everything that JJ was saying about the power of will and everything that Fran and Thorgunn were telling them about Astra and where it can come from and finding alternate sources.

Mischa: I think as you do that on your way home with the bread boule with the rough-hewn, spark-fueled Astra in your backpack. I think, as you think about ways that magic can come from different places, and, and where it comes from, and finding it within yourself, and using it to protect others, like, I, I think that warmth, that, that home and hearth feeling that you first saw when you picked it up, like, as you ride your motorcycle you feel it envelop you a little bit. The, the cold wind rushing past you as you speed by on your bike, you know, slides off you a little bit easier on your way home.

Bex: Sick

Mischa: JJ.

[Soundscape begins: cars going by]

[Poignant music ends].

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Hot dogs, churros.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): You need both before you go home. They're great people.

Ian (Gordon): Really?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, they're lovely. And they're also–

Ian (Gordon): They're, they're great people, but how are the hot dogs and churros?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, I survive mostly off them, so.

Ian (Gordon): Well that's, I'm gonna go check those out right now.

[Music begins: gentle, slightly jazzy piano].

Lyn: And then I think like happily is like chatting up both the hot dog and churro vendors, and then waves to Gordon.

Lyn (JJ): I'm just gonna walk home. I live in the student housing nearby, so, will you be okay? Heading back?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. It's kind of strange that we're not all gonna like, lock in together again tonight. Feels a little bit weird, but it also feels like, everything's a little calmer than yesterday.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, hopefully it stays that way for a little bit.

Ian: I give you some knuckles.

Lyn: Fist bump?

Ian: Yeah.

Lyn: And I finger guns after, like, you know, a little explosion after the fist bump. Finger guns.

Ian (Gordon): No… You can't be finger gunsing anymore, JJ.

Lyn (JJ): I think it, I think it works. I'll practice it. You'll see.

Mischa: God damn it. Yeah, JJ, you stay behind and chat up the cart guys. Roll persuasion. Roll just like a small little persuasion guy.

[Dice rolls]

Ian: Just a lil mini.

Lyn: 19 plus, I don't think anything actually for persuasion.

Mischa: Yeah, so they're, they're pretty easygoing and they, you know, you've seen them a couple times cause you've probably come here to meet Samira after a shift once or twice or something and again you live off of these guys. So they're happy to bend the rules a little bit for you and give you your real special delicacy. Churro hot dog.

Lyn: Hell yeah.

Ian: Oooh…

Mischa: Churro dog.

Lyn: Yeaaaah

Ian: What?

[Music fades out and soundscape ends].

Lyn: Churro dog.

Ian: Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Together. Wait. A hot dog and a churro together? Or it's a bun and a churro?

Bex: Churro dog

Mischa: Wide churro.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Cinnamon sugar, room for hot dog.

Lyn: Mmhm.

Ian: Oh my fucking God. That sounds amazing.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: You should have made JJ roll deception cause they held out on me.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You gotta earn it.

[SFX: driving, the sound of the engine whirring, air going past the vehicle, other vehicles passing]

[Music begins: unsettling ambient strings]

Mischa: Gordon, you back up in the tuk-tuk and head back to the Edge. On the way home, you're alone driving in the tuk-tuk. Driving I think as direct a route as you can, owing to the fact that, like, the big mine is in the center of the city, and to get anywhere you kind of have to go radially around, but you're taking as straight a route as you can, which leads you underneath, like, major sections of Upper Prosper. Like, like, directly underneath the engineering core, the big, loud Astra processing facility. While you're driving, you hear a loud, high pitched screech noise. [SFX: metallic screeching] I want you to roll a wisdom saving throw.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Oh. Oh, no. 12.

Mischa: Yeah, with a 12, I think, you jump in your seat in the tuk-tuk's driver's seat, and you screech skirt, [SFX: car breaking suddenly] like, pull the tuk-tuk over immediately.

Ian: I think I would be looking, like, around the, you know, the big bright, the emitters, right, that keep it floating. I think that's where I'm looking.

Mischa: Yeah, they emit, like, a gentle low thrum that's, like, sort of, you know, not obtrusive on most days, but as you're looking at it. You hear from deep, like, within the structure, another high pitched screech. [SFX: metallic screeching]

Ian: Within the structure of the underside.

Mischa: It just reverberates, like, kind of off the underside and back at you.

Ian: Uh, I'm terrified.

Mischa: Yeah, what do you do?

Ian: Fuck, what do I do?

Bex: Do not go alone.

Ian: I think I wa–How close am I to the edge of the–You said it reverberates up, so could it be coming– I think I maybe think maybe it's coming from the sinkhole and bouncing off? I think I get in the tuk-tuk and I drive…

Mischa: You drive that way?

[SFX: tuk-tuk starts up and gets rolling]

Ian: I change directions and I start driving towards the sinkhole.

Bex: Oh. It's getting dark, buddy.

Ian: I feel compelled.

Mayanna: I love this.

Ian: It's not the smart call.

Bex: No, but it's the story call. You gotta do it.

Mayanna: This is great. This is great.

Mischa: You drive up to the sinkhole. The mine is still is shutting down operations for the night and the wind whistles over the top of it letting out like a low tone.

[SFX: wind rustling]

Mischa: You're standing at the edge looking down into this deep dark hole and the wind kicks up and reverberates over the top of the mine up against the plate [SFX: metallic screeching] and as the wind kicks up you hear a high pitched screeching noise like fade up and fade back down with the wind.

Ian: And I, so I exhale,

Ian (Gordon): Just the wind.

Ian: And I slowly, like after exhaling that long breath, walk back to the tuk-tuk, open the door, but then at the last second I just look back towards the strip mine, the big sinkhole, one last time, and I just feel really uneasy about it, before getting in and closing the door.

[Music fades out]. [Wind SFX fade out].

Mischa: And it takes you A little bit longer to get home today.

Ian: Uh oh, I don't like that sentence.

Bex: Mm-mm.

Ian: That doesn't bode well for me.

[End theme music plays].

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 plays and fades out].

Mischa Stanton 7/22/24 Mischa Stanton 7/22/24

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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

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

-- about --

— 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.

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].

Mischa Stanton 7/8/24 Mischa Stanton 7/8/24

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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

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

-- about --

— Transcript —

Ian: On the last Wandering Path.

[SFX: Intro to theme music fades in].

Mischa: The squad found a ton of stuff buried in the rubble of the collapsed overpass, but mostly what they find are more questions. Who's just leaving around demolition explosives in crates? Who rigged up these summoning devices to go off? Where do you even buy a hot pink hard hat? And why would you only leave two devices to collapse three layers of bridges and roadways?

Mischa: Oh, because the third one was still buried in there somewhere, and now it's bringing construction equipment to life. Yep, that… that tracks I guess. All caught up? Okay, then let's see what's around the bend, today, on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music].

Mischa: The electricity crackles down the hillside, [SFX: electricity sparks], across metal and stone and concrete debris, and condenses around an excavator, [SFX: metallic thuds on the ground], sat atop six spider-like legs.

[Music begins: suspenseful ringing and ominous synthesizer].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: –which comes to life of its own accord, of its own volition, –

Mayanna: No!

Mischa: – rears back on the back two of its little spider legs, –

Bex: (Squeals with delight).

Mischa:-- kicks its front ones, and bellows at the entire construction site.

[SFX: deep, hollow growl].

Mayanna: (Shuddering) Ahh.

Bex: Okay, that's kinda terrifying, but also really cute.

Lyn: Yeah, that’s really sick.

Mayanna: Yeah, it's kind of cute.

Bex: It's kind of cute.

Mayanna: Can we befriend it?

Ian: It's kind of cute? What the fuck are you talking about?

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It's kicking up its legs, it wants to play! Oh, but we're the toy. Fuck.

Lyn: (Disappointed) Oh.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Roll initiative!

[Laughter].

Bex: 19.

Ian: 7.

Mayanna: (Laughs). 8.

Lyn: 11.

Mayanna: I feel like us going next to each other makes sense though. (Giggles).

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's accurate. It's correct.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: The Excavator's bellow, [SFX: deep hollow growl], resounds across the buildings as though shouting down a concrete canyon, and it echoes and vibrates the entire site. The construction crews all drop what they're doing and immediately look around, and a lot of them get very worried looks on their faces.

Mayanna: No!

Lyn: Oh no.

Mayanna: I was looking to them to see what I should be feeling, and they're looking concerned, so now I feel even more concerned!

Mischa: Fran, you're the one who shows up to places where people are concerned now.

Mayanna: Oh my god! I hate that! I hate that! [Chuckles]. I want to go back to where I was just kind of generally annoyed with people, and they were just excited that I was giving them bread.

Mischa: Same, bestie. Same.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ibra, you’re first to act.

Bex: Oh no!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Really what you want to hear from the combat specialist of the party.

[Laughter].

Bex: Oh no!

Mayanna: Fuck!

Bex: Where, how far away am I?

Mischa: I believe the four of you were kind of gathered below on the hillside. Like, this thing was working on the hillside, above you, on the debris pile. And you guys were a little ways down the hill, at the bottom of the hill, standing, I believe, near JJ's dad, Paul, who was overseeing equipment on the site, and the driver of this excavation mech, who y'all had warned that something might happen, and who got out of the machine before. It turns out, you were very correct.

Bex: I am so glad we got that guy out.

[Nervous chuckles].

Ian: His name was Ringo.

Bex: Ringo.

Mayanna: Nice.

Bex: I'm so glad we got Ringo out.

Mischa: Okay, I guess his name was Ringo, I guess.

Ian: Nailed it.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Writin’ it down, Ringo…

[Laughter].

Bex: Okay, so I'm going to rush right into the fray. Like, I think that as soon as this happens, I'm looking at the device, I'm working out a message to Inspector Ravonna, trying to figure out what's going on, when all of a sudden, all chaos breaks loose. So, head pops up immediately as soon as the sound of the bellow happens. And like, just on instinct–I don't think that Ibra drops the device they're holding–think just kind of shoves it into the hands of whoever's next to them, probably JJ and Fran, and just books it. I'm gonna get as close to it as I can.

Mischa: Sure.

Bex: And try to engage. How close can I get?

Mischa: roll an athletics check for me.

Bex: Cool. [Dice rolls]. Oh, what's math? 13.

Ian: (Quietly, laughing) “What's math?”

Mischa: Yeah, with a 13, it takes a little doing. Terrain is shifting and sort of not stable underneath your feet, but with a 13 you can manage to get up next to it. Yeah.

Bex: We're going to go for bonus action Hex Magic, [SFX: ominous thrumming] on this adorable, terrifying mech.

[Music begins: energetic rhythmic percussion and synthwave].

Bex: “Place a curse on the creature you see within range until the spell ends. You deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the target whenever you hit it with an attack. Also choose one ability when you cast the spell. The target has disadvantage on ability checks made with that chosen ability.”

Mischa: Ooh.

Bex: I'm gonna go with Dexterity.

Mischa: Okay, nice.

Bex: And then, what's my action? I think I'm just gonna hit.

Mischa: Yeah. Legit.

Bex: (Giggling) Legit Hit!

Ian: Too legit to hit?

Lyn: Nice!

Mischa: Alright. I said a word and it rhymed. Get it–We all get it out now. We all heard it. [Chuckles]. Yeah. You just swing out your naginata, your sacred blade, [SFX: metallic shwing], and swing at – what? this excavator's leg?

Bex: I'm going for a load-bearing leg if I can.

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: Nice.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 19 to hit.

Mischa: 19 will hit.

Bex: 1d10. Plus three.

Mischa: Plus hex.

Bex: Plus hex! [Dice rolls]. Ah, 9 plus 4 plus 3. 16!

Mischa: Nice.

Bex: 16 damage with 4 necrotic.

Lyn: Hell yeah.

Mischa: So describe to me, if you will, how this hex sort of makes this metal construction equipment more vulnerable to the metal of your blade.

Mayanna: (Appreciatie hum).

Bex: It sort of causes a corrosiveness to it, where it causes rust. It instantly necrotizes. It instantly rusts the leg that it's struck.

Mischa: Very cool. And so yeah, you swing down, [SFX: whip through the air, clang of metal, ringing echo], and like, carve out a slice of rust into this thing's leg.

Bex: That's bonus action. That's– I think that's everything. And then I yell to everybody,

Bex (Ibra): Get ready!

Mayanna: Oh boy!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, you shout “get ready.” You turn back to make sure your friends are prepared. And you almost miss the fact that this thing just raises its leg up to take a swat at you.

[Music begins, suspenseful ambient echoes].

[SFX: hollow metallic growl].

All: (Gasps).

Lyn: Oh no.

Mischa: 15 to hit?

Bex: Won't hit.

Mayanna: Ooh!

Mischa: Okay. You manage to hear the air behind your head moving, [SFX: speed ramping rumble], and like, you dodge roll to the side.

Bex and Mayanna: Sick.

Mischa: You turn around to see it has taken its forelimb and swatted at you. Like, I don't know if the construction equipment manufacturing company intended for this thing to swat at civilian pedestrians, [Laughter], but it looks like an awkward motion that this thing is like trying to contort itself a little bit in its new form to do the things, all the things it wants to do. It misses, it swipes, and then its momentum kind of carries it off its feet a little bit, but it corrects itself and tries to raise up its two frontmost legs to slam down on you again.

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: [Dice rolls]. Even worse.

[Laughter].

Bex: Yeah.

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: So I think what happens is the, the drag of this leg, the thing– it doesn't have like a great sense of exactly where its limbs are at any point, so it drags through the debris material–

Bex: Nice

Mischa: –and that sort of cascades down and you can use that to, like, slip out of its range.

[SFX: rocks tumbling].

Bex: Sick.

Mischa: Cool. JJ, it's your turn.

Lyn: Oh gosh!

Mayanna: (Giggles).

[Music fades, soundscape begins. Ambient sound of worksite now frozen to a halt, with sound of cars in the far distance].

Lyn: So I believe last time, we– I, had already cast Sanctuary on my dad.

Mischa: Hundred percent correct, yeah.

Lyn: So that is still up, and it's not concentration, which we love.

Mayanna: Thank god.

Lyn: Just… Putting that out there, that's happening.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: That just happened.

Lyn: It's happening.

Mischa: Looks me dead in the eye. (Through gritted teeth) “It's happening! Don't hurt my dad!”

Lyn: It’s happening!

Mayanna: Don't kill Paul!

Lyn: No!

All: (Jockingly panicked) Paul! Paul! Paul! Paul!

[Laughter].

Lyn: (Pausing) I don't call him Paul.

Mayanna: Dad!

Lyn: Dad!

Ian: And there's a small slime monster off to the side that just goes, (garbled) “Paul!”

Mischa: Welcoming Glorpo to the campaign.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Glorpo!

[Music begins: pulsing, rhythmic synths].

Lyn: Yeah, so, seeing this, I yell out to my dad,

Lyn (JJ): Stay back, please!

Lyn: And then I will cast Bless on my three fellow party members.

Mischa: Nice.

Lyn (JJ): We got this. I think –we got this! We got this! Everyone stay back! Please!

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, you had it until you said, please. You really– you got to sit in your power, JJ.

Lyn (JJ): Stay back!

Mayanna (Fran): There you go. Great. End of sentence.

Ian (Gordon): (whispering) Good job.

Lyn: Thumbs up. A very, very panicked thumbs up.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: The thumbs up is actually how I cast Bless.

[Laughter].

Mischa: That's so funny!

Bex: Actively vibrating with fear.

Mischa: We got verbal, we got somatic, we got material, we're doing great!

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah, so when I give that really awkward thumbs up, what that does is the Astra in my, like, watch bracer thing goes through my little thumbs up, and then it's weirdly like a little emoji appears over the chests of all my party members in, [SFX: a shimmering ring], like, green and white, and it becomes like a thumbs up wrapped in jasmine flowers–

Bex: Aw.

Lyn: –as I believe in them strongly and don't want them to fail.

Bex: (Squeaks).

Ian: That’s so cute.

Mischa: Yeah, you give all of your friends, like, a little glowing superhero emblem of protective, helpful magic.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: Incredible.

Lyn: Via thumbs up.

[Laughter].

Bex: (Squeals). I need fanart of this immediately.

Lyn: Great, okay, that's it.

Mayanna: That’s cool.

[Music fades out].

Ian: You guys can cut this, but whenever I ask people to tell me what their Bless looks like, they stop texting me back.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ian, I have to tell you, there's no way I'm gonna cut that.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: “I told you what my Bless looks like, please respond.”

[Laughter].

Bex: “I described my Bless for you.”

Ian: Oh, fuck me.

Mischa: Fran, it's your turn.

[Music begins: mellow and pensive synth plucks].

Mayanna: Awesome, can I do some kind of perception check to just see if I can get a better understanding of where, like, the power source for this mech comes from?

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: Cool. Just raw perception?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Sweet. [Dice rolls]. Oh, oh, oh. That's just a 9. That's just a 9.

Ian: Doesn't sound like it went well.

Mayanna: It didn't go great. It didn't go great. It's-it's far away-ish.

Mischa: Yeah, it's, I mean, it was washed in a flow of electrical current, which spread from the top of the collapsed overpass highway, down the debris field. And you have to imagine. Some of that power is probably powering the thing.

Mayanna: That sounds about right! I think so! I'm gonna pull out my gun.

[Laughter].

Bex: So anyway, I start blasting.

Ian: Oh my fucking god. That's a party point, sorry.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, legit. I'll ask this, where– so this is like a large construction vehicle. Where are you aiming?

Mayanna: I think I want to aim for where the driver, like where the steering wheel or the controls–

Mischa: Yeah, the cockpit!

Mayanna: Yeah, the cockpit.

Mischa: Yeah, for sure!

Mayanna: I want to aim for those controls.

Mischa: Okay, sick.

Mayanna: Yeah, and I have sighted on my gun.

Mischa: Yeah! Oh, so your range is up for your parlor gun because you dipped your bullets.

Mayanna: In magic.

Mischa: Sick.

Mayanna: Yes. Okay, cool. So then it's just like a general roll to hit?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Cool, great. [Dice rolls]. Ohh. 6.

Lyn: Plus a d4.

Mayanna: Oh my god, thank you so much. Ooh, that's a 3, so that's a 9. [Laughter]. But don't I get a plus 5 with sighted? Is that what that, that's what it's, I think it's like, plus 5 to hit range.

Mischa: Plus 50 to the range.

Mayanna: Oh, okay. Nevermind.

Ian: None of it correct. Just none of it. [Laughter]. The grammar, the numbers.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm doing great. (Giggles).

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: So what I'm learning right now is “Fran” is short for “Frantic.”

Mayanna: Yes!

Mayanna (Fran): (Panicked yelps).

Mischa: Yeah, you fire a wild shot off and I think it just pings off the metal pole.

[SFX: bullet fires and ricochets].

Mayanna (Fran): (Frustrated) Oh my god! Ah!

Mayanna: That's it– and I get frustrated.

Mischa: You hear a whisper of a memory in the back of your mind, Thorgunn telling you,

Mischa (Thorgunn): (Echoey, in a flashback) Anything worth doing is worth taking your time.

Mayanna (Fran): (Gasps) Yes.

[Music fades out].

Mayanna: And then I start to meditate on that thought as I prepare for my next move.

Mischa: And then the rest of the whisper goes through.

Mischa (Thorgunn): That is why I have not moved from this Pachonko seat in a week.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. You have to change your pants at the very least. You have to. Please, for me. For everyone. Thorgunn, let me just get you new pants.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: So I'm just thinking that to myself.

Bex: I'm in pain.

Mischa: Gordon, it's your turn.

[Music begins: ambient, thoughtful thrumming].

Ian: Okay. So I think normally Gordon would be absolutely terrified–

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: –but as we recall, last episode, Gordon was playing a little detective, you know,

Mischa: Yeah!

Ian: Just taking a little control.

Bex: He saw some shit.

Ian: He saw some shit. He took some names or he's about to, maybe, hopefully.

Mayanna: (Laughs).

Ian: Come on, dice. I've also been really contemplating where this– the mechanics of this mysterious bag of muffin bombs lives, because I've had it with me everywhere.

Mischa: Sure! That's such a good question and I really wanted to ask you about this because I cannot imagine that it's just like the Hamburglar's sack over his shoulder or–

Ian: I think I was actually thinking that it is a sack, but I've tied a rope to the bottom and the top of it, so I'm wearing it like a messenger bag.

Mayanna: Oh I love that.

Bex: Awww.

Mischa: Sure! Yeah, no, I do like– a muffin– like a little fanny pack you swivel around, pull a muffin, and chuck it. Oh, that's great!

Mayanna: Oh that’s sick.

Mischa: And then, you can keep your little reagent vials on the strap.

Ian: The vials– yeah.

Mischa: Perfect.

Mayanna (Fran): And if you need any, like, accessories, or any sort of, like, leather work situation, like, we can have a conversation about that.

Lyn: So it's a bread bomb bandolier?

[Laughter].

Bex: I love you, Lyn.

Mischa: That's a party point to Lyn .

Ian: That's a party point!

[Cheers].

Ian: Holy shit. Okay, so, having seen some shit, I do that thing that young anime heroes have done a million times, where I set my jaw and I go,

Ian (Gordon): (Determined grunt).

Ian: And one-one foot slides back into the dirt, [SFX: crumbling shift on loose ground], and I reach into my bandolier, and I pull out, like, just a standard basic bomb.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: (Whispering) Nice.

Mischa: So you pull out a muffin and take one of your little potion vials and inject it. [SFX: click, hiss of air] And what color does it turn when it's just a basic bomb?

Ian: It's like, it's like orange-red. And it starts fizzing and sparking a little bit.

[SFX: air hissing as chemical reaction catylyzes].

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Ian: (Imitates rumbling vibrations).

Mischa: Yeah, it like rumbles in your hand, getting ready to throw.

Ian: A hundred percent. And I'm not scared at all.

[Laughter].

Bex: Oh my god, I love this.

Ian: And I roll– [Dice rolls]. Fuck. A 14.

Mischa: Did you add a d4 for bless?

Ian: I did, I rolled a 10 and a 4.

Mayanna: I'm sorry.

Bex: You don't add anything to your throws?

[Music fades out. Soundscape begins: open air with distant sound of traffic].

Ian: Do I? I don't think so, do I?

Lyn: For thrown–?

Mischa: It should be on the part of the bomb thing. It says plus something to hit.

Ian: Oh, plus 5 to hit.

Bex: (Gasp).

Lyn: So that would be a 19 total.

Bex: 19!

[Music begins: building rhythmic guitar].

Mayanna: Ohh.

Mischa: Oh, well a 19's gonna hit!

Mayanna: Yeah!

Ian: Shit, shit has changed.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Yeah!!

Ian: Shit has massively changed.

Mischa: So, you chuck this thing and it gets lodged up into its underbelly and [SFX: pop explosion] explodes from underneath.

Ian: This is going well.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Fuck yeah.

Mischa: Go ahead and roll damage. That's fire damage, right?

Mayanna: Oooh, fire damage!

Ian: Yeah, fire damage.1d10 plus–

[Music builds: energetic garage percussion].

Mischa: Plus 4. Right?

Ian: Yeah, plus 4 because it says it's primed. 11.

Mischa: Whoa!

Mayanna: Ooh!

Mischa: Huge.

Mayanna: That's two hits.

Bex: Gorgeous!

Mischa: This thing sort of groans and rolls to its side, [SFX: low, creaking metal and falling rocks], trying to steady its feet after the debris slid, and you just see a big old scorch mark right on its belly.

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: Nice work.

Ian: Thank you.

All: Good job.

Ian: (Singsongy) Gordon's becoming a D&D person.

[Laughter].

[Music fades out, returning to soundscape].

Bex: Anime protagonist, activated!

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Now is the moment in the turn order where I would like to introduce a new mechanic for the combat!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: (Whoop).

[Music begins: suspenseful, bopping synths and percussion].

Ian: Oh no.

Mischa: I'm gonna roll to see how many of the construction crew evacuate this turn. [Oohs]. I'm rolling a d3.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: You guys can use your action to make this die bigger.

Mayanna: Okay. Okay, okay.

Mischa: So for this turn, three people make it out.

Bex: (softly) Oh, yes.

Mayanna: Okay, and I can roll and add to that, or?

Mischa: You can use your action to, like, help evacuate.

Mayanna: Okay, I can do that. I will do that.

Mischa: Sweet.

Mayanna: Do I roll for that right now?

Mischa: No, you gotta do it on your turn.

Mayanna: I'll do it on my turn. Okay, cool.

Mischa: You-you shot wildly with your gun this turn.

Mayanna: I know. Ah!

Bex: Heh. Yipe!

Ian: (Imitating Mayanna) “I pull out my gun.”

Mischa: I'm starting at a d3. The more people that add to it, the bigger the die gets.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Got it.

Mayanna: Cool.

Mischa: I said last time that there were about 30 people in this construction site, and three people just got out.

Mayanna: Okay. Okay, that's 27 left.

Mischa: Good math.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Lyn: Nice.

Mayanna: Thank you.

Ian: She's getting better.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Lyn: We need a spin down die for this.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ibra, back to you.

Bex: First, I'm gonna, I know that this isn't using my action to help evacuate, but I am going to yell to the rest of the crew,

Bex (Ibra): It's time to go! You should go! Please go!

Bex: And I'm going to Warden's Mark as my bonus action.

[SFX: mysterious arcane pulse].

Mischa: Awesome.

Bex: So while it's within five feet of me, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against any creatures other than me. The mark lasts for one minute or until I mark another creature or become incapacitated.

Mischa: Okay. Yeah, can you, describe Warden's Mark? Like, what does it look like?

Bex: You know, it looks a little funky when Ibra casts magic, cause they just glow a little bit. Basically– They're made of Astra.

Mischa: Yeah, it's like in your blood.

Bex: Yeah, their-their blue hue that they always have just glows a little bit. You can tell that there's something a little bit otherworldly about it almost. And it makes Ibra glow to the enemy.

Mischa: Oh it's like an anglerfish.

Bex: Yeah.

[Understanding hums].

Mischa: Where it's like, it's like making bright lights to attract the thing's attention.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Cool. I think, I think it glows most on the birthmark on your forehead.

Bex: Very much so.

Mischa: It turns almost into like a little bit of a glowing tiara, maybe?

Bex: Like there's, there's a lot of hair that Ibra likes to keep in the way of that big old birthmark on their forehead, but you can–there is actively, like, light glowing through the hair this time, and it's weird.

Ian: Do you create your own wind, too, so your hair's sort of, like, blowing around and up a little bit?

Bex: Well, in this battle, because it's an anime protagonist battle, absolutely.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Something about the blue glow of your skin, like, reflects back into the glass panels of the Excavator. And it sort of, like, flashes across in that like, anime glasses kind of way and, like, you catch its eye. It focuses in on you.

Mayanna: (Whispering) Awesome.

Bex: Sick. And then I'm gonna hit it.

Mischa: Yeah, classic hitting.

Mayanna: Yeah, whip out that sword.

Bex: Boom. Boom.

Ian (Gordon): So crazy, by the way, that the glowing figure is our friend who was in the bee costume.

Mayanna (Fran): I know! (Giggles).

Ian (Gordon): You know?

Mayanna: Classic Final Fantasy protagonist, though, to end up in a giant mascot costume.

Lyn: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: It happens. A lot.

Bex: 22 to hit.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Yeah, I would think so. Yes.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Did you add d4 to that?

Bex: I thought about it.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You thought about it.

Bex: But I didn’t. Plus 1.

Mayanna: Yay!

Bex: 23.

Mischa: I think a 23 will also hit. Let me check my math real quick.

Bex: It was really close there, it was touch and go.

Mischa: Yeah, I think so.

Ian: It would have been crazy if 23 didn't hit.

Lyn: Yeah it’s actually a parabola curve.

Mayanna: It would have been like, ‘that's too many, actually.’

Ian: Man, sorry, we went too hard.

Bex: 5 slashing damage and 6 necrotic.

Mischa: Whoa, big necrotic money!

Bex: Yeah, maxed out on the necrotic damage.

Mayanna: Nice.

Lyn: Hell yeah.

Mischa: So, yeah, so I think this one is a wider swing of the naginata, [SFX: whoosh, metal clang], but like, as soon as you hit, [SFX: glowing hum], the infection–the hex infection seems to have spread a little further through this mech. And like where you slice on its leg the rust kind of like spreads out a little bit and sort of starts taking up the whole foreleg .

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: Oh, sick.

Mischa: Dope and fresh!

Bex: And then I'm just gonna use my movement to stay within the five foot, and I'm just gonna shift so that any strikes – if it's gonna fall it's not gonna fall on anyone, so if it attacks me and misses and topples it won't topple on to anybody. It's just sort of like shifting it so it's facing me and not facing anybody else.

Mischa: Got it. Copy.

[Music fades out].

[SFX: machine motor whirring. Two deep thuds hitting the ground].

Mischa: It stares you down and digs its two feet into the dirt and stands over you in a menacing fashion and rears back and bellows right into your face, [SFX: hollow, metallic roar].

[Music begins: ominous bass thrumming and echoey rattling].

Mischa: And then the bellow cuts off halfway and it raises the cockpit up, almost like it's sniffing the air.

Bex: Oy.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: I'm really weirded out by the animal behaviors of this–

Mayanna: Robot? Yeah.

Ian: Mech.

[SFX: slow clamor of motor turning].

Mischa: And it turns away from you up the hillside and charges [SFX: building, buzzing hum], the excavation laser on its back and fires a beam of force, [SFX: loud hum and buzzing impact] directly into the center of the pile.

Bex: Disadvantage, because it's an attack at something that's not me.

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Mischa: Damn.

[Laughter].

Ian: Wow. Fuck yes.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Well.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Eat it, Spider Mech.

[Laughter].

Mischa: It's-I mean it's a stationary pile of debris, so it is gonna hit.

Bex: It was just for the–just for the flavor of, (mocking noise).

Mayanna: Damn.

Lyn: Okay, so don't get hit by that laser?

Bex: Wait. Did it disengage?

Mischa: No, it's still standing next to you. It's a large creature.

Bex: Okay.

Mischa: It can- it-it's a big space.

Bex: Okay.

Mischa: Yeah, it's gonna do a bunch of damage to the debris pile.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Is it trying to make a rock slide?

Lyn: It might be looking for something in there.

Mayanna: Ohh.

Lyn: We didn't find all of the devices that we think there might be.

Bex: Oh.

Ian: Oh, shit.

Mischa: Yeah, there was two devices you found in the pile. One that was successfully–

Mayanna: Detonated.

Mischa: Detonated? But is detonated really the right word?

Mayanna: It's like, activated.

Mischa: Yeah, because remember you all–

Lyn: Discharged?

Mischa: Yeah, discharged is probably better because you remember last time you investigated these devices, and you, somebody cast identify on it, I'm pretty sure. Or detect magic?

Lyn: Detect magic.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: We were able to combine into an identify.

Mischa: And you could tell that it was, it was not, evocation magic, which would be an explosion. It was summoning magic.

Mayanna: Right, right.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: So, you did find two devices, and one was set off. And also you found crates full of construction explosives in the debris pile. So–

Bex: There's probably more.

Mayanna: Yup.

Mischa: You know, maybe. Who's to say? I couldn't possibly know that.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah. How would you know?

Mischa: How would I know?

[Laughter].

Bex: How would anyone know?

Mayanna: How would they know?

Mischa: There could be anything in that pile. Even more explosive crates.

Ian: No one’s gonna know.

[All groan].

Ian: This really puts my bombs in a different, uh, thing, doesn't it? Okey dokey.

[Laughter].

[Music fades out].

Mischa: JJ, that's your move.

Lyn: I think I'll use my action to help evacuate people.

Mischa: Sweet!

Lyn: That's very me.

[Music begins: hopeful, ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely, you're gonna up you're gonna upgrade to a d4!

Lyn: Woohoo! So I'll really like turn to my dad and everyone like,

Lyn (JJ): You have to get out of here, please. I'm saying please because I mean that! Get out of here. We have this handled. Just evacuate as safely as possible.

Lyn: And I'm gonna bonus action load my gun.

[Laughter]

.Bex: I feel like that should give advantage.

Mischa: You guys gotta get out of here! (Imitates cocking a shotgun).

Lyn: Yeah, well it’s a revolver so it starts to spin. (Rolls tongue, imitating spinning).

Mischa: Oh, oh, sick, yeah.

Mayanna: Oh yes!

Bex: Oh, that's hot.

Lyn: I go– and I look my dad in the eye and I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): Dad, we got this, please leave.

Mischa: Yeah, go ahead and roll persuasion. Please.

Mayanna: Nice.

Lyn: 17 plus… 0. 17.

Mischa: Paul sees you in this moment, confident, assured, knowing what to do in a situation, not torn between two or three courses of action, making decisive choices, and just sees in this moment how much you've grown, and nods, and yeah, Paul's gonna be one of the people evacuated this round.

Bex: I got goosebumps!

[Music fades out. Return to soundscape].

Mischa: Fran, that's you.

Mayanna: Yes, I think I see JJ, and I am inspired as well to help get as many people out as possible, so I'm gonna use my action to help evacuate.

Mischa: Sweet, we're gonna go up to a d6!

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Yay, I like that! I think, I was thinking about firing my gun into the air to like, hurry people along.

Mischa: Oh yeah.

Mayanna: So I, as my bonus action, I'm gonna fire my gun into the air, just like,

Mayanna (Fran): Get! Out! Now!

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Sounds good.

Ian: How many bullets are in that gun? Is it a six shooter? Is it a one?

Mayanna: It's a parlor gun. So, let me see.

Lyn: The parlor gun is two.

Ian: Two!

Mayanna: Two. Great. So I'm out of bullets.

Mischa: Well, you can use your–

Lyn: Bonus action to reload

Mischa: –bonus action to reload, I believe.

Mayanna: Oh, bonus action to reload. Okay, cool. So, sorry, can I say that me firing my gun in the air was my action to help people evacuate, and then as my bonus action I'm gonna reload two bullets?

Mischa: Sounds good.

Mayanna: Yay, Thank you!

[Laughter].

Ian: Nailed it

Lyn: Nice.

Mayanna: Thorgunn was right, taking my time.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Gordon, your move.

[Music begins: exciting, rhythmic synth plucks].

Ian: So how close is the Spider Mech to the hillside? Is it on the hillside?

Mischa: It's on the hillside. In fact, it stabilizing itself with its six legs–although, you know, two of them are, are a little bit rusty now and it's a little unstable–but the chassis of it sort of like gyroscopically rotates to be level no matter where it's climbing.

Ian: Okay, so I have impact bombs.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Right? Which if they, if they hit, they blow the creature in the radius five feet away from the center of the blast.

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: My question to you is twofold. One, since the creature's so big, is– does five feet matter in any way to get it sort of, like, off the hillside, slash maybe, I don't know, if it fell, if it was a very successful hit, and/or– no, and/and, would the blast of an impact bomb be as much of a danger of setting off any of the crates, et cetera, that could still be in it, versus like the basic firebomb that I have?

Mischa: I want you to roll some kind of intelligence thing. This is–it's like about the explosive potential of your bombs, so you can roll intelligence plus your proficiency.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: So 9 plus 6 is 15.

Mischa: Yeah, you get a pretty good read on how your blasts are going to affect this thing so that you can be confident when I tell you five feet is not going to do a ton of difference.

Ian: To get it off the hillside.

Mischa: To get it off the hillside. Yeah, this thing is big enough that another medium creature can crawl inside of it. It covers, on its own, it covers a span that is larger than five feet. So if you were to knock it five feet, I mean this pile is, you know, 60 feet up into the air, cascades down the entire hillside. Shoving it five feet's not gonna do a ton.

Ian: So I think considering all of that, I think I'm also going to use my action to help people evacuate because I don't want to start a rockslide that buries us all.

Mischa: Yeah. Sounds good.

Ian: So that's what I'm going to do.

Mayanna: I love that.

Mischa: We're going to go up to a d8.

Mayanna: That's awesome.

Lyn: Wow.

Mayanna: There we go.

Mischa: Great.

Bex: Sick.

Ian: Great. Glad I helped.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Watch us, watch us roll at two on the d8.

Mayanna: No.

Mischa: I mean, That is kind of how it goes.

Ian: That's how the math rocks work.

Mischa: Between the three of you who helped evacuate this round, who would like to roll for it?

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Oh, I'm so nervous.

Mayanna: I feel like you have a good roll in you.

Ian: I’m doin’ it.

Lyn: Yeah.

Ian: (Heavy breathing).

Lyn: Bless in real life!

Ian: Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Thumbs up. Yes.

Mayanna: Thumbs ups.

Ian: Four.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Okay!

Mayanna: I'll take that.

Lyn: Solid.

Mischa: And one of them is Paul.

Mayanna: Yay!

Lyn: Yay!

Bex: Yay!

Ian: Paul!

Mayanna: 23 left.

Mischa: Correct.

[Music fades out].

Mayanna: Yes. When people are on a battlefield in any game, and they're civilians, and they have to escape battle, I am– that is the most important thing to me. I don't know why?

Mischa: Fair!

Lyn: That’s really good instincts

Mayanna: My brain was just– I'm always like “Get out of there! (Panic gibberish).”

Lyn: “They’re not adventurers!”

Mayanna: “They don’t deserve to be here, they were just going to the store, and then monsters showed up, it's not fair to them!”

Bex: “They’ve got five hit points! Get em out!”

Mayanna: They’re level one!”

Lyn: I think they have less than that.

Mischa: And your concerns are warranted and founded because–

Mayanna: (Gasps).

[Music begins: suspenseful humming piano/synths].

Mischa: –on zero count of initiative, as this thing digs into the surface of the debris pile, it is going to cause a minor slide.

[SFX: low rumbling and rocks sliding].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: I need everybody here to make a DEX save please.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: It? Does it have to as well?

Lyn: All of you can make, add a d4.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Oh my god, the best DEX save roll of my life. 21.

Mischa: Nice.

Ian: Also 21.

Mischa, Mayanna: Nice!

Lyn: 19.

Mischa: Whoa!

Bex: 8.

Mayanna: No!

Lyn: No!

Mayanna: No, that’s not–!

Ian: Oh, no!

Mischa: Yeah, okay. Ibra, yeah, you are standing the closest to it. You're in melee range.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Just sort of makes sense. You're going to take 4 bludgeoning damage, and you're gonna roll 10 feet down the hill. [SFX: rocks sliding]. You roll concentration.

Bex: 19.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Mischa: Oh, okay. So, the hex remains.

Bex: Yeah!

Mischa: Sweet. Ibra. It's your turn.

Bex (Ibra): Ow.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): (Coughs).

Bex: What happens with Warden's Mark, because I got moved out of its melee range?

Mischa: Involuntary movement doesn't do–

Lyn: Doesn't trigger spells.

Mischa: Doesn’t trigger spells.

Bex: Got it. Can't willingly move away. Got it. Okay.

Mischa: But now that it is outside of range, it can move away.

Bex: Yes.

Mischa: It seems, not interested in doing that. I seems intent on what it's doing right now.

Bex: And what it's doing is boring into–

Mischa: Is using a giant laser to bore into a debris field causing a rock slide onto evacuating construction crew members, yeah.

Bex: How can I get that laser hit?

Mayanna: Mm.

Bex: How do I hit the laser?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Great question. so again, this is a large creature with a cockpit fit for a medium creature. you could crawl up on its back.

Mayanna: Oh.

Lyn: Or under its legs, but that's very dicey.

Mayanna: Yeah, dangerous.

Mischa: Yeah, that, too. Although maybe not for–

Mayanna: Like with a sword, or–

Mischa: –Mx. Combat over here.

Bex: Yeah. I–

Lyn: Mx. Combat. I love that.

Bex: Mx. Combat? That's fun. I want to dismantle the laser.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Nice.

Bex: If I specifically try to take out the leg joint itself–

Mischa: Sure.

Bex: –do I have a chance at throwing it off balance.

Mischa: Yes. I will say, if you manage to hit it five above its armor, I will let you call your shot on this thing.

Bex: Okay. Alright.

Lyn: Mm. I see the minigame

Mayanna: That's a great negotiation.

Bex: We're doing it. We're going for it.

Mischa: Okay. You gonna attack it?

Bex: Yeah. Let me see if there's any other bonus actions I can play with. I don't think so.

Mischa: Oh, you, sorry, you marked it, and you, you can grasp it, I guess, to have it not–

Mayanna: (Mimicking Patrick Star) Firmly grasp it.

[Laughter].

Bex: Yeah, I can re-Warden’s Grasp it. Yeah. I'm going to re-Warden’s Grasp it.

[SFX: metallic thunk].

Mischa: Okay, great.

Bex: 14 plus 5 plus, can I get a d4?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Oh, yep! Here you go.

Lyn: You want to just hold onto one?

Bex: Maybe.

Ian: I'm going to make it first. Aha!

[Dice rolls].

[Cast screaming and cheering].

Ian: I threw it into the box!

Bex: That is gorgeous.

Lyn: What did it roll?

Bex: A 2.

[Laughter].

Ian: That was so sick!

[Overlapping cheers].

Bex: So that's 5 plus 14 plus 2. 21.

Mischa: 21 to hit, a party point for Ian, and one of the sickest die rolls I've ever seen, [laughter and cheers] clear across the room.

Bex: That was gorgeous.

Mischa: Yeah, a 21 to hit? Hold on, let me check.

Mayanna: Is that five?

Mischa: Yeah, it is.

Mayanna: Yes! Yes!

Ian: Fuck yeah!

Bex: Oh yes!

[Music begins: triumphant rock].

Mischa: You bound up the hill, [SFX: quick footsteps on rubble], and sort of take like a running leap [SFX: cartoonish shwing] and swing your naginata down [SFX: rapid whipping through the air] right onto the leg joint [SFX: metallic clang], and it rusts right through, absolutely.

Mayanna: Whoa.

All: Wow!

Bex: (Gasp). Max damage on the slashing, so that's 10 plus 3: 13 slashing. And then 4 necrotic.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Whoa.

Mischa: Incredible! And you lopped one of this thing's legs off. Now listen, it's got five more. It's-it's standing up pretty fine. But yeah, it-there's a momentary dip.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: And, I think, with the rest of your movement, like, now it's an easier ramp. You can, in fact, get up on its back for next turn.

Bex: Yes!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: Ah!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: Yeah!

Mischa: Amazing.

Lyn: That was incredible.

Bex (Ibra): (Voice cracking) Keep getting the people out, you're doing great!

Mayanna: Yes!

[Music shifts to ominous, echoing hums and pulsing drums].

Mischa: Unfortunately, between now and then, it gets its turn.

Bex: I know.

Mischa: And so, having shown your proficiency against its legs is going to take a big shot at you.

Mayanna: Oh.

Mischa: It's gonna charge its laser and fire.

Lyn: Oh jeez.

Mischa: you're at melee range for a ranged weapon, so I'm gonna roll with disadvantage.

Bex: (Relieved) Yes!

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa: Sorry, I got thrown by the fact that I rolled an 18 and a Nat 1.

Lyn: Oh! Whew!

Mischa: Yeah. A Nat 1?

Bex: It hits itself!

Mischa: Well, I, to be perfectly honest, I think what happens is, it tries to swing its laser around, [SFX: motor rattling, gears turning, large metallic steps], like, you're a flea on this big spider's back, and it, like, swings its cannon arm around to get you. And like, you're just too– like, you can duck underneath the barrel, like it can't– You- there's no point anymore at which you're in front of its barrel, so it just, hundred, like, there's no way it could've hit you, so it misses.

Bex: (Happily squeals).

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: Um. It's still gonna fire though.

Ian: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Mayanna: No!

Bex: Yeah, that's the problem. I was hoping that the Nat 1 –

Ian: (Singsong) What’s below it in the rubble.

Mischa: Yeah, it's tilted. It's on its side. It's sort of in this rubble. The evacuees are below it on the hill. I don't think there's any danger of it hitting the evacuees, but there is a chance of it further collapsing this bridge.

Mayanna: Oh god.

Mischa: So I think I'm gonna roll a d4 to see what direction it fires in. and you don't want a 1.

Bex: Ah, okay.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: That's a 1.

Mischa: That's a 1.

[Groans].

Bex: That's a 1.

Ian: Look at it on the table. Look at that 1.

Lyn: Yeah, that's a 1.

Bex: Well, shit.

Mischa: The laser swings around and blasts out additional pillars of the overpass. [SFX: laser charges, rock explosions]. Now, no one's above it. This whole place has been evacuated except debris is gonna start raining down, [SFX: rocks tumbling, rumbling building in intensity], and that landslide's gonna be even worse.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: This was going so great.

Mischa: Yeah, I think,

Bex: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry y'all.

Mayanna (overlapping): No, this is good. No, no, don't apologize. Don't apologize.

Ian (overlapping): Was it your fault? You didn't roll the Nat 1. The spider mech did.

Lyn: (Laughing).

Mischa: Yeah…

Mayanna: The spider mech's doing exactly what it wants to do.

Mischa: It's definitely gonna have to dodge this, but so are you all.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Okay.

Bex: It has disadvantage on dexterity saves.

Mischa: Well, it certainly does. And you just cut off one of his legs, so that's not good for it.

Bex: And now it has extra damage.

Mischa: Yeah, no, sorry, I think the entire dynamic of this combat just changed in five seconds.

Mayanna: I love it, this is good.

Lyn: Yeah!

Mischa: I think we all need to roll dex saves. I'll roll with disadvantage.

All: Yes.

Lyn: Yes, that makes sense.

Mayanna: And we do, and you add bless to that too.

Lyn: Yes, saving throws, you can add it.

Mayanna: Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

Bex: I feel partially responsible.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 15.

Mayanna: No, it's okay, it's okay. let's see here. 8 plus 3 is 11.

Bex: 22.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Oh, no.

Mayanna: No, what happened?

Ian: Oh, no.

Mayanna: No, what happened?

Ian: That's a 2 plus a 1 plus a 3. That'd be a 6.

[Groans].

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: That's not good.

Ian: That's a bad.

Lyn: Oh, jeez.

Ian: And Gordon's–

Bex: Squishy!

Ian: –not strong.

Mayanna: I know! I know!

Mischa: Okay. Anyone who rolled a 13 or above is going to take 7 damage. Fran and Gordon, I believe–

Ian: (Mumbling) I dunno, I’m unconscious, I believe.

Mischa: You are going to take 15 bludgeoning damage–

Bex: Oh!

Ian: Fuck!

Mayanna: Oh boy! Okay!

Lyn: Are you down?

Ian: Yes.

Mischa: –and are knocked prone.

Mayanna: And knocked prone?!

Ian: I have 13 hit points.

Lyn: Oh my gosh.

Mayanna: Wait, you're unconscious?

Bex: Yeah.

Ian: I have 13 hit points and I just took 15 bludgeoning.

Mayanna: Oh my god. Okay. I'm at four and I'm prone. I'm going to immediately prioritize.

Lyn: I can-I can handle this.

Mayanna: You can handle it?

Lyn: I can handle it.

Mayanna: Okay.

Ian: I saw the look on Mischa's face. Where the game turned and I was like, “I'm about to be out of this, out of this lineup for a second.”

Mayanna: It's okay.

Bex: I feel partially responsible. I'm very sorry.

Mayanna: (Overlapping) No. You are doing great.

Ian: (Overlapping) It's not your fault! We're on a hillside.

Bex: We’re blaming the spider mech.

Mayanna: You are, yeah, the spider mech is that– we hate them. We love you.

Mischa: JJ, additional parts of the bridge have now collapsed. The entire worksite is difficult terrain.

Lyn: Okay.

Mischa: I think you guys are going to take a penalty to the evacuation rolls.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Lyn: Aw, jeez.

Mischa: But it is your turn.

Lyn: Okay. I see that Gordon got bonked on the noggin and is out. [Laughter]. And Fran does not look good. So they're going to be my first priority. Oh wait, I also have to do a concentration.

Bex: Oh, right.

Lyn: Yeet. So we're good.

Mayanna: (Morose) Yay.

Lyn: A sad time for a natural yeet, I guess.

Mayanna: (Monotone) Hooray.

Lyn: A little, unnecessary.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 16.

Mayanna: (Laughing) “A little unnecessary.”

Lyn: That one was a little unnecessary, but I will use– I'll run up to Gordon. We're not super far from each other though, right?

Mischa: (Sigh). Can you roll athletics for me?

Ian: Fuck.

Mayanna: (Laughs). I hate that.

Ian: It's gonna go poorly.

Lyn: Athletics– 18.

Mayanna: Nice!

Ian: Ooh!

Mayanna: Spoke too soon!

Mischa: You wait until the the shifting terrain sort of settles a little bit before you try to bound across it. Yeah, you can get there.

Lyn: Cool. So I will use my Channel Divinity, Balm of Peace. [SFX: echoing chimes of large bells] As an action I can move up to my speed without provoking opportunity. When I move within 5 feet of any other creature during this action, you can restore 2d6 plus 3 HP to that creature.

Mayanna: What?!

Mischa: Yes!

Ian: Wow.

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Ian: Wow, we got some good health stuff.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 5, 7, plus 3, you regain 10 HP.

Bex: Ooh.

Lyn: And then–

Ian: That's most of my HP.

Lyn: Mhmm. And then, bonus action healing word on Fran.

Mayanna: Oh my god, thank you.

Lyn: I’m out of spell slots now.

Bex: We love a cleric.

Mayanna: Okay.

Bex: You have cantrips, right?

Mayanna: Good to know.

Lyn: I have some cantrips. (Afar) 1d4 plus 3. [Dice rolls]. You regain 5 HP.

Mayanna: Cool, so I'm at 9.

Bex: We love a healer.

Ian: So it goes like this. I go,

Ian (Gordon): Oh no! Ah! (Grunts). [SFX: thud. Radiant chime]. Ah!

Lyn: Yeah, and I go,

Lyn (JJ): You're okay! Fran, you're okay too!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay!

Ian (Gordon): Okay!

Mayanna (Fran): So you said it with confidence, so I believe you!

Ian (Gordon): Everything's fine?!

[Laughter].

Mischa: And yeah, you're sitting on the debris pile, so you're prone, so you're gonna have to use half of your movement to stand next turn.

Ian: Got it.

Mischa: But–

Ian: But I'm not dead.

Mischa: But you're not dead, which is great.

Mayanna: Oh my god, awesome.

Ian (Gordon): Hey, thank you.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. Keep going.

Mayanna: Ooh!

Ian: Whoa!

Bex: Gorgeous, JJ.

Mayanna: Strong.

Bex: Get ‘em.

Ian: That was a vibe.

[Music shifts: tense synth plucks].

Mischa: Fran, that's you.

Mayanna: Okay, great. I'm gonna use my half movement to stand, and then I think, I'm still, uh… I'm out of my depth here. I have a gun and that's it, so I think I'm gonna keep helping evacuate civilians.

Mischa: Sick. We're up to a d4.

Mayanna: Yes. Good. Okay, good. I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): I'm so glad you're not dead, Gordon!

Mayanna: And then I start going to help more civilians.

Mischa: Okay, great.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Gordon, that's you.

Ian: I'm definitely still a little scrambled, I feel like. And I feel like bombs are still a mistake. But I'm mad, but I think I just sort of like, use half my action to get up, and then try to amble down and help people get away.

Mischa: Sure.

Ian: Because I'm like, holding my brain, which has been severely–

Mayanna: Hit.

Ian: Hit.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Just got concussed then un-concussed so fast, which I don't think feels better.

Ian: Mental whiplash is what that's called.

Mischa: It's like your brain was the hood of a car that gets like dented, and you pop it out real quick.

Ian: Oh god.

[Laughter].

Lyn: It’s a good thing we’re wearing hard hats.

Ian: That's true. That's true. I'd be dead otherwise.

Mayanna: That's right we’re wearing hard hats.

Mischa: And that's why you should use your safety equipment.

[Laughter].

Lyn: True. This has been an OSHA approved podcast.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Okay, it's evacuation roll time. You guys are up to a d6.

Mayanna: Hooray.

Mischa: Do you want to roll at this time, Mayanna?

Mayanna: I'm scared.

Bex: I believe in you.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: 6!

[Cheers].

Mischa: Nice!

Mayanna: Yay! Okay.

Bex: Max evacuation!

Lyn: 17, because we were at 23 minus 6.

Mischa: Well, I did say I was gonna give you a penalty to the roll, so it's gonna be minus 1, but 5 is still great.

Mayanna: Five! Yay!

Bex: Five is huge.

Lyn: So that's 18 left.

Mischa: Yeah. You guys are, down from 30 to 18. Pretty good.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: You know, I think people after the rest of the bridge starts collapsing, I think, you know, supervisors and like shift managers start getting the picture and tell their crews to start get going.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Ian: I think like as I'm ambling down the hill to help people, I turn back to Ibra and I go,

Ian (Gordon): It doesn't want us to find whatever's in the hillside! We have to stop it!

Bex (Ibra): There's something in the hillside?

Ian (Gordon): I think so!

Bex (Ibra): Okay! I'll stop the laser.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes!

Bex: And with that, I'm gonna finish climbing up it. I'm going to use all of my movement to get to the laser. And then I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna hit it.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Do it.

Mischa: So again, if you hit five above it's AC, you can call your shot.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: You can still add a d4 also.

Bex: I did, it's 15 plus 5: dirty 20.

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: A dirty 20 is good, but it's not 5 above it's AC, so you're still gonna hit it and deal that damage along with that rust corrosion damage as well.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: Cool. 8 slashing and then maxed out: 6 necrotic.

Mayanna: Nice!

Lyn, Mischa: Whoa!

Mischa: I'm gonna, like, there was one bomb from Gordon, but the amount of damage that Ibra's just–

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: –laying into this thing while the– most of the rest of you are just evacuating people.

Mayanna: This is a good situation, yeah.

Lyn: Tank!

Bex: Tank! Tank! Tank! Tank!

Ian: (joining in) Tank! Tank! Tank!

Mischa: Yeah, it's, you know, I think, I think there's kind of a moment where, like, you swing the naginata down, [SFX: metallic swing and clang], and start, like, carving rust slices in the barrel of the laser itself.

Bex: Sick.

Mischa: And then, like, you swing it around, [SFX: rapid whipping through the air], and sort of stand on a pole, like, like a standard bearer on top of this hill. And, like, as you survey the excavation, being like, “Go! I got this!” (Imitates blade shine) Shing!

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: As you're glowing.

Mayanna: Yeah, glowing. Third eye. Anime wind.

Mischa: Ibra, that's your attack. Do you have another bonus action you want to do? Any? You're–you're good at sitting up atop of this thing, so you don't have to move.

[Music fades out].

Bex: It's still grasped, so it can't willingly move away from me without disengaging, even though I'm on its back.

Mischa: Yeah, now that's interesting.

Bex: Yeah. It– interesting. I'm on its back.

Mischa: You're on its back, so it can't move away from you, but also, it's impossible for it to move anywhere without being near you?

Bex: It can't-it can't willingly move away without disengaging.

Mischa: Right.

Bex: So it can disengage from fighting me on its back and move away.

Mischa: I don't, I don't think so.

Bex: It can move with me on its back?

Mischa: I think it can move with you on its back.

Bex: But it can't fight anything that's not me.

Mischa: That's true because of your Warden's Mark, right? They're two separate abilities?

Bex: Yes. Warden's Grasp is, you can't move, and each large or smaller creature you choose within five feet can't willingly move away without disengaging. And then Warden's Mark is, when it's within five feet of me, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than me.

Mischa: Yeah, so, I think, unfortunately, due to the physics of this narrative, Warden's Grasp is a little ineffectual while you're on its back.

Bex: Fair.

Mischa: I think the mark is still in play. But I think that, yeah, maybe, maybe this is a thing you only learn in the moment.

[Music begins: reflective, resonant pads].

Mischa: That like, all of your combat training has been against medium sized creatures and all of a sudden you're on the back of a thing and you're like, how do I stop this from moving?

[SFX: rattling and rumbling. Heavy steps].

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): It's still moving! Why is it still moving? It's not supposed to be able to do this! Why is it moving?!

[Laughter].

Mischa: So as this thing begins its turn, I think it's going to realize how ineffectual trying to hit you with the laser beam was. [SFX: laser beam charges]. You're on its back. I think it's going to charge up its laser to try to hit the pile again, the debris pile.

Bex: I mean, it's still got disadvantage, so.

Mischa: Still got disadvantage. [Dice rolls]. Oh, good thing, too. The corrosion that you've laid into it with your blade sort of causes the turret that the laser is attached to to, like, stutter. Its targeting systems are off a little bit. I think it only, like, skims the edge of the pile with the force beam [SFX: humming thud]. And so, no landslide this turn.

Bex: (Relieved sigh).

Mayanna: Oh my gosh.

Ian: Fuck yeah

Mischa: Nice work.

Bex (Ibra): We’re doing great y’all!!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah!

Ian: (Humming) There's no landslide in this turn.

[Laughter].

Mischa: This thing has taken A pretty decent chunk of damage. And, with all of these, like, slices through its metal chassis with, like, rust sort of spreading out. Yeah, it-the electricity that's powering it sort of starts crackling around it, a little wildly. [SFX: lightning crackles and zaps].

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: Be careful, Ibra. Careful up there. But for now, JJ's turn.

Lyn (JJ): Oh gosh!

[Music shifts: contemplative piano].

Lyn: No, JJ is still very focused on the civilians here. So I will, I can't do that. Concentration? Difficult-difficult to balance as far as spellcasting. Is everyone still below us? Like, we're not immediately near the civilians you need to evacuate, is that the situation? Like, everyone's below while we're at the platform?

Mischa: Yeah, you guys are sort of at the base of the pile and everyone's moving back towards the entrance of the construction site, which was on flat ground, which is like where, Ibra, where your bike is parked, etc.

Mayanna: Hmm.

Lyn: Got it.

Mischa: The trailer where you guys stole hardhats from.

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: Mhmm. You know, that–

Bex: Percy!

Lyn: –little thing.

Mayanna: Classic. Classic hero shit.

[Music fades out].

Mischa: One of the evacuating people, who's dressed in like, hot pink overalls and hot pink work gloves is like,

Mischa (Unnamed construction worker): Where'd my helmet go?

Mischa: And is running towards the exit.

Mayanna: I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): (Grimacing) Ooh.

Bex: Is Percy gone?

Mischa: Percy was the first one out of there.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Percy!

Mayanna: (as Percy) “Sorry, Sir you can’t go to the worksite!” or whatever

Mischa (Percy): Oh my god what’s that mech doing –Ahh!!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: He’s a muppet in this world of all these other fantasy creatures, but he is a muppet.

[Music begins: melancholy horns].

Lyn: I think actually what I’m going to do is – I think I just want to help the civilians. I'm gonna help the civilians.

Mischa: Sick, okay.

Lyn: This is gonna be really silly, but I'm going to take my big, my giant monkey wrench, and I'm gonna cast light through it as my action to, like, direct people towards safety.

Mayanna: I love that.

Lyn: I'm using it as a pointing thing, like an–

Bex, Mayanna: Air traffic controller.

Lyn: Air traffic controller, yeah.

[SFX: quiet shifting of falling dirt and rock].

Lyn (JJ): Everyone, head in that direction. Please, stay away from the center, stay away from this, from the landslide! Go over that way!

Mischa: Sick, you're up to d4.

Lyn: Great.

Mischa: Fran, that's you.

Mayanna: Alright, I think I see JJ, and I'm just gonna also just start kind of directing traffic. I don't have a cool light, but I'm just gonna start pointing, and similarly like,

Mayanna (Fran): Move it or lose it, people! We're losing daylight over here!

Ian: Sick.

Mischa: Yeah, d6!

Mayanna: Yay!

Mischa: Gordon.

Ian: Same.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: D8. I love it. Okay, that, that means it's time to evacuate. You know, we're up to a d8. Nice work team.

Mayanna: Okay.

Bex: Let’s do it

Mischa: Lyn, how about you roll it this time?

Lyn: Oh gosh.

Mayanna: D8, D8.

Lyn: Should I do my avocado toast?

Mayanna: You’ve got this– Yes, do the avocado toast.

Bex, Mayanna, Ian: (Chanting) Avocado toast! Avocado toast!

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: Someone read that for me, I can't see it.

Ian: It looks like a 1.

Mischa: That’s an 8!

Ian: That’s an 8

[Cheers].

Lyn: We went on the full breadth of emotion there. It's just really shiny, and we sent it to the center of the table where none of us could see with the glare.

Mayanna: It’s so hard to see!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, incredible. With all of you sort of directing traffic and making sure the way is clear, you get the maximum amount of people out this round that you like almost can, that was, that was great.

Lyn: Incredible.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: Ten left!

Mayanna: Ten left!

Mischa: Yeah, truly, there's only ten left. It's like, people who were on the far side of the pile, people who were like, couldn't put down what they were doing because they were in the middle of dangerous operations. You see a lot of people sort of taking off those like, shoulder mounted dig rigs, trying to get out of them, take off the straps and like, put them down and run. So it's really like, just sort of the stragglers at this point. Nice work.

[Music ends].

Ian: The two construction people who were off on the edge of the lot smoking weed like they shouldn't have and then came back and were like, “wow, what happened? Everything's different now.”

Mischa: We do not advise inebriation on the worksite. This has been an OSHA sponsored podcast.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Thank you so much for the generous sponsorship by OSHA. [Laughter]. If it weren't for them, we couldn't make this podcast.

Bex: Nobody send them photos of how we set up this blanket fort.

[Laughter].

[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. Happy summer! At least to our listeners in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope you're staying cool out there. It's gonna be a scorcher. But of course, the best way to stay cool is to support us at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod.

Mischa: I just realized as I was editing one of our blooper reels that actually there's some advanced content in there. Stuff that we've decided to cut from the main episodes and save for later in our upcoming talkbacks that you can hear early if you join up with us. That's in addition to ad free episodes, exclusive stat blocks, and more. One more time, that's patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. And thanks as always to our Voyager level patron, JWX, who is the coolest of the cool.

Mischa: And as we dive into our second combat here on the pod, we also want to give a huge shout out to Mage Hand Press. They're the ones who make the excellent book Valda's Spire of Secrets, an enormous expansion of D&D 5th edition. Bring new adventures to your table and transcend the limits of character creation with innovative classes, subclasses, races, feats, and more. If you're curious about what mechanics we're using for Fran's crafting, Gordon's bombs, or Ibra's warden moves, this is the place to find them. This book has it all: 10 new base classes, over 150 subclasses, including some for the traditional D&D base classes, plus a huge arsenal of firearms and exotic weapons like the gun blade, new feats, new systems, over a hundred brand new spells, and so much more. I can't even cover it all in a short spot here. If you want the goods, you're gonna have to check it out. Head on over to magehandpress.com. And while you're there, tell them we sent you.

Mischa: Okay, that's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[Theme music].

[Soundscape: ambient outdoor air, distant traffic].

[SFX: hollow, metallic roar. Heavy steps. Motor rattling].

Mischa: Amazing, Ibra, we're back to you.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Bex: So Ibra sees that, there's just stragglers left. This is amazing. This is excellent. I think Ibra is like,

Bex (Ibra): I've got this, but I don't. I don't. I-I do. I do! But I'm gonna need-I'm gonna need help. This is-this isn't- this is going only so well.

Lyn (JJ): (Afar) I believe in you!

Bex (Ibra): Thanks!

Mayanna (Fran): (Afar) You got this, Ibra!

Bex (Ibra): I believe in you, you guys are doing great! When you're done with the evacuations, I could use a little help!

Mayanna (Fran): (Afar) You got it!

Ian (Gordon): (Afar) Of course!

Bex: I'm going to, I'm gonna, I'm gonna target the laser again.

Mischa: Sweet.

Bex: That-that thing just needs to die.

[Music begins: suspenseful, energetic, rhythmic beeps].

Mischa: Yeah come on!

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: You can do it!

Bex: Okay.

Ian: Get it. (Imitating Palpatine) Do it.

Mayanna: (Imitating Palpatine) Do it.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: Dirty 20.

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: Okay, still good damage. And this thing, like, you're carving [SFX: blade slide], slices full of rust into this thing, and as you do, like, when you leave one slash behind, the rust [SFX: magical echo] continues to spread throughout the thing.

Bex: Yes!

Mischa: So, like, it's sort of spreading across the chassis in different little spots now.

Bex: [Dice rolls]. 9 slashing, 4 necrotic.

Lyn: Whoa.

Mischa: Okay. You attempt to slash at the base of the laser turret [SFX: metal blades chlashing], to try to, like, cut this thing off, and, you gouge out a good portion of the mount [SFX: tearing metal]. But as you do, your blade makes contact with the electrical conduits, [SFX: electricity crackles], and you are going to take 2 lightning damage.

Lyn: Woof.

Bex (Ibra): Agh!

Mayanna: Oh, dang.

[SFX: magical echo. Slow crunching of metal].

Mischa: The rust, as it moves and spreads throughout this thing's chassis, it, like, sort of peels the construction yellow paint away, and, like, it starts, like, sort of flaking off. If anybody was standing underneath it, they might get like a rain of paint flakes onto their heads. The metal, as you take steps across its back, starts sort of like creaking and making slightly unsafe noises. [SFX: metal creaking]. I think what it's going to do is it's going to like buck. It's going to try to buck you off of its back. [SFX: motor whirring]. So I would love for you to, let's do, opposed–

Bex: Does this, is this where Warden’s Grasp is important, because I can't move. And I'm wondering if it locks me.

Mischa: I’m gonna look it up.

Bex: Like, it says in, in the thing, it says I can't move. So I'm wondering if that means I am, like, locked into place. Like, a statue.

[Music fades out].

Mischa: (Singsong) let’s look up the Warden rules, let’s look up the Warden rules.

Bex: Just cause semantics are annoying.

Mischa: It's so, so here's what's interesting. The book says you can't move, and the other creature can't willingly move.

Bex: Exactly.

Mischa: So I do feel like, if it was willingly–

Bex: I think I’m locked!

Mischa: I think you're locked.

Lyn: Yeah.

Bex: I think I'm locked on its back.

[Music begins: high energy thrumming synth and percussion].

Mischa: Yeah. So I think it's going to try to buck, and a little bit of the glow from your skin, like, it sort of, like, dims at your head and increases at your feet, and you stay magnetized to its hull.

Bex: Sick.

Mayanna, Lyn, Ian: (In unison) Wow!

Bex: Question.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Is there anything with dexterity that it will have to do for a buck because it's missing a leg?

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Ian: And it's on a hillside.

Bex: And it's on a hillside.

Ian: Of rubble.

Bex: I know that'll also be dangerous for me. Cause if it topples, I topple too. Cause I can't move.

Mischa: Well, yeah.

Bex: But, I'm still asking.

Mischa: Okay, you know what? I like that. I like that tradeoff, where something bad could happen to both of us.

Bex: Very much so, yes.

Mischa: Okay, and it still has disadvantage from Hex, right?

Bex: Yes.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: Okay, whoa, yeah, okay. it goes to buck and lands on loose terrain, and shifts and falls. [SFX: motor whirring. Tumbling rocks]. Can you make a DEX save for me?

Bex: Yes.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: I can't tell if this is good or bad.

Bex: Natural fuck.

[Groans].

Ian: Oh no!

[Music shifts: tense, echoing pads].

Bex: The story said natural fuck, so we're going with natural fuck.

Mayanna: The story said this is a scary moment.

Ian: And you did this to yourself.

Bex: Yeah, this is-this is important.

Mayanna: For the character!

Bex: Ibra is doing everything they can, and it doesn't seem to be-it seems to be working, but just not enough to save them as well.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: (Hums).

Mischa: Yeah. this thing, slips and falls prone. [SFX: metal groaning. Heavy thud]. And you were on its back, so it's gonna, it's gonna crush you for some damage.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Well, on a natural one, I gotta. I gotta.

Bex: Yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: Oh, those are high numbers too, I'm so sorry. 14.

Bex: Oh I'm-I'm-I'm down.

[SFX: metal clanging and thud].

Mayanna: Okay, you're down? Okay, alright.

Bex: I'm unconscious, which means all the–which means I'm released from the beast. I'm no longer locked.

Mischa: Yeah. It is gonna spend its movement getting up from prone and sort of standing in the same position, [SFX: motor whirring. Heavy steps]. And, the glow falls, like, as it's rolling over and, like, you're still magnetized to it a little bit as it moves and then the glow falls, and you fall, like, you just, like, thump back to the ground a little bit.

Lyn: Oof.

Ian: No longer glowing.

Bex: And the glow-the glow subsides.

Mischa: Mmhm. It is going to fire that beam at that pile.

Ian: Fuck.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: This thing, sort of rears back, charges up its laser, and blasts. [SFX: laser beam thuds and crackles]. And the force digs, like, hard and hot, just into the center, just carving like a tunnel into this debris field.

Mayanna: We got this. We'll get you out of there.

Mischa: Yeah, so.

Bex: I trust my team.

Mayanna: Yeah, we got you.

Mischa: JJ, you are doing a great job leading this evacuation effort. You turn back to check on Ibra, and, you see the excavator mech, stand back up, Ibra no longer on its back, unencumbered. The rust corrosion seems to have, like, encroached a lot of its chassis, but it seems like it’s stopped now.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: And you, all of a sudden, feel something in the back of your mind, like a switch turns off. [SFX: snap, echoes]. And you can't hear Ibra's telepathic voice anymore oming from the magic imbued tooth that they gave you last episode. All of a sudden that, voice just instantly goes silent. What do you do?

Lyn (JJ): Ibra? Ibra! Ibra-Ibra's down!

Lyn: And I, run as far as I can get, trying to scramble over the difficult terrain. [SFX: rapid footsteps across rubble]. I doubt I can actually make it directly to Ibra with my movement speed.

Mischa: It's gonna be tough, especially with all the debris sort of blasting in all directions.

Lyn: Yeah, so I think that, as I'm, like, yelling over the sound of the laser, the most I can do is a healing word, but yeah, as my Astra watch is like, slow blinking to recharge–this is no longer a thumbs up, this is a full clenched fist as I grab onto it and literally try and like, throw my own voice to Ibra to try and, like, willfully force my own way past the limitations of the Astra that I have.

Mischa: Yeah, you take hold of this thing and, like, push your will through it. [SFX: twinkling chimes]. It's a dense conduit, and you feel some resistance. You know, the highway's closed and you're gonna force it open.

Mayanna: (Whispering) Yes!

Mischa: I need– I would like you to roll a d20. Don't add anything.

Lyn: Okay.

Ian: Jesus.

Bex: Stressful.

Ian: Cross your fingers.

Lyn: I'm using the die that Bex gave me for this.

Ian: Here we go.

Bex: Is scawwy.

Lyn: Please roll well. [Dice rolls]. That's only a 9.

Ianand Mayanna: (Simultaneously, whispering) Fuck.

Mischa: You grab hold of this and force your will through it and throw your voice. What does your healing word look like?

Lyn: My healing word, I think I'm trying to say like,

Lyn (JJ): We're not done yet. You're not done yet.

[Music shifts: slow, melancholic strings and reverberating chimes]

Lyn: And what it looks like on a person when it takes hold is a flash of wings, like, astrally project behind them really quickly, as, like, healing magic takes hold of their body.

Mischa: Cool. Yeah, you strain your voice to throw it that far, you grip your bracer tight, and your mantra repeats, “You're not done yet, you're not done yet.” Ibra, you pop back up, and as soon as you sort of see their head pop up over the debris field you feel something underneath your hand: a crack [SFX: glass shattering].

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: And you take your hand away from the bracer, and your crystal of Astra is broken and shattered inside of your bracer.

Mayanna: I think I’m close enough to you to see that, and I’m very disturbed.

Lyn: Mmhm. I’m like gritted teeth. And then I keep moving forward, grabbing my mace to get ready to charge at the thing.

Mayanna: Yeah, I've never seen somebody, like, abuse Astra that way. So I think I'm, I'm like, whoa.

Bex: How many hit points?

Lyn: Oh, right, I gotta roll for that, huh? [Laughter]. 6 points of HP.

Bex: Thank you.

Mayanna: Thank god.

Mischa: Yeah, JJ you have managed to eek one last spell out of your Astral crystal, but it's broken and you're gonna have to get a new one.

Lyn: (Singsong) And I'm a broke college student.

Mayanna: I know. Well, let's see if we can fix it.

Bex: Well considering you used it to save my life I'm pretty sure Ibra's gonna want to cover it for you

Mischa: Yeah, yeah, that's fair.

Lyn: We'll talk about it later.

[Laughter].

[Music shifts to ominous piano].

Mischa: JJ and Ibra are rushing headfirst into a combat with a thoroughly rusted construction mech. Fran, you're down on the ground and it's looking a little messy back there. What are you doing?

Mayanna: How–about how far am I from the mech?

Mischa: It's difficult terrain, so you'd probably have to dash or make a really good athletics check.

Mayanna: Could I fire from here?

Mischa: Oh, with your sighted pistol? Absolutely.

Mayanna: Yeah, mhmm, I'm gonna–can I try to aim for the laser?

Mischa: Why don't we do the same deal that we've been giving Ibra, which is if you hit five above AC, you can call your shot.

Mayanna: Okay, great. Okay, deal.

Ian: It's a good deal.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Oof. I'm not rolling well today. That's a 5. That's a miss. Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, you take aim at this thing. But at this range, your small caliber gun sort of just, like, [SFX: crunch of glass], thunks into the glass of the cockpit and doesn't make it much further.

Mayanna: I think for my bonus action, I want to, I recall that there was someone or something at the top of the slide that kind of channeled it, and I want to try and see if I can see if they're still there.

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely. Roll perception.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Okay, great, that's nice. Let's see here. That's a 16.

Mischa: Yeah, 16, they're gone.

Mayanna: Oh, fuck.

Ian: (Laughs).

Mayanna: Okay, so I'm gonna just keep waving people down, but I didn't, it's not gonna help with the, with however many people, but I'm just, that's what I'm gonna keep doing now. (Giggles).

Mischa: Okay, sounds good. Gordon.

[Music shifts: triumphant, vibrant strings].

Ian: I, I look to Ibra and JJ. I pull a muffin out of my satchel, my bandolier.

Mischa: Yep.

Ian: My muff-dolier.

Lyn: No.

Bex: No!

Lyn: No, not that one.

Ian: That one's bad. I take that one back. I take a white vial, shake it up, inject it into the muffin, [SFX: click, hiss of air]. It starts to glow white. [SFX: echoing hum]. And I look at Ibra running towards the mech, and I go,

Ian (Gordon): This is your time, Gordon.

Ian: And I aim back to throw a painkiller bomb directly at Ibra.

Mayanna: Hell yeah.

Mischa: Sweet.

Ian: With Bless, right?

Mischa: Yeah, yep.

Lyn: It's technically an attack roll, yes.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Well, that was a 5.

[Music ends, return to soundscape].

Bex: I'm a willing creature. Can I give him an advantage by being a willing creature?

Mischa: Uh… No. [Laughter]. You can be as willing as you want, but it's about Gordon's throw.

Ian: So I lean back, I go,

Ian (Gordon): This is your time, Gordon.

Ian: And right as I like, go to like,

Ian (Gordon): (Grunt).

Ian: The rock I'm on falls. [SFX: shifting of falling rocks].

[Laughter].

Mischa: Sorry.

Ian: You fucking dice, you failed me. You fucking failed me.

Mischa: Hey, hey. Maybe it just needs a moment to rest, maybe it's a little burnt out. Maybe it's just feeling it, just give it a moment to rest. I'm sure it'll come back for you.

Ian: I'm gonna put it in the box and hope that it thinks about what it's done.

[Laughter].

Bex: It needs a spa day.

Mayanna: Yeah

Mischa: Just needs a, just needs a mental health day, you know? (Deep breath). Anyway, you miss. [Laughter]. Ibra, it's your turn.

[Music begins: melancholic, reverberating pads].

Mischa: You were briefly crushed and unconscious and have now been brought back from the brink.

Mayanna: Dang.

Bex (Ibra): (Frustrated growl).

Mischa: You sit up in a pile of debris and concrete rubble. What do you do?

Bex (Ibra): I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet.

Bex: And it just sort of keeps repeating, internally and externally.

Mischa: Yeah, that healing word that JJ sent your way sort of resonates on the air and rattles magically in the back of your mind. And just sort of drives you forward.

Bex: I don’t know what to do, cause I'm hurt, and it hurts, and I want to–I'm not done yet, but I'm hurt.

Mischa: Are you hurt or are you injured, buddy?

Bex: Both.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: I'm hurt and injured.

Mayanna: I feel for Ibra so much in this moment.

Ian: What's your HP right now?

Bex: 6.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: But there's no other option. I don't really have anything else I can do except be in melee combat. That's that's the only thing that Ibra can really provide right now, and it's rattling them, because they want another option all of a sudden. They want to be able to keep fighting without having to go get hit again.

Mayanna: Right.

Mischa: Yeah, when all you have is a naginata, everything looks, uh, sliceable?

[Laughter].

Bex: and I think for the first time, like, Ibra's like, “This, my physical abilities are not gonna be enough for this, I'm g– this is– if this is all I've got, I'm gonna get crushed again.” And that's starting to scare them, but not to the extent that they're gonna not rush into battle. They're just gonna swap out the naginata for the shield and pop spear. [SFX: metal clang]. How far away are we now?

Mischa: Like, five-ten feet away. Basically, this thing crushed you and then flipped back over and, is has refocused on digging deep into the debris pile.

Bex: So I'm five-ten feet away. So getting up on– back on its back is not really feasible with my movement.

Mischa: You could roll an athletics check and maybe do it. There's a chance not, but you could try.

Mayanna: Do it.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: 15.

Mischa: I think you can make it up onto the back this turn.

Bex: Okay, I'm gonna get up onto the back, and I'm going to bonus action Warden's Mark. [SFX: rattling hum].

Mischa: Mhmm.

Bex: Hex magic is down.

Mischa: Mmhm.

Bex: Which sucks, and we're gonna go for the spear.

Mischa: Okay.

[Dice rolls].

Bex: It's not gonna hit.

Mischa: Yeah, Ibra feeling the limitations of their prowess a little bit here.

Bex: Yeah, this is not fun anymore for Ibra. This is like–

Lyn: Was it fun at all?

Bex: No, it wasn't fun, but like that, the rush of feeling like, “okay, I can handle this. I've, I have a skill that can beat something that is in front of me.” And that skill isn't beating that thing that's in front of me.

Mayanna: Right.

Bex: Or at least not enough.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah, this thing takes a tiny bullet to the windscreen, and you know, you're climbing up on its back, but all of its moves are still active. I think as you climb up, it's probably gonna try to take a swipe at you with its leg, [SFX: whirring motors], but like, it doesn't bend that way, so it's gonna do it with disadvantage. [Dice rolls]. Just completely missed. Like, you anime run, you throw your hands back behind you and like, anime run up the side of this thing's chassis and just like, dodge easily at this clumsy swipe.

Mischa: This thing, again, seems like it doesn't have a great, grip on the capabilities of its own form. You know, it's trying to move in ways that, like, this excavator was not built to move in. It cannot take a swipe and charge its laser in the same turn, so I think instead what it's going to do is it's going to take its foreleg, which, again, are made for structural and moving, and are not the part of the mech that it does this normally in normal construction time, but it's going to take its foreleg and just paw at the debris pile and dig into the hole it's made. [SFX: repeated, quick heavy thuds moving rubble].

Ian: Man, it is looking for something.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Music fades out].

Mayanna: The thing that's, that's bringing it to life, like, clearly does not, it's not native to this body. Like, it, it doesn't know how. It's doing its best, but it's not like– Yeah, it's a being that's like, like wearing clothes that aren't it-it– doesn't belong to it. It's desperate.

Mischa: JJ, that's you.

[Music begins: reflective, wistful rock].

Lyn: Am I close to it yet?

Mischa: You rushed forward in a battle pose.

Lyn: Last turn, yeah

Mischa: Yeah, you can get up there.

Lyn: Cool. Yeah. I take out my wrench that seems appropriate for trying to dismantle a machine. And I'm just, I yell out to Ibra, it's like,

Lyn (JJ): Don't tell me you're giving up! We got work to do!

Mayanna: Yes.

Lyn: And I, just try and smash, essentially like go for the ankle. [Dice rolls]. 18 plus 3.

[Claps].

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: I'm trying to like, yeah, take out its joints. 21?

Mischa: Yeah–

Bex: That’s a call-your-shot, isn’t it?

Mischa: I mean, yeah, 18 plus 3, you can call that.

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Mischa: You-you sort of arrive on the scene, scan it real quick. Run right up to the other rusted leg that Ibra left behind on the ground. And, just as hard as you can, like baseball swing [SFX: crunching metal], just smash the joint out from underneath it. The gears crumble into red orange dust.

Lyn: I should do–roll damage.

Mischa: You should roll some damage, and then I'll tell you the extra stuff you get for having called you shot.

Mayanna: Ooh!

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: That's only 3 points of damage.

Mayanna: Hey, that's okay. Every little bit helps.

Mischa: You run up and baseball swing and take this thing's knees out from underneath it. Now missing two adjacent legs, this thing creaks and groans [SFX: metal groaning], as the rest of its four legs can no longer sustain its weight, especially because it was using one of them to dig, which it was not made to do. This thing slips and falls, and you hear a large metallic crunch, [SFX: heavy thud], as a large piece of debris pierces through its underbelly right in the middle of the scorch mark that Gordon's bomb left behind. It pierces through the driving engine at the core of this thing, and a discharge of energy. [SFX: electricity sparks and zaps]. Electric sparks and crackles. You are going to take 3 lightning damage in that last burst. Also, actually, you're on its back, right?

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, you're also gonna take 3 lightning damage.

Bex: Perfect, I'm still up.

Mischa: Great.

Ian: “I’m still up!”

Mischa: You know, you take that one last burst, and it throws you back. Ibra, I think, it sort of like compels you to jump off the thing and tuck into a rolling landing. [SFX: whoosh, thud against the ground]. The energy leaves it. The light leaves it. Leaves its quote unquote eyes it crumples and falls pieces start falling off of it that have been rusted through now that there's not arcane forces holding it together a little bit. [SFX: metal groans and creaks. Thuds falling against rubble]. And this thing collapses and falls to the ground and turns into construction equipment once again.

Mayanna: Wow.

Lyn: Whoa.

[Music ends, return to soundscape].

Lyn (JJ): Are you are you okay?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I– I don't– I can't– I can't heal you anymore.

Bex (Ibra): Are you okay?

Lyn (JJ): Um… Yes.

Bex (Ibra): You hesitated.

Lyn (JJ): There's a lot of adrenaline in my body.

Lyn: I'm like shaking holding my mace. I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): I think I also only knocked off one bolt, but that was the last thing holding it together.

Bex (Ibra): You didn't knock off one bolt, you knocked off the whole excavator.

Lyn (JJ): I think–okay, you did most of it. You did 90 percent of that.

Mischa: There are still workers in the construction site who haven't evacuated yet. From below, down the hill, you hear, they start applauding. [SFX: cheers and applause]. They, like, start, they start kind of, like, clapping and cheering for you. Yeah, you have a little bit of an audience.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, no.

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa.

Mischa: (Laughs). “Oh no”?

Bex (Ibra): Totally thought that they would be mad at me for breaking their equipment.

Mayanna: I think, I'm at the bottom of the thing, right? So I'm gonna, like, kind of, I'm gonna climb my way, make my way, and I'll, and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): JJ, what did you do to your Astra?

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Lyn: And I look down.

Mayanna: And I kinda like, grab your wrist.

Lyn: Yeah. I-I'm looking down at it. I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): Um… Well I was doing some reading in the library and you know, Astra is just a conduit for magic. And magic is controlled with intention. And I saw Ibra go down, and I didn't have any juice left. So I… made… juice.

Bex (Ibra): What? Wait, hold–

Mayanna (Fran): This is insane.

Mayanna: I'm gonna, like, I'm gonna start writing things down and I'm just gonna start, like, ushering the rest of the construction workers.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, this is gonna be so expensive to replace.

Bex (Ibra): Wait, what happened?

Lyn (JJ): Oh, no, we should help everyone get out. It's still not safe here.

Mayanna (Fran)): (overlapping) Yeah, we’re gonna get the rest of these construction workers out.

Lyn (JJ): This thing can crumble at any second. Where's–where's Gordon? Gordon!

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon!

Ian: I think I'm at the–where it was digging.

Mayanna: Yeah!

Ian: I think I like walked up and I'm peeking around in the-in the big ass pit.

Mayanna: Should we, I want to help investigate that as well, actually.

Mischa: Yeah, Fran runs up to help you.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm going to come join at your side, Gordon. Because I pick up on what you're throwing down.

Ian: Yeah, so do you want me to roll investigation?

Mischa: Yeah, please roll me some investigation.

[Music begins: suspenseful, pensive piano and strings]

Mayanna: Could I help him and he gets advantage?

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: All right, cool.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Okay, so 16.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: 16, yeah. You see this large bored hole dug into the center of this debris field. It's like 15 foot diameter. A big hole on the side of this debris field.

Ian: And how far in do we go?

Mischa: like 30 feet in. It's like, after a couple of blasts from that laser, the sand has fused a little bit. The further down it goes, it looks almost like a dark glass tunnel.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Mischa: It almost makes it look like the entrance, to the large Astra mine, the center of the city, like, in miniature. You get distinct flashbacks, you know, the funnel shape. It's like dark glass, you know, because it was like dirty, sooty, you know, construction sand, it, you know. Occasionally through the glass you can see the walls of one of those crates that you guys found. It was pretty fortunate that giant laser didn't hit any, either of them.

Mayanna: (Relieved) Whew.

Ian: Yeah. We'd all be dead.

Mayanna: Terrifying.

Mischa: I mean, it would have, definitely caused more landslides than did happen. And there were already a lot, and I feel like you guys were struggling with those.

All: Yep.

Mischa: So yeah, thank goodness.

Ian: What led you to believe that? The fact that two of us were down?

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, that was it. And at the center of that dark funnel, you see a tiny pinprick of light. You guys can like slide down on into there.

Mayanna: I'll slide in, yeah.

Ian: I slide on my apron.

Mischa: Oh yeah!

Ian: I pull my apron out and I use it like an apron sled.

Mayanna: Ooh, yeah! Okay.

Mischa: Friends behind you.

Mayanna: Yeah. Toboggan vibes.

Mischa: Just like Kiki on the back of the bike.

Mayanna: Yeah. Let's go! Yeah!

Mischa: At the bottom, there's like, You know, still compacted sand rock, dirt, concrete melange at the bottom, but you can dig into it a little bit and brush things aside. And at the bottom of this hole in under this giant debris pile, you uncover a crystal of Astra. [SFX: ringing chime].

Ian: Investigation?

Mayanna: Yeah. Investigation immediately. Or–

Ian, Lyn: Or arcana?

Mayanna: Or arcana.

Mischa: Well, yeah, well–

Bex: Why don’t you do one you do the other?

Mayanna: Well, I have proficiency in investigation.

Mischa: We can roll things all day. My question is, like, you pick it up?

Mayanna: Yeah, definitely. I. Yeah.

Ian: She picks it up.

Mayanna: I pick it up.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Fran, you pick it up.

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: Go ahead and roll Investigation.

Mayanna: Okay, sounds good. Investigation, come on. [Dice rolls]. Ugh, 10.

[Music shifts: contemplative guitar and suspenseful thrums].

Mischa: 10’s not nothing.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: it's a rough crystal. It's not processed. It's, like, still got facets on the crystal. You have seen raw Astra before maybe.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: Probably, like, down near the mine, you maybe have seen, like, a mine cart or something.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: This looks just, like, fresh from the mines.

Mayanna: Wow! Okay.

Mischa: Has not gone through processing it all, that makes it into those little spheres of crystal that you guys use. Yeah. Additionally, this one, at its center, has a little… spark.

Mayanna: Okay! Okay.

Mischa: That is glowing with like an orange yellow ember. It looks, like, deep in the center of this crystal, and it reflects off of the facets with its own internal light.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: I, like, eye it in her hand.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: And I go

Ian (Gordon): Wow!

Mayanna: Do I feel, like, warm?

Mischa: Yeah, it's warm.

Mayanna: Interesting.

Mischa: With a 10, I think all I can give you is that, yeah, it's, like, a little warm.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: It feels like holding, like, a mug of tea.

Mayanna: Wow. Okay, I'm definitely gonna hold on to this. I think I'm gonna put it in my craftsman's tools, and I'm definitely gonna, like, try and investigate further later.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: But I also think, like, if this is what they were looking for, clearly something's very important about this. So we have to make sure that this doesn't get taken.

Ian: Yeah, I think I turn to you.

[Music ends, return to soundscape].

Ian (Gordon): I've never seen anything like that have you?

Mayanna (Fran): I’ve never seen anything like this before. I have no idea what's going on with it. It feels warm. You wanna touch?

Ian (Gordon): No.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Let me know if you change your mind later.

[Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): Okay, give it to me.

Mayanna (Fran): Here you go.

Ian (Gordon): Oh yeah, it's really warm.

Mayanna (Fran): It's warm, it's weird.

Ian (Gordon): It's like a muffin.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, it's like coffee. Or you know what, a muffin is probably more apt.

Ian: And again, how big is it? It's like–

Mischa: Yeah, it's like softball sized.

Ian: Softball sized.

Bex: Whoa!

Mischa: You know, not, not perfectly round.

Ian: But that's a big piece of Astra.

Mayanna: It's a chonk.

Mischa: It's like a chonk, yeah.

[Music begins: contemplative, swelling synths]

Mayanna: I, yeah, I, I feel very protective of this. I feel like if this was the thing that we almost died, like, the, the, what it was looking for, like, it's clearly very important, whatever this is.

Ian: Yeah, does it change, like, the, you know, not the temperature, temperature, but does it change, like, the vibe in the air at all? Is there anything, sort of, do you know what I mean?

Mischa: Roll perception about it, Gordon.

Mayanna: Ooh.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Yeah. Well, it's an 18, plus whatever the fuck. [Laughter]. 22.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Nice.

Bex: Damn.

Mischa: Yeah. It's not warming up the air. It's not changing anything you can see or touch.

Ian: Or feel.

Mischa: Or feel. Well, see, that's interesting. Because feel is used to describe so many things in the English language, and some of them are concrete, and some of them are abstract.

Ian: Sure.

Mischa: When you touch it, it's slightly warm. Maybe you feel it a little less because you have baker's fingers, you know, like you've touched so many hot pans that you're like, “oh, is it warm? I couldn't really tell.” But it's… compelling.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: You can feel, like, drawn to this thing.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: In a weird way, it feels like, I don't know, it feels like home.

Ian: Oh.

Mischa: Something draws you towards it.

Ian: Warm and comforting.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Can I–do you have any big round loaves of bread on you?

[Music ends].

Ian (Gordon): Oh, 100%

Mayanna (Fran): Amazing.

Ian: I immediately turn around my bandolier. I pull out a-a yesterday baked sourdough.

Mayanna: Great. And I'm going to take my dagger and I'm going to cut a hole in the bottom, and I'm going to put that inside it. A reverse bread bowl situation.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: So that as we travel, it's just like my lunch.

Bex: It's like a rock hide-a-key, but it's hide-an-astra.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Hide-a-bread.

Mayanna: Yeah

Mischa: Okay. Yeah. Cool.

Mayanna: Yeah. We like, this feels so dangerous. I'm very excited, but I also think if anybody sees us with this, it's going to be a problem. So I'm going to take this loaf of bread bowl that I made, and I'm going to put it in my backpack. [SFX: ruffling fabric, zipper zips].

Ian: Actually, the quick pitch for you. I wonder if I call to Ibra and JJ to come into the tunnel to see it. Maybe not.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh yeah. Also, how are we going to get out of this hole?

Ian (Gordon): Right.

Mayanna (Fran): It's 30 feet down.

Ian (Gordon): Oh yeah. How– it's pretty–

Mayanna (Fran): –steep. It's glass. If they come down here, it's going to be harder. I wonder if they–

Lyn (JJ): (Afar) We can grab some rope to pull you up?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, could you grab us some rope!

Mayanna (Fran): (To Gordon) And we can, we can like, show this to them at Ibra's house or something when it's safe.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, totally totally.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah can you, can you grab some rope and help us get out of the hole?

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Lyn: I'm also texting Ravona. Inspector Ravona.

Mischa: Yeah?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Okay. What do you text her?

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter, denoting a text) At the bridge collapse site. Defeated another aberration.

Lyn (JJ): (Normal) Did y'all find anything down there?

Mayanna (Fran): We'll talk about it later!

Lyn (JJ): I think that's a yes.

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter) Found something.

Ian: Ugh.

Mayanna: Fuck, I know, I know.

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter) This is big.

Bex (Ibra): Don't forget to tell her that more of the bridge collapsed.

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter) Oh, also more of the bridge is gone.

[Laughter].

Bex (Ibra): Sorry.

Lyn (JJ): (Staticky filter) Sorry.

Mayanna: Worst text I've ever received.

Ian (Gordon): Guys, where's the rope?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, can you help us get out of here, please?

Ian (Gordon): Help us out of the tunnel!

Mayanna (Fran): It's dark and cold down here.

Bex (Ibra): I’m coming, you're fine.

Ian: “You’re fine”

Lyn: We let down the rope.

Mayanna: Yeah, I'm gonna climb up.

Mayanna (Fran) and Ian (Gordon): (Grunting).

[SFX: quiet shifting of falling dirt and sand].

Lyn (JJ): Pull, pull. Come on, let’s–

Bex (Ibra): I'm backing up. I'm the anchor. I'm pulling. I’m pulling

Bex: I'm like, backing down. Wrapped around my waist.

Mayanna (Fran) and Ian (Gordon): (Heavy breathing).

Lyn: I'm gonna lie down on the ground for a bit.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Music begins: pensive piano and resonating choral pads].

Mischa: Yeah, you guys sort of make your way out of the hole, you guys help each other to just plunk down next to the rim of things. The blood rushing in your ears sort of dims the noise of city life returning now that, like, the adrenaline leaves your bodies. You just sort of thousand yards stare down a packed industrial alleyway, watching as the crowds gather and those Construction crew members sort of disperse, tales of your deeds, you know, sort of tell everybody like,

Mischa (unnamed construction worker): Oh, did you see that? They brought that thing down like it wasn't nothing! I, I never would have thought to slash a mech with a sword! That was crazy! Did you guys see that?

Mischa: And the four of you just sort of sit in a line, a thousand-yard stare, surveying this whole thing.

Mayanna: Trauma blanket.

Ian: It's just I'm chewing on a muffin going,

Ian (Gordon): What do you think all those people are talking about? (Munches).

Mischa: Gordon, you'll never believe this. It's how rad you are.

Ian: Sick.

[Laughter].

Mischa: As you guys just sort of like sit there and mentally recover, JJ, you get a text from Ravona that just says,

Mischa (Ravona): (Staticky filter) On my way.

Lyn (JJ): Inspector's on her way.

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): (Sighs). Okay, before she gets here. We did find something down there.

[Music begins: suspenseful, rhythmic synths].

Lyn (JJ): I knew it.

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know if we should share it.

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Hmm.

Mayanna (Fran): It seems. Almost too important. If that makes any sense.

Ian (Gordon): Show it to ‘em.

Mayanna (Fran): Should we show it to ‘em?

Ian (Gordon): Show it to ‘em.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. All right.

Mayanna: I, I pull out a big loaf of bread.

Lyn (JJ): Oh?

Bex (Ibra): Nice job, Gordon.

Mayanna: And then I turn it upside down and I take the bottom out and I show them.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mischa: The bread bowl glows from within, like a hearth fire.

Lyn: Can I do an arcana vibe check on that?

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: I don't have a conduit for my other magic, so I can't even ritual cast Detect Magic, right?

Mischa: Nope, you currently are in a state where you cannot cast spells.

Lyn: Cool. [Dice rolls]. Dirty 20.

Mayanna: Nice!

Mischa: Nice!

Lyn: So, yeah. JJ is looking at it and, like, senses the warmth and the comfort, and is trying their best without their goggles to try to assess the raw nature of it? Of like, is this a school of magic that is contained within it, or is this complete raw magic?

Mischa: Yeah, it's complete raw magic.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: That's, I think the sense you get with the Dirty 20 is that, this might be the rawest magic you've ever seen.

Lyn: And I've been by the mines.

Mischa: You've been to, you've been to the mines. You've, you know what raw Astra looks like when it's coming outta the ground. Some of that like glows with bioluminescence or what gets activated by nearby spells that people are casting. This thing is glowing with an internal spark, that with a dirty 20 arcana check, it feels, like you can tell, like, this is its own. And I don't think you've ever seen anything like that before. I think the one other thing you do recognize, on that 20, you stare down at this crystal and that orange yellow spark in the back of, and something triggers in the back of your mind, something about, like, the color, temperature, the color pattern, oh yeah. Ravona's pickaxe glowed that same orange when she struck the spot under Boggins’, or like in Boggins’s floor.

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, here's what I'd recommend. I think we give Ravona the detonation device and tell her that's what we found.

Lyn (JJ): I feel like she could help us with this, though.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, here's what I'm thinking. We have people who don't remember what they do and do not tell us. This thing was going to kill us to find this thing. And I don't know about you guys, I feel like I don't really trust the people who gave us this assignment yet. It seems pretty vague. They are not really clear about what's going on. And if this thing is as important as everybody seems to be feeling like it is, I think it's best kept with us.

Bex (Ibra): And if we're supposed to, like, be fighting these things, we should know more. They should–

Mayanna (Fran): Yes!

Bex (Ibra): I don't-I don't know, Fran. I'm with you.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): It seems too important. Especially because Ravona won't even tell us what her pickaxe thing does. And it seems related. I don't know.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Yeah. That– that makes sense.

Mayanna (Fran): I don't, like, I, I, it's your bosses, and it's your job, but like–

Lyn (JJ): Well, it's our job, now.

Mayanna (Fran): It's our job. Right.

Lyn (JJ): But I–

Bex (Ibra): We’re a team now.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): It's not that we never–I-I think, yeah, keeping it close to the chest for a bit.

Mayanna (Fran): For now. Like, whatever you guys are comfortable with, but I just, if they don't tell us what it is we're doing here. I don't trust that. I don't know. This feels too important.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. I think that we have a lot to talk about after whatever comes next. But I think that for now, we just have to ask our boss for more information.

Lyn (JJ): I think we need more information in general. We didn't really have a briefing.

Mayanna (Fran): And that's weird, right?

Bex (Ibra): It feels important. How can we be sure what we're doing is actually good?

Lyn (JJ): I think now's the time.

[Music ends].

[SFX: motor hums closer].

Mischa: And you, on the horizon, spot Ravona's signature, hover car, her vehicle, sort of drift in and park at the front of the construction site. And the four of you walk down the debris pile to meet her. And Fran, you take that boule of bread, and you put it right behind your back.

Mayanna: Yeah, yeah, I put it in my backpack.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: You have the detonation device that we found, right? The one that got used up?

Ian: I was gonna say we pick it up on the way down.

Lyn: We pick it back up.

Mayanna: Great.

Mischa: And Ravona walks up and says,

Mischa (Ravona): Hello, I–team? G-gang?

Mayanna (Fran): Sure.

Mischa (Ravona): Team?

Bex (Ibra): Yep. Team.

Mischa (Ravona): Situation report.

Lyn (JJ): We arrived on the scene at approximately,

Lyn: Insert hour here.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): We found some explosive material that don't seem to be from the construction site itself, but they were buried in the rubble. While doing additional investigation, we came across these devices. And then while investigating, something triggered the excavator. It was operating as if alive, and it was rampaging.

Mayanna (Fran): If it wasn't for Ibra, we'd all be dead.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): If it wasn't for JJ, it'd still be going.

Lyn (JJ): I just did what I had to to help everyone.

Bex (Ibra): So did I, we all did.

Lyn (JJ): We evacuated most of the scene. As far as I'm aware, no civilian casualties. In the altercation, the excavator did do more damage to the bridges, so this site is even more unstable than it was before.

Mischa (Ravona): Thank you very much, we–I mean, the site was already closed, we'll keep the–I mean, if no one was injured, it looks like.

Mischa: She looks over to the rusted like, remains. Of the excavator.

Bex (Ibra): Sorry.

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon, you said you saw someone or you, did you see something before the mech came alive?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I definitely did.

Ian: Will you remind us what the person looked like? That I saw? Because you mentioned a little bit.

Mischa: It was, it was from very far away you saw a silhouette of a person that's really, it's just that you saw a person.

Ian: But were they in like a robe or like any sort of–?

Mischa: Too far away.

Ian: Nothing. Just a, just a silhouette.

Bex: Silhouette of a figure and detonating, something like that.

Lyn: And that clearly triggered, something

Ian: Then it came down like a wave over us.

Mayanna (Fran): So someone knew, or had a sense, that we were coming. And did not want us here.

Lyn (JJ): And I think had a contingency plan for anyone who–

Mayanna (Fran): Investigated.

Ian (Gordon): Well, and it seems like wanted to get us away, so they could get to–

Mischa (Ravona): (Sigh). Okay, this is now becoming a different beast.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, can we have a little bit of information on what this beast is?

Lyn (JJ): How long has this been going on? What are we even doing?

Mischa (Ravona): I have been tracking down anomalous events, described secondhand by people who can't remember them for a few months now. It was small incidents. It was people's houses broken into, minor destruction of property. Now all of a sudden, an entire construction mech was taken over, overtaken by–

Mayanna (Fran): Magic?

Mischa (Ravona): –something. And not just something, but something that a person planned.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes,

Lyn (JJ): that's what it seems to be.

Mischa (Ravona): That's fantastic news. That's great information for me. That's also horrible. I need to know. Did you find anything?

Bex (Ibra): The detonation device. It wasn't all the way detonated.

Mischa: JJ.

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Mischa: Who was sort of the, the last on board with this plan?

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: I would like you to roll perception about it. Er, persuasion about it, please.

Lyn: Persuasion?

Mayanna: Roll persuasion.

Ian: Persuasion or deception?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Mischa: Oh, see, you haven't–

Bex: It's true.

Lyn: It’s not a lie.

Mischa: You haven’t outright lied.

Mayanna: Yeah.

[Dice rolls].

Mischa: I do think you need to persuade her that this is the only thing you found.

Lyn: 7.

Ian: Oh my god.

Mischa: She looks at you, JJ, and says.

Mischa (Ravona): That was all?

Lyn: I look to the party members.

Mayanna: I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't know. I think it's, I. You know, above the table or whatever. I just, I think, I don't know. I think it's dangerous for her to have this.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: I think it's safer with us.

Lyn (JJ): It's all that we could identify.

Mischa: Slick. Smooth. She narrows her eyes at you, and like, you kind of look at Fran, and then she looks at Fran, and Fran, you're, you're very much giving nothing.

[Laughter].

Lyn: It’s giving… nothing.

Mayanna: Yeah. Go, girl, give us nothing.

Bex: Yes!

[Laughter].

Mischa: And Ravona says,

Mischa (Ravona): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): Is there something that we should have found?

Bex (Ibra): Is there something we should be looking for?

Mischa: She looks at you guys sort of, putting up a front, and she sees on that 7 persuasion, she's not convinced you didn't find anything.

Bex: Genuine, genuine question from Ibra. There is no front from Ibra.

Mischa: I know. I'm aware. She says,

Mischa (Ravona): No. It's my job to look for something.

Mayanna: Insight check.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Yeah, that feels insight checking as fuck.

Bex: Hell yeah.

Mayanna: Alright, here we go. Alright.

[Dice rolls].

Lyn: 24.

All: Woah.

Mayanna: Okay, yeah, it was like 7.

Bex: 16.

Ian: I'm-I'm eating a muffin.

Mayanna: I'm also eating a muffin.

Bex: This is JJ vs. Ravona.

Lyn: (Retching).

Mischa: Yeah, JJ, I think, yeah, you and Ravona clock each other not telling each other things. She says,

Mischa (Ravona): I know you four, who have put a lot on the line in the past two days and advanced my investigation, for which I'm profoundly grateful. I'm just one person, and I'm investigating this on my own. It's a special assignment direct from the governor's office, and I want to do it well. You've invested a lot in this over the past two days. But there are just certain things about my investigation that I can't reveal to the public.

Bex (Ibra): We’re your team though.

Mayanna (Fran): What? To the public? That's so interesting. I thought we were–

Bex (Ibra): I thought we were a team.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): We know, and we remember.

Bex (Ibra): You need us, and I think that it's fair for us to have information.

Mischa: She looks at you all scornfully, and she says,

Mischa (Ravona): This is why I won't share it. You've invested a lot, and you've done great things, and you've helped me. But the four of you are children.

Mayanna (Fran): (Scoffs).

Mischa (Ravona): For the good of our society, for the fabric of our society, there are certain things that must stay hidden. And I know that you want to help, and I know that you're ready for more responsibility, but you don't have it yet. We met yesterday.

Mayanna (Fran): (Scoffs).

Mischa (Ravona): You are not the only people who remember these events. I rely on all of you who can, and I am grateful for your help. But that does not mean you are entitled to knowing everything about this investigation. There are things that are simply unsafe to share.

Mayanna (Fran): You're right.

Mischa (Ravona): And if that means there is some layer of mistrust between us, I only hope that we're both keeping the good of the city in mind.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, some things are just too unsafe to share. Well.

Mischa (Ravona): That'll be that, I guess.

[Music fades out].

Mayanna (Fran): I got some wounds to go tend to.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, that's another thing. we are putting a lot on the line, as you have so graciously acknowledged, including our health and well being. I have a lot of broken ribs right now, and it's really hard to breathe. And I'd really appreciate my boss kind of helping me out with that? Cause I'm a little in pain, and I'd rather not be in pain anymore. I'm pretty sure the temporary stuff has worn off, and I'm starting to get owie.

Ian: I start to pull out another muffin, but everyone looks at me, and I slowly, put it back in my bandolier.

Mayanna (Fran): We should probably get Ibra to a medic.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, that'd be nice.

Mischa: She–Ravona says,

Mischa (Ravona): That is true. And we acknowledge and appreciate your sacrifice. You can have any medical expenses billed to my office. You have my contact information.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you. That's very helpful.

Ian: Gordon sneers.

Mayanna: Yeah, let's go.

Bex (Ibra): You heard it gang, let's go get scans.

[Music begins: melancholy piano]

Ian: And we all sort of like, limp away over the rubble.

Mayanna: I'm like, gripping my backpack, like, I'm so mad.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: I'm so, I'm so frustrated, cause it's like, my boss at the fuckin Boggins Bistro tells me I'm a child, like, my parents are always telling me I'm children, and like, we're like, in the rubble, diggin’ around, goin in glass caves, and this lady has the gall to call us children. I'm so done.

Ian: The worst part is that when she said that, then camera turned back to us and we were all two feet tall, you know, and, and like half drawn.

Mayanna: Yeah. We're, like, bleeding. Two of you got knocked unconscious. I'm so livid.

Bex: You literally have a backpack on. Like, we look, she's looking down on us, and we are.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Bex: (Groans). Ibra feels like they're facing up against the doctor again.

Mayanna: Yes, exactly.

Lyn (JJ): Thank you, Inspector Ravona, I-I hope that you can trust that we certainly have the best interests of our people in mind.

Ian (Gordon): (Afar) Come on, JJ.

Mayanna (Fran): (Afar) Ibra's buckling over here.

Lyn (JJ): I'm sure we'll be in touch soon.

Mischa (Ravona): I'm sure we will.

Mischa: And you walk your way down the street to get Ibra some medical attention, and Ravona turns her back to you.

Mayanna: I'm like, gripping my backpack so hard, just like, I wanted to believe, but I'm so disappointed now.

Bex: Ibra feels more than ever that Fran was right.

Mayanna: I think, I think like, we just keep walking and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, some things are too unsafe to share.

Lyn (JJ): Come on, we got more work to do.

[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. ‘Til next time!

Mischa Stanton 6/24/24 Mischa Stanton 6/24/24

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

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown