Perpetua 24: Aquatic Ambush! 02 Transcriber: frog (fferaldogs) Recap 1 Klay Pirate Combat Begins [0:02:19] 3 Cleansing Ritual (Round One) [0:18:33] 18 Round Two [0:29:36] 30 Round Three [0:45:23] 50 Round Four [0:59:06] 66 Spillaway Peaks [1:08:09] 76 Family Reunion [1:20:03] 87 Recap Ali: Do we have an ice cream machine? [laughs] How do you make that in this world? [laughs] Elena! Austin: Well ice cream exists— Jack: I—Glacies. Ali: Elena! Austin: Oh right, Elena! [laughs] Ali: [laughs] Dre: That’s true. Austin: Yeah wait, what’s that move say again? Can you make ice cream with it? [“Perpetua” by Jack de Quidt begins playing] Jack: Yeah, it says: one delicious gelato— Austin: Oh! Dre: Ohh. Ali: [laughs] Jack: Created by your skillful spellcraft. — Austin (as Fleggbot): [robot voice] Square things. I steal square things. Dre (as Jonathan): W- what? Austin (as Fleggbot): Squares. All square things. Dre (as Jonathan): No. Um, no. Austin (as Fleggbot): Paper. Paper paper paper. Dre (as Jonathan): Okay, you’re getting better, but you gotta be careful cause if you steal the wax paper out of the kitchen— Austin (as Fleggbot): The constitution! Dre (as Jonathan): Okay, well now you’re getting somewhere! Okay, okay! You’re learning. — Ali (as Veile): Everyone get back! They’re dangerous! — Art: Oh, so these jellyfish are also costing us money. Austin: That’s right, yes. — Austin: So yeah, you have a pair of jellyfish caught up in some seaweed. Dre (as Jonathan): Damnit, Nicky. We’re just taking you to a grocery store next time. — Austin: It is a large vessel that seems to be like entirely this kind of red-brown clay color. And in fact seems almost like it was made of clay. And the ferry captain says, (as Ferry Captain): Aw shit. It’s the damn Klay[1] Pirates. [“Perpetua” by Jack de Quidt plays until track ends] Klay Pirate Combat Begins [0:02:19] Austin: Okay. So, where we left off, there were some big goops of clay coming in through the air and landing aboard the ferry that you’re on. Which is of course, we all know, named the—was it the Crystal Conch Express? Jack: Yeah. Austin: Captained by Hornbeam Hypostyle, a Manakin with a kind of a sailor’s affect. Like a long- like a deeply—all the Manakin are made of wood, this one’s a little sealogged. You know, a little waterlogged. [laughs] And I think he immediately calls out to you and is like, (as Hornbeam): We gotta get that mud off this ship immediately! Austin: And, with that, we’re gonna jump right into initiative order. Dre: Oh! Ali: Holy hell. Austin: Because we’re in a conflict and that conflict is tied to the clay landing here. The clay, which you can see very clearly, was being shot at you from a distant vessel. A vessel operated by, as I believe you were told last time and if not, then Hornbeam is saying it again right now. (as Hornbeam): Those damned Klay Pirates! Austin: K-L-A-Y, of course. Dre: Mmm! Austin: Alright, who is leading the initiative? Ali: I think it’s always me. Art: But the clay they’re shooting is clay, C-L-A-Y. Austin: Hard to say. Dre: Who knows, who knows. Austin: Who knows! You have to investigate the clay. Dre: I was about to say, let me do this study roll and then— Austin: That’s right! Dre: But first, yes you’re right Ali, you always lead initiative. Austin: Yeah I think that tends to be the case, right? So that means everybody else should do— Ali: Well I’m a plus one. Austin: Yeah, everybody else should do their support check. Well that’s a 6! A 5, [laughs] you’re looking for a 10. Dre: Ay! Austin: Hey, there’s a 12! Art: Hey! Austin: Elena gets a 12, nice one Elena. So Ali, you get— Ali: So it’s a plus one. Austin: Yeah, it’s another plus one on top of your normal plus one, I think. And that is a— Ali: [laughing] 7. Austin: 7… Ali: That’s a 2 and a 3 and a 1, 1. Austin: They’re gonna- they’re gonna go first! And so— Art: What? Ali: Wuh- how—well, how many are there? Austin: There aren’t any, there’s no one here yet. There’s clay. Dre: It’s just clay. Austin: Hitting the ship. Ali: Okay. Jack: Oh, you can’t fool me. I know how this works. Austin: You’re right, I can’t. Alright, so in the first—the initial thing I have to do is roll—I got confused when we sat down to play today, because I saw Nicky had made a 4d6 roll and that’s what they make. And so this is actually the one that should have already happened. That’s 15. [chuckles] Okay. So then what happens is [Dre: laughs] for their round this round, cause they’re going first, a bunch of- a second salvo of clay, of muddy wet clay, slams onto the Crystal Conch and they get a second 4d6 roll. Adding 21 to their 15. There are, let’s say, I guess 36 individual units of clay, buckets of clay, currently on this ship. [“Danger On The Brine (Ocean Combat Begins)” by Jack de Quidt plays] Jack: Ah, this is gonna be the whole season. Art: How many buckets of clay would you say this ship can hold? Austin: Many? It seems to be a pretty—you know, the Crystal Conch Express is a giant conch shell that has then been used as the hull of a pretty traditional ferry. So there’s an inside to this ferry, there seems to be like a below water section. And the conch, I think, is right side up in the sense that part of the inside is in the big ear of the conch and there’s the spiky exterior that is pointing up—and all of it is getting covered in the clay. You know, I could tell you, they can- it can get covered with a lot of clay. So yeah. Ali: But like, you said 30. [laughs] Austin: 36 units. Yeah, buckets. [Dre: Mhm.] You know, like a gallon bucket? Dre: Yeah. Ali: Okay. The bucket thing, it—when you say ‘a lot of clay’ versus 36, I need like a percentage, I need a quadrant. Austin: You’re not— Dre: You need a clock? Art: Is the shape- [Ali: Laughs] does it look like, are we half full of clay? Are we— Austin: The ferry doesn’t look like it’s gonna sink because of the clay. Art: Okay. Austin: This is a sturdy vessel. Dre: Okay, okay. Ali: I see. I don’t know what you’re saying. [laughs] Austin: What do you mean? Art: We’re not like knee deep in clay. Austin: No. I mean like, yeah sure, you’re not knee deep, but you are— Dre: You’re like stomping around and shaking it off your boots. You’re like, eugh!! Austin: A hundred percent. Yeah yeah yeah. Ali: Can I do like a cleansing ritual or something? Can I get— [laughs] Austin: Well we’re in initiative order so yeah. What he says, what he starts to do, is start to try to get rid of the clay. He immediately, as if this is a practiced thing, produces a big like a wet broom? Like a wet mop. [chuckles] That’s what those are called. And begins to immediately try to like clean out the captain’s cabin area, tossing the clay into the sea. Ali: I think one of my suggested ritual things was literally like, move objects from one place to another. [laughs] Austin: Totally. Yeah. In- in—so again, we are in ord- we are in initiative, so what you’re looking at is an objective action, but we’d be using the ritual rules for combat ritual, you know. Ali: Yeah, I’m double checking that right now. It’s on page one nineteen…and anyone else is fine to go before me. Austin: Yep. Yep. Jack: I would like to take just an other action, please. I would like to leap into action and try and you know, pick up a shovel or something and start shoveling the clay straight over the— Austin: That is an objective action. Jack: Oh, that is an objective action. Austin: “You work towards accomplishing an objective within the conflict. This will require an attribute check or an opposed check. Complex goals will require a clock.” Jack: Right. Austin: The way this works is, if you’re taking an objective action, you will be able to clear 1d6 per level of success that you get. Jack: Oh okay, cool! Austin: So if you get a 7, you get 1d6. You get a 10, you get 2d6. If you get a 13, you get 3d6. Jack: What is this roll? Austin: It’s an objective action, so it’s up to you to describe to me what something is [Jack: Yeah.] and we’ll decide together what the- what the roll is. Jack: Okay. I think that some of the clay has fallen on the tarpaulin covering a lifeboat, which is a smaller conch shell. Austin: Mhm. Jack: This is the case—you know, this being the case, I think Elena is gonna try and unfasten the tarpaulin and like flap it over the side of the ship. Sort of using it like a- like a—you know, when you sweep everything off a tablecloth or something. Austin: Great! That sounds- that sounds pretty Might focused to me. Jack: It does, and I’m immensely physically strong. Austin: Yeah. That- yep, mhm. So then give me the Might, Might. Jack: Yeah. [laughs] Austin: Well that’s 3. Jack: So not quite—it’s not quite a critical fumble. Austin: As you—not quite. You rolled a 2 and a 1. Do you want to Fabula Point this? Jack: Yes I do, I do very badly. Austin: How many Fabula Points do you have, Elena? Jack: I have um, uh, we don’t need to talk about it. I have six. Ali: [laughs] Austin: Oh, I see! Dre: Ohhh! Ohhh! Ali: No! Austin: Oh, how the- the world turns! Ali: I had to take one today. Jack: I- [laughs] I- look— Ali: Come on… Jack: Look, we don’t need to bicker about this [Ali: laughs] while we’re being attacked by clay. Austin: Uh huh! Jack: The time to bicker about this is much later, in some sort of organized court. Ali: [laughs] Austin: [chuckles] What are you— Dre: Art, you’re being a very mature person about all of this. Austin and Jack: [laugh] Art: Yeah, I’m just trying to set an example— Austin: Awe. Ali: [laughs] Art: For others. Austin: That’s good. Jack: You did such a good job setting an example of holding on to the Fabula Points, that I— Dre and Austin: [laugh] Jack: Followed beautifully in your footsteps. Art: I have like none now. I think I have maybe one? Austin: That’s the cycle of life right there. Art: I have one Fabula Point. Jack: That’s the cycle of life! Alright, I am going to spend a Fabula Point to reroll uh, both of these dice. [laughs] Austin: What is the trait you’re drawing on? Jack: I am drawing on the trait “anger.” Austin: Mmm. Jack: After my fight with Genuine Sincere, Elena has been increasingly frustrated about what she perceives to be her physical inability. [Austin: Mhm] She’s like, I always fall over, I always get smacked in the head, I’m never strong enough. She doesn’t know that her Might die is 6. Austin: Right, right. Jack: Or to be more complementary, she doesn’t know that her Insight and Willpower die are 10. Austin: That’s- that’s right. Ali: [chuckles] Austin: Alright, so give me the reroll. 2d6 that you’re rolling here. Maybe you’ll crit. Jack: It’s unlikely. I mean these are low dice, but I rolled so low on the first one that it’s gonna be hard to roll worse. Ah, now! Austin: That’s an 8! So you get the— Jack: That’s an 8! Austin: That’s an 8, that’s- you could roll a d6, you could also spend another Fabula Point to pull in a um- a bond, if you have a plus two bond, that would get you up to a 10. Jack: Yes, I have a plus two bond with, da duh da. I have a plus two bond with Nicky, [Austin: Mhm.] bonds of admiration and loyalty. Austin: Mhm. Jack: And I think—what’s a cool thing that I look over and see Nicky doing that kind of like embodies a particular kind of bravura and strength? Art: It’s tricky to think of what are we doing before our initiative has come over. Jack: Yeah, it can be just like a flavor thing. Austin: What will you be doing? What are you about to be doing? Art: I mean, all I have right now are bad ideas. It’s really challenging, I need my character to be smarter than me right now. Austin: Mm. Dre: [laughs] Art: Cause I’m over here like, I should just be ladling clay off the side. Austin: Mhm. Jack: [laughs] Dre: Maybe- maybe you use your chef skills and you know how much water you need exactly to get it to the right consistency that it’ll slop off easier when you push it. Austin: [chuckles] Jack: Oh, the other easier— Art: Oh or maybe it will— [laughs] we’re turning it into mud. Dre: Yeah, that’s probably easier to push around, right? Art: I bet. Austin: It is muddy, to be clear. It’s not hard clay, it is wet clay. It is goopy already. Art: Sure, but you put in- you add enough water [Austin: You do.] and it will become— Austin: It’s true. Art: Basically water. Dre: Maybe you hand Elena a spare apron before you all get to work. Jack: Oh— Art: Oh that’s cute. Austin: Keep yourself clean. Dre: Yeah. Jack: Got the cook’s strength, yes. Elena is already wearing an apron, this is just as part of her outfit, so the second additional apron— Art: Well this is like- this one has like a fun saying on it. Austin: What is it? Jack: The saying is? Art: It says like, um. You know the people who make aprons with fun sayings for a living are some of the best heroes [Dre: Mm.] in our society. Austin: I see, yeah. Uh huh. Dre: Don’t talk to me, I’m grilling. Art: Oh sure. You know, yeah, I want something like— Austin: Clean hands, bad food. Art: Let’s get- let’s get down to—cooking. Dre: Yeah? Austin: [laughing] Let’s get down to cooking! Jack: [laughs] Dre: Grate job, and it’s spelled G-R-A-T-E. Austin: There we go! Dre is crushing it. Art: Wow! Jack: Here to do a grate job. Austin: But then it literally says great job, and underneath is says G-R-A-T. E. Grate. Ali: [laughs] Austin: I almost forgot the E at the end there. I almost— Dre: You did. [laughs] Austin: Phew! Close one. Art: Yeah. Jack: Here to do a grat job. Austin: [laughs] Jack: But yeah, powered up. This is a— Austin: Don’t be a brat, that’s the wurst. Dre: Ooohhh! Jack: [laughing] Oh my god. Ali: I don’t like that though. Art: Is there an accent mark or is it just gonna make people read it as brat though? Austin: That’s the joke! Dre: That’s the joke! Austin: Yeah, that’s the joke. Art: The joke is that you don’t get it until you’ve read it once. Austin: Until you hit the U in the wurst. And you go like, ohhh. Dre: Yeah, maybe it’s got like cute little bratwurst sausages around it. Ali: There’s a reason we’re podcasters. Jack: Ali? What was that? Ali: [laughs] Art: No, this is— Austin: [laughs] Dre: Sorry, Ali. Ali: [laughing] I said there’s a reason why we’re podcasters and not apron makers? Art: Ali’s being so mean to us right now. Ali: [laughs] Dre: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Friendsatthetable.shop. Art: Where we’ll have this apron up. Ali: [laughs uproariously] Art: Show all your friends, “don’t be a brat, it’s the wurst.” Dre: [laughs] Art: I mean that one’s actually very funny and I’m really just thinking toward what the fanart would look like. Austin: Yeah, it’d be great! Art: So. So I think it’s that one. Jack: This— Austin: I found couples’ “she’s a brat”, “he’s the wurst” shirts. Ali: Yeah. Dre: Ohh. Jack: Wow. Art: I think— Ali: Well would it be one of those shirts where like brat, wurst is really big and next to each other and the rest of the words have to fit in— Austin: You have to like— Ali: So you can’t read it right. [laughs] Jack: [laughs] Austin: Yeah, that’s right. Ali: Don’t— [laughs] Art: No, no. I think all of the letters [laughs] are exactly the same size. Ali: Mm. Jack: This kind gift from a friend has empowered me. I have now hit a 10, so I will be rolling 2d6. Austin: 2d6. Ali: Loud as fuck. Art: Wow. Austin: Hey, 8! Jack: That’s not the worst. Austin: It’s not the worst. Jack: I mean, it’s not the wurst! Austin: [laughs] Ohhh of course! Art: Neither is it brat. See that was a thing last year? Jack: [laughs] Austin: Yeah, I remember. I remember. Ali: [laughs] Art: It ended up being part of the election. Ali: Yeah. Austin: Uh huh. Jack: Yeah, and for this reason I would like to say down the microphone, that I don’t want any Elena is brat—I don’t want the lime green brat. This is a completely separate “don’t be a brat, it’s the wurst.” Austin: It’s the wurst. Jack: I don’t want any of this Charli xcx stuff in here. Austin: That’s right. No more. Art: Yeah. Austin: I see you’re on team Taytay. I gotcha. Ali and Art: [laughs] Jack: Always have been, Austin. Austin: As you begin to haul this stuff off and toss it—you’re tossing it into the sea I’m guessing? Or into the bay, I guess. Jack: Yeah, right into the sea. Austin: You see that some of the remaining clay is beginning to coagulate, connect itself, and begin to form a human-like figure. Jack: Can we target him next? Austin: It’s not a person yet, it’s still just clay that you could throw off. I’m just- I’m just showing you a barrel of a gun. Jack: Right. This is their turn? This coagulation? Austin: This is me showing you the barrel of the gun, in relation to you doing an action. It is still all of your turns. Jack: Okay cool. So some—oh we all get a turn now. Austin: You’re all getting a turn as they are trying to form a—this is your: I am being kind and not just immediately hitting you with enemies to fight in the first round. Dre: Mhm! Austin: It’s called game balance. Jack: And I got an apron. Austin: And you got- and you got an apron! So who’s next? Who’s gonna try to cleanse this place as quickly as possible? Cleansing Ritual (Round One) [0:18:33] Ali: Um, I just moved to the page from the instructions cause I was looking—but I can read this. So, “Rituals during conflicts. Ritual magic can be- can certainly be attempted during a conflict scene, but you will first need to gather enough magical energy, [Austin: Mm.] the process is as follows. “Use the objective action to begin the ritual. Perform steps one of two of the flow chart, determining the ritual’s discipline, area, and potency. A ritual clock is immediately created with a number of sections based on the ritual’s potency (see the table below). And then once the clock is part of the scene, anyone can interact with it through the objective action. [Austin: Fun.] Like any use of the objective action, the game master will be the one adju- adjucating?” [laughs] Austin: Adjudicating. Ali: [laughs] “Which attributes should be the ones used for the check, as well as whether it has a fixed difficulty level or is an opposed check. The caster can perform the first check to fill some of the sections of the clock as part of the ejection- objection action they used to begin the ritual. “Once the clock is filled, the character who initiated the ritual may use an action to fulfil step three of the flow chart. To do so, they will spend the appropriate mind points and perform the magic check for the ritual, whose difficulty level is—“ meh meh meh meh meh. Okay. [laughs] Austin: Et cetera. So you’re like setting up this ritual that is gonna play out over the next couple of rounds, basically. Ali: Yes. Austin: Until you fill the clock. Ali: Yes. Austin: Okay. I think— Ali: So I— Austin: What is your goal? What is the ri- what is the thing you’re trying to do? Ali: So I—that was the other thing where I was trying to find, go back to entropic magic or wherever the hell this is—[Austin: Mhm.] because Entropic Ritualism specifically says…uh, that like moving things was one of the things. Austin: Totally, yeah. That makes sense. Ali: So I want to… uh uh uh, yeah. “Extract magic from an object, activate a soul circuit, sense the presence of magic—“ is just Ritualism, wait. “Cause the decay of physical matter, [Austin: Mm.] twist the flow of time, or teleport creatures or items.” Which I think is pretty literally what I’m trying to do. Austin: Yeah, you’re just trying to teleport this goop away. Or, I have a question actually, are you trying to teleport it all away or are you trying to teleport it all away and make sure no more can come? Ali: Umm… Austin: I would say the difference between those two things is a difference in effect. I think teleporting it all away is probably medium difficult- medium potency? On the chart on one nineteen. Create an illusion, this is minor, medium, major, extreme. I think getting it all, no matter how much of it there is, right? No matter much continues to come in, teleporting it all away somewhere, medium. Cause it’s only- it’s- you’re just moving it, right? Ali: Mhm. Austin: I think stopping more from coming in, probably major. Ali: Okay. Austin: So up to you which you’d prefer, but we should decide now whether you are looking to- which of those two things you’re looking to do. Ali: Yeah, I think in Veile’s heart of hearts, what she thinks this ritual can do, is like in her mind, what she sees happening is like all of the mud sort of lifting in the air and shooing off. Austin: Okay. Ali: She’s doing like a, I’m cleaning the floor ritual. [laughs] Austin: Totally, totally. Ali: She’s doing- that is what she thinks she is doing. Austin: Okay then— Ali: So I think that this is a medium and it’s probably a small? Which is— Austin: Yeah, I think it’s a small. I think you’re right. Ali: A small clearing, a few human sized creatures. Austin: Yep. So that means it will end up being 60 MP, [Ali: Okay.] and difficulty level 10. Ali: Okay. Austin: And the- because it’s that also it’s—wait sorry. The clock is a six. Yeah, the clock is a six, that’s correct. Ali: Okay. Austin: So I’ll add that six-step clock here. Ali: And I’m- I can perform an objective action to start this— Austin: Filling in the clock, yeah. Ali: Now. Austin: Yeah, and start the ritual now. Ali: And how do I do that? Austin: It is an attribute roll. This sounds like- what is your- what do you use to cast spells? Are you Insight, Willpower? Ali: Yes. Austin: Then I think it’s probably an Insight, Willpower check. Let me add a clock to the board. Jack: This has gotta be so annoying to the clay. Austin: What’s this look like? Ali: [giggles] I do think that it is Veile like, especially because this is kind of like a collecting the aether [Austin: Yeah, yeah.] for it sort of thing for her too, I think that it’s like holding the staff in front of her in the sort of classic “Mm, I’m focusing!” [Austin: laughs] sort of thing. And then I think that like magic in the air, like ambient magic waves [Austin: Yeah.] are kind of moving toward it. Austin: That makes sense. Ali: Okay. And no mods on that…that is a 6. Austin: Are you gonna use a Fabula Point on this? Ali: I might. I’m not gonna use my Fabula Point because I only have one, but I can switch out— Austin: Ohh, you could switch out. [laughs] Ali: The 1 for a 7– Austin: You could. Ali: Which will make this a 12. Austin: You could. It’s pretty good. Jack: Oh, sick! Ali: Which I shall be doing. Austin: Okay. That means you will fill two sections. Ali: Yay! Okay. Austin: Okay, I will mark that. There we go, one, two. Alright. And other people can try to help with this right? By presumably feeding their magic into yours, but they kind of have to—maybe you have to explain to me how you’d be helping, I guess. Ali: Yeah, because it’s an objective action, I think there’s anywhere from being like, [Austin: Sure.] you know, the Final Fantasy XIV like select Veile and give her MP, as much as there is swatting away something that’s coming near her. Austin: Protecting you. Ali: Yeah yeah yeah. Austin: Totally. Totally. Dre: Yeah. Ali: So people can kind of freestyle. If they would like to do that, if they would like to. Austin: Yeah. Dre: I was actually thinking of doing that to help. As basically like the image of Jonathan like stepping in and maybe swatting a big piece of clay out of the sky with his hammer. Austin: Love it. Dre: And then the Fleggbot maybe like running around scrubbing up little flecks of dirt that are falling around. Jack and Ali: [laugh] Austin: Yeah, that sounds like a Might, Dex if you’re trying to hit something out the air? Dre: Mhm. Austin: Give me a Might, Dex. Dre: Could I- could I bargain for an Insight, Dex because I’m using my little creature to help? My little project creation? Austin: I think you’ve described two actions— Dre: That’s true. Austin: And one of them is a comedy action and one of them [Dre: Mmm.] is the thing you’re actually doing to help. Dre: Alright, alright, alright, fair. [laughs] Austin: Which is protecting Veile with your body. And you know, you know. Ali: [laughs] Dre: That’s fair. Art: I hear you, we’re doing the comedy action. Austin: Mmm. Ali: [laughs] Dre: Mhm! Austin: Also I don’t think you—yeah, I actually don’t know how your—have we decided how your Fleggbot- what we roll for your Fleggbot’s actions? Dre: No. Austin: Okay. Dre: I think I was thinking of it more in terms of like, it’ll maybe just let me access trying certain stuff? Austin: Yeah, yeah. Dre: Like, you know, I couldn’t roll to break into the room next door and steal something, but maybe I could roll for the Fleggbot to do it. Austin: But you could do that with—yeah, I think that that makes sense. I think we may end up looking at the familiar rules or whatever [Dre: Sure.] that the Wanderer has, cause that has some similar sort of like, it’s just letting you do other stuff you know. Dre: Okay. Did you say Dex, Might? Austin: Dex, Might, yeah. Or not Wanderer, what is the name of that class? Dre: Ohh, I can’t remember either. Ali: Wayfarer? Austin: Wayfarer. Dre: Wayfarer, there we go. Austin: That is an 8. Dre: An 8. Austin: That would be one tick of the box. Dre: Okay. Ali: Yay, thank you! Austin: As you continue to protect Veile. And that brings us to Nicky. Art: I feel like I should also be protecting Veile. It does seem like the thing. Jack: Second apron. Austin: [laughs] Art: Yeah, what- what does this motivational apron look like? Dre and Ali: [laugh] Austin: Mmm, I see. Art: My- my- no, no. Sometimes you get one too many steps away and then you’re like, I got a great idea. It says, “My love language is fajitas.” Dre and Austin: [laugh] Art: And it’s like, that doesn’t really— Austin: No, not so much. Art: Make any sense. Austin: Not so much. Art: Um. [laughs] Jack: Is it like something gets loose on the deck? As the ship like pitches and you have to hold it back or something? Austin: Yeah, yeah the- some sort of— Art: What is the— Austin: Without the captain at the helm— Art: And then the apron says, “What?” Austin, Ali, and Dre: [laugh] Austin: Without the captain at the helm, you know, the ferry is losing its way a little bit and is bumping into some rocks, things are getting rocky. It’s gone in some choppy water. Jack: Oh, it’s going towards the big statue! Austin: It’s going towards the big statue that we saw earlier, yeah. Art: Yeah, that’s it, yeah sure. Yeah. Austin: So what are you doing? Art: I’m diverting a loose ship piece. Austin: Okay. That was gonna fall on—okay, yeah. Art: I was thinking of it as sliding. Austin: Okay. Yeah, I know what you mean. Dre: Mmm. Art: Like the ground’s probably slippery. Austin: Yeah yeah yeah. That does sound like Might again then. Art: Like pushing it out of the way. Austin: Yeah, Might. Might, Might. Art: Might, Might. Austin: Might, Might. [as if saying “night night”] Might might! Dre: [like Road Runner] Meep meep. Austin: Ohh. [pause] And that is a 6, are you going to spend a Fabula Point? Art: My last Fabula Point. Austin: Oho. [laughs] Jack: Finally, this schmuck’s gotten rid of all his Fabula Points. [All laugh] Art: Cornering the market on Fabula Points. Austin: What are you- what trait are you using and what are you doing dice-wise? Or are you doing a bond, which would give you the instant plus instead of the dice roll? Art: No, I need the dice roll, right? Austin: You would get a success with a plus one, but just a level one success. 7, 10, 13, 16 are the break points. Art: Yeah… Austin: So you’d open yourself up to a bigger success by rerolling. Ali: And you can choose to roll one or both, right? Austin: You could choose to roll one or both. Art: And I should reroll both because they’re both technically under half. Ali: Yeah. Austin: So what trait— Art: I’ll use the point, I will use Redeemed Scoundrel [Austin: Mmm.] because I just feel like, you know, something’s loose you gotta get it out of the way— Austin: [scoffs] Okay. Art: Is a- something you deal with as a scoundrel. Austin: So true. Dre: You’re used to cleaning up messes. Art: Yeah. Austin: Scoundrel insight, thank you Nicky. [Ali: laughs] That is our third Fabula Point, I believe. Ali: Of the day? Wait, really? Art: Yeah, it says— Austin: Cause Elena spent two right away. Ali: Aw. Dre: Oh yeah. Austin: And still has—now wait a second. Art: I rolled the same thing. Austin: Ahh well. Ali: [laughs] Art: Well actually it was a 2 and a 4, now it’s a 4 and a 2. Austin: You kind of juggled the dice a little there. Dre: Yeah. Ali: That’s crazy. Austin: That’s so fun. You— Jack: Shouldn’t be allowed. Austin: You know, you get in the way of the thing that’s sliding across the deck, [laughs] and it pushes you away off screen. Dre: [laughs] Art (as Nicky): [fading into the distance] Wahhhh! Round Two [0:29:36] Austin: Exactly. [laughs] Thank you. Alright, there’s 28 clay Klay units here on the deck. Everybody’s gone once, right? Ali: Mhm. Jack: Yep. Dre: Yep. Austin: [ominously] Okay…now let me see how I wanna spend these. Dre: All 26 of them. Jack: Austin’s going shopping. Austin: I’m going shopping. Okay so, I’m gonna subtract a total of 20 from the current number of 28 to create 20–or 8 [laughs] remaining clay units. Clay Klay units. Also I’m spelling one of these clays wrong I think. No I’m right, it’s K-L-A-Y. I couldn’t decide- I couldn’t remember if it was K-L-A-Y or K-L-E-Y, but it’s A. The Klay pirates. As three figures emerge from the goopy clay. The first one, who seems to be a little more—maybe not- I guess maybe you see this person first and so you’re like oh, it’s like a clay sailor. Is, I have described it here: a humanoid male made from clay with baked in sailor’s garb. It is like a- almost like a goopy mud person and parts of the clay and the mud look like a sailor’s outfit, you know? With like a sailor’s ascot and, you know, big baggy pants and et cetera, but it’s all just made out of clay. And then from that same clay produces in their left hand a rocky looking flintlock pistol and in the right hand a cutlass, but it’s all made of the same sort of stone stuff. And you know, points it at you and says, (as Clay Sailor): [gruffly] Get ‘em. Austin: And then behind that figure, two more figures kind of get molded up into being from the clay that has landed here, and they- they don’t look as much- they don’t look as much like- they don’t have facial figures. They are humanoid in shape, but they are just kind of like- like if you quickly had some red brown clay and made a person-shaped person out of it. With your hands, you know, like play-doh style. And they don’t have any weapons or anything, but they are like charging forward at you. And we are back around, and in fact, as they charge forward, a new blast of clay hits the ship. Jack: [sighs] Rats. Austin: 16 more! So that’s 8 plus 16, which is 24 clay Klay units. Art: And we know that 20 clay units makes one clay sailor. Austin: That’s the- no. Jack: No… Art: No? Jack: It makes three clay sailors. Austin: Well— Jack: The big one [Austin: Right.] and two of the little ones. Austin: And speaking of the little ones! I’m gonna roll 1d4 to see which it attacks because they won initiative, you might recall. I’m gonna roll— Art: They weren’t even here! I mean. Austin: Mhm, mhm. Roll- or sorry, I’m gonna roll 1d4 to decide who they attack. I’m using the order at the bottom of the screen. Jack, Ali, Art, Dre. They are going after Elena. Jack: This is the worst. Austin: The one who just tossed a bunch of them into the sea. I think just truly charging at you with their big club-like arms. What is your physical defense? Jack: I wasn’t able to get my barrier up— Austin: Oh, you weren’t able to get your barrier up? Jack: So right now, my physical defense is…7! Austin: That’s a hit! 11 physical damage, they rolled a 1 and a 6. This Kay, this is a Kay quality Clay Crewman, has charged at you and hit you in the chest, like a sideways hit. I’m really—I gotta tell you. Just kind of cards on the table, and I think maybe half of this podcast is a little too young for this, these are Putties. These guys look [Dre: Oh yeah.] and move like Putties, from Power Rangers. They’re like— Art: Oh sure. Dre: Do they make the noise? Austin: I don’t think they’re making the noise. Dre: Okay. Austin: For those of you who don’t know what the noise is, I want you to guess what the noise a group of bad guys from the Power Rangers named the Putties made. Jack: Okay, here’s my guess— Art: Yeah, and—okay. Jack: And I’ve seen the Power Rangers, but I’ve not seen the Putty Patrol. Austin: Yeah, yeah! Jack: I know what they look like. Austin: Yeah, you got it. Jack: Or rather, I can picture them, but I can’t remember their sound. I think they make this sound: [gravelly] me-mwah me-mwah me-mwah me-mwah! Austin: Yeah uh huh, I loved that. Art: Great guess. Austin: Great guess. Dre: Mhm! Austin: Dre or Art? You wanna say what they make? The sound that they make is? Dre: [melodically] Boolooloo boolooloo loodlelooloo! Austin: [laughing] That’s exactly right! I don’t— Art: Yeah, that’s perfect. I didn’t know that Dre did that job. Austin: Dre did that job! And yeah, I don’t think they’re making the Putty Patrol sound, but they are in fact rushing at you and hitting you in the chest. Art: Well hold on, we might be about to really luck out here. Austin: Yeah. Art: Are they the second generation? Do they have a giant Z on their chest that if you hit it they just explode? Austin: They don’t— [laughs] Dre: [laughs] Austin: They don’t have the built in weak point, no they don’t. Art: Damn it! Austin: I mean, they might have other weaknesses. They certainly have elemental weakness and elemental strengths. In any case, that’s their turn. It is back to you. Jack: [quietly] Fuck. Ali: Could I— Jack: Elena just like, coughing. Ali: [laughs] Austin: Mhm. Ali: Is there a success with which I could get three— Austin: There sure is. 13. Ali: Okay. Okay, that’s— Austin: 7, 10, 13. 13’s doable. Ali: That’s not impossible, yeah. Okay, let me just- let me just try this. Okay. Roll, no mods. Jack: Good luck, Veile! Good luck, Veile! Austin: That’s a 9. Ali: That’s a 9. Austin: Which is one. Jack: You could Fabula that 2. Do you have a Fabula Point? Ali: I could Fabula that 2! Jack: You do, yeah. Austin: You kept that Fabula point, you did. Ali: I did, yeah. Austin: That would get you up to two. Ali: And my theme is duty, that is what I’m going to be calling on. Austin: Oh, that makes- that really makes sense. We see the duty in your eyes, we see the sense of: “I have to do this!” Is that what we’re getting from Veile? Ali: Yes. Okay, declare and spend. Austin: That brings the 9– Ali: Oh wait, no no no, I deleted the one before I hit the thing so— Austin: Yeah, I—you haven’t spent one yet today and you started with one because you didn’t have one when we started, so. Ali: [laughs] Okay. Austin: And hey, that’s an XP for everybody at the end of the session. Ali: Yippee! Okay, and I’m just rolling 1d10? Austin: No, you’re just- no, you’re spending the bond? No, you’re doing duty. Right, sorry. You are doing duty, so you are gonna reroll. You are not just spending a bond. My bad. Ali: Yeah, one— Austin: I’m gonna delete the ones I’ve already added cause I thought—don’t worry about it. What are you rerolling? The 2? Ali: I got a 7 and a 2, so I’m rerolling the 2 [Austin: Okay.] and that is just a 10, a 1d10. Austin: 1d10. Ali: Yes. Austin: That is a 3. Ali: [distraught] That’s a 3! Jack: Fuck. Austin: That’s still enough to move it up from a 9 to a 10 though. Ali: Okay… [laughs] Austin: So that’s still giving you the two. You’re only one away. Ali: Boohoo. Dre: Ohhh. Art: The 2 becomes a 3– Austin: The 2 becomes a 3 and— Ali: Boohoo. Dre: It’s my fault. Austin: 3 plus 7 is 10. Dre: It’s my fault we’re not done. Austin: Why’s that? Dre: I could have Fabula Pointed earlier and got a 10 on the 8. Austin: Mhm. Ali: That’s okay. Dre: I forgot about bonds. Aughh. Austin: That’s how it goes. Dre: That’s how it goes. Austin: Yeah. Art: That’s how it goes. Jack: Society wants you to forget about bonds. Dre: They sure fucking do. Austin: So true. Jack: That’s a fucking fact of being in the world. Art Very true, wow. Ali: [laughs] Dre: Welcome to my job. Hello. Austin: [sadly] Ohh. Jack: [laughs] Dre: [laughs] Austin: Well then they get to go, and at this point I think their—the one that seems like the more highly- higher ranked one—the Stony Sailor, Kel, is going to…take a shot at Veile, who is casting this spell, and one other person who I’m gonna randomize. Uh, that’s Veile twice so that doesn’t actually work, so I have to- [Ali: laughs] I’m gonna 1d3, and it’ll be either Elena, Nicky, or Jonathan. It is Elena. Ali: God. Dre: Damn. Austin: Okay. What is your physical— Ali: These guys are misogynist! Austin: Oh my— they’re not- they might— Ali: [laughing uproariously] Austin: They’re not- they’re not women. They’re not women. They’re clay constructs who I don’t think have gender at this point. Jack: [laughing at a distance] Ali: Well they have some ideas, I don’t really know. [laughs] Austin: Oh my— [laughs] Dre and Art: [laugh] Austin: The dice are misogynistic, that’s what’s happening. [laughs] Give me your- what are your— Dre: Ohh, cancel Roll20. Austin: [laughs] Cancel Roll20. What are your— Art: Hashtag cancel Roll20. Austin: Physical defenses? [laughs] Jack: Once again, because I haven’t been able to get my barrier up, [Austin: Yep.] my physical defense is 7. Austin: Okay. Ali: Yeah, I’m a 7 right now. I’m also— Austin: 12 earth damage to both of you. Ali: Jesus christ. Austin: As they- as Kel, the Stony Sailor, fires off a blast from this flint flintlock. Jack: I’m in crisis. Art: Well just remember: don’t be a brat, that’s the wurst. Austin: Great. Ali: [chuckles] Austin: You look down at yourself— Jack: Is it a message for me or my opponent? Austin: [laughs] (as Kel): I don’t like yer apron! Jack: [laughs] Art: Oh shit! I didn’t- that didn’t occur to me. Austin: Back to y’all. Ali: I— Jack: Okay. Ali: Just one second, sorry. Jack: Yeah. Ali: I am apparently still weak? Austin: Oh! From the last fight. Ali: Maybe that’s from— Dre: Mhm. Ali: And it’s supposed to bring my might die down by one, but is it already [Dre: Yes.] the smallest it can be? Austin: Your might die is already a 6? Ali: Okay okay okay okay. Austin: That’s already the smallest it is. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah. Ali: Okay good, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t supposed to be taking more HP than I—yeah. Austin: No, I think that you’re good. Art: It actually goes down until you’re rolling in the negatives. Austin: [laughs] Ali: Damn. Jack: Okay, I would like to contribute to Veile’s ritual. Austin: Love it. Jack: I would like to contribute magic style. I’m just like, you know, raising my glass or ice [Austin: Yeah.] staff and calling on the same power of the magic. I think there’s probably some sort of magical light between the two staffs, like what happens when a spell. Austin: Yeah, when two—yeah, yeah. When two young women are casting a spell together, the light forms between their staves. Ali: Mm, mhm, mhm. Dre: Mhm. Art: Mhm. Jack: That’s what they say. Art: I think that’s true. Austin: Also they both just got shot by a rock pirate. Ali: [laughs] Jack: Yeah. What would you like me to roll here? This is probably insight, insight? Austin: Whatever your—insight, will probably? Jack: I think—yeah. Austin: What do you cast spells with? Jack: I cast spells with both of them. Let’s see, my— Austin: Like Iceberg is insight, willpower—no, no, go back to your actual spells. Jack: Yeah… Austin: Where you just were. Insight, willpower for Iceberg, right? Or Glacies. Jack: Yep, Iceberg is insight, willpower. Yeah, Glacies is also Insight. Austin: Yeah, it’s insight, willpower. Yeah. Jack: Yeah. Austin: Which is a—what are those dice sizes? Are those d8s? Jack: Those are both d10s. Austin: D10s, doubles d10s. Jack: She’s a glass cannon. Austin: Right, right. Dre: Mm. Jack: Most of the time we get to see the glass. Ali: [laughs] Austin: [laughs] No, most of the time we get to see the Barrier. Ah, there’s a 17. Jack: [chuckles] Yes. Austin: There’s a 17! Ali: Woww! Dre: Whew! Austin: That is a plus one, two, three, four. You get plus four, you could’ve filled this thing up pretty much right away. Ali: Damn… Austin: Alright, so— Jack: Like a cold wind across the deck. Austin: Veile, what happens next at this point? After the thing is filled. Ali: Um, so I—it says, “Once the clock is filled, the character who initiated the ritual may use an action—“ so I might have to— Austin: Ah. Ali: Yeah. Austin: Next turn. Ali: I either have to wait til next turn or get like a quick from somebody. But just to finish this, [Austin: Yes.] “May use an action to perform step three of the flowchart. To do so, they will spend the appropriate mind points and perform the magic check for the ritual whose difficulty level is determined by the ritual’s potency.” Which means the difficulty level is 10, it looks like? Austin: Yep. Yep, you got it. Totally. Okay. So that means it is back around to them. The third of these guys, of these clay crewmen. Or sorry, I guess the second of the clay crewmen, because it’s two clay crewmen and one stony sailor at this point. Jack: Yeah. Austin: Obviously, obviously. Have to make sure that I have this set right—okay. I think this one is going to—I’m going to do the thing the game tells me to do again and roll 1d4. [laughs] And that is Elena again! Dre: Oh my god. Art: Holy cow! Austin: And this one is holding out its arm like Mega Man does like when Mega Man shoots: like one fist out, hand on elbow, you know like the other way. And then the whole fist fires off like a blast of clay, like a big rock coming for you, Elena. Jack: [laughs] What’s— Austin: You said 7 is your difficulty? Jack: Yeah… Austin: That’s a 4! That’s a miss. Dre: Phew! Jack: Oh thank god! Austin: And now it is back over to y’all. Art: Alright, I gotta figure out what combination of ingredients heals people. Austin: You gotta figure it out. In the middle of this clay storm. Art: In the middle of this conflict. Austin: Mhm! Art: [quietly] What happened to my rulebook… Austin: [laughs] Nicky looking at the recipes, you know the handmade recipes notebook, in the middle of the fight. Dre: [laughs] Austin: Now where’d my notebook god? Where— Art: Where’s the thing that tells me how this works? Austin: I imagine the clay is splashing into the water, causing huge—you know, almost like it’s raining. You know? Dre: Yeah. Art: Yeah, but once we find this it’s forever, so. Austin: That’s right. Dre: Do you want me to go while you’re looking up your book? Austin: No, let’s do this cause otherwise this conflict might end and we might not find this out. Dre: Oh that’s true. Art: Okay. Austin: You’re gonna get to go twice, back to back anyway so it doesn’t really matter, Dre. Art: So we have salty, sour; salty, umami; sweet, salty—I’ve been using a lot of salt. Austin: [laughs] Dre: Mm. Austin: [laughing] Guy who runs a restaurant voice. [All laugh] Jack: And butter too! Weird. Austin: Lot of salt and butter in all this stuff! I mean it tastes great! Art: Alright. I’m gonna combine something that I think is going to be objectively gross, but it’s like a funny thing if it works. Jack: [laughs quietly] Art: I’m gonna combine my Shipwrecked Vinegar— Austin: [laughs] Uh huh. Art: And my Cooking Sherry. Austin: [hesitantly] Oh. Jack: Yum! Well no, I mean, okay. So these— Austin: Maybe, and then what? Jack: These two things aren’t bad, but they need other ingredients. Yes. Austin: [laughs] You’ve got to put that on something or cook something in it. Jack: You’ve got some of a dressing. Art: Uh huh. [cross] Well I’ve always sort of imagined that we’re— Dre: [cross] No, it’s like doing an apple cider vinegar shot, you know. Austin: Yeah? Dre: It’s a wellness thing. Jack: Ohh. Austin: It is kinda. Oh it is! There we go. Art: Actually no, I want to save the Cooking Sherry cause there’s a fun thing to do with my Flaming Skewer if I’m attacking with it. Austin: I see. Art: I can make it- it’s like a flambé. Austin: Save that. Art: So we’re gonna go with vinegar and coconut. Ali: Woah. Austin: Oh. Jack: Okay. Austin: Okay. Which is- which is— Jack: So this is sort of ceviche? A vegan ceviche? Austin: Yeah, uh huh. Art: Yeah. Dre: Oooh. Art: That’s sweet and sour, we don’t know what that does. I’ll roll a d12 [Austin: Yep.] and if I get a 3, it heals. Austin: Okay! Art: But some of them are taken, so. Austin: Right, you might have to reroll some of these. Art: Yeah. Austin: We’re looking for the 3! Art: So here’s— Austin: Show me… 10! Art: 10. What’s 10? Jack: [laughs] Art: 10 is… gain resistance. Austin: You get a resistance, an elemental resistance. Do you not have this one already? I felt like you had this one already. Art: No, I have the other way. I have like, anti-resistance. Jack: Weakness. Austin: Okay, I see. Yes. Jack: Okay, this could be useful to us. Austin: This could be useful! Jack: Not right now, but. Austin: I mean, right now even! They’re doing earth damage sometimes. Jack: That’s true. Dre: Mm. Art: Yeah, have this ceviche, you’ll get an earth resistance. Austin: Who are you giving this too? Ali: Wait, can any of us cast an earth thing? Austin: No, it’s a resistance. Jack: No, resistance. Ali: Ohh. Oh, right right right. Art: It’s until the beginning of my next turn. It’s for Elena, so Elena doesn’t die. Austin: Die. I see. Jack: Okay, thank you. Dre: Mm. Austin: That’s good. Again, yeah. That’s good. Jack: [quietly] Don’t say again. Austin: [laughs] That just happens right? There’s no dice roll on cooking, you just get to do it? Once you have the ingredients? Art: Right. Austin: Yeah, okay. Art: If someone is- especially if someone is voluntarily consuming it. Austin: Right, cause otherwise it’s an attack. Right, yeah. Okay. Alright, Jonathan. Dre: I’m gonna use my- I’m gonna use the guard action. Austin: Oooh! Dre: So specifically when I guard once per turn, until the start of my next turn, I gain resistance to all damage types, gain a plus two bonus to all opposed checks and, most importantly, “You may cover another creature and prevent foes from performing melee attacks against them.” Austin: Love it. Dre: I’m doing that for Elena. [laughs] Austin: For Elena! Okay, cool. Dre: Yeah. Austin: Great. Dre: She is the one with like no HP, right? Yeah. [laughs] Jack: Thank you. Austin: That is correct. Yeah, that is correct. Jack: Yeah. Round Three [0:45:23] Austin: Alright. That is the end of the round, that’s the end of round two. At the beginning of the next round! Another blast of clay! Oh, only one little bit came in this time—oh wait, I only rolled a 1d6, it’s a 4d6, what am I doing. [Dre: Mmm.] There we go, 12 more [laughs] clay! Jack: [laughs] Austin: Hits the, uh, the thing. They haven’t remade anything. They didn’t like, add to the 24, it’s like they’re building up, it looks like. They are up to 35 clay units. Jack: Yeah, they’re gonna make the big fella. Art: Yeah, we gotta figure out how to stop that. Dre: Mhm. Austin: Well that’s—yeah, uh huh. Jack: I think Veile’s—yeah. Austin: The, uhh, the—they go first, cause they did win initiative as we’ve now said a few times, and are going to— Dre: [chuckles] Art: Maybe we don’t even need to keep saying it! Austin: They are going to- they’re gonna target Veile, as the person clearly casting this ritual, and one other person. 1d3, again. Jack: They fucking hate women! Austin: It’s Elena!! [laughs] Dre: No, it’s me!! Austin: It’s not- it is now—so yeah, how does that work, Dre? How does Guard work? Dre: Wait. Austin: Read it to me? Dre: What kind of attack is this? Austin: This is a ranged attack. Dre: Well… Austin: [laughs] What do you mean, “well”?! Jack: [laughs] Dre: “You may cover another creature and prevent foes from performing melee attacks against them.” Austin: [sighs] Jack: Ohh fuck. [laughs] Austin: Dre. Dre: Unless you just wanna give me that house rule real quick. [laughs] Austin: No. Ain’t gonna give you no— Jack: No! Austin: Ain’t gonna give you no house rule. [laughs] Ali: But it’s like a wasted turn! It’s two wasted turns. Austin: Well no, cause it’s gonna- if this misses, it would prevent a physical- a melee attack. But this- I’m just doing the attack I did last turn again. [Dre: Yeah.] This is an established thing. Dre: Yeah yeah yeah. Austin: I did two ranged attacks last turn. Ali: I don’t—well that’s the first time we’ve used Guard. C’mon. [laughs] Austin: Do you wanna do something else last turn instead? Art and Ali: [laugh] Ali: I think Jonathan should have something else to do! Dre: [laughs] Austin: Jonathan do something else, but it ain’t gonna—you know. Dre: Well, okay. I’m also— Ali: [laughing] It’s not gonna save Elena. Austin: I’m gonna shoot Elena is what’s gonna happen. Dre: I’m also Guarding for me, cause I have 18 HP, so. Austin: Okay, well, see! Okay. [laughs] So you’re not changing? Dre: Yes, I’m good, I am good. Austin: Okay. I’m just double checking the book to make sure there’s nothing else here about ranged attacks. Dre: No no no, you’re right. Ali: No no, I’m just saying! I dunno. Dre: You are right, [Austin: Okay.] because there’s specific Guardian skills that allow you to intercept more than just melee attacks, yeah. Austin: Ranged attacks. That makes perfect—yeah, exactly. That makes sense. Alright, well I’m gonna fire the Flint Flintlock again. From Kel. And that is 13 earth damage to both of you. However— Jack: No. Austin: However! Jack: Yeah! Austin: Elena? Jack: I’m resistant to earth. Austin: That’s right. So you only take half damage. Jack: So half of 13 is…a mystery that scientists have been [laughs] trying to solve for a long time. Austin: Yeah, no one knows. Jack: We round down or up? Austin: I think we round—it’s like, “always round blah” in this game. Jack: Yeah, this is what I’m remembering. I think— Dre: Mhm. Austin: Always round down, to a minimum of zero. Jack: Okay, so it’s 6 damage. Austin: It is 6 damage. Which leaves you at? Jack: 12! Austin: Whew! And Veile? Ali: I’m at 15, [Austin: Okay.] I’m definitely in crisis. Austin: Back over to y’all! Veile. [laughs] Ali: Yeah, I mean I can just kind of flip this guy over the edge now right? Cause I did the thing? Austin: You can finish your- finish your ritual, right? Ali: “Once the clock is filled, the character who initiated the—“ meh meh meh meh. “They spend the appropriate mind points,” which will be 60. Austin: Mhm. Ali: “And perform the magic check for the ritual, whose difficulty level is determined by the potency.” Austin: 10. Ali: 10. So I am just rolling another wisdom— Austin: Insight, yeah. Ali: Insight check. Austin: You got it. Difficulty 10. Ali: Okay. Jack: Good luck! Ali: Ritual completes. Oh, and I have nothing left. That’s fine. And I’m also spending basically all of my MP. Austin: God, this has to hit. Ali: [laughs] This has to hit. I’m like looking just to make sure I don’t have anything secret in here that— Austin: This has to hit. Ali: Yeah, um. Cause I have reroll stuff, but I think I can only apply that to other people. So let’s just…[gasps] Austin: 17! Ali: 17–fuck. Austin: Alright. Dre: Woo! Jack: Ritual complete! Austin: What’s it look like as everything made of this clay gets- gets— Ali: [laughs] Austin: Destroyed- or gets tossed aboard. What’s this look like? Ali: I think it is really just like a- almost like a splash effect. As if like an invisible, big droplet of water just dropped onto the thing and the mud all sort of like comically splashes up into the air and then falls into the water off of the edge of the ship. Austin: Amazing. Do you— Ali: And then maybe the sailor guy is like, (as Kel): Ahhhh! Austin: Yeah, yeah. Ali: He’s like waving his little fingers, and— Austin: Totally. Alright yeah, so zero clay units. No clay people, they all get tossed into the water as the ferry continues forward. What else are people doing in their round? Ali: [laughs] Jack: I would like to cast Barrier, please. Or no, actually—ooh. Tch tch tch… Ali: Can you— Jack: Yeah, I think it probably— Ali: Can you do a ritual big enough—cause remember when Austin before was like, are you gonna stop new clay or are you gonna get rid of this clay? Is there now a stop the clay [laughing] thing you do? Jack: I could- yeah, I could absolutely start that. Austin: Yeah, yeah, and that could also be a medium one [cross] if it’s a separate thing. Jack: [cross] What were you gonna say, Austin? Austin: I was gonna say, together I was saying, if you want to clean it and stop it together, that’s a major. But if you want a different medium one that will prevent new clay from coming I think that’s also acceptable. Jack: Yeah, let me check what Ritualism discipline I have. Austin: Ohh, good point. Jack: I think I have…an Elementalist. Austin: Oh, that might work though. Jack: Ritual disciple. Let me double check… Ali: Did you take the level for Elementalist? Jack: Yeah, so [Ali: Okay.] I can do…if you have the class are you able to do their rituals, Austin? I can check in the book, but I don’t have it immediately at hand. Ali: You need to take the roll. Austin: It’s a skill. Ali: You can do Ritualism rituals— Austin: Yes, right. Ali: On a basis, just from being a mage, but to be able to do Elementalist you have to take Elementalist Rituals in updates. Jack: No, I— Austin: Yeah, so you cannot do this. Ali: I fucked this up once, which is why I- [Austin: Yeah.] I’m being ‘you didn’t do your homework’ about it. [laughs] Jack: No, no. Yeah, that’s fine. Austin: [chuckles] Jack: Umm fuck. Okay, well. Austin: You can see that you are—the ship- the captain has righted the ship and redirected you towards Spillaway Peaks, and the ship is pursuing you. You’re gonna have another couple rounds of this, but you may be able to just get away if you can speed things along in some way, or if you can continue to just clear it before they materialize into the pirates. [Jack: Yeah.] Maybe they get a bad roll next time. They got a kind of bad one last time, so. Jack: Um, yeah. It’s tough, because the kind of stuff that I’m thinking of like, is there any way I can target the ship with ice magic or something, that’s- that would be an Elementalism ritual. Austin: That’s an Elemental ritual. This is the power of ritual. Jack: There’s simply—yeah, I don’t have the- I don’t have the juice. Dre: I mean, you could use a jetpack to fly over there and then hit them with elemental magic. Jack: Now, now Dre, as compelling as this sounds, [Ali: laughs] this is a Kalar Anakalar plan— Austin: It is. Dre: Mmm. Jack: And I’m the weakest girl [laughs] on Perpetua. Austin: [laughs] Ohhh. Dre: Okay, that’s fair, that’s fair, that’s fair. Jack: The way I see it, the two things closest to mind for me right now are taking a turn to use a health potion. [Austin: Mhm.] Underrated, but, you know— Austin: You know! Jack: Effective. Or— Art: You’re not feeling the one in eight chance I have of discovering— Austin and Jack: [laugh] Art: A health potion? Jack: At the cost of one of your turns? The other thing is I put— Art: And two ingredients. Jack: Yeah…I put the barrier up, which would help protect everybody except Jonathan. Austin: Is Jonathan the one with the lowest defense? Or the highest defense now? Jack: No, it’s Nicky—I always forget who needs it. Dre: Yeah, I have highest. Austin: Yeah. Dre: I have 14. Jack: Oh, you’re absolutely fine. Crew, how are we feeling? Should I take a little time for myself? [laughs] Austin: Huh! Jack: Or should I- [laughs] or should I—the barrier is just fucking good, is the thing. Art: Yeah. Jack: Let’s get the barrier up. Austin: Okay. Jack: I have the stuff to spend. This, as usual, costs me five times target MP, so this is 15 MP, and every target may treat their defense as being equal to 12. Austin: Love it. Useful, deeply useful. Alright, that is Veile and Elena. I believe, right? For this round. So then now, Nicky and Jonathan. Jack: Uh, yes. Dre: Mhm. Art: And they’re out, so. Austin: They don’t have actions this round, yeah. Art: The resistance ends when I go again is not relevant. Austin: Correct, yeah. I don’t think you’re allowed to like pass your turn indefinitely from round to round. Jack: No, I’m essentially going to lose my- that earth resistance. Dre: Mm, okay. Austin: But it came in handy! Jack: It really did come in handy, yes. I do appreciate it. Dre: So what is left on the board here. Austin: There- nothing. What’s left— Ali: The threat of more coming. Dre: Of more clay. Austin: That’s right. Of more clay. Dre: Okay. Jack: Yeah. So we could try and speed up the ship. Historically, Friends at the Table has gone to really amazing and interesting places when we confront pirates directly in the ocean. This is how we discovered Nacre. Austin: True. Jack: So I’m never opposed to being like, you know what, actually we’re gonna get these guys. Dre: True. Jack: But I’m also the person who’s dying, so. Ali: Yeah, I have 15 HP and 10 MP left, which is enough for one spell. Austin: Mm. Dre: Mm. Ali: So if we could flee or something [laughing] I would really appreciate that. Austin: [laughs] Dre: Yeah, no. Ali: We could have the ship go fast juice? Austin: Y’all got that? Art: Alright, what do you think makes a ship— [quietly] hold on, what can I get with inventory points again? Dre: What kind of ship is this? Austin: It’s like a conch ferry, it’s like a big shell [laughs] that has like a technologic- a magic-tech, you know, style engine in it. You know. Dre: Okay. Okay, got you. Austin: You know the type, you know the type. Dre: Yeah yeah yeah. So it would be feasible— Austin: Oh yeah! Dre: For me to do an objective item of like, I’m gonna overdrive the engine. Austin: Oh yeah, absolutely. [Dre: Okay.] That’s your whole thing, right? Dre: Yeah, mhm. Austin: You do all sorts of shit like that. Dre: So let’s see, is that just insight? Austin: That feels like it’s insight, yeah. Dre: Okay. Austin: What’s it look like? Where are- are you going under the deck? Dre: Yeah, I think I’m— Austin: Do you ask permission from the guy? Dre: No, no. Austin: Okay, you’re just going for it. Ali: [laughs] Dre: I assume he’s still like freaking out about the clay and stuff on the deck. Last we saw of him. Austin: He’s- he’s—no, the last thing we saw from him, he got back in the captain’s chair and started to right the ship such that he could get y’all back towards the path you’re going. Dre: Oh right, then yes, I do, I do say. I say, um, [laughs] (as Jonathan): Give me five minutes and hold on to your butt! Austin (as Hornbeam): I’m holding! Dre: I assume there’s— Austin (as Hornbeam): I can’t hold, my hands are on the wheel! Dre: I think what this looks like is Jonathan like hooks the bilge pump up to the engine so that it’s being water-cooled now [Austin: Mhm.] so that when I set it to like set the gears to spin faster they don’t just burn up and out. Austin: That makes sense. Yeah, good. Alright, give me an insight, insight. Hey! Ali: Let’s go. Austin: That’s a 16! Dre: 16, there we go. Austin: That is- that is like the book’s highest end success outside of a crit. Yeah, I think you’ve cut this down to- you will arrive at the- you will outpace them—they’re gonna get one more shot in, at the beginning of the next round, and you’ll be able to outpace them after that. So you’ll- if they get enough to form up some guys, you’ll have to deal with those guys or you’ll have to clear it off before they can form, but that’s it. You will have outpaced them with a 16. Dre: Woohoo! Austin: Nicky. You trying another cooking roll? Or cooking, not a roll, but. Art: I mean, if I get a negative one, I’ve just sort of like wasted it. Austin: Mm, I see. Fair. Art: I can’t like— Ali: Well can’t you keep the food? Art: N- it doesn’t seem to say that. Austin: No. You do the action, right? Ali: Ah. Austin: Yeah, you’re not just like discovering it, you’re making the thing. So that’s fair, maybe you don’t want to do it unless there’s someone bad here to try it on. Art: I mean, does that guy really need someone to hold on to his butt? Ali: [laughs] Austin: Mmm! You could ask him, I mean. Art: Uh. [laughs] Ali: I mean, if you- if you got a healing thing it would be really great for me. [laughs] Art: Yeah, how much does a healing potion cost? Ali: Three, and I have zero. Art: Alright, well I have six, you can have three of mine. Ali: Oh. Austin: I don’t believe you can do that. Art: Oh, I can’t just like make a healing potion and hand it off? Austin: Oh, maybe you can do that. Maybe you can do that, actually. Yeah yeah yeah, I think you can’t trade IP. Dre: Yeah, you can do that. Austin: Yeah, yes. Ali: Yeah, if I had one and Art had two. Austin: That’s correct. Ali: Art wouldn’t be able to give me two to get three. Art: You couldn’t combine, but I can just like— Austin: Yes, you can use your action to make— Art: Make my own potion. Austin: A hundred percent, yeah. Art: Alright, so I do that. Here’s a healing potion. Ali: Okay. I was offering magic- food science, [laughs] but I’ll just take the- I’ll take the heal. Art: Oh, unless you wanted MP. I could give you MP by cooking. Ali: Oh…oh! Art: With a tinned ham flambé. Austin: Mmm! [laughs] Ali: Yeah, I mean, yeah. Okay, I’m gonna go back to 15 which is what I was at. Jack: Tinned ham [laughs] flambé? Austin: Yum! Art: Look. Dre: Om nom nom nom nom. Ali: Tinned ham flambé, that might- I mean, corned beef hash. Listen. Austin: That’s true. Jack: It’s the flambé that really gets me. Ali: [laughs] Art: You need sweet and umami, and my only sweet ingredient is cooking sherry and my two umami ingredients are seaweed and tinned ham. Ali: Alright! Austin: Hm. Jack: Yumm. Austin: We’re all saying yum. Art: Alright, so here is your tinned ham flambé and it gives you 40 MP back. Ali: 40 MP! I’ll take it, thank you. (as Veile): I really appreciate it. Art (as Nicky): Eat it in good health. Ali (as Veile): [eating sounds] Gob gob gob. Round Four [0:59:06] Austin: And as you say that, one final blast of clay slams into the ship. 18! Clay Klay units covering the deck of the Crystal Conch. As a reminder, they don’t get to immediately form up. There’s a round where you get to clear it off, if you want to. Art: And it’s us? Austin: It is all you. Art: It’s all of us? Dre: Mhm. Austin: It’s all you, yep. Ali: And tell me again, [Art: Okay.] how many of these were we able to target at once? Austin: You do an objective action and if you succeed, you roll 1d6 to see how much you manage to clear off with your action. Ali: Oh, and— Austin: And there’s four of you. Ali: 24 is our max? Austin: 24’s your max. Ali: Alright, that’s— Art: But like 18– Austin: Four is your min. [laugh] Art: If we get a—it’s gonna affect what they can form into. Austin: That is correct. Art: Even if they don’t get all of them. Austin: That is so correct, Art. Ali: I see, I see, okay. Austin: Cause it seems like with 20, they are able to make three guys and two of them were kind of weaker and one of them was stronger. Art: Alright, I’ll- I’ll take the old stockpot and start bailing out clay. Ali: [laughs] Austin: Alright! Give me a—what does that look like? Sounds like might to me, you’re just bailing. It’s not a particularly— Art: Yeah, you could- I guess you could be might, dex— Austin: You could argue might, dex. Art: But that’s the same roll for me. Austin: That’s the same roll for you, yeah. Yeah. Art: Right now, because I’m hurt somehow. Austin: Are you dazed or something? Art: I’m dazed and slow. Austin: Phew. Y’all gotta get to a bed- like a rest house. Ali: Mm. Yeah, I mean. Austin: That’s what they call those. Art: Gotta get to a rest—I’m always saying that. Austin: Mhm. Mhm. Ali: We were on the way. [laughs] Austin: Yeah. [laughs] Dre: It’s true. Art: I thought maybe this boat would be restful. Austin: Yeah, yeah. Ali: You know! Art: Then we were attacked by pirates. Austin: Yeah. That is a success! 1d6. Art: That’s a 1d6? Austin: Yeah. Hey! Ali: Wahoo!! Austin: That’s a 6! Brings it down to— Art: That’s why you use the stockpot! Austin: [laughs] Ohhh. Okay. Ali: I think Veile is just making like frustrated little growl grumbles— Austin: [laughs] Mm! Ali: And like walking to the edge of the ship where you kind of that like—there’s the ship and there’s kind of like a little fence gate at the end, [Austin: Yeah.] and she’s like kicking- kicking little [laughs] piles off the edge of the ship. Austin: Yes. Ali: Just like, (as Veile): Get out of here! Ali: [laughs] Austin: Also wait, cause I wanna make sure I give Nicky an option here, I just realized something. It’s not just 1d6, it’s 1d6 per success level. 7 is 1d6, that was what you should have gotten. But I didn’t give you the option of like Fabula Pointing to try to get that 7 up to a 10. Art: I’m out of Fabula Points. Austin: Okay well then we’re good. Veile, with all of the little frustration that you have, do you wanna roll? [laughs] Ali: Um, yeah. I guess I described something that’s like a might, though. [laughs] Austin: I think that sounds like might, yeah. Uh huh. Ali: [laughing] I could’ve described anything, but that’s fine. Austin: Yeah! Ali: I’ll just not do a good job. Austin: Mhm. Ali: Is—ah, pfft. Is that like a dex, might? Austin: Yeah, sounds like dex, might. I’m fine with that. Ali: Is that like a dex, dex? That’s the same roll anyway. Austin: That’s not a dex, dex, that’s dex, might. Yeah, yeah. Ali: Kicking mud is such a bad idea, why did I say that? [laughs] Dre: [laughs] Austin: You’re gonna ruin your boots—that’s a 4! [laughs] Ali and Jack: [laugh] Ali: [sadly] Yeah… [sighs] Art: Sounds like you ruined your boots. Austin: You know what you could do with this roll? Ali: What could I do? Austin: You could take the 3 in place of the 1, that way you—though that would actually crit- fumble you, so no, maybe you should not actually do that. Ali: Yeah… Austin: You should not tag in the 1. Dre: Ohh. Austin: Nevermind. Ali: I just got all this MP and everything…that’s fine. Austin: Yeah, no, it’s fine. Yeah, mhm. Alright. Jonathan, Elena? Jack: I would like to deflect an incoming clay thing catapulted onto the deck with like a blast of ice magic, like knocking it sideways into the wood. Austin: It has already hit, there’s no more coming. Jack: Oh fuck! Austin: Yeah. Jack: I’m gonna have to kick- kick mud again. [laughs] Austin: Uh huh. [laughs] Ali: Well can you do like a- the same kind of idea, but instead of like- it’s like creating a sheet of ice on the like- [Austin: Sure.] the ship, so it’s like [Austin: Oohh.] the mud is like dehydrating or whatever and it can’t— Austin: Oh, I thought you were going in a much more video gamey way, which was I thought you—like [Ali: laughs] can you make the ground slippery, so you can just slip it all off. [laughs] Ali: Ohh! Dre: [laughs] Austin: Yeah. Jack: Oh yeah, make a- [Ali: laughs] like a curling ally for mud. Austin: Yeah, exactly. Ali: We’re gonna slip the next round. [laughs] Austin: [laughs] Jack: I- yeah. Well let’s see. Austin: That sounds like insight, willpower to me. Hey, there’s an 11! Jack: Okay, that’s an 11. Austin: That’s 2d—you rolled interrogate, [laughs] because it had insight, willpower? Is that why you rolled interrogate? Jack: Yes. [laughs] Austin: Okay. Give me 2d6. Hey, that’s 7! Jack: That’s a 7. Not too bad. Austin: That’s 12 minus 7! So 5. Ali: Look at you, rolling the [laughing] things that you’re good at. Dre: Mhm. Jack: I did roll might, might the first time, though. Austin: You did. Jack: That’s when I got my nice apron. Austin: That’s true. And that brings us to Jonathan. 5 clay Klay units left. Dre: Yeah, I think Jonathan like pokes his head out from underneath, where he’s working, [Austin: Mhm.] and sees the clay coming in and goes, (as Jonathan): Ah- aw hell. Austin: Mhm. Dre: And then stomps back down, comes back up and has the hose over his shoulder, and just starts using the hose to try and spray off what’s left. Jack: [laughs] Austin: Yeah, good. That sounds like dex, insight to me. Dre: Okay. Austin: That’s almost like you’re shooting. A gun, you know, but you’re shooting a hose. Dre: Okay. The one thing I hate about [Austin: Hey!] windowing out, is it makes the roll weird, but. Austin: Wait, what does? Dre: If you window out your character sheet— Austin: Ohh, I see. Dre: It like, the pop up comes up in weird places. Austin: That is weird. Dre: Anyway, that’s a 10! Austin: It is a 10! That is a 10, that’s 2d6 worth of clay to clear. Hey, that’s 9! Dre: Whew. Austin: That’s all of the clay Klay units! Ali: Wooo! Austin: You have cleared the deck, it is smooth sailing, as they say, from here. As you’re able to make your way to Spillaway Peak, you’ll get there towards the end of the evening. The- in the distance, you can see the big Klay Pirate ship fade into the horizon, turn and begin looking for new prey. [“Home Port (Ocean Combat Ends)” by Jack de Quidt plays] Austin (as Hornbeam): Yeah, I don’t like those guys very much. Austin: Says- says the captain. Dre (as Jonathan): Who the hell are those folks? Austin (as Hornbeam): You don’t know about the Klay Pirates? Dre (as Jonathan): No. Austin (as Hornbeam): Whew. Aren’t you from around here? You look like you’re from Spillaway. Dre (as Jonathan): [sighs] I don’t make it back home very often. Austin (as Hornbeam): You don’t make it back home too often. When’s the last time you’ve been home? Dre (as Jonathan): I don’t know how this is relevant to the identity of the pirates, but it’s- it’s been a while. Austin (as Hornbeam): Well, it’s been decades since the Klay Pirates started coming around this way. You haven’t been home in decades?! Dre (as Jonathan): Well. You have your answer. Austin (as Hornbeam): Huh. Austin: Elena, Jonathan, and—nope. Elena, Nicky, and Veile: do you know that- how long Jonathan’s been away from home? Ali: I sure don’t. Austin: Has this become clear? Jack: No, I think—Elena has definitely got the sense he’s been away from home for a long time, with the sort of like Terrapine are long lived, [Austin: Mhm.] the Little Snail is like a nomadic, you know, traveling food truck. Austin: Mhm. Jack: But I didn’t think it had been decades. You know, I think I thought it had been three or four years. Austin: I’m curious—I’m only curious this because I know that Jonathan, you and Nicky have been close for a while—does Nicky know how long you’ve been gone? Dre: Um, I think it depends—obviously I haven’t been home the whole time Nicky has known me. Austin: Right, yeah, right. Dre: Would—Nicky, did you ask me how long it’s been? Art: Yeah, but probably in like a conversational way. Like, probably a way that if you were intent on deflecting it would’ve worked, you know. Dre: Sure. Umm— Austin: Right. Art: One of those like, “oh that was weird,” and then just sort of like moving on. Dre: How—just because we have established like, timeline stuff, I don’t wanna speak out of turn. Austin: Yeah. Dre: How long ago was our prequel game? Austin: A hundred years. Dre: Okay. So yeah, let’s say like 95 years. Austin: Yeah, okay. Jack: Jesus. That’s more than decades. Dre: Yeah. Austin: It has. Dre: And I think Jonathan would have told Nicky that, but would not have elaborated. Austin: That makes sense, yeah. Sometimes it’s just like, “yeah yeah, I’ve been away for a long time.” Art (as Nicky, jokingly): Yep, long time. Me too. Austin: [laughs] Yeah, I think, you know, the rest of this trip is simple, it’s easy. You get a little bit more from the captain on the Klay Pirates. This happens every once in a while, normally they don’t come after targets as small as the ferry. So he’s, you know, even though he’s run into it before, he’s mostly run into it back when he was a- like a proper sailor, like a merchant marine sailor before he got the ferry and he like compliments how well y’all handled yourselves. I think he says to you, Veile, (as Hornbeam): That was a pretty good trick, little missy. Austin: About your magic. Ali (as Veile): Thank you, sir. Austin (as Hornbeam): You must be some sort of priestess. Ali (as Veile): Oh, yes, yes. [laughs awkwardly] Spillaway Peaks [1:08:09] Austin: And yeah, otherwise I think the rest of the trip that evening is easy. And you see in the distance as you begin to near, even though it’s nighttime, a soft glow. There’s a huge dome in the bay, a little ways off the coast, that you recognize immediately Jonathan, is the Shell Barrow. B-A-R-R-O-W, like a mound, like a burial mound. This is the great place, the kind of great hall that’s been built, that is where the Terrapine do a bunch of religious ceremony. A bunch of—parts of what their culture are center around this structure. And also where they prepare to kind of leave things behind for the next cycle. You know, it is kind of a cultural burial ground, but the burial hasn’t happened yet. The burial is at the end of the Perpetuan Cycle. And that, this soft yellow glow, lights the town of Spillaway Peaks. It is, as you can see on the map, kind of at the bottom of the Clayridge Mountains. And so there- this is like a classic hilled city, you know, tiered city. I’ll move us over there right now. Some of this map is incomplete, but you can see it in terms of basic stuff. There’s a set of docks right toward the south of the Shell Barrow, that’s where the ferry is headed. And then on this map, the black lines represent a sort of another tier up. So there’s sort of like three tiers of structure here. There’s the lowest tier, which has these yellow oblong buildings, which are all kind of religious or cultural, governmental buildings. There’s all these green circle buildings on the second tier. It’s like a terraced—you know, have you ever seen like a terraced village that has like, literally you have to walk up some stairs or like a long pathway to get up another tier, it’s like taller than the buildings. So the second tier is all these little green circles and those are the eleven homes, the eleven Clan Homes. Those are really big structures, but entire clans live in there. Clans are made up of multiple families. There are eleven clans in Terrapine culture, there’s ten traditional clans and then sort of a clan of adoptees and, you know, people who wander in and join the Terrapine. Kind of culturally, even though they’re not big turtle people. There are the very top end, the kind of reddish structures, are kind of the shops. And those are all the way up, you gotta walk all the way up there if you’ve come in by boat, but they’re at the top of the village, or the town, if you’re coming in through the mountains. And over to the east there’s the clutch. There’s like a little nursery area that’s all the newest born, the young Terrapines who have not yet left the town to go out and come back and find something. So that is everything from actual babies, of which there are not that many. You’re so long lived a species, there aren’t many, many babies all the time. But also anyone who has not yet become an adult, which is: you leave, you come back with something. That is what marks you as an adult. You’ve, of course, done this already once, but that is kind of like where kids hang out. I can mark those sections off in a bit, but for now that’s the kind of vibe. You pull into the Shell Barrow, or not the Shell Barrow, pull into the docks southeast of the Shell Barrow. I think everything is kind of sleepy at this point, but you can hear—coming from one of these kind of oblong amber structures near the front of the docks, you know, kind of on these main roads heading up and into the village—you can hear the sound of singing. It’s night- it’s like late choir practice or something in one of these buildings. Dre, how do you describe- do you want to talk about what Terrapine singing sounds like? Dre: Yeah, I think the biggest inspiration for me is kind of like communal folk music. The kind of which I’m most familiar with comes from like, Appalachia. Austin: Mhm. Dre: I think the biggest thing that when we had talked about, as far as musical aesthetics, that I really thought would be interesting and cool here is called shape note singing? Austin: Mhm. Dre: And the idea is that that is a—that is a real thing. It’s basically a way to let communities engage in music without having to like go through a musical education process. And at least in singing, it involves like different groups are basically given different like, melodies. And then, [Austin: Yep.] so that way you don’t have to learn like, okay I have to like switch between these notes and stuff. It’s basically each group has their part, and they come together to form harmonies and things like that. Austin: Yeah, so you’re hearing that, a little muddled through the side of these buildings. Which in, you know, classic video gamey fashion, kind of look like big turtle shells, you know? And- but they—everything here has- is in the soft glow of the Shell Barrow. So it’s almost like there’s a yellow moon, like a big full moon out, covering the whole of the Spillaway Peaks. I think, you know, you’re let off the ferry. Captain Hornbeam Hypostyle says, (as Hornbeam): Thanks again for helping out with the pirates. Would’ve been real embarrassed if I didn’t get you here safe. Dre (as Jonathan): Not a problem, Captain. You gonna be alright getting back home? Austin (as Hornbeam): I’m gonna stay here overnight, and I’ll get going in the morning. If you decide you want a ride back the other way, I’ll tell you this: it’s on me. Dre (as Jonathan): Well, appreciate it, but I think we’ve got at least a few days of business here. Austin (as Hornbeam): Well good luck with that. I’ll keep the offer open. If I see you, you get one free ride. Ali (as Veile): Will you be alright on your own, sir? Austin (as Hornbeam): Oh yeah. What’s a bunch of Klay Pirates gonna do with me? Ali (as Veile): Hm… Austin (as Hornbeam): Take my booze, and any other goods I got underneath that y’all don’t need to know about, and that’ll be that. Ali: [laughs] Austin (as Hornbeam): They’re not gonna take me away. Jack (as Elena): What do you know about their captain? Austin (as Hornbeam): Oh, you don’t wanna know about their captain. Jack (as Elena): Oh I do want to know about their captain! Austin (as Hornbeam): Well, the captain- eh, the captain is—the captain or the admiral? You wanna know about the admiral. Cadereus Klay–used to be a hero, that’s what I’ve heard. From around these parts. Dre (as Jonathan): Yeah. Jack (as Elena): He’s that statue in the bay, right? Austin (as Hornbeam): That’s right. Dre (as Jonathan): Sure is. Jack (as Elena): Invented buoyancy. Austin (as Hornbeam): Well. Jack: Invented. [laughs] Discovered. Austin: [laughs] Art: Invented buoyancy… Austin (as Hornbeam, jokingly): What are they teaching you down in those ruins, Elena? Jack: [laughs] (as Elena, jokingly): For hundreds and hundreds of years, everybody sunk like a stone. Dre: [laughs] Austin: [laughs] And then Cadereus Klay figured out how to float. Jack: Swimming pools? Deathtraps. Austin: That’s right. Invented it. You know, and— Jack (as Elena): And he’s the admiral? Austin (as Hornbeam): That’s right. I don’t know what his motive is, but the last few decades, has been running raids all through here. Jack (as Elena): Nasty business. Austin (as Hornbeam): Nasty, nasty business. Ah, good luck, hope everybody enjoys Spillaway Peaks. You know, I’m not a religious man, but if you can go to one of the old Sunday services—weekly rehearsal, that’s what they call it, weekly rehearsal. That’s a—it moves you. It’ll move you! Art: This sounds like a trick. I know it’s probably not a trick, but that sounds like a trick. Jack: This man sounds like he has a good heart and he’s definitely not smuggling. But he does sound— Austin: Jonathan knows—well, yes, yeah, he’s definitely not smuggling. Dre: It is not a trick. [laughs] Austin: Yeah, Jonathan knows— Art: But, “it’ll move you” just sounds like, you know, being— Austin: [chuckles] Dre: Wow. Art: Like it’s a giant catapult. Austin: I see. Dre: Sounds like you’re dead inside, Art. Austin: [chuckles] Jonathan, you of course know that weekly rehearsal is the day that everyone goes and sings a selection of the songs that will be sung at the end of the cycle. It’s, of course, a huge, you know, final, grand, apocalyptic service due at the very end of the cycle. But y’all go and sing some selection every weekend. One day a week, kind of your holy day. It’s called rehearsal because even though you don’t think it’s coming for a few hundred years—one, you’re a long lived species. Many of you may make it there. And then two, it’s good to be ready, you know? You’re not so arrogant as a people to think that you know exactly the day. You never know, you know? Maybe your calendars have been wrong. You have to be ready for the end. It’s very beautiful. Though, you haven’t been to one in a long time. And as you—where are you going, actually? Before I say as you’re walking somewhere. You leave the docks here. Where’re you headed? Dre (as Jonathan): Well, guess we don’t need to go to the inn. Jack (as Elena): You have a house here? Dre (as Jonathan): Well I mean, I don’t, but my folks do. And well, last time I was here they had space. Can’t imagine that much changed. Jack (as Elena): I’m sure they’ll be so happy to see you. Austin: Yeah, do you want to point to one of these big green orbs on the map and ping it? Dre: Oh, yeah. Austin: You’re from one of these clans. Dre: Umm… Austin: Alright yeah, up there. Oh that’s a good one. Art: That’s a good one. Ali (as Veile): Shall we stop at the market first? I would feel so rude arriving empty handed. Jack (as Elena): Yeah, pick them up a gift of some kind. Ali (as Veile): Like some sort of…cake or something! Jack (as Elena): Or a thing of flowers! Art (as Nicky): I can make a cake. Ali (as Veile): Well… Dre: [laughs loudly] Austin: Wow! God damn! Art: Wow. Ali: [laughs] Austin: Damn! Jack (as Elena): I think what Veile is— Ali: [laughing] I don’t like seaweed, man! Jack (as Elena): What Veile is trying to say, is that she wants us to arrive with something rather than, you know, taking up their kitchen; they might not have the stuff you need. Austin: You could always- [laughing] you could always do a roll and see if you find any ingredients nearby! Dre: [laughs] Ali: Yeah, you sure could do that, couldn’t you? Art: Well when I arrive at a settlement, I do get an ingredient— Austin: There we go! Art: And there’s no chance it becomes a horrible encounter that takes the entire recording. Austin: And you get one for finishing the last travel roll. That was the end of the travel roll, so you actually get two rolls here. Ali: Yippee! Art: Oh, didn’t I do- I did— Austin: You only did the first two. It was a- it was a—today was the last one. You got here today after that encounter. So that was really the- the encounter was the end of the second roll, so. Or the third roll, whatever it was. Art: No, I took— Austin: I only saw you roll twice. Art: But I rolled 4d6 twice— Austin: Ohh, I see. Art: Which would have been four travel rolls. Austin: I see. [Art: Yeah.] That makes sense. Okay, well then get your arrival one. Art: For arriving, I get—don’t I have to rest inside a settlement? Austin: Ohh, well that will happen soon. Art: Nevermind. Well why don’t I do the roll and when I rest, I’ll put them on my sheet. Austin: That makes sense. Alright, you begin to head up the road. Art: I suppose it is worth noting I did not get a sweet ingredient, so maybe I shouldn’t make a cake. Ali: [laughs] Dre: Um— Austin: Mm, I see. And the markets, if you wanna stop, are all the way at the top here. Dre: Yeah. Austin: So yeah, sorry Jonathan, you go ahead. Dre: Well I was gonna say, if we are going to the market, that is also how we refill inventory points and such. Austin: That is true. Dre: Just as a reminder. Ali: [stage whisper] That’s why I’m suggesting it. Dre: Yeah yeah yeah, let’s go do it. Ali: [laughs] Dre: Now I don’t have any money to spend, but. Ali: I know it’s under the conceit of— Austin: Oh, inventory points are so cheap though. Ali: Yeah. Jack: Oh, could be cheaper. Ali: [laughs] Dre: Yeah, I have fifteen zenit right now. Austin: Okay, well yeah. Ali: Also we got some loot from the beach fight. Dre: That’s true. We did. Ali: So you might have stuff to sell. Austin: That’s right, didn’t you get—wait, no, didn’t you make money? Dre: Yeah, I got that dragon— Austin: Oh, what— Dre: I got that dragon scale that you said was worth like a thousand. Austin: You got the dragon scale! Yeah, it’s worth a lot. Ali: Yeah, I have a gem. Dre: Okay. Austin: [knowingly] Yeah, you sure do have a gem. [Dre: Okay.] You sure do have a gem. Art: I don’t remember which sheet the money’s on. Dre: I would love to sell those- sell that, then. Austin: Alright. On your— Dre: It’s in your backpack, Art. Art: Backpack, okay. Family Reunion [1:20:03] Austin: On your way up this kind of path from the southern docks, past the kind of marshes, which I’ve drawn in as big green [laughs] squiggles, [Dre: Mhm.] you walk past the one where there was singing coming from. Of course you understand that this is one of the rehearsal rehearsal halls. Each- all three of these are associated with the high, mid, and low choirs. Which are not high, mid, and low notes, it’s high, mid, and low placement in the- in the building, like in the Shell Barrow. And for as long as you’ve known, your mother has been the choir lead of the mid, the middle choir. And so you would not be surprised to see her coming out after practice, but you don’t see her coming out. You see your older brother, Jasper Jr., who is also a preacher here. And who comes out in his, not his finest, but in his practice gear. What’s the fashion like here in Spillaway Peaks? Dre: Hmm. Um… Austin: What are you wearing right now? As you come home. Dre: I think like very functional. Austin: Okay. Dre: Like high quality, but functional clothes. Like everybody owns— Austin: That makes sense. Dre: Doesn’t own a lot of clothes, but what they own is expected to last awhile. Austin: Then yeah, I think you see him come out wearing—no jacket or anything—but wearing whatever the Terrapine equivalent is of a dress shirt. Says his goodbyes to the members of the choir that he was practicing with today, and from the top of the stairs looking down at you, sees you walking past with this group of strangers. And he says, (as Jasper Jr.): I cannot believe my eyes. Jonathan, come home at last! Did you get our message? Dre (as Jonathan): No, actually. Uh, is everything alright? Austin (as Jasper Jr.): I guess there ain’t no coincidences. Mama’s been sick. And you been gone. Dre (as Jonathan): Oh, shit. How long- Jasper, how long did you try to reach me? Austin (as Jasper Jr.): [heated] Oh, ‘bout thirty, forty years. But you just keep moving around. Dre (as Jonathan): If I— [sighs] Is she at home, or? Austin (as Jasper Jr.): Yeah, she’s at home. She’ll be glad to see you. Dre (as Jonathan): Yeah, we were, um. Just on our way there. We were gonna stop at the market and bring something. Austin (as Jasper Jr.): Well, glad all your time away hasn’t made you forget what being polite is. I’ll see you home in a bit. I got some more to do here. Ali (as Veile): [whispering] Elena! Dre (as Jonathan): Do you- do you need help? I could stay and help. Ali: [laughs] Austin (as Jasper Jr.): No, I don’t need— [scoffs] Nah, no. No help needed, Jonathan. You just take care of yourself and your friends there. We’ll see you back at home. I’ll make sure, if I get there first, that the guest rooms are ready. Austin: What’s happening with Elena and Veile? Ali (as Veile): [whispering] Elena, how old are you? Ali: [laughs] Austin: [laughs loudly] Jack: [laughs quietly] Ali (as Veile): [whispering] Forty years?? Ali: [laughs] Jack: [laughs] I don’t know how—[laughs] why— (as Elena): [whispering] Why? Ali: [laughs] (as Veile): [whispering] Forty years?? Art: [laughs] Ali (as Veile): [whispering] That’s- that’s more than I’ve been alive! Jack: I don’t even- I don’t think- um, uh— Austin: How old is Elena? [Ali: laughs] I’m crossing my arms and leaning forward. Now wait a second! Dre: [laughs] Jack: Um, the Tesserae live for a long time, not half as long as the Terrapines. Earlier when Elena was being snippy with Veile, she said you know, my people are long-lived, [Austin: Yeah.] so good luck, I hope you’ll succeed. I think that she was taking a swing there, I don’t think—I mean, it’s Elena. Ali: [laughs] Jack: She wants to see the end of the world, I don’t know that— [Austin: laughs] it’d be like me saying, “I’m gonna be a hundred and ten.” You know? Austin: Sure. So that means— Jack: I have to be realistic. Austin: Her saying it—“I’m gonna be four hundred,” is unlikely, but not impossible? Jack: Yeah, I don’t think I’m gonna be a hundred and ten. Austin: Right, right. But you might! Jack: I think— Austin: There are people who could get there in our lifetime. Ali: Mhm. Austin: More than ever before. Jack: I think—yes, more than ever before. I think that Tesserae live to be like a hundred and fifty. Austin: Okay, okay. Jack: You know? Austin: On average. Jack: But they age slowly—[Austin: Sure.] yeah, on average. I think that, you know, Elena is what? In her early twenties probably? On earth. [laughs] Austin: Uh huh. Jack: I don’t know where that would put her—um, you know, she’s probably in her forties maybe? In real world time? Austin: Okay. Well, [laughs] you gonna answer the question? Ali: [laughs] Jack (as Elena): [whispering] I was a little baby. Ali (as Veile): [whispering] You were— Art: What? Someone asked you how old you are— Austin and Ali: [laugh] Art: and you answered, “I was a little baby?” Jack: No, no, like from— [All laugh] Jack: Veile had- Veile asked some follow up questions [laughs] as to what she was thinking. You know. Ali (as Veile): [whispering] Wait, for real? Jack (as Elena): [whispering] You know, I—yeah! Ali (as Veile): Oh. Jack (as Elena): How old did you think I was? Ali (as Veile): Well, like me. Like- like twenty. Jack (as Elena): Oh. Yeah. Jack: Shrugs, blushes. Austin: Awh. [laughs] Dre: Awe. Ali (as Veile): [whispering] Do you think this is gonna be weird? This seems bad. Jack (as Elena): [whispering] Yeah we gotta— Dre: [laughs] Jack (as Elena): I don’t know. They seem- they seem friendly. Why didn’t the message go through? Jack: Are we like lagging behind as we’re walking? Austin: Yeah, a hundred percent. Jack and Ali: [laugh] Austin: Meanwhile, are Jonathan and Nicky walking together, like up ahead at this point? Is there a second, quiet conversation happening? Ali: Ohhh. Art (as Nicky, jokingly): You know, I was a tiny baby once. Dre: [laughs] Austin: Huh. Jack: [laughs] Art: No that- I wouldn’t have heard that. It doesn't make any sense, I just [Ali: laughs] wanted to also say that. (as Nicky): Thirty or forty years, I don’t know that they tried hard enough. We’ve been- we’ve just been around! Dre (as Jonathan): [sighs] I must’ve- I must’ve— Art: Probably not for thirty or forty years, but we’ve been around for a little bit. Dre (as Jonathan): I must’ve missed it. They— [sighs] It’s my fault. Art (as Nicky): I don’t know about that… Art: I’m sorry, I’m still just mimicking your accent back to you. Dre: [laughs] Art (as Nicky): I don’t know about that! I don’t- I don’t— Ali: [laughs] Art: Hmm. Hold on. Austin: Mhm, mhm. Art (as Nicky): I don’t know about that. Art: That’s it, that’s the right emphasis. Dre: Yeah. Art: [laughs] (as Nicky): You know, we get mail! I get mail! Dre (as Jonathan): Oh they’re— Art: [laughs] Nicky’s got like three catalogues. Austin: [laughs] Dre: [laughs] Austin: They’re like cooking— Art: And then the stuff he orders from those catalogues! Austin: Right, yeah. Art: But like, if a catalogue company can find us, they can find us. Dre (as Jonathan): Oh, it’s- it’s always like this. Nicky, it’s—I don’t come back cause it’s always like this, but because I don’t come back, it’s always like this. It’s- it’s my fault. Art (as Nicky): You’re allowed to have your own life. Dre (as Jonathan): [sighs] Jack (as Elena): [whispering] Should we try and like, patch things up? Should we try and help? Ali (as Veile): [whispering] We should help! Austin and Art: [laughing quietly] Jack (as Elena): We should help, right? Ali (as Veile): We can- we can— Jack (as Elena): You only live once! Ali (as Veile): We can like make them, like have to go the store together, or— Dre: [laughs] Ali: [laughs] Austin: [quietly] God. Dre: I love the Parent Trap. I love the Parent Trap. Jack: What’s Veile’s relationship with her parents? Austin: Yeah, what is Veile’s relationship with her parents? Ali: Uh, so, Veile does not have parents. Austin: Ohhh! Jack: Oh! Austin: Interesting. Ali: Yeah. Veile— Dre: Must be nice. Austin: Have you told anybody here that? Ali: [laughs] Austin: Must be nice?? Whew!! Ali: She was raised by the church! Dre: In character, in character, in character! [laughs] Jack: She was a little baby once. Austin: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Ali: She was raised by the church. Austin: Yeah! She was raised by the church, weird. No- just never knew parents? Just never— Ali: Yeah, well, you know they might have died in the forest, [Austin: scoffs] or there might’ve been a big storm, or… Austin: You never looked into this? Ali: They might’ve left and never came—no! Art: But were you a baby once, [Ali: laughs] or were you always— Dre: [laughs] Ali: I bet. I don’t know that there’s photos, but I—you know, I had a childhood. Austin: [laughs] There’s photos, but it- every photo, Veile’s always looking away from the camera. Ali: [laughs] Austin: You never see her face. Jack: Um, Elena is very close with her parents. The family that runs the, you know, restaurant on the top floor of Rillspur. It’s a big family, everybody is you know, like shares how they’re doing and how they’re feeling and if there are bad feelings or emotions, no there aren’t. Austin: Oh, a classic family. Ali: Mm. Austin: That’s- yeah, uh huh. I know this one. Jack: Um— Ali: [laughs] Austin: It’s not how Iive—it’s not how my family, but I know this family. In my family, if there’s bad feelings, you know it. Jack: [laughs] You’ll be told! Ali: Yeah… Austin: You will know! You will find out! [laughs] Jack: I also did the math, and Elena’s age is right assuming that the sort of rough average age is about a hundred and sixty for Tesserae and Elena is about 21, that means that her real world age is 39.5. Austin: Okay. She’s been alive for forty years, but is like a twenty-something in her culture. Jack: Yes. Austin: The way that an elf in—yeah. Jack: A classic elf game. Austin: Yeah, this is—yeah. Jack: This is also classic RPG from 2002. Austin: That’s right, yeah. Totally. Jack (as Elena): Hang on, we should go to the shop first. I think we should get a gift, right? Ali (as Veile): Yeah! Jack (as Elena): Something that’ll— Ali (as Veile): Well Jonathan has to pick it out. Jack (as Elena): But we can’t be too optimistic! Ali (as Veile): Well… [“Perpetua” by Jack de Quidt plays until track ends] ________________ [1] Spelled “Klaye” in the episode description.