Farewell and adieu to you, cheering sections
Farewell and adieu to you, hooligans
For we have remembered we’re not just or competin’
But we hope to return when the games come again
Dive into our ship combat mechanics, classes from Mage Hand Press, the countries of Verda Stello, and other changes we’ve made for C3 HERE!
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Cast & Crew
- Game Master, Co-Producer: Eric Silver
- Co-Host (Umbi), Co-Producer, Sound Designer, Composer: Brandon Grugle
- Co-Host (Chamomile Cassis), Co-Producer: Julia Schifini
- Co-Host (Troy Riptide), Co-Producer: Amanda McLoughlin
- Theme Song: Lyrics by Eric Silver, music by Brandon Grugle. Vocals by Brandon Grugle, Lauren Shippen, Julia Schifini, Roux Bedrosian, Eric Silver, Tyler Silver, and Amanda McLoughlin. Available for purchase here.
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Join the Party is an actual play podcast with tangible worlds, genre-pushing storytelling, and collaborators who make each other laugh each week. We welcome everyone to the table, from longtime players to folks who’ve never touched a roleplaying game before. Hop into our current campaign, a pirate story set in a world of plant- and bug-folk, or marathon our completed stories with the Camp-Paign, a MOTW game set in a weird summer camp, Campaign 2 for a modern superhero game, and Campaign 1 for a high fantasy story. And once a month we release the Afterparty, where we answer your questions about the show and how we play the game. New episodes every Tuesday.
Transcript
Eric: I remember a time before the Cascade dried up. Here in Verda Stello, the four nations of plant and bug people flourished and thrived. But the great waterfall that fed the land slowed to a trickle, revealing a Vast Salt Sea and unknown islands. The only guide were the words of the 13 dried carvings. "The water will slow to fall, but the tides are turning. Find the Infinite Lake to replenish the world and discover the salmon who will grant you a wish of whatever you desire." This marks the beginning of the tide, as many Greenfolk hauled onto ships to find the Infinite Lake and maybe riches, adventure, excitement, and purpose along the way. And what exactly is a salmon? Is that a berry? That was 50 years ago, and the tide rushes forward ever still. There are many stories caught on the wind between sails, but why don't we hear just one? Of a butterfly gunman with clipped wings, a ripened and explosive piece of produce, and a witch made out of tea. This is Join the Party Campaign 3, The Rising Tide!
[theme]
Amanda: Last time on Join the Party.
Eric: Troy has a heart-to-heart with Threelips, where the audience, and Brandon and Julia, learn that Troy is actually a Prince of the Crags. Which kind of explains Threelips' whole thing during this arc. Umbi gives Kid Cervantes the power of speech through a drinking game and they make a deal. If Kid wins the key that's first prize for the Bullseye Games, which may be relevant for finding the wish-granting Salmon, Kid Cervantes will give it back to Umbi, if the crew breaks out his cactus siblings out of an underwater prison. Cammie explores the upside-down volcano reverse wizard tower, say that three times fast, with Smelly Hayes. They're looking to get some answers about the power of the arcane barriers surrounding Small Key Stadium. But Smelly Hayes falls down the stairs and dies. Round three of the Bullseye Games is about to begin, and Threelips announces to the entire crowd that he can't fight against someone from a royal family. Ooh, what's gonna happen next? Let's get the party started.
[crowd noises]
Eric: I feel like we're coming back to another episode of a sports documentary. So we got to come back at the exact moment when Threelips said—
Eric (as Threelips): It's against the law throughout Verda Stello to harm anyone who has affiliations with royalty.
Eric: And there's like a drone shot over Small Key Island. It's catching the noon rays bouncing off of the sea glass crown of the stadium. And as everyone in the stadium gasps at the same time, and then one person says—
Eric (as NPC): Who's that?
Eric (as Threelips): Although I hold the Bullseye Games in the highest of esteem and want to compete with the truest intentions of myself, I can't do that to someone abo— so high above my station, so close to the Cragish throne. I hope that the overseeing body of the Bullseye Games and the spirit of competition themselves can look upon me with favor, that the laws of governments, the laws of country, royalty, and government holds me higher than that of the games.
Eric: And, Cammie, as soon as you see this laurel leaf-braided man hovering three inches above the ground, says—
Eric (as Laurelis): Hold on. I'm list— hmm.
Julia (as Cammie): My friend is dead, can you pay attention to me? I'm in the room with you!
Eric: I—he's—he has, like, a little, like, radio earpiece in his ear. He's like—
Eric (as Laurelis): Hold on, I'm listening to something. I'll be—I'll be with you with one moment.
Julia: Cammie drags Alicia's his body in front of him and is like—
Julia (as Cammie): Look at her, she's dead because of you.
Brandon: She's, like, shaking her back and forth.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: The neck is flopping.
Eric (as Laurelis): I more want to—I more want to see how this plays out. I think it could go either way, could be a tactic.
Amanda: Troy looks down at his feet where the microphone is, picks it up, and looks over at Threelips, and says into the mic.
Amanda (as Troy): So we're playing it this way? I see.
Eric (as Threelips): This isn't a gambit. I don't think it's proper for me to fire upon a member of the House of Breakstone, so-- the current house holding the Cragish throne.
Amanda (as Troy): Troides Hyperion Breakstone drops his arrows for no man. But if that's how you wish to do it, here I am. Next.
Amanda: And he looks down to whoever is adjudicating and moving the platforms.
Brandon: So really—Threelips is really screwed, like truly screwed. He couldn't have won without killing the prince or, like, you know, beating the prince, so he was screwed that way. And then if he lost, he was gonna be killed anyway. So, like, not only was he screwed in the normal sense that we were already thinking, but he was quadruple screwed because of Troy even being in the competition. I'm just putting this all together for me and the audience. This is—don't— guys don't listen. Hey you, listener, me and you, let's talk.
Julia: Right. We've all seen A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger. I don't know what you're talking about.
Eric (as Crowd Member): Hey, buddy, shut up. I'm trying to hear what's happening on stage.
Eric: I want to make a roll here for Threelips, for this gambit being accepted.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Do you—are you aiding it? Do you—you want this just to happen? What are you thinking?
Amanda: Yes. I absolutely want people to take this at face value and for this to succeed.
Eric: Okay, so I'm—we're both gonna roll here. Threelips has a plus 1 to persuasion, if you could believe it.
Julia: Sho— shocking. Honestly, surprised, non-negative.
Eric: Yeah, true.
Brandon: Yeah, true.
Eric: Okay, sorry. He's— he's— you're right. He has a plus 0 to persuasion. Good.
Amanda: I have plus 2.
Eric: Yeah. So we're going to take the highest roll here.
Amanda: Okay.
Eric: Because if both of us are in on it, let's see how it goes.
Amanda: Can you look at that, Eric?
Eric: Oh, my go—
[laughter]
Julia: Wait, hold on. Hold on. I want to guess.
Eric: Please guess.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Eric, did you roll a Nat 1 and Amanda rolled a Nat 20?
Amanda: I did, I did, I did. Yes.
Eric: A 100% what happened.
Brandon: Holy shit.
Amanda: Here take a picture, Eric, put that right here.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: Oh, my God.
Amanda: Oh, my God.
Julia: That's amazing.
Eric: Jesus Christ.
Brandon: I don't think that's ever happened before in the show.
Eric: No, absolutely not.
Julia: That's fucking amazing. It's like 1 in 400 or something like that.
Brandon: Is that how you do it?
Julia: I think so.
Eric: Is it— yeah.
Brandon: Just combine the probabilities.
Amanda: I'm bisexual. I simply couldn't say.
Eric: Yes, it's—yes, it's mostly like that. It's 1 out of— it's a 1 out of 400 chance that I would roll that one and Amanda would roll a Nat 20.
Brandon: Jesus Christ.
Julia: Right, because it's the same statistical likelihood as if you're rolling with advantage, rolling two Nat 20s or two Nat 1s.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: People who understand math listening to the show right now are like, "Guys, come on!"
Eric: Maureen the Bookie is like, "Jesus fucking Christ."
Amanda: I know.
Julia: Come on, guys.
Amanda: They need me.
Julia: Come on.
Eric: Maureen, who's also like a caterpillar, like in a bookie—
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: —stand outside the stadium is ripping up tickets right now.
Amanda: Love that. But, yeah, no, Troy 100% wants this to go through. He is incredibly proud of Threelips for coming up with this gambit. And he—he knew his—after yesterday's display and showing his wings which, hey, same pattern as the King of the Crags.
Eric: Yeah, that's the thing, same pattern.
Julia: Weird.
Eric: Same pattern.
Amanda: Yeah. He—he knew this was coming soon, so he's happy for this to save Threelips, if it's got to happen.
Eric: You—you hear the mayor come over the PA system.
Julia: Hold on one second. Because that means if Umbi's in the stadium, Umbi knows about this, but Cammie doesn't.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Correct. It's true.
Julia: Just want—just clarify—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: —knowledge things there.
Eric: Yeah. Mayor Moonshine, the older gentleman cricket with the—who's wear—now wearing two different monocles, but both of them are sunglassed.
Brandon: Those are just glasses.
Julia: Not if they're not joined in the middle.
Eric: Yes, exactly.
Julia: Then they are just two monocles.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Incredible. Is it a transition monocle?
Eric: Yeah, they’re transition monocles. You see him slowly elevate Troy to your eye level as he has his own platform that has a podium on it. And it's a—there's a microphone attached to a podium and says—
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] We— this is surely an unexpected event that would happen to us to the Bullseye Games, the best games in the world. Well, if we look into our bylaws, and if the spirit of competition flows through us, I think we can make the decision that—
Amanda (as Troy): Forfeit?
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] This would be a forfeit, of course, according— in accordance to— accordance to bylaw J underscore bylaw 57. In regards to—
Brandon: XXX.
Eric: Yeah.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): —appen— appendices 6 through 12. However—
Amanda: In his—in his brain, Troy is like—
Amanda (as Troy): What is an underscore and did I get one?
Julia (as Troy): How many points did I get as part of my underscore?
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: That sounds bad. That sounds like less scores.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] From what we saw from—
Eric: What— I guess what's the— what do I call you? Prince— are you Prince Breakstone?
Amanda: I am.
Eric: Yeah.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] As established from what we've seen from Prince Breakstone's wings, of course, he is aligned with the current king, the power falls to the Royal. This can in fact be a forfeit. However, in the govern— original governing bodies, if someone does forfeit here in the duel section of the Bullseye Games, you cannot forfeit unless the—unless the winner fires one shot upon the loser at point blank range without—
Julia: Whoa.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System]—without flinching, defense, or malice.
Brandon: That sucks.
Julia: That's a wild rule.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Prince Breakstone, you may allow Threelips to stand down with a parting shot. So either, we play out— either, we play out the duel as usual.
Eric: And he kind of maneuvers the microphone on the podium to the audience and goes, "Aaaaaah!"
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Or you give you a parting shot.
Eric (as Crowd): Aaaaaah.
Julia: Waaaah.
Amanda: Troy has been slowly and kind of methodically undoing the straps of his wing covers. Remember, it looks like a backpack, and so there's like a strap that goes across his chest and one goes around his waist, and he's been slowly undoing them. So at this moment, he pulls off, like men taking a T-shirt off over their head. He, like, pulls it off over his head—
Julia: Hot.
Amanda: —shakes his wings out and says—
Amanda (as Troy): What's the point of being royal if you don't get to do the perks, you know? Parting shot it is.
Eric (as Crowd): Aaaaah.
Julia: Woaah.
Eric (as Crowd): Aaaaah. Aaaaah. He's gonna do it. It seems like they were friends before. It makes it more interesting. Aaaaah.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Prince Breakstone, stand 10 feet in front of Threelips, and take your shot.
Julia: Now, as part of the spirit of competition, does Troy have to, like, purposefully hit him or can he, like, choose to miss the shot from 10 feet away?
Eric: That's a good question. I think that it's the former, right? Like in the whole idea of the spirit of competition, you got to give a fi— you have to— even if you have a good reason, if you're going to forfeit, you're gonna have to take some damage on the way out.
Amanda: Hmm. Yeah, I was planning to not hit him.
Eric: Yeah, I think it would be the— it would be bad form if you missed.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: I mean, but also you can do whatever you want because you're a prince.
Julia: You can kill your best friend if you want because you're a prince, so.
Brandon: That's how it works, Julia.
Amanda: Not gonna do that. Yeah. Alright. So, Eric, are the columns that we're standing on the proper range away, or does Troy have to, like, go to Threelips' column?
Eric: Right. This is a good time to explain. The platform that you're on, you're kind of 100 feet back from the center.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And the way that these duels usually work is you're supposed— you move closer ever—after every shot. However, so there are chalk lines, like hashes on a football field where you're supposed to move closer and closer and closer. So, there is one that is five feet away for each of you.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Which is the point-blank range where— where how you finish the duel.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: So Threelips with his chin up, and his lip quivering, all three of his lips quivering, steps up to the point-blank range, slide on his side.
Amanda: Yeah. Troy will stride forward as well, and lock eyes with Threelips when he gets to the chalk line. What does he look like? Is he afraid for his life?
Eric: I think he's trying to put on a brave face. He's trying to hold it. He's quivering a little bit, which he hopes doesn't—no one in the stadium could notice, and maybe only you notice, Troy. And Threelips drops the microphone, lifts his arms up, and has his hands out to you, and says quietly—
Eric (as Threelips): Make it good. I— I want this to count.
Amanda (as Troy): Do you trust me, bro?
Eric (as Threelips): Troy don't do anything. Troy, don't do anything fancy, please. No, I don't.
Amanda (as Troy): Alright.
Amanda: Troy is going to say into the microphone—
Amanda (as Troy): For the Crags.
Brandon (as Umbi): Crags, Crags, Crags, Crags.
Julia: Crags, Crags, Crags, Crags.
Eric: Crags, Crags, Crags, Crags.
Brandon: Crags, Crags, Crags, Crags.
Amanda: He's going to nock an arrow and on the very nadir of his breath, fire it right at—sort of like where a human appendix is. The middle of Threelips on the very left side of his body, where Troy knows him to have suffered a training accident, and not have 100% of his organs that he should in that area.
Julia: Interesting, interesting.
Brandon: So avoiding any major damage, but also inflicting more pain than— than— than needed.
Eric (as Crowd Member): Buddy, I'm try— sit down! If you're just gonna narrate what's happening, get out of the way! You're so tall!
Brandon: No, I paid for this thing!
Eric (as NPC): You're such a tall piece of celery!
Julia: That Brussels sprout is gonna fight that piece of celery.
Eric: He's pull—he's like—him and his shallot friend are each pulling off the first layer of their skin, like they're taking off their earrings.
Julia: Rude.
Eric: Make an attack roll with advantage.
Amanda: [dice roll] All right. First one was a 4, let's hope this one's better. [dice roll] A 5. Oh boy. That is a 10 as rolled, but I'm gonna use my trick shot to reroll.
Eric: Okay.
Amanda: Oh, that's an 11.
Brandon: Total?
Amanda: Total.
Eric: Oh, my God.
Brandon: You did one better.
Amanda: Oh, boy.
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: What kind of trick shot were you trying to do here?
Amanda: I think that in trying to save face, Troy fired a lot quicker than he normally would, and he saw the arrow starting to go a little closer to center than he planned on. And you see him—like, you know how people like their— their bodies, like, arch forward when they want, like, a golf ball to, like, roll in, you know? Like, you see his body leaning to the left like, "No, no, no, no. Go more left." But the arrow bounces off the microphone that Threelips had discarded at the base of the column.
Eric: Unfortunately, Threelips' AC is 12, so even as it bounces off the microphone, it kind of cuts through his shirt, leaving an arrow-sized hole, flapping in the wind as it catches the wisps, because you're up so high.
Amanda: So it went through the shirt, but not his body?
Eric: Yes, went through his shirt, not his body.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Well, making a big show of it, Troy is going to hunch his shoulders and look down, shake his head, pick the microphone back up, and say—
Amanda (as Troy): Even the Riptide’s got a bad shot once in a while, you know?
Brandon: Yeah. At least it was a— yeah, it was an honest try, so—
Amanda: It was.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: —that should satisfy.
Eric: Boo!
Brandon: Boo!
Eric: I rolled a 2. Boo!
Amanda: Damn. He bows sarcastically—
Brandon: Hey, let me roll.
Amanda: —unbuttons his shirt. Like, do you like this?
Brandon: I rolled a 6, so boo!
Eric: I rolled— I rolled a 5, so—
Eric (as Crowd): It's not enough. Take out your friend.
Amanda (as Troy): I tried, I tried.
Julia (as Crowd): We want blood.
Amanda (as Troy): I'm more of a long-range butterfly, you know?
Eric: They're not saying boo. They're saying boo-utterfly. You have another attack.
Amanda: I'm not gonna fire again, they said one shot.
Eric: Uh—
Julia: Eric's like, "Wait, but—but— I want you to."
Amanda: Does this satisfy my obligation? How does the mayor look?
Eric: The—the mayor—the— the crowd and the mayor look displeased.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Prince Breakstone, I know that you have emotional feelings here, but I'm going to need you to fire and hit if this match is officially going to finish.
Amanda (as Troy): [PA System] You said one shot, and I shot one shot. I don't think it's fair to give me more chances just because I'm royalty, now do you, spectating public?
Eric: Make a persuasion check.
Amanda: [dice roll] Dirty 20.
Brandon: Ooh.
Julia: Nice.
Eric (as Crowd): Yo, ho, ho, no masters, no kings.
Julia: The pirates have spoken.
Eric: The stadium roars in approval.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Well, I guess if you're at a pi— if you're at a pirates game, giving reference to royalty sure doesn't— doesn't make it any easier.
Amanda (as Troy): [PA System] You don't want to buy merch from a contest that favors royalty, now do you, crowd?
Eric (as Crowd): No!
Brandon (as Crowd): No!
Julia (as Crowd): We'll steal it.
Amanda: Troy takes his whole shirt off. How do they react now?
Eric (as Crowd): Aaaaah!
Julia (as Crowd): Yeaaaah!
Brandon (as Crowd): Yeaaah!
Brandon: A mother covers their little baby seeds' eyes.
Amanda: The seeds opens their second pair of eyes from lower.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Alright, we're going to the next match. This— this is officially called a draw.
Amanda: Troy shrugs, takes a bow.
Amanda (as Troy): You win some, you draw some. Riptide never loses.
Eric (as Mayor Moonshine): [PA System] Let's see what happens with the next match.
Eric: The platform starts to lower back to the ground.
Julia: It's okay, Amanda, get those bad rolls out now.
Amanda: Thank you. Yeah, I know. Before they head back off to their respective areas, Troy is going to walk up to Threelips to give him, like, a conciliatory handshake.
Eric: As you reach over, Threelips puts a hand on your chest and goes— like pushes you away, comically, overdramatically, but still firmly, and runs away out towards the locker room exit. Make a perception check.
Amanda: [dice roll] 17.
Eric: A 17. You notice a few of the Cragish guards quickly follow after.
Amanda: Troy's gonna follow the guards.
Eric: Alright. Hey, Umbi, what are you doing?
Brandon: The camera cuts to Umbi, who's just mouth agape and frozen. It's just—
Brandon (as Umbi): Uh, what? Uh, I—
Brandon: I think as he regains his composure, he sort of goes into strategy mode in his brain, and is like, "Well, if we're probably not going to win this key—"
Eric: In my head, it's the meme with the woman thinking at all of the math equations going by her.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Eric: Just facts and figures just flying by you. There's a gra— there's graphs. It's just everything going by you.
Brandon: And it's like, what is the probability of 1 over 20 times 1 over 20?
Eric: Yeah. We're just seeing—
Amanda: Who can say?
Eric: We're seeing screenshots of Excel spreadsheets just flying by you.
Brandon: So I think he's going to think like, "If we probably— or at least may not actually win here because of this development, then, like, maybe let's make sure to get something off of that boat in terms of the rhyme, and let's make sure that happens."
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: So Umbi is either gonna try to find Orello, or go on the boat himself, or both?
Eric: Sure. Yeah.
Julia: Is Radbert currently in the stadium?
Eric: That's a good question. Yeah.
Brandon: Would you like me to roll on that?
Eric: I would love for you to roll the 20-sided die here in this game of Dungeons & Dragons.
Brandon: Perception?
Eric: Let's do— let's do investigations since you're looking for some stuff. And we'll see how you roll and you can ask which question you want to know.
Brandon: Cool. [dice roll] That's a Natural 20.
Eric: A Natural 20?
Julia: Fuck, yes!
Amanda: Whoa.
Brandon: That's a 20.
Julia: Brandon.
Eric: A Natural 20.
Brandon: It's a Natural 20, Eric. Eric, it's a 20 that was rolled properly with no additions or subtractions.
Julia: No additions.
Eric: Damn. Natural, huh?
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Free range Organic 20.
Brandon: Free range Organic 20.
Eric: Sure, sure, sure.
Julia: As we know statistically for Brandon, it's like a 1 in 40 chance, so—
Eric: Cool. Alright. So I think that—
Brandon: Tell me where the fuck Radbert is.
Eric: Sure. Where are you— where are you? Where is Umbi? Where are you watching this from?
Brandon: I think on the, like, sort of sideline on the ground.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Like, where all the coaches and families and shit are.
Eric: For sure, for sure. Radbert is in the third match today and is going up against Continuous.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: Archimedes Sevens is standing incredibly close to you as usual. He's like—
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): Ah, I— you've been traveling with a prince this entire time, did you know? I'm sure you did know, but you were hiding the secret from me, and it was up to me to figure it out!
Brandon (as Umbi): Archimedes, sometimes— sometimes there's some secrets that even the secret master doesn't know.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): You didn't even know?
Brandon (as Umbi): I didn't know.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): I'm reeling!
Brandon (as Umbi): I'm also reeling.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): Like, let's reel together.
Brandon: And then they hold hands and run— and twirl in circles, I guess?
Eric: Ye— yes, they do.
Brandon: Okay.
Eric: It's like wow—
Julia: Correct.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): I feel so empath— or empowered after reeling together. I am dizzy, so I am going to wait. Because I do have my— I do have my match with— with a— with Radbert after this, so I'm going— I'm going third. Though, I haven't seen him around here anyway. Oh, there he is.
Eric: Radbert is standing, like, coolly away from everyone else on the sideline. You also notice that around kind of the neck part of where his, like, armor comes together, like where the helm meets the chest armor part. He has a fancy little scarf wrapped around his neck.
Amanda: Did Orello do some trading?
Brandon: Oh, oh, okay. I was thinking Kid Cervantes for a second.
Eric: No, what I was gonna—Brandon, good point. No, Kid Cervantes has a big scarf. This a fancy, little dainty scarf, that's— it's a navy blue with bright orange oranges on it.
Julia: Wow.
Eric: You also don't see Orello anywhere, but Orello might be hanging out in the locker room or just out and about, causing mischief somewhere else, but you don't see Orello around.
Brandon: Yeah. Hmm.
Eric: I'm sorry. I should probably tell you this. You checked earlier, Orello wasn't in the locker room. He's not kind of in your competition space. You— so you can probably assume either he's out and about, carousing or whatever.
Brandon: Do we think I'm gonna be able to find him is, I guess, the question.
Eric: You haven't— I think you look around and he's not near here. If you want to try to go look for him, you'd have to leave and do that.
Brandon: Right.
Eric: When you were just, like, waiting around for Troy to start and for the preparations, you didn't see him anywhere.
Amanda: If there's something else you want to do, you can. I— I think the scarf is a good sign that they crossed paths already.
Brandon: No. Yes, I agree, Amanda. I'm— I want to find him, I'm just trying to think of like— I can't just like randomly wander around the island, trying to find Orello. I'm trying to figure out where to go.
Amanda: Umbi, I think you should find out if there's a VIP lounge.
Brandon: Hmm, maybe he’s in a box or something?
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Hmm, yeah.
Eric: Here we go. Let's— with your Nat 20, we do a montage of Umbi sticking his head into lascivious and nasty places.
Amanda: Great.
Eric: It's like you— Umbi sticks his head into, like, a Hookah Lounge that's, like, filled with silks. He's like, "Oh, he's not there." And then you put your head into a smoky VIP lounge, right out of the 1920s, he's not there. There's just— like, you look into a room that just like a full orgy is happening, he's not there.
Brandon: Oh, God, no.
Eric: So, yeah, you've quickly looked all over the stadium and you don't see Orello anywhere.
Brandon: Okay. Well, I guess— yeah, then, I guess the only really option is, like, I could do a search pattern to try to find Orello, or I can just head towards his ship and hope that I run into him along the way.
Eric: Sure. Sounds good.
Brandon: Cool.
Amanda: I think it's a good bet, because if he didn't find it, then we need to, you know?
Eric: And it seems like Radbert and Orello made contact in some sort of way.
Brandon: Gross, Eric. Gross.
Eric: Wink.
Amanda: True.
Eric: Wink.
Amanda: Wink.
Brandon: Yeah. So, Umbi is going to turn to Archimedes and just be like—
Brandon (as Umbi): Son, I've taught you all that I can. It's time for you to fly on your own.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): Wow. Dad—
Brandon (as Umbi): No, no, no. That's— no, sorry I shouldn't have said son, my bad.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): Dad, incredible. You've taught me so much, now I'm going to make you proud!
Brandon (as Umbi): You will. You already make me proud. You don't have to prove anything.
Eric (as Archimedes Sevens): Aaaaah.
Brandon: And then, yeah, I'm gonna, like, take his head in my hands and sort of put our foreheads together, hold there for a second, and then walk off towards the exit of the stadium, perfectly framed in the— in the frame, where it's like getting a nice lens flare as I walk away.
Eric: For sure, I love it. I love it. Yeah. So you want to— you want to head down to the parking lot where all the— the VIP dock where all the— where all the ships are?
Brandon: Yeah, it's underground, right?
Eric: Yeah, yeah. So it's— you got to go down— like, down 50 flights of stairs.
Brandon: Well, no, Eric. Eric, Eric.
Eric: Oh, right.
Brandon: Eric!
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: This is the first time, Eric.
Eric: I—I'm excited.
Brandon: I got slow fall.
Eric: I know. I love the idea. There's just like a banister and you just go—
Julia: Finally.
Eric: —you go, "Ho!” And you just float your way down. I— like— like Link with a paraglider, you— with your big flower— Oh, did we come up— was it your big flower hat?
Brandon: I think it is the hat. So, I think he just, like, jumps and then his body starts to descend, right?
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: But his hat is lighter, so it stays there. But he, like, grabs the hat the last second.
Eric: Yeah. And go—
Brandon: And then just like— yeah.
Eric: I love that. Yeah, you float on down— because you're getting this wonderful vantage point from so high, you actually get to see the Great Salt Sea kind of sparkling out in front of you.
Brandon (as Umbi): Oh, beautiful.
Eric: And especially if you're going off of this side, there's— you only see the sea on the edge of Small Key Island going off that side of the stadium. And you look down and you see a big shadow just continuously moving up against the side of the stadium.
Brandon (as Umbi): Oh, that can't be good.
Eric: And you see, like, the small reverberations through the sea as it— as this big shadow underneath the water smashes against the magical barrier protecting the stadium.
Brandon (as Umbi): Wonder if that’s like Chekhov the sea monster or something, you know?
Amanda: Ominous.
Eric: Chekhov is the guy you knew from Overstalk?
Brandon: Yeah, he was a pluot.
Eric: He was a pluot Chekhov.
[theme]
Amanda: Hey, it's Amanda. This mid-roll is brought to you by the absolute, satisfying feeling of filling a little silicone travel squeezy bottle with exactly the right amount of shampoo or lotion for you. There's so efficient, so squeezy. Now, I'm talking about travel bottles because Eric and I are going to the UK! Along with Jasper Cartwright and a special guest. We are doing our first-ever non-US live show in Manchester this Saturday, August 19, 2023. Come through, meet one of your mods, meet us. We'll be playing games, answering advice questions, and so much more. Grab tickets now at gamesandfeelings.com/live. That link is also in the description. Come through, we can't wait to meet you. Welcome as well to our newest patrons, Grace, Jess, Ellen, Manny, Trill Bot, and Emily. We can only make this podcast because of the support of patrons like you. We are so grateful that you are here and we hope you're enjoying the patron-only Discord, party planning your additional bi-weekly video and audio podcast, ad-free episodes, and early access episodes. It is so, so fun seeing how all of our patrons react to new episodes coming out, and we do that every day in Tuesday in the Discord. So join us today if you want to at patreon.com/jointhepartypod. I promise it's worth it. This week at Multitude, I want to talk about Games and Feelings. Now, of course, this is the reason that we are going to Manchester as question keeper Eric and permanent guest Jasper have their fabulous first-ever live show. I love this podcast. I listened to it every dang week when it comes out first thing on Fridays, and they are so helpful. They are so validating. And they cover, of course, games of all kinds, whether it's TTRPGs, party games, video games, escape rooms, game streams, and the companies and workers, and media companies that make all of these games. If you care about the, like, ethics and industry of making games, you gotta listen to Games and Feelings. It is so much fun, and new episodes come out every single Friday. So look for Games and Feelings in your podcast app now, or go to gamesandfeelings.com. It's a beautiful website, so check it out. We are sponsored this week by Potion Slingers, a fabulous deck-building strategy card game. Which now for the very first time is offering free stickers, and a 10% discount. If you go to potionslingers.com and use the code Party. That's right, that'll get you 10% off and a free sticker designed by Eric himself. It is so much fun and, of course, this game, just to refresh your memory, is deck-building with a twist. The decks are built while you play and cards stick around until you use them, so you can stack and combine them to your heart's content. The aesthetic is so beautiful. It describes itself as magical junkyard aesthetic. And if you're like, "That sounds really fun." You should totally check it out. The cards are puns or references to alchemy or really deep cuts of pop culture. Seriously, if you look at it and you're like, "Oh, my God, this is me." You are going to have so much to enjoy here in the game. So go to potionslingers.com, check out the art, check out the game, it is a really affordable and wonderful, and endlessly replayable game. Plus, the code Party will get you those free stickers and 10% off at potionslingers.com. We are also sponsored this week by Twenty Sided Store. This is our friendly local game store here in Brooklyn, but it can also be yours through the power of shipping. Now, if you are coming to New York City at any point in the next few months, you gotta check them out. Recently, I had to run a very annoying errand down in the neighborhood where Twenty Sided Store is, but I was like, "You know what? I can just go to Twenty Sided Store after, and that'll make my whole trip worth it." And it was. They are so fun and so nice, and they have beautiful accessories, and games and puzzles. I bought a puzzle for a friend of mine who has kids, and that was really fun to be able to shop for kid puzzles where I normally am shopping for puzzles for Amanda. But it was incredibly nice. The staff is really, really sweet, and you can shop their full inventory online, even if you're not here in New York City. So use the code Pirate for 20% off your order online. Or if you do get a chance to visit them in their actual store, just mention Join the Party and you will get that sweet discount. Go to twentysidedstore.com, spell out the word 20, twentysidedstore.com. Check out all they have to offer, and shop them now. Finally, the show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Now, sometimes in life, we aren't really sure how to move forward, because we are faced with a tough choice. That might be something big, like where to live, or what kind of career to have, or what to study in school, or whether to go to school or not. And it can be really, really difficult, nay impossible to trust yourself to make those decisions. I know, for me, often sort of by default, I want to make the choice that makes everybody else happy, or that will make the fewest people upset, as opposed to thinking about what is actually helpful for me. And you know where I am, like, slowly building the muscle to make the choices that are good for me is therapy. And I'm really, really grateful that I have a therapist who I'm comfortable with and who listens to me, who I can see at a time that works for me, and I can talk these choices through with. And before I was able to find my therapist here in the city, I used BetterHelp. It is entirely online, convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. All you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist. And here's the best part, the part I really, really appreciated when I use BetterHelp, is you can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. So if you're not driving, if you don't like the advice they're giving you, if you just want to try someone new, you can just switch therapists right there in the app. And then it's not how therapy tends to work traditionally. So let therapy be your map with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelpcom/jointheparty today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, .com/jointheparty. And now, let's get back to the show.
[theme]
Eric: Yeah, you're down at the competitors' docks.
Brandon: Is everyone down there or is it sort of empty?
Eric: No, you don't see anyone down there. I think that everyone is up watching the duels, especially as the next one's about to start.
Brandon: Tight. So, Orello is not down there, obviously.
Eric: No.
Brandon: That I see.
Eric: No, you don't see— you don't see him down there.
Brandon: Okay, then I'm gonna head to Radbert's ship. I assume there's, like— you know, like a VIP entrance to, like, a— a restaurant or a club, or something where they have like—
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —one of those tiny little, little locks—
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: —that aren't really locks?
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: And Umbi just delicately unlatches that, goes through it, and then puts it back.
Eric: You take the red velvet rope off and then put it back, so no one follows in behind you.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, for sure.
Brandon: And then he goes—
Brandon (as Umbi): Huh.
Brandon: Wipes sweat off his brow.
Eric: You could pretty easily pick out Radbert's ship. Again, you've— you've known about the Radbert's pirates. They're around, they're— they worked jobs. You might have seen their flag as— again, as a skull with the dandelion seeds that form a— a skull and crossbones. It's also pretty surprising that this is a— a working ship, so there should be, like, 10 crew on here. You don't see anyone else here and you've never seen Radbert with anyone else on his crew.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: So you're— it's— and it's the same ship that you've seen before.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. And there was crew on it previously?
Eric: Well, you— I mean, you're like— it's a 10-person ship.
Brandon: Gotcha.
Eric: So, yeah, and the— the plank is down. Pretty much regular— regular— regular-looking ship, really kind of just like pirate ship. Three sails, pretty large, larger than the Sea Whip. Nothing—nothing special going on.
Amanda: Julia, what are you thinking?
Julia: I've been calling it from the beginning that this guy's sketchy as fuck and I don't like him.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Can I try to locate the captain's quarters?
Eric: Sure.
Brandon: Where I might assume a captain's quarters are in general and then go that way?
Eric: Yeah, give me a perception check.
Julia: I just want to remind you, guys. Do you remember that time I made Eric take his headphones off and then I told you what my thoughts were on be— on Radbert?
Eric: Was it that Troy was a prince? Was that it?
Julia: No, but I'm gonna— I'm gonna call it here.
Eric: Sure.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: I think Radbert is a zombie and is somehow associated with Audrey the Rotten Queen.
Amanda: That is what Julia said.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Julia: That is what I said—
Eric: Interesting.
Julia: —when I made you take the headphones off.
Eric: Cool. Interesting.
Julia: Cool.
Brandon: Well, I rolled a 16 plus 3 for a 19.
Eric: 16 plus 3 for a 19, interesting. I— yeah, the captain's quarters would be down— hmm, 19, huh?
Brandon: It's almost 20.
Julia: It is almost 20.
Brandon: It's only 5% away from the best.
Amanda: Nailed it.
Brandon: I hope I made you proud, Maureen, the caterpillar.
Eric: I just thought it was funny to see a caterpillar like holding a bunch of money in their hands.
Amanda: Oh, it is.
Brandon: It's hilarious.
Amanda: It's a little, like, round glasses?
Eric: And with— and with big glass—yeah glasses—
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: —like the— the— the visor.
Amanda: Yeah. That hat that has no top, just the visor?
Eric: Yeah, just the— the green visor.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: I love that.
Eric: 19, do I want to give this to you? Yeah, sure. Pretty easy to locate the captain's quarters. You just need to go down into the hold.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: There's like a door, a big— you know, like a big wooden door.
Brandon: A boat door, yeah.
Eric: That leads— a big— yeah, big boat door that leads down. You have to walk down some stairs. You also notice— you don't see the big ship steering wheel.
Brandon: Huh.
Eric: Like, you look around and you're like, "Okay, pretty regular ship. Where's the helm?”
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: You don't necessarily need one if that's not your type of ship, if maybe this isn't as regular as you thought it was. Maybe you steer in a different direction, or there are other sails that come down or something.
Julia: It could have a tiller instead of a helm.
Eric: Maybe there's so many, but there's— you don't see a traditional helm up, like, where the Sea Whip has it or in a lot of ships that you've seen before.
Amanda: Interesting.
Brandon: So does it have a means of steering that I can easily see?
Eric: Not that you can easily see. It's like you get in a car and you're like, "Where's the steering wheel?" It's like— okay. Well, there's probably a different way to use it, but you don't see— you'd have to, like, look forward or figure it out.
Amanda: Like, opening the door of a Tesla. There's a button, not a handle. It makes no sense.
Eric: That— right. Yes. Yeah, like—
Brandon: Oh, it's a Tesla boat. Thank you.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah, it's like— yeah, if— it's— and if Umbi's on it, much like a Tesla, it's probably going to explode.
Brandon: It's a self-driving boat.
Eric: Did— I just want— we'll take a second to acknowledge the joke. I think we need to acknowledge it.
Brandon: Yeah, that was a good joke. I like that.
Eric: — we just kind of moved past it.
Amanda: Elon Stinkbug.
Eric: —move past it. Okay, great.
Brandon: I don't think you should denigrate stinkbugs like that.
Amanda: True. Fair, fair.
Brandon: Okay. Well, I'm gonna keep going towards the captain's quarters.
Eric: Sure.
Brandon: Because I want to see if I can find the poem.
Julia: What's that bug that we always have to kill every season? Lantern flies?
Eric: Lantern flies.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: That's the one that Elon is.
Amanda: Yes, invasive species.
Eric: I mean, it's still a stink bug, because he's a musk, right?
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Nice. Nice.
Eric: For sure. You step down the stairs and the inside of the boat with a creak, creak, creak.
Julia: I hate when we split the party, this is stressing me the fuck out.
Eric: And— and you see there's— there's the door to your left, is the captain's quarters, and you see there's a hallway leading down into the cargo hold of the ship.
Julia: I know I'm the one that did this.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: And then you see a velvet rope and you pull it, and then you— a bunch of croquet balls come out and kill Umbi.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: Ugh…
Brandon: Okay. Well, I'll just take a quick peek inside the captain's quarters, just see if there's like a library in there.
Amanda: It's probably the back, right? Roomy, windows?
Brandon: Well, you said there was a door to your left, my left right?
Eric: Yeah, door to your left—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: —so that'd be the door to your right. Yeah.
Brandon: I peek and what do I see?
Eric: Well, as you try to open up the door, it's locked.
Brandon: Oh, okay.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Unfortunately.
Brandon: So, is the one on the right open, if I try it?
Eric: You gotta go down the hallway, but, yeah, you could try it.
Brandon: Okay. I walk down the hallway to try it.
Eric: Give me a wisdom saving throw.
Brandon: A wisdom saving—
Julia: Wisdom?
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: [dice roll] 12.
Eric: 12?
Brandon: Yeah. Plus 0 for 12.
Eric: Umbi, you hear another creak, and then a [hiss] as clouds of smoke start to fill the hallway. You can't see, it's hard to think, it's hard to breathe. And everything's a little bit cloudy and confusing in front of you. You stumble forward, kind of milling your arms around, trying to clear some air for yourself. You continue forward, pushing through the hazy air. You get to the other door, and there is a four-digit padlock on this door.
Julia: Boob. It’s always boob. It’s always boob.
Eric: Yes. If you want to do something—however, because it's so hazy and confusing, you have disadvantage on wisdom and intelligence checks right now.
Brandon: Okay, but nothing's hurting me?
Eric: No, nothing's hurting you, but you have disadvantage on this.
Brandon: Okay.
Julia: Boob, boob.
Brandon: Well, yeah, I'm just gonna type in 8008, baby.
Eric: It does— wait, it does— it does not work.
Julia: Fuck.
Brandon: Hmm. How do I spell dick in numbers?
Eric: No, you can't spell di— you can't spell dick in numbers. Please make—
Julia: You can't do it, man. You just can't spell dick in numbers.
Eric: Please make a wisdom check for me. And remember, you have disadvantage.
Julia: I believe in you.
Eric: You can do something. If you want to do something before this, to help you, you can.
Amanda: I mean, Umbi, you must have had a ton of experience accidentally poisoning yourself. Like, you've got to know what to—
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: — do when there's bad gasses around.
Brandon: That's a good point, Amanda. That's a good point. Oh, here's a question.
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I have Natural Philosopher, which I get to add some— some pluses to identify herbs, potions, poisons, or other alchemical substances. Can I maybe do a nature check and see— see if I know what this gas is?
Eric: Yeah, if you want to figure out what the gas is, for sure.
Brandon: Okay.
Amanda: It might give you some tips on— maybe you get low if the gas is not very dense.
Brandon: I get to add half my proficiency bonus rounded up to any ability check to identify those things, so—
Eric: Cool.
Julia: Sick.
Brandon: That— I have plus 3 to nature, and my ability to score is 3, so plus 2, so plus 5 total.
Eric: Yeah, do it.
Amanda: Nice.
Brandon: [dice roll] 15 total. 10 to plus 5.
Julia: Not bad, not bad.
Eric: Yeah. 15, ah nuts, you got smoke trapped again. You can't see things in front of you, so it's hard for you to be able to see. And also the thicker it is, it's hard for you to think. It doesn't seem like you're hallucinating or anything, so it doesn't seem like anything like psilocybin-y or no one's, like, crushed up some evil mushrooms—
Brandon: Okay.
Eric: —and shot you with it. But it's more like someone just let a bunch of smoke in here, and it's hard for you to think in here.
Brandon: Okay. So it's not even like a glitter bomb even, like it's not tagging me or anything?
Eric: No, no, no.
Brandon: Okay, cool. So, yeah, I'm just gonna keep trying to open this door, I guess.
Eric: Make a wisdom check for me.
Brandon: Well, Eric, and by opening this door, I mean, put a bomb on it.
Amanda: That's right.
Julia: Eric, what else would he do?
Amanda: The Umbis.
Julia: Come on! Come on.
Brandon: And I'm gonna remove the radius, obviously.
Julia: You knew it was gonna happen.
Eric: First, make a—make a wisdom check with disadvantage.
Brandon: [dice roll] I got 17 and an 18.
Eric: Whoa.
Julia & Amanda: Wow.
Julia: Brandon—
Brandon: So 17 plus 0, 17.
Julia: Brandon, you're rolling beautifully today.
Brandon: Thank you.
Julia: I just want to compliment that.
Brandon: Thank you.
Amanda: Proud of you.
Brandon: Thank you.
Amanda: Proud of you, bestie.
Eric: Even as your— your mind is swimming, you realize you can figure out what this 4-digit combination is. You can still certainly blow up the door. It's ambiguous, whether or not if you blow something up, the gas will also go up in flames—
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: Just the thing that you also get with your— with your roll from before. It's— you're like I'm not— I can't really figure out what this is. It might go up in flames. If you want to open up this lock, you can. Brandon, if you multiply the numbers in the hex codes of the gold in the Nashville Predators logo, and the green in the Boston Celtics logo, and you can use the first 4 digits of that multiplied number, that is the code.
Brandon: Am I allowed to use the Google?
Eric: Yeah, of course, you are.
Brandon: Oh, okay, okay. Cool.
Julia: No, he's gonna make you guess hex codes.
Eric: Yeah, I’m gonna make you guess hex codes.
Brandon: Another quick question, is there any clearance between the floor and the door, or is it just basically, like, flat? Like, there's no break?
Eric: Yeah, I think there's a small gap between the top and the bottom. It's probably not flush.
Brandon: How small?
Eric: Small, very small. Like this— you can see the smoke is filtering below you and above you.
Brandon: Got it. But not big enough for me to throw a teleportation bomb on?
Eric: No. No, no, no.
Brandon: Got it. Cool, cool, cool. Okay.
Julia: No, no, no.
Eric: Yeah. So you can blow it up if you want to, and you can tell me you want to blow it up right now. Or you can start doing this.
Amanda: This feels figure outable. I believe in you.
Julia: Yeah, this seems very doable.
Brandon: Oh, yeah. I'm gonna go— I'm gonna go do this, so you guys do your thing.
Amanda: Alright.
Eric: Great. Yeah. So Brandon—
Julia: Off— off you go.
Eric: Brandon, you can come and check in with me whenever you want. And I think that that's when we go back over to Cammie.
Julia (as Cammie): My friend is dead!
Eric (as Laurelis): I don't love how they shook out, but maybe they'll— hey, it'll probably be worse for him in the future. Yes. Hello. Games back— games off, how— what— thank you for— thank you for solving my puzzle. Appreciate the fortitude in which you showed, even in times of uncertainty and frustration. That's what a real competitor is, is you push through the personal thing happening in your life, and you go with— and you— you— you do your thing.
Julia (as Cammie): I don't think I chose to compete in anything, so I'm a little confused.
Eric (as Laurelis): Well, there's no I in team, but there is an I in perseverance—
Julia (as Cammie): That means nothing in this situation.
Eric (as Laurelis): No, there's no I in perseverance.
Julia (as Cammie): No!
Eric (as Laurelis): There should be. You're the I in perseverance.
Julia (as Cammie): What?
Eric (as Laurelis): What are you doing here in a— while— while the— it's not very sportsman of you— it's not very sportsman of you to be trying to— trying to talk to the refs during a contest.
Julia (as Cammie): I'm trying to find Alfons, the person who made the magical barrier that is being destroyed by a giant sea monster.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hmm.
Julia (as Cammie): Hmm!
Eric (as Laurelis): Being destroyed by a giant sea monster. Interesting.
Julia (as Cammie): Uh-hmm.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hmm. Well, I guess they'll shift the betting lines a little bit, but I can't— I'm not really sure what— we'll— the— let the game play, the game needs to play on.
Julia (as Cammie): Are you— well, the game won't play on if a giant sea monster destroys the stadium and the whole island.
Eric (as Laurelis): Sorry, player can you—
Julia (as Cammie): I'm not a player.
Eric (as Laurelis): Alri— okay. What— what's your name? Who— what's your name?
Julia (as Cammie): Cammie.
Eric (as Laurelis): Last name?
Julia (as Cammie): Cassis.
Eric (as Laurelis): Cassis, let me tell you what's going on.
Julia (as Cammie): I hate this.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hi, I— I'm— I'm Laurelis, spirit of competition, summer day all— warm days when there's no clouds in the sky and feeling— and getting into a tub whether it's warm or cold after doing a bunch of contests and feeling your bu— your bones and your muscles ache a little bit. It's nice to meet you.
Eric: Holds out an arm— rippling forearms, getting ready— you know this is gonna be the hardest handshake of your entire life.
Julia: Cammie does not shake this person's hands.
Eric (as Laurelis): Alright, I understand. I— I— I guess you're not someone who's bowled over by meeting a— meeting a—meeting a god even here in Verda Stello.
Julia (as Cammie): No, I know a witch. Anyway, can you bring my friend back to life?
Eric (as Laurelis): Ah, you know, I felt that— yeah, you're— you're one of those. I felt like— I felt that feeling radiate off of you.
Julia (as Cammie): Friend dead. Bring back to life, please.
Eric (as Laurelis): Oh, yeah, I can. Unfortunately, I—
Julia: Cammie gives him such a look like—
Julia (as Cammie): Excuse me?
Eric (as Laurelis): I just— I need to give you— it's only fair for me as someone who loves contests and partaking games and sport— and sports and— and sport. It's— that I give you the full rules before you jump into it, I feel like it's only sportsman like of me.
Julia (as Cammie): There's rules to you bringing my friend back to life?
Eric (as Laurelis): Well, it's just about being honest with the co— honest with each other in the competition that we call life.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay. I believe in radical honesty. Let's go.
Eric (as Laurelis): Unfortunately, because of the dominant religions currently happening in Verda Stello, I only have so much power here even during the Bullseye Games, which is where I collect the most of my pow— most of my energy. So, I can do one minor/middling miracle, but that will— that one would be bringing your friend back to li— bringing your smelly friend back to life.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay. Bring—
Eric (as Laurelis): Do you want that? You don't want me to—
Julia (as Cammie): Well—
Eric (as Laurelis): —give you a boon or— or something?
Julia (as Cammie): No, 'cause then you're gonna be like, "Well, that means I can't stop the giant sea monster from attacking the island and this is just the trolley problem."
Eric (as Laurelis): Oh, no, I can't. No, it sounds like I can't. I can't do that.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay. So where's Alfons, the person who made that, 'cause they said he was in the reverse witch's tower?
Eric (as Laurelis): No, that was me. I— that's the—
Julia (as Cammie): You're also Alfons?
Eric (as Laurelis): That's the mortal— yeah, that's the mortal form that I take out every once in a while, to hang out with the crickets.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay. So— hold on, you made the thing, but you can't fix the thing?
Eric (as Laurelis): Well, you know, you kind of said things— I— I— it seems like you're from one of those dominant religions, so let me give you the straight dope.
Julia (as Cammie): I—
Eric (as Laurelis): So, it— usually, you just got to set things up and let it go, like letting—letting a— a grass— letting a grass ball kind of roll down a hill. You— you can't control it once it's down the hill.
Julia (as Cammie): That makes no— I practice magic. I know how magic works. That makes no sense.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hmm. Yeah, but you didn't— it's a— you're one of those come in middle of life magic users?
Julia (as Cammie): Actually, absolutely not. I got magic at 12. 12!
Eric (as Laurelis): Hmm. Yeah, middle of life. Ca— yeah, it's usually beginning— beginning end and the whole middle. It's before the game, after the game, and during the game. It's during the game. Yeah, just a magical substitution.
Amanda: I loving this guy.
Julia (as Cammie): Sir?
Eric (as Laurelis): Yeah. Laurelis, you can call me Laurel.
Julia (as Cammie): Nope. Not going to.
Eric (as Laurelis): Alright.
Julia (as Cammie): So you can't fix the magical barrier?
Eric (as Laurelis): No, it's— well, it's not broken yet.
Julia (as Cammie): I mean, it's—
Julia: Hold on. It is broken. Like Cammie saw that it was starting to fail, right?
Eric: Well, I—
Julia: I rolled, like, a 25.
Eric: No, I know. I know, but it's like— hey, no Julia, you know in Minority Report how—
Julia: No, I don't.
Eric: Alright. The whole thing about it is that you arrest people before they do crimes, right?
Julia: Okay.
Eric: But there's a whole moral conundrum about— well, they haven't done the crime yet.
Eric (as Laurelis): So, a sea monster is bashing— they're bashing themselves against the magical barrier, of course they are. But until it's broken, it's not— until it's literally shattered, it hasn't broken yet.
Julia (as Cammie): But it's beginning to fail.
Eric (as Laurelis): What— I— you— what kind of— what kind of witch were you cursed by?
Julia (as Cammie): That's a difficult question to answer. What are the different varieties of witch?
Eric (as Laurelis): Oh, there's— you know, the— maybe in your experience as you've run—
Julia (as Cammie): I— do— do all magic people know each other? Do you know Baba Rutabaga?
Eric (as Laurelis): Mmm.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah.
Eric (as Laurelis): Tough one.
Julia (as Cammie): Mmm.
Eric (as Laurelis): You must be strong, though.
Julia (as Cammie): I'm good at what I do.
Eric (as Laurelis): So—
Julia (as Cammie): But I'm not— repair—
Eric (as Laurelis): No—
Julia (as Cammie): —magical barrier put up by a god good.
Eric (as Laurelis): No fundamentals, but pure athleticism, I understand.
Julia (as Cammie): I— I don't know what that means.
Eric (as Laurelis): Strong as— strong coaching tree from Baba Rutabaga. Here's the thing, you have to understand that— that what you have, what we have, what we can do, is out of our control once it's set in motion. And when you intervene once it happens, but altering the path of the ball, all it does is put a curve on something you're not really sure it's going to happen. It's still gonna hit the same spot.
Julia (as Cammie): Can I ask a secondary question?
Eric (as Laurelis): For sure.
Julia (as Cammie): What's gonna happen to you if these games get destroyed by a giant crab?
Eric (as Laurelis): I won't. It'll— it'll be bad.
Julia (as Cammie): It would be bad.
Eric (as Laurelis): It would be bad.
Julia (as Cammie): So maybe— maybe we break a little rule here or adjust a rule based on the circumstances.
Eric (as Laurelis): I'm not saying— it's not a rule.
Julia (as Cammie): Hmm.
Eric (as Laurelis): It's in my capacity.
Julia (as Cammie): Hmm.
Eric (as Laurelis): I can find one— I already used— I already used a lot of my magical energy running around— running around as Alfons and in the large cricket family organization. I can give you— I can do one middling miracle and I think maybe I have some stuff— stuff around here.
Julia (as Cammie): Alright, show me your stuff.
Eric (as Laurelis): Alright. It's fine. Hey, hey, boys, stand down.
Julia (as Cammie): Excuse me?
Eric: You look around and you see that all the gym equipment has gotten really close to you.
Julia: Cammie looks around and it's like—
Julia (as Cammie): Oh, fun. I love— I love sentient furniture. Big fan of sentient furniture.
Amanda: Good sit. Good sit.
Julia (as Cammie): One of my favorite curses.
Eric: It's good. Alright, let me see what I— let me see what I have in the back. Hold on a second.
Julia: Cammie does a Scurry on something that isn't super close to her, so she's like—
Julia (as Cammie): See, I can do that, too.
Eric: It's impressive. I like it. It's good. It's good, for sure. Brandon, do you have something?
Brandon: Well, I do have a quick question.
Eric: Sure.
Brandon: When you wrote multiply the numbers in the hex codes for the gold for Nashville Predators and Celtics green, did you mean the Celtics green or gold for both?
Eric: Oh, yes. No, the— the natural gold—
Amanda: The green of the Celtics, yeah.
Eric: —and then Celtics green.
Brandon: Okay, cool. Then I have a number.
Eric: Okay. What's your number?
Brandon: 6761.
Eric: That's not it, unfortunately.
Julia: Are there multiple greens on the Celtics green?
Brandon: No. See, this is the issue, is that some websites say one thing and some websites say another thing.
Julia: Alright. So just plug in those other ones, I guess.
Brandon: Yeah. I'll keep going.
Amanda: I don't think I can help you, but I— I think I can say what Eric likely did to get the hex codes that he's multiplying if I'm allowed.
Eric: First, make a perception check with disadvantage.
Brandon: I also now understand Amanda now what you're saying.
Amanda: Okay.
Brandon: Perception check with disadvantage?
Eric: Uh-huh.
Brandon: [dice roll] 4 plus 3 for 7.
Eric: Cool, cool. Yeah, keep going.
Brandon: Okay.
Eric: Wonderful.
Eric (as Laurelis): Okay. I found these. Here you go. They're still in the— they're still in the box. [blows dust off]
Eric: And you see that he's holding a sneakers box that has the words Just Dew It on it.
Julia (as Cammie): What— what are these?
Eric: And it's Dew, D-E-W, just so you know.
Julia (as Cammie): What are these?
[Amanda laughs]
Eric (as Laurelis): Oh, there's some— maybe some— maybe something that can help you on your journey.
Julia: I'm just gonna open them up and be like—
Julia (as Cammie): [sighs]
Eric: (as Laurelis): Yeah. You know, there was a he— I— there was a hero who— there's a hero I remember from long ti— long before the Cascade dried up, who is good at so many— who is good at so many things and just didn't— never let the spirit of competition lead hi— leave him, and I think maybe you'd enjoy his shoes.
Julia (as Cammie): Are they Michael Jorbans?
Eric (as Laurelis): They're close. Since he was a pirate, they're Corsair Jorbans.
Amanda: Alright. That's good. That's good.
Julia: Let me look at these things.
Amanda: Good.
Eric: Alright. So you look at them and these are some old lace-up sneakers, much like what the gym equipment was wearing, like old— old Converse that has a fly, a silhouette of a fly dunking a basketball on the side.
Amanda: Incredible.
Eric: And, Julia, here you go. These Corsair Jorbans, anything that you can convince me to be called the dunk, you get advantage on it.
Julia: Alright.
Amanda: Yay!
Eric: However, they are sneakers and they're made out of canvas, so they will get waterlogged. So, be careful about getting them wet.
Julia: Jesus Christ. Okay.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Eric (as Laurelis): Eventually, he became a pirate— they became a pirate, but Corsair Jorban. He hated kids.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay.
Eric (as Laurelis): So did you decide on your minor miracle— or mi—mi— modern— minor to modern— modern miracle.
Julia (as Cammie): Can you bring my friend back to life, please, like you promised?
Eric (as Laurelis): That's the one you want? You don't want any— any— you don't want anything else? Like, I can— I can make you stronger. I can make you taller. I can make you faster.
Julia (as Cammie): No. I like myself.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hmm. Pure of heart.
Julia (as Cammie): I know I have a lot of negatives to both strength and dexterity, but I like myself.
Eric (as Laurelis): I wouldn’t have thought Bada— Baba Rutabaga would have been so into, you know, teamwork, but pretty good.
Julia (as Cammie): Oh, we're— we're not a team. What?
Eric (as Laurelis): I mean—
Julia (as Cammie): What?
Eric (as Laurelis): Just general teamwork, working with each other, vision.
Julia (as Cammie): What?
Eric (as Laurelis): Who?
Julia (as Cammie): What are you talking about?
Eric (as Laurelis): Don't worry about it. Alright. Hey, catch.
Eric: Laurelis throws kind of like a ball of energy at you.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: Do you catch it?
Julia: I like the idea that it, like, bounces off of Cammie's chest, 'cause she's not good at catching things.
Eric: It bounces off at Cammie's chest, and then it kind of dribbles, and rolls over to Smelly Hayes, whose head cracks back into place, and she goes—
Eric (as Smelly Hayes): Aaaaaah. Whoaaa! Oh, I'm not falling anymore. Wonderful.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah, I used a god's boon to bring you back to life. You did die.
Eric (as Smelly Hayes): Not the first time, but the most dizzying.
Julia (as Cammie): Uh-hmm. Yeah, alright. Laurelis, I was gonna say it was nice to meet you, but I have conflicting feelings about that.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hey, Casis, I have no doubt that you and your team if you keep your eyes open and you work together, you're going to be able to take care of it. But remember, you can't play defense unless the offense moves first. But if you— if the offense moves, the ball's in your court.
Julia (as Cammie): Right. So, I can't do shit until the giant crab breaks through the barrier. Got it.
Eric (as Laurelis): You middle— you—
Julia (as Cammie): Hmm?
Eric (as Laurelis): The thing about you— the thing about getting the magic in the middle of the game is you don't reali— you don't realize how much of an advantage on everyone else you have. You think you're still— you think you're still a benchwarmer. You'll figure it out.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay.
Eric (as Laurelis): Yeah. Don't worry, you still got some matches going.
Julia (as Cammie): Can you send me back to the stadium? I know that's not really like— that's not a miracle. That's just teleportation magic.
Eric (as Laurelis): Hmm, I can get— I can get close.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah, your stairs are really long, so, like, if you could just help me out a little bit there, that would be helpful.
Eric (as Laurelis): That's fair. Alright. Hands in, team. Put your hands in.
Julia (as Cammie): [sighs] Okay.
Julia: Cammie puts her— her little hand in.
Eric (as Smelly Hayes): I haven't had physical contact in so long.
Julia (as Cammie): 'Cause you're so smelly, Smelly Hayes.
Eric (as Smelly Hayes): I knew it.
Eric (as Laurelis): Alright. Teamwork on 3. 1, 2, 3, teamwork!
Julia (as Cammie): Teamwork!
Eric: Bop! You and Smelly Hayes pop back up on the rim of the upside-down volcano.
Julia (as Cammie): This is not close.
Eric: It's tough being a god no one prays to, Julia. It's hard.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: It's hard.
Julia: Yeah. I know how that be.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Incredible.
Julia: Alright. So Cammie is gonna try to make her way back to the stadium as quickly as possible.
Eric: For sure. Hustle. Send Me— Rusted Root's Send Me On The Way starts to play. Sure. Brandon, you got something?
Brandon: No.
Eric: Okay.
Brandon: Give me a second.
Eric: For sure. Alright, Troy, how you feelin'?
Amanda: Troy is running as fast as he can after the guards from the Crags. Pretenses of coolness completely abandoned.
Eric: True.
Amanda: Wings streaming behind him, inert.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. In the locker room, the guards have circled Threelips, and Lily Rose is trying to fight her way through.
Eric (as Lily Rose): Help! Hold on, I think that we're being a little bit rash here. I think that there's nothing to say. We— let— let's bring it back to Hyperion and he can make a decision.
Eric (as Marcus): That's— that is King Hyperion to you, and this is the— this is the decree that Lord Cavendish brought down. We need— Threelips, you're getting back on the ship now.
Amanda (as Troy): So nope, it doesn't matter to anybody that that was a true effort and a real shot from me. Me, hi, is there a way you're supposed to address me, anybody?
Eric: All of the guards kind of get into— almost like a loose attention. Threelips kind of shrinks to the quarter of the locker room.
Eric (as Marcus): Oh, Pri— Prince Troy, it's good to see you. We didn't know if we didn't—we didn't know if—
Amanda (as Troy): Yeah, I was undercover until this one decided to— to say so in front of the entire stadium. Thanks for that, Three.
Eric (as Threelips): Yeah— yeah, I didn't. Yeah. So—
Eric (as Marcus): Well, we— we all assumed you were dead. There was a funeral, it was tasteful.
Amanda (as Troy): What music played?
Julia: How tasteful was it?
Amanda (as Troy): What was the catering? It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Why am I asking these questions?
Julia: Did you break out the good cold cuts?
Eric (as Marcus): We used the— we used the good bagpipes.
Amanda (as Troy): Yeah, alright. You know, if— if I saw me leave for a year on the open sea, and I— I never came back or sent a message, I get it. I'm— I'm not holding that against you guys, that wasn't your call. What— what is your call right now is telling me what exactly your orders are, and why the King has sent this envoy here with apparent orders of execution if he doesn't win? That's not how we do things.
Eric (as Marcus): That is not what— I don't know what you've heard from Threelips here.
Amanda (as Troy): Report, then.
Eric (as Marcus): Threeli—
Amanda: I'm happy to roll intimidation.
Eric: Please, roll intimidation.
[dice roll]
Eric: That’s a Nat 1, baby!
Julia: Ooh, baby girl. They had that funeral, they don't give a fuck.
Eric (as Marcus): With all due respect, Prince Troy.
Amanda (as Troy): Troividius, thank you.
Eric (as Marcus): With all due respect, Prince Troividius, it's been a long time since you've been back in the Crags, and I don't think you have any authority over this— I don't think you have any authority over this particular situation, especially if you're still pretending to be not around.
Julia: Damn.
Amanda (as Troy): I see how quickly things change when you're out of the Cragish castle.
Eric (as Marcus): I know you seem to think it's only the houses that move around quickly, but it's the people inside of them as well.
Amanda (as Troy): No, that— that I know, for sure. Tell me this, will you at least pass on a message?
Eric (as Marcus): Alright.
Amanda (as Troy): Very well. Paper.
Eric (as Lily Rose): Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I have— I have some.
Julia: It's all been a lie. Troy can read and write.
Eric: Yeah. Lil— Lily Rose brings you a quill and some parchment.
Amanda: Great. And Troy is going to make eye contact with Lily, and give her a little nod, and then turn up against a locker to write a quick note to the king.
Eric: Sure. What does it say?
Amanda: It says, "Hy," H-Y. "I remember the thing from the kitchen. If you don't want everyone to know, or you ever want to get married, I suggest you don't slaughter my best friend. I'll see you soon. - THB."
Brandon: Thb.
Julia: It's all been a lie. It's all been a lie.
Amanda: He has never read a book, to be clear. No one gives a shit about how the— the royals are educated in the Crags.
Eric: Sure. Lily— Lily Rose gives you some wax and a stamp of the House of Breakstone.
Amanda: Yes. Troy will grab the wax from her, but he pulls his quiver, like around him. Like, you know people wearing guitar backwards. And takes out, like, a dusty and sort of raggedy arrow, like one where the tail feathers are not perfectly straight. It's, like, never the one that he grabs first. And he unscrews the tip of the arrow.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: And inside it is a signet ring.
Brandon: Cool.
Amanda: Which he uses to press his signature into the wax.
Eric: Tight, tight.
Brandon: Very cool.
Eric: Very cool. Very cool.
Eric (as Marcus): Alright, we— I appro— we will deliver your message, Your Highness. It's good to see you alive.
Amanda (as Troy): Marcus, I love you, too.
Julia: Aw.
Eric (as Marcus): Stop. Stop it. Alright. We— we do we need to be taking Threelips and we do need to leave. If we're— if we're not competing any longer, it's unseemly for us to stay.
Amanda (as Troy): Very well.
Amanda: And Troy is gonna take a step back, and with his fist, the same fist that you pump when you're yelling, "Crags, Crags, Crags," he hits his chest three times.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Crags, Crags, Crags.
Eric: And all the guards and Lily Rose do the same.
Julia: Crags, Crags, Crags.
Eric: With two in front of Threelips, and two behind, they lead him out down the stairs to the ship docks.
Amanda: And in his pocket, Troy clutches at the two-thirds of the handkerchief that he still has.
Eric: Incredible. Brandon, you got anything?
Brandon: Yeah. Okay. So, I did two methods here. So, I have one in which I color-picked from Canva, but it's only four digits. So— and Eric said choose the first four— the first four digits, so I'm thinking that's probably not it. And then I have one that I just grabbed from another internet source.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: So I'm gonna try that one first, because I want 5 digits.
Eric: Okay.
Brandon: So, I'll do 5937.
Julia: I don't know why, but the Survivor music started playing in my head in that pause where it's just like [hums Survivor theme]
Amanda: I have the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire one.
Julia: [hums Survivor theme]
Eric: Through the smoke, you move the numbers around as best as you can, 5937. It clicks and unlocks. Incredible. Yes, those were the— those were the colors.
Julia: Yay!
Eric: Celtics green is 007A33 and natural gold is FFB81C. So multiply that together, you get a 5-digit number, 59373, and those are the first four digits.
Brandon: Interesting that Canva didn't pick the same hex codes.
Eric: That is interesting.
Julia: Interesting, Canva.
Eric: Please make a perception check with disadvantage.
Brandon: Perception check with disadvantage. Perception check with disadvantage. 10 plus 3 is 13.
Eric: Cool. The door swings open and the smoke starts to clear as it fills up the large cargo hold. It's almost like you're walking down into a basement. You are hit with the most pungent rotten smell you've ever smelled in your entire life and you also hear— [muffled sound]
Brandon: That's not good.
Eric: Make a Constitution Saving Throw, please.
Julia: I'm just saying I fucking called it. I fucking called it.
Amanda: You did. You knew it.
Julia: I fucking knew it.
Brandon: 16 plus 2 for 18.
Eric: 18. You feel cold metal pressed up against the back of your head. It's a large circle, maybe the large barrel of a gun that you could shoot a big, hefty bullet from.
Eric (as Radbert): I don't know what you're doing down here. It's probably best if you stayed down here for a while.
[theme]