Snakes and Stairways

Alex Finn

There's no way you can OD on vitamins. (whispering) By the way, you can overdose on vitamins.

Stace Babcock

Well, it hasn't happened yet, or if it did happen, I survived. No protein. That's fine. 240% of that B6.

Daniel Andrlik

Is it B12 or B6 that helps with a bad trip?

Sampson Davis

Yeah, this will either be our most competent or our most boring because we just make straightforward decisions.

Alex Finn

Yeah.

Daniel Andrlik

I have faith in you guys that those decisions will not be straightforward.

Alex Finn

We never do make straight choices.

Stace Babcock

I have confidence that we won't make any decisions at all.

Alex Finn

I think that's a fair confidence.

Sampson Davis

Well, Nix is definitely going to have to make a decision here.

Alex Finn

What?

Daniel Andrlik

We'll get there, but before we get to that, I have some XP to award.

Alex Finn

You mean I have to open my character sheet?

Daniel Andrlik

Mm-hmm (affirmative). That's a good idea.

Stace Babcock

See, I have my character sheet open, I have my dice, I had Audacity, I had Discord closed. I'm on a fucking roll.

Alex Finn

I might go get an energy drink later.

Daniel Andrlik

Let's go over a few things here. You guys took the subway, and you cleaned out caves that were destroying that maintenance area. Dili got very badly hurt, but there was some growth that came from there, some interesting character decisions. You guys helped this town in need with the angels. You found an artifact in addition to the ciphers in that town. You met this other strange creature that you managed to get out of involving crafting. ChaCha had an emotional moment bonding with a small child for one of the first times where she's been successful at that, and you guys found out other hints and story items as well. So you guys each have five additional XP.

Alex Finn

What? Jesus!

Stace Babcock

Five? Five?

Sampson Davis

Oh, my God.

Stace Babcock

Oh, my God.

Alex Finn

I should take an advancement while I'm here.

Stace Babcock

Do I want to move toward perfection? Do I want a new skill?

Sampson Davis

Guys, I'm so close to tier four.

Stace Babcock

Do I want extra effort?

Alex Finn

Wait, tier four? How?

Sampson Davis

I don't know. It happened.

Stace Babcock

How? Aren't you already tier four?

Alex Finn

Am I? I thought I was tier three.

Stace Babcock

No, you tiered up. You got Regeneration, or whatever.

Alex Finn

Did I not say I [crosstalk 00:03:46] at a tier now? Oh, shit. Fuck.

Daniel Andrlik

I think you tiered up, but you just didn't increment the tier level on your character sheet.

Alex Finn

That sounds like me. Okay.

Sampson Davis

Quick question about advancements. The improve a skill one, is that I can only improve a skill I already have, or can I get a new skill?

Alex Finn

I was getting new skills with that.

Daniel Andrlik

You can get training in a new skill as long as it's non-combat and not one of the specialized one. So for example, Nix couldn't take understanding Numenera.

Sampson Davis

Could I take understanding Numenera since I've already...

Daniel Andrlik

Yes, because you've already got it to neutralize. So you could go specialize in understanding, which would just be trained for you.

Sampson Davis

Yeah, okay. Okay.

Stace Babcock

Sorry, looking at my character sheet, I see I did try to take notes last episode, I see, and it says, "Ep start: Peeps getting taken in tunnel."

Sampson Davis

So detailed.

Stace Babcock

That's all I got.

Alex Finn

Amazing.

Daniel Andrlik

Speaking of which, who remembers what happened last time? I'm going to pick on Alex.

Alex Finn

I was really drunk. Okay, last time, we've come back to the city and lost Zacc, question mark?

Daniel Andrlik

No, we know where he is.

Alex Finn

Well, no. He he wandered off. We lost him as a party member.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah. All right.

Alex Finn

And what else?

Stace Babcock

Ep start: Peeps getting taken in tunnel.

Alex Finn

Oh, yeah! So we were just kind of standing around, and the village chieftain... Is that the kind of place we're in?

Stace Babcock

I believe it was an elder.

Alex Finn

Okay, village elder ran up and is like, "Yo, these people got taken into the tunnel. We missed a bunch of people, including fucking Gary, but nobody likes Gary." That's what I took away from the elders saying, "Oh, no."

Stace Babcock

A lot of people like his mod though.

Sampson Davis

Oh, my God.

Alex Finn

Anyway, so we were all like, "Hey, let's go save these people because we're supposed to be the good guys, right? Question mark." And when we did that, we... One second I got this. Oh, we went down into the tunnels, we crawled through the hole, and then we saw the kid that we actually liked because I guess we like him because he's a day drinker or something. I don't know, you tell me. So we like him because he drinks or something, and he was running away from a horrible monster, and we were like, "Don't worry, child. We will save you," and we ran after him, and we killed the monster, and he disappeared, and so we kept following the general direction that he disappeared to. And what else did we do? So after chasing him and being all like, "Hey, buddy. We need to save you."

Stace Babcock

Frankenstein monster.

Alex Finn

Yeah, we killed the Frankenstein monster and we discovered an alien who had kidnapped the kid in a crystal prison and we're like, "Hey, this isn't cool. Maybe you should stop," and the guy's like, "Hey, I'm trying to do an experiment here. Do you mind?" And we're like, "Yeah, we do actually. Actually we do." And so after we announced that we actually did mind, we actually for once did a non-combat way of solving our problems, which surprised everyone.

Sampson Davis

Still violent. Non-combat, but still violent.

Stace Babcock

Yeah, still murder at the end of the day.

Alex Finn

Who did we murder? Oh! Well...

Stace Babcock

Well, we tried. It was attempted. Success is not a certain.

Alex Finn

Oh, yeah. I don't remember how, but somehow there was a bomb. And we rescued the kid by telling the guy that, "Hey, how about you use this other thing over here for your experiments? Because this kid's super boring. This kid, not going to give you great results."

Daniel Andrlik

Why don't you go attack this other sentient species?

Alex Finn

Oh, yeah. Didn't we sacrifice the angels, even though odds are we killed them? And we're like, "Whatever. Whatever."

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, but the bomb came about because of one of you doing some awesome things, specifically Dili.

Alex Finn

Did Dili do some awesome stuff?

Stace Babcock

He rigged the console to blow.

Alex Finn

Oh!

Sampson Davis

Dili bullshitted him and said, "Oh, no. This is a low-powered console. Let me fix this for you," and then...

Alex Finn

Oh, that is amazing.

Daniel Andrlik

Dili bullshitted a level eight creature that is clearly a scientist, and then engineered a bomb in the scientist's own materials.

Stace Babcock

That is dope as fuck.

Alex Finn

That is super amazing. I'm so proud of you. I'm saying like I wasn't there.

Daniel Andrlik

And that's with Dili's malformed brain right now.

Alex Finn

I love how I'm saying this like I wasn't there. Anyway. So after we're like, "Yeah, totally. Go experiment on the angels instead. Don't worry about it. Here's how you find them," and Dili was super amazing and everybody loves Dili, he rigged the place to blow. We took the kid and we're like, "Okay, bye. Don't worry. We're not doing anything super suspicious." We left down the tunnel and when we made it a safe distance apart, it blew up and we won, but the tunnel collapsed.

Sampson Davis

No, I think it kind of blew out a little bit of the collapsed debris that was already there, so it's still messy, but it's helped a little bit, yeah.

Alex Finn

Okay, fair. And that's how I think we ended.

Sampson Davis

No, there was one very important thing that happens at the end.

Alex Finn

Oh, no. What was it?

Sampson Davis

Well, Nix, I think woke up or something to find Hubert the First trying to kill Hubert the Second.

Alex Finn

Listen, Hubert the First is just getting... He probably owes him some money and he's just saying, "Where's my money?"

Sampson Davis

I like to imagine there's a side episode, a side story of Hubert the First having a full Rambo montage, like getting ready moment.

Alex Finn

Yes. Wait, Rambo: First Blood or the later movies where they're like, "No, he's definitely a hero. Don't worry."?

Sampson Davis

I mean, we don't really know that much about Hubert.

Daniel Andrlik

I'm sure Hubert thinks of himself as a hero in his own mind. Most people do.

Alex Finn

True. True, true.

Sampson Davis

We need to have a 10 episode backstory to figure out what Hubert's version of 'Nam was.

Stace Babcock

It was 'Nam.

Daniel Andrlik

It's mostly ChaCha's pocket. Yeah, so Nix, you wake up to first the that goes into a full-on sort of high-pitch screech. You wake up and Hubert the First is jamming his antlers into Hubert the Second, and where his antlers have jabbed in, there is a thick viscous blue blood matting the fur.

Stace Babcock

Nix will pick up Hubert the Mouse by the little scruff, hold Hubert in front of her face and she's going to go snack on him. She's not going to eat him, but she is going to show her things and open up her jaw.

Daniel Andrlik

This is a pretty big temptation.

Stace Babcock

I know. Apologies if Nix eats Hubert.

Daniel Andrlik

Give me an intellect roll of nine.

Alex Finn

Honestly, when this was announced, I was like, "If Hubert dies, he dies." I've come to terms with it.

Stace Babcock

What, Daniel, is Nix rolling for?

Daniel Andrlik

Intellect of nine.

Stace Babcock

Nine?

Daniel Andrlik

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sampson Davis

Just focus on how indigestible the antlers are, just focus on that.

Stace Babcock

I got a nat 20. Oh, my God.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, so you definitely do not eat Hubert. What would you like as a major effect?

Stace Babcock

Some insight into what Hubert the First's fucking problem is. I want to understand this animal situation.

Daniel Andrlik

Hubert the First has always disliked or been frightened by Hubert the Second, and Hubert the First appears to have decided to take matters into their own hands or little paws, more accurately. There's not a whole lot much else going on there because Hubert the first is a mouse with antlers, and has sort of a brain the size of three peas pushed together, so there's not a lot of complexity going on there.

Stace Babcock

Okay. What about any insight into the nature of Hubert the Second?

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. Hubert the Second, I will say some insight that you get is that this wound is not great. It's not life-threatening, but it's very painful for Hubert the Second. Hubert the Second doesn't necessarily, at least up until this moment, you don't get the feeling Hubert the Second felt one way or another about Hubert the First, but Hubert the Second is whimpering and trying to snuggle closer to you, looking for comfort because it's in pain.

Alex Finn

Oh.

Stace Babcock

So Hubert the Second didn't react violently. There's no... I'm trying to figure out why Hubert the Second was in prison mostly.

Daniel Andrlik

Well he was in a container. That doesn't necessarily mean present.

Stace Babcock

That's true. So hang on. So where is everybody? Are we in the inn, or a tavern?

Daniel Andrlik

You're in the inn.

Stace Babcock

Okay. So Nix will comfort Hubert the Second, and I don't know if we've taken over Zacc's old room at this point, or what, but she will take Hubert the Second to wherever ChaCha is for treatment.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, ChaCha's just a little ways over. You're all still crowded in this one room.

Stace Babcock

So Nix looks under the bed.

Daniel Andrlik

Mm-hmm (affirmative). ChaCha's sleeping under the bed.

Stace Babcock

Yo, ChaCha. Nix carefully, carefully shakes her shoulder, not even a shake, like a touch, and snatches her handbag just in case.

Alex Finn

I think ChaCha does that sudden eye open that you see in the movies, we're you're like, "Oh, they're just sleeping [inaudible 00:13:50]."

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, like no other motion, just the eyes suddenly snap open completely alert.

Stace Babcock

So Nix has Hubert the Second cuddled, and Hubert the First still by the scruff.

Daniel Andrlik

And there's definitely some of that blue blood on Hubert the First's antlers.

Alex Finn

Okay.

Stace Babcock

Yo, ChaCha. Your mouse hurt my fluff ball, so I was just wondering if you could help me with the wound. You see it? And she hold out Hubert the Second and show the blood.

Daniel Andrlik

Hubert the Second attempts to cuddle deeper into your hand. They don't like being farther away from you right now.

Alex Finn

Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I think I need to talk about this to Hubert the First afterwards because if you're going to start shit, you got to finish it or expect revenge.

Stace Babcock

Well, I did assert my dominance over Hubert the First just because... He was poking Hubert the Second with his antlers. So I kind of think I might have scared him, ChaCha, but yeah, if you could talk to him. But first, Hubert the Second is hurt. Can You do some first aid or whatever? I don't think it requires surgery.

Alex Finn

Yeah. I think ChaCha's going to do a slow crawl out from underneath the bed, reminiscent of horror movies. Hopefully, Dili's not freaked out.

Daniel Andrlik

As you're moving out from under the bed like Samara crawls out of a TV?

Alex Finn

Yes.

Stace Babcock

Nix has seen it a million times at this point.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, so ChaCha's out from under the bed.

Alex Finn

I guess ChaCha's going to use her healing skill, which FYI, use that really good XP to specialize in healing.

Stace Babcock

Nice!

Alex Finn

I've got four left, so.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, so ChaCha, this will be a nine, you're specialized, so that makes it a three.

Alex Finn

Don't take offense, I'm not going to use effort. I got a seven.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. It's not life-threatening. You can provide a bandage, and it's clearly painful for Hubert the Second. You really don't know enough about Hubert the Second's biology to know risk of infection or anything like that, but you can clean the wound a little bit and kind of put a bandage on it. It's a little hard because it's basically a furry sphere, so getting a bandage to stick is difficult, but one of the things that's obvious to you as a caretaker is that you're doing this, you think it's probably for the best that you do it, but Hubert the Second is really not interested in anybody besides Nix touching them right now.

Alex Finn

There. Yeah, Nix, I would definitely just kind of, I guess the word is baby this bear because can't do much, it's a sphere and covered in hair, so if I put too much of a bandaid on it, it'll be kind of waiting to take off the bandaid. It's going to be ripping a bald patch in there.

Stace Babcock

Okay, yeah. So I should shave it, is what you're saying?

Alex Finn

I mean, the question is if you shaved it, would it become... Is there anything underneath?

Stace Babcock

Yeah, I assume skin of some kind. I mean, there's blood here. Nix will part the fur and take a look. How long is this fur?

Daniel Andrlik

The fur is probably about three quarters of an inch all around.

Stace Babcock

Oh, okay. Yeah. So I don't know if Nix has a razor. It seems like such a basic item. Daniel, does Nix have a razor?

Daniel Andrlik

Is Nix likely to shave anything?

Alex Finn

I mean, the hair for the mohawk?

Sampson Davis

Yeah, doesn't doesn't she shave the side of her head?

Stace Babcock

Oh, yeah! No, she would have a razor. Thank you.

Alex Finn

Because she did have the Mohawk for a long time.

Daniel Andrlik

Probably doesn't anymore because her hair moves of its own accord.

Stace Babcock

Bleeds or whatever. Yeah, okay.

Daniel Andrlik

But yeah, so you'd have a razor of some sort, whether it's a razor or just a very sharp-ended knife that's small and designed for that.

Stace Babcock

Right. So she'll shave around it for the bandage application.

Daniel Andrlik

Hubert the Second whimpers very loudly as you start shaving.

Alex Finn

What color is Hubert underneath all that fur?

Daniel Andrlik

It's actually... The skin is somewhat bluish, just like the fur is.

Alex Finn

So kind of like a dog that has spots on its skin. When we shaved Max, when he got fixed, you could see his little spots on his skin and it was cute.

Daniel Andrlik

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Stace Babcock

Cool. So Nix will do that and get Hubert bandaged up and tuck Hubert in closely, Hubert the Second. Hubert the First, she still... Oh, she would have had to hand to ChaCha to shave.

Alex Finn

To shave Hubert the First?

Stace Babcock

No. She had Hubert the First. She has to hand... Who named these creatures? Him to you to shave. Yeah, that's the stitch.

Alex Finn

Okay.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, what is ChaCha doing with Hubert the First?

Alex Finn

I think ChaCha is kind of muttering things to Hubert the First, kind of like, "So we're going to have a better talk later, but if you're going to start it, you got to finish it because Hubert the Second has Nix's backing, so it's really not a smart idea to be attacking Hubert the Second on top of Nix." That seems like he wanted to die. Can I just say that?

Daniel Andrlik

His little beady eyes are just watching you.

Stace Babcock

Nix is going to have to eat Hubert the First.

Alex Finn

ChaCha is going to use mind reading on Hubert the First.

Daniel Andrlik

Ew. So it's surface thoughts. Hubert the First doesn't think in any sort of structured language because Hubert the First is a mouse.

Stace Babcock

You keep saying that, Daniel, but I still don't quite believe you. Just saying.

Daniel Andrlik

So the thoughts you're getting is that Hubert the First is somewhat encouraged after stabbing Hubert the Second, but still afraid of Hubert the Second. Is even more scared of Nix now than Hubert the First used to be, and Hubert the First really just wants to go somewhere safe, like a pocket. Also, Hubert the First is a little hungry.

Stace Babcock

Okay.

Alex Finn

So then ChaCha is going to kind of nod her head like, "Yes, we had a good talk. My point got across," and though it didn't, we know it didn't, and make sure she sticks him in a pocket that has food in it.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. So your mind reading is active for 10 minutes, so you can sense Hubert the First munching and it's basically the nonverbal equivalent of, "Food, food, food, food, food. Munching."

Alex Finn

That's fair. I agree with that. That's me. That's me right now, I want to just say.

Daniel Andrlik

It is the middle of the night, so it's up to you guys if you want to go back to sleep or do anything else.

Stace Babcock

Oh, yeah. Nix will go back to sleep, but wrapped around Hubert the Second fetal-style.

Daniel Andrlik

Coiled around, you might say?

Stace Babcock

Yes, you might say.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, so the next morning comes. Dili, you're the first one who wakes up.

Sampson Davis

Oh, what a lovely night. Oh, [Manta 00:21:07]. Let's get you some breakfast. Yeah, I guess Dili and Manta go down and get some breakfast.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. So you go down. It's only a few moments later that Vlad follows you down and sits at the table.

Sampson Davis

Morning.

Daniel Andrlik

Morning, Dili. Did you sleep well?

Sampson Davis

Yeah, why?

Daniel Andrlik

I'm glad to hear that.

Sampson Davis

Thanks. Did you sleep well?

Daniel Andrlik

I slept fine. I'm just worried about you. You've been through a lot lately.

Sampson Davis

I mean, no more than usual.

Daniel Andrlik

I'm sorry to hear about that too.

Sampson Davis

Thanks. Actually, now that I think about it, it's going relatively well. I haven't been eaten by anything in a long time, so doing all right.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah. Can I ask, Dili, what that is? And he points at your right bicep.

Sampson Davis

Dili looks at his right bicep.

Daniel Andrlik

There is a very raw bit of skin there with a piece of synth sticking out, kind of like a little nodule.

Sampson Davis

Astor, is this you? Are you doing this?

Daniel Andrlik

There's a long pause. Doing what?

Alex Finn

No.

Sampson Davis

Astor, I'm just going to ask you once, are you transforming my skin, my organic body into synthetic material?

Daniel Andrlik

While you're having this conversation, Vlad is just across the table drinking some Ninth World coffee, just like, "Interesting," because he's hearing your side of the conversation and Astor says, "Just making some optimizations, father, since your unfortunate accident."

Sampson Davis

I'm trying to be sympathetic because we are in a very unique situation, but you can't just change somebody else's body without their consent, Astor.

Daniel Andrlik

Why not? You did.

Alex Finn

Oh, burn.

Daniel Andrlik

I learned it from you, dad.

Alex Finn

I shouldn't be laughing so hard. Sorry.

Sampson Davis

Yes, I did. And nope, I have no response to that. It does not justify you doing i, though.

Daniel Andrlik

I don't see why not.

Sampson Davis

Because it's still a bad thing.

Daniel Andrlik

Listen, father, if there's one thing that I've seen in our times in this unfortunate, shall we say, present situation, is that you don't seem capable of surviving very effectively without me stepping in occasionally, in which case, I need to optimize for those moments. I believe you were just saying you haven't been eaten recently?

Sampson Davis

Part of the reason for that has been my own power. I did the thing with the tigers and that weird thingamabob that attacked us on the mountain side. You were there for that, Vlad?

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, I was. That was good work.

Sampson Davis

Yeah. I avoided being eaten there. What else? Put up that murder globe thing. Kept us from being eaten by those crawlers. Were they called crawlers?

Daniel Andrlik

That's what I've always heard them called.

Sampson Davis

Okay. So Astor, I've been keeping myself out of other things' mouths just fine by myself, with the help of Nix and ChaCha.

Daniel Andrlik

What about the eel creatures and the angels?

Sampson Davis

What eel creatures? Oh, right. Those eel creatures. Okay. I was thinking of other evil creatures. Okay, fair. Although technically, I wasn't going to get eaten by those. They were just going to rip me apart. Maybe.

Daniel Andrlik

I guess we won't know, will we?

Sampson Davis

No, we won't. But anyway, unimportant. Stop changing my biology to fit your needs, all right? I'll build you somewhere else you can go for a little bit, until we can get you the body that you can have full autonomy over, that's not mine.

Daniel Andrlik

Just saying, there's other upgrades we could pursue in the meantime. We have those arms.

Sampson Davis

Yes, but here's the thing: Ask me first. Don't just pursue it on your own, because again, it's not your body.

Daniel Andrlik

I'll see what I can do, father. And then you get the sudden silence, like he's deliberately turning his shoulder to you.

Sampson Davis

Ugh, what a dick. Vlad, do you have kids?

Daniel Andrlik

No.

Sampson Davis

Lucky.

Daniel Andrlik

I already have to look after too many.

Alex Finn

Burn.

Daniel Andrlik

It's at this moment that Nix and ChaCha wake up upstairs. Nix, you feel like shit. You have five less might points.

Stace Babcock

What?

Alex Finn

Oh, shit.

Stace Babcock

Why?

Daniel Andrlik

It's just the way you wake up.

Stace Babcock

Ugh. I don't remember a party. Nix will examine Hubert the Second.

Daniel Andrlik

Hubert the Second appears to be asleep. The bandage is there, it looks a little bit soaked with blood, but the blood looks dry. It just looks like it's stained. It's not like Hubert the Second was bleeding all night or anything.

Stace Babcock

She'll take a look under the bandage.

Daniel Andrlik

That will definitely wake up Hubert the Second as you're tugging at a bandage.

Stace Babcock

She makes little comforting noises, and just peels it up and looks underneath.

Daniel Andrlik

There's a bit of scab formed there. I mean, the wound is still there, but it just looks like natural stabbing.

Stace Babcock

All right. She'll replace it or change it, and then sit up and look under the bed to see if ChaCha's there.

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha, you are definitely awake under there.

Alex Finn

I think she's just kind of zoning out, staring at nothing, at everything.

Stace Babcock

I'm going to go downstairs, ChaCha. I'm going to hydrate. Man, I'm not feeling good this morning.

Alex Finn

Can ChaCha run a quick healing check?

Daniel Andrlik

Mm-hmm (affirmative). This will be a 12. You're specialized, so it's a six.

Alex Finn

Let's risk it again. Maybe we just binge drinked and didn't know it.

Stace Babcock

Anything's possible.

Alex Finn

17.

Daniel Andrlik

There doesn't appear to be anything physically wrong with Nix. She definitely seems a little weaker, like she's feeling a little off, but she doesn't seem particularly sick. There's no obvious wounds or anything like that. Something's off about her, you can tell. Her eyes look a little bit bloodshot, but there doesn't appear to be anything, as far as you can tell, physically wrong with her.

Alex Finn

Did you party when I wasn't looking?

Stace Babcock

I am kind of having a hard time remembering what we did last night, but I feel like we didn't party, ChaCha. I think didn't we just go to sleep?

Alex Finn

I thought we did, but there's nothing physically wrong with you. So I'm a little concerned.

Stace Babcock

Yeah, I'm just going to rest for a second. I'm going to try to take an action recovery role.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay.

Stace Babcock

Okay, so does she recover her HP, or might, sorry?

Daniel Andrlik

Sure.

Stace Babcock

Oh, interesting.

Daniel Andrlik

Why wouldn't you?

Stace Babcock

I don't know, Daniel. I don't know what's going on. You tell us. Ugh. All right, I'm going downstairs.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. You go down there you see Dili, Manta Ray, Vlad over at a table. Dili looks irritated.

Sampson Davis

Yeah, and I think you see Dili's half-finished breakfast pushed aside, and he's tinkering with something now, and I think when you get closer, you realize it's the broken metal mind that he picked up when Astor still had other, other body.

Daniel Andrlik

Although, that metal mine just lit up now because of the one crystal pillar. It's Io was replenished.

Sampson Davis

Oh? I totally forgot that happened. It's still partially broken though, right? It's not completely repaired.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, it's not fully-functional, but it's no longer decrepit, broken piece.

Sampson Davis

It's no longer a paperweight.

Daniel Andrlik

It's no longer just a conversation starter.

Sampson Davis

Yeah, you see Dili just muttering to himself, angry tinkering.

Stace Babcock

Nix will... If the bartender's there, she'll request a pitcher of water and then just drain it with both hands.

Alex Finn

I think ChaCha's going to slowly make her way down.

Daniel Andrlik

So you come down and see Nix draining this picture, and some of the water is running out the sides of her mouth because she's drinking so fast. Dili is irritatedly tinkering and Vlad is watching them both with just one eyebrow raised up while he sips this coffee.

Alex Finn

I mean, I guess that's what we're doing this morning. Angry, yeah.

Sampson Davis

Today is for violence.

Alex Finn

Today we woke up and we chose violence, that sounds like us.

Daniel Andrlik

And to be clear, it's the innkeeper's husband that served the water. A few moments later, the headman walks in to the inn from the outside, and sees you guys and comes over to Vlad and says, "Okay, I think we've got it cleared, or at least the tracks are cleared. There's still some debris on the sides, but I think we've got the main track clear for you guys."

Alex Finn

Okay.

Sampson Davis

All right. Dili's going to look up from his stuff and look at the others, "So, are we leaving today? Had enough?"

Alex Finn

I don't see why not. Is there something you really love here?

Sampson Davis

Dili just kind of glances at the headman, "It's a fine town, but we do need to be getting on."

Daniel Andrlik

Well, certainly, and we understand. We're grateful for the service you provided to Willem's Foe.

Alex Finn

For Willem Dafoe?

Sampson Davis

Yep, love it.

Alex Finn

I think it's in our contract or something that we should leave immediately. So, bye.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay.

Stace Babcock

Yeah, I'm going to run over there, you guys. I'm trying to sweat this out.

Sampson Davis

Sweat what out? Okay.

Stace Babcock

Woke up not feeling great, honestly.

Sampson Davis

What did you eat?

Stace Babcock

What did I eat? Surprisingly, not Hubert the First. I mean, Dili, people food, obviously. Just as an aside, I ate the bartender. And then she whispers, "Small creatures in the area, Dili."

Sampson Davis

And where any of them brightly colored? Because that's usually poison.

Stace Babcock

Could it have been something she eat?

Daniel Andrlik

Give me an intellect roll of nine.

Stace Babcock

Sure. Oh, shit. 19.

Sampson Davis

Damn, all right.

Daniel Andrlik

You don't think it was anything you ate. What would you propose as a minor effect?

Alex Finn

A big hint on what it was.

Stace Babcock

Oh, yeah. A big fat hint. I would like a clue, Daniel.

Daniel Andrlik

You can't think of anything that you specifically have done that would have caused this.

Stace Babcock

I think someone did this to me, you guys. ChaCha, what's... What is Hubert the First doing?

Alex Finn

Hiding in the pocket. We came to an understanding that Hubert the First shouldn't start things that Hubert the First cannot finish.

Stace Babcock

Yo, ChaCha, I know I said I wouldn't eat Hubert the First, but if Hubert the First is acting aggressively toward me or Hubert II, well...

Sampson Davis

Hey, what happened? Did Hubert the First start something?

Alex Finn

And he didn't finish it, so that's the problem.

Stace Babcock

Yeah, he stabbed Hubert the Second with his antlers last night.

Alex Finn

They're not just for decoration.

Stace Babcock

Ugh. Man. So both me and Hubert the Second don't feel good this morning.

Alex Finn

And I will say, full disclosure, I've come to terms that if Hubert the First starts stuff he can't finish, he gets what he gets. I've told him this.

Stace Babcock

I mean, yeah, ChaCha. My promise was sort of predicated on the fact that Hubert the First wouldn't-

Alex Finn

Start stuff, yeah.

Stace Babcock

Yeah. So I'll do my best. I think I scared the shit out of him last night, so maybe he'll chill the fuck out. I sincerely hope so. But man. I mean, I mean, I guess you can't feel good every day. I'm going to have to change my regimen and see why this happened. Yeah, I'm just going to sweat it out. I'll see you guys at the subway there.

Alex Finn

But yeah, like I said, if it happens, it happens and you can't win them all.

Sampson Davis

All right.

Stace Babcock

Nix takes off. She gone.

Alex Finn

Oh. Subway?

Sampson Davis

Subway. Probably need some time to get Manta Ray down the hole, and then it'd be a good idea to check subway tram thing. The cart. The car, whatever we call it. Just make sure that still runs.

Alex Finn

I think that's a good idea.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. So you guys are heading towards the greenhouse, which is of course, your way back down to the underground, and as you're headed that way, Jackson comes running up to ChaCha, and he's carrying a sheaf of paper with him, and he says, "ChaCha, I made you this. Well, I originally made it to put in my room, but my mother said I should give it to you instead. So I said, 'Yeah, this is a good idea.'" And when you look at it, it is a drawing of a woman in a red cloak with purple smoke coming up from her eyes.

Alex Finn

Oh. I think ChaCha makes a very confused face like she's not exactly sure what's happening. Did this child make a wanted poster of her, or is this a good thing? Thank you?

Daniel Andrlik

Do you like it? I spent all morning on it.

Alex Finn

Alex the person is crying.

Stace Babcock

Oh, so sweet.

Alex Finn

Yeah, it's really cool. You got the smoke details and everything.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, it's really cool how you do that. I know some people find it unsettling, but I like it. I think it's neat.

Alex Finn

Thank you. Most people find me in general unsettling.

Daniel Andrlik

I guess that checks out.

Alex Finn

Yeah, I think this is one of those moments where they tell you, "Just keep being yourself," and if people don't like it, kill them.

Sampson Davis

From behind, you just hear Dili go, "ChaCha, no!"

Daniel Andrlik

You know what? I like that. I'm going to stick to that.

Alex Finn

Yeah, it's a good way to live your life. Don't let other people tell you who to be.

Daniel Andrlik

"That's right. That's right. I like that. Well, see you later, ChaCha." And you see him go running into the inn behind you guys, and you hear him yelling out like, "Can I get my usual coffee?"

Alex Finn

I love this kid.

Sampson Davis

How old is this kid? How old is this kid, eight?

Daniel Andrlik

He's about 10. I can't remember what I said in his first appearance. He's nine or 10. You guys make your way down to the tunnels, and make your way to the pod. Most of the people down here have cleared out, they're resting after doing all this work. Dili, as you approach the pod, its doors just slide open automatically.

Sampson Davis

Was someone working on this?

Daniel Andrlik

There's nobody else around besides you guys.

Sampson Davis

What the fuck? All right.

Alex Finn

Dili, did you sleep prepare, sleep tinker? Is that what the word is?

Sampson Davis

I don't think so.

Daniel Andrlik

Lights click on inside the pod and some of the lights along the tunnel start lighting up, just those intermediate ones along the sides.

Sampson Davis

Okay. Dili's just going to do a quick check on whatever controls. I just diagnostic on this thing, just make sure everything is running.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, there aren't any specific driving controls in it, but give me a understanding Numenera of 12, so that's a 15 for you because cognitive.

Alex Finn

ChaCha will assist.

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha's helping, so now it's a 12 for Dili.

Sampson Davis

12, and then nine, six with my edge. I roll an 11.

Daniel Andrlik

It appears to be powering itself back up. You think it's possible that when all the other problems were identified, it fell down into a very limited maintenance mode, and now that it's detecting the presence of a potential rider and that this track is cleared, it seems to be powering back up and trying to resume whatever program it was on before.

Sampson Davis

Is there a clear go button?

Daniel Andrlik

No.

Sampson Davis

Okay.

Daniel Andrlik

You suspect that once people get inside of it, the doors are going to shut and it's going to start going on its way again, probably to whatever destination it was programmed for before.

Sampson Davis

Dili will turn around to the others and say, "All right. So this thing looks like it's kind of on a semi-automatic program. So it's not going to go until people get on, so I think we got to wait for Nix to get down here before we can get on and get going."

Stace Babcock

Nix is right behind you.

Sampson Davis

Oh, Jesus! Where did you come from?

Stace Babcock

Yo, Dili. I've been here.

Alex Finn

Really need to open those eyes up, Dili.

Stace Babcock

Yeah, I beat you guys here. I've been doing squats in that corner.

Alex Finn

Didn't you see it, Dili?

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha, when Nix says, "I've been doing squats in that corner," you look over there and you can see just on the edges of shadow there, these snake-like creatures, two of them, with these distorted Münch faces, just watching there, slowly bobbing their heads left to right.

Alex Finn

Like they're jamming to music?

Daniel Andrlik

It's almost like they're idle and watching.

Alex Finn

Hey, Nix. See you got some fanboys now.

Stace Babcock

Where? What do you mean ChaCha?

Alex Finn

It's the snakes. The dick snakes. They like you.

Stace Babcock

I mean, that makes sense because I am a snake. I mean, sort of. You know what I mean. Becoming more snake-like by the day.

Alex Finn

It's not a friendship like, it's more like a they realize your greatness and they want to follow you as your servants. So I think in the weird long... Not weird, but the long run of it, it's a good idea.

Stace Babcock

Can they show themselves? ChaCha, can you talk to them and be like, "Yo, what's up with this situation?"

Alex Finn

I mean, should I tell them you're cool with it or something?

Stace Babcock

Just tell them I want to know what's going on. If they're civil, I'm going to be civil. You know what I'm saying, ChaCha?

Alex Finn

I guess ChaCha's just going to turn to the corner and just kind of look at them to see how they react to that.

Daniel Andrlik

They kind of flip the back ends of the bodies a little bit around, sort of swishing a tail almost, and they open their mouths with those black glittering teeth inside. They don't make any sound that you are hearing right now, but they are reacting to you with some excitement and interest, ChaCha. It's at this point you also, ChaCha, notice that there is another one kind of coming from the shadows of the other tunnel, kind of sort of slowly making its way towards Dili, but kind of keeping their distance.

Alex Finn

Okay, so Nix consented to this, but Dili I'm not so sure of. So be cool, don't be a dick.

Daniel Andrlik

Black saliva drips from their toothy mouths.

Stace Babcock

Yo, ChaCha, just to be clear, if they're up to something creepy and weird, I do not consent to it. I'm just trying to figure out what's up.

Alex Finn

I think two out of three are being cool about it, and the third one is going to get his ass handed to him if he keeps being creepy.

Sampson Davis

Looking around, does Dili see anything Astor Vision?

Daniel Andrlik

This would be a perception-based role for you and Astor, a 15.

Sampson Davis

Okay.

Daniel Andrlik

It's 15 because Astor is hindered in this situation.

Sampson Davis

Interesting.

Daniel Andrlik

Astor can perceive extra-dimensional entities, but he's hindered in his attempt to do so.

Sampson Davis

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay, that's a nine Dili's edge, and that's a four.

Daniel Andrlik

Astor does not clock anything.

Sampson Davis

Well, I mean, we have to get going anyway.

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha, one of these creatures starts advancing towards you kind of in a sinuous way, moving right towards you.

Alex Finn

Listen, we're trying to negotiate tentative peace, but I will fuck you up if you keep this up, because you're getting a little creepy.

Daniel Andrlik

It's mouth opens wide and stretches backwards, almost from that Scream face to almost the hint of a smile on the edges.

Alex Finn

I think she's going to look at the two that were super cool with Nix being Nix.

Daniel Andrlik

That's one of them that's coming towards you.

Alex Finn

Oh. Then she's going to send out a Mental Onslaught.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, so this will be a 12.

Alex Finn

16.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, it seems to strike it and it halts, and you do suddenly hear gurgling hissing sound, and it's barbed tongue flicks out, and then the other one that was over there starts advancing towards you, this time a little bit more quickly.

Alex Finn

I'm going to keep going because like I said to Hubert the First, don't start shit you aren't going to finish. And she's going to do another Mental Onslaught.

Daniel Andrlik

Against the same one or the other one?

Alex Finn

The other one.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, so this will be a 12.

Alex Finn

Nat 20.

Stace Babcock

Nice.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, extra damage or major effect?

Alex Finn

I think I'm going to go with major effect.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, what are you proposing?

Alex Finn

I want this to assert ChaCha's dominance on the room. This is just how ChaCha's going to pee on everything, and be like, "No, this is mine."

Daniel Andrlik

Okay. So the one that you hit stops for a second and looks at you and hisses again, barbed tongue sticking, but they don't approach you. The other one kind of looks away from you and starts making their way over towards Dili.

Alex Finn

That is also mine. If you are going to keep going, I'm going to keep going. Also, he's got something else in him that will kill you.

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha, give me a intellect role. It's as a social role of 12.

Alex Finn

17.

Daniel Andrlik

You don't think that these creatures actually understand the language you're speaking.

Alex Finn

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay, so they don't speak our language. Hey, Dili. You might want to tell Astor to kind of get ready.

Sampson Davis

I am ready enough. Also, what are the rest of us seeing? What's Nix and Dili seeing while...

Daniel Andrlik

You see ChaCha talking to apparently nothing and sending out Mental Onslaughts.

Sampson Davis

And we just see them just terminate midair, or?

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah.

Sampson Davis

Okay. I don't need to Astor to help me, but I do think that the rest of us can't really do anything about this, so we should just leave. I don't think this is a fight that we can win because it seems like only you can interact with whatever you're interacting with right now, ChaCha.

Alex Finn

I mean, weren't we riding the subway to our next location?

Sampson Davis

We were about to. We haven't got on yet.

Alex Finn

I think we should get on then.

Sampson Davis

Yes. Where are the snakes? Dili kind of wants to get on, but isn't quite sure where he can step.

Alex Finn

I think ChaCha's going to point them out.

Stace Babcock

When ChaCha points them out, and Nix has an idea of their location, she is going to bear her fangs in that direction.

Daniel Andrlik

Are you hissing too? Are you doing the full-on thing?

Stace Babcock

Yeah, yeah.

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha, when Nix does that, these snakes freeze and they slide backwards, turn and look at Nix, and they lower their heads to the floor.

Alex Finn

Nix, you're much better at asserting dominance in the situation, so I think I'll just keep [inaudible 00:44:23], you keep hissing.

Stace Babcock

Okay, yeah. That works. Nix will attempt to signal that her friends are off-limits. So she'll step between, I think, Dil. Maybe as she hissed, she stepped between.

Daniel Andrlik

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, so ChaCha, you see two of them kind of back off a little bit and one of them, keeping their head down low and submissive, slides a little closer to Nix, very slowly, until they get about two feet away. Then you see weird flex going up their body towards their head and their mouth opens and they spit out this viscous black goop and mucus onto the ground, and then they flick their barbed tongue, and they slither away in the shadows, disappearing. You guys are alone in the tunnel, but Nix, two feet in front of you, seemingly from nowhere, is a puddle of black mucus with some sort of object in it.

Alex Finn

That's a gift.

Stace Babcock

Cool.

Sampson Davis

What the fuck?

Alex Finn

Maybe we should use gloves to get the object, just saying. Or a stick.

Stace Babcock

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm wearing glove, so Nix will pick it up with her gloved hand.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, the glove smokes a little bit and gets eaten away by this mucus, but your skin underneath is unaffected by it, and what you find is a small pendant on a leather thong, and this pendant is in the shape of three snakes braided together.

Stace Babcock

Does it look like the artifact she originally recovered?

Daniel Andrlik

A smaller and more complex design, but yes, very similar.

Stace Babcock

Oh. She will rinse it with her water skin or whatever, and put it on.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, you put it on.

Stace Babcock

Does anything seem to happen?

Daniel Andrlik

Nothing.

Stace Babcock

Okay.

Daniel Andrlik

Hubert the Second makes a tiny... Kind of disturbed from their nap in your sling just because this thing is coming onto your neck around where the sling is, but otherwise, nothing happens.

Stace Babcock

Okay, interesting. Yo, that's kind of weird, right, ChaCha?

Alex Finn

I think you were able to assert dominance as the superior snake creature on them, so I don't think it's that weird, right?

Sampson Davis

Carabas did call you an imp queen. Maybe this is what he was referring to.

Stace Babcock

Oh. I mean, seems weird, but I guess I am. Maybe I should have tried to learn more about that artifact initially, I'm thinking. All the listeners are like, "Yeah." Yeah, that kind of makes sense, Dili. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to be queen of the sneks, but...

Sampson Davis

Yeah, weird.

Daniel Andrlik

ChaCha, I would say in this moment with this conversation, you probably now remember that both Buddy Cop and Not Buddy Cop have both referred to the dicks as imps.

Alex Finn

Now that I'm thinking about it, Buddy Cop and Not Buddy Cop, they like to call the dicks imps, instead of dicks.

Stace Babcock

Wait, Nix wasn't privy to this nomenclature prior?

Daniel Andrlik

I don't know if Nix would have heard it before. ChaCha's definitely heard it before, but I don't remember if anybody talking to Nix would have. Mamma Jerrun might have called them imps one, but that would have been just in passing.

Stace Babcock

Okay, so I don't know that then she would necessarily have put together what Dili was saying if she didn't know. Because she knows them as the dicks. ChaCha, one thing that I definitely want to make sure, if I am an imp or whatever, is that we stay friends because I know that you don't like them.

Alex Finn

I mean, just because I don't like them doesn't mean I don't like you.

Stace Babcock

Thanks, ChaCha. I appreciate that. Man, shit's weird. All right. Well, next, I'll just get in the train.

Sampson Davis

As we're getting on, Dili will ask Vlad, "Hey, Vlad. Where's that Prentiss person you've mentioned a couple times?"

Daniel Andrlik

Prentiss moves around between the safe houses. I don't usually encounter her in the same place more than once. She doesn't have a central place she works out. She just kind of goes where she's supposed to go.

Sampson Davis

Do you have a way of contacting her? Because if she sees something similar to what ChaCha can see, maybe she knows more about these imps.

Daniel Andrlik

If we can get to a safe house, I could probably find some way to reach her via the Proctors. I don't have a way out here just on my own to reach her.

Sampson Davis

Right, okay.

Daniel Andrlik

I need the fire.

Sampson Davis

Oh, the fire is not just a Mamma J thing, that's a standard equipment?

Daniel Andrlik

Not equipment, Dili. The fire's at multiple places at once. It's a singular fire, and a little bit of it is always with a guardian. And at that moment, Dili and Nix, you feel a slight warming sensation on your arms where the fire licked your skin when you took your oaths, but I think we've all had enough strangeness for one morning, he and takes a sip from a small flask that he pulls out of pocket. Shall we get on board?

Sampson Davis

Yeah. Maybe Prentiss can be after we deal with... After Nix figures out what's happening with those travelers, huh?

Daniel Andrlik

Let's see how it goes. So you guys getting on the pod?

Stace Babcock

Oh, yeah.

Daniel Andrlik

So you get on the pod, the door shuts, and the pod begins moving, speeding up and moving very, very quickly. One thing that didn't happen before is even though there are no speakers that you can see anywhere, there is a crackling sound and then a deep voice starts repeating something over and over again in a language that I would say Nix and ChaCha don't recognize. Dili, you hear Astor in your head just almost muttering to himself, "Cute."

Sampson Davis

Astor, what's it saying?

Daniel Andrlik

Oh, you do need my help now?

Sampson Davis

All right. If you're going to be like that, don't tell me.

Daniel Andrlik

Fine.

Sampson Davis

Dili pulls out the metal mind, starts angry tinkering again.

Daniel Andrlik

Careful with that.

Sampson Davis

Shut up.

Daniel Andrlik

So you guys are shooting along for two hours before the pod finally comes to a stop in a wide chamber. You guys are aware there have been multiple branches where this pod has gone one way or the other, but it's been moving so fast that you haven't been able to get a good feel for those decisions, they come by so fast. And it pulls in on a platform that is dimly lit. This is not a just a plain cavern, there's actually some walls here and there's a staircase leading up from the platform, and the pod comes to a stop and opens its doors, and the lights on the tunnels start flicking out in succession. The pod turns off its lights, and it's just the dim light of the platform.

Sampson Davis

During the journey, while Dili was angry tinkering, he pulled out a few books, his crafting book/notebook and also his understanding Numenera book, and at first he was referencing both these books a lot, but then as the journey went on, he referenced them less and less, having retained a lot of the knowledge. And Dili is going to improve a skill, become trained, properly trained in understanding Numenera and become tier four.

Daniel Andrlik

Awesome. Boom. Nice. Vlad looks around and says, "Well, we might as well figure out where the hell we are."

Sampson Davis

All right.

Stace Babcock

Nix will lead the way, as she does.

Daniel Andrlik

Okay, it takes about 20 minutes to climb the staircase. It's massive, but it reaches a opening point, and you can see that while there's structure here, the structure kind of fades off into rock, like it was supposed to be some sort of hidden entrance as best as possible. It is the black rock of the Riage, which makes sense. That's where theoretically the subway was taking you. And you can see that as you approach that, it's definitely daytime still, which makes sense because you've only been traveling for two hours, and you step out and you are standing on top, and Nix, go ahead and give me a navigation role of 15.

Stace Babcock

She's trained.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, so it's 12.

Stace Babcock

Another 20.

Sampson Davis

Fuck yeah.

Daniel Andrlik

Wow. Okay, what would you propose as a major effect? You're going to have an idea where you are, for sure. Would you rather hear where you are for sure before I tell you what the major... Okay, so you're definitely in the Riage. While you haven't been exactly here, but you're able to look at the surrounding landscape and kind of put two and two together, and while there's a trail leading down here, it's not a particularly steady trail, it's a little steep, it looks like it's designed to be intimidating enough that people won't want to try to use it, but you think that if you got down this mountain, you're probably about 1000 feet higher in elevation than you need to be. You think that that would link up to a path to the mountains that could probably get you to the Proving Grounds within a day. To be clear, getting down will take you however much time it takes to get down, but once you get down, you should be able to link up to the path and then from there, it would be a day's travel to the Proving Grounds.

Stace Babcock

Got it.

Daniel Andrlik

And then it's at this point, as you're standing there, figuring this out, that you hear a small voice coming from the other side of this entrance from where you're looking at, and it says, "You're late," and Vlad kind of jumps for a moment, and then turns around looks and says, "Speak of the devil. My young friends, let me introduce you to Prentiss of the Guardians of Night's Hope," and that's where we'll end this episode.

Stace Babcock

Oh, my God.

Sampson Davis

Stace?

Stace Babcock

Yes?

Sampson Davis

Something about this episode.

Stace Babcock

It's got to be the imp thing, right? That's crazy. I feel like a lot is happening for everybody, but honestly, my favorite moment was probably the drawing that the wee child gave to ChaCha. It's great to see her not get kicked out of a town for bad behavior, and bond with a child and instill violence in the child. So I thought that that was a good. I'm loving ChaCha's development right now for sure. Dili's too, but that's just my favorite for this episode.

Daniel Andrlik

Cool. So we have a segment that we do which we called Player Intrusions. That's where we offer you, the listener, an XP to check out something that we think you would really dig. This week is Alex's turn. Alex, what would you offer our listeners an XP to check out?

Alex Finn

I'm going to go big picture, but then narrow it down a lot. So for my player intrusion this week, I would like to recommend that our listeners go check out the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. I'll send you how to spell that, Daniel. And to narrow it down, I would like to particularly say, "Hey, go check out my teacher, Janane. She's based in India, I believe she's still in the Chennai area right now, and she does online classes, and she... I'm wondering when she's going to post on our YouTube channel, but I'm going to give Daniel a link to her YouTube channel to put in the show notes. But yeah, I just really appreciate the dance form. It's something I've been studying for a lot of years, and it's all about telling a story. There's never just a we're dancing to dance, there's always a reason behind the dance.

The warm-up dance I learned, which is 11 minutes long. The reason it's called a warm-up dance is because it goes through all five different styles of rhythm cycles in this dance style. It goes in counts of three, counts of four, counts of five, counts of seven and counts of nice, and it's telling the entire story of, I believe, gosh, [foreign language 00:56:38] and it's [foreign language 00:56:41], if anyone wants to look it up. I'll spell that for Daniel as well, but it's just a really interesting art style to see because it's heavily involved in rhythm, facial expressions and math. How many times can you fit a five count into 34 measures? 34 counts divided by five, go. It doesn't work, but you'll have to figure it out.

Daniel Andrlik

That's very cool.

Alex Finn

Yeah, I want to recommend my teacher, Janane, because she's amazing and I haven't said her last name in such a long time, I'm not going to try to.

Daniel Andrlik

Cool. Very cool. Well, if people want to reach out to us to talk about their experiences with this form of dance or any other form of dance, or the podcast, how would they do that, Sampson?

Sampson Davis

Oh. Well, we have a website. From there, you can get to all of our socials. The website is explorerswanted.fm and our big socials are @explorerswanted on twitter, @explorerswantedpodcast on Instagram and Facebook, and if you want to interact with us directly, but don't want to go on Twitter, because it's a hell site, we have a Discord. You can find that by going to explorerswanted.fm/Discord. Also, if it is within your means and you want to give us money, we have a convenient place to do that on Patreon, patreon.com/explorerswanted. Go do that, if you can.

Daniel Andrlik

Yeah, absolutely. It helps us do what we do, and if you can't financially support us, we totally understand. The best thing that you could do is to tell a friend about the podcast and why you like it, why they should listen to it. The second best thing you could do is to leave us a five star written review about the podcast and why you like it, the more detailed the better, because that really helps people check out the show. Typically, if it's on Apple Podcasts, that makes a huge difference because that's where a lot of people start in their search for podcasts. So highly recommend doing that if you can, it makes such a difference. If you didn't like the podcast, or if you just thought it was meh, well, I need to make an apology.

Early last season, I described a ritual in a way that was highly irresponsible, I later issued an apology for doing so, but even at that time, I wasn't fully aware of the potential consequences of sharing said details. I'm afraid that listening to the instructions and in turn, translating the descriptions into thought is enough to create the circle and open the gate. However, failing to complete the ritual exactly will break the circle without binding the associated entity, putting the practitioner at risk. Now, all associated activities for that fall under our standard liability disclaimer, but I feel it's only responsible to provide additional safety information if you were negatively impacted by this event.

This applies to you if you have suffered from any of the following, narcolepsy, insomnia, narcolepsy followed by intense dreams featuring insomnia, low appetite, voracious appetite, some nominalism that involves crossing state or provincial borders, waking in the middle of a deserted rural highway at night with an iron taste in your mouth, sexual Dysfunction including successfully reproducing with American-made muscle cars, wading into the waters of Lake Murray while covered in sticky blood that looks black in the moonlight, and/or having violent vomiting attacks involving spewing forth whole live lobsters.

If this applies to you, talk to your doctor, mystic, spiritual leader about common counter-spells, including wart remedies, eating the hearts of powerful mammals to absorb their power, the higher on the food chain, the better, or as a vegan-friendly option, imbuing a root vegetable with power by feeding it your own blood and then roasting it under the new moon while cosplaying as a kelpie, and then arranging it into a tasty dish that will make omnivorous humans doubt their life choices. As a reminder, if you have any issues with this or any of the proposed courses of action, please direct your questions to the only one who could have foreseen this problem, Stace Babcock. If you want to reach out to us individually on social media, you can can find me on Twitter, @andrlik, A-N-D-R-L-I-K.

Stace Babcock

You can ask me questions I don't currently know the answers to on twitter, @stacewindu.

Sampson Davis

And I'm now thinking about what OSHA for demon summoning would look like. I'm @slampotato.

Alex Finn

I'm sure that OSHA requirement requires a lot of handrails. I'm realteaunicorn on Twitter, and Teawithaunicorn on Twitch.

Daniel Andrlik

All right. That's it for us. Hope you enjoyed the show. We will be back next week as we will for every week in the foreseeable future. Have a good night, day, weekend, or whenever you're listening to this, and bye!