Afterparty: 34-36. Legends of the Meeting I-III

Did you know that Sea Bees are a real thing? How does Eric keep so many voices in his head? And will we even know if Julia from a different timeline has changed reality? All that and more on the Afterparty.

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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: https://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

Amanda:  Hey, hi, hello, and welcome to the After Party where, folks, it turns out the sea bees are a really wholesome group of people, what repair ships for the Navy.

Brandon:  Woo!

Eric:  Sometimes you just stumble into stuff you didn't know you were gonna stumble into. I'll say, Sea bees are just a fun thing to say, and—

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric:  —that's where that came from me. If I could talk about my truth, if you can have actors on actors, on actors for a second.

Amanda: Sure. Eric, what would you say to God when you got to the pearly gates?

Eric: I would say, "Sea bees."

Amanda: Nice. 

Eric: Sea bees.

Brandon: Sea bees. I mean, in— in our Sea bee's defense, they're just bees living their life, you know? We're the invaders.

Amanda: That's true. 

Eric: Damn, dude.

Brandon: So—

Amanda: We just kind of sailed up to them, through them, and into their house.

Brandon: Exactly. So maybe all Sea bee is good.

Amanda: Guys, not— not to be ribbled right off the bat here in the Afterparty, but yesterday, I did use a bathroom at work, which is a shared bathroom with the whole floor of offices, and there was a woman having a full conversation with her friend who— like the woman— the first one was standing at the sink, just like doing her hair or something. The second one was actively pooping, and they were having a full conversation. And I was like, "Whoa."

Eric: Miss, miss, miss, hear me. Miss, miss, miss, miss.

Amanda: Yes. Ye

Eric: Eric Silver of the Join the Party gazette.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric:  How did you know she was actively pooping?

Amanda: Well, Eric, context clues, using my five senses, and I don't want to get more specific. It wasn't like stealthy.

Eric:  I— more people need to say and answer to things, while I use my five senses. You can decide for yourself which sense I was using. Oh, my God.

Amanda:  Well, speaking of friends who I— like, you see, I wouldn't even talk to Julia while she poops. Julia is— is not with us today, but we're gonna hold it down.

Brandon: No, nobody talks to anybody while that's happening. Stop it.

Amanda: I know, it's not possible. It's not possible.

Eric: No, it shouldn't. Yeah. She got abducted by aliens. The people across the galaxy wanted to know about her cool styles, and—

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: —they picked her up. But it's just for this Afterparty. She's going to be in the recorded episodes.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Because of the way the timeline works of how when we record.

Brandon: Right.

Eric: The aliens are— took her recently, but after we recorded the next three episodes.

Amanda: Hurray.

Brandon: Right. So like she's gonna come back from the future, but because we're in the past—

Eric: Right.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brandon: —she can't record this one—

Eric: Yeah.

Brandon: —but she already had recorded the other ones.

Eric: But because of multiversal theory, Julia is left-handed now. 

Brandon: Yeah, exactly. That's how you know. 

Amanda: Oh.

Eric: And all— and that's 'cause you can tell in the character. In all of her characters going forward, you could tell that they're left-handed.

Amanda: As long as she tells me to buy Google stock will be okay.

Brandon: In 2024—

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: —buy some Google stock, okay?

Eric: Have you heard of Nvidia? Dang, I came back too early.

Amanda: Shit.

Eric: Shit.

Amanda: Alright, folks. There's so much going on here at Multitude. This is, I believe, the last Afterparty we're going to release that isn't recorded live on the road from the Rolling Bones Tour.

Eric: Whoa.

Brandon: What?

Amanda: How we feeling about this, gentlemen?

Brandon: I am excited. We've been talking about stage dressing, some fun visual props for your eyes to feast upon.

Amanda: All five senses.

Brandon: All five senses.

Amanda: I'm— I'm gonna be— I'm going to be distributing some amount of incense.

Brandon: It's going to look, and taste, and sound, and feel—

Amanda: Yep.

Brandon: —and— what'd I miss?

Eric: Your ability to see ghosts, that's the one that you missed.

Brandon: And the ability to see ghosts, good. 

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: We're going to activate that one a lot. We're going to release a ghost, and It's like you have— it's like people who paid for the 3D glasses or not.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Eric: You just— whether or not you're— you're going to be able to see that ghost and interact with it. 

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: No, I'm super excited. It's gonna be really fun. I just want to go on the road, I want to see people in person. I love performing live. I— I miss it. I really do. I got to do it for one of the other shows that we produce in Multitude, and like I realized my blood pressure didn't change. Like my— like my heart would stay the same BPMs when I walked out on stage and I'm like, "Oh, yeah, the thing I like to do. Yeah, there it is." 

Amanda: The place where I'm most comfortable and at home.

Eric: The place where people laugh and cheer immediately after I say something, I love that. So I— I'm super stoked and we've planned some really interesting stuff for the Join the Party part, the Spirits part, and question mark part.

Amanda: There is a question mark part, that's right. I forgot about that.

Eric: There's a lot of question marks, yeah.

Amanda: Like the ampersand on Shay McMullen’s incredible poster. That's a question mark.

Eric: That's a question mark.

Brandon: That's the part where we all get abducted, and go into space, and explore space, and then come back from the future.

Eric: Brandon, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm from a different multiverse where that wasn't a good idea. And I'm try— I've already— I'm warning you now that we shouldn't go into space, only Julia can do that.

Brandon: Is that why you're no-handed?

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: Oh, damn.

Eric: Yeah, my dominant hand is my face, that's why I've been moving the microphone with my nose for the last few weeks.

Amanda: Eric, we also have some breaking news that we need to address really quick here on the podcast, which is that your DM glove made an appearance at the NBA dunk contest last weekend, and I'm just wondering how kind of you feel about that, if there was a licensing agreement? If my father-in-law, Adam Silver, paid you for that? Because if not, I think we might have cause for legal action.

Brandon: Yeah, that's a lawsuit, if I ever heard one.

Eric: I'm gonna have to explain some sports stuff. Oh, here we go.

Amanda: Whoa!

Eric: Here we go. There's two things, one, my dad is not the commissioner of basketball, but his name is Adam Silver, not my dad, the Commissioner of— of basketball, his name is Adam Silver.

Brandon: If I were you and I was trying to not be like a rich, elite jerk, I would also say that, so—

Eric: Brandon, why would I not want to be a rich, elite jerk that I could just—

Amanda: That's great.

Eric: I could be just rolling like that. The funny thing about Adam Silver, one is that he looks like Nosferatu, which no one talks about. 

Amanda: He really does, yeah. 

Eric: But the second thing is that he spent so much time trying to be friends with the NBA players. Like, now when he has to be like— Brandon, hold on, I need to give Brandon time to look up— if he looks like Nosferatu.

Brandon: He does. He does look like Nosferatu 

Amanda: It's only worse with time. 

Eric: Yeah. He's— he's so nice as a commissioner of sports, like, it's been much like a teacher you can push over. It's going to be a problem for him in the future. The NBA All-Star Weekend happened recently, and they did an All-Star game and it was just like no one was trying. People were, like, throwing up shots from, like, half-court for fun. They were intentionally trying to score without dribbling the ball. It was really weird. And at the end, when he gave the trophy to the Eastern Conference All-Stars, he's like, "You definitely scored the most points." And he sounded so mad and upset. 

Amanda: And then he, like, walked out of frame.

Eric: And then he just walked away. He walked away from the camera and was like, "I'm mad, but I'm the nice teacher, so I can't say anything." And the whole time I was like, "Dang. What if that was my dad?"

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: And my dad just got hosed by like Luka Doncic, like a bunch—

Amanda: So—

Eric: —of Serbian—Serbian basketball players.

Brandon: Why weren't they playing for realsies? What li— wha— 

Eric: It is hard to— it has been a thing lately to incentivize NBA players as they see this as a job and they've gotten more workers' rights. It's hard to empower them to, like, do extra work, and like that is—

Brandon: Gotcha.

Eric: —what the NBA All-Star game is. So it's been— like, it's— it's weird. It's like, yeah, the players have more powers, but they are also entertainers, and did a bad job entertaining.

Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eric: So which has been very odd lately for that. For this, like, extracurricular game that they had to play in Indiana for that matter. Like—

Amanda: No one was stoked to be in Indianapolis. 

Eric: I would love to do a live show in Indianapolis. But if I made millions of dollars, it might be harder to convince me to go to Indianapolis in February and per— and perform. 

Brandon: Here— here's my pitch, instead of two teams in the NBA All-Star game, you do one actual NBA All-Star team versus the Harlem Globetrotters every year.

Eric: That would be pretty good.

Amanda: That would be better.

Eric: And Brandon is now on sports radio. "This is 91.5, The crush. We have Brandon Grugle's words."

Amanda: Damn. I never thought about what— what sports radio or like just radio generally would look like on the Great Salt Sea. Like, I imagine there are just kind of like trucker CB radios, CB again and again.

Brandon: Hmm.

Eric:  Oh, there was.

Amanda: And that would be just like incredibly fun, and we'd pull a lot of pranks.

Eric: Honestly, I'm surprised that I haven't created mass media in a larger scale in Verda Stello just yet, but I'm like, "I don't want to deal with this."

Amanda: We'll get there.

Eric: In the— in the One Piece way that like they communicate by talking snails to each other instead of phones, but they also do have cameras. It's like I don't want to mess with them, I don't want to—I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to put the internet into my thing. We already tried that in Campaign Two, and I was like it's— it's different. I don't want to— I don't want to think about that.

Brandon: I don't think we have the internet, but we do have like TV. Like, we have—

Amanda: We have TV.

Brandon: —we have media and TVs, but I don't think we have the internet.

Eric: We— yeah. Like you cam point a camera at someone, and like put it on a screen, and you can give someone a call, and there's a truck, but— but there is no internet, no. 

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: But Eric, how did your DM glove come into the mix?

Eric: Right, my DM gloves. So one of my favorite basketball players on my favorite team, Jaylen Brown, he decided to be in the slam dunk contest. And he was doing a one-handed dunk and I think he needed more grip, so he had a glove and it literally looked the same as my DM-ing glove.

Amanda: Well, the whole thing is that people like he— he's a weaker player on his non-dominant hand, like everybody is.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: And weren't they kind of like— was he trying to sort of like F the haters and be like,  "Look, I can do it also wearing like a snazzy glove."

Eric: Yeah, that, and like also he was an all-star and the way that the slam dunk contest has been going lately like only, like, rando guys who are like not that good, but good at dunking and jumping have been doing it lately. So it's like a lot of people were worried about getting clowned on, but like, here's the thing, he put it on, and I will— here— it— it looked like this.

Amanda: It did.

Eric: It looked like the glove. It looked just like this.

Amanda:  Hey, hey, hey, Bran, hey, Bran, clip it, clip it, and just little photo, thank you.

Eric: This— so this and then also Jaylen Brown looking down. Like, I think it was the same. I think it was the same glove, which was wild. So it's like, did Jaylen Brown, multimillionaire, who's— has signed a contract so large, it's probably the biggest in the NBA right now, did he buy the same $15 glove on Amazon that I have?

Brandon: I'm gonna say— oh, actually, I was gonna say yes, but I wonder if he bought one that was actually had diamonds on it. 

Eric:  That's what I— but like—

Amanda:  It's possible.

Eric:  —then maybe he would have said something about it?

Brandon: Yeah, I don't know. 

Amanda: I think— yeah, I think then we would have— he would have been like, "Oh, thank you, like at the diamond company, you know?"

Eric: @Cartier, thank you so much. Well, no, he's— he's—

Amanda:  Eric, my brain said Cardi B, I knew it was Cartier. Thank you so much. 

Brandon:  Cardi— oh, is that why Cardi— Cardi B's name is Cardi B? 

Eric: Yeah, yeah. 

Brandon: Oh. I get it now.

Amanda: Nice.

Eric: No, and he's kind of woke in pas— parentheses, affirmative. So it's like maybe he's working with like a lab-grown diamond company and he's like—

Amanda: Yeah. Or maybe he overnighted a glove to Indianapolis because he was like, "Ugh. What's my thing gonna be?"

Eric: Yeah, it's possible. Maybe he got a glove from— from the movie, Uncut Gems and overnighted it into Indianapolis. 

Brandon: Well, here's how we can tell, Eric.

Eric: Yeah?

Brandon:  Take the glove on and off, and see if you have better grip on a basketball right now. 

Eric: Okay. Worse. I'd say worse.

Brandon:  Worse?

Amanda:  Yeah, it's like Nylon—

Eric:  And now off, still pretty bad, but not as bad as with the glove on.

Amanda: Alright, guys, let's get into the meat of these three episodes. The first three of The Legends of the Meeting arc, so much fun. In, of course, episode one, right before we set sail from the hold, the crew, and by the crew, I mean, Brandon comes up with an incredible idea to forge and then sell blueprints to these key molds that we stole. Can you guys—

Brandon:  Thank you.

Eric:  —walk me through what happened here?

Brandon:  Well, what happened is that Eric refuses to acknowledge that I am both chaotic and the best player in D&D podcasting. Eric, I have the best ideas, I am brilliant gamesman, and, unfortunately, because I make silly, silly jokes, I'm a silly boy who does silly things sometimes, it's hard for you to see that I'm a genius.

Eric: I don't— okay, what are you actually what actually happened? What are you actually trying to get across?

Brandon: I forgot your question. What was that?

Eric: Okay. Okay, great, great. Let's pull over and talk about how I can actually dunk a basketball for 20 minutes. Let's do that while—

Brandon:  Can you really?

Eric: —Brandon remembers what the question is. My question is, I go— well, let's set— let's set this a little bit. Like, these were the episodes right after the guest episodes, right after The Legends Across the Sea. And I'm like, "Yeah, let's get back into it. You know, we recorded two of— two of those guests episodes at a time, and then also, it took a little while for us to record the episode with Kristen and with Sarah." So there was like a pretty wide stretch of time before we had recorded a campaign episode again. And I'm like, "Alright, well, we're gonna go do something, but I know that we had to move stuff around because of the pipe— because of the puppet show thing that you were dealing with, and I only kind of distributed the invitations around, and we didn't figure that out and you wanted to go in a different direction. So I'm like, "Alright, well, if there's stuff we want to do, we're gonna kind of get into another thing after this." And then the players came to me and said, "Oh, we have another thing we want to do." And I'm like, "Alright, let's see how this goes."

Brandon: The puppet show, another Brando original, Eric.

Amanda: Yeah. I think— I think we just kind of came up with it on the fly, unlike the puppet show, we hadn't sort of—

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: —thought about this beforehand and— and planned how we were going to get one over on Eric to let him do our shenanigans. But we just came up with this on tape as you heard it. 

Brandon: I think— I think what happened is that— that is— that is correct. But I think it was on my mind because I think I listened to a Stuff You Should Know episode about how blueprints work recently. 

Amanda: Nice. 

Brandon: And it was really interesting.

Eric: What flight were you on when you were listening to that?

Brandon: No, this one was on the flight called my house which I never leave.

Eric: Oh, got it, got it. 

Amanda: Podcasts are kind of like airplane informational videos that you can watch not at 30,000 feet.

Eric: Hmm. Interesting. That's nice. I like that.

Amanda: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Although Stuff You Should Know was on Delta for a second, so it is— it is like— or it's possible that I did listen to it on a Delta flight.

Eric:  Yeah.

Amanda: Yeah, if you— if you work at Delta and can get us on the plane, get in touch.

Brandon: Like us or the podcast?

Amanda: The podcast, us via podcast.

Eric: Put Brandon on a plane and also put Join the Party on your podcast. Yeah I mean, this, I think, was— sometimes I create challenges for myself, where much like Larry Bird who just decided one day, he wanted to shoot left-handed shots the entire time because he was bored. I'm like, "You know what? Let's just see what happens. I'm gonna have to make all— all this on the fly." And the— sometimes these episodes do simulate what it's like at a table that's not recorded, you just got to figure it out, and then whatever you say sticks, and you got to kind of just go with it. So it definitely was a little all over the place. It definitely was a little, like, flying by the seat of our pants, but in a way that I was okay with, because I knew we were all kind of agreeing on that together, and I wanted to give you the thing that you wanted. But there's also the push and pull of like, do the players tell the DM far enough ahead—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  —to give me enough time to ruminate on how I'm going to, quote-unquote, “fuck you”, I'm not, but I think that that's a fear, both from player to DM and from DM to player. Am I going to tell them enough time so that they can try to find loopholes to undermine what's happening?

Brandon: I think that's true, generally speaking, but for me, in this game and our stuff.

Eric:  I know, I mean— yes, I mean, generally speaking.

Brandon:  Yeah, yeah. I don't like to tell you in advance because I like to see you dance on your tippy toes. 

Eric: Yeah, Brandon, that's the same thing that I'm saying, 'cause you're trying— trying to see—see what I'm going to do next.  Brandon is shooting a six— a six-shooter at my feet, like he is a bad guy in a Western.

Brandon: But it's not because I want to see— I don't— I don't— I'm afraid you're gonna, like, find a loophole or something, it's just because I like to watch you dance. Because you're such a good dancer, Eric, you know?

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric:  Thank you. Well, I mean, I did kind of flip it around on you three, where I made you all make NPCs—

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric:  —on the fly, and whatever you made or decided to choose, it was fun to, like, see just fleshing these people out immediately.

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  Hey, Eric, that was hard. It's hard to be confused, he's on the fly. 

Eric:  Yeah, it is. Yeah. Yeah, it is. You're right, you're right. Because it's not— it's— you—you lay down one brick, and then you got to stack everything else on that brick. So laying the first one is always the hardest. 

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric: So I thought it was interesting. I mean, I took on your roles about like— that— that was—the thing that I was saying before was true, that like people did want to spend a lot of amber to buy the key from you, that was true. If you had moved in that sort of direction or you would actually given— sold the key for— you maybe could have gotten 50, 75, a 100 amber for it. But because this was like a roundabout way, it wasn't a thing. Pirates, obviously, like ultimate gratification, it did kind— and because you hoodwinked them, it kind of shook out in a different way and also, how reliable are some of the people who are on the Hold with you. Whether we're talking about Sazzy at the Outback Steakhouse, or the two people you ended up— the two NPCs you ended up creating.

Brandon:  We didn't hoodwink them. We gave them a business opportunity.

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  I'm— now that we're here in the Afterparty, I'm glad I can say this. Hey, you know what it's called when you tell a per— someone you're going to give them one thing and then you say, "No, no, no, no, no, never mind. I've given you something else worse—"

Brandon:  Something better.

Eric:  "—but give me the same amount for it."

Brandon: Something better.

Amanda:  Something— something that gives them the agency they need to feel truly invested in the product, you know?

Brandon: It's like Mary Kay, you know how that works. 

Eric: Now, Brandon, what if I gave you a salary, but instead of this— I know I said I was gonna give you a salary, but what if I gave you volcano insurance? Because how is money gonna protect you from a volcano? It's not.

Brandon:  Exactly. You get it, Eric. See, I'm glad you're coming around to our side.

Eric:  Alright. Pay Brandon in volcano insurance ne—next month.

Amanda:  Okay. You got it, you got it. The question surgeon Michelle Spurgeon did want to know, would we actually sell our key? For me, absolutely not. 

Brandon:  No, I'm not. 

Amanda:  Absolutely not.

Brandon:  Why would I want to— why— that would— it's like— if you're playing a video game, and they're like, you know, "Here's The Triforce, and you need to get back to the castle to win the game." And you're like, "Well, instead, I'm going to sell The Triforce—"

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon:  —and then you just wander around Hyrule for 40 hours. 

Amanda:  That's exactly it.

Brandon:  Like that's not fun or interesting for anyone involved.

Amanda:  That's exactly it, but I highly enjoyed the negotiation, and meeting new people, and seeing the just, like, obvious sexual tension between Umbi and Millie.

Brandon:  I don't— I don't know what you're referring to, so—

Amanda: Well, good news—

Eric:  That was so out of nowhere. That was so funny. The whole thing is like we did this entire episode just on this— coming up with it on our— out of our brains. Like I know that that's what the majority of what this is, but none of this was written down ahead of time.

Amanda: So much fun.

Eric: None, zero, zero, which was wild.

Amanda: Incredible. And Luce Goose wants to know, "Will there be an epic love triangle arc between Millie, Umbi, and Gloria? Who do we ship?" And then SneakySloths added, "If yes to the above, please include the part of the triangle where Millie and Gloria are possibility. Always, SneakySloths. Always available to you, in your— in your fanon, but—

Brandon: This is a— a thing I don't understand about shipping is, why do people like bad people?

Amanda: Because they're— they're attractive in their angst and someone we can rescue.

Eric: Brandon, that was my entire point when I was— when we were making Millie  in the first place, when I was like, okay, "When did—" I— I had written down like some ideas because I knew— well, let me see.

Amanda: Just to be clear, Kylo Ren is a war criminal like it's kind of what you're getting at?

Brandon: Yeah. And Kylo Ren also sucks ass. 

Amanda: Yes.

Eric: No, I didn't— I didn't write this down. Yeah. I guess— yeah. I guess like when I was making this and I was trying to figure out like what different prompts I would give each of you depending on what you rolled. I was like, "Okay, there's definitely going to be someone who is–has power, has money, but is a terrible— objectively terrible person." So it was like, "Hey, what war crime did Millie— did Millie create? And we ended up reading the Wikipedia page for war crimes, that was so funny.

Amanda: Incredible.

Eric: And— and then immediately after that, it's like, "Okay. We got that piece of information, we put it off to the side. And now we're gonna just like fully enjoy Millie as a character, and I wanted to, like, put that front words so that we all had to laugh and wrestle with that.

Brandon:  I mean, I didn't put that aside. That's front and center for me, baby. 

Amanda:  Yeah. And the more Brandon objects, the more Julia and I double down on the fact that it's an incredible ship that we highly recommend, and just Umbi need someone to, like, keep them in line. And who better than a woman with a thousand arms/legs?

Brandon:  We've been— me and the coffee guys have been watching The Americans because we never watched it. 

Amanda:  Nice.

Brandon: And it's about two Russian spies who kill people as part of their job. And Lauren is— occasionally is like, "Man, I just feel so bad for them, for— for this thing." And I'm like, "Lauren, these people? These two people you like? They suck." 

Eric:  The spies?!

Brandon:  They're murderers.

Eric:  First of all, I want to clarify also Millie has a million legs, as I said many times.

Amanda:  Yes.

Brandon: Right. Yeah, yeah.

Eric:  Throughout— throughout the episode, Millie has a million legs.

Amanda:  Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Eric:  —because that's what millipede—

Brandon:  Yep, that's what means.

Eric:  Millipede has million legs. That's what it means.

Amanda:  That's what it means.

Eric:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Yeah. Why would you say that? 

Eric:  No, that was so funny. That's why I— I asked that question to Brandon, I— I was like, "So whi— which— which war crime didn't Millie do?" It was— was really great. And then just everything— and now she's just there. She's just there forever. 

Amanda:  Oh, yeah.

Eric:  It's very funny. Like, Brandon conjured a character who then stays. Amanda conjured a character that was so weird, we didn't know— like, it— the character's existence, this NPCs existence could not leave—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  —the island.

Amanda:  It's a real— what are those images called where, like, someone tricks you into seeing like a nasty thing online? 

Brandon:  A prank?

Amanda:  You know, like— like really one of those. 

Eric:  Oh, like one of those— like the video— where you're watching like a car video and a monster comes out?

Amanda:  Yeah.  Yeah.

Brandon: Oh.

Amanda:  It's like— it's like that. And that the essential knowledge of it will never leave you, but we don't have to revisit it. It's just— it's permanently in there. 

Eric:  I know it's just like it's there, that's one thing.

Brandon:  Oh. Oh. Oh, oh.

Amanda:  Brandon.

Brandon:  Brandon from the Millie Herald, I guess. 

Amanda:  Nice.

Eric:  Of the— the Million Herald, yes.

Brandon:  The Million Herald. I have a question for one Amanda McLoughlin. 

Amanda:  Yes?

Brandon: My question is, at some point in the past year and a half, 2 years or 1, 2.5 campaigns, you have done first thought, best thought, and it's utterly insane every time.

Eric:  Every time.

Amanda:  Thank you.

Brandon:  Now, my question is, was this all— were you always utterly insane, or— or— and you refu— and it was too scary to say out loud, or— or—

Amanda:  Yes.

Brandon:  —is this a new thing, that you're now newly insane?

Amanda:  Yes. No. The— it's always been there, a little core of— of weirdness, and perversion some might say, and I've spent a lot of energy throughout the— the beginning of my life, pushing that down and extruding it like a playdough pasta maker in sort of socially acceptable ways. But now with growing confidence, love, and relaxation around my— my friends and peers, now I'm able to— to really just, you know, show it.

Brandon:  Good. Good, good. It's further— it's very good.

Amanda:  Thank you.

Eric:  Please don't lay this at my feet. I didn't— this is not what I wanted, when I was trying to empower Amanda to be her best self. I didn't think I was creating Dr. Bertha Bones, but here we are.

Amanda:  Well, you know, gotta just keep things fresh.

Eric:  It was really— it was really funny, though. I— and—to go back to the thing I was saying, it's like it's funny that we— Brandon created the most like— when you all took— you— the three of you took different tacks to this. Brandon created a new NPC who slotted in, you created like a one-off NPC, and Julia decided to deepen a relationship and illustrate someone that we had known as a joke, but now trying to make them real. 

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric: And I think it would— that— that tension was actually really interesting, as we were going through the— as we were going through the episode. 

Brandon:  Well, I think— maybe I'm misremembering, but I think you had— as part of the prompt, you were like, "Who is someone that we already know, that we— you know, and then I think me and Amanda has really accused someone that we haven't met before or something like that, but yeah. So credit to credit is due, I think it was your genius. 

Eric: Brandon, I— I don't remember because I didn't write it down.

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: Like it's truly like I don't— I don't know. I don't remember.

Amanda:  Well, one person we do know well who underwent a change of his own in this episode is Havana who finally hit puberty. And Melanie would like to know— or would like to state rather, "Havana's voice change makes me a little uneasy. He's like a new person. Who is he? Where has our boy gone? 

Brandon:  You just gotta— here's the thing about it, you just gotta lean into it. You got to relax, let your shoulders down. Let his voice sort of envelop you.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: And don't think about it too much, you know?

Amanda: Don't think about the Havana you lost, think about the Havana you gained.

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: I want to firmly point out it's the same guy.

Brandon:  But Eric, does he have— now, does he have, like, more like stubble on his face section?

Eric:  Yes, yes, but he like drew it on with a Sharpie. Yeah. He draws it up with a Sharpie every day at 5:00.

Brandon: And then shaves it off in the morning and then redraws it at 5:00.

Eric:  That's what he thinks 5 o'clock shadow is, is when he's like, "Oh, I gotta apply my shadow." 

Amanda:  Oh, Havana. I love him. 

Eric: No, Havana is the same guy. I just thought it was fun to, like, kind of demonstrate the cla— the subclass change with, like, some different stuff that we— that we relate to, like, in play.

Amanda: Right on.

Eric: Yeah. Especially like— especially if where we left off in the episode before the guest episodes, where Havana was asking all of you about, like, your vitals.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Like, I kind of wanted— that was so funny, that I wanted to lead into that and now that's, like, going to, like, pull everything forward, I think, with Dr. Havana.

Amanda: Dr. Havana. And then finally, Eric, I think you're getting an intergalactic transmission—

Brandon:  What?

Amanda: —because this— this question from Luce Goose says, "Julia, did you think that Sazzy was going to cook you into a tea witch meet pie a la Sweeney Todd and your secondary meeting with them? That's immediately where my mind went."

Eric: Well, I'm getting some beeps and boops on my computer here.

Brandon: Hmm

Eric: Aka we asked Julia this question over Slack, and Julia responded.

Brandon: In the future though.

Eric: In the fu— in the future.

Amanda:  From the future to the past. 

Eric:  And Julia said, quote, "That bitch couldn't have killed Cammie even if he tried." And I responded, "Says you." And then Julia said, "I said what I  said." Laughing face.

Amanda: Incredible. 

Eric:  Yeah. What— to my players here, I can't talk to Julia because she's, you know, across the transom, but did you think it was funny that Sazzy was batshit insane?

Amanda:  Yes.

Eric: I thought it was funny.

Amanda: I did. I thought it was very funny that he was broke, A, because restaurant touring is a difficult business,  B, his clientele is pirates, famously don't love to pay more than they need to for things that they want. And C, it was— it was too good to be true. Like, I don't know how he would have spent 75 ambers and it just— it was very satisfying and— and funny to me.

Brandon: I don't know still if— if knowing his— his proclivities, is he still a good chef or is the chef—good chef-ness a facade?

Eric:  Yeah. 

Brandon: You know? I don't know. Like, is he— is he who he is, but also he makes a very—a very good pate en croute?

Amanda: Wow.

Eric:  That's what I thought, Brandon. 

Brandon:  Okay.

Eric: Was like— when people went to the restaurant, it was always incredible food, but it's like— as Amanda said, "I don't think the restaurant ever made any sense or was sustainable." So I'm like, "How would this make sense?" It's because— and I want to give credit to Julia here of how— how good the character's name was.

Amanda: Yeah. 

Eric:  I need to— I wrote it down, Sazerac St. Urbain—

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  —who had a Hemlock, which also made it extra funny, like Hemlock being a poison Greenfolk making food.

Brandon:  Yeah.

Amanda:  So good.

Eric: Even funnier. I was like, "There's no way this makes any sense." So I didn't want to pull the rug— that was the only run where I feel like I was tricking people—

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda: Uh-hmm. 

Eric: —was that one because we had already known the character. And for the terrible monstrosity Amanda made, I'm like, "This person does not have any money. There's no way this person—"

Amanda: Listen, I found three amber in the sand, I was happy with that.

Eric:  Yeah, that was— which I thought was funny.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Which I wanted to give that to you. It's like I'm not saying it didn't— like, how would this person have all this amber? There's absolutely no possibility. So Millie— Millie— if you had tried to sell this key straight up to Millie, Millie would have given you if— with all the rolls, et cetera, like it could have happened, which is— which got played out, because— because Umbi and Millie could come to an understanding. 

Brandon:  I don't know how Millie became the sex— sexy one when you had a strawberry plant with, like, 40 limbs and like— like what— like, that's just, you know, sex on a rock is what a strawberry plant is.

Amanda:  Yeah. He's being slowly pecked to death by the sungulls. I don't think so,

Brandon:  You didn't— he didn't do any fucking war crimes.

Amanda: Yeah, but I mean, they were loring at a certain extent in fiction, in fiction, in fiction. 

Eric:  Yeah, yeah. That's what— he— he was promethese—promethe-seeing it up, like I don't know what I'm supposed to say. 

Brandon:  Yeah, there's no one hotter than Prometheus. We all know this. 

Eric:  That's— I mean, fair. Fair, fair, fair.

Brandon:  Amanda.

Amanda:  You're really considering this. Alright, I'm gonna save this response for another time. Let's get into Episode two folks, where we have an encounter on the high seas, Troy with the date of his birth, and Cammie and Umbi with the cloud of sea bees.

Eric: Sea bees.

Amanda:  I am so curious—

Eric: Sea bees.

Amanda:  —so curious to hear, Eric, where did the inspo for, A, the sea bee as a creature, and B, this as, like, the initial conflict that we make our way through in order to get to the meeting? Where'd that come from for you? 

Eric:  I mean, well, we already kind of seated the first episode of the meeting to, like, doing—

Brandon:  Sorry, sea bee-ded.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric:  I cede my time to Brandon.

Brandon:  No, you sea-beed my time to Brandon.

Eric: I sea bee my—

Amanda:  Woo!

Eric:  Oh, no. I think that the first episode of the meeting ended up being about the blueprint instead. So it's like if I wanted to retitle it, I could have made that a different title. Like, the first episode of the meeting is really going this one, but because it was the way that the arc went, and the way the guests stated, we titled it differently. So it's like I wanted to make sure that we were in— we were setting— I— I wanted to make sure I was setting the tone for what story was going to happen going forward, which was it's difficult to get here, we've already talked about the Dissolving Belt for a while. It's like, what is it? It doesn't make any sense. There's going— it's going to be difficult to get there, which I think is part of the reason why it was held there, other than the fact that it was a—

Amanda:  It's a conference rental.

Eric:  It's a conference— a conference rental at a place where pirates can— where pirates can congregate. And they also wanted to, you know, make it an interesting— you're in an encounter, and then something else happens where Umbi gets exploded. So I wanted to make sure that there was a lot of stuff happening at the same time. You know, I've been playing a lot of like triple-A action-adventure video games on my PS5 lately, and it felt very like— it felt very video game-y almost, especially when Umbi and Cammie were trying to keep Troy from needing to deal with it, which I thought was very interesting. It's like there were a lot of different goals happening all at the same time. Like Cammie and Umbi wanted a few different things. Troy wanted a different thing, while also the sniper wanted something and so did the sea bees. And I thought— and also then, so does the— sort of the people at the Dissolving Belt, so did the— the conference want something. So I wanted to make sure that everyone's— we were setting the stakes very quickly with— with action.

Amanda:  Speaking of the surprise party, I didn't hear what happened there until the episode— until Brandon edited the episode and I heard it just like all of you. Ginger wants to know, "What would surprise parties for the other crewmates look like? This was so sweet and spur of the moment truly a highlight of the episode for me." 

Brandon:  Oh, what would a surprise party for Umbi look like? I think it would look like— you know like a pick and mix stores or candy stores where you go—

Amanda:  Yes.

Eric:  Hmm

Brandon: —into and there's like various plexiglass boxes of candies. But instead of candy is it's like powders and—

Amanda:  Reagents.

Brandon:  —reagents—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Brandon:  —and cool minerals. And he just gets to like— with a little scooper, just like scoop, scoop, scoop, scoop, scoop, and put them into different things and test them out. And he just gets— he's giddy, he's giddy, you know?

Eric:  It's— it's the M&M store, but M&M stands for magic and more potions.

Brandon:  Yeah, exactly. 

Amanda:  Yeah. It's perfect.

Brandon:  That's peanut M&Ms.

Eric:  Umbi likes dark chocolate acid-filled M&Ms.

Amanda: That's really good. Oh, my God. I— I think— I think for Cammie will probably be visiting, like, different sort of traditions of tea, right? Of like trying different blends and different pots and maybe going to the Verda Stello equivalent of like, you know, different tea ceremonies of which there are many, many kinds around the world, and just enjoying them.

Brandon: Well gun to my head, if we have to stay local for a— for a party for her, it's like— you know that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean where they dressed up in, like, Victorian ladies dresses in the—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Brandon: —boat. It's like I imagined Cammie comes down below deck and it's like a perfectly proper tea party—

Amanda: Aw.

Eric: Hmm.

Brandon: —where we're all like dressed to the nines in fancy Victorian garb.

Amanda: That's so sweet.

Brandon: That'd be fun.

Eric:  And if we were throwing a surprise party for Brandon, Brandon would come down and it turns out he has been in a ghost story the whole time, just like in Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Amanda:  I thought you were gonna say— so—

Eric:  Brandon, better start believing in ghost stories, 'cause you're having a surprise party in one.

Amanda:  I thought you were gonna say he'd come below deck and it turns out all of us are not acknowledging his birthday, which is actually [36:24]

Eric:  That's true. I mean, we're already doing that. We're throwing a surprise party for Brandon every year.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Brandon:  That's so sweet, y'all.

Amanda:  You're welcome.

Eric:  I will say that I just made up that it was Troy's birthday. 

Amanda:  Yeah. 

Brandon:  Yeah, I know.

Eric:  I just did—

Brandon:  It was a joke you made at the spur of the moment.

Amanda:  And then I— what— later, I was like, wait, is this episode coming out on my birthday?

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda: —because it came out like a couple weeks before my birthday and you're like, "No, it's just funny and good."  Oh, okay.

Eric:  That was just a funny thing!

Amanda: Great.

Eric: You— you had to leave for something and there was something going on.

Amanda:  I got my— I got co— I got my, like, pen in your coffee or something.

Brandon:  It's in— it's in the episode. 

Eric:  Oh, yeah.

Amanda:  Yeah, no, no. It's in there.

Brandon:  Yeah. And you just needed some liquid because your voice was—

Amanda:  Yeah. Yes. No, I was like—

Eric:  Oh, I thought you were coughing.

Amanda:  I had a weird— I had like— the— that, like, coffee throat—

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  —where my voice is off froggy, because I'm drinking sweet bean juice. And so I had to go get some water. And you just did a little cute prank on me. 

Eric:  Yeah. I mean, you know, we're— we are re— it's— it's like there is an ener— there is an energy flow to this kind of stuff. So I felt like with that recording was also about love— also fell a little all over the place, I wanted to get a little bit more of a handle on it after the improvisational nature of the last one. So the fact that we— I felt like we had to stop and start a bunch of times for a bunch of different reasons, too. So it was like, "Alright, we gotta keep the energy up, we're going to do this." And it ended up paying off really well, so— which I was super stoked about. Like, I was trying to figure out how to get from leaving the island to the sea bees part and that— the— the surprise party I think kind of helped us do that. 

Amanda:  Uh-hmm. So cute.

Eric: And it just so happened— it happened while you were out of the room.

Amanda:  J_powers_ asks, "How do you come up with ideas for encounters on the open sea that feel on theme? "

Eric:  Oh. Well, first, you make an environment that's super goofy and cartoony, so anything can happen, and then you can do whatever you want. 

Amanda: That's— that's great. 

Eric:  That's like my— that's my advice to you.

Brandon:  Here's the— here's the secret, you just have to add, like, sea, or ocean, or water in front of a thing, and that— that's just on theme, baby. And all the better if it rhymes.

Eric:  I think the important thing is to set up what the goals are and what the victory conditions are, and then make the encounter. Like, it wouldn't make any sense to have like a big army battle, or like big faction battle, like this was a medieval kind of story because it— it's pirates and people— pirates all have the things that they want, and as it's motivated by money in their own valor and everything in their own— their own goals and— and ideas. So it's like as long as you figure out what's happening here, especially because Dungeons & Dragons is about like, I don't know, using action to tell you're— using action in combat to tell stories. You want to make sure that you understand what's happening, instead of just like everybody dies. You— your encounters become on theme if you're not saying, "Oh, I got to do some battle stuff, here's some goblins. Or like, here's the dragon." You got to figure out why it's there.

Brandon:  Well, Eric said a real thing, and then I said a joke thing, and now it's not as funny.

Amanda:  I'll say.

Eric:  Oh, you— sorry, Brandon, you put that into Google and it said, "Do you mean the Join the Party Podcast?"

Amanda:  It's a winning formula. Mell0wnin wants to know, "How long did you struggle, Eric, between calling these opponents sea bees versus shore-nets as opposed to hornets?" 

Brandon:  Pretty good. 

Amanda:  Pretty good.

Eric:  0, because I didn't think of that, but good one, good one.

Brandon:  I mean, sea bees is much better. 

Amanda:  Sea bees is very good.

Brandon:  But shore-nets, shore-nets is good, too. 

Eric:  A shore-nets are like when something washes up from a shipwreck and you're like, "Oh. Wow. I didn't have this cursed cup before,  but now I do." It's a shore-net. 

Amanda:  Yeah, like Havana. 

Eric:  Yeah, just like Havana, you're right.

Amanda:  And then finally for episode 35, Tattooed-N-Tall says, "May I suggest an oops all smoke detector beeps episode?"

Brandon:  Oh.

Amanda:  Maybe I'm the weird one because, whenever I'm making that joke, like very rarely, you know, one of us says like, "Hmm, I think it's maybe not for the podcast." I— I was like very close to being like, "I think this is too much for the podcast." Like you heard me being like, "Guys, we wouldn't do that to you." And then all you perverts said, "Yes, I want it."

Brandon:  Yeah. No, you may not suggest that.

Eric:  It was so funny. I was enjoying it. I was enjoying so much—

Amanda:  It really is.

Eric: —going ba-doot, chirp. 

Brandon:  It's— it's like— it's triggering to me. I—

Amanda:  Yes, I know, I know.

Eric:  It is. No, it is— That— that's why I found it funny.

Amanda:  It honestly is.

Brandon:  I know, yeah.

Eric:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Brandon:  I was making tortillas last night, and I was heating up my pans, and they weren't— it was on fucking like medium and my smoke alarm went on.

Amanda:  Yeah. In— in—

Eric:  Hmm.

Amanda: I think I mentioned on the episode, but in the apartment where Eric live with roommates before we moved in together, the— the— like— it was like wired into the building—

Eric:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  —and so even when you replace the batteries the building had to do some kind of like software reset for it to stop beeping so many, so many times that Eric was like the one who had to get up and deal with it. 

Brandon:  Jesus Christ.

Amanda:  And also I was there. Yeah.

Eric:  It was the chir— yeah. The chirps are— they— it's— they're so haunting. It's so haunting. It's something that brings modern people together. 

Amanda:  Yeah. Seriously.

Eric:  The chirping of— of smoke alarms.

Brandon: Look I'm glad they exist, and I'm glad they work, but you know?

Amanda:  Yeah. 

Eric:  Brandon, you don't have to virtue signal for smoke alarms. I— it's fine. You're right, you're right. They're wrong. 

Brandon:  No, there— they are here to protect me from burning to death, and I appreciate that.

Amanda:  He says dead behind the eyes every morning in the mirror.

Brandon:  Dead behind the— and they're also here— the—the— the only person I've ever known who actually had— or not known, known, but heard of, who had carbon dioxide poisoning was Carrie Poppy from Oh No, Ross and Carrie.

Amanda:  Oh, no.

Eric:  Uh-hmm.

Brandon:  She, she tells a story about it and it's— I bring it up because it is like living in a ghost story, like—

Amanda:  Yes.

Brandon:  —she thought her house was haunted and, like, it got— it got fucking real. And I don't want that to happen to me. Thank you, smoke alarm. 

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Can I say something about podcasters? Like, if you're a male podcaster, you just need to like, be kind of a nerd and know stuff and, like, just talk about it. But like, I feel like if you're a female podcaster, something incredibly unexplainable and terrible had to have happened to you in your life.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: And like that motivates you going forward. I can think of like 10 women podcasters that have had something that get written up in the paper—

Brandon:  Yeah.

Eric:  —happened them, and they're just like, "Yeah, and that's why I do improv full-time."

Brandon:  A man bought an I— bought an iPhone and then got a podcast, and a woman saw her dead great, great grandmother. 

Eric:  Yeah. Right.

Amanda:  Yeah, like survived a near-death experience.

Brandon:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Yeah, a 100%. And then yeah, it's—

Eric:  It's like yeah, I can only eat — I can only eat three foods, broc— broccoli—

Amanda:  Wow. Wow.

Brandon:  Well,  I got a new lightning cable.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric:  And I bought a $60 microphone and I have 5 million downloads.

Amanda:  But no, buy a carbon monoxide detector for your apartment. They're very cheap, you should buy it. 

Brandon:  Yeah. 

Amanda:  Alright, folks. Speaking of Brandon's delicious tortillas, I'm going to go into the kitchen and refill our guacamole, and I will be right back. 

Brandon:  Oh. Oh, God, I love guacamole so much.

[theme]

Amanda:  Hello, hello, it's Amanda. Welcome to the mid-roll. And listen, if you don't know by now, I'm surprised that we are going on tour in the last week of March. We are so excited, less than a month out officially. Come see us. If you live or have friends who live in Seattle, the twin cities Chicago, Boston, Philly, New York City, or Washington, DC, let them know. Tell them to come and tell them to bring their friends, tell them bring their dates, tell them bring their coworkers, tell them to make a— a meet-up, like an offseason meet up of their softball team or something that happens to be at our live show. It's going to be so much fun. We are putting so much effort, and time, and planning into making this an excellent experience for you, as well as for us. So come on through. Go to jointhepartypod.com/live to get your tickets. Thank you so much to our newest patrons, Seanice, Maddie, and Technomancer 42. We're only able to make the show and put so much time and effort into it and go on tour because of the support you give us on Patreon. If you want to join for just 5 bucks a month or, hey, you can also make a one-time purchase of an entire year's worth of support and enjoy it for the next 12 months, even get a discount, you can do that at patreon.com/jointhepartypod. This upcoming Friday, for example, we have a new episode coming out of Party Planning, our special bi-weekly podcast just for patrons, and I think it's something that you are really going to enjoy, alright? All of that and more patreon.com/jointhepartypod. This week at Multitude, there is so much coming your way. If you are a member of the Multi-Crew, this is, of course, our membership program where you get to support Multitude and us making new shows and us trying new things, including guys, me making a new show soon. I am so excited. And the place I turned, the place I go, where I drop special episodes of what will one day become this show is the Multi-Crew. They hear bonus audio, unreleased pilots, experimental stuff before anybody else. We also have Head Heart Gut, and also Julia hosts the Multi-Crew review, where this month she and I sit down, and talk about my favorite movie of all time. So if you would like to get even more plugged in, even more supportive of all things Multitude, go to multicrew.club and sign up today. We are sponsored this week by The Sprouting, an Eldritch Horror of an actual play podcast. It is set in an apocalyptic future where eldritch plants have taken over, magical bargains, twist the fabric of reality, and each survivor struggles to trust their own senses as they try to see their goals through to the end. Specifically, they're using the rules of Call of Cthulhu to heighten the drama of their story, but of course, fate is up to the whims of the dice. Their world is all homebrew, I said plant apocalypse and that is absolutely true. They also have music and sound design in their podcast to really make that world as immersive as possible. They also focus their tale on survivors as they take control of the apocalypse, fight despair, and fight other beings in order to survive. Players come from Britain, Iceland, Germany, Sweden, the Philippines, and the USA. So if you are interested in The Sprouting, just search for The Sprouting anywhere you listen to podcasts. One more time, that's The Sprouting and you can find it anywhere you listen to podcasts. We are also sponsored by Factor. And as I'm recording this, I am gearing up for perhaps the busiest week of work I have had in a very long time. And one of the things that goes lower on my priority list that I would like when I get busy is planning for meals. I don't think about what to make, I don't think about having time to go out, and shop and eat. So I highly, highly appreciate that Factor has delicious ready-to-eat meals that make it honestly so convenient to eat well, and tastefully, and in a way that suits your goals, whether that's keto, or calorie smart, or vegan and vegetarian, et cetera. I love their cold brew breakfast smoothie. Yes, you heard that correctly. It is so delicious and so convenient. Or I'll have some of their two-minute meals that are ready to heat and eat whenever you are when I'm running from work to yoga or between meetings, just put them right in the fridge at work and they are there for me all week long. It is genuinely so helpful. So if you are looking for fast upscale options done easily, head to factormeals.com/jointheparty50 and use code jointheparty50 to get 50% off. That's code jointheparty50, 5-0, at factormeals.com/jointheparty50 to get 50% off. And finally, we are sponsored by Possible Worlds Games that is concluding their Kickstarter for the excellent, The Details of Our Escape, a brand-new tabletop role-playing game from award-winning publisher, Possible World Games. Incredibly fun. They are very, very pleased to have hit their goal, but now you get the chance to back it before it ends and get them to some of their excellent stretch goals. Or if you're listening to this after February 29th of 2024 that's cool, you can still check it out and get it on BackerKit. You should absolutely click the link in the description and see what game designer Tyler Crumrine, comics artist Linnea Sterte, and multidisciplinary author Renee Gladman have made in The Details of Our Escape. It is a rulebook, and art book, and speculative fiction. It is so gorgeous. It uses dominoes instead of dice, and it is genuinely so beautiful, so cool. I'm so happy for them that they have hit their goal, but you can help them hit stretch goals now by going to bit.ly/detailsof to support the campaign. Go ahead to bit.ly/detailsof and help make Details of Our Escape a reality. And now, let's get back to the show.

[theme]

Amanda:  Alright, folks, we are back just in time to discuss episode three of this arc. 

Brandon:  Woo.

Eric:  Wait, did you bring the guacamole?

Amanda:  Oh, yeah, it's right here.

Brandon:  It's in the molcajete.

Eric:  Wait a minute, there's no guacamole in there. Julia from the past. Damn it.

Brandon:  Julia from the past future.

Eric: From the—from the fu— from the days of future past, stole our guacamole.

Amanda:  Damn. So good.

Brandon:  If Julia was an X-Men— I know Julia would have thoughts on this. But if Julia—

Amanda:  Oh, yeah.

Brandon:  —were an ex-man, she would be Apocalypse, so it works.

Amanda:  Damn.

Eric:  Damn, dude. Damn.

Amanda:  See, the— he best thing is that we don't know when Julia is going to listen to this episode. So at any point, we could just get a furious Slack message.

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  It's gonna be great. Alright, folks, so in—in this last episode of the ones we're covering today, we meet so many NPCs and it was so much fun. And there are iPods and it's just— it's an incredible scene. Let's start with an Mixelle91 who asks, "Eric, how do you remember all of those different voices? I have so much respect. I can't even remember my own voice for my own character.”

Eric:  Fair. Good point. Good point. Same.

Brandon:  Do you have a cheat sheet, Eric?

Eric:  I don't. I don't have a cheat sheet. I think that I end up mushing the— the person the NPC is gets mushed so much with the voice that it's almost like I need to remember what it is to distinguish who the person is.

Brandon:  Hmm.

Eric:  Especially because we're doing it on a podcast, like I need everyone to know who the— the voices are. Especially after like some— Campaign Two where like people were just people, so it was a lot harder to like— but it—so it was a lot— a lot of characters were similar, or like guiding off of vibes alone and, like, vocab and syntax. So I've been trying to, like, do voices to at least distinguish the characters a little bit more. So, like, I've just been— really been enjoying it. You know, it's like Edie is— is like pretentious and will hold things over on you and Piney doesn't want to deal with you. And, you know, more— more established things like Millie and Salix, and this new Havana voice, it's just been easier to kind of slip into the character just by having— having it there. So I don't write it down. I just like— it's almost like I just know it. 

Brandon:  May I say your sonic palette for voices has expanded greatly—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Brandon:  —and is very good. 

Eric:  Thanks, dude. I'm the best DM in podcasting, so I got damn better.

Amanda:  I know.

Brandon:  I'm the best player in podcasting, and not chaotic at all, so—

Eric:  Okay, great.

Amanda:  Brandon, I will— I'll confidently call you the best variable in podcasting. 

Brandon:  Oh, I like that a lot.

Amanda:  Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Eric:  Hmm.

Brandon:  Oh.

Eric:  That's pretty good. 

Amanda:  Yeah, you can take that.

Eric: You're definitely the best player who also edits the podcast.

Amanda:  A 100%. A 100%.

Eric:  You're the best— I can say this, I'm not even joking. You are definitely the best player who also sound designs the podcast in a Dungeon & Dragons podcast. A 100%.

Amanda:  We know several of those who are less good than you at both.

Eric: Yeah. Who cannot do both at the same time.

Amanda:  Alright, Mixelle also asked, "What kind of potion did Kid Cervantes take? Was it a truth potion again, or something else? It sounded like the truth potion again, but there was doubt about if he was telling the truth." Now, Mixelle is picking up on the fact that Amanda forgot it was a truth potion.

Brandon:  Well, did you? 

Amanda:  Yeah. I didn't really realize that.

Brandon:  It's definitely a truth potion, and we said that in the episode, but I do understand the doubt. Although, I— I personally as a player think that he was telling the truth.

Amanda:  Umbi definitely does. And— yeah, and I think— I think Troy came to trust him. I mean, there are definitely ways to, you know, talk around a truth potion to say something, you know, that like—

Brandon:  Yeah.

Amanda:  —technically true, but you know, in spirit false. But yes, it was— it was a truth potion once more.

Eric: Yeah, I mean I wasn't trying to be tricky, necessarily. It's like, you go to a conference where everyone's like, "We're gonna decide on some pieces of information." And then you're like, "Okay, well, I don't know what it is yet, so I'm not gonna sign it." And that's where Kid Cervantes—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  —was coming from. It's like, I don't believe in a lot of things, I only believe in the things that I need to— I'm— I'm a loner, I'm on— I'm out on my own. I care about the things that I care about. So if someone tries to make me sign something, and I don't want to, I'm not going to. And I have the fastest gun in the West, so—

Brandon:  Yeah. 

Eric:  I can— I can just do that. 

Brandon:  Also, the potion truth is a Zone of Truth spell, and the wording is a creature can't speak a deliberate lie, and it can avoid— it knows it's affected by the spell, so—

Amanda:  Hmm

Brandon:  —it can avoid answering questions, which would normally respond with a lie.

Amanda:  Nice.

Brandon:  So you can be sort of evasive—

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Brandon:  —within the rules set, so—

Eric:  Yeah.

Brandon:  But I don't— I— I think my cactus friend is my best friend, and he would never lie to me, so— 

Amanda: And I have to say, despite the fact that Troy was, like, respectfully, what the fuck during the actual episode, I think this was a great choice on your part, Brandon. Like, I think it— it makes sense for us, it makes sense to bring somebody in who's become an ally. It's like a bold character choice that, you know, affects what's happening, and like, I'm happy to move forward in. So it— it was like a curveball I didn't see coming and I was happy to— to hit anyway.

Eric:  Especially because you're all trying to figure out who the sniper is as well. 

Amanda:  Yeah. 

Eric:  You— you got to pare down suspects at least.

Amanda:  Yeah. 

Eric:  So making a bold bet on someone you probably think didn't do it is not a bad idea.

Brandon:  I get it. If I came home and Lauren was like, "Hey, I met this guy on the street and I'm showing him inside of our safe. What do you think?"

Eric:  He's a Russian spy.

Amanda:  Does that work for you? Is that good? Ginger asks, "Eric, do you have a list of different ways that winged Greenfolk lose the ability to use said wings? The origin of Lustrous Recompense's wings was super compelling, and I'd love to know how that idea came to light." I'll also add for me, full chills when I was hearing it on the podcast. At the moment, I was like, taking it in and just absolute full chills hearing it back.

Eric:  And then imagine like reading that in someone's author bio of the back of like a self-help book. 

Amanda:  Yeah,

Brandon:  Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  Yeah, in like a full page full-color spread in the— in the pamphlet.

Eric:  Yeah, right.

Brandon:  Yeah.

Eric:   No, Lustrous Recompense I think it's very interesting as a character. I created him as a reflection of all three of the player characters.

Amanda:  Hmm.

Eric:  And how things could be different if something was different, or the— when you take a path more or less chosen, maybe that could be better for one person or another. It's like this is someone who is also from Open Fields like Cammie. This is someone who had experience in government like Umbi and is rich, unlike Umbi. But Did Umbi make those choices for one way or another because he wanted to— Umbi seem to care more about his values, maybe than Lustrous Recompense in a certain way? I'm pro— I'm thinking— I'm analyzing this from outside so, Brandon, you could say otherwise. But—

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  And also like, yeah, this is—Troy is looking at another pers— another wing Greenfolk who lost their wings not by choice, which is maybe I wonder how Troy feels about that in that way as well. So it was— it was interesting, it's like Lus— why did Lustrous call this meeting? What kind of person is he? And then how is that going to come into play once people start talking, trying to sign something? And why is this happening in the first place? 

Amanda:  Good stuff all around. Can't wait. 

Brandon:  Yeah, I love it. 

Amanda:  The question surgeon Michelle Spurgeon would like to know, "Is this bone whale related to the Campaign One bone whale?"

Brandon:  Well, this is a whale of— whale of bones. This is not a bone whale.

Amanda:  I mean, all bone— all bones got whales in them and all whales got bones in them.

Brandon:  That's what I always say, all my bones got whales in them.

Eric:  That's why—

Amanda:  That's what the marrow is, Brandon. It is the sea what little whales swim in.

Eric:  That's what my meemaw always used to say.

Amanda:  Yeah. Uh-hmm. It's like I drink milk,  feed the whales.

Eric:  Yes, I think it's cool. I think the bone whale is cool. I think bone— I think massive monsters having massive bones and corpses and leaving them in places, like they do in the dis— in the Dissolving Belt is cool.

Amanda:  Yes.

Eric:  It's— it's nice. This is also like, you know, if this— we were telling a different story, like it— whether we were—this was like a fantasy space epic, or like a fantasy story that, like, went to different dimensions. I love it when a planet or something is built on top of a dead god.

Amanda:  Hmm.

Eric:  I love it. God, I love it. So this is the equivalent of that. It's being like a pirate elephant graveyard.

Brandon:  So you must have loved them, The great Marvel movie, The Eternals?

Eric:  Yes, Brandon, yes, I did. I saw it five times. I'm like Chloe Zhao, their best director this year and all director— and all directors all years. I loved it when they implicated the audience in the dropping of the atomic bomb. Well, I love that. Brian Tyree Henry was like, "You did it." And I'm like, "Me?" And he was like, "Yes, you. Eric."

Brandon:  Eric Silver. 

Eric:  Eric Silver.

Brandon:  Son of NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver.

Amanda:  I tell you, Eric would be in the box of a lot more basketball games if that was true. 

Brandon:  Yeah, that's true.

Eric:  Yeah, if Brian— if Brian Tyree Henry knew my name, I would be in so many— oh, and—yeah, yeah. If Brian Tyree Henry knew me, one, and two, if Adam Silver was actually my dad, I would be at so many NBA games. 

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda:  Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Brandon:  That's fair. That's fair.

Amanda:  Oh, yeah, this guy. Great. 

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric:  How did you all— because we didn't— we didn't really touch on this as much. Hey, how did you all feel when Umbi got— being exploded?

Brandon:  Scared. 

Amanda:  Horrified. Yeah.

Brandon:  Worried. Sad.

Eric:  Hmm.

Brandon:  A little confused. 

Amanda:  Yeah.

Brandon:  You know? I— I— mostly I'm like, why would my DM who's like, you know, my friend and my colleague—

Eric:  For how many years? How many years?

Brandon:  For, I think, 40. Like, why would he—

Eric:  For 4—  for 40, yeah.

Amanda:  Two presidents. Two presidents.

Brandon:  Why would he do that? Why would he just try— why would he try to kill my character? Why would he do that? 

Eric:  Hmm.

Amanda:  I was absolutely horrified and thrilled. It was so exciting. It was such a good cliffhanger. And we had played the One Shot where my character did death-saving throws maybe two weeks before that.

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  Yeah.

Amanda: And so I was like, "Oh, God! Wha— what's gonna happen, and what do we do?" And again, almost all the time, guys, we record just one episode at a time. So we stopped playing. We didn't play for a week after that, so I was like, "Aaaah!" It was so much.

Brandon:  One of— one of my favorite things in all JTP history is Eric having to remind Amanda, "You're dead!"

Amanda:  Yeah. No, it was good.

Brandon:  You cannot speak.

Amanda:  It was good.

Eric:  It was great to do. I'm doing that now, it's like whe—when you guys were like, "Okay, I'm splitting the party."

Amanda:  Yeah.

Eric:  And then I'm— I'm like, "Shut up. You are intentionally doing something else, and that's the equivalent, that's what happens when you're dead." You have chosen to die, and now you don't get to be in the scene anymore.

Amanda:  When we send, you know, Julia away to actually get shit done as me and Brandon do our— do our, you know, buddy cop comedy. She can't tell us how to do the scene good. We— we have to use our D&D powers on our own. 

Eric:  Hell yeah. 

Amanda:  Alright, folks. Let's get into some bigger, broader questions about the game and Verda Stello as a whole. First, we touched on this, but big shout-out to Anna, avocado hedgehog emoji, and Salty_Morton who told us about the sea bees. Anna's partner has a family who were sea bees in the Navy and they both really appreciated the sea bee reference. And then Salty_Morton explained that where that name comes from is the Construction Battalion of the US Navy into the initials C. B., AKA the nickname Seabees. 

Brandon:  Seabees.

Eric:  Hmm.

Amanda:  So cute. They have their own merch that— that we saw absolutely incredible illustrations of, like, Popeye punk bees. So good. 

Eric:  Hmm.

Brandon:  My dad was in the Navy. 

Amanda:  Nice.

Brandon:  I'll have to ask him if he knows about Seabees.

Eric: Brandon, was he in the Navy, like the village people were in the Navy? Or was he in the Navy like Top Gun was in the Navy? 

Brandon: Well, I think Top Gun was in the Air Force.

Eric: No, Brandon. No, the Top Gun people were— they have their planes in the Navy.

Brandon: Oh, really?

Eric: Yes, it's a whole thing. 

Amanda: Because they have an aircraft carrier.

Brandon:  Oh.

Eric: Yeah, 'cause they have an aircraft carrier. 

Brandon: I don't support Tom Cruise, Eric, so I don't really know. 

Eric:  That's fair, that's fair.

Amanda: That's fair.

Eric:  Okay. So neither, it's just neither.

Amanda:  Anyway, thanks Anna and Salty. Melanie asks, "I know the topic of people versus food/produce has been discussed before, but have we ever hit the topic of paper? There are so many tree NPCs, so how do tree Greenfolk feel about their skin/flesh being used for communicative purposes? Do they know where paper comes from? Is this a torture tactic for people like Millie who do war crimes?"

Brandon:  I feel like we might have said something about paper at one point, but we really didn't talk about it. And I do think that there's also— I believe the Egyptians made paper out— like, papyrus out of reeds, I want to say.

Amanda:  Yes. Yes. Right.

Brandon: So, like, full-on grass— grass Greenfolk just getting smushed into paper too, you know? 

Eric: No, I just— so it's— I think it's the same thing. Trees, tree Greenfolk need to deal with the fact that paper does exist, but I think of the same ideas, and maybe it's a little bit different of like— the idea— there's plenty of implements you can use to write on, right? I mean, even in human history, there are— is like you can write on leather. You can you write on animal skins, and you can—

Amanda:  Vellum.

Eric:  Vellum. You can also write on human fle— you can write on human skin, like that's— that's such a thing, that— and even the—

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  —trope I know, it's always evil, like, you're Necronomicon or whatever. But it's still interesting, right? Like, books bound in human—in human skin. So I know there's similar tensions and thoughts about that, but it— it corresponds with the, you know, constitution saving throws that need to be done, if you're thinking about that in relation to you. 

Amanda: Guys, there are things we don't think about all day. 

Eric:  Oh, all of the time.

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  And if we did, we wouldn't get anything done.

Brandon:  We won't— yeah, we won't be able to make it through the day.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Brandon: I also think about this sort of like in the way that in the Pokemo— I know it's not quite the same, but in the Pokemon universe, you have regular-ass fish, and then you have Pokemon fish, and they're different, you know?

Eric:  Yeah. Yeah. Or it's like, are there any animals in the Pokemon world? Like, I don't know the answer to that. Like—

Brandon:  I think there are— I think there are, canonically. I could be wrong on that, so don't—don't quote me. 

Eric:  I don't know— I don't know if it's true. I don't know. But like, that's— yeah, it's like— and but they never addressed it because it's too complicated.

Brandon:  Well, there's definitely— I know there definitely are fish because we've shown— been seen— we have seen fish, regular-ass fish. 

Eric:  Oh, alright.

Amanda:  Yes. And—

Brandon:  But I don't know about, like, mammals. 

Amanda:  Yes. And we've seen them in either like burgers, and sandwiches, and stuff. 

Brandon:  Yeah.

Eric:  But what if they're made out of, like, Miltanks. 

Brandon:  Well, they might be.

Eric:  Yeah.

Brandon:  I mean, they eat Magikarp, for sure, I think.

Amanda:  Oh.

Eric:  Yeah. Well, that got brought up a lot in the more recent video games, because like in Scarlet and Violet, you make sandwiches and in Sword and Shield, you make British curries edible.

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Amanda:  You do.

Eric:  So it's like, where is this meat coming from? I don't want to think about it. 

Amanda:  Me, neither.

Eric:  I just don't want to think about it. 

Amanda:  Like the— the US' industrialized food system, I don't want to think about it.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: Alright, folks. And then we have a question hand delivered from The Postmaster,  LibraryChick. 

Eric:  Oh, yeah. 

Amanda:  Alright. First, "Talking about Lustrous' wings being covered in gold made me think about body modification in Verda Stello. I was wondering what the different countries thought about it? Does it vary between Greenfolk? Would Troy, Cammie, or Umbi get tattoos or piercings/do they have them?"

Brandon:  That's a great question that I haven't thought about. 

Amanda:  I love the idea that Troy, whose skin is very dark, has UV tattoos that—

Brandon:  Oh, cool.

Amanda: — at— at the— his basic training, all the bruvs did like stick and poke tattoos on each other. And depending on your particular species and pigment, you know, choose the ink that works best. And I think he's just got— like under a UV light, he's got like— you know, someone drew like rude genitalia. Someone said—

Brandon:  Yeah.

Amanda:  —like mom, heart, and someone said like BFF, just like scattered all over.

Brandon:  My first thought was someone did draw a dick on his arm.

Amanda:  Yup. I was gonna say that and then I'm like, "I don't know what— what people are working with, you know?"

Brandon:  Or— oh, sorry. Let me take that back. My first thought was someone drew a proboscis on his arm.

Eric:  Nice.

Amanda:  Brandon, proboscis is tongue, not pe— not penis.

Brandon:  Hmm. That's what you say. 

Amanda:  Well, I'm not a biologist.

Eric:  I will not comment, I will not comment on this. I refuse. Body modification, yeah. I mean, I'm sure it exists, definitely exists. I'm sure that— you know, we only look at these countries in the way as they relate to the Great Salt Sea from, like, the top down, from like government down, or the highest echelons of power down. So it's like, you know, if I was gonna say, a lot of these places don't like tattoos and body mods, but doesn't mean people don't do it. I wonder if, like, that gets erased if you're so talented in Hothouse or if, you know, it depends if you have a sword, if your family's in power if you're in the Crags.

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  And if no one like— just absolutely no one cares in Overstalk. I'm sure that people have ideas about this in— I'm sure it— in— people have ideas about this in Open Fields, but I don't think it's as puritanical as people are jumping to. It might be just like— I don't know. I'd have to— I'd have to think about. Like, what are— what do some people think is acceptable and what do other people think is un— unacceptable?

Amanda:  Uh-hmm.

Eric:  Almost as arbitrary. I'm sure that there is some sort of dogma attached to it, but I just don't know what it is. 

Amanda:  Yeah.

Brandon:  Well, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm— I'm sure Umbi has some tattoos because of the pirate sailor tattoo tradition that we have. 

Eric:  Yeah.

Brandon:  Like, you know, he probably— the first—I forget the levels or whatever you call them at which pirates and sailors get tattoos, but I'm sure, you know, the first three sails he did, he got a bird or whatever it was. You know what I mean? 

Amanda:  Exactly.

Eric:  Hmm. Yeah.

Amanda:  Yeah, I think that's really good. I'm imagining in Hothouse, like I'm a— I'm a big fan of Shaker furniture, the, like, Christian group from the US. And, you know, furniture making was like part of faith for them and like a, you know, a craft that both brought them money and also kind of brought them closer to God. So I'm really interested in the people of Open Fields and the followers of the path as kind of focusing on some amount of, like, craft, or artisan ship—

Brandon:  Hmm.

Amanda:  —or carving, you know, as a way to sort of like document their lineage and, like, express their devotion. 

Brandon:  I love that, yeah.

Eric: Yeah. You'll ha— you have to do a good job because if you don't do a good job, then you're an idiot. And why would you make something bad?

Amanda:  And wasting, yeah. And wasting stuff.

Eric:  And you're wasting— you're wasting stuff. Something like— yeah.

Amanda: Yeah. Like useful— and, like, useful things, like an instrument or a chair, you know? Or like a cabinet, like that's— I don't know, that's what I'm thinking.

Eric:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Maybe they carved utensils real good.

Eric:  Yeah. The whole thi— yeah, that's interesting. The whole thing about Open Fields is like everything is so deeply results-based in a way that's not fair.

Brandon:  Uh-hmm.

Eric: It's like— it's like you can al— you can always justify someone else's mess up by saying, "Well, it didn't work out well, so you didn't do a good job." And I think that's why everyone is at each other's throats so much, as we've talked about there.

Brandon: Can I pitch that the tattoo artists in Verda Stello are stinkbugs and they do stick and poke? 

Amanda: Oh.

Eric:  Pretty good.

Amanda:  Very good. 

Eric:  Pretty good.

Brandon:  Because they poke you.

Amanda:  Aw.

Eric: That's pretty good.

Amanda: I love that.

Eric:  It's— you've created another one-off NPC, like the terrible strawberry monstrosity Amanda created.

Brandon:  Hell yeah.

Amanda:  Yay.

Brandon: Like the sexiest two NPCs and the only ones that are sexy.

Eric: I did not mean to make Millie so sexy, it just happened.

Brandon: I know it wasn't you, Eric.

Eric:  It just happened.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Brandon:  It was the traitor to your rights.

Eric: I can do a French accent but established that she was different by being— by because she did war crimes. 

Amanda:  Listen, at this point, you know Julia and me, if there's a intimidating woman in the campaign, we're gonna go, alright.

Eric:  I didn't even create it. I didn't even do it.

Amanda: By Julia's, for Julia's and Amanda's.

Eric: That's true. 

Amanda: Okay, folks. Let's close out now with some spoil the plank questions.

Brandon:  Yar! Yar.

Amanda:  Creek. That's the plank. Creeks. From the question surgeon, "Are you concerned about how many enemies you have on the island?" 

Brandon: No, because we don't have any.

Amanda: Girl, we got lots of enemy on the island.

Eric: At the risk of answering spoil the plank questions, no. Obviously, have you seen the way that they act? No, they don't. No, they don't.

Amanda: Yeah. Yeah, I— second, "Are you guys worried that Hothouse will come after you for their mold and blueprints?" Well—

Brandon: I don't know.

Amanda: —well, something's gonna be—some— something's gonna happen, and I don't know. Until then, Troy just bobbing along and not thinking about it.

Brandon:  Yeah. Now, I did read that as like mold, like the— the—

Amanda:  Hmm.

Brandon:  —mold plant—

Amanda:  Like spores. Yeah.

Brandon:  What— yeah, spores. Thank you. And I was like, "Do we take mold from Hothouse? I—"

Amanda:  I was watching a video about home culturing of wine cap mushrooms recently.

Brandon:  Ooh.

Amanda:  And so I also thought about, like, the Mycelium substrate, like that would be really fun.

Brandon:  Yeah. Is that what the mold is, Eric? Is it a mold made out of mold?

Eric:  Yeah, sure, whatever.

Amanda:  I did just think of meeting a mushroom Greenfolk, and I may come to regret saying this, but, you know, mushrooms are all connected colonies, like under the ground, and so we see the sprout of one mushroom, and then like we, you know, think like, "Oh, easy. I'll just, like, you know, cut it down with my dagger." And then it— you know, we see from all around us, like thousands and thousands of mushrooms rise up. 

Brandon: Oh, that sucks.

Amanda: Anyway—

Brandon: Don't give Eric ideas.

Eric: Oh, yeah. Eric has never thought about mushroom colonies before. Yeah, you're right.

Brandon: Eric hates mushrooms. He doesn't think about them.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: It's a huge symbol in Campaign Two, yeah. He's deleted it from his brain. And then finally, Eepyfella would like to know, "What the hell happened at the end of this episode?" Dismayed emoji. Eric, what the fuck emoji. Hmm, good. That's a little snack to sustain him for another week, so maybe we can get him in in the Discord.

Eric:  Hmm, hmm, hmm.

Amanda:  Who can say?

Eric:  I can't say. We— we'll find out soon enough. Just remember that sometimes being a Dungeon Master means making everyone else mad with you.

Amanda:  Listen, there is so much action coming at you guys in our next episode, not to mention the ones after that. So we are very excited to send those your way, and we're so excited to see you on tour. So if you've not yet bought your tickets to the Rolling Bones Tour, go to jointhepartypod.com/live. And if you have friends who live in Seattle, the twin cities, Chicago, DC, Philadelphia, New York or Boston, you best text them that link, because we want to see them there.

Eric:  You best text them the link.

Brandon:  Yar!

Amanda: That's right. I'm gonna be wearing such good outfits. You got to see, Eric's gonna have incredible fashions.

Eric: Hats and shoes. 

Brandon: I'm gonna wear exactly what Eric wears, every night.

Eric: No, we don't.

Amanda: Brandon has timed his hair and beard cut cycle to be ideal for the tour.

Brandon: I have.

Amanda: And we know Julia is going to be rocking the Target Boys XL spring line. So you gotta make it, you gotta make it. 

Eric: It's like Julia is walking in a Target fashion show. 

Amanda: Yes. 

Eric: But it's like 11-year-old boys and then Julia.

Amanda: Yes. And every queer person in the audience is like, "Work." It's gonna be great. No, we're so excited, help us make the tour a success. Send your friends, jointhepartypod.com/live.

Eric: And you know what happens like when a skeleton falls down a hill, we have to roll them bones!

Amanda:  Bones!

Brandon:  Yar!

Amanda:  Byee.

Brandon:  Byee.

Eric:  Byee.

[theme]