What’s the point of having your own pirate island if you can’t get up to some fun? And Eric reveals the great and powerful Skill Tree!
If you can’t see the image above, take a look at the skill tree in the Verda Stello page or on our socials!
Dive into the classes from Mage Hand Press, the countries of Verda Stello, the Skill Tree, and other changes we’ve made for C3 HERE!
Sponsors
- Twenty Sided Store, our friendly local game store. Use code PIRATE for 20% off your first order in-store or online at twentysidedstore.com
- Betterhelp, where you can get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/jointheparty
Find Us Online
- website: jointhepartypod.com
- patreon: patreon.com/jointhepartypod
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- facebook: facebook.com/jointhepartypod
- instagram: instagram.com/jointhepartypod
- tumblr: jointhepartypod.tumblr.com
- merch & music: jointhepartypod.com/merch
Cast & Crew
- Game Master, Co-Producer: Eric Silver
- Co-Host (Umbi), Co-Producer, Sound Designer, Composer: Brandon Grugle
- Co-Host (Chamomile Cassis), Co-Producer: Julia Schifini
- Co-Host (Troy Riptide), Co-Producer: Amanda McLoughlin
- Theme Song: Lyrics by Eric Silver, music by Brandon Grugle. Vocals by Brandon Grugle, Lauren Shippen, Julia Schifini, Roux Bedrosian, Eric Silver, Tyler Silver, and Amanda McLoughlin. Available for purchase here.
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Join the Party is an actual play podcast with tangible worlds, genre-pushing storytelling, and collaborators who make each other laugh each week. We welcome everyone to the table, from longtime players to folks who’ve never touched a roleplaying game before. Hop into our current campaign, a pirate story set in a world of plant- and bug-folk, or marathon our completed stories with the Camp-Paign, a MOTW game set in a weird summer camp, Campaign 2 for a modern superhero game, and Campaign 1 for a high fantasy story. And once a month we release the Afterparty, where we answer your questions about the show and how we play the game. New episodes every Tuesday.
Transcript
Eric: I remember a time before the Cascade dried up. Here in Verda Stello, the four nations of plants and bug people flourished and thrived. But the great waterfall that fed the land slowed to a trickle, revealing a vast Salt Sea and unknown islands. The only guide were the words of the 13 Dried Carvings. “The water will slow to fall, but the tides are turning. Find the Infinite Lake to replenish the world and discover the Salmon who will grant you a wish of whatever you desire.” This marks the beginning of the tide, as many Greenfolk hauled onto ships to find the Infinite Lake and maybe riches, adventure, excitement, and purpose along the way. And what exactly is a Salmon? Is that a berry? That was 50 years ago, and the Tide rushes forward ever still. There are many stories caught on the wind between sails but why don't we hear just one? Of a butterfly gunman with clipped wings, a ripened and explosive piece of produce, and a witch made out of tea. This is Join the Party Campaign 3, The Rising Tide!
[theme]
Eric: So you uh—hey, what's going on? Do you guys like—do you guys like podcasts?
Brandon: No.
Julia: I do like podcasts.
Amanda: Ah, stretches, takes a big yawn, takes a big stretch, and drinks orange juice. Eric, we really worked hard adventuring. Can we have like a little rest, can we have like a little treat? Can you like give me something please, for completing a mystery and missing all of the obvious clues?
Brandon: Can we have podcasts outside today, Eric?
Amanda: Please, please.
Julia: Please, Daddy Podcast
Brandon: Please, Eric.
Amanda: Mr. Johnson did.
Eric: Wha—
Amanda: And he treats us like babies.
Julia: He let us watch Toy Story 2, again.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Well, Mr. Johnson has tenure and I don't.
Amanda: Oh, no.
Julia: That seems like a sore subject.
Eric: Also, Mr. Johnson has a lot going on at home. So that's why he gets a really wide breadth from the administration.
Amanda: Oh, sure.
Eric: Okay, fine. We can have a downtime episode.
Brandon, Amanda and Julia: Yay!
Eric: I don't even know what podcasting outside would be. That would be on Brandon.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: Like we're all standing in respective-- different fields, but we're still Zoom calling each other.
Brandon: Yeah, I think we'd have to all have laptops with microphones plugged in, using microphones.
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Brandon: But then we'd also still have to get soundproof in between us.
Eric: Sure.
Amanda: Oh, sure. See, I was thinking more metaphorical which is when podcasting outside like I don't have to do any preparation, I've just like go there and experience it, which is what I do every episode of Join the Party. So you know that’s just–
Brandon: Boo! Don't insult my friend Amanda.
Amanda: It’s true.
Eric: Hey, we don't like bullies on this podcast, you need to get out of here. Stop bullying Amanda. Hey, okay, so I think since this is our first downtime episode, I feel like in the video game that is The Rising Tide
Brandon: I thought it was an anime, Eric.
Eric: It's an anime video-- it's a JRPG, Brandon.
Brandon: Oh, okay.
Amanda: Ah, it explains so much.
Julia: It's Persona 6, Brandon.
Eric: It's Persona 6 Gold Edition: The Rising Tide 365.5 because it's also Kingdom Hearts. You know Mickey's there, that's how I got Brandon to do this because I said Mickey was in the background of all the scenes.
Brandon: I love it.
Julia: Goofy dies for five minutes, and then he's like, I'm fine again.
Eric: Ah-hyuck!
Brandon: Ah-hyuck! I’m dead.
[Eric makes Donald Duck noises]
Brandon: It’s the— It's the— oh, that was good. It's the adaptation of-- video game adaptation of the anime, which is the adaptation of the manga.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: That is— that is Tales of Verda Stello.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Someone make that for us, please.
Amanda: So Eric, what are downtime episodes gonna look like in this campaign?
Eric: Well, this is like PS1 x N64, like real blocky polygons.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: It is—this is like we have a sunset image stapled in the background.
Brandon: I love it.
Eric: As the Sea Whip navigates in towards the Hold, which we talked about back in the base building episode. I think as we pull in, you navigate through the shallow waters of coral and kelp and steer away from the various bones and bodies that the giant sea monsters and big crabs feast on around— around at 5 AM every single day.
Brandon: I have two very important questions one—
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: —who's steering, because that will determine whether or not we crash a lot. And two-- or hit things a lot. And two is what is the big crab, the big sea monster crab doing?
Eric: Sleeping, definitely chilling.
Brandon: Okay.
Eric: Just going [crab sound] below the water.
Julia: Eric, I asked you a very important question before we started recording, and I'm going to repeat myself now. Is it—is it putt putt time right now, or is it puppet time right now as we pull into the hold?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: I want to ask that for you, those two questions who is driving and what time is it? I would ask you because the last thing that happened remember you shook down Orello.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: So the Sea Whip is still dragging Orello the Merchant's sailboat behind you. I assume that Harold is holding on to it like I don't know like a— like a toddler in a tub.
Brandon: Cause we don't have any ropes, so we just use lichen.
Eric: Yeah, Ha—Harold wants to be involved.
Brandon: That's cute.
Julia: Yep.
Brandon: What a cutie.
Eric (as Harold): Thanks hon. It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.
Julia: I really liked the idea that Harold has a crush on Umbi. I’m all about it here.
Eric: Harold's a flirt, Harold flirts with everybody.
Julia: It's good.
Eric: It's really confusing for everyone.
Amanda: Well listen, I think we're getting toward dusk here. I think this is the late afternoon and as past Amanda remembered to take notes about, we know that sun's out, clubs out. So mini golf is closing up for the day because suns asleep, puppets do peep.
Julia: Oh my god. I forgot that's the phrase.
Brandon: Oh my god Amanda, you looked this up, didn't you? You read the transcripts.
Amanda: Yeah. No, I had—I had my notes for the base building.
Brandon: Incredible.
Julia: Amanda wrote down puppets do peep, Brandon.
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: You could also tell it’s sunset because the neon sign for the Out Back Stake House.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Is turned out as well.
Amanda: Yup, yup.
Julia: Yes.
Amanda: And Aubergine the eggplant who also has amnesia has closed up his fashion shop for the day.
[Eric laughs Frenchly]
Julia: What did we do guys? What did we do?
Eric: Oh, I wrote out all these, I'm Berry. I have a voice for Aubergine. I'm ready, I'm fucking ready.
Amanda: Damn.
Eric: But I love that the—you're all as you're pulling in, Orello is crying and thrown himself at your feet, making sure that you don't stab his precious— his precious skin because all of his vitamin C will leak out. He has delicate pulp. And yeah, and I think that you pull through and you kind of like, you go through the waterfall that's like blocking the entrance to-- remember. Because I think the hold is majority old volcano. and as you go through the waterfall into the hold itself. The hollowed-out volcano inside. I think it's like a ramshackle town. It has real like 1980s movie showing the apocalypse that happened in 2035 vibes.
Amanda: Cool.
Julia: Yup.
Eric: Like this is Bartertown sort of thing. Like there are lean tools and things made out of scrap like you— they divided three houses that are divided out of like an old ship. So like one is the front, one is the back and one is the middle that has like doors and windows slapped on it. I feel like in my head it's a lot of those like Airbnbs that are made out of like shipping containers.
Julia: Like the—the like the tiny homes kind of style thing.
Amanda: Exactly.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. So there's definitely I'm sure some shipping containers that washed-up that people have appropriated into. Little shops or houses and stuff, it's all kind of fits inside of this hollowed-out volcano. Some people are vibing hard in the hot tub.
Amanda: Yup
Eric: The— the hot springs that are up there. It's still pretty hopping as we're kind of going from a real day-to-night vibe from the other pirates that are living here in the Hold.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: It's like Pleasure Island at Disney in circa 1986, baby.
Eric: Oh yeah, like–
Julia: With all the teen clubs.
Eric: Brandon, can you explain how I'm dancing right now? Because I've seen those videos.
Brandon: You're dancing, I think you're just having a seizure.
Eric: It's a lo— instead of lot of arms going back and forth, like reaching out is like oh you and me, and you and me.
Brandon: There's a lot of excess fabric from the giant suits flapping in the wind.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: It's for their puffy pirate shirts.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Hell yeah.
Amanda: I think all the— the photosensitive like lichen and moss and algae are glowing as the sunset fades and darkness comes up in the neon. My favorite thing, Eric, about those eras of movies is that there's like no money for walls, but money for neon signs and that is I think—
Eric: Right.
Amanda: The—the day-to-night transition that we're going through right now.
Julia: Well during the apocalypse Amanda, all of the oxygen turned into neon, that's how it works.
Amanda: Julia, you're right, you're right.
Eric: And they captured it all— in all in Edison bulbs that are strong throughout the entire area. For sure, for sure.
Brandon: Beautiful.
Eric: Now as you guys keep fucking pounding x to get out of this cutscene, unfortunately a tutorial box pops up and says hey, this is Eric the DM. Again, I'm still very polygonal.
Julia: Yes. Eric are you— Oh.
Eric: Like my beard is just two polygons together.
Amanda: Oh no. I thought—you're gonna be a little chibi you with like big, big head, little, little body. Coming in as like a speech bubble. But we’re not in the anime, we're in the video game, that's on me.
Eric: No, in the vi—it's true. In the video game, it's like a circle, which is just my head, but it's all just like made out of like the planes, just lots of planes put together.
Amanda: Yup, yup.
Brandon: It's actually a remake of the adaptation of the anime—
Julia: God damn it. We can't.
Brandon: Of the Manga, but the remake still didn't look very good. So Eric is still kind of polygonal, or like fans really liked that look, so they wanted to keep it.
Amanda: More pure, more pure.
Eric: Well, you know, the—there was like a remake that came out on PS3, but they actually took out a lot of the ga— core gameplay mechanics.
Brandon: Right, right.
Eric: So people just play the original, and you can just emulate it. So it's-- you can just have it. And here's the thing Brandon, it's like five bytes.
Brandon: Yeah. In the title sequence like the opening scene, you can poke Eric's face like you could Mario's in Mario 64.
Eric: Oh, hell yeah. That was actually where Mario—that's where they got it.
Brandon: That's where they got it.
Eric: Yeah, that's where they got it. You have to hold the both L bumper and R bumper to hold me—my face in place.
Brandon: Oh, Eric, what is the noise that Eric’s face made when he poked his nose again? Do you remember?
Eric: Oh, man, I gotta go into my FX—my FX library. I think it goes, [error buzzer noise]
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, that was it.
Julia: That was good.
Brandon: That was beautiful.
Amanda: It's perfect.
Eric: And then you could pull it here and it goes, oh! Alright. Well, now the tutorial popped up and it says hey, this is Eric the GM. I'm the best GM in podcasting. It seems like this is your first–
Julia: Did you see my glove?
Eric: Here’s the glove.
Amanda: You're right, Julia. Julia, there’s 5 pixels. Two is beard, one is glasses, two more is glove..
Eric: It's here, right here. We put a lot of love into the glove.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: It sounds like this is your first time with the Hold. Let me walk you through the skill tree.
Amanda: Ooooh.
Brandon: Yay!
[Julia makes fanfare noise]
Eric: And I'm going to give you the image which is our skill tree.
Amanda: Ohhh.
Julia: Ohh, I already seeing some great puns.
Brandon: Oh, fuck yes.
Amanda: Oh yeah, dude.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: It's even got a tree in the background.
Eric: It's a literal skill tree.
Amanda: Yay!
Julia: I have some questions about Putts and Puppets’ Pirate Palladium, private versus public.
Eric: Yeah, yes, yes.
Amanda: Can I just sign up for all of Magnolia Network? Thank you, that's really nice of you.
Julia: It's never good when there's a question mark section on—
Brandon: Or is it the best?
Julia: —the skill tree.
Amanda: Right.
Julia: I'm concerned.
Amanda: Ooh, backstory unlocked.
Eric: Give me two seconds.
Amanda: Hell yeah, dude.
Eric: Why are you guys being so annoying?
Brandon: I'm sorry.
Julia: I'm sorry.
Eric: I love—no not—you two—
Amanda: Rude.
Eric: You two are fucking idiots. Alright, hold on.
Julia: Twins.
[Julia and Brandon start singing old timey comedic music]
Eric: Alright folks, let me walk you through the skill tree. The image of the skill tree will be posted on all of our socials and stuff, and also on the–the big clickable website thing that's in the episode description of everything. As we kind of discussed in the pregame episodes, I wanted there to be a base-building element here because building your pirate Island feels important to the kind of story that we're telling here. So as you finish every single arc, you get one XP point, which unlocks one thing on this skill tree. Amber can also be used to unlock another thing on this skill tree. But you can use Amber for other things, such as favors or you can use-- give it to Orello to turn it into something else, to turn it into like an item, or facilitate, whatever it is.
Brandon: Cool.
Eric: So this is a skill tree that we are going to follow here. We have eight tracks. and then you always have Amber exchange which is going to change XP into Amber, which you can also store it. You can only do it once, like one XP can only turn into Amber. You can't then turn that Amber into XP later.
Julia: Gotcha.
Eric: But the thing about Amber is that it's like a —it's a real thing, put it in your chest and hold it on the— on the ship or whatever you want to do. Okay, so let's go through all of the tracks here. The first is called dig and roll. Because this is a pirate island, all of the pirates are convinced there's buried treasure throughout the island. And some of the various citizens here in the Hold, have kind of just decided when their—when they have some downtime, they're just gonna go around and dig on the island.
Brandon: Eric.
Eric: Yeah?
Brandon: Fuck yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Hell yeah, dude. Hell yeah, dude.
Eric: Well, this means for all of you is that if you choose dig and roll, you immediately have to roll one D6, which means that there is going to be one instance of digging, right? This is also interrelated and this is going to touch on everything else here, but this is also interrelated with what you all do in terms of your downtime because these will happen in downtime episodes when you come back to the Hold. Like you can only use XP when you're at the Hold. If you want to be involved in the digging, one of you needs to devote your downtime activity to that. However, this is kind of like—this is like unlocking the event of going out and digging.
Julia: Gotcha.
Eric: So regardless of who is involved in the— in like the dig activity, it will happen. But is—one of you should if you want to be there or try to get first dibs. Because again, it's just kind of like the pirate citizenry is just going to go out and dig.
Brandon: Cool.
Eric: Okay?
Amanda: And well that happened every time we come back to the base? Like people are beginning to dig regularly, or we have to like advance it again?
Eric: You have to advance it. Now you can also dig multiple times, but each one as you can see on the skill tree here, each one of these because I couldn't put this on the entire skill tree. All of these have more unlockables, achievements as you go down.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: So each one as you roll one, two, three, four or five or a six, will progress and do something else related to the thing you unlock.
Julia: So there's like a sub-tree underneath each of the numbers that we could roll.
Eric: Correct, correct.
Julia: Gotcha.
Eric: And there are sub trees on under— on all of these, but I couldn't include all of them, so I did as much as I could in this initial skill tree image that I've created.
Amanda: Well, we can't see the very last level of the advancement chart. That would mean we don't have to diversify. That'd be not fun.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: It's up to you, you guys can min max. If you want to put all of your money into the pots and puppets' palladium.
Julia: I mean, that would be–
Eric: I can't stop you.
Julia: Tempting…
Eric: I can't stop you. Okay, so that is dig and roll. Immediately, you're gonna roll one D6, and then we'll see what you get. The next one is called Doctor, Doctor. If you unlock this, a med student is going to come on the island. This is going to be kind of like a level one doctor, which is why they're a med student. They can also— you can also decide to bring the med student on your ship or leave them at the Hold. Of course, that will bring them to danger, possibly, but it's up to you.
Brandon: Because our ship won't be dangerous though. It'd be perfectly safe.
Eric: Totally safe wherever you leave it. So the blue colors are— it means you can immediately unlock that thing. That's kind of level one, and the orange is the— the further achievements.
Julia: Gotcha.
Eric: The Level One Doctor, Doctor means that the doctor will inherently enhance the hot springs, and all of you will get a five HP bonus going forward.
Brandon: Temporary, I assume?
Eric: Temporary, but it refreshes every time you come back to the hot spring.
Brandon: Cool.
Julia: Oh, that's kind of nice.
Eric: Good point. For all of you rules lawyers out there, you cannot heal up your temporary HP, but you'll start with like the five HP above what your usual HP is.
Julia: Nice.
Brandon: Tight.
Eric: Yeah. Also, if like one of you gets a disease or has a terrible wound that can't just be repaired regularly, you can come back and bring it to the med student button. He or she will do their best.
Julia: Or they, we can’t assume.
Brandon: Or they, or ze or, that's true.
Brandon: What do I do—
Julia: Lots of options.
Brandon: —if I have a horrible festering wound, in reality, Eric because I—
Eric: I can't do anything about that.
Brandon: Okay.
Julia: The fictional med student can't help you, Brandon.
Eric: Yeah. I've also shown you four different achievements that you can do if you want to unlock more. Because the med student needs to kind of specialize in something, you can have them specialize in straight medicine. So formal medical training. You can have them specialized as a naturalist. So communing with nature, say using spirits, they're using what's around to help you. They could be religious, so they could be more of a cleric and use the power of the Divine to heal folks better. Or they can be a Black Hat and be kind of like an evil doctor, jus—just a real bad doctor. And you know, we'll see what happens with that.
Julia: Interesting.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Eric: The Magnolia Network. I—
Amanda: Yes.
Julia: Amanda’s fave.
Amanda: Don't date your DM they said, it'll look bad if you're the only girl and the newest player they said. Fast forward, my husband brought me Fantasy Magnolia network. Hell yeah, dude.
Eric: If you choose to unlock the Magnolia Network, a husband and wife house-flipping team will improve the structures on the island.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: Just as I described before, it's everything's just kind of made out of whatever. I think reinforcing structures, being able to unlock new structures, maybe we'll get new things that will get unlocked in the skill tree, and bringing them on the island will kind of be this initial thing. After this, once you ge—if you choose to do the second tier, all buildings will be easier to put up and all of them will be sturdier and you will have the option to fix the rusted clock if you unlock that second-tier achievement, or you can send them out for commercial work.
Julia: Oh, cool.
Eric: Which is a passive bonus that they can do it for doublooms or contacts but of course, they might run into trouble because they— they're doing house flipping the great salt sea.
Julia: Are their names a Skip and Yohanna?
Eric: They can be Julia, they can be.
Julia: Cool.
Brandon: Yeah, I think they are.
Eric: Yeah, they're two—
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: They're two Magnolias named Skip and Yohanna, you're totally right.
Julia: I love that for them.
Amanda: Incredible.
Eric: Alright. The next thing is called Lords of the Manor. As we discussed before, this is kind of like a general pirates' island, although like, the four people here created it. I don't know if the crew of the Sea Whip is like in charge necessarily. I have written down that there's like an honor amongst thieves here. So it's kind of like an uneasy treaty, as everyone has just Pleasure Island-- islanding around. If you choose to love the island or other pirates know that you three are running the show, you can do that, and we will start that event of you letting them know. After that, you will have to set up some sort of plan, you can see that these next three achievements are in gray, because you got to push a plan forward either through soft power, if you think that you have a political or economic or any other self- power, way of getting people on board, you can unlock that. If you want to do it with an iron fist, you will have to set up a plan to like let them know. Or if you want to set up some sort of like formal duel or challenge or jouster whatever of who gets control of the Hold, you— you can do that as well.
Julia: Too much like the Builder, don't want to do that.
Eric: I know there's—yeah, there's a secret builder champion lurking on the island.
Brandon: Great.
Amanda: Clubs out at dawn? Question mark.
Eric: Oh, we're doing the Happy Gilmore route. Sure, got it.
Julia: One of us is actually shockingly good at hockey, so.
Eric: I'm going to be one through—one of the three of you to have an Adam Sandler impression for us to go forward with that.
Julia: I simply won't. I choose not to.
Eric: Come to the back of the boat. Oh, it's me, it's me. Alright, next is Monster Wrangler. We've talked about the crab that she wakes up at 5 every morning to feast.
Brandon: Crab.
Eric: But if you unlock Monster Wrangler, you get a chance to interact with the sea beast. Unfortunately, though, this is not like just totally, oh, I'm best friends with the sea monster that lurks outside of the Hold. You have to roll a D100 and get a particular number to get that. You can add your animal handling I guess, depending on who's doing it. This would also open yourself up to danger, obviously. But as you keep unlocking more, the odds go down. Then we would roll a digital D50, a digital D25, or if you go all the way down we can just roll a D10 to make that happen.
Julia: Cool.
Amanda: Hell yeah, this is one my heart said, and now my brain tells me this is not the right one to choose, but my heart's really into it.
Julia: Amanda, I also want it, don't worry.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: You will be able to roll once per downtime. So regardless of what you've unlocked, you will be— if someone devotes their downtime activity to it, you can—
Amanda: Okay.
Eric: —give it a shot.
Amanda: Cool.
Eric: You can also if you have— if you trust someone else to do it, you can try to make them do it while you guys are away, but—
Brandon: Make the med student do it.
Eric: That’s a bold gaming strategy.
Julia: My animal handling is +2, so.
Amanda: The funniest thing is that over the last five years, almost all the transcriptionists for Join the Party have been medical students because they like work weird hours and need cash. And so I'm just thinking about like former transcriber Nicole, who was now a full ass doctor on ship being like yeah, what— what do you need?
Eric: Alright, the one after this is the putts and puppets pirate palladium.
Julia: No notes.
Amanda: Yay!
Eric: If you would like to put some time and effort into making an actual like, I don't know, building and kind of like put a roof over the putt putt thing and put it like an actual sign on it. This is my suggestion to put as many P’s into it as possible. And then from the advancements, there are if you want to keep it private, or public if you want to turn this into a money-making venture or you just want this to be the cool thing and the whole.
Julia: Putt putt is for everyone, Eric. Putt putt is for everyone.
Amanda: It would be a cruel, twisting of fate to commercialize puppets.
Julia: Yes. Maybe we'll do like a puppet fundraiser at one point.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: What you say it's a Putts and Puppets Pirate Palladium, PBS pundraiser?
Julia: Yes.
Amanda: I was going to say FUNdraiser because this could really just raise the fun of the whole island and maybe contribute some of our soft power as we start advancing and making our claim over the fact that we run this Hold.
Eric: Very good point Amanda. If you actually put time and effort into making this and unlocking this particular thing, everyone is just happier and they know that you are the ones who put the time and effort into making the septuple P workout.
Brandon: Now, this is a little bit maybe out of the realm of possibilities here, it might just be too difficult. But I would like to Monster Wrangle the sea beast, and then put him as the cashier at the Putts and Pirates Pirate Palladium. I think that'd be fun.
Julia: Again, Brandon, why do we need a cashier, we're not going to charge for putt putt and puppets. Please.
Brandon: They can be the ball retrieval system.
Julia: Excellent. I love that.
Amanda: That Brandon, that idea has legs.
Eric: Or fins for that matter.
Brandon: It has six legs.
Eric: Tentacles.
Brandon: How many legs does a crab have? Six? Four? Eight?
Julia: It might be ten.
Brandon: Ten?
Amanda: Really?
Eric: Julia, in this fictional world it has as many looms as you want it to have.
Julia: Thanks, buddy. I did— I needed to float this idea to everyone, where we eventually befriend the giant crab beast. And then we build a putt putt course on its back.
Brandon: Ohh.
Amanda: Incredible.
Brandon: That's good.
Julia: And now it's a mobile putt putt course.
Amanda: Incredible. Okay.
Brandon: And if you lose, you get eaten.
Amanda: Not bad. Everyone wins.
Eric: The next one is called Shipshape. This is similar to Doctor, Doctor, but instead of a Greenfolk Doctor, this is a ship doctor. You ha—you can bring a shipwright along, and you unlock a level one shipwright, which again, you can have hang out in the Hold or on the ship. And can—you can bring them with you.
Brandon: Cool.
Eric: From there, you can unlock different achievements like you can raise the ship’s attack, you can raise the ship's HP, you can give Harold a bonus if that's something you're interested in. And of course, there's various like more skill tree biz underneath.
Brandon: Just keep giving Harold charisma points and see how flirty he becomes.
Amanda: Guys, it can't harm us if every ship we land in, Harold has a friend, right?
Brandon: Yeah, that's true.
Amanda: Like come on, it's pretty good.
Eric: I like how immediately you're like yeah, let's give Harold skill point bonuses and I'm like, oh, why don't we build Harold a body, so Harold can leave this ship? Whatever you want. Whatever you want.
Amanda: Eric, we want to make sure Harold can fuck.
Eric: Yeah. Let Harold fuck.
Brandon: But I think if it goes too far Amanda, then you know they— Harold has a bad breakup.
Amanda: Who's sailing whom?
Brandon: Exactly.
Amanda: Exactly. Yeah. And then Harold's like we can't go back to Esca Island. I burned that port and we’re like, “But Harold—” and Harold like, uh sorry, non-negotiable.
Julia: I don't want to talk about it.
Amanda: I don't want to talk about it.
Brandon: Is a joke about Harold getting—getting crabs somewhere.
Julia: Ohh, Brandon, no.
Amanda: It's good. Brandon, here's a joken.
Julia: No.
Eric: Sorry, I can't let you do that.
Amanda: Starbucks.
Eric: And finally, we have backstory unlocked. This is something that you can kind of go to as much as you want. Similar to dig, and that you can choose a particular NPC whose backstory you want to work on, or you want to unlock or at least get to know better, and you can decide to run down that path more, or you can decide to unlock a different person's backstory. The examples I have right now are Aubergine, the fashion icon who has amnesia.
Amanda: Yep.
Julia: I need to find out who he is.
Amanda: I know. So does he.
Eric: Or you can do the restauranteur who runs the Out Back Stake House?
Julia: Do they have a name yet?
Eric: No, not yet. Or you can do any—I did question marks for different NPCs who you might run down. This can also apply to different ones, like I guess if you want to apply this to the doctor or to the shipwright, or to someone else that-- who joins your crew or whatever. I'm keeping this open. You can decide to do that, as much as you want.
Brandon: The crab monster, what's their backstory?
Julia: Ohh yeah, what's his backstory?
Amanda: Nonny, what's their deal?
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Eric: Nonny was in Vietnam.
Amanda: Oh, no.
Brandon: I just want to reinforce the idea to everyone in the audience that yes, the restaurant tour runs a restaurant called the Out Back Stake House. But when you walk in, that's fucking gastronomy Noma shit all over the place, baby.
Eric: We established that deeply—
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: –in the base building episode. It i—it's called the Out Back Stake House because it's out back behind the volcano—
Julia: The staked house.
Eric: Yeah, and it's a tent, so thought it staked to the ground.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: But like one of those like really fancy, like Burning Man tents.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: It's really big, really pretty. Yeah.
Brandon: Everyone's on mushrooms, it's great.
Julia: It's a lot of foam, a lot of edible snow.
Eric: They use a lot of mushroom foam, yeah. It's— it glows. No one's satisfied at the end of it.
Amanda: Can't get a reservation.
Julia: Have to take a boat to it.
Eric: You keep stealing the reservations.
Amanda: You know what Eric, we just found out they didn't pay their staff at all, and so that's why they actually had to close. It was bad. That is a real loss.
Eric: Oh, sad. Yeah, Bon Appetit was there, it was the whole thing.
Brandon: Yeah, it's real.
Eric: Okay, so you have one XP, and you also have one Amber, if one of you, and I think maybe Umbi, converts the Ambergris that you got from the Esca chest to Amber. You can decide to do that later. And again, you can convert Amber to XP, or XP to Amber but again, you can only do it one way. Hey, it’s another tutorial box, look at your inventory. And you see you have one XP and one—one amount of Ambergris to turn into Amber.
Amanda: One slorp is that the use?
Eric: One slorp of Ambergris, yeah.
Amanda: Thank you.
Julia: Now we have one XP for the team, not for each individual person, correct?
Eric: Correct. This is a—
Julia: Okay.
Eric: —team thing and all three of you should agree on what thing you're going to unlock.
Amanda: Oh, yeah. What are you guys feeling? Wha—what is your heart? I think we're all—we're all singing out for the crab at some point. I think for one that Shipshape is a really worthwhile investment.
Julia: We haven't done any ship combat, so I don't know how bad our ship stats are. So I'm like—
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Willing to find that out in combat at some point before upgrading the ship.
Eric: Good point, good point. It is definitely basic. Way— you know I'm not gonna say it's garbo.
Brandon: Wow I can't believe you would call Harold basic.
Eric: No, Harold is not basic. Har— Harold is trashy the classy.
Julia: Actually when I look at this incredible skill tree that you've made Eric, it does say Harold bonus on there. So clearly he is only first level.
Eric: Well as you remember from—that's a good point. As—
Amanda: Julia, a Harold five is an everyone else ten, okay?
Julia: That's true. Snap, snap, snap.
Eric: It’s that.
Amanda: Harold sprouts two fingers, snap them.
Eric: As you run for the base-building episode, you do have improvements on the Sea Whip. Harold I think would be one of them. Again, you didn't build it yourself, this was built by someone or from somewhere and then you grabbed it. So I think this is very much— it is a level one ship, but it also has improvements with Harold the like the knives or sword on the bottom of the ship that you can use to ram, and also it has the ability to look like garbage as— as you've weathered it and with using Harold to cloak it and make it seem like it's abandoned if you so choose. So like I would say it's basic, but I would not say it's bad.
Julia: Gotcha.
Brandon: You can't prove that we stole it. No one's ever—
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: No one could prove that.
Julia: No one knows that—that cabin’s haunted, so no one knows.
Amanda: No one knows.
Eric: No one knows.
Julia: There's a ghost in there, so uh.
Brandon: You don't want to see that ghost.
Julia: That ship burned down years ago.
Brandon: No one’s seen that cabin for 40 years.
Amanda: This piece of shit, who'd steal that?
Eric (as Random Pirate): Yeah, yeah, you're right. Why do you— why do you three will sail around in such a junker? Ehh.
Julia: It's vintage.
Brandon: Vintage.
Julia: I'm drawn to Doctor, Doctor because while I have some healing stuff, it's not great. It's not great.
Brandon: I'm not gonna lie, I am strongly attracted to dig and roll. I always will be—
Julia: Of course.
Brandon: –every time we come in here, I'm going to want to find some treasure.
Amanda: Why don't we do one for fun, one for smarts?
Brandon: I do think we should keep one Amber's/Ambergris just in case we need a favor from someone.
Eric: To that point, Orello— because you've—you unlocked this thing with Orello who owes you, Orello can get you information, Orello can get you a contact but you might need to trade Ambergris for that, for him to make that happen.
Amanda: Sure.
Eric: Right.
Julia: Thought was like he owes us though for—
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: —almost killing us.
Eric: Yeah, you're doing the services for free.
Amanda: That's just commerce Orello, okay, okay.
Eric: He's like a mechanic it's—it's parts and labor guys.
Julia: He should be paying for the parts.
Eric (as Orello): I haven't paid for parts. Since I went to Caligula’s house, who was just a very large mangrove tree. Throws wild parties, and I paid for sex. It's fine.
Amanda: Oh boy.
Julia: I'm between Shipshape and Doctor Doctor. That's where I'm—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: —at right now.
Brandon: Those two sound good.
Amanda: I think that we will be really happy that we invested in this if we went into a situation where we need the doctor later on. And if I'm putting on my strategy brain, +5 HP boost is going to be most helpful earliest in our—in our campaign. So I—
Brandon: That’s true.
Amanda: —think that's a pretty useful investment right now. Big picture, the kind of player I am in video games, I really like unlocking the skill tree to kind of be able to see what's coming up and level up if suddenly we need something, versus being too behind, and we need to like open the branch and then advance on the branch. I think we would, it would behoove us to aim, to open up most of these options versus like advancing really far down one branch or another.
Julia: Gotcha.
Amanda: But for now I think Doctor, Doctor is a really smart one to start.
Julia: [sings] Doctor Doctor, give me the news. I got a bad case of—there's blight all over me.
Amanda: It'd be fun to have another friend.
Julia: Yeah. Friend, friend, friend, friend.
Brandon: Sounds good to me.
Julia: Hopefully not evil friend.
Eric: You want to do Doctor, Doctor?
Julia: Doctor Doctor.
Eric: Alright.
Amanda: So Brandon, I know you—I know you want to have fun and dig, is that alright with you?
Brandon: Oh, I always want to dig Amanda, so—
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: There'll be plenty of opportunities to dig.
Eric: Hey, you can do—you can do it. You could do it if you want to do your thing.
Julia: No we need— we need the Ambergris to plo— to plot along.
Eric: Whatever you want–
Julia: Plip plop, plip plop.
Amanda: I understand why you guys want to save the Ambergris, but I would also be fine with spending it on unlocking big crab, so we can unlock rolling for her every time we come home.
Brandon: I think those odds are pretty bad. So like I think we should keep the Ambergris because to your point Amanda early in the game, we don't have any political clout. So like having Amber will be really helpful.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: In general.
Amanda: Word.
[theme]
Amanda: Hey, it's Amanda. We are back from PAX East, and oh my gosh, it was so much fun to meet so many of you there and watch Eric play people in Super Smash Bros. Hit a two-to-one window loss ratio, baby. It was very impressive. And most of all, to me, I think is describing the concept of Campaign Three to new people and hearing them go, whoa, I have to subscribe right now. So if we met you at PAX East and you are now hearing this mid-roll, because you started listening to the campaign, welcome, we're so glad you're here. And we're also so glad that our newest patrons are here, Rebecca Z three, Brim, Jacob, Ginny, and Ana, welcome, and thank you so much for your patience as we got back and got sorted, and thanks to you here on this mid-roll. Party planning is a biweekly podcast we make exclusively for our patrons in both audio and video form. And it has been excellent lately, I gotta say. Eric, and I reviewed the Dungeons and Dragons movie, Honor Among Thieves. We got like 50 minutes of our thoughts on the movie. It was a lot and I am so glad we did it. And I thought it was really insightful, and you all seem to really enjoy it. But I gotta say the one coming out next week, next week's party planning is especially good. So make sure you sign up, go to patreon.com/jointhepartypod, and you can sign up to hear party planning every other week, in addition to weekly Join the Party, yo. This week, at Multitude we are about to embark on our second round of classes at the Multitude Extension School. These are affordable classes for people who want to get into podcasting. People say podcasting is easy, and it's got a low barrier to entry and everyone has a podcast, but very few people are out there actually describing how to make one. And no one talks about stuff like how to grow and how to avoid the pitfalls that might stall your project. So that is why we offer these classes for podcasters. And why we make them affordable, so you can actually join and listen, and learn, and come live and watch the recordings and do the homework and do all the amazing stuff that we have in the school. We also of course have comprehensive one-day seminars. I said of course, but this is a new offering. We are going to have one-day seminars that meet for a couple of hours at times that normally wouldn't hold the classes, like weekends and nights. So check it out, learn all about the dates we're having these classes, the curriculum, and the technical details, or just go ahead and register at multitude. productions/classes. We're sponsored this week by our friendly local game store, Twenty-Sided Store. Which by the way can also be your friendly local game store. If you do something called E-commerce baby. if you go ahead and order from Twenty Sided Store online, which is a new thing you can do. A few weeks back, I wanted to challenge you here in the audience to guess two of the board games on their top 20 list that is at twentysidedstore.com You can click the little section at top 20 and learn what in fact the top 20 things are that they sell on the website. But did you know they also have Twenty Sided pre-order? You can go ahead and pre-order things like Magic the Gathering cards, which I see they are sold out on lots of them, but not all of them. And pre-order this stuff through your friendly local game store, run your business through the small businesses that make your lives and communities thrive. They are a fabulous one and they are actually offering 20% off your first order online or in-store. Just go to Twenty Sided store spell out the word twenty.com and use the code PIRATE for 20% off your order online. Or if you visit them in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at their brand new location, just a block and a half away from the old one to 80 Grand Street, mentioned Join the Party and get 20% off your first order. This show is also sponsored by BetterHelp. And I am constantly learning new stuff about myself. Learning the things that are required to thrive. Just a few years ago, I didn't realize how big a part of my happiness plants and greenery make me. I lived in a neighborhood with almost no trees and no easy access to parks. And I was really sad. and when I moved to where I currently live, Where the Multi-Crew Studio is here in Greenpoint, I was like, oh my god, seeing the waters, seeing trees, it's so nice. But more than that, having plants around me and having these little rituals and things that I do in my day to keep myself happy and grounded. And just take a few minutes to like think about nothing except how pretty this new leaf is, really means something to me. I didn't know that just a few years ago about myself. And therapy is one of those ways that I keep learning about myself and learn positive coping skills. But it can be really hard to get started to find a therapist, to find someone who's taking new patients, to just find someone you vibe with is really, really hard. And when I couldn't find a therapist near me to see in person, I used BetterHelp and it was super helpful and convenient to know that I could just fill out a brief questionnaire and get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists if I wasn't vibing, which I did a few times when I use BetterHelp. So discover your potential with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/jointheparty today and get 10% off your first month. That's betetrHELP.com/jointheparty. And now let's get back to the show.
[theme]
Eric: Alright, we're gonna go—you're gonna unlock the Doctor?
Julia: Doctor.
Amanda: Yes, please.
Eric: Wonderful.
Julia: I'm concerned about what you're rolling for, just saying. Just gonna very quickly say that out loud.
Brandon: Same.
Eric: No I made an NPC chart for myself so that I could— I could vary up the types of— to make sure that I'm hitting some cool shit. And I looked up some flowers to make sure that I know what flowers are and stuff, that's what I— that's why I'm doing it. As you're—you're about to dock the Sea Whip, you see that a bunch of pirates are running through the waterfall to get a good look at something or looking at the weird portcullis's that everyone's kind of made in there and be like
Eric (as Pirate): Oh, there's a— look, there's a dinghy and it's going right near, it's going right to the crab!
Julia: No!
Amanda: No!
Julia: Cammie at first was like
Julia (as Cammie): Oh my gosh, everyone is coming to welcome us.
Julia: Then watches them all run past us.
Eric: You see just a bunch of rapscallions running right past Cammie.
Julia (as Cammie): Ohh.
Eric: Pushing your skirt one way and then the other way, and then just all the way out.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: As you look out you see that there is a little like—there's a little rowboat that is like paddling as fast as it can in a circle eight and you see that just a big claw going [eruption]
Eric (as Rudy): Help, help, help. I don't—what is this? This crab is too big!
Julia: I think Cammie is going to turn to her fellow crewmates and be like,
Julia (as Cammie): Alright, everyone! Like we practiced.
Julia: And we're going to do the shape water—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: To get this boat away from the crab.
Brandon: Oh, fine. Yeah.
Amanda: Guys, can we—can we do like Ring Around the Rosie around the ship mast?
Julia: When we shape water? Yes, of course, why not.
Amanda: Yeah. And like with our hands, like in and out like we're making the waves.
Julia: I love that for us. Eric, can we?
Eric: Yeah, of course. What do you—what kind of—how do you want to shape the water? What—what do you want the water to do?
Julia: I think it's just gonna make like a big swell, not like a crashing wave or anything, just a big swell over the big crab and then it washes up through the waterfall.
Eric (as Rudy): I'm hanging as much as I can.
Eric: All three of you give me Arcana checks.
Julia: Yeah. [dice roll] Wah!
Amanda: Okay.
Brandon: First roll on the hat, 8.
Eric: Shout out to the pirate hat.
Amanda: I got a 15.
Eric: Okay.
Julia: I got an 18.
Eric: Alright. Yeah, that will do it. I think it's a little wobbly, it's not the cartoon California wave. But I think that it wiggles and wobbles as it kind of elevates out of the water and drops the rowboat not softly onto the shore.
Julia: But not eaten by a crab.
Eric: No, but not eaten by a crab. And the— I think the rowboat just kind of splits in all directions,
Amanda: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Eric: It just like tur—immediately turns into wood, if you like to put your pointer, click your clicker from the—the MMO that this is, and you highlight over it, it's like flotsam immediately.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Julia: Cammie goes
Julia (as Cammie): You can use that to build your new house.
Amanda: Yeah, Troy like grabs a couple nails, like,
Amanda (as Troy): Oh, those are good ones.
Eric (as Rudy): What? Uh, what is this place?
Eric: And you looking at you see a—this is a young man who is a big slice of blood orange. If you ever see like, you know, when you put a blood orange garnish into a cocktail, there's like the big round slice. Blood orange, super like magenta, dark red with like a bright orange rind. I think that's like the majority of his body with little arms, legs, and big eyes, and lots of acne all over the place.
Amanda: Ohh.
Julia: Are they just little like red pustules—
Amanda: It's—yeah.
Julia: —on top of the inside pulp?
Eric: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's only on the rind. It's like all around. It's like when you wear a hat when you're working out too long. I used to do this when I was at camp all the time. And then I would just have like a—like a line of pimples where—where like the sweat collected in with my hat, and it's just on the rind. Yeah.
Julia: Wow.
Eric (as Rudy): Oh, yeah. Hi. [coughs] Thanks for saving me, what was that thing?
Julia (as Cammie): That was the big crab. Normally he doesn't eat—
[big crab noises]
Julia (as Cammie): There he is. Normally he doesn't eat this time of day, but you must have woken him up with your loud screaming.
Amanda (as Troy): Don't worry man. We've all been there. Some of us get sacrificed to the crab god, and some of us make it. So you made it, welcome to the Hold.
Eric (as Rudy): The Hold? Wha— what is it holding?
Brandon (as Umbi): Treasure!
Amanda (as Troy): Us safe in her bosom.
Eric (as Rudy): Bosom, oh no.
Amanda (as Troy): Ho—how old are you, friend?
Brandon (as Umbi): Are you 12?
Eric (as Rudy): No, I'm 19.
Amanda: Ohh.
Brandon: Ohh.
Julia (as Cammie): I remember when I was 19.
Eric (as Rudy): I'm a med student. I don't know —I don't know how I found myself out here.
Amanda (as Troy): Hey, you got a useful skill set, that's gonna be good out here on the open seas. Just ask Umbi, he's like a 100.
Brandon (as Umbi): Yeah, you live here now, welcome.
Julia (as Cammie): You don't really have a choice, because you don't have a boat anymore.
Eric (as Rudy): No, I have homework due tomorrow. I have to send in my labs.
Brandon (as Umbi): Just tell him the crab ate your homework, it works every time.
Eric (as Rudy): How do I tell him, do you have a phone?
Julia (as Cammie): What's a phone?
Brandon (as Umbi): What's a phone?
Julia (as Cammie): Also. Do you want to do homework? That's interesting.
Eric (as Rudy): I love homework.
Amanda (as Troy): Are you—are you saying foam? Do the waves— do the waves like carry the bottle with your homework in it like over to the school?
Julia: Damn Amanda, alright.
Amanda (as Troy): What's a school? We don't have them in the Crags.
Julia (as Tory): We don't have school on the Crags.
Brandon (as Umbi): We—we have those.
Amanda (as Troy): It's that kind of drink?
Julia (as Cammie): I—they have schools in Open Fields, it's your house.
Amanda (as Troy): Okay, cause it's— on the Crags is like either you’re royalty, or you work for them or that you die. So like what is there—that's why I'm a pirate, there was no other option really.
Brandon (as Umbi): Oh, right.
Amanda (as Troy): Really?
Julia (as Cammie): Oh yeah.
Brandon (as Umbi): Yeah.
Amanda (as Troy): So but it sounds like you've had more options than some, so you know. good job.
Eric (as Rudy): What's happening?!
Brandon and Julia (as Umbi and Cammie): What's your name?
Eric (as Rudy): Uh, I'm Rudy.
Julia (as Cammie): Rudy?
Eric (as Rudy): Rudy Thorton.
Julia (as Cammie): Rudy Thorton, okay.
Eric (as Rudy): No, I told pirates my last name. No, my mom told me not to do that.
Julia (as Cammie): My last name’s Cassis.
Amanda (as Troy): Mine's Riptide.
Brandon (as Umbi): I don't have one.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay.
Brandon (as Umbi): It's weird that you're a—it's, I shouldn't say weird. It's uncommon that you're a med student and man though, it's so surprising.
Eric (as Rudy): What do you mean?
Julia (as Cammie): Most doctors are women.
Eric (as Rudy): Ohh.
Amanda (as Troy): I think it's brave, dude.
Brandon (as Umbi): Yeah.
Julia (as Cammie): Really going against the gender stereotypes.
Amanda (as Troy): Good for you, man. Out here, open seas doesn't matter. What—where you're from? What your gender is, what your job was before. All pirates, man.
Eric (as Rudy): Oh, open seas. I don’t-- how did I get here?
Julia (as Cammie): How did you get—when did you get on a boat, that's the question.
Eric (as Rudy): I don't know, I was like, you know, it's finals coming up. And um—
Julia (as Rudy): So I go on a boat.
Eric (as Rudy): —So I was asleep, and then I guess like my friends from the fraternity I was a part of, they put me on a boat and then I— and then I woke up in the boat.
Amanda (as Troy): What are their names, I'll avenge you!
Brandon (as Umbi): You're not like a serious doctor, that you're like a frat doctor. You're like a C’s get med degree kind of doctor?
Eric (as Rudy): No. It was like—it's like a nerdy med sch—. It's a nerdy frat!
Brandon (as Umbi): Oh, it’s not.
Eric (as Rudy): But I guess they are.
Julia (as Cammie): Umbi, you can't get a medical degree on the seas.
Brandon (as Umbi): Oh, you're right. What was I—what was I thinking?
Amanda (as Troy): Are you telling me--
Eric (as Rudy): The seas don't get degrees, my mom told me that so I would stay in school.
Julia: And not go out in the open sea.
Amanda (as Troy): Are you telling me your brothers-in-arms, played a prank on you that resulted in you ending up here with—with a bunch of pirates and degenerates?
Julia: That seems weirdly personal, Troy.
Brandon: Umbi looks off to his side at Cammie uncomfortably because he played a prank with the eggs. Not but two days-- a day ago.
Julia: Yep. Yep.
Brandon: On Troy.
Julia: Yep.
Eric: Alright, everyone write down in the Wikipedia, Troy hates pranks.
Amanda (as Troy): From your brothers in arms, the one sworn to protect you?
Eric (as Rudy): Oh, I mean I don't know if they swore. It was just gotta like Marlo and Brack and Everett, but he’s kind of an asshole. Actually, it was an all-boys med school. I didn't realize that that was special.
Brandon (as Umbi): ALL BOYS?!
Julia (as Cammie): That's so strange.
Brandon (as Umbi): That’s unheard of.
Amanda (as Troy): I would never get treated by a male doctor.
Amanda: No, Troy is fully weeping as Rudy is listing his—his frat brothers.
Julia (as Cammie): Rudy, I don't like your name, can I change it?
[Brandon laughs]
Eric (as Rudy): Yeah, do you have like a cool nickname for me?
Julia (as Cammie): You're gonna be Havana Tropicana now.
Amanda: Oh, no.
Eric (as Havana): What?!
Julia (as Cammie): Someone just really wants to use that name, and I say like it fits for you. Because again, you're the second citrus person we've met.
Eric (as Havana): Oh, okay.
Brandon (as Umbi): You're really useful around here so we don't get scurvy. Because you treat us for scurvy.
Eric (as Havana): Oh, do you have scurvy? Do you need—you need help?
Amanda (as Troy): Yeah. Can you just sweat on me? Is that how that works?
Eric (as Havana): No. What?! Alright, I guess—can you show me just if you—hey, I'll treat you all for scurvy, and you can call me Havana if you give me a place to stay.
Julia (as Cammie): Oh, well. Look at the boat that is no longer a boat.
Eric (as Havana): Yeah.
Amanda (as Troy): We looked down, all of the boards have been taken by scavengers in the Hold.
Julia (as Cammie): God damn it.
Amanda (as Troy): Nothing's left.
Eric (as Havana): I'm gonna turn this into a picture window.
Julia (as Cammie): See, okay. Havana Tropicana. First rule, if something's yours, you don't let it out of your sight, because the pirates will take it.
Eric (as Havana): Okay. I'm ready to get down.
Julia (as Cammie): I will.
Eric (as Havana): Okay, I'm ready to get out. Oh, my pens and papers are wet.
Amanda (as Troy): See the crab did eat it.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah.
Amanda (as Troy): Umbi, you're right.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah.
Eric: Alright, hell yeah. You have Rudy Havana-- You have Rudy Havana Tropicana.
Julia: Eric, If you don't want me to change the name, we don't have to.
Eric (as Havana): No, call me whatever you want. I love having fri—nicknames. Rudy’s short for Rudyard, what?
Julia (as Cammie): Ohh.
Amanda (as Troy): Here's the thing. Your brothers cast you out, we're your new brothers, man. We've taken you in. And here on the open seas, you know what stands between you and being a doctor?
Eric (as Havana): What?
Amanda (as Troy): Calling yourself a doctor, bro.
Amanda: And then Troy like gives him a little punch, but a little juice squeezes out.
Julia (as Cammie): I'm your gender-nonconforming brother.
Brandon (as Umbi): I noticed you almost said friends. I think we should keep this professional personally.
Eric (as Havana): Okay.
Julia (as Cammie): You can call Umbi Grandpa.
Amanda (as Troy): Yes.
Eric (as Havana): Oh grandpa—grandpa wants to keep it professional.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah.
Eric: Hell yeah. Alright, Havana is set up. I think Havana get finally—
Julia: I think we find a nice cave and just like put up a door—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: — for him and he can figure out the rest.
Amanda: We'll set up a little like yeah, exactly. Like a lean-to next to our like, not near our situation, not adjacent to it. But like close enough. He doesn't know where we live, but we have to know where he lives.
Brandon: We need to keep an eye on him for sure.
Julia: Eric, you know what, the door is not actually a door. You remember like the bead curtains of the 90s?
Amanda: Yep.
Julia: It's that but it's like the—the like, kelp that has the big bubbles on.
Brandon: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, that's cool.
Amanda: Cute.
Eric: Cool. And yeah, I think that he— he explains the medicinal properties of getting-- resting your weary bones in the—in the hot tube, in the hot springs. And all of you get plus five HP.
All: Yay!
Eric: Yeah. And you can take Havana with you on a—on trips if you'd like.
Julia: That seems like a great idea. And he definitely won't get hurt during those.
Brandon: Not at all. Never.
Amanda (as Troy): This guy would die in 15 seconds if you left it here.
Julia (as Cammie): Oh yeah, yeah.
Amanda (as Troy): I look on the bright side. You know me but yeah, no.
Julia (as Cammie): The fact that he made it here is really the—
Amanda (as Troy): Shocking,
Julia (as Cammie): —impressive part.
Amanda (as Troy): Shocking.
Julia (as Cammie): I think that bodes well for him. That means he has good luck.
Eric (as Havana): That's what we— that's what we say, as the Weeping Willows Med School. There's no such thing as luck, study all the time. Stop living your life, go back into study. It's all in Latin.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay, Havana. Okay, here's some spearmint tea for your rind. And you know, we'll check in on you in a couple of days, see how you're settling in, alright?
Eric (as Havana): Thank you.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay.
Brandon (as Umbi): Don't uh— word of advice, don't look at the clock, it's not right.
Julia (as Cammie): Clock's not right.
Amanda (as Troy): Not right.
Julia (as Cammie): Don't go out at five o'clock. If you see other people not leaving the Hold, don't leave the Hold. Actually, honestly, don't leave the Hold unless we tell you to leave the Hold for a little while.
Amanda (as Troy): Yep.
Eric (as Havana): Alright.
Julia (as Cammie): Just until you get the vibe of things.
Eric (as Havana): What was the first thing? I couldn't write it down because of my papers and pens.
Brandon (as Umbi): Keep your stuff in sight!
Eric (as Havana): One--
Julia (as Cammie): Don't let the pirates take your things!
Eric (as Havana): One don'— keep your stuff in sight. Two, don't leave the Hold until my—my brothers in arms tell me.
Amanda (as Troy): Three, suns out, clubs out. Suns away--
Julia (as Cammie): No.
Amanda (as Troy): Suns asleep, puppets will peep. That's all you got to know.
Eric (as Havana): What?!
Amanda (as Troy): Don't worry, you got this man.
Julia: We—we take him to the puppet show is like an initiation process.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Eric (as Havana): Yay.
Brandon: That night show is about a med student named—
Amanda: Exactly.
Brandon: —Judy, who crashes in the Hold.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric (as Havana): Oh, so this is like the news. You guys– it tells you what happened during the day.
Brandon (as Umbi): Yeah.
Julia (as Cammie): It is like the news.
Brandon (as Umbi); Oh, crewmates, they got the gender right of this one. Nice.
Julia (as Cammie): Oh, yeah, yeah.
Amanda (as Troy): Nice. Yeah.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah. I mean, it doesn't make sense if it's a doctor in training if it's a man, I mean, come on.
Brandon: Exactly.
Amanda (as Troy): Like I'm not opposed to it, but I'm just like, is that really what you want?
Brandon (as Umbi): No, it's weird.
Julia (as Cammie): It's like weird, you know? Like, you have so many other choices out there.
Eric: I don't love that the three of you mind melded and said no, women are doctors.
Brandon (as Umbi): It’s not like someone would like roll dice and see what—what gender someone was like. it's obviously going to be one way or the other.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah. Obviously. Or, or in between.
Brandon (as Umbi): Or in between.
Amanda (as Troy): It's true.
Julia (as Cammie): When the dice lands on its edge, that's when the gender is--
Amanda: Exactly.
Julia: A nonbinary character. Anyway.
Eric: Oh my god. Okay. So very funny.
Amanda: Dice falls on the floor, agender.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Completely just not having it.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: The person just doesn't exist anymore.
Eric: Oh my god.
Julia: The gender does not exist.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Like that Mean Girls reference.
Eric: Yeah, there you go, there's the Mean Girls reference, Alright. Okay. Um, just-- okay. You unlock the Doctor Doctor thing, you now have Rudy. Sorry, Havana.
Julia: Havana Tropicana, please.
Eric: Havana Tropicana.
Amanda: Dr. Havana Tropicana.
Eric: Dr. Havana Tropicana.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: On your side. Perfect.
Amanda: Eric, is this how your thought this episode would go?
Eric: Yeah, a 100%. Yes.
Julia: It’s good, right?
Eric: Yeah, I think each of you have time to do one down time activity. Someone needs to turn the Ambergris into Amber. You can do whatever here on the base, whatever you need or whatever you want to look into. So it doesn't need to be someone in particular, like, obviously, I think Umbi might be the one to do it. but I don't think that like, that doesn't disqualify Brandon from doing something necessarily, but I think that if you need to convert, you gotta use like your, one of your action pieces on that.
Julia: Gotcha.
Brandon: Sure, that makes sense. Yeah, I think I would—would try to —this is probably like only a second, maybe third time he's done this, like, turn some Ambergis into Amber.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: I mean, he has a good working knowledge of it, so it's not like a trial and error thing, but definitely, like, take some time to get it right.
Eric: Is this like when you're learning a new recipe that you saw on Tiktok for the first time, and you gotta like, stop it and start it and make sure you're looking at your iPad the whole time?
Julia: Why can't you pause Tiktoks?
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: That's what I'm saying.
Brandon: But you are— you already like know how to cook. So it's not as difficult as—as it might be, you know?
Eric: Right.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric (as Umbi): It's like, oh, this one came out grainy.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: The whole block of feta goes in the squash?
Eric: That's crazy. That's just crazy.
Julia: It can't be right.
Eric: I like that. Alright. [sings a celebratory song] The Ambergris is now Amber, you have one—one block of Amber that can be traded for goods, services, or XP.
Brandon (as Umbi): Hell yeah. I fucking rule man.
Eric: I like the idea that like in every block of Amber, there's some—that how you know, like how pirates evaluated because they're all different sizes. And Amber is judged by the one very small prehistoric creature that's inside of it. Like—like an Amber is judged by the number of things in there, so it's like—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: It's a leaf.
Eric: —Yeah. So like, there's one--
Amanda: That's a grub.
Eric: Yeah, there's one like little fish inside of this one because it came from the Sea Devil.
Brandon: I don't want to know about you, but can I suggest each little Amber has a little seed in it?
Eric: Oh, sure. It can be plant or animal, whatever. I think—but like, because they're all different sizes, but the evaluation point is that it's you ha—one thing inside if you were cutting up a cook— let's imagine you were cutting up a cookie pie, right?
Julia: Sure.
Eric: And you had to divide it. Each piece had to have one chocolate chip in it. It might be different sizes, but each one has one chocolate chip and that's what makes it a piece of the cookie pie. That's like Amber.
Julia: Now Eric, I think you've made a terrible mistake by allowing Brandon to do the thing he wants to do because I can see down the line that, I don't know, fucking Umbi is gonna unlock something where he's like, and now I can take the seedling DNA out of the Amber and now prehistoric monsters!
Amanda: Or growing the Amber Beanstalk.
Julia: You've made a mistake by allowing this to happen is all I'm saying.
Brandon: Yeah, I was just thinking about like, elements—elemental stones from Pokemon and I wasn’t trying–
Eric: Oh, sure.
Brandon: —to roast you Eric by saying, hey, Eric you tired? Because you— you walked a long way to get there from that metaphor.
Amanda: Brandon, when did you think of that--
Julia: The cookie pie? You don’t say.
Eric: So you didn't like the co— you didn't like the cookie pie?
Brandon: Oh no, I loved it. It was perfect. Don't change it, no notes.
Eric: Brandon I want to take away your dino DNA, right fucking now.
Julia: No!
Amanda: DINO DNA.
Eric: DINO DNA. Alright, boom.
Julia: It's in your blood.
Amanda: My cheeks hurt from laughing.
Eric: Alright one action down, now you have one Amber, perfect. Ghoolia, Amanda, do you have anything?
Julia (as Cammie): Oh, Aubergine!
Eric (as Aubergine): Oh, it is Ms. Cassis here to have another wonderful, wonderful skirt that will poof out when the sea winds whip it up.
Julia (as Cammie): That is specifically what I asked for last time and it worked beautifully.
Eric (as Aubergine): Although I do not know where I'll come from. I know that the one thing I do know is that I have skills in the bobbin and the thread.
Julia: It's going in Cajun, it’s going in Cajun.
Brandon: It's going Cajun.
Julia: It’s fine, it’s fine
Eric (as Aubergine): Ohh, bobbins!
Julia (as Cammie): Now Aubergine, you did such a wonderful job with my skirt. And I noticed when we were on this island that tried to kill us, that my crewmates are much more protected than I am when it comes to being harmed, and so I wanted to perhaps ask of you, commission you, as it were, for some—maybe a cape or a cloak or something that will help me not get stabbed.
Brandon: Give Cammie a cape!
Julia (as Cammie): I would love to not be stabbed. Can you help me with that?
Eric (as Aubergine): Oh, Ms. Ca—Ms. Cassis, I cannot be the o— I cannot be the one to keep the stabbings from you, but I can do something to catch up the knives and blades within it.
Julia (as Cammie): I would love that. Wow.
Eric (as Aubergine): I can think—
Julia (as Cammie): Great.
Eric (as Aubergine): —I can think on this. Unfortunately, when I was deposited here on the island from where I—where-- from whence I came, which I cannot remember. As you know about me.
Julia: Where could he be from? That was the real question.
Brandon: Well he's from Spain, this is his accent.
Eric (as Aubergine): I will—I— it is very easy for me to make— for me to make--for me to make a cape for someone such as you. However, I will need some threads or cloth or a-- to apply that may or may not be able to be turned into something that will protect you.
Julia (as Cammie): Okay, I am sure I can find something like that if I bring it to you, and some of that vivid dream tea that I've been making you so maybe you could remember your past. Do we have a deal?
Eric (as Aubergine): Zut alors! I would love that.
Julia (as Cammie): Wonderful.
Eric (as Aubergine): I just want to step inside of my dream and move around.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah.
Eric (as Aubergine): Like I'm a ze little doll. That you know, the marionettes. They're being controlled by the hands of myself. And who is the dream state like I am both the puppet master and ze puppets?
Julia (as Cammie): Maybe. Maybe you can walk through your dreams and find your memories.
Eric (as Aubergine): Is it weird if you end up kissing yourself in your own dream?
Brandon: No.
Eric (as Aubergine): Is there something—something I shouldn't know going into it?
Julia (as Cammie): I think it would be weird if you didn't. Don’t you want to know if you're a good kisser or not.
Eric (as Aubergine): This was a test for that trust you for the tea.
Amanda: Makes a checkmark in his notebook.
Julia: Zut alors!
Eric (as Aubergine): Wonderful. Thank you.
Julia (as Cammie): Monsieur Aubergine. Do you know what the secret ingredient to the vivid dream tea is?
Eric (as Aubergine): I do not know Mademoiselle Cassis. Can you tell me?
Julia (as Cammie): It's believing in yourself.
Julia: And then Cammie kisses him on the cheek and leaves.
Eric: The shots holds out Aubergine, on Aubergine who twists his dark purple mustache in his—in his fingers and he says,
Eric (as Aubergine): That is so stupid.
[Everyone laughs, Julia awws]
Eric (as Aubergine): Nice Greenfolk though like, like them. They're my best friend here at the—
Julia: Oh, that makes it better, that makes it better.
Eric: You too can be a GM and make silly voices. All you have to do is a little bit of prep. And learn—
Julia: And buy a glove.
Eric: —and learn rules. Step one, buy gloves. Step two, learn rules. Step three, put funny voices on friends.
Brandon: Step four, don't leave your stuff out of your sight.
Amanda: Arm's reach, all times.
Eric: That's like advice I got when I was going to college. It’s the same thing as pirate rules.
Julia: Well, why didn't he get that advice when he was in med school? That's the question, come on Tropicana.
Eric (as Havana); I thought it was Havana, it both?
Julia (as Cammie): It is. It is Havana Tropicana. That's your full legal name now.
Eric (as Havana): Okay.
Amanda (as Troy): Dr. Havana Tropicana.
Eric (as Havana): I'm Dr. Havana Tropicana.
Amanda (as Troy): There you go.
Eric (as Havana): MD.
Amanda (as Troy): Yeah.
Julia (as Cammie): Say it with confidence.
Eric (as Havana): PMD, Pirate Medical Doctor.
Amanda (as Troy): Yes.
Julia (as Cammie): Perfect.
Eric (as Havana): If—well, if you guys have any books for me to read, I'd love to. I’ll just suck it up like a sponge.
Julia (as Cammie): I love books but all my books are about tea.
Amanda (as Troy); You know, I was thinking the same thing, bruh.
Amanda: And Troy Riptide would love to explore the Hold and try to find a book, any book. I think seeing—seeing Cammie know things about Audrey made Troy think
Amanda (as Troy); Huh, I should know stuff. I bet that'll be useful for my crew.
Amanda: And Troy wants to learn something.
Brandon: That's so wholesome.
Amanda: Anything about the world.
Julia: I love him so much. I've never loved anyone more than I love Troy Riptide. Especially when he says his full name out loud. Troy Riptide would like to find a book.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Okay, let's—how about all four of us come up with one thing a book could be about, and then I'll roll on it and figure out what it is. Amanda, you would like Troy to learn something about the world, you have something that's more specific?
Amanda: Yes. Troy would like to learn about any of the world except the Crags.
Eric: Okay.
Amanda: Because Crags, Crags, Crags, Crags till I die, knows about Crags. But he realized like,
Amanda (as Troy): Huh, other Greenfolk from other places, I guess.
Eric: Cool.
Amanda: And he realizes he should know something about them.
Eric: Alright. So one is going to be something. This is a book about Verda Stello that is not about the Crags. Okay, cool.
Brandon: I think one is the holy book from Overstalk, the Bible or Torah, whatever that talks about the Planter.
Eric: Oh, sure, yeah.
Brandon: Or the Quran or whatever it is.
Amanda: Biology.
Eric: Okay, if that comes up, I will also have Troy roll to see if Troy understands any of the shit that's written in there. Because Brandon, you know, that shit is highfalutin. It is 500 pages to say five pages of stuff.
Brandon: Yep.
Eric: There are so many appendices. Wonderful. Julia, what do you think?
Julia: Book about barrels.
Amanda: Useful.
Eric: Book about barrels.
Amanda: Useful.
Julia: It was a thing a pirate would have.
Amanda: There you go.
Brandon: Fried barrel, sauteed barrels. Barrels al croute.
Eric: That's so funny. I'm gonna go with 1001 Dirty Jokes to Tell Your Crew Members.
Amanda: Incredible.
Brandon: I want a public access TV show about barrels now.
Julia: Book about barrels.
Brandon: Or a puppet show, public access puppet show about barrels.
Julia: About barrels, yeah.
Amanda: Oh good.
Eric: Brandon, that's called puppet access. We can't do that.
Brandon: Yeah, that's true.
Julia: That's true.
Eric: Okay, so I'm gonna roll one D4 if I get a o—
Amanda: Thank God, I thought I had a roll.
Eric: Do you wanna roll?
Amanda: No, thank God, I don't.
Eric: No you don’t? Okay, I'll roll. Now you roll.
Julia: Book about barrels, book about barrels.
Amanda: I got roll. I should roll.
Eric: Okay.
Amanda: Alright people.
Brandon: Barrels, barrels, barrels.
Amanda: Can you remind us of our choices once more?
Julia: Barrels, barrels, barrels.
Brandon: Can I change my book to barrels too?
Eric: No.
Julia: Now it's two books about barrels.
Eric: No. Okay, one but— If you roll one, you get a book about another nation, and I'll tell you some stuff about it. Two is Overstalk theology. Three is a book about barrels.
Julia: That's great.
Eric: And four is 101 dirty jokes to tell your crew.
Amanda: I rolled a 3!
Julia: Book about barrels!
Brandon: Literally, nothing better.
Amanda and Julia: Barrels, barrels, barrels, barrels.
Brandon: Holy shit.
Eric: Okay, I'm going to say—okay, so the thing about the Gunslinger is also about being-- shooting behind cover, correct?
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: This is something as theater of the mind that we don't end up doing a lot. But I will remind you during your next combat if there is a barrel for Troy to hide behind to give you half cover to shoot— to shoot from.
Amanda: Sick.
Brandon: Amanda if you don't look up 101 facts about barrels and then have Troy read them to us throughout the next arc, I will be very sad.
Amanda (as Troy): Did you know barrels is called cooper's, people who make barrels? Called Coopers.
Julia (as Cammie): Wow.
Brandon (as Umbi): What?
Amanda (as Troy): So if you meet somebody, and their name is like Troy Cooper, that means like their great grandpappy might barrels.
Julia (as Cammie): Troy, I don't think you should change your last name, Riptide it's a pretty cool name.
Amanda (as Troy): Thanks, man. Appreciate you. Just saying like I couldn't think about their first name except for my name, so that's why I said, Troy. But I was talking about like, just like some other person who isn’t me, because I’m Troy Riptide.
Eric: I like the idea of flipping through a page, it's like, did you know when you keep something in a barrel, as long as it's watertight, you can put something else in the barrel afterward, and it kind of gets all mixed up in there.
Amanda (as Troy): Like damn.
Julia (as Cammie): Wow.
Amanda (as Cammie): Barrels, like do anything.
Brandon (as Umbi): Can you put bombs in barrels?
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah, barrels, they can do anything.
Eric: That's actually the name of the book, it's called Barrels: They Can Do Anything.
Julia: Incredible.
Amanda: Great. So Troy is going to start sleeping on top of the barrel book to try to absorb the knowledge into his brain.
Eric: Cool.
Amanda: He does lend it to Dr. Tropicana time to time, but he takes it back at night.
Brandon: Yeah, I get it.
Julia: Because as we learned, you can't take your eyes off anything because the pirates will take it.
Amanda: No, Troy watches him read it, and then takes it back.
Eric: I like the idea of—of Havana and Troy, like sitting in the hot spring, trading the book back and forth.
Amanda: Or Eric, even cuter, we read it together.
Eric: Cute. You read it out loud to each other.
Julia: He reads it to you. Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Julia: He's working on his bedside manner.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Julia: And you know, he has to work extra hard, because you know like, men usually aren't doctors and so people are really distrusting when they get a male doctor.
Amanda: People don’t listen to them, I know.
Brandon: It's hard.
Amanda: They're like, where's your supervisor, and then the doctor is like, I am the supervisor. And they're like, I don't think so.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly.
Eric: I think Troy and Havana are reading the book—are reading the book about barrels to each other when then you just hear a big sploosh and water kind of gets all over the two of you and a little bit on the book.
Amanda (as Troy): No!
Eric (as Orello): I was coming in. I thought there was enough room for the— I don't know if there's enough room for an Orello like me.
Amanda (as Troy): No one invited you man.
Eric (as Orello): Well, you should have chained me down.
Brandon (as Umbi): I thought we did.
Julia: We’re not there but I’m pretty sure we did.
Brandon: I know.
Eric: Oh, you could just walk—you could just walk in it's—it's is in public. Everyone can see it.
Julia: Great.
Eric: Yeah, Orello just did a cannonball at the hotel pool.
Julia: Cammie shapes water out of the book.
Amanda (as Troy): Thank you, god!
Eric (as Havana): I was just learning about casks.
Amanda: Troy tucks the book into the bottom of his like wing covers, like in the middle of them.
Julia: Cute.
Brandon: Cute.
Eric: I like that.
Brandon: I just want everyone to know that Umbi is wearing one of those old-timey bathing costumes that women used to wear.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Cammie's wearing a full dress, but it's a swimming dress.
Eric: Both of you step out of like those little huts they have.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, for sure.
Eric (as Havana): Well, thanks for letting me hang out here for a few days. I would just love my sailboat back, and I can get on my way distributing my wares and things to the various scurvy dogs and cats, and sea cats and sea dogs around
Amanda (as Troy): We have Dr. Tropicana now and he's kind of fucking punch Scurvy in the face anytime he tries to come near us. Isn't that right?
Eric: Orello makes a lecherous face at Havana.
Amanda (as Troy): Hey.
Julia (as Cammie): No.
Amanda (as Cammie): Hey, he's a child.
Julia (as Cammie): This is but a boy.
Eric (as Orello): No he’s not!
Eric (as Havana): No, I’m not!
Julia (as Cammie): Yes, he is. Orello, I don't know how old you are, but that's creepy.
Eric (as Orello): Old enough to party, my good bush.
Julia (as Cammie): But are you young enough to party is also the question.
Amanda: Oh no.
Eric (as Orello): Always. Alright, so I guess I’m--
Julia (as Cammie): I don’t like being referred to as a bush.
Eric (as Orello): I'm just gonna go.
Brandon (as Umbi): Wait, don’t you owe us something?
Julia (as Cammie): Just as—as a reminder, the situation is not, Hi, we let you stay for a couple of days. It's more of a like, hey, you're a prisoner because you tried to get us eaten, kind of thing.
Amanda (as Troy): Yeah, and until you come through with some sick secret about the salmon, whatever that is, you're kind of tethered to us.
Eric (as Orello): Oh, the salmon. Usually, I have more time to remember by—my remembering my–
Julia (as Cammie): Remember my notes that I don’t write right down.
Eric (as Orello): My remembering mind as I say, just goes out the window.
Eric: I don't write anything down is actually quite impressive how I just come up with things on the fly.
Julia (as Cammie): It's weirdly less impressive when it's coming from you, specifically Orello.
Brandon: Melonmento Disease, is that a thing?
Eric: It might be. Melonmento Disease, yeah.
Amanda (as Troy): Listen, my mom told me, Troy you need to learn to write. And you do too, man. Come on.
Eric (as Orello): I do know how to write but no one can read it because it is so loopy, it just goes up. I learned super calligraphy.
Julia: It's just circles.
Brandon: It's just circles.
Eric (as Orello): The House of Orange-- handwriting in the House of Orange is so ornate and you can't even read it, but I know what it says. Well, I've learned over on my on my trials and tribulations as a merchant on the Great Salt Sea. I've learned quite a number of places where you can pick up interesting items, you know, vintage stores that are dotted amongst pirate out—outposts. But there is one that no one knows about. And I think I can tell you if you let me go and let me sail, sail.
Brandon (as Umbi): Sail!
Eric (as Orello): Sail.
Amanda (as Troy): And uh— is this one going to have like a secret treasure chest that ends up trying to eat us too or?
Eric (as Orello): I want to say again. I didn't know it was a secret treasure chest that ate people.
Brandon (as Umbi): How did you know! It’s called Esca Island?
Amanda: Brandon says making eye contact with the camera.
Julia (as Cammie): It's almost like you should have Googled it before we went there.
Eric (as Orello): You could have looked it up. I just didn't choose to look it up, I thought it was a cool name. Anyway. Well, you know what, it's funny that we're talking about books. I actually—let me flip to the back of the book here. Oh, that's right.
Eric: You look at the— at the book about barrels. On the back it says it's fro—there's a stamp that says it's from the Legi Island Book Depository.
Julia: Hold on. I had to Google “legi” real quick. How do you spell that Eric?
Eric: L E G I.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: It’s from the Legi Island Book Depository.
Eric (as Orello): Yeah. Whe—there are quite a lot of pirates who are the literate sort. So if they pick up something— if they pick up something that has a bunch of books in it, they just sell it for—for—for a quarter of a doublooms— for a quarter of doublooms a volume. I think it's worthwhile and then the—the bookish— the bookworms amongst us gonna go in there and figure it out. But here's the thing, not many people know about this place or even care about books. And I have heard around the drinking parlors and establishments, there might be a journal of a pirate that came—that came before us that was hot on the trail of the Infinite Lake.
Brandon (as Umbi): Orello, real quick. I ju—I learned this in my—in my advanced years. Not all worms are bookworms and other insects also like to read so.
Julia (as Cammie): That's true.
Amanda (as Troy): That's true. Like—
Eric (as Orello): I have to check my privilege, I'm sorry.
Amanda (as Troy): You know what, guys? I learned today, books are cool. Teach us stuff, could be worth it.
Brandon (As Umbi): I got a book up in here.
Amanda (as Troy): Whoa, our brains are like books when you think about it.
Brandon (as Umbi): They are.
Julia (as Cammie): Troy, I'm so happy for you.
Brandon (as Umbi): I'm happy for you too.
Amanda (as Troy): Thanks I love you guys.
Julia (as Cammie): I love you.
Brandon (as Umbi): I don't give love easily, we should go find this.
Julia (as Cammie): Wow, grandpa. Okay.
Brandon (as Umbi): I’m just kidding, I love you too.
Amanda (as Troy): I see Cammie, he said it fast. I mean he didn't want to, but like he still said it.
Julia (as Cammie): Yeah. That's— that's what counts.
Eric (as Orello): Can I have my sailboat back?
Brandon: Can we put some kind of like, is there like a—like a Harold--
Julia: Put a lock on it?
Amanda: Wait. Yes. Can Harold like do a little bit of pruning and like spawn a little bit of Harold onto the sailboat like under the hole where no one will see it?
Brandon: Like a tracking Harold?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: A tracking Harold? Okay.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: That's fine. Alright, while the three of you are packing up to go to Legi Island, Orello is like,
Eric (as Orello): I need to do a full inventory of my whole sailboat to make sure all my cool things are still here. Hold on.
Eric: And I want someone to roll out on behalf of Harold. I'll give you plus two for nature. And I'm going to do Orello's perception.
Brandon: In my head, it immediately went to like those like ceramic angel statues and it's just like one, two, three.
Eric: Wait I can't find it. Oh, sorry, I was sitting on it, four.
Julia: Would you consider Orello a friendly creature?
Eric: Sure. Yeah
Julia: Okay, hold on. [dice roll] I was just doing Tasseography to see if I can make his roll extremely low.
Eric: Sure. Yeah.
Julia: And I did roll 5, so.
Eric: Can you remind me what that did— what that is?
Julia: Well, Tasseography: As an action, choose a friendly creature, you can see within 60 feet. Roll a D20, and record the number roll until the end of your next turn. You can replace any attack roll saving throw or ability check made by that creature with this roll.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Julia: You must choose to do so before the roll.
Eric: Cool. What does that look like as you do that to Orello?
Julia: It is again like Cammie like sipping from a cup of tea and the steam rising and sparkling and then, like almost-- the way we did it with tea leaves last time when we used it on Umbi. And I think this time, it is just like, the steam kind of blows in front Orello's eyes and he's momentarily can't see as well as perhaps he could before.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Brandon: Love that.
Eric (as Orello): Where are my readers?
Eric: Sure. Alright, I'll take a five I was gonna give him plus three to that. So like, I'll take an eight.
Julia: Okay.
Amanda: Nice. Julia, I think you should also roll though, because I don't trust myself.
Julia: Alright.
Brandon: Same.
Julia: Alright.
Eric: On behalf of Harold.
[dice roll]
Julia: A Nat 20.
Eric: Yeaaah.
Brandon: Fuck yeah!!
Amanda: Harold.
Brandon: Harold, Harold, Harold.
Julia: Didn't even have to give them that bad a roll, it just would have happened.
Eric: No, it just would have happened.
Julia: Sometimes, things just happen.
Eric: Sometimes you just need to magic your friend.
Brandon: You had to get rid of the five to get to the 20.
Amanda: Yes. That’s true.
Eric: That's right, that's right. You pull—you pull off a little bit of the lichen. And then it just immediately becomes like a little Harold with a little face.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Now, what does that one sound like Eric?
Eric (as Baby Harold): Hey honey, what do you want me to do?
Julia (as Cammie): Now Orello is our friend, but sometimes he's a little bit of an asshole. So will you just watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything bad and let us know if he does?
Eric (as Baby Harold): Oh, well, he won't go— he won't go anywhere, I must say. I'm just gonna sit there.
Julia (as Cammie): I love that for you. Thank you, baby Harold.
Eric (as Baby Harold): Byeee. Byeee.
Brandon: Maybe, maybe—maybe his name is Harry?
Eric (as Little Harry): Oh, I'm a little Harry, byee.
Julia: Or little Rolly, maybe he's like a short for like Harold.
Brandon: Oh, I like that too. Yeah.
Julia: Rolly.
Eric: Yeah. I was going to make— to do some rolls to see how long Orello would figure out that little Harry was there, but Nat 20, it’s-- you’re fine.
Brandon: Yay.
Amanda: Yay.
Julia: Yay.
Amanda: Thank you, Ghoulia.
Julia: I did it.
Amanda: Thank you, Eric. Thank you, Harold.
Julia: I did it.
Eric: Incredible. Alright. Is there anything else you want to do? Or do we want to set sail for Legi Island?
Julia: Do we need to tell Havana Tropicana anything else that will make sure he doesn't die by the next time we see him?
Amanda: I think he's gotta come with us.
Julia: Oh, okay. We can bring him there.
Brandon: If we bring him with us, Eric, will he be able to like heal us? Like what would the advantage of him taking us be?
Eric: Well, I'll make an NPC— I'm a definitely make an NPC stat block for him and he is a doctor. So although he might—he can't make like potions necessarily, like you can, and doesn't have magic like Cammie does. If you have a wound, he can probably suture it up. He has really high medicine, and also he's a big fucking nerd if you're going to a Book Depository.
Brandon: That's true.
Eric: So he probably could help out--
Amanda: Find some books about medicine maybe.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Why not?
Eric (as Havana): Wait, so am I going or not?
Brandon (as Umbi): Do you want to go?
Eric (as Havana): I'll do whatever.
Amanda (as Troy): Come on, Doc, we gotta go find some books.
Eric (as Havana): Alright. Doc Havana getting on the boat.
Julia (as Cammie): And you know what, Doc, don't worry about your stuff. Because you really don't have stuff yet. So no one's gonna steal nothing.
Amanda (as Troy): Exactly.
Brandon (as Umbi): Don't go in that room, there's a ghost in there.
Julia (as Cammie): Ohh, yes—
Amanda (as Troy): Well yeah.
Julia (as Cammie):—there is a ghost.
Amanda (as Troy): Be nice to Harold.
Eric (as Harold): Hi.
Amanda (as Troy): And don't go overboard.
Eric (as Havana): There's so many—I wish I had some paper to write this down on.
Brandon (as Umbi): Also don't mutiny. No mutiny, please.
Amanda (as Troy): It's true.
Eric (as Havana): Okay, I will not mutiny.
Julia (as Cammie): That's—that's our number one union rule. No mutiny.
Eric (as Havana): No mutiny. Alright.
Amanda (as Troy): Forget all the other ones.
Julia (as Cammie): We have a non-mutiny clause in our contract.
Amanda (as Troy): Exactly. Just remember, no mutiny.
Eric (as Havana): No mutiny.
Amanda (as Troy): If it feels like mutiny sa— seems like mutiny, smells like mutiny, nah.
Eric (as Havana): No, no, no mutiny. Okay. So where are we going?
Julia (as Cammie): We're going to Legi Island but not like the part on a body. I think it's spelled different.
Eric (as Orello): It's spelled with a G and an I.
Julia (as Cammie): Thank you Orello.
Brandon (as Umbi): Bye.
Eric (as Orello): Just— just like my eye. My eye, one of my eyes is fake and I replaced it with a jewel. Just kidding. But what if I did that, wouldn't that be crazy?
Julia (as Cammie): That sounds like it would hurt.
Brandon (as Orello): Nine? Ten?
Eric (as Orello): Alright. All of my an—all of my angel figurines are here.
Brandon (as Umbi): Let's go. Wait. Legi-oh! Was that it? Did I do it?
Julia (as Cammie): I think that's it.
Amanda (as Troy): Grandpa, it's called Legi Island.
Brandon (as Umbi): Ohh.
Amanda (as Troy): Legi.
Julia (as Cammie): Legi-oh Island!
Brandon (as Umbi): Legi-oh.
Amanda (as Troy): I read a book now, I'm smart.
Julia (as Cammie): That's true. Troy's read a book. He knows all about barrels now. No one knows more about barrels than Troy.
Amanda (as Troy): Cammie, that's really nice of you. But I do have to say that probably the person who wrote the book probably there's things that they know that I don't know. But that's why I have to read two books because no one's ever written two books.
Brandon (as Umbi): That's true.
Amanda (as Troy): So, then I'll know more than anyone.
Brandon (as Umbi): Well, you crossed out on the book of barrels, you crossed out the author's name and put “by Troy Riptide”. I assume that meant that you wrote it.
Amanda (as Troy): Well, it's— it's so that if anyone steals it then um, they— they know that it's mine. Yeah.
Brandon (as Umbi): Right.
Julia (as Cammie): They can return it back to you. Yes, we understand that logic completely.
Brandon (as Umbi): Yep.
Amanda (as Troy): Yeah. Set sail.
Julia (as Cammie): Set sail.
Amanda (as Troy): Anchors up.
Eric (as Havana): When I read two books, I'm gonna get a pizza party.
Eric: Alright, the blocky PS1 cutscene returns as we're going the other way, as we sail and give a full wide breadth around the crab.
Julia: Cammie waves at the sleeping crab.
[Crab snores]
Julia (as Cammie): Goodbye sweet angel. Thank you for keeping our home safe.
Eric: You navigate through the narrow coral shallows, and you're out back, out on the Great Salt Sea towards Legi island.
Brandon and Julia: Woo!
[theme]
Transcriptionist: KA
Editor: KM