Get in, loser. We’re going city-saving. The team navigates the icy roads towards MMFFC and the dangerous things that walk and drive upon them. Aggie drives twice. Val has no time for traffic. Milo quick-changes.
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Cast & Crew
- Dungeon Master, Co-Producer: Eric Silver
- Co-Host (Milo Lane), Co-Producer, Editor, Sound Designer, Composer: Brandon Grugle
- Co-Host (Aggie O’Hare), Co-Producer: Amanda McLoughlin
- Co-Host (Val Vesuvio), Co-Producer, Editor: Julia Schifini
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Join the Party is a collaborative storytelling and roleplaying podcast, powered by the rules of Dungeons and Dragons. That means a group of friends create a story together, chapter by chapter, that takes us beyond the tabletop to parts unknown. In the first campaign, we explored fantasy adventure, intrigue, magic, and drama. In the newest story, we tackle science, superpowers, a better future, and the responsibility to help others.
Every month, we sit down for the Afterparty, where we break down our game and answer your questions about how to play D&D and other roleplaying games at home. We also have segments at the beginning of each campaign to teach people how to play the game themselves. It’s a party, and you’re invited! Find out more at jointhepartypod.com.
Transcript
Amanda: Last time on Join the Party...
Eric: Here come super powers, here come super powers right down LTC waaaayy that one that one just didn't really work. I'll do a regular one.
Amanda: Last time on Join the Party...
Eric: A blizzard wallops Lake Town City and knocks out all the power while Val, Milo Aggie and Aggie's youngest sister Quinn are in the Super Funtime Danger Room. As Dr. Morrow tries to get all the power in the entire city back online, she's interrupted by a raging and massive bear that grabs her and tries to take her away. All the powered folk spring into action against the grizzly intruder. Get it? Grizzly and Dr. Morrow escapes on her emergency rocket skis, leading the mega bear away. So to recap, battle, blizzard, blackout, bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica. Let's get the party started.
[Theme music]
Eric: If this was a Coen Brothers movie, we got like five seconds of just nothing like the camera is right on the road, it's all snow with low visibility and like the snow is whipping in all directions flurrying by the camera. And then first we hear the crunch of Aggie's truck tires running over the freshly falling and icy snow. And then we slowly see the truck coming closer and closer to the camera. First, just as a shadow, the fog and really good headlights that she bought from a proprietary place on Reddit.
Amanda: I'm really into truck Reddit.
[Brandon laughing]
Julia: That makes sense.
Eric: So we just see, like the shadow and then the two high beams and then the truck finally comes into frame and then passes over the camera and we get like a quick shot of the underbelly. And then the camera turns over and we see it drive past.
Julia: What kind of music is Quinn playing in the front seat?
Eric: That was literally the next question I was going to say. And I think it's this Doppler effect thing where you get like Five Seconds of Red by Taylor Swift,
Amanda: and then you also hear Aggie like
[Ambient driving noises]
Amanda (as Aggie): You actually don't use your brights in fog,it's about the low lights. It's really fascinating, but it looks like it's foggy.
Brandon: Is that true?
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: I want to set the scene. So you're all in Aggie's truck and you're all wearing your costumes and you have your your winter clothes on you, I assume, like you're also wearing a jacket or a hat or gloves with that. And then Quinn just looking like Quinn in her like massive Canada goose puffy coat over her gym clothes that she wore for training is sitting in the front seat. Quinn is just like,
Eric (as Quinn): Yeah, she's really much nicer in person if you want to get to know her. Like her apartment is very cool.
Amanda (as Aggie): The documentary really change my point of view about her. I really appreciated that. A glimpse behind the the world is great.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh, did you see I was in that.
Amanda (as Aggie): Yeah. I thought I recognized your sweatpants on the floor, which I have told you since the day you were born, that you do not keep pants on the floor. Quinn at least put them on the back of a chair.
Eric: She turns around and looks at Val and Milo and she like
Eric (as Quinn): Is she always like this?
Julia (as Val): I mean, a little bit, but in a good way.
Brandon (as Milo): I also keep my pants on the floor if that's- if that's something we have in common.
Julia (as Val): You don't have a chair?
[Eric laughing]
Julia (as Val): Like the thing where you throw all of the clothes instead of putting it in a hamper, you put it on a chair instead to wear later.
Amanda: Aggie, turns the volume up.
Eric: Loving you is Red ba ba ba ba ba ba ba! Wonderful. So how about one of you rolled six for me.
Julia: I got it. My D6 is already out.
Amanda: I feel like you're the best roller.
Brandon: Do it!
[Dice rolls]
Julia: Oh I got a 6.
Brandon: Oh!
Eric: Ok. Wonderful.
Brandon: We win! Good bye!
Amanda: Bye!
Julia: No problems at all!
Eric: Alright and the episode's over. [Singing theme song] Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. Okay, so Aggie you are driving the way that you get downtown from Dr. Morrow's house, which is pretty far out there. As we said, it's kind of in between this like area, in between Company Town and Laketon. It would so like if we were in any other city, it's like we're driving all the way out from the suburbs and need to make our way downtown. So you need to go through a few different roads, side roads to get in the exit, to go on the highway, if even that's what you would do in a blizzard.
Amanda: Yes, I think I would take the highway because that's the most likely to be plowed.
Eric: Right. So as you're driving through, you're focused on just driving and keeping Quinn, and making sure Quinn is sitting down. And as she's turned around and facing Milo now in her seat, which is dangerous, she shouldn't do it.
Amanda: Very good.
Eric: And then all of a sudden something darts in front of the truck.
Amanda: I brake slightly and turn from where it is coming so I can hopefully go in the space that it just left.
Eric: I want you to make a perception check to see if you can get out of the way.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 22!
Julia: Nice!
Eric: Wonderful, and then Milo and Aggie, we're going to this how I'm going to do the advantage on this. Both of you are going to roll dexterity checks and then we're going to take the highest out of you guys.
Brandon: So you just have Amanda roll or?
[Julia laughing]
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 17 is what I got.
Brandon: Oh actually I got 19 +2 21.
Eric: Oh wonderful.
[Everyone ooo's]
Eric: I want to know what this functionality looks like. So like you have the ghost hand doing the and then again what is this our car manoeuvers looking like?
Amanda: I think Aggie has all of the composure of like a beleaguered dad driving like through the night to get to the next stop of the road trip.
Julia: That makes sense.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: And is just like focused knows what's happening. Everybody from LTC knows how to drive in snow, who has cars. The blizzard doesn't faze her, it's more like assessing what the current state of the plowing and emergency response is, because she knows, like where everybody starts when the plowing and the salting and like who is assigned to what areas. And it's just like it's like you're walking into work and she's like, oh, who's on shift today? Like, that is the kind of feeling
Eric: Wonderful. Yeah. So you see something dart in front of the car and then you're just like, "yeah, I got it."
Amanda (as Aggie): Nah it happens deer, whatever.
Amanda: And so she knows how to, how to handle it.
Julia (as Val): Was it a deer?
Brandon: Milo is panicking by the way is also concentrated so.
Julia: Good for him.
Eric: I like this. I want to do a zoom shot of the tires. That is just like you see Aggie just like steer's into the skid and then also the ghost hand, like is pushing all of the snow and ice out of the way. So it's like it's like, you know, when you see like a hot knife through butter and how it just like goes out of the way of the of the knife, but everything else stays solid? So just like the path of the tire is, is the regular pavement anything that you go to, which is a regular stop and something like slams hard on the—
[beat of silence]
Julia: Hood?
Eric: Thank you hood, I was going to say face.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Something slams hard on the face of the truck. And it's not because you hit anything, it's because Dr. Morrow is leaning hard on the truck,
Amanda: What?!
[Dr. Morrow breathing heavily]
Eric: She's like and she's like, catching, catching her breath.
Amanda (as Aggie): Let her in.
Julia (as Val): Yeah,
Julia: Val opens their door.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Oh. Oh, my God. Thank you.
Eric: I think that she just keeps the door open and just like, push it pushes Val and Milo over.
Julia: It's fine.
Eric: So the door's open because she still has these skis on. So the skis are like outside and she closes the door as much as possible,
Amanda (as Aggie): Put them in the bed of the truck what are you doing?
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): You know I'm not taking them off, I got to keep on.
Amanda (as Aggie): Retract them.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Okay, fine, I'll retract them. Yeah.
Eric: She pushes a button.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Oh I forgot I, I thought it was my other skis.
Eric: And she retracts them and closes the door.
Amanda: Aggies starts driving slightly before the door is closed.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Aggie no- please don't. I really think that you should I I'm only coming in to warm myself up. I do not think that driving with me inside here is a good idea.
Amanda (as Dr. Morrow): Why are you so committed to tussling with this bear?
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): I'm not committed to it. It's just obviously only coming after me. Therefore, if we split up, you don't have to get chased by the bear.
Amanda (as Aggie): What are the odds this bear is made of-
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): I've been calling it the Giga Bear. It's the Giga bear because it's bigger. It's the Giga Bear. Yeah.
Julia (as Val): Yeah.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Yeah I don't want to get confused with the other bears that are delightful and you leave it alone. But the Giga Bear obviously wants to get me.
Amanda (as Aggie): What are the odds that this bear can follow us across several highways to the downtown?
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Oh, very high. I would say very high.
Julia (as Val): It is a very big bear.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): It's well also because it's where it was right behind me, right when we was very close behind me. So I should go.
Julia (as Val): Should we keep driving?
Amanda (as Aggie): Okay, let's go.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): So no, please let me out.
Amanda (as Aggie): Okay, fine. Get out.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Okay,
Brandon (as Milo): Why.. Why is Giga Bear here?
Julia (as Val): Yeah. Why is Giga Bear is a great question.
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Milo. Sometimes in science you don't ask why you say I need to get out of here.
Eric: And at that point bursting through the tree line on the side of the pavement is the Giga Bear. It somehow looks more ferocious as possible now that you're seeing it on all fours because it is as large as Aggie's truck and it is growling and snarling and almost like pawing at the snow, like it's ready to pounce, like it's a bull or a panther, and it is looking right through you, Aggie, because it knows that Dr. Morrow is back there.
Brandon (as Milo): What do you do to piss off his bear?
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): I don't I don't know!
Amanda (as Aggie): How... What makes you think you're going to be able to survive this?
Julia (as Val): I think we should stop asking questions because I would like to survive the bear attack.
Eric: The bear is about to strike. You need to make a decision.
Julia: Val just opens the door and pushes the doctor.
Eric: And she says,
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Thank you!
Julia (as Val): You're welcome!
Amanda: And then I take off in like a perpendicular direction, like not in the way of the parent and the doctor.
Eric: Okay, I'm going to make an attack roll against the truck because I think that there is the moment when it was about to strike that it's all just kind of in the same place. So the bear just charges forward. So I'm going to try to attack the truck. I have the stats for the truck here.
Julia: What's our truck AC.
Eric: I did come up with an AC for the truck.
Brandon: It's very, very high.
Amanda: There's the plow on front. Maybe they'll, like, run up the plow and then over the truck.
Eric: The truck's AC is 17.
Julia: That's pretty good. It's a big bear though.
Amanda: Cool cool.
Eric: It large big bear. The thing is, it has three attacks, so I'm going to see how it do.
[Dice rolls]
Eric: Okay, well, the two claw attacks I rolled failed, but I rolled a Nat 20 on the bite attack.
Julia: Oof.
Eric: So the bear charges at the truck and literally does a bear hug on it. And just like munches down the jaws of this thing. Just go through the top of the windshield and like the corner where the truck and the windshield meet and then just like rip off a chunk. So there's a bare chunk missing from the truck.
Julia (as Val): See, this was my least favorite part of Jurassic Park.
Brandon (as Milo): [Frantically] What was your favorite part?!
Julia (as Val): The Velociraptors obviously, Milo come on!
Eric: They're clever. They're clever girls. So I'm gonna roll for damage against the truck.
[Amanda groans]
Julia: I'm really excited to walk to the museum guys.
Eric: Oh, wonderful, okay!! Hee hee hee hee. Alright. Your truck takes 22 points of damage.
Brandon: That's just too many.
Eric: But also hits the mishap. Good table. So, Amanda, please roll a d10 for me.
Amanda: I got a 5.
Eric: Oh, that's perfect. Okay, the bear is now wrapped around the front of the truck. The truck is currently grappled. It also with the chunk that's pulled out of the truck. It is now cold. The heater doesn't do enough. With all the snow and the wind coming in from the hole, you might as well just be sitting like in someone's uncovered porch while this is happening. It's like you're not sitting outside and you're not necessarily getting hit in the face by snow and wind. But it's not. You are no longer in an enclosed space with a heater. So the bear is now wrapped around the the front of the truck and is like roaring through the hole like it's The Shining like you see one like big yellow eye look in and then at the snout pushed into the hole and just roaring into the truck. And Quinn is like backed away as far as far as he can run the whole area of the bear.
Amanda (as Aggie): She's not here anymore. Over there!
Amanda: And I point.
Eric: What roll would you use to distract the bear?
Julia: Persuasion to persuade that bear.
[Dice rolling]
Amanda: Persuasion? Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, you can use persuasion. You're trying to reason with the bear, you see.
Amanda: Alright, got 3 but I'm going to use my last luck point
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 18.
Eric: Alright. With an 18 you see Dr. Morrow hit boots and put on the skis again and like blasts away like Sonic thirty feet away, and she picks up a snowball and throws it at the back of the bear, like,
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Hey, Giga bear! Bear that's larger than regular bear for whatever reason that is. I'm over here. You want me, you get me.
Eric: And then she waves and she's like,
Eric (as Dr. Morrow): Happy Tuesday!
Eric: And she blasts away. And the bear then turns on its heel and starts galloping after Dr. Morrow as she goes like down the road and as the road bears rights, she just goes right into the forest.
Julia: Bears, right.
Brandon: Did you... Bears, right. Did you do that on, okay.
Eric: I did because I'm a great dungeon master and storyteller.
Amanda: I think by the time everybody looks back at each other from watching the bear go away, I'm on my phone with January and I'm like,
Amanda (as Aggie): Hey, we are about two hundred yards from the house and we need a new vehicle right now.
Julia (as Val): Well do we need a new vehicle or do we, like, do you have a tarp? We could just cover the hole with a tarp.
Amanda: I like cover the mouthpiece.
Amanda (as Aggie): We're also a bunch of costumed superheroes about to emerge from my truck in downtown Lake Town City so this car might not make it all the way there. And I think whatever vehicles she has is probably going to be able to handle this better than my truck could at this point.
Amanda: And then a single tear rolls down my face.
Julia (as Val): Okay.
Brandon (as Milo): Does she have the Batmobile...? A Batmobile?
Amanda (as Aggie): Something like that? I mean, somehow this woman made it to the age that she is now.
Brandon (as Milo): The Milo-mobile!
Julia (as Val): No.
Eric (as January): Hey, I don't know if you wanted me to hear all that. She does not have a Batmobile.
Amanda (as Aggie): Does she have anything good?
Eric (as January): Oh, yeah absolutely! Let's check out the garage!
Eric: And you want to drive back?
Amanda: Yeah. I mean, to the back up back down the driveway.
Eric: I just I love the idea that you drove away. It's like superheroes going and then it's like uhhh!
Amanda: We're only like two minutes into Red so.
Amanda (as Aggie): Sorry guys. It's just this is not going to make it and it's already freezing in here.
Brandon (as Milo): I'm fine. Are you guys cold?
Julia (as Val): Okay, you literally took damage before because you were so cold.
Eric: Okay, wonderful. If you're going to go right back then I won't make you roll a cold check.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Alright. Absolutely. Yeah. So you can turn around and drive back going down the highway. Just turn around. So, yeah. Let's go back and check out Dr. Morrow's vehicles here. I need two different people to roll d4s.
Julia: Uh, I got one.
Amanda: I'll do the other one.
Julia: I got a 1.
Amanda: I got a 4.
Eric: Okay,
Julia: Oooo!
Eric: January hops out so wearing the flannel and now like also ear muffs but for rabbit ears it's very cute, it's very cute.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: And he's like,
Eric (as January): Yeah the garage is in the back!
Eric: So he hops down, and like all the way in the back, if you go down, you see that there's like a secret garage down there and be like
Eric (as January): Oh I don't know what she's even working on, you know the other stuff that goes in and out.
Eric: And you takes out one of those, like, you know, those garage codes that everybody has. And it's like,
Eric (as January): Yeah, you got to push really hard. They don't work.
Eric: So it's just like a paw, like pushing this thing at the garage comes up and you see there are two vehicles in here and one is, there's really no way to describe this other than someone looked at a Hummer and said, "no, this should have treads on it"
Amanda: Tight.
Eric: And it's missing the best part of a tank, which is a cannon on the front.
Julia: Mmmm. That one. Yeah.
Eric: So it's somewhere there. It is truly somewhere in between, like a minivan and a tank. It has treads and but also looks like a minivan. But then just like right on the front, jutting out like it's an elephant trunk is just a cannon.
Julia: Val does not even look at the other vehicles. Val's already getting into this Hummer truck thing.
Eric: The other one it's pretty funny. Aggie, what was your truck?
Amanda: It's like a 1973 Ford.
Eric: Yeah, Dr. Morrow has like that Ford. But, you know, they were they it was actually off the market for a little while and then it came back in like 2019. So she has that and it's in toupe.
Amanda: A second tear rolls down Aggie's face and she gets into the driver's seat of the tank.
Julia (as Val): Into the tank. Come on, Milo.
Eric (as Quinn): But what do we need a cannon for? We just got attacked by a bear.
Amanda (as Aggie): We need the treads way more than the cannon.
Julia (as Val): Yeah, the treads are important, too. But the cannon.
Eric (as Quinn): Yeah, I think it would be really cool if we jumped out of a tank, a tank minivan something. Do we have a name for it? Maybe if we can say that there's a name for this thing?
Julia (as Val): We really do not have time for this. We had to come all the way back. Can we just get in the car and come up with the name as we go?
Amanda (as Aggie): The we're leaving right now mobile.
Brandon (as Milo): January, where are the top speeds of these vehicles?
Eric (as January): Yeah, I mean, I'm no scientist, but I would say that a truck would go a lot faster than a tank. And obviously-
Brandon (as Milo): One, you are a scientist.
Eric (as January): I, I guess it does make me a scientist. You know, this truck goes this truck goes with the tank goes pretty damn slow.
Amanda (as Aggie): Okay, fine.
Amanda: Aggie jumps out of the tank into the car, starts it and starts rolling forward.
Julia (as Val): But it had a cannon in it. Guys no!!!
Amanda (as Aggie): Well come back for it, we'll come back for it. Don't worry.
Julia (as Val): It's just going to get bitten by a bear again. Jesus.
Brandon (as Milo): But now it's new!
Amanda (as Aggie): Let's go. January, thank you so much.
Eric (as January): See you later. I got hot cocoa on the stove. Actually I should actually go back before it scorches.
Julia: Val's pouting.
Amanda (as Aggie): Can't go back from a scorch, you really can't.
Eric (as January): That's true. Otherwise I'm going to have to make a whole other thing. And I brought out the good cocoa because I'm in the house by myself. And Dr. Morrow is always like, "oh, we need to share." And I'm like, "no, I bought this myself. And she's like, oh, but come on!"
Julia (as Val): We have to go!
[Eric laughs]
Eric: Alright. Hell yeah, because Val really wanted to go. Val role d6.
Julia: Yeah, okay.
[Dice rolls]
Julia: Four.
Eric: If you're in the truck, these functions pretty much exactly the same as the Aggie's truck, except that you're going to have a little bit better steering, but your visibility is going to be a little bit worse because it's not yours. So it's harder to Aggie as a person is going to have a harder time just driving it.
Amanda: Sure.
Amanda (as Aggie): Milo can we do the same thing again, get that cookin?
Brandon: Yeah, I do it. But this time it's like two big hair dryers.
Eric: tell me more about that. How does [laughing]
Brandon: You know, it's like it's like they're blowing like hot air from their palms and it's melting the ice and snow.
Eric: Oh, that's fun.
Brandon: Instead of instead of pushing it. I like that.
Eric: Okay, wonderful. Okay, so with a d4.
Julia: Val is pouting in the back seat like it could have been manning a fucking cannon right now, this is bullshit.
Brandon: Oh yeah, what order are we in now?
Julia: We're probably the same seats.
Amanda: Yeah I think so.
Brandon: I think, I think we would have moved a little bit.
Julia: I don't know about that bud.
Amanda: Quinn's in the front for sure.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh but Milo and I have so much in common. We both have pants on the floor.
Amanda (as Aggie): I regret using pants as an example, but I did see those very distinctive cuts in the edge of the Taylor Swift documentary.
[Wind whistling fades in]
Eric: Alright. Once you're going on the onramp to get onto the highway, it's like you're very much leaving, like the forest wooded area you have. It's like you're going towards industry. But then behind you is like the Adirondack Forest, right? I think you've passed the previous spot. You will see the chunk of Aggie's car is just on the road and like partially covered by snow now.
Amanda: A second tear rolls down.
Brandon: RIP.
Eric: Aggie you see another as you get closer, you see like a very large, dark shape in the road.
Amanda: I see around it but don't plan to stop. Do I get a sense of what it is as we get closer?
Eric: Yeah, you can make you can make a perception check here.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 7.
Eric: Anybody else can make a perception check if they think that they're looking.
Julia: Thank you.
[Dice rolling]
Julia: Oop 5.
Brandon: I got a 25!
[Everyone cheers]
Julia: Oh, hell yeah! So perceptive!
Eric: Yeah, here's the thing, Milo, that bear thing probably shook you up real good, huh?
Brandon: [Exasperated] No! Why would you no?!
Eric: So as you're going, you know, even on these back roads, there are still people on the roads every time you like, pass a car or even if there is a car pulled over to the side of the road, you're like, "is that a bear? Is that the bear? And I was like, oh, no, it's just car." And then you're like, "oh, my God, is that a bear? And like, oh, no, that's a Miata." But as you get closer and this is the shape, you're like, oh, that's just a car in the middle of the road. That's not a bear. And you're like a thousand feet away. And then it's a giant bear. A little it looks like the Giga Bear, but now it's just like standing in the middle of the road with its nose, just kind of like in the snow sniffing.
Brandon (as Milo): Uhhh guys, that's that's the bear. That's the bear up there. That's THE bear. The Giga Bear.
[Amanda groans]
Julia (as Val): Why isn't it chasing Dr. Morrow?
Brandon (as Milo): I don't know. I didn't ask.
Julia (as Val): I figured you didn't ask the bear to chase it. Dr. Morrow, thanks bud.
Eric (as Quinn): Is that superhero protocol? Should I ask the bear what it's doing?
Julia (as Val): No.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh, okay.
Brandon (as Milo): But we could learn what it was doing if she asked.
Amanda: Aggie slows down and from about a hundred feet away shouts.
Amanda (as Aggie): Can we help you bear?
Brandon (as Milo): What is this strategy?!
Julia (as Val): Why are asking the bear?!
Amanda: I hold up the dad finger, come on!
Eric: The bear ignores you and is like sniffing at something in the snow.
Julia (as Val): I say we don't question it. We drive by the bear and hope that it doesn't spot us.
Amanda: Since we're closer. Can I see what it's sniffing at?
Eric: Yeah. Why don't you make a nature check? Any of you can make nature checks or animal handling checks. Nature is about nature. But if you want to know about the bear itself, do an animal handling check.
[Dice rolls]
Julia: I got a 17 on nature.
Brandon: I got a 26 on the animal handling.
Julia: Great!
Amanda: I got 14 on nature. Wow. Milo you're really communing with this bear!
Brandon: I know it's because I'm so scared, it's the fear like.
Julia: Fear the bear. Yeah.
Eric: Val you are looking at this thing and it's not aggressive like the other bear was.
Julia: That's good.
Eric: If this was another bear, even if this is a Giga bear, whatever is going on in the forest right now, they would have different markings like this is the same bear.
Julia (as Val): Is the bear like cloned? Is it a cloned bear?
Eric: You rolled nature, so I can't tell you about cloning,
Brandon: But I want to find out about cloning? Is that that Arcana?
Eric: Roll an Arcana, and you need to get a 25 because you don't know anything about science.
Julia: I literally cannot do that unless I get a Nat 20.
Eric: If you roll a nao 20, I will tell you if this bear is cloned.
Julia: I got 16!
Eric: The same bear man.
Julia: Same bear.
Eric: This is the same bear that you just saw take a chunk out of Aggie's truck. Okay?
Julia: Okay. I don't like that.
Eric: Milo animal handling. 26.
Brandon: I, I put a leash on this bear.
Julia: And ride it into the city.
Eric: This is not how to tame this bear. Alright. You know what Hank Lane loves more than anything in the world when he comes home-
Brandon: Yes I do! A really cold, really hoppy IPA.
Eric: Absolutely. 100%.
Julia: What a dad.
Eric: What a dad. When he comes home, he cracks open the hoppiest ale this side of the Mississip. And he watches nature documentaries. He loves them. Milo, your dad, he's like has been pen pals with David Attenborough for like twenty five years. And it just like talking about nature and animals like global warming and all of that stuff.
Brandon: And when I was a kid, Hank, my dad would send drawings of animals that I made.
Amanda: Oh, adorable.
Julia: That's really cute.
Eric: And he would send a note back. He's like, "P.S. Smashing!" He's been in communication with David Attenborough for like years. Like he finds nature documentaries so soothing because,
Eric (as Hank): You know, animals, they have their own society, just like we have our own society and the way like humans have built up. But the way that animal, every single species is different. And just watching that is beautiful.
Brandon: Yeah, it is. I like to have one of my favorite memories is sitting down next to him on the couch watching antelopes lope around.
Eric: Absolutely. What a great verb to describe that.
Brandon: Thanks.
Eric: Yeah. So you remember from watching a Nature documentary, one about bears that like this bear is just minding its own business. And the whole thing is that bears, although they're terrible, destructive killing machines when pushed, that if you just leave a bear alone, even as you get close to it, but you give it like as wide a berth as possible and you demonstrate that like it's chill. If this bear is chilling, it's chilling.
Amanda: Alright. So we're going to drive past it then.
Brandon: Yeah, I relay all that information to Aggie.
Amanda (as Aggie): As long as Dr. Morrow's body wasn't, like under its paws or in a snowbank. I'm good to go.
Amanda: And so we drive past.
Eric: Okay, this I'm going to say you do need to roll because driving although is still difficult and you're going to do it as nice and easy as possible, super low DC with advantage. Aggie, make a dexterity check and I'll give you advantage. We need to a pass a 10 just to make sure you don't disturb this bear. Give it a super wide berth.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: A nat 20.
Eric: Amazing.
Brandon: I think that's good, right, Eric?
Eric: That's good something oh, Val, I also wanted to say this bear is also giant. It's also 10 feet tall. And Milo, you also know, thinking about your nature documentaries, black bears in this area, because there was a whole like Lake Town City Nature documentary that's been done talking about like the creation of an urban environment as it interacts with the Adirondack forest and all that
Brandon: You saw at one shot, you saw they did to b-roll of the museum, and I was walking and I was really proud.
[Julia awwws]
Eric: And then someone was like,
Eric (as Camera person): Get out of the shot! We want to talk to Sage Lanceleaf, get out of the shot!
[Brandon laughing]
Eric: I want to affirm black bears in this area usually only grow to six to seven feet. Seven feet. Like almost never. You like average six.
Brandon: As my dad always said, if you can't dance the bear, it's too big.
Amanda: Wow.
Julia: What?!
Eric: Yeah, that's exactly what happened. Yeah. So with a nat 20 you have full control over this truck, what's up?
Amanda: I think we give it a gentle, wide berth. I make eye contact with the bear and nod cordially. And I think if we were to meet each other again, maybe the bear would remember my moment of leaving it to its foraging. But then we're going to glide smoothly onto the onr amp and I think we find the highway already had one round of plowing. And so certainly ice and snow is continuing to fall. But I would like to say that it's a different standard or already had a preliminary plow.
Eric: Yeah, for sure. I think with a nat 20, you have full control over this truck, even if it's all that happens. And I think they like the snow in the wind have also abated a little bit, like it's not coming down. But still all of the problems of having a massive blizzard come through and like now it's getting colder and maybe the snow is like icier. But luckily on the highway, it's been plowed at least once, so you're not having any trouble driving on the highway.
Amanda: Yeah, we'll just go as quickly as a safe.
Eric: For sure.
[Wind dissipates]
[Transition note]
Eric: Hey, it’s Eric. So we forgot when we first started this podcast some-odd years ago that this comes out on a Tuesday. And because of the way the united states is set up. Apparently Tuesday is election day. So I’m recording this in the past, last Thursday. I don’t know how this is gonna turn out. Hopefully it’s good you know for the world at large. But if it’s Tuesday and you’re listening to this, you’ve probably made your plan to vote. And if you haven’t you should go and do that literally right now. But you know take care of yourself, we can’t always depend on the people and the institutions that are supposedly at the top which is something that we’ve played with for a long time in all the Join the Party games. And what you really have to depend on are the people that are around you and the community that is there to help you. When you help each other. Maybe you don’t need to rely on everything else that’s out there and you can collective work to fight that bad stuff. But let’s not worry about fighting, just take care of yourself, okay? Welcome to the midroll, now I’m gonna read some ads.
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And now, back to the show!
Eric: Alright, who has not rolled D6 for me here?
Brandon: [Upset] Meeee.
Eric: Bram Brampton, give it to me.
[Dice rolls]
Brandon: Something's wrong with my dice because I got a 6.
Eric: Will you re-roll for me my man?
Brandon: Yeah!
Eric: I made an event table. So you already hit you already did 6.
Brandon: 3.
Julia: Okay, that's a new one.
Eric: Okay, okay.
Julia: Uh oh.
Eric: So yeah you are all driving down the highway and you're getting farther. Like I said with her nat 20, the the highway-
Amanda: There's no problems ever. We just coast there's a button outside that says turn on power for city. We push it in the mail, go home and drink hot toddy's.
Brandon: That sounds delightful.
Eric: And you all tell your loved ones that you're super powered and it's totally fine.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: You're driving down the highway and the majority of this drive, it's no slower than what you would do if you were driving down the highway like a responsible speed. Like you can go 55 on this and it's probably going to be okay taking Highway 1 into downtown. As you get closer to downtown, much like in New York City and I'm sure in other cities around the United States, the infrastructure is really poor because, of course, there's just like exits going in different directions because they didn't figure that the the city would grow as fast as it is. Like if you've been in Austin or Charlottesville, it's like the city is stacked on top of each other and the infrastructure like didn't catch up. So there's the exit from MMFFC and it's like four exits before that. And it's like taking four to go here is five up. So it's this kind of jammed as people are trying to figure out what exits to go on. And also there are a bunch of cars that have stopped in front of you because a massive tree has kind of fallen in front of the road as you're trying to go down to the exit from a MMFFC.
Julia: Val is pulling the coat tighter around them as they get out of the car being like,
Julia (as Val): My time has come,
Julia: I'm going to go try and lift the tree.
Eric: Okay, so this is where we haven't talked about this yet. So there are people in cars that are in their cars that are just kind of like honking. And one person is also standing out there like in a man in a massive beanie and a big kobie, like
Eric (as Pedestrian): I called the fire department. They're coming. I it's happening.
Eric: So there are people here.
Julia: Yeah, I'm in costume already.
Eric: Okay, so you're in costume.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: With just like a jacket on over it.
Julia: My normal leather jacket is underneath my costume leather jacket.
Eric: Okay.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Okay.
Brandon: Can I cash guidance on Vulani?
Julia: Bring it on.
Eric: Yeah absolutely! What does guidance do?
Brandon: Guidance. You get a 1 d4 added to any ability check.
Julia: Oh hell yeah.
Eric: And is guidance a spell or is-
Brandon: It is a cantrip.
Eric: Perfect. What does guidance look like. I don't think we've cast this one yet.
Brandon: I think, [chuckles] I think the hand in my chest just comes out and like gives Vulani a big high five and it's really inspirational.
Julia (as Val): Hell yeah the Ghost believes in me.
Amanda (as Aggie): Val you've touched more ghosts than I think anybody.
Julia (as Val): Honestly it is a someone give me a Guinness World Record. I'm all about it.
Eric: Quinn turned back to Milo and she and she says,
Eric (as Quinn): So how much control do you have over that ghost in your chest? I feel like a ghost willingly. If whatever ghost kind of portal is in, there would not just willingly do high fives.
Brandon (as Milo): No, I'm in complete control. I'm very strong and powerful.
[Amanda bursts into laughter]
Julia: Val just laughs as they leave the car.
Eric: GIVE ME A PERSUASION CHECK MY LAD.
[Dice rolls]
Brandon: 13 -1 for 12.
Eric: Quinn just gives you a straight face and says,
Eric (as Quinn): Oh cool. Okay.
Amanda: I'm going to pass Quinn the little mask that I had been wearing and just keep my hat kind of tilted forward instead.
Eric: Okay, so the only one out of the car right now is Vulcani, correct?
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: Okay, so yeah Vulcani you walk out and there's like a bunch of people like in their cars and that one guy who called the fire department out there, and he's just like he turns around, he's like,
Eric (as Pedestrian): Are... Are you with the fire department?
Julia (as Val): No.
Eric (as Pedestrian): Okay, who are who are you?
Julia (as Val): Don't worry about it.
Julia: And then I'm just going to go back to the tree.
Eric (as Pedestrian): Okay?
Eric: I think that a bunch of people might also get out of their cars just as the like. "Who who is who is this?"
Julia: I have +1 to fame. Give me a little something.
Eric: I think with a +1, the fame, all of the people, they are like they're not really sure what's happening and maybe there's like a person or two muttering in the back was like, "oh my God, that's Vulcani. Were you at that that hockey game where they punched that guy?" "Oh, the guy with the guy with the tablet!" "Yeah, that was them." "Wow." Like a few people recognize you.
Julia: That's fine.
Amanda: Aggie pulls out a tiny little notepad from like the Stewarts gas station and writes, "I am the fire?" Question mark as a potential like slogan for Vulcani/
Julia: I like that to talk it's very good.
Eric: It's good. So what are you going to do with this massive tree?
Julia: Instinct says, I want to just pick it up and throw it somewhere, but I think I'm going to, like, just swing it around. So it's only on the like against the guardrail rather than in the middle of the street.
Eric: What's your strength here?
Julia: If I'm adding my proficiency it's 6.
Eric: Okay, +6. I may give you a DC eighteen on this because this is pretty difficult, but you're a strong person, so I'm going to give you a DC 18 just a straight up push this tree.
Julia: Okay, cool. And I have guidance so I can roll that 1 d4.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Great.
[Dice rolls]
Julia: Okay, so I rolled in 11, which means I hit 17, so I think I'm going to pass either way, but I'm going to roll the guidance and a +2. So I got 19 like I helped plan.
Brandon: YESS! I helped!
Eric: Yeah, I think with the ghost powers empowering you. Yeah, you-
Brandon: I think well Val is doing this like there is a little bit of like ghostly midnight green blues sort of like on their like fists or hands or what's there.
Julia: As Val.
Eric: Oh yeah Val so you're pushing this tree out of the way and people are like, oh nice, I love this. Thank you so much for Vulcani. This is great. And at that point you hear the sound of snowmobiles pull up like vroom, vroom, vroom. And it's a skidding- sorry. You hear the sound of one snowmobile coming very fast towards you.
[Everyone groans]
Julia: Go away Emily.
Eric: And also the galloping of hooves.
Brandon: Oh no.
Julia: Taxonomy's going to break his leg out there. And I'm not going to be upset about it.
Eric: And and it's like someone is going to "Shhhhhh!" Out loud and you look up and you see Emily Slaughter in like the whitest Canada goose down jacket you've ever seen with, like, the fur trim on the top riding a moose and Sour Anthony in his Flyboy jacket. It's like he just took his flyboy outfit and then put, like, a fur hood on it, like flying towards you. And Emily is like
Eric (as Emily): Don't worry, everyone, we're here to fix everything!
Julia: Val's just like, what are you here to fix?
Eric: Emily slaughter like whisper something down to the moose as they're running up, and like the moose almost skids to a stop like they practiced it and then Sour Anthony lands also on the moose.
Eric (as Sour Anthony): Hey don't worry guys! I know it's all snowy and stuff, but we got this!
Eric: And Emily's like,
Eric (as Emily): Well we heard that there was a tree falling and we're just here to take care of everything. What is the situation?
Amanda: I drive to the front of the queue of cars waiting on the exit ramp and roll my window down and say,
Amanda (as Aggie): Oh, you can handle pedestrian management. Thank you so much. Vulcani, let's go.
Julia (as Val): Here we go.
Brandon: Milo turns to Quinn and is like
Brandon (as MIlo): I fly too. I can do that.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh, really? Wow, that's so cool! Can you fly like right now.
Brandon (as Milo): I'm concentrating right now.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh, okay. Can I mean can I see you fly? That'd be really cool.
Brandon (as Milo): Yeah. Umm... Like right now?
Eric (as Quinn): Yeah! No for sure, I mean like it's not snowing anymore and that guy can fly so okay so.
Julia (as Val): It is still snowing though isn't it?
Eric: It's snowing a little bit. It's not like blizzard anymore. But now it's just like cold.
Julia: Cool. Val's just like
Julia (as Val): Milo stay inside. You're very you're very cold.
Brandon (as Milo): I mean maybe uh maybe maybe we maybe uh it's I can we can go get like a soda, and I can show you.
Eric (as Quinn): I mean like well I mean that guy is flying and that's pretty cool. I mean, if you can fly I think that you should also fly.
Brandon: Alright, Milo's gonna cast gaseous form
Julia: Val gets in the car and just pushes him back in like
Julia (as Val): No. Later. You can impress the hot girl later.
Eric: Yeah. You're going almost incorporeal now and Val slams the door and you like bump against the window. You're like half ghosts.
[Eric laughing]
Amanda (as Aggie): Oh, Kilonova we need you on the wheels. Alright. Come on, guys.
Amanda: And then I continue to drive toward the museum.
Eric: As that's happening. I think that Emily Slaughter is kind of going around and saying like,
Eric (as Emily): Oh, that must have been Vulani! Definitely one of the friends of the Upcountry Keepers.
Julia (as Val): No, I'm not.
Eric (as Emily): It's so great that they could-
Julia (as Val): Not your friend!
Eric (as Emily): It's so great that they can help everybody out because we're just here to serve the citizens. I know that this is a hard, this is a difficult situation, but where you can all go to the place that you want to go, we're going to have Taxonomy here. Who is our moose friend clear out of the area. So everyone, can you just wait their turn.
Eric: And like, Taxonomy, the moose is now like in front like trying to like trample up and down the exit ramp. So like there's currently they're like in the way right now.
Julia: I’d like to make an intimidation check on the moose.
Brandon: Yes. Good.
Julia (as Val): Get out of the way. We need to go.
Amanda: And I'm going to make eye contact with Emily and say
Amanda (as Aggie): thank you so much. We have a we have a power situation. Can we just go ahead one sec?
Eric: Emily says,
Eric (as Emily): Oh, hold on. We want to make sure everything is safe for everyone, so hold, please, hold on.
Julia: May I intimidate the moose now, please?
Eric: Yeah, absolutely.
Julia: Cool.
[Dice rolls]
Julia: It's a 16 +5. 21.
Eric: [Laughing] I rolled an 18 +2. Oh my god, geeze. Yeah. How do you intimidate the moose?
Julia: Just look at it, I'm like,
Julia (as Val): Venison ain't the only thing on the menu.
Julia: Quietly so that he can hear with his moose ears.
Eric (as Taxonomy): Don't you know, there's no reason to threaten me. I'm good ol' moose eh!
Eric: And taxonomy changes back into his human form, which is pretty much just like him with a domino mask on and like a hood from his hoodie and just like joggers and boots.
Brandon: That's great.
Amanda: Wow. With the moose out of the way, can we just drive, like, is there a gap for us just to leave?
Eric: Yeah, I think that they were trying to do like a really big show of like trying to clear out the snow,
Brandon: The Upcountry key? Up county, up country keepers doing a show up country. What's their? I don't even know. I can't remember. No one really remembers their name.
Eric: The Upcountry Keepers.
Julia: Was that in character though?
Brandon (as Milo): It's like the up. I don't know. I can't remember.
Julia (as Val): Upchuck keepers?
Amanda: Aggie says very quietly
Amanda (as Aggie): Up their own butts.
Julia (as Val): Hah yeah.
[Brandon laughing]
Eric: There's space now to drive by because now Emily, who was standing on top of the moose now can't stand on top of the moose. So they both do like land and they're just like standing in the exit. It's like,
Eric (as Emily): Okay, well, it seems like this area is safe now. Alright, thank you.
Julia (as Val): Great job, guys.
Eric (as Emily): Thank you Vulcani-
Brandon (as Milo): [With a high pitched voice] Thanks Kilonova!
Eric (as Emily): Thanks Vulani and friends of the Upcountry Keepers. Thank you.
Julia (as Val): Not your friends. No friends. Not your friends.
Eric: And then they get out of the way and that point Sour Anthony flies around and is hovering next to the car on the driver's side, like looking in. Like looking at Val.
Brandon: What a creep!
Eric (as Sour Anthony): Hey, hey. What's going on?
Amanda: I'm going to gun it. I'm going to drive as fast as is safe.
Eric: Yeah make it dexterity check for me.
Brandon: I'm going to cast shaped water as well.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 19.
Julia: Ooo good job!
Eric: Yeah I was rolling to see Sour Anthony holding on to the car as you drove away. He's like leaning.
Amanda: Does he like break an icicle off as he tries to grab on to the edge of the door handle?
Eric: Yeah. It's like he was leading into your window and then you just speed away like you were driving away from a bully in a 1950's like just say no to bullying campaign.
Amanda: I'm picturing him with, like, his elbows still out, like as if we're in Bugs Bunny.
Eric: Yeah absolutely.
Amanda: As we drive, I want to say to Quinn,
Amanda (as Aggie): Hey, so can you can you do that to your social media thing? Because we're not part of their brigade, and I need everyone to know it.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh, yeah, sure.
Amanda (as Aggie): Are you guys cool with that?
Julia (as Val): Yeah, no, I love social media. They like me on there.
Brandon (as Milo): Yeah I follow a lot of like donut shops and stuff.
Eric: That's great, that sounds like a perfect - and this is Eric here. That sounds like a perfectly curated social media feed. I love that.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Quinn's like
Eric (as Quinn): Yeah, what do you want to do?
Amanda (as Aggie): Maybe just like take some photos or some footage or whatever as we do whatever we're about to do. And then later we can be like, "wow, so glad we alone, the three/four of us saved the situation and turn on the power!"
Eric (as Quinn): Hmm, yeah, no, no, no, I'll definitely do that. I think, and this is just my experience as a social media person, right? It sounds like that first of all, that's Emily Slaughter from the article?
Julia (as Val): Oh, yeah.
Amanda (as Aggie): Yeah...
Eric (as Quinn): Ohohohohh God, what a piece of work.
Julia (as Val): She sucks doesn't she?
Eric (as Quinn): Yeah, just so bad.
Amanda: A third tear roles out of my eye.
Amanda (as Aggie): I love you.
Brandon: A tear rolls out of your third eye.
Eric (as Quinn): Oh, man. Oh, mansies. It's okay. It seems like she's the kind of person who has a social media person who's already posting stuff. So if we want to get ahead of it, we want to be first. And then it looks like they didn't do stuff. Right? I feel like we need to do it sooner, like should we do it now? Do we have time?
Brandon (as Milo): What if we also instead of being like the superheroes, saving the day, we're like we're like the neighborhood superhero. We're like your best friend. We're down home. We take a selfie and we're like, look at us. We're saving the city. But we're we're one of you!
Eric (as Quinn): Yeah, no, I just.
Brandon (as Milo): Like counter that narrative you know?
Eric (as Quinn): That sounds great, but we just- I think we need to do it now. I don't think that we can wait for whatever is happening. And also, like, what if the Giga Bear eats all of us and we all die and I can't post it?
Julia (as Val): That's true.
Brandon (as Milo): That's a good fear. What if. Or we could be the all the mysterious people like we all sit in the front row of the truck and then like it's in shadow and you only see our profiles and it's like "three new heroes emerge in Lake Town city to save the day."
Amanda (as Aggie): This sounds like a more involved project, I'm having second thoughts.
Julia (as Val): I dunno, I trust Quinn's judgment for this.
Eric (as Quinn): I just I just want a photo. I just want to do it now, and I want to have a photo of everyone.
Julia (as Val): Let's just do it now then!
Amanda: Can I just, like, look around the street as we're stopped at a red light and look for, like, a branch that is blocking a, like, accessibility ramp or something?
Eric: Yeah, that's actually really funny. So you guys are talking about what you want to do to try to to go to help somebody on the way. You are at a red light, and you see to the right that there is that you're driving by the Black Diamond Diner, which is a 24 hour diner that's intentionally off the highway before you go into downtown proper,
Brandon: They have the best curly fries, best curly fries.
Eric: Oh, best curly fries, like French onion soup. Just mmmm why at a diner? But I will have it there.
Amanda: Garbage plate to die for.
Eric: It's actually they call it "the toxic waste plate" here because it's a garbage plate, but they put in jalapenos into the like the potato hash. So it's like, oh, toxic water. So they actually what's wild about the Black Diamond Diner is that it used to be an old ski chalet from the 1970s. So it's like, oh, we're going to build up this area. There's going to be skiing here. But the ski lodge and the ski company never like it, never really materialized. So they just had this chalet here. But then it was turned into a diner. The thing is about it, it's like all the wood and it has that really big like those like very, very large steps in there. That's like they're separated. So it's just like there's space underneath the steps. And, you know, you guys know what I'm talking about?
Amanda: Like an open staircase?
Eric: Yeah. It's like an open staircase because it has all these like 1960s/1970s ski touches on it. We're like, oh, like this is where the fire pit we used to be. But now it's just like there's a diner inside. There is a massive amount of snow covering the front of the Black Diamond Diner. It is like covering the entire doorway and also all of the stairs. So as you pull up Quinn's like
Eric (as Quinn): Oop! Do they need help? It looks like they need help!
Amanda (as Aggie): Yeah it'll take us five seconds.
Eric (as Quinn): Here, let me get out of here. I'm going to get out now and I'll just like- don't, just do your thing, I'll take photos.
Eric: So Quinn hops out like bundles up, and then you see her like run like fifty feet like climbs on top of a car to get like a really good angle.
Julia: Val's just walking to the diner and is like,
Julia (as Val): Hey, remember how we were going to turn the power on for the entire city? Alright, let's clear out some snow!
Amanda (as Aggie): We're going to do that in a second, I promise. Okay, just like just let's let's do our thing.
Brandon (as Milo): Yeah, I can do some shape water stuff. Vulcani, you can do some fire punchin' that will melt the snow.
Julia (as Val): That's true. I can just punch now, huh? Alright.
Amanda: I think I'm going to jump up onto the roof using step the wind and punch the ice that has accumulated at the very edge of the roof to break the snow because it's currently like a big sheet. So I'm just going to, like, punch it or use my hat maybe to, like, throw it and try to, like, slice razor blade style so that all the snow will dissipate.
Eric: Yeah, no, I love the I love the hat. Keep your step in the wind if you don't want to go up there because your hat is is a throwing weapon. So let's all do so Milo you want to use shape water?
Brandon: Yeah. I'm going to like turn it into water again. Like unfreeze it.
Eric: Cool, and Vulcani you just want to punch?
Julia: I'm going to punch some snow with fire.
Eric: Okay, wonderful. So Vulcani you do an attack roll, and so does the Preserver and then I'm going to look up shape water to see how much, how easy this is for you, Brando.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 18.
Julia: 13 +6 for a 19.
Eric: Yeah you definitely do it. So Val you punch into the big you - I like that you punch into this massive pile of snow and then it is all kind of like melts around.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: It's like, it's like you're, you're playing Tetris and then it just like one line came out.
Julia: Yes. Great.
Eric: I love that. And Milo, you also take like a five foot is the five foot cube. So you just like turn that into water.
Brandon: Yeah!
Eric: I love that.
Brandon: And it like steams off of Vulcani's first as well.
Eric: That's beautiful.
Amanda: And maybe Milo's like near the bottom. Near the ground, Vulcani's in the middle. And then I'll throw my hat to kind of like slice the the ice and snow off at the roofline.
Eric: Yeah. And I think that you cut some stuff down and you're definitely making it safer. This might take a little while as you I think you all just keep doing this and everyone, please make an investigation check for me.
Julia: Oh, no.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 7.
Brandon: Oh, I only got a 12.
Julia: Hmmm, so technically I got a 0.
[Amanda laughs]
Eric: Val's like "I haven't seen this much- I have never seen this much snow, it's so great!" With a 12, Milo, you see that you can there are two different ways you can attack this. One is you can try to just keep going out like the stairs, or you can try to like clear out in front of the door. The doors are currently snowed in, but also the entire stairs are snowed in.
Brandon: Like me specifically for us as a team?
Eric: You notice that you can you can kind of like attack it from two different angles you can do from the front to like dig in, like dig it out or you can go from the back and try to clear out the snowed in doors.
Brandon: What do we think y'all?
Julia: I think the doors would make sense like one of those people stuck in there.
Amanda: Me too because then you can use your shovel and get the rest of the way out.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: True.
Eric: For sure.
Brandon: Okay, yeah let's do doors. Yeah.
Eric: So yeah. You three are trying to clear out the doors in there and like the it's like one of those photos. I see this on Reddit every once in a while. It's just always that photo of someone opening a door and there's just like snow in the doorway. It's just fully covering these ten foot glass doors from this 1970s ski chalet. And as you get closer, you hear people are banging on the doors.
Julia: Nice.
Amanda: Yeah, we'll focus on the on the door.
Eric: Wonderful thing that you dig them out and you throw it open and you come inside of the Black Diamond Diner and it also looks like a 1970s ski chalet inside it's like someone put in a counter, but it's still like all wood everywhere. And there aren't necessarily like there are makeshift tables that have been like put inside where there were like conversation pits and like those like octagonal benches where like all people could be sitting while after skiing. But they just like they made it work, you know.
Brandon: I love it.
Julia: Cute. Is there, a big fireplace?
Eric: There is! There is a big fireplace which is currently out. And it is just it is cold in there.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Well, ya boy over here is going to create a bonfire.
[Everyone cheers]
Julia: That's what I was gonna ask you to do.
Eric: I love that the first thing you do is like you see all these people. I mean, you're just like pshhhh fire go.
Julia (as Val): We're going to get your electricity back on. We just wanted to make sure you guys are all okay.
Eric: I think somebody steps up who's wearing like who's wearing an apron, like covered in grease. This white guy in his 40s runs up and says, like,
Eric (as Cook): did you see Anise out there?
Julia and Brandon (as Val and Milo): What?
Eric (as Cook): Did you see Anise? He's the other cook, he went outside to go like to go to check out his car and he hasn't come back in after, like, an hour.
Julia (as Val): Oh, uh no. Okay, we'll go look for him, I guess. But we wanted to make sure y'all were okay, too.
Eric (as Cook): Oh, no! Thank you!
Eric: It's like everyone else is like,
Eric (as people in diner): Oh my God, thank you. I thought I would be stuck in this diner forever. Oh my God.
Eric: But the other the-
Brandon (as Milo): It wouldn't be the worst thing with those curly fries, am I right?
Julia (as Val): And that onion soup!
Eric (as Cook): Yeah, we. Once the- once the power comes back on we will make you some for. Yeah for sure. Just give you a look for Anise.
Julia (as Val): Okay, we're going to look for Anise. Okay. Does he also smell like licorice?
Eric (as Cook): What...?
Julia (as Val): You know like anise? Never mind, let's go.
[Everyone laughing]
Julia: Let's go try to find this this man.
Amanda: Yeah can we step outside and roll investigation?
Eric: Yeah, you can look for investigation.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: 17.
Julia: 2.
Brandon: 4.
Julia: Alright.
Eric: For a 17 Aggie, you're looking kind of just like in the massive snow drift that is covering the entire stairs. And you look and you see that there is like a little bit of brown leather peeking out of the snow.
Amanda: I point it out and we gently as if using a hairdryer to melt glue at a distance. Melt the snow.
Julia: Oh Milo can just shape it away. It's fine.
Amanda: There you go.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: So the snow is whipped away from it, and yeah, you look at it, it's it's a wall. It seems pretty beat up and you look through it is like twenty dollars in cash and some ticket stubs and you look at the license and it says Anise Lin and a picture of a of a younger Chinese guy. And in his photo he has shaggy black hair and he has somehow has managed to do you a thumbs up in his license photo.
Brandon: That's dope as hell.
Eric: Yeah. So this is a nieces wallet.
Amanda (as Aggie): God, where did he go, though?
Julia (as Val): Yeah...
Brandon: I'm to start yelling like
Brandon (as Milo): ANISE! Anise!!! Anise?
Julia (as Val): Well, they said he he went to go check his car while we check the cars in the area. See, we got snowed into his car. Quinn? Oh not Quinn. What am I going to call you? Never mind, I didn't say that.
Amanda: Smaller preserver,
Brandon: Preserver Light,
Eric: Preserver girl!
Julia: Alright. But I would like to go, I guess, investigate the cars and see if he got snowed into one of them. Can we ask, like, what kind of car does he have?
Eric (as Cook): Yeah, I'm not good at cars, he has a pickup.
Julia (as Val): Alright, great, that's all I needed.
Eric (as Cook): Okay, thank you.
Julia (as Val): Great. Let's go look for a truck pick up shaped mound of snow.
Eric: Yeah, I think you go into the parking lot and you clear off a bunch of snow and you see the like. There's a bunch of cars in there and then you see that there's a blue pickup and you clear it off and it's just the nobody's inside the car.
Brandon: Was there enough like snow around the wallet to still, like, cover a person? Or are we clear that all out?
Eric: Yeah, no, there is a lot of snow still there. This is still like a massive it's like a house sized amount of snow that's covering this these really large stairs.
Julia: So he probably didn't make it too far.
Brandon: So while Vulcani goes and checks out the truck, I'm going to keep doing shape on and melt the snow.
Amanda: Cool.
Eric: For sure, Aggie, what are you doing? I think I was going to climb to the peak of the roof now that we've cleared it and survey from there to see if I notice anything.
Eric: Wonderful.
Julia: Also make sure Quinn's okay. We haven't heard from her in a while and it worries me.
Amanda: I go "cuckoo!"
Eric: And she goes, [blows raspberry]
Amanda: There you go.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: An 8.
Eric: Yeah, the snow is embedded like the blizzard is no longer happening. You still look around it like, "man, the city still doesn't have power beans and it's getting it's kind of get dark." Milo you keep shaving water away and then eventually you see a thumb peeking out of the snow.
Julia: Oh thank God.
Brandon (as Milo): Oh, guys, I think I think we found them.
Julia (as Val): Okay!
Julia: Val comes running back over.
Eric: Yeah. So you're all just like you're all clearing this out.
Julia: Mhm!
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Wonderful. Okay, so as you clear out the snow you see a nice and easy is wearing like a black beanie, jeans and just a T-shirt and his apron and he's saying he's been stuck in the snow for a little while. So he's like-
Brandon: He's probably fine then, right?
Eric: Yeah. Oh no, he's totally fine. He is like in shock. He's still like lucid and conscious, but he is he looks real bad.
Julia: Can Val just hug him? Because as we established before, that gives like con saves or something.
[Everyone laughs]
Amanda: I'm also going to hold my two hands over in his chest and do what healing die on him.
Eric: Wonderful. Do it.
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: I restore 9 points.
Eric: Oh! Describe your healing thing!
Amanda: I hover in my hands over his chest and orange sparks jump from my hands to the surface of his body. And then they go right into his chest and like, warm him.
Eric: Yeah, I love that. Yeah. He was like really out of it, like on the brink of hypothermia, and he just looked really chilled. But you see the energy come back to him and he's like,
Eric (as Anise): Oh, oh. Oh my God, what happened? I was coming back into the diner and then I was. And then and then I saw there was wind and then I saw the tree move. And then I'm here?
Amanda: I put my hands on his shoulders and I say,
Amanda (as Aggie): Never go outside without a coat. Please go back in. We have to go restore power to the city. I'm the Preserver. That's Vulcani and Kilonova... Uhh social media about us.
Amanda: And then I ran back to the truck.
Julia: Hashtag us please.
Eric (as Anise): Okay.
Eric: And he gives a thumbs up to you as you go.
Brandon (as Milo): Here's your wallet. Here's your wallet!
Julia (as Val): Oh yes, here's your wallet.
Eric (as Anise): Oh hell yeah! Thanks!
Eric: Yeah, he grabs it out of the air because he's a and this is a cool guy, and he like dusts himself off. He's like,
Eric (as Anise): Thank you Kilonova, thank you. Preserver, Kilonova, Vulcani! I'll never forget you.
Amanda (as Aggie): We'll be back for toxic plates!
Eric (as Anise): Oh hell yeah dude! That's my thing! I put in the jalapeno!
Amanda (as Aggie): You're a genius!
Eric (as Anise): Thank you!
Brandon (as Milo): I love it!
Eric (as Anise): Sick!
Eric: And then yeah, you three run back to the car and Quinn all slips in behind and just like
Eric (as Quinn): Y'all, I got some great photos of all of you.
Julia (as Val): Good post 'em!
Eric: She's already posted to insta.
Julia: Great.
Eric: The caption is like, "Oh my God, I can't believe the blizzard hit Lake Town City but so glad that Vulcani, Kilonova, and The Preserver were here to take care of us!"
Amanda: #SupportIndependentHeroes.
[Brandon and Eric laugh]
Eric: #SupportIndependentHeroes. They tagged they also tagged the Black Diamond Diner as like location. And there's a photo of Vulcani just melting the snow with your your flame fist. There's one of the Preserver on the roof looking out of the city, and since it's evening, it's like you've got a really good golden hour shot.
Amanda: Aw fuck yes.
Eric: I guess there's another one of Kilonova shaping the water with the ghost hand and finding the in the initial moment of finding Lin's hand, and then there's one of all three of you all doing all of the things that you did at the moment where Preserver is healing Anise. It's like this above shot that catches all three of you doing stuff in that particular moment.
Amanda (as Aggie): How did you even get it there? Okay, okay, let's let's go.
Julia (as Val): You know exactly how she got up there.
Amanda: And I floor it towards the museum.
Eric (as Quinn): I was on top of a car. No one saw me!
Amanda (as Aggie): Incredible Quinn.
Eric: And then she turns around and she's like,
Eric (as Quinn): [Whispering] I climbed on a building.
Julia (as Val): Very cool. It was very very cool.
Brandon (as Milo): I won't tell Aggie, it's fine.
Eric (as Quinn): No, she she's definitely hearing this. I just like I was whispering.
Eric: Wonderful. Yeah. You were speeding away. Quinn also shows you two because Aggie's driving. She shows that Emily Slaughter had posted a photo of her and taking credit for moving the log out of the way.
Julia (as Val): I told you that's what she was going to do.
Eric: And also, there was another photo because a truck went by only like a minute after you left and it also lost control and skidded out, which would have been a much worse problem if you hadn't moved that tree out of the way.
Julia: Can I check to see if anyone hashtaged me, like anyone who is in the crowd who recognized me before Emily was like, "I did this!"
Eric: Yeah. I think that there is a bunch of comments that are like, "oh, my God, thank you so much, upcountry keeper, so great." And then there's like two comments that are like. "Where's Vulcani? Vulcani was was great, Vulcani, moved the thing out of the way,"
Julia: Hell yeah.
Eric: And they're just kind of like buried because the other ones like have likes and stuff.
Amanda: But there's a paper trail.
Eric: Wonderful. I'm also going to give all of you +1 to your fame.
Brandon: Yay! I'm back to 0!
Julia: +2 fame y'all!
Eric: So when you do things in front of people, you're the DCs of things change. For example, the 18 for moving the tree out of the way.
Julia: There we go.
Eric: Okay, so yeah, the lights are pouring in and comments and stuff just like talking about this. And then Anise posts one from the official Black Diamond Diner account. It's going pretty well.
Amanda: Woo!
Julia: Alright. Let's go to the museum. We have a real thing we got to do.
Amanda: Yeah, I feel like this is definitely like a lunch spot for downtown. So hopefully the museum is not too far away.
Eric: Yes, you are very close to the museum. So there's nobody on the streets now. Everyone's cars are still snowed in is like the plows just moved the snow and covered everyone's cars. And then, of course, Milo, you know the best way to get to MMFFC.
Amanda: It sounds closer and closer to mother fucker every time we say it.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: The M M F F C the MMFFC. So yeah, you drive up, you can't find parking. But I think Quinn is just like,
Eric (as Quinn): I'll-I'll-I'll drive it into I'll drive it somewhere. I'll take care of it. You guys run in.
Amanda (as Aggie): Be responsible.
Brandon: I hop out.
Eric: Yeah so you three hop out and you're in front of the MMFFC. No one is around. It is a ghost town no pun intended Milo.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Like even even on your off days they're still like an elementary school class or maybe like some retired folk are coming in and just checking out what's going on. It's like, oh, I remember when this came in. There is no one there. Even on the days that it's closed. This is a beacon for what downtown is, it is truly a pantheon to what Dr. Morrow has put together. But now it's dead like nothing and no one is in there supposedly. You go to the front-
Brandon: Actually. So Lucas was taken around the office of Mr. Brewpot.
Eric: Yes. Yeah, he was definitely in the back.
Brandon: Do I know the quickest route and the most, like, stealthy route to get there? Or would it be back like through the back loading dock into like through the where we keep the artifacts and holding and then to the office?
Eric: Yeah, I think that would be the quickest route to get there.
Brandon: Yeah. Okay, so I'm going to leave the team around that way then.
Eric: Cool.
Julia: Sounds good.
Eric: I like that. Yeah. I think that you go to the you go through the loading dock and you try the door and although Mr. Brewpot said that it was supposed to be everything was supposed to be closed, Lucas was still working and did not lock the door. So the door is just it's just unlocked. Yeah I think that you go around through the back entrance, the one that you take every day to go into work. And I think that is you're walking through, you poke your head into all the other offices or the places where people would usually be working. And you just don't you don't see anything. It's just totally dark. And then you, like, turn a corner and you see there's like a slight glow coming from the break room.
Brandon: I'm going to go in there and check it out.
Eric: Yeah, as you walk over there, Lucas, has you just hear [singing the Legend of Zelda theme] "ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba"
Julia: He's playing his Switch.
Eric: Yeah. Lucas is playing a switch on the highest volume. He has all the chairs like moved over to the table in the break room and like a bunch of snacks just laid out and like all of his stuff is just everywhere. He's turned this into his personal lounge/kitchen.
Brandon: And I say,
Brandon (as Milo): Citizen, is everything okay here?
Eric: He drops the Switch is like like.
Eric (as Lucas): Shit. What. Wait? What?
Brandon (as Milo): Citizen, we heard reports that someone was in trouble here. It seems like everything is okay?
Amanda: Aggie puts her hand over her face.
Eric (as Lucas): Yeah, everything's fine. Who who are you?
Brandon (as Milo): I'm Kilonova, protector of space and time.
Julia (as Val): The what?
Brandon (as Milo): Shh, shh Val shut up.
Julia (as Val): Hmmm.
Eric (as Lucas): Oh, okay. Kilonova, that's kind of a really specific name.
Brandon (as Milo): It I didn't realize the reference.
Eric (as Lucas): Yeah, it's like the opposite of a supernova thing. Do you like space?
Brandon (as Milo): Kind of! Yeah, I protect space.
Julia (as Val): He's a nerd.
Eric (as Lucas): Oh you're a nerd- who are- who are you?
Julia (as Val): Vulcani.
Eric (as Lucas): Okay.
Amanda (as Aggie): Preserver. Where's the fuse boxes?
Eric (as Lucas): Oh uh, in Dr. Morrow's office. Why?
Julia (as Val): Cool, let's go to that. We got to turn power on for the city. Later.
Eric (as Lucas): Okay, cool, cool. Okay, that's fine.
Brandon: As the two of them go to Dr. Morrow's office, I'm going to peel off and take my costume off and run back into Lucas.
Julia: Why?
Amanda: Oh my.
Brandon: Because I want to find out why he hung up the phone.
Julia: Why don't you just call him and be like, hey, what happened?
Brandon: Because Milo doesn't think about smart things.
Julia: Okay, listen, do what you got to do.
Eric: Okay, Lucas yeah. Lucas says,
Eric (as Lucas): Oh, Milo, how did you get in here?
Brandon (as Milo): Lucas It was unlocked is everything okay? You hung up on us!
Eric (as Lucas): No, my phone died. I thought I was fine. No, what's up? I was just hanging out here because I thought Dr. Morrow or Dr. Brewpot would be mad if I didn't do those things. Also, I don't get off for another hour.
Brandon (as Milo): Your phone died. You didn't plug it back in, like, text me or call me or anything. In the middle of a blizzard.
Eric (as Lucas): Oh, no, I did. Oh, no. Oh, it didn't go through. I was- I just switched the data afterwards. It didn't go through my bad.
Brandon (as Milo): Okay, well...
Eric (as Lucas): What's up?
Brandon (as Milo): I thought you were dead.
Eric (as Lucas): Oh... No? I didn't think you were dead.
Brandon (as Milo): Because I called you, I didn't my phone didn't die on you.
Eric (as Lucas): Oh, okay? Should I have called you back?
Brandon (as Milo): Yeah. Okay.
Eric (as Lucas): Next time I'll call you back for sure.
Brandon (as Milo): Okay.
Brandon: And then I hug Lucas.
[Julia awws]
Eric: Yeah, he, he, he like does the thing where he is like
Eric (as Lucas): Why are we- what happened? Why are we hugging?
Eric: And he's like
Eric (as Lucas): Awww.
Eric: And while you're hugging Lucas at that moment, all of you hear [loud mechanical noises] from the front and then [crashing noise] as the doors fly off in the front of the museum.
Amanda (as Aggie): Fuse boxes, now come on.
Julia (as Val): Yeah, as you run over that, you run over to Dr. Morrow's office. And just looking at this thing, there's like five locks on it. And there's also a keypad with a screen that is off.
Amanda: I'm going to run my hand along the top of the doorframe, do I find a key?
Eric: Make an investigation check.
Brandon: Oh my God, I- if-
[Dice rolls]
Amanda: A 7.
Eric: You run your hand over the top of the doorframe and you feel something and it's a piece of paper and you grab it and you look at it. And in Dr. Morrow's terrible handwriting, it says, "ha ha, not this time!"
Brandon: I can walk back up to them and I can turn into a gas cloud and go through the crack of the door.
Julia: Good job, Milo!
Amanda: Aw fuck yeah!
Brandon: So I'm going to unhug, decouple from the hug and say
Brandon (as Milo): Lucas, just stay here. That's very loud banging over there. I'm going to go check that out. Barricade yourself in here, yeah? Cool. You got plenty of snacks.
Eric (as Lucas): Okay, what was that?
Brandon (as Milo): I don't know. It might be deadly.
Eric (as Lucas): Okay, should I check it out?
Brandon (as Milo): No, you should stay in here and lock the door, and barricade yourself in quickly.
Eric (as Lucas): Okay. Why are you more prepared for this than I am?
Brandon (as Milo): I have watched a lot of monster movies.
[Beat of silence]
Eric (as Lucas): Oh ok.
Brandon (as Milo): Just barricade yourself in please!
Eric (as Lucas): Okay!
Brandon: And I'm going to run out to the office and as I'm like running through the hallway down to Dr. Morrow's office, my body sort of like dissolves into gas into like ghostly gas and I don't break stride that I just like run through the door.
Eric: I love that.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Julia: That's very cool.
Eric: Will you roll on the spirit surge table for me?
[Dice rolls]
Brandon: Haha!! 10!
Eric: Oh, wonderful. You're up to a 5. And as you do that and you're floating through the door, this is like these offices are in the back because it's Brewpot's and Dr. Morrows. So these are like the important offices. So like there's a hallway that leads all the way in the back there. And you hear the stomping is coming closer and closer. And Milo, you are fully through the door. But Vulcani and Preserver, you see that The Giga Bear, roaring and stomping and gnashing its teeth, they're stomping down the hallway towards you in its claws are the tattered remains of Dr. Morrows jacket.