Colossus of the Crux: A Daggerheart Actual Play Podcast
Colossus of the Crux is a new science fantasy Actual Play podcast featuring a cowboy, a cyborg, a four meter tall, three-eyed cat and whatever the hell Qualo is. Join the unflappable scrapper crew of The Rizon as they maybe save the multiverse. This podcast uses the awesome, narrative-forward Daggerheart system by Darrington Press.
Colossus of the Crux: A Daggerheart Actual Play Podcast
S2E1 A Brief Respite
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For the premiere of season 2, our unflappable crew triumphantly returns to Dock Station Theta...empty handed. They spend some time together before being presented with a nasty choice.
Colossus of the Crux is a new science fantasy Actual Play podcast featuring a cowboy, a cyborg, a four meter tall, three-eyed cat and whatever the hell Qualo is. This podcast uses the awesome, narrative-forward *Daggerheart* system by *Darrington Press*.
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I did have one more thing. Uh we had six razor scooters.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I actually was wondering if anybody would remember that, and I was hoping you I 100% do.
SPEAKER_05Uh so I'm assuming at least four of them got crushed when Tabby tried to turn them into roller skates. But that still means Qualo has one.
SPEAKER_07Which is also an amazing scene, by the way.
SPEAKER_04So why why I was hoping you were forgetting is because I was hoping in a moment of despair to remind you. But now you remember, so now I can't do that.
SPEAKER_07Oh, we'll forget again.
SPEAKER_04Garrett will not.
SPEAKER_05No.
SPEAKER_07Didn't one of them get like used to like it got one of them got sacrificed?
SPEAKER_05Yep, that was mine.
SPEAKER_04Domestic.
SPEAKER_00Was that was that the gremlins we killed?
SPEAKER_04Yes. Well, we didn't glitch killed.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, glitch killed them. But that's okay because it's in it's informed uh other decisions. The entire reason we saved Lamp Weasel.
SPEAKER_07And you know, the rabid um ship termites that glitch crushed before they got on board, so they didn't chew a hole in the hull.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07So yep, yep, that.
SPEAKER_04Um I think with that we're gonna cue the music. Welcome to this week's episode of Colossus at the Crux, a Never Fear campaign presented by The Witch Key March. I'm Ian, your GM, and joining me around the table are.
SPEAKER_07Hi, I'm Bree. I play Glitch, the ship's mechanic.
SPEAKER_08Hi, I am Audra, and I play Tabitha, the ship's quartermaster.
SPEAKER_05Hey, I'm Garrett, and I played Tegan St. James, the ship's pilot.
SPEAKER_00Hey, I'm Eugene, and I play Qualo, the ship's scrapper mechanics science guy. And uh, did you know your mama's so dumb she had to study for your dad's testes?
SPEAKER_04Oh well, let's hope that gets cut.
SPEAKER_06Uh we gotta stop letting them do that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we so uh welcome to season two, everyone. The season where we get canceled. Um cool. Man, season two. How are you guys feeling, cast?
unknownPretty good.
SPEAKER_04Pretty good?
SPEAKER_07So ready to get in over our head.
SPEAKER_04I'm the only one that's nervous. Okay. Cool, I love it. Alright, shake it out, shake it out. Well, you all are in your ship, the horizon. Moving through the Empyrean, surrounded by the glowing purple lights of the sea sky, moats of blue drift by on the horizon, and no matter which angle you're facing, right, it's always directly in front of you, there's that thin line of white-yellow light. Tegan. As you look out the window of the horizon, as the ship is listing after some emergency repairs back to Dock Station's Theta so that it can get fixed. What do you see out in the Empyrean? What do you see floating in the sea sky? And how and what does it make you reflect on from the previous adventures you guys were just on?
SPEAKER_05Uh, Keegan's looking out and he sees a small, like, cracked fragment of a whirlplit. Some bit that's broken off and forgotten. It's got uh kind of strange ruins on the surface. You can see what look like oh monoliths and monuments, that kind of a thing, uh, on these buildings as they kind of float by. And uh all the the stuff that's uh was once was but forgotten. So much like the archives we just left.
SPEAKER_04Fantastic. On one of those large monoliths, as you're just watching it drift by, an enormous eye that has to be about a hundred feet across opens up and looks at you sadly, and you all just exchange a look across the great expanse, and then slowly it turns and twists away. Tabitha, at some point in the week-long drift back to Dock Station Theta, you'll also wander up on the bridge and look out the giant windows. What do you see, and how does it make you reflect?
SPEAKER_08Tabitha's always thinking about food, and she kind of regrets not eating that rope that was like tethering. At least, you know, to try it. And so at one point during her trip, uh, she when she's looking out the window, she sees these like rope-like streams of light just gently like waving and intertwining and stuff, and she thinks back to that, and she went like, man, I wonder what it tasted like. If it actually tasted like food or not.
SPEAKER_04Yes, the tether that tethered the god delver that had begun to unmake into licorice and spaghetti.
SPEAKER_06Yes.
SPEAKER_04That is disgusting. Okay. Glitch, do you want the thing that you notice to be inside the ship or out in the sea sky?
SPEAKER_07Out in the sea sky.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so you're you're up, you got your feet propped up, you've got a makeshift hammock out on the deck, and what do you see as you're looking out the big windows?
SPEAKER_07Alright, she's sort of rocking back and forth. She's got her really scrappy teddy bear tucked under one elbow, and she's looking at one of the lumen choirs that's appeared in the distance. They're these singing gravitational anomalies that look like kind of glowing, translucent ghost nebulas, and they emit a crystalline almost twinkling sound, like glass chimes that the ship's comms can actually pick up at long distance. And she doesn't take it out, but it's making her think about this business card that a strange half-fairy that she met in the black market bazaar on Dock Station Theta gave her. That looks like it's cut from the same material that the nebula is made out of.
SPEAKER_04That is amazing. Stamped into that card, there's just the name Grimdorf. Okay. And then finally, Qualo.
SPEAKER_00Qualo is sitting at his station on the bridge, interacting with the papillae and chromatosphores of the skin in the pool, and he notices at the edge of the observation distance a long spine reality mining ship, sometimes called Porkies for short. Uh, these are ships that have special arms that extend past the causal normality bubble. And at the end of each of these arms, they'll put any number of things and different materials intentionally to get them warped by the Empyrean. And if things go right, they create all sorts of interesting, bizarre things that defy magic and science and are coveted by essential crafters. And if things go wrong, well, we don't talk about it when things go wrong.
SPEAKER_04This is fantastic. Can you do me a favor and roll me uh just a just a regular roll? Any particular die? Uh just the two, like the hope and fear, and then tell me which one is higher.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. Uh hey GM. Yes! Technically, I got a critical pair of sixes.
SPEAKER_04Oh my golly gosh. So you see these hands uh reaching out uh and just like sticking the object right outside of its bubble so that it uh is in the raw sea sky and it begins to warp. Then you know, they just it was a chunk of stone, right? It doesn't really matter what they start with. And then as it's out being unmade, uh one side of this rock becomes essential, you know, the the you know, the greatest thing that they could possibly hope for. And then the other side erupts into a twisting, writhing knot of tentacles, uh covered in mouths, and they reach around and grab the arms and snap them off, and then the chunk just begins to free-float, and the tentacles like undulate and it flies off into the distance, this essentia squid now. And in your mind, you can imagine the the owners of the ship being quite distressed that their hull uh is gone and their uh arms are broken off their ship. That is fantastic. So it's a quiet week back. Uh Glamp Weasel wanders around the ship once he realizes that he was unmade, um and uh so some of our listeners might not know this, but uh Glampweasel was unmade such that the only thing that really changed about him was that his face now looks exactly like Glitch's face. And once someone made him aware of that, he began to uh perform reconstructive surgery on himself. And if he was ugly before, he's ten times uglier now.
SPEAKER_05Oh no, he made it worse.
SPEAKER_04It really does not have the sort of facilities you would need for that. Uh I that I'm aware of, it doesn't even have like a full mirror anywhere.
SPEAKER_05Uh, we got some like deck plating that we've shined up, you know.
SPEAKER_07But if you're glampweasel, who needs a mirror when you have alcohol?
SPEAKER_04Yes, that's exactly right.
SPEAKER_07That's the only self-reflection he needs.
SPEAKER_04So Glampweasel, uh, now he's wandering around the ship with his face like wrapped in gauze. And uh Slim Jimmy, Tegan, what is Slim Jimmy doing in this uh weak list back to back to Dox Station Theta?
SPEAKER_05Slim Jimmy's uh tried to embrace his uh on a completely unassigned, no one asked him to do this role as the ship's cook. And so he's now uh like he has cobbled together out of like bits and pieces that he's found, this like uh really unnate apron that's got like 70 pockets in the front. Um, and any potential thing that he thinks he can use as a uh an herb or a spice, he's been shoved into those pockets, including things that are not meant for for any living being's consumption. So he's he spent a lot of this time just wandering around licking different things on the ship to see if he can use them as in his cooking.
SPEAKER_04That's fantastic. So you all eventually get back into the space around Dock Station Theta, and Josephine, uh who is of course the ship's Nava Dreamer, is going to look at Tegan with those big, soulful eyes, and through the milky fluid of the vault tank whose name I should remember adult.
SPEAKER_02Is going to is going to say, Tegan, we are almost here. Do you want me to begin?
SPEAKER_04And did you feel the ship rock as she enters the uh the space uh around Dock Station Theta, and you pass out of the sea sky into the reality that's created around the the station?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's uh that's fine, darling. Uh I'll go ahead and take it on in from here. I'll I'll pull this into the port this one time.
SPEAKER_04And over the comms, you're gonna hear the hiss click of the control tower. And uh that familiar voice.
SPEAKER_03Is that the Ryzen?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, control tower. This is a rising coming back.
SPEAKER_03You're gonna wanna pull into Doc 6. Doc 6.
SPEAKER_05Got it, Doc 6 coming in.
SPEAKER_03And have you checked for Gremlins?
SPEAKER_05Yep. Uh went ahead and did it uh twice. Make sure we're uh free and clear. Uh and Tegan like looks away and chokes up a little bit. It's like, yeah, we're clear. That's fantastic. Uh I get on the ship's com and I'm like, uh hey everyone, uh, we're we're gonna be pulling into Theta here soon, and uh, I'm I'm bringing this in manual because the ship's all beat up. So uh just be aware if you hear any scrapings or bangins that uh I hit something. So hold on.
SPEAKER_04Awesome, awesome, awesome. So you guys get back to the station and Qualo, you would have let the crew know that they were safe to return, right? You guys left with the CPA having abandoned the dock so that the void boys led by a Grim Grig could break into your ship to try to figure out where the other half of the transponder was. But you met with a a certain fairy not fairy, who told you in a dream that you were not dreaming and that you guys were safe to return. Do you recall that?
SPEAKER_00I remember the dream. And Sure, I remember that it's safe to return. I assure everyone that there's no problem. Okay.
SPEAKER_04And indeed, when you arrive back, it is like nothing ever changed. The CPA does the you know, standard screening of the ship. And when you get out, Propus Fox is waiting with his hands on his hips, and he is standing in front of Bellatrix, the portly dockmaster. Bellatrix goes to rush the ship, and Propus is going to stick his foot out and trip him.
SPEAKER_05That's mean.
SPEAKER_04Looks like he's getting kisses from the floor. As you all disembark, Propus is gesticulating wildly.
SPEAKER_01Where's the where's the hull? You guys are supposed to bring back half a ship, and it looks like you only brought back my ship, but not the other half of that other ship. Where's the other half of the other ship?
SPEAKER_05Uh we ran into some issues, Propus. Uh, look, boss, it got kind of bad out there, and uh the rising got beat to hell. We almost didn't make it back.
SPEAKER_04Um, I need you to give me some kind of role as he is going to leap off the ground and try to strangle you.
SPEAKER_05I am going to. Oh, uh, what would be the role to just give him like a dead-eyed glare? Like, don't do it. Presence. Presence? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'm just gonna like try to like deadeye stare him like today's not the day. Alright, give give me the roll. Um, does anybody want to help me with this? Just since we're all kind of a little, you know, beleaguered.
SPEAKER_07I would love if glitch could give you a hope for advantage as she is standing right behind you to the side, almost mirroring your stance, trying to look aggressive because she's so annoyed that the the ship he almost got half a ship back after the mess that he sent us into.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I feel the same way. And also, we didn't really make enough money to fix everything properly. So uh yeah. Here we go. Golden bones.
SPEAKER_04That's gonna be a 15 with hope. Uh 15 with hope. Get that hope. Alright, so he's going to leap at you and he's going to like weakly put his hands around your neck, but you and Glitch are both staring him down. And so he will stop like with the straggling motion and just like smooth out your lapels instead.
SPEAKER_01Alright, well, uh, we're gonna have to find a way to pay this back, because you it you you went out to get me money and and said you cost me money, and that is unacceptable.
SPEAKER_05Uh I I put my finger on his mouth and I'm like, shh. Not right now.
SPEAKER_04We'll talk later. Okay, you will talk later. Nice. So, some time will pass, right? The ship needs to be repaired, and you all need to decompress. Speaking of decompressing, we forgot to mention this at the beginning of the episode. Kalo, you have a special ability that would have uh procced at the start of the session. Everybody gets an extra hope. Everybody gets an extra hope.
SPEAKER_07Hope Qualo's handing out the hopes as we step through the uh They're little gift bags. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Like a little scented candle in there and some lip balm.
SPEAKER_00This week the scent is walnuts, sawdust, and yellow mushrooms.
SPEAKER_05I give that gift back back.
SPEAKER_00Was it just yellow things? Is that what you were? That was a coincidence, as a matter of fact.
SPEAKER_07Musty and meaty.
SPEAKER_04Great. So uh as the week is going to while on, uh you all will have lots of downtime since you can't leave and go salvage. And uh Propus will complain early and often about the cost to repair the ship and how you guys are gonna be working it off for a very long time. Uh Glamp Weasel is going to get off the ship and he's gonna look at you all with like uh it's been real and it's been fun, but I wouldn't say it's been real fun look and scamper back off to his his shop. In the meantime, we're gonna do a couple of little scenes. Tegan and Glitch, you guys are gonna spend a little time together out on the ship. What do Teagan and Glitch do uh in this week while you wait for the ship to get repaired?
SPEAKER_05Uh Tegan's thinking that uh after the last time that they went out, and you know, normally scrapping is is not the safest job, but there's generally isn't like giant monsters that crawl out to attack you. So he's talking to Glitch about what sort of improvements we could make to the Ryzen to maybe make it a bit more survivable, you know.
SPEAKER_07And they're having this conversation in one of the back corner booths at the clam bucket.
SPEAKER_05Over some clam bucket bombers.
SPEAKER_07Well, glitch is just having black coffee with a whole lot of sugar in it, but you have her clam bomber and yours in front of you.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, he forgot about that. Like as he was like coming up to the thing, he had two of them, and then he you already had the coffee and was like, Oh yeah, I definitely wanted both of these for myself.
SPEAKER_07She's so used at this point, she just passes it along to you.
SPEAKER_05You can really taste the clam.
SPEAKER_07Ideally, we wouldn't be in these situations where we have to reinforce the ship, but it seems like every time we go out, we're running into something else that's gonna strip the grab hooks off the back or knock off the cargo bay doors.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I mean she's uh she's solid on the inside, but man. Stuff keeps breaking, and I feel like we're running out of time. We need to we need to reinforce some something. The whole, I mean, maybe we can get some of those old weapons working again. I mean, but we gotta come up with the money. Because God knows propus ain't gonna invest into it. He's perfectly willing to let it shake itself apart.
SPEAKER_07You know I love her like a sister. I if if we can get the money, if we can find the parts, I don't care if we beg borrow or steal. I'll do anything I can to patch her up and make her stronger.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Uh maybe it's time we start trying to get some leads on where we can make some money. This I mean, propus' stuff, Jenoa tends to pay the bills, but uh maybe some extra curriculars, if you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_07Does it? I feel like it sometimes costs us more money or skin than it does actually net us anything. I mean, I'm not saying I want to hook up with the void boys, but there's gotta be some other sources of income on this dock.
SPEAKER_04So when you mention the void boys, uh, there is going to be uh a waiter who is going to walk up. And first, uh he's going to offer to put a clam in your coffee, Glitch.
SPEAKER_07Glitch just moves her hand at lightning speed and clamps it over the top of the feet. Oh, uh she's wearing these dark scented goggles, so you can't see her eyes, but he can actually feel them glaring through the tent.
SPEAKER_04Oh, uh my apologies. Um, I thought you wanted the uh the wake up and clam. Um but uh he's gonna uh do you guys know the the void boys?
SPEAKER_05We're familiar. Yeah. Uh maybe I wouldn't say we're friends.
SPEAKER_04It's a shame about Grim Gregg. What do you mean?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, what happened to Grim Gregg?
SPEAKER_04Uh I mean, you know, he was a piece of shit, but I don't think he deserves to be executed.
SPEAKER_05And what did he get himself into?
SPEAKER_04Well, I I guess I guess he was conspiring with somebody in the CPA to sabotage the doc, I guess. Uh you know, I I hadn't heard the the whole story, but he Yeah, he he was part of something, and now they've got the captain of the CPA, the ex-captain, I guess, and Grim Gregg are on for trial, and they're guilty, they're uh execute him. Huh. Yeah, it is strange.
SPEAKER_07Are these public hearings? When are these going down?
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah, no, they they definitely uh are gonna do the public hearing before the public execution. Yeah, I mean, it's uh like dinner before the show. But uh yeah, uh no, it's uh I think it's two days from now. The waiter is going to look at his wrist, and on his wrist is uh what looks sort of like a sundial, but with a bunch of different ridges sticking out of it. And as he looks at it, like cogs are turning on it or whatever. And he's like, Oh yeah, yeah, no, definitely, yeah, two days.
SPEAKER_05Huh. I'll I'll slide my uh half-empty clam bucket bomber over for him to drop the clam into.
SPEAKER_04Uh and he's like, could I interest uh any of you in a good night clammy? Uh maybe after I finish these. Okay, we also have the clammy whammy. And the stop. The don't clam me now.
SPEAKER_05Moon's over my clammy.
SPEAKER_04Uh dude, that that's pretty we should change the name of the podcast.
SPEAKER_00No. To what? Terrible puns R Us? Also, when I go next time, I'm gonna order a clamhaddon. Oh that's nice.
SPEAKER_04Alright. So uh so Tabby and Kualo, you have some time during this week-long rest. What do you all do?
SPEAKER_08Um I'm gonna take Kualo to my favorite place, uh, which is Nails, Talons, and Claws. Um, I've been thinking about them and wondering if they're still getting harassed by that gang. But also, I want to get my nails done because they've obviously like chipped and uh from from our adventures and everything. So I need to get a fresh fresh uh paint job done on my nails.
SPEAKER_04For sure, for sure. Okay. Uh so you take Kualo to Nails, Talons, and Claws, and you come in, there's you know the door chime, and they're very happy to see you. Uh, welcome back. Uh you know, we were just talking about you actually. Uh have you guys had any like wacky adventures? And who is this?
SPEAKER_08Uh, this is my crewmate Kualo. Kualo, this is everybody.
SPEAKER_00Hi, everybody. I say to one to one person.
SPEAKER_04It's nice to meet you. Uh hi, I'm Guelda, and this is uh Shweeben Floor Talk, and uh back there in the back is Gwinta Hilbo. Yeah, good luck remembering those names next session. Cool. So, what kind of manicure do you get, Koalo?
SPEAKER_00So I was very happy that we were coming here because I have a handful of nails that I need polishing, um, like wood and concrete nails and stuff like that. A couple of them are some long like railroad tie kind of things, and so I'm just you know looking at their acid bath selections and their diamond-etched uh files and stuff like that, and then I'm just sitting down at a workbench, and I just sit down to start polishing and refining my nails.
SPEAKER_04For sure, for sure. And uh the uh nail tech will be on the other side of the counter, and she's gonna put like a mask down with like the thin like bands that she could see out of, and then turn on the fume hood, and she's helping you like sharpen your nails.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, obviously, her expertise is the main benefit of being here.
SPEAKER_04Okay, and uh Tabitha, what are you getting?
SPEAKER_08So I think I'm going to go with a lime green nail with like a blue glittery shimmer on top.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_08And as they're like, you know, filing down my nails and painting them stuff, I tell them not all the little details, but like just that like you know, we're on this like weird planet and there was a big monster. I don't go into detail what the monster was or what happened with the said monster, but that uh like it seemed like reality was bending, and I tell them about the like the the tether turning into food and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so again, uh just like always, you have the entire salon enwrap while you're while you're telling you, even over the sound of the grinders uh that are going on and like the polishing machines at few hoids or whatever, they're still like you know, you could almost hear a nail drop, and indeed quality does drop a nail, you know. Uh yeah, and you will notice that no nebula nasty comes in while you're at the salon.
unknownGood.
SPEAKER_08I I I I don't ask us about them specifically, but I ask in a kind of like roundabout way, like, how are things been with all of you guys?
SPEAKER_04Uh so the the proprietor, she breathes a sigh of relief. She's like, It's actually been really good. Um, you know, we had that problem, but recently, uh, I guess their turf changed, and so they haven't been around as much. And so, I mean, I feel bad for the neighborhood they moved into, but you know, one person's varnish is another person's cocktail, you know.
SPEAKER_08It's awesome. I give her a wink, but it's with just my middle eye in the on the top. I give her like a little cheeky, like cat grin with that wink.
SPEAKER_06Nice.
SPEAKER_08Awesome. Let me know if they uh if they do give you any trouble. I'll be right there for you.
SPEAKER_04Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Koala, while you're uh you're finishing up your last nail in the reflection in the visor of your nail tech. You're going to see in the reflection, almost like the reflection is you know, broadcasting something instead of you actually seeing something reflect. Uh the fairy is looking at you and you recognize her as misinformation. Uh, my ears will perk up. Um uh hello? Uh she's going to put a finger to her lips in the uh universal sign for shut the fuck up. And then she's going to gesture to the side of her, and she's pointing at an infographic that shows four bodies, uh, one of whom is much larger and triangular than the others, and then an arrow from those four people pointing to a large obelisk.
SPEAKER_00Is that us and the Tower of Artifice? She's going to go back like she's doing the sh motion again more aggressively. Oh. I look at the nail and I'm like, I look at the nail tech and I says, This nail is called the Screaming Salamander. I don't know why that's important. It just seems like a thing I would say after the last thing I said, and I finished polishing it.
SPEAKER_04Uh so What? Yeah. Uh she's gonna look at it and she's gonna be like, Well, it looked like a lazy Greg to me, but uh sure.
SPEAKER_00Um Well, I think technically it's a peeping Susan.
SPEAKER_04Uh okay. Uh I mean it looks like you're clearly wrong, but she doesn't want to correct you, you know?
SPEAKER_00Have you ever Have you ever just said random stuff and see if it makes sense? She looks at you blankly. Okay. That's just how my reflection looks at me. Weird.
SPEAKER_04Alright. So uh the four of you will meet up uh at the end of uh a day, at the end of a week at the not the clamp bucket, the oyster tub where Jeremy the bartender will wave at you guys uh cheerfully. And as you walk in, he like points at you and he's like, eh, they might uh execute Grim Great today. And then he gives you a uh thumbs up with his mechanical uh arm.
SPEAKER_05I give him like a yeah. Uh speaking of which hey Jeremy, when is that uh when's that trial supposed to happen? Uh I think it's this evening. Uh okay.
SPEAKER_04I'm definitely gonna be there.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. Might uh take a gander. Uh anyways, uh I get us some drinks and we go to like one of the little alcoves. Okay. Um go to an alcove.
SPEAKER_00Hey y'all. The woman who is either gonna kill me or be my wife, there's there's no other alternatives.
SPEAKER_07Um I mean, are they really different?
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, yeah. Right? Uh one of those ends your suffering.
SPEAKER_05Um Tegan Downs' whole shot of degreaser. It's like, okay.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, uh, she wants us to go to the tower. And she hasn't steered us wrong yet.
SPEAKER_07Can we go to the tower? I mean, I know you can get in, but I've heard you've got all sorts of weird latches and doohickeys. Not that I don't want to check them out, don't get me wrong.
SPEAKER_00Everyone can go into the tower. It's just how and how much. That's the only question.
SPEAKER_07I'm liking this more by the minute. Well, before we go anywhere, uh, have y'all heard about Grim Grud? No.
SPEAKER_04Tall guy.
SPEAKER_08Well, the bartender guy just said something about him being executed.
SPEAKER_04Uh, you'll also notice that there is a banner now behind the bar that says Grim Greg dies today with an exclamation point.
SPEAKER_00Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?
SPEAKER_05Probably almost certainly not.
SPEAKER_06That there's a oh shit.
SPEAKER_04Uh that was really good.
SPEAKER_00There's gonna be a lot of scooters at their base. Just prime for the taken.
SPEAKER_07Glitch's head pops up, but she just looks at Qualo. I think this might be the first time we've been on the same page. Not only a lot of scooters, but this means there's a lot of business on the table.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean, it does make me wonder what the Void Boys are gonna be doing without the captain. Ian, I have a question.
SPEAKER_06Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_05So the Void Boys are not they're another rival scrap outfit. Yep. Do they have like a ship? Or is it do they have like uh multiple ships or like how how's their structure kind of next to ours?
SPEAKER_04Uh they have about four ships, uh which is a a decent you know, that's an enterprise, you know.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I take it none of them are like quite as big as the Ryzen, but they're able to go do more stuff.
SPEAKER_04Yes. No, well, not only are they able to do more stuff, but they are much more willing to do dangerous things that you ought not to do with ships of their size.
SPEAKER_05Okay. And so Grim Gregg's like the head of the outfit, right? Yes. So is he like uh he's kind of their propus?
SPEAKER_04Yes.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_04He's more hands-on though.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04He's a lead from the front kind of gang leader. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And he's he's not so sensitive about his everything. That's correct. Okay. So the thing I'm thinking about here is that with Grim Gregg being, you know, tied up in his problems, and apparently he was colluding with the some CPA captain to uh uh blow up one of the docks or something. Blow up one of the I I didn't really hear the whole story. Um It makes me wonder about uh they're gonna be in a state of flux, and maybe if we can't pick up some of that business. Or, I mean, maybe if some of 'em are looking for other employment.
SPEAKER_00Captain Tabitha.
SPEAKER_08Hmm? What? What you said my name?
SPEAKER_05Did I? Down another thing a degreeser. Hey Jeremy, keep going.
SPEAKER_04What drink is Qualo drinking right now? It's a Moscow mollusk. Okay. Uh so you're drinking a Moscow mollusk, and uh the surface of which is kind of bubbly, but through the foam you can see misinformation. We really gotta stop meeting like this. And you're you've noticed that in like over the past week you've seen her more and more in reflections.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, I'm flattered that you're stalking me, but I I told them about the tower. It's not my fault that they'd rather go and watch Greg get murked.
SPEAKER_04So you see Qualo talking into his cup.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm just talking to Glitch and Tapitha, like he's having a oh, he's he's having a spell, he'll get over it. Uh so what do you think? I mean, they got four ships. I mean, we might be able to get some part of that action. How quiet are you trying to be in this conversation? I figured we're in like kind of an alcove, so you know, not conspiratorially quiet. So if somebody's close by, they can probably overhear.
SPEAKER_04Okay. You will see that there is a fawn with a ripped ear that is sitting at a table not too far away. She's got her legs propped up and she's staring hard at Tabitha.
SPEAKER_08Is that the the one that was harassing my favorite place?
SPEAKER_04Indeed it is.
SPEAKER_08I forgot her name. She's not important enough to remember her name, if you ever said it.
SPEAKER_04Got him. Okay. Um, you don't have to do anything with that information.
SPEAKER_08Uh I was about to say, like, I I I'm gonna ignore her.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Um, I grab a tuba lipstick and I write what on my forehead and then and look and look into my drink. Because I finally figured out she can't hear me.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Uh, she's going to point to to an infographic of four people, one of whom is uh larger and more triangular than the other. And then it's got an arrow pointing to the large obelisk. Okay, I so then I I cross out the what and I put now um on my cheek. Now on my cheek, uh on her own head in in very tiny writing, so it's hard to make out at first. Uh it it says preferably.
SPEAKER_00And then on the other cheek, I say, okay.
SPEAKER_04Uh Koala looks up from his cup now with uh was it what now and okay? Yep.
SPEAKER_08In the what's crossed out.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah, in the what's crossed out, that's right.
SPEAKER_00Hey, so uh not to be a pill about this, but misinformation really wants us to go there now. So can we? Because um, I mean, communication by mug is just not my cup of tea.
SPEAKER_05Uh yeah, yeah, that's fine. Yeah, uh how long do you think it's gonna take?
SPEAKER_00Oh. Uh if we're actually in the tower, um time gets wiggly.
SPEAKER_08I want to experience wiggly time. I get up and get ready to go.
SPEAKER_05Usually don't know why I expected any different answer. Uh not down my third shot at degreaser.
SPEAKER_04After your third shot, things are getting kind of weird.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. The tower just things take as much time as the tower thinks they should take is generally what you should believe.
SPEAKER_05This is why I don't go with you to places like this, Koalo.
SPEAKER_00I mean, listen, it's why I don't go with me to places like this either. Wait.
SPEAKER_07Well, we can talk theoretical all day, but we need cash in order to repair the ship, and we're stuck here until we do that.
SPEAKER_05That's what I'm saying. Uh alright, you guys finish this up. I'm gonna go take a leak.
SPEAKER_00You can get jobs at the tower.
SPEAKER_05What?
SPEAKER_00I say halfway to go taking a leak. Jobs? You can get anything at the tower. I mean, it's kind of a waste to get normal stuff. You really you should get stuff that you can't get anywhere else. But yeah, jobs. There's for sure a jobs board or eyeball in the tower.
SPEAKER_07Glitch's head cocks to the side, like she's just having realization, and she just she snaps the quality and goes, Where did you get that lipstick from?
SPEAKER_00You mean you don't have some? Would you like it? I just hand it to her.
SPEAKER_07She's she's just so confused that she just takes it.
SPEAKER_04What's the name of the color of the lipstick?
SPEAKER_07It's ozone blue.
SPEAKER_04Nice.
SPEAKER_07Nice. Hey, Jinx.
SPEAKER_04The uh ozone blue uh lipstick glows. Definitely not harmful. So you all, if you leave to go to the tower, you will miss the trial of Grim Grig.
SPEAKER_05Oh, damn it.
SPEAKER_04And so you are now beset with a choice that will determine how season two goes. And you have to make it right now.
SPEAKER_07Roll for it.
SPEAKER_04You say vote?
SPEAKER_07I said roll for it. Roll for it. Let the dice decide.
SPEAKER_04It's gonna be another.
SPEAKER_08Are we not able to like split up or anything, or do we all have to be at the tower?
SPEAKER_04I mean, you can technically split up, it would just make my life a living fucking nightmare.
SPEAKER_05Oh, well, that's the answer then. Uh alright. Well, let's roll a d12 and uh evens will go to the tower. Odds will go see Grim Gray get gagged. Ready?
SPEAKER_07Wait, are we all rolling or just you?
SPEAKER_05I just rolled it.
SPEAKER_07All right, Cat's.
SPEAKER_05It's a seven quality plus one. Uh so it's odd. Which what what what was odds?
SPEAKER_04Watching Grim Gray get gagged. Okay. Cool. And by cool I mean devastating. Alright, so uh you guys go and get up to go to the trial. You can see Jeremy the bartender has a cart that he set up. So it's the uh oyster tub on wheels, and he you know begins to push it out.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we uh we're like halfway like discussing whether or not we're gonna go to the the tower, and then suddenly that like the music plays, and we're like, ah damn!
SPEAKER_04Uh the fawn who was watching you, Tabitha, as you go to leave, she says to you, it's Kayla, my name.
SPEAKER_08Alright, Bela. Hey, turn around and leave.
SPEAKER_04Get that middle school burn.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Got him. Alright. Uh, you guys follow Jeremy in the oyster tub on wheels back to the docks, where there's like a main dock with a big administration building, and they have set up a tribunal there. And a fungrel Wonderborn, Wonderborn Fungrel, is going to come up, and they have their cap uh shaped so that it looks like a sea captain's hat. Tricorn. Tricorn, thank you so much. Uh so they have a tricorn cap, and they're wearing a very sharp suit. And you'll see that there is another Fungrel that is up on the podium where they've set up for the tribunal on the defendant side, where you can see that there's Grim Gregg, who is in like manacles, and then the CPA captain, which you will recognize Qualo as Captain Schmir Schmir Schmirr.
SPEAKER_05Oh, from the Manhattan Schmir Schmirr Schmir? Or Distinguished Family.
SPEAKER_00No, come on. It's a sea captain. It's it's a New England Schmirch Shhm.
SPEAKER_04Well, the sea captains are the sea captains are the attorneys. The captain captain. Oh, we're gonna confuse the audience so badly. Okay. Yeah, anyway. All girls happen to have hats that look like sea captains. The CPA captain does not have a hat at all.
SPEAKER_00It's Captain Shhm Shit that I talked to when I tried following that you impersonated.
SPEAKER_04Or no, that you said give you the orders uh to go into the building.
SPEAKER_00I go find an alley and a hubcat and a trash can.
SPEAKER_04Okay. While you're doing that, the fungal in the sharp suit is standing next to you, and he is going to be looking at you all with like a fierce recognition slash panic.
SPEAKER_05Uh do I recognize this guy at all?
SPEAKER_04You do not, but he seems to have a if not a direct recognition, like he recognizes your description because he seems to be analyzing you guys pretty thoroughly. Okay. Okay. Do you do anything with that information?
SPEAKER_05Uh I mean, if he's looking at us, I mean, I'm just getting as, you know, up close to the wherever this podium is happening. I mean, the like if they're are they up on like a a gallows or it There's a dais that they're up on, and then there's a gallows set up next to it, yeah. Okay, yeah. I just want to be up the front of the crowd.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_05Uh and if he's looking at me, I'll just kind of like look back at him and I don't know. We've been mean mugged by several people today, so.
SPEAKER_04Uh he's also uh mean mugging Tabitha pretty hard, as the probably the most visually distinguishable member of the crew.
SPEAKER_05Uh I'd take a look at the rest of the uh the crowd. How many like void boys are there in the crowd? A bunch. Okay.
SPEAKER_04And not only are there a bunch of void boys, but they all keep looking at each other with uh okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yep. Uh uh something's gonna go down. I gotcha.
SPEAKER_04Uh in the alley with the trash can, what do you see or what are you doing, Kalo?
SPEAKER_00So I'm gonna polish the hubcap or hubcap equivalent really well so that misinformation can appear in it if she wants. And then on the trash can, I'm just gonna use it as like a writing slate with whatever bit of like half-melted chocolate or charcoal or whatever I find. At the trial, headed to the tower soon. Come see me if you want. If she's willing to commute, if she appears and communicates with me. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Um, Brie, this sharply dressed fun girl is going to finally seem to work up the nerve and push through a few people. Uh pardon me, pardon me. Excuse me. I um are you uh uh glitch? The um the captain of the horizon, I guess.
SPEAKER_07Uh not the captain of the rising.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_07I'm sorry. Who are you?
SPEAKER_04Uh I'm looking for uh a glitch or a Tamantha or uh a uh Quillo, I th I think. Uh he he has something written on his hand. Um maybe you know a cowboy, uh probably uh maybe a human. He he has a uh a worm named Lil Bubs.
SPEAKER_07Glitch is usually really um wary of strangers, but this poor fungal is so confused and is being so unintentionally funny that she's she decides to play along with it. She's like, wow, this this all sounds really familiar. Uh what maybe I can help you find them. What what exactly are you supposed to be passing along or looking for them for?
SPEAKER_04So you ask this fungeral that question in the alley, Qualo. You can see that indeed misinformation does use the opportunity with a reflective surface to pop in, and she looks uh very annoyed. She's like got the the video or whatever it is, uh illusion zoomed out enough that you can see that she's tapping her foot and pointing again to the infographic for like the millionth time. But then she looks dismayed and she like looks off to the side out of frame, and now she looks visibly panicked for whatever she sees out of frame. Uh back in the crowd, glitch, you had asked who they're looking for or why they're looking.
SPEAKER_07I asked why, and and offered to help them find that person.
SPEAKER_04But uh we cannot let them execute uh this uh Grim Gregory Tamson and uh the crew for from the Ryzen. Uh they they're they're looking for something. Um and uh he and he motions to the stage where Grim Greg is looking pretty grim. Uh he has it um i uh i in his head, and he points to his head.
SPEAKER_07He has the thing they're looking for in his head.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Uh i i it's hard to explain, and also client privilege. Uh I'm actually his attorney, one of his attorneys. Um I I really can only speak to the crew of the Ryzen. Uh I'm sorry, you guys, I mean you look just like them. Uh except for you're missing the the Queelow um character. I heard he was uh I heard he was a half furbog, half galapa. I don't know. Uh I I'm sorry for wasting your time. I I I've gotta go. And he's gonna push uh into the crowd.
SPEAKER_05I'll I'll turn around at that point. I've been just been listening with my back to it. I'm like, Glitch.
SPEAKER_07Glitch is just standing there shoveling um candy into her mouth that she got from one of the vendors. There's vendors walking around hawking souvenirs for the execution and large bags of of moon mallow puffs, and she's just fascinated, like this is all entertainment to her. So she's just standing there shoveling it into her mouth like she's at a at a movie or a concert.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Uh in the Alley Qualo, you can see the panicked misinformation is motioning stay back with her hands. And then in front of her, the illusion fades, like something was tossed in front of her, and it didn't get rendered in the illusion. And it looks like the, you know, perhaps the room around her is being tossed very violently, and then you see something appears to grab her by the wrist, and she's trying her best to like fly backward and away, and then she is yanked out of frame, and the illusion ends.
SPEAKER_00I gotta learn how she how she does that.
SPEAKER_04Uh, yes. Back in the crowd, Tegan, you had started to talk to the punk roll.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm like, wait a minute, wait, come back over here.
SPEAKER_04He will turn around.
SPEAKER_05Uh, Mr. or Mrs. What's your name?
SPEAKER_04Uh Quimbly. And any pronouns with love.
SPEAKER_05Alright. Uh yeah, I'm I'm Tegan St. James. I'm the patent pilot of the Ryzen. What what is it that you need and that you said Greg's got something about us?
SPEAKER_04You really are the crew of the Ryzen?
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Uh uh, okay, and then you can uh see on the dais the trial like begins to start. Judge is gonna come out. Tabitha, what is the judge, what is the regalia of the judge?
SPEAKER_08It's going to be made out of this material that's like way too billowy and like lightweight. Like it it looks like it's almost affected by some sort of physics that don't affect the rest of us. Like it's just like constantly swirling and flowing around them, and it's like really shimmery and pretty, but like there's also like this like kind of almost like a weighted honorific thing that comes around their shoulders and like hangs down their front so like their robes don't like blow away, kind of thing. But it's like very ornate, like it's embroidered with like leaves and flowers and other like fancy things.
SPEAKER_04That sounds rad as hell. Okay, uh, and it's it's an earthkin, so they look like they're made of stone, you know, craggy rock face. Uh and in a booming voice, they will declare, Let the trial of Gregory Tibson and Captain Alan begin. And then the fungrel that is in the crowd is gonna be like, I know you're looking for a map. Well, it's inside Grim Gregg's mind. And if they kill him, they'll be able to extract it, you know, from his brain. And that's where we're gonna end today's episode.
SPEAKER_01Hey!
SPEAKER_04Season two premiere Okay, cool. Uh and with that we're gonna end this session. Uh special thanks to our sound guys. Now we have two. Uh Daringten Press for creating Daggerheart, the awesome game we're playing, and to our incredible fans. Don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, five stars, that whole thing. It's another way to help the show. Colossus of the Crutch is part of the Witch Key March universe. If you're interested in playing in any of the associated games, you can find them on startplaying.games. And we will see you next week! Next week Out She passed with flying colors.
SPEAKER_00I can't remember what your intro joke was.
SPEAKER_04Oh that's that's flying colors.
SPEAKER_07It's your brain protecting you, that's why you can't remember it. So if you're glam weasel, who needs a mirror when you have alcohol? That's the only self reflection he needs.