The team arrives in Nolaster, Kakudun's central city on the bayou and home of Zeshdano Navelle.
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Find more about Stillfleet at https://stillfleet.com
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@funcityventures is the show on twitter
@funcityventures is the show on instagram
@bijanstephen is Remy, the Sleeper (human) Blooder
@randwiches is Merkis, the Jalasti Banshee
@nicholasguercio is Vynos, the Conscript (human) Tremulant
and @shodell is Beta, the Shoodtha Pir
@taylordotbiz is the harajoon shopkeep, and the bartender.
@mikerugnetta is everything else
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This episode of Float City was recorded in various locations across Brooklyn New York. It was produced, edited and sound designed by Mike Rugnetta.
Once meek, and in a perilous path, Pixlriffs kept his course along the vale of death.
Our music is by Sam Tyndall - https://arpline.bandcamp.com/
Remy's flute playing is by Jake Fridkis - https://instagram.com/flutebros
Our art is by Tess Stone - http://notdrunkenough.com/
Our Discord mods are Olivia Gulin, Kit Pulliam and Kestrel
The voice of Artemis is Molly Templeton
Transcribed by Kodiak Sanders (@kodiakjs)
[ Transcription note: IC denotes in character speech, OOC denotes out of character. ]
[00:00:00] [ Intro Theme begins ]
> Molly Templeton / "Artemis": [ IC ] In the far future, faster-than-light travel is possible via portals called Stiffworks. Human and alien civilizations travel this way for millenia. Trade, war, and technology proliferate. Countless societies rise, thrive, fall, and vanish. Eventually almost everyone forgets the secrets of the Stiffworks. Almost.
Three hundred years ago the Worshipful Company of Stillfleeters is formed on Spindle, a space station of unknown origin. They send fleeters into the void using Stiffworks in search of profit. It is one hundred million years in the future. Welcome to Float City.
[ Intro Theme concludes ] [ Main Theme begins ]
> Mike Rugnetta / G.M.: Previously on Float City, the crew arrives on Kakudun by way of the snakeman mall planet Gnarcossa. They crash land on the sunny beaches of the big drink wranglers’ sea village, the harvest site for a valuable aquatic crop known as red plant, which Oat pilfers handfuls of. Merkis brings an old conveyance, a vehicle called “the ambelier,” back from the rusty brink while the rest of the crew meets the locals and experiments with various substances. Remy becomes addicted to the synthetic stimulant gunch. The team are told to head Southeast to Nolaster, a city with a Company embassy in the Jash, a large, centrally-located swamp. En route, Beta participates in a so-called festival known as “The Quartering;” after a number of trials she’s told an oracle, the Zeiner, will visit her twice to foretell her romantic future. Meanwhile, the team warms up local tavern Lunch where they learn about the apparent political difficulties plaguing Kakudun involving, it seems, pirates, and an inhospitable region in the Southwest. They are warned: Nolaster is a dangerous place. We join the crew now after an all-night celebratory bender at Lunch as they wind down and prepare to crash in the upstairs loft of one Tyson, a small, mouse-like man Vynos befriended while talking to his broom.
[ Main Theme ends ]
> Bijan Stephen / "Remy Tester": [ OOC ] Remy has gotten extremely hammered, drunk
enough that he’s decided he’s gonna try and get off gunch.
> Jenn de la Vega / "Merkis Imeldar": [ OOC ] Wow.
> Nick Guercio / "Vynos Lysumptuara": [ OOC ] Congratulations.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] He’s decided to make a big life change. [Mike laughs] > Mike / G.M.: Your 24 hours on gunch were just too intense? [Jenn laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I think he’s- he’s just like, he’s not stoked by the negative reaction, cause he was like y’know it’s just like a mind drug, to help you do things better and make you feel a little better, but people have been making him feel weird about. Like y’know he keeps asking like “can I do some gunch in here” and people are like “what are you talking about, that’s illegal.” So I think he’s trying, he’s decided- he’s drunk enough that he’s just decided to try and kick it.
> Mike / G.M.: Meanwhile like other people at the bar are smoking giant spliffs of deep-weed, “oh, gunchhead huh? Gross.” [Jenn and Shannon laugh]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Not anymore. I’m getting off the stuff!
> Mike / G.M.: What are the accommodations that you stay in like?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Instead of going upstairs, Merkis is just sauntering toward the tree in the backyard - cause you mentioned there was a tree somewhere?
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah there’s like a little walled-garden thing in the backyard, it’s very nice.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] That is the closest to his room-blob back on Spin. So he climbs up to a branch and instead of sleeping in line with the branch - cause he’s so, y’know, intoxicated - he sleeps perpendicular to it with his head and feet like hanging over.
> Mike / G.M.: Draped like a blanket over the-
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Draped like a blanket.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] So Merkis is just sleeping outside?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Mmm-hmm.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Okay. I think Remy’s gonna probably, he’s gonna see if he can get an invitation to go where Vynos is going.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] The little mouse-man is named Tyson, and he invites us, I expect this place to be very small but it’s actually huge. [Mike and Bijan laugh] It’s a giant-
> Mike / G.M.: He’s got like a floor-through apartment above lunch. > Taylor Moore / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] It’s a loft!
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] It’s just a huge, gorgeous loft space. It looks like- kind of like one of the Overwatch ship starting areas. [Bijan laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Alright. Interesting.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] And he’s got great sleeping arrangements for both of us! Or all of us, I don’t know who else is staying.
> Shannon Odell / "Beta Commbot": [ OOC ] Beta is so busy writing down that she doesn’t notice both of you go upstairs. And she looks around and notices no one else is down there, peeks outside, kind of can see Merkis, and then pops into Remy’s head. [Jenn laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] What?
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Remy!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] What? What the fuck? I’m trying to sleep, what’s- what do you want? > Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Where did you all go?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh we’re just upstairs.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Do you have Oat with you?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] I don’t know- frankly I don’t care where Oat is, Oat- he’s fine. [Nick and Shannon laugh] He’s always fine. I’m with Vynos, he’s got a mouse friend. [Nick and Mike laugh]
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] What?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] The mouse man has a surprising large-
[00:04:59] > Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Are you on gunch?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No I’m just drunk. There’s no more gunch in my- there’s no more gunch in my future. There’s just- it’s not- there’s no gunch.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Oh then what’s this? [ OOC ] And Oat comes around the corner and he’s got a sack of gunch in his hand. [Nick laughs]
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] The devil himself.
> Mike / G.M.: And the sack has “Remy’s” written on it.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I think Remy’s gonna make an attack roll on the sack. [Bijan laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] I found this behind the pit latrine where you said you threw all your gunch in the hole. But then I found a sack, perhaps somebody was saving a little gunch for later. Now look my friend, I’m not forcing you to give up this stuff, but y’know, I think as an ally-
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] I think you’re trying- I think you’re trying to tempt me-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] No!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] -and Remy reaches out and uses charge on the bag. [Jenn laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: I mean I’m just gonna give it to you, if you want to do it, yeah you successfully charge the bag of gunch.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah he’s got- he has like a, I don’t know, his hands are like inexplicably...like, they have some like- rubs his hands together and shoots out a ball of whatever the fuck was on there to explode the bag of gunch.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Woah.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Oh, oh, oh!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No more. I’m done. I’m going to sleep. Leave me alone. [ OOC ] And Remy goes and passes out on the nearest flat surface.
> Mike / G.M.: Beta you hear all of this transpire through your aetherspeak ability. You might have even heard the explosion of the bag of gunch in two different planes, one inside your brain and second, just above you in the room that you’re in.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Yeah that’s exactly what happened, she hears the explosion and she follows and finds the staircase and heads up to where they are.
> Mike / G.M.: You open a door, there’s a flaming bag of gunch and Oat looking somewhat exasperated, and Remy asleep on I assume the floor.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I think it’s probably- he’s probably on like a bench, like y’know, cause I bet Tyson has one of those tables that has like outside benches for seating, for guests? I don’t know. I’m thinking like restoration hardware but less comfortable.
> Mike / G.M.: Alright so you spend the night either in a tree behind Lunch or on its second floor, in the quarters provided by Tyson; in the morning you wake up bright and early and get back on the road, I assume?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah Remy’s nursing a gigantic hangover and I think he notices like, there’s probably soot everywhere where the bag exploded and he’s like- he talks to Tyson and is like [ IC ] hey man. Not sure what happened last night but I feel resolved. Thank you for letting me stay.
> Mike / G.M.: Nick do you want to be Tyson?
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC as Tyson ] Well that’s fine, it’s- just glad that you moved on and you’ve got quite a future in front of you, it’s really nice for you to be taking such is a big step and I feel honored to be a part of it, please come back and see us anytime.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Thanks...thanks Tyson. I need some water, you got any water? > Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Tyson-
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Is it appropriately sized?
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Tyson is embarrassed by the size of water that he’s handing out. [Jenn and Bijan laugh] But he does point out where there’s some guest water glasses and a guest pitcher. [Mike and Shannon laugh]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy just drinks the whole pitcher and says [ IC ] thanks Tyson.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis is slowly hunched over and making his way to the ambelier, and kind of flops into the driver’s seat backwards. [ IC ] Okay...that was enough...oh boy... [ OOC ] and he’s just- [ IC ] is everybody here yet?
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Yes, I believe we’re all spoken and accounted for. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh, sorry, I have an overhang.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh you too? Hey buddy, high five.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] ...what does it mean when you have an overhang?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well I feel bad for a little while- I usually feel better pretty quickly because of these fuckin’ nanites, man, but it’s pretty bad right now. I’m feeling- I’m feeling bad, feeling not good,
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh, this is very specific to my people, [ OOC ] and Merkis sits up straight in the seat and you can hear all of his vertebrae crack into place. [Jenn and Shannon laugh] Cause an overhang is when he sleeps wrong at the branch. [Jenn laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Woah! Merkis it sounds like somebody stepped on a water bottle.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] I feel like you’ve got- that’s- you’re doing something else. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh...I think I’ll be okay.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah listen I’m- mine is just in my head, I feel really- oof. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Okay Remy can you push the button?
> Mike / G.M.: Beta are you remaining on the roof of the car? Just so I know?
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Beta...is remaining on the roof of the car, and she- while everyone else is feeling a little hungover or overhanged, she is very- she didn’t sleep very much but very clear-eyed, very like running on adrenaline, she is looking out for any sign that she might be getting her visit.
> Mike / G.M.: The ambelier wants to know whether or not you want to continue your previous journey, the navigation system clicks on when Remy starts the battery and the engine. Do you want to continue your journey to Company Embassy, Nolaster, The Jash, Kakudun; do you confirm?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Yes.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah Remy’s too tired to do anything.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Does Remy have to take a penalty for a few days while he’s getting off gunch?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah I’ve gotta roll for it I think. > Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Oh okay.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] “If you become addicted you must use gunch everyday or suffer 20 minus d-will grit damage per day.” [Bijan laughs]
[00:09:59] > Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Let’s go.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] “After six days sober you will suffer d6 health damage as well.
This withdrawal ends after 25 minus d-will days.”
> Mike / G.M.: So you already did your 25 minus d-will, which was 23, so the withdrawal period will end in 23 days.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Holy shit.
> Mike / G.M.: Which is quite a while from now!
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] You suffer 20 minus d-will grit damage per day.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] 18 grit damage! [Bijan and Shannon laugh]
> Mike / G.M.: You might, sir, find out that it becomes- it would behoove you to take up the- > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Get the gunch.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, to get back on the gunch train.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Get that gunch in your lunch!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah, wow. Huh. [Bijan laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah you feel like absolute ass. [Mike laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah Remy has- how much grit did we recover? Do we have to roll pool?
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, roll your pool. You feel the way the road in the Bonesnatch looked. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] You guys- any of you guys got gunch? [Nick laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] You. Blew up your gunch last night. Before bed, do you remember?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah vaguely, not really, but it’s okay- I mean I feel fine about that, it’s bad stuff.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] You don’t look like you feel bad about anything. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well hey: does anyone have some gunch?
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] NO! I just told you you blew up the last gunch! > Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] None of us do gunch!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Beta, Beta, Beta- I know you’ve got some. Beta I know you’ve got some.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] I mean you- you took all my gunch. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Okay well, I guess I’ll just suffer.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis is looking back and seeing how far they are from town, is like [ IC ] I think it’s a little far to turn back now, sorry Remy!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh I’ll be fine, y’know, the worst is past. I feel terrible. So bad that I don’t think I can do anything really, but y’know, we’ll be fine. Nobody’s going to attack us or anything right?
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Going cold turkey is real dangerous man.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah I mean, how do you taper, though? > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] You taper. It’s in the name.
> Mike / G.M.: You take progressively less over an amount of time. > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Who’s talking? [Mike laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I don’t think that’s a game mechanic.
> Mike / G.M.: The wind blows through the- “it’s in the name.” [Jenn laughs] “It’s actually pretty self-explanatory.” As this conversation is progressing, outside of the windows of the ambelier you see the very manicured fields- wildflower fields of Zenthra pass, these very nice rolling hills, and the town retreats into the distance behind you. After you’ve gone for, I don’t know, maybe another like 20 to 30 minutes you start to see approaching on the horizon another one of those iridescent, kind of like gridded transparent walls that you passed through when you arrived. You talked to the guard at the white stone hut in the road, there is another hut, another guard in the same like nice fancy-looking uniform, I think we said that he was wearing like a tall kind of pillbox hat, sort of like a fez but not; he steps out of this white structure, does the same thing: puts his hand up a little bit, you can see he’s got a clank rifle on him, like all of the checkpoint guards around here do, do you guys pause and let him come and talk to you?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Yeah, Merkis slows down but actually stops where he is instead of making him walk over this time. [Mike laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Okay, very nice of you. He walks over and he bends down in front of the drivers-side window and he looks at Merkis and he gets a smile on his face and he says “hard night partying, huh?”
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Good morning! And yes.
> Mike / G.M.: You kids leaving after the Quartering?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Yes we had a great time.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] An incredible festival, [ OOC ] Beta says from the roof.
> Mike / G.M.: He looks up and he says alright, sounds like you learned something. You all are, just so you know, on the border of the Jash, you’re about to head into the swamp. Know where you’re headed?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh yes, official company business in Nolaster.
> Mike / G.M.: Great. Just so you know, the Jash is largely unregulated on this side, you probably won’t hit another checkpoint until you get to the city limits. And once you get there you’re going to see the Nolastrian Guard. I’m assuming that y’all aren’t from around here, things
being what they are, they’ve really stepped up security in the last couple weeks, so just when you get there be careful, don’t tell ‘em any fibs. They’re liable to treat you fairly, but they’re still gonna be pretty firm.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh, thanks for the advice!
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, you kids aren’t heading to the Southeast or anything right?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh no not South, not South.
> Mike / G.M.: Okay. Great. Be on your way then. Travel safe. Don’t cause any trouble.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Thank you very much! [ OOC ] And then Merkis just pushes the joysticks forward.
[00:14:57] > Mike / G.M.: You are on your way. So after you go through this wall, the manicured gently rolling hills and wildflowers of Zenthra continue for another couple hundred yards, but as you go and go it starts to get more wild and less kept. You get more like very tall grasses, you start to see bits of rock and you start to see on the sides of the road these small like bodies of water. Some of them are like glorified puddles, some of them are small ponds, and they become more and more frequent as you head further into the swamp. The air gets humid and kind of heavy, it’s very mossy and damp, you start to see these large trees with moss growing on the side of them and all of these very dramatic vines. As the road surface gets looser and looser, the ambalier changes from its tri-wheels back to it's spider legs, they flip out at one point, it starts to delicately amble along the road. And then when it gets really swampy, the road is no longer a road - it stops being a flat continuous surface and becomes a set of what are effectively train tracks; there is a little bit of a fade like in the path you’re on, the rocks break up and get loose and descend into a body of water and what takes their place is a parallel metal track, and you can hear the ambelier knows this is coming, senses it, there’s more whirring as the spider legs retract and you can’t see it but yeah from the underneath these small metal-on-metal track wheels deploy as it puts you on this track that takes you through the swamp. And the navigation computer says you have about 30 minutes left to go until you hit the edge of the city.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Is it smooth, the ride on the rails?
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, on the rails, it’s actually for you occasionally somewhat like a roller coaster. The landscape here is really weird. It goes from flat marshy land to occasionally these like sort of hills that come out of the middle of nowhere, you know like just one mound of land that for some reason is in the center of this wide-open marshy landscape that the tracks actually go up and then down. So there are these little exciting moments where the ambelier is able to get enough speed to scramble up these hills and then it cuts the engine on the way back down - but for the most part yeah, it’s very very smooth, it’s not rocky or anything.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Yeah, Merkis turns around in his seat because he doesn’t really have to steer because it’s on tracks. [ IC ] Something I’ve read about...this is really- really really
interesting, really really interesting. [ OOC ] Turns around in his seat, turns- yells out to Beta, [ IC ] what was it like in there, when you left? We saw you-
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Sorry can’t- oh, I see it! I- oh, okay, nope, that’s not- that’s another tree, okay. Sorry what’d you say?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Beta you ate that metal house, and then you had to go somewhere, what was it like in there?
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Oh...I can’t even begin to comprehend what it was like...I think once I finish my report I’ll be able to tell- [Shannon gasps] there it is! Nope. Nope, that is another tree.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I think Remy’s just staring straight ahead, trying not to like vomit. > Mike / G.M.: Yeah Remy the roller coaster nature of the landscape occasionally is- it’s not
fun.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] This is- wow- woof, hangover’s gone but wow I feel bad. Never gonna try and kick gunch again, it was a mistake.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Vynos is just writing a nice handwritten thank you note to Tyson. [Mike laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Love it. Great.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Aww.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Oat has his head hanging out the side of the ambelier, with his tongue out like a dog. [Jenn and Shannon laugh]
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, the air tastes-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] This feels great! I know I know it looks weird but do it, try
it!
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Vynos tries it.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy tries it too. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis tries it!
> Mike / G.M.: It’s great! Oat is not kidding, this is very fun, I mean Beta you have been having this experience the entire time so you know. [Shannon laughs] Yeah the air is really humid but it is- it has like vegetal notes, like the air has a taste because of the location that you’re in and you know if you do it for long enough you actually start to collect some moisture on the surface of your skin because it’s so humid.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis is at home, he’s just like full-on like inhaling and exhaling and just like at equilibrium with the moisture in the air.
[00:19:50] [ Ad break ]
> Mike / G.M.: So you go for a little while and it’s getting dark, you’ve been in the car for a couple hours, and the sun is starting to set, it’s like right at that sort of point- just before the golden hour, y’know. You get further and further into the Jash, into this unmanaged territory, and you actually start to see little exits on the track that you’re on. And there are some signs that point towards some cities, presumably, towns, villages, you don’t really know- you don’t know the names of, but it seems like there are other destinations. And there are occasional signs for pull-offs to fex trading posts. I think you guys would know the fex by reputation, you fought one very briefly, but for the most part they’re considered one of the few indigenous sapients to Kakudun, they are considered pretty clever, they are not technology users really, but they are famous for their machinery and kind of making use of what you would consider modern technology and kind of hacking it together and making strange assemblages of things, and selling them at their trading posts. You would also probably know at this point that there’s like a little bit of tension between the fex and the various provincial sapients that are on this planet, so y’know, they get along with the company but it’s kind of tense, they get along with the mulruks who are the other indigenous sapient but like it’s kind of tense, but the Jash is theirs. The swamp is where they live. So as you’re going through the swamp you see little pull-offs for fex trading posts, that y’know the ambelier will ask every once in a while like hey, do you want to exit? Just jiggle the handle, and yeah. If you want to do that they might trade with you, also feel free to skip it and not.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis is kind of like a dad, reading every single sign that passes by. [Mike laughs] [ IC ] Oh! There’s another trading post!
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Remy? Is there anything that you need to get at a place? I don’t know if they’ll have the stuff that you need... [Bijan sighs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] ...yeah we should ask. Let’s ask.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] You want me to go? You want me to go?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah, stop the car.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Are you sure? Are you sure?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Very sure.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] This is very different from what you said last night. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Look, I am hurting and there is no end in sight.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Okay... [ OOC ] Merkis jiggles the joystick to take the off-ramp
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah. The ambelier changes its route and takes you on the off-ramp to the fex trading post. After a few minutes you make a turn through these wide grasses and you see a small collection of these little low squat buildings that are placed on a kind of platform, like there’s a deck of some kind, that has been built on the surface of the swamp. It’s pretty small, people don’t really live here but this is clearly a trading post, and the rails take you along to the side of it where you can get out, and there’s a plank boardwalk that you can get out- get out on and walk across to the center of this outcropping of buildings where there’s just like a little bazaar, like a little marketplace thing with a few tables setup. There’s not much here, but there’s some stuff for you to look at. You can see one or two fex just kind of walking around. So you guys get out of the ambelier and walk to the- walk to the little market thing?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Yeah.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah, Remy’s leading the way.
[00:24:46] > Mike / G.M.: Nice. Yeah, as you walk, the planks are- you can tell it’s very old, this has been here for a long time, the wood is really dried like dark gray unsealed wood, it like creaks and groans as you step on it, in some places it even kind of sways a little bit, but you’re in this otherwise really pleasant canopy of the swamp, it’s very quiet, you can’t hear anything else, there’s no methods of conveyance, there’s no cars rolling by on any of the rails that are within earshot. When you get to the little marketplace there’s a couple fex that are talking inside one of those small buildings, looks like they’re like eating lunch or having drinks; the marketplace tables are unattended, like there’s no one obviously here selling things but, y’know, probably one of them that’s hanging out in one of those houses would help you, but you- feel free to look sort of unperturbed. There’s three tables that have things on them, one of them there’s a neat pyramid of those big red appleberries that you saw hanging from trees when you were passing through the Molnogg, on another table there’s this laid out grid of what looks like loaves of bread, these rectangular loaves of bread that seems like they have images baked into the, like they’re these weird swirly kind of impressionistic imagery of some kind baked into the top of this bread, and on a third table there are a few pieces of cobbled-together hacked technology that if you get closer to, I can describe what it looks like.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah, Remy gets closer.
> Mike / G.M.: They all look- when you get closer they all look very cobbled together. They all are held together with twine and string and whatever the 100 million years in the future version of gaffer’s tape is, like the weld marks on them are really rough, there’s like- you can see glue seams, and there’s three things, and they’re just kind of like piled in there unceremoniously. The first thing you see is- sort of looks like a pistol handle that has been set into what looks like a rubber ball, and the rubber ball has a reflective plus sign on the far end of it, so on the opposite side of the pistol handle there’s a reflective plus sign. Next to it is like a short metal cylinder that’s maybe about seven inches long, and it is glowing from the inside, but it’s like glowing gray, which like before this moment you maybe didn’t know that things could glow gray, but it’s kind of like it’s sucking the color out of just a little bit of area on the outside of one end of the
nozzle, and on the other side of this cylinder there is like a black box made of a plasticky material that looks like what has electric leads on it, and the welds that connect these two things are very rough. And then the third thing that’s in there is a grid of nine square buttons that are pushed into very firm jelly that is- looks like it’s been poured into a ceramic dish.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Looks pretty fucked up.
> Mike / G.M.: It does look really weird. The jelly is like really dark purple and it has little
bubbles in it.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Does it smell like food? Can Oat like sniff it, is this food?
> Mike / G.M.: Oh no, this is not food.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] This is not food! [Shannon laughs] Oh, it smells like the inside of Remy’s mouth. [Nick and Bijan laugh]
> Mike / G.M.: It does smell- the purple jelly does smell astringent, that is true. The other two things are definitely food, the pyramid of red appleberries and the grid of like bread loaves is- yeah, definitely edible.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] He points at each one, [ IC ] food...and food. For contrast.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Vynos is taking notes
> Mike / G.M.: As you guys have been standing there for a while one of the fex comes out and- they’re wearing just an apron. Like a tiny little apron, they’re holding a cup, like an earthenware cup, and they walk out and they’ve got a little bit of a limp, and they say “sorry I didn’t see you there, let us know if you need anything!”
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Yes excuse me, may I ask a question?
> Mike / G.M.: You most certainly can!
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] What is this purple jelly here? Looks- it smells quite astringent.
> Mike / G.M.: I knew you were gonna ask about some of those things that were in that box, unfortunately Jintin is not around to answer anything, but if you want to buy them I’ll make sure you get a good price; he’ll be back tomorrow.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Well I know it’s not food but I don’t know what other use I would have for it. I’m afraid I must pass.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah - he’s real good, he’s one of our best engineers, he’s back at the village right now and people seem to really like the things that he makes but, yeah. I make the bread, I don’t know anything about these.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Ah! Well, bread making is a proud profession, I’ll have one loaf please, and what did you say this engineer’s name was?
> Mike / G.M.: Oh, Jintin.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Jintin. I will ask around for him.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] [Bijan sputters] I- I have a question. Do you have- do you have any...gunch?
> Mike / G.M.: Oh, no no no this close to the border can’t be messing with any of that funny stuff.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] See, I exploded my supply and now I...I don’t regret it but I don’t like that I did that.
> Mike / G.M.: He looks at you and he kind of gets a look of pity on his face and he says “I know exactly what you mean.”
[00:30:00] > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh thanks bud. [Nick laughs] I will take your sympathy.
> Mike / G.M.: “Good luck on your journey friend.” He reaches over, grabs up one of the loaves
of bread and hands it to Remy and says “this one’s on the house.”
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Thanks bud.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Yes I will have a piece as well. It’s quite good.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah if you eat it it tastes like Japanese milk bread. It’s like slightly sweet, very squishy and- but like still somehow dense because of the tough exterior. And yeah the pattern on the top of it, the closest I can think to describe it is kind of like you took a portion of Starry Night, and zoomed in really close. It’s got these really delicate little swirls in it that look like little impressionistic versions of stars or nebulas or galaxies or flowers or windstorms- like, something, but yeah it actually looks really nice. Also Nick, if you would like to buy more bread, he’ll sell you more bread.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Oh good.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy also eats some. [ IC ] Alright, okay! > Mike / G.M.: Both of you roll 1d8.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] ...rolling a d8...
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Five.
> Mike / G.M.: You get back five health.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Damn!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I’m already at full but cool!
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Sweet!
> Mike / G.M.: He sees you enjoying it and he says “oh you know about drawn by the current?”
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] You’re saying words but I don’t know what they mean. I would like to know.
> Mike / G.M.: This is one of the fex specialties, it’s something that we make in some of our villages, people come around to get it, it’s a special recipe made from many of the various plants that are in the swamp, one word of warning - or encouragement - drawn by the current, it is known that if you eat it before going to bed you might see some things while you sleep.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] ...good.
> Mike / G.M.: You’ll be fine now, if you don’t get to bed you’re alright, no problem. You
could-
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh no no no this is good, yeah okay, okay.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Remy...as your friend, I am suggesting that maybe you take it easy on the substances.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well first of all I thought this was just bread, I was not aware it was a substance. [Nick and Jenn laugh]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] He just told you it was a substance and you said “good.” [Mike, Nick, and Shannon laugh]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] ...yeah!
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] You do you, I’m just here to be the voice of reason, I can’t
believe I’m saying that but...oh boy, here we are, if the shoe fits...
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] You want to try this bread though? It’s pretty good man. > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] I will, yes, of course.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy breaks him off a piece.
> Mike / G.M.: He sees Oat give Remy a talking to and he’s like “I just want to stress this is not psycho-reactive in any way and you can operate heavy machinery after you have had a piece of drawn by the current.”
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] I love operating heavy machinery! [Mike laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Well you’re in luck my friend.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] You know, I would say that Remy is heavy machinery. [Bijan laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] You know technically I think you’re right. Man I’m gonna have a crisis later.
> Mike / G.M.: The fex in the apron looks at you expectantly and he says “you sure I- can I interest you in a quire? You sure I can’t interest you in any of Jintin’s pieces of archaetech? I’ll give you a good deal!”
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No I think I’m good- I really just wanted to see if, y’know, some of the funny stuff...
> Mike / G.M.: Gotcha.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] It’s bad today.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] What is this device that looks like a ball that I could aim at someone?
> Mike / G.M.: I have only ever heard Jintin refer to this as a light pistol. No idea what it does. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Does it shoot light? I guess you don’t know.
> Mike / G.M.: Certainly seems that way.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Huh!
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] How much do you want for it?
> Mike / G.M.: If you have anything to trade we would much prefer that, we would like to avoid
taking gilder but if all you have is gilder then...we’ll think about it.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] I’m a light traveler, as you can see I have no pack, merely my friends, the vision of the road, and good intentions is what I bring; not really tradeable things.
> Mike / G.M.: As you’re saying this you can see he’s putting his nose up in the air, he’s doing like very dramatic sniffing-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] And so is Oat.
> Mike / G.M.: -and he says “you sure you don’t have any red plant? You’re not travelling with
any red plant?”
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Red plant? Oh we have a ton of that stuff in the ambelier.
Hold on. [ OOC ] Oat runs back and then comes back with some red plant.
> Mike / G.M.: And he looks very excited, he’s like “this is very hard to get out here, it’s very- I
mean, coming through Molnogg with it is quite a chore-”
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Let’s just- y’know, why don’t we just unload all of this right now, cause if people keep asking about it, it’s getting- we’re not gonna be able to keep this up, you know what I mean?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I agree, I agree, I would rather not have any contraband in the ambelier. [Mike laughs]
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Yeah...
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] So we’ll take it all!
> Mike / G.M.: He points at- he points at the dodgeball that’s got a gun stuck in it, the weird glowing tube, and the jelly- the buttons in the jelly, and he’s like “for this, you can grab yourself a quire, a drawn by the current, and one of these.”
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Oh I’m taking the lightgun. > Mike / G.M.: Kay. You got it. Taylor-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Ooh.
> Mike / G.M.: Oat now has a pistol handle set inside a rubber ball, with a reflective plus sign on the front of it. Once you pick it up and hold it it’s surprisingly heavy, you can also see that there’s a slot in the top of it, there’s nothing in the slot, it’s like a rectangular hole that just goes into the center of it, and you notice that the gun part is affixed to the rubber ball mostly with twine.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Oh shit.
[00:34:59] > Mike / G.M.: You don’t know what it does, but you have it. And the fex takes the red plant, puts it in one of the huts in the trading post and says “it’s been a real pleasure doing business with you, I hope to see you again soon, and if you’re going through the border at Nolaster just, y’know, tell ‘em the truth!”
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh we will.
> Mike / G.M.: Y’all come back now y’hear? > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No! [Mike laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: You leave the fex trading post and after a little while on the rails through the Jash, through the swamp, you actually begin to see more vehicles, like other motorized conveyance besides your own. And these are some of the first methods of conveyance, some of the first vehicles that you’ve seen, maybe since the carriages back in the Northwest. You really- the roads have been very empty. You see things like the ambelier, the ambelier is very unique in its construction, but the things that you see are related, similar, and once you go up some hills, down some hills, around some outcroppings of forest, and you see a lot of cars, lined up on the track, waiting. And in the distance you can see...it’s like this floating fortress, it’s like this large metal, wood, like what passes for chain-link and barbed-wire and scaffolding structure that is at the foot of a rather large hill, is covered in what look like guards, holding clank rifles, there are some gun turrets, and there’s a large guardhouse on the left-hand side. It seems like everybody is here waiting in line to go through what is the largest checkpoint you have seen to date.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis is marveling at this, because with y’know faster than light travel through stiffworks, he’s never really had to wait in line for anything, to get anywhere. And so this is like fascinating. [ IC ] I think I saw this in a transit book somewhere- it has a name- we have to wait, in your vehicles.
> Mike / G.M.: Merkis’ first TSA security line, is what you’re saying. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Or traffic, yeah. [Jenn laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Or traffic. [Mike laughs]
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] But he’s a little impatient cause he’s just used to falling through things in a snap, so it’s just [ IC ] this is an eternity...this is an eternity...what are we going to do? This is a lot.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Calm down. Calm down, it’s all good. We just wait. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] We’re not there yet! Are we there yet?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] We’re not in a fight, all we have to do is wait. This is easier than hitting people. [Mike laughs]
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] You’re right, you’re right. > Mike / G.M.: It is true.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] And instead he just focuses on just touching his little wet mustache while they wait.
> Mike / G.M.: Oh, I guess Merkis definitely still has his mustache but everyone else’s mustaches, unless you’ve eaten more mustache-rooms, they have fallen out by now. You wait in line for a while and the line slowly progresses forward. When you get closer to the large guard tower structure it becomes very clear, everyone’s talking to a very tall, extremely muscular unhuman, he’s got long fire-engine red hair that’s pulled into a huge bun on the top of his head, he is covered in tattoos, he walks completely around every vehicle that stops on the platform on the rail and he talks to each driver, and you can tell just from his mannerisms that like this- this person takes his time, like he is thorough and he is definitely an authority figure. He’s holding a small communicator in his hand and I think you would recognize these, you have seen a couple of Company people use these, so far at least none of these people have any distinguishing characteristics that to you signal they are Company people. This is something else. And yeah it’s kind of like clockwork, just every couple minutes you move forward a little bit as they clear an additional car. You probably have a couple minutes before you get there, if there’s anything you want to say or do before you go through the checkpoint.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh finally we’re almost there! I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait for anything like this before.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Well, just remember what we were told: no fibbing, proper manners and all that, I think we should get through fine.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Agreed.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Okay so no lying this time.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] We don’t have to, there’s no lying here.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Okay just checking, cause I don’t know sometimes, new to me.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah after a few minutes you pull up, and this huge unhuman person, unhuman man, bright red hair, lots of tattoos, leans down, looks in the window, starts talking to merkis.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Name and affiliation?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Oh, Merkis Imeldar, and with the Company.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Did you pack your own vehicle?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I’m sorry, what did you say?
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Did you pack your own vehicle?
[00:40:01] > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Yes!
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Are you carrying any cargo for individuals unknown to you?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] No.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Are you a resident of the Bonesnatch?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] No.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Are you a member of or sympathetic to any raider-related causes.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] No, not at all.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you now- I’m sorry?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I said no, not at all.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you now or have you ever engaged in piracy?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Excuse me? [Nick laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you now or have you ever engaged in piracy?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] No.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you now or have you ever served as an agent of the Thwoolfish Military Force?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I am unfamiliar so no.
> Mike / G.M.: I think that strikes him as strange.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Yep.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] It is?
> Mike / G.M.: Hold on.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] That’s what I rolled Mike, a one. > Mike / G.M.: Okay oh really? Oh, alright.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Yep, uno.
> Mike / G.M.: Wow, you rolled a one? This is a kid, and Merkis, at this point, your mushroom-mustache just completely falls off your face.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] And he doesn’t notice. [Bijan, Nick and Shannon laugh]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Uhh. Which of these is your guardian?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I am actually the leader of this outfit.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] You’re not. Come on. [ OOC ] Remy understands exactly what’s happening. [ IC ] Merkis, come on. You’re with me and your dad Vynos. [Nick laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] He looks right at you- wait, did you say Vynos was Merkis’ dad?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yes. Adopted dad, come on, don’t be weird.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] He addresses Remy. [ IC ] Do you now or have you ever
served as an agent of the Thwoolfish Military Force? > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Are you knowingly in the employ of pirates or any organization which traffics in stolen goods?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you serve or otherwise sympathize with the Thwoolfish
cause?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Nope.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Are you an agent of the Qoronal state?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Nope.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you intend to engage in the import or export of goods with enemies known or unknown to the city of Nolaster and its stakeholders?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No.
> Mike / G.M.: Alright, yeah, he believes him.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Have you come to foment rebellion or otherwise upset the status quo of Nolaster, the Jash or Kakudun?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No.
> Mike / G.M.: Wow. [Jenn laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] What is your opinion of pirates and piracy?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] It’s bad. Pirates and piracy, all bad. To me, I don’t like them.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Why would you say that piracy is bad?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well, piracy, I think by definition depends on taking from others what isn’t- y’know, what isn’t theirs.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] State your business in Nolaster, if you have a co-contract number please provide it.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah, Vynos, we’re here with the Company because we have to talk to somebody at the office- I don’t remember their name- cause I usually don’t lead missions-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Do you have a Company contract number?
> Mike / G.M.: You guys would know what this is and you would know that your contract number is- resolves to the work that you did on Gnarcossa. Which you would also- I will remind you, you know that that is in some way related to Kakudun. You can decide whether or not it is sufficiently related.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah. Well, so, yeah I got a number, [ OOC ] and I guess Remy provides him the number and then says [ IC ] so we fell through a thing in the sky, and now we’re here so we’re just trying to get to the Co. so we can-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] You fell from a vehicle in the sky?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No, no no no no. You know how foldgates are opening over Kakudun,
correct?
> Mike / G.M.: Taylor you can roll- I would roll Will to see if he- > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Twelve.
> Mike / G.M.: Oh yeah he definitely knows.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah so we were on Company business in Gnarcossa, and we fell through one of these gates, and now we’re here so we figured the best thing to do was find another outpost-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] How did you arrive at this vehicle? > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I repaired it!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] He’s saying things again.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Is this a stolen vehicle?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] This is not a stolen vehicle, we got it-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Is that a cargo detachment towards the back of the vehicle? > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well, it’s not a separate unit, but it is a- it’s a trunk.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Open it up please.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Is there like a control for it?
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah there’s a button for you to pop it open like a trunk.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis just obediently like presses the screen.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Alright he goes to the back, [ IC ] Do you need me to scooch over? Yes sir, please scooch over. Scooching complete, oh boy. [ OOC ] Looks in the trunk, and y’all got rid of all the gunch, y’all got rid of all the red plant, I think he reaches inside and does like the white glove- like runs his finger along the rim, brings it up, puts it to his tongue - [ IC ] at some point in the past this vehicle was used to transport red plant.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] This was previously owned by people who harvested it.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] That is true.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Have you seen anyone possessing or using red plant?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] No.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Except for the people harvesting it where we got this vehicle.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah that’s fair, yeah okay fine, yes that’s true.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] It’s a twelve, but they told the truth.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah. And I think it is only- you don’t really know the reasoning behind the-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Right it’s just the borders, it’s not like illegal everywhere. > Mike / G.M.: It can’t cross into certain places but you don’t really know why.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Right. [ IC ] Have you been to Nolaster before? [ OOC ] And he drops his guard. His shoulders go down just a little bit, you can tell this is not a question on the form or whatever. [ IC ] Have any of you been to Nolaster before?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] No.
[00:45:00] > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Be careful. [ OOC ] He waves you through.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Thank you!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Thanks bud!
> Mike / G.M.: I’m surprised he didn’t comment on the shoodtha riding on the roof but... [Nick laughs]
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Just like, perched on top.
> Mike / G.M.: He’s very...to the point.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] He’s not a traffic cop, Mike.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, yeah, that’s true. You go through the fortress checkpoint, well done, you guys lucked out on some good rolls where you didn’t have to answer increasingly difficult questions.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Why did he start talking to Remy like that, over my head, I hate it when people do that!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yo, Merkis, we know you’re an adult, that guy didn’t.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] I’ve got a mustache now! [Mike laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Actually I think it’s gone now.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] It might’ve fallen off as you were talking to him, and that really gave it away. [Mike laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Just a pile of very pretty blond hair is in your lap. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh god, what the fuck.
> Mike / G.M.: You cross through this like fortress checkpoint and you can see as you are passing through it, it’s long, it’s like almost a hallway that has been built over the track, and a lot of the guards that are stationed in there - and there are a lot of them - are just watching you as you go through. They’re not pointing their guns at you, but they all have their eye on you, it’s like they’re- if not memorizing your faces then at least trying to figure out if there is anything
notable about you before you get fully through. At first it’s just more swamp; wet, tall leaves, tall grass, then it starts to dry out and you get to these more moss-covered plains and hills. You wind this way and that, you’re still on the track, and you go up this particularly steep incline and at the top you get a view of Nolaster, Kakudun’s central city on the bayou. From up here you can see its four peninsulas sticking out into a single wide bay, and the grid of city streets across each of them. It’s in the late afternoon now, so it’s starting to get dark, the city is starting to light up, these bright beacons at the tips of each of these landmasses at the middle of the bay. There’s no vehicle traffic that is allowed on the city streets, so the ambelier knows to automatically go and park you outside of the city just on like a little piece of pavement that’s at the end of the track, and you will be able to walk a short distance to wherever you need to go, you know, we’ll say you know from the nav system, you can tell pretty clearly where the embassy is, it is on one of the middle peninsulas called Vostok; if you want to go straight there it’s pretty easy to get to. So you guys all load out of the ambelier?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Oh yes. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yep.
> Mike / G.M.: It’s nice, it’s cool out, there’s a slight breeze, it smells a little bit more ocean-y here which is kind of confusing because you’re in the center of the continent, but it’s got this kinda metallic scent to it like this metallic kind of salty scent in the air.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Does that smell make Remy hungry? Kind of like blood? [Mike laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yes.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah it does kind of smell iron-y in the way that yeah, like blood does. Beta it might also perk your appetite in another weird way, is this how you guys became friends? [Nick laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Rust and blood being too similar? [Mike and Taylor laugh] > Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] A classic story.
> Mike / G.M.: A tale as old as time. [Shannon laughs] So yeah, you walk North in the direction of the embassy, walking past the border road at the Southern edge of the four peninsulas, you finally get to see the architecture of Nolaster up close. Every building in Nolaster looks like it was made from a shipping container. All of the streets are these dense assemblages of these metal cocoons, cut, turned, re-assembled, re-arranged and welded together into what would probably be a gross, rusted, unpleasant brutalist hell if it weren’t for everything’s paint job. Every building in Nolaster would appear to be painted with a bright festive mural, with no discernable theme, just like all over the place buildings butting up against each other with different styles, very different murals. Walking up Vostok on its single wide center car-free lane you can see to your right a trading post that is decorated in these swirling whirls of lavender and neon green and gray that kind of evoke what you saw on the top of drawn by the current, that
bread that you brought. A logistics and ship-building warehouse that is on your left is painted in a dense, tessellated illustration of the fex, and a building next to it has a strange sort of like forced perspective mural of the bay at sunset, these very nice bright colors. And as the sun starts to dip you can see - you’re like looking at the real thing and looking at the mural and looking at the real thing and looking at the mural, the sun starts to dip in the North and the horizon, everything starts to glow red through the rust-colored leaves of the swamp, and off of the like reddish dark water of the shipping channel, all of these bright yellows and reds and oranges and greens and pinks of all of the buildings start to dim in the evening light.
[00:50:21] You also notice that on the street level almost all of the buildings are covered in posters, just thick with wheat-pasted advertisements for bands, theater shows, live events, looks like political candidates, all kinds of stuff. They’re all in a provincial dialect of Spin, so y’know, they’re not quite your language but they’re easy enough to read, you can read all of them with just a little bit of concentration. Like on the side of a printing shop you can see a flier for a big drink wrangler bluegrass band that would appear to be rather popular, looks like three big drink wranglers holding various-sized banjos. You can see recruitment posters for the Company, there is a large shadowy scary figure that is looming over a long skinny ship packed full of shipping containers and there’s this bright drippy lettering that says “don’t board a ship of thieves” and then much happier sort of like italic, festive text that reads “join the Worshipful Co.!” You also see signs for peace rallies and demonstrations. You see large bright yellow posters that read “how to return from the brink.” There’s information on them about a public lecture that was held somewhere called Nos last week, it lists speakers that have credentials like historian of difficulties, intra-Kakudunai relations. You also see a few very fancy fliers with very proper printed typeset text on very nice like white official-looking paper, and they advertise events that are organized by the alliance for Hauktik relations, and the Thwoolfish council on foreign affairs, and the Howloon council. Some of these posters, you would swear, aggressively pasted on top of one another. And you arrive, after a short walk, in front of the Company embassy. It’s not nearly as festive as all of the other buildings that are on this peninsula, it’s a kind of like gradient black-gray assemblage of shipping containers with these weird dried vines around it but sure enough, it’s definitely the Company embassy, and as you’re looking at it waiting to go in someone approaches you and it’s a scraggly looking older human, provincial human, he’s got a really drawn face and he’s got long scraggly white hair and this short sort of patchy white beard, and he’s wearing what is effectively a- it’s like a jean vest, it’s not a jean vest but it’s like a blue work uniform vest and he’s wearing black pants- who amongst you is the tallest? Is it Vynos?
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Gotta be Vynos, right? > Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Probably.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Gotta be Vynos.
> Mike / G.M.: He walks up to Vynos and he says “hey man, you look like you’re- you look like you’re part of the cause.” And he tries to hand you a piece of paper that he pulls out of his jean vest that says at the top “Thwoolf ascendancy.” “You know which side your bread’s buttered on, friend?”
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] I did just have a very delicious piece of bread actually, earlier today, it had no butter-”
> Mike / G.M.: As soon as you open your mouth and start talking he like steps back a little bit. > Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] I’m sorry, what are you offering me?
> Mike / G.M.: I’m offering you a chance to gain the power that was taken from you and your people.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Are you just talking to tall guys, or what? > Mike / G.M.: Tell you what, I’m talking to your friend right now.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] ‘Kay, I’d be careful with that one. He’s a terrifying dude. Pretty powerful already.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] No I’m afraid I’m not interested, and power cannot be taken, not truly. > Mike / G.M.: He’s getting a little creeped out now that he has heard Vynos speak, and that
Remy has interjected, and he’s like putting his piece of paper back in his vest. > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Got any gunch?
> Mike / G.M.: He looks at you suspiciously and he’s like “for...” and he looks around over his shoulder, “for who?”
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] I’m asking for me. [ OOC ] Remy’s face starts rippling. [Mike laughs] > Mike / G.M.: He gets- his eyes widen a little bit, and he shoves the piece of paper back in his
vest and he says “alright, not out in the open, not out in the open, just follow me.”
[00:54:39] Remy walks with the dull-skinned man to a nearby alleyway in the thick of shipping containers where blue electrical lamps encased in smoky glass pills whir in complement to the silent orange sun. The rest of the crew, standing just within earshot, watches the sky darken and the foot traffic thin on this, one of the peninsulas where the Nolastrai work. Remy and the man raise their voices slightly at one another, a bitter negotiation, but after several minutes Remy appears, his gel jacket slightly more bulbous than it was moments ago. His eyes are wide, fingers twitchy, and speech quick. He looks satisfied and disappointed. The ragged man makes eye contact with not one of the crew as he strolls back toward the border road, and off to wherever it is people like him spend their evenings. The crew walks a short walk down Vostok to the Company embassy, which juts out into the bay and is bordered by water on two sides. The building is tall, dark, bland and threatening. A high door with a Co. seal in wrought iron waits atop a small set of black rock stairs.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] So we go up to the doors and try to open them.
> Mike / G.M.: It opens, does everybody go inside? > Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Yes.
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, walking through the front door on the left hand side you can see that there is a big company seal and it matches the seal that’s on the shoulder of your exosuits, and as you walk by it actually plays like a nice little sound and it lights up pink, and so do your suits. Your suits blink like a pleasant pink glow underneath the seals that are on your shoulders, and there’s just basically a long skinny metal hallway for you to walk down, and you can see that there’s like a human figure standing behind a desk maybe 30, 40’ away.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] We make our way down the hall, yeah.
> Mike / G.M.: You keep going in? Alright yeah, as you get closer and you start to hear- it’s like the dull rush of water from the channel and the canal, and you can hear the plonk of footsteps on this huge metal jungle gym sort of that you have entered in, you can hear the reverberant sound of people working and people talking, you get to the end of this hallway and you can see that it’s just this- yeah it’s like this really strange square metal maze in the distance behind this man at this desk, it’s very dark and a little cramped, it actually reminds you a lot of Spin, but the air is really fresh, and it smells of metal instead of algae and space. So yeah, you can see that the figure that’s standing behind the desk is this like older balding human man, he’s wearing these really wide dramatic reflective glasses, you can’t see his eyes behind them, but you can see reflected in it is the screen of the terminal that’s on his standing desk that he’s behind, it’s like this raw unfinished chipboard desk, and he looks at you and he sort of like looks at your patches and looks over at his terminal and says “well hello fleeters, how can we help you on this fine Nolastrian day?
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Name any topic and we’ll tell you a story, for we are four or five traveling storytellers. [Nick and Shannon laugh] Right? Did we...oh god, I’m sorry, I have said the incorrect thing. I will bow out and drift to the back of the group I am sorry.
> Mike / G.M.: Oh I’m sure whatever is the truth is not nearly as interesting as being traveling storytellers.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] I goofed!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] It’s not, it’s not, we got sucked into a hole in spacetime and now we’re
here.
> Mike / G.M.: Ooh, that sounds - and he looks at you quizzically and his eyebrows raise - fun? > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well, I think I fell like 30 feet onto a beach, I don’t know, it was like... > Mike / G.M.: Okay, harrowing, harrowing, I can tell, I can tell harrowing.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] ...you know those old stories about soldiers running at each other on a beach? It was kinda like that.
> Mike / G.M.: Ah, so you are traveling storytellers. [Shannon laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] I feel like you’re taking the wrong lesson from this, but I don’t want to
stop you.
> Mike / G.M.: So yeah, what can we do for you? What can the Nolastrian embassy make available for you?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well, since we’re here, I feel like we need some stuff, right guys? We need like a place to stay probably, a map probably.
> Mike / G.M.: You do all seem very tired.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] It’s been a long fucking day. Like the Dude.
> Mike / G.M.: Well, I mean, seeing as how you’ve already- the system has logged your entry - and he taps on the keys on his keyboard and he says - it seems like you’re all in good standing, except-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Hello!
> Mike / G.M.: He taps a couple of times, and he looks at Oat and says “you, you’re-”
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] I’m an intern!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] He’s good, we had- our refactor did it, forward all questions to Algar- you know who he is.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Yes please forward all questions to Algar refactor at Spin [01:00:00] > Mike / G.M.: And he taps a couple of times and he says “ah- yeah, okay. I can see,
yes, I can see the note.”
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] And tell Algar hi if you can!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] From Beta.
> Mike / G.M.: I’ll just- I’ll leave a note in your record and maybe he’ll see it.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Just tell Algar that we’re here and that we’re quickly becoming family- no don’t, leave that last part out. Look, we need a place to...
> Mike / G.M.: He deletes a couple things.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] We need a place to stay, and yeah I think that’s about it- I feel like we’re...
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Ask where Zeshdano is!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah okay, we’re looking for one person, we thought they were on the other place before we got, y’know sucked into spacetime, Zeshdano Navelle? Does that ring a bell for you?
> Mike / G.M.: Oh! Yeah, she’s on the subcommittee.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] That doesn’t mean anything to me.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Ah! The subcommittee!
> Mike / G.M.: She’s one of our managers, she’s like a refactors refactor.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Ooh la la.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well somebody on that other planet told us that we could get help or some shit, I think, I don’t know
> Mike / G.M.: Okay, let’s do this-
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Look, we don’t know where we are really-
> Mike / G.M.: Hey, we’re friends, you don’t have to fight with me, I have been nothing but nice. [Shannon and Mike laugh]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy takes a step back and takes another hit of gunch. [Bijan laughs]
> Mike / G.M.: Let’s do this- let’s do this one step at a time. Let me just check and see if the embassy suites have any available rooms. He taps a couple times - oh! It does, it looks like we have one suite that is available, it might be slightly cramped for five...
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] It’ll be fine!
> Mike / G.M.: And he just sort of like reaches into the desk and pulls out a metal card that looks like the QR codes that would be printed out for acquisitions, except it’s printed on something that’s very sturdy, and he hands it directly to Oat, and he points behind him and he says “just follow the signs, and it will take you to that room.” And you can see that the card has a number on it. “Second, do you have an appointment for Zeshdano Navelle?”
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] She’s expecting us!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] He’s an intern, don’t listen to him! Vynos.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Wha- who? [Jenn and Shannon laugh] Oh, yes, yes, we do not have a
proper appointment with her we were hoping to make one now.
> Mike / G.M.: Interesting, hold on. And he taps a bunch more and he gets a sort of confused look on his face, taps a little bit more, tapping the same button for quite a while, and he goes “huh, it looks like she hasn’t been in for a few days? I’m not seeing- yeah, I’m not seeing any expected visitors, but I’m also seeing that there’s...she’s got a bunch of unopened messages...it looks like there’s some paperwork that’s awaiting her approval too, there are a bunch of meeting requests, doesn’t look like any of these are you guys. You know I’m not really sure what to tell you.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] When was she last in?
> Mike / G.M.: Looks like the last meeting that she attended was two days ago.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] May I ask who that was with?
> Mike / G.M.: Could’ve been distribution, could’ve been Hauktik relations, I’m not really sure. > Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Well, that is quite betwixing isn’t it.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Well...maybe we should get a meeting with one of those people?
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Yes, that could be good...
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Yeah.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ IC ] Zeshdano, do you know where she lives?
> Mike / G.M.: He clicks a couple times, and he says “yeah, that’s in her company profile, yeah looks like she’s on- looks like she’s on Nos. Oh! I see what you’re getting at, it would be very irregular for me to just give you her address.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Oh that’s perfectly fine, we’re trying to do things regularly. Right? > Mike / G.M.: Oh but y’know, there’s a lot of paperwork that needs her approval...
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Well hey.
> Mike / G.M.: And you can see that he’s adjusting his glasses. [Bijan laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Can I perception check that?
> Mike / G.M.: Yes you can. [Shannon laughs]
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Oh wow.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Nice. [Bijan laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] I can’t believe it took us that long to get to the glasses bit. [Nick and Shannon laugh] Remy’s been slacking. And that’s- that’s a reason check? What check is this?
> Mike / G.M.: Will.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Oh.
> Mike / G.M.: You’re gonna do great.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah, okay, I’ll burn six grit.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Damn.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] It’s an eleven on the perception check.
> Mike / G.M.: You can read his entire screen through-
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Can I read his spirit?
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Yeah. [Mike laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Can I- I mean, can I get his mood? Like is he annoyed with us or is he really just, y’know...
> Mike / G.M.: No, this guy loves his job. This man loves greeting people that have arrived in Kakudun. You can see very clearly- you don’t really know what it means because you don’t know the layout of the peninsula, but you can see like a street name and a bunch of numbers and the word quadrant and a strange number that follows it that’s got a decimal point, and you can see that, y’know, it says Zeshdano Navelle right above it, so, yeah, you have perceived, and we’ll just say you can remember roughly, her address.
[01:04:56] > Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah so everybody walks outside, and Remy’s like- like speedwalking toward the car, like [ IC ] guys we’ve gotta- I got the address, I got the address, let’s go let’s fucking go, let’s go.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Alright, let’s go. > Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] Right now?
> Mike / G.M.: You leave the embassy and you go, you walk back to the car and you type in the address and yeah it’s far enough away that it will roll you there on the tracks that surround Nolaster, and it drops you off at the widest part of Nos which is Northeast of the city. Sure enough, it like points to an intersection between a set of roads where, ostensibly, Zeshdano Navelle’s flat is. It’s more residential here on Nos, this is one of the two residential peninsulas, it’s starting to get kind of late, y’know, the sun hangs low, it’s getting a little golden - it’s actually kind of nice on the bayou, the way that it hits the tall grass and the rippling leaves, and you can hear sort of the shipping channel in the distance and some of the boats. The street lights blink on as you’re walking through this neighborhood, people are- people are out, walking around, and you take a left and a right and a left and a right and you get to what you think is Zeshdano Navelle’s apartment, it’s on the second level of a five level arrangement of skiffs, it is painted mostly gray, kind of very dark almost-black gray, you can see on the door there is also a mailbox and there’s a few letters inside of it.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] The lights are on you said? > Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] We’re here!
> Mike / G.M.: There’s a single window that peers in and it’s got a heavy black curtain that’s drawn, so you can’t see inside.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis wants to open the mailbox, can he open the mailbox?
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, absolutely, it might be a little tall but yeah you can get it.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Yeah just reaching in, my tiny arm...
> Mike / G.M.: Yeah, there’s a single letter inside, it’s got a handwritten address on it and it says Zeshdano Navelle and the address that you’re standing in front of.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ IC ] This is the right place.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Well...
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Alright, well, Remy fuckin’ knocks on the door.
> Mike / G.M.: It rattles, and you can hear the rattle sort of like ring through the apartment, but there is no answer.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Beta whispers to the group [ IC ] so, are we storytellers or we’re just who we are this time, right?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] Alright guys, I’m gonna do the thing that I should’ve done before, [ OOC ] and Remy closes his eyes and uses open mind.
> Mike / G.M.: Ooh, what’s open mind? [Bijan laughs]
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] What’s that, what’s that?
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] So open mind is “you may burn four grit to communicate with any being, intelligent or not, biological or informatic, for one minute. If you do so, the ancient things beyond time and space see you and send one minor emissary to meet you within 24 hours.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Oh shit!
> Mike / G.M.: Great. [Taylor laughs]
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] This game is wild!
> Mike / G.M.: Does it say anything about having to know who or where the person you are trying to-
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] It does not. [Bijan laughs] > Mike / G.M.: Great. Okay, perfect.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Damn.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Woah.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah, Remy has a bunch of stuff that I just haven’t used yet, and I guess you guys just see nothing - he just closes his eyes. [ IC ] Zeshdano! Where the fuck are you?
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Oh my god Remy!
> Mike / G.M.: The infinite beyond offers no answer.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] No no no this is, I- this- ohhh.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Ruh-roh.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Can you go-
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] What are you doing? Are you okay? Is he freaking out? He’s doing a gunch OD!
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy tries one more time, Remy tries one more time, [ IC ] hello? Is anybody- is anybody here?
> Mike / G.M.: It feels in your brain like when you get up from having slept, from being asleep, and you are in a hotel room that you’re unfamiliar with, and you know that you need to get to the
bathroom, but you have no idea what is between you and where you need to go, and you have no idea where the light switches are, and you’re just kind of like stumbling kinda bleary through the darkness, except in this case you never get to the bathroom. [Nick laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Yeah, so, this- Remy opens his eyes and says [ IC ] Zeshdano is dead.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] No, you can’t know that.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] There’s no fucking way. Yes I can.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ IC ] Yeah, I think he can.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] No, [ OOC ] Oat bangs on the door.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] Remy is going to use- hold the handle of the door and use charge, and just blast it open.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Oh shit.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Oh my god. [Shannon laughs]
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Remy’s got so much gunch in him. [Mike laughs]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] See for yourself.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Here we go.
> Mike / G.M.: Would you say that he is gunch drunk?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Aww.
> Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ OOC ] Alright, okay, get out! [Taylor and Mike laugh] Alright, the door explodes inward.
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ OOC ] And then Remy looks at Oat and says [ IC ] after you. > Taylor / “The Bad Boys”: [ IC ] Uh, oh boy, okay.
> Mike / G.M.: Does anyone have low-light vision?
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] I don’t think so...no.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] No.
> Mike / G.M.: It’s dark. It’s dark and it also doesn’t smell good.
> Nick / “Vynos”: [ OOC ] Oh god.
> Shannon / “Beta”: [ OOC ] Yikes, yoinks.
> Jenn / “Merkis”: [ OOC ] Merkis has a venturer’s pack that does have a torch in it. So Merkis lights up the torch...and what do we see?
[01:10:00] > Mike / G.M.: The apartment’s small, there’s a bed in the back right corner, there’s a writing desk close to the door on the right side, there’s a small kitchen on the wall that you just walked through all the way to the left, the walls are covered in papers, some of it’s like handwritten notes, there are a lot of posters, it looks like there’s paraphernalia from art shows, theater shows, music, there’s a small workbench, like a jeweler’s bench that’s all the way to the left hand side, the writer’s desk on the right hand side is covered in stuff, you can see a communicator that looks like the one that you saw Ourndrim hold, you can see there’s a bunch of small drawers, there’s a bunch of writing equipment, pens and things, and in the center of the room in a large pool of blood, face down, is a human body. It’s got long black hair with these wide portions of gray, and it is sprawled out and motionless. [Jenn gasps]
> Bijan / “Remy”: [ IC ] I fuckin’ told you so didn’t I.
[ Main Theme begins ]
> Mike / G.M.: You are now leaving Float City. Fun City will be taking the next month or so off from episode release to prepare for the next year of production, catch up on a backlog of patreon rewards, and work on a few other exciting developments, so keep an eye on the main feed and our patreon for special bonus “bone” content “cone” in the interim, and we’ll see you again towards the end of February with the start of the thrilling conclusion to the Float City arc. If you haven’t, this is a great time to tell your friends about the show so they can get all caught up. And of course, if you like the show and want to help us keep making it, head on over to patreon.com/funcityventures, five dollars a month gets you access to a whole other show we do called Fun Chatty, it gets you access to our rad-as-heck Discord full of very weird and very nice and smart nerds, it gets you access to music playlists and more, it is a great deal - you know you wanna - get on in here, patreon.com/funcityventures. And of course, thanks to all of our current patrons for helping keep this ship afloat.
[ Main Theme concludes ] [ End Theme begins ]
> Bijan: Hi. I’m Bijan Stephen, and I play Remy Tester on Float City. You can find me online on Twitter @bijanstephen, B-I-J-A-N-S-T-E-P-H-E-N, on Twitch at the same name, and on Instagram @bijancakes, B-I-J-A-N cakes.
> Jenn: I’m Jenn De La Vega. I play Merkis Imeldar. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @randwiches, that’s the word sandwiches but replace the S with an R.
> Shannon: This is Shannon Odell, I play Beta Commbot, you can find me on social @shodell.
> Nick: Hello, this is Nick Guercio, and I play Luxe on Fun City and Vynos on Float City. You can find me @nicholasguercio on Twitter and @nguercio on Instagram. You spell Guercio G-U-E-R-C-I-O.
> Taylor: I’m Taylor Moore and I play all the cool, interesting characters. You can follow me @taylordotbiz. [Taylor laughs]
> Mike: My name is Mike Rugnetta, I am your G.M. and you can find me on Twitter and Instagram @mikerugnetta. You can find the show on Twitter and Instagram @funcityventures. Float City is played in a soon-to-be-released system called Stillfleet which you can find on Twitter, Instagram and Patreon @Stillfleet. This episode of Float Citwas recorded at various locations around Brooklyn, New York; It was produced, edited and sound-designed by me, Mike Rugnetta. Once meek and in a perilous path, Pixlriffs kept his course along the veil of death. Fun City’s music is by Sam Tyndall, Remy’s flute playing is by Jake Fridkis, our art is by Tess Stone, our Discord mods are Olivia Gulin, Kit Pulliam, and Kestrel, and the voice of Artemis is Molly Templeton.
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