947 – Plushgator and Currybot | Journey Into The Land of Tomorrow Ep2

Episode 947 – Plushgator and Currybot | Journey Into The Land of Tomorrow E2

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and all other listeners out there, everybody and anybody who’s listening, it’s time for the podcast, patrons, that you make possible.  It’s time for Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you and so many other people asleep.  Thanks, patrons.

 

INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing?  Trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  It’s time for Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  We do it with a bedtime story.  Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play.  I’m gonna do the rest.  What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake.  That could be thoughts, like things on your mind.  Maybe you’re thinking about the past, the present, the future, or something.  Could be…or nothing.  I mean, holy…you know, let’s not think about nothing or…oh yeah, let’s not…let’s forget I said it.  Thoughts, feelings, could be emotions coming up for you or left over from the day or anticipating something.

 

So, feelings could be there, physical sensations, any and all of those three.  It could be changes in routine or schedule.  It could just be something baffling.  You say what’s up with that?  Except I don’t normally say it in a calm way.  But whatever’s keeping you awake, I’d like to take your mind off that.  I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night.  That’s the first step.  I guess technically I’ve already done that.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones.  Oh-so creaky are my tones; creaky yet dulcet.  Eventually they become dulcet.  So, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders.  Those are where I go off-topic and get mixed up.  Superfluous tangents; that’s when I indulge…when I go off-topic and then I indulge myself.

 

Other stuff, extra words, pauses, utterances, stuttering, natural stuttering and stumbling.  It’s been a while since I talked about stumbling over my own words but I just did it there by…I mean, it’s…it’s not intentional.  Yeah, I’m sorry, words; I don’t mean to stumble over you.  It’s not my intention to stumble over you.  I would love it if you came out and…whatever.  I don’t have the vocabulary to say clearly, efficient thoughts or something fancy like that.  Is that what elucidate…lucid…there’s some word like…it looks like euclid.  Is there a word called euclid?  Isn’t that a famous flower?  Is there a flower called the euclid?  It’s eu and then there’s a form of geometry, right?  Euclidean?  Maybe.  Anyone out there?  I don’t even…oh, you…no.

 

When someone gets the point, they’re not Euclidean but there’s a word like that I think out there.  Not in my brain, though.  It’s out there, somewhere out there, beneath the sun and stars, as Fievel once sang.  But some of you might be wondering what in the Don Bluth are you talking about?  Then some of you might be like what in the darn tootin’…who in the…who’s…this guy doesn’t know his eu from his euclid.  He doesn’t know his ukes from his ukuleles and his cukes from his cucumbers.  I’d say you’re correct at that but I’m here to take your mind off of stuff.  If you’re new, a couple things to know.  This podcast is very different.  You probably already figured that out from our last discussion there.  Elucidate?  Like, elucidate?

 

Something like that.  It’s weird; I guess I have trouble with those eu words.  I mean, not words from the EU but words that start with e and u.  Also, I like…’cause I’d say wait a second, aren’t those both vowels?  Here’s a tip if you’re gonna go on that Wheel of Fortune show; know your eu words because that would be confusing for me.  I’d say, wait…I would never think…at least, I…I don’t mean the royal; I just mean me.  I’d be so confused.  I’d say wait, there’s words that start with e and e and a u?  Oh, boy.  But oh, so this podcast is very different.  What it’s here for and why it’s different is…well, I don’t know exactly why it’s different.  That’s what works about it, for the people it works for.  But it doesn’t work right away because of course if you’re looking for something to put you to sleep, it’s…a lot of the stuff out there, maybe you’ve tried it.

 

You said well, that’s too serious or that’s too soothing.  Or, I don’t know, I just didn’t like…enjoy that.  Yeah, Sleep With Me is a bit different than most other stuff meant to put you to sleep, so it does take a few tries to get used to.  You say oh, okay, yeah, I kinda get that now.  Give it a few tries and see how it goes.  It’s a podcast you don’t really listen to, so you may be used to listening to bedtime stories or regular podcasts or something.  This is a podcast you just…you’re just supposed to humor me and go uh-huh, uh-huh.  No, it’s euclid.  It’s whatever the correct word is.  Scoots, I think you’re thinking of tulip, not euclids, and Pythagoras.  None of that other stuff.  That sounds like something your brain made up.  I say, are you sure?  I’m pretty sure there’s Euclidean geometry.  I don’t know about the other stuff.

 

I’m pretty sure there is…I mean, I’m gonna have to Google it later that there’s a flower called the euclid, but maybe not.  Maybe it’s not pronounced Ecludian.  But oh, so this is a podcast you don’t really listen to.  You say mm-hm, there he goes again.  This guy doesn’t know his…what about words that start with ue?  Use, Cary Elwes but that’s E-W-E, I think, or something.  Okay, so…oh, it’s a podcast you don’t really listen to.  Just barely pay attention.  Listen to me loosely like I’m just out of focus.  Like, you can…even though you might be able to hear me, I’m not really making any sense.  But the other side of it is this isn’t really a podcast to put you to sleep.  It’s here to keep you company while you fall asleep so if you can’t sleep, you actually could listen for company or a little bit of a distraction.

 

I’ll be here to the very end.  That’s my promise to you.  Whether you’re awake or asleep, I’m here to barely take your mind off stuff.  Those are the first two things that new listeners need to know; don’t really pay me any mind and I’m more here to be your friend than to put you to sleep.  You fall asleep at your leisure.  That’s why the shows are about an hour.  The other things that can throw new people off are the…is the structure of the show which is also different.  The show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.  Then we move on to business; sponsor support, listener support, and that stuff.  That’s how we’re able to bring you the show free.  Then there’s an intro.  The intro…again, I saw this online again where someone said the whole first thirty minutes of the show is ads which just is not true.

 

I think maybe it’s from people just skipping around.  The show starts off…greeting’s about two minutes, then there’s about four minutes or six minutes of business, various types of business, then from minute six to minute eight to about minute twenty to twenty-four is the intro which is all confused meanders and me introducing the show.  I can see why people would think it’s business ‘cause I’m just kinda talking about nothing or that’s how some people feel.  But really, the intro serves more than one purpose.  It’s to introduce new people to the show but if you’re a regular listener, you say oh, I can already start barely listening because Scoots is gonna kinda cover the same territory in a different way.  But I know I can listen ‘cause every intro is different even though they’re similar.

 

Then what listeners do…most listeners; not every listener, and there’s no right or wrong way, but they listen to the intro as they’re getting ready for bed or as they’re unwinding or as they’re falling asleep.  So, it eases you into bedtime.  My thing is if I started the show with just a story, it wouldn’t really give you a chance to unwind and then maybe your brain would start being like wait a second, what about that list of groceries?  Isn’t there a better way to do that?  We’ve been doing it wrong the whole time.  How come you don’t use a grocery list?  You say okay, I’m trying to go to…I’m trying to listen to this bedtime [00:10:00] story, here.  If I ease you into bedtime, it just gives you a little bit more space between those voices or the parts of your day that are trying to keep up with you at bedtime.

 

You can always skip the intro.  You just start it around twenty, twenty-four minutes.  Then there’s business for a few minutes, then there’s a story.  Tonight it’ll be our new…or no, our second episode of our episodically modular serialized series which is a live…what do they call that?  Live play or something.  It’s where we’re listening in to some characters playing a game as characters.  Roleplaying…live play or something.  I don’t know what they call it.  One day I’ll realize it.  Then there will be our story, then there’s some thank-yous at the end.  That’s the structure of the show.  Those are rules around the…I mean, or the kind of things to remember.  The other thing is I make the show…is two reasons; I’ve been there tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep.

 

So, I know how it feels in the deep, dark night.  It gets on my nerves, or I know what it’s like to have what I call brain bots which are these voices that crop up at bedtime from the past or the present or the future and they got a laundry list…they want to talk to you about grocery lists or whatever…something…if that part of you feels like you forgot to do.  That’s one reason I make the show.  The other reason I make the show is because you deserve a good night’s sleep.  You deserve a place where you can get some rest and some relaxation, a good night’s sleep.  You deserve a bedtime you’re not wondering about or dreading.  That’s how it used to be for me.  That’s really what I get joy from, is knowing…even if I can’t make bedtime something you look forward to, that you don’t dread it, that I take a little bit of the rigmarole out of it, that I drain the balloon of seriousness.

 

You say — this is really a high compliment; I’m not kidding — you say well, at least I got Scoots there.  Out of any other context, a person would be like, make a Charlie Brown face or  a ha-ho-hum, oh boy, Eeyore.  But in my case I said that’s great, yeah.  At least you got me, ‘cause I’m here for you.  I’m here to just barely keep you company.  That’s really my job.  It’s an important job to me.  Now, I guess the other side of it, like I said earlier, is that I’m not everybody’s cup of tea.  The show is very different.  It tends to grow on you.  Or, I mean, a lot of people have very strong reactions, non-positive ones.  I say okay, it’s not gonna work for you.  That’s fine.  There’s tons of other sleep podcasts out there and other sleep solutions.  But I would say give it a few tries ‘cause it’s really harmless.

 

All sleep pod…it’s like, I’m just here trying to put you to sleep, so give it a few tries.  It’s free.  See how it goes.  This isn’t an agenda; it’s just that every single…out of like, out of every ten listeners, I’d say eight or nine have said hey, it took me a few tries to get used to the show ‘cause it’s so different.  Now I listen every night or I listen all night.  Or, you know, people support the show because they get so much out of it.  Just give it a few tries because yeah, and I mean, it’s different too because for me there’s been so many sleep solutions or sleep ideas or stuff that’s supposed to work and some stuff doesn’t and it can be frustrating ‘cause I just…you just want to get a good night’s sleep.  You just want a place where you can rest.  I make this show, yeah, because you deserve a good night’s sleep and because I’ve been there.

 

If you can get a good night’s sleep, the world’s gonna be a better place for everybody and that’ll be nice.  So, I think that’s it.  I mean, I really appreciate you checking the show out.  Give it a few tries and see how it goes.  But yeah, thanks for coming by.  I work really hard.  I yearn and I strive and here’s a couple ways I’m able to bring this podcast twice a week.

 

Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here and I’m here to talk about our new…or here to turn things over to our…for our new…this is the second episode of our episodically modular with a slightly serialized story of…it’s an actual play…I think that’s what they call them; actual play.  There’s a lot of really famous actual play podcasts.  I think Adventure Zone is one of them.  Maybe each episode I’ll mention one.  That’s what I’ll try to do…where people play a game of…a roleplaying game and they record it.  This is a little bit different than that, that we’re getting to sit in.  I guess it’s similar but this doesn’t take place in our world.  It takes place in a more sleepy world, in a world much like ours but a little bit different where a young woman was raised by a sentient theme park or did she raise the sentient theme park?  We don’t know.

 

That’s the world our game-players are playing in.  So, I guess without further ado, because what’ll happen is that the characters…the…and the game-players will catch up on the game, of course, ‘cause they probably only play once a week, so they gotta kinda check in and set the stage themselves.  Without further ado, I’m gonna turn things over to everybody’s favorite Hollywood announcer of pod…only one podcast, I think.  Antonio does not have a podcast currently that I know about, and I probably don’t want to know about it if he does ‘cause it’ll just…I’ll be happy for his success.  Hopefully with your budget, you hired a top-level podcast producer, up and coming, maybe both.  There’s lots of resources I could show you, Antonio, to find really high-quality podcast producers, especially people that are up-and-coming.

 

Without further ado — Antonio’s coming; that’s why I had to buy some time — Mr. Antonio Banderas.  Thank you.  The ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, the friends beyond the binary, it’s time for edition…Edition the Fifth to roll many die, twenty-sided and more.  This will be a gentle roll of the dice past your pillows and into your dreams.  It’s time for an untitled episode of Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  Yeah.  Thanks.  That’s Antonio Banderas, everybody.  Alright, is everybody settled?  Okay.  Everybody’s got everything they need, right?  Everybody has everything; pencils, dice?  Okay.  Beverages; you know where the restroom is, snacks, check.  Okay, normally…and I just want to be real with everybody that’s playing.

 

I know…I don’t like to do the re…I feel like it’s the players’ responsibility to be prepared for every game and to do the recap of the game.  If you want to roll or something…but I really am a believer in taking of notes and I know some of you believe that, too.  But I didn’t want to leave it unsaid, so it is your responsibility unless you want to be in character and see if your character remembers.  But even then, it would be a very high roll to get that memory ‘cause you say well, what, your characters didn’t take notes either?  So, does anyone want to volunteer to set the stage of where we are and what’s happened and what’s happening?  Raoul, I mean Eleanor, go ahead.  Thank you, thank you.  I’m Eleanor; Florencian healer and nurse.  I joined this adventuring party of now second-level adventurers but I was already with them.

 

I may sound different than the part that…oh, we didn’t record the first session because I wasn’t here anyway.  But there was a first session recorded which was my first session.  I am a replacement player in the sense that you did have another healer that dropped out and along with your rogue that dropped out, and…then you had hopes for a wizard.  I’m happy to fill in and I know that I haven’t felt anything that would make me want to drop out of this game.  Oh, I’m Eleanor, though.  This adventuring party…I’m enjoy…I enjoyed our last week’s session even though it was a kind of a get-to-know-you session.  [00:20:00] I also really respect how everyone’s giving me the floor and not interrupting me.

 

But that might just be my personality, too.  I was so happy to meet Zell, one of…I guess kind of a soft-spoken but silently confident warrior which would have been…in the old world, they would have said you’re a working class warrior, Zell.  Very nice to work with you and so far we haven’t been in any battles.  We just…our first challenge was getting to know one another.  Oh, but I’ll…and then Lord von Chill, Your Grace, Your Excellency, or just von Chill as we agreed I could call you, you’re more of…in the old days or even the old, old days would call the before-time land…oh, ‘cause I’m also…I studied a lot of history.  But you’re a landed gentry, royal or noble, and very powerful.

 

It’s good to know, but you also have…not…now, I did do some research; technically not a sidekick and a bending of the rules of the game due to circumstances, you have a…you’ve hired a rogue or nimble of fingers character named Grenada of Darmok who also seemed very nice and very inquisitive and asked a lot of great questions.  At some point I probably have some questions for you, Grenada of Darmok.  You will probably be the person that helps us unlock things and check for hidden pitfalls.  It’s exciting to work with you.  Then we have a character, mysterious character, a wizard or a magic-user, Emwatta, a very quiet character thus far and a novice wizard who has told us of her power or their power and the strength within water-based region which we are in one, but that you are the representative of the Wizard’s Council that hired us and that we’re…but it’s just a little bit of a trust thing of knowing who are you gonna be responsible for when it counts?

 

Are you gonna be here for us or are you gonna be there for them, the Wizard’s Council?  And also that…oh, but I should get to the point.  So, we’ve…we were here and you had…you made your way into this part of this old abandoned theme park, The Land of Tomorrow, and can’t…where we have to find a staff.  I don’t have the notes in front of me what the staff is called but our mission that the Council of Wizards gave us was to help first discover and then seal up or something, a…somewhere hidden in this land of this theme park which only we know, but there are other forces; great, powerful, and not good forces searching for this, a magic portal or well or something that connects to another world but full of magic that could be unleashed in this world.

 

I guess if you unleashed all good magic, that would kind of become its own tyranny.  I was thinking about that last week.  But I guess we’ll have to figure that out ‘cause first we have to find the staff or the pieces of the staff which would have been separated and hidden by the wizards so that it couldn’t be easily assembled.  So, we have to find the staff and the portal, or the portal then the staff.  I guess it kinda depends on what we choose.  Here we are, in a old ride called the Transporter Encounter or something, based on…now, this is a kind of…I don’t know if parody’s the right word.  This is…so, a theme park was a place where you would go for amusement.  It was themed around things.  This was themed around people’s vision of the future in the before-time, what they thought would be the future time.

 

There’s different attractions and there were shows and performances based on what they thought different eras and ideas of what the future would be.  This particular pavilion and attraction is based on the idea of outer space, non-earthbound being technology fusing with Earth’s technology but also being somewhat used in a amoral way by corporations for profit.  So, I guess in a satire-type way, that was what this attraction was themed after; what would…what could possibly go wrong when we use this technology for profit first.  That was what the attraction once was and in this attraction, the wizards had made camp and they have a laboratory and a camp within the attraction which we have not got to yet because we were stopped as a part of the…what they would call the pre-show by some sort of mechanical being imbued with the magic of very high-level magic-users as a guardian of this area and this doorway.

 

But also it gave us information and gave us a small quest which was to clear out the…what they would call the water closets or the restrooms.  This guardian will give us access to the wizard’s lab and camp in exchange for clearing out these restrooms and locking them up or boarding them up because there’s some sort of being in each rest…or there’s two restroom areas.  Okay, because actually, that guardian’s listening to me as I talk.  There’s two restrooms, two restroom complexes or something, two sets of restrooms, sorry.  Each one of them has one of these beings in there which is a…because of the leakage from the magic portal, strange things are afoot.  Of course; why else would…otherwise this would be an easy adventure.  It somehow has fused the local flora and fauna and the theme of the theme park or resources of the theme park.

 

We could assume that a store that once sold plush or stuffed animals which is still something we…exist in our world; comforting…I mean, we have a different term for them but comforting, imaginary friends or comforting, soft figures to snuggle with or to look at and say oh, you comfort me; different than a pet.  We don’t know what this would look like but we know it was an L-I…a large…is that correct?  It’s nodding, the guardian.  So, some sort of large L-I-Z-A-R-D being fused with plush stuffed animals which I drew here.  I can show you my…yeah, that’s Ducky Laroo there.  That was one of the characters; not in this part of the theme park, though.  Famous musical performing duck, she was.  Ducky Laroo.

 

I guess our first thing is to agree on a plan but we need to exit where we’ve made camp and the guardian…this room where the guardian was watching over, explore the…what I would assume is some hallways outside of these doors which are sealed by the guardian and go to these restrooms.  I guess I feel like I’m running the party today but…and find out…deal with these beings.  Is everybody in agreement that we…our consensus that we should do this and does anybody else have any other thoughts?  Grenada of Darmok, go ahead.  Yes, thank you.  Thank you for that summary.  It really did help because I had…and I feel like I learned more by hearing your recount.  I agree with your plan.  I guess I would want to get a feel for the hallways and I would want to be sure…I would think if the wizards put a…I have a couple questions that I think we need to find out in [00:30:00] action.

 

One would be why haven’t those beings made their way back here and had to do…have a back-and-forth with the guardian?  My answer, as rhetorically, that there could be a T-R-A-P to the S in between here and the restrooms.  I would like to volunteer to hopefully discover those unless the guardian wants to reveal them to us.  The guardian just nodded.  Okay, I guess that means I should just search for them and hopefully…okay, so that’s all I…but I agree.  Does everybody…?  This is Lord von Chill here and I’d say that behind Grenada of Darmok, what if Zell and I take up a position and walk behind them?  Now, I don’t want to be presumptuous, Eleanor, but I know that you are well-armored and powerful.  If you could take the rear with our magic-user Watta in between…that sounds good to me.

 

Can you open the doorway, please, this door that you’ve sealed, guardian?  Oh, the doors have opened.  Okay, Dungeon Master, can you tell us…can you take over?  I’m not sure.  Yeah, so the doors have opened and you see a long hallway in front of you ending in a wall at a…what looks like a t-shaped intersection.  Also, down the center of the room is a railing meant to separate…when you would leave this room, the queue…only the left or the right side of this queue line would be open and there’s rotting carpets and the ceiling is…fake ceiling panels have fallen in in places.  Halfway down the hallway is an intersection and with what looks like other hallways or doorways.  You can’t quite tell from your position.  What would you like to do?  Yes, Grenada of Darmok here.

 

You’re done…I would like to search for traps and this…I have fourteen.  Okay, you do discover what is a fairly simple mechanism halfway down the hall which you have to walk around.  It’s a false floor and it’s easy to avoid if everyone just walks around it.  So, you could report that.  Okay, I’m reporting that to our party.  Can we walk towards where the trap is…?  Is that near where those…the doorway…the halfway…yeah, that is.  Okay, so we will walk there?  Okay.  Yeah, everybody’s agreeing with me.  What do we see?  Are these hallways or doors?  They are doors and they’re closed.  Actually, you see that there’s kinda signs on the door that say what…if you look at both doors, there’s decorative signs that say Transportation and Transport Testing in Progress.  Totally 100% Safe But Enter at Your Own R-I-S-K.

 

But below that is…kind of in a white thing; one says C, the doorway on the left, and then the doorway on the right says L.  Okay.  So, that…those must…can I try to open the…?  Oh yeah, the doors are locked.  These…oh, yeah, so this must be the lab in the camp.  Okay, can we proceed down to the t-shaped intersection?  You can.  Does my trap-check get to the…as far as we could see?  It does, so you go all the way down and it actually isn’t a t-shaped intersection now that you’re down there.  It ends in a wall and then on your right side but at an angle which would technically…if we were using a…we would say is the northeast direction, the hallway heads off in a angle on the northeast, ending at a set of doors, multiple doors which you can even see at this distance is what you would call the restrooms.

 

Then on your left side or your west…southwest side, it…at the exact opposite angle…so, a straight line hallway but at an angle to you — I’m not good at these kind of descriptions — is another hallway.  It just proceeds into darkness.  You can’t see all the way.  Okay, what does everybody want to do?  Should we just…should we proceed to these doorways or should we…what should we do?  I think you should check for T-R-A-P-Ss.  Okay, I…fourteen.  Okay, there’s nothing to your…there’s no traps to your right but to the left, a bit a ways is another very simple false floor.  Actually, the blankets that covered it, or the fake rugs have fallen in, so you could just see that it’s not really well-hidden anymore.  Okay, okay.  So, what is…does everybody want to go to the right or the left?  How’s everybody feeling?

 

I believe we — this is Lord von Chill — I think we should head to the right because then we know the pit is on the left.  That way we know our backs are kind of…we have coverage on both sides right now.  Yeah, I think that’s a good point, Lord von Chill.  Is everybody…consensus in agreement?  Yeah, yeah.  Okay, okay.  Great.  Okay, so let’s head towards these restrooms.  What do we see?  Okay, you see four sets of doors.  All of the doors are closed and there’s a set of doors on the left side.  You can’t really see the signs on all the doors but there’s doors…there’s four sets of doors for the water closets or restrooms and you do see a sign above it that says…you could determine it said…once said Restroom.  Okay, interesting.  So, four sets of doors.  Oh, can you also roll a twenty-sided die, please?  Okay, we got a two.

 

What does that mean?  Oh, you’ll find out.  It doesn’t…oh, we’ll find out?  I don’t know about that.  Lord von Chill’s not comfortable rolling dice.  Okay, it was just to decide the location of something.  Oh, okay.  I mean, I could have just rolled…I just wanted to make it…yeah, can you just let him…let the Dungeon Master Dungeon Master?  Okay, please?  Lord von Chill, quit being…okay, Zell.  I’m sorry, I was just pondering what it meant.  Okay, so Zell, why don’t you take over?  Okay, so there’s four sets of doors.  Does anybody have any idea what we’re dealing with?  Like, this local lore?  Anyone?  Skillset-wise or knowledge-wise?  It’s me, Eleanor.  We don’t really know too much because well, there was these four-legged…they were known as gators or crocs.

 

That’s probably what I’m guessing we’re dealing with though it could be something else.  That kinda sounds like what the guardian’s description was but then it’s…since it’s kind of melded with plush, we really don’t know…but they would be low to the ground but very long if they were a threat to the guardian or if the guardian was concerned with them.  Okay, and anything else we need to know?  Okay, well, they had big mouths and big tails, so I would…guessing both those would be issues.  They don’t look fast but they are fast.  A lot of people would underestimate that…their ground speed.  Okay, okay, that’s good to know but that’s only what might…okay, so I’d say let’s just start on the right and work our [00:40:00] way left.  Okay, this is Lord von Chill.  What if we just…could we just listen first?  Sure, sure.

 

Any…go ahead, Lord von Chill.  You have…okay, I got a eight.  What do I hear?  I listen at the door.  You hear water flowing and dripping and nothing else.  Alright, I’ll try to open the door?  How’s that sound?  Okay, the door is stuck.  Okay, I…Zell, what if I wait here at the crack of the door and you open the door?  Okay, are you ready?  Is everybody ready?  Okay, I force the door…I…can I successfully…?  Yes, you successfully force the door open with that roll.  Okay, so you see in this door; it’s a long hallway-style restroom.  When you first come in, there’s places…it would have been…there’s broken sinks.  Some of them are still dripping.  Then there’s places to relieve yourselves, two different styles, some of which have doors; they’re private stalls, they called them.

 

Okay, I guess we should proceed in and…Grenada here; I’m gonna go on the floor and look.  Do I see anything?  No, you don’t see anything from the floor.  Okay, then I’m gonna…sorry, I’m not…I mean not to take over but I’m gonna stand on the counter here where the sinks are.  Can I see down into the things?  You can except for the last two.  Okay, do I see anything?  No, you don’t.  Okay, can I climb…try to climb on the tops of the stalls?  You successfully climb on the tops of the stalls.  Okay, can I climb all the way to the back of the room and look and see if I see anything?  I’ll try to be stealthily.  Yes, you successfully climb to the back of the room stealthily and you don’t see anything.  Okay, can I hop down and can we search this room?  Yeah, you don’t find anything but waterlogged…there’s nothing of value here.

 

Okay, let’s proceed to the next doorway.  Zell, do you want to open the door or attempt to open the door and I’ll wait here?  Sure, sure, sure.  I try to open this door.  Okay, you open that door and it opens without too much effort.  It’s a one…it’s for…these were for everyone but for everyone privacy and it was a little bit larger and more accessible to all and it’s an empty room.  Okay, can we open the next one?  Yeah, the door falls off.  It’s the same as the room you just looked in and it’s empty.  Okay, so this is the last room here.  I guess we should be ready, huh?  Okay, does anyone want to…should we proceed in the same way?  Yeah, I’ll open the door and then let’s just look in.  Okay, you’re able to open the door.  Okay, and what do we see?  Nothing.  Okay.  Grenada?  Okay, I’m gonna claw…crawl on the ground.

 

Do I see anything?  No, you don’t see anything.  But can I see all the way to the back of the room?  No, because of the angles of the toilets and the water, you’re not able to see.  You can’t…okay, so can I jump up on the sink again and do I see anything now looking down?  No, but this…in this room you can’t see the back four stalls.  Okay, so let me…can I climb on the things?  Oh, boy.  Yeah, you try to climb and the stall you climb on collapses and immediately the…something rushes out of the back of the room.  It’s covered in what you would call damp and moldy or greenish plush but it is still in the shape of what was described earlier as a G-A-T-O-R.  You’re trying to scramble up, Grenada, but it actually…because of the collapse, it doesn’t have…everybody roll for initiative.

 

Okay, I’m doing…now, this is… I have…is it okay if I start just using this program from this time on to roll for initiative for everybody and you’ll just trust me?  Okay.  Okay, so initiative order or the order of everybody’s readiness for action is Emwatta, Grenada, then the plush, then Zell, then Lord van Chill, then Eleanor.  Okay, okay.  So, Emwatta…yes, I draw my shortsword and go after this being.  Could you give us any more info?  You could probably ascertain that the plush serves as armor but it also has things…and then that…as you’ll see, but I guess I could tell you, is that the plator is what we’ll call it; the plator can use its mouth and its tail and its tail it swings in two directions, so it’s a triple…has three chances.  But it actually only…well, it has two chances but if it gets you with its tail, the tail is two die.

 

Okay, so I’ll go with my shortsword.  Okay, you got a four.  Grenada?  I’ll do the same.  Three.  Okay, the plush gets a seven and a two, so nothing.  Zell?  Okay, I will go with my greatsword.  Okay, fourteen and you get…you slash across the…you…with a flourish and you see what they…the stuffing flying but you realize that the stuffing is also organic in some way.  You do well; nine total.  Okay, and how powerful does this being…seem?  It’s hardy.  It’s a large…twelve feet long.  Wow.  Okay, so this is…okay, Lord von Chill here.  I am gonna also go with my great axe.  Okay, seventeen, so you also successfully…on the other side of it; seven, so…okay, Eleanor?  Okay, I’ll go with my hammer.  Okay, six.  Watta?  I go again.  Nineteen, seven, so another successful…so, that’s twenty-three of damage.

 

Yeah, it’s…the creature is definitely still powerful but definitely…it’s thirty total, okay?  So thanks for…okay, Grenada, I will go.  Oh, fourteen, Grenada.  Okay, so that’s successful?  Yeah, yeah.  Oh, and Grenada, one last move and you reinforce the…what Zell had done and he sees…yeah, it’s like a stuffed animal without…that’s been played with with a dog…by a dog for too long.  Wow, that was great, everybody.  Holy moly.  Yeah, that was.  Okay, so I guess…wow, can we search?  Yeah, you can.  Seventeen, so you find a…two healing potions, hidden in the old hand dryers.  Wow, okay.  Cool.  So, okay, wow.  That was [00:50:00] cool.  I guess should we just head out and get to this other room?  Yeah, you can.  So, you go back down the hall, you go around the other pit, and eventually you head into the darkness and the hall keeps going.

 

There’s another hall to the right but it’s caved in and they both lead to another restroom or set of restrooms.  Now, this is a little bit different; these are…there’s four doors but the different…main difference is these were maintenance access to a public-facing restroom where earlier you were kind of like, that was a backstage restroom.  Oh, wow, that’s interesting.  So, you’re getting a little behind-the-scenes.  Thanks, thank you, Dungeon Master.  See how the people live for me; that’s always interesting.  Okay, can you roll a twenty-sided die?  Okay, we got a three again.  Okay, so we can figure out…that’s funny.  Zell, you’re laughing, too.  I wonder where this plator is gonna be, which restroom.  Yeah, well, I guess you figured it out.  Okay, so can we just…can we roll something to pretend we searched all the other ones and if there was anything hidden in them?

 

Okay, go ahead and roll, then.  Okay, two.  So no, you didn’t find anything in any of the other restrooms.  Okay, so you want to switch it up or should we do the same thing or anybody else…?  Oh, Eleanor, you want to step up?  Yeah, I’d like to try to open the doors.  I think that’d be fun.  Okay, Zell, you want to take my spot and I’ll be back here?  Oh, here…but Eleanor, I — this is Eleanor — I have an idea.  What if we just open the door and then hold it open and then try to get it to come out?  Then we just wait for it.  Eleanor, I love that idea.  Everybody ready?  Should we spread out?  Like, Eleanor, Zell, myself, Grenada, and then Watta off to the side here?  Okay.  Everybody ready?  Go ahead, Eleanor.  Okay, Eleanor, can you roll a twenty-sided die?  A four.  Okay, so you go to pull the door and it sticks and then it squeaks.

 

Then you get it open but it made a lot of noise.  So actually, as soon as you open it, the creature rushes out and it gets to go twice.  Three and eight.  So, no successful…okay, and then what’s the order?  Okay, so it goes Watta, Eleanor, the plush…plator, Grenada, Zell, and Lord von Chill.  Wow, we’re really slacking, Zell, huh?  Okay.  Watta goes with her shortsword and thirteen, and does seven.  Okay.  Eleanor, I’ll do…go with my…okay, Eleanor; two.  Okay, and then the plator got one and a nine.  Wow, this thing is the worst.  These things don’t know how to roll dice, I guess.  Okay, Grenada got a four.  Zell; yeah, same.  Okay, eight.  Okay, I’m ready.  I’m gonna get a good roll.  Eighteen, you got…I got, and then a three.  Okay, plus three, so six…that’s six.  Watta goes; eight plus four is twelve and Watta gets a one, so three more.

 

So that’s nine.  Eleanor; twelve plus…okay, so Eleanor, three plus two.  Okay, then plator got a six and a two.  Wow, this is the best…this is not good for long-term but nice, huh?  Okay, and then Grenada; fifteen.  That’s five plus three.  Oh boy, Zell, it’s your chance to show your stuff.  Zell got thirteen…you got thirteen and a seven plus two.  I’m just…I think it’s quicker if you just roll the dice and I just comment.  How’s that?  Is that okay, Zell?  Yeah.  First, I wasn’t…thank you for asking permission.  I wasn’t comfortable with it until you did.  So, seven plus two, so Zell takes out this plator as well.  Could you just…could we just…is there anybody that could roll for lore, animal something, to see?  Okay, go ahead.  Okay, that’s eighteen.  Yeah, this had a AC of twelve, thirty hit points.

 

The tail would do four of damage and then the mouth would have done…oh no, those were plus four and plus five but the…six plus two or eight…one D8 plus three or two D6 plus two.  Okay, and what about searching?  Can we roll?  Sixteen.  So, you find a hand-cranked flashlight in the ceiling.  Wow, that’s gonna be handy since we don’t all…we’re not all able to see.  I guess you gave us a little leeway pretending there was light.  No, there is…well, yeah.  Yeah, there…darkness was just…this had skylights, a lot of skylights leaking in light.  Okay, so you hear the voice of the…in your head being projected by magic, just so…to answer any questions.  From the guardian, it says that now the laboratory in the camp is unlocked but proceed with caution.  Okay, so we go…can we go just…who wants to take the lead?

 

Eleanor, you’ve been taking the lead.  Okay, so we’ll just go back the way we came.  How does everybody feel?  Should we go in the lab or the…I don’t know.  I know we’ll rest in the camp, right?  So should we go check the lab first?  I agree with you.  So, is everybody ready?  Yeah.  Go ahead.  Oh, should we roll to listen?  Seventeen.  So, you hear…you do hear some noises.  It’s tough to tell.  It’s like a mechanical tapping on metal tapping noises, but that’s all you hear.  Okay, so we should go and prepare to…oh, sorry, Eleanor.  It’s okay, it’s okay.  Yeah, I’ll open the door.  Zell and von Chill, be ready.  Everybody be ready.  I open the doors.  Okay, the doors open with ease and you see…so, you see into this room and this room is a giant circle that slowly descends towards the floor.

 

It had terraced seating at one point for a show that would have happened on the floor.  Up in the ceilings, there’s catwalks.  There’s a couple pieces of machinery that were meant to hover above the floor that have kinda been cleared off partially.  There’s wires and things hanging around.  Then there’s…on the walls there was other pieces show…parts of the original show when this was a thing.  But there is also a area at the bottom cleared, and a couple of the bottom tiers where people would have been sitting have been cleared and then there’s tables or what looks like there was once table…it was a laboratory but it’s been trashed.  Also, you could see down towards the floor — I guess the guardian should have probably told you about this — there’s a couple wizards down there that have gone to the great tower in the sky of sorcery.  Okay, and how far away are they?

 

It’s about the equivalent of…there’s ten levels so it’s about twenty…it’s twenty stairs down, so it’s a ways.  You could see them.  Okay, so…oh, boy.  Eleanor, what should we do?  Okay, I think we should proceed…can we just keep…can we locate where the noise is coming from?  Okay, the noises are [01:00:00] coming from the catwalks above and it’s dark up there.  You can kinda hear some…something’s definitely moving around up there and there’s tapping.  There’s something going on, yeah.  Okay, could I start cranking the flashlight, Eleanor?  You can.  So, we can’t see anything up there.  Should we just call out and say who goes there, show yourselves?  Okay, yeah, you…do you want…yeah, let’s…yeah.  So, I say show yourself.  Who’s out there?  Von Chill, if you get that thing cranked, flash it up there.  Okay, I will.

 

How many times do I have to crank it, DM?  You still need to crank it for a while.  Okay, I’m still cranking, then.  So, I call out…okay, so all of a sudden you see jumping around on the catwalk a small being that looks like a little bit like…it’s about three feet tall and it looks like a combination of a humanoid and a pet.  It’s jumping around and now it’s come into the light so you could see it.  It’s just kinda looking at you.  Okay, do we see anything else on it that would…?  Yeah, you do see some tatters of wizards’ robes on its hands and it has a beak.  Okay, is it organic or not organic?  You can’t tell at this point but well, it has some fur.  Oh, so we could take a guess that it’s probably part of this attraction come to life.  It could be magic.  Is the flashlight charged?  It is.

 

Okay, von Chill, go…see if you can see any…oh, my goodness is what you would say, Lord von Chill, as you see in the center of the room, not that far but what was clothed in darkness; this is another being.  But sorry, I don’t want to change things up but I just realized that I got…you know what…is…suddenly the guardian calls you back.  Wait, right now?  Yeah, and the guardian says close the doors.  Okay.  Then the guardian says that you should rest and take a B-R-E-A-K.  Oh, because…oh yeah, I didn’t realize…you have to go to your appointment huh, DM?  Yeah.  Sorry about that.  I just lost…so much fun, I lost track of time.  That was a great session, though.  You did really good with the plators.  Yeah, I’ll see everybody next week but I really got to run.

 

Thanks for hosting and I’ll see you all next week and then we’ll pick up right there.  Not a best stopping spot but a little bit of something we’ll really look forward to.  Yeah, I mean, I’m wondering what we were gonna see that I’d say oh my goodness, I will be waiting.  But I think it’s time for all…I mean, I don’t know about everybody else but I like to take a nap after that adventuring and lie down and rest.  Grenada, could you make yourself into a pillow for me?  No, I cannot do that.  Oh, could you…okay, well, I will just rest.  Goodnight, everybody of my party.  Thank you.  Thanks, thanks.  That was fun.  Thanks.  Goodnight.

 

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