971 – Lasso of Steam | Land of Tomorrow Ep 10

Notable Language:

• Grammarian
• Landed Gentry
• Lasso

Notable Culture:

• DnD (5th ed.)
• Star Wars
• Disney

Notable Talking Points:

• The Grammarian Guard
• Throwing at the Moment of Tripping
• Watta's More of a Gel than a Water

Episode 971 – Lasso of Steam | Land of Tomorrow Ep 10

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Patrons, friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…oh boy, patrons, it’s been a morning.  I’m not gonna mince words with you ‘cause you support me.  But when it’s the morning, patrons, that gives me a chance to take some breaths and knowing I can be there for you right now at night makes the day worthwhile.  It really does.  Thanks for the support.

 

INTRO:    [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing?  Trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  This is 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 keep you company while you fall asleep, so…and take your mind off of whatever’s keeping you awake.  I guess I got mixed up already, so I’m not sure where in the intro I am, but what I’m gonna attempt to do is take your mind off whatever’s keeping you awake, so whether that’s thoughts…and the reason I got mixed up, honestly, is that I had a thought pop in my head.

 

So it could be thoughts from the past, present or future, it could be feelings or emotions related to those thoughts, could be physical sensations, could be changes in time, temperature, routine.  Whatever it is that’s keeping you awake, I would like to take your mind off of that and keep you company while you fall asleep.  What I propose to do or what I’m going to attempt to do is I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night here.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones.  Creaky like a door, creaky like a floor, creaky that you could ignore, creak…a creaker who’s a bore, and my rhymes you may have to endure because once I get started, it becomes a bit of a chore.  Oh, boy.  But you know, I’m here to empower your rest and a snore or to help you counter someone else’s snoring over there, bub.

 

But whatever it is, so…oh, so if you’re new, regular listeners; how about that rhyme?  That was pretty…you could say…how many people say well, that was a mediocre rhyme?  I say, thanks.  Not many people are proud of mediocre rhyming.  You say well, ‘cause it can’t really be…here’s a part of my brain that says but it can’t be…that’s ’cause it’s impossible.  Something either rhymes or it does not rhyme, Scooter.  I’d say, really?  Are you…I forgot what the word was that I was gonna say is your role.  It’s like a grammarian but it’s different.  What if you were…if you were in Star Wars, could you be a Grammarian guard?  Then I guess you’d be guarding grammar.  Is that what you’re doing now?  No, I was just saying that…I don’t know.

 

You don’t have to call your…you just say it was an attempt at rhyming versus a mediocre rhyme.  But wasn’t it kinda rhyming?  Doesn’t…but you changed the word.  Okay, I gotta get back to the show.  Thank you, though.  Thanks…really, I mean, thanks for taking a second to point that out to me.  No problem; that’s what I’m here for.  Great.  So, regular listeners, there’s another brain bot of mine; Grammarian guard.  Star Wars fans unite.  Okay, so, if you’re new, that’s what I wanted to tell you.  I wanted to give you some information.  Since you’re new, I’m glad you’re here.  The thing is, I really am glad you’re here.  You may not be glad to be here at first, which is totally normal and understandable.  You might be doubtful, unsure, skeptical.  You might say, what is this?  That’s a very understandable way to come to the show.

 

I totally get it and totally understand that.  That’s how most people get here.  You say wait a second, this guy’s just gonna talk…Grammarian guard?  You say yeah, like the…I…they’re not Gramorian guards either, Scoots.  I’d say, really?  Are you sure they’re not Gramorian guards?  You’re right; it doesn’t sound right.  After saying Grammarian guard, nothing sounds right.  I’m the guarder of the Grammarians.  Well, who are the Grammarians?  They’re a people…actually yeah, ‘cause a…does a Gramorian guard…if it’s…if it is a Gramorian guard or a Grammarian guard…you say no, no, no, that’s not who I am.  I’m not…I’m a…are you a guard that happens to be Grammarian or are you someone who guards Grammarians?  Right?  ‘Cause wouldn’t you think…like, you got the Queen’s Guard.

 

That would be probably…I think that’s…there’s something called the Queen’s Guard, right?  I would assume that their job is to guard the queen.  Well, let’s just say there was someone whose job was to guard the butter; they’d be…I would think you’d call them the butter guards, right?  Boy, talk about an honor.  I didn’t even think about this but you say wait, you’re a butter guard?  Holy…yeah, I guard the butter sculptures.  Yeah, I know.  It’s something I’ve dreamed of.  I never thought I’d meet a butter guard in person, but I’m kinda speechless.  Weren’t you at the beginning of a podcast intro?  Yeah, I went off way topic because…or way off-topic because I just got…first, I got mixed up about one thing.  That was a superfluous tangent.

 

Then this is kind of a pointless meander but not really because I said well, wait a second, if they’re…are they Gramorians that are guards?  That’s different.  Somebody get the SAT…well, here’s an idea Disney, Star Wars, Lucasfilm; how about a branded SAT or ACT?  Optional.  Doesn’t make the test any easier or harder.  We could do a Marvel one too, but it’s themed.  You say do you want to take an SAT that’s themed or un-themed?  You say well, what’s the advantage?  Oh, the themed SATs cost $200 more, but they’re themed.  Makes it seem less like a test and more like taking something you like and…but yeah, we have…we invented it because the great Gramorian guard debate that got started in 2021 or something…Scooter wanted to make it into another one of his illogical logic questions; if a guard guards Grammarians, is it a Grammarian guard?

 

We have a Grammarian guard.  Does it a) guard Grammarians?  B) happen to be a Grammarian who is a guard, c) neither; it is an official title thought up by the Hutts.  You say probably c).  Actually, I guess it’s c).  Has nothing to do with who they are or what they guard.  Okay, alright, well, moving on, then.  We solved that…we didn’t even need a Grammarian to sell that.  Okay, so if you’re new here and you’re doubtful, I think you’re even more doubtful now.  That’s good because this show is the podcast you barely listen to.  Eventually…I know right now you might be kinda listening and saying what in the…what in the holy…what in the May the Fourth is this person talking about?  I’d say yeah, he’s May the Fourthing at his mouth.  I’d say you’re right about that.  I don’t even know when this episode’s coming out.

 

Hopefully in May.  But yeah, this podcast is very different so that eventually on your second or third listen you say oh, I just barely pay attention to him.  Okay, I get it now.  Now I understand.  There’s not really…it’s trying to comprehend something that’s nearly incomprehensible.  It’s trying to listen to a person who can’t comprehend things…makes something incomprehensible in order to comprehend it.  I say, exactly.  That’s exactly what the show is like.  What a deft way to put it.  That’s really accurate.  So, that’s one thing.  This is a podcast you don’t listen to.  Kinda look at it like you look at clouds or leaves and trees, or wind in the upper branches, or listen like the sounds of the summer night.  That’s one thing.  The other thing is this podcast really doesn’t put you to sleep.

 

It’s more here to keep you company while you drift off.  That’s why the shows are over an hour; give you plenty of time to fall asleep.  Also if you can’t sleep, I’m here for you.  I’m here to keep you enter…barely entertained and keep you company whether you’re awake or asleep.  So yeah, if you can’t sleep, I’m here.  I’ll be here to the very end but I’ll also be here for…to the very end so you don’t have to wonder if I’ll be here.  That’s what happens.  You say well, if you’re only gonna be there twenty minutes, what if I don’t fall asleep?  Don’t worry, I’ll be here [00:10:00] whether you’re awake or asleep.  That’s my commitment.  So, those are two things to know if you’re new.  A few other things throw people off.  One is that it takes a bunch of times to get used to the show.

 

It is free but it’s just the way…because it is so different.  It’s not really your traditional…I don’t know.  It is more like a bedtime story for kids.  You say oh, okay, now I get it.  It’s not…I don’t understand.  I said, right.  So, that’s one thing.  The other thing to know is that…is…okay, oh, so don’t listen, don’t pay attention, not everybody likes it, it takes a few times to get…what about the good news?  Oh, also the structure’s very different.  So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and something silly I say so you feel welcome.  Maybe you barely smile.  You feel seen, so that’s how the show starts.  Then there’s support for listeners and support for the podcast, so support so you know I’m here to help.  Then, I want to keep the show free.  So, that’s that.

 

Then there’s the intro.  The intro goes from like, minute six or minute eight to about minute twenty-something.  You say well, isn’t an intro supposed to be like, three or four minutes?  I say yeah, normally, but mine goes on and on and on to ease you into bedtime and to give you time to wind down whether you’re in bed, you’re getting ready for bed, or you’re doing something relaxing as a part of your bedtime routine and Sleep With Me just fits in there somewhere.  That’s the main reason the intro goes on and on and on, is just to…like a slow landing in bed and getting comfortable because I’ve never found, for me, a quick fix that just works.  So, that’s…well, that’s another thing.  What else do you need to know?  Don’t need to…oh, oh, intro; so then after the intro is business.

 

That’s how, again, how we keep the show free, are the sponsors, and then after that is our bedtime story.  Tonight it’ll be our episodically modular ongoing roleplaying series, so you could listen to it in any order.  A nice little bedtime story of friends playing a game, Journey into the Land of Tomorrow.  Then there’s some thank-yous at the end of the show.  So, that’s the structure of the show.  It does take some getting used to.  3% of listeners skip the intro, start the show at twenty minutes, and go from there.  Then a few thousand people listen to story-only episodes on Patreon.  There’s also people that listen all night and yeah, you could either set up a all-night playlist in your free podcast app, or some people prefer to be a patron because there’s no jingles or anything, or there’s also all-night episodes for patrons.

 

But it takes a little while to figure out how you want to consume it so when you’re…at first, just kinda see how it goes, or it’s okay if you don’t like the podcast or you don’t like me right away.  You could give it a few tries ‘cause I’m here to help you fall asleep or to try to, but if you definitely don’t like me or the show, that’s understandable.  I’m not everybody’s taste.  You could also go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou; there’s other options and stuff there.  So, those are the things to know if you’re new.  I’m trying to think of what else.  Oh, the reason I make the show, one, is because I have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, getting to sleep, waking up.  I’ve had all those things.  So, it’s my pleasure to be able to help you ‘cause I know how it feels.  I know how it feels in the deep, dark night.

 

That’s why I call it that.  The other reason is I truly believe you deserve a good night’s sleep and if I can provide that, your life will be a little bit better.  If you’re rested, your life will improve and if I’m a part of that, I’m…that means that your world’s a better place and I live in the same planet, so that means my world’s a better place.  So, that gives a lot of meaning to why I make the show.  But yeah, just give it a few tries, see how it goes.  I’m glad you’re here.  I really appreciate you coming by.  I work really hard, I yearn and I strive, and I really like to help you fall asleep, and here’s a couple ways I’m able to do this podcast for you free twice a week.

 

Alright everybody, Scooter here.  This is our episodically modular series, As Journey into the Land of Tomorrow…As I Journey into the Land of Tomorrow.  Just Journey into the Land of Tomorrow.  It’s a series you could listen to in any order.  It does have some underlying seriality to it but really, it can be listened to in any order.  Each one is a little adventure.  It’s a story about some friends playing a roleplaying game that takes place in a theme park long-since abandoned, so it’s very based on the Fifth Edition rules of DnD and it should be cool.  If you like theme park in Florida…and you say is this dystopian or non-dystopian?  I say well, it has elements of all those things but it’s really just friends playing a game together.  A lot of sleepy layers.  You can listen to it any order.  Then Zooming in is our Hollywood announcer, Mr. Antonio Banderas.

 

I like how you said that with a pause there…friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time to roll the dice.  It’s time to journey into The Land of Tomorrow.  Dice-roll sound; clickety-clack.  You’re as smooth as the outside…you’re as smooth as the inside of a dice cup, Antonio, when it’s smooth and velvety velour.  I’ve been looking forward to rolling the dice with you later, Scooter.  Thanks.  That was Mr. Antonio Banderas and this is Land of Tomorrow.

 

Okay, before we sit down, I was…can I ask you something?  Can you just sit down?  This is the DM; can everybody sit down?  Can we get started?  Well, this is…I’m not Zell yet ‘cause I haven’t sat down, so…and I…and you’re not Eleanor.  Don’t sit down yet.  So, I have this…before…I know; we’re gonna sit down in a second.  I just have a question to ask Rahul.  So, we have this friend I was thinking about.  It’s a little bit awkward but…I don’t know, I really have enjoyed getting to know you during the game and the times we’ve all hung as a group outside the game, but I was thinking I have this friend that you haven’t met and I’d like to intro…I think you two would get along really, really well.  Oh, you know, I’m sorry, I was presumptive ‘cause you never talked about anybody or your romantic…so, I just kinda stumbled.

 

But could we…yeah.  Well, I am gonna sit down as Eleanor now ‘cause I have to do the recap, but maybe we could talk about it in subtext during the game, ‘cause I’m not…no, I mean, not that I’m single for…I’m single by choice, you know; not single for a reason.  My own reason, which…looking for the right person, so…okay, okay.  Yeah, thanks.  So, Eleanor of the Three Florences is gonna do our recap and set the stage for all the players.  Thanks.  I’m Eleanor, Florencian nurse.  I’m part of a party of adventurers here in The Land of Tomorrow.  The former theme park which is long-since abandoned is now the source of some sort of unknown magical power or magical portal.  Parties are seeking this magical portal.

 

Myself and my fellow adventurers were tasked by the Wizard’s Council to find this portal, find the elements we need to close the portal…we’ve kinda found some gaps in some of that, but we found two of the three items we’ve needed to close that portal.  We found a magical stone or gem and a staff, and now we just need to find the headpiece that would connect the three.  I’m here with my fellow adventurer Zell who is a great, great friend and great warrior; working-class warrior Zell.  Lord von Chill, our other warrior, is a little bit more landed, the gentry that has land, we may say, but still a hearty warrior.  Oh, I forgot to mention I’m a nurse, a Florencian nurse.  I believe in the Three Florences but I’m also good in battle; I’m not just a nurse like some landed gentry…not Lord von Chill, but others may say.

 

Working with Lord von Chill as Lord von Chill’s…not sidekick; in some sense grown to be a valuable, valuable member of our party; Grenada of Darmok, fleet of foot, nimble of [00:20:00] finger, so you know what guild Grenada of Darmok would be.  Stealthy at night, Grenada of Darmok.  Then, the final member of our party who’s changed form — and we will enquire more about as we learn more — Watta, a acolyte wizard who’s shown quite some power recently, and is now…went from a…what I thought was a human into water form and we have no idea what to expect, though Watta was able to speak to us from a puddle.  That’s where we are.  We’re here in this theme park.  I think we covered it.

 

We have to find this last element and find the portal pretty quick, I think, because we’ve encountered this wizard Piza Peel who was looking for…we know there’s other groups looking for it; a giant steam being patrolling a courtyard.  We don’t know why or who the steam being works for.  I think that’s it for us.  My first question as Grenada of Darmok…well, I have two questions, I guess.  One is, Zell, do you have any friends?  As we’re thinking and waking up, I had a dream about someone.  My heart was fluttering.  Do you have any friends that would make my heart flutter?  And two; what’s happening with Watta?  Could Watta tell us what’s happening and then how, as…should we as a party proceed?  Zell here; thank you.  I do have a friend.  I hope they would make your heart pitter-patter.  They’re nothing like me.

 

I mean, they’re like my total opposite, so I don’t know if that’s…’cause that’s one thing I was thinking of.  I said well, I don’t want to introduce you to somebody that’s just like me.  Well, why not?  Well, because I was thinking…trying to…I said well, these two would be perfect together, I think.  Well, why…so you think your opposite would be perfect for me to dream of while we’re…?  I see you, DM, looking at me.  Perfect for me but opposite of you.  Well, yeah.  I just think you’re really great.  You have so many amazing qualities and I was just thinking is Eleanor sleeping and dreaming of anyone and who are they dreaming of?  Because I’d like to know and…or if they’re not, I’d like some…Lord von Chill here; I think we should move forward with the game.

 

I think…I will say though, Eleanor, that…pretty, pretty great; Zell has great taste.  Very, very good taste Zell has, and Zell…and definitely they’re opposites.  So, oh boy.  Okay, that’s enough from you.  DM?  Watta, can you hear us?  This is Watta.  I have been resting as a puddle.  I would appreciate it if someone would put me in a waterskin and not drink me.  I can take physical form but it will…would take some spellcasting and energy so I think for the time being, I’ve been familiarized…I was resting in something like sleep but I also had a dream, so…I’m pretty sure I could stand like a humanoid but it would be…it would take a lot of focus, so it would be better if one of you carried me around in a waterskin or some other thing.  If you just hold it open, then I’ll…I can flow into it.

 

To answer other questions that you may have, I don’t know…I think I still have all the same powers.  I’m still the same person.  It’s just, I did not change myself into water.  Something happened.  I always have had a connection to water before this and powers stronger in water situations.  We had that last battle and washed Piza Peel and the animatronics over the edge of the building.  As you could see, we have the staff and the gem and we’re ready to go.  I would…I think…but I…so, I’m open to consensus-building now, is what I’m saying.  Okay, this is Eleanor; could…let’s put you in a waterskin.  Does anybody volunteer to carry Watta?  Oh, this is Grenada of Darmok; I’d happy…be happy to carry Watta.  Are you an Aquarius?  What does that mean?  Oh, it’s something from…we learned in school about the before-world.

 

Okay, I don’t understand.  Sorry.  So, this is Eleanor here; Watta…so, we have the gem, we have the staff; what about that wrench?  I don’t see the wrench.  I think it washed over the side with the wizard.  Okay.  What does everybody think about searching?  Can we search the wizard?  Did we search the wizard?  This is the DM; you did not search the wizard.  You search the wizard and you do find a bag of the wizard’s things.  There’s a couple med kits that you could add to your inventory, chalk, and some basic spell components that probably Watta would want you to keep.  So, that’s everything.  Okay, well, let’s just take that stuff.  That’s good.  We rested, so we’re all healed.  Could I pick up the…am I able to use the gem to see where we should head next?  Yeah, you…this is the DM; you are.

 

Okay, does everybody…?  Okay.  So, I use the gem and I’m trying to see where it’s pulsing, and pointing it around, and it’s pointing towards…it’s kinda pointing towards where you came from before this adventure started, at the base…I would think that you would guess to go back to where the magical darkness started.  Okay, so, we’ll do that.  Are we able to get back there?  You are, so you go back down.  There’s a bunch of stairs.  No, you don’t encounter anything.  It’s easier, faster-going because it’s…you’re going downstairs and there’s no magical darkness.  You come out in the same tunnel you went in.  Now, there is a bit of darkness there.  You encounter the aunts and uncles waiting in hiding for you there, the animatronics.  Oh, I forgot about them.  Oh, hey aunts and uncles.

 

It’s us, we…your family…the family you didn’t get along with is no longer.  Oh, okay.  This is uncle…this is an uncle; did you get the ride restored?  This is Eleanor; did we get the ride restored?  This is Grenada of Darmok; no, we did not…I’m sorry, we did not get the ride restored.  This is Eleanor; how are they reacting to that?  I cannot believe you did not get the ride restored.  How could you do that to us?  I’m sorry about that.  We’re gonna think…this is Eleanor; I’m…I apologize.  Do you mind if we come closer?  We’re really sorry.  We’re gonna try to figure out getting the ride started, but we work by consensus decision-making with kind of a leader each time, so I just…and we do a lot of thinking and discussing at the same time, so I apologize to the four of you?  Is that right?  Yes, the four of us are very unhappy.

 

We want to ride the ride.  Okay, maybe you could help us and we could further help you.  Well, we did help you; we did get up to where…well, what did you do when you were up there?  Well, we barely made it because they were trying to stop us.  Okay, well, I apologize for that, then.  Okay, well, where are the ride vehicles?  There’s some down there, back there, but they’re not operable.  Okay.  Let’s just figure out…can we figure out…could you give us one second to figure out a solution, aunts and uncles?  Yes, I could give you more than one second.  Okay, so where’s the gem pointing now?  Okay, the gem is pointing towards the…so, the track of the…this is the transit system, or the Transit of the Future or whatever they call it, and that path kinda runs on the second floor of some of this Land of Tomorrow.

 

As you remember, there’s a big courtyard or whatever and the steam giant is still patrolling back and forth and it seems like the gem is pointing towards the steam giant.  Okay.  So, the gem’s pointing towards the steam giant.  We need a headpiece.  Oh, boy.  Do we know anything else or can we figure anything else out?  This is Grenada of Darmok; I think there’s probably something [00:30:00] in the…it’s pointed in the direction of what the Steam Genie’s…steam giant’s patrolling.  I think you’re jumping to a conclusion that it’s the steam giant.  I would say is there a way for us…for me to try to sneak by or….so, we do a distraction thing.  Watta, are you able to use or is one of you able to use some sort of voice projection spell or cantrip or whatever?

 

I sneak around and just see if there’s any…there’s the, whatever, the tunnels we were in earlier.  Then you could…if you, Eleanor, you hold the gem, then we’ll see is it the steam giant or is it…I could try to get close or hide and be ready or just get closer.  I’ll just use stealth to get closer with Watta as a…but I’ll leave Watta on the track of the ride and then I could climb down if there’s an opening.  Okay, Eleanor here; so I’ll hold the gem.  Zell and Lord von Chill, you be ready for anything.  Aunts and uncles, just be patient with us.  Watta, can you do some sort of…whatever they call that?  Pre-designation or something and put your…put a voice somewhere to see if we can get the attention of the steam giant?

 

If we do…like in the movies where you call…make a sound and it goes over to investigate and then while it’s investigating…please be patient, Grenada, and even if we have to do it twice, let’s just see…instead of you doing anything, let’s see what the gem says.  You get a little bit closer, see what you can see, and then we’ll assess things?  Then come back, please.  Okay.  Grenada of Darmok; that sounds good.  Watta, does that sound good?  It does.  Okay, so Grenada…Watta and I will crawl along the track because I know we’re below the eyeline…we’re out of the eyesight of the steam giant.  We’ll get as close as we can and then I will try to use stealth, just a peek, when I think the steam giant…oh yeah, can you…one of you use a sign?

 

When the steam giant’s back is to me — we’re assuming the steam giant can see in here, I guess ‘cause it’s patrolling — make a sign and then I’ll try to peek down there.  Okay.  This is Zell; I’ll do that.  Thumbs up means good.  Thumbs down means bad.  Okay, thank you.  So, we crawl and then Watta will do the…some sort of spell.  Yeah, this is Watta; I think I’m gonna use a…kind of a sound and a flashing light spell together…illusion to do it just in case, to cover all our bases.  Okay, so, can we roll for that basic stealth and that spell and see what happens with the steam giant?  Okay, so you successfully stealthily climb over there and you’re coordinating with Zell.

 

You’re able to peek up as the steam giant patrols towards you and then away from you, back and forth, kinda going in four directions and covering an extensive…from your position now, the entire…it kind of is patrolling in a circle, kind of patrolling the entire area to see…I don’t know, to see what it could see.  There is a popcorn or former popcorn stand and what looks like a rocket ship that’s just to the right of where the steam giant is walking.  Watta, you successfully cast the spell and as soon as it’s cast and there’s a light and some sort of organic…organic-sounding noise, you can’t believe how fast the steam giant moves over and takes apart the rocket ship with a force that is unparalleled to anything you’ve seen in this adventure.

 

It does happen to find that one of…as it’s ripping apart the rocket ship, it does see some silver on the rocket ship…was where the flashing came from but it pretty much determines quickly…oh, and maybe a little mousey-poo runs out or something.  Then it just…so, it destroys it very fastly and then just goes back to patrolling.  Okay, can I get to a position where I’m hidden, to see anything more about the steam giant that I can see?  No, maybe we should go back.  You’re right.  Zell, I can feel you breathing on me, and Eleanor, so I’ll go back with Watta to Eleanor and Zell and Lord von Chill.  Okay, so you get back and Eleanor says…it looks like it’s pointing right at the steam giant, the gem.  Okay, so, me…here’s an idea; this is Grenada of Darmok.  You know, one of my hobbies is lassoing.  I don’t know if I ever told you that.

 

What if I…well, I’m just trying to think.  What if I just try to jump on the…’cause it’s got that giant steam top hat.  What if I try to jump on the head of the thing?  It gets pretty close to the…where I was hiding, right?  Do you think I could jump on it, on the head of it without it seeing me?  How high…how…what would be the level of impossibility of that does everybody including the DM think?  This is Eleanor; I think that’s a pretty good idea, almost as likely as it would be…I don’t know.  That sounds like it’s outside your comfort zone, kinda like going and hanging out with somebody you don’t know.  It’d be something you would think about…that you’ve never met before.  You’d want some sort of other security or something.  This is Grenada; I have no idea what you’re talking about.

 

Actually, I was talking to the DM too, and you were looking at Zell.  Okay, this is the DM; you could…it’s definitely doable because you can see…you can even see a column that you would probably know intrinsically to hide behind and that you could probably assess it if you were closer, but…and that you could even make a decision based on…oh, so you’re saying I could see my roll or I could have almost a roll of confidence.  Yeah, I mean, you’re pretty high-level now.  Okay, so let’s…what does everybody think about that?  This is Zell; don’t do anything.  Just jump on there, see what you could see, and see…I don’t know.  See if you could see its waist but just stay on the backside because we don’t know how good its peripheral vision or its hearing is.  Okay, let’s go ahead and do that.

 

Okay, so you go…you sneak down, you stand behind the stanchion.  You bringing Watta with you?  Oh no, no.  I’ll leave Watta back there.  Okay, so you wait.  It ends up you have to wait a little longer but you wait; you have confidence that you could do it and that you’re gonna be very stealthy and careful, and you jump on its hat.  It’s actually like a top hat, so it’s actually room enough for you to put your feet on the back of the hat, a little place for you to stand and to hold onto.  Okay, and what do I see as I’m riding on the back of it?  Well, first of all, you feel the power of this animatronic and whatever is powering it beyond…because it’s clearly not powered by steam or electricity.

 

You also see that there is…in the center of the hat…you’re just barely able to peek around but something like you would call a headpiece is a decorative thing on the hat.  It looks like a hat piece but because you rolled so high, you suspect that it might be the headpiece.  You suspect it so much that you try…you open the top hat and you look in.  You see…because you’re trying to get it off, even.  Well, shouldn’t I be able to decide that?  Can I try to get it off without being seen?  Yeah, sorry.  I was…my notes.  Sorry.  So, yeah, you try to get it off.  You can’t get it off, then you open the top hat and you see that it’s bolted in and also you [00:40:00] kinda feel like you can’t even move the bolt even though you…your strength roll was very high.  You can’t move the bolt.

 

Okay, how close am I to being where I can get back to the party to relay this information to them?  Okay, you wait, you get back, you jump off.  You don’t get seen but you do have the sense you better not do that again because luck would…you’d have to be really lucky to be able to pull that off again.  Okay.  Okay, so I go back, I tell everybody what happened.  What does everybody think?  Okay, so this is Eleanor; so we know it’s powerful.  We probably can’t battle this thing.  Didn’t you say you were big into lassoing or something?  Or weren’t you about to go on a tangent about that?  What if we try to trip it or lasso the headpiece off of it?  Okay, this is Grenada; I could lasso the headpiece.  We could do that.  I mean, I…my lassoing is…that’s my biggest hobby.  It’s all I do.  It would be my job.

 

If I could make a living at lassoing, I would do it.  I would…I use it as one of my tricks of my trade, but I’m not doing that in this adventure, really.  But you could lasso to pull, you could lasso to trip.  What if we try both?  We try…I try to climb down, I try to create a tripwire and then I try to lasso the thing off its head.  Okay, this is really a Grenada-level adventure.  This is Eleanor; I say we go for it.  Okay, this is the DM; so what’s your…what are you proposing, exactly?  Okay, this is what I’ll do; I’ve got two lassos ready.  I mean, I have multiple lassos ready, maybe ‘cause I can cut my rope and stuff.  What I’ll do is I’ll try to sneak down if it’s realistic while the…as quietly as I can.

 

I realize I’m risking this again, but I’m gonna wait for it to walk away enough and try to create a trip between…is there anything I can see between the base of the stanchion I’m on and something else?  Then I’ll get back up and when it trips, I’ll try to lasso its head.  Okay, yeah, there’s some light poles and stuff, so that’s…you could try to do that.  Okay, so I crawl back over to where I was.  I wait for Zell’s sign, and I roll my dice.  Wow, boy, look at that.  Pretty good with my bonuses.  Okay, so you successfully climb down using your stealth there, and you lasso a telephone pole or whatever, light pole, tie it to the stanchion, and you climb back up, hide again, and you wait.  Were you gonna do it at the moment of tripping or when were you gonna throw your other lasso?  I was gonna…yeah, at the moment of tripping.

 

Okay, so you’re hiding successfully.  Then it goes to go through your tripping and it just breaks the rope no problem.  You throw your lasso and you already realized as soon as you throw it that you’re just gonna have to let go or you could hold on and be pulled from where you are.  Oh, I guess I’ll just let go.  Okay, so it’s walking around again.  It didn’t seem to even notice that it almost tripped or anything.  Okay, this is devious.  Anybody have any…?  I crawl back and I say this is devious.  Does anybody have any ideas?  This is Grenada.  Yeah, this is Zell; I had an idea about something.  What if there was…what if we did a crossover, like I invited you…if I had someone over to my place to hang out with me and then a friend came over but your hanging-out times are overlapped, well, it wouldn’t be a surprise ‘cause you would both know it.

 

You would both have a time…you would be leaving, my friend would be coming over, so we could go somewhere else.  Maybe you could…maybe Lord von Chill could be there ‘cause I see you staring at me.  Then it’s like your times are overlapped so you can meet one another.  If it was total sparks or something…you know what I mean?  Actually, I…this is Lord von Chill; I’m gonna be away for work, so I wouldn’t be able to do that.  But that sounds like a good idea.  This is the DM; I don’t know what you’re talking about.  Okay, this is Eleanor; I’m trying to help with our plan of everything.  I was thinking about that idea though, of distraction.  Wait, so would I come over to your place to just hang out with you?  Then your friend would come over?  What would we do?  I don’t know.  We could make cookies or something.

 

Like, I could come over and hang out with you and make cookies.  Yeah, to me…and then my friend would come over.  Yeah.  Okay, so…yeah.  So, I’m sorry.  Grenada, can you…oh, okay, Grenada of Darmok here.  Here’s an idea; what if we go get one of those old ride vehicles and more than one of us comes?  We push the aunts and the uncles in it, then we make them happy.  We just push the ride vehicle.  I don’t know, I think I want to see one more time, and then I watch.  Can we push…can we do that and then watch what the steam giant would do?  Can the aunt and uncle hear me right now?  This is the DM; no, they can’t hear you, I guess.

 

Okay, you could…it’s interesting because the ride is powered by magnets, so you do go back and you find a couple ride vehicles and even though they’re deteriorated, once you get them on the track, while the motors don’t run or anything, the magnets…it still floats.  It’s one of those things that is after…they replaced it with non-electron…they didn’t need electron magnets; just real, rare earth magnets.  So, you could push it.  It’s like a hovercraft, almost.  I just don’t understand what you’re trying to do.  Okay, well, put the aunts and uncles in there.  Make them happy.  We’ll push them along.  We could even crawl but then build up some power.  I don’t know.  Maybe this isn’t a good idea.  Yeah, it doesn’t seem like a good…it seems like you have a good idea but you’re missing one part of it.

 

Yeah, we’re missing something, so I need everybody to pay attention, here.  Watta, Lord von Chill, everybody else seems distracted.  Here’s what…Grenada of Darmok here; so, we have…the headpiece is bolted into the…so, what if…where’s that wrench?  Watta, where’s the wrench?  It went over the side of the building with Piza Peel.  Okay, this side of this building though, right?  Can’t we just get down and go…not…this side of the building or what side of the building did it go off of?  This is the DM; it went off the other side of the building.  Okay, so is there a way for us to go to the other side of the building either through the building or around the building without being steam…seen by the steam giant in search for the wrench and just see if there’s a chance we could find the wrench or any of the…Piza Peel or any of the animatronics that spilled over?

 

As the DM, I’d say that’s something you could attempt, yeah.  You probably could just go through the lobby and out through the parking area ‘cause that’s on the…it’s outside the park, the entrance to the actual hotel of Progress Tower was built outside of the gates of the park just for…it’s like a inside, outside hotel.  Okay, so does everybody feel good about that?  Yeah, this is Eleanor; I feel good about…I feel really good about that idea.  We hang out, then your friend hangs out, and I take off or something.  That’s totally…I mean, ‘cause…but yeah, I think…let me think about it.  But does that sound good?  This is Zell; yeah, it sounds good.  What kind of cookies do you like?  I don’t know.  Okay, well, we could talk about it.  I’ll have ingredients for a couple different things.

 

Yeah, I’m excited to make cookies with…I mean, to meet your friend.  Yeah, yeah.  Yeah, and we…yeah.  Okay, this is Lord von Chill; can we move forward with the adventure?  It sounds like we have consensus there.  Well, let me…I mean…Lord von Chill here; so, we go and we start searching…Grenada and I start searching, [00:50:00] and everyone else.  What do we find?  Okay, so actually while you’re walking, you’re talking to Watta and you say Watta, where do you think in the building that washed over…and Watta says okay, yeah, we should…if we…while you’re walking, Watta has a…very good spatial relations and Watta says I think we should bear right at the…what would have been the drop-off and pick-up…pick-off area, so you come out the doors, there’s a overhang, and Watta says it should be over here to the right.

 

This is just like a big, cleared out area that would have been short-term parking and then beyond that are some bushes and some trees and shrubs and piles of dirt that have become hardened over the years.  Okay, so do we…we start searching and how do we roll?  What do we find?  So, you very quickly see…in the open dirt you see the robes of the…Piza Peel and you see bits of pieces…the animatronics kinda broken up.  So, you start heading towards Piza Peel and what do you do next?  We search Piza Peel to find the wrench.  Or is the wrench somewhere else?  Was Piza Peel holding it?  You search Piza Peel and you don’t find the wrench but then you hear a voice, a powerful voice say looking for this?

 

You look up and stepping out from behind the mound of dirt and the bushes is a really big warrior, a human but very big, burly, and tough.  Then some humanoids that aren’t theme park figures…they look like they’re organic beings, something like a crow…mostly that looks like a crow but highly intelligent but also walking.  So, more…not in a creepy way.  It’s a crow but it’s also somewhat of a humanoid.  Then stepping out behind the big warrior is just as big, a croc.  Not like the shoes the Croc, but the other kind of croc.  It’s standing on two legs but looking really tough.  Then also off to the side is something that looks like one of those…like a Ratso Rizzo-type humanoid but a little bit smaller.  Okay.  Grenada and Eleanor, this is your game.  Okay, this is Eleanor; yes, yes, we’re looking for that.

 

Hello.  We’re a party of adventurers.  You look like a party of adventurers as well.  The warrior speaks to you.  It says yes, party of adventurers.  See?  I told you we would find something here.  We heard you coming; you’re talking about something.  You were talking pretty loud.  Yeah, we’re adventurers and we’re about to report back to who we’re adventuring for.  Who are you adventuring for?  This is Eleanor; we’re…no, we’re just solo adventurers.  We’re just on an adventure.  We saw this place.  We’re just leaving actually, but we had our wrench; we were using it to fix something, so we needed it.  This wizard took it from us and then we just came…we were sleeping, came back down to get our wrench, then we’re headed off.

 

We’re not really looking for any…we just want our wrench back so we’d appreciate it if we could have that wrench.  You cannot have the wrench.  I can feel magic pulsing through it and there’s only four of you.  There’s four of us but take a look at us.  So, we’ll be keeping this wrench and we’ll be taking everything you have, as well.  Then we’ll be finding out who you really work for because if you don’t work for our boss, we want to know what you know and we’re gonna hold you ‘til our boss comes.  This is…I’m Eleanor, a Florencian nurse.  I’m happy to offer our healing services but we can’t…who do you…who’s your boss?  Well, I’m not gonna tell you that.  As a matter of fact, do you want to…do you four want to submit or do you just want to wait, because…Crow Breath, get outta here and go tell…go call in some reinforcements.

 

But I wanna get a look at these people.  Okay, one second, Crow Breath.  So, that’s your choice, Eleanor of Florencia.  Okay, can…mind if I speak with my companions?  ‘Cause maybe we could work out something.  We’ll give you…let me see if they’re amendable to your plan.  It doesn’t sound amendable, though.  Yeah, so I’m not gonna really give you time to talk to your friends.  This is Grenada of Darmok here talking, and I’m standing behind Zell so that hopefully I’m talking low enough.  Maybe Watta can hear me and communicate ‘cause we know Watta was communicating by some sort of water and not vocal cords.  So, I was thinking that one, they don’t know Watta’s here so that gives us one advantage, and two, I can lasso that crow if the crow tries to fly away to get reinforcements.

 

So, should we just get into it?  This is Lord von Chill; I’ve had enough of this warrior’s big mouth and I’d say yes, we should figure out…why don’t I deal with this warrior while the rest of you deal with things as…well, I guess…Grenada, that sounds like a plan.  You lasso the bird if it takes off by its bird leg.  Crow Face, get moving.  Okay, so this is the DM; so, you’re gonna start a battle.  If the crow tries to fly, Grenada, you’re gonna try to get its leg.  Anything else I need to know as I roll for initiative?  Yeah, this is Zell; if Grenada gets the crow on the leg, I would use…I would go against the crow because with my new bonuses…with my longbow, it’s like a guarantee hit.  Okay, yeah, let’s do that.  Okay, so you roll…everyone rolls for initiative.

 

The initiative is Zell, Grenada, the crow, the Rizzo, the croc, Watta, the veteran — the warrior on the other team is a veteran — Lord von Chill, and then Eleanor.  Okay, so for Zell, I’ll just go after the bird right now.  Okay, you easily…and now you have two attacks since you leveled up.  So, that’s plus nine.  You miss on the first one but the second one with your bonus, you do eight on the bird.  Grenada…can I also use my sneak on the bird?  You can, so you do…well, then you can’t use your roping.  Can I use my roping in a sneak attack, though?  That’s what I’m saying.  Okay.  Yeah, you do, so you rope the bird as it’s trying to take off, and you do ten.  Then the bird pecks at you, misses you, but hits Watta and some of Watta’s essence, about seven hit points of essence of Watta, which is…splash out of the waterskin.  Oh, boy.

 

Then the Rizzo goes after Zell but misses.  The croc also goes after Zell and is…oh boy, it has a big mouth and it does eleven on Zell.  Watta gets an eight which doesn’t do anything.  The vet has two attacks on LVC; four and a fifteen.  The second one does seven of damage with your longsword.  LVC, you get a one and a sixteen, so you do nine back.  Eleanor, you got a two.  Okay, this is Zell; I think we just keep going with…and run with that idea I had.  Okay Zell, you get a ten and a eighteen which puts away…on your first one, that’s the end of the bird, and then your second one is on the…because you didn’t say it on the [01:00:00] Ratso.  Okay.  Grenada, you got a nineteen on Ratso.  Okay.  Ratso got a six; nothing happens.

 

Oh boy, the croc got a twenty on Zell which is twenty-two of damage which puts you pretty low, Zell; down to four.  Okay, well, Zell’s got our bow, so Zell, why don’t you crawl out of the battle?  Okay, I’ll do that without pride.  Watta does thunderwave…some sort of water thunderwave which does eight of damage to everyone, and that puts away Ratso.  The vet does fourteen and eighteen and does fourteen more damage on Lord von Chill.  That brings you down to eleven.  Lord von Chill, you got twenty, so that does eight…you do eighteen on the vet.  Eleanor’s…oh, this is Eleanor; I’m gonna use a prayer of healing then on Watta, Zell, and Lord von Chill.  Okay, so that does twelve on each of them, plus…so, where are we left?

 

Watta now has twenty-three, Zell has sixteen, Lord von Chill has twenty-three, and the vet has…does not look…like, the vet and the croc, they’re just kinda laughing at all of you.  But the croc may have…okay, we get it.  Let’s go another round, then.  Okay, so, Zell goes first; fifteen and four, so you got a eight on the…you do eight on the croc.  Grenada; thirteen.  You do six on the croc.  The croc then gets nine but then ends up doing eight on Grenada ‘cause Zell had to move to…Watta; another thunderwave but second-level.  It does sixteen on both.  Sixteen on both and they’re still standing?  Yeah, they’re still standing.  The vet does fourteen and eight, so only one…seven on Lord von Chill.  Lord von Chill, you get a nine and fifteen.  You do nine and you take out the vet and silence him forever.

 

Then Eleanor does…Eleanor, are you gonna…?  Yeah, I’m gonna go for it.  You do six on the croc, so the croc still has some stuff left.  Okay, let’s go another round.  Zell’s up.  Okay, five and thirteen, so Zell does…okay, more…and Grenada; fifteen.  Okay, so Grenada, you take out the croc.  That was a big battle, by the way.  Okay, so…okay, we gotta search them.  This is Grenada; search them…let’s search everything, see what we find.  Let’s get that wrench from the veteran and roll to see what else we find.  Okay, so you find the wrench.  You also…you don’t really find much.  They were clearly traveling from a base camp; they were like scouts.  You’re assuming they saw the…what happened on the top of the building and they fell off ‘cause they were supposed to mention that and they didn’t.

 

You do find a flare gun on the veteran with three flares.  That catches your eye.  Oh yeah, well, we’ll take that, then.  We don’t know what we’ll need it for, but…well, clearly that…this is Eleanor; this is meant to signal…to signal to their base to come or something.  Okay, well, okay, so they didn’t signal.  That’s good.  Okay, we don’t find anything else?  No.  I mean, this is the DM; at this point in your adventure, you really don’t want to do anything else.  Okay.  We got the wrench.  I say we don’t get distracted and we go back in, try to cover our tracks, cover up things, but I think we keep moving back to deal with the steam giant.  Okay, so you cover your tracks the best you can.  I understand what you mean.  Then you go back in the building.  You go back to the aunt and uncle and the steam giant is still patrolling.

 

Do you have a idea of what you want to do, anybody?  Yeah, this is Eleanor; I mean, I have an idea.  I don’t know, I’m torn because I like the idea but I don’t know if I like the idea of the…your…it’s just like, I don’t know if that your opposites would interest me, you know what I mean?  I’m sorry, what are you talking about, Eleanor?  Well, like the Three Florences say…well, I don’t know.  I think we should hang out and make cookies and then if your friend comes over when I’m leaving or something, that’s fine, I guess.  So I guess yeah, yeah, that’s fine.  Okay, great.  I would…I like that idea.  Okay, this is Lord von Chill; there’s…can we get to the…?  Yeah, so this is Grenada, actually, Lord von Chill.  Thank you.  Here’s what I think, everybody.

 

Zell and Lord von Chill, you push the aunts and uncles…if we can get them moving to distract the steam giant…now, this is a little bit of an out-of-box idea, Watta, I want to run by you; what if I jump on the steam giant and pour Watta into the steam giant?  Because I’m thinking if it’s…maybe this thing’s magical.  Could you find anything out by water or would we lose your essence?  Or does that regenerate because that was your hit points?  Because we’re gonna have to get by this giant and I don’t think we can beat it in battle is what the DM was kinda laying forth.  Meanwhile, while Watta’s looking, I’ll try to use the wrench to get the headpiece off.  Okay, this is Watta; what are you saying I would do in there?

 

Okay, this…I have one last thing; if we use the aunt and uncles as a distraction — don’t tell them — it’s pretty clear that this thing has good eyesight.  What if someone else is watching through the eyes of the steam giant?  Or we just eliminate…if Watta goes in there…I mean, I could try to do it but I don’t want to mess with magic.  Could Watta do that?  Is that possible?  Yeah, this would…this is Watta; I think it would be possible.  I would just need hopefully someone to get me off the ground.  I wouldn’t lose any essence.  Yeah, that stuff regenerates, my essence, but my actual water…it’s complicated.  I’m more of a gel even though I look like water.  I have a different viscosity and I have magnetism to all my atoms.

 

But yeah, I could flow through it and see while you take the headpiece off and maybe try to…I don’t know, see what I could do…yeah, to distract…to undo the eyesight or use some sort of spell.  Okay, so can we do that plan?  We use the distraction and then I get on the back of it again, or the head of it, and then we do that.  How does that sound, DM?  Okay, yeah, I’ve been rolling for it.  Okay.  Yeah, so you successfully find a cart that works.  You convince the aunts and uncles that they’re gonna get to ride in the ride.  You wait until the thing’s back is turned and then you…they start pushing it and they build up enough momentum.  They know enough to dive down as the cart starts to go on its own.  The steam giant immediately turns as it’s building up, as it maybe sees it in its peripheral vision.

 

It runs over, destroys the track and the aunts and uncles that were enjoying the ride and saying wee, wee, wee; we’re finally free.  Then you manage to get on the back of it, pour Watta…you open up the hat, you pour Watta in there.  You use the wrench; you do notice some sort of magical bond is dissipated by the wrench and while you’re doing that, Watta goes in, uses a spell to deactivate the eyes of the…they’re light bulbs but I guess they see stuff.  Now meanwhile, this thing has not stopped patrolling, though.  Now it can’t…you’re assuming it can’t see, so you get the headpiece off.  Of course, Grenada, you would test, so you swing back and forth and you see that the eyes aren’t working.  Then you have the headpiece.  I assume you jump down and scoop Watta up and return to your party?  Yes, I do those things.

 

Okay, so you have the headpiece [01:10:00] and your party’s gathered.  It’s almost time to stop but Watta says something ominous; like, there was magic watching through the eyes of that.  I could sense it, so I don’t know who’s watching and patrolling this area.  Are we the third or fourth people to get here?  There’s too many things at play but I think we should rest, go back inside, say something for the aunts and uncle animatronics that we sent away, and then continue our adventure.  It sounds like there’s gonna be other adventures unrelated to this game being undertaken that I’m excited to hear reports back about.

 

So, how’s that?  This is Grenada of Darmok; that sounds good.  This is Eleanor; I mean, I just think…are you sure?  How much of a opposite is this person, then?  Okay, let’s just talk about it outside the game, okay?  We could talk about it while we’re making cookies and then we’ll go from there.  It’ll just be a overlap; it’ll be fine.  Okay, I’m looking forward to hanging out with my friend.  Yeah, yeah.  Alright, goodnight everybody.  Goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

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