S1E3 Golden Eye...s

In this episode, our unflappable crew almost successfully unwind a bit in their respective haunts. Sort of re-energized, they go clubbing, culminating in a pulse-pounding Height Off.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

I do think we've done a pretty good job of just having uh some commentary at the beginning of the episodes before we do the music. Uh that's kind of kind of funny, kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

I'm just I I want you to know how bad you fucked up giving us razor scooters. I'm gonna shit out of guys with razor scooters now.

SPEAKER_04 0:21

Yeah, uh I hope you know that I already plan to take them away from you.

SPEAKER_05 0:25

So you can try. I was disappointed because I thought they were the kind of scooters of like the scooter gang from Boba Fett. And I was like, cool, we're gonna be Italians, and then yeah, I thought it was Vespa. No, straight razor scooters. I'm cutting all of this out. All of it, all of it.

SPEAKER_04 0:47

And with that, hear the music. Okay, welcome to this week's episode of Colossus at the Crux, a Never Fear campaign presented by The Witch Heat Marsh.

SPEAKER_07 1:42

I'm Ian, your GM, and joining me around the table are Hi, I'm Breed Rennan, I play Glitch, the ship's mechanic. Hi, I'm Audrey and I play Tabitha, the quartermaster of the ship.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

I'm Garrett, and I play Tegan St. James, the ship's pilot.

SPEAKER_05 1:56

Hey, I'm Eugene. I play Qualo, the ship's scrapper. And did you know that nostrils are not just for breathing? Would you like to know more?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

No. Here's a they have a thousand uses. A thousand uses.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

Alright. So last session, uh uh Clamp Weasel from Scrippity Scraps, or Crippity Crap, depending on who you ask, had asked you to spy on Athelion, uh, a person who he had seen at the docks that uh they had been trading uh with people and uh looking for something, and he asked you to find out what it is that they're doing. He didn't tell you why he wants to know this information. And last we checked you guys had had stepped out. Uh but before you stepped out, he would have given you the hint that she had been seen uh frequenting uh the clam bucket, a uh rival um younger equivalent to the oyster bar. Uh it's still a dive bar, but with like uh, you know, black velvet paintings on the wall, uh a drink menu that has like um several different kinds of Boilermaker recipes on the side. You know what I'm talking about? Like it's it's a dive bar, but for hipsters.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Okay, it's uh it's where the the young cool cats of Dock Station Theta are hanging out.

SPEAKER_04 3:29

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so uh that is where she was last seen. And you guys have some hours to kill before it's you know, going out hour. Uh we're gonna do a little scene where you all are going to break away to do various things before you meet back up at the clan bucket, alright? Okay.

SPEAKER_07 3:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

Cool. So we are going to start with Tabitha. So Tabitha, you had said previously that your favorite place in the bazaar was the nail salon. What is the name of the nail salon?

SPEAKER_08 4:11

Oh, uh I remember I had a name for it and then I totally forgot. Uh so I'm just gonna uh come up with a new one. Uh and I'm drawn on a blank. Like half remembering the old one. Uh I think I said something about like nails, talons, and claws or something like that.

SPEAKER_06 4:39

Nails, talons, and claws.

SPEAKER_08 4:40

Like unlimited.

SPEAKER_04 4:42

Okay. Nails, talons, and claws unlimited.

SPEAKER_08 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

So you go, uh, are you going to go to Nails, Talons, and Claws Unlimited? Of course. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_08 4:54

Love that place.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

So um you break away from the group um and you head over. When you get inside, uh immediately they're all like, Tabitha! And though uh a uh gnome will push uh like some chairs out of the way so you have room on the floor. Oh my god, girl! It's been so long since we've seen you.

SPEAKER_08 5:18

Yeah, sorry, I was all uh, you know, scrapping and stuff. We're finally back in town.

SPEAKER_04 5:24

Oh my gosh, it sounds so dangerous. Tell me all about it.

SPEAKER_08 5:27

Uh well first we like, you know, we were just cruising around and stuff. Um, and then we saw like these two ships collide, and unfortunately there were no survivors, but you know, it made for a lot of scrap.

SPEAKER_04 5:42

Uh you can tell that the the staff is aghast and they've all like stopped doing what they were doing to like turn and listen to your story. Oh my gosh, no survivors?

SPEAKER_08 5:52

That's like survivors.

SPEAKER_04 5:54

That's like everybody died, right?

SPEAKER_08 5:56

Yeah, every everyone was dead.

SPEAKER_04 5:59

Uh so I'm assuming that your kitty cat claws act like regular cat claws and that you need to like uh occasionally remove the the shell sheath from the claw.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Okay. So um they're doing that for you, so they're like cracking the the claw so that they can like pop it off. And I'm sure it feels amazing when you have like fresh claws out. So they're like, do you want these filed down?

SPEAKER_08 6:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 6:31

Little phylin.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

Okay. They give you a little filin, little filin. And then what color do you want? Your claws?

SPEAKER_08 6:38

Uh I'm gonna go with like a fluorescent pink.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

Okay. Nice.

SPEAKER_08 6:46

Like they are just so bright.

SPEAKER_04 6:48

Okay. So you're regaling them with the story while they're uh well, you're getting your nails did.

SPEAKER_06 6:55

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

And uh they bring you over a mimosa, the Tang in beer.

SPEAKER_06 7:05

So gross.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

If any of the listeners wants to mix one of those up and tell us how it is. I'm not doing it. Who's gonna make that? I don't know. I'm hoping one of the listeners does.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

If you wouldn't mind, comment below how tang and beer taste. A tang shandy. Um that's how they do it on Dark Station Theater. They do it nasty. Speaking of doing it nasty, um, so you will hear the bell jingle of somebody opening the door to the nail salon. And uh a woman will come in, uh, heavier set. She's a fawn. One of her ears is like clipped, not surgically, but like she lost the tip of it in a fight. And she looks pretty rough. It's clear that she's carrying a weapon, some kind of blunt club on her side. And she goes up to the counter, and the manager of Nails, Talons, and Claws will rush over to the counter and be like, um, hi, uh, Kayla. We um we don't have the money yet. But, you know, we're we're working on it. And Kayla's like, we we talked about this, and the owner's like, um, can we not do this here? And Kayla's like, no, we're we're gonna do it here now. You've got a week to get us the money, or there's gonna be an accident. There's gonna be an accident. And you heard what happened to the place across the street, right? Used to do really good laundry, and they had an accident. You know how it is. It's a dangerous, it's a dangerous strip out here. And then uh Kayla, the fawn, will tap loudly on the table and then make like eyes at the boss, and then sweep her eyes around the establishment, catching yours. Not with any sort of recognition, just you're huge.

SPEAKER_06 8:59

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 9:00

But then uh she'll sigh and she's like, I'd hate to see something bad happen at this place. And then she's gonna walk out.

SPEAKER_08 9:08

Uh uh, loud enough for her to hear before she exits, I'll be like, Man, I would hate to see something bad happen to her.

SPEAKER_04 9:14

She's gonna stop. So, like the doors like have like it jingled, she'd opened it again, and she turns around, she's like, Excuse me?

SPEAKER_08 9:23

I'm just saying, you know, it's the dangerous strip out here, like you said. The owner is an accident could happen.

SPEAKER_04 9:31

The owner's gonna step between you two, and she's gonna be like, uh, you know, it's you know, there's no reason for anybody she's gonna turn to you, she's gonna be like doing like prayer hands, prayer emoji hands, being like, please stop, don't, don't, don't do this. And then she's gonna turn back and she's like, you know, it's uh the the fumes in here make people a little loopy, people say things they don't mean. She turns back to you and does prayer hands again. And then she turns back to Kayla and she's like, We're gonna get your money. And uh Kayla's gonna make eyes at you again, and she's like, I would hate for you to have to get a visit from the nebula nasties.

SPEAKER_08 10:07

Ooh, I'm so scared.

SPEAKER_04 10:10

Prayer hand emojis, prayer hand emojis.

SPEAKER_08 10:14

Okay, I intentionally turn away from her like I'm done talking with her, and I like completely ignore and I start holding a conversation with my nail stylus again.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Okay. So uh Kayla uh stares at you for a little while longer, trying to establish dominance. And uh yeah, finally she'll close the door. And you'll see the owner just immediately like deflates, like, oh are you guys in like in trouble?

SPEAKER_08 10:39

Like, what money are they talking about? Like, how can I help?

SPEAKER_04 10:43

Um you know how it is, you know, businesses fluctuate and the rent in the strip is really high, and may have taken out a small loan. And uh I didn't know when I was taking out the loan that it was with the nebula nasties, you know? And now that the interest that they're charging is crazy, but uh you know what are we gonna do?

SPEAKER_08 11:06

I don't know. Maybe an accident will happen to them somewhere somewhere else from here.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

Oh my gosh, don't don't get yourself hurt on our behalf. We'll we'll make it work. We always do, okay?

SPEAKER_08 11:19

Well, I love you guys and I love this place.

SPEAKER_04 11:23

Yeah, but it's not worth like getting your getting your paws paws broken.

SPEAKER_08 11:28

I mean, who says my paws are gonna be the ones broken?

SPEAKER_04 11:31

Okay, uh, they're gonna bring you another mimosa. And uh they're gonna finish up your paws. Uh elsewhere, the camera will leave the nail salon and it's going to find Glitch. Glitch, where do we find you on your uh afternoon sojourn?

SPEAKER_07 11:51

Glitch is wandering through the Theta Docking Bay Market Bazaar. Uh just a series. It's the flea market, basically. Everything from gently used prosthetics to actual buildings, offices offering dream insurance and dentistry businesses selling something called synthetic luck. Um, and she is browsing through the tables, uh, one covered with crap called Nothing You Want. It looks exactly like it sounds. It's sort of a cramped leaning stall. It's buried between uh vice shop and uh a cafeteria. It smells unholy. And there are these piles of scrap, there's cracked consoles, there's dented tools. There's truly nothing you would want in this place. Um, but she's digging through it anyway.

SPEAKER_04 12:48

Okay. While you are digging through it, someone behind you is going to uh say, wow, how much. How much for your your prosthetics? I I'll I'll I'll pay for the upgrade.

SPEAKER_07 13:06

Yeah, these these don't come off, but thanks. She looks down and realizes one of her leather gloves has slipped down and quickly tugs it back up and pulls her cloak down so that her arms are covered.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Uh so the person uh who was talking, uh, do you examine them?

SPEAKER_07 13:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 13:24

Okay. Um it looks like they're at least part fairy, but you're not sure what the other part is. Uh and they are dressed to the nines way better than you would expect to see um here. Not gaudy exactly, but sharp. The fabric is very fine. Uh they're wearing a dark suit that appears pressed. They have somebody standing behind them, um, who is larger a fur bulg. Um, but yes, they're eyeing you when you tuck the sleeve down. Uh they say, no, it no judgment, right? It's just I I'm I'm a collector and I haven't seen that model in you know, uh probably a century. And I didn't even know you could use them as prosthetics. So uh I like I said, if if you're using them as prosthetics, I mean you you could definitely be using something better. I I I'll pay for the upgrade. Just you know, let me know the price. It's not an option.

SPEAKER_07 14:23

Yeah, thanks again. Uh Glitch looking trying to find a way out the furblog blocking the entrance. Uh she's calculating any possible escape route out of this situation. There is nothing that makes Glitch more uncomfortable than talking about her augments with strangers.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

Okay. Uh so this uh fairy can tell you know you're anxious about the situation. And so he's gonna make it clear that like he moves his fur bulk out of the way, he he he gets out of the way, and he's like, Can I give you my card?

SPEAKER_07 14:58

Yeah, if if it can end this conversation, listen, I I I appreciate the offer, but if it breaks, I can fix it. So this is all working for me right now, but uh I'll take your card.

SPEAKER_04 15:12

So when he hands you or they, sorry, uh hand you the card, uh it is a slice of some sort of gymstone that in relief punched into the gymstone uh is the name of the fairy Grimdorf. It has like contact information, but it doesn't say like if Grimdorf is in some sort of business, it doesn't say what sort of business they're in. And Grimdorf will say, and you can use that as a uh communicator. So if you ever need to reach me, just if you use the card, you can communicate with me directly. So I I just have one more question, if I may. Where do you get those asymmetrics?

SPEAKER_07 15:57

My body goes still. This is truly the only thing that I dislike discussing more than my augments is my past because I don't remember it. And the hairs prickle up on the back of my neck, I can feel the essentia start to hum double time. This question This question doesn't feel right to me. Uh I got them a long time ago. They were homegrown. Another place, another time, things that don't exist anymore. Uh but uh thanks for the card. I'll uh I'll reach out.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

And with that, um I remember price is no object, they say as they reach out.

SPEAKER_07 16:41

Yeah, I'm getting that. Thanks again, have a great day. And dodging the furblog, try to make my way out of the booth.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

Okay, you do indeed. So we leave you shaken as you walk out of the uh stall, and we move to Qualo. Qualo, where would you be spending your afternoon?

SPEAKER_05 17:09

Um, there is a bookstore in uh the bazaar uh that he likes to go to. It's called the Thieves Guild. Awesome. It's uh a bookstore of, you know, rare esoteric uh maps, all sorts of interesting little things. Uh you can get a nice cup of tea or a coffee, depending on your preference. And you know, they don't encourage you to leave early.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

So while you are perusing this bookstore, uh you see something that catches your eye, not a book, but a person. It is a woman of indistinguishable ancestry. Uh she is tall, her neck is very long, uh, she has very subtle facial features, except that she has uh solid gold eyes, and she's wearing uh diaphanous clothing that hangs loosely around her, and she is also perusing the books. How tall is she? She is uh your height exactly.

SPEAKER_05 18:13

So six foot eight.

SPEAKER_06 18:15

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 18:16

Um I am going to study her for a little bit. Uh try to figure out if she's looking at any books in particular.

SPEAKER_04 18:26

Um she's looking at maps. Books of maps.

SPEAKER_05 18:30

And uh Navadreamer charts. Oh, those wow, those must be interesting charts. Um I uh walk over to her quietly, uh you might say sneakily, and um trip and pour a little bit of tea on her foot.

SPEAKER_04 18:50

Oh, um she will look down at her foot and then up at you. Uh I I'm sorry, I I think you dropped this, and she points down at the tea on her foot.

SPEAKER_05 19:02

Oh, I I'm I'm sorry. Um uh I uh what's wrong with your eyes?

SPEAKER_04 19:09

So you guys meet eyes, she sees yours and you see hers. And you know, and she knows, that you both have the same eyes. Um I don't know that anything are wrong with them. I do think that's weird though. She motions at her eyes and then your eyes. Oh well, I was born with mine. Where'd you get yours? Um Well, I wouldn't exactly say I was born with them, but I have had them my entire life. It's a long story.

SPEAKER_05 19:41

Are you are you going somewhere? I have a ship. Uh that's a little forward.

SPEAKER_04 19:48

Um but I I She chuckles. You're cute.

SPEAKER_05 19:55

What's your name? Um uh I am uh caught off guard. Uh uh, you can call me um You can c you can call me uh Quay.

SPEAKER_04 20:08

Quay. Yeah. Are you trying to be duplicitous here or is that genuinely like a diminutive you go by?

SPEAKER_05 20:15

Yeah, no, I don't give my name to people.

SPEAKER_04 20:18

Okay Alright, Quay. Well I uh I do have somewhere to be but um maybe I'll see you around. Okay. Um, what's your name?

SPEAKER_05 20:32

She's gonna boop you on the nose as she walks out. Oh, I for sure follow her. Okay I stealthily like I am a hundred percent just Does she put her book back? Uh yeah she does. Okay, I take it and then I follow her. Okay. Give me an instinct challenge roll. Or just an instinct roll. Okay, instinct. And uh I am going to spend a hope because curiosity killed the cat. But satisfaction brought him back. Okay. So that's a plus two, right? For the trait? Yes. 24 with fear. 24 with fear. Alright, so take the fear.

SPEAKER_04 21:22

Er I'll take the fear. And so you uh see her uh glide around the corner. She moves with unnatural grace when she takes a step. She doesn't bob at all. Um, so she moves like with fluidity, and she doesn't look like she's moving quickly, but she's hard to keep up with. You see that she is headed uh toward the CPA offices. So she walks for a while, like stops at the occasional stall. Um but yeah, she will make her way toward the the offices, and when she gets to the CPA office at the docks, they immediately recognize her and step out of the way to let her in.

SPEAKER_05 22:10

Okay. I'm glad I studied her, because I'm for sure gonna be her in the future. Um I uh wait un I'm gonna wait around for a while. Mm-hmm and then I'm gonna study one of the uh let's see Okay I'm gonna look at the the CPA officers and I am going to mark a stress to make myself look like one of them using my uncanny disguise feature but not like any one of them specifically like a young version of like a young rookie kind of guard right but wearing their outfit and everything like that. And then I'm gonna walk up to them and casually ask who that was. Uh yes so one of them be like what are you doing he looks around what are you doing here? Oh um I I'm new and Commander told me to come by here and I saw you guys I saw that woman walking through here and I've never seen her before she looked important I should I should know about she doesn't look like somebody you should know about you if you knew who she was you know because you don't have a very clear indication that you don't get back to wherever you're posted or I'm gonna report you to Sergeant I'm gonna walk into the and look around for her.

SPEAKER_04 24:05

Okay. You see no sign of her whatsoever.

SPEAKER_05 24:09

I guess after a while I will leave and find an alley and make sure she doesn't come out the door yet you definitely do not see her leave elsewise wears Elsewise wears on the station.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

We follow Tegan Tegan what are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Tegan is uh going through the bazaar he's got like um there's like an outfitter store that he likes to window shop at you know looking at like really nice dusters and like you know ivory handled revolvers and really nice stuff uh that he just can't afford right now he keeps hoping for a big score he kind of sighs a bit and then he heads over to Olivia's dance studio okay uh so uh go ahead I was gonna say he's uh he he he he feels the need to kind of decompress a bit he looks around makes sure that nobody that he knows sees him like walk in and then he slides in the door and is immediately lit by like a neon sign that says Dance Dance Evolution.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

Okay. So you'll see that Olivia is uh there like she's leading a class in another room and she can see you through the window. She's gonna wave at you.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

I give her a wave yeah she goes back to teaching her class uh and then I head to the to one of the back little like private studios where the lights aren't you know like they're they're they're low uh and I see one of the the sound DJ Tex is like taking a break in the corner drinking whatever the Fetan version of a Capri Sun is uh Capri Crux Capri Crux how's it going? Oh it's going do you want me to put uh you want me to put your your jams on yeah if you wouldn't mind let's start on track three I've had a rough day okay uh he's gonna pull out a cylinder what is the name of the cylinder that he puts out funky beats and chunky grooves I don't know funky beats and chunky grooves you're the only one who requests this yeah I know I like hang my coat up and then step into the dance studio okay so he'll put it on and uh like line it up and then put the little needle on the the cylinder and he'll get it started up and then he goes back to sipping his uh his capri crux okay uh so yeah Tegan stands in the middle of the room he waits for the floor to like start to light up at the beat and on the third beat he uh reaches down to his pants he's got like chaps on over his corduroids and when he like rips the chaps off button style it's just corduroy jorts underneath with fish nets okay cowboy boots and then he gets slowly starts to do his like dance number you know and he like he lets it all out just like mixed in like Footloop Napoleon dynamite pink pony club you name it right he just he's Baroness told it to nobody uh except for the guy drinking the crooked in the who's not looking at him and he works up like a like a latter way doing that's maybe the highlight of my G having uh with having you describe this dance team what is the emotion that Tegan is trying to express with his dance right now um probably frustration at the most just kind of like the uh the letting go of it all uh the having to kind of grind it out day after day but then coming here and getting to be free for a little while and by the end of it like it's just as like even he's untucked his shirt and tied it in the front you know magical okay so uh each of you has an eventful afternoon and you guys are gonna meet back up in the evening at the clam bucket.

SPEAKER_04 29:18

Is there anything that you'd like to do uh together before you go into the clam bucket I'm gonna catch a shower together not that we have to do that together yeah no we don't have to do that together we're a tight crew we're not that tight there's that one time on off of uh Frack I was nine but we don't talk about it so um you all catch showers separately head to the clam bucket so um it is now dark you know the uh multiple suns that swirl around the city at the crux um or various light sources are no longer shining on it. There is an ever-present hum of light that comes uh through the Impyrean that illuminates the Doxation Theta but it's uh not there now and so the city just has a pink purple haze over it in what people consider the nighttime at Doxation Theta. You all make your way to the club the feeling of the city has changed right it's gone from the commerce of the day to nightlife mode and so there are crowds of people who are laughing and talking and arguing. It's gotten uh boisterous um less people hawking wares and more people catching up when you get to the club there is a floor to ceiling black velvet painting. Uh Glitch, what is the floor to ceiling black velvet painting on the left wall of the clam bucket? It is a text-based painting in jaunty pink letters it says clam bucket good drinks bad decisions and there are some very voluptuous very naked um creatures from throughout the sea sky that are ornately decorating the edges of it okay um that's fantastic so uh you can see that there are people that are filing in uh again very strong hipster vibes here with the crowd lots of people wearing scarfs even though like it's not the climate for it um what is it a lot of uh scene hair I don't know if you guys remember that if you're old enough to remember scene hair um no getting a lot of like vacant eyes okay uh well that's what's going on um and so it's uh smoky in here uh and there are drinks being passed around uh who would like to make an instinct roll I can make the instinct roll glitch can make the instinct roll yeah go for glitch all right 16 with fear you're welcome oh so good delicious fear okay so uh you look around and you can see that in addition to the regular hipster crowd that there uh is a what looks like a woman in the dark sitting in the back corner and she is seated at a table with a couple of other people and having a quiet conversation uh but she is very conspicuous in that her eyes are glowing gold is it the same woman when you uh have her pointed out you can indeed see that it is the same woman I walk up to her best spy mission ever oh wait is this the woman we're supposed to be spying on you don't know oh okay uh wait did we get a description of this woman no uh she was she's all uh so the character that you're supposed to be spying on uh the gender uh was never conveyed to you by Glampweasel uh but uh they were always seen dressed head to toe in black which this woman is not dressed head to toe in black okay so yeah I do go over to her okay I'll just saddle up uh quietly but so she sees me out of the corner of her eye.

SPEAKER_05 33:34

Mm-hmm. Uh excuse me uh yes uh Quay was it? That's right. Yes. Um I think you left this behind and I show her the book she was looking at well I hadn't purchased it so I wouldn't say I hadn't left it behind. Well those two don't really have anything to do with each other.

SPEAKER_04 33:55

I thought I'd return it to you but I I you know it's written to someone here on the inside cover and I just I wouldn't feel right giving it to you if you weren't the person who it's written to so could you give me your name so I could check I feel like I'm being rude let me introduce you to my friends uh and she's going to uh motion to the two people sitting on either side of her I double take a look as if I'd never seen them before uh one of them is a giant this is Alan and she uh motions to the guy on the other side uh it's a uh fur ball different than the one that uh thing glitch had seen earlier in the day and she goes this is wrench wrench Alan how are ya they nod roughly and then as I said I I I never purchased the book so it definitely wasn't written for me uh would you like to sit and drink with us?

SPEAKER_01 34:58

Yeah but I want to know your name uh are those your friends show a motion to the group standing awkwardly in the uh entrance of the bar oh um yeah I guess I mean they they kind of follow me around I don't really know what the deal is it's it's weird they they like sleep on my ship and and we do things together but I don't know sure you want to bring him over uh the rest of you what are you guys doing I mean I was gonna you know like get a table and some drinks but then I heard like he doesn't know who we are and now I'm feeling kind of hurt you know I'm trying not to show it though but I'll go I'll go to the bar you'll go to the bar?

SPEAKER_04 35:42

Yeah I'm gonna go to the barp of the what are you doing? Uh I'm admiring my new pink nails okay they do look amazing I'm flexing them like you know like flexing them letting them retract back flexing them doing that over and over again there are black lights here in the bar so they're glowing oh hell yeah Habby come here oh I'm come I come over there uh glitch do you go to the bar or do you uh go to the table with Qualo? Glitch has already headed over to the bar and is single focused on this mission scanning the room for someone dressed in all black in a room full of very colorful individuals indeed uh you can tell from your sweep uh when you walked in that there is no one dressed all in black alright turn around and uh order a coffee sugar extra sugar I want to get whatever the the the house special is I mean okay uh but with the bartender I'll be like hey uh can I can I ask you a question real quick the bartender will lean in the bartender has two heads which is not common yeah I'll keep trying to switch between the two i'm not I'm not trying to be rude I don't really know which one to to address so I'll just keep kind of swab uh bobbing back and forth uh like hey uh we're we're here looking for somebody else hope maybe you could like tell us if they've been in uh and I will put a uh an extra we'll say handful of gold on the on the bar just kind of keep a hand over it like we're we're looking for uh someone by the name of a felion you heard that name or anything like that uh give me a presence check with advantage because that handful of gold I like it um wish I had something to help me on that but the advantage is nice it's a 19 with fear though oh man what am I gonna do with all this fear I don't know I feel good about the 19 on the fear yeah so you uh the heads will uh whisper in each other's ears uh so like one will turn to the side like shh and the other one will turn like and then finally they'll look at you and they'll be like alright well look don't don't start anything here right I don't no no nothing like that this isn't the oyster tub alright this is uh you know we've got like an atmosphere that we're trying to like go for trying to harsher vibes or anything like that yeah well our vibes are pretty mellow so I can see that it's it's mellow yellow I love it it's going good um but she's going to point to the giant uh at the table sitting with the golden eyed woman and be like that's uh that one goes by a felion okay yeah thanks uh we're I said well we're not starting anything we're just trying to make sure we're scoping out some business prospects did you and you said you wanted the uh house special yeah okay uh the house special is the uh clam bucket bomb uh it's a it's a it's a uh shot glass with a uh clam with hot sauce in it uh and then they drop that uh into uh a glass of bourbon that's on fire okay uh far being for me to argue with the mixologist uh how do I uh uh uh help me out here and I'm like trying to figure out how to do this with a flaming drink and a appetizer I don't know yeah so you you drop the you drop the shot with the clam in it in into the flaming drink okay and then you chug it while it's still flaming okay I will try to do that and not burn off your uh mustache my mustache yeah my my my very prodigious mustache okay so I'm gonna spend a fear to uh have you take a stress as you do indeed burn your mustache a little bit oh no not mustache the bartender's gonna shake her head there's gonna be like a couple of like broy guys like further down the bar like oh dude just did uh the clam bomb clam bombs clam bombs nice okay um I'll turn to glitch and be like don't get the clam bomb all right so Tabitha you wander over to the table with uh Alan uh Wrench and the mysterious golden eyed woman uh they'll you know make introductions I say they'll make introductions the golden eyed woman introduces the people next to them but never uh says her own name uh what do you do when you get to the table? Am I like sub classic uh would you like uh to order a drink? I I hear they have a uh clam bucket bomber that's that's very good. Uh sure yeah I'll take one of those okay uh I'm gonna spend another fear to also have you mark a stress no I'm gonna I'm gonna laugh at it like you're gonna laugh at the flaming drink with the clam shot in it? Yeah oh that's disgusting it's it's layers of faux pas uh on top of each other uh but you do you listeners don't feel the need to recreate that one leave that one alone uh you recreate a clam bucket bomber can you uh tell us about the comments below um don't light it on fire actually no no I want a picture if we uh reach uh a hundred subscribers um I will live stream on Twitch me doing a clam bucket bomber oh god so you're telling me a hundred alt accounts is all it'll take if you go through the work of creating a hundred alt accounts to watch me do that on stream uh on twitch okay I mean um hey tabby hey tabby Alan's a giant too and she tell me her name I know she wants to be lost in obscurity then that's up to her but you know people like myself like to uh let everyone know what my name is so that they can see how great I am so when you say that uh that Alan is a giant too uh Alan will take obvious umbrage uh yeah I'm a giant and no offense to cat creature she's just big right whoa and uh Alan has one eye instead of the three I like I I stand up a little taller and see if I can like you know checking at my height versus his height oh are we doing this are we doing this he's gonna get up with a height off okay everybody standing up against the things do you gotta get the pencils out and mark the door frames?

SPEAKER_08 43:31

Yeah are you doing height off yeah yeah yeah yeah and while while I'm like trying to stand up taller I'm gonna like have you ever grappled uh uh let me let me think of a imaginary creature name uh have you ever grappled uh cosmic bear how must be well have you ever grappled uh hydrophobic snail what what of course I have obviously

SPEAKER_04 44:01

Okay, uh I need you to roll me a I need you to roll me a dice. On Evens, you're taller, and odd, he's taller.

SPEAKER_08 44:11

Okay, what what what size dice?

SPEAKER_04 44:14

Doesn't matter the dice.

SPEAKER_08 44:15

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

unknown 44:16

Uh uh.

SPEAKER_08 44:19

No!

SPEAKER_04 44:22

What is it?

SPEAKER_08 44:23

It's a three.

SPEAKER_04 44:25

And that is odd. You guys stand up, and then like you're you're like a little bit taller, and then he's like, and he really like every he's he stretches his back so much that you hear, even in the din of the bar, like a couple of vertebrae crack, and then he just like and scooches out like a ten uh like a centimeter of height difference, and you can tell like that's just he is like ah yeah, now who's a giant?

SPEAKER_08 44:58

I'm just shaking my head, just like height isn't everything.

SPEAKER_04 45:07

Okay, give me a You tell him, Short Queen. Give me a presence, give me a presence roll with advantage.

SPEAKER_07 45:13

Okay. Glitch is just shaking her head, kind of says to no one, I've never been in a place that actually made me feel normal before.

SPEAKER_08 45:24

I rolled a 14 with hope.

SPEAKER_04 45:28

Okay, so uh it was that with advantage?

SPEAKER_08 45:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:34

Okay. Uh cool. So you uh you you do this height thing and he he like turns to you and he's like kind of bowed up or whatever, but then you're like height isn't everything, and he's like, it is though, but bring it in! And he's gonna like hug you.

SPEAKER_08 45:49

Alright. I I'm I'm like, alright. And then like I come in and we both give each other like a hearty embrace.

SPEAKER_04 45:56

Yeah. Uh and he's gonna be like, two clam bucket bombers over here. Uh and yeah, he's gonna clam bucket bomber with you.

SPEAKER_08 46:06

Oh, hell yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:07

Uh at the table. And he also he's gonna be like, I'm gonna call you short stack. What on account of how tiny you are.

SPEAKER_08 46:18

Alright, I I I'm gonna just like try to down this clam bucket uh bomber in just like one solid gulp.

SPEAKER_04 46:26

That's uh that's how you do it. You gotta it's like medicine. You just take it, you just let it go all the way down at once, you try not to let it touch your tongue if you can.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

So gross.

SPEAKER_08 46:35

This guy's alright.

SPEAKER_04 46:39

Okay. So, um now that you've incrediated yourself with the table, uh, the the night while's on, uh, the golden-eyed woman uh does not offer her name. I will allow you to make a roll at disadvantage to try to trip her up. Uh it wouldn't be a role-playing game if you couldn't use dice to solve problems. Um I'm assuming that that's your your primary goal is to get her to tell you her name.

SPEAKER_05 47:05

Uh yeah. Uh now. Uh I was I was I was gonna take defeat gracefully, but um what kind of role?

SPEAKER_04 47:15

It's gonna be a presence. Well, unless you can convince me of something else.

SPEAKER_05 47:20

Okay. Um, presence is fine. Um just trying to think about uh well while Qualo tries to think about things. Is she a prominent person? Uh god damn it, yes. Okay, well then I will have an advantage because I am loreborn. And we have Wellred. Yikes. So you said disadvantage, so that cancels out? Yep. Right? And to heck with it. I'm I you know what? I'm gonna just burn that hope because curiosity killed the cat. I'm gonna say that one day when Tabby dies.

SPEAKER_04 48:05

You're crying, you're on your knees, and you're like, Curiosity!

unknown 48:10

No!

SPEAKER_05 48:13

Oh, we said presents, right? And I and I close two because I like to make bad decisions. 18 with fear. 18 with fear does not succeed.

SPEAKER_04 48:26

I didn't think it would.

SPEAKER_06 48:27

Ooh.

SPEAKER_04 48:28

Uh, but I'm gonna spend three fear. Actually, no, I uh I would like to do this. I I do it. I think I will do it.

SPEAKER_05 48:41

Do it.

SPEAKER_04 48:42

Alright. I'm gonna spend three fear in that when you guys are doing your tete da tete uh to get her name, uh, that she is going to uh get you to say your name is Qualo.

SPEAKER_05 48:55

Yep. Fair enough. Yep. She she uh she bugs bunnies me.

SPEAKER_04 49:01

Yeah. Yeah, so she she gets your name out and she's like Qualo. That's uh that's a you know, in a city full of uh bizarre names. That's especially bizarre. Uh where uh where are you from, Kualo?

SPEAKER_05 49:18

Wouldn't you like to know? Yes. I'm from the essential commune. I don't got anything to hide.

SPEAKER_04 49:24

Uh, and she she doesn't like she she looks like she's not surprised at all. And she's like, I think that that would probably be the only place where you could get those eyes. Oh, so you're from there too?

SPEAKER_05 49:36

Uh of a sort. I think I'm gonna like you. Aww. You're sweet. I might also stab you.

SPEAKER_01 49:47

But okay. Qualo go like full cat mode. It's like, I like you, but I might bite you.

SPEAKER_04 49:55

Um a lot of red flags with Qualo.

SPEAKER_05 49:59

But uh But they're twelve, they're twirled immaculately.

SPEAKER_04 50:05

Ah, okay. Um, does anyone do anything with the information that the giant uh is supposedly secretly Aphelin?

SPEAKER_01 50:17

Uh I mean I'll tell Glitch and then uh go and like stake out in the corner and watch what's happening.

SPEAKER_07 50:26

Yeah, uh I'm hovering close to Tegan trying to see a moment where one of us can say something to Tabitha or potentially drag Qualo's attention back to the job at hand, just looking nervously back and forth at the table.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

Well, uh I'm kinda happy to let them, you know, while away the time and then maybe watch them afterwards, tail them.

SPEAKER_04 50:54

Okay. Do you guys want to try to tail them afterward?

SPEAKER_01 50:59

Uh if there's a convenient kind of break when uh they come away from the table that we can kind of fill them in on what's going on. Yeah. Uh if not, then uh I will wait until they're done and then just start following them myself.

SPEAKER_04 51:17

Okay. Um so uh aside from the occasional like bathroom break or you know, ordering more drinks, they don't really get up and leave. They um do share that they are also a scrapping company that um specializes in exceptionally rare scrap uh from exceptionally dangerous locales, and that um they consider themselves more artists than uh you know the regular rough and tumble groups that do scrapping. Um there's definitely an air of uh haughtiness when they talk about their scrapping operation. But uh I think with that, uh the bar is going to declare last call, and then uh they're going to thank you all for the fantastic evening, and uh Alan slash Ephelian is gonna clap you on the back, Tabitha. Like, you're alright. You you guys when you're done with when you when you're done with these guys, right? You want to spot on a another crew, right? You come you come and me and we'll do some and we'll do some rapid adventures. You and me.

SPEAKER_08 52:38

You and me. If I ever find myself uh not working with these guys, but you know, I I think I'm gonna stay with them for a while longer. They're like a second family to me.

SPEAKER_04 52:53

Whatever I didn't want you on my group anyway. Yeah, we'll file out of the you guys will try to tell them.

SPEAKER_01 53:06

Uh yeah. That was actually the first we're trying the whole time. You guys just like talk with them all night. Waiting for hearing yourself.

SPEAKER_08 53:24

I'm just remembering all of the uh the claim claim bucket bombers that I did, and just like just like flashing through my head.

SPEAKER_04 53:36

Your stomach is roiling at this point. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 53:40

Would they turn to me to see if I can fill in any extra information? They see that I'm already tailing them.

SPEAKER_04 53:47

God damn it. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_05 53:49

Alright, let's go.

SPEAKER_06 53:50

How does he do that?

SPEAKER_01 53:52

I don't know. I have no idea.

SPEAKER_04 53:53

And with that, we are going to end the episode. So, uh, a special thanks to Darring Depress for creating Daggerheart, the awesome game we're playing, and to our incredible fans. Don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, five stars, the whole thing. It's the number one way you can help the show. Colossus of the Crux is part of the Witch Key March universe. If you're interested in playing in any of the associated games, you can find them on startplaying.games, and we will see you next week.

SPEAKER_05 54:18

Nose rings.