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Hello, Rotators. Welcome to ARC 2, Episode 3, Part 1. I'm Zach, and I'm here alone today. Jasper was here last week on his own, and so I'm here this week on my own. It's like in Scooby-Doo, you know how when one guy will run through a door, and then someone will run through a different door in the back, and they just keep missing each other, so it's like Scooby, and then it's like a...
like a deep sea diver and then, you know, Shaggy goes through and none of them see each other. That's kind of what's happening right now. It's kind of exactly like that.
So anyways, we're back here. Arc 2. The Rotators are heading across the Sapphire Lakes. They just encountered some pirates, which is not great. Not a great start to their adventure. But hopefully things will turn around at the creepy lock that they just got to. I have to imagine so. You've been great. It's been great talking to you. Great hanging out.
Enjoy part one of episode three of arc two. Okay, later. And now presenting the Rotating Heroes. Welcome back to the Rotating Heroes podcast. I'm joined by the rotators of the second arc, as always, so far. For the third time, here we have them. You know, clockwise on my screen, we have Allie Beardsley.
What's up? Allie, of course, plays Nance, the human monk, 6'3", with an arrow in her butt. Next up, we got Turbine Spizzlesink, a.k.a. Mike Trapp. Hello. Thank you. Thank you. That's all I have to say. I just have to say hello. How many arrows does he have in his butt? I don't know.
I have five, but it's contraband. It's not stuck in. I'm like mulling arrows. Between your cheeks, you have stuck five arrows vertically that you're trying to sneak off the boat? Walking very upright, real tiny steps, real clenched butt cheeks. You're a little gnome.
None of them fall out. And, you know, a guy who has an arrow stuck in his arm, or did at one point, we have the Loxodon Druid, Gribb, a.k.a. Jacob Wysocki. What's he going to say? What could he possibly say? Oh, I knew it! I knew it! Kept us waiting for a moment, but then, ooh. I had a bit of an unstable connection, and I just really guessed when the timing was on that one.
Oh, God. Well, it's good to know that you immediately have an unstable connection, so hopefully this works out. Hopefully we can record. I just found out I've been paying for 5G for four years and have not had access to it. Whoa. Is it a password issue? They just, like, I have, like, a dusty-ass old router, and they're just like, oh, our bad. Oh. Miserable. Do you part? Brutal. Yeah.
Can't wait for someone listening to this if that stays in going like, oh yeah, who farted? I feel like it's connected enough to my sentence that it's like you get that it's part of the sentiment and not somebody just like ripping ass. Speaking of ripping ass, let's get into the recap of last episode. Okay.
We opened with a long reminiscing about high school hijinks. Truly too long talked about high school. Truly a lot of minutes of this two-hour episode was dedicated to pre-actual episode talking about what we did in high school. Now let's talk about middle school. A lot more difficult. I'm just going to pull down my yearbook. I'm going to put on the Ataris. I'm going to get all misty-eyed.
I remember in middle school. I'll do it. I'm going to stop you right there. We'll keep going with the recap. Just because I know this is going to be a doozy of an ep. Last episode, the Rotators set out from Salonport in hopes of making it to the far side of the Sapphire Lakes. A
Aboard the seagrass helmed by the turtle captain Yareth Squalldancer, our team found themselves crewed up in order to gain passage to the distant shore. But annoying rich people and petty coworker drama wasn't all they had to put up with. No! Hopes for smooth sailing were immediately dashed when our crew was ambushed as they left the shores of Solonborg.
The Rotators found themselves in a battle of boats. Our heroes fended off a local pirate gang known as the Saltbreakers from overtaking their ship and who knows what else. The battle was long and intense. Gribb called upon his fiery mushroom ally, Zwam. Nance cracked open a Double Down and took an arrow in the butt.
Mop got his ass kicked, and Turbine used some old obelisk tech to hypnotize the enemy captain. With all the pirates defeated, the seagrass was dangerously off course, but with the help of the Rotators, Yareth was narrowly able to avoid a series of disastrous rocky outcrops and an extremely pissed off giant crab through the quick actions and skills of the Rotators.
letting them sail safely out further into the salty waters towards the next stop on their journey, the ancient canal locks connecting the two bodies of water. And that's where we are today. Okay, you guys, you find yourself... Jacob miming drinking a cup of tea at Allie who just took a sip of a real cup.
It's very funny to imagine us being able to mime stuff at you that makes you laugh and fucks up your audio, but no one will know what we're doing. Yes, it's extremely helpful for me. So anyways...
you all find yourselves on the other side of this sort of dangerous stretch of water that you're on past the, the pirates that you just recently defeated in a more Palm area of the salty waters of the East Sapphire lakes. It's pretty much empty from here. Like there's like maybe some distant islands, uh, far out to either side, but like you have a pretty clear path to, uh,
what is obviously the next step of your journey, the canal locks between them. And it's like on the horizon, these canal locks. Yareth pipes up and tells you guys that, like, "We have a full night of sailing ahead before we get to the locks. Everyone take care of themselves. It's been a busy day. You know, we went through a lot. You see that crab? It was huge."
It was so pissed off. So pissed off. It was so pissed off. Extremely pissed off. Anyways, well, we're through all that. We have some time to kill between now and tomorrow when we hit the lock. So, yes, rest up. Great work, everybody. I give a big round of applause. Thank you. Wow. For me? Sure. Everybody's clapping for me.
You really did something for his confidence. Oh, great.
I was just reacting. I feel awkward when someone gives what seems like a big speech and no one really reacts, so just felt like applause is the right thing to do. I start clapping for Turbine. Wow. That was a great point. Wow, I actually do feel something, though. I wish you didn't say that last part. I feel worse now. He walks away. I applaud. Yes.
It has just been, um, just sort of staring into the horizon with a, like sort of like saving private Ryan high pitch squeal in his ear. Um, so yeah, this is a different time for grip. I mean, like what do you, well, I, I guess I should ask everyone like,
You kind of have the night to do what you want to do before you like rest up. Like, is there anything anyone's trying to do and get into? I think I beeline to Bexy and I'm just like, wow, what happened? What is... Fill me in. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's like... When you say that, are you spelling it like T-H-I-N-K-U? Sorry, what?
Are you saying thank you? T-H-A-H-N-K. Thank you. Oh, okay. I tell you, spell it. Don't be an idiot. Okay, yeah, you're right, Bexy. I'm so sorry. Thank you. This is, like, obviously the hardest charter I've ever been on for me personally. And, like, of course, like, on this trip where, like, I'm feeling worse, I'm
This is, like, the one where we go the furthest out we've ever been. And so that's, like, really upsetting for me. And, like, I hear... I've heard nothing but creepy things about these lockkeeper... The lockkeeper guy and the people who live out there. And it's, like, I don't... I don't think I should have to put up with that. And I think I should be firm with my boundaries. Well, you know I always support...
you with your boundaries, Bexy. And I mean, like, what are the creepy things that you've been hearing about this lockkeeper guy? I don't, I mean, like nothing that specific, just that he is like just a nasty old man who doesn't treat his people correctly. Like he's like a bad boss. Like Yareth is gross, but he is not a bad boss. I'll say that. Yareth is disgusting, but yeah, he's a really good boss. Yeah.
So you didn't go this far on your last trip when you were with Niles, Dave, De Blasio. Are you talking about Connor? Yeah, Connor. Definitely. Niles and Dave. I can't believe you brought up Niles.
I'm so sorry to bring up all of these exes of yours. I just get them confused. They all sound so hot, especially Niles. Well, I tried to cover up Niles' tattoo with Connor's tattoo, and it didn't work out. Yeah, it kind of looks like you made it in the language. Connor's so much smaller than Niles. Look. Yeah.
to the point, to my point, I know. I mean, like, in fact, almost no ships go out this far. You need a permit that costs a lot of money to get to the, the Sapphire lakes, uh, to cross through the canal. Um, so like a lot of people can't afford it. So that's like kind of cool, I guess, to, to be on a vessel that is spending so much money, but like,
Yeah. Whatever. I mean, clearly this rich family is paying for us to go super far. That's kind of great. And you're not rich, you say, right? Like you wouldn't happen to have a little extra cash on you like right now. Like a buck? Is that what you're saying? Yeah. We can start at it. We could start at a buck. I mean, I guess I have like a buck on. What are you going to spend? What are you going to use a buck out here for?
vending machine okay she gives you a buck thanks so much and then i stay there like it would have been a lot less awkward if i took the dollar and left but now i stay and i just put the dollar in my pocket well she is too self-involved to even notice she's gonna just keep talking about like her exes and what it's like to work on this boat
Have you seen Cream? Should we go get her? Have I seen Cream? I don't know. I mean, like, I think I saw, I heard some, like, skittering little paws somewhere around here. I mean, that could have been anybody. I mean, it's either Yareth or... He's so gross, right, baby girl? What a great pause. I'm saying it in a, like, I know I'm being kind of naughty way, and I can't believe you jumped on board.
So you guys continue to talk and look for cream. What else is everyone? What is everyone else doing? Could I, I feel like I'd be, uh, uh, I want to sort of like follow up on the fact that we just had a bunch of pirates board and, um, we, we knew that they were looking for someone, but we weren't sure who, right. Um, that's sort of where we left off. Can, uh, can I like, um, I guess maybe talk to, uh,
I don't know who would be the best person to talk to. Maybe I'll just talk to Grib. Sort of, I'll rendezvous with Grib and just sort of be like, who do you think they were looking for? Oh, I'm not quite sure. You okay? Are you okay? I'm absolutely shell-shocked. I must say. Oh, my. I must say. Was this you entering the first Kill Gang?
Hashtag first kill gang. Hashtag first kill gang. I must say it was my first kill. When I took this job, I expected to be doing simple things. Scraping barnacles, bringing in luggage. I did not think this was a deed that I would be participating in. Do you want to grab a drink and talk about it or something? Roll an insight check, Grub. It's so small, I'm afraid to hug you.
Oh, wow. A natural one. Yeah, this little kid should have a drink. I don't normally participate in libations, but I suppose one couldn't hurt to help wash away this nightmare of a day. Yeah, you know, like, I'm pretty into, like, beer and whiskey sours. You know, those are kind of my jam. Yeah.
uh, just turn by sound like a sommelier racking his brain. Remember the two drinks he drank yesterday? Jesus. What a fucking, uh, nightmare. This has put our, uh, uh, well you, I mean, I guess you guys head to the bar. Um, yeah. Uh, Todd is there and he's like serving Todd is the bosun, but he's like, you know, there's, it's a smaller crew. So he's like,
helping serve the Dugan family. It feels like all of them are kind of, you know, luscious on a vacation cruise. They're in the room with us? Yeah, there wouldn't be, like, if you're trying to get a drink, this would be the only place you could do it. Great. Turbine sidles up to the bar and is like,
He looks like he's kind of putting on a show. He's definitely not as confident as he's pretending to be here and sort of bangs on the bar and is like, ah, hot toddy, my man. A little libation to steal the nerves of my good friend Grib here.
Give me a... And then I scan the back to see if I can see... Can I see any words on any labels on any bottles behind the bar? Are you, like, on a chair? Or...
Sure, yeah. But I'm like, it's like, you know when you go into a bar and the bottles are way in the back, you can't always really get a clear view of them? I mean, there are a bunch of dusty bottles. It's kind of hard to tell. There's like, yeah, some like elven wine that is like probably made by humans and called elven wine, you know, like...
It's really like... I guess what I'm getting at is I don't think Turbine knows anything about alcohol. He's just looking for something he can order, and I want to see if he's able to actually pick something out. Before you order, Todd's going to cut you off and be like, guys, just make yourself a... I'm your co-worker. I'm not going to make you... I'm serving the guests. That sounds about right. Sorry, Todd. Figure it out, okay? Apologies. So I'll pop back and just pour us two...
two little brandies or something. A little brandy. I pick up a little brandy with two hands. Like a thimble, a thimble and... Jesse Dugan Sr. is like out there and he's like drinking some wine. I cheers him. He's like, all right, I love it. You guys clocked out? You know it, buddy. Hey, you know, I'm a, I'm, you know, like, I like to have a drink or two with, um,
peep my staff at our restaurant this is a senior he's basically saying the same thing as his son did um yeah you know i'm a cool boss as they say but um you know it's it's like uh i think it just means you're sort of down to earth if you can have drink with the help right hell yeah buddy and i love being called that
I love being called the help. Awesome. Call you help. Awesome. You remind me of my friend Astrid. Yeah. And I like that. Were you alarmed by the things that we're doing today? Make a, I mean, do you want to make any kind of checks to do this? Like, is there a skill that you could? Yes, I will. I don't know where Cream is, but if they're, you know, around or underfoot, can they give him the help action?
So your question is, I don't know where my dog is, but could they possibly help? Grib. Yeah. I mean, make a luck check to see if Cream is nearby. Okay, 16. Yeah, I guess Cream walks up.
Kareem, a notable student of human nuance, will help me with... I guess maybe like an insight or perception check just to sort of see...
Because I'm still sort of curious about what they were here for. And since these folks are very rich, that seems like a good guess for maybe if they're looking for a hostage or kidnapping or something like that. I'll just do basic charisma. I'm just trying to be chatty. So I think it would be like a persuasion probably. And real quick, can you make an animal handling check? Yeah, sure. Are you serious? Oh, yes. Great. Yeah. Well, I rolled a 17 for my charisma check and I rolled a 14 for my animal handling.
So cool, you pick up cream, you're holding it, and then you roll that 17. Now you can roll it with advantage. Just roll another. Yeah, 17. Okay, so holding the dog is pretty disarming. It's a cute dachshund.
And I'm sorry, Turbine, did you roll something? I rolled just a perception. Grib is talking, but I'm just sort of watching Mr. Duggan to sort of see if I can catch anything on his face. Yeah, I mean, I guess it would be an insight if you could. Insight, sure. I can do an insight instead. I mean, I guess it's all the same, really. Okay. It's all the same. So yeah, we can just call it. It's the same modifier and everything. So we can call that insight instead.
But I got a 16 there. Okay. So on your insight check, you would notice that like, yeah, he's pretty drunk. And it's probably because he was pretty nervous. He is like trying to do this like good old boy thing. But like, it's like thinly veiled. Like he was like kind of shocked. You would also know with that, like he seems to be looking at his family and they don't seem to really be noticing what's going on.
Whatever's going on is more about him. What do you mean, what's going on? Our conversation or what's going on on the boat? Like, they don't seem nervous. Like, they're on a trip, and he is on a trip for a reason, is kind of what it feels like. Grib, with that 17 persuasion, it seems like he's nervous and he wants to talk about it, but he also kind of doesn't know what the...
He wants to tell somebody a bad secret, is kind of what it feels like. And so he looks at you and he motions over to the side and he just wants to sidebar with Grib alone, I think. I just kind of take him by my arm and it just sort of lugs around his shoulder and it's so big it just makes him look small.
The arm is just so curved that you almost lose the frame of his entire back. Wow, you're a huge fella, aren't you? Man, I feel really safe in your arms. Well, when you're on this ship, I will protect you at all costs. So, um...
I feel like since you're staff, if I tell you something you can't tell anyone, is that okay? That ship rules. Captain's rules. I saw you absolutely scorch one of those pirates that came after us. It was something else, so I'm telling you just because I don't really... I think it might be helpful for you to know this, but...
I've really, as you might say, fucked up. I'm really fucked up bad. He's like sweating a little bit. Tell Greyboy. So like, if anybody asks you, I'll deny it completely. But... Good, good. Yes, yes. So like, I'll be like, you're a fucking liar. I'll say that. I'll say those exact words if anyone... Yeah, I'm a dirty rat fuck. A liar is... I'll say you're a nasty liar. And I'll say your character is out of line. But...
So anyways, so like the families in Aurora Avenue, like they're pretty, those are, you know, kind of the older families in our neighborhood and,
There's a lot of decorum and a lot of weird old alliances. And I've been working... Kind of the two bigger families are the Vokes family and the Delsham family. I've been working under the Delsham family for a really long time. They've been really good to me. They helped me start the Lord Dugan's restaurant and bar. Restaurant and bar. Because we have both. And on the side, we've been dealing with the Vokes sometimes...
I hit a point where I got myself in a little bit of trouble because I'm a, as you could say, a bit of a gambling addict. Ah, yes, there's the important part that sort of puts this all together. I guess, you know, I earned a bit of a reputation as people would call me the never-fold gambler because I was so tough, and tough on hands, you know? Tough on hands.
They called you the never-fold gambler because you were so tough, not because you would refuse to fold your hands, even if you had a bad hand. I don't fold because I'm tough. I just want to be clear, it's because you're tough and not because you just wouldn't fold, even if you had a hand that would probably behoove you to fold. Yeah. Well, it turns out there's some logic to that. Because I really...
I was gambling against the Vokes family and some other nefarious characters, and I lost bad. There are some tactical advantages to folding, it seems. And I was going to lose my restaurant, Lord Dugan's, and Roland Vokes ended up saying that I could keep it instead of him taking it from me. He let me have it. But it would cost.
Yeah, a bit of a cost. He said I had to do him a bit of a favor, which didn't feel like that big of a deal. I mean, at the time, it felt like a great idea. And then, well, the Delsham family asked me to...
take a trip out to the far side of the Sapphire Lakes to have sort of a diplomatic meeting with the family that lives in the Kiptide Mountains next to the forest out there. It's an older alliance between the Delships and the Cutlers. The Cutler family is a really powerful family that lives on the far side.
Um, and, uh, I think the Delshan family has drawn a lot of power from that, that one major family that's on that side of the waters. And, uh,
So anyways, so I'm on a, you know, a scheduled diplomatic trip and, you know, Roland folks came up and asked me to take something across the waters for them. Take a couple things. What kind of things? I don't know. I just tried to know as little as I possibly could about that and just kind of ignore it. And so I think when we were leaving...
I think the Delsham family caught wind of that and hired the Saltbreakers to come after us. So you don't know what you're bringing to these families? It's just the one family, the Cutlers, but I know that there's gifts from the Delsham family in there and some other stuff, and I just left it at that. So it's some of the cargo on the ship then? Yeah, maybe. Maybe.
I don't know. He nervously takes another big sip of his red wine. His teeth are completely red at this point. Let's get absolutely hammered, friend. Let's get absolutely jacked up tonight. I bet you can't finish that wine in 30 seconds.
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Sorry, what? You're... Are you timing me or what? I'm timing you! And time. 35 seconds. Shit. Alright, you owe me a dollar. I gave my last dollar to that lady. Wait, so what were you going to say? Now, just... Maybe it's the bit of the booze that's made this a little hazy to understand, but you're originally in the pockets of the Dilsham. Is that correct? Yeah, that's correct.
And the Volks, because of your debt, have made you sort of pull back on that rubber band. It's making you smack your own family a bit. Yeah, I am absolutely fucked. Like, I had to work with my enemy. It's almost like you don't have a clear alliance at all. Well, not anymore. Jesus. I was trying to play like a...
An analogy I will use, not as him, is like, he was just like a dumb mafia guy who over-dealt his, you know, over-played his hand, literally and figuratively. And now he kind of doesn't have any, he has no clear route out of this at all. So yeah, you know, but I always figure it out, you know? I always figure it out. And then he takes another sip of wine, like, clearly not going to figure it out.
Cool. Well, I should probably hit the hay. Do you think anybody else would be coming for this cargo? I don't think anybody else will come for the cargo. I think that they were just trying to stop us from leaving. And where is the cargo? I don't think you guys should go through that stuff. I didn't say I was going to go through it. I just want to know where it is so it can be protected. When we were loading up, I kind of said that I was like,
keeping track of the cargo do i still remember where i mean the cargo is in the cargo bay like great i think you guys would would see where it went i don't think you would know what was what but you can okay see i guess what i'm trying to clarify is like is does he know it's a specified box or it's just like jumbled jammed in between all of the other stuff he does not know specifically what it is in he's like not the kind of guy to have actually moved anything by himself he probably couldn't even find his own stuff in there
So it doesn't have a big tag that says, like, do get on it. So his favor was very much like a, I'm going to look this way, and you're going to do whatever you're going to do. So cool. Great. Yeah. Cool. I cheers him, and I wish you luck, friend. And as long as you're on the ship, you'll be okay by me. Awesome. And I'll call you a liar, so watch out. Yes, I'm a dirty pig fuck liar.
He's confident in this plan. Yeah, so what are y'all... I mean, are y'all going to... I feel like... Yeah, can I slink on down to the cargo hold? Cool. Who else go into the cargo hold, by the way? I mean, if you guys pass me and tell me the plan, I'll join, but I'm probably doing yoga. Cream! Cream, tell Nance that we're going to the cargo bay. That's great, yeah. Cream, tell Nancy, meet us in the cargo bay.
I could do an animal handling check to scream at Cream to go get Nance. Yeah, do it. My animal handling isn't great. That's at 11. Okay, Cream walks to the other side of the room. Cream! Cream! I guess I'll try and do a quick little animal handling check for the fun of it. Oh, absolutely. She stays on the other side of the room.
One of the other crew members, Xander, comes up and he's like, do you want me to go get Nance? I mean, yeah, sure. Awesome. Yeah, I'll do that. This guy, Xander, who you guys barely talked to, goes and gets Nance. So your buds want you. I don't know why. Oh, great. They asked your dog to do it, but...
It didn't seem like a good idea. I don't know. Yeah, she only takes her commands in French. Where is she? Not sure. Probably in that room. I'll go find her. Okay, thanks so much. Yeah, if you could go do that. Let her know I'm looking for her. Okay, I go meet up with them.
So you guys find the cargo hold. It's like the lower section of the ship. It's pretty dark in there. There's just a ton of store goods in there that are just generally the ship supplies. Make a perception check, if you would. Well, before we do our perception check, I'm just going to cast Produce Flame to create a 10-foot radius dim light.
Cool. You do that. I have a little flame flickers around. Ooh, I got a nat 20 on that perception check. Awesome. Holy shit. A nat 20? Okay. So you go into the ship. You can immediately tell what stuff was just the ship's stuff. And then you see the area where like the Dugan stuff came in. You know that they're like really rich people. They have like people do this for them. There's like a lot of personal effects involved.
Here, like, too much stuff for, like, one trip just because they're rich people. It's just how rich people travel. They have, like, a ton of clothes, like, some perfumes. Like, it's just, like, you know, fantasy rich people stuff. There's, like, a water purifier in here. Why are there so many herbs? I mean, it's useful, but it's weird. But...
To the side, I think you would find on a Nat 20, there's a little bit of an area that's off to the side that there are some nicer-looking things that seem like gifts. And among them...
in an area that feels like off a little bit to the side of that, they are all packed in a certain type of crate. And these crates look a little bit different. Like they're of like a different wood. And so it's like not from their personal effects. You see like a big case of wine.
And then you find another crate that has next to what was from the Dugans from the Del Shamps. There are some items that look really well made. You find a package that has this ornate chain shirt in it. There's what seems like
uh there's some stuff that seems like it came from the dugans that are this type of item uh like sort of a nicer gift uh and then there are some things that are like the kind of similar quality looking gifts that are in a different package
can I, can I open the stuff from in a different package? Yeah. The ones that, that seem like they're not from the Dugan family. Yeah. Um, you open, you can open the lid, uh, if you'd like and yeah, I'll, I'll open the lid. Cool. You open the lid. It's like kind of packed with hay, but there's a, um, a few guys. Hey, there's a few little boxes. Um,
There's a sword in there. You find a, like, it's like a scimitar with a sort of a black sheath. There's a, what looks like a little box with a ring in it. And there's this, like, ornate-looking, like, silver shield. And then, if you want to, the other box had that, the one from the Dugan family has, like, this, like, metal chain shirt and a nice-looking sword as well. Got it. Whoa.
It's all that talk about delivering items to families. Is there some sort of... Are we delivering a horse head into a bed here? Is there some significance to these items here? Can I do a history check, I guess? Yeah, I mean, odds are you won't actually know exactly the intention here, just because... I'm not steeped in the history of... Roll a check and see how you do, and we'll see.
Sure. Probably not going to do it. That's a 12. Yeah. I mean, you know that they're doing some sort of diplomatic mission, so they're probably just like kind of taking nice gifts. Okay. And that's what the, on the surface, what the Dugans are supposed to be doing. Beyond that, you can speculate on what the other stuff is. Can I do an Arcana check on the boxes? Yeah. Yeah.
16 without knowing what they are you feel like there's probably some magic to this stuff do you have any spells or anything that you'd like to use or i mean is there anything that you have that would i don't have like any currently i don't have any like identify or detect magic or anything like that that zander guy followed you guys down there and it's like holy shit look at all this stuff whoa i actually read about something recently called um
like peacocking yeah tell me more so it's like this really cool where you get you get hot people to like you because you're you're wearing weird stuff because you look different like a peacock because you know they wear weird right yeah peacocks are always putting on weird every morning yeah that's like before they go out puts on a big like furry hat you know yeah
Yeah, so like, I don't know. A vest with a bunch of pins from local ballpark. Xander, do you dare me to wear this shirt? That metal shirt? Yeah, do you dare me to wear this shirt? Fuck yeah, I dare you. I dare you too. Okay, Nance, I'm going to do it. It's going to break his small bones. I put on the shirt.
You look so cool. It's, uh... Well, like, you look like you're mean about it, though. You look cool. The idea is to be mean, I think.
Oh, okay. Like, um, fuck you. Wow. Perfect. Wow. This is gonna- Now, how could you not like me after that? Hell yeah, man. That's what I'm understanding about this. Yes! Are you telling me hot people will like me if I wear a metal shirt and tell them to go fuck themselves? Absolutely. I think I go up to Xander, I put my arm around him, and I'm like, hey...
Do you know anything about these Dugans? Because we're kind of wondering what all this is about. I mean, we're seeing some clothes maybe they brought for them, but it seems like a lot of swords. I don't know. I don't fucking know what they brought. I mean, they're rich. It's rich people doing rich people shit. I don't know. Yeah.
There's no, like, card, right? Scroll. There's not, like, a little scroll that's like, I hope this gift finds you well, and here's why I sent it. Here's exactly why I sent it. There is one like that from the Delsham family without that. I mean, like, not exactly worded that way, but essentially saying, like, talking about the bond between them and pointing at their diplomatic partnership. Hmm. Okay.
What do you guys think? Are we... I mean, it seems like it's just like, at least the data that we have now, it seems like it's just like a bit of a shady weapons deal, which, you know, there's nothing really I feel like I'm going to get in the way of at this point. So I think I'm going to just try and pack everything back.
up and be like let's be aware that this is on the ship yeah i think turbine's probably in the same boat it's like i don't really have anything to track this or or uh keep an eye on it really so like good to be aware of it but also doesn't totally seem like i shouldn't take it that's what i want to but i shouldn't uh so yeah i think like just sort of being vaguely aware of it feels feels right
I think Nance is going to just quickly run her finger lightly over the swords. Like, are they sharpened? Are these, like, actual swords for, like, fighting? Can I kind of pull it out a little bit and be like, is it sharp? Is this, like, a weapon that can be used to hurt someone? Yeah, I mean, you find that sword...
uh it seems like a really nice like black bladed uh scimitar like it's a very like piratey feeling weapon um it feels like a a powerful sword um well okay yeah yeah let's uh i guess let's pack it up
Cool. But before we go, can I cast Alarm on the cargo bay? Hell yeah. Cool. Yeah, what's the language of that? Basically, I can choose a door, window, or area within range that is no larger than a 20-foot cube.
And basically if any tiny or larger creature touches it or comes into that area, it will either make a mental or audible alarm. So I'll just choose a mental one. Basically I cast it on the crate. So basically if anyone other than us touches the crate, I'll get a little ping in my brain. It's like someone's touching the crate. Awesome. Wait, so how long does it last, did you say? That's a good-ass question there, Zach. Five minutes. Eight hours. Okay, cool. Hell yeah. Great.
Awesome. Yeah, I mean, like, you guys pack it all up. You put that alarm spell on. Is there anything else you guys want to do before you go to sleep? As I lay my head to rest, I pull out my satin envelope. The coveted satin envelope. Big reveal, big reveal. And I know that I saw it earlier and that it was safe, but now that the day has finally wound down, I want to take one last look inside and make sure that everything's safe.
And I peer in, and inside the satin envelope is a single seed. Grib sighs, relief. My seed's there. He pats it, and he packs it back up, and he lays his head to rest. Grib reseals his satin envelope that is, of course, a letter-like envelope that has a sticky point that he can lick and then close, and it is, of course, made of satin.
That's exactly what he was, of course, just flopping around as you're trying to lick it. Extremely arousing. This is Grib's memento seed, a seed that he had with him since he was born, and he assumes it's from where he's from, and he wants to plant it one day. Amazing. Cool. Great. Well, you guys all...
go to sleep. There's like a little like hammocks, uh, like a little, uh, crew quarters, um, that you're all able to bunk up in. Um, it's, uh, you know, a little awkward to sleep in these areas. Uh, and it's not super comfortable, but like you guys are completely beat. So that, that helps you fall right to sleep.
The next morning... Do I wake up hard? Should we long rest? Do I wake up hard? Yeah, you guys all get a long rest. And then do we all wake up hard? Yeah, all of us. Cream? God damn it. Yeah, I don't know. Roll for it. What do you want me to say? Six. I am not joking. Guess what I rolled. Nat 20. I guess I'll roll a charisma to see if I wake up hard or not.
Nance is fucking stimming. She is stimming. Well, I'll leave it up to everyone to describe this themselves if they want. I'm going to draw just a little boundary for myself there. I don't want to describe. All right.
how hard people are. It's fucking unbelievable. The next morning you wake up, everyone feels great. Nance, uh, will you roll a D12 for me? Ooh, yeah. Ooh, a one. Okay. Yeah, you were, you didn't sleep great. Like, you woke up and you feel worse. Um, you, you all have the benefits of a long rest, but Nance, uh, now your HP max is reduced by one. Hmm.
Yeah, roll an insight check if you want. Please, yes. 18. 18? If you're trying to remember exactly what happened, like, yeah, there's a number of things that could have been, but 18 is good enough that, like, something about picking up that sword felt odd. Oh.
As you all wake up, Yareth begins to like, he has a little bell that he rings and he's like, okay, everyone all crew to the deck. The other crew members rush up and approach the deck. I scurry up behind them because I'm a good little boy and I got to be on time.
As you come up from under the ship, you look out and you are, you on the deck are looking up at the massive locks ahead of you. As you get closer, uh, you see, you, you can really tell how much lower you guys are than the other lake. Um,
Yeah, it feels like you're in a canyon beneath it. It feels like you're approaching a big leaking wall. Edges of this canyon, there's little tiny waterfalls and streams throughout the distance of it.
But, you know, from where you are, the only way to get above it or get up to it would be the lock in front of you, which feels like, as you approach, like basically like a castle. As you get closer, Turbant, you probably notice this. Like in contrast to the obelisk, this is actually just seemingly like a really old man-made structure. It's like a huge, massive feat of engineering, but it's, again, just really old,
relatively straightforward technology. It doesn't have, like, you know, like, electronics in it by any means. Sure. As you guys get closer, Yareth comes up to the crew and starts talking to them, and he takes in the gate itself, and he's like, I haven't taken a vessel this far in some time. Mostly people like to see the locks and then turn around. I don't think many people at all even get permission to cross the locks.
Though, you know, of course our charter was paid for by the Dugan family, so we actually get to do it. But to be honest, the law keeper is kind of a jerk. I don't really like him. He has a reputation for treating his workers poorly and is just a grumpy old man. Smells weird. Strange guy. But what's nice is actually, though, on the way back, we can just take one of the tributaries down. We don't actually have to cross this again, so that's nice. What do you mean by he's weird?
He's just like a weird guy. Like, um, he feels, it feels like the guy who would like, um, how am I going to put this? Like if you had a party and by some miracle, he brought like a dish or some drinks, um,
At the end of the party, having drinking a bunch of other people's drinks, he will take his drink back, maybe try to snag a few other things, definitely take some food. Put a little sampler pack together, but did not really contribute. It was almost more of a deposit that he was going to take back. Now they're contributing to the spirit of the party. That's not normal. You'll probably ask to borrow a DVD, and then you will never see it again. He's horrified by this. Um...
So as you guys get closer, the first gate itself is fully open. The ship drifts into that area, kind of coasting now. The sails are down just because it's like you don't want to be going too fast. And as you get into the first lock, you're in a basically 100-foot-tall box.
And as you enter that area, you hear this really loud groaning noise. And at the turn of like a chain, as the gate behind you slowly closes. And then you don't hear or see anything. You guys are just stuck in this area. Was that supposed to happen? Is there something that's supposed to open in front of us?
Actually, the water level would rise at this point and we would just sort of, you know, we'd float up to the next level. So. Ah, great. Yes. Hark, Lockkeeper. We have permits from Solonport. Hark. Hark. Hark. Hark. Hark. Hark. Hark. Hark. Angel. Four and a half hours saying hark. Angel.
And if you're not familiar with locks, let me describe a little bit of how they work just because people may, maybe don't know exactly how this works. It's a smoked salmon that. So it's a salmon that's been smoked. Uh, no, canal locks are like, um, if it's going to a higher elevation, uh, this would look almost like a combination between, of steps with like gates between each step, uh,
that on each gate is like a water elevator and so you are at the bottom of that right now trying to get to the top of this you see uh from where you are you can't really see the other sections but where would the lock keeper normally be because presumably the lock keeper would be like handling the mechanisms or something yeah he's not responding to us saying hark i don't know what else we can do is that make perception checks if you would not one on my roll i get a 14.
I rolled an 11. Yeah, so you're just in this essentially castle-like box and this lower water level. The water is sloshing around. So pretty much all you can hear, it's kind of an echoey water sloshing noise. There's algae all over the walls. There's a couple crisscrossing metal walkways that are graded so water doesn't fill up the walkways. So...
As the water is sloshing around you, Turbine, you got a 14, is that what you said? Yes. You hear the constant backdrop of these waves sloshing around this little compartment.
But behind you on the gate that closed where you guys just came from, you kind of hear this weird sloshing accompanied by these like creaking steps. It's like a loud dripping noise that sounds like water, but different from what you're hearing constantly. It almost sounds like a sloshing bucket filled with water that has like a bunch of holes in it. You hear that pinging sound.
off of like the metal structures up there above you. Guys, I hear a sloshing that sounds like a bucket with a bunch of holes in it. Yareth looks at his back. Very astute. You see a form at the top of that gate. It looks like an older man, but...
Something is off about his... He's like a little weird. He has stringy, greasy, long hair. And he's like balding, but it's all wet. And it's like pressed against his face. But it isn't just that his body is wet. It is bloated. He looks like a drowned corpse. He has...
this bloat to him that is clearly from that, but he is standing and walking and looking at you. And through his wet, matted hair, you can see his eyes, and they're these cold, glowing blue eyes. And you see a swirl of frosty air around him as he looks at you down below. And he says, "Who seeks to pass through my gate?"
Hark! I am Turbine Spizzle Zink, and we are trying to... I heard he was weird, guys. I heard he was weird. We're just trying to get up through these locks. We do have permission. Yareth looks at him, and he looks horrified. He mutters to himself, he's like, he's like a weird guy, but like... Oh, this is too weird? This is something else. I think this is something else.
Yareth tries to yell out to him. He's like, I have permission. We have permits for this. He holds up the permits that they have to pass through this area, and the lockkeeper looks at it and says, I have received new orders. None shall enter.
None shall leave. And after that, he raises his sword in the air, and then he swings it down. Who is on the deck right now? I think I am. I mean, I definitely rushed up there, so I'm a good little boy. I will say that I'm on the deck. Cool. I'll play ball. So everybody make a DC 13 dexterity saving throw. Oh, boy.
Not 20. Whoa. And it's an 11. So that's a 10. So that's not going to do it. Okay. Nance, you're not feeling great. You had a perception check where you were just noticing how much your stomach felt weird. Your health is not where it was. You're kind of questioning if you should have picked up that sword or not. But as you see this creature that was seemingly dead,
has changed in some way. Something kicks in. He raises his sword and he lowers it. You see other bloated corpses from his side of the wall pop up and they raise these little crossbows that are all dripping with water. They're covered in barnacles and they all shoot out a volley of arrows at you guys. Nance...
On a nat 20, I'll say you don't take any damage at all. You're able to duck behind, I guess, Scrib. Yes.
both grip turbine. I like to imagine Nance is just flexible enough that she just like, like a, like a wacky wavy, like tube band. It's just all like, yeah, like bend between a volley of arrows. All right, Zach, how much damage are you going to do to us? So all of the other crew members actually passed. Um,
I'm a little hungover, okay? Pretty much every respect, but they did pass this. But everyone here who failed takes 15 points of damage. Yikes. Yes. Wow. It is bad. That's a lot. What are you at, Turbine? 22 out of 37.
Mop is like, ah, Jesus Christ. And everyone is suddenly aware of the existence of Jesus Christ. Mop took the arrows fully and so did Yareth. And the rest of the crew members were able to take half. Nancy, you're not taking any. You guys are in a really bad spot. Roll a perception check and then roll initiative.
Oh, damn. That's a six on my perception. That's a six on my perception. I got a seven with a critical one. Just a real... You know what? I might go ahead and I might use a luck point and just re-roll that perception thing. Jacob, for our purposes, if you get a one, you get a one.
Great. So that doesn't get the dirty plus? It's not boosted. It's a critical fail, I think. Perfect. I like that. All right. I'm going to go ahead. I'm going to use a look point. I like that. I love that for me, how that is. And that's great. That's just a 10. That's not much better. Okay. God damn it. Fuck. So yeah, your perception checks are pretty bad. Thank you, Zach. Thank you. We know. We rolled.
I was just hit with a bunch of arrows, so, you know, forgive me for not noticing what's going on with my surroundings, Zach. Oh, oh. Everyone tell me their initiative, too. Oh, let me roll that. 18. 14. Oh, my God.
Cool. Okay. Yareth is at the top of the order. He's looking around, panicked. He's like, they are the drowned ones. We must get out of here. And he looks around and he notices, of course, the obvious, the water level isn't rising. He's like, we need to find the valves and open the valves so that the water floods this chamber. Okay.
Thank you for listening to arc two of the rotating heroes podcast. I hope that you've enjoyed it. If you have, and you want more rotating heroes in your life, you can listen to the rotating heroes podcast over our Patreon. We'll get access to episodes months early. That's patreon.com forward slash rotating heroes. You'll also be able to hear the exclusive arc box, which is where this crew talks about what has happened in the last episode.
In this arc, we have Jacob Wysocki playing Grib, Mike Trapp playing Turbine Spizzle Zinc, and Ali Beardsley playing Nancy Ray Gann. Your DM was Zakoyama, and this episode was produced and edited by Zakoyama and Jasper William Cartwright. That's me. Bye!