S2 E15: A Fire Roars

Tatiana Gefter:

Hello, everyone, my name is Tatiana Gefter. I use she/they pronouns and I am playing Alma of the Vale with The Gravedigger playbook.

 

Michi Zaya:

Hi, my name is Michi Zaya. I use any pronouns and I am playing Fletcher, The Witch.

 

Jenine Florence Jacinto:

My name is Jenine Florence Jacinto. I use they/them pronouns and I play Hoku Bayani.

 

Octa Delgado:

Hello, my name is Octa. I go by they/them pronouns. And I will play Neu Threestrings from The Weaver playbook.

 

Harper Sage Pettit:

Hi, my name is Harper Sage Pettit. I use they or she pronouns and I will be your guide for this season of queeRPG, Of Kith and Pen.

 

Kenzie Tartaglione:

The content warning for this episode includes complex and complicated relationships and a wildfire.

Michi (Fletcher):

Dear Mom, I’m on the way to Towerfell right now. Have you ever been there? I know you've done some traveling, but we've been to a lot of places now and they keep getting weirder and weirder. Middledwell wasn't a good time at all. So basically, we had to run away because, do you remember my professor? Professor Peppers? The one who like helped start the letter writing club and everything? I don’t think they're very good person. They started this like weird society and everything there was this big weird group that wanted to spread machines everywhere and they basically use magic to put a spell over everyone and they were gonna overthrow the town. But Alma was really, really cool and spilled water all over the document. Alma’s actually really good with this water potion thing. I don’t really know how it works because I've never seen that. It seems like a simple potion, but Alma spilt water all over their documents and bought everybody some more time and so I think they're gonna be okay. But meanwhile we are trying to save Neu’s friend Foster. You might have seen Foster when they're on The Lastingsbut Foster was with the group that had the machines. And I made a really good potion! I'm actually really proud of myself, I made a really good potion. But then I guess it doesn't work because from what I understand Foster was really mean and the potion didn't seem to work I think Fosters just mean now. And while they were on their way to saving Foster, a bunch of sirens went off and it was really loud and there are guards everywhere so we had to run away. Alma said a bad word and all of this is to say that we had to leave Middledwell in the middle of the night. But Loren, I know you know Loren, it's really complicated right now, there's also someone named Kalix. I would really like to explain it another time but it’s really confusing right now, and I have to get tea with Kalix and we held hands a few times- don't worry about it. But Loren helped us? But also, like was kind of not helping us? He was tied up, but showed us how to undo a bunch of traps. And so now we have a bunch of documents that might help us figure out what's going with all the strange things that have been happening in every place. But we're on our way to Towerfell; we're all safe but I really do miss you and mom. But please be okay, I- I don't know how magic is doing on The Lastings but it's getting really weird everywhere we go. Love you, Fletcher.

 

Harper (Guide):

So, we pick up with you all on the Flying Dutch Kith. You both were successful in your side missions to gather the stuff that the preservation has stolen, and to also convince the council to hold out on signing the contract for the machines. What’s the plan? 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Do we wanna do like a flyover with a bucket of water? 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

I was thinking about that. 

 

Octa (Neu):

That’s a good idea. 

 

Tatiana:

 

It’s rain, guys! It’s just rain!

 

Octa (Neu):

But I mean we know that the problem is Horus, and even if we dispel them, Horus will just magic them back. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

But what if we put Horus in a vat of water?

 

Octa (Neu):

I think that’s a good idea. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Drowning him? 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

A slight push and maybe if we do put him in a thing of water and he comes back up all of his magic just disappears. Is that not how the magic water works? 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

I mean that's how it's worked in the past. I haven't really tried it on the source of the magic yet. 

 

Octa (Neu):

I also would like to know what is it that Horus is getting from this. It seems he's being mean, he's destroying the whole way of life of the people in here. What does he need? Why is he doing this? 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Sometimes people are just mean. 

 

Octa (Neu):

I don’t like to think that’s the case. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Do you think the machines have magic? 

 

Octa (Neu):

That’s a good question.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

I don’t think so? They run on that like, electrickity stuff, right? 

 

Octa (Neu):

But that's like a small god. Do all of them run on the small gods? 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Maybe we could talk to Electrikity, I don’t know if they hear us from this far. Hoku do you think you could sing a song to Electrikity? 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Okay? I mean, we could- yeah, we could try and do that. What is it like, OK, so we've got Electrikitty in like in a place of machines, so if we go. Do you think the machines that we kind of did that weird thing when it fell is that one still operating? Maybe we could see if there is some. 

 

Octa (Neu):

Maybe Electrikity is there as well. You know, when we see the light the  light shimmering somewhere, that's not- sometimes that's the same small god shining on the place. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Let’s go find a small forgotten god!

 

Octa (Neu):

That’s a good idea!

 

Tatiana (Alma):

 

Are we leaving that one here? 

 

Tatiana:

Alma gestures to Loren, still tied up. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Are we bringing this one with us, or like what's the plan here? 

 

Octa (Neu):

Maybe we could make sure that he definitely isn’t under anyone’s magic. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Water potion!

 

Harper (Guide):

I will also remind you that you do have a safe of stolen materials from a group that is very much against you. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

We should run. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Yeah we're kind of fugitives right now, so what we can do is a little limited. But we have buckets of water so we can definitely do that. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

I do like the water potion. Loren, are there any documents about the machines in the safe? 

 

Harper (Loren):

Unfortunately I don't think so. We never really studied much about them, they're kind of a non-issue for us.

 

Michi (Fletcher):

That’s really unhelpful. OK so I guess we'll dump buckets of water on everyone.

 

Octa (Neu):

 

And Loren, why did Loretta ally with Horus?

 

Harper (Loren):

The reason why Horus was partnering with Loretta,

 

Harper (Guide):

Loren kind of shakes his head and says, 

 

Harper (Loren):

Honestly I don't know. I saw something switch in her recently, almost like we could change the world through this? I don't know, it just… She thought that this was the way to go, especially with how things are moving. We can't rely on gods anymore is kind of what she thinks.

 

Octa (Neu):

Gods keep The Lastings afloat, and the gods are what keeps our magic going. How is she thinking that?

 

Harper (Loren):

Well I mean, they've been disappearing. 

 

Octa (Neu):

And that's why we got to protect them.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Disappearing is a word to use. Getting stolen is probably a little bit more accurate.

 

Harper (Loren):

I mean, the way I see it is things can be seen from different perspectives.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Okay sure let's say things can be looked at from a different perspective. It just so happens that the professor, because I don't feel like calling her by her first name anymore, the professor's perspective is going to end up getting The Lastings falling from the sky. A lot of people are going to get hurt and die. So, it sounds to me like there might be a right perspective and a wrong perspective in this particular instance. So, Loren, who is still tied up, who's side are you on here? Because you you've said that you just aren't with them anymore, are you on our side or are you kind of like on this “yeah the gods are useless whatever” side? 

 

Harper (Loren):

I mean they have let us down, but if they do come back, I think that would be ultimately better for everyone. 

 

Octa (Neu):

I don't think they're gonna just come back. If we want them to come back, someone needs to do something and I'm scared of who that group of people is gonna have to be.

 

Harper (Loren):

 

Isn’t it us? 

 

Octa:

Neu just goes silent.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Ugh yeah it is us. Regardless, I'm gonna get the ship in the air. You guys can decide if Loren is going to be on the ship once it's up, and I'll get some water buckets ready.

 

Harper (Guide):

Loren raises his hands, like they’re tied and he raises them. 

 

Harper (Loren):

Are you going to decide if I’m going to be on the boat before we’re up in the air? Prefer to not be tossed out. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Yeah yeah before is the plan. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

I mean, we can uncuff you and toss you out. You can fly, right? 

 

Harper (Loren):

Yeah that could work but, I don’t- I just feel like it would be easier to go ahead and handle the decision making while we're on the ground.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Yep.

 

Harper (Loren):

I did help you get the safe. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

If we try to open the safe is there gonna be a trap in there that's gonna go boom and then we're gonna be covered in paint?

 

Harper (Loren):

No. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Oh um you have to tell us the code.

 

Harper (Guide):

Not a big deal, he gives you the code. You now have the code.

 

Octa (Neu):

So what do you think, Fletcher? Do you actually want him around? 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

He did help us get this, and there are a lot of traps in their hideout and Loren made sure that we didn't get caught by any of the traps. So I do think it's far as what happened here goes, Loren has been helpful, but I don’t really know. I know Loren’s a really smart and good witch, but I am also just very confused by everything that Loren’s done. So I could go either way.

 

Octa (Neu):

I only want him around if that's what you want. 

 

Harper (Loren):

I can see that this is gonna be probably more of a hassle than you all are willing to deal with right now. If you untie me, I’ll go. I'll return to The Lastings and hopefully check in soon. What's it gonna be? Am I out or am I in? 

 

Harper (Guide):

What does Fletcher do in this moment? Loren’s got his arms out. 

 

Harper (Loren):

What’s it gonna be? 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

You’re gonna have to get all of our trust again but, right now I think it's helpful to have someone who spent time with the Preservation to be with us. But we're all keeping a really close eye on you and you really cannot mess up again, or else we cannot be on the ship together. Do you understand? 

 

Harper (Loren):

Yes, I understand. 

 

Michi:

Fletcher goes and unties Loren.

 

Harper (Guide:

And you kind of go and he like awkwardly stands there for a moment, unsure what actually he’s gonna do, and just hold his hand out for a handshake. 

 

Michi:

Fletcher shakes his hand. 

 

Harper (Loren):

Thank you. I hope I can prove myself worthy of this risk you're taking. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

I hope so too. I really don't know if you deserve a second chance, but if it were me, I would want a second chance too.

 

Harper (Loren):

I understand the gravity of this, so thank you. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Does anyone have a problem with Loren staying with us? Cause now is the time to raise any of those issues. 

 

Octa (Neu):

I don't really have so much for problem, but Alma, do we have enough beds?

 

Harper (Guide):

You said there were four bedrooms.

 

Tatiana:

Four bedrooms and the captain’s quarters. So, I’m in the captain’s quarters, Fletcher and Hoku were sharing, Chandler had one, and then-

 

Octa:

 

Chandler is with Kalix.

 

Harper (Guide):

Yeah, Chandler and Kalix are roomies now.

 

Tatiana:

Chandler and Kalix are sharing. So, Neu, so there’s Neu’s bedroom and technically there's another bedroom as well that's not been utilized. OK so the current bed situation is Hoku and Fletcher in one room, Neu in one room, Chandler in one room, and then Kalix and Loren in the final bedroom. So, we do have enough beds, to answer your question, Neu. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Just kind of a question of shuffling around, but we do have enough for everyone. So, Loren’s staying then?

 

Michi (Fletcher):

I think we need someone to translate all these documents.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Cool, then I will get us in the air. Let’s get out of here quickly, I think.

 

Tatiana:

Alma kind of you looks overboard over the deck to see if anyone's coming.

 

Harper (Guide):

Give me a heart roll.

 

Tatiana:

Seven. 

 

Harper (Guide):

So, you don't see any kith on their way like by foot to the ship, and you also don't see a ship in the air heading in this direction. However, you know that the ship that the Preservation is using is more of a swift ship, so if they are coming you might not be able to see them. 

 

Tatiana:

Yeah, we gotta go, yeah let's go, let's leave right now. 

 

Michi:

Can Fletcher get a token for inconveniencing himself to let his ex stay on the ship with us?

 

Harper (Guide):

I think so. 

 

Tatiana:

I think yes. 

 

Jenine:

Oh 100%, this is the gay dilemma. The gay dilemma right here. 

 

Harper (Guide):

So you get the ship up in the air. It sputters and struggles to rise but eventually you get up to a safe distance to where you can start traveling east and heading to the area of Towerfell. I guess what is the plan, Alma, for the ship? I know it's not doing so well, are you going to try to fix it while flying? Are you gonna put down somewhere after you get to a safer area? Like what’s,

 

Tatiana:

I’m gonna take us as far as we can go. To try and repair it in the air it's a little bit of a risk because something could potentially go wrong and make things worse. So I'm going to take us as far as we can go and then touch down and begin repairs. Touchdown hopefully somewhere either at Towerfell, or if we can't get that far, somewhere hidden enough that if we are being tailed they'll just fly over us. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Does anyone help Alma with this task or, Alma, do you ask for any help with this task?

 

Jenine:

Hoku doesn't know what he's doing, but he'd help.

 

Tatiana:

Maybe I would just put Hoku on lookout to make sure we’re not getting tailed.

 

Michi:

Fletcher will be making soup for everyone. 

 

Harper (Guide):

What type of soup is Fletcher making?

 

Michi:

Like a hearty stew.

 

Harper (Guide):

And I guess what's his method for being in the kitchen? I know there's cooks that like strictly follow the recipe that measure everything out, they have like everything in order, um and also like just like cooks that like throw ingredients and are messy etcetera, etcetera. What's Fletchers style?

 

Michi:

Kind of like chemistry lab, throwing ingredients in the pot, but also like being careful with specific things, and overall since Fletcher is a little tiny it's a lot of like climbing, and like since he's cooking for the entire ship it's a lot bigger of a setup than he's used to. And so it's kind of like Remy from ratatouille in some of the ways.

 

Harper (Guide):

Fletcher uh I think for this one give me an instinct roll.

 

Michi:

That that is ten. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Nice! What are like the major ingredients and major flavors Fletcher puts into this stew?

 

Michi:

Sweet potato acorn stew, with plenty of herbs, made with what’s leftover of the storm water just to give it a nice little kick for everyone. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Hoku, how do you do lookout stuff? And how do you not get distracted by the stars?

 

Jenine:

See that’s the problem; there’s stars! I think this is the first time Hoku is like able to like, sit and enjoy outside and see stars in this crazy amount of like jumping from place to place and sleeping at night because they're just super exhausted through the day. But I think after like, he thinks back at the times when they were on The Lastings with their friends, and they’d have the late night study sessions. And everyone was very intent of like finishing their stuff, but sometimes they like daydream and look out. And Hoku is trying to remember like what that stance looked like, and would look out and every so often he would drift up and then remember those nights of studying late together and go “Okay, no, this is this is a focusing moment, and we're not here for stars. We're here on the lookout to protect my friends” so that's what he's doing.

 

Harper (Guide):

So as y’all start to leave Middledwell and fly east, one of the last things you see as part of Middledwell on the very edge of the city, maybe even a good a couple miles out, there's a ruined area, all these old buildings kind of collapsed and amongst them is an arch. It’s like a giant arch kind of deteriorating but it's like as tall as like skyscrapers. You carry on with Hoku providing lookout support. I would say you don't you don't see anything. You're looking out to see if the there's a ship chasing after you, and you end up not seeing anyone, and off in the distance probably a couple hours away at least, you do see like black smoke billowing up. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Oooh, ahhh, hmm

 

Jenine:

And then Hoku runs over to Alma. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

So Alma, I don't know if you- Captain, first, I did not see anyone follow us. Which, yay! Two: there's smoke towards I believe the direction that we're going.

 

Harper (Guide):

Alma go ahead and give me a heart roll. 

 

Tatiana:

That’s an eight. 

 

Harper (Guide):

With Hoku pointing it out, you definitely see the smoke off in the distance now. However, to like go to the smoke you'll have to adjust your trajectory and it will take you out of the way of Towerfell a little bit. So you'll have to go out of your way to go to the smoke, or continue on to Towerfell.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

If those guys think that we're going to Towerfell, maybe it's a good idea for us to take a little bit of a detour. And who knows, maybe people could need help. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

And could help us with the ship.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Thank you for your looking out, Hoku. Fantastic work, excellent job. We're going to go towards the smoke to see what's up. If you want to let everybody know that we're taking a little bit of the detour, great, otherwise I'm going to keep-

 

Jenine:

Hoku immediately runs down the hall. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

We’re changing trajectory! We're changing trajectory!

 

Jenine:

And then goes right back up to lookout.

 

Tatiana:

Alma adjusts the trajectory of the ship. 

 

Harper (Guide):

So, it is pushing like midnight now, and I guess before we could have like figure out the plan for everyone's like night routine, Neu, what are you up to?

 

Octa:

Neu tried to like, consider what useful things they could do, then realized they're way too flustered still and decided to start working on a new piece to distract themselves from everything that's happened. To kind of like have a bit of an outlet, but still feel like they’re contributing something. So what they're going to do is they're going to start organizing every single one of the of their threads and colors. From the pinkest pink til blue, so covering all shades of purple, and then they're gonna they're gonna try and start a new row in the main room of the boat that tells the story of each of the thoughtsmores we have visited, we have we have seen. And try to imbue that with magic so that kith like Alma can see or experience those thoughtsmores partly through the tapestry. And it may be a bit of a project, but they really want to start on that.

 

Harper (Guide):

Go ahead and give me a wild roll.

 

Octa:

That’s an eight.

 

Harper (Guide):

It's slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Neu, describe what this magical imbuing of your weaving looks like. As you probably start shortly after you you take off, and then you're kind of interrupted with like Hoku running down the hall saying that you're changing trajectory, and you now realize that it's very late.

 

Octa:

So the process itself involves taking, they're gonna be using a really big needle for this embroidering, almost like the size of their of their forearm, and it's going to be kind of like very grainy. The texture and the style is going to be almost like vectorized geometric shapes to tell that story, with a bit of a sci-fi vibe to that tapestry. And the idea is that they will take the bigger needle, pierce through the big orb where we have captured the thoughts-more, put it through, let it infuse, take it through the other side, and weave with that thoughts-more infused thread.

 

Harper (Guide):

Hoku like hops back up on their like lookout perch, and yeah. I guess what's the plan for tonight? Like are y’all gonna organize like shifts? What’s- how y’all gonna get sleep? 

 

Michi:

Fletcher can stay up the latest because he's a nocturnal baby.

 

Tatiana:

Alma’s also good. Ocelots are mostly nocturnal. 

 

Octa:

I think the three of us are nocturnal. I think some of us are better at adapting than Fletcher.

 

Jenine:

 

Also, otters are nocturnal as well. 

 

Tatiana:

We’re all nocturnal, wow! 

 

Jenine:

Hoku is on one track mind and will stay in position until someone tells him otherwise.

 

Harper (Guide):

Let's do a heart roll to see how well you're able to stay alert and awake. 

 

Jenine:

Nine!

  Harper:

Yeah you're feeling like you're ready to drift off to sleep, but you're able to keep yourself awake. What's Hoku's method of fighting off the sleepies? 

 

Jenine:

I think he's going back to his ways of trying to figure out the Starkeeper. And will immediately try and find a constellation and try and find the Starkeeper’s pattern in that constellation to like get the little excitement in the brains, and then go back on lookout, and continues that process throughout the night.

 

Harper (Guide):

You’ve also been operating in opposite to your circadian rhythm so I'm sure it is still a bit of a struggle. 

 

Tatiana:

Alma you know, she's kind of the only one who can pilot the ship. So what she tends to do is she'll like set the course and then she just pulls up a chair and just kind of, you know, gets comfy and will like rest her eyes while they're there. And then if like the ship starts to careen in a specific direction it will wake her up and she'll change the- she’ll adjust it.

 

Michi:

Fletcher is gonna be serving everyone stew, and then probably bringing everyone tea every hour, and then eventually like probably like maybe 2-3 hours before sunrise he'll get tired and probably bring Hoku to bed so they can both go to bed. 

 

Harper (Guide):

So working together you share the shifts in whatever way you can, and eventually you do see giant fire off in the distance kind of tearing its way through a forested area. As you get closer you realize that this fire seems like it's alive. You see uh sort of like a mystical shimmering body amongst the flames, and it seems to be in distress.

 

Tatiana:

So Almas probably gonna you know pull up as close as she can without it like being crazy. I don't know I'm just gonna like kind of look over and see if if she can see kind of like a face? A head? Something to connect with? 

 

Harper (Guide):

You do see a kind of what resembles a face, but it's made of like flames. And as you make eye contact with this creature you can definitely tell it is in distress, and it does seem to acknowledge you as you make eye contact with it, but it carries on moving its way through the forest. 

 

Tatiana:

Is there anything like in particular that I could see that that's maybe causing said distress, or is it just like, in distress? 

 

Harper (Guide):

 

Everyone is still asleep, Alma, as you wake up to this trying to keep everything calm. Go ahead and give me a heart roll.

 

Tatiana:

Eleven.

 

Harper (Guide):

You do notice that this wildfire seems to have a like giant metal beam sticking out of it’s side.

 

Tatiana:

How big is this metal beam? 

 

Harper (Guide):

We’ll say it's like probably 6 foot long, and like one of those like industrial beams that you would see in a building for like construction. 

 

Tatiana:

Almas gonna like gesture at it, to the creature. She's gonna like point at it, and then she like points to herself and she's like ‘I'm gonna go, I'm gonna I'm gonna get it, stay here I’m gonna be right back’. She's gonna like pilot the ship down so it's closer to the thing. I imagine this would also make it a lot hotter being this close, so I would say that that's a pretty inconvenient thing for herself and the rest of the passengers. The ship will hold up fine, it's just a little heat.

 

Octa:

Could be a nice token or inconveniencing yourself to help someone else, if we agree. 

 

Jenine:

It is putting your ship in danger. 

 

Tatiana:

It's not gonna catch fire being close to fire, it's fine. But she's gonna position the ship so that it's alongside, just close enough that she can like reach out. She's gonna take some rope and she's going to very carefully, because I imagine this metal beam is also very hot, she's going to very carefully, to not burn herself, wrap this rope around a hole in the beam or around the beam itself to try and secure it. 

 

Harper (Guide):

As you attempt to get the ship down there, give me a swift roll to see how well you're able to file this ship. 

 

Tatiana:

That’s a seven.

 

Harper (Guide):

A seven. So, you're able to pilot it, but imperfectly. You have this idea in your head to go over there and tie the ship to the beam, but you're trying your hardest just to keep the ship steady up against all this heat which is wanting to take it up and away from the creature. So, you're unable to do both tasks: you can pretty much only pilot right now.

 

Tatiana:

There's a bell here. 

 

Harper (Guide):

There’s a horn too. 

 

Tatiana:

Well the horn, the horn is a little munch. I think the bell will suffice. Alma just starts going ham on this like bell, on this dinner bell type thing, just like 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! I need somebody up here! WAKE! UP! 

 

Octa:

I assume those of us with a less deep sleep will begin to like, really wake up between the heat and the bell and the yelling. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Yeah, and probably the sound of like a roaring fire. I imagine all three of you, along with Chandler, Kalix, and Loren, would wake up. You’ve not really been having dreams lately, but Hoku, you wake up from a dream. Give me a wild roll. 

 

Jenine:

Eight! 

 

Harper (Guide):

You don't get much from the dream. Its one of those things where you were kind of feeling like you were getting to a good place with understanding it, or about to, and that's when you hear this bell. All you see is yourself standing below a giant green human statue, and you have this immense desire to go inside. View from this very elevated place inside this this statue. Like you feel compelled that if you ever see this thing, you have to visit it. The three of you are awakened, or awoken, and you feel hot. You look out the window you see this like flames just kind of like billowing up near the ship. What do you all do? 

 

Jenine:

Hoku immediately stands up and wakes Fletcher up and goes, 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Are we on fire? We're on fire we're on fire we're on fire we're fire!! 

 

Jenine:

And just runs.

 

Michi:

Fletcher is babbling the whole time.

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Huh? What? Huh? Fire? What? 

 

Harper (Guide):

Chandler walks out of his room, over to the bathroom, and just says 

 

Harper (Chandler):

Eh, I kind of figured we'd all end up in hell sometime. 

 

Jenine:

I grab the scruff of his nape.

 

Jenine (Hoku):

We’re on fire let's go! 

 

Harper (Chandler):

I gotta pee, let me go! 

 

Octa:

Neu gets out of the room, just running. 

 

Octa (Neu):

Why is it so warm? Let's go get Alma!

 

Jenine (Hoku):

 

Why does she keep ringing the bell, we know what's happening! 

 

Harper (Guide):

The ship is kind of like careening back and forth, and you can tell that Alma is trying their hardest to keep the ship steady. As you run up the stairs onto the deck and you see next to the ship, kind of in between these trees, a giant fire spirit in anguish with this like metal beam from like sticking out of it. And Alma is just like one hand on the wheel, one hand on the bell, 

 

Jenine:

Hoku puts a paw on the bell. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Alma, are we on fire? Is that why you rung the bell? Should we go? Should we leave? Are we helping? 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

No, no, we’re- we're not on fire, we're not on fire. Um, that is a fire spirit and there's a pole sticking out of it. I can’t- I need someone to wrap some rope around the pole so that we can like, pull it out with the ship. 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Oh, easy said. I thought we were on fire. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Not yet. Let's do the thing quickly I think is probably a good idea. 

 

Octa (Neu):

I can make a knot, one of those that gets super tight when you pull. 

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Good idea! Yeah, there's there's rope over there. Good luck! 

 

Octa:

Oh Alma is so confused. 

 

Tatiana:

Who am I? It’s been a rough morning. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

I think if Loren and I go together we can fly to the pole to quickly tie around it and then come back. 

 

Octa (Neu):

Be careful.

 

Harper (Kalix):

I could throw?

 

Michi (Fletcher):

I’m kind of scared of being thrown right now in that I don't land exactly where we need to, but Loren and I used to fly together, because if Loren uses his wings I can spread out and we just sort of do a double glide. So, it'll be okay.

 

Harper (Kalix):

Okay. I trust you.

 

Harper (Guide):

And Loren hops up on the handrail and says,

 

Harper (Loren):

Are you ready? 

 

Harper (Guide):

As he like leans back with his hand outstretched to you, Fletcher.

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Neu, is the rope, string, the knot ready?

 

Octa (Neu):

Yes! Let me just finish tying it up. 

 

Octa:

Goes for the final details and just hands the rope to you.

 

Jenine:

How is Kalix doing with seeing these two about to fly off? 

 

Harper (Guide):

Give me a heart roll if you want.

 

Tatiana:

Six!

 

Harper (Guide):

You’re still just like stressed out. 

 

Octa:

I have nine.

 

Jenine:

I rolled a ten!

 

Harper (Guide):

Neu, you do feel that Kalix is stressed out, but you're not sure if it's over the situation at hand with like the fire spirit, or if it's because Fletcher and Loren are like holding hands about to jump off. Hoku, you can tell that Kalix is stressed out, but it doesn't seem like it's from Fletcher and Loren. It seems like his attention is focused on the situation.

 

Jenine:

OK. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Fletcher, you and Loren grab the rope holding hands, you jump off. Give me a swift roll.

 

Michi:

That's a six for Fletcher, should I roll for Loren as well? 

 

Harper (Guide):

Sure. We'll say he has a two.

 

Michi:

Eleven.

 

Harper (Guide):

Alright, so Fletcher you struggle. What happens? And then also like Loren recovers and saves the two of you. 

 

Michi:

So Fletcher’s sweaty sticky palms are the problem here, because Fletcher is not a flyer he's a glider, and Loren’s a flyer. We don't have quite enough momentum when we start flying, and so immediately we take flight and the whole group watches as like it looks so dangerous like; you know when you watch in nature documentaries when like Eagles drop their prey a little bit and then go after it again? That's essentially what it looks like what happens with Loren and Fletcher. Like Fletcher's hand fully slips out of Loren’s, and then Loren doesn't realize for a second, and then looks down, tumbles very dramatically like, grabs Fletcher with like full wings and arms and then Fletcher is doing a little like grabbing and scrambling. And then Loren’s a very impressive flyer, so like does like a weird like loopty-loop and then opens up gracefully and then they are in the formation that they need to be for this flight.

 

Harper (Guide):

 

You loop your way down, are you just trying to like fly around the beam? or I guess what's your method of actually getting this beam secured so you can get the ship to try to get it out? 

 

Michi:

Because Fletcher can glide our tactic is Loren will fly a little bit like above the beam, drop Fletcher, Fletcher will like throw the rope over, Loren will catch Fletcher, and then we'll do that over a couple of times to create this knot.

 

Harper (Guide):

You fly over and around the beam a few times, you get a good secure knot tied. Loren flies two of you up, and Alma, you're able to fly the ship in I guess the opposite direction. Go ahead and give me a swift roll. 

 

Tatiana:

That was a ten. 

 

Harper (Guide):

You’re able to fly the ship in the opposite direction, and you do feel a great amount of resistance as the flame spirit sort of moans this deep painful moan, but eventually you feel the beam slipping and an eventual like slide and like snap as it pulls the rest of the way out. And the spirit shoots up, grows in size, as that moan turns into more of a deep growl and eventually starts to dissipate and shrink, and find its way to a cave and disappears inside the cave.

 

Tatiana:

The beam is still attached to the ship, so now that you know the fire is gone and the heat isn't messing with the ship anymore, Alma can walk away from the controls and just kind of undo the knot that's holding the thing to the ship and it just drops so it’s not weighing down the ship.

 

Harper (Guide):

 

And I will say it's at this moment you realize that the ship is not gonna be able to get back up into the air. As you drop the beam off and try to take back off, you're hovering a good like 100 feet off the ground and it's getting- you're getting closer and closer to the ground. You're slowly descending. 

 

Tatiana:

Are we like in a forest type area? 

 

Harper (Guide):

Yes you are in a forest type area. A great deal of the trees around you have been burnt. 

 

Tatiana:

Alma’s gonna try to maneuver the ship into, not a clearing, she doesn't want to be able to be seen from overhead. So she's going to try to just kind of maneuver between the trees until she finds a spot to touchdown. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Somebody help Alma out with this. 

 

Tatiana:

Yeah Hoku’s kinda, you know how on boats and stuff you have like the guy in the crows next just pretty much telling the captain where the rocks are so that you don't hit the rocks? Yeah Hoku is doing that but with trees. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Give me a heart roll.

 

Jenine:

 

Twelve! Hoku see what's happening, was a little sleepy, scurries on up and like does like a full like run around of like the little like crow’s nest to get bearings and then goes,

 

Jenine (Hoku):

Okay, Alma, we're gonna go left paw, right paw, forward bow! Sorry if this doesn't make sense!

 

Jenine:

And will like continually do like a swoosh. Knows what gliding looks like because they watched Fletcher do a lot of gliding, so would go through that and knows about like weaving through Neu, so like kind of like knows the patterns that they're doing, so he takes in all the information that they've got from their friends. It's like okay, so this is how, so I know we need to get a little bit more trajectory this way so like will pass along the information, and using their big boy outdoor voice is trying to like communicate that down, and tries to find like a big clearing that hopefully we’re able to, if we need to like rebuild, it's enough space for us to also rebuild in that spot.

 

Tatiana:

And it helps. Alma is able to navigate the forest. 

 

Harper (Guide):

And with the ship now secure, I guess what's the plan? you know the ship needs to be repaired, you're still also dealing with the drama from Loren probably. Chandler has seemed a little quiet since getting back on the ship, and I will say that Kalix also seems a little quiet. 

 

Tatiana:

Alma is you know rolling up her sleeves, and she's gonna go down into the engine room and start working away at the engines.

 

Jenine:

Hoku wants to talk to a god. 

 

Harper (Guide):

And Hoku is trying to talk to a god. Which god and why? 

 

Jenine:

Well the spirit that just ran off. Hoku thinks it's a god, Hoku would like to talk to this being and check in with it. 

 

Harper (Guide):

What’s Fletcher and Neu doing? 

 

Michi:

Fletcher and Loren are kind of like in a post flight, post getting really close to fire like, just like sitting on the like the floor of the deck and just like very tired and Fletcher is just kind of vaguely being like, 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Uh thank you for being a good flyer. I know I'm not a flyer, so I think that was that was good. 

 

Harper (Loren):

Yeah, we do make a pretty good team, don't we? 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Yeah. 

 

Harper (Loren):

But I can't help but notice that it seems like there's a lot of space between us now, and you seem to be hitting it off pretty well with Kalix. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Yeah I mean, Kalix has been really nice, and you know when I need to glide Kalix throws me really well, which is really different from flying. Yeah, we're gonna try and get tea sometime, just the two of us and we'll see what happens. 

 

Harper (Loren):

I guess I am happy for you. I know that we've had a lot of a good moments, but I feel like things are just different between us right now. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Yeah, but I am glad you're here. 

 

Harper (Loren):

I’m really glad too. 

 

Harper (Guide):

And he leans over and hugs you. 

 

Michi:

Very hesitantly accepts the hug, but it's a nice familiar hug. 

 

Harper (Guide):

He still smells the same, even though he doesn't seem to be the same. But there's a weird sense of familiarity, but also unknown. And then you hear (clears throat) and you turn to see Kalix.

 

Harper (Kalix):

 

I don't mean to intrude, I was just coming to check in and see how you were doing, but it does seem like you're fine. Great flying out there, you did a swell job. 

 

Harper (Guide):

He kind of like pats both of you on the back. 

 

Harper (Kalix):

Do you need some tea or anything? I can bring something by. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Oh yeah I would love some tea. 

 

Harper (Loren):

Yeah that that sounds great, but I think I'm gonna go to my room, I’m tired. But I might do tea later. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

OK goodnight Loren, and thank you for the help. 

 

Harper (Loren):

Absolutely. Good night, good day, I'm just gonna go to sleep for a little bit. 

 

Harper (Guide):

He walks away and Kalix is just like standing there,

 

Harper (Kalix):

Well do you still want tea? I can still make tea. 

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Yeah, do you want to have tea with me? This doesn't have to be THE tea that we have, but we can also have tea together.

 

Harper (Kalix):

I would like that. Meet me downstairs in a few?

 

Michi (Fletcher):

Okay. 

 

Harper (Kalix):

Alright, I’ll see you there.

 

Michi (Fletcher):

I’ll see you there.

 

Harper (Guide):

Kalix was off. Neu, what are you up to? You see Hoku getting ready to pull down the ladder to go on his little journey to see the fire spirit.

 

Octa:

Neu will have, first of all, a quick look around because one of the things the weaver can always do is intuitively weave two unrelated things together. And they will try and get an understanding for what is it that has changed Chandler’s mood so swiftly in the last few hours. Cause he looked very energetic and very like up for bonking people just not long ago, and now he's seems off. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Hoku, is anyone going with you on this journey or is it just you?

 

Jenine:

I don’t know if anyone else is going, Hoku was just prepping for it and was just kind of like, 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

If anyone wants to go, I'm going. Anybody? 

 

Harper (Guide):

Loren just like shakes his head and says “too tired” as like Neu walks down the hall and heads over to Chandler’s room. It seems like everybody is pretty busy right now.

 

Jenine:

And does another like, just down the hall or all the rooms are, 

 

Jenine (Hoku):

I’m gonna check on the fire spirit if anyone wants to go.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

I’m fixing the engine, but have fun! Be safe! 

 

Octa (Neu):

If you want to go together, we could also go, right Chandler? 

 

Harper (Guide):

Chandler’s door swings open and says he says, 

 

Harper (Chandler):

Well I guess so. I wasn't really wanting to do anything, but I could always help out. Come on, let's get out of here. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Slings a pack over his shoulder. Hoku, Chandler, and Neu get off the ship and start making their way over to the cave off in the distance.

 

Octa:

Neu wants to talk to some stuff with Chandler as we’re walking and wants Hoku to hear it. Or rather, wants Chandler to hear Hoku hearing it. 

 

Harper (Guide):

Okay so is Hoku out like maybe in the lead being like,

 

Jenine:

Hoku’s leading. Hoku will lead. Following the leader, the leader, the leader!

 

Harper (Guide):

You can tell Chandler is just like dragging, and Neu what do you say to him as he's lagging behind a little bit?

 

Octa (Neu):

Hey Chandler, I really wanted to say I noticed how much you put yourself on the line while we were back in that factory. I saw how angry you got on my behalf, and I saw I saw you charging against the door. I saw Hoku stopping you several times, and you felt you felt so strongly, and I thought that was very brave, and I think you should be proud of that. I really want to thank you really wanted to thank you.

 

Harper (Guide):

 

And I feel at this moment you've stopped walking as like Chandler catches up a little bit, and think, 

 

Harper (Chandler):

We don't have to make a big deal of it but, 

 

Harper (Guide):

Ten like quickly hugs you and says, 

 

Harper (Guide):

I appreciate you noticing.

 

Octa (Neu):

 

Of course. I also want you to know, I will be here for you if you need to talk to anyone, and if you need any advice, or just if you're feeling lonely or like no one is seeing you. I'm here for you, okay?

 

Harper (Guide):

He breaks out of the hug and starts to walk. 

 

Harper (Chandler):

Well, it seems like we have a little time. I guess can we walk and talk?

 

Octa (Neu):

Yeah of course. 

 

Harper (Guide):

And he turns and starts walking maybe a little bit faster than he was before, and says,

 

Harper (Chandler):

 

I've been going through a lot lately. 

 

Harper (Guide):

And that's where we'll jump over to Alma. What do you think the state of the ship looks like? Down in the engine room especially. 

 

Tatiana:

I mean the ship at large is fine, I imagine. It really it's just like this engine that they were messing with. I don't know what exactly they did to it, but they did something to it. So it's kind of like after the strain of you know pulling the beam out and just flying without having repaired, it's probably like smoking a little bit. And you know now that it's like turned off it's like really warm to the touch, and like the gears aren't quite turning right, and it's just it's a mess, but nothing Alma hasn’t dealt with before. 

 

Harper (Guide):

It’s kind of the standard thing like, whenever you're living the like air nomadic life, like your ship is gonna take some dings and bumps every now and then. And this has definitely been bumped. Go ahead and give me an instinct roll to see how fast you're able to repair the ship.

 

Tatiana:

A four.

 

Harper (Guide):

It's gonna take you a little bit like, and maybe it's one of those things where you feel like the problem is not that big, until like after you open up a couple panels.

 

Tatiana (Alma):

Ah, damn it. 

 

Harper (Guide):

And your heart sinks a little bit as you realize it's gonna take you probably about two days to fix the ship. So y'all are gonna be stuck here in the woods for a couple days.

 

Kenzie:

Hey everyone! Thanks for listening. You can follow queeRPG on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @queeRPGpod. queeRPG is made possible by all of you who listen and share the show! If you like what you hear please rate and review. It helps other people find the pod. You can also support the show by signing up for our Patreon at patreon.com/queeRPG. If you’re interested in seeing transcripts for the episode, all of those from previous episodes and episodes to come can be found on our website queerpg.com! Until next time!