About this Episode:
Episode Transcript:
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 Bayana.
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 exploitation of faith.
Octa (Neu):
Hello Kore. It has been a long time since we talked, I guess since I wrote to you. And well in the last two days I think I've thought more about our time together than the last couple months. I guess I was trying to forget a lot of what I learned with you. Well it isn't working. You see I found one of those thoughtsmores, you showed me, you talked to me about. I'm pretty proud I was able to capture it. I actually have it right now as I'm writing this letter to you. And I have to say I wish my notes were a little bit better. I knew how to do it a little bit without it taking such a toll but at the end of the day it kind of worked and everyone seemed pretty proud of me for doing that. But we learned some bad things. You never wanted to talk about the humans and I think I understand why, especially if you found any thoughtsmores about them. Thank you for keeping me away from that. That's enough about the heavy stuff. I'm back with the rest of the of the letter writers. I know you always told me to write more to them and I'm happy now I don't have to miss them anymore. And we have two more people on board. We have Chandler and we have Kalix and they seem like interesting people to have, especially Kalix. I think we may get up to some shenanigans at some point. At the moment we're on the airship and we are heading towards Midwell. I think I'll have to cut this letter short. I'm hearing Hoku. I think they're freaking out. I’ll write to you some other day. See you Kore.
Harper (Guide):
We land and again we land in this carnival called Soot’s Magical Mosaic. And all of the sites you would normally see at a carnival like different games, different booths, performers, but the thing that Hoku again starts freaking out about is a giant tent off in the corner with like lots of lights and things pointing to it, with a sign that says, “Performances by The Great Starkeeper.”
Jenine (Hoku):
Guys, guys, guys.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah… what?
Jenine (Hoku):
The star – starkeep- Starkeeper! Starkeeper. Starkeeper.
Tatiana (Alma):
Breath. Use your words. Breathe.
Jenine (Hoku):
Starkeeper.
Tatiana (Alma):
What about the Starkeeper?
Jenine:
You know how it like Tom and Jerry cartoons when the dog would just point and like tail out and just like point with nose. That is what Hoku immediately does in like the exact same way because they were taught not to play with their paws so they're pointing with their nose instead.
Tatiana (Alma):
Oh! Oh. Are you okay?
Jenine (Hoku):
You know well you know I didn't really think - I'm not really prepared for those kind of situation, what's happening in the middle of, you know, here.
Tatiana (Alma):
We're already here, we might as well see the show.
Jenine (Hoku):
Like now? Like like like like like in this exact second.
Tatiana (Alma):
I mean I don't know what time the show is but –
Jenine (Hoku):
Okay!
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh you are freaking out about The Starkeeper, I thought you were freaking out because there are popsicles. We should see the show!
Jenine (Hoku):
Yeah, yeah, that's a - that's a thing.
Tatiana (Alma):
Are you gonna be okay if we see the show.
Octa (Neu):
Maybe someone can keep reminding you to breathe every now and again. That's what helped you?
Jenine (Hoku):
Am I not breathing?
Tatiana (Alma):
It doesn't look like it. You're getting a little –
Octa (Neu):
That’s better.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah just keep – in and out.
Jenine (Hoku):
The in and the out. Got it, got it, got it, got it. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
Harper (Guide):
So Kalix walks up besides Fletcher and says,
Harper (Kalix):
Would you like to go get a popsicle?
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah, I'd really like a popsicle.
Harper (Kalix):
So I guess Fletcher and I will go check in on the popsicle situation and maybe the rest of you could see when The Starkeeper shows is on.
Michi (Fletcher):
Does anyone else want popsicles? We can do a little run.
Tatiana (Alma):
No, I think we're good, right guys?
Octa (Neu):
Yeah we’re definitely good yes.
Jenine (Hoku):
I mean I would - I could join you in the popsicle run if - I mean I don’t –
Tatiana (Alma):
Hoku, we really should see when the show is happening.
Octa (Neu):
Imagine we’re here and you’re led to the show.
Tatiana (Alma):
We could get really good seats if we just find out what time the show is.
Jenine (Hoku):
Right, right, right, okay!
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah, you kids have fun. We'll meet up with you later.
Tatiana:
And Alma just starts pushing Hoku to the –
Michi (Fletcher):
I can grab Hoku a popsicle!
Harper (Guide):
So Chandler like walks out and like clears his throat,
Harper (Chandler):
I've already seen the show. I'll just go get popsicles.
Michi (Fletcher):
You’ve seen the show before Chandler?
Harper (Chandler):
Ah yes, a rendition of it.
Michi (Fletcher):
But was the Starkeeper in it?
Harper (Chandler):
I guess I don't want to reveal anything.
Octa (Neu):
I think we can let Hoku discover that.
Harper (Chandler):
No spoilers.
Jenine:
Hoku start growling again.
Tatiana:
Alma starts pushing Hoku faster towards the show.
Tatiana (Alma):
Thanks Chandler, bye!
Harper (Chandler):
So long I'll see you all later I guess.
Octa (Neu):
See you later!
Harper (Guide):
So the seven of you disembark. Fletcher, Kalix and Chandler walk over to the popsicle stand. And Hoku, Neu and Alma walk over to the quote unquote ticket booth. Inside this booth is a possum in a very kind of like ruddy looking coat and they're sort of like leaned over on their hands kind of (snoring) snoring away.
Tatiana:
Alma’s gonna kind of like knock on the wood of the booth.
Tatiana (Alma):
Hello.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Yes, yeah, hello.
Tatiana (Alma):
Hello, sorry, didn't mean to wake you up. We were interested in purchasing tickets for the show.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Ah, yes we have patrons of Soot’s Magical Mosaic in the performance of The Great Starkeeper. Do we have fans on our hands?
Tatiana (Alma):
Oh, you know, one might say the biggest fan ever.
Jenine:
You hear Hoku breathe in and out very loudly.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Ah little fella! Have you ever seen a starkeepr before?
Jenine (Hoku):
No, no, no, no, not – no. We're not from here nor has The Starkeeper been in our area.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Don’t say anything else. The show starts in –
Harper (Guide):
Looks up at the sky, looks up at the sun, kind of little past like midday.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Oh it's gonna be about six hours I think. The show doesn't start until sundown.
Tatiana (Alma):
Naturally
Harper (Possum-kith):
Naturally.
Tatiana (Alma):
Stars, makes sense.
Jenine (Hoku):
Understandable. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tatiana (Alma):
Okay so there's seven of us.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Seven, alright. So seven tickets. That will cost you –
Harper (Guide):
Kind of like counts on their fingers, looks down at the table. It will cost you something.
Octa (Neu):
Pray tell what could that be?
Tatiana (Alma):
Yes is there more to that.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Well one of my main philosophies is we don't exchange money here at Soot’s Magical Mosaic , we exchange services. So, do you have any services, skills, talents, poetry, art, anything you can share that would be valuable to the community.
Tatiana (Alma):
I would say we've got a variety. It really depends what you're in the market for, you know, what you need done. If you need like ghost and death related services. We’ve got someone if you need like some incredible, you know, tapestry and sewing, we've got that too. I feel like you might have the stars figured out but if you need more of that we do have more of that as well.
Jenine (Hoku):
Specifically for The Lastings, in stars.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah, we are specialized in any and all things relating to The Lastings which might be a rare commodity among these parts. We also have a magician, a witch, you know if you need any sort of potion or spellasting.
Octa (Neu):
And a flying squirrel show. The squirrel actually flies like goes really quickly up into the sky. That's very, very, very special if I may say so myself.
Harper (Possum-kith):
Sounds like you all bring quite a menagerie skills to the table.
Tatiana (Alma):
Jack of all trades this group.
Harper (Possum-kith):
How are you –
Harper (Guide):
Kind of like steeples the fingertips of his hands together, looks and leans forward.
Harper (Possum-kith):
- with exploring.
Tatiana (Alma):
Oh quite good!
Harper (Possum-kith):
Name one thing you've explored.
Tatiana (Alma):
Just one?
Harper (Possum-kith):
One thing you've explored. Describe it in detail.
Tatiana (Alma):
Well you see we just came from Portsmore and I have a friend here who went to their shrine, their holy place if you'd like to describe that Hoku.
Jenine (Hoku):
Which one? Because there's the one the, the, the, the memory and there’s the one that we actually went to in physical form.
Tatiana (Alma):
The one - the first - the one that you went with Fletcher.
Jenine (Hoku):
Yeah, yeah, yeah but like when we went there, there was also – you guys are really good at this talking thing because when like Fletcher and I go and talk to people about, and try and get things, we don't - we're not the successful.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah I don't know why would you pairing the two of you together.
Octa (Neu):
Because they're fun! Hoku, any of the two are great. And actually just the fact that you were able to explore a single place from two different locations, on two different realities, that's just like - that's - how better can you explore things really?
Jenine (Hoku):
Yeah so, hi I'm Hoku, really nice to meet you. I didn't catch your name.
Harper (Possum-kith):
The names on the signs and the names in my heart, it's Soot.
Jenine (Hoku):
Oh my gosh it's the cool - it's Soot. Oh my gosh it's the Soot. Wow!
Harper (Soot):
The one and only.
Jenine (Hoku):
That is so cool. Really nice to meet you. I'm Hoku, really nice to meet you. So we were in Portsmore and something to know about Portsmore - there's some wild stuff going on over there. It's been raining nonstop for the past couple of days.
Harper (Soot):
It always rains in Portsmore.
Jenine (Hoku):
And then the color is kind of gone and then - that's a later issue but we went to the spirit island where all they're like priests are and Fletcher and I who is - who's the - who's really good at potions and is my partner in crime whenever we talk to people.
Harper (Soot):
Wait, you're criminals?
Jenine (Hoku):
Not in that way! Not in that way! More along the lines of whenever we go and like split off into teams it's, it's, it's the tallest of the bunch of the smallest of the bunch go up and do the talking and finding things. But we went to spirit island and when we were there, it was really cool because Fletcher and I kind of sat on the top of the hill and below us, we could watch their priest - there was four of them that they were doing this ritual in a way. Two of them were playing instruments and the other two were dancing. It was pretty remarkable because I've never really partaken in religious aspects and being able to see it in other cultures’ way of honoring the gods in their essential temple, was interesting. I'm more of a stars kind of a kith so being in that space was nice. And having that with a friend was also nice. And then immediately after there was this orb right behind them that like, when you touched it got really cold. What does purple mean to you?
Harper (Soot):
I think purple means rest and relaxation, rejuvenation, renewal.
Jenine (Hoku):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Would you think it's cold?
Harper (Soot):
I could say some coldness in purple. You know it comes from blue? Blue is often associated coldness so.
Jenine (Hoku):
Cool cool.
Harper (Soot):
Well, so I do like the story but I guess, my real question is somebody - I'm needing somebody to go inside a cave and nobody - I can't do it, you see -
Harper (Guide):
He kind of like lifts up his leg it's kind of like a peg leg.
Harper (Soot):
And none of my crew’s interested in going in there. But yeah based on your story I'm not quite sure you can handle it.
Tatiana (Alma):
Caves you say? Well it just so happens that back home at The Lastings, one of our graveyards is in a cave.
Harper (Soot):
Oh why didn’t you say so?
Tatiana (Alma):
Well you know, you really… never mind.
Harper (Soot):
I asked if you explored things before you go on this rant about an island with gods on it.
Tatiana (Alma):
Exploring is a very broad term Mr. Soot.
Harper (Soot):
I guess so. I guess so. Yes, my lightning bug, Candle - I call her Candy - went missing a few days ago She went inside the –
Harper (Guide):
(metal thud sound) kind of like stomps on the ground. You hear the metal echo of the giant machine or mech you're standing on.
Harper (Soot):
And we haven't seen her since.
Tatiana (Alma):
Alright well I mean we would be happy to go find your Candy for you. Absolutely. Just point us in the right direction and we will provide the service in exchange for tickets to the show. And, you know, this seems like something that's pretty important to you so if we are to succeed - if we do - when we succeed I should say, would you perhaps be generous enough as to offer us some nicer seats in the house maybe.
Harper (Soot):
You bring my Candy back and there's hardly anything I won’t do for you.
Tatiana (Alma):
Fantastic. Let's shake on it.
Octa (Neu):
Soot, on that note, I wondering if when you meant - when you called this beautiful place Magical Mosaic, I was wondering, do you actually have a physical mosaic anywhere?
Harper (Soot):
It’s actually just more of a figure of speech.
Octa (Neu):
It does look a bit like a beautiful mosaic from the air, so you've got figured out.
Harper (Soot):
Lots of colors, lots of patterns. Kith from around the world doing various things. All magical mosaic.
Harper (Guide):
And sort of like turns and like motions his hand across like the whole setup in a very grand gesture.
Octa (Neu):
Very beautiful
Harper (Guide):
And with that, let’s jump over to Fletcher's, Kalix, and Chandler. So Chandler actually runs ahead to the popsicle stand, and says something like, as he's running like,
Harper (Chandler):
I don't wanna miss any flavors. I want to have my absolute pick.
Harper (Guide):
And like leaves you in the dust and then like Kalix says,
Harper (Kalix):
Well I thought we would never get a moment alone. Just wanted to say that I was quite impressed with your flying the other day.
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh yeah, thank you about that. I mean you threw me so high in the air I wouldn't have been able to glide that well without that much height.
Harper (Kalix):
I used to be a bushball player so I guess it still kind of sticks around with being able to throw things so…
Michi (Fletcher):
That’s really cool, I'm not good at throwing at all.
Harper (Kalix):
What are you good out besides flying? That can't be all.
Michi (Fletcher):
I take a lot of naps.
Harper (Kalix):
I've noticed.
Michi (Fletcher):
I like making tea.
Harper (Kalix):
I’ve had your tea, it’s quite delicious.
Michi (Fletcher):
Thank you. I can read your tea leaves sometime. I think I'm okay at reading tea leaves, I went to Witch Academy and everything and technically I did pretty good there like I had good grades and stuff but I don't really feel like I know what I'm doing. But yeah, I'm supposed to be really good with like oracle magic and potions but my potion master while I was an apprentice didn't really like me, so I don't know if I was good at it.
Harper (Kalix):
They didn't like you? That's sounds very rude for a teacher to be teaching like that way.
Michi (Fletcher):
Well Zelle’s so grumpy anyway but I think she was a good teacher.
Harper (Kalix):
I feel like you know relate to you about the not being sure if you're good at something or not. Feeling like you should be. I got accepted into the Academy – the Military Academy at a quite young age and I was always top of my class but at the end of the day, and at the end of my time there, I just felt like I got really lucky a lot of times, you know? But still people expected so much.
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah my moms really expect a lot for me because they're kind of big deals in they're witchy stuff but I don't know!
Harper (Kalix):
You have moms?
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah!
Harper (Kalix):
I have dads.
Michi (Fletcher):
Really?
Harper (Kalix):
Yes.
Michi (Fletcher):
What’s that like? I've never had a dad.
Harper (Kalix):
There's lots of throwing. That’s how I got into bushball.
Michi (Fletcher):
Do they throw each other?
Harper (Kalix):
Sometimes… have you seen those bushball before?
Michi (Fletcher):
No, I don't know what that is at all.
Harper (Kalix):
I'll have to show you. It’s a sport we play back in Porstmore. I really wanted to go pro in it but one of my dads was also in the military, very high-ranking and forced me into this path.
Michi (Fletcher):
That's a bummer. Well, maybe once you're done traveling with us, you can go and try bushball if you really liked it.
Harper (Kalix):
Unfortunately, the knees a little out of whack and you can't handle that sort of sport anymore.
Michi (Fletcher):
That’s a shame. Well, I'd like to see it sometime.
Harper (Kalix):
Yes, I can take you to a game maybe back in Portsmore.
Michi (Fletcher):
That’d be really nice! Portsmore seems really cool. I'd love to see it when it's not raining ‘cause it's kind of hard for me to be outside when it's raining. You can't really glide in the rain. It makes you really heavy.
Harper (Kalix):
That makes sense. Anyways, we’re getting closer to the popsicle stand and I was just wondering, could I hold your hand?
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh! Are you okay? Are you scared of popsicles?
Harper (Kalix):
No, I just have been really wanting to hold your hand and just didn't want to be presumptuous and grab it.
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh, that's really kind of you to ask. It's okay for us to hold hands. Yeah!
Harper (Kalix):
Thank you.
Harper (Guide):
And reaches down, grabs your hand and walks the rest of the way over to the popsicle stand, not really saying anything. And Chandler's already there with like 4 popsicles in hand like licking each of them and so I was thinking that like one flavor again would be star berries, and honestly outside of that I hadn't really thought of anything. What might be some popsicle flavors in this world?
Michi:
I was thinking of just real life fruit flavors.
Harper (Guide):
I like the one you threw in chat, fineapple. It's a mix between apple and fig.
Octa:
Sounds super, super tart.
Harper (Guide):
Yes, we'll say mountain melon and then maybe just like a standard like chocolate or vanilla. Maybe this like spiced one as well, kind of like a tea spiced popsicle. At the stand what flavors would Fletcher and Kalix end up getting for everyone.
Michi (Fletcher):
Probably for Hoku and Neu like the sweeter ones. And then for Alma, I think the…what was it? Mountain melon?
Harper (Guide):
Mountain melon.
Michi:
I think Alma would like mountain melon.
Harper (Guide):
So you end up with a handfull of popsicles and the llama that is working behind the counter hands them over and says,
Harper (Llam-kith):
Well that will cost you something.
Michi (Fletcher):
Um… what do you like?
Harper (Llam-kith):
Well, Soot kind of has this zero money rule so any good, services, talents that you can exchange and honestly you do not have to do it now, you just have to agree to do it.
Michi (Fletcher):
I can agree to do it. In my pockets I have royal sugar cookies, some random potions without any labels on them, some herbs. I'm also really good at gliding if somebody throws me at a really tall height.
Harper (Kalix):
I could be that someone.
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah Kalix has thrown me before and was really, really good at it. And I can read your oracle.
Harper (Llam-kith):
Oh I haven't had my oracles read in quite a while, would you want to do that later this evening?
Michi (Fletcher):
Sure. What's your name?
Harper (Thyme):
My name is Thyme.
Michi (Fletcher):
I have some of that in my pocket too.
Harper (Thyme):
That's wonderful. It's one of the best herbs out there in my opinion.
Michi (Fletcher):
I agree. I like the fragrances.
Harper (Thyme):
I might be a little biased though.
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah, that's understandable. If there were an herb called Fletcher, I think that would be my favorite one.
Harper (Kalix):
Mine, mine too. Anyways I will get these popsicles over to the group and you can finish tying up your business here, alright?
Michi (Fletcher):
Okay, thank you, Kalix!
Harper (Kalix):
Yes, thank you.
Harper (Guide):
And just kind of like awkwardly like looks back and forth and then rushes over to the group.
Harper (Kalix):
I have popsicles for you all! This one’s for you Alma. Fletcher thought you would enjoy it. It's mountain melon.
Tatiana (Alma):
Oh, I do, yeah!
Harper (Kalix):
Neu, this one’s apparently a grime. I've not heard of it but it's apparently kind of sour, kind of sweet.
Octa (Neu):
Okay, that sounds like it could be quite good. Let me have a little lick.
Harper (Kalix):
And Hoku, as always, strawberry.
Jenine:
And then Hoku breathes in again and then breathes out.
Jenine (Hoku):
What's up –
Jenine:
Does Kalix look stressed? What's up? What's happening with our boy?
Harper (Guide):
Yeah he's got like a little bit of sweat coming down his face. He's like looking back and forth between the group and back at Fletcher as they start to walk over.
Harper (Kalix):
Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Totally fine. What are we doing?
Tatiana (Alma):
So we're gonna go find a lightning bug called Candy, in a cave and it belongs to Soot, so if we find Candy we're going to get really good seats to the show.
Harper (Kalix):
I didn't take in have of that but I trust you but let's go
Jenine (Hoku):
Are you good? Are you – Kalix, are you okay? You good? Are you okay?
Harper (Kalix):
Yes, I’m fine. I might need to go to some pushups are something.
Jenine (Hoku):
Why do you need to do pushups?
Harper (Kalix):
Just to distract myself keep going on something else.
Tatiana (Alma):
Okay. for sure.
Harper (Kalix):
Onward!
Tatiana (Alma):
Are we going without Fletcher and Chandler?
Octa (Neu):
We should definitely wait for them.
Harper (Guide):
He just kinda starts walking along, very like brisk march over to the direction of the cave that Soot pointed to.
Tatiana (Alma):
I guess we're going.
Jenine (Hoku):
Did I miss something?
Tatiana (Alma):
I think Fletcher missed something.
Octa (Neu):
I would not be surprised.
Harper (Guide):
Fletcher arrives with Chandler. Chandler says,
Michi (Fletcher):
I'm really sorry Fletcher. I would have loved to have shared my popsicles with you but these are just too good to share.
Harper (Guide):
And like again has like four of them, just going back and forth.
Michi (Fletcher):
That’s okay I got my own popsicle but what are you going to do to pay for those?
Harper (Chandler):
I told her a secret.
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh.
Harper (Chandler):
So we're already paid, we're good.
Michi (Fletcher):
Okay.
Harper (Chandler):
How are the popsicles everyone? Wait, where's Kalix?
Michi (Fletcher):
I think Kalix has a fear of popsicles.
Octa (Neu):
I don't think so Fletcher.
Michi (Fletcher):
Well he ran away from the popsicle stand really quickly right after we got all of the popsicles. And then as we were walking to the popsicle stand, he asked to hold my hand.
Tatiana (Alma):
What?
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah and he said he wasn't afraid of popsicles but I think he's afraid because he ran away really fast after we were done.
Jenine (Hoku):
Well that’s nice of you to hold hands.
Octa:
Neu is trying their best not to like piss themself laughing.
Harper (Guide):
And then with that Chandler says,
Harper (Chandler):
Seems like someone’s developed a little competition.
Harper (Guide):
And starts to walk over towards the cave as well.
Jenine (Hoku):
Does he have to come out of the cave after?
Octa (Neu):
Fletcher, do you know what he's talking about?
Michi (Fletcher):
What?
Octa (Neu):
I think, I think maybe you should go on a little walk with Kalix after. I think there is a bit of a miscommunication between the two of you.
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh, okay, I think I’m usually good at communicating.
Octa (Neu):
You are sometimes good at communicating.
Michi (Fletcher):
Thank you!
Tatiana (Alma):
Anyway we'll address that later. Soot lost his lightning bug. We're gonna go get it. It's in the cave. That's why Kalix and Chandler went to a cave. Well I actually don't know - I didn't get a chance to tell why we were going into the cave, he kind of just heard that Kalix was in the cave and that's where he went so… But that's why we're going to the cave because if we find the lightning bug we're going to get really good tickets to the show and Soot will like owe us, big time so…
Jenine:
With that reminder, Hoku just sprint to the cave.
Octa (Neu):
Alma just also I'm slightly worried on what Chandler might be trying to talk to Kalix about so maybe let's go have a little scene there and Neu kind of sprints right behind Hoku.
Tatiana (Alma):
But it will be so funny.
Octa (Neu):
It will be funny but also we're all gonna be traveling together, I don't want awkwardness.
Tatiana (Alma):
Fine, fine, fine, fine, we’ll do an intervention of some sort. Anyway cave, let's, yeah, let's go cave.
Harper (Guide):
So y'all had off to the cave and Hoku is probably a good like ten, fifteen feet in front of you and as you get inside the cave, you start to hear the echoing voices of Kalix and Chandler, you can't really make out what they're talking about. And when I say cave it's like a panel from this machine that's kind of been like pried up and you have to like crawl inside and you're obviously like crawling into some sort of like exhaust vent or something.
Tatiana (Alma):
Little guys first?
Jenine (Hoku):
Okay!
Tatiana (Alma):
Hoku you're not - that is not –
Jenine:
Still goes.
Michi (Fletcher):
Um… okay.
Michi:
Fletcher will try to follow after Hoku as the littlest guy.
Octa:
Neu will go behind Fletcher trying to like put an ear next to the echoes and see if they can hear anything the ahead pair is talking about.
Harper (Guide):
Neu that is going to require a role. Give me an in - a heart roll.
Octa:
That's an 8.
Harper (Guide):
What you hear is from Chandler and you can't make out all of it like you can only make out bits and pieces so it's - the messaging comes out maybe a little confusing. But from Chandler,
Harper (Chandler):
I like him.
Harper (Guide):
And Kalix.
Harper (Kalix):
You should.
Harper (Guide):
And then kind of muffle, muffle, muffle.
Harper (Chandler):
But he has a boyfriend.
Harper (Kalix):
He does, does he?
Harper (Guide):
And that's really all you hear.Octa:
You all just hear like a wine from Neu. Like,
Octa (Neu):
(whines)
Tatiana:
Alma has to take her hat off in order to go through the thing so she's like holding her hat and like crawling through.
Octa (Neu):
Alma, we're late.
Tatiana (Alma):
What do you mean we're late? We just got here, how could we possibly be late?
Octa:
Neu just tries to just like goes next to Fletcher, doesn't say anything, like tries to squeeze into the little tunnel.
Octa (Neu):
Hey, buckle up.
Harper (Guide):
And as soon as Neu says buckle up you hear (electricity sound) and like a (scream).
Michi (Fletcher):
What was that?
Harper (Guide):
It came from deeper within the cave.
Octa (Neu):
That didn't sound very good. We should hurry.
Harper (Guide):
So you all start to scurry along for a lack of not better word, I think it's very fitting word for kith to scurry, especially when they're in a tunnel. And you eventually make it out of this like ventilation shaft and into a larger opening. And again these just all seem like ancient like pieces of construction - etcetera etcetera - but it looks like the inner workings of like a machine. There's like giant like leavers and arms, different like wires and things going everywhere and like different pipes and tunnels and different things. And at the center of the room on a little pedestal with like control levers and stuff is Kalix kind of like holding Chandler in his arms and like Chandler’s like freaking out.
Harper (Chandler):
It's gonna get me! No! Ahhhh!
Harper (Kalix):
It's quite alright. It’s quite alright. Are you all coming?
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah, hi, we're here. Are you okay?
Harper (Kalix):
Chandler said he –
Harper (Chandler):
I saw a ghost and it ran out and made this crazy sound.
Tatiana (Alma):
A ghost?
Harper (Chandler):
You deal with it.
Tatiana (Alma):
Me?
Harper (Chandler):
You’re the ghost girl. Get it!
Tatiana (Alma):
What? There's nothing here?
Harper (Guide):
And then you hear like (electricity sound).
Harper (Chandler):
Ahhh!
Tatiana (Alma):
What the heck was that?
Harper (Guide):
Give me a heart role anyone who wants to try to figure out what it was. See if you saw it. See if you know where the sound was coming from.
Michi:
I got a six.
Tatiana:
I got a twelve.
Jenine:
I got a four.
Harper (Guide):
Alright Hoku, you're scared too. You are jumping in the arms of Kalix as well. And you're a lot bigger than Chandler is and Kalix kinda like moves and almost like falls down but gains his balance. Fletcher it definitely sounded like something was coming from one of those pipes close by, but it also could be a different pipe across the way, a pip of above you. Like it's coming from a pipe but you're not exactly sure which one. it kind of like echoed and was a little confusing to you. So, with a dirty 12, you actually saw this like yellow flash of light and a movement from one pipe to another on the other side of the room. (electiricty sound) And it did not look like a ghost to you. Neu, you're afraid as well and you jump on Kalix and he’s like,
Harper (Kalix):
Please! I'm strong but I can't carry everyone.
Harper (Chandler):
You're just so strong, you’re just really strong. Oh, Hi Hoku.
Octa:
I will jump out of here.
Jenine:
Hoku growls and then hops out.
Tatiana (Alma):
It was not a ghost. Okay, that was not a ghost. Everybody's fine. I thinking that it was our quarry, okay? Does anybody have like little blood treats.
Michi (Flechter):
Yes! I have breadcrumbs!
Tatiana (Alma):
There you go. I think we should just you know, here girl.
Octa (Neu):
Why is it moving so quickly? Is it scared?
Tatiana (Alma):
I mean it's been by itself for a few days so probably is scared, yeah.
Michi:
Fletcher like goes into his pocket and brings out like a handful of breadcrumbs, just loose breadcrumbs. It's not in a bag or anything.
Tatiana (Alma):
How long have those been in their Fletcher.
Michi (Fletcher):
A while. I like to keep them for bugs.
Tatiana (Alma):
Okay, good! So it's in the pipes, maybe we should just try to put some breadcrumbs in front of the pipes and coax it out.
Octa (Neu):
Maybe we could make a little net for it just so that we can stop it when it comes zooming by.
Tatiana (Alma):
Like a little soft place to catch it.
Octa (Neu):
Yeah! Yeah maybe like a pillow. We could make like a big pillow. Um…I could try but I may need some of your clothes. Just like capes and baggy stuff if you have.
Tatiana (Alma):
Probably have some. I have a lot of loose fabric going on here. Yeah, just uh…
Tatiana:
Alma just starts handing Neu like loose like scarves and things that she happens to have.Octa:
While we set up the crumbs, Neu will just put as much kind of like scarves and like oversized clothing just inside of like the biggest piece of clothing and just like put like a couple of like loose threads in just to have this kind of like bundle of bundled up stuff. Like a soft landing bay for that really zoomy thingy.
Harper (Guide):
So Fletcher you're the one that walks over and puts the breadcrumbs down at the end of the pipe?
Michi:
Yeah he like also has a little like jar of honey in his pockets and like puts honey around and then sticks the breadcrumbs to the honey.
Harper (Guide):
Okay, so you put that down and everyone kind of falls silent. You don't even hear the sound of people breathing just a very quiet kind of space right now. Fletcher you scoop some honey out, lay some bread crumbs on it and the group just waits for what feels like a long time, but it's probably just a few moments. And then all of a sudden, rushing towards you is a beam of yellow light making the (electricity sound) sound. And it kind of like flies out of the pipe, right at your face, flies around you a few times and Fletcher you feel like static electricity kind of like all around you as this like light arounds you. And you hear a little a little,
Harper (Mystery Quarry):
(giggle)
Harper (Guide):
giggle and goes into another pile. And Fletcher, your hair is standing on end like you are literally like statically charged as something strange - definitely wasn't a bug – flew around you several times and yeah, like all your hair is like sticking out.
Michi:
And can Fletcher tell all this hair sticking out?
Harper (Guide):
It feels like it and everybody sees it.
Michi (Fletcher):
Um… that kind of tickled
Tatiana (Alma):
You look great, kid.
Harper (Guide):
Y’all go ahead and give me an instinct roll if you want to try to figure out what that was.
Michi:
An rolled an eight.
Jenine:
I also rolled an eight.
Octa:
I got a five and I have plus zero.
Tatiana:
So that's a dirty four is what I rolled.
Harper (Guide):
Alma you just think that this is a lightning bug. Like you are determined to catch that bug.
Tatiana:
I am! I am very determined.
Harper (Guide):
Neu, you gotta five? Same thing as Alma, like very determined to catch that bug. Hoku and Fletcher, you weren't exactly sure what it was but definitely seemed like it was a small and forgotten god.
Michi (Fletcher):
You guys, I don't think that was a bug. It like giggled in my ear.
Octa (Neu):
I think that was just the friction.
Jenine (Hoku):
No, no, no its -
Michi (Fletcher):
Hoku, is it in your nose?
Jenine:
I know the signs of a small forgotten god, right?
Michi (Fletcher):
Considering that Fletcher seems to be kind of like statically charged and I guess the world's understanding of like electricity probably isn't very well formed. It's more or less kind of something from the old days, from the times before, and so Hoku, it's almost like from like a sci-fi novel or something that you remember reading about like electricity. And that's kind of what you think of. And I’d say something similar to you Fletcher, like I don't know if you would have got it in like a novel or one of your moms told you about electricity, but yeah, some sort of small and forgotten god associated with electricity.
Tatiana (Alma):
Alright I'll bite. What, what, what is, what?
Jenine (Hoku):
There is this thing called electric –
Michi (Fletcher):
Electricity!
Jenine (Hoku):
Yes, yes, yes that’s it!
Michi (Fletcher):
I think it's a machine thing.
Tatiana (Alma):
We are in a machine.
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh my god we are in a machine. Well I've never seen a bug do this to my hair and I've met lightning bugs before.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah, that’s a little much.
Octa (Neu):
It’s a lot.
Jenine:
Hoku starts making the same buzzing sound to see if they can attract the small and forgotten god.
Harper (Guide):
Let me see. I think give me a heart roll.
Jenine:
I rolled a four.
Harper (Guide):
That is not going to work but Hoku doesn't realize it. Hoku is doubling down, feeling that this is the right thing to do.
Jenine:
Continually through the room just goes,
Jenine (Hoku):
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Jenine:
Paws next to mouth trying to amplify the noise.
Tatiana (Alma):
Neu do you have any ideas?
Octa (Neu):
I mean this seems to be just - something may have happened to that lightning bug cause it's acting super, super weird.
Tatiana (Alma):
That's what I also though.
Octa (Neu):
Yeah definitely. And honestly I think that we just need to - it doesn't seem to care much about the food. Maybe if we try and pretend to be Soot, we can get it to come back. Is anyone good at impersonations?
Tatiana (Alma):
(bad impersonation of Soot) Hey candy, hey candy, hey girl. Come here, girl.
Harper (Guide):
It’s not working.
Michi (Fletcher):
I think it have to do with electricity.
Octa (Neu):
Sometimes if you're rub two very fibrous pieces of clothes together, you can also make some static although not as much as you have clearly.
Michi (Fletcher):
The zaps!? The zaps!?
Octa (Neu):
Yes!
Octa:
Neu takes their two kind of like cotton, low hanging sleeves and starts rubbing them really hard and then just brings the tip of their finger towards Alma’s cheek.
Octa (Neu):
Like this!
Octa:
And see if I can get like a little spark going out.
Harper (Guide):
Yes so there's a little zap, a little pop and then you hear like a (electricity sound) as this like yellow light kinda zips out of the pipe and starts flying around you Neu.
Octa:
I keep rubbing to try and see if I can make another one towards the thing, trying to like aim it towards it.
Octa (Neu):
Here, here, here, come with me.
Harper (Guide):
Alma give me a swift roll.
Tatiana:
So I did roll a three.
Harper (Guide):
You dive at it, completely miss it, and it flies back into a pipe close by.
Octa (Neu):
Guys if I keep doing this, I'm gonna ruin my sleeves.
Harper (Guide):
Somebody give an instinct role.
Michi:
I have a nine.
Harper (Guide):
You understand that most gods really appreciate ritual of some kind. Seems like this god likes things to do with electricity or electricity and did not like food. What ways could you show devotion or appreciation for what this god provides?
Michi:
Has Fletcher tried touching anyone yet since being electrical, all buzzed up and electric.
Harper (Guide):
No and that's when Kalix walks up behind you and says,
Harper (Kalix):
Your fur is all crazy. How are you feeling? Are you okay?
Michi (Fletcher):
I think I feel okay. I don't know. I think it's the electricity but it doesn't hurt me.
Harper (Kalix):
Well if you start to feel some type of way, just let me know and we'll figure it out together.
Harper (Guide):
Kind of like it gets a little bit closer, whispers,
Harper (Kalix):
I really liked holding your hand but I'm sorry I didn't know that you had a boyfriend.
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh, it's really complicated. Maybe we can talk about it later but my boyfriend – mmmm, it’s hard to call him my boyfriend. I'm waiting on him to send me a dream but we should talk about it later.
Michi:
And then Fletcher like pats Kalix’s shoulder.
Harper (Guide):
And with that you hear kind of like a (zap sound) and the kind of thing zips out of the side where there's a pipe. Kind of zips around the two of you. Both of you kind of being like engulfed in this like static, giggling the whole time, and then just kind of like stops and hovers there. And what you see is kind of like this orb with like again just like little tendrils of electricity kind of like bouncing and kind of undulating off of it.
Octa (Neu):
That is not a lightning bug, Alma.
Tatiana (Alma):
No it is not. Okay! How are we supposed to know that it was a that?
Octa (Neu):
That seems like a different thing.
Tatiana (Alma):
Are you Candy by chance?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-mmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
No?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-mmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
Do you know where Candy is?
Harper (Guide):
Kind of like makes an unsure shrugging sound.
Tatiana (Alma):
Do you know what a Candy is?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-mmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
We’re looking for a lightning bug.
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mmmmm!
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah, apparently she's been lost in here for a couple of days.
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yes good, good sounds. Do you know where she is now?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Jenine:
Hoku raises a paw.
Jenine (Hoku):
You wouldn't be friends with like a purple or would you?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-mmm.
Jenine (Hoku):
Do you have a name?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-mmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
I don't know if that was the name or if that was a very unsure sound.
Harper (Guide):
Kind of an unsure sound. You get the feeling that a lot of the small and forgotten gods don't have as much like agency or maybe not agency is the right word, but they're very simple. They tend to have a difficulty communicating and if they are named, they are named by kith.
Michi (Fletcher):
Are you electricity?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-hmmm!
Harper (Guide):
Very proud uh-huh.
Jenine (Hoku):
I have read about you.
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mmmmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
Is this your machine?
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mmmm mmmm mmmm.
Jenine (Hoku):
Have you seen a human?
Harper (Forgotten God):
(growl)
Jenine (Hoku):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah okay.
Tatiana (Alma):
Bad noise. That’s a bad noise.
Jenine (Hoku):
You wouldn't have happened to see one like recently in like the past like –
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-mmm!
Jenine (Hoku):
No?
Octa (Neu):
That’s good, that's good.
Michi (Fletcher):
They’re really scary.
Tatiana (Alma):
Apparently.
Michi (Fletcher):
Alma doesn’t believe in them but we all know that they are real.
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mm-hmm.
Michi (Fletcher):
See, Alma.
Tatiana (Alma):
Okay, first of all, I’m entitled to thinking what I think, okay? I've never seen one! I've never seen a ghost of one, okay? You would think I they were, you know, up and about, wondering around, someone in my family would have at least mentioned, “Oh by the way there's spirits of giant he-mans and she-ras walking around.” But no! Okay? it's just us, so I believe you guys. I believe there's something out there that's taking the gods and being all scary, but (noncommittal sounds).
Octa (Neu):
Alma it feels pretty dismissive that you keep saying that. We believe you every time you talk about any kind of ghosts and we all know there's also something after.
Tatiana (Alma):
Look, I believe you. There's something there, okay? But it's a little hard for you guys to ask me to believe in something like that.
Harper (Guide):
Alma and Neu would get tokens for speaking their true feelings.
Michi (Fletcher):
You’re making the electricity mad.
Tatiana (Alma):
I’m making the electricity mad!? You guys are the ones who brought up the he-mans.
Harper (Guide):
Just kind of starts to drift away down towards a corridor.
Harper (Forgotten God):
(angry) Mmmmmm.
Octa (Neu):
Fletcher! Kalix! Touch again!
Michi (Fletcher):
What?
Tatiana (Alma):
It might be leading us to Candy. You know, the reason why we’re here.
Jenine (Hoku):
Maybe you two should keep holding hands though. Maybe Kalix and Fletcher should keep holding hands. Just in case.
Michi:
Fletcher takes Kalix’s hand but like in a very like purposeful like this is a job way.
Harper (Kalix):
Yeah I - that's I’m gonna say I don't think necessary. Yes, let's go on.
Tatiana (Alma):
You guys think we're gonna need to give it a name.
Octa (Neu):
It liked electricity.
Tatiana (Alma):
That's like what it is but is that it's name?
Harper (Chandler):
What about Chan-Chan.
Tatiana (Alma):
We're not - that's not - that – no.
Harper (Chandler):
Chan-Chan the small god of electricity.
Tatiana (Alma):
I don’t… maybe you should ask its opinion on that.
Harper (Guide):
And so the electricity again just like keeps kind of like slowly drifting away. Just kind of like making little moaning sounds like every now and again.
Harper (Forgotten God):
(angry) Hmmmmm.
Jenine:
Hoku tries to harmonize.
Michi:
Fletcher keep tapping on Kalix to see if that makes electricity happy again.
Tatiana:
Alma’s still trying to think of a name.
Octa (Neu):
How about how about sparks or sparky?
Tatiana (Alma):
We should like come up with a list and then have it vote. It can vote right? It has rights I think. It's allowed to vote.
Octa (Neu):
Yeah we can each say a name and then to whoever it goes that’s who it likes the most.
Harper (Guide):
And then you hear another,
Harper (Forgotten God):
Mmmmm.
Harper (Guide):
Kind of echoing down from the hallway and you can't even see electricity now.
Tatiana (Alma):
Whoa it's pretty fast.
Octa:
Neu we tried to sprint after it8.7
Michi:
We’ll follow.
Harper (Guide):
After you catch up to it not as whiny or grumpy and when you say something about the name sparky, it kind of like perks up a little bit. And it leads you down this corridor where there's like several side rooms with what look like beds but heck of a lot bigger than what a kith would sleep on. And eventually you make it down to this very darkly lit area and then electricity zips up to the ceiling and goes into this like, kind of like orb thing, and light starts to kind of like shine throughout the room. And it's a circular room with lots of like - kind of like shelves but with all these different like shiny things and wires, cables through everything, kind of connecting stuff. In your mind you're not really sure what this is but in your human mind it seems like a place for like networking equipment. Where all this information comes back and forth. And with the room lit up, you can start to like make out different shapes and things throughout the room and you do hear like a little (fluttering sound) a little like fluttering sound off in the corner.
Tatiana (Alma):
Candy?
Harper (Candy):
(buzzing)
Octa (Neu):
Did you get trapped, little one?
Harper (Candy):
(buzzing)
Tatiana:
I'm gonna take that as a yes. Let's see here. What are we looking at?
Harper (Guide):
So you make your way through the aisles and rows of networking equipment and like back in the corner a panel has been kind of like ripped off the wall and like there's like a big mess of like wires that come down and you do see, amongst them, kind of this - kind of like vibrating mass. A little light that kind of flickers.
Tatiana (Alma):
Oh buddy.
Michi (Fletcher):
Is that Candy?
Tatiana (Alma):
Looks like it!
Harper (Guide):
Seems like she's gotten herself caught in quite the mess.
Tatiana (Alma):
Alright gang, let's start detangling, I guess.
Octa (Neu):
Okay be careful not to not to pull on something. Sometimes you try to pull up something and then you get a knot that gets way tighter and if we have any of their like little feet across those we could injure it so let's be careful. If it starts zooming, let’s stop.
Harper (Guide):
Alright so what I'll need here is either a swift roll or you could simply spend a token to solve somebody's predicament which the somebody in this situation is Candy.
Tatiana:
I'll spend one of my tokens. I have two, I'll spend one.
Harper (Guide):
Alright so how does Alma with the help of this token get Candy out of this mess of wires?
Tatiana:
So recently Alma’s had a lot of time to watch Neu work with like fabrics and waving and stuff like that so she kind of just channels Neu a little bit and keeps track of the wires with her eyes and carefully but very methodically begins to unravel them. Kind of just one step at a time, very, you know, purposefully with the image of Neu weaving the bag for the thoughtsmore in her mind.
Harper (Guide):
And slowly but surely you free Candy and in a way where like if she starts to freak out, you know how to move things back to like calm her. And she never gets into a place that would like hurt herself or anyone else. This little firefly, it’s about the size of a small at kind of like flies around, just very carefully, and then like lands on your shoulder.
Tatiana (Alma):
Quite the adventure you had huh?
Harper (Candy):
Hmmm.
Tatiana (Alma):
Poor little guy. Fletcher do you have any more of those breadcrumbs?
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah, here you go!
Harper (Guide):
And Candy kind of just like nibbles at them not having too much of an appetite.
Tatiana (Alma):
Been through a lot kiddo. Thank you, Sparky.
Harper (Sparky):
Mmmmm!
Tatiana (Alma):
Good pick, Neu!
Octa (Neu):
You made such a good job from that.
Tatiana (Alma):
Learned from the best!
Jenine:
Before they exit, Hoku does like take like - looks through their notes and then pulls out like one of the – a constellation of like a lightning bolt and just like places it underneath like the orb that Sparky went into, just places it underneath and goes,
Jenine (Hoku):
Thank you!
Michi:
You get a token for that.
Harper (Guide):
Yes. The group starts to make their way out but Kalix kind of like holds back and says,
Harper (Kalix):
Fletcher, can you hold up for a moment?
Michi (Fletcher):
Oh, okay, sure.
Harper (Guide):
So as like the group kind of meanders on ahead, Kalix beings to walk and just says,
Harper (Kalix):
Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a complicated situation. Again, I don’t know you very well. Yet but I can’t help but feel like I need to. And even if that - if that's even in just a friend way, I want that. And so again I hope we can get to know each other. And yes I've - that Chandler guy is kind of weird. You should tell Hoku to be careful.
Michi (Fletcher):
Okay, yeah, um… I want to get to know you better to Kalix. I think you’re super cool and you’re one of the first friends I’ve made outside of The Lastings. But yeah I’ve had a long term thing with someone named Loren. We were before Witch Academy and we were dating, you know, in Witch Academy and something happened like three days ago so it's just a weird time. I haven't really had time to process all of it but I'm glad that you like spending time with me. And yeah Chandler’s a weirdo but why should Hoku be careful?
Harper (Kalix):
He made me promise not to tell anyone but Chandler has always really liked Hoku as well apparently, but has never really known how to tell him. And I told him that it's best just to be upfront about your feelings and then he said something like, “Well, I think I should just be able to do whatever and then he’ll understand that he likes me” and I’m like, hat's not how it works, you have to be up front, you have to be direct, and you have to ask if you're okay with touching.
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah I’m very glad you asked before we held hands and everything. And I'm sorry for patting you, I was just trying to get electricity’s attention. I'll keep your secret but that's really complicated. Hoku has a lot of strong feelings about Chandler. Not, not in a - not in the same way! But Chandler like’s – Chandler’s always been kind of mean to Hoku, I think. I don't - I don't know. We're trying to be friends with Chandler. It's a new thing.
Harper (Kalix):
And just so you know, he says he knows he's a bit quote unquote abrasive at times but I'm not sure if he understands how abrasive that is. So maybe, I don't know, I heard that Neu talked to him and that seemed to rub off on him in a good way but maybe somebody else should or I don’t know, I could talk with him a little more in depth if you would like. But yeah he's a special little guy.
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah, I can try talking to him too but I won't tell Hoku, what you told me.
Harper (Kalix):
Anyways, I guess we should probably pick up our pace. The group is leaving us.
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah! Yeah definitely!
Harper (Guide):
You all get Candy returned and Soot is completely grateful and thankful and gives you all premium tickets so you have front row seats. And even provides a very nice meal at the cafeteria tent. And before you know it - it’s probably all too slow for Hoku - but the tent opens for people who start going inside. And this is not your standard like circus tent like circular with like seats going up. It’s more like a theater and you like end up like going down towards a stage and you end up with the best seats in the house. And it's pretty un-descript, just a white like canvas sheet. And eventually the lightning bugs kind of dim to let everybody know to like kind of like be quiet as the show is about to start. The room starts to fill with soft, ethereal, music. Lights kind of start to dimly light the stage and twinkling lights start to kind of like appear in space. Definitely reminding Hoku of the stars. The backdrop begins to display a mesmerizing image of the galaxy glowing with vibrant colors and a light appears at the center of the backdrop and it begins to undulate and change shape as you hear a vibrant powerful but distant voice,
Harper (Narrator):
In the vast expanse of the cosmic domain, where the heavens dance and galaxy’s reign, we embark on a journey, mystical and rare, to explore the magic hidden in celestial affairs.
Harper (Guide):
Then the stage kind of like illuminates with starry lights. Dancers dressed as celestial beings gracefully move across the stage. Their movements reminding you of shooting stars, comets and other celestial anomalies. All synchronized with the music as it begins to build. The narrator begins to speak again,
Harper (Narrator):
Behold the diamonds of the night, celestial bodies distant and bright. They shimmer and glow, a celestial ballet, guiding explorers on their cosmic soiree.
Harper (Guide):
The music becomes more energetic as dancers dressed in shimmering costumes join up on the stage with cosmic anomalies, depicting the birth of the stars through dynamic movements, forming constellations with their bodies.
Harper (Narrator):
From cosmic nurseries where stardust resides, stars ignite blazing as they collide. Nebulas twirl in radiant delight, galaxies emerge painting the night.
Harper (Guide):
The dancers continue their intricate routines. Visuals of nebulae and galaxies are projected onto the background creating a breathtaking display. However the music sort of transitions to a mysterious tone and a shimmering, ethereal magician appears on stage dressed in a dark robe.
Harper (Magician):
Gather round secrets of the arcane for I shall unveil the celestial domain, from distant worlds to planets afar, prepare to witness the secrets of each shining star.
Harper (Guide):
The magician begins to float in the air, performing a series of illusions manipulating lights and objects to demonstrate the wonders of the cosmos. They reveal the beauty of the planetary systems, gravitational forces, and the ethereal nature of black holes, through the help of the dancers kind of moving back and forth in these kind of celestial patterns. The music again just kind of keeps building and building into a grand symphony and a full orchestra kind of like starts to appear in the background. Dancers coming out dressed as more recognizable cosmic beings, starting to twirl and leap on the stage in harmony with the music. The narrator begins to speak again.
Harper (Narrator):
As we reach the end of our celestial question, let us remember we’re all stardust blessed, connected by threads of cosmic energy, in this vas universe, we find unity.
Harper (Guide):
As the music reaches its crescendo, the backdrop forms into a completely new and unknown galaxy that Hoku’s never seen before. Swirling with vibrant hues the performers gather on center stage bathed in a soft celestial light. Mist kind of gathering around them from some mysterious objects off scene. They hold hands symbolizing the unity of the cosmos. As the music kind of like builds and builds and the kind of stops and there's like a silence as the whole theater kind of like is engulfed in darkness and then the crowd just kind of like freaking out.
Jenine:
Hoku has not moved.
Tatiana:
Periodically throughout the show Alma’s like nudged Hoku with her elbow.
Jenine:
And then breathes. That’s when Hoku starts to breath, every time you nudge him.
Octa (Neu):
Wow, that was amazing.
Michi (Fletcher):
Wow I get why you love the stars, Hoku.
Octa (Neu):
Yeah and this guy. I really get why you love this guy so much. I get why you are so much into him.
Jenine:
You know when you see like a really good show and no words are coming out of the mouth? That's what's happening to Hoku right now. Just sitting.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah that was really good.
Harper (Chandler):
We should try to meet the Starkeeper.
Tatiana (Alma):
Is that like allowed?
Harper (Chandler):
I don't know? Do I look here?
Tatiana (Alma):
I don’t know, you said you saw the show before.
Harper (Chandler):
I didn't see this one.
Michi (Fletcher):
Hoku do you want to meet the Starkeeper?
Octa (Neu):
Sometimes people go backstage. We could try and take Hoku –
Tatiana (Alma):
Oh yeah I guess you guys do… this is my first show ever.
Harper (Guide):
Yeah you do see a couple doors like down at the front of the stage. But like nobody's going in them and it seems that there are staff close by monitoring them.
Tatiana (Alma):
We should ask those guys!
Jenine (Hoku):
That was a really big performance maybe we shouldn’t interrupt The Starkeeper. This was good – I was in the same space. This is perfectly fine, we don’t have to do anything, it’s cool.
Jenine:
Hoku starts walking towards the exit.
Octa:
Neu grabs your hand.
Tatiana (Alma):
No, no, no, it’s fine. Maybe The Starkeeper knows something that could help us on our journey.
Jenine (Hoku):
Well there was a situation with the stars disappearing in a couple of seconds and then everything wasn’t matching.
Tatiana (Alma):
Exactly! It's a good idea, right Fletcher?
Michi (Fletcher):
Yeah! It’s a good idea. WE should go talk to those guard, guys.
Octa (Neu):
We're friends with Soot. We're really good friends with Soot. This is gonna work.
Tatiana (Alma):
We're gonna name drop Soot so, so, so quick.
Jenine (Hoku):
Okay, yeah, yeah –
Jenine:
And it's still like kind of walking towards direction of the exit not processing – like processed what you said but is still like –
Jenine (Hoku):
(mumbling) yeah, okay. Yeah, that’s cool. That’s fine. That’s great.
Tatiana (Alma):
You're gonna need to explain it to The Starkeeper ‘casue none of us understand what the stars do. So just start thinking about that.
Jenine (Hoku):
I mean I don't I have to – Chandler can say something, I don't really, I'm not really, I'm just kind of here.
Tatiana (Alma):
You're the guy. You're the guy. You're our star guy - sorry Chandler - but you're our star guy so…
Octa (Neu):
You can come back home and tell your family you've actually met him in person.
Jenine (Hoku):
This is true. Yeah, okay!
Jenine:
And then Hoku starts walking.
Harper (Guide):
Hoku, you walk up to the door and the kith standing there. It’s a big-ish but kind of friendly-ish looking ox and they yeah, they say,
Harper (Ox-Kith):
Ah, yes did you enjoy the show.
Jenine (Hoku):
Yes, hi, hello, hi.
Harper (Ox-Kith):
Hello.
Jenine:
Paws in the air just still frozen.
Octa (Neu):
He’s Hoku.
Jenine (Hoku):
Hi, I’m Hoku, I’m from The Lastings. We helped Soot with finding Candy - Candy the lightning bug - and we got cool seats and nice food and wondering if there's any way we could possibly, if possible, meet The Starkeeper if that is - hi I'm Hoku.
Harper (Ox-Kith):
Unfortunately we don't do any backstage visits. The Starkeeper has to immediately, after the performance, go sleep because they conjured up all of what you saw. They're quite tired.
Tatiana (Alma):
Right well you see this is more of a business related meeting. We are actually diplomats sent out from The Lastings in order to investigate what's been going on with the magic and the gods. I suspect you might have heard something about that given that you work so closely with The Starkeeper. And Hoku here is an expert in the constellations of The Lastings and what has been going on with the stars and has noticed quite a few strange things happening on our journey. And we think it would be prudent to meet with The Starkeeper as soon as possible in order to convey Hoku’s findings.
Harper (Guide):
Kind of looks amongst the group and,
Harper (Ox-Kith):
Sorry I just – I’ll lose my job. I can get Soot. He’ll make that decision.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah, yeah Soot! You know we just saved Soot’s lightning bug, Candy, from the machines so…
Harper (Guide):
And he starts like waving and you hear like a footstep within like a tap, footstep, tap, footstep tap, footstep, and you turn to see Soot kind of waddling over with his peg leg. And Candy’s still just kind of like attached to his shoulder, not flying around really. Comes over and says,
Harper (Soot):
Lane, what's going on here?
Harper (Lane):
Sir, the want to – they want to see The Starkeeper.
Jenine:
Hoku has been still in the same spot of like hands still in air like waving and saying hi and has not changed, does not know what's happening, was just told to say words.
Harper (Guide):
Give me a heart roll.
Tatiana:
I also rolled an eight.
Michi:
I also rolled an eight.
Harper (Guide):
So you all get that something is up, but you're not quite sure what it is. As Soot says,
Harper (Soot):
Ahhh, yes, well I’m sure you realize The Starkeeper’s a very very powerful magician and they need their rest. We can't be bothering them, you know. Sorry.
Tatiana (Alma):
Yeah of course, it is you know kind of a end of the world issue and you wouldn't want to be responsible for any, you know, end of the world type events that The Starkeeper could have potentially helped out with had he been you know quickly informed about what's wrong with the stars.
Octa:
I think I want to use a token.
Harper (Guide):
I was going to say I would probably need a token for this to happen. They seem pretty resistant for this to happen.
Octa:
So I want to us a token to reveal something hidden about the person in front of me and ask them what it is. And I'm going to just get a bit closer to Soot, just whisper into his ear,
Octa (Neu):
So, tell me you Mr. Soot, because I really - you can see how sweet Hoku is right? If we do go backstage is that gonna break his heart?
Harper (Guide):
And not even saying anything and his face kind of falls a little bit and just gives like a sad little nod.
Octa:
Neu’s shoulders slump, kind of like turns around, gives a look to Alma and gets to the rest of the group,
Octa (Neu):
So I don't think - I don't think we should bother this man, this kith. They probably need to rest a lot. That show was so impressive.
Tatiana:
Can I roll a heart roll to see if I pick up what Neu’s putting down.
Michi:
Same with Fletcher. I rolled a three.
Tatiana:
Okay that’s a ten.
Harper (Guide):
Fletcher you're probably getting a little pissed that Neu’s turned. And Alma yeah you definitely picked up on it.
Octa:
Neu’s barely keeping it together.
Tatiana (Alma):
You know what? We don't need these guys. We could just go.
Harper (Chandler):
Yeah Hoku, you can be your own starkeeper. I mean, I like that show but they didn't talk about the stars the way you do.
Tatiana (Alma):
There’s a saying that's never meet your heroes, kids. And I think just to avoid any - and not to say that there is anything weird going on - but if there were something weird going on, maybe it’s best if we just don't even consider the possibility and just go on our way. We've already spent a lot of time here.
Jenine (Hoku):
Yeah, okay, so, okay, well uh…
Jenine:
And then you see Hoku you just like do like a quick little like rundown of carda minor changing its pattern that we noticed on the way to Porstmore.
Jenine (Hoku):
Uh, well whenever he - whenever The Starkeeper wakes up you could just hand this to them as a what's happening. Anyways, bye!
Jenine:
And then just zips out.
Tatiana:
Alma’s just gonna like squint and shake her head at Soot.
Harper (Soot):
Sometimes we make people's magic but if you look behind the curtain it's not quite as magical. But it doesn't change the feeling I get when it happens.
Tatiana (Alma):
Would have changed it if we had actually tried to get behind the curtain though.
Harper (Soot):
That’s why you don't look.
Tatiana (Alma):
I would change your branding. Wouldn't want any would be Starkeeper fans to get disappointed if they find out the truth. Put on your show but don't take the name of something that means something to people.
Tatiana:
And Alma’s just going to follow Hoku out.
Harper (Guide):
You do notice before you leave that soot is trying to say something but then you leave and he just takes in a breath and walks backstage himself. So, as we come to a close, I kind of like to imagine that the group loads back on the Flying Dutch-kith. It's late at night, late-ish at night probably around ten or eleven or so, the stars are all out, it's a cloudless night. The Flying Dutch- kith takes off and again = you see the group kind of like together in that like silhouette form, overlooking the landscape, as you begin to like fly towards Middledwell once again.
h5>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!
Meet your hosts:
Harper Sage Pettit
S2 Guide
