Episode 16 – Reunion

Okay. Theme song? Or should we just crank into it? Let's do the theme song. Our practice round? I don't think we have time. Just save time. I have to leave at one. You have to leave at one? Oh my god. It's 1.45. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys. Okay. Gather round, friends. Let me tell you a tale of three heroes noble and bold. A brute, a druid, and a thief who is but nine years old. You know them by name. You know them by deed. Their quests are famously daring.

So here I sit, singing to you an adventure that is worth sharing. Tuck is the brute. He knows not his home. He loves to sing and fight. Fingers half-elf, he shifts his shape and wields a spear with great might. Billy's a thief. His tiny size does mask the largest heart. Best and brightest, they may not be, but their friendship outweighs their smarts. So gather round, friends, and listen close for the tale's about to start. Good afternoon, and welcome to Spout Lore.

I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara, and earlier today I bit my tongue, and it's really fucking me up. Welcome back, everybody. To you, it may sound like it's just been two weeks, but for us, it's been a number of months since we've played together. And with me today, as always, playing Tacoma Dome, the barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Hello. Playing Fat Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica Tai. Hello. Playing Ving Vang Zumba, the elven, half-elven, druid, Paul Ops. Oh, hello. Welcome back, Paul.

Welcome back. And playing guest character, Shathane Wick, Mark Robertson. Hello. Everybody's back in town. Wes is here, too. Mark's kids, apparently, as well. And we are all just riding high on the energy. Is that blood on your chin? It is. You know it. That's Skittles juice. Skittles. Mark gave us Skittles. And we are continuing our game of Dungeon World. When last we left our heroes, they had been, in a sense, reunited in the spirit world within the Hive of Wass.

And we are going to be doing that in a couple of weeks. So, we are going to be doing that in a couple of weeks. So, we are going to be doing that in a couple of weeks. Ving Vang Zumba, who has been traveling through the spirit world after being trapped here a number of weeks ago in-game. Yeah. A couple of weeks. Who knows? Time is malleable in the spirit world.

Was trapped within the Hive of Wass and his friends Tuck and Billy traveled with curmudgeonly spirit expert Shathane and found their way to the Hive, finding Ving in a precarious position strapped to the Hive of Wass. You can say a sticky situation. A sticky situation. It's a Hive. Are Hives sticky? Yeah, most. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I would assume so. I've never been inside one. I'm learning a lot. We mentioned wasp honey. Yeah. Yeah. But is that a thing? I guess it is in the game.

They make stuff to, like, eat. Well, my cocoon is sticky. Oh, yeah. It's sticky in here. Okay. So, here's the scenario. Here's where we are. A cavern. Light streams in through a variety of holes in the ceiling. But shadows abound. There's rough, uneven sections of the cavern walls in all directions made by wasp's hive that kind of weaves in and out of the rock walls. Some of it's natural cavern. Some of it's hive. Some seems like it was almost chewed out by wasp.

Like, the stone is uneven in weird, unnatural ways. Billy, Tuck, and Shathane, you are sort of in this baked potato configuration where Shathane and Billy are hanging off of Tuck. And you're all wrapped in the camouflaged cloak. Perel, as a fishman, has made himself small and compact. Gary, the sapling, is there. And probably not jazzed about the scenario. But he's a little baby tree, so who knows? Ving, you are semi-conscious. You are sort of still coming in and out of consciousness.

But upon seeing Tuck and Billy's face at the end of last session, you're like, oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Do you think that's, like, woken you up a little bit, maybe? Yeah, I think I screamed friends. Okay, so if you scream, you screamed their name, I think. You screamed Tacoma, Billy, or something like that. And you're pretty well adhered to the wall. You're having trouble moving. And you scream their names. And the swarm around you gets immediately agitated.

They start buzzing around, frantically, angrily, confused. Can I just start singing a song? Like, Tuck! Tuck and Billy! You want to try and play cool. Yeah, just try and distract from the fact that you alerted. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Take it away, Stingy. You started naming the separate wasp entities. Okay, so that will be a defy danger charisma, I guess, to hide the fact that you just gave away your friends. Eight. Eight altogether? Yep. Okay, so on a seven to nine, you stumble, hesitate, or flinch.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Offer you a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice. So you can distract them. In doing so, you're going to draw more attention to yourself, and they're going to take it out on you. They might sting you a little bit. They might do something to you. Because, I mean, they are spirit wasps, so it's not straight up stinging all the time. They're doing weird things to your spirit connection. It feels not good. It feels really bad.

So you can draw that danger to yourself. Yeah, I want to because they're in a better position to help me than I am. Okay. So yeah, I'll do that. Yeah. So what do you think this sting does to you? Does it hurt? I think it weakens me further. Maybe like I start losing consciousness. Okay. So you think it's just going to knock you back out? It's going to bring me back down. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Maybe it causes them to put a little bit of gross wash stuff over my mouth. Okay. Yeah.

So you yell out and they start… Coughing into their hands and putting it on my face. Yeah. You're going to get sick now. Wasp flu. The wasps start crawling all over you, up over your face. Yeah. And you feel them as you're spinning against them. They start barfing that paper and it's up your neck and then it's over your mouth and it seals your mouth shut. Your nose is still out so you can still breathe, but you are totally adhered and they're stinging you in a way that just knocks you right…

It feels like they're taking bits, not physically out of you, but spiritually out of you. Oh, man. And you're just unconscious. And Billy, Tuck, and Chathain, you see that happen. The wasps start freaking out. But since Ving did that, they are not paying attention to you. Am I corporeal now? You are corporeal, but you're still floating for now. Okay. And you still feel the ghost root kind of gurgling in your stomach once in a while. Okay. Yeah. So I'm corporeal, but I'm floating.

How did I become corporeal again? It was a consequence of a sickness. I think. Of a failure. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. It was a consequence of a failure because the whole thing was you were incorporeal, but that also meant that you couldn't be injured. Oh, yeah. But now you are back to being able to hit and be hit because you couldn't fight either. Oh, okay. Is the ghost root like wearing out a little bit?

It seems to be like in bits and pieces because at first you could fly and you weren't corporeal, but now you're corporeal again and you can assume that the next thing to go would be this ability to float. Okay. But you see Ving get knocked out by these wasps. What do you all do? We got to get your friend out of here. He's not going to last much longer. Did we ever try to create a fire to smoke out the wasps? No, we didn't. That's a good idea. That's a great idea. Yeah.

So what kind of fire making stuff? Wait, we have Perel with us too, right? Yeah. But he's been having trouble with spells. Okay. He can. He's been able to control the form of Koi. Of Koi, but he's said that he doesn't have access to his magic. What form is he in right now? He's very small, but he's like a chubby little tiny legs, tiny arms, fat little fish boy. Kind of like Billy sized, but a fish. That's great. Can he maybe help Billy? We got a book too full of spells. But he doesn't know.

Yeah. Tuck wants to hide that from Perel apparently. Oh, right. His little journal. Okay. All right. Yeah. I wink. I don't know. Getting back to winking. So you want to try and create a fire, Billy? Sure. Is that the plan? You're like, I'm going to smoke him out. Yeah. Because if we go grab Vang, well, they're like crawling on him. They're going to know we're there. Yeah. Yeah. Fire is a good idea. So what do you all have in your inventory potentially? I have this magnifying glass. That's true.

Yeah. But you're all papered up. You can't do shit. No. I have Larry and Chad. I can smash them against each other. See if I can make sparks. You can't just do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't. It's Flint and Steel. Wait.

Oh man um we've never tried it before but I guess we could I'm gonna try it and then I start sensually rubbing against one another uh do do do do do do do do do do do um I was gonna say you guys have adventuring gear um yeah but we can but I mean like rocks create friction friction creates heat I have my shitty grass cloak still that could be used as fuel we can yeah they could potentially they're thinking outside of the rocks um so they could potentially figure it out cause now they've got individuality they're thinking about what being a rock actually means it's also more fun it's more interesting than like adventuring gear mark check a thing off of your adventuring gear okay that was like such a dnd nerd thing for me to be like but what about your adventuring gear yeah it's funny you're a nerd so we'll have some sparks we need some tinder we need something to catch that's the grass cloak are you wearing it no no no I'm not gonna put it on cause then I will I will cook pretty fast probably but I'll hold it we're gonna roll this cause we wanna see if it'll even work right so and who are you using uh Larry and Chad the two rocks Terry is not involved yeah where's Terry can Larry say actually I'm Terry oh yeah I think you have all of them don't you isn't Terry still lit up no that would have ended long ago yeah okay do I have all of them then I think so okay whatever I take all of them you're gonna make them all do it I guess so why not three rocks I don't know how which two of you wanna be involved in this well I mean none of us really but uh come on this is a new thing just do it usually I just we'd all just feel like we were just one thing right but now it's like well this is my bud Terry this is my bud Chad now we're just rubbing up against each other this is a new experience for all of us look two of you guys step up let's get this done what if you just call two of them Terry what it's for now they just like alright let's just do it just get us in a pile okay figure it out I put them in a pile above the grass cloak this is all happening inside of a cocoon yeah and you're all speaking very quietly okay and I'm I guess everyone's like I'm not doing this I'm not doing this everyone's on my belly this is the orientation everyone's on my belly and Billy has put the grass cloak on my belly and I guess you're snuggled up pretty tight too should they yeah yeah you guys created like a hammock scenario I think if I remember correctly so alright what do I roll let's what do we think stop interrupting he's doing something I know he asked me what what he needs to do I asked what I roll yeah oh sorry he just really wants the action to happen uh I guess I guess it would be what do we think wisdom I guess it's spirit world stuff yeah so it'd probably be wisdom yeah 2d6 plus wisdom 6 plus 1 7 oh shit I didn't do any of the level up stuff no you didn't okay fuck I guess we do it at the end of the session we can do it at the end yeah okay well I okay 7 so 7 yeah it's a partial success what do you think happens because I think it works yeah no problem and it catches on fire but it it also catches my loincloth on fire oh no yeah I was gonna say I was gonna kind of agree like it works way too well way too fast this thing's full of smoke yeah the smoke is billowing out of the is this when Tux loses his beard oh no no no it is it is it is a spiritual projection of Tux so his material beard could very well still be intact but is I guess yeah I do I'm doing it like right here you know like when you when you're watching TV and you put a plate right on your chest no when you're just eating a huge plate of spaghetti and you're shoveling it directly into your mouth it's like that far away from my face so my beard is in it just as it is in spaghetti when I eat it on my chest so you put Larry, Terry, and Chad on the grass skirt and they are close to each other and they start sort of like grinding slowly at first yeah walk us through it but then they're like moving really fast they're really getting into it but they start heating up and they really love it they fucking love it and they're at this point they're like there's a point where they start moaning moaning moaning oh my god it's like it's like trying to record a podcast with my own brain at 13 so yes they're grinding they're getting into it it's going really well they were all nervous at first but they think you know what maybe three is the right number for them but there's but there is a point where they they're glowing yeah like they're glowing from the friction and then their smoke starts coming off of them the grass skirt yeah and then it all can you let me give it a blow yeah you gotta blow tell you gotta get in there you gotta blow okay I'll blow on it I don't have any hang-ups yeah so you blow a little bit of air on it so I blow a little bit on it I'm like do it do it yeah you don't have any hang-ups and the grass skirt catches and it just catches like wildfire it's so fiery and you can feel it start burning your beard I lose all of the hair on my face have you ever smelled it?

I've never smelled spirit hair burning before it's disgusting oh my god oh my god so in a few seconds like this little closed off area you've created with your bodies Billy you're standing next to Perel the little fish boy right now and this area is just filled with smoke and the thing is on fire and it's you've only got a few moments to figure out what to do what do you do?

I smack it off I smack it off of my I smack I go Billy help and I I smack it off of my I just kick it off of him you just kick it off?

Yeah and it hits the ground okay oh no I'm on fire oh and then I smack his face a bit to try and put out the flame just keep slapping I'll get in there too give him a couple slaps we gotta get this fire out by slapping this guy but we were trying to start a fire I like that I like that you were like I do I slap I do Billy help yeah so Billy you're trying to kick it out so I'm gonna slap you so you're trying to act quickly give me a defy danger dexterity alright 2d6 plus your dexterity modifier 7 yes okay so you kick it out like you run up and you kick this little bundle out like past Tuck's face you see it start floating down to the ground this burning ball of grass and hair what do we think happens?

It starts filling the chamber with smoke again very quickly yeah like it hits a pile of like detritus like wasp paper and um! Bones and like the weird old newspapers scales and feathers and yeah yeah totally like weird bones from different things uh so so it it floats down into a pile of that sort of stuff and uh Shathane you can see cause are you on top of or underneath this pile?

I'm on top so you look I can see down through the like the cloaks coming over as like kind of a tent arrangement and then kind of sealing up around the edges of but a little a little gap between the edges of the side is jaw knocked out and I can see that go down I can also now see uh your chin doesn't match the rest of your physique and we can see why you had such a great big huge beard there yeah what does Tuck's hairless face look like?

It's really fat he looks like a baby it's just round totally round it's really like I have a double chin oh my god you look so fit in everywhere else I don't know how to lose weight in just my chin oh I I know the feel oh my god but like instantly just cute and way less threatening like you just look super huggable yeah better grow it back before I wake up yeah yeah it's like I have a like I have a big double chin and another chin a triple chin I have a triple chin two chins yeah three chins yeah I look like Kyle Kinane without the beard wow wow he looks fucking awful without the beard that's crazy uh so this is a tattoo of an ex-girlfriend yeah who tried to drag him to hell yeah great the cavern starts catching everything starts burning so fast it starts pouring up the walls and spreading out all over the ground and again within like 20 seconds the place is burning are the wasps gone?

At first they're still really swarming all over Ving and all over that section of the wall and then the ones even in other parts of the cavern you know yeah they start either dropping or fleeing yeah they seem to be pouring out of this cavern now oh this is like the opening that fire has always been looking for yeah totally we like snuck fire into the lair of the wasp yeah it's like exactly how are Larry and Chad doing? Uh did they come?

Oh maybe oh my no it was all three of them so they all came oh cool uh they um whoo so do you do you think they went down with the pile? Oh did they go down? When Billy kicked the pile out? Yeah that would make sense yeah so you can't see how they're doing right now oh no it's okay they're rocks they will survive the flames at least they got off they got their rocks their rocks got off?

Nice um um yeah so that's the situation this place is engulfed in flames so um this looks like a good opportunity for us to maybe uh maybe start chopping your friend out of the wall here yeah but now you now Tuck has to maneuver uh his weird blimp-like body uh through a bunch of fire hey I'm in a bulk phase okay well luckily the uh cloak is made out of uh oh butter moth silk is flame retardant yeah which is fireproof this is easy yeah we're gonna get out of here no problem oh sick that's great yeah hey Tuck let's all swim like kick our legs and propel ourselves towards Finn okay yeah start kicking my legs a little bit alright and is Billy also kicking his legs like helping?

But I'm just laying on Tuck and I'm not doing much but his legs are he's trying he's kind of doing the thing from 80s movies where like girls are like on their beds talking on the phone and they're like kicking their legs in the air yeah it's like one of those little um blue foam boards at the pool he's just like alright 2d6 plus dexterity to get close enough to grab to get Bing at it well close enough to act because he's like in there it's not just gonna be a like swoop down grab him yank him off okay potentially okay do we think Billy's kicking is helping?

Yes yes so then Billy rolls 2d6 plus the bond it's the whole hook you have to believe yeah if you wish to achieve oh boy well 9 10 okay I did not do so well it didn't matter I succeeded okay no Billy failed though okay because he rolled to 8 and he still rolled a failure so sorry so you're gonna get what you want Tuck Billy mark a point of experience so Tuck you start like swimming in you're passing through or around or above like gouts of flame that are pouring off the walls and floor and um this flame is picking up so much that it is becoming an aspect of fire so now it's like the flames are coalescing and acting together almost to actively destroy the cavern and you can hear fires like consume consume and now this fire is becoming one big raging spirit okay well my priority is to get Ving out so Shathane can you like hop down and like start cutting him out of that thing spray some water on my face or something spray some just help me wake up yeah so how does how does Shathane try and get him out um well I've got a short sword while you guys are holding the cloak out and it's sort of tent shape bubble shape for us to still stay under it I'll get the short sword out and just start hacking away at the at the burning I guess paper and gunk and yeah and uh and wasp cum or whatever's holding him in there great it's a real blue episode yeah so far is it spelt lower knights um so is that the sun goes down is that a strength uh yeah but a hack and slash like are you are you trying to just like force through it I'm trying to just cut away at the edges to get enough to pull him to pull a chunk of him off that he's in that we can it's on fire right or it starts it's starting to be on it's starting to catch like on the sides I'm trying to I'm trying to cut away at the just do whatever I can to dislodge him where there's little gaps or where there's fire where there's burnt bits just get the sword in there and just like wedge him out of there yeah great uh okay yeah give me a 2d6 plus strength and tuck in billy you and perel is turning around like oh no and you can feel fire like pressing against you like moving towards so 11 and 2 hell yeah 13 yeah you just are cutting through this thing like butter um like paper maybe no butter butter buttery paper um you know just when you get a nice fresh piece of paper it's just like butter it just melts on your tongue yeah so you hack through with your sword and you feel like ving the weight of ving's body which you're noticing feels different than pretty much anything you've handled in the spirit world so far like he's got this density and this like placeness that you don't experience often because his physical body is actually here he just comes off the wall and falls into your arms and ving you start coming back too because you feel all these sensations and you feel your body under its own weight again and you're slowly like fluttering like oh coming back to the surface who are you you open your eyes and you you awake to a smoky cavern and a smoky gentleman yeah and the face of an elf that you actually might recognize oh do you recognize him whoa I'm Shathane and we don't have a lot of time to chat we gotta get you out of here this place is burning down no let's figure out what exposition is possible here this is what I'm saying from inside the cloak I can't believe I'm being saved by a wick oh and that is where we're gonna end it for today thank you for listening to Spout Lore everybody I've been your game master Sean O'Hara with me as always playing Tacoma Dome the barbarian Abdul Aziz boys just wanna have fun Fat Billy the halfling thief played by Jessica Tai Abdul has a firm grip so I'll give him the firmest pencil I have Ving Vang Zumba the half elven druid Paul Oppers I like the rocks so much Shathane Wick the elven ranger Mark Robertson yeah let's get physics in here now and explain why these things won't work in the game thanks to Abdul and Wes for making all the technical stuff happen behind the scenes thanks to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music thanks to Mark and MP for their home for welcoming us into their home and Longa McQuaid for having a very flexible return policy thanks to Longa McQuaid for not asking too many questions yeah Longa McQuaid you're gonna be getting some of this equipment back today and thank you to you for listening we'll see you next time and so ends the tale of adventures three who tried their best they can though dumb and scared and lost they be for times abreast in revelry and though our journey may be like a conclusion we will not leave you without a resolution return next week to hear some more words whilst you commute or do your chores and for you I'd gladly spell long I think tattoos are stupid though you literally have a massive tattoo of a tree I know I didn't choose to get that and an old girlfriend on one of your chins that's why I think tattoos are dumb oh you hate tattoos because you got one of an ex a long time ago it was a really bad choice nobody even tried to talk me out of it I'm sorry you gave it to yourself and I gave it to my so now the A's are backwards in a mirror it's really hard the A's are backwards Paul I'm so glad you're back