Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Keys to Fairyland - pt 2
54 Plays10 months ago
The Fixer, Maeve, and Calamity are trapped in a dungeon! Their ally lies cursed and mouthless, and the entire kingdom lies in the iron grip of Queen Makonna-- along with the Keys to Fairyland!
Join Brand Osorio, Cate MacCoyne, and Pandora Beatrix, along with GM Casey Jones as they solve a mystery unlike anything they've faced before. And stick around for interviews with the players! Your ears are in for a treat!
And if you'd like to run a game of D&D or Doctor Who of your very own, find Casey on StartPlaying!
Come say hi on our Discord! Be sure to subscribe and leave a question or comment! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and BlueSky for more updates!
Send your questions and fan art to [email protected]!
Music by Tabletop AudioTheme by RJ Pirchinello
With tabletop gaming as a storytelling tool, the show features the Doctor Who roleplaying game from Cubicle 7, powered by the Vortex System, designed by David F. Chapman.
Game Originally Created by David F. Chapman
Addl. Game Writing by Will Brooks, Zak Dale-Clutterbuck, Eleanor Hingley, Andrew Peregrine, John Sewell, Chris Spivey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnywhereButNowPod
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnywhereButNow_
Blusky: https://bsky.app/profile/anywherebutnow.bsky.social
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AnywhereButNow
Learn more about Cubicle7!
Website: https://cubicle7games.com/doctor-who-the-roleplaying-game-second-edition
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cubicle7
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cubicle7Entertainment
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
time travel, sci-fi adventures, and risky rolls of the dice lie ahead. Hello and welcome to Anywhere But Now, a Doctor Who actual play podcast. I'm your host and GM, Casey Jones. The next hour and a half or so holds a thrilling adventure in time and space, so let's dive in. With me is the daring crew of our time-traveling machine. Playing the Fixer is the charming and resourceful Brandasorio.
Character and Player Introduction
00:00:33
Speaker
Hi, Brand.
00:00:34
Speaker
Hello. And joining him again is Maeve Sullivan, played by the ebullient Kate McCoy. Welcome back, Kate. Hey there! Finishing the TARDIS team is Pandora Beatrix as the delightfully chaotic Calamity Hap. Yo! Sullivan!
00:00:51
Speaker
Are you all excited? You feel that energy?
House Rules Overview
00:00:55
Speaker
House rules mean our players begin the game with five, count them, five story points each. However, since they are resuming a mod, they're going to pick up with the story points that they had yesterday.
00:01:08
Speaker
get ready for a collaborative, immersive, storytelling experience. And don't forget to stick around after the game for interviews with the players. A bigger on the inside thank you to our listeners. Time is such a gift. We thank you for spending yours with us.
Listener Engagement
00:01:25
Speaker
If you like what you hear, please leave a review, rate the show, and follow us on Blue Sky or Twitter at anywherebutnow. Share the show with your friends. Word of mouth is a huge help. Have questions or fan art you want to share? Come by our Discord or send them to us as an email at anywherebutnowpodcastatgmail.com. And if you'd like me to run a game for you, find me on startplaying.games.
00:01:50
Speaker
links to everything in the doobly-doo.
Adventure Recap: 'Keys to Fairyland'
00:01:54
Speaker
We are in part two of Keys to Fairyland, brought to you wherever you're listening in time and space. This is anywhere but now.
00:02:06
Speaker
Previously on Anywhere But Now...
Mysterious Amnesia and Discovery
00:02:09
Speaker
Our heroes woke in a pit, and after some early struggles, managed to climb and claw their way out of a literal hole in the ground, infested with sticky-slammy memory worms that had successfully wiped all recollection of our intrepid heroes of the previous 24 hours.
00:02:27
Speaker
They do not know how they got here. They do not know why they're here. What they do know is they don't know squat. They found a team woman named Lady Daphne, a tree with bark and a face and the figure of a woman planted steadfastly into the ground her roots likewise
00:02:46
Speaker
festooned with memory worms. They were able to help her regain her wits long enough not only to get the back of Maeve's jacket all slimy with memory worm goop, but also retrieved a map of the kingdom that they currently occupy. With that
Meeting the Wizard and TikTok Courier
00:03:05
Speaker
map they traveled south to the wizard where they
00:03:09
Speaker
received a number of potions, questions without answers, and riddle-like suggestions from a very old man in a long tattered scarf. They were interrupted briefly by the arrival of a clockwork courier.
00:03:24
Speaker
a TikTok man arriving to pick up potions and elixirs for the queen herself.
Exploring Clockton and Encountering the Frog
00:03:31
Speaker
They followed Step back to the walls of Clockton, the TikTok town. They wisely stayed away from the Ogre's Keep, where a stories-tall behemoth could be heard snoring as loudly as a jet engine failing to turn over.
00:03:48
Speaker
In Clockton Proper, they discovered an entire town full of more TikTok automatons with powdered wigs in provincial ware going about their business doing absolutely nothing of import. The bread is wooden, covered in paint, and the suggestion of visiting the library was cut short when they realized it was in fact deadlocked.
00:04:12
Speaker
Maeve's intrepid pursuit of the truth revealed that there is an actual library in there. However, they were unable to gain access. Briefly tempted by a sojourn to the jousting Jadoon, they instead made their way to Matilda's pond, where they found a small frog that they believe and theorize might actually be Nigel, the gardener, friend and possibly paramour of the root-bound Daphne.
00:04:39
Speaker
Successfully catching the frog in the net, Calamity discovered the frog did not like being away from the pond and beneficently let it go so it could keep its froggy skin moist.
Queen Makana's Dungeon
00:04:50
Speaker
The vixer with a broken sonic instead smashed his way into the gardener's shed by the pond where he found a riding mower-sized device that a manual written by Nigel himself confirmed that it is for the uprooting of trees.
00:05:08
Speaker
They made their way towards the castle, theorizing correctly that their missing friend and advisor, the Auditor, another Time Lord, might be in fact waiting for them in the dungeon. Queen Makana, her majesty of the kingdom of 1030 and no other time, was only too displeased to greet them with the Fixers of Brupt Arrival, an announcement of,
00:05:33
Speaker
We'd like to rescue our friend in your dungeon!" and was quickly met with being thrown into the dungeons themselves. But not before the protestations of the Princess Matilda could be heard as the Queen raised a finger and exploded the jacket that Maeve hurled at her in an attempt to besiege her with memory worm goo.
00:05:54
Speaker
The queen, her keys jangling on her hip, appears to possess strange powers in this magic land. Trapped now in the dungeon proper beneath Castle Makana, our intrepid heroes find none other than the auditor, asleep or unconscious, under a threadbare blanket. They turn him over to wake him and discover to their horror and amazement that he had no mouth.
00:06:54
Speaker
You have arrived in the dungeon. The auditor sits up with alarm. Calm down, dear friend. We are here to rescue. Overall, everything's going according to plan. Maeve, perhaps you could loan the auditor your notepad and pencil? Yeah, that might be useful.
Princess Matilda and Secrets Revealed
00:07:19
Speaker
And I will hand the notepad and pencil to the auditor.
00:07:23
Speaker
The auditor takes Calamity's shoulder and gives it a grateful squeeze for the idea. The auditor gratefully takes the paper, goes to lick the tip of the pencil and realizes he has no lips nor tongue that he can actually reach, sighs through his nose and starts scribbling on the sheet and turns it around. Queen Makana equals Time Lady. Huh, unexpected.
00:07:51
Speaker
All right. Do you know how we got here? How we... Because we don't remember there were worms. Memory worms. Right at the helm, maybe? We can't understand you. I'm so sorry.
00:08:10
Speaker
And he starts, like, writing in very small print as he can on this, like, I'm assuming that this reporter's pad is roughly the size of one to maybe two decks of cards in overall size, and just starts scribbling as fast as he can. The auditor discloses that Makana is a Time Lady, and, uh...
00:08:34
Speaker
Matilda is her child. When he tried to protest what she was doing, all four of us were transported to this place for extra measure. The auditor, who actually realized a shred of what was going on, in addition to being lightly mucked with the memory worm, had his mouth taken away. By Queen McKenna?
00:09:02
Speaker
was it a specific rule that you broke, Auditor, that resulted in her taking away your mouth? He writes out, she doesn't want me telling you what I've figured out. Stare at him expectantly!
00:09:15
Speaker
He starts scribbling again, and the letters on the page warp and dissemble before they can form meaningful words. So instead, he scratches on the shape of a key onto the page and outlines it with action lines. So we need some kind of key. Is it here? This all tracks were in a prison, so it makes sense we need a key to the door.
00:09:46
Speaker
Key to everything, key to the city. But luckily, you can win those at the joust. Fixer, Maeve, Calamity, give us an awareness roll, please. Awareness and intuition. That's a one and a four for a total of 12 for me.
00:10:26
Speaker
possibly underground sounds like there's some water underneath us could maybe an underground river or or some sort of plumbing system is is there like a drain or anything in the floor or what is the floor is it dirt or stone the walls and floor all appear to be masonry stone
00:10:35
Speaker
and 11 with a 3 and a 3 on the dice.
00:10:47
Speaker
You start like looking around, following your ears towards the sound of trickling water. There is a slight cough behind you on the other side of the jail cell. I'm terribly sorry. Mother gets ever so angry when she's disobeyed.
00:11:08
Speaker
The princess has tiptoed down into the dungeon. She is not getting too close. She is safely out of arm's reach. And if she does try to get closer, the two TikTok guards with pikestabs to keep her a good couple of feet away from the sell door. Bow very low, most honored princess. We are so thankful to be in your presence.
00:11:34
Speaker
It's an honor. You're your new people. It's so nice to see you. We haven't had... We haven't had anyone visit the kingdom in ever so long. Are you alright? Your cough doesn't sound great. Mother says I'm sickly. I can't disagree. I'm so tired most of the time. And she calls me a weak slip of a girl who should know her place and behave.
00:12:02
Speaker
Doesn't she know that it takes a lot of strength to be functioning through life while you're still dealing with sickness? You're probably way stronger than she realizes. The princess gets a thousand yard stare, gazing past you, and just says, Mother knows ever so much about strength.
00:12:22
Speaker
Probably not as much as you though, huh? I do know things. I do know them. Like when my mother uses her magic, she gets tired. She's resting now. That's why she couldn't object to me coming down here to visit and see you. You're not really bad, are you? She's just so short-tempered. No, I don't think any of us are bad here. Well, except for him.
00:12:52
Speaker
Who's him? Him might be the wrong word. He is, he's so big. He's too big to be a him. He's so big he's an it. Oh, are we talking about the ogre?
00:13:05
Speaker
You say the word ogre, and she turns white as a sheet, and shrinks back a whole foot. Yes, the ogre. Isn't he sleeping? He's a very light sleeper. Terribly light. He'll wake up the slightest thing sometimes. I don't leave. I don't go anywhere. Once I could visit the town and walk around, but the ogre, it
00:13:39
Speaker
Well, it's not good to be stuck inside all the time. And it sounds like your mother is making decisions based on fear, not on strength. Well... Do you remember when the memory worms came to the kingdom?
00:14:02
Speaker
The memory worms, I think my mother might have made them. She's ever so
Escape from the Dungeon
00:14:08
Speaker
powerful. All she has to do is think really hard, and her wishes come true. She wills things into happening, and her will is so very terrible. And as she's saying that the auditor, still blank-mouthed, comes up and taps on the key surrounded by action lines and hands it to Maeve,
00:14:31
Speaker
Well, you know, we could maybe go on a bit of a walk and we'll be there to keep you safe. Unfortunately, we're locked in here and we need to not be locked in here in order to protect you. You want me to leave with you just for a little while? Just a bit of a walk? I mean, only if you want to. Give me a presence and convince Maeve with a plus two from Calamity for shipping in only if you want to.
00:15:01
Speaker
She rolled an eight. Her resolve is a two. What you need to beat with your presence and convince is a 10. I rolled a five and a two for a 15. The princess gets just a glimmer of mischief in her eyes and says, Mother does take rather long naps. Thus, give us privacy, please, because I say so.
00:15:28
Speaker
and the guards take an extra two steps past her so that they are now on the far side of her, they're behind her, so they are no longer between her and you guys. And she tiptoes closer. Do you think if we went out for a little while and we were back before 1030, we might not
00:15:48
Speaker
wake her and upset her. But you have to come back to the dungeon. You have to come back. Or she'll be ever so cross. You don't want to know what she could do when she's cross. And the auditor nods and...
00:16:04
Speaker
Princess, I will promise you that I will return to this cell at the end of our journey, before, if we can, before your mother awakes. But I want you to promise me something. What's that? If you find yourself in a situation where you might access your mother's keys, just know that you are stronger than she is in many ways. And if you had those keys, you would not have to take the abuse you're suffering.
00:16:27
Speaker
presence and convince at disadvantage because you're trying to refute something that's been indoctrinated in her as long as she's been here. And that time she only rolled a 5 with that same resolve, so the number to beat here luckily is only a 7.
00:16:43
Speaker
Well, I got a 9 on the dice. Unfortunately, sorry, a 9 in total. Unfortunately, one of the dice is a 1. Okay, so that is going to be a yes, but yes, you have temporarily convinced her it might be okay to go with you, but
00:16:59
Speaker
At the first sign of trouble she might talk tail and run because this girl is even down here even in the safety of a castle with thick fortified walls since the ogre has been brought up since her mother has been brought up she is quite like pale with fear and not quite trembling but probably on the verge of doing so.
00:17:20
Speaker
So I'm sorry, what is your name? Your princess? I'm Calamity. I'm Maeve. I'm the Fixer. Introductions are terribly important. They're a sign of good manners. I think that's why my mother threw you down here. Because you didn't introduce yourselves properly. And she's ever so driven.
00:17:43
Speaker
decorum it's it's ever so important she says I'm I'm princess Matilda and she does a little very slow practiced but still kind of awkward curtsy then straightens out her skirt and it's a pleasure to meet you and the no-mouth man
00:18:01
Speaker
Likewise, yes, that is the auditor. We would like his mouth back eventually. Oh, that's mother's magic. I can't, I can't, I can't break mother's magic. Mother's magic is everywhere. We'll figure it out. Matilda, I have a couple of questions for you and they may be a little scary, but it's okay because they're just questions, all right? All right. And she pulls a little handkerchief out of her sleeve and starts to ring it as a, as a fidget.
00:18:29
Speaker
So the things that your mother does, that she makes come true, does she have to say them out loud? Or can she do it just by, you know, scrunching up her forehead? She made the lady's jacket go poof with just shouting enough and she snatched the map out of the tall man's fingers in the nice kilt without saying a summoning spell. She just had to think it hard enough and it happened.
00:18:55
Speaker
I see. Well, has she ever tried to help you not be unwell? Mother says staying in the castle is for my health and the broths, the soup, the wizard, outside the city gates. He makes me soup that's supposed to make me stronger.
00:19:16
Speaker
I see. Why doesn't she just do that with her magic if she can do basically anything? She says she's not a cook and that's not her job. Anyway, that's what wizards are for, so she says. I see. All right. This is the one that might be scariest, and I apologize, but what exactly has the ogre done that makes it bad? The ogre's story's dull. He smashes anything in his path. He has a terrible temper, and he's so loud.
00:19:46
Speaker
As the princess is breathing about the ogre, in the vast distance you hear,
00:20:00
Speaker
of something truly massive just walking around and there's little sifts of dust falling from overhead with each impact. It's very dangerous. His strength is mountainous. He's terrible. He's the worst thing ever.
00:20:20
Speaker
Well, sometimes things are big, and they can't really help being big. And being big often means that you're, you know, also strong, because those things tend to go together. And, well, the crankiness, I'm told, is, you know, probably sleep deprivation, which that happens to anyone.
00:20:38
Speaker
But I would like you to consider the possibility that he would prefer not to hurt anyone or smash anything, but it's difficult for him to not do that just because of the way things are. That was sort of another question, like why didn't your mother just make him
00:20:56
Speaker
Normal sized? Because it's the rules. Oh. There's no such thing as a normal sized ogre. Ogre's a mountainous. They're ever so big. And he's an ogre, so he's a big one. What other rules are there that you know?
00:21:12
Speaker
She thinks hard about it. Shrugs. It's mostly like my stories. Things go like my stories. And my mother's the queen, so she's in charge. Those are the rules. Everything follows the rules. That makes a lot of sense. All your stories written down? Mmm, they're in the library. Oh. Do you think we could all go to the library? I don't have the key, and mother won't shut.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yes, but you are a princess, are you not? I suppose that's true. As I understand it, the library can be unlocked by royal decree. And you are royal. That is true. Maybe they can get it from the rhinoceros men. They have a key. Well, that would mean we have to go to a joust. I've always wanted to see one, but Mother says they're too scary.
00:22:13
Speaker
The number to beat here is a nine. 10 with a three and a two on the dice. You managed to persuade her that this is her actual lucky day. And she stands like an inch taller, like just a slip of confidence, upper backbone of... Could be my lucky day if I wanted it to be. Maybe, maybe it is my lucky day. That could be nice. I like to be lucky. It doesn't happen terribly often.
00:22:26
Speaker
Well, today is your lucky day, princess! Today will be a joyful joust with judoon.
00:22:44
Speaker
Well, there is an important thing that I would like to share with you that someone told me once. The thing is this. Why guess when you can test? What does that mean? It means that if you have an idea about something or someone tells you something, if it seems like maybe it's not true, do you know it's true? Well, you should see if you can find a way to check. Mother's word is law. Everything she says tells me is the truth. She says so. Well, that would be another thing, wouldn't it?
00:23:14
Speaker
You have kind of blown the little girl's mind. A lot is going on and trying to suggest the scientific method to a seven and a half year old, a sickly seven and a half year old in a fantasy setting is like trying to shove a square in a tiara shaped hole.
00:23:36
Speaker
It's going to be a little difficult. But she says, I don't quite grasp it, but I'd like to see. But you have to promise me something. All four of you, even the no mouth man. What is that? If if if we do go out, you can't leave me. Don't leave me. Never. No, we won't do that. All right.
Library of Gallifreyan Tales
00:24:01
Speaker
But I need to know something. What's that?
00:24:03
Speaker
In your stories, when people get locked in a dungeon, how do they find their way out? Oh, that's easy. There's always a secret way.
00:24:14
Speaker
Sneaky where you have to be sneaky I can I can get to the castle doors and I'll be waiting for you But I dare and leave the castle without without an escort. Those are mother's rules Of course, if you can be sneaky then I'll see you outside. Good luck and she Vanishes into the dark What a sweet little princess. How you like her?
00:24:41
Speaker
I am deeply concerned that the reason that we are stuck at 1030 is because she does not survive past 1030. And her mother's doing everything to prevent her from... Well, that's not important right now. Let's do what we can for the young girl. Start looking for the secret passage. You are at advantage because the princess of this land wished you good luck. Give us an awareness and intuition for the finding of... The auditor is no help.
00:25:08
Speaker
looking at a 16 with a six and a five on the dice. Is this everyone or just 16 is probably enough? The fixer follows his ears to the trickling water. The grate is firmly fixed to the floor and the stones. However, two stones over by the wall, when you're just experimenting and like poking around, one of the stones has give when you try to pry at it.
00:25:38
Speaker
If you wouldn't mind helping with this stone, I think we might have our way out over here. Of course. I'll come help. Give us a coordination since I know you have no strength.
00:25:49
Speaker
This will take the two of you rolling though, since this isn't the best attribute to be using for this. Coordination for the two of you. You're not quite picking a lock, so the difficulty of this thing that is not the easiest to remove is going to be a 15. Can we add athletics in? You can add subterfuge, because this is sneaky sneaky. I'll take it. Ooh, okay. Sitting at a 12 with a six and a one of the dice.
00:26:14
Speaker
I got double ones. Maeve, you are trying to work your fingers around the stone and badly sprain two or three fingers on your dominant hand. You are going to be down a point of coordination for a solid hour because you rolled snake eyes. And Fixer is able to mostly get the stone out. Calamity, would you be able to give him some assistance?
00:26:44
Speaker
I'll hop in. You can give us an actual strength roll, maybe? I don't know. I mean, I don't... Like, you can't have a zero strength, right? No. Two is average for humans, one is the strength of a sickly child, but since the stone has been loosened and pulled partly out of the way, the difficulty falls to 12 instead of 15. Okay, is it athletics for me because I'm using strength?
00:27:05
Speaker
Strengthen subterfuge because you're still trying to sneak and like do something without the guards noticing, which are TikTok and several feet away and not facing you. So you're not at disadvantage. Well, yes, but I don't have subterfuge, which means I'm at disadvantage. Let's take a look at your sheet real quick. Let's get creative.
00:27:23
Speaker
That's what players love to hear. You know what? Throw on survival. Okay. I think trying to escape a dungeon is suitably justifiably a matter of survival. Sure. I forgot the two. So that's a 13 with nothing special. I take it back. I rolled 3d6 and it added them all up. I'm going to do that over. I only removed half of the disadvantage from before. Yeah. Well, the princess wished you luck, so you've got that extra two. Okay. There we go. 13 with a six.
00:27:51
Speaker
Yes, you successfully pry away the stone. Sure enough, there is a crawl way out of there. Thankfully, you guys are not dressed to the nines this time, or larger hoop skirts might be an obstacle to slipping out. Go ahead and give us a coordination or strength as you're gonna be crawling on your arms through a vent-sized tunnel out of the cell. And don't roll snake eyes. No promises.
00:28:22
Speaker
11 with nothing special. We're still getting the plus two from the princess. The good luck was for finding the way out, but I'll allow it. Yeah, that works. So with that extra plus two, we're looking at a 11 with a three and a one on the dice.
00:28:37
Speaker
Three and a six for a total of 11. Okay, 11's all around my goodness. So yes, you guys managed to make your way out crawling through the tunnel. Maybe we can take the princess to the pond and see if she has any solutions for the frog problem. Oh, she may.
00:28:57
Speaker
You emerge from a grate leaving the castle and wind up next to the southeast wall of the castle. You make your way clockwise around and find Princess Matilda waiting at the doorway. She kept her word. She's not allowed to technically leave the castle on her own. And she bounces once on her feet when she sees that you made it out.
00:29:24
Speaker
wave her over. Congratulations, congratulations. She waves her hand. As she approaches, I'm going to whisper to the companions. It would mean a lot to me if we could make this day really special for her. Of course. She looks at the clockwork guards and she says, how does mother says, as you were. And they. And she tiptoes down the pathway from the castle proper and greets you.
00:29:51
Speaker
being sneaky. Am I doing it right? You're doing amazing. Oh, thank you! She grabs Maeve's thumb because that's the biggest thing she can wrap her hand around. Hurrah! Now before we go to the library, I thought we might stop by the pond. We all saw a frog there earlier and we thought it might be cool to see if it's still around.
00:30:13
Speaker
Oh, I might like frogs. I don't know. I've only read about them. Let's go find out. We'll leave if you don't want to be there. Do you know Nigel the gardener?
00:30:22
Speaker
Nigel. I've heard mother say the name, but I don't think I've, perhaps in a dream once, I might have dreamed of a Nigel. She dismisses it. You guys arrive at the pond where, sure enough, the frog is still hopping delightedly around the pond.
00:30:57
Speaker
Frogs are well it seems inoffensive as far as frogs go It's very fond of the pond or there's a rule might be a rule
00:31:07
Speaker
Are there any rules about frogs? I only know frogs from books. Is he a prince in disguise? Maybe. How would you know? That's the thing. It's really hard to tell. Because of the... I mean he doesn't have a crown that we noticed. No. Maybe you could ask him. Froggy!
00:31:28
Speaker
Froggy! Callamity, give us an awareness roll, Cebu Play. You're at advantage. This is not a difficult roll, this is 10. 11 with nothing special. The frog catching net is right where you left it. Alright, well if you want to talk to him up close, we can probably just catch him in this net temporarily. He doesn't seem to mind it terribly as long as we don't leave the pond.
00:31:55
Speaker
You're so smart, Calamity. That's such a good idea. Thank you. Catching the frog is easier the second time, especially since you have ingeniously created your own, wait for it to come to you, method.
00:32:09
Speaker
The frog hops around and right into your lap with the hoop of the frog catching net. So, who? Right, I mean, are there any stories about Princesses being able to talk to animals? That seems like a thing. Hello, Mr. Frog. He doesn't say anything, I understand.
00:32:35
Speaker
When I was young, I read a story that princesses kissing frogs, but of course, you don't have to kiss anyone, you don't want to. I've never kissed anyone before, let alone a little frog. I won't get to walk to a life. I don't think so. Calamity lifts the net to Matilda's face. Sometimes, when people are, you know,
00:33:02
Speaker
friends you know they might like they might kiss each other on the cheeks when they are when they are when they are greeting it's a polite thing if you so if you want to be friends with a frog you could try that and it would not be problematic
00:33:16
Speaker
That's an excellent idea. What a lovely suggestion. Miss Ha- Yes? Would you like to be my royal advisor? You're so full of wonderful ideas. I mean, sure. I can't, you know, make any long-term commitments at the moment until we see really what's going on, but certainly for today. Just until 10.30. Oh, well, that's reasonable. But yes, I'm happy to give good advice when I can.
00:33:42
Speaker
She puckers up, Calamity brings the bagged frog over and...
00:33:50
Speaker
There is a spark and a multicolored explosion of smoke that fills the air. There is a crack as the hoop stick flies apart harmlessly. And a man in very green overalls is suddenly standing like between you and Calamity and the princess. And the princess gives a little squeak like, ah, it worked!
00:34:16
Speaker
And this man with a handlebar mustache and receding fair hair looks around and... Don't! Don't! Oh! Oh! Oh! Nigel the gardener, I presume.
The Joust and Winning the Key
00:34:29
Speaker
Yes. Yes, that's me. Where's Daphne? Daphne! Shh. Calm. Lady Daphne is in the whispering wood.
00:34:38
Speaker
But she is still surrounded by worms whose fluids will sap your memory. We will take you back to her shortly, but first we have to take the princess to the jousting ring. She dives into the shed and there it shakes back and forth and smoke starts to emerge through the seams of the boards.
00:35:01
Speaker
as you hear an engine turn over inside the shed as the front wall of it just blasts off as Nigel atop the riding mower-sized tree-up rooter takes off and just... Just don't let the bad yoga juice touch you!
00:35:22
Speaker
Thanks for the warning! And it makes a straight line across the pathway heading southeast and vanishes before it punches a hole in the walled fence and disappears into the trees. All right, well, he's on his way now. He seems to know what he's doing.
00:35:44
Speaker
It's a pity because it seems like that thing would have worked out great in the joust. True. Too bad about the rules. It is against the rules, though. Right. You can't joust on that thing. That would probably be cheating. It probably would. You're right. We should play by the rules. Do you have to bring your own horse to the joust? Or do they... Can you rent horses? How does that work?
00:36:06
Speaker
I don't know. Let's find out. Right. Calamity's sort of vaguely looking around, like, she doesn't see a stable, but if someone had burned it down, that would, you know, be fair play, so. I mean, we've done that before. Can't really, can't really judge. Can't really judge. Huzzah, what a glorious time for a jest.
00:36:28
Speaker
You make your way closer to the jousting tourney and find when you get there a long strip of dirt road divided by a safety bracket where massive horses are topped by equally large knights.
00:36:47
Speaker
in different colored coats of paints on their armor. And as you walk closer, the Black Knight, who has once again donned his rhino-headed armor,
00:36:59
Speaker
is wrapping up a round of jousting with a green knight who is coming the other way in a slightly smaller rhino-headed set of armor, while two nobles, a lord and lady with a rhinoceros head, are standing atop this little dais here and watching excitedly as the black knight rides down the road and smashes the
00:37:27
Speaker
green knife right off his horse and he tumbles into the dirt and there's a
00:37:33
Speaker
from the crowd you look into the stands on the far side of the tourney and everyone in the crowd is dressed in medieval regalia and half of them are very stilted waving and cheering with their ceramic painted faces and the other half just mixed randomly are more judo also in fancy refiner going
00:38:00
Speaker
as the Black Knight mounts the dais and holds the pillow with the key in his hand like and puts it back down
00:38:13
Speaker
And as you approach, there is a chalkboard with a little lump of chalk where you can sign up for the tourney as the Green Knight's name is wiped with a cloth off of the board. And the noble Jadun atop the dais proclaim, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:38:43
Speaker
And the lady Rhinoceros holds up the purple pillow with a shimmering golden key on its surface and puts it back down as the Black Knight
00:38:55
Speaker
up the visor of his helmet and just snorts in your general direction derisively, and then, and swings off while the serfs and his page water the horse and brush it down and get ready for the 1030 joust. Walk over to the chalkboard, grab a piece of chalk, and open my hand towards Maeve.
00:39:23
Speaker
I mean, don't we need armour and a horse and something to jazz with? There are a variety of logistics that should probably be worked out, but I mean, I'm confident that we can. I mean, if we can do it, we should get that key. We don't know precisely how long we have to prepare once you put your name on there, so it might be worth asking a few questions first. Probably, we have until 10.30. Right, but you know.
00:39:46
Speaker
We also have a princess here, and I'd be surprised if the princess didn't have her champion's armor somewhere around here. Rules and all. She tugs on May's hand and asks, What's your favorite color? I always liked red.
00:40:03
Speaker
Who? And she points. What luck! And there is a gleaming, brightly painted, candy apple red suit of armor, exactly Maeve's size, complete with helmet and a feather sticking out of the top of the helmet. And she says, I wish you luck to Maeve. Thank you, Princess.
00:40:28
Speaker
Fixer made calamity. Can you guys please give me an awareness and subterfuge rule of roll, please? Ooh. And if you don't have subterfuge, use intuition. Got a 16 with a six and a five on the dice. I got a 17 with a six and a four. Okay. I got a 12 averages to average. Calamity is looking around and like, yeah.
00:40:53
Speaker
you could start some you could start some trouble here calamities chaos would fit right in with all these you know all these clockwork things going around like clockwork those of you that rolled with a six on the die notice the rhino the black knight has currently has his back
00:41:11
Speaker
to his horse as he is chatting up the crowd and his lady in waiting who is waving a black handkerchief as his favor. All the talk that's been going on of cheating and fixing things. Fixer, you hear a little as your Sonic gives a beat of it is functioning again. Excellent. Break it out, give a quick scan of everything and see what we can pick up.
00:41:45
Speaker
16 with a 2 and a 3 on the dice.
00:41:48
Speaker
You are able to pick up that the crowd is made of the same stuff as the seats they're sitting in. They are all, quote unquote, part of the show. Even that you do? Oh, wow. There is a concentration around the Black Knight, which your Sonic can only interpret as might of incredible strength. And as you're waving it around, you get a similar reading from Maeve's pocket.
00:42:18
Speaker
Maeve, I believe it's time to accept a wizard's help. You mean, take the potion. I'm gonna take it out and look at it and be like, alright, if I turn into some Beam Park mascot... You might, given the rules around here. Really, if you think about it, my strength has been failing me basically since we woke up in that hole.
00:42:41
Speaker
You did see what happened with the big stone in the hole, right? Like, that was a pretty bad failure to drink. Oh, well, that's true. How is your hand, by the way? I'm not very coordinated for another little bit, but I am feeling a bit better. All right.
00:42:57
Speaker
A little swollen. Well, maybe I can just sort of wrap it a bit and help just get through the joust without making it worse. Wonderful. Yeah, I'm just going to tear a bit off of the, like, pant leg of my jumpsuit just to do some first aid on Maeve.
00:43:15
Speaker
Maeve dons the red armor and steps out of the booth, and the sun glistens off of her cherry red armor. Maeve, would you like to spend a story point on intuitions? Yes. You get the distinct impression that being seen, drinking a strength potion before running the joust, if witnessed, could be construed as cheating, so the trick is not to get seen.
00:43:43
Speaker
Is there a way I could have done it before I stepped out? You can absolutely say, oh, I forgot something and step back in.
00:43:55
Speaker
Maeve steps behind the curtain, pulls out the cork, and the potion hits your nose. It smells like sweat and cord rope and the metal of weights being lifted and lowered. You can practically hear the clank ringing in your ears as you lift it to your lips and suddenly feel supplanted.
00:44:21
Speaker
with might. The armor feels tighter across your back and across your biceps. You can't be 100% sure because you're wearing armor over it, but you feel like twice at least as strong as you were just a moment ago. And Maeve emerges again from the changing booth to raucous applause of like,
00:44:47
Speaker
you know, as the Black Knight swings a leg over onto his horse with help from his page. Yeah, well, same to you. In the crowd and
00:45:12
Speaker
from the robots in the crowd, has Maeve ridden a horse before? I mean, I think she's probably had like a couple of lessons, nothing crazy. But she's, she's ridden a horse, but she's not like a horse woman.
00:45:27
Speaker
That's good. Thankfully, since it's not literally your first time on a horse, the auditor and the fixer help you climb onto the horse, calamity, lashing it around the lance so you have an easier time of keeping it in your grip, and the princess
00:45:43
Speaker
pulls another handkerchief out of her sleeve and this one is red so now it looks like the princess is waving your favor as you head for one end of the jousting track. A third jadoon, a squat little thing, steps up with a horn and
00:46:05
Speaker
The Black Knight starts charging at you atop his terrible steed. And if I hadn't, there they are. And he is going to roll to try to unseat you. He rolled a nine plus his strength, and that is what he is galloping towards you atop his steed. I would like you to give us a strength and athletics roll. You have a plus six on the dice, courtesy of your strength potion.
00:46:33
Speaker
So nine plus the rhino's strength is a 14. Do I get plus two from the luck of the princess? From the princess favor, yes absolutely. Like the lance feels like it weighs nothing in your arms and the horse is going right where you want the horse to be going, right down the track. That is a four and a three for 15.
00:46:55
Speaker
15. Beautiful. Beating the Black Knight's 14. You start on his backside with a thud and his helmet is knocked off as he looks completely bewildered in little birds and stars circle around his rhinoceros head. And he falls back unconscious. The Lord and Lady Jadoon nearby shout,
00:47:28
Speaker
As the squat little rhino man offers you a hand to escort you up to the dais to receive your prize as behind you the princess is like
00:47:40
Speaker
I'm going to wave to her as I go up the little dais. Well, I will raise my helm and bow deeply and take the key and then hold it up for the crowd triumphantly.
00:48:13
Speaker
Three cheers for Sir Maeve! Hip, hip, hooray! Hooray! Hooray! And of course, bow deeply to the princess. And she curses and has a little bit of a steadier time this time because she's not overthinking things. Aww. Congratulations, you now have a key to the city. Add one story point, probix. Amazing.
00:48:41
Speaker
The princess's jaw is on the floor, essentially, when you stalk back, when you stride back up with the key in one hand. Your good hand, anyway. And she looks up at you in awe and just says, you're the bravest knight I've ever seen. You're incredible. Well, thank you. You are the bravest princess I've ever met. Maeve, give me an awareness roll, please. Fix her as well. Give us an awareness and time lord roll.
00:49:12
Speaker
Oh, that's a three and a one for an eight for me. You don't notice anything out of the ordinary. It's just it is right out here. Looking at 11 with a four and a two on the dice.
00:49:21
Speaker
That is also not quite enough to notice something that is not a secret. Would you like to spend a story point, please? Yes, please. When Maeve tells the princess that she's the bravest princess she's ever met, you actually see Cloud's heart overhead. Like, ever since the queen had her tantrum
00:49:43
Speaker
and used her powers to snatch the map out of your hand and explode Maeve's jacket into smithereens. There have been more clouds in the sky and the rumblings of doom, but complimenting the princess and telling her she's brave has caused some of those clouds to part and the sky returns to its previous she. Well, shall we go find out what you can do with a key to the city?
00:50:10
Speaker
At the very least, the library seems productive at the moment. It does. That seemed like a good idea. Princess, what is your favorite book in the library?
00:50:20
Speaker
Oh, it's so hard to choose one. I don't know that I could choose just one. You walk her back towards the city and the townsfolk, where they ignored you as the princess is accompanying you and still holding Maeve's thumb as you guys walk along.
00:50:43
Speaker
like they take notice of the princess and they all stop and like little movers on a on a clock at the top of the hour they stop and bow and they curtsy they pay attention to the princess and like do a little number clockwork dance of entertainment staying out of her way you know they're not trying to bar her path or anything but they they do put on some extra flair for her when she's actually present and not just background so that's fine
00:51:13
Speaker
You reach the center of Clockton proper. Look around. The only doors with a lock on it of any size other than the gates, which are wide open at present, is the library. Well, you do the honors, Princess. But you want the just. It's more key. I think it should be you. It is your library, after all. Is it? I'll bet we go in there and there's every story you've ever loved in there.
00:51:41
Speaker
That could be quite nice, you know. I'll give her the key. You give the key to the princess. She holds it up to the door and it slides into the lock like it was made for it. There's a clack and the padlock swings open and falls right off the door with the keys to the inside. Good job. Shall we? Yes, let's.
00:52:04
Speaker
You step into the library proper. The library is dark, musty, and a labyrinth of shelves. All the books in the frontmost stacks are fairy stories. The Black Bull of Norway, Adipose in Boots, the Cyber Nightingale.
00:52:23
Speaker
A thousand and one Gallifreyan knights. The Dalek Emperor's new clothes. All the books here are fairy tales of Gallifrei, or the Gallifreyan version of those fairy tales. Give me an awareness roll, please, everybody, with, uh, intuition. I got a six and a one for a fourteen. Fifteen with a six and a four on the dice. I did not. I got a thirteen also with a six and a one.
00:52:49
Speaker
Fixers 6 and the 15, you, like, as the princess starts flipping through a thousand and one Gallifreyan Knights is excitedly starting to flip through the pages, the Fixer starts, like, looking around, walks further into the library.
00:53:06
Speaker
and deeper into the library until he reaches the back wall, where hangs a tapestry bearing the seal of grassalon, the slightly hourglass shape with curly cues about it. The tapestry is fairly old and tattered, and it hangs blocking a wide portion of the back wall.
00:53:32
Speaker
Is this a common sort of thing that someone would have, or would they only have that if they are part of, uh, Rassilon's family slash house? Time Lord Decor has included the Seal of Rassilon before, but it does not feel like it is just a random thing to you, that it would be here and behind locked doors.
00:53:51
Speaker
Can we pull the tapestry to the side and just make sure there's nothing behind it? You slide aside the tapestry of Rassilon and find a heavy sealed door resting on the far side. Maeve, I wonder if that key of yours really is a key to the whole city, pointing at the lock? There is no lock, it is just sealed. Oh. I'll pick up the key anyways and see what happens because we, and see if it unlocks it or unseals it.
00:54:20
Speaker
As the princess flips through a thousand and one Gallifreyan knights, you head closer to the door and try to find a lock somewhere that it will fit. And if you've ever tried to push together two magnets that are similarly pulled, there is light but benign resistance of trying to access a sealed door with no lock. I'll turn it around and try the other side.
00:54:54
Speaker
That might just work go ahead and give us a coordination and Plus two for the key and subterfuge since you're trying to sneak into something while she's doing that fixer Can you give us an ingenuity and intuition? It's a 5 and a 2 for 14 Opening a sealed entrance would be an 18 a la picking a lock so that does not quite do the job Can I add a story point?
00:55:19
Speaker
Hold that thought. Fixer, what did you get? Which skills am I adding? Ingenuity and intuition. Twelve, with a three and a three on the dice. That is the averages average to ever average. Would you like to spend a story point on intuition? Yes, please. You are in a fairy tale kingdom. There is a sealed door with no knob or keyhole. Traditionally in such stories, doors like this sometimes open to the right password.
00:55:48
Speaker
Calamity, I am facing a door that has on it a tapestry of the rulers, or at least the ruling group of Gallifrey. The door has no lock, it has no handle. What would serendipity direct us to do in a moment like this? Knock. Go ahead and knock. You knock on the portal, it is solid metal. If only it was something as simple as, open says me.
00:56:16
Speaker
The door slides aside. There is light from inside. It is not daylight on the other side. It looks like electrical light on the other side of the door. Step on in very slowly, very carefully. Is the princess still with us? The princess is with you and drops the book on the floor when she sees the door slide open and she hides behind Maeve. I don't, that's the scary room. I don't want to go in there. Have you ever been in there before?
00:56:47
Speaker
In my dreams, it's a sad place. Mother's always worried and sad in there. I don't want, please don't make me go in there. Fixer, I think I shall wait out here with Princess Matilda. Don't worry, Princess. Your brave night will keep you safe, and we'll be back in just a moment.
00:57:04
Speaker
The no-mouth man, the auditor, gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, offers to go into the white room with the fixer. And of course, Calamity is free to come as well. I had presumed, but I'm just checking.
00:57:17
Speaker
You walk in and find a room of futuristic design. Sterile, white, smelling faintly of antiseptic. Looking around reveals an empty med bed. This looks like a hospital room of some kind. There are no other doors out, only the open portal behind you. This place feels the same reality as the kingdom that you have been in this entire time.
00:57:45
Speaker
You're looking around. Fixer and calamity, can I please get awareness and intuition from the two of you? Absolutely. And we are trying to beat a roll of 12, discovering an unsecret fact. 16 with a 5 and a 6 on the dice. I also have a 16 with a 6.
00:58:02
Speaker
Calamity, your background in medicine immediately clicks of hospital room. This is someone was sick here, someone stayed here long-term as the fixer finds, just poking around, finds a binder, not an old tome, not something written on thread-borne paper, but an actual binder made of modern materials for a single patient.
00:58:29
Speaker
a little girl named Matilda, all of seven and a half years old. What you're able to learn from the records is that the little girl was terribly sick, and Time Lord Medicine was unable to fix what was wrong. Fixer, can you give me a knowledge roll? This is Time Lord knowledge, so this is me ingenuity and knowledge plus two for Time Lord. You got it.
00:58:55
Speaker
19 with a 6 in the 4 in the dice. You are able to explain to Calamity, Gallifreans at their absolute youngest are 8 years old when they view the time schism and enter Time Lord Academy.
Virtual Reality Realization
00:59:14
Speaker
and pass through the various processes that a Gallifreyan needs to do in order to become a Time Lord and adopt the ability to regenerate. That is why this little girl hasn't simply just regenerated into a healthier person. She does not have that ability. Time Lord Medicine has not been able to fix what was wrong with a girl too young to be able to do those things. What if I were to build something to allow me to transfer one of my regenerations into her?
00:59:41
Speaker
Incredibly dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. There is no Gallifrean tech in the White Room. It is just the the medbed and the records. I love where your head's at, but something that's drastic in a location where the rules, etc., have not been clearly understood.
01:00:01
Speaker
would be very, very, very dangerous. You're looking through the records and find that the medical notes are from a doctor that signed Daphne. These are CHIM records. After the Time War, the CHIM began working on medicines specifically for Time Lords, and they tested these medicines on Matilda, who in the library proper
01:00:25
Speaker
is still hiding directly behind Maeve's armor. The child physically improved from the treatments but remained comatose and what you're seeing from these records it looks like Makana refused the advice of her physician Daphne and took more drastic measures. From what you are looking over
01:00:50
Speaker
There's material in the notes that Makana theorized that Matilda would be able to survive if she were hooked up to something called the APCN. APCN?
01:01:03
Speaker
The Fixer may be loosely aware of the Time Lord Afterlife that is the Amplified Panatromic Computational Network, or APC for short, also known as the Time Lord Matrix.
01:01:20
Speaker
a virtual reality that the minds and experiences of Time Lords when they expire are automatically uploaded to. The Time Lord Matrix has a number of uses, not the least of which is trying to predict the future or outline of like, well, if this happens, then this will happen. And if so-and-so happens, then that'll happen. And you're looking over the records and realize
01:01:48
Speaker
that the thing that's been obfuscating your Sonic and making it difficult to understand or get a read of this place, you have a sinking feeling in your gut that you might be in some version of the Time Lord Matrix. So does this seem to be like a sub-network of the Matrix, a completely separate standalone section or something that could then be routed back to at least allow other people in the Matrix to visit the Princess?
01:02:18
Speaker
Given your experiences outside and the relative small size of the kingdom, you get the impression this is a separate, smaller, rougher model, a homebrew, if you will, of a program that is not designed for what it is currently doing.
01:02:36
Speaker
Okay. Do the notes say exactly what Dr. Daphne's advice was? Dr. Daphne's advice was to unplug Matilda from life support and see if her own internal vitals would take over as a reflex. Because while she was on physical life support, she was not getting any stronger and was staying in a coma. Oh, this is gonna be a tough conversation.
01:03:00
Speaker
Okay, walking back out, looking very, very sad. Look at Maeve, then look down at the princess. Dear Princess, you have a very important choice ahead of you that could lead to two wildly different adventures where you could experience amazing things. What's that? We could either help you leave this kingdom, but there is a chance it may not go well.
01:03:28
Speaker
and you may not survive. But there is also a chance that we could help you leave this kingdom and you could go on to explore the far reaches of this beautiful reality we all have the pleasure of living in.
01:03:42
Speaker
But I don't understand. This is real. This is my kingdom. This is absolutely your kingdom. And if you prefer it here, I might be able to root something through a TARDIS to allow your kingdom to communicate to other kingdoms out there that would allow visitors to visit with you and spend time with you, new people. But you wouldn't be able to leave your kingdom ever again in that case.
01:04:12
Speaker
I'm sorry. I know this is a very hard choice. I don't I don't know what to do. You hear rumbling in the sky. Thunder clouds rumble louder through the windows over your back. You see the background lights start to fade next to you. The auditor picks up the pad again and taps at the key covered in action lights. This key.
01:04:41
Speaker
he scribbles a outline of a crown above the key. Well, if I'm understanding our wonderful auditor, we may have to head back to the castle to fix this situation. Yeah. Well, I suspect to even have the option of the choice that you are offering will require access, as it were. Matilda, have you ever read any stories about things beyond the sky, about stars? Stars?
01:05:10
Speaker
Stars are something that happens when it's not 10 30 and the Sun goes away and it can be scary sometimes because there's less light But there's a lot of light above the sky When the Sun is not there
01:05:24
Speaker
And all of those nights are places like the sun that sometimes have worlds around them, like this one, only they're all different. Some of them are wonderful and some of them are, some of them are frightening and all of them are amazing.
01:05:41
Speaker
It is a very much bigger land than this one, and it is often dangerous, and there is no one writing that story. It just sort of happens. Everyone is making it up as they go. So things don't always work out, but that means that
01:06:02
Speaker
even more than a place like this. It needs people who are good in it and want to help make it better. So this is the choice that the Fixer is offering you when he says that there may be another place and another life that you can lead. But it is dangerous even if you get there.
01:06:21
Speaker
Even if this were to not allow your sickness to overcome you, that things may still not go right. No one can guarantee that. But I think it's important to try, because that's really what life is, right? It's just trying and seeing what happens. In the tiniest possible voice, the princess whispers to Calamity,
01:06:50
Speaker
I might like to try. Calamity, please add two story points for truly excellent roleplay and connecting, like the earnestness and the sincerity. You have managed to use plain speech, talking with respect to a small child, which is not the easiest thing to do, and you have put an idea in her head that was not there before. She nods.
01:07:20
Speaker
I might like to try if you will be with me. I would be, but we shall probably need your mother's help if you are to do this. So we will have to talk to her and she may be angry and you'll have to be brave if she's going to listen to you. Right. Can you do that?
01:07:40
Speaker
Maybe? Perhaps. I could try to be brave if you will all be with me. I don't know how to be brave on my own. Of course. We're not going anywhere. Trying is all we want. It's all we have, really.
01:07:54
Speaker
You guys step out of the library. Clouds have started to circle and swirl around the castle, complete with lightning crackling here and there. As from the castle walls, you can hear echoing, where is she?
01:08:14
Speaker
And the clockwork people in the square are not moving anymore. They have all stopped. They're not in your way. They are not hindering you. They are not attacking or anything. You have the storm clouds gathering over the rumbling castle and the tree shaking footsteps somewhere in the distance outside the castle gates.
01:08:43
Speaker
as the clockwork guards spring into action and start to swing. The gates closed when the princess says no.
01:09:00
Speaker
No. No. I don't... I don't want to stay in the town anymore. I want... I want to see new things with Calamity and her friends, and brave Sir Maeve, and the Fixing Man and the No-Mouth Man. That is what I want.
01:09:16
Speaker
From that quiet little voice, the gates stop right where they are and are still wide enough open. Overhead, the Queen's eyes superimpose over the storm and narrow on the group of you. Look up, wave. A voice echoes and rumbles across the kingdom. You will not define.
01:09:45
Speaker
We should probably have a conversation. Do you want to do it at a reasonable volume or just this? There is a cyclone. Smoke gathers and whirls and forms a narrow tornado right in the town square crackling with lightning and
01:10:10
Speaker
tornadoes down and when it vanishes again the queen is standing there her fist wrapped around a ring of keys in one hand and a fist rumble rumble rumble
01:10:30
Speaker
There is a chance we could bring your daughter out of here and she could live a full long life. Are you able to accept that your fears may be misplaced in this moment so that we can help? Fears? And she steps closer.
01:10:47
Speaker
There is no greater fear than a parent has for their child. The pain you must be feeling this entire time must be so immense. To have everyone back home tell you that there was no solution? She stomps the ground cracking the cobblestones under her feet. You talk to me about fear! And the lightning crackles and strikes about...
01:11:12
Speaker
feet away from the fixer's foot, leaving a glowing red cobblestone. The gates are still open, and that is when Lady Daphne and the gardener Nigel just walk up
01:11:30
Speaker
to the gateway. Lady Daphne says, They're right. You've done horrible things, taken away our freedom, taken away our choices, taken away our variability to speak, think, but no right. Makana turns on her
01:11:55
Speaker
Have you considered that you might ask your child what she would like? She's very smart and very brave, and she might have her own voice and her own ideas about what she might like to do. The princess, still gripping, white-knuckling, surmaves thumb and says, The night is right.
01:12:16
Speaker
I deserve my own say. After all, I am princess. The cobblestone that was glowing red is replaced with a normal, unstruck stone. The cracks in the ground resettle as if they were never there. And the clouds part in a way that could not possibly be natural because it is still thunder heads over the queen as over your small party the clouds
01:12:42
Speaker
part and leave you in a shaft of sun at 1030. You don't have the right. It's not right to keep my friends here. And you should let them leave, Mother. Fixer and Maeve, can you both give me presents and convince roles, please?
01:13:05
Speaker
You are trying to appeal to the queen. The princess is trying to help, but the queen is... Oh, no. Yeah, that is an 11 on the dice with a six plus her own resolve, which is considerable in this place. So what you are trying to beat is 16. A total of 10 with a three and a two on the dice, and I would like to use my remaining three story points if possible.
01:13:34
Speaker
I got double ones. Maeve opens her mouth to continue to try and persuade because the princess has singled you out as her friend. That's when the queen snaps a finger at Maeve and your mouth vanishes off of your face. You can still breathe normally through your nostrils, but speaking more poisonous words into the princess's ears is presently not possible. You would defy
01:14:04
Speaker
My own kingdom turned my princess against me! No, we would save you and your princess and give you the opportunity to live in the way that you would always want it to. Fixer, you are standing up to this woman.
01:14:22
Speaker
who at this point you know is another time lady. All of her efforts to thwart you, get rid of you, throw you in the dungeon have not worked. And her resolve is starting to buckle. And you notice that the keys in her hand are practically glowing red with energy output as she struggles to hold onto them.
01:14:48
Speaker
Can I try to quick draw my sonic stylus and shut the keys off from a distance?
01:15:05
Speaker
I got a 22 with a 6 and a 5 on the dice. Hang on, I'm just gonna do the Queen's contested. Okay, she only rolled a 7 with nothing special on the dice. You Quickdraw and Sonic the Keys. There is the twisting and whine of metal being pushed past its breaking point and one of the keys on the ring
01:15:30
Speaker
maps and explodes into golden sparks. Maeve's mouth is restored. The auditor's mouth is restored and whatever traces of muck stuck to the Lady Daphne's skirt vanish off of her. The queen did not roll well enough to hang on to the keys after the one exploded in her hand and the keys dropped.
01:15:57
Speaker
Dramatically to the ground, a crack narrow zigzags from the cobblestones splits maybe a foot or two deep out of the village proper and down the road as the queen falls to her knees, just holds her face in her hands as she starts to sob.
01:16:18
Speaker
With the keys out of her control and her emotions in such a state, the wind picks up. Instead of a controlled storm that has been gathering overhead, it just starts wind pounding the square. The wigs fly off of the heads of the nearby clockwork folk and are just simply gusted away as cracks form into buildings around you and even the sky above.
01:16:42
Speaker
The auditor whose mouth has been freshly restored grabs the fixer's shoulder. There are loads to this place. There's always a doorway out of here, but we have to get to it now, or none of us are going to make it out of this. I missed your voice, auditor. Do you have any idea where the store might be? I'd say give us a... Would you like to spend a story point for intuition, but you don't have any left. I spent some older, yeah.
01:17:11
Speaker
I will spend a story point if I can. Oh, lovely. I have some other thoughts. Calamity is going to yell at Daphne over the sound of, you know, the world ending. Daphne is the ogre a manifestation of her illness. Daphne nods and tries to shout over the howling winds and her voice is just drowned
Escape and Matilda's Awakening
01:17:33
Speaker
out.
01:17:33
Speaker
Calamity from everything you've seen here today when the map was still in one piece with the various dots swirling around on it and the memory you have of the ogre's presence being a swirling black hole atop the blackness of the cave mouth.
01:17:53
Speaker
you are 100% certain that you are right of your estimation that the ogre is very much tied to this and could very well be a manifestation of her illness if not just her fears in general. Okay. Good. So, right. Where's the key to the city currently at this moment? Uh, the key to the city I think Maeve still has. Maeve, I need the key! Right now! I'll toss it to her. You toss it. She catches it.
01:18:20
Speaker
Okay, and then basically Calamity is going to start running in the direction of the ogre rumbling, pulling out the sleeping potion that she got from the wizard a billion years ago at 1030. And basically she's just sort of saying to the key,
01:18:38
Speaker
I need to go very fast, also very high. I'm really, really intent on it. I'm not a girlfriend, so, you know, if you could help me out here, that'd be great. I have ten story points. You look down, and Princess Matilda takes your free hand.
01:19:14
Speaker
I want to
01:19:17
Speaker
The ogre approaches the city proper. He is easily two and a half stories tall. Various clockwork people look around in fear and concern as a particular heavy footstep shatters them on their feet. The clockwork people just fall to pieces. The girl squeaks with fear and shouts at the top of her lungs, I'm trying to be brave. I'm trying to be brave.
01:19:47
Speaker
yell back over the storm, take this as I hand her the potion that the wizard gave me in a case where our courage fails.
01:19:59
Speaker
And as I hand it to her, I'm going to say, the wizard made this for me, but I feel like its magic is really meant for you. The princess prides out the stopper, the potion for courage, and stands just that little bit taller. And there is color in her cheeks that replaces the pallor of, like, shaking white leaf fear.
01:20:22
Speaker
the ogre towers overhead and looms and puts its hands on either side of the gates to pry them open as roots from the ground fly up out of the dirt commanded by Daphne who you successfully freed
01:20:41
Speaker
and and snare the ogre's feet and it can't move as it struggles back and forth and it falls to its knees calamity you have the sleeping potion in your hand
01:20:58
Speaker
hurls it with all the accuracy and might that 10 story points can garner as this ogre is snarling and raises a fist to just smash you all into a sticky paste as the bottle falls right down his mouth and
01:21:21
Speaker
He lands Jaws first in front of you on his belly and his head is turned to one side as his mouth is
01:21:31
Speaker
lists open. Fixer, you feel as the fabric of this place continues to tear itself apart, the membrane, like the closest edge of this place that you can feel is not in the forest, it is not behind you in the castle, it is down this thing's mouth.
01:21:53
Speaker
Okay, first go over to Queen McKenna. Attempt to give her a hug, and while I'm giving her a hug, say, you were only trying to do what you could to keep the PPU love safe. I understand that. We have to go now.
01:22:09
Speaker
is kind of broken. Her will, her power, her kingdom is falling apart around you as the cracks deepen and the buildings collapse and crumble. Behind you, the jousting judoon look around in fear as they evaporate. And Maeve and Calamity feel the vice-like grip of Matilda's hands wrapping around their thumbs.
01:22:37
Speaker
We can be brave together. And she tugs on your hands to lead you down the ogre's throat. Is McKenna with us?
01:22:48
Speaker
The queen is being held up by the Fixer. The gardener, Nigel, and Lady Daphne, after Maeve, Calamity, and the princess, trepidatiously enter the ogre's mouth. The tree lady and the gardener are the next to climb in and vanish. The auditor waves quickly and says, Fixer, there's no time! Come on! And gazes you to come with and bringing McConnell.
01:23:13
Speaker
bring the Queen in tow, we go down into the ogre's gullet. Okay. Fixer, Maeve, Calamity, you emerge through a portal of shining white light into a laboratory with bright electric lighting
01:23:33
Speaker
Gallifreyan architecture and a sickly girl strapped to various censors reading her vitals on a medbed.
01:23:44
Speaker
The Fixer and the Auditor pull Makana through the portal as it sparks, gets louder and louder like something horrible might happen before the whole thing just shuts down. You look behind you and see Gallifreyan machinery that has been cobbled together, jury-rigged from blueprints, basically a home from scratch.
01:24:10
Speaker
machinery to build a smaller self-contained Time Lord Matrix. Basically collapses and catches on fire once it has been deactivated. The girl slowly sits up on the bed as Makana collapses to her knees. She pulls off the diodes reading her vitals and she yawns.
01:24:34
Speaker
and looks at the group of you. So, Maeve? Right here. Lady Calamity. The Fixing Man. You were in my dream. What are you doing here? Look at the clock quickly. What time does it say? 10.30. Does it look like it's about to hit 10.31? It beeps. Over to 10.31. Welcome to 10.31. We just wanted to be here when you woke up.
01:25:00
Speaker
Cut to the Fixer's TARDIS. It is a day or two later. Matilda is expected to make a recovery in another couple of months. She'll be strong enough to face the vortex and begin her own process of becoming a Time Lady.
01:25:19
Speaker
Makana has been taken into custody for crimes against the team and counseling. Makana was a part of the Gallifreyan Council. She wasn't at the tippy top, but you are able to learn that she was one of the directors of overseeing the running of the APC network. That's what gave her the idea in the first place.
01:26:00
Speaker
that Sir Maeve was wearing is replaced with their original outfit. The same is for calamity. The leg of fabric that you tore off to bind the lance is back where it was like it was never torn off in the first place. The Fixer's TARDIS is able to scan you all. It is able to discern that there are no lasting, harmful side effects of being physically present in a virtual environment that was not designed for physical things to be in it. Fixer.
01:26:00
Speaker
of trying to
01:26:31
Speaker
Yeah. You and Maeve and Calamity have rescued a princess and saved her from a wicked queen. Brought a kingdom down, but a kingdom made of dreams and power bent into the wrong directions. But you have saved a little girl. You have saved the princess. Calamity, how does that feel? Well, it's a good start.
01:27:01
Speaker
But especially, you know, given that her mother is going to be indisposed for a while, I promised that I would not leave her. They can arrange visits once she's had enough counseling, and they've got time travel, so it'll go by quicker than you might think.
01:27:23
Speaker
Yes, but I promised I would not leave her. So, until she does have someone. She has Lady Daphne. She has Daphne looking after her like a second mother. I just want to check in as the GM. Are you okay? Yes. Okay. I'm not in the habit of making my players cry. I don't mean to. Oh no, that was a beautiful, beautiful episode in many ways.
01:27:45
Speaker
But it is up to her. It is up to her. Can I ask if we could, for the next couple of adventures, simply base ourselves on Gallifrey and then head out from Gallifrey to go on each of the adventures?
01:27:57
Speaker
So that way we are basically staying there and helping Caretake until, you know, she's in a better situation. I am going to say no, not the least of which the Fixer has to follow his own rules. And he is on his semester abroad, which means not going back to Gallifrey, not to mention that Maeve and Calamity have no distinct interest in seeing your home planet.
01:28:21
Speaker
with an entire galaxy out there. But Calamity and Maeve, all of you, have been staying close while Lady Daphne has been running her tests. And when it becomes clear that Matilda will make a complete recovery,
01:28:39
Speaker
She and she started taking walks around the hospital garden and the walks are getting longer every day as her strength returns. She hugs you both tightly. Thank you for being my knight and my advisor in my dream. I don't know that I would have ever woken up without you. Well, you did most of the work, obviously. It's true, you were very brave.
01:29:04
Speaker
I do want you to remember that even though your mother got very angry, and she did very bad things, that she does love you, and I think she did the right thing by accident, so to speak. I think that you getting better
01:29:21
Speaker
was made more possible by what she did, even though it was horrible. Because that's sort of how the world works. That you can always find something good to take out of anything. What is Calamity's favorite color? A solid color. Yeah, that's a trick with Calamity. We're gonna go with chrome. She pulls out a shiny handkerchief. Don't be sad. I'm going to be all better.
01:29:49
Speaker
and she hands you a sparkly handkerchief. Thank you. It is up to you how you feel about your mother, but I want you to think about it, what I said, when she gets better and you see her again. Your very, very wise calamity. And Maeve, you told me to be brave. So Maeve the brave! And she kisses your cheek. Lady Daphne can't resist handing her a tongue depressor, and she dubs
01:30:19
Speaker
both of your shoulders. I name these her Maeve the Break. Thank you, Mr. Fixing Man. Kneel down next to her, pull out one of the communicators, the cell phone style ones, hand it to her, and I'm going to say, we're so proud of you, so incredibly proud of you, and I know that your mother is too. You're going to face them things over the next couple of years that are going to be overwhelming. And in those moments, you can always call us anytime you need.
01:30:49
Speaker
And who knows? Maybe, Auditor, when I graduate, I can take this young hero on as my student. The auditor puffs his chest with a little bit of pride and says, I could think of a worse apprentice, you know, but I'd have difficulty thinking of a better teacher. Gives you a wink. You hand her the phone as Maeve, your pocket reporter, which is sitting on the table
01:31:16
Speaker
where Makana stole it from you after she knocked you unconscious and threw you into a magic kingdom, the Deepadeep. Well. You have an update, your next assignment. Your presence has been requested at the official coronation of Lexi the Seventh as new empress of the Brenese system, sponsored by Snackums.
01:32:07
Speaker
Thank you, thank you, thank you, my lovely players, for joining us today in part two of The Keys to Fairyland. I could not be prouder of you as players. I could not be more pleased with the emotional depths that you guys hit. It was magnificent to watch. I would love, I would absolutely love to go around the table and
01:32:35
Speaker
Give out some wonderful experience points for you magnificent, magnificent players. Kate! Sirmave the Brave, a moniker that may stick. Holy cow, you jousted a Jadoon right off of his horse.
01:32:59
Speaker
How would Maeve report on today's events having survived them?
01:33:08
Speaker
Well, I think Daphne would like to find out more about the specific illness that Matilda had and maybe raise some awareness and encourage other medical experts to research this disease more and maybe find a cure. The disease in question was caused by fallout from the time war.
01:33:29
Speaker
It is one of the unpleasant aftereffects of the entire grizzly business. A number of planets were affected by the Time War that were not directly involved, and the team Homeworld was one of them. And for their efforts in supporting the Time Lords afterwards, they have formed a bit of a symbiosis of mutual benefit. Trying to help each other out. Incredible work though, Sir Maeve the Brave.
01:34:01
Speaker
Hi. Oh well, that's a ring.
01:34:07
Speaker
What does Calamity make of walking around in a fairy tale for a day? I mean, it was for Calamity, you know, it was a it was a fairly slow Tuesday. But the like everything there is, there is good to be found in every experience. And she
01:34:31
Speaker
She found it very novel in a way that is specifically delightful for her. That it is an experience not only that she, you know, has never had before, but one that she had not imagined having. And that's a real gift.
Emotional Impact and Themes Discussion
01:34:48
Speaker
I am so glad. I am so, so glad. Brand. Hi. Yes. Hi. Fixing man.
01:34:56
Speaker
The Fixing Man, hello! What surprised you most about the second half of today's mod? There was a bunch of stuff. Oh, I didn't expect that whole interaction between the mother and the daughter to hit me so deep and so hard, and it did, and it, like, all the feels, all the feels. Yeah, Makana is an interesting NPC, and an example of
01:35:20
Speaker
the worst that can happen with the best of intentions. And also just an example of that Time Lord arrogance. I know best, I know what I'm doing, I'm not going to listen to anyone else.
Game Highlights and Strategy Reflection
01:35:34
Speaker
The result was a mostly working clockwork kingdom that was also doomed from the start. There was no way it was going to sustain, there was no way it was going to last forever, but it lasted long enough to get through 1030.
01:35:49
Speaker
I would like to give all of you two experience points before we head into our penultimate mod of the season, The Crowning of Lexi VII. Brought to you by Snackums! Do any- okay, so now that you've survived the mod and gotten through it,
01:36:07
Speaker
Do you guys have any questions? Do you have any comments? Do you want to share highlights of what each other did out there? Because you guys did some amazing stuff today. Maeve the Brave, Calamity the Wise, Fixer the Fixing Man. I really loved Pandora's suggestion for the door to just knock.
01:36:28
Speaker
That was so wonderful. That's such an on point serendipity idea. They don't have to be wacky if there's an obvious option. Right? You just have to do something. Right? Yeah. I was hoping the princess thumbing through a thousand and one Gallifreyan tales might help since Alibaba and the 40 Thieves is one of those tales. You are not the first team to have a moment of
01:36:53
Speaker
struggle in front of the sealed hatchway before someone says, well, it can't be, it's not open sesame. It can't be open sesame. And that's when the door slides. I was going to try speak friend and enter.
01:37:06
Speaker
Wrong franchise, but I love where your head's at. This mod is as close to a game of King's Quest as you're ever going to play in Doctor Who, where the things you do in the forest impact what you find at the wizard, and the potions you pick up are there for you to figure out and use later.
01:37:28
Speaker
And freeing Daphne by getting the frog kissed means that the roots will be available to trip up the ogre later and cause an effect and cause an effect. And you eyes did everything yourselves. Oh, yeah, it's. I, I, I'm tickled by this mod. I love the the Jadoon. Oh, don't know the choice. Oh, oh.
01:37:54
Speaker
I want to give Maeve Mad Props because I loved the Knightly Protector role that you took on. Sorry, Kate, I want to give Kate Mad Props for the way that Maeve took on this amazing Knightly Protector role for this child who is clearly struggling. And that was really beautiful. It was really beautiful. Thank you.
01:38:15
Speaker
And yeah, like the the fixer like basically being under a bunch of like Tightly lidded stress like because there's the normal, you know there's terrible danger and you know and people are in danger around you and I
01:38:34
Speaker
Like, you've brought some of them into it and you're responsible for everything. And then on top of that, you know, it's like PTSD specifically. And I think that was coming off very well and you did a great job with that. Thank you. I don't envy you the role play choices.
01:38:57
Speaker
But then I'm going to talk about doing things that are going to hurt me inside. There's a certain joy that I now have in every time I come into a situation as the fixer, I really look at calamity as sort of the equivalent of like a spiritual guide for these moments of like, oh, well, the universe is acting in ways I can't possibly understand. So obviously she's going to know the answer.
01:39:28
Speaker
one of the things I love about this game in general not just the specific mod is the chance for and it's not deliberate but there is an opportunity for some catharsis as characters find solutions to seemingly overwhelming
01:39:48
Speaker
problems. There's relief. There's pride in oneself. There's excitement about latching onto an idea that works, that you didn't think would work. And yeah, I almost would have apologized for like
01:40:09
Speaker
traumatizing you guys, with the mother-daughter dynamic amped up to 11 with a ring of magic keys. You are also the first group to sneak out of the dungeon, given that you're also the first ones to get locked in the dungeon, so sorry for the problems with that. A lot of small percentage paths there.
01:40:32
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, I just have to say thank you for the, um, cause you know, this is, this is calamity's, uh, first, uh, uh, first mission as it were, uh, with a fully functioning brain and, uh,
01:40:54
Speaker
Like I I imagine that it might have been throwing some people off because you know She's she's not doing her normal hijinks and like people sort of are leaning in that direction, right? So there's nothing there's nothing there's a calamity shaped hole and you know So they're just you guys are tumbling into hijinks and I'm like thinking all the time which is hard to do with calamity, but but also, you know, I know her pretty well by now, but I
01:41:20
Speaker
But I wanted to thank you for the feeling of that being rewarding, of thinking being rewarding, right? Because I'm just the way I play games. I am always trying to 100% them.
Doctor Who Storytelling and Puzzle-Solving
01:41:36
Speaker
I'm like, where are all the levers that I can pull to make all of this work out and be perfect in the end?
01:41:44
Speaker
And so I was just sitting there thinking quietly for a lot of the time just thinking about all the things we had seen and all the levers that you had offered us and then like feeling them all fit into you know place like puzzle pieces and I was like at the very end I was like oh there yes that uh that is that is a beautiful feeling and it is very hard to come by in tabletop so kudos. I am touched and gratified. I always like
01:42:13
Speaker
trying to put together a puzzle and presenting the pieces in an order that leads you to the next puzzle piece and also makes the last puzzle piece make more sense when you get to it. And I can't think of a more way to jump into that than you wake up in a pit with no idea how you got there, none of your gear, and you know, whoopsie-boo-boo!
01:42:37
Speaker
I am truly touched. Thank you. There's something about Doctor Who, where not only is violence not usually the answer, but the solution can be found inside of the problem. Whether it's hoisting them by their own petard, convincing the people that they actually have their own strength and can be rallied to it.
Emotional Investment and Experience Points
01:42:59
Speaker
Those are both very Doctor Who to me.
01:43:01
Speaker
But we're also throwing in all of the pageantry of the Jadoon and the clockwork folks. And the wizard who sounds a bit like Tom Baker. And the team. But yeah, I'm delighted. I'm so glad you guys all also had fun, had an emotional experience that was positive, and got invested in these characters. That's freaking magic.
01:43:28
Speaker
All of you, please take two experience points, plus a third for the nods that you received from each other. I'm just proud and punch of all of you. You guys have been magnificent. I feel like it would be hard to not raise resolve after this one. Right? This seems like a gimme. One would hope.
01:43:50
Speaker
I think Maeve is going to need to do some jumping jacks, eat some Wheaties, maybe lift a couple weights. Oh yeah?
Listener Thank You and Engagement
01:43:59
Speaker
And finally, to our listeners, another big, big thank you for sharing your precious time with us.
01:44:09
Speaker
If you feel it's been well spent, please share Anywhere But Now with your friends who are looking to enjoy themselves. If you like what you hear, leave a review, rate the show, follow us on Blue Sky and join us on Discord at Anywhere But Now and wherever you get your podcasts.
01:44:26
Speaker
Send your questions, your fan art, and theories if you got them, to anywhere but now, podcast at gmail.com. And don't forget, if you'd like me to run a game of your very own, find me on startplaying.games. From all of us, I'm Casey Jones. There are exciting things to come, my friends. I am so glad you're along for the ride. Thank you so much, and have a great day.