Episode 60 - My Captain

Intro
Jason: Hello and welcome Celestial Expanse, a real play D&D podcast set in the Celestial Expanse universe. My name is Jason, and I'll be playing everyone's favorite heretic elf, Theran. Tonight, you will witness much chicanery, tomfoolery, and if you're lucky, even some jiggery pokery - Rebecca: Ooh. Matt: What? Jason: - but now I want to introduce the Prime Minister of Sinister, the Foreman of Fornicating Skyward, the Numero Uno of rolling numero uno, everyone's favorite neighborhood GM, Matthew. How are you doing tonight, Matthew? Matt: Alright but I'm kinda curious, what the heck was that last part. Jason and Rebecca: Jiggery pokery? Matt: Yeah. I've never heard that before. Jason: It's like skullduggery. Rebecca: Yeah. Jason: And shmozzle. Matt: Huh. Rebecca: Yeah. Matt: Interesting. Jason: Ben playing Rell. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Ben: Uh, that depends, is a hamburger a sandwich? Jason: I'm asking the questions here Ben. Ben: Now I'm asking the questions. Matt: Hmm. Jason: Rebecca! Who's playing the kind and generous Martle. What's the difference between a broken bone and a fractured bone, Rebecca? Rebecca: Uh, one is just a little break, the other one's big break. Matt: Yes. Natalia: Wowww. Jason: Ask Rell. Rebecca: I don't need to ask Rell, I have had a fractured rib. It hurt. Matt: 39 broken bones. Jason: Boston, playing our favorite shrub Juniper. Which body part do you wish you could detach, and why? Boston: Um, the pinky toe. Jason: And why? Boston: Because it always hurt. Jason: Natalia! Boston: And stub the most. Jason: - playing Z. What's the largest lake in Russia? Natalia: Uhhhhh... the largest lake? It's not a sea? Jason: Largest lake. There are seas, I'm asking about lakes. Natalia: Uh. You know what? That's a great question, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that. Jason: Mitch! Playing Z-rial. What was Bob Marley buried with Mitch? Mitch: Man I don't know. Rebecca: Based off of the questions he's asked you previously I'm gonna say weed. Mitch: Probably weed, yeah. Maybe his favorite pipe? I don't know. Jason: His guitar, a bible, and some cannabis. Mitch: I don't know, I'm gonna google that, just so I know. Jason: It is. It is. Matt: What is going on with these 20 questions? Jason: His guitar, a bible, and some cannabis. And the largest lake in Russia is Baikal. Back to you Matt! Matt: I'm confused, but okay. Rebecca: Just accept it and roll with it. That's what you've gotta do with Jason, just accept it and roll with it. Jason: You gotta notice the theme, you have to notice the theme, Matthew. Matt: Mhm. And speaking of rolling with this, *clatter of dice*. Rebecca: Nooo, he's got real dice. Jason: It was a one. Rebecca: Was that a one? Jason: It was a one. Matt: No it was actually a 4 on a d4. Rebecca, Ben, and Jason: Ooooh!

Episode Description
The crew must face a hard decision and find out what has happened to Jörmungandr.

Summary
The episode opens just after the crew activated the Catalyst and Jörmungandr screamed. Theran goes to the room down the hall and starts rummaging through boxes. As he does so, he says "Nathaniel," and finds himself back in Nathaniel's office. Theran asks him for guidance regarding the Catalyst activation, and Nathaniel tells him a bit more about the Junari Star Empire. He gives Theran a monocle, which he can use a few times a day to see if it's someone's time to die. Theran thanks Nathaniel, and finds himself back in the storage room, with no time having passed. He goes back in the hall and looks at Rell through the monocle. He has a fluctuating aura, sometimes seeming as if anything could kill him, and sometimes seeming invulnerable.

The crew goes back to Jörmungandr and see Amethyst's graffiti on the wall just inside the door, which says, "Thanks for the wake up call". Martle runs into some of the pirate crew, who tell her what happened. Juniper goes to the brig and finds the cell empty. She finds a black feather on the ground and takes it back to Martle. A young dragonborn pirate takes Martle and Juniper to the AI memory suite. They see a holographic monitor with dissipating clouds, revealing a small draconic face, slowly being eaten away. Juniper tries to stop what seems to be an ancient virus, but can only slow it down slightly. Jörmungandr says Amethyst used his own poison against him, and Martle asks if she can reconnect with Jörmungandr. He doesn't think she can, and Martle tries to cast Lay on Hands through the monitor. Zarial comes and helps Juniper. She finds that the damage is almost irreparable, but if she saves the main line of code on a separate hard drive, she can maybe rebuild Jörmungandr. Theran looks at Jörmungandr through his monocle. The aura is very shaky, like it's time for him to die, and then gets stronger when Juniper inserts a hard drive. Jörmungandr's hologram collapses, but Juniper has him on the hard drive, with a tiny image of Jörmungandr showing.

The pirates ask Martle what to do. She says she'll contact the dead's families, and tells them to put the bodies in the morgue. Theran offers to help. Rell asks if they can put Jörmungandr in the drone next to the Catalyst. Martle knows it's too small, but now that he has been so diminished, he could fit in the Talon on the asteroid, called the Witness. She and Rell race to get to it before Amethyst, while Theran gets to work in the morgue and Juniper, Zarial, and Z try to eradicate the virus. Theran lobotomizes the bodies so they don't turn into zombies.

It takes Martle and Rell a couple hours to get to the Witness. They find it with the lights on, and as they approach, Amethyst steps out from behind it. They bicker more about the Junari, and then Martle and Amethyst fight over the Talon. As they do, Rell runs to the Talon and inserts the hard drive containing Jörmungandr. Amethyst screams in rage.

New Information

 * The Junari were very good at making weapons.
 * The Junari made Theran's current bow, which borrows energy from the future.
 * When the gods were at war with the Junari, the Junari gained the ability to see when it was someone's time to die, masking Nathaniel's sight. When their power waned, his returned.
 * Amethyst claims he was biding his time in the cryochamber, because the other races in the Junari empire thought they should let the Mentaru have their rebellion.
 * Amethyst says the Witness was made specifically for him, though it's unclear whether he means specifically for junari or specifically for him.

Memorable Quotes
Nathaniel: I'm not a science guy. We have somebody named Bill that does that.

Rebecca: I don't remember, I'm stressed.

Jörmungandr: I ask you to let go my captain.

Trivia

 * When Zarial helped Juniper with Jörmungandr, she got advantage and got a crit.
 * Rebecca rolled 2 short of max damage on Martle's hellish rebuke against Amethyst.
 * Martle ended the episode with 6 hp.