Episode 68 - Brain Freeze

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'll witness much chicanery, tomfoolery, ballyhoo, and if you are lucky, maybe even some monkeyshines. But now, I want to introduce the Prime Minister of Sinister, the Foreman of Fornicating Skyward, the Numero Uno of rolling numero uno, Matthew. Matthew, if you could hang out with any cartoon character, who would you choose? Matt: Hm. That's a hard one. Probab- you said a cartoon character, just any type? Jason: Yeah, any one. Yeah. Manga includable. Matt: Ah, probably be All Might from My Hero Academia. Rebecca: That makes a - yeah, I agree with that. Matt: He just seems like a cool guy to hang out, you know? Rebecca: He does. Jason: Ben! Playing Rell. What clothing item would make you walk out on a date, if someone wore it? Ben: Ahhhh... Natalia: Like visible? Ben: Something with a nazi thing on it? Natalia: That's fair. Jason: Nazi paraphernalia? Yeah that'd do it, that'd do it. Rebecca, who's playing the kind and generous Martle. Would you rather have the ability of invisibility, or of flight? Rebecca: Invisibility, but honestly if I could have any superpower I would want shapechanging. Matt: Ooh. Jason: Boston, playing our favorite shrub Juniper. If you could be an animal, what animal would you be? Boston: A cat. Jason: Natalia, playing Z. If you could kill any fashion trend forever, what would it be? Natalia: Latex. Jason: Fair. Mitch playing Zarial. If you could change your name, what name would you change it to? Mitch: Mm. I don't know. I was almost named Wyatt. I don't know, that's a hard question. Cause - I don't love my name but I also don't hate my name. So, I dunno. I'm gonna have to ponder. Jason: Well, that's probably because Big Dick McGee is already taken, right? Matt: Wow. Jason: No? Alright, back to you, Matt!

Episode Description
The crew plan out how they should meet up the with elders while Z is trying to heal from her ordeal. Little do they know that she's on an adventure of her own.

Summary
Kalara asks if Z will see her father, and Z says she's not supposed to leave, and asks if he can come here. Kalara says no; he can't physically move, because he's dying. It was the price of saving the galaxy a couple years ago. He was also busy saving the galaxy when Z's mother was dying, but he did attend the funeral in disguise. Z agrees to see him if Kalara buys her food first, and leaves a note for Martle. She also asks for a drink, but Kalara looks at her medical records and says no. She gets Z some kind of meat from a street vendor.

Kalara takes Z to a small house. Inside, the refrigerator lowers into the floor to reveal a secret staircase leading down. Kalara presses a panel to deactivate laser beams across the floor. As they go down the passageway, they pass other hallways branching off. Every once in a while they pass other people, who seem busy and don't pay them any mind. They come to a space that reminds Z of Demia's maproom. Another mentaru there tells Z her father isn't doing well. Z shrinks back, becoming more and more childlike. Kalara takes her to a room that smells strongly of disinfectant. She tells Z that he's in a stasis pod, and Z can talk to him virtually or have him come out for a short time. She can activate the communication device with his name: Hadran.

When she activates the communication device, it constructs a hologram of him. His left arm is missing and his face is scarred, and looks like part of it is covered in crystal. He has piercing blue-purplish eyes. At first they seem intense, but soften when he looks at Z. He greets her, and the scene ends.

At Sapphire and Zach's, Martle got food for Z and left, but everyone else stayed to eat. They go over their plans again, and Sapphire tells them about the elders. They have continually ruled that the colony needs to bide their time and get stronger, despite the reports of the scouts. Theran asks about the weak points of the devices, and Sapphire says all the normal weak points of machinery.

Juniper asks Sapphire if she knows anything about her Gaillo heritage. She doesn't, but offers to help Juniper look.

Theran and Zarial talk about what happens if the elders decide to do nothing. They plan for Zarial to be by the fabricator or gravity generator during the meeting, ready to destroy them if things don't go well. Theran will keep a channel open so Zarial can hear the meeting.

Martle arrives at the hospital to find Z gone. She crumples the note and sits on the bed to wait for Z.

Z asks her father what happened to his face. He says crystals aren't as friendly as one would hope. Z rambles about the ring and getting here, and accuses him of not being there when her mother died. He apologizes for never being there for her, but says he watched her from afar and made sure she wasn't harassed too much. His mission wouldn't allow him to stay at the funeral. He wished he could have told her who he was, but what he does prevents him from doing that unless he's dying. If he had reached out, a lot of bad people would know about her. The other Seekers have told him about her crew and their exploits, and he's very proud of her. He also apologizes for not teaching her about her abilities. He asks if she really needed to jump off the cliff to kill the monster, but then admits he probably would have done the same thing. Z asks if he can come out, and he says only for a little bit. Even inside the pod, he constantly has to fight the crystals for his mind.

He emerges, looking a little more haggard than the hologram. Z wants to fix him, but he says it's not possible. Crystals from drones can be destroyed with electricity, but he was cursed by something much more powerful: a Sin. Sins have sentience, and will name themselves. They even believe themselves to have a higher level of consciousness other mortal races. Hadran was able to stop the sin from destroying half the galaxy by creating a nova. Z goes to ask Martle what a nova is, and how to help Hadran, using her NID, but Hadran stops her. He says she can't know about this place, and there's nothing she can do. Z protests, and Hadran says the only way to cure him would be to kill the sin. He doesn't know where it is, but last he saw it was in the Flatador system, home of the Orcs. Z speaks angrily against the Orcs, but he says he was there to save the Orcs, to save the galaxy. The one who destroyed the Gnome planet was already taken care of. The Orcs wanted to stop the war before the Shattered Glass incident. The orc responsible had a weapon that could turn a star into a supernova, capable of destroying solar systems. The sin knew about it and created several zealots to take over the system. The weapon is known as the Nova Generator, and Hadran doesn't know where it came from. He destroyed the weapon, but was cursed by the sin. He has a month out of stasis or a year in stasis before he dies. Z promises to kill the sin and save him. He and Z bond over their shared craving for alcohol, then he goes back in stasis.

Z texts Martle to tell her she's coming back, and Martle leaves it on "Read." Z tells Kalara to let Hadran rest, and that she's going to save him. Kalara tells her the sin's name is Theodore. Z finds a dragonborn at a stall, stirring something smelling strongly of alcohol. She asks for a sample, and he gives her a thimbleful. It tastes delicious, and she recognizes it as the famous Baruti Ale of the dragonborn. She buys a bottle for 20 credits, bags it and tries to hide it under her shirt. She gets back to her room, somewhat buzzed, to find Martle angrily waiting for her.

New Information

 * It seems that the colony has managed to terraform their part of the planet, because there is plenty of vegetation.
 * There are six elders, two per arm of the colony: Military, Agriculture, and Resource Management.
 * The elders have forbidden interfering with the Inquisition.
 * Z's mother was named Papillio, and went by Papi.
 * A renegade warlord of the Orcs blew up the Gnome planet.

Memorable Quotes
Rebecca: Oh man, if only there was some way for Z to communicate instantly with crew and the captain and say she was going to see her father. Mm, gee, what if this was set in the future, where we had NIDs?

Z: What do you know about my mother? You weren't there, and she died. They said you were at the funeral. Why didn't you say hi?

Hadran: There's not much people can do. And, even though - Z: No. We hear that all the time. There's always something we can do.

Kalara: Z? You do know the only way to cure him is to find the sin, right? Z: Exactly! *And she sprints off*