Episode 8 - Friendly Crystals

Intro
Matt: Hello and welcome to Celestial Expanse, a real play D&D podcast set in the celestial expanse universe, my name is Matthew, I'll be your DM for the night, and playing with me today is Ben, playing as Rell... Ben: Hello. Matt: Jason, playing as Theran... Jason: Hola, mi nombre es Theran, soy el elfo guapo. Rebecca: What? Matt: Uh, did somebody turn on the captions? Rebecca: I did not get any, so I don't think so. Jason: You guys don't speak Spanish, you gonna throw that out there, no? Rebecca: No hablo español. Matt: No hablo español. Ben: He said something about handsome. Jason: I said my name is Theran, I'm the handsome elf. Ben: Okay. That was the word I didn't get, I don't know elf in Spanish. Matt: Mm. And Rebecca playing as Martle... Rebecca: I'm dogsitting a dog, so there may be dog snoring in the background! Matt: Yay. He sounds adorable. Rebecca: *giggles* Matt: Uh, Boston playing as Juniper... Boston: Get heckin' heckled. Matt: And Natalia playing as Z. Natalia: *something in Russian* Rebecca: What? Matt: What? Rebecca: Somehow I understood that even less than what Jason said. Matt: Was that... Russian? Natalia: Yes, and hello. Matt: Euagh. So, how's everybody doing today? Jason: Good. Boston: Am sleepy bean. Jason: She's always sleepy now. Natalia: I just had to shu- very good, very good. Ben: Pretty good. Rebecca: I'm dogsitting, so I'm great.
 * laughter*

Episode Description
The Crew go deeper into the cave system and see before them wonders never seen before. What horrors are there in the shadows?

Summary
The episode begins with Juniper opening a hidden steel door to follow the tracks of the archeologists being dragged off. It reveals a corridor with lights that turn on as they enter, and walls that soon become smooth, clearly artificially carved. They come to a giant underground city with towers that seem to be holding up the ceiling, buildings made of melded crystals and machines, and a hydropower system. There is no sign of life or power, except for a tower in the back with a lit beacon on top. Juniper follows the drag marks towards the city, leaving the rest of the party behind. Z takes a specimen of bioluminescent fungus.

Theran hears a thump and the thud of a body falling, and the party realizes Juniper is missing. They follow the trail of Juniper being dragged by a creature with large, flat, circular footprints. Juniper, meanwhile, has been immobilized and captured by a creature that seems to be a crystal suit encasing one of Arula's teammates, whose face is contorted in anguish. Juniper is taken to a capsule, stabbed with a needle, and locked in. Crystal starts to spread from the needle, covering her skin. Arula is in a similar capsule across from Juniper, almost entirely covered in crystal.

Theran follows the trail to a building that has linked up to the hydropower system. He attempts to disarm a crystal trap on the door, but activates it instead. Martle pulls him out of the way as the crystal explodes, smudging her makeup in the process. Theran notices the skin underneath is a different color, and helps cover it back up. They enter the building, which has more explosive crystal scattered across the floor. Z takes one, and feels it pulse like a living thing. Theran follows a trail of needle-like scratches on the floor, and a very low hum gets louder as they progress. They make their way through another trapped door into a room with blood on the floor and people in cryopods, some of whom are covered in crystal. They see Juniper in a pod, part of her arm covered in crystal, and fully crystallized humanoids getting up to face them. Arula is banging on the door of her pod, trying to get Juniper's attention. Juniper is in too much pain to notice, and hears voices in her head saying she will become one of them. Another capsule opens and releases a man covered in crystal. He screams "Get them out!" until his mouth is completely covered, and his eyes dim. A new mouth opens in the crystal, and screams. On this signal, the rest of the crystal humanoids charge.

Memorable Quotes
Jason: Is it one of those ones, those calculator watches, from when like Ben was a kid? I bet you - Natalia: Yes! Jason: I bet you money Ben had a calculator watch. Ben? Ben: I did not have a calculator watch - Jason: Whoa! Ben: - I wished I had a calculator watch. Jason: He wished, okay that's fair. Matt: Joke's on you, I had one.

Boston (singing): I just did a bad thing! Rebecca: Good job. Boston (singing): I regret the things I did!

Trivia
This is the first episode in which Arula appears.