Charity Cannon

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 we're actually doing a special one shot with Ryan here, better known as Master Ryu on Twitch, who we joined up to do a special one shot for Extra Life, a charity organization with uh, what was it again Ryan? Ryan: We are doing it for Riley's Children's Hospital, and the tagline is "Play games, heal kids." Natalia: Great. Matt: And playing with us today, Ryan, why don't you tell us about your character? Ryan: My character is a fire genas- gensai, he's about 33 years old, medium size, about 5'7". If you were to look at him, he has a scar going across his left eye, from, looks like someone tried to slash him and try and cut out his eye, and another one crossing catty-corner from above his eyebrow, across the ridge of his nose. He has an average - he has a lean and muscular sort of build, but if you were to look upon him you would see that the lower half of him is all cybernetics. He has gotten his legs, for reasons in his past, removed, or destroyed, depends on how you ask him. And you see on his arm is a gauntlet of sorts with a little circular metallic plate and along his two cybernetic legs, you'll see what looks like a holster that takes up his entire calf on his right side, and on his other side you see sort of lights of different colors, maybe signifying certain abilities maybe, you don't know, you'll have to ask him, or see what happens when we get there. Natalia: Alright. Matt: Alright. And playing along with us as well is Ben as Rell... Ben: Hello. Matt: And since we're doing a special, and also for the twitch viewers, why don't you tell us about your character, and we'll do it with the other two as well. Ben: Alright, so, Rell is a monk, he is a half elf, you know, medium build, he's got a - his left arm is cybernetic, and he's super pale and he's got white hair, silver eyes, and yeah. Oh and he's got a staff on his back. Matt: And Martle, what about you? Also played by Rebecca. Rebecca: Yes, and you are spared from a pun this day, Matt, but this day only. Matt: Thank you. It's Christmas early for me. Rebecca: No, that just means we're gonna do multiple later. Anyway, Martle appears to be an elf, she has very light pink skin, almost like she's got a sunburn, her hair is like an ash grey, comes to about mid-back, she has a bit of like, cloth, like a headband-ish, across the front portion of her hair, and she has golden eyes, 5'6", has a very large gun. Matt: I think large would be an understatement. Rebecca: She is 5'6" and the gun is 5' so it's nearly the same size as her and I love it. Natalia: Adorable. Matt: And the last voice you heard there was Natalia, who plays as Z, or Zvvr, but it's easier to say Z. Natalia: Z, the greatest of all time, is a forgotten gnome, she will never tell you how tall she is, but it may be less than 3 feet tall, she has bushy black hair, one green eye one blue eye, has a lean stature, is built, and has an attitude to match.

Episode Description
Six months after the events on Cronus, the Crew receive a mission from a Master Ryu on the planet of Mercy. What nefarious plots will the Crew uncover in this special episode of Celestial Expanse?

Summary
Six months after meeting at Starbase Cronus, the crew of the Torog has landed on the planet Mercy to check out a potential contract from a Master Ryu. Theran goes off on his own to earn some credits his own way, and Juniper rushed off to the library, so it is only Martle, Rell, and Z on this adventure.

They meet Master Ryu in his office. It's somewhat cramped and untidy, with equipment scattered around and soot covering the floor. He offers them fuel, credits, and possibly forged items if they help him get his blueprints back from whoever has stolen them. He says it will be dangerous, but he will do everything he can to keep them safe. Z jumps at the offer immediately, and Martle agrees after seeing how powerful Master Ryu appears to be. After a bit of searching on his computer, Ryu deduces that Abaddon Systems has stolen his blueprints, which seem to be his life's work. Furious, he prepares to leave, but there's a knock on the door. A man named Researcher Maxwell has come calling with two pawns, drones from Abaddon Systems. Rell, Martle, and Z hide and Ryu arms himself before letting them in. Maxwell says Abaddon Systems has apprehended his android, 7γR4, or Lyra, who was somewhere she was not supposed to be, and wants compensation for taking care of her. For her return, they want the access codes to her memory banks. These codes would allow them to shut her down and access everything about her. As Ryu considers Lyra his daughter, he fires on the pawns and Maxwell runs away. Ryu and the crew destroy the pawns, and Ryu hacks one of them to find out where it came from.

They exit the building to find Maxwell having car trouble. He manages to get it running before they can reach him, and a car chase ensues. Z throws both her handaxes, one of which falls into the road. They run another vehicle off the road, but safely, and then Ryu gets ahead of Maxwell and hits the breaks, causing them to crash. After many threats, the researcher gives Master Ryu the same location he already had. Ryu hooks the car to his vehicle, leaving Maxwell, and the party continues on.

They reach the location, an unmarked building that has been locked up. Master Ryu takes them to the back door, which is guarded. They rout the guards and take the elevator down. The ride takes an hour, so they do some healing. Z adopts Ryu as her new dad, and Martle invites Ryu to join the crew. He declines, to stay with his shop, but offers his help whenever it is needed.

They find the room where Lyra is held and find a pawn trying to hack her core systems. Ryu is enraged, and the pawn threatens to kill Lyra if he makes a move. Ryu summons a Guardian of Faith in the form of a dwarf with a golden dragonscale beard, which destroys the pawn. The party takes Lyra back to Ryu's shop, where he repairs her using spare parts from the pawn. She plays a keytar in her chest, which annoys Ryu. Ryu pays the crew and refuels the ship, and also gives them the recovered blueprints for the V47-7171, the Valiant Lily or the Lily of the Valley, since that's the flower you'll put on your enemy's grave after you've fired it.

Memorable Quotes
Ben: Can we throw Z into his car?

Master Ryu: You take injury? I immediately stop, I don't know if you hold on to butt.

Master Ryu: You are strong of heart, young one, and I do admire your courage. You will do great things in this life, and I hope to hear of them one day, in song.

Trivia

 * This episode was a charity livestream one-shot hosted by Ryan, and is the first episode with him playing Master Ryu.
 * Ryan says "She must do research" in reference to Matt's character on the Tabletop Champions podcast, Markus, whose catchphrase was "We must do research."
 * Ben rolled a 1 on Rell's CON save without rolling a nat 1.
 * Master Ryu has a -2 CHA modifier.
 * Z lost one handaxe this episode, but it was established that Master Ryu would replace it, unfortunately lacking special features from Master Ryu so as to not break the timeline.
 * After this episode, Master Ryu is alternatively known as Space Dad.