Whispers from the Heart - Chapter Two

> "*We should not have split up. I get it now. I'm worried for everybody.*"
> ― Londyn Bradshaw
>
>

**Beauty Rest** is the fifty-fourth episode of Queens of Adventure. In it, the queens return to a seemingly peaceful Golden Palace, but something seems amiss.

## Synopsis

Cher Noble patrols past the Three Fingers Inn where Barb stands outside. Barb wonders what is up at the palace, and doesn't seem convinced by Cher Noble saying all is quiet.

The party, upon returning to the Golden Palace, have split up. Londyn remains on the beach with new ally Alighieri. Fraya and Gnomi have taken their new merfolk allies into the water intake pipes leading to the casino aquarium that are suspiciously damaged. Meanwhile Butylene and Arson have entered the casino.

Looking around the casino floor, Butylene looks towards the aquarium in the center, but a crash from the buffet (caused by Jim-Jim and Sir Throbardon) distracts her. As things are quiet, the duo head upstairs for a long rest.

Londyn lies on Alighieri's back and asks for a story about the Ice Scepter, but Alighieri only knows another story. Londyn next asks what other powers Alighieri has and if his shell could store their crab army (King Crab is hanging out nearby). Alighieri assures he does. Satisfied, Londyn dives back down to the ocean floor where the seaweed is still pointing towards the Golden Palace. She smashes her fists against the ground, persuading the seaweed to begin pointing in a different direction.

In the pipes, Fraya leads their group into the aquarium cautiously. Mystie finds the space nice, until they notice a large number of sharks. Fraya begins singing 'Baby Shark' and the sharks all turn to look at her. She swims away through the pipes singing and the sharks follow her. As she exits the pipes, she boops the lead shark on the nose and casts *light* before ducking below the beast as it swims by. Once all the sharks have exited, Fraya heads back in and uses *mending* to repair the grate. The sharks begin to swim in a big circle.

Up in their suite, Arson and Butylene relax. Karin steps out of her room and welcomes them back and asks if Patrick was helpful. Realizing she doesn't know, Butylene (eating popcorn) and Arson tells them about his actions and how they put him to sleep in Belfry's office and left a note. She flees and the others follow to the elevators.

Londyn tells Alighieri that she saw a glowing shark. The water circles and churns. The spiraling whirlpool rises into the air as a sharknado, which catches Londyn up in it.

Fraya and Gnomi check on the panicked merfolk but can't quite calm them down. Gnomi suggests checking in on the vault, but Fraya refuses to let him. She decides only her, Butylene, Arson, Belfry, Ramshackle, and Rigo (maybe Londyn) will be allowed to check on it. First they will go to Belfry's office to check on Patrick, and casts *command* to make Gnomi follow her. Surfacing up there, they find Patrick asleep on the floor as Karin, Arson, and Butylene come in.

Outside, Londyn is being carried by the sharknado until she casts *destroy water*. The water bursts away, shooting sharks all over the ocean and beach. Londyn lands near a confused Cher Noble. The paladin declares Londyn (in centaur form) a threat. Londyn tries to flee, but dizzy from the sharknado she falls into a trench near a shark. Seeing Cher Noble raise a fist, Londyn tries to explain she is friends with the other queens to save herself.

Up in the office, Karin and Fraya kneel at Patrick's side as Fraya wakes him up. After hearing the queen's story, Patrick thanks them as he realizes now that if she hadn't stopped him, the Kracken's influence would have made him turn the Golden Palace into a new altar. Patrick and Gnomi still insist they check on the heart. Both say the heart doesn't have a hold on them, but they can sense something happening. Butylene can see both of them are swaying and breathing in unison. The group debates and decides Fraya and Karin will stay with the two who the heart influences, and Arson and Butylene will go down to the vault.

Back out on the beach, Londyn continues to keep Cher Noble from attacking. Her stammering convinces Cher Noble only to attack the shark, exploding it. She offers a hand up to the shark gut covered Londyn. As soon as Londyn is on the sand, she turns and flees again. Surprisingly, she beats Cher Noble (who slips on a shark) to the Golden Palace. She darts into the all-gender bathroom near the bar, managing to be unseen by Cher Noble. Various people in the casino wonder who the centaur was, as Cher Noble's scans picks up something and breaks off to investigate.

The elevator doors part on the basement floor near the vault. Butylene and Arson can hear faint music. As Arson recognizes Baby Shark, she touches Butylene and casts *invisibility* on both of them. They see the constructs (Gender and Time) standing sentry by the vault doors, but they see barnacles and seaweed sprouting around them.

Back up in the office, Gnomi shakes out of command. He and Patrick explains their research revealed to make a new conduit to the Kracken one would need abyssal ichor (found in Kracken Priest Hearts), use it to consecrate an altar, bind the dead to the altar with a ritual song, and then the will of the Kracken would flow through the altar. Fraya panics as she realizes they put the Heart in the vault next to the Portable Party Altar surrounded by singing ghosts. Patrick says he hopes no one is issuing commands.

Fraya charges to the door by the desk into a bedroom. Belfry is lying in bed wearing her ceramic mask

In the bathroom, Londyn uses *wild shape* to drop her centaur form and back to her firbolg form for the first time since joining the party. She wipes the guts from herself as Liir knocks on the door to check on her. Londyn steals a leather jacket from the bathroom before leaving. She heads to the theater to steal a costume when Cher Noble stops her and asks her if she had seen anything suspicious. The firbolg fails to deceive Cher Noble, repeatedly, even with the fake name Paris Manshaw. Cher Noble's grip prevents Londyn from fleeing, and carries Londyn under her arm towards the basement. As sounds of baby Shark reach their ears, Londyn panics, turning into a parasite that slithers under Cher Noble's armor.

Down by the vault, the pair of queens decide to head back when they hear a child's voice singing.

In the office, Fraya removes Belfry's mask, shouting 'Where are the kids?'. Belfry's face has a pale silver light but is sunken and scaly and wet. Sneering, she slams the mask back on and demands to know why Fraya is here. Fraya tries to back peddle, but fails. A silver aura surrounds Belfry. Fraya tries to flee, but Belfry grabs her. Fraya admits that the Kracken Heart is being sanctified right now in the vault. Belfry throws her across the room, then asks why Fraya asked where the kids are?

Cher Noble (with a resting Londyn inside her armor) approaches the vault. Invisible Butylene grabs Arson is shock as they recognize Jo's voice. They back away as Cher Noble arrives, confused by Londyn shouting hello inside. The other queens go up next to her and whisper in Cher Noble's ears, and identify themselves to her. The queens tell her they think the kids have created a Kracken Altar inside. Londyn speaks up and Arson confirms she is a friend. Cher Noble asks if they have seen Chaz. When the queens haven't, Cher Noble charges the vault door.

Inside, they find blank faced ghosts singing Baby Shark, and moving in sync. Near the altar is Jo, smiling broadly. Lying on the altar is Chaz. Cher Noble's eyes turn red.

### Characters

#### Party

* Arson Nicki - drider warlock
* Butylene O'Kipple - tiefling alchemist
* Fraya Love - water genasi cleric
* Londyn Bradshaw/"Paris Manshaw" - furbolg druid

#### NPCs

* Cher Noble
* Barb
* Alighieri
* Gnomi Malone
* Jim-Jim
* Sir Throbardon
* Mystie Seaport and other Merfolk
* Karin
* Patrick
* Liir
* DJ Cyberpreppy and the Woo Ghosts
* Belfry Ramshackle
* Jo Ramshackle
* Chaz Noble

## Episode Notes

### Lore

* To create a conduit to the Kracken, one needs abyssal ichor to consecrate an altar, dedicate the dead to it, and surround it with music.

### Inspiration Earned

* Londyn - redirecting the seaweed away from the palace - given by DM Matt

### Memorable Quotes

* "I'm going to... Shit!" - "You're going to shit?" - "Not wholly inappropriate given what's going on!" - Fraya Love, Butylene O'Kipple, and DM Matt
* "These sharks are *LIT*!" - Butylene O'Kipple
* "Karin steps out in her nightgown." - "She wants to speak to a manager!" - DM Matt and Londyn Bradshaw
* "The *fuck* is that?" - Cher Noble
* "Ya know, one of those merry-go-rounds that goes fifty miles an hour?" - "And has sharks" - DM Matt and Butylene O'Kipple
* "I find a piece of popcorn in my bra and I put it in my mouth and I'm like 'you're welcome.' " - Butylene O'Kipple
* "I'm friends with Butylene, Londyn, and Fraya. I mean I'm friends with Butylene, Londyn, and Arson." - "You're friends with yourself?" - Londyn Bradshaw and Butylene O'Kipple
* "We're heading down to the basement at two in the morning to find an evil Kracken Heart, am I reading the situation correctly?" - Arson Nicki
* "There's not even a roll for this. This just automatically fails." - DM Matt
* "Sharknado, bitch!" - "That's a very clever portmanteau." - Londyn Bradshaw and Cher Noble
* "I love being inside cops." - Londyn Bradshaw
* Labyrinth - the worm

### References

* "Mission Accomplished" banner of George W Bush's presidency
* Sailor Moon (and the edited Sailor Uranus/Neptune romance)
* Naruto
* Sharknado
* Posh Spice - Spice Girls/Spice World
* Harry Potter - "Trolls in the Dungeons!"
* Little Mermaid - Sebastian shaking Skuttle
* Clue "Flames on the side of her face"

## Behind the Queens

This episode was recorded in January 2020, after a several month break in recordings.

This episode marks two firsts for Londyn in the main story: It is her first time receiving inspiration and the first time she appears in her firbolg form.

To confirm her identify, Arson talks about the time she meditated in Cher Noble's Watersport apothecary hideout.

During an unusual mid-episode break, DM Matt announced the new spinoff podcast, Queens of Adventure: Legends, to release in March 2020, as well as a slew of live shows coming that month.

**Greetings From Fire Island**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Show Must Go On**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Operation Watersport**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - Ch7 - **Trials**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Ghosts of the Coast**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Devil's Due**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Special**: The Story So Far
**The Beautiful Place**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **A Dance in the Dark**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Drama in the Deep**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **Whispers From the Heart**: Ch1 - **Ch2** - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Danger Rangers!**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Mist Connections**: Ch1 - Ch2
**Unreleased**
Lost: Camp Crystal Light - Pax West 2018 --  vs the Lizard People
Live Shows: Seattle Style -- Minneapolis Style