Riptide Episode 42: The Serpent

> *INSERT DESCRIPTION OR QUOTE HERE IN SOURCE EDITOR*
>
>
>

## Summary

A sea serpent attacks the party, to which Gillion offers the Luxbris Pearl. It eats the Pearl and talks with Gillion, who learns his name is Dugon. Afterward, the party arrives at Edison Kingdom.

## Episode Events

The episode opens as a sea serpent attacks the party and the Grandberry Pirates. Jay wakes up. She tries to see if the serpent has kind eyes, but it just wants to eat them. Lizzie wants to cut their ships apart and lure it away, but Chip says it’s better to fight it together. Gil realizes this is one of the titans of the undersea. Gil gives it a barrel of fish to eat, but it eats Chip. Jay tells it in Primordial to spit it out, but it responds in kind that it doesn’t drop what it has already eaten.

Lizzie leaps onto the ship and casts Command on the serpent to regurgitate Chip, but it doesn’t work. Gil Commands it to "borf" and that works. Gillion doesn’t want them to hurt it because it’s a sacred creature. He jumps on it and whispers to it that they should go find something better to eat together.

The sea serpent tells him that he senses that Gillion carries something from a different plane. If Gillion gives it to him, he will leave. Gillion responds that it would be his honor to return the Luxbris Pearl back to the sea, and feeds it to the sea serpent. It leaves with Gillion on its back. He asks it not to eat more boats, and it says that the Pearl will satiate it for a very long time. Gillion asks his name, and learns that the serpent is called Dugon. Gillion hopes they meet again.

Caspian thinks it’s okay that they fed Dugon the Pearl because Gil had a formal education and probably knows more than him. When Gillion comes back to the surface hours later, he keeps bragging about his best friend Dugon. Chip goes to check on the sick people on the Crescent Moon but can’t help them, so he brings Gil. Chip is surprised that Gil knows all the sick people’s names. Gil explains how one of his duties is protecting the ecosystem and the balance of nature. Chip asks him why he keeps helping people, and Gillion says that it is because it's his destiny.

Chip wants to learn how to heal people too. While Chip is trying to heal a kid named Tobias, Gil discreetly casts Lay on Hands, making Chip believe he did it himself. Gil immediately tells him it was a prank after Chip gets excited and tries to heal everyone else. Chip is surprised by this development, and hugs him. Lizzie interrupts the two, yelling at them to get off of her ship. In the meantime, Jay successfully fixes some of the damage that Dugon inflicted on the Albatross.

Both crews retire for the evening, and are finally able to get a full night's rest.

The trio discusses whether they should fix Ollie or save Marshall John first, when they suddenly realize that they have been using a blank sheet of paper instead of a map. Chip and Gill debate the merits of seeking out Niklaus for help with Ollie's condition. When the crew decides to save John first, Chip suggests that Jay use her Ferin name or a disguise to sneak into the Navy prison. Jay is scared to make that risk, and Chip says they don’t have to if she’s uncomfortable. Jay also mentions that she remembers little about the layout of the prison, but notes that they would have a difficult time approaching the island itself due to its heavy security. After hashing out a barebones plan for their jailbreak mission, Jay sneaks onto the Crescent Moon and creates a badly drawn discount version of Lizzie’s map/

Chip tracks down Lizzie to ask if she’ll help them save John. He knows that John is just one man, so he tells her that there are lots people in the prison who would be willing to join the Grandberry Pirates' army. Lizzie says she needs John too, so she’ll assist them in raiding the Navy's prison. Lizzie whispers to Chip that this could be a trap, and going to the Navy prison might be exactly what Jay wants. Chip insists that Jay wouldn’t betray them, because she's risked her life for the Albatross' crew so many times. He says that a great captain once told him that being part of a crew means being willing to die for each other. Lizzie points out that his crew doesn’t trust him, but Chip responds that he trusts them anyway.

Lizzie refuses to take the sick and injured people from Joaldo to the Navy prison, so the two crews decide to drop them off in the Edison Kingdom before going to rescue John. The Edison Kingdom is located on the largest landmass in the Southern Ocean, which it also rules over.

Arriving at Edison Kingdom, they enter the port, and are met with a brightly-lit steampunk city. It is considerably larger than any other city that the Albatrio have visited so far, so they decide to stay a day or two longer to explore.

## Transcription

A Google Doc of this episode's transcription is not currently available.

Transcriptions are made by pistolwaltz and their transcription team on Discord.