Ep. 5: The Clockwork City, Part 1

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*Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Follow our heroes as they:

GAZE into the camera!

ASCEND the path of Ray Romano!

DIGEST small, venomous creatures!*

## Synopsis

*Read the transcript here.*

When they arrive back in Rhubarb, our heroes discover that the entire town has been frozen in place. They follow a line of the obsidian spiders they released to Sue Strongarm, who is being attacked by the spiders while muttering the name Marv, holding onto a pin with two Ms on it, and reaching towards a picture on the mantlepiece. Realizing that they'd be unable to destroy the spiders without harming Sue, our heroes show her the picture, which is of a group of friends, including a younger Sue. They ask her if they need to find Marv, but all Sue can do is yell "not again" and point at the image of Marv. M.I.S.H.A. looks up the image inthe Datasphere, which is labeled as The Heroes of Navarene, and gets the following names.

* Sue Strongarm
* Marvy Harvey Strongarm
* The Professor
* Aegon Stormbreaker (Leader)
* Mauve Rodirarche
* The Artist Currently Known as Mako

Our heroes ask more questions, but all Sue is able to say is "The Apocrita. Help." She then dies.

Moments later, Xoc feels a stinging pain in his hand as one of the spiders bites him, causing a haze to go over his head, turning his mind foggy, inhibiting all INT rolls, and showing him an image of Sue sitting over the body of a dead body as she yells "No, no! Marv!, No! No! No! No! Marv! No! No! No! No!" Xoc screams, Hop yells "Aargh! Gross!" and offers Xoc his canteen, and Elee stabs the spider with one of her hat pins. Despite rolling a natural 20, Elee is unable to get the spider out of Xoc.

After taking a breath, our heroes find a letter written to Sue from Mako telling her, among other things, to send him anyone who needs healing. Hop grabs the (broken) MM pin that Sue was holding, which the letter claimed could be used to contact Mako, but he can't figure out how/if it would be used to contact someone. Our heroes resolve to take Xoc to Charmonde to find Mako and cure Xoc of the spider poison. They take 20 shins a piece and follow the Jeribost River to Charmonde, a few day walk.

While on the walk, Hopper asks M.I.S.H.A. about their kazoo, which they claim is a magical instrument that soothes negative emotions. While camping at night, M.I.S.H.A. offers to play their kazoo for Xoc, who agrees (despite Hop's protests to the contrary). M.I.S.H.A. plays a stirring rendition of My Heart Will Go On, healing Xoc's INT while harming Elee and Hop's.

After a few days, our heroes make it to Charmonde and, after an aside where the players realize that Scrat's name is just a combination of "squirrel + rat," they're stopped by a disgruntled, mustached Gendarme soldier named Don. Don insists on inspecting Elee's hat, and Elee spitefully starts giving him items from her hat, starting with the dead rat. Don grows frustrated and insists on taking Elee's hat, but Elee refuses to take it off and give it to him. Hopper and Xoc start asking Don questions (in particular, why he's so suspicious), and Don eventually grows so frustrated that he lets our heroes pass.

Once in Charmonde, our heroes ask a tour guide for directions, but the tour guide guilts them into attending the full tour, as no one is allowed to take the tour until all spots have been filled. While on the tour, which has an alarming amount of praise for the city's queen, Hopper scribbles a map of the city, and our heroes learn that Charmonde has a defense system that can lock down the entire town, preventing anyone from getting in or out. They also learn about the Gendarme, a police force that grapples throughout the city. The tour guide points out the queen's palace, mentions that the queen will meet with anyone who visits the palace, and drops our heroes off at a shopping district.

Before leaving, M.I.S.H.A. asks the tour guide where Mako is. The tour guide reveals that Mako has been imprisoned, although she doesn't explain why.

## Trivia

* This episode marks the first use of an original song, as Kyle couldn't find anything that fit the nostalgic Stardew Valley vibes he was looking for.