April 7, 2025 • 41 mins
I Should Roll: Ride of the Valkyrie, Episode Eleven
Ghost in the Sphere
The crew of the Valkyrie is fighting crystal balls that house long-dead souls. It's not going well.
cast, in order of vocal appearance:
Kaya Renwick - Narrator and NPCs
Leah Ryan - Bean Gainian
JD Kelly - Kache
Hunter LaPaglia - Carver Fairbank
Chase Hutchison - Gratch
Ché Grové - Titoh Raas
Hans Cummings - Zynamondan
I Should Roll is a production of the Intergalactic Improv Initiative. It is created by Kaya Renwick and produced by JD Kelly. Sound design and mixing by Dan Spitaliere and Kaya Renwick.
All music is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, the Pixabay Content Licence, or the Universal Music Group Creator licence. Any sound effects not built in-house are used under the same.
detailed scene credits:
Opening Credits: Future Loop, Aleksandr Karabanov/Muzaproduction, Pixabay; Quantum, Tim Beek
I Know Who I Am: <
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(KAYA) Hey folks, Kaya here. I Should Roll will always be free to
listen to, but it's not free to make.
So please consider supporting us by subscribing to
our Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/IntergalacticImprovInitiative.
You'll find the link in the show notes. As a Stellar Streamer, you'll receive exclusive bonus
(00:21):
content and our enduring gratitude.
Tiers start at two US dollars per month. See you on Calliope Station.
(VI) A podcast by the Intergalactic Improv Initiative.
(KAYA) Ride of the Valkyrie, Episode 11 (00:35):
Ghost in the Sphere.
Featuring the voices of Hans Cummings, Ché Grové,
Chase Hutchison, Hunter LaPaglia, JD Kelly,
Leah Ryan, and creator, Kaya Renwick.
I haven't lost my mind. It's backed up on a disc somewhere. I Should Roll.
Last time on Ride of the Valkyrie (01:01):
The crew of the Valkyrie are investigating the
bizarre occurrences in the Barrows of Omega at the behest of Mordin Solus and Aria T'Loak.
Three of them have lost their identities in the fight with the strange orbs of element zero.
Nope, sorry, checking my notes. Two of them have lost their identities.
(01:26):
(VI) March 15th, 2184, Terran Universal Coordinated Calendar. Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik System, Omega. The Barrows.
(KAYA) Uh, actually, you do now know who you are. (LEAH) I do?
(01:47):
(KAYA) J.D.'s just figured it out. (HUNTER) [groans] Yeah, that's bad. [chuckles]
(KAYA) [chuckles] Your name is now Nasir, and you have no idea how you got here.
Up until a few seconds ago, the last
thing you remember is you were sentenced to
(02:10):
having your soul bound to an anchor,
and you would work in the eezo mines until
your body died. And now you are free. (HUNTER) Oh, shit. [chuckles]
(LEAH) Okay, y'all can't see me, but my head is in my hands. Oh, no! [laughs]
(HUNTER) Kaya, again! Halloween is OVER! [EVERYONE laughs]
(02:35):
(KAYA) It's a good thing you all love me!(LEAH) Okay. [screams] Ah! [chuckles]
(KAYA) Okay, [chuckles] Kache? (JD) I got a five.
(KAYA) You suddenly feel like there is someone a lot closer to you.
Like, there's somebody who's knocking on your skull
(02:57):
trying to get in, and it's starting to feel a little confusing and a little scary.
(HANS) Are you my mummy? (HUNTER) Nope.
(JD) In that case, Kache is going to continue
on a hammer rampage until somebody stops him.
(KAYA) Okay, I need to know what Carver rolled on his Resolve first.
(HUNTER) Oh, sorry. Eighteen.
(KAYA) Okay, you feel this blow past you, and
(03:21):
it's just like, "Whoa, well, that was kind of interesting. Isn't that weird?"
(HUNTER) [chuckles] That's a pretty accurate Carver reaction to anything.
Uh, seeing Kache do this and then shattering,
when they collided, seeing one shatter, Carver is
(03:42):
going to pick one up and just fucking spike that
motherfucker on one of the other ones that's there. (KAYA) Okay, I need an Athletics check, please.
(HUNTER) You got it. Fuck me. Eight.
(KAYA) That motherfucker's really heavy!
(04:02):
Like, on your first go, you can't quite get it up.
It's very dense, it's very heavy, and I need another Resolve roll.
(HUNTER) Yeah, that's alright. (HANS) We're rolling great tonight!
(JD) I'm just gonna say, as Kache, Kache is doing Kache.
As a player, I am deeply concerned [LEAH giggles nervously]
(04:25):
that destroying these things is not the right
course of action [KAYA chuckles], and that whatever has taken the
place of Bean, like, if that thing needs to
go back in a sphere, and Bean is
now in one of the spheres, we may
be unwittingly destroying not only people who are
(04:49):
essentially in captivity, but then Bean, and as a player, [LEAH laughs] I'm freaking out.
As a character, Kache is doing Kache, and has no idea any of this is going on
but as a player, I'm freaking out. This is amazing and terrifying.
(GRATCH) So anyway, I started blasting. [EVERYONE laughs]
(NASIR) Yes, destroy the... (LEAH) Oh god.
(05:13):
(NASIR) Yes, destroy the cubes, please. (LEAH) Are they cubes? (CHASE) Spheres. (KAYA) They're spheres.
(LEAH) I can't say the word spheres. (NASIR) Yes, (LEAH) Third time's the try, please.
(NASIR) Destroy the spheres.
(LEAH) And it's not in a southern accent. Just so y'all know. [laughs]
(GRATCH) Okay. (CHASE) Gratch is gonna pull out his Claymore.
(05:34):
(CHÉ) Okay, wait, wait. Can I... Have I seen or—
(KAYA) Oh yeah, you're seeing all of this going on.
(CHÉ) Would I have noticed— no, yeah, but that Bean is now not Bean, like, speaking differently?
Like, did I see ultraviolet, like, go into them?
(KAYA) Oh yeah. (CHÉ) Okay, so... (GRATCH) Bean said destroy. Gratch destroy.
(CHÉ) I made the connection. Okay. (KAYA) Connected the dots.
(05:55):
(CHÉ) Okay, I'm gonna like... Yeah, I connected them.
I'm that chick with the math problems around her head.
I'm just going to run and stop both of them.
Just not even words, just stop.
Like, I'm gonna put a hand on Kache's head,[KAYA laughs] just hold him.
(06:15):
And I'm gonna grab whatever I can grab of Gratch, and just be like,
(TITOH) We need to stop and regroup. [Gratch grunts]
(KAYA) Okay, I need one hell of a Charm or Intimidate roll on this.
(CHÉ) Okay, can I do both? [chuckles] Can I do, like, a Charm for Kache and Intimidate for Gratch?
(KAYA) You're only doing one action, so I don't think so.
(06:38):
(CHÉ) Well, I'm putting a hand on Kache. I'm doing something else to Gratch.
Okay, fair enough. Okay, I'm going to do...
All right, let's go for Charm. I have stars.
[groans] Oh, um, ten.
(KAYA) I'm not even gonna make them roll for that unless they really want to.
(07:03):
(CHASE) Well, I would think that Titoh probably has advantage at making Gratch do shit.
(KAYA) That's fair, that's fair. Yeah, okay, I'll give you that one.
So, I will let you re-roll for Gratch if you want.
(CHASE) But I think it should contest with Bean's Charm check,
since Bean's the one that said blow it up.
(KAYA) Yes, I think that is... Okay, so, alright.
(07:26):
So, Titoh's gonna re-roll to have advantage
on Gratch, but Bean, I want a Charm check for Gratch.
(LEAH) Are you fucking kidding me?
Does Nasir have the same Charm stats as Bean? [KAYA cackles]
(KAYA) I am gonna say that Nasir has a
plus three to Charm, for all the good
(07:46):
it did them with their shitty copper mining.
(LEAH) Okay, that's cool, that's fine.
Because I said, "Are you fucking kidding?"
because I rolled an eighteen that time, so it's a twenty-one. It's cool.
(CHASE) What did you roll, Titoh? (CHÉ) Okay, so I rolled a dirty twenty.
(08:08):
Since I clearly failed against Kache, I'm thinking that as I put a hand out,
he just barrels right through it as if I haven't done anything.
(KAYA) Yeah, I think that's probably... Unless JD wants to give that more flavor,
I think that's probably what happens, is he just pushes you aside.
(JD) Kache doesn't know who they are, so I'm
thinking Kache would be running on, effectively, base krogan.
(08:31):
Kache's Resolve is a thirteen, (CHÉ) Oh, bugger. (JD) Which your initial
roll didn't beat a thirteen, and that's— (CHÉ) Yeah. (JD) kind of what...
So, I think Kache is gonna keep being a krogan.
Like, you just saying stop isn't enough of
a reason for him to stop, because he's
seeing as less noise, less bad. Especially whensomebody's threatening to take over his mind,
(08:53):
there's, like, self-preservation in a krogan
instinct, as far as he's concerned, is kicked in.
(KAYA) Yeah, okay. Alright, so we've got a twenty versus a twenty-one.
Titoh, you can also use Effort to bump your rolls.
(CHÉ) Yes. [chuckles] I will do that. [chuckles]
Is it a reroll, or just a, like...
(09:14):
(KAYA) It can be either a reroll, or it can be a plus two.
(CHÉ) Oh, plus two, please. That'll work. [LEAH laughs]
(KAYA) Okay, so I think, Gratch, decide how you want to play this.
There is suddenly a very suave Bean going on over here.
Very, you know, silver-tongued. (LEAH) Ooh-la-la!
(KAYA) But Titoh is right in your face, and Titoh says no.
(09:37):
(CHÉ) I'm gonna just grab your wrist or something, pull you close to me.
(TITOH) Okay, (CHÉ) Like, look deeply into your wild eyes.
(TITOH) Gratch, I know I've not always seen eye
to eye, but you have to trust me now.
Bean is not Bean anymore.
(GRATCH) Bean? Bean's not Bean?(TITOH) Listen to me.
(09:59):
[EVERYONE dissolves into laughter] Don't think about it.
(GRATCH) But Bean said, "Destroy the orbs." And Titoh's saying, "Don't destroy the orbs."
(TITOH) Think about it. When has Bean ever said to destroy anything?
(GRATCH) Oh, that's a good—yeah, Bean likes things very clean. Very, very...
Bean's the cleanest person Gratch knows, I think.
(KAYA) Except for their room.
(10:21):
(GRATCH) Okay, don't shoot the orb. What do we do?
(TITOH) Just follow my lead. (GRATCH) Okay.
(TITOH) Don't blow up anything. (GRATCH) [groans] Okay.
(KAYA) I'm gonna check in on Hunter, and then
I'm gonna go back to J— then I'm gonna check in on Zyn, so Zyn
gets a chance, and then we're gonna get back to another hammer roll.
(LEAH) The creature that was Bean and is now
Nasir is slowly, like, taking steps back away—
(10:47):
(KAYA) Mm-hmm. (LEAH) —towards the exit.
(KAYA) Okay. Noted.
(HUNTER) So, uh, I unfortunately hadn't said my Resolve
roll yet, from earlier. [LEAH laughs]
I rolled a five. (LEAH) [screams] No! (CHÉ) Stop!
(JD) This is going well. (KAYA) This is going great.
(11:10):
(CHÉ) Oh my gosh.
(KAYA) There is somebody knocking at the door of
your mind, and they seem very nice.
(HUNTER) I'm sure they do.
(KAYA) They seem very lonely. They just want a place to be.
(LEAH) Oh, they're just a sweet little baby. [chuckles]
(HUNTER) Come on in. Put your feet up! (LEAH and CHÉ laugh]
(11:34):
(HANS) Zyn is going to descend from the ceiling.
(ZYN) Stop! You must stop assaulting the voices of the Enkindlers!
These are data storage with the memories of the Enkindlers! You must stop!
(HANS) And I will wrap all of my tentacles
around Kache and try to pull him back.
(CHASE) The visual is amazing.
(HANS) Which is probably like him trying to wrestle with a backpack, but...
(11:58):
(KAYA) Yeah, so I think what we're gonna
do here is, we're gonna do a
contested Athletics check where Kache has advantage,
but depending on whether Kache wants to throw you
off or not, you may or may not
stay there, and Kache might just carry you
while he continues wailing on the orbs.
(12:20):
(HANS) Okay. (CHÉ) [groans] Oh my god.
(KAYA) And I think if Zyn wins, he's literally just got...
they've literally got their tentacles, like, over your eyes or something.
(CHÉ) Good old choke out, you know? [LEAH laughs]
(KAYA) Except he's wearing a hard suit! (CHÉ) Oh, right.
(CHASE) Remember those little sticky hands that you'd, like, use as a kid and throw on the walls?
It's like, I feel like it's Zyn just— (HANS) Yep. (CHASE) —sticky-handing. (KAYA) Yeah. Exactly!
(12:42):
(HANS) [overlapping] Makes a little splat noise.
(KAYA) So, contested Athletics, please. And Kache has advantage.
(HANS) I rolled a six! (KAYA) Oh, Jesus Christ. (CHÉ) [laughing] Guys.
(JD) Uh, twenty-two. (HANS) I tried.
(KAYA) Yeah, you now have a squishy backpack. Congratulations. (JD and LEAH chuckle]
(KAYA) It's kind of talking. [shrugs] I feel like Kache is in full-on–(CHÉ) [overlapping] Berserker.
(13:07):
(JD) Yeah. (KAYA) –blood rage at this point. (JD) Yeah, effectively. (KAYA) Like, yeah.
(JD) If there's no personality of Kache there, then it's pure krogan instinct, and…
(KAYA) Alright, roll me another hammer roll, man.
(LEAH) Hammer time! Hammer time!
(KAYA) We've broken one, we've dislodged two more.
(CHASE) So, Kache forgot his name touching one.
(13:29):
That same one exploded, and that's when the
explosion happened, and that's when Bean got replaced by Nasir.
But that one doesn't exist anymore. Okay. (KAYA) Correct. [LEAH] [giggles]
(CHASE) Switch back. (JD) A five, a three, and three ones.
So, the five and the three are the only relevance. (KAYA) Okay.
(13:51):
So, you dislodged this one, you dislodge another
one, but you don't do it any real damage.
I think just having the... You've got something on your back, and it throws off your game a little bit.
(GRATCH) Titoh, what do we do?
(TITOH) Why do I feel like I'm really becoming the babysitter of this group?
(14:13):
(CHÉ) [sighs] Oh, man. (TITOH) Okay, okay.
Gratch, Gratch, listen to me. I need you to stop Kache.
You need to stop him.
(GRATCH) Oh, Gratch can do that. (TITOH) To save all of us.
(GRATCH) Gratch is strongest! (CHASE) And Gratch is going to just...
(TITOH) Don't hurt him, though. Just stop him.
(CHASE) He didn't hear that. [EVERYONE laughs]
(14:36):
But Gratch is going to go run and just try and tackle him.
Just spear him. [CHÉ laughs] Just run and dive and spear. [chuckles]
(CHÉ) I need this animated. This whole scene is so funny.
(LEAH) As this is happening, I would just love
if Nasir, from a couple feet back, is like,
(14:56):
(NASIR) Kache thinks you're weak.
(LEAH) Like, just to try and, like, egg Gratch on. [laughs]
(GRATCH) Oh, Gratch is [shouting] strongest!
(KAYA) Okay, I need a contested Athletics roll.
(CHASE) It's an eighteen, my boy.
(15:17):
(JD) I'm so tempted to use an effort here.
(HANS) Do it, do it, do it!
(GRATCH) [whispers] I will use all my efforts.
(HUNTER) We are not going band for band, like… [through laughter] What do you mean?
(JD) Is this still a case of—
Oh no, I don't have advantage here, do I? Not with a...
(15:39):
(KAYA) No, I don't, no— (JD) Not with a hanar on my back.
In that case, and I don't think I
can use an effort here, because I did roll a natural one.
(LEAH) Oof. (HUNTER) Yes!
I thought you were going to say twenty. (CHÉ) Yes!
(KAYA) Okay, um...
(ZYN) This one participated!
(JD) As it's a crit fail, I don't
feel like I would have the option of rolling an Effort here.
(16:03):
(LEAH) That's how I felt, too.
(KAYA) Sure, sure, that's totally fair.
The Effort system is there for narrative when
your character wants to put more into it,
and if that's not feeling true, then we don't.
So, I think what happens here is Gratch
(16:25):
tackles Kache, and I think, Kache, you're just
enough off-balance between Zyn and the hammer
throw that wasn't quite right, and there's all
these lights in your brain, and there's still...
That insistent knocking is right there!
And so, I think what happens is Gratch
(16:49):
catches you off-balance, and the three of
you go tumbling over… And it's enough, I
think, to break the blind part of the rage.
You're still fully krogan pissed off, but, like, there
is a flicker of prefrontal cortex going on there.
(17:12):
(CHASE) To help with that, when we get pinned,
(GRATCH) And I'd be on top of him, and I'd headbutt him, (CHASE) and I'd be like,
(GRATCH) Snap out of it, Kache! Smash! Smash! Smash!
(CHASE) And just bang my head against his, like I'm sure we've done before at some point.
(KAYA) Probably.
(JD) Considering that interaction, and in a strange way,
there is care behind that action. Would a
(17:36):
Charm roll be appropriate in that case? (KAYA) Sure!
Yeah, I'd say so, I think that's fair.
(CHASE) Natural eighteen, with a plus... something. Four. Twenty-two.
(KAYA) Okay. Gratch is very charming.
Okay, yeah, what are you doing with a twenty-two there, Kache?
(17:57):
(JD) Oh, yeah, well, if... Kache lets go of the hammer, and tries
to shake off what's happening, and try to be more cognizant.
(GRATCH) Titoh said stop. No more orb smashes.
(18:18):
(JD) Kache still isn't fully aware of who they
are, or what's quite happening,(KAYA) Yeah. (JD) and without the
krogan logic of smash things, they are at
a slight loss as to what the next
move should be, or could be.
(CHÉ) I was following Gratch, not super closely, [chuckles]
(18:39):
because danger zone, but close enough,
and now I see that Kache is kind
of semi-incapacitated, I'm gonna try to get
around him, like, look him in the face,
and say,—I mean, I'll probably have to roll for this, but— (TITOH) I know you don't
know who I am, but I know who
you are, and I need you to calm
(19:00):
the fuck down, before you destroy us all. Okay?
(CHÉ) So. I don't know, I'll guess it'll be Charm.
(KAYA) I think it's actually Intimidate, honestly.
(CHÉ) Oh, really? Okay. (HUNTER) I was about to say.
(CHÉ) I thought I was being charming. Okay.
(19:21):
(LEAH) [laughs] Titoh goes, "Uwu, don't you fucking dare."
(CHÉ) Uwu.
(HUNTER) Uwu, I'll fucking kill you.
(CHÉ) Don't even think about it, sweet cheeks.
All right, that's a twenty-one.
(LEAH) Nice. (KAYA) Okay.
Kache, I think what catches you in that,
not so much that Titoh cows you,
(19:41):
but that she says she knows who you are.
And that's really bugging you.
(JD) Yeah. At a loss of what to say, Kache just listens.
And just says nothing.
(CHÉ) Don't know what to do now. I haven't thought this far ahead.
(20:03):
(HUNTER) Y'all are gonna hate me. I think at this point, again, echoing JD earlier:
player me? Fucking terrified.
In-character, Carver still doesn't know what's going on.
I think he's still in the mindset of
destroy or displace the orb.
So, I think [chuckles] I think Carver's gonna try again to
(20:26):
pick one up and move it and dislodge it.
(KAYA) Okay, Athletics, please.
(CHÉ) This is like herding cats.
(HUNTER) [sighs] Okay. Crit fail.
(CHASE) [chuckles] Oh shit.
(KAYA) Resolve, please.
I mean, unless you want to use the Effort, you can.
But that is still—that is always an option that is available to you.
(20:47):
Based on your reaction, I felt like you were hoping, you were aiming, like you thought
that was narratively satisfying, so...
(HUNTER) Yeah, I've already got my crit fail out of the way.[CHASE and LEAH laugh]
You know, so surely I can't crit fail two in a row.
(LEAH) No, no, never. (HANS) Bite your tongue.
(KAYA) Don't say these things.
(21:12):
(HUNTER) Four. (LEAH) Oh. (HUNTER) Again.
(KAYA) That knocking is getting louder.
(HUNTER) Okay.
(KAYA) And louder.
(HUNTER) What was it you said a few episodes ago? [mimicking Kaya-as-Rabbit] "Nobody's home!"
When we were on the Valkyrie?
(KAYA) [as Rabbit] "Nobody's home!"
(LEAH) Meanwhile, Nasir's best bro is just like, "Let me in. Let me in."
(21:38):
(CHASE) Do we think these orbs are separately holding consciousness?
Or that they are connected holding consciousnesses?
(KAYA) Titoh would probably realize, hopefully, that there was
some sort of ritual or technology involved to take a consciousness.
That has not occurred.
(22:00):
So presumably neither Kache nor Bean nor Carver
are gone, because that hasn't happened.
Suppressed, perhaps, in the process of sort of
being erased, but they're not gone.
Because that process hasn't occurred. (CHASE) Okay.
(KAYA) Think of it more like recording over a tape. (CHASE) Oh, fuck.
(22:22):
(HANS) You're in the recycling bin, but nobody's emptied the bin yet. [KAYA snorts]
(GRATCH) How do you kick it out?
(CHÉ) Uh...
(JD) Does Titoh share this with us?
Because Titoh's used to keeping secrets, and I understand
why they're not communicative about the things underneath.
It's a lot of their character, but in this scenario,
(22:43):
you've got knowledge, and none of us know it.
(CHÉ) The Resolve rolls, obviously that's a meta thing,
but I'm going to infer from that, as Titoh, that...
Yeah, I just need to smack some sense into them, and hopefully they'll remember.
So, um, (TITOH) Gratch. (GRATCH) Yes?
(23:04):
(TITOH) Come here. (GRATCH) Okay.
(TITOH) Make Kache remember who he is. Tell him everything. Just tell him everything.
(CHÉ) And I'm going to run over to Carver,
and I'm going to put hands on shoulders
and be like, (TITOH) You...
(CHÉ) Wait, what rank are you?
(HUNTER) Corporal. Carver— Before this session, I kept saying that because
(23:27):
I was trying to remember the voice,and I kept going, "Corporal Carver Fairbank."
(CHÉ) Corporal Carver Fairbank, Corporal Carver Fairbank.
I put a hand on each shoulder, and I'm going to look at you and be like,
(TITOH) You are Corporal Carver Fairbank.
You don't know me very well just yet,
but we were getting there!
You are friends with Bean.
(23:47):
You need to remember who you are.
(CHÉ) I'm going to kind of shake him, and
give him a little smack on the side of the head.
And [chuckles] I just wanted to shout to Zyn,
who is still Zyn, (TITOH) Zyn, make sure that
Bean does not leave! [KAYA hoots](JD) Thank you for catching that one.
(KAYA) Okay, Carver, I need a Resolve roll with advantage.
(24:10):
(HUNTER) Ooh, okay, okay, okay.
I think I only need to roll one,
because that's a nat twenty.
(KAYA) It comes flooding back.
You remember Arvuna, you remember yourself—it comes in
with the string "Corporal Carver Fairbank" and your
service number. You have trained in this.
And just having that smack, it's all right there.
(24:34):
And yeah, you remember who you are.
(CHÉ) Hey, I did percussive maintenance. Smack the computer, and it remembers.
(HUNTER) So, question.
When all this comes flooding back, as me,
as Carver, is Carver aware of what just
happened to get him to snap back into it?
Or is it like a grogginess thing, or is it…?
(KAYA) I think there's a moment of, "What the fuck?"
(24:58):
And then (HUNTER) Okay. (KAYA) it kind of all slots into place.
Like, you remember what's been happening,
but there's this moment of, "Whoa, that was weird."
Like, you're getting memories that weren't yours, but
now they're yours, and it's very strange.
(HUNTER) Okay, so Carver is aware of what's happened
with Bean, and that they're not necessarily full—
(25:21):
Bean is not Bean.
(KAYA) You don't need to be caught up.
You're kind of putting the jigsaw puzzle pieces together, and you feel like you're a little
behind the eight ball, but it's kind of like the, "Okay!"
(HUNTER) Okay. With this, Carver is going to sprint towards
Bean, and fucking tackle them, and do the
(25:41):
same thing, hands on shoulders, trying to wake Bean up.
(KAYA) Okay, I'm going to pop over to Gratch and Kache, because I want to see this so badly.
(GRATCH) Kache, you gotta remember who you are.
Remember, you're Kache, and I'm Gratch, and I'm
strongest, but you're almost strongest, but not quite.
(26:02):
And, um, you know, we were mercenaries together, we fought thresher maws,
and pyjaks, and pew-pew-pew.
(CHASE) And Gratch is going to put his hand
on Kache's shoulder and go,
(GRATCH) [tenderly] Come back to me, Kache.
(KAYA) Resolve roll with advantage, please, Kache. (CHÉ) Back to me.
(KAYA) [mimicking GRATCH] And you cheated at arm wrestling.
(26:24):
(GRATCH) And you cheated at arm wrestling, but it's okay, I forgive you.
I forgive you, it's fine. If you come back to me, I'll forgive you.
I'll even let you win next time. [EVERYONE chuckles]
(JD) Sixteen.
(KAYA) I think it's the arm wrestling that does it. And you have that moment of, "Oh yeah." [chuckles]
(26:45):
"Aw, he's so sweet, bless his heart."
And you remember who you are.
(JD) I remove Gratch's hand from my shoulder, and
instead put it in my hand in an arm wrestling, you know, like the moment from Predator, kind of.
And we're kind of, uh—
(KAYA) Instant rematch right there, just, let's go.
(27:06):
(GRATCH) Oh, now? Okay.
(KAYA) Okay, while you guys are rematching, Bean and
Carver—and Zyn, depending on what Zyn is doing.
Zyn got told, but I don't know what Zyn's doing.
(HANS) Yeah, Zyn got told, so Zyn's going to
slide off of Kache's armor, leaving behind six trails of toxic goo.
(JD) [groans) Oh, come on.(HANS) Since I was touching his armor, since I
(27:30):
was touching his armor, yeah, you know, I was trying to stop him. (JD) Gross.
(HANS) And I'm going to flutter over to Bean,
and try to tackle Bean as best as I can.
(KAYA) Okay, I need two Athletics rolls from you guys,
and Bean, if you're contesting, then I need a contested roll.
(LEAH) Bean isn't; Nasir sure is. (KAYA) Or slash Nasir. Yeah.
(HUNTER) Nineteen. (LEAH) Thirteen.
(27:53):
(HANS) [vocalizes in distress] Three.
(HANS) So, Zyn, like, flops down to the floor, and just [makes splurt sounds]
(KAYA) [cackles] Yeah, I think Carver gets there first, and so—you're going for it, and then Carver,
like, tackles Nasir out of the way. (HANS) Clearly. (KAYA) Yeah.
Okay, and yes—but Carver, you've got Bean. What are you doing?
(28:16):
(CARVER) Question, just for memory's sake. What were the little things on the Citadel
called in Bean's minisode?
(KAYA) The little things? (HUNTER) Keepers?
(KAYA) Keepers, yes. Keepers, yes, Keepers.
(HUNTER) Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Cool.
Okay, so Carver is gonna tackle Bean, and
then—fuck the opaque with the helmet, I'm just gonna—or, Carver's gonna rip his
(28:36):
helmet off, and just say, (CARVER) You are Bean.
My name is Carver. We are friends. We went around the Citadel together.
You slapped the fucking—the Keeper on the ass.
We went through walls. I threw up.
Your name is Bean. You pilot the MS Valkyrie!
You gave me the seafoam green poncho because it matched my eyes.
You know who you are!
(28:59):
(KAYA) Bean, I need a Resolve with advantage countered
by a Resolve with disadvantage from Nasir.
(JD) Wow. (LEAH) Oh, okay, okay. Oh my god, okay.
(29:21):
Both advantage and disadvantage were so necessary, so thank you.
So, it is a dirty twenty-one for Bean.
And a fifteen for Nasir.
(29:43):
(KAYA) You kick that slimy copper merchant out of
your head with— (LEAH) Yeah! (KAYA) —extreme prejudice,
and you are once again in your head. You are considerably
more sort of shell-shocked and confused than
(30:03):
Kache and Carver were.
But you are suddenly looking into your friend's
green eyes, and you are on the floor.
And yeah, and you know who you are.
(LEAH) Bro, bro, I'm so sorry. I said I didn't know what a poncho was.
I really— I remember now. I'm so sorry.
(LEAH) And like, I'm like, I'm like laying on the ground doing thumbs up.
(30:25):
(BEAN) Like, I really didn't mean it. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened.
(HUNTER) Carver's just gonna grab Bean and hug them.
(LEAH) Big ol' hugs.
(CHASE) Gratch pulls out a cluster grenade. [LEAH cackles] (HUNTER) Okay, now hold on.
(GRATCH) I'm sorry. Titoh said no boom.
(30:47):
(ZYN) Have we finished trying to silence the voices of the Enkindlers?
(JD) How do we stop this from happening to anyone else?
(CHÉ) Wait. Is it possible to communicate with them?
(KAYA) Gratch yelled at them, and they quieted down.
(31:08):
(CHÉ) Okay, I'm going to go up to the nearest,
I guess, unsmashed one. (KAYA) Mm-hmm?
(CHÉ) I'm going to be about a yon away for safety.
(KAYA) Okay, yeah.
(CHÉ) And I'm just going to try to ask,
(31:29):
(TITOH) Who the fuck are you?
(KAYA) Are you charming, intimidating, or deceiving?
(CHÉ)You know, I was, I was gonna go for Charm, but it came out as Intimidate.
So— (HANS) Again. (CHÉ) Again. [giggles]
(KAYA) Okay, then I need an Intimidation roll.
(31:51):
(CHÉ) Okay. [groans]
Oh, I want to spend an Effort Point to reroll. Reroll. Okay.
(KAYA) Make sure you are keeping track of your Effort Points.
(CHÉ) Yes. (KAYA) Okay, good. (CHÉ) Yes. Marginally better.
Okay, so that is a fourteen.
(32:13):
(KAYA) Okay, you get a lot of pushback.
So, there's, there's a lot of energy flying around this room right now.
And the memories that are flying through your
head that you're trying to pay attention to,
but trying to keep yourself in mind.
These people are angry and terrified and hurting, right?
(32:34):
You saw someone forcibly have their soul removed
and chained into an orb.
It's kind of hard, like they probably spent
their last moments in absolute terror of people
who were doing much what you're doing, right?
Trying to force them to listen.
And so, you get a lot of pushback from that.
(32:56):
(CHÉ) Having that, because I came at it kind of rough,
because my friends have nearly gotten their brains disintegrated.
But after they give me that pushback and I kind of feel what's underneath,
and I want to take a [inhales and exhales deeply] breath, I say,
(TITOH) Sorry about that.
Is there anything that we can do to free you?
(33:20):
Anything you can tell us?
(KAYA) Give me a Charm roll.
(CHÉ) Oh, yay. That is a twenty-one.
(KAYA) You get a very vivid image of someone
running in and whaling on one of the
(33:42):
orbs until it shatters, only to be, like,
staked through the heart the next second by
one of the people— like the one that was holding, like that was performing the ritual
in the first memory you saw—
in a very retaliatory, how-dare-you strike.
(JD) Can Titoh roll Insight on that to understand
(34:03):
what the motives are?
(KAYA) Titoh sure could, yep.
(CHÉ) Titoh's gonna. [HANS chuckles]
(CHÉ) Ché was trying to figure it out, but I forgot I could just do it.
(KAYA) Yes, you can ask your handy person who does the things, yes.
(CHÉ) Okay, that's a dirty twenty.
(34:24):
(KAYA) So, breaking them is one way to release everything inside it.
They know it's dangerous. They know that it's harmful,
but that is one way they know they can do it.
As you were Charming and then you're paying
attention, you also get an image, a picture
(34:45):
of more orbs sort of in a case, like, enclosed.
And there is, with this image comes the
sense of sadness, but peace.
You notice that in this particular image, it
is pure rock that the orbs are sitting on, nothing conductive.
(35:14):
(CHÉ) Okay, what are they currently sitting on?
They're on the floor, right, and the floor is...
(KAYA) Yeah, so these parts of Omega are run
through with veins of eezo, and so it's—
at the moment there's any sort of electrical current that goes through, or biotics,
it all goes through and creates these fields and activates these orbs.
(35:37):
(JD) As Titoh speaks to the stones, it suddenly
occurs to Kache in more detail what is
actually happening here, more so than it was not clear before.(KAYA) Mm-hmm.
(JD) He says, (KACHE) There are people, or what's left
of people, trapped in these orbs.
(36:01):
If anyone can get them out, it's not likely to be us.
But we were sent here by somebody who maybe could.
We just have to get these things down there safely.
(GRATCH) Ah, the fast-talking doctor that called Gratch average.
(36:22):
(JD) Yeah. [Hans chuckles]
(TITOH) Besides the point, Gratch.
(CHÉ) Do we have anything that is...
that we can carry these in that's not metal?
(ZYN) What about Carver's poncho?
(HUNTER) That's what I was about to say.
(CHÉ) Well, do you... how heavy are they?
(36:43):
One poncho for six of these?
(KAYA) There's only five now. They are quite heavy.
Bean's also wearing a poncho.
There are also tarps and stuff back at
the encampment that you could possibly go get.
Also, if you turned off your shields, and
(37:05):
if you don't touch them with bare skin—
bare skin is conductive, shields are conductive, but
if you're not touching them with anything conductive, in theory, they wouldn't react.
(LEAH) I'm going to power down my shields and
just hold open, or hold up the front
of my poncho in a parachute-style shape.
(37:29):
(CHÉ) Like an apron?
(LEAH) Yeah. [laughs]
(GRATCH) Won't they just fall down the hole, the neck holes?
(HUNTER) I was just going to say that Carver is preemptively already...
I've taken off the poncho and have tied
it to where I've doubled it over itself
to give it a bit, like, it's a
bit sturdier than just holding up fabric or whatever.
(37:53):
I've kind of quilted it and then have it ready to like...
(LEAH) [elongated] Wow. Way to outdo me. That's cool.
(HUNTER) Okay.
(CHÉ) Oh, we're quilting now.
(KAYA) Titoh, can I get one more Insight roll from you? With advantage, actually.
(CHÉ) Oh. Don't mind if I do-do-do-do-do. [singsong] Fourteen.
(38:19):
(KAYA) Okay. You realize, as everyone is now proposing ideas
for how to get the orbs out safely
and how not to hurt anybody, the intensity
of the hum and the presence of these
consciousnesses is gradually receding, and you are struck
(38:41):
with this wave of gratitude.
And there's sort of this...
You get the feeling, the image of... They're sort of...
They're drawing in, and like the idea of,
you know, "Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times."
(39:01):
You get the idea that they want to try to help.
(CHASE) Cooperate. [LEAH sighs]
(KAYA) They just want out. They want out so badly.
But they finally, they're recognizing that you are here to help.
And so, they're trying to do what they can to make it easier.
(HANS) They're probably all a bunch of psychopathic murderers
(39:23):
just waiting to get out and go on a killing spree.
(CHÉ) [chuckles] Okay.
(TITOH) It's okay, we've got you.
We're gonna get you out. I promise.
(VI) You have been listening to I Should Roll,
Ride of the Valkyrie, Episode 11 (39:44):
Ghost in the Sphere.
Featuring the voices of Hans Cummings as Zynamondan,
Ché Grové as Titoh Raas, Chase Hutchison as Gratch,
Hunter LaPaglia as Carver Fairbank,
JD Kelly as Kache, Leah Ryan as Bean Ganian,
(40:09):
and Kaya Renwick as everyone and everything else.
Music and sound effects are used under Creative Commons or royalty-free licenses.
For the extended credits, please see the show notes.
And for more information, please visit IShouldRoll.com.
Find us everywhere on social media @ishouldroll.
(40:29):
And don't forget to leave us a review.
I Should Roll is an Intergalactic Improv Initiative production.
This fan podcast is a transformative work and
is not affiliated with Electronic Arts or BioWare.
Thank you for listening. Have a pleasant day.
(KAYA) Hey folks, Kaya here. I Should Roll will always be free to
listen to, but it's not free to make.
So please consider supporting us by subscribing to
our Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/IntergalacticImprovInitiative.
You'll find the link in the show notes. As a Stellar Streamer, you'll receive exclusive bonus
(00:21):
content and our enduring gratitude.
Tiers start at two US dollars per month. See you on Calliope Station.
(VI) A podcast by the Intergalactic Improv Initiative.
(KAYA) Ride of the Valkyrie, Episode 11 (00:35):
Ghost in the Sphere.
Featuring the voices of Hans Cummings, Ché Grové,
Chase Hutchison, Hunter LaPaglia, JD Kelly,
Leah Ryan, and creator, Kaya Renwick.
I haven't lost my mind. It's backed up on a disc somewhere. I Should Roll.
Last time on Ride of the Valkyrie (01:01):
The crew of the Valkyrie are investigating the
bizarre occurrences in the Barrows of Omega at the behest of Mordin Solus and Aria T'Loak.
Three of them have lost their identities in the fight with the strange orbs of element zero.
Nope, sorry, checking my notes. Two of them have lost their identities.
(01:26):
(VI) March 15th, 2184, Terran Universal Coordinated Calendar. Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik System, Omega. The Barrows.
(KAYA) Uh, actually, you do now know who you are. (LEAH) I do?
(01:47):
(KAYA) J.D.'s just figured it out. (HUNTER) [groans] Yeah, that's bad. [chuckles]
(KAYA) [chuckles] Your name is now Nasir, and you have no idea how you got here.
Up until a few seconds ago, the last
thing you remember is you were sentenced to
(02:10):
having your soul bound to an anchor,
and you would work in the eezo mines until
your body died. And now you are free. (HUNTER) Oh, shit. [chuckles]
(LEAH) Okay, y'all can't see me, but my head is in my hands. Oh, no! [laughs]
(HUNTER) Kaya, again! Halloween is OVER! [EVERYONE laughs]
(02:35):
(KAYA) It's a good thing you all love me!(LEAH) Okay. [screams] Ah! [chuckles]
(KAYA) Okay, [chuckles] Kache? (JD) I got a five.
(KAYA) You suddenly feel like there is someone a lot closer to you.
Like, there's somebody who's knocking on your skull
(02:57):
trying to get in, and it's starting to feel a little confusing and a little scary.
(HANS) Are you my mummy? (HUNTER) Nope.
(JD) In that case, Kache is going to continue
on a hammer rampage until somebody stops him.
(KAYA) Okay, I need to know what Carver rolled on his Resolve first.
(HUNTER) Oh, sorry. Eighteen.
(KAYA) Okay, you feel this blow past you, and
(03:21):
it's just like, "Whoa, well, that was kind of interesting. Isn't that weird?"
(HUNTER) [chuckles] That's a pretty accurate Carver reaction to anything.
Uh, seeing Kache do this and then shattering,
when they collided, seeing one shatter, Carver is
(03:42):
going to pick one up and just fucking spike that
motherfucker on one of the other ones that's there. (KAYA) Okay, I need an Athletics check, please.
(HUNTER) You got it. Fuck me. Eight.
(KAYA) That motherfucker's really heavy!
(04:02):
Like, on your first go, you can't quite get it up.
It's very dense, it's very heavy, and I need another Resolve roll.
(HUNTER) Yeah, that's alright. (HANS) We're rolling great tonight!
(JD) I'm just gonna say, as Kache, Kache is doing Kache.
As a player, I am deeply concerned [LEAH giggles nervously]
(04:25):
that destroying these things is not the right
course of action [KAYA chuckles], and that whatever has taken the
place of Bean, like, if that thing needs to
go back in a sphere, and Bean is
now in one of the spheres, we may
be unwittingly destroying not only people who are
(04:49):
essentially in captivity, but then Bean, and as a player, [LEAH laughs] I'm freaking out.
As a character, Kache is doing Kache, and has no idea any of this is going on
but as a player, I'm freaking out. This is amazing and terrifying.
(GRATCH) So anyway, I started blasting. [EVERYONE laughs]
(NASIR) Yes, destroy the... (LEAH) Oh god.
(05:13):
(NASIR) Yes, destroy the cubes, please. (LEAH) Are they cubes? (CHASE) Spheres. (KAYA) They're spheres.
(LEAH) I can't say the word spheres. (NASIR) Yes, (LEAH) Third time's the try, please.
(NASIR) Destroy the spheres.
(LEAH) And it's not in a southern accent. Just so y'all know. [laughs]
(GRATCH) Okay. (CHASE) Gratch is gonna pull out his Claymore.
(05:34):
(CHÉ) Okay, wait, wait. Can I... Have I seen or—
(KAYA) Oh yeah, you're seeing all of this going on.
(CHÉ) Would I have noticed— no, yeah, but that Bean is now not Bean, like, speaking differently?
Like, did I see ultraviolet, like, go into them?
(KAYA) Oh yeah. (CHÉ) Okay, so... (GRATCH) Bean said destroy. Gratch destroy.
(CHÉ) I made the connection. Okay. (KAYA) Connected the dots.
(05:55):
(CHÉ) Okay, I'm gonna like... Yeah, I connected them.
I'm that chick with the math problems around her head.
I'm just going to run and stop both of them.
Just not even words, just stop.
Like, I'm gonna put a hand on Kache's head,[KAYA laughs] just hold him.
(06:15):
And I'm gonna grab whatever I can grab of Gratch, and just be like,
(TITOH) We need to stop and regroup. [Gratch grunts]
(KAYA) Okay, I need one hell of a Charm or Intimidate roll on this.
(CHÉ) Okay, can I do both? [chuckles] Can I do, like, a Charm for Kache and Intimidate for Gratch?
(KAYA) You're only doing one action, so I don't think so.
(06:38):
(CHÉ) Well, I'm putting a hand on Kache. I'm doing something else to Gratch.
Okay, fair enough. Okay, I'm going to do...
All right, let's go for Charm. I have stars.
[groans] Oh, um, ten.
(KAYA) I'm not even gonna make them roll for that unless they really want to.
(07:03):
(CHASE) Well, I would think that Titoh probably has advantage at making Gratch do shit.
(KAYA) That's fair, that's fair. Yeah, okay, I'll give you that one.
So, I will let you re-roll for Gratch if you want.
(CHASE) But I think it should contest with Bean's Charm check,
since Bean's the one that said blow it up.
(KAYA) Yes, I think that is... Okay, so, alright.
(07:26):
So, Titoh's gonna re-roll to have advantage
on Gratch, but Bean, I want a Charm check for Gratch.
(LEAH) Are you fucking kidding me?
Does Nasir have the same Charm stats as Bean? [KAYA cackles]
(KAYA) I am gonna say that Nasir has a
plus three to Charm, for all the good
(07:46):
it did them with their shitty copper mining.
(LEAH) Okay, that's cool, that's fine.
Because I said, "Are you fucking kidding?"
because I rolled an eighteen that time, so it's a twenty-one. It's cool.
(CHASE) What did you roll, Titoh? (CHÉ) Okay, so I rolled a dirty twenty.
(08:08):
Since I clearly failed against Kache, I'm thinking that as I put a hand out,
he just barrels right through it as if I haven't done anything.
(KAYA) Yeah, I think that's probably... Unless JD wants to give that more flavor,
I think that's probably what happens, is he just pushes you aside.
(JD) Kache doesn't know who they are, so I'm
thinking Kache would be running on, effectively, base krogan.
(08:31):
Kache's Resolve is a thirteen, (CHÉ) Oh, bugger. (JD) Which your initial
roll didn't beat a thirteen, and that's— (CHÉ) Yeah. (JD) kind of what...
So, I think Kache is gonna keep being a krogan.
Like, you just saying stop isn't enough of
a reason for him to stop, because he's
seeing as less noise, less bad. Especially whensomebody's threatening to take over his mind,
(08:53):
there's, like, self-preservation in a krogan
instinct, as far as he's concerned, is kicked in.
(KAYA) Yeah, okay. Alright, so we've got a twenty versus a twenty-one.
Titoh, you can also use Effort to bump your rolls.
(CHÉ) Yes. [chuckles] I will do that. [chuckles]
Is it a reroll, or just a, like...
(09:14):
(KAYA) It can be either a reroll, or it can be a plus two.
(CHÉ) Oh, plus two, please. That'll work. [LEAH laughs]
(KAYA) Okay, so I think, Gratch, decide how you want to play this.
There is suddenly a very suave Bean going on over here.
Very, you know, silver-tongued. (LEAH) Ooh-la-la!
(KAYA) But Titoh is right in your face, and Titoh says no.
(09:37):
(CHÉ) I'm gonna just grab your wrist or something, pull you close to me.
(TITOH) Okay, (CHÉ) Like, look deeply into your wild eyes.
(TITOH) Gratch, I know I've not always seen eye
to eye, but you have to trust me now.
Bean is not Bean anymore.
(GRATCH) Bean? Bean's not Bean?(TITOH) Listen to me.
(09:59):
[EVERYONE dissolves into laughter] Don't think about it.
(GRATCH) But Bean said, "Destroy the orbs." And Titoh's saying, "Don't destroy the orbs."
(TITOH) Think about it. When has Bean ever said to destroy anything?
(GRATCH) Oh, that's a good—yeah, Bean likes things very clean. Very, very...
Bean's the cleanest person Gratch knows, I think.
(KAYA) Except for their room.
(10:21):
(GRATCH) Okay, don't shoot the orb. What do we do?
(TITOH) Just follow my lead. (GRATCH) Okay.
(TITOH) Don't blow up anything. (GRATCH) [groans] Okay.
(KAYA) I'm gonna check in on Hunter, and then
I'm gonna go back to J— then I'm gonna check in on Zyn, so Zyn
gets a chance, and then we're gonna get back to another hammer roll.
(LEAH) The creature that was Bean and is now
Nasir is slowly, like, taking steps back away—
(10:47):
(KAYA) Mm-hmm. (LEAH) —towards the exit.
(KAYA) Okay. Noted.
(HUNTER) So, uh, I unfortunately hadn't said my Resolve
roll yet, from earlier. [LEAH laughs]
I rolled a five. (LEAH) [screams] No! (CHÉ) Stop!
(JD) This is going well. (KAYA) This is going great.
(11:10):
(CHÉ) Oh my gosh.
(KAYA) There is somebody knocking at the door of
your mind, and they seem very nice.
(HUNTER) I'm sure they do.
(KAYA) They seem very lonely. They just want a place to be.
(LEAH) Oh, they're just a sweet little baby. [chuckles]
(HUNTER) Come on in. Put your feet up! (LEAH and CHÉ laugh]
(11:34):
(HANS) Zyn is going to descend from the ceiling.
(ZYN) Stop! You must stop assaulting the voices of the Enkindlers!
These are data storage with the memories of the Enkindlers! You must stop!
(HANS) And I will wrap all of my tentacles
around Kache and try to pull him back.
(CHASE) The visual is amazing.
(HANS) Which is probably like him trying to wrestle with a backpack, but...
(11:58):
(KAYA) Yeah, so I think what we're gonna
do here is, we're gonna do a
contested Athletics check where Kache has advantage,
but depending on whether Kache wants to throw you
off or not, you may or may not
stay there, and Kache might just carry you
while he continues wailing on the orbs.
(12:20):
(HANS) Okay. (CHÉ) [groans] Oh my god.
(KAYA) And I think if Zyn wins, he's literally just got...
they've literally got their tentacles, like, over your eyes or something.
(CHÉ) Good old choke out, you know? [LEAH laughs]
(KAYA) Except he's wearing a hard suit! (CHÉ) Oh, right.
(CHASE) Remember those little sticky hands that you'd, like, use as a kid and throw on the walls?
It's like, I feel like it's Zyn just— (HANS) Yep. (CHASE) —sticky-handing. (KAYA) Yeah. Exactly!
(12:42):
(HANS) [overlapping] Makes a little splat noise.
(KAYA) So, contested Athletics, please. And Kache has advantage.
(HANS) I rolled a six! (KAYA) Oh, Jesus Christ. (CHÉ) [laughing] Guys.
(JD) Uh, twenty-two. (HANS) I tried.
(KAYA) Yeah, you now have a squishy backpack. Congratulations. (JD and LEAH chuckle]
(KAYA) It's kind of talking. [shrugs] I feel like Kache is in full-on–(CHÉ) [overlapping] Berserker.
(13:07):
(JD) Yeah. (KAYA) –blood rage at this point. (JD) Yeah, effectively. (KAYA) Like, yeah.
(JD) If there's no personality of Kache there, then it's pure krogan instinct, and…
(KAYA) Alright, roll me another hammer roll, man.
(LEAH) Hammer time! Hammer time!
(KAYA) We've broken one, we've dislodged two more.
(CHASE) So, Kache forgot his name touching one.
(13:29):
That same one exploded, and that's when the
explosion happened, and that's when Bean got replaced by Nasir.
But that one doesn't exist anymore. Okay. (KAYA) Correct. [LEAH] [giggles]
(CHASE) Switch back. (JD) A five, a three, and three ones.
So, the five and the three are the only relevance. (KAYA) Okay.
(13:51):
So, you dislodged this one, you dislodge another
one, but you don't do it any real damage.
I think just having the... You've got something on your back, and it throws off your game a little bit.
(GRATCH) Titoh, what do we do?
(TITOH) Why do I feel like I'm really becoming the babysitter of this group?
(14:13):
(CHÉ) [sighs] Oh, man. (TITOH) Okay, okay.
Gratch, Gratch, listen to me. I need you to stop Kache.
You need to stop him.
(GRATCH) Oh, Gratch can do that. (TITOH) To save all of us.
(GRATCH) Gratch is strongest! (CHASE) And Gratch is going to just...
(TITOH) Don't hurt him, though. Just stop him.
(CHASE) He didn't hear that. [EVERYONE laughs]
(14:36):
But Gratch is going to go run and just try and tackle him.
Just spear him. [CHÉ laughs] Just run and dive and spear. [chuckles]
(CHÉ) I need this animated. This whole scene is so funny.
(LEAH) As this is happening, I would just love
if Nasir, from a couple feet back, is like,
(14:56):
(NASIR) Kache thinks you're weak.
(LEAH) Like, just to try and, like, egg Gratch on. [laughs]
(GRATCH) Oh, Gratch is [shouting] strongest!
(KAYA) Okay, I need a contested Athletics roll.
(CHASE) It's an eighteen, my boy.
(15:17):
(JD) I'm so tempted to use an effort here.
(HANS) Do it, do it, do it!
(GRATCH) [whispers] I will use all my efforts.
(HUNTER) We are not going band for band, like… [through laughter] What do you mean?
(JD) Is this still a case of—
Oh no, I don't have advantage here, do I? Not with a...
(15:39):
(KAYA) No, I don't, no— (JD) Not with a hanar on my back.
In that case, and I don't think I
can use an effort here, because I did roll a natural one.
(LEAH) Oof. (HUNTER) Yes!
I thought you were going to say twenty. (CHÉ) Yes!
(KAYA) Okay, um...
(ZYN) This one participated!
(JD) As it's a crit fail, I don't
feel like I would have the option of rolling an Effort here.
(16:03):
(LEAH) That's how I felt, too.
(KAYA) Sure, sure, that's totally fair.
The Effort system is there for narrative when
your character wants to put more into it,
and if that's not feeling true, then we don't.
So, I think what happens here is Gratch
(16:25):
tackles Kache, and I think, Kache, you're just
enough off-balance between Zyn and the hammer
throw that wasn't quite right, and there's all
these lights in your brain, and there's still...
That insistent knocking is right there!
And so, I think what happens is Gratch
(16:49):
catches you off-balance, and the three of
you go tumbling over… And it's enough, I
think, to break the blind part of the rage.
You're still fully krogan pissed off, but, like, there
is a flicker of prefrontal cortex going on there.
(17:12):
(CHASE) To help with that, when we get pinned,
(GRATCH) And I'd be on top of him, and I'd headbutt him, (CHASE) and I'd be like,
(GRATCH) Snap out of it, Kache! Smash! Smash! Smash!
(CHASE) And just bang my head against his, like I'm sure we've done before at some point.
(KAYA) Probably.
(JD) Considering that interaction, and in a strange way,
there is care behind that action. Would a
(17:36):
Charm roll be appropriate in that case? (KAYA) Sure!
Yeah, I'd say so, I think that's fair.
(CHASE) Natural eighteen, with a plus... something. Four. Twenty-two.
(KAYA) Okay. Gratch is very charming.
Okay, yeah, what are you doing with a twenty-two there, Kache?
(17:57):
(JD) Oh, yeah, well, if... Kache lets go of the hammer, and tries
to shake off what's happening, and try to be more cognizant.
(GRATCH) Titoh said stop. No more orb smashes.
(18:18):
(JD) Kache still isn't fully aware of who they
are, or what's quite happening,(KAYA) Yeah. (JD) and without the
krogan logic of smash things, they are at
a slight loss as to what the next
move should be, or could be.
(CHÉ) I was following Gratch, not super closely, [chuckles]
(18:39):
because danger zone, but close enough,
and now I see that Kache is kind
of semi-incapacitated, I'm gonna try to get
around him, like, look him in the face,
and say,—I mean, I'll probably have to roll for this, but— (TITOH) I know you don't
know who I am, but I know who
you are, and I need you to calm
(19:00):
the fuck down, before you destroy us all. Okay?
(CHÉ) So. I don't know, I'll guess it'll be Charm.
(KAYA) I think it's actually Intimidate, honestly.
(CHÉ) Oh, really? Okay. (HUNTER) I was about to say.
(CHÉ) I thought I was being charming. Okay.
(19:21):
(LEAH) [laughs] Titoh goes, "Uwu, don't you fucking dare."
(CHÉ) Uwu.
(HUNTER) Uwu, I'll fucking kill you.
(CHÉ) Don't even think about it, sweet cheeks.
All right, that's a twenty-one.
(LEAH) Nice. (KAYA) Okay.
Kache, I think what catches you in that,
not so much that Titoh cows you,
(19:41):
but that she says she knows who you are.
And that's really bugging you.
(JD) Yeah. At a loss of what to say, Kache just listens.
And just says nothing.
(CHÉ) Don't know what to do now. I haven't thought this far ahead.
(20:03):
(HUNTER) Y'all are gonna hate me. I think at this point, again, echoing JD earlier:
player me? Fucking terrified.
In-character, Carver still doesn't know what's going on.
I think he's still in the mindset of
destroy or displace the orb.
So, I think [chuckles] I think Carver's gonna try again to
(20:26):
pick one up and move it and dislodge it.
(KAYA) Okay, Athletics, please.
(CHÉ) This is like herding cats.
(HUNTER) [sighs] Okay. Crit fail.
(CHASE) [chuckles] Oh shit.
(KAYA) Resolve, please.
I mean, unless you want to use the Effort, you can.
But that is still—that is always an option that is available to you.
(20:47):
Based on your reaction, I felt like you were hoping, you were aiming, like you thought
that was narratively satisfying, so...
(HUNTER) Yeah, I've already got my crit fail out of the way.[CHASE and LEAH laugh]
You know, so surely I can't crit fail two in a row.
(LEAH) No, no, never. (HANS) Bite your tongue.
(KAYA) Don't say these things.
(21:12):
(HUNTER) Four. (LEAH) Oh. (HUNTER) Again.
(KAYA) That knocking is getting louder.
(HUNTER) Okay.
(KAYA) And louder.
(HUNTER) What was it you said a few episodes ago? [mimicking Kaya-as-Rabbit] "Nobody's home!"
When we were on the Valkyrie?
(KAYA) [as Rabbit] "Nobody's home!"
(LEAH) Meanwhile, Nasir's best bro is just like, "Let me in. Let me in."
(21:38):
(CHASE) Do we think these orbs are separately holding consciousness?
Or that they are connected holding consciousnesses?
(KAYA) Titoh would probably realize, hopefully, that there was
some sort of ritual or technology involved to take a consciousness.
That has not occurred.
(22:00):
So presumably neither Kache nor Bean nor Carver
are gone, because that hasn't happened.
Suppressed, perhaps, in the process of sort of
being erased, but they're not gone.
Because that process hasn't occurred. (CHASE) Okay.
(KAYA) Think of it more like recording over a tape. (CHASE) Oh, fuck.
(22:22):
(HANS) You're in the recycling bin, but nobody's emptied the bin yet. [KAYA snorts]
(GRATCH) How do you kick it out?
(CHÉ) Uh...
(JD) Does Titoh share this with us?
Because Titoh's used to keeping secrets, and I understand
why they're not communicative about the things underneath.
It's a lot of their character, but in this scenario,
(22:43):
you've got knowledge, and none of us know it.
(CHÉ) The Resolve rolls, obviously that's a meta thing,
but I'm going to infer from that, as Titoh, that...
Yeah, I just need to smack some sense into them, and hopefully they'll remember.
So, um, (TITOH) Gratch. (GRATCH) Yes?
(23:04):
(TITOH) Come here. (GRATCH) Okay.
(TITOH) Make Kache remember who he is. Tell him everything. Just tell him everything.
(CHÉ) And I'm going to run over to Carver,
and I'm going to put hands on shoulders
and be like, (TITOH) You...
(CHÉ) Wait, what rank are you?
(HUNTER) Corporal. Carver— Before this session, I kept saying that because
(23:27):
I was trying to remember the voice,and I kept going, "Corporal Carver Fairbank."
(CHÉ) Corporal Carver Fairbank, Corporal Carver Fairbank.
I put a hand on each shoulder, and I'm going to look at you and be like,
(TITOH) You are Corporal Carver Fairbank.
You don't know me very well just yet,
but we were getting there!
You are friends with Bean.
(23:47):
You need to remember who you are.
(CHÉ) I'm going to kind of shake him, and
give him a little smack on the side of the head.
And [chuckles] I just wanted to shout to Zyn,
who is still Zyn, (TITOH) Zyn, make sure that
Bean does not leave! [KAYA hoots](JD) Thank you for catching that one.
(KAYA) Okay, Carver, I need a Resolve roll with advantage.
(24:10):
(HUNTER) Ooh, okay, okay, okay.
I think I only need to roll one,
because that's a nat twenty.
(KAYA) It comes flooding back.
You remember Arvuna, you remember yourself—it comes in
with the string "Corporal Carver Fairbank" and your
service number. You have trained in this.
And just having that smack, it's all right there.
(24:34):
And yeah, you remember who you are.
(CHÉ) Hey, I did percussive maintenance. Smack the computer, and it remembers.
(HUNTER) So, question.
When all this comes flooding back, as me,
as Carver, is Carver aware of what just
happened to get him to snap back into it?
Or is it like a grogginess thing, or is it…?
(KAYA) I think there's a moment of, "What the fuck?"
(24:58):
And then (HUNTER) Okay. (KAYA) it kind of all slots into place.
Like, you remember what's been happening,
but there's this moment of, "Whoa, that was weird."
Like, you're getting memories that weren't yours, but
now they're yours, and it's very strange.
(HUNTER) Okay, so Carver is aware of what's happened
with Bean, and that they're not necessarily full—
(25:21):
Bean is not Bean.
(KAYA) You don't need to be caught up.
You're kind of putting the jigsaw puzzle pieces together, and you feel like you're a little
behind the eight ball, but it's kind of like the, "Okay!"
(HUNTER) Okay. With this, Carver is going to sprint towards
Bean, and fucking tackle them, and do the
(25:41):
same thing, hands on shoulders, trying to wake Bean up.
(KAYA) Okay, I'm going to pop over to Gratch and Kache, because I want to see this so badly.
(GRATCH) Kache, you gotta remember who you are.
Remember, you're Kache, and I'm Gratch, and I'm
strongest, but you're almost strongest, but not quite.
(26:02):
And, um, you know, we were mercenaries together, we fought thresher maws,
and pyjaks, and pew-pew-pew.
(CHASE) And Gratch is going to put his hand
on Kache's shoulder and go,
(GRATCH) [tenderly] Come back to me, Kache.
(KAYA) Resolve roll with advantage, please, Kache. (CHÉ) Back to me.
(KAYA) [mimicking GRATCH] And you cheated at arm wrestling.
(26:24):
(GRATCH) And you cheated at arm wrestling, but it's okay, I forgive you.
I forgive you, it's fine. If you come back to me, I'll forgive you.
I'll even let you win next time. [EVERYONE chuckles]
(JD) Sixteen.
(KAYA) I think it's the arm wrestling that does it. And you have that moment of, "Oh yeah." [chuckles]
(26:45):
"Aw, he's so sweet, bless his heart."
And you remember who you are.
(JD) I remove Gratch's hand from my shoulder, and
instead put it in my hand in an arm wrestling, you know, like the moment from Predator, kind of.
And we're kind of, uh—
(KAYA) Instant rematch right there, just, let's go.
(27:06):
(GRATCH) Oh, now? Okay.
(KAYA) Okay, while you guys are rematching, Bean and
Carver—and Zyn, depending on what Zyn is doing.
Zyn got told, but I don't know what Zyn's doing.
(HANS) Yeah, Zyn got told, so Zyn's going to
slide off of Kache's armor, leaving behind six trails of toxic goo.
(JD) [groans) Oh, come on.(HANS) Since I was touching his armor, since I
(27:30):
was touching his armor, yeah, you know, I was trying to stop him. (JD) Gross.
(HANS) And I'm going to flutter over to Bean,
and try to tackle Bean as best as I can.
(KAYA) Okay, I need two Athletics rolls from you guys,
and Bean, if you're contesting, then I need a contested roll.
(LEAH) Bean isn't; Nasir sure is. (KAYA) Or slash Nasir. Yeah.
(HUNTER) Nineteen. (LEAH) Thirteen.
(27:53):
(HANS) [vocalizes in distress] Three.
(HANS) So, Zyn, like, flops down to the floor, and just [makes splurt sounds]
(KAYA) [cackles] Yeah, I think Carver gets there first, and so—you're going for it, and then Carver,
like, tackles Nasir out of the way. (HANS) Clearly. (KAYA) Yeah.
Okay, and yes—but Carver, you've got Bean. What are you doing?
(28:16):
(CARVER) Question, just for memory's sake. What were the little things on the Citadel
called in Bean's minisode?
(KAYA) The little things? (HUNTER) Keepers?
(KAYA) Keepers, yes. Keepers, yes, Keepers.
(HUNTER) Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Cool.
Okay, so Carver is gonna tackle Bean, and
then—fuck the opaque with the helmet, I'm just gonna—or, Carver's gonna rip his
(28:36):
helmet off, and just say, (CARVER) You are Bean.
My name is Carver. We are friends. We went around the Citadel together.
You slapped the fucking—the Keeper on the ass.
We went through walls. I threw up.
Your name is Bean. You pilot the MS Valkyrie!
You gave me the seafoam green poncho because it matched my eyes.
You know who you are!
(28:59):
(KAYA) Bean, I need a Resolve with advantage countered
by a Resolve with disadvantage from Nasir.
(JD) Wow. (LEAH) Oh, okay, okay. Oh my god, okay.
(29:21):
Both advantage and disadvantage were so necessary, so thank you.
So, it is a dirty twenty-one for Bean.
And a fifteen for Nasir.
(29:43):
(KAYA) You kick that slimy copper merchant out of
your head with— (LEAH) Yeah! (KAYA) —extreme prejudice,
and you are once again in your head. You are considerably
more sort of shell-shocked and confused than
(30:03):
Kache and Carver were.
But you are suddenly looking into your friend's
green eyes, and you are on the floor.
And yeah, and you know who you are.
(LEAH) Bro, bro, I'm so sorry. I said I didn't know what a poncho was.
I really— I remember now. I'm so sorry.
(LEAH) And like, I'm like, I'm like laying on the ground doing thumbs up.
(30:25):
(BEAN) Like, I really didn't mean it. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened.
(HUNTER) Carver's just gonna grab Bean and hug them.
(LEAH) Big ol' hugs.
(CHASE) Gratch pulls out a cluster grenade. [LEAH cackles] (HUNTER) Okay, now hold on.
(GRATCH) I'm sorry. Titoh said no boom.
(30:47):
(ZYN) Have we finished trying to silence the voices of the Enkindlers?
(JD) How do we stop this from happening to anyone else?
(CHÉ) Wait. Is it possible to communicate with them?
(KAYA) Gratch yelled at them, and they quieted down.
(31:08):
(CHÉ) Okay, I'm going to go up to the nearest,
I guess, unsmashed one. (KAYA) Mm-hmm?
(CHÉ) I'm going to be about a yon away for safety.
(KAYA) Okay, yeah.
(CHÉ) And I'm just going to try to ask,
(31:29):
(TITOH) Who the fuck are you?
(KAYA) Are you charming, intimidating, or deceiving?
(CHÉ)You know, I was, I was gonna go for Charm, but it came out as Intimidate.
So— (HANS) Again. (CHÉ) Again. [giggles]
(KAYA) Okay, then I need an Intimidation roll.
(31:51):
(CHÉ) Okay. [groans]
Oh, I want to spend an Effort Point to reroll. Reroll. Okay.
(KAYA) Make sure you are keeping track of your Effort Points.
(CHÉ) Yes. (KAYA) Okay, good. (CHÉ) Yes. Marginally better.
Okay, so that is a fourteen.
(32:13):
(KAYA) Okay, you get a lot of pushback.
So, there's, there's a lot of energy flying around this room right now.
And the memories that are flying through your
head that you're trying to pay attention to,
but trying to keep yourself in mind.
These people are angry and terrified and hurting, right?
(32:34):
You saw someone forcibly have their soul removed
and chained into an orb.
It's kind of hard, like they probably spent
their last moments in absolute terror of people
who were doing much what you're doing, right?
Trying to force them to listen.
And so, you get a lot of pushback from that.
(32:56):
(CHÉ) Having that, because I came at it kind of rough,
because my friends have nearly gotten their brains disintegrated.
But after they give me that pushback and I kind of feel what's underneath,
and I want to take a [inhales and exhales deeply] breath, I say,
(TITOH) Sorry about that.
Is there anything that we can do to free you?
(33:20):
Anything you can tell us?
(KAYA) Give me a Charm roll.
(CHÉ) Oh, yay. That is a twenty-one.
(KAYA) You get a very vivid image of someone
running in and whaling on one of the
(33:42):
orbs until it shatters, only to be, like,
staked through the heart the next second by
one of the people— like the one that was holding, like that was performing the ritual
in the first memory you saw—
in a very retaliatory, how-dare-you strike.
(JD) Can Titoh roll Insight on that to understand
(34:03):
what the motives are?
(KAYA) Titoh sure could, yep.
(CHÉ) Titoh's gonna. [HANS chuckles]
(CHÉ) Ché was trying to figure it out, but I forgot I could just do it.
(KAYA) Yes, you can ask your handy person who does the things, yes.
(CHÉ) Okay, that's a dirty twenty.
(34:24):
(KAYA) So, breaking them is one way to release everything inside it.
They know it's dangerous. They know that it's harmful,
but that is one way they know they can do it.
As you were Charming and then you're paying
attention, you also get an image, a picture
(34:45):
of more orbs sort of in a case, like, enclosed.
And there is, with this image comes the
sense of sadness, but peace.
You notice that in this particular image, it
is pure rock that the orbs are sitting on, nothing conductive.
(35:14):
(CHÉ) Okay, what are they currently sitting on?
They're on the floor, right, and the floor is...
(KAYA) Yeah, so these parts of Omega are run
through with veins of eezo, and so it's—
at the moment there's any sort of electrical current that goes through, or biotics,
it all goes through and creates these fields and activates these orbs.
(35:37):
(JD) As Titoh speaks to the stones, it suddenly
occurs to Kache in more detail what is
actually happening here, more so than it was not clear before.(KAYA) Mm-hmm.
(JD) He says, (KACHE) There are people, or what's left
of people, trapped in these orbs.
(36:01):
If anyone can get them out, it's not likely to be us.
But we were sent here by somebody who maybe could.
We just have to get these things down there safely.
(GRATCH) Ah, the fast-talking doctor that called Gratch average.
(36:22):
(JD) Yeah. [Hans chuckles]
(TITOH) Besides the point, Gratch.
(CHÉ) Do we have anything that is...
that we can carry these in that's not metal?
(ZYN) What about Carver's poncho?
(HUNTER) That's what I was about to say.
(CHÉ) Well, do you... how heavy are they?
(36:43):
One poncho for six of these?
(KAYA) There's only five now. They are quite heavy.
Bean's also wearing a poncho.
There are also tarps and stuff back at
the encampment that you could possibly go get.
Also, if you turned off your shields, and
(37:05):
if you don't touch them with bare skin—
bare skin is conductive, shields are conductive, but
if you're not touching them with anything conductive, in theory, they wouldn't react.
(LEAH) I'm going to power down my shields and
just hold open, or hold up the front
of my poncho in a parachute-style shape.
(37:29):
(CHÉ) Like an apron?
(LEAH) Yeah. [laughs]
(GRATCH) Won't they just fall down the hole, the neck holes?
(HUNTER) I was just going to say that Carver is preemptively already...
I've taken off the poncho and have tied
it to where I've doubled it over itself
to give it a bit, like, it's a
bit sturdier than just holding up fabric or whatever.
(37:53):
I've kind of quilted it and then have it ready to like...
(LEAH) [elongated] Wow. Way to outdo me. That's cool.
(HUNTER) Okay.
(CHÉ) Oh, we're quilting now.
(KAYA) Titoh, can I get one more Insight roll from you? With advantage, actually.
(CHÉ) Oh. Don't mind if I do-do-do-do-do. [singsong] Fourteen.
(38:19):
(KAYA) Okay. You realize, as everyone is now proposing ideas
for how to get the orbs out safely
and how not to hurt anybody, the intensity
of the hum and the presence of these
consciousnesses is gradually receding, and you are struck
(38:41):
with this wave of gratitude.
And there's sort of this...
You get the feeling, the image of... They're sort of...
They're drawing in, and like the idea of,
you know, "Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times."
(39:01):
You get the idea that they want to try to help.
(CHASE) Cooperate. [LEAH sighs]
(KAYA) They just want out. They want out so badly.
But they finally, they're recognizing that you are here to help.
And so, they're trying to do what they can to make it easier.
(HANS) They're probably all a bunch of psychopathic murderers
(39:23):
just waiting to get out and go on a killing spree.
(CHÉ) [chuckles] Okay.
(TITOH) It's okay, we've got you.
We're gonna get you out. I promise.
(VI) You have been listening to I Should Roll,
Ride of the Valkyrie, Episode 11 (39:44):
Ghost in the Sphere.
Featuring the voices of Hans Cummings as Zynamondan,
Ché Grové as Titoh Raas, Chase Hutchison as Gratch,
Hunter LaPaglia as Carver Fairbank,
JD Kelly as Kache, Leah Ryan as Bean Ganian,
(40:09):
and Kaya Renwick as everyone and everything else.
Music and sound effects are used under Creative Commons or royalty-free licenses.
For the extended credits, please see the show notes.
And for more information, please visit IShouldRoll.com.
Find us everywhere on social media @ishouldroll.
(40:29):
And don't forget to leave us a review.
I Should Roll is an Intergalactic Improv Initiative production.
This fan podcast is a transformative work and
is not affiliated with Electronic Arts or BioWare.
Thank you for listening. Have a pleasant day.
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