SATAH: Welcome to Folio, an actual play podcast about solo and epistolary TTRPGs. I'm your host, Satah, and my goal is to showcase multiple possible experiences of self-paced games by inviting guests to play them alongside me so I can compile our stories together. You can support the show financially at patreon.com/foliopod, or join as a free member to get access to the bonus podcast feed.
If you're hearing this the day it drops, I'm at BreakoutCon in Toronto, and it's my birthday this weekend! As a gift to me, remember that communal spaces and events are a particularly great place to wear a high-quality, well-fitting respirator mask, the easiest way to make sure you're just bringing home fond memories and cool stuff, not con crud and…  worse.
This is episode three of our games of Immanence, a game on a colony ship a thousand years in the future, about "exploring our individual and collective relationships with Earth, each other, ourselves, and the greater universe" by Marcus Hose.
With me again are Jam Edwards, ceding their plug time to the concept of touching a physical object during trying times, and garbageface aka gnostic front aka Karol Orzechowski, bowing out to give the floor to the concept of supporting DIY music, supporting DIY spaces, and doing what you can to look out for each other.
Before we get into this episode, I want to note that Jam does one of my favourite randomisation or generation techniques that has popped up on the show so far, or possibly just generally of all time– you'll know when you hear it. It involves another game.
In order to get to that, let's see how our passengers' time in space is going as we near the halfway point of their trips.
GAME: DAY FOUR
MORNING
JAM: Let's do day four.
GF: It's day four.
SATAH: It! Is! Day four! In the morning! I rolled a 9.
"You recognize a childhood friend from across the room. Where are you when you see them? Do you catch up? Do you see them again afterward?" Oooh.
Yeah, so this is somebody who I haven't had contact with in a very long time. I'm just looking through the list of locations. I think I'm gonna roll a couple die just to see if any of them are particularly interesting to me; if they, like, give me an idea of where we met that maybe I wouldn't have had a reason to come up with.
[Die clattering] Thirteen is the oddity block. Oh god, maybe I'll stop there. That's fun.
So the oddity block is "the birthplace of all things uncanny on this ship. Conveniently, anything that would pose a threat dissipates into thin air before it can cause any harm. Incidentally, the backup engine and black hole drive is also stored here, but it's usually powered down. Usually."
And it would make total sense if, like, this childhood friend were an illusion or some sort of trick by this surreal space magic place, right? And I think that's my first assumption. Like, I've heard stories of the oddity block, which I think I'm just passing through. Oh, it's on– I'm gonna say that I'm going, like, on the way to the farm. Uh, I get up in the morning and I have an open invitation to go check out the irrigation system that they're working on and I'm like, "Hell yeah, I would love to see your irrigation system." And I've never been in that direction of the ship and so I pass through the oddity block for the first time.
And there are some warning signs about, like, being careful about believing what you see and that kind of thing. And I see somebody who I haven't spoken to in, like, twenty-five years across the way. And I'm like, "Oh. That's a weird pull. I was friends with this person, but why is she being brought to me now? What is the universe doing? What's up, black hole? Uh– is it on?" Looking for, like, the signs of, like, "This light will be on if the black hole drive is powered up, in which case, get out of here unless you're an expert," blah, blah, blah.
And she looks up and makes eye contact with me and her eyes go wide for a second. And I think she shines, like– she has a tiny little keychain flashlight that is like a black light. It's not literally a black light, but that is certainly what the props department would make it out of– probably just with a little filter over, uh, the- the- the lens so that it comes out a slightly different colour.
She points it at me and in some way, that is like a detector of, like– I think probably anything that sort of comes through the weirdness has, like, a distinctive… it has a- it has a  residue on it that would light up when you shone this light at it, but I don't light up. And she goes, "Holy shit! Forum Urgency! What the fuck are you doing here?" And she runs over and we hug and I laugh. I'm still not totally sure that she's real, but I'm beginning to suspect that she is.
And I laugh and I guess I'm like, "I guess I have the same question for you! I'm- I'm headed to Mars."
And she's like, "Oh, you're- you're part of the– you're part of the exchange group, huh? That's awesome. I'm full time." And we– she's like, "I have to do some stuff, but, like, what are you up to? Can you come back later?"
And I say, "Yeah." And I go and I see the farm and I come back and then we catch up. And it turns out that she, like… became an astrophysicist and studied black holes and is, like, a brilliant scientist in the nature of black hole propulsion. Or something like that, like she's- she's just– she works in this area, but– that– she was really on the upwards trajectory in academia and realized that, like, she hated it and she wanted to do something much more practical with her studies.
And so she ended up– it's, like, halfway through her thesis defense, she was like, "I hate this." And I think that I like the idea that they still gave her– like, her work was so good that she is a doctor. She got her doctorate, but she kind of shouldn't have 'cause she just bailed. She was like, "I'm sick of this. What? I'm going to finish this and then go into more school and just do this forever and just read books all my life? Nope. I hate this."
And she ended up here through a series of, like– I think that she's very honest that it would just be too complicated to explain in one sitting, the series of events that led her here, but that yeah, she is- she is an engineer, a chaos engineer of some kind, and that she doesn't really get out of this sector a lot.
I think she's kind of a weirdo. You know? She- she tends to really keep to herself, but she says that she's so happy to see me and that at any point over the next few days she would love if I came and visited.
And I catch her up a little bit on my life and that kind of thing. And she has to– and then she's like, "Yeah, I got to get back to work, but thank you. And let's– please, let's see each other again."
And it's like… hell yeah. [Laughs]
JAM: Day four. Eighteen. "The VR arbor– arboretum is hosting your favourite natural landscape. Do you go? Where on earth is the landscape? How long do you stay and what do you see?" Ooh! Yeah. Where on earth is the landscape?
Yeah, I do think, um– Hill had some fun with the city folks, uh, is maybe wanting to do some more nature stuff today. I think that Hill goes to Ireland, and in particular the Aran Islands, which I should say I've not been to. I did go to Ireland last year, so it is top of mind. But, um– but I think Hill goes to the Aran Islands and is looking for… I mean, I'm gonna– I'll look things up.
Yeah. Like is looking for weird rock formations, which are plentiful. You know. Maybe plentiful is the wrong word. But yes, is- is, like, specifically thinking about other places they can go for- for ideas; is- is still feeling, like, very, like, reflective and wants to do like a little bit more work.
They bring their sketchbook with them. And so they are looking for weird rock formations and things. They're visiting the- the wormhole in the Aran Islands, which is just, like, this natural weird hole, um, which maybe- maybe they also haven't visited in real life. Maybe they were a little too scared. Because it is like– it's a big fuck-off hole. [Laughs] In a very sort of wet windy place.
So yeah, I think they bring their sketchbook with them and they're looking at that. They're looking at, um… they're going to the Giants Causeway in North Ireland. They're looking at limestone, they're looking at cliffs and weird natural places and- and making lots of little sketches and- and maybe reach a point where they're not, like, doing ideas for puppets anymore. They're just, like, sketching a lot of shapes into their notebook.
GF: [Die rolling] "I hear someone whistling one of my favorite songs from afar. What song is it? Do I seek the whistler out?"
Well, no surprise: what it is is… I wake up to the sound of someone whistling one of the best known Ration-Al songs, which is, uh… Spitfire Chronicles, colon, Speed of Sound.
And, uh…. as I'm waking up, it's- it's just a really– it's a- it's a nice melody to hear. I– again, I have no musical ability, so I can't imitate it, but um– it's just- it's really nice to hear such a familiar- such a familiar sound.
It's too early in the morning for me to seek them out. I'm- I'm busy doing my stretches because, let me tell you, if I don't do my stretches, I am useless.
AFTERNOON
SATAH: My afternoon roll is a four. "One of your favourite fruiting plants is in bloom in the garden and the volunteer attendants are giving away samples. What plants is it– what plant is it? What fruit does it bear?" Huh…
Looking at the garden… "The garden slash seed vault. A complete library of Earth's various flora is safely stored in the massive vaults surrounding the ship's botanical garden. Each area is climate controlled for its inhabitant plants. Plants cycle quarterly."
I think this is a plant that was considered extinct. There were stories of past generations of humans eating this type of fruit, but various ecological disasters and the destructive forces of colonialism and capitalism and et cetera were thought to have destroyed it. And then… like, a single sample was found… mummified? Maybe in, like, a swamp, maybe in amber, something, I'm not a hundred percent sure. But it was very carefully and lovingly brought back into existence.
And I think to me… like, this is something that happened while I was in school and it was, like, such a huge, like, beautiful victory for the restoration of the world that it– and- and me and all of my fellow plant dork students, like, celebrated hugely, like, the successful return of this type of– uh…
I think I like the idea that it's a- it's a vine and it grows some sort of, like, berry in these- in these small clusters. And part of the reason I like that is I like the idea that there was just a livestream constantly, watching this vine slowly creep up, uh, the fence that it was planted against. And then the livestream got bigger as they learned how to grow, like, large fields of it and all that kind of thing.
And it's just this lovely warm feeling for me of like, "Oh yeah! Good. You're preserving that. I'm glad." And… I think that… a little detail that's really delightful to me is, like, I finally got a chance to try these berries at one point… and I hated them. Not hated, but didn't, like– like, they are pretty sour? And I just have more of a sweet tooth. So it's the kind of thing where I might enjoy a pie that was made with them, but I really generally am not… after spending so long celebrating the existence of this plant, it was like a very weird moment for me to try it and be, like, bleh!!
But. For old time's sake, I try it straight off the vine anyway. And I– there– as the attendants are sort of picking, there- there's a- a- a batch of it that is clearly marked to, like, be delivered to the kitchen. And I say, "Oh, I'm– can I just bring that for you? I'm– I don't- I don't mind heading in that direction."
And they're like, "Yeah."
And I bring it to the kitchen and give it to whoever is accepting deliveries there and basically say like, "Hey… any chance that you're going to make some of these into something…"
And they, like, look me deadpan in the eye and be like, "Edible? Yep. You bet."
And I'm like, "Oh, thank god. Okay. Here you go." [Laughing] Yeah.
GF: "Several isolation suites are open. Feel free to use one."
I go into one of the isolation suites… and I put on… uh… I put on nothing.
I go into sensory deprivation mode and I cut out everything. It's just me in here in the sensory deprivation suite. They've engaged the noise canceling, so not even the sound of the engines is on. What a blessing.
JAM: That's an eleven. "There's a number of former professional kitchen staff among the passengers and they're taking orders for lunch. Order anything you'd like."
Yeah, of course there's professional kitchen staff. We've got all of the arts covered, as I've mentioned.
I think also– I've been trying not to do too much, like, thinking about this world outside of playing the game and sitting down to record because thinking- like, thinking about and fleshing out the world seems to be a lot of the game, and so I don't want to do a lot of that off mic. But I- I did have the thought, like– we have, like, people from all different schools of the arts. We probably have people from all different fields of, like, sciences too. We probably have… just a- a really diverse array of people with different specialties beyond what we traditionally, like, conceive of as the arts. You know, we have people from all walks of life. So, like, yeah, of course we have some chefs.
What does Hill order for lunch?
I think I don't wanna… I think Hill is in a mood where they don't want to be a bother. I think they're, you know– feeling– still feeling a little bit isolated and withdrawn and don't want to ask for something, like, very particular that would require, like, some ingredients to be dug out or, you know– they don't want to do like a lobster mac and cheese or something that it's like, "Ugh, we've got to figure out if we have lobster or can create it artificially." Even if that is, like, the conceit of, like, "Oh, yeah, we can generate anything artificially. Don't worry about it." I think Hill is still like, "I'm going to do something normal. I'm going to do something not too complicated."
Um… yeah! And I think they're gonna– I think they're gonna go pizza. Like, a professional chef has said, "I can cook anything you'd like; anything at all."
And they have just said, like, "A good pizza. Like, a really good pizza." Because it still feels like a little treat, but is also like, I'm sure you already, like, have these ingredients for somebody else.
Um, so yeah, pizza is the answer. Let's go ahead and roll evening for day four.
EVENING
GF: "The evening traffic simulator is running at the racetrack. Traffic is bumper to bumper, but you can leave whenever you like."
Back home on earth, before cars were illegal, I used to have a Ford Mustang. It was a 2100 Ford Mustang and it was in surprisingly good shape for being close to a thousand years old. Being in a simulated, uh– being in a simulated, uh, Mustang is certainly not the same, but some of the things that they've been able to replicate– specifically the smell– there's a kind of acidic, vaguely tobacco-esque smell to the Mustang that is very particular to the way that the leather in the seats and the way that the filling in the upholstery would break down over time. Even sitting in traffic and not moving, being in this old Ford Mustang really brings me back. I had my first kiss in that Ford Mustang.
Do you remember your first kiss?
SATAH: [Die clattering] Sixteen!
JAM: That's a fifteen.
SATAH: "The Choral Karaoke Club is setting up in the theater block, and they seem to be devoting the night to one musical act."
JAM: "And they seem to be devoting the night to one of your favorite musical acts." The Choral Karaoke Club. There's so many clubs.
SATAH: "Who is the artist or band?"
JAM: "Who is the artist slash band?"
SATAH: "Does anyone attend?"
JAM: "Do you attend? Do you sing along?" Oh boy.
SATAH: "Does anyone sing along?" Hehehe.
JAM: Um, yeah. I mean, I'm not going to pick a contemporary musical act, I don't think. Um, I don't think it is a 21st century act that Hill is– has connected with.
Um, I do think it is– it is a band. It is, like… a band that is like partially influenced by, like, rock and punk and partially by, like, jazz… what I'm- what I'm imagining is like a band that has all of the same instruments as a ska band, but sounds very different. Um. Um, yeah, is- is a much more mellow style of music that occasionally, like, builds into something more- more energetic and- and experimental.
Um, maybe that's- maybe that's just post-rock. I don't know. I don't know how to come up with new genres.
Um… do I dare name the band?
You know what? I've listened to this show. I know people use name generators. I can do it too. I'm going to try a band name generator, even if it's a bad idea.
Some of these are bad. [Laughing] This is not a good generator. It's a bad generator. Oh no! Forget this one. Guys, don't use band generators.
I'm going to use another tried and true method of coming up with a name for a thing, which is to grab the book closest to me and looking for a two word phrase to use.
Yeah. Yeah, the name of the band is Resident of Halifax.
Um, does Hill attend? I think Hill does attend briefly. Uh, I think they do want to go and see– um, but it is karaoke, choral karaoke. So everyone's doing karaoke– so it's a sing along.
Yeah. I think they– it's not… the way I describe this band makes me feel like it's not particularly lyrics heavy, um- um, which is a weird pick for the karaoke club, but yeah. So- so maybe Hill goes and is– doesn't– is not really digging it, um, because they're choosing like this band's cracks that have more lyrical content, um, and, like, maybe even like editing out parts of the songs that get into, like, a long sort of noodley more instrumental section, um, to focus on the lyrical parts. And, um, that's not- that's not what Hill was really hoping for. Um, so I think they, they go and– and end up leaving a little bit early.
Boy, you know. The first day ended up so nice. And now we're– I mean, you know, understandably… having a weird week in space.
SATAH: "VR equipped stages and seating that shifts and combines to suit the need of each performance." And… "They're soundproof from the outside." That's great.
I mean, I certainly don't attend. I think I still don't really understand music. [Laughing] I certainly am more interested now that I have seen an orchestra perform, and I- I consider it, but I think that I choose instead to devote myself to my readings.
I imagine that my new friends had been giving me a bunch of, like, reports that I never had access to or never had reason to- to look at, uh, that have been generated on the ship about spacefaring agriculture and that kind of thing. So I'm reading– doing a lot of that reading.
But I am wondering… "devoted to one musical act. Who is the artist or band?"
I think it's the– it's not this, but it's the equivalent of a, like, My Chemical Romance. You know? Uh, but for… a thousand years from now. And so I like the idea that a lot of people do attend; that it's essentially an emo night, as exists now. And so, yeah. People- people have a great time and I- I'm not there. I'm having my own fun elsewhere.
I think I didn't really know– oh, I bet– I like the idea that my friend, the chaos doctor, who works in the engine room goes, 'cause I like that– the idea of her being that type of quirky is really fun. So, like- she, like, stops by my bunk dressed, like, retro, you know– the equivalent of, like, putting pencil eyeliner on and brushing her hair a little more over her face and is like, "Hey, I totally forgot– I'm going to the Choral Karaoke Club thing tonight. You want to come with? They're doing… uh…" future MCR band name.
And I'm- I laugh and I'm like, "Oh my god. I forgot how much you used to love them."
And she's like, "Hey!! I still love them." And cracks a huge smile and laughs.
And I'm like, "No, I– I'm just going to, I'm going to spend the night in."
And she's like, "Okay, cool! Well, have fun, 'cause I know I will." And flounces off to– to go to emo night. [Laughing]
DEAD OF NIGHT
JAM: So let's see what happens in the dead of night. That's a fourteen. Oh!! "The occultists club is meeting in the garden to collect spell components before going to the arboretum to dance around a pyre in a simulated forest. They welcome newcomers. Do you join at any point? What spells do you craft? Who do you dance for?" Ohh… who do you dance for? Oh my god.
Okay. Yep! I think I'm going. I think I– I– yeah. I think Hill has been in a funk. I think I'm– I keep being tempted to say the character's name to ground myself and in theory, the listener, but, um…
I am going. Uh, I'm going. I think every attempt that I, as Hill, have made to do things that feel familiar and comforting have been a bummer. And I think I, as Hill, get invited, um, and… I think I feel that sort of spark that I did on that first night in the garden. Um, and you know, I think maybe I'm already headed towards the garden after the- the karaoke experience, which was not great? Um, I think I'm already headed towards the garden, um, to go back to, like, my little comfort zone. But even that is, like– going back there the previous night didn't feel as good. I'm thinking about that as I'm headed there; that, like, yeah, it was really like that sort of change and– and risk and-  and things getting weird and different that was exciting and, and made me feel good about being here. And trying to do things that are familiar and comforting has been not serving me well.
Um, and so as I'm approaching the garden, I can see this group of occultists who are– they're collecting spell components and somebody invites me to join them, and, like, immediately Hill is like, yes. Hill is like, this is the thing that I need.
And so, um, I'm going to collect spell components. I think… they maybe have specific things that they're collecting. I think Hill is collecting the things that they had sketched before and it maybe, like, didn't occur to them that they could do that? Um, and I wonder even if they're allowed to do that.
I wonder if the occultist club is, like, slightly breaking a rule here by picking things from- from the garden en masse this way. Um, yeah, I don't know. I– that is a little bit fun to me. If, um, Hill is also like engaging in like a little bit of rule breaking, uh, and these are plants that, like, are not going to regrow in time for the meetup with- with our new extraterrestrial friends. Um, but they're also plants that are aesthetic and not, you know, part of the ship's functioning. And so we're breaking a little bit of rules by- by taking some- some samples.
And yeah. Hill is going to take some of the plants that they had previously sketched and they're going to the arboretum to a simulated forest to dance around a pyre.
Ooh boy. Um, "What spells do I craft? Who do I dance for?"
I think that shifts throughout the night. I think Hill is definitely, like, trying to give themselves over to this. Um, trying to- to spark that- that excitement again and- and embrace this, even though they are, like, very much, I think not a big woo-woo person on earth. Um, [Laughs] I don't know if we're still using that terminology in the year 3020, but, um. Yeah, I think they are- are trying to embrace this and not to overthink it or think too hard about it.
So I think the spell that they're trying to craft is really just, like, summoning them– theirself. Like, trying to- trying to let go of their familiar, comfortable sense of self and summon a version of themselves that's here in space and discover who that is.
And so, in part, I'm dancing for myself. I'm also, I think, at certain times throughout the night, dancing for, like, the– the entity that's in mind as I'm dancing is, like, a puppet and like– a big person-sized puppet that I had made once. Um, the- the one that made me, um, want to- to do this for the rest of- of my life. Um, and I think that that puppet was, like, somewhat alien in appearance, and so there is this like sort of whimsically, um, irreverent appeal of- of that– of dancing for an entity that- that I created, um, but also looks like this powerful being that doesn't actually exist.
And then I think I also end up dancing for that vision that I saw on the first night. Of that silhouette, that- that empty person-shaped space that, for a moment, I thought was an alien. And I think trying to dance for the new people that I'm going to- to meet, but, like, my mind keeps coming back to that, even though I know that it wasn't really- really a sentient entity. My mind keeps coming back and- and dancing to that idea, to that connection that I felt, um, and- and just really living in the meaningfulness of that moment and that feeling that I had in that moment again. Um, yeah.
And I don't think Hill goes to bed. [Laughs] I think they stay out as late as anyone else in– you know, as long as there's other folks still out dancing, they're still out, which is also very uncharacteristic of them.
GF: It's the dead of night. [Die rolling] "It's neon night at the gymnasium block. Several sports and activities are made over in a dark colour palette with fluorescent neon lights. Do you go?"
Um! You know, I do- I do go this time, because it's been a few days and I- I haven't played Galactic Pickleball in a while and I'm really excited to get down– get down to it again.
This time, though, what I- what I'm really excited about is– [Laughs] one of my favorite things about the dark– the neon nights is, uh, you know, pick– Galactic Pickleball is already one of those games where people really have a good time and smile a lot. And, uh, in this case, uh, it's even more fun because you get to see their little chiclet teeth lighting up in the neon every time they score a goal. Every time they get excited and their little chiclet teeth just pop right out.
SATAH: Let's roll dead a night. [Die clattering] Five. No way. Back at the pan-civic simulator. This one is not… oh, yes. Okay. I was reading from the– oh, I might have read from the… there are tables for a one player game and tables for a multiplayer game. I don't think they're very different. I think that they just address the group versus just an individual. And I might have– I did read– yeah. So it's basically just– 'cause, for the single person game, it asks like, "Do you attend? Do you sing along?" And then for the group one, it asks, "Does anyone attend? Does anyone sing along?" So similar thing, not a huge deal.
And the reason I noticed is that in the multiplayer mode, it just says "A major metropolitan center is being rendered." But in the single one, it specifically says "your favourite."
And anyway. For the third time… the four nights that I've been awake, three of them, including tonight, have had my favorite metropolitan center, which I did live in.
"Will I go explore the empty simulated city? Will you be alone?"
I like the idea that… I've struck up a friendship– like, enough of a friendship with a couple of the people who joined me for dinner the other day that I, like, invite them to come on a walk with me.
It's- it's- it's the kind of thing where like I'm telling a story about when I grew something on a windowsill… you know, in my college dorm room or something. We're, like, just sharing stories of, like, stupid experiments we did in school or early in our career and stuff and… I talk about how I accidentally– I accidentally reintroduced, like, a formerly native wildflower to an area. Like, it had been decimated and then we were– we were working slowly on, like… this- the whole area had just been destroyed in, like, industrialism and we– I think partially, probably, inspired by the success of that one vine plant being brought back, we were very focused on trying to make sure that these areas were growing plants that originated there and that fit their climates.
And I tell this story about how I received a non-official academic chiding of some kind because I was nursing this wildflower as part of my project and I, like, put it in my window and I opened the window and I turned on, like, a fan in the room and it blew a bunch of seeds out into the world kinda before we'd done any of the, like, detoxifying of the ground and all that kind of thing. It just was a little ahead of schedule.
And luckily it was– it worked? They like– there was no major emergency and stuff started to sort of pathetically grow and then it spread and it was actually totally fine, but I did get in a little trouble for my carelessness. And I talk about the fact that, like, it was so funny because then every single time I walked by… like, those plants just always grew more heavily in that neighbourhood from then on.
And– whatever, one thing leads to another, and I realise that I can show them. And so we go on this walk. We just go on this little walk and I show them the neighbourhood that I accidentally planted a bunch of these flowers in. [Laughing]
And I think we just kind of sit around and. Yeah. Continue to exchange a couple of those stories. Uh– and it's just like a nice… it's just nice to be able to- to connect with people in that way.
And I do think some of them are– as the chaos doctor said, full-timers, like they live on this ship. But I like the idea that a couple of them are going to be coming with me. Like, I'm forming connections with people who I will be in community with.
And also maybe one of them is a full-timer who is like, "Maybe I'll come with you for a cycle." Like, this ship does this orbit, right? Like- like I established earlier, and so they'll come back– they'll be back to Mars in a couple of years. So, "Maybe I'll just come spend a couple of years with you because this seems like an exciting new project," and they're- they're thinking about it.
And that would be nice. It would be nice to have– have people. Uh, when I, when I land there.
JAM: And that's day four.
GF: Time for bed.
GAME: DAY FIVE
MORNING
JAM: Starting up on day five, let's roll for the morning.
GF: It's the morning.
SATAH: [As a jaunty little tune] Day five, morning of day five.
JAM: That is a three. "You hear someone whistling one of your favourite songs from afar. What song is it? Do you seek the whistler out?"
Um, yeah, I think it is– somebody is whistling one of the songs by Resident of Halifax that was featured at the- the karaoke concert the previous night. And so I don't– I don't seek them out because I know exactly why they're whistling– why it's stuck in their head. Um, but it's fun to hear.
SATAH: Thirteen! "The pedestrian track around the gymnasium block is set to morning mode." Got birds, simulated sun, babbling brook. "Do you partake?"
No. I think that I am– I get up early and, uh, head to the gardens slash farms, uh, gardens slash farm? Farms. No, there's probably multiple. To help with, uh, something that they've got going on this morning.
GF: "A group of passengers is heading to the gym block and they say they're short one player for a team game."
Of course, what are they playing? Galactic Pickleball. Since I just played last night, though, I'm not going to join them. I decide instead to stay, uh, in my stasis chamber for the afternoon and write some postcards back home.
JAM: They don't all have to be super involved. So I'm going to go straight to the afternoon on day five.
AFTERNOON
GF: It's the afternoon.
JAM: Seventeen. Oh, it is another museum block one. Um, "the entire history of one Earth subculture is on exhibit in the museum block. What subculture is it? Do you attend? How did that subculture change in the years between 2020 and 3020?"
Hmm… I'm trying to imagine where I'm at right now as Hill, um, having spent all night dancing and invoking spells with a bunch of occultists who I had never met before, um, and… hmm. Am I up for a trip to the museum the next day?
I don't think so. I think– I mean, I think it is maybe something that I had, like, in my big schedule that I have of all of the goings-ons of the ship. Um, it is one that I had marked down as like, maybe check this out, um, and like…
Today the exhibit, um, like– I think the sports exhibit is still up, but they're sort of cycling through which one is being highlighted, but given the last couple of days that I've had, I'm going to skip it.
SATAH: Afternoon! Twenty. "Your favourite major city is being simulated in the pan-civic simulator. What city is it? What time period?" Interesting.
So not the metropolitan area, which– I don't- I didn't necessarily have to live in, but I chose to. This, however, is "favourite major city."
I think the thing is I don't go. I continue– I'm still helping at the farm, but I am wondering if it's worth just… I'm- I'm basically thinking through like, does it give me something interesting about the character to think about what their favourite city is, especially if we think about multiple time periods?
I don't– I don't think necessarily– like, I think that… if- if they were asked, it would probably, like– like, they might want to see, like, ancient irrigation systems and, uh, early, like– it wouldn't be a city, you know? They would- they would want to go back– if- if time travel was a thing and see how people were growing stuff.
I'm sure they have a favourite major city, but I don't know that they know it? Like, if you asked, I don't think they would have an answer. And they don't go. So I'm not– again, I'm kind of just kind of just going to skip that one.
Which, to be explicit, like: the game says, like, you can go and do whatever you want? Pretty much? And at any point you could, like, just go be in your bunk and just not participate, which I am taking as permission to not participate in things.
And I think that the point of it is more about… prompting the conversation and the thought about the character. And I feel like I was able to, like, get to a sound enough conclusion about who they are there that I feel like I answered to the prompt without, like, strictly going to the location, what it feels like it is in the spirit of the game.
Just sort of talking through my– I love… rules. I love following rules in TTRPGs. Often when designers say, like, "Just ignore any rules that don't fit your purposes," I kind of bristle at that, because I'm like, but part of the thing here for me is that you and I– you, the game designer, and I, and also the people around me– are co-creating this experience. And if I ignore your rules, then… you are not contributing to my experience? Um– which sounded much more negative than I meant it. Just that, like, the thing that is fun for me is figuring out how we put all of our contributions together and create something out of that, and so generally just ignoring game mechanics is not what I want to do.
And so I just– for instance, like, I wouldn't find it fun to, at this point, just stop rolling a die every time to see what happens, or- or just ignore the tables altogether. Like– I mean, me being me, I wouldn't find it as fun to just go through the tables and choose something for every block of time, but more specifically, I also wouldn't want to just abandon the tables entirely and just be like, "Okay, it's evening! I have six hours. What do I do with my six hours?" completely ignoring all of the prompts.
But being realistic to the character, they might go do other stuff and I just think that for me, I'm still playing the game as it's essentially intended, which is what I like to do.
I probably repeated myself several times there and I suspect that I did it in a way that is going to make it very difficult to edit into something cohesive. Uh, and what I'm going to say to that is it's actual play, baby. [Laughing]
GF: [Die rolling] The stranger is alone again "in the engine room, crying in the ambient light of the fusion reactor."
This time, instead of asking them what's wrong, instead of probing or trying to figure out what's happening, I just sit next to them again and I offer my hand and we hold hands. This time, after about an hour of holding hands, they rest their head on my shoulder and I rest my head on their head. And we sit.
EVENING
GF: It's the evening.
JAM: Blowin' through day five, which makes sense given that I didn't get a lot of sleep the day before. Okay.
So for evening, that is an eleven. Ah! Again, "There's a number of former professional kitchen staff among the passengers." They're taking orders for dinner this time. "Order anything you'd like, including nothing."
Okay. So I ordered pizza last time. I think this time Hill is now feeling a little bit more daring and experimental, and…
Is there anything I am, like, craving? Yeah. I think it is– though it is dinner time, I am really interested in a big breakfast and, like, request a big, like– waffles with poached eggs on top and hollandaise and, uh… you know, a- a- a mash of breakfast foods that, like, isn't unheard of, but is, like, if this was not on the menu, this is a very particular request. Um, um, yeah.
I'm getting a big, weird breakfast and I'm eating it all. Um, and, uh, and a coffee please.
GF: "The last person I talked to is on the evening news. Who are they and what did they do?"
The last person I talked to was, uh, Jago. Jago Tudor. And they're on the evening news because, uh… they are one of the scientists on board as part of this cultural exchange, the planet Poseidon.
And one of their discoveries that they've made while on this particular voyage is they've been doing experiments with, um, with different types of, uh, cement. And trying to better understand how cement withstands and reacts to, uh, to low gravity.
One of the things that they've found is that there are indeed different kinds of cement and that, uh, since cement is made out of sand, uh… you would think that all sand is the same, but it's actually very, very different. If you ever look at sand under a microscope, uh, you notice that it's actually just like a– about a thousand different kinds of rocks that have all just been pulverized. And so, uh, what Dr. Jago Tudor has discovered is the, uh, prime– the- the best kind of sand with which to create cement. Uh, that will be the strongest available cement, uh, intergalactically.
Pretty cool stuff! Congrats, Dr. Jago. And thank you for your service.
SATAH: [Die clattering] Evening! Eighteen! "Fireworks are being simulated in the cupola, rendered visually over various skylines on the massive windows and accompanied by sound effects. Do you watch them? How long do you stay?"
What is the cupola? "Crow's Nest Cupola: the crow's nest is a large observation deck at the top of the ship that accommodates up to 200 people. Seating is available at the center of the circular room surrounded by a walking path, perfect for stargazing at any hour." Oh, that's fun. Okay.
Yeah, so I like the idea that– you know, I've been working hard at the farm all day with my new friends… slash colleagues… [Laughs] and we're like, "Let's go… chill." Um, let's go– and it's kind of like a– we've been- we've been staring at the same environment all day, right? Let's go somewhere really different.
And there's, like, a little cafė up in the crow's nest, I like the idea? Just something very small, or you can bring– people often bring picnics up there, but there is that small cafė. It's got, like– basically- a fry- a fry truck in a lot of ways? Like, some pre-made stuff, and then also a poutine, et cetera.
But yeah, we go up there to just get a snack and sit on the ground and we're all delightfully surprised by the fireworks when they begin. And we stay, in part, because, like, we're exhausted and it's kind of nice to have this loud spectacle as an excuse to just be companionably quiet together? We're just eating these weird–[Laughs] I was picturing a huge thing of nachos for some reason. We're just eating nachos. Just eating nachos from this weird food truck and watching the fireworks and being satisfied at how tired we are from manual labor all day.
JAM: Okay. That's evening.
SATAH: Let's see what's happening in the dead of night and see if I make it there considering how tired I am from farm work all day.
DEAD OF NIGHT
JAM: Day five, night. The roll is two. Hmm! Ooh. Okay. Huh. Number two, "the cryptozoologist club is hosting encounters with everything from cryptids to yokai in the arboretum. Will you attend? What mythological creature do you meet?"
Um! I- I- I've got to go. I think– I think this is one that I would have marked off on my schedule as like, don't miss this one. It is definitely something, like– as somebody who, like, designs creatures for my, like, puppet trupe, is one I wanted to go to, like, for professional reasons as well as personal reasons, to, like, get ideas and that kind of thing.
And even though it- it feels a little more in line with the like, you know– I think Hill is feeling a little refreshed today. Like, I think I've got like a slight buzz from staying up all night and there is a temptation to, like, reject my planned schedule that I made before the trip started. But I think this one in particular, because it is not, like, exploring a familiar thing, because it is, like, meeting a new thing and a thing that– I don't have the capacity just on my own on Earth to meet simulated mythological creatures. Um, yeah. I'm still going.
What mythological creature do I meet? Oh… I don't like that though. Yeah, my first instinct was because I've done such, like, a Providence heavy focus and this, like, Big Nazo inspired puppet focus, um… like, my first thought was Cthulhu. But I don't– you don't know that that's actually what I want. I don't– I don't love– I hey. I've brought Cthulhu into tabletop games before. I don't think this is one I want to bring Cthulhu into. I don't think it's the, uh, the situation.
But what- so what mythological creature is Hale really interested in meeting?
I mean, I feel like I'm just kind of open to whatever's there. Like- like, certainly, I think there's people there making requests, but I don't think I'm one of them. I think I'm– I'm, like, very, very much in a "surprise me" kind of mood for this.
And so I'm going to try another– maybe not a generator, but maybe just a list of mythical creatures. Mmm… I really hope it's a, you know, a somewhat international list.
Okay! Alright. So I'm– Wikipedia is pretty good for this. The list is too long.
I'm going to do something stupid, um, and go grab my alphabet dice from my Scattergories game and try to roll a few letters in a row to control F to see what kind of mythical creature shows up. Oh boy. One second.
Okay. I've got my alphabet dice. I will say, if you are trying to do something like this where you need to, like, generate a word instead of– or, you know, letters instead of numbers, you can certainly just assign letters to different sides of a 20-sided die. Um, but since I have the alphabet dice, which came with the board game Scattegories, I will use it.
So let's see. First letter is M and second letter is H. Let's see if there's anything… hmm. so we've got two that– okay. A lavellan, also spelled L-A-M-H-A-L-A-N. I'm curious about this one because it showed up under the category "insectivores," which I think is such a fun category for mythological creatures when like so many of them are based on specific animals or, like, specific sort of domains, like lightning or water. And this one was just insectivores. It might have been one of not many insectivores? Yeah, it's the only one listed under insectivore. That rules. Okay.
What does it look like? Lavellan. Do we have any pictures? Oh, is it just a guy? No, no, that's from a video game. Well!
Okay. So in Scottish folklore, a lavellan is a creature from Northern Scotland. "It is generally considered to be a kind of rodent and the name lavellan is also used for a water shrew or water vole in Scottish Gaelic. However, broadly larger than a rat, very noxious and lived in deep pools and rivers. Its poisonous abilities were legendary. It was said to be able to injure cattle over a hundred feet away."
Whoa! I say this if it's real, um– mmhmm. Hm. Huh. So I guess it's a weird stinky poisonous rat that I'm meeting?! Sometimes that's what happens when you're like, "surprise me," um, and everyone else is meeting unicorns and pseudo dragons and, uh, you know, kelpies and various creatures and, um… Hill rolls up and is like, "Surprise me. I just am in the mood to meet anything," and they're like, "Well, here's a weird, slightly large stinky poisonous rat."
Yeah! Oh, they're kind of cute. I found an older illustration. They just, like, are like, just very big shrews.
I mean– I do think, like, as Hill, I'm stoked. I'm like, this is not a creature I would have thought of. This is not a creature that I really knew about and, um, and just sort of being face to face with this sort of mundane looking mythological creature is– it probably feels a little bit exciting! Like it's a new-to-me mythological creature, um, and…
Am I feeling, like– I mean, I think I am feeling, like, inspired to create and design based on this, um. That, you know– not everything has to be a- a– not everything has to have a bunch of tentacles and wings and claws and horns and whatever. That, um, you can create something bizarre and- and beautiful just based on, like, a very mundane little rat that lives in a river.
And– oh, other account describe it resembling a shrew or a lizard. Yeah, a little shrew lizard! This is perfect! This is great! I'm thrilled with this! Um, and I think– other– the cryptozoologists maybe– some of them probably feel a little bad when I say "surprise me" and they sort of, like, from their list of possibilities, like, pick this one randomly to generate and they're like, "Oh, geez. Sorry." Um, but I'm- I'm thrilled. And, um, and, you know, hopefully, at least some of them are, you know, just happy that I'm happy.
Yeah! So I hang out with this little lizard shrew rat, this lavellan for a little bit. I'm going to write that creature's name down so I don't forget it. Yeah, and totally bust out my sketchbook and take some sketches of it. Um.
GF: "Directories show a lone occupant in the crow's nest…" cue-pola. Coo-pola. … "Would you go see who they are? Who are they? What kind of emotional state might they be in?"
I'm not going to go see who they are. I stayed up extra late yesterday and I'm very tired. I also feel a little emotionally drained from my consecutive days holding hands and absorbing sadness. And so, uh, even though I see the lone occupant in the crow's nest… [Hesitant in his pronunciation] cupola?
JAM & SATAH: [Reverb-y clips of pronouncing "cupola" in varying ways with varying levels of confidence]
GF: I don't go to see who they are.
SATAH: [Die clattering] Eleven. "The insomniacs among the volunteer kitchen staff are up performing uncanny acts of culinary artistry. Order anything–" in italics– "you like, including nothing."
So I'm headed back to my room. I like the idea that a couple of us actually fell asleep at the picnic, um, and that's one of the reasons it's after midnight now is that– we just kind of– a few of us just ended up sleepin' under the fireworks. That's how exhausted we are. We fell asleep during fireworks.
And, like, as long as everybody seems comfortable and like they're not going to wake up unable to move their neck… whatever! Let's just- let's just let you sleep up here. It's safe. Who cares?
And I wake up a little disoriented and then, like, laugh and I think I wake up my companions like, okay. We should all get to bed.
And as I'm walking back, somebody pops out of the kitchen. The person who I delivered those berries to the other day pops out and is like, [Aggressive stage whisper] "Hey!" and pulls me in.
And they've made– with- with the berries– they're- they're, like, experimenting with a new recipe and they have aspirations of making a pie, but they've made tiny little hand pies, just to test out the filling. And they give me one. And it is, like, one of the most delicious things that I've ever tasted. Partially 'cause it was a long day and I'm probably a little hungry still, and I'm a little disoriented from exhaustion and physical exertion and waking up in an unfamiliar place, but also it is just… so good.
And- and they're a little conspiratorial about it. They're like, "Usually we don't have outs– you know, we don't have outsiders testing our recipes," they say, like, fully aware that they're being ridiculous, "but, like, you delivered the goods. So you get the first sample." And it is so good. And they're like, "Okay, great. Not gonna lie. It's kind of a relief to meet somebody else who thinks that these are better… how do I put this diplomatically … As the basis for further development of flavour, rather than as the flavour themselves."
And I choke lightly on the bite of pie in my mouth and nod and I'm like, "Yeah, you can trust me. If this still tasted like it does right off the vine, I wouldn't have this face," and, like, circle my very obviously blissful excited face.
And they're like, "Okay, good," andclap me on the back and they're like, "You can take that, but hey, remember not to let anybody know where you got it."
And I'm like, "Yep, yep. Okay. Sworn to secrecy. I get it."
And head off– head off to- to fall right back asleep, uh, after finishing my little pie.
JAM: Uh, that's day five! And yeah, I do think I got to go to bed. On this day I do not pull another all nighter. I have a good long sleep.
OUTRO
SATAH: This has been Folio, an actual play podcast about solo and epistolary TTRPGs. To find where you can find the show, check out foliopod.carrd.co. Sign up as a paid member at patreon.com/foliopod to vote on games and participate in live streams or join for free to get access to the bonus feed with edited audio-only versions of the streams a couple of weeks after they happen and occasional other stuff.
You can find the games, sci-fi stories, and podcasts of Jam Edwards at rjmakes.com. That's RJ, like raspberry jam, makes dot com.
You can find the music and musings of garbageface aka gnostic front aka Karol Orzechowki at everyoneisdoomed.org. The music in this series was improvised live by him while he played the game.
You can find the games and music of Satah– c'est moi– I'm doing French this series; not sure why– at gaygothvibes.online and follow me on Bluesky at posatahchips.gaygothvibes.online.
Next week, Jam and garbageface and I will continue our games of Immanence by Marcus Hose. Everything I mentioned here is linked in the show notes. Thanks so much for listening, and take care out there.