Title: Cloudward, Ho!
GM: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Players: Emily Axford (she/her) as Marya Junková (she/her). Zac Oyama (he/him) as Daisuke Bucklesby (he/him). Siobhan Thompson (she/her) as Vanellope Chapman (she/her). Lou Wilson (he/him) as Montgomery LaMontgommery (he/him). Ally Beardsley (they/them) as Olethra MacLeod (she/her). Brian Murphy (he/him) as Maxwell Gotch (he/him).
Streaming Service: Dropout
If you missed them, catch up on our review of the first, second, and third episodes!
Our Intrepid Heroes return to Gath, arriving in the mythical continent of Zood. As the group emerges from the ship, the pureness of this hidden land’s clean air fills their lungs. Montgomery immediately approaches a nocturnal zebra. He had long dreamed of the animals of Zood, imagining the fauna which would’ve emerged there.
When the noctural zebra’s head comes to rest in his lap, Montgomery weeps in joy. Around them, the moss appears to rise and fall, revealing the rest of the herd has hidden themselves beneath to disguise their presence while they sleep. As he realizes this, he recognizes tick-like parasites that have caused the zebra leaning against him to be too sick to properly hide. Carefully, Montgomery removes them. The moss moves, blanketing the now parasite-free zebra. There’s no clear explanation for the moss’s movement, and surrounded by so much wonder, it’s difficult to concentrate on a single thing.
Daisuke gets some ticks on him. The rest of the crew manage to tuck their pants into their socks and whatever else to prevent any attaching. Olethra and Montgomery study the ticks as Montgomery detaches them from Daisuke. As the ticks expel particles of the blood, it sparkles, but while similar in some ways to the vapors Mordecestershire had, they aren’t the same.
The party splits. A group returns to the ship, and Van quickly races to action to deal with some pesky sugar gliders who shed sparks when she punches them with her prosthesis. Van, Marya, and Wealwell bully Maxwell into walking the plank. He nearly falls right off the ship. When a flying turtle lands on the deck, they discover some netting, indicating there are fishermen somewhere in Zood.
On the ground, Montgomery studies the flora and fauna. The sugar gliders eat the coal, igniting some chemical thermal processes to propel their flight.
As Montgomery fusses over the animal life, Olethra asks for Daisuke’s aid, experimenting with the mech’s sensors. There’s nothing indicates a separation between things from Gath and Zood. When they return to the ship, Olethra’s mech pings. Marya and Van both spike the sensors. The signals are wild, but as she studies them, it is more specifically parts of Van’s arm, some equipment in Marya’s bag, and one of the sides of the ceramic tablet.
Olethra informs the group. Unfortunately, Van has no idea what the dial that’s registering on the sensor does beyond that Comfrey warned her to avoid it being in the red more than a single minute. On the other hand, the items in Marya’s bag are the bullets on which she carved Straka. When she carves it onto another bullet, that one pings as well, but when Van tries, her carved bullet registers as normal.
Though unable to fully understand the cause, the group elects to pursue a lead from sand on the net that Van removed from the flying turtle. Not only does it match a desert in the distance, but the material coincides with the mineral source for the tablet. There, they spot people. The folks immediately recognize them as from Gath and welcome them in.
Van approaches a man with a prosthesis, and the man recognizes her as Gathi. Pulling out a crystal, he enables them to understand him and vice versa. The Zephyr’s crew quickly work to figure out what they can, following the leads discussed in Comfrey’s call for help, which leads to suspicion and interrogations and ending in a psychic attack by the Eyeless Hand.
Highlights
Emily Axford has often played loud, expressive characters, who wear their emotions on their sleeves, but the haunted agony which she shows in Marya when the crew finds the picture of her former protege is a gut punch I wasn’t expecting.
Final Score (4.5 out of 5 Stars)
We haven’t heard any new rumors this go around, but the sheer wonder and joy that Lou portrays in the beginning followed by Emily’s emotional agony in the middle leads to a wonderful rollercoaster that ended in a fantastic brain stop with the reveal of the Eyeless Hand.
Wherever Comfrey is, she managed to get involved in a number of dangerous groups in her few months head start. Who knows what more we’ll discover in the next episode.
We haven’t added any new rumors to the list unless we’re counting Daisuke’s rumored memory of scaring off Olethra’s bully, so as we stand, these are the rumors:
- There’s a kill switch in the MechLeod.
- Olethra MacLeod is a robot.
- Pappy was lost at air for six months.
- Van is secretly working with the Confederate Republic.
- This rumor came from a member of Marya’s and Van’s old crew.
- Van denied it, noting her family money means she would never need to take a bribe.
- Van won the Grand Kabilian Toe Wrestling Championship.
- Confirmed by Van.
Let us know what you think in the comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.
Featured Image: Dimension 20
The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network
The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord.
New episodes of The Boss Rush Podcast release every Monday morning on YouTube and all major podcast applications like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Patreon supporters gain one week early access.
Listen on your favorite podcast application or watch on YouTube!
Anchor | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Twitch | Overcast | Pocket Casts |
Follow The Boss Rush Podcast on Social Media:
Twitter | Discord | Instagram | Twitch | YouTube | Facebook Group | Facebook
Leave a Reply