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 ‘Van’ Chapman (she/her). Lou Wilson (he/him) as Montgomery ‘Monty’ 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, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth episodes!
As we return to the crew of the Zephyr, Van apologies to her husband for bringing him on, revealing the mission is far more dangerous than they first suspected. The gentle support from Bert and Van’s absolute devotion as she holds back tears and praises the man she loved absolutely stole my heart, underscoring the in-game danger for our characters. All seriousness broke as Wealwell proclaimed he had lost his handkerchief.
Torse offers his services, noting he had not expected to survive and owes them his life. He forewarns that the Zephyr will be destroyed by Fehujar. Insulted by the derision of his ship, Maxwell rails against the assessment. However, the rest of the crew acknowledge the age of the ship, which was the first iteration of Comfrey’s flying ship.
They elect to modify the ship and seek out Fejuhar’s enemies. The delay seems problematic considering how long Comfrey’s already been missing, but she’s undoubtedly self-sufficient, so imprisoned or in hiding, Professor MacLeod may be better off than the situation thus far might suggest or perhaps even then the crew as Van’s arm seems to activate the hand covered in eyes which they recovered.
As the crew wonders if the hand was Van’s original hand prior to her prothesis, Olethra uses the mech to test, finding the hand shares the same energy that she received from Van in her first reading.
Daisuke aims his gun at the hand. All the eyes close, and the hand shifts weirdly. Olethra watches as planar energy twists and move. A lovecraftian wave of horror pierces her as the eyes extend through some translucent form like a column of eyes up to the sky. Tendrils twist in the sky, suggesting the hand is a tip of a being attempting to surround them from another reality. While they seem to disappear once the blanket is over it once more, the fear remains.
The crew heads out to hunt for pirates, hoping they’ll be against the House of Fehujar, but their first encounter brings back a believed dead enemy, Goldbeard. Daisuke wastes no time in shooting him.
Goldbeard confesses a relationship with Comfrey, swearing his love to her and strangely assuming he might be Olethra’s grandfather despite their affair lasting only a few weeks in Zood. For love of Comfrey and hate of Fehujar, Goldbeard agrees to help despite the animosity between him and Daisuke.
Olethra and Marya find a golden engine among the pirate’s junk heap, exchanging their junk for it. Meanwhile, Monty and Daisuke discuss the situation with Goldbeard, stealing back the mug and getting a bit suspicious at how little the man seems to have aged.
The group decides to have Monty fake vulnerability to lure in Fehujar and had a trap laid in waiting. Unfortunately, despite an excellent performance, Lou rolled badly. Not showing them the roll, Brennan cast the die for Fehujar, beating Lou’s roll. We end the episode with a long blimp spotting them in the clouds, preventing their trap.
Highlights
Torse absolutely stole the show. Soft-spoken and blunt, he did his best, using the Shit Sandwich method he learned from Comfrey to ease Maxwell into the reality that the Zephyr isn’t equipped to handle what lays ahead.
His dislike toward the clockwork pirates and clucking about their ‘frivolous’ designs.
Additionally, Lou Wilson playing Monty faking a vulnerable call to lure in Fehujar definitely stole the show and had me doubling over cackling.
His excuse that he was bitten by a crab, that he had to pee, and had a terribly weak crew had the whole table crying with laughter.
Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)
The longer this season goes on, the more I want a backstory on how Van and Bert met, longing for the clearly sweet story between them. That seems to be the theme for this season. We’re dealing with so many legends, and each of them have so many stories, but we’re meeting them after their legends, so we only get peeks and references to their history. Plus, each time we run into new characters, the knots and tangles of the past leave me rabid for what we do / do not know.
Of course, this is also Maxwell’s and Olethra’s first adventure (as well as Wealwell’s), so the contract between them is absolutely hilarious. Then again, none of our legends ever made it to Zood, making this somewhat new for both of them.
That all being said, we had a heavy first half with slow pacing that dragged as our players debated their options which led into a fun segment in the mid-to-latter section and a decent scare toward the front of the second half with the hand. Even when slow, our Intrepid Heroes manage to get in enough laughs to keep things from stagnating. I always have a moment after two or so oddly paced episodes where I wonder if the whole season could’ve had a better edit, but usually, the end product justifies these weirder inconsistently paced episodes. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Rumors remain as follows:
- There’s a kill switch in the MechLeod.
- Marya finally told Olethra, but nothing was found yet.
- 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.
- Daisuke can hold his breath for an hour.
- Zach confirmed this to be a lie, but nothing was said in game.
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.
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