Don't Mind | Sealskin Rock | Ep. 7

Hello, this is K.A.

Stats, the writer and creator of Don't Mind Sealskin Rock.

I wanted to say today that we over here at Fool and Scholar Productions are always so entertained and enthused when we see your theories and ideas on what's happening, either in our Discord or on Reddit or on comments on our Instagram or TikToks.

It's always so much fun to hear from all of you.

If you are not supporting us on Patreon, that's okay, but do check it out.

Otherwise, the best thing you can do to help us out is to tell people about the show.

If you enjoy anything that we create, please share it with others, and hopefully we can all grow a little bit more together.

And now?

Previously on Don't Mind Sealskin Rock.

Wanting to return an unwanted gift to Ian, Melody spied on him and her father discussing the ever-growing discovery, the thick grooves of silver hidden beneath the chateau.

Melody was discovered and her father asked her for help to climb out on the rock face to inspect the extent of the silver.

After nearly falling from the precarious perch, a shaken Melody returned upstairs to find that Maxine had made her own discoveries.

Something had been moving in the upper floors, and a photograph from World War II showed the familiar face of Miss Julia smiling in the background.

But the day passed, and the Morris girls continued to live on the isolated sealskin rock without incident.

Now, they've grown more cautious of the increasingly elusive Miss Julia with every passing hour.

Cono juelas crucientes and verdad qual 10 years.

Ademas delicious trosos degranola nuces y fruta que todos van adis frutad.

Honey punches a votes for all.

Tocal benefit.

CRM was supposed to improve customer relationships.

Instead, it's shorthand for can't resolve much.

Which means you may have sunk a fortune into software that just bounces customer issues around but never actually solves them.

On the ServiceNow AI platform, CRM stands for something better.

With AI built into one platform, customers aren't mired in endless loops of automated indifference.

They get what they need when they need it.

Bad CRM was then.

This is ServiceNow.

Don't mind sealskin rock

Matt kicking your ass?

Max.

Sorry.

Ultra Batude taking you to the cleaners?

What?

Where did you even hear that one?

Are you avoiding my question?

Yeah,

actually.

When am I gonna need to know this stuff?

And it's Saturday.

Shouldn't we go do something fun?

Seems like a waste of youth.

Well, I did my schoolwork and the dishes and my strength training, so I do get to do something fun.

See, exhibit DS.

And that's because I don't procrastinate.

But yeah.

That's working too, so it's not like we could go back to the mainland to do anything.

Yeah, well, it's fine.

I just had.

I had a lot to do this week.

Moving somewhere always throws me off.

And dad wouldn't have taken us off the island anyways.

And this.

Why?

Why?

Why do I need to know how to calculate a Koenig section?

What will I ever use this for?

Don't look at me.

How am I supposed to know?

Cause you're smart.

And this.

This isn't for stupid people like me.

You're not stupid.

It's just not easy.

Leave the algebra book for now.

Why not try the GED prep books?

If you can get through one of those, then you don't even need the Koenig section calculations.

Yeah, I just need to score well enough once for this to be over.

I can proctor a mock exam for you.

I'll even wear my fake glasses and take away your snacks.

Yeah, just what I need on a weekend.

A big failure.

Even if you fail, we'll know what you need to work on.

And I don't think it'll be Koenig sections.

No.

No, it'll be grammar or basic algebra or something so, so simple.

And I'll get it wrong.

I always get it wrong.

You won't.

Just one time, right?

You just need to do it right one time.

And not to be super negative, but even if you don't want to be a dermatologist, I'm pretty sure estheticians still need a GED.

Great.

So, what?

I'll be pouring coffee at Timmy's for the rest of my life.

Let's take a break you wanna come downstairs with me how are you feeling today I could go for a short walk even if it's just to the Wi-Fi okay we'll go down to the Wi-Fi download some videos watch a stream or two maybe can we look up more stuff about this place whatever you want anything sounds better than this what if miss julia is down there act normal I mean There's no way it was actually her in the photo.

Maybe it's like her mom or her grandma or something.

Do you think she'd tell us if we asked?

I pointed it out when I returned all the paper clippings yesterday that the lady looks like her, but she didn't really say anything before she said she had to leave, so

I guess we could ask her again.

Maybe she was having a bad day.

I heard her breaking a bunch of glass or plates the day before.

I've seen her have some pretty stressful reactions to things, and I've seen her be really weird.

Oh no, I don't think...

Well, maybe if you think she tells the truth.

But the picture looks so much like her.

Just wait until you see her again.

You won't think that.

But yeah, I don't think anyone here, anyone outside this room, is telling the truth.

You always feel that way.

You have serious trust issues.

Well-earned trust issues.

I'll grab your crutches.

You get your shoes on.

You know, Mr.

Lucas said that seals were spotted in the area yesterday morning, so we should keep an eye out for them.

Really?

Yeah, okay.

Did he see what kind of seals?

No, sorry, I forgot to ask.

If you're up for it, you should come down to see Mr.

Lucas on Monday.

I'd like to.

Feels nice.

When I can hear his book coming, I always try to go to the balcony and wave at him.

Really?

I don't always get there on time, though.

Good to try, though.

He asks about you.

Hopes you're doing good and all.

Have you heard anything else like those noises on Thursday?

No, not really.

So, not since Miss Julia left.

But she'll be back, right?

She might be down there right now for all I know.

It's a weekend, though, so maybe not.

I don't know if she's supposed to be here every day or if she has some kind of schedule.

Do you think we could use the kitchen for my birthday next week?

It's not really a working kitchen, so I wouldn't count on it.

But if you want me to cook something special, I can try my best with the camp stove.

I was thinking about baking a cake.

I can't bake a normal cake without an oven and baking pans, but I can steam stuff with a camp stove.

How about sweet buns?

Or...

Oh, I saw a TikTok about a steamed lemon cake.

No promises on how it'll turn out, though.

It might be more like a semi-fluffy lemon pudding.

Anything like that.

Don't tell me what you choose, though.

I want it to be a surprise.

Just please choose something we haven't had before.

Not much of a surprise, unless you stay out of the sitting room when I make it.

Of course, what do you need?

Four or five minutes?

Maybe four or five hours, but yeah.

What's that sound?

Demolition work in the basement?

No, it's closer.

I think it's a typewriter.

Miss Julia,

are you here?

Hi, Miss Julia.

How have you been?

Hi, Miss Julia.

That's cool.

I've never seen anyone use a typewriter before.

What are you typing?

You look busy.

Is she okay?

I don't know.

Miss Julia, are you okay?

Miss Julia?

Come on, Max.

Let's leave her to her work.

She looks busy.

Have a nice day, Miss Julia.

That's Julia?

That's insane!

She looks so different from when we got here.

Same person, but like a before and after photo of touching a fake holy crap.

I told you, she's like, what, 45?

Maybe older.

I can't believe that's the same person.

When I saw her earlier, she was young and beautiful and had this retro style.

Now, I don't know.

It seems to fit her dressing like that.

Was she really that gray before?

There's no way.

She had such pretty eyes when we got here.

And in the picture, too, but that Julia?

She looks so tired, and her eyes are dark.

Maybe that wasn't Julia in the photo.

Last time I saw her, she was acting strange, really strange.

And like I said, when I went to return the articles yesterday, she just brushed me off to leave and break stuff.

Creepy.

What was she typing just now?

And no one uses typewriters anymore except serial killers and cosplayers.

She wasn't typing anything.

It was just nonsense, a mess of letters and numbers.

She wasn't even looking at the paper, just staring around it.

Totally zoned out.

Yeah, that's really messed up.

She's totally Dolulu or something.

Should we tell Dad?

No.

Let Dad work.

He's dealt with Julia more than I have, and she's been getting weirder and weirder.

He knows.

He didn't see some of the stuff I saw, but he knows.

And who knows what he's seen?

Or he's blind.

Let's look up the stuff about the chateau.

What did you want to know?

Okay, I was thinking there are probably some local legends about this place, or maybe some travel blogs or posts from people in the area that talk about Sealskin Rock.

Maybe a Facebook group.

Or subreddit, like maybe on our slash little places travel journal.

Whoa,

you shouldn't be going on Reddit.

I'll look up the Reddit stuff.

Fine.

But this is mostly a French-speaking region.

Remember the sign we saw on the drive-up here?

So, you may need to search for terms in French.

I don't speak French.

It's the internet.

Use a translator.

Oh, yeah.

Right.

Here's one.

Someone from one of the other towns nearby posted a question about...

Pretty much what we're looking for.

It's translated from French, so...

bear with it.

New to the area, what's the deal with that old mansion in the Gulf?

I didn't have a book already.

Oh, here's a question in the comments.

What happened to the other prospectors who came to Canada with the Grotto?

Don Le Grode?

Originally, six prospectors arrived from France as part of a collectively funded team.

One of them, who discovered a rich load of copper, never made the journey north to the site of the future Don Le Groat silver mine.

Of the five remaining prospectors, it was Jean-Paul in the crot.

Sorry, it keeps translating the French for his name.

It was Jean-Paul Don Le Grode who discovered the silver vein.

He received the rights to his discovery, but around the same time, Two other prospectors from their group disappeared.

Disappeared as in went looking for for valuable minerals and never returned, or as in disappeared in the middle of the night, disappeared.

It doesn't say.

The other two went on to find another copper mine, which was much smaller than the previous copper find,

and was thus sold off.

The pair returned to France, where they funded an import-export company responsible for trade between the New World resources and the French state.

Maybe they were the company that Don Le Groot was always selling to for way too low.

Maybe.

What about that one?

It's about Henry, the son.

Local tidbit from a personal correspondence letter in 1769, written by a man named Alexandra to his wife, Cosette.

The part about Sealskin Rock is only a few lines.

I had been invited under the notion that my grandfather had been one of the earliest trappers in the northern territories, in the area which Henry Don La Groat's father, Jean-Paul, had found the silver vein on which they've made their fortune.

Oh, had my grandfather but found such a boon!

What could have become of our family?

And what I would lavish on you with such wealth, dearest Cosette?

Aw,

sweet.

But now, I benefit slightly on Henry's invitation.

I, among others, were invited to a dinner at the Groat Chateau.

I won't bore you with the idle chatter of the evening, but there were two points of odd interest I believe would pique your curiosity.

First, which I have included herein as a gift to you, is the silver coin.

You can see it is a simple silver token pressed with only a cross on both sides.

Each and every visitor was given such a gift and allowed to keep it upon departure.

It was presented to us as we disembarked from the boat, and that very action is the other matter.

So they gave away silver like cookies.

Welcome to my home.

May I offer you tea and a silver scone?

Uh, go on.

Uh, what's next?

The boat we sailed on docked at a wooden pole lodged between the rocks within the waters of the Gulf.

The dock itself was not more than a carriage's length away, yet our boatmen insisted that the boat stop at the sunken marker.

We were then told to take off our shoes and socks and to hoist up our roller trousers.

We then had to walk across stones beneath chill waters to reach the stone stairs.

Everyone, even gentlewomen in stockings and silk shoes, was required to do so.

It caused quite the momentary upset among the guests until we were handed our silver coins.

Silver does have such a soothing quality to the mind and the purse.

When asked about the matter, whether this was an act of safety or poor construction of the dock, our host Henry only noted that the waters of the Gulf are a purifying medium.

And now that we had entered his home unburdened, all activities for the dinner proceeded as one would expect of a gentlemanly and upstanding host.

Though Henry himself is an odd man, I do wish, and I did wish, while waiting on the boat to disembark, that you had been here to see the chateau in its splendor, darling Cosette.

That's it.

The translation's a little rough, but what do you think?

Maybe it's like that whole ice bath case.

The water is probably really cold.

I bet even in the summer it doesn't get too warm.

Not like a tropical beach.

Don't look at me, I don't know.

What else is there?

Any more comments or posts?

That's all for Reddit.

I'll check somewhere else.

Check for Sealskin Rock, or Jane Paul Don Le Groat, or Henry Don Legro, or even just Groat Chateau.

I know, I know.

Oh, that one!

No, no, no, scroll back up.

There!

I see it.

Move your finger.

The Dhamma Groat Cabinet of Curiosities.

Looks like someone who worked at the museum wrote about it.

Ah, yes.

The weird old rich man box with assorted, dubious sourced antiquities.

And more often than not, dead things.

Oh, goody.

Wait, it's a picture.

It's not actual text.

It won't translate.

Maybe there's something else on it?

A different website or something from the museum itself?

Oh, hey, Max.

Melody?

Oh, hey, Dean!

Uh, what's up?

What's in the bag?

Just some things we need to bring back to the truck.

Uh, tools and stuff we don't seem to need down there.

Just tools?

Then it sounds like you're busy.

You probably shouldn't stop to chat with us.

Our dad can't do most of the lifting on his own, you know?

Bad pack.

Are you sure?

He really seems to be doing fine.

He hasn't said anything about pain to me.

Oh, Oh,

I took this picture to show you, Max.

Wow.

Isn't it cool?

Looks like an old servant's entrance or something, snuggled right into the rocks.

It's like being inside a cave.

Is it really that dangerous in the basement, or can I go see it?

It's dangerous down there.

So, be sure to listen to Melody about this one, okay?

There are all kinds of chemicals and substances down there that aren't safe to breathe, even for me.

That's why we have fitted respirators,

masks, and we know what to avoid not to mention how difficult it is to walk around down there the floor is uneven covered in debris and nails and there's just piles of trash everywhere believe me our rooms are the prettiest part of this place yeah fine don't feel so glum at least we've been having some nice weather this weekend it's really nice to see you outside of your room maxine Pretty girls shouldn't have to spend all their time locked up like that.

You know what?

I'm sure dad would benefit from having you back down there real quick.

Back pain or no, four hands work faster than two.

Let me walk you down to the dock, and you should try to find more info on that cabinet of the weird they sold.

Sure.

I'm more busy than I'd like, anyways.

Bye for now, Max.

Bye, Dan.

See you later.

Oh, hi, Julia.

That's weird.

Is she okay?

Don't know.

Do the women in town all hate you, or something?

What?

Why would you think that?

Just trying to figure out why you're trying to impress a kid instead of a grown-ass woman.

She's cute.

She seems like she's had a tough time at life, too, so I'm just trying to be nice.

It's good you look after her.

Help her.

I hope you learned that someone should be helping you sometime, too.

I'm good.

We found more bags of seal bones down there.

All around the circle.

Well, that's ominous.

Did this place used to have stuffed animals?

Like taxidermy shit?

No idea.

Oh, Mr.

Lucas is here.

Hey!

I didn't know you were coming by today.

Yeah,

kid and your father asked for the extra round today.

And, uh, well, I had the time.

Your newest grocery delivery is here, too.

Oh,

oh, thanks.

I can take it up.

Uh, thank you.

Saves me the time.

And the stairs.

Did Max get her violin fixed up?

She did.

She did.

I fixed it yesterday, out on the balcony.

And then she played for a bit while I tried to find some seals.

And she's really thankful for your help.

Lucas, thanks for the extra round today.

Quite it worked out.

Not a problem.

Weather's good, and Ann Rock pays pretty well for a bit of time on my boat, so I'm not complaining.

Didn't see Maxine waving down today.

She's not in our rooms.

She's downstairs, using the Wi-Fi.

Well, tell her I said hi.

We'll do!

Hey, Mr.

Lucas, did you know Miss Julia well before Enrock bought the chateau?

Only in passing.

I come out this way to fish, so I know some of the people up the shore.

But there's only sparse fishing around the rock.

Going even a little further out or a little further inland gets a better catch, so I never stopped by enough to really get to know her.

But you said you saw seals recently.

Sure did.

You can see them from the rock, but they don't get too close.

I hope you and Maxine can spot some.

Look inland from your balcony, and you'll catch them if you're lucky.

They favor a shelf about halfway to the mainland.

Best if you have some binoculars.

Thanks.

I told her earlier, and we're keeping an eye eye out.

What about teenagers or drunks or something?

Have you ever seen anyone come out here with spray paint or tools or something?

Not that I can personally recall.

Though

we don't have a big population around here to support a roving group of boating teenage hooligans.

Well, as for thieves or the like,

everyone nearby knows that the estate sold off their valuables or shipped them away.

Either way, not a lot to pull out of the chateau for a quick profit.

I guess someone could come over here looking to scrap some of the copper wire, but

with the stone walls and the boat trip, probably not worth it.

Doesn't look like anyone has tried to take the copper, thankfully, but someone must have gone in during the early 1900s to put in the electricity.

Though, only in some parts of the estate.

And there were phone lines at some point, but they don't work now.

Maybe a storm knocked them up.

Wouldn't know.

I certainly wasn't around to see the chateau back when they were installing it.

Well, we better get going.

Ian, take a seat.

See you on Monday, Melody.

Hi, thanks again, Mr.

Lucas.

Oh, wait, Melody!

Here!

You dropped a box of pasta.

Melody,

you need to to be a bit careful around Ian if you aren't already.

Near me.

I knew it.

He's a criminal, isn't he?

It's just rumors, but be smart about it.

He's not on the level.

Been a troublemaker around here for a few months now.

And we'll see you soon for the next delivery.

Bye now.

Thank you.

Bye.

Wait,

is that

no, just a bird?

Stuck, come on.

Miss Julia, are you okay?

Do you need help?

If you do, you can tell me.

I can try to help.

Wait, the boss?

Was Mr.

Lucas here today?

I thought he wasn't coming until tomorrow.

He was just here for a moment.

He needed a ride back to the shore, so Mr.

Lucas thought to bring our food over early.

This is great!

Onions, lettuce, wraps?

Can we have burritos tonight?

Sure, that's super easy.

We have salsa and beans upstairs already.

And there's more propane for the camp stove.

Good.

I can never tell when we're running low.

And it should last us until Wednesday.

Unless dad makes coffee twice a day.

You know, it's weird that we can get working Wi-Fi out to this place, but we don't have a working full-size stove or oven.

You'd think one of those was a bit more important than the other.

I'd much rather have Wi-Fi than an oven.

Yeah, I know, but like, 20 years ago, when there was no Wi-Fi, they probably had different priorities, right?

Sure, but I don't think this oven has worked for a long, long time.

But I'm sorry we can't have both.

Most normal apartments or houses have Wi-Fi and a kitchen.

If we had one, I'd make you a birthday cake easy.

Not easy.

I'm not a good baker, but I'd make you a cake.

Maybe a cupcake.

Or at least one of those microwave cake-in-a-cup things.

You'll figure something out.

You always do.

Right.

Find anything about the box of Weird that the Grove family sold off?

I did actually.

It's also in French, but I got the page to translate the alt text.

In the early years of the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Don La Groat Cabinet of Curiosities was purchased by the Geological Survey Club of Canada.

The club donated the cabinet to the museum after they had spent time cataloguing the rare finds contained within.

The Groat cabinet included rare objects from Canada's geological, archaeological, and paleontological past, as well as curios imported from Europe and the Middle Middle East.

One drawer of the cabinet was dedicated to the personal written journals of Henry Don La Groat.

So it had rocks and fossils and probably indigenous objects?

There's a highlights list that the museum released, but apparently the cabinet and its contents have been in storage since the 60s.

What's on the list?

Um

geological rock samples of silver-rich minerals from the northern Quebec region.

Silver ingots of various sizes formed from silver from the Don La Groat mine.

Silver medallions marked with the cross on both sides.

A large glass jar containing a preserved harp seal fetus.

Ew.

An articulated bat skeleton strung with silver wire.

So, like, to display it?

A full set of

adult human nails and teeth?

Why?

Why is that in a cabinet of curiosities?

Like, first, again, gross.

But why?

They're teeth and nails.

Everyone has them.

They're not curious.

What's curious is why this guy kept them.

Some people's brains are kept in jars.

Yeah, because they're smart and people wanted to keep the smart part.

Perhaps they were the best looking teeth and nails of the time.

Somehow that idea makes it feel worse.

What else is there?

Fossils from the local area including ammonites and a giant dragonfly and an Ailesen ail-sheen epoch bat fossil of indeterminate providence provenance providence oh there's a comment with a link to a picture it's probably just a wreck roll no look it's real

wow it's prettier than i thought it would have been they must have had it custom made with the silver lines in the design i wonder what henry wrote about in his notebooks Nothing else is written about them, so maybe they're a return to the family?

What?

What do you think of the cabinet?

Do you think the lines are like astrological charts or something?

Those were popular designs.

I mean, they are now, too.

No,

you okay?

Those designs, the circles and symbols.

Do you recognize them?

Like I said, uh, maybe astrology?

Oh,

okay.

You,

yeah,

I think I've seen it before.

Parts of it.

Don't Mind.

Sealskin Rock.

Written and created by K.A.

Stats.

Produced, directed, with additional sound design by Travis Vengroff.

Co-edited and directed with Dialogue Editing, Editing, Sound Design, Mixing and Mastering by Finner Nielsen.

Writing Assistance by W.K.

Stats.

Music by Brandon Boone.

And executive producers Dennis Greenhill, A.J.

Punkin, Carol Vengroff, and Michael Viegas.

Starring Marcy Edwards, Lily Picchu, Mark Muir, and Rusty Moore.

For bonus content, early releases, and ad-free episodes, please support the creators at patreon.com/slash foolandscholar.

With your help, we have so many more stories we'd love to bring to life.

This is a Fool and Scholar production.

Thank you for listening.

Does music really have the power to heal?

How can you instantly be more persuasive?

What would the world be like if there were no bugs?

These are the kind of topics we explore in every episode of my podcast called Something You Should Know.

My name is Mike Carruthers, and what we do on Something You Should Know is we find leading experts and curate topics that will impact your life, satisfy your curiosity, or simply fascinate you.

Maybe all of the above.

Out of all the millions of podcasts in the universe, Something You Should Know is usually ranked in the top 200 of all podcasts on Apple.

A lot of people like Something You Should Know, and I'm willing to bet you will too.

We deliver three episodes a week and have a catalog of over a thousand shows for you to listen to.

Give a listen to Something You Should Know, wherever you get your podcasts.

Greetings, adventurers.

Today we're excited to introduce you to a new story, Dark Dice, a horror podcast that blurs the line between actual play and audio drama, where the story is determined by the roll of the dice.

Six adventurers embark on a journey into the ruinous domain of the Nameless God.

They will never be the same again.

One of the players is not what they seem after a doppelganger, a creature that can assume the form and voice of whatever it kills, infiltrates the team.

As the players are picked off and replaced one at a time, can they figure out who the monster is before it's too late?

Can you?

Here's a quick example of what our show sounds like: The Shambler with the jar of liquid inside of him.

Soren Arkwright let loose an arrow that cracked the glass, passing through the spine of the creature.

The shambler still managed to maintain its forward momentum, but stumbled as it eagerly tried to bite and swipe at Soren, landing near his feet.

As Jeff Goldblum has now joined our cast, Dark Dice is available however you listen to podcasts.