Doug isn't know for his fast-talking skills, but this time it seems to work.

There are two cops -- not carnival-goers dressed as cops! -- a white cop in his 40s and a younger black cop. You see that they're carrying a bunch of flyers. The white cop looks alarmed for a second, but the black one says, "calm down, kids. The carnival's got security and employees. I'm sure they've already taken care of it."

The white guy rolls his eyes as if realizing what an idiot he was, and says,

"Yeah. The kid's already out. If you kids have any problems, go to the Security tent. It's up there down the road.

"We're looking for a missing kid. Just passing out information. Here, take one of these. If you see anyone that matches this description, call this number."

He hands you a flyer.

"You kids have a good Halloween."

The two cops walk off, passing flyers to other people.

The girl looks at Doug and says to Bongo, "is this your friend?".

The flyer has the photo of a girl and the following text:


MISSING
ALICE LAMBERT
Age 11
Height 4'8"
Weight 78 lbs
Hair Blonde
Eyes Hazel

Alice was taken from the Worcester State Hospital four days ago by a white male in his mid-30s, slender, and of average height. He has short black hair, blue eyes, and was last seen wearing a white hospital uniform. DO NOT APPROACH!

Immediately call the Massachusetts State Police Top Hotline at: 1-800-555-3400

The Forgotten Child Foundation is offering a reward of $10,000 for any information that ultimately leads to Alice's safe return.



This message was lightly edited by the GM at 15:23, Fri 26 Aug 2022.

In reply to Chris Yog-Dossoth (msg # 59):

To the cops who handed out the flyers: “Ummm…sirs, this is terrible. What was she in the hospital for? Is she in danger due to her health and not only because she was abducted?”

Before they walk off, the younger black cop says,

"It was a mental hospital. But, sorry, I can't really talk about an active case.

"If you see anything, call that number."

They walk off, handing out flyers to other people, unless you stop them.

'Protect and serve' my rosy red rump! Doug is quietly outraged on behalf of his imaginary kid-in-need. They have a chance t'save some kid from drownin' t'death an' they push it off on carnival security fer th' love o' Mike. They'd rather pass out their pointless flyers that people just throw on th' ground. (which he does with the one he's holding) What do they think? This kidnapper's gonna bring his victim to ride th' tilt-a-whirl? Useless fascists. Now that the cops are safely down the midway, he shoots them the bird.

He turns to Bongo: My man! I thought they were totally gonna bust you. I figured you were gonna do twenty-to-life at Riker's or Alcatraz or some other hell hole island. Didja see me step up an' distract them so you could make yer getaway? I'd take a bullet for ya, Bongs.

He basks in his outlaw cred for a moment, then looks around for something new.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Fri 26 Aug 2022.

The girl in the Frankenstein mask says, "wow, you guys are tough!", as you inches away from Bongo and toward Doug.

"Hey, what's your name?", she asks Doug, pointedly ignoring Bongo and even more so Brandy. "I'm Butterfly. You think that kid in the apple bobbing pool is OK?!?!?"

Doug blinks, surprised that this girl doesn't seem to understand that he made up the drowning kid just to distract the cops.

Oh. Kid's okay fer sure. He's a tough little monkey, y'know?

Butterfly, huh? Pretty name fer a pretty lady...behind that mask...I guess. They call me Doug, short for 'I dig it.' Right? He laughs at his own joke, hoping this chick gets it. Excuse the pun.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:45, Sun 28 Aug 2022.

She takes her Frankenstein's monster mask off. She's a pretty blond girl. She smiles at Doug.

"That's a great joke!", she says, batting her eyes.

"I hope that girl who got kidnapped is OK. You think she's at the carnival?!?!?"

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:09, Sun 28 Aug 2022.

Brandy eyes this 'Butterfly' with suspicion.

Why would she be at the carnival? That's a weird question.

"I dunno!" I'm just worried. "I'll see you later," she says, addressing Doug, and heads off down deeper into the carnival.

Music plays. People mill around. Up ahead and to the side, the Ferris wheel spins through the air. Up ahead, down the fenced path, you see more tents -- Bubble Breaker!, Bear Hunt!, and Photo Booth!, their signs festively exclaim.

Bongo suddenly feels that this situation -- the girl in the Frankenstein mask flirting with Doug in his werewolf costume -- is hysterically funny. He starts laughing like a loon.

OOC: Bongo just lost 2 points of Sanity, which I will note on his character sheet. Feel free to roleplay your strange laughing fit. Too much weed???

In reply to Chris Yog-Dossoth (msg # 67):

Between bouts of laughter: “Oh my god, I’m freaking Butterfly, I was going to call myself Potato Bug but it isn’t hippie enough…hahahaha…oh look at my bell bottoms…man I told you I hate bell bottoms…bwhaahahaha…oh I look so cool but I keep tripping on my foot umbrellas…Lou Reed is right…hippies suck..oooohhh, I am such a hippie chick, but I will go for the Jock, no offense, Dig Doug?…bwahahaha…well, some offense…bwahahahahahahaha…oh man…some offense…anyway, I didn’t want any of that, I wanted to sell the hippie chick some green…but she wanted to smoke Dougie’s sausage instead…hahahahahahahahahahaha…holy shit this is funny for some reason….hahahahahahahaha…oh shit, all this laughing is making me nauseous…where can I get a soda here?”

Bongo laughs hysterically and retches periodically.

Some guy walks by dressed as a big rabbit, He glances at Bongo laughing with eyes that say, "what is wring with that guy?"

He is carrying a soda, so you can ask him where the sodas are.

In reply to Chris Yog-Dossoth (msg # 69):

“Haaaaay Rabbit Man…where’d you get your soda? Rabbit Man….hahahahahahahah!!!!”

catch ya later, little butterfly! Doug calls after her.

He starts laughing at Bongo laughing. Then he’s laughing at his own  He drapes an arm across his buddy’s shoulders and they laugh at each other. He crosses his eyes and sticks out his tongue at Brandy and giggles some more.

Bongo is still shaking with laughter, and Doug along with him. Bongo is REALLY shaking with laughter, his shoulders heaving.

He looks at you and drinks his soda, then points up further into the carnival,

"there's drinks and food past the big tent up ahead, to the left."

Suddenly, for some reason, things stop being so funny for Bongo.

It's very strange. Bongo suddenly notices that this carnival looks a lot more dilapidated than he thought before. The tents are dirty; the posters faded and torn; the paint on the fence around the carnival is peeling. Weird that he didn't notice before, but whatever, huh?

Do you all want to go in that direction, up toward the food vendors?

Brandy finds their behavior bizarre.

....Ok .... let's go see what's going on around the food.

Brandy keeps a close eye on Bongo and Doug.

Oh hey, hold up a minute, says Doug, catching sight of the photo booth, Let's get our picture taken first. It'll be a goof.

Doug and Brandy walk into the photo booth tent.

Just inside a smaller tent is a large woodpaneled box, about the size of two phone booths. The box is ornate and trimmed with decorative brass fittings. A picture frame on the left side shows a black and white picture of a typical family of four, all laughing and trying to stay in the frame. On the right side is a burgundy curtain. A carnie sitting on a wooden chair next to it pulls the curtain back to reveal a narrow seat on the right and a large pane of dark glass on the left. Below the glass, it reads: 4 Pictures – 25¢, and below that in smaller lettering: Look at the Center of the Glass. There’s a coin slot just to the right of the price.

The carny smiles at you. He's in his late 20s, with a huge mane of hair and facial hair to match. He looks almost more like a wolf man than Doug does in his mask!

He says, "hiya! Can I take your picture?"

As he does so, Brandy feels her legs give out from under her. She almost collapses to the ground -- in fact, she would if Doug were not holding onto her. She feels reaallllly woozy.

"You OK?", the carny says.

Outside, Bongo is doing... something.

OOC: Brandy has lost 1 point of Sanity, which I will mark off the character sheet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:47, Sat 03 Sept 2022.

In reply to Chris Yog-Dossoth (msg #

 Bongo sees Doug and Brandy go into the photo booth, so he goes to see where the concession stand is.

Brandy tries and recover her footing as they leave the photo booth.

Let's go find Bongo. This place is starting to worry me. Hey where's that picture?

Brandy goes over to the carny:

Picture please?

Hey! Steady there, Brandy-boo. Doug takes the girl's weight on his arm as her legs kind of buckle. That's good stuff Bongo's got, huh? He whispers in her ear, getting a sweet sniff of her perfume or hairspray or something. He takes the strip of pictures from the attendant: Hey, thanks, man. We'll send our friends around to see you. He's making goofy faces in all four shots.

Yeah, let's find our faithful Bongo, huh? He says, as they exit the photo shop. He can see the big concession tent and steers Brandy in that direction. He starts reading off the menu board as they approach: Lessee... We got hot dogs, chili dogs, corn dogs… Yep, th’ canine food group is covered. Then there’s funnel cakes, candy apples, cotton candy, sno balls, soft serve ice cream. Annnd popcorn, cheese corn, caramel corn, peanuts, and cracker jack for your well-balanced diet..  Think I’ll start with a foamy adult beverage. Whaddya say? I'll spring for th' first round.

Before you leave the photo both, some stuff happens!


Brandy's head clears. She notices that the inside of the photo booth looks very dilapidated -- she didn't notice this before. And the carny seems to be leering at her with a big maliciious grin.

The carny looks at Brandy and smiles. He nods at the slot that says "25 cents."

Brandy puts a quarter in the coin slot.

The coin rattles and sinks down into the device.

For Doug, the sound of the coin entering the apparatus is shrill, a high-pitched whine. RATTLERATTLERATTLE. It's very annoying. Doug imagines the sharp edges of the coin catching against the sides of the machine, somehow making this extremely annoying noise. THUNKTHUNKTUNK is the noise it makes as it enters its final destination and the camera clicks.

CLICK!

The picture shows Brandy and Doug, convict and Wolfman, standing in the tent.

NOW you go out.

Doug and Brandy both note that the carnival is kind of in bad shape. Very dirty and dusty, with lots of trash everywhere.

People mill around, laughing and enjoying the games of the carnival.

OOC: Doug lost 2 Sanity.

In reply to Doug Stevenson (msg # 78):

Bongo sees Doug and Brandy, walks towards them. “Hey cats, how was your photo sessionings?” But, getting closer he sees something off. “You two all right? D’ju eat too many brownies again? Man, cats, that’s…”
This message was last edited by the player at 13:33, Sun 04 Sept 2022.

Up ahead, you see more tents -- Knife Throw, Duck Pond, Ball Toss, Skee Ball, Ping Pong Fish, Wheel-O-Fortune, Clown Dunk, Fortune Teller. Past them, the main drag of the carnival twists to the left, where you can see the top of the big tent and, beyond that, the Ferris Wheel.

These tents all look really dilapidated. The poster on the fence advertising Lady Sari's Night of Bedlam at midnight is torn and faded.

It's starting to get dark. Carnival music plays in the background. People mill about, laughing and enjoying the games. Someone comes running out of Ping Pong Fish with a bag of goldfish in his hand.

You hear a young man dressed as a giant insect tell his date, dressed as princess, "careful what you drink. I was at a carnival last year and somebody spiked my coke with acid."

OOC: everybody, please give me both a Constitution and a Power check, please.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:20, Sun 04 Sept 2022.

In reply to Chris Yog-Dossoth (msg # 81):


12:00, Today: Bongo rolled 8 using 1d100 ((8)) for Constitution (55).

12:02, Today: Bongo rolled 31 using 1d100 ((31)) for Power (45).

Looking at the snapshot, Doug finds that the 'funny face' he was trying to make turned out grotesque, even hideous. He lets Brandy take it. He feels--not sick exactly but kind of...off. Choking on the dust and deciding he must be dehydrated, he desperately wants a beer.

Man, this place is a real dump, y'know? I gotta get me a brew. You guys want one? I'm buyin' this round.

Doug Stevenson rolled 25 for Power 40 and 34 for Constitution 60.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:37, Thu 22 Sept 2022.