Lost Rambler

Arc II, Chapter 67: Up to Speed

“The Spirit of Vengeance requires a delicate touch,” Madam Celia said after we had gathered inside and settled in the downstairs living room. “You were supposed to use its magic once and then return the flask. My sister tells me that you have sent it after half the town and now the flask is missing?”

“I didn’t say it was missing,” Cassie said. “The guy who had it said he ditched it, but I don’t know.”

The conversation involved a little bit of backtracking. I go...

Arc II, Chapter 66: Sparks Fly

I didn’t have time to mourn Carlyle. The Die Cast, far removed from its original purpose, was not sated by the death of the eldest Geist. It wanted more.

Kimberly and I scrambled back over the fence toward the exit. The air was thick with smoke.

The Die Cast followed.

Its tropes held clues on how to beat it or at least how to survive a little longer. I knew it could outspeed us to a new shooting location. On that note, we were good. This whole place was likely one shooting...

Arc II, Chapter 65: On the Fence

The cast and crew went about resetting to get the rest of the scene. I got close to Bobby in case he saw something on the script that might indicate Carlyle could survive the day. He didn’t say anything on the subject.

“The dogs are worried about something,” he said. “I feel worried about something.”

“It’s the Die Cast,” I said, explaining its tropes in more detail. We had time to kill Off-Screen, so why not give him more information than I had previously?

�...

Arc II, Chapter 64: Dreary Street

I got dressed for my last day as a director. Because this would surely be my last day. First Blood was upon us. It was so close I could feel it in my skin like static electricity. With this enemy, death could come from anywhere.

All I could think about was the person who I knew was going to die today—Carlyle Geist.

I felt so ashamed of my role in his death. I was also embarrassed by how much dread I had. I needed to be stronger than this. Carlyle was as much a victim as me or an...

Arc II, Chapter 63: The Peeping Tom

Carousel definitely had a sense of humor. I could appreciate that, but in the end, the joke was always on us.

My feet were wet. I must have left a puddle on the floor from some shower I had hypothetically taken earlier. The water had spread like long, thin fingers as it dribbled across the bathroom floor.

I tried to avoid the little puddles of water as I walked across the room.

The mirror was cleaner than I remembered. There had been little spots of toothpaste from where I h...

Arc II, Chapter 62: A close shave (unedited)

Living in Carousel was odd in so many ways, but the thing that stuck out the most to me wasn’t the constant feeling of impending doom or the mysterious residents; it was the petty thievery.

Everywhere we went, we found ourselves reaching out and grabbing things we wanted and shoving them in our bags. Chapstick for sale at a neighborhood newspaper stand? Better grab it.

Hand sanitizer in the bathroom at the diner? I think I’ll take it.

Pillow from the nice hotel we stayed...

Chapters start dropping tomorrow

Had to get my evil, undead ducks in a row for the upcoming chapters. They start dropping tomorrow. They should drop fairly quickly after that. Thank you for your patience. There will still be at least three this week, just scrunched up at the end of the week.

After this book is over, we will return to a regular schedule. The next book is going to be fun. All three major storylines are ones I have wanted to write since the beginning of the series. Let's just say it will be a real ho...

Arc II, Chapter 61: Grease Fire

The more Ramona spoke, the more I felt like the entire Tutorial was a row of dominoes or, better yet, a Rube Goldberg machine with a hundred little pieces waiting to do their part, their ultimate purpose unknown.

Ramona definitely had a part, though I couldn’t understand it at first. She entered the final storyline again every day, waiting for a team to come through and help her beat it.

Strange.

We talked about her upbringing in Carousel. She described a relatively normal...

Interlude--Ramona Part III

Last Part of the Interlude

Ramona looked to where the terrible metal-covered man had been only moments earlier. He was no longer there. It felt as if she had been standing in that very spot for hours. Her joints were stiff, and she was parched.

The voices continued.

Where was the murmuring coming from? From her vantage point, she couldn’t see anyone. She ducked down and looked around. They were thirty feet away from her, at least, yet she could hear them whispering as if...

Interlude--Ramona Part Two

“What’s going on over there, Paul?” the voice on the radio called out. The voice had been asking about the misplaced mayor for several hours, but now it asked only about the loud booming in the distance and the commotion of crowds.

Paul, who stood and watched, did not know what was going on. He was merely going about his day when, for no particular reason, he ran across the Centennial Celebration at high speed, pushed the festivity goers out of his way, and stood at ...

The last few days

I want to apologize for the delay in updates—I've been unwell these last few days. Thank you for your understanding and patience. I look forward to resuming the story soon!

Interlude--Ramona Part One

Carousel, Carousel.

A̴̟̱̹̕p̸̖̣̒̍̄r̶̛̘͇̮̖̩̄͐̾͋ḯ̴̤͔̈́ḽ̸͖̿̿͆̌ ̵̨̝̺̚͝1̷͔͕̆̕2̸͈̗̫̊,̸̛̘͖̉͘ ̴͈̩̊̒̽ 1992

The Original Centennial

(before the “continuity loop”)

~-~

Ramona Mercer looked over the crowd at the Bewitching Pavilion. It was mostly families, with lots of young children in cutesy costumes. One little boy in a stroller was dressed as the Edding Swamp Monster, which was said to look like a mutant c...

New Advance Chapter Goal

Chapter drops tomorrow. It might end up being two, I can' tell yet. Right now, the Patreon stands at 6 advanced chapters. I hope to move that up to 10 within the next few weeks. I have a break from work coming up so I should be able to get it done.

Thanks for reading.

Arc II, Chapter 60: The Empty Frame

I froze in place. Never before had Casting Director thrown me a curveball like that.

Ramona Mercer.

She was one of the victims of the original Centennial disaster. What kind of link must she have to this storyline and the Throughline itself? I knew who the Mercers were, or at least, I knew that the family could summon a psychokinetic, parasitic poltergeist. I didn’t expect them to be connected to the Throughline or, at the very least, the Tutorial.

Why was...

Arc II, Chapter 59: Fire

Antoine, Isaac, and I jumped into my car. We watched the screens that had appeared in our minds. We were Off-Screen.

Future Mayor Gray and the coked-out Ricky Zaragoza got back into the brown car and silently watched the factory.

“What is happening?” Isaac said, clearly not ready to be watching film footage in his mind’s eye.

What was happening? We were seeing the killer, I assumed, making his way through the twilight toward the factory. We were seeing things ...

Arc II, Chapter 58: The Flask

“Take this,” Carlyle said, handing me the script. He sounded annoyed at having to break away from our work. “Go through it and make sure everything is consistent with what we talked about.”

I tucked the pages into the inside pocket of the jacket I had been dressed in and nodded.

Carlyle retrieved his coat and a cane that he never actually used and led me out to the parking lot. As we passed by an office, I noticed that some headshots were pinned up on a bulletin board. One...

Arc II, Chapter 57: Carlyle (unedited)

Player Stats:

Player Tropes:

Riley Lawrence is the Film Buff.

Trope Limit: 9

"Trope Master" grants him the ability to perceive enemy tropes, but at the cost of sacrificing half of his Plot Armor.

As an "Oblivious Bystander," Riley remains untargeted by enemies as he...

2024-04-02 02:34:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Arc II, Chapter 56: The Die Cast

“Are you sure there are no Omens here?” Kimberly said for the third time.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I’ll keep an eye out.”

She was nervous, but how could I blame her? The last time we had gone to the library, the vets had acted like we were walking into a lion’s den while covered in lamb’s blood. The library, which had once been so thick with Omens that turning my head too fast would make me nauseous from the flashes of storyline posters on the red wallpaper, was ju...

Quick Update

Chapters Saturday and Sunday.

Need to get things right. There are about 10 chapters left in the Tutorial (book 4). After that things should speed up and I will nail down a set schedule.

Arc II, Chapter 55: Break the Cycles of the Past

I was shaking when we returned to our sad excuse of a hotel room on the other side of the hill. We had gotten our fair share of clues from Jedediah Geist. That was literally his eternal job; he answered players’ questions. That was the deal he had made.

“The Geists really are different than the others,” I said. “Even more than we previously thought. NPCs are cast in roles in an instant, but the level of… of…”

“Manipulation,” Antoine finished my thought. “The le...

Arc II, Chapter 54: The Séance Part Four

This is the final Séance chapter. I think I answered every question that could be answered. Some are answered by implication. Other questions were precluded by the answers to previous questions. (for instance, you should have an idea of what level of meta Jed is aware of so further questions in that line don't make sense). Still, other questions I just refused to ask for various reasons. If there was a topic I missed, please tell me, but I think most of them were covered in some form.

Arc II, Chapter 53: The Séance Part Three

The next one is the last one. I promise.

The flashback changed.

I saw a young Jedediah alone in the schoolyard. Another child, whom I could assume was a bully, was skulking around the yard. He had all the telltale signs: a mean look, rolled-up sleeves, and a small posse. Jedediah was alarmed. He wandered off, looking for safety. He was in a utility closet of some kind.

Of course, when he emerged later, the bully was right there waiting for him.

“In my life, it was ...

Pick Your Fave Writ

These are starter bases and will not last forever, but they each have something to offer a new team just starting out.

1. The Abandoned Jail

• Location: Near Historic Carousel in the center of town. The heart of desolation, yet central to all.

• Perks: Fortified walls and a layout that's easily secured make it a formidable base. Basic amenities. Ghosts sometimes have clues to add to the conversation.

  <...
  2024-03-24 23:49:35 +0000 UTC View Post

Writ of Habitation Thoughts

As many of you might assume, once the Tutorial ends, the real game begins, and the first thing our players need is a place to stay.

As Patrons, the choice of a base is yours. Just know that most Writs are not all rainbows and sunshine like the one that was attached to Dyer's Lodge. Every perk comes with a cost.

Tomorrow, the official poll will go live. This is your chance to give your two cents, to give me any ideas you have for what you might like to see.

So far, the optio...

Arc II, Chapter 52: The Séance Part Two

Alright. This is part two of the séance. There will be a part three soon. I did not plan on it being this long, but I am just having so much fun writing it that I've mostly given up on shrinking this part of the story. As patrons, you are at risk of learning things that will get cut for the RR version because I accidentally said too much. That's just the nature of a story like this. I apologize in advance. This is where you will start to meet the Geists in earnest. As I make the introductio...

2024-03-23 04:07:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Arc II, Chapter 51: The Séance Part One

The renovated version of Jed Geist’s house, acting as a deluxe suite for a hip, modern resort, had been an incredible vacation.

I didn’t realize that while we were there. I could only focus on the negatives: the dark shadows cast in the windows, the oppressive luxury that seemed to mock us as we struggled for our freedom, the memory of having fought for our lives there in a storyline, the fact that the resort staff got our room service orders wrong half the time.

Now, in the c...

Update on Séance Chapter

I'm checking in about the Séance Chapter. This one grew bigger than originally intended and will be a two-parter. Sorry for the delay, but as you might imagine, I have to focus on the wording for this one much more than for most chapters because some readers will be very observant, lol. I have gone through the questions you submitted for JG, and I will make sure that each one is answered as best as he can. 

I have also been working on a plot map of the Geist Cemetery, which should...

Questions for Jedediah Geist

Finally, the time for answers is here. In the next chapter, the players will talk to Jedediah Geist, and, just maybe, they will get some answers about where the Throughline is headed.

All that remains to determine is what questions they should ask.

As Patrons, I would like to give all of you an opportunity to put yourself in the shoes of the players and tell me what info you think they would want the most.

The only requirements are that the questions be reasonable for the pl...

Arc II, Chapter 50: Don't Pull Any Threads

The blood-curdling scream demanded a conga line of concerned friends running upstairs. It was one of the oldest rules in horror movie history. Everyone goes to the scene of the blood-curdling scream.

Antoine took the lead.

The others cried out, “Brenda” and “Keisha” in their most concerned voices.

I ran and screamed right along with them.

Antoine found the door that had slammed. He immediately started twisting the knob with all his might, throwing his shoulder ...

Arc II, Chapter 49: A Game Within a Game

“Spooky,” Brenda said as she and the other NPC who wasn’t playing started giggling. “Does one of the ghosts smoke cigarettes? I swear I smell cigarettes.”

She took the sheet with the illustrations of all of the missing posters for ghosts in the game and started looking over the entry for each one, trying to see if they were smokers.

“You may need to raise your standard for signs of paranormal activity,” Isaac said. “If cigarette smoke is a sign of ghosts, then ever...