Lost Rambler

Chapter Seventy-Six: Too Many Unknowns

When I got to the end of the recording, I started it back over again on a hunch. As I had hoped, we immediately went Off-Screen when the second playthrough began. The audience wouldn't need to hear it again and we had been On-Screen for some time. I needed to process everything we had just learned.

“How are we supposed to escape something like that?” Anna asked.

I had similar questions. The entity latched onto your mind. How were you supposed to outrun something like that?

Chapter Seventy-Five: Notes from Experiment 17

Kimberly screamed.

“Oh my god!” Anna yelled.

I stared at the corpse, looking for some trace of what might have done it. It was the work of something very strong, that much was certain. It didn’t really help narrow down my top three theories very much, though out of ghosts, demons, and psychic phenomena, the latter was still in the lead by quite a bit.

But there was more to learn.

Camden slowly walked into the elevator.

“Please present your identification,...

Chapter Seventy-Four: Please Present Your Identification

[Sorry for the delay. My computer died. I had to go find my old Gen 1 Chromebook to post this.]

Ten minutes after First Blood ended, Anna slowly tiptoed out of her living space and into view of the cameras. While her bedroom was not in view of the cameras, the communal space and door that separated her from the maze of hallways were visible. I was keeping watch over all of the monitors with heightened interest, looking for any evidence of what might have happened or what might happen ne...

Chapter Seventy-Three: All in the Family

As soon as my shift ended, I fell into bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I was just exhausted.

My brain hurt like I'd been doing math problems all night. By all rights I should have been up, terrified of what was to come, afraid that First Blood might happen while I was asleep. Despite this, I slept soundly for nine hours. I was too tired to worry.

That worried me even more.

I awoke to a phone ringing. Up until that point, I had hardly even noticed that there ...

Chapter Seventy-Two: A Bump in the Night

The next day, I watched as the day shift people came back and started their routines all over again. I was tired in a way that I hadn’t been in a long time, and yet, I felt like I couldn’t sleep. I was the wrong kind of wired. I was afraid to miss anything.

The day began with breakfast for the patients. I don’t know most of their names or code names—that information is above my pay grade—but I have come up with a list based on my own observations. Father, Son, Daughter (Bethan...

Announcement

There is a vote currently on Discord to choose Riley's new aspect. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out! While most votes will be Patreon exclusives, this vote was for the whole Carousel community. Aspects affect which tropes are awarded and also provide saving throw bonuses. Aspect choice can affect Advance Archetype availability later on.

Critic: This aspect represents a character's ...

2023-06-15 04:32:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter Seventy-One: Night Shift

It was noon. I wondered if the five days we were going to spend there were full days or if time would start speeding up once some important scenes were out of the way.

My question was slowly answered. Very slowly.

It was eight hours before my first night shift started. I decided to go find the mess hall.

I got lost almost immediately. It was hard to imagine just how big this floor level was. It must have taken up more square footage than the building on the surface itself. T...

Chapter Seventy: Superstition

Our stats at the start of the storyline were as follows:

Riley: Plot Armor: 21/2 Mettle: 2 Moxie: 7 Hustle: 4 Savvy: 7 Grit: 1

Antoine: Plot Armor: 17 Mettle: 4 Moxie: 3 Hustle: 5 Savvy: 1 Grit: 4

Anna: Plot Armor: 19 Mettle: 4 Moxie: 4 Hustle: 3 Savvy: 3 Grit: 5

Kimberly: Plot Armor: 16 Mettle: 2 Moxie: 5 Hustle: 4 Savvy: 1 Grit: 4

Camden: Plot Armor: 16 Mettle: 2 M...

2023-06-10 18:12:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Subject of Inquiry

It was another day before we finally went to the diner we had been hearing about since we arrived. Mostly, we heard about it in the context of someone asking where Arthur was and everyone answering that he was at the diner.

It wasn’t a long walk to get there by Carousel standards. It was on the western edge of town. If you traveled any further, you might start running into a minefield of Omens.

We went there late in the day. The veterans had spent all day researching the Secret ...

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Bet Your Life On It!

As night fell, my friends and I found ourselves on the back deck watching the sun go down. We didn't talk about much. We had had a busy day and there were veterans around steering the conversation.

Antoine was the quietest. It was hard to see him like that. Ever since we got there, Antoine had made it his own mission to reassure us and to encourage us that we would be able to get out of this place. I thought he was being too optimistic, naively so. Anna said it was because he felt guilt...

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Make History Part of Your Story!

All in all, there were seven teams at the library. Of course, my friends and I hardly counted.

The other teams had been put together strategically for the better part and they could adapt seamlessly to different storylines. Players tend to plateau at around 40 Plot Armor. Most of the Lodge existed around that range. Those that are really dedicated like Chris and Valorie might break free and attain a higher level, but most will not. Most never break level 50.

There are benefits to ...

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Brainstorm Montage

By the next morning, much of the Lodge had developed a fascination with the concept of Secret Lore tickets. They wanted to get lore tickets of their own.

Not the whole Lodge, of course.

“Those things are a waste of time,” Arthur warned us, as he and the other high-level players prepped for their own mission. “The players that were here when I got here obsessed over those things for years and all they ever got was a few trinkets. They’re all flavor and no substance.”

Choose your own adventure!

As Patrons, you have a say in choosing the players' next adventure. Pick your favorite from those listed below. The winner will be the next storyline.

Poll closes tomorrow when the next chapter drops.

Chapter Sixty-Five: A Theory

We made it back to Dyer’s Lodge before sundown.

Antoine was still visibly withdrawn and distant. His eyes were red and watery. It was enough that when we walked back into the Lodge, people noticed. Dyer’s Lodge was never the happiest place on earth, but most people breathed a sigh of relief when they walked through the doors.

“Is he… hurt?” Grace asked as we walked by her. She was on the couch reading a book but looked up as soon as we came in.

“Bad run,” I sai...

Chapter Sixty-Four: Secrets of Carousel

I had never seen Antoine like this. Even when he had stab wounds and broken ribs, he stood tall and pretended it didn’t bother him.

At that moment, he was completely vulnerable.

It took a while to get the story out of him. He didn’t remember some of it. Maybe it was because he was in the forest for so long. Maybe because it was now, partially, a fading dream. As he spoke, he would pause for a few seconds. He might have been haunted by the memory or simply trying to remember. I...

Chapter Sixty-Two: A Lesson in Wishing Well & Chapter Sixty-Three: The Bad Luck Magnet

Even though the horse ran even, graceful strides, every hoofbeat sent a jolt of pain up my leg from my shattered toes. An onlooker might have thought I had ridden a horse all my life as I guided the creature through the trees and over obstacles. Of course, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The NPC horse knew the way. I was a passive rider. Pulling the reins did nothing except help me to hold on.

Douglas rode ahead of us. He was the only person that knew the way to the well. I w...

Chapter Sixty-One: The Secret

All of the short stories within this storyline had gone by quickly, but this one even more so because I wasn’t even in the main plot. Anna, Kimberly, and Camden had taken care of that. Dina and I had been in small snippets of screen time.

That was about to change.

I could hear the sounds of travelers in the night—more than forty people by my guess—making their way through the woods toward us. They were screaming, praying, pleading…

And dying. Every few seconds, I wou...

Chapter Sixty: The Cloven Women

“They’re just…” a man yelled from atop one of the viewing platforms. I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the confusion in his voice. “They’re just women.”

“What is that you say?” Theodore called out.

“There are no monsters,” the lookout said. “There are women wandering about. Maidens.”

The strange animalistic voice from before did not repeat, but the gate still shook. Something strong on the other side was hitting it.

The animals in th...

Chapter Fifty-Nine: They Come in the Night

“I don’t know why he helps those settlers. Every chance we get to let them either die off or abandon their settlement, he saves them. He gives them our food, our supplies,” Douglas said.

We were alone at a trailhead leading into the western wood. I was apprehensive about entering. If I understood the geography correctly, this was the Stragglers' Forest, or at least it soon would be. All I knew was that I didn't want to be inside of it when it became cursed.

“Maybe he's jus...

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Akers Plot

Suddenly, we were back around the campfire. At least we had all made it out this time.

“What was making the animals act so weird,” Jake asked. “Why would they attack like that?”

Why would they attack? Had he not been paying attention?

“No one knows,” Akers answered. “Some say it was the ghosts of all those who had died in the mine. Others say it was a disease. Me, I think that nature itself got upset at the scarring of the land and decided to take revenge. I...

Chapter Fifty-Seven: What Does It Want?

The storyline was nearly over, yet we hadn't reached The End yet. There was something further to get done.

We raced back to the mine entrance where Nicholas' SUV was parked. When we arrived, we saw that the workers had left.

Off-Screen.

So we were back to that.

Hesper was sitting in his wheelchair at the entrance to the mine. His guards were carrying boxes as they walked past him and disappeared into the area where the elevator was. Hesper had one of the boxes next to ...

Chapter Fifty-Six: The Servants

We began moving away from the light of the wishing well. There was something deep inside me that truly did not want to leave the light. The darkness ahead of us was surely safer than the darkness behind us but it was still darkness.

Nicholas kept looking behind us as we walked, his eyes appeared to be focused on the glittering gold beneath the bucket. I didn't know what if anything would happen if he tried to take it. If there was an enemy trope associated with it, I should be able to s...

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Unknowable

As I dropped into the crack in the wall, I immediately found myself sliding down a steep incline. The rock was slick and wet. My feet scrambled against the stone, seeking to stop my fall or at least slow my descent, but years of erosion had rendered the surface smooth.

I reached out my hands as I fell, clawing for even the slightest ledge to grab hold of. All I managed to do was catch a fingernail against a small bit of rock, which pulled my nail backward until it snapped off.

Tha...

Chapter Fifty-Four: The Waters Below

The older Mr. Hesper was a tight-lipped and introspective man. When he saw his son coming, he nodded in greeting. He sat in his wheelchair like he was a king on his throne. His guards slowly pushed him down the steep incline to the mine opening.

Nicholas went for something that might have been a hug, but it wasn't reciprocated, so it ended up just being a shoulder touch.

Hesper wore expensive work clothes that he must have purchased when he was a much younger man because they were...

Chapter Fifty-Three: A Search in Vain

“No time like the present,” Nicholas said loudly to all of those nearby. His voice cracked. I don't know if it was because of the strange screaming sound or because he was just nervous. “The investors will be here tomorrow. We've got to get things ready.”

The workers began running around trying to bring loads of trucks toward the mouth of the mine. They all looked like they were worried about getting yelled at by Nicholas. I couldn't blame them.

“Tomorrow?” I asked. 2023-05-04 19:05:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter Fifty-Two: The Last Truck Out

I circled back around to the backside cabin. I took a long path. There was no sign of anyone, player or Straggler. The cabin lights were off and the windows were shuttered. Old Man Akers was probably inside waiting out the horror that was going on in his backyard.

I heard voices on the other side of the cabin.

I slowly made my way around, making sure to keep away from open clearings where I could be easily seen.

“Let’s just leave,” a man’s voice said.

“It wou...

Chapter Fifty-One: The Contradictions

We weren't a mile down the trail before we ran into the lawyers. It’s not that they had been taking their sweet time, no, they were walking back toward the cabin.

Antoine and Camden gave us a flash of acknowledgment when they saw us. They were quick to drop it though. They couldn’t be sure if we were really their friends.

The other seven lawyers didn’t acknowledge us.

Even Tony didn't seem happy to see us.

“Was this the way to the exit?” Antoine asked. “We ...

Chapter Fifty: The Rules of the Forest

“What is happening?” Kimberly asked. “Why does the red wallpaper say that I’m a monster?”

She started to back away from us.

“It says that we all are,” Anna said. She looked at me. “Do you know what's going on?”

I looked from Anna to Tony to Kimberly. “Yeah. It messes with our minds so that it blends in.”

I explained all of the tropes to them as best I could. Truthfully, the entire experience was incredibly difficult to explain. I had known Anna si...

Chapter Forty-Nine: The Straggler

As we started walking toward the teens hiding in the bush, I leaned in toward the group and said, “Just from that title I can tell you that this is probably a horror anthology.”

Even More Stories from the Campfire: Fatal Folktales had all the generic hallmarks that you would come to expect from a movie that was really just multiple short stories put together. More than that, it sounded like it was a sequel to an anthology series.

“How does that change things?” Ant...

Chapter Forty-Eight: A Message from High Places

I needed somewhere to think. We were too close to town square. There were omens all over and many of them moved around. It was too dangerous to stay. I had to guide the group across town in the direction of the storyline we were headed to as I searched for a place where I could stop and examine the tickets.

Eventually, I found a park bench and table a few miles away from the storyline we were headed to. I looked through the tickets I had received from Silas as a reward for completing t...